Davengomery: Drink's on Me!

Erin smiled at Carla’s comment about not feeding animals anything that was too toxic. Good! She needed people with sense around her – so many people thought giving pets a treat of processed and unhealthy food was good but it really was so awful for the poor animals! She was glad Carla had a good brain on her shoulders.

”Oh don’t worry – I was just wondering if he was cute was all.” Erin said. Candice rolled her eyes.

”You have a boyfriend, one. Two, Carla already said to mind your damn business.” Candice snapped. Erin huffed and slouched on the bar, her breasts resting on the surface. The second drink for Candice resided on the edge – Candice got up and grabbed it before returning to her seat besides Carla. ”I just want to look,” Erin whined, but was ignored by Candice. ”But whatev. I’d rather have you than your brother anyways so just you is fine! I’d say you can bring your pet but Snozenbaum is kind of... moody. It could go either really well or really awful. So maybe that’s not the best environment to introduce them! But oooh. It could so happen another time!”

Candice rose her brow at Carla’s comments about drinking and about how she would involve doctors if alcohol poisoning was involved. Erin let out an ”awwww” noise that quickly faded to giggles when Candice glared her way. She then turned towards Carla.

”The concern is appreciated, but I’m fine. I’m a heavyweight.” She said, taking a long sip of her alcoholic iced tea. ”This one I’m saving for dinner – I just needed a nice, long drink after dealing with Dillis. Piece of work...” She exhaled and took another sip. However she was surprised that Carla knew of Alex. Even Erin seemed surprised.

”You remember everything I said about Alex from the beginning of the year?” Candice asked. She was shocked, but also somewhat flattered that someone in the club had remembered her comments in such detail.

”Observant, huh! Yeah, Alex is Candice’s ex. The cheater who still wants a piece of that chocolate ass,” That comment caused Candice to choke on her drink and sputter out Erin’s name in horror. Erin counted the shocked reaction as a victory and looked at Carla. ”Soooo how long have you and Candice been friends exactly?”

Erin nodded when Carla suggested not bringing Lewis. Maybe someday the little critter could come over, but maybe not during a Christmas party! Erin was already going over a list of invites in her head. Oh, wait – a holiday party! She should think of something to add to the celebration that pertained to other religions, like... was Carla Jewish? Maybe?

”Do you celebrate Hanukkah?” Erin asked. She could definitely get some candles to put in the windows and find some songs to play on her playlist that were about the other holiday, too! She took a drink of her beverage.

”Oh yeah, I can handle it. And usually I like to read a good book after his class or putting up with his writing – but the alcohol definitely helps me forget. Not to mention being slightly buzzed – not completely wasted, I never get wasted – really helps with my imagination.” Which was the exact reason she had to drink to get through Dillis’ assignments. If she drank, her imagination would go wild and give her more fuel to work with that he’d like.

The mention of observance interested Erin and Candice. ”Well, I people watch too, sometimes. It helps me think of ideas for writing and roleplaying,” Candice said. ”Sometimes people make the best influences for characters and dialogue even if they don’t realize they’re being observed, right?” Candice said to Carla. Erin snorted and shook her head.

”You two are so weird but that’s probably why you get along so well!” She chirped. At Carla’s description of how they knew each other she listened with a nod. ”Oooh, yeah Candice bitches about Dillis all the time. And she also talks about the newsletter a lot too!” When accused of enjoying this too much, Erin snickered. ”Maaaaaybe. I’m just kind of nosy is all! I don’t mean to make you super uncomfortable or anything. Candice is like a sister to me so I tend to get nosy – and teas-ey!”

”Oooh, really? That sounds interesting! I just grew up Catholic, same with Candice! Even though Candice doesn’t necessarily celebrate anymore.” Erin said.

”Hey, I go see my family and celebrate. I just would rather curl up with a nice book than get crazy drunk with my aunts at Christmastime,” Candice said. She looked at Carla. ”But it’s good that you feel that way. It’s similar to me – and I’ve always thought the menorah looked lovely. Though I’ve never really learned too much about what it was about and for.” She gave Carla a smile. When she asked about how she knew, Candice shrugged her shoulders. ”Usually, I can tell when I find him more funny than aggravating. Which is typically about five drinks in – or three shots in.”

When she said she had a notebook in which she kept notes, Candice’s face lit. ”Oh do you? I have a notebook where I keep ideas – mostly for characters and the roleplaying I do. I do sometimes find things about people who I want to remember – what kinds of notes do you have about people? Mainly, people who I may know?” Candice was always interested to see if Carla’s observations with people matched her own.

Erin pouted at Carla’s comments. ”Oh boo, you are a party pooper. You’re lucky you’re cute.” She said. She ignored the glare from Candice and just smiled instead. ”I’m sorry, though – and okay! Think what you will, I’ll stop saying you’d make a good couple – now!” she clapped her hands, as though to signify that was the stop of it. She gave them a playful smirk before the doorbell rang and she hopped up. ”Oh! That’s food – I’ll go get it!”

As Erin headed towards the door, Candice sighed and glanced at Carla. ”Really sorry about her.” she said.

Candice nodded along to Carla describing the importance of cultural and historical importance. It made sense for that to be important to Carla, rather than a spiritual importance. It was also something Candice respected and could understand. She’d never been a spiritual person, but could definitely see the appeal in historical and cultural value.

”That is all very interesting – I never thought of it that way,” She said. And always having a light to read by was good. Especially during power outages. Those were always so boring – and at night it was even impossible to read! Though now they had technology like kindles and nooks, Candice preferred the crinkle of a page under her fingertips rather than staring at a screen and tapping it for the next page. She shook her head when Carla mentioned how outlandish it would be. ”I’ll definitely need some shots after we eat,” she muttered.

