#jackson pls include her in more things going forward

[thealdersgateoffice]

Catherine Standish in every episode of Slow Horses

4.04 Returns 🐌🐎

[millersfinest]

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE | 1

ELLIE WILLIAMS, YELLOWJACKETS AU, SERIES!

SERIES MASTERLIST

001 — When You’re Gone wc: 14.4k

chapter blurb: the struggles of a soon-to-be high school graduate was rough—leaving home, leaving the girl you love behind knowing you weren’t strong enough to love her aloud; it was fear inducing. however, not as fear inducing as the sounds of a plane breaking down while in the air with you and everyone you care about inside of it. now, that was bone chilling! it’s the beginning of many, many, many nightmares to come.

cw: use of the word ‘dyke’, r and ellie being teenage lover girls, closeted abby, dramatic teenage girls, reader is working on her internalized homophobia, sarah miller, ellie being the best non-girlfriend ever, mention of a teacher/student relationship, plane crash, character deaths, reader lowkey has main-character syndrome, ellie/abby beef, reader calls her dad ‘daddy’ because she’s southern-ish (because it’s the midwest technically), 90’s accurate alcohol, little bit of r and ellie angst.

note: omg this is the first chapter in the summer act! by the time you guys see this, all of the parts for this act should be finished and queued for weekly releases (if i hold myself accountable)(i didn't but i refuse to sit on this). after i watched yellowjackets i immediately thought about ellie for obvious reasons. happy valentine’s day and happy yellowjackets s3 premiere day hehehe. hope you guys enjoy!! (if you wanna be added to the taglist, pls feel free to fill out this taglist form) also... if you see a typo, no you didn't!

The woody smell of a forest was never a comfort for you; however it wasn’t a disrupter either. Like most people, you loved the smell of flowers, fresh plants, the aroma, and texture of fresh soil—but you didn’t care for it enough to linger within it. Haunt the spaces between the tree, to feel a sense of connection to the Earth. That wasn’t the type of person you were. It didn’t mean that much to you. Although, you signed many petitions to save the trees. Save the wilderness. She had a right to be preserved.

The layered sounds of cheering echoed through the gymnasium as you and your team ran in a line toward the middle of the court. Grins adorned your faces, waving and pumping up the crowd like you were used to. Cameras flashed from the sidelines, snapping pictures of the celebration of Jackson Hole High’s victory. The Fireflies have been invited to Boston to participate in a national championship.

You’re fucking going to nationals in Boston!

Nearing the end of your senior year, with college looming at your door, it felt good that you could have one last hurrah with your favorite girls—loosely including the junior varsity players who were waiting for your dismissal so they could move up.

Loving every member of the team was hard, but you truly did; they were your sisters. Minus one faithful central striker who stood before you on the field. It would be weird to call her your sister since you’ve been sucking each other’s faces off since sophomore year.

The both of you may have been an okay pair off the field, but on the field… You were perfectly unstoppable! She was fast, while you were tactful. Even though, you were surrounded by supportive players who were eager to make a goal—a lot of times, it felt as though it were just the two of you.

You couldn’t help but be a romantic when it came to her. She was always determined to put on a show—a good show, at that. The eighteen-year-old had a reputation to uphold: mean, small town lesbian. But she was so much more than that. Under the many course layers of being a skillful forwarder, a notable lover of female company, and totally hot; she also respected the bounds of science, had an obsessive amount of Savage Starlight memorabilia, and has the intention of becoming an astrophysicist in the future. She wanted to become a scientist for the sake of the game, not to make a shit ton of money.

However, despite all of this good, there was a minor wooden hedge that kept the two of you at an arms length distance from each other.

And here’s the real kicker… You’re not one hundred percent out to the public about your sexuality. Therefore, in the past three years you’ve been sharing with this beloved girl, it’s all been experienced under pressured wraps. You didn’t necessarily hide your attraction from women—you just hated feeling other in your hometown. While you were cocky about your soccer skills, you didn’t harbor that same meanness to protect yourself when it came to who you romanticized.

Jackson Hole, or Jackson, was a town that was surrounded by elements of the Earth—right beside Yellowstone Park—there were so many other things to talk about than the fact that you were a lesbian. But that just wasn’t how small towns worked. Perhaps, it was a born and bred thing. Whenever you were born or bred into a small town, you activate this gene that forces you to be interested in everyone’s lives but your own. People from your town loved a spectacle.

And to be fair, hanging out with Ellie Williams was spectacle enough.

There were rumors that the two of you were gay for each other—that you were hooking up in hidden places. You never confirmed or denied whenever you were boldly asked. Unless your parents were pressing you about being out so late. Those claims were dead on, though!

Now, your parents were in on the whole thing, and they loved her. They were so supportive of the relationship that you sometimes thought they loved her more than you. She was labeled spunky in their eyes.

But, with all this considered, she wasn’t your girlfriend. She was just a girl that happened to be yours; someone you kept all for yourself. And Ellie being Ellie, didn’t always appreciate that phrase. It wasn’t until this year that she became indifferent to it.

“Let’s congratulate our varsity Fireflies for being chosen for nationals!” The principal of the student body praised over the choppy, cracking microphone. He had called your names out one by one, getting you onto that shiny, scuffed basketball court. Coach Tess Servopoulos stood at the head of the line, while the assistant coach, Owen Moore, stood at the other end. Accompanied by the soccer manager, Mel Teagan.

The pep rally was fast, and you were standing around the quad before you knew it, discussing a course of action for a junior varsity player who was good but not great. She lagged during games whenever she was brought on as a substitute—failing to take initiative to score. Since tomorrow was the morning that you were leaving for Boston, Coach Moore decided on throwing a scrimmage between varsity and junior varsity as a fun arrangement. However, some of the girls found this to be a moment of opportunity.

“I think we should push Lucy a little bit…” The auburn-haired player suggested, crossing her arms over her chest. Surrounded by her trusty friend group: you, Riley, Dina, and Cat.

You bunch your eyebrows, glancing at the other girls. “What do you mean by push ‘er?”

“I don’t know, make her actually work for her position.” Ellie responded, shrugging her shoulders. They all just looked at her, waiting for her to further explain. “If she’s coming with us to Boston as a substitute, she needs to work harder than just kicking a fucking ball around.”

“And she barely even does that…” Riley added, snickering, letting her eyes wander around the quad.

Cat put her hands on her hips, rocking on her feet. “If this includes physically pushing her, then I’m out.”

Ellie shook her head, holding out her hand. “Nah, that’s my job if it comes down to it.”

Dina deepened her eyebrows, squeezing her eyes shut. “So, what are we gonna do? Ice her out the whole game?”

“Yeah,��� She nodded. “Only pass the ball to each other— everyone on the team except for her. Maybe it’ll finally get her to fight for a score.”

You puffed air from you lips in thought, glancing over your shoulder, uneasy. As captain of the team—yeah, you were team captain—it wasn’t ideal that you were plotting against your own. Although, she was junior varsity, it didn’t change the fact that she was a Firefly. You just wished that Lucinda Henderson did more for her team—she needs to learn to play aggressively not passively. That’s how you score. That’s how you win.

A sigh flees your mouth, peering at the central striker with narrowed eyes. “If you’re gonna push her, do it safely… I cannot afford to have a hurt freshman on my conscious.” You tiredly spoke, preparing to walk away, but Ellie grabbed your hand before you could leave the small huddle.

“Seriously, what do you think I’m capable of?”

You placed your hand over hers, squeezing, gently. “You’re different on the field… Just remember that, okay?” Sliding your hand from hers, you glance to the other girls. “I have to go run a few things over with Abby. See you in a few.”

Ellie scoffed as you trotted away, seeing your goalie talking on a bench with some bashful cheerleader. “Hey, Abs, can we talk for a sec?” You question, not giving her much of a choice by walking past the bench she was sat on, perching yourself beside a tree.

From a distance, you could feel the eyes of your undercover lover watching you from her spot. Her lips moved, still engaging in conversation about Lucy Henderson, probably, but her olive eyes remained on you. Whenever you had these sidebars with Abby, she tensed. Ellie rarely talks about why Abby gets under her skin so easily—you wondered if it was intimidation, or worse, jealousy.

Abby rolled her eyes, muttering a quick farewell to the cheerleader. “What now?” She perked an eyebrow, crossing her muscular arms.

“Don’t what now me. You think I didn’t notice those eyes you were giving to the coach?” You prodded, authoritatively. “What did I say about him— fucking drop him!”

The blonde groaned like a stubborn child. “Can’t you just mind your business, Turner?” Abby retorted. “I get that you’re captain an’ everything, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to poke your nose in things that don’t involve you.”

“You know, this is a crime, right? Statutory rape—“

“Ugh, you’re always so serious. I’m eighteen.”

“Yeah, but you’re still a student here, and he’s an instructor.” You placed your hands on your hips. “Do you wanna be on the front-page paper listed as a victim? I wonder what that would look like when you’re playing pro in a few years…”

A sneer stretched onto her lips. “Couldn’t be as bad as being called a dyke by ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the population.”

“Says the two-hundred-pound, six-foot goalie who was just flirting with Calliope Kimber…”

She stiffened, averting her eyes from you. “I wasn’t flirting…”

You chuckled behind your fingers, sizing her up. “You totally were.” With a perched eyebrow, you analyzed her features. Blue eyes shifting, twinged with bothered nerves at the mention of her behavior. “I don’t care if you’re using a man to hide behind, Abby. But I do care about the legacy of our team.” You began, nudging her arm. “Plus, Coach Moore is annoying as shit. If I were you, Henry Harmon would be more of my shtick.”

Abby shook her head, her long braid falling over her shoulder. “You’re such a control freak…” She muttered, sucking her teeth.

“Or I’m just a very passionate person.”

“Nope… You’re a control freak.”

“Okay, whatever, Popeye. God.” You hold up a dismissive hand.

The both of you walk around the school to the soccer field to prep for the scrimmage Coach Moore was hosting. You sat on the ground stretching and ensuring your laces were tight and knotted. Some of the junior varsity team sat around doing the same thing, conversing amongst each other.

Ellie, Riley, Dina and Cat joined the group as if they had something up their sleeve—not paying much of attention to the young coach marking on a clipboard. The auburn-haired player plopped herself beside you. Like usual, you adjusted yourself to do an assisted stretch with her, touching your straddled feet together and pulling each other’s hands like a seesaw. “How different am I on the field— what did you mean by that?” She asked, pulling you forward, causing her to lean backwards.

“Uhm, Ellie, you’re a threat on the field to anyone who isn’t on your team.” You pulled her forward, causing you to lean back, smiling in amusement.

“I’m not a threat, just a girl who takes her sport very seriously.” She shrugged, pulling you forward again.

You laugh, pulling her forward, but this time inching your hands up her arms so you wouldn’t lean back so far from her. “No, babe, you’re definitely a threat. But… I like that about you.” You bat your eyes at her, playfully.   

She smirked, glancing down at your lips in such an obvious way. A way that you couldn’t give much attention to—at least, not in the way you wanted. “Well, then… I guess I’m the worst of threats— the most threatening girl in the world.”

You snickered, sliding your hands back down to her hands. You pushed your legs together to do the same thing, back and forth. “Be whoever you wanna be.”

To be honest, you’d probably love her regardless of anything. She was so admirable to you—her boldness in her identity; God, Ellie was such a dream. If only she knew how much she meant to you.

“All right, I’m gonna break ya’ll up— some of varsity will be playing with jv, some of jv with varsity.” The assistant coach announced, with the sport manager standing right beside him, eagerly. Upon his immediate direction, the girls groaned—mainly, the older varsity team. Not caring for their younger peers or their feelings. “Don’t complain. It’s Coach Servopoulos’ choice!”

The choice to split them up made Ellie’s plan a bit difficult to carry out, especially if the group wasn’t split up on Lucy’s team. Coach Moore began to list out the names, the manager handing out jerseys to the ones he called. Luckily, Ellie and Dina were put on the same team as Lazy Lucy, while you and Cat were placed on the opposing team. Separated by your team with an orange jersey, and her team having a blue one.

Before the scrimmage began, you pulled Ellie aside. “Remember this is an opportunity to teach someone, not to hurt someone. Be careful out there.”

“I’m not a fucking child, y/n. I know how to be careful.” She responded, curtly, walking to her place across from you at the starting zone. You rolled your eyes, gritting your jaw in irritation. You were told to play central striker for your team, which meant that you and Ellie looked right into each other’s’ eyes before the match. Through a heavy glare, you attempt to remind her once more, but she ignores your gaze.

When the whistle blared, the game began, brutally. After all, that’s how the both of you played—even against each other. Unfortunately, her team had more varsity members, meaning you and three other people had to carry the burden of keeping your team afloat.

There was a moment where the ball was sequestered between your feet, and you were moving toward the goal with quickness. That wasn’t until Riley swiped the ball from your feet with a giggle, muttering a small apology. While you tried to get the ball back, you watched as Riley and Ellie shifted ownership of it. Obviously, excluding the calls for a pass from the copper-headed player, Lucy.

Instead of asking, Lucinda grumbled, running toward Riley to steal the ball, heading straight for your goal. You slowed down, getting the intuitive feeling that something was about to go wrong. Even Cat paused on the field, glancing at you with concerned eyes. Ellie cast her eyes toward Riley, huffing from her lips. And, just like that, she made an effort to steal the ball from Lucy—getting overwhelmed by her competitiveness.

Her cleats made a move for the patterned ball, but instead of kicking it forward, the steel of the tip of her shoe made a collision with Lucy’s fibula. A crack sound echoed over the field, followed by a shriek expelling from the girl. Lucinda dropped to the ground cradling her calf with horror.

Ellie stopped, emitting a gasp. She gripped the roots of her hair, noticing the image of her bone sticking through her skin. It was surrounded by oxidized blood, dripping all over the freshly painted turf. Briefly, you froze. Eyes widening at the scene. “Fuck,” You grimaced, sprinting over to the area, along with everyone else.

You glared at auburn-haired player, kneeling to try and help the girl, pulling her head onto your lap. “Fuck, it’s going to be okay, Luce.” You looked around for the adult authority. “Coach Moore!” You called, worriedly, trying to avoid looking at the appearance of the injured girls leg. Every time you looked at it, the image of her exposed bone caused bile to rise in your throat.

He was already in transit, with a look of weariness, running over with his hands on his head. “Shit! Mel, go to the office and tell Tess, so we get can 911 on the phone.” Coach Moore directed to the short-haired manager, clutching onto a plastic first aid kit.

“You mean Coach Servopoulos?” She raised a finger.

“Fucking obviously, Mel!” The blonde goalie told, crouching toward the sobbing freshman. The manager jumped into a sprint, running toward the building while Abby darted her eyes over the brutal injury. Her father was a surgeon, and she had always been really curious about his job. He was wildly busy, but on the weekends, when he was on-call, he’d take her with him. There was a surgery gallery above one of the operation rooms, and he snuck her in a few times. Blood never bothered her as much as it bothered others.

Coach Moore forced the girls that weren’t helping to head inside to the locker room and wait for an update, because practice was now over.

The ambulance came in due time for her to get the medical attention that she needed. Lucy winced and whined as they lifted her onto a gurney, loading her into the back of the loud ambulance truck. Abby and Nora stayed behind with you as you monitored the situation. You couldn’t help but feel at fault for this—you should’ve just told Ellie no.

