[center][h1][color=8882be]𝒫𝑒𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓈𝑜𝓃[/color][/h1][/center] As the party became more and more active, the young woman began to slowly lose concentration in her book. Submitting to a change of plans with a light huff, she once more bookmarked her page and closed it shut; resting the book in her lap as she folded her arms over the cover. Now, her head was up and looking around at each and every occupant on the rooftop setup. Try as she might, it was obvious that the wallflower wasn't (or didn't) know how to imperceptively glance at everyone without locking into an uncomfortable six-second stare. She couldn't find the will to break her people-watching spree to get up and interact with the others. The only exception to this rule was if anyone experienced an acute injury or illness in her presence. Glancing around to the various wine-coolers, food, drink and karaoke stand, Pepper almost immediately deduced that something would happen tonight. Perhaps that's how she'd make friends. Someone says 'Hold my beer and watch this!' and seconds later she's gathering their vitals and learning all about them from a patient-Medic relationship in the heat of the ensuing accident. She sighed, turning her head back to look at all of the other individuals again with a ghost of a smirk on her face. In all seriousness, however, it was back to people-watching. Her main focus was unsurprisingly on the most talkative people of the group. Though eavesdropping, Pepper learned of new faces to match with the names- or those she'd at least seen before at a passing glance. Aria, Josah, Itzel.. Jonah and Josiah were the others she'd encountered before. It put her at ease of mind to know that no-one here was hostile toward one another. Everyone was friendly... [center][i]Bzrrt-Bzrrt![/i][/center] With a squeak, Pepper jolted upright as her phone vibrated in her pocket, catching her off guard. Face reddening from embarrassment, she quickly fished the phone out of her sweater pocket and checked the notification on the Lock screen. [i]Chris.[/i] Usually when he texts her, it's something important. Biting her lower lip nervously, she unlocked her phone and opened the Messages app to read the beginning of the conversation. [center][img]https://cdn.ifaketextmessage.com/convos/2018/11/iphone-M85m.png[/img][/center] Pepper's alertness promptly relaxed into light confusion. As she read down further, she let out a soft growl of irritation. 'Peps' was something Chris had began calling her after she'd previously snapped at him for calling her 'Doctor Pepper'. Glancing around, she took the moment of solace to dance her finger across the touch-keypad as she replied to his message. [center][img]https://cdn.ifaketextmessage.com/convos/2018/11/iphone-dc6m.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://cdn.ifaketextmessage.com/convos/2018/11/iphone-Ec6m.png[/img][/center] Pepper paused at the message and mulled it over. She already knew who she had to speak to to get such a permission. Fingers flying rapidly once more, she typed her reply. [center][img]https://cdn.ifaketextmessage.com/convos/2018/11/iphone-Sc6m.png[/img][/center] Sighing, she pressed the power button on the side of the phone as a clicked shut with its infamous locking sound. Pocketing it, she now had a new objective. Swinging her legs up and over the lawn chair, the pale ghost of a woman proceeded to stretch momentarily as she tucked her book underneath her right and arm scanned the immediate area for Josiah.