#but my guy cusses out riko

[atticusfinchismydog]

The list of fears Neil SHOULD have:

-Riko

-the mafia

-torture

-his hitman father

-Lola

-abuse

-murder

List of fears Neil DOES have:

-A 23 year old blonde Christian with rainbow ends

-telephones

[swagyano]

Basketball player/Cheerleader AU

Pairing: KanaRiko

Words: 1,835

AO3 Link

I told myself I wouldn’t go too deep for this AU but here I am because I can’t stop thinking about it so I had to write something and it ended up longer than planned, again. I tried my best using all correct basketball terms rip sorry I don’t speak English actually anyways hope u enjoy,

Loud cheers and roars echoed through the entire court as the game slowly inched towards the end. With each passing second, the pressure was growing stronger and it felt like the board loomed over their head, taunting them with the tied score. However, the well known Coelacanths didn't let it discourage them. Coach called for the last time-out meeting, which meant now or never.

Kanan breathed heavily as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead, trying to focus on whatever the coach was instructing one of her younger teammates, but the blood and adrenaline was pounding too hard in her head. They were lucky enough to play in their own court so as always, the support from their fans was overwhelmingly helpful and she wasn't going to let them down just yet. She looked around for support, dozens of people shouting all sorts of chants and suppressed to urge join in for her own mentalities’ sake. And then her attention was caught by their cheerleading team - easily the loudest crowd in here which is what they're here for. Lately they've been catching Kanan’s attention more than usual… one individual to be more specific.

In the middle of their routine she spotted the girl with pretty long red hair sitting on shoulders of a blond cheerleader, with pompoms high in the air. Maybe it’s just due to Kanan’s focus, but at that moment her voice overpowered everything else - the crowd, the coach - as she let out a loud “Go Coelacanths!”.

She might've imagined it but it was like their eyes met across the court, and Kanan’s worries were put on ease at the sight of such an encouraging smile. Her tightly clenched hands uncurled and stop shaking.

It was the coach who snapped her out of the trance by having to scream her name at her in a scolding manner, and by sheepishly apologizing, she turned her attention back to her teammates.

“Let's go!” With determination stronger than ever, Kanan and the team ran back onto the field. Her eyes were no longer looking at the remaining time and were only set on one thing and that was winning.

Everything was hectic for those last couple of minutes. Both teams had successful defenses, Things momentarily got into a critical situation after they suffered from a foul caused by their panicked defense and fell behind by a point due to a free throw. They didn’t let the small bump distract them, and Kanan simply cussed it under her breath and reassured her teammates it’s not over yet. And then it happened.

Their point guard, Watanabe You, with a smug grin and swift movements created a perfect opportunity and passed the ball over to Kanan within the perimeter. Fueled by adrenaline and no time to lose, You’s done a fantastic job and now it was all on her shoulders, and watched intensely. Kanan leaped and took a shoot just barely behind the three-pointer line. She froze in spot as she watched the ball flawlessly enter the hoop. Then everything was a blur as the entire crowd once again erupted into loud cheers. And mere moments later it was over. They’ve won with barely two points ahead.

Still in disbelief, Kanan nearly fell over when the smaller You practically threw herself at her teammate, screaming inaudible things about great job or something of such sort. Then the rest of the team showed up and as if she’s the only winner, they all picked her up in the air. Things finally started to register in her head and she joined the crowd of cheers to celebrate yet another picked up win.

For a moment, her attention was once again distracted by the team of cheerleaders who joined in on the celebration with everyone else. One more time her eyes met with the girl earlier, and as if acknowledging it, the cheerleader offered her a smile.

“No worries, I’m just catching a quick breather!”

Kanan stepped outside with a heavy sigh, ball in hand like usual. The after party has barely started and everyone’s going crazy already, everyone looking for her attention due to being the savior of the game. Unfortunately Kanan wasn’t focused enough and kept looking around for the girl she’s seen in the crowd back then. Through some collection she’s learned that said girl wasn’t planning to stick around for the party much to Kanan’s dismay. That’s why she figured she’d give it a shot looking for her outside.

And as if fate wanted it, there she was and Kanan didn’t look for too long. She stopped in her tracks and words failed to come out of her mouth as she watched the girl walk out with a bag over her shoulder and phone in her hand, two more girls following in chatter. If her assumptions were correct they’ve only just changed.

