#also the story behind the first one is i accidentally chose the Very Tall option instead of just the tall one so now shes >6'2

[calnexin]

Played Wayhaven... got Adam brain worms

[renaerys]

22. for reds 🤡

This is 100% not what you asked for (yet...👀), but I give you part 1 of what we're calling the Weird King AU. I'm turning this into a proper multi-chapter High School fic because I love you and I'd jump on any bandwagon for you.

xxx

Like most young, conventionally attractive Supervillains, Brick had made a bit of a habit of failing upwards. It was pretty easy in a town full of simpering morons content to project their own narrative assumptions onto him, and who was he to crush their dreams when they made his life a little easier?

For example, dating.

“You can tell me, you know.” His cute date, Tracy, sipped her milkshake across from him.

“Tell you what?”

She softened and reached her hand across the table. “Your tragic backstory. I’ll listen without judgment, I promise.”

Brick tried to think of something tragic, but it all seemed pretty underwhelming as far as Supervillain origin stories went. “You mean like how I was born in a toilet?”

She made an oh shape with her lips. “We all have those days where we feel like we were born in a toilet, Brick.”

He’d dated Tracy for three months before she broke up with him out of the blue in tears: sorry she couldn’t fix his baggage, she just wasn’t strong enough to handle all that tortured darkness, but she wished him nothing but health and happiness. Brick deleted her number from his phone and spent twenty whole minutes staring at the toilet in his bathroom, wondering what the lesson here was.

But everything changed when Mojo got out of prison and moved Brick and his brothers back to Townsville, where he enrolled them in the local high school alongside their former arch nemeses, the Powerpuff Girls.

Suddenly, everything Brick did pre-supposed ill intent. These people remembered him as the pest who had graffitied their local monuments and blown up their cars and endangered their children. They held no love for him, and at best they feared him. This was not Citiesville, where he’d been a tall, cold glass of Voss water in a sea of recycled Dasani.

He found himself thinking about his birthing toilet again as he stepped into the cafeteria alone and the conversation quieted down as his new classmates watched him from the safety of their tables. His next moves here were critical. He was no longer at the top of the food chain, but fear and mystery surrounding his origins and character gave him a certain power over his peers.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of social suicide, I will fear no cringe,” he said to himself.

The jocks were out. Capable though he may be, Brick was not much of a team player unless there was a blood contract involved requiring his participation on pain of satanic torture. The drama kids were also a hard pass, not because he thought drama was lame, but because they had barely noticed him walk in, and Brick did not have the energy to deal with people more self-involved than himself. Some of the unaffiliated tables could be safe, but without a good understanding of the nuanced social dynamics in the high school, he could be heading toward irreversible doom, and that was a risk he was not willing to take.

He saw his salvation just ahead. It was the only option, all else being equal. In an environment where he couldn’t be certain of his baseline status and potential for upward mobility, there was greatness to be had only by association and certainty only in the devil he knew.

Brick helped himself to the empty seat directly across from Blossom Utonium to a chorus of gasps and staring.

Blossom did not startle like her table mates had. She watched him critically behind a head full of bangs as she balanced her soup spoon in her hand. “Really.”

Brick unwrapped the burrito he’d purchased in the lunch line and brandished it before him. “Really.”

He took a bite of the burrito. It was not hot enough. The two girls to Blossom’s left whispered to each other about that bad boy and he’s hot, though.

Blossom daintily spooned soup into her mouth without spilling a single drop as she continued to watch Brick for signs of his imminent dark side transformation.

The guy next to Brick was brave enough to ask him what his next class was. Brick had a mouth full of disappointing burrito, so he passed the guy the printout of his class schedule in lieu of answering.

“Wow, all APs, huh? Hey, we’re in U.S. History together next period, nice. I’m Mike Believe, by the way. Brick Jojo, right?”

Brick didn’t answer him immediately on account of the burrito currently occupying his mouth hole, and Mike took it the wrong way.

“Oh, yeah, we all know who you are. Blossom sort of filled us in.” He winced like he’d inadvertently revealed a terrible secret.

Brick swallowed his food and washed it down with a gulp of water. “Saves me some time.”

Mike looked super relieved. “For sure! Hey, I could lend you my notes if you want to catch up. Gershwin’s giving a quiz on the Progressive Era on Friday, and she’s a hard-ass who definitely won’t care that you just transferred…”

Brick chewed on his lunch as Mike continued to talk at him about classes and other vaguely helpful, albeit uninteresting, information. But Mike seemed normal enough, a little chatty but not in an overeager sort of way. Blossom was no longer clocking his every move and seemed to be absorbed in her friend’s latest swim team cheating scandal, until Brick reached for his water bottle and she suddenly laser-focused on his wandering hand.

Her keen attention to him was honestly flattering, if expected. It was in his nature to be noticed, and in this narrow respect she was no different from anyone else whose head he turned. If she chose to feed her interest with the flames of suspicion, then it was no difference to him.

But if she was anything like him—and on a chemical level she was probably the closest to him that a person could get—he suspected it took tremendous effort to hold her full and sustained attention. The world they inhabited was as vapid and mundane as the humans that surrounded them, and even the most gracious of gods grew bored of worship. Which explained all the smiting and fucking and generational curses upon entire households in everything from Greek mythology to the Old Testament.

Brick was pretty deep into a fantasy of Blossom going full Ixion and the Wheel on the swim team when Mike tapped his shoulder. “You ready to go?”

It took him a moment to realize the bell had rung and he had a class to get to—AP U.S. History with Mike, apparently. Brick gathered his tray and his bag and followed Mike. When he looked back at the table, Blossom was already gone.

xxx

That whole first week was painfully boring. No one bullied him, or pranked him, or picked a fight with him, of course. But no one really approached him, either. His brothers were more determined to make an effort. Boomer announced he was trying out for the soccer team because there was no rule saying a Super with extremely well documented ties to active criminals and the forces of Hell couldn’t kick a ball around a field. Butch had gotten himself invited to a midnight screening of Snakes on a Plane in some rich kid’s home movie theater, but only after that same kid had accidentally spilled milk on Butch and burst into tears in front of a cafeteria full of Juniors and Seniors. Brick declined the invitation Butch extended to him. He had that AP U.S. History exam to study for on Friday, anyway.

He shared all of his classes with Blossom. Even in the classes where her assigned seat was behind his and he couldn’t see her, he could feel her lobotomizing stare at the back of his head whenever she glanced up from her notebook. And while Mike’s notes were perfectly adequate and the friendly gesture counted for more than the content (a gesture Brick would not soon forget), there was a far more efficient way to accomplish his goal of murdering the class averages while also taking the edge off his loner doldrums.

“Can I borrow your class notes?”

Blossom rose from her seat and pulled her hair tie out to re-do her extremely long ponytail. She held the elastic between her teeth as she worked. Her teeth were very straight, he noticed. Some pretty nice girl-teeth, generally speaking.

“Which class?”

“All of them.”

He watched her wind the elastic around her hair with quick, adroit fingers. “That’s a lot of notes.”

“You’re the top of every class. No point in asking anyone else.”

She moved toward the hall. He followed her out. “Why would I help you?”

A legitimate question delivered without venom. Unlike her sister Buttercup, who’d “run into” Brick after school on Monday and told him to watch his back, Blossom didn’t have to do anything but maintain a general proximity to make her superiority complex known. Which was the kind of flex he could fuck with.

“Isn’t helping people sort of your mandate?”

They had arrived at her locker, which she opened with enough force to rattle the hinges. “I help the helpless. Are you helpless, Brick?”

