#i love choir if you have one at your school you should totally go

[lacedwithfemtanyl]

what being a soprano in a choir feels like

[sillyunicorn]

hey, cheers for tagging me! tell me more about that 3+1 Simon singing fic bc 👀 i love those kind of fics lol

-s.ham

Hi! 🥰 tks for the ask!!

This one is actually mostly partially written! It's a cute little American (I know) high school AU where Simon is trying so hard to flirt with Wille through cheesy pop songs and Wille is. Clueless. Despite having the biggest crush on Simon. There's also a bet between Rosh and Ayub about how well Simon's plan will work due to said cluelessness 😂

This one is stalled out bc middles are hard and bc I have a bunch of "[TK LYRICS]" where I need to figure out what song Simon could be singing 🤣

Here's the first scene below the cut:

"Dude. That was like, super embarrassing for you."

"What?!" Simon spluttered as Rosh dropped her lunch tray on the table next to him. "You think he knew the song was about him?"

"Oh, definitely not. But everyone else did."

Simon's cheeks burned. He had just treated the entire combined choir and concert band classes to his rendition of "Kiss You" for their weekly Friday performances during the previous period. Rosh was probably never going to let him live it down.

Across the table, Ayub tried to make him feel better.

"He is, like, totally in love with you though. Did you see the way he was staring?"

"Like a baby deer lost in the woods," Rosh scoffed.

"A baby fawn," Ayub agreed.

"Just a fawn," Rosh said.

"That's what I said."

"No, you said baby fawn. Which is redundant. A baby deer is a fawn.”

"It doesn’t even matter," Simon interrupted. "He doesn't even know I exist."

A tater tot hit him in the cheek, and Simon looked up to see Rosh shrugging at him. "So make sure he knows."

"What do you mean? Sing him an even more obvious love song?"

Simon had thought he was being discreet. Sure, he had changed "tell me girl" to "tell me boy" and had maybe made eye contact with Wille a few times, but other than that there was no way anyone could have known who he had in mind.

Rosh rolled her eyes. "I was going to say talk to him. He’s oblivious. He didn’t have a clue your song was directed to him. He's never going to pick up on your hints."

"I don't know," Ayub mused. "I sit next to him in math and he's like, really smart. I bet he could figure it out."

"Book smarts and emotional intelligence are not the same thing, trust me," Rosh said, now ripping the skin off a clementine. "Or else Yasmina and I would still be together."

"So I should sing him some more songs?" Simon asked.

"Definitely," Ayub said, just as Rosh said, "Absolutely not."

Simon looked between them, torn between frustration and amusement.

"How about this," Ayub said, picking up the tater tot Rosh had thrown at Simon and tossing it back at her. "We’ll make a bet. If Simon can get through to Wilhelm in song by Valentine's Day, you have to go out with my cousin Aiza. If he can't, I'll drive you to soccer practice for the rest of the year."

"You think he can get Wilhelm to speak up in two weeks? Deal," Rosh said, popping the twice-thrown tater tot in her mouth and extending her hand to Ayub.

Simon, who was pretty sure both of those things were going to happen eventually anyway, since Rosh had been checking out Aiza's Instagram stories every day at lunch for the last two weeks, and Ayub would be getting his license at the end of January, just shook his head.

"Don't I get a say in any of this?"

"Nope," his friends said in unison.

[hoffmannwrites]

On My List

1  - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 + 1 Masterlist

Author’s Note:

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson

Description: 5 Times Steve and Eddie kiss as friends, and one time they don't.

Warnings/Tags: Everyone lives, Nobody dies, 5+1, Kissing, Fluff, Idiots to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, some pretty brief mentions for drinking, smoking, musical theater (yes, that gets it's own warning), uhhh they're gay your honor, no beta we die like Barb, let me know if I missed anything?

Suddenly, Seymour

By the time their 4th kiss rolls around, Steve is starting to think that maybe he hallucinated the whole fucking thing. Eddie hasn’t made a single move or mentioned any of the kisses at all to Steve since NYE. Even Robin had gone from “Oh my god, he’s totally into you” to “well, you know how Eddie is. He loves to cause chaos.”  Eddie and Steve still see each other regularly, usually at least once a week on their own volition and a couple times in between while driving around the children. And in the almost month that had past, not once has Eddie even hinted at anything happening between them.

So, Steve did what he did best and pushed it all down and focused on anything else other than the metal head. This focus included helping Dustin audition for the school musical, Little Shop of Horrors.  Steve didn’t know much about acting and his singing knowledge was limited to what he learned as a kid in church choir, but he was very good at critiquing Dustin. Steve even watched the movie with Rick Moranis and everything so he knew what was going on in the musical and how it should feel (and totally not because he thought Steve Martin looked kinda hot in the leather jacket with the motorcycle even if he was a piece of shit).

Dustin was auditioning for the lead, Seymour. Part of the audition was having to do a duet with someone auditioning for Audrey, and kissing her at the end of the song. Dustin was really good at every other thing he had to do for this role, but the idea of kissing someone random on stage in front of the whole town was really freaking him out. (Sure, cannibalism and murder was fine, but god forbid there was PDA). Of course, Steve became his personal director for this particular issue, as the ex-ladies man was very familiar with kissing practical strangers in public.

“Listen, you just gotta think about Suzie,” he advised.

“You want me to think about my girlfriend while kissing another girl?” Dustin questioned, looking at Steve like he has 5 heads.

“No that’s not what I-“, Steve started. He sat down on the couch next to the now Sophomore. “Look. This whole song is about realizing you’re in love, right? It’s about finally getting the girl. It’s about finally realizing that the person who’s been by your side this whole time, who’s had your back since day one, who’s never hurt you is the love of your life. And you’re finally ready to see that, to admit it,” Steve explains. “Not only are you falling in love with your best friend, but you have this feeling of-of hope. There’s a weight off your shoulders and everything just might work out in your favor. And that’s how you feel about Suzie, right? Like it’s all gonna be okay when you look at her?” Dustin nods in response and Steve continues. “So you gotta take all that- all that love and light and- and hope and put it into this song, and the kiss. It’s not about kissing someone on stage, it’s about making the audience feel that joy that your character is feeling.”

“Wow, Harrington. I didn’t know you were such a fuckin’ sap.” Eddie’s voice rings out from the doorframe of Dustin’s bedroom, scaring the ever living shit out of the other two boys. “Jesus Christ, Eddie, you can’t just sneak up on people like that,” Dustin scolds.

Eddie puts his hands up in defense “Sorry, sorry. Stevie was on a roll, there. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Yeah, he was. I just still don’t get how I’m supposed to kiss someone that I’m not into without it being weird or at least looking weird, ya know?” It’s Eddie’s turn to offer some advice, now.

“Oh, Dustybun, it’s way easier than it sounds. Isn’t that the whole point of acting? You do it every week at Hellfire, this is just like that. You’re woo-ing the fair maiden to get access to the castle and it’s armory. Except, instead of rolling a D20 and convincing me, it’s an audience that actually wants you to win.”

And Dustin thinks about that for a minute, because yeah he does have to “act” in Hellfire every week and there have been a few times where his character has had to flirt his way out of some sticky situations. But he still has his reservations. “If it’s so easy, why don’t you guys do it?” He says to his mentors,  not wanting to admit they were right so easily.

“Fine,” Steve almost snaps before Eddie has the chance to make some sarcastic come back. The metal head looks over at Steve, a little wide-eyed, but before he can protest, Steve is talking again. “I’m no singer, but I’ll do my best. You know the song?” He asks Eddie. 

“Uh, yeah kind of,” he croaks out, too caught off guard to really say anything else.

“Alright. We’ll start with the last chorus. You okay taking Audrey?” Eddie nods his head as Steve hands him a lyric sheet, still a little stunned at everything that’s happening. Man, he just came to pick up some Hellfire notes Dustin had for him. And now here he was, standing in Dustin’s bedroom, singing a fucking love song with Steve Harrington. Shit, he wasn’t even a soprano, he can’t hit these notes! Eddie clears his throat and starts singing, albeit taking it down an octave. Steve is right there with him, singing the back up vocals with surprising emotion. Holy shit, Harrington can sing. Holy shit, can Harrington act? There’s no time to really dwell on the revelation right now, because Eddie realizes he should probably be acting too. Only he doesn’t really have to act like he loves Steve because he does, oh god, he does. Has been since he watched that idiot jump into a lake that was also an inter-dimensional portal with zero hesitation.

So they’re singing to each other, standing face to face but far enough apart that it’s not, like, weird or anything. And then it is weird, it’s so so weird because they’re on the last bit of the song and Steve has moved in closer to Eddie and is looking at him like he did right after Eddie kissed him on New Years. By the third “sweet understanding”, Steve grabs both of Eddie’s hands and steps in really close now, so much that they’re singing the last line directly to each other, staring each other in the eyes. And when that last note wraps up, where there should be some orchestral music and applause from an auditorium filled with people, Steve moves his hands to around Eddie’s waist and kisses him like they do in all those sappy movies. Steve’s hand are everywhere and Eddie feels like he’s being completely held together by the younger man, like every piece of him will shatter the second he lets go. And they kiss, chaste and unmoving, waiting for the fake applause to die down and the stage lights to fade to black so the next scene can start. But they break apart and Steve turns to Dustin and raises his eyebrows looking for approval, like he didn’t just melt the metal heads brain.

“Woah.” Dustin is kind of flabbergasted by the display he just saw. “Why didn’t you guys do the plays in school? That was super convincing. Like, so good.”

Steve smiles, all teeth, beaming and proud. “Yeah, well, we were busy. With sports. And, uh,” he gestures vaguely to Eddie, “and drugs.” Eddie has regained enough brain function at this point to shrug in agreement with the last statement, but he’s wondering if Steve’s really that good of an actor or if there’s something else there. No, probably just wishful thinking. But as Dustin gets up to find the papers Eddie came for and Steve offers them both a rushed goodbye as he realizes he’s late for his shift, Eddie can’t help but remember that this is the fourth time Steve’s mouth has been on his. 

A/N:

Idk shit about fuck about D&D. I've been trying to get someone to teach me or let me join them or anything and I simply cannot. If I am using the wrong die for this hypothetical situation in my fictional non-canon story about fictional people in a fantasy horror show, I'm sorry. This isn't Um, Actually, okay? I'm just guessing.

I also know nothing about the licensing process for school musicals, but the Little Shop movie came out in ‘86 and I love the idea of a fanatic drama teacher making it the musical. And Dustin would love it because it’s about a giant plant who eats people because it’s an alien. I also haven’t seen the full musical (not the movie, they’re different) since I was like 7 so please pardon me if they don’t actually kiss during Suddenly, Seymour. 

[not-so-superheroine]

fun fact, i live in a swamp.  no, it doesn’t smell bad. when you get to the swampy areas there are cypress trees in the water that put of the smell really good.  the marshes near the salt and brackish water that smell like the pluff mud from which the sweetgrass grows. it smellls like dead sea creatures and works like quick sand and the more tou struggle the more you sink. simply do not walk on it. i have literally never in all my years. anyway, living in a swamp is cool. there are all sorts of creatures and plants. you can find and hunt for food. i wouldn’t go swimming in it (don’t die from brain eating amoeba or gators pls. take florida level precautions bc it’s not that that different in coastal neigboring states). we also have lots of swamp themed/related events. my favorite is the hell hole swamp festival, a bomb community event where everyone comes out for essentially a swampy country fair (no rides or funnel cakes but like barbeque and cake and children’s games, and child school choirs, and fun competions. Its also home of the Hell Hole Gator Run, a 10 K. The Hell Hole Talent Show is great too. Just community members of all ages putting on performances and a dinner. If you are from the lowcountry come check it out. we admittedly can be a bit insular, but bring a friend or family and you’ll intergrate right in. express interest in them, their culture, and the geographic area and they will be happy to share.  there are state parks specifically so people can enjoy there time in said swamp. the Santee Canal park has a nature museum that’s pretty cool. you can learn about the ecology of the area and the flora and fauna there in. knowing how to navigate the swamp help the US win the revolutionary war (they didn’t have immunity against malaria and probably got attacked by gators like today’s clueless and or ignorant tourists to the southeast US. like don’t get piss drunk in an area that has deadly wild life and don’t think you’re city smarts apply in nature. they don’t. listen to locals. also don’t screw around with the gators??? we have tourists who pelt them with stones. they are opportunistic hunters who often don’t even mess with you unprompted most of the time. they are important to the enviroment and tourist foolishness can get them put down/ euthanized). i realize i keep pointing out how deadly it can be, but urban places like NYC, Philly, Los Angelos, and Chicago have their potentially deadly issues, just different ones. still places worth visiting and respecting.  but basically, i live in a swamp and it’s great actually. i often feel like Shrek when people come here to live and disrespect the area. it’s a beautiful place, ecologically important, has events you can’t find in urban areas, people (left and right politically) care about ecological preservation (hunters and fisherman are on board). don’t disrespect the swamp because the swamp WILL disrespect you. also don’t try to make it new york city or columbus. (becuse its usually and ohian. they are gentrifying the area and promoting “development” that ruins the natural beauty and ecological important cites that the locals take a lot of pride in and are essential to our way of life. literally stay in Ohio if you can’t intergrate into rural/ small towns in southeast states, deadass. i get so angry, no joke. i love my home and my swamp. the state most hated by south carolinians is ohio and there is a reason for that.) in the words of shrek which often echo in my head: “what are you doing in MY Swamp?!!!” i like it here, you should totally visit and drop you preconceptions to best enjoy the experience, and be on your toes and your best behavior if you are an ohian, because most of us already hate all things ohio and will may mess with you if you have an ohio tag on your car and tick them off on the road for diving rudely or insulting said swamp, and our preferred “lack” of development. We feel about it like shrek did tbh. we want to live in south carolina, not ohio /srs.

[limalosershq]

WELCOME, ABBY! OR IS THAT SPENCER PORTER? EITHER WAY, YOU'RE A LIMA LOSER AROUND HERE NOW! Remember to look at our checklist here and then send in your account within 24 hours, if you need more time just let us know! That way I can send you the link to the discord server and you can get to plotting with everyone there. We all look forward to rping with you and once again, welcome to the mayhem of show choir!

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

NAME/ALIAS: abby  PROUNOUNS: she/her  AGE (21+): 28  TIMEZONE: est  ACTIVITY: 7-8/10 (until about mid-july i have a pretty busy schedule at least during the first half of the week, but i should still have time to get on, especially during the weekends) 

IN CHARACTER INFORMATION

NAME: spencer porter  FACECLAIM: mike faist  AGE/BIRTHDAY: 20, august 12th  GLEE CLUB: new directions  SONG CHOICE: don’t go - yungblud  MAJOR/MINOR/GRADE: sports management / junior  LOCATION: on campus, in the dorms  OCCUPATION: spencer is currently unemployed.  CLUBS/EXTRACURRICULARS/SPORTS: baseball team (pitcher), football team (running back), fight club

LIST AT LEAST 3 HEADCANONS ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER!

when spencer was young, he was considered to be his father’s mini-me. one was hardly ever seen without the other, and a the young porter boy learned a lot of lessons from the older man - including a heavy amount of toxic masculinity in the process. his father viewed the world in a very specific way - one that, unfortunately, as spencer started to become more aware of who he was (specifically, his attraction to the other boys at school) - didn’t quite sync up as it once had. uncoincidentally they began to grow apart when he came out at the age of twelve, as his father felt like he could no longer relate to the child he’d once been inseparable from.

though he no longer has the bond he once did with his dad, old habits die hard, and there are times where his dad’s voice definitely comes through him - not in the best ways. he can be stubborn and abrasive at times, covering up the sensitive and loving parts deep down, pieces of him that were all but destroyed in the rejection from a man he’d once respected so greatly. he’s open about who he is, but there’s still a part of him that hasn’t fully accepted it all, and fears that he’ll be seen as less of a man because of his attraction, something that often results in picking on those who are brave enough to be a just a little more free with their own feelings and interests.

because of his need to prove himself, you can often find spencer in the gym or out on the field after the rest of the team has gone, putting in extra work to make sure he can not only keep up with the other men, but be better than them, desperate to not ever slip up and be caught in a singular moment of weakness, so determined to fight against the allegations of being like “all the other gays” to stop and actually question whether or not that’d be such a bad thing.

QUESTIONS

IS THIS WHERE YOU PICTURED YOURSELF RIGHT NOW IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS?

in my desk chair, making fun of dorks on the internet after football practice? …yeah, pretty much. grand-scheme, though? i don’t know, i guess i’d hoped to get a football scholarship to a better school, but… i had to take what i could get. people have come from worse, and still “made it”, so… i��ve got hope. i’m young, i’m hot, and i’ve still got time to go pro. i’m not too worried.

HOW’RE YOU FEELING ABOUT ALL THE SHOW CHOIR RIVALRY?

personally? sitting back and watching these idiots make fools out of themselves is like, at least 49% of why i joined this stupid club. it’s better than any reality tv show. sometimes, if you say just the right thing to get under their skin, you can see their heads internally explode, and it just about makes my whole week. i truly could not give less of a shit about these other teams’ opinions of us. my only question is - who is naming all these teams, and why are so many of them like, blatantly sexual? it was a total buzzkill when i found out what nude erections actually was, ngl. that’s the queerbaiting the media should be focusing on, imo.

WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A LIMA LOSER? WHERE EXACTLY IS YOUR LIFE HEADED, OR REALLY, WHERE SHOULD IT BE HEADING?

