notyourutopian | IC Contact: Recollé

[Chloe Mental Check List: 1) The world was not crashing into the sun, check. 2) She had been thinking... a lot, and determined a few things about herself, one of which was that she was not good right now solo. She could do it, but there had been nights every weekend when she'd been going crazy, so... check. 3) She'd seriously been staring at the 'unique date spots in Recolle' website for about three days straight now, check. 4) After the flowers, she'd had trouble getting one specific person out of her head, so... check. 5) Single shot of bourbon for courage, check.

She could do this. She still knew how to do this. Oh, who was she kidding? She had no idea what she was doing. But, the instant she'd tapped the phone number in, it was a little too late to go back, now wasn't it? Ring Ring. I mean, if she hung up now, that'd just seem creepy. God, how did people do this normally? Ring Ring... oh god, this was a terrible idea wasn't it? Maybe if she was lucky, nobody was home and she'd get the answering machine and just be able to hang up?]

[When the call is answered there's a brief moment of silence, a distant, muffled curse, and then a thunk as it falls on the floor. Then about fifteen seconds of someone scrambling about before Eleanor manages to scramble it off the floor, slightly breathless as she answers.]

Yes sorry hello?

[Ok, that helped. Chloe had to suppress a giggle, and some of the nerves melted away when she heard the oath leaving Eleanor's lips. She had to call her more often. The girl was worse with phones than she was.]

Hi Eleanor, it's Chloe. [Aaaand the nerves were back.] So, uh... there was something that I wanted to ask you. And don't worry, this has nothing to do with crazy apps or anything like that. [Because, at this point in their lives, that was an important thing to say.]

Oh hey! Sorry if I'm a little distracted, kinda doing a billion things at once. [There's a buzz and she sounds a bit different suddenly, as if she's further away.]

Putting you on speaker. So what's up?

[Speaker?!? Oh god oh god oh god, her nerves were shooting up through the roof. What if Eleanor's mother heard? What if her sisters were there? Was her mother or father the sort to react badly? Fuck! What did she do? Did she back out?

...well, she wanted normal, this was really fucking normal.]

(OOC: You're evil, by the way, I'm wheezing here.)

Uh... I... well, that is, alright. [Fuck, she could do this. Damnit, it had been three fucking years since she'd done this, and it hadn't been simply asking someone before. They'd grown up near each other and known one another for years.

Breathe, Chloe. Breathe.] I'm sure you're very busy, with ... well, graduation this weekend. So, I was wondering, if you were free next weekend...

[Yep, she was dithering.] D...Do you like stargazing?

Oh you have no idea. Finals are done and everything but I have so much to finish for the paper before I'm...actually finished. [In fact, there is the sound of a printer going in the background now.]

What? [Clearly distracted.] Stargazing? Uh. [Okay, that was a little weird.]

I guess it can be fun? I haven't bothered in forever. Don't know if I can really sit still that long anymore. [She chuckles to herself.]

[Printers? Printers were usually in people's rooms. Oh thank god. That was a load off of her shoulders. This was probably not somewhere others could hear, probably. Chloe relaxed a little, starting to breathe more easily, though fuck if her heart wasn't pounding in her chest.]

I... well, I was thinking of making a picnic meal, something nice and inviting you out to go stargazing... but if you'd rather something more active I could think of something else.

[There's a pause, it's hard to tell if Eleanor is actually listening, just footsteps and printer noises and maybe some typing before she's back, sounding...confused.]

Wait did you say a picnic and stargazing? Uh. What?

[She didn't sound upset. She sounded confused. Why did she sound confused? Was this not clear? It was a romantic idea, yes? Dinner under the stars, alone, relaxing away from prying eyes? That was what Redbook said was a romantic idea, after all. Why was Redbook failing her, god damnit!

She was going to write them such an angry letter when this was over.]

Yes, I wanted to do something different. It... It is boring to simply be asked to dinner and a movie is it not? I want to make a good first impression, so I thought perhaps something ... well, romantic?

A hand-made dinner under the stars, it is romantic, is it not?

Y-yes...I suppose it does sound...

