#ACNE League meeting
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Dc x dp idea 11
More of a funny shenanigans one.
Danny has been chasing his rouges all throughout the country. Whatever city he is in some form of shenanigans occur. Due to the GIW he decided to do it human. He has his parents travel devices and inventions so it will be easy peasy.
Metropolis he steals some kryptonite and feeds it to cujo. Obviously cujo is coming as a guard dog. Danny canât control him plus the dog could smell the ecto candy. Danny is munching some as well all while he soups whichever rouge it is.
Central city he bugs the flash about how he could mess with the flow of time. He thinks itâs cool and clockwork allows it cause itâs funny. (Clockwork letâs ppl figure out not to mess with time themselves. Danny leaned when vlad ended up with his mom and jack had ecto acne flash would figure it out) But he just tells it to Barry no care that he isnât in costume.
Runs into wonder woman and is just an absolutely fanboy. Gushing. About everything sheâs done. He drops knowledge about feats he shouldnât know cause pandora told him stories about her.
Runs into Constantine and just praises him for his soul selling. Itâs just chaos whenever the ghost council meets. Danny is a gremlin he got in a prank war with vlad he absolutely would think itâs hilarious. He knows a few beings who bought his soul as well and name drops them.
Youngblood wants to do an underwater adventure. Heâs been a cowboy and pirate so why not underwater diver. So now Danny is in the ocean dealing with an enemy aqua man canât see. Aqua lad is just describing Youngblood with googles on. Danny has a fenton work product letting him dive in the sea. Anything with Youngblood is a shenanigans enough said.
In Gotham he wasnât expecting a not quite a halfa, red hood. Now when his rouge goes to cause property damage he goes to soup them. It sucks in red hood. Danny didnât want red hood soup.
Danny then panics trying to release the thermos. All while the batfam are watching the exchange. Danny is frantically apologizing and just failing to open it.
By the time he gets it open he is just embarrassed. His rouge is free and took off. So Danny goes invisible forgetting he was supposed to act human and pretends it never happened.
The next justice league would be hilarious
#danny fenton#danny phantom#dc x dp#dp x dc#dp x dc prompt#dp dc crossover#justice league#giw#cujo#dp x dc crossover#aquaman#aqualad#Wonder Woman#the shenanigans#also beast boy and cujo#Batman is just watching this child try and open the thermos#all while panicking cause Jason is in there#how did Jason get sucked into such a small thing#dick tried to help him get it open#they launch it and have to chase it down#Constantine is concerned#he needs a drink#aqua man just sees people getting thrown by nothing#Wonder Woman probably thinks heâs a time traveler or something#Clark doesnât know what to think#one hand this child ate kyrptonite#on the other he ate kyrptonite#just means less kyrptonite#there are so many other shenanigans i could see happening
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The Birth of the Pill by Jonathan Eig - Book Review
"...The Pill was The Pill because it was the only one that mattered, the one everyone was talking about, the one they needed.â
I bought The Birth of the Pill from an indie bookstore during a vacation in West Texas. I was very interested in the history of contraception, especially regarding the pill. In large part, this is because the pill has evolved into more than just a tool for contraception. The pill is now an avenue to regulate menstrual cycles, control pain from cramps, clear stubborn acne, and more. It was so interesting to read about the inception of the birth control movement and the creation of the pill.
What I loved about The Birth of the Pill is the structure. The author, Jonathan Eig, tells the stories of four different significant figures within the contraception movement. By doing this he turns a lengthy and complicated historical piece into something more akin to a fiction novel's narrative. Four main characters - feminist movement spearhead Margaret Sanger, the passionate and wealthy Katherine McCormick, determined biologist Gregory Pincus, and unconventional Catholic doctor John Rock, are the biggest drivers of the birth control movement during this time.
Letâs move on to a brief summary of these four characters. Iâm barely scratching the surface here, but I couldnât pass up the opportunity to write a little about how these four band together!
Margaret Sangerâs mission for life was to make birth control universally available to all women regardless of their circumstances. In a time when it was widely unaccepted by most, she pushed people to consider the benefits of contraception and often challenged legislature that prevented women from accessing information and products related to birth control. She was the founder of the American Birth Control League, which would eventually become the Planned Parenthood Federation. When she met biologist Gregory Pincus in 1951, they got to work right away on developing a safe and effective birth control method, the pill.
Gregory Pincus was a biologist who was extremely well-versed in reproductive science. He tested his biological research on rabbits, such as IVF and hormone injections. In a time of skepticism regarding topics such as âbabies born in glassâ, he was ostracized for his bold research by the general public as well as his academic peers. Pincus would eventually get involved with Sanger and Katherine McCormick to develop a birth control pill. His research on hormones gave him the confidence he could deliver. He collaborated with Dr. John Rock, a distinguished obstetrician and gynecologist, who believed in the cause due to his experience seeing women suffer during unwanted pregnancies in his clinic.
Dr. John Rock worked in obstetrics and gynecology and was a Harvard professor who educated students on birth control. He published a book, Voluntary Parenthood, that served as a guide to birth control for the general population. He agreed to work with Pincus on the pill and became essential to the movement not only in research but as a presentable representation of the cause. As a devout Catholic, he gave hope to those who would deny birth control for religious reasons. Rock spoke out frequently about the Churchâs unfair opposition to the pill. He challenged the views about the interplay of religion and contraception, which was key to mass acceptance of birth control.
Katherine McCormick was essentially the sole benefactor of the creation of the pill. McCormick was born into a wealthy family in Chicago and earned her bachelorâs in biology from MIT. Much like Margaret Sanger, she was a womanâs rights activist during a period when controlling womenâs minds and bodies was still a societal norm. These two daring women meet and form an unstoppable force against the stigmas about contraception. McCormickâs inheritance left to her by her husband gave her complete freedom to back the birth control movement. Anytime Pincus needed funds to continue research or testing, McCormick was there with her checkbook.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about contraception or womenâs history. It could be a touch too in-depth for some readers, but I found the experience to be rewarding overall! If this brief summary interests you, I would strongly encourage you to dive into the book. There are so many intriguing details that went into the production of the pill, and all the moving parts involved kept me engaged throughout.
#book review#bookblr#bookish#birth control#womens rights#activism#review#books#non fiction#medicine#public health
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chapter opener i finished recently, featuring a tazmily town hall meeting where lucas n' his neighbors debate the fate of chimeras in a postgame world :')
When Porky took Leder, there'd been no place left for him anyways. His bell tower soon to be razed, and paved right over. His memory, ironically enough, soon to be unceremoniously dissolved. Surely his height marked him as an untenable outlier. His sealed lips, insubordination of the highest degree. Silence was heresy back in those days. It branded little Lucas a black sheep, too. Sob your guts out, or concede there was nothin' left to say. Either way, you're outta line. Y'couldn't win, with neighbors turned swine.
Kid had proven his heart the biggest outta all of 'em. Did it long before layin' hands on any o' those Needles. Stop short at the crossroads, to take an upward gander. The tall, vast, heavenward gap between six years old n' twenty feet tall. He'd shield his sun-dazzled eyes, lifting a freckled forearm. Wave his spare hand. Sway its precious cargo.
"Hiya, Mister Leder. How're you today?"
A smile flittered down, carried by the mornin' shine.
"Eheh. M'glad to hear it. Psst. Hey. I gotcha summ'nâŠ"
A hesitant hand descended. All taffy-stretched bones, and veins, and worn crinkles. Lucas raised the loaf as high as his tiny hands n' tippy-toes'd go. Nuts n' bread were a dime a dozen, o' course. But couldn't no one else bake a batch so scrumptious. Good ol' Missus Hinawa Westwood was in a league all her own.
Maybe this'd never been any place for either of 'em. Or her. Or the lot of 'em.
Or. Maybe his apocalyptic pessimism was just gettin' the better of him. As it's wont to do, every now n' again.
The honorable judge presided now over his four hundred and seventy-second hearing. He remembers 'em all, if you were curious. In excruciating detail. From Eaglelandian war crimes to White Ship spats. Humble as he may be, there's a good reason Tazmily chose him for his noble task, besides sheer verticality. Madman's got a Betamax for a brain. Be it a blessing or a curse.
"⊠management, maintenance, n' rehabilitation. As Nowhere's Ranger Service, really, our goal is gettin' back to where we were, erm. Before." Isaac nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Voice like ashes crumpled underfoot. He'd put up a noble speech, to be sure. Albeit punctuated by his pensive pause.
Lucas, all anxious nerves, reputation rubbed raw, nonetheless held his place beside him. Stalwart pillar of sticks n' stones. The hero who wore no cape nor shining armor. Just a scrappy flannel, over lanky arms. And a half-chiseled, acne-addled countenance.
When he spoke - in that low, steady, novel rumble - the paternal resemblance gave even Flint himself goosebumps.
"People n' wildlife can coexist. Like we used to. If we're willin' to put in the work."
Turn your stovetop knob, and heat the town hall's bustle to a low boil. There were Betsy n' Jackie, murmuring amongst themselves. Biff n' Butch, doin' the same. To the tune of Jill's silencing snap. Most folks had filed into these creaky old seats with intent to vote "present." But one could hardly ignore the Ostrelephant in the room. Jonel would be its bullhorn.
"That's precisely the issue. Chimeras aren't wildlife." And the sky isn't pink. He stood, proudly, for such things. Atop creaky knees and shins. (Though Dona did have to help him clamber to his feet.) "You expect us to coexist with monsters? Forever? It's childish at best. Lucas, I can forgive your naivete. But Isaac? You ought to know better."
"'Scuse me?"
"Order," Leder croaked. A singular raised index finger, a sip from his water canteen, and a hush over the hall. No gavel strike necessary. "Order. Jonel?"
"Pardon," Jonel said. (Though he wouldn't beg.) "There's only one solution for the menace infesting our woods. Anyone who says otherwise? I believe they're kidding themselves. That's all."
Their elder's dissent, and subsequent descent, were met with no protest. Just Isaac's steely frown. And Lucas' deep, focused, evenly-paced breaths.
Let it.
A psychic, had any others attended, would've felt the aura's feverous simmer. But Tazmilian politics're no place for his sister. She'd proclaimed so herself. Andonuts had installed a calendar program in his brother's left brain, years prior. Claus marked the date. Highlighted it - a bright, cautionary red.
And took a shift at the wind farm.
Can't blame him.
Magenta, magenta, yellow.
"Have we any further thoughts?" coaxed Leder.
"Well."
Even standing, Andonuts was far too squat for most to see, across a field of perked heads. The Doctor's accent would have to suffice. Paired with his quaint, crinkly, nonagenarian timbre.
"I'm afraid I must concur with the former point. Chimeras were not designed to integrate into natural ecosystems. Ha! Quite the contrary! Many were reconstructed with the explicit intent to cause as much disruption as possible!"
Jonel glanced about, eyebrows perked. Ed's faint murmur, "Right outta the horse's mouth, huhâŠ" caught his nodding attention.
"⊠That said, with regards to chimera research, my student and I have been making great strides. They can be pacified. And relocated, to environments that better suit them. I daresay, there may indeed be sustainable solutions. If Tazmily were to establish this Ranger operation, the two of us would be more than happy to collaborate."
"And, if not? Or, if these Rangers fail to keep the chimeras in check?" Ed inquired, with a raised hand. Jonel would push the bill a step further.
"Would you also be happy to assist in their extermination, if it came to that? Doctor?"
"Mm⊠If we do find ourselves in an otherwise untenable scenario? Perhaps, yes."
Andonuts spent his golden years an eccentric recovering centrist. Claus forgave him ages ago. Lucas makes his best efforts. This recollection, in particular, still demands he strain his mercy through clenched teeth.
Like their father, he said nothing. You can call it patience.
"That just don't seem right, is allâŠ"
A couple dozen turned to size up the latest opinion. 'Course, Abbott's no easier to spot beneath a crowd. Those nearest would see Abbey risin' to his side. N' the smiley-faced bairn - an absolute tater tot - strapped snug to his chest. 'Course, no sooner than Abbott opened his mouth to stake a humble point, little Abelle piped right up. Drawing him instead to gently shush her bubbly baby babbles. "Oh, sorry, sorry. Gosh, what'samatter, lil' bits? Shh. ShhhâŠ"
(Unbeknownst to anybody at all - the invisible strands she was pawin' and hawin' at were, in fact, magenta-yellow wavelengths.)
"What Abbott means, I reckon," Abbey volunteered, "Is that it'd be awful cruel to.. well. To do away with 'em. Don't get us wrong - we've dealt with chimera attacks as much as the rest o' ya. N' we want Nowhere to be a safe place for our daughter to grow up, o' course. But⊠ah.."
Her eyelids slipped faintly shut. Only a moment. As if recalling some long-bygone horror. With no hummingbird egg nor ringing bell to keep the smog at bay, it had all come seeping back. Couldda taken the shape of a TV news report. Rigor mortis. Perhaps a mushroom cloud. Whichever. Every scathing scrap, beheld by the big, teary doe eyes of a mere fawn.
".. This world's seen far too much killin' already. I think."
"Agreed," said Flint. His sole verbal contribution. Upon his neighbors' silent judgments and sympathies, he pulled the brim of his hat lower. And cleared his throat.
Brief as it was somber, a smile flickered - cyan - past Lucas' ramparts.
Abelle quieted down. With a giggle. Much to Abbott's grinnin' relief. "Heh - erm. Yep.. Agreed, indeed." He cast a warily appreciative gaze toward the hulking, skulking cowboy. Then extended an arm around his wife's shoulder. The lot of 'em hunkered back into quiet obscurity.
"It's like stray cats," came Nana's contribution. Hand raised high, outta the wild blue yonder. "Or. Maybe not, exactly. We had a colony of them, living under the post office. And they were real ornery, wouldn't let you near. Bateau told me to stop feeding them, after they caught one of his doves." Cue the rolling eyes, and yawns. Elbows n' palms propping up bored-already chins. "But they'd only come close if I fed them, see. Only when they trusted me enough - then I could get them in carriers, and move them to the woods, by the crossroads. And so long as I make sure they stay fed, they won't need to come back to the post office, or hunt Bateau's doves, or cause trouble for anyone."
Bateau - arms n' legs crossed, camped out somewhere far in the back - huffed a sigh so dramatic, you'd think he was a Shakespearean actor.
"So. Maybe it's like that. Every animal has needs. Even people, and chimeras. If the Rangers can take good care of the chimeras, maybe they won't be as much of a bother."
"Yeah. That's, ehm. That's the ideaâŠ" Isaac murmured.
Jill stood up to contend. "Or maybe that'll get 'em too familiar. And then they'll come closer to town. Stir up even more of a ruckus. Don't you know, they used to warn you about this exact thing, with bears. You kids're too young to remember. Had to shoot the poor things, when they got too comfortable with people. I think Jonel's got a point. It all comes back around to--"
"-- This is different."
She stopped short. Left her big mouth hangin' wide open. 'Cause it sure as hell ain't like Lucas to interrupt.
"⊠Sorry," he said. With not quite a fist, clutched almost to his chest. "Sorry."
"No, no. Do tell. Go on." Jill conceded, with both hands raised. A hint of snark on her lips. Wouldda made Lucas wince, if he were five or six years younger. Still stung just the same.
Leder's eyes were sympathy incarnate. His spectacles, however, hovered impartial atop the proceedings. He'd hold his tongue. This time.
"It's.. different. The way we're doin' it. Isaac used to be a park ranger. We know all that, already."
Rather than elaborate, Isaac opted for a gingerly nod. Leave it to two of Tazmily's most tormented introverts to deliver a founding presentation. Lucas would steady his spine, though. Stand firm before the naysayers. Nerves ablaze. It doesn't get easier. Nor any less vital.
"Look. Nana's right. They ain't monsters. They're livin' creatures. Got needs that ain't bein' met. We took -- agh. Porky, took 'em⊠Tore 'em up, put 'em back together, n' set 'em loose to fend for themselves."
And then Tazmily deliberated their fate, over an open floor, as if it were all some absent hypothetical. Some game, just to square their morals. Like he didn't have the bone fractures to show for it. Like the beast that impaled his mother hadn't been a shambling centrifuge of absolute agony. Like his brother wasn't out there, bustin' his ass right under their stuck-up noses, mis-matched hands buildin' their newfangled comforts, their future, they --
Shh.
And something stirred within his guts. Softly as fresh bedsheets, or honeyed tea. Prompted an exhale. A pause. Yellow.
You wanna talk about planted seeds? Hinawa's got a whole garden in there.
Lucas takes great care to tend it. Food, and water. And silence. And words. Like so:
"⊠Chimeras don't attack people outta some kinda malice. They're.. They're scared. They're hurt. In their shoes? You'd prob'ly do the same." Evidence he carried in spades. There's a scar on his ankle, from his first reluctant bout with a Slitherhen. And another on his forearm, where a sparking blade once braced. He'd locked eyes, just above it. Met tears with tears. Somethin' yet darker - or brighter - than primal terror.
"They've got just as much a right to life, as anyone here," he concluded. Shaking his head. Glancin' downward, at the millimeter gaps in the hardwood.
"Well. I reckon that might be goin' a bit too far," Jill replied. Oblivious to the glares she'd just earned, from about half the crowd. As well as the sage nods, from the like-minded remainder. Biff, cowering beside her, fell into the former camp. Butch, the latter.
Jonel would grab her coattails. Ride 'em, valiantly, into one last round.
"Lucas. You've got your mother's bleeding heart. I respect it. Truly, I do. And I do believe there's a sanctity to our forest, our wilderness, the creatures with which we share these Islands. But these chimeras? Please understand - we'd be doing them a great mercy."
Mercy?
The word - which he mouthed, but did not echo - was Antarctic permafrost to his tongue. Shiver down his spinal fluid. The winding cockles of his brain. How love could erupt into a blinding nova. Turn harsher than steel. Become his fiercest weapon, pulled blood-soaked from his own chest.
Magenta. Yellow. Cyan.
"It's simply unnatural," Jill n' Butch concurred. "Un-natural."
"Tragic shame they're here at all," Ed mumbled, from afar.
"They never were supposed to be here, to begin with," Jonel insisted. Lucas thought, for a split second, Mom forgive him, his throbbing head might just up and explode then and there.
But.
Isaac stepped forward. The forest warden. The hermit. The boot-licking traitor. Who'd shirked his pig's mask, his calamine uniform, his pride - for an old vest that reeked of forest fires. N' a rusty badge. Gold to bronze. Turns out Zeus, and the Commander, ain't the only ones with a penchant for amends.
