POPPIN' BOTTLES IN THE ICE--

[SPENCER RITA KELLY]

lordy, lordy, lordy! i can't help it

[/i][/b][/color][/font]
I LIKE TO PARTY; IT'S GENETIC! IT'S ELECTRIFYING! WIND ME UP AND WATCH ME GO
WHERE SHE STOPS, NOBODY KNOWS. A GOOD EXCUSE TO BE A BAD INFLUENCE ON YOU[/center]

» In Spencer's mind, it was never to early to start a party. Okay, so sitting at the bar and sneakily and slowly draining away the alcoholic content didn't really count as a party, but "sitting at the bar and sneakily and slowly draining the alcohol content" didn't really sound quite as fun. Besides, wasn't every occasion at a bar a party?

» Spencer knew she technically shouldn't have been drinking from the ship's alcohol supply seeing as it was for the vacationers, but she wasn't on duty and who would really write her up for it? It was her second year on the ship and she hadn't gotten into any trouble yet. She'd certainly done some questionable things, but no one seemed to think her actions were worthy of a report to the head honcho. Spencer suspected it was because half of the crew was doing just the same as she was. Whatever. Poseidon always kept their bars fully stocked anyway, so she figured having a little drink on the cruise line wasn't hurting their profits any. As long as it meant Spencer could keep drinking, she'd find any way to justify her actions.

» It was opening day! How freaking exciting. Spencer smiled lazily as she absentmindedly swirled her martini glass around in her hand. There were a few vacationers milling around the first level already, and quite a few of them looked like returning customers. They didn't waste any time checking out the magnificent ship--they just headed straight for their favorite attractions. In Spencer's case, this favorite attraction was the bar. "Spencer, stop stealing all of the ship's booze! You're such a fucking lush. It's not even noon yet!" one of her co-workers said, chiding her. Spencer turned to face him, unsure of whether or not he was joking with her. He was one of the uptight ones--a new kid--who she'd met and kind of become acquainted with during staff orientation. She didn't understand how someone could be so stiff and work as a freaking bartender.

» "Oh, hush. Calm your nips, man," Spencer laughed as she took another sip of her dirty martini. "It's got to be happy hour somewhere, right?"

[/color] Her co-worker just sighed, but Spencer paid him no mind. She was having a good time--or at least, trying to start up a good time--and that was what was important. She briefly wondered where her girls were at. It might've just been opening day, but it was never too early to assert their place as the top dogs on the ship. The same way it was never too early to party. Spencer snorted to herself. Never too early for anything, it seemed.

» What Spencer needed was some good company. Someone who wouldn't bitch at her for slowly depleting the Coco Cabana's martini mix supplies. Someone who would probably ask her to whip up one for them too. Spencer smiled to herself as she leaned against the bar counter. She lifted her face and took a big breath of fresh Florida air. She was content to just sit there. It felt nice to be on Poseidon again. Working on the ship for the past year had been just what Spencer needed--a quick getaway that she got paid for with a steady supply of alcohol and men. If only life was always like that. Spencer felt blessed that her contract on the cruise had been renewed. If it hadn't, well...she wouldn't have known what to do. Going back to the city was simply not an option, and Jersey wasn't looking so bright either, no matter how much her mom missed her. Spencer wasn't really rolling in job opportunities either; her acting career seemed to be on a standstill. Of course, disappearing for months at a time didn't exactly help, but you couldn't tell her that.

» She was just glad to be back on board. "...What are you wearing?" her co-worker asked, interrupting her pleasant, grateful thoughts. Spencer turned her head to look at him again and flashed him a cheeky smile. "What? You don't like my nautical get-up?"[/color] With the money she'd earned, Spencer had gone on a little bit of a splurge before the cruise started up again. That meant she'd gone out and bought an excessive (and wholly unnecessary) amount of bikinis and sailor-themed clothing. That included her current outfit--a kind of captain inspired thing. (And by captain inspired, we really mean Captain Morgan inspired...) Her co-worker just shook his head and went back to his business. That was just fine with Spencer. She didn't need a stick in the mud around anyway.[/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

» tagged;; open ! » outfit;; here.
» lyrics;; bad influence -- p!nk.
» music;; conspiracy -- paramore.
» words;; 775. » notes;; eh, kinda weak. getting back in the swing, i am.
» credit;; template is all mine, bby!

