#I just remembered that I have ibis on my phone why did that take so long

[i-can-not-art]

Your adventures seem to be a bit treacherous! Here are some more OCs to protect you!

(In order: Jinhong, Yūrei, Shenhou, Lance, Etheral, Bippy, Ezra, & Norabel)

They will keep you safe and sane! <3

Idk if my pockets can handle this

[back2thepalace]

Would You Be So Kind? (Parrlyn)

Part 5

Tw: Swearing

(Anne Boleyn’s p.v.)

I wake not in sweat and fear. This was the first night in along time that I haven't  had a night terror. It was all thanks to Cathy. My childhood crush and a crush that I had for years. We still would be friends if for last night if I hadn't been so impulsive, but I was happy that was the first time my impulsiveness helped me. Right know me and Cathy were just friends with benefits, as I haven't asked her the big question. I was even worried about that though she wants to date me, I could see that see wanted it by what happened last night. I finally look at the clock on my night stand as I had been staring into the ibis for a bit. I read the text on my clock. It was 6:45 I had to leave in soon. I peal my body out of Cathy's arms leaving her asleep. Cathy has first period as an off period today. The only reason I know that is on some days Cathy doesn't come with the rest of us to school. I walk to my closest and grab a t-shirt, a pair of leggings, and a couple other things. I walk into my bathroom and flick the light on. I take off my sweatshirt exposing my arms. I look down at my right arm seeing the bandage from last night. I forgot about that. Cathy had practically saved me before going to far. I don't even know why I did it there was really no reason. I get dress for the day and when I am done I walk back out into my room seeing that Cathy was still asleep. I walked over to my nightstand and grab my phone. I walk over to my desk and grab my backpack and I head to my door. I take one last look at Cathy before open my door, exit, and closed my door making sure not to wake her from sleeping. I walk down the stairs and into the hallway. There I spot Kitty leaving her room.

"Hey Kitty." I say which kind of scares her but she turns around looking at me with a big smile.

"Oh my god, Anne you scared me." Kitty says as I walk over to her. We could to walk down the hallway in silence before Kitty asks me a surprising question.

"So, Anne are you okay." Kitty ask as we walk down the stairs.

"Umm, what do you mean?" I say in shock.

“Well, Cathy came down with a giant spot of barbecue sauce on her shirt. Did you guys have a food fight or something?” Kitty says with a giggle.

“No, we didn’t have a food fight, but one of the packets explode on her.” I say before immediately falling down the stairs. ‘Shit this really hurts.’ I think when I get to the bottom of the stairs. I heard Kitty running down the stairs to help me up.

“Oh my god, Anne are you okay.” She says while helping me up.

“Yeah I am fine.” I say when I finally get up. We walk into the kitchen seeing Jane, Anna, and Cath  sitting at the kitchen counter. Anna was on her phone and Jane and Cath were talking to each other. Me and Kitty walked into the kitchen together. I head to the cabinet that holds my cereal.

“Look the gremlin is fine Jane.” I hear Cath say from behind me. I turn around realize that they were all staring at me.

“Are you okay, Anne?” Jane asks me.

“I am fine.” I say gritting my teeth as I stair at Cath. I turn around and continue getting breakfast. I pull out the box of lucky charms and put it on the counter and go to grab a bowl. Walk over to the cabinet with bowls and pull one out. I walk back to the box of cereal and pour my bowl. I walk over to the counter top seating. I grab a spoon from the thing on the counter that had spoons.

“How do you eat that stuff.” I hear Cath ask me.

“Well because it is unhealthy and I don’t care.” I rely as continuing to eat. We sat there in silence with no one talking just eating.

“Where’s Cathy?” I hear Jane ask trying to break the silence.

“Don’t know.” I most of the 3 other girls rely.

“Still sleeping.” I say quietly remembering her incident face as she slept.

“What, Anne?” Jane asks as she probably heard me talk.

“Yeah, What  Anne?” Cath asks me as well.

“She’s still sleeping.” I rely.

“How do you know that?” Anna asks looking up from her phone.

“Well Cathy has her first period off and if she’s up late she usually sleeps in.” I say with a smile.

“I think someone has a crush on Cathy.” Anna teases me. ‘Shit she knows. How does she know? This is basic knowledge. Right?’ I think to myself getting worried.

“Cathy and Anne sitting in a tree.” Kitty starts to sing from the other side of the counter. I  ball up the paper napkins that was next to the bowl and throw it at Kitty. Pathetically the napkin falls on Anna’s head.

“Stop doing that Kitty. She doesn’t like that. Maybe Anne is just very observant.” Jane says shutting the teasing down.

“Yeah, I am observant.” I reply going back to my cereal.

“Yeah very observant.” Cath says sarcastically. As I am still eating I decide to flip Cath off. So I do which doesn’t go over well with Jane.

“Anne, there is a child in the room please don’t do that.” Jane says point at Kitty.

“I am not a kid anymore.” Kitty says with a little wine.

“Okay I am done with my food, so I think we should leave for school.” I say changing the subject.

“Okay, everyone get there shoes on.” Jane say and everyone goes to get there shoes. I walk to my heelys and put them on. When everyone is done we head out of the house. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I opened it up seeing the picture of me and all my friends. I open Instagram to check what happened as I slept. When it loads I see that I have 4 dms. ‘Wait when did people decide to dm me.’ I think as open them up and look through them.

username.i.dont.want.to.make Hey, I know you may not like me to ask you like this but do you want to go to prom with me.

Seriously why do people think that I don’t already have date. All but open or the dms that I have been like that. I simply rely with I have a date to all of them. ‘Wait I am technically lying. I don’t have a date. I have to ask her later. Okay I will do that.’ I think. Soon I could hear my name being before I could open the last of my dms. I look up seeing that I had fallen really behind and my friends just now noticed my lack of noise. I run across the street in order to catch up to my friends. When I get back on the sidewalk I use my heelys to roll to the next to the next street. Then I repeat the same thing all over again. When I finally get to my friends I am kind of out of breath.

“How did you get that far ahead of me?” I ask as I put my hands on my knees to steady my breathing.

“I don’t know but we are almost at school.”

“K, cool.” I say before I go back to my phone. I reopen my phone and go to messages. I open up my dms with Cathy and start texting her.

nice.neck.by.the.way Hey

Hey

Hey

Wake up

Cathy wake up

gold.star.for.cathy.parr what?

You woke me up.

nice.neck.by.the.way meet in the girls bathroom next to my English class before 2nd period???

gold.star.for.cathy.parr sure

nice.neck.by.the.way 🤗

“Anne, we are here.” I hear Jane say as I look up from my phone. I slip my phone into my pocket and run to the door smiling.

“What are you think about.” Jane says as she is holding the door.

“Nothing.” I lie as I was still thinking about Cathy. I skip into school without a worry in my mind.

(1378 Words)

[douxreviews]

American Gods - ‘Git Gone’ Review

"That was vulgar. I’m a vulgar woman. Anger and grief have… have really just made me vulgar."

American Gods gives us the Gospel According to Laura, and answers a few questions to boot.

OK, it's cheating just a little bit to end two episodes in a row with the exact same cliffhanger, but wow, what a trip it was getting there the second time around.

So, at the end of the previous episode, Shadow enters his motel room to find his recently deceased wife, Laura, sitting on his bed waiting for him. Expectations, then, were that we'd pick up at that same point and get to see their inevitable confrontation over the whole 'died while orally servicing his best friend' situation. But 'Git Gone' takes a different path, and instead goes back to before the show even began and tells the whole thing again, but this time from Laura's perspective.

