#there's a near dead mall near my house

[camelpimp]

Anger inducing

[edgebug]

Okay so i like to get in my car and drive to the mall parking lot and sit and do work. I like to do this because the adhd squirrels that eat my brain normally live at home and I'm able to get more work done out of the house. So I sit in my car by this bus stop near the mall

So today this woman approaches the passenger side window and tries to talk to me. And i open the window a crack, I've spoken to her before, she's seems nice. she doesn't communicate very well, which is fine, of course.

So we make small talk, chat about the weather or whatever, and then she gets on the bus

So this time she asked "Where do you live?"

"Oh, I live in [REDACTED]"

"Oh, wonderful... in a house, or...?"

"Yes, my wife and i live in a house, we're very lucky"

Utter confusion. A long pause.

"Your husband?"

"No, my wife."

Another moment of confusion

"How do you do that?"

"...What?"

A look of shock. "Are you a boy?"

Me, not wanting to go into gender 101: "No, I'm not a boy"

"Are you a woman???"

Me, REALLY not wanting to go into gender 101: "W-well, I'm not--I'm not a man, haha!"

"Oh. And you are trying to change that?"

"Uh--well, no," I said, beginning to sweat, "I'm not--I was born not a man and I'm still not a man, haha"

"...Your wife is a man?" she asked, with trepidation

"No," i said, "she's a woman!" I don't mind being very clear on this concept, the very notion of dykery can be shocking to some, i know, and I'm okay being the what is apparently the first gay this woman has ever met

Incredulous look in response. "How do you do that?!"

"How do you do what?" I asked, expecting a question about the legality of gay marriage, or about how I knew i was gay, etc.

she looked me dead in the eye, gestured vaguely, and said

"SEX!"

"WHAT?"

"How do you sex??"

"--I think that's a better question for Google, ma'am," I said desperately

She made a dismissive gesture. "You can tell me."

"N-oooo, I don't want to talk about my sex life, ma'am"

"It's okay, ill tell you if it's not okay"

"No, I really don't want to--"

"Oh! You use plastic man? You just kiss each other or...?"

"Have a great day ma'am" i say and close my window and put my car in reverse and drive away

anyway that was what happened to me just now. What a question. how DO you do sex

[bisexual-horror-fan]

Do-Over-December 8th. Threesome. "Share And Share Alike." Charles Lee Ray X Tiffany Ray Valentine X AFAB! Reader.

SO! I know this is two days late but fuck it, I had some IRL shit going on pertaining to my current shitty job not giving a single fuck about my personal safety, so shit got nuts. On we go with Kinky December 's do over. Anyway, so this is the first thing I wrote with both Chuck and Tiff a while before I even started Through The Heart Is The Only Way, it was fun coming back to it and fixing it up! I hope you all enjoy it!

---

Rating. Explicit. Length. 3.4K (Old Length.3.1K) Warnings: Public Sex. Exhibitionism. Voyeurism. Blood. Violence. Murder. Vaginal Fingering. Cunnilingus. Dirty Talk. Teasing. Rough Oral Sex. Blow Job. Vaginal Sex. Strap-On Sex. Sex Toys. Threesome. Smoking. Chucky Is A Bastard, Tiff Is An Angel, What Else Is New? 

---

How the three of you met was quite unusual. It was most assuredly not a traditional meet-cute that lead you to getting to know them.

You were working late one night which was strange enough as it was, you normally are not one to do the closing shift, it was a long and hard day, retail work was so damn tedious and tiring. You were almost out of here though, about to pack up and leave, the mall you worked at was almost totally empty by this point, the cleaning tonight ran long after your hectic day. Cleaning like this was not even a usual task, but the dedicated cleaner called out sick, so you had to step up. You were just returning something to the back and grabbing your shit, you would be out of here. No one else was around, or so you thought. 

You were walking across the tiled floor, the back of the house finally in sight, and you started to lose your footing, something wet underneath your shoes making you slip, your arms flying out, steadying yourself quickly, you managed to avoid falling, a close call.  You breathed a sigh of relief at your near miss and looked down to see-

Blood.

Your mouth feels dry, your brows furrow, and you are shocked. It was unmistakable. Thick and syrupy and deep red, near black, the smell of iron hits as you looked around and could hear something, you weren’t actually as alone as you initially thought. You swallowed thickly, and your eyes flicked to the door nearby. 

You could leave. 

Just run and go home and forget you ever saw this-

Eyes back down and you cursed under your breath. Your shoes were in the blood, you’d track footprints, how would you explain yourself? A deep breath as you thought for a moment. 

And then you decided to say fuck it and see if you could find the source. Not the smartest of ideas, but you didn’t have many options. The phone was in the backroom, you couldn’t call for help, and you’d try to be quiet. You proceeded forward carefully and quietly until you found just what you were looking for-but not what you expected to see at all.

There was a body, the source of the blood, yes, but there was something that was much more eye-catching in this aisle. Seems whoever did this wasn’t alone. Now, on an average day? You laying your eyes on this couple would have made you stare but catching them like this? You stopped dead and couldn’t move, transfixed by this couple a few feet away, thus far unaware of your presence. 

They were both a little bloody and, as it seems, currently having what looks to be very passionate and intense sex against the shelves in this aisle, mere feet away from this poor victim. 

The woman of the couple was fucking gorgeous, blond hair and dark lipstick and killer make up, dark clothes with a gothic kind of vibe with undeniable style, skirt hiked up and a heel on one of the lower shelves. She had her hands on the man, one fisted in his long red hair and the other gripping the back of his jacket, fuck, even her manicure looked perfect. And while she was something to marvel at, you were still drawn to the man currently drawing those sounds from her, hushed, but you could still hear them in the deathly quiet store. 

One hand under her thigh, holding her leg up, the other one of the shelves near her head, what you figured was the murder weapon, a bloody knife still clenched in his fist as he fucked into her. He was still mostly dressed, pants barely pulled down enough to get inside of her, his jacket still on, obviously both needing each other right then, and you were unbelievably into the sight of them together. 

Her head lolled back, the most delicious sounding moan crossing her lips as her head now rested against one of the shelves and her eyes that were previously closed open, and she caught sight of you. You should have hid a little better. The two of you made eye contact, and you contemplated running, she tugged on the sleeve of his jacket and said, “Chucky-we aren’t alone.”

Fucking God above, her voice.

The man, Chucky apparently, stilled and looked over his shoulder at you, he seemed none too pleased about being interrupted like this if that intense look was anything to go by, could you recall a time you saw eyes more blue than his? Okay, shit, what was wrong with you right now? He looked about ready to pounce and kill you for disturbing this and for catching them post murder and mid-fuck, and you were over here thinking about how fucking good they both looked. 

“Seems like we ain’t.” his voice too, yeah, you were in deep trouble.

You were frozen in place still, your mind was racing however, you noticed he clenched that knife tighter, and that beautiful blonde woman looked almost excited and urged him on, “Do it.”

You knew it was do-or-die time, you said quickly, before he could make a move,“I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone!”

A scoff and stifled laughter, your heart is hammering as he rolled his eyes, and she covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed, he spoke first, “Oh never heard that one before right, Tiff?”

That wasn’t a good sign. They were both using their names in front of you, uncensored, obviously unconcerned about you identifying them, their intention to kill you is crystal clear. 

“Oh yeah, never, ever heard that one. Real original.” He said is so sarcastically as her laughter was dying off. You need to implore them, appeal to their humanity if you have any hope of getting out of this. Yet to this day you still weren’t 100% sure where this next part came from, but you said,“I can help cover this up! I’ll help, so if I talk I’ll be in just as much trouble.”

You said it with such conviction. They shared a look, confused, clearly. She spoke first, this time looking back over to you, “Now that’s one I haven’t heard before.”

“Yeah. Now, why would you want to do somethin’ like that?”

It took a lot of guts to be honest, you weren’t sure what was making you feel so bold, you so weren’t normally like this. I mean, who does this? Stumbling upon a couple who just killed someone and instead of any normal reaction, fear or just anything, you were turned on. 

Fuck it. You might die tonight, why not lay it all out there? You had nothing to lose.

“Because I…I want in on this-” You gestured vaguely and cleared your throat, “You know?”

It took a moment for the realization to hit, but yeah, they both knew. He smirked and said, “No, I don’t think I know. Why don’t you tell us?”

Fuck. 

They made you spell it out. 

It’s hard, but you do as they wanted, you tell them in a rush, “This, I want to be with you…Both of you, I-I want it so badly that I’ll help you cover this up, just let me prove myself, prove I’m worth your time and the trouble.”

Oh, they liked you.

Just from that they liked you, but when they had you between them, cemented it. The way you gasped when Tiffany fingered you and the way you trembled and moaned when Chucky had you bent over and gripping one of the shelves still standing in the pool of blood they had spilled was something special. You were hot and fun, and took direction well too. 

Disposing a body with three was also easier than when it’s just them. They kept seeing you, and you just kinda slipped into it, they were already together, and you ended up becoming their third. 

They filled you in on what happened that night after the fact, some asshole that they had almost taken out, but he managed to run off, he took off into the backdoor of your store, and they had caught him and killed him right there. You realized your co-worker had left the backdoor open earlier when they took the garbage out which gave the two their way in, you normally scolded said co-worker for such carelessness, but now you were thankful they fucked up that night, or you might have never met them. 

So that was how you met. 

You had been seeing them for months now, you had essentially moved in. Holidays fast approaching, they had been out earlier doing some shopping, you had been as well, fussing trying to figure out what would be the best to get for them but coming up empty thus far. You had got home before them, had started making dinner when they both came in, you heard bags dropped near the door. You had come out of the kitchen to greet them and noticed the pair of them are a little dishevelled, if it was someone else, someone who was not you, who wasn’t used to looking for those signs they might have missed it. 

But not you.

You noticed the smudged flecks of blood and the tension, the overall energy, it was always like this when they came home after another kill. It reminded you of how you met. And the other nights they came home after that kind of thing, it made you squirm.

“Hey sweet thing.”