Wasn't often that someone stood up, in Lucas' stead.
The kid stared. Frozen stiff. Reconstructed Caribou in the headlights. As his fellow amalgamation declared:
"Neither were we."
And if you were seated amongst the crowd, you'd've felt it. The seasick lurch. The tide's tousle, at the rickety feet of every chair. Hardwood floor transfigured, in all of an instant, into a White Ship's deck.
No one - save for little Abelle - had the stomach to pipe up, after that.
Leder's hoarse murmur would follow a queasy, stagnant silence.
"Ehm.. If there are no further objections, or endorsements?"
And there were none.
"Then. Regarding the establishment of Nowhere's Ranger Service⊠All in favor - say ayeâŠ"
#as if they are not all violently hodge-podged products of disparate lives themselves.#ah-choo#2thprose#osha's eleven
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đ -- Asking yourself -- "Why?" e x e r c i s e
so what this means is whenever you find yourself in a situation where you are thinking a negative thought or even a negative scenario, what you want to do is ask yourself why am I thinking this.
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to try and put this into perspective, I'm going to give an example : I feel like sp does not love me - why ? -> I feel this way because in the past, no one had stayed, and my relationships never lasted - why ? -> because I would always self sabotage and then react, which would ruin it - why did you self sabotage ? -> because I'm afraid of love - why ? because I feel unlovable and unworthy, as if I wouldn't have much to offer
root = you feel unworthy and unlovable
solution = create affirmations centered around feeling worthy and lovable
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-- How do we do this ? -- đż w/ a f f i r m a t i o n s
we fix this issue with the use of affirmations :] I will be writing affirmations for various things so raje what resonates and leaves what doesn't. this exercise is not limited to just sp or money can be used for any negative thoughts that you are facing. it is supposed to help with not only questioning your negative thoughts but also figuring out the root of them so you can uproot it and replant something better.
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I am so loved and worthy
people always treat me wonderfully because I am wonderful
money is so easy for me to obtain
I find it so easy to make money, and I attract money on a daily basis
I am always first pick when applying for colleges
iv leagues are seeking applicators like me cause I always meet all the requirements with ease
they are calling me back to hire me any minute now
getting jobs has always been easy for me, and they always give me the requested hourly I want
my skin is so perfect and has a smooth texture
every time I do my skin care routine, I can feel my acne disappearing instantly
the more I eat the more I lose weight
I have always had a very fast metabolism, and the older I get, the faster it becomes
I have rapunzel hair
every time I cut my hair, it just grows back 2xs more the next day
my life is always perfect no matter what happens
everything I desire manifests within 24 hours because my world takes care of me
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#affirmyourlife#affirm and persist#affirmdaily#manifesation#manifesting#loa#loassumption#law of assumption#tips and tricks#psychology#psychologytips
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Who Is The Best Dermatologist In Jaipur
Introduction:
In the bustling city of Jaipur, where tradition meets modernity, the quest for healthy and radiant skin is a pursuit close to the hearts of many. The city is home to numerous dermatologists, each claiming expertise in skincare. However, when it comes to entrusting your skin to a professional, it's crucial to find the Best Dermatologist In Jaipur who combines skill, experience, and a personalized approach to skincare.
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DC thoughts cause I have them
- Bruce canonically cannot cook to save his life, but heâd likely adapt and learn to make snacks for dummies (honey on crackers, apple slices, cereal, etc) and those become a lot of the batboysâ comfort foods
- Billy Batson always has his powers but when heâs in his real form/child body itâs proportionate to his size. So he has incredible endurance, strength, speed, and wisdom (and kind of always smells like rain/ozone) but only in relation to a 5th grader.
- Wisdom of Solomon does NOT mean common sense or intelligence. It means Shazam is perceptive and has good judgement based on knowledge he already has. Whether or not that wisdom is based on how wise king Solomon of antiquity was is unknown.
- Jason actually stole the wheels off the batmobile because he made a bet with Catwoman while he was homeless for $50, who 100% thought he was bluffing. She still has three of the wheels under her bed
- Poison Ivy has acne during springâitâs her version of seasonal allergies
- When Damian was a kid he demanded servants to eat his food with him. His mother and grandfather took this as him being a natural born monarch being perceptive enough to know about poisons, but really he just didnât want the servants to feel left out and didnât want to eat alone.
- At least one member of the justice league is colorblind; that many aliens doesnât make for a consistent amount of cones (the color perception in the eye, humans have 3) and the watchtower ALWAYS has to accommodate for this in some way. Like hell theyâd ever leave someone without their proper accommodations for what could be considered a disability.
- Hawkgirl is incredibly farsighted and her mask/helmet doubles as reading glasses
- When Diana went to a salon for the first time. Oh boy. She didnât leave that massage table for 3 days.
- Everyone can always tell when Clark just got off a call or back from a visit with his parents because his accent comes back. He can never hear it himself and its driven him crazy trying to get rid of it.
- After an incident involving time travel and meeting another version of Bruceâa very old versionâlearning the fact that Bruce has a risk of heart problems makes his kids ease up on the pranks and death defying feats. At least while in front of him. He doesnât though.
- Dick and Wally have a secret code that they made based on Rock Paper Scissors. It looks exactly like Rock Paper Scissors except they move a finger or change angles to indicate what theyâre talking about and it took Wally 6 months to get correct
- Every year for the Flash Day in Central City the Rogues decorate things with antlers and red noses without fail. Every year on Flash Day Wallace Rudolph West considers the ramifications of changing his middle name.
- Black Canary always has access to tea somewhere in the room. Any room. One time she pulled tea bags out of one of Batmanâs pockets and he was stoically bewildered as she calmly made earl grey during an interrogation
- The amount of times Constantine has had to be escorted from the premises of a case is absurd
- Timâs footsteps constantly fluctuate between being super loud and extremely quiet. Since he was at home alone so much he was used to being able to be loud, but quickly learned to be quiet after he realized he could be heard while following Batman and Robin, and got even better at it when he became a superhero. Whenever he gets loud, he knows itâs time to take a nap.
- Steph is terrible at chess but the best scrabble player youâve ever seen. Cass is always in awe, because sheâs the exact opposite.
- Barbara can still do a backflip paralyzed from the waist down. Her arms are enormous and she always finds a way.
- Duke HATES the Night Shift, his powers are annoying and near inert when literally everything is bathed in darkness. (He also sleeps with the hallway lights turned on so he can see footsteps under the door before theyâre there. All the bats do.)
- Since he was born in the phantom zone, Chris Kent has a lot of problems that taught Clark about being a good father. He and Bruce donât have many serious disagreements after Chris. He understands now.
- Every single lantern goes absolutely apeshit over Lego bricks, they canât get enough of it. One time the league went on a mission that involved the lantern corps and there was a giant battle of Lego builds in willpower green that they had to break up.
- Lois Lane is face blind. She does not let this stop her. Clark took an entire class on body language just to try and keep his privacy under wraps because she can read people like a book. Why else do you think sheâs such an amazing investigative reporter and canât spot Supermanâs big lovable face a cubicle away?
- (More)
#I just wanted to vent that outta me skull#it ate at me like a little parasite#headcanons#writing prompt#dc#justice league#batman#bruce wayne#billy batson#Shazam#black canary#clark kent#superman#lois lane#chris kent#diana of themyscira#diana prince#john constantine#hawk girl#wally west#batfamily#dick grayson#jason todd#tim drake#damian wayne#selina kyle#cassandra cain#stephanie brown#barbara gordon#duke thomas
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His Manlier Tomorrow
Jayce Talis TF/MC
ââââ
Trying something new, a fictional character tf based on the manly man Jayce Talis from League of Legends and Arcane.
Slight spoilers but most of the names omitted except Jayce himself. Personality traits may be quite exaggerated and may be sort of different to the actual character in the movie/game.
ââââ
âTheyâreâŠnot that hot.â
The American asian rolled his eyes at the newest poster of a proud superhero. With many other various forms of merchandise of âMain Charactersâ at the rest of the booths.
Yeah, Jin was pretty much an anime nerd. Mousy raven hair growing to his shoulders, thick black framed spectacles framed over his thin eyes, and the slight case of college acne over on his cheeks.
Pudgy roundish figure, a far cry to the ideal frame of Mr Macho Man standing in front of him. Alongside his goofy grey patterned âblonde ninjaâ t-shirt, beige shorts and sandals, he rarely cared about how he looked in public.
And for why he was in this section of the conventionâŠ
âOkayâŠtheyâre very hotâŠâ
Taking one more glance at the powerful figure, posing chest-out and in that stereotypical way like the guy could just save the world and get that gorgeous woman at the same time.
At least that is how most media have portrayed them.
But of course besides the eye candyâŠhe felt something, or someone drawing him over here. He doubted it was âspecial initiationâ or whatever strange super power a protagonist would get randomly, but its like some tug like he never had before.
*GLOW*
Hand reaching down the trash can, emptyâŠaside from a lone glowing stone.
âMust be some kind of toyâŠ?â
Of course, like all the âgood guysâ in every story, Jin picked up the unsuspecting object that radiated magical energy. Gripping it with his fingers as he slowly, but dramatically, brings it up to eye level.
Observing the glowing, mesmerising jewelâŠdangerously coming into contact fearlessly without any regard for the risks. Such qualities exhibited from a man such as yourselfâŠ
(Indeed, you are a hero.)
âHuh?â
(And letâs just cut it the chase, shall we?)
â<RECALIBRATING SUBJECT!>â
As the stone radiated arcane energy, light engulfing our Hero within seconds. It seems like he is doomed to fate beyond his control!
But no, as whirlwinds guided around him, a strange sensation of power churning within him like never before. Harnessing such energies, blending in with them as they prepared for his transformation to come.
And come indeedâŠ
âWâŠWhoa!â
Like any typical gasp and shock! We have our man trying to resist such wisdom and guidance. Such strength and energyâŠthat was meant for him.
But we all know thatâs futile.
After all, every Hero always meets their Heroic destiny, with subconscious Bravado and a dramatic masculine performance as they come into terms with their rightful place.
And to his rightful place, our hero is transported. Cutting this intermission short, so that he can enter that special world.
The world where he rightfully belongs.
ââââââââââââ
<ASSIMILATING SUBJECT INTO REALITYâŠPROGRESSION>
ââââââââââââ
âWhereâŠwhere am I?â
Like many openings to a story, we have the main character looking all confused in a new environment. Eye lids gently being lifted up, body slowly shifting about as he made his way forwardâŠand forward.
BUMP!
Before coming to a stop.
âWhaâŠwhatâs this?!â
Stopping at the podium, his eyes glanced at the great beyond of faces from as far as his eyes could see. Crowds and crowds from far and wide starring at himâŠ
Frozen, the whole world waiting for their hero.
(Now presenting the man of tomorrow! Jayce Talis!)
An incredibly womanly voice echoed from within the silence. ThatâŠsame voice from earlier! That person who called him a hero!
(Of course, as you are currently, that wouldnât be correct now, would it?)
A young college student giving a speech in front of a crowd like that, with barely any ambitions other than drooling over big strong heroes, dependable men that always saves the day time and time again.
(Time for you to be exactly just that~)
YANK!
His left hand was pulled past the podium, displaying the gemstone openly to his adoring public, thumb and index finger gripping it proudly as though he earned that gemstone piece as his own.
(After all, you did find it. Therefore, it shall be your reward)
BZZT!
Glowing energy intensified, outlining his whole figure with that similar aquamarine hue. Heated sensations piling up from within, ensuring the process is as irresistible as possible for any man to resist.
âNgghâŠIâŠhave to moveâŠUrk!â
(Canât have my man of tomorrow running off~)
Concentrated at his feet, as they obeyed her. Bursting up double the length, snapping those sandals as they donned that heroic caucasian tan. The kind that stood firm in his beliefs for himself and whatever, whoever he cared for.
HowâŠirresistible.
Jin blushed, barely being able to wiggle his new âsuperchargedâ toes as the torn up sandals stretched down past the soles, up his brad-ankles, tightening into a pair of stained dark brown engineering boots, with a cushion of long socks covering his masculine feet up to just below his-
(On your knees and thank me later~)
His whole body flushed, getting down on one knee, almost like he was proposing the jewel to thatâŠvoice. And for someone to be able to propose to a person of such a caliberâŠhe oughta be-
Taller~
Kicking his figure off the ground, straightening his back. Cracks and pops echoing as it stretched beyond its initial width, satisfying RIPS! As it tore the fabric of his shirt, begging to be exposed to the world.
Height rising as his head reached beyond three-quarters of the podium, the anticipation of the crowd within his sights. Thighs splurging away his shame, kicking off as he was ready to make a proposal.
One of the century, and one for that gorgeous ladyâŠhow can he help himself? He was gay butâŠ
(Get back up, my strong muscular man~)
âMmphâŠâ
The young hero gulped, sporting the stupidest lovestruck grin he ever did. Of course, every hero is far from unintelligent, but whenever it comes to the lady of their dreamsâŠthey just cannot help themselves but irresistibly do anything just to be with them.
Manlier, my love~
âOf courseâŠmy love~â
Jan couldnât resist himself, those words spurting out of his embarrassed mouth. Pulling his weight as he stood proudly in front of the crowd. Inexperienced, but that did not matter if she was always by his side, walking beside him every step of the way.
He wasâŠmostly gay, but No! He wasnât intoâŠwomen. Man oh man⊠women. Especially when it came to this woman, his mouth barely contained his drool, tastebuds salivating for that gorgeous craving of guidance from her. Every Superhero yearns for thatâŠ, especially from the one they love.
Powerful legs grounded his position, spread few inches apart. Buttocks tightening with dominant confidence, waist pushed beyond the confines of his shorts, and in mere secondsâŠthose strands simply SNAPPED! The broken material simply falling onto the edges of his boots, shamefully unable to resist the growing superheroâŠ
Tough oil-stained prints etched themselves over on his digits, Roughness coming from the hard work of progress decked his palms with experience and strength, surging up his wrists, down his veins as meat toned themselves wonderfully on such a man. Such a wonderful, MANLY man as he flexed his right bicep, a thick definite hill of muscle filling out both of his arms as his left still proudly âproposedâ the arcane crystal to his adoring public.
Always thinking about her, first and foremost~
A determined resolve, trailing down his chest, lining up mini-packets of air on his tummyâŠPOUNDING AWAY PROGRESS! with his fist! Hammering a tight eight pack that always cooed his lady in their private chambers.
And her SoftâŠdelicate fingers savouring the sensation of his hardened âdotsâ, coaxing them with Sly touchesâŠbouncing them. Muscle Helium lifted his figure, prominently presenting his bulging pectorals, proud of the lengths he took to ensure he stayed as attractive as ever.
For himselfâŠand for his Love.
(Dressed for the success of the century, my love~)
âOfâŠCourse, anything for you my lady~â
He blushed, nervousness fading away in an instant. No! He canât just turn into thisâŠnoâŠHeh! No reason to be afraid of her, and besides, she raised him to be a public figure after all. He ought to dress like one in order to look good in front of the men and ladies of the public, mostly to the ladiesâŠbut most importantly.
Handsome and stylish, for her~
With that, the remnants of the torn fabric on his bod clung on a bright threaded white, tightly pressing against his chest as eight round silver buttons held his new attire in its place.
Down below came the shorts rising up at full force, stretching all the way to large size of his new waist, tightly clinging onto their hero. Material bathing an expensive dark brown, before a large intricate belt CINCHED his pants shut, further accentuating his iron-clad rear, and the ever-so tented strain in his undergarments.
Of courseâŠhis lady knows how to circumvent that in a-bit, once this is all over.
Power coursing through him as new sleeves rolling down to his biceps. Dark brown leather materialising around his palms, inventor gloves wrapped his revolutionary mitts down to his forearm. Finalising his design strapped two large brown pads over his broad shoulders. Marked with a golden Piltover design, his brand new attire completed itself with silver stitches and a folded down collar.
A man of tomorrow never stops, not now, not ever. Taking a deep gulp, his vocal chords gawked at how far heâs gone in. Every admiration to himself he proudly received, modesty never being his strong suit, but that did not matter when everything else is cranked to near maximum.
âManâŠam I stylish.â
Jayâs voice was deep husky, like a freshly brewed pot of coffee in the morning. Oozing masculinity, almost as though he could just put himself into trance just by whispering sweet nothings to himself.
But of course, with that kind of body, he oughta have a woman to enjoy it, in private. Another guy wasnât really his thing, especially with how persuasive his lady isâŠ
She really blended with him well, too well. Her breathing in that overwhelming sense of justice within himâŠits too strong! Why would he resist being everything Piltover wants him to be? That she wants him to be? The kind of leader that protects his peopleâŠand the man that always gets the woman of his dreams.
His sense of former self relinquishing its control, diminishing resistance being converted in manly bravado, a disregard of the fear of the unknown. And being such a great Superhero such as himself, he definitely should allow his former civilian self to say something back at her for all the things she has done for him!
Maybe a thank you gorgeous should suffice~âŠNo! Let me say-will you be my one and only?âŠNo! A FâŠF-!
âF-Fully charged!â
The Superhero couldnât help himself but to smirk, gripping his tight package shamelessly in front of the frozen public. Their faces all beaming with anticipation over the fiery speech he was giving.
GivingâŠyeah? That was why someone as great as him was here in the first place. He was their leader, an iconic public figure, someone who the masses adored.
(Yes, let that confidence surge within you~)
Gorgeous hands gripping over his chin, shaping it, like marvellous sculptor. Trailing deep bristles over that melted fat, sharpening the edges with a little sturdy groove below his lips which she-
Kissed.
Bringing him to the topside, as he allowed to have her way. A hero always gets the gal doesnât he? Especially with his manly rug of grey aftershave and chiselled jawline.
(I always did your his cleftâŠso bristly, so impeccableâŠso strong~)
And she did not stop it there, continuing the kiss. Cupping his cheeks, brushing it, vanishing all the blemishes from her hero. Course, he always looked good, naturally, it was how this man was built.
And he wouldnât have it any other way.
(And neither would I~)
She pulled away from the kiss, a momentary restraint for the power duo. After all, the crowd still has their eyes on them, on me. Even when paused, they cannot resist but to want to know everything about him.
But he always knew to knew not to give the public the full info on his inventionsâŠyou know, give them an incentive to keep listening, to keep wanting.