[/center][/size]

[SERENITY ALISON REED]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SO NO ONE TOLD YOU LIFE WAS GONNA BE THIS WAY
it’s like you’re always stuck in second gear
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For such a beautiful day, Serenity had had a really crappy morning. Oh, it had been fine at first, sure. She woke up late enough to be fully rested, but not so late that she felt she had wasted the entire morning. She had a nice, relaxing shower, put on her favorite new clothes, and took a brief walk around the deck of the ship, since it was so sunny and breezy outside. Everyone who walked by seemed to be in a pretty good mood too, and that made her mood even better. Smiling was contagious, after all. Or was that laughing? Fucking, whatever. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she had the day off, and she planned to pretend that she was here to relax, just like all of the guests, for as long as was possible.

Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be very long at all. On her way to the pool, she suddenly heard her name. Confused, Serenity turned around to see who was calling her, but didn’t see anyone she knew. Then, just as she was turning around, she heard her name again. Will Miss Reed please report to the food court? Immediately?

Well, that was just great. She was already being paged to work. And when she finally made her way to main level, she saw why. One of the new staff members at Sharky’s Smoothies and Snacks was having more than a bit of trouble. He was one of those easily-flustered types, and he kept dropping smoothie glasses. The more glasses he dropped, the more embarrassed he got, and the less he was able to do his job. And, of course, the line kept growing. With a heavy sigh, Serenity rushed behind the counter.

“What on earth is going on here?” The guy was so startled that he dropped yet another glass, which Serenity was somehow able to catch. Maybe she had developed Spidey powers overnight or something. That would be freaking awesome. “Where’s the other guy who’s supposed to be working?”

“Um…his mom called, so he took his break early…I’m, I’m sorry…”

One of the customers in line decided to speak up then. “You’d better be, we’ve been waiting for our damn smoothies for ten minutes now! And we already paid for it!”

“I am so sorry, ma’am, it won’t be much longer now,” Serenity apologized, and then turned back to her incompetent employee. “Why don’t you take off early? I’ll cover for you.”

“A-Are you sure you can handle it without my help?”

“Yes.” He seemed to be taken aback by her direct reply, and even a little hurt, so Serenity quickly added to her reply. “I mean, your shift’s over in an hour anyways, and then your replacement will be here. It’s fine. Just go.”

[/color] The kid—well, he was probably older than a kid, but her was certainly acting like one—thanked her profusely and left. Which was good, because Serenity was pretty sure that all of the glasses he broke would be coming out of her paycheck. It looked like she’d have to schedule yet another training session; the rest of the staff would be so pleased.

An hour of dealing with frustrated customers later, the replacement finally showed up. Of course, by then it had calmed down. Just her luck. After quickly preparing a strawberry-banana smoothie for herself, Serenity rushed out of the food court.

Now she was too stressed out to really enjoy her day of relaxation, though, so she just kind of…wandered around for a while. Since she had planned on making it a “Me” day and spending it alone, she hadn’t thought to ask where her friends would be and, unlike her employees, Serenity’s cell got incredibly crappy service, even when they were still docked, so she couldn’t call them to ask where they were.

By some strange miracle, though, she happened to be walking around level one when she caught site of Spencer, whose outfit betrayed the excitement she felt about being on the ship. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t a miracle, since it was a bar, for Christ’s sake. Where else would Spencer be? Not to mention it was the one she worked at. Well, whatever, it was good enough for Serenity. She walked over to Spencer and plopped down next to her at the bar.

“Hey there, barkeep, why don’t you add a little something stronger to my smoothie?” If there was one thing she was confident about, it was drinking, all the business classes she took be damned. “Hey, Spence, what do you think the punishment would be for murder at sea? We don’t have a brig, do we?”
[/blockquote]

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WHEN IT HASN’T BEEN YOUR DAY, YOUR WEEK
your month, or even your year
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tagged; spencer&open!
notes; I TOLD YOU THERE WOULD BE NO PICTURE.
lyrics; I’ll be there for you by the rembrandts
listening to; belle by beauty and the beast
word count; 769
outfit; here, stop complaining
credit; to brooke from caution