Brick smiled at her baiting. Had she ever actually said his name at a normal volume before? It sounded good even in her baseline bitch timbre. “Critically helpless. I’m the new student who transferred in the middle of the semester, and you’re the only person who knows me.”

A couple other students clearly trying to get to the lockers Brick was blocking hovered just out of reach. They whispered to each other, but neither of them actually worked up the courage to ask Brick to move. He ignored them.

Blossom rummaged in her locker for the binder she would need for the next class. “Make friends.”

“Working on it.”

The locker door slammed and she faced him. There was something confrontational in the way she held herself before him that kicked him in the nuts back in time thirteen years to their more uncouth days when all he wanted to do was destroy her so he’d be the only one. Now they were older and wiser and he actually did need her notes to study, so destroying her was not high on his list of priorities.

“You want to be my friend.”

“We have so much in common.”

“So do lions and hyenas.”

“Both are apex predators, so.”

She took a step closer and peered up at him. Brick did not move, although he wondered what was so interesting about his face. She probably just thought he was hot. She was probably as bored as he was. She probably—

“You have lettuce in your teeth.”

Brick pulled back and covered his mouth on instinct. God fucking damnit.

Blossom was already walking away from him by the time he’d picked the food from his teeth. “I’ll expect my notes back in mint condition before first period tomorrow morning.”

Brick pressed a fist against the lockers and quietly fumed. “Dumbass…”

“Um, sorry, but do you mind…?”

The student who’d been waiting for her locker space to clear up had her palms up as if to assuage a feral stray. Brick pushed off the lockers, but his fist left a dent where he’d unleashed some of his impotent self-pity. He looked back at the girl, and she shook her head.

“It’s fine! It, uh, it happens sometimes.” She pointed a couple lockers down to Blossom’s, which was dinged up worse than the others.

Brick stared at Blossom’s locker, and then back at the girl. Her narrow, dark eyes were wide, but not out of fear. She was waiting for something, and like an idiot it took him a moment to catch up. “You’re trying to make me feel better about fucking up your locker.”

She laughed nervously. “I mean, it’s really fine! You just looked so miserable for a second there, and I just thought…”

Great, he was moping so hard he had an audience.

The five minute warning bell rang, and a flood of students rushed past them on their way to fourth period. Brick stepped aside so the girl could get to her locker.

“Hey, you’re the new guy, right?”

The new guy, yeah. How quaint. Except, she was waiting for a response, which wasn’t the absolute worst thing that had happened to him all week.

“Brick,” he said. But of course, she already knew that, and she was just being nice.

“I’m Kim. Kim Chan.”

“Okay.” He didn’t have anything else to say to her, so he decided to get his shit and get to his next class.

“Welcome back to Townsville, Brick.”

Brick shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked off. It didn’t occur to him until later that Kim was the first and only person who had properly welcomed him back home.

[qobiin]

weekly fic rec hoard

here's what i've been enjoying reading (and re-reading) this past week for different fandoms across the board! this week features: atla, bnha, good omens, harry potter, marvel, naruto and stranger things  ♡ means: all-time fave, (m) means: 18+ themes 

avatar: the last airbender

♡ first rule of earth kingdom fight club... series by ohmygodwhy  zuko, his stubborn inability to die, and finding himself thru getting his ass kicked 

The Most Ragged Edges by twinfinite  In hindsight, Zuko really should have seen this conversation coming. He can almost hear Li and Lo chanting wickedly about the magic of Ember Island, about waves smoothing away rough edges… 

♡ ribs by ohmygodwhy  The first thing Zuko tells him during their first lesson after the whole Sun Warrior ruins ordeal, is “Fire comes from the breath.” a lesson in learning, and re-learning. 

♡ see your son rising at last by aloneintherain  When Zuko dashes into the sitting room, it is with the same wide-eyed panic that he ran from Azula’s smoking hands when he was a child. Iroh bites down on a smile. Zuko looks the same, even now, a decade later with a scar blossomed over one side of his face, green and brown robes replacing the solitary reds of his childhood. His hair is puffed up around his face. He looks like a very frightened, very windswept turtle-dove. Zuko dives behind Iroh just as Aang breezes to a stop in the doorway. Five times Zuko hid behind Iroh, plus one time Zuko stood proudly in front of him.

♡ the beginning of a new and brighter birth by aloneintherain  “I’m so proud of you, my nephew.” Uncle cups Zuko’s face in his lined hand. The gesture is so tender, his palm so warm, that Zuko has to take a fortifying breath against the sudden swell of emotion in his chest. “I want to be a good leader, Uncle,” Zuko says. “I want to look after my people.” “You will,” Uncle says. “You are, nephew.” In a new era of peace, Zuko works to be a very different Fire Lord than his forefathers.

boku no hero academia 

the stars are floating and we are flying by lunalou  Aizawa starts walking towards the exit, obviously expecting Shouto to follow him, but Shouto's feet are frozen in place. His eyes flicker from the distorted reflection of himself in the ice to where All Might is giving him a long look, eyes kinder than anything Todoroki has ever been deserving of, and he feels sick.  “Todoroki-kun,” Midoriya says gently, squeezing his arm in what Shouto presumes is meant to be a reassuring gesture. “It’s going to be okay.” He doesn’t think Midoriya is in any place to tell him what okay is, all things considered, but he chooses to keep quiet on the matter. 

♡ I’ll share this with you, so leave it behind by yabakuboi  For the sake of the story, All Might is never in need of a successor, and, when Izuku saves Katsuki from the sludge monster, encourages young Midoriya down a different path. Thus, Katsuki and Izuku part ways after junior high, as Katsuki enters U.A. and the Midoriyas move overseas. It’s later that Katsuki realizes that there’s something missing, that he drove that something away. Years after, Katsuki finds him in the last place he looks, in the cereal aisle at the local grocery store of their childhood neighborhood. 

Loose lips Sail ships by Yousayhun  Bakugou is at war with his own fucking mouth and everyone else just seems to be having the time of their lives. 

♡ flare guns go off in my head saying not to call you this late by youreanovelidea  Midoriya beams at him and Tokoyami is suddenly hit with the urge to look away. “So bright,” he mutters under his breath, low enough that Midoriya can’t hear him.  (or, Midoriya is a problem child who just really loves his friends) 

(m) The Devil Blues by iknewaman  The 78th precinct's police captain, Toshinori Yagi, has volunteerd his squad to help implement the mayor's wish of increasing the successful cooperation between the city police and active Pro-Heroes. Each detective is to be assigned a Pro-Hero who will shadow them for two weeks, and the operation has been dubbed the 'Station Cooperation Operation'. Although it is not well-received by those involved, Izuku Midoriya, current detective at the 78th precinct and loyal follower of captain Toshinori's ideals, believes that the operation will be a success. If his captain says it will succeed, there isn't a doubt in Izuku's mind that it will. That is until he meets his assigned Pro-Hero. 

♡ someone is wrong on the internet by rhenna  It’s been a long day. By all rights, Izuku should be falling into bed, half dead. But instead of sleeping, he’s hunched over his laptop at 2 in the morning writing a dissertation about why exactly Ground Zero’s pecs are the best pecs to ever pec, and how dare anyone insinuate that he should lose some of that muscle because don’t you even understand what kind of physique a quirk like that requires? Amateurs.  (Izuku has two jobs in this world: pro-hero and anonymous president of the Ground Zero fan club. What could possibly go wrong?) 

good omens

♡ Divine Intervention (aka God ships it) by TheLadyZepher  There’s a battle strategy devised by humans many millennia ago that's designed to overcome an adversary who is particularly well entrenched. Some walls are too tall and thick for a frontal assault, and must instead be bested through sheer dogged stubbornness. Crowley and Aziraphale didn’t know it, but they were about to be put under siege.  Fed up with an angel and a demon who are still avoiding any talk of Feelings, God starts to interfere. When it comes to the ineffable plan, sometimes things need a bit of a push. 

