#Like that's one way to pack the place until halftime is over anyway

[mabith]

Zhou Shen and the production people went so hard on this.

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Drawings on Ice (Part One) | Charlie Gillespie

Requested by anonymous:  I’d love for you to write a Charlie hockey fic. I’ve been hearing that heard a great hockey player so I need that in my life

A/N: this is going to be a two-parter! Hope this is what you imagined! 

Summary: You moved from the US to Canada, starting over at a new college. Your newest (and only) friend begs you to join her at her boyfriend’s hockey practice where you see Charlie for the first time. With his beautiful eyes and perfect smile and perfect facial structure, you become obsessed with drawing him. It’s been a habit of yours to draw anyone you saw with interesting bone structure. Though your friend warns you about the jock bad boy, you can’t help but be intrigued by him... 

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x Gender Neutral!Reader

A/N: I hope I made this as gender neutral as possible! Let me know if there’s anything I need to change to make it even more inclusive for non-binary/gender fluid people. 

Words: 3,648

Warnings: Some curse words (bitch, fuckboy)

You’ve never been a fan of any type of sports. Your siblings used to play basketball and you had to go to their games, though you were always busy sketching in your sketchbook to really notice or learn anything about it. Then, you suddenly had to move for your mother’s job. To Canada, of all places. Canada, the land of maple syrup, brutally cold winters… and hockey. The only good thing about moving thus far, was meeting Andrea. Andrea is a preppy, happy-go-lucky kind of girl, and was the first one to talk to you on your first day at your new college. Always dressed in pink or purple, make-up done flawlessly and always so kind, you think she’s being fake. Normally, people like that scared you. Kids like that in your American High School were always the popular ones that bullied the antisocial nerds, which included you at that point. That’s why you’d avoided talking to anyone on your first day. Only Andrea was persistent. You could not for the life of you shake her off. 

So, instead of trying any longer, you embraced it and became friends with her fast. Thanks to her, you found your way through the buildings and all the classes. She even gave you tips on some of the professors you had. 

To be fair, Andrea did help you out a lot, so when she asked you to come along to her new boyfriend’s hockey practice, you had no other choice but go. You’d packed your sketchbook though, just in case you got bored. “So, which one is yours?” you ask Andrea when you sit down in the bleachers with her. “Number eight!” she says, pointing to one of the players skating in circles. He catches his girlfriend pointing at him and gives her a wave, which makes Andrea giggle. The boy with the number 10 plastered on his back, turns upon seeing his buddy wave to the bleachers. You catch his eyes and feel a shiver run down your spine. Even from afar, you can tell those are the most beautiful and enchanting eyes you ever did see. “Who’s number 10?” you ask Andrea without taking your eyes off the boy. Without even noticing, you start to trace his features on your leg with your finger, a habit you developed over the years. His chiseled cheekbones, his fine nose, the wrinkles by his mouth as he smiles up at her. “Charlie. Sam’s best friend,” Andrea explains while you try your hardest not to stare at the cute hockey player while you’re tracing him. “Wouldn’t get too close though, I heard he has a reputation of being a heartbreaker.” Of course. All cute boys have to be absolute disappointments.  Despite Andrea’s warning, you couldn’t help but think about Charlie every minute of the day. It was the smile and the eyes that haunted you through every lecture and every study-session with Andrea in the library. You traced his features on your empty papers on automatic pilot, not even realizing you were doing it until you were actually drawing him with a ballpoint pen. “Honey, no!” Andrea says sternly. The two of you are at the library, studying for midterms when the drawing on your notes starts to take shape. The shape of a certain hockey player. “I can’t help it, Andi! He’s in my mind and I just -- my brain just tells me to draw things and he’s been the only thing on my mind lately, I… I don’t know why or what it is, but I’m kind of drawn to him?” The girl in front of you shakes her head disappointedly. “Look at him!” she whisper-shouts, nodding her head to somewhere behind you. You slowly turn your head to find Charlie with one leg up on a chair, leaning his elbow on it as he’s flirting with a girl. “That’s number five this week… And it’s Tuesday.” You can’t help but stare at him though. His profile is impeccable. Before you know it, you’re back to tracing his features on your leg. “Y/N!” Andrea shouts in a hushed tone, capturing your attention again, ruining your entire mental picture of Charlie. “You ought to stop that, sweetie. I don’t want you getting hurt.” “Oh, I don’t get hurt, Andi,” you reply with a smirk, turning to face her again, “Being the antisocial kid in high school has its perks.” Andrea’s eyes widen at something behind you. “Time to prove it then,” she mutters. You quickly hide your drawing underneath your textbook and pretend to continue studying as Charlie approaches your table. “Hello, ladies,” he greets with a charming smile. Though on the inside you’re just about melting, your tough exterior doesn’t give it away. “I don’t think we’ve met.” He reaches a hand out to you. “I’m Charlie.” You glance up from your textbook, let your eyes dart from his hand to his face and turn back to your textbook. “Okay…” he mutters, feeling a little defeated by his first rejection. “We’re studying, Charlie. Can we help you with anything?” He glances over at you for a split second as he thinks about it. 

“Uhm, yeah. Are you guys coming to the game this weekend?” His flirty demeanor changes all of a sudden to someone less confident. You look up at him, wanting to break your antisocial facade because it never brought you anywhere in High School and won’t bring you anywhere now. “I might. If I don’t have anything better to do, that is.” You decide to run with the sassy-bitch inside you. Charlie actually looks disappointed with this answer. “Okay…” he turns back to Andrea, “You’ll come, right?” She nods her head. “Can you convince her?” You chuckle at his desperate attempt, which earns you a glare from him. “She can make up her own mind, Charlie,” Andrea replies, raising her hands in defense. Gruntled and disappointed, Charlie turns around and leaves the two of you alone. “Girl!” Andrea squeals once he’s out of earshot, and holds up her hand for a high five, which you giddily give. “Told you I could do it,” you shrug with an amused smile on your face. “That was very impressive. Did you see his face when you didn’t even introduce yourself? He was so disappointed his charms didn’t work on you!” she giggles loudly. The librarian shushes her, and she holds up her hands in defense before lapsing into quieter giggles with you. You can’t help but feel bad though. Charlie actually seemed incredibly upset by your lack of interest. It makes you wonder if he actually says who people say he is. On Saturday, you go to the hockey game anyway. There’s nothing else you can do, and besides, it gives you a chance to draw a little more of Charlie in action on the ice. The surprised smile on Charlie’s face is to die for. It makes you feel like you’re the only girl he sees, like he’s not the guy people say he is. You say hello to Andrea and some of her friends you’ve met before, and sit down on the bench, immediately getting your sketchpad and pencil out. You start on Charlie, but halfway through, Andrea asks you to draw Sam too. Deciding it would probably be less suspicious if you drew the entire team, you start on Sam. By halftime, you have about every team member on your page sketched out. None of them quite as detailed as Charlie, but you’ll get to that at some point. “We’re going to say hello to the boys, you coming?” Andrea asks you when you’re shading your drawings. You glance up at Andrea, then glance down at the rink where you find Charlie already looking at you. He cocks his head, beckoning you to come over. For a second then, you’re forgetting all about your antisocial facade and feel yourself heat up. You cough the feeling away and get up after stuffing your sketchpad back into your bag, following Andrea down the steps. “You came,” he states when you reach him on the side of the rink. “Are you always this attentive?” you ask with a hint of sarcasm flavoring your voice. His chuckle fills your ears like a beautiful melody. Why does he do this to you? There honestly are so many boys that could be so much better for you, but instead, you’re crushing on the campus bad boy. “Are you always this hostile?” You’re dumbfounded at his comeback. No one ever called you hostile. Antisocial, sure. A bitch, multiple times. But never hostile. “You weren’t paying a lot of attention to the game though?” he says, changing the subject upon noticing your reaction. “Well, neither have you if you noticed me not paying attention,” you shoot back, an amused smile tugging at your lips. “Touché,” he chuckles. “But seriously, what were you doing?” You open your mouth to say something, but are stuck on what to tell him. Do you lie to him? Or say the truth? “I--I’m an arts student, and I draw pretty much everything I see, so…” His eyes widen at your response, as does his smile. You’re not entirely sure if telling the truth was a good idea. He might just run off, like everyone in High School used to do when you told them you drew them, no matter how good it was. Everyone always thought it was creepy, so you tended to keep all your art to yourself. “Can I see?” he asks just as the ref blows his whistle, signalling the start of the next half. He gives me an apologetic look, thinking of a good compensation. “Stay after the game?” You know you shouldn’t. You know Andrea is probably right and he’s the biggest womanizer walking this earth, but looking into his gorgeous hazel eyes and witnessing his lips curl up into the most beautiful smile, you can’t help but nod your head. His teeth bite down his lip as he skates away, keeping his eyes on you. 

“What was that about?” Andrea asks you when you take your seats again. You let out a deep, confused, yet content sigh. “I have no clue…” For a while, you watch the game -- mostly Charlie -- and witness him making a goal. You, along with all the other supporters of the team, get up from your seats, cheering loudly. Charlie looks up at you, a wide smile plastered on his face as he points to you. Your heart skips a beat, not expecting him to do something like that at all. “Someone has a crush on you…” Andrea whispers in your ear, a teasing smile on her face. “No, he doesn’t! That wasn’t for me…” you try to reassure yourself, but fail miserably. That was for you, and you know it all too well. Another thing you know, is that this probably shouldn’t be quite as heart-melting as it is. “If that’s what you have to tell yourself…” Andrea mutters before turning back to the game. This is not what you thought would happen in your first month of moving to Canada and starting anew at another college. Not at all. 

The game is coming to an end now, and you’re still watching. Yes, you read that correctly. You’re still watching the game. A sports game. You! You never thought you would even last ten minutes watching, but somehow, Charlie made it all the more interesting. After every goal he’s scored, he pointed up at you, making you blush like crazy. You have absolutely no idea what’s happening or why he’s doing what he’s doing. All you know is that you like it. You like the way he makes you feel like a normal person for once in your life. Like you’re important. Like you matter. For once, it doesn’t feel like you’re the weirdo art kid that sits on the sidelines, drawing everything and everyone they see. “We’re going to go for some drinks with the team, want to come?” Andrea asks when the game is over and the players all head to the dressing rooms and the crowd files out of the bleachers. “Oh, uhm… I think I might stay a little while longer, you know? Work on my sketches,” you try your hardest not to smile like an absolute crazy person. Andrea raises her eyebrows at you, giving  you a knowing look. She can just about see right through you. “Just be careful, okay?” she takes you in for a quick hug goodbye and then leaves with her friends. You sit down again and take your sketchpad out of your bag to kill some time while waiting for Charlie. He probably has to shower and change out of his gear and talk to his buddies before coming out to find you. For a while, you just sit and stare at the drawing of all these boys. They’re scattered all over the paper, but only one really captures you, and that’s Charlie. He’s the boy in the center of the page. Somehow, you really managed to bring out his very best features. His sparkling eyes, his chiseled jawline, his sharp cheekbones. On that page in front of you is Charlie. Though the others somewhat look about right, Charlie really takes the crown in this picture. It’s almost like you’ve studied him so well, that you drew him this perfectly. Which is only half true. All it took was one look and you had him down. All of his features, all of his details. You had it all down from one single look at him. You’ve started adding some more shadows to his face, the world around you vanishing as those eyes stare right back at you. You’re so enthralled, you don’t even notice the real life Charlie walking up to you until his voice reaches your ears. “Hey, sorry if I made you wait long.” Your head snaps up and your eyes widen, almost looking like a deer caught in headlights. He places his bag on the bench in front of you before sitting down next to you. A scent of minty freshness and invigorating citrus meets your nostrils. “Oh, no. Don’t worry about it,” you tell him with a smile, carefully closing your sketchpad and sticking your pencil between the rings at the top. “That was a very good game,” you compliment him, nodding towards the rink to emphasize. “I think… Not really a sports person.” He chuckles at this, glancing down at the floor bashfully. “I guess I found my lucky charm.” The second he looks up at you again and those words tumble out of his mouth, you can feel your stomach do flips. To cover the way it actually makes you feel, you roll your eyes, smiling amusedly. “How many people have you said that too, hm?” you ask with raised eyebrows. His smile falters at this, making you realize that it might not be something he likes to hear. The same way you don’t like hearing you’re a creep or a stalker for drawing pictures of people. “I don’t know what people have said about me to you, but I really am not what they peg me for.” His voice is soft, and for the first time since meeting him, he sounds fragile. “You sleep with two different people in one week, and they have you pinned down as the campus’ man-whore.” You give him a sympathetic smile, even though he’s not even looking at you. “I’m not actually this guy that sleeps around, you know? Sure, I flirt with a lot of people, but if your reputation precedes you, well…” he trails off at the end, and then finally looks up at you. “I know how you feel…” you start carefully, which captures his undivided attention. “There was this girl in high school and she had the most beautiful features, you know? Sharp jawline, the deepest dimples in her cheeks when she smiled… I couldn’t help but keep drawing her. She just took so well on paper, and when I showed her, she called me a stalker and a creep. From then on out, I became the stalker creep from Valley High.” You roll your eyes at the memory of Kiara and everyone else at that school. “So, I have a reputation that precedes me too…” “It’s nice to know I’m not alone,” Charlie says with a light-hearted chuckle. “Could I… Could I look at your work?” he carefully asks, pointing at the pad in your lap. You wrapped your fingers around the leatherbound sketchbook, debating it. “Promise you won’t run when you see what’s in here?” You offer it to him, and he grabs it, but you’re holding it so tightly, he can’t take it. He raises an eyebrow at you. “What? It’s not like you drew me or anything, did you?” he jokes, to which you just press your lips together in a thin line. His expression softens in realization. “Oh…” You stare at him for a moment, both of you holding onto the pad. “I promise I won’t run, okay?” You slowly let go of the pad. He places it on his lap and starts flipping through pages. The first few drawings are random kids from campus, either studying in the library or reading a book underneath the big maple tree. Then follow Andrea’s drawings. She suggested being your model, she said you could ask her any time you wanted. After that, Charlie’s sketches follow. The first few are of him during practice with his helmet on. On the next page, are the ones you drew in the library. Some profile, some portrait. He then flicks to the one of all the players, and shuts it after finding empty pages after that. It’s silent for a moment, like he’s taking it all in. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have shown you that,” you quickly say and reach for your book, but Charlie has a steady grip on it. He finally looks up at you, a shocked expression on his face. “No. No, it’s just… I wish I knew the name of the artist that captured me so realistically on paper.” You swallow a lump in your throat as his hazel eyes bore deep down into your soul. “Uhm… Y/N,” you introduce yourself shyly. “I just have a habit of drawing people with really nice facial structure, I guess…” you add with a nervous chuckle, staring down at your fingers as they play around with the bracelets around your wrists. “Huh…” You look up at that, wondering if it’s a weirded-out ‘huh’ or something else. “What?” It comes out in an unwanted whisper. “No one’s ever given me a compliment about my facial structure,” he smiles down at you. It’s the most overwhelming feeling of warmth radiating through your body from that one smile. “It’s true though! If you check that last page of the whole team, the others don’t really have that sharp a jaw or chiseled cheekbones like you,” you state, pointing at the sketchpad. He opens it on that page and watches it for a couple seconds. “This makes me feel like the prettiest boy on the team.” He closes it again and hands it over to you, looking straight into your eyes again. You swear you’re going to faint one time if he keeps on doing that. “You are the prettiest boy on the team, Charlie,” you joke, grinning teasingly whilst clutching the sketchpad against your chest. Charlie chuckles at this, and you swear you can detect a slight blush on his cheeks as he looks down at his feet again. “You want to get out of here?” he then asks, “We could go to the coffee shop across the street to warm up? Get that little nose of yours back to its normal color.” He softly boops your nose, which is no doubtedly red from the cold from the ice rink. You giggle nervously, and then nod your head in agreement. The two of you get up from your seats and grab your bags. Before you even realize it, Charlie has grabbed your freezing hand in his warmer one, and guides you down the bleachers all the way to the café across the street. The warmth engulfs you like a welcome hug as the two of you take a seat in a booth by the window. “What’s your go-to coffee order?” he asks, perusing the menu even though he knows what he wants. You scan the booklet, looking for the one thing you always get.   “A cappuccino with whipped cream,” you reply, pointing at the order on the menu. “Ooh, good choice!” he agrees excitedly, “Would choosing a hot chocolate make me less cool?” You chuckle, “Well, it’s a hot chocolate, it’s bound to make you less cool.” He laughs at your joke, throwing his head back. You can’t help but laugh along, mostly at how adorable he is in a fit of laughter. “Good one, Y/N,” he says. You give your orders to the waitress, and lapse into a conversation about everything and anything. He asks you about your college major, and you ask him all about hockey. The way his eyes light up when he’s talking about the sport he loves, or anything he loves, is endearing. You can’t believe Andrea made you stay away from him for so long. Charlie really isn’t the bad boy jock she had him pegged for. If anything, he’s the opposite. He’s kind and considerate, and incredibly ambitious and passionate about everything he loves. You just want to know everything about him and spend as much time with him as possible. Without even realizing it, you’re tracing his features again on your leg, preparing for yet another drawing of him. Preparing for more adventures with him.

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[mcwriting]

The Marriage Project (12)

Hi all!!! This is the long awaited 12th chapter! It took months of rewrites of not only this chapter, but future ones as well to ensure this was written to the best of my ability.

This chapter marks the heaviest moment in this story, so please, please be mindful of the content warnings for this chapter. I marked the section that includes this moment.

I also chose not to add tags so that this is not everyone's first impression of this series!

Masterlist

Word Count: 2700

Warnings: s*xual ass*ult, language, alcohol consumption, blood/injury mention

% end of the first week of November- cont. %

Throughout the game, you and the other homecoming court members (aside from any football players or cheerleaders) had been sitting on the sidelines right in front of the student section, so you were somewhat able to talk to your friends.

The team was playing good in the first half. It was probably Tom’s best game that you’d ever seen. At halftime, they did the “official” crowning of court members and recognized football and cheer seniors.

The seniors were presented first, having their parents with them as they walked across the field. They started with the cheer team so Daisy could change back into her white dress.

Then came the court recognitions, you and Tom stepping onto the field after everyone else as the crowd cheered and clapped.

Tom’s arm linked around yours as he helped you stay steady walking across the grass, since your heels weren't quite meant for the soft ground. Someone handed you a large bundle of roses and you smiled widely.

The bright lights, the cheers, the smile Tom gave you.

It was a moment burned into your memory forever.

Then it was over, and the team went back to their game, winning 42-27, their best win by far all season.

You were saying your final thank you’s to people’s congratulatory comments as you began heading out to the parking lot. Alexis caught up with you amidst the chaos.

“You still on for Tyler’s? I’ll drive,” she offered.

“Yeah. Let’s go home so I can change and then we’ll head out, okay?” you said, finally getting to your car.

She followed you to your house, where you changed into a tight long-sleeved bodysuit, skinny jeans, and some heeled booties. You also packed some other things into a bag to sleep at Alexis’s house later.

You told your parents you were staying the night at her house. They definitely knew better by the way you’d left on your makeup and put on real clothes, but didn’t question you, instead tossing out a “stay safe” and “don’t do anything stupid” as you headed out the door.

Things were pretty much in full swing by the time you and Alexis pulled into the yard outside Tyler’s house and found your friends inside, red solo cups in hand. The speakers were blaring something with a strong beat and most people were dancing.

You had a white claw to loosen up. After having refrained from partying throughout volleyball season, Alexis would be designated driver for the night to let you have your fun. You saw plenty of football players hanging around but didn’t find Tom anywhere.

Weird.

*CW below*

After a little bit, you ran off to use the bathroom just down a hall. You went alone since it would only be a couple minutes, you knew everyone there, and weren’t drunk.

When you stepped back into the hall, you almost ran into a large figure. It was Harrison.

“Oh, hi there, little lady,” he sneered.

“Fuck off, Harrison.” you commanded, brushing past him. He grabbed your wrist and yanked you back.

“I don’t think you want to be saying that to me,” he pinned you against the wall. His breath reeked of alcohol. You looked around, but it was dark and no one was close enough to see your predicament.

“What the hell do you want? I’m just here to have fun.”

“And what do you think I’m doing huh? Don’t think I forgot about that little stunt you pulled going to Johnson. It’s your fault I missed two games.”

“Don’t think so buddy. Maybe if you respected women you wouldn’t have been in trouble in the first place. Now get off me,” you commanded, trying to push forward.

Big mistake.

He drove a knee between your legs and placed a hand over your chest, gripping your breast so tightly it hurt. For the first time, you were actually scared, but still stared directly into his eyes.

“Nah. I just think you’re too much of a pussy to take me. Now you’re gonna stay quiet or something much worse is gonna come to you,” he threatened, then placed his lips on your neck.

You squeezed your eyes shut to focus your thoughts. It was like you were frozen in shock and pain.

His other hand started sliding up the inside of your thigh when you panicked, kneeing him in the groin and shoving him from you before sending a fist into his jaw.

You were thankful he was drunk, as it made him disoriented and off balance.

Harrison reeled back, looking at you in confusion as he bent over, holding his mouth in pain. There was blood around his gums. He looked at you angrily before another voice called out.

“What the hell is going on here? I thought I told you to stay away from her,” Tom seethed. There was a fire in his eyes that you’d never seen before.

“You think I really care what you have to say? I was just trying to teach y/n a little lesson about consequences,” Harrison replied, slurring his words, before spitting blood onto the hardwood floor and pointing a finger right in your face. “You really think a couple hits are going to stop m-”

Tom was about to step forward to do something when rage overtook you and you threw another punch to his nose, causing him to fall backwards unconscious.

Tom looked down in shock at the limp body beneath you, then back up to you. Once your eyes met, his features softened.

“Y/n? Are you okay?” he asked, stepping over Harrison and guiding you away from him. As you finally began processing what had happened, tears slipped down your cheeks.

“I… he- he…” you couldn’t get the words out and your breath quickened.

“Hey, hey. I know. You don’t have to say anything. It wasn't your fault. Can I hug you?”

*end CW*

You sniffled and nodded, not meeting his eyes. He engulfed you in his arms, rubbing your back as you buried your face in his neck. Your chest throbbed from Harrison’s grip and knuckles ached from where they’d met his face twice.

After a few minutes, you straightened up and wiped your face, trying to be tough. Harrison was still out cold on the floor.

“Do you want me to go get your friends?” he asked, to which you nodded. He ran off and only a minute later came Alexis and Caroline.

They fawned over you, making sure you were okay. Tom put a hand on either of your arms and looked you directly in the eyes.

“I’m going to make sure he and his awful friends leave, okay? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

The girls led you back into the bathroom while Tom began dragging Harrison off. They helped you clean the mascara stains on your cheeks and make sure you were okay. After about 10 minutes, you finally felt confident enough to go back out.

When you got back to the main room, word had it that Tom, Jake, Chris, and some of the other guys were making sure Harrison’s crew would leave and not come back.

Knowing that you were safe from him finally, you decided to drink in the hopes of forgetting what happened for a little bit and have some fun. You started off with a shot of strawberry lemonade vodka, which led to shotgunning a beer and tossing back another shot (or two) of bacardi.