[SPENCER RITA KELLY]

alright sir, sure i'll have another one

[/i][/b][/color][/font]
IT'S EARLY. THREE OLIVES, SHAKE IT UP, I LIKE IT DIRTY. TEQUILA FOR MY FRIEND; IT MAKES
HER FLIRTY. TRUST ME, I'M THE INSTIGATOR OF UNDERWEAR SHOWING UP HERE AND THERE, UH OH[/center]

» Spencer was on her third martini (which she'd mixed and made herself, seeing as her co-worker was continuing to be a party-pooper and refused to serve her any alcoholic drinks on principle) when she briefly contemplated getting off her ass and looking around for some good drinking company. The problem was that getting up...well, it required getting up, first of all and secondly, that mant she'd be walking away from the bar. What good was a drinking buddy if finding them took her away from the bar? Spencer was mid-lift of her body off the bar stool when she just shook herself and plopped herself back down. It wouldn't be worth it. This time, she wasn't going to the party--the party was coming to her.

» Spencer glanced at her watch (which unfortunately, did not match the rest of her wonderful outfit) and squinted at the somewhat bleary analog hands. Why had she gotten a watch without numbers? Spencer grumbled under her breath. That had been her mother's idea. Spencer preferred digital watches--they were easier to read and generally more waterproof than the classier looking analog watches. Waterproofness was something worth worrying about when you worked on a freaking cruise ship. She shook her watch as if that was going to make the confusing hands any clearer. Sighing, Spencer craned her neck to look at her co-worker. The moment she turned to him, he gave her a look that basically said, "What now?" Now, that wasn't a very welcoming look, was it? Spencer pursed her lips and turned back around without saying a word. She'd meant to ask him what time it was, but she could already imagine the sardonic, biting comment waiting on the tip of his tongue. So she just kept her mouth shut and sipped away on her martini.

» She'd been checking her watch to see what time she was supposed to be working. She actually did have a shift that day--it was much later in the day, thank goodness. She worked better with the early evening and late night crowds, so that was why she always ended up on those shifts. She usually earned twice her normal amount of tips during the night, but the tips she earned didn't always depend on her hours on duty... Spencer smirked to herself. As part of the crew, she was supposed to make sure her customers were always satisfied, wasn't she?

» Spencer was getting antsy again and fast. Her co-worker kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye although he didn't bother with addressing her anymore, and it was clear that he was impatiently waiting for the moment when she'd get up and leave. He probably thought she was scaring away potential customers. The mere thought made Spencer snort out loud. Looking like this, she was basically a walking advertisement. Come to the Coco Cabana! her outfit shouted. We're awesome and we have hot staff and cold drinks! Yeah, if only outfits could speak...

» "Had enough yet?" her co-worker asked her and Spencer whipped around to stick her tongue out at him. "No. In fact, this martini's almost done, so I'll be back there in just a second--" Just then, her co-worker shot her the most cutting glare, so Spencer froze mid-sentence. Shivering, she turned her back to the strangely irritable boy. "Or not,"

[/color] she huffed under her breath. Spencer was about to put down her drink and go to one of the other bars on the ship to get her fix, but then one of her favorite people in the world saved her day.

» "Hey, Spence, what do you think the punishment would be for murder at sea? We don’t have a brig, do we?” Serenity Reed said after she plopped down on the bar stool next to Spencer and requested some alcoholic content for her smoothie. Spencer only raised one eyebrow and sipped slowly on her martini. Well, it looked like the party had finally arrived. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you would probably get fired for murder. If that's what you're planning. 'Cause that's what it sounds like you're doing,"[/color] Spencer said smartly. She was an incredibly observant person, wasn't she? "And then after getting fired, you'd probably get arrested by the officials on whatever island we landed on next. Yeah, I can't see that ending well..."[/color] Spencer paused to sip on her drink a little more and then a worrying thought hit her. "It's not me, is it? You're not planning on killing me, are you? 'Cause I swear to God, Ren, this cruise just started again and it is way too early for me to die."[/color]

