I've edged this circle way too long, not quite in, but not quite gone

After the eating event, there was a bit of a lull in the party vibes. A big part of that was because everyone needed some time to get over the amazing food that they’d just tasted. But another part was because the scores were starting to solidify certain people in the lead and certain people behind, and that made a few people antsy.

Sylvia in particular was one of those people. While she’d improved a bit from the last two performances, she was still pretty solidly on the bottom. And she had no idea if there would be punishments this time like the previous party.

Gina probably wouldn’t do that… but then, she didn’t tell me about the prizes either, did she? So there was reason for Sylvia to be nervous.

Still, the taste of that tomato soup… it made all her concerns wash away!

Oddly enough, the person who seemed the most nervous was the one who had gotten the biggest jump in points between the two rounds, Ella.

“I-I really… I really scored so high, huh?” She muttered to herself off in the corner, looking like she was in a bit of a daze. “Such a high score…”

She was so busy talking to herself that she didn’t even register Gina coming over to her with a glass of water in her hand. When she saw the punk girl, she jumped.

“OH! …O-oh. Gina… hi…” Ella bit her lip, looking warily at the other woman. She’d regarded Gina with caution and uncertainty for most of the time she’d been at the hotel, in no small part because the punk girl’s dress code gave her vibes of Cinder, and she didn’t want to give her other self any excuse to come out. But right now, Gina didn’t look anything like that. With her straight hair and a fancy dress in place of her leather coat, she looked approachable and kind.

And the gentle smile didn’t hurt, either.

“You should have something to drink,” Gina said, offering the glass of water to the flustered girl. “It’s important to stay hydrated at a party. Don’t want you passing out, right?”

“Hah, uh… yeah, that… that wouldn’t look very classy, huh?” Ella mumbled out awkwardly.

As someone who had lived a very lowbrow existence up until this point, a scullery maid enslaved by her stepfamily, Ella knew almost nothing about class or status. It was only by pure luck that she’d gotten so many points in the last round, and she doubted it would last.

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Gina asked, concerned.

“I-I’m fine, yeah,” Ella nodded. “…You can go now.”

Maybe that was rude. She sure hoped the judges weren’t watching! …No, they weren’t. Much to Ella’s relief, they were busy eating dinner themselves.

Gina didn’t seem bothered by Ella’s rude statement either. But she didn’t leave though.

In fact, more people came by.

“Gina’s just worried about you,” Marley said, coming over with her sister. “I am too, a little.”

“Yeah, same here,” Carly agreed. She didn’t know Ella very well, but the girl had been acting moody and distant all day. And while Marley could empathize with that, party girls like her sister and Gina wanted everyone to be having a good time.

Even someone who seemed like she really didn’t want to.

Ella bit her lip.

“I said I’m fine,” she said sharply. Then she winced. “Sorry, that… that was harsher than I meant it to be. But I’m really fine! You don’t need to pity me.”

Why did everyone have to look at her like she was so darn fragile?

Then the look in Gina’s eyes changed, much to Ella’s surprise.

“…Hey, I’m the host of this party,” she pointed out, placing her hands on her hips. “I’m just trying to make sure everything’s okay with my guests. I’m not pitying you. I’m concerned.”

Ella blinked. “You… you’re not? Oh… then… sorry for the mistake…”

“No, it’s fine,” Gina said, shaking her head. Her expression softened. “Look, I get why you might think that I’m pitying you, but really, I’m not. I’d be doing this for anybody. I hate people pitying me too, you know? For being some junkie burnout loser who nobody cares about…”

“Gina!” Marley gasped, scandalized that Gina would ever say such a thing about herself.

Gina winced.

“…Sorry, that came out wrong,” she apologized, shaking her head.

“N-no, it’s fine,” Ella mumbled.

The two looked awkwardly at each other.

“…You know what would make this better?” Carly stepped forward and draped an arm over each girl’s shoulder. “Shots! Let’s do some shots!”

Ella stared at her, aghast. Gina rolled her eyes.

