#but hey at least ill be outta school and work for a week!! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mrsalwayswritex · 5 years ago

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Hazy Blazy Days

A/N: Image is not mine, if its yours tell me and ill slap some credit but until then, thanks photo owner! I have been working on this baby for weeks guys. I hope you like it, its literally like The Dream for me, so dont judge me too harshly, I just wanna smoke with my boys! Anyways, Happy 420 to my fellow smokers, I wish you all a good day during this lockdown. Stay safe and I love you all!

Pairing: Ben Hardy x Reader

Word Count: 6.6k

Warnings: Swearing, Illegal activities [recreational marijuana use]

Songs used: Idolize Stay Afloat Free Your Mind All three of these songs are Immortal Paradox, linked to Spotify. These songs are explicit*

When she woke up she knew it was a hibernate day, shuffling to the kitchen quickly, filling her arms with the things she deemed important. Bottles of water, granola bars and a bag of chocolate chips, various snack cakes, and a large to-go mug of coffee all tucked in her arms as she tried to hurry back to her room.

“Y/n?” Joe called from their shared living room. “Where are you running off to?” She could hear his footsteps getting closer. Joe let out a loud laugh at the sight he was met with.

Y/n stood with her hands full of her haul, smiling as best as she could with the bag of chocolate chips between her teeth. Joe leaned forward and grabbed the bag as she dropped it. “Thanks! It's a hibernating day, would you like to join me?” She chirped happily, smiling at him.

Joe’s face broke into a wide grin and he nodded his head quickly, “I will grab the blanket and be in momentarily!” He spun on his heels, taking off towards his own room. Y/n skipped back to her room, depositing the pile of snacks on her small wheeled coffee table. Quickly making her bed, minus her giant fleece comforter, moving things around when Joe slid into the room. “I even changed for maximum comfort!” He spun around quickly, flashing her a dramatic smile at the end.

“Impressive, Mazzello.” Y/n clapped her hands just as dramatically. “Pull that over and let's get this thing going!” She climbed onto the bed, pulling her blanket close around her. Following her orders, Joe pulled the small table over until it was against the bed, climbing on top and curling himself inside his own blanket beside her. “Alright, Mazzello, pick your fighter.” Y/n waved her hands around, wiggling her fingers as she reached to the floor pulling up a medium sized wooden box covered in stickers and marker drawings.

Joe smiled at the box, reaching over and pulling it closer to him. Opening it carefully, laughing loudly. “You know, this box reeks of pot.” He chuckled, Y/n stuck her tongue out at him.

“You know, I think that may be a requirement for a pot box, Joseph.” She rolled her eyes at him playfully, reaching into the box and pulling out the bag of the sweet smelling greenery. “If you don't pick, I will.” Y/n warned him, Joe putting his hands up in defense before digging into the box’s contents. His choice was a small but thick bong, swirled with blues and yellows. Joe presented his choice to her proudly and she nodded her head. “Daisy,” She cooed, taking it from his hands, “Good choice!”

Once it was packed, Y/n pointed at a bottle of water, Joe handing it to her blindly as he scrolled through Hulu on her TV. Pouring in some of the water, she handed it to Joe along with a lighter. Joe cleared his throat, straightening his back out causing Y/n to chuckle and he glared at her. Covering her mouth with her hands, she directed her attention to the TV, taking over for Joe as she heard the bubbling sound of Joe hitting the bong.

For as long as Y/n could remember, she and Joe had been close friends. Finding each other quickly on their first day of high school, being the first two to be busted smoking marijuana behind the building and making fast friends in detention. She fondly thought back to that day so many years ago.

“Mr. Mazzello and Miss Taylor.” The science teacher grunted out, shoving the slip onto the desk. “Smoking on school property.” He turned around and glared at the two, both of them stifled a laugh. The grumpy man shook his head as he walked out mumbling something about ‘these damn teenagers’.

“Caught smoking on the first day?” The detention teacher looked at them disapprovingly over her glasses.

The two glanced at each other and both started laughing, Joe reaching his hand across the aisle. “Joe Mazzello.” He gave her a smile, she reached out taking his hand and shaking it with an awkward laugh, “Y/n Taylor.”

Once the final bell rang, Y/n stood up, stretching her legs, kicking Joes chair and making his jump awake quickly. “Sorry, Joey.” She yawned, stretching her arms high. “Time to get outta here,” She smiled at him, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. “Walk me home?”

Joe smiled at the girl sleepily. “You got it, babe.” Joe winked at her and she barked out a laugh.

“Save it, Romeo.” She winked back at him and Joe trailed out the door after her.

Joe lived on the other side of town, but he knew in that moment, he would follow Y/n anywhere, as long as she would have him.

They spent most afternoons at a park by the school, waiting until dark before finally heading home, Joe always walking her home before going himself.

One evening, senior year, the two laid in the grass in Joe’s backyard passing a joint back and forth and staring at the sky. “You gonna ditch me in college when you get a girlfriend, Joey?” Y/n asked, putting her arms behind her head.

“I promise to stick with you forever, y/n.” Joe passed the joint over to her, “The best buds stick together, remember?”

The two were absolutely inseparable through the years, even choosing the same college, which they rented an apartment together.

Y/n smiled at him, here they were, almost 13 years later, still the best of friends. Joe was staring at her, she shook her head clear of the memory. “Y/n? You still there?” He waved the bong in front of her face and laughed. “Where did you go?” He chuckled, as she took the bong from his hand.

“High school, actually.” She nudged him with her shoulder, Joe bumping her right back. “Detention that first day. How you made me a promise senior year to always stick with me, and here we are, over ten years later. Still hibernating and watching tv for the day.” Y/n hit the bong, coughing lightly before waving a hand in front of her face.

“Calm down, I'm here cause you always have the best weed, alright? Don't get all mushy on me.” Joe snatched the piece away from her, “It's been ten years, I don't have time to find another weed connection.”

“You love me and you know it, Mazzello.” She stuck her tongue out at him, swatting his chest and making him cough loudly.

“You wish, Taylor.” Joe made a kissy face at his best friend and she returned the gesture mockingly, both of them laughing deeply.

Three episodes of American Dad later, the pair of them sat atop Y/n’s bed laughing lazily, Joe munching away on a fudge round. Y/n flopped around, restlessly moving across the bed. Joe laughed at her, “Just open the window, it'll be alright.” He laughed louder as she scrambled off the bed and over to the window quickly, shooting him a bright smile.

Opening the window and taking a deep breath of the crisp air, sitting on the window seat and pulling her legs to her chest tightly. Y/n pulled out a pack of Newports and fished around the seat for a lighter, Joe tossing one to her from the bed and lighting the tip. She blew the smoke out the window but it just blew right back inside, looking back to Joe with a shrug.

“I'm gonna pack this up again, ‘kay?” Joe pointed to the bong and Y/n nodded her head slowly, the smoke curling up around her trying to make a smoke ring. Joe chuckled as he watched her, knowing that after all these years, she was bound to get one eventually, though she had failed this far. As soon as Y/n threw the cigarette out the window and made her way back to the bed, Joe’s phone started ringing a familiar tone. Joe’s face lit up like a kid on christmas as recognition passed over his face. “Ben!” He shouted into the phone, a deep laugh coming through the other end.

“Hey buddy,” Ben's accent came loudly through the speaker. “What’s going on?”

“Having a hibernation day with y/n,” Joe replied, Y/n shouting a happy hello. “What are you doing?” He handed the bong to the girl and she took it happily.

“Are you really hitting a bong while on the phone?” Ben whispered, chuckling softly. “I've got nothing planned, you wanna get together?” Ben was obviously asking Joe, so Y/n stayed quiet, picking at her nails when Joe tapped her leg and gave her a questioning look. “Joe?” Ben asked again, Y/n nodded at Joe with an exaggerated sigh and a smile.

“Sorry, was just waiting for confirmation from the boss, do you want to come hibernate with us?” Joe asked hopefully, even though he had seen Ben since he was in town, Joe was always desperate to see his best friend.

“What does that entail, exactly?” Ben chuckled lightly, a car door could be heard closing and starting.

“Well it starts by you stopping at the store and grabbing provisions, first of all.” Y/n piped up, Joe cracking a smile, before she continued, “Second, you must wear something of the cotton variety, there is no denim allowed in hibernation. Last but certainly not least, you must be prepared for copious amounts of marijuana consumption.” Y/n laughed out, counting on her fingers though only Joe could see. “That’s it, that’s all there is to it!”

“You in, buddy?” Joe asked tauntingly, staring at his phone intently like he could change Ben’s mind through the phone.

“Text me a list of things you need, and give me a half hour.” Even if neither of them could see his face, they could hear the smile in his voice. “Let you know when I'm on the way to you.” The line clicked off and Joe and Y/n smiled, rearranging the room once more to accommodate another.

Forty five minutes later, Ben texted back saying that he was leaving the store, headed to them, five minutes at most. “Stretch break until Ben gets here?” Y/n asked, already kicking her legs out from her blanket, stretching her arms over her head. Joe groaned as he stood, squatting over and over. As the both shuffled towards the door, they could hear a soft knock. “You get him, I'm gonna go find him a big blanket so he can probably hibernate.” She chuckled, tapping Joe on the back lightly as they seperated down opposite sides of the hallway.

Y/n could hear the two boys talking excitedly to each other as she poked her head out to the living room. “Got the last blanket from the closet, Joe you better check to make sure he's following the rules!” She hollered out as she walked back to her room.

“Sweat pants, no denim!” Joe called back, grabbing a bag from Ben’s hands. “Come on back, man!” Joe ushered his grandly down the hall, his best friend following with a chuckle.

When Ben walked into Y/n’s room, he looked around, “I would expect nothing less from you, Y/n.” He chuckled, fingers playing with the strings of fairy lights on the wall. “Smells like pot in here.” Joe chuckled, picking the bong up from the side table and waving it around, Y/n gestured to it grandly.

“If it didn't, Joe and I shouldn't be allowed to smoke anymore, cause we are doing it wrong.” Y/n giggled, patting the bottom portion of her bed. “Pop a squat, Benjamin, we gonna get you stoned.” She grinned up at him, pulling the blanket closer around her shoulders, snuggling inside. “I even brought you a cuddle blanket!” Her voice was muffled from the fluff around her face but she kicked a leg out and pushed the blanket around.

Ben chuckled at her, kicking off his shoes and dove onto the bed, making Y/n squeal and Joe lift the bong high in the air. “I cannot believe that I am a 29 year old man,” He started, burying his face into the soft blanket, “that has a designated ‘cuddle blanket’.” Chuckling and reaching his hand under the pile to poke at her leg.

“You simply cannot hibernate without a pile of blankets, man.” Joe added, leaning into the middle of them holding the bong out. “Who lives next door?” He asked, and when both of their hands shot up at the same time, he pointed to his ear.

“Neighbor!” They shouted in unison, causing Joe to laugh loudly and shove the piece into Ben’s hands. “Ha!” Ben stuck his tongue out at Y/n and she snatched the lighter out of Joe’s hand.

“Ha, that!” She wrapped her blanket over her face and squealed loudly when, after handing the bong back to Joe with an eyeroll, Ben jumped onto her pile, tickling and poking all over until an arm reached out of the top, waving a lighter in defeat. Ben snatched the lighter up and dug his hands into the pile once more, earning a giggle before he sat back on his knees and took the bong back from Joe.

“You two are nauseating, you know that?” Joe commented, and once Y/n emerged from her hiding spot, hair a mess, Joe grabbed at her and pulled her over until she was laying with her torso on his, and wrapped her in his large arms. Y/n flailed a little but ultimately accepted the affection, returning it as best as she could in her blanket prison. “Just remember Ben, she was mine first.” Joe kissed the top of her head.

“She’s still yours, mate.” Ben choked on the smoke, eyes wide.

Joe rolled his eyes at him, looking down at Y/n who had gone still against his chest. “You are both idiots if you think that I don't know.” The two of them looked at each other, the blush apparent on both of their faces. “Oh so we are pretending this isn't happening?” Joe raised his hands in defense, snatching the bong from Ben’s hands. “Whatever you guys want to do.”

Hours later, after a decision to switch to horror movies, the three of them were piled on top of each other. Joe was resting against the headboard, Y/n laying her head on his chest and Ben with his head resting on Y/n thighs. As soon as the credits rolled on screen, Ben rolled himself over, completely trapping Y/n’s legs and groaned loudly.

“What’s up, Benny?” Y/n yawned, her hand finding his head and running her fingers through his blond curls, earning a grumble of satisfaction from the man.

He stretched his arms out, wrapping them around her legs tightly, leaning his head father back into her hand. “Well I was going to suggest going for a ride,” He mumbled into her thigh, “but I may not be able to function if you keep that up, love.” His eyes closed and Y/n switched to running her nails along his scalp, pulling another happy groan from him.

Joe looked down at the two of them, shaking his head lightly. Y/n saw the gesture and smacked her other hand down onto his chest, Joe making an oof sound and laughing when she pulled herself off of him. “A ride actually sounds fantastic, as long as I don't have to drive and” She raised her finger to both boys, “I ride shotgun.” As soon as the words left her lips, Joe and Ben both sat up, voices raised in argument but Y/n just covered her hands over her ears smiling wildly.

“You can have shotgun, only if you roll on demand!” Ben offered, sticking his hand out in her direction, Y/n cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at him.

“You’ve got a deal, Jones.” She slapped her hand to his and they shook vigorously, both laughing. Joe picked that moment to stick a freshly packed bowl in between them. Y/n cooed happily, taking the offered piece from him. “Oh, Joseph, what would I do without you.” She leaned back and kissed his cheek.

“You would perish, surely.” Joe smiled down at the girl, booping his finger on the tip of her nose.

“My hero.” She swooned dramatically against her pillows.

“And you said we are nauseating.” Ben mocked them, rolling his eyes. He smacked his hand gently on Y/n’s calf and she yelped in surprise. “Hit that, get it rolling so we can get rolling.” Ben stood, stretching his arms high in the air, Y/n totally did not notice the way his shirt rode up just a bit with the action.

Passing the bowl back and forth, the three of them slowly gathered all of the items needed for the ride and by the time the bowl was empty. Y/n pushed them out of the room and changed into shorts and then they were ready to walk out the door. “I'll drive, if it can be Ben’s car.” Joe raised a hand in the air and Ben shot him a glare. “Hey man, I'm offering to drive.” Ben growled at him playfully, digging his keys from his pocket and tossing them to Joe.

“I can't believe I’ve got to ride in the backseat of my own car.” Ben grumbled, reaching for the door handle. Y/n stuck her tongue out at him, sliding into the front seat. “Oh stop at the station on the way, we didn't bring our provisions with us.” He leaned forward between the front seats as Joe pulled out of the driveway, nodding his head in acknowledgement. Y/n pulled the aux cord to the back seat and offered it to Ben with a smile.

“You can at least have music choice, since you gotta ride bitch.” She winked and Ben rolled his eyes, plugging his phone in and hitting shuffle before tossing it up to her. “You better have good burn run music, Jones.” Y/n playfully warned him.

Joe pulled up to a gas pump, offering to fill Ben’s tank fully for this ride if he went in to pay. Ben agreed happily and Y/n offered to go with him, getting Joe’s order of gummy bears and a Pepsi as she skipped to catch up to him. “I've got tiny legs, Ben, move slower!” She shouted and he turned around with a laugh. He crouched down ever so slightly but Y/n understood.

“Hop up, small fry.” Ben chuckled, grunting softly when she launched herself at his back, wrapping his hands under her thighs and bouncing her up higher. She wrapped her arms around his neck loosely and planted a loud kiss to his temple. Ben shook his head with a smile. “You are spoiled, you know that right?” He glanced up at her and she grinned back down at him, nodding happily.

Ben and Y/n were in and out of the store quickly, Ben chasing a squealing Y/n as they crossed the parking lot. He collided with her when they reached the car, Ben trapping her squirming form by locking her in place with a hand on the car on either side of her, leaning his head down to her ear. “Got you.” He breathed and she shivered, but playfully pushed against his chest. Ben backed away with a smirk on his face.

“Get in the damn car, lovebirds.” Joe whined, leaning in the roof of the car. Y/n shot him the finger before turning her back to Ben to get into the car. “Seriously are you guys just fucking with me or are you both seriously that niave?” Joe chuckled dryly, leaning down to get into the driver's seat. Once all three of them were inside, Joe grinned wickedly and looked to Y/n. “Get ready to roll, babe, we taking the scenic route.” He winked and patted her thigh.

Y/n kicked off her shoes and pulled her legs onto the seat under her, smacking a hand on her legs. “I'm ready, boss.” She smiled back at him, holding a hand out expectedly. “You know the drill, gimme the bag for the ride.” She turned her head back to Ben. “If you got any, give it to me, Benny.” Ben barked out a laugh and shook his head, Y/n looking at him strangely. He winked at her and Joe shook his head with a sigh. “You wish.” She rolled her eyes.

“We want some rap or some rock?” Ben asked, changing the subject quickly and plugging his phone back into the aux cord. “I found this new rapper that I’ve been really enjoying lately.” Y/n nodded her head enthusiastically as he pressed play. “His name is Immortal Paradox, he's pretty good!” He grinned from the backseat as the rapper started talking softly over the speaker.

“You kids gotta find somebody better to Idolize..”

“Did he just say Drug Abuse?” Joe cocked his head to the side with a chuckle.

“It's a key element of the song, Joe.” Ben smiled back at his friend. He leaned his head back and sang along to the song with a grin. “Please oh please don't Idolize me, I'm a egoistic narcissist who lacks empathy, a judgemental bastard with insecurities, imma free spirit who's never been free. Long days longer nights in a mental cage, and I bottle massive amounts of rage, never meant to be a leader on the stage cause my lyrics seem lethal when they hit the page.”