When Carla offered to share their notes she smiled. ”Certainly. Though much of my notes is more – hard to explain than just observations, but I’ll explain things thoroughly as they go.” She watched her curiously as she mentioned having multiple binders! Interesting! She hummed and folded her arms across her chest. ”Let’s start with someone everyone knows and see how detailed your notes are... how about Amy O’Neal?” She rose a brow as she watched Erin skip into the room, practically tearing her pasta out of the bag as she handed Candice the pizza and paper plates. ”I don’t know if you organize by surname or first name.”

Candice smiled at the idea of enjoying the holiday party, focused on reading. ”Unfortunately with Erin as our host, the party will be far from reading based. But we can always hide out in my bedroom if it gets too loud and read. Snozenbaum will probably come in and join us because who knows what Erin’ll want her room for.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. ”Oh, nothing.” Fortunately, Carla had dropped the question as well.

She looked at the notebook, listening as Carla described her notes. Oh, wow. That was way more detail than Candice ever took – she mostly took broad assumptions, and took ideas or situations she saw and tried to interpret them into what her characters may do in those situations or draft new characters out of a situation. ”That is a lot of detail,” Candice said. She glanced at the tabs. There were so many! ”I heard about her and Declan; they’re a mess.” She said. She grabbed the binder and nodded. ”Sure thing – I won’t get any stains in the pages so I’ll let you eat first.”

Candice flicked through the pages. She looked at people she knew from classes. Some pages were like Amy’s – super detailed and informative – while others, presumably of quiet people, were not. She saw Montgomery in the side and, curious as to what Carla knew about her, she flicked open to her page and began to read.

Erin smiled and sat down across from them. ”Don’t mention it! Thanks for the company!” She said. When Candice was asked a question, she didn’t look up from the page.

”Oh, I think it’s very interesting. I saw a few people who I knew things you don’t earlier,” She said, thinking of Zachary Morris and the fact she knew some of his hobbies, whereas his page had been vacant of any. ”Right now I’m just curious as to what you have about me in here, I hope you don’t mind me looking.” Odd to say, given that it was information about herself – but she was only being polite.

When Carla asked what Erin might be using her room for, Candice glanced over at Erin. ”Well she would invite her boyfriend and she hasn’t seen him since Thanksgiving break,” she said. This time it was Erin’s turn to pout in confusion as she tried to gauge what Candice meant. And, when she got it, she laughed.

”Oh my Goodness see that! She’s just as bad as me, Carla!” Erin said. She flopped backwards and broke one of her meatballs in half, plopping one of them into her mouth as she watched Candice scan the pages in front of her. ”Ok if I have my boyfriend over maybe we’ll get busy in my room. That’s why, if you see my door closed after everyone leaves, don’t open it,” she pointed her fork at Candice. Candice feigned an offended look.

”Like I’d want to see that. Your boyfriend’s ugly anyway,” She said. Erin gasped.

”No he isn’t! Just because you don’t think men with bears are attractive – or men at all anymore – doesn’t mean he’s ugly.” Erin said. Candice rolled her eyes and turned the page. She glanced over at Carla.

”Oh – that’s okay. I’ll just look his page over and then take a break to eat.” She said. She glanced Chase’s page over. His page looked the least well taken care of out of all the other ones. Just by the way she wrote about her brother, Candice could tell the dynamics of their relationship. She glanced at Carla when she mentioned there were some mentions of her and her ex. ”Really. I didn’t even know you’d know him by name, let alone be able to tell me exactly how we broke up. Well. I did mention it during one of the meetings when we were discussing valentine articles, so I suppose it is my fault.” She took a slice of pizza and ate it. Last Valentine’s day she’d been very bitter, but now she was much better. ”I’ll compare notes with you after – most of the things I can add, I know off of the top of my head. But I do have a few notes in my room.”

”Oh, now you made her uncomfortable!” Erin said. Candice rolled her eyes and placed the book down, instead taking a bite of her pizza. It was good – this pizza place in particular was her and Erin’s favorite. They had a really good sauce that was just – perfect!

She glanced over at Carla and listened at her descriptions. It was odd but interesting to hear that the default name was Jaime.

”Jamie?! That’s hilarious! Isn’t that his sister’s name, too?” Erin asked. Candice snorted as well.

”It is his sister’s name. That’s pretty funny – and interesting that you know all of that. No, it’s not too much. I don’t mind it. I’m a writer too you know, I know what it’s like to be more interested in other people’s lives than my own.” She said. She shifted and shrugged her shoulders. ”No. I don’t really care either way. We were high school sweethearts. We went to Salem High. After we graduated, I went to Metric but he went up to the east coast. I guess the long distance was too much for him and when he came back one winter break, I saw the texts from the other girl he was seeing. So, that was the end of that. It’s not a secret and I’m over it,” She said. Erin shifted slightly, humming, as though she didn’t believe Candice. But she wasn’t going to refute it and instead slurped her spaghetti.

”We all went to high school together – me, Candice, and Alex. Alex was never really Candice’s type anyway, they were so opposites. And Alex was such a douche.” She said. ”And then after they broke up, Candice said she wanted to find a nice girlfriend instead of deal with a womanizer.”

Candice shrugged. ”Can’t blame me. Anyway.” She said. She looked at Carla. It suddenly occurred to her how much of a mystery Carla was – yet apparently she was easier to read. ”I think it’s flattering you paid attention enough to learn all of that, actually.”