♡ Slow by write_away  It started like this: A boy with the ability to warp reality met an angel and a demon and he made assumptions.  You might say it started like this: An angel and a demon found a marriage contract hung on the wall of the angel's bookshop. They didn't question it. It also could have started like this: Once upon a time, the angel told the demon he went too fast. The demon took it to heart.  Aziraphale and Crowley find themselves somehow married. Crowley fears going too fast. Aziraphale forges ahead. Neither know how to ask questions of each other. 

♡ Eziraphael’s Gifts: A History of Queer Faith and Longing, by Natasha Marie Johnson (Beacon Press, 2019). by actualbat  "If Eziraphael has come to be known--in today's language--as the 'guardian angel of sad queers,' then it makes sense for him to have shown up more regularly in the past once that became a recognizable historical category." Natasha is really glad that she's given this talk enough times to be able to do it on autopilot, because those two funny-looking men in the back just made the most absurdly astonished faces. (Or: Not all historians ignore gay subtext, and not all immortal celestial beings have their shit together. Also, voodoo.) 

harry potter 

♡ Apple Slices and Cocoa by FeathersMcStrange  Harry Potter is an abused kid with not an adult in the world on his side when Molly Weasley meets him.  She decides right then and there that if nobody else is going to try and take care of this boy, then dammit, she's going to. 

hello goodbye (’twas nice to know you) by tamerofdarkstars  Draco Malfoy thinks he might know whose thoughts are scrawling themselves on his skin, but that's crazy. Impossible, even. It has to be a mistake.  -  Self-indulgent soulmate AU where the thoughts of your soulmate inscribe themselves on your skin in a shifting magic tattoo 

♡ (m) Men Who Love Dragons Too Much by fencer_x, IDoodleForNoodles  ‘Kill Albus Dumbledore’ is less a challenging task and more a suicide mission, so when Draco Malfoy is presented with the option to either dispatch his Headmaster or suffer an excruciating and most ignominious death of his own, along with his parents, he reaches deep into his black little Slytherin heart and manages to scrape together enough courage to go with option C instead: Spend Sixth Year secretly studying Animagecraft in the hopes he’ll turn into something sufficiently imposing even the Dark Lord himself won’t be able to keep Draco under his thumb. But just his luck, his Animagus form turns out to be a dragon, and a rather randy juvenile at that, intent on finding its mate: one Harry James Potter. 

marvel 

♡ Hard to Love by Gruoch  If someone had told May that Iron Man himself would one day occasionally show up uninvited to her quiet little apartment and intrude into her quiet little life, she would have laughed them out of the room. But then her life seems chock-full of unpleasant surprises these days.  Or, Tony Stark wants a bigger piece of the pie. May Parker learns to accept help. Peter just wants to keep the peace. 

♡ Mr. Parker Declined to Comment by apisdn  The events leading up to the embarrassing moments during the Doomed Field trip, and how Peter Parker accidentally ended up in charge of things. All the while the political machine moves on, the Avengers do not kiss and make up, and the future draws ever closer. 

Another No-Good Field Trip by Muimor  Peter Parker is not having a good day. AKA, Where Peter's decathlon team take a field trip to the Avengers Compound, Vision's a menace, and Peter really doesn't want to go.

naruto 

(m) Resonance by flailinginlove  After being hit by a missing-nin's jutsu, Kakashi's chakra is never the same again. 

♡ (m) What Otter Nonsense by DarkAuroran  “Is that an otter?” Iruka asks as large, sable eyes blink at him and a little whiskered nose twitches curiously. “That’s an otter. Why do you have an otter?”  “I can’t tell you,” Kakashi says with a great amount of dignity for a man cradling a baby otter in armoured gloves. “Classified Jounin mission business.”

♡ Learning Curve by ishiryoku  This is the life she chose: the path of the shinobi. It's either roll with the punches or be left behind by her team—and Sakura's not about to let them go off on their own. 

♡ Roots and Wings by ideaoforder  When Naruto is kidnapped from his orphanage at age three, Kakashi is so done with this shit. He gets Naruto back, tells the Hokage where to go (politely, because he isn't suicidal), and raises the boy himself. Or, you know, tries and is proud when there aren't too many explosions. Then everybody starts to copy him and it's a whole thing. 

stranger things

In Which Starcourt Is a Pun by asexual-fandom-queen (writeordietrying)  “Welcome to Scoops Ahoy. Do you know what you want?”  Nancy and Jonathan visit the Starcourt Mall and corner Steve at his place of work with their feelings, but in an awkward, this-is-still-the-1980s-so-we-can't-be-too-direct kind of way. 

♡ my father comes and he goes by mjolnirbreaker  So, for Max, he doesn’t punch Billy Fucking Hargrove. He just sits there in sweltering heat and listens to the C’s being announced, and when parents cheer for their kids he tries not to think about how his parents are currently in Colorado. 

♡ it’s a risk, it’s a gamble by nondz (pinkjook)  “I think we should pretend to date,” Robin says. "What?" Steve answers. 

one of those new wave boys by glorious_spoon  It probably should feel more awkward than it does. (Or: Steve and Robin go on a road-trip, drink, listen to music, and look after each other. And yeah, maybe there's some cuddling involved too.)

wanna rec me something? head over to my ask or submission boxes! message me even, i don't really mind (: 

and to all my fellow authors who may feel a little down about not getting onto rec lists, this is for you:

[thoughtfulalmondauthorperson]

2AM

If you told me two days ago that I'd be running down Brooklyn Avenue at 2am with a bag for McDonald's in hand, Deputy Maxwell in pursuit and accompanied by Matthew Walker, Levi Andrews and Alexander Pierce, I would've called you crazy. But it's actually happening. However, for this to make sense we have to go back two days, when I accidentally walked in on the three vandalising the football Coaches office. Yeah we're starting there.

It was a normal Thursday for me. I, of course, was running late as per usual. My medium length strawberry blonde hair; still un-brushed, was a tangled rats nest thanks to the wind which I had experienced while running to school. Sweat lightly covers my scalp creating an itch which ignored. Ronda at the front desk smiled at me when she saw me walk through the office doors. I was about to ask for a late note when she placed one in front of me, with the exact time I arrived. "I timed you last week," was all she said. Grabbing my I left the office to my locker.

The halls were quiet, so quiet that even my soft footsteps sounded loud. Once at my locker I put in my combination and quickly grabbed my books. However, that's when I saw three figures sneaking around the corner. They hadn't spotted me yet but I could clearly see who they were. The Junior and Senior class call them the Hoods; why? Because they seek back redemption against people who were wronged.