This is by no means the first show to do an episode dedicated to re-staging things we've already seen, but from the perspective of one of the other characters, but there's a reason that shows like to do it, and it's not just the cost savings of re-using existing sets. The primary virtue of this setup is that it allows you to fill in a lot of character information, while revealing information about events you've already seen that we didn't know at the time. Case in point, we've already heard the phone conversation between Shadow and Laura in 'The Bone Orchard'. but now we know that she literally had his best friend naked on their bed while she was talking to him. That changes how we feel about Laura during that conversation a lot.

So, let's talk about Laura.

For the first three episodes, Laura has essentially been a woman in the refrigerator. It's an insidious trope, which can be boiled down to the idea that stories tend to treat female characters as someone to kill so that the important character, i.e. the man, can be properly motivated to do whatever the story needs him to do. It's a pleasant relief then to find out that, no, Laura has been having a fairly eventful story of her own, and her untimely death was only the middle part of it.

The thing that 'Git Gone' makes clear about Laura is that she is fundamentally self-destructive. The very first decision we see her make is to attempt suicide in her covered hot tub by breathing in the titular bug spray, and that appears to have been brought on by nothing more than the casino she's working at telling her that she can't shuffle the cards by hand anymore, but she likes shuffling cards so she's super sad about it. She's clearly smart and perceptive; it takes her all of three seconds to understand the con that Shadow is trying to pull at her blackjack table. She's also basically kind, since her response to his con is to point out the casino's security measures and what they'll do to him when he's caught, then takes his bet and tells him to finish his drink and go home while he can. But when Shadow approaches her afterward and tries to ask her out in a reasonably polite fashion she's not interested. She only becomes interested in him once he starts getting stalker-ishly creepy. The same is true of their sex scene. She's bored out of her mind when he's being a courteous lover, and slaps him full in the face for no other reason than to see what he'll do. That's just not a safe thing to do to a guy you just picked up after he attempted to rob your casino, and whom you know absolutely nothing about. Which is why she does it.

The sequence of scenes where we see Shadow grow happier and happier while she grows sadder and sadder tell us everything we need to know about Laura. She likes Shadow, but he's nice. And when Laura has something nice in her life, Laura is immediately compelled to destroy that thing. That's why she suggests the casino heist that gets Shadow sent to prison. That's why she starts sleeping with Robbie while Shadow's away. Note the way that Laura only slept with Robbie the second time because he had accepted her statement that they shouldn't. Note also how she was clearly just as bored during her sex with Robbie as she had been that first night with Shadow. It was never about the sex, it was about inviting things into her life that would cause as much damage as possible. When Audrey mentions that she wishes Robbie looked at her the way Shadow looks at Laura, you can feel how little Laura values it. How much she needs to destroy it, in order to prove to herself that she doesn't deserve it. Honestly, season one doesn't give us much in terms of Laura's early background information, and the book gives even less, but note that Laura's mother appears to be at their wedding and her father isn't. I suspect there's a lot of interesting backstory there, and I hope we get more of it in the future. People this self destructive don't just happen for no reason.

And hey, we mentioned Audrey a moment ago. Audrey, and I'll make no bones about this whatsoever, is my absolute favorite character in the show, despite only being in two episodes of the first season. The scene between Audrey and Laura in Audrey's bathroom is absolutely the centerpiece of this episode. That scene works on every conceivable level. It's simultaneously hysterically funny, heartbreakingly sad, and the weirdest thing you're likely to see on television. And it all comes down to the fact that both Betty Gilpin as Audrey and Emily Browning as Laura play the absolute emotional truth of the moment, despite the fact that the moment is a zombie with diarrhea on the toilet in front of the woman whose husband she died while blowing. Oh, and she stopped by to borrow craft supplies. The whole thing is basically, what if The Walking Dead was a production of the Hallmark Channel, and those two actresses make it work. Audrey is confronted with the woman she thought was her best friend but was sleeping with her husband. Who died while betraying her. When Audrey speaks the line 'I found out my husband was cheating on me and dead in the same sentence' you absolutely feel how much pain she's in, and it feels real. Despite the zombie diarrhea and the craft supplies, it feels like genuine emotional damage that she has no idea how to work through. It's amazing.

Then Audrey gets her craft supplies, sews her friend's arm back on for her, and drives her where she needs to go. Because she has no idea how else to respond to the situation. And if anyone is capable of getting through the following exchange without falling in love a little with Audrey, then that person has no soul. As Audrey is sewing her dead friend's arm back on and discussing the way that friend slept with her husband:

Laura: "I feel terrible about it." Audrey: "Oh, F*ck your feelings."

Quotes:

Laura: "Is this your first time trying to rob a casino?" Shadow: "A casino? Yeah." Laura: "Well, you’re really not very good at it."

Shadow: "All l know is there’s more than I know."

Laura: "There’s no farm upstate for old dogs."

Laura: "I have a perfect plan. You will never get caught." Cut to Jail Laura: "How did you get caught?"

Laura: "I lived my life. Good and bad. Definitely not light as a feather."

Audrey: "…Laura?" Laura: "Hey Audrey." Audrey:

Laura: "Audrey. Audrey. Don’t call the police." Audrey: "Get out of my house, you zombie whore!"

Ibis: "Don’t move. You’re still tacky."

Bits and Pieces:

-- Nice fake-out at the beginning with the Egyptian theme casino. The casino's name was 'The 26th Dynasty' Apparently that was the last Egyptian dynasty before they were invaded by the Persians. I don't know if that's at all important, but information is always nice.

-- Mrs. Fadil's post-death scene with Anubis last week served the important function of letting us understand what was happening to Laura this week. It's a little weird that Laura would be the province of an Egyptian death god though. They hand waved it last week with Mrs. Fadil remembering the old stories, but all we get here is that Laura is Anubis' concern because of the manner of her passing. That seems like a curiously specific thing for an Egyptian god to care about. Maybe she had to sign a release when she started working at the casino or something.

-- The hot tub is a visual metaphor for nothingness and oblivion. Watch the episode with that in mind and it opens up a world of interesting interpretations.

-- Do people leave their TVs on for the cats while they're out? It made total sense that it was the death of Dummy the cat, who Laura claimed to not even like, that drove her completely off the rails and into the affair with Robbie.

-- I'm not sure why, but the Egyptian eyes on Laura's work uniform bow tie really freaked me out. Like, to an irrational degree.

-- Laura's dialogue, 'When you die, you rot,' is shown over the images of her and Shadow's wedding. That was a nice directorial touch.

-- I liked the visual cue of Shadow leaving his wedding ring on the statue of the Eifel Tower when he went to the gym. That's a real thing, I take off mine myself to work out.

-- Three episodes later, we find out that it was Laura who killed all of Technical Boy's henchmen and saved Shadow from the lynching. Wow, zombie Laura is apparently quite strong. And can kick you in the balls so hard your entire spinal column flies out the top of your head, which was a funny sight gag.

-- Mr. Jacquel, a.k.a. Anubis, told Laura that after this was all over he would complete his task and send her to oblivion. So now Laura has a matching doom over her head to go with Shadow's promise to let Czernobog smash his head in when it's all over.

-- I'd have liked to have known what happened to Audrey after she and Laura encountered Jacquel and Ibis. I assume she just dropped Laura off and went back home, but it would have been nice to see it.

-- Absent entirely this week - Wednesday, Mad Sweeney, Bilquis, Media, Technical Boy, Czernobog, The Zorya sisters, and Mr. World.