“Is your girlfriend tapped?” Nora questioned, while the three of you watched the coaches tell the EMT’s what happened, even though they didn’t know much. All they knew was that a player accidentally kicked her fibula through her leg in an attempt to kick the ball.

“Nora!” You scolded, glaring at her. Partially, for outright blaming Ellie for her actions, but also for labeling her your girlfriend aloud. That part was debatable. While you were warming up to the idea, a part of you felt like you didn’t deserve that title.

Abby chortled, “It’s a valid point.” Shrugging with her arms crossed over her chest. “I watched her ice Lucy out the whole game, y/n. When she finally had it, Ellie tried to steal it from her— her own teammate. What the hell was she doing?”

You shook your head, puffing air from your lips. “Lucy played a little lazy, so she was trying to… Teach her a lesson.”

The curly-haired, right-wing central striker scoffed, fixing a pair of disappointed eyes at you. “And you let her? Some kind of captain you are.”

“Hey, I told her to be careful.”

“You should’ve told her not to do it. Now, we’re short one sub for nationals. So, thanks a lot.” Nora concluded, turning her back on you to walk toward the locker room, leaving you with the disapproving sighs of Abigail Anderson.

The both of you watched the assistant coach hop into the vehicle with Lucy, since her parents where meeting them at the hospital. Coach Servopoulos instructed that he did so—he didn’t decide to join the injured teenager on his own accord. “She took it too far…” Abby sighed, as the head coach approached the two of you with a grimace on her features.

“It was an accident, Abby. Ellie didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“You saw what her leg looked like… I find that hard to believe.” The blonde goalie frowned, walking away once Tess Servopoulos got closer, glaring at you. Like you mentioned to Ellie, sometimes she got carried away during games; she wasn’t her usual self. As in, her competitiveness gets the best of her at times. It skews her vision and makes her decide on the most aggressive courses of action, which aren’t always the best. There has been a few games where they consistently got penalties because of her rough housing.

“Turner, what the hell happened out there?” Coach Servopoulos questioned with a firm voice, running her fingers through her mousy-brown hair.  

You slumped your shoulders, rubbing your hand over your pulled back hair. “I don’t know…” You lied through your teeth, sighing. The idea of snitching on Ellie wasn’t option. She’d get benched, or worse, kicked off the team. Tess Servopoulos wasn’t a coach that just let things slide; so, there was going to be hell to pay.  

She raised her thin eyebrows at you, dryly chuckling. “Her fibula is sticking out of her leg, and you’re tellin’ me you don’t know?”

“It happened so fast, Coach. Too fast. I think it was just a misstep.” You told with layers of uncertainty.

She sighed, pressing her lips together. “This misstep just sent a fifteen-year-old to the emergency room… Now, this isn’t the first time Ellie—”

“It wasn’t her fault.” You tried, fiddling with your fingers.

Tess side-eyed you before speaking, walking toward the school building. “This isn’t the first time Ellie has been rough on the field, but it’s the first time it’s resulted in something this severe—which leads me to this… In Boston, if she as so much as shoves another player too hard, she’s getting benched. Do you hear me?” The older woman raises an eyebrow, peering down at you. A frown fell onto your lips as you casted your eyes at your moving feet.

“I hear you.” You replied, solemnly.

“I have a lot of paperwork to fill out, so… Do me a favor and let her know that. I’m not gonna care for her attitude in Boston if you forget to tell her. I’m just gonna look at you.” Coach Servopoulos told as you neared the school, entering on the athletics side, leading you to the locker room. You were absolutely dejected, feeling waves a guilt that you shouldn’t have. The image of Lucy’s leg couldn’t leave your mind, making your stomach to stir. On top of the responsibility of, basically, threatening your companion.

When you entered the locker room, the team was sat on benches tiredly, awaiting the verdict that you were looked upon to deliver. They all sat upright when they noticed you strolling in after the fuming head coach who had seemed to already reach her maximum level of stress. “What’s up? Is she gonna be okay?” Ellie was the first ask, standing to her feet from the bench, her features scrunched with worry.

“Well, I’m sure she’s getting pumped with fentanyl as we speak, so… I think she’s gonna be all right.” Tiredly, your hands fall against your thighs, passing her to walk to your locker. A frown pressed onto your features because of the nausea building in your throat.

Abby sighed, leaning her arms to the side on bench. “If only you didn’t wanna teach her a lesson…” She muttered, causing Ellie to shoot her a glare.

“What?” She snarled.

“Was that not your plan? Maybe y/n relayed it wrong tryin’ to save your ass.” Abby exposed, but you ignored her trying to focus on not throwing up, rummaging through your locker.

Riley stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. “How ‘bout you just mind your fuckin’ business, Anderson.”

The blonde snickered. “Yeah, you were probably behind it, too, huh? Best friends until the end—“

The feeling of bile rising in your throat caused you to drop the lock in your hands. It clambered to the floor, shutting them up mid-argument. “Fuck, I’m gonna vomit.” You covered your mouth with your hand, running to the nearest trashcan you could find. It was large, and thankfully, without any trash inside of it. You gripped the rim that was wrapped with a black trash bag, leaning your face over it to relieve yourself.

“Now, look what you made her do!” You heard the sound of Ellie’s voice.

You lurched, groaning at the uncomfortableness of unleashing your breakfast and lunch into the trash covered in stomach acid. You felt hands on your back, rubbing, softly. When you peered over your shoulder, you noticed the dark, wavy hair of Dina standing over you. “Made me barf, too.” She kindly smiled, patting your back.

When you finished, you wiped your mouth with your shirt. “Should’ve never agreed to that shit…” You murmured, shaking your head.

“Maybe it’s for the best that she doesn’t come to Boston with us, anyway. There’s an upside to everything!”

“Whatever, Dina.” You sighed, thanking her with a pat to her shoulder.

She mirrored your sigh, following you to the group, getting close to you. “This isn’t your fault, you know?” Dina starts, as you ignore the tension in the air while your teammates changed. Ellie had walked to the other side of the locker room to hide from everyone, probably drowning in that same level of guilt you were. The dark-haired girl leaned her shoulder against the cool, gray metal.

“Then, who’s is it? Throwing Ellie under the bus, would mean throwing myself under it, too. I might as well just do it alone.” You grumble, beginning to pull the athletic clothes from your body.

After you changed into your casual clothes, a pair of jeans, blocky sandals, and a printed tube top. A thin, knit cardigan covered your arms during school, but the final bell had rung a long time ago. Ellie had always been your ride home, so you found her waiting in the quad for you on a bench—lonely, with a pair of headphones covering her ears. They were connected to an old Walkman you gifted her some time ago.

You waved a hand at her as you approached. She slid the tiny headphones from her ears to hang around her neck. She stood up, slinging her school bag and duffle bag over her shoulder. “Hey…” Ellie greeted, timidly.

“Hey,” You smiled, watching how she adjusted herself. You adjusted the thick strap of your own duffle bag, examining her freckled features. “What a day, huh?”

“Yeah…” She started walking toward her truck, pulling her keys from her pockets. Now, would be the best time to tell her of the limited amount of fuck-ups she had left, but the words wouldn’t come out. You followed her, swinging each foot in front of the other. “You were right… I shouldn’t have pushed her… I fucked up so bad today.” Ellie shook her head, running a hand through her shaggy, short hair.

You shrug, pressing your glossy lips together. “It happens…”

“I shouldn’t have let you take the fall for it.” She takes your hand, as you walk toward the emptying parking lot. You glance at the desperate hand, grasping for consolation and understanding.

In return, you grip her to reassure her. “You’re lucky Coach Serv didn’t ask too many questions— I barely took the fall for anything.” You lean into her arm, holding her bicep with your other free hand. “She probably has loads of paperwork to fill out since it happened on the school’s property. I think she has bigger concerns, right now.”

When you arrived at her blue Ford Bronco, you trot to the passenger side. “But I don’t mind taking the fall for it. I wouldn’t wanna go on this trip if you weren’t going, too.” Ellie grinned, watching you toss your things into the back seat.

The both of you got into the truck, shutting the door at the same time. The auburn-haired girl started the engine, causing the radio to switch on. Her earthy irises looked over at you, with a gleam of adoration. You smiled, cheeks warming under her gaze. A giggle leaves your throat as you lean over the center console, pulling the fabric of her shirt towards you so you could plot your lips against hers. Her windows weren’t that tinted, but you didn’t care in that moment.

Kisses always heightened Ellie’s mood, and you didn’t want her to worry about what happened with Lucy anymore. It was nothing but a mere accident—she would never want to hurt anyone.

You pulled away from her lips, not before plotting one final chaste kiss, leaning back into your seat. “Are we going to your place or mine?” You reached over to stretch the seatbelt across your body.

“Do you have everything you need for the party later?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“My place it is then.”

As we die, both you and I with my head in my hands I sit and cry…

No Doubt played on the radio, distracting you from the minor, small town traffic that got on under your skin—even though, you weren’t the one driving. You leaned your head on your fist, watching Ellie from the side of your eye. Her window was wound all the way down, elbow resting on it while her other steered the wheel. Her shaggy, auburn hair was blown across her head from the intensity of the wind. But she didn’t care, and neither did you. Her thumb tapped along the leather steering wheel to the beat of the music, nodding her head, rhythmically.

God, you were so in love with her. You were going to miss the days driving down the skinny roads of your hometown with her manning the wheel—because you rarely drove when she was around.

There was a secret that you were keeping tightly under wraps, though—amongst that love. Away from her, and the rest of the team. The joys of traveling to Boston with your team, and your non-girlfriend, is that it’s like a final hurrah before you all graduate and go your separate ways.

A few weeks ago, you received a letter from the admission’s office at University of Notre Dame for their soccer and Literature program—you got in! To your knowledge, Ellie had already committed to Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There was a family friend that lived in the area, which made her feel comfortable with moving so far away. Once you tell her about your commit to Notre Dame, everything will be set in stone; that the both of you were moving on. Everything would be too real—too fast. You were really leaving each other.

That was a topic you always found a way to jump around. At the end of the day, she wasn’t really your girlfriend. The pair of you had been in his happy mix of a relationship and a friendship—calling each other friends but doing the things that people in relationships did for a few years now. It kept too many people from asking you questions you didn’t feel enough conviction to answer. But that left you in a vulnerable position.

Once she sets foot up North, girls will be all over her as if she were a walking aphrodisiac. The prefect blend of masculinity and femininity relied in her spirit. She’d be the apple of any woman’s eye—well, any woman in their right mind—if she does half of what she does for you. Perhaps, one day you’ll rack up the courage to claim her, loudly.

She pulls into the driveway of her two-storied, brick home, sighing, casually. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, Sarah’s back early from school for my graduation. I’m gonna try and get her to be our ride for tonight.” Ellie shuts off the engining, gripping the handle to open up the door.

“Ellie, you know she’s gonna say no. If you wanna drink tonight, I can take one for the team…”

“I want us both to be able to celebrate, and after today, we both deserve a drink. Plus, she owes me.” She shrugged, grabbing her bags from the backseat, and you doing the same.

You chortle, walking around the to truck, to her side. “A drink won’t kill me.”

She looks at you, adjusting the straps on her shoulders. “Okay, you hate driving. Why do you wanna be DD so bad?” Ellie passed you, walking toward her front door. The sound of you giggling, trailing behind her.

“I’m just making sure we have options. Did she drive, this time, from Washington?”

The auburn-haired nodded, unlocking the door and pushing inside. “No, she took a flight. So, she shouldn’t have a problem borrowing Maxie” She referenced the dull, blue Bronco that she trusted with her life.

Ellie’s adoptive sister was a second year at the University of Washington. Every summer she comes back home to be with her family because dorm-life called the shots.

You walked inside behind her, passing the kitchen to get to the pair wooden stairs that led to her bedroom. “I’m home!” Ellie called, walking toward the fridge with you lingering behind her. “Sarah!” She offered you a cold bottle of water, handing it to you as she awaited her sisters’ response.

“Up here!” Her sister responded from up the stairs.

You trailed after your lover, trotting up the wooden steps to follow Sarah’s smooth voice. There was a light echo of The Cranberries, When You’re Gone, playing on the radio, coming from her bedroom. She must’ve been playing the new album. Ellie peeked into her bright space, placing her eyes on her laying figure, doodling in an artbook. Her pale, blue eyes looked up from the coarse page, twirling her charcoal pencil in her left hand. “Dad’s gonna be workin’ late tonight. So, I might be the one dropping you off tomorrow. Hope that’s all right.” Sarah hit the eraser of her pencil against the page, looking up at her sister leaning on the threshold of her bedroom door. Before she had shipped off to Washington, there used to be a thick southern twang that caught the attention of many Jacksoner’s. Sarah replicated the vocal inflections of her father—and Ellie’s voice did the same occasionally. She glanced at you, wiggling her fingers as a greeting.

You smiled, waving your hand.

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. Also… Could you do me a favor?”

She rolls her eyes, pushing her stuff aside to adjust herself onto her butt, narrowing her eyes at Ellie. “y/n and I are going to this party tonight, and we wanna drink— safely, so… Could you drive us?”

Sarah sighed, hopping from her bed to turn her silver-gray radio down, twisting the knobs with her index and thumb, plum nail polish artistically chipped. “I thought you had friends, Els… With cars.”

Ellie chuckled, dryly. “I do, but I don’t trust them to drive us back sober.” She rocked on her feet, furrowing her eyebrows to show humility. “C’mon, Sare, you owe me.”

She raised a blonde eyebrow, crossing her arms. “I owe you? From what?” Sarah dubiously asked.

“That one time sophomore year when I lied to Joel about where you were— saying you were at Natalie’s house, when you really were at Cole Matthew’s playing horizontal Twister.” Ellie blinked, feigning innocence. “If you don’t take us… I don’t mind clearing that up with him when I get back from Boston.”

The college girl gasped, then shook her head in disbelief. “Teenagers are evil. Wow.”

“You just turned twenty in April…” Ellie deadpanned.

“Fine. I guess I’ll take you, but I’m picking you up no later than one.”

Ellie rolled her eyes, lips curling at the edges. “Whatever,” She pivoted, taking your hand. “Thanks.” Her eyes glanced at you over her shoulder as she led you a few paces down the hall to her bedroom.

You shut the door behind you, snickering to yourself at the little threat she made to her sister. “You’re a manipulator…” You mutter, dropping your bag near the door. Her room was comfortably dim, with a dark, earthy motif. While her walls were still a white-ish tone of beige, its starkness was diminished by the many posters layered over each other. There was a slight lack of orderliness to her bedroom—a touch of clutter, making it all the more comforting.

Immediately, Ellie walked to her closet to change into some comfortable clothes. She dropped her jeans, sliding on a pair plaid boxers and a t-shirt. “Sometimes you need to do a little manipulating to get the job done.” She shrugged, humorously. “Sarah’s been trying to live down Cole Matthew’s since they hooked up her senior year— it was an easy shot.”

The softness of her made bed called out to you, making you leap onto it after kicking off your sandals. You rolled onto your back, sprawling out over her mattress. “I don’t think Dr. Daniela Star would approve of this.” You sit up on your elbows, ogling her from the center of her bed, referencing the protagonist from her favorite comic. Ellie turned to look at you, lips curling into a boyish smirk.

