#so when we bleach our hair again the previous color. is still kinda there. as a little highlight

[cidnangarlond]

the good thing about having porous hair is it sucks up dye like a mother and the dye will never leave. the bad thing about having porous hair is that it sucks up dye like a mother and the dye will never leave

[tinselkj]

A night in your arms, forever in my heart

Who: KJ Apa & Andy Biersack Where: KJ’s House When: September 3rd Notes: Andy comes over to talk about all the drama KJ has been in, only to talk about feelings. Mentions of Lili, Ro, Michael @hwfameandy

KJ: Reading over the text messages again, KJ was glad he had a friend like Andy when all things came down to it. He knew he was the one person who wouldnt judge him, or his inability to choose what he really wanted. Did he love his ex still? Of course he did. He was ready to ask her to marry him before the breakup, but he had to be realistic. Six months had passed without any contact besides the occasional hello when the situation was required. Now with Ronen and his pressuring to come out and just be with him..to make a choice. It was draining for the now redhead. Unsure of how much time actually went by, KJ heard the knock on his door causing Keo to start barking. "Oh stop it..its just Andy." The man stated, silencing the dog as he laid back down on his dog bed a few moments later. "Hey." KJ smiled once the door was open, moving aside to let his friend enter his home.

Andy:  Truthfully, Andy hates know KJ was going through a difficult situation like this. He knew what it was like, there was a reason that not many people knew about his previous relationship, the two of them did a pretty good job at keeping it a secret so it was safe to say that Andy knew how he felt in so many way and he just wanted to be there for him. He knew that having a shoulder can make all the difference in the world. He made sure he had his dog with him, the small Yorke cuddled in his arm as he made his way up to the others front door. Andy smiled when KJ opened the door. Daredevil starting to bark slightly when he heard his voice. Andy handed him the small dog as he walked into the house. “Sometimes I hate that he’s blind.” He laughed as he instantly made a b line to Kao, leaning down to pet him slightly. “Hi buddy!” He smiled and patted his head before standing up to face KJ. “You look like shit, man.”

KJ:  As the small dog started barking, the smile on KJs face grew wider, pulling the small dog close to his chest. "Well hello there little one." He spoke, scratching behind his ears as he followed Andy into his house-making sure to lock the door behind him. "Aww dont listen to him, little man. You're just lucky you dont have to see your owner's weird face." If there was one thing he liked about his friendship with Andy, it was the fact that they could insult each other all day long, and still know the other will always have his back. No matter the circumstances. "You would too if you had to deal with a grown man acting like a child. I know leading him on wasnt ok, but holy hell did he cause nothing but stress the past few nights."

Andy:  “My face is weird but at least my hair isn’t fake.” Laughed as he pulled his jacket off and tossed it on the back of the couch, his tattooed arms now fully exposed. He ruffled his own hair as he moved to take a seat. “You don’t need someone like that, K. If he’s gonna be a man than he needs to act like one and not get fuckin butt hurt when you lay out your situation.” He spoke as he looked to the other. “Come on, sit, tell me everything.” He added as he reached out to lightly tug on his arm. No matter what happened in his life, KJ was always the most important person in it, and he needed him more than the redhead would ever really understand.

KJ:   "Hey! Mine isnt by choice! Honestly I'm so scared I'll end up bald by the time I'm 40, and I really dont think I can pull that look off." Having to dye his hair three times a week, kj knew it was only a matter of time before his hair started to fall out from all of the chemicals. Once he was finished with Riverdale, he was never going to dye it red again. Watching as he took his jacket off, the man couldnt help but admire his ink, wishing he could get more himself. "I know I'm overreacting a bit right now about the situation since I had just as much involvement in this..but it really irritates me that he couldnt see how uncomfortable I was. If you want me to choose you..how am I supposed to when you cant even pick up on when I'm uncomfortable?" Sitting down next to him, KJ opted to lay his head in his friends lap, wanting someone to run their fingers through his hair as he spoke. "And if the first guy I've really slept with is willing to put that sort of ultimatum up..choosing him or lil..then do I even want to explore that side?" KJ was beyond annoyed at this point and his animated gestures emphasized that.