The Hoods go as followed. Alexander Pierce, he's a Senior but from what I've heard he's always been one for causing trouble. He's also very much a ladies man, I could see why though. Tall, tan skin and muscles; glorious muscles everywhere, blonde hair which was long but was always worn in a man-bun; which suites him, and gorgeous blue eyes that could make any girl swoon. Levi Andrews, also a Senior. He's known as the smart one, picks the victims and such of their escapades. He unlike the other two was slightly shorter bu his facial bone structure definitely made up for it with a sharp jaw and high cheek bones, a sun kissed tan to match along with emerald green eyes and chocolate brown hair, kept short. Then finally we have Matthew Walker. He's a Junior and what every girl imagines as their bad boy. Always clad in black, a leather jacket, and a cigarette on hand he was labeled as such. However, his looks were also to be praised as he had a defined jaw line, semi-full lips, dark brown hair; almost black and deep brown eyes.

The three of them turned down another corridor not even seeing me. Curiosity sparked within me. What were they doing? Levi was carrying a black bag, with what was in it? I didn't know. Going against my better judgment, I closed my locker and followed them. Down the corridor the three enter what looks to be an office. I should've turned back, just leave it and pretend I did t see anything. Yet my curious ass thought it's be a good idea to see what they were doing. I crept closer, being sure to stay close to the wall. They left the door wide open, as if they wanted to get caught doing whatever they were doing. Through the door I saw the three boys trashing the Coach's office; turning over chairs, pulling out papers, wiping the desk clean of everything. Oh sh-

"Hey!" My eyes widened when I saw Levi Andrews looking right at me, emerald green eyes hard with anger. We all froze in that moment. Matthews and Alex stopped and turned to look at me, and me? I was like a deer in headlights. I couldn't move; I was stuck to the wall unable to move. Then in a heartbeat Alex shot towards me. Panic flooded my body. Reacting to my flight or fight I chose the second option. Dropping my things, I went to turn and sprint down the hall back the way I came but Alex was already out in the hall. Arms enclosed around me and I knew in that moment I was completely screwed.

Alex lugged me back into the Coach's office. Once inside Levi closed the door and locked it, probably worried I'd make a run for it. "Alex put her down," Matthew said. However, Alex didn't put me down down. I couldn't see but I was pretty sure that the boys were having a fight of dominance with a staring contest; my cousins do it all the time when one doesn't listen to the other. "I'm not going to run okay. Just put me down," I said cutting through the silence. Slowly Alex set me down on the ground. Any sane person would have ran, and believe me I wanted to, but the office was locked and Levi had decided to stand in front of it. With my heart beating like crazy against my ribs I turned to face Alex and Matthew. Alex looked annoyed, as if I interrupted something important, however, Matthew had a curious look in his eyes. "I swear I won't say anything, I promise, I'll leave and won't say a word," the words fell out of my mouth quick and rushed, matching my heartbeat. I wasn't entirely sure but I think a small smile pressed itself to Matthews lips. "Harper right?" A lump formed in my throat and I think I forgot how to breathe.

A look of familiarity crosses Alex's face. "Elliot Lewis's little sister," Levi said from behind me, venom dripping heavily from his words. The Hoods and my older brother have a history, mainly Levi and Elliot. The short story is that Elliot took what was Levi's; my brother stole Levi's girlfriend. Levi has hated my brother since. And my brother never shy's away from rubbing it in Levi's face. It's cliche yes, but Levi hates me too. "Oh that piece of sh-"

"What your tongue Pierce," I spat before he could even finish. Elliot did a bad thing, but he's still my brother and I love him. A look of surprise appeared on Alex's face. "Feisty," Matthew said smiling. I felt blush creep up my neck.

"Let her go, I doubt she'll say something," Matthew said shrugging his shoulders. "Are you fucking kidding me? She's a goody damn two shoes! First thing she'll do it go tell someone," Levi replied. He was definitely pissed, but I don't think it's because I caught them, it was most likely because I was Harper Lewis, Elliot's little sister. Matthew didn't seem too convinced by Levi's outburst. "She won't, trust me Andrews," Matthew smiled at me. "Off you go, have a nice day," cautiously I turned around and walked towards the door. I unlocked it and twisted the handle. Then a thought occurred to me. They only do things like this to people who deserve it, they do things like this to have justice. I turned around and looked at all three boys. "Whatever he did, make him pay," my voice was firm and sure. "We will," Matthew said nodding. I nodded in reply before I opened the door and walked out going back the way I came. All I could think was, what just happened?

                                                                                                       ****

The next two days were literally the most terrifying thing I had ever experienced in my life so far. Turns out Coach Clayton... well let's say it's very unspeakable. The boys of course owned up to the destruction of his office and were once again put on probation within the school. I of course avoided the three of them at all costs. No way did I plan on getting cornered by the three of them, or any of them at any point ever. My plan was simple, stay away from The Hoods. It was almost flawless, until it wasn't.

I was on my way to Math when I saw Alex down the hall flirting with some naive Freshman. My heartbeat picked up pace and I was about to turn around and walk the other way as not to get caught but it was way too late for that because he had already saw me. He smiled at the Freshman and said something to her before he pushed off the wall and began walking towards me. Sh-

"Hey Lewis," Alex said and I felt every hair stand on end. "Pierce," I replied still walking to Math. I faced straight ahead, I didn't want to look at him. "You know, I'm impressed you haven't said anything about the other day," this caused me to turn my head. A smirk graced his lips. "Why would I? You guys owned up to it anyway," he still stayed beside me as we turned a corner. "No I mean I'm surprised you haven't told your brother," I stopped walking.

He realised I wasn't walking anymore and stopped. "What makes you think I'd tell my brother?" He shrugged but I could tell he was uncomfortable about the question. "My brother doesn't need to know everything about me, and he certainly doesn't need to know about everything I do and who I involve myself with, so I suggest you stop thinking that I do," a look of shock placed itself on his face. My heart was beating rapidly, pounding against my rib cage, and adrenaline pumped through my body, a rush sinking into my skin. "Now I get it," Alex mumbles to himself and I couldn't help but furrow my brows. The warning bell rang and students began to hurry last us. "I'll see you around Harper," Alex said and he began to walk the way we came. What did he mean by that? 'Now I get it?" because I certainly do not get it.

Shaking of the confusion I made my way to Math, yet there it was, in the back of my mind for the rest of the day. A simple question that just wouldn't leave no matter what I did. What did Alex now get?

                                                                 ****

Friday nights usually consisted of Netflix and popcorn with several tubs of ice-cream on the side. It was 9pm, my parents were out of town for the weekend visiting some old collage friends and Elliot was at his girlfriend's house. I had sported my favourite onesie; Stitch, from the Disney movie, Lilo and Stitch. To All The Boys I've Loved Before was playing on the screen for the 3rd time this week and a bowl of popcorn rested in my lap. I had always spent my Friday nights like that since I could remember. While Elliot always was out with friends, I had made a home on the couch watching movies.

The movie was close to finishing when I heard a knock at the door. I, of course, ignored it; thinking it was Elliot; he'd find his keys in a few seconds. A knock comes again. I don't answer. Another knock. Becoming annoyed I decided to finally answer the door. Huffing because the annoyed state I was in, I stood up from the comfortable couch and I pressed paused my movie. I carried the bowl of popcorn with me as I walked to the door, still casually snacking on it. "You know Elliot-" I began to say as I opened the door but trailed off when I saw Levi, Alex and Matthew. I felt my mouth slightly drop open in shock. What were they doing at my house? "Oh thank fuck," Alex said as he saw me. "Huge favour Lewis but we gotta hide," Levi glanced behind him down the street as he said it. I was however, still in shock that The Hoods were standing at my front door on a Friday night while I was wearing a Stitch onesie to answer him. "Harper, come on you got to let us in," I shook my head at Matthews words. Looking at the three of them, I sighed and opened the door wide enough for them to step into the house. Once all inside I closed the door behind them.

