[color=E5D0FF][CENTER][h3][b]E L I[/b][/h3][/CENTER][/color]
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[center][h3][i][color=gray]'No Signature Detected'[/color][/i][/h3][/center]

Eli pressed her lips together, her brows furrowed to express her minute annoyance. She was used to seeing that phrase by now, but it still left a bitter taste in her mouth. On one hand, Eli was upset that there hadn't been a single signature detected once over the course of three days. Nor from any of her other Mystery Inc. buddies. Yet, on the other hand, Eli was comforted by the phrase when she was in her apartment. The last place she'd want to detect this flubber bitch was near her apartment.

With a small huff, Eli locked her phone and stuffed it back into the pocket of her jacket. She'd opted to take the long route to the campgrounds, just in case her phone picked up on any blue goop nearby. Unfortunately this meant that she had to deal with passing through homecoming events. Two months ago, Eli would have been elated to have dance parties strewn across the space boat. She normally enjoyed those kinds of things, but Eli knew what the point of these dances were. They were a distraction. The Promise was just the rich parents gifting their troubled children expensive toys so that they would love them.

She looked at the throngs of parahumans, but she didn't see them dancing or stumbling drunk into the dance parties. She saw them crawling away from ominous figures in blood-orange jumpsuits. The uproars of laughter sounded like the screams of her people on the street below her. Eli shoved her hands into her pockets, gripping her phone tightly. She watched the ground, making sure to weave through the masses without getting too close to anyone.

Without even realizing it, she found herself stopping by a bridge. A few weeks ago, this bridge would have been covered in flowers, notes, candles, and there would have been a picture of a young man in the middle. Eli stared at the spot with an ache in her chest. She probably would have been there for a bit, if a passing boy in a button down hadn't bumped into her. 

Waving off the drunk teenager, Eli turned and continued on her way. She ground soon switched from smooth pavement to rough underground. She was heading deeper into the wooded area on The Promise, and towards the peace of the forest. The further she left the sound of the parties behind her, the lighter Eli's chest felt. By the time she heard music and voices growing louder the closer she came to the campground, Eli was excited to drink with her friends. They didn't need a homecoming dance. They just needed some booze and a campfire.

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Eli stepped into the light of a fire and found herself at the edge of a clearing. Various logs, lawn chairs, and blankets laid out around a bonfire at it's center. At one end of the clearing was a table covered in various bottles of liquor, mixers, plastic cups, 12 packs of beer, and a five gallon beverage cooler. A speaker nearby played [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjm81OPZbpU]music[/url] at a chill level.

[b]"[i]Eli![/i]"[/b] A rosy-cheeked, redhead shouted as she walked over to greet Eli. The girl appeared to be around Eli's age. [b]"You look amazing!"[/b]

Eli embraced her good friend, a wide grin on her face. "Oh, this? I just threw this on." She said with a giggle, her day immediately brightening at the sight of her friend. "It's my [i]homecoming[/i] dress. Think my date will like it?" She joked, gesturing to her outfit. In fact, it was nothing close to homecoming-approved. None of the people around the bonfire were formally dressed. Eli's [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b6/1a/6b/b61a6bbbae47e1517926088b46219361.jpg]outfit[/url] blended right in. Later on there would be people dressed up when the dances were shut down, but for now, it was a casual party. Most of the people there had either outgrown stuff like that, or thought that homecoming dances were a bunch of bullshit.

[b]"Girl, I think you're homecoming [i]queen[/i] material."[/b]

Eli laughed, the two girls wordlessly making their way to the drinks. Eli took a cup from the stack and poured a good amount of white rum into the cup. She then filled the rest up with whatever jungle juice concoction was inside of the cooler. "Maddy, you have no [i]idea[/i] how long it's been since I've had a drink." She said, raising the cup to her mouth and taking a big gulp.

Maddy watched her friend, a gentle smile tugging at her lips. She knew exactly why Eli hadn't been out in a while. She could feel the pain and anger within Eli, something Maddy had never really sensed before in her friend. After all, she was an empath. [b]"Don't worry. We haven't done much without you."[/b]" She paused a moment before continuing. [b]"We all needed some time after we found out about Zeke."[/b]

There was a heavy silence between the two, but their eyes spoke volumes. Eli nodded, swallowing and clearing her throat. "Well, I've missed you." She raised her cup into the air. "And I've missed this. Let's drink."

The two bumped their cups together and took a celebratory chug before breaking into laughter. They linked arms and headed towards the group that had gathered before the fire. Eli greeted her other friends and the guests that they brought with them. The group eased into their spots on the logs and blankets around.

The warmth of the fire and company lifted Eli's spirits. She took it easy on the alcohol after her first cup, preferring to avoid a blackout on her first night out in weeks. When she felt like it was an appropriate time, she sent a separate message to both Archie and Keaton.

[indent][i]'Hope you make it tonight! There's plenty of booze and firewood. Let me know if you need help finding the campsite.'[/i][/indent]