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btsmosphere · 4 years ago

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Crossfire | KTH

Moodboard Masterlist

~summary: The night your life blew up sent you on a collision course with the campus bad boy, Kim Taehyung. Though you were well aware of his reputation, it was his doorstep you ran to when you were bleeding with nowhere to go.

~word count: 3.5k

~gang!au, mafia!au, college!au, angst, fluff, action, strangers to lovers, friends to lovers

Warnings: swearing, violence, kidnapping/being restrained (warnings apply to each part individually, please read them)

~a/n: so things heat up a bit in this chapter... I hope you guys enjoy the faster pace, it felt right to me but there are more scene cuts etc so I hope it works :) and huge thank you again to everyone reblogging my work! I see you and it really helps me out xx

Taehyung wondered if you noticed.

He knew you were often asleep long after he left, but he wondered if you remembered the times he had woken up with an arm over you, or when you had both moved closer in the night, or the way he would let his sleepy eyes wander your face before he decided to face the world.

Or maybe it was all lost in the haze of sleep for you, belonging only under the covers and in the dark.

He wondered if you ever heard his singing again. Whenever he sang in the mornings, though he had always enjoyed doing it for himself, he thought of you. He hoped you were listening.

After the excitement of hitting the jackpot with Soonjae, you spent your days with Tae’s books again. You had served your purpose, assured by him that they didn’t need more than one inner member for the time being. You doubted you would have found anything on the last member of the list, ‘Jintao’, anyway.

Days and books passed. So did nights with Tae.

It became clear to you that his way of expressing himself was quite physical. Though you enjoyed his touch, and initiated it yourself, you knew that to him, it was just the way he was with friends. Nothing more.

But it didn’t matter to you, as you enjoyed yourself in his company anyway.

Another meeting was called. This time it was much more fruitful, and a date was set. Since the last one, members they had already gathered from Shinhyuk’s gang had been able to pass on information to root out more members, and so on.

As Jin confirmed that Soonjae had successfully been bought out with a healthy mix of blackmail and promises of freedom, you glowed. The boys weren’t shy to thank you as well, even though they had doubted you at first.

Jungkook had found out about a deal Shinhyuk himself would be present at, though Jungkook was not required. And they were using the shop Shinhyuk had gained after his earlier attack, so he would be in the middle of their territory and at their mercy.

This was their chance to turn the tables on their enemy.

The idea was to capture Shinhyuk at the deal, and with him gone, the rest of the gang would be ready to fall apart. Their allies could move in, easily taking the area Shinhyuk had dominated for so long.

During the subsequent movie night, you and Tae shared a private toast with plastic cups of coke. To your hard work, though you insisted he share some of the credit.

As you chucked away the litter in the kitchen that night, out of breath after just a minute, you rediscovered your pack of red pills. You certainly hadn’t been taking them consistently.

That night, the rare occasion came when you could not get to sleep. Lying in the dark, you gazed over at Tae, just a lump under the duvet as he slept. You had shared in the excitement and hopefulness with the others earlier, but now you couldn’t help thinking-

What would happen when it was all over?

If they succeeded, and you could go back home, what would happen to you?

Last time you had interacted with Tae, and it certainly couldn’t be classed as more than that, you had gone straight back to normal afterwards. He had been charming, and of course he was attractive, but it had been easy for you to stay away, knowing his friends and their reputation.

Or at least you thought you had known.

Now you had met them all, shared takeaways and movie nights, and you and Tae had shared far more. You couldn’t forget about it. You wouldn’t want to.

“Are you excited?”

Pressing your lips into a smile, you gave Taehyung a nod. Not the most enthusiastic of responses.

Today was the day.

That evening, if everything went according to plan, Shinhyuk would lose everything, and you would be free. You could see your dad again. Go back to your place.

It wasn’t that you weren’t excited, but the excitement was swamped by everything else you were feeling.

“Hey, it’s gonna be ok,” Taehyung took your silence as denial and shuffled closer to you where you were reading a book against the headboard, eventually laying his head on your shoulder. And though it thrilled you, you stiffened. Trying your hardest not to react, you stared down at your book without absorbing any words.

Tae had opted to stay home from college today, even though the raid was to be in the evening.

Together you had made a ‘fancy’ lunch of pancakes, watched a short film and now you were anticipating the hour when he would have to go. Today had felt too full of goodbyes. You knew, however, that there was still one more to come, when he would leave to fight once and for all.

“You’ll get to go back home!” he attempted again to lighten the mood, but his words only made your heart heavier.

Sighing, you put your book aside, tilting your head to lean on top of his.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do when I see my dad.”

“Trust me, you’ll be happy when you see him again.”

“You’re right,” you sighed again, “I just… he got us into this whole mess – not that I don’t understand why.”

Taehyung considered you for a second.

“Not everything was his fault. He just did it because he loves you. He wants the best for you.”

“Why are you right about everything?” you laughed, making your shoulders shake and dislodging Tae’s head from its spot.

Sitting up fully again, he shoved your shoulder gently in retaliation. There he stayed, face slightly obscured as he sat forward while you rested back.

