#oc: danika courtney

[honeyjars-sims]

3.23 Making an Impression

Part 1 of 2

It’s the day of my hike with Lucy and Lacey. I somehow manage to convince a few other coworkers to come with us even though a lot of us aren’t particularly athletic. Robi, Clara, Quinn, and Lilly are joining us and I’m feeling pretty good about my plan to help Lucy make friends.

While we’re waiting for Lucy and her brother to show up, Lilly shows off her hiking fit. She always has the craziest outfits and they’re usually themed, which is fun.

Today she’s wearing a fishing hat with fabric fish attached to the brim. As Lilly poses for us, Lacey swats at them and they swirl around each other like they’re in a chase. “What’s with the fishing hat?” Lacey asks her.

Lilly starts untangling the fish. “It’s the most outdoorsy thing I own,” she explains. “I thought it really completed the outfit.”

“I think it’s cute,” Clara tells her. “No one said you had to be practical.”

“I don’t think Lilly could be practical if she tried,” Robi laughs.

“I’ll take that as a compliment!”

“I meant it as one!”

“I think that’s Lucy,” Quinn says, looking toward the entrance to the trails. She abruptly slaps herself on the neck, which makes all of us stare at her in confusion. “Mosquito,” she explains, her face flushing red. “They always eat me up.”

Lucy and her crew approach us. A guy I assume is her brother is with her; he looks like the stereotypical Tartosan with his jet black hair and I can see a family resemblance. There's another girl with them, which is great because if there's one thing this trip is lacking, it's female energy.

Lucy introduces them as her brother Paul and his best friend Danica.

Once the introductions are done, we all start making our way up the hiking trail.

“What do you two do?” Clara asks Paul and Danica.

“We’re both students at Foxbury,” Danica answers. “We’re in undergrad now, but I want to be a Psychologist and Paul’s going to be a doctor.”

“Wow, that’s really cool!” Clara replies.

“What kind of doctor do you want to be, Paul?” inquires Lacey.

“I’m not sure yet,” Paul admits. “I want to wait until I’ve done a few clinical rotations in med school before I settle on anything.”

“That’s really wise,” Lilly says, sounding impressed.

All of the girls make their way towards Paul as soon as they hear the word "doctor." They start talking to him about his bright future.

Wow, Paul, it’s so cool that you got a full ride scholarship!

You must be really smart!

I love when guys have a strong work ethic!

I hate to admit that I start feeling a bit irritated. A few weeks ago they all gushed over me when they saw my drawing, but now it doesn’t seem as impressive.

We come to a cliff that Lucy informs us is a popular climbing spot. “If you feel confident in your climbing skills you can go up this way. Otherwise the trail takes you to the top,” she explains.

“I think I’ll climb up,” Paul says confidently. The girls look at him in admiration. I can practically see the hearts forming in their eyes.

I don’t know what possesses me to do it, but I blurt out, “Yeah, me, too.”

As soon as we begin to scale the rocks, I realize I made a big mistake. Why would I think climbing was a good idea? I don’t have any experience and Paul is clearly in better shape. Of course, he reaches the top of the wall with no problem and I’m left struggling halfway up. All I can think about is how badly I need a cigarette.

“Johnny, do you want to just climb back down?” Lacey calls up, with more concern in her voice than I feel comfortable acknowledging.

“No, I’m good,” I lie. It takes what seems like forever for me to get near the top. Every passing second just fills me with more embarrassment.

As I approach the top of the cliff, I see Paul crouch down at the edge and reach his hand out. “Need some help?” he offers.

No, nope, not going to happen! I scream internally, but then I start to lose my footing. Faced with the possibility of this horrible moment being my last one on earth and forever cementing me in everyone's memories as The Dumbass Who Fell Off a Mountain Trying to Impress Girls, I see no better option than to take Paul’s hand. I feel defeated, but at least I still have the rest of my life ahead of me to try and save face.

“I have a lot of climbing experience,” Paul tells me once I’m secure at the top of the cliff.

“No problem, I was just trying to be funny.” Liar! Now that the moment is over and done with, I realize I’m more embarrassed by trying to engage in some sort of macho competition for the girls’ attention than I am in my lack of skill. It’s not the sort of thing I usually do.

“Oh, okay,” Paul responds. He doesn’t sound convinced but at least he doesn’t call me out.

“Are you okay?” Lacey asks me once we catch up with the others.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I tell her. Just a bruised ego is all.

“We’re almost to the top!” Lucy exclaims. We round the corner and Lucy guides us to the edge. “Be careful,” she warns, and I ignore that she’s looking right at me when she says it.