‘the fuck did you just call me? no, i’m not a “lima loser”, or any other kind of loser, for that matter. i don’t think it’s scientifically possible to look as hot as i do and be a loser at the same time. shit just doesn’t work that way. and my life is headed wherever the nfl eventually takes me, i guess. not really up to me.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Hey Barb :D

Ooh Ava's gonna see her and decide to help her :D

YEEEAH there we go

Oof Barbara :(

"What is a choir if not a sorority for the Lord" HELP 💀 SLFKGHDKS xDD

That is kinda accurate though I'm ngl xD

Yeeah slay :D

That woman and that lady xD

Go off Barbara :DD

OPE??!

Is it actually good?

NOPE LOL

Ahh so it's like. Stress relief or something I guess xD

Yk I've been wondering, do you think this person is genderqueer of some kind?

Especially since Melissa said person :)

Hi Janine :DD!!

She's like playing solitaire or something isn't she lol

Like something not school district related "important" I mean xD

Well at least she doesn't wanna get involved, in a good way xD

Hanging up because it's weird for her to owe a favor to Janine lol /lh xD

LOL yeah a salad xD

Oop bad decision?

Ayy she did it xD

Ayy them hanging out :D

AAAH- AIUGUOH

Sorry I'm fine

Please tell me they're not breaking up right now :')) pleas tell me that's not what's happening here :'))

Nahh maybe they're just gonna see and decide they SHOULD

Like more than Gregory already has lol

And then help? Or try to set it up/figure it out if it's something more mysterious? xD Idk lol

I just need to hit play lol xD

Unrelated to my theories lol

Also AAAAHHHHH,

Hi Zach :DD!!!

At least I get to see him (hopefully not) one last time lol xd :')

Anyway first Zach sighting of the season ayyy let's go :D

And hopefully not one of the last :')))

OKAY I can do this, pressing play lol

AUGH

Sorry I'm not okay xd

Y'all the awkwardness 😭😭

I swear y'all better not have just broken up

Maybe they did and Gregory and Mr. Johnson are gonna be like "nah do it better lol he deserves that" and help that throughout the whole episode xD

OKAY I NEED TO CHILL

Back to in the moment

AWWW guys 😭😭😭

Lowkey Mr. Johnson's right on mind his own business but mood Gregory lol xD

This hurts me btw :')

AUGH-

Please tell me that glance to the side was bc it's a lie Jacob. Please tell me that

Maybe it's all to get Gregory to think about him and Janine :')) maybe :')))

Okay I really need to live in the moment a bit more and not just watch two seconds at a time xD

"What? No" OH HALLELUJAH

Imagine if it's like he scheduled couples therapy or something lol

But nah I figure it's about like a new outing or something xD

Yk I do want them to be happy but like 😭😭 guys stop doing this this hurts me xdd

"Never" aww :'))

OKAY RUINED IT JACOB

This is just like back to the petering out thing 😭😭 Jacob why xD you unconfrontational idiot lol

JACOB WHY SLFJHDK XD

Sir you idiot lol

That's totally gonna help your relationship xD

I thought he was gonna say he didn't say I love you which honestly would've killed me

I mean he didn't say anything but if he said that's not what he said lol

Is that why he's still sitting there lol

Yeah I believe him honestly xD

Meanwhile Zach's just gonna be chilling xD

OH MY GOSH NO XD HE WAS RIGHT LOL

YOU OKAY ZACH LOL??

Jacob why XD

With the eras tour

Yeeah so it is getting him to break up in a better way xD but just bc rn he's pushing it towards there lol

He just doesn't want to end it himself :'(

THEN IF YOU LOVE HIM WHY ARE UOU BRSKAING WITH UP MHI

Sorry

THEN IF YOU LOVE HIM. WHY ARE YOU BREAKING UP WITH HIM

I'm fine :)

It's nice to hear it though xd I just hope it isn't for one of the last times lol/right before the end lol

No you're not you idiot xD you're doing it bc you're scared <333 :'((

Jacob's face at the stay out of gay folks business xD

Ahh gonna work I thought he was gonna say "is for him" o.o

Positive reinforcement? Oh form Gregory xD

Awww Jacob 😭😭😭 maybe bc some of those were petering out :')?

SLFJGHDKS JACOB

Also 😭😭😭😭💔 for Jacob :'(( but xD I thought he was gonna say he was great at breaking up lol but he's right it is the opposite xD great at being dumped xd

LDGHFKS Gregory xD fair enough man lol

Jacobbb he's going through it but honey xdd

What the heck xD

Or is it bc that's their unofficial name lol

Aww they/them pronouns :')) sorry I just love queer representation lol

Do they though Janine xD

"We saw you dial" "Emily I swear" SLFKGHDJLHS XDD

HELP I love Janine this episode lol

Dang they goin after Barbara o.o

Ayy Barbara go off :D

>:O nah honey!! Don't you dare cut her off

Barbara noo D:<

AVA YES go off >:D

"Not because I wasn't paying attention" XDD mood though

Aww Ava standing up for her :'))

The cross bit 💀 xD and Ava wanting to go back in and say it LOL

Nahh Ava's gonna help her out :)

[neverendingnoahreid]

Transcript under the cut!

[knocking]

Noah: Yeah, come in!

Interviewer: Hey, Noah! How’s it going?

Noah: Hey! Pretty good, how’re you?

Interviewer: Good! So, I know it’s rehearsal and I know you’re on break right now but can I ask you 16 just random questions?

Noah: Uh, yeah, as long as that counts for one of them.

Interviewer: [Laughs] OK. What’s your first memory of being on stage?

Noah: Um, 6 years old. I played Oliver in the musical Oliver! at the Music Theatre Etobicoke community theatre.

Interviewer: OK.

Noah: Yeah. [Laughs]

Interviewer: You’re obviously working on a play called A Case For The Existence Of God. What’s the process been like so far?

Noah: It’s been great. It’s an amazing team of people, it’s a beautiful script, its a really incredible story of these two single dads from totally different walks of life who find each other against all odds. And uh, yeah, we’ve been having a lot of fun.

Interviewer: You’re playing a character named Ryan

Noah: Yeah.

Interviewer: What’s he like?

Noah: Ryan is a great guy. Um, kind of charismatic in an offbeat way, uh, funny, kind. You don’t necessarily think he’s that smart but he’s got the kind of like, intuitive smarts, you know? Um, I love Ryan. He’s a great dad, a single father, recent divorcé. A lot to dig in to!

Interviewer: What do you think Ryan’s favorite meal is?

Noah: Uh, cheeseburger and fries and a beer.

Interviewer: What’s your favorite meal?

Noah: Um, you know, ever since we had a kid we have a saying in our house, ‘Any meal is a miracle!’

Interviewer: What do you admire the most about your character?

Noah: Um, his openness, his kindness, his emotional intelligence.

Interviewer: Who do you think should see this play?

Noah: Um, I think fathers should see this play. Daughters, uh, mothers, sons….

Interviewer: What’s a skill you’d love to master one day?

Noah: Ooh, uh, riding a horse, um, building a deck, uh, fixing an engine.

Interviewer: OK. If you could invite anyone in the world to see this show, who would it be?

Noah: Um, the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Interviewer: What’s your favorite instrument to play?

Noah: Piano.

Interviewer: What’s your favorite instrument to listen to?

Noah: Pedal steel.

Interviewer: If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring 3 albums, which ones would you bring?

Noah: Ooh, uhhhh, Tom Waits Rain Dogs, um, Bob Dylan Time Out Of Mind, uh, Nina Simone Live At The Emergency Ward.

Interviewer: Are you a cat person or a dog person?

Noah: I’m a dog person, but I like cats, I have an appreciation for all living creatures.

Interviewer: What’s a piece of advice that stuck with you over time?

Noah: Don’t sit in a barber’s chair unless you want a haircut.

Interviewer: And where can I find Mazin?

Noah: Oh, um, he’s— He likes to sit on this bench in the hallway, hang on. Um, hey Maz?

Mazin: Yo.

Noah: You on your bench?

Mazin: I am on my bench.

Noah: I got some people who want to talk to you.

Mazin: Oh, uh, OK.

Interviewer: Hey!

Mazin: Hey!

Interviewer: How’s it going?

Mazin: I’m good, how are you?

Interviewer: Good, so I know you’re on break but can I ask you just 16 random questions?

Mazin: Quick— Is it going to be quick?

Interviewer: Yes.

Mazin: OK, alright, sure.

Interviewer: OK! So, this is your first time doing a show at Coal Mine. What’s rehearsal been like so far?

Mazin: A lot of laughing.

Interviewer: Do you feel more at home on a theatre stage or on a TV and film set?

Mazin: Uh, TV set, however, with the rehearsal process of theatre.

Interviewer: When do you feel the most inspired?

Mazin: Watching a film.

Interviewer: What song could you listen to on repeat?

Mazin: These days, uh, SZA by—what? It’s not SZA, it’s ‘Snooze’ by SZA.

Interviewer: What song could your character listen to on repeat?

Mazin: Moonlight Sonata, or like some choir singing that, some old school song.

Interviewer: OK. And speaking of characters, you’re playing a character named Keith. What’s he like?

Mazin: Keith is very neurotic and tightly wound up. 

Interviewer: What makes you smile the most these days?

Mazin: My cat.

Interviewer: Are you a tea person or a coffee person?

Mazin: Tea person. Like a good, like, fruit tea fusion thing.

Interviewer: What’s something you’ve learned about yourself during this rehearsal process?

Mazin: That I’m very taxing on my body and hard on myself.

Interviewer: What do you hope audiences take away after seeing the show?

Mazin: I hope that they feel hope that everything is going to be OK.

Interviewer: OK, and if you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing for a career instead?

Mazin: Astronaut.

Interviewer: Where’s one place you’ve always wanted to visit?

Mazin: Colombia.

Interviewer: What’s a movie that makes you laugh?

Mazin: Superbad.

Interviewer: What’s a movie that makes you cry?

Mazin: Philadelphia.

Interviewer: What’s your favorite line you get to say in the show?

Mazin: Oh, uh, ‘My dad got it for me. It had a parrot on it. Uh, you’re fine.’

Noah: Buddy, I hate to interrupt, I think we gotta get back to it.

Mazin: Yeah, OK. 

Noah: You good?

Mazin: Cool.

Interviewer: OK, wait, before you go, can I ask you both just 3 more questions?

Noah: Sure.

Mazin: You know— ugh, fine.

[Laughing]

Interviewer: OK, what’s the best part about working with one another?

Mazin: For me, I just— Noah makes me a better artist.

Noah: Wow. Yeah, I mean, I feel like we’ve known each other for a very long time but there’s so much more that we’re digging into now, which is really fun.

Mazin: Yes. He’ll be surprising me. In good ways.

Noah: [Laughs] And bad ways, too, let’s be honest.

Interviewer: Great. So if you had to describe each other in just one word, what would that word be?

Noah: Significant.

Mazin: Good dude. That’s a word.

Noah: That’s a hyphenate?

Mazin: Yeah.

Noah: Nice.

Interviewer: And do either of you have an opening night ritual or something special you do to prepare before the first performance?

Noah: Not so much an opening night ritual as just like reminding myself that it’s just another show and that there’s a long run to come and that I’ve been here before and it’s been OK.

Mazin: That’s wise. Um, yeah, I usually do like a card? Like a card for the people we’ve been on the journey with. Uh, you know, just breathing. ‘It’s all going to be OK’ type shit.

Noah: So you’re expecting a card.

Mazin: I’m not expecting a card but I’m— I’m a giver, I’m a give, I’m not necessarily—

Noah: I got it. I got it. I’ll give you a card. I’ll give you a card.

Interviewer: I hear there’s a lot going on, I’ll let you guys get back to it. But thank you for talking with me.

Mazin: Thank you! Yes, no, this was good, loved it.

Noah: Thanks!

Mazin: Thank you.

Interviewer: Bye!

Mazin: Bye.

16 Random Questions with Mazin Elsadig and Noah Reid. Presented by Coal Mine Theatre (×)

[snazzyturtles]

thoughts ab Given now that i’ve finished watching it 🎸💖

tbh? it was totally not what i expected and i love it sm. it was so cute and i had so many personal connections* to things in the storyline that it just hit so different for me, i watched (almost) all of it in one sitting and i loved it. i got so emotional on so many levels, and this show is definitely going on the rewatch list 💯

*personal story & explaination below cut if you wanna read that lol

___________________________

if anybody wanted to know what i meant by personal connections, i swear watching this felt like a rewatch of some of the things ive been through in life. 

for those who dont know, ive been a music student for a long time. ever since i was little i was in choirs, played piano & guitar, etc. when i heard ab this show, i thought it would be fun bc i had similarities to it, like when i watched free! because i did competitive swimming as well.

boy was i wrong

i had so many other connections to it that i didnt think would show up. the situation of mafuyu & yuki gave me flashbacks to me and my friend kylie. 

while im straight, kylie was lesb and was often made fun of at school for it. because i was also her neighbor, i became almost like a protecter for her, and i tried to always be there to help her when things happened or she was upset. the summer of sophmore year in high school we got in a fight, and i told her that she should try to grow up and protect herself for once. i left for summer camp the next week, and came back to find that kylie killed herself.

similar to the guitar, i still have all of kylie’s old books and art supplies she lended me. her mother let me keep them, and they just sit on the desk in my bedroom. i didnt touch any of them since then until last year when i finally decided to start doing art again, but tbh? i still feel like mafuyu with the guitar

anywho enough of my sob story 😅 it really was a great show tho, what’re your opinions on it?

[https-florals]

kitchen counter - s.h.

summary: if you move in with your best friends, there is only one rule. do not fall in love with one of them. you and steve have never been good rule-followers.

word count: 2.3k

warnings: cursing, not proofread at all, steve’s horny constantly

author’s note: kind of new girl au!!! they’re all living in an apartment together because i’m a slut for the roommates to lovers trope. tbh i don’t like this a lot, i have some other wips that i like a lot better but cannot focus on for some reason. gotta lot going on (college apps, show choir, work, blah blah blah) but am doing my best to do what i love best and write for y’all! ❤️❤️❤️

“Holy shit, you are totally in love with him!��� Robin’s eyes are wide, and her hand flies out to grab your arm.

Your cheeks go red, and suddenly you want to run out the door. You are painfully aware of the other presence in the little Hawkins apartment, and although Robin’s door is shut, you have a ridiculous dread that said presence is eavesdropping outside. Words stick in your throat, and you’re internally cursing her for reading you so well. “You’re crazy.”

“And you’re a horrible liar.”

Groaning, you cover your face with your hands. “I don’t know,” you whisper, muffled against your palms.

“I think you definitely know,” Robin whispers, and you don’t have to look at her to know that she is grinning like a little kid.

You want to scream, but settle for letting all the thoughts you’ve been bottling up out. “Fine,” you grumble. “I like Steve. Have for a while. It’s just- it’s weird, Rob. I love what we have, and if I screw that up, I think I’ll go insane.” You flop onto your back, and Robin does the same. You’re lying together like two little girls at a slumber party, knees knocking and hair tangled together on pillows as you giggle about boys. The scene is so familiar and comforting that your eyes well a bit. Why? You have no clue.

“Don’t cry!” she exclaims. “We don’t have to talk about it!”

Trying to suck your tears back in, you wave your hands in defense. “No, I need to just get it out.” Just one more deep breath, and you’ll talk. Just one more. Maybe three. “We act like little girls,” you laughs wryly. “We’re nearly grown women, and we’re cuddled up gossiping like middle schoolers.”

“And who cares?,” Robin answers. “The best thing about being grown women is that we can do whatever the hell we want!”

“Damn straight,” you agree. “Have you talked to Vickie recently?”

“Quit changing the subject.” She smacks your arm.

The two of you stare at the ceiling, and you bite the bullet and decide to explain yourself. “I do like him. And I really do feel so stupid and inexperienced, which is so crazy. We’re not in high school anymore. I should have better control or some shit, but I am giggling like a damn fool when he makes stupid jokes, and I’m acting so obviously weird. I can feel it.” You cover your face with your hands again and take another deep breath. “But I can’t do anything about it. Because we fucking live together, and I’d sooner jump off a cliff than ruin this.”

“It would probably ruin the vibe. You might break up, and then Eddie and I will have to vote on who to kick out of the apartment.” She’s joking, but she’s not wrong.

“Exactly,” you whine. “He’s my best friend, and I can’t, absolutely cannot, lose him. If we dated or even hooked up it would make everything so endlessly complicated and I can’t lose what I have with him. Or what I have with you, and Ed. We worked too hard to get this apartment for me to throw it away because I want some dick,” you scowl. “So I have to pretend that nothing is going on. If he found out, things would get weird, then it would get complicated. And I hate when stuff gets complicated.”

“You do love the word complicated,” Robin quips, flipping onto her stomach and sighing. “Listen, I know that you’re scared, and it’s totally understandable. As much as I really, really, really want to help, I’m not going to get involved. Unless you tell me I can.”

“Absolutely not.”

She sighs again, overdramatic as hell. “Okay. Well, just know that I will support you no matter what. If you decide to do it and it gets messy, I will be here. If it goes awesome, I will be here. If you don’t ever tell him your feelings and become sad and lonely, I’ll be extremely disappointed in you, but I won’t tell you.”

“You’re a saint, Robin. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Steve, why are you standing by Robin’s room like that? Are you high?” Eddie is stirring sugar into his mug of tea as he watched the brunet boy hover in the hallway. “You didn’t smoke without me, did you?”

Steve freezes. He doesn’t know what to say to him, all he knows is that he stopped by Robin’s door because he heard you say his name. He’s scared to make even a noise in case the girls hear him.

