Broken Heroes - - -

[Ember Thistle Grant]

The ghosts were catching up to her and the strong blonde couldn’t see how fast her walls were crumbling. In her fight to regain some control over her life, she was spiralling out of control and this time it seemed as though there was no hand to pull her to safety, though, in reality, Ember wasn’t looking for one this time around. This wasn’t a cry for attention and it wasn’t her finding a way to rebel either, but an internal struggle that she was throwing on the world around her too. The grieving process was different for everyone, but Ember bottled things up, was snappy with the psychiatrist and argued with her family whenever they questioned how she was holding up. Three years had passed since the accident, but Ember was still not feeling any better. Sure, she ploughed though each day as though it didn’t bother her, but in reality, the locket usually worn around her neck in private hung heavy like the chains of Jacob Marley. The emotional ache in her heart was a result of the physical ache and Ember hated herself for it more than she would ever let anyone see.

The dangerous pit of self- loathing that Ember fell into this time was expanded to consume those around her too and in the offices she was yelling at everyone, telling the businessmen who were trying to haggle costs and deals with her exactly where she’d like to shove the guns and telling Andrew and Zoe to back off whenever they tried to talk to her about it. She partied harder than normal, purposely skipped her pills in an act of defiance against her heart and the trouble it had caused her, just when things had been starting to look up for the then teenage blonde. It was a deadly path and one that no one seemed to be able to stop her going down anymore, especially since they all seemed to have their own lives all worked out.

The business major stormed down the hallway, her heels practically slamming against the hard floor as she moved angrily towards the student lounge, carelessly knocking freshmen out of her way when they tried to cross to another corridor or stairwell. Her chest felt tight, the small bottle of pills laying ignored at the bottom of her bag in the same way that she ignored the voice of logic that tried pounding in her head every morning when she woke up feeling like an eighteen wheeler had ran right over her and then reversed, just for emphasis. Right now, she needed coffee and a punchbag, though her gym session would have to wait until after her following class just before lunch. She didn’t plan on leaving the gym until she collapsed, so for now it would be more caffeine to add to her already pleading heart. If there was a self-destruct button on the twenty one year old, then someone had pushed it and made a good job of making sure it worked.

Inside the lounge, Ember glared at a group of kids laughing. What did they have to be so damn happy about? The world sucked majorly and fate had a vendetta against her for some reason. Someone had left their things rested against the sofa where she usually collapsed between classes and without giving a damn about who it belonged to, she kicked it away, getting herself a coffee before falling into the now unoccupied place. If someone had a problem with her rearranging their seating plan then they could have it out with her, though Ember was not in the mood to be dealing with whiny little kids. Groaning, she flipped open a textbook, but didn’t bother to read the words as she sipped the coffee, her chest still screaming out for attention, and not in the way her chosen shirt may suggest.

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• • •

TAGGED! Open!
WORDS!682
OUTFIT! Hot Mess!
LYRICS! Born To Run - - - Bruce Springsteen
NOTES! <3

[Sorina Elisabeta Lupescu]

Rina had been working hard to catch up from work. She’d been on so many runways; she’d lost count within the two Fashion weeks she’d walked in February. First she’d walked in Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion week, then the moment she’d finished her last walk, she’d changed grabbed her luggage and hailed a taxi for JFK for Heathrow and London Fashion Week. It had been exhausting, ridiculously crazy and completely amazing. She’d done all the major fashion weeks before, along with a couple of the smaller ones, so she was used to the demanding schedule they had. Rina had missed her friends in the world. She was the only one of them that went to school, and had a ton of homework. She’d done as much as she could, getting Ember to email what she’d missed after the class was over, but even with the help, she’d had too many runways to walk and final fittings to get through to finish all the work.

And now she was back in New York, finally free until nearly the end of March, when she would be jetting off for another 23 runways. Rina sighed, closing her eyes and leaning back against the couch in the student lounge. There were other people, a group studying or more likely gossiping about nothing important but since she was actually interested in being at school, she ignored them completely. She’d had her headphones in place, blasting a mix of old and new music and her books scattered about her, with her laptop balancing on her knees and she switched from typing up points and notes to highlighting them in her various text books. Rina had been at it for a few hours now, finally moving from her apartment to the school lounge only ninety minutes before and she needed another break since the drive from her apartment to campus hadn’t been enough of one.

She grabbed her bag, with her travel mug and wallet inside and left the rest, slipping her laptop back in its bag for safe keeping. She’d be gone barely any time at all and figured if anyone would try to take anything, there was a group of student’s right there, so only the stupid would really try it. And besides that, it was all replaceable. While she was in line at the cart on campus, she refused to drink the sludge in the lounge anymore; she dug her travel mug out. And when her turn came around, she handed the colour mug over, along with her order. Rina smiled with relief as she exchanged the mug with her few bills, and headed right back into the building and her awaiting books.