» Spencer gave her friend a genuinely worried look, but then she noticed how frazzled Serenity looked. Spencer should've gotten tipped off by Serenity's demand for alcohol in her smoothie. She must've just gotten off of work, poor thing. Spencer sympathized. As someone who generally didn't like work, she understood how trying labor could be. "Rough morning, huh? Well, good luck getting any of the good stuff from stiff tits over here,"[/color] Spencer said, motioning with her thumb to her co-worker. She could feel his eyes boring holes into the back of her head, but she paid him no mind. "I could mix you up something good!"[/color] Spencer exclaimed, excited to show off her bar tending skills. When the two girls had been friends in high school (and ever since then, really), Spencer had always been the recipient of delicious alcoholic concoctions, but now she was making them and, if she was being honest, she wasn't half bad at it. She was actually kind of good. She figured it came from practically growing up around good bartenders and spending half of your life drinking.[/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

» tagged;; serenity alison reed ! » outfit;; here.
» lyrics;; bad influence -- p!nk.
» music;; baby it's you -- jojo.
» words;; 972. » notes;; Y U NO LIEK ME?
» credit;; template is all mine, bby!

[/center][/size]

[SERENITY ALISON REED]

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SO NO ONE TOLD YOU LIFE WAS GONNA BE THIS WAY
it’s like you’re always stuck in second gear
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It really wasn’t like Serenity to get so stressed out about something like that incompetent kid. Ordinarily, she would just feel a little overwhelmed as she thought about all the work she’d have to do to get him trained to the point where he would actually be useful, and then she would find something good about him—anything at all—to convince herself that it actually wouldn’t be that hard, and that would be that. But she couldn’t bring herself to do that this time. Instead, she found herself upset because the cruise had just barely started, and already things were going wrong. It didn’t bode well for the rest of the cruise. At all.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m certainly not planning on murdering anyone," Serenity replied, fluttering her eyelashes innocently, taking a sip of her smoothie. "Honestly, Spencer, could you imagine me, of all people, murdering anyone? Even an inept new hire? I'm hurt." It was true that nobody would ever suspect Serenity Reed of premeditated violence. Which could actually make a really good alibi, now that she thought about it. But she wouldn't actually want to hurt the kid. Just get him as far away from her, the smoothie bar, and the ship as was humanly possible, by any means necessary. That's all. But if the punishments Spencer listed were true, maybe it wouldn't be worth it. Serenity doubted that she could last in prison, even one on a nice tropical island. That was Rylan's scene, not hers.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes and be distracted from her thoughts as Spencer babbled about not wanting to die, though. "God, how much have you had to drink already? Of course I'm not planning on killing you. I wouldn't have anyone to get free drinks from then." It was at that point that Renny remembered that Spencer's play-by-the-rules co-worker was on duty, and edited her speech a little bit. "Er...at home, that is. Like, not on the ship. And certainly not while you're working." Thinking on her feet had obviously never been Serenity's strong suit. Oh well, Spencer's boss liked her too much to get rid of her for something so trivial like wasting booze anyways.

Thankfully, though, it seemed like Spencer understood that Serenity just needed a drink, no questions asked. That was why they got along so well and why they had been friends for so long, despite a few...roadblocks, so to say. Actually, come to think of it, if they weren't both such booze heads, their odd friendship probably wouldn't have lasted as long as it did. Eh, oh well.

"Well, good luck getting any of the good stuff from stiff tits over here." Serenity couldn't help but giggle. Stiff tits. And Spencer used to make fun of her for saying things like "drunk as a skunk." "When did your vocabulary turn so British?" Well, she assumed it was British, anyways. As if she had any way of knowing. The only time she'd ever been out of the country was on this exact same cruise the year before. Worldly wise, she was not. She hadn't traveled much at all before the cruise, actually. The farthest she'd ever been away from South Carolina before that was New York, and that was just to go to school. She had always planned on traveling at some point in her life...but when she made those plans, the method and the company were much different.

"Yeah, I think I'll take you up on your offer," she said with a smile. It was almost cute how excited her friend got at the prospect of mixing drinks, like some kind of alcoholic puppy or something. It was obvious that she felt right at home on the ship. Serenity envied her for that. It had been a long time since she had felt at home anywhere. But Spencer took to bar tending on Poseidon like a fish to water. She had the people skills, the bar tending skills, and...other skills necessary for her job. Whereas Serenity just made smoothies all day. Sometimes she grabbed snack bars for people too. It didn't take a rocket scientist to do any of that. She just felt so...unsatisfied with her life.