Not a half hour later and you were plastered. You went crazy on the dance floor, jumping around like a fool as different people came up to dance with you.

You were barely aware of what you were doing and extremely clumsy. The room was turning as you clambered up onto a table. You were spinning in circles until your shoe’s heel missed the edge and you started to topple over.

You couldn’t even react, but after a second realized you hadn’t hit the ground, and were instead in Tom’s arms.

“Alright I think it’s time for you to take a breather,” he said. It was hard to understand him as his voice sounded distant. He carried you out of the warm room and outside, where the cold air hit you like a truck. He set you down on the edge of Tyler’s porch.

“Y/n are you okay? After everything that happened I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

What he said wasn’t funny, but you found yourself cackling anyways.

“Better than everrr! Did you see my twerking?”

“Yes, yes I did. Are you feeling okay? Your face is super red. You aren’t nauseous?”

You shook your head with a big grin.

“I’m fiiiineee, pretty boy. Just because you’re my husssband doesn’t mean you have to follow me everywhere! I’m alllll gooood.” You slumped onto his shoulder, still giggling.

“Alright, princess. Let’s just chill here for now alright? I’ll text Alexis in a little bit.”

You sat in silence twisting your star ring as you began to cool down and your hearing was returning to normal. Tom was rubbing his thumb over your shoulder and had you drinking your second cup of water, but the effects of the alcohol were still present.

“Tom?” you whispered. He hummed. “You’re a really good husband.”

He chuckled.

“You think so?” he paused. “I think you’re a pretty good wife, too. No matter how much trouble you manage to get us both in.”

After a little longer, you felt yourself getting sleepy as the night took its toll on you. Alexis came outside and rushed over.

“Hey! I was looking everywhere. Sorry I didn’t see your text. Let’s go, y/n. You’ve had a looong night.”

Tom picked you up from the porch and led you to the car, half carrying you. He helped you into the car and buckled you up, then stood leaning in the doorway.

“Thanks for your help, Tom. Glad you were there for us,” Alexis said with a small grin as she buckled in.

“Of course. I’d do anything for her,” he replied, giving you a wink before shutting the door and waving. Alexis had barely pulled out of the driveway when she looked at you.

“Okay spill. What’s been going on with you and Tom?” she asked in a serious tone. She was clearly using the alcohol against you, and even though you were much more aware than before, you still started talking.

“I think I really like him.”

“Like we didn’t all already know that. I meant what have you been hiding from me the past three months? I know there’s more to the story.”

You sighed.

“It started last month, when Tom beat up… you know… the first time. We held hands on his bedroom floor that weekend until his mom accidentally walked in. And then we took those pictures and kept saying all these flirty things. I accidentally caught him naked, don’t ask.”

“Oh I’m definitely asking about that later. But continue.”

“Well then I stayed for dinner that Thursday and Sam caught us in the kitchen goofing around. Oh, and then last weekend we kissed, and-”

“YOU WHAT NOW?” she yelled, causing you to wince at the sound before you started rambling.

“We didn’t really kiss per se… It’s because we were fake dating for that couple. It just kinda happened! And now we’re going to homecoming together but it was supposed to be a secret so… don’t tell anyone before dinner tomorrow. Or tonight I guess since it’s Saturday morning.”

“I knew it. Dammit I knew it! Why didn’t you just tell me!”

“You’d make fun of me! Do you think I want to like him? We’ve been at each other’s throats all this time and now I’m just supposed to forget all that because of a little crush? You don’t get it, Lex. It’s not like he’d ever feel the same way.”

You looked out the car window, trying to settle your breathing after getting worked up. Your head hurt and you were still thirsty. Alexis pulled into her driveway and cut the engine.

“I know I would clown you about it, and I probably still will, but we’re friends for a reason. And you’re joking, right? Everyone knows Tom is head over heels in love with you.”

“What? No way.”

“Yes way! Have you not seen the way he looks at you, and follows you like a puppy dog, and gets so protective over you? I mean come on, y/n. He literally said he’d do anything for you and winked before we left. You must be blind to not see that.”

You sat and tried to think about it for a minute, wondering if she was right about him.

“Let’s go in, y/n. It’s getting cold and you need to sleep it off. You’re not going to have a fun morning, that’s for sure.”

You followed her into the house, trying not to stumble. Your balance definitely wasn’t all there. Her garage door led straight to the kitchen where you chugged a glass of water and took some antacids, grabbing more water to take to her room.

You went into the bathroom to shower off the makeup and sweat and hairspray. When you got out and looked in the mirror, you saw the way your chest was reddened from what Harrison did to you. It took everything to hold back more tears.

%

The moment your eyes opened, everything hurt.

Your head, stomach, feet, chest. Your head was flooded with memories from the previous night. You rolled away from the window to find Alexis sitting on the floor next to a plate and glass of water.

“Well, well, well. Sleeping beauty awakes. I brought you my hangover cure.”

You looked down to see that on the plate sat two advils, an alka seltzer, and some cinnamon pop tarts. It was almost 11 am.

“Thanks, Lex. For everything. You’re the best,” you said, taking a bite off one pastry.

“Don’t be thanking me. Tom’s the real hero. He got a bunch of people together this morning to report Harrison for what he did to you and he’s suspended again, can’t go to the dance. I guess Johnson is gonna deal with it more next week and he might be expelled. Do you have any proof other than Tom?” she said gently.

“Let’s see,” you said, tugging off your shirt, revealing a sports bra. She gasped when she saw the purple bruising around one breast and the hickey marks that had been left on your neck.

“Oh my God, y/n. That’s awful.”

“I know. It didn’t look like this last night. We need to get some pictures.”

After taking some pictures for proof and finishing off your “breakfast,” you and Alexis began preparing yourselves for the dance. You were going to do makeup and hair at her house before going home to change, and then to Tom’s.

If he even still wanted to go with you. You decided to call him while Alexis curled your hair.

“Hey, y/n. Are you okay?” he asked, voice deep and raspy. He must have gone to bed again after organizing the reports against Harrison.

“Yeah, I’m way better. Thanks for everything last night. For saving my ass. I heard what you did this morning, too. You’re the best.”

“It’s the right thing to do, y/n. I’m glad I was there. And you’re sure you’re okay? We can skip the dance tonight if you aren’t up for it. You know my mom would love to have you come hang out any time.”

“Hey, now. I’m not about to leave the dance without a king and queen. I mostly wanted to check if you were still okay with going together after everything.”

“Of course! I want to go with you, y/n. Nothing’s changed that.”

You smiled.

“Okay, well, I’ll pick you up at 5 for dinner. Bye, Tom.”

“See ya, princess.”

You ended the call and sat quietly looking down. You almost forgot Alexis was there until she said,

“So you’re driving him, huh? I alway knew you wore the pants. Now tell me about that whole ‘seeing him naked’ thing...”

%

A/N: so... there's that chapter. I hope you all understand that this moment is not at all meant to romanticize or glorify the terrible experiences so many people endure, but instead highlight one way this issue is dealt with.

I wish you all the best. Please remember that my messages and asks are always open ❤️

Send a message or ask if you’d like to be added to my permanent or series taglists so I can verify you’ve been added!

Story tag list: @jackiehollanderr, @one-big-fangirl, @l0lmk, @primadonnasdream, @bookworm06, @thenoddingbunny-blog, @agentnataliahofferson, @spider-babe, @stxfxniexreads, @justafangirlduh, @supraveng,

[shorties-unite]

I Might Even be a Rockstar (HannahMontana!AU)

Part 1/?

Summary: Roman is a normal boy with a very normal life who also happens to be a teen pop sensation. Virgil is a normal boy who also happens to have a debilitating crush on a teen pop sensation. Stuff happens I guess 

“THANK YOU GUYS FOR COMING, YA’LL HAVE BEEN A GREAT AUDIENCE. GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY!!” Princey gave an enthusiastic wave as the pyrotechnics let off there final sparks and confetti erupted from the cannons. Red and gold flecks of glitter raining down into the front section of the screaming crowd. He placed the microphone back in it’s place on the diamontie studded mic stand, before turning and exhaling. He loved this post show high. As he wondered his back to his dressing room he always felt lighter than air and his mind prickled comfortably with static. Someone from the crew handed him a towel and He smiled gratefully and tapped the sweat from his brow as he opened the door to his dressing room, promptly being engulfed into a hug. “You were amazing out there Ro!!” He relaxed after a moment into their arms and laughed softly. “Thanks Patton, that’s really sweet but these contacts are stinging my eyes so can you please let go?”. Patton laughed. “Fair enough,” he replied, as he moved away, allowing Roman to reach the makeup table on the other side of the dressing room, digging though the box of makeup and accessories searching for his contact case. Once found, he opened the container, and placed it on the table, already digging one of the nuisance lenses out of his eye. He glanced up into the mirror surrounded by flashbulbs. The reflection staring back at him had straight, fire engine red hair, perfectly styled into a quiff that took a lung damaging amount of hairspray to maintain. Gold glitter surrounded his eyes in a why which seemed haphazard but was in fact a very particular and intricate type of simple-yet-extravagant glam. Behind the glitter peered two eyes, one a piercing shade or emerald green and one muddy brown. Inconspicuous, boring, basic. Nothing special in the slightest. Swiftly, he removed the second contact, sweeping up their container and placing it neatly back inside the makeup case, which Patton had begun to carefully pack away, handing Roman a pair of oversized, red embezzled sunglasses from the depths of the case, which he promptly slipped over his face as someone knocked at the door. “Come in!” he called, trying to muster up as much pep as he could when in all honesty his eyes were burning, his head was itchy and he may as well have been asleep on his feet. Adieu, post stage high! Until next time. “It’s just us darlin, great show tonight,” came the reply as the door was pushed open to reveal a man with long red hair and a thick moustache along with another, younger man who would look strikingly similar to Princey himself, had most of his face not been obscured from view by tinted sunglasses and a large cap with the words SECURITY printed in bold lettering across the from. “You about ready to go?”. Princey nodded and crossed the room to meet them, adjusting the lopsided cyan wig on Patton’s head on the way. “We’re ready, let’s get this magic trick over with,”. 

*Oooooh yeahhh* 

Logan LaMottie let out a frustrated sigh, pointed glare focused directly on his best friend. “Virgil, we have school tomorrow morning and the chances of you seeing him, is completely infinitesimal, much less anything actually of interest”. Virgil rolled his eyes, but didn’t quite manage to wipe the small smile or the slight flush off of his face. “Are you still mad about that Lo?” he responded with a mischievous smirk, earning another sound of annoyance from his companion. He peaked at his reflection in the surface of the chrome pole that segregated the crowd away from the scarlet carpet leading to the black limousine with windows so tinted it seemed almost impossible that even the driver would be able to see through them. “Look,” Logan began again, shuffling closer to his friend in an effort to stop the girl next to him from standing on his foot. “Crowds aren’t my scene, and the really aren’t yours either, can we just go? You can just look up photos of him on the ride home or stare at your bedroom wall for a couple hours or something. You already know what he looks like after all”. Virgil turned to look at him for the first time since they’d arrived outside the stadium, literally hours ago. There was something in his eyes that Logan couldn’t quite place. He raised a hand, combing it through his hair before sighing for what must have been a record breaking third time in 45 seconds. This time in defeat. “Fine,” he replied. They could stay for his best friend to fulfil his dream of catching a glimpse of this Princey that he was oh so obsessed with. In the grand scheme of things, Virgil wasn’t one to ask much of him, so he supposed he could give a little just this once. Even if the level of infatuation his friend felt for the superstar was borderline nonsensical. Suddenly the crowd surged forward and the sound around them increased tenfold. Logan, unprepared for this sudden change in his environment was almost engulfed by the crowd, only saved by his friend sheer determination, grabbing his hand and barging anyone who dared to interfere with their prime position. Virgil could only see the very top of the blood red styled hair over someone else head, but as he moved along the carpet with his entourage following en suit Virgil swore he could drop dead right then and there. Princey smiled a wide, perfectly straight, perfectly white grin as he waved to the crowd, blowing kisses every so often. He now wore a red leather jacket over the silver glittery undershirt he had worn on stage, both tailored perfectly to fit his broad shoulders and slim waist. His white jeans were slightly scuffed at the ankles and knees, torn along the front in just the right places, making the olive skin peaking through appear even more tanned. Large sunglasses obscured most of his face but that didn’t matter to Virgil. He didn’t need to see those piercing green eyes to know that it was him. Right in front of him, if only for a moment. It was him. And the look on his face was something else. It was him, and he was so happy to be there. In a place with so many people he had reached and helped and who loved him for it. And though he knew the thought was ridiculous, that he was just another head in the crowd, Princey was so happy to be there with him, too. Logan found himself staring too, although his expression was drastically different than Virgil’s. Virgil’s face contained the kind of euphoria the he seldom let himself feel, much less express. The kind that would allow him to come out the other side of any awful experience still as peppy as Patton Truscott midway though a halftime show. Logan on the other hand, was completely lost in thought. Part of him was amazed that they had managed to pull it of. Part of him wondered how he hadn’t seen it before. Now that he was here it was obvious. The Remus and Roman Stewart did make a habit of acting rather stragely. Micellaneous doctor and dentist appointments pulled one or both of the twins out of class far too often for it to fit to any kind of regular health schedule. Their facial structure resembled Princey's to a tee, excluding his hair and eye colour which could easily be manipulated. For christ sake his first song to take off last Summer was literally called BEST OF BOTH WORLDS LOGAN HOW DAFT COULD YOU HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN. As the star and his posse reached the limousine, Logan snuck a look at his starstruck best friend, then back at the limo as another familiar face with less familiar electric blue hair stepped into the car behind the quote unquote “Rockstar”. “Okay they’re in the car, they’re leaving, time for us to go too.” Logan pulled Virgil by the wrist slightly, almost surprise when his friend followed willingly. He was quiet as they walked back to where Logan had parked, and most of the drive to drop him back home, unable to come up with much more than a couple of breathy half-words as Logan pulled off of the highway and into Virgil’s neighbourhood. He didn’t mind. This certainly was an interesting development, which he hypothesised would more than likely lead to equally interesting results. But first, an adequate circadian rhythm needed to be maintained, and further investigation was required. 

---------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: SO hey void here’s the first part of the thing I was talking about a while ago bc I felt like it was too good for ya’ll not to see and also I’m scared it’ll get lost in my unfinished writing tag forever. Don’t expect a part two until at least the end of next week cause homegirl has hella exams, anyway, onto the story and special thanks to the people that helped me figure out a direction for this story in the first place. (@frikijedai @datfearlessfangirl ya’ll are real one’s, sorry I couldn’t make them both miley lmao)

Tags: @nadja-chamack16 

[mlinkwell]

Bet On It

Request: NCT Jaehyun smut where he is the basketball player and you are the cheerleader. 😚please😚😚

Pairing: Jaehyun (Jung Yoonoh) x Reader (Fem)

Genre: Smut / kinda fluff maybe idk

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: penetrative sex, fingering, oral sex, semi-public sex, dirty talk, a High School Musical reference as a title

I love a good sports fic. This was the perfect request. Also it’s still Valentine’s Day here so happy birthday to our boy <3

“Great job tonight, girls!” You yelled to your team as everyone moved for their waters. You had just dismissed one long, tough practice. Your coach was sick, but with the area championships and cheer competition right around the corner, you couldn’t afford to miss a practice. So, as the captain, you were left to lead your girls and lock up the gym.

You sat on the edge of the mat and guzzled down your water. You were sweating, out of breath, and your bow felt like it was barely keeping your hair up. Leading practice didn’t mean you got to skip out. Instead, you spent the last two hours jumping, tumbling, flying, and watching your team for errors. You were exhausted, but you had to wait for everyone else to leave before you even had a chance to think about going home and getting in bed.

After your short rest, you shuffled every cheerleader and pom pom off the mat and into the locker room. Your team seemed to be just as tired as you were, and didn’t have the energy to hurry home. You decided to use the shower to make the most of your wait.

You enjoyed the steam and water droplets rolling down your body a few extra moments before getting out and wrapping your towel around your body. You made your way across the now empty room to your locker. Everyone was gone. You hummed to yourself as you bent down to pull your bag from the bottom of your locker. You began to pull your school clothes out from bag, ready to get in them and out of the gym. You were just about to drop the towel when you felt a hand on your bare shoulder.

Your loud, high-pitched scream filled the locker room, echoing off the walls and bouncing through the showers. You turned around with a jump, only to see Jaehyun standing behind you, laughing his ass off, tears at the corners of his eyes.

“Oh, my God, Jae!” You screamed as you hit him. “What the hell?”

“I didn’t know I would scare you that bad!” He said, trying to defend himself from your attack. He grabbed your arm and pulled you into his chest.

“Stop,” you pouted. “I’m mad at you.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” he apologized, still smiling.

“No, you’re not,” you huffed. “How’d you even get in here?” “You’re not the only captain with a key set,” he said, taking his keys out of the pocket of his hoodie. “I can’t believe we’ve never used this before.”

“I’ve used my keys, Jaehyun,” you said, turning around and picking up your clothes.

“Yeah,” he said, coming behind you and setting his lips just behind your ear. His hands came over your towel, slowly trying to push it down as he continued. “But we’ve never used them.”

“No, no, no,” You repeated and darted out of his grasped. “We’re not doing that here.”

“But no one’s here,” Jaehyun argued, “and it’s not like there’s any cameras where everyone changes.”

“Still no,” you replied. Jaehyun started walking towards you, backing you up against your locker and placing his hands on his hips. “We just can’t.” “Think about it, sweetheart,” he began, placing kisses along your jaw and reaching your ear. “You get the thrill of doing it in a public place without the chance of getting caught. It’s perfect. Just picture how good I can make you feel.”

Jaehyun started planting kisses down your neck, one arm snaking around your waist to pull you closer to his body. His mouth felt too good and his reasoning was beginning to get to you. You almost gave in and dropped the towel when his tongue moved over the weak spot on the center of your throat. Almost.

“Stop,” you gasped, planting your palms against his chest. He stepped back and looked at you, obviously a little hurt from the rejection, but he was always going to stop when you wanted. “Just not tonight, okay? I’m too tired.” That seemed to perk him up, and he immediately asked, “When?” “I don’t know,” you shrugged.

“How about this.” He grinned with excitement, his signature dimples on display. “If we win area, we do it then.”

You thought for a moment, but eventually gave in.

“Deal.”

A few days later and you were back in the locker room. Your best friend and co-captain, Jiwoo, was making sure your bow was just right as you touched up your lipstick. It was the night of the area game, and you were worried everyone around you could hear your heart pounding in your chest. Your nerves were on full display. Your squad had noticed, and, assuming it was the usual big-game-with-a-captain-as-a-boyfriend nerves, tried to comfort you. You thanked them, but couldn’t let them know the real reason behind your behavior.

Your role as captain was to cheer for the team. Your role as Jaehyun’s girlfriend was to cheer him on. However, thanks to some explicit texts from the basketball team captain earlier that day, it felt as though you were cheering for him to take you in the gym later that night. The thought made you blush, and you had to keep it together in front of the entire school all night. So, you put on your biggest, fakest smile and led the girls out of the locker room.

The game was incredibly fast paced. The other team was better than expected, but it didn’t seem to faze Jaehyun. By halftime, he alone had four three-pointers and three assists. As Jaehyun led his team back on the court after halftime, he shot you a wink. He wasn’t worried.

By the fourth quarter, Jaehyun still hadn’t slowed down, but the other team had. He led the boys up and down the court. He was one of the fastest point guards the school has ever had, and he used in to his advantage. He refused to let them lose energy. The final buzzer rang out. It was a 45 - 28 win.

You and the other girls moved across the court to congratulate the team. Jaehyun found you first, immediately picking you up and spinning you. He dropped you back down, his sweat soaked hair falling in face. You pushed it out of the way and reached up to kiss his forehead. “Congrats, baby.”

“I’ll see you in a bit,” he said, winking again and planting a quick kiss on your lips. You made your way back to your own locker room, once again waiting for everyone else to leave before you could. You wandered over to the mirror, setting your makeup on the edge of the sink, touching up while the girls packed up to leave. They each said their goodbyes as they went, and when the last girl was out, you locked the door, and waited.

A few minutes went by, and you heard a knock on the door. You forced your legs to move and opened the door. Jaehyun darted inside and shut the door behind him, locking it back and turning to you. He had changed out of his uniform, his hair and skin was much less sweaty, and he had a huge smile plastered on his face. He slipped his shoes off and kicked them under the bench.

“Are you ready?” You asked as you got closer to him, your hands sliding up his chest.

“I’ve been thinking about this all night, sweetheart.” He dropped his bag on the bench and immediately pulled his off his hoodie, exposing his strong, toned torso and arms. He pulled you into his grasp by the jaw and attached his lips to yours. If you hadn’t already expressed it, his eager mouth would have given away his excitement. He crashed his lips into yours over and over. His tongue darted out and into your mouth. His hands moved from your face and down your back until he reached the bottom of your short uniform skirt. He groped you, the force still apparent through several layers.

His traveled a bit further down to the back of your thighs. He squeezed and you jumped up, wrapping your legs around him while his hands reattached themselves to your ass. He reached down to grab his hoodie off the bench and place it on the floor. You removed your legs from his waist and rested your back on the fabric. He looked down at you and shook his head before pulling you onto your knees.

“Does winning earn me a little congratulations?” He asked as he stood in front of you and pushed down his shorts.

“I’m already letting you fuck me in the locker room, Jae,” you teased, moving forward to take him in your mouth anyway. “Don’t push it.”

“Ah, shit,” He hissed as you wrapped your lips around his tip and sucked. You jerked the rest of his shaft in your hand, letting him get fully hard before you took the rest of him in your mouth. You slid down slowly, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes as you took him inch by inch, fighting back the urge to gag for as long as possible. He held eye contact with you, his hand moving to grab your head beneath your high ponytail. “You look so good, sweetheart.”

You hummed around him, bobbing your head as far down as you comfortably could, using your hand for the rest. He pushed your head further down while low groans and sighs left his mouth. Jaehyun never stopped looking at you. Watching was always part of the fun for him. Soon enough, he grabbed your ponytail and pulled you off his length and up to your feet. He reached both hands under your skirt and pulled down your bloomers and underwear. He followed the movement all the way down to floor, moving your legs apart as he knelt before you. He kept his gaze between your legs as he pulled your skirt up, exposing your core to his eyes. You placed your hands on his shoulders, bracing yourself for the moment his fingers -

BANG! BANG!

The knocks from the other side of the metal door rang out in the nearly empty locker room. You pushed Jaehyun away from you, shoving his bag into his arms and signaling for him to hide. He took off towards the showers and you shouted, “Just one second!”

You pushed your skirt as far down as you could and took deep, calming breaths as you moved towards the door that led from inside the gym into the locker room. You unlocked and pulled the door open, coming face to face with Jaehyun’s head coach.

“Coach Kim,” you said out of surprise.

“Are you alright?” Coach Kim asked, looking at your flushed face and wide eyes.

“You just scared me,” you explained, not really lying. “I didn’t realize anyone else was still here.”