“You can’t be serious,” Marley groaned, shaking her head and cradling her face in her hand. “What on earth is classy about doing shots? It’s like you’re trying to lose this or something, sis!” She couldn’t help but laugh at Carly doing shots in her snazzy host costume, because it was frankly just a hilarious image to picture.

Carly laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, maybe you’re right,” she agreed. “That’s just my go-to, in order to enjoy a party!”

Marley sighed and crossed her arms. “Honestly, I’m kinda with Ella on this one.”

Ella was amazed again.

“With me? What do you mean?”

Marley scratched her head and looked around. “I mean… look, unlike these two wild things, I’m not exactly a party girl,” she pointed out. “My sister used to try to drag me out all the time to her wild ragers, and I just felt awkward and out of place the whole time.”

“Well yeah, because you needed to get out of your shell,” Carly bluntly replied. “Did you know Ella, she used to talk to plants? What a weirdo, right?”

Gina doubled over laughing.

Ella’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

“You talked to plants…?” For once, it was her looking at someone else with pity.

Marley seethed at her sister. “I was a plant, in case you forgot,” she snapped. “You’re mixing up your backstories! I never did that as a person!”

Carly just laughed it off without taking responsibility for her blatant lie.

Ella was frightfully confused.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gina assured the other girl, shaking her head. “It’s a long story.”

“Um… okay…”

“We’re getting off the subject…” Marley pinched the bridge of her nose. “Look, the point is, whenever I would go to those parties, I would always feel out of place. Like I didn’t belong. I didn’t want to drink, and I didn’t feel comfortable talking to anybody who was drinking, so I would just hang around wandering from room to room not interacting with anybody. Kind of like what you’re doing now, don’t you think?”

“Uh… yeah, I guess so,” Ella mumbled.

“Plus, I would always have to rebuff guys who struck out with my sister and were trying to get laid with me,” Marley added, rolling her eyes. “Can you believe it? She actually does have standards after all, imagine!”

“Hey!” Carly playfully punched her sister in the arm.

“Anyway, Ella, the point is, it’s okay if you feel a little out of place here,” Marley assured her. “We’re happy to welcome you. But if you want to keep your distance because you’re not comfortable with some stuffy party, well…”

She stretched her arms over her head and sighed. “…I’m right there with you.”

“Yup, definitely,” Carly nodded in agreement. “Right now my sister would like nothing more than to cram all the appetizers in her mouth. But she can’t because she’s gotta be mature and elegant, you know? Sucks to suck.”

Marley glared at her. “I’m not that bad.”

“Oh please. You’re always had a big appetite. I remember back when-”

“You’re getting off the subject again!” Marley hissed, her face turning red. She wasn’t comfortable with Carly talking in such explicit detail about her past like this, certainly not to someone she barely knew. It made her want to scream!

And yet… Ella giggled.

“Well… I guess I’m not the only one who’s feeling awkward here then… that’s nice to know,” she admitted. She’d been afraid that everybody else was having a great time, and she was the only weirdo who would rather be anywhere else than here.

If not for the fact that she knew Cinder would absolutely be worse, she would have wanted to run and hide into her other persona right now.

But that couldn’t happen, she wouldn’t allow it.

Ella looked around the room. With fresh eyes, she could see that her assertion was correct. While there were certainly people who were comfortable in this environment, like Vivian and Amelia, it wasn’t everyone. Kim seemed to be having a good time and her roommate Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin also seemed fine, but then there was Morgana, who looked like she was having to **** her pleasantries out at gunpoint, and Dawn, who for all her politeness, seemed a little twitchy.

This wasn’t so bad after all.

“I’m a little worried about the next challenge,” Carly said coolly, glancing at Gina. “You wouldn’t happen to be able to slide any hints our way, would you?”

Gina rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fine, you don’t need to worry,” she assured her fellow party enthusiast. “Just enjoy the atmosphere, it’ll do you some good.”

Carly’s eyes flashed teasingly. “Atmosphere, huh?” She batted her eyelashes. “Alright, Gina. I’ll bite. ‘Atmosphere’.”