Maybe that's what was really bothering her. Her biggest concern was that some kid kept dropping glasses. That was the kind of emergency that threatened her well being. How fucking lame.

"And make it strong, Spence. Really strong."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WHEN IT HASN’T BEEN YOUR DAY, YOUR WEEK
your month, or even your year
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tagged; spencer!
notes; HEEHEEHEE
lyrics; I’ll be there for you by the rembrandts
listening to; hands all over by maroon 5
word count; 737
outfit; here, stop complaining
credit; to brooke from caution

[SPENCER RITA KELLY]

poppin' bottles in the ice, like a blizzard

[/i][/b][/color][/font]
WHEN WE DRINK WE DO IT RIGHT, GETTING SLIZZARD. SIPPIN' SIZZURP IN MY RIDE, LIKE THREE SIX.
NOW I'M FEELING SO FLY, LIKE A G6. LIKE A G6, LIKE A G6. NOW I'M FEELING SO FLY, LIKE A G6.[/center]

» Spencer gave Serenity a look as if to say, "Really?" While she honestly couldn't picture Serenity actually murdering anyone, she could imagine the girl coming up with some weird, possibly nefarious plot to murder someone and dispose of the body. Serenity would never go through with it, of course, but Spencer could imagine the plans being made. She also had no doubt that she would be directly involved in the plan making process. Serenity, even with such evil intentions, wasn't mean or cunning enough to come up with such a plan by herself. Not that Spencer was either... Yeah, of course not. When Spencer actually thought about the two committing murder and disposing of the body (because of course Spencer would have to be Serenity's partner-in-crime after helping to come up with a plan), it was laughable. The kind of material that was used in comedies.

» That didn't mean it was impossible, though.

» "An inept new hire, huh? Sounds like fun,"

[/color] Spencer said sarcastically as she drained away the last of her martini. She pouted at the empty glass before setting it on the bar counter. As an assistant, Spencer had yet to train any of the employees at the Coco Cabana. Her manager, who had trained her (not that Spencer needed the training) always thought Spencer worked better behind the counter--which she did--than training new employees. And it was true. The one time Spencer had been told to train an employee, she just spent the whole time raving about how awesome being a bartender was and when they asked about drink combinations and mixes, she just did them herself and showed off a lot. It wasn't very effective training.

» Spencer felt a tad offended when Serenity asked her how much she'd had to drink that far. In Spencer terms, it really wasn't that much. The girl could get down to half a bottle of Grey Goose on her own before she lost the ability to walk in a straight line. So her lips got a little bit looser--no big deal. She talked a mile and a half normally anyway. "Hey. Hey! I have not had that much to drink yet. In fact, I could use another martini, so. Suck it."[/color] Spencer stuck her tongue out at Serenity, but her expression quickly changed to one of faux shock. "Is that all our friendship means to you? Free drinks?! And here I thought we had a deep connection."[/color] Even though Spencer knew Serenity was joking (well, half-joking was more like it), she couldn't help but note that alcohol had a lot to do with her and Serenity's relationship. In some ways, it was the glue that held them together, but also the substance that tore them apart. They'd spent more nights together drunk (or at least tipsy) than they'd spent sober--and that worked for them. To be honest, Spencer wouldn't have had it any other way.

» At Serenity's slip-up, Spencer burst out laughing and quickly hid her wide grin behind her hand as she tried to stifle her giggles. She looked over her shoulder and saw her co-worker indeed glaring at the both of them, but the sight just made her laugh more. "That was a terrible cover up,"[/color] she whispered to Serenity, still giggling. Spencer shook her head at her friend who simply didn't have the slyness and smoothness that a quick thinker needed. Spencer sometimes worried about how Serenity was going to survive in the world, but really, Spencer wasn't exactly a role model for survival herself.

