#emma cooper

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of Rivals - with David Tennant & friends [ Part 2 ]

Excerpt from Caitlin Moran’s The Time Magazine article (Sept 2024)

There is an emotional support dog on set - of course there is. An ice-cream van turns up at 2pm - burly crew members walk around the grounds eating tiny pink strawberry cones, looking delighted. And, for reasons I never fully discover, someone has a ferret on a lead. As I wander around the gigantic mansion, I bump into various cast members, who all seem overjoyed to be there. Claire Rushbrook, who plays Monica Baddingham - Tony Baddingham's posh, tolerant wife - is in the orangery, having her makeup done, eating a scone. "I mean, we are doing acting," she says. "I want to make that clear. But... it is also enormous fun." When it comes to the atmosphere on set, I later talk to David Tennant about this subject. "Yes - there was a lot of due diligence about only having... joyful people on set. Crew and cast," Tennant says, carefully. Dominic Treadwell-Collins [ producer ] is more forthright. "We had a very strict 'no arseholes' policy," he says. "We did a lot of research. On EastEnders, some of [the cast] were really unpleasant; rotten apples who ruined it. For Rivals, we talked to producers and agents off the record, and if they said, 'He's a marvelous actor - but also a wanker,' or 'He'll be amazing, but he did beat up a girlfriend ten years ago,' we just didn't cast them. Lots of people [in television] will put up with it. We were like, 'Life's too short.' Also, if you've got David Tennant on the call sheet, he's such a genuinely lovely, kind, decent man - and that flows down through everyone else.

Link to [ Part One ]

Please click to enlarge some of those group shots

[owls-are-not-what-they-seem]

Pinup fellas of Twin Peaks by Emma Munger

[marisatomay]

Might never forget how truly the LEAST an actor could have done during the strike was stay out of the fucking way and that was apparently still too much to ask of a lot of them

[peachhcs]

home opener

so high school au (emma grace x gabe perreault)

gabe has pre game jitters hours before his second year’s sold out home opener

wc: 1.7k

WOW! look who finally updated this au! i made this kind of sappy lowkey but guys i promise i won’t abandon this again. send in any requests u have!

au masterlist

the first game back of the new season was always the most nerve racking game, especially with how well the boys did last season. they had a lot to live up to with the expectations that they'd win the championships in march. the conte forum completely sold out for the night meaning the boys would have a majority of the bc student body's eyes on them.

gabe was normally never this nervous for a game considering all the ones he's played in so far, but something was picking away at his brain. he hardly focused all morning during class, mind always wandering and rerunning the plays in his head to pick away at everything he needed to work on. when he made it to the rink hours before puck drop his teammates even started noticing the forward's unusual silence. 

"hey, you okay?" ryan lowered his voice while him and gabe sat in the locker room rolling out. his friend's gaze slid over to him, nodding.

"yeah, fine. why?" 

"you just seem quieter than usual," the brunette pointed out with a small shrug like he didn't want to push it. 

"oh. sorry. just thinking is all," the hockey player mumbled and brushed ryan's concern off. 

ryan stared at gabe for another quick seconded before letting it go as well. he wasn't one to poke into his friends if they didn't want to talk, but he wasn't still slightly concerned. he's never known gabe to be this quiet before a game, so when the taller boy left the room, ryan dug his phone out.

ryan leonard 

hey idk what ur doing rn but u should 

come down to the rink. 

emma cooper 

is everything okay? 

ryan leonard 

i think so. gabe's just in some sort of funk

and i was wondering if he'd talk to u more

he won't talk to me

emma cooper

now that u say that i noticed it this morning 

too

i'll be there in 15 

if there was one person who could get to gabe besides ryan and will, it was emma. she was the only other person the boy opened up to and even then it wasn't something that happened often, but if gabe wouldn't talk to ryan, he wanted to hope he'd talk to his girlfriend. 

like every pre-game ritual, gabe found an empty seat in the stands to sit with his thoughts and stare out at the rink, envisioning himself and his teammates out there with the student body yelling absurdities at the other team. sitting up in the stands really helped him visualize the things he wanted to make happen tonight and remember how lucky he was to be there in the first place. the conte was a beautiful arena and the hockey player couldn't be more grateful to be a part of the history happening. 

emma got to the rink 15 minutes on the dot. she walked around the outer circle, her eyes scanning into the stands for her boyfriend. she finally found him in his usual section near the middle. his legs were propped over the seat in front of him and he just looked so peaceful sitting there, the girl wondered what was running through his mind that made him so quiet. 

she dropped her backpack near the top of the seats before quietly descending down the steps to where he was. there were a few other guys skating around the ice to just get some laps in and warm up their bodies a bit more before actual warmups. emma shuffled her way into gabe's row where he finally caught her gaze, a look of surprise on his features. 