After a moment of silence, his impatient hands flipped his phone over.

“The others are setting off,” he informed you. You had learned that the eldest four were going to lie in wait, Taehyung and Jimin going in later as backup. Jungkook was at one of Shinhyuk’s other bases, known simply as ‘angel’, out of suspicion’s reach.

Taehyung didn’t have long.

“Do you think…” he started, voice low and quiet, “do you ever think that even though everything that happened, with your dad, though it was messed up… maybe something good came out of it?”

You stared at the back of his head.

“I wouldn’t have met all of you guys otherwise,” you admitted, “it’s been fun with you.”

Nodding, Taehyung finally turned, positioning himself in front of you. Your eyebrows furrowed as you saw him look down, taking a deep breath.

“You know, when we had that project together, it was never more than a crush,” his eyes came to meet yours and your heart thudded in your chest. He was so close to you, watching you intently, “but, Y/N, I really like you. And it’s not good, what happened, but I’m glad you came to my door that night. And I know I’m going to miss you after all this so I had to say something, maybe I’m crazy but-“

“You’re not crazy,” you finally found your voice after staring in awe at the boy, at the words coming out of his mouth, “I-I feel the same. I want this to be all over with Shinhyuk, but I don’t want to stop seeing you. I don’t want to go.”

You were sure the look in his eyes was mirrored in your own.

Shakily, he exhaled.

The two of you were so close now, the air around you static, holding its breath as you leaned forwards, closing the distance.

Until your lips met, you hadn’t known how much you wanted it. Taehyung’s hand came up to cup your jaw softly, the other travelling to your waist as you savoured the kiss, blissfully sweet but filled with longing.

Chasing more bliss, you tilted your head, transforming the kiss from something gentle to something more, and all too soon it was over, leaving you both panting, foreheads resting together, breathless smiles on your faces. Returning the gaze from Tae’s dark eyes, you looked back with just as much awe.

His eyes dropped once more to your lips. Your own parted in anticipation as you watched him dart his tongue out subconsciously.

Then his phone buzzed.

You both hesitated, but pulled back. Today of all days, you were aware the messages would be important. As he reached across the bed for the phone, his hand enveloped yours, happy now he could finally hold it when he wanted.

The screen lit up, showing only two words from Jungkook.

Code Black

One of Hoseok’s hands rested on the wheel. The car was engulfed in shadow, the four boys silent as they watched their target across the street.

Before, it had looked unassuming, just another local business in the row of shops crammed together. Now, the sign had been ripped down, leaving a gap in the otherwise continuous row of neon and paint that made up the front of other businesses. Both front windows were shattered, painting spiderwebs over the black canvas of the dark interior.

Tonight the road wasn’t busy. It was easy to spot as the car pulled up outside, two men in suits leaving it and entering the shop.

“They’re early,” Jin muttered, but they prepared anyway.

The deal would be over quickly, Shinhyuk just coming to pick up and inspect his new haul of weapons.

Sticking to the shadows, Yoongi led the way, easily blending in with the streets in his slouchy black clothes. Hoseok tapped his foot as he watched his friends leave one by one.

The men inside jumped when Yoongi threw the door open, holding his glock confidently in front of him. Namjoon and Jin flanked him, pulling out their guns as well, leaving the two men outnumbered, one behind the counter of the shop where the package was due to be, the other’s hand flying instantly to the holster on his belt.

For a moment, the only sound was a car starting up outside.

Then the second man turned around, gun raised, and fired. Yoongi ducked, running forward at a crouch as the glass door behind him shattered, two more shots going off as the other suited man fired and Namjoon retaliated.

Another shot flew past his shoulder as Yoongi dived over the counter, tackling his opponent, quickly handing him a fist to the face, hand fisting his collar.

From the other side of the shop came the grunting of the others as Namjoon and Jin took the first man down. In the struggle, he started yelling.

“Backup! Backup!”

Jin ripped an earpiece from the man’s ear, tossing it across the room.

Once they had both of them under control, Jin pressing the face of the man that had shouted into a table, arm in a lock behind his back, Yoongi pinning the other down with his gun lying uselessly in the middle of the shop floor, Namjoon strode to the counter.

“Where is Shinhyuk?” he demanded, looking between both men, neither of which were the intended target.

Not a word came in reply.

Maintaining his composure while the other two looked between each other in panic, Namjoon reached across the counter to lift up the large duffel bag that lay there. He frowned.

Placing it on the top, it made no sound, and pulling open the zip revealed the bag to be full of rolled up newspapers.

“What is this?” Namjoon’s fury bled through his words as he rummaged in the bag, coming up empty handed. A few balls of newspaper rolled onto the floor, but no one else dared move.

Looking at the man below him, Yoongi found he looked as dumbfounded as the rest of them.

“Where are the weapons?” he shook the guy, glaring at him until a reply left his lips.

“I-I don’t know, Shin said we had to come and pick them up-”

The buzzing of a phone sounded, and Namjoon pulled his out.