“Steven,” Eddie says all singsongy, walking towards him, and Steve panics. Before he knows it, he’s shuffling backwards into his room and slamming the door. Thoughts are running rampant through his mind, and the mere shut of his door feels like an explosion in his mind. Another bomb explodes when Eddie opens the door and it swings right into Steve’s face.

“What the fuck, Eddie! Ouch!”

“I didn’t know you were gonna be standing right there, man!”

Steve shushes him, and pushes the door shut with his leg as he hold his nose. “What is wrong with you?”

Eddie’s eyebrow quirks up, lips creasing into a frown. “What is wrong with you?”

Steve lays back onto his bed, sighing. “Other than you nearly breaking my nose? A lot.” He can feel the mattress dip as Eddie sits beside him, and all he can think of is how funny it is that since they first rented the apartment, his breakdowns always result in him lying on his back and Eddie impatiently waiting to give him a piece of his mind. Well, it’s not all he can think about, but he’d much rather think about his best friend than freak out about the girl sitting on the other side of the hall.

When he sits up, Eddie is still there, staring him down with an expression that he can’t quite place.

“She likes me,” Steve blurts. It seems almost like a fever dream, something he had wished for but never truly expected to happen.

“And you like her too. Duh.” Eddie says this like it’s a known fact (it most certainly is, to everyone except you). “What are you going to do?”

Shrugging, Steve puts his hands up and smiles. “What happens will happen, y’know? I’m not gonna freak out about it.”

“Steve, you’re doing that thing where your eyes start to bug out a little. You are absolutely freaking out.”

“I know!” he whisper-shouts, his hands in fists. The room is spinning, and he wants to just crawl in his closet and stay there. There’s too many feelings swirling in his head and he hates it, just about as much as he hates the way you always seem to be in the shower when he has to pee. Just about as much as he hates when you come out in that stupid little red towel, and talk to him so casually, while he’s doing everything he can to not focus on anything about you, and especially not the way your hair is falling over your bare shoulders. Probably would have been a good idea not to move in with his best friend who he’s had a crush on for years. “I don’t know what to do, Eddie.” His voice is strained.

“Pull yourself together,” Eddie answers, his tone surprisingly gentle. “I’ve listened to you talk about her for months, dude. I’m surprised I haven’t caught the two of you fucking on the couch yet. You need to go for it.”

“I overheard her telling Robin that she could never do anything with me because it would get complicated. She doesn’t want me, Eddie, and it’s okay. I’ll just… ” Steve trails off, and Eddie shrugs.

“Your loss, man.”

It’s late when Steve finally comes out of his room. It has to be past midnight, because no one else is in the living room and everyone else’s room lights are off. He’s pulling beer out of the fridge when a door shuts, and you tiptoe out of your room. All you have on is a old, baggy Hawkins High Swim Team shirt. It used to belong to someone else, and you freeze when you see him.

“Want a drink?” He pulls out another bottle.

You give him that awkward close-lipped smile and nod, taking a seat at the kitchen island.

Steve is so glad that the island separates the two of you, cause he just knows that that stupid shirt (his stupid shirt) is riding up as you sit. He opens the beer and slides it to you, acting as nonchalant as he can manage.

Your head is pounding from going over any and all scenarios with Robin, and you know that the alcohol isn’t gonna help your decision-making. You still take a sip, though.

The silence is tense and thick as you sip beer and look at anything but each other.

When the bottle is empty, you decide it’s as good a time as any to face the music. When you get up to throw away your bottle, you lean against the counter. Watch him for a second. Steve’s hair is really messed up, and his eyes are kind of red. “Uh, Steve?”

He has to look at you now. Your hair is in a bun that’s slowly falling, so he decides to watch that instead of the way your eyes are boring through him. “Yeah?”

You blow out a breath, looking at the hardwood. “Listen, Steve, I just- what are you doing?”

He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He wishes he could blame this on being drunk, but he hasn’t even finished his beer. Steve pushes a strand from your bun out of your face, and leans closer, your faces barely a hands-breadth apart. “Don’t make it complicated,” he whispers, and you can feel his breath on your cheek.

Suddenly his lips are on yours, and his hands are wrapping around your waist, and your world narrows to the warmth that radiates from every place he is touching you. You can already feel him pressing into you- he got hard the moment you walked out in his shirt. Thinking about anything else other than his hips moving flush against yours seems like a crime, but you can’t ignore the counter digging against her back. You inhale sharply as he presses you against it, a soft “ow” escaping your lips.

“Sorry,” he mumbles against you, shifting you up onto the counter. Steve is painfully aware of his pants and your lack thereof, and his fingers toy with the hem of your (his) shirt.

Your head tilts back as his mouth ghosts over your jawline. “Steve, Steve, please,”

He’s obsessed with the way his name sounds in your mouth, especially with his lips on your neck. Steve lets his fingers drift to her panties, and smiles at your sharp gasp. He’s thinking about pushing the fabric aside and dropping to his knees, but a light flicks on in one of the bedrooms.

There’s a tiny chorus of “Shit!” as you jump off the counter, and Steve leans onto the island attempting to look nonchalant. You lean against the fridge, and he gives you the courtesy of pretending not to notice the way you are crossing and uncrossing your legs as you stand. The movement of Steve readjusting himself catches your eye, and you feel a little bad for not giving him the same courtesy. Just a little, though.

Eddie comes strolling out of his bedroom, seeming not a care in the world. “You gotta start wearing pants,” he addresses you.

You rolls her eyes, rubbing your neck. It’s like Steve’s lips are still there, and you can’t get the feeling out of your head. “You’re literally in your boxers.”

“Well, my buttcheeks don’t hang out of my boxers.” Eddie pulls a waterbottle out of the fridge.

“This shirt literally covers my ass,” you mumble.

He just shrugs. “What are you doing up? It’s like three.”

“Wanted a snack,” You and Steve both say in unison.

“Looks like the snack would be each other,” Eddie says casually, not even looking at you as he raps on Robin’s door. “You owe me 20$!”

Some incoherent grumble comes from the room, followed by a very understandable “About damn time!”

Steve’s head turns quick to look at him, mouth slightly open. “She owes you twenty? Were you- what, betting on us?”

“Kind of,” Eddie calls back, turning to you right before he shuts his door. “Robin thought the two of you’d hook up on the couch first. I bet on the kitchen counter.”

likes, comments, and reblogs are greatly appreciated! i love you all ❤️

[savrenim]

OKAY. SO. I rarely go on "I deeply love this book, everyone should read it" rants because like. aaaah it's hard to write reviews, aaah it feels weird to rec things to people in general I barely rec things to my closest friends, and also aaah, let's be real, grad school has meant I was barely reading any books out of lack of time and can't rec what you haven't read, but Hands of the Emperor (aaah it's great everyone should read it does the fact that I’ve broken my ‘no more fanfic til my original work goes up’ rule for it not rec it enough) seems to have spurred me on a "guess I'm reading books now again" kick and, uh. By FAR, no question, the best book I have read on this kick (and there have been Many. double digits many.) has been A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland. 

The blurb of A Conspiracy of Truths seemed perfectly nice and valid and a book that I would eventually get around to reading: 

In a bleak, far-northern land, a wandering storyteller is arrested on charges of witchcraft. Though Chant protests his innocence, he is condemned not only as a witch, but a spy. His only chance to save himself rests with the skills he has honed for decades – tell a good story, catch and hold their attention, or die.

But the attention he catches is that of the five elected rulers of the country, and Chant finds himself caught in a tangled, corrupt political game which began long before he ever arrived here. As he’s snatched from one Queen’s grasp to another’s, he realizes that he could either be a pawn for one of them… or a player in his own right. After all, he knows better than anyone how powerful the right story can be: Powerful enough to save a life, certainly. Perhaps even powerful enough to bring a nation to its knees.

which, like. Is good! And true! And accurate! And gave me the entirely wrong impression, which the first six sentences of the book will probably immediately clear up:

The whole mess began in a courtroom in Vsila, the capital of Nuryevet, where I was being put on trial for something stupid. 

"What's all this about?" I said, not for the first time. 

"Charges of witchcraft," they said; at least, that was what it boiled down to.

"Utterly ridiculous," I said.

"We got some witnesses," they said. 

"Your witnesses can go fuck themselves," says I, although not in so many words. 

This book is narrated by a horrible gremlin whom I deeply love as much as I want to shake the shoulders of, it has some of the most fascinating, human, likable, dislikable (affectionate), flawed, and deeply wonderful characters. There is casual and deeply satisfying queerness baked into the world setting. There is an incredibly rich and varied world background that while not in the "hard sci fi rubs it in your face" way whatsoever has things like the author tracked how moons+orbital mechanics would effect the tides, the narration is this utterly delicious Schrodinger's maybe-unreliable-maybe-totally-reliable setup, and it's just a good story. I started out the book casually enjoying it. I got a third of the way through, and I literally could not put it down. (It was very inconvenient. I had other things to do that afternoon that did not get done.) 

So. Yeah. The once in a blue moon book rec from me: I could not recommend A Conspiracy Of Truths highly enough, and, uh, come back in a week probably to hear me scream similar about the sequel A Choir Of Lies, which I am already crying over having just read the blurb description. 

[kimbap-r0ll]

Hello! I know im a new follower but i was hoping i could request a twisted wonderland match up? I'm a relatively shy person but wont shut up once i know you well. I can be kinda clingy too. I'm really into art and theatre so drawing and acting are my most prominent hobbies. I'm an INTP and tease people to show affection. I can do really well in school if i put any effort which i usually end up not doing. I love video games but don't get to play them very often because of show choir (singing and dancing in a large group for judges if you aren't familiar with it) I bake in the little free time i have during school, but laze around all summer. i love to buy stuff whether it's in person at a mall or online. I absolutely love to leave the house for any reason i can find. I plan tons of random events or parties with my closest friends when i can. I also like sneaking up on people though sometimes i do it on accident. "Where did you come from" and "When did you get here" are some pretty frequent phrases tossed my way. I think that's it really so thank you again and sorry for writing so much! <3

Hello, thank you for the request! Sorry this is so late! But for you, I think that the best match would be...

Rook

Look, it's Pomefiore!

Rook is definitely a theater kid at heart haha, and the fact that you do show choir along with theater is what grabbed his attention first. The two of you can definitely find a lot of ways to connect with these hobbies, be it practicing for a show together or going to watch a performance. He probably wants to go watch you sing too, and you should invite him! But be prepared for a ton of poetic French afterwards, since he'll be complimenting you for a while about your performance. He definitely wants to see your drawings one day too! Rook is probably one of the best people to go shopping with. I feel like he would be the type of person to find hidden gems in stores or look for really unique items, honestly go explore with him! He might buy you random things too, as gifts from time to time.

It's totally okay to be shy at first, honestly it doesn't bother him at all. When you two get closer, he loves listening to you talk about whatever you want. It could be about the most random topics but he's just so interested in hearing your opinions and ideas! He'll probably encourage you to keep talking haha. If you tease him, he'll make a mental note that he should tease you back. Also, if you like planning parties, he's totally in. He probably likes gatherings since he can meet a lot of different people, so don't shy away from planning more events with him!

Speaking of sneaking up on people, I feel like he would do it to you a lot as well, maybe on purpose too. He's a hunter, so he's bound to be really good at doing that. He'll show up out of nowhere and say hello, and perhaps you might do it to him one day too. I feel like he would find it really cool for some reason if you did sneak up on him haha.

[buckyismybicycle]

[PART 22] TEACH ME HOW TO LOVE (DAD!BUCKY X TEACHER!READER)

Title: teach me how to love - AO3 Pairing: Bucky x Reader (teacher) Rating: Explicit (for Chapter 9 & 12 & 20) Tags/Warnings: godfather!Bucky, canon-typical violence/death of character, fluff, angst, learning disability, almost a spy AU, PTSD, nightmares, mentions of anxiety, oral/penetrative sex, body modification, pain and angst, hurt/comfort, surgery/operations.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | [series masterlist] | [overall masterlist]

Author’s Note: Sorry this took so long to post! Update: I am having my floors redone because a small flood in the building. Then we discovered some water damage to the wall, so we figured we should just paint the whole place and I’ve been banished to my sister’s basement while all this is going on. I miss my computer. >.> But, as promised, my toddler shoutouts for my precious readers, thank you so much for your support! The next chapter should be the last one.... But not to worry, we have others on the way 😘 

December is a whirlwind, especially with getting the children ready for their plays. Class after class, your kids run through their lines, enever with any less enthusiasm. The costumes were coming together, and excitement was running high. Yelena and Tommy both looked great, and it made you so proud that they had reached a solution together. 

Bucky had wanted to come, but you had insisted he stay home. If anything, you could record it for him, after all. His recovery had been going so well that you would hate for anything to set him back, even the slightest bit. The school had been decorated, inside and out and you watched the gymnasium begin to fill up. The room chattered excitedly as you spotted Kitty, another teacher, readying her kids for the opening song. Her brunette hair bobbed up and down as she orchestrated and lined her students up, and since your class was up next, you ushered them backstage to get them all ready for their big debut. 

You split the class in half, in their respective plays. Both Emily and Stefania were dressed to the nines in matching sailor outfits, having collaborated, their blonde hair falling past their sailor caps. 

“Ms. [Y/N]?” Jane looked up at you with shining hazel eyes, her bear costume looking soft and cuddly. 

“You need some help zipping up the back, hun?” 

Jane nods, her round-framed glasses shifting down her nose with her enthusiastic nod. You chuckled as she spun around and helped do up the last bit of her costume. 

“Thank you!!” She squealed as she ran off. The energy was infectious as all the children whispered excitedly. 

The closing notes came from Kitty’s class and you gave your kids a big smile. “Alright, Pirate Crew, you’re up!” 

Principal Fury said a few words to commence the ceremony, and the gymnasium held parents and teachers alike, people who were here to support the children with cheering and laughter. The applause would echo across the large room, bouncing off the high ceilings and amplifying it. 

When the choir had finished, and Kitty had passed by you, you gave her a huge thumbs up as you prepared the first half of your class for their play. 

Jane led at the front, the others following behind, and Selena bringing up the last of them. Her hazel eyes sparkled with excitement, one of the most enthusiastic students you had. 

“Good luck!” You whispered to them as they passed by, offering them all a high five. 

The first play evoked a lot of “awwwwww”s and “oooooh”s from the crowd, totally absorbed in the story your children were laying out. 

“It won’t get us anywhere to keep fightin’ with each other!” Jane cries out, her head amongst the fake fur.

“She’s right,” Selena nods exaggeratedly, putting down her fake wood axe. “From this day on, we help the bears, we don’t hurt ‘em!” 

“It’s about time you listened to us!” AJ scoffs, only for Cass to lightly pat him on the arm. 

“We can both listen,” Cass reminds him. 

“Friends?” Jane asks sticking her brown-fur paw out. 

“Friends,” Selena agrees, shaking it with enthusiasm. The “townsfolk” all cheer, along with the parents watching. 

You’d heard them rehearse their lines time and time again, and yet, it nearly made you tear up to see them doing so well, with barely any cues, and the audience’s clapping was thunderous. 

When the first group came back, you could barely contain your excitement. 

“That was great, you guys! You did so well!” You clapped your hands quickly for all of them, enjoying their bright, proud smiles. 

The pirate play was on next, and as Emily and Stefania went out first in their sailor’s boat, you gave them both a good luck pat on the head. Hollie, Tommy and Yelena were standing by to “row out” in their ship.

Yelena, for not having Bucky here, was still jovial, and you thought it was incredibly sweet of her to keep a brave face. 

“Okay, you’re up!” You usher them off and watch as their ship moves slowly suspended on the rig, the three children shuffling behind the ship-shaped board. 

“Up ahead, Cap’n!” Hollie shouts, the telescope up to her green-grey eyes. The pirate’s hat sits crooked on top of her lovely brown hair. 

“ARRRRRRRRRRR!” Yelena growls convincingly, and you can hear the crowd’s laughter as she points ahead. “We land!”

The story plays out, and you fill with joy at the resolution, reminding you so much of how they solved problems in the classroom too. A few moments in, you see Yelena’s smile grow even wider, out of character, before turning her attention back to the play. 

Curiously, you peer out from behind the curtain and scan the crowd, but you hadn’t seen who you were looking for among the rows of faces. You did spot Sam and Riley though, and even though they couldn’t see you, you smiled anyway, happy they made it. 

The cheering starts up again and this time, you rush all the children back on stage and walk with them to stand between the two groups. Having all the children clasp hands, you take a large bow together, smiling for the school camera and hustle off the stage together. 

“Okay, let’s get you all out of costume, and take a seat so we can celebrate after!” As was customary, you would head back to the classroom after for a lolly before parents came to pick up their children. 

“Papa!” Yelena cheers as she makes her way to the sidelines. Bucky was leaning against the wall, the spot had been in your blindside when you peeked out earlier so it was no wonder you couldn’t see him!

“You made it!” You stage-whispered, happiness bubbling over the top.

 “O’ course I did,” Bucky says, though you notice he only shrugs with one shoulder. 

“I thought you’d be resting?”

“I can rest later,” he says simply, giving you a dazzling smile. You were well aware of the gazes your way from some of the teachers, so you did your best to keep it professional but friendly. 

You both watched on, as the other kids and classes performed their hearts out, even though your mind kept drifting away. Five feet back, to be exact. The audience cheered loudly, and participated in the bits that engaged them, and soon you were down to the last few acts of the evening. 

The final show was a dance routine from Ms. Witcher’s class, which held at least four or five different types of dance. You watched the kids swing dance and square dance, twirl and jump, and it brings you back to the date you had with Bucky – how free you had felt on the dance floor with him. 

Lost in your memories, you were only brought out of it when the applause rumbled around you and you quickly joined in before anyone could think something was amiss. 