"what are you doing here so early?" he smiled nonetheless as she sat down next to him.

"class got out early so i wanted to come by," it wasn't a complete lie. emma's class did get out early 30 minutes ago, but she knew when she wanted gabe to open up to her that she couldn't just jump right into it. she needed to get him talking and then he would eventually start saying what was on his mind.

"lucky you," his hand slipped over her knee where he gave it a gentle squeeze. her own hand cupped his, slowly intertwining their fingers. 

"i figured you'd be out here. hopefully i'm not interrupting your pre-game rituals," emma smiled a bit and gabe shook his head.

"you're not, i'm glad you're here. how's your day been so far?" having her here was actually a good distraction for gabe because sometimes he tended to get into his own head before he game, especially this one. 

"pretty good. after i saw you this morning, i met up with morgan and we studied some before going to class. i got lunch with her and lindsey and then i had my second class and now i'm here," this was gabe's favorite part. he loved hearing about emma's day and catching up on the things he missed while they were apart. 

"sounds exciting. are morgan and lindsey coming later?" 

"morgan might be, but tyler is. he's been looking forward to opening night for like months," the two shared a laugh.

"i've heard. he's told me every time he's seen me how excited he is," a grin painted the boy's lips. he always loved how supportive emma and tyler were and tried showing up to every home game. 

"don't even get me started. all he's been talking about is hockey and swimming to me," emma chuckled again, shifting further into her seat so she could find a spot for her head on gabe's shoulder. the boy leaned his head onto hers, his little curls tickling the top of her forehead.

"so how are you feeling?" emma began her slight prying. gabe shrugged beneath her head. 

"okay," he was brief which she expected. 

"are you nervous at all?" 

the boy hesitated for a moment like he was debating on telling the truth. it wasn't that he didn't want to open up to her, he's just never really opened up about things before until last year when they started dating, so this was all very new territory for the darker-haired boy. although, emma did make it easy and he's never felt more comfortable opening up to her when he did find the courage. 

"kind of," he finally admitted. 

"that's okay. it is the first game back," the blonde hummed. 

"i think that's why i'm nervous. it just feels like a lot of pressure, you know? we have a lot to live up to this year," gabe continued his thoughts, slowly opening up what's been picking a part his brain for the last few hours. 

"yeah, i think i get it. don't be too hard on yourself though. you're gonna play great this season," emma lifted her head so she could see gabe's face. the two exchanged a glance and he mustered his best smile.

"yeah, i know. just nervous, but i'll be fine. i guess it's also because we're playing without will and not saying oskar isn't a great player, he's phenomenal, it will just be different. it sounds stupid," the boy quickly shook his head, worried he sounded pathetic that he was missing his friend and the line they all had. 

emma quickly frowned for a second realizing they finally hit the true reason gabe's been so quiet and spacey. she curled her arm around his, resting her chin on his shoulder. 

"hey, it's not stupid, p. it's the first time you guys aren't playing together since you were like 16. that's a lot. it's normal to feel weird about it," emma quickly reassured her boyfriend who flushed. 

"i guess i just wish the last time we all played together was actually gonna be the last time. we all thought we'd have another year together at least," the boy continued with a small frown. 

"have you called him at all? i'm sure he'd appreciate hearing from you guys. maybe it will help ease some of your nerves," the girl suggested because whenever her brother was nervous about his swim meet, he'd their parents and it'd instantly make him feel better.

"yeah, maybe i will."

"it could help. it's not stupid to miss your best friend, gabe, but i know you guys are gonna do really well tonight. i'll be here too," her words made him smile as he quickly leaned over to place a gentle kiss to her head. 

"thank you, sorry i was so weird about it. i'm still working on this whole opening up thing," he grimaced, but emma quickly shook her head.