A great episode that gave us a lot of character work and some intriguing answers, but at the expense of paying off the previous episode's cliffhanger.

Three and a half out of four hot tubs.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

[poorguysheadisdoingwhatnow]

Tiny Dancer part 4

Sorry for the wait, y’all, here’s the next part of @fucking-petticoated-swashbuckler‘s and my fluffy, fluffy fic

Read Part 1 here!

Read Part 2 here!

Read Part 3 here!

There was a perfect, undisturbed layer of fresh snow on the balcony outside when Spot walked through his living room to the kitchen. The sunrise and the lights strung up outside the buildings illuminated each small patch of snow that had yet to be ruined by cars or pedestrians, causing it to glimmer and sparkle elegantly.

Spot made himself an espresso and stared out the window. The roads below were empty and quiet, save for the odd bus or truck; everyone was sleeping in on Christmas, it seemed. Spot checked his watch - it was only 7:57. He had more than a few hours before he had to leave for the gathering at Specs and Jack's place.

Rubbing his tired eyes, he walked over to the couch and collapsed, sinking comfortably into the cushions. His mind wandered back to a few weeks ago, when they’d all drawn names for the gift exchange.

He still wasn't entirely sure it wasn't a conspiracy on his friends’ part that he drew Race's name. Especially since moments before, Race had drawn Spot’s.

Spot remembered all their friends laughing about it; Sarah had even nudged his arm with her elbow and whispered something about it being “meant to be”.

What was he even supposed to give to Race? Did he like anything aside from ballet?

Oh, yes. Of course he did. He also liked tap. And hip hop. And jazz.

Spot had realized while shopping for the gift that he didn’t really know much about Race at all. His first thought was a poster of Baryshnikov, before he remembered he’d seen two already in Race’s apartment a week prior. So Baryshnikov was out.

Of course, he wanted to impress Race. Give him a personal gift. They’d been working together every day for almost two months now. They were friends. Friends gave each other personal, thoughtful gifts. Gifts that said “you mean a lot to me”, gifts that said-

Why was he so worried about this? Sure, he had spent the past couple weeks after the name drawing stressing over the perfect gift to get Race, until he had finally found something suitable. He may have asked Race a few pointed questions, trying to get more hints about what he liked. But that was just what people did when they cared about their friends.

Right?

At least the whole gift thing had become a distraction. His heart still skipped a beat when he saw Race casually showing off his 180 degree développés to his classes, but he felt more comfortable around him now. Less awkward. It gave him less time to wonder whether Race was intentionally trying to prove he was a dance god, or if he was just so amazingly talented that it was just out of habit that every movement was perfect, from the smallest tendu to the most technically challenging jump sequence.

Why was it that dance seemed to bring out qualities you wouldn’t expect that person to be able to exhibit? Ballet turned Race from an obnoxious, full-of-energy, childish person into someone with discipline. Precision. From someone you couldn’t possibly keep up with in any capacity to someone patient and almost mature. When Race danced, he was the epitome of grace, every step exact get still relaxed. In short...beautiful.

Woah, where did that come from? Spot shook his head vehemently, stood up from the couch and poured himself a glass of cold water in the kitchen.

Christmas. It was Christmas. He needed to stop thinking about work. About Race. Jesus, why was his whole life centered around Race now? It was probably because they were spending so much time together after months of not seeing each other at all. Yeah, that made sense. But he saw other people a lot, too. He had just seen Smalls and JoJo the other night! And he wasn’t thinking so much about them. There was just something about Race-

A loud knock at the door interrupted Spot’s thoughts. Thank god.

He left his glass in the kitchen sink and crossed the living room. When he opened the door, he found Sarah standing there, dressed in a Hanukkah sweater and grinning from ear to ear.

“Sarah?” Spot said, feeling confused even as he stepped aside to let Sarah come in. “It’s only eight-thirty. We don’t hafta to be at Jack and Specs’ till twelve.”

“C’mon, Spot, where’s your holiday spirit?” Sarah asked. “I thought we could go get breakfast before we go. Me and you. We haven’t hung out together in weeks!”

“I saw you yesterday.”

“Yeah, but I was with Les and Davey. It’s not the same.”

Spot shook his head and smiled. “You were saying something about breakfast?”

“I knew food would be what it took to get my best friend to hang out with me for once in his life.”

This time Spot laughed. “Alright, just give me twenty minutes so I can shower.”

“Twenty… Spot, you look and smell fine and I’m hungry,” Sarah whined, feigning impatience but still obviously fighting off a laugh of her own.

Spot rolled his eyes. “Make toast. Or there’s leftover pasta in the fridge. I don’t care. Help yourself.”

Sarah groaned dramatically. “Fine. Just be quick so I don’t waste away. Come on, Spot, it’s Christmas. Catholic act of charity, or some shit?”

“One: you’re Jewish. Two: what’s the act of charity? Showerin’ quickly so you can eat?”

“Um...yes. ‘Ubi caritas et amor deus ibi est,’ bitch. Or whatever you catholics say. You’ve made me listen to at least ten settings, probably.”

“Come on. Ola Gjeilo’s Ubi Caritas is perfection and you know it.” He glanced at his watch. 8:36. “You know what, yeah. I’ll shower as fast as you- no, not as fast as you want me to. I’ll be out and dressed in twelve and a half minutes. Time me.”

“Alright.” Sarah flopped onto Spot’s couch and took out her phone. “Ready...set...go.”

When he walked out of his room, Sarah nodded approvingly. “Twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Nice job.”

“Told you I could do it,” Spot replied with a smirk. “Now let’s go get some breakfast.”

The place Sarah had chosen was a nice little diner that was thankfully open on holidays.

“So.” Sarah leaned forward excitedly, her elbows on the table and her hands supporting her head. “What’d you get Race?”

Spot sarcastically mirrored Sarah’s pose. “You’ll find out in…” 9:02. “... about four hours. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“Alright, I can be patient. So…” Sarah took a slow sip of her coffee before speaking again. “Speaking of you and Race…”

Spot felt his breath catch. “Yeah, what about me and Race?”

Sarah raised her eyebrows and exhaled accusingly with a teasing smile. “So you two… haven’t gotten… close? Recently?”

“I mean, we work together, so yeah, we’ve gotten closer, ‘cause we work together…” Spot knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. What was wrong with him? He was never like this.

“Spot.” She was shaking her head. Eyes closed, a small smile slowly spreading across her face. “Just stop. Do you like him?”

He could feel the heat rising into his face. Quickly. Shit. “In what way do you mean?” A small laugh escaped Sarah’s lips. “We’re friends. So I like him as a friend. Any other ways you had in mind?”

“Spot, you’ve been my best friend for like fifteen? Sixteen years? I know you. You get flustered every time you look at him.” Spot winced, but she kept going. “And when you talk to him, shit, Spot. You’re a fucking mess. So I’m calling bull on this ‘no homo’ bullshit you have going on. Is this internalized homophobia or what? Do you just-”

“Please, Sarah. Not now.” He opened his mouth to continue as their food arrived, then closed it again and sighed loudly.

Sarah waited an agonizingly long thirty seconds before continuing. “All I’m saying is that it’s been two months. At least figure out what you feel for him, because it’s at least something.” She paused again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put all this on you on Christmas. I just love you and-”

“I love you too, Sarah.”

Sarah sighed. “Just… promise me you’ll talk to me about this shit. I get worried.”