âLike how you would tease me.â
His eyes kept on that gorgeous woman, still firmly tugging his needfully large throb beneath his well stitched pants. What can he say? It was beyond his ability and power to control himself, and his rod, especially when the woman of his dreams and ambitions came to him like that.
He was a man after all, and a hero like him had to be pleased by his lady.
Running her fingers through his hair, gently slicking it back the way he liked, the way she loved. Slightly lighting it to a caucasian dark brown, as the follicles from the back retracted back above his neck.
He was presentable, the way she groomed him, the way she liked. And now, it is time for him to make her proud.
(They are counting on you~)
With a low, persuasive whisper in his ear, she slid down his biceps, to his large hands. Accelerating the sensations like Hextech, eliminating any reservations he might ever have of beingâŠsome other guy?
Was he really someone else? Didnât make sense, after all, he was and had always been both hot and intelligent, two in one.
Tugging roughly, the gemstone brimming the brightest light blue. Sealing his fate in the new reality, with invisible manicured hands interlocking with his own down below.
Nudging him to face forward to the crowd as they charged up his powerful hammer together.
(Ready for the climax?)
âIâmâŠmmmphâŠIâm..IâM-!â
The stone beamed its iconic glow. YesâŠOf course, he was holding a piece of the arcane. Despite many hardships, he stuck to his plans, and now everyone was ready for the transformation of the century.
With him leading it.
âIâm Jayce Talis!â
The man spoke, and simply proclaimed. Gleaming citrine eyes portraying the determination of his lifetime, and the heroism the world had shaped him up to be. Why would there be any hesitation? He was their hero, and with a final TUG! He was-
âIâm always ready~â
ââââ <FIXED REALITY!> ââââ
Releasing his grip, the new Jayce blasted over and over, thick hammer slamming within the confines of his attire. Savouring every ounce of power that comes with being a hero.
Course, this was his reward for being in charge of the city countless times. Reshaping and saving it, even from itself. Thatâs the kind of man he was, and he was not gonna let anyone tell him otherwise.
That is how people liked him. That is why she loves him.
With all being saidâŠhe felt like he was frozen in time just now, almost if he lived a whole different lifetime or something. Ha ha haâŠimagine. Why would he ever want to be anyone else but himself?
Throb!
ManâŠhis hammer is already getting pretty thick. With how hot and handsome he is, its almost a crime not to think about himself spending raw, quality time with his ladyâŠ
But of course, that will have to wait until they are in their private chambers once again. He still has to finish his speech after all, and with how the public looks up to him.
This has to be revolutionary.
âAnd from this day onward, weâll build a brighter tomorrow.â
#jayce talis tf#league of legends transformation tf#arcane transformation tf#gay to straight#g2s#mental change#personality change#racial change#his manlier tomorrow#jayce talis transformation#jayce transformation#jayce tf#muscle growth tf#Jayce Talis TF/MC
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i made a tinder and like... ppl way out of my league have matched w me and i literally feel like a catfish bc on these pics my skin wasnt as f horrible as it is now and im terrified to meet up w anyone from there solely due 2 my fucking stupid acne that has got so bad recently. bittersweet
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tov postgame drabblefic (3343 words)
âRaven?! Hey, Raven!â
Raven turns to smile at the little shrimpâwhoâs really more a jumbo shrimp now, with all the acne that comes with pubertyâand waves. âHeya, Boss-man!"
Karolâs embrace draws a startled âoof!â out of him, his blastia-heart creaking against his ribs. âYouâre in town!â Karol exclaims. âAnd you didnât say?!â
âI just got here, kiddo,â Raven says, patting Karolâs backâit used to be a pat on his head, but his headâs just about level with Ravenâs now. âDamn, youâre getting tall!â
âYou shouldâa said you were coming,â Karol grouses into his neck. âIâve got a client Iâm already late for across town.â
âAww, thatâs awright. Iâve got some time-sensitive stuff to get ta, too. We can join up after! Brave Vesperiaâs still at the same place, yeah?â
âWest corner across Saggitarius, yup!â Karol beams. âSee you for dinner, then?â
âIâll whip you up a Sashimi,â Raven promises.
âThatâs a promise, pops!â Karol says, and dashes off. Raven scratches his messy hair and abruptly feels very self conscious about it. Itâs just a casual nickname, old man, he don't mean naught by it. Relax.
After a fast-tracked meeting with Harry results in a tussle â poking gentle fun at the boyâs attempt at a beard earns him a âYour ass is grass, old man!!â and a surprisingly competent sword duel ensues â the young Master is turning into a proper Don, now â Raven subtly lets Harry disarm him and sprawls on the floor, dramatically defeated.
âOhhh, these old bones!â Raven mimics being out of breath. âYouâve finally bested me, Master Harry. Do with my ass what you will.â
âUgh! Youâre so disgusting!â Harry is actually out of breath, so he still needs a bit more practice, but itâs leagues better than he was just a year ago. âA duel is an honourable exchange between men! Stop desecrating it with your jokes!â
âI donât joke with my ass,â Raven says in his Serious Voice, enjoying Harryâs startled look before he dons his jesterâs grin again. âAnywho, this old manâs got places to be, so! Toodles!â
âWait! Raven! What the hell did you come here for!â Harryâs baritone is quite impressive when he gets proper angry. âDid you just come here to waste my time!â
âNever intentionally,â Raven promises. Heâd dropped Flynnâs wax-sealed letter on Harryâs desk during their fight, and points to it as he nimbly leaps up to his usual open window. âThereâs your homework, Master Harry! Iâll come by to collect it tomorrow at dawn, âkay?â
He leapfrogs out in time to hear Harryâs yelps of protest. âWhen did you put that there! God damnit, Raven!â
Ravenâs grinning as he parkours his way away from Altoskâs headquarters and towards Brave Vesperiaâs. If he sharply detours into Saggitarius tavern to catch up with the ladies (and the latest, juiciest gossip â who knew Heliordâs newest guild ambassador was trafficking drugs and possibly underage escorts? he did, now), then thatâs just Raven being Raven, right? Karolâll understand.
âI almost thought you wouldnât come,â Karol says faux-lightly, when Raven finally makes it back a few minutes past midnight.
Aww, shit.
âHeeey, I promised, didnât I? Business just stretched out a little.â Raven dithers at Karolâs knowing stare. âCâmon, you still up for a good olâ Ravenâs Special Sashimi?â
âFish isnât really fresh by midnight anymore,â Karol says drolly. âUnless you wanna go fishing at this hour?â
Theyâd only get sewer trash in Dahngrestâs polluted rivers, and the next best thingâs thirty minutes out, at the very least. âEhhhâhow bout a Beef Bowl?â Raven says. âSurely you got some cured meats in your pantry. Câmon!! Iâll teach you!â
âAw, okay. I am pretty hungry.â Karolâs so easy to please, itâs both heartwarming and kind of sad. âIâve tried making it before but I can never get mine to taste like yours did.â
ââS all in the seasoning, kiddo. Here, watch the master and learn!â
Itâs well past two when they finally call it a night, bellies full and hearts warm; itâs solely because of this that Karol succeeds in wrestling a promise out of Raven that theyâd talk more in the morning. See, Ravenâs got orders to pick up Harryâs response to Flynnâs letter and hussle back to the Empire ASAP, but even he doesnât have to heart to deny Karol this simple thing.
Ever since Brave Vesperia saved the world by ruining it, everyoneâs been struggling to adapt to life without blastia and Ravenâs somehow found himself smack in the middle between the two remaining powers: the Empire and the Guild Union. Former member of both and trusted by all due to his role in stopping the Adephagos, Ravenâs got the privilege of being messenger boy between the leaders in lieu of formal meetings, due to the fact that a lack of blastia has made travelâŠimmensely more time consuming.
Heâs worn down all the possible routes between Dahngrest and Zaphias for over a decade; the presence or absence of blastia has not really affected Ravenâs efficiency and timeliness, which, naturally, has made him an attractive player for both sides. It just sucks that this means heâs always on the go, never really spending much time in one place or another. The first six months couldnât be helped, it was imperative that everyone get their shit together and master the essentials necessary in order to provide basic living to their respective citizens: barrier blastia had to be replaced with rotating squads of knights and guildsfolk trained to fight; food previously preserved by blastia now had to be kept refrigerated with imported Zophier ice, dominated by the Empire, which had to be kept from melting with salt from Weasand mines, dominated by Guilds; everyone had to coordinate and organise to secure trade routes and avoid conflict, etc, etc.
The next six months after that were peace talks and negotiations between what was quickly becoming independent kingdoms in separate countries. Sea travel had slowed the fuck down overnight, because blastia-fueled engines had become obsolete and everyone now had to rely on wind power, so every passing day each country was slowly but surely becoming more and more isolated from each other, and therefore gradually but surely more hostile.
Emperor Ioder ruled over the continent of Ilyccia with his aristocracy of nobles and meritocracy of knights, struggling to keep the Empireâs global standing while lacking the technology to enforce it; Tolbyccia was pretty much owned by Altosk, ostensibly headed by Harry, who was presently overrun with infighting due to the fact that the Union was composed of many, many guilds all clamouring for leadership, if not democracy; East Desier was dominated by the strong-spirited Palestralle guild and its current leader, Natz, whose militant-minded navy had quickly expanded toward West Hyponia now that the Unionâs presence was months away by treacherous sea; East Hyponia was an oddly peaceful blend of both Guild and Empire, unique in its joint origin and therefore vocally neutral, though that was quickly becoming contested, and, hence, required Raven-the-Pageboyâs timely arrival to avoid it becoming a full out war. Ugh.
The Schwann part of him that still lived felt heavy resignation at the inevitability of violenceâthe first one to fall would be Raven, he knew, as no messenger could truly remain neutral in a tug of war between such powerful mastersâbut the more upbeat part of him was like, stop sweating the small stuff and just go with the flow. Shit always resolves itself one way or another, right?
Right?
âYou leaving already?â Karol mumbles into his pillow when Raven rises at dawn; kidâs no longer the type to sleep deeply, it seems.
âJust visiting the young Master to collect his response letter for Flynn,â Raven promises quietly. âGo back to sleep, Karol. Iâll be back to make you breakfast before Iâm gone.â
Karol eyes him tiredly but he manages a wan smile. âOkay, pops. I trust you.â
Raven feels goosebumps up his arm. Stupid blastia heart runs too damn cold. He heads out at a jog to warm himself up, since Dahngrest runs both chilly and damp at this hour.
Raven no longer sneaks into Altoskâs headquarters like he did when the Don was alive and Harry was a boy; for one, Don is no longer alive to vouch for his slipperiness and for another, Raven represents the Empire here as much as he represents the Guilds in Zaphias, and no one tolerates his antics as they did before, not with the threat of conflict so close to the horizon. He walks in through the front door and waves at all the folks waiting in lineâPecan, Cactus, Lima and good olâ Walt; all familiar faces turning sour, as usualâand knocks politely on Harryâs door.
âMaster Harry,â he sing-songs. âIt is I, Raven the Great, come âround at last!â
âItâs been barely ten fucking hours,â Harryâs pissed off voice rings loud and clear through the door.
âShall I come back at noon, then?â Raven asks diplomatically.
An explosive sigh. âNo,â Harry mutters. âGet in here. And call Cactus in, too, would you?â
âYou heard the Young Master,â Raven says, nodding at the aptly-named mercenary, with his spiked up armour and sharpened teeth.
âYou donât order us around anymore, traitor,â the prickly fellow spits and shoves past him, to whom Raven mockingly bows to as he passes.
Saviour of the world or not, it's no secret now Raven was a triple agent. The official story Harry graciously gave him is that the Don always knew about Ravenâs split loyalty (which is true, probably) and trusted him anyway (which is true, too), so Harry and Altosk will continue to trust him as well (which is flattering, but increasingly doubtful). Harry's a good kid shoved into a position of leadership he's not very well suited for, but even Raven can't deny he's trying and doing better every day.
âCutlass Cactus, I want you to deliver this to Sirena of Sirenâs Fang as soon as possible,â Harry says shortly, handing the man a wax-sealed letter. âWait for a response, but I await it at most a fortnight.â
âUnderstood, young Master,â Cactus says, thumping his chest at the honour. He takes the letter, glares at Raven, and makes his way out.
âAs for you,â Harry says, âI have a question to ask you before I hand this reply over. A serious one.â
Raven feels his age and more. âYeah?â
âIoder is a good man. His dog Flynn is, too. I know this personally.â
There is no question here yet, and there are a fair amount of insults between the compliments, but Raven knows the heart of Harry, and he means well.
âYeah,â he says quietly. âThey are.â
âBut,â Harry continues, coldly. âTwo kind heads on a hydra do not make it any less a monster.â
Raven hides a grimace by scratching at his sideburns. âThe same can be said of the Guilds,â he says lightly. âOr of any organization grown large enough.â
âStop twisting my metaphors,â Harry says shortly. âThe question I wanted to ask is: what do you think the Empire's end goal is?â
And what is the Guildâs end goal, Schwann wants to counter, when the Guildsâ very existence rose out of violent rejection of the Empire? Raven, for his part, takes a deep breath and exhales it out as a thoughtful hum.
âI think the Empire was built to protect and manage blastia,â Raven muses. âAnd I think the Guilds were built to reject the Empireâ monopoly of them. But, well, there ainât no blastia left, so⊠the Empire wants to micromanage what remains. And the Guilds do, too. Yeah?â
âSo there can be no peace?â Harry concludes, tiredly.
âHarry,â Raven says, firmly. âYour grandfather, the Don, united the Guilds back when they were just a bunch of rowdy, armed assholes. Yâknow how he did it?â
âBy fighting the Empire?â Harry says dully.
âBy uniting against a common enemy,â Raven insists. âBy uniting against a common threat. The Empire is no longer the enemyâhell, think of the Empire as yet another guild. Itâs just a group of rowdy, armed assholes. But you and they got a common enemy now, too.â
Harry looks at him sharply. âThe Adephagos is no more,â he says, carefully, âright?â
âNot the Adephagos,â Raven says. âThe lack of blastia. The lack of technology. The lack of creature comforts all of us got real used to. Thatâs our enemy now; the thing we all gotta pitch in together to fix.â Raven bows low to Harry, as low as he would to the Don. âI beg you, young Master: do not war with the Empire. Not now. See them as a business partner, instead.â
âBusiness, huh,â Harry says heavily, and then flicks his sealed letter in Ravenâs direction, who catches it just before it smacks him in the face. âAll right. Tell your Master we canât afford a war, anyway.â
Something uncoils in Raven's chest. âYou are my only Master, Harry,â he says, cheekily. Just like Flynn is his only Commandant, now.
âUgh, the way you say it, you make it sound so gross,â Harry complains. âGet the fuck out of my room, old man. And call in Lima!â
Raven sends him a lazy salute and hops his way out, placing the important letter in his robeâs inner breast pocket. His heart blastia emits a small barrier shield of its own, using his life-force; this letter will remain pristine come rain, sleet, or snow, as long as he still lives.
âYouâre up, Lima bean,â Raven chirps.
âYou call me that again and Iâll break more than just your nuts,â Lima snarls, spits in his direction, and stomps off.
âAnd we used to have such fun together,â Raven laments. âWhat happened to us, O expert in nuts, Pecan, my man?â
âCareful, Raven,â the aforementioned Pecan murmurs. âYour jests are no longer in good taste.â
âYour fruit cocktail, on the other hand,â Raven says. âMmhmm. Top notch, as always.â
Pecan gives him a wry smile. âI saw you buttering up Madam Teal and her girls, last night. They talk about Heliord?â
âOh, you know me: promise me a free night of drinks and Iâll spill my guts,â Raven winks suggestively.
âHmmâŠyour costs run too high these days,â Pecan declines politely. âYouâll drink me out of business.â
Raven feels a mild pang of loss; he and the third-waiter-from-the-right Pecan used to be pretty tight. Schwann thinks itâs just how things go. Suck it up, buttercup.
âNext time Iâm in town Iâll do you one free, fer old timesâ sake,â Raven compromises. âLemme know what info you want and Iâll get it for ya fer a Mabo Curry and a Donâs Special. Within reason, âcourse.â
âDonât make promises you canât keep, Black Bird,â Pecan murmurs. âBut Iâll be waiting for you.â
Raven walks home with a heavy heart and on lighter feet. He makes a quick detour to the fish market, already bustling with a freshly caught haul; he haggles reliable ol' Fin for a kilogram of merflesh and charms Romelle out of a bottle of soy sauce and pays full price for a sack of white rice before finally making it back to Brave Vesperiaâs HQ, just in time to catch Karol in the kitchen about to make morning coffee.
âRaven!â Karolâs smile is brilliant, and very welcome. âYouâre back!â
âI promised you my world famous sashimi, didnât I?â Raven says. âCan't have you saying this old manâs a liar!"
âIâd never,â Karol says honestly, and that, more than anything, is what makes Raven want to noogie Karol and maybe cry into his hair or something likewise unmanful. He settles for making that kid the most delicious dish of fish a Weekend Chef is capable of, and if he finds himself also making Karol his special Pork Stew to eat later, he tells himself itâs âcause the boyâs a growing man and not because Ravenâs a sap at heart.
âSo where ya off to now, Raven?â Karol asks, after theyâre done eating and making the kitchen less of a mess. âIf, um, you can tell me, that is.â
âAtherum,â Raven says honestly. âFlynn said his girl Sodiaâd be there to collect whatever response Harry might have on the new moon, so, there I'll be.â
âThe new moon?â Karol stares at him. âBut thatâs in no time at all!â
Raven gives him a wan smile. âDonâtcha worry, kiddo. I always get ta where I need to in time.â
âWe should call Baâul,â Karol insists. âYouâll never make it otherwise!â
Raven doesnât have the heart to tell Karol that it probably doesnât matter how fast or slow his response arrives; in the end, itâs Harry actions from now on that will be his real response, regardless of what his letter says.