"don't apologize, p. you're doing really great. i love you. i'm gonna run back to my place to change, but i'll see you at the game. do you need anything else?" the blonde wondered as she sat up, gabe quickly missing the feeling of her so close to him. 

"i don't think so, i love you too. hurry back, i wanna see you before we go on," he squeezed her hand, reluctantly letting it go for now. she blew him a big kiss. 

"i will," with that, emma hurried back up the stairs to grab her backup and rush back to her apartment. 

feeling a lot better than before, gabe got himself up and headed back into the locker room. ryan was still at his stall doing some of his tape job. he eyed his friend as he passed. 

"doing okay?" the brunette asked again. this time gabe had a more confident nod.

"yeah, i am. i was thinking about calling will before the game? would you wanna talk to him?" the darker-haired boy fished for his phone in his backpack. ryan quickly smiled.

"for sure. i'll always talk to smitty," he got up to sit closer while gabe pressed the call button. 

the line connected a moment later, "hey!" will's voice cheered. 

gabe quickly smiled, the weight lifting off his shoulders as the three friends caught themselves up and the other bc boys occasionally chimed in with their own hellos to will and expressed how much they missed him. 

will echoed their sentiments and promised he was gonna watch the game in a few hours. 

he must've been their lucky charm because boston won the game 4-2 in the home opener, already setting the precedent for the rest of the exciting season.

[stardustspaceway]

self indulgent doodles in between painting and artfight

[robbiemargot]

EMMA STONE, BRADLEY COOPER for Variety Magazine | December 2023

[newwavesylviaplath]

top ten evan peters moments that keep me awake at night:

(inspired by a silly little chat i just had with @dangeroustaintedflawed )

10. saying his fave lady gaga song was alejandro

9. the ring he proposed to emma with

8. that one shot of him as kai anderson in jail

7. comforting emma after she got arrested

6. his grey zara sweater that i never shut up abt

5. playing piano/guitar and making music in secret

4. that one insane gym photo

3. the paparazzi pics of him with black hair and a salad

2. coachella '24

1. the blythe doll incident

honourable mentions: playing austin sommers and also anytime he wore his hair half up half down

[jillgirlfriends]

Favorite girls In "Scream"

[white-cat-of-doom]

A Gumbie Cat photo for your troubles, in celebration of the show day in Cast 16 of the Oasis of the Seas yesterday.

Anthony Lafornara as Munkustrap and Emma Brynn Cooper as Jennyanydots.

Actual content of the day was Michael Herrington as Alonzo (as a reindeer).

12 December 2023.

[starkdirewolflove]

Latest episode of X-Men ‘97, wow.

Omg there was so much going on in that episode can’t believe it was only 36 minutes.

Love square of Jean, Scott. Madelyne and Logan. Love triangle of Magneto, Rogue and Gambit, relationship drama galore.

I find it really amusing that Emma Frost has a front row seat to the drama with Jean, Madelyne and Scott like her own personal telenovela. Love that Madelyne has been forging her own path and becoming a part of the council of Genosha.

There’s a reporter doing a documentary about the X-Men and Xavier’s school. I’m a bit confused about Roberto being there. When we first meet him he’s a young rich party boy, heir to a wealthy Brazilian family that can just take a private jet wherever he wants to go and is ashamed and afraid of people, particularly his mother learning he’s a mutant so he leaves after episode one. Then he’s just always at the mansion hanging around with Jubilee and he’s in this documentary about a mutant school. Is he out to his family as a mutant or does he not care who knows anymore? I feel like this should’ve been addressed at some point.

Things are still really rocky with Scott and Jean, I can understand why he blew up at the reporter, she was being really invasive about his personal life and calling him a liar about having a son. And who was that doctor to make any statement about the birth? The bigot refused medical help to a woman in labour. But then he goes and has his psychic affair with Madelyne, dick move. And he’s been doing this since she left while shutting Jean out then turns everything around on her. Like Jean has been traumatised by what Sinister did to her. She doesn’t know how long he had her abducted, what he did while she was his prisoner, her mind is all messed up and on top of that her husband had a baby with her clone who had completely stolen her life (not Madelyne’s fault, this was 100% Sinister’s evil plan) and the only one who is actually supportive and understanding of her pain is Logan, no wonder she kissed him. Good on Logan for not trying to make the kiss into a big deal, Jean and Scott are married and he respects that even though he’s in love with her. The betrayal from Scott was even worse for Jean because their psychic connection has always been sacred between the two of them and her anchor when the Phoenix was overwhelming her and then he disregards all that because he’s in love with Madelyne too supposedly. Like I get their shared grief over having to give up their baby, it doesn’t give him a free pass to cheat on his wife.