“Wow Ben, this song really speaks to you doesn't it?” Y/n stuck her tongue out at him but bobbed her head along to the beat. “It's pretty good, you pass this test.” She winked and turned herself back around and pulled out Joe’s bag and began breaking it up and sprinkling it into the folded paper. Ben scooted himself over in the back seat so he could watch her fingers work over the green bud, rolling it into the paper gently. He leaned forward, sticking his head between the front seats. Y/n caught the movement and smiled softly before licking the edge of the paper.

“Anyone ever tell you that you look absolutely lovely rolling a joint, Y/n dear.” Ben sighed dreamily, eyes not leaving hers. Before she could respond, Joe’s arm was flying towards her and the car was being tanked back into the other lane. Y/n and Ben both gasped slightly, Y/n gripping tightly onto the still open bag in her lap,

“Joe!” She screeched as her drink rolled onto the floor.

“I'm sorry! We’re good!” Joe gave her a weak smile, straightening out the car easily. “I just got a little distracted is all.” He reached over and laid his hand on her leg, squeezing comfortingly.

“Don't wreck my car, mate.” Ben grumbled from the backseat. Joe raised his hand from Y/n’s leg in defense before dropping it back to her leg. Ben watched the movement carefully, seeing the two best friends share a smile and Joe squeezing her leg again before they both changed their attention, Joe’s on driving and Y/n’s on the almost finished joint. Ben leaned back in the seat and smiled at the scene. He really lucked out in the friend department when he met Joe, and with Joe came Y/n and he couldn’t have asked for better people.

“Fire in the hole!” Y/n shouted happily and both boys joined in on her cheering. She put the joint up to her lips and fished a lighter out of her pocket, lighting the tip and inhaling softly as she spun the joint around gently. Once she was satisfied it was burning evenly, she passed it back to Ben who took it with an approving nod. Y/n watched him close his eyes and took turns hitting the joint and mouthing along to the lyrics.

“How ‘bout you, what’s your vice? Let me know, do you have any advice? Drink and Smoke help me stay afloat. Not a single fuckin thing gonna sink by boat.” Ben sang as he leaned forward and passed the joint to Joe over his shoulder, continuing the song as he nodded his head along to the beat and shooting Y/n a smirk when he caught her eye.

It was about forty-five minutes later when Joe swerved back into the left lane again, Y/n shot him a glare. “Joseph, if you kill me right now I will be so mad at you.” She raised a finger and poked him in the shoulder. “Maybe it’s time for Ben to drive.”

Ben nodded his head happily, tapping Joe on the shoulder quickly. “Yes, let’s do that. You’ve probably raised my insurance in the last hour.” Joe gave another squeeze to Y/n’s leg before pulling into the first parking lot he came across. “Let’s get some fresh air and stretch a little before we head back out yeah?” All agreeing, Joe went to turn the car off when Ben stopped him. “Leave it, we will just turn up the music, it's not like anyone is around here to complain.” He gestured around the empty church parking lot, not seeing another building in the area.

The three of them found themselves all laying on the trunk of Ben’s car, Y/n sandwiched between the two of them. “Why aren’t we smoking right now?” Joe piped up on Y/n’s left and both she and Ben turned their heads towards him. “Like here we are, just laying here and staring at the dark sky. We should be smoking.” He spoke with one hand behind his head and the other wildly gesturing around. Sitting up quickly and sliding off the car easily. “I shall return.” He bowed deeply, pulling laughs from the other two who settled back into staring up when he sat in the passenger seat, pulling the bag and papers from the center console.

“Turn it up!” Ben shouted as he heard the song change. When the music got louder, Ben started singing along, y/n turning her head to look at him. His eyes were closed, lips moving quickly to keep up with the lyrics. “If you flirt with me I'll be nervous but never hesitate, I'm so in love with you and life and that is always relevant.” His eyes stayed closed, but y/n watched his eyes crinkle up in a smile, turning his head towards her as he kept going, “hypothetically if we both got amnesia, I’d ask you for those digits when our spirits meet up.” When he finished, he opened his eyes and his cheeks heated when he saw that Y/n was staring at him with a soft admiring smile on her face.

“Thanks for inviting me today, love.” Ben used the hand that wasn't under his head to reach down and pat her knee that she had pulled up on the trunk. “I would have just ended up smoking by myself and probably falling asleep on the couch watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” He laughed and she turned her head to face him, looking at him seriously.

“You are welcome any time to join us, Ben, you know that.” She gave him a genuine smile and he grinned back. “I'm serious, you're at our place almost as much as we are, plus you make a perfect third for Joe and I.” Y/n patted his chest a few times before settling back into her position.

“That sounds..” Ben laughed deeply and shook his head, “..very raunchy.”

“In a perfect world, maybe.” She winked at his shocked face, “But alas, you both suck too much.”

“Who is sucking what?” Joe popped up beside the trunk with an eyebrow raised, presenting the fat rolled joint to Y/n.

“You, if you ask nicely.” Ben blew a kiss to his friend and Joe winked back. Y/n snorted loudly, reaching a hand out to Joe, who helped pull her into a sitting position. Ben looked at the window where Y/n was sitting. “Hell of a time for me to decide to get out of the back seat.” He waggled his eyebrows at Joe who laughed and pointed at Ben with a nod.

“You are both gross.” She lit the joint and crossed her arms, letting the joint hang from her lips. “I hope I leave an ass print on the window and then you can't see out of it.” Y/n ended the sentence with both her middle fingers up, causing both men to chuckle.

“I will happily give up my line of sight for your ass print to be on my window, love.” Ben elbowed her in the side and dropped his head onto her shoulder. “You should know that would be my choice.”

“He’s right, you should know that he would choose your ass over just about anything by this point, right buddy?” Joe extended his fist towards Ben who responded by bumping his own fist against it and nodding his blond head quickly.

“You are correct, good sir.”

“I hate you both.” Y/n grumbled, rolling her eyes and blowing the smoke out harshly, handing the joint to Joe. “Honest.”

Ben and Joe stared at each other for a second before they turned to her, both leaning towards her in sync. “No you don’t.” Ben whispered close to her face and Joe was close behind him, inching towards her face.

“You love us.” Joe laughed and the two of them alternated tickling and peppering little kisses all over her cheeks. Y/n squealed and wiggled, but neither man let up.

“Honestly, I cannot stand either of you.” She squirmed, flailing her arms and legs as much as she could without actually injuring them. “You are both awful humans.” Y/n finally huffed out, pushing them away and crossed her arms again, blowing a few stray strands of hair on her face from the struggle.

“Yes,” Joe agreed, “But we are awful and you love us anyways.” He reached forward and ruffled her already messy hair.

“Can we just get back on the road? You are both awful company.” She huffed out, shooting Ben a small smile when she noticed him staring at her.

“Yes, your highness,” Ben sighed dramatically and looked at her expectantly. Joe barked out a loud laugh and Y/n dropped her head to her chest.

“That was awful.” Joe shook his head and swatted at Ben.

“Truly awful.” Y/n agreed, using Joe’s outstretched hand to pull herself off the trunk. “I'm thinking I'll roll one more and we take the super long way home.” She grabbed the joint back from Ben and placed it between her lips as she adjusted her shorts and pulled her hair tie out, flipping her long hair over and pulling it back up quickly. When she stood up, both boys were looking at her with lazy smiles. “What are you looking at?”

“Just you, babe.” Joe reached for her, wrapped her in his arms as she accepted the hug right away. “I'm glad you're my best friend.” He smiled at her as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

“Oi, what about me?” Ben put his hand to his chest in mock offense. “Am I chopped liver now?”

Joe threw one hand out and grabbed Ben’s sweatshirt and pulled him into the embrace. Y/n yelped as she was once again sandwiched between them. “Both of you. I'm glad you're both my best friend.” Joe mumbled into the pile. Y/n pushed her hands against Joe’s chest and her back against Ben’s chest to break up the weird hug.

“Great, now we are all nauseating.” Y/n playfully jabbed at the two of them before she raised her hand in the air, circling it around. “Let’s wrap this up, I'm getting cold and my blanket is calling me.” She pumped her fist in the air and stomped over to the passenger side door.

“You heard the boss.” Joe clapped his hand on Ben’s shoulder as he rounded the back of the car. Ben smiled at them both before opening the driver door and slid inside, adjusting the seat with a glare at Joe. “Not my fault you're shorter than me.” He shrugged and Ben flipped him off.

Once they were back on the road, the joint burnt down to a stub, Y/n threw it out the window and pulled her legs up to begin rolling the last one. “Left, Right, or Straight.” Ben would ask randomly, turning in whichever direction was chosen. Y/n and Joe took turns answering him until they were happily lost. Ben kept fidgeting with his right hand, moving it back and forth between the shifter and his lap before Y/n grabbed his hand and set it on her leg. He smiled at the girl and she grinned back at him.

“It helps Joe drive calmer,” She shrugged and turned up the music, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the seat. Ben caught Joe’s smile in the rearview and looked away quickly. Ben relaxed in the seat a little more, holding the steering wheel loosely in one hand and the other hand tracing small circles where his hand touched Y/n.

Another 20 minutes of driving and Ben smacked his hand on the steering wheel happily, “I know where we are, maybe 35 minutes out.” He tapped Y/n’s leg lightly and she lifted her head sleepily. “Are you ready to smoke one more before you get to go to bed, lovey?”

“I'm ready.” She yawned and Ben smiled fondly at her. Pulling the joint from behind her ear, and lit the tip. Sighing contentedly as she let the smoke curl out of her mouth. “I am also ready for bed.” She stifled another yawn, and hit the joint once more before handing it back to Joe. Weaving her arm under Ben’s, she rested her hand on his leg too. “This ok?”

Ben looked at her hand and back at her face quickly, “It’s perfect.” He smiled at her and the way she smiled back, Ben could have died happily right then and there. She bobbed her head to the music and the rest of the joint was passed between them without words. Ben tapped his elbow on the center console, “Smokes in there, could you light me one?” Y/n nodded, tossing the roach out of the window and grabbing the pack. Soon they were back in Joe and Y/n’s neighborhood.

“You should probably just crash at our place, buddy. Better than you falling asleep on the ride home.” Joe offered, covering his own yawn. “My couch is your couch.” Y/n nodded her head in agreement, gathering the supplies and shoving them in her pockets. “‘Cause I know I'm beat.”

“I will take you up on that offer, I think.” Joe chuckled as Ben fought his own yawn back.

All three of them slid out of the car and shuffled back to the apartment. Y/n went straight to the kitchen, putting on a kettle for tea before going back to her room and changing back into her leggings. Walking over to the window seat again, she pulled a cigarette out from her pack, a soft knock on her door pulling her attention back to earth. “Can I grab my cuddle blanket real quick?” Ben’s soft voice floated through the barely opened door.

“Yeah, come on in. Hey I'm making tea, if your british self would like some before bed.” Y/n grinned at him, and he smiled brightly back at her with a nod. “I'm glad you are our third.” she added after a minute. Spending a lazy day with Ben, she realized, was one of her best days in a while.

“Yeah, I am too.” Ben grabbed his blanket up and wrapped it around his shoulders. Instead of leaving like she expected him to, he sat across from her and snatched the cigarette out of her hand. His leg bounced lightly and he looked anywhere but at her. “Was Joe right earlier?” He breathed out with a cloud of smoke.

“What do you mean?”

“Are we just being naive?” Hitting the cigarette again and handing it back, blowing the smoke out in a huff and looking back at her. “Are we not seeing what's going on here?”

“What’s exactly is going on here, Ben?” Y/n tilted her head to the side with a small smirk. Could he be serious? Y/n hoped that Ben wouldn't be able to hear her heart pounding wildly in her chest. She kept his gaze as she brought the cigarette to her lips, tilting it to the other side when Ben smiled and looked away and back quickly.

“Well I don't know about you,” He started, grabbing the cigarette from her again. Blowing out the smoke slowly, like he was trying to calm his own heartbeat. “But I spend a lot of time thinking about kissing you.” His eyes flicked to hers and he sucked in a deep breath and held it as he studied her face.

Y/n’s cheeks flushed and she chuckled. “Is that so?” Nodding her head softly. “Now what would you say if I told you, that I spend a lot of time thinking about kissing you as well?”

Ben’s smile was so wide that Y/n couldn't hold back a soft giggle. Hitting the cigarette once more, Ben crushed it out in the ashtray and within seconds he had one hand cupping her chin, brushing his lips over hers gently. Y/n responded instantly, bringing a hand up to the back of Ben’s neck and sinking her fingers into the soft curls, both of them letting out happy sounds at the contact.

“I would say that this is going to happen a lot more often now.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek and she leaned into the touch, eyes fluttering closed. “But right now, your couch calls my name.” He kissed her forehead quickly before standing up and pulling his blanket closer. “And the water is calling yours. Let’s go have some tea before bed.” He held his hand out to her and when she took it, he interlaced their fingers and traced circles with his thumb.

While y/n busied herself in the kitchen, the boys settled into the living room, and when she walked back into the room she noticed her favorite spot open, the center of the couch, right between her two favorite humans. Three cups of tea and one final bowl packed and passed between them as they relaxed on the couch. Y/n smiled at the two boys, her two best friends. “Alright boys, I think that this is it for me.” Draining her tea cup and standing with a groan, Y/n walked behind Joe and grabbed his face with both hands, planting a kiss to his forehead while Joe wrapped an arm around her tightly. When she walked over to Ben, she repeated the gesture of grabbing his face with both hands but she pressed a kiss on his lips instead. “I'm off to bed, love you guys.” She yawned once more and gave a small wave as she disappeared for the hallway. Both boys muttering their goodnights before Joe swatted Ben’s arm playfully.

“It’s about damn time.” Joe threw his hands in the air happily.

“You may have been right.” Ben huffed out a laugh but smiled anyways. “But I’ll never tell you that.”

#ben hardy x reader #ben hardy #ben hardy fanfiction #ben hardy fanfic #joe mazzello #joe mazzello fanfiction #joe mazzello fanfic #stoner fic #HAPPY 420 GUYS #recreational drug use #pot smoking #my writing

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theokotrain · 4 years ago

Text

Vestige - Interlude: The Party

Wattpad Version

As the night fills the sky

All my fears are dissipating

'Cause I feel reassured

That I might make it through

And if all my luck should burn

Then I guess it burned for you

---

April 13th, 2012

I was sitting on my bed, back against the bed frame with my knees raised in front of me, holding up my laptop. I had been spending the last few hours writing an essay for my English class, specifically answering the topic question my teacher had given everybody: "How do our past experiences influence our decisions?". The question was simple enough, it's a pretty universally recognized idea that stuff that happens to us has an effect on our decision making. I mean, that's what it means to grow, right? You gain more knowledge as you live through life and form new memories, and that helps you make more informed decisions in the future.

I've never really been too good at writing anything analytical, especially non-fiction. Essays and research papers that required informed arguments that helped to prove your point? Those were an entirely unknown game to me, one which I had never managed to breeze through. Of course, we were supposed to use some of the books we've read this year as evidence for our arguments, so that at least made it a bit easier, even if most of the books were ones from nearly five decades ago and definitely out of touch at this point. The sound of my laptop's keys clicking as I typed away were the only sounds I could pick up in the room. I had my earphones in for a bit, but those always hurt my ears after a while, so I had taken them out.

Looking at the time in the corner of my laptop screen, it was 4:43 PM. I started writing as soon as I got home from class, so I've only been going for about an hour. Unfortunately, this essay is a non-insignificant amount of my course grade, so I needed to finish this as soon as possible.

God, it's a Friday! I could be out doing something actually fun with Shae and the other guys. Isn't that the whole point of high school? That's what it always seemed like in movies, at least, but I guess I've been a victim of false advertising.

After a bit more time passes, the sound of my phone ringing from my desk brings me out of my writing trance. I sigh, setting my laptop next to me on the bed, not wanting to get out of bed, but eventually forcing myself into maneuvering over to the desk, I grab the phone and flip it open, looking to see the Caller ID.

Shaela.

I instantly accept the call, it's almost second nature at this point. She calls me at least once a day so she can tell me about whatever person is pissing her off that day, or whatever drama she's heard from her other friends. I was never really one for gossip, or whatever, but I did appreciate talking to her.

I put the phone up to my ear, "What's up?" I say, a tinge of fatigue in my voice.

"Hey! Just warning you that I'm like five minutes from your place and you don't have a say in the matter." She replied bluntly. I can hear the sound of cars driving by on the other side of the phone, so she's obviously outside, confirming her words.

I take a deep breath before speaking, "...Why?" I said with exasperated sarcasm.

"Because! I have something to tell you, and if I say it over the phone then I seriously doubt it'll work out in the way I'm hoping it does."

"That clears up nothing, actually, and now I regret picking up."

"Even if you didn't answer, that doesn't stop your parents from letting their son's lovely goody-two-shoes of a friend stop by for a visit!" She exclaimed, a mischievous tone subtly layered in her voice.

She's not wrong.

"Wow, you make this sound like you're sneaking into a high-security building or something." I say, utterly confused at her motives. "Obviously you can come over, but I'm not exactly filled with confidence at whatever you're planning."

"Like I said, I can't tell you yet, but it's gonna be awesome!" She said. There was an unusual perkiness to her that made itself pretty clear over the phone.