It took her a moment to realize the girl didn’t notice her at all. She finally snapped out of it and followed after awkwardly.

“Uhm-!”

Startled, the cheerleader turned only to relax when their eyes met. They both went silent until Kanan realized she’s waiting for whatever reason she was stopped. The other two also froze and in awe kept glancing between the two.

“... Hi.”

Kanan felt her ears turn red in embarrassment. Luckily for her nobody from her team was around or else her reputation as being really charismatic would’ve been destroyed now. To be fair it’s a reputation others slapped onto her. Insecurely, the redhead looked at her two friends as they whispered something.

“Hello. Matsuura?”

“Y-You know my name?”

All three girls started snickering once again as Kanan prayed for the ground to open up and swallow her. At least it was worth it seeing the cute redhead smile. To some extent.

“It’s not hard to memorize a name all of the school’s been chanting all evening.”

“Right!” Now she felt silly, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. “Sorry, it’s been quite an evening. Still trying to process it all… I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve caught your name yet.”

By now the two girls who were with her whispered something to her and waved Kanan goodbye before leaving in the direction where the party was held. While Kanan felt relieved there was no audience to her embarrassing attempts of speaking to a cute girl, her person of interest watched the two leave with a sort of nervous and pleading look in her eyes. At least they’re both awkward. Once they were gone, she faced Kanan again with a smile of reassurance - probably to encourage her own self.

“Sakurauchi Riko. It’s nice to meet you.”

‘Riko…’

It was a pretty name, fitting to a pretty girl. Kanan nodded and felt a blush creep up on her face. “You too! I’ve seen you out there during the game today. Thanks for cheering us on, we wouldn’t have made it without you guys.”

This prompted a chuckle out of Riko, and Kanan got distracted by the way she moved strands of red hair behind her ear.

“It’s the least we can do, anything for our beloved Coelacanths.”

“Seriously, some of stuff you do is impressive!” Though truthfully Kanan has never put that much thought into all the stuff cheerleaders do up until today. A part of her felt ashamed for not appreciating all of it sooner.

Regardless, Riko simply shrugged. “Oh, it’s really nothing special. That final shot, though? Now that was impressive, Dolphin.”

“It wasn’t just me, though. It’s everyone’s efforts…” There it was, her modesty and respect for friends and teammates at finest.

A new sense of embarrassment washed over the blue haired girl at the mention of her nickname. One she’s earned thanks to all the jump shots she’s been performing. You was the one to explain to her that people says she resembles a dolphin with how high she sometimes goes. It was still something she was trying to get used to. So she tried to shake it off with a mumbled thanks and changing the topic.

“You’re not staying around for the party?”

Riko hesitated, before apologetically shrugged. “I would love to, but I’m kinda tired after tonight. Sorry.”

“Don’t be, I understand!”

It was a mutual feeling. If only she could Kanan would head home and sleep for two days, but it would be disappointing for everyone if the star of the night didn’t show up. “Maybe some other time, then?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Before she could ask anything else, Riko’s phone rung and the redhead looked at the screen, presumably reading a text message, then quickly typed up a reply. Kanan patiently waited until she was done.

“Sorry- it’s my friend, she’s disappointed I’m not staying either.”

“Don’t worry,” Kanan chuckled, “If she’s one of the cheerleaders I’m sure I’ll run into her. I’ll stick around to make sure she’s not bored.”

Once the words came out of her mouth did she realize how stupid that must’ve sounded, and the way Riko’s brow twitched didn’t help the need to bury her face somewhere in embarrassment. The ringing phone broke the awkward moment again.

“Ah, it’s my mother. Sorry, I have to get going now, but it was nice meeting you, Dolphin.”

The situation was slipping out of her hands as fast a ball. Kanan internally panicked.

“Wait!” Almost forcefully she shoved her basketball into Riko’s hands, who looked at it with a puzzled expression, and then back at Kanan with a questioning look. One more fail at talking to this girl and she’s out, done for.

“A gift,” She blurted out. “For cheering me -- us! -- on today.”

The phone was now in her pocket so Riko took her time to examine the ball in her hands by detail. What caught her attention was the scribbled ‘Kanan’ on in. She completely forgot that she signed it as a joke. But luckily Riko found it charming and giggled, smiling and successfully making Kanan’s heart race.

“Thank you, it’s nice. Very uhm… firm ball.”

Kanan hid her goofy smile by looking away. “I’ll see you around, then?”