“What now?” You hear from behind you, and you have to actively tamper your smile down before someone catches you.

“Popsicles to celebrate,” you tell him cheerfully, tilting your head towards the door leading back to the school. Some members of the audience were leaving through the side door to the courtyard, as some teachers would be holding their celebrations outside. 

Bucky follows you dutifully, after hugging Yelena. Other parents followed as well, hand in hand with their kids. 

AJ and Cass are clinging to Sarah and Riley respectively, and you’ve never seen Riley so comfortable around kids. You had remembered vividly a time where Riley would have made a disgusted face at the thought of kids, but it seems spending time with Sam and his nephews was turning him into a changed man. Sam walked in between them, bumping both his nephews as they walked, laughing. 

It did make you chuckle when you saw that Peter had more or less attached himself to Bucky’s other side, holding Bucky’s right hand while Yelena held his left, completely unphased by the gold and black arm, all the way back to your classroom, where the children fully took off their costumes, some of them already half-dressed. 

“Help me?” You ask Bucky, even though you knew what his answer would be. He gives you a soft smile and a nod while you head to the fridge at the back to get out the goodies. You have a pack of ice cream sandwiches to Bucky and a box of fudgesicles to the Wilsons. 

“Okay, kids! Ice cream sandwiches here with Bucky, fudge popsicles with Sarah and Sam, and the colourful popsicles with me!” 

The children squealed and took off in their various states of un-costuming. Hollie is the first to approach Bucky, her brown hair now pulled up into a ponytail, pirate’s hat in her hand. 

“What’s your name, doll?” 

“Hollie!” The tall brunette answers cheerfully. 

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Thank you,” she responds shyly. 

“Here ya are,” Bucky hands over the first of his box, sending her on her happy way as she thanks him again, like the sweet girl she is. 

A shorter child approaches him and looks up with warm, brown eyes. “I’m Stefania.”

“Hi Stefania, I thought you were great tonight,” Bucky replies, handing over another bar. 

“Thanks, Mr. Bucky!” 

You had to snicker behind your hand, watching Bucky smile at each of your students that approached him while handing out your own treats. 

“You made an excellent pirate tonight, Tommy. Thank you again for sharing the spotlight with Yelena, you worked really well together.” 

“Thanks Ms. [Y/N.], I had fun!” 

Beside you, you hear, “Wow, your hair is like Yelena’s. What’s your name, cupcake?” 

“Selena! But sometimes I’m just Lena.” 

“Well Selena-sometimes-Lena, I think you certainly earned yourself one of these,” Bucky comments, forking over the prize. 

And so it continues, with Bucky making small conversations with all the kids – those that come for the ice cream, and those that come just to say hello. Like Jane, who had come to say hi to Yelena. She still had herself in the bear costume, the top half hanging off around her waist and padding around on her bear legs. 

Bucky laughs joyously at the sight, complimenting her on her stellar performance. Her hazel eyes light up under the praise behind her glasses as she thanks him. 

“Can I ask about your arm?” She asks, timidly. You worry for a moment before Bucky just simply nods. Emily wanders up to join them, a fudgesicle in her hand, but she watches with interest.

“Can I touch it?”  Jane asks. 

“Sure thing.” Bucky shrugs, extending his arm. You admire the way the plates seamlessly shift with the motion, the delicate gold lines shining under the classroom lights. 

“Coooool!” Jane delicately runs a tiny finger over the line on the back of his palm. 

“It is pretty cool,” Bucky agrees. It makes you swell with pride to hear him talk about it with fondness, where he used to avoid the topic altogether not so long ago.

“Can I see too?” Emily asks, blue eyes curious and scanning the mechanical limb. 

“Sure can, pumpkin.” Bucky surprises you by being completely at ease with the children coming to him, their questions gentle and curious, but not invasive. Lena, Stefania and Jane all come to join. Bucky is patient and kind, answering the best he can. It reminds you of his show and tell, and it’s almost startling, the difference, when you remember how nervous he had been at the beginning. In just a few months, Bucky had become so much more comfortable with himself. 

“Your eyes are practically in the shape of hearts,” Sarah whispers in your ear, making you nearly drop your box of popsicles. 

“Sarah!” 

“Uh-huh?” She taunts with a small smile on her face. “All I’m sayin’ is he makes you happy. It’s a good thing.”

You paused and – well, it was true. He did make you happy, he made you very happy in a way that wasn’t temporary, wasn’t just an influx of endorphins. He made you happy in a way that made you wake with a smile and daydream like a teenager, made you happy in a way that was content and comfortable, yet exciting and sparkling. 

The happiness he gave you was beautiful. It was – 

“Doll?” 

You don’t finish the thought as he sidles up to you with a sheepish grin. He holds up his empty box with an innocent smile, making both you and Sarah laugh. 

As it was getting late, parents started to leave with their kids, letting Bucky, Yelena and Peter to be the last ones with you. 

“Come on, I’ll give ya a ride home?” 

It was a no-brainer of course, and if Bucky drops Peter off first, even though you’re closer, you don’t mention it. 

— 

Over the two-week Christmas holiday, as you didn’t have family, Bucky had pestered you to spend most of your time with him and you really didn’t have any excuse not to. Yelena also had playdates with other kids scheduled, including one with the Wilsons, which meant you also had plenty of time alone together. 

Something had shifted, as expected, ever since Bucky had his surgery. Not just in him - his confidence, the way his body relaxed - but something with the both of you. Things became more natural between you. Things like a touch or a smile conveyed a thousand words, the way you moved around each other was fluid and unhindered.

Bucky’s heart gave a squeeze every time he saw you floundering around in his kitchen, like you belonged there. He remembers watching Clint and Laura, wanting what they had, that easy partnership that makes you flow around one another like it was meant to be. He hadn’t dared to hope for it himself, but watching you makes something in his heart loosen and bloom.  

It’s a mix of everything over the course of two weeks – Bucky brings Yelena to your place for the first time, and while there certainly isn’t as many kid-friendly activities, you have spare materials from class and she happily paints or does arts and crafts with you two. You visit them at Bucky’s of course, watching him command the kitchen with a grace in his body the old arm hadn’t seemed to have given him. 

The first time Yelena is out with AJ and Cass, you spend the day at Bucky’s on the couch – making out. 

It’s a soft, cozy day, with you tucked in his side or on his lap, unhurried and tender. It doesn’t even go beyond that, but the simplicity of it, just being in each other’s company is more than enough. You spend the entire afternoon like that, pretending to watch television, lazily kissing whether it be a graze of your lips or exploring each other further. 

It’s the kind of domesticity that makes your heart flutter, because it’s like you have all the time in the world. And with the way Bucky holds you, you’re pretty sure he feels the same. 

NEXT CHAPTER>> | Series Masterpost by Chapter | [overall masterlist]

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🙏 Thank you as always for getting to this point & Hello/Welcome to my new tags! 💟

[issaxcharlie]

Spectacular!

Pairing: Alive! Luke Patterson x Fem Reader

Summary: Inspired by Nickelodeon’s Spectacular! Luke Patterson needs the money for his bands demo, and miraculously, that same night he gets an offer to fix his problem. The catch? Rockstar boy has to join his school’s show choir and put up with their fearless Female Lead Singer. (don’t come here searching for accuracy remember it’s inspired by a movie)

Note: I had a lot of fun with this one, hope you like it! Oh and it’s a little long so keep it in mind +8k👀💜

Say this is not her scene would be to fall short, but she has to make sacrifices to find greatness. The first thing she notices when she walks into the little club, is that it's packed. The people look excited and somewhat desperate and she doesn't blame them. The pamphlet marked they were supposed to start at 8:00 p.m. and it's already 8:40. She makes her way carefully until she finds a perfect place in the middle of the room.

The musicians take the stage visibly anxious, especially Alex who cannot stop moving his hands trying to probably calm himself down. Reggie and the rhythm guitarist take their positions. They look at each other one last time before beginning to play the enveloping sound of the pop-rock song. The bass line sounds insane and she hasn't heard Alex play drums in years, he’s exceptional. They could both play without their singer all night and she wouldn't mind.

The space in the center of the stage that belongs to who she came to see today, completely empty. The bassist seems about to take the first verse when Sunset Curve lead guitarist and vocalist Luke Patterson appears on stage.

She has seen him multiple times in the hallways laughing with her childhood best friend, Alex Mercer and her lab partner, Reggie Peters, but she has never spoken directly to him. Still, it's hard not to notice how handsome he is and how much of a charismatic personality he has.

“I'm living my life just the way I like, they say I get a little too loud. Try to push me in a box, over analyze. But I'm never gunna turn it down”

His voice is enchanting and mesmerizing, a sound that immediately reminds her of the best rockers in history and his movements and energy are electrifying. In seconds the entire audience is jumping and dancing to the beat.

“They say never and I say right now!” Y/N analyzes him excitedly. The passion with which he sings and plays his guitar reminds her of when she is on stage, although the two of them dedicate themselves to totally different things, their love for music is the same. She definitely has a lot of work to do to polish him and make him the perfect performer she needs, but if there's anyone who can accomplish the impossible, it's her.

“No one's gonna stop me tonight! Thank you, we are Sunset Curve, tell your friends!” The presentation ends and Sunset Curve leaves the stage. The girl moves quickly to catch up with them at the back of the club, but when she finally arrives, screams can be heard from two of the members of the band.

“I know you don’t like me, Bobby. But trying to sabotage the show by giving me the wrong time is just the most stupidest thing you've ever done!” The guitarist looks furious, his muscles are really tense and Y/N can't help staring at his biceps way more than she probably should.

"This fight of egos between the two of you has to stop, we can no longer continue to be in the middle." The bassist cries out, tired of all the bickering.

“You no longer have to, Reggie. It’s time to decide. The lousy rocker or me. Remember that the money for the demo is mine before choosing... I'm not sure Patterson's lyrics can compete without the money to record them.”

The guitarist looks down at the ground, a mixture of anger and sadness on his face. Alex and Reggie turn to see each other for a second and then position themselves on either side of Luke, no sign of doubt on their faces.

“We’ll find a way without you. Let’s see If you find one without us.” Reggie declared with a little smirk. Bobby grabs his stuff and gets into his truck without looking back, completely furious.

"Some things Bobby was angry about are true and you have to improve them. You are not a solo artist, you are part of a band." Alex points to Luke as soon as the truck is out of sight, but before he can respond the blonde intercepts the girl at the door.

“Y/N?” The three of them turn to see her, Reggie smiles at her while Luke looks pissed off.

“Hey guys, I came to talk to Luke.” Luke frowns in surprise while the other two gape for a few seconds.

"Really?” Y/N turns with a murderous face towards her friend, who puts his hands in his pockets and begins to walk. “...Okay. Meanwhile Reg and I are going to figure out how to get the drums in Luke's car."

"If you come for an autograph please be quick, I don't feel like socializing." The guitarist declares to the wind, not wanting to pay attention to the stranger who approaches him in the middle of the alley, no matter how cute she looks.

“I’m not a fan.” She confesses in a firm voice, trying to measure the situation.

"Oh, then I'll go. See you later beautiful." He's about to leave when her voice stops him.

“Patterson, come back here!” There's something about her tone that makes Luke suddenly interested. He turns to see her carefully, her chin is up, her shoulders back. Her lips are press together and her eyes look determined and he can't help but admit that the confidence she projects is really doing something to him.

“2 minutes, firecracker.”

“I’m Y/N Y/L.” Faced with no comment from the guitarist, she decides to continue. “I need a male lead singer for my group and I think you might be the perfect fit, after I'm done with you, of course."

He’s unable to believe what he hears. “A band? I think you know pretty well I'm already in one.”

“It’s not a band, it’s a group. THE group If I can say so myself. Spectacular!” She affirms with the first smile he sees her that night, and he can't believe it is possible that she can look even more beautiful.

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit with the spectacular thing? At least tell me the name or what kind of band is." She rolls her eyes and he chuckles in response, thinking it was adorable and hot at the same time.

“I already told you, Spectacular! It’s a show choir.”

“Is this a joke? Did Bobby sent you?”

“No and no. I know it’s not really your style, but I’m telling you I can make it work. I heard a bit of the conversation you had with the band, the prize of Nationals is 10,000 dollars. I'm willing to give you half for the demo, if we win, obviously. And I can assure you we will if you accept and do absolutely everything I say.”

“Firecracker, are you trying to tell me that all I have to do to raise the money is put on some stupid cowboy or tiger-print outfit and humiliate myself in front of an entire audience with my best jazz hands? Wow, sounds like a dream!” Maybe he got a bit too sarcastic, but meh, as pretty as she is, she's still a stranger.

“My name is Y/N, and I'm not appreciating your tone of voice.” By this moment the girl seems tired of the musician, who feels the frustration in her and tries to be more gentle.

“I- I’m sorry. Thanks for the offer, but I don't feel as desperate yet as to end my reputation in that way. I hope you find what you are looking for, but that’s just not me. I'm just a guitarist.” She nods, entwining her arms against her chest. He admires her for a few more seconds and turns to his car, where his friends are already waiting for him to help with the drums.

Before getting behind the wheel he turns to her one last time, but she is nowhere to be seen.

Fights between Luke and Bobby weren't new to the band. The big-headed attitude of both collided practically all the time and things had been getting worse in recent months with the more overconfident attitude of the guitarist, but they never imagined that they would end up in this situation.

The days go by and the boys are running out of time. They have to deliver the demo to the Orpheum offices in two months so that they can be taken into account for the great concert they will hold at the end of the year presenting the best new talents in the city. All they've heard from Bobby is that he's trying to build his own band but without much success. Still, he doesn’t fold his hands and continues to try on his own.

The three remaining members of Sunset Curve are in Alex's room lying on the floor with their instruments around trying to think of solutions, when Y/N's voice coming from outside refreshes the blonde's memory. “What did Y/N want to talk to you the other day?”

“Who?” Luke narrows his eyes in confusion.

“Y/N? The captain of the school’s show choir? She went to talk to you after Bobby left the band. Small, fire in her eyes, a lot of attitude.”

“OH, Firecracker! So that group is our school's choir? that's even worse. She tried to recruit me, even offered me the money for the demo if we win the competition in which they will participate.”

“What? She wants you in Spectacular? What did you said?” Alex heard that his friend's ex-boyfriend broke up with her and joined last year's national champions, but he never imagined that she would try to replace him with someone like Luke. Luke is distracted by a melody and doesn’t answer his friend's question.

"Why does your mom always leave her music on when she leaves to work?" The music is definitely not his style, they are always usually pop songs or even songs from musicals, but the singer's voice is one of the most beautiful he has ever heard so it never bothers him.

“It’s not her music, is Y/N.” Alex responds, wondering what the young woman is up to since she is never usually home at this hour.

“Who?” Alex's eyes widen, not able to believe his friend.

“Really? I already told you!” The guitarist tilts his head and shrugs. “Firecracker?”

“What does firecracker have to do with this?” Alex opens his balcony curtains and the silhouette of a young woman singing and dancing through her transparent pink ones comes to their visions.

“She’s so good bro, I thought it was a record too.” Reggie looks at her with a big smile as Alex rolls his eyes at Luke.

As soon as he sees her, the musician is in a trance, admiring the grace and energy with which she moves, wanting with all his might to remove the pink curtain that does not allow him to see her properly.

The song ends and a well-known melody begins to play with prominent bass and drums. “Guys, shut up! I’m trying to hear her sing.”

“It’s not us, man.” Reggie answers almost screaming with how loud the girl’s music is.

“What do you-” Luke turns around and sees his friends with their hands raised, the cables finally connecting in his brain. "She is listening our song?"

"Not just listening, she's also destroying your career, her vocals are amazing." The black-haired boy adds, smirking and running to connect his bass.

Luke excitedly opens the balcony window and sings the pre-chorus as loud as he can to get the singer's attention. “Call me in the morning to apologize, every little lie gives me butterflies.” She immediately turns around and smiles at the guitarist's cocky smile. She opens the curtain and the window and her sunset curve t-shirt is the first thing the band notices.

“Something in the way you're looking through my eyes, don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive.” Luke sings seductively towards her, each word fully dedicated to the woman in front of him.

Reggie accompanies them with his bass while Alex looks at his friends incredulously, an "Are you fucking kidding me." Comes out of the blonde almost like a whisper when he identifies the shirt that the girl wears as his.

Both sing the chorus together and the chemistry is unquestionable. Alex had never thought of this two together because at first glance they seem completely different, but thinking about it a little more deeply they couldn't be more similar. They are both passionate, headstrong, live for the stage, and are ridiculously talented and confident.

“Fight so dirty, but you love so sweet. Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth. Late night devil, put your hands on me. And never, never, never ever let go.”

The performance between the duo is playful, driving, sexy and intense and Alex and Reggie can't help but feel like they're interrupting a private moment. As soon as the song ends, the girl moves closer to the window, blows them a kiss and closes it.

"Where did that woman come from?" Luke whispers as he tries to catch his breath. Nobody had enchanted him so much just by singing, well, nobody had enchanted him, period. But she’s definitely something.

“She has been my neighbor since we were 6 years old, we used to be best friends but we both drifted apart when we entered high school. She’s amazing, the best performer in the city.” Alex informs him and then Reggie adds his own piece of valuable information. “She’s my lab partner. Fun, smart, beautiful, the whole deal. A true gem.”

“Answering your question, I said no to her offer. But I guess the group of someone this rad can't be that bad. And we really need the money." The drummer purses his lips and nods. His friend definitely took the hook.

"Honestly, I always wanted to audition, I guess the three of us could try in, to support you obviously."