She sauntered toward you, crawling onto the mattress, over you, settling between your legs. You drape your arms around her shoulders, looking up at her with gleaming irises, examining her round features—olive, doe eyes, sprinkled freckles over her cheeks and nose, plush lips exposing her straight teeth. “What she doesn’t know, won’t hurt her.” Ellie grins, pressing her body against yours as she leaned down to plot her lips on yours. Smooch. Smooch. Before she begins to devour your face like it was the last time.

She braced one elbow by the side of your face, using the other hand to drift down your body, gripping and groping in ways you’d ever allow her to do. You giggled against her lips, completely comfortable under her devoted and doting caress. You were going to miss this most of all—the intimacy of her touch.

So, you spent the time before the party, memorizing every crevice of her body. From the follicles of her auburn hair to the birthmark on her ankle, breathing her in like your own addictive brand of oxygen. After you indulged in each other for a few hours, she pulled out guitar and played for you. Sat by her desk, facing you as you watched her fingers press along the copper strings of her acoustic guitar.

When it was time to get ready for the party, Ellie didn’t do much but throw on an outfit that appeared to have come straight from a Delia’s catalog. You had packed a boxy corduroy mini-dress and a pair of converses that matched hers; they were just a smidge cleaner, though. While you primped and primed yourself, you managed to convince her to smudge some eyeliner around her eyes—it brings out green in your eyes, you say; after propping yourself on her bathroom counter, welcoming her between your legs to add charcoal eyeliner around her eyes.

Ellie then peered in the mirror, over your shoulder, cheeks warming up at her own reflection. She wasn’t a typical wearer of makeup, but whenever she did partake, you noticed her expression of elevation. If it was small, and dainty, she never minded adding to her appearance with a little bit of makeup. However, she only did so when you applied it for her.  

You left the house borderline fashionably late, with Sarah swinging Ellie’s keys around her index finger. She hopped into the driver’s seat, adjusting the mirrors and seat to accommodate to her style of driving. Ellie had to push her seat forward to allow you climb into the backseat. The blonde took her time, causing her sister to side-eye her, pointedly. “Sarah, you are killin’ me.” Ellie spoke, holding out an annoyed hand.

“You asked me to drive you, and you’re complaining? I got a hundred on my driver’s test for a reason—”

“Nobody cares. Please, just drive, dude.”

She pressed her lips into a line, shifting the gear to backing out of the inclined driveway. “Ellie, you just get bitchier with time.” You snickered in the back, pulling your seatbelt over your body, clicking it into the lock. As she started down the road, she peered into the rearview, getting a glimpse of you while her lips percolated to speak. “So, y/n, have you committed to a school yet? I know time’s just a’tickin’…” Sarah offered conversation, smiling in the small mirror. From the corner of your eye, you noticed the rigidness in Ellie’s shoulders at the mention of university.

Ellie nudged her over the console, scoffing. “No pressure…” She filled in, giving you comforting glance.

“I haven’t yet… I’m waiting until after nationals… I don’t want my decision to be heavily influenced by anything, you know?” You slowly explain, looking at the blonde through the mirror.

Sarah glanced at Ellie, making a face you couldn’t quite read. “Yeah, for sure.” She responded, chuckling, lightly. “I forget— what are you going to school for? I know Ellie’s doin’ Biophysics. She’s going full astronaut on us!” She playfully punched Ellie’s arm, laughing, joyously. Clearly, already proud of her.  

You lick the cherry gloss on your lips, priming them to speak. “I’m going for Literature. I used to want to be a professor, and I might still go down that route, but I think I’m going to take soccer serious for a little while.”

“She wants to go pro.” Ellie added, winking over her shoulder at you.

“Hopefully, I can qualify for the Olympics within the next two years.” You shrug, nodding your head, timidly. It was always hard to tell people what you wanted for your future—especially, when your goals seemed so far away. It was always fifty-fifty when sports players wanted to go pro—hit or miss! That’s why you wanted to get you degree; so, it could seem more realistic.

The eldest in the truck, hummed. “I’ve seen you play. I’m sure you could qualify now.” Sarah laughed. “Who do I have to call to make it happen?”

“Oh, my God! You sound just like Joel!” The auburn-haired player gasped, chortling in her seat. The two siblings then began conversing between themselves, asking for your input every so often.

In the dark, she pulled into a clearing that was already lingering with drinking teenagers. She sighed, putting the car in park. “I swear this is like the beginning of a slasher film— you guys be safe!” Sarah told, leaning down as the both of you exited the car. For a moment, you had to wait for Ellie to release the passenger seat, so you could climb out the same way you climbed in. “And cover your drinks… There’s some odd-lookin’ character’s out here.” Ellie gave her thumbs up, attempting to shut the door, but her sister had to say one more thing. The blonde snickered behind her slender fingers before speaking. “I was also gonna say wrap it up, but… You know—”

Ellie decided to cut her off. “Okay, see you at one!” She shut the door, peering at your amused face. “She’s so not funny.”

“I disagree.” You slide your arm through hers, holding onto her as your feet crunched through the grass. Her earthy eyes glanced at you, glancing down at the touching of your skin to hers—boldly in front of your peers. You weren’t entirely thinking, you just wanted to be close to her. That simple feel for physical touch caused her cheeks to fill with warmth, eyes sparkling under the full moon.

She didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to freak you out. Make you coil into your own touch. Earlier, Ellie didn’t make a note of your touch when you were walking to the parking lot after school, because barely anyone was around to tell the tale. The tale of two girls cuddling up with one another in a more than friendly way. Now, you were surrounded by your peers, other upperclassmen, and you were holding onto her like she was your girlfriend. Not your friend.

You approached a wiggling fire, burning a pile of logs, a bonfire. A few fireflies hovered around it with red solo cups in their hands, conversing and laughing. When they noticed you and Ellie, they smiled and waved—some of them. If the varsity team could be cleanly divided in half, that would show the exact turn out of the smiles and frowns.

“Hey, Turner.” Abby greeted you, and you alone. Nora lingered close by, with Dina and Cat hovering in the back. They waved, but they could see the tension developing and didn’t want to get involved.

Instantly, Ellie stiffened, groaning under her breath. “I’m gonna go find us somethin’ to drink.” She pulled from your grasp, leaving you colder than before—and it was leaning more into summer by the day. Riley held her red cup by the white line along the rim, following her as she walked into the dimly lit dark. You could already hear her rants of internal fury coming from Ellie’s pinched mouth.

“Stop trying to piss her off.” You tell the blonde, deepening your eyebrows.

She pushed her long blonde hair behind her ears, shrugging. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Let the situation be done with. It’s over, so get the fuck over it— I’m serious, Abby.” Your voice firmed, glaring up at her, since she was so much taller than you. “We are leaving tomorrow, and I want us to all start off on the right foot.”

“Right leg, you mean?” Nora lifted an arched eyebrow. Shamelessly, she referenced the bone-white fibula that was sticking out of Lucinda Henderson’s leg on the field.

“Is that supposed to be a joke, Nora?” You ask her, narrowing her eyes. “You were so upset about what happened, and now you’re joking about it?”

“Well, if it never happened, I wouldn’t be joking about it now, would I?” The curly-haired forwarder retorted.

You scoffed, having enough of their paired hooplah—it was annoying you, and you were wanting to have a good night. “You know, what? Fuck you guys.” You mutter, pushing through them toward Dina, Cat, and another one of the players, Aisha Conrad. They were watching with keen eyes, clutching their drinks in their hands.

“They’re such bitches…” You grunted, crossing your arms, wondering where Ellie was with your drink. You could certainly use one.

Cat swallowed a sip of the jungle juice, nodding her head. “Tell me about it.” She shook her head. “I should’ve never told my dad about this— we should’ve booked public instead. They would have booked an entirely different flight than us, and we could’ve all been spared of their endless bullshit.”

“You know, the only reason I think Abby is still on this team is because she’s fucking Moore.” Aisha added, rolling her eyes.

Dina gasped, covering her lips with her hand. “Wait, what?”

“Aisha, we shouldn’t be talking about that.” You remind her, widening your eyes, warningly.

“No, wait.” Dina held up a hand, eyeing you. “Abigail Anderson is fucking Owen? The same girl who I always catch chatting up cheerleaders?” She raised her thick eyebrows, guffawing, loosening up from the alcohol in her hands. “Hell, I’m surprised she’s not doing it right now!”

The short-haired midfielder, Cat, looked to the dark sky in thought. “I wonder why she chose Owen of all people. He’s so… Lame.”

“And good for nothin’.” Aisha added, shrugging.

You couldn’t help but chuckle at that—good for nothin’—yeah, that checks out. He definitely wasn’t as good of a coach as Tess Servopoulos; you didn’t even know why he was hired. Who cares if he attended Jackson Hole High a few years prior?

“Why not Henry Harmon?” The freckled girl questioned, swirling her drink in her cup. “Now, he’s hot.”

A surprised laugh left your throat. “Dina, don’t you have a boyfriend?”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him— plus, everybody knows that Henry’s hot. Even you. Just because you’re a lesbian doesn’t mean you don’t have eyes.” Dina rambled, carelessly, until she abruptly covered her mouth with her hand, again.

Instead of cowering from the term of your sexual orientation, you barely flinched. You only narrowed your eyes at your friend, chuckling. “Shit, sorry, y/n.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m sure half the student body already suspects it.” You wave your hand.

Aisha pursed her lips, glancing around the teenager-filled clearing. “I mean, it’s not like you had a boyfriend in the last four years…”

Cat nudged her, roughly, arching her lips in shock. Aisha could be a little bit too honest for her own good. You were surprised that she hasn’t told everyone in a five-mile radius that she was friends with a lesbian. Or, maybe, she had. There was one afternoon—junior year—when you checked your main locker and a note fell out. It was scribbled with pink cursive handwriting, signed with heart and purple lipstick.

I always knew you were a lesbo!

In that moment, you thought your life was over. Then, a girl by the name of Laura Leony privately came forward, saying it was all her doing. She didn’t declare why, but she didn’t have to—you could understand. After that, you just tried to lay low.

That might’ve been the worst of you and Ellie. To argue was to breathe when it came to the two of you last year.

“Aisha, what would I do without you.”

“Crash and burn.” Innocently, she touched her ears with her shoulders, giggling to herself. “I really don’t think people care as much as you think.”

Deeply, you inhaled. “You’d be surprised.”

The sound of your name was spoken from behind, causing you to swivel. It was Ellie and Riley approaching. She had two drinks in her hands, and was mid-conversation, talking with her eyebrows burrowed together. “Spiked punch,” Ellie informed, handing you the red solo cup, filled a bit more than halfway. “And it’s pretty strong.” She sighed, jutting her eyebrows up at the girls as a greeting.

“Did you guys know that Abby’s fucking the coach?” Dina abruptly asked them, pointing a lazy finger.

“Yeah,” Riley chortled, sipping her drink.

“Tess?” Ellie questioned, incredulously, snapping her head toward her best friend in confusion.

You sigh, rubbing your fingers along your eyebrows, tiredly. It was better that less people knew about Abby’s silly affiliation with the young coach—it was better for the Fireflies. “Owen. Not Tess.” Still, you clarified, glancing at her. There was a reason you kept this one thing from Ellie. Her and Abby rarely got along, what if she exposed this interesting fact aloud during an argument? They could open a case, and the entire team could be put on probation until it was solved.

Her jaw dropped in mischievous shock. “What? You knew about this?” Ellie asked you, while her eyes gleamed in the dark. The ‘and you didn’t tell me’ part was silent, but you somehow could still hear her saying it in your mind, filling the gaps.

Your response was none other than a sip of your drink, and a brief lift of your eyebrows. You’ve been captain of your team since the end of sophomore year—of course, you knew about this!

“It’s not obvious?” Aisha perched an eyebrow, downing the rest of her drink.

“Some of us mind our business, Aisha.” Riley snickered, crossing an arm under her elbow. She squinted her eyes at her as a bratty response. “It’s not a secret if it’s obvious.”

“This is great.” Ellie muttered into her cup, shrugging her shoulders.

You snapped her your head toward her. “No, it’s not great. Don’t get any ideas.”

Her best friend laughed, peering down at her amusingly. “Oh, Turner, you’re late. Far too late— the ideas have already began flowin’.” Riley laughed. She was always a subtle lover of chaos and disturbance. She rarely ever caused it, though; Riley was more the type to watch it unfold, and step in if she needed to.

“Ellie,” You warn, deepening your eyebrows.

She put her hands up. “Your secret is safe with me— or, I guess, her secret.” Her smokey, olive eyes glanced at her closest friend, snickering.

You suck your teeth, tapping your fingers against the plastic of your cup. “Why don’t we talk about something else? Boston! Are we excited about Boston?” The lip of your cup found your lips, and you began sipping the drink like your life depended on it. It was the only way to numb your anxieties.

Dina grinned, pointing her finger at Ellie. “Oh, my God— wait, didn’t you get into MIT?”

Immediately, she grew bashful, nodding her head. “Yeah… But I’m not going.”

You paused, turning your body to face hers. “What do you mean you’re not going?” Your eyebrows were deepened, eyeing her intently. “It’s fucking MIT…”

She inhaled, deeply, pursing her lips. “They didn’t have the major I wanted.”

“You never said anything about this.”

“You never asked…”

An awkward beat passed through the group. Mainly hovering between you and Ellie. Your free hand fell to your side, slapping against your bare thigh. Aisha’s voice barrels through the silence, looking around a few parked cars. “Henry!’ She called, waving her hand high above her head, breaking the silence. “I’m gonna go… Come on, Cat!” Aisha took Cat’s hand, dragging her from the group. Whoops, things just got awkward. However, you didn’t care; your eyes were stuck on Ellie’s with a worried irises.

“I’m sure Jesse is somewhere lookin’ for me… I’ll leave you guys.” Dina gave a tightlipped smile, slipping away, leaving the two of you by yourselves.

“You’re still going to college, right?” You ask, looking at her intently.

“Yeah, of course! Joel would have my head otherwise.” She responded, chuckling, glancing off into the woods.

You blink at her, scoffing under your breath. “Okay, so where? I know you applied to Brown, USC… Uhm—“

“Notre Dame.” Ellie answered, plainly, rocking on her feet.

Your jaw practically unhinged itself, flickering your eyes between hers. Notre Dame? That was your school. “What?”

She sighed, downing the rest of her drink, crumbling up the plastic and tossing it to the side. “They had the major I wanted. Biophysics. And… I saw the acceptance letter in your kitchen while you were in the shower a few weeks ago.” Ellie paused, running her hand through her short hair. “It’s your dream school— I knew you’d commit. Their soccer program is phenomenal— aren’t they, like, second in the country?”

With your lips gapped open, you were frozen in surprise. Ellie had decided to attend the same school as you? Even after her set plan of going to Boston? To say the least, you were surprised—as surprised as a person could get. The possibility of the two of you going to college together never seemed to cross your mind. Indiana didn’t seem like Ellie’s gig.

“I was hoping for a better reaction than this.” She tapped your jaw, lightly rubbing her thumb against the structure of your face.

