* home for the weekend;; [juli]

[liliane lisette reese]

i wanna know what it's like
to be awkward and innocent, not belligerent

It was Friday. Glorious Friday. The day when, after classes and work at the hospital, Liliane could go out, let loose, and have fun. She definitely needed it, too; it had been a very long week. Two papers had been due; her computer had broken (thankfully after both papers were completed) and she'd had to pick up an extra shift at the hospital to cover repairs; and, perhaps most exhausting of them all, one of the patients at the hospital had gotten kind of grabby. Well, that was being polite, really. In all actuality, the nasty pervert had groped any female doctor, nurse, patient, or, unfortunately for Liliane, desk clerk that walked by and claimed his Alzheimer's was making him forget who his wife was, and this was apparently the only way he could check. Liliane had come very close to slapping the old man right out of his feeding tube, but decided in the end it wasn't worth it. But now she didn't have to worry about that, because it was Friday.

And then she got her sister's text telling her that she was going to stay with her for the weekend.

Why the hell did Juli have to ruin this for her? Did she ever consider that Liliane might already have plans that her arrival might interfere with? It wasn't like Lili could just go out clubbing and leave a fifteen year old still new to Brooklyn by herself in the apartment all night. She couldn't go home with some cutie from a bar, and she sure as hell couldn't bring someone home with her.

She'd heard Julianne's sob story about not making friends easily and being picked on before, of course, but it earned her no sympathy. It wasn't like Liliane hadn't gone through the same fucking thing at that age, but she had actually done something to remedy the situation rather than sitting there and taking the abuse. If Juli would just stand up for herself every now and then, she wouldn't have so many problems. But Lilly and Julie had always aww'd and poor baby'd her whenever she came home crying, and so they unconsciously encouraged her stupid behavior.

Needless to say, Liliane was pissed when she got home from work. She fumbled with her key while unlocking the door and dropped it twice, adding to her frustration. When she finally got inside, she slammed the door behind her before throwing her bookbag and purse across the room. That probably wasn't a wise decision, considering her laptop was in the bookbag, but Liliane really couldn't care less at the moment. She needed to do something to calm herself down before Juli got home. Unless she was already home.

"Jule? You here?" she called out. After waiting a moment and getting no reply, Liliane was satisfied that her sister wasn't home. Good. That gave her time to...to...well, do something. Usually when she got home on a Friday, she showered and got ready to go out again, but no, couldn't do that today. With a frustrated sigh, Liliane's gaze swept across the small apartment. What on earth could she do?

And then her gaze landed on the yoga mat hidden neatly under the table. At some point, she had gone to yoga classes for a few months--mostly because the yoga instructor was hot, but also because it really did help her calm down. And it made her more limber and flexible, which...came in handy. So she quickly changed into her yoga pants and a sports bra, pulled her hair back into a sloppy ponytail, and laid the yoga mat out so she could at least get through the preliminary stretches before she was rudely interrupted.

tagged: juliiii
words: 621
lyrics: 'l.g. fuad' - motion city soundtrack
outfit: clickit
notes: ta da! :]

[tinkerzombie]

*THEY MADE A STATUE OF US;;,
AND THEY PUT IT ON A MOUNTAIN TOP
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The subway always smelled like urine. Julianne supposed it was probably because several homeless people lived there and it was often used as their bathroom. Apparently, it wasn't bad enough that she had to worry about being stabbed, shot, or maimed, falling onto the tracks and being flattened by an unyielding car, or that there was an entire city bustling over her head that could at any moment collapse right on top of her, but she also had to worry about stepping in a stinking yellow puddle of secretion; she couldn't decide which of the scenarios was worse as she sat on the grimy, gratified seat, twisting a hay-colored braid around her pointer finger. Her bones jingled like the tiny plastic skeleton key chain on her backpack from the eerie movement and the broken light over her head as she thought of the trying week she had endured. The week of exams had proved a trying one, not only for her (she had received nothing higher than a low B on any exam) but all the bullies she had become the target of. She should have expected them to talk their frustrations out on her. Tuesday her library books had been flung out into the snow, Thursday had brought the taunts of two more angry kids as well as a brand new purple bruise. And, the cherry on top of the cake, just that morning she found that her favorite star-covered, black backpack had been stolen with all of her notebooks with her deepest secrets inside, her laptop she had only just received for her birthday, less than a year ago, and the journalism papers she had researched so tirelessly tucked inside. She found it later in a garbage can near the cafeteria, covered in spoiled milk. She had washed it three times, and could still smell the sour stench on it.

When the tracks came to a quick and lurching halt at her final destination, Juli was the first one to get off, nearly tripping over a small redheaded child that was entering the train with his parents. After shrugging off the mother's glare, Julianne walked down the hall and took the steps leading to the world above two at a time, hoping to rid herself of this god awful rat-ridden tunnel and forget the awful week that had just passed; she was thankful for the break, and that she had an older sister who lived just one subway ride away. And she knew she would never be a bother. In fact, she never even thought that Liliane would mind her presence in the apartment at all. After all, she wasn't loud, she was old enough not to need constant supervision, and if anyone would be cooking, it would be Juli. Silently, she reassured herself that she would not be a burden and that, in fact, Lili wouldn't be burdened with her at all.