» Then it was Serenity's turn to laugh at her. Spencer made a perplexed face at her friend when she asked her about the origins of the phrase "stiff tits". Spencer had been under the impression that it was a regular colloquial phrase. "I don't think it's British..."[/color] Spencer trailed off because she really didn't know. She'd never been to Britain even though her family definitely had enough money to send her there every summer. In fact, she'd been very few places outside of the U.S. and that was mostly due to her father's problems, her mother's overbearingness and overprotectiveness and how Spencer was 99% sure that if she went overseas on her lonesome, she would either end up dead, broke, sold into slavery, pregnant, or all of the above (and not quite in that order). Spencer's knowledge of British slang was pretty limited to what she'd picked up from Harry Potter, if she was going to be completely honest. However, Serenity didn't sound too off the mark with her guess. "Me mum wouldn't approve o' me saying such naughty words, mate,"[/color] Spencer said, attempting something like a Cockney accent. It was the British accent she was most familiar with and she wasn't half bad at it. That came from working as an actress. Of course, her wording didn't quite make sense. That came from her being tipsy.

» Before Serenity could even finish accepting Spencer's offer, Spencer had rocketed up off of her bar stool and was scampering to get behind the counter. Her co-worker gave her an odd look and insisted that it wasn't time for her shift yet, but Spencer wasn't listening. "Move it, buster!"[/color] she exclaimed, hip-checking him to get him out of the way. There was little Spencer got very excited about these days, but bartending was definitely one of those things. She took any opportunity to show people that sometimes, drinking like a fish paid off for you. Well, in her case it did. For the most part. If you ignored all those stomach pumps from the past. But no one knew about those.

» Spencer blinked before getting back on task. Wow, how quickly her mind drifted. She smiled at Serenity--a kind of sly, cat-like smile--and put her elbow up on the counter while resting her chin on her fist. "So lady, what'll you be having today?"[/color] Spencer winked and got to work on a drink for Serenity. The question had been rhetorical. After spending so many years with Serenity, Spencer knew her friend's alcoholic tastes very well and unless things had changed in her college years, she could predict just what Serenity wanted. Especially if she wanted it strong. She started preparing an Ice Bomb for Serenity, which had actually been one of Spencer's personal favorites in college. It was always a great party starter...and ender, for that matter. It was a little early to be drinking still, but since when had Serenity and Spencer ever paid mind to normal drinking etiquette? If they felt a moment called for alcohol, then there would be alcohol. Copious amounts of it.

» There weren't many fancy tricks involved in the preparation of an Ice Bomb, but Spencer tried to make her pouring seem as smooth as possible. She grabbed bottles of vodka from the bar effortlessly and moved very fluidly, like those crazy kids in those cup stacking contests. Once done, Spencer proudly served her creation to Serenity, confident that the girl would love it. "The aftertaste should be more of a kicker, so watch out,"[/color] Spencer said as she started to prepare another dirty martini for herself. Her co-worker stood behind her, no longer reprimanding her for draining all the alcohol from the bar. Maybe he'd just been so impressed with her obvious confidence in her work. Spencer sure hoped so; that was the kind of stuff you couldn't teach, no matter what kind of training you had.

» Spencer plopped her olive into her drink as she finished it up and slid back into her seat next to Serenity. "So,"[/color] she started, drawing out the word as she swished her cocktail glass around in her hand, "what's really bugging ya, sweetcheeks? It's gotta be something mroe than a dumb employee, right? I mean, I don't blame ya--your job kinda sucks."[/color][/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

» tagged;; serenity alison reed ! » outfit;; here.
» lyrics;; like a g6 -- far east movement.
» music;; waking up -- funeral for a friend.
» words;; 1,313. » notes;; I hope Tangled was fun a second time! ;]
» credit;; template is all mine, bby!

[/center][/size]

[SERENITY ALISON REED]

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SO NO ONE TOLD YOU LIFE WAS GONNA BE THIS WAY
it’s like you’re always stuck in second gear
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Serenity took offense at the disbelieving look Spencer had given her. She could be violent. She could stand up for herself. Maybe she didn’t have a very good track record of doing that, but it was totally possible, right? And not being able to stand the sight of blood didn’t mean you couldn’t make someone bleed. And being physically repulsed at the thought of doing bodily harm to someone didn’t mean that…actually, maybe Spencer was right. Serenity shrugged and let the matter drop, considering the fact that if she ever was in a situation where she needed to commit murder, she’d probably wimp out at the last second and make her nautical-looking friend there do it anyways. You needed to keep your murder friend on your good side. It was just common sense.

…sometimes, Serenity didn’t understand her own mind.