“I was just locking up and saw the light on,” he spoke, looking around the room behind you. “I thought I should probably knock before just coming in.”

“Oh, well, I’m glad you did,” you replied. “I saw just about to shower and change.”

“Then I’m glad I did, too,” Coach Kim said, giving a small bow before backing out of the doorway. “Don’t stay too late. Sorry for startling you.”

“No problem.” You smiled, and he began to walk back through the darkened gym. You close the door, locking it and sliding into a squat against the cool metal. “Oh, my God.”

Jaehyun reappeared from his hiding place. His torso was still bare, and the scare had obviously not affected him enough to get rid of the tent in his loose basketball shorts. There was a smug grin on his face. He knelt down in front of you and held your face in his hands. “That was so impressive, it made me want you more.”

You pushed him away slightly as a shocked laugh left your lips. Once you both stood with Jaehyun towering over you, you reached up to connect your lips again. He complied, then slipped one hand in between your legs. He ran a finger through your folds and brought it up to your face. The tip of the digit was soaking wet. “Almost getting caught got you excited, huh?”

You blushed, choosing to kiss him again instead of answer. Jaehyun led you away from the door and back to sweatshirt on the floor. This time, laying on your back was what he wanted, and he pushed a finger into you as soon as you were down. He began pumping, his face hovering just above yours, occasionally kissing you as he watched you get more and more turned on. You placed one hand on his head, tangling your fingers into his hair as his fingers moved within you. You hadn’t had sex in a while, and the slight burn of just his fingers was evident. As he continued, letting you take the discomfort out of his scalp, the feeling moved to pure pleasure. He smiled down at you, loving every moan that came from your lips.

“Jae,” you whimpered, reaching your fingertips under the band on his shorts. “I want you, please, baby.”

He crashed his lips onto yours and you pulled his shorts down as far as you could. He sat up and took over, pulling them off and leaving him completely bare. He reached for his bag and pulled a condom out of the side pocket. He unwrapped it, throwing the foil back in the bag and rolling the rubber down his length. He moved back over you, and you spread your legs wider. You pushed slightly off the hard floor and kissed him, more softer than the last few. He continued kissing you as he entered you, slowly sinking in and catching all of your whimpers in his mouth. He started fast, realizing upon entering you that he was much more excited than he thought. He planted his hands on either side of your head, driving into you with quick thrusts. Your body jostled as his hips met yours, the fabric of the sweatshirt sliding against the smooth floor of the locker room.

You moaned freely, every sound echoing off the lockers and through the room. It drove Jaehyun crazy. Your sounds surrounding him as he claimed you on the ground drawing him closer to the end. The pain in his knees from the hard ground was nothing compared to how your body made him feel. He leaned in to, whispering in your ear as he thrust into you.

“You like that?” He asked then licked at the shell of your ear. “Yes, Jae, fuck!” You moaned, your arms wrapped around his back.

“I knew you would, baby. I knew you’d like it when I fucked you all over this place.” He pulled his length out of you and shot up, pulling your body with him. He walked your weak legs over to the showers and stopped in front of a sink. He bent you over and positioned himself back in between your legs.

“Fuck!” You yelped. You two had never had sex like this, and this new position had him feeling deeper inside of you. It almost felt foreign, almost too much. It wasn’t what you were used to, and you couldn’t hold onto your boyfriend as he drove into you. You gripped the sides of the sink, bowing your head as you took his thrusts. He was moving faster than before, no hard flooring against his legs to hinder him. You felt his hand grab your ponytail and wrap the hair around his fist. He pulled you up harshly, and you yelped again as your back his chest. You eyes were squeezed shut and your back was arching from the overwhelming feeling.

“Look at yourself, sweetheart,” Jaehyun commanded. You forced your eyes opened and looked at the mirror in front of you. You were a mess. You bow holding your ponytail had loosened in the activity. Your pupils were blown wide, and you had a sweat dampening the hair around your face. You looked at Jaehyun through the mirror. He was sweaty again, looking just as hot and athletic as he did on the court. He had a dark, lustful look clouding his usually soft features. When you found his eyes, they were watching you through the mirror. He dragged one hand down your body until he reached the front of your hiked-up skirt. “I’ve always wanted to fuck you here. You just look so damn sexy with this little uniform on. Had to get in your tight pussy with it on you.”

You were starting to shake against him, his words and this position too much for you to handle. Your moans turned to whines, hoping he would finish you off before you legs gave out. Jaehyun kept whispering in your ear, turning himself on just as much as he was you. Soon, you felt a sharp thrust that would have knocked you forward without his grip you, and he groaned behind you, spilling into the condom. He didn’t pull out, instead he reached his hand down and starting rubbing quickly at your clit.

“C’mon, sweetheart. Do it for me. That pussy’s gotta come for me.” He showed his verbal and physical possession of your body, his fingers still working on you. You weren’t used to such a fast, hard pace, and it didn’t take long before you clenched around him with shaking legs and loud moans.

Jaehyun helped you over the bench and sat you down. He assisted you in finally pulling your uniform off and shorts and t-shirt on. He gave you his sweatshirt, which you pulled on before placing the straps of you small backpack on your shoulders. He grabbed his bag and then you, carrying you out to his car to take you home before your parents killed you both. Your legs were wrapped around his waist and your face was buried in his neck as he strode across the parking lot.

“Hey, Jae?” you called his name and tapped on his shoulder. 

“Yes?”

“What if I win my cheer competition?”

[ryukluvbot]

This is my first commission !! as of right now i think i’ll start this n open ot up to the public. i absolutely love writing n i love making others happy !! anyway enjoy @krispsprout <3

The late fall wind blew against the females skin, a slight shiver crawling up her spine. Even her goosebumps came out into play. Tina was a young female heading into her first day of second year, though of course she had been late which didn’t come as a shocker. Her brain was panicking as her feet took course, running faster to just slip past the gates before they shut her out. A slight sigh left her lips, huffing and puffing from all the running she had to do. Sweat was collecting on her forehead and nose, causing her glasses to slightly slip down.

She didn’t exactly want to wear them, mostly because she hated the way she looked in them but her father suggested to wear them on the first day just so she didn’t end up walking into the wrong class. That would be embarrassing.

Today was also the day her best friend was going to set her up with someone from the volleyball team; nerves followed her every move. What if she was too annoying? Or too scary? What if he didn’t think she was beautiful? Those three simple thoughts just wouldn’t stop bouncing around, they caused her a headache. All through the first half of the day they were nagging at her, pulling her brain and making her hate herself even more. “Hey Krissy!” Her pink haired friend called out from behind her, a happy smile evident on the females face. “Are you excited for today?” A eyebrow shoot up, binder held close to her chest while she peered down at her friend with eagerness, waiting for the answer.

“No... I think we should just-“ Kristina couldn’t even finish her sentence since her friends hand clamped down on her mouth, stoping anymore words from slipping out. “Don’t talk nonsense! You’ll do great and he’s going to love you. Trust me, you guys have the same energy and all.” she slowly started to remove her hand and let the younger friend breathe again. “I hate it here.” The female mumbled causing the taller one to let out her loud laugh that caused many heads to turn. “If my boyfriend can handle him, I know you can too. Nothing to worry. Anyway speaking of him, there he is.” Aneka pulled her phone up, shaking it in Tinas face which displayed his contact info on the bright screen. One swifter turn she was already gone, walking down the hallway to greet Ushijima. “Young love, wish that could be me.” Her green eyes rolled back, finding it ridiculous that she craved such things; that’s how she got into this situation in the first place.

FLASHBACK PEW PEW

Tina shuffled herself on Aneka’s bed, eyeing the hickey laid out on her best friends neck. “You know, I would love to have someone by my side like you do with Ushijima. I always see you so happy and I kinda wish I had that too.” Once the words slipped out, she instantly regretted ever muttering them in the first place. The pink haired friend jumped up, one finger pointed up into the air, her facial features dancing with pure happiness. It almost looked as if her blue eyes were shining a brighter blue, like a lightbulb went off. “I know the perfect someone! Ushijima has this friend, well his best friend. And he’d be perfect for you!” The older girl started to jump around the room with joy, feeling like cupid. “Tomorrow after the first day of school, I’ll set you two up to meet. It’ll be perfect!”

END the flashback.

And that’s how Tina ended up here, staring at the clock on the wall in her last period. She watched each movement of the hands, drowning out any sound that surrounded her. Whatever the teacher was talking about, wasn’t important. This surly was though. Why did she agree? Why couldn’t she just say no to her smiley friend? Squinting her eyes she mentally cursed at her friend, having a battle as if she was there. “Alright class that will be it for today.” The last words were like a signal to the bell, hearing it ring in the class and out in the halls. This was it, this was life or death. Mostly death knowing she’s going to make a huge fool of herself but that’s okay.

With not much hurry, she shuffled her stuff in her bag, throwing the strap over her shoulder and bumping right into Aneka who was waiting outside the classroom door. “How did you get here so fast?” She paused for a quick moment, “Never mind, don’t answer that. Let’s get this over with.” A slight bonk was felt on her head, looking back to see her friend staring down at her. “Stop worrying so much. He’s going to love you.” Kristina wasted no time to take off her glasses, shoving them in her bag to hide them out of sight. Sometimes Aneka worries about the girl though today wasn’t the time for that. A swift moved her best friend was dragging her down the hallway, bumping into other students but not paying any attention, her brain was too focused on setting the two up. It didn’t even take long until the fresh air brushed past their exposed skin causing both of them to shutter.

“Aneka did you not bring your coat again?” A deep voice sounded from behind the two, a heavy weight placing on her frame. “Thank you Toshi.” A light kiss brushed her cheek, a blush following in suit even a soft giggled came out too. “Ushijima!!!!” A high pitch scream echoed in the open air, a slight ‘oof’ sound falling from Toshis lips as the redhead jumped his way on his back. “Who’s this?” His wide like lizard eyes gleamed down at the small bald female, his lips curling up. He slipped his small frame off of the bigger male, hopping himself in front of her. “I’m Kristina baby but you can call me anything you want.” Her fingers danced behind her ear, pushing the nonexistent hair as a smirk found its way to her lips. At this point Tina couldn’t keep her laughter in, a burst of it flying out her mouth. Tendou joined in too, a large smile coming into action as well.

They chatted away with each other for a few hours, laughing every chance they could get. Ushijima and Aneka watched in the distances, small smiles dancing on their lips. They knew they’d hit it off, Aneka praising herself mentally for being so intelligent.

A few months had passed at this point, maybe about three or four. Today was the day of the boys first real game against one of the lower schools. The two girls coming to watch their boys play. Well.. Kristina is only friends with Tendou but the way they aimlessly flirt through teasing, didn’t go unnoticed. ”Hurry up guys, my hands are hurting from carrying all your junk.” Aneka whined from in front of the bus, arms aching from holding their heavy luggage. They were currently having a contest on who can hold their breath the longest and of course, each of them being stubborn, they won’t back down.

Aneka dropped all the things she was holding, not caring if anything broke at this point since she was annoyed. Just when her foot was about to reach the second step, they came jumping out, Tendou singing his song since he had indeed won. “Are you kidding me!?” They paid her no attention once again, dancing towards the doors and through the hallways packed with students. Aneka on the other hand was struggling with carrying the bags, her boyfriend coming up behind her to help. “You should save your strength for the game.” He shook his head which shushes up his girlfriend, them both making their way inside towards the gym.

Kristina was standing near the benches, helping the redhead put tape around his fingers, making sure to wrap them up good. On her shoulders laid his sweater, a sweet smile on both of their lips. Both of them too stupid to even realize the attraction each of them hold. “Teeny tiny you should head up to the bleachers now, make sure to scream daddy when you’re up there.” Kristina did her significant move, pushing back the hair that didn’t even exist. “Only if you call me mommy.” Both of them had light pink blushes on their pale cheeks, Aneka smiling at the little interaction.

The girls made their way towards the stands, both of them wearing their mans hoodies to watch them play. The pink haired girl made sure to bring some ear plugs so she wouldn’t go deaf for a week again. When Tina gets into the games, she yells until her lungs burn out and that had only been at practice games. As for Aneka, she did some light cheering, calling out his name and clapping. She stuck to clapping most of the time. “Let’s sit where there isn’t a lot of people.” Grabbing the bald ones hand, she pulled her towards the front corner seats, sitting down and plopping the ear plugs in her ears.

The match had started soon after, cheering from the whole squad already rolling into full swing, even Kristina had already been in it too. She was standing up from the seat, sweaty hands grasping at the metal bar to watch closer. The boys were doing their best, putting it all in as Tina screamed loudly from the stands, ( So loud Aneka could hear it through the ear plugs. ) Though she was only calling out one name, one number. Tendou. During half time she started to scream his song, getting the older males attention, he too started to scream it back at her, jumping up and down on the court like a jack rabbit. Ushijima had to pull him away from the middle before the coach lost his cool and banned them both.

After halftime was over, the game rolled back on. Their school of course taking the lead. It wasn’t until long that they took the win, Kristina wasting no time but to run down there and congratulate the redhead. With blink of the eye, she was already standing in front of him, thrashing her arms around his neck and bringing him in. “You did so good!” Aneka made it in time to watch the finale blow, the finale set that started their path and put them both in gear. With adrenaline rushing through them both maybe even more than the rush. They set upon a decision, eyes starring at each other, tendous breathing scattered from the game as hers was due to her nerves and excitement. Tina didn’t waste any more time, not wanting anything to slip through and distract them. Her lips instantly met his, coming together like a fitted puzzle piece. The fact that he wasn’t even shocked by the slightest, more relieved that he didn’t need to make the first movie.

“Tendou come on, we have to say thank you.” Pulling away from each other, he soaked her appearance in once more, placing a slight kiss on her forehead before bouncing away to the line. That game was something they’d both remember for a long time, one where they shared their first kiss, their first moment, first push into a new life together.

After the game they huddled back on the bus, Aneka making sure to stay close by to watch the new love birds. The bus ride was about three hours back home, all the volleyball boys exhausted from playing the game and Tina tired from all the yelling. Both of them had fallen asleep, her head resting on his shoulder while his on top of her. His sweater was placed over their bodies, covering them like a blanket. The best friend couldn’t help but snap a picture of the two.

[artisticestheticreads]

U Got It Bad

[U Don’t Have to Call by Usher plays]

AMIR

   It was a month before prom and after that was graduation. I was driving us to school in a black Jordan sweatsuit and it was two months ago when V and I kissed for the first time. She wore a pair of jeans, navy blue crop top and white Vans. We only had two classes all Spring and her track season was over so she would watch me at practice. I really wanted to go with V to prom but Cassidy was my girlfriend after all; she was really getting on my damn nerves but I felt bad to cut her off. We got to school and went through our usual classes which were separate for the first time ever. When our nutrition period came along, she hung with Taylor and her old team while I was with Jerry and my team. I would watch her every few seconds from across the way while she was talking to the girls. She would sit on the table while they looked up at her like...like she was a queen; and she was. I would just nod to the fellas and gave them the casual dap or whatever so they knew I was “paying attention”. Jeremiah was on our way to the computer lab/ library to work on a final assignment due. We sat a table and while I studied with my headset on, Jerry tapped my shoulder. “Did you do it yet?” I was still working on assignment and answered him. “Do what?” He closed my my book and looked at me. “Cut Cassidy loose.” I opened my book again and said “nah, man.” I went back to reading and jotting down some notes when he looked around and leaned closer to me. 

     “Lemme ask you something.” I looked at him and leaned back; this nigga was too close. “Why you really want to take V to prom?” I rolled my eyes and back to my book. “Because..she’ll be alone and apparently she saying no to every nigga around her.” Jeremiah looked at me and said “you still feelin’ V, man. And that ain’t a question, ma nigga. You got it bad as fuck. She got you sprung. And it’s okay. You even convinced the whole track team to vote her turn for prom queen. You got her thinking it was just coincidence.” I looked at him and said “what that gotta do about me feeling her?” He slammed my book closed and took it from me. “Ma nigga. You are always protecting, looking out for her and shit, you talk about her all the time, I know yo punk ass be thinking about her and then you gawk at her...I saw you earlier dawg.”

      I snatched my book back and told him to “shut the fuck up”. He was just talking shit like always but he kinda had a point. At lunch, Cassidy and I stood in the hall together. She was a beautiful girl with a light caramel complexion and full lips but those lips were always fucking talking. She was rambling on and on and that was the time I decided to... “WHAT YOU MEAN YOU DON’T WANNA BE WITH ME NO MO?” I leaned against the locker and explained myself. “Cassidy, you annoy the fuck outta me. All. The. Time. I swear I feel like a nigga getting gray hairs and shit.” She folded her arms and said “where the fuck is this all comin’ from?” “Been that way for a while, little momma.” She looked me in my face and said “I see what’s up. You wanna take that bitch, Veronica.” I side eyed her and said “watch ya mouth, Cassidy.” She wasn’t wrong though. She said “really? Before prom?” I was in the middle of apologizing when until she smacked the taste outta my mouth. I watched her walk away when V walk passed her with water bottle in her hand. “What happened wit you?” She looked at me with those eyes I instantly got lost. “Nothin. So, what you doing out here, kid”, I said while I rubbed my jaw. She held her cold water bottle to my face and said “I was just lookin’ for yo ass. While yo getting smacked around, J and Tay having a make out session and I loss my appetite. “We laughed and chilled for the rest of the lunch period. Our last game was in a few days and I decided to ask V before the game. She kissed me o the cheek and I walked off with a smile.

VERONICA

[Hot in Here by Nelly] 

   It was game time and I wore the gifts that Amir gave me before it started. I sat on the front row of the bleachers and watched as everyone filed in. Tay and her team did there routine to the marching band version of “Hot In Here” to start the game. She had her hair up in high bun and in front as over. As the players for both teams came out, the girls were all came to the other side of the bleachers. They called out “#1 AMIR CARTER” and everyone went crazy, including me. The game started and his coach looked back at me; he waved me to come join the team on the sidelines, which wasn’t the first time. I watched the game and cheered as loud I can. My favorite play of the game was when they pulled a “draw”. That’s a disguised run, which means it initially looks like a pass play. The offensive linemen draw back like they’re going to pass-protect for the quarterback. The quarterback then drops back and, instead of setting up to pass, he turns and hands the ball to the runner. It was only one minute until the second quarter was over, Taylor bent over to my left side she said “hey, V.” 

     I was trying to watch the game because I have always been into football. “Hey, girl. Y’all did great earlier.” She smiled and said “so, I heard about Cassidy and Amir?” I followed my arms still into the game. “Yeah, She better hope I don’t catch her outside of school.” Taylor asked “girl, why? Now, it’s your chance.” Fuck, Tay. I’m trynna watch the game. “Chance for what, T”, I asked while I rolled my eyes. She nudged my shoulder and said “to make your move, girl. You’ve liked that negro for years on in and now he is free for the taking.” I turned to her and said “It ain’t nothing like dat.” All of a sudden the crowd cheered and the announcer yelled “TOUCHDOWN! MADE BY AMIR “THE  BIG MAN” CARTER.” I turned back to the field and said “damn it, T. You made me miss it!” She poked my shoulder. “Girl, you need to try and get wit him. You obviously luh-” I swung around and my face stopped in front of her face. “One of these days, Ima sock the shit outta you, girl.”

    Taylor went off with her team to start warming up for the halftime show. They stood while the actual studio version of Trina’s “Pull Over” played and started their dance. They was putting their all into and the crowd loved it from both teams. Even though I watched, I couldn’t help but think about what Taylor said earlier. I couldn’t. Did I? Before you know it, there was only four minutes of the game and other team had the ball; the score was 21-23 and we were down. All we need was another touchdown and we can win it all which meant we had to get the ball somehow. I saw Amir and waved before he got in position, he nodded and looked at the guy in front of. I watched as his happy expression turn to something fierce which was the same face he made when someone was fuckin’ wit him. As soon as the clock started, Amir tackled homeboy to the ground hard and the ball flew in the air; Jerry caught it and ran. “RUN, NEGRO!!! GO. GO.”

    He was gone like a freed slave. All the players followed behind as he ran and they protected him by hitting the opposite team out his way. It was such a beautiful flawless play. We scored but I didn’t see “CARTER #1″ until I looked back to the middle. The guys were still on the ground and were down. I ran to Amir with the coach, the other players saw and came to his side. I took his helmet off and saw a little blood but it wasn’t bad; trust me, I’ve seen way worst. I lied his head on my thighs and coach gave me a first aid kit. I killed the wound, put a band- aid on it and place an ice pack on his head; his eyes slowly opened. I held up to fingers and asked “Mir, how many am I holding up?” He looked up at me and said “two, V. Am I still pretty?” That damn smile of his. I rolled my eyes and dropped his head outta my lap by mistake. “Ma bad” I said as I placed his head in my lap.

[Always on Time by Ja Rule plays]

    It was now eight hours before prom and I was picking up the final touches for tonight at the local mall. My mom dragged me around every store to look for accessories, like everywhere. I got my nails, brows done and from some reason my moms though it was good idea to get a wax; worst thing ever. We went by Claires, finally was on our way back home and I took a quick shower. As soon as I did and sat in the chair for my mom to do my hair, I got a phone call.  “Hey, Amir.” “Hey, kid. You ready for tonight?” I oiled my body and my head was in my moms hands. “Yeah but my moms is doing my hair right now.” “Awe, you gettin’ all dolled up for me. I am so honored” he said in his sarcastic, annoying tone. I rolled my eyes like he can see me and said “Shut up, Amir. Anyways, your mom is over here doing my make up.” “You got a whole glam squad over there huh?” “I guess. So, what we doin’ after prom?” He said “shit probably just eat.” Oh, I got something for you to eat. “Where we gonna eat at?” He said “probably some pizza joint. or Checkers.” “Coo. Well, I gotta go because my “squad” needs me. I see you later, cuh.” I hung up and it seemed like hours passed by until they were done. They wouldn’t show me until I slipped on everything and when they finally did, I looked unrecognizable. “Whoa...”

AMIR

    I let V choose the colors; black, silver, peach and white. I bought a new black tux with a peach vest and bow tie, white dress shirt and black dress shoes. My waves were on point, made sure I had V’s white corsage and a peach rose in my jacket pocket. I put on my class ring and grabbed my keys on my way to V’s. She had a small champagne party in front of her house with ton of people. Her pops and mine were on the front yard with the rest of our family as we waited for what felt like hours. It was about fifteen minutes later until I saw my moms, Amari and Teresa come out. Amari announced “ladies and gentlemen, Veronica Nami Mitchellson.”

    My eyes fell on the figure that strolled out in a silk peach dress that had a slit to show her beautiful dark legs and matching open toes heels that showed off her freshly painted toes. Her arms, collarbone along with her cleavage was exposed due to the deep v-neck cut. She had on a silver bracelet, decent sized hoops and natural make up with glossy full lips. Her hair was in a side bun. She held a silver clutch in her left hand and her hips swayed from left to right; her eyes fell on me and smiled as I looked at her in an awe. I walked up to her and placed the corsage on her right wrist. I looked at her and said “you look great, V.” She smiled at me and said “you too, Amir.” She straighten my suit jacket and I fixed her strap.