Through the small window in the door a clean white Police car drive down the street slowly as if looking for someone, or a group of people. When I turned back to the boys I noticed they were all slumped against a wall. "So mind telling me what you did?" I asked picking up some popcorn and putting it into my mouth. None of them replied. "Okay then if you're not going to tell me I can always call-"

"No! No don't do that," Alex jumped and I couldn't help the smile that placed itself onto my face at seeing the panic looks on their faces. "Well..." I arched an eyebrow in a questioning manner. The three boys looked between themselves before what I assumed as a silent agreement falls around them.

"We may or may not have trashed George Harrison's house," Matthew smirked. "Trashed how?" I leaned against the front door. "Toilet paper, eggs and spray paint work wonders Lewis," Alex smiled brightly. I shook my head; these boys were crazy. "Well, you guys are welcomed to stay until the coast is clear, Elliot's out and my parents are out of town, so you're good," I began to walk to the lounge room. "You're not going to ask why we did it?" I heard Levi's footsteps follow me. "No," popcorn muffled my words. "Whatever Harrison his he most likely deserved it," I sat down on the couch again. I didn't even know how I was acting so casually, as if they've been in my house hundreds of times and we were close friends. I mean they were in my house! The Hoods were in my house and I'm acting like it's normal.

The three of them stood in the lounge room looking around. It was pretty plain. No one was really in the house except me most of the time because my parents always travel and Elliot is always doing something. Matthew takes a seat on the couch next to me. "Well Maxwell will probably be looking for a while,  it he'll give up in an hour," the other two took a seat on the floor. Matthew went to reach for my popcorn when I pulled it away from him. He looked at me raising his eyebrows. "You came into my house and I forced to willingly let you into it, do not expect me to share my food with you because it's not happening Walker," I snapped holding the bowl close to my chest. "Jeez okay Stitch," I rolled my eyes. I pressed play onto my movie. The boys turned their attention to it and I was left feeling as though I was dreaming.

                                                                                                               ****

3 hours. They had been at my house for 3 hours. We all ended up walking to a 24/7 McDonald's; which was 3 blocks from my house, after watching Transformers because we were all hungry. I of course changed out of my onesie, putting on a pair of black pj shorts, which seemed a little too short and a dark purple tank top; with a bra. On our way back we cut down Brooklyn Avenue which takes 10 minuets off walking around. We were not even half way down the street when a Police car drove past, the same Police car the drove past my house 3 hours ago. We were in some deep shit. The car stopped just pasted us. Oh yeah some really deep shit. The door opened and closed but none of us turned around and no one of us stopped walking, because who the hell wants to get caught? I hear quick and heavy footsteps which caused panic to flood my brain. "You can run right?" Matthew asked, his lips grazed my ear as he spoke. I nodded, I was on track; not the fastest girl but I can definitely run. "Good," then silence. "Boys give up!" Oh shit Deputy Maxwell. "RUN!" Alex screamed and the boys all began to sprint down the street. It took a few seconds for my brain to register what was going on before I finally took after the boys.

Now we are at the beginning of the story. It currently 2 am and I'm running down Brooklyn Avenue with a bag of McDonald's in hand. Deputy Maxwell in pursuit and I was accompanied by Matthew Walker, Levi Andrews and Alexander Pierce. My legs are aching and the air burns my throat, setting my lungs alight. Yet adrenaline rushes through my body and a thrill eyes into my bones. I was doing something I shouldn't and I'm fucking loving it. "STOP!" Maxwell yells but we all hoot with laughter as he stopped and hunches over out of breath; should really stop eating all those sugary sweets Deputy. I meet the boys at the end of the street around the corner. I feel my legs wobble a little as I stand beside Matthew but I couldn't help the smile that spreads across my face. "That's was so much fun!" I breathe and the three boys laugh.

"Didn't think you had it in you," Levi says after he catches his breath. "Yeah well I guess I'm less goody-two shoes than you thought Andrews," a smile presses itself onto his face. "I guess so," his emerald green eyes drift to Matthew. "Now I get it," Levi says directly to Matthew and the strange questions comes back into my mind. "Oh fucking shut up," Matthew groans and the other two boys just laugh. "Can someone inform me on what you guys now get?" I ask but Levi and Alex are already walking down the street back to my house. I feel confused. "Hey don't think about it too hard," Matthew slings his arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer into his side. I smile and shake my head, this boy. "Why not?"

"Because you'll figure it out on your own one day," I don't reply to the comment. We just walk down the street, Matthew's arm around my shoulders, the bag of McDonald's still in my hand and a warm feeling spreading throughout my body. Who knew I'd end up here just because I accidentally walked in on the three vandalising the football Coaches office.

[marvelman901]

Burning Ice Chapter 1

This is the first chapter of my book, translated from Swedish. I have released it in Swedish as an E-book in Sweden, but am currently translating it to English for a future release. I hope you will enjoy it, and please do comment!

_

The alarm sounded in the dark room. Jonas opened his eyes and turned off the alarm. Then he went back to sleep. Five minutes later, the alarm on his cellphone went off and he turned that off too. He had chosen to use two alarms, mostly because he had a tendency to turn off his alarm without actually waking up. That´s why he had placed the alarm clock and his phone at different places.

    Now it was time to get up. This had been the process every morning, except at weekends naturally. He got up and went through his messy room and into the bathroom that was right outside his bedroom. He locked the door and readied himself. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and observed that which he had seen for the duration of many years. A completely normal guy with blonde hair that reached down to his gray eyes. His body wasn't muscular but it wasn't skinny or thick, and his skin was pale from too little exposure from the rays of the sun.

    Jonas got out of the bathroom and went back to his bedroom. He turned on the ceiling light and went to his chair where his clothes waited for him. Since he had chosen to get up later in the morning and sleep a little longer, he had readied most things he needed to only need to eat breakfast and then go down to the bus. This way he only needed about twenty minutes in the morning instead of forty minutes.

    His bedroom was fairly big and roomy, when it was tidied. He went to the chair where his clothes lay and put them on – blue jeans, black t-shirt, a black hoodie, white underwear and black socks – and brought his phone, watch, iPod and earphones downstairs to the hallway, where he placed the iPod and earphones inside the inner jacket pocket. He then went into the medium-sized kitchen and ate his breakfast, consisting of a glass of milk and toasted bread with butter and ham on. He ate three such sandwiches and drank his milk while he looked at the clock. It was only ten minutes left until the bus would depart.

    In came his foster parents with whom he was now living. Susan and Johan Sten had made sure that Jonas would stay with them after Jonas's parents were involved in a tragic accident, which would change his life forever. Patrick and Katarina Svärd died in a car accident which occurred a stormy night three years ago.

    Susan was twenty-five years old and had long blonde hair. Johan was slightly taller that Susan and had short blonde hair. Johan and Susan had been Jonas parent´s best friends and was also in good contact with Jonas several years before the accident. Johan was twenty-seven years old and was fairly athletic and he used to try to get Jonas to go skiing, swimming and go to the gym.

    Jonas said “Good morning” to both of them and told them that he needed to hurry to the bus. Susan and Johan returned the greeting to Jonas and sat down at the dinner table. Jonas went to the hallway and put on his outside clothes and went through the exit and down the stairwell. The stairwell to the apartment was fairly wide for a stairwell and there were only three stories in the building where Jonas lived.

