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emaline addario had a history with sweets and candy. it was one of those things that just made sense about the overly eccentric, loud, attention-attracting actor. well, on the outside it showed a bit of danger. that she was too cool to worry about getting cavities. it was almost a game to her, how many hall arguments she could get in to with her boyfriend, oliver, and still have a lollipop in her mouth whilst glaring at the bastard.
on the inside, however, the side of her that nobody would ever see, it was a comfort. her home life was sub-optimal, but something she’d always treasure was candy. it was like bringing a bit of confidence with her, which was necessary for her personality. she was in her element, could do anything when she had the support of her favorite candies. cherry lipstick, sour belts, lollipops, which were all eaten a little seductively, which was perhaps another mild way of seeking attention.
there was oliver. her ex boyfriend, and used to be only friend at that. which was a little unfortunate considering their entire relationship was characterized by hanging on a dangerous thread, toying with each other like a cat with a string. but if she wanted attention then this was sure as hell the best way to get it.
their relationship was bitter and cold, which they worked in to all of their scenes together. and despite all of the passionate making out they did in the hallways, he didn’t taste good. he had the opposite of the comforting feeling that she got from eating candy. so there, she admitted it. maybe it wasn’t love, but it was the closest she would ever get for someone as broken in to shambles as her. and candy was her way of countering that, of getting so sugar high that it masked the bitter, oily, disgusting taste of her boyfriend and everything else in her life
at least oliver was okay with her sugar intake. emaline liked to think that he thought it was attractive when she would eat candy in her attention-stealing way. which was her goal. her goal was to get the attention and potentially turn on all of the men and other genders in the vicinity. which was what oliver *didnt* know about. but then again, there was a lot they didn’t tell each other. like how oliver planned on leaving for new york that one day. and how emaline liked girls. it wasn’t going to be her personality, but it was another one of those things about her that just made sense. and maybe her slight homophobia towards herself and others to cover it up made sense, too.
so then there’s kate. and how she was also probably liked girls and it showed wether she wanted to or not, like how her favorite musician and was tori amos, like how she scoffed at the concept of giving men boners and called it gross (which is it was, but again, emaline was okay with that being part of her personality, too). but kate was so *herself*, so *effortlessly*. so pretty and tall even without the theatrics and makeup. and that’s another thing emaline would begrudgingly admit, only once. she was jealous of kate messner.
she would glare at the sophomore in the halls, in gym, at lunch. it was jealousy, even a bit of hatred. how she could be whatever she wanted to be. there was no oliver in kates life. but it turned in to more than that. the eye fucking became almost relentless. and perhaps her drama kid attention seeking came out a bit. but she wanted to see more of kate. she wanted to know what she was all about. which was her shitty excuse for trying to cover up her own jealousy by drawing attention to kate for checking emaline out in the locker room that one time, when emaline was pretending to not do the same.
but despite all of emalines assholery, kate was still as soft and sweet to her as she seemed to be. there was no dirty secrets, there was no exhilarating arguments, there was just kate. and for the first time, emaline felt something close to how she feels when eating candy, whenever she’s around the adorable, awkward, AV girl.
and then there was the kiss. and immediatley, it all made sense. kate was the sweetest thing that emaline had ever tasted. any taste and memory of oliver was washed away. it was all kate, pretty, kind, confident, sweet kate. it made sense because emaline didn’t need the constant sugar high to get her theater confidence, to get in to hall arguments, to keep self sustaining. she didn’t need any of it anymore. because when she was with kate and fully herself, she didn’t need the candy. she had found something sweeter.