Gambit was such a gentleman throughout the whole Rogue and Magento stuff, even though it was breaking his heart to see her with another man he respected her choice, didn’t try to blame or shame her about it and said they can be friends still. Rogue had a really rough time this episode. From the start of this season I felt uncomfortable with this Rogue and Magento pairing but when she explained their history to Gambit it was even worse because it just sounded like grooming and made Magento a creepy sexual predator. So Rogue ran away from home as a teenager after the trauma of putting the first boy she kissed in a coma and being rejected by her dad, gets taken in by Mystique who gets her to use her powers as part of her mutant terrorist group then brings this vulnerable teenage girl who is afraid to touch anyone to a middle aged man to help her control her powers and instead of doing that he fills her head with his ideologies and because he can touch her without it hurting either of them they become lovers. 🤢🤮 so creepy. Magento leverages the council of Genosha that he will only lead them if he can take Rogue as his “Queen” or co leader to the public, so she feels backed into a corner after seeing how amazing things on Genosha were for mutants now. Then after that amazing dance scene she realises that Gambit is the man she truly loves and what they have is more meaningful and goes beyond being able to touch and she chooses her swamp rat only to lose them both by the end of the episode.

The attack on Genosha was brutal but it was so amazingly done. Cable traveling back through time to try and warn everyone about the attack even though it goes against the rules of time travel, seeing Madelyn for a moment, her recognising him as her son by his eyes and him calling her “mom” as he got pulled back through time. The music, the chaos and panic you could literally feel through the screen, Magneto’s holocaust flashbacks, the Morlocks being trapped and thinking no one was coming to save them, Nightcrawler almost dying saving Rogue and Magneto.

Rogue and Gambit were the ultimate power couple fighting their way to the Morlocks, a better dance than the one she had with Magneto. Magneto saving Rogue and Gambit while he tried to shelter the Morlocks from the sentinel blast, so tragic. Then Gambit saves Rogue from getting herself killed by attacking the sentinel in a rage, takes it on by himself to save everyone and destroys it but sacrificing his own life in the process 😭.

The tragedy is they foreshadowed this in the first episode when Jean/Madelyne went into Trask’s mind and then both Jean and Madelyne got a psychic premonition of the attack just before it happened but were unable to do anything to stop it.

When the dust settles at the end you see the X-Men witness the aftermath of the attack, the few surviving mutants gather around the crater where Rogue is cradling Remy’s body. She’s finally able to touch him but only because he’s dead. “Sugah. I can’t feel you.” 💔

That killed me at the end, was so shocked that they killed Magneto and Gambit within minutes of each other. I know they probably won’t be dead forever but fuck that was brutal.

I know next week’s episode is gonna be Storm centric so we’ll probably have to wait 2 weeks to see what happens with the rest of the X-Men and hopefully by then Storm is ready to rejoin the team. There was a moment in the Genosha attack where Val Cooper is helping evacuate mutants to the gardens and she looks back at the sentinels and there’s this look in her eye that made me wonder is she Val Cooper or Mystique in disguise? We haven’t seen Mystique in the show so far but what if she’s been there all along? Maybe she was afraid of being exposed as an imposter by the sentinels because they’d know she’s not human.

[nathalieskinoblog]

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[weclassybouquetfun]

Variety's Actors on Actors lineup has been announced.

Surprising absolutely no one, BarbenHeimer unites again with a Cillian Murphy and Margot Robbie team-up.

A Zodiac/Avengers reunion with Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”) & Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Things”)

A THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA reunion with Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”) & Anne Hathaway (“Eileen”)

An ALOHA reunion between Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) & Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”)

*B-Coop, you may not get an actor nod, but you most definitely deserves Best Director recognition for MAESTRO.

EUPHORIA costars Colman Domingo (“Rustin,” “The Color Purple”) & Jacob Elordi (“Priscilla,” “Saltburn”)

*While Colman was excellent in RUSTIN, and I would love for him to get nominated for that, THE COLOR PURPLE as the performance for me.