Before I can say anything, I'm met with the dial tone, signalling that she had hung up. The only thing I can do at this point is wait for her to get here, I guess. She always lets herself in when she comes over, so I don't make the effort to meet her downstairs. A sudden ping sound fills the quiet room, seeming to come from my laptop. I get back into bed, looking to see where the notification came from.

It's a message from Tyler.

He's definitely the newest member of our little group, if even that. I'm the only person in the group that he's actually friends with so far, despite my efforts to bring him along on any plans we all make. I only met the Grey Wolf back in February, at the beginning of the second semester, in the school's photography class. Nobody I knew signed up for it, and due to our prestigious high school's advanced budget for technology, we were forced to be paired up for shared computer use in the Photography Room. I suppose Tyler was also fortunate enough to not know anybody in the class, as we ended up being paired together by the teacher. He was definitely someone I could only describe as uninterested, as the first week or two I spent with him in that class consisted of him either giving me one word answers or answering in the most blunt, bored tone he could manage. Though, it seemed that it took a bit of persistence on my part to push him to be more open, and since then he's grown to be a pretty great friend.

Tyler: u goin to that party tonight ive been hearin about?

Party? I wasn't made aware of anything like that, at least... not yet. Something in the back of my brain was telling me that Shae had ulterior motives about coming to my place so suddenly, but I'm still hoping that I'm wrong. I hate parties.

Jake: party? havent heard anything, are u going?

Tyler: thinkin about it

think its gonna be over at chris's place, guess his parents r gone for the weekend or somethin

Jake: chrisssss? ughh that guy is such an asshole

Tyler: yeah u dont havee to go, but itd prob be more fun to have someone u actually know there

The way he worded that was directed at me, but I could tell he didn't want to go on his own.

Jake: i guess ill think about it

Tyler: sickk, call me if u make up ur mind

Before I can type my farewells over IM, Shaela energetically bursts through the door.

"Jesus! You scared the shit outta me, don't you knock?" I said, mildly exasperated.

"Oh come on, I literally called you a few minutes ago, you had plenty of time to not make a situation where it'd be a bad idea for me to barge in," She replies, laughing, before setting her bag on the ground and dramatically falling into my bed. "Today was garbage."

"What happened?"

"Ugh, Claire decided to just not show up, I guess, on the day we're supposed to present that stupid History project? And, obviously, she didn't give me her part of the project or anything, so I had tell Mr Thomas about the situation, which was fucking embarrassing." She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Luckily, he said he wouldn't reduce my grade for handing it in late, since I actually had my part finished. God, what a bitch- I must've called her like thirty times before class to get her to email me her part, and every time it went straight to voicemail - and she told me last night that she'd have it ready for today!"

"Have you gotten a hold of her yet?" I asked, closing my laptop and setting it beside me.

Shae turns her head to me, shaking her head, "Nope, she's been ghosting me all day."

"Sounds like typical Claire."

"Yeah, I shouldn't have partnered with her, but apparently I can't say no to anyone, so..." I chuckle lightly in response. "Anyways! I didn't just come here to complain to you!" She says, sitting up on the bed, now facing towards me.

"Right... So what was so important that you just had to tell me in person?" I say, sarcastically.

"Like I said, if I asked you over the phone you would've definitely said no, and my ability to pressure you into doing things isn't as effective unless it's in person!" She responded.

I subtly rolled my eyes, but it's clear she noticed from the stare-down she gave me, "Okay, so what is it?"

"Soooooo..." She says, trying to find the rest of the words, "There's a party."

Wow.

"Wh- did everybody know about that party except for me?!?" I exclaimed.

Shaela's face quickly turns to an expression of shock, "Who told you?"

"Tyler did, like, not even five minutes ago." I say, bluntly.

"What? How does he know Chris?"

"Friend-of-a-friend, I'm guessing?"

"Hmm..." She hummed, thinking about something, "So, did you tell him you were going?"

"I specifically said I'd think about it, nothing definite." I made it clear in my tone that I wasn't particularly interested.

"Oh, come on, dude! It'll be fun!"

I didn't really have an interest in going, but I know it'd make Shae happy, plus it'd be nice to hang out with Tyler again even if we've only known each other for a couple months.

"...Fine. But, if Chris or any of his buddies start shit, I'm leaving."

"Awesome!"

"Lemme just call Tyler and let him know," I said as I grabbed my phone and flipped it open, finding Tyler in my contact list and dialling.

"You gonna bring him with-" The phone rings a few times before he picks up and I extend my hand out towards Shae in a shushing motion. She rolls her eyes, smirking.

"Hey? So are ya gonna go?" He said eagerly.

"Well, Shae showed up at my door literally right after you messaged me, asking the same thing!" I exclaimed in a fake-preppy voice. "So, I guess I have no choice since she'll probably just drag me there if I say no," I joked. She nods her head toward me in response.

"Oh, is she going too?" He inquired.

"Yeah, I guess so! Your place is kinda on the way to Chris', so we could probably meet you at your place and go from there."

"Yeah! Sounds good!" He quickly responded.

I laughed, "Okay, we'll call you when we get there?"

"Sure thing!"

We exchanged our farewells, and hung up. The party wasn't for at least another hour or two, so Shae and I had some time to burn, of which I was entirely out of ideas. I figured I could at least spend this time actually being productive, so I grabbed my laptop and continued on writing my English essay as Shae resumed her previous conversation topic of stuff at school that was pissing her off. It was pretty entertaining, to be fair. She was telling me about how Chris had gotten in a fight with this other kid in our grade yesterday after class, which I wasn't lucky enough to witness, but it was obviously all anyone would talk about for basically the entire day today so word spread around fast. The part I hadn't heard about was that both Chris and the other guy, Nathan, got suspended for a week because of it. Chris was generally an asshole to everybody, including myself, so I didn't feel too bad about that. Although, I didn't know Nathan all that well. Other than having a few classes together, I don't think I've ever held an actual conversation with the guy. I think it was safe to assume that Chris was the one who started it, and Shae seemed to agree with me, even though she hadn't seen the fight either.

"But, apparently Nathan's gonna show up tonight!" She exclaimed coyly.

"...Remind me again why you want me to go to this specific party?"

"You'll have a great time! It's not like we'll be involved in the drama anyway so think of it more as entertainment!"

"I think you and I have different definitions of the word 'entertainment'," I joked.

"I'm sure you can go run off somewhere with Tyler if you're not having fun," She said, her tone reminding me of my mom.

"Oh yeah? What about you?"

"I can't just leave Alex at a party with Chris, those two start shit between each other so much and I'd rather not deal with the aftermath of that today."

"I'm guessing it's safe to assume that Elliot's going too, then?"

"He's not big on parties, but he'll usually go if everyone else is, unlike somebody," She says, gesturing towards me.

"Good one," I reply, unmoving as I keep typing away at my assignment.

"Well, we should probably leave soon since we're stopping at Tyler's place on the way.

I saved the document I had been working on, closing my laptop. "Sounds good to me!"

---

"I can't believe you actually agreed to go." Tyler joked as we walked towards the road from his house.

"Yeah, me either." I replied. I definitely didn't put in any effort in dressing up for the party, opting for a snug space-themed graphic tee, along with black jeans and a white zip-up hoodie. Shae and Tyler both stand on opposite sides of me as we walk down the sidewalk.

"Luckily I learned the subtle techniques in convincing you to do things against your better judgement, so now you get to have fun for once!" Shae exclaimed.

"It's not my fault that going to a party is literally the last thing on earth I'd do for fun in any normal situation." I retorted, putting my hands in the pockets of my jacket.

"Oh yeah? And what do you consider a 'normal situation'?" Shae asks.

"Any situation where you guys aren't the ones trying to get me to go! I'm only doing this for you two, y'know." I said, looking over at both of them.

"What about Elliot and Alex?" Tyler chimed in.

"They aren't the ones asking me to go to this party." I sarcastically remarked, trying to keep the conversation light-hearted. "Speaking of the party- this is Chris we're talking about, there's gonna be beer, right?"

"Uh, duh?" Shae replied.

"Yeah, that's a definite no for me, I'm already enough of a disappointment to my parents,"

"No one's making you drink, Jake. At least you'd be safe if some old hag called the cops about the noise." Shae said.

"I think at that point we're guilty by association, so we'd just make a run for it if that happens," Tyler joked.

"Dude, the chance of me outrunning a police officer successfully is about as likely as me not wanting to punch Chris tonight."

"And the chance of you winning that fight is just as low!" Shae retorted, Tyler laughing in response.

"I specifically said 'want' because of that very reason!"

"Wow, I'd pay money to see you fight that guy." Tyler said, nudging his elbow into my side.

It isn't a secret that I'm not exactly athletic. I mean, I'm definitely not weak, but fighting basically any animal of a similar size to mine was not a situation that favoured my victory.

"That sounds more like just getting the shit kicked outta me for your entertainment." I remarked, lightly punching Tyler's shoulder in return.

"Absolutely worth every penny!" Shae exclaimed. Luckily, the place wasn't any more than ten minutes away from Tyler's place, so I didn't have to endure listening to these two talk about me getting beat up for much longer.

We finally make it to Chris' house, and I'm suddenly filled with an impending sense of regret. Obviously, my parents would never in a million years agree to me going to a party like this. As far as they know, I'm just spending the evening hanging out with Shae at Tyler's house. So yeah, this entire night had a lot of potential for disaster.

Shae can clearly see my hesitation, because she grabs my hand, leading me up the walkway, Tyler following closely behind.

"I wonder if Elliot and Alex beat us here?" She says, knocking on the front door.

"I doubt they had anything to do earlier, hell they probably came straight here after school, knowing Alex." I said, laughing.

Our conversation is cut short by the opening door, revealing the familiar black cat.

"Oh, look, the Stephenson kid brought his girlfriend!" Chris exclaimed mockingly, looking back into the house, before peering around my shoulder, "And... Tyler?" He said, inquisitively.

I lean over, blocking Tyler from his line of sight, "Yeah, hey, not dating by the way!" I said. I've known Shae since I first moved to Vestige, around the time I turned five years old, so it wasn't uncommon for rumours to go around that we were dating. I've always thought of her more as a sister, if anything.

"I asked them to come!" Tyler said. That was only partly true, but according to Tyler, they've been 'somewhat-friends' for quite a while now, so saying that would at least mean less mild-harassment from Chris for tonight.

"Oh, uh, okay... come on in! But you're on the hook for any shit they pull, Tyler!" He said, opening the door wider.

---

The party had been going on for a few hours at this point. I could recognize most of the animals here from school, but not enough to actually hold a conversation with any of them, so most of my time here had just been spent with Shae and Tyler. The place hasn't been incredibly crowded luckily, but there were easily about forty others in this part of the house alone. I'm assuming only high school grades were invited, but there were a considerable number of students to meet that requirement. The issue at hand for me, other than how crowded this place is, is that both Shae and Tyler ditched me to go... somewhere? I think Shae saw some of her friends and went somewhere with them, but Tyler was pretty secretive about where he was going, only telling me that he'd be back in a bit. So I've been standing here in this random corner of the house with a drink in hand, trying to make myself look busy and not awkward, which is exactly why I didn't want to go to this party in the first place!

"Jake!" A voice shouted from a ways away.

I turn my head in confusion, revealing Alex, walking towards me from across the room.

"Oh, Alex! Hey! What's up dude!" I finish the last bit of my soda, waving at him. Because this was Chris' party, there was obviously beer too, but I didn't feel like coming home drunk and my parents finding out.

"I didn't think you'd wanna come to something like this! Feeling the regret yet?"

"I like parties! It's the times like these when I'm standing in a corner by myself with nothing to do that I hate, which seems to happen every time I go to a party!" I exclaimed, pausing for a moment. "Okay, maybe I do hate parties- I've had to explain this so many times today I'm about ready to jump into Lake Ambuscade."

' "Wow, sounds like somebody needs to socialize instead of stewing in a corner for the rest of the night!"

"Socialize? Really? I know just about everybody here and just about none of them are worth talking-"

"Hang with me and Elliot, then? Justin set up some racing games in the other room, we were gonna join, but we could use a fourth... You in?" He said, his tone obviously trying to sound coercing.

"God, please, anything to get me out of this corner for the next three hours." I said, Alex returning my words with a laugh.

"Well, come on then! We'll have to hurry if we want to get one of the good controllers!" He exclaimed, motioning to follow him.

As we move through the various cliques, I recognize a few faces here and there, though not enough to actually want to talk to them. There's been music playing since we got here, and I have yet to recognize a single song, they all seem to be some form of drone-y bass-heavy music that I can't say I've heard in any normal situations. I'm doing my best to follow Alex, although he keeps weaving between the other animals faster than I can keep up, resulting in me having to shove past everyone near me in an effort to speed myself up. Luckily, it seems that no one notices me anyway.

When we arrive in the other room, it seems to just be another living room, but decorated with a galore of punk band posters, shelves holding more DVD cases than I would ever care to count, and even a mini-fridge. Maybe Chris is the type to have a 'man cave' or something? Just hearing that phrase almost makes me want to vomit, but there aren't any more accurate words that come to mind. The room isn't massive or anything, but the TV resting upon the wall across the room seems to challenge that idea, looking almost eighty inches in size. Luckily no randoms from the party were in here, sitting about ten feet away from the TV is Elliot, leaning back in a purple bean bag chair that seems almost three times bigger than him, and Justin, the cougar I'd only known slightly through Alex, laying down sideways on the couch directly in front of the gigantic screen.

"Whatttt! You took the bean bag chair? Lameee..." Alex whined.

"You're the one who wanted to go get Jake, you snooze you lose!" Elliot retorted, looking oddly proud of himself.

"Damn, wish I had a room like this at my house..." I mumbled, looking around the room.

"Are we gonna play or what?" Justin said, cutting through the momentary silence.

"Duh!" Alex claimed.

Justin sits up, taking the spot on the couch closest to Elliot. I opt for the leftmost seat, and Alex sits in-between the both of us. Elliot grabs the other three controllers and tosses them over at us, one by one. Luckily, there weren't any garbage third-party controllers, so at least none of us would have to deal with that. I will admit, it did feel kinda weird going to someone's party just to play games away from everybody, but I would be lying if I said I didn't prefer that, even though I rarely play games, if ever.

After Justin turns the console on, he goes through the menus, launching the game. I can't say I recognize the title, but it seems to be a pretty standard racing game. He goes into the custom mode, opting for a four-player split-screen match, choosing 'R1' as the category of cars to race in. As everyone chooses their cars, I scroll through the list, not really knowing what to pick. I've never been good with car stuff, so I pick an 'Aston Martin Lola' just based on the number-rating system the game ranks the cars with.

"You guys ready?" Justin asks.

"Oh yeah, get ready to eat my dust you guys!" Elliot exclaims, challengingly.

"Oddly prideful words for someone about to lose!" Alex replies, laughing.

The countdown begins, as the cameras slowly show the view of each car as it moves to the rear. When it starts, I somehow manage the fuckup of spinning my tires out, leaving me a few seconds behind the others as the car swerves back and forth. I curse under my breath as I try to regain control of the car, and swiftly pick up speed. The track seems like nothing I haven't seen before, a typical professional track, with rows and rows of audience seating to the side. Unfortunately, I'm now in last place. The next few moments of the track are a few quick corners, allowing me the chance to catch up, at least a little.

Unexpectedly, the track turns off of the main road, going into a forested area. The road is considerably more narrow at this point, so it takes a conscious effort to not drive into the trees by the asphalt. It looks like the road stretches on forever, as I still can't make out any upcoming turns. I guess the car I chose for the race had a better top speed than Justin's, as I'm quickly catching up to him, moving into third place. I'm gripping my controller to an uncomfortable degree, but I can't seem to relax the tension as I try to make my way into second place. I don't think I can pick up any more speed in this car, so me moving up is reliant on the road staying straight for just a bit longer. After what feels like a lifetime, the front of my car finally starts making it past Elliot's, then the midsection, and finally, I'm in second. The sound of all four car engines is drowning out any remnants of the video game music, and I feel the sudden urge to curse out whoever turned the TV volume up this high. My eyes are focused entirely on Alex's car as I make my final push into first place. If I were actually driving this fast in the real world, I'd be scared out of my fucking mind. Out of nowhere, Alex, and the others, begins to slow down considerably.

Oh fuck.

It's at that point I notice that there is a sharp right turn rapidly approaching. I've been pushing the top-speed of this car since the beginning of this stretch of road, and now I'm going too quickly to stop in time. What's the button to use the handbrake, again? I figure that the only way for me to not fuck up this race for myself is to try to drift around the corner. Considering I've never played this game before, it's going to prove to be a challenge. But, it's either that, or just ending up in dead-last again.

I hold down the A button, and pull the joystick as far to the right as possible. Suddenly, all I can hear from the game is the loud skidding sounds of my tires against the asphalt. To my surprise, I cut the corner a bit early, now going over the grass. I try to do a bit of directional-corrections and start heading back onto the track. Going over the grass definitely slowed me down a fair bit, but it definitely was a significantly better outcome over just crashing into the wall. And, to my surprise, the corner of my screen reads... first?!?

"How the fuck...?" Alex questions, seemingly in disbelief.

"I wish I could tell you." I replied, eyes wide at whatever the fuck just happened.

The distance I managed to gain on Alex isn't by a whole lot, but there's only about a quarter of the track left before we reach the finish line, so I have a chance at winning this. The track hurriedly changes from the forest as it reenters the main track. The long, straight roads seem to end as the road becomes a slow series of sharp turns, never giving me the opportunity to get back up to speed. It seems like the high top speed was my only advantage, because at every corner we take, I turn my camera around, revealing the other cars inching closer and closer to me.

