Art Deco ▷ Ned Leeds | ✓

10 - BULL SESSION

"I've just...life's been really busy lately," Liz tried, and Brooke gave a noncommittal hum; like people hadn't tried to explain that to her every time she tried to open up about her feelings.

"Hey," the older girl said suddenly, much more positive than she had been a second earlier, "Mom's going to an overnight conference tomorrow and dad's working super late, so how about we throw a party?"

Brooke blinked. "It's a little too late to invite people over for a party, right? On a school night?"

She wondered why that was the only reason she protested, as if forgetting her lack of friends and complete abhorrence of all the other parties Liz had thrown at their house while she was home, locking herself in her room and hoping that people wouldn't try to barge in to make out or pry into their private lives.

"Don't worry, people will show up," Liz said, already pulling out her phone.

"Shouldn't you ask mom and dad?" she tried, gripping her pencil tighter, her sketch becoming more stiff, just as she was.

"I just texted mom, she said it was fine," Liz replied, not even missing a beat, "So what do you think? We can set up everything tomorrow, it won't be hard. Flash's been doing some DJ stuff over the summer, and I'm sure we can just set out snacks and stuff, it'll be fun."

Brooke did not think it would be fun. She thought it would be just like all the other parties Liz threw where she would be ignored and pushed to the side, then bombarded with demands as to why she locked herself away and didn't socialize, because no one would ever see that she wanted nothing more than to have someone who would listen to her and like her, not for what she could be or what they wanted her to be, but because she was herself.

She didn't feel like anyone did. Not even her family, and that was the saddest part of it all.

But maybe this time, it would be different. This time, Liz was actually asking her input on the party. This time, maybe she would actually be included, be invited, maybe even make new friends, ones that didn't text her every day, demanding to know why she wasn't talking to her, angrily huffing and trying to talk to her during lunch even when seh didn't want to. Maybe she would get Liz back.

"Yeah," she tried, hoping that her voice didn't betray her true feelings, "Yeah, that-that could be fun. Who're you inviting?"

"I'm just having it open, I'm sending it out as a mass text to the senior class, at least the ones that I know won't try to do anything that'll alert the cops, which narrows it down a bit, but still enough. I'll invite my friends, since some are juniors, like Betty, um...since I'm inviting Flash, I might as well invite the other Decathlon members, I'll talk to them individually. Do you want to invite anyone?"

Brooke shook her head. "River wouldn't want to come."

"Aw, you should at least ask," Liz said, nudging her softly, looking up from where she was typing away on her phone, "She seems nice, I'd like to get to know her."

Brooke winced at that, all of River's words about her sister bubbling to the surface. "She doesn't like you very much, I think it's best I don't."

Liz looked up then, frowning. "Oh? Why, did I do something to her?"

Brooke shook her head, scoffing slightly. "Since when do you do anything mean to anyone? No, she's just...she's going through a rough time, it's understandable."

"I don't think mindlessly disliking someone is understandable, I think it's ignorant, but then again, I don't know her, so who knows, maybe my presence reminds her of something," Liz pointed out, but let it be.