You blinked, again. Taut breath escaping your throat. Instead of speaking, you wrapped your arms around her neck, tugging her against your body, causing your drink to spill down the back of her shirt—it was an accident. “Woah,” Ellie chortled, pulling you in from your waist.

“Fuck, I would’ve said something sooner about Notre Dame— I just…” You stammered, inhaling, sharply. “I don’t know… I was getting really existential about everything. Leaving the team behind— leaving you behind! I was fuckin’ losing it…” You pulled back, keeping your arms draped around her shoulders. Her fingers finding comfort at your hips. “But I swear, I was gonna tell you once we got back from Boston… I wish you would’ve said something earlier. Now, I look like an asshole.” You plucked her shoulder with your fingers, pouting.

“I was waiting until you wanted to tell me for yourself— it just took longer than expected s’all.”

Ellie was patient when she wanted to be. At first, you thought it was because she knew that you were separating soon, wanting to end on a good note an all. She used to gripe about being in an unlabeled relationship, but since the spring semester started, she was a sweet as pie. “I’m sorry…” You mutter, playing with the short hairs at the nape of her neck. The comment of your coach rang through you mind—maybe, you should warn her about messing up… But you didn’t want to ruin this moment.

“It’s fine.” She hummed, flickering her eyes over your features. It really wasn’t fine, in your mind, but whatever she said went. If you were her, you would’ve broken up with yourself a long time ago. “We’re goin’ to college together.” Ellie grinned, leaning toward your lips.

You laugh, adjusting your arms around her neck. “We’re going to college together.” You parrot, leaning into her, carelessly. Not caring for the off-handed looks of your peers—as their expectations were met by the physicality of your relationship.

Before your lips could meet, surrounded by trees, the sounds of an altercation pulled her from you. It sounded like—

“Is that Riley?” Ellie questioned, looking over your shoulder.

You turned around, narrowing your eyes on the figures getting at each other. They were pointing fingers and yelling, causing a group to develop around them. “What the hell…” You mutter, dropping your cup, and jogging over to the scene. Ellie was on your tail with a similar look of confusion.

People had gathered in a circle around them, urging them to have a cat fight. You shoved the guy instigating to the side, pushing into the middle of the crowd. Heat burrowed under your skin, glaring at the two girls—Riley and Abby—as you mentally decided on the course of action.

“You know what, meat-head? I suggest you keep your fuckin’ mouth shut!”

“Or what?!” Abby exclaimed, holding up her arms, tauntingly. “You gonna kick my shin in—? I’d like to see you try!”

“Am I gonna do that before or after you fuck Coach Mo—“

That’s when you interrupt, running between the two of them. Ellie following in your steps, placing a hand on Riley’s shoulder. “Riles, leave it.”

You snap you fingers, glaring at the both of them. “Fireflies! What the hell are you doing— let’s go!” You instruct them, pointing your fingers toward the semi-crowded wood. There was a path leading you down, but you need them to separate from the rest of your class. Abby hesitated, gritting her jaw, glaring at the girl with braids running down her back. “Go on…” You push her arm, lightly, guiding her to lead the group.

The core group of the team lingered in the crowd, pushing through as soon as you commanded. When you found privacy, they stood in a line before you. In the order of: Ellie, Riley, Aisha, Cat, Dina, Nora, Abby, Sid, Uma and Mei. You didn’t even realize Uma and Mei had been in attendance until they materialized from the shadows of the party.

You paced down the line like a military general, with your hands held behind your back. “Clearly, none of you heard me when I said that tomorrow we need to be starting off on a good foot— so, now, I have to treat you girls like children.” You scold, glaring at the most argumentative on the team.

Sid raised her hand, pursing her dainty lips. “You don’t have to…”

Your eyes peered at her, smirking. “Oh, my God! Sid, thank you so much for volunteering for my exercise—“

“Huh?”

“Come here.” You tell her, holding out a hand. She comes forward, stuffing her hands into the front pockets of her jeans. “Here’s what you’re gonna do… You’re gonna go down the line and say what love about your teammates— each and every one.”

Sid groaned, slouching her shoulders. “Ugh, that’s embarrassing! y/n, do I have to? My team knows I fuck with them…”

Dina raised her hand, snickering. “Actually, I didn’t know that… You’re always so quiet.”

You grip Sid’s shoulders from behind, peering over her shoulder. “Now, look at that… Why don’t you start with Ellie?”

She dragged her feet forward, positioning herself to stand before the girl. “Uhm, Ellie… I think you’re one of the best this team has. It may not always seem like it, but I appreciate the feedback you give me when it comes to defense.” Sid sighed moving into the player beside her. “Riley, despite how much it annoyed y/n… I do find it commendable that you were so quick to defend your friend for something that she wasn’t even around to hear.”

Riley glanced at Ellie, earning a soft nudge.

Sid continued, going down the line of the team, awkwardly complimenting until her turn was over. The line went from the end to the front, until everyone had gone; you being the last to compliment your team.

The core argumentative four managed to say nice things about each other, through their opposing opinions, causing everyone to neutralize their emotions. After, Riley Abel had found herself apologizing about nearly exposing the relationship between Abby and Owen—it was fucked up, she said.

Then, Abby apologized for tempting her to fight, which led to her apologizing to Ellie for her harsh judgement. Nora followed suit, hesitantly.

So, your plan worked! Either they were all completely humoring you, or the tactic that Coach Servopoulos mentioned last year actually worked.

It wasn’t long before you heard the horn of Maxine honking at you and Ellie. The complimenting session brought you guys to one, meaning it was time to leave. And neither you nor Ellie didn’t mind. The party wasn’t the most relaxing shindig, but improvements were made within the group. Hopefully, meaning that tomorrow morning everybody will be walking onto that plane with a fresh start.

Sarah had dropped you off at your house. Ellie letting you out the backseat, kissing you goodbye, longingly. Her hands clutched your sides like she didn’t want to release you—like you weren’t seeing each other in seven hours. When she finally did, you held onto her hand until your fingers slipped from hers, walking up the path to your home.

You were a bit of a last-minute packer, meaning you spent the next hour making sure you have everything you needed for Boston. Your uniform, pajama’s, cute clothes, three pairs of shoes—including your cleats. In the case of boredom, you shoved two options of books into your duffle bag. Since you were flying privately, because of a large, humble purchase made by Cat Yoon’s father, there was more give to the weight of your bag.

When you were finished, you put the bags by your front door, as quietly as possible to not wake your parents. Then, you showered and slipped into bed, falling asleep to the image of furthering your education with the love of your life. While it slightly worried you, excitement was the most noticeable emotion coursing through you. More so because it gave you time. Time to open up and be yourself to not only Ellie, but to the world moving and progressing around you. You didn’t want to hide beneath a blanket of neutrality anymore.

To love a woman wasn’t a crime to be charged with. Not anymore, at least—its 1996.

The morning came around fast. Your blaring alarm woke you up with a screech, which was followed by your mother knocking on your door for breakfast. Quickly, you did your hygiene routine. Then, you rushed down the stairs to consume something hearty to last the whole flight, or most of it. You never liked eating on planes. It always felt like the food never digested properly in the air, or perhaps, that was your slight neurosis of flying. Your parents spoke of how proud they were of you, going to nationals, getting into college—they were getting emotional before your eyes.

In a way, their emotions shifted onto you, causing your eyes to water. It felt as if you were already saying goodbye to them. Your father helped pack your bags into the car, before he kissed you farewell. He couldn’t drive you to the airport because work had called him in. “Please, don’t forget to call us when you get to the hotel.”

“Remember, your dad is prone to strokes…” Your mother added, walking around to get into the driver’s seat.

You laugh, pulling from the embrace he had wrapped you in. “I remember. I won’t forget!” You patted his arm, reaching for the handle of the passenger door. “As soon as I get to the hotel, I’ll call you, daddy.”

“All right, have safe flight, honey.”

The sound of the foreign engine of your mother’s car sounded as you slipped into the passenger seat with a departing smile. When your mother pulled out of the driveway, you waved to your father as he watched the car roll into street.

Jackson Hole Airport wasn’t far from your home—under ten miles. So, you didn’t spend a lot of time chatting with your mother before you drifted into the independence of traveling to Boston. You couldn’t get far from the drop-off point before she reminded you to call when you arrived at the hotel. After sharing quick I love you’s, you dragged your luggage, with your duffle bag draped atop of it, into the semi-busy airport.

On your way inside, you catch the frantic movements of Mei Hawkins. She was hitching two medium-sized luggage’s and a backpack. They kept falling over, tilting over sidewalk curbs and bubbles on the pavement. “Mei,” You waved, trotted over toward her. “You need some help?”

Her shoulders were hunched, a whine-like laugh coming from her throat. “If you can…” Mei smiled, showing her slight gapped tooth smile. “Flights always frazzle me.” You took one the luggage’s from her, pulling it along with your other hand. There was some weight to it, more than you thought. “A few years ago, my aunt was in a plane crash— it was minor. Barely lifted off the runway before it came back down. She was stuck in Kyoto for a week.”

You snickered, walking through automatic doors of the airport. “I don’t know if we could count that as a plane crash…”

“You can to! The wheels went up, so everybody felt the collision. It was like a bad landing, but worse.” Mei explained with lifted skinny eyebrows. “It’s freaked me out ever since. I haven’t visited Japan in three years because of it.” She shivered, adjusted the straps of her Jansport. “The only reason why I even agreed to this because, one— it’s nationals, and two— it’s within the country. Slowly, but surely, I’m conquering my fear…”

She was a bit of a nervous rambler, but she played completely opposite of that. Like you, she was a center midfielder—she stood right next to you on the field. When Mei focused, she was a totally different person compared to who she was off the field.

“That’s one way to look at it. Glad you could make it— we need you.” You told her, shuffling through people. The team was able to evade customs since the flight was private, thankfully. Especially, with the load that Mei was carrying.

She chortled, peering her hazel eyes around. “No need to butter me up. I’m already coming.”

“Yeah, clearly. And you brought your whole closet with you.” You laugh, looking over at her. “What’s in this luggage? A dead body?”

Mei looked at you with a pointed expression. “I pack for emergencies…” She leaned closer to you, as you approached the outer boarding area. “All types.” The girl spoke with such diction that made your mind go straight to the gutter.

“Mei, is there alcohol in here?”

Her lip fell between her teeth, mischievously. “I’ll tell if you sit next to me on the plane…” She shrugged, walking ahead of you.

“Sold!” Although, you were planning on sitting beside Ellie, the offer was too good to pass up. If she snuck in the goods, Boston was going to be so much more fun than you expected.

The aircraft came into view, obstructing the morning sun from your eyes. It was the perfect size for your team. A smile creeped onto your face, wheeling yours and Mei’s belongings toward the plane. Coach Servopoulos stood outside, chatting with Henry Harmon, and his brother Sam.

Your eyes widen at the sight of them, jogging toward the two. “Oh, shit! Henry, Sam— since when were you guys coming to Boston?” You ask through a friendly smile, doing a mixture of a waddle and jog to approach the brothers. Mei had simply waved at them, before walking up the metal stairs into the airplane.

Henry grinned, waving his hand, boyishly. He was a senior just like you, approaching graduation with ferocity. He was the president of the school newspaper and worked very hard to earn his position. His brother, Sam, was a sophomore following right in his footsteps, knowing how to man a camera like it was easy. Sam took the pictures, and Henry wrote the stories.

“We’re plannin’ on publishing a story on JHH’s Fireflies going to nationals. Coach T just approved the request yesterday.” Henry grinned, leaning onto his tough-box luggage.

Sam gave a shy, tightlipped smile. He pulled his camera around his body, aiming it you. “Smile!”

The flash of his camera shocked you into being ready, but it didn’t work. “Okay, Sam… At least try and get my good side.” You pose for the photo, turning to the side. He chuckles, snapping the picture, then giving you a thumbs up. “All right, I’ll see you guys inside.”

“What am I chopped liver?!” The head coach calls, slapping her hands against her covered thighs.

“Sorry! Morning, Coach Serv!” You grit your teeth, trotting up the steps. Slightly, struggling with Mei’s bag.

Most of the team had already arrived and they already sat in their seats. Abby jutted her eyebrows at you from her cushioned position, sitting beside Nora. They both had neck rests of different patterns and had faces that exposed their fatigue, and potentially, their hangovers. Dina sat beside Mel, and you knew that wasn’t by personal choice. She waved her fingers at you, keeping place in her book with her other hand. Cat and Aisha sat together, already talking up a storm. Ellie and Riley were the only ones running behind, and it made you frown.

“Mei,” You complain, attempting to put the luggage in the overhead.

“Sorry!” She hopped from the seat she was getting comfortable in, deciding to help you get the luggage into the compartment.

After securing it over your seats, you put your luggage in an empty one a little way from your seat, then the both of you sat. She took the window seat, while you took the aisle, in the front half of the plane. Perhaps, it made sense for you to be ahead of most of the team—you were the captain, after all. And, if you could choose a co-captain—which you asked Coach Servopoulos about a variety of times—it would be the girl sitting beside you, Mei. Not only would she deserve the position, but she’s the next best player beside Ellie. Because the two of you have been involved with each other for some time, choosing Ellie as your co-captain would be a recipe for disaster. Frankly, if she were, the decision would be made on the warm front of collective bias; she played entirely too rough to be considered the co to your captain. And the girls would have a riot.

You lean into Mei, squinting your eyes with inquiry. “What’s in the bag?”

Stubbornly, she shook her head. “I’m not telling you until we take off.”

“You say that like I’m gonna snitch on you, or something.” You bunch your eyebrows together. “I would never… As long as I have in on it.” A snicker fell from your lips, and she playfully shoved you.

“I don’t wanna tell you now because then you’ll just ditch me to sit with Ellie… Whenever she gets here.” Mei pursed her heart-shaped lips, looking through the oval window. She hid behind her words a bit, but you could feel the genuineness peeking through her skin.

An empathetic smile spread onto your lips, gleaming at her. It was always a soft feeling to be liked and appreciated. What a page-turner from the night before. “I already told you that I was gonna sit with you… I wouldn’t go back on my word. Swear.” You held out your pinky-finger, bending it to get her attention.

She narrowed her honey eyes, taking your pinky with hers, releasing a sigh. “Fine…” Mei released your pinky, peering over her seat for prying ears. She leaned toward your ear, and you waited with a slight grin of anticipation. “My sister’s boyfriend sells weed, so she got us fourteen grams to split— but only for the seniors, duh.”

You glance at her. “That can’t be it— your bag weighs a ton.”

“There’s two bottles of Mad Dog 20/20, and the rest of the weight should be my clothes…” She says, looking up at the ceiling in thought.

Your jaw dropped, blinking at her. She had two bottles of Mad Dog 20/20… You never took her for a girl who thrived under rebellion. “Mei, holy shit—” Did her parents know about this?

“What are ya’ll whispering about?” A familiar, raspy voice speaks. Immediately, she caught your attention, causing you to swivel you head around.

“Ellie, where the hell have you been?” Quickly, your attention was diverted—purposely, changing the subject from the items Mei had brought. Sometimes, she had the tendency to be late; and every time it drove you up a wall. “We were told to be here by a certain time for a reason. We’re on a schedule.” You nagged, ignoring the soft kisses she was plotting along your forehead.