I can see the finish line on the mini-map, just a few more turns away. I know that I'm not gonna be able to distance myself from Alex and the others at this point, so my only feasible strategy is to keep moving, cutting the corners as fast as I can, and getting to the finish line before they can pass me. Unfortunately, Alex's car seems to be getting too close for comfort now, meaning I might have to take some risks to ensure I can stay in first. As we approach the final turn, leading into the finish line, I realise I'm gonna have to try to drift this corner. I can feel my pointer finger practically cracking the plastic on the controller from the amount of pressure I'm putting on the right trigger. In a final plea to win, I push down on the A button, pulling the handbrake. The car starts to smoothly skid around the corner. Luckily, there are barriers on the sides of the road this time, preventing me from sliding onto the grass. To my surprise, the drift seems to work better than expected. That is, until, like the fucking idiot I am, make a slight overcorrection towards the left barriers as I exit the drift. I managed to avoid driving directly into the wall, but it did slow me down a bit.

Alex is immediately behind me, and I put all of my strength into accelerating towards the finish line. I'd be fucked if I broke the controller, cause I can't really afford the fifty dollars to buy a new one, but winning this race is more important to me at the moment. The finish line is only about five-hundred metres away, and Alex is slowly beginning to pass. All I can do at this point is push the gas as much as I can, and pray that I can cross the finish line before he can get back into first place. The finish line gets closer and closer, and it seems like it's gonna be too close for me to accurately tell the winner. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest from how stressful this fucking game has been, and now, we're about to find out whose efforts paid off. As each car makes its way over the finish line, each of our dedicated sections of the screen turns to slow motion. When it's finally over, the text fades in on each screen, revealing our place...

...

...Second?!?

"FUCK!" I shouted, realising I had been holding my breath since the final stretch of the race.

"HA! Dude, you suck!" Alex exclaimed, playfully shoving me.

"I think that was the most effort I've put into anything in my life." I said, setting my controller on the coffee table in front of me.

"Wow, that's dramatic," Justin remarked.

"Yeah, that's the usual for Jake," Elliot replied, laughing.

"You probably woulda won if you picked a better car, dude. That track was way too close-quarters so you should've gone with a car with better acceleration." Alex said.

"Wha- do you own this game?" I questioned, looking accusatory.

"...Yeah? It came out a few months ago, pretty popular right now." He replied.

"Ugh, this is what I get for playing with a bunch of gamers." I exclaimed, applying a disgusted tone to the last word.

"Not my fault you only play like one game a month!" Alex joked.

"Even then, I was like this close to beating you anyway!" I said, gesturing a minuscule distance between my thumb and pointer finger.

A voice interrupts our argument, coming from right outside the room, "Uh huh...

...

Really? That's bullshit! Come on...

...

Dude, give me a couple of days, I'll make it right!

...

Yeah, I swear."

It seems that we all stopped talking to listen in at the same time. "That sounds like Tyler... who's he arguing with?" Elliot asked. I can't make out the voice of whoever he's talking to, it just sounds like mumbling.

They seem to pause for a moment, and the sound of a single set of footsteps can be heard.

"Fuck..." Tyler says to himself, still out of view.

"...I should probably see what's up, you guys can keep playing without me." I say, getting up from my spot on the couch.

"Yeah, you do that! Less competition for me," Alex exclaims, laughing to himself.

"Hey, I can still beat your ass at this game, I know exactly which car to pick this time!" Elliot argued.

"Yeah, right! Guess we'll find out!"

I leave as the three start up another game, kind of glad I don't have to have another near-heart attack from playing again. When I get back into the dimly-lit hallway, Tyler is nowhere to be seen.

I look around, heading into the main room of the house to see if I can spot him. It's pretty difficult to see anything, because of how dim it is here, plus the sheer amount of animals crowding up the place. Despite that, I manage to spot the Grey Wolf a ways away, hurrying quickly into the bathroom.

As I shove my way through a few groups of teens, I almost fall over a few times, gaining confused stares from a few in the room. I lightly knock on the bathroom door, waiting for a response, "Hey, you okay Tyler?" After a few moments, I'm returned with no answer, "...Tyler-" Before I can finish my sentence, Tyler swiftly pulls open the bathroom door, pulling me in and shutting the door behind me, before sitting down on the side of the bathtub. As I'm about to say something, I hear the sound of him sniffling.

...Is he crying?

He's looking towards the floor, so I can't confirm it visually, but the sound definitely gives it away.

"Whoa, what's wrong? Did something happen?" I asked worriedly, not yet choosing to bring up the argument we overheard.

There's a few seconds of silence as he tries to bring himself together, not very successfully. "I- I... I don't- I don't think I can-"

"It's fine, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I tried to reassure him. He raises his head for a moment to look at me, trying to find words to say, instead opting to go back to crying, head in his hands. I've never been good with situations like this, so I sit down next to him, putting my hand on his upper back, softly patting.

"I'm sorry- I'm a fucking idiot. I shouldn't have asked you to come."

"Hey! I've been having fun! Don't worry about me, it seems like you're the one who shouldn't have come." I joke, in some effort to lighten the mood.

Shit, was that inconsiderate of me to say?

To my surprise, he manages to let out a light laugh, "Yeah, I'm starting to realise that."

"...Do you wanna leave, then? They know I didn't want to go here in the first place, so you could just say you're being nice and walking me home." I didn't know if he would actually take up that offer, but I know some guys have a weird thing about not wanting to seem 'uncool' and leaving a party early was definitely considered that.

He thinks for a moment, still sniffling pretty noticeably. "...okay, just- give me a minute, I don't want to go out there looking like this." He mumbles, looking towards the door.

"Yeah, that's fine." I said, continuing to rub around his neck area.

This definitely wasn't how I expected the night to go. But it was a sort of 'two-birds-with-one-stone' kind of situation. I get to help out Tyler, which is usually the other way around, I get to leave early, and hopefully Shae stops bugging me about going to parties, at least for a while.

Now that I think about it, that analogy is pretty messed up.

A few silent minutes go by as I sit next to the still-crying Tyler, waiting for him to recollect himself. Even though he hasn't actually said anything here, in the two months I've known him, this is probably the most vulnerable I've ever seen him. When I first met him, it was pretty accurate to describe him as the kind of guy who acts like he never feels emotion. Hell, even I refuse to be open about my feelings, but most of my friends see through that nowadays. Even now, I don't really understand why I do that. I guess it's just easier to not talk about shit like that? Is that why Tyler does it?

"I think I'm good now," He said, shaking his hands as he stood up.

"Okay, let's get out of this dumpster fire." I sarcastically remarked. Tyler shot me a confused look in return. "Whatever, let's just go."

I open the bathroom door, grabbing his arm as I lead him out into the main room. Almost immediately the voice of a certain black cat perks up behind us.

"Oh? And what did you two get up to in there?" Chris remarked, laughing, "I didn't know you guys were THAT kind of friends!"

God damnit. This stupid fucking feline.

"Yeah, it's too loud out here for me, I needed a break, he came with." I explained, Tyler standing closely behind me with a confused look on his face. Just roll with it, dude, I think to myself, knowing I probably shouldn't say that out loud.

"You know, I would believe that, but normal guys actually just go outside when they need a break." He replied.

"Well, hey! That's where we're going right now, so it all checks out!" I say in the bitchiest voice I can muster.

"Heh, sure thing, Jake." He said, sounding weirdly satisfied with himself. I didn't want to spend any more time in this fucking house than I needed to, especially while talking to Chris, so I continue on, pulling Tyler by the hand towards the exit. After a few moments, we make it to the front door. I promptly open it and we both head outside.

We're immediately greeted by the light of the moon and the starry sky as we head down the walkway toward the street. One of the few benefits of living in such a backwater town was the absence of any significant light pollution. I've been to Portland a few times for school field trips and such, and seeing the sheer difference in visible stars was absolutely staggering. I could only imagine what it would be like to go stargazing in the middle of nowhere.

"At least it's a nice night out." I said.

"Yeah..." Tyler replied, his mind clearly in a completely different place.

"I should probably tell Shae where we went, so she doesn't freak out trying to find us back there." I joked, pulling out my cell phone. Texting on my flip phone was an arduous task, but I didn't want to call her, so I had not much of a choice.

I send the text, and close my phone, returning it to my pocket. As we walk down the road, we stew in the silence, the only auditory sounds coming from the party still close by, and the local crickets chirping.

I won't lie, as much as I usually appreciate quiet, this is the loudest silence I've ever been stuck in. It goes on for more than five minutes. I could tell he wanted to say something, and I was eager to find out whatever was going on that started this in the first place. But, like the coward I am, I try to lighten the mood.

"Hopefully that satisfied your quota of me going to parties with you for a while, cause I do not plan on having the energy for something like that again for at least a few months." I said, awkwardly laughing. He doesn't respond, at least for a while, as he raises his hand, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "...Uhh, are you sure you don't wanna talk about it? I mean-"

"Can I tell you something?" He interrupted, his voice still cracking like it was in the bathroom.

"...Sure?" I replied, slightly confused.

"It's just that- I don't really know- like what-"

"-to say? Just think for a minute. No rush." That's what my dad always says whenever my mind spirals. I used to be really anxious, although I've been getting better at controlling my thoughts in the past few years.

When I went to text Shae a few minutes ago, my phone's clock read 9:48 PM. I'm supposed to be home at ten and we're still at least twenty minutes away, not even including the detour we'll take to get to Tyler's place. Which brings me to the realisation that, when we get to his house, I'm gonna have to walk the rest of the way home by myself, in the dark. If I get murdered by some serial killer this late at night I'm gonna fucking haunt Shae from the afterlife-

"I think I'm gay," He quickly says, his voice holding a noticeable increase in energy compared to what I've been used to tonight.

Well... can't say that's exactly what I was expecting. Was I expecting anything in particular? I honestly don't know anymore. His words took me by surprise, my brain is kind of scrambled right now. I look over at him - he's looking back at me, probably trying to gauge my reaction. I did my best to conceal any facial reaction, but it's pretty clear that my lack of a response is starting to become noticeable.

"...You... think?"

"Well, like- I don't know. I guess I've just been thinking for a while, and it makes sense... all things considered." He replied anxiously.

"That- That's great! Does anyone else know?"

"I only really realised a few weeks ago, so... no. But compared to anyone else, I probably trust you the most to not like- tell anyone?" He said, looking over at me again.

"Well, I appreciate the completely undeserved confidence you have in me," I joked, realising too late that now probably isn't the time for that, "Yeah, I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you," He replies, a genuine smile strewn across his face.

A few minutes go by as we walk down the road, absorbing the positive energy we created. Having only known Tyler for a little over two months, it definitely surprised me knowing that he trusted me more than anyone else to keep a secret like that... I mean, despite the short amount of time since I met him, I'm as close to him as I've been to Shaela for the past eight years. Maybe even closer? I barely even tell Shae about my actual problems, at least the non-surface level stuff. So yeah, I guess it makes sense that he would trust me with something so important, I know I would absolutely trust him if it were me in that situation.

"...So, do you think you're gonna tell your dad?"

He didn't say anything for a moment as he stared down at the ground beneath him, "I'll probably have to tell him soon, if he has to find out from some asshole that isn't me it'd make it ten times more difficult than if I just said it myself."

I agreed, and we let the conversation cut itself off as we finally approached Tyler's house. I followed him up the walkway and stood on the patio, making sure he actually got inside. He tries the doorknob eagerly, to no avail. Realising that it was locked, he reaches into his pocket for his key - again, to no avail.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Tyler mumbled under his breath, clearly done with tonight. All of the lights were off in the house, signalling that his dad was not awake.

"Maybe you'll wake him up if you knock? Then he can let you in."

"Nonono, he thinks I'm staying at your place! If he finds out I went to a party I'm in deep shit," He whispered.

Of course. If I had to lie to my parents, why would I expect anything different from anyone else?

"Okay, uhh... maybe we can make that lie... not a lie?" I said, sounding weirder than I'd like.

Tyler looked at me, confused for a moment, eyes widening as he realised what I meant, "I can't let you do that, I've already forced you through too much shit tonight."

"Oh, come on, of course you can sleep at my place for the night! My parents think I'm at your house right now, so I can just tell them that we both went over there early in the morning. They love you anyway, so it won't be a problem!"

He didn't move at all, still looking reluctant, "Are you sure it won't be... weird? I don't want to put you in an awkward situation cause of w- what I told you."

"Dude, that couch in my room has a hide-a-bed if you don't want to share mine. Either way, we're friends, aren't we? I trust you."

After a few moments of silence, he speaks up, "...I guess so-"

"Great, then it's settled!" I said, putting my arm around his shoulder as I led him back down the walkway.

---

Once we make it to my place, walk up the creaky wooden steps of my patio as I fish the house key out of my pocket. Tyler's standing closely behind me, looking awkward as ever, clearly not knowing what to do with his hands as he switches between putting them in his pockets and clasping them together.

I turn the key on the lock and try the door, noticing that It's completely pitch black inside the house. My parents usually go to bed at 10 PM, and it was well past that at this point. I lock the door behind us as I reach for my pocket, grabbing my phone and flipping it open to use as a barely-useful flashlight. I take Tyler's wrist as I lead him through the furniture of my living room and up the stairs. The only sounds in the house come from the soft ticking of a clock in the kitchen, the sound of which has always freaked me out whenever I'd come downstairs at three in the morning. Despite my best efforts to be as quiet as possible, the old wooden boards of the stairs prove my effort to be futile as they creak with every step. I can only hope that both of my parents have fallen asleep by now, or else they'd definitely have heard us. As I take Tyler down the hallway, walls strung with various family photos and art fit for a motel, I hear no sounds coming from the master bedroom, relaxing some of my tension.

Once we make it to my room, I breathe a sigh of relief as I turn on the overhead light, hoping my mom doesn't find out and try to lecture me in the morning, "Okay, hide-a-bed or mine, your choice!"

"Hide-a-bed." He replies.

"Sure thing, lemme show you how to set it up," I say as I remove each couch cushion one by one. The couch is sitting directly under my massive bedroom window, illuminated by the glow of the moon. Under the cushions is a black folded-up contraption, bearing a metal handle. I grab the handle and start pulling the bed out from the couch. As the first section of the bed comes out, Tyler stands next to me and helps unfold the second section, and finally the third.

I move over to open the closet door, "I have some spare pillows and blankets in here."

"So, why do you have a spare bed... thingy... in your room anyway?" He asked.

"My cousins' family came to visit from the other side of the country a few years back, so my parents made the cousins stay in my room and gave me our old couch that used to be in the living room. They were here for like two weeks, it was fucking awful," I remarked, pulling a comforter out of the closet and unfolding it out on the mattress.

"That sounds miserable," Tyler sympathized.

"It was, but hey, now I got a sick as fuck couch in my room! And it works as a great place for certain friends to sleep when they wanna spend the night," I said sarcastically, looking over at Tyler as I grabbed the pillows from the closet, tossing them to one end of the bed.

He turned his head, baffled, "Was that a dig on me?" He questioned.

"Depends on how you took it I suppose," I replied, smiling cunningly.

"You're the one who offered, dude- are you sure you didn't drink at the party? You've at least doubled your usual level of sarcasm." He retorted.

"Nope, unless somebody spiked my soda!" I joked, but the realisation slowly set in, "Oh shit- maybe someone spiked my soda?!?"

"Don't freak out, I seriously doubt someone would spike your drink,"

"God, I hope so, if my parents found out I went to that party, that'd be one thing, but if I got drunk? I doubt I'd see the outside world for months," I sighed.

"Even if you were drunk, it's not like you would still be drunk in the morning for them to find out, anyway."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said, letting out a yawn shortly thereafter. "Fuck, I didn't realise how tired I am." Looking at my alarm clock, it was 10:37 PM. That wasn't terribly late, I've definitely stayed up later when there was an assignment due the next day that I forgot about, but even before I met up with Alex and Elliot, that party was just wearing me down. "At least I can sleep in 'till like noon tomorrow. You sure you don't need anything before I pass out from exhaustion?"

"No, I'm okay, I think. And, thank you... Jake." He replied, smiling at me.

"No problem, dude!" I quietly exclaimed as I turned off the bedroom lights and hopped into bed. I can practically feel my muscles dissolve as I lean into the mattress, pulling the heavy blankets over me as I close my eyes.

I can't help but feel something itching in the back of my brain. I never did find out why Tyler was even crying back at the party. Was it related to what he told me after? He sounded pretty upset when he was talking to whoever it was in the hallway, too, so maybe that was why? We've already talked about so much shit tonight, though, and I definitely did not have the energy to have another huge conversation about something like that. It could definitely wait until tomorrow.

Soon, I feel my consciousness drift away, the only sound I can make out being the slow breathing of Tyler, across the room.

---

As I wake up, I'm blinded by the bright sun shining in through my windows, directly into my eyes. I glance over at my alarm clock, feeling incredibly groggy and sore, noticing that it's 11:13 AM. Usually, the latest I'd sleep in on weekends was only around ten, but I guess it took a lot of my energy yesterday to try to tune the party out. At least it's over.

I slowly sit up, yawning as I lean back against the bed frame. I glanced around the room, noticing that the hide-a-bed had been folded back into the couch, Tyler nowhere to be seen. I reach over to my bedside table to check my phone, finding an unread text from him, sent a few hours ago.

Tyler: hey

woke up early, figured youd want 2 sleep in.

will call u later, might have somthin big i wanna share, will see

A pair of oddly cryptic messages. Guess that confirms he isn't here anymore.

At least it was a Saturday, meaning that I had full permission to be a slob. I get out of bed, deciding to skip my usual shower until after breakfast. Other than the snacks that were out at the party, I ate practically nothing last night. I could almost feel my stomach turning itself inside out, so I hurried out of my room and downstairs to the kitchen to have some breakfast.

