#mentioned:milo

[rhia-falla]

IN CHARACTER TASK 004: interrogations pt. 2

Her mouth hid behind her cup, and while liquid pressed against her tongue Rhia made no effort to gulp down the water. She wondered if they noticed the tremble in her hand, or the sweat gathering at her brow. Maybe they would assume it was from that overheard beam; why did they have to make it so damn bright? There was no way the lighting was very flattering.

“Rhiannon,” a congenial voice called. She hated being called that. It sounded so stiff and formal. “You still there? Where did you go? Relax, sweetie. This is just routine questioning,” the raven-haired agent teased. Their affability with her only pushed her further on edge, Rhia split between keeping her guard up or appearing natural.

“Yes,” she agreed meekly. The agents in front of her exchanged a look, though she couldn’t read the unperturbed expressions they wore. She struggled to slow her breath, trying to remain calm by reminding herself how uneventful the last round of questioning went for her. There was no reason to hold onto this debilitation; regardless how she tried to console herself, her arms felt like jello and her heart felt on the verge of collapse.

“We’re going to begin now, okay?” Agent Choi asked. She gave a shy nod.

"Can you talk about your time capsule video? Give us some context for the clip that was leaked?”

She was left speechless like the FBI agent just reached over and gut punched her. They asked what everyone these last few days beat around the bush; though, she was well aware of the speculation revolving around the tidbit of information she shared in her time capsule. Still, that did not mean she wanted to discuss it, let alone in the presence of three strangers whose sole purpose was to place judgement on her.

“Do I have to?” Rhia scrambled, unease clear in her tone. She let out a stressed stream of air, losing the battle to her growing discomfort. How could she have been stupid enough to be willingly do this? How was she stupid enough to think she could stand up for herself when she needed it most?

“It would do us wonders in our investigation. You’ve no idea what a little school gossip can do to paint a picture for us,” Agent Choi smiled, though the warmth didn’t carry past their lips. They must have decided they hated her already.

She thought about her feature in the video leak, she replayed her words endlessly since she was forced to watch them alongside the entire student body. She took a deep breath, encouraging herself to be cooperative for Greer’s sake. “Well, no one, really,” she lied, eyes peeking up occasionally to Agent Choi and Agent Murray. “Like, no one relevant,” she clarified. “It’s just a lesson us girls have to learn, y’know? It was more general commentary about love than anything...”

“Your peers seem to have a different idea as to what you meant in your video,” Agent Murray interrupted beside Choi. “You’re certain no one comes to mind?”

His name was on the tip of her tongue, like a snake bite slowly slithering deeper into her bloodstream. She had no idea what the implications of verbalizing it meant. For the investigation, for him, for her own sanity. She nervously laughed, and an arm crossed over her chest to rub soothingly up and down her inner elbow. “Well, my boyfriend back in high school, but I doubt his name would be very help-”

“What about Jesse Hart?”

“What about him?” she snapped back, too quickly. Her razor sharp tone spooked even herself, and she bounced into a straightened, proper posture. Her wide eyes examined the surprise on Choi’s face, the distaste in Murray’s, and the intrigue in the face of the agent in the back.

“You reportedly dated.” A long moment of silence followed.

“Yeah. Months ago. We barely even speak now,” Rhia explained, irked by the inevitability of Jesse squeezing into her life. It infuriated her to think it was a lie, that everyone was right to assume she was talking about Jesse in her video. Maybe not entirely, but enough for his name to come up now.

What made her even angrier was being doomed to the same fate with Nate, something she was even further from unpacking aloud. As convinced and as comfortable as she got being held by him, Nate was just as quick to revoke his love from her and leave Rhia high and dry, wondering and waiting with no sign of sanctuary. She didn’t blame him, she couldn’t be angry with him. All she could do was allow her heart to ache for him.

Unknowingly, she made all the same mistakes and ended up on the same exact path to being strangers. She would never be worth it, for anyone. Her lip quivered, and shame made her face go tomato red. An interrogation room was no place to break down over being unloved by an ex lover. “He’s not even the person I was referring to, though,” she insisted. “Can we just-” she groaned in obvious frustration. “Can we just move on?”

“Had you ever heard of anything regarding THE NAIVE NEWCOMER using steroids?”