You loved how she said that when Tiffany greeted you walked over to you first, heels clicking on hardwood and her hands on your face, her gloves felt soft and cold as she kissed you. Your hands reaching out and gripped her coat as you tilted up more into the kiss, fuck, it felt good. She pulled away, hands still on your face, and you were looking into her eyes and she asked, “How was your day?”

“Good.” You responded with a soft smile before asking,“Yours?”

“Wonderful. Better to be home.” She was always so sweet to you, so caring, your gaze broke away, and you saw Chucky there taking his scarf and jacket off and hanging them up. From the body language you could tell just where this was going, you looked back to Tiffany, and she said, “Go to the bedroom, we’ll be in a minute. Okay?”

You didn’t need to be told twice. A quick nod and her hands left you as you scurried off to the bedroom. 

Sitting on the bed, waiting like this. It always got to you. It was always intense when they came home after a kill. You didn’t like knowing all the details, but you couldn’t help being curious about it, if you asked they would tell you, but you didn’t always ask. 

Curiosity got the better of you tonight. 

Soon you were pressed between the two of them, not in a dissimilar fashion to how you were that first night and so many others afterwards. Tiffany was behind you, leaning against the headboard, her fingertips tracing lightly over exposed skin, and you had your back to her chest as your pants were being pulled off by Chucky. You could go on and on about Tiffany’s beauty, but there was something about him that couldn’t be ignored either. Something about the look in his eyes or how he spoke to you, his hair, maybe it was all of it that made him so attractive to you? A deep breath from you before you asked quietly, “How’d it go this time?”

You knew they hadn’t planned on doing anything like that when they went out today, but sometimes things just happened, it was supposed to just be shopping, not slashing more than just prices. They loved to tell you, Chucky in particular liked it, he liked it best when you asked during these times, clothes being stripped away as they touched you. He liked how much you squirmed, almost ashamed by how much you wanted to hear about it while they did this. 

Holiday shopping could always get crazy, some asshole pissed Chuck off, not like that was hard to do, and it was easy enough to get him into an alley and of course he had his knife on him and that was that. You had been stripped by this point, re-positioned, on your knees, Tiffany still leaning into your back, whispering in your ear as her hand was between your legs, touching you softly, fingers stroking through your folds, “Always get so wet when we tell you about it.”

“Mmm they must really like it.” Chucky mused.

They both liked to tease you about how into this you were and that always made it worse, made you want to hide your face and your head dipped down and Chucky didn’t like that. Grabbed by your hair, head forced back up making you look at him in the eyes and he asked, “Do you like it?”

Tiffany stopped touching you causing you to whine, she kissed your temple and she said low, “C’mon, if you want more, you gotta answer him.”

You squirmed and Tiffany slipped her other hand around to palm one of your breasts as encouragement, you forced it out, saying, “Yes I-I like it.”

That was what he wanted to hear, it made him smirk, so smug and self-satisfied, he kept gripping your hair as he pulled you down, you had one hand around him, had been stroking him while they had told you about it, and now he wanted more. You wanted to give and give as much as they gave to you, your mouth opening and tongue running over the head of his cock as you kept looking up at him, and Tiffany resumed touching you. Once you slipped his head past your lips he sucked a harsh inhale through his teeth and as Tiffany’s skilled fingers circled your clit you moaned against him and fuck, it all just felt right. 

Being shared by them was fucking amazing. You loved the dynamic of it all. Particularly for moments like this. 

You had been going at your own pace but good ol’ Chuck had gotten tired of that, pulling you towards him with his hand still on your head and his hips thrusting forward into your mouth, being rough and taking his pleasure how he wanted it from you, Tiffany touching you and being so sweet and soft, encouraging. “You take it so well, sweetheart, look at you.”

One hand stroking down your back gently as she had two fingers fucking in and out of you, one particularly hard thrust into your mouth made you gag a little and that made Tiff click her tongue disapprovingly and speak up, “Why are you always so rough with them?”

A laugh from him, another thrust, harder, another gag from you and he responded, “What? They like it! Don’tcha?”

A hard pull on your hair, another thrust that made your eyes roll back, and you clenched down on Tiffany’s fingers with a nod. You did love it, adored the dichotomy of the two of them being with you at once, “See?”

The look on his face, once again, smug as hell, a shit eating grin, he knew the effect he could have on you, how much him being so hard on you while Tiffany showed you such softness and affection, got to you. He could feel it in every look and action, every single touch and movement.

You swear you could feel Tiffany roll her eyes behind you, her thumb rubbed over your clit as her fingers curled inside of you, making you whine all over again as she said, “Asshole.”

You weren’t sure why, but you loved how they talked to each other, the light kind of teasing they did, banter and name-calling, sometimes a little too harsh, yet you could tell the undeniable love under the surface. 

Such a mess by this point, drool running down your chin from the throat fucking, hair messier from how Chucky had been holding it, deep purple lipstick marks left over your skin from Tiffany kissing you. There was mess on your thighs, shaking, already very needy.

“She ready?”

You were. She asked, “Mmm you want it sweetie?” You nodded once, mouth still stuffed full of cock, and that is how you ended up now. 

This right here was one of your favourites. On your hands and knees, getting fucked, strong hands on your hips, pulling you back onto him as your face was buried between your girlfriend’s thighs. Tiffany loved how hard you tried, it was difficult to maintain a good rhythm when you were being split open on his cock like this, but you were getting better and better at it. How you moaned against her dripping pussy was hot as Hell for her, not to mention how fun it was to watch you struggle to continue to please her, your tongue slipping up through her folds and over her twitching clit.

I mean, it was easy to see why you loved it so much, she tasted amazing and every sigh and moan you could pull from her sounded nothing short of divine. Tiffany was insanely talented with her own mouth and fingers, you only hoped you could give back half of what she did to you.

It was impossible to get over how lucky you felt, how spoiled you were, you had every single thing you could ever want. You were truly endlessly grateful. 

“Look so fuckin’ good.” Of course Chucky wasn’t going to complain about the view, his two favourite people in his life, spread in front of them, buried to the hilt in you as your hands were on Tiffany’s outer thighs as you shivered and moaned and ate her out. 

“Mmmf the best.” Tiffany confirmed, her praise meant the world to you, looking up to her, tongue running over her clit again with another moan, and it was so arousing to you that you clenched down again drawing a moan from the man behind you. 

It always seemed to work out like that, it was easy for the three of you, all feeding off of each other, it often happened, someone doing something to someone else and the reaction it pulled adding to it, making it hotter, made it feel better. And so it went. 

It usually played out like this, Chucky would love to have you first, make you a mess, almost forcing you to cum for him, pulling you over that edge like it was some kind of race. You would be left sore and well stretched, he was rough as always, and after he had cum inside you, he would watch as Tiffany had you. He would relax totally amused, cigarette in hand as Tiffany would play with you, much softer and sweeter, she wouldn’t be rough as you helped prep the strap-on, not like it needed much when your pussy was stuffed with cum. 

“Such a good mouth.” She praised, and she would gently pull you away, your mouth sliding off of the strap-on with a wet and audible pop, and she would lie you down and kiss you so sweetly as she lined up and filled you. 

Your thighs on either side of her hips as she was on top of you, and she would make you cum too of course, the build slow and gentle and damn intense in a different kind of way, and she’d be praising you all along the way.

Or it would be that way until Chucky had enough of just watching and got his hands into the toy box. Having her fuck you while he would use a vibrator on you was nearly too much to handle and they both knew it, the way you would squirm and twitch was too good to pass up, and the way it would make Tiffany lose control just a little bit and get a tad rougher was more than welcome. 

You knew the dinner preparations you had started earlier would be no good, there was no way they were close to done with you. You could always order in later, you supposed. 

It was truly a blessing and a curse having two partners, it usually meant no rest for you, one could take it easy until the other was ready for more, not to mention when they were both using you at once. 

Both of them had such presence and had such strong personalities, they seemed to fight often but again when it came to you? 

Sharing came easy.

[golbrocklovely]

so i went to the mall today and my mall has a zumiez in it. i did in fact see snc's merch in there, which was interestingly surreal.

i'm still taken aback by how popular they are sometimes.

that being said, i need to set the scene for you.

first off, i haven't been inside of a zumiez since i was in high school. where i live and when i went to school, you didn't go in that store bc the workers were kinda douchey and literally would call you a poser for not being a skater/stoner kid. it was odd times in the early 2010s lol

plus i've never cared for the styling in that store so it's never been on my radar. but i went in. and… it was odd.

it was me and this young couple looking at shoes. next thing i noticed, dead fucking quiet. like no music at all playing. which was very odd bc it made it feel like i wasn't supposed to be in there.

snc's section was all the way in the back. i go, i see it, i sneak a pic. here's proof of that:

then a worker, the only one btw, comes up to me and tells me "sam and colby's merch is selling like crazy"

this manlet of a guy comes over and starts talking to me. he kinda looked like argyle from stranger things, except white lol

we start talking and he very casually tells me that he actually met colby bc zumiez flied him out to some meeting thing for when snc were gonna drop their merch in stores, and he accidentally met him without realizing who he was. colby was nice and talked about how he was excited to drop xplr, and it wasn't until he (the worker) was telling the story to someone else, that that's when the person pointed out who he met.

he then said "those guys….. are very interesting". and it was in a bit of a tone of like amusement and questioning. i agreed with him on that one.

and then he asked me if colby got cancer from the conjuring house….

even in real life i can't escape that place lmao

i told him that no, he didn't get it from the house. he was already in remission when they went there. he said he thought he heard that that's where he got it from. and i said, "no. but some ppl think he got it from robert the doll. the haunted doll you're not supposed to make eye contact with or take pics of in florida."

midway thru me talking to him that couple came up and asked for some pair of shoes. fun fact, the guy was asking for like a size 7 or 8 shoe and i became extremely aware in that moment that i had bigger feet than that kid so… that's fun.

i wear a size 8.5 in mens, 10 in womens.

after that the guy asked "why would they make direct eye contact with the doll?" i said it's believed that if you do that bad things happen to you, then he said it's not worth it. i agree. and then i left.

i'm actually shocked at the idea that other ppl near me know of snc. i know that sounds bizarre but i've never met someone that liked them. well, i did have the one coworker years ago that thought colby was hot, and then someone in the supermarket pointed to my xplr hoodie and said they liked it. but other than those two random instances, i can't imagine what an snc fan even looks like lol

[gaywrites365]

"PARENTS"

The first time it happened, was the second week of November.