     Everyone started to flash their cameras and we stood side by side posing. She grabbed my right and into her left and smiled at the cameras as I looked at her. We got into the car and I began to drive as her hand went back into my hand. The ride was silent but we were comfortable with it. We soon arrived to the school and I parked in a spot. I got out and before she did the same, I stopped her. I walked over to her side of the car, held out my hand for her and she took it. We walked in hand as people watched us but I only saw Veronica. She was glowing and everything that the sun was jealous of her.

     We walked into the gym and it didn’t even look like a gym anymore. The theme was Spring Fling and the committee did a hell of a job. There were flowers everywhere, circular tables in green and pink table clothes. Drapes all over the place and a wide dance floor with a stage in front. A lot of people were already inside and it was heard to find our small group until we saw Jerry waving us down. Taylor hugged V and complimented her while Jerry and I mocked the girl; we all sat down and talked for a while but honestly I was only listening to V while Angel by Shaggy played in the background. After like an hour, Veronica and Taylor went to the bathroom and left us alone. “V looks good man. I know you happy.” I nodded and said “yeah, I am. Cassidy would’ve ruined everything.” He agreed. “Straight up. So, you getting after prom?” I shrugged and said “shit just hang out.” “Well, T and I getting a room so we can get it in, ya feel me” he said as he leaned. I shook my head, chuckled and said “yeah. Yeah” as I sipped my punch. He was quiet then he said “y’all should get one.” I side eyed him and said “what you mean....”

VERONICA 

     “We should get a room”, I asked as Tay fixed her curls. “He look like he boutta pounce on that ass, girl.” “No, he ain’t, girl. Shut up." She looked at me through the mirror. “V, I’m serious. I think its about that time.” I placed  my hands on hips. She put her hand on my shoulders. “Maybe, you waited all this time because you want HIM to be the first. Here me out, you have never had a boyfriend, never even had your first kiss and you’ve never had your cherry popped either. And why is that?”I hit her hands off me and said “because I ain’t ready, Tay.” “Because you’re waiting for Amir, Veronica.”

    We left the bathroom finally and I sat by Amir at our table. We laughed and talked the whole night as if we did every time we hung out. I would sometimes just lean on my hand, look at him as he talked and he would copy. I seemed to have my hand fly at his shoulder and never taking it off until I caught Tay staring at me with a smug look. Amir and I were dancing, acting fools and just having a good time. I always enjoyed his company because he wasn’t like the other niggas at school. The guys there seemed just talk to me because I looked decent to them but Amir wasn’t like that. He knew what guys were capable of so he taught me all I knew to get them off my “dick”. 

    He always seemed to care about me and I never felt alone at all. If he wasn’t around, I was so hopeless and bored. We dance so many songs from the 90′s to the 2000′s; we didn’t care though. 

AMIR

[Don’t Mess with My Man by Nivea plays]

      Veronica had her soft hands on my shoulders and was lip syncing to me while I nodded and we was grooving.

“It was hard to find a brotha that was down for me So I'm tellin everybody let him be Cause he's mine and I can't take no pigeons tryna take my baby So I thought I had to let you know Find someone that you can call your own Cause now you're walkin in the danger zone And if I touch you I'll be wrong .”

   She sung the chorus, I watched her while I licked my lips and rubbed my hands making her laugh. I brought her hips closer to me with both hands I started to the male’s part

“It was hard to find a girl that's really down for me Seems like a lot of niggas tryin me Cause they tryna take my baby, oh what the hell So now you really better check yourself Messin with my girl is bad for your health and So you know you will be dealt with Better find your own girl.”

    She was watching me with those big, brown eyes, I couldn’t help but just stare back until the song faded into

“TO THE WINDOW, TO THE WALL”

     The mood was gone when “Get Low” by Lil John started playing. Everyone was dancing and acting a fool. I saw J and Tay with her bent over popping hard as hell, hoping her dress didn’t rise up. V and I saw them and it seemed like we made the same stank face expression. We just danced with our hands in the air then the part where they were like

“Now back, back, back it up A back, back, back it up A back, back, back it up A back, back, back it up Now stop then wiggle wit it Now stop then wiggle wit it Now stop then wiggle wit it Now stop then wiggle wit it.” 

   Veronica turned her back to me leaning on my chest, I held her hips and she whined into my pelvis; she never left that place especially when the next song came on.

“It's the remix to ignition Hot and fresh out the kitchen Mama rollin' that body Got every man in here wishin' Sippin' on coke and rum I'm like so what I'm drunk It's the freakin' weekend baby I'm about to have me some fun.”

    Her whining became slower but harder. I could feel J’s eyes on us when he was checking us out; I looked up at him. Taylor had her back turned to him and he grabbed her hips while bringing in her in closer while rolling on her; he looked at me to make sure I did the same. I brought Veronica in slowly to the beat of the song and I can feel her directly on my dick while I began rolling into her. I looked back at Jeremiah and he slid his right hand onto Tay’s stomach; I followed. I bit my lip trying to keep my composure until...

VERONICA

“I don't know what you heard about me But a bitch can't get a dollar out of me No Cadillac, no perms, you can't see That I'm a motherfucking P-I-M-P.”

   I stood up straight and thanked Black Jesus for changing the song because I was honestly getting hot and bothered while dancing. Amir was holding me so close that I can feel everything and I do mean everything. I turned to him dancing and we two stepped together. He brought me closer to him by my hips and I can feel myself literally melt at his touch. He still was dancing like normal while looking around and I did the same. After a few more songs, some kids from marching band brought out some horns and blew them.

 The DJ said “it is time that we have all been waiting for. It is time to announce prom king and queen!! I would like to bring out our dear principal, Mrs. Angela Divine.” Everyone cheered as she took the stage and spoke.”Hello, class of 2004. I am very happy with how this year has gone. I have watch everyone of you grow from young children to young ladies and gentlemen. If you don’t win tonight or were not nominated, just now that you all are royality. As you can see, we rolled out the red carpet for prom king and queen nominees. Now, I will be calling the king nominees first and they walk down and come stand on my left then ladies will do the same and stand to my right.” She pulled out a paper and began reading. “Okay. Monty Wilkerson. William H. Montana.” People cheered as they each went down then she said “Amir Carter”; everyone went crazy as he got on stage.

    She looked at the guys and smile saying “aren’t you handsome?” Amir fixed his bowtie and did the famous sexy Denzel face. Everyone laughed and I rolled my eyes. “Now, it’s time for the ladies.” She read the paper and said “Monica Jones”; people cheered. “Cassidy Montgomery”; they cheered but she wasn’t around. “Oh, I guess she didn’t attend. Well, let’s continue.” She read the paper and with a smile she said “Veronica N. Mitchellson.” Everyone cheered as I walked down the carpet. I hugged a few people from my team before reaching the stage. I stood closer to Mrs. Divine and looked over at Amir. He smiled and winked at me. Lord Jesus that smile. I just rolled my as I smiled back and looked into the crowd. The drum roll began as the crowns came out to be presented; Mrs. Divine held up the card and opened a bit before announcing. Alright now. The 2004 Prom King is” She opened the card and said “Mr. Amir Carter.” Everyone cheered as he shook the hands of the other nominees and he stood behind crown; putting it on.

    Now, the 2004 Prom Queen is.. oh. She looked into the crowd and said “Cassidy Montgomery. “Some people looked around confused and I just stood there. I didn’t really care about prom queen in the first place but it was kinda awkward just standing there. Like, Cassidy wasn’t there. Amir looked back at me and just shook his head; I shrugged and smiled. Mrs. Divine put her lips to the microphone to talk. “Well since Cassidy isn’t here then the next nominee will take her place as queen. So, Amir who should we pick?” He looked back at us, held his hand out and said “gotta have my best friend as the queen.”

AMIR    

    While everyone cheered, she took my hand and stood next to me. V started to reach for the crown but I got it from her and slowly placed it on her head. I walked down a few steps, turned to her, smiled and held my hand out; “My Boo” was playing in the background when she took it and followed me to the dance floor. We started to slow dance and we looked into each other’s faces; those damn eyes. I looked at her lips and looked around as everyone watched us dance. They looked so soft and I wanted to kiss her so bad but now with everyone; I gave her forehead a kiss and felt her blush when a stir of awes came at us. We chuckled together and continued. She placed her right hand on my chest and lied her head next to it. I rubbed her back and we still danced; she made me want to take care of her even more. Before the night came to an end, we took tons of pictures and danced more.

     We finally were on our way to Miramar Beach with a large meat lover pizza, a case of DG Jamaican Kola Champagne Soda in pineapple and two slices of red velvet cake. I lied my jacket down she can sit, we took our shoes and crowns off and set them to the side; we dug right in and talked afer. I asked “so, did you have fun tonight?” “Yeah, I did. How about you?” I nodded then she asked “so, I guess I wasn’t supposed to be prom queen. Was you mad?” “Hell yeah. They probably did that because they thought we was still together. She didn’t deserve it anyways. She was rude, mean as hell.” V sipped her drink and said “then, why date her?” Why was I with her? “She was just there, I guess. She was cool at first but after a while, psh, I was over it. Wish I called it off earlier.” We both looked at the water and she asked “is it me or did tonight kinda feel like a wedding reception?” 

    I chuckled and opened a new soda. “That’s just you, cuh.” “Y’know, I wanna get married one day and have my own family.” I raised brow and asked “really?” “Yeah. Don’t you”, she said looking at me; Ishrugged and nodded. “Well, I want an outdoor ceremony surrounded with so many flower petals. I want a simple gown with a silk head wrap and simple make up because we both know that I’m damn sure not about to spend hours on getting ready.” I smiled and looked at her when she talked again. “Then, when I become a multi-selling singer, my girls are gonna be set. Two beautiful chocolate babies with the chunkiest faces and all. Then, we will have a chocolate lab or a rottweiler like your dog. We’ll have a house big enough for us in South Beach. My oldest child are gonna write music together and become a dynamic duo.  

   She was being too damn cute. “You really put thought into it huh?” She smile and nodded; I would definitely remember that for the future. “Well, I actually want girls too but four of them and they’ll be daddy’s girls. They’ll be on tour with me and we’ll travel all over the world. They moms and I are gonna make sure they always good. She looked at me and said “that sounds nice.” I looked back at her and smiled. “Let’s make a deal but it’ll just be between us. If we haven’t met anyone by the age of thirty then we gotta marry each other. We can raise a family and everything. If you’re up for it.” She bit her lip and nodded. “Sure. Deal.” We shook hands and smiled at each other then it happened. She gave me a peck on the lips. Like it wasn’t too fast or two slow but I enjoyed. “I owed you one, Amir.” I nodded and laughed in my chest as she lied her head on my shoulder and us holding hands. Best night ever.

♥TAGGED LOVES♥: @muse-of-mbaku @im5ftbutmythroat66 @chaneajoyyy@melanin-samii @theunsweetenedtruth @doux-ciel @unicornluvin8765@vikkidc @wakandantings @thadelightfulone @mzamethystp @simbiann@tropicalsun10 @babydoll756 @notoriouslynay @vminax @quinsly@pinkdemolition @quietstorm-73 @chaoticcashfancroissant @bugngiz@chocolatedippedinhoney @yafavcocoa @lostgalaxies

[briannamarguerite]

Hello, Lovelies! I’ve read about 30 amazing fics in January (and I only finish ones I like, so I rec all these). Thank you to the authors for sharing your talent!! You guys are rockstars, and I love you. These are in the order I read them. xox 

to the light by @fondleeds 

Harry is a mermaid lost at sea and Louis is a boy determined to make his first Christmas a memorable one. Gorgeously written, an absolute fave

Unbelievers by @isthatyoularry

The one where Louis and Harry definitely aren’t friends, and football is everything. A re-read, and I loved it just as much

Frankincense-ational by @londonfoginacup

Harry Styles works at the Hillsyde Library with his friend Zayn and best mate Niall. Louis is a fireman. Emmi has the best, funniest brain and you must read

Faded From This Touch by @allwaswell16

Louis Tomlinson is about to make his long awaited return to music. His label feels his hair isn't in tune with his image. So cute!! based on the haircut manip

A Dream is a Soft Place to Land by @lululawrence

Harry might have told his friends that he was dating someone and has to show proof for their party on New Year's Eve. My b-day fic :)) w/all my fave things!!!

A Snail's Pace by @phd-mama

A late night misunderstanding might just change Louis' life. super cute, super short, super funny. love it a lot

But Why Wonder, Why Wonder? by @100percentsassy

Marcel Styles has improbably landed a job in the fashion industry, and Louis Tomlinson is the actor-turned-lingerie-designer he’s been infatuated with for years. a re-read, a fave and I hadn’t realized it had a second chap. a gift.

For Reasons Wretched and Divine by @indiaalphawhiskey

An AU in two parts. Two boys, two stories, and hopefully, two chances at love. I loved this idea since it was just a prompt, and India totally did it justice. A fave. 

If the Surface Begs You Home by @becomeawendybird

Louis can't seem to stay away from the mysterious pregnant mermaid his friends introduce him to. You can always trust molly’s fics to be absolutely lovely

As if No One Knows Anything but Us by  whathappenedinwellington (a03)

YouTuber Louis watches Beauty Vlogger Harry’s coming out video. I got onto a YouTube kick, and this was very sweet. Bonus: they had twitter interaction first

A Life That We Share by @all-these-larrythings

Harry's son get bullied until Louis' son shows up. I don’t usually do kidfic, but this was *darling*. I love the premise, and harry and louis are so SOFT w/each other.

It's halftime. Are you ready to go? by @gaycousinlarry

Football is gay and Harry is trying to cope. (50 Reasons Fic). Overwhelmed Harry and really really really hot smut. you literally need this in your life.

Remind Me Again by @gaycousinlarry

The romantic platonic friends to lovers AU where they are forced to speak about everything that has always been unspoken. Guys, i was not okay after this. Its a gorgeous look at the way love isn’t always butterflies. It hurt, but it’s lovelyyyy

the sun comes back up by @gaycousinlarry

The Just Hold On AU where Harry is looking for an adventure and ends up with so much more. Oh have you noticed a trend? Go read everythings Eli’s done.

more fics below the jump - sorry it was getting so longggg ...

sidewalk angels echo hallelujah by @nooelgallagher 

When Louis' dog goes missing 7 days before Christmas, he doesn't have much hope for a Christmas reunion. Very cute missing dog fic

Sympathy For The Devil by @taggiecb

Or the one with Santa Harry and Satan Louis and a series of misspelled letters to Santa. Please read this it’s freaking cute as heck (yes i went there)

Woke Up Feeling Knotty by @jaerie

Beta Louis has a kink for knotting and the secret aesthetic porn blog he runs about it is more than proof. *So* unique, plus tumblr interactions!! Go read!!

this is no bridget jones by nicheinhischest (ao3)

Basically: it's a Giant American University AU Wherein Lots Of Things Happen To Everyone. This is Ziall (with Z pining over Liam), with a side of Larry, BUT F*ING READ THIS NOW it’s so soft, so lovely, even if you’re not into Ziall.

All the Silver Moons by @louandhazaf

Nick wakes up in a strange hotel room and is apparently visiting Louis on tour. You’e missing out if you dont read Tomlinshaw. love everything this author does.

Crave by @dimpled-halo​

Louis’ new talent at the record label is Harry Styles. But they’ve already met before -- at a BDSM club. Y’all. Y’allllll. i was sweating when i opened the fic, and then that phrase, you know the one. but its always really sweet too. fave!

The Things You Say Don't Drive Me Away by @londonfoginacup​

Louis thinks the boy who works at the bakery, with the big glasses and sweater vests, is pretty cute. short, marcel-y fic. seriously read everything emmu writes!

Out With The Old, In With The New by @jaerie​

Harry becomes the pack's new alpha and Louis can't wait to be bred. Holy hellllllllllo. incredibly hot werewolf sex. there’s just no way around it. go read it!

Wild Is A Fire by @leavingonatrain​

Nick has a kink. Louis uses it to his advantage. Yes more Tomlinshaw and it is *goooood* stuff. (the kink is daddy kin and there’s lots of jealousy too)

blinded me with sweater vests by  veterization (ao3)

Marcel really is the geekiest person Louis has ever seen. Sweet Marcel fic where he gets *hot* after high school but Lou liked him even when he wasn’t

i was at an all night diner by @yoursongonmyheart

the one where none of the boys can sleep and they all meet at a diner where it's always 3 a.m. The writing was gorgeous!! and ot5 feeeeelssss

Only Reason by @letsjustsee

Louis is most definitely not the world's foremost expert on beekeeping. He decides to roll with it anyway. This is HILARIOUS. so unique and cute!!!

If I Was Stronger by @haloeverlasting

A Girl Direction AU where Louis holds universes inside her, and Harry just wants to hold her. Brit’s gorgeous girl direction, with beautiful writing, complex, nuanced characters, and love that’s not always easy. go readdddd please!

*i read one more fic, but it’s anon so i’m going to wait til its revealed to inclued

DRARRY

The Romantic Prawn Who Loved Christmas by @bixgirl1

It's just like a holiday Hallmark movie! ...With, uhm, sleepwanking. Bix can do no wrong in my book! Loved this - I laughed, blushed and teared up!!!

If the Fates Allow by Saras_Girl (ao3)

A story about life's disregard for our plans. So soft, so sweet, Harry’s head over tailfeathers in love and it’s adorable.

BOOKS (why not? they were both fantastic)

Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

They Both Die At The End

[shireness-says]

Here’s the Thing (or, How Emma Swan Learned to Appreciate Football)

Summary:  Here’s the thing - she didn’t mean to fall asleep on Killian Jones’ shoulder during the Nolan’s Rose Bowl viewing party. ~3.3K. Rated T for language. Also on AO3. 

A/N: Here’s the next thing I’m transferring over for the Fandom Crescendo! It’s a fun little fic definitely not inspired by my own tendency to fall asleep during football games and wake up during the 4th quarter with no idea what the hell is going on. Not at all. Emma is sorta a Vikings fan in this one because I’m from Minnesota, and look, we’re going to be reliving that touchdown for the next two decades of disappointment. Un-beta’d. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Here’s the thing – Emma Swan doesn’t like football.

It’s not for lack of trying now, when she’s an adult. But football will always remind her of men who smell like beer and cigarettes who are quick to anger, and later boys in letter jackets who try to corner her in empty hallways. Emma, for better or worse, can’t move past that.

But here’s the other thing – David loves football. And Emma loves David like the brother she always wanted but never had. So Emma finds herself watching football a lot more than she ever wanted.

David’s the kind of fan, too, where he doesn’t just follow his beloved Patriots (which is, coincidentally, Emma’s hard line on this football nonsense – she’ll watch the games, attend the tailgates and parties, but she refuses to root for the damn Patriots). No, David’s a fan of the game. So she’s roped into watching all matter of playoffs and qualifiers and whatever the hell else, because it makes him happy when people come to his viewing parties and makes Mary Margaret even happier when people eat the dips she makes. So Emma keeps showing up and eating finger foods and pretending to really care about the Minnesota Vikings because it makes David happy that she has a team (and Minnesota is at least a place that she has a few pleasant memories of).

Today, though, David seems determined to test her patience with this football nonsense. Some people had to work New Year’s Eve and didn’t get home and into bed until seven in the morning, and some people are fucking exhausted. And don’t give a shit about football. Even if he and Mary Margaret insist that everyone come over for the Rose Bowl.

But if Emma doesn’t show up, Mary Margaret is going to get that face, the sad puppy face, and call to find out where she is and why she can’t come, and Emma is way too tired to deal with that. So she shows up in her warmest sweater and comfiest jeans at 3:41 pm (the closest she’ll ever get to “3:30, on the dot!”) with a six-pack and a determination to make it through two games of football, if only so she can go home and get some damn sleep.

Thankfully, it looks like the evening might shape up to be bearable. There’s enough people present and Emma is late enough that Mary Margaret isn’t able to fret over her the way she might usually, so she’s able to make it to the kitchen with relatively little fuss, dropping off her beer offering in the fridge and loading up a plate with all manner of finger food. If she has to be here, at least Mary Margaret made her famous seafood dip. There’s a minor hiccup in finding a seat – Graham and Ruby are already all over each other in her usual, favorite armchair – but there’s still plenty of room on the loveseat and sectional. David’s college roommate, Kristoff, has burrowed in on one side of the larger couch with his girlfriend, and Emma’s coworker Liam looks to be making eyes at the girlfriend’s sister, so Emma picks the loveseat instead. Less chance of flying pheromones. It’s not her chair, but it’s a comfortable enough set-up. It’ll do just fine.

Things go relatively well, albeit somewhat drowsily, until the end of the first quarter, when he shows up. Killian Jones. Liam’s brother. Mr. Tall, Dark and Arrogant. Literature teacher at Storybrooke Academy with Mary Margaret, relocated from England six months prior, who Emma has been avoiding ever since. It’s not exactly anything against him – though he does seem slightly full of himself for Emma’s taste – but when Mary Margaret, damn her, hears the words “new in town”, she apparently thinks that means “open to set-ups”. And Emma is her favorite target. Sure, Mary Margaret’s meddling ways may have paired Ashley Herman up with her now-husband, but they also resulted for Emma in the worst first date ever with Walsh Ozwald. As such, Emma has been attempting to avoid large group gatherings as often as possible since school started and Killian entered M’s radar, in an effort to avoid being roped into anymore dates. They still see each other, but only when she absolutely can’t avoid it without being rude.

Still, Emma suspects Mary Margaret planned this all, because when Killian walks in with a bottle of rum in hand and a grocery bag of chips hanging from his prosthetic, conveniently the only spot left to sit is on the loveseat next to Emma. An entire room with a massive sectional and an armchair in addition to the loveseat, and somehow the only available seat is next to her. Of course. At least he’s polite about it, murmuring a quick “Sorry to intrude, Swan,” in response to her grumbling. And at least he offers to fill up her plate again because Emma is far too burrowed into the cushions to get her own refills.

They’re coexisting. It’s fine. Football is still boring and she still wants to go home, but things could be a lot worse.

------

Here’s the thing – despite her best efforts, she can barely keep her eyes open at halftime. Which is probably just as well, because the halftime show is confusing at best. Next to her, Killian is squinting at the screen like he can force it to make sense.

“What the bloody hell are they supposed to be doing?” he demands, and Emma is apparently far too tired to suppress her snort. “Can anyone actually tell what that shape is supposed to be? I didn’t think marching bands dabbled in modern art for their formations.”

Emma tries to form a sentence to throw back at him, but at this point, she’s too tired to properly enunciate, and it seems unlikely that he actually understood her replied “They don’t.”

She’s not paying attention to the TV very well anyways. Really, would it be that big a deal to close her eyes, just for a few minutes?

------

Here’s the thing – Emma didn’t mean to fall asleep. It’s with no small amount of confusion that she struggles back to consciousness amidst the sound of cheers.

She was asleep. So she should be home in her bed, where it quiet and there’s no cheering. Slowly, the circumstances of her evening come back. David and Mary Margaret’s. Football. Horrible halftime shows and closing her eyes for a moment and –

And oh shit, her head is definitely laying on something a lot more bony than a pillow.

It’s that thought that finally propels her eyelids open to see the players on the screen wearing different colors altogether. Jesus, how long was she out?