“I promise, Sarah. You don’t have to worry about me.” Spot stretched his hand across the table and put it over Sarah’s, smiling softly at her. “Alright, let’s not talk ‘bout this anymore for right now. How ‘bout we eat?”

Sarah grinned and picked up her fork, then pulled her plate of pancakes closer. “Yes! I’m starving.”

After breakfast, Sarah and Spot walked around for a bit, taking in the icicles on the trees and the snow that had once again begun falling from the sky in light, delicate flakes. Then it was time to head to Jack and Specs’.

They were two of the first people to arrive. Jack and Specs were there, of course, as were Davey, Les, and Crutchie, all lounging around the living room.

Sarah laughed as she walked in. “Of course the Jews are the ones who show up early for Christmas.”

This got a laugh from everyone else, too, and Sarah left Spot’s side to go sit between her brothers on the couch, placing her present under the tree on the way. Specs glanced at Spot’s own present, still in his hand, neatly wrapped in green paper and topped with a bow.

“You wrap that yourself, Spot?” He asked with a cheeky grin. “Sure is a nice job.” Spot rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, Specs, now come off it,” he retorted, shoving Specs aside with his shoulder a little too hard to be playful and setting the present next to Sarah’s. Then he sat on the end of the couch, content to sit there quietly and listen while Les regaled his brother and sister with tales of his first semester of senior year.

“And in Physics the other day, Mrs. Mullen totally-”

A knock sounded at the door, interrupting Les. Sarah jumped up enthusiastically and opened the door, revealing Smalls, Finch, Mush, and Blink. They all came in with smiles and greetings and presents, and after a while the living room had filled up as more people arrived. And somehow, Race had ended up on the couch, sitting snugly against Spot to make room for other people. And once in a while, Race’s hand would accidentally brush Spot’s, and Spot had to pretend that his heart didn’t flutter a little every time it happened.

Soon, everyone was there, talking and joking, and Specs clapped his hands a couple of times to get their attention.

“Alright, guys,” he said once the room was quiet, “who’s ready to exchange some gifts?”

“The people want food, Specs!” Sarah called. Everyone laughed. Specs blushed a little in embarrassment, but he grinned.

“Of course! How could I ever forget?” He dramatically gestured to the kitchen. “There’s a spread of refreshments in there, prepared by Crutchie and yours truly. Paper plates are on the side. Help yourselves!”

“Didn’t you just eat breakfast, Sarah?” Spot asked under his breath, grinning. Before she could respond, Race tapped Spot’s shoulder.

“Get you a drink?”

Spot spun around quickly to face him, almost accidentally falling into his lap in the process, and Race laughed. “Careful.”

“Uh...sorry, yeah, I’d love a drink.”

Race nodded, still grinning, and got up, heading for the kitchen. Sarah nudged Spot with her elbow.

“Smooth,” she whispered. Spot felt his face turn red and took deep breaths to calm his heart rate as Race returned, two bottles in his hands.

“The finest House IPA,” Race joked. “I know it’s your favorite.”

“You know, Spot, I’ve never figured out how you became a complete lesbian stereotype.” Sarah evidently couldn’t stop her hysteric laughter. “Your taste in beer. The flannels. The beanies. The-”

“Yes, Sarah. We get it.” Spot could still feel an unstoppable grin spreading across his face. He glanced over to see Race holding back a laugh of his own.

Having Sarah close by made it easier, somehow. When she was there to break the tension, Spot felt like it was just a little easier to breathe, even when Race’s hand brushed his again as he handed him the beer bottle.

For a while, everyone ate and talked some more, until Specs stood up again.

“Now it really is time to exchange gifts,” he announced with a laugh. Everyone cheered.

The presents were handed out to their respective recipients, and soon the room was full of boisterous laughter and wrapping paper and ribbons.

Spot turned his head before opening his present to find that Race had done the same. “You go first,” Spot initiated after a pause.

Race smiled. “You sure?” Spot nodded.

He could feel his chest getting tight, his heart racing as Race tore into the wrapping paper.

“Hey look! A box! Thank you, Conlon, I’ve been wanting one for a while!”

Spot rolled his eyes, laughing slightly. “Look inside the box, Higgins.”

Race carefully removed the top of the box and peered inside. “Pointe shoes?”

“Not for you to wear, obviously. They’re signed by Megan Fairchild. I know how much you love her.”

Race bit his lip as he looked back at Spot, a huge grin spreading across his face. “Well, that’s good. I think they’d be a bit small for me, anyway.” They both laughed. “Thank you, Spot. I love them.”

And when he leaned forward to give Spot a hug, Spot’s heart threatened to beat right out of his chest.

“Alright, Conlon.” Race’s voice cut through Spot’s thoughts, and he looked up with a start. “Your turn.”

The package in Race’s hand was flat and square. Wrapped surprisingly neatly for something he assumed Race had wrapped himself. Spot took it from him and carefully slid his thumb through the tape, keeping the paper intact. The wrapping paper fell to the floor to reveal a sleek black frame, inside of which was a vinyl record.

He leaned closer to the glass, reading the small words on the label Race had made. “Elton John. Tiny Dancer.”

“Remember that choreo you did? Senior year?”

Spot felt his smile reappear as he remembered. “Of course.”

Race put his arm around Spot’s shoulders, causing his head to spin. Maybe it was the alcohol?

“Do you like it?”

Spot rested his head on Race’s muscular shoulder for a moment, then looked up at him. “It’s amazing. Thank you.”

And when Race moved to hug him again, for once he felt perfectly in control. Maybe he did have a crush on Race. But right now, he was perfectly content in his platonic embrace.

[unreone]

Aren't You Glad to Have a Boyfriend Like Me?

PROMPT: SERIAL KILLER

Time Taken: 42 hrs 14 min (on/off)

Program Used: IBis Paint

Word Count: 4133

♥~♥~♥~♥~♥

She beamed as I present to her my gift. An expensive perfume that she saw on a shop five days ago. She is squealing in delight at the second she recognize it.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I can't believe that you manage to buy it~

How could I even return the favor?"

I laugh at how cute she is being right now. Little did she know, I did not even spend a single cent to get it. Wait...no I actually have. Just not mine.

"Don't worry, Giggles. To see your smile is enough for me to say it's worth it."

Nice, that's a smooth one Cuddles. My remark brought a blush on her angelic face. She then pulls me into a hug, something that I expected to get but could still appreciate.

"Aww, this is why I love you my fluffybuns. I'm so glad to have a boyfriend like you!"

I smile as I pat her head. Her wonderful scent wafts in the air as I caress her soft, pink fur. Oh how much I wanted to stay like this forever. However, a ring destroys the moment.

Both of us stop and look at each other. Withdrawing, she apologize and picks up her phone from her shoulder bag. I watch her expression change from bright to neutral and then grim.

"I know I understand...I will be there as soon as I can."

She ended the call.

"Something's wrong?"

She looks at me with guilt in her eyes. I could tell that she wanted to stay a little bit longer but the call has given her a reason not to.

"I am so sorry Cuddles but I have to go. The nurses who are suppose to work right now got into an accident and Lumpy couldn't handle it all by himself at the hospital. I guess I need to start my shift early."

What a bummer. Her shift is supposed to begin five hours from now. Despite feeling unpleasant, I manage to keep my cool.

"Ah don't worry my love. I understand. Just call me when you need a backup."

"Oh Cuddles. The world will be a better place if critters are as understanding as you. See ya later then. I love you!"

She pecks me in my cheek and runs toward the location of a bus stop. I truly adore her. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I shout out my response.