Andy:  “No, you’ll have hair for a very long time. Just gotta take care of it when you’re done with the show.” He was laughing softly through the words. He didn’t mind the actors original hair color, but there was something about the red that he really enjoyed seeing. When he laid his head on his lap, Andy moved to run fingers though KJs hair, slowly twirling strands around his finger as he looked down at him. “If you think you can have something with that side, don’t let one person ruin the whole thing for you.” He kept his town softly and relaxed. He could tell his friend was annoyed. “I promise you, we’re not all like him. Like I said to you, you need someone that’s going to understand where you’re coming from. No one should make you choose between them and Lili, not until they helped you truly discover who you are and what you want.”

KJ:  "Man I really hope so. It's not terribly damaged, but you can tell it's not as healthy as it should be." After the years of bleaching, the roots are a tad bit dry and no matter what I do to my hair, it hasnt fully gone away." Closing his eyes as Andy began to play with his hair, Keneti couldnt stop the small laugh that escaped his mouth at the thought of what he needed. "So basically what you're saying is I need you." He meant it as a joke, but the words held some volume to them. Andy had always been supportive, and if he wanted to explore this side of himself, he would want it to be with someone like Andy.

Andy:  “We can fix that, I fried my hair a long time ago, took a bit but I was able to get it fixed. Now I don’t mind it at all. And to be honest, I really love your hair.” He smiled softly when he saw KJ starting to close his eyes. He coughed a bit in surprise when he heard the words pass the other lips. He chuckled a bit of a nervous chuckle as he used his free hand to run his fingers through his own hair. “I- well.. I certainly wouldn’t be against it.” He whispered and his fingers were back in the others hairs, slowly sliding fingers through as many strands as he could.

KJ:  "I would greatly appreciate that." He smiled as he opened his eyes for a moment to look at the man. "You love it? Really? Well I suppose I can trust you seeing as you have really amazing style in general." Hearing how his statement caught him off guard, KJ laughed wholeheartedly "what happened to you not wearing your emotions on your sleeve? Because that's what you'd be doing. I'm such a hopeless romantic, that if anything happened between us, I would want that. I would need someone to pour my love into, and you've said you're not about that." If anything he was just messing around with him, but he did make a valid point.

Andy:  Andy nodded his eyes slowly, blue eyes locking on brown ones that looked back at him. “I do. I think you have very beautiful hair.” He smiled through his response. Those words that followed caused Andy to move slowly, sitting up just a bit more in his seat but made sure to keep the actors head in his lap. “Well.. you’re someone i trust, someone that’s never screwed me over. Wearing my emotions on my sleeve seems to be natural when it comes to you.” He shook his head when he spoke. He really wasn’t sure what the hell he was doing here, but he was going to run with it and see which way his own emotions took him, even if it meant he had that underlying fear of getting attached and coming out the loser. “You’re easy to talk to, your sense of humor keeps me going. I’d do it for you.”

KJ:  He was starting to cross a line that he didnt want to cross. Not with Andy. As the words I'd do it for you passed through his lips, KJ pulled away, turning towards his best friend as he tugged on his short locks. "I cant do this. I cant risk what happened with Ronen, happening with you. I know you would never pressure me to come out, and I know you wouldnt hold my past against me, but I cant ruin our friendship. You're the one person in my life that I can tell anything to. You're the one person I genuinely love, and I'm not going to let my confusion ruin anything between us. Not when you've been hurt as much as I have. I refuse to be just another person in a long list of people who let you down. You're different to me..you're special and I cant ruin that..I wont ruin that." He wasnt sure when he had taken Andy's hands into his own, but he finally noticed as his thumbs lazily stroked the back of his hands.