All she knows for certain is that she was sleeping with her head on Killian Jones’s shoulder – a man she barely knows, she might add – for God only knows how long. The realization makes her stiffen in panic and embarrassment, only to feel a gentle pressure on her upper arm, and God, is he actually holding her? Could this get any worse?

Apparently, it can, because Jones seems to have mistaken her sudden tensing as the sign of a bad dream, whispering into her hair that “It’s alright, love, you’re fine, shh. You’re at the Nolan’s.”

But despite his comforting words, she’s scooting away down the loveseat as fast as she can, trying to put some distance between their bodies. Unfortunately, that leads to an even more concerned look on his face.

“Swan? Are you alright?”

Somehow, she manages to nod and throw out a hand to keep him on the other side of the loveseat. “Yep, fine. Just startled.” After a moment of quick thinking and plotting proverbial escape routes, her mind finally connects to her mouth as she stands. “I’m just… going to get some water.”

And then she flees. Not her finest moment, but there it is.

Because here’s the thing – for just a moment, before her fight or flight had kicked in, lying there and using him as a pillow – she had liked it.      

------

Here’s the thing – Killian Jones isn’t really that bad. Hasn’t been for a while. It’s just that when Mary Margaret first introduced them Emma knew it was leading to a set-up, and Emma wanted none of that. And then Jones had made some comment about welcoming committees and and how he was sure she’d give him “the warmest of welcomes” while offering her a salacious wiggle of his eyebrows, and that was that. Emma decided that she didn’t like him, wanted nothing to do with him.

Since then, she’s gotten to see a bit more of the man, what he’s really like. Yes, he puts on a cocky front, but she’s also seen the way he scratches behind his ear when he’s bashful or nervous, how his attempt at winking is more like a weird facial spasm, and how he flirts outrageously with Granny because it makes her blush, even as she scolds him and tries to swat at him with a dish towel. He’s not a bad guy. She just doesn’t want or need anyone in her life right now, especially after the disaster that is her past love life, and it’s easier to continue wanting nothing to do with Killian than dealing with anything else he may make her feel.

That’s why the Rose Bowl incident is so disconcerting. She laid there on his shoulder for two hours, let him drape an arm around her shoulders so they would both be more comfortable, let him protect her when she was vulnerable and her guard was down, and she allowed it, even unconsciously. In those two hours, she allowed him to get closer than she ever planned, and Emma isn’t sure how she feels about it.

So Emma does what she does best, and tries to avoid him even more that she did before.

------

Here’s the thing – it’s hard to avoid someone when you’re both invited to a mutual friend’s viewing party for the college national championship game.

If Emma was stronger, she would have just stayed home, declined the invitation, but while Emma considers herself to be very much the badass, Mary Margaret’s cooking is her weakness. Emma is about one step away from setting up a religion centered around Mary Margaret’s shrimp dip, and will not miss it for anything – including for the sake of avoiding Killian Jones.

She is, thankfully, able to snag her armchair at the beginning of the night, choosing to forget Graham and Ruby’s canoodling the week prior. And this week, she’s had the day off – no worries about falling asleep in the middle of the game and making a fool of herself again.

Unfortunately, Killian seems less on board with her plan to avoid him. There’s plenty of people in the Nolan’s living room that he knows, but instead, he singles her out, grinning and coming to sit on the corner of the sectional closest to her chair. “Swan!” he calls, like some sort of excitable puppy. It’s simultaneously adorable and infuriating.

At least her scowl seems to throw him off, shifting in his seat and reaching for his ear, like he’s thinking better of his earlier enthusiasm. His next sentence comes out more like a stammer, much to Emma’s amusement. “Can… can I get you anything? Another beer, more chips, more, more… I don’t know, more dip?”

Her negative response is terse, at best. He knows it, she knows it. Again, not her finest hour. But the idea of acting otherwise, forming some sort of connection with Jones, is slightly terrifying, so she tries to use her words and tone to establish a distance.

Not that it stops him. He’s courteous and attentive the whole game, offering to get her drinks or food and trying to engage her in conversation by asking questions about how the game is played. Despite all his best efforts, though, her replies remain limited to a few words.

It could be nice, she’ll admit, if she allowed herself to enjoy the fact that a man was paying her attentions. But encouraging Killian would lead to more than just an annoyingly smug Mary Margaret – it could lead to affection and attachment and disappointment when he’d inevitably leave and probably break her heart in the process. So she keeps her distance.

She finally leaves at nearly midnight, with no small amount of relief to be out of his presence.

-------

Here’s the thing – Killian Jones is nothing if not persistent.

Emma expects something of an out of sight, out of mind thing to happen – that the only way she’ll see Killian is if she actively seeks him out, and she sure as hell isn’t going to do that. If she just stays away from him long enough, this whole thing will blow over. They’ll all forget about the sleeping incident, and Emma can forget about any… feelings it might have stirred up.

But she starts the whole thing off wrong by running into him at Granny’s on Tuesday morning. He must hear her drink order, because he starts sauntering into the station on his way to school in the mornings with a hot chocolate for her – whipped cream and cinnamon on top. The next week, she walks into the diner to find that her lunch has already been paid for – courtesy of one Killian Jones. Arriving at the station for an evening shift, there’s a daffodil on her desk in a small vase, just like her tattoo. David, Graham, and Liam are all clearly in on this too, if conveniently timed gifts and their refusal to look her in the eye when she asks are anything to go by. After complaining about her back the entirety of a Wednesday, there’s a little vibrating back massager on her desk the next day with another flower – a colorful daisy, this time. She mentions to Liam one afternoon that she’s planning to watch “The Princess Bride” on her day off, and lo and behold, there’s a copy of the book on her desk by the weekend.

In the meantime, he keeps up with his attempts to draw her into conversation over the course of the month, with everything from comments about the weather and his curriculum to questions about her week and the calls she’s had to respond to – the latter of which she’s sure he’s already heard about from Liam. At the beginning, she mostly answers with hums and grunts and one word answers. By the end of the month, she’s willing to give him a little more – better answers about how her week has been, asking how his students are, actually warmly thanking him when he brings her her drink in the morning.

Emma wouldn’t say that she likes him. But she will admit that when he doesn’t show up for three mornings in a row, she worries, even after Liam tells her that Killian is stuck at home with the flu.

Mary Margaret tries to interrogate her on the matter, but all Emma can really do is shrug and tell her, “I don’t know.” Because she doesn’t know. Emma isn’t looking to be in a relationship, but there’s something about Killian Jones and how earnest he is in all his actions towards her.

(She doesn’t notice the blur of blue eyes and black leather at the door to Granny’s while she and Mary Margaret are talking. Maybe her answer would have been different if she had.)

------

Here’s the thing – as much as Emma feels like she’s doing as much to encourage him as she’s comfortable with, she’s noticed him getting progressively more nervous this past week, leading up to the Super Bowl party at the Nolan’s. She probably should have expected some kind of action, but it’s still a surprise when she’s barely set the chips on the kitchen counter before he appears at her side, scratching behind his ear again in that nervous way he has.

“A word, Swan?”

She goes. It would be rude not to, for one, but this nervous and unsure Killian is really off-putting as well, and she’d like to get to the bottom of the matter, or at least let him speak his piece. Emma expects him to beat around the bush a bit once they’re alone on the patio, what with that flowery way it seems he can’t help speaking with, but instead, he jumps right to the point.

“Would you like me to stop?”

It’s a shock. All she can think to do in response is dumbly stare at him, barely able to stutter out a word of surprise. “What?”

“Would you like me to stop?” he repeats. “I’ve been doing all this for weeks and still can’t properly tell whether you’re enjoying my efforts. And I know you were somewhat avoiding me at first and less than enthusiastic, but David and Liam both assured me I should be patient, and I thought you were enjoying my presence a little bit more, but I heard you with Mary Margaret the other day and –” He finally pauses for breath. “Would you like me to stop?”

She could be brave. She should be brave. But instead, she just shrugs again, and hands him another “I don’t know.”

To his credit, he just looks at her in that thoughtful, patient way, like he knows her hesitance isn’t about their interactions the past couple weeks. “What don’t know you about?”

It’s silent for several long moments and she can visibly see him deflating, losing hope that she’ll give him a real answer and let him in if only a little. Finally, she blurts out, “Do you really want this?”

Understandably, Killian just looks confused. It’s a bit of an odd thing to ask, after all the questioning and pacing he’s just done that should say he’s very committed. Emma’s mind finally catches up to her mouth, leaving her to continue. “Do you really want this, or is this just because Mary Margaret and Ruby probably made some comments while I was asleep about how cute we looked together, and pressured you into it?”

He’s already shaking his head. “Oh, Emma, no, of course not –” but she plows right on.

“Because I’m not usually like that. I’m difficult to be with and not a particularly good girlfriend. I’m not big on PDA and I –” but it’s his turn to interrupt, this time with a smile.

“Oh, Emma, of course not. I may have acted like an arrogant ass when we first met but… I liked you. I like you. Not because you fell asleep on my shoulder and the Devious Duo nearly melted – though you were very cute, drooling on me and trying to burrow in further like I was a proper pillow – but because you’re brilliant and absolutely badass and sarcastic and don’t take shit from anyone. Not to mention, you’re the kind of beautiful that makes a man think in poetry.” The ear scratch is back again, but the grin is continuing as well, and that’s what she’s choosing to focus on. At least until he seems to remember how their conversation started, and it slips off his face again. “But I swear, Emma, if I’m irritating you, or you don’t feel the same way, I’ll leave you be and –”

But he never gets a chance to finish his statement, as Emma grabs his collar and hauls him in for a kiss.

That ought to clear things up.

-------

Here’s the thing – Emma Swan still doesn’t like football. It’s long and violent and there’s way too many different ways to get points for her to possibly keep track of them all.

But here’s the other thing – none of that matters quite so much when she gets to spend the Super Bowl curled up in the Nolan’s armchair with her boyfriend of almost a year, making fun of the commercials instead of watching the game.

(And if David or Mary Margaret complain about all the PDA, well, this is their fault anyways.)

[spideyyverse]

Grease! AU

pt.1 | pt.2 | pt.3 | pt.4 |

Chapter: 2/7

Alternate reality where Eddie Kaspbrak is a boy from New York visiting the small town of Derry for the Summer and so happens to have met the greaser himself, Richie Tozier.

Characters: Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, Beverly Marsh, Ben Hanscom, Stan Uris, Mike Hanlon, Bill Denbrough, Audra Phillips

Pairings: Reddie, Stenbrough, Benverly, (Possible?? Audra x Mike? Aromantic Mike? Let me know what you think!)

Warnings: Homophobia, swearing, underage drinking and smoking

Word Count: 1,676

Author Notes: Some chapters will be based on a song from the movie, I’m not sure if I’ll do each song but if there’s a specific song you would like me to include, let me know in my ask box!

Also, the losers are very ooc. I understand they’re nothing like the way I’m portraying them in my story. Please do not get angry for the way I’m writing them, it’s apart of this au solely and that’s not how I actually view them.

This chapter will be a combination of ‘Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee!’ and ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ ! Thank Jasmine for that decision y’all.

Also, the beginning chapters will focus on Eddie mainly, but I will have chapters dedicated to just Richie of course!! Also, I know there isn’t much dialogue, chapter three will have tons of dialogue and much more interaction between the characters! I’m sorry, this is shitty writing.

You know I’m just a fool who’s willing / To sit around and wait for you /

It was Friday, the night of the pep rally. Everything was going according to plan, Eddie was asked to be a ‘manleader’ (Although, he couldn’t comprehend why he couldn’t be called a cheerleader, just like the rest of the girls). He was sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the halftime performance. The brunette boy felt anxious all night, not in fear that he’s preforming in front of the entire school but because he could possibly be preforming in front of the boy he was hopelessly devoted to. All night, the boy scanned the bleachers for the curly haired boy wearing a leather jacket but never saw him. However, Eddie did meet one of Derry high’s football players, but he was no Richie. He was nice, don’t get Eddie wrong but nothing about him made him feel the way Richie made him feel.

It was ridiculous really, how can Eddie possibly pine over a boy he’d only known for three months? How much of a fool can he be?

If it wasn’t for the stupid promise he made for Richie, maybe just maybe, he wouldn’t be constantly longing for his warmth, for his touch. He wouldn’t be sitting around, waiting around for his greaser boy.

But now there’s nowhere to hide / since you’ve pushed my love aside

The crowd erupted in cheers, the final touchdown was made and it so happened Derry was the team who scored it. There was still no sign of the boy who wouldn’t leave Eddie’s head in the bleachers. Eddie could feel a part of him break but he knew he couldn’t let that ruin his night, he was sleeping over Bev’s house tonight anyways. What could possibly go wrong?

After a couple of hugs and ‘Great Game!’s from both the cheer team and football team. Eddie set off to find his new friends. Of course that didn’t take long, you could be five miles away and still spot the fire headed girl known as Beverly Marsh.

“Eddie! You did amazing out there!” Bev cheered wrapping her arms around the boy.

Eddie smiled back and waved to Stan and Audra, “Hey Eddie! We got a surprise for ya!” Stan smiled grabbing Eddie’s hand.

Eddie shot a confused look towards Bev and she didn’t seem to know what was going on either. The boy reluctantly followed the curly haired boy to the parking lot.

Meanwhile, the school’s greasers were smoking and fucking around with each other, “Alright! Guys, that’s enough.” Richie shouted over the three boys horse playing with each other.

“C’mon Tozier! Your panties have been in a twist ever since we got back to this hellhole!” Mike shoved him playfully but only resulted in Richie shoving him slightly harder.”

“Woah!” The other three boys shouted simultaneously. Richie only rolled his eyes and gave them the bird, “Fuck off.”

“H-here looks like y-you need it.” Bill tossed over a lighter and a pack of cigarettes towards Richie. Richie thanked him silently and nodded his head.

“Hey Tozier!” An all too familiar voice sounded.

All four boys whipped around to face Stan and his gang. Richie only rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, “What is it Uris?”

“Got a surprise for ya.” Stan yanked Eddie’s arm and pushed him in front of Richie.

“Eddie?”

“Richie?”

“I thought you were going back to New York?” Richie couldn’t contain his excitement, it was something about Eddie that always made him soft.

“We had a change of plans!” Eddie giggled.

“What about you Chee? I got some of your letters when I went back to New York to get the rest of my stuff!”

“I-”

“Ahem.” Ben scoffed behind Richie causing his face to fall back into seriousness.

“Richie? What’s the matter?” Eddie searched Richie’s eyes for some sort of answer.

“What’s the matter with me? What’s the matter with you baby?” Richie smirked. The other three boys laughed behind him.

“Rich? What happened to the Richie I met at the quarry?”

“I don’t know, maybe you should find him.” Richie laughed elbowing Bill, making him laugh as well. Except, Richie’s laugh wasn’t real. Anyone who really knew him would know that. Clearly, his friends didn’t see that.

Genuine or not, that didn’t stop Eddie from lashing out on the boy he thought he knew, You’re-you are- you’re such a fucking asshole! I wish I never met you at all!” He shoved Richie and ran off with tears springing in his eyes.

The guys were hooting and hollering, Audra shook her head at Richie, and Bev took off after Eddie; Leaving a Stan Uris with a tilted head and smirk.

“Got what you wanted Uris?” Richie growled after the boys walked away along with Audra.

“I hope you’re happy.” He continued.

“Come to think of it, yeah, I am.” Stan smirked and averted his attention to Bill who came back to retrieve his leader.

“Billy.” Stan said with a bittersweet tone and walked away.  

My head is saying, “Fool, forget him.” / My heart is saying, “Don’t let go. / Hold on till the end.” / And that’s what I intend to do / I’m hopelessly devoted to you

Eddie found himself crying against Bev’s car while she rubbed her hand up and down his back, “God, how can I be such an idiot Bev?”

She only shook her and continued to rub her hand up and down his back, “You didn’t know hun, how can you possibly? Whichever Richie you met back in Summer is the Richie you know. This Richie on the other hand, he’s trash.”

Eddie laughed through his tears, Now there’s the Eddie I know.” Bev smiled.

“Thanks Bev, it means a lot.”

“Eddie, honey, all men are trash. You can’t depend on them for shit.”

“I’m a guy.”

“Besides you! And maybe Ben. He’s a sweetheart.” She smiled. The freckled girl looked down at her watch and gave Eddie a sympathetic smile, “Hey, why don’t you go home and get a bit of rest before I pick you up for our sleepover tonight?”

Eddie happily agreed and gave her his address. He said goodbye to his friend and began his walk home. The silence couldn’t help but let Eddie think about the events that happened only an hour ago.

Forget him, he doesn’t want you anyways.

Don’t let go, he loves you.

“I’m hopelessly devoted to a prick.” Eddie sighed under his breath.

Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee.

After quite a bit of convincing from his mom, Eddie managed to get into Bev’s car and head off to her place for their sleepover.

“What’s the deal with the guys having to act macho all the time? It’s ridiculous!” Audra sighed painting her nails.

“They have to live up to their reputation Auddie, that’s just how it is.” Stan sighed pulling a bottle of cheap wine from his backpack.

“Hey Eddie wanna see something cool?” Bev asked causing Eddie to avert his attention towards her. She blew smoke from the side of her half close mouth. Stan only rolled his eyes and pulled out a cigarette himself, “Want one Eddie?”

Eddie only shook his head, “Oh no thank you. Smoking can kill you.”

Stan rolled his eyes again and blew a couple of more smokes before placing the stick between his fingers and popping open the cheap wine.

“Finally!” Audra cheered taking a chug of the cheap wine.

“Ever drank before Eddie?” Audra asked handing the bottle over to Bev.

“I had some champagne at a wedding once!” Eddie explained.

“Oh wow! Sounds like a wild night!” Stan sarcastically remarked causing Bev to throw a pillow at him.

“Here c’mon. Just try a little smoke at least!” Stan sighed and handed over his cigarette to the boy. Eddie hesitantly took the stick from him and inhaled causing him to cough.

“Right, I forgot to tell you not to inhale the first time you do it.” Stan stifled a laugh.

“Here, wash it down with this.” Audra said handing over the bottle of alcohol. Poor Eddie didn’t realize what Audra handed him until he took a swing of the cheap wine and grimaced.

“Bev, I don’t feel so good.” Eddie moaned, holding his stomach.

Bev got up and quickly led him to her bathroom. Stan bit back a laugh while Audra quickly cleaned.

“God, how did he manage to drink the champagne?”

You got your crust, I’m no object of lust, I’m just plain Sandra Dee!

After the whole ordeal, Eddie rested on Bev’s bed while the others talked. Their conversation was interrupted when they heard a honk. Audra, Stan, and Bev made their way towards the window and saw none other than their fellow T-Birds.

“W-we’re heading o-over to the dr-rive in! Wanna c-come?” Bill shouted.

“Guys we can’t, Eddie still isn’t feeling good and my folks are home!” Beverly whispered-shouted.

“Well, I’ll go then! Cover for me!” Stan suggested, climbing out the window.

Richie only huffed when he saw Stan making his ways towards Bill, “What’s got your dick in a twist Tozier? Want Juliet to come on down too?”

Whether Stan intended for Eddie to hear what he just said or Eddie had super hearing, he answered for Richie, “Tell them no. I’m not Richie’s object.” He snapped.

Bev and Audra only looked at each other and repeated what Eddie just told them.

Stan got in the passengers seat next to Bill and planted a kiss on the stuttering boy, “Thought it would just be us at the drive-in Denbrough?”

Bill only smirked and turned around to his friends, “Get out of my car.”

“The fuck Bill?” Richie rose an eyebrow.

“Did I fucking stutter? Get out of my car and walk!” Bill shouted a little louder.

Ben, Mike, and Richie huffed but obliged as they watched Bill’s broken down car speed off.

“He’s right you know,” Ben stated breaking the silence.

“What?” Richie responded.

“He didn’t stutter.”

Tags: @universal-gay - Thank you so much for your kind words! I hope you enjoyed this chapter love!

[wenamedthedogkylo]

More tagging hollaaaa

Tagged by @skooterskoots​. Tag people you want to get to know better or because you want to.

Relationship status: Single Pringle

Favorite Color: Black, dark red, dark purple, and gold

Lipstick or Chapstick: Chapstick, though I wish I had the energy to play with lipsticks more

Last song I listened to: The Aquarium from Le Carnaval des Animaux by Camille Saint-Saëns

Top 3 TV Shows: Penny Dreadful, The Good Place, Jessica Jones

Top 3 Characters: You like causing me pain, don’t you? Fine, Vanessa Ives, Caliban/The Creature, and Victor Frankenstein, all from Penny Dreadful

Top 3 Bands: Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, Golden Bough

Books I’m Reading: Technically “A Court of Mist and Fury”, if I can figure out where I packed the book

Pet Peeve(s): Repetition (you know how on Apple computers the little icons at the bottom bounce to notify you of something? #1 way to send me from calm and happy to a homicidal rage, I dunno what it is but it drives me insane. Also I could never practice my instruments in part because I can’t handle repeating parts over and over again). Unnecessarily loud noises (just... shut the fuck up please). The sounds of children (in general, and part of why I can’t stand kids). Misplacing things and having to tear the bed/couch/house apart to find it only to discover it was two inches from where I was sitting (I... I fucking... *primordial screams*).

Fastest way to piss you off: Talk over me. Fucking just let a bitch speak okay? Just shut up for a hot fucking second and let me get my thought out. Also telling me to calm down when I’m already fairly calm or trying to be calm. I was doing fine, and then you fucked it up. Good job. Oh, and fucking with my friends. I mean, I’ll stick up for myself more now, but you so much as sneeze wrong at my friends and I’m suddenly ready to get in a full-blown fist fight.

Funniest rumor/assumptions about you: Ohmygod okay SO! Sosososo! This is the funniest story from my high school years and the only thing about HS that I actively choose to remember cause it’s hilarious to me. So I was from a small-ass town, like I had exactly the same classmates all the way from 1st grade to senior year of HS, and our graduating class was 48 kids. Senior year, this girl Crystal who I’ve like ‘known’ since 1st grade (we were never really friends, which is important to know) starts a rumor about me and my friend group. I think she was just bored and wanted to start shit about people she’d never started shit about before. Anyway, she started this convoluted rumor that my friend B was gay but single, my friends C and L were secretly dating, and best of all that I was a HUGE lesbian who had been in a long-distance relationship with someone (I think she decided it was someone from Corvallis?) but that I’d broken up with her cause I “couldn’t handle the distance”. Oddly she left my friend K out of this conspiracy, which was funny for reasons I’ll explain later.

Now, overall I found this hilarious cause it wasn’t true and she’d clearly spent too much time on this theory. Especially the one about me. And I didn’t really care that she was spreading shit about me cause she didn’t know me and was just looking attention. But we lived in a tiny-ass, extremely homophobic town; the first kid to come out as gay in my HS got death threats during class and in the halls from other students, and when the school counselor sat him down to talk about it, she offered him conversion therapy instead of promising to discipline the assholes threatening his life. So I was concerned for my friends being called lesbians, knowing how people could be if they started believing this rumor. So I waited until the first home basketball game after this started going around. The way the gym was, all the high schoolers sat in the bleachers on the left side, right underneath the upper floor platform where we in the pep band stayed and performed in breaks. So I could see right into the crowd to where this girl Crystal was sitting surrounded by people.