“Of course man, she sounded desperate when she asked, and if the shirt and song is any indication she is definitely a huge Sunset Curve fan. She tried to fool me by saying she wasn't a groupie, as if that was possible after seeing us perform.”

His friends leave the house and Alex plays on the drums the secret signal he had with the girl when they were younger, a minute later the girl appears in her window with an amusing smile, dressed in her classic blue pajamas.

“Really?” The drummer chuckled and his friend’s smile grows even bigger, a little laugh leaving her lips. “The shirt was a nice touch. A little much, but that idiot must have fallen for it completely. I want it back by the way.”

“You can see right through me. You know the invitation is open, right? I would love nothing more than to have you there.” He has known her his whole life, and realized early on that she was just trying to get his friend's attention to reconsider her offer by raising his ego, and he honestly doesn't mind. It's about time Luke met someone of his caliber. Perhaps her influence could do him good.

“I- thank you. I guess we’ll see. See you tomorrow.” She blows him a kiss and closes the window. Tomorrow sure is going to be an interesting day, Sunset Curve joins Spectacular.

Having to face Spectacular! And telling them they still don't have a male lead singer who can compete against Damian was not easy. Her options are running out and she honestly doesn't know what to do to save them.

Damian on stage is the best, it pains her to admit that she has never seen anyone like him. At first she thought she could continue without him, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that he is just impossible to replace.

Everyone continues to practice the routine, clearly discouraged after her bad news and it honestly breaks her heart. She knows how much the group means to everyone for different and personal reasons and she can't let them lose this. So whatever she has to do, she’ll do it so they can have the leader they deserve.

“I thought the children in the choir would have more energy, this is just sad, firecracker.” She hides her wide smile before turning to the owner of the voice, who is entering the auditorium with his best friends. Money really talks, otherwise she can't explain what would make him appear here.

“Dude, can you please play nice? This is important!” Reggie looks flustered and scolds Luke probably louder than he planned. The guitarist just ignores him and winks shamelessly at her. Seems her little plan from yesterday was successful, now she just has to play the situation in her favor.

“Mercer, Peters... Patterson. Can we help you with something?” The performer shows a perfect poker face, Spectacular continues to practice but they can't help but turn their attention to the rock band.

“I came to accept your proposal, but only If we can include Reggie and Alex in the deal. I guess as long as I’m in whatever I ask shouldn't be a problem." He crosses his arms and gives her a confident smile.

“I could actually do with a few more members, specially as talented as Reg and Alex. As for you, you've already turned down my offer Lucas, but if for some reason you don't graduate this year, make sure you audition the next one. Now, let’s start boys." Y/N moves within inches of Luke to gently close his open mouth with her index finger, and gives him a small wink before turning and taking the other two musicians each on each arm and pulling them closer to where the group is still practicing.

“Y/N, you can’t be serious.” The skilled singer continues to ignore him as she explains to her new members something Luke can't quite hear.

The musician frustrates and walks until he is directly in front of her. “Y/N” He groans.

“I'm not firecracker anymore? That is just sad.” Luke looks upset, but she's determined to not let him have what he wants after what he said at the club, so if he wants the money that bad he's going to have to prove it.

“I’m going to explain you something quickly so you can go and stop wasting my time. I’ve seen your band play, I know how good these two are at singing, which means I don't need you anymore, nor do I have to put up with your rockstar wannabee attitude. I need someone that I can connect with and have the chemistry that leaves everyone forgetting how to breathe, and after yesterday, I just don't think that's you.” Right now she is grateful to be such a good actress because yesterday's act melted her legs, even though they were separated by the balconies. This man is unreal, totally unfair.

"I do, I wouldn't be surprised if they kissed at any moment." The bassist whispers as Alex looks at him with an incredulous face, he just slowly shakes his head from side to side and continues to see the leader of their band and their new leader in a starting contest, is kind of an amusing sight since Luke is definitely not used to having to face someone like him.

“It’s like you said, you are just a guitarist. Thinking you could handle something like this was ridiculous of me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a group to direct."

Y/N hopes she hasn't pushed the rockstar too much, but remains firm in her tactics and turns to the others to continue with the rehearsal. She signals them to put the most similar song to the Sunset Curve sound that she can remember at the moment to make Alex and Reggie feel more calm and to see if she finishes catching Luke’s interest, who still doesn’t move from where he is with his eyes fixed on her, which she takes as as a good sign.

The moment the song start, both sunset curve members smile, and Luke's voice is heard from behind. “So you're the girl, I heard the rumor.” He sounds powerful and captivating and immediately sets everyone's eyes on him. She doesn’t give him the luxury of turning to see him, but he is not going to give up and in a quick and agile movement he turns her by the hand.

“Why don't you break my heart, make it hurt so bad. Come on give it your best, nothing less, I insist, I want it just like that.” The girl should have thought more about her choice before asking for a song like this. Every word that comes out of the musician's mouth is addressed directly to her with an intensity in his eyes and movements that should be illegal.

She tries to get out of his way but he makes it pretty clear that he's not singing to prove himself to the group, he's doing it to prove something to her. Specifically, to prove her wrong.

“Stare me down, intimidate me. Oh baby please you'll never break me.” He comes dangerously close to her, basically inches apart, his eyes fixed on her lips and smiling flirtatiously as he sings, his eyes glinting mischievously.

She enters the song so as not to make him feel like she’s defeated and starts dancing with him to the rhythm, their movements matching effortlessly as they move across the stage.

She pulls herself back as far as she can, but Luke surprises everyone by doing a body roll on the floor, his arms looking more gorgeous than ever in that sleeveless shirt as they take the full weight of his body without any problem, his eyes never losing contact with hers. All the girls start to do small screams while Y/N's cheeks turn red at her thoughts. He slides on his knees towards her and gets up as he puts his foot on her to make her lose balance and catch her right at the end of the song.

“Why don’t you break my heart.” They've been in a trance since the song started and it's like it's just the two of them in the auditorium. Their lips are almost touching, neither willing to give up eye contact or move from their current position, until the applause and shouts of excitement bring them back to reality.

“I have chemistry with everybody that I sing with, firecracker.” He whispers to her lips before shifting the girl's full weight to his right arm to raise his left one to her face and carefully close her mouth with his finger, winking with a cocky smile before lifting her up.

Immediately everyone begins to advocate for him with all kinds of arguments that ranged from how sensual he was to how much of a presence he had on stage. Her best friend’s comment is the one that catches his attention the most. "You have even more chemistry with him than Damian, I didn't think it was possible." That definitely sounds interesting.

Y/N pretends to listen to her teammates before saying Luke can enter the group. The truth is that she knew from the first moment she saw him perform with Sunset Curve that he was a star, but this facet without the guitar and irradiating passion from his pores was something that left her speechless.

Still, she knew all the work that would go into preparing the band and it really was exhausting. For them to understand that they couldn't just sing like they do at the club, that there are rules to follow, dance steps they have to learn, facial expressions they have to master, notes they have to hit perfectly, wasn’t easy but they succeeded.

Along the way, she regained her bond with Alexander, her friendship with Reggie grew stronger, and each day she felt closer to Luke. She has been practicing a duet with him for weeks now, and the chemistry that they have set to burn the stage more than once. It was hard for her to ignore how the guitarist's hands feel on her thighs as he lifts her or the way he wraps himself around her, breathing softly down her neck or brushing his lips teasingly over her cheekbone. Both are very physical to show affection so small contacts such as hugs or caresses, as well as small kisses on the cheek or hand were very recurrent. They had also gone out multiple times alone and with their friends, from the cinema, the park, to see them play, to small parties at home, to midnight talks.

Reggie was the one who had her alone the most because they were lab partners, but no matter how hard the bassist tried to get information from the girl, he never succeeded. The truth is that not even she knows what is happening with the guitarist, she is for the first time in her life letting herself be carried away and enjoying the moment, and she’s loving it.

Luke and Alex are in detention after the brown haired boy made a mess in the classroom by putting together a little concert with the help of the blonde, and as they die of boredom, his mind can’t help to go to her for the 14th time of the day. "How did she end up in the show choir?"

Alex is blank for a few seconds but analyzes the question and realizes who they are talking about. “Spectacular used to be the most important show choir in the country, led by her mother, may she rest in peace. Y/N always wanted to be a part of it and when she lost her, it became a goal. She suffered a lot to get to the perfect star we see today, especially because her father is rarely there since he works outside the country. She has practically had to face alone auditions, injuries, she had to learn to sew, comb her hair and put on makeup for the show, sing for hours her solos with no one to encourage her, without mention that the current director could not care less about the group and practically leaves all the work to her. That’s why she’s so be fearless, she kind of has to."

“I didn’t know.” The sight of Y/N as happy as ever with his mother when he took her home for lunch the week before appears in his memory. She looked radiant as she ate his mother's famous stew and listened to stories of little Luke as he gently stroked her thigh while songwriting with his other hand. When was the last time she got to experience something as homelike as that? Luke probably doesn’t want to know.

Alex's sad voice brings him back to the conversation.“I was supposed to be there, you know? At first I was. We were going to audition for Spectacular together, but that summer I met you and Sunset Curve was born, and I didn’t have the time anymore so I abandoned her. I knew how important it was for her to have me there, and I didn't even go to her audition. And do you know how many times she has reproached me? Not even one.”

Luke knows that Alex would never hurt her on purpose and that the situation was probably much more complicated than he expresses it, so he reassures him and lets him know that she loves him and is proud that he took his own path. As soon as the blonde calms down, he begins to tell him multiple stories about when he and the girl were kids, the songwriter takes out his journal and begins to add lyrics to the song he has been working on, more inspired than ever.

“You are falling so deeply for her, man. I’m happy for you both.” His friend comments to him while reading the verses written on the paper. He totally is.

“Bowling, nice. I'm going to finish you off, Patterson.”

“As sexy as your confidence sounds, I'm not going to let you win.”

“I'm pretty sure you've never gone bowling.” Alex adds with furrowed eyebrows.

“Your point is, Mercer?” She wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue. Reggie chuckles amused.

"How can you be so sure that you are going to win?"

“Oh, my dear cute blonde. I’m good at everything.” She makes a slight remark on everything with her eyes fixed on the guitarist, who chokes while blushing.

She smiles cheekily at him and confidently steps into the room, Sunset Curve behind as Alex and Reggie tease Luke for being completely whipped.

Happiness doesn't last long when the first thing they see inside is Damian Miller along with a couple of his new teammates. The moment their eyes meet, Y/N seems to melt, but not in the good way.

Her firm and perfect posture now all bent as she embraces herself with her arms and tries with the strength that has left to hold her gaze at the person who took everything from her without much more than an empty sorry.

When she feels the guitarist at her side again, she unconsciously stretches her hand to intertwine her fingers with him, who tilts his head to see their hands together and then to see her face.

She is not doing it to make Damian jealous, but to feel supported. And when Luke realizes it, he can't help not feeling angry at the boy in from of them. In the month that he has been with her, he has never seen her doubt, fear, or believe anything less than that she is unstoppable. And today for the first time ever he sees her intimidaded, and the fact that it's because of a jerk like this makes it even worse.

He rubbs her hand to make her feel less anxious and when she turns to meet his eyes, he brings his index finger to her chin and winks at her, hoping she gets the message. She seems to do it because she immediately smiles playfully and begins to look more relaxed.

The guitarist is aware that Damian was his firecracker's first boyfriend, and he also knows how much he betrayed her love and trust. No matter how strong the woman is, her reaction is completely normal and valid, and that she has the confidence to be vulnerable and let him be there for her means a lot to him.

“Princess.” Damian whispers as he moves closer to her, his eyes fixed on Y/N and Luke's clasped hands.

“I’m not your princess, Y/L is just fine. Listen, Damian. I could pretend this is not uncomfortable and boring but, I don't want to. So yeah, excuse us.”

She pulls the hand that joins her to Luke to make him walk and Alex and Reggie follow behind them, looking at her ex boyfriend with little smiles of pride. Alex knows how much Damian turned off Y/N’s spark and seeing her put him in his place makes him feel so proud.

"So someone is going to teach me bowling or what?"

“I’ll do it baby, but another day. Today we came here with a different purpose.” Luke points to the large Rock the World machine located in a comfortable corner space.

“Of course, is always about music with you, eh Patterson?” She smirks, getting a little closer to him.

“Pretty much, but I can tell that attracts you, Y/L.” He wrinkles his nose, his lips parting slightly.

“Hell yeah it does.” he smirks, not at all expecting her to admit it so openly but he definitely should have seen it coming.

“Good thing I’m into dominant firecrackers then.”

“Could you stop flirting for a second and start playing? I have plans to destroy Alex and your daily session of sexual tension is not going to ruin it.”

Both smile at Reggie while Y/N takes the games microphone and Luke the guitar. The song that Y/N chooses is She’s so gone by Naomi Scott, and it goes without saying that the boys have never played it in their lives but they love a challenge.

The mastery with which the girl interprets the song makes a good number of people come to see the round, including her ex-boyfriend and his new friends.

“Here I am, this is me, and I'm stronger than you ever thought I'd be. Are you shocked? Are you mad? That you're missing out on who I really am.”

The singer sings the verse directly towards Damian, as his friends start pointing out and teasing him. Reggie goes over to tell Luke he thought he would join her, but the guitarist only replies, "I want to see her shine."

She gets carried away with the music and draws Luke to her, jumping and twirling to the beat of the music. The guitarist hyping her up every single second og the song. At the end the night was incredible, the four of them spent it singing, dancing and even bowling, which Y/N ended up dominating from the second round.

Luke thought that there would be no better time than that night to show her what he had been working on, so after saying goodbye to her he went to Alex’s where he had left his journal.

Before he can say goodbye to the blond, screams are heard from the house next door. “I wasn't trying to embarrass you, Damian!”

“No? So what were you doing shaking your hips against the rock boy?”

“I don't have to explain anything to you, but I think it's pretty obvious why I wanted to be against that body, have you seen it?” She says it playfully with her eyes fixed on the guitarist, who is walking with the blonde to her door, her eyes glinting wickedly in the dark. He chuckles, knowing it's the girl's way of reassure him and she smiles as she sees his expressions relax.

“Everything alright, firecracker?” Luke does not stand in front of her like a brave prince, he stops a meter from both of them and asks before intervening, and that makes her heart melt. Because he wants to hear her first, he trusts that she can take care of it and has the confidence to tell him if she needs help, which is also completely valid. And it's something she has to work on, know that there are also times when it's okay to trust someone. That you don't always have to carry the weight alone.

“Go away, punk. My girl and I are in the middle of something.” The three of them start laughing at the ex-boyfriend's intimidation attempt, who seems to get angrier with every laugh that comes out of their mouths.

“I’m fine baby, but you guys could show him the way out? I’m tired of his bullshit.” She asks the boy with a cute smile, and he would disintegrate over the nickname if her horrible ex-boyfriend and her best friend weren't there.

"Don't touch me, I’ll go. Right now the numbers are not working in my favor so we will fix this where it really matters, on stage. Let's see if this attempt at a singer can save you from total humiliation, because let's be honest Y/N, you are nothing without me."

The faces of both members of Sunset Curve begin to tense, Luke's fists completely white from how much he's clenching them. For her part, the singer, who is already used to that type of comments from her ex-boyfriend, only tells him "yes, yes, you're right. It was a pleasure Dami, never come back." while pushing him to the other side to make him go away.

The nickname comes off her tongue in the most natural way in the world, she doesn't even seem to notice it and Luke feels some annoyance hearing it. As if someone had hit him in the stomach. But immediately the discomfort goes away when the girl turns to them again with a big smile and runs to hug them excitedly.

“Thanks for coming to check me out, guys. Things can sometimes get out of control with him.”

"We will always be there for you when you need us, okay? I actually went into Alex's house to get something I wanted to show you but it's late, I’ll come back tomorrow." The blonde turns from his friend to the other, a tired smile appears on his lips as he passes Luke his journal to place his arm on his childhood friend and lean on her.

"No, don't go please. Damian was pretty mad and... I don't want to be alone." She can be very dramatic at times but the fear in her voice sounds sincere, and remembering the scream that brought them outside in the first place Alex imagines how scared she really was before seeing them show up and his heart clenches at the thought.

“O- Okay, sure.” He sounds nervous but the excitement is evident in the way his left leg keeps moving, just like when he's on stage.

“I do have to go in, you already know mom. Will you be alright with just Luke?” He already knows the answer from the girl's radiant gaze but it doesn't hurt to confirm. She hugs him tightly with her arms around his neck and whispers a "Yes, I love you but go away already." which makes the drummer laugh out loud while high-fiving his other friend goodbye.

The third wheel enters his house and finally they are alone. She smiles and takes him by the hand to enter the house. Luke takes a moment to admire it, everything is in place but there are several instruments throughout the living room. A keyboard on the couch, a guitar next to the TV, even a tambourine on the table.

"May l?" He walks over to the guitar and turns to see the girl nodding and pointing up the stairs for him to follow. Her room is quite similar to her style, white is the predominant color but there are many details in pink and gold, as well as multiple yellow lights giving a romantic tone to the room at midnight.

“Do you want to show me now?” she asks eagearly, with joined hands, closed eyes and pursed lips.

“Y- yeah... of course.” He sits on the rug and puts the guitar aside, then puts his notebook between his legs and when he finds the sheet he is looking for, he carefully tears it off. The girl looks at him adoringly, the happiness of having him with her making her heart beat louder in her chest. She sits across from him making sure to brush his legs and waits for him to speak.

“Here.” He looks nervous, his cheeks totally flushed as he avoids eye contact for the first time since they met.

Y/N takes the sheet in his hands and a huge warm smile appears on her face when he sees the guitarist's terrible lyrics. BRIGHT written and highlighted several times in the title.