She chuckled against your skin before speaking. “Last minute, we had to pick up Riley—”

“My bad!” The brown-skinned girl interjected, raising up a hand while she got situated in her seat toward the back of the plane.

“And some morning traffic picked up— this isn’t my fault. Plus, I bought you some tea!” Ellie offers up a warm cup, holding it in front of you. “It’s lavender.” She grinned.

Your eyes lit up to the drink in front of you, taking the warm cup with quick fingers. “Ugh, I love you…” The mumbled words tumbled from your lips before I could catch them. Every proclamation of love you gave to Ellie was all to yourself, or Dina because she knew about the most when it came to your relationship.

Her olive eyes widened, lips parting in genuine shock. For a moment the world went silent, and neither of you spoke. The process of saying I love you in an environment that wasn’t her bedroom, was an odd feeling. It modeled after the uncomforting bite of a crisp, winter morning—poking at your flushed, sensitive skin.

“Awkward…” Aisha poked her head above her seat, and you shoot her a glare.

Coach Tess Servopoulos walked into the plane, which automatically settled the team. Henry and Sam followed after her, finding their seats somewhere in the middle. Abby waved at Henry, reaching to dap his hand as a greeting.

And she wants to pretend that she’s not lesbian.

Just as she does so, the assistant coach walks steps into the plane, nodding his head curtly at those who spared him a glance. Mel jumped onto her knees in her seat, to wave at him.

Ellie scratched the back of her neck. “I’m assuming you’re sitting with Mei— hey, Mei.” She awkwardly waved.

“Hey, Ellie.” She kindly smiled, bending her index finger at the auburn-haired player.

As you held your warm cup, your skin wrinkled between your eyebrows with internal confusion. Did she not love you? Was this a bad time say that—did you say too much, too fast, too loud? Holy fuck. “Yeah, I am…” You respond, distantly, attempting to meet her eyes but you couldn’t fully.

“Cool, uhm, I’ll be back there,” She juts her thumb toward the pair of seats her best friend was settling in. “With Riley… Uh, maybe Mei and I can switch sometime after take-off…?”

“Maybe… I might be asleep, though…” You scratch your eyebrow, pressing your lips into an awkward smile.  

“Oh,” Ellie pursed her lips, chewing on the skin inside of her mouth.

“Yeah… You should probably go find your seat— take-off should be any minute now.” You found a way to blink at her. The auburn-haired player chortled, nodding her head. Her cheeks had reddened from your undignified confession, but with your sudden coldness, she felt the need to retaliate with frustration. A scoff left her plush lips as she stepped away from you, down the aisle. “Thanks for the tea!” You raised the cup, turning your head to face the leather in front of you.

Mei bored her eyes into the side of your face the moment Ellie left. “What the hell was that?”

“As if I would know…” You casted your eyes to the cup in your hands, feeling its warmth.

“I’ve known you guys for a long time…” Mei began, puffing air through her lips. “I thought you were the one with the concerns.”  

Mei Hawkins had known about your reservations with your sexuality and was one of the few people to understand why you felt that way. She wasn’t a lesbian or thought of women the way you did but she could empathize. Growing up in Jackson wasn’t always the easiest for her either. Her dark, often chained, fish-netted appearance was always a topic of discussion.

“Me too… I don’t know what the hell that was about.” You frowned, scrunching your eyebrows. Ellie has never acted like that before. The moment your louder with your adoration, wether it was on purpose or not, she quivered away. It was such a discomfort that it made your skin itch.

“Maybe, she was just surprised. I love you is kind of big…”

“I’ve already said it before. There’s no reason for her to be so surprised.” You curtly added, intently peering at your friend. Eyes glinting with a shell of worry. For a moment, you thought your eyes were welling up with tears, heating up behind blinking eyelids.

Before the plane took off, the head coach stood up to speak. She demanded that they were to behave the whole flight, be kind to the two attendants, and don’t cause a stir. The girls acknowledged her word all together, nodding their heads, and speaking the saying ‘heard’ in unison.

Within moments the plane finally took off with an unnerving shake of the vessel.

As it rumbled along the track, and gradually lifted off the ground, your stomach folded. Mei had reached for your hand, clenching it with a firm vice. You placed your other hand over hers, puffing air from your lips. Flights weren’t your favorite thing in the world, but your fear wasn’t as great as hers. Under the light weight of her hand, you could feel her trembling. What happened to her aunt must’ve really frightened her—phobia’s truly know how to bury its roots within a person.

Once you were in the air, you dropped her hand, not before massaging her palm, comfortingly. Soon enough, the attendants were walking down the aisle offering snacks and drinks. You were still good on drinks, considering your tea, but a bag a chips wouldn’t hurt. You weren’t hungry, but you offered to share with Mei. To get her mind off the fact that you were floating in the air in a heavy machine.

Within the next few hours, Mei was the first to fall asleep. She swallowed some allergy medication, probably something to help her sleep, and slumped against the window. You tried to sleep but the idea of Ellie being ashamed of loving you bothered your mind. Sure, it was a thought of insecurity, but she’s never done that before. Has she finally had enough of your tiresome ways? If so, you’d understand. That wouldn’t negate the fact that it would still hurt, though.

However, it wouldn’t make sense. She had just admitted to committing to Notre Dame… Because they had the major she wanted, but also, for you. You were confused, and overwhelmed. Perhaps, it was the flight that was making your brain run slow and obsessively.

There was slight turbulence that made you shut your eyes, holding onto the arm of your seat. But it wasn’t enough to completely freak you out—until the shaking got worse. A flight attendant was walking down the aisle, collecting trash into a bag with a kind smile. Another turbulent bump occurred, causing her to run face first into the wall leading to the pit.

After that, there wasn’t much reaction time to laugh or wonder if she was all right.

The private plane began to wave side to side in the air. Beside you, Mei was startled awake with wide eyes. “What the fuck is happening?”

You couldn’t respond because your eyes were stuck on the attendant. Blood had secreted from a wound the accident caused. Her forehead dribbling with thick, crimson blood. Then, the plane dipped in the air, dramatically.

There was a muffled sound of your seat partner calling your name, but your ears had tuned it out while chaos began to nest within the aircraft. Screaming, wailing, yells for order happened all at once.

Masks dropped from the ceiling, but as you began plummeting from the highest point in the sky, you froze. Hastily, Coach Servopoulos appeared, placing the masks over you and Mei’s face as you both panicked in different ways.

Unexpectedly, a hole materialized in the side of the front of the plane, peeling its mechanics away every passing moment. The pressure sucked the head coach out of it, right it front of you. Tears streamed down your cheeks as you released sobs of trepidation.

Mei was right. She had every reason to fear airplanes—but you hated that she was right. It seemed to be your final moments; you peer at her, reaching for her arm, deciding to cling to her. Somehow, your life flashed before your eyes. The moments you shared with Ellie, the moments you hid from the world in the hopes to be seen as normal. What a fucking waste of time.

With Mei in your arms, you shut your eyes, tightly. To brace for the impact of the earth. However, that was something you never got—well, while you were conscious.

In its plummet, sometime between the crash onto the ground and breaking down of its parts, yours and Mei’s seats had been sucked out of the same hole in the wall that Tess had. When it happened, your body shut down out of fear. And for that, you were subconsciously thankful.

However, when your eyes fluttered open after the fall… To your shock, you were hovering over the ground. Moist soil, covered in green leaves, was the only thing in your line of sight. Birds poked at the back of your head, pinching at your skin. Anxiously, you fanned them away.

There was a pressure pulled against your lower stomach, keeping you suspended in the air. You released a groan, reaching for the tightness restricting your lower abdomen. It was the belt of your seat, still locked into the gear that was connected to the cushion. Mindlessly, you tugged at it, dizzy from the fall and the oxygen being squeezed out of you.

When your thumb found the release button, you yelped as you dropped from your suspension, hitting the ground with a thud. Your arms barely braced your fall, causing you to fall face first into the dirt, getting a mouthful of soil.

Its dry, tanginess shocked your senses—waking you up from the trance that had enveloped you. You coughed it up, rubbing your tongue along the fabric of your shirt. “Oh, my God…” You muttered, leaning back onto your knees, taking in the endless environment that surrounded you. Slender stalks of trees went on for miles before you, and it set fear into your muscles.

Mei.

Just then, you gained the memory of the crash. The shutting down of the engine, a hole being blown into the side of the aircraft, the screaming and wailing—you crashed in the woods, but where? You were in a fucking plane crash!

“Mei!” You called for her, rasping, attempting to stand to your feet. You wobbled, scratching your sore throat. But, as you pivoted on your feet, you didn’t have to search far for your seat buddy. Your eyes widened at the sight, lips parting to erupt a horrified shriek.

Her body was strung up, caught in thick branches. Her warm, hazel eyes were wide open, frozen in a state of fear—looking at you. A branch was impaling her chest, propping her body up like a piece of meat on a skewer. It was the same branch that your seat was attached to; the one you fell from.

Your hands covered your mouth in horror, falling back onto your knees. “I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry…” You chanted, leaning into the ground, rocking your body to soothe yourself. Not that it was working. If you could climb the tree to take her down, you wouldn’t have enough strength to pry her from the branch. You couldn’t help her.

Then, the thought of everyone else flooded your mind. “Oh, my God— Ellie…” You whined, wiping your face that was getting covered in more dirt by the second. If something had happened to her… You wouldn’t know what to do. You’ve never been one for suicidal thoughts, but the idea would entice you.

For a moment, you couldn’t help but panic, imagining the worst. What if she was the one strung up like Mei—you wouldn’t be able to take it. The image of that flashed behind your eyelids, causing a cry to emit from your lips. Please, don’t be dead.

The smell of smoke and gas wafted into your nostrils, causing you to sit up. It must’ve been the plane.

Boom!

The sound of an explosion startled you, but it sounded close by. You refused to be alone—out in the middle of nowhere—so, you straightened up. You stood to your feet, dusting the dirt from your shorts. With a final glance to the fallen Mei, you pressed your fingers to your lips, sending a kiss her way. I’m sorry. Internally, you made a promise to never forget her because that was all you could do. She succumbed to one of her greatest fears—what a tragic way to meet one’s end.

However, you had a team to locate, despite the looming temptation of death looking you right in the eye—for the sake of self-preservation, and for the sake of proving to yourself that you weren’t alone in the torture that was the grief nesting inside of you.

taglist: @sawaagyapong, @violetszn, @vxsellie, @vahnilla, @cherryvinyl-777, @aphrodyk3, @lovinglynny.

[indecisivedolly]

Silent Words - Chapter 5

Word count: 1583

Warnings: minor character death (duh), angst, the fluff is building up y’all

Bucky made his way back to the living room and picked up the envelope. He spaced out thinking about how guilty he felt for snapping at her like that, he could’ve told her how he felt in a much more collected way. She looked so shocked and scared. I’m such an asshole. He suddenly looked at the envelope and an idea shot through his head. He picked up his phone and called a friend for more information on this Jackson Frazier.

After talking to his friend, he found out that Jackson Frazier was operating for HYDRA in Leipzig. He looked at the clock; 11:45 PM. It’s a two-hour drive, I could be back before Y/N even wakes up. With his mind made up, he got dressed in his tactical suit and collected some weapons, including a Smith & Wesson model 39 gun and five bullets that belonged to it. Within thirty minutes, he was in the car on his way to Leipzig. He kept seeing her shocked face in front of him, and every time he saw her scared eyes he grew angrier with himself.

Two hours flew by and he found himself at his destination. He has been here before, making it easier for him to find this Jackson guy he was looking for. Leipzig used to be a major HYDRA hotspot, now the city is nothing but an empty HYDRA shell. If you don’t know where to look, you could say that it’s just an ordinary city.

Fortunately, Bucky knows where to look.

It was almost 2:30 AM and all he could think about was Y/N. How he let her down, how she looks even more beautiful. He always thought the first thing would happen but he never imagined that the latter could be possible.

Before he realized it, he found himself in front of the HYDRA meeting place. He looked different than how they remember him, which would give him a little bit more time before the regulars would jump his ass. His eyes roamed around the place to find the man he was looking for.

Before he could walk up to him, he was stopped by a large man. The man eyed Bucky up and down, before stopping at his metal arm. The man frowned. Bucky looked up so that the man could see his face. When realizing that he was standing face to face with the Winter Soldier, the man widened his eyes.

“Der Soldat ist hier! Der Soldat ist hier!” (The soldier is here!) When hearing this, everyone shot up from their seats. Some of them pulled out their guns, some of them grabbed their beer bottles as weapons. Bucky sighed. Man, I really wanted to get this done quickly. The men started attacking Bucky and he took them out one by one as if it was like folding laundry, he hated folding laundry. He didn’t want to leave too many bodies so he just knocked them out.

After knocking out the “innocent” people, he saw Jackson run out of the bar through the back door and he calmly followed him. The man shot all of his bullets at Bucky, but he dodged the bullets easily. Bucky started to grow tired of this stupid game and took a sharp left while Jackson kept running straight forward.

After running for what felt like an eternity, Jackson stopped running to see that the Winter Soldier wasn’t following him anymore. He was gasping for air, thankful that he shook him off. His upper body was bent forwards and he put his hands on his knees, exhausted and still in shock from what happened. The next thing he knows, he’s being pulled into an alley. His shoulder roughly hit the ground. He opened his eyes to see him again.

“You weren’t so stupid to think that you threw me off, were you?” The Winter Soldier said amusingly.

“Wh-what do you want from m-me? Money? I-I can give you money.” A desperate attempt to save himself and he knew it. The soldier started laughing loudly.

“Money? I think it’s a bit too late to use money as a tool to save yourself. But I did hear you owed someone a lot of money.” He said the latter in a singsong voice.

“Who? I-I swear I’ll pay them double the amount I owe them.” The man stammered.

Bucky smiled and crouched to reach the man’s face. “Don’t worry, the man you owe money to is dead.” He saw the man relax a bit. “But unfortunately, now you will be too. Tell Nour Roux his daughter said hi.” Bucky stood back up on his feet.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Five times thirty-nine. 

He got into the car and looked at the time. 3 AM. Good, he thought. He drove home and quietly entered the house. When he got to his bedroom, he realized he was exhausted. He took off his clothes, leaving him only in his boxers, and fell onto his bed. A soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes, Bucky was stuck in a pitch-black maze, having only her blood-curdling screams to guide him to her.

“Please don’t do this.” She cried.

He started running faster to where her hoarse voice came from.

“Oh god, pl-please please please.” He heard her recite like a prayer. She started screaming once again.

I’m almost there papillon, please hang on.

There she was, lying in the middle of this godforsaken maze. He didn’t see her chest move. Slowly, he got closer, and what he saw made his legs give in. He fell on his knees, still not processing what he saw. There she lay, as angelic as always. With a bruise circling her neck and her necklaces pulled tight around it. The butterflies lay on her neck as if they were her familiars who failed to save her. He looked at the butterflies. 

He was always enchanted by those necklaces as if they took him back to a past life. 

He was too late. If he had come for her sooner, she would’ve been safe. She would’ve been his. But now, she’s no more than a free spirit.