Cady was outside the school, she's about to walk home when some tall man who oddly had Gretchen's eyes approached her.

"I've seen you on Gretchen's Instagram. Do you know my daughter?" He asked.

Cady doesn't know why, but this man gives her the creeps. Nevertheless, she nodded. He hummed in response. "Call her and tell her I'm looking for her."

"Okay." She answered and went back in the school. She really could've just called Gretchen's phone, but this man rubs her off the wrong way. She eventually found the Plastics. "Uh hey guys, there's someone outside looking for Gretchen. It's your dad, I think."

Panic flooded Gretchen and Karen's faces. For a moment, so did Regina's, but she quickly snapped out of it. "Tell him that Gretchen isn't available."

"Why?" Asked Cady.

"Just come up with any excuse, I don't care. Just tell him she's not available, and make sure he leaves. As in, out of sight."

Cady wanted to ask more, butbshe took one look at Gretchen's shaking hands, Karen comforting her and genuine (who would've thought) worry on Regina's face though she's clearly trying to hide it, and she just went with it.

He believed the lie Cady told him and left. She texted their group chat and told him he's gone, and that she's going home.

She wondered about it all day.

~~

The second time it happened, was also within that week. Two days after.

They're all at Regina's house. Things were happening like it normally would. Then, Regina's mom burst in the door.

Regina groaned "Geez mom, don't you know how to k-"

"Karen's mother is outside." Mrs. George says in one breath.

Cady saw the panic in their eyes again. Regina, once again, shook off the panic. She opened her window, and untied something next to it-

It's a ladder.

Why does she have a ladder next to her window?

"Cady, don't ask questions. Gretchen, Karen, you know the drill."

They got out of the house, and Cady followed the three of them to some sort of garden/greenhouse near the George residence. Karen immediately sat at a chair next to the door and starting frantically tapping her leg, continously repeating the sentence "Why is she here?"

Gretchen is next to her, trying her best to comfort her. Regina is on her phone, looking as if she's waiting for a message.

Eventually, Regina breathed out a small sigh of relief. "She's gone, we can go back." Gretchen pats Karen's head and gently helps her stand up.

They never mentioned it for the rest of the day, and Cady still hasn't asked.

So she decides to tell Janis and Damian about both incidents.

~~

Cady most definitely didn't expect panic to graze their eyes as well.

"They didn't get to them, right?" Asked Damian, there's worry in his tone.

"No, they hadn't." Cady answered.

Both Janis and Damian sighed in relief. Cady is now extremely curious. Janis looks at her dead in the eye. "Caddie, there is one thing the Plastics genuinely do for each other, heck, even us. Now, any time Gretchen's dad or Karen's mom, heck, even Regina's dad, tell them they aren't available."

Cady nodded. "Okay..."

Then, Janis and Damian started to tell her about a movie, as if the conversation didn't happen.

Now Cady's suspicious.

~~

The week later, Cady and the Plastics were at the mall. On their way to the food court, some guy that's clearly drunk who also oddly had a resemblance to Janis approached them.

"Hey! Regina, Gretchen, Karen." The man slurred out.

Cady once again noticed the panic.

What is going on recently?

"Mr. Sarkisian." Said Regina.

"Where the fuck is Janis?" He slurred out, with a bit of anger. "Her nor her mother are answering my calls."

Cady hears Regina mutter "Why should they" under her breath, while Gretchen answers him. "Oh we haven't seen them in a while. They're probably out of town."

He scoffs. "Fucking pricks." And walks away.

Once he's out of sight, Karen turns to her. "Cady, you share a class with Janis, right?"

Cady nods. "I do. We share homeroom."

"Tell her that her dad's in town." Said Regina.

Later that night, Cady tells Janis and Damian.

Janis looks scared. Damian goes to hug her. "It's okay, we'll just to be wary of where we go."

"I know." Janis exhales shakily. "How the fuck is he back?"

"I don't know, but we have to tell your mom." Said Damian.

Janis nods. "Stay here, Cads. We'll be back."

"Okay." Cady responds.

This is starting to be concerning.

~~

That weekend, Cady, Janis, and Damian all went to a local frozen yogurt place. Janis was talking about how she's definitely passing History class, and Damian just groans because of it.

"Damian." A voice behind them called.

Panic took over Janis and Damian's face. They both shook it off and turned to face him.

"Dad." Damian responded.

"Mr. Leigh." Said Janis.

Cady's eyes widen in shock.

Damian's father scoffed. "You're still hanging out with the lesbian? And I assume you're still gay."

"Yes to both. What of it?" Damian's voice is shaking.

His dad scoffed even more obnoxiously. "You're a disgrace." He looked around. "You're lucky this is a public place." He then walked past Damian and shoved his shoulder.

Janis immediately checked on Damian. "You okay, Dame?"

Damian nodded. "At least he didn't do anything."

Janis sighed. "I guess..."

Damian then shook his head. "Anyway, we came here for frozen yogurt, we're getting our yogurt. Let's go."

Cady is getting very, very concerned.

~~

Monday, Cady and the Plastics were outside. Regina asked Gretchen to hold onto her phone, because she's going to check something in her car.

Gretchen and Karen's eyes widen. "Regina wait!" Gretchen says.

"What Gretch-" Regina is suddenly standing face to face with this tall man who has the same glare as her. "Father."

What the fuck?

"Where's your mother?" He asks.

"At work." She answers.

"Tell her I need money asap." He demands.

Regina nods then walks back towards them, and Cady can see that her face is neutral, but her eyes say otherwise. "How's Kylie?"

"She's grounded. And you know what happens when I ground her." Her dad says with a slightly mocking tone.

Cady saw terror flash Regina's eyes. "Oh?"

Her father nods. "I have to go." He then gets in a car two parking spaces from them, and drives away.

"Gretchen, give me my phone." Said Regina. Gretchen immediately complies. Regina opens her phone and quickly goes through her contacts. Cady sees that she clicks on a contact called-

The name of that contact is "Little Sis ♡"

...

What?

"Come on, Kylie, pick up." She gets in her car and drives away.

"I hope Kylie doesn't have to go the hospital. It's scary there." Says Karen. Gretchen nods. "I hope so too."

What is happening?

~~

Cady tells Janis and Damian once again. The panic doesn't shock her anymore.

"All of them are here? Now?" Damian gulps. "How the fuck?"

"I'm gonna inform aunt Betty." Said Janis, as she pulls out her phone.

Janis's aunt Betty is a police officer, Cady's met her once-

...

Oh.

Oh shit.

And then realization hit Cady like a lighting bolt in the face.

Karen's mom, Gretchen's dad, Damian's dad, Janis's dad, Regina's dad...

The one thing the Plastics genuinely do for each other, and even for Janis and Damian...

The relief from Janis and Damian when they learned that Gretchen's dad and Karen's mom didn't get to them...

The panic and terror on their faces...

Holy shit.

Those parents of theirs are ab*s*ve.

Cady knew there's more to their history than what she has been told.

But she did not expect this.

One thing's for sure, she'll make sure those assholes don't come near them. Ever.

[phantomskeep]

Another hot take because I can't get the idea of queer moms ivy and harley out if my head;

So dannys on the run from the GIW (shocker) and ends up in Gotham because of Reasons™ (aka plot). He's tired, exhausted, and overall not having A Good Time. So he does what any half-dead teenager with combined mommy and daddy issues does - he finds an alley, sits down and cries a little.

Totally normal teenage super hero stuff.

When suddenly there's like a loud cackling near the entrance of the alley as well as some sus grunting noises. Danny, being a curious cat with a half life left, investigates (read: he sticks his head through a dumpster). What he sees shocks him a little bit. There's a wanna-be clown holding a green lady against a wall! Oh no! Shocker! This must be that joker guy everyones worried about, right? Because as a teenage superhero from the Midwest danny toooootally keeps up with all the other hero drama. Like an adult. He totally does, he swears it.

(or maybe alternative dimension? Or timeline?)

But so this joker lady is holding green lady hostage, right? So he steps out heroically (again, read: he falls through the dumpster and awkwardly stands there) and tells the joker lady to stop joking around and to let the hostage go!

Totally heroic.

But then joker lady and green lady look at him and kind of laugh, like "haha kid, that's funny" but dannys dead serious. Man goes "like no but seriously stop harming an innocent woman" which causes ivy to laugh and tell him he's cute. Ivy and Harley lead him on a bit to see if he's really just THAT clueless before realizing that, oh wait yeah, this kid has no idea who we are. They think it's very adorable that this child is trying to stand up to protect Harleys girlfriend/wife/lover? (idk I don't really keep up with the DC stuff) but so they kind of off hand ask Danny if he's new in town. Ofc being a (lovable) idiot he says yes. They ask if he has a place to stay. He says no.

So they abscond away to the dead mall with Danny in tow! Because if all else fails hed make a good goon.

Bonus of king shark and Danny legit getting on like a house on fire. Like he already knows a lot about plants because of Sam, but the ocean? And a talking shark? That isnt dead and wanting to fight him? The coolest thing since the Apollo 13.

[maitaiwiththecorpses]

if ur open to one shots maybe one where aru goes missing (post noi) and he fights and tries really hard to find her??

love ur writing btw

OMG YES THIS IS SO GOOD (also THANK YOU for gassing me up this week has been really hard for me and suddenly people are just being super sweet 🥹🥹???)

She’d been right next to him. In their big fluffy bed, a million miles from everything bad.

She had been right there.

“Shah?” He called out, sounding strangled. He already knew she wasn’t in the house, he could feel it in his bones.

He called for her again, his attempt futile.