    When he opened the door to the outside, he felt that the cold was remarkably chilly and the strong winds didn't help any either. But he didn't have time to care about such pettiness, it wasn't long until the bus would leave. Jonas had always thought that it was tough getting up in the morning, which didn't exactly motivate him to go to school, but he knew that it was important to do. He realized that there hadn't been time enough to shovel just yet, as he waded through the half-meter tall snow on the ground.

    He did manage to get down to the bus stop in time to get on the bus. The big, blue vehicle came bouncing up to the bus stop and stopped, to open the doors with a wheezing sound. Jonas got in through the doors and the doors closed behind him. He observed the bus driver and the driver looked neither happy nor spry. Jonas checked his bus pass and continued back into the bus. He found a free spot further back into the bus, where he sat down. On the other side of the aisle sat a man at around forty years of age. The man had a beige jacket and a black hat on.

    Jonas could feel the bus swaying in the wind and it skidded slightly on the ice on the road. He turned on the iPod and placed the earphones in his ears. The music almost removed the surrounding sounds.

    The bus stopped and the doors opened yet again. In came a man who was as big as a bear and he had to bow his head in order to not hit in on the ceiling. He sat down in the front of the bus, probably because it would be tight for him further into the bus.

    Jonas recognized the man as a janitor at The Activity in Mölndal. The man was renown for his bad temper and his antisocial behavior. Jonas stopped thinking about the man and went back to looking out through the window and listening to his music.

    At the next stop, a guy at the same age as Jonas, got onto the bus. He even went to the same class at Jonas. His name was Mattias Ljungberg.

    Mattias had lost his sight after he had been with his mother outside her job, two years ago. She had been a scientist at Jansson and Kraft. When she had brought Mattias, the workers were about to remove toxic waste. On that day, one of the workers was hungover and when Mattias walked with his mother, the worker accidentally spilled some of the waste on Mattias and his mother. Both were brought to the hospital quickly and it took about a week until Mattias woke up. When he awoke, he could not see. But the first thing he asked was where his mother was. That was when he found out that his mother was hit badly with radiation poisoning. Mattias had also been treated for radiation poisoning, but his case was not even remotely close to as serious as hers. Several days later, she died and Mattias never stopped blaming himself for what had happened, even though he could not have done anything to prevent it happening. His father didn't help either. Even though his father never said it out loud to Mattias, Mattias felt that his father blamed him as well.

    Mattias got onto the bus and somehow seemed to notice the janitor, as he turned his head slightly toward the man, only to continue further into the bus and sit down right next to Jonas. This was something that was very peculiar about Mattias; it sometimes seemed as if he had better eyesight than any of his friends, than anyone in the world. When they asked him about it, he used to say that he had heard something and just guessed.

    “How did you know that... Ah, screw it! How are you?” said Jonas.

    “Good morning to you too. I´m all right, you?” Mattias smiled behind his sunglasses.

    “Just tired. So... when are we going to the cemetery?” Today was the anniversary of Mattias's mother´s death, and in a way, Mattias's second chance on life. Jonas and his friends had as a tradition to accompany Mattias when he and his father went to the cemetery to visit his mother´s grave every year. Mattias wanted it that way and his friends wanted to support him in his grief.

    “I was thinking we could be there around six.” Mattias showed no expression, so Jonas thought it best to let it go.

    “Did you notice the janitor?” Jonas asked instead.

    “Naturally. Not even I could miss him.” A smile came creeping on Mattias's lips.

    The bus bounced on and the boys chatted some until they arrived at their stop. They got off the bus and Jonas checked which bus they would take next. They usually had two options; either they would take the number 4 tram to Mölndal's Station or they would take bus number 771, which went to the same station.

    It seemed that they had just missed the bus, so they chose to take the tram instead. They kept on chatting during the trip, Jonas talked about a new game he had bought and played. The snow kept on pouring down outside.

    The boys arrived at the station and continued towards the Fässberg-school. They walked along the main street among the shops and continued up along the street towards their school. When they arrived, they noticed that the clock was already twenty to nine and they started their lesson at nine. Jonas didn't see a trace of their other classmates. Some of the classmates started to arrive five minutes later, some alone and some in groups. When the time was three minutes to nine, Peter showed up.

    Peter was at the same length as Jonas and had short brown hair. He was a top student and that was something that his friends used when it came to help with homework, at least back in the day. Now, it wasn't that much going on. Peter loved to help with homework and to teach his friends things. He was very talented with mathematics and science, something that was very clear when he was going to solve problems, either at school or on his free time.

    The teacher arrived and opened the classroom door and Jonas and his classmates went to their places. Peter and the guys sat up front – Jonas and Mattias mainly because they followed Peter.

    Their teacher's name was Karl Beck and the subject was mathematics. Beck was in his forties and had short brown hair. Jonas had heard rumors that Beck had once been a skilled athlete back in the day, but he had injured himself during a competition and had gotten a job as a mathematics-teacher instead. Apparently he had been qualified for it. When you looked at Beck now, Jonas thought it was difficult to see Beck as an athlete. He just didn't look to be in any good shape.

    Before Beck had even started the lesson, the classroom door opened and a boy with a bored expression on his face came in. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to get to his seat. The guy mumbled some excuse and sat down next to Jonas.

    “Are everyone here now?” asked Beck annoyed. “Good. Then let's start.” Then he turned around and started to write down some formulas on the whiteboard. After about a minute, he stopped, looked over the formulas and seemed pleased with them. He picked up a small pile of papers and passed them along the room with the help of the students.

    “During this lesson, you will be working to solve these equations, by using the formulas on the board.” Beck told the class.

    Jonas looked down on the sheet of paper he had gotten and there were equations on there that he had absolutely no idea of how to solve. They were impossibly difficult. On the other hand, Jonas wasn't very surprised about this. During the last ten lessons, the class had been tasked with solving these kind of equations. This had been going on for several weeks now, ever since their regular teacher got ill. Beck had been a substitute for their ill teacher.

    The boy that had been late for the lesson, was named Tommy Svensson and he was one of Jonas's best friends. Tommy was wealthy and he had inherited his wealth from his father, who had been an owner of a big toothpaste company, almost as big as Colgate. The company that Tommy's father had founded was spread throughout the world. His father was originally from New York and his mother came from Sweden. His father had passed away six years ago. Tommy had inherited his father's company, but the board had deemed it best if he finished his studies before he took over the company. He had reluctantly agreed to this. Tommy's mother hadn't gotten that part of the wealth but had gotten other things instead.

    In their class there was twenty-five students, and during this lesson only five of these students actually did any work. Mostly because the rest of the students had no idea of what to do with the equations and definitely no idea of what to do with the formulas. When Beck had first started with the equations, the students had asked for help, but when he had stopped giving them help as he had seemed to get frustrated with their ignorance, the student stopped asking. Beck didn't even care that the other students were playing on their cellphones during the lesson.

    Peter and Tommy were two of the students that worked with the equations, the other three were Linus, Marie and Sarah. Jonas didn't know these three very well, even though they had been in the same class for three years.

    Next to Peter sat another guy from their class, Patrick. He and Peter had grown up together and had become best friends.

    Patrick had an athletic build and was a typical party-guy. He had brown hair and brown eyes. His father was Frank Richardsson and he had founded “Ricksson's Butter”, Sweden’s biggest butter and margarine company, and had made a lot of money on it. Jonas didn't have much in common with Patrick, but thought that he could be fun to be around at times.

    The hour went and eventually Beck said the magic words: “Break time!” The boys picked up their things and went out of the classroom with the rest of the class. Jonas brought out the schedule and then said:

    “We have a break for ten minutes and then it's social studies. The cafeteria?” The others agreed and followed him down the stairs and over to the common area.

