#was troy??? a bad coach??? yeah probably

[penaltybox14]

Decofiremen: The leaving, and a return

Or: feelings are hard.  In which Josiah travels to the city to see Silky, ill with pneumonia, for the first time since [redacted].

@zeitheist @darknight-brightstar @squad51goals

The leaving aches more than the journey, even as every jolt of the train coach mule-kicks his leg, even as there are hours yet to go.  It scours him to think on it, how he had promised Davey, how Davey had hovered as he packed a change or two of clothes, his shaving kit, spare bolts and straps to his brace.  Davey had seemed to be holding his breath, there in the doorway - blinking and wary, as he had back in autumn at the County.  Questions caught up in his teeth like a slow, warm wind across dried leaves.  If he were a better man, perhaps, a more tender man like Eddy or a wiser man as Lufty, he might have known the things to say. 

A pad of paper and a half-book of stamps, into the case, then.  As the boy watched.

He'd looked for Davey that morning, early, when the youngest of them should still have been rousting himself with the rest, splashing water on his face and shining his boots (as he did) for morning bell.  Jules said he didn't know where the boy was, and Bertram said he was down by the pond, and Jules had given Bertram a look for that. 

But the pond - cupped gently in a curve of the land, and down a narrow, winding path - was where the boy went when he wanted to be alone, wanted his thoughts to float out serenely on the calm face of the water (still dense with ice) and not out into the sear-shot of others.  Josiah could've gone down.  He could've - but there was a train to catch.  And he wouldn't have known what to said except his helpless promise that he'd come back. 

At a stop in a little town called Selkirk, he'd gotten up to try and stretch his legs.  He was not used to travel, now, and no longer curled up like a beetle in his quarters while the rest of Wynantskill went about its day, and he did ache.  Standing up in the train compartment, he'd nearly fallen from the sand in one leg and the charley horse in the other, and he'd knocked his case off the rack shouting and clutching for balance.  The case had popped a latch, and, catching his breath and biting his curses, he paused to snap it shut again.  It was heavier than he had recollected packing, and when he looked again, there in the middle of his things was a small book and a blue pocketknife, tied up in twine.

That was Davey's knife, deep blue bakelite with stainless trim, a gift from Antoine before he'd graduated.  A pride of a knife, well-oiled, a keen balance, two blades, an awl, and a can opener.  The book is Whitman - Leaves of Grass.  Davey had dredged up recitations in him long left over from Hudson Classical, pushed him to read choice stanzas over and over.  A page was dog-eared: a bad habit of his that Davey had clumsily scolded him over, playing at being grown.  It didn't need to be - the book fell open, loose from many readings.  Josiah paused over the poem there, thoughtful.  Shut the book and returned it to the case. 

Many hours yet to the city, where he had arranged a room near the hospital.   From Selkirk south to Ravena, to Coxsackie, Catskill and Saguerties, down through the Hudson Valley, until the very edges of the city unraveled themselves toward the oncoming train, and he saw bridges and skylines and viaducts and things he remembered, stout five-story walkups like blunt teeth, the dull rust of railyards, at last into the belly of Manhattan. 

>>

He is so pale.

Silks was always fair, even in summer, when his skin would tighten and brighten like a lobster fresh from the pot, and the sun splashed copper on his auburn hair.  Fair, and strong-boned, his Jesuit manners a soft varnish over his city-boy laugh. 

But now he seems to disappear almost into the linens, nothing but soft twilight shadows, his veins trailing over his thin body like spidery blue cataracts.  Shadow, and breath, ragged breath that slows, then catches, into a dry cough that mule-kicks him half off the bed.

There are only a hand of men in the long white ward.  A police officer sits murmuring softly by another man's bedside.  A fellow with a busted arm reads a colorful magazine.  A few are asleep.  One, like Silks, has a needle in his arm and a bottle hung up by the bedside.  Josiah remembers that dreadful morphine sleep, the way it dragged him as if it had teeth or hooks, how his dreams caught on the secrets and the spirits of the city.  The days cracked like the spine of a dusty tome, and the centuries split like soft, fine vellum, breathless and translucent.  His breath and his blood blood flowed into the streets and her smoke and iron filled up his bones and every time a fellow came to see him he tumbled headlong into his shy or sorrowed heart. 

He would take the pain any rank and reeking day, over the poppy fields and the black smoke.

Silks, four beds in, across from a window where the evening light is just cresting the white-enameled iron of his bedstead, coughs again, and hard.  Struggles to catch his wind.

(They were young men.  Smoke-eaters, the Times called them.  Silks caught him against his shoulder while he coughed up ash that tasted like beef-gristle and blood, and vomited in the street.  Silks caught him, and steadied him, away from the clamoring press.)

He can't do this.  He can't, not even lurking in the safety of his long coat, his hat low over his eyes, he can't.  Silks won't even recognize him, probably.  It's been so long.  Been too long.  They had not even spoken at the promotion, when he had stood stiff and sweating with the pain of his leg - how it sang, still, the nerves sheared like feathers from a buck-shot wing.  He had stood the whole long ceremony, for the higher your rank, the nearer to the end, and he was there to get his captain's coat and brass for all the good it did.  Right to the cab from there, to Grand Central and up to Troy, his neck still alight with misgiving eyes.

Josiah had felt him there, Silks, like the tumult of a fire's breath, a sudden draft, the snorting of a horse all lathered from its run up the grand boulevard.  Felt him there at his side, across the room, as surely as he'd been there every off-day he had right here in the casualty ward.  Birchy, he would say.  Birchy, wake up.  Have some water, Birch.  Gotta eat, Birchy, your leg'll never patch up with you starved. 

(and as he drove, gasping, through the poppy fields and the dark morphine sea, Silks bowed his head and prayed, and said that he was sorry.)

He can't do this.

(The first steps he took out of bed, he fell, and cussed the nurses and the nuns.)

He cannot.

(When they fitted him for the brace, he felt its sheen and its click and its creak like laughter.)

He cannot do this.

(It held him upright, but it would never hold him on the boards.)

He is walking, as steady as he can, down the aisle between the beds.  He thinks, it's not at all unlike the men's ward at the county, the empty beds, the empty eyes, the soft weeping that might just be the sear at the back of his mind.  He is walking with a limp, he is walking toward the last door, he is walking down a dark hallway, he is in the smoke, he is under the give of the ceiling and he doesn't know it. 

Each bed has to it one hard, high-backed chair, and he collapses down and bows his head, taking his hat off, smoothing his hair, looking everywhere but the bed. 

Silks is coughing again.  He sounds like the roar of a train in a tunnel just beyond the light's reach, the way the hot, rank air drafts back toward the engine.

He lays his hand on Silky's shoulder. 

"Silks - "

Just that cough.  That godawful cough. 

"Deep breath, Silks.  Hold on to it."

Like they were back in the smoke.  Back on the cobbles.

He feels Silky looking in his sear before he feels the eyes, and he can't bring himself to look.

"I'm dead, aren't I."  Silky wheezes.  "I'm dead, you can't be here."

The fever is palpable on him.  The sweat.  He is so, so pale. 

"God would send me you, I do suppose." Quick gasps between each word, he struggles, and his eyes are glassier than Josiah remembers. 

"Your god would send you better."

"No," Silks whispers, and Josiah catches his flailing hand.  "No, it is you, isn't it."

"Hastings sent a wire.  Eddy told me."

"Oh." Silks breathes deeply - a struggle deep in his chest.  "Oh."  Looks sharply at once: "Where's the young fella?"

Josiah balks.  "At home."

"What a fool you are, my Birchy." Silks pats his arm, weakly, softly.  The fever has cracked his lips, and Josiah brushes the damp hair off his brow. 

"I've heard that."

"You gone thinking I'd die?"

"I came to be sure you didn't."

"Fool, Birchy."

"I know, Silks.  I know.  And I'm sorry."

Silks shakes his head wearily.  "Don't. Don't be sorry.  Nothing - " that gasp again.  " - nothing sorry.  Just here.  You're here."

"Yeah, pal, I'm here."

"That's good, Birchy.  That's good." 

It aches to watch him breathe.  Josiah finds his body, unwitting, matching each struggling inhale, each slow and rattling exhale.  He sees the pulse beat rapidly in Silky's long, pale neck.  Feels it matched in his wrist.  "Take a rest, Silks," he says.  "I'm here."

Silky nods, distantly, his eyes soft and glassy.  Turns his face against the pillow, and shuts his eyes.  

[captainelsaeverdeen]

I like me better when I’m with you ~Part 2.

There’s so little Steve in this, but he’ll be in the next parts all. the. time! And yeah, I named the coach after Troy Bolton from HSM. I can totally imagine him as a strict PE teacher if his music career didn't work out... Anyways, hope you guys will like it! Gif not mine. 

summary: based on ‘To All The Boys I Loved Before’. Y/N Henderson used to be in love a couple of times. This time she’s sure it’s something bigger, something serious. Her love for Jonathan Byers is unlimited, untamed and endless. At least she thought so. Read Part 1 here.

-

That kiss.

Steve couldn't concentrate. Why now, after all this time? From what he remembered the last time you guys talked, he was about your brother's age. Your contact was limited to a short "hello" in the hallway and waving at each other in town. Nothing else.

He kissed you because Carol couldn't shut up. He remembered perfectly well how his dad let him sit behind the wheel of his car and little Steve invited to Y/N, Carol and Tommy, his best friends so far. Carol made fun of Y/N all day because she had never been kissed before. There is nothing wrong with that, but little Y/N was so embarrassed that Steve did what he thought was right. He leaned out of the driver's seat and gently kissed the little girl's mouth so that Carol could choke on her chewing gum for once.

Only a year later, Y/N realized that Tommy and Carol were not the people she wanted to deal with. She thought they were egotistical, mean, and idiots enjoying others' failures. And she was right. Steve didn't understand that until now. Too bad he figured it out too late. 

“Dude, what's going on? Focus before Billy kicks our ass even more, come on!” His teammate hit him on the shoulder. Steve twisted his head and wiped out all the intrusive thoughts. “Yeah, Steve. Concentrate. We don't want anything to happen to you" Billy said sarcastically. It doesn’t matter why she sent the letter. You can't play with someone's feelings. He wanted to explain it as gently as he could and maybe he did. He didn't find out because Y/N ran away as soon as Jonathan got on the field.

But why she was scared of Jonathan Byers?

-

“Girl, come on” Robin sighed, leaning her hands on her school locker. You sat down on the floor and pulled your knees up to your chest, holding them with your hands to keep them from shaking. You wanted to cry, scream, vomit, or do it all at once. Steve got a letter. Your letter. It didn't belong to him, it belonged to you. Although it was addressed to him, your thoughts, your feelings were there. He should never have read it. Not to mention Jonathan. “Please, I'm starting to worry. What the hell did he tell you?”

“Robin...” Your voice broke down when you tried to speak. “He... he got a letter”. “What letter?” Your friend pushed herself away from the locker. “From who? What was in it?”

“From me” You said, raising your head a little. The corridor was empty because everyone was in class. Only an angry coach could show up here at any time. You clenched your fingers so tightly on your shirt that your ankles got whacked. “But please promise me you won't laugh”.

“I don't feel like laughing. But I feel like I'm way too sober for this”. “I... you know I'm not good at talking about my feelings. It's much easier for me to write about them. So... so when I really care about someone, I write a letter to that person. I confess my love, I say what I like about that person and how much I care about them... and that's it. I put the envelope on and hide the letter in the room. It's just that... someone sent them. Somebody had to, because Steve and Jonathan got theirs.”

Robin was quiet for a while. She bit her lower lip, started going back and forth around the hallway, removing nail polish until she stopped next to you. “Normally, I'd probably say something funny, but it's not funny at all”. “I think I'm gonna throw up” you said quietly. Robin gathered your hair into a ponytail. “Calm down” she said and sat next to you on the dirty floor. “Just take a deep breath”.

“Take a deep breath? It feels like my insides are being ripped out” you said devastated. “How many letters did you write?” Robin asked. You showed her five fingers. “Do I know the others?”. “One of them goes to school with us. I don't have any contact with the other two” you answered. “I can understand absolutely everything, but... Steve? Stephen Harrington? When was that? Why don't I know anything about it?”.

“So long ago we didn't know each other” you smiled at each other. “In seventh grade. I was friends with him... and with Tommy and Carol. But those two are assholes, and I realized that early on, so I stopped hanging out with them. Steve gave up our friendship for the sake of friendship with Tommy and Carol. We don't talk from now on. But it used to be different”.

“Y/N, you in there?” someone asked, suddenly showing up in the hallway. You knew that voice. You didn't remember exactly from where, but it was definitely familiar, the name of its owner was at the end of your tongue.

“We're in the middle of something” Robin muttered when Stanley from the homecoming who should be in class now stood over you, his sneakers were squealing on the linoleum. He just stood there for a while and stared at you until he started rocking on his feet and waved in front of his face with a blue envelope. Robin whistled loudly.

“So this is the third one” she muttered. Stanley scratched himself in the back of the neck. “Look, I didn't mean to barge in on you. I saw you run in here from the pitch, and I wanted to make sure you're okay, and, uh...” he gave you an envelope. You took it carefully in your hands, and pressed it against your chest. “Thought you might want that back. It seemed a little personal”. 

“Yeah, it is” you said, looking away from him and Robin. Your heart was beating in your chest, not wanting to calm down. “I wrote it years ago. It should never have reached you... but it did”. “I had a lot of fun that night too” the boy smiled. Robin raised her eyebrow. “At the homecoming. But... Y/N don't get me wrong, you're great, but... generally, I don't like girls... like at all”.

“Well, well. Generally I don't like boys, like, at all” Robin smiled fiercely. Stanley looked at her surprised, but in this positive sense. “You're gonna get along with each other” you waved the envelope, afraid you'd faint without air. “Here's what we gonna do” Robin turned around, still sitting with her legs crossed and grabbed your hands. “You're gonna go back home and make sure Dustin has nothing to do with it. Search your room carefully, maybe the other two are still there”.

“Even if, those three could ruin my life the most. No offense” you said, and Stan raised his hands. “Dustin certainly didn't do it. That's not possible. He wouldn't have a reason”. “You think so. You never know. Go and call me. I'll cover for you.”  

“From Coach Bolton? He'll never forgive you this” Stan grumbled dissatisfied. “Thank you, Stanley. That comment was completely unnecessary” Robin rolled her eyes. Everything seemed to be passing at an accelerated rate. Staying in the dressing room, coming home on a bike, as if time had decided to help you and let you go home as soon as possible. Mom was already inside, just like Dustin. You ran up the stairs so fast that you stepped on Mews' tail and she was furious.

“Y/N! What’s the meaning of this, you didn't see her or what?!” mom was screaming completly outrageous, but you didn't listen to her. You fell into the room, stopped on the bed and took the vinyl off the shelf.

It was empty.

You looked under the bed, under the desk and under the dresser. Shit, you even looked under the carpet and pillows. Nothing. Nothing at all.

“You took anything out of my room?” you asked when you went into Dustin's room. “Why would I?” your brother break away from his homework for a while “I'm not getting excited about your bras”.

“When the last time party was here, or whoever was in my room?” you asked. Dustin didn't answer, so you ripped his math notebook from him. “Yes or no?” “Jesus Christ” Dustin rolled his eyes. “I don't know. I don't control them. I just let Max in. They were messing with Lucas and he poured hot chocolate on her shirt. I said she could take something of yours, so I gave her a little privacy. But she already gave it back. It's in the laundry basket.”

“It's not about the stupid shirt...” you just shut up, left the room and went back to yours. “Hey... Hey! What is it? You don't think she stole something...” your brother's voice was jammed by the sound of the door closing. You slammed it a little too much. You slid slowly to the ground, pushing your back against the wall.

The letters are out. They're out. There's nothing you can do about it. Happiness in misery, Chris's letter was adressed to the bunks at the camp, so at least he'll never know how cute he looked in his swimsuit.

“You got the letter” Dustin knocked slowly into your room, but you didn't say anything. “It's from... from some Ralph. From Florida. Mom says the chicken will be ready soon”.

And he slipped a brown envelope through a gap under the door. Ralph's not Steve, Stan, or Jonathan, so his answer probably wouldn't have caused any emotion, but your heart literally stopped beating when you reached for the letter. But it wasn't an answer. Ralph just sent your letter back. No message, no comment. He just returned something that never belonged to him.

You hid your face in your hands, trying to calm down. Today you managed to escape from Jonathan, which was great, but you can't do it forever, not every day until the end of school. Sooner or later you will have to talk to him. If not with him, you'll have to talk with Nancy. What if he told her? What if she already knows and now she hates you with all her heart?

Dear Jonathan. There are songs you can't listen to without thinking about a particular person. There are movies where the characters experience something so wonderful that you'd like to be in their place. And there are people you just can't fall in love with. I think I found one.

Shut up. Don't think about it. Call Robin. Tell her the situation is looking hopeless and lock yourself in your room for the rest of your life. When you got up to grab the phone, when the tears were squeezing into your eyes because it was all fucking unrealistic, mom screamed from the living room.

"Y/N! Jonathan is waiting for you downstairs! Come say hi!"

Taglist: @krazykatkay456​   @mochminnie​  @ghostineleven​ @the-almond-dinger​  @art-flirt

[stevenismyboy]

I like me better when I’m with you ~Part 2.