Shaking, he dialed her phone, it going directly to voicemail.

What was going on?

Aiden grabbed his scimitars and his “amamma bag”- Aru loved to call it that, and-

Where was Aru??? Why is she not here???

Her phone wasn’t at home though, and he turned on the find my phone and pressed TRACK on her contact photo. It showed five miles away, in the old abandoned mall near Emory College.

Aiden buckled into the car and took off rapidly speed, breaking at least seven traffic rules in the five miles he drove. His hands were slick with panic, and he could feel his chest constricting, the same thought cycling through his head over and over again. Not again.

He parked on the street outside of where Aru was- or at least her phone was. He needed to get it together. No amount of panicking would help her if she was in trouble. He breathed deeply and searched the atmosphere for anything even close to vajra, her electrical bolt. It usually made the air more charged, a small sign he’d grown to notice over the years he’d been around Aru.

It was faint, but the smell of a storm lingered in the air. It wasn’t unlikely for Georgian Februaries to be stormy, but this smell was too… centralised. Too adamant.

He raced into the warehouse, pulling up his black hood. He heard a muffled scream and the scraping of metal, and then suddenly a thud and pure silence.

Aiden rushed forward, heart pounding in his ears. That scream was definitely Shah. When he entered the room, he saw a demon bleeding from the nose on the floor, groaning and rolling onto its side. And tired to a toppled chair, was Aru, mouth stuffed with a cloth. Aiden put her chair the right side up, pulling the gag out of her mouth with a strangled sob. She jumped into his arms, fearless, and completely unfazed, more comforting him than herself.

“I’m okay,” she told him softly. “You got me. I’m alright.”

“How did I-”

“Not important.” She interrupted. “It doesn’t matter. What does matter, though, is getting this asshole-” she gestures to the demon with a broken nose, a neat mark of her handiwork- “dead, or out of here.”

“I vote for dead,” Aiden said grimly, pulling his scimitars out.

“And I don’t,” Aru said. She walked over to her captor, the ground practically shaking with her rage as she gabbed his face and menacingly said, “who sent you, dick wad? Who told you where I live?”

The demon gave a wimper as she continued to squeeze his very broken face. “T-the woman. Pretty.”

Aru frowned. Aiden was at a loss too. “There are millions of pretty women in the Otherworld. Which one, demon?”

“Promise. Promise you won’t kill me.” Aiden couldn’t see the expression Aru made to the demon, but its shoulders sagged for a moment before clearly responding, “Opal.” And promptly dissolving into dust.

I grabbed Aru’s hand, scared she’ll disappear, too. Again.

“Opal, huh,” she murmured, eyes unfocused.

“Shah, do you need to see a doctor? Did you hit your head? Any broken bones?”

She brightened for a second, refocusing on Aiden. “No, I’m fine.”

And so she was fine.

They walked to the car, the chill winter night willing them straight back into their blankets at home, but this time?

Aiden didn’t let go.

[mysteryideasgroup]

MSA X Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost Chapter 7: The Backstories of Sarah Ravencroft and Whisp Galloway/Kate remembers her ancestor, Caleb Stein who lives in this wonderful place

At Ben's house and Flik's mansion.

Velma: Wow so this is where it all started.

Matilda: It seems all artists have their humble beginnings.

Sarah: Affirmative. Even horror writers, it seems.

Ben Ravencroft: Yes. I wrote all my early novels here. Now I spend most of my time in Europe, but I come back once a year to recharge my batteries.

Flik Galloway: Right, I wrote my horror books. Horror Novels... true.

Lewis: Oh, you mean like Arthur?

Arthur: Er, negative, Lewis. I think it was a figure of speech.

Cera: Oh. Silly me.

Ecole: Right, see it...

Mystery Teams had told Ben about the Teams earlier. He was surprisingly cool with it. Velma is near Ben’s desk chair.

Ben: Go ahead, Velma, sit down.

She does so and starts to type on his keyboard.

Velma: Jinkies, this is a dream come true.

Matilda Flik's desk chair.

Flik: Matilda, sit down.

She does so and starts to type on his keyboard.

Matilda: Oh sweet, dream true.

Daphne, Fred, Mystery Teams and Others are looking around. They see framed pictures of the book covers for “Dead Mall”, “The Caretakers Coffin” and “Skull Cap”.

Daphne: You have some cool things here Ben.

Fred: I'll say.

Stephanie: I quite agree. “Dead Mall”, “The Caretakers Coffin”, “Skull Cap” These were all books he wrote. Delightfully ghastly.

Maxy: Not really, we all don’t have to like the same thing, I suppose.

Fred walks toward a portrait over the fireplace of a woman in 1650s clothing.

Fred: So whose portrait is this?

Lewis, Bart, Marie, Marco, Michael, and Others noticed that the portrait over the fireplace of a woman in 1650s clothing.

Lewis: What’s that woman?

Ben Ravencroft: This is Sarah Ravencroft. I think it was painted by a grateful patient.

Flik Galloway: I think it’s Whisp Galloway. I think she was painted by a patient. See it...

Flashback starts.

Ben Ravencroft: Of course, she wasn't very popular with the town's doctors. Sarah was untraditional in her approach to medicine. She was a Wiccan.

Flik Galloway: She is very doctor-skilled... she heals patients. She is a Wiccan.

Fred Jones: Say what?

Lewis: ? What?

Sarah: A Wiccan, Fred. They were people who were in tuned with the forces of nature and use them for healing purposes.

Ben: Exactly, she believed in using herbs and other natural elements to draw from the Earth's powers to heal the sick. Sarah helped many people who could not afford medical treatment. She treated her patients under a large oak tree, which she believed to have healing powers.

Flik: Right, she has healed her patients. She has her journal... she has her powers to heal skills...

Sarah Quartz: Hm... I think not true... no, it’s fake stories...

Vera: Hmm... not real... it’s fake.

Vicki: 2 Females have healed Abilities? Hmm... fake...

Kate Stein: Agreed, I think what happened to the 2 healers? ... I think fake...

Flashback ends.

Kate Stein remembers her ancestor, Caleb Stein lived wonderful place

Kate Stein: Right, I think it’s my ancestor of Caleb Stein who lived here in the past.

Vivi: Hmm. I’m no expert on religion, but aren’t there still Wiccans to this day?

Arthur: I believe you’re right.

Velma: Hey, I saw a huge oak tree like that in the town square.

Vicki: Yes, my teams and I saw it as we were entering town.

Marco Silver: As did my team and I.

Ben: I've already search the area around that tree, but never found anything. That book could finally prove Sarah's innocents and that she was a Wiccan not an evil witch.

Velma: Wiccans have been misunderstood, accused of sorcery. In fact, the word "witch" comes from "Wicca."

Ben: I'm impressed, Velma.

Michael Jones: Well, Ben, you’ll be happy to know that not ALL witches are evil in this day and age.

Ben: I’m glad. You know doing research on Sarah and the wiccans lead me to read almost everything about the world of superstation. That's how I started writing stories to frighten people.

Sarah Quartz: And what marvelously frightening stories they are.

----

For @laurasanchez36

AUs Alternate Universes Crossovers belongs to me

All belongs to my msa x sd ocs sonas and my new msa x sd ocs sonas 

All belongs to her msa x sd ocs sonas and her new msa x sd ocs sonas

Mystery Skulls Animated MSA belongs to Ben and MysteryBen27 of YouTube YT Series Shows

Scooby Doo SD belongs to WB (Warner Bros) and HB (Hanna Barbera) of Animated Movies and TV Series Shows

[whitehairedanimeboyfriend]

Hey, idk if this is weird to ask but I might be ending up homeless soon and might not be able to find a shelter; you posted before about having experience with homelessness and I was wondering if you have any advice on how to survive that.

Sure thing, I can talk about that.

There are many steps to go through before you have to consider living on the streets style homelessness, first of all.

First, check with friends. Most friends will do what they can to ensure people they care about don't end up on the streets. That being said, try not to wear out your welcome. Rotate between people if you can.

Use Facebook to reach out to housing groups. Especially this time of year, a lot of people are moving out of cheap housing since school is out.

And, of course, double and triple check about shelters. Unfortunately shelters are pretty full these days. Housing prices are getting ridiculous. But, hey. Doesn't mean you shouldn't check. There are general homeless shelters but there are also specific homeless shelters. Are you running from abuse? Are you a woman? Mentally Ill? Indigenous? LGBTQ?

On that note try to connect with services particular to your situation! They will often have some great resources.

If after all that, you find yourself on the street... it's time to strategize. Thankfully we're getting into warmer seasons. Being homeless in the winter is fucking rough. Even so, make sure you have some warm clothes.

Personally I didn't find myself on-the-street homeless very often but if you get to this point, the best advice I can give you: mind your business. Do not get involved with other homeless people. Especially don't get wrapped up in other people's drama. Don't snitch, don't argue. Just mind your business and if things get heated, leave.

Try to find out where you'll physically be sleeping. Give encampments a wide berth unless you're invited to park next to someone. (and I still would be avoidant considering my previous point.) Tents can be nice to have. You might have to tear down in the morning and that can be annoying but if you're confident you can find a place to pitch one, absolutely go for it. If you're lucky you can find somewhere to set up permanently and spend most of the day there. Do not leave your belongings there unguarded, especially if you have anything valuable. You might want to consider storing valuables with a housed friend. People will take your shit if they think they can get away with it.

During the day find places like public libraries to hunker down in if you don't have a tent. I also spent some time in a hospital cafeteria. Malls with food courts are good too, the bigger the better.

Do your best not to *look* homeless. The best way to do this is to take care of your hair and take care of your clothes. Do not dye your hair unnatural colours. It's too hard to maintain when you're on the streets and it's a dead giveaway. If it's already dyed, dye it a dark, natural colour like brown or black because they will last the longest. Even if they can't house you you can find places that will let you do laundry and clean up usually. If you can't find somewhere then find single bathrooms with locking doors to wash up in. If you look clean and keep to yourself most people won't bother you in public. If you come out of a bathroom with wet hair though you might want to go somewhere else to hang out.