Code Black

He whirled around, but no one was to be seen outside. Only their own car.

Jin stepped back, releasing his captive.

“What is it?” he asked Namjoon.

“Jungkook. It’s a trap,” the blond ran a hand through his hair as he looked around the space in panic. They were in a dead end.

Yoongi was standing too now, and followed his leader in a heartbeat when he moved to the door.

“Where the fuck’s our car?” one of the men spoke behind them.

“’E’s left us,” the other responded in shock, “no one’s coming.”

Turning, Yoongi found them both standing, lost, staring at the empty road outside and the fake bag of ammo.

“You should get out of here,” he warned, stepping into the night.

“Bring him in.”

Shinhyuk had turned off his screen the moment he saw bangtan approaching the shop. He had sent disposable men; whatever happened to them now didn’t concern him. Catching the rat did.

Now, he strolled into the room where Jungkook was held.

“Well played, Jeon,” he snarled, “Very subtle.”

The boy glared back at him with ice in his eyes.

“I know you stole the file,” he continued, then to the guards flanking him, “search him.”

Struggling against his bonds didn’t help, but Shinhyuk’s smirking face had riled Jungkook up enough that he didn’t care about the metal digging into his skin. He didn’t know where his friends were. He had only had time to send out that one message as the guards had come barging in to get him.

At least he could take pride in the amount it had taken to get him under control. There were several nursing wounds upstairs as they spoke.

As rough hands patted at him, pulling his clothes and making their way into his pockets, Shinhyuk kept talking.

“I had my suspicions, Jeon. You proved them today. You were the only one I told about the deal, the perfect opportunity for bangtan to try and make a move, but it was just a fairy tale,” his lips curled up into a wolfish smile, “there were never any weapons. There was never any deal.”

He looked on, chuckling, as the search concluded, but the result pulled the smile right of his face.

“No file?” Jungkook took his turn to smirk.

“I know you’re the rat, boy,” Shinhyuk advanced, pushing his face right into Jungkook’s space, “but if you aren’t, how will your pretty friends know where to find you?”

Jungkook’s blood ran cold.

He was the bait.

Shinhyuk’s laughter rang out through the room, haunting him even after the man had slammed the door behind him, leaving Jungkook struggling against his bonds alone in the cell.

“Code black – Jungkook’s been found out,” Namjoon began addressing the tense boys gathered in his front room.

“They’re holding him at angel,” Taehyung added. He clutched his phone with white knuckles, having just been using it to speak to the leader of that specific base, the first rival that had defected to their side.

“Right, we can easily get in there and get him back,” Jin spoke remarkably calmly.

“Not so easy, actually,” Tae’s voice was dark, “Shinhyuk’s there too now. He’s waiting for us to come in.”

Every one of them was sitting forward in their seats, wracking their brains for a next move after they had been played and taken off-guard. Jimin lowered his head, running both hands through his hair.

“What if we turn up in one of Shinhyuk’s cars?” Hoseok suggested, “we can call on some of the drivers.”

“You’re right,” Namjoon nodded, “we still have the element of surprise on our side. He doesn’t know we’ve infiltrated him.”

“But let’s just get in, get Jungkook, and go,” Jimin said.

“Right,” Namjoon agreed, “today doesn’t have to be our victory anymore. Let’s just get Jungkook back and safely.”

Together, they stood, filing out of the room in silence.

You couldn’t stop reliving your kiss with Taehyung all evening. He had been gone a while, leaving in seconds after he checked his phone, hurriedly telling you something had come up.

Worried though you were, you knew all you could do was wait. It wasn’t easy trying to stay patient after you and Taehyung had finally confessed to each other, and you wanted nothing more than to continue where you left off.

Equally, your mind wouldn’t stop running through all the worst case scenarios. How would you know if something bad happened to him?

Trying your best to preoccupy yourself, you read for a bit longer, pushing away the nerves over what could be happening out there right now. Every time your mind drifted from the page in front of you, you told yourself there was nothing you could do. The plan was a good one, and now all the boys had to do was pull it off.

Somehow that didn’t help.

As darkness fell, you quietly made your way downstairs, closing the curtains while staying out of sight. You didn’t even turn the living room light on.

Already you were a little out of breath, so you stopped and rested on the arm of the sofa.

That was when someone knocked on the door.

Turning towards the sound, you started walking, but stopped yourself only feet away from the front door. Tae’s friends sometimes knocked, but they all had their own key too.

A second knock sounded, louder this time.

Frozen on the spot, you debated with yourself. Who on earth could it be? Maybe something had happened to Tae, and they were here to tell you…

The banging resumed, this time with a shout.

“Y/N?”

You gasped. That wasn’t one of the boys, but it sounded a lot like-

“Jake?” you muttered under your breath, approaching the door to look through the peephole.

Sure enough, there was your college friend on the step. He was looking down at something you couldn’t see, but it was him alright.

Cautiously, you lifted your hand to the catch and opened the door a crack.

“Jake?”

His hands flew behind his back, making you frown at him.