Ella would be lying if she said she wasn’t also worried about the next event. “I’m probably not going to score very highly anyway,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve been getting pretty low scores.”

Marley raised her eyebrow. “You know you have more points than I do, right? And more than Gina, too, and she came up with the theme!”

“Yeah, but… there are other girls who have a lot of points,” Ella said, glancing at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin.

“Do you and your roommate not get along?” Gina asked. “Because I’ve been in that situation before, and trust me, it’s not a dealbreaker. You just have to try really hard to make friends!”

That being said, her relationship with Dawn was still frosty at best.

Carly laughed. “I get along with all my roommates,” she said. “Right, Marley?”

“I can think of one you don’t,” Marley teased her back, crossing her arms.

“I think… being friends is not going to work,” Ella said, shaking her head. Why was she even talking about this with these girls? She didn’t do stuff like that.

“Well, do you want my advice?” Carly asked. She felt a familiar itch well up inside of her, one that hadn’t been scratched in some time. Carly’s transformation that caused her to be **** to give advice to girls didn’t trigger often, but when it did-

“No, thank you,” Ella said curtly. “I don’t really ask for advice from other people.”

Carly blinked. That was… not the response she was expecting.

Ella winced when she saw the other girl’s tense expression, and reached for her wrist again even when she knew it was futile.

“I-I’m sorry,” she stammered, her amber eyes swimming in her skull. “That was rude of me… it’s just… when you were talking about advice, it made me remember all the doctors, and I just-”

“Hey, don’t apologize,” Gina said, shaking her head. “Unsolicited advice is often unwelcome, no need to sweat it!”

Nobody quite knew what to say to that. But Marley felt like they were quickly overstaying their welcome here.

“…We should probably get going,” she said, tugging on her sister’s sleeve. “You know, to go say hi to other people and hang out?”

“Makes sense,” Gina nodded.

“Okay then,” Ella agreed. She looked a little sad to see her go, which came as a surprise to the older woman.

Did Ella… want her to stay? Were they bonding right now?

Marley wasn’t the best at making friends, so she couldn’t really say. But what she did understand was that even if Ella was comfortable talking to her, Carly’s presence was making things more uncomfortable for the girl in turn.

Story of my life, Marley thought. I have trouble making friends because of my sister.

“Wanna hang out later?” She offered the shy girl. “You know, without these uncomfortable dresses and all.”

“They are uncomfortable, aren’t they?” Ella said with an awkward laugh. She looked down at the bright blue ball gown she was wearing. “But… it’s so pretty…”

Her wistful tone captured the hearts of the lovely ladies.

“You do look amazing in it,” Carly agreed. “Like a faerie tale princess!”

Ella blushed. “You really think so?”

“Yeah! No kidding! Blue is definitely your color! Which is a surprise. But I think you look amazing!” She stroked her chin thoughtfully. “I’ll have to get a second opinion though. Vivian? Hey, Vivian? Come over here!”

She beckoned the heiress over, and Ella immediately stiffened.

“Wh-wh-what?!” She stammered, feeling a little faint. She had almost been able to tolerate the two of them, and Gina. But bringing the boisterous, teasing Vivian into the mix as well!?

She had barely gotten through the heiress playing dress-up for her date with her. And now she was critiquing an outfit Ella had chosen for herself?

But all of a sudden Vivian stopped registering as a problem for Ella completely, because as the heiress approached, a familiar pressure began to ache in the back of her head and Ella tensed.

No… not now, please!

She couldn’t let Cinder come out. But she was feeling so overwhelmed! She reached for her wrist, but her rubber-band was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, what’s up?” Vivian greeted the girls with waves all around, even Ella, who was a few seconds away from hyperventilating.

Ella took a long gulp of water to try and wash down the rising feeling of Cinder taking control. It hardly helped at all.

Oblivious, Vivian just smiled. “You needed me for something?” She asked Carly.

“What do you think of Ella’s dress?” Carly asked, turning back to Ella. Only then did she see the frazzled state the girl was in, and immediately regret her question. “…Oh, I mean, sorry, forget I said anything!” She quickly tried to correct her mistake, but it was too late.