The guys sat and joked around when  they were accompanied by two other students, Robert and Eva. They went to the same class, but had extra biology lessons during one of the mathematics lessons.

    Robert had blonde hair and blue eyes. He played ice-hockey during his free time. Tommy and Robert got along quite well and used to hang out a lot during their free time.

    Eva had green eyes and had dark-red hair. She was together with Magnus, a nineteen year-old who always wore sunglasses, even indoors.

    “Hi! We've just had biology. It's so damn boring!” Robert said and sat down next to Peter and put his books on the table in front of him.

    “It can't be that hard. I can help you, if you want.” said Peter and put his arm around Robert's shoulders jokingly.

    “Why not, we could always check it out during the free period later today.” Robert replied.

    Jonas looked at the clock and then said: “We will have to leave now if we're going make the next lesson on time.” The others agreed and they set off towards the social studies-classroom. On the way, they stopped at their lockers to switch books.

    It wasn't far to the classroom and they made it with minutes to spare. Their teacher had already arrived and had let the other students into the room.

    The social studies teacher was named Kristina Andersson and she was in her forties, brown-haired and had black, thin glasses on.

    They took their places and Kristina started the lesson.

    “Today we are going to talk about the European Union and we are going to continue to do so during the remaining lessons of the month.” said Kristina and told them to open their books on page 122.

    The lesson went slowly and eventually the end of the lesson came, much to Jonas's joy.

    The students left the classroom and went to their next lesson. The rest of the school-day continued in the same manner, with an exception of the lunch-break, which they had at the school lunch room, called the Fässtaurang. The food they got that day was fairly nice, spaghetti with meat sauce. There was also a vegetarian alternative, list with rice, which Robert took. The rest ate the spaghetti.

When the school day was over, Peter, Jonas, Mattias, Tommy and Robert went home to Tommy's.

    Tommy's villa was big and it was situated very conveniently; on top of a hill in Eklandaskogen, the Eklanda forest. Tommy's father had built the villa because he had always liked Sweden and it was a good place to avoid the paparazzi and the press. Tommy had moved in on his fifteenth birthday. On his eighteenth birthday, he kicked out the assistants that had lived there intil then. He, of coarse, still had the cleaners and the gardeners there, as it was still a big villa and a big lawn. Tommy had explained that his mother was on vacation in Miami and that they would have the villa for themselves.

    When the boys got there, they – except Tommy – noticed something strange; that the doors opened automatically when Tommy approached them. When Tommy saw their puzzled expressions, he just laughed and explained:

    “I have created an AI, or Artificial Intelligence if you prefer. I call it Omni. It is a program that I have installed on my new computer that controls the entire house and my property.”

    “What?” said all the others at once and glanced confusedly at their friend.

    “I'll show you. Come here.” With that he walked through the hallway and into the living room. He placed himself in the middle of the room, snapped his fingers once and suddenly the floor, walls and roof seemed to float. Then a monotonous voice said:

    “Good day, Mister Svensson. How can I be of service?” The voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. “I assume that these young men are invited.”

    “You assume correctly, Omni. I would like to offer my friends a soda each.” Tommy looked questioningly at his friends and they nodded approvingly.

    “Coming right away, sir.”

    Since the boys looked just as confused as before, Tommy continued:

    “The speakers are placed a little here and there, they are focused at my position. Cool, right?”

    Just then, a robot came hovering to them, carrying a tray. On the tray was five coca cola-cans. The robot was a meter-tall cylinder that hovered about thirty centimeters above the ground. It had thin metal arms that pointed out of the middle of the robot body.

    “Hey, it's Dummy!” said Jonas.

    “Why do you call it that?” asked Robert.

    “What? It is a bit of a dummy.” said Tommy.

    “But isn't it an artificial intelligence?”

    “Trust me, there's nothing intelligent in it. He's like a computer, he just follows orders. And besides, he is called Dummy.” answered Tommy.

    Dummy lowered the tray towards the living room table, but tipped over the tray right before it had arrived. If it hadn't been for Mattias, the cans would have hit the floor, but he had fast enough reflexes to prevent it. He had managed to grab hold of the tray and balanced the cans on it.

    The others watched astounded while Mattias placed the tray on the table.

    “What?” said Mattias.

    “Nice trick. You continue to surprise me.” said Tommy with a puzzled expression. “You could have thought you were an Altered, or something. No offense in any way.” Jonas felt that Tommy's comment was very unnecessary and offensive. But when he looked at Tommy's face, he realized that it wasn't meant in any bad way. Tommy could just say such stupid things accidentally, without even thinking about what he was going to say. The group knew that very well, but it didn't become less annoying.

    Altered were people with special abilities. Some could move inhumanly fast or shoot fire from their hands or do practically anything a normal human couldn't do. Humans had known about Altered people about a year back, when a disaster happened. A teenager with explosive powers had accidentally blown up half an island and by doing this, killed 505 people. The teenager had gotten away unscathed but disappeared without a trace afterward. After this disaster, Altereds were viewed as a threat to society and in some countries, the police had orders to neutralize possible Altereds.

    “I just have good hearing and reflexes, that's all.” said Mattias.

    “Well, I just can't imagine having an Altered as a friend.” said Tommy. Again came the stupidities and Jonas sighed mentally and rolled his eyes.

    Nobody said anything for a while after that. Tommy had put on some music and out of the speakers came the rock music that the group commonly enjoyed.

    The one to finally break the awkward silence was Robert, who said:

    “So when are we going to the cemetery?” That question was directed at Mattias.

    “I was thinking we could go around five.”

    “You said that Omni was controlling your entire house and your property. How could it control your property?” Jonas asked, mostly to change the subject.

    “Well you see, I have placed electrical receivers in the ground, that will receive commands that I send to them through my computer. If I, for example, notice that the grass on the northern side isn't getting enough sunlight, I would type in a special command that would give that patch of grass more sunlight, or at least that nourishment, as the other patches of grass. But now I have made Omni keep track of all that. The whole thing is automated.” said Tommy.

    “So damn cool!” said Robert.

    “Do you guys want to play some Guitar Hero til it's time to go?” asked Tommy.

    “Why not? I'm on drums.” answered Peter.

    Then they were off. Peter played the drums for a while, then he changed with Mattias who wanted to try once and he played surprisingly well for a blind person, he hit about three notes of a hundred, but he kept the rhythm well for the song. Tommy played the bass and he was fairly good at it. Robert sang with a very false voice and disguised his voice very heavily, sometimes with a heavy Gothenburg accent, sometimes a heavy Indian accent. Robert also played guitar and he and Jonas switched from time to time.

    Suddenly the game was interrupted and Omni said:

    “The time is now 16:59.”

    “Thank you, Omni! Shit, I think we forgot about the time. Let's finish this song and then go.” Tommy said and then they finished the song.

    When they were done, Tommy told Omni to turn off the game and put away the instruments while the others put on their clothes and went out. They could see Dummy come to pick up the things.

    It took awhile for them to get to the cemetery as it was located in Backa, and the public transport in Gothenburg was having trouble because of the snow that had been falling over the last three days. Jonas used to joke that when the snow came, the public transport stood still. This was of coarse an exaggeration, but there used to be problems here and there when the snow came.

    The cemetery was big, but they had been there several times before and hence knew which way to the grave they were about to visit. The boys fought through the deep snow and eventually they could see Mattias's father further ahead.