“Y/N…” he pushed at the door, which you let fall open just a little bit more, “I can’t believe I’ve found you, it’s all gonna be okay, yeah? We’ve been looking for you for so long…”

“Oh, Jake, I’m sorry…” you shuffled in the doorway. He was standing close to you, eager to be let in, but you stood your ground, “I couldn’t get in touch, but I promise I’m fine I just-“

“Y/N, you aren’t thinking straight,” he pushed forward again.

This time you weren’t strong enough to stop the door opening. You stepped hurriedly away from him as he crossed the threshold. You wanted to sit down again, but you didn’t feel comfortable with Jake in the house.

“We were so worried at college Y/N, and so is your dad” he begged, holding his hands out, “let’s just get you home, okay?”

Frowning back at him, you didn’t move, so after a second he walked closer instead, driving you further down the hallway.

“Jake, please leave,” you told him.

What he was saying didn’t make sense. Your dad was under Shinhyuk now, your college friends couldn’t have possibly contacted him-

“Let’s go home, Y/N,” he said.

But you knew your ‘home’ wasn’t safe anymore. Your eyes darted to the open door behind him, wondering if you could run. Then you saw something.

Two long metal pins were jammed into the lock at the front of the house. He had been trying to break in.

All you knew when you started running was that you weren’t going with Jake. Rushing through the kitchen door and slamming it hard in his face, you dashed out of the side door, straight onto a small alley between two houses. Not letting your feet stop, you ran as fast as you could, away from the main street and further into unfamiliar paths.

Behind you, the door slammed as Jake gave chase, but instead of calling out to you, he shouted, “this way!”

Then more footsteps joined him.

Blood whooshed through your ears, chest constricting after only a couple of corners, but your pursuers gave no sign of letting up. The stab wound seared in your side, and for a moment your vision went white. It was only a split second, but you knew you were in trouble.

Not now, not now…

You willed your legs to keep going. You had to get away.

Then the bang of a gunshot deafened your ears and you ducked blindly, stumbling forwards before picking up the pace again.

One more shot hit the wall by your ear, making you flinch away.

Sparks were filling your vision, and you could barely breathe, but you pushed yourself, knowing danger lay behind. Your eyes screwed shut against the pain as you forced yourself to run, when a bang sounded, followed by a new, burning pain slicing through your shoulder.

You were unconscious before you hit the asphalt.

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hometown-kids-blog · 7 years ago

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Sleepless - Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak (CH. 3)

Chapter: 3/?

Word Count: 2218

Pairings: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak

Characters: Craig Tucker, Tweek Tweak, Red

Warnings: bit of Angst, mention of blood

Chapter Summary: A storm blows over South Park and the two boys take cover in a pet shop owned by a familiar face.

AN: whoowee I'd love to write more for this chapter but it already got to 2000 words and it’s getting late. I still got school so I need to get some sleep haha.

Stripe #4 || Chapter 3

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It was another cold day in South Park. The winds were picking up and soon enough some hard snowfall will come. Yet, I still sat outside in the front of the school waiting for him.

I stared back through the gates of the high school as I see the blond boy run out towards my direction. "F-fuck dude, It's freezing out here. I told you could come in with me!"

I shake my head and stand up straight as I was leaning against the frigid metal gates.

"It's fine, I fucking hate the lit/comp teacher here."

"That's fair." He kept silent as he followed beside me on our way out of campus. Although, I'd admit that he was hugging his arms and inching closer to me. I paid no attention to it until something caught me off guard.

"Dude, why aren't you wearing a jacket?" I piped up looking at his pale arms filled with goosebumps. "I don't know?! It didn't feel too cold this morning!" I scoffed and shook my head, "Don't you read the weather before you leave?"

"What, no?? Anyway, who the hell reads the forecast, especially when you're in high school!"

"Touché, Tweek. Touché." I sniffle a bit before taking off my jacket and shaking it off from my hands. "Here." After a long pause and him not taking it, I bring back to my side and look at him.

He was looking down at the ground. "I don't need it." He mumbled. "Jesus, don't get all fucking protective for no reason. I'm offering you my jacket, not a punch in the stomach."

He didn't reply or anything and looked offended for some reason just because of a simple kind gesture. "Fine. Freeze your ass, I don't fucking care." I tie my jacket around my waist and continue to walk in front of him.

Not one sound came from the both of us, you could say it was so quiet that you could hear the specks of snow fall onto the ground. I occasionally looked back to see if he would still be following me and to my surprise he was.

His movement was very frantic and his mouth moved with no sound, almost as if he was trying to talk something out. I dismissed it and began to slow my pace to see if he'd catch up but to my dismay, he mocked my move and went slower as well.

At this point, he was making me pissed off and I stopped right in my tracks. "Why are you mad at me? What did I do?" He stared back at me with hands cupped up to his face.

"Nothing!" He said it through a voice crack.

I bit my lip and furrowed my brows. "Really, because it doesn't really feel like it's nothing, Tweek." He twisted around and growled in frustration.

The snow was starting to fall faster like my anger.