Then, he shot up. He heard someone screaming, shortly afterward realizing that it was him. Then, he felt a pair of smaller arms tightly around him. One around his shoulders and one on his hair. He smells a familiar scent and hears a familiar voice. He feels her fingers scratching his scalp and her breath on the side of his face. He closed his eyes and tried to stabilize his breathing. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. You’re James Buchanan Barnes, born in 1917 in Brooklyn. You’re currently in the safehouse in Berlin with me, Y/N Roux.”

Y/N.

He exhales the air he didn’t know he was holding. If he wasn’t in his current state, he would’ve found it adorable that she still remembered how to calm him down. Just like she did in Bucharest. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that it wasn’t another one of his HYDRA dreams, that his dream was about losing her. Then, he let himself go into her embrace. 

She was safe. She was safe.

He woke up to an empty bed, still remembering her arms around his body as he fell asleep. Was it a dream? He thought. No, I could never be granted such peaceful dreams. He got up out of bed and took a quick shower. When he left the bathroom, he took in the scent of freshly ground coffee and cooked bacon. He entered the kitchen to find her standing with her back to him, placing the cooked eggs on each plate. He quietly sat down at the kitchen table and stared at her, the sheer domesticity of it all kicking into him just now. 

If only I came back for her as soon as I could instead of being a coward. 

Then her body went rigid, feeling his presence just now. “Do you really have to be this stealthy around me?” She said, her back still turned towards him. 

“No, this was just payback for that scare in my house.” He replied amusingly. Y/N picked up the cups of coffee and placed them on the table. Then she grabbed the plates and put them next to the cups, sitting next to Bucky. They started eating quietly. Y/N hesitantly started talking. 

“I found myself frequently wondering if you survived the snap or not.” She said softly. “Even if you did survive, I understood that you couldn’t have come for me.” 

Another pause. “You know, saving the world and all.” Unable to look at him. She was fumbling with her necklaces.

 “Going soft on me, doll?” He said in a teasing tone. Sensing mock and malice in his voice, her head shot towards him; “Don’t get too used-“. 

His eyes. Normally filled with nothing, now filled with soft tenderness.

The kind that you would find in your lover’s eyes after opening yours and finding them admiring you after making love all night.

She forgot what she was saying but quickly regained her posture, clearing her throat and finishing her breakfast with her gaze glued to her plate. 

He noticed, he always noticed.

He smiled, keeping his eyes on her a little bit longer before continuing eating breakfast, thankful for being able to spend some time with her now.

If it was up to him, moments like this could last forever. 

Taglist (if you wanna be included, send me a message!):

@saiyanprincessswanie @disasterbii @zaynzierulez @kingbuckyx

[niniadepapa]

Nini! Since we seem to have the same tastes in tv shows, i was wondering what are your favorite books???

uoHHHHHH BOIIIIII where do i even start?!?!?!?! take a seat my friend because this is gonna be a LONG ride…

the classics i’ve loved since forever:

the famous five series by enid blyton - i read them ALL and reread them dozens of times

the little prince by antoine de saint-exupéry. nothing else to say,

literary any play by federico garcía lorca, but ‘la casa de bernarda alba’ still makes me !!!!!! it’s so good jfc 

ella enchanted by gail carson levine like i’m sorry i know the movie has anne hathaway and hugh dancy but still i feel robbed of the wonderful perfect book i’ve reread 937562937456923 bazillion times. i deserve a proper ella enchanted movie/show, yall. 

 the last cato by matilde asensi. i legit made all my friends AND their moms read it when we were 17.

the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chobsky. it pretty much changed my life.

atonement by ian mcewan. wow. just wow. 

gone girl, by gillian flynn because we all need to read amy dunne’s cool girl speech 

it’s difficult to even type never let me go by kazuo ishiguro without shedding tears.

the perfume by patrick suskind traumatized me but also enchanted me?? idek man, it’s a very special book.

i read the entire the physician series by noah gordon when i was a teenager and i still love it sooooo much!!!!!!

peter pan by j.m. barrie bcs lbr everybody should learn that peter was a fucking asshole

the harry potter series by jk rowling. that abomination of a fanfic slash play that came out last summer obviously isn’t included here. 

the percy jackson and the heroes of the olympus series by rick riordan - my savage demigod son, i’ll always heart u

don’t judge me but the mortal instruments, the dark artifices, the infernal devices - all of the motherfucking shadowhunter books to ever be, i’ll read, no matter how much i hate cc. i hate her for the hold she has over me.

i did enjoy the hunger games back in the day lbr

stardust by neil gaiman ksjbdfakdfjalsdfjbaglsjdfblkas literary my most favorite i love it so much it hurts me

and now as of things i’ve read in the past years that i can rec w a hand over my heart staring into your eyes and claiming they’re Good Shit:

across the universe series by beth revis was pretty fun for sci-fi even tho there was a twist that i wasn’t very happy with

under the never sky by veronica rossi was actually very cool i really enjoyed it

i REALLY loved the shatter me series by tahereh mafi like oh my god a heroine that truly learns how to accept and love herself!!!!!! fuckbois get rekt!!!!! incredible character arcs!!!! i’m pumped for the next book tahereh announced lbr

the lynburn legacy series by sarah rees brennan was suuuuper fun because magic?? family drama??? actual woc main character?? bisexuals??? i was living while reading them tbh

vicious by v.e. schwab was really fun because it was nothing like i’d ever read before, i’m really looking forward to reading her other series 

i’ll only rec leigh bardugo’s six of crows duology because i refuse to acknowledge the fucking mess that was the grisha trilogy, jfc. six of crows, excluding some stuff, is super fun, has great characters, good ships, and teenagers that pull cool stunts to get $$$. incredible.

the fixer series by jennifer lynn barnes are !!!!!!!!!!!!! i wish she wrote more of them i would legit beg her and throw money in her face for more. teens swept off by washington/politics drama/conspiracies… my jam ladies and gents

the study series by maria snyder. are. so. good.

i’ve only read two of melina marchetta’s books and both of them broke me. i’m onto her.

big little lies by liane moriarty - if you haven’t watched the show, do it. if you haven’t read the book, do it.

i loooooved the first two books in the falconer series by elizabeth may and still have to read the third but i haven’t seen good reviews about it so i’m kind of… waiting a bit…

i’m not gonna talk much about sarah j maas here because even if there are things in her books that i really enjoy -specially some ships and the worldbuilding- the inherently whiteness, straightness and the unbelievably high number of times she writes the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ makes me want to punch her repeteadly in the face. 

simon vs the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli is so funny and heartwarming dkzfjbzdjfkblz

uprooted by naomi novik had lowkey w/w but also an incredible het ship that was dkjfbksdjfs also living evil woods and strange shit that was amazing

what we saw by aaron hartzler is very rough to read, especially considering it’s based on a real life case (Steubenville High School rape case) but holy shit do i think it’s important to read and know. 

in that same line i put one of my favorite books i read last year: the female of the species, by mindy mcginnis. that book broke me on so many levels, every time i think about it i burst into tears. it’s so raw and real and just… ugh. i swear it’s gonna stay with me until my last day, it’s /that/ kind of book.

i still haven’t forgiven my best friend for making me read the mistborn series by brandon sanderson. that’s al i’m gonna say about it.

cruel beauty by rosamund hodge is so unique and i just loooooove the characters so much because they do acknowledge their flaws and that they’re not perfect?? and just??? recognize that in each other??? which is a+++ in my book u do u. also super beautiful writing!

the anna and the french kiss series by stephenie perkins will always have a special place in my heart bcs they’re so fun and light-hearted and witty and i really love them 

AND NOW, TOP FIVE:

the daughter of smoke and bone series by laini taylor IS INCREDIBLE. WHY IS EVERYBODY SLEEPING ON THIS BOOKS. ANGELS AND MONSTERS. ANGELS ARE ACTUALLY BAD, MONSTERS ARE GOOD. ANGST. IT’S SO GOOD.

the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater, even if i still have hashtag problems w things in it (more girls. why aren’t there more girls. NOAH.) i just… i love my stupid kids so much. 

the wrath and the dawn by renee ahdieh is fucking INCREDIBLE it’s so good i get so mad bcs it’s legit unknown pls do urselves a favor and read this masterpiece it’s based on a 1001 nights and the main ship and characters are!!!! just!!!!! a++++!

the song of achilles by madeline miller is probably one of the books that i have most enjoyed and suffered with in my entire life. the true illyad i deserved. the most heartbreaking thing ever.

the winner’s trilogy by marie rutkoski is literary the best series i’ve read these past years and i’ll forever be in cee’s debt for making me read them. the most savage slytherins in love with the angstiest motherfucking relationship ever, a super clever look into colonialism and discrimination, the most beautifully haunting writing, IT’S JUST SO FUCKING GOOD I’LL NEVER READ ANYTHING AS GOOD AS TWT WHY AREN’T THERE 398465923846 FICS ABOUT IT JFC *sobs*

this got LONG lmao i’m sorry i get really excited talking about books in case u were wondering!!!!!!! i’m more than happy to talk about literary any of them, and welcome recs and will pretty much spew shit about anything i know ig u wanna holler @ me. i just really love books and i’ve been in an anxious-reading mode for the past three years so yEAH thanks for the ask anon it made me super happy!!!!!!

[typhoonprecious-blog]

Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S.

Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S.

On Monday, August 27th, California legislators are voting on a package of bills that, if passed, would be the strongest legislation against workplace sexual harassment in the history of the United States. #MeToo and the fall of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein finally brought the pervasive plague of sexual violence against working women out of the shadows and into national conversation. The TIME'S UP legal defense fund-a project organized by many of the actresses speaking for the #MeToo movement in Hollywood-demonstrated that while sexual violence in the entertainment industry first made headlines, abuse of power harms women (and all employees) in any and all industries. These four California bills-SB1300, SB224, AB1870, and SB1038-are some of the first legislation to come out of the sexual assault “reckoning” that began in 2017.

On social media, politicians (including California senators Hannah Beth Jackson and Connie Leyva), lawyers, and advocates refer to the group of bills as #TakeTheLead-referencing California's influence on progressive legislation throughout the country. Noreen Farrell, a lawyer, gender equality advocate, and Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates, tells me on a phone call, “California is home to 12% of the nation's women. So what happens here matters in other states.”

Mira Sorvino-the Academy Award-winning actress and UNODC Ambassador Against Human Trafficking-is one of the 80+ actresses to have come forward with sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, and she is also one of the loudest voices campaigning for #TakeTheLead. In a separate phone call, Sorvino tells me, “A lot of other states, historically, have just almost wholesale taken [California's] bills and drafted them for their own state's legislations and passed them.” If #TakeTheLead becomes law, not only will the nearly 40 million people living in California finally have access to desperately needed workplace protections-potentially the rest of the country's employees will, too.

New from @equalrightsadv: #TakeTheLead: To the Governor's Desk https://t.co/wmoLWUB4fQ

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 24, 2018

The bills are revolutionary, but to any working woman, their focused mandates might seem obvious: closing loopholes in existing sexual harassment laws, extending the statute of limitations, addressing the fear of retaliation, and widening the definition of a harasser at work.

“I think [these bills] address three or four main reasons why harassment and discrimination hasn't been eradicated and is getting worse,” says Farrell. “It's not knowing rights, it's running out of time before you know your rights and can file a complaint, and then the fear of retaliation. We especially see this for young women who are entering the workforce, who really make this assumption that sexual harassment is the price of a paycheck.”

It's simultaneously shocking yet not surprising that these types of laws were not already on the books; it took a movement like #MeToo for the government to take workplace sexual harassment seriously. “The next wave of #MeToo is this policy revolution,” Farrell says.

Sorvino agrees: “Awareness raising is not enough. The next step has to be action….If we don't change the institutions that govern the rules of our daily lives, that impact how we take care of ourselves financially and how we take care of our families, and that let us move ahead in our chosen professions, [sexual harassment] will continue to happen,” the actress and activist says. “#TakeTheLead was a way to take what we're all feeling and we're all thinking about and put it into action that will change lives and give agency to people who formerly were deprived of it.”

It's time for change! Let's end sexual harassment in CA. #CAleg please support #SB1300! @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @AsmBlancaRubio @rudysalasjr #TakeTheLead pic.twitter.com/1vrQFTAYVN

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 24, 2018

SB1300, the Sexual Harassment Prevention and Accountability Act, would prevent employees from unknowingly signing away their rights to report harassment. It would also change what is legally considered “bad enough” to be sexual harassment.

Currently, many California employees (and other U.S. employees) have no idea that their work contracts include non-disparagement agreements that prevent workers from speaking out about workplace violations. Moreover, some of these agreements actually mandate that, in exchange for raises, bonuses, and basic employment, an employee must give up their right to report sexual harassment or other workplace misconduct. After employees who unknowingly sign required paperwork that includes this clause attempt to report harassment, they find out that they can't go to court or have to keep quiet to keep their jobs. “Senate Bill 1300 address loopholes employers use to silence victims, including conditioning bonuses or raises on silence,” Farrell says.

SB1300 also challenges normalized acceptance of sexual harassment, or the belief that “one inappropriate touch” can't be proven harassment. (Gloria Steinem called it the “one free grope” legal standard.) Right now, courts deciding what counts as “severe or pervasive” harassment can follow a 2000 ruling in which a 911 operator-while on the phone with a 911 caller-was assaulted by a coworker who grabbed her breast. Unbelievably, the Ninth Circuit Court reviewing the case ruled that the grope was “offensive” but not “severe enough” to be classified as harassment. Under SB1300, this precedent would no longer influence California courts; a grope would rightly be considered harassment and the person harassed could seek justice.

Insane! How can boob grabbing at work not be #sexualharassment ??? Support immediate passage of #SB1300 #EndSexualHarassment #TakeTheLead #WeCanDoThis !! https://t.co/tNgbSRs73c

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 24, 2018

Farrell adds that, additionally, SB1300 “authorizes an employer to provide bystander intervention training to its employees.” The lawyer explains that more thorough training would lead to more women understanding that “what's happening to them is against the law.” Sorvino adds that if everybody in a workplace has an understanding of sexual harassment-not just the senior level of employees-then more people will know how to call out abuse because more people will know what it looks like: “You're creating communities of potential denouncers rather than communities of people who don't know what they are looking at and therefore stay silent.”

But it doesn't only place responsibility on the victims or bystanders; Sorvino continues, “I think it also prevents perpetrators from doing what they were planning on doing because now they know that people are on to it…I've been on some sets where things were definitely happening, and nobody stepped up to try to help the person who was at the receiving end,” Sorvino says. “No one reported them, but if every person on the film crew would have been educated on sexual harassment [and  how to intervene as a bystander], then maybe someone would have said, 'Hey, that's not okay. You have rights and I'm gonna help you.'”

What if U were sexually harassed but discovered you had no way to fight it? Employers sneak “release of claim” agreements into employment documents-workers unknowingly sign away their rights to sue! Pls support #SB1300 @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @Blanca_E_Rubio @rudysalasjr

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 27, 2018

SB224, called Personal Rights: Sexual Harassment, would expand the definition of a sexual harasser.