Charge your phone where you can and keep a portable battery. You can get pretty good ones that will last sometimes up to 72 hours. I would also advise trying to get a good data plan. These can get fairly cheap these days. I'm getting 60 GBs for 40$ a month at the moment.

If you live somewhere near the beach, consider sleeping on the beach during the day (wear sunscreen for the love of God) and being up at night. Again, this is a time where looking clean and minding your own business will help you. No one bats an eye at someone napping on a beach.

Alternative to tent: Hammock. Looks a lot less conspicuous and you can get some pretty good ones on Amazon for a decent price. If you're worried about weight get one that's graded as a two person hammock. This is better if there's a woodsy area around. No one will bat an eye at someone napping in a hammock most of the time. They're really mobile and only take a few minutes to set up.

Mostly you want to stay inconspicuous, connect to whatever resources you can, and move around as much as possible. Good luck, and I hope you figure things out.

[iamyouknow-yours]

I've seen a few people trying to decide between getting a mobility scooter and an electric wheelchair.

Mobility scooters are cheaper but both are expensive. I'm gonna tell you about my scooter and my experience with it. I have the CTM HS-115 scooter. She is red and has 3 wheels. I'll include photos at the end plus a bonus photo of my cat sitting on it.

Things:

The turning circle!!! My house has narrow passages and it can be quite difficult to maneuver the scooter because of the turning circle. Especially when I'm having a bad brain fog day. I have gotten better at maneuvering though.

Wheelchairs have a turning circle of themselves. My scooter has one that is I think around a metre? I don't remember, my memory is bad.

Also it has this really annoying function where it can't be pushed even on pushing mode if it isn't on perfectly flat ground because the automatic braking system kicks in.

I'd also have a look at the amount of rise any mobility aid you are looking at can go over because when entering inaccessible buildings (like my house, I have to lift it up/get someone else to lift it for me.

Some of these problems would not be fixed by getting not a mobility scooter but some would.

My back sometimes hurts if I'm in it for a while (because the back rest is not very tall) but I've fixed this by having a cushion and remembering to lean back all the way.

To be clear though I love my scooter. She is very useful and has loads of benefits.

And I don't know any of the downsides of a power chair because I have no lived experience with one.

She can go on pretty rough terrain. She's pretty sturdy. I've taken her to the park near my house and round my friend's garden. As well as more obvious places like the mall.

Only time I've had an issue was when I went to this very hilly place where the ground sloped to the side and then she didn't want to brake.

The driving system means I can switch which hand I use plus my friend can walk next to me and maneuver me.

There's enough space by my feet that I can put my backpack there too.

It's fit in every car I've tried it in with just regular disassembly. Except my friend's dad's two seater car but then he disassembled it more using Tools™ and it fit.

It has good battery life, it hasn't run out on me.

The system for viewing how much battery you have left is bad though. It has 3 lights (red, orange, green) and supposedly the green turns off then the orange then the red and it's dead. But me and my friends can never figure out which lights are on and which are off.

It has a blue warning light which flashes in various sequences when something is wrong. I've had the scooter for several months and have never had it flash.

Fastest speed is 6km/h which is like someone jogging.

I got them to remove the beeping it makes when it reverses because that was Terrible.

The only customisation I've done to mine so far is put stickers that tell me which direction (forwards or backwards) the controls make it go. Because it's the opposite on the left and right. Which makes it easier if you want to swap hands or have a friend maneuver you but I need the stickers to tell me which way to push or pull the lever.

I am looking for ideas on how to customise her so please give suggestions. If anyone has suggestions on how to make the back rest taller that would be so appreciated.

Please include your own advice in the reblogs/replies. Looking forward to advice for future wheelchair users who need it.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhADVL2AiGX-gwr9ekt_SJC-UcURkXCOP

That's a playlist from the british youtuber Jessica Kellgren-Fozard. It's 4 videos of her trying out and picking a mobility aid. Includes useful advice and tips. And then 1 excellent video talking about mobility aids and "giving up". That video was quite useful in convincing various family members that that was not what I was doing by getting my scooter.

My scooter's name is Atalanta after the woman from Greek mythology who could run faster than any man. I think I'm very funny.

My cane is in the background of some of the photos because I rest it next to my scooter.

[fratboychrissgfn]

HOW MUCH LONGER?

plot; you and the triplets been friends for years. you’re closest with chris though. you liked him for months now. you just.. don’t know how much longer you can hold it in.

⚠️; cussing? lol not much here, but photos of texts will be included and they’re made by me, other photos from pinterest 💕! don’t take ts serious, it’s just fiction 😊.

you’re getting ready and you get a text from chris.

( bad quality photo, oopsies!! )

a big smile appears on your face. you’re so glad chris asked. he’s never sent you a heart emoji before. either way it’s probably being used platonically. but were you using it platonically?

you get done with your make up and choose your outfit .

you drive to the triplets house. it’s now 1:25PM. you knock on the door and matt opens it. “oh hey y/n! here for chris again?” matt says. “yeah..!” you respond. matt gives you a small gentle hug since he hasn’t seen you in a bit. you hug back as chris comes from his room. “ hii y/n”chris says with a big grin as he goes in to hug you. you hug back. you feel so safe, secure and loved when he hugs you. his touch makes you feel a way you’ve never felt. he has such a gentle demeanor and you love it. how much longer til he realizes you have romantic feelings for him?

“okay well, we’re gonna head out now. let nick know we’ll be back in a few hours!” chris says as me and him walk to the driveway to my car. matt nods as he closes the front door. “can i drive? you never let me drive.” chris says as he frowns slightly as he jokes with you. “ yeah.. i don’t let you drive for a reason. maybe next time when im not in the car with you?” you smile sarcastically. “yeah whatever.” chris gets into the passenger seat as you start the engine. “mall?” you ask chris. “sure!” chris says.

about 30 minutes later into the drive, chris lets out a frustrated sigh. “what’s up?” you ask him. “nothing.. it’s just this girl. she likes me but she’s nothing close to my type and she’s such a weirdo. she collects dead frogs and hangs them on her fuckin wall. and i can’t block her cause she has so many fucking accounts. trust me.. i already tried.”

your expression changes, it softens a bit. you think to yourself, does he really think that about her?.. why has he never spoke about her?

“oh? collecting frogs and hanging them up? that’s new.. how does she look?” you ask chris. “ eh she has blonde hair, and has heterochromia eyes that are blue and green. i don’t know. i feel like i can’t see myself just standing next to her.”

you thought to yourself once again. he hates blondes? green and blue eyes.. that’s beautiful? how can he not like her? he has to be lying.

“blue and green eyes. that’s sounds pretty unique? you sure you don’t like her.? “ you ask chris. “fuck no, she really knows how to piss me off. she spams my phone with photos of stupid shit” chris says, you chuckle at that knowing his face is giving off that he’s actually irritated. “just ignore her. cmon! we aren’t hanging out TOGETHER for you to be pissed.” you say as you roll your eyes.

“ yeah you’re right, y/n. anyways though, how much longer til we get there?” chris says as he nods and puts his phone onto his lap. “uhh hmm about 15 more minutes.” you reply.

2:15PM

you guys are now at the mall. you guys head out the car and walk up to the mall. “ did you have to park that far, y/n?” chris says as he bumps ur elbow. “what? my car is new! i can’t risk it being near so many cars!” you roll your eyes.

you guys get into the mall. as you hear chris’s phone vibrate in his pocket, that girl is calling him again. you peek into his pocket and see that her name is jenny. “ oh my fucking god..” chris says as he turns his phone off and sighs in frustration. “it’s okay just have a good time. we’re hanging out to have fun and enjoy today.” you say , chris smiles at you “ mhm you’re right” chris says. the way he smiled at you just makes your heart melt. words can’t explain how much you just wanted to kiss him right there.

“ i’m gonna go check out that hat store, you gonna come or?” chris says as he points to a hat store, “ i’m okay, i’m probably gonna meet you in there.” you reply staring to the victoria secret a few stores down. “okay.” chris says as he walks off. you head into the victoria secret,

you walk in, grabbing everything you want, some pink laced underwear, aswell with another matching one that was red, you got some laced bras to match them aswell and lastly you got a few perfumes. as you’re walking to the checkout, chris comes up from behind. “hey i saw some hats i liked, i bought them already but here.” chris holds his card out for you, willing to pay for your stuff.. as always. you always loved how generous he was towards you. “chris it’s okay i got it.” you say giving him a smile, “ no y/n it’s okay” he says, as the worker scans all your items putting it into a bag, you dig into your bag getting your wallet. chris taps his card on the scanner. “chris! really? i could’ve paid for that.” you say.

“you’re all good y/n” chris says as he smiles, grabbing the bags and handing it to you

you guys walk out of the victoria secret. “thanks chris! i really could’ve paid though..” you say giving him a soft smile, “ yeah.. you’d wanna spend $150 in a store u were in for less than 15 minutes..” chris says as he nudges your shoulder softly.

about 10 minutes later you guys come across and arcade. “can we go, y/n!??” chris says as his eyes lighten up as he stares at the arcade.. you sigh “ ugh really chris?? you had to choose today?” you say, “pleaseeee, there’s a new game! cmon! we’ll have fun.” chris says as he grabs your hand, leading you to the arcade. you let out a quiet soft gasp as he grabs you hand, you nod as you guys walk into the arcade, his hand never leaving yours.

“ let’s go to that game!” chris says pointing to the newest arcade laser tag. “ fine.” you say as you put your shopping bags into the litter compartment the worker offered to you. “woah.. where did we just go?” chris says, still holding your hand as you guys walk into a huge room. “hmm let’s do the 2 versus 2 people laser tag!” chris says as he leads you to the 2 vs 2 room. “ how long are we gonna be here “ you say as you roll your eyes, but in reality you love spending time and seeing chris happy with you.

3:00PM

you guys are playing the laser tag and you and chris win. “ that was so tiring “ you say as you grab all the shopping bags. “no it wasn’t! it was great. here let me help.” chris says as he grabs the shopping bags from your arms.