At the start of halftime, I borrowed a friend’s phone and texted a mutual friend sitting next to Crystal, telling her to look up. I watched this girl look at her phone, look up at the bandstand in confusion and then say something to Crystal. As expected, not only did Crystal look up at the bandstand, but so did everyone around her. At which point, I pointed at myself, then straight at Crystal, thrust my hips several times, licked between my index and middle finger (you know what I mean), and then made the ‘call me’ gesture at her and walked away. The best part is that not only did she and everyone around her see that, so did the whole band because they were bored, and I had a high school movie moment of metaphorical mic dropping where I walked away and the entire band “OOOOOOOHHHHHHH”ed behind me.

According to my friend K, who went into the bleachers after that, Crystal was freaking the fuck out. K explained that that was my way of saying to stop starting shit with me. Crystal got the hint and didn’t so much as look at me or my friends for the rest of the year. What’s doubly funny about all this is that K, who was spared from this rumor, was the first of our group to come out as queer (first as bi and then I think as a straight up lesbian), and then I turned out to be bi and nonbinary.

What made you smile today?: Honestly, telling this story because it cracks me up every fucking time.

TAGGING: @withasideofepic​ @feckity-feckers @gore-and-glitter @leafylotte @rosies-are-red aaand yeah basically anyone who wants to

[goldendream-s]

jealous

summary; shawn gets jealous when another guy comes into the picture, but he doesn’t exactly know how to voice his feelings

a/n; basketball!shawn/highschool au

MASTERLIST || REQUEST

Having a best friend that also was the captain of the basketball team definitely had its perks. You’d always have a front row seat saved for you at every game, and because Shawn didn’t have a girlfriend, you were the person he’d ask to wear his jersey around school on game days. This usually left many girls at your school envious, but you were grateful to be walking around campus with your best friend’s last name on your back. It was a nice feeling knowing that between all of the girls that threw themselves at Shawn and his other friends, you were that one that he asked to be wearing his number and name.

The game tonight would be a big match-up for your school, North High, as the basketball team would be playing your long-time rival, West Bay Academy. It was often a game that was packed especially since it was a home game for North High School, and it was a game you didn’t want to miss. What brought the match-up even more hype was how this game would determine who moved on to regionals since both the North High and West Bay basketball teams were undefeated.

The game has been the only thing Shawn has talked about since last season when the team came short and lost by just two points. It also didn’t help that he already had some beef with West Bay’s team captain, Nathan Martin, which was another reason why he wanted to win so bad. He’s only brought up Nathan once, but that was enough for you to know that he didn’t like the boy. Your childhood bestfriend never told you why he hated him so much, but you knew it’s been another motive and reason for Shawn to win this game. Ever since then, he’s been on the court from dusk to dawn training and perfecting his shots and skill. Both being seniors, you understood how much Shawn wanted this win under his belt before graduating from North High as his excitement soon became yours as well. It concerned you how often he was working out, but you knew how much he wanted to take this win for the school and himself.

You took your seat in the blue stand as students wearing blue and black, your school colors, started flooding the room. Soon enough, the gym was crowded with people from both North High and West Bay, meaning the game would start any minute.

Right as that thought occurred, the cheerleaders ran across the court and did their usual mini routine before your principal at the microphone introduced the teams. You couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear as you saw Shawn run out of the locker room doors. You could already see the concentration and hunger in his usually bright, topaz eyes. Bringing yourself to your feet, you cheered loudly for Shawn as they introduced him as a part of the team’s starting five. His eyes searched for you in the crowd until his eyes met yours. Winking at you before turning his attention back on the refs, you were left with a creeping pink blush.

You weren’t going to deny it when it came to your best friend: Shawn was definitely good-looking and had a smile that would send any person into the sky. He knew all of the right words to flatter someone, and he knew how to treat people. He was charming all around, making it no mystery why so many girls craved to be acknowledged by him. Admittedly, you had a major crush on him in your sophomore year and many grades leading up to that, but you quickly pushed away the thought and possibility of ruining a great friendship between the two of you. The two of you have known each other since the 2nd grade and you didn’t want to put that on the line. Embarrassingly enough, you still might’ve had a small crush on him, but luckily it was tiny enough to be able to push to the side. Shawn never showed any signs of being interested in you – not like you were his type anyways. He always seemed to go for the more outgoing and loud girls, someone who’d balance out his just as chirpy personality.

All while reevaluating your feelings for Shawn, all 10 players on the court circled around the center of the floor for the jump. The suspense was already thickening at the air, the crowd silent as the referee tossed the ball into the air. You clapped as the ball was passed to Shawn, who was already making his way through the tall defenders. He hastily yet smoothly dribbled up to the three-point line to shoot, exactly how you’d seen him do behind closed doors in practice a million times. As the net made the sound of a ‘swish’ you and the crowd went wild.

All in the same minute, a player from the opposing team went in for the layup successfully, making the score an already tight 3-2, with Shawn’s team leading. This was going to be a game for the books.

By halftime, North High was winning with a comfortable yet high 73-56 on the scoreboard. Shawn had already dropped 24 of those points, and you couldn’t be any happier for your best friend. All of his hard work was finally being showcased in front of everyone tonight, and by the look on his face, you knew Shawn was thinking the same. He was definitely humble about his talents, but always appreciated the praise that came from the rowdy student crowd.

When the referee blew the whistle indicating the third quarter would be starting in a matter of seconds, a wink that was sent your way caught your eye. It wasn’t the familiar silly type of wink that belonged to Shawn, but it was from a player on West Bay’s team. You didn’t recognize him, but that didn’t stop you from blushing for the second time tonight. You looked away to cover the rising red hue coming to your face but as you looked up, the unknown player was still looking at you, adorned with his bright smile. Sure, he was cute, but you brushed it off your shoulder suspecting that the gesture probably wasn’t even meant for you.

Your cue to snap out of your daydreams came when the crowd roared again, telling you that someone had scored. The score moved up to 75-56, meaning North High just got another two points. Looking around for who might’ve gotten those points, your questions were answered when you heard the gym chant Shawn’s name. Before you had any more time to ponder, Shawn stole the ball from the other team, sprinting down the court with the ball dribbling in his right hand. His arms and legs flexed as he worked on taking the ball down the court. You couldn’t help but stare at his back muscles stiffly flexing through the thin material of his jersey. Shawn slightly turned his head to look over his shoulder, making sure no one was there to stop him. Leaping, he went in for the dunk, making it. Rising to your feet alongside the rest of your school, you cheered for Shawn and the dunk. At least his long noodle legs were finally good for something you giggled to yourself.

This night couldn’t have gotten any better for Shawn. Not only had he scored over a third of North High’s points for tonight, but it looked like the win would be going to him and his team tonight. You could see the passion and excitement shine through him as he ran down the court with a grin.

By the time there was only ten seconds remaining in the last quarter, you checked the score to see it be 103-89. You knew that there was no way West Bay would be able to catch up by now and ran down the court to congratulate Shawn and the team once the timer drained and the sound of buzzer consumed the whole gym.

He immediately brought you in for a hug as soon as you tapped his shoulder.

“Hey watch it, you’re sweaty and smelly,” you teased at your best friend.

“Oh shut it. Don’t kill my vibe,” Shawn laughed back. He was still energetic from the adrenaline of the game, his arms shaking off the nerves that he usually gathered from any match.

“I’m so proud of you. You kicked some butt out there,” you said, hugging Shawn tighter.

The two of you hugged for who knows how long before he was forced to let go by his waiting team. They all lined up near the microphone and huddled around the coach and principal. Some were even making their own circle around Shawn who without a doubt, had been the star player tonight.

“Everyone congratulate your new district champs! They will be moving on to regionals in two weeks!” Your principal enthusiastically shouted through the mic. If the gym wasn’t already loud with school pride, it definitely was now. The trophy was handed to Shawn as he raised it towards the ceiling, marking your school’s basketball team as the new champions. A year’s worth of hard work payed off, and you were more than glad to witness the important night for your bestfriend and school.

After all was said and done, Shawn headed back to the locker room with his team to freshen up before the two of you would go out for a celebratory dinner. It was a tradition for the two of you to always go to the diner a few minutes away from the school to celebrate a win. Shawn even ditched the rest of his team to go, and even though you insisted to raincheck on the dinner, he wouldn’t budge. You loved how he always out your friendship in front of everything else, and it almost made you feel selfish for taking him away from his team especially on this special night.

While you were waiting in the stands watching the court and gym clear out, the same person who winked at you earlier seemed to be approaching and waving at you. Looking around to see if he was trying to grab someone else’s attention you were the only person in your stand’s area to your dismay. Telling yourself to calm down and to just be yourself, you shot him a smile in return.

The boy had straight brown hair – slightly lighter than Shawn’s – and the brightest blue eyes. Similar to your best friend, he was sweaty and looked just as tired from just playing the intense game that just took place moments ago.

You mentally slapped yourself for probably staring too long, but he was definitely cute. Okay, he was hot.

He stopped just a few feet away from you before he introduced himself. “Hey, I’m know that we don’t know each other, but I’d like that to change,” he said while scratching the back of his head. “I saw you from the stands and couldn’t help but notice how beautiful you are,” The boy said to you as you raised your eyebrows. “Oh, and I promise I don’t go doing this to every girl I see at games,” He explained as if he was just reading your thoughts.

You giggled and took your chance, “Well, I’d love to get to know you too. You’re from West Bay?” you ask, trying to carry on the conversation. Immediately, you realize how dumb you sounded. He’s wearing a West Bay jersey, and just played in the game, what do you think, idiot?

He didn’t point out your stupid question but instead nodded his head and laughed. “Yep! I’m Nate, by the way,” he stuck out his hand and you shook it.

“Hello,” you introduced yourself by name soon after. The name ‘Nate’ sounded awfully familiar, but you couldn’t put your tongue on it.

“Oh, you did really good tonight, by the way,” you added for courtesy even though your eyes were only on Shawn the whole night.

“Thank you,” He laughed. “Although it’s a little hard to play well when you see a gorgeous girl in the stands,” He said as you covered your hot face. This boy knew what he was doing to you, and he didn’t need you to respond to know that his flirting had an effect on you.

“Anyways,” he snapped you out of your embarrassment, “here’s my number. Maybe we can talk and hang out in the next week or two? I gotta go, but hopefully we’ll see each other very soon,” Nate said before giving you another smile and wink before walking towards the gym exit.

Taking the slip of paper that had his scribbled digits, you wave him goodbye. You probably looked crazy, staring off into nowhere, but your mind instantly brought you to the perfect date setting. Nate would be there, and the two of you would be laughing, learning about one another, and enjoying each other’s company.

Noticing that Shawn was heading out of the locker room, you ran over to him and gave the now freshened up boy a hug. “I don’t know if I told you this yet, but you did amazing tonight, Shawny. I’m so proud of my bestfriend!” You squealed. “And that dunk? Oh my gosh, I wish I got that on camera! What a way to end the season, huh?” you raved.

“I’m glad you enjoyed the game,” he chuckled, reaching his hand over to your head to mess up your hair.

“You know I’d never miss one of your games,” you replied while wrapping an arm around his waist. It was like the perfect fit, especially since he was so much taller and bigger than you.

Shawn thanked you and draped his long arm over your shoulders. The two of you talked more about the game and future championships for a little before he stopped mid sentence to ask another question.

“What’s up with you?” Shawn continued walking over to the stands with you. “You’re red as a tomato and won’t stop laughing like an idiot. Oh my god, please don’t tell me it’s because of that boy you were talking to,” he giggles while lightly nudging your shoulder.

You don’t even try to lie to him.

“Oh shit, you saw that?” you chuckle to yourself before starting, “Okay, well, this guy who played on West Bay’s team came up to me and we just talked for a little,” you said, hoping that Shawn wouldn’t prod into the details any further.

“Hmm… are you sure that’s all that happened?” Shawn joked with a serious tone underlying in his question. He knew you were hiding something.

“Okay, okay, fine. He also gave me his number and might’ve maybe called me gorgeous. He asked to hang out soon, but I’m pretty sure he just said that to be nice,” you spill.

Shawn’s eyebrows perked up for a split second before he recovered. “Aww, my little best friend is growing up and getting some,” He wiggled his thick eyebrows, as you groaned into his side. “What’s his name? Do you think he’s cute?” He always asked these type of questions when you talked about any guy you met.

You might’ve been excited, but that didn’t stop you from noticing that Shawn’s body had straightened and that he had a forced smile all while saying this. His flat tone was a dead giveaway that he wasn’t as ecstatic about Nate as you. Deciding that it was probably from how tired he was, you didn’t press on.

“I think he said it was Nate,” you answer, not completely sure, “he was pretty good looking, I guess.”

You wait for a reply from Shawn, but it never comes. Turning to your right to face him, his jaw is tightened and fists are clenched. As the two of you walk around the gym to greet everyone who came out to watch, you became aware of how Shawn lost the excitement he usually had after a win. His thank you’s sounded empty and conversations seemed rushed as if he didn’t want to be in the gym anymore.

“Shawn? Everything alright? You’re not gonna tell me how you think the game went? Not even about all those threes you made?” You ask worriedly. You tried mentioning the game’s highlights in hopes of getting a few words out of Shawn, but you found yourself receiving no answer from your childhood bestfriend.

Did you do something wrong? You’ve known him since the two of you were seven, but you’ve never seen this type of expression on his face. His usually chirpy and bright face was now traded with…anger? This was like the face he would make when he’d talk about beating West Bay, but almost even worse.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he says through his teeth. Shawn’s fists were clenching around his car keys.

You were about to say something about dinner to lighten the mood, but you got cut off by Shawn.

“You said Nate was his name?” he questions while you nod in confirmation.

“Brown hair?” you nod.

“Nice smile?” you nod.

“Blue eyes?” you find yourself nodding again, confused. Did Shawn know Nate? You didn’t remember seeing anyone like Nate at last year’s game, but then again, it was a year ago.

“Fuckboy?” Shawn says, emphasizing this description from the others.

Taken aback for a minute, you stop in your tracks.

“Excuse me?” 

“Un-fucking-believable,” you catch Shawn muttering under his breath as he briskly walks away from you.

You get close enough to him to grab his arm and somewhat slow him down.

“What are you going on about Shawn? Do you know him?”

“Does the name Nathan Martin maybe lighten a damn light bulb in that head of yours?” Shawn snaps, and your eyes widen. No wonder why the name ‘Nate’ sounded so familiar, it must’ve been a nickname that he used of Nathan.

“Wait,” you pause, “you’re telling me that the Nate who just tried to hit on me,” you stop again, “is the very same Nathan that you’ve had beef with for the last year? The very same person that you claim to hate?”

Your best friend nods, but never meets your stare. How did you not recognize the name the minute Nate introduced himself to you? You felt stupid, but didn’t understand why Shawn had to be so harsh. Was he jealous? No, he couldn’t be. He doesn’t like you and has never showed any interest in you. Maybe you were overthinking things, but you had your reasons.

Before you could say anything else, he’s already back to walking away from you. Figuring that it’d be best to not press him on until you guys were sitting in the car, you quietly trail behind the six foot boy. His footsteps are rushed, making it hard for you to keep up with him. You almost have to run to his car to make sure he wouldn’t drive off without you.

Once you click the seat belt of your passenger seat, you look over to look at Shawn’s face. His features are a little more relaxed, but he’s gripping the steering wheel so tight, that his knuckles are showing white. This was the last scenario you would’ve imagined to happen, especially after a win that Shawn has been going on about for the past year.

You wait for when you’re halfway to the restaurant to resume the conversation you and Shawn had in the gym.

“Shawn?” you speak barely above a whisper.

“Yes?” he sighs while keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

“Why do you hate Nathan so much? Like I get that you were mad about the loss last year, but there has to be another reason. You can trust me, Shawn.” 

Taking a deep breath, Shawn looks you in the eyes. “You really wanna know?” he asks, while you frantically nod your head ‘yes’.

He waits a few seconds before he begins. “Do you remember the girl I had a huge crush on at the beginning of junior year?”

A little hurt at the memory, you nod your head. You knew Shawn had a crush on a girl last year, but he never went into much detail on what happened between the two of them. You both considered each other your bestfriends, but when it came to dating, Shawn was always closed off about his romantic life. All you knew was that she went to West Bay and that they talked back and forth a lot. Not a day went by that Shawn wouldn’t mention how much he liked the girl, but one day it all stopped. When you tried to ask him what happened, he’d get upset and would try to change the subject.

“Well as you know, she went to West Bay and we had a thing. Ask anyone, and they’d say the same. We were exclusive, but not exclusive if that makes sense? We had a thing for each other, but it was nothing official.” He tried to explain the complicated relationship.

You gesture for him to go on with the story.

“We talked back and forth and even went on some dates for a few months before I finally decided to man up and ask her out one night. I was so nervous, but I just wanted to be able to call her mine. I was so head over heels for this girl, it was insane,” he closes his eyes at the stop light as if he were reminiscing.

“The night I was going to ask her out, I was going to decorate her room with balloons and flowers, and then ask her to be my girlfriend. Cliche, I know, but I didn’t know any better way. I texted her and when she told me she was out of the house and busy, I headed straight to her house where her mom let me in after I explained everything. When I got to her room, the lights were already on, but I didn’t think much of it until I heard some noise coming from behind the door. I know I should’ve knocked, but I stupidly opened the door to see Nathan Martin and the girl of my dreams at the time sucking off each other’s faces and practically naked. If I were to open the door any later, I’m pretty sure I would’ve walked in on a much worse scene,” Shawn paused for a minute and slowed into the parking lot of your favorite food spot.

To say the least, you were completely speechless. You didn’t know whether to hug him or tell him to drive you to the girl’s house so you could beat the living shit out of her. You were protective of your bestfriend, and tried to hold in your slight anger that was bubbling inside you.

“I-I’m so sorry, Shawn. No one should have to go through that,” you said while putting your hand on his. “She didn’t deserve you. It was her loss.”

“But wait, there’s more,” Your best friend says in a sarcastic tone. “When I confronted her, she told me that she was only using me as a rebound and a way to get Nate, her ex-boyfriend, back. She chose him over me and told me to leave. I don’t know if it was because I was so embarrassed or hurt, but I was crushed. I’m obviously way over it, but I remember being so upset over it that I didn’t leave my room for the next two weeks. After that day and the night of last year’s game, I wanted to whoop him and his stupid little West Bay team’s ass. Nathan stole what would’ve been my girl; he took away the girl I was crazy for,” He stopped talking to close his eyes. His face no longer showed anger or hate, but instead remorse and hurt. The diner’s bright sign lit up his now calm face, bringing the conversation to a more relaxed level.

You thought he was finished with his story until he opened his mouth again. “He did it once, and I guess he’s about to do it again,” Shawn sighed.

Wait

Did you hear that right? What did he mean that Nathan would do it again? Did Shawn like someone that he didn’t tell you about? Not gonna lie, you were slightly hurt that you best friend of almost ten years wouldn’t tell you about his crush, but you decided to put him before yourself.

“What do you mean someone else, Shawn? Who?” You were dreading the answer.

He laughs and you become even more afraid of his reply. “Isn’t it obvious? Do you seriously not get it?” you were taken aback and almost felt stupid. Did Shawn have a thing with another girl while you were thinking that you might’ve just maybe, had a chance with him?

You open your mouth to speak, but you’re interrupted. “I like you. You’re just too damn oblivious to see it. I’m jealous and I feel so stupid for it, but I can treat you so much better than Nate could ever.”

Now, it was your turn to be quiet. You and Shawn were sitting in his car parked in front of the restaurant right after he just confessed his feelings for you. For what must’ve been the millionth time, you were speechless, dazed, and confused.

Shawn liked you? He liked you back? You’ve been waiting for this moment since 8th grade, but something felt wrong. Shawn was too good for you, it just felt too good to be true. As the butterflies in your stomach settle down, you try to find the right words to say, but didn’t even get the chance to speak before Shawn adds on.

“Actually, scratch that,” you could feel your heart beating through your chest when he said that. What was he trying to do? Was this just a sick prank?

“I love you,” he breathed.

You try to find you words, and after a few seconds, you muster up the words that you only imagined saying to Shawn in your dreams. “I l-like you t-” And before you could say anything else, his lips were latched to yours. His body leaned over the glove compartment to grab your face closer to his as you lace your fingers in his still damp curls. The heat between the two of you soon became one as there was no distinct space lying in between. It was a short kiss, but you’ve never felt any butterflies like this. You could no longer tell if this was real life or not, but if this was a dream, you never wanted to wake up.

“Please give us a chance. If you just wanna be friends after all of this, I get it. I just can’t live knowing that I never tried. Nate doesn’t deserve you. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to say this. I love you so, so much. So much more than that dick can. Can we just try?” Shawn rambled. You’d never think you’d live the day to be hearing those words from your bestfriend. It was like a scene out of a movie.

“Okay, let’s try it” you say, going in for another peck. You were surprised at how calm you were, but being around Shawn made everything feel so calm, so natural.

“Now can we please get some food? I’m starving.” 

Shawn nodded his head, undoing his seatbelt of his jeep and running to the door of the diner to open it for you. He asked if he could hold your hand and of course, you obliged. You have held hands with Shawn before, but this time it was different. This time, there was feelings and meaning behind it. You felt on top of the world, and suddenly, your conversation with Nate just less than an hour before seemed much more insignificant.

“Who knew it’d take your enemy and jealously to get us here,” You joked as the two of you walked through the doors of the diner hand in hand.

JEALOUS + BESTFRIEND SHAWN IS HONESTLY THE BEST COMBO DON’T @ ME

check out my other writings >> masterlist

p.s. it’d be really great if you could like and/or reblog this :))

© sowhatshawn || all rights reserved

[coolpolarbear123]

BAND CAMP DAY 6

August 28th, 2017

Guys, I’m sorry for who I am

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7

This one will be long. Three hours worth

I’m Out of Shape:

So my brother had freshman orientation today. Do you know what this means?

It means that all of the 9th graders had freshman orientation.

At 7:58 AM

CST, for anyone who wants to know

It ended at 1:00 PM

Still CST, for anyone who’s having trouble keeping track

13:00 military time for any of you guys who use that system

Anyway, anyway. You know what started at 1:00? Band

Not “band” in general, though. Just the fish part. That’s right. The fish had their own band time from 1:00-2:30. Then the 10th, 11th, and 12th graders came in at 2:30 and we had practice until 4:00.