SHAME reunion with Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”) & Michael Fassbender (“The Killer”)

*Carey is sensational in MAESTRO and I hope she and her team don't push her for Supporting because she is quite frankly the lead. She even has top billing over Bradley Cooper. He has always asserted that the film is more about Lenny and Felicia and it's more her story.

MORE ACTORS. MORE AWARDS SEASON TALK

A THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT reunion between Annette Bening (“Nyad”) & Julianne Moore (“May December”)

*May December wasn't to my liking and surprisingly Charles Melton was wonderful. But I'm all about NYAD and if Bening isn't nominated for Best Actress it will be a crime.

Disney Princesses Halle Bailey (“The Little Mermaid”, “The Color Purple”) & Rachel Zegler (“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”)

*The struggle to hide that pregnancy is real.

Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”) & Taraji P. Henson (“The Color Purple”)

*He's the lead in AMERICAN FICTION but he gave RUSTIN the punch it needed in his small role.

Greta Lee (“Past Lives”) & Andrew Scott (“All of Us Strangers”)

*ALL OF US STRANGERS was very affecting. I thought it too navel-gazing at first, but it blossomed over me much later.

Natalie Portman (“May December”) & Paul Mescal (“All of Us Strangers”)

*Mescal was in the film CARMEN directed by and conceived by Portman's philandering husband Benjamin Millipied. The screening happened before his affair allegations came out, but after the Q&A someone commented to me that Benjamin and his lead Melissa Barrera looked too comfortable with each other and bet they had slept together at least once. I just chalked it up to him being French. But maybe?

Alden Ehrenreich (“Fair Play,” “Oppenheimer”) & Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”)

*I've been a fan of Ehrenreich since the wretched BEAUTIFUL CREATURES so I love all the attention and acclaim he's getting. But male voters hate weak male characters (which is why I'm worried that Leonardo DiCaprio will be snubbed for his performance in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. Every man I've spoken to about it hated his character - not because of his actions - but because he was weak and stupid. And Leo's character has nothing on Ehrenreich's soppy Luke. There's a meme about people being weak in the knees and needing to stand up. Nah, Luke needed to sit his ass down.).

However, Da'Vine Joy Randolph seems to be a lock. The trio of Randolph, Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa in THE HOLDOVERS deserve any nominations they may receive.

My fantasy Best Supporting Actress list is

Da'vine Joy Randolph (THE HOLDOVERS)

Danielle Brooks (THE COLOR PURPLE)

Jodie Foster (NYAD)

Rosamund Pike (SALTBURN)

Penelope Cruz (FERRARI)

*If Apple is running Lily Gladstone as Supporting (which they shouldn't because she's a lead), then I would swap out Foster for Gladstone. If Gladstone isn't in Supporting, then Cara Jade Myers as Anna in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON would be my swap.

[imahumashipper]

Literally everyone in my life: why are you still single?

Me: idk?

My standards:

[peachhcs]

something funny?

so high school au (emma grace x gabe perreault)

advanced french 2 and econ don’t mix. gabe has no idea what’s going on, but luckily emma does!

2.1k words

wooo first real fic of the au!! this was actually so cutie to write and if anyone has any requests/ideas for emma and gabe pls send them in! :))

au masterlist

emma's gaze slid towards the dark-haired boy sitting beside her furiously scribbling down work for a class that most definitely wasn't for advanced french 2. the graphs and tables for sure screamed economics or something similar because she remembered very well doing those a few months ago before she graduated.

the blonde tore her eyes away from his work and tried focusing on the lecture at hand, but for some reason she just could not pay attention no matter how hard she tried. all emma could think about was the amount of work she needed to do once class was over while praying that a table was open somewhere in the library.

god knows everyone's trying to get ahead before the semester quite literally devours them. the professor started leaving her desk to mill about the classroom while she spoke and the boy beside emma hadn't even looked up once—too focused on econ.

the other thing was that emma was feeling gracious today, so she nudged the boy's leg so he'd at least look like he was paying somewhat attention when their professor walked by. his gaze shot to hers and emma just motioned towards their professor about to breeze right past them. gabe's head snapped right and he immediately hid his econ papers as the lady walked by.

"if you're not paying attention next time she walks by, i'm not helping you out," emma whispered. gabe's eyebrows rose, amusement on his features.