“Well, I do go here, so…”

“Fair point.”

They bought fell into laughter. Riko tucked the ball under one of her arms and waved goodbye. “Have fun at the party.”

Kanan nodded and said nothing else. She remained stationed and watched the girl leave in hurry presumably to make it home in time. It must’ve been quite some time she spent standing around in awe, because You ended up sneaking up on her and startled her when she clung to her back.

“There you are! Come on, the coach is calling for you, full speed ahead now!”

Kanan complied and the two made their way back towards the party. One last time she looked back in a direction Riko disappeared off of, a smile forming on her face.

The next day, Kanan found a pink sticky note on her locker. In neat cursive handwriting, it said ‘Good luck with your training today Dolphin!’ 

[dreadnought-despair]

WHO YOU SHOULD AND SHOULDN'T FIGHT: DREADNOUGHT EDITION

Aoi Himura - don’t fight them! sure they’re kinda blunt sometimes but they mean well and have good intentions! plus they’re the team medic so they could probably patch up their wounds. don’t fight them

Gugalanna Velasquez - BAD IDEA. DO NOT FIGHT GUGA

Honoka Ueda - don’t fight honk! sure her bossiness can be kinda annoying but she means well and is probably the only thing keeping the group together so without her chaos would ensue, plus she’s really cute look at her. let her live

Ishi Utsunomiya - again. bad idea. ishi can and will kick your ass plus why would you want to fight her? sure she’s impulsive and reckless sometimes but she means well and is a good friend to tim! just listen to how tim describes her. and speaking of tim he’d probably lecture you if you did try to fight her and lemme tell ya getting a lecture from a librarian is. not good. don’t fight ishi

Jurou Takahashi - why. why on earth would you ever fight jurou. what has this man done to you. if you fight him i will come fight you (even though you could probably kick my ass but that’s not the point). he’s so lovable and he’s trying his very best to make everyone happy! do not fight jurou it’s not worth it

Kapono Alana - look at him! why would you ever want to fight this boy. he’s so fucking adorable and has done nothing wrong in fact i think he’s one of the most helpful members of the cast. please do not fight kapono

Michi Kurosawa - your call here. he’s a little meme shit gremlin but he’s actually pretty buff so he might be able to kick your ass depending on who you are. if you wanna try then go right ahead but just be wary

Nikola Ragnvaldsson - don’t you fucking dare!! just look at this man! he’s fucking adorable and he does not deserve any of this suffering plus he has anxiety (and possibly a bad home life) so he’s already got enough shit to put up with. if you did try to fight him (you monster) he’d probably freak out and cry the whole time and it just wouldn’t be worth it. plus (fun fact): the guy’s a swing dancer, and those guys have some serious athletic prowess so he could probably knock you out if he tried. the moral of the story is don’t fight nik

Ping - please don’t! ping has done nothing wrong plus why would you try to punch solid steel if you’re not guga levels of strong. unless you have a heavy object you won’t be able to make a dent in her. don’t fight ping

Riko Shirai - just looking at her is intimidating enough so you’d probably get scared before you tried to swing at her unless you are physically unable to feel emotion. plus she’s really pretty and a lovable nerd so don’t fight riko

Salvatore Benevici - take caution. he will knock you out with his fabulousness, stab your ego with a few sharp words and probably step on you with his equally sharp heels. all in all you probably shouldn’t fight sal

Siegfried Iskandar - be my guest. sure he’s pretty buff and could probably kick your ass but if you are able to put him in his place then do it. punch him in his smug face and kick him in the shins a few times idfc go nuts.

Tiffani Fairfax - again, take caution. she’s a former cheerleader so she’s probably got some decent muscle on her and could beat you up if she tried, but she’s more likely to cuss you out. your call

Timaeus Woodworth - no!! he’s a good boy who has done nothing wrong in his entire life. just look at him! he’s got long flowy hair and harry potter glasses and a cute nose dear god he’s too adorable for words. plus if you do fight him you’ll have ishi on your ass and do you really want that

Vasundhara Mwamba - NO. DO NOT FIGHT VASH. YOU MONSTER

Yusra Samara - do not fight yusra! sure she’s also kinda blunt but she’s really nice and has a cute smile and she’s just a lovely girl overall! plus you’ll probably catch riko’s attention if you lay even a finger on yusra and you really don’t want riko mad at you