“It’s for you.” Luke whispers while bringing his face closer to hers, making her shiver.

“You wrote me a song?” She doesn't know what to say. Since her mom, no one had done anything so beautiful, considerate, and selfless for her. Something so vulnerable and full of love.

“Don’t be mad, but Alex told me a little about how you ended up in show choir, your friendship with him, your mom.” He turns to see her looking for her reaction, she just nods to tell him it’s okay to continue. “A sweet story about a little girl with the voice of an angel who loved to sing love songs. And you know what was in my head all that night? That even though I've never written one, I would write millions of love songs for you.”

Some tears fall from the girl's face, she carefully places the lyrics on the guitar and throws herself on the guitarist, who falls in surprise against the carpet, making sure to grab her by the waist so that she falls safely on his chest. She rests her arms on either side of his head and brings her lips against Luke's, brushing them gently.

Luke doesn't move a muscle, not wanting to do something to make her uncomfortable, when he suddenly hears her talk. “And what about teeth? I mean is not the sweetest love story ever told but-”

The boy chuckles, Y/N's curious eyes a few inches away. “Alex wrote that one after his first breakup, Reggie and I did the melody.”

“Good. Guess we’ll have to start making some experiences to help you write all that songs.” At that moment she finally pushes her lips against his, both in a moment of euphoria at the taste of each other. She presses her body against him and he bites lightly with his teeth on her lower lip to shove his tongue against her mouth in response. Her little hands pulling his hair hard as his hands go down her butt. Both of them enjoying what they had been dreaming of for so long.

When the two finally separate they fall in a comfortable silence, she starts to admire his facial features, delicately running her fingers through his nose, his mouth, his cheekbones, until he interrumpts her. “I knew you want me from the beginning, I could see the lust in your eyes. Everything about the choir was a complex plan to get me under you.” Luke affirms with his best poker face, and sees clearly how her eyes fill with light while a pure laugh escapes from her now swollen lips.

“And as always, I achieved the goal. The hot local rockstar is sleeping on my bed tonight.” No matter how hard he tries, he can never catch her off guard and he always ends up being the one blushing. She kisses him softly before getting up and taking the song lyrics back. “Luke, do you mind if I sing a bit of the song?”

“Of course not, it's yours. I will accompany you with the guitar, from the pre-choir?”

She nods and begins to sing the words he wrote for her. “Life is a risk but I will take it, close my eyes and jump. Together I think that we can make it, come on, let's run.”

She is reading the choir as she sings and the urge to cry reappears. He's basically telling her that she no longer has to go on living life alone, that she can lean on him, she can trust him to fight by her side. That it can be us instead of I.

“And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together. Bright forever.”

As soon as they finish singing Luke puts the guitar aside and goes over to wipe the tears from the girl's face. “I know that at first glance it doesn't seem like a love song, but..."

“But it is. It’s perfect, thank you Luke.” She didn't know that someone other than her could make her feel so special, but he proved her wrong, again.

The night before was like a dream. Y/N sleeping with his shirt while he wrapped her completely in his arms, singing softly in her ear and leaving little kisses on her neck every few verses until she fell asleep. At this point there is no way to deny how completely in love he is with her.

“Man, we need to talk.” His blonde friend wakes him up from his daydream and starts pulling him down the hall to an empty table in the cafeteria, where Reggie is already waiting for them.

They both sit down and Alex takes a deep breath as he plays with his fingers, trying to form coherent sentences with the words in his head. “Bobby called last night.” Luke's gaze instantly shifted to disgust, while Reggie looks quite shocked.

“So? What did he want?” Luke whispers, trying to sound disinterested.

“He sent some of our videos to an important person at Destiny Management and they are interested in the band. He said that if we comply with certain requests he will give the money for us to record the demo this Friday so that it’s ready for the appointment."

“And I guess you told him we don't need him or his money. What did he answer you? He cried?" the guitarist asks with an amused face, but his friends just look at each other.

“Don't you think we should think more about it? What happens if we don't win nationals? We’ll have lost something as sure as Bobby's deal for nothing."

“She’s my friend and I love her but I have to agree, Luke. As difficult as it is, our priority has to be Sunset Curve, not Spectacular"

“But-”

“They are right, Luke.” All three look at the girl, as pale as If they had seen a ghost. “Spectacular is my dream, And I know I'd do anything for it. It would be unfair of me to get angry because you’re fighting for yours. Don't hesitate, if anyone can find a way out of this it's me.”

“But, the duet...”

“I’ll just have to be the melody and the words. I’ll be fine, and honestly I'm so proud of you guys, I know you will be rock legends one day.” All three feel guilty but don't know what to say or do to make it right. She goes over to hug the drummer and the bassist who take her in their arms with all their strength, a “I’m so sorry” from the blonde accompanied by an “I know” from the girl can be heard. Then she stands in front of the guitarist and kisses his lips intensely, but breaking away painfully fast. The guys leave lovers alone for a moment of privacy.

“I believe in you, baby. You are destined to be a star, forget everything else, even me. Take the moment and knock them off their feet.” She kisses him lightly on the lips and walks a few steps back. “This month was the happiest of my life in a long time, thank you. Guess I’ll see you guys around.”

“Why do you sound like you are saying goodbye? And a horrible one? I thought you were good at everything.” Luke walks over to her again and places his hands on her cheeks, rubbing them gently. His voice is shaky and his eyes are glassy, she snorts at his sudden taunt, a little smile covered with the tears.

“Once everyone gets back to their own business, do you think you'll still have time for me? Alex is my damn neighbor, and we couldn't keep in touch.” And Luke gets it. She is used to being alone, to people not being permanent in her life. Neither her parents, nor her best friend, nor her boyfriend, nor anyone else has stayed. So this time to protect herself she decided that he too was going to leave, that it would be foolish to think that he of all possible people would stay.

“I‘m not letting you go baby, you're the only one I would let to boss me around.” The girl laughs when she remembers the millions of times she had to correct him and how he always ended up making her blush in some way, especially when they danced. She can't remember telling him but dancing with him has been the most special thing she has ever experienced. She danced with Damian for years and it never felt like the first time Luke put her long, strong hands on her waist and pulled her close to him. She can only hope to feel that way again one day.

“You are my one and only, firecracker. We’ll find a way, neither of us is a quitter.”

They say that actions are worth a thousand words, and Luke had definitely missed his first chance to show Y/N that he was serious about them by not getting in time to wish her good luck before she left with the group to the city of the competition, a few hours from there. He couldn't help but feel more miserable when he returned to the studio and found a small yellow sheet in his journal.

“You got this, rockstar. I have so much faith in you, so go make me proud. And I don’t want you feeling guilty, okay? I always want to see you shine, baby, no matter what. Your firecracker, Y/N.” Luke laughs softly, dazzled by her attempt to be sweet. If she trusts him so much, why doesn't he return the favor? She assured him they could win and when she says something, she follows through.

Why ruin his life with all of Bobby's ridiculous demands while ditching his girl in the process when he can go sing with her and do band things their way, without selling their soul to the devil. He sits on the couch thinking about what to say to the boys when they both rush in and pick him up, one from his feet and the other from his arms.

“What the hell are you two planning this time?” Luke sounds annoyed but does nothing to stop them from moving him, they throw him into the back of the car and he hits his head, getting him to kick them before they close the door.

"I'm not going to let her down again, I can’t."

"Yeah, and surely we can win, the number is spectacular... do you understand what I did there?”

Alex rolls his eyes and Luke smiles. They drive at full speed to Luke’s for him to take all his things and when he returns to the car, stands thoughtfully by the window.

“What are you doing?!” Alex is not having it, looks like a vein is going to burst from stress any second now.

“Do you think we’ll make it?” Questioned the guitarist, clearly nervous.

“If you stop asking stupid as fuck questions and get in the car, maybe.” Luke pouts but listens and finishes loading everything in the trunk.

The road is full of music to try to calm all the nerves, there was also plenty of time to rehearse the number over and over again, Luke analyzing in his mind every move he had to make, from time to time his bossy girl correcting him in his head. The only difficult thing was probably changing into the costumes, especially for Alex.

They arrive directly to register and the band turns pale when they hear the powerful and breathtaking voice of the singer who is playing her solo right now, a heavenly version of 'Never enough’. By the time they are ready to go, the main number has already started, the imposing woman in the very center of the stage with one of the boys of the group, who although does not have the voice of the guitarist, is making a good effort. Damian is on the other side, staring at her with a superiority smirk and Luke can't help but want to punch him.

“I never realized how anyone could make everything so right, I was so sad, you brought me back.” Alex quickly indicates to him how to enter the stage from the back, and Luke prepares to jump in time for the chorus, taking care of not being seen as he climbs the platform. The song is an old pop-rock song from the 80s, specifically chosen to make the guitarist's voice shine. He and his firecracker sat listening to music for hours until they finally found it, the girl's eyes shining with excitement as she imagined all she could do with the potential of the melody.

“You give me something to believe in, after all that we've been through.” He appears on the platform just in time, the lights and smoke coming out right in his grand entrance. Y/N turns immediately upon hearing her voice and he dances his way towards her.

“The love you give, it all comes back to you. You give me something to believe in, you can see the real me. And here with you is where I'm meant to be.” both singing together the remainder of the chorus and dancing to the beat. The biggest smile he has seen in his girl since he met her on her beautiful face. With that he feels satisfied with his decision, whatever happens, win or lose, it was worth it.

“And here we are together side by side, and nothing seems impossible tonight.” the duet between them is electrifying as always, he puts his hands on her thighs and lifts her with ease, both of them moving and enjoying themselves as if they were the only ones in the place. The dance ends as the first time they danced in the auditorium when he showed her that he was the right option, he holds her with one arm, their lips inches from touching but holding the magnetism back for a few more seconds until finally leave the stage.

As soon as they are backstage Y/N throws herself at Luke, wrapping her legs around his hips and devouring his lips with hers. “Someone missed me.” Luke whispers catching his breath.

"I can't believe you guys did this for me." Expressed the girl as she turns to see her other two friends, still wrapped around Luke who has her tightly held with his huge arms around her butt.

“We trust you as much as you trust us. We know that you will win, you worked like nobody for this moment.” Affirmed the blonde, giving her a small kiss on the forehead.

“I feel like I won already.” And she did. She won the trophy, the money for the demo, friends, and a ridiculously gorgeous rockstar who drove her crazy in more ways than one. All this years working hard were finally worth it... and Damian throwing a tantrum in the middle of the stage felt good too, not gonna lie.

“When are you going to ask me to be your boyfriend? As much as I love you more than anything, a man has to have some pride, you know? We've been together for like 5 months and I'm getting desperate.” They are both lying together on the girl's bed, their legs intertwined as he makes little circles with his fingers on his girl's stomach.

She raises her head resting her hand on his bare chest, her thoughts impossible to read. What are you talking about? I'm waiting for you to ask me!” He chuckles, prepared to tease her. “Bu-”she interrumpts him, pushing the hand that is resting on him to sit down. “Ba-”

“Wait a second, Lucas!” He bites his lip, he never liked being called by his name but for some reason it sounds incredibly sensual when she says it. “Yeah, baby?”

“D- did you say you love me?”

“I did, and I do. Everybody knows you've got me trapped in your claws.” He jokes to make her laugh, and he succeeds.

“I love you too, so much.”

“I know baby.” He winks teasingly at her. “Returning to the topic, you are the most bossy and confident person I have ever met, and you want to tell me that you were waiting for me to take the first step? Doesn’t sound like my firecracker. You literally pretended to be a sunset curve super fan to get my attention.”

"I totally did, I was awesome, first thing next day you were at the auditorium.” She says proud while Luke rolls his eyes with a smile. “But if it makes you feel better, I'm 100% a fan now, and...You are completely right, for once.”

She takes a deep breath, intertwining her fingers with his. “Lucas Patterson, I want you, if we're being honest, probably from the first time I saw you at that Sunset Curve gig we met at. You are annoying, cocky, passionate, and I love you with all my heart. Be my boyfriend... please.”

“There it is, that’s my girlfriend.” His eyes full of lust after hearing that she wanted him from the first night, he draws her closer to him to push his lips against hers, his girlfriend's tongue quickly dancing with his.

"Oh my god, we already talked about this, close the damn window, I don't want to hear it!” The blonde cries from his balcony, the couple can't help but laugh before joining their lips again.

Thank you for reading ✨

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[limalosershq]

NAME: Brett Bukowski FACECLAIM: Caleb Landry Jones AGE/BIRTHDAY: 21, June 27 GLEE CLUB/SCHOOL: None/WMU SONG CHOICE: Busters Get Popped, a Brett Bukowski original MAJOR/MINOR/GRADE: Art/Ceramics, Senior LOCATION: Lima, OH. OCCUPATION: Drug Dealer Front man for High Road CLUBS/EXTRACURRICULARS/SPORTS: Art club, Astronomy club, ceramics, cooking club, drama club, environment club, painting club, international/foreign language club, photography club, digital media club, the muckraker, gay/straight alliance, improv club.

Brett’s father was a drug dealer who eventually stole money/drugs from his supplier and took off one night with them, leaving his wife and kid behind. Brett started immediately selling once the supplier, a man named Theo came knocking and looking to collect. While he’s close to paying off his father’s debt finally, he’s also racked up his own debt since he started using in high school after his first break up with his girlfriend, near the end of his junior year. 

Ever since then, Brett’s been an avid drug user, mostly to forget thanks to his perfect memory. Also so he knows everything about what he’s selling, he’s tried everything at least once. Through numerous connections, Brett can get anyone whatever drug they’re looking for. He makes a killing on the frat party circuit and surprisingly, on the show choir circuit as well.  

He’s OD’d a few times, the last being his sophomore year in college at a party. Mostly now, Brett only sticks to weed and the occasional bump of coke. He wants to be able to quit the latter soon, knowing if he does make a career out of his band it’ll be a problem later on.

While he’s done auditioning for every glee club he can, he’s not completely out of the trenches when it comes to show choir and while Brett’s made his peace with not getting into any of the show choir clubs, he knows music is a part of his life. This last spring, Brett formed a band he’s dubbed High Road. They’ve done a few gigs here and there, Brittany promoting them on her webshow and Sam hyping them up on his own social media accounts. While he knows it’s mostly for fun on his band members side, he wants to make something real out of this. For now, he pushes them to practice and prepare for Battle of the Bands.

IS THIS WHERE YOU PICTURED YOURSELF RIGHT NOW IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS?

Not really? I mean, to be honest I was pretty sure I was going to end up in the ground at least by eighteen... Twenty-one, maybe. Since I stopped partying so hard uh, after the last incident. It’s still kind of crazy though, not to mention, me in college? Living in a pretty dope house and not on the streets? I'd say in the grand scheme of things I'm doing way better than anything a younger me could've pictured.

HOW’RE YOU FEELING ABOUT ALL THE SHOW CHOIR RIVALRY?

I do not care even a little bit. But my best friend? He's obsessed so… Plus, Dottie is into it too. Maybe I care some, I guess. Totally think they could've used me though. Literally any of them. Well, maybe not Vocal Adderall or whatever, at least not like in the group. They definitely need me for something though, even if that St. James guy has me banned from the premises. 

WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A LIMA LOSER? WHERE EXACTLY IS YOUR LIFE HEADED, OR REALLY, WHERE SHOULD IT BE HEADING?

Nope. Not even when I was lying on the floor of a bathroom at a party getting narcan blasted into me sophomore year. ‘Cause people cared about me enough to look for me, you know? I don't think a loser would have people looking out for him and love him like that. I know where I want it to be headed, a record deal and a tour and a wedding somewhere, hopefully. With… uh, someone.

[myfandomchangesalot]

Am I Dreaming - Chapter Four

Introduction, Chapter One , Chapter Two, Chapter Three

Chapter four

I woke up the next morning at 7:00 to get ready and get to school by 8:15. I was not the type of girl to get up at 6 just to make myself all pretty for school. I like my sleep so I get as much as I can! My morning routine consists of me getting up, showering, picking out clothes, doing very basic makeup, letting my hair air dry, and then going downstairs to have breakfast with my dad. Neither of my parents were really good cooks, so we have always just eaten cereal for breakfast, and that still hasn’t changed even after my mom died. On special occasions my dad will get up early and make a butter braid. Luckily, today is a special occasion since it's my last first day of high school, so he made one, my favorite of course, strawberry cream cheese.

“Hi dad.”

“Hi sweetheart. You look nice today.”

“Ha thanks. I’m just in my normal clothes though.”

“I know, but you always look a bit nicer on the first day of school.” I guess that's true. Usually I wear leggings, but today I’m in mustard wide legged pants and a black long sleeve top.

“Hey, do you need a ride today or is Matt coming to get you.”

“Matt should be getting me. I’ll make sure to bring him a piece of the butter braid.” Just as I said that Matt texted me saying he was here.

“Bye dad! Matt’s here, love you.”

“Bye princess! Have a good day and I love you too.���

My parents have always called me their princess, and it's such a special nickname to me. I walked out to Matt’s truck and jumped in. We did some small talk about how we are excited to start senior year. Once we got to the school I gave him a quick kiss and walked away to see my friends. Matt was acting really weird today. Usually he tries to walk me to my locker, but today he just sat in the truck looking like a kicked puppy. He’s probably thinking about Vicki since she’s not here with him. I’ve tried to get him to open up to me about it, but he refuses to say anything, so I just let him sulk now.