In case you’re wondering, this is a thing from every year (2 links)

And reading through, there was some sort of freshman thing that went on my 10th grade year, but I don’t know if it was the same thing? Maybe

Anyway, the freshman were at the school from 7:58 (I have a sneaking suspicion that this is to help the fish with our 7:55 starting time on normal school days) all the way until 4:00, and anyone with sports was there longer. Fun day

So going in, I knew that the fish might not be in the best mood

They weren’t as bad as last year’s fish, though, so it’s fine

It went fine, actually

I know a good chunk of the fish, so maybe that helped

Okay, anyway, due to the orientation, I had to bring my brother’s trumpet, but I was hanging out with a friend, so my mom had to grab me with the trumpet in the car, then drop me off with the trumpet

And so one of the F3 comes in, and she’s like “Do I need to get [your brother]” “Yes.” She grabbed him, I gave him the trumpet, and he gave me his nametag

I still have his nametag on

Y was wearing a red shirt, I’m wearing a red shirt (my HHS [the old school] wrapping booth one), and X comes in

AND HE’S WEARING BLUE

WHAT A DISGRACE

He’s not even wearing jeans like Y and me

The first half hour is spent with locker assignments. Basically, all the fish finally don’t have to lug their instruments home until the last day of senior year!

The locker combos got mixed up, so it took longer than normal. Like, the excel sheet got shifted somehow. It was a mess, and that’s why it took so long.

So, they didn’t need their instruments because first thing’s first: marching

“We’re going to learn how to march eight steps every five yards” --My band director

THAT’S RIGHT, INCOMING JUNIOR GIRL. IT’S NOT WHATEVER YOU SAID ABOUT EIGHT FEET OR WHATEVER THAT ONE OTHER TIME

DISCLAIMER: I COMPLAIN A LOT

The marching fundamentals

The six points of alignment

Toes up, heads up, chest out

At attention until told to relax

No banana backs

Remember, when you’re not holding your instrument, there are two places your hands could go

Not that any of this applies

Okay, so they form a block of six people per row, two rows of seven

Drum majors in the front

First we learn to mark time

Okay, okay, okay, I can do this. I’ve been here for two years. The only thing different about marking time is how our feet are placed and how the band director tells us to start

And, I mean, posture and attention and whatever

But that’s a whole category of wrong on it’s own

So we’re marking time

Now let’s take eight steps forward

There are multiple things wrong here

1) We went from marking time to marching eight steps. Forget taking one step for practice. Forget saying “Now look at that step. Would eight of those steps take you to the next yard line?” 2) Then the steps in general. Toes up, guys. We aren’t walking.

“Multiple” means “two” because I know how to paraphrase due to guilt

So our band director realizes that maybe fish that are just now learning to march can’t really go right into eight steps forward. 

So we practice taking one step

And then we go into taking eight steps

Eight steps forward. Good. Another eight steps forward. Good. Turn around. Eight steps forward. Good. Another eight steps forward. Good. Turn around.

Also pictured: the drum majors running up and down because we need to be in the front every time

Eventually we use our brains and realize if we space ourselves out we don’t need to die

I mean run

I meant die

Okay, so now we know they can walk forward

March forward, sorry

walk forward

BUT NOW

THE TRUE TEST

OF GEOMETRY

TURNING

AT

NINETY

DEGREE

ANGLES

All you have to do is kick the baby

Or, as they say here at the SS, “flip”

Okay, so I had to demonstrate this by marching in an 8x8 box doing right turns.

The band director went on about how good of a marcher I am (?)

*Award receiving voice* I’d like to thank HHS for making me who I am. Half of you guys--most of you guys--hate me, and I’m probably completely sloppy in HHS standards, but I spent my 9th grade year there and that’s how I know everything I do

Okay, so we start marching and turning right and stuff, We’re making 8x8 and 16x16 boxes

And then we start turning left

I know. It’s a huge milestone

Oh, by the way, at this point, us drum majors are just kinda moving around wherever we see fit.

Anyway, we make some more boxes

This is beginning to sound like a narrative of what’s in my sketchbook

And like, I’m a little ticked by posture and hand position and the idea of being at attention, but whatever. It’s whatever

It’s not something I should be annoyed at

This

is my band now

We do some weird things with those boxes, splitting them off and having them join up again

The fish are really into the idea of crashing into each other

At one point Y and I have some Kiss the Girl flashbacks. I don’t think I ever got the chance to tell any of you guys about that, so if you want to know, tell me

That was sophomore year. I’m sure I mentioned playing Kiss the Girl, but I didn’t go into anything beyond that because I only talk about band camp

Spoiler alert: I did not. Sophomore year, we had a Disney themed show where we played When You Wish Upon a Star, A Whole New World, Kiss the Girl, and Hakuna Matata.

ANYWAY

We get to do some backwards marching. What I learned was to never put your heal on the ground. You’re on your tiptoes the entire time

NOT HERE

We do that and I’m cringing

Oh, Y showed them how to do that

We get into halftime marching. Sophomore year, I really didn’t understand that we had a thing called “pregame” and you can see that in my posts. I didn’t mention the word “pregame,” but it’s there if you know where to look

The point of me saying that is that everything we did was pregame marching. Halftime marching includes facing the stands. It means everyone’s shoulders aren’t turned enough and the flutes make me want to die

and cry

And buy a new pack of pencils

So we get into lateral slides

Which they call “slides” here

Understandable--it’s an abbreviation

And I mean, technically the word “flip” is probably more accurate, but it’s harder for me than “kick the baby” so I’m going to complain for the sake of complaining

In which Y gave me a look when they heard me use that term

Anyway, halftime marching

X showed them how to do lateral slides

More marching, more marching

We’re marching in a terrible looking box

Everyone’s shoulders look really bad

Kill me now

And then two people come in

EXCUSE ME

Like, I’m sure you’re late for a reason

BUT NOW WE HAVE FISH WHO CAN’T MARCH DIVING RIGHT INTO THIS

Oh, dear gods

We position them

They’re stumbling

At this point I don’t even know how to help

THEN ANOTHER COMES IN

Kill me now pt. 2

We place her next to her best friend or something I don’t know what’s going on

AND WE’RE DONE

WE’RE DONE

Oh my gods

Please

So, as you guys know, I’m not fond of the marching fundamentals here. But also, I’m not allowed to complain

So, it’s 2:15, and the rest of the band is coming at 2:30

For anyone who is lost and/or has been forgotten, we’re still in CST. This is 14:15 and 14:30 military time

Y and I sit over by the lockers, talking

I feel really bad at this point for complaining

Like, the thing is, I’m definitely a top-tier complainer. Okay? It’s so bad.

And my 10th grade year, I was very secluded. It was really bad.

My 11th grade year was a testing-waters year. Like, I was more of myself, and I talked more about myself

Including my own past and my other friends and stuff

And I’ve been told time and time again that that isn’t stuff I should talk about

And I know that

But I’ve gotten really bad about it

And I think it’s time that I need to stop

Hopefully I can get back to my 10th grade self a bit

Suppress everything, right?

Anyway, while I’m feeling extremely guilty, a ton of fish come up to ask and ask what we’re doing/if they’ll need their instruments

And you know what? I have no idea

Y has no idea

This is probably something we should know?

Yeah, we don’t

Also, my brother is sitting with us. I love him. “Don’t you have friends?” “Yeah.” And yet he sits with us anyway? ♥

THE COMPLAINING ENDS HERE

It’s around 2:30 CST. 14:30 military time

So, I have two 12th grade friends here, one is Y, and I feel like I need a name for the other one, so I’m just going to take a moment to give people aliases

So, we have HDM and ODM from last year

The F3

X and Y from this year

And my other 12th grade friend (she plays French Horn and is loud) can be called FHF (French Horn Friend)

And I have that one friend who came with me to those two practices. She plays alto clarinet and I’ll call her Sidekick because people call her that sometimes online

And I have the flute mom friend from last year, and I’ll call her GFM (Graduated Flute Mom)

I JUST REALIZED I NEVER COUNTED THE FLUTES THIS YEAR

OH NO

I HAVE BROKEN TRADITION

Next time, if I remember and if I can

I’m getting so off-topic

Okay, hold on

Where was I

RIGHT

So FHF, Y, and I are talking and stuff

And it’s a little weird because they both read this (Hi, guys) and it came up

Only for a split second

But it was a strange moment for me

I mean, I’ll mention these posts to some of the Streamclan, but for the most part, I don’t talk about them a lot

And when I did--well, that was two years ago, and I was angry

But anyway, Y said something about being named “Y” but I don’t remember if that was now or at the beginning

You’re welcome

If you want me to use your actual name, let me know. This is all for privacy’s sake

So, everyone goes to their seat, and that means I’m sitting on the ground

One of the band directors pulled up a video at the beginning of the day, and we didn’t watch it before, so I thought maybe we were watching it now, but no. We never did

If I remember correctly, we played inside, went outside, then played inside some more

So, playing inside means conducting

And good news!

NONE OF THE DRUM MAJORS REMEMBER WHO IS CONDUCTING WHAT FOR PREGAME

“Did you bring your paper?” “No. I thought about it, but no.” “I didn’t.” “Neither did I.” “Uh, right. Okay.”

We remember halftime, just not pregame

So, there are eight pregame songs

X is fairly certain that he’s conducting the first two songs

I remember that I’m conducting the SSB, and I think maybe Mag 7

Y is thinking they conduct the opposing school’s song

That’s five out of eight

The other three? We have no idea

So, the first three songs we figured out (in which X and Y get to conduct), but we skip over Mag 7, right to a song that we didn’t know who conducted

So I conducted it, since I hadn’t conducted yet

And then I stayed up for the Star Spangled Banner

In which the band director told me that was my best time yet conducting it

And I was really proud of that

I have a really hard time with it

Things that happened while I was on the podium:

Me, mouthing to FHF, “WE HAVE NO IDEA WHO CONDUCTS THIS SONG”

Me: *raises eyebrows at my brother* My brother: *slightly raises eyebrows back*

I love my brother

*FHF points out my brother’s name tag with a questioning look*

And then we’re outside!

Guys, I know this is long. I started this when I got home (4:20?) and it’s 7:54. Trust me. I know. I’ve still got more.

I mean, I’ve taken small breaks

But, gods, today had a lot of content

And I’m so complain-y, and I’m pretty sure no one would want me to talk to them right now, so this is all I’ve got at the moment

So, we’re outside

And I do not want to march again

Luckily, we need to work on the salute

We set up the sound stuff and asked a band director if we could work on the salute (nose goes. I volunteered)

I keep misspelling “salute.” Guys, I’m exhausted

“Sure.” “Can we work inside?” “No. We might need you guys out here.”

They did not, in fact, need us out there

So, the salute

A 16-count thing we do before halftime. It shows the announcer that the band is ready

The last four counts are the actual salute

The first twelve? We get to make up that bit

Now, this year we’re doing a musical thing, so I wish we could do something musical themed, but there’s no way

First idea: Y takes four counts to die, I take four counts to die, X takes four counts to die, and we salute from the ground

Second idea: Do-si-do for twelve counts

Cupid shuffle?

Cha cha slide?

Harlem Shake?

Did you know the Macarena is twelve counts? Man, we almost considered that one

We kinda wanted to do a thing where we started on on side and went to the other

But we couldn’t think of anything

Anyway, we messed around like that until the end

And we have absolutely nothing

So, we go back in and take our seats. Time to play some more

We do some halftime

I’m off the podium for I Just Can’t Wait to be King

Which I only minorly mess up

And not much happens here.

The F3 are fortunate enough to hear me complain about I Dreamed a Dream

Gods, I hate conducting that song

At least, I think that’s when we did halftime

We also did a little bit of pregame

Meaning take two on the SSB

That one didn’t go as well

The fish percussion were struggling

BOOM CRASH sounded a little more like “??????”

Even with one of the band directors directing them from one foot away

It’s so strange to watch

But kinda funny

But yeah, the snares could have been louder

And that one didn’t go as well

Basically I can’t wait until the percussion have gotten down because that really confused me at first and I just had to keep going and pretend like I knew what I was doing and dear gods help me now

We reach the end

(FINALLY IT’S 8:15 AT NIGHT; I WANT TO ACTUALLY SCROLL THROUGH TUMBLR AT SOME POINT)

9:15 EST

FHF said that since reading these, she’s been keeping more of an eye on the drum majors, and she saw us do-si-do. That was fun to hear

And that was basically the end. I don’t think I forgot anything!

EDIT--I DID:

So, at the end, I get in the car, and my brother immediately is like “Oh. My. God. Guess what they made us do. It was terrible. I’m dead.”

He’s not that bad of a marcher, and he pays attention, but I almost laughed at that.

I offered to teach him how to march, though. Like, full on posture stuff. He said he’s up for it. I’m excited.

But yeah, no, I kept an eye on him the entire time. I’m so excited to have him in the band this year

DISCLAIMER: COMPLAINING

And mentions of the old school/band

I miss my old school. I miss my old band. I miss my old friends. That’s a fact. I did not come here on friendly terms. I’ve gone over this, but I was extremely angry coming here. Coming to the SS. It wasn’t a fun time for me, and it wasn’t a fun time for anyone I came across. And moving here shifted many of my friendships. I don’t know where I stand with practically everyone. And when I say I miss all of those things, my old town was band for me. I miss my old band. I miss what we did in marching band and concert band. I miss our tiny parade we did my freshman year. And there are so many thing I wish to say, so many things that once upon a time I would have. If certain things were different. Maybe I’d rant about the promises that were made, and whatever else that led to But, I can’t. I couldn’t. I shouldn’t. I don’t know what my old band thinks of me. I don’t know what my old friends think of me. I barely know what my new friends think of me. They wouldn’t want me back. I’m stuck between a band that doesn’t want me and I band I don’t want to be in. But I’m not stuck, am I? Not really. Because sucking it up--that’s what I need to do. It’s been a couple years. And logically, of course it’s time for me to maybe, just maybe, suck it up and except what I’ve been given. The reason I go to the SS is because of the marching band, after all. I don’t know if I can express what I want to say, but basically, I have no right to complain, and I’m sorry I ever did. I’m sorry I’m that kind of person. I’ll work on it. I promise.

COMPLAINING HAS ENDED

Next day is Friday, September 1st (CST)

[everlarkbirthdaydrabbles]

The wonderful @akai-echo will turn a year older on January 7th .... Just saying :)

Happy Birthday @akai-echo! And thank you @thegirlfromoverthepond for sending in the ask! We’ve written you a little jealous!Katniss drabble to wish you all the best for the next year of your life. We saw a few stories floating around for you this morning, so we decided to gift you a bed time read. Thank you for all your contributions to our great fandom! Rated T. 

“I’ll be right back,” Katniss tells Peeta at 30seconds to go in the half. She meant to run to the restroom and get in line atthe snack bar earlier, but being tucked into her boyfriend’s side away from thebiting wind had felt too good. And he smells amazing.

The play clock is stopped anyway due to apenalty, and she hopes that will give her enough time to beat the crowd.

No such luck, shethinks as she approaches a line of women that snakes around the corner in thedirection of the toilets.

 Fifteen minutes later, she’s headed back to herseat, ignoring the growl in her stomach because the line to the snack bar istwice as long as the line she’d just waited in.

Katniss hugs herself for warmth until she canget back under Peeta’s wing, but stops short when she sees her seat is occupiedby a dark haired cheerleader. The same cheerleader that’s been flirting withPeeta their entire senior year at State. Even from behind, Katniss can see thegirl’s skirt is scandalously short, and with her legs crossed she’s baring evenmore flesh for Peeta’s eyes. He doesn’t look, though. Keeps his eyes firmlyfixed on the girl’s face. Good boy.

She watches them together. Peeta’s relaxedsmile, and the way he leans back just a touch, a sign that he’s being politeand engaging, but not flirty. Bristel throws her head back at something funnyhe’s just said, then places her palm on Peeta’s chest. But he gently removesit, all the while giving her the golden-boy grin he doles out to everyone. It’shis signature smile. Friendly, charming, inviting. Stay awhile and have somehot chocolate while we trade stories, it says. Katniss loves that abouthim. He can make anyone at ease and he’s never met a stranger. So differentfrom herself.

The only time she hates it is when it comes togirls like Bristel. She knows Katniss and Peeta are together, yet she insistson chasing after him anyway. The ire boiling inside Katniss is enough to makeher forget winter’s chill, and when Bristel leans in to whisper something toPeeta, she’s had enough.

Katniss marches down the rest of the steps andweaves through the crowded row, stopping only after her knee accidentallynudges Bristel’s thigh as she passes the girl and perches herself in Peeta’slap. She gives him a sweet smile. “Mind sharing? My seat’s taken.” Peeta knowsshe and Bristel don’t get along, and she wishes for once he’d just tell her toback off.

“I never mind sharing with you,” he says, andKatniss knows that’s his own polite way of letting Bristel know he’s taken. Hegives his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek and her irritation evaporates alittle. But Bristel is still there. Katniss gives her a tight-lipped smile,which the cheerleader returns with even less enthusiasm.

“How are you?” Katniss asks in a chipper,two-can-play-this-game tone. Peeta’s arms snake around her waist and he givesher a gentle squeeze, pulling her back into his chest. He knows she’s upset.

“Fine,” Bristel answers, cutting her eyes to theside. Probably to avoid the affection she just witnessed. It makes Katniss wantto twist the blade while it’s stuck inside her rib cage.

“Well, I better get back to the field,” Bristelsays snidely, dismissing their affection as she stands. Katniss stands withher, unable to keep her temper in check any longer, and leans in.

“I know what you’re doing. Stop flirting withPeeta. He’s taken.”

Bristel looks back at her, a bored expression onher commonly pretty face. “He’s not married, Sweetie,” she saysmatter-of-factly. As if it’s any more honorable to flirt with an unmarried manin a committed relationship. A burst of panic thumps Katniss in the chest atthe thought that she has no real claim to Peeta, but she quickly pushes itaway.

“That wouldn’t stop you,” Katniss spitsout. Bristel’s eyes widen, then narrow in contempt, and she stomps away.

Katniss plops down in her seat and stares a holeinto the fifty yard line. She can feel Peeta’s eyes on her, then his arm aroundher. He pulls her into his side and kisses her temple. Normally, that wouldwork to clear a foul mood, but she’s too pissed at Bristel’s insinuation tomelt into his embrace this time.

“She just had some questions about Abernathy’sclass is all. I handled her flirting, and you sent her packing. We make a goodteam.” He smiles a lopsided grin at her and she softens. They do make a goodteam.

“You didn’t get your big pretzel,” Peeta says,changing the subject. She always gets a giant pretzel with a side of meltednacho cheese at halftime. And now that he’s reminded her she’s missing out onit, her mood tanks again and her stomach growls, though no one can hear it overthe dull roar of the crowd.

“The line was too long,” Katniss huffs, mentallytacking on that it’s a good thing it was. Who knows what Bristel would havetried had she not come back. She glares at Bristel as the cheerleaders take thesidelines for the second half. She shouldn’t be imagining the girl at the topof a pyramid, falling flat on her ass.

“I’ll get it for you,” Peeta offers, getting upfrom his seat, but Katniss tugs him back down.

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll live withoutfood. Stay with me.” She smiles at him, but she knows it doesn’t reach hereyes. They’re heavy with worry. She’s not ready for him to go yet. Even for tenminutes.

Peeta’s arms come around her and his lips placesa warm kiss to her lips and looks her in they eye. “Whatever my girl wants, mygirl gets.” Then he winks and walks off to the concession stand.

Katniss watches him go. Notices the way hisjeans mold snugly to his perfect bubble of an ass. How the thick hoodie he’swearing stretches taut across his shoulders. On anyone else it would hangloose. His short, golden curls are a beacon of light even in the dreariness ofthe day, and she has the urge to follow it.

She reaches him just as he joins the end of theshortened line, and he startles when she tugs on his elbow, his beautiful blueeyes wide as she pulls him in the direction of the ‘nook’, a semi-known, tightspace carved out under the stadium that used to be a storage area.

“Katniss, what-” He stops talking, well aware ofwhat she’s thinking when she ducks into the dark hole. She backs him into acorner, out of the way of the opening in case someone should walk by, andcrushes his mouth with hers. He opens for her immediately, as eager for her asshe is for him. To prove to him, and to herself, she’s the only one he needs,because she damn sure knows he’s all she wants.

“She’s right, you know,” he says, the wordsbreaking through fevered kisses before Katniss stops it altogether.

“Bristel?” she rasps. Her hands are splayedagainst his chest for balance, and she wills them to burn away any memory he’dhave of the hand that was there ten minutes ago.

“We’re not married.” His quick reply settleslike a weight on her chest, and even though her mouth is open, there is no aircoming in or going out of it. She starts to back away, disbelieving what she’sjust heard, But Peeta grabs for her, emphatic as he shakes his head. “Not like that, Katniss.”

“What else could that mean?” She can hear thepanic in her own voice, and Peeta does too because he hugs her tight to hischest. With her cheek smashed against him, Katniss can feel the race of hisheart through her entire body.

“It means you’re the only one for me,” his voicecracks and Katniss looks up at him, confused. He blinks, and her eyes are drawnto his unfairly long lashes as she wonders for the hundredth time how theydon’t tangle with the subtle movement. “It means I don’t want her words to betrue.”

She wants to ask what he means again, for him tospell it out in more detail. But all she can do is stare at him because, withthe intense way he’s looking at her, there’s really no way she can twist thatto mean anything other than forever.

“I have known you were the one for me sincefreshman year, and when Bristel said that today, it hit me. Not that I haven’tthought about it before, I have. Plenty. But, when she said it, I realized Iwanted her to be wrong, you know? I want us to be… everything.”

The panicked feeling of not having a real claimto Peeta tugs at her again, and she knows exactly what he’s talking about. Sheagrees wholeheartedly with him and nods, hesitantly at first.

“You do know?” Peeta asks, catching themovement. She nods bigger this time, still too shocked to do anything but stareat him. She may have known it since their freshman year as well, but none ofthat matters. All that matters is here and now, and the smile that takes overhis entire face. Katniss swears she has never seen anything so perfect. Hiswarm hands find her cold cheeks, and he rests his forehead against hers. Softpuffs of breath fan across her skin, sending a delightful shiver through her,and she clutches the thick fabric under her palms. He’s so close she can feelthe ear-splitting grin still plastered to his face, and she loves being the oneresponsible for it.

“Shit, this isn’t how I ever envisioned doingthis, but I just- I can’t wait.” He laughs nervously, stroking her skin withhis thumbs. She can feel the dampness of his palms on her face. “Katniss Everdeen, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife,and chasing away all the Bristels in the world?”

She laughs at the way he uses her jealousy toinfluence her decision, as if she would say no after all, but it’s perfect. Andthere’s only one answer she has to give him. “Always.”

He kisses her again, firm but tender, and shefeels the echo of her own answer all the way to her toes with every stroke ofhis tongue against hers. The crowd erupts in a loud ruckus, the stands overheadreverberating with excitement. In the back of her mind, Katniss knows it’s notfor them, but considering how big she’s just scored, it feels like it shouldbe. And she’s okay pretending it is.

[rebeccahpedersen]

Development Opportunity In Downtown Jackson

TorontoRealtyBlog

Before I get into today’s blog topic, let me just give you a quick story from this past week…

My wife and I are both huge football fans.  NFL football, to be exact, since even though I am as proud a Canadian as you will ever meet, I just don’t understand, and can’t stomach, the CFL.

To be more specific, we are both football fans in general.  Football at all levels.