MONO-9000 - go right ahead. crush him into itty bitty pieces. just be wary of his talons and you should be fine. fight the murder orb

this is a solid post i just have a few addendums:

if you’re being forced to fight a dreadnought cast member under penalty of death then aoi is a good choice since they can patch themselves up and if you explain the situation they’ll be understanding

if you tell ishi you want to fight her she’s 100% ready to throw down just for fun. guga is too but getting in a fight with her is much more hazardous to your health

sal is easy to beat up in the moment but he has the connections to summon an elite team of special agents from major intelligence services across the globe to track you down and wipe your existence from written record. ur playin a dangerous game

sieg isn’t as strong as he looks kick his ass babey

[thecuriousinferno]

if aqours played overwatch who'd they main? :D i imagine the trios queue together and the third years trolling in the middle of the match, but in reality they're like grandmaster tier?? Mari would be trolling using Hanzo then taking multiple headshots the next, while Kanan would be the Doomfist that says hello to the enemy team all the time but the moment they shoot at Dia's Mercy she'll solo kill 3-4 people, then Dia is like "guys why" but then uses valkyrie to lol at those who fail to kill her

Believe it or not I’ve already given this serious consideration.

Yoshiko - Reaper main ofc. If somebody kills her when she ults you’ll hear earsplitting shrieks in your headset. Dies most every game.

Maru - Reinhardt because he’s huge and she wants him to carry her. Never puts her fucking shield up

Ruby - Lucio because they’re both soft beans and Ruby is scared of guns so his boom boom cannons make her feel better. Skates off the map at least three times a game.

Chika - Pharah bc she loves blowing shit up. Calls Pharah’s ult “mikan barrage” mostly she’s somewhere off point because [see below]

Riko - Mercy because she doesn’t want to be responsible for really doing anything but she cusses people out over the mic for not coming to her for heals. Always ends up attached to Chika (everyone else can fuck off anyway)

You - Zarya bc Mother Russia is stronk. Will also follow and bubble Riko/Mercy and Ruby/Lucio. Since she can never seem to find Riko she just protects Ruby. Always stays on the payload of she can help it.

Dia - Symmetra because they’re both aesthetic lesbians. Treats turrets like children. Names them. A family can be 6 turrets and a lesbian. “Protect my fucking teleporter you pieces of shit.” Plays widow on the side and is actually better with her than symm. Threatens to switch teams every single game

Mari - Sombra/Symmetra main because she’s an asshole. She only plays symmetra to piss Dia off but Sombra is her spirit animal. Trash DPS that always dies first but still gets POTG

Kanan - Plays whatever the team needs but mostly Ana even though her aim is atrocious. Actively refuses to heal Chika. WILL make dad jokes if she’s playing 76.

[exysexual]

hs au (part five)

(part one)(part two)(part three)(part four)(read on ao3)

Neil has to get the fuck out of Oakland.

That’s the only thought bouncing around in his brain as he runs home, duffel slapping against his thigh in a familiar rhythm.

Andrew Doe knows too much about him. Has too many reasons to think him suspicious.

Neil can’t believe he fucked up like that. His mom would– well, she wouldn’t be happy. A fucking panic attack? Just because Edgar Allen was mentioned?

Actually, it’s not that it was mentioned. It’s that representatives from there will be at his fucking school tomorrow and that someday Andrew Doe could mention to Kevin or Riko this weird kid he knew–

When Neil gets to the house, he stops himself from spiraling. Kevin and Riko couldn’t possibly recognize him just from Andrew offhandedly mentioning him. And it’s not like they’d be coming themselves tomorrow.

No, his biggest obstacle now is Andrew Doe.

Neil Josten isn’t in the room when Andrew gets to Stats on Tuesday.

He slides into his seat and tries not to watch the door too obviously. The bell rings, though, and Neil still hasn’t materialized.

Andrew spends the rest of class vaguely watching Rodriguez and cycling through wondering where Neil is, being annoyed that he’s curious, and thinking through the game tonight.

The Jamesons had somehow caught wind of the scout situation, so now Andrew is dealing with their excitement and hopes about Exy scholarships. He’s mostly kept up a fake smile, aside from last night, but he has no idea what will happen when the inevitable disappointment comes.

Mac lets Andrew play the entire game, and he gets a shutout, and the Jamesons hug him all at once and he only freezes for a second.