The first thing I notice when I get downstairs is my mom, sitting on the couch with a book. I head straight to the kitchen, trying not to make myself stand out.

"Jake! Finally woken up, I see." She remarked, still looking at her book.

"Hey, mom!" There's a moment of silence as I grab a bowl out of the cupboard, as well as a box of cereal, and begin to pour.

She speaks up, "Your friend, Tyler, seemed to be in a hurry to leave this morning, anything I should know about?"

"...Not that I know of? Like what?" I questioned as I poured some milk from the fridge, grabbed a spoon, and sat at the kitchen counter.

"Well, it's not like we didn't notice that you weren't home by ten like your father asked you to be, so obviously you must have a good excuse for why you didn't at least call to let us know you'd be late?" She replied. I could tell when she started talking all responsible-parent-like, it meant that she was gonna lecture me about something.

I sighed, thinking of the right thing to say. "...Well, Tyler was going through some things... so I was trying to help him with that, I guess. Time just kinda flew by and I wasn't able to get home 'till later."

"So he spent the night here? Weren't you at his house?" She asked as I ate a spoonful of cereal.

"Yeah... we went out for a bit and once I noticed how late it was I offered to let him spend the night at our house since it was closer," I said. Almost entirely a lie, but definitely preferable to the truth.

"Jake..." She said, setting her book down on the coffee table in front of the couch, walking over to me, and resting a hand on my shoulder. "You're sixteen now, obviously we don't expect you to tell us everything you're up to nowadays. But we worry about you! I worry about you. Just for future reference, please let us know if you're gonna be home late or anything like that."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," I said, looking up at her.

"Great! Now, I have to go meet a friend for lunch, please try not to burn the house down while I'm out!" She said as she grabbed her purse and keys off of the counter, hurring out the door.

"No promises, love you!" I said as she closed the door behind her.

Well, I guess that went... better than expected? I doubt she believed that story I made up, but I guess as long as I don't break curfew without telling them, I should be fine.

Having the house to myself wasn't totally uncommon. Considering my dad was gone during the day five days a week, and my mom would head out to go meet friends or run errands pretty often, I got some much needed alone time often enough to not go mad.

As I finish my bowl of cereal, I realise that I probably should go shower as soon as possible, considering the night I had. I put my bowl and spoon in the dishwasher and head back upstairs. I grab a towel from my room and head into the bathroom, grabbing my various fur care products out of the cabinet for after the shower. As I turn the shower on, I hear the sound of my ringtone going off in the pocket of my pants on the floor. I sigh annoyedly, walking over and trying to figure out which pocket my phone was in. When I flip open the phone, the Caller ID reads out Tyler's name.

"Tyler! What's up?" I ask eagerly, hoping to find out what the news he cryptically texted about was.

"Jake- fuck, I messed up, I shouldn't have- what am I gonna do?" He said anxiously, sounding almost out of breath.

"Hey! Slow down, what's wrong?" I questioned.

"I'm such a fucking idiot! Why did I think this would be a good idea? Jake, I'm so sorry-"

"Tyler! Calm. Down. Just take a few deep breaths," I said. After a few moments, I can hear his breathing steadying on the other side of the call. "Okay, good. Now, what's wrong?"

There's a short pause as he tries to find the right words to say. It sounds like he's been crying. What even the fuck has been the past twenty-four hours?

"Can- do you think I could crash at y- your place for a few more nights? I don't know what to do."

#story #novel #interlude #writing #novel writing #vestige #town #coming of age #lgbtq #gay #furry #wattpad

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eddiemilkman · 4 years ago

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- Random Writing Prompt #1 -

Hey there! I’m pretty new to this platform and just trying to find my way around it for now, but I do wanna make a quick low quality post just to fill up a bit of space. I went on this website https://www.servicescape.com/writing-prompt-generator (This one here) and decided a fun thing to do when entering this cite was one of those funky prompts. So I did! And here's a portion of it. It’s late and I have a test tomorrow so I don't wanna stay up too long, but here’s a bit of writing to get a feel of what I’m all about. Hope you enjoy. (Also an important thing to note: I’m not a huge spelling or grammar buff so there’s probably mistakes and I’m sorry.)

ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ #862: ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜɴɢ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ɴᴇɪɢʜʙᴏʀʜᴏᴏᴅ ʙᴏʏ ᴡʜᴏ ʟɪᴋᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴀᴍᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ ᴀꜱ ʏᴏᴜ. ʙᴏᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴅɪʀᴛ ᴘᴏᴏʀ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪᴛ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ꜱᴇᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ; ᴀꜱ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴀꜱ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴅ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ, ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ ᴀ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ-ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴀᴅᴠᴇɴᴛᴜʀᴇ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏʀɴᴇʀ. ʜᴇ ɢʀᴇᴡ ᴜᴘ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ ꜱᴛᴀʀ ʙᴀꜱᴋᴇᴛʙᴀʟʟ ᴘʟᴀʏᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ, ɴᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴇ'ꜱ ᴡᴇᴀʟᴛʜʏ ʙᴇʏᴏɴᴅ ɪᴍᴀɢɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, ꜱᴇᴇᴍꜱ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ꜰᴏʀɢᴏᴛᴛᴇɴ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ. ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇɴ'ᴛ ᴛᴀʟᴋᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʜɪᴍ ɪɴ ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴀ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ ʙʀɪɴɢꜱ ʜɪᴍ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏʟᴅ ɴᴇɪɢʜʙᴏʀʜᴏᴏᴅ, ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʀ��ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇɪɴᴛʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴇ ʜɪᴍ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪꜰᴇ ʜᴇ ʟᴇꜰᴛ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ.

ᴘᴀʀᴛ (1/??) ᴘɪᴄᴋʟᴇ ᴄʜɪᴘ ᴇᴀᴛᴇʀꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘɪᴄᴋʟᴇ ᴄʜɪᴘ ꜱᴇʟʟᴇʀꜱ

When we were young, my mother told me Gary was going to be a total tool. And I didn’t believe her at all. Gary was my friend so I couldn't imagine him growing older and not being good ole Gary. The Gary you could laugh and pig out with. The Gary who would holler and bark so loudly in class, the teacher would have to put him out in the hallway with nothing but his worksheet and pencil bag. He never acted like he was better than anyone else. When the washing machine would run busted, he would flip his shirt and wear it the next school day just like all of the rest of us.

That's why when he was accepted into that fancy-schmancy college for scarf wearers and coffee drinkers, it knocked me straight on my ass. I was happy, and everyone strung up a plastic smile at his going away party, but when he left everything was so...colorless. I wouldn’t deem it tool behavior, but it did solidify my mother's suspicion of him one day up and ditching me. He was my other half and then just dipped out on me for prestigious people who read Shakespeare and go to those cafes where there's wifi. He didn't even know those people! He left his comfortable little river to swim out through the mouth into an ocean of unfamiliar specimens. Sharks and dolphins, all aggressively fighting for a reward neither of us would daydream of.

We both sort of assumed we’d be stuck sweeping the Quick Mart or selling rolled joints to middle schoolers until the end of time. Middle schoolers would never stop loving the abuse of weak drugs and the Quick mart floors would never not have puddles of vomit and booze. That sounds more like a secure job than something you can go to college for. You can turn around one day and boom, the stock market or something crashed (?) I don't know much about business. Anyways yeah, you get my point. Pickle chips and fake cheese the color of a school bus will never go out of style. Stupid businesses that make those fancy indoor bike things will. What if everyone one day woke up and said “wow, I can always just run outside…”. Then what would happen? Those who went to college and got that stinky degree would be thrown out on the street, eating away their stress by scarfing down pickle chips!

I never thought of Gary as a pickle chip eater rather than a pickle chip seller. I mean when we would scribble down our future on printer paper it was incredibly detailed and surprisingly dull for children. The fortune we manifested during a game of M.A.S.H read to us as a mere fantasy. When we reached middle school it was clear we weren't going to live a life of golf courses and acceptable day drinking. We sort of realized this a few weeks into middle school, when we would be lined up against a brick wall while tall beefy police officers with their beastly dogs raided lockers for weed and patted us down for pocket knives. We were treated like deadbeats so we sort of expected it from ourselves and assumed the only way out was if one of us won the Powerball or….if the other one won the Powerball. I thought that was the plan… Man, being a failure alone sort of sucks come to think of it.

I wouldn't call myself a loser, just not a massive winner-ly type. I’m a goal-getter and I'll give myself that. I did land that job at Quick Mart restocking shelves, which is a little bittersweet now.

Gary always popped into my head every other week. I guess I’m just hung up on the stuff I never got to say. Why didn’t he suggest we attend the same college? Why when it came to our future planning was he loud, but in reality, disappeared so quietly?

“CHAS!” A voice echoed behind me. So sharp and stern, mean and crippling. Ugh...Lester. “You’ve been sweeping that corner for 5 minutes! Quit bleeding the clock and go do some actual work!”

I grip the handle of the broom and grunt. Fucking Lester. If there's anyone from high school I didn't want to land a job with, it's that joker. He was scrawny in size but a huge talker. It's crazy how the smallest of people always squawk the loudest. I do what he says because he’s a loudmouth and will probably rant and rave about me to the boss about how I leave all of the work on his tiny frame and he needs someone “competent”. Well, I need someone who doesn't act like a total ass-hat, but my needs haven't been accommodated yet so neither will his. I began toying around with some boxes of wafers on the shelf, just straightening them for no good reason. Sedated by boredom, I find my mind slowly drifting into other places. Where was he? Was he skipping around a college campus, holding onto his textbooks that he had to pay for?! Who pays for his pencils and books and highlighters? I bet he has that little bottle of white paint you slap over pen mistakes because your assignment is just too important for there to be scribbles on.

“GET THE HELL OUTTA 'HERE!”

My body suddenly jolts at the commotion from over near the cash register. Lester was using his thin little arms to violently push a grey round figure into the glass door. The man stumbled over his torn sneakers and gripped the doorframe. Lester used his small fist to pound on his fingers while simultaneously kicking him in the thigh. Once the man let go, Lester used the collar of his worn bomber jacket to throw him out onto the sidewalk. He shuffled from the door with hesitation, breathing like a wolf.

“Damn” I whimper meekly through the gaps of the shelves.

“That’s it, we’re closed.”

“Uh, Larry’s not gonna-”

“That meth head is gonna freak the hell out again. That joker comes in high as a plane every other day, and asks me if he can use his ‘coupons’ which I’ve told him a trillion times are fake and obviously printed out on a home computer-”

“Let him have it”, I squeak “he’s probably just really hungry”

“An iced tea, Slim Jim, and a loaf of bread should fill him up just fine! He treats shopping here like its extreme couponing. The worst part isn't the fake-y coupons, but when he wigs the hell out on me when I deny him. You weren't here when he sprayed me with fake cheese?”

“I think I was late that day”

Lester rolled his eyes.

“‘Course you were. God forbid your 6-foot ass came and protected me from crazy meth addicts.”

“Can we give him the spoils in the back?” I ask as I make my move over to the back room. The pile of “spoiled” food had built up to a mountain of American waste. I was ready to cut a slice into my unofficial take-home pay to get a hungry guy some food. I mean at least he was crafty and wasn't trying to come to rob the place.

“He’s gonna come in here with a gun one of these days.” I from the back room. “And get sent to the joint for a 3 dollar slim jim and pack of Oreos?” Lester strolls in behind me.

“3 square meals a day...” I mutter. Prison never sounded so bad. Free food, chess, television if you’re good. I was a good guy. I'd probably be on kitchen duty or do something fun.

“Well, I wouldn't put it past him...that crazy weirdo”

*Yah so this is the basic rundown of how I write and what maybe most of my posts will look like. As you can see its a umm....*ahem* easy read? I’m not that artistic with my writing sorry. Maybe ill improve one day.*

#writing prop #writing #writing prompt #fiction #short story #writing promp #why did i say prop oh my lord

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jay-cult · 5 years ago

Text

Homecoming

Aka, SJ finally makes a movie fic.

Have this little 1200 word oneshot that was inspired by my life currently! I’m in a crisis that’s for sure. Anyway, enjoy :3

Totally PG and also there’s Jaya in it as usual so heads up.

Homecoming

god, I’m done for>

<f dude

Jay put down his phone and buried his face in his hands. He couldn’t believe it; junior year of high school had already sprung upon him like a pouncing leopard. Just yesterday he must have been a bumbling freshman, papers flying, late classes he felt like disappearing away from.

But that was, after all, a good thing… it wasn’t exactly why he was headfirst in a problem... the biggest problem ever in his life.

The phone face down on the bed he was sitting on buzzed. Picking it up, he stared at the notifications.

<idk man. we can try to help

<yea

He sighed. Cole and Lloyd were nice to say the least. But Jay was sure that nobody he was good friends with had any experience with girls besides Kai, and well. He’d be sent to hell by the red ninja himself if Kai ever found out about his “motives.” Zane wasn’t much of an option either, since he had a hard time understanding how to talk to even close friends.

Jay laid down fully clothed on the top of his bed, staring at the ceiling. He reached to his desk and for the hundredth time that day double checked if maybe this time, the paper seemed okay enough to give.

Jay grabbed the paper and read it over again.

“Hey there Nya! It’s me, your cool friend Jay :3 you’re going to the homecoming dance right? Don’t suppose you have a date? If not we should go together! Please give this back with an answer :)”

Jay picked up a pencil from his desk and reluctantly erased together. It made it sound a lot cheesier than he had intended.

He still decided it wasn’t good enough, and smacked it back onto his desk.

ill see what i can do tomorrow. after that ill need a FULL advice session>

He looked at the clock. 10:30 pm often marked the time for a sleep attempt before a school day began. Maybe he could get away from this nightmare for a few hours.

Jay downed the last few sips of his coffee and bolted out the front door. If he didn’t leave now, traffic would envelop him like a swarm of wasps. His backpack bounced on his back as he ran to his bike, his scarf flying in the wind.

“Have a nice day at school honey!” He heard a shout from the door.

“I-I will, Mom!”

He climbed onto his bike at lightning speed. Multiple times in the past he had asked his mom why he wasn’t driven to school or took the bus; every time the answer was “You need your exercise to grow up big and strong!” He thought about the computer sitting on his desk that held a much-procrastinated driving course as he sped out of the driveway and into the fray of the road, helmetless.

Minutes later he pulled his bike into the rack, panting. He was early enough to calm down. Jay wearily like so many repeated times before walked up the steps into the school building, going through the assignments that were due in his head for the fourth time that morning.

The school was in its one-week-before-a-dance state. Naturally, it was full of idiots, chatterboxes, and nervous wrecks that were even more active than during finals. He walked down the halls into his first class.

He looked down one hall and saw a sophomore boy in glasses strumming a guitar and looking up at a brown-haired girl, singing a home-posal. “You’re tall and white and pretty, you’re really really skinny…” he sang.

Yeesh, I don’t even wanna know what’s going on over there, Jay thought.

Classes went by in the slowest fashion ever. He saw a friend in them here and there. Finally, the lunch bell gave its holy ring, and he slung his backpack over his shoulder and drowsily snuck out of class.

He saw Kai and Nya casually hanging out together in a corner, probably waiting to meet up with their other friends. Before he knew it, his body was turning in their direction, going Mission: executed mode.

“Hhey, you guys!” He smiled nervously, beginning to shake a bit. Nya raised a hand and smiled. Kai looked at him with what was probably pity.

Nya was typing away at her phone. Jay wasn’t sure what for.

“So it’s just wild that we’re juniors now, huh?” What am I doing?!

Kai nodded. Nya looked up. “Yeah, that’s so crazy! It doesn’t feel like it at all.”

Her eyes gave him a warm welcome before darting back to her phone again. It made him shake a little more.

“Yeah, and th-the dance is coming up and all and…. I dunno… we’re so old now, I think yknow, it’s time for me at least to make the most of it. I-I kinda want a date, haha! Just because we’re older and all and I don’t wanna waste the dances. And all.”

Nya stayed in silence, an uninterpretable silence.

Uh oh. ABORT MISSION. ABORT.

Kai looked up at Jay with a look that definitely spelled disappointment. “Like the homecoming dance?”

Jay stared down at his own feet. “Uh, yeah.”

That’s it, I’m outta here.

“I’ve got a teacher I have to practice work with,” he lied. He waved goodbye and walked away a little too quickly.

Not saying he hid in the bathroom for the rest of lunch, but he totally hid in the bathroom for the rest of lunch.

The rest of the day was even slower, and as Jay finally slid off his bike like jelly and unlocked the front door to his house, he was mumbling to himself, “Yeah, that’s it, I give up, not like she even would say yes anyway, it’s better to just leave the situation alone.”

The door creaked open and Jay was suddenly looking into the faces of four disappointed teenagers. Even Zane was peeking out the doorway with an obviously sad face. Jay looked up and was staring into the eyes of the tiger on the face of the lion. Kai.

Run.

Jay whipped around and started bolting across the street without giving a second thought to look for cars, but a robotic arm extended and grabbed him by the back of his shirt. It pulled him in swiftly, and the door slammed behind him. Jay was released and fell flat on the floor, his keys sliding across the wood.

He sat up, rubbing his head and staring again at Kai. “...It’s not what it looks like?”

“It’s exactly what it looks like,” Kai sighed, his palm on his forehead.

Zane smiled and took up a chipper voice. “Dude. That was just sad!”

“The face doesn’t really help, Zane,” Jay said.