"I love you more!"

She turns around and copies my volume.

"I love you more than anything!"

Oh Giggles, my love for you is so much that I'm willing to do anything for you...

I wave my hand at her as she runs away. I did not stop until she is out of my sight. I sighed and walks away. I guess I have to continue my mission early too.

Pushing the boulder away from a certain spot, I stoop to pull the hidden latch, opening the entry to a bunker.

Jumping down, I swiftly takes my bag full of supplies and a vacuum cleaner. I also wear the "job outfit" that I borrow from a certain friend that must not be named.

After climbing up the ladder carrying my props, I close the hatch and push the boulder back to its original place.

As I stroll towards the house of my next target, I found myself recounting the moments I accomplished my first goal. It was...exhilarating. The adrenaline I got is much more than the one I have while skydiving.

True, I felt remorse and a tiny bit of guilt after doing it but I'd be lying if I say I regret everything. In the end, watching how that pedobear mofo suffers from my own paws is satisfying, and that's all that matters.

Critters tends to underestimate me since I'm just a kid in their eyes. Yeah I admit that I'm immature most of the times, but that doesn't mean I'm incapable of doing serious stuff. I watch enough movies and documentaries to say I know a thing or two with slaying rivals creatively.

It all starts with swaying the prey. Luring him is unsurprisingly not that hard. I just have to send him pictures and epic one liners on his inbox at that stupid dating app and boom! Charmed. He's willing to meet me at a specific, secluded place only me and him know. Never suspecting anything for a bit. He's like a really dumb fish who suddenly bites the bait despite a hook sticking through it!

As the fool arrived at my rented apartment room, he did not see the lover of the girl he always flirts with. Instead, he sees a purple female bunny wearing a cute outfit named Toodles who is infatuated with him. I let him in and offer snacks and tea, which he blindly accepts. As he eat, we talks just as the way we do in our chat.

I remember how he makes that disgusting face at me that he dubbed as his "fierce and flirty look" from time to time.

I am keeping myself from puking at the moment as he leans forward with that breath, asking me for a dance.

Despite feeling unpleasant, I manage to keep my cool. I did not become the best actor in drama club for nothing. I have to convince him that my character is so into him. So I did what I have to do in my script.

I pull him even closer, catching him off guard and making the pathetic asshole blush. This malicious pervert flipping blush! I can't even express my repulsion against this filthy degenerate.

"Maybe I would if you finish your tea~" I muttered in perfect, feminine tone.

Oh I just really smile as I saw that he finally ingested the damn fluid into his system. He, however, thinks it's because I fell in love with him. He drinks the whole cup in one go!

He was extending his hand out to me, about to say something, but found himself unable to do so. Or do anything else at all. His hand trembles before he collapses to the floor. I giggled as he flops like a fish. His mouth is gaping as he try so hard to breathe. He looks up at me with utter confusion in his eyes. Can't talk dirty now that you're paralyzed huh sicko?

"Nothing personal Disco. It's just that I heard that you're really messing around this town. You're pretty famous for being a headache for everyone. Now, let me tell you something. This is for harassing and killing every girl you encountered ~"

I grab the kettle and pour its boiling hot contents on his chest. Oh how euphoric it was to see him writhes in pain. The scent of his burnt flesh fills the room. I was grinning ear to ear as I watch in fascination how the tea spreads all over his fur.

"And this is for assaulting my brother's girlfriend, Giggles~"

I suddenly smashed the kettle on his crotch. He would be wailing in pain at the time if his throat isn't numb. All that came out in his mouth is pitiful gurgles as he pees on the floor. I move and stand besides his ugly face. My entire body is quivering in excitement and rage as I clutch on the shattered kettle tightly.

"And this is for killing her with a fucking kettle you ignorant pimp~"

And with that, I found myself bludgeoning the shittyhead over and over again with a kettle until he resembles a squashed tomato. I keep bashing on his shattered skull even after he stopped twitching. Finally, I stepped on his heart with my heels to satisfy my ears with that squelching flesh. Then, I went to the bathroom to shower the dye away. It takes me four hours to remove the fake color entirely off my fur. Of course, I did not leave without taking his wallet.

It's been three days since the incident and I haven't seen him around, which is a good sign. What I've done is super effective. I think after all that, he wouldn't bother Giggles anymore. Heck, I am confident enough to say that he wouldn't even dare to look at any girl ... hehehe ... look. Something that my next victim couldn't do. That makes everything easier.

I found myself on front of the house I seek. I casually walk towards the doorstep and press the doorbell.

Now I would have skip Mole over since the idiot mistaken Lumpy as Giggles on their blind date. That means, my motivation of killing him is not jealousy if that's what you're thinking. No. It's something deeper than that.

His obliviousness and idiocy is what ticks me off. He killed my precious girl by literally stealing her heart with a freaking stick. Then he just throws it in a filthy thrash bag like it was nothing. Oh how much I wanted to punch him square in the face when I see him pries the door open. But I didn't.

Sounding lanky and awkward, I announced my assumed identity.

"Randell of Happy Tree Cleaners, leaving your homes squeaky clean. Our company is very sorry since we couldn't send Petunia today. However, I am here to take her place. I hope you wouldn't mind, sir."

"Oh. Of course I wouldn't mind at all lad but I think you came pretty early."

Feigning confusion, I responded to him in a shameful tone (which I applaud myself for such a convincing performance).

"Oh I truly am sorry sir. I'm still new to the job and kinda not listening to my superior when she's passing the information over the phone..."

"Ah a newbie. No, don't worry at all. I actually admire you! Working so hard, always ready to face the task at hand as immediately as possible. You're also modest. You remind me of myself back in my younger days..."

Then a long time was wasted for his flashback that I could not see. I really hate delays but I'm not rushing so I let him do his thing.

"Oh silly me. What am I thinking letting you stand outside for so long! Come, enter my humble abode young one."

I thanked him as I went inside. The contents of my shoulder bag clatters against each other for every move I make.

As he leads me to the room he thought I'd bother to clean, I am appreciating the edginess of the vacuum's flexible hose that I'm holding. I am very proud to say I assembled it myself. I have tried it on cows and boy the precision of the cut was just fascinating. I left a clean hole through the chest of the dumb animal.

My eyes are locked on his back as he talks about taking pictures of a case that an evil mouse wanted or something like that. His keys are jiggling as he unlocked the door to his kitchen. He turns around to face me.

"-anyways, here we are in the kitchen, Early Randell. You may begin your "germ extermination," as Petunia put it."

"Oh, only she could do that sir. I have a different method and it's called "trash assassination."

"Really? Sorry to break it to you son, but I believe there's no such thing that's present in this room. There is just dust and dirty dishes."

"Excuse my language sir, but I could see one standing out in the middle of the room."

"Oh my, that must be the apple that I lost a while ago. Could you please take it out?"

"It's my pleasure to do so. After all..."

In a second, I thrusts the vacuum hose on his chest. It delights me how its end easily punctures through his clothes then his flesh. The idiot didn't react at first and only notice what I'm doing when I successfully take his heart out.

"The only thrash I see in this room is you. P.S. I know what you've done to Giggles. I'll come back if you repeat it again..."

He actually tries to escape but oh its just too late.

Resistance is futile after all, no matter how much you struggle old guy.

A few seconds pass before his body finally went limp. I smile as I let go of the vacuum hose.

Whistling the theme song of this town, I grab his filthy organ off of my vacuum. I take a moment to observe how it weakly pulses on my grasp. I find it fascinating that this thing is still beating despite its raptured state.