    Mattias's father stood in the snow and waited for them. He was wearing a thick, black down jacket and first it was difficult to see him because of the bad lighting. If it hadn't been for his red hat, they would probably never had seen him. Jonas nodded to Janne, Mattias's father, and Janne nodded back. Jonas noticed that Janne had a shovel with him. Probably for all the snow, Jonas thought. The tombstone was made of granite or some similar stone type and because there was so much snow on it, it was difficult to see how well polished it was underneath.

    Correctly, Janne began to remove the snow using the shovel. He then crouched down at the grave and Mattias did the same. As always Jonas, Tommy, Peter and Robert went off to the side to give the grievers some time alone. During that time it had started to snow again and it was getting worse fast. The boys stood and chatted some while they politely waited for the grieving family. After about ten minutes, it had started to get very windy too.

    They started to realize that it was time to leave when it had gotten too stormy. It was now so windy that it was difficult to keep their balance. Janne motioned towards the car and they all ran towards the vehicle as fast as they could. The little Toyota that once was red, was now white with snow. It was about two decimeters of snow on top of the car. It was difficult to open the doors because of the wind, but eventually they got them opened. Everyone could barely fit inside the car and Janne got the engine running after three tries and drove out of the parking lot. It was hard to keep control of the car and to see through the windscreen.

    Suddenly they heard something heavy hitting the roof of the car and Janne lost control. They spun around on the ice-patches that was hidden underneath the snow, but luckily Janne was a skilled driver and he got control of the car after a short while. It took several minutes until they arrived at Mattias and Janne's apartment. They lived at the bottom floor close to Körkarlensgata – the bus stop that Mattias used to enter the bus on his way to school. When the boys arrived, they hurried inside as the winds were getting very heavy.

    It got quickly crowded inside the tiny apartment. Janne had put out old newspapers on the floor for them to place their wet shoes on. Mattias lived in a two-bedroom apartment, where he slept in the living room, on a pull-out sofa and his father slept in the only bedroom. It look like no-one had cleaned the apartment for awhile.

    Jonas, Tommy and Mattias sat on the sofa while Janne showed the others where they could find chairs to sit on. Janne sat in his usual armchair. He turned on the twenty-inch television set and tried to find a good channel. But all channels had a lot of interference on them and eventually Janne gave up and turned off the television.

    “We are probably stranded here for awhile, but I think we can find something to keep us preoccupied with. How about poker?” said Janne and brought forth a deck of cards. The others thought it was a good idea. Then he brought out a box of matches and said that they could be the stakes. He distributed the matches evenly and went through the rules with them. The boys already knew the rules for poker, but let Janne tell them anyway. Before they started to play, Janne told them to call home and tell their parents of their whereabouts.

    Jonas call Susan, who answered:

    “Hello?”

    “Hi, it's Jonas.”

    “Hey, Jonas. Are you okay?” she sounded worried.

    “Yeah, I'm fine. I was just going to let you know that I'm at Mattias's, because of the storm. We almost blew off the road a few times on our way here.”

    “What storm? It's beautiful weather here. Where did you say you were?” Susan sounded very confused.

    “In Backa.” Jonas looked out the window and could only see a white snowy chaos. “But how could there be such a huge snow-storm here but nice weather at home? I mean, it's so close!”

    “Hm. I'm gonna have to check with Richard about that, but stay there until it gets better. If I can get a hold of him, I will call you.”

    Richard Waters was Susan's best friend who also worked at the Astronomical Institute and was working with climate questions and hence knew a lot about it.

    “Okay, say hi to Johan for me.” said Jonas and hung up the phone.

    He went back to the table and took his place. While Janne started the game, Jonas said:

    “Did you know there wasn't even a trace of a snowstorm in Kärra? It was apparently beautiful weather there.”

    “Mum said the same about Mölndal” said Robert confusedly.

    “My mom said that it was perfect weather at home too. She and dad had been out walking in the park without even seeing a trace of a storm coming.” said Peter.

    “I checked with Omni and it said the same thing. I asked it to check the climate-changes and the weather in the area.” said Tommy and bet five matches.

The boys played for almost two hours, until the storm calmed down. When it had, Jonas, Tommy, Peter and Robert needed to go home. The time was already 20:31 and they had school the day after. Tommy had called for a ride and since Tommy, Peter and Robert lived in the same direction, they waited for the ride. Jonas didn't mind taking the bus home to Kärra. It would only take him about ten minutes to get home and he liked to sit on the bus and listen to music.

    Jonas didn't need to wait long for the bus to arrive and when it did, it was almost empty. The bus driver was a grumpy old man who only grunted at Jonas when Jonas greeted him. Jonas entered the bus and sat down on a spot close to the first exit. These were only three other passengers on the bus; a woman in her forties wearing a thick down jacket and green boots. She was also wearing a fur-hat that looked like you had placed a raccoon on her head. The second passenger was a teenager with long black hair which was covering half his face. He was wearing a black jacket with studs along the arms, which looked quite ridiculous to Jonas. The third passenger was a man in his fifties wearing a beige down jacket and a black hat. The man was wearing a pair of wide glasses and behind those, he was glaring back at the guy staring at him.

    It took awhile for Jonas to realize that it was he who had stared at the older man and he tried to recover from the embarrassing moment by nodding to the man. The man just gave an annoyed snort  and continued to look out the window. Jonas did the same after he had turned on his iPod and put on his earphones. He noticed that it had begun to snow again.

    When the bus had just passed Kärramotet, Jonas could hear the bus driver curse and how the engine started to misbehave. The bus fought for a bit and then came to a stop. The bus driver said in the speakers that the bus wouldn't work and that a replacement bus was on the way. Because they were at the edge of Kärra, Jonas thought that he might as well exit the bus and walk home from there.

    He went out into the cold and walked across the bridge that separated the Kärra-side and the Bäckebol-side. When the road split in three, he took the right one. He had walked this road many times before and he knew exactly which way to walk. On the left of him, there were houses framed by wooden fences and on the right of him, there was a snow-covered lawn where he used to play soccer with his friends during the summer. He continued next to the trees that screened off the lawn and the street. It had started to snow a lot and it got harder and harder to see in the snow. After a short while, he didn't know where he was anymore and the snow began to get deep. He began to regret walking instead of just waiting for the next bus.

    Suddenly he heard a low growl behind him. In some mysterious way, the growling made it through the earphones that Jonas was wearing. He hastily turned around, but only saw white. I'm just imagining it, Jonas thought. He continued to walk a little faster, and then he heard it again. Now he started to get really frightened and he brought out his cellphone while he tried to run in the deep snow. But he fell and lost his phone somewhere in the snow. The snow was so deep and so firm that he lay with straight arms down into the snow, and his fingers didn't even touch the ground. He managed to get up on his feet again fairly quickly and then he heard the growling again even closer, and this time he decided to use the iPod as light-source to find his phone. The growling ceased right behind his back and Jonas didn't dare to move. He stood completely still in the snow and stared in front of him.

    Suddenly he felt a twitch in his chest and his forehead. He could feel how his left chest muscle dropped from its hold and lay like a big lump under his skin. He stood for a few seconds and shivered in his legs. Nothing happened. It felt like an eternity. Then he felt it. The pain. In the entire body and the larger parts of his face. It was impossibly painful. Then he felt another twitch, this time in his throat. He heard a noise that sounded like a sprinkler going off, but only for a short moment. He got numb in his entire body and everything seemed to go in slow motion. He thought that it was strange that he couldn't hear the storm anymore. Then he fell into an eternal darkness.