After leaving him to sulk I go do my own thing. Matt may be my boyfriend, but I am not one of those girls that always hangs out with her significant other. We honestly only have two classes together, English and Math, so at school we barely see each other. I say hi to my friends, go to my locker and get ready for one of my least favorite classes of the day, history. Don’t get me wrong, history fascinates me, but Dr. Saltzman obviously has his favorites, and it is totally unfair. I actually know a lot about history, but he never wants to listen to what I have to say, only the scooby gang. Augh let’s get this class over with.

I found my seat and just people watched. Stefan was acting like a first class douche, so he and Elena must have broken up. Elena, Caroline, and Tyler were acting super tense and like they didn’t expect to see him. He goes to our school, he’s not going to switch schools just because of a bad breakup. I swear they are so weird.

“Welcome back seniors. Let’s, uh, turn our brains back on, starting with, uh, this country’s original founders, the Native Americans.”

“What about the Vikings?” That voice made me snap up. Thank god Rebekah is in this class! I really want to become friends with her. I feel like we have a very similar don’t give a shit attitude.

“Well, there’s no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States. “ See this is what I was talking about. Mr. Saltzman just shoots people down when they speak up about anything.

“Who are you?” He asked.

“My name’s Rebekah. I’m new and history’s my favorite subject.” Girl good luck, because unless your name is Elena Gilbert you are no longer going to like history.

After History was over I had English which I love because actor dah! Then science which I hate with every fiber of my being. Followed by favorite classes math, lunch, choir, study hall and ending the day with theatre! I don't have to take any Phys Ed class, because I already completed that requirement. THANK GOD! At lunch I invited Rebekah to sit with my friends and I.

“Hey Bekah come sit with us”

“Oh hey V!”

“Everyone, this is Rebekah. Rebekah, this is Claire, Stevie, Nicole, Jack, Jules, and Charlie.” Everyone replied with a hi or hello

“Did you bring any food today?” I asked Rebekah

“I was just planning on buying some from the cafeteria.”

“Don’t do that. The food here is nasty. Here you can have part of my sandwich. I can’t eat it all anyways I’m to nervous”

“Thank you. What are you nervous for?”

“It's audition day for the school play. No matter how many times I audition I still get nervous, and can’t eat a lot.”

Charlie piped in “Come on V you are going to kill it. Which role are you hoping to get?”

“Thanks Charlie. I’m stuck between wanting the lead part, because people say I am too fat to be a leading lady. You know, I need to prove people wrong, but I also love the part of Charlotte! We love a bad bitch who has a secret heart.”

“What play are you guys doing?” Rebekah asked.

“We are doing These Shining Lives, it’s about the women who worked in the radium dial factories in the 20’s in Chicago and their journey through radium poisoning and suing the companies,” Jack told Rebekah

Rebekah seemed surprised at what the play is about. “I didn’t know that the dial workers got radium poisoning. Radium was in everything in the 20's, everyone used it.”

“Yeah Beks, it's like super deadly. I thought you loved history,” I replied.

“I do, I just must’ve ignored anything about radium.” Rebekah did a small chuckle and shrugged it off, so I decided to change the subject.

“So Rebekah, are you going to join any clubs or anything since it's your first day?” I asked.

“I am thinking of trying out for the cheer team.”

This caused me to let out a groan. “Augh just please don’t turn into another Caroline Forbes.”

That caused Rebekah to laugh. “I won’t promise.”

After she said that the bell rang and then it was time to go to my next class. After school I went to the auditions for the play, and I think I absolutely crushed it! Now I just have to see if I got through to callbacks. After my audition football practice was over and Matt drove me home.

“Hey I’ll pick you up later for the bonfire. I need to go home, shower and change,” Matt said.

“I completely forgot about the bonfire, sigh, I’ll go get ready. See you later Matty,” and with that he drove away.

Great, now I need to find an outfit to wear for the bonfire. I want something that says I’m not trying to hard, but also says hey Matt maybe we should have sex since my dad works nights and I have the house to myself. Great now i sound like the only thing I care about is sex. That’s not true at all actually. I just feel like maybe sleeping with Matt will help me feel less guilty, and maybe help me stop thinking about my night with Nik. I quickly made myself some ramen for supper and went upstairs to pick my outfit.

After modeling for myself and trying to find an outfit, I finally decided on a black dress with an open back and combat boots. I went downstairs waiting for Matt to pick me up… and I waited… and waited. I sent him I don’t even know how many texts, and I heard nothing from him. I decided that Matt obviously blew me off, and I looked hella cute so I need to take some photos for Instagram. If no one in person can see how I look, the internet can.

After my photo session I put on my jammies, turned on my comfort movie - Bohemian Rhapsody, made some coco, cuddled with my cats Alpine and Goose and texted Matt that ‘I will be getting a ride with my dad tomorrow morning.’ I sat, watched my movie, and cried. From the movie or Matt I don’t know. I just know that I don’t deserve to be ignored. I decided that I was going to go to bed to dream about my mysterious stranger who has disappeared. Right before I went upstairs I heard a noise in my parents room. I grabbed my taser and pepper spray from my bag to check it out. I opened their door and…

“Mom?”

___________

Word Count - 1,507

Chapter four is done! I am hoping for around 50 chapters total. I know V seems like a bitch about the scooby gang, but there’s a reason for it. No Klaus in the next chapter either, but he’ll be back for homecoming!! Please enjoy the pictures of my cats - Goose (Orange) and Alpine (Black)

Next Part

[dumdumsun]

Forever and Never

A/N: A long one because it was a fun one. My absolute favorite chapter!

Warnings: mentions of marijuana, rape, blood and violence

Word Count: 6135

—————————————

Six: The Breakfast Club

“What are you thinking about?”

“H-Huh? What do you mean?”

“You’re smiling for the first time today. What are you thinking about?”

“...Stan.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apparently, I had slept through all of my alarms because when I awoke the next day, it was almost nine. Cursing aloud, I sprang out of bed and zoomed to my closet, ripping out any clothes I could find. Not having time to pull together something totally retro as per usual, I threw on a maroon hoodie, wedged into blue skinny jeans, and slipped on my white sneakers. I applied deodorant and stuck a piece of gum into my mouth before slinging my backpack on. The school was a fifteen-minute walk from my house. I was going to be so fucking late. I was skipping every other step on my way downstairs when I heard a voice call out to me.

“Whoa, you’re still here?”

On my right was Jacob, sitting in the living room and watching television. He stood from the couch and slowly approached me with a smirk. “What are you doing here still?”

“What are you doing here still?”

“I don’t have classes today, Bug,” He lightly teased before gently pushing me towards the door. “Let’s go before you miss anymore school. Hopefully, you don’t get detention.”

“I won’t, Jake.”

I did. As soon as I opened the door to my English class, all eyes were on me like a newcoming circus act. Ms Anderson’s eyes cut to me the second I stepped in and before I knew it, she was stomping towards me, gently ushering me out of the room with her. When we were alone, she crossed her arms and stared down at me. I felt like a child getting scolded for breaking an expensive vase or something. “(Y/N), this is your fourth tardy this month.”

“I know…”

“Is there something we need to talk about?”

There are so many things I need to talk about.

“No… I just… um… I-It’s been a rough few days…”

“Well, I would let this slide, but I’ve already broken the rules twice for you. I’m sorry, dear, but I’m going to have to give you detention. Okay?”

Dammit, Jake… “Okay, fine. Can I just go back to class now?” I sighed. My teacher nodded and opened the door for me. Stepping inside, I was met with the smiles of Dina, Stan and Ricky all directed towards me. I returned the smiles towards my two friends before taking my seat beside Dina. Throughout class, two eyes bore into the back of my head, and I tried my best not to turn and look at who they belonged to. He was catching on. On my way to choir, I heard Ricky calling out to me. He was pushing and shoving past students until he was by my side.

“Babe, what’s been going on with you?” He gently nudged me, but my eyes stayed trained forward. “Oh, so the silent treatment… Are you gonna tell me what I did or am I gonna have to figure it out?” Silence. “Right, okay. I get it. Hey, listen, when you’re out of your bitchy mood, make sure to come talk to me.” And with that, he turned and walked in the opposite direction. Letting out a breath, I slowed my pace along with the beat of my heart. I never wanted anyone to dictate the way I felt, the way my anxiety sky-rocketed when they were around. But it seemed I was letting Ricky do everything to me.

When lunchtime rolled around, I wanted nothing more than to eat my first meal of the day. All throughout English and choir, my stomach had been curling into itself and I felt stupid for not at least grabbing a granola bar before I left home. After grabbing my food, I joined Stan at a near-vacant lunch table. He had been mindlessly picking at his lunch when I sat across from him. “Good afternoon, beautiful.” I whispered. Hearing my voice, he didn’t need to look up.

“Hey, (Y/N)...”

“(Y/N)? Whoa, what’s wrong?”

“Uh, it’s just Syd. She won’t talk to me…”

A pang of jealousy went through my heart. Knowing we’d never talk about our kiss the other night didn’t prevent my wave of disappointment whenever he mentioned Sydney. I mean, how do you even kiss a girl and then talk about a totally different one days later? As much as I love Stan, he could be an idiot sometimes…

I hadn’t even noticed I was spacing out until his voice spoke loud enough for me to snap back into reality. He had been staring at me with raised brows, an expectant look on his face. “O-Oh, sorry… Uh, do you wanna hang out later? Like, when we get home?” I calmly asked, my eyes flickering to the fading bruise decorating his eye. He shifted in his seat and returned back to his lunch.

“Um… I’ll see.” He mumbled, my throat constricting at his words.

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

Whitaker watched me like a hawk as I turned into the girls’ restroom.

“Don’t think I don’t know that trick, (Y/L/N)! You better get to the gymnasium as soon as you’re done!”

“Yes, sir.” I mumbled and closed the door behind me. To be honest, I didn’t think he knew that trick and was absolutely planning on spending the entirety of my detention in the restroom. Letting out a sigh, I leaned against the wall and texted Jacob.

Me: I got detention. Pick me up at 7 please?

Jake: Haha! I’ll be there, don’t worry

Jake: And don’t try hiding out in the bathrooms. Whitaker knows that trick

Me: Noted

Pocketing my phone, I pushed the door open and trudged to the gym. Even with the doors closed, I could hear Whitaker screaming at whoever else was inside. With a small groan, I lazily used my body to open one of the doors, the principal’s voice quieting as the screech of the hinges echoed throughout the room.

“Ms (Y/L/N), I would have thought that after getting detention for tardiness, you’d learn to be more punctual. Take a seat!” Whitaker boomed. Rolling my eyes, I moved over to the bleachers, surprised to see Sydney, Stan, Brad, Dina and… Jenny Tuffield.

I could be irritated with people all I wanted, but I never completely ignored or even spat insults or such at them, unless they truly did something to hurt me or the ones I care about. Hence the reason I ignore Ricky. But Jenny brought out a side of me I really despised. It was a side of myself that thought of the worst things to say and spewed them out without hesitation, resulting in a back-and-forth war between the two of us. It usually ended with death threats and flipping the birds to each other, but we’ve never physically fought. That could change one day, who knows? I could feel her sickening smirk as I passed her to sit in front of Stan, who looked bewildered to see that I was here with him in detention. I patted his knee before turning back to Whitaker, who had been waiting for me to do as I was told. Satisfied, he continued on.

“Now that you all are here,” He cut me a look. “I want you to take the next few hours and think about your mistakes. And carve out in your mind a plan for change. Determine how to improve yourselves. Define what the word ‘respect’ means to you.”

Get a job, dude…

“Now you can start by respecting this beautiful gymnasium. Between now and seven p.m., you’re gonna scrape up every goddamn piece of gum from the bleachers,” He stepped forward and slammed a box down in front of us, no doubt full of the tools needed for our manual labor. The six of us all rolled our eyes as Whitaker stepped back again. “Get started.”

“Uh, Mr Whitaker, sir,” I heard Stan from behind me. “Um… Will there be a break for snacks or dinner?”

Silence was his answer. Whitaker stared at Stan as if he’d just asked him to lick his shoes before exiting the gym. From behind me, I felt him lean forward towards Sydney, picking up on their very quiet and very short exchange.

“Hey, I’m really sorry-”

“No. I’m not talking to you, okay?”

Reaching over, I tugged on Stan’s jacket sleeve, the boy shuffling so that our faces were right beside each other. “What are you doing in here?”

“I called File a motherfucker.”

“You- What?”

“Okay,” Dina’s voice interrupted us, causing everyone to turn to her as she stood from her spot beside Brad. “I know none of us wanna be here right now, but I was thinking, if we divide and conquer the bleachers, maybe we could be done before seven and Whitaker will let us out early, so…” Her suggestion earned a smile from her boyfriend and a sarcastic remark from Jenny, who I nearly forgot even existed. She clapped her hands, everyone turning to her.

“Go team!” She mimicked your everyday cheerleader as Dina sat back down, a look of irritation on her face.

“I’m not a cheerleader.”

“Maybe you should be.”

“Maybe you should be in prison.”

“Ooh. That’s my wet dream…” She drawled out, running her tongue over her top teeth. I rolled my eyes and turned my head away.

“I don’t know, guys,” Stan spoke up. “This gum has been here for decades. I don’t think Whitaker actually checks. It’s just a social experiment, like a simulation.”

“Oh. Well, someone’s been smoking their supply.” Brad quipped. I narrowed my eyes and was about to give a sly remark when Jenny interrupted.

“You know what?” She whipped her body around to face us all, that wicked smile stretched across her face. “I have an idea. Why don’t we play Fuck, Marry, Kill?”

I couldn’t help myself. “What are you, thirteen?” I snarled. Our fellow delinquents stared between us with unease. “You say it like we’re about to huff some fucking gasoline. Are you supposed to be some kind of badass?”

Her eyes slid over to me, her grin widening. “Awe, Zip, I haven’t spoken to you in so long, I thought you died…”

“I wish you died…”

“So, who goes first?” Her head snapped towards everyone else, her finger moving towards each person in the room. “Eenie… meenie… miney… Brad.” She whispered out. Brad looked towards his girlfriend.

“Guess if I had to-”

“No. Not another word.” Dina shook her head.

“Oh, what about you, Miss Goody-Goody? Or are you too afraid to play?” Jenny gave a fake pout.

“Why would I be afraid?”

“Cool then. Fuck, Marry, Kill. Stanley Barber… Mr Whitaker… and… Syd.”

“Well, clearly, I’m killing Whitaker.”

“So are you gonna fuck Syd or marry her?”

Dina exhaled through her nose before looking to her right, eyes locking with Sydney. “Total life goal to marry your best friend, if Syd’ll have me.” She softly spoke, bringing a small smile to my face at their soft exchange. Of course, though, Jenny had to ruin it.

“Oh, so then it’s you and Stan in an all-day bone sesh. Ugh, you little slut.”

So over the sound of her fucking voice, I threw my head back in annoyance. “Jesus Christ, Jenny, you are so fucking boring!”

“No need to tell him about it,” She laughed tauntingly. “I’m guessing you wanna go next, since you got my attention. Or are you saving all of the sex and marriage for your little boyfriend?”

“Oh, bite me.”

“Ooh, where?”

Snapping, I slapped my hand down on the space beside me, my gaze set and locked on her. “No one gives a shit about you, Jenny!”

“And people care about you, Zip?! Where’s your fucking dad?!”

Fire in my eyes, I lunged towards her, but felt hands grabbing onto my shoulders and sitting me back down. The hands soothingly rubbed my arms as Jenny cackled. “Come on, (Y/N), it’s just all fun here… Now, for you, your very own Ricky Berry… Stan… and Dina.”

Scratching my cheek, I rolled my eyes so far back, I could feel them do a three-sixty rotation. “Fucking hell, you never give up. Fine, I’d marry Dina, fuck Stan, kill Ricky.”

Jenny lowly whistled as the hands on my arms slowly slid away. “But Zip, I thought you two were in love,” Her grin was something of evil as her brows bounced. “You guys had so much fun, fucking at his party. Oh! Or is it because you were drunk off your ass and he wasn’t?”

“Jenny, shut the fuck up-”

“No consent whatsoever… Boyfriend of the year…”

Having Jenny see me break down in front of everyone was not a moment in time I’d ever want to experience. She already got what she wanted, a reaction from me. She didn’t need a bonus. So, standing to my feet, I darted to the locker room, trying my best to block out Jenny’s laughing. I couldn’t help the tears that cascaded down my cheeks as I stood in front of one of the mirrors, hastily wiping them away.

Why are you letting her get to you? Why are you letting Ricky get to you? He can’t hurt you anymore, stop crying about it!

The creaking of the door sent my body into a stiffened, frozen state. That was, until I heard his voice, “Hey, lovely…” Turning my head to Stan, I sighed out.

“Hey, beautiful…” I sniffled as he made his way over to me. We stood in a comfortable silence, Stan understanding that I needed a moment to compose myself. “S-Sorry about that. You know I just fucking hate her guts-”

“No, I get it. We all hate her guts.” He cracked a smile. I quietly chuckled and stuffed my hands into my hoodie pockets. “Do you wanna talk about it, (Y/N)?”

“Not really… I don’t wanna think about it right now…”

“I know, but, like, it’s good to talk to someone about… you know, traumatic things that happen so it doesn’t bottle up-”

“Yeah, I know, Stan, I just can’t- I can’t think about it right now. We can do it, like, later… Not at school.”

He slowly nodded. “Totally. I understand. So… you ready to head back out? We’re not actually scraping gum. So we can just sit and talk.”

“I’d love to just sit and talk with you.”