âJudith darlinâ probably has better things to do than be an old manâs cab,â Raven says lightly. âIâll jes' hop on a merchant ship headed toward Atherum tonight; should make it just in time, if the weather stays fair. This time oâ year, the northern windâs in our favour.â
âBut what if merfish ambush you!â Karol protests. âOr if a stormâs brewingââ
âTempest!â Raven sing-songs, flicking his hand. âAw, man, I miss being able ta call up storms willy-nilly. That made me feel God-like, it did.â
Karol frowns at the interruption, but then his face turns thoughtful. âCanât you still, though? Your blastiaâs powered by your life-force, right? So your arts should still be working just fine.â
âShavinâ a year or two off my life fer a light show is a bit too vapid, even by my standards,â Raven says sardonically. âPlus, I ainât keen on folks realising blastiaâs still useable if you use a human fer a battery.â
He can very easily see it happening in the future: folks trafficking humans for energy. Or, fuck, claiming prisoners of war for itâhell of a good reason to go to war, really, if itâs to dehumanize the ingredients you need to fuel your creature comforts. You justify your atrocities by framing it as necessary or even righteous; Alexei and Schwann used to do that all the time, no brainer. Honestly, this fear is one of the many reasons heâs made Rita promise not to share that part of Hermesâ research, despite the fact that human-powered blastia could solve a lot of the worldâs present problems. Schwannâs too jaded to avoid thinking of all the ways it can go terribly wrong, and Ravenâs too fucking tired of the parasite that is his heart to think of its more beneficial applications.
âPeopleâll find out eventually,â Karol insists, at once innocent and wise beyond his years. âDesperation breeds creativity, right? You should tell people about it so they know the risks involved, before someone invents it and says itâs a cure-all or something.â
âEhhhhh,â Raven drawls. âIâll think about it.â
He most definitely will not.
Karol drops it, thankfully, but then picks up the old tangent of, âI still say I should call Baâul for you. Iâve got the whistle and I was thinking of asking Judy to fly me over to Yumanju, anyway, since my next jobâs over there. We could drop you off real quick, no worries.â
âThe spa?â Raven perks up. The idea of running off to relax there after all this nonstop political bullshit is extremely appealing. âReally?â
âReally really,â Karol says, smiling knowingly. âSo, you wanna come with?â
âBoy, do I,â Raven says excitedly. âOkay, kiddo, youâve convinced this old man to defect to Brave Vesperia once again.â
âYou never left, pops,â Karol says without hesitation, which warms the cockles of ol' Raven's heart. âCâmon, then, letâs head to the usual clearing. Baâulâll show up within fifteen minutes after I call for him.â
âWait wait wait! We should get Judy a gift first,â Raven insists. âThe ladyâs coming all the way over here for our sorry hides, we gotta say thanks proper-like!â
Karol blinks. âThatâs a good idea! What dâyou think sheâd like?â
âI know just the thing,â Raven winks. âCâmon, kiddo, we got places to be!â
#karaii fic#tales of vesperia#still figuring out my raven voice and such#i wondered what the boy was doing after the game and here we are#=noodle shrugs= dunno where i was going with this
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so precious, if only you knew
in which y/n thinks her brotherâs best friend sees her as a little sister, and Jason, her brotherâs best friend, thinks sheâs too cute for her own good.
word count: 9k give or take some :D
pairing: y/n, and her brothers best friend, Jason (from the snl skit)
notes: inspired by project x. thatâs all.
When Jason and his friends were in their freshman year of high school, they made a pact.
To have a party.
A party so big, everyone got laid. A party so big, celebrities came. A party so big, the police feared it.
One where they would loose their virginity. Get drunk so they couldnât remember how they lost it (although, now itâs too late âcause none of them are virgins). And maybe, just maybe, participate in the illegal consumption of illegal substances such as drugs and or alcohol.
At the time of their promise, it was unknown if this party would be any sort of celebration, or just for the hell of it. The four, gangly, skinny, face-full-of-acne, boys had been so fueled by the simple idea that they just had to make their party so legendary future alumni could only imagine imitating an ordeal as great as the one they created. As time passed, they argued over whoâs birthday, or what holiday would be the cause of, as it had come to be named, G.C.B.B. Get Crunk and Bone Babes. Pronounced gee-sea-babe, because somehow the two bâs had morphed into âbabeâ. GCBabe, in the end, was endowed to Jason when he made a bet that he would score the winning touchdown and win the league for his high school during his junior year. Andrew and Kent, slightly peeved but more relieved that they had a reason to celebrate (theyâd settled on Jasonâs birthday), and had shifted their focus to the hows, when, wheres, and whats of the situation.
This was the only thing they ever talked about the closer it got to the date, Feburary 1st, and everything they did revolved around spreading the word, obtaining booze, weed, and whatever else they planned on having. Andrew, whoâs uncle so conveniently ran a radio station, not only announced a message himself on said radio station, but also convinced his uncleâs dj coworkers to email any celebrities they knew.
Kent, more on the brainy side of things, was working on the booze and drugs. He snuck into the school and used that machine they had to make student idâs and created a fake state id for himself. He would buy booze in a store where workers didnât know him. Maybe drive 30 minutes to the next town for beer and the lot. His cousin had told him not to worry about weed and the sorts, as long as he received payment.
Jason, ever the spoiled brat, would pay for everything. Even if it was his birthday.
No, no, because it was his birthday.
The thing is, his parents were going out of town to celebrate their anniversary, which just so happened to fall on Jasonâs birthday (what a wonderful gift to Jasonâs dad), and had given him a generous sum of money to make up for the fact that they wouldnât be there to celebrate his 18th birthday party. So, he had the house, the money, and the birthday to celebrate.
âYOUâVE HEARD IT ONCE BEFORE, AND YOUâLL HEAR IT AGAIN TILL THE END OF THIS SCHOOLâS TIME,â yelled Andrew, who stood on the back of a golf cart, megaphone in hand while Jason and Kent drove him up and down the lunch tables, âPARTY AT FUCKING JASONâS HOUSE, THIS SATURDAY. MISS IT, AND YOUâLL DIE.â
âAndrew!â
The cart came to a stop in front of a very disgruntled-looking y/n, Andrewâs sister. She stood comically, with her hands bunched up into tiny fists at her hips, lips in a frown at her brothers actions. âAre you trying to cause a riot? Miss it or die,â she mocked, pulling a funny face and cocking her hip to the side as she does so, âYeah, think Iâd rather die, thanks. Now shut up and put that cart back before they take away your senior privileges.â
Kent laughs, and Jason, leaning with his forearms crossed on top of the steering wheel, snickered into his wrists.
âWell, Iâve got news for you sissy,â said Andrew, his tongue poking out at her playfully, âCoach Barnwell let us borrow his cart, and all the snitch staff is in a meeting, so Iâm not gonna get into trouble,â He makes and L with his forefinger and thumb, pressing it on his forehead, âLoser. Now, scram. Go study for chem or... something.â
Y/n laughed at her brother, knowing that he was only joking with her, and flipped him off. She walked away with, as Andrew said, her chem book tucked underneath her arm, and shut herself in a little nook at the library for the remainder of the lunch period. Away from the âget crunk and bone babesâ nonsense, god knows she heard enough of it at home. Jason this, and GCBabe that. Sheesh, it was terrible. All she ever wanted to do was study and do her homework in peace... and maybe steal a few glances and Jason here and there.
But we donât have to talk about that. What y/n really needed to do, was study for the chem test she had on Friday. Tomorrow. She was the best in her class, always raising her hand to answer a question, but for whatever reason, she just couldnât get the hand of stoichiometry if she didnât have a sample problem in front of her. She didnât want to have to, but grades mattered, so all day she had been thinking of way to cheat. How to write what she needed. Which letters to shorten. Where to hide the slip of paper.
Sheâd done it before.
Cheat on a test, that is. The pressure there was to ensure good grades, well it was an insurmountable force. Her entire life, her parents told her academic success led to success in life, and you donât want to end up homeless under the bridge do you, y/n?
She didnât. It was her biggest fear. Studying hard for a nice home and car, and enough money to support herself and her kids was a constant thought in the back of her mind.
Itâs because of this that the tip of her nose was always stuck in a book, her fingers always wrapped around a pencil that transcribed notes in her neat writing. It was all she knew.
Because it was all she knew. It was no surprise to her parents when she pulled all-nighters to study for tests. Or when she declined offers to eat dinner out because âmom, I have a test to study forâ or âdad, i really need to finish this essayâ. That night, was no different. Y/n stayed up to study, her thumb pink because of all the pages she was flipping through. Her wrist her from forcing her writing to be as small as it could, so she could fit all she could on an index card she cut in half.Â
In the morning, Andrew cheered a loud, âWHOOP! WHOOP! MY SISTER ISNâT SUCH A GOODY TWO SHOES AFTER ALL!â when he saw her place the card up her shirtsleeve after she put her seat belt on. Y/n, had she had the energy, wouldâve pushed his shoulder, but instead chose to take a nap during the measly 15 minutes it took to get to school. Her head jostled against the headrest with the cars movements, and she almost cried because she couldnât doze off. Somewhere along the way, she felt fingers against the side of her face, cradling her head. She jumped, startled, but she heard Andrew say,
âRelax, its Jason. Picked him up cause he needed a ride to school.â and she was out like a light.
Andrew got out of the car once he parked, and Jason circled around the passenger seat so he leaned over the console, with his palm still on the other side of her face. He rubbed up and down her forearm to wake her, murmuring, âWeâre here, y/n. Sâtime to wake up.â
Y/n woke up disoriented, starting with a deep breath and her eyes blinking open slowly, looking around and landing on Jason, who was smiling at her tenderly. She smiles back at him, tilting her head to the side as she does so. She hopes he canât hear how fast her heart is beating.
âGood morning,â she said to him. The warning bell rings not long after that, and she turns away from him to reach for her backpack. Jason grabs his own backpack, too, swinging it over his should and stepping out of Andrewâs car. Andrew stands at the front of the car, texting someone on his phone while he waits for Jason and his little sister to step out.
âCâmon guys. Big day today!â yelled Andrew. It seemed as if he was always yelling. His voice, ebullient and clear, held an electrifying energy today, amplifying itself to the max. He whooped and hollered, locking his car carelessly and comically skipping away, but not before turning back and blowing a kiss in Jasonâs general direction, yelling, âThis is for you, big boy!â
Y/n snickered at her brother, and at Jasonâs shocked face. âThat was for you, big boy,â she repeated after he brother.
âYou forgot the kiss,â he said, pouting and pointing his chin down at the floor. Her heart doubled over in her chest, and she struggled to contain her swoon.The little 13 year old in her, having been the first time she ever felt anything for Jason, squealed like a banshee, and the rational 17 year old in her, shushed her by taping her mouth closed. Having seen Jasonâs blonde, skinny, cheerleader girlfriends, she knew it would never happen. Jason was only nice to her because she was his best friendâs little sister.
That was all sheâd ever be.
âOh I have no doubt youâll get plenty of those tomorrow,â she said, waving her hand dismissively. When she noticed the groups of students getting smaller and smaller, she started walking away, eager to get to class and not be late. Sheâs only taken three steps when Jason calls out her name.
âI know youâll do great on your test today,â and he has the goofiest smile on his stupidly handsome name and y/n just wants to go over there and slap him for making her heart to pirouettes.
âThank you,â she said, and turned to walk to her class.
Jason felt as if he was in one of those indie movies. But, the ones from the 80âČs. Ironically, heâs leaned up against the car, one foot propped up, hand clenching the singular strap he wore on his left shoulder. Entranced, he stared after y/n as she walked away, brows dipped over his eyes and his leg bouncing jitterishly.
When he was 16, a sophomore, and she a freshman, heâd stumbled upon her on a rainy spring day. Heâd been on his way home from his (now ex) girlfriendâs house, and she was huddled underneath a large birch tree, the canopy thick enough so she wasnât getting wet, but the winds strong enough that she was chilled to the bone. Her knees were banged up, and her ankle was twisted. Jason remembers asking her what happened, and she said nothing, instead jumping into his arms when he knelt down beneath her. He remember hissing because she was so cold, her clothes soaked through. Sheâd whispered to him a weak donât tell my parents, please take me to your house, and he did. He took her to his house, carrying her because the poor thing had to hop on one foot. This was around the time he was bulking for wrestling, so he didnât have a hard time lifting her and carrying her the rest of the way.
She fell asleep on his bed wearing a pair of his sweatpants and his hoodie after she took a warm shower. They never talked about. Not even once. But Jason swears that every once in a while, the skin of his neck still burns where she pressed a kiss to it after he got in bed next to her because she was âstill coldâ.
Since then, Jason harbored feelings for her. His yearning of her dainty hands to press against his chest while she cuddled into him was squashed every time he heard Andrew yell at another guy in the locker room for sexualizing his sister.
It was a dangerous game he played. Sneaking looks at her in car rides to and from school. Wanting to kiss her like he did then. And when she wore plaid school girl skirts, he wanted to press her up against the wall and hold her by the throat while his tongue snaked into her mouth. All while he sat next to Andrew.
He knew that one day, heâd say fuck it all and do it. He wasnât an idiot. His back burned when she stared a him from her kitchen isle while he played video games with Kent and Andrew in the living room of her house. He knew every little thing she tried to pass as discreet, because he did the same thing too.
One day, and one day soon, heâd say fuck. it. all.
.
.
.
Y/n was very nervous.
Well, she always get nervous when sheâs getting ready to take a test but, today was different. She was on edge, leg bouncing and head pounding. She was stressed. Her english teacher had assigned a paper that was due at midnight, and her math teacher had given her a surprise quiz she knows she failed. And this test was her chance to bring her B+ to an A-. Not to mention, if she got caught, sheâd be sent up to the office with a referral.
âYou have until the end of class to complete this exam. If you fail to complete before the class period, you will be granted five minutes after the bell. You may begin,â the teacher, Mrs. Prowe, sat down after the little announcement, and turned her full attention to an adult coloring book she had set up on her desk.
Y/n stared at the first question for a solid 2 minutes before any of the information actually sunk in. To which does He belong? a. metals b. metalloids c. non-met....
The first few questions are always easy. Review from past chapters, all of which y/n understood. The first page, front and back, were a breeze. She bubbled in circled on her answer sheet without hesitation. The back side, however, was a different story.
Her palms began to sweat at the sight of brackets and subscripts on letters. Her pencil started slipping. Y/nâs heart started to race, the edges of her eyes blurring. Donât cry, donât cry. Fuck. The note card. She took it out with no second thoughts. Within seconds, she had finished the first problem. It was almost exactly like the example exercise she had copied down, only the letters had been changed; different elements. Halfway through the period, the teacher announced how much time was left, and y/n was nearly done.
On the last page, however, was one problem she knew she wouldnât get. It was one of what the teacher called âirregularsâ, because you needed to follow certain rules that pertained to the elements or whatever the heck it was. She stared at the paper with her eyebrows raised, and all the dreadful feelings she had felt before tumbled back. Her pencil began to slip, her eyes began to blur. Shit, shit.
The bell rang. She didnât want to doddle any longer, cut she needed to answer this last problem, and she didnât fucking know how. Her leg was near violently shaking, the table quivering with her movements. Her breathing grew tight, and she figured, she could lose one point. Knowing Mrs. Prowe it wouldnât matter because that last one is most likely worth half the test. Y/n felt herself go rigid, body nearly frozen as she walked against student traffic to place her test on the teachers desk.
She was the last to exit the classroom. She did so with her head hung low, her feet dragging slowly on the tiles. Lips trembling, fighting to hold back tears.
That was how she bumped into Jason. Shoulders drooping and eyes shining wet. She bumped into his chest so hard, she wouldâve fallen back if he didnât catch her.
âY/n?â He asked after he stumbled back a bit. Heâd seen her coming, and he was looking at her, ready to smile when she looked up, but she hadnât. âWhatâs wrong?â He followed her gaze to try and make eye contact with her, but she shifted her eyes to the floor, and let the tears slip.
âY/n? Y/n? Hey, look at me,â Jasonâs voice was desperate and panicked because he wasnât really sure what was wrong. Y/n started to curl in on herself, her hands coming to clutch opposite shoulders. When she didnât look up at him, Jason gingerly lifted her chin up with his curled forefinger. âWhat is it?â
âItâs too much. I-I,â was all she managed to whisper before she started crying, she body swaying with sobs. Y/n knew, she knew she was crossing the same lines she had that rainy spring day, but she needed to feel her arms around him. She needed to feel secure.
So,
she took one step forward, and wrapped her arms around his neck awkwardly, Not a full millisecond passed, when she felt his arms encompass her, a secure bind around her waist. His chin propped on her head, on his hands rubbing up and down her back, and she had her face tucked into his neck.
âSâokay, y/n. Youâre okay,â He cooed into her ear, making ssh-ssh noises every now and then.
Slowly but surely, y/n felt herself come down from the self-destructive place she put herself in; the knot in her throat untangled. She began to retract her arms from Jasonâs neck, when his arms tightened around her. She stilled, unsure of what to do.
For a second, Jason had forgotten his situation. Why he couldnât get close to her. He was so close to saying fuck-it-all. He wasnât sure what held him back. Maybe it was her teary eyes. Or the fact that a teacher had come out of their classroom. But, he cleared his throat and pulled away from her, stuffing his hands in his letterman jacket to avoid reaching out to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
âSorry about that,â she said, sniffing and attempting to laugh to brush off the back that she had a mini-breakdown in his arms. âI-â
âItâs okay, y/n. Donât apologize. I just want to to know what had you so upset,â Jason said, his words coming out slowly to make sure that she truly understood how much he meant them.
âItâs just,â she sighed, âschool. Itâs a lot.â
He scoffed, âI bet. You do so much. More than you give yourself credit for, I think. Deserve a break.â
âThis weekend; sâgonna be my break. Yours too, no? Are you excited?â She confessed, turning the other way and beginning to walk. She was sure that Andrew was waiting for them at the car. Jason walked alongside her, as soon as she started moving.
âYeah. Itâs been all me, Kent, and Andrew have wanted since freshman year.â Jason stops talking for a minute, and scrunches one side of his face.
âBut?â Y/n prods. Looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He scratched the back of his neck, and his jacket inflates where his bicep flexes. Jason notices her looking, and smiles at her while giving her a side-eye look. Blushing, she turns her face straight forwards, like that didnât just happen.
âBut, some of the novelty has worn off if Iâm being honest.â When she hums, almost knowingly, he adds quickly, âDonât tell Andrew or Kent I said that.â
She giggled, and murmured, âYouâve kept my secrets, Iâll keep yours.â
Jason, surprised at her subtle acknowledgement of what happened nearly 2 years ago, turns to look at her, shocked. He wants to say something. Anything to get her to say more, but he sees Andrew and shuts his gaping mouth.