Steroids did not at all seem the type of thing Kit would be into. Sure, he was handsome and muscly, but he also seemed hardworking... and Greer never mentioned anything about impotency issues. “That sounds like another version of some lame gossip that gets spread every couple days around here,” Rhia countered. She knew relatively nothing about the naive newcomer, but from what she saw he was good people. His goodness made her feel obligated to stick up for him, even if she was dead wrong.

Yet, she knew firsthand how seamlessly one could maintain public appearances if they were high-functioning. Good people struggled with all sorts of abuse, and while she wanted to give Kit the grace of letting him answer to these accusations himself, it almost seemed like a piece of the puzzle Rhia was missing. “As far as I knew, that kid is as straight edge as you can come across. Unregulated amounts of testosterone doesn’t really mesh with his vibe to me.”

“Did you know him well?”

“Hm? Kit?” she considered. She scraped her teeth across her bottom lip, reflecting on her relationship with the naive newcomer. Of course, they were friends. Rhia had a deep fondness for Kit, though she really never gave him much more than a brief greeting while he was with Greer. “No. Not really. But I know he’s a sweet boy. I don’t know anything about a drug problem, but it seemed like he really loved Greer. I can’t see him having anything to do with this.”

“Had Greer brought up breaking up with him ever? Or anything of the sort, like she did in her video?”

“Never,” Rhia ascertained. She shifted uncomfortably, unsure how to explain what Greer meant in her video. “She seemed comfortable with him. They looked cute together,” she explained with a shrug. Yet in retrospect, Greer breaking his heart explained the loneliness she felt emanating from Kit. She always assumed it was from the unexpected departure, but she’d felt it even during their brief time together. His yearning for comfort, his yearning for someone to make him feel a little less alone. “It was a shock to me, honestly.”

“Some other students have brought up your relationship with Greer. Why do you think they thought it was relevant?“

The words made her freeze, Rhia suddenly realized she was sitting in this seat not as a potential witness but as someone to be suspicious of. She scoured her mind, searching for anyone that may have thrown her under the bus and coming up dry. Except Mimi. Or Milo. Perhaps even one of her friends. Who was to say they weren’t capable of selling her out? “Well, um,” her voice shook, her alarm splintering her composure. “We’re close. She’s one of my best friends. It’s true, we haven’t been friends for as long, but that’s my bestie. We’re basically soulmates except she never wanted to kiss me.”

Agent Choi motioned to Murray, leaned over and exchanged a few hushed words with the other. They shuffle through a few pages of notes, and despite her attempts she can’t make out any of the words. “Would you know any details about Greer’s relationship with Mr. Hart, your ex-boyfriend?” they asked, the glint in their dark eyes mocked Rhia with the answer.

What did they know about it? Could she even muster it in herself to lie? She told herself to breathe, yet each inhale caught in her throat. Her lungs felt completely deflated of air, and she gasped for more yet nothing broke through. She was drowning, right in front of them and no one moved a finger to help her.

The entire time she naively fell for him, Jesse was fucking her friend behind her back, the self-incrimination shouted proudly to the world in his own video leak. Though, she should have found it obvious enough by Greer’s constant sneering, the quips she couldn’t help but throw her way about Jesse. She could remember every smug look the golden girl threw her way when her boyfriend folded easily to her will. Even amongst them, they still recognized her as phony. Even after letting Greer change everything about the way she presented herself, she was a cheap replica at best. Greer reveled in Rhia’s inferiority to her, and Rhia couldn’t even hate her for cuckholding her boyfriend. Why wouldn’t she? She was certainly capable. Maybe that was the price Rhia paid in exchange for Greer’s fame. Now that she was missing, Rhia’s animus felt illegal.

“Do you need a moment to get yourself together?” a brusque rumble broke her trance. Unforgiving, blue orbs stared back at her, and Rhia wondered when the agent in the back approached. She was crying. She wiped at the tears on her cheeks, astounded, speechless, and completely empty. “Let’s give her a moment,” he commanded.

“No,” Rhia pushed back. She stood from her chair, head hung low as she rushed to retreat. “Sorry I’m not of more use to you, officers. Agents,” she corrected. Her fingers were spread wide, pressed urgently against the table. Apparently, she accidentally knocked over the paper cup full of water. “I think it’s best I just leave. I don’t have the information you’re looking for,” she said gravely. Rhia couldn’t bear to pick up her face and risk seeing the resentment in their eyes. “I’m allowed to go, right?” With a brief nod of approval from the agent, Rhia hurried out of the door, away from the accusatory stares and the invasive questioning.