Ten minutes later, everyone was spread out, Syd more than anyone. I had no idea where she’d gone, but apparently she stormed out shortly after I did. I guess Jenny knew how to get under everyone’s skin that day. Said girl was sitting against a brick wall away from the bleachers, where the other two pairs of us were. Brad and Dina were hugged up on each other, whispering into each other’s ears and quietly laughing. Stan and I were on the edge of the bleachers, the boy stretched across the one on the first level, and I on the second. As he fiddled with his rubix cube, my index finger reached out and gently traced his facial features. I started off with his brow, careful of his wound on the edge. It was clearing up and that caused a smile to appear on my face. Next, I let my fingertip brush across his lashes and he furrowed his brows, trying to focus on his cube. My finger then glided down the bridge of his nose. I quietly laughed when his eyes comically crossed to look at my finger. With a giggle, Stan jutted his chin upwards to gently kiss my fingertip. “Stop distracting me.”

My hand lazily dropped to his hair as I whispered out an apology. Not too long afterwards, I heard a voice quietly call out Stan’s name, but he was too fixated on his toy. My eyes looked to Sydney, who was standing in the doorway, desperately trying to get the boy’s attention. When she called out to him again, he actually looked at her. Looking between the two of us, she frantically motioned for Stan to come outside. When he only raised a brow, she did it again. Letting out a sigh, he wordlessly handed me his cube before sitting up and following Syd out of the gym, closing the door behind him to allow them privacy. Puffing out a sigh, I began playing with the multicolored cube in my hands. I never was very good with rubix cubes, my patience always ran too thin to finish them. That time didn’t seem to be an exception, either, because minutes in, I set it down and rested my head down to hopefully sleep off the rest of detention.

As I began to doze off, I heard the double doors screech upon Sydney’s arrival. She anxiously walked past me over towards the other side of the gym, where Dina and Brad had moved to suck face. I heard her call out to her friend a few times before she loudly spoke, “Look, Dina, I need a tampon right now.”

“Just dig in my bag.”

“I… I do need you, but for… but for something else.” She stuttered out. And with that, the two exited the gym. Suspicious about what my friends were plotting without me, I slowly sat up from my lying position and sat normally on the bleacher, waiting for one of them to come back. Hearing footsteps approach me, I knew it either had to be Brad or Jenny, and I was praying to the stars it was the former. As unusual as it sounded. The bleacher moaned under Brad’s weight as he sat beside me.

“Hey, Zip,” He greeted with a smile. I side-eyed him for a second before turning my gaze to my shoes. Scoffing, he shifted his legs. “You’re ignoring me now? Oh, come on. We’re friends, Zip. Good friends.”

“We are not friends, Bradley,” I almost laughed. “You’re friends with Ricky and I want nothing to do with him, so… I guess you know where the two of us stand.”

“Okay, well… Regardless, as Ricky’s best friend, I can say for him that what he did was fucked up. Right?”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“Right! But listen, we all make mistakes, Zip. Ricky really loves you, you know that, right? He would never do anything to hurt you.”

I was silent for a bit, only to prevent myself from decking Brad in the nose. “Well, he clearly didn’t love me enough. Not enough to respect my right to consent-”

“Zip-”

“And you know what, Brad?” I slowly stood to my feet. “I’ve had enough of you defending everything he does! You can tell Ricky to get lost and leave me the hell alone!”

Before he could utter another word, I marched straight through the double doors. Three figures stood ahead, and I was more than ready to push past them, but I recognized each of them. Halting in my tracks, I saw Dina, Syd and Stan all nervously staring at me. Confused, I put my weight on both my feet. “Uh… what’s going on?”

Dina was the first to answer. “We… need your help distracting the janitor to get his keys.”

“W-What? Why?”

“Well, Stan and Syd hooked up in the library and got it on camera-”

“You guys hooked up again?” I turned to my best friend, who quickly turned to Sydney. She frowned and stood up straighter.

“You told her?”

“S-She’s my best friend! She tells me when she has sex!”

Widening my eyes, I let out a scoff. “I had sex, I don’t have sex.”

“Well, whatever, can you do it?” Sydney changed the subject. I looked between the three in confusion.

“Okay, but why me?”

“Because you have boobs. Like, a nice size.”

“Uh-”

“And,” Dina cut in. “Because you’re a great actress. The best out of all of us.”

My lips quirked up into a small smile, Dina satisfied that she boosted my confidence enough for me to accept. Lucky for them, my locker was just across from the gym, so I unlocked it and pulled out a spare tee. ‘Can’t seduce anyone wearing that’, Dina told me.

Shortly after, Stan and I were in a corner as I changed my top. He was nervously staring down at his shoes as I pulled my hoodie off. “I didn’t want you to be the distraction. Are you sure you’ll be okay doing this?”

“I’m not seducing him, Stan,” I chucked my hoodie towards him. He looked up to catch it, but as soon as his eyes raked over my almost bare chest, they darted downwards again. “That’s just a back-up plan.”

“O-Oh, okay…” He nodded as I pulled my shirt on.

Minutes later, I entered the classroom Carl the Janitor had been cleaning. He looked up at me and nodded. “Hey, (Y/N).”

“Hi, Carl. Listen. So, I kinda snuck out of rehearsal earlier and I need to get back into the auditorium. But guess what? The door’s locked. I really don’t want Ms Turner to find me out. Do you think you could help me? Please?” I tapped my fingertips together as he sighed.

“You know I can get in trouble doing that…”

“I-I know, but it would mean so much to me. I promise I won’t get you caught.”

“Well, what about the back entrance? She never locks those doors.”

He was right. Clearing my throat, I looked to the side. “W-Well, she did today…”

His eyes narrowed in suspicion for what felt like forever before relenting, handing his ring of keys over. “Okay, just get them back to me in twenty minutes.”

“You’re the best, thank you.” I grinned and stepped out of the room. Swinging around the corner, I found Dina and Syd waiting for me. Upon my arrival, they both grinned. “Nothing wrong with asking politely, ladies. We got less than twenty.” I cheekily smiled, handing the keys over to Sydney. Dina chuckled and crossed her arms as I took my hoodie from Syd and pulled it back on.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“The plan is quite simple.” Stan’s voice appeared as he approached us, two microwavable burritos in his hands.

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

“First, we distract Whitaker with burritos. I’m gonna put these in the microwave and blast these bad boys up on high, and then…”

The explosion muffled by the closed door was enough to get Mr Whitaker rushing out of the teachers’ lounge. “What the hell- What the hell is goin’ on down there?! Jesus!”

“...Whitaker will hear it and come runnin’. When he takes off from the teachers’ lounge, the coast’ll be clear straight through to the principal’s office, and then we make our move.”

As the principal moved past the closet we were all hiding in, Stan slowly opened the door, giving the four of us the chance to run out. As Dina and I silently followed Whitaker, Stan and Syd headed towards his office, keys in the latter’s hands.

“Syd, you’re the key man… Key lady.”

“Wait, why am I the key lady?”

“Because you’re… good with your hands.”

“Ew.”

“Dina and (Y/N), you two are lookout. You keep eyes on Whitaker.”

I crouched down and peeked around the corner as Dina did the same right above me. Whitaker had just opened the door to the microwave, the smoke engulfing him as he coughed and fanned it away.

“The burrito bomb should keep him busy for awhile.”

The two of us watched in amusement as he grabbed the fire extinguisher from the fire emergency supplies and sprayed it into the closet.

“That man cannot resist a fire extinguisher, which will give us the time we need to get in. Burrito bombs are disgusting. Last time I set one off, my whole house smelled like bean farts.”

“True story.”

“Gross.”

Sooner than we expected, Whitaker took off from the crime scene in a hurried pace. Dina and I quickly rushed towards our friends, the girl waving her arms in the air as I readied the door to the closet for us.

“Anything goes wrong, lookout crew, you signal us… and everyone take cover.”

Once Stan and Syd noticed Dina, they scurried off down the hall to hide. I pulled Dina into the closet with me and silently closed the door as we crouched down.

“That is literally the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s fair. It’s totally fair. Can you think of a better one?”

…

“Our best hiding spot’s probably behind the trophy case. And we wait…”

A collective sigh of relief filled the closet as the savior ringing echoed through the halls.

“...for the smoke alarm. Which will buy us more time. Which we will need, because there are a shit-ton of keys. Like a metric shit-ton, it’s ridiculous.”

After our principal took off away from his office again, the closet door slowly creaked open as Dina and I watched Syd and Stan successfully enter the principal’s office.

“Once we’re in, we head straight for the security system in the closet. And that’s it!”

The smoke alarm cut off its insistent ringing within seconds. My heart thumped in my throat as Whitaker’s form stormed down the hallway, towards his office in angry strides. Thankfully, Syd and Stan ducked down before he caught sight of them. As soon as he passed us, I gently nudged Dina out of the closet. “Go create some big distraction that’ll lure him away,” I whispered under my breath. “I’ll keep him from the door.” I stood up straight as Dina nodded and silently hurried down the opposite end of the hall.

“Whatever you do, do not panic. Do not bail… or we are screwed.”

Whitaker was seconds from the door and I had yet to come up with a way to get him distracted again.

“Okay, but what happens if your plan goes to shit?”

Finding the key on his ring, he began jiggling it into the lock.

“It won’t.”

I stepped out of the closet, breathing labored in panic.

“But what if it does?”

When the lock sounded, I let out an ear-splitting scream that had Whitaker jumping three feet in the air. When his gaze settled on me, he marched my way, steam practically shooting from his ears. “(Y/L/N), what the hell is the matter with you?!”

“U-Uh- Uh, something happened down that way!” I blurted out, pointing down in Dina’s direction. His head followed my finger before it snapped back to me.

“Well?! What ha-”

A crash sounded.

“Improvise.”

The poor man shook his head in exhaustion. “I’m too goddamn old for this shit…” He whined before taking off down the hall, away from his office. Once the coast was clear, Syd and Stan peeked up, watching as I gave them a thumbs-up. They gratefully smiled my way before standing and finishing the job.

“And if all goes well, as it should, we grab the footage, our sexcapade remains private, and nobody gets expelled.”

My shoulders sagged as Sydney walked out of the office with Stan behind her, holding up the flashdrive in her hand.

“Let’s hope this shit works.”

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

It totally worked. After our brilliant scheme, the four of us sat in front of the lockers to rest, my form sandwiched between Stan and Dina. He kissed the flashdrive and let out a breath. “Oh, I thought we were screwed…”

“We were screwed, but holy shit, we did it.” Dina quietly laughed along with the rest of us.

“Thank you guys,” Sydney smiled, the three of us turning to her. “Seriously.” She chuckled as I reached my hand over to Stan’s pocket. Catching onto what I was doing, he fished his case out himself.

“Wonderful idea, Nugget,” He pecked the back of my hand with his lips before I could move it away and slid a joint from his case. “Any takers?”

“You’re not serious.” Dina frowned as Stan took out his lighter. He nodded to her with furrowed brows.

“He is.” I grinned fondly at my best friend as he lit up the end of his joint and inhaled the smoke before handing it over to me. I happily accepted it and took a hit as Dina glanced around us, hoping no adults were around to witness the scandalous act. She choked out a laugh when Sydney accepted the joint from me.

“Since when do you smoke weed?”

Sydney slyly smiled and stretched the smoke over to her, my own hand taking it to give her better access. “Oh, come on, Dina. Everyone’s doing it. Don’t you wanna be cool like us?” We all giggled and watched as Dina hesitantly took a hit from the joint. Her own snorting encouraged our laughter to increase, the four of us blissfully unaware of what lay ahead of us just in the locker room down the hall.

We sat in that hallway for the next half hour, talking about everything and nothing as our time of release approached closer. When the joint was finished, we entered the gym to enjoy our fading highs in peace. Dina headed over to the bleachers, and Stan and I sat on the bench beside the locker room, as Sydney headed inside to use the bathroom. The two of us sat in a comfortable silence as he shifted the colorful columns of his cube. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, and soon after, I felt his head rest against mine. “So… are you gonna need a ride home?” He whispered.

“No. Jake is picking me up.”

“That’s good, that’s good. Um… now do you wanna talk about how you’re doing? I know that, like, we’re still in school and we’re not entirely alone, but I just wanted to see how you were after you had to-”

“I’m doing better,” I interrupted his rambling. “Thank you.”

His hands froze their fiddling before one shyly crept close to mine. I felt his fingers graze my thigh as he interlocked our fingers in a tight hold. “Of course, Nugget.” He muttered right as Dina walked to the door to the locker room, giving me a smirk before walking inside. Stan then held up his rubix cube and chuckled. “Wanna try and solve it together?”

“Oh, my god, yes.” I laughed. And with that, we were using our free hands to turn and shift the cube around, hushed laughter filling the gymnasium as we told each other ‘no, not that way’, ‘turn the blue one’, and ‘yeah, yeah, that one’ for the next minute and a half of peace. Once our time was up, the door to the locker room slammed open and a teary-eyed Dina stormed out, a frantic Brad behind her.

“Babe, wait, please. Syd’s lying, I swear to god! Please! She’s lying!” As Dina walked out of the gym, Whitaker walked in, watching her go. “You’re not seriously breaking up with me right now!”

“Hey! Which one of you punks eats burritos?” Our principal shouted, Stan and I stifling our laughter in each other’s hair and shoulder. “Alright, I don’t know what the hell went on tonight, but I wanna see everyone in my office first thing in the morning!” He gave us one last look before exiting again. As soon as he was gone, Brad turned to Syd with a clenched jaw.

“I offered you a truce, and you fucked it up. This is on you. You remember that.” He pointed at her before angrily stomping out. Stan and I detangled ourselves from each other as Jenny walked out of the locker room with crossed arms.

“Ah, another day in paradise,” She looked between the three of us as her smile faded. “So, you guys wanna get wasted?”

I scoffed. “Fuck off, Jenny.”

Waving Stan and Syd goodbye minutes later, I joined Jacob in his car. He smiled over at me as I clipped my seatbelt on over myself. “So? How boring was it?”

“Oh, a total fucking snoozefest.” I rolled my eyes, my cousin chuckling and pulling off towards our home. Halfway through the car ride, I heard him turn down his music and sigh.

“Bug, what’s going on with you?”

“Huh?” I turned to him with raised brows.

“You’re… You’re different. You’re quiet, you skip dinner sometimes, you’re sleeping in. You never do that, especially the quiet part. Jesus, you’re so loud-”

“Okay, asshole, I get it!” I laughed quietly before going completely silent again. Not realizing I proved his point, I jumped when he poked my arm.

“See? Something’s wrong with you. What is it? Is it Ricky?”

“I-” I don’t know why I wanted to keep the whole situation a secret. Things like this needed to come into light and Ricky deserved to be exposed. Sensing my hesitancy, Jacob nodded.

“There we go. What did he do this time? Did he forget an anniversary? No? Did he… cheat?” Silence. “Did he do worse?” My eyes darted away. “(Y/N), did he do worse…?”

“I don’t know if I should say, Jake-”

“You absolutely should say it, (Y/N). Did he hit you?”

“No.”

“No? Did he… you know, touch you?” His tone softened as tears welled up in my eyes. “Bug, what happened…?”

“H-He raped me…” I cried and covered my face. “I got drunk on his birthday and he took advantage of it. A-And then he lied and said we were both drunk. B-But everyone else said he wasn’t even drunk.”

A beat of silence passed before the roar of the engine slid in pitch. I looked up at the houses and street signs that flew past us in a blur. “J-Jake, what are you doing?!”

“We’re gonna pay Ricky a visit.”

Before I knew it, we were in front of Ricky’s house. Jacob silently released himself from his restraint and exited the car. I sunk down in my own seat as I watched Ricky walk out of his home and towards his car. Upon seeing Jacob, he happily waved, but his smile vanished when Jacob decked him in the face so hard he fell to the ground. My breathing sped up as I jumped out of the car, speeding over to the two. “Jake! Stop!” I screamed as he straddled Ricky, landing punch after punch on his face. Ricky cried out and tried to push him off, but it was no use. Jacob was so much stronger than him. I knew pulling on him and screaming at him would do nothing, so I looked up and turned all around, watching as some neighbors peeked out their windows and front doors to watch the scene unfold. When I heard a crunch, I whipped back towards them and almost hurled at the bloodied mess that was Ricky’s face. “Jake, come on!” I screamed and pulled him off.

Stumbling to his feet, Jacob grabbed Ricky by his collar and lifted him close. “I don’t ever wanna see you near her. I don’t wanna hear that you spoke to her, I don’t even wanna know that you looked at her,” He growled, Ricky frantically nodding. “Don’t ever associate yourself with my sister ever again or I will make sure your eyes are swollen shut next time. Got it? Got it?!”

“Yes.” Ricky wheezed out before he was dropped to the ground.

“We’re going home, Jake! Jake, let’s fucking go home!” I screamed and ran to his car, getting in the driver seat. Chest heaving, he strode back over to the car and got in the passenger seat, sighing heavily as I drove away, leaving behind a groaning Ricky. I hadn’t even noticed his bloodied and bruised knuckles until I parked the car. Like a worried mother, I helped him out and over to the front porch.

“Hey, lovely!” I heard Stan call out. Looking up, I saw that he and Syd were just about to enter his house. “Do you wanna-”

I fished out my keys and hurriedly unlocked the door, pushing my cousin inside and shutting the door behind us. After ordering him into the bathroom, I found some bandages and hydrogen peroxide and joined him inside. The next few minutes were spent in silence, save for the soft hisses that escaped him when I dabbed the chemical onto his cuts. As I wrapped his hands, I felt his eyes on me. “(Y/N)?”

“Yes?”

“If he tries anything ever again, tell me immediately.”

“I know.”

“I’m serious,” He ducked his head down to meet my eyes, his own shining with unshed tears. “I promise you, he won’t lay a finger on you as long as I’m around.”

Setting down the blood-covered cotton ball, I nodded and allowed my lip to quiver.

“I know.”

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