âThere you are- hey, y/n, are you okay?â Andrewâs chesire cat grin drops from his face when he sees that his little sisterâs face is splotchy and swollen red from past tears- a look he recognizes all to well from the times sheâd come into his room in the middle of the night asking to be held.
âIâm good,â she smiled at her brother, a sad smile that revealed she wasnât okay, but didnât wanna talk about it. âLetâs go home.â
Their ride was full of quick gibber and banter over tomorrow. How thing would go down, who they hoped to see and, in Andrewâs words, fuck. What music they would play, etc. etc. Y/n laughed at their enthusiasm under her breath. As much as she loved her brother, he could be such an idiot sometimes
They dropped Jason off at his house, which was being prepped by Kent by the looks of it. His car- a red corolla- was parked in Jasonâs strip of a driveway. Andrew promised heâd be joining them later that night, and pulled out.Â
He pulled the windows up, and turned the music off. Then, he said,
âY/n, what happened?â Andrew, as much as he was a fuckboy an party animal, cared about his sister if he cared about anything at all. Maybe a little too much.
Pushing air past her lips, âIâm fine now, Andy. I promise. That stupid chem test really had me going, thatâs all.â
âAre you sure, y/n? No one was bothering you?â Andrew looked at her quickly, hesitantly turning away from her to look at the road.
âAndy, Iâm okay.â She reassured her brother.
Jason wasnât a bother.
.
.
.
Saturday morning, y/n woke up to an eerily quiet house.
A difference to the pasts months. Sheâd gotten used to Andrew yelling âGET CRUNK BONE BABES!â all over the house. Hell, their parents knew of the entire party ordeal, and were quite skeptical about it. Knowing their son, they didnât try to stop him, they just told him time and time again to âbe safe, Andrew.â So many nights he had come home excited and drunk, and shown them videos on his phone of what had occurred at whoeverâs house heâd been at before
Their dad, in fact, had watched the videos with amazement, and never bashed on anything other than the fact that he shouldnât be drinking when he wasnât the appropriate age for it yet. Y/n and Andrew were lucky to have such laid-back and relaxed parents that focused much more on safety and well-being rather than the semantics of it.
As y/n crept down the stairs in her silky pjâs (a christmas gift from her 26-year old aunt who liked to shop at Victoriaâs Secret), the murmurs of her parents in the kitchen became louder and louder.
âHeard it on the radio, for godsakes,â said her mother, laughing as she stirred whatever liquid she had in her mug.
âI wonder if Jasonâs parents know, about the whole thing,â said her dad, his back was to her, facing his wife.
âThey must, I mean, itâs the only thing these boyâs have wanted since they started high school, Jason proba- oh hey, y/n!â Her mom smiled wide when she saw her step off the last stair. At the mention of his daughterâs name, her dad turns around, and y/n can see that he has a mug in his hand too.
âGood morning,â y/n croaked, her voice froggy early in the morning.
âBig day today, no?â Her dad teased.
âI guess so,â she murmured, taking a seat on the kitchen counter and drumming her knuckles on it. Her mother makes her a small plate of what was left over from their breakfast, eggs, bacon, and a slice of toast with jelly. Picking up the slice of toast, she takes a small bite out of it and pulls out her phone from her back pocket, and starts scrolling through her social medias. It consists of peopleâs dogs, food, photos of Brad Pitt, and....
Her brother had posted a snap from the night before. A short video, not even 3 seconds long. Jason heading into one of the rooms in his large house, with a girl trailing behind him. She wore shorts that barely covered the swell of her butt, and a bikini top. It was captioned crudely: pre-birthday head for the birthday boy.
âY/n?â Her dad, or maybe her mom, she didnât know. Her stomach started twisting, a sour taste settled in the back of her mouth. A weird underwater filter covered her ears, making it seem as if her head was underneath the water, and her parents were speaking to her from above the surface.
Forcing a smile onto her face, she hummed a response, not taking her eyes off her phone screen. It was weird, the feeling that overcame her when she spotted Jason with another girl. Every time, the same thing. Nausea on her tongue, a heat covering the back of her neck and ears, and a dreadful feeling settleling in the pit of her stomach.
âSo, youâre going tonight then?â One of her parents asked.
Taking a few seconds to think, taking into consideration what she could be doing instead of watching Jason....âNo, I donât think so.â Her voice is sure, and strong, loaded with finality.Â
A load clink of ceramic against marble echoes in the kitchen. She looks up from her phone then, placing it on the counter face down. Her mother was staring at her with her lips pressed together in a hard line. âAnd why not?â
âBecause a party isnât my scene, mom.â Y/n responds tentatively, alarmed at her mothers hard and inquisitive tone. Her dad stood quietly watching the interaction, stepping to the side to that there was nothing on between y/nâs line of vision.
âAnd how would you know that if youâve never been to the one. Youâre brother loves them! And I think that you need this break. Andrew told me what happened yesterday. You need to let loose, y/n.â Her mother argued, her words going from agitated to coaxing. âGo to this party.â
âNo.â y/n said, looking at her mother straight inn the eyes. She didnât want to go. She wanted to spend a calm night at home,, all cozy in her blankets with a book, and not having to look at Jason with a pain in her chest.
âFine,â said her mother, taking her phone out of her pocket.
âThank you,â responded y/n, relieved. Her dad nodded, and opened his mouth to speak, when her mom said,
âIf you donât go, Andrew canât either.â
Both y/n and her dad gasp. Her mom was lifting her phone up to her ear, the dial tone ringing in the room.
âN-no, you canât do that! Andrewâs gonna be so upse-â
âHello? Andrew? Iâm doing good sweetie, uh, listen. Your sister doesnât want to go to the party, so you canât go either. However, if YOU MANAGE TO CONVINCE THEN YOU CAN GO,â Y/nâs momâs voice raises to cover her brotherâs protests, âTHATâS FINAL. GOODBYE.â Ynâs mom hangs up the phone and places it next to the kitchen sink.
Not even a full second later, while y/n stares mortifies at her mom and dad, her phone starts to blare the theme song to The Simpsons, the ringtone for her brother.
She picks it up with her jaw still dropped. She answered the phone.
âY/n! Y/n, PLEASE. WHATâS GOING ON? PLEASE COME TO THIS PARTY, Y/N, DONâT DO THIS TO ME, Y/N...â her brotherâs voice fills the room even when she doesnât have him on speaker. heâs begging her, his voice truly distraught.
She knows she has no other option that to agree. She couldnât do that to her brother, not when itâs the only thing heâs talked about for the past month. She wasnât mean enough to do that to him.
â... FOR TWO WEEKS. IâLL DO ANYTHING, PLE-â
âOKAY! Iâll go, fuck,â Y/n yelled back, exasperated and defeated. She pinched the bridge of her nose, and stares down at her plate, not bearing to look at her mom and dad.
âThank you! Oh my god, thank you. Iâll pick you up at 5, so-â
Y/n hung up on him. Glared at her mom, and the went to mope until 5 in her bedroom.
.
.
.
Somewhere along the line, moping turned into pre-party prep. She turned her speaker up all the way, and sang at the top of her lungs. Y/n was going in with the mentality of drinking and keeping to herself. Observing, or locking herself in on of the rooms and fall asleep. She was dreading it, but wouldnât deprive her brother of this because it meant so much to him.Â
Her parents tried coming in several times, and every time she refused to open her door.Â
Maybe it wouldnât be so bad, she thought to herself, Iâve got this.Â
Once it got closer to 5, she put in some jeans and her favorite t-shirt. A faded purple short-sleeve with a smokey image of Prince on it. She totally didnât wear it because every time she wore it, Jason complimented her on it.Â
It was 4:57 when Andrew knocked on her door.Â
âY/n, y/n, y/n, my sister whom I love so much, can you please-â heâs knocking rapidly on her door, and y/n throws on a green knit sweater at last minute before opening the door, and her brother knocks right on her eye.Â
âOw!â She helps, the hand that wasnât holding her shoulder bag reaching up to cover her eye. Andrew gasped, and started to repeatedly apologize.Â
âIâm so-â
Y/n, irritated and upset, held up her palm and shook her head. âJust shut it. Please.â Andrew tried saying something, and y/n just pushed past him, staring ahead coldly, âlets go.â
Her previous attitude about this party had returned. She was mad and couldnât be more bothered to attend. A tiny part, deep in her heart, ached and pulsed wildly. She wasnât really sure how the night would end, and she didnât like that. She wanted to know that by 10, sheâd be falling asleep after a bubble bath, or reading a book safely in her bed.Â
Not drinking and partying with nobody she knew (none of her friends-the little she had- were going). And she was damn sure that Andrew wouldnât stick around the entire night. No, heâd be eager to be at all places at once, included in all the action. All. The. Action.Â
They walked to Andrewâs car in silence, she strutting and fuming with attitude, and he, with his head bowed and cowering like a shunned puppy. Sure, he was older, bigger, taller, buffer than y/n, but when she was mad, he became a scurrying mouse who bent at her command. Not because she was mean or anything like that, but because Andrew loved her and he wanted to see her with a smile, and he figured listening to her was the first step.Â
So, he shut the fuck up, and followed behind her, listening closely in case she ordered something else. To clarify, y/n didnât order. She said things. But Andrew (again) loved her and took those sayings very seriously. It wasnât like she was the Wicked Witch of the West with a whip in her hand. It was more like she was a disappointed mother, and he her kid who loved his mom and didnât want her to be upset at him anymore. Their dynamic was like that.Â
Not even a full 10 minutes later, Andrew was pulling into Jasonâs driveway, and pulling into his six-car garage, next to Kentâs car. Pulling the key out of the ignition, he sat for a moment, not turning to look at his sister.Â
He didnât have to.Â
Without glancing at him, she said, âI want a margarita... please.â Then, she turn to look at him with a tiny smile; a piece offering. Sheâs forgiven him. And she has. Well, she wasnât angry at him to begin with, but her irritation is gone.
Andrew laughed, his head thrown back and his ha, ha, haâs bellowing. âYes, maâam. Strawberry or Mango?â
âBoth.â Y/n opens the door to the car, and walks through the garage door that leads to the house. The doorway opens into the kitchen, where Kent and Jason are seated on the kitchen isle, a blunt mid-pass from Jason to Kent.
She stops in her tracks, eyes wide at the smell, and the smoke exiting in grey ropes out of Jasonâs lips. Andrew pushes past her like nothing, and opens the steel fridge to look for fruit. Jason grins, a slow and lazy spread of his spit-slicked lips. Kent coughs after he inhales.
âHellooo y/n,â Jason sing-songâs, drawing out her name and laughing. Kent snickered.
âLong time to,â Kent makes a c-shape with his hand, âsee,â and bursts out laughing.
âGimme some of that, dickheads.â Andrew makes a âcome hereâ motion with his fingers.
Y/n fakes a gasp, and hoists herself up onto the counter. Sheâs been surprised, and a tiny part of her itches because marijuana is a drug, but she canât really do anything to stop them. Theyâre half gone and if she said something, she was a party pooper. Tucking her legs underneath herself, she takes a long look at Jasonâs kitchen. Sheâs been in it plenty of times before, when his mom invites her and her brother other for dinner, or breakfast. Sheâs even helped prepare meals.
But it never gets old.
It always look bright, the lights on the ceiling shine in a way that fills the space, and the reflection off the cream marble glint against the steely surfaces of all the appliances. Toaster, fridge, sink, stove, all a grey color. There was an oven built into the wall, and another right next to it to cook pizza or bread. The kitchen isle in the middle was 7 steps long (she counted once) and 4 steps wide. There was a stove on the counter, and a sink next to it. Jason sat next to the stove, and Kent in the alcove that stretched and transformed into the sink up against the wall.
â... bringing booze and 6, and says heâs got Snopp Dog as DJ. Ben is on back up DJ, or alternate if Snopp wants to.â Kent says, coughing and waving a hand in front of his hand as he does so. Y/nâs ears perk up at his revelation, and her head turns in a peculiar motion.
âWait, wait, did you say Snoop Dog?â She says, the top half of her body leaning forward. Andrew looks up from his task at the blender, dunking in cut strawberries with ice.
âYou heard right, sissy. Snoop Dog!â whooped Andrew, pumping his arm in the air.
âJesus Christ,â Y/n murmured underneath her breath, shaking her head.
âRaise your hand if youâre staying to fix this place up tomorrow,â said Jason, lifting both of his arms up in the air.
Kent crosses his arms as if he were in a straight jacket, and Andrew laughs and says, âJason the party keeps going tomorrow.â He presses a button, and the machine starts blending, the loud noise blocking out whatever Jason said next. Whatever it is, Andrew and Kent catch it and bend over laughing, while y/n just watched in confusion.
Once the machine stops, Andrew pours the thick, pink substance into a sugar-rimmed glass, and gives it to his sister. Y/n takes it from him, and looks over at all the ingredients next to the machine because she hadnât seen what kind of alcohol he put in it. She sees a squat bottle with a green sticker and a cork top; Ciroq.
Itâs when sheâs puckering her face after her first sip, that the first group of people come in. Andrew and Kent spring forward to answer the door, and Jason just watched them push each other to see who would get there first. Her and Jason are alone in the kitchen, and even though she sees perfectly clear where Kent and Andrew are, she seizes this as her chance to ask Jason what may be her only chance for a stress free night.
Climbing down, she walks over to where Jason sits,and poked his jean clad thigh. âJason?â She tries not to let her eyes linger on the spots where his plain white shirt pulls tight across his chest, his pectoral muscles rippling. His blonde hair is unruly today, parting down the middle so strands of hair glittered in front of his green eyes.
âMmm-oh! Yes?â He said, his eyes blinking owlishly at her, slow reflexes when youâre high and all that.
âIs it okay if I lock myself in your room? Or a guest room? Please, I just d-â she started to explain herself when he interrupted her.
âYes.â Jason placed his hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner, his eyelids drooping a little further than they already were.
âYes?â She asked, surprised.
âYes. Si. Oui. Andrew told me what your mom did. And Iâm sorry. You can lock yourself in my room. Iâm the only one with the key.â He said. Jason stretched, yawning and raising his hands over his head, the bottom of his shirt raising up and revealing the hard lines of his abdomen, the two lines that form a âvâ; a make shift runway to what lies underneath the waistband of his pants. Y/n, having seen only one other penis, a leaked celebrityâs nudes, is surprised to see that Jasonâs doesnât have a âhappy trailâ.
Clearing her throat, she said, âThank you. Iâm going up there now, okay?â Y/n backed out of the kitchen, Jasonâs nodding at her and turning his attention, and what a surprise this is, the blondes that had just walked in with a few dudes who carried packs of beers in their arms. The girls, five of them, all looked like barbie dolls in bikinis.
Rolling her eyes, y/n trudged up the stairs and walked down the hall to Jasonâs all-to familiar room. She entered again, into the place she had mulled over many nights in a row.
Jasonâs room would be her sanctuary, like it had been that one rainy spring day.
It was just like she remembered it.
For a teenage boy, Jason was very neat. He had a bamboo four poster bed, with Japanese art covering the space above his puffed-up white pillows. His comforter was the same eggshell color of his walls. In front of his bed he had a record player, and a wooden box with records in it. He had a mahogany bookshelf as well, every crevice stacked with books, straight across, and sideways in the spaces between books and the self above it. His room faced the backyard, and y/n had a clear view of the pool and the people that gathered around it. Jason had a window ledge large enough that he could sleep in it comfortably, and judging by the looks of it, he had. There was a tartan quilt and quilt laid out messily on the expanse of it, a book titled Norwegian Wood open with the pages-side down next to the pillow.
His room smelled like him too. No clothes lay scattered in any place, but his scent permeated the room. Sandalwood and vanilla; his musky and sweet scent of boy.
Y/n kicked off her shoes at the foot of Jasonâs bed, and set her barely-even-touched margarita on his bedside table, next to a pair of clear lens glasses. Thatâs funny, she thought, I didnât know Jason wore glasses.
She tucked herself into his bed, lifting the comforter out of its tucked position, and nestled tightly into the warm cocoon. Taking a deep breath or Jason, her eyes shut themselves, and snapped back open seconds later. Did I lock the door?
Fuck. No, she didnât. She had to get back up and lock it. Jiggled the knob for extra measure, just to make sure it was locked. Once she was satisfied,she returned to the bed, and tucked herself in. Her eyes were closing once again, when the thrum of the bass in whatever rap song it was blaring the house, shook through Jasonâs room.
No matter. She was out like a light not even 5 minutes later, Lulled to sleep by the smell of Jason.
.
.
.
Jason, Kent, and Andrew were having the time of their fucking lives.
Andrew had forgotten all about y/n after Jason told him she was in his room, and had downed a total of 6 body shots, all on different people. He lost track of how many people took shots on him. Cloud nine, this is what cloud nine is. He was everywhere and nowhere. Try looking for him and youâll only catch his shirt-tail because he was already moving on to the next scene. If you saw a flipped red solo cup, then he had been there. He was absolutely reveling in the mass of sweating bodies. His yelling inn the cafeteria had paid off.
Everyone and their fucking mom came. Heâd seen everyone he knew from school, and twice the amount of people he knew from school that he didnât recognize. True to his word, his friend had brought Snoop fucking Dog, and he was up by the pool, dj-ing with five towering giants surrounding him. This only brought more attention. The party had spread out to the streets.
Kent was out of his mind, with how high he was. Donât tell his mom, but he didnât know what drug it was making it look like the guy passing the blunt had an elephant head. The lights made him feel like he was in a galaxy, sitting on the rings of Saturn with two topless babes under his arms. He sat with a ring of boys in the den, where you couldnât see past your nose with how much smoke there was in the air.
And Jason? Shit, Jason was having a really hard time getting his dick up. He was in the pool with more than TWENTY topless babes he was supposed to be boning. It was his birthday after all. Andrew had posted a sign on the shallow end of the pool that said âonly naked babes allowedâ, and would appear every five seconds to remind said âbabesâ to âTAKE YOUR TOP OFF!!!â
No matter how hard he tried, Jason just couldnât get hard. The girl who pressed her tits in his face- a real 10 really, with bee stung lips and all- was starting to get confused, and Jason was starting to feel like a real tool.
There he was, his party was crazy, police having been chased off, a racoon being passed around on a leash, Snoop Dog having a literal concert inn his backyard, and far off in the distance there was the shinning light of a news helicopter. And he wasnât having it.