Andy:  Andy kept his eyes on KJ, it was like he couldn’t look away from him no matter how hard he tried. When he hand was taken, his heart was racing in his chest. He laced his fingers with his and squeezed his hand tightly. “This is Ronen? The guy you’re talking about is Ronen? That pissed me off a little because he was texting me earlier and coming onto me hardcore.” He spoke softly as he used his free hand to pull his phone from his pocket to show KJ the messages. “Keneti, listen to me. I’m not going to let anything come between us.. and if that means that I have to swallow my feelings for you then I will, because we both know I’m kinda crazy about you. But I won’t force you into anything. You’re the only one I trust not to hurt me again. I haven’t even told you about my last relationship because I don’t want you to see me weak, because I want to be the person you need me to be.”

KJ:  Looking at the man in pure confusion as he handed him his phone, KJ scrolled through the messages between the pair, growing more and more irritated by the moment. "I'm glad you showed me this. I cant believe how stupid I was to believe that he might wait around until I figured my shit out." Handing his phone back once he reached the end of the conversation, kj nodded his head, letting him know he was in fact listening to his every word. "You were my first crush when I realized I might like guys as well as girls. So that was a wild ride to try and figure out on my own because I couldn't really come to you and say 'hey..I have this massive crush on you, and I'm not sure what this means.' Andy..this is a two way street. You cant expect me to tell you everything when you wont tell me when something happens to you. Maybe I want to be there for you as well?"

Andy:  “Ronen is a player, and I would hate to see him hurt you.” He spoke as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. There was a lot that Andy was going through and he was the kind of person that would help others with their issues before he would let anyone help him out. “I wish you would have come to me, I would have helped you figure it all out.” His tone was softly as he spoke. One hand holding onto his while the other made its way back into red locks. “I used to date Michael Clifford, he ghosted me for thirteen months, got himself a girlfriend, and had the audacity to tell me that he missed me.” He spoke out as he leaned his head back against the couch. This was the first time he was ever truly opening up about the other and it caused a small chuckle to pass his lips. “I even got into a fight with his girlfriend because apparently the way I treated him was not deserved, when all I did was tell him how bad he fucked me up.”

KJ:  "Yeah well, I dont see anything happening now that I saw that. I'm trying to work my feelings and emotions out, and if he cant wait just a few days while I get my feelings in order, then hes really not worth my time." It hurt knowing he so quickly went onto the next guy who showed him just a little attention, and yet still had the audacity to say he had a date planned. He was trying not to play with anyone's emotions, and he wasn't about to let someone do just that to him. Listening to what had happened with his ex, kj saw red. Anger slowly bubbling in the pit of his stomach as it sank in on what he did to Andy. "Fuck him. You deserve so much better and hes lucky I'm not going over there with a fucking baseball bat for hurting you like that." He knew he was over reacting, but he hated the idea of anyone hurting his best friend. "Its not your fault that he cant keep it in his pants and be a decent human being and tell you it's not going to work. I'm sorry Andy..." he wanted to protect him from anymore heartache, but he wasn't sure what else he could do.

Andy:  "Anyone who plays with your emotions doesn't deserve you, like I said to you earlier, you deserve to be treated like a king." Andy couldn't help but laugh at the way KJ acted and it was a genuine laugh, one that he hadn't let out in a long time. "Calm down there firecracker." He smirked as he moved slowly to lay down on the couch with the other, placing his body just behind the actors. He wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him close to his chest. "I'm not thinking about him right now, and I don't want to think about him." His hand lifted for fingers to lightly run along the hair at the back of KJ's neck.

KJ:  Forcing himself to calm down as he moved Into a spooning position, KJ sighed in contentment as his back pressed against his strong chest. "Alright fine. But if he hurts you again, you're not going to be able to stop me." He wasn't sure how long they stayed there, or when he fell asleep in his best friends arms, but for once in a very long time, Keneti felt safe. He felt like he didn't have to prove anything or choose who he had to be..he could just be himself.

[thatlibrarychick]

I think we’ve established by this point, two weeks into the semester, that I’m not very good at socializing. I make friends via the friends of my friends and hoping that other people will talk to me first. Classic introvert probs. But right here, right now, I thought I’d update everyone online and back home about the most recent development in the friend situation. I have chosen to leave out names to save the guilty from embarrassment (because let’s be serious, no one was innocent in this tale), but let’s be honest, you could figure it out if you want to.