Then I pick the note I left from and continued whistling. I dump his heart into the thrash bag filled with decomposing materials and feces. If you're wondering where the heck it came from, its hidden inside the vacuum.

Of course I didn't want his heart to rot alone so I let his body join in. It's hilarious that his body would regenerate in there. Imagine respawning covered with shit.

I take out something out of my shoulder bag. Opening his fridge, I start lacing his food with cyanide. The medicines in his cupboard also get the same treatment. A sprinkle for this, a bunch on that and I'm done.

An hour was spent of taking care of the evidence. Cleaning is boring and tiresome but I have to do it. After disassembling the vacuum, disposing my outfit, sanitizing the floor and taking a bath, I went out of the house. I casually dump the garbages in the bin and then I take my leave. Two down, few more to go.

Up next is Flippy. He may seem to be an invincible rival but everyone have Achilles's heel – and I'm about to strike it. Wait, I'm not literally saying my target is the tendon at the back of his foot. The point is I know his weakness and its pathetic.

Currently, I am on my way to the psycho's location. My ears are flattened on the side of my head because of the hood of the black robe I'm wearing. My smiling skull mask is partially obscuring my sight. I am holding a blowgun disguised as a trumpet.

Anyway, for those who don't know what the flipping pants a blowgun is, it's a long narrow tube that shoots out an arrow or dart when someone breathes into it quickly and forcefully. Its content is not a dart though. It's peanuts.

Leaping few minutes forward, I am waiting at the entrance of an alleyway. My clothing blends well in the darkness. Flippy is visiting his psychotherapist and any minute now, he would leave the building and take the path in front of me.

Flippy... he is once my bro. He used to be the man I looked up on since he is serving the military from the age of 15. I thought he was cool but what he have done states he is far from that. We accepted him in our town and boy do I cursed the day that we did.

Turns out he gains an alter ego from the war who is a sadistic, bloodthirsty demon. Giggles and I have suffered hell from his paws. Now, it's payback time.

My thoughts were silenced by a voice whose source I'm too familiar with. As he walks into the desired spot, I blow the trumpet the hardest I possibly could. He screams, obviously surprised. Wasting no time, I push a certain button which allows air to pass through the blowgun. I watch a couple of peanuts shoots straight into his throat at bullet speed. All of this happened in just two seconds.

It seems that he didn't notice what just enter his mouth since he is busy catching up his breath. He looks stupid with his pupils dilated in fear. I toss the trumpet on the ground and run into the alleyway. He follows me, trying to match my speed. Amusingly, his body did not react instantly as I expected. Maybe it's because the number is fewer than the ones he ingested at the party.

"Darn it kid, why did you-"

It's not too long before he falls because of the tripwire I set up earlier. As I hear a dull thud, I turned around and smile.

He is groaning as his lips inflate. Multiple zits appeared on his face. His allergy reaction has rendered him immobile. I take out a knife from my shoulder bag, making sure he didn't see it.

His paws are trembling as he tried to stand. I am towering besides him when his limbs puffs up like a balloon.

"Something's wrong?"

Listening to his whimpers, I could tell how much he is suffering as his body painfully swells. I smirk as I kicked his ass hard, making him squeak in pain.

"You know you deserve it, Flip. If you can't handle the consequences, then you shouldn't have done these..."

As I said that last word, I throw photographs down for him to see. He knows he's to blame for all the mangled corpses in it. In the middle of it all is Giggles with a rose puncturing through her head.

I am overjoyed when I hear him cry. Oh the taste of victory is truly sweet. As time passes, he looks like a balloon animal more than anything. His arms give up since it couldn't support his weight anymore.

He mumbles something that resembles to an apology, which is empty since I've heard him say it countless times.

"You could only pay for your sins with death."

Desperate to live, he tries to drag himself forward, hoping he could move away from me. It's amusing that such an indestructible beast lives inside this wimp. We both know that those stubby fingers never help him in this situation in any way. It only makes him more pathetic.

I then dug my dull knife into his back and watch as his skin bursts. His body contorted as unimaginable pain washed over his body.

"What? You say you want more?"

I poked his shoulder with the tip of my blade and it explodes. The walls are painted by its disgusting contents. It's like I'm playing with a living bubble wrap.

"You like pain right? Don't you enjoy this? Huh? Huh!?"

I found myself caught in a frenzied mood of hacking and slashing. His body is constantly receiving new, multiple wounds. His ugly face is squeezed against the asphalt road. His head is twitching every time I plunge my weapon into his body.

For the final act, I hit the top of his head and zip his skull open, splitting his brain apart.

Panting heavily, I laugh. I've done it! I've defeated the unstoppable force. I stand to observe my work.

I turned around and meet the eyes of a preschooler dropping his lollipop. I could tell that he was about to take my trumpet when he saw something in the darkness moves. I guess my robe is really black. Imagine a floating skull smiling down at you.

He backs away as he saw the blood dripping from my gloves. I wave hi to him and he runs away. Yep, I just scarred a child's life forever. I have a pretty good feeling that he's gonna have nightmares about a skeleton and a trumpet tonight.

Welp, time to dispose this body. Good thing there's an incinerator conveniently placed at the end of this passage.

Dragging Flippy by his foot, I hum the coffin meme tune to myself. He's not that heavy anymore since chunks of his flesh pops like a bubble earlier. Scrapes form on his skin as I pull him.

With a heave and a ho, to the furnace he go. Don't forget the knife and the costume~

I just finished disposing my stuffs when my phone plays that special ringtone. Picking it up from the shoulder bag, I greet my precious Red Ribbon.

"Heya Giggles~ How are you?"

My expression shifts from bright to grim when I hear her weakly whispers that one word.

"Help…"

This was followed by a thunderous crash and a white noise. My heart sank deep into my guts. Running out, I only have one thing in mind – save her before it's too late.

I'm not really paying attention so I collided with someone riding a bike. As my butt hits the ground, I groan.

"Gah! What are you thinking running into me like that- Cuddles?"

Looking up, it's my best friend, Toothy. As he help me stand up, I quickly steal his ride.

"What in the-"

"Sorry Toots! Emergency, I'll return it later."

Huffing and puffing, I pedal like my life depends on it. Cars are beeping as I zoom by them. I've taken sharp turns and gave heart attacks to crossing pedestrians. I didn't even bother to stop when the traffic light is red. The only thing I care about right now is to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

Smoke is rising from the horizon. It didn't take long before the building came into my view. My heart skips a beat as I see its remnants. My blood runs cold as a thought of her crushed body appears in my head.

I am preventing the tears that is burning my eyes to fall. I hop off the bicycle and run closer. I keep telling myself that I'm not yet late.

Broken glasses are scattered around. Shattered walls are laying against each other. I found an opening and force myself to fit through it. As I successfully did, I start searching for any sign of her.

I am frantically shaking the doorknobs when I heard her voice screaming for help. It sounds faint, which means she's far from were I'm at, but at least I know her direction.

I crawl under a fallen pillar then run to a door I haven't check. As I press my head against it, I hear her whimpering. I started to charge myself against it, my new attempts stronger than the last one.

Hang in there, Giggles...

Out of nowhere, something crash which makes the earth trembles. I press my ears against the door again. She's not making any sound anymore.

This prompts me to try harder. Adrenaline is coursing through my veins as I imagined the worst possible scenario. The door slammed open with the force I've applied. I can't help but stumble forward a little bit after that. There she was, six feet from where I am. I could not believe my eyes for what I'm currently seeing.