Cole and Lloyd looked at each other somewhat guiltily. “It’s ok Jay!” Lloyd smiled reassuringly. “Plus it wasn’t even my idea so haha don’t be mad at me! Ow!”

Cole had smacked him on the back, signifying he should get silent.

“You have a lot to learn about my sister,” Kai looked at Jay. He reached out a hand to the blue lump on the floor and smiled.

#tlnm #ninjago #jay #movie!jay #jaya

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softracha · 6 years ago

Text

Alpha (pt. 1)

Jurassic Park au - Han Jisung

*Non-reader insert*gif not mine*

If you ever found yourself passing by the raptor habitat on a weekend afternoon, your ears would most likely be met with a soft melody being sung by a young man, paired with the scrapes of claws racing in search of the source of the aforementioned melody. That source would be Han Jisung, a slender blonde kid in his last year of high school with a spirited passion for music. The boy had gotten a part-time job at the dinosaur park outside the city to save up some money for his own recording equipment that he could take with him to college the following year. The job was lame to say the least, it was mostly mopping around the backstage area of the park and occasionally doing other mundane tasks like getting coffee for one of the trainers or bringing a new shipment of plushies to the orange haired boy that usually worked the plushie stand (Jisung was pretty sure he recognized the kid from school but he could never be sure). The position, while it paid well, would’ve seemed almost too boring to be worth it for anyone else but that was perfect for Jisung. He saw his long hours spent mopping as a chance to think on his music, mentally writing new lyrics and creating new melodies inspired by some of the random noises that could be heard around the park. He often found himself singing along to whatever his mind had started producing, just like he was now. His blonde locks blew slightly in the wind as he lifted his head at the familiar sound of raptor claws scraping against the hard habitat floor. Not even a full minute until he saw the tall forms of the dinosaurs emerge from the bushes, charging at their full speed towards him. A wide grin spread across his lips as one came up to him, her face only a few mere inches from his own separated only by the thin metal bars. He stopped his singing as the other four raptors in the pack came up behind the first. “Good afternoon ladies,” he laughed, reaching a hand through the bars and gently patting the snout of the closest.

Jisung hadn’t been allowed anywhere near the dinosaur confinements for his first two weeks on the job since all new employees had to undergo a nearly hour long safety briefing that none of his supervisors had ever felt like giving him. But after he had finally had the briefing, he ended up spending most of his time around the enclosures since the other guy he worked with hated cleaning back there. Jisung remembered the surprise he felt when the raptors had walked right up to the gate when he was mopping over there for the first time, but never had he ever felt afraid of them or any of the other dinosaurs for that matter. The park had plenty of security measures in place to keep him safe, right? None of the other dinosaurs had ever paid him much mind so to see the bloodthirsty pack of raptors staring him down like he was a chocolate cake and it was their birthday, left him a bit unsettled. It took a few more of these raptor encounters for him to put together that they were attracted by his singing and something about that made his heart swell. Several months passed and all Jisung’s older coworkers had jokingly dubbed him the ’Raptor Whisperer’, which he secretly loved. Jisung was never good at making friends at school but in these raptors, he'd finally found the companions he felt he’d been missing all this time. It sounded ridiculous and trust me, he knew that but he couldn’t help it. The raptors clearly loved his music and believed he had talent, unlike all the kids at school. The raptors would surely want him to go to college to study music and follow his dreams, unlike his parents. For once, he had supporters on his side, well…very scaly, sharp-clawed supporters, but when you’re a lonely teenage boy, you’ll take whatever advocates you can get. There was only one thing standing between the boy and his beloved raptors and that thing was-

“Ah, if it isn't the raptor whisperer, again,” he jumped slightly at the voice behind him and quickly retracted his hand from Daisy, the youngest raptor’s snout. She made a low sound, almost like a whine and Jisung shot her an apologetic glance. “Hey Lucas,” he smiled innocently up at the taller man who was walking up to him carrying a big bucket full of meat. “Flirting with my girls again, are ya?” Lucas joked in his deep voice, letting out a shallow chuckle. The younger boy laughed halfheartedly and shook his head. Lucas was one of the park’s dinosaur trainers, only certain species were allowed trainers to look after them, usually just the ones the labs had deemed smart enough to potentially form emotional connections and take commands. The velociraptors were the first species to be given a trainer and Lucas had been with the original pack since their birth, which was rare; that had only happened one other time with the Spinosaurus’ trainer, Chan. The current pack of Dahlia, Jasmine, Amaryllis, Magnolia and Daisy were the second generation of raptors that the park had bred and had only been a week or so old when Jisung first met them. Not that you really would be able to tell with the rapid growth formula given to all baby dinosaurs in the park. Originally, Jisung had gotten along with Lucas just fine. He’d ran into him a few times while running errands around the park or in the employee break room; he was always pleasant and enjoyed joking around with the younger boy. But something about Lucas changed when he lost his raptors to a sudden illness. Lucas would still make his jokes but Jisung could hear the clear bitterness behind his words and more than once had he caught the loathsome gleam in the man’ eyes. Of course, Jisung tried not to take anything personally since he understood that the raptors had meant a lot to Lucas and it was probably hard for him to move on from their deaths. Though Jisung had never gotten a chance to meet them, he remembered how endearingly the trainer would speak of them and it was apparent how much he really loved them. He could also recall a time when he'd overheard Lucas telling one of the behavioral researchers that the new raptors weren’t responding the way they should’ve and he was really struggling with connecting to them the way he did with his original pack.

“You should go. I gotta feed these bitches before I can go home,” Lucas’ gruff voice pulled Jisung out of his thoughts as he looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed. “What?” “You heard me, kiddo, get outta here,” Jisung shook his head, taking a step towards Lucas, “No. What did you call them?” The trainer raised an eyebrow at the shorter male and simply scoffed, “And you wonder why they won’t listen to you! They aren’t going to respect you if you don’t respect them first!” He scoffed again, “Now you’re some white knights for these bitches? They’re dinosaurs, kiddo, they don’t know shit. You think they care what I call them? You think they care about you and your dumb singing? Wake up, buddy, they really don’t give a fuck about you,” the following moments were a blur to Jisung, he felt the rage bubble up within him, he heard the pack hiss behind him, he felt his fist collide with Lucas’ jaw, he felt himself being grabbed and hauled off by a couple of security agents, he heard his manager tell him to take the rest of the day off to cool down but he didn’t really process any of it until after the bus ride home as was laid in his warm bed. He couldn’t figure out what had come over him, yeah Lucas was being a dick but it really wasn’t like himself to punch someone like that. Jisung preferred to let things like that roll off his back and not let them get to him. Maybe it was just because he brought up his music which was already a touchy subject. It didn’t matter what caused it, it was wrong and Jisung felt himself fill with regret. Sighing, he rolled over and closed his eyes, decided to apologize to Lucas first thing the next day. If he didn’t get fired, that is.

Jisung hopped off the bus and charged through the workers’ park entrance, hastily scanning his employee card as he went past in order to clock in. His blonde locks bounced as he raced through the park towards the raptor exhibit, he was determined to tell poor Lucas he was sorry before the man could hate him forever. He scanned his card again, unlocking the gate into the backstage area behind the exhibits. Suddenly he stopped as he came up on the raptor habitat, the entire area was blocked off and full of police officers and scientists from the lab all running around frantically. He felt like his mind was in a haze again as he deftly continued walking towards the barricades. Had something happened to his raptors? Were they sick like the last ones? He forced down the tears beginning to well in his eyes at the thought of something happening to his raptors. All of a sudden, he collided with the ground and he felt his mind clear itself of the fog as he looked up to see the person he’d bumped into looking concerned down at him. “You okay?” the guy asked and he recognized the distinct voice as that of Changbin, another one of the park’s trainers. Changbin was the trainer for a small group of Gallimimus, Jisung was always curious about him since he only ever talked to Chan and seemed to go out of his way to keep his hands in the pocket of his black hoodie at all times. Jisung stood and turned his gaze away from the slightly shorter man and back to the scene before him, “Did…” he choked on his words a bit, swallowing hard before continuing,” Did something happen to the raptors?” Changbin remained silent for a moment before he asked, “You really didn’t hear?” the blonde returned his gaze to the brunette and shook his head slightly, feeling the anxiety grow even more in his stomach, “Lucas is dead.”

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thelastspeecher · 6 years ago

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Been talking a lot about Emmett lately, and I was inspired today to write something starring everyone’s favorite twelve-toed nervous boy. So, here’s Emmett in the Superhero/villain AU, accidentally using his powers to control his dad.

“Emmett.” Emmett looked up from his comic book. His dad stood in front of him, visibly furious. He swallowed nervously and set the comic book down.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Wanna tell me why you weren’t at boxing?” Stan demanded.

“I was,” Emmett lied.

“Then how come when I stopped by to surprise you and your sister, you weren’t there?”

“I left early.”

“I showed up early,” Stan said, crossing his arms. Emmett looked away. “You gotta stop skipping, kid.”

“I don’t like it,” Emmett mumbled. Stan let out a sigh and sat next to Emmett on the couch.

“I know. And that’s fine. Your Uncle Ford didn’t like it, either. Neither did I, when I started.”

“Wait, really?” Emmett asked. Stan nodded.

“I hated it. But my dad kept making me go. It was the only good thing he ever did for me. I had to learn how to protect myself and Ford.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“You need to learn some self-defense skills.”

“You never made Danny or Daisy learn how to protect themselves.”

“They didn’t get picked on as much as you and Emily.”

“I don’t get picked on.”

“You came home from school with a black eye last week.” Stan sighed. “Your ma and I made complaints and everything, but schools don’t like stopping bullies. That’s why you need to learn how to do it yourself.”

“I already do ballet-” Emmett started.

“And that’s good. I’m proud of you,” Stan said. “Ballet is tough.” He put a hand on Emmett’s shoulder. “But it’s not gonna do squat to protect you. What are you gonna do if someone comes after you or Emily? A fancy jump? Some sorta twirl?”

“Dad, I’m not gonna go anymore,” Emmett said firmly. Stan scowled at him. “I mean it. I don’t care how much you look at me with that face.”

“And I don’t care that you don’t want to. It’s for your own good.”

“Dad-”

“When you were five, and you hated broccoli, do you think I let you not eat it, just ‘cause you didn’t like it? No. I made sure you cleaned your plate. This is the same thing,” Stan said. Emmett jumped to his feet.

“You can’t make me go!” Emmett yelled. Stan slowly stood.

“Don’t take that tone with me.”

“Even if you keep signin’ me up, I’ll keep skippin’. Even if ya drop me off, I’ll leave. I don’t want to do it anymore! It’s- you might think it’s good to force me to do something I don’t like, but it’s not! I hate it!”

“Emmett-”

“Do you really wanna do something Grandpa did?” Emmett asked. Stan’s face went red.

“That’s it!” Stan rumbled. Emmett froze. “Go to your room. Now.”

“But-”

“Now,” Stan growled. “I’ll figure out your punishment for talking to me like that later.” Emmett stormed off. He passed Emily on the stairs. She didn’t bother to pretend she hadn’t been eavesdropping.

“Emmett, that was bad,” she whispered.

“I know. He needs to stop makin’ me go to those stupid lessons.”

“No, not-” Emily grimaced. “You know how much Dad hates Grandpa. Why’d you compare Dad to him?”

“Yeah, well, he should stop doin’ stuff that Grandpa did,” Emmett muttered.

“I can hear you,” Stan said loudly. “Emmett, go to your room. Emily, go…weed the garden or somethin’. Do some chores.”

“Okay, Dad.” Emily glanced at Emmett warningly before heading downstairs. Emmett stuffed his hands in his pockets and finished going to his room. He slammed the door shut.

“Don’t slam doors!” Stan shouted from downstairs.

“Ugh!” Emmett threw himself onto his bed, burying his face into his pillows.

I hate this. I hate it. I just wish Dad would throw himself off the tallest building he could find.

A door downstairs opened and closed.

-----

“Emmett Stanley McGucket!” Emmett jerked instinctively at the sound of his full name being shouted from downstairs. The movement left a large streak across the math sheet he had been working on.

“Great,” he muttered. “Ma’s home.”

Dad definitely told her what happened. Now I get to hear the second part of the riot act.

“Emmett! Get down here! Now!” Angie yelled. Emmett reluctantly shuffled out of his room and down to the first floor.

“Ford, hold him down,” a voice said. Emmett paused at the foot of the stairs.

Uncle Lute?

“I am holding him down,” a second voice snapped. “At least we finally got the dampeners on him.”

Uncle Ford, too? There was a crash from the kitchen. What’s goin’ on?

“Where is that boy?” Lute’s voice asked.

“I don’t-” Angie stormed out of the kitchen. She was still in her villainy duds, but had removed her cowl. She spotted Emmett by the stairs. “Emmett. Come here.” Emmett felt a gust of wind push him towards the kitchen.

“You’re not gonna let me go on my own?” Emmett asked. Angie scowled.

“I’m not takin’ any chances.”

“Ma, I know that I skipped, and you’re angry,” Emmett started, following her into the kitchen. “But-” He froze. Lute and Ford were struggling to hold Stan down on the ground. His uncles had clearly been fighting to restrain Stan for quite some time; both their clothes were singed, and Ford had a bruise beginning to form on his cheek. “Wha- what happened?”

“You tell me,” Angie snapped. “What command did you give yer father this time?”

“Command? I-” Emmett’s blood ran cold. He stepped a bit closer to look at his father’s eyes. His pupils were dilated, the sure sign that he had been commanded by Emmett. Emmett swallowed. “I- I didn’t mean-”

“I saw him runnin’ ‘round town,” Lute said. “He seemed a bit off, so I got a closer look and saw his eyes. Knew right then it was yer handiwork, Emmett.” Emmett covered his mouth. “What?”

“I wanted him to jump off the tallest building he could find,” Emmett whispered. “I was just- I was angry at him, I-”

“Yes, yes, this is important information,” Ford interjected. He narrowly avoided another punch from Stan. “But I think it can wait until after you free Stan from your command.”

“I don’t know how.”

“That’s not an option right now,” Angie said firmly. Emmett looked at his mom. “Fix it.”

-----

It took fifteen minutes for Emmett to reverse the command, upon which he was promptly sent to the living room, so that the adults could discuss what they were going to do. Ten minutes after that, Emmett got called to the kitchen again. He joined his parents at the table, not making eye contact with either of them.

“Uncle Ford and Uncle Lute are gone?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” Angie said. She clasped her hands. “Emmett…”

“I didn’t mean to!” Emmett wailed.

“Hey, hey,” Stan said, reaching a hand out to Emmett. “It’s okay, kiddo.”

“No, it’s not. I- I was mad and I- I wanted you to jump off a building and-”

“Why weren’t you wearing the power dampeners?” Stan asked.

“I couldn’t find ‘em.”

“Yeah, you’re pretty good at losing them.”

“I’m so sorry, Dad! I didn’t want you to get hurt! I just have mean thoughts sometimes.”

“Everybody does,” Angie said softly. She let out a sigh. “But yer thoughts are awful powerful, honey.”

“I didn’t mean to!” Emmett repeated.

“It’s okay, sport.” Stan grinned, but it was clearly forced. “It’s kinda my fault, anyways. You got my silver tongue.” Emmett looked away.

“Now’s not the time, Stanley,” Angie said quietly. Stan sighed.

“Right.”

“Emmett, yer goin’ to be punished,” Angie said. Emmett nodded. “But we’re goin’ to take the fact that it was an accident into consideration.”

“It’d be better if I didn’t have any powers at all,” Emmett mumbled.

“Don’t say that,” Stan said. “Yeah, yours are a bit tough. But we’ll figure it out.”

“If you say so.”

“And in the meantime…” Stan looked at Angie. She nodded. “We’re gonna make you switch schools.” Emmett gaped at Stan.

“What?”

“The school yer at right now isn’t equipped to handle someone with yer abilities,” Angie said. “That wouldn’t be a problem, except that ya keep losin’ the dampeners.”

“I don’t-”

“I know ya don’t mean to. But after today, we have to start makin’ decisions ‘bout what’s best fer you and everyone around you. So we’ll be sendin’ ya to Sycamore Grove.”

“Wh- the high school for villains?” Emmett squeaked. Angie and Stan nodded.

“I’m not happy about it,” Stan said quietly. “But it’s what needs to happen. The teachers there are used to students with powers like yours.”

“It’ll be fine, sweetie,” Angie said gently. Emmett hung his head.

“If you say so.”

“I do have some good news for you,” Stan said.

“What?”

“We’re gonna pull you out of boxing lessons.” Emmett’s head whipped up. He stared. “I still think it’s good for you. But you’re already dealing with stuff, and being forced to do somethin’ you hate isn’t gonna help.” Stan rubbed the back of his neck. “I know that from experience.” Emmett nodded. “Go to your room while we talk about your punishment.” Stan looked around the kitchen. There were a few scorch marks on the walls and floor, and a chair had broken. “And while we clean up. Man, I made a mess.”

“Pretty sure it’s technically my mess,” Emmett said. Stan rolled his eyes.

“C’mon, kid. How many times do I have to tell you – if you can get outta being blamed for something, take it! Even if it’s technically your fault.” Emmett quirked a small grin. “Now, go to your room. We’ll come get you in a bit.”