"Look, I'm trying to help but I can't help when you. can't. tell. me. why. you're so upset?"

"Craig the snow is falling faster..."

I gave a confused and rather angered look towards his way. He stared back at me with about the same mix of confusion, anger, and sadness. Or rather was it fear?

Shaking my head, I palm my face with my right hand and walk towards his direction. He flinched as a grabbed his wrist and nudge him in my way. "There's a pet shop close by. We can hang out there until the storm blows by."

---

Opening up the doors to the shop, the chimes ring and a high-pitched voice welcomes us in.

"It's me, Red," I yell back and merely seconds later she comes out from the back, taking off gloves. "Oh shit, hey Craig. What's going on?"

I see Tweek wander off obviously because feeling a bit out of place in the conversation so I make my way to Red and continuing the small talk. "It's okay. There's a storm outside so waiting for it to past by."

She stares out the windows behind me and nods in agreement. "DIdn't even know it was going to snow hard today."

"Does no one seriously check the fucking weather?" I say with confusion which I get a laugh back from Red.

"No dude, we're teenagers. I don't get time to check shitty news and, oowh weatherrrr." She pushes me in a teasing way and walks into the back again, probably to continue doing work.

"So, how's your dad?"

"Pft, how's your dad?" I say walking around with hands shoved into pockets and looking at all the rather boring animals.

"Working at the bar, like usual."

"Then, that's probably where my dad is," I reply back in a jokingly way.

I gazed at the ferrets from above with a straight face. These things were too hyperactive and always smelling like shit. Not to mention they're always biting and crawling into dangerous places. I bore into the cage and with a shift of my glance, I saw the reflection of my accompanied blond.

I hold down a smile as I admire his serenity but astonished stance as he looked at the cage of white rabbits. "Hey, Craig. Get over here and lend a hand." I sighed and stroll over to the other side of the store where Red stood hands crossed with a cup of nibble food. "This lil' shit won't eat his food and he's already bit me two times today." I look at her strangely and at what seems to be the empty tank. "Okay, and why should I care?"

She rolls her eyes and shoves the cup into my hands. "Just feed him, you know these animals more than I do. He's underneath the log."

I glare into her eyes once more with confusion before taking the situation into my own hands. I lift the log up slow and quick movement of a guinea pig shifts around the tank. "Hey, hey slow down!" I reach in and try and grab the fucker and succeed but only to drop it back when it bites the intersection of my thumb and pointer finger.

I curse under my breath as the startled moment ends up making me drop the cup of food.

I could see Red stifling her laughter and I glare back at her in response. Grumbling, I pick up a handful of the food and try again.

This time a got a bit less forceful, holding the food in my palm and placing flat on the ground of the tank. I paid all my attention to the guinea pig in the corner and when I did glance over to my side I could see Red looking into the other direction talking to who I presume was Tweek.

"So, you're Tweek, huh?"

"Y-yeah."

"You've befriended quite the douche."

I snort and slash back, "I heard that."

Laughing she says, "Good, I wasn't sure if I was loud enough." Tweek nervously laughs at the banter, "He not that bad, I guess."

"He really isn't, he probably the first most patient boy I've met here in South Park."

"R-really?"

"Really. Like I said, he's an asswipe sometimes, but he actually listens to you. You get many boys like that here in South Park."

"Should I leave?" I say as a joke.

"See? He really listens, and no you're obviously too interested in befriending the stupid rat."

I blink a couple times before actually paying attention to the cage where, to my disbelief, the guinea pig was already chowing down the food in my hand. I hear the small 'wow' from the boy behind me and my face falters to a smile at my accomplishment.

Placing my other hand slowly into the cage, I cup the small rodent in my hand and only feeling safe with it when it's leaning onto my shirt.

"Sweet."

"Oh shit. Craig you hand!" I look over to the now worried Tweek and then raising my hand that had blood already trickling down from the place it was bitten.

"Ooh shit, he did a number on you, brotha. Hold on, I've got an aid kit in the back," and Red fled once again into the back leaving me with a sort of bloodied hand, a bastard guinea pig, and a panicking kid.

"Does it sting??"

"Kinda."

"Man, how are you calm? You've got red juice all over your hand!"

I scrunch up my face, "Okay first, red juice? Second, it's not that bad, Tweek"

Out of words to say, Tweek just nervously sputter grunts and growls trying to avoid eye contact. I didn't care much of it and continued to look down at the guinea pig and scratching its head.

In many ways, it reminded me of him. At first uncomfortable in the forced situation and unwilling to talk about things at that time but you give him time and you acknowledgment he slowly falls into your arms. He begins to trust you, but one slip up and he back to that frantic state.

Maybe, I need to just talk with him.

"Tweek," He turns his gaze my way and I acknowledge him in return. "You wanna talk?" He at first looks confused but being a bit of a different state of mind he nods in reply. "Okay," I sit down on the ground and scoot the food from the cup away and pat in front of me. "sit right here."

He willingly does and I almost feel dominant but then remember this isn't about being the powerful one in the group, this was something different when he was here.