Rina walked through the door and smirked at her friend, taking up the entire couch in the lounge. She’d been gone for less than five minutes and already her things were tossed aside and Ember was all comfortable looking. “Move your skinny designer clad ass down a cushion, would you, Ember?” Rina said, lightly kicking her foot out, amused that the other girl could say the exact same thing about the blonde model at that moment. She set her coffee down on the table before crouching down and gathering her strewn things. Besides the fact that she’d probably kicked her laptop a couple feet away, her textbooks were scattered and her pencil case was open with her highlighter and pen at either end of the table. “You couldn’t have just moved everything nicely, could you?” she asked, smirking. It was a rhetorical question. She didn’t know her classmate all that well, but Rina classified the other blonde as a friend, and they got along well enough. Rina finished gathering her things and putting them back in her bags before grabbing her coffee off the table and sitting down on the free cushion.

Tag|| Ember!
Words|| 641
Clothes|| Young and Free
Music|| Pink Guitar//Reba McEntire
Notes|| <3 <3 <3

[Ember Thistle Grant]

There were very few people on the NYU campus who Ember could tolerate for a long period of time and they were mainly those who could also brave her bad tempers and cold attitude most of the time. Zoe was high up there on the list as one of her closest friend but most of the rest were people who merely shared an interest or two with the explosive blonde. The majority of people who Ember socialised with usually were not the kind who would be caught dead occupying the halls of university trying to find ways to better themselves. They were much happier just passing through life doing what was necessary to survive and leaving the rest for those who could be bothered. She didn’t really let that bother her though. She was at university to make her future with the family company better and to educate herself further so that she didn’t have those businessmen looking at her like she was another secretary or assistant sent in to try and distract them from arguing the deal that was set in front of them. If Ember was going to help run that company then she wanted to be taken much more seriously by everyone who wasn’t blood related to her.

Her sapphire eyes flicked across the pages in the textbook, but didn’t really absorb their meanings. Most of business studies was relatively common sense made complicated by needed to know certain statistical projections and outcomes that Ember sometimes wished could be bluffed. Unlike most of her class, she wasn’t preparing for the unknown. She knew the business profits and losses of her own company and knew how to keep them looking good to prospective clients without getting too flashy or publicised. Luckily, such knowledge did give her a head start where others might struggle and because of it she found herself with much more free time on her hands than most students might have. It worked nicely into letting her party hard and worry later, though even now when she was falling into that abyss no one seemed to be able to rescue her from, her mind was still focused on keeping decent grades and pulling her weight.

At the voice and the kick, Ember glared up at the person who was speaking to her, her features softening just a fraction when she realised who it was. Rina, whilst not someone Ember hung out with frequently was on the list of the few people Ember didn’t want to punch in the face. “Ever heard of the magic word?”

[/color] Her tone didn’t mask her bad mood, but there was no real hostility in what she said and she did scoot over slightly for her friend. Her eyes moved to watch as Rina collected her things from the floor. If she had known they were hers Ember probably wouldn’t have thrown them so aggressively, but it was what she needed before she tore the head off a freshman like something out of a bad horror movie. “They were in my way.”[/color] She answered with a nonchalant shrug, flicking the page in her textbook and glancing back down at the words that were about as interesting as rain in April.
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• • •

TAGGED! Rina <3
WORDS!574
OUTFIT! Hot Mess!
LYRICS! Born To Run - - - Bruce Springsteen
NOTES! <3

[Sorina Elisabeta Lupescu]

Of the people at the school, and more specifically her classes, there were only a handful the young blonde got along with well enough to talk to outside of class. Ember was one of those people. Plus, she enjoyed teasing the other blonde a little bit. As much as Ember tried, Rina wasn’t scared off by her temper or frosty attitude; she’d been through a hell of a lot worse than some bitchy girl. Once you got past it all, and Sorina realized, once it showed that you weren’t at the school for just play and spending daddy’s money, Ember wasn’t all that bad, at least, not in Rina’s opinions. She was sure there were people around campus that had it out for the tall, slender blonde, but she wasn’t one of them.

Rina laughed good-naturedly, “Of course I have, have you, Hon?” she asked, picking up the last of her things and tossing them all into her red laptop case. It had never really been in Rina to hold a grudge of any kind. Life was way too short to hold onto the past and she knew it. It was easy for Rina to overlook things and just let them slide when she knew what she did. She’d almost lost her life before it had even begun, before she even knew what was really happening to her. At the time, she hadn’t really been aware. She’d known she was sick and staying away from her parents, but it had taken quite a few years before she realized how serious everything had really been.

The blonde model smirked behind her travel mug. “Well, I’ll make sure to tell them to stay out of your way next time,” She said with a roll of her eyes. Of the people she knew at the school, the ones with attitude like Ember were few and far between; as in there was only Ember that she’d come across so far. “Do you have the notes for last class handy?” she asked. They were the only ones she didn’t have yet and needed in case there was something in them for the midterm or final exam. She wasn’t one to slack off and she tried not to miss class, but when there were the major fashion Weeks, it was difficult to go to class when you were on the other side of the planet walking around in clothes worth more than her apartment.