He glances around the stands, looking for Neil before he realizes what he’s doing. He doesn’t see him anywhere, and he barely has time to berate himself before Mac is pushing him to the office, where there’s a line of bored-looking people in collegiate apparel.

Cathleen squeezes his hand in comfort before following him into the room.

Neil skips out on school because he doesn't know if he's even going back. He organized and reorganized his bag, sorted through his documentation, thought about the money he had left, and tried to make a mental pro/con list for sticking around.

Pros: no wasting money on new IDs; no rent or money for the squatting; easy access to the school; knows a few people (mostly on the CC team) who make his days a little less lonely; no figuring out a new place, a new identity

Cons: Andrew Doe knows something is up

For his mom, that would’ve been enough. They would’ve left town as soon as Neil told her about it and she had sufficiently punished him. They would have gone to Montana or Arizona and she would’ve cussed him out the whole way, before her guy in Boise or Mesa got them new digs.

But now, it’s just Neil. It’s just Neil, whose disappearance from school would raise questions, and whose appearance in a new town would raise questions, and whose travel from Oakland to Boise alone would raise questions.

It’s just Neil, who already kind of hates waking up and going bed alone everyday, even with the guys he exchanges ‘sup nods with in the hall.

Being a teenager is a complicated thing, a mixture of wanting not to be quite so alone in the world and wanting everybody to ignore you at all times. Being a teenager on the run, trying to escape notice, with nobody to rely on or turn to– Neil isn’t sure if he wants to scream as loudly as he can or run away from it all.

He slumps into Stats on Wednesday with a plan, but he can hear the echoes of his mom’s constant vitriol as he drops into his seat. He ignores when Andrew Doe comes in, faces forwards and takes the most meticulous notes he’s ever taken. He hopes that he fades into the wall.

Andrew stares at the back of Neil’s head for the entirety of the class. Part of his mind is still reliving the discussions he had last night, when the Jamesons weighed Edgar Allen versus Berkeley versus Penn State, when Mac had grinned and slapped him on the back and said, “Good job, Doe.”

The other part is wondering what the fuck is up with Neil fucking Josten, who has a panic attack and disappears and then reappears without so much as a hello. Andrew may not be the most sociable of people, would ignore everybody if he could, but even he has to admit that Neil is fucking weird.

He’s probably embarrassed, Andrew guesses, thinking back to the panic attack. But to be embarrassed, he has to care what Andrew thinks to some degree, which doesn’t really compute.

At the end of class, Neil turns around and rubs at the back of his neck, his eyes fixed on the wall behind Andrew.

“Um, hey, Andrew,” he says quickly, “sorry about last time. Do you think we could meet today instead?”

Andrew raises his eyebrows and shrugs. “No practice the day after a game, sure. Library 3:30?”

Neil nods and then books it out of the classroom, the opposite of his usual slouch. Andrew watches him go in confusion.

The fuck?

Neil gets to the library at 3:30 on the dot only to find Andrew already sitting at a table in the corner, pushing his chair back onto two legs.

Neil drops into the chair across from him and digs out his Stats notebook wordlessly. No more slipups.

“You feeling better?” Andrew asks as Neil reemerges. Neil bites his lip and nods, then lets out the story he’d been stewing.

“Um, yeah, sorry again,” he replies, putting as much sheepishness into his voice as possible. “My mom made me stay home yesterday ‘cause she was worried about me.”

Andrew nods, studying his face closely. Neil runs a hand back through his hair and tries to look as embarrassed as he can.

“We, uh, think it’s just all the talk about college that’s got me nervous,” he continues. “If it happens again, she’s going to make me talk to somebody about it.”

Andrew nods again.

“Anyway, Stats?”

Despite what Andrew would have expected, Neil Josten appears to genuinely care what Andrew thinks of him. Andrew tries to puzzle this out as he walks home, goes over everything he thinks he knows about the new kid.

He runs cross country and track. He’s smart but freaked out about college (admissions? Tuition? Adjusting to the environment?). He and his mom (no dad mentioned, except once when he said “my parents”) moved houses recently. He dresses horribly. His family has a really shitty car and he doesn’t have a credit card or a cell phone. He continually asks about Exy and Andrew despite claims that he doesn’t care about Exy. He doesn’t appear to notice that half the upperclassmen have crushes on him, but he cares what Andrew thinks.