I noticed him still tugging at his sleeves which, in some cases, means he had something to say but didn't want to say anything. I followed his gaze which was, undoubtfully, on my still bleeding hand.

I shuffle where I sit and cover my hand with my jacket so I can cleanly cup the rodent in my hand. "Do you want to hold him?"

"Errr... I don't really like h-holding animals.."

"Just for a bit, so I can clear up the blood."

I keep the guinea pig in the middle of the two of us waiting for him to grab it. With a bit of concern on his face, he lifts his arms weakly and holds his hands out. I lightly plop the animal into his arm and then guide Tweek's arm to his chest. "Hold him like that." He shook his head violently not daring to keep his eyes off it.

I took this time to look around for anything to clean my hand before resorting using my jacket.

"Hey, Red! What's the holdup?" I started out into the store. There was no reply until she comes storming in with her phone pressed against her shoulder and ear. She plops the case with the red cross onto my lap and presses her finger to her lips.

'It's my boss.' I saw her lips speak. I rolled my eyes and she replied with a 'kind' gesture of her hand before walking back.

Looking back to who I was more interested in, there was not much change. He was still staring intensely at the pet and was shaking a little too which freaked the pet a bit too as I could see.

"You can pet him y'know." I said as I took some disinfect wipes out from the white box.

"Huh?"

"He likes small scratches on the head. Like," I lean over and showed a representation of what I meant as he observed. "Like that." He gave a warm smile and followed what I did. I grinned under my nose and continued to clean up the bite.

In the corner of my eyes, I could see him look back up at me. "Do y-you want to name him?"

Raising my eyebrows I look back up at him. "I'm not good with names." I earned a chuckle and he shook his head, "Well, what would you l-like to name him?"

"Knowing me, probably..."

"Stripe number four."

"I think it's a good name." He said with that warm smile. In reply, "I'd like to think so."

"W-well it is! It has a meaning; a backstory to it."

After placing a band-aid on the bite and closing up the box I look back up at him once more, this time with a small smile. "Thanks."

I push the box aside and drag myself closer to the blond. "Do you want Stripe?" He considered but I denied shaking my hand. "He looks comfortable with you." He grins with his eyebrows raised, "Really?"

"Really."

He chuckles and looks back down and strokes through Stripe's fur slowly.

"Do you.. want to talk about what happened, when we were walking here?" I felt a bit compelled to bring up the topic but I wanted to know what was exactly wrong or it'll hold like a grudge.

Either way, he wasn't giving up and fell silent as he kept his full focus on Stripe instead of the question at hand. I sigh knowing my defeat and lean backward.

I felt a bit demoralized that perhaps he wasn't talking because he was still upset about something. That I hurt him somehow.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

#south park #south park creek #south park craig #south park tweek #sp craig #sp tweek #sp creek #craig x tweek #craig tucker #tweek tweak #south park red #south park fanfiction #fanfiction #creek fanfiction #fanfic #craig x tweek fanfiction #maiwrites

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erraticfairy · 5 years ago

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You Got This: Coping with the First Few Weeks of School

Whether you’re just starting at a new school, your first year of high school, or your first year of college, it can be a scary, daunting experience. Some seem to handle it with grace and little anxiety, while the rest of us bite through our fingernails and dread the first few days or weeks of school.

What’s it going to be like this year? Will anyone like me? Will I be able to make new friends? How am I going to be able to deal with the class load and all the activities I have scheduled?

So how do you help yourself through these next couple of days and weeks? I have some ideas. Most importantly, though, is this: You got this. You will make it through these days and weeks ahead intact.

1. Answer the Worrying Thoughts

Sometimes we can cause our own worry and fear by the thoughts running around in our heads. This just doesn’t happen to kids or teenagers — it happens to everyone. The thoughts can run out of control sometimes, building us up into a state of worry that can feel overwhelming.

You can combat these irrational thoughts (what psychologists call cognitive distortions) by answering them with rational replies.

“I look horrible and everyone’s going to be looking at me.” => “Everyone’s worried about how they look, they’re not going to be looking at me any more than usual.”

“I’m not sure I’m going to be able to hack this level of school.” => “I’ve done well up to this point, I know how to study when needed, so there’s no reason this year is going to be significantly different than last year.”

“It’s so scary being in new place. What if I don’t make any friends?” => “Going some place new is always scary — but also can be exhilarating as nobody knows me so I can reinvent myself, making friends as I always do.”

2. Get Organized

Nothing will sink you faster than being a disorganized mess in school. If you can never find a pencil, have a notebook at the ready, or find your laptop is once again on zero battery, you’re not going to be able to retain as much of what you learn.

Do whatever works for you in terms of what “organization” looks like in your world. For some, that means being meticulous in their weekly planning and then sticking to it. For others it may simply mean coming to class not completely unprepared. The key is to make an effort. I know it may seem like a huge hassle and not important, but it can make the difference between a good semester or period, or a really bad one.