He did for the first hour. Did some shots, smoked more weed, grinded on some people, got grinded on. Someone had inflated a whole-ass bouncy castle next to his garage, and it was filled with nothing but naked girls (which also did nothing for him). And it was fun seeing it build up. It gave him a bit of a heady adrenaline rush, knowing that ll these people where there because-
âSo are you gonna let me give the birthday boy, his birthday present?â said the girl who was topless on his lap, her voice sultry and velvety smooth. She was licking a stripe up Jasonâs throat, her hips swiveling against his groin.
Jason, still wearing his clothes, jeans and white shirt and all, looked up at his bedroom window, and what he saw made his heart crack in two. Y/n, his precious y/n, was looking at him with horror, tears painting her cheeks not unlike the way they had yesterday in the hallway, and a hand cupped over her mouth. The other hand was lifted up to her ear, and Jason saw that her mouth was moving.
She was on the phone.
He started to feel dirty, like slime. Guilty, was more like it. He realized then that the reason why he couldnât get hard is because the girl in his lap wasnât y/n. And seeing her, in his room all alone and in pain, made him feel like scum.
Pushing the girl off without remorse, he said, âNo, I donât think so.â He ignored the girlâs protests, and also whatever the hell Andrew yelled after him. Jason looked straight ahead, striding with intention to his room. It was difficult, with all the bodies and high-fives and bro-slaps he had to give on his way up the stairs, but he made it. He was dripping all over his floor, but he made it.
He hesitated, placing a hand on the door. As the bass of This is How We Do It vibrated through the wall and against his hand, he wondered what would happen when he opened the door. He wanted to console her. Ask her what was wrong, even though he had a large inkling he knew why she was upset- that it mightâve been his fault.
Jason dug his hand into his pocket, using his fingers to peel apart the cloth because it stuck together, and felt for the key to his room. Once he found it, he fed it through the lock, and turned it, the door giving away a sliver to which he was able to peek inside.
Y/n was on the phone. She was sitting at his window ledge, on her knees, still looking out. She hadnât heard him coming in. Shutting the door closed behind him, Jason held his breath and listened.
âAm I an idiot?â she squeaked, sniffling to the other person on the line. âWhy? Well, isnât it clear. Donna, heâs constantly surrounded by all these skinny, tall blondes, and Iâm not like that.â
Jasonâs eyes widened. His heart felt as if an arrow had been shot through it.
âIâm so stupid, really. How could I ever think-â
Yes, yes?
â-that Jason could like me?â
He was appalled. Frozen in his tracks, because god did she really think like that? How could she not realize it. She was so precious; all Jason ever though about. If only she knew. If only she knew-
Well, the thing is- and it might be the weed talking, but- she could know. Jason didnât have to keep it from her anymore. He could tell her. Fuck it. Fuck it all.
âY/n?â He said. Clearly, not loud enough because she didnât turn around. He walked to her, close enough that his knees pressed against the ledge of the window seat, and close enough so that he could grab her wrist.
She yelped, surprised, and whipped her head around. When she saw it was Jason, even though he was smiling a dopey, sweet smile that made her want to fall into a puddle, her face fell into one of mortification. He took the phone from her hand and hung up, tossing it on the pillow.
 âOh, y/n.â
âJason, I-â Her cheeks flushed. Her words died in her throat, her tears frozen on her lips.
âI like you, y/n. More than you know.â And his clothes were wet sure, but it didnât matter because fuck. Fuck it all. Jason pulled her up, wrapped a hand around her waist, and kissed her.
A soft, gentle, press of his lips against hers, their noses bumping. She squeaked and tensed, her fingers squeezing his biceps. His thumb rubbed circled to the sliver of skin that peeked from the place where her shirt rode up.
He pulled away from her, and she leaned forward with her own lips puckered, whining because he pulled away.
âIâve been wanting to do that, for so long, you know?â He told her, placing her back down on the ledge, while she stared back up at him dreamily.
âWhy didnât you?â she asked him.
âBecause Andrew would beat me to a pulp,â he said, laughing. âBut it doesnât matter anymore.â Jason reached for the bottom of his shirt, and pulled it over his head, y/n watching with cheeks flaming at the way his skin rippled and tightened with every movement. After a beat she says,
âWhyâs that?â
âBecause Iâd rather get beaten to a pulp, than be away from you any longer.â
super proud of this. THERE WILL BE A PART 2!!
much love, -abigail
#Harry Styles#harry edward styles#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles blurbs#harry styles fic#harry styles angst#harry styles fluff#harry styles soft#harry styles smut#harry styles smut oneshot#harry styles fluff oneshot#harry styles writing#harry smut#harry swriting#harry styles x y/n#harry styles x reader#harry oneshot
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On (Not) Wooing Steve Rogers
@aurumacadicus
Happy birthday, Owl! Hope you like the fic!
Summary: Stony No Powers College AU where Steve is definitely pining over his best friend who is a genius. They go to MIT for different reasons and Rhodey is sick of their shenanigans so he sets them up on a dinner date and he and Carol laugh from across the restaurant as they watch the boys stutter their way through a good time. Turns out, Tony thinks he's hot as hell and "was going to ask him out anyway, thanks, Rhodey! I guess."
Steve
Steve couldnât stop looking at him. He moved fast and he talked faster. Every other word out of his mouth sounded like a foreign language that everyone in this class could understand except for Steve. He belonged on this track. He deserved to be in this class. But⊠maybe heâd bit off more than he could chew, coming into a two-hundred-level class and expecting it to make sense. It was on his track sheet, and no one said anything about prerequisites. In fact, when heâd talked to his advisor the older man had waved him off and allowed him into the class. On the request that they meet twice a week to make sure Steve was keeping up with the class. He was lucky that Erskine was so hands-on, but that probably had something to do with the program he was in. An Architecture student who put the art in the architecture, this stuff was going right over his head.
But his classmates were just fine with it, apparently. And so was the boy a few seats in front of him who broke into the teacherâs lecture every five minutes to correct him. Some people were a bit annoyed with the guy, who looked to be around Steveâs age, but he definitely knew what he was doing. He managed to shut them up with each question they asked until they could no longer catch him off-guard and stopped trying after a bit.
Steve was lost by his conversation with the professor and just as lost in the boyâs eyes, one chocolate brown and the other crystal blue. He didnât even know that type of heterochromia was possible in nature, but it looked right at home on this boy. Steve spent the rest of the lecture sketching the boyâs face and writing down every other word he said. Heâd look some of it up later. He needed something to bring to Erskine.
Rhodey
Four classes.
The poor kid beside him was in over his head, a freshman to his junior and Tonyâs sophomore. Granted, the only reason Tony was allowed to be a sophomore is that he was a bonafide genius. Well, enough of one to skip most of the early-level classwork required of his degree track.
This kid, on the other hand, needed every single one of them.
And maybe a few others, like how to stop staring hopelessly at the genius boy who is so hopelessly out of your league.
At least this one was Tonyâs age. Fucking leeches tried to get the boy for all he had, but this kid was one of the art-types that were attracted to the prestige of the school without really knowing what went into it.
Poor kid.
But four classes of this kid practically drooling over his little shit of a brother would not stand. The kid should ship up and ask a question or just plain ship out because he wouldnât get anywhere doing this.
Eight classes and the kid⊠wasnât hopeless, at least.
âYouâve actually managed to learn something.â Rhodes snorted when the teacher called for a twenty-minute break. This thing was three hours long, as a once-a-week class, but damn if they didnât deserve every second of that break.
âExcuse me?â
âYouâre not.â Rhodey snorted, amused. âBut at least youâre getting something out of this class, even if it is a little eye-candy.â
âEye-can-? No!â The boy yelped. âNo, itâs not like that at all.â
âSo the notebook full of sketches surrounded by random words are supposed to be invisible, got it.â
âWell itâs my stuff, so yeah!â The guy snapped defensively.
âFair point. Whatâs your name, kid?â
âWeâre all adults here, arenât we?â The kid asked coldly.
Fair enough.
âBarely.â Rhodey snorts. âSeriously though, youâre what, nineteen?â
The stunned look on the boyâs face told him he was right.
âSoâs Tony.â Rhodes offered.
Another look, confused this time.
âTony Stark is the kid who keeps interrupting the professor to half-way teach the class. The one whose likeness is plastered all over your notebook. Youâre in luck, kid.â
âWhat?â
âHeâd probably be willing to tutor you on this stuff. Hell, heâs tutor half the class, if they let him. Heâs a total pushover if you know how to ask.â
âHow do you ask?â
âAh, for you⊠just sit there and look stunned like you usually do, only make sure he can see it. And maybe show him that notebook. Heâd stick around for the whole year if you did that.â Rhodes snickered.
The kid shot him a look that, if he was reading this right, bordered on protective.
Oh, this would be way too easy.
âJust because heâs a good person-.â
âDoesnât mean heâll help you? Sure it does, heâs a sucker for lost causes. He keeps making them every other day.â
âWhat?â
âAh, I guess youâd have to see it to know what Iâm talking about. Not that youâll be getting that far. He builds robots with newborn AIs that he keeps trying to teach. Itâs the funniest thing in the world because theyâre so cute but so helpless at the same time.â
The kid was interested now, but the break was over.
âAsk him a question or two about the homework late on. If you can understand any of the words on the page, Tonyâs got you the rest of the way. Just prove that youâre not a lost cause.â
âIâm not a lost cause.â The kid muttered. âIâm not.â
âGood luck, painter-boy. These engineers will eat you alive.â
Later on
âDonât you think that show of yours was a little much?â Carol asked as they walked to Boca Grande. Rhodey wasnât really in the mood for Mexican but he wasnât sure he was in the mood for much of anything. Art Kidâs dilemma was weighing on him now.
âWell, if I want anything to get through that thick head of his-.â
âOkay, now youâre projecting. James, look at me.â Carol stopped him and Rhodes turned to face the girlfriend heâd pined so hard for just for her to turn around and act like theyâd been going out the entire time. âThey will be fine. People can get their own dates without their annoying older brothers interfering. Youâve known that kid since he was, like, ten, so Iâll let you off easy here, but heâs finally got someone his age interested in him. Why not let him have a little fun?â
âBecause heâs completely oblivious to genuine affection,â Rhodey informed her as if it was something heâd practiced every day in front of the mirror. âJust trust me on this one, if Art Kid doesnât make the first move then nothing will ever come of this.â
âFifty bucks says youâre wrong.â Carol insisted. âGive it a month. Donât interfere. If Art Kid doesnât make a move then Tony will.â
âGod, not another four classes.â Rhodes groaned. âFine. Whatever. I guess I can stand to lose fifty bucks if the kid shapes up.â
 Steve
Steve did not shape up. He couldnât help himself. There was no way in hell that guy was talking sense, especially since the guy was right and he didnât really belong here. What was he doing, anyway? Thereâs still three-fourths of the semester left, he should go to Erskine and quit while heâs ahead.
The genius boy, Tony, has a mole under his left eye, the blue one. Not the only blemish on his tanned skin, but the most prominent. This guyâs acne stage really did nothing to him, if he even had one.
âHey, do you know the answer to number three from the homework?â A blonde girl with mischievous green eyes leaned across the aisle and whispered to him. Steve shook his head. It was a multiple-choice question and heâd likely gotten it wrong. God forbid they write a paper anytime soon. He really is in over his head.
âCâmon, weâre almost halfway through the semester, you had to have gotten something right.â
âFat chance.â Steve groaned.
Besides, even if he did know the answer, he didnât like where this talk was heading. She might have taken a few tips from the guy next to him on how to look down on helpless fuckers like Steve.
The blond artist shook his head.
âI know itâs at least supposed to resemble an arch, but not how wide, so thereâs that.â He groused.
âSee? Youâre not totally hopeless. You should see what Tony has to say about your homework.â
Steve groaned and buried his head in his arms. So she was in league with the guy who sat next to him.
âIâd rather not.â He informed her acidly.
âWhat? Heâs a good tutor. You see how he gets up there and basically hogs the conversation, the kid knows what heâs talking about.â
âIf heâs my age then heâs not a kid!â Steve snapped.
âSure, sure.â The green-eyed blonde snorted, amused. âMy nameâs Carol, in case youâre trying to figure out what the hell is going on here. I had money on your actually doing something about your crush over these past eight weeks, but Rhodey was right. Ah, well, goodbye fifty bucks.â She sighed. Her friend, Rhodey, he guessed, snorted.
âTold you the kid wouldnât know a crush if it hit him in the face.â Rhodey yawned. âLook, kid, Steve. Look, Steve, just ask him a question about the homework, talk a bit about it, play it off like you donât understand, and slide into âtalk about it over dinner?ââ
âI really donât understand, though.â
âAllâs the better for it, Tony hates posers. Which youâre not. Youâre an architecture student, and that takes a lot of engineering, but it also takes a lot of art and angles and knowing what looks good where. Thereâs a reason youâre here, after all.â
Right.
Steve didnât know what to do with this, but the least he could do was try.
 âSo, the word around class is youâre hopeless.â
He knew that voice. It was the same one he heard every day trying to figure out what the hell the teacher thought he was doing, teaching like this?!
And it shouldnât be walking him to one of his art classes.
âWhatâs it to you?â Steve grumbled. Apparently, Rhodey spread tales of his imminent demise at the hands of failure.
âI just so happen to be a tutor, and your grades are projected to be atrocious. Lucky you, everything is technically due at the end of the year, so if you want, I could help you get up to snuff.â
âUh, sure?â Steve choked out. âYes, absolutely! I need to pass this class.â
Youâre damn right, you do.â Tony chirped. âWhich is why Iâve humbly offered my services. See you, next class, weâll work out a schedule after that.â
The shorter boy breezed off and Steve found himself doing a very good job of watching him go.
âYou gonna get to class anytime soon?â Another familiar voice snarked.
âHello, Carol. Whatâre you doing in the art building?â
âI have a few classes here, Stevie-boy. And man, am I glass I do. Looks like Tony decided to take things into his own hands.â
âLooks like he did.â Steve snorted. âHe called me hopeless.â
âOh, thatâs a great sign! He loves hopeless. Means he can impress you with bullshit. Heâs not going to, of course.â She snorted when she noticed to look on his face. âHe needs you to pass that class. This is good! You might get a date out of him yet.â
Steve scoffed at that one. Now she was just yanking his chain.
âYeah, I just might.â
Rhodes
âWeâre going on a date.â Carol announced.
âI thought I was choosing the next three dates.â Rhodes objected. âThat was the deal we made for the bet.â
âYou are, which will work out in everyoneâs favor because you know Tony best. Where does he like to eat?â
âOh, this. Youâre lucky Iâve already thought this out because Steve is-.â
âNot as hopeless as we thought. And neither is Tony. We just have to drop hints that their first study session should be somewhere with food, somewhere Tony likes and will want to keep going because your boy rocked up to his crush in the hallway and offered to be his tutor.â
âYes!â Rhodey threw his hands in the air. âThank God, we are one step closer. They might get together before the end of the year!â
âSo, Tony, whatâd you have in mind for tutoring Steve?â
âWouldnât you like to know, flyboy.â
âYeah yeah, I donât know why you think thatâs still funny. Anyway, Iâm asking because he likes your rambling but he hasnât gotten anything done since the start of class so you might have to take it slow, yâknow, ease him into all this, maybe get some food every few sessions, the usual.â
âI know how to handle dummies, Rhodey, and contrary to popular belief, Steve Rogers is no dummy.â
âReally?â Rhodes crowed, interested. âAnd just how do you know that, Shrimp?â
âFuck off, Rhodey, have you seen the curves that boy draws? No way heâs as hopeless as you and Carol think, heâs got to have something between the ears.â
âAn artistsâ mind, sure.â
âWell, artists have to use the same tools we do, for some projects, just on a smaller scale. If anyone can get Steve Rogers to pass this mind-numbing class, itâs me.â
âAtta boy, Tony. Go get your guy. He looks like heâs lost on campus as well.â
Tony coughed a laugh at that and stuck his tongue out at his friend.
âNext time I see that tongue, it better be down Rogersâ throat!â
âIt will be, fuck you very much!â
Steve
Steve had no idea where he was going to find Tony, but at least this looked like a place he would want to be.
âYou made it!â Tony crowed. âThis is my favorite spot, yâknow. They have the best burritos. Chipotle-sized but a million times better. You want to order something and then we can get started?â
âSure, yeah.â
Steve stuttered through his order, a chicken-pineapple enchilada with green chile sauce and a Sprite. Tony made him look smooth by comparison because he couldnât decide if he wanted an enchilada, a tamale, or a burrito. The waitress grinned and said, âIâll put you down for your usual.â before going back to the kitchen.
âYeah, that was probably a good idea,â Tony grumbled. âNow, show me some vocab skills, whatâs up with your notebook?â
 Tony kept taking him to random places to eat every Thursday. This time, he asked if they could go to a bar. Irish pub, technically. He knew it wouldnât be anything like the stuff his mother called dinner but itâd be close enough. Indeed, the Black Rose did not disappoint. Or at least it was about what he expected. They got carded but as long as they stayed away from the bar, the bouncer wouldnât say anything. Steve wasnât in the mood for alcohol anyway. Steve got bangers and mash and Tony asked for a chicken pot pie. Steve wondered if they were made fresh. His mother loved chicken pot pie but he couldnât get past the slimy feeling.
The fast-paced atmosphere fir the mood for the night because Tony was quizzing Steve for the upcoming test. Some of it would be multiple choice but this time there would be diagrams, so Steve would actually have to know what heâs doing. He does, surprisingly enough. Tonyâs study sessions have really helped, and Steveâs even been able to get through the lectures with more coherent notes.
This was proved when he saw his grades online.
âI got a C on the test!â He exclaimed.
âThatâs great, Steve, itâs two in the morning. Go the fuck to sleep.â
âSam, Sam, you donât get it, this one engineering class has been driving me batshit and I finally proved I belong in the class!â
âIâll probably freak out tomorrow but I just came back from a long shift so if you could-.â
âOh, yeah. Definitely. Gnight, Sam.â
His roommate yawned and nodded off pretty quickly.
Six hours later, he heard âwait a minute, that one class with the boy youâve been drooling over who tutored you? That class?!â
âYep.â Steve yawned. He never understood how Sam Wilson could be such a morning person on maybe six hours of sleep.