Cautiously, I peek down over the edge. I’m surprised at how much of the city I can see. It doesn’t seem like we went that high up, but laid out below us are hundreds of buildings and trees that seem surreal in their tininess. “Cool,” is all I can manage to say.

“I can see the studio!” Lilly points below, and the rest of us look excitedly at the building we spend 5 days a week in. It’s funny how something we see everyday seems so much more impressive when it’s viewed it from a different angle.

“There’s where the food truck parks!” Clara shouts and we all turn our heads like we’ve discovered a hidden treasure.

“Great, now I want tacos,” I joke, and I feel the embrace of laughter surrounding me. Maybe the day won’t be a total waste.

Previous | Beginning of story | Beginning of chapter | Next

[we-are-all-of-legend-now]

Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince, Ch. 15: Brutal

Fandom: American Dragon: Jake Long

Summary: When Jake's girlfriend spills the truth about her missing twin sister, Jake vows to help her find her sister, but the world that it plunges them both into a new world, one that their teenaged eyes had been closed to. It leaves everyone involved on a journey to self-discovery, wondering if they are the person they should be or if they should become the person they were meant to be.

Rating: M

Genre: Romance/Family

Characters/Pairings: Jake/OC; Jake/Danika; Rose/Brad; Jake/Rose (endgame); OC / OC; Spud/Stacey; Spud/Trixie; Nigel/Rose; Kyle/Trixie; Everyone/Everyone

Chapter: 14/?

New Chapter

Chapters 1-10

Chapter One; Chapter Two; Chapter Three; Chapter Four; Chapter Five; Chapter Six; Chapter Seven; Chapter Eight; Chapter Nine; Chapter Ten

Chapters 11-20

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

[honeyjars-sims]

This is very low effort, but I wanted to make some yearbook pages for the graduating class. There were more students but I just picked the mains and a few side characters that showed in up the background.

[honeyjars-sims]

It’s graduation day, and Paul is excited to finally give his valedictorian speech after practicing every day. It went pretty well. Deshawn must’ve gotten stuck in traffic or something. The ceremony went off without a hitch, and they even had time to grab a bite to eat before the auditorium closed its doors.

[honeyjars-sims]

It’s the boys’ first prom (although Matt hasn’t actually started school yet).

Paul’s new friend Deshawn invited Paul to a pre-prom party at his place. Upon arrival, a grill fire almost took out Deshawn’s mom Jada. Luckily Paul was able to quickly extinguish the fire. Later, he won Prom Royalty and proudly showed off his crown to Deshawn, Walker, and Danika.

[honeyjars-sims]

Paul started at the newly renovated Copperdale High. He got to know Walker and attended Career Day. Dr. Masterson, who delivered Daniel, was there and had a lot of interesting things to say about the medical field. Paul doesn’t really understand how he’s starting high school the same week his older sister is graduating, but it’s best to not ask questions.

[honeyjars-sims]

Paul made a new friend named Danika, and Daniel aged up to a toddler. Looks like they have a wild one on their hands! 4 out of 5 well-behaved children isn’t too bad.

[we-are-all-of-legend-now]

Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince, Ch. 14: Teen Idle

Fandom: American Dragon: Jake Long

Summary: When Jake's girlfriend spills the truth about her missing twin sister, Jake vows to help her find her sister, but the world that it plunges them both into a new world, one that their teenaged eyes had been closed to. It leaves everyone involved on a journey to self-discovery, wondering if they are the person they should be or if they should become the person they were meant to be.

Rating: M

Genre: Romance/Family

Characters/Pairings: Jake/OC; Jake/Danika; Rose/Brad; Jake/Rose (endgame); OC / OC; Spud/Stacey; Spud/Trixie; Nigel/Rose; Kyle/Trixie; Everyone/Everyone

Chapter: 14/?

New Chapter

Chapters 1-10

Chapter One; Chapter Two; Chapter Three; Chapter Four; Chapter Five; Chapter Six; Chapter Seven; Chapter Eight; Chapter Nine; Chapter Ten

Chapters 11-20

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

[we-are-all-of-legend-now]

Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince, Ch. 6: Cool Kids

Summary: When Jake's girlfriend spills the truth about her missing twin sister, Jake vows to help her find her sister, but the world that it plunges them both into a new world, one that their teenaged eyes had been closed to. It leaves everyone involved on a journey to self-discovery, wondering if they are the person they should be or if they should become the person they were meant to be.

Rating: M

Genre: Romance/Family

Characters/Pairings: Jake/OC; Jake/Danika; Rose/Brad; Jake/Rose (endgame); OC/OC; Spud/Stacey; Spud/Trixie; Nigel/Rose; Everyone/Everyone

Chapter: 6/?

New Chapter

Chapters 1+

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five