3. Engage in Effective Study Habits

Most students engage in highly ineffective study habits. It may be because that’s what they learned from their parents, or by asking their friends. But unfortunately these three study habits don’t help people as much as others do: re-reading (reading a chapter or your notes over and over again); highlighting and underlining; and summarizing (boiling down the key points of your notes or a book chapter in an outline or something similar).

Instead, focus on the two habits that research has shown to actually improve grades and help you retain material: practice testing and NOT cramming. Practice testing is where you take the practice quizzes or tests at the end of a book chapter. Need more practice? Ask a friend or classmate to come up with another one or two, and then exchange quizzes to help you learn the material.

Not waiting until the night before the test or due date for the paper is the other effective technique. I know this will not go over well with procrastinators. But studying throughout the semester or period — and not waiting until the end or the last moment — is far more effective than cramming.

Learn more: 2 Important Strategies for Effective Studying

4. Force Yourself Outside of Your Comfort Zone

Most people — yes, even teens and young adults — get comfortable in doing what they’ve always done. We get into patterns of behavior that become familiar, like a shoe you’ve worn over and over again. You know how to wear the persona you’ve developed to keep the world at bay and make you feel comfortable in your own skin. For most people, this sort of thing works most of the time.

Sometimes, however, a new situation can challenge that persona and those comfortable patterns of behavior. You have one of two choices: double-down on being comfortable or force yourself to go outside of your comfort zone (maybe just this once) and try something different. Different can be exciting and fun, but it can also be challenging and a little scary. You never know, though, what acting somewhat differently in a situation may bring you.

5. Rely on Your Friends & Social Support System

Your friends are there for a reason — to not only share in the fun times you have, but help each other out during the difficult times. The times you get dumped by a girl or boy. The times you feel overwhelmed by school or classes or an upcoming test.

New school and don’t have any friends? Turn to the activities you share in common, or turn to the one or two classes that you truly enjoy and look at others in the class who also seem to be into it as much as you are. Shared experiences form the basis of lasting friendships. It can be scary introducing yourself and trying to make new friends, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know.

* * *

You got this. It may not feel like you do, but trust me when I say that you have a lot more strength and capacity than you may appreciate.

And if you need more help than this article can provide, please remember that you have additional resources at your disposal. Most colleges, for instance, offer free counseling to their students (check out the student counseling center on your campus). And most high schools have a guidance counselor or school psychologist available to talk to you about whatever’s on your mind. Please reach out to someone in your life if you need help.

Good luck and enjoy the semester!

from World of Psychology https://ift.tt/32qdMAw via theshiningmind.com

#World of Psychology #child psychology

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winreplace30303 · 7 years ago

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Fifteen Landing Page Performance Killers Afflicting Education Marketers

Are your landing pages performing well in your education inbound marketing? If not, these landing page performance killers may be afflicting you.

Let’s talk quickly about why landing pages are so significant. The first thing you need to know…

Without high-performance landing pages, your inbound strategy will not work.

That’s not an exaggeration. Much like a catalyst in a chemical reaction, landing pages are the component of your inbound marketing that makes desired behaviors happen like email signups, enrollment callback requests, campus visit signups, and more.

Secondly, your homepage is not a landing page.

Too many schools trying to use inbound marketing just dump everyone at the homepage — it won’t work.

So assuming that you’re not using your homepage as your landing page, here’s the performance killers that you need to watch out for.

Performance Killer 1: No Goal

Every page on your website should have a goal that’s attached to your larger inbound marketing strategy. Nowhere is this more important than your landing pages.

What’s the goal for each of your landing pages?

Typical education landing page goals would be…

Signups to your email newsletter

Signups for a campus visit

Scheduling a recruitment call

Giving an online donation

Collecting alumni or student testimonies

Performance Killer 2: Weak Headline

Headlines are the first chance you’ll ever get to entice your reader to do what you want them to do. They must be useful, urgent, promising, simple, and concise.

Headlines that have proven to do well:

The direct statement headline. Example: Our alumni rock! See why…

The question headline. Example: Are you tired of looking for financial aid on your own?

The how-to headline. Example: How to decide if commuting is right for you

The “reasons why” headline. Example: 10 reasons why you should consider an online degree program

Performance Killer 3: Confusing or Nonexistent Call to Action

Calls to action are the part of your copy that drives conversion merely because they come right out and ask (or tell) your audience to do the thing that will meet your landing page goal.

As obvious as it may be to you, your site visitor cannot read your mind. So if you don’t tell them exactly what you need them to do, chances are, they’ll do something else — like navigate away!

Make sure to come right out and ask for the desired action, whether it’s in a button, body copy, or linked text. Calls to action should typically be brief and straightforward like…

Request a callback

Get your free copy

Performance Killer 4: No Specific Audience

Marketing personas make your copy and design personal, relevant, and timely. Without them, your landing pages will be vague at best and irrelevant at worst.

Performance Killer 5: Weak or Nonexistent Offer

What kind of value are you offering your visitor in exchange for their contact info or money? You have to make it worth their time to not only put in their information but to receive further communications from you.

