Inside Out {{Karl Jacobs}}

𓇚 four 𓇚

Sleep was one of Elsies favourite things. She loved staying in bed on her days off and lounging around, sleeping until early afternoon and doing nothing. Except now she was sleeping on astroturf with no blanket and no pillow and couldn't stand the thought of sleeping any longer.

There was only one person that loved their sleep more than Elsie did, and that was the mess of brown hair sleeping next to her. He grumbled for the first twenty minutes, then scowled for the next thirty. Overall, it took Henry two hours to fully wake up and brighten to his normal bubbly self.

"I know I've said this before," he spoke offhandedly, "but this time I definitely mean it when I say I won't last too much longer" he stretched his back.

"This floor is kicking my arse," Elsie told him, rolling over to lay on her back instead, her arms stretched above her head.

They laid in silence for a while, staring off into the ceiling, as were most people still in the circle.

It'd gotten tiring; doing nothing all day. Despite not using much energy they were becoming slow, bored and restless, people were dropping like flies, not able to keep up with the ways of the circle.

Elsie reconned she had a few more days in her, as long as she did more than Henry she would be happy; she was nothing if not competitive.

Her mind drifted to her bed, a comfy surface with pillows surrounding her, a smile came to her face. She'd lay there with Henry and her roommate, and other best friend, Faye, watching movies and eating junk food. It was her perfect weekend.

They'd fought tooth and nail to make Faye join them in the challenge but she declined over and over, stating that if she needed money that desperately she'd just ask her father.

Henry had made a quiet snarky comment about how not all of us have rich fathers, but had otherwise glazed past the issue.

They loved Faye, she was their best friends and had been for years, but she didn't quite have a grasp on the idea of not being born into money - which often was a point of tension in their small group.

She was the type of person to throw money at a problem to make it go away, flashing cash to eager eyes and getting her way every time. Henry and Elsie had begged her to stop doing it to them at simple times, to win a game of Mario Cart or to sit in the front seat, it was all juvenile to them, but it was simply who she was.

Faye had never had a job, or had to pay for her car or petrol or even her own clothes. They lived very different lives, but Elsie didn't blame her for that. How could she blame somebody for learnt actions? It'd how Faye had been brought up by her family.

It did help that Faye could pay their bills when Elsie and Henry were struggling or between jobs. But they'd never force Faye to pay their way, they worked for it.

It was one of the reasons Elsie had agreed to this whole challenge, strapped for cash and getting to spend time with her best friend. How could she say no?

"How do you think Fayes doing?" She wondered aloud.

"In a comfy bed, allowed to walk anywhere she wants and a wade of cash in each hand? I'm sure she's hating life" he joked, a smile on his lips but another emotion in his words.

Elsie knew how Henry felt about Faye's money situation.

Whilst Elsie had accepted that Faye would always be like this, that her life was easier than theirs, through no fault of her own, Henry wasn't quite there.

He made comments and rolled his eyes, though he still loved Faye as much as any best friend would, he simply had a chip on his shoulder that nothing could fix.

Henry had grown up poorer than most, food stamps and homeless shelters littered his childhood memories, and whilst he had accepted it at the time he just couldn't seem to get passed it around Faye.

With her casual mentions of childhood ski trips or her butler and personal nanny, Henry's mind always swayed back to stealing from markets at nine years old and not seeing his mothers for hours as she worked to provide.

But it wasn't only Henrys, albeit understandable, jealousy of Faye's childhood that made the threesome ripple. Faye often flaunted the fact she grew up better off, even with the knowledge of Henrys own woes.

Elsie had sat her down to talk about it a few times, noticing Henrys discomfort way more than Faye did. But the auburn-haired girl would simply roll her eyes, way too interested in her manicured nails, mentioning how she was only trying to share her experiences, hoping that Henry could live through her vicariously.

Elsie knew that Faye meant well, she wouldn't purposefully make somebody feel bad, but with Henry, it seemed to happen a lot.

Even when Henry and Elsie had first announced their plans to go into the circle Faye had detested the idea. Not knowing how somebody would 'embarrass themselves enough to basically beg for money'

Again something that didn't go over well.

"I wonder if she ate my grapes, they're probably out of date by now" she spoke openly, trying to move on quickly.

"Don't talk about food right now"

———————
Written: 28th April 2022
Published: 4th May 2022
Backstory :* sorry if you hate faye lmao eat the rich an all,,, also will be updating this more now that i've rewatched the video and know what happens lmao sorry for just disappearing for a few months