The first issue was that I came back to my dorm post-hurricane out of breath and red-faced from the half mile walk, hoping and praying that no one would be in my dorm when I got there. That’s the last thing you want when you’re sweaty and tired is to be around people, right? Ah, but fate would not fall in my favor. No, instead I was greeted by not just my roommate, but also like 5 or so of her friends, hanging out, playing cards on my roommate’s side of the dorm.  So, I unpacked, tried to look a bit less sweaty and smell a little nicer, and commenced to spend a bit of time with these strangers.

Now, spending time in this situation meant that I merely didn’t flee the room. I sat on my bed, scrolling through Facebook and Pinterest for the most part. Whenever they asked me questions, I would answer, and when they told jokes or wanted me to watch a funny youtube video with them, I laughed. Minimal participation and human interaction.

At one point, they left for a bit to go to the store. And then they came back with hair dye. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen other people dye each other’s hair. Like, I have had my hair dyed by my mother and my hairdresser, but I’ve never seen amateurs help each other change their hair color. My roommate dyed her hair this dark purple color, and one of the guys, who had partially-dyed (or more likely bleached) hair in the first place, dyed the colored bit of his hair red and orange. And the general thought when you see a guy dye their hair? Gay. Totes mah goats gay. I was ready to accept it and move on. (I know, for some of you this story may start to seem like a repeat of a previous event from this point on)

But here’s the thing. When they finished with the hair dye, they decided to pour the remainder down the sink. BAD IDEA. The sink is stark white. The hair dye is a brightly colored dye. Next thing you know, we have a magenta sink. So we break out every cleaner we have in the room, as well as a spare toothbrush. My roommate and her friend scrubbed away at the sink for about 15 minutes before they decide to give up until they can get bleach.

I did get invited to go with them to go get food and cleaning supplies, so one Panda Express and Dollar Tree trip later, we arrived back at the dorm. We ate our crappy fake asian food and they bleached the sink. Next thing you know, two of the guys (red hair and one other) decide that everyone NEEDS to watch The Flash on Netflix. Y’all, Netflix is dangerous. This boi decides that it’s okay to sit on my bed and annoy the heck out of me with his snide comments and jokes about the show. THEY DID NOT LEAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT.

The next day, a similar thing happened after everyone was done with their classes. The whole posse was back in our dorm and we watched The Flash until 11, when they all decided to go to Shenanigans for a night out (I opted out of that adventure, thank you very much). At this point, this boy was on my snapchat and my instagram and my goodness, he ain’t perfect. There is a huge list of reasons why I told myself not to pursue a relationship with him. Plus, he’s like 18 or something. Heck to the no.

We hung out for an hour or so on Wednesday after classes, and tbh, I made a mistake and began to get kinda attached to this goofball who was cute in a puppy-dog kinda way. Whats wrong with a little fun, right? Nothing serious, just a bit of companionship.

Thursday morning, I woke up to a boy, however, who wouldn’t respond to my good morning snap. Or any other snap that day. I’m no snapchat expert, but I can tell when someone is ignoring me. Towards the end of the day, I was mad and annoyed, so I sent him a sarcastic message: “Or you could never talk to me again, that’s cool too.” I didn’t see him the whole day, but I did manage to dye my hair on my own, so at least something good came out of it.

All I can think is that this poor, misguided child took my sarcasm seriously. Half way through Friday (remember, I was annoyed still), I check my snapchat and discover that the boi has either deleted his snapchat (unlikely) or BLOCKED ME ENTIRELY. I turned 100% T-Swift ANGRY. Furious. Pissed. Ticked. And feeling like “There is nothing I do better than revenge.” Like any normal girl, I was back and forth with friends about what they thought I should do. After taking a bit to calm down (I ate an orange and hung some pictures on my wall), I decided to give it up because he wasn’t worth my time.

I think the last time I experienced this much drama was in Middle School, tbh. Never again. No more teenagers. Immaturity runs wild with these young’uns. Pray for me, y’all, because I’m surrounded by them. Being 22 is hard. And take my advice: DONT FORM EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENTS TO TEENAGERS.