The Golden Idol is laying on the floor, crushed into dust. The crying face of my love is kissing the guy I assume is responsible for the damage of the cursed figure. A sun ray, originating from a huge hole at the ceiling, illuminates the spot where the two are standing. Her hands are around his shoulder. Giggles withdraw and mouthed the words "Thank You" to Splendid.

My whole body is trembling in rage. When did we kissed like that? Oh right! When we're fucking dead. I clutch something from my shoulder bag. I coughed loudly, announcing my presence.

The two turn to my direction. She gasp. She's saying words but I could not understand them. A plain smile is painted on my face as I quickly walks towards them. I brush pass the girl who turns me crazy in love.

Splendid chuckles and spreads his arms, expecting a hug. That's exactly what I give him...with an extra stab on his chest with my kryptonut dagger.

He's lucky because I'm not gonna do what I have in mind for him. He kneels and screams as his body quickly degrades. I snap to Giggles with a huge smile on my face...

The grasses sway with the wind. The view of the sunset in this spot is truly romantic. I sigh as I look into her eyes.

"I'm so glad that you could understand me, Giggles. I've only done all of that because of you. Now, nobody would ever bother you and we can stay like this forever~"

I smile as I pat her head. Her wonderful scent wafts in the air as I caress her soft, pink fur. Oh how much I adore her cute face.

"I know you didn't expect me to forgive you after what you've done. That's just how much I love you. I will do anything and everything just to make you smile."

I touch the spot at the end of her lips and help her to smile. After all, she couldn't done that all by herself in this state. I smiled as I remember what she said to me this morning.

"Aren't you glad to have a boyfriend like me?"

♥~♥~♥~♥~♥

Since I turned Cuddles into a killer, does this story counts as a creepypasta?

Writing this is a doozy so I hope you like it the same way that I make it. Write your thoughts down the comments!

[rainey-staerie-daize]

There’s not really any good food in the house right now, so I made a simple meat sandwich yesterday while Mom called for Skye’s help with making Bernie memes (the saltiness has now left me, but it’s a bit ironic that she doesn’t ask the graphic design student sitting right next to her how to use Ibis on her phone). Then we watched a remake of Shrek on YouTube on the TV, which was hilarious, but I think I was the only one who stayed and watched the entire thing. Skye loved it, but had to use the bathroom halfway through, and she takes a while.

Later, I was watching random videos and TikToks and such, and Skye comes in and comments on how I was the only one still out here. Joined me in watching videos, probably was drawing a bit, and then Xan started screaming. He wanted the family laptop for games, but Bry was playing Roblox, so obviously, that meant screaming to him. Screaming like he was being murdered.

Skye wanted me to try dealing with it since it could possibly wake Mom from her nap, and she took out the trash, so it was my turn to do something. I said no at first. I felt hot, sweaty, gross, and was probably gonna lose it at him, but I didn’t feel like screaming right then.

At some point, I decided I was mentally ready to go deal with it, and I actually went in there and tried. Didn’t get much in because Xan had to pee , but he was still screaming though, about how his turn was next in the laptop order.

“We DON’T HAVE a set laptop order. It’s whoever needs it the most.”

Kept screaming about how, “YES WE DO!” I refilled the soap bottle, trying to ask him, “what did I say earlier about how if you’re rude then people don’t wanna be nice to you? Like giving you the laptop?” I don’t remember if he mocked me or started screaming again, but I slapped him once in the face. He was furious that I even dare do such a thing to him, and stormed off to his bed, screaming some more. I washed my hands because they were a little soapy, and when he still wasn’t done screaming, I went in there, held down his legs so he couldn’t kick me, and hit him once on the head (couldn’t get in another shocker on the face because he was moving too much) and reiterated to him loudly that “PEOPLE DON’T WANNA BE NICE TO SOMEONE WHO’S MEAN TO THEM, AND YOU’RE BEING MEAN BY SCREAMING AND BOTHERING EVERYONE.”

He finally stopped screaming, and was just crying now, and I let him go and stepped back. I was probably repeating myself (palilalia), and Skye came in and interrupted me, trying to take control of the situation, which seriously annoyed me. Everyone in this house is always interrupting each other.

“This is why I didn’t wanna help in the first place! You guys want me to help, but then don’t want to LET ME HELP!”

I left the room, but I was still seething. At two different points in the night, I bashed my head into the door of the butter compartment in the fridge, which is oddly satisfying, and I eventually decided to use Xan’s school Chromebook for my own stuff. I couldn’t rant about anything on Tumblr last night though, because his school laptop apparently blocks this site. So the only thing I could do was school work.

Skye took Xan on a walk around the neighborhood, and when they came back, they were both still calm. I was frustrated that I couldn't focus on much, and I put the dog outside at some point because she peed in her crate.

Eventually, I had to use the bathroom, and I was planning on taking a while to finish a couple of assignments while I was in there (I can focus best in the bathroom because I’m completely alone), so I figured I had to clean her crate right then or someone would put her back in it while a puddle was still there, so I took care of it. Wiped down her crate floor and her paws, had her go to bed, and told her oyasumi. You know, being a responsible person and cleaning up after “our” dog (more like my dog, because I’m almost always the one taking care of her, and the one she misses the most when I leave the room).

I few minutes later, I wished I hadn’t done any of that.

I had thought that maybe the assignments were due at midnight, but no. It was 10:45. At 10:43, when I finally started the quiz, I was like, “oh, well. I guess I’m turning this in late. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

A minute and two questions in, and it tells me that the quiz will be submitted in one minute. I typed “AAAAAAAAA” into the written response field, it submitted, and then I lost it. Crying on the toilet. I checked my other assignments, and it turns out, all of the past ones were LOCKED. More crying. If this is the type of class this is gonna be all semester, I’m SCREWED.

Out of the bathroom, I collapsed on the floor and just laid there for a while. I wanted to email my professor and beg for mercy, but since I was using my brother’s school laptop, I couldn’t even email. I would have to add a new account to the device, but I don’t have a district email address, so it would never let me. I’ve tried my university email before, but this system is unforgiving.

Eventually, Bry was done with the family laptop, but then gave it to Xan so he could use it before bed, so I had to wait for his turn to be up as well. When it finally was, and someone was trying to hand it to me, I said something about needing to take a few more minutes to clear my head, and Bry took that as, “go ahead and use it some more.”

Bry’s a fucking brat too. Mom says she wants the family computer in the common areas of the house at all times, but he’ll just take it and hide away with it in his room. When it was still Xan’s turn, I asked where the charger was, since I saw only one charger by the outlet (charging Xan’s laptop for school on Monday), and he left the room like he was going to go get it. I knew it was in his room, but he came back empty-handed. I went to go get it, because that’s suspicious, and it was on the floor in the hallway. Mind you, I know for sure that it wasn’t there before, because a few minutes previously, I was lying there in defeat. He tried denying putting it on the floor for us to “find,” but it was kinda obvious he was lying and I tried pointing it out. Nobody else cared though, and just told me to quiet down. I get kinda loud sometimes.

Anyway, he took both the laptop and the charger back down the hall after I said I needed to take a mental break. “Mom says she doesn’t want the laptop to leave the common areas. The charger should never be in your room.”

“Okay,” he says as he continues walking down the hall with the Chromebook and it’s charger. I hate when he does that. He’ll say okay as if he’s gonna do what you say, while very obviously not listening and not giving a fuck. Sometimes staring you in the face as he says it, and then turning and defying you as you watch.

I ended up falling asleep on the living room floor while watching WALL-E.