âHey, thatâs amazing! Everyone says that class is stupid hard to follow if you donât already know what the kid up front is talking about and half the time people have to stay behind and ask him to break stuff down.â
âWait, what?â
âWell yeah, itâs a junior-level class, Steve, what were you expecting?â
âI⊠not that. I thought it was just me.â
âAw, Steve⊠look, find the guy who was tutoring you. Heâll know what Iâm talking about. You should be extra proud of that C, too. Means you can get all your homework done before the year is out.â
âYeah, yeahâŠâ Steve muttered. He should probably have asked Erskine more questions before he went along with this class.
 âYou got a C? On that last test? Steve, thatâs brilliant!â
Even Rhodes was congratulating him. This felt⊠strange.
âNo, seriously, that last test was not easy. And you actually got some of the questions that everyone missed, even Carol and I. Those study dates are paying off.â
âYeah, I guess they are.â Steve mumbled.
If this was how Rhodes was reacting, he wondered how hyper Tony would be.
 âI have succeeded!â Tony crowed for damn near the entire building to hear. âAnd clearly so have you. Lemme at that test of yours, I need to see every-. Fuck yeah, itâs a High C, too! You passed, Steve! This is the second major test of the class and you passed enough to make up for the first one! That, plus all the homework you turned in. You should come out relatively unscathed. And if you play your cards right, with a B.â
âThat might be pushing it.â
âOh no, trust me on this one. Youâve been trusting me on everything else. So, where do you want to go?â
âGo? What for?â
âTo celebrate! This is an accomplishment, Steve, this class is hard enough for the best Architecture students. They just dumped you in here, no prerequisites or anything, and expect you to pass with flying colors? But you have, and thatâs great!â
âYou seem to have no trouble with any of the coursework.â
âWell, thatâs because Iâm a literal genius, Stevie. Joined Mensa and everything.â
âHuh.â Several things clicked into place and he nodded. âOkay. Well, we keep going out for study sessions so why not stay in this time? Watch a movie or something? We could order pizza or something.â
âYou mean youâre not sick of pizza?â Tony cackled. âBut yeah, letâs do that. Want anyone else to be there?â
âI mean, we both have roommates, so whoeverâs place we go back to, someoneâll be there. Did you not want them to be?â
âWow, youâre dense. I thought Rhodey was joking, but nope, youâre dense.â
âHey, you canât take back your-!â
Tony rolled his eyes and yanked Steve down to his eye-level. Before Steve could say anything else, their lips met.
The kiss was brief and Steve had to lick his lips twice after that.
âYou need chapstick.â He blurted out.
âYeah, yeah,â Tony grumbled. âTotally not the point, but whatever. Weâve been going out for literal weeks, Steve.â
âOh. Shit.â
âYep.â
âCool.â
âSo weâre good?â
âWeâre great!â
âDo you still want our roommates to be there for movie night?â
âNah, Samâll be annoying if I get you to kiss me again. But weâre still ordering pizza.â
âAll the cheese your heart desires.â Tony drawled. âAnd I still wanna see whatâs in that notebook of yours.â
#marvel#steve rogers#tony stark#james rhodes#carol danvers#sam wilson#marvel no powers college au#on not wooing steve rogers#thunder attempts to write#thunder's comic books and movies collection#thunder's original post collection
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Chapter 11: Darren*
Disclaimer: a multitude of events/details have been left out of this chapter, both for increased anonymity of myself and the gentleman in question, as well as I started writing this two months after this all happened, so apologies.
Darren* is actually someone that I work with at one of my jobs, of which I have three. Upon starting my position there and meeting him, I was immediately attracted. He is from a Scandinavian country originally and just comes with that natural Scandinavian good looks. He acted a little immature, in a way that is just everything is sexual, a natural flirt. For a few months, I had an innocent little crush on him, purely infatuation.Â
Often we would say hi in passing and he was always really helpful when it came to patients. He got along with everyone and despite his lewdness, I really enjoyed working with him. There were multiple times that we would walk and talk in the hall, he would express embarrassment to me over him having acne, and would openly announce that he was switching what side he was on because he didnât want me to see it. I, in my thinking he was out of my league and I was secured in the friend/coworker zone, would be super transparent, and as well complain about my acne, and described in detail the acne patches I would use.
All seemed platonic until one day out of the blue he just leaned in close to me and asked me if he could have my Snapchat. I immediately was like oh yeah of course! From there, we talked throughout the days daily for about a week.Â
I let him and my coworker in MRI know that Iâm gonna bring in food on the weekend since I got a huge crockpot meal from my Home Chef meal kit boxes and wanted to share the love. When really, although I did do that, I was on purpose making sure I did it on a day Darren* was working. I made sure to wear an outfit that would get his attention without trying too hard: well-fitting yoga pants and a tank top. I arrive and I call their department to let them know Iâm here with food. Darren* answers the phone and thereâs video chat so I also see him. I say âhey Iâm here! Chicken tacos in the break room.â He says âAre they hard or soft?â in the innuendo way he does. What he doesnât know, is heâs met his match since Iâm also kind of a perv. I respond âwhat do you think?â seductively and with a wink. He laughs and just goes âoh alright.â I say âNah but seriously theyâre soft tacos.â He says âmy favorite! Weâll be over soon.â The cavalry arrives and everyone eats their food and thanks me. Iâm not really getting the quality time I was hoping for but Iâm still happy. Finally, everyone starts to kinda make their way out until itâs just Darren* and I. We just chat. This is when somehow or another I find out he has a tattoo in a more rated R area. I laugh. He asks me about my outfit and if I am going to the gym. I say no that I was just trying to be comfortable but still look good enough to be outside of my house. He says he should probably get back to work and will snap me later.
Late that night, I ask him more about his tattoos, and I tell him about mine. I send him photos of a couple of my PG tattoos, he sends me his PG tattoos (yes this does imply we both have rated R tattoos). I think this is a moment that is kind of exposing but could also just be innocent as well.Â
The next week, we again worked together, and he would come by, a little more than usual, saying hi to me and chatting before returning to work. The last time he stops by before he leaves for the day, he gives me a hug. Now, this hug wasnât like a normal hug, it was super awkward, incredibly on my part.
You see, I did not expect this to happen and I was sitting down so he approached me for the hug while I was sitting. In attempts to make this less horrible, which backfired, I decided to begin standing up during the hug. Not only did I do this, no that would be still not horrible, but I then put my arms around him diagonally. Yes, that cringy one arm on the shoulder/neck and the other around the waist. At this moment I am well aware of what terrible state I am in, but am surprised and pleased that regardless of how awkward I have positioned myself that he is still holding onto me. He is in fact at this moment squeezing me tightly, comfortably.Â
Somehow this embrace lasts for probably a good twenty seconds. Iâm sure I am red in the face but he says bye talk to you later and leaves. Immediately, I Snapchat him and say âIâm so sorry that was such an awkward hug. I need a do-over please.â His response is something along the lines of, âItâs all good I live for the cringeâ with a laughing face emoji. Otherwise, we continue to talk as we were.
I offer him my number, thinking like we are getting along well and are maybe at that point. He says that he actually prefers Snapchat, as his cell service isnât very good with his provider (which I shall not name), so he communicates a lot more with Snapchat anyway. We somewhere too in this time say weâre going to hang out on Saturday, and Iâll cook him some food.
Oh and now is your first preview of me being sneaky and retrieving Snapchat screenshots via taking pics of my phone screen. Step One, send a thirst trap.Â
Step Two: He responds to the thirst trap. I remember also saying something after that, despite not having it in the screenshot, where I say, âIs that why you donât wear a dress to work?â Which is what he is responding to in the third photo.
Iâm also still wondering, is he just being a flirt, or is this man interested? Soon I would get my answer.Â
Now, it is the weekend, Friday night. I mention to him that Iâm walking to my friendâs house and Iâm going over to drink some wine and eat pasta. I send him Snapchats of my friend on Hinge swiping, and us playing âTinder March Madness,â a game I saw on Tik Tok and thought was funny. Essentially, you right-swipe on all of the men, no matter what. Give it some time and wait for the matches to roll in. Then there are certain point values that go along with certain dating profile tropes. The person with the most points âwinsâ each round until the âUltimate Tinder Guyâ is found. Anyway, I send these to him half to be like LOL look at this stupid stuff, half to see if I get a rise out of him/he gets a little bit jealous. He is also with friends, so I donât necessarily get in-depth answers or quick responses. I do mention to him that Iâm leaving my friendâs apartment soon, and will be walking by myself. At this point it is nighttime. We do live in a relatively nice area, but itâs still a little scary to walk by yourself in the dark. I give him a call via Snapchat, he doesnât answer but I know heâs with his friends, so itâs all good.
I arrive home and almost immediately after I walk through the door, I get a Snapchat call back from him. He asks me if Iâm okay and if I got home safely. I am honestly surprised he called me back. I tell him Iâm fine. He continues to talk to me on the phone and even puts me on speakerphone. The one part that hurts my soul is he does say that Iâm his âfriend, Mandy,â but hey, a friend is better than a co-worker. I talk with his friends about gaming, drinking, say Iâll drink some Everclear with them, go really hard. Darren* then says heâs gonna find somewhere more private to talk to me, takes me off speakerphone. We shoot the shit a little more, then he says he had just gone running and is gonna take a shower and will talk to me later. I end the call.
Literally one minute after ending the call, I receive a Snapchat from him. This is a picture Snapchat. It is a photo of him completely naked. Where his package would be is conveniently blocked by the level of the counter in his bathroom. Highly suggestive, though not a complete nude. What is my response? Something along the lines of âoh my!!!!â Any confusion I had was gone. Like alright, this man just sent this photo to you because he is into you. Itâs late and Iâm going to sleep anyway, so I figure Iâll just message him in the morning to clear things up before we hang out. Â
Before I can even confront him in the morning, he messages me. I, unfortunately, donât have a screenshot for this. But he says whereas he isnât exactly looking for a relationship at this moment, that he wants to see where things go with me and see what happens. I tell him that how I feel is I donât like to put expectations on anything anyway and that Iâm happy to do that and just follow where the vibes go between us. Weâve come to an agreement! With that, he says he is super hungover and is going to take a nap, and will let me know about coming over later. By the early evening, he says he wants to reschedule since he still feels like shit. Iâm on call a lot, so we just schedule it tentatively for next Saturday and I see if I can get my call covered another day sooner so we can see each other before then.Â
Iâm able to contact my manager the next day and I let him know I now have Wednesday free for him. Iâm on call at our workplace the day I let him know that, and I jokingly tell him he is in charge of calling me in. Of course, I actually do get called in, though it isnât him that lets me know. I arrive and hang out in the area he works in while I wait for the patient to be ready. He is not there and is off doing other stuff. He comes in and is surprised to see me, which checks out since I did tell him I was coming in, but he hadnât opened that Snapchat yet. We hug hello, not awkwardly now, and he talks about his hands being cold. Essentially then we are holding hands. While the other coworkers are off tending to patients, we stand close together and chat. My patient arrives, and I ask him to help me move them. I observe him with a patient and he really is a great caregiver, itâs attractive. He helps me then says heâs gonna run back to his department and will be back. When he returns he says he is actually leaving for the night. My patientâs scan is more or less on autopilot, so I position ourselves away from the window that looks into the room. I embrace him and say Iâm looking forward to seeing him next time we work together and on Wednesday. I think back and know I probably should have kissed him, but I didnât, probably the thought of being at work and although no one was there and watching, still felt inappropriate.
I finished my work and returned home. Monday we spoke throughout the day, flirtatious and excited. We worked together Tuesday and when I walked in for the day, I immediately happened upon him in the break room. I sat down next to him and discussed timeframes for our hangout the next day. He is happy and upon another coworker walking in, I briefly say hey and disperse. Darren* comes into my department, as he does often, and is talking with everyone. One of our coworkers mentions to him that they want to talk to him about something. Iâm not sure what it is about, but I do get a hit of anxiety wondering if he had told them about me, and it was regarding our relationship. Work goes by and they do go off and talk. Afterward, he is kinda brief in saying goodbye, which makes my anxiety increase.Â
I send him a message just again mentioning a timeframe for our next dayâs plans. An hour or so after he left he responds saying that he is actually starting to talk to someone and didnât want to do the next day because he didnât want to jeopardize that, as he thought if he came over the next day he didnât know what would happen. His phrasing was âis it okayâ if we donât see each other. So I say something like, âwell I wouldnât want to complicate things, Iâm not happy about it but I understand.â He also expressed he was worried about work, though, at this point, I was about to start my new job and had told him about this. He mentions not having a âcrystal ballâ and that he doesnât know what will happen in the future, blah blah blah. That we could still be with each other someday.
I am beyond confused. Literally three days before this, he had been the one to initiate things and asked for us to see where things go, wasnât interested in a relationship, when suddenly now he is, albeit with someone else, and is interested enough to be afraid something romantic would happen if we were alone together, but not enough see where it goes.
In response, I give into a TikTok trend where you ask people what your type is. I did this that night. He did not take kindly to it. His response was kind of like, what is this? I was angry and thought this was a good way to have some self-deprecating humor. Essentially âdouchebag,â âextroverted gamer,â âemotionally unavailable,â âguys with girlfriends,â and âTrump supporters,â were mentioned in this. Many of those descriptions which could describe Darren* at that moment.Â
I was still very hurt days afterward and didnât know what would happen once we saw each other again at work. Come next workday together, he was starting to be on temperature check duty at the hospital. I did not know he was though, and stumbled upon him as I was going out to say hi to another co-worker I knew was out there. It was very awkward at first but we became more on friendly terms. Toward the end of the night, we were alone back inside for a moment. I asked him some questions about his life and such. As the night went on we did embrace a few times and were very close. It was more confusing but he did still seem into me. We left at the same time and he walked me to my car where we lingered and talked and held each other. I did feel pretty bad, as I would sometimes see his phone, see him talking to this other girl, and sometimes I would just happen to see his messages with her and could tell that he did care for her. And in character, it was on Snapchat, so he may have been completely honest regarding using Snapchat as his primary communication method.
Basically a similar scenario continued on for the next four weeks, each time it becomes more and more difficult/intimate. One week we took a walk around the campus and cuddled in the grass, watching the stars. The bugs made us move, but we had a closeness. We just barely kissed one time. He would grab my hips and touch my body when we were alone. Constantly he would resist, I was just as confused as he wasnât dating this person. Another night, we are walking together doing rounds through the hospital, when one of his close coworkers casually mentions heâs uncircumcised. Which was just some bizarre information. It was funny to see him embarrassed.
Finally, after four weeks of this âwhat is going onâ scenario, I have him call me. I tell him essentially that if he and this woman are still not exclusive, that we should still give this a shot or at least hang outside of work and see what is truly going on. I reiterate his crystal ball thing. I am truly speaking in our both interests, as we have been playing a dangerous game. He says he will talk to her that night and figure out what is going on, as she has been kind of putting off/delaying that conversation. He says he will let me know what she says and will think about it if they donât become exclusive, as he admits that he doesnât see the point of staying with her if she doesnât want to become official. I follow up the next day, asking how it went. He says it didnât come up and apologizes, though saying he will soon. A few days after that, I find out that they must have had the conversation, because âDarren* is now in a relationshipâ appears on my Facebook news feed. I message him in Snapchat and congratulate him. I do truly wish them the best, and take the situation as a lesson learned.
A couple of months later, present-day as I write this, I notice a name that looks familiar on a patientâs chart. Casually I bring it up to my coworker, saying âisnât that Darren*âs girlfriend?â and it is confirmed. I become infuriated and text my friend immediately, explaining the situation I have just uncovered. This new information does add to my displeasure, as I realize that this guyâs now girlfriend also works here and that it is quite possible that he could have been seeing her on any of those days that we had become so close. This disgusted me. I did see him a couple of days later and casually mentioned to him, âI didnât know your girlfriend worked here.â He hit me with a âyeah she does.â I felt it important to let him know, I know. I try and remain cordial, but it is extremely difficult when I learn more and more about how scummy he is. Later that day that I let him know, he told me it was âgood seeing meâ and I literally responded with a vomit noise. Even if things donât work out with his lady, and Iâm still single, that âcrystal ballâ will not do him any favors.
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â iâm sorry about the kiss thing. â { Connor for Harper bc hey i'm trash }
NETFLIXâS Â â Â OUTER Â BANKS Â â Â SENTENCE Â Â PROMPTS Â .
The two having bonded over some mean-spirited pranks this weekend, Harper was all too pleased when Connor called to meet again. She rarely made witch friends being what she was, but he didnât really seem to give a shit about that. Plus he indulged her in the trouble loving side and she rather enjoyed having an accomplice.
âHey, stranger,â she greets as she approaches the bench, taking a seat at his side as she teases cryptically, âI brought the stuff.â Smirking, Harper reaches into her bag to pull out the notebook again so they could plan for their next unfortunate victim.Â
As Connor gives her Denizâs name this time, she couldnât help but laugh as she flips through a few pages. Harper didnât even need to know the reason behind that one. Her cousin Gina adored Deniz, but the boy was full of himself. One of those shallow âtoo good for everyoneâ types with an extra helping of narcissism.Â
âKinsey had to cut her hair from the mysterious exploding marshmallow incident, but Deniz is big leagues, so we need to up our game here. Take that swollen ego of his down a couple hundred notches. A little humility would do him some good,â she muses, turning a couple more pages before stopping. âWhat if we dealt him some really bad acne and a few warts on that pretty face of his? Do you think Aubrey would still find him irresistble then?â Having a good laugh over the idea, they tossed around a few more ideas as they compiled a list to narrow down.
âThis is fun,â she muses after a moment while Connor has a look through the notebook for himself. âYouâre way more of a troublemaker than I thought. I like hanging out with you, Connor Hunter.â A beat. âFind anything else in there?âÂ
As she looks over to him though, he wasnât focused on the book anymore, he was looking at her. Before Harper could think to react, he was leaning toward her with his lips capturing hers in the heat of a moment. The gesture caught her off guard, but she wasnât unresponsive as she kissed him back.
Another moment passes, it was over, and they were both quiet. Connor spoke first.
â iâm sorry about the kiss thing. â
Harper gives him a look for that one. It was so... gentleman-like. She almost wanted to laugh. âAre you actually apologizing to me for that?â She could barely resist the urge to laugh or roll her eyes at him. Instead, she slid a little bit closer with her hand resting on his leg as she leans in a bit. âIâm sure youâve got plenty to apologize for, but thatâs not one of them. So donât be sorry, idiot. Iâm not.â
Then her lips were on his again.