    And if you want my sass and sarcasm on your snapchat feed, add me, liardbreathwal. Hope your week was less dramatic, babes.

  -Liz

  The Boy With Red Hair: A Snapchat Drama I think we've established by this point, two weeks into the semester, that I'm not very good at socializing.

[hidding-in-shadows]

Resbang 2019: hot for the teacher (chapter two)

“I am not ready,” Maka groans, slumping in her chair as Blake gives her the look from where he stands in her classroom. 

She finished setting it up two days ago. Her cork boards are draped in yellow butcher paper and bordered with different rainbow patterns. There’s various streamers and decorations across the top of her whiteboard, and a magnetic holder with rainbow expo markers waiting to be used. The student’s desks are arranged into groups of four with one group of five, all of them at a slant towards the whiteboard. Her whole room is on a slant in the same direction, but it still felt spacious. 

She laid down some rainbow carpets in the library and a few yellow and orange pillows. There’s lap desks and yoga ball seats stacked in the back corner for students to use when needed, and she even had the standards for the first unit in all content areas written on the board.

“You’re ready,” Blake walks to her desk and sits on one of the stools she spray painted to match her theme, “what’s psyching you out?”

“I’m gonna fuck it up,” she groans again, “I just got the roster and I don’t know who to place where. I don’t know their levels, I don’t have data folders, I don’t know what to do.”

“Maks,” she peeks from under her bangs. Blake’s arms are folded and he had the look on his face again that basically says are you serious, “you’re a first year teacher. Everyone knows you’re just now getting ready and you don’t know everything and that is fine. That’s why you have Medusa,” Maka snorts at the mention of her teammate, “and you have a whole staff ready to help you.”

“But I don’t want to have to ask, I feel like I should already know what to do! I went through four years of college for it!”

“If you were supposed to know everything about your job, you wouldn’t be a teacher.” 

She nods to his words and looks at the roster on her desk. Seventeen names, seventeen little minds in the palm of her hands. Seventeen futures she needs to teach and guide. Seventeen lives she is going to influence for forever.

“Don’t zone off,” Blake snaps his fingers in front of her, “I see it on your face. You’re going to be fine. Remember, I’m here if you need anything. And the whole staff.”

He leaves then, leaving Maka sitting in silence in her room. She takes one last look at the roster, takes a deep breath and goes to work.

She is sitting on the floor, feeding sheets of lamination filled with name tags, calendar numbers, and probing questions, when her door opens. She doesn’t even turn around, figuring it’s Blake, and continued doing her work. But the throat clear behind her is unusual and she turns around to see someone who is definitely not Blake.

He’s tall, taller than Blake. A t-shirt marked with an inspiring quote is taunt across his chest. His hair is bleach white, eyes blood red, and face grimacing from the smell of lamination. His eyes wander over the room before falling back onto her and his lips twitch into a smile, though it looked painful.

“Maka Albarn?” his voice is gravelly as he adjusted the one-strap bag across his chest.

“In the flesh,” she pulls the laminated sheet from the machine and stands up, knees popping from sitting for so long. “Are you the tech guy? My smartboard hasn’t been working properly and I’m not sure how to set it up to my laptop.”

“No, I’m not,” he walks into the room, the door closing behind him, “but I can help you with that. The name is Soul Evans.”

“Evans? Are you the music teacher?”

“No, that would be my brother,” he scratches the back his head and his eyes flick around the room again, “it’s pretty bright in here. Kinda hurts the eyes.”

“Well, yellow is a positive color,” Maka crosses her arms, “I don’t want to be rude or anything, but who are you exactly?”

“They didn’t tell you?” he cocks a snowy brow. Maka shakes her head and shifts her weight. “Figures. This district sucks. I’m your new co.”

“Co?”

“Co-Teacher. They increased the class size and hired me to teach with you. We have twenty-six little demons to teach together.” He swings his bag around himself as the floor falls from under Maka’s feet. He digs inside his bag before pulling out of a manila folder and hands it to her. Inside is a class roster with both of their names at the top and the names of twenty-six students. Some of them were from her original roster and the others were names she didn’t recognize. If felt like the world had froze.