This fic was posted first on my main blog which is captainelsaeverdeen. I started my own blog only for my imagines and I moved all my work from there to here. Hope you guys would enjoy this! <3

There’s so little Steve in this, but he’ll be in the next parts all. the. time! And yeah, I named the coach after Troy Bolton from HSM. I can totally imagine him as a strict PE teacher if his music career didn’t work out… Anyways, hope you guys will like it! Gif not mine.

summary: based on ‘To All The Boys I Loved Before’. Y/N Henderson used to be in love a couple of times. This time she’s sure it’s something bigger, something serious. Her love for Jonathan Byers is unlimited, untamed and endless. At least she thought so. You can find my Masterlist here.

-

That kiss.

Steve couldn’t concentrate. Why now, after all this time? From what he remembered the last time you guys talked, he was about your brother’s age. Your contact was limited to a short “hello” in the hallway and waving at each other in town. Nothing else.

He kissed you because Carol couldn’t shut up. He remembered perfectly well how his dad let him sit behind the wheel of his car and little Steve invited to Y/N, Carol and Tommy, his best friends so far. Carol made fun of Y/N all day because she had never been kissed before. There is nothing wrong with that, but little Y/N was so embarrassed that Steve did what he thought was right. He leaned out of the driver’s seat and gently kissed the little girl’s mouth so that Carol could choke on her chewing gum for once.

Only a year later, Y/N realized that Tommy and Carol were not the people she wanted to deal with. She thought they were egotistical, mean, and idiots enjoying others’ failures. And she was right. Steve didn’t understand that until now. Too bad he figured it out too late.

“Dude, what’s going on? Focus before Billy kicks our ass even more, come on!” His teammate hit him on the shoulder. Steve twisted his head and wiped out all the intrusive thoughts. “Yeah, Steve. Concentrate. We don’t want anything to happen to you" Billy said sarcastically. It doesn’t matter why she sent the letter. You can’t play with someone’s feelings. He wanted to explain it as gently as he could and maybe he did. He didn’t find out because Y/N ran away as soon as Jonathan got on the field.

But why she was scared of Jonathan Byers?

-

“Girl, come on” Robin sighed, leaning her hands on her school locker. You sat down on the floor and pulled your knees up to your chest, holding them with your hands to keep them from shaking. You wanted to cry, scream, vomit, or do it all at once. Steve got a letter. Your letter. It didn’t belong to him, it belonged to you. Although it was addressed to him, your thoughts, your feelings were there. He should never have read it. Not to mention Jonathan. “Please, I’m starting to worry. What the hell did he tell you?”

“Robin…” Your voice broke down when you tried to speak. “He… he got a letter”. “What letter?” Your friend pushed herself away from the locker. “From who? What was in it?”

“From me” You said, raising your head a little. The corridor was empty because everyone was in class. Only an angry coach could show up here at any time. You clenched your fingers so tightly on your shirt that your ankles got whacked. “But please promise me you won’t laugh”.

“I don’t feel like laughing. But I feel like I’m way too sober for this”. “I… you know I’m not good at talking about my feelings. It’s much easier for me to write about them. So… so when I really care about someone, I write a letter to that person. I confess my love, I say what I like about that person and how much I care about them… and that’s it. I put the envelope on and hide the letter in the room. It’s just that… someone sent them. Somebody had to, because Steve and Jonathan got theirs.”

Robin was quiet for a while. She bit her lower lip, started going back and forth around the hallway, removing nail polish until she stopped next to you. “Normally, I’d probably say something funny, but it’s not funny at all”. “I think I’m gonna throw up” you said quietly. Robin gathered your hair into a ponytail. “Calm down” she said and sat next to you on the dirty floor. “Just take a deep breath”.

“Take a deep breath? It feels like my insides are being ripped out” you said devastated. “How many letters did you write?” Robin asked. You showed her five fingers. “Do I know the others?”. “One of them goes to school with us. I don’t have any contact with the other two” you answered. “I can understand absolutely everything, but… Steve? Stephen Harrington? When was that? Why don’t I know anything about it?”.

“So long ago we didn’t know each other” you smiled at each other. “In seventh grade. I was friends with him… and with Tommy and Carol. But those two are assholes, and I realized that early on, so I stopped hanging out with them. Steve gave up our friendship for the sake of friendship with Tommy and Carol. We don’t talk from now on. But it used to be different”.

“Y/N, you in there?” someone asked, suddenly showing up in the hallway. You knew that voice. You didn’t remember exactly from where, but it was definitely familiar, the name of its owner was at the end of your tongue.

“We’re in the middle of something” Robin muttered when Stanley from the homecoming who should be in class now stood over you, his sneakers were squealing on the linoleum. He just stood there for a while and stared at you until he started rocking on his feet and waved in front of his face with a blue envelope. Robin whistled loudly.

“So this is the third one” she muttered. Stanley scratched himself in the back of the neck. “Look, I didn’t mean to barge in on you. I saw you run in here from the pitch, and I wanted to make sure you’re okay, and, uh…” he gave you an envelope. You took it carefully in your hands, and pressed it against your chest. “Thought you might want that back. It seemed a little personal”.

“Yeah, it is” you said, looking away from him and Robin. Your heart was beating in your chest, not wanting to calm down. “I wrote it years ago. It should never have reached you… but it did”. “I had a lot of fun that night too” the boy smiled. Robin raised her eyebrow. “At the homecoming. But… Y/N don’t get me wrong, you’re great, but… generally, I don’t like girls… like at all”.

“Well, well. Generally I don’t like boys, like, at all” Robin smiled fiercely. Stanley looked at her surprised, but in this positive sense. “You’re gonna get along with each other” you waved the envelope, afraid you’d faint without air. “Here’s what we gonna do” Robin turned around, still sitting with her legs crossed and grabbed your hands. “You’re gonna go back home and make sure Dustin has nothing to do with it. Search your room carefully, maybe the other two are still there”.

“Even if, those three could ruin my life the most. No offense” you said, and Stan raised his hands. “Dustin certainly didn’t do it. That’s not possible. He wouldn’t have a reason”. “You think so. You never know. Go and call me. I’ll cover for you.”  

“From Coach Bolton? He’ll never forgive you this” Stan grumbled dissatisfied. “Thank you, Stanley. That comment was completely unnecessary” Robin rolled her eyes. Everything seemed to be passing at an accelerated rate. Staying in the dressing room, coming home on a bike, as if time had decided to help you and let you go home as soon as possible. Mom was already inside, just like Dustin. You ran up the stairs so fast that you stepped on Mews’ tail and she was furious.

“Y/N! What’s the meaning of this, you didn’t see her or what?!” mom was screaming completly outrageous, but you didn’t listen to her. You fell into the room, stopped on the bed and took the vinyl off the shelf.

It was empty.

You looked under the bed, under the desk and under the dresser. Shit, you even looked under the carpet and pillows. Nothing. Nothing at all.

“You took anything out of my room?” you asked when you went into Dustin’s room. “Why would I?” your brother break away from his homework for a while “I’m not getting excited about your bras”.

“When the last time party was here, or whoever was in my room?” you asked. Dustin didn’t answer, so you ripped his math notebook from him. “Yes or no?” “Jesus Christ” Dustin rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t control them. I just let Max in. They were messing with Lucas and he poured hot chocolate on her shirt. I said she could take something of yours, so I gave her a little privacy. But she already gave it back. It’s in the laundry basket.”

“It’s not about the stupid shirt…” you just shut up, left the room and went back to yours. “Hey… Hey! What is it? You don’t think she stole something…” your brother’s voice was jammed by the sound of the door closing. You slammed it a little too much. You slid slowly to the ground, pushing your back against the wall.

The letters are out. They’re out. There’s nothing you can do about it. Happiness in misery, Chris’s letter was adressed to the bunks at the camp, so at least he’ll never know how cute he looked in his swimsuit.

“You got the letter” Dustin knocked slowly into your room, but you didn’t say anything. “It’s from… from some Ralph. From Florida. Mom says the chicken will be ready soon”.

And he slipped a brown envelope through a gap under the door. Ralph’s not Steve, Stan, or Jonathan, so his answer probably wouldn’t have caused any emotion, but your heart literally stopped beating when you reached for the letter. But it wasn’t an answer. Ralph just sent your letter back. No message, no comment. He just returned something that never belonged to him.

You hid your face in your hands, trying to calm down. Today you managed to escape from Jonathan, which was great, but you can’t do it forever, not every day until the end of school. Sooner or later you will have to talk to him. If not with him, you’ll have to talk with Nancy. What if he told her? What if she already knows and now she hates you with all her heart?

Dear Jonathan. There are songs you can’t listen to without thinking about a particular person. There are movies where the characters experience something so wonderful that you’d like to be in their place. And there are people you just can’t fall in love with. I think I found one.

Shut up. Don’t think about it. Call Robin. Tell her the situation is looking hopeless and lock yourself in your room for the rest of your life. When you got up to grab the phone, when the tears were squeezing into your eyes because it was all fucking unrealistic, mom screamed from the living room.

“Y/N! Jonathan is waiting for you downstairs! Come say hi!”

Taglist: @krazykatkay456 @mochminnie @ghostineleven @sydzygy @queen1054

[arc-abscondo]

jason is a pure boy.    he is okay?    he befriends martha at the end of hsm1, he befriends kelsi, gabriella.   is a loyal friend - is clearly torn on helping chad with the whole gabriella / troy break up,    the only BAD thing this fucking boy does is moan about having to wash dishes.    legit also he just wants to make money to make some motion pictures.    listen my boy the film director.   i mean - i don’t headcanon he actually goes into that because  thats ridiculously hard, and honestly - i think at the end of senior year   - he probably wants to give back to education because we know it’s basiclaly Ms Darbus and his friends who helps this poor boy graduate high school.   and also the positive influence of one coach jack bolton.    but yeah - i love how nice jason is and how friendly he is.     

[ponykidcurtis]

saudade

(n.) a nostalgic longing to be near again to something or someone that is distant, or that has been loved and then lost.

The clip of Jack kissing his college boyfriend on center ice is playing on every screen in every bar Kent goes to. They've got it on a loop, and Kent wishes they would turn it off but it's looping in his head too and he can't get away from that, not without being very, very drunk. 

He's already been to three bars, trying to find one that isn't focused on hockey news, but it's the Stanley Cup win, so who isn't? Jeff is trailing along like a chaperone, which is probably good, because Kent has stopped for a drink or two in each of those bars, and it's starting to seem like he's already far gone enough that the stupid video won't matter by the next one. He hopes it won't. 

“Fuck this,” he mutters when he glances in the window of another pub, only to find it filled with screens too. 

“Parse,” Jeff starts from behind him, a concerned note in his voice, “Let’s just grab a cab to your apartment, alright?”

“I need tequila, Swoops, not a mother hen,” Kent sneers. He feels a little bad about it, but a fresh wave of bitter self-pity drowns it out as he reaches for the pub doors. Jeff, for his part, takes it in stride. Kent supposes they’ve been friends long enough for Jeff to know he doesn’t mean it, and he’s grateful, because he’s not sure he could manage a proper apology right now. 

“Jesus, Parser,” Jeff says, but follows him inside anyway. “If you get alcohol poisoning, I’m not explaining that shit to the coaches.”

They’d left the rest of the Aces in bar number one, where Carly was probably still talking and the rest were probably still laughing along to his homophobic bullshit, and it was all just too much. Why couldn’t he have a team that was accepting? A team like-- A team like Jack’s must be, if he could come out like that, look so comfortable and so in love and not even care-- 

Kent orders two shots from the bartender and knocks them back, one-two. He orders another drink right after, because why not. Jeff orders his own and grabs both, then steers Kent away from the bar towards an actual seat, herding him into the booth in the corner. It feels a little like when Kent herds Kit out of his way, except with more stumbling and cursing. Probably more cursing? Kent doesn’t speak cat, so for all he knows she’s swearing up a storm whenever she meows at him. 

Kent slumps a bit when he sits, curling both hands around his drink when Jeff sets it in front of him. He feels miserable and he’s not even sure why, really. At first he thought it was Jack, but he’s not in love with Jack any more. He’s known that for a while now. Since he realized that Jack didn’t want him and that maybe it didn’t matter, because he had his best friend right here and maybe Kent wanted him. So it’s not Jack. In all honesty, Kent is happy for him. He’s glad Jack gets the pretty blond he’s clearly head over heels for, and he’s happy that Jack is happy. So why the hell is he still so bitter? 

“Earth to Parser,” Jeff is saying when Kent tunes back in. He’s been letting Kent do his own thing, mostly, but now he looks concerned all over again, and Kent hates that look. His eyes get sad and his brow creases and his mouth curls into a little frown, and it’s not fair that a grown man can look that adorable when he’s worried, and… wow. That’s something that Kent has been avoiding thinking about. 

“You want me to ask them to turn it off, bud?” Jeff asks, more gently than Kent feels like he deserves. And if he’s really looking pathetic enough to warrant Jeff calling him bud, like he does with the kids that come in for family skate, he should probably try to get his shit together. He pulls himself up, leans back, and drains the rest of his drink in one go. 

“No,” Kent says, “I’m fine.” Or he’s getting there. At least, he’s trying, but then he glances back up at the screen as he puts his glass down and something twists in his gut, and he kind of feels like he wants to cry. Which he’s not going to do in front of an entire pub, no thank you. 

“Let’s just go,” he mutters quickly and stands, fumbling to slam some cash on the table and make a beeline for the door. Jeff startles at his sudden exit and barely manages to keep up. They make it halfway down the sidewalk in a rush before Jeff catches Kent’s arm and pulls him to a stop, right beside some little coffee shop closed up for the night. 

“Kent, come on,” he pleads, “talk to me.” He isn’t letting go of Kent’s arm. And he’s using Kent’s real name, which he only does when he’s being serious. And he’s standing there looking so damn earnest that it kind of hits Kent all at once; he wants what Jack has. Not Jack himself, but that loving look he’s got in the clip that’s still looping through Kent’s head, and the matching adoration in his boyfriend’s eyes as he looks up at him. And he wants it with Jeff Troy. The feeling he’d been pushing away at the bar comes back and he just lets it all out, in a rush, because Jeff is still looking at him like that and he can’t handle it. 

“I want that,” he blurts, and then scrambles to explain himself. “I mean-- not Jack. It’s not about Jack any more.” Jeff knows about Jack, about what used to be JackAndKent, because Kent is surprisingly terrible at keeping secrets from his best friend. He’d come out to him a year or so ago, and he’d ended up just telling the whole story. It was a bit of a mess. 

“I just,” Kent pauses and struggles for the right words, his brain a bit of a jumble after a few too many drinks. “I want to be able to do that. To kiss another man on national television and not worry about what anyone else thinks, or how it’s going to affect the team, or whether or not I’ll lose my job over it, or…” He trails off, and Jeff just sighs. 

“Yeah,” he says simply. “Me too.” Kent realizes he’s still holding his arm, and he’s a little too aware of his touch. Jeff notices him noticing, but he doesn’t pull away. 

“Swoops…” Kent breathes, “I want that. With you.” He’s hesitant, unsure, but then Jeff slides his hand down to join it with Kent’s, and tangles their fingers together. It's a tiny gesture, barely anything, but it's everything. Because Kent might be terrible at keeping secrets from Jeff, but Jeff is just as terrible at keeping them from him.

They can’t do anything here, in the middle of the sidewalk, because they’re not lucky enough to have a team like Jack’s. Jeff slips his hand out of Kent’s, and Kent has the sudden irrational feeling that he's read this all wrong, but Jeff just tips his head towards the road and says, "How about we grab that cab to your apartment, now?" Kent grins at him, and Jeff's answering grin is blinding. 

It's not perfect, not by a long shot, but Kent thinks that if he gets this, he can handle the rest. He can deal with Jack kissing his tiny blond on T.V., he can handle Carly and his homophobic bullshit, just as long as he gets to wake up next to his best friend every morning. They'll figure it out.

read it on AO3

[dolphina40]

The Canucks Players You Need to Know

I want to make more people fall in love with this team (also I had way too much fun doing this) so here we go...

(I skipped Pettersson and Boeser because anyone who has any interest in the Canucks already knows about them)

Bo Horvat (#53, C)

- Will finally be the captain next season (fight me!)