Tag|| Ember!
Words|| 408
Clothes|| Young and Free
Music|| Pink Guitar//Reba McEntire
Notes|| Yikes! xD Sorry it's short <3 <3 <3

[Ember Thistle Grant]

Ember definitely was the kind of girl who had more enemies than she did friends, but she didn’t mind it that way. The less friends she had on her case, the easier it was to live her life how she pleased and most of her enemies knew well enough to keep out of her way unless they wanted a physical fight on their hands. It was easier to be feared by people than to have to live up to their expectations and keep them happy with whatever kind of friendship they expected from the gun wielding blonde.

She rolled her eyes at Rina’s happy attitude. She didn’t know how someone could be so perky considering the state of the world, the city and everyone else’s miserable life. She had yet to see Rina any less than happy, but she was growing more curious as to how her fellow blonde failed to see what the rest of their classmates saw when they looked at Ember; a girl who was twice as likely to punch you than to hug you. “I have, but I find it’s easier to scare people than to use it.”

[/color] She didn’t move her eyes from the textbook she was reading, though the words weren’t really sinking in. Her chest felt tight again and she wasn’t in the mood for the technical side of a world she already worked in and understood. It seemed pointless to have to know half of this nonsense, but she needed to pass the class in order to graduate so she grinned and bore it with a sour attitude and a snappy mouth.

“Yeah, you do that. It’ll probably save them from getting trampled on by some stupid freshman.”[/color] She let out an annoyed sigh that was not directed at Rina at all. Ember’s hostile attitude wasn’t all that she was and she knew that her fellow blonde meant her no harm or malice so she tried to promise the same courtesy back, though it was easier said than done with her life being the mess it was right now.
Despite her bad mood and destructive attitude of late, Ember had actually made it to her classes and managed to take notes, though she liked to keep Andrew under the illusion that she was screwing up every area of her life just for the hell of it. Why should he care anyway? She picked up the turquoise folder from her small collection and opened it, flicking through the papers until she reached the most recent scribbles. Her writing was legible but she did have a shorthand way of noting things down, but it shouldn’t be too complex for her friend to decipher. “Here you go. You didn’t miss much. He couldn’t get the slideshow to work again.”[/color] She said, her voice void of emotion as she slid the folder across to Rina.
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• • •

TAGGED! Rina <3
WORDS!516
OUTFIT! Hot Mess!
LYRICS! Born To Run - - - Bruce Springsteen
NOTES! <3

[Sorina Elisabeta Lupescu]

Growing up Rina didn’t have many friends. And the ones she did have didn’t exactly have life expectancies of anything higher than a handful of years. She’d basically lived in the hospital from the summer she turned seven until she was eleven and had her books and the other sick kids. Eventually the friends she did have before her diagnoses basically forgot about her, assuming for whatever reason that she’d just moved away. But all of that meant that she made up for it when she was able to attend real school; despite the fact that she was grades higher than kids her own age, and the friends’ Rina did develop were a few years older than her. And when she started modeling, she made more friends, some who were just surface friends and others who actually cared about her and tried to help her out since she was so young and so green about the business. But she’d managed to make it through the industry without sleeping her way into shows like some of the more infamous around backstage.

It all meant that she didn’t honestly understand how Ember could be so happy being next to friendless. Of course, Rina didn’t know much about her friend, and knew absolutely nothing about Ember’s past; not even the basics really. She did know there was a brother, but she’d never met him. Of course, she also didn’t claim to know anything more than what her friend told her either. Besides, Rina wasn’t exactly an open book herself, so she couldn’t talk. She kept most of her past to herself, telling no one of her childhood. Sorina shrugged, trying not to laugh. “Te prind mai multe albine cu miere decât în oþet,” she said lightly, switching seamlessly to her native tongue. It had been one of her mother’s favourite quotes when Rina was out of the hospital, just starting real school and nervous about meeting people.

Rina shrugged, “If a freshman tramples my things, I’ll make sure they buy me replacements,” she said, smiling behind her coffee. She didn’t have an attitude or the icy glare Ember had, but she could get what she wanted just as easily. Sorina wished she didn’t miss so much school for work, but it was important to her to be able to do both. It wasn’t like she booked shows in every single fashion week; just a few of the major ones. And in those, she booked more than one show, so really, she was doing a lot in the four to ten days that she was away. Though she was thankful she knew someone in her classes that didn’t mind lending her their notes to catch up with.

The young blonde just rolled her eyes. It was like the professor had issues with technology; one minute it would work for him and the next it was on the fritz. It was a miracle they actually learned anything during that class. “Thanks,” she said, accepting the notes and glancing quickly at them. “He really needs a tech assistant,” she said, shaking her head. The notes, like her own, were written in what her mother joked as being all in code. It usually annoyed her when the Author’s forgot to correct something in their manuscript and she couldn’t decipher it. Luckily, Rina didn’t have that problem with Ember’s writing.

Tag|| Ember!
Words|| 562
Clothes|| Young and Free
Music|| Pink Guitar//Reba McEntire
Notes|| <3 <3 <3