“Twenty-six?” Her voice hitches and she feels her heart pick up. Breathe, her mind tells her, but words are jumping around in her head and she can’t catch them.

“You had no idea,” Soul sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “okay, let’s go see the Doc and talk this out. We have time still to sort out some room stuff, discuss the lessons for the first week, maybe we can meet-up --,”

“I can’t teach twenty-six kids,” she clutches the papers, knuckles white, “I could barely wrap my head around seventeen kids. But twenty-six? That’s crazy! And now you need a-a desk?”

“Are you okay?” He knitts his eyebrows together, “I mean, we just have to do a couple trainings together to get the hang of what to do and how our styles work. I’ve co-taught in the past, so it won’t be too bad. Haven’t you worked with, like, assistants?”

“This is my first year,” she all but whimpers, looking at him. Then the tears start and she lets out a groan, spinning around and walking to her desk. She slumps behind it and looks at the list in her hands again, tears rolling down her cheeks. She lets out a deep, shaking breath and leans forward, fingers digging into the tightness at the top of her ponytail. 

“Okay, so,” Soul’s voice is moving closer to her, more calming than his previous tone, “we’ll go to the Doc, see where the message got missed. Then, we’ll figure out where to go from there, right?”

“It doesn’t matter,” her voice is breaking, “it’s already done. It’s not like-like going back through files will prepare us for what is to come. I mean, look, I am already a mess and kids haven’t even shown up yet!”

“Every teacher has a messy spot.”

“You should check out our teammate,” Maka snorts and sits back up taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to have an … outburst like that. Just, just give me a second.”

“Okay.”

She hears the sound of chair feet moving across the carpet and feels his presence across from her. She wonders if he thinks she is a freak, some kind of crazy lady who shouldn’ be teaching. But, when she opens her eyes, now free of tears, he is simply sitting with his cheek in palm and eyes half-lidded as if there was no care in the world; as if he didn’t just see his now co-teacher ball her eyes out and whine for a solid minute. 

His eyes catch hers and he smirks a little. “You okay now?”

“‘M okay,” Maka sighs, resisting the urge to allow more tears to fall, “okay, okay. Just ... I’m gonna run to the bathroom and try not look like I just bawled my eyes out for a whole minute.”

“I’ll meet you in the Doc’s office,” Soul makes the way towards her -- their classroom door. “And Maka? Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. We can talk about the details and whatnot later. We’re partners this year so, let’s keep it cool, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she smiles, eyes beginning to feel less puffy, “see you in Dr. Mortimor’s office.”

--

“The order came through about three days ago,” Dr. Mortimor is sitting in his office chair, looking at his dual screen computer, and twisting an end of his moustache between his fingers. “I requested another unit to be added because of enrollment, but the district decided to do a co-teaching classroom instead. So, I conducted some interviews and then told them my picks. They had the ultimate decision and then sent a message to our secretary. She then put the letter in Ms. Gorgon’s box to deliver to you, Ms. Albarn, because your mailbox isn’t set up yet.”

“What?” Maka feels her face go white, “But I never got that letter.”

“I’ll talk to Ms. Gorgon,” Dr. Mortimor turns in his chair and faces the two. “But for now, take the rest of the day as a chance to get to know each other and add some of Mr. Evans touch to the classroom! I am sure there only needs to be a few adjustments to make Mr. Evans comfortable. Isn’t that right?”

Soul puckers his lips slightly at Dr. Mortimor’s words but nods nonetheless. Dr. Moritmor smiles at both of them and then stands up, revealing that his bottom half is a pair of cargo shorts while his upper half dons a light blue button down and matching tie combo. His smile seems to get larger, upper lip twitching with his moustache. He excuses himself to go to a meeting and then disappears through his office door.

“So, what do you do in your free-time?” Soul smirks and Maka glares at him, crossing her arms.

“You can’t just joke at a time like this! And I can’t believe they just dumped you here, without telling me.” The two start making their way back to her -- their classroom.

“I guess they tried to,” Soul buries his hands into his pockets, “I mean, who is Ms. Gorgon that was mentioned?”

