Elsie Nelley gets roped into a
ridiculous offer by her
best friend, on the grounds
that she can never turn down
a challenge, but got a lot
more than she bargained for.
Or
In which Karl Jacobs thought
he would have a normal day
working for Mr Beast...
At the end of the day, the circle shrank again, Nolan taking a foot each way. It didn't take long to fill in, but then again she wasn't really taking time seriously anymore.
"If I was claustrophobic this would be bad" Henry spoke dramatically, sighing loudly and falling back against Elsie, his head in her lap.
"But... you're not claustrophobic" she spoke with a smile, enjoying the boys' company more than anything, she was glad to be going through this with a friend.
"No, but if I was" he emphasised.
"But you're not" she teased, watching him pout up at her. It was the only entertainment she got, teasing him.
"Yeah, that's why I said 'if'" he told her, crossing his arms to show his annoyance but making no action to move.
"Well if you were green I'd call you Shrek" she spoke matter-of-factly.
"You know, you're lucky even to have friends- so fucking annoying" he muttered the last part, rolling his eyes at her games, again she could only laugh, leaning back on her hands.
Her eyes wandered the room, watching the smiley boy the small group had deemed 'lover boy' help to fill in the circle, he laughed at something the other man said.
His laugh lit up the room, melodic giggles, his whole body could crumple itself, his arms hugging his sides as he continued.
It was adorable.
"Stop it"
Her eyes glanced down, catching the smirk on the brown-haired boy's face.
"Stop what?" She acted obviously.
"Staring, it's creepy"
"It's not creepy" she fought.
"It is, stalker vibes really"
"Shut up" She pushed his head from her lap, forcing the boy's head onto the hard ground below.
But without her realising her eyes fluttered back to the boy, definitely not in a creepy way, but this time he was looking back.
Her eyes widened, but stayed on the boy, his on her too. A smile made its way to his face, offering her kindness without even knowing her. It seemed to be the kind of person he was.
Her mind wandered, albeit too fast, to picnics in the park and movie nights. To how his hand would feel in hers and how a single hug from him would feel.
She was getting ahead of herself, way too ahead of herself; she was already dreaming up dates and feelings with a man she's barely said three words to. In reality, she had barely managed to say one word to him, but that was neither here nor there.
By now he had wandered off to start another task, whilst she was stuck in this stupid circle.
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"Wake up" a finger poked her side, "wake up, wake up, wake up" It persisted until her eyes opened just enough to spot Henry annoyingly above her.
"What?" She slurred grogginess clear in her voice.
"They're doing a thing, rock paper scissors or something, I don't actually know, but we have to go so come on" he basically dragged her body up and over to the group, taking them to a place with a good enough view.
In front of the group was a camera crew, shining lights and lenses at them, but she was used to that by now.
Karl and one of the other players were at the centre, explaining what they were about to do. She had a good view of Karl, only seeing the back of the other guy.
When her eyes scanned the crowd she realised how drained of activity everybody was, to be fair this was probably the most exciting thing to happen all day, people seemed to be fully invested in the event.
Again, her eyes caught Karls when she looked back. He seemed to catch her eyes a lot, whether it was him or her to initiate it wasn't known.
Before long the man had been outdone, losing half a million over a game of rock, paper, scissors must have been harsh, but he seemed to take it well - stepping outside the circle swiftly.
Then, just like before, they dispersed, back to the boring day that soon became night.
The Beast team still wandered around, not leaving, she suspected that they slept there but didn't truly know.
It was nighttime, she assumed by the dimmed lights, when she heard a slight commotion.
Two men jumped towards a small packet on the ground, she walked closer to see, right next to the line was a packet of food, unfortunately, the hand that grabbed it seemed to cross.
"Unlucky" she spoke to herself.
"Yeah," a voice startled her, "it is"
She turned, only three feet away, leaving coloured lines on the ground between them, was Karl, laptop in hand.
Elsie froze, not meaning to of course, only able to let out a soft chuckle as he walked away to show the man his misfortune.
All over a packet of gummies, though she wasn't sure which one. At this point, she would probably have done the same without thinking of the consequences.
He soon walked out, just like the others, definitely something he'd kick himself over. With the entertainment gone, Elsie sat back down, a lot closer to the lines this time, picking at the grass to entertain herself.
"If you don't tell anybody," again the same voice scared her, feet appearing in front of her vision, " I can give you a pack"
He held up the blue pack of sweets, reading 'fruit snacks' on the front, her brows furrowed.
"I've never had them," she told him, willing her voice to stay steady.
"What!" He almost shouted before remembering all the sleeping people around them, "How have you never had them?"
"I don't know" she smiled up at him as he crouched down in front of her, "guess we don't have them back home"
"England?" He question, now crossing his legs, opening up the packet and popping it in his mouth before holding out the packet to her, just far enough so that she didn't have to reach across the line.
She hummed a yes, taking one herself, her eyes widening.
"They're good"
"Yeah, they are!" He giggled, eyes scanning her face, "I'm Karl"
"Elsie..."
————— Written: 1st May 2022 Published: 26th July 2023 Wow wrote this a year ago and just never released it, dunno when i'll update next but ppl been asking for more so here you go