There’s a few conclusions that Andrew comes to as he climbs up the Jameson’s front steps: Neil’s family is dirt poor; Neil is trying to hide that his family is dirt poor; Neil thinks Andrew might spread around the fact that Neil’s family is dirt poor.

Plausibly, Neil wants to play Exy but can’t afford it, and doesn’t even give a shit about Andrew.

Andrew tries not to feel too disappointed that Neil doesn’t actually care about him, or that Neil apparently judges him so harshly as to think he’d cade about something like his family’s wealth or spread it around.

Regardless, Andrew pastes on a smile as he steps inside, and shares with Cathleen the latest updates on his project.

Neil Josten is nothing.

Neil has another panic attack that night. Alone, curled up under his blanket on the hard, cold floor, he tries to imagine the impression he’s made on Andrew, and it’s nothing good. He realizes he never asked about Andrew’s game and then wonders if he’s really being recruited by Edgar Allen and the next thing he knows he can’t breathe.

He doesn’t know how much time he loses, but he feels bone fucking tired when his breathing is back to normal, even though his mind is still going in circles.

He tries to picture Riko and Kevin and Andrew playing together. Tries to imagine the weight of a racket in his hand. Tries to remember his mom’s smile.

Neil doesn’t get much sleep that night.

Andrew almost stops dead upon entering the cafeteria the next day when he spots Neil sitting with a few of the guys from cross country. He has not once witnessed him in the cafeteria before, although he hardly looks out of place, leaning in and listening to Todd Jiang.

Andrew joins Tekien and Sam Reagan at the table they usually sit at, conveniently beside the cross country table. Andrew alternates between smoking and joining them at lunch, depending on how much he can handle inane Exy bullshit.

He sits as close as he dares to the CC table and can just overhear their conversation as Sam and Tekien continue discussing their defense at the game on Tuesday.

“C���mon, Josten, you gotta get a Facebook,” Jiang says with a grin. “You’re already withholding your cell number, so how else can we contact you?”

“I’m not getting a Facebook,” Neil replies. Andrew can see him picking at his protein bar out of the corner of his eye.

“Can you imagine how many friend requests he’d get, like, right away?” asks another guy who Andrew doesn’t know. “Half the junior class would be on him like that.”

Neil slouches further down in his seat at that. Andrew wonders why he keeps his unpopular act up even around his friends.

“Why don’t you want one, Neil?”

“I already see enough of you idiots at school. Don’t need that messing with my home life, too. ‘Sides, my mom doesn’t want me to get one.”

They laugh at that, and somebody jokingly says, “What a momma’s boy.”

Neil shrugs.

“Doe, what did you think about our third goal on Tuesday?” Tekien asks then, diverting Andrew’s attention.

“It went in the net,” Andrew says flatly. Sam cackles at that as Tekien rolls his eyes.

“Be like that, hoard your Exy knowledge. Just remember not all of us are getting recruited by the Ravens, though.”

Andrew shrugs and starts in on his lunch, ignoring the next table over and instead letting Tekien and Sam’s chatter wash over him.

Neil doesn’t know how Todd found out it was his lunch period, but he’s not thrilled at this development. Sitting on his stoop is weirdly peaceful. Getting ribbed by the CC team is not, especially when they want him to be a normal teenager.

“Oi, Josten, where do you think you’re going?” Todd yells out on Friday, when Neil tries to steer away from the cafeteria and head back to his stoop. He rejoins the CC table resignedly, where Diego offers him a fist bump and Phil gives him a ‘sup nod. God, why is everyone around him such a bro?

“So, Josten, you’re not hooking up with Katherine, are you?” Diego asks immediately.

Neil takes a measured bite of his protein bar and unsuccessfully tries to place the name. “Who’s Katherine?”

Phil laughs and Diego shakes his head. “I think she’s in your Spanish class.”

Neil pictures the blonde girl who tries to talk to him every fucking day. “Oh, Blondie?”

Phil continues chuckling. Diego puts his face in his hands. “Jesus Christ, Neil.”

“I think you can safely take that as a no, Diego,” Todd offers with a smirk. “Then again, maybe Josten is hooking up with her and doesn’t even know her name.”

Neil represses the full body shiver that threatens to break out at the memories of kissing girls in back allies and what followed. He takes another steady bite of his bar and lets them think what they will.

He looks around the cafeteria and catches Andrew’s eye. The other teen stares expressionlessly at him. Neil frowns and wonders if he should’ve left after all.

(part six)