#I don't write enough Emmett. I need to write more with him.#I'm always worried I screw up his characterization. my own gotdang OC #but he's in fine form in this ficlet. angsty nervous boy with difficult superpower #Superhero/villain AU #Emmett McGucket #Stangie Family #Stanley Pines #Stanford Pines #Lute McGucket #Angie McGucket #Emily Pines #ficlet #my writing #speecher speaks

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deputymcnuggets · 7 years ago

Note

Asks; all ✨ or at least the ones you want to do 💖

WELL AITE HERE WE GO

0: Height180cm

1: Age22

2: Shoe sizeUS male 12

3: Do you smoke?I dooooo

4: Do you drink?Yesssiirr

5: Do you take drugs?I used to experiment a decent amount, these days I only smoke a lil bud and am still interested in psychedelics/a few others but it has been a long time since I done any of em

6: Age you get mistaken forWithout the beard - 19With the beard - A lil older than I am

7: Have tattoos?Nope

8: Want any tattoos?Yep! Having a v hard time deciding what though and committing

9: Got any piercings?Nope

10: Want any piercings?Possiblyyyyy, more interested in tattoos though

11: Best friend?A guy named Lawrence that does not have tumblr

12: Relationship statusSingle

13: Biggest turn onsAnything control related. anger, violence, dom stuff. Alternatively romance and smooshy lovey stuff turns me on too, feeling cared about and safe. All bout them extremes boi it’s one end of the scale or the other.

14: Biggest turn offsAnything that comes outta your body lmao, except spit….and a little blood

15: Favorite movieUP!

16: I’ll love you if…You actually care about me and make me feel safe and comfortable being myself

17: Someone you missCouple of my ex’s. Not in a relationshippy way but just in a “you were a massive massive part of my life and now we have literally 0 contact and I don’t even know how you’re doing” way.

18: Most traumatic experienceEhhhhh either my Dad’s massive breakdown from being bullied at work which triggered bipolar that was like sitting dormant in his brain or whatever, having a knife pulled on me or being sexually assaulted

19: A fact about your personalityI do not know what my real personality is and what is me trying to cope with fear/trauma. I thought I was a massive introvert all my life but now that I’m getting over a lot of my issues, myself and my therapist both think I’m actually pretty extroverted, I just hold back because of anxiety or whatever.

20: What I hate most about myselfProbably the mental illnesses hey, mainly the PTSD, but things have been the best this year that they have been in like 6-8 years, so here’s hoping this answer will change sometime in the future :)

21: What I love most about myselfI like how genuine I am

22: What I want to be when I get olderRich (I really have no idea, probably something related to psychology)

23: My relationship with my sibling(s)Well my sister is autistic and my lil brother is constantly getting in trouble with the law and giving our family shit related to drugs, weapons, graffiti etc. and is very depressed and disrespectful.Sooooo not great but we manage, my sister has been getting a lot better over the past few years actually, so we talk a little now.

24: My relationship with my parent(s)Mum - great, I love her, wouldn’t be here without her.Dad - bipolar, he disappears for years at a time, sometimes see him semi-regularly. The relationship itself is okay, as good as it could be I guess.

25: My idea of a perfect dateCute and quiet. Anything that gives us something to do while we can talk and get to know each other. The beach, museums, cute cafes, walking through parks, camping, sitting around a fire, getting drunk.

26: My biggest pet peevesI hate it when people are not aware how their actions affect others and are not willing to listen and always have to be right. Probably stems from my sister not understanding other people or their emotions and constantly annoying people and making them angry because of it.

27: A description of the girl/boy I likeThere’s a nice girl who’s interested in a lot of similar stuff to me like psychology, she’s lovely and relatively quiet and chill like I am. She just finished uni and started a full time job last week so go her! She’s real pretty too and has a v cute smile

28: A description of the person I dislike the mostPlays a lot of that car soccer game I play. Has long ass hair, gets mistaken for a girl often. Has gender and sexuality issues. Drinks too much. Tries to harm himself often. Has mental issues such as BPD.Did a v bad thing to me. For some reason I am still very protective over him when people speak badly about him.

29: A reason I’ve lied to a friendBecause I couldn’t be fucked leaving my depression hole to come hang out

30: What I hate the most about work/schoolGetting up before 2pm

31: What my last text message saysHeyo I’m busy today sorry but if you have any more free days coming up we should do something, its been a while!

32: What words upset me the mostSingular words do not really upset me unless you’re attacking my insecurities.

33: What words make me feel the best about myselfAnything positive about my personality or physical appearance. Cute, lovely, genuine, understanding, idk.

34: What I find attractive in womenOpenness, being genuine, collar bones/shoulders/necks, specific dress styles, overly affectionate. I also really really unintentionally attract and am attracted to/get along with people with a lot of insecurities and possible trauma. I have been told this is because I’m patient and understanding. Also having been through a lot of shit myself, nothing makes my heart warmer than being able to make someone feel comfortable and putting a smile on their face when they’re usually very reserved and worried and scared. I guess doing for people what I really desperately needed during some of the worst parts of my life is nice.

35: What I find attractive in menAbout the same, also tanned hairy masculine looking motherfuckers with nice forearms :)))))

36: Where I would like to liveThis is a great question. I think there’s a lot of places I’d rather live than Australia, but I won’t be going anywhere for my families sake.America, Nepal, anywhere in Scandinavia, Germany.

37: One of my insecuritiesMy body

38: My childhood career choiceAccountant lmao cos me mums was one

39: My favorite ice cream flavorMANGO!

40: Who I wish I could beCole Sprouse cos he the cutest motherfucker ever

41: Where I want to be right nowIf I could teleport anywhere right now I’d go back to the monastery I went to in Nepal that’s up on a giant hill/mountain and I’d take a fat fuckin blunt with me and smoke it while looking over Kathmandu.

42: The last thing I ateA mango :^)

43: Sexiest person that comes to my mind immediatelyAlexis Ren pre all the surgeries and shit that she had.

44: A random fact about anything

do it! I’m boredSalmon rely on the gravitational pull of the moon to know where they’re going and they can swim from country to country and still know where they are.THAT WAS A LOT OF WRITINGTHANK U KITTEN!

#laziestkitten

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whimsically-ominously-auspice · 5 years ago

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So South Compton was different...

Jason Line called the FBI himself at a pay phone, "there's some shit going on here that is off you need to look at" and put the receiver down so the call could be followed to the location. And went on about life.

That is how i got to Compton.

It was so bad it went straight to me after a month of surveillance I arrived. Pulled in strong. Guns down. Whips out.

They could get out but not away. And the kidnappers pretended to be their friends.

10 days of surveillance. 1 overview and i was called. "Let me finish this 9 weeks at school and receive my grade. Its been almost 9 whole weeks I been here. Can they wait?"

"No"

"How long have they waited since they called?"

"About 12 days."

"That's about all i need in school days. Please? Its really important that i finish"

"Oh alright you need to say good bye. I'll allow that. Then we commence. Alalala bye! Too good for you!" Finally some one taught Bob how to say Good bye. This 😇 here.

"I get too much anxiety! Will you at least say good bye when i tell you no?"

It made me laugh. But also give me a future to worry in - instead of ny belly. Because he changed his 110% ways. Made the future strong.

If i said no it was because it was black dark and i could see nothing. So Alex would go clean aliens that abduct. I still needed my back, i wasn't going through that again. I Had a hard problem saying no and being too curious. And that cost me a lot. If i saw only blackness the entire planet would be erased.

Overhead they talked "well what did she say exactly?"

"She said pleeeeeasssee"

"Well call her back that means she's in charge and we will probably need. Harriet. Harriet said NO. She's all black like blackened chicken but won't be a threat. There is something special there i know but it's something only Sabrina can do. Of that I'm quite sure"

"Ask her what to do in those 12 days. Dam sounds a lot like Christmas don't it? 12 days of Christmas times two"

The last four digits of my current phone number is 1428

"Start the Fight Club. Call Mary Queen Elizabeth until then for that. Have her thug out. Tell her she is Queen Mary of Scott not in England. She will be a biker babe. If this isnt Harriet. Its upper and I don't usually hear you two talk so this is upper demand only quality of royalty"

"Don't talk about your mom like that"

"Mom is too fragile. I mean someone with War behind them and is bored. Im sure i got the right one. Its something about height that is the clue I need. So she needs to take her man. This one isn't about color."

The location of Compton was so close to me i could kiss it. Right next to my head. The image. Bright as day. I explained what it looked like.

"Okay Sabrina you got it. Mary Queen of Scots here you come! Nigga, too! Now wait you want her to wear a bandana on her, around her head? What color."

"Blue"

"Now this isn't gang territory."

"It purely has to do with height"

"Is there love involved? Is it the answer or solution?"

I coughed both times. It was making me sick. This never happened before.

"Sabrina. How dangerous is this?"

"Extreme. Don't send Alex until week two. Tell him to bring the boys. One and Two. But bring the wrong ones first. That ought to do"

"Sabrina you're making the situation worse"

"What comes up must go down isnt the clue nor solution. It is the only clue. I'll need crack on this side of the street to help my cough. Ill get it there then. 18 months. I've been pregnant, too before."

"You're not on a ramble. You've got all caught up. Okay bye"

"No wait. Something about LSD. 2020"

"Its only 1994. Okay bye"

I got a call from Snoop Dogg 10 days later. He would always go in black on a good story. It would be my 18th month to start smoking crack. Just not consecutively.

"WHAT YOU MEAN YOU ARE ALL ON CRACK? YOU KNOW WHAT YOU GOT STARTED DOWN HERE? FIGHT CLUB ON MY NAME! THE CRIPTS! CRIEP! WHAT THE HELL!! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW. IM NOT KIDDING YOU IM SO PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW!!"

"Snoop my final is toMARROW. Listen. Snoop i know all about my crack addictions. Okay. Look. Listen.,i just need you to come down and make sure the girls are alright. My last period of the day you can substitute and make sure all goes well. One month That's it Then meet me in Compton. I need help and i sure don't know what to do"

"NO! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW AND ILL GET YOU OFF CRACK!!"

"Tell Shaq, he will know what to do and you come here and you both take care of me for me. I won't take no for an answer. Love me like i love you. Please! Would you do this just one for me? It is perfect this girl needs help and she's pregnant but she needs an adult to listen to but i can't get to the front of the class. Im trying but it's certainly impossible to travel locate and do my second plan. Because the 1st isn't working!"

We both cried on the phone. For a few moments. We could hear each other sobbing.

"Okay but you do this one for me! Listen to Shaw!"

"Okay what ever you need!!"

"Click" we say that for Bob.

"Click. I Love you too and Miss Shawntae. Tell that women i do. Click. On the Double Down Low Double D G Dogg. Now love me'

"Yeah i do"

Boy is he in for a surprise when he finds out I'm not even on crack. Neither is this girl and Idk what to do or how to tell her she's even pregnant and she has no clue and that is all he actually needs to do. He would double kill it. But that was good for the school over all. He would need his strength and it would build up there. It would be permissible.

I had been worried about my final the next day. I was sure i was B ridden. But i was for sure now i would get an A. A+ was my final grades for all semester. I only went 15 weeks. So that is why to finish the 9 week semester was so important to get an actual final grade and not an average. Boy i never went to school and sure i would miss it.

But i was so excited about Compton i could hardly contain myself. And getting to smoke crack once again for a whole month?

Snoop didn't know but to avoid Shaq telling me to keep off drugs... May be I would just come clean... Haha in a double standards way.

And I did.

*I smoked crack to remind me what Alex went through. It was always foreign to me. Only when he was quitting and only enough to sustain him and me both. No more than 3 hits total. 3 hits each was OD and to the idiot booth.

Shaq bought me the crack. He was more readily available to admit failure than deceit and no way in Hell would he face Snoop when he found out he had been lied to.

Two crack rocks was all I needed he bought 4. Did a deal in front of Snoop to get banned from public.

Shaq, Queen Elizabeth and I built the Sugar Shack for Snoop as an apology. It was a small wooden storage shed to the left. So to the right we made it bigger, enhanced it. Over night. With Alex and his 2 high thugs.

"See Snoop? This is what drugs can do!!"

"Get on outta here! I want my candy" Candy is a Venetian word from planet Venus. Snoop loved candy. Do any thing for a treat.

"Oh you know I'll need her, too. Put her on the list and all the girls"

"SABRINA YOU BUILT THIS HIGH! NO! NO MORE. NO MORE OF YOU ON DRUGS!!"

Snoop didn't approach me. He flew to kill me. I wrapped my arms around his chest "thank you for being so patient with me. I'm sorry. I'll quit smoking crack now. I will i promise."

"That thing better be full of candy early the next morning then and i ain't selling candy to no strangers it is all mine so don't be thinking that -- oh wait!! Its all full!!! I didn't even notice!"

"$3,000 worth of candy. Its all our drug money, isn't it boys? I promise Snoop I'll quit, too!" Shaq would laugh till he cried at our trick we pulled together on the fly to protect and tell Alex how bad he needed to keep his drug use under control and hidden.

That day Snoop got fired as teaching principal. He really was hurt in his feelings. And we were in danger of losing our precious Snoop. So i risked it all lifting the kids up one by one up and over my head as far as i could really slow then dropping them fast so that it looked like abductions from UFO.

"I need the principal" i said a few hours later cause snoop wouldn't leave outside that door. snoop walked over he stood in front of the alien light switch sticker.

"Okay now kids do the alien dances i taught you. Intermingle. Now UFO. Doubt yourself. Do the vogue. Now what does a UFO do?"

"Up. Up. Up. Like we taught the moose" they said in a trance like quality

"That is why i need to be in here."

"No Snoop one of us needs to go in the alien space ship to get the drugs to have them analyzed"

"Last time i did that 3 kids came down with me and you had to kill them. So you need to"

"Kids. Do you all like Snoop? Answer and do it Snoop style. Can snoop be principal?" All hands shot up, again. "Can Snoop be teacher?" All hands shot up. The voting was rigged. Alex said try to get you to do it because he didn't want me to. But Snoop. Hey listen. We're all CIA and sometimes we need to teach each other a lesson. And you got a real attitude"

He laughed and stretched his tall frame up in the chair and draped himself over it. Obviously charmed.

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lostacelonnie · 1 year ago

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They make memory meds what? Thats wild. Sometimes you just gotta sea the ocean in all her glory yknow? Its healing in a different way from goin outside to touch grass. I took three years of spanish & talking to native speakers for me is always yeah i got the vibes even if I didn't catch every word. Back to spain again wow. At least itll be for a city you know & like. Id like to go to spain one day. I just made it to the ice planet city & met bronya & her mom. Her mom has milf vibes. Simulated universe is so much easier than genshin abyss i like it. Honkai does have a lot to catch up on but i should be able to eventually. I might try for silver wolf but i wanna save for seele re run. Oooh sweet freedom so soon. I hope you use that to catch up on your missed sleep

RIGHT?? they didnt work at first but my dose is bigger now and waow theres not Much improvement but theres improvement. YEAHH fr fr i love just standing half submerged like. Man. and yeah its like that at school for me since 4 outta 5 of my teachers are spanish and barely speak polish or english. and yeah shdhfjgj i can just feel how im gonna be like "oh they sell good pizza there. thats where i got sunburn. i got jumpscared by the hit song calma by pedro capó here. ah hey thats my broom closet" the WHOOOLE trip ahdjjf. but i Am looking forward to it since ill also get like actual classes while there so thats gonna be cool. spain is nice [well. not like i have been to many places ajdjfj but from first impressions] but good GOD is it hot as shit there. AND AH JARILO-VI NICE!! so true cocolia milfing in every universe so true. and yeah and its like Actually Enjoyable wow...... generally i feel that a lot of stuff in star rail is just stuff that was bad in genshin, but instead of listening and fixing it there, hyv just made a different game. Lol. and yeah there is a Lot so good luck with that o7 hehe i got silver wolf bc decided that im prooooobably gonna manage to save for kafka anyway and i did get her but also im a bit nervous bc i do Not feel like im gonna win 3 50/50s in a row so. ahh. and yeaaaahhhhh i literally have like.... 5 days of school left..... and thankies hehe i actually did since we had a lot of first lessons cancelled this week so i got half an hour more each day 👍

#also someone started a fire in my block of flats yesterday so. i can tell you ab that if you wanna sfjjgh #asks #pen pals

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perdizzion · 7 years ago

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I just happen to stumbled upon ur account and saw that you'll be quitting med school. I have a dilemma that I want to share with someone. Im a newly enrolled first yr med student and classes just started a week before. But I'm starting to form some doubts whether I really want to be a doctor or not. Its not that I cant handle the academics its just that do i really see myself being a doctor in the future and actually feel happy about it.

I dont even know if being a doctor is my dream anymore or just my parent’s.

Hiya! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, anon! I don’t know if my answer will help you or not, but I will try to do my ABSOLUTE BEST to reply!!

Ok so. Med school. Tricky stuff. I’ll tell you a little bit about my background and what I’m up to right now to give you a Good Feel about how things are going after the decision I’ve taken and whatnot.

I got into med school about 4 and a half years ago, and like any student who worked their asses off for their desired universities’ entrance exams, I was beyond ecstatic when I found out that I had gotten in. I started attending lectures, group discussions, student projects, and for the first few years, I felt like hey, I think I can actually do this! The exams were pretty tough, I can’t say I liked pharmacology and neurology, but I passed just fine and so I thought that things were going to be fine.

[Narrator voice] things were, in fact, not fine.

I started having doubts around..3rd year, I think? Everything just started to become so dull no matter how much free time I was using to do my hobbies (drawing and doing art in general) and I think that was when my depression started to really rear its ugly head. I started to miss classes, isolate myself from my friends, stay in bed all day, and the only people that had kept me sane were my family and a few close friends of mine telling me to take care of myself when I was too depressed to do so. I tried thinking about whether I’ll be happy being a doctor in the future, and then I noticed that I couldn’t even imagine myself in a white coat, working in a clinic and talking to a patient.

This is when I finally realized that all this time, my wanting to go to med school wasn’t even because it was my dream. It was my parents’.