Historically, sexual harassment in the workplace is considered to only be committed by a person with direct power over you. #TakeTheLead recognizes that this dated law does not protect employees from all the ways that sexual harassment manifests. “A sexual harasser is not just your direct boss. It doesn't have to be the person that employs you,” Sorvino explains. “In my case, in the entertainment industry, that could mean a director or producer [could commit sexual harassment]. It could also mean a casting person. It could also mean an agent or an investor…In other industries, it could be many, many other job definitions-not just your direct boss.”

If #TakeTheLead becomes law, that graphic remark from your fellow restaurant server could constitute sexual harassment. So could the threatening text from that guy in the sales department who has a crush on you, and so on.

Let's make sure these bills get to the Governor's desk! #TakeTheLead #CAleg please support #SB1300 #AB1870 #SB224 @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @Blanca_E_Rubio @rudysalasjr pic.twitter.com/NQGvdPwx8o

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 27, 2018

AB1870 is the SHARE Act (Stop Harassment & Reporting Extension), which would extend the statute of limitations from one to three years.

“In California, you only have one year under current law to file a case challenging sexual harassment.,” Farrell says. “We want to make sure people are trained so they know their rights and then they have enough time to exercise them.”

Sorvino adds that extending the statute to three years would match a lot of other civil statutes. “Most people who are being sexually harassed might not even be aware that this ongoing situation they've been trying to handle at work is actually harassment that is not going away,” she explains. By the time an employee realizes the harassment, more than a year has passed and they are powerless. Sorvino argues that, while the statute of limitations could be even longer, AB1870 “will allow millions and millions more people the ability to try and achieve justice against the people or institutions that have allowed these terrible things to happen.”

For girls like these across the country who will be working soon, RT this video urging CA lawmakers to pass #SB1300 to end harassment based on sex and gender identity, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, & age @EqualRightsAdv @SenHannahBeth pic.twitter.com/K6GGPchyCt

- Noreen Farrell (@farrellERA) August 27, 2018

SB1038, the Protect Victims from Retaliation Act, would protect workers from the punitive action that victims like Sorvino are all too familiar with.

In The New Yorker article where Sorvino first shared her Weinstein story, the actress expressed a belief that refusing Weinstein's advances and reporting the harassment to a Miramax employee harmed her career: “There may have been other factors, but I definitely felt iced out and that my rejection of Harvey had something to do with it.” In 2017, directors Peter Jackson and Terry Zwigoff confirmed her fears.

Just seeing this after I awoke, I burst out crying. There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure. Thank you Peter Jackson for being honest. I'm just heartsick https://t.co/ljK9NqICbm

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) December 15, 2017

After restating her personal experience with blackballing, Sorvino tells me, “Can you imagine being someone who was working on a fairly livable salary, and then being fired because you reported that you were sexually harassed? Or your name blackened and it made impossible for you to get a job somewhere else-you can't even get recommendations? Or not being promoted because you won't accept the boss's sexual advances?” SB1038 will end immunity for the people who facilitate this kind of retaliation and will make retaliators (the boss who fires you, etc.)-not just harassers-personally liable. “It's going to go a long way toward ending the cycle of people being afraid to speak out because they are afraid of being punished.”

Equal Rights Advocates runs a national helpline for people who need help taking action against sexual harassment. “We hear from women in hundreds of different industries at all different employment levels,” Farrell says. “We know that anywhere from 50% to 60% of all women workers say they've experienced some form of sexual harassment, but 75% of those women don't ever report because they're afraid of retaliation.” If more people are on the hook for enabling sexual harassers and punishing employees who speak up, then it will be harder for retaliation tactics to occur.

A #sexualharasser=not just the person who hired you! #CAleg Pass #SB224 Clarify #sexualharassment by elected officials, lobbyists, investors, directors & producers is ILLEGAL @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin #TakeTheLead

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 27, 2018

If California government does the right thing by taking the lead in anti-sexual harassment legislation, it could help fight these injustices across the country. “There are structures in place that not only perpetuate sexual harassment, but profit from the devaluation of women workers. This is about structural change in the laws that govern our workplaces,” Farrell says. “It's a really important place to be in the movement.”

Go here to learn how you can support #TakeTheLead, whether or not you're a California resident.

The post Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S. appeared first on HelloGiggles.

[tothe-tooth-blog]

Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S.

Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S.

On Monday, August 27th, California legislators are voting on a package of bills that, if passed, would be the strongest legislation against workplace sexual harassment in the history of the United States. #MeToo and the fall of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein finally brought the pervasive plague of sexual violence against working women out of the shadows and into national conversation. The TIME'S UP legal defense fund-a project organized by many of the actresses speaking for the #MeToo movement in Hollywood-demonstrated that while sexual violence in the entertainment industry first made headlines, abuse of power harms women (and all employees) in any and all industries. These four California bills-SB1300, SB224, AB1870, and SB1038-are some of the first legislation to come out of the sexual assault “reckoning” that began in 2017.

On social media, politicians (including California senators Hannah Beth Jackson and Connie Leyva), lawyers, and advocates refer to the group of bills as #TakeTheLead-referencing California's influence on progressive legislation throughout the country. Noreen Farrell, a lawyer, gender equality advocate, and Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates, tells me on a phone call, “California is home to 12% of the nation's women. So what happens here matters in other states.”

Mira Sorvino-the Academy Award-winning actress and UNODC Ambassador Against Human Trafficking-is one of the 80+ actresses to have come forward with sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, and she is also one of the loudest voices campaigning for #TakeTheLead. In a separate phone call, Sorvino tells me, “A lot of other states, historically, have just almost wholesale taken [California's] bills and drafted them for their own state's legislations and passed them.” If #TakeTheLead becomes law, not only will the nearly 40 million people living in California finally have access to desperately needed workplace protections-potentially the rest of the country's employees will, too.

New from @equalrightsadv: #TakeTheLead: To the Governor's Desk https://t.co/wmoLWUB4fQ

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 24, 2018

The bills are revolutionary, but to any working woman, their focused mandates might seem obvious: closing loopholes in existing sexual harassment laws, extending the statute of limitations, addressing the fear of retaliation, and widening the definition of a harasser at work.

“I think [these bills] address three or four main reasons why harassment and discrimination hasn't been eradicated and is getting worse,” says Farrell. “It's not knowing rights, it's running out of time before you know your rights and can file a complaint, and then the fear of retaliation. We especially see this for young women who are entering the workforce, who really make this assumption that sexual harassment is the price of a paycheck.”

It's simultaneously shocking yet not surprising that these types of laws were not already on the books; it took a movement like #MeToo for the government to take workplace sexual harassment seriously. “The next wave of #MeToo is this policy revolution,” Farrell says.

Sorvino agrees: “Awareness raising is not enough. The next step has to be action….If we don't change the institutions that govern the rules of our daily lives, that impact how we take care of ourselves financially and how we take care of our families, and that let us move ahead in our chosen professions, [sexual harassment] will continue to happen,” the actress and activist says. “#TakeTheLead was a way to take what we're all feeling and we're all thinking about and put it into action that will change lives and give agency to people who formerly were deprived of it.”

It's time for change! Let's end sexual harassment in CA. #CAleg please support #SB1300! @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @AsmBlancaRubio @rudysalasjr #TakeTheLead pic.twitter.com/1vrQFTAYVN

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 24, 2018

SB1300, the Sexual Harassment Prevention and Accountability Act, would prevent employees from unknowingly signing away their rights to report harassment. It would also change what is legally considered “bad enough” to be sexual harassment.

Currently, many California employees (and other U.S. employees) have no idea that their work contracts include non-disparagement agreements that prevent workers from speaking out about workplace violations. Moreover, some of these agreements actually mandate that, in exchange for raises, bonuses, and basic employment, an employee must give up their right to report sexual harassment or other workplace misconduct. After employees who unknowingly sign required paperwork that includes this clause attempt to report harassment, they find out that they can't go to court or have to keep quiet to keep their jobs. “Senate Bill 1300 address loopholes employers use to silence victims, including conditioning bonuses or raises on silence,” Farrell says.

SB1300 also challenges normalized acceptance of sexual harassment, or the belief that “one inappropriate touch” can't be proven harassment. (Gloria Steinem called it the “one free grope” legal standard.) Right now, courts deciding what counts as “severe or pervasive” harassment can follow a 2000 ruling in which a 911 operator-while on the phone with a 911 caller-was assaulted by a coworker who grabbed her breast. Unbelievably, the Ninth Circuit Court reviewing the case ruled that the grope was “offensive” but not “severe enough” to be classified as harassment. Under SB1300, this precedent would no longer influence California courts; a grope would rightly be considered harassment and the person harassed could seek justice.

Insane! How can boob grabbing at work not be #sexualharassment ??? Support immediate passage of #SB1300 #EndSexualHarassment #TakeTheLead #WeCanDoThis !! https://t.co/tNgbSRs73c

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 24, 2018

Farrell adds that, additionally, SB1300 “authorizes an employer to provide bystander intervention training to its employees.” The lawyer explains that more thorough training would lead to more women understanding that “what's happening to them is against the law.” Sorvino adds that if everybody in a workplace has an understanding of sexual harassment-not just the senior level of employees-then more people will know how to call out abuse because more people will know what it looks like: “You're creating communities of potential denouncers rather than communities of people who don't know what they are looking at and therefore stay silent.”

But it doesn't only place responsibility on the victims or bystanders; Sorvino continues, “I think it also prevents perpetrators from doing what they were planning on doing because now they know that people are on to it…I've been on some sets where things were definitely happening, and nobody stepped up to try to help the person who was at the receiving end,” Sorvino says. “No one reported them, but if every person on the film crew would have been educated on sexual harassment [and  how to intervene as a bystander], then maybe someone would have said, 'Hey, that's not okay. You have rights and I'm gonna help you.'”

What if U were sexually harassed but discovered you had no way to fight it? Employers sneak “release of claim” agreements into employment documents-workers unknowingly sign away their rights to sue! Pls support #SB1300 @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @Blanca_E_Rubio @rudysalasjr

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 27, 2018

SB224, called Personal Rights: Sexual Harassment, would expand the definition of a sexual harasser.

Historically, sexual harassment in the workplace is considered to only be committed by a person with direct power over you. #TakeTheLead recognizes that this dated law does not protect employees from all the ways that sexual harassment manifests. “A sexual harasser is not just your direct boss. It doesn't have to be the person that employs you,” Sorvino explains. “In my case, in the entertainment industry, that could mean a director or producer [could commit sexual harassment]. It could also mean a casting person. It could also mean an agent or an investor…In other industries, it could be many, many other job definitions-not just your direct boss.”

If #TakeTheLead becomes law, that graphic remark from your fellow restaurant server could constitute sexual harassment. So could the threatening text from that guy in the sales department who has a crush on you, and so on.

Let's make sure these bills get to the Governor's desk! #TakeTheLead #CAleg please support #SB1300 #AB1870 #SB224 @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @Blanca_E_Rubio @rudysalasjr pic.twitter.com/NQGvdPwx8o

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 27, 2018

AB1870 is the SHARE Act (Stop Harassment & Reporting Extension), which would extend the statute of limitations from one to three years.

“In California, you only have one year under current law to file a case challenging sexual harassment.,” Farrell says. “We want to make sure people are trained so they know their rights and then they have enough time to exercise them.”

Sorvino adds that extending the statute to three years would match a lot of other civil statutes. “Most people who are being sexually harassed might not even be aware that this ongoing situation they've been trying to handle at work is actually harassment that is not going away,” she explains. By the time an employee realizes the harassment, more than a year has passed and they are powerless. Sorvino argues that, while the statute of limitations could be even longer, AB1870 “will allow millions and millions more people the ability to try and achieve justice against the people or institutions that have allowed these terrible things to happen.”

For girls like these across the country who will be working soon, RT this video urging CA lawmakers to pass #SB1300 to end harassment based on sex and gender identity, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, & age @EqualRightsAdv @SenHannahBeth pic.twitter.com/K6GGPchyCt

- Noreen Farrell (@farrellERA) August 27, 2018

SB1038, the Protect Victims from Retaliation Act, would protect workers from the punitive action that victims like Sorvino are all too familiar with.

In The New Yorker article where Sorvino first shared her Weinstein story, the actress expressed a belief that refusing Weinstein's advances and reporting the harassment to a Miramax employee harmed her career: “There may have been other factors, but I definitely felt iced out and that my rejection of Harvey had something to do with it.” In 2017, directors Peter Jackson and Terry Zwigoff confirmed her fears.

Just seeing this after I awoke, I burst out crying. There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure. Thank you Peter Jackson for being honest. I'm just heartsick https://t.co/ljK9NqICbm

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) December 15, 2017

After restating her personal experience with blackballing, Sorvino tells me, “Can you imagine being someone who was working on a fairly livable salary, and then being fired because you reported that you were sexually harassed? Or your name blackened and it made impossible for you to get a job somewhere else-you can't even get recommendations? Or not being promoted because you won't accept the boss's sexual advances?” SB1038 will end immunity for the people who facilitate this kind of retaliation and will make retaliators (the boss who fires you, etc.)-not just harassers-personally liable. “It's going to go a long way toward ending the cycle of people being afraid to speak out because they are afraid of being punished.”

Equal Rights Advocates runs a national helpline for people who need help taking action against sexual harassment. “We hear from women in hundreds of different industries at all different employment levels,” Farrell says. “We know that anywhere from 50% to 60% of all women workers say they've experienced some form of sexual harassment, but 75% of those women don't ever report because they're afraid of retaliation.” If more people are on the hook for enabling sexual harassers and punishing employees who speak up, then it will be harder for retaliation tactics to occur.

A #sexualharasser=not just the person who hired you! #CAleg Pass #SB224 Clarify #sexualharassment by elected officials, lobbyists, investors, directors & producers is ILLEGAL @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin #TakeTheLead

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 27, 2018

If California government does the right thing by taking the lead in anti-sexual harassment legislation, it could help fight these injustices across the country. “There are structures in place that not only perpetuate sexual harassment, but profit from the devaluation of women workers. This is about structural change in the laws that govern our workplaces,” Farrell says. “It's a really important place to be in the movement.”

Go here to learn how you can support #TakeTheLead, whether or not you're a California resident.

The post Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S. appeared first on HelloGiggles.

[ungracefulswan-blog]

Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S.

Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S.

On Monday, August 27th, California legislators are voting on a package of bills that, if passed, would be the strongest legislation against workplace sexual harassment in the history of the United States. #MeToo and the fall of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein finally brought the pervasive plague of sexual violence against working women out of the shadows and into national conversation. The TIME'S UP legal defense fund-a project organized by many of the actresses speaking for the #MeToo movement in Hollywood-demonstrated that while sexual violence in the entertainment industry first made headlines, abuse of power harms women (and all employees) in any and all industries. These four California bills-SB1300, SB224, AB1870, and SB1038-are some of the first legislation to come out of the sexual assault “reckoning” that began in 2017.

On social media, politicians (including California senators Hannah Beth Jackson and Connie Leyva), lawyers, and advocates refer to the group of bills as #TakeTheLead-referencing California's influence on progressive legislation throughout the country. Noreen Farrell, a lawyer, gender equality advocate, and Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates, tells me on a phone call, “California is home to 12% of the nation's women. So what happens here matters in other states.”