- Is getting married in a few days, he and Holly are super cute and have been together pretty much forever

- Has a French bulldog named Gus

- Is 100% the most grown-up of the young guys

- Works so, so hard and is always exceeding expectations

Troy Stecher (#51, RHD)

- Underrated

- So underrated

- Signed as a college free agent and ended up playing in the NHL pretty much right away because of injuries

- He and Boeser went to UND together and lived together Brock’s first season in VAN

- TROY FROM RICHMOND

- His dog Phoebe is SO CUTE

- His first season he used to ride his bike to practice because he didn’t have a car, and then Trevor Linden heard about it and was like “dude, I have your signing bonus in my office... go buy a car!” 😂

Nikolay Goldobin (#77, LW/RW)

- my favourite

- Pretty, very very pretty

- The only Russian on the team

- He has awesome chemistry with Pettersson but his defense is... not great. He got off to a great start last season, and then things fell apart. IMO the coach was way too hard on him and he stopped playing well because of a lack of confidence. This is the very very short version because I am aware that other people don’t care about Goldy like I do 😂

- HE BETTER BE ON THE TEAM NEXT YEAR (he’s a RFA now)

- Probably Pettersson’s closest friend besides Boeser (I’m pretty sure he was Pettersson’s first friend on the team)

- Loves loves loves Vancouver

Ben Hutton (#27, LHD)

- *sobs* isn’t actually a Canuck anymore

- But we love him anyway and we’ll always have that time he lip-synced to Barbie Girl at Dice&Ice

- He and Jake are besties

- A total goofball (example: one time he called his nap “shuttsy bo buttsy for huttsy 😂) and I’M GOING TO MISS HIM SO MUCH

Jake Virtanen (#18, RW/LW)

- Drafted 6th overall in 2014 and is always seen as a disappointment because he hasn’t lived up to expectations (YET!) basically the Canucks could’ve/should’ve drafted Nylander or Ehlers soooo... yeah ☹️

- Grew up in Abbotsford

- His nickname is “Big Tuna” and everyone has a different explanation of why 🤷🏼‍♀️

- For some reason he had a bad rep for partying but like???? There’s? No? Proof? (Like... at all, that I can find, so idk what to say about this)

- Would 100000% fight people to protect his friends

Alex Edler (#23, LHD)

- One of the best defenseman in franchise history, has been here his whole career

- Unfortunately he always seems to be injured these days, but he’s still pretty good

- Took care of Petey when he had a concussion (and they’re Swedish buddies)

Jacob Markstrom (#25, goalie)

- Somehow we went from making jokes (and crying) about all the bad goals he let in to voting him team MVP

- Last season he was AWESOME and he suffered so much with the Canucks terrible horrible no good very bad defense

- Also part of Pettersson’s Swedish squad

Antoine Roussel (#26, LW)

- he’s French, as in France-French not Quebec-French

- Feisty, very very feisty, always causes trouble

- He’s that player that you love on your team but hate on any other team

Thatcher Demko (#35, goalie)

- Supposed to be our future #1 goalie

- Spent a very very long time in the AHL but finally got a chance in the NHL last season (it went well)

I could go on but I think these are the important ones

[readyourimgaines]

Chapter Four: Deeper Truths

I’m still getting notes on these so I’m going to keep posting them until someone tells me to stop. I plan for chapter five to be a light, filler so there won’t be drama in that on. Always, thank you to @thatbarricade. And the tag-list: @iamnotbrianmay @board-certifiedbastard @mayonnaiseismycomfortfood

“I think you’re the only person I know that actually drinks Snapple.” Grantaire handed the bottle to the blond and placed his own ice tea in the cupholder.

“I don’t always drink it. It’s good though, like an odd mix between tea and juice.” Enjolras took the cap off the bottle. “Thanks, by the way.”

“Don’t mention it.” Grantaire started his truck and pulled out of the gas station parking lot. “How’d you feel about the Musain?”

“Well, the work went better than I expected, so that was great. The people are friendly. I don’t think I’ll mind working there. I just can’t stand the sound the steam thing makes though. It’s so high pitched.”

“Yeah… You’ll get used to that. It takes a bit, but after a while, it’s just another instrument in the whole symphony, you know?”

“Did you want to talk about something, or could you just not sleep?” Enjolras glanced at R as he took another sip.

“I did want to talk about something with you. Kind of like a little boost. There are going to be times when you feel alone, given the circumstances, and I want you to know that you don’t need to feel that way.

“Yeah, you’re living in a house with other gay men who are constantly hosting a bunch of other gays. That’s all great, but there are going to be times when you feel out of place. When Ferre’s mom calls him on his birthday or whenever; Courf’s brother coming to visit from out of town. It’s going to feel lonely.”

“What are you-”

“Remember when Bossuet said he bet my father regretted the boxing classes he signed me up for?” R asked.

“Yeah.” Enjolras nodded.

“My coming out story wasn’t too much different from yours. My father drank a lot so I had the-the ridiculous idea that coming out to him when he was drunk was going to be easier than coming out to him when he was sober. Because then he might have forgotten, and then if I ever had a boy over I could tell him that I’d told him and he’d forgotten.

“He tried hitting me but couldn’t really because of the boxing classes I’d been going to since I was... fourteen? I was sixteen at this point. He kept trying to hit me and...and I knocked him out so I could get out of there without getting beaten. I was gone by the time my mother got home from work, and she was able to piece things together. Haven’t heard from either of them since.”

“Shit,” Enjolras breathed.

“I’m not- I’m not telling you this to scare you. I promise that’s not what I’m trying to do, alright?” Grantaire’s grip on the stick shift tightened, his knuckles turning white. “I’m telling you so you know that whatever goes down with your parents, whether they take you back or not, send you a Christmas card, whatever the fuck happens, you aren’t going to be alone. If Ferre and Courf spend a holiday with Ferre’s family, we can stay and hang out, go on a road trip or something. Just you and me.”

“You haven’t been alone like this, have you?” Enjolras’s eyes were wide.

“Nah. Feuilly doesn’t have a family either. He wasn’t disowned or anything, his family was just as unlucky as the Kennedys.” R’s chuckled was forced. “Yeah. He and I have spent a lot of time together. Eponine, Gav, and I usually have our own little Christmas and Easter celebrations, too. We don’t exactly have faith in that stuff, Gav’s just ten so we want him growing up with the stuff we didn’t get to but all our friends did.”

Enjolras slowly nodded. “I only thought stories like ours happened on Degrassi or in Troy Sivan music videos.”

“I thought you were sheltered.” This laugh was natural.

“I have a phone.” Enjolras laughed. “I might not know much about magic and all that, but I did my reading before coming to the conclusion that I’m gay. I’m only gay in theory, anyway.”

“Have you seen Glee?”

“Too many times. It’s still Jehan’s favourite show. They found it through their friend, Cosette, and they showed me because Kurt’s gay and they fell in love with Unique and Coach Beaste.”

“How amazing would be if everyone’s parents responded to their kid’s coming out like Burt did? I mean, shit. Just ‘ya sure?’ and that’s it? I wish.”

“You know, now that I’m thinking about it, I’m not too broken up over my parents kicking me out. I know I should be, I just… I’m not. I’m not their picture-perfect dress up doll anymore. No more posed family pictures in front of the fireplace, then my father yelling at my mom the second the cameraman's out the door. I don’t have to be tucked under the covers watching MacDoesIt with earbuds in and praying to God my father doesn’t walk in.

“If they hadn’t kicked me out, I wouldn’t have this job, I wouldn’t have met the...four I did... I’ll remember their names in like ten minutes. I wouldn’t have met you. Forget my parents. They lost a son and I’ve got new friends so, honestly, they lost. I didn’t.”

“That’s the way I try to look at it. I met Feuilly at a shelter...thing…and he introduced me to Joly and Bossuet. Joly introduced me to Ferre, Ferre was already dating Courf.”

“How do you know Eponine?”

“Her parents owned my dad’s favourite pub. My mom worked there with them.”

Enjolras let out a laugh that was more of an exhale. He felt something akin to disbelief, yet another weight was lifted off his back.

“It’s weirdly relieving to know I’m not the only one. I-I feel bad because I wish you didn’t go through all that, but…”

“No, no. I get you’re saying. It’s why I told you. Sure we haven’t known each other for long, but we’re more alike than you’re probably willing to admit. I’m all kinds of fucked up and, no offence, but you probably will be too. But the friends we’ve got? They don’t care and they make the shitty things in life manageable. Somehow.”

“I don’t know, R. I think we’re doing pretty good for a couple of ‘fucked-up’ kids, don’t you? I’ve only had one panic attack since I was kicked out. You aren’t drunk all the time trying to force yourself to forget.”

“No. I’m never touching that shit. I saw what it did to my parents and I just- No. I’m 19, almost 20, I’d rather not have liver failure by the time I’m 40.”

“Then yeah, I’d say we’re doing pretty good.”

Testing his luck, trying something new, he rested his hand on R’s, which was still tightly gripping the stick shift. A smile tugged at the corners of Grantaire’s mouth and his knuckles relaxed, returning to their natural colour.

*****

Combeferre woke from his slumber and looked around the dim bedroom. He lifted his phone from the nightstand, squinting at the brightness of the screen. 4:32. Untangling himself from Courfeyrac, he took a few seconds to pat the other’s untamable curls, trying to soothe him back to sleep when he stirred. He slipped his phone in the pocket of his shorts— the pair he’d never wear outside the house- and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Walking into the hall, he smiled to himself when he noticed the small moth by the hall light. The smile only widened when he entered the living room and saw Enjolras sound asleep on the couch, his arm hanging over the side. Grantaire was lying on the floor against the couch, their hands almost touching.

Combeferre retrieved his phone from his pocket and quickly snapped a picture of the two before going to the closet and drawing out two pillows and blankets. Enjolras would probably have his head if saw the picture, but, Combeferre thought to himself with a smile, it was totally worth it.

He knew Grantaire would claim he was fine without a pillow, but the artist’s neck would be destroyed in the morning even if he never spoke up about it. The sandy-haired man gently wormed a hand under R’s head. The instant his head was off the floor, his eyes snapped open.

“It’s just me.” Ferre flexed his fingers, softly scratching R’s scalp as he placed the pillow under his head, and eased his head back down. “I can move Enjy to his bed. You can have the couch,” he offered.

“I’m good here,” R muttered, eyes fluttering. “Thanks for the pil…”

Ferre brushed the curls back from his friend’s forehead before laying the blanket over him.

He stood and placed the second pillow under Enjolras’s head, the boy nuzzling his nose against it. Ferre was about to lay the blanket over his friend when he noticed the sneakers still on his feet. He plopped the blanket on the back of the couch and unlaced Enjolras’s shoes, setting them in the corner. Then he laid the blanket over the blond.

Enjolras opened his eyes as Combeferre adjusted a rumpled corner of the blanket that was falling off his shoulder. “Ferre?” Enjolras rubbed his eyes.

“Just woke up to get some water. Wanted to check on you.” Ferre said, his voice calm and warm. “When did R come in?”

“I don’t…one, maybe?” Enj covered his mouth as he yawned. “I swore last night.”

Ferre breathed laugh. “Tell me about in the morning. You’re tired.” He rubbed Enjolras’s head, the strands of hair sliding between his fingers like liquid gold. “Goodnight, Enjy.”

The blond leaned his head a little closer to Ferre as he kissed Enjolras’s forehead with a smile. Going to the kitchen, he took a water bottle from the cupboard, filling it at the sink before walking back to his room.

Sitting on his side of the bed, he plugged his phone back in, took a swig of water, and lay back down. He slipped back under the covers and curled into Courf’s side.

“Ferre?” Courf hummed.

“I’m here.” Combeferre smiled fondly when towards him and their noses and foreheads touching. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He flung his arm blindly, trying to find Ferre’s hand. Ferre, more awake, caught his boyfriend’s hand and entangled their fingers. “What time is it?”

“Early. The sun’s not up yet. I got up to get some water. R and Enj are sleeping in the living room. I need to show you this.” He unlocked his phone and opened the photo gallery. “I’m calling it now, they’re gonna be together before the middle of September.”

“You do know he’s 19, right?”

“So? Two years isn’t a big deal.” Ferre held the phone out to Courf.

“Okay, that is adorable,” Ferre admitted. “I’m still gonna give him shit for pinning after a minor.”

“I know you will,” Ferre chuckled as he put his phone back on the nightstand. “They both have a pillow and blanket.”

“You’re such a mother hen.” Courf wrapped his arm around Ferre’s waist and pulled the sandy-haired man closer to him, there noses touching again. “You’re amazing, though.”

“You are, too.”

*****

Enjolras woke up to his phone ringing. He patted around the couch, finding it by his hip where it had fallen out of his pocket.

“Hello?” His voice was gravelly with sleep when he spoke.

“Where are you?”

“Jehan?”

“Yeah. Where are you? I stopped by your parents’. Your father slammed the door in my face, then your mom called me and said you weren’t living there anymore. What the hell happened?”

“Oh, god.” Enjolras sat up, the blanket falling to his hips. “What time is it?” He brushed his bangs from his eyes.

“Almost nine-thirty.”

“Do you just wanna come over?”

“Where are you?”

“Do you remember where Combeferre lives?” Enjolras tilted the speaker of his phone away from his mouth to cover a yawn.

“I think so, yeah. The house on White Street?”

“Mhm. 229; the tan one. I-I’d rather explain things in person. I promise I’ll tell you what’s going on. I didn’t mean to hide anything from you, the last couple of days have been a whirlwind, you know?”

“When should I come over?”

“10:30 sound okay? I gotta get dressed and all that, tell Ferre you’re coming over. I don’t even know if he’s up.”

“I am,” Ferre called from the kitchen.

“I swear Jehan, he doesn’t really sleep.” Enjolras chuckled.

“I’ll be there in an hour. Just-just be safe, alright? I care about you.”

“I know. I promise I’m fine. Careful on your walk over. It’s a calm enough neighbourhood, but people are the worst.”

“You’re saying this to me, Enjy? I’ve got it. I’ll see you in a little bit. I love you.”

“Love you too, Jehan.”

“What’s going on with Jehan?” Ferre appeared in the doorway, a towel over his shoulder.

“They know something’s up. They stopped by my parents’ and freaked out a little… They’re coming over in a bit so I can explain everything.”

Combeferre winced at the mention of Enjolras’s parents. “They’ll understand, you know that.”

“Yeah. I’m glad R and I didn’t wake you up last night. I was hoping we wouldn’t.”

“Where’d you guys go?”

“For a drive,” R grunted from where he laid on the floor. He was laying on his stomach, face in his pillow. He sighed. “What’s the time?”

“Roughly nine-thirty,” Enjolras repeated.

“That’s gross.”

A knock sounded on the door just as Enjolras was towelling off from his shower.

“I got it!” Courf opened the door. “Jehan, right?”

“Yeah. You’re… Other ‘c’ guy that isn’t Ferre.”

“Close enough.” Courf stepped away from the door, allowing Jehan in. “I’m Courfeyrac.”

“I know I’ve seen you before,” Jehan addressed Grantaire.

“Probably. I’m Grantaire.”

“Hi.”

“Enj just got out of the shower. He’ll be a minute.” Grantaire scratched the back of his neck.

“That’s cool.” Jehan shrugged. “How’s graduation treating you?”

R shrugged. “Better than high school, I can tell you that. I’m pretty excited for classes to start actually. People taking classes because they actually want to be there? I’m in.”

“That does sound better. My art classes are sort of like that, but they can still be naggingly annoying.”

Grantaire nodded sympathetically.

“I hope college is better than high school. The university has an actual library and everything,” Ferre pitched in.

“You’re still going to be buying everything you read, though,” Jehan laughed.

“That’s probably true, yeah.”

The bathroom door opened, and Enj stepped out from the hall.

“There you are.” Jehan captured Enjolras in a tight hug.

“I told you I was alright.” Enjolras returned the hug.

“Never know with you. What happened?” Jehan took a step back and looked their friend over with weary eyes.

“Let’s talk in my room.” Enjolras took Jehan’s hand and lead them into his room, closing the door behind them. “Remember, I promise I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you; things have just been crazy.”

“I know, I can see that. I’m not upset, Enjy.”

Enjolras gave a recap of the last couple days, starting with the fight he had with his parents and ending with him and Grantaire returning from their drive, though he left out their conversation.

“And you haven’t called CPS?” Jehan’s eyes were wide.

“No. And we aren’t going to. I turn 18 in a little under a month so I’m laying low. Besides, by the time all the paperwork and everything else went through I’d be 18 anyway, so it’d be out of their control. I’d just be placed in a group home for a month. The whole thing would be a waste of time and money for everyone involved.”

“That’s...that’s… I don’t have words for this, Enj. I’m just-”

“It’s alright. You don’t need to say anything. I know it’s a mess and everything is up in the air for now, but I’m okay and I don’t mind how things are going. I’ve made new friends, I’m away from my father and I’m openly out now.”

“Oh. The ah...that curly-haired one? Grantaire, I think he said his name is? You know he’s totally into you, right?” Jehan smirked.

“Nah, I don’t think so. He’s just a friendly guy, that’s all.”

“Courfeyrac and Ferre are together, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Yeah. Grantaire looks at you the way Courf looks at Ferre. He’s into you, man.”

“I’ve got work at one,” Enjolras quickly tried to change the subject. “You should come check the place out. It’s a pretty chill place.”

“Where are you working?”

“Café Musain. It’s a little coffee shop on the college campus. I think you’d like the place.”

“I’ll go with you, sure. Now come on, I wanna watch this guy check you out more.” Jehan laughed at the face Enjolras made.

“He’s not into me. I’ve known him for three days.”

“Doesn’t matter. Love is a weird thing.”

*****

Enjolras’s phone dinged and he slipped it from his pocket, checking the message. “I don’t work today, apparently.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Eponine texted and said it’s too dead for me to bother showing up.”

“I can get that with the heat,” Courfeyrac called from the kitchen. He was filling cups with ice water.

“It wasn’t this hot yesterday,” Grantaire said. “Or this morning.”

“It is July,” Combeferre reminded.

“Enj, can I get your help with something?” Jehan pulled Enjolras up from where he sat on the floor, tugging him into his room.

“What’s wrong?” Grantaire looked to Ferre when the door was closed.

“I have no idea.” Ferre shook his head. “I’m going to freeze yoghurt so we can have popsicles later.”

“Why haven’t I ever thought of that?” Grantaire flopped over on the couch so he was laying on his front again.