#ofstrengthisms#( harper donovan ; )#( harper & connor tag ; )#( a bright & beautiful tomorrow ; future )#netflix's outer banks sentence prompts#answered#//excuse this mess#but i had to answer this lol#Haley is going to be so jealoussssss
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those two days.
A wise man once said, âThe bad news is, nothing lasts forever and the good news is, nothing lasts forever.â
Thatâs freaking bullshit. Whoever told that hasnât gone through the amount of trauma Iâve been through, which made every single moment feel like an eternity. Oh wait! I shouldâve explained it more graphically.
Every single second felt like I was being skinned alive and being rolled over in salt and then fried in burning hot oil, then my limbs being torn out of my body and I could probably go on forever. In short, my time as a mortal on this planet has been miserable.
My mother and father were the epitome of love, they were the ideal couple who fell in love as soon they laid eyes on each other and the middle of their story is so clichĂ© Iâd rather let you imagine it in the most typical way possible and the end of it is, they got married!
They sadly never had their happily ever after cause they then got pregnant with me.
(After 9 months of my mother craving weird things)
He kept pacing the length of the waiting room, anxious, his face was dripping with perspiration and his brows were knitted in deep thought, his hands were clasping and unclasping and fidgeting with his jacket.
* Piano playing a sad note*
He hears the OR doors opening and rushes towards the doctor and shakes that poor guy until heâs pale. The doctor says that there were a lot of complications with his wifeâs pregnancy and that they could save only one of them, and his wife told them to save his child and that he now has a healthy 4.5 pound baby boy.
He fell to the ground. How could he even live without his beloved wife! His moon and stars, his better half! He felt so utterly devastated.
Sometimes when people lose the very thing that defines their life, the very thing that they lived and breathed for, they lose faith and when that happens there is no coming back.
I think this was that moment for my father. Iâve always wondered how anyone could love anything so intensely. But I guess love is a very elusive thing which sadly wonât fit into the bounds of words.
I can try to make sense of though, from what Iâve seen, love is when my father returned home after a tired day of work and as soon as he saw the face that opened the door, he could find calmness in spite of all the chaos surrounding him. One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I couldnât see and feel that pure unconditional love.
Anyways, in my bittersweet flashback my father also gets to know that it was my motherâs intentional decision to give her life in order to save mine.
So, from that day my father loathed to see my face. As every time he looked at me, I reminded him of the day he lost the purpose of his life. He became an alcoholic and just gave me money to do whatever the hell I want with it.
I never actually went to school regularly, used to bunk most of the time. But that didnât matter because I passed somehow by cheating and my street smartness. But, it really hit me when I flunked my senior year and all of my friends went to Ivy League colleges, while I was left to attend my dreadful senior year AGAIN with a bunch of crackpots.
Though, that wasnât the part that made me lose my sense of self- dignity. It was when the look of nonchalance on my fatherâs face when he heard the former news. Even this far in life I didnât have goal or any plans to look forward to. This part kept me most of the nights and stole any little peace of mind I had left.
Then I attended community college in hopes of at least getting proper education. In college, I couldnât stick to any one major for a year as I was pretty fickle minded about it.
One sunny happy day, birds are chirping, Iâm braying BeyoncĂ©âs halo and enter the college premises to see this guy snogging my girlfriend. My fury knows no bounds as I beat the shit out of him then I get to know that my girlfriend had been cheating on me with him for many months. But, it was too late to reconsider my actions as I had probably broken 50 of his bones oops!
Then I got slapped an assault case and got expelled from college for disgracing them. This particular joke that Iâm about to say is a big touchĂ© moment but humour at my expense has been a trend Iâve experienced everywhere so hell with it.
I got expelled from a freaking community college with drug addicts, goons, people who have flunked their freshman year about 3 times go to. And I have been expelled from such a college for âdisgracing themâ!!!
Go on laugh yourself out.
But a tiny ray of hope appeared after a jumbo combo of disappointment with a side of bad luck and a dollop of ugly fate. I was discovered by the basketball scouts and got a chance to play in the local league and if I did play well, I had a chance of playing ball in college! They absolutely loved me. I had gotten so used to people being disappointed in me that I was so unsure of myself when people really appreciated me.
But as you know of my series fuck ups I had to screw this one too. But, this one was the most epic of them all. I had a few shots in before the game just to you know, bring that edge.
During the game, when I was passed the ball, my drunken brain thought it was the head of my ex-girlfriend and I started smashing the ball against my head (which my brain thinks as a pathetic attempt of kissing âherâ or rather âitâ). So, at the end, everyone thought I was some lunatic and I got kicked off the field (literally).
I finally let go of all the little self-respect I had and applied for a job as a cashier at McDonalds. And the reply from them was the single most embarrassing moment of my life.
I got rejected!
Then I heard a call saying that my grandpa had died but he had also left me the family mansion, which I assume is out of pity for being ignored for most of my life. This was just in time (not my grandpaâs death of course! Gee Iâm not so devoid of emotion!) as I was being kicked out of my apartment due to not paying rent for past 3 months and needed a place to crash.
But, aside from that I was a 23 year old man with no job, no girlfriend, and no degrees to show for, no friends and absolutely broke. I should be the poster boy for the word âmiserableâ (at least that way Iâll make some profit out of my pathetic existence of a life).
The mansion looks absolutely beautiful from outside. It has a huge dome at the centre with 2 parapets flanking its either sides. The entire dome is made of tinted blue glass which makes it look like itâs a part of the sky but a glistening one filled with hand painted butterflies, hummingbirds, Macauâs and various other exotic species of birds.
The front lawn is as exorbitant as a rare and secret meadow left untouched by mankind, where the flowers unknown grow at their own liberty, unrestricted where bees hover over them making a slight buzzing sound . The whole estate looks so unreal and glorious, it is like a medieval castle left untouched.
But, all I could feel by looking at it was dejection. I felt even this wonderful piece of architecture was looming over and looking at me in pity. I sighed heavily and gathered my meagre possessions and stepped inside.
It was even more splendid from the inside. I donât know what Iâll do with so much space, I could fit all of my things in the pantry closet! I just lay down on the plush divan to take a small nap because thinking about my wretched life made my mind blackout and heavy like Iâd had a few too many tequila shots.
âPoor boy, how can anyoneâs life be so tragic and pitiable!?â said pride, wiping off the tears rolling down its cheek, âI know what a troubled childhood feels like, even my mother was too haughty to admit that she had become too fat because of giving birth to me and she never looked at me with a hint of motherly affection, it totally damaged my self-confidence.â
âAs if you ever had it to begin with! You appeared to be so full of yourself in front of people but deep down youâre a pathetic little wimp!â
âStop it envy! See, you made him cry, arenât you living up to your name! Always jealous of others! I know itâs like we can invade his privacy, by taking a peek at his thoughts, but this boy canât even defend himself. He doesnât get angry at all when people talk all sorts of things about him! How can he even live with himself!â
âNow now, anger you donât upset yourself too much, your BP is gonna skyrocket. All this boy needs to do is to get laid man! He so uptight, he needs to loosen up a little and take a chill pill.â
âI totally agree with you, said Sloth, he needs to take some time out for himself and have a little selfâ-introspective nap once in a while right, Glutton?â
âAll you ever do is take naps! And anyways he needs to round up and appear fuller, heâs such a scrawny kid! Eat more spaghetti and meatballs!â
âYouâre awfully quiet Greed, speak up man this isnât like you! Youâre always complaining that you donât as much time to speakâ.
âYeah dude, itâs just Iâve never seen any man not having even basic survivalist desires. We gotta help this fella.â
âOkay then roll up your sleeves gentlemen and ugh *cough* cough* sorry woman, we got some work to do!â
I opened my eyes and nearly peed myself in the pants, in front of me were six men and woman, I screamed like a cat dunked in a bucket of water!
âHey Yo mate, chill down, weâre just here to helpâ, said a boy who was in his teens clearly by the amount of acne on his face and the ripped jeans and hoodie he wore further justified my guess, he wore a badge called âslothâ
What a weird name, I thought. Who would like to be named after the sloth bear!
âYo, for the fact the sloth bear was named after me!â
âNow, sloth you need to follow your own words, the boy must be scared shitless. By the way, Iâm Greed, nice to meet you too and that rude fellow was Sloth.â, spoke a middle aged man with a rather baggy shirt and tight jeans.
âGuys letâs introduce ourselves to make it easier for him. Hello young fellow, Iâm Glutton!â, said a shirtless man whose abs glistened with sweat as though heâd come from a workout.
âHello kitten, Iâm Anger.â, said a strikingly beautiful woman with a purple dress synched at the waist with a Gucci belt and black stilettos.
âGreetings from the better part of hell dear, Iâm Envy.â, said a man with a formal attire and red horn-rimmed glasses.
âMorning, Iâm Pride.â, said a tall man wearing an expensive Armani suit, reebok sunglasses and slick blonde hair.
âHi, Iâm Lust.â ,he whispered, God he must be the male-version of Aphrodite! He was enough to turn a straight man like me, gay.
(I gave such detailed description of them, as they keep recurring and I wanted you guys to see them exactly like I did.)
âUmm. Hi, Iâm max I guess.â, I blurted.
âGod! We need to work on your self-confidence boy! Okay Iâll tell you why weâre here. While you were napping, we looked into your past and thought you might need a little boost to help you live a better life. So, each of us will help you in their own area of expertise and ooh! I almost forgot we are here only for two days, so buckle up!â
Have become schizophrenic?! I am hearing voices in my head!
âRelax honey, we are visible and audible only to you.â, Anger said.
âHumph okay, what should I do to get rid of you lot?â
Quit the sarcasm brother, first we need to get a good workout. Come on move your ass, and Glutton then pulled me away for what seemed like forever and made me workout like hell. The workout was so intense, I was so sore I couldnât move a muscle and every time I got up my butt ached.
But, when I looked in the mirror, I couldnât believe my eyes, my body looked like it was photo shopped! Six pack abs, killer thighs, amazing collar bone and to top it off a chiseled jaw! I looked like a Greek God!
Then, without wasting a minute, Sloth whisked me into the kitchen which was filled with amazing food and magazines. He told me, âYou know what mate, you need to take some time out for yourself and make yourself happy once in a while.â
I never forgot those words.
I ate to my stomachâs fill, of course only healthy foods allowed (Glutton approved- check). Then my slot was with Anger.
We took a walk and were talking everyday stuff when she pulled me into a McDonaldâs. I resisted as I had just eaten the feast of my life, but she insisted and made me sit down in a booth.
âSometimes anger in the right direction is okay.â
Then a waiter came and asked for our order, before we could even blink an eye, he started bellowing out like a cow belching and started telling people that I was the specimen of a man who got rejected even from a McDonaldâs job and thought a ball was his ex-girlfriend!
People around me started taking selfies and snaps of me and posting it on social media.
Anger whispered, âYou need to defend your honour, sugar. No one is going to do it for you.â
I mustered all the courage I had left in me and punched that guy in his face. I pulled Anger away and we made for the run.
After the running all the way to house, I told her, âI never felt so exhilarated and satisfied in my entire life!â
âBut, remember kitten, anger only in the right direction and for the right cause, like you defending your honour for example.â
Will remember, Ms. Anger.
Then Pride and Greed approached me together and took me into my room and gave my laptop.
âListen son, you are quite capable and intelligent, all you need is to believe in yourself a little more and go after the things you want.â , Pride said. âSo you need to write an essay to get into Ivy League colleges with full scholarship, so begin writing.â
I bit my lip. Just believe in yourself.
Then I wrote my essay by pulling an all-nighter and submitted it.
I could feel someone shaking me hardly, I rubbed my eyes and opened them reluctantly only to see Greed pulling off my blankets and telling me to get ready for a small basketball session.
We then drove over to the Baltimore city gym, I then realized he had brought me to the basketball try-outs for the cityâs team!
Believe in yourself.
After almost half a day, we returned home then Lust dragged me into various clothing stores and dressed me up and told me to remember one girl who had impacted me the most.
Then, I thought how I could miss the one girl who stood with me through thick and thin! She never doubted me! Suddenly I could remember all the subtle hints she gave throughout the time we were friends, and I, a fool, never paid her enough attention, trying to go after girls who were popular!
Oh Sarah! Then I saw the smirk on Lustâs face and knew he was the one who helped me clear my thoughts.
He murmured, âGo! You moron.â
I rushed to my car and drove to Sarahâs house and almost punched a hole into her front door trying to knock.
The door opened, and when I saw her face, I found calm in midst of all chaos of my mind, guess I finally got to see the true love I always yearned for.
I gave her my true confession with gulps in between.
She told, âI thought youâd never realize.â
I pulled her waist close to me, and whispered in her ear, âBetter late than neverâ and tucked the hair on her cheek behind her ear and kissed her like Iâd never see her again.
Well, two days passed within a blink of an eye, and yet I have changed so much, grown into a better man. Oh! Only Envy hadnât had his chance to speak to me.
I then told Sarah Iâd see her tomorrow and drove back to the house to see all of them standing on my front porch. I got down and t and went and hugged each one knowing it was time to say our goodbyes.
Envy stepped forward, âMax, we always knew you were a special young man, but always remember that when you succeed, there are always gonna be people who will envy you and try to bring you down, you have to then remember how hard you worked to get there and say, fuck you assholes and stay put.â
âI love you guys; do you have to go?â
âYes child, but we will be watching you, okay?â
Goodbye.
When I was going to unlock the front door, I saw my reflection on the glass, and I then I realized that I was always like this, but I never saw myself for what I really am.
I measured my life by milestones and achievements all along, never realizing those small moments where I was the best possible version of myself.
I guess, the old wise man was correct.
Epilogue â After a year
I am so busy right now, I donât even have the time to write this, but I know you guys I are curious of what happened after that.
I got selected to play college ball for Princeton University with a full scholarship. Sarah and I are in a very serious relationship and we are thinking of getting married after college, oh and by the way, she also got accepted to Princeton.
I also work as a part time model for Vogue (who knew!) I think I may be playing for the NBA next year.
And I made things right with my father and actually forgave him of all his shortcomings.
I am so grateful and happy for those two days last year, though I still think my mind is playing tricks with me as I went back the McDonaldâs store and asked the guy whom I punched if he remembered me and he gave this weird look .
Anyways, you guys might have thought I have finally achieved something, but I think otherwise. I am still so very insecure about myself in a thousand different ways. But when I wake up in the morning, I am so grateful for being given this life in contrast to before when I used to wonder my purpose.
~ Lady Lazarus
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The Significance of a Crush
There was one time where a boy had a crush on me. In the fourth grade. He told me to meet him on the playground after lunch. When I met him there he confessed his crush on me. I had no idea what to do with that information so I said thank you and then we went back to living our simple lives as normal. He was charming but goofy, Every girl in my grade was repulsed by him because he had a unique sense of humor that they saw as immature and his face was covered in freckles which was weirdly looked down on. I was charmed by this regardless. I had been raised with brothers with raunchy humor and acne so I was not fazed by that and only saw this boy for his constant sweet gestures to me.Â
That was the first and only time a boy has ever admitted to having a crush on me.Â
In the fourth grade when it meant nothing.Â
It may not seem like a big deal, but it was in middle school when the significance of having boys crush on you become something that I craved to feel normal.Â
When I made friends in middle school I was genuinely myself. I was a weird quirky girl with a good sense of humor that people just liked to have around. I made friends easily and was never really threatened by the idea of loneliness. (Later in life I would find out about how to quality of your friends is more important than the quantity, but this did not matter then.) So I was friends with popular kids. I was loud and funny and people thought that was cool. I hung out with girls that played in soccer leagues and were rich enough to play select and not parks and rec. I was friends with girls that boys liked. I was surrounded by girls that were incredibly skinny and athletic. It felt like I was the only girl in the world to grow in some curves. The loneliness that I had felt confused me because how could I be lonely whilst having so many best friends? Meanwhile, guys at my school were discovering the freedom that middle school provided. You could swear without supervision and you could date girls and your mom wouldnât have to know. This caused for a peak amount of guys asking girls out. Of course, these relationships were pointless. But, they meant something to each kid. It represented the fact that someone found you attractive or worthy to date and take interest in.
All my skinny cool athletic friends were absolute gold to these boys. It felt as though they were dating a new guy every week. My best friend had a boyfriend for a while. They dated for two months which was a big deal in the middle school timeline. But, they never ate lunch together or hung out outside of school so most of their conversing took place online. It was a useless relationship that I had no need or craving for because it had a complete lack of substance. It was worthless, I didn't need it. So why did it hurt so bad when I didn't have that?Â
I think that the reason that I had craved this type of relationship was for the attention and the validation. As insignificant as it was, it was a time where you needed to hear affirmations about yourself to stay sane. My friends would constantly tell me that I looked good and that the right guy would come along and yada yada. But there was never a single boy that took interest. It goes without saying that it was upsetting to sixth grade me.Â
It was the affirmation that I craved so severely. All I wanted was to hear the validation that a boy liked me. All I wanted to know was if I was good enough to be loved.Â
In middle school there was a strange system of communication through others. If you wanted to talk to a boy youâd have to talk through three other people to get to him. I was never shy to take this risk, I was an open book. I had always thought that a crush is not something to be embarrassed about. I had seen it as a certain type of compliment.Â
I had always been picky with the guys that I would have a crush on. Not that I was the greatest at choosing bachelors, but I prided myself in being especially picky when reaching out to the guys my age. But, there was one boy that sparked my interest more than others. We hung out a lot outside of school because we were family friend. We were especially friendly outside of school but did not have any classes together in school and had different friend groups. So one day I had asked a friend who shared science class with him to ask him if he would like to be my boyfriend. He came up to me afterwards in the hall and said âlet me think about itâ. This only led to my hopes being raised and the eventual letdown that was him telling me through three other people that he was ultimately uninterested.Â
Just from looking back at this I learned something interesting about myself. Several things actually. I learned that the root of a lot of my major insecurities now could have possibly stemmed from my first attempt at being validated to the inevitable rejection that led me to believe that I am undesirable. I learned that it is an awesome trait to be picky about the people you let into your life, because you are not defined by what other people may think of you.Â
Looking back at this experience made me think about the significance of such memorable yet minuscule events from my youth. Â
What are some memories that you have that have shaped you into the person you are today?Â
#crush#youth#insecurity#thoughts#firstpost#middleschool#story#memories#question#feedback#writing#opinion#ideas
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