The best offers are the kind that answers visitor questions. Well-suited content for landing page offers include:

College buyer’s guide

Dorm life survival manual

Financial aid reference

If you are a faith-based school: a devotional to discern God’s will

Performance Killer 6: No Clear Next Step

Your landing page doesn’t exist in a vacuum — it’s part of a broader inbound marketing strategy. You should know precisely how traffic can land on your page and where it will go next.

Even if your visitors do what you want them to do, you should offer to take them further into your website on the thank you (i.e., confirmation) page. Especially if you have new, fresh content that would interest your audience, offer it to them in the form of well-written headlines like those irresistible, tabloid-esque ads at the bottom of your favorite news site.

Performance Killer 7: Too Many Ways Out

Landing pages should have one goal: Get the visitor to do what the marketer wants them to do.That’s why you should clear your landing page of any links that allow your visitor to do anything other than what it is you’re asking of them.

That means no navigation bar. No footer. No sidebars. No links other than the call to action and your logo, which I recommend should link to your homepage.

Keep your landing pages clean, direct, and concise.

Performance Killer 8: Poor Copy

Speaking of concise, let’s talk web copy. If the landing page copy reads more like an academic journal than a landing page, performance will suffer.

Check out my article on��writing killer web copy for actionable tips on writing high-performance copy. But there is one thing I want to say here:

Besides being concise, punchy, and direct, your landing page copy must center on the needs and desires of your visitor. “Org-centric” landing pages show your visitor that you’re only interested in what they can do for you.

“Visitor-centric” landing pages focus almost exclusively on the offer — the value the visitor can receive from giving you their info, their permission, or their money.

It’s easy to think that you’re building trust with your visitor by writing about how great you are, how many awards you’ve been given, or how much you’ve accomplished.

But on a landing page, they don’t want to know what you’ve done, accomplished, or have. They want to know what kind of value is in it for them.

Performance Killer 9: No Rich Content

High-performance websites make good use of rich content like images and video. Science suggests that our brains process visual information much faster than text, which means that we’re naturally drawn to visual information over text.

According to Buzzsumo, ”Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images.” And, “Articles with an image once every 75–100 words got double the number of social shares than articles with fewer images.”

The math is simple. Rich content such as images, videos, and infographics improve education website performance. You must have them!

Performance Killer 10: Copy Doesn’t Match Your Adwords

If your visitor comes to your landing page from Google or Bing Adwords, the copy on your landing page should match the same words you used in your ad. Otherwise, it’s just plain confusing.

Chances are if your visitor doesn’t immediately feel as though they’re in the right place, they’ll navigate away, resulting in a high bounce rate and low conversions.

Make sure your landing page headline assures your visitor that they made it to the right place by matching the language you used in your ads. If you have multiple AdWords campaigns going, consider creating separate landing pages for each one and track how well each Adwords/landing page combination performs.

Performance Killer 11: Asking for Too Much Info

I know it’s tempting. But you can’t ask your visitor to give you their life’s history all at one time. If you’re asking for their physical address, email address, phone number, birthday, and their mother’s maiden name, it’s probably too much.

If all you need to move them to the next step in your inbound marketing strategy is an email, then just ask for that. If it’s a name and an email, then just ask for that. No more than what you need for the next step.

Remember, you can always ask for more information (as needed) through your ongoing communications with them.

Performance Killer 12: Not Mobile Friendly

We don’t just live in a digital world. We live in a mobile world. At least half of your visitors are browsing your website (and your landing pages) on a mobile device of some kind. If your landing pages are not mobile friendly, you’re pretty much throwing away 50% of your chances of success.

Performance Killer 13: No Hero Spots

If your landing pages are not performing well, consider placing hero spots such as testimonials or quotes to show (rather than tell) the visitor that you’re worth their time. You should take the chance to tell these stories anytime you can to boost trust within your education brand and increase engagement with your audience.

Performance Killer 14: Slow Loading Time

The days of dial-up are far behind us — and no one wants to go back! So, if your landing pages remind visitors of what that experience was like due to slow loading times, then your performance will plummet.

Make sure your landing page isn’t bloated with super large images or performance sucking plugins. Keep the backend clean so the user experience is fast.

Performance Killer 15: Not Tracking Metrics

You can expect only what you inspect. If you’re not tracking metrics like page views, click rates, or source of traffic, you’re not going to achieve the performance you’re looking for on your landing pages.

Use analytics tools like Google Analytics (free) or paid landing page services with metrics baked right in like Unbounce or LeadPages to see where your visitors are coming from, what they’re doing on your landing page, and where they go afterward.

You can’t improve performance if you’re working in the dark. Analytics will show you what’s working and what’s not working.

Performance Help

There’s nothing worse than putting scores of hours and thousands of dollars into a website that doesn’t perform well. Get ahold of us today for a free consultation and put our years of experience in marketing, development, and design to work for you.

This post was originally published at: http://ift.tt/2BXm8Gx

http://ift.tt/2p6TP2Y

#FEED 7 EDUCATION

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porchenclose10019 · 7 years ago