“Oh! R, I heard you have a crush.” Courf called with a grunt.

“You heard that from me, ya dingus.” Grantaire ruffled his curls, trying to get some of the heat out from the black mess.

“You know it’s illegal to have se-”

“Woah, Courf-” he sat up- “I never said anything about that.”

Courf laughed. “I’m not letting you live this down. He’s not even 18, man.”

“I’m hardly two years older than him. Two years isn’t a big deal. I’ll just wait ‘til he turns 18 to say anything, so you don’t lynch me in the back yard or some shit.”

“Two years isn’t bad at all, R,” Ferre encouraged.

Enjolras and Jehan came out from Enjolras’s room. Enjolras was holding a couple of bandanas, Jehan donning one of Enjolras’ baggy T-shirts.

“Can I get to the sink for a second?” Enjolras requested of Courf. The older stepped aside and Enjolras let cold water run for a few seconds before soaking the bandanas under the water flow.

“Tie this around your head.” Enjolras handed one to Courf, Jehan, and tossed the last one to Grantaire. “Keeps your dark hair cooler.”

“You’re amazing.” Grantaire sighed blissfully as he tied the knot at the nape of his neck. “Oh god does this feel good. Thank you.”

“Not a problem. It’s one of the few useful things I ever learned from my father.”

“Oh, my god.” Courf bounced on his toes. “Let’s contact the others, have Joly or Feuilly bring water-balloons and let’s fuck each other up.”

“I’m texting Joly!” Grantaire’s fingers were already flying across the screen of his phone, the pads of his fingers leaving little smudges from having tied the almost dripping bandana.

[elareine]

In the shallows

Chapters: 1/6 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, some swearing Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd Characters: Tim Drake, Donna Troy Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, NO CAPES, Identity Porn, Romantic Comedy, Drama & Romance, Texting, Online Dating AO3: /18803473

Summary: Jason Todd is a rock star... and an asshole. Dick Grayson has to do a movie with him. Luckily, there's this cute guy he's started texting recently.

Jason Todd was a rock star.

Yeah, exactly. Now, Dick had worked with some… less than talented people on set before. He’d made his debut in dance movies, for God’s sake, of course not everyone had been ready to play Hamlet.

But a total newbie? Never been on stage or on a movie set before? Dick really wished the producers had consulted him about that before making the decision. They hadn’t even done a chemistry test.  

Okay, sure, it was a blockbuster movie about an interracial gay couple. Funding wouldn’t come easy. If the names ‘Richard Grayson’ and ‘Jason Todd’ had to be attached to make the money happen, they would be. And Dick knew Tim Drake, the executive producer, well enough to trust him with this. Tim wouldn’t have cast Jason if he thought it’d be a total shit show.

The thing was - the script was beautiful. The writers had really poured their hearts into it, and it showed. Dick had almost forgotten to read it from an actor’s perspective, he’d been so engrossed. By the end, blinking away tears, he had texted his agent that he would do it before going on a run to shake some of the heaviness away.

It wasn’t like there was a sad ending, exactly. Dick wouldn’t have taken anything with a ‘bury your gays’ feel to it. It was just… it made him feel a lot, this script.

He wanted to do it justice. Hopefully, Jason Todd wouldn’t be the one to drag them all down.

Dick sighed and looked at the script in front of him again. Specifically, at the part marked: ‘Vano: [singing]…’

The other worry he had was quite the opposite from his first. At least Jason Todd didn’t have to worry about singing. Dick had heard his songs as much as anyone could without actively seeking them out, which was to say all the time and everywhere. Jason had been around for years at this point; it didn’t seem likely that his popularity would be abating any time soon.

(When he wasn’t busy critiquing Jason’s casting, Dick could freely admit that his songs were pretty great. They always gave him that on-the-road-looking-for-freedom feeling that he loved. He might be following Jason on Spotify, even, but shush.)

Dick, however… well. He’d been taking singing lessons ever since he’d moved into closer consideration for this role. His vocal coach attested him with enough skills for the songs he’d seen so far. He’d gotten the accent of his character down to pat, too, even when singing and screaming. Still, compared to Jason Todd…

And they would be singing duets.

Giving up on his concentration for the evening, Dick decided to just go for a run. He was already pretty sure he wouldn’t sleep tonight, but exhaustion might help.

It didn’t really. Dick slept like shit and then had to deal with the worst traffic he’d ever seen (and he’d lived in New York for years). He barely made it in time. Tim was already waiting for him outside the lot. That was a sure sign he was getting ready to herd Dick exactly where he needed to be as quickly as possible.

Tim greeted him with a friendly wave. “Hi, Dick, welcome on set! Kate is over at the sound studio, but she’ll be here any minute to start the read-through.”

“Thanks, Tim. Good to see you.” Dick refrained from hugging him only because he knew the younger man preferred it that way on set. “Sorry, I wanted to be here early. I seriously underestimated LA traffic.”

“Yes, I expected that. Just plan in enough time from now on, okay?”

“Of course, Tim.”

Tim sighed. “We’ll see, I guess.”

They entered the building together. Tim guided him towards a smaller meeting room. Jason Todd was already there, sitting in the small circle of chairs. There would be a full cast reading tomorrow; today it was pretty much only Kate, Jason and Dick with the producers.

Dick’s first thought was that he hadn’t expected Jason to look so… soft. He was used to the torn jeans and t-shirt look he rocked in his videos. The knitted sweater he was wearing didn’t exactly fit that image.

The smirk on his face, however, did.

Dick mentally steeled himself. Here we go. He held out his hand. “Hi, Jason. Nice to finally meet you.”

“Hi, Dick.” Jason’s handshake was firm without being too crushing. “Sorry we couldn’t meet up before. I’m pretty literally just coming back from a World Tour.”

Oh, great. Bragging.

“No worries. It’s good to get this started now.” He looked pointedly at the script in Jason’s hand. If Jason had just been on a world tour… “Did you get any time to prepare?”

“I’ll know my lines if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“It’s kind of about more than that.” Okay, that came out catty. “Like, the music, for example.”

Jason seemed to perk up at that. “Oh, yeah, that’s done. I did send the tapes of some suggestions to Kate. But we’ll workshop together, see what you think first.”

Dick would’ve preferred it if Jason had just presented him with finished sheet music and a tape he could imitate, honestly. He had no idea if he had any musical input to offer. And how did you workshop music, anyway? He’d done that with scenes before (though Kate wasn’t the type to welcome a lot of input from her actors beforehand), even settings, but music?

“Sure. Yeah. Let’s do that.” He tried to smile. “I’m looking forward to hearing what you came up with.”  

It was probably a good thing Kate entered the room at that moment, introducing herself again and bidding them to start the read-through.

Dick usually lost himself in a performance pretty easily. Even in a read-through, it only meant that he focused even more on letting every emotion shine through his voice.

Vano was pretty unlike Dick himself. Sensitive, shy, in desperate need of approval (okay, that one Dick could relate to) and unsure. Dick found it interesting how his character was juxtaposed with his actions. Vano was so, so afraid; yet he let himself be swept up in a whirlwind romance and even ended up the one pursuing Jason’s character when everything seemed to fall apart. His courage, in the end, was as quiet as it was present. Dick was determined to do him right.

So he concentrated on developing his voice further. He wanted it to be recognisably different from Jason’s character, but also harmonious.

Still, he couldn’t help but judge Jason’s performance.

He wasn’t bad. Honestly, this wasn’t a great script for a read-through - a lot of stuff went unsaid between the two main characters. So a little wooden-ness was expected. Dick was a bit annoyed at the way he stumbled over lines sometimes as if he was reading them for the first time, though. Unprepared partners were the worst.

Afterwards, Kate didn’t look happy. Her first critique was voluminous, including more background notes on their characters and a very detailed rundown of what had sucked about their dialogue. Ah, well. Dick didn’t mind. She wasn’t known to be a coddler.

She complimented Dick on his excellent accent, though. He thought Jason (who spoke in his own accent, or at least the one he always used in interviews and stuff) looked a bit sour at that, which pissed Dick off. He’d worked hard for this, okay. He was actually a trained and studied actor, despite what some people might think.

It also made him wary of the months ahead. Jealousy on set wasn’t cool, even if it was purely professional.

“Tomorrow we’ll go through the script scene by scene and talk through your suggestions. Is there anything fundamental you’d like to say now?” Kate asked.

Dick shook his head. This was honestly one of the best scripts he’d ever read, and he trusted her direction fully. Jason seemed to hesitate, but then he followed suit.  

Dick spent some time after talking with some of the crew members that were setting up the sets. He knew some of them from previous movie sets - Tim liked to reward good work with more, better-paid work - and was glad to chit-chat about their careers and families.

Still, Jason seemed to take his time, too. They arrived at the parking lot at about the same time.

“Can I give you a ride?” Dick offered when he noted that Jason was looking a bit lost.

“I’m actually here on my bike,” Jason said, pointing at a frankly gorgeous machine, black, sleek and utterly pretentious.

Dick mentally snorted. Of course he was. Rock star and all that

His own family sized van didn’t match up to that, but honestly, who cared.

“Okay. See you tomorrow, then.”

Jason didn’t even say goodbye, just waved. Dick was tired of him already.

When he entered the house he’d rented for the year, Dick headed straight for his studio and dropped down onto the mat. He needed a proper stretching after today and couldn’t quite face this house yet.

Mostly he was happy with it. It was spacious, including his own dance studio and a pool, and not too far away from the Wayne Brothers lot, but he was able to keep it up without no personnel beyond a cleaner and the occasional garden hand.

Days like these, it was a bit… lonely.

He would have been better off staying with his friend Donna Troy. She’d offered, after all. Dick had thought he would need some quiet to focus on this part, not to mention a room where he could practice his singing parts without annoying the shit out of everyone.

It was just that he wasn’t made for the quiet. His head got too loud when he wasn’t exercising. Usually, he filled that space by concentrating on his current role; he wasn’t precisely method but slipping into someone else’s headspace had always come easy to him. Today, though, that was exactly what he wanted to get away from.

He briefly toyed with the idea of going out and picking someone up. Getting laid worked better than pretty much anything else for him.

Except that wasn’t exactly what he wanted, either.  

Look. It wasn’t as if Dick had problems meeting people. The opposite, really. Dick knew he had a good body, okay, and he was charming enough.

He wanted something else, though. He wanted to get to know someone without them already knowing (or thinking they knew) everything about him. He wanted to be sure someone actually liked him for himself. He wanted someone to call in the evenings when he came home from set. Someone to come home to.

Dick sighed and re-arranged his limbs into a backstretch.

People wished for this kind of things all the time. He was just being silly. His mother would’ve straight up laughed at him if he went to her complaining about the drawbacks of fame, a profession he loved and obscene amounts of money.

Dropping his hips open and leaning into that delicious burn, he took out his phone and texted Donna: Going out and getting laid, yes or no? Any bar tips?

The answer was immediate.

Donna: Honey just use tinder like the rest of us

 …Why not.

 Donna: That was a joke.

 Donna: But go ahead I guess.

Thinking about it, Dick finished his routine and headed upstairs to change into some comfy sweats, then back down to the kitchen. A bowl of cereal wasn’t exactly a glamorous meal for a movie star - but neither were Dick’s cooking skills.

Grabbing a beer, he plopped down on his couch and gave in. At least the tinder app was free on the app store. Going through the set-up motions, he hit the next snag, though.

What do I use as a profile picture??? I can’t show my face on this, can I?

Donna: Use your abs

Donna: no wait

Donna: Your butt

Donna: Or maybe that’s too recognisable. Abs it is.

Dick chuckled.

  …Thanks I think.

For a second he considered just cutting something out of a promo pic or one of his dozens of semi-nude photoshoots, but who the fuck knew how well Google would be able to match these up. Dick wasn’t going to risk the headline ‘Actor famous for starring in romances is looking for hook-up on tinder’ (though of course TMZ would be far pithier than that) just for his vanity.

Though he did find some shots that hadn’t ever been released and cropped his face out of one of these. That would do. As for his username… he went with the hero of the first movie he’d ever starred in and combined that with his year of birth once the system informed him the name was taken.

After a brief hesitation, he set his sexual preferences to ‘all genders’.

Finally, everything was set up. Dick settled down to check out some hot singles in his area.

Sadly, the selection wasn’t that great. Especially with the dudes. Dick was sure that about half of them were either a decade older or younger than they pretended to be. The women were clearly better at taking selfies, too.  

It was possibly the wrong time to be picky. Dick wasn’t usually - a good smile was pretty much all it took on a good day. But hey, he had just spent the day in the company of the hottest rock star the 21st century had produced so far. Every mortal would have difficulty competing with that.

(Not with Jason’s personality though. Easily bottom 20% material there. Urgh. Dick was trying to forget about that.)

After that thought, he swiped right a few times. So far, no one had matched with him, but that was fine. He had just signed up, after all.

Then, finally, came a pic that stood out.

Funnily enough, this profile pic was as profile-less as Dick’s. All it showed was a bare back. It was mirror shot, probably, but with none of the glariness of the other pictures. The guy’s skin was almost as tanned as Dick’s, but what caught his eyes was the sheer endless mass of muscles it stretched across.

Dick swiped right.

A message appeared on the screen. ‘You matched with Rock_n_Rumble, 29’.

He switched apps and texted Donna again: There’s a cute guy! We matched! But I can’t just go meet up with him, can I? Wally would kill me

Donna: you genuinely just thought of that???

Yes^^’

Donna: Stop trying to make manga emojis happen again, Dick

Donna: Just… talk to him, flirt a bit; maybe it’ll be ok

Donna: This is    LA after all

Donna: Or he’ll just send you a dick pic

Donna: I do not want to know if either of these possibilities occurs.

I will describe everything that happens in explicit, excruciating detail.  

Dick switched back to tinder and pressed ‘OK’. A chatroom opened. He stared at the entry field for a long second, pondering how to start the conversation. He’d never felt the need for chat up lines before. Honesty and friendliness had always worked best for him. Hopefully, that would translate over into the Internet.

Nightwing86: Hi

Rock_n_Rumble: Hi.

This was where Dick would usually make a comment about the venue they were at or the way the other person looked, but… how did you compliment someone’s bare back without sounding like a total creep?

As he watched the seconds tick by without either of them writing anything, he realised that oh. Rock_n_Rumble wasn’t exactly in a better situation. Oh well, there was nothing for it then.

Nightwing86:  With a body like that - what on Earth are you doing on this site?

Rock_n_Rumble: Shouldn’t I ask you the same thing?

Rock_n_Rumble: Musician, ex-addict, grew up in New York - and also shit at flirting, in case you didn’t notice. Should I continue with that list? 

Nightwing86: Eh, you’re doing fine.

He was. Dick kinda dug the self-deprecating sarcasm. And at least he had something to work with now.

Nightwing86: Musician?

Rock_n_Rumble: I’m a guitarist

Nightwing86: Oh, you’re in a band?

Rock_n_Rumble: Kind of

Rock_n_Rumble: Nothing fixed, but I go on tour a lot. Weird staying in one place for work right now

He must be recording an album then. Considering that good guitarists in LA were like sand at a beach, Dick mentally re-evaluated the fame level of his conversation partner.

Nightwing86: I get that; I travel for work a lot too  

Rock_n_Rumble: What do you do?

Dick considered lying, but honestly, what was the point? And anyway, they were in LA. There were thousands of people calling themselves actors here.

Nightwing86: I’m an actor.

Rock_n_Rumble: oh cool. Film or theatre?  

Nightwing86: Mostly film these days. Was up on stage in NY for a bit, kinda miss it.  

Rock_n_Rumble: Oh really? When? Might’ve seen you, I went to Broadway a lot once I could afford it.

Nightwing86: its been a while, 2004-2006

That information wouldn’t give him away. Again, tons of people tried to make it on Broadway. Still, maybe he should address the fact that he wasn’t ready to talk about who he was.

Rock_n_Rumble: So I notice neither of us is forthcoming about names and identifying information.  

Rock_n_Rumble: Proposal: We stay anonymous for now, see how we get along, decide if we want to actually meet up later.

Nightwing86: oh thank god

Nightwing86: yeah, that would be great. I don’t like lying, but coming out to a stranger isn’t…

Rock_n_Rumble: same. Like, I’m technically out, but with the industry being what it is, the gossip isn’t fun.

Nightwing86: How does being ‘technically out’ work? All I ever get is ‘if you so much as breathe into the direction of someone who isn’t a cis woman we’ll kill you’

Rock_n_Rumble: It’s called ‘being a shit liar’.

Rock_n_Rumble: Also contrary enough that management knows that my reaction to being told that would probably result in me sucking a dick on stage.

Dick laughed.  

Nightwing86: Now that is a mental image to take to bed with.

Rock_n_Rumble: I like that we’ve been chatting for ten minutes and I’ve already got a kink noted down.  

Nightwing86: You remember you’re talking to an actor, right? Pretty sure we’re 85% exhibitionists.

Rock_n_Rumble: …okay, that’s a fair point.

Rock_n_Rumble: Still noting it down, though.

Nightwing86: Please tell me you’re not literally doing that.

Rock_n_Rumble: Maybe.

Rock_n_Rumble: Look, you want to exchange numbers? I’m not going to stay on this platform, I think.

Nightwing86: Aww, am I enough for you?

Nightwing86: 344-394-2222. Do me a favour and don’t pass that on.