"jeez, okay. didn't ask for help in the first place," the boy shrugged as he returned his focus to his other work. emma studied him for a few moments trying and failing on getting the graph right.

an uncontrollable giggle left her lips at the boy's poor, poor attempt. his head snapped back in her direction, another eyebrow raised, "something funny?"

emma immediately shook her head despite the smile still tugging on her lips, "not at all."

"something must be funny if you're laughing," gabe sneered back. he's had a long day—being up since 6am for morning skate—and the last thing he needed was some girl he didn't even know making fun of him.

"i just think it's funny watching you do econ in an advanced french 2 class," the blonde shrugged lightly.

"it's not like i need to pay attention away. already know french."

emma blinked while the boy turned back to his laptop. why on earth was this kid in advanced french if he already knew french? "you already know french?"

"mhm. fluent in it, actually," gabe's cocky smile almost made emma wanna slap it off him.

"then why are you taking french if you already know it?"

"because i can and i want to. i think it's funny. do you know french already?" there went that stupid eyebrow raise again when gabe looked at her.

"i do, yes," emma mumbled.

"so why are you taking french if you already know it?" his little head tilt and stupid smirk didn't sit well with the girl. she didn't have time to respond though because the professor walked past their section again, eyes probably trying to find the culprits who were talking in class.

"see? didn't have to help me that time," god, he was insufferable already. maybe emma shouldn't have started interacting with him. life 10 minutes ago was a lot better than life now.

"don't you have time to do all this work later?" she didn't know what possessed her to keep talking, but something about this boy intrigued her as much as he frustrated her.

"not really, no. early morning skate then actual practice right after class. by that time it's late and i'm lazy," gabe shrugged and it all finally clicked for emma.

he was a hockey player. made sense now. no wonder why he never paid attention in class.

"don't you like get banned from playing if you don't keep up with your work?" emma didn't know that much about how sports worked here, but she knew if her brother didn't keep up with his classes, he couldn't swim.

"i keep up with my work, don't worry," gabe snipped a bit. this time emma raised her own eyebrow while trying to keep in another pitiful laugh.

"mhm, sure. tell that to your econ class."

the professor walked past their section again, definitely trying to catch emma and gabe whispering. the two watched her stalk by before heading towards the front again. the blonde's eyes were on gabe's homework again, working through the problem in her mind. she immediately saw his issue—he had the wrong numbers on his graph which messed up his calculations. it was an easy fix.

"your numbers are wrong," again, despite the boy's annoying attitude, she was still feeling gracious. her curiosity about him was too high not to help.

"huh?"

"on your graph. it's supposed to be by .02. that's why you aren't getting the right answers," emma pointed out briefly.

gabe studied what she just said and looked back and forth between his numbers and graph, slowly realized she was in fact right. "oh," he mumbled.

"next time i won't help you," emma smirked.

"not like i asked for your help in the first place," the hockey player mumbled as he started redoing his entire graph with the right numbers.

the two didn't talk again until the last ten minutes of class. gabe was still furiously working away on his econ homework while emma took occasional glances in his direction. she thought he was stupid for waiting until last minute to finish it, especially in another class.

he nudged her leg first this time and her gaze snapped to his, "hey. what else you know about econ?"

he probably had about ten more problems left with no finish in sight anytime soon. emma stopped another pitiful laugh wanting to escape her lips.

"a decent amount. why?" the girl raised her eyebrow.

"probably a long shot, but any chance you could help me out later? i really gotta finish this assignment it's already two days late and if i don't, coach will pull me," gabe almost begged, but his pride and ego were too big for that.

the look on his face and big, puppy dog eyes were hard to say no to for emma despite everything in her telling her no. she'd feel bad if she didn't, especially when his mistakes were probably easy fixes. if only she wasn't so nice sometimes.

"i can give you my number and you can text me. i'll be in the library for a few hours after class," emma motioned for his phone.

"really? you'll actually help?" gabe seemed surprised she said yes.

"i feel like i don't have a choice, plus econ is easy for me. you probably have stupid mistakes that are easy fixes," she started punching her number into the boy's phone.

"how long will you be at the library for?"

"i don't know. until 6?" a good three hours seemed like enough time for emma to grind out her three page essay.

"shit, i have practice then. any chance we can meet at like..9? i know it's inconvenient, but i don't have any other time," he was such a hard no. even if emma didn't know him nor did she even really care for him, she felt bad not helping.