We’ve been to NFL games in New Orleans and Chicago (both Saints games), and a college football game at LSU, which was probably one of the oddest experiences of both our lives – just think of every Amercian-made movie about college – it was like that.  Story another time…

One thing we’ve always wanted to do as attend a high school football game, say, in Texas.  If you’ve watched the movie or TV show, “Friday Night Lights,” you know what I’m talking about.  In certain parts of the country, they take high school football more seriously than college football.  These little towns are all about their high school teams.  Watch the Netflix show “QB1” and you’ll see what I mean.

We come to Idaho every summer, but we’re usually here in early-August, and we miss the start of the high school football season.

But not this year.

This year, the trip was a late decision as work and life are both very busy, and we found ourselves here until the 28th of August.

Well wouldn’t you know it, the season opener was on August 25th!

The Teton Redskins vs. the Jackson Broncos.

“Teton Valley” comprises both Driggs & Victor, which are towns eight miles apart, as well as Tetonia which is further north of Driggs, and Alta, Wyoming, which is technically in another state, but is just over the border of Idaho, essentially down the road from Driggs.

My wife and I were absolutely, positively, jet-set on attending this game, which was a home game for Teton.

At the golf course on Friday morning, a young man walked into the pro shop behind me, and the head pro said, “David, look at this guy.  How old do you think he is?”  Standing before me was a hulking man, about 6’4″, 220 pounds if I had to guess, with a full beard.  I figured this was a trick question, as he looked about 20’ish, so I said, “17?”

Fifteen, I was told.

This man was a kid.  And he was 15.

“Do you play football?” I asked him.

He smiled from ear-to-ear, although I could tell he was trying desperately not to.

“Yeah, I do,” he humbly said.

“Teton or Jackson?” I asked, like asking a townie if they were First Baptist or Southern Baptist.

“Teton” he said, proudly.

“Well alright then,” I told him, “We’ll see you at the game tonight.”

He was absolutely beaming.  Imagine a 15-year-old kid being told that somebody was coming to watch him and his team play football?

Phil, my buddy in the pro shop, told him, “David’s from Toronto, Canada.  He’s probably an Argonauts fan.”  Phil had some extended family in Toronto; we live on a very small globe.

“I don’t watch the Canadian game,” I told the kid.  “There’s three downs, the backfield receivers and backs are all allowed to be in motion, the field is 15-yards wider, the end zone is almost three times as large – it’s just not a good game.”

Many Canadians would disagree, but that’s just my opinion.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you guys play tonight,” I told the kid.  “What position do you play?”

“Middle linebacker,” he said.  “And tight end.”

“Ironman football?” I asked in amazement?  “You guys play both ways?  That’s awesome.”

Later that night, my wife and I found ourselves at a stadium that would rival many Canadian university stadiums, watching four small towns come together to cheer on their boys……..all twenty-two of them.

Twenty-two.

For those of you that know football, you know this makes zero sense.

There are eleven players on the field at once.  The NFL roster is 53-men.  NCAA college football teams are allowed to have up to 125 rostered players, and usually bring 70 to games, often duplicating jersey numbers among players.

This little team from Teton Valley had twenty-two players in total, and most of their kids went “Ironman” and played both offence and defence.

Jackson had 43 players on their roster, and they took control of the game early.

With Teton down 20-6 in the 3rd quarter, I told my wife, “Don’t call it a comeback,” channelling my inner LL Cool J.

My wife was more interested in the going’s-on at the stadium.  And how could she not be?

It was like a combination of a thousand movies we had seen.

At halftime, a group of about 20-25 kids from Jackson made their way down the stands, and my wife pointed to the girl in the front: “See that girl?” she said.  “That’s the leader of the pack.  She’s the ‘it’ girl.”

And in front was an attractive blonde girl, big smile, full of confidence, happy-go-lucky, leading the charge.  Just like you’d see in every American high school movie.

“And that’s her boyfriend,” my wife said.

Glued to the hip of the ‘it-girl’ was a tall, good-looking kid, with a distinct hair cut, well-dressed for a resident of a farm town, who walked with his chest out, confident but not showy.

The group walked almost in order of seniority.

And these were seniors, after all.  The school year had just started, and whether it’s Dazed & Confused, or some other movie you want to make reference to, senior year was upon these kids, and they knew it.

“She’s probably a Britney,” I told my wife.  “She looks like a Britney.”

“Definitely a Britney,” my wife said.

Where Britney went, the kids went.

And the boyfriend?

We decided he was a “Tate.”

Could have been a “Chase,” but Tate was more becoming.

Teton narrowed the score to 20-12, for some reason trying a 2-point conversion (I don’t think they had a kicker), and then scored again on a fumble-recovery TD; a “scoop-and-score.”  They converted the 2-pointer, and tied the game at 20-20.

Britney, Tate, and their group of loyal followers were a little quiet.

The Teton cheer-team was rubbing it in; running giant flags up and down the pavilion, motioning toward the Jackson supporters with a “teary-cheek” motion, much to Britney & Tate’s dismay.

With 3-minutes remaining, Jackson had the ball and needed only a field goal to take the lead.

But with my wife and I in attendance, all the way from Toronto to see a high school football game in the middle of nowhere, the outcome was preordained.

Teton intercepted the ball, and quickly marched down the field to score, convert the 2-pointer, and make it 28-20.

Jackson did get the ball back, only with about two minutes left.  It would have taken a touchdown and a successful 2-point conversion to tie the game back up.  And with Jackson crossing midfield, and making that low-percentage play look realistic, Teton’s middle-linebacker intercepted a pass to effectively end the game.

Who was that middle linebacker?

The kid I met at the golf course earlier that morning.  Luke something-or-other.  Hard to miss at that size, and with a vertical over ten-feet high, not exactly the player you want to try to throw over!

The whole experience was just surreal, from beginning to end.

I wanted to rush the field with the rest of the Teton Valley kids, but my wife told me I might look out-of-place.

We left the game, found our Toyota with ease in a sea of Dodge and Ford pick-up trucks, and headed home with the rest of the gang like lemmings following each-other down the highway.

Anyways, I said that would be a “quick” story, and it’s basically taken over the blog…

The next day, we found ourselves back in Jackson, Wyoming, where we’ve been essentially every day on this trip as there’s a lot more to see and do there.

While taking a shortcut through the residential area to avoid the congestion on the main drag, we literally happened upon the Springhill Suites, which was the condominium I profiled in last Friday’s blog.

This is a hotel-condo, much like we see with, say, the Soho Metropolitan at 36 Blue Jays Way, the Pantages at 210 Victoria Street, One King West at, well, 1 King Street West, and a handful of others in Toronto’s downtown core.

On the fourth storey of this quaint 4-storey building, are the condominium units, eight of which are currently for sale, as I wrote in last week’s blog.

They look gorgeous, albeit a little pricey.

The average around $1,000 USD per square foot, and while I know nothing about the Jackson condo market, I do know that this is pricey.

Why?

Because there are only nine condos on that fourth floor.

Nine condos in the building, and eight are available for sale.

The building is new, but still – I’d have expected to see better sales than one out of nine!  And again, I say this with absolutely zero knowledge of this market…

Here’s a description of the building I found from the developer:

The building is primarily a wood structure that sits atop a Post Tension slab with underground parking below the hotel. The exterior is finished with wood siding and bonderized metal with the elevator and stair towers being a board formed concrete to give it a Jackson Hole feel.  There is also a unique steel framed canopy that wrap the first and third levels. It is the first building in Jackson, to be above 3 stories in height, and is unique in the fact that the 4th level condos are privately owned.

But it wasn’t so much the hotel-condo that caught my eye as we drove through Jackson on Saturday, but rather that which was across the street.

Here’s the video, which I should have led with, as I fear I might have lost a few of the readers right about the time I segued off to Britney & Tate, but nevertheless…

Great building site!

Perhaps a sad day for the once-proud Western Hotel, but I’m thinking that pride likely peaked around the time Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane were big players in the west.

That’s a 0.34 acre site.

So just as I had asked last Friday, to those of you with zero knowledge of the market, at what price do you think this site is priced?

Guesses?

Anybody?

Do I need to keep writing words, and putting dashes to space out what you’re reading so you might actually make a guess?

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$6,000,000.

And again, with my zero knowledge of this market, I’d have though the number was around $10,000,000.

Why?

Because this isn’t just a piece of land.

It’s an approved site.

From the Sotheby’s website:

As one of the few, remaining, approved final development plans within the Town of Jackson, this property provides a unique opportunity to quickly break ground. One floor of commercial space can be developed with below grade parking, and two floors plus a loft of residential square footage above. An approved and entitled master plan is in place with a blended 2.0 FAR in conjunction with the Marriott development. Owner is a licensed Wyoming real estate broker.

But what does “approved” actually mean down here?

This isn’t Toronto, that’s for sure.

In Toronto, where developers literally run the downtown core, and politicians stand by like porters at the baggage-claim, you could tear down the church where Mother Teresa was baptized in order to build a condo.

Jackson is different.

The northeast corner of Jackson Square used to have “Moo’s Ice Cream Shop;” a relic for as long as I can remember.  This year, we showed up and saw the site was demolished, and in Toronto, that would mean a 62-storey condo was on the way.

But not in Jackson.

Here, that means a 2-storey bank is being constructed.

As the description of the Springhill Suites stated above, it was the “first building in Jackson to be above 3-storeys in height.”

First, as in, ever.

So what do we make of this $6,000,000 development site?

In Toronto, you’d see the 4-storey precedent, ask the city for 9-storeys, and settle at 6.  Wham, bam, thank you………developers, for the levies, tax base, and money to pay our overblown expenditures.

Here in Jackson, 3-storeys means 3-storeys.

I’m shy about $6M of the $6M, but if anybody wants to chat, you know where to reach me.

Well folks, that’s it for my trip to Idaho, 2018.

I’ll be back this week, ready to take on the fall market.

Ready if you are, I should say.

I don’t want to sound like a cheerleader here, but I think this fall is going to be a doozie…

The post Development Opportunity In Downtown Jackson appeared first on Toronto Realty Blog.

Originated from https://ift.tt/2MSxAIB

[365-money-diary]

DAYS 56 - 62

DAY FIFTY-SIX

9:30 AM - I get a text from boyfriend’s mom saying her sister and her sister’s husband will be at the house at 10:15. I wake my boyfriend up and get ready for the day.

10:00 AM - We try the iced coffee boyfriend got at Central Market. It’s terrible.

10:45 AM - We arrive at the restaurant, but it’s packed so we head to a different one which happens to be Mexican. It seems like the easiest thing for me to veganize are the fajitas so it’s basically tacos again.

12:00 PM - We arrive back at the house and I’m still pretty carsick so I lay down for a while and let my boyfriend catch up with his parents one-on-one.

12:45 PM - We have our bags packed and we’re ready to head home. I’m so so excited to get back! This trip was great, but through all of it, we decided that we need to stop taking our precious time off for family and need to start traveling for “us.” Boyfriend pays for both of us to check our bags which will chop $25 off of his IOU for his brother watching the dog.

3:45 PM - Time warp! We’ve already landed. I feel even worse from the turbulence, so I opt to sit while boyfriend grabs the bags.

4:00 PM - We grab a Lyft home instead of hopping in a cab so I can sit in the front seat without it being weird.

4:15 PM - Home! We are greeted by a wiggle butt Katy Perry. I am feeling terrible, so I take Advil and lay down for a bit.

5:00 PM - I emerge from the shadows and tell my boyfriend that Jimmy John's sounds amazing. He agrees and I place an order for us on my phone. $20.70

6:00 PM - I opt to lay down after we eat and boyfriend follows suit. He falls asleep watching Talladega Nights and I chill on my computer.

8:30 PM - I forgot to pay the invoice for that Mo-Dettes 7” I ordered last week. $17

8:45 PM - I pay the water bill and email BF about his rent portion. He owes $135.26 for utilities on top of his normal $400 for rent.

9:00 PM - Boyfriend cuts me a check and asks me to deposit it ASAP, so I snap a photo of it with my phone and off it goes. I watch the season finale of Master Chef Junior and eat a blueberry fig bar. My girl Jasmine takes the cake.

10:30 PM - We are so tired and end up falling asleep in the bedroom watching Seinfeld.

DAY FIFTY-SIX TOTAL: $37.70

DAY FIFTY-SEVEN 

8:45 AM - Boyfriend treats me to coffee at Cartel. Neither one of us want to head back to work.

9:15 AM - I arrive and make myself toast. Our paychecks are here, so I deposit mine and then order for $500 to be transferred to PayPal so I can then transfer it to #NOTSIMPLE to set aside for my future C-RV. 

11:05 AM - We head to Zoe’s Kitchen as an office. I’m out of salad supplies and none of us really want to work today anyways. I get a side of grilled potato salad and a bowl of lentil soup. $8.07

 3:45 PM - I have been putting off buying a plane ticket for my cousin’s wedding in Omaha. Boyfriend’s not coming, so I scroll through prices online and try to place together the cheapest non-stop situation at times that don’t completely suck or take up any of my allotted days off. $320.18

4:45 PM - I message boyfriend about dinner plans. We don’t have any, so I stop by Sprouts on my way out of work to grab a couple rolls, a bag of pre-chopped cabbage and carrots, and a bag of red potatoes to make BBQ jackfruit sammies. While browsing, I see a bag of shishito peppers and buy them on impulse. I also grab a ton of stuff for broth which I’ll also be making tonight. Colleague will reimburse me for half the broth costs. $10.14 + $30.83

6:30 PM - Dinner is served! It’s really good but I can’t finish it.

7:30 PM - We head to the mall and Zia. I don’t see anything at the mall, but at Zia, I see a Kraftwerk 3-D Blu-Ray box set from their tour last fall. It’s $180, but I can’t swing it.

 8:30 PM - I make broth and it takes forever. At some point I get a little hungry and nosh on coleslaw and a fig bar. 

10:45 PM - We’re in bed and I’m still checking intermittently on the broth, but I eventually turn off the stove and head to bed for the night.

DAY FIFTY-SEVEN TOTAL: $369.22

DAY FIFTY-EIGHT 

8:30 AM - I weigh myself which is something I periodically do, especially after weeks of eating cake, cookies, and traveling. I’m surprised to find I’m still 142, so that rules.

8:45 AM - I fight the urge to stop at Cartel and head straight to work. I call my mom on the way to chat about my trip until I get to the office.

9:15 AM - Toddy and toast.

10:15 AM - Since it’s the end of the month, I total my expenses and compare them to previous years. So far year to date comparing year over year, I’ve saved over $100 on coffee (this margin will get much bigger toward the end of the year, but because my MistoBox subscription hit, everything is skewed), and approximately $1,030 on food. That rules!

11:00 AM - I total all of my expenses and it appears that I’ve saved an additional $680 though it’s technically $1400ish since I deposited money into my savings account and #NOTSIMPLE. Next month I might not be so lucky because my freelance work has stopped.

 11:30 AM - We grab Even Stevens as an office. Since I won’t have broth until tomorrow, it seems silly to get all my stuff for lunches here. I get the vegan breakfast burrito and it’s so good! $8.29

6:00 PM - I finally arrive home. Boyfriend and I almost cross paths, but he’s already heading back downtown to work Modest Mouse. I spend my first hours home separating and reboiling the broth to make sure I kill any bacteria that may have grown while I was at work and salting the shit out of it. I also eat leftovers - BBQ jackfruit, coleslaw, potatoes, and shishito peppers. This is the first time I’ve been alone since Thursday afternoon. It feels amazing.

8:00 PM - I make plans to meet at Cornish Pasty with my DJ friend in an hour. I am already antsy so I decide to walk over early.

8:15 PM - I stop at Taste of Tops and buy a cider and catch up with various patrons there. It’s been a long while since I’ve been able to drink here and it feels so so nice. My DJ friend meets me and we walk over to Pasty and I get my favorite: Jameson Lemonade. We catch up for an hour or so with some other friends and then he walks me home. $12

10:30 PM - Home again. Boyfriend just got home from the show too. I am really hungry again, so I eat the rest of the cashew mac & cheese I bought from the Tempe Farmer’s Market before we skipped town. 

DAY FIFTY-EIGHT TOTAL: $20.29 

DAY FIFTY-NINE

8:45 AM - I’m up a little late today. I shower, throw on clothes and head to the office with my stock of broth in hand.

9:20 AM - I arrive at work, pour myself a toddy and make some toast. I also run out of toddy, so I make more for tomorrow.

12:30 PM - Colleagues fight about where to eat again. I am so hungry that I don’t have the can-do to grab stuff at Sprouts. We end up going to Scottsdale Fashion Square and eat at the food court. I get a falafel pita from Pita Jungle. $9.16 

4:00 PM - I am already done with my work for the day, and since we might be having company tonight, I message boyfriend about dinner. I know we won’t be leaving the house because of the NBA Finals, so I want to cook something quick. I don’t really hear from him and end up picking up veggie dogs, buns, and some sweet peppers from Sprouts… that way if our guests come over, we’ll have something for them to eat, and if we don’t, then that’s two meals for us! $9.95 

5:45 PM - Our friends bail and I make us veggie dogs with grilled peppers and onion (Leftover from the broth supplies I bought earlier this week) plus red potatoes on the side. We watch the NBA finals and are bummed the Cavs are playing so terribly.

7:15 PM - At halftime, I run to Safeway and get dairy free Ben & Jerry’s PB & Cookies ice-cream. $4.06

 8:30 PM - Cavs lose. We spend the rest of the night playing dumb games on our phones. I decide I want to try and become instagram famous, so I post a photo of my veggie dog with a billion hashtags at the end of it in attempt to get recognition. I gain 3 followers, so I guess that’s a success.

DAY FIFTY-NINE TOTAL: $23.17

DAY SIXTY

9:00 AM - I catch almost every red light on the way to work and realize I’m out of ice for my toddy once I arrive to work. I walk over to Sprouts super quick to buy a bag. $2.33

9:25 AM - Toddy and toast ritual. I check PayPal and see that the $500 I transferred finally hit, so I transfer it again to #NOTSIMPLE. Only $6,000 left to save until I get dat new (used) CR-V.

11:30 PM - We grab lunch as an office at Two Brothers. I get the falafel and a coffee kolsch. The food is really good, but it’s kind of pricey. I snap a photo to insta and gain a few more followers. $22.35 

12:45 PM - We have half day Fridays, so I run home and work on some finance stuff. I decide to try a new experiment this month by allocating $1500 for my monthly spending. To make sure I don’t go over. I’m going to use #NOTSIMPLE, so I transfer my remaining $1500 ($1452.15) into the PayPal so I can toss it over on Monday. I’ll use the $500 (Soon to be $1,000) I already have in #NOTSIMPLE to hold over until it transfers. Let the great experiment begin! 

3:00 PM - I realize I’ve been sitting on the couch for a long time (watching Real Housewives of NY). Not really the way I wanted to spend my half day off, so I grab my bag and head to Tops. 

3:30 PM - Holy shit it’s hot (102 degrees). I grab a cider from the fridge and chat with the bartender. Another friend drops in and we chat for a while. Around 4:00 something my boyfriend calls and is on his way home from work. I ask him to pick me up since it’s on the way and it’s too hot to walk home. $6

5:30 PM - We talk about dinner but end up fending for ourselves. I toss some frozen spring rolls from Costco in the oven.

7:00 PM - We head to Stinkweeds. Our friend sold her entire collection there and we both like her taste in music, but end up not finding anything we don’t already have.

8:00 PM - We drive downtown to hit up a comedy show our mutual friend organizes downtown. It’s really fun! I almost buy a drink, but I have really bad gas (lol) and I’m positive that will just make things worse.

10:30 PM - We’re home! We end up cuddling with the dog, watching some Simpsons and eventually pass out.

DAY SIXTY TOTAL: $28.35

DAY SIXTY-ONE 

9:30 AM - I must be super dehydrated because I keep feeling like I’ve been hit by a bus every time I wake up. Boyfriend peels me out of bed and we head to Cartel. My ASU Graduate Friend is working and hooks it up. I throw a couple bucks in the tip jar. $2

10:30 AM - We head to Einsteins. I get an everything bagel and spread some Smart Balance I brought from home. Boyfriend pays.

11:15 PM - We head to Tempe Marketplace and stop in a couple stores without buying anything before arriving at PetSmart. Katy is 100% out of food. Her food is on sale plus 3 cans of wet food come with the purchase of her brand. I buy the food and boyfriend buys treats and a new toy. $39.99

12:00 PM - We stop at Target as well and I buy seasoning salt, a toothbrush, and toothpaste, sandwich baggies. I am frustrated to find that a greedy vegan has bought all the Just Mayo and Just Ranch. My boyfriend offers to drive to a different location and I offer that we can stop in Chandler so he can go to House of Hoops and then we can stop at the Target across the street. $11.10

1:00 PM - The mall is kind of lame. Boyfriend tries on a pair of Lebron shoes but decides to think about it a little. I don’t buy anything.

1:30 PM - We run into Chandler Target and I buy two bottles of Just Ranch, a big jar of Just Mayo, and an impulse purchase of Dr. Pepper mini cans. $15.78

1:45 PM - We head home and neither of us are hungry yet. It’s so hot (106 degrees) that we’re both wiped, so we head home to relax.

3:00 PM - I’m starving. Boyfriend’s working a show tonight, so I bid him farewell and heat up the two remaining veggie dogs while watching RHONY.

7:00 PM - After talking with my mom, I decide today should be “me” day. I may or may not still be binging on RHONY. I think about walking to Tops, but it’s 104 degrees.

9:00 PM - I make plans with my ASU Graduate friend so she can watch me eat a salad at Cornish Pasty (she’s already eaten). I also decide to start some fitness challenge that was posted a while back to a FitBit blog to get me back into sort of getting into “shape.” I’ve never been a consistent exerciser, but now that my urinary tract issues are cured, I can at least try to get “sweaty” again.

9:15 PM - Salad and soda water (and good company). $9.03

10:45 PM - I’m home around the same time my boyfriend gets home from the show. We hang out but fall asleep pretty quick.

DAY SIXTY-ONE TOTAL: $77.90

DAY SIXTY-TWO

9:30 AM - I wake up a little before my boyfriend and make a grocery list for the week and do 5 burpees as a part of the 30 day FitBit challenge.

11:00 AM - We grab coffee at Cartel. I pay. $8

11:30 AM - We run to grab breakfast at La Santisima, but their credit card machine is down. After running to the ATM and waiting 10 minutes for our table, we miss the noon cutoff. We still grab lunch. I pitch in some money for our tab. $13

1:00 PM - We head home to relax. We’re both super anxious -- usually a thing that happens to my boyfriend on Sundays in anticipation for the week ahead. For me, it had to do with the atmosphere of the restaurant and us waiting forever for our food. A lot of times when I eat, I have to do it quickly and not drag it out for 45 minutes in between slowly munching on chips and salsa. Sounds insane, but whatever, go with it.

 3:00 PM - Boyfriend falls asleep. I watch RHONY in the living room with a pamp La Croix.

 4:30 PM - I head to the grocery store solo and buy salsa, hummus, bread, chickpeas, celery, almond milk, and dark chocolate. $22.41

8:30 PM - Boyfriend and I don’t have a very good night and it’s even lamer now that the Cavs lost.

11:00 PM - Bed.

DAY SIXTY-TWO: $43.41