Rock_n_Rumble: Promise. I’ll text you, just one sec.

Barely a few seconds later, a WhatsApp message popped up: Hi it’s Rock_n_Rumble. Thought this might work out better than text if you’re travelling a lot, too.

After some consideration, Dick saved the contact as ‘R_n_R’. The consideration was mostly about adding a butt or shoulder emoji to it, but he decided to be classy instead.

Out of curiosity, he checked out the WhatsApp profile of the other guy. Sadly, the pic was of a bright red guitar. His own was of the bird plushie that had accompanied him through his childhood and ever since, though, so he probably shouldn’t complain.

Hi again. Good thinking.

R_n_R: Oh good, it’s you and not someone completely unsuspecting.

R_n_R: So what are you up to? Apart from tindering, obviously.

Trying to decide if I want to watch something. Any Netflix recs?

Dick later mentally congratulated himself, because that question started a conversation that lasted for at least half an hour. Their taste didn’t seem too different, though Dick kinda had to snort when R_n_R recommended some of his own movies to him. In the end, they settled on ‘Luther’, because Idris Elba and murder. How exactly ‘recommend me a movie’ had turned into ‘let’s watch this series at the same time and shoot the shit over text’, Dick wasn’t sure, but it was pretty fun.

So fun, actually, that it took a text from Donna to remind him how much time had passed.

Donna: So how was it? Don’t leave me hanging, bird-boy.

I’m getting rid of tinder. All I got were three dick pics and two girls accusing me of catfishing them using Dick Grayson’s photos. Another girl explained to me that headless pics usually mean someone is married or in a relationship and doesn’t want their significant other to see. She called me an asshole for that, that’s why she even swiped right. Then she blocked me.

And if Dick was honest… he kinda liked the thought of trying this with Rock_n_Rumble, and Rock_n_Rumble only. The first person he’d talked to on there. The only one he connected to, even if only on a superficial level so far.

(Yes, he had screenshotted and saved that picture. Whatever.)

Donna: One gender clearly came out ahead in this.

And the cute guy is still chatting with me. We’re keeping it anon for now though. It’s been an hour and no sex talk, so I guess he’s legit.

Donna: facepalm Dick, do you ever consider your life might’ve turned into a romantic comedy?

We’re just talking.

Donna: Right. Well, I’ll leave you to do that. Good night, Dick. Have fun.

[thecollegefootballguy]

2019 Big 12 Coaching Power Rankings

Welcome to the second part of the 2019 Coaching Power Rankings. It’s basically how it sounds: I’m going conference by conference and rating how good each head coach is relative to his peers.

The Big 12 is in the middle of the pack as far as the P5 is concerned. Oklahoma continues to dominate the conference and maybe Texas is back. They’ve got a some good teams, some bad teams, and a giant middle section all fighting to compete.

The Big 12 joins the ACC with a whopping four coaches being replaced. The Big 12 has only 10 members, so proportionately they’re churning through a whole lot more talent. The legendary Bill Snyder (#1 on last year’s list) retired after a long and successful career in Manhattan. Dana Holgorsen (#4 last year) and West Virginia more or less moved on from each other after the marriage grew stale, though it’s a bit embarrassing that Holgo went to a G5 program over WVU, even if it is Houston. Kliff Kingsbury (#6) was fired for underperforming at Texas Tech, though he now is an NFL head coach, which tells you all you need to know about the state of NFL coaching talent right now. David Beaty (#10) was fired at Kansas because they just totally sucked his entire career there.

I wouldn’t be too worried about the Big 12 considering the hires they made. I’m a big fan of all four men stepping into their new roles, this should really strengthen the conference overall, even if we lost an all-time great like Snyder.

Here is a link to the list from last year if you’d like to check that out first.

-

10. Matt Wells

Overall Record: 44-34

Movement: N/A

That Matt Wells is the 10th coach out of 10 on this list is a good sign. Wells was one of the more successful coaches in Utah State’s history, at least since the 1960′s. Wells overcame all the deficiencies inherent to the program and terrible injuries in several seasons to craft his second 10 game winner in Logan last year. If he can work his magic in Lubbock, the Red Raiders are going to be a competitive team, and perhaps work against the normal Big 12 template. They probably won’t get real good this year, so be patient.

-

9. Neal Brown

Overall Record: 35-16

Movement: N/A

Neal Brown turned Troy back into a powerhouse after the Trojans fell off at the tail end of Larry Blakeney’s career. Brown was one of the hottest coaches that somehow seemed to fly under the radar. I’m sure he’s going to do real well at West Virginia. Again, it might take him a year or two but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he just hits the ground running and starts winning right away.

-

8. Matt Rhule

Record at Baylor: 8-17 Overall Record: 36-40

Movement: Up 1 Spot

Matt Rhule is getting the ball rolling at Baylor. The Bears jumped from 1-11 to 7-6 in his second year. It’ll get harder and harder to add more wins per year, but even averaging seven wins a seasons is pretty good for a school like Baylor. I’m not sure high Rhule can climb, but if he builds the program up, we’ve seen that the Bears can field a really good team. Just, maybe this time we won’t have the Briles issues.

-

7. Tom Herman

Record at Texas: 17-10 Overall Record: 39-14

Movement: Up 1 spot

Well hey, Texas might actually be back. Tom Herman has got the Longhorns back to 10 wins in year two and the recruiting is on fire. The shellacking of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl probably helped. Herman is doing all of the right things in Austin. If he keeps them up he’ll be much higher on this list in no time.

-

6. Matt Campbell

Record at Iowa State: 19-19 Overall Record: 54-34

Movement: Down 1 spot

Boy I feel real bad bumping Matt Campbell out of the top five. He really doesn’t deserve the demotion, he’s done such a good job at Iowa State so far. It’s not every year that two coaches join a league after having already won national championships. Unfortunately that pushes Campbell down a spot. If he keeps winning in Ames like he’s been doing I’m sure he’ll shoot right back up the list.

-

5. Mike Gundy

Record at Oklahoma State: 121-59 Conference Championships: 1 (2011)

Movement: Down 2 spots

Now this move is really breaking my heart. I’m a huge Mike Gundy fan so I’m pretty bummed to have to do this to him. It’s just that the “new” guys have pretty impressive resumes, even when compared to one of the more successful coaches in the country like Gundy. Oklahoma State did have a pretty underwhelming 2018 campaign, but that’s not the reason he’s falling down the ranks. The only thing busting him down is just the sheer talent ahead of him, including the man he replaced at OK State.

-

4. Chris Klieman

Overall Record: 72-13

Movement: N/A

Chris Klieman is probably the perfect person to take over Kansas State. In fact, as much of a god Bill Snyder was, North Dakota State was even better than the Wildcats in the past half decade. Chris Klieman inherited the best FCS team from Craig Bohl in 2014, and went 69-6 with four national championships at the lower division. If Klieman can build that kind of machine at K-State we’ll be seeing something very special in Manhattan. I can’t wait to see what he can do.

-

3. Les Miles

Overall Record: 142-55 National Championships: 1 (2007)

Movement: N/A

You know, I never thought I’d put a Kansas head coach so high up my list. And I’m thinking I probably should put him a bit higher, even at the #1 spot. The only thing holding me back is the time Miles has been away from the game (and the very recent successes of the two coaches ahead of him). Les Miles was one of the great coaches of the 2000′s, winning a national championship in 2007 and coming close in 2011. Kansas, at this moment, seems like a particularly hopeless case. Miles is going to need to use all of his talents in recruiting, fundraising, and program development to make an even passable winner out of the Jayhawks. Godspeed, Les. 

-

2. Lincoln Riley

Record at Oklahoma: 24-4 Conference Championships: 2 (2017, 2018)

Movement: Up 5 spots

I think I’m being a bit optimistic here, coaches usually don’t rise this high in one year. And I’m really not sure about putting Riley ahead of a legend like Miles, but this is a power ranking, and recent success is weighed more heavily than older accolades. In two years Lincoln Riley has taken Oklahoma near to the peak of their historical successes: they’ve won the Big 12 in back to back years and earned two successive Playoff bids. OU is in the conversation among the perennial powers in college football, though perhaps just a step behind Alabama and Clemson. If they keep this up, you can easily see them winning a national championship one of these years. And my god he’s so young, please keep him away from the NFL.

-

1. Gary Patterson

Record at TCU: 167-63 Conference Championships: 6 (2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014)*

*Won in Conference-USA, Mountain West, and Big 12

Movement: Up 1 spot

Gary Patterson takes away the #1 spot from his old mentor, Bill Snyder. Very fitting. Patterson has done such a wonderful job at TCU it feels good to reward him and put him at the top of this list. Yeah the Horned Frogs didn’t have their best year in 2018, but they never spend more than a year or two from competing at the national stage, I expect they’ll be back real soon.

-

We’ll miss you, Bill.

[mayasdeluca]

Lord I just saw the gifs with the conversation of Marina asking Jack, it’s just terrible, he’s gonna make claim, and the whole situation and his requests are fcking cringe, this ain’t gonna end well, we know it, they know it.

And we know he’s gonna be a boy

Let’s see how Danielle feels after they ruin it…

Also, his acting is so bad jfc it makes everything so much worse and unwatchable and now we are stuck forever with this trio, that’s so disrespectful and offensive, both for the storyline and the actresses that looks bad with his weird octopus arms and crazy uncoordinated jazz hands and squinting eyes, trying to play mysterious a la James Dean….no No no this is bad acting why whyyyyyyyyy they directors let him go fluid….smh

Acting coach anon here btw…if you missed me 😝

I hope they never gonna give them a menage a trois or move Jack into Marina apt cause they “may need help”, this is not looking goooooooooood nope nope nope

I can’t I just can’t…

It’s especially the way they did it for me, the endless sperm conversation that took all the Marina screen time ohi ohi awkward and so centered towards Jack, wtf thought was a good idea not just in term of the story but insert a subpar actor with two pretty amazing one in every scene, you can’t compare the caliber of talent and it become unbalance, he acts out and Danielle and Stefania have to compensate for his flamboyance…. I’ll stop here…

Yeah he’s already playing father and the sperm isn’t even out yet!

For me this is super triggering and uncomfortable as much as the assault storyline….

How they don’t see it’s beyond me…ugh

It is just me?

Anyway I hope you are well!

Acting coach anon!!! I did miss you! I hope you're well. I feel like people also asked you some things over the last few weeks/months but now I forgot D: but I'm glad you're back!

I'm glad to hear your thoughts on this mess because I totally agree haha. I was thinking the same thing, they're definitely going to make him a boy. And if by some chance Jack dies in the finale or at some point before the baby is born, of course they're going to name him Jack. But even the way Jack was talking about wanting to leave him a legacy or whatever I was like...oof. Definitely gonna make him a boy which is tragic. I want a mini Carina :( though the storyline is ruined anyway.

It's interesting because they had him say that he'll be "Uncle Jack" but he was very much also saying things that felt more than Uncle like. And he didn't even seem 100% that he wanted to donate? So I feel like that's also going to play a factor and then he's also going to end up using that as second guessing and realizing he probably wanted more than just an Uncle and I really just don't want any of this mess.

The acting really is something else and I feel like it's just getting worse and worse. It definitely never used to be like this or I would've noticed from the start so I just don't get why it's happening now. And especially in emotional or serious scenes like how do they just let him do that? They don't say anything to him??? It's so odd. I wonder if Danielle or Stefania (hopefully) direct an episode next season they'll be like dude we love you and all but easy with the hand motions 😂

[13rwbabes]

Montgomery x Reader Imagine (Part 13/?)

PART 1     PART 2    PART 3     PART 4    PART 5     PART 6     PART 7       PART 8   PART 9     PART 10    PART 11   PART 12 I’m probably the worst imagine writer in history of writing imagines... I’m really, really sorry you had to wait so long for next part, I’m also very sorry it’s mediocre and kind of all over the place... I’ve been really busy lately but I’ll try to make it up to you guys (spoiler alert: they are gonna act normal soon). Till then I leave you here with that... thing... If you have any suggestions or idea always feel free to send me a message!

I went down the hall looking for Montgomery and saw him talking to Tina but I hid before they could see me, but I could hear what they were talking about.

“… because I was angry! I saw you always hanging out with her at school. She’s this damn school’s sweetheart, great student, next year she’ll probably be captain, she hangs out with the cool kids, almost every guy here has a crush on her”, Tina said.

“So you did it because what? You were jealous that she’s popular and liked by everyone? She worked for it, you know? Step number one – don’t push people. Step number two – don’t break their wrists”, he said angrily.

“I was mad at you! What, you think I don’t know why you asked me out? You think that I’m blind. That I never saw how you are always checking if she’s watching? And yesterday she was staring at you when you walked in and sat on the bleachers so I got mad.”

“You don’t know what are you talking about”, he snorted.

“Why can’t you take my side?”, she asked him. “Why didn’t you stood up for me yesterday?!”

“Because Y/N was injured and had to go to the nurse!”

“Why didn’t you stood up for me when Jessica attacked me?”.

“There was nothing to stand up for because as we all saw Jessica was right”, Montgomery said.

He forgot about one thing. Tina hadn’t known he saw the clip. She didn’t know Tyler showed it to him, she didn’t know Montgomery was the one to make him show the video to Mrs. Montez.

“How do you…”, she mumbled.

So she caused the fall because of Monty? Because she thought he was trying to make me jealous over her? She was more stupid than I thought.

I came out, making it look like I wasn’t hiding.

“Montgomery!”, I shouted. “Can’t I decide about one single thing in my life? Couldn’t you for once do the right thing and leave it for me?”

“I did the right thing and made Tyler go to Mrs. Montez”, he said.

“It was you?!”, Tina asked shocked.

“In his defence I knew about the video before, I just didn’t know what to do with it and thanks to him I don’t have a choice”.

“So you still gonna say that you don’t…”, she said directly to Monty.

“Shut up”, he interrupted her.

“Tina, you’re crazy”, I said. “You two may actually be a good match. Or you’d kill each other, that wouldn’t be so bad.”

“It would be hard to stay together because Monty likes you”, she said.

“Wow, you’re stupid”, I rolled my eyes.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about”, Montgomery said at the same time. “And by the way, we’re done”, he said to her.

“You can’t break up with me!”, she screamed.

“What is going on?”, Mr Porter asked.

Then I realized we were actually pretty loud.

“Nothing, we’re just…”, I mumbled.

“Don’t you already have enough troubles?”, he asked Tina. “Honor Board will decide in your case tomorrow morning, till then you two”, he pointed at me and her, “you’re not allowed to talk to each other, not to mention making scene in the middle of hallway. And you, Montgomery, stay out of trouble, you’re doing good lately”.

“Yes, Mr. Porter”, we said at the same time.

“Everyone, go to the class”, he said as quiet a lot of people were standing in hall, watching the scene.

“You both are pathetic”, I snorted and walked out of the school.

I decided to skip the rest of lessons and walked home. Surprisingly my mum was inside when I opened the door.

“What are you doing here?”, I asked shocked because usually she wasn’t home before 5 pm.

“I could ask you the same question”, she said crossing her arms.

“Right… I’m sorry, mum… It’s just… It’s been a really hard day and I just couldn’t stand being there anymore and…” I sighed.

“Okay, just don’t do this too often, okay?”, she asked concerned. “You wanna talk about this?”

“Not really…”, I mumbled.

“I’m going to Chicago, work trip, I’ll  be home on Sunday”.

“Okay”

“Make sure you and your dad won’t eat pizza for four days straight”, she said giving me kiss on the forehead.

“We totally will”, I laughed. “Have fun”, mum left and I went upstairs.

I took a nap that lasted three hours and I was woken up by door bell.

“Hi, Atkins”, I opened door, let Jeff inside and still sleepy laid down on the couch.

“You skipped school”, he said.

“Half”, I mumbled.

“Why?”

“Don’t act like you didn’t hear about the huge scene Montgomery and Tina made”.

“I heard about scene but I heard about a scene that included all three of you”, he said.

“Excuse me?!”, I went from laying to sitting.

“So you didn’t shouted at Montgomery and then left school?”.

“Okay, I did”, I rolled my eyes. “You heard about the tape?”, I asked, Jeff nodded his head.

“I didn’t want to show it to anyone but Montgomery made Tyler go to Mrs Montez and now there is this whole drama thing going on”, I sighed. “And then I was fed up with them and went home”, I shrugged.

“You know you can’t skip lessons forever because of Montgomery.”

“It’s just… Seeing him with Tina sucks…”, I mumbled.

“First of all, he broke up with her today. Second of all, you can’t avoid him forever. That’s why you’re going to Bryce’s party tomorrow.”

“What? No! Jeff, come on”, I moaned.

“If you don’t go people will start talking there’s some tension between you and Monty…”

“I’m pretty sure no one pays this much attention to me  or Montgomery”, I chuckled but bit my lips.

Jeff was kinda right. I mean NO ONE would pay attention to us but first we had mini scene like three weeks ago in cafeteria, yesterday he drove me to hospital and today I made a scene with him and Tina at the hallway. Damn, he was right. He smiles satisfied, seeing doubts on my face.

“Be at the game tomorrow, we’ll go to Bryce’s straight after”, he laughed. “I sent you photos on notes from lessons you skipped”, he said getting up.

“Thanks, Atkins, you da real MVP”, I said still sitting on couch, not bothering to walked him to the door.