“Oh yes, if by ‘fun’ you mean ‘cruel and unusual punishment served with a side of broken glass,’” she replied in an uncharacteristically sarcastic manner, taking a moment to sip her drink. She’d been really on edge lately, it seemed. It wasn’t PMS, and she wasn’t hungover, which were generally the only reasons this particular young lady would be so biting and frustrated, so she really didn’t know what was going on. And of course, not understanding her own actions just made her even angrier. It was a vicious, vicious cycle.

Kind of like her drinking habits. She drank to forget her problems, but being drunk so damn often caused even more problems that, of course, needed to be forgotten. It was really pathetic how much of her life depended on alcohol. It was probably more than Spencer or the others even knew or would ever suspect. So even if Spencer had had a lot to drink already, it would have been a serious case of the pot calling the kettle black if Serenity chastised her for it. Both of them seemed to have a lot of problems to forget, even if neither of them fully knew what the others’ problems were. Serenity suspected that hers were probably the less serious, which made her feel guilty about her dependence, as though she were weak. Which, in all honesty, she was.

After spending so much time brooding and having such serious thoughts, it was suddenly a little difficult to keep up the lighthearted teasing that she had initiated just minutes before. But she had to keep it up now, or else she’d be forced to talk about her brooding, and really, Serenity wasn’t looking for a pity party. In fact, that was the last thing she wanted. The spotlight was rarely on her; she tended to stay on the sidelines in most situations, only just barely being involved in pretty much anything that was going on. She was the afterthought friend. The one the wingman distracted so their cool friend could get the cool girl. The last resort.

Wait, that couldn’t be true. Could it? No, there was no denying that Serenity did indeed have close friends. As if to reassure herself of this, she stuck her tongue out and made a face when Spencer dissed her cover-up skills. But it was true that she tended to be put on the backburner when anything “dramatic” or “intense” was happening. Maybe it was just because she was rarely directly involved. Maybe it was because she was a fair-weather friend.

Well, even if that were true, the weather was certainly fair right now. They were obviously getting along just fine, acting like goofy teenagers again. Any complaining on her part would just ruin the moment. She might as well enjoy it while it lasted. Serenity fully tuned into the conversation again just as Spencer was attempting to sound English—the key word being “attempting.” Serenity found herself giggling again. “I didn’t know leprechauns went on cruises,” she teased. She couldn’t do any better, of course—she wasn’t even going to try. That would just be way too embarrassing.

But there was nothing to laugh about when Spencer got up and got to work on making Serenity’s drink. In fact, she really couldn’t help but smile proudly as she watched how suddenly serious and concentrated her friend had gotten. A lot of people really underestimated Spencer. Maybe she didn’t take a lot of things seriously that she should, but that didn’t mean she was incapable or anything. If anything, it just made those things that she did take seriously all the more special.

That being said, Serenity accepted the drink handed to her with a smile, raised it and said, “Cheers!”, and took a nice long drink, after which she certainly understood the validity of Spencer’s warning about the strength. Well, good. It was exactly what she had wanted, then. She took another drink with a grin.

The grin disappeared as Spencer’s questioning began. She had been expecting it, of course, but that didn’t mean she wanted to answer. Still, she was prepared to explain her suspicions about the possible suckiness of the cruise based on what was already happening until she heard Spencer’s little additive at the end: “I mean, I don’t blame ya—your job kinda sucks.”

Serenity’s face instantly clouded over, and she pushed the drink away a little, preparing to get up and leave if the questioning continued along that line. “I just don’t think it bodes well for the rest of the trip if things are already going wrong,” she replied flatly and rather unconvincingly. It wasn’t fair that she was stuck training inept employees and blending fruit in a stupid looking uniform in a hot kitchen for the entire cruise while Spencer got to do what she loved while mingling in the open air. It wasn’t fair that she still didn’t know what she was doing with her life when everyone around her seemed to be absolutely thrilled with where they already were. It just wasn’t fair.

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WHEN IT HASN’T BEEN YOUR DAY, YOUR WEEK
your month, or even your year
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tagged; spencer!
notes; Not as much fun as I had with your mom last night, wuuuut
lyrics; I’ll be there for you by the rembrandts
listening to; that one song from moulin rouge about sex and whatever, you know?
word count; 976
outfit; here, stop complaining
credit; to brooke from caution