As her mind drifted back into reality, she found herself unlocking the front door of the apartment, having gone through the all-too-familiar motions of finding her way to the building and letting herself in, only stopping to present a casual nod of greeting to the door man, and elderly fellow named Frank who must have been in his very late eighties. The door flew open, as if it were afraid of any muggers that might manhandle it upon not getting their way, and Juli stepped inside, gingerly setting her bag on the floor next to the door, listening to the distinct silence that only came with living on your own.

With a rush of emotion she realized exactly how glad she was to be out of school, and home, at least for the weekend. Her eyes welled up with a slight teariness that had become common since her days in middle school at the feeling of failure that came with being bullied. She thought of the apartment as a refuge, at least for now and was glad to find her sister at home waiting for her.

"Hi Lili." She said, a little surprised at the sadness that had crept it's way into her voice. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming earlier, I just...I had a really bad week."

*WORDS, 720
*TAG, Lili <3!.
*OUTFIT,dress up games;
*CREDIT, THIS AMAZING THREAD TEMPLATE IS MADE BY CC! OF CAUTION 2.0.
KEEP THIS CREDIT ON HERE OR I WILL CURBSTOMP YOU (IN THE MOST LOVING WAY POSSIBLE!)

[liliane lisette reese]

i wanna know what it's like
to be awkward and innocent, not belligerent

As Liliane cleared a spot in the living room for her mat--she'd been meaning to clean lately, honestly, but she just didn't have the time--she wondered how long her peaceful solitude would last before she was interrupted. As she recalled, that was why she'd given up yoga in the first place--well, doing it at home, anyways. If it wasn't a car alarm going off, it was the neighbors blasting music, or the phone ringing, or something. She considered turning her phone on silent, but if Juli somehow managed to get kidnapped or something, that probably wouldn't be a good idea. If that girl got kidnapped during yoga time, though, she was dead.

After the mat was laid out, Liliane slowly sat down on it and crossed her legs. She closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe more deeply and not think about how soon she was likely to be interrupted, and gently raised her arms over her head. Just as she was about to lower, them, though, she heard the key turn in the lock. Her breathing grew raspier and she cringed slightly. Please don't come in, please don't come in, please don't come in. And then Juli came in.

""Hi Lili." Of course. Of course she was here already. Julianne had already ruined her entire weekend; why wouldn't she ruin what little alone time she had managed to find as well? Liliane let her arms drop heavily to her side and opened her eyes with a frustrated sigh. "Hello, Julianne," she replied, her tone none too friendly.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming earlier, I just...I had a really bad week." Most people, upon hearing these words uttered in such a dejected tone, would have instantly felt some sort of sympathy towards the poor girl saying them. Most people would have forgiven her for ruining their weekends and gone to hug the forlorn little girl with a big hug and an "awwww" before giving her a cookie and telling her everything was going to be alright. But if there was one thing Julianne should have known about Liliane, it was that she was not like most people.

Liliane honestly couldn't muster up any sort of sympathy for her little sister. That wasn't to say she didn't care about her or anything; she still loved her, of course, in her own complex, twisted way. But she was a firm believer in the philosophy of "if you aren't going to do anything about a situation, you have no right to complain about it." It was a philosophy she had made up on her own, of course, but it was true nonetheless. All of the things that had likely happened to make Julianne's week a bad week were likely things that she could have done something to prevent if she would just grow a pair, for God's sake. Liliane's week had been bad, too, but that was all a matter of bad luck. She couldn't have prevented her cheap ass computer from breaking, or stopped the pervert from touching her in inappropriate places.

So no, Liliane didn't feel sorry for her sister in the slightest, and she did nothing to hide this fact. "Awww, poor baby," she said, and stuck out her lower lip in an over-exaggerated pout. It was clear that she was mocking the fifteen year old. "Do you want your big sissy to go beat up the big bad bullies for you?" Liliane rolled her eyes, stood up, and began rolling up her yoga mat. It was clear that, now that her sister was here, she would have no chance of being able to do anything productive involving that.

"I'll have you know that you are very lucky you caught me when you did, by the way," she added over her shoulder as she slid the yoga mat back under the coffee table. "My phone died immediately after I replied, so if you had waited two minutes longer to send the text, I never would have known you were coming and I would be gone by now. So consider yourself lucky, kid." When the mat was hidden away, Liliane sighed, stood up, and brushed her hands together. And then she had an idea. A wonderful, awful idea, like the Grinch. She smiled sweetly and made sure to clear her tone of any animosity before speaking again.

"Speaking of lucky, dear, you remember that takeout we had last week? Well, you just so happened to come on the day when I decided it was time to try it again." Liliane knew for a fact that Juli hadn't enjoyed the takeout from last week in the slightest--she was pretty much an open book, and the look of disgust on her face as she had been eating had been pretty obvious. That would teach her not to tell her these things last minute again.

tagged: juliiii
words: 817
lyrics: 'l.g. fuad' - motion city soundtrack
outfit: clickit
notes: dun dun dun