[rhia-falla]

ollieinoue​:

“Yeah, I think he’s doing okay,” Ollie said, nodding his head. He was not the sort of person to ask to assess someone else’s mental health. He didn’t even have a grasp of his own. He just sort of accepted people as they were, and suggested maybe drugs if they weren’t doing well. Not a great way to cope, but it was his way to cope. Besides, while he considered himself and Jesse to be good friends they weren’t exactly having long emotional conversations about their wellbeings together. If someone asked Jesse how he thought Ollie was doing, he’d probably say the exact same thing. There was no reason for either of them to think differently. “Sam told me she hung out with him over Halloweekend, and had nothing but great things to say, so…” Ollie shrugged his shoulders, making a casual noncommittal sound. Sam usually didn’t have anything but great things to say about everything, which meant he wasn’t totally sure how accurate of a description that was. But she was pretty good at getting people to be on their best behavior, so he couldn’t imagine anything bad happening.

Ollie nodded his head slowly, trying to consider all the options. Rhia might not be able to believe anyone doing all of this, but somebody was. Somebody knew something about Greer. Somebody was fucking with them. Somebody was either working with Greer to fuck with them because they believed that they had all done something wrong, or somebody was using Greer’s image or presence (or lack there of) to fuck with them while destroying Greer’s reputation, as Monty had suggested the other day. It didn’t feel like Milo would do something like that. He was a dick but he was very up front about it. But everything was pointing to Milo.

He gave a snort, and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, Milo’s told me a lot of things. Maybe I’ll sleep with him first,” he said. That was a joke. Though who was to say it wouldn’t work? Ollie had seen Milo maybe at his softest, usually after they slept together when he was a little drunk. It was an option… “I appreciate the offer but I feel like having more than one person there would probably make it seem like an interrogation, and I can’t see him reacting well to that.” Ollie couldn’t see him reacting well to any of this. “I will be as careful as I always am, don’t worry.” He meant it sincerely, but had he ever really been careful about anything?

Ollie leaned his head backwards looking up at the sky for a long moment, before he turned to look back at Rhia, head tilted against his shoulder and eyebrows raised. “That’s all the news here,” he said, reaching over and putting an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. “What about you?” The question was casual. He wouldn’t ever force someone to talk to him that didn’t want to, but of course he wanted to know what had happened to make Rhia leave as suddenly as she did without any notice. Or at least what she’d been up to since she’d been gone. Even if it was the uneventful pointless moments of her day. He just wanted to know that she had been okay.

-

“That’s good,” she retorted, almost too fast. Tempted to leave it at that, Rhia wanted to maintain an air of disinterest all the while clinging on to every last one of Ollie’s words. She tried to gloss over knowing it wasn’t her place to check in, that her concern was misguided and her ex would be perfectly fine without her.

In any case, it was reassuring to hear Sam was spending time with Jesse. Her vitality naturally radiated and could be felt by those around her, covering them in a cloak of nurturing warmth. If anyone could lift his mood, surely it was Sam.

“Bless her heart, I am going to give her the biggest bear hug when I see her,” Rhia enthused, dropping the previous matter in a moment’s notice. “You think I’m strong enough to pick her up like you did me?” she asked. Rhia held up an arm, flexing her bicep to show off for Ollie’s approval. Though, there wasn’t much bulk to showcase.

Ollie’s suggestion was honestly a decent one. Most wouldn’t believe the long-held secrets men would whisper after some whiskey and a rough fuck. “I mean, if it’s helping out the cause, right?” Rhia teased, squeezing his wrist. As much as she hated the idea of Ollie confronting this on his own, he had a point. Her presence would only put Milo on edge, if not for her intimidating demeanor but because of his distaste for her.

“Oh, yeah?” she probed playfully. “So, did that start while I was gone?” Ollie could be just as rash as Rhia, though she suspected it may have been a lot more deliberate for him. He was too smart not to understand consequences, yet she’d also known him to be someone who eagerly threw caution to the wind.

She gratefully slumped into Ollie’s side, holding the fingers of the hand that lay on her shoulder and resting her head on his collarbone. She considered how to answer his question, how much she could tell him and how much she should leave out. Why was it always so difficult to just be truthful? “Well, you’re the first person I’ve told about being back. I just wish I had something exciting like that to share,” Rhia shook her head. “I feel like my whole life has just been on pause this last month,” she said, blinking downward. “It’s just... it’s nice to be back. Maybe excluding all the morbid shit still going on.”