Woke up this morning, used the bathroom, made my frap, and then walked in there and took it off of his bed. It was folded shut, charging, and everything. He had no plans of putting it away in the living room where it belongs, which is infuriating because my own laptop sucks and I plan on using this one for school this semester. I’ve never done school completely online before, so I’d at least like the stress of a dysfunctioning laptop to be taken off my plate. Bry was woken up when I took it, but I don’t care. That just meant he could unplug the charger from the wall for me instead of having to reach over and get it myself. Fell asleep again, so only I and my puppy girl are awake now. Kare was awake at some point, but she went from the living room floor straight to Mom’s bed. (Honestly, I feel like it that continues, it’s gonna be like that one episode of that show where the little girl refused to sleep anywhere but her mom’s bed, and the mom was losing a ton of sleep over it until she started telling her no.)

I sure hope Bry had a dry night. The laptop wasn’t wet when I picked it up, but you never know. One time, his phone wasn’t charging, and when I suggested cleaning the port, the Q-tip came back yellow.

[back2thepalace]

Would You Be So Kind? (Parrlyn)

Part 5

Tw: Swearing

(Anne Boleyn’s p.v.)

I wake not in sweat and fear. This was the first night in along time that I haven't  had a night terror. It was all thanks to Cathy. My childhood crush and a crush that I had for years. We still would be friends if for last night if I hadn't been so impulsive, but I was happy that was the first time my impulsiveness helped me. Right know me and Cathy were just friends with benefits, as I haven't asked her the big question. I was even worried about that though she wants to date me, I could see that see wanted it by what happened last night. I finally look at the clock on my night stand as I had been staring into the ibis for a bit. I read the text on my clock. It was 6:45 I had to leave in soon. I peal my body out of Cathy's arms leaving her asleep. Cathy has first period as an off period today. The only reason I know that is on some days Cathy doesn't come with the rest of us to school. I walk to my closest and grab a t-shirt, a pair of leggings, and a couple other things. I walk into my bathroom and flick the light on. I take off my sweatshirt exposing my arms. I look down at my right arm seeing the bandage from last night. I forgot about that. Cathy had practically saved me before going to far. I don't even know why I did it there was really no reason. I get dress for the day and when I am done I walk back out into my room seeing that Cathy was still asleep. I walked over to my nightstand and grab my phone. I walk over to my desk and grab my backpack and I head to my door. I take one last look at Cathy before open my door, exit, and closed my door making sure not to wake her from sleeping. I walk down the stairs and into the hallway. There I spot Kitty leaving her room.

"Hey Kitty." I say which kind of scares her but she turns around looking at me with a big smile.

"Oh my god, Anne you scared me." Kitty says as I walk over to her. We could to walk down the hallway in silence before Kitty asks me a surprising question.

"So, Anne are you okay." Kitty ask as we walk down the stairs.

"Umm, what do you mean?" I say in shock.

“Well, Cathy came down with a giant spot of barbecue sauce on her shirt. Did you guys have a food fight or something?” Kitty says with a giggle.

“No, we didn’t have a food fight, but one of the packets explode on her.” I say before immediately falling down the stairs. ‘Shit this really hurts.’ I think when I get to the bottom of the stairs. I heard Kitty running down the stairs to help me up.

“Oh my god, Anne are you okay.” She says while helping me up.

“Yeah I am fine.” I say when I finally get up. We walk into the kitchen seeing Jane, Anna, and Cath  sitting at the kitchen counter. Anna was on her phone and Jane and Cath were talking to each other. Me and Kitty walked into the kitchen together. I head to the cabinet that holds my cereal.

“Look the gremlin is fine Jane.” I hear Cath say from behind me. I turn around realize that they were all staring at me.

“Are you okay, Anne?” Jane asks me.

“I am fine.” I say gritting my teeth as I stair at Cath. I turn around and continue getting breakfast. I pull out the box of lucky charms and put it on the counter and go to grab a bowl. Walk over to the cabinet with bowls and pull one out. I walk back to the box of cereal and pour my bowl. I walk over to the counter top seating. I grab a spoon from the thing on the counter that had spoons.

“How do you eat that stuff.” I hear Cath ask me.

“Well because it is unhealthy and I don’t care.” I rely as continuing to eat. We sat there in silence with no one talking just eating.

“Where’s Cathy?” I hear Jane ask trying to break the silence.

“Don’t know.” I most of the 3 other girls rely.

“Still sleeping.” I say quietly remembering her incident face as she slept.

“What, Anne?” Jane asks as she probably heard me talk.

“Yeah, What  Anne?” Cath asks me as well.

“She’s still sleeping.” I rely.

“How do you know that?” Anna asks looking up from her phone.

“Well Cathy has her first period off and if she’s up late she usually sleeps in.” I say with a smile.

“I think someone has a crush on Cathy.” Anna teases me. ‘Shit she knows. How does she know? This is basic knowledge. Right?’ I think to myself getting worried.

“Cathy and Anne sitting in a tree.” Kitty starts to sing from the other side of the counter. I  ball up the paper napkins that was next to the bowl and throw it at Kitty. Pathetically the napkin falls on Anna’s head.

“Stop doing that Kitty. She doesn’t like that. Maybe Anne is just very observant.” Jane says shutting the teasing down.

“Yeah, I am observant.” I reply going back to my cereal.

“Yeah very observant.” Cath says sarcastically. As I am still eating I decide to flip Cath off. So I do which doesn’t go over well with Jane.

“Anne, there is a child in the room please don’t do that.” Jane says point at Kitty.

“I am not a kid anymore.” Kitty says with a little wine.

“Okay I am done with my food, so I think we should leave for school.” I say changing the subject.

“Okay, everyone get there shoes on.” Jane say and everyone goes to get there shoes. I walk to my heelys and put them on. When everyone is done we head out of the house. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I opened it up seeing the picture of me and all my friends. I open Instagram to check what happened as I slept. When it loads I see that I have 4 dms. ‘Wait when did people decide to dm me.’ I think as open them up and look through them.

username.i.dont.want.to.make Hey, I know you may not like me to ask you like this but do you want to go to prom with me.

Seriously why do people think that I don’t already have date. All but open or the dms that I have been like that. I simply rely with I have a date to all of them. ‘Wait I am technically lying. I don’t have a date. I have to ask her later. Okay I will do that.’ I think. Soon I could hear my name being before I could open the last of my dms. I look up seeing that I had fallen really behind and my friends just now noticed my lack of noise. I run across the street in order to catch up to my friends. When I get back on the sidewalk I use my heelys to roll to the next to the next street. Then I repeat the same thing all over again. When I finally get to my friends I am kind of out of breath.

“How did you get that far ahead of me?” I ask as I put my hands on my knees to steady my breathing.

“I don’t know but we are almost at school.”

“K, cool.” I say before I go back to my phone. I reopen my phone and go to messages. I open up my dms with Cathy and start texting her.

nice.neck.by.the.way Hey

Hey

Hey

Wake up

Cathy wake up

gold.star.for.cathy.parr what?

You woke me up.

nice.neck.by.the.way meet in the girls bathroom next to my English class before 2nd period???

gold.star.for.cathy.parr sure

nice.neck.by.the.way 🤗

“Anne, we are here.” I hear Jane say as I look up from my phone. I slip my phone into my pocket and run to the door smiling.

“What are you think about.” Jane says as she is holding the door.

“Nothing.” I lie as I was still thinking about Cathy. I skip into school without a worry in my mind.

(1378 Words)