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     Eliana was with Fez in his store when Cal Jacobs and his stupid ego showed up.  It was in the evening, and she was enjoying a cherry-flavoured sucker near the counter when she was... whatever the opposite of being graced is... with Cal's face.

     Eliana felt a tad uncomfortable, even while wearing red jean shorts and a grey crewneck she still felt exposed like she was caught doing something she shouldn't have.

     "Good evening," he announced his presence to everyone in the store... being Eliana, Fez, Faye and Ashtray.  Faye being a friend of a friend that Fez was doing a favour for (more on that later) but Eliana found her to be charming in an odd way.  Ash still wasn't in love with the idea of Eliana being back around, but she knew he liked her more than he must like Cal.

     "What's up, man?" Fez looked to the older man.

     "You got any spearmint gum?" Cal asked.

     "I don't know, man."

     "The gum is right over there," Eliana took the sucker out of her mouth, pointing with it in between her manicured hands.

     "Oh, I wasn't aware this was your store," Cal retorted.  Eliana rolled her eyes as soon as his back was turned.

     "It's a family business," Fez said.

     "Do your parents own it?" Cal said as he played with a bag of chips in his hands, almost teasing the teenagers as they listened to nothing but the bag crinkle.

     "You usually ask this many questions, man?"

     "Just you."

     "Are you a cop?" Faye asked as she spoke up from her place sitting on top of the ice cream box.  Eliana tapped her shoulders against the counter, both girls eyeing the man intently, even if Eliana was a bit more focused than the wandering Faye was.

     "No.  Just a concerned father."

     Cal finally left after a lot of loitering and clear snooping that the four teens didn't welcome at Fez's store.  So later on at Fez's home, Eliana was clearly a little bit on edge.  That and she was a bit sore from everything she and Fez had been doing.  Between Fez, school, sex, work, home life... everything was starting to pile on and she was proud of herself for not lighting a cigarette the minute her heart faltered.

     "Oh... I'm sorry.  I fell," Faye mumbled to Fez as he opened the door to his bathroom, finding the blonde on the floor near the toilet.

     Fez hadn't gone into too much detail about it, but Eliana assumed she knew more about the situation than the next person.  Faye was dating Custer, one of Fez's friends who had been in the room with him when Ash attacked Mouse and killed him.  Except Faye pushed a hotel manager over a balcony and needed to lay low, a favour asked from Custer, so she was now hiding out at Fez's.  Which was a lot for Eliana to take in, but honestly, she wasn't surprised.

     "Come on, kid," he spoke to her softly, trying to scoop her up from the floor.  "Let's get you to the bed."

     "Here, let me," Eliana said quietly as she stomped over and grabbed Faye by the opposite arm and draped it over her own shoulder to lift her easier.

     "Is it true you killed Mouse?" Faye asked sleepily.  Eliana knew she was using in the bathroom.

     "Go to sleep," Fez told her.

     Once Faye was settled, Eliana turned to Fez ready to excuse herself too.  "As much as I love living in this paradise with you, there's going to be a time Cinderella needs to go back... before the carriage turns back into a pumpkin," she told him softly, rubbing her hand over his shoulder comfortingly.

     Fez nodded.  "Text me when you get home, alright?"

     Eliana nodded in return.  "Of course, I will."

     On top of Cal and his stupid ego, there was also still the matter of Cassie.  Over the next couple of days, Eliana paid extra attention to Cassie, who seemed more irritable and distant towards them than usual.  And that was saying something since Cassie nearly always had her head in the clouds.

     Eliana didn't want to be picking favourites, but she had a defence for it.  She'd known Maddy the longest, and even though Maddy could be a stubborn bitch sometimes who was dumb with her feelings about Nate, their bond was pure.  Later she had met Kat and Cassie and Lexi, but there was something special about the way she and Maddy communicated.  Like at the end of the day, shit happened and there would always be drama, but Maddy and Eliana would always have each other's backs.  No judgement, just love.