I struggled a lot to get through some of the days, but I managed to keep up the facade in front of my uni friends until I finished 4th year and received a “degree”. (In Indonesia, finishing 4th year of med school grants you a “bachelor of medicine” though you can’t really use it for anything yet until you’ve finished 2 more years of clerkship and get a “dr” in front of your name).

Clerkship happened after 4th year. If I had to use one word to describe clerkship, it would be hellish. I don’t know if this is how it works in every country, but in Indonesia, clerkship demands med students to attend hospital shifts with inhuman amount of working hours. We had to do 36 hour shifts every twice a week, and 9 hour shifts every other day. This might sound pretty light to some people, but it was super tough for me what with the amount of additional assignments and exams that we still had to do during our rotations.

After 2 months of clerkship, my depression grew so much worse to the point where my best friend (bless her heart) had to call me almost everyday to help me sleep at night because the thoughts in my head wouldn’t leave me alone. Finally, I called my sister who lives in a different city to fly to where I was living in to take me to see a psychiatrist. It didn’t help because my doctor was super shitty about my condition (“all med students experience depression at one point because med school is just that hard, don’t worry, I’ve been there”) but I did take the meds. And I was planning to carry on with clerkship, until one day the meds gave me orthostatic hypotension (it was one of the side effects of the drug that I was taking) and I fainted in the middle of a surgery. When my mom (who lives in another city) found out about this, she was livid. She flew to my place right on that exact same day to take care of me, though she hadn’t known about my depression yet at the time.

The next day, I told her everything. Like, everything. About how med school had truly been stressing me out, about how I didn’t feel like med school was the right place for me anymore, about how clerkship had been making me feel like I was a worthless piece of shit because the doctors kept yelling at me, about how clerkship had also been making me realize that I wasn’t good with patients and that their lives are literally in my hands and that a single mistake could lead to their death and how I could never live with that much guilt in my life, about how I was so tired of being too sleep-deprived to properly function everyday, let alone to stitch a patient’s cut-up hand back together.

I told her that I wanted to quit. And so I did.

And you know what? It feels amazing.

I’ve been sleeping regularly for the past few months. I get to draw everyday now, and still make money out of doing commissions. I interact with my family a lot more and I don’t check up on them only when I need them to transfer me some money to buy food. I eat three meals a day like a normal human being and it feels so, so good. I applied for a scholarship so I could earn a Master’s degree in biomedicine abroad (it’s not art school, which is where I actually want to go to, but it’s not med school either so I’ll take it), I passed the first stage and now I’m just trying to do my best to pass the next two stages so I could get a full-ride.

Things are okay. Things are good.

Things haven’t always been good, of course. People tell me that I was “so close to reaching my dreams!”, that my parents “must be so shattered to hear that you wanted to quit!”, that I am just “wasting away my potential.” My grandparents called me a disappointment a few weeks ago while telling me that I should just give up on my scholarship application and go back to med school. My dad told me that he wished I could “go back to the way I was and be happy again.” My mom cried multiple times. It hasn’t been easy on my mental health, but honestly? Fuck it. Fuck every single guilt-trip that my parents have had to put me through. Fuck everyone at uni who’s been spreading false rumors about how I quit med school because “I got cancer” or “I got knocked up.”

I absolutely hated how the doctors did anything back in the hospital. The rich patients got immediate treatment, and the poor got dismissed. The mentally ill were mocked behind closed doors, and med students were treated like trash. Rooted seniority where the senior doctors hazed junior doctors were still a thing (in Indonesia, at least). Literally everyone in the hospital had a superiority complex and I fucking hated it. Neither my parents nor my grandparents will have to be the ones to experience this on a daily basis for years though, so fuck outta here with your negative comments about my decision.

I quit med school because I did it for me, and only me.

This is by no means supposed to scare you away from med school just so you could jump into my bandwagon, heck no. I’m telling you this because nobody told me that this could be a possibility. Everybody I knew kept telling me that the only thing you’ll need to succeed med school is firm determination and hard work, and while that may be true for some people, I required a lot more than that, like a stable mental health, a good support system, etc. I failed to meet these requirements, and so everything turned into a shipwreck for me. My other friends, however, who were well-prepared with all of these, are managing to continue med school just fine.

That being said, this answer is definitely supposed to make you think about your decision more thoroughly. One of the most often things that people tell me post-med school is that “you should’ve quit earlier if you hadn’t liked it; it would’ve saved you a lot of time.” I hate the fact that I agree with this. If I had quit years ago, I would’ve still had time to search for a school that was more relevant to my interests and start over from a blank slate. If I had quit years ago, I would’ve been able to graduate from a new school and earn an actual proper job by now so I could help my parents out with our finance. Of course, my parents would’ve been way more harsh on me if I had told them that I wanted to quit so early on, but if you own the privilege of having parents that would genuinely and willingly listen to you, please talk about it with them. I had a friend who quit med school around a few months before 1st year ended; he’s in business school now and from what I’ve heard, he’s pretty happy with where he is right now.

Whew, that was long. I swear I didn’t mean for it to be this long!! Let me know if any of that helped or if you just want to talk off anon with me in general! I know firsthand how this kind of dilemma can eat you up whole, and it’s not a fun experience, so just hmu if you want to chat

Have a nice day!!

#THIS GOT SO LONG OMG LKSDJFSD IM SO SORRY #I GOT CARRIED AWAY #i just....really wanted to explain everything as descriptive as possible #so i could help at least a little bit #aAAA #anonymous #answers

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neoraven · 5 years ago

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NWA TNA Episode 1, June 19th 2002

17 years ago NWA TNA started the weekly PPV experiment. I went to every single one. Now I'm going to watch them for the first time since I was there.

(this review brought courtesy of Toby Keith and the red white and blue)

In 2002, I was a teenager set adrift by 9/11 and the alienation from starting high school. For better or worse, every week I started going to National Wrestling Alliance - Total Nonstop Action shows on Wednesday night. I loved WCW and was bitter about the botched invasion going on, and here was a new WCW in my backyard. It looks like there were 111 weekly PPVs, I'm not sure exactly how many taped ones / clip shows ended up happening, but I never missed one for injury, illness, or even vacation for the better part of two years. It was basically my ECW, for someone who was too young to follow ECW when it first aired.

I'm not really sure what the format of these is going to be. It's kind of a recap + live blog + review, I'll give matches the standard 0-5 star ratings with 1/4*'s possible, so it's really a 20 point scale. I'm going to hopefully figure out a better way to get screen captures going forward. Also, these first couple were taped in Alabama, not at the TNA Asylum in Nashville. Hopefully if my memory holds up, I'll be able to give some live notes and memories from being there for some of these. I have an old hard drive of pictures taken that I hope I can recover. I won the "Best Fan of the Night" and "Best Sign" contests a couple times to get to go backstage, and I also generally hung out before the shows and after the shows to talk to the wrestlers coming and going like a groupie. Later on, I was even on the TNA "Street Team" helping to market TNA and hand out flyers/ads during Smackdown tapings. I was also the moderator for the brief TNA Online Message Board, which I truly wish I had screencaps/archives somehow of all the…wildness there.

NWA TNA #1 June 19th 2002

Don West is the first person out of the gate, introducing Ed Ferrara after pyro and a brief introduction. Ed's all about TNA and introducing the girls dancing in cage as some sleazy music plays. Appropriately, he throws it to Mike Tenay, all business at ringside. TNA chants kick us off. Don West's hawaiian shirt is a thing of legend, and it's distracting me from Tenay's long explanation of the "Gauntlet For The Gold".

Jeremy Borash eventually is in ring announcing a parade of legends. Harley Race, Dory Funk, Jr, Jackie Fargo, Bullet Bob Armstrong, Corsica Joe & Sarah Lee, Bill Behrens, Ricky Steamboat. "All Our Base Are Belong To Us" shirt spotted in the stands. The Dragon compares the belt to every major championship in pro sports, the Stanley Cup, etc. He will special referee the finals of the match, and that brings out the one and only - Jeff Jarrett. His TNA theme "My World" is a lowkey banger that nevertheless completely haunted my life for 2 years. His big mouth earns him the first spot in the match. Ken Shamrock is here after that, and he joins Jarrett in burying the Battle Royal match. Finally, Scott Hall saunters through the crowd in a strip club(!!!) t-shirt as his awesome theme "Marvelous Me" plays. To round up, Ken Shamrock's theme wasn't great. "Hey Yo" sign spotted.

Goldylocks is backstage with Total Nonstop Action and the original midget killer "Puppet the Psycho Dwarf". Oh no. He's gonna spill some midget blood. Jeff Jarrett angrily kicks over a tiny music stand in the background hilariously. Then we go to the girls in cages and honest to goodness our first wrestling match -

6 Man Tag Team X Division Showcase AJ Styles, Low Ki, and Jerry Lynn vs The Flying Elvii (Sonny Siaki, Jimmy Yang, and Jorge Estrada)

An X Division showcase awaits. The legends surround a tiny monitor backstage. The generic faces' intro music is bland. The flying Elvii have a nice little knockoff theme at least. Siaki has Big The Rock Energy while the other two mug. The Elvii refuse handshakes and all hell breaks loose. Triple dropkicks and flying splashes to the outside. Styles reverses a back suplex into a phenomenal forearm, and I'm not going to attempt to catch every move. As an aside - Total Nonstop Action has taken a full 18 minutes on air before someone punched someone. Siaki and LowKi is a pretty appealing matchup. The former does a crisp Samoan Drop. Styles and Yang get in and have a very crisp, quick flurry of moves together. Jerry Lynn crushes a cradle Piledriver, and Siaki runs in and hits his neckbreaker finisher. LowKi accidentally brains AJ, and Yang capitalizes with the Yang Time for the pin. Considering who went on to hold the X Title, this is an odd result, but commentary was generally putting over how the mismatched team was going to compete in the X Title Round Robin coming up.

The Flying Elvii in 7 minutes, Yang Time pins AJ Styles **3/4

Midget Showcase Teo vs Hollywood

Hollywood starts it before the bell. From the promo, I thought this was a triple threat with Puppet. Hollywood kicks out of the "Tadpole Splash" from the top rope. Ed Ferrara says in response to Teo's claims to be a ladies' man - "He's the right height". Teo finishes Hollywood with an ugly swanton.

Teo in 3 minutes, Swanton?, 1/2*

Now West and Ferrara are in the ring hyping the Lingerie Battle Royal next week. The New Francine, Miss Joanie, Shannon (Daffney?), Alexis Laree (Mickie James!), The Incredible Sasha, Erin (Baltimore Cheerleader?), Elektra from ECW, Miss Taylor Vaughn, Darisa Da?? I didn't catch her name as Ed starts rambling about a kid in a candy store. Maybe I'll catch all the names if they're introduced with title cards next week. Francine grabs a mic and calls Ed "pudgy" and says none of the women compare to her. Elektra stands up to Francine and starts a catfight.

Goldylocks is in the back with Mortimer Plumtree. His character peaks with his name. He manages a tag team that bullied him in high school for reasons that are never explained. He leaves to walk "The Johnsons", Richard and Rod, to the ring.

Tag Team Match The Johnsons w/ Mortimer Plumtree vs Psychosis and James Storm

The latter is an odd pairing for a few reasons. I honestly didn't remember James Storm started off without Chris Harris and America' Most Wanted. He even has the prop guns firing blanks in the ring, which was always a nice touch. I feel like this is where I mention that the Johnsons are in full body suits and masks that make them look like walking penises. In other news, Psychosis is going without his trademark horned mask. Alicia from WCW is on the stage scouting the match. There's a fella in an XFL jersey in the stands. What year is it? "Buff your(sic) still the stuff" sign spotted. Ferrara "These Johnsons just look good". They hit simultaneous clutching suplexes to take control of the good guys, but Mortimer interferes to let one of the Johnsons hit their finisher on Cowboy. Post match, the ref pays off the lady watching the action.

The Johnsons in 4 minutes, Samoan Drop into Neckbreaker, *

Stan and Bo Dupp harass Goldylocks in the back until they run into the brothers' shared girlfriend in a quick nothing segment.

Borash introduces 1993 Rookie of the Year and Winston (yes, cigarettes) Cup Points Leader Sterling Martin. K-Krush is out to save us from the race car drivers. He's getting booed, but this would be a face promo anywhere other than Huntsville Alabama. K Krush "Damn you, and Damn Alabama" Brian Lawler is out to save the NASCAR dopes from the angry black man. He cuts an angry promo about "your kind" while the crowd howls in racist jeer. It's a pretty ugly segment considering "Grandmaster Sexay" Lawler is still clad in his Too Cool black rapper cosplay outfit.

Backstage, Jeff Jarrett is choking Jackie Fargo.

Tag Team Match Christian York & Joey Matthews vs The Dupps w/ Fluff Dupp

For better or worse, now I know their girlfriend/cousin's name now. After the crowd roared for the pasty white NASCAR duo, commentary is really going in on how these two wrestlers are completely fucking stupid and southern. The Dupps' intro is very boring twangy banjo crap, and they're not much better in the ring. Matthews hits a move called the Virginia Necktie that looks pretty nice. I think the non-Dupp team is working face, but it's hard to tell who the crowd is popping for. The Dupps win with some cheating and Fluff interference.

The Dupps in 4 minutes, Crotch shot, 1/2*

Before the Gauntlet For The Gold, we get a Toby Keith music video. He is singing "Angry American". Jeff Jarrett walks out and pushes Toby Keith off his little stupid stool and the crowd goes wild and honestly, I screamed in joy and Jeff Jarrett turned face for my money when he says "Nobody wants to hear that damn song, and take your Angry American Ass OUTTA HERE".

The Gauntlet For The Gold 20 Man Battle Royal for the NWA Heavyweight Championship Of The World

Buff Bagwell runs down for number 2 and the bell rings. Maybe it was for the main event finally starting but honestly the crowd goes pretty wild for Buff Bagwell laying hands on Double J. Buff hits a couple signature moves, but gets tossed before the next entrant. Ragin' Cajun Lash Laroux Is 3. He falls victim to The Stroke and is eliminated fast. "Somebody pissed in Jeff's Cheerio-s this morning!" Here comes Screamin' Norman Smiley at 4. The second largest pop of the night so far comes for the Big Wiggle. Jarrett tosses him anyways. Apolo comes down at 5, getting more offense than the previous entrants combined. K-Krush is 6. His signature axe kick gets tremendous boos, they hate him. Slash w/ James Mitchell is 7. Del Rios is 8. He is some kind of bodybuilder and it shows. Slash bites his way out of a belly to belly suplex as the announcers stress everything is legal. Justice is 9, I think this Is the future Abyss, but I can't swear to it. He hits a Black Hole Slam and now I'm 99% sure. Konnan is 10, yelling "Arriba La Raza" on his way to the ring. Abyss sells Konnan's facebuster a la HBK vs Hogan and I love it. 11 brings out Joel Gertner "I'm gonna be with 5 girls in Huntsville because I don't settle for less" He gives an X-rated introduction for the man they call Bruce of the Rainbow Express, led out by Lenny Lane. I'm not gonna bother listing all of the homophobic euphemisms the announce team runs through explaining who the Rainbow Express are. Rick Steiner is 12. He dumps Slash and Abyss with a couple impressive shows of strength. Malice is 13, dealing out chokeslams. Bruce, K-Krush, Del Rios, Konnan, and Steiner go out quickly thereafter. Scott Hall is 14. Toby Keith? is 15. He suplexes and tosses Jarrett. Not that anyone cares, but Toby Keith leaves through the middle rope to chase Jarrett and is never officially eliminated. 16 brings Wildcat Chris Harris. Vampire Warrior, former Gangrel, runs down seemingly early as an entrant with no music? The on screen countdown timer disappeared during the Toby Keith situation. Dangerous Devin Storm, aka Crowbar, is probably 18. Steve Corino comes in at 19, the only former NWA Champ. Ken Shamrock is out at 20. "Hall was framed" sign spotted. Brian Christopher/Lawler is number 20 and I realize now that Toby Keith was not an official entrant. Brian clears out Chris Harris, Vampire Warrior, and Crowbar mostly by holding the top rope down when they ran by. He dumps Corino shortly after. Christopher and Apolo get dumped by Malice next. Then the cameraman somehow misses Malice back body dropping Scott Hall over the top, leaving Malice vs Ken Shamrock to go to a pinfall or submission.

Malice vs Ken Shamrock, Special Referee Ricky The Dragon Steamboat

Malice gets some advice from Father James Mitchell at ringside. After going back and forth, Shamrock gets an awesome cross arm breaker reversal of a choke slam. After a long tease of tapping, he gets the rope, maybe with James Mitchell pushing it a little toward his client. A big boot leads into the Ankle Lock and Shamrock refuses to break it on the ropes, after even a 7 count, leading to heated words with Steamboat. Shamrock wins with a Belly to Belly to a big pop despite his heel tactics. Cue pyro, and hoisting the tiny gold belt.

Ken Shamrock wins a 5 minute match following a 33 minute battle royal, Belly to Belly. **

The match was a little too long, even with Jarrett speeding up the beginning by tossing the opening entrants as fast as possible. Speaking of Double J, he fights with legends and security backstage before emerging with a microphone. He punches the legends after moaning about the battle royal until Toby Keith and Jackie Fargo come back out to book Scott Hall vs Jeff Jarrett next week, the show ends with them brawling up the ramp.

That wraps up episode 1! They have some marquee singles matches next week in addition to crowning the first X Division champ, I'll see you then to wrap up the two first Alabama shows before settling into The Asylum.

#nwatna impact tnaasylum

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