“ anyways should we go get some food now?” you say, chris nods. “ wingstop?” you ask chris, “ you know me so well, y/n.” he says as he smiles.

3:45PM

you guys are now at this hill, seeing the view of the city, eating together, making jokes, enjoying everything. “ this is great chris! where’d you find this place?” you say staring at the city view of LA.

“ me and matt would come here and eat pizza together “ chris says as he laughs.

about an hour goes by and you guys are finally at the triplets house. chris knocks with the shopping bags on his arms still. nick opens the door, “ wow looks like you guys had fun” nick says, “ yeah we actually did” chris says as he pushes nick and heads upstairs to the kitchen. you’re behind chris and show nick some extra wingstop you bought for him and matt. “ got something for you and matt!” you say as you hand him the food. “thank you y/n!”

4:45PM

you leave the triplets house. and you drive back home. you get a notification from chris as you pull into the driveway.

you smiled as chris’s text, as you walk out your car carrying your bags into the house. you get another text from him.

you smile even harder.. knowing that chris doesn’t even know how much you like him & wish you guys could spend the rest of your lives together. you reply to his text, trying to act normal as if your stomach isn’t doing literal somersaults.

you sigh and roll your eyes as you already know. chris took a photo on your phone. you weren’t mad about it tho.. of course.

you stare at the photo, in your head you’re just thinking how he looks so cute in that photo.

( ummm skip forward causeee im lazy to continue this part of the story. )

the next day 5:30PM

. you’re at the triplets house, you’re waiting for your friend to come pick you up to hang out but you’re spending some time with the triplets before you go since you’ve spent time with chris mainly. “so.. where yall headed?” matt asks, “mm i’m not sure actually..” you say. you got a text from your friend, leah.

your face makes a “ 😐 “ face as you suddenly roll your eyes turning off your phone just leaving leah on read. you were excited to hang out but not anymore.

“ what’s up? ya looked bothered as fuck “ chris says nudging your shoulder as he takes a seat next to you on the couch, opening a pepsi. “ my friend just cancelled plans..” you say as you roll your eyes. “ really? damn.. it’ll be okay y/n, i mean.. you can always hangout with her another day?” nick says, “ yeah well i actually WANTED to see her today. not any other day. we haven’t hung out in months. “ you reply.

about 30 minutes later, nick takes a nap in his room while matt is doing a twitch stream. you and chris, still on the couch. you’re about to take off your jacket, as you’re about to take your arm out of the sleeve, chris stops you. “ hey y/n.. y’know about your friend?” chris says as he holds your shoulder, “yeah? what about her.” you say with a annoyed tone as you speak of her. “ you think.. maybe i could just take you out?” chris says giving you a bright smile.

your heart stops for a moment. you feel so many emotions right now, you’re nervous , yet happy he asked , yet afraid he’s just doing it to make you feel better..

“ chris you don’t have to. i know you’re doing it cause my friend just stood me up basically..” you say as you stare down to your shoes. chris rolls his eyes, “ huh? y/n, when did i ever say that? i do wanna take you out. come on, stop having those assumptions without knowin’ the truth” chris says as he rubs your shoulder softly “yeah we’ll see.” you say as chris gets up, motioning u to come with him.

you guys walk out the house. “ you gonna let me drive?” chris says giving a small smirk

UHH SO IDK IF THIS IS TOO LONG BUTTTT PART TWO COMING SOON??? anyways thank you for reading 😍!

[jaidethalagorra]

Things They Don't Tell You, Character Intro: Jessica

Unfortunately, the nearest exit from the mall was through a Starbucks. I slid open its door and slipped in, trying my best to stay quiet. The Starbucks seemed oddly clean as I walked past the front counter. All the pastries were gone. I turned the corner towards the front door, and stopped dead. Sitting in a chair in front of me, eating a pastry, was an indistinct human figure. Zombie. I quickly raised my gun to kill it when it noticed me. Shit. Faster than expected, it raised its arms and as I took aim it dropped the pastry and stayed in place. "Oh my god, please don't shoot me!" I hesitated, and it took the opportunity. "I'm not a zombie! I promise!" It stepped backwards into the light. It- She, looked to be about my age. Slim figure, impractically long brown hair with the tips still bleached blonde. I stared at her for a minute, before noticing her outfit and stopping, trying to wrap my head around who the hell would wear booty shorts and a crop top in the zombie apocalypse. There were crumbs on her shirt from where she dropped the pastry. "Count to 10 on your fingers." I instructed, not lowering my gun. She stared at me for a minute quizzically, before obliging. Finally, I lowered my gun. "Are you a scavenger? What camp are you from?" "Camp?" She stared at me, seeming to not understand. I stared back, and I mentally revised that description of her. She didn't appear to be slim at all, she looked malnourished. That would track though, if her source of nutrition had been the Starbucks pastries that were missing from the counter. After a moment of awkward silence I decided to switch angles. "What's your name?" She gave me a radiant smile. "Jessica." "Well, Jessica," I responded. "How long have you been here?"

Character Intro: Jessica. Skills: Driving, Persuasion, Not Succumbing To Malnutrition Weaknesses: Practicality, Survival, Stealth Pronouns: She/her Sexuality: Bisexual Weapon(s) of Choice: Baseball Bat

Unprepared: If Allie is completely prepared for the zombie apocalypse, Jessica is her polar opposite. Jessica grew up in the upper-class gated neighborhood that eventually became the Gates until it fell in 5 AF. Since the fall of the Gates, she's done her best to scavenge in the ruins of a small strip mall near the Gates. Through sheer luck, she's managed to find everything she would need, mostly untouched. Her whole upbringing of being upper-class, surviving in the Gates, and her finding everything she's needed has caused her to not fully understand the predicament that the world has been in since Haven fell. As mentioned, Jessica also somehow managed to survive for several months off the food she found in a Starbucks, which although impressive highlights her sentiment towards the apocalypse. She simply decided that she could totally survive outside a camp on her own, and somehow, impossibly, she did.

Impractical: A side effect of Jessica's unpreparedness and lack of understanding surrounding what the zombie apocalypse actually entails, she wears ridiculous and impractical outfits like the one described earlier. When it's mentioned that this is impractical, she adds a bandolier of ammo to the outfit, totally ignoring that she doesn't have a gun. Eventually, she picks up her own weapon, a baseball bat. While this seems like a good choice, it's important to remember how the virus transmits. The virus transmits through contact of body fluids, and so even initially having a melee weapon seems like a bad idea. Additionally, it's a blunt object, meaning it's hard to kill something with it and when you do, its body fluids will fly everywhere. And as a cherry on top, it's large and unwieldy, which is exactly the opposite of what you want when trying to go anywhere.

The Safe House: The biggest thing that makes Jessica important is her knowledge of, and connection to, a totally off the grid and independently sustainable house in the middle of nowhere. Supposedly, this house has solar power, its own well, and a large garden and would be one of the only safe places to live for, potentially, forever. This house is owned by one of her uncles who moved away, and if she could get to it she (and probably anyone else she brings) could stay there safely. The objective of the story once this is revealed is to get to this fabled safe house, and Jessica becomes instrumental in that as she can drive and Allie can't.

So, that's the overview of Jessica! I feel like I've summed up her character pretty well, so I hope you guys like her!

[omegaremix]

MRKE, 2021.

It’s April. To me, I feel that nothing’s changed. By now I know that all of my favorite businesses to patronize stayed open. Not one record store on the island shuttered. So far, I was proud of myself to visit Williamsburg’s Rough Trade before their relocation this summer. It was the best $417.00 I ever spent. A pinball parlor opened up at my former local mall to my total surprise. It’s something that Long Island never had before. For eight hours and $25.00 I had more than my money’s worth. It’s safe to say that most of the money is coming back again, even if the third stimulus has no face or feelings of how people either benefit or still suffering. Businesses re-opened after New York State’s mandated closures, like my local ticket arcade where I benefit from buy-twenty-get-twenty specials and half-off games on Wednesdays so I’m relieved. It’s been years since I went and I’m long overdue for a night out of a real life 2021 version of The Price Is Right.

My friend M-Ro, brother of archivist and WUSB’s J-Ro, had been out of a job since the cinema-house closed down. He’s done nothing but stay home with his four kids watching infinite amounts of Disney, long-forgotten sitcoms, and other cringy obscurities. Not long ago, he started working again with a friend who later changed career paths and decided to open Pickle Island, a pickle house in Oyster Bay. He offered M-Ro to help run the place and Pickle Island is now a two-man operation.

I hate pickles. I think they’re disgusting, unappetizing, and revolting, They’re an unattractive food to me. I’d never have a reason to buy them ever, ergo be near a pickle house. But when your friend sells part of their CD and video collections there, then you do have a reason to go. I always support my friends with what they do. Snakeskin belts, local shows, photography books, or new ventures. You sell it, I buy it. I haven’t seen M-Ro since one of his final live performances of This’ll Kill Ya’ for his bro-’s bornday at a crowded bar in Hauppauge, so it’s about time I do.

I traveled west on the Long Island Expressway / Rt. 495 and drove past Exit 46, Sunnyside Blvd. / Plainview, where a once-astonishing world of fresh faces and memories that opened up my junior year was an era long dead. Then up north on Rt. 106 / 107. The last time I traveled down that path was when I worked at the Jewish center post-senior year. I got the girl, a Dutch caramel blonde, and also got the job through her father; a mean, threatening, over-protective scumbag who had me on his shit-list for two summer months because I was dating his daughter. I drive up Rt. 106 / Oyster Bay Rd.’s silent, wide-open, grassy roads riding past the stables and million-dollar houses on hills. View the scenic picturesque neighborhoods and one would think how Nassau County sits at the top ten highest-taxed neighborhoods in the entire U.S. Go up North Shore Rd. and see an amazing grandiose view of the harbor’s massive body of water as you coast over the Bayville Bridge and slide into the parking lot across from Pickle Island. I see M-Ro through the storefront, sitting on the couch minding his own as I walk in. He sees me walking towards and waves hello as I come in.