***

Next day before first period I found Montgomery standing next to his locker. I took a deep breath and walked towards him.

“Hi”, I said shyly. He looked at me surprised. “I just wanted to give you back your letterman”, I said handing him his jacket. “Thanks again”.

“No problem”, he said throwing letterman to the locker, not looking at me.

“I’m sorry I shouted at you yesterday, I shoul…”, I spitted words quickly out of mouth but Troy came up and interrupted me.

“Monty, man, have you seen your car?”, he asked.

“My car?”, she asked surprised and walked to the parking.

I followed him and Troy, turned out quite a lot of people gathered there.

Someone scratched side of  Monty’s car.

“What the fuck?”, he shouted.

“Oh God, not good”, I mumbled and looked around hoping to see any of my friends.

Suddenly Zach showed up next to me.

“Wow… How did this?”, he asked.

“Well I just came here and can’t be sure but in my humble opinion it was Tina”.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, you skipped after lunch break yesterday but she and Monty made a scene again after school”.

“Why?”

“Well, she doesn’t take words I break up with you very good”, Zach chuckled.

“So.. Um, Monty broke up with her?”, I asked acting like I don’t care.

“Yeah, good for him, she’s crazy. Not so good for his car, but…”, Zach shrugged and went to school.  

I went to the baseball game, after that I was supposed to drive with him to the party. I sat on the bleachers with Justin.

“It’s weird to watch game from here and not from there”, I pointed at the place where cheerleaders were warming up and waved at Sheri and Jess.

“You’ll be back there after winter break”, he cheered me up.

The game was about to start, cheerleaders were escorting players and then we saw it.

“What the fuck”, I said out loud.

“Don’t freak out”, Justin tried to calm me out.

“What is she doing there?”, I pointed at Tina escorting Montgomery.

I didn’t know what bothered me more – fact that Tina was performing at baseball game even though she was supposed to be kicked out of the team or the fact that she was escorting Monty to the field.

“Of what Jess told me I know coach let her perform one last time because you can’t and two other girls already left the town for winter break and they needed someone. I thought you didn’t want her to be expelled from the team”

“I didn’t want to make drama out of it…”

“You change your mind like every five minutes. Get yourself together, girl”, he punched me in the arm.

“What?”

“You speak with Monty, two days later you fight with him, you don’t talk, then he drives you to the hospital, then you, him and Tina make a scene and then you don’t talk to him again, then you two talk next to his locker in the morning, then don’t talk again and then you’re mad cause his ex is escorting him to the field”.

“You pay a lot of attention to details”, I said, that was my tactic. When someone is right I say something completely not related to the case to change the topic.

“Well, both of you are my friends and both of you act weird lately so of course I’m paying attention to the details… Tina says he broke up with her because of you… Because he likes you…”

“Tina has some unhealthy obsession about me and is making up stuff.”

“Well, she says…”

“Did anything came from Monty?”, I asked. “Did he said anything?”, I hoped that Justin’s answer would be positive, but instead he looked down. “Justin, you can’t believe a single thing that girl says…”

“Okay, if you say so…”, he shrugged.

“But well, Monty is still my friend and she keyed his car this morning, so I’m gonna make her loose her shit”, I said with innocent smile.

“Y/N…”, Justin looked at me a little frightened.

“I’m not even gonna move from here”, I rolled my eyes.

Few minutes later it was Monty’s turn to play, he went to batter’s field and prepared then I whistled with my fingers.

Justin looked at me shocked, Monty turn around to see where that came from, I looked at Tina, she was almost purple.

“My dad learned me all of the boys stuff”, I shrugged.

“Wow”, he mumbled. “I’m impressed and half deaf because if was hella loud”.

“Thank you”, I smiled proud of myself.

***

After the game Justin went to the locker’s room to talk to guys, I waited for Jeff to change as I was supposed to go with him. Unfortunately, Tina walked out of girl’s room sooner than him and she seriously looked like she was gonna punch me.

“Nice whistle”, she said crossing her arms.

“Thanks. Hope you enjoyed your last performance.”

“What does he even see in you?”

“Jesus, Tina”, I rolled my eyes. “You made up something in your head and you’re not letting go. There is nothing! Montgomery doesn’t like me! Okay? Do you understand it?”

“Do you like him?”

I was a little shocked with her question but I didn’t have a chance to answer because Monty himself walked out of the locker’s room.

“What again?”, he asked looking at me and her.

“Nothing, I’m waiting for Jeff”, I shrugged.

“And I’m just going home”, Tina said and walked away.

“You’re going to Bryce’s?”, I asked Montgomery.

“Yeah. Why are you asking like you’re interested?”

“I’m trying to make a conversation. You know that thing when two or more people talk to each other. We used to know how to have a conversation going between the two of us”.

“You were the one to end things”, he said.

“You stopped talking to me”.

“It’s better this way”, he said looking me in the eyes. It was actually first time in quite a long time when he looked at me at all.

“What do you mean?”, I asked.

“It’s just better”, he said and walked away when he heard door being opened.

Few boys walked out including Jeff.

“Ready?”, he asked.

“Well, I’m the one waiting here for you for last fifteen minutes, I should ask you if you’re ready”,  I said trying to sound careless.

Whole way to Bryce my thoughts were spinning around Monty’s words. “It’s better this way”. What did he mean…

“So, Jeff… There is a thing”, I started. “So Sheri has been talking with some guy, not really dating or hanging out, just talking as friends”, I made up a story to cover myself. “They had let’s say a little fight and he stopped talking to her and after sometime he told her that it’s better that way”.

“And?”, Jeff asked.

“You’re a guy. What could he mean? What does boy mean when he says something is better that way?”

“Why are we talking about Sheri and her personal things?”, he asked.

“I’m the one asking question here, Atkins. She asked me for advice but I don’t know anything so I decided to discretely ask you. So, what does that mean?”, I asked impatiently.

“Jeez, Y/N. I don’t even know the guy. It can mean a lot of things… Maybe he’s annoyed with her and just don’t want to be friends with her anymore, or maybe he has some feelings for her and thinks she doesn’t feel the same way and just wants to take a break from her? I don’t know, babe”.

“Feelings?”, I basically stopped listening when he said that word.

“Yeah, do you want me to spell it for you?”

Okay, maybe this moment I live in alternate universe where Monty does feelings for me. Maybe this is my chance to change something. Maybe it’s the only way to find out. I’ll talk to him. Even if I’m wrong I won’t see him for few week during winter break and when we get back to school everything will be almost normal. Okay, I’ll do it. I get to the party, I’ll find Monty, I’ll take his to the side and ask if maybe accidentally he has feelings for me.

With that in my mind I got out of the car and went to the back of Bryce’s house were party was getting started, I looked around but Monty wasn’t here yet.

I decided to drink one beer that night, two tops. I grabbed first one and went to watch boys starting beer pong round while I waited for Monty to arrive.

After an hour or so Jeff sat next to me.

“Have you seen Monty here?”, I asked.

“Yeah, he came like 30 minutes ago, he’s inside playing blow and kiss”, he said and I got up before he even finished the sentence.

I walked inside and saw bunch of people playing but Monty wasn’t there.

“Hey, have you seen Montgomery?”, I asked Troy.

“Yeah, he went upstairs”

“Thanks”, I said and went there taking two steps at one time.

I have never been in this part of Bryce’s house and there was a lot of doors and I didn’t know where Monty went. Music was super loud so there was no point in saying his name hoping he would answer. I decided to open each door until I’d found him.

Third try was the hit. However what I saw made me wish I had never opened that damn door.

“Montgomery?”, I asked and then I saw him having steamy make out session, taking girl’s shirt out. “Sorry”, I mumbled even though they probably couldn’t hear me and slammed the door, and that thing they heard.

I took few steps and laid my head on the wall.

“Idiot… Why am I such an idiot?”, I asked myself.

I heard the door being opened so I quickly turned and went towards the stairs.

“Y/N?”, Monty said. “Y/N!”

I didn’t answer just runned downstairs. It would look suspicious if I suddenly stormed outside so I went to the kitchen, made myself a drink and the slowly went outside where I found Sheri and took her to the side.

“I walked on Montgomery making out with some girl”, I said trying to stopped tears that came up to my eyes.

“What?”

“It was stupid, but I wanted to find him and ask if he likes me… I don’t know why, I just felt brave of whatever…”, I started sobbing. “I’m so dumb, Sheri…”

“Shhh, calm down…”, she hugged me. “You’re not dumb. He is. You’re such an amazing girl, you’re beautiful, you’re smart, you’re nice, half of the boys here would die for you to tell them that you like them and ask if they feel the same. If anyone is stupid, it’s Montgomery, he’s just blind if he can’t see what a treasure is in front of him the whole time”.

“It’s just… It hurts me that I saw it. Even if it was like two seconds. I mean he dated Tina, but I never saw them in situation like this and it kind of didn’t feel real but now… I saw it. It sucks, Sheri. I want to throw up and cry and go to sleep at the same time…”

“He’s not worth it”, she hugged me again. “Come on, we’ll watch some beer pong or play kiss and blow”.

“I’ll join you, I just want to sit here alone for a minute”, I said.

“Okay, you know where to find me”, she smiled and walked.

I stayed there with my terrible drink, terrible drink and broken heart. I felt brave for a minute and what happened to me… Him dating Tina bothered and annoyed me but this… This hurt. Maybe him going to Cresmont or to Rosie’s with Tina didn’t bothered me because I never did things like this with him while making out in spare room at the parties was our thing. It was my memory of his that now was disturbed with him making out with some other girl.

“Hey”, I sat there for few minutes when Zach came to me. “It’s a party why are you sitting alone?”

“I’m having hard few days… I tried something today and it didn’t exactly went the way I hoped for”, I chuckled. “Why aren’t you at the beer pong table?”

“I played enough for today”, he laughed a little. Then he saw tears in my eyes and got serious again. “Hey, Y/N, are you okay?”

“I’m just not really in a party mood”, I said and smiled faked a little smile.

“Do you want me to call you a cab or something?”

“No, thanks, sweetie, I’ll ask Jeff to drive me home. But now if you excuse me I’ll go to the bathroom to put myself together”, I patted his arms went to the house.

[rushingsnowy]

hey! i just read your fic, "functional" and im super invested in the idea of kent parson as a functional alcoholic so i have question about what you think about it! (feel free to ignore if you need to! :) ) so kent messes up a couple times because of being drunk or hungover and basically im wondering if you see there being some sort of big mess up that's the straw that breaks the camel's back so to speak and make him see there's actually a problem? thanks for sharing the fic!!! :)

So you probably didn’t mean to prompt another fic (or, who knows, maybe you did mean to), but that’s totally what you did. Functional alcoholic Kent is something that tends to work itself into a lot of what I write with him, so I’m excited(?-this is a bad word, but also true?) to see other people who are invested in it.

Anyway, the straw that breaks the camel’s back (at least this time):

Warnings: Alcohol use, alcohol abuse, alcoholism, hinted suicidal ideation

And for those who want to read it: Functional

Kent Parson watches his team lose tothe Bruins in his game day suit with his hands fisted in the comforter on the bed in hisBoston hotel room.

It is not the first time he had watchedthe Aces lose. He had watched them lose on the ice, bashing his stickagainst the siding when the buzzer sounded. He had watched them losefrom the bench and the box, gnawing at his mouth guard. He hadwatched them lose while injured and, only once, while sick with theflu, half out of his mind with medicine and misery and drowning inmucus.

Today, however, is the first time inhis entire life that Kent has watched his team lose as a healthyscratch. His hands fist and stomach churns and the voice in his headscreams blame.

He should have been out there.

He would have been out there.

If only Epikegster had not happened. Ifonly he hadn’t gone. If only he hadn’t pissed off Jack. If only Jackhadn’t been…Jack.

No.

That wasn’t right.

The coaches would have turned a blindeye or given a slap on the wrist if Kent hadn’t been completelyshitfaced by the time he stumbled back into the hotel less than twenty-four hours ago.

But how else was he supposed to calmhis nerves? The last time he’d seen Jack, he’d yelled at Kent untilKent left. And how else was he supposed to dull the sting when Jackdid it again: running and shouting and pushing him and everythinghe’d worked for away. How else was he supposed to forget the look onJack’s face when Kent hit back? Kent always had known exactly how tomake his words hurt. It wasn’t like he was built for using his fists.

Kent has a bottle of alcohol from themini bar open and pressed to his lips when he remembers his coaches’promise: any evidence of any more alcohol and he would not befinishing this roadie with the team.

The team.

His team.

The team he had worked his ass off withto prove himself worth that number one draft spot. The team he hadpushed himself into a trusted position of leadership for,specifically so he could make it just that little bit easier for Jackwhen he joined. Because Jack would join. Kent had spent the last sixyears drinking away the unanswered calls and ignored texts becauseJack would join.

Kent downs the bottle’s contents anywayand throws it out the hotel window.

Jack isn’t going to join.

The connecting door rattles as theperson staying in the next room slams their door. That would be Troy.The team is back. On the other side of his room, through the wall,Kent hears a heavy thud and pictures Lassie flinging his suitcase offhis bed where it was probably already sitting, packed and ready to gobecause Lassie’s dependable like that and last year he did not packhis suitcase twice before a game on the road and they lost both times. Besides, the team is catching a plane to Ottawa in two hours forthe next leg of their roadie. They’ll go into that third game withtwo losses so far.

Kent unlocks the connecting door on hisside and knocks. He can hear rustling on the other side pause for amoment before picking back up. When Kent tries the knob, he finds itis still locked on the other side.

Jack isn’t going to join and his teamis officially pissed at him.

He needs a drink.

A second empty mini-bar bottle fliesout the window and Kent does not feel better. Instead, he collapsesback onto his bed and stares at the television where highlights andlowlights and discussion about why Kent Parson was scratched fromtonight’s game last minute are flashing around.

Kent wonders if the coaches are goingto check his mini-bar. He should probably slip down to the front deskto ask for refills and pay in cash. Keep it off his folio. He couldbuy a couple more, too. Just keep throwing the empty ones out thewindow.

The connecting door opens and Troywalks in. “You all packed?” he asks in a neutral voice Kent knowsis bullshit.

“Yeah,” Kent says and kicks hissuitcase over. He’s still watching the television and Troy scoffs ashe walks between them, opens Kent’s fridge and curses.

“Coaches told you not to fuckingdrink anymore, Parser. What the fuck?”

Kent feels a ball of ice form in hisgut as he watches Troy storm past the television and back into hisroom.

“I didn’t think they’d have youcheck,” he mutters when Troy pops in again even if he should haveconsidered the possibility. Troy has the A, after all. Troy remainssilent as he walks back over to the fridge and replaces the tequilaand the whiskey.

His face is a red storm when he turnsback around to him. “This isn’t about the coaches, Parser. I’m doing this for you one fucking timebecause the team needs you on the ice, but you get your shit inorder. Find somewhere else to sit on the plane.”

It’s the last thing he says before hestalks back into his room, slamming their shared door and poundinghis fist against it just to make sure his anger gets through.

Kent walks over to the fridge, pullsthe two new bottles out and places them on the top of the dresser thefridge is hiding in. He stares at them and tells himself he can stillgo down and find more. Or maybe missing another game is worth itright now: worth making it all stop.

It’s a jarring realization thatoverlays with Jack’s own words from six years past and Kent throwsthe bottles back into the fridge with shaking hands before he fallsface first onto his bed. It’s hard to breathe and not just becausehis face is pressed into the mattress to block out reality and keep him from crying.

He blindly reaches out, hands searchingover his bed until one hits his phone. He can barely see enough tounlock it and find the contact, but doesn’t trust Siri to understandhis voice right now, either.

The phone rings.

It rings and rings and Kent knows whatthis means. He’s surprised his number hasn’t been blocked yet.Clearly he’s being ignored.

He’ll listen to the voicemail, then,just to remind himself of everything he’s lost. But, before the sixthring ends, the phone picks up.

“Kent?”

The voice is wary, but it’s there andas familiar as Bob always had been.

“Help,” Kent asks with tears in his throat and it’s thefirst thing he’s done in a long time that he probably has reason tobe proud of.

[junker-town]

The 5 most exciting and least exciting conference tournaments in college hoops

Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Who the heck is going to win the MAC? We have no idea.

Heavy favorites are typically the norm on Championship Week, but this isn’t an across the board deal. There are a number of leagues this season where the regular-season champ appears vulnerable, and a few where parity reigns so supreme that it’s not hard to see a scenario where a team that finished near the bottom of the league standings could reel off three or four wins in a row.

Here are the five leagues that may prove to have the wackiest of wacky postseasons.

1. Mid-American

I have no idea what the hell is going on in the MAC.

Only five of the 12 teams in the conference have league records above .500. No team has fewer than four losses. Akron looked like world-beaters for a month and then lost to Bowling Green by 18. Bowling Green — which has pieced together back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time since the 1940s — followed that performance up with an 18-point loss to East Division cellar dweller Miami. Two-time reigning champion Buffalo won in bunches and lost in bunches.

A team seeded fifth or worse has won this thing four times in the last 12 years. That’s the same number of times the top seed has cut down the nets over the same span.

This tournament has the potential to go off the rails in a hurry.

2. Conference USA

The jury is still out on C-USA’s new “pod scheduling” system, which is designed to have the league’s best teams play more games later in the season against one another with the hope of giving the conference the best chance possible to send multiple teams to the NCAA tournament. When it’s apparent by early January that your league is going to be a 1-bid league, well, then it just creates a few interesting matchups for the regular season title race and a whole bunch of really bad games.