"9 works. just text me," the blonde nodded.

a genuine smile painted gabe's lips as well as a somewhat relieved look, "thanks so much. i really appreciate it. i'm gabe by the way."

"emma," the girl smiled back.

—

man, she should've said no. emma didn't think he was coming. it was 9:15��fifteen minutes late—and no text or anything. she left to her dorm two different times and there was still nothing from the the boy. the only people in the library at this hour were her and the few who just didn't have a social life and completely studied their asses off at any second they got.

in some ways, emma was that person just a bit more dialed down. at least she didn't spend hours in the library.

she checked her phone again and nothing. a sigh escaped her lips because she really thought gabe cared a little bit somewhere inside of him to not completely flake.

when all hope seemed lost quick footsteps came up behind emma's table and suddenly, gabe's frame was beside where she sat.

"i'm so, so sorry i'm late. practice ran over and then my friends had to talk to me for..i'm sorry," his apologize was unexpected, but appreciated. emma managed a small smile.

"really thought you'd flake on me," she laughed.

"i was gonna text, but then i forgot. i'm sorry. i didn't mean to waste your time," gabe rambled on as he sat down and dug his things back out.

his rambling actually made emma feel a little bad, especially because he looked so flustered like he ran all the way here from the rink. "it's fine. don't worry about it. i'm here all the time anyway," she shrugged him off to not make him feel as horrible.

"i respect the pjs," gabe commented on emma's flannel pj pants and boston college swimming sweatshirt that was definitely tyler's that she stole.

"oh, thanks. had to be comfortable, you know?" the blonde flushed some. gabe nodded in agreement.

"i did a few more problems, but i'm still kind of..lost, i guess. i dunno. i don't really know how what i'm doing wrong," he pushed his paper towards her feeling semi-embarrassed he couldn't do what should've been simple calculations and graphing.

"let me see," emma pulled the paper closer. she scanned her his work trying to find what the issue could be.

"hold on, i get it. you're not multiplying the right things which i think is giving you the wrong numbers. trying going row x row," emma instantly saw what was wrong.

gabe did as told and five minutes later, everything made a lot more sense than it did before.

"oh, i get it now. i was calculating wrong," he mumbled.

"see? easy fix. the other answers should make sense now," emma nodded, smiling.

"how are you so good at this? i feel like i'll never truly learn econ," gabe's gaze met hers again briefly before they both looked away.

"oh, i don't know. i've always been good at like math and stuff," doing math had always been emma's strong suit. growing up her friends always went to her when they were stuck on a problem.

"i wish i had that kind of talent. it's never made any sense to me," the boy mumbled, smiling successfully after completing all the other problems. "does this look right?"

emma glanced the page over, nodding, "yeah, looks good. the graphs are the hardest part i think because if you don't get those, everything's wrong."

"thanks, i appreciate the help. sorry again for being late," gabe met her gaze again—his eyes looked flushed and tired like he hardly ever slept. that feeling of pity returned in emma's stomach the longer she stared at him.

"it's no problem, really," her lips pushed together into a small smile.

"do you think i could text you again whenever i need more help in the class?" the boy wondered as he packed his things back up.

emma studied him again. those books about the athlete looking for help from the smart, quiet girl was seeming a little too real at the moment. the look on gabe's face though said otherwise like he wasn't trying to mess with her. he looked genuinely interested in the help she could provide him.

"why don't we like meet every other day or something and i can like tutor you. maybe help you understand the class a bit better?" the girl suggested which honestly sounded crazy coming out of her mouth because did she really have time to be tutoring this hockey player? apparently.

"like for real?"

"yeah like for real," emma laughed.

the smile on gabe's lips reappeared when he realized emma wasn't joking with him, "o-okay. yeah, thanks. i'd appreciate that. is it okay if we meet at 9 then? i would do earlier but i like don't have time."

"yeah, 9 works."

"i promise i'll try not to be late, but i can't promise it," the two shared a laugh.

"don't worry about it. see you in class then?"

"yeah, see you," her and gabe left the table together, giving slightly awkward waves to one another as they went in different directions to leave.

it was safe to say both of them didn't stop thinking about the other all night.

[boardchairman-blog]

**Shots of the Movie**

Little Women (2019)

Director: Greta Gerwig Cinematographer: Yorick Le Saux