I unintentionally give him a friendly good-to-see-ya’-again hug. Oops. I realized you’re not supposed to do that in a pandemic world. But it’s two weeks after the fact and we’re still alive. After a few lines of conversation, I said to him that it’d be quick and he knows.

I’m not here for the pickles. I’m here to see what CDs he’s selling. It’s already cramped quarters. A Ms. Pac-Man cocktail cabinet sits behind the front window. There’s a few racks of issues of Captain America, Green Lantern, and Wolverine. Another rack of VHS tapes and a shelf of DVDs and Blu-rays. Then the CDs. They’re from his collection. Some duplicates and others he didn’t care about parting, he says. Eight rows or sixteen shelves of discs in total which would take me no more than ten to fifteen minutes to scan…and some neck pain from having to see it all sideways because that’s how he placed them, you  Tetris artist. I’m already positioned in blocking the owner from going behind the front counter. And an all-too-nice suburbanite family of three just walked in; a father and his two kid who are all so fine and dandy to be there. As if they never experienced a bad day or tragedy in their white-winged innocent lives. Nice to know that Dad Of The Year never looked in my direction and wondered why a stranger is twisting over by the shelves.

Seeing his partial stash, M-Ro was never one to shy away from pop. Jewel, Head Automatica, Pretty Girls Make Graves, some pop-punk, first and third-wave ska, Warped Tour bands…no judgment here. Because he’s a solo artist who goes by The Matt Roren Karaoke Experience doing covers and music videos of various popular chart-topping hits. Before that, he was also part of the legendary local pop-punk / ska band The Microwave Orphans and after that the garage-punk outfit The Repercussions which I ended up getting two CDs of. Don’t Fear…and Modern Sounds were the two most expensive discs I bought at $7.00 and $10.00 respectively, still sealed. Come on. You have to support your friends.

As with any receipt, there’s plenty of firsts. This one, however, had the majority of them. Veruca Salt, Faith No More, and The Posies were bands that my alternative circles of friends from both Brentwood and Plainview were into. A low price point allows me to have them now for the first time. Stabbing Westward, as it’s industrial rock, is in my hands. The Presidents Of The United States Of America? Yes. They wrote that song about peaches so that’s valid. Why not get The Stooges first album with a second disc of live material? And being I have their second album, why not get the first from The Specials? It’s one of the very select few ska bands I’ll allow in my collection. None of that too-important elitist third-wave carnival music. I don’t think I have Phil Collins’ But Seriously, and he was someone I listened to feverishly during my Nintendo youth. And Richard Marx? None of you know who he is and if you did you wouldn’t dare mention his name. But I will. My ma’ loved him and once had the cassette. So both middle digits flying high to you all.

As M-Ro counted up the tab, I look to my right and there it was: a Sony Watchman. It’s the third one in two months I seen. My interest in them started when during my Saturday shift, one of my favorite customers, a young 20-ish redhead with glasses asked me for a power bank. On my way of showing them to her, she mentioned about buying some more accessories for her Watchman. I’m not much of a movie person so that kind of flew over me until she showed me an actual Sony Watchman handheld TV. She took it out of the box and turned it on for me. I almost dropped dead in front of her. I read about these things all the time but never saw one in the wild. Now here it was. She recently bought one at Savers for only $4.00 and bought an analog-to-digital converter from us to try and stream it to her flat-screen TV. She even went a step further and told me the manufacture date on it: 1985. The fact that it was her holding obsolete antiquated technology in her hands and was still in working condition made my entire month for me. I told this story to my friends at the radio station and our resident fantasy aficionado Captain Phil offered to send me one from his eBay store, which I’m now a proud owner. Pickle Island had a larger unit sitting on its counter showing a random movie and I’m wondering if some talking head, celebrity, influencer, or magic cartoon kangaroo on Instagram recently touted them for everyone to grab.

This one-and-done expedition was just as quick as when I visited Rosie’s Vintage three years ago, but not the least expensive. $62.00 later, I was the proud owner of a piece of M-Ro’s life. Not a gift, but a purchase. Being Pickle Island is not a legitimate music store by any means, it doesn’t count towards my record-store victory tour. I thanked M-Ro profusely for my patronage and told him to stay in touch which he would. It’s now time to reverse the drive home under partly cloudy blue skies with a playlist of past Springtime discoveries as the evening’s soundtrack. I’ll get to experience the harbor one more time and get an idea of where to take a scenic shoot in the near future. I’m not taking the L.I.E. this time as it’s cramped with traffic but this time the Northern State to Rt. 25, Rt. 345, and Rt. 454 all the way through. I’ll log on to social media for all of my friends and allies at WUSB to hear about because I never shut up about what I bought. I need the assurance and affirmation from everyone which I bought with my money today and, so far so good, it’s favorable. Then I see this posted under my purchase:

“You’re lucky I left some stuff for you.” said his brother J-Ro.

You don’t say! I had no idea some of his collection was mixed in for sale with his brother’s. So which ones, exactly? Unlike his offering, the stuff I left for him from my collection was totally free and not out of pocket. Take that to the bank and cash it in.

Repercussions, The: Don’t Fear…

Stabbing Westward: Wither Blister Burn + Peel

Stooges, The: self-titled

Veruca Salt: American Thighs

Phil Collins: But Seriously

Faith No More: Songs To Make Love To

Lacuna Coil: Karmacode

Richard Marx: Repeat Offender

Posies, The: Frosting On The Beater

Specials, The: self-titled

Presidents Of The United States Of America, The: self-titled

Raveonettes, The: Whip It On

Faith No More: Angel Dust

Repercussions, The: Modern Sounds

[prettyboysmlm]

mental illness gone once again hyperfixating on a dead mall near my house

[lady-of-glass-and-bone]

Duck's Halloween Movie Picks!

I love Halloween and spooky season in general. So here's my list of many, many (but not all) horror movies to watch this October!

🧠 Zombies 🧠

Sometimes dead is better.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) & (1990)

Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Diary of the Dead (2007)

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Overlord (2018)

Pet Semetary (1989)

Dead Snow (2009)

Dead Alive (1992)

#alive (2020)

Train to Busan (2016)

Little Monsters (2019)

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)

Zombie (1979)

Wonderfully Witchy

It isn't Halloween without a witch.

The Witch (2015)

The Craft (1996)

Practical Magic (not a horror movie but I don't care, I love it) (1998)

Hocus Pocus (a true classic) (1993)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Don't Knock Twice (2016)

Drag Me To Hell (2009)

Ghastly Ghouls

Ghosts, Demons, and Poltergeists oh my!

Includes but is not limited to: haunted houses and/or people, demons, cursed objects, beings from other dimensions, etc.

The Exorcist (1973)

Insidious (2010)

The Conjuring (2013)

The Nun (2018)

Poltergeist (1982)

Verónica (2017)

Hellraiser (1987) & (2022)

Candyman (1992) & (2021)

Thir13en Ghosts (2001)

The Shining (1980)

Evil Dead (1981)

The Fog (1980)

Paranormal Activity (2007)

House on Haunted Hill (1959) & (1999)

The Frighteners (1996)

House (1985)

Hell House LLC (2015)

Pumpkinhead (1988)

Gonjian: Haunted Asylum (2018)

Possession (1981)

Carnival of Souls (1962)

Ringu (1998)

The Entity (1982)

Vicious Vampires

Because they're bloody sexy.

Nosferatu (1922)

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1999) plus all the other million dracula movies

Interview with a Vampire (1994)

30 Days of Night (2007)

Boys From County Hell (2020)

Underworld (2003)

Bloodsucking Bastards (2015)

Near Dark (1988)

Salems Lot (1979)

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Fright Night (1985) & (2011)

Stakeland (2010)

The Black Water Vampire (2014)

Werewolves

Fluffy and vicious, the perfect combo.

Dog Soldiers (2002)

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Night of the Wolf: Late Phases (2014)

Ginger Snaps (2001)

The Wolf Man (1941) & (2010)

The Company of Wolves (1984)

Cursed (2005)

The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)

Howl (2015)

The Howling (1981)

Silver Bullet (1985)

Wer (2014)

Bad Moon (1996)

The Beast Must Die (1974)

Miscellaneous Monsters

All monsters need love, not just the classics.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

The Mummy (1999)

Frankenstein

Wishmaster (1997)

Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

Feast (2007)

IT (1990) & (2017)

The Descent (2005)

Jaws (1975)

Jeepers Creepers 1 + 2 (2001) & (2003)

Horror Express (1972)

Cold Ground (2017)

Devil's Pass (2013)

The Ruins (2008)

Cabin in the Woods (2011)

The Monster Squad (1987)

Under Wraps (1997)

The Babadook (2014)

Slashers

Because people are scary too.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Friday the 13th (1980)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Halloween (1978)

The Collector (2009)

House of Wax (2005)

The Strangers (2008)

The Crazies (1973) & (2010)

SAW (2004)

Scream (1996)

The Hills Have Eyes (1977) & (2006)

The Burning (1981)

The People Under The Stairs (1991)

Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

Terror Train (1980)

Stage Fright (2014)

You Might Be The Killer (2018)

The Toolbox Murders (1978)

Hell Fest (2018)

Revenge (2018)

The Invitation (2016)

Audition (1999)

It Came From Space!

As if space isn't scary enough on it's own.

Includes: anything sci-fi related, not just space stuff.

The Thing (1982)

Alien (1979)

Predator (1987)

AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)

Event Horizon (1997)

DOOM (2005)

Monsters (2010)

Re-Animator (1985)

Bride of Re-Animator (1990)

Pandorum (2009)

Chopping Mall (1986)

The McPherson Tape (1989)

Extraterrestrial (2014)

Always Anthology

The more the scarier!

Creepshow (1982)

Creepshow 2 (1987)

Tales from the Hood (1995)

V/H/S (2012)

V/H/S: 2 (2013)

V/H/S: 94 (2021)

V/H/S: 99 (2022)

Body Bags (1993)

Asylum (1972)

Trick 'r Treat (2015)

All Hallows' Eve (2019)

Holiday Specials

We can't leave out these holidays during spooky season!