With one game still to play in the regular season for most of its teams, C-USA has an established tier one of North Texas (14-3), Western Kentucky (12-5) and Louisiana Tech (11-5). Behind that trio there is a sandwich of seven teams that have records between 9-7 and 7-9.

It feels right that this conference tournament will once again feature multiple games being played at the same time right next to one another, and that a handful of those games will only be viewable on Facebook.

Best sport in the world.

3. Big Sky

The Big Sky used to be one of those conferences that only allowed a little over half of its teams to qualify for the conference tournament. Thank goodness it saw the error of its ways, because the league is incredibly competitive this season.

Eastern Washington and Montana are currently tied atop the league standings with matching 14-4 records, but there are three teams immediately behind them — Northern Colorado, Portland State and Northern Arizona — that also have double-digit league wins. The ninth-place team in the conference right now is perennial power Weber State, which has the league’s most dynamic scorer in Jerrick Harding. Hell, the last place team in the conference, 3-15 Idaho, won at league-leading Eastern Washington less than a month ago.

You’ve got a week to figure out what the hell Pluto TV is because that’s where the first two rounds of this tournament are going to be, and they’re going to be sensational.

4. Southern

This one doesn’t make the list because of the parity or depth of the conference. It makes the list because the SoCon has three teams that are all good enough to win at least one game in the NCAA tournament, if they can make it there.

Regular season champ East Tennessee State seems like a safe bet to be in the field of 68 regardless, but they certainly don’t want to leave anything to chance. Furman (25-6, 15-3) and UNC Greensboro (23-8, 13-5) are terrific basketball teams loaded with mid-major star power as well.

Carve some time out for the SoCon semifinals and title game. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

5. Missouri Valley

Arch Madness is always the bell cow of the postseason’s opening week, and 2020 should be no different.

Northern Iowa is an NCAA tournament lock that could be a single-digit seed in the Big Dance, but the Panthers aren’t going to waltz through this thing. Loyola Chicago (remember those guys?) finished just a game behind UNI in the final league standings and beat the Panthers by nine on Feb. 15.

Bradley and Indiana State both finished with 11 conference wins, and Southern Illinois notched 10. In all, seven of the 10 teams in this conference are heading to St. Louis with league records of .500 or better.

We also can’t wrap this up without giving a special shoutout to Evansville, which became the first team in college basketball history to beat the No. 1 ranked team in the AP poll (at Kentucky on Nov. 12) and go winless in conference play in the same season. The Purple Aces, who fired head coach Walter McCarty in the middle of the season due to reports of alleged sexual misconduct, went 0-18 in the Valley and haven’t won a game of any sort since an overtime win over Murray State on Dec. 21.

Bring this thing home, Aces.

Five Less Exciting Conference Tournaments

1. Northeast

Let me preface this entire spiel with the following: None of this is the fault of the Northeast Conference. There was nothing you could do about this. This is not on you.

With that out of the way, it is an absolute goddamn travesty that Merrimack doesn’t get to play in this tournament. The Warriors should be one of the best and most fun stories of March, but instead, we’re not going to hear anything else about them until the CBI or the CIT starts ... which means we’re not going to hear anything else about them for the rest of the year because I’m still not entirely convinced those tournaments are real.

For those unfamiliar, Merrimack went 20-11 this season, became the first team ever to win 20 games in its first season as a member of Division-I, and then won the Northeast Conference regular season title outright with a 14-4 record, making them also the first program in NCAA history to win an outright conference regular season title in its first season of Division I reclassification.

Classic underdog college basketball story for the American public to grab onto in March, right? Nope.

Because the NCAA bans transitioning schools from postseason play for four years (unless the conference in question has a limited number of teams, but even then, the transitioning school is ineligible to play in the NCAA tournament or the NIT), the Warriors will not be participating in this week’s NEC tournament. They also won’t be playing in the event in any of the next THREE years. The reason for the rule, of course, is that ... I don’t know ... stories like these might be too fun and awesome? The NCAA power structure is loaded down with Robert Morris grads? Who knows.

Anyway, none of this has slowed the roll of Merrimack head coach Joe Gallo, who has been hurling himself around like a lunatic for a week straight.

THE CHAMPS ARE HERE!!!!!#GoMack // #NECMBB pic.twitter.com/bjQ1ZjzFpX

— Merrimack Men’s Basketball (@MerrimackMBB) February 28, 2020

✈ FROM THE TOP RUNG ✈#AirGallo #AirGallo #AirGallo #AirGallo #AirGallo #AirGallo pic.twitter.com/bPQxbhWv0V

— Merrimack Men’s Basketball (@MerrimackMBB) February 28, 2020

Nope, definitely don’t want more of that over the next couple of weeks. No fun to be found there.

And one more thing before we move on: Every year I fill out my NEC bracket, and every year I forget that after the quarterfinals, the league has the lowest remaining seed play at the highest remaining seed instead of having the tournament play out in traditional fashion.

Is this the most fair way to have a tournament like this where the host is always a campus site? No question. Does it leave me feeling like an idiot with multiple scratched out names after the quarterfinals? Every year.

I’ve got a lot of problems with everything happening in the NEC right now. Lotta problems.

2. Sun Belt

Not only has the Sun Belt made the move to the cowardly more equitable step ladder bracket where the top two seeds get a bye all the way to the semifinals, but they’re only allowing 10 of the 12 teams to participate in the tournament. This is a FIVE-DAY tournament. You couldn’t figure out a way to throw poor Troy and Louisiana-Monroe a bone?

If you’re curious about what a five-day tournament where the top two seeds don’t play until day four looks like, here you go:

If you have that many consecutive days with no more than two games being played, you’re probably doing something wrong. More games, more daytime basketball, more opportunities for glory; That’s what march is all about.

What are we doing here, Sun Belt?

3. Ivy League

You know what? I’m starting to think that we’ve been overestimating the value of an Ivy League education for decades now. I’m basing this entirely off the fact that the conference holds a four-team tournament at a pre-determined on-campus location.

None of this works.

If you’re capping the field at four, you may as well go back to the old 14-game tournament days. And if you’re going to have play the games on a campus site, at least have the advantage for the host school be an earned one. Also, at least make sure the host school is actually going to be a participant in the tournament.

You people baffle me. You spend all your money on these fancy conference tournaments, you surround yourself with ‘em, and they’re the wrong fuckin’ conference tournaments.

That’s two Good Will Hunting references in one extremely niche college basketball feature. So, yeah, we’re doing pretty well here.

4. West Coast

For five years, the West Coast Conference went away from the step ladder bracket and made Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s play more than two games to win a conference tournament championship. It was cool. Last year, they went back.

Here’s the thing: Gonzaga won every single one of those tournaments and played either Saint Mary’s or BYU in the title game each time. So it’s not like compressing the tournament hurt the league when it came to the likelihood of it sending its top dog(s) onto the NCAA tournament.

You’re depriving us of the over-saturation we crave, and you’re doing it for no reason.

5. Big Sky

Yeah I’m calling the Big Sky out for being boring just one section after praising it for being exciting. Things change quickly. This is March. Try and keep up.

Here’s the reason: On paper it looks like it’s going to be “crazy competitive,” but this is the only conference tournament in America where the No. 1 seed has cut down the nets in each of the last four seasons. It doesn’t stop there. The No. 1 seed has actually won the Big Sky tournament in eight of the last nine years, and the one year the top seed didn’t win, it was the No. 2 seed that took home the title. Great news for Eastern Washington/Montana. Not so great for the rest of us.

Consider this a warning shot, Big Sky. We’re gonna need to see some fireworks in the very near future.

[askthetotallynotlosersclub]

college au reddie 🥺🥺

Ava: okayyyyyyyy

-----------

Eddie: *running around the track bc hes on the track team* (hes wearing booty shorts;) )

Richie: *w watching lMAO*

Eddie: *comes over to get water* Rich what are doing here?

Richie: i’m here because i want to be, wow am i not allowed to be here?

Eddie: well I mean only the football team and track team is supposed to be down here right now..but I'll accept this

Richie: is it because i’m your favorite and you love me? *poke*

Eddie: maybe, now quit staring at my butt

Richie: damn, how do you expect me to do that?

Eddie: oh shut it Tozier, arent you supposed to be in History right now anyways?

Richie: history is for dorks, i’d much rather spend my time here

Eddie: so you can stare at my butt *ruffles his hair*

Richie: it’s hot dude, i don’t make the rules

Eddie's coach: kaspbrak get going!!

Eddie: see ya later alligator *runs*

Richie: *lmao waves*

LATER: HI WHATS UP GANG

Sun: set

Eddie: *laying down on his bed doing homework while listening to music with his epic earbuds* this is so easy oh my god

Richie: *leaps onto eddie’s bed oops* what’s up eds

Eddie: *takes out his earbuds* oh hi

Richie: it’s so colddd *SNATCHES the edwards hands*

Eddie: you know you have your own bed- and you have homework to do- I love you but I dont want you to fail, I should help you study-

Richie: help me do more than study *wink wonk*

Eddie: Richie please- not now, later- I'm busy

Richie: nooo you’re so boring *leech* i’m not going to do my homework, what’re you going to do about that HUH?

Eddie: well I'm not helping you with your boner right now

Richie: okay rude wow *kiss uwu* i’m gonna spit into your homework because you’re a nerd

Eddie: no! *puts his homework in his bag* *sits up*

Richie: why don’t you love meeee *falls onto edward lmao*

Eddie: oh I love you so much *blush man bc thy roach is on top of him*

Random girl: *walks in* classes are canceled tomo- OH MY GOD THEYRE DOING IT *runs out*

Richie: damn wow that was intense *kisses the edward owo*

Eddie: *kisses the Roach*

Richie: *keeps kissing the edward oop*

Eddie: *giggly boye* I love you

Richie: i love you too dork *kisses the edwards neck oops*

Eddie: if you give me a hickey I swear to god- I have a track meet tomorrow

Richie: so? who cares *kiss uwu*

Eddie: *kisses the roach*

Richie: *makes out with the edward 😳*

Stan: *walks in* guys I'm really bored- OH

Richie: *redredredred* god stan, wrong time my guy

Stan: sorry...have fun *closes the door*

Eddie: whatever *kisses the roach*

Richie: i’m tired and cold *kisses eddie’s forehead 😳👉👈*

Eddie: then go to sleep

Richie: sleep with me aHAHA

Eddie: okayyyy *lays down and opens his arms*

Richie: *leech* i love your dumb face *kiss*

Eddie: I love your adorable hot face

Richie: that’s not fair i feel bad for calling your face dumb now *kiss*

Eddie: it's okay I love you

Richie: what time is it? is it socially acceptable to sleep right now?

Eddie: yes Rich...go to sleep

Richie: okay cool. love you *kiss uwu* *l33ch* *S133P*

Eddie: *at 10 am* WHEN A GIRL GETS CURVY AND THE BOYS ALL DROOL!! (Hes singing-)

Richie: *falls off the bed lmao* wHAT THE FRESH FLYING FUCK

Eddie: *making eggs while singing*

Richie: *lmao sTANDS* you woke me up ughhh *hugs the edward from behind*

Eddie: *yelps* oh goodmorning!!!

Richie: hi spaghetti man *kiss uwu*

Eddie: *turns around* hi Trashmouth

Richie: what’re you doing? *kisskisskisskiss*

Eddie: cooking for my future husband

Richie: wow i’m flattered *hug uwu* how’s your morning

Eddie: my morning is going great now that you're awake, you're gonna be alone today because I have my track meet

Richie: what? no, ew i’m going with you, you have no say in it

Eddie: I swear you only go to them because I wear booty shorts

Richie: NO-! it’s because I want to uhh, love and support my boyfriend

Eddie: so if I started wearing booty shorts here, you wouldn't like that?

Richie: okay see you got me there buddy why would you say that that is so weird of course i would like it duh

Eddie: exactly

Richie: um excuse you sir

Eddie: well enjoy your breakfast, I have to change and then meet the team down at the feild

Richie: can’t you just like, skip it for today

Eddie: no Richie, I cant

-when Eddie gets back-

Eddie: *literally dripping sweat* Richie I'm back-

Richie: *lmao watching high school musical* shhhHHHH

Eddie: *walks into the living room wearing booty shorts* huh?

Richie: babe you’re fucking hot and i love you but shhh troy bolton

Eddie: okay yeah cool imma take a shower, dont burn down campus

-after his shower??-

Eddie: *walks into the living room wearing one of Richies shirts and short shorts teehee*

Richie: *watching hsm 2 now* come watch my movie with me

Eddie: *sits down next to the Roach* we need to pay the water bill- we need more cold water, it's so hot in the shower like SO hot

Richie: *literally not focusing on eddie* something else in here is like SO hot

Eddie: oh shut up *kiss owo*

Richie: *pulls the edward into his lap* who’s the best high school musical character

Eddie: *blush man* uhhhhhhh Troy

Richie: i don’t like troy he’s an asshole

Eddie: *faces the roach* then who do you like?

Richie: you, but also sharpay *kiss owo*

Eddie: I feel like I barely have pants on right now- why are all your shirts so big

Richie: i could make you barely have pants on

Eddie: I mean no one is stopping you-

Richie: i’m aware, i’m just busy watching the movie

Eddie: *hugs the roach while hes in his lap*

Richie: i love you *kiss uwu*

Eddie: I love you too, but why do you HAVE to have a boner right now

Richie: ryan evans is really hot

Eddie: you're really hot- wait no- well you are but I didn't mean to say that

Richie: *kisskisskisskisskiss* thanks for the ego boost

Eddie: *blush man* welcome

Richie: *makes out with eduardo a heehee*

later: hi

Eddie: *literally panting-* that happened

Richie: oops, you have to cover your neck tomorrow *literally on top of eddie, oops*

Eddie: *looks up at the roach* I probably dont, people already think I lost my v card awhile ago so they expect this

Richie: oh, so you wanna fuck then?

Eddie: maybe, maybe not

Richie: wow how horny of you

Eddie: pardon me kind sir

Richie: i will pardon you *YEEHAWYEEHAWYEEHAW*

Eddie: RICHIE NO MORE

Richie: why not *y yeehaw*

Eddie: *sits up* I'm tired Rich-

Richie: ughhh fine i’m sleeping on the couch because that’s what cool kids do

Eddie: weirdo

Richie: shut the lights off when you leave *fLops onto the couch*

Eddie: *kisses his forehead* goodnight

Richie: you missed *kisses the edward* okay goodnight

Eddie: *ruffles his hair* goodnight *walks to his room*

Richie: *slEEp*

later: egg

rain: awooooga

thunder: plot device

time: 2 AM

hotel: trivago

Eddie: *in the kitchen*

Lights: aight imma head out

Power: bye

Eddie: OH SHI- *SLIPS*

Richie: *sleeping still lmao*

Eddie: *runs over to the couch and taps the roach* Richieeeee

Richie: shhh it’s sleep time *half asleep lmao*

Eddie: baby theres a storm *sits next to him*

Richie: that sucks harder than your mom *tired laugh lmao*

Eddie: okay calm down you're like half asleep *plays with his hair*

Richie: since when were you awake??? *tIRED*

Eddie: I was getting a drink and then I slipped and fell so I came in here

Richie: oh shoot did you fall for me?

Eddie: I did that when I was 14

Richie: i did that way earlier than you, haha nerd *cling*

Eddie: oh shush *keeps playing with his hair*

Richie: shhhh wanna hear a secret?? *giggly boye lmao*

Eddie: sure Richie

Richie: i think you’re really pretty and i love you a lot but shhhh don’t tell anyone

Eddie: Richie- everyone already knows that

Richie: No they don’t-!

Eddie: richie calm down- go to sleep *brings him in his bed*

Richie: *grabby hand thing* sleep sleep sleep

Eddie: okay Richie- *lays down and opens his arms* c'mere

Richie: *leech* i love you

Eddie: I love you too Rich

Richie: *kiss uwu* okay sleepy time *sSLEEP*

[racingtoaredlight]

The degenerate’s guide to college football TV watch ‘em ups, 2019 season, week 9

It’s week 9 and it’s time to get serious about all of the football watching and the gambling and the talking about and all of those things and there is a World Series game tonight but the best sports thing of the day?

Miami @ Pittsburgh got listed as “must watch” in the SB Nation watch grid this week and I can’t stop laughing. Yes, it was listed as that because of the high probability of inexcusably bad football leading to a frontrunner to play in this year’s Orange Bowl. Sigh sigh sigh.

The format is a weekly battle. The information is taken from FBSchedules and Vegas Insider. Be very leery of any opinions contained in this post.

Saturday, October 26

Matchup                                                          Time (ET)              TV/Mobile

San Jose State at Army                                  12:00pm                 CBSSN

I haven’t kept up with Army this year and I see they’re sitting at 3-4, the same as San Jose State. Good. 

Mississippi State at Texas A&M                     12:00pm                  SECN

I’m rightly astonished that neither of these teams is ranked right now. aTm is above .500 and has a very well-compensated head coach. What more does an SEC team need to get a ranking?

21 Appalachian State at South Alabama       12:00pm                 ESPNU

App State is 6-0 and favored by 27.5 on the road. I know USA has been trash this year but I’d put a nickel or so on the Jaguars to keep it close enough to win money. Strong words? You bet.