“That one teammate I mentioned even earlier. She’s, ah, kinda reserved. But she’s the team-leader because there’s only two classrooms. She’s also my mentor. She’s mostly just given me some extra books from her library to add to mine. That’s really it.”

“She’s supposed to give you resources and information from the different meetings she attends,” Soul opens the door for Maka to her -- their classroom, and she mutters a thanks, “let’s see if she put the letter on your desk. Or maybe just forgot?”

“You obviously haven’t even been in the same room as her,” Maka snorts, rubbing her hands over her face, “she drains the life out of any environment. She told me I was gonna screw up the kids.”

“That’s not a very helpful mentor,” Soul looks around the room, “so maybe we should move on from the letter. I’m here, I’m getting paid. You’re here, you’re getting paid. And, we can’t change what the district wants. So, let’s talk room arrangements. Now that there’s more kids, we need to straighten this place out.”

“And we need more desks.” Maka adds.

“And a group table for me.”

“And more materials.”

“Laptops.”

“Library books.”

The two look at each other and Maka feels a twinge of tension hit her. Her face flushes, with frustration or embarrassment, she isn’t sure. And, she isn’t sure if she wants to think too hard about which one it may be. 

She sighs and rolls her shoulders before tightening her ponytail. The two scanned the room and almost naturally they both head for the desks and start rearranging them. She had originally made the desks into groups, but because of the increase of students, they adjust the desks into more of a row style, putting three desks in each row and then making two columns with a big aisle down the middle. Soul excuses himself for a moment after they arrange the desks and returned with the custodian and ten more desks. 

They move the desks, change a group table to Soul’s desk, and set up the laptops into an accessible cabinet. While Soul ensures the laptops chargers are working, Maka moves bookshelves and creates a larger, wider classroom library. Slowly but surely, the room becomes a space that can comfortably hold twenty-six kids and two adults. 

A list had been made of the additional things they needed, materials from the store for students and supplies the school needed to provide. They sit at Maka’s desk, hunched over and mumbling about who will take what responsibility when Blake shows up with a bag of take-out.

“You must be Wes’s brother,” Blake settles at Maka’s desk and starts digging for food in the bag. 

“The one and only,” Soul takes a container of lo mein from the man with a nod, “it’s going to be a little weird working with him after all this time, but I guess it’s cool.”

“Did you guys use to work together before?” Maka asks, twisting a forkful from her own container of lo mein. The two of them had been so focused on fixing the room up they didn’t have time to actually get to know each other.

“No, when he got his degree he moved here. I stayed up north for a little longer and moved down here a few years ago. I was a reading coach at Brook Elementary but then Wes told me about your school, I contacted Doc about any positions and interviewed for here. District had the ultimate say though, as we found out.”

“So you’re a reading coach?”

“I have a Kindergarten through 5th Grade Bachelor’s Degree with Reading and ESE Endorsements. So when I got hired on at Brook, they used me for Reading.”

“I guess it must have been nice to focus on one thing,” Maka looks at her food, pushing it around, “thinking about planning for all four subjects gives me a little anxiety.”

“Aren’t you team planning?” Blake raises a brow, “Sid and I split the semester. I get K-2 planning and he does 3-5 and then we swap. Some classroom teachers will split the subjects.”

“Ah, no, I haven’t heard anything from Gorgon. She’s barely spoken to me.”

“You should talk to the Doc about that,” Soul pushes the remainder of his dinner forward, “A mentor is supposed to actually help you, you know. I’m gonna leave now, though. I’ll get here early to get some of the materials from our list. You guys have a good night.”

“You too,” Blake cracks a big smile, “look forward to working with you!”

“I’ll swing by the store tomorrow morning to get more notebooks and folders,” Maka smiles gently toward Soul who returns the gesture, “get enough sleep, long day tomorrow.”

Soul nods and leaves, closing the door gently behind him. Maka breaks her gaze from where Soul left and looks to Blake who was leaning back and smirking dangerously. She rolls her eyes and feels her cheeks flush before mumbling at him to shut up and help her clean up their dinner.