[She falls silent, the only sound the quiet humming of the printer in the background puttering along. Finally there's a faint breath, and when she talks about, Chloe's not on speaker anymore.]

Chloe, are you asking me out on a date?

[The first sounds that came from the other end of the phone line was a dull, rhythmic thumping. It was the distinctive sound of a head banging a couple times into a desk. After that came a low, muted groan of mild desperation. Her voice was faint, muffled.]

Pourquoi est-ce si difficile?

[Bang, bang. Sigh. She sounded a little resigned when she spoke afterwards, bringing the phone up to her lips and replying to Eleanor.]

Y...Yes, Eleanor. I am trying to ask you out on a date.

(OOC: "Why is this so difficult?")

I speak enough french to understand that, you know.

[Eleanor sounded a bit more like her old self, at least when she said that. But then there was another pause.]

Okay. But. Why?

Heh, of course you do...

[She reached up her fingers and dragged them through her hair. Her palms pressed to her forehead. Was Eleanor seriously asking her why she was asking her out? Why did people ever ask someone out? Because they were interested in them. She'd been hinting that she was one of the reasons that she'd been conflicted, hadn't...

Crap, her friend probably hadn't caught any of that, had she?]

Why else would I be, Eleanor? Why else does a girl ask another girl on a date? Because I am... single, and I am interested in you.

[Oh god, she was going to ask why again wasn't she?]

Chloe.

[Well shit. Eleanor sucked in a breath, trying to gather her thoughts.]

You've been single for like a week, Chloe.

... I... know.

[She struggled a little. No, that was entirely fair. She pinched her fingers over the bridge of her nose and clenched her eyes.]

You... don't realize I've been conflicted for a while, do you? It... wasn't roses. She and I've been arguing for months.

Sure, I get that.

But still.

Like. [Christ what was she supposed to say here.]

Seriously. You need to take some chill time before you go...rushing into anything.

... [She reached up and gripped her head. There was a difficult sound on the other side and she shifted a little.]

Like I said... I don't get to take it back once I've said it. Merde. You're... right. I'm lonely, and I'm being foolish. [She leaned back and looked at the ceiling.] But...

Look... I'll take your advice. [She reached up to put her head in her hands.] Just... I know you're being a good friend right now, but if you're not interested in me, that way... you'll tell me, right?

Edited (sorry about the edit. Didn't like how she put that last statement.) 2017-06-08 05:23 (UTC)

[Eleanor couldn't hide a frustrated groan at that, just because she had zero idea how to answer any of this.]

Look...Chloe. You realize I graduate in four days right? My entire world is finishing the newspaper and keeping my mom from freaking out and crying every time it comes up and making sure I actually finish everything I need to before I leave high school forever.

Do not ask me any deep questions right now.

[Chloe froze again. That... wasn't a no. That definitely wasn't a no. If she'd not been interested in her that way at all, or was unwilling to even consider it, she could have just said 'no, not interested that way,' and it would have been ok. She swallowed and smiled, nodding her head even if her friend couldn't see it.]

Don't worry... I'm not going to bring this up again until we're both in hopefully a better place. Promise. [And she sighed.] Th...thank you, Eleanor.

[There was no way in hell she was actually going to tell Eleanor that she had definitely not heard a no just then. She'd already jumped the gun because of being lonely and freaking out, and countless other things.]

You... you have a lot to deal with. I'm going to let you go, ok?

Yeah, thanks. Uh. [Christ. She seriously did not know what she was supposed to say here, and her frustration was probably evident.]

I'll talk to you later.

Talk to you later, Eleanor.

[Click. Ok... that ... definitely could have gone worse. She'd mucked that up pretty badly. But it didn't sound unsalvageable, though the fact that Eleanor clearly was just at a loss for words... no, just she wasn't going to think about it. At all.

She was going to take a few days completely away from this and...

Wait... graduation... she was going to be visiting with friends at graduation. Fuck! Damnit, damnit damnit! God, she was making an ass out of herself the last few weeks. Oh well, she was just going to take a shot of something and go to sleep. Worry about this in the morning.]

IC Contact: Recollé

Phone Call

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