13 Wisconsin at 3 Ohio State                          12:00pm                   FOX

Wisconsin just had to beat Illinois to make this the biggest of Big Nude Saturdays and they couldn’t do it. Now I’m not really sure what argument there is to take the Wolverines +14.5. Funny stuff, Chryst. 

5 Oklahoma at Kansas State                           12:00pm                    ABC

The line is going up and, sure, KSU isn’t as good as their record but when have they ever been? Even when they were a yearly threat to lose all their games K-State has found a way to be worse than their record. But 23.5 seems like a lot to favor anybody in Manhattan. 

Bowling Green at Western Michigan              12:00pm                ESPN3

Illinois at Purdue                                               12:00pm                   BTN

Illinois isn’t good at all even though they beat Wisconsin last week but if they were in the ACC Coastal they’d be in contention for an Orange Bowl berth. Purdue is favored by 9.5 which seems bold to me.

20 Iowa at Northwestern                                   12:00pm                 ESPN2

The weather forecast I’m looking at has clouds, no precipitation, normal wind. The over/under is 37. I’m not sure what to do with this. It seems reasonable.

Liberty at Rutgers                                              12:00pm                  BTN

Liberty is playing for bowl eligibility against the oldest program in FBS here in college football year 150. What a horrible world. If you feel like watching this for some reason, Antonio Gandy-Golden needs 123 yards to get to 1,000 for the season.

Miami (FL) at Pitt                                                 12:00pm                ESPN

Miami has only won one conference game this year and it was against Coastal power Vir.... v-vv-v-vvvvv.... Vir... Virginia. LOL. This ain’t your daddy’s ACC! It’s as bad as it used to be but now there are more teams. If the Canes win they’re right back in the race to get humiliated by Clemson on the way to a large bowl payout.

Southern Miss at Rice                                         1:00pm                 ESPN+

Rice is on the road to 0-12. Southern Miss is bad but has a QB in the top 10 nationally for pass efficiency. If you’re in the mood to make weird money put something down on the Fightin’ Favres -10.

Nevada at Wyoming                                             2:00pm                 ATTSN

Great off-brand west coast football that is only available if you have DirecTV or if you bootleg your sports.

Ohio at Ball State                                                  2:00pm                ESPN+

WKU at Marshall                                                      2:30pm               Facebook

Pound the over in this game that you shouldn’t watch unless you work for the NSA. I love the C-USA but don’t countenance using facebook for anything.

New Mexico State at Georgia Southern                 3:00pm               ESPN3

This is passable alternate programming but there’s something much better starting 30 minutes later.

Tulane at Navy                                                          3:30pm              CBSSN

Malcolm Perry has turned things up a notch in recent weeks but I still feel unsatisfied with the Middies and think just enough of Tulane to recommend taking them +3.5. I definitely think o/u 57 is too low.

Maryland at 17 Minnesota                                        3:30pm             ESPN

All year long the dozens of people that pay attention to Minnesota football have been saying they’re the worst undefeated team in the country. If the Gophers want to live up to their reputation, Maryland is exactly the type of team they should lose against at home.

UConn at UMass                                                        3:30pm  FloSports / NESN

I don’t think about UMass football very often. Can they really be so bad that +10 to UConn is justified? That is breathtakingly awful.

Virginia at Louisville                                                  3:30pm           ACCN

If Virginia can get past the imposingly average Louisville Cardinals they may effectively have the Coastal Division locked up before we get to November. That’s not usually the way things work for Virginia in particular or the ACC in general.

15 Texas at TCU                                                          3:30pm           FOX

This is bullshit.

Syracuse at Florida State                                           3:30pm         ESPN2

We’re pretty close to the twentieth anniversary of this matchup becoming almost completely worthless. Now that both programs are just barely hovering above the dirtline it’s exceptionally worthless.

6 Penn State at Michigan State                                  3:30pm          ABC

Oklahoma State at 23 Iowa State                                3:30pm          FS1

Iowa State at -10.5 seems dicey as hell to me but my faith in Chuba Hubbard is as unshakable as my faith in Oklahoma State overall is built on a foundation of sand.

North Texas at Charlotte                                              3:30pm        ESPN+

UNT UNT UNT. That’s all.

Miami (Ohio) at Kent State                                           3:30pm        ESPN+

Boy, look at all this MACtion.

Indiana at Nebraska                                                      3:30pm         BTN

Indiana opened as a favorite on the road at Nebraska. Huskers aren’t making it back to prominence without the kind of violent criminal element that made the program great to begin with.

FIU at Middle Tennessee                                               3:30pm        NFLN

FlInt’l is favored by 2.5 to get their first win on the road. This game is on NFL Network because Butch Davis used to work for them.

Eastern Michigan at Toledo                                           3:30pm        ESPN+

Central Michigan at Buffalo                                           3:30pm       ESPN+

9 Auburn at 2 LSU                                                          3:30pm        CBS

What if Joe Burrow throws three 4th quarter INT touchdowns? That would be a great tribute/way to announce he’s quitting the Heisman race.

Arizona at Stanford                                                     3:30pm         Pac-12N

This is probably as bad as anything the MAC could throw at you. Fortunately for most of you, there’s no way for you to see this game legally.

Akron at NIU                                                                3:30pm           ESPN3

Awful.

Florida Atlantic at Old Dominion                               3:30pm            ESPN+

I’m really looking forward to Urban Meyer spurning FSU and having them end up hiring Lane Kiffin. We’re probably 8 weeks away from that.

USF at East Carolina                                                   3:45pm          ESPNU

A lot of times a confluence of factors gives a certain matchup a bittersweet, melancholic tinge. This is the saddest game of the year so far.

Duke at North Carolina                                                4:00pm            RSN

On the one hand I don’t really like UNC at all. On the other hand I want them to win this game by 65. This is the scrappiest piece of shit game you will not see at all today.

South Carolina at Tennessee                                      4:00pm            SECN

This game is also a total piece of shit but Tennessee is not scrappy at all. They will quit at a moment’s notice.

Hawaii at New Mexico                                         4:00pm  Spectrum PPV / MWN

Hawaii is favored by 10. The o/u of 71 is tough but I bet the Rainbow Warriors hold up things on their side.

Arkansas at 1 Alabama                                                7:00pm           ESPN

Are you ready for the Mac Jones Era to start? Tua Tagovailoa is out for at least this game and the line has dropped from 35 to 31.5. Great chance for Arkansas to not lose by as much as we all expect them to lose. Could be huge for the program that has lost 15 conference games in a row. It’s not every week a coach can tie a record held by the great Bret Beilema.

Memphis at Tulsa                                                         7:00pm           CBSSN

Gainwell! RTARLsman! I’m good with stats and I’m expecting Kenny Gainwell to get about 105 yards rushing and 364 yards receiving. Book it.

Texas Tech at Kansas                                                  7:00pm             FS1

Lawrence at night, one of college football’s most magical venues. the line is creeping down as bettors realize the homefield advantage for the Jayhawks is, uh, almost equal to the badness of Texas Tech. Almost!

UCF at Temple                                                              7:00pm          ESPN2

Temple got pretty lucky to beat Memphis (bad turnovers, bad call late) and now they’re going to need some more magic to stay alive in the AAC race. A major bowl is probably out of the question for both of these teams at this point but this should still be pretty entertaining, even if UCF is pretty heavily favored for a road conference game.

Texas State at Arkansas State                                     7:00pm          ESPN+

There is a huge buzz of disinterest surrounding this game.

Troy at Georgia State                                                    7:00pm          ESPN+

I don’t have a great handle on the goings on in the Sun Belt but Troy opened as the favorite here. That’s kind of weird, right? Even now Georgia State is only favored because of hometown bump. 

Boston College at 4 Clemson                                       7:30pm           ACCN

Boston College is about due for a massive upset, aren’t they? No? Yeah, no.

Colorado State at Fresno State                                     7:30pm         ESPNU

Actually kind of fun in theory but I’m not gonna watch it. This is true football degeneracy in action.

Missouri at Kentucky                                                     7:30pm          SECN

Kentucky is still playing that WR at quarterback but I still want to put money on them +10. Because Missouri isn’t great, either.

8 Notre Dame at 19 Michigan                                        7:30pm          ABC

This is a pick ‘em? Is Notre Dame really exposed to that level? I’m rooting for Michigan in this one but Notre Dame is gonna beat them by like 50, right?

24 Arizona State at UCLA                                              7:30pm         Pac-12N

Arizona State got killed last week and hung in the top 25. There are not 25 good teams this year.

Louisiana Tech at UTEP                                                8:00pm         ESPN3

UTEP, it turns out, is very bad. If you want to be a good degenerate you’re gonna need some hooch and a rooting interest in one of these teams beating the 20.5 point line. Louisiana Tech is the easy pick but live an exciting life in your underwear, alone on your couch.

California at 12 Utah                                                     10:00pm           FS1

If there’s a prop on the number of plays run in this game take the under. I am going to absolutely love this one.

Utah State at Air Force                                                  10:15pm        ESPN2

I still have no idea what to think of Jordan Love. I don’t think he’s great but what if he ends up in San Francisco? He definitely hasn’t lived up to the preseason hype but we’ve got at least one recent example of that not mattering at all with a “small school” prospect. Air Force is a weird environment and a true homefield advantage. Maybe Love can get off some lasers and hang around as a top prospect for the 2020 draft.

San Diego State at UNLV                                               10:30pm       CBSSN

SDSU is starting to pick up steam and UNLV is mostly a speedbump of a team so go for that -12.5 if you’re feeling lively.

Washington State at 11 Oregon                                     10:30pm        ESPN

For all of the tank for Tua hype there’s still a realistic shot that the much taller, much stronger armed Oregon QB Justin Herbert goes #1 overall in 2020. The Ducks are probably the Pac-12′s only outside shot at a playoff appearance this year but they aren’t quite so good that I’d feel safe putting money on them even now. Autzen isn’t as intimidating as it used to be and Washington State still has some punch left even if they have been a huge disappointment this season.

[sassoffrass]

All the Little Things

Thank you @hazel3017  for the inspiration for this! She wrote a lovely, heartbreaking, ficlet that stuck with me. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but I'm 1.1K into the second chapter and going strong! You can also find this on Ao3.

When Sidney is fifteen he takes a year off from hockey to have a baby.

He’s fifteen, boarding at Shattuck and is playing great hockey. Next fall he’ll be playing in the QMJHL, scouts are coming to some his games, a few even from the NHL.  His sophomore season is set to start up in just a few weeks; it’ll be his second season at Shattuck.  He won’t be playing.

He’ll be four and a half months pregnant with swollen ankles and a story for the media about getting mono from one of his summer hockey camps. In December they’ll come up with another story. Maybe he’ll have a concussion, or had broken his ankle. Anything to keep him off the ice, and away from cameras.

The story is enough to keep everyone off his back. He withdrawals from Shattuck after just a month his doctors citing mono, and spends the fall, and winter sequestered in his house.  He’s back at Shattuck in the spring just in time for playoffs. He hasn’t played a game of hockey since September, and still makes first line.

He doesn’t tell anyone about the baby outside of his parents, Taylor, and his doctors.  The other father doesn’t know.

When Sidney is fifteen he goes first in the draft to Rimouski, even though he only played a handful of games all year.

When Sidney is sixteen he is living in Québec playing some of the best hockey the QMJHL has ever seen and doesn’t breathe a word to anyone about the little girl living with his parents.

_/\_ Shattuck - Saint Mary’s, September 2002

He’s been throwing up every day this week. His head aches and his stomach is sore. Sidney curses the cafeteria food that gave him food poisoning. He is never eating their meatloaf again.

His stomach lurches again and he bolts for the ensuite for the second time this morning.

“Dude. Are you okay?” Jack asks from the doorway. Sidney would appreciate his concern a little more if he wasn’t throwing up the little Gatorade that he had sipped on since getting up.

Jack had been surprisingly undisturbed by Sidney’s daily worship of the toilet, but now on day 4 of the pilgrimage he was ready to call their coach and the school nurse.

“I’m fine, just something I ate.”

Jack snorted, “Yeah okay. I’d believe that if it was only one day, but it’s been almost a week. You need to go to the nurse before you get the entire team sick.”

Sidney glares at Jack; he would honestly rather make small talk with the baseball team then go to the nurse right now. He doesn't want to be poked and prodded and be told by the coach that he's scratched from the next few preseason scrimmages. They are so close to the beginning of the season.

Another wave of nausea rolls through him. Fuck it. The nurse sounds amazing.

Sidney honestly feels better by the time he showers, changes into clean sweats, and makes his way to the nurse’s office. Of course, he felt the same way all week but that hadn't stopped him from getting sick each morning.

The nurse gives him a clip board of paperwork to fill out, things like how often he's been sick, rather embarrassing questions about his medical history, and if he's on any medications or has any injuries. By the time he's finished filling it out he's freezing wondering why nurse’s offices are so cold.

"Sidney?" The nurse confirms as she enters the room, "I hear you're feeling a little sick?"

"Um, yeah. I've been throw up every morning this week. I think I ate something bad in the cafeteria. I’ve been really tired too."

The nurse hums, "Well, let me look over your paperwork and see if we can figure out what's going on. Usually food poisoning only lasts 24-48 hours, anything beyond that usually indicates something else is wrong."

Sidney tries not to fidget while he waits, he hates going to the hospital. He's been playing hockey since he was three, injuries are normal, but mostly he just goes to the trainers to get ice packs or finger splints, generally he's been healthy his entire life.

"Sidney, I’m sorry I have to ask this, but are you sexually active?"

He jerks his head up, "I- yes." He can feel his cheeks getting warm.

"Have you been sexually active in the last few months?"

He knows his face is like a tomato, "Yes. Why?"

The nurse is giving him a look that he can't place, a crossover between pity and resignation, "The symptoms that you've described on your paperwork and to me, makes me believe that there is a possibility that you’re pregnant."

The world takes a sharp shift the left. Pregnant. He wants to laugh, to deny, to say that of course that's not a possibility. But…

It is. He's never been tested for the carrier gene, most Catholics opt out, and his parents never thought to get test done. He swallows around the lump in his throat.

"-dey? Sidney?"

"I- it's- it's a possibility. Um."

The look he's getting is definitely pity now, "Let me get you a test. You can take it in the bathroom across the hall. Have you been using protection?"

He had been. The fumbling, messy, secret, desperate sex he's been having had always happened with mouths and hands, and the few they went any further they were careful. Except. Except the condom had broken a little the last time. Not a lot, but enough that it had leaked when they were done and tying it off, tossing it into the trash.

He feels sick again, "It broke. Once."

He's handed a box marked 'pregnancy test' and directed to the single person bathroom across the nurses office. Sidney feels cold all over when he's back in the office, staring at the stick as the little display slowly turns from blank into a plus sign.

"We'll have to call your parents. You're under 18, so we have to inform them about this. We’ll have to talk with the principle as well.”

Sidney doesn't cry. Not when he promises the nurse that he'll call his parents tonight so they don't get the news from the principle. Not when he lies through his teeth to Jack, claiming the stomach flu. Not when he stares at his hockey sticks propped up against his side of the room.

Sidney's hands shake as he dials his parents’ landline from the phone in his and Jack's room.

"Sidney? We weren't expecting you to call today! How have you been honey?" His mom answers.

"Mom-" his voice breaks, "Can you get dad? There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Is everything okay Sidney? Are you hurt?" His dad asks once they've turned the phone to speaker.

Sidney doesn’t cry as he tells them. He doesn’t know what to feel. _/\_ His dad goes with him to the doctor appointment.  Sidney feels numb by then.

Sidney is 13 weeks pregnant, and the doctor wants to know how he didn’t notice that he was gaining weight, didn’t notice his waist thickening. How could he not notice the beginnings of swollen ankles and fully body soreness.  He doesn’t say anything as Troy explains about hockey, how in the summer and pre-season players regularly gain 30-40 pounds in muscle mass.  Weight gain is to be expected, and hockey is a contact sport. Sidney doesn’t remember the last time he wasn’t sore somewhere.

He’s given options and almost chooses the easy way, and probably the smart way. He could get an abortion, go back to school, and keep playing hockey.  At 13 weeks he’s at the end of the legal time frame for an abortion.

He could let the baby grow, and give it up for adoption. That’s another choice. Sidney knows that he could never do that. Spend months with his baby growing and then say goodbye.

His dad holds his hand and tells him that he could keep the baby, that he could take a year off. That his mother and he would help Sidney.  Sidney doesn’t know if he wants a baby, he knows that he definitely doesn’t want to stop playing hockey.

His feet are strapped into stirrups for the abortion when he changes his mind. He looks at the ultrasound however, and even though the doctor says he won’t feel the baby for another few weeks he feels something.  He cries then. _/\_ He goes home. He cries some more. He listens to his parents explain to Taylor that Sidney is pregnant and what that means.

He texts teammates from Shattuck, complaining about being sick, about being out for the first part of the season.

Jack texts him constantly, the first hundred texts lamenting about Sidney missing out on hockey, on how he better not have gotten Jack sick. He complains about his new roommate. Apparently the new roomie is a baseball player.

Sidney doesn’t tell him the truth.

In February, six months after his withdrawal from Shattuck, the longest stretch he has gone without playing hockey since he was a toddler, Sidney goes to the hospital.

He has a baby.