My Bloody Valentine (1981) & (2009)

Prom Night (1980)

April Fool's Day (1986)

Black Christmas (1974)

[oceanparkmall]

Mall Ghosts | Chapter 1

table of contents patreon wattpad

~ 2.2k words

.

The year was 2002.

I had just turned eighteen. My parents bought the newest iPod for my birthday instead of the cell phone that I had specifically asked for. So I dyed my afro electric teal in protest, but they didn’t care. My kid brother joked that my hair finally matched my name – Aqua.

None of my friends really got to see my so-called rebellious transformation because I lived two cities over and I didn’t have a car to drive yet. 

I begged my mom to let me apply for a modeling gig at the shopping complex where half the senior class hung out, but she said that there was nothing wrong with the mall just off the highway near our house. Her argument was that it was closer to where we lived, on the way to her job, and just as good as the mall across town.

She was right up until the last point. 

Ocean Park Mall was the site where someone managed to rob an entire store. Whoever it was never got caught. Somehow they pulled it off without tripping any alarms. An entire department just completely cleared out. How does that even happen? 

The scandal was big enough to hit the local news. It was a miracle that the mall didn’t get shut down. Still, a whole bunch of businesses packed up and left. Only a handful were left standing. 

Nowadays, it seemed like the only things Ocean Park was good for was escaping the summer heat or grabbing a bite to eat in the 2.5 out of 5 stars food court. Every now and then Ocean Park would hold special events. Things like pop idol meet and greets, book signings, niche culture conventions, and that runway show that my mom signed me up for.

“Aqua Simone Moore,” Mom huffed as she drove me to Ocean Park for my first fitting, “wipe that gloom-and-doom look off your face. You always look so unsatisfied and I cannot for the life of me figure out what is wrong with you.”

I didn’t answer. All I did was slump some more in my seat, which I knew she hated.

Mom narrowed her eyes at me – as if that would do anything – and finally sighed. 

“Aqua, you know your father and I try to give you and your brothers everything that we can.”

But nothing that I ask for, I thought to myself. Just because she and Dad substituted one thing for something else didn’t mean I had to like it. 

Not in a million years would I ever say this to her because that would get me in a world of trouble. Mom would go home and tell Dad and before I knew it, I would be listening to a thousand lectures about how I’m not grateful enough and how they don’t know how I got this way.

Nevermind that I made perfect grades, stayed out of trouble, and almost never asked to go anywhere cool – but who cares when I’m not grateful and looking content whenever they choose to give me alternatives to the things that actually mean a lot to me.

I could have explained to my mom for the umpteenth time why it was important for me to have a cell phone to start keeping up with my friends over the summer before we all went away to college the next year. Or that the reason that I needed to land gigs at Arrow Crest Mall was for similar reasons.

I wanted to be near my friends. I wanted to spend time with them before this part of our lives was all over and we were flung across the country to different campuses. It wasn’t too much to ask for, right?

Apparently it was. 

“Thanks, Mom,” I said when she dropped me off. I tried to put on my best I-promise-that-I’m-one-hundred-percent-grateful smile right before she drove off. 

From the outside, Ocean Park Mall looked like your average shopping complex. Not the kind of place where businesses came to get robbed. But the moment you walked inside, it became clear that Ocean Park was well on its way to becoming a dead mall.

I looked around and sighed.

The first thing I noticed was the outdated paint job from the eighties. My eyes scanned the giant palms that were thoughtfully arranged to give the space a comfortably populated feeling. I followed their trunks up to the vast atrium ceiling. I suspected that the pyramid design usually let in a lot of natural light, but today it was raining. It made the already lonely space feel more like an indoor graveyard.

I wandered over to one of the central fountains and took a seat on the ledge. The sound of rushing water did little to soothe my nerves.

If I had a cell phone right now, I could see if anyone was willing to meet up.

I grumbled the thought aloud, but the truth was, I wasn’t so sure if any of my friends would come all the way out here just to hang with me.

Judging from the conversations I had on my home landline last night, all of my friends had some excuse as to why they couldn’t make it this week.

Work.

Babysitting.

No gas money.

They all seemed pretty legit, but I probably could have gotten one of them to say yes if I pushed hard enough. 

But who wants to work that hard to convince their friends to want to go out their way? I felt like I was good enough to be worth the inconvenience. At least, I did before going into each of those conversations.

I wrapped my arms around my bare shoulders and did my best to not look as pitiful as I felt. After glancing around to make sure that no one was looking, I bowed my head and let my anxiety consume me.

There was a strong chance that I knew some of the kids that hung out at Ocean Park. Some of them probably even worked here. I used to attend the middle school in this area before my parents enrolled me in the charter school on the other side of town. 

I hadn’t kept in touch with anyone since I left. I wasn’t the only one from that feeder school who didn’t opt to go to the nearest high school. From what I gathered, transfer kids like me were considered stuck up. As if I had a choice in where my parents decided to send me to school. 

I prayed that no one recognized me. Maybe I would be lucky and no one from my old school would cross my path. 

But that was very hopeful thinking.

“Aqua?”

My head lifted automatically without even realizing that my worst fear had already come to pass. I hadn’t even been here for five minutes before someone recognized me. 

“Uh, yeah?” I said without thinking twice. The last thing I needed was someone thinking there was something wrong with me.

“Whoa, it really is you. Your hair was black in the headshots you sent, so I wasn’t sure.”

I stood up, realizing that I was talking to one of the designers. When it came to these small business boutiques, it was very important to get to know your designer as best as one could. This person had sort of shaggy, dirty blond hair with a natural redness to her cheeks and lips. When she smiled, I was hit with a wave of breath mints.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you wait,” I said, jutting out my hand to shake the designer’s. She was about four inches shorter than me. I wasn’t that tall for a model – only five feet, seven inches. 

“Nice to meet you…” I said, shaking her hand sincerely but not knowing how to address her.

“It’s Elliot!” She said brightly. Then craned her neck a bit and added, “Wow. You have really great bone structure. Your pictures are awesome, but they don’t do you justice.”

I gave her a genuine thank you and couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Everyone says that when they meet me.”

Elliot let go of my hand. “Well, it’s true! I’m excited to work with you. And don’t worry about being late. I’m totally early. You can come with me now if you don’t mind helping me open up?”

Most of the mall stores weren’t open yet and I wasn’t about to hang out in an empty food court, so I agreed to tag along. Plus, I already felt comfortable around Elliot. I was curious to learn more about her point of view as a designer. 

As it turned out, she hadn’t had her store up for very long. She said that she was just starting out in the business and renting out a space in Ocean Park was the best decision financially.

“I mean, I know this place is supposed to be haunted or whatever. But I just don’t have that many options, you know what I mean?”

I was doing just fine listening to her until she said the word haunted.

Elliot must have seen the look on my face because she snorted and said, “C’mon, Aqua. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard the rumors? What with that store getting robbed and no one having a single clue who did it or how they even pulled it off? Everyone’s saying it was probably a ghost.”

Based on her tone, I’m guessing that no one actually believed this rumor. Not even her.

I did my best to laugh along with Elliot as I helped her unlock the padlock to the store and pull back the gates. While Elliot was lifting the metal curtain, I noticed someone coming around the corner.

This person wasn’t wearing shoes.

Or a shirt for that matter. Just a pair of dark denims.

I blinked, trying not to stare. But that was impossible.

A guy with dark shoulder-length hair walked past us. He was close enough to me that his shoulder swept some of my teal curls to the side. He seemed pretty damn confident for someone walking around shirtless inside a shopping mall, but there was a shadow hanging about him as well. As if he barely registered that he was walking so close to us.

“Morning, Sean,” Elliot said in a voice that suggested this wasn’t the first time this had happened. 

The six-foot dark cloud of a boy had already passed by us, but he stopped sort of abruptly and looked over his shoulder.

His eyes scanned us once, lingering on me just a hair longer. As if he was trying to figure out who the hell I was.

“Uh, yeah. Good morning.” His brows came together in the faintest degree of frustration. “Um…”

“Elliot!” The shop owner chimed, clearly finding Sean’s spaced-out reaction quite endearing. Then she clapped me on the back and said, “And this is Aqua. She’s going to be working my looks in the runway show next month.”

Sean blinked a couple of times. I wondered if he had even heard of a fashion show before. That’s how clueless he looked.

“Right.” Sean’s eyes had finally cleared in understanding. “See you then, I guess. Um… Elliot.”

Elliot snapped her fingers and shot Sean a wink. “Yeah you will!”

The muscles in Sean’s face eased a bit. It wasn’t quite a smile, but it was something pretty close.

“And... Aqua.” 

I don’t know if he did this purposely, but Sean turned slightly at the waist when he said my name so that his chest was facing me.

“See you around.”

He almost made it sound like a question. 

I honestly can’t remember what I said. Probably just “yeah.” Nothing memorable, witty or cute, that was for sure.

When the guy had left, I asked, “Who was that and why did you make him talk to us?”

Elliot gave a heartfelt chuckle as she flicked on the lights to her shop.

“That was Sean Mori. Sorry, but I absolutely could not help myself. He’s hilarious and adorable and I had a sneaking suspicion that meeting you would get him to say something other than, ‘Uh hey.’”

For a second, Elliot embodied Sean’s particular flavor of spacey-hot-mess when she imitated him. Then the designer broke character and flashed me a sly grin. “Turns out I was right.”

I scoffed as I followed Elliot to the checkout counter and leaned on the corner while she set up the register.

“Please. He didn’t even smile. He was totally checked out with both of us.”

Elliot snickered and shook her head, but she didn’t try to prove me wrong. 

“What is up with that guy anyway?” I said, thinking back to Sean’s lean muscle definition. He wasn’t a Greek god or anything, but… I liked what I saw. “I mean, who were we talking to just now?” 

“Well, Aqua, if the rumors about this place are true,” Elliot closed the register and sighed, “then you just met our resident ghost buster.”