     "'Sup shawty," Eliana tried to sneak up behind Maddy and her long Princess Jasmine-Esque ponytail, but the charms on her purse were ruining her being discreet.  Eliana wore a black Harley Davidson crop top and high waisted skinny jeans with a black Steve Madden purse, sporting a yellow charm in the shape of a motorcycle.  Her hair was parted down the middle, curled outward, bouncing as she walked.

     Maddy laughed.  "Hey, cutie.  You get some dick in you?"

     Eliana rolled her eyes playfully.  "Well if you must know..." she trailed on purpose, sending the two into another fit of giggles.

     "Hey," Maddy said to Cassie as they approached the other blonde (Eliana didn't really consider herself a blonde anyways).  Eliana noticed Cassie's outfit first, an attention-grabbing and eyebrow-raising set that mirrored someone else's a bit all too well.  The only difference is that while Maddy wore a lilac set, including a handbag, Cassie's was blue.  But she even wore gems on her eyelids and outlined her lips similarly.

     "Hey," Cassie replied, but her mind was somewhere else.

     Eliana had a few questions of her own for the girl, starting with where the hell have you been lately, but Maddy got to her first.  "Wait, why are... why...?"

     "Uh, my class is this way," Cassie said abruptly, turning on her heel to walk the other way, leaving the other two girls standing there confused.

     Maddy stood in place, frozen in a kind of shock while Eliana watched the other girl leave.  "What the hell was that?" Eliana asked the raven-haired beauty, only earning a shrug before they decided to keep walking to class.

     Later on that day, Eliana decided to work on her sketches at Fez's house for a bit.  Unbelievably, this was the first time she had run into Rue since she got back.  And she was pretty much the same as she remembered.

     "I'm a fuckin' genius, Fez."

     "Is that so?" Fezco said as he held the door to his fridge open for Faye who was looking through it for a snack.  Eliana sat at the table, doodling away on her sketchpad.

     "It is fuckin' so because I came up with an amazing fuckin' plan," Rue stood in the archway moving her hands around as she talked.  Her skin was a tad sweaty, and her curls were pulled into a ponytail atop her head, which was a rare look on Rue but Eliana thought she was pretty.  Despite Rue hardly taking care of herself, she wasn't ugly.  She might not shower as often but Eliana still thought she was beautiful, really.

     "And what would that be, Rue?"

     "All right, so..." Rue cleared her throat.  "All you would have to do is front me, like, $5,000 worth of drugs, okay? And..."

     "Hell the fuck no."

     Eliana chuckled without looking up.  Rue only glared at her for only a quick second.  The two weren't best friends or anything, but back when she used to date Fez, Rue was kind of like a younger sister to her.  Even though they were like the same age.  Plus, Eliana figured she was using again, so she chose to stay out of it.  "Okay, well, before you say no, you kind of have to let me finish, right?"

     "Hell the fuck no."

     "Okay, why do you keep saying that?" Rue stared at the guy in front of her.

     "I did not like the way that the plan started," Fez said like it was obvious.

     "Okay, well, you have to let me finish the fucking plan."

     "No."

     "Yes.  You—"

     "Hell the fuck no, Rue."

     "Fuck it.  I give up.  Whatever," Rue threw her hands around in the air.  "I'll just take my fuckin' business elsewhere.  It's your fuckin' loss, man."

     "Hell the fuck no."

     "Oh, stop whining, Rue and get over here," Eliana nodded with her head, perfect black eyeliner glaring at Rue under the kitchen lights.  "Come look at this dress I'm putting together, I need a second opinion."

     "I'm not really good for—"

     "Just—" Eliana cut her off sharply.  "Come hang out with me for two seconds before you go off.  I've missed you, kid."

     Rue bat her eyelids a couple of times, taking in Eliana's words.  Cal and Cassie weren't the only ones with stupid big egos these days.  "Wow, Ellie."

     Eliana scoffed.  "Don't get all sentimental on me now."

     Rue couldn't help but smile at her words, stomping over to overlook Eliana's sketches as Fez watched in content.  "Oh, this is kinda nice."

     "Thanks, I can make something for you if you want," Eliana offered, turning to look up at the curly-haired beauty.

     Rue forced a laugh out.  "Aha, yeah.  You're funny."

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