Before Carly or Ella (or anybody else) could say anything, Vivian was already prepared to share her feelings on the subject.

“You look great!” She said enthusiastically.

Ella’s eyes widened in amazement.

“I… I do?”

And just like that, the fog that had been building up inside her was washed away again. Cinder sank back, hiding herself once more, leaving just Ella to receive the praise that the heiress was lavishing upon her.

“Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect,” Vivian clarified, shaking her head. “Yes, the color goes great with your skin tone, no question. And the style with the long, flowing skirt? Perfect. Me personally though, I don’t know if I would have gone off the shoulder like that…”

She stroked her chin and stared at the flustered Ella contemplatively.

“It feels like something you’d wear if you were trying to be bold and daring, does that make sense?” Vivian explained. “And while I’m sure you could pull that off if you wanted to, I just don’t know if it’s a good fit for you right now. Does that make sense?”

Nothing the heiress was saying made sense to her. The only thing Ella knew about clothes? The fact that there were some she liked wearing and some she didn’t. But Vivian sounded so knowledgeable on the subject and Ella was so petrified she couldn’t do anything other than nod her head in the affirmative and take more sips of water.

The glass was empty far too soon.

Fortunately, Marley had been prepared. Sensing Ella’s mental state, she had snuck off (as far as she could get, anyway) and grabbed another cup for her. So the second Ella’s hand was empty, she was passed another one.

She didn’t even notice she was so stunned by Vivian’s overflowing knowledge.

“…And in summary, yes, I’d say that dress is a great fit! We’re all just waiting for you to come out of your shell!” Vivian finished.

It seemed unlikely that she would be expecting applause for that. But she did look a little awkward standing in the center of a crowd of uncomfortable girls.

“Was it something I said?” She joked.

“No, it’s just… things are a little tense right now, that’s all,” Carly said, trying not to make waves. Every instinct she had was telling her to keep things casual, but it was hard to do that when every topic was such a landmine when it came to Ella.

“What? Why? Because of the scores? Oh, who cares about that?” Vivian rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively.

“I do!” Ella blurted out. Then she gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. “Err, I mean… I’m sorry about that!”

Vivian raised her eyebrow. “Come on now, it’s no big deal,” she said, shaking her head. “You want to win! Don’t be ashamed.”

Ella breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay then,” she relented, relaxing a fraction of a molecule of a hair. “Still, sorry for yelling out. It was a little too much.”

Vivian shrugged. “I mean, you did pretty good in the last event,” she pointed out. “You’re a rising star!”

“That what we were saying,” Gina said, nodding to Marley. “She’s doing better than both of us!”

“But I did bad in the previous ones,” Ella pointed out. “Last time was just a fluke, probably.”

Vivian shrugged again. “Maybe. But just make another fluke! No big whoop.”

She made it sound so easy. Then again, she was the kind of woman who had the willpower to always **** things her way, and the money to make it happen.

…Unlike Ella, who never could get so lucky.

“Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin is winning though,” Ella said, looking over at her roommate again. Even though she couldn’t talk, she seemed like she was having a blast. “And she’s… better.”

Vivian frowned. She could see how that could be hard for a girl like Ella, who didn’t see it being possible to close the gap between the two of them.

“…Well, think about it like this, then!” She said, her smile returning. “There’s only a five point difference between you and first place!”

Ella blinked, surprised. “I… I never thought of it that way,” she admitted.

Vivian laughed. “See? Now, all you gotta do is have each judge give you one more point than her, and you’ll be tied for first! It doesn’t sound difficult at all when you put it like that, right?”

“Yeah, when you look at it that way, I guess we’re not that far behind, huh?” Marley considered. “All we need is a couple more good events, and any one of us could manage it!”

Ella was stunned. It seemed so impossible, and yet… Vivian sounded so reasonable at the same time.

…Maybe they really could do it.

“Yeah,” she murmured, smiling a little. “Maybe…”

Vivian grinned. “That’s the spirit!” She cheered. “Now, let’s go show these folks how to live it up, sound good?”

Ella was almost tempted. Almost.