Mira Sorvino-the Academy Award-winning actress and UNODC Ambassador Against Human Trafficking-is one of the 80+ actresses to have come forward with sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, and she is also one of the loudest voices campaigning for #TakeTheLead. In a separate phone call, Sorvino tells me, “A lot of other states, historically, have just almost wholesale taken [California's] bills and drafted them for their own state's legislations and passed them.” If #TakeTheLead becomes law, not only will the nearly 40 million people living in California finally have access to desperately needed workplace protections-potentially the rest of the country's employees will, too.

New from @equalrightsadv: #TakeTheLead: To the Governor's Desk https://t.co/wmoLWUB4fQ

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 24, 2018

The bills are revolutionary, but to any working woman, their focused mandates might seem obvious: closing loopholes in existing sexual harassment laws, extending the statute of limitations, addressing the fear of retaliation, and widening the definition of a harasser at work.

“I think [these bills] address three or four main reasons why harassment and discrimination hasn't been eradicated and is getting worse,” says Farrell. “It's not knowing rights, it's running out of time before you know your rights and can file a complaint, and then the fear of retaliation. We especially see this for young women who are entering the workforce, who really make this assumption that sexual harassment is the price of a paycheck.”

It's simultaneously shocking yet not surprising that these types of laws were not already on the books; it took a movement like #MeToo for the government to take workplace sexual harassment seriously. “The next wave of #MeToo is this policy revolution,” Farrell says.

Sorvino agrees: “Awareness raising is not enough. The next step has to be action….If we don't change the institutions that govern the rules of our daily lives, that impact how we take care of ourselves financially and how we take care of our families, and that let us move ahead in our chosen professions, [sexual harassment] will continue to happen,” the actress and activist says. “#TakeTheLead was a way to take what we're all feeling and we're all thinking about and put it into action that will change lives and give agency to people who formerly were deprived of it.”

It's time for change! Let's end sexual harassment in CA. #CAleg please support #SB1300! @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @AsmBlancaRubio @rudysalasjr #TakeTheLead pic.twitter.com/1vrQFTAYVN

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 24, 2018

SB1300, the Sexual Harassment Prevention and Accountability Act, would prevent employees from unknowingly signing away their rights to report harassment. It would also change what is legally considered “bad enough” to be sexual harassment.

Currently, many California employees (and other U.S. employees) have no idea that their work contracts include non-disparagement agreements that prevent workers from speaking out about workplace violations. Moreover, some of these agreements actually mandate that, in exchange for raises, bonuses, and basic employment, an employee must give up their right to report sexual harassment or other workplace misconduct. After employees who unknowingly sign required paperwork that includes this clause attempt to report harassment, they find out that they can't go to court or have to keep quiet to keep their jobs. “Senate Bill 1300 address loopholes employers use to silence victims, including conditioning bonuses or raises on silence,” Farrell says.

SB1300 also challenges normalized acceptance of sexual harassment, or the belief that “one inappropriate touch” can't be proven harassment. (Gloria Steinem called it the “one free grope” legal standard.) Right now, courts deciding what counts as “severe or pervasive” harassment can follow a 2000 ruling in which a 911 operator-while on the phone with a 911 caller-was assaulted by a coworker who grabbed her breast. Unbelievably, the Ninth Circuit Court reviewing the case ruled that the grope was “offensive” but not “severe enough” to be classified as harassment. Under SB1300, this precedent would no longer influence California courts; a grope would rightly be considered harassment and the person harassed could seek justice.

Insane! How can boob grabbing at work not be #sexualharassment ??? Support immediate passage of #SB1300 #EndSexualHarassment #TakeTheLead #WeCanDoThis !! https://t.co/tNgbSRs73c

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 24, 2018

Farrell adds that, additionally, SB1300 “authorizes an employer to provide bystander intervention training to its employees.” The lawyer explains that more thorough training would lead to more women understanding that “what's happening to them is against the law.” Sorvino adds that if everybody in a workplace has an understanding of sexual harassment-not just the senior level of employees-then more people will know how to call out abuse because more people will know what it looks like: “You're creating communities of potential denouncers rather than communities of people who don't know what they are looking at and therefore stay silent.”

But it doesn't only place responsibility on the victims or bystanders; Sorvino continues, “I think it also prevents perpetrators from doing what they were planning on doing because now they know that people are on to it…I've been on some sets where things were definitely happening, and nobody stepped up to try to help the person who was at the receiving end,” Sorvino says. “No one reported them, but if every person on the film crew would have been educated on sexual harassment [and  how to intervene as a bystander], then maybe someone would have said, 'Hey, that's not okay. You have rights and I'm gonna help you.'”

What if U were sexually harassed but discovered you had no way to fight it? Employers sneak “release of claim” agreements into employment documents-workers unknowingly sign away their rights to sue! Pls support #SB1300 @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @Blanca_E_Rubio @rudysalasjr

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 27, 2018

SB224, called Personal Rights: Sexual Harassment, would expand the definition of a sexual harasser.

Historically, sexual harassment in the workplace is considered to only be committed by a person with direct power over you. #TakeTheLead recognizes that this dated law does not protect employees from all the ways that sexual harassment manifests. “A sexual harasser is not just your direct boss. It doesn't have to be the person that employs you,” Sorvino explains. “In my case, in the entertainment industry, that could mean a director or producer [could commit sexual harassment]. It could also mean a casting person. It could also mean an agent or an investor…In other industries, it could be many, many other job definitions-not just your direct boss.”

If #TakeTheLead becomes law, that graphic remark from your fellow restaurant server could constitute sexual harassment. So could the threatening text from that guy in the sales department who has a crush on you, and so on.

Let's make sure these bills get to the Governor's desk! #TakeTheLead #CAleg please support #SB1300 #AB1870 #SB224 @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @Blanca_E_Rubio @rudysalasjr pic.twitter.com/NQGvdPwx8o

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 27, 2018

AB1870 is the SHARE Act (Stop Harassment & Reporting Extension), which would extend the statute of limitations from one to three years.

“In California, you only have one year under current law to file a case challenging sexual harassment.,” Farrell says. “We want to make sure people are trained so they know their rights and then they have enough time to exercise them.”

Sorvino adds that extending the statute to three years would match a lot of other civil statutes. “Most people who are being sexually harassed might not even be aware that this ongoing situation they've been trying to handle at work is actually harassment that is not going away,” she explains. By the time an employee realizes the harassment, more than a year has passed and they are powerless. Sorvino argues that, while the statute of limitations could be even longer, AB1870 “will allow millions and millions more people the ability to try and achieve justice against the people or institutions that have allowed these terrible things to happen.”

For girls like these across the country who will be working soon, RT this video urging CA lawmakers to pass #SB1300 to end harassment based on sex and gender identity, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, & age @EqualRightsAdv @SenHannahBeth pic.twitter.com/K6GGPchyCt

- Noreen Farrell (@farrellERA) August 27, 2018

SB1038, the Protect Victims from Retaliation Act, would protect workers from the punitive action that victims like Sorvino are all too familiar with.

In The New Yorker article where Sorvino first shared her Weinstein story, the actress expressed a belief that refusing Weinstein's advances and reporting the harassment to a Miramax employee harmed her career: “There may have been other factors, but I definitely felt iced out and that my rejection of Harvey had something to do with it.” In 2017, directors Peter Jackson and Terry Zwigoff confirmed her fears.

Just seeing this after I awoke, I burst out crying. There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure. Thank you Peter Jackson for being honest. I'm just heartsick https://t.co/ljK9NqICbm

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) December 15, 2017

After restating her personal experience with blackballing, Sorvino tells me, “Can you imagine being someone who was working on a fairly livable salary, and then being fired because you reported that you were sexually harassed? Or your name blackened and it made impossible for you to get a job somewhere else-you can't even get recommendations? Or not being promoted because you won't accept the boss's sexual advances?” SB1038 will end immunity for the people who facilitate this kind of retaliation and will make retaliators (the boss who fires you, etc.)-not just harassers-personally liable. “It's going to go a long way toward ending the cycle of people being afraid to speak out because they are afraid of being punished.”

Equal Rights Advocates runs a national helpline for people who need help taking action against sexual harassment. “We hear from women in hundreds of different industries at all different employment levels,” Farrell says. “We know that anywhere from 50% to 60% of all women workers say they've experienced some form of sexual harassment, but 75% of those women don't ever report because they're afraid of retaliation.” If more people are on the hook for enabling sexual harassers and punishing employees who speak up, then it will be harder for retaliation tactics to occur.

A #sexualharasser=not just the person who hired you! #CAleg Pass #SB224 Clarify #sexualharassment by elected officials, lobbyists, investors, directors & producers is ILLEGAL @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin #TakeTheLead

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 27, 2018

If California government does the right thing by taking the lead in anti-sexual harassment legislation, it could help fight these injustices across the country. “There are structures in place that not only perpetuate sexual harassment, but profit from the devaluation of women workers. This is about structural change in the laws that govern our workplaces,” Farrell says. “It's a really important place to be in the movement.”

Go here to learn how you can support #TakeTheLead, whether or not you're a California resident.

The post Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S. appeared first on HelloGiggles.

[theinternetismylyfe-blog]

Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S.

Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S.

On Monday, August 27th, California legislators are voting on a package of bills that, if passed, would be the strongest legislation against workplace sexual harassment in the history of the United States. #MeToo and the fall of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein finally brought the pervasive plague of sexual violence against working women out of the shadows and into national conversation. The TIME'S UP legal defense fund-a project organized by many of the actresses speaking for the #MeToo movement in Hollywood-demonstrated that while sexual violence in the entertainment industry first made headlines, abuse of power harms women (and all employees) in any and all industries. These four California bills-SB1300, SB224, AB1870, and SB1038-are some of the first legislation to come out of the sexual assault “reckoning” that began in 2017.

On social media, politicians (including California senators Hannah Beth Jackson and Connie Leyva), lawyers, and advocates refer to the group of bills as #TakeTheLead-referencing California's influence on progressive legislation throughout the country. Noreen Farrell, a lawyer, gender equality advocate, and Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates, tells me on a phone call, “California is home to 12% of the nation's women. So what happens here matters in other states.”

Mira Sorvino-the Academy Award-winning actress and UNODC Ambassador Against Human Trafficking-is one of the 80+ actresses to have come forward with sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, and she is also one of the loudest voices campaigning for #TakeTheLead. In a separate phone call, Sorvino tells me, “A lot of other states, historically, have just almost wholesale taken [California's] bills and drafted them for their own state's legislations and passed them.” If #TakeTheLead becomes law, not only will the nearly 40 million people living in California finally have access to desperately needed workplace protections-potentially the rest of the country's employees will, too.

New from @equalrightsadv: #TakeTheLead: To the Governor's Desk https://t.co/wmoLWUB4fQ

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 24, 2018

The bills are revolutionary, but to any working woman, their focused mandates might seem obvious: closing loopholes in existing sexual harassment laws, extending the statute of limitations, addressing the fear of retaliation, and widening the definition of a harasser at work.

“I think [these bills] address three or four main reasons why harassment and discrimination hasn't been eradicated and is getting worse,” says Farrell. “It's not knowing rights, it's running out of time before you know your rights and can file a complaint, and then the fear of retaliation. We especially see this for young women who are entering the workforce, who really make this assumption that sexual harassment is the price of a paycheck.”

It's simultaneously shocking yet not surprising that these types of laws were not already on the books; it took a movement like #MeToo for the government to take workplace sexual harassment seriously. “The next wave of #MeToo is this policy revolution,” Farrell says.

Sorvino agrees: “Awareness raising is not enough. The next step has to be action….If we don't change the institutions that govern the rules of our daily lives, that impact how we take care of ourselves financially and how we take care of our families, and that let us move ahead in our chosen professions, [sexual harassment] will continue to happen,” the actress and activist says. “#TakeTheLead was a way to take what we're all feeling and we're all thinking about and put it into action that will change lives and give agency to people who formerly were deprived of it.”

It's time for change! Let's end sexual harassment in CA. #CAleg please support #SB1300! @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @AsmBlancaRubio @rudysalasjr #TakeTheLead pic.twitter.com/1vrQFTAYVN

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 24, 2018

SB1300, the Sexual Harassment Prevention and Accountability Act, would prevent employees from unknowingly signing away their rights to report harassment. It would also change what is legally considered “bad enough” to be sexual harassment.

Currently, many California employees (and other U.S. employees) have no idea that their work contracts include non-disparagement agreements that prevent workers from speaking out about workplace violations. Moreover, some of these agreements actually mandate that, in exchange for raises, bonuses, and basic employment, an employee must give up their right to report sexual harassment or other workplace misconduct. After employees who unknowingly sign required paperwork that includes this clause attempt to report harassment, they find out that they can't go to court or have to keep quiet to keep their jobs. “Senate Bill 1300 address loopholes employers use to silence victims, including conditioning bonuses or raises on silence,” Farrell says.

SB1300 also challenges normalized acceptance of sexual harassment, or the belief that “one inappropriate touch” can't be proven harassment. (Gloria Steinem called it the “one free grope” legal standard.) Right now, courts deciding what counts as “severe or pervasive” harassment can follow a 2000 ruling in which a 911 operator-while on the phone with a 911 caller-was assaulted by a coworker who grabbed her breast. Unbelievably, the Ninth Circuit Court reviewing the case ruled that the grope was “offensive” but not “severe enough” to be classified as harassment. Under SB1300, this precedent would no longer influence California courts; a grope would rightly be considered harassment and the person harassed could seek justice.

Insane! How can boob grabbing at work not be #sexualharassment ??? Support immediate passage of #SB1300 #EndSexualHarassment #TakeTheLead #WeCanDoThis !! https://t.co/tNgbSRs73c

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 24, 2018

Farrell adds that, additionally, SB1300 “authorizes an employer to provide bystander intervention training to its employees.” The lawyer explains that more thorough training would lead to more women understanding that “what's happening to them is against the law.” Sorvino adds that if everybody in a workplace has an understanding of sexual harassment-not just the senior level of employees-then more people will know how to call out abuse because more people will know what it looks like: “You're creating communities of potential denouncers rather than communities of people who don't know what they are looking at and therefore stay silent.”

But it doesn't only place responsibility on the victims or bystanders; Sorvino continues, “I think it also prevents perpetrators from doing what they were planning on doing because now they know that people are on to it…I've been on some sets where things were definitely happening, and nobody stepped up to try to help the person who was at the receiving end,” Sorvino says. “No one reported them, but if every person on the film crew would have been educated on sexual harassment [and  how to intervene as a bystander], then maybe someone would have said, 'Hey, that's not okay. You have rights and I'm gonna help you.'”

What if U were sexually harassed but discovered you had no way to fight it? Employers sneak “release of claim” agreements into employment documents-workers unknowingly sign away their rights to sue! Pls support #SB1300 @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @Blanca_E_Rubio @rudysalasjr

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 27, 2018

SB224, called Personal Rights: Sexual Harassment, would expand the definition of a sexual harasser.

Historically, sexual harassment in the workplace is considered to only be committed by a person with direct power over you. #TakeTheLead recognizes that this dated law does not protect employees from all the ways that sexual harassment manifests. “A sexual harasser is not just your direct boss. It doesn't have to be the person that employs you,” Sorvino explains. “In my case, in the entertainment industry, that could mean a director or producer [could commit sexual harassment]. It could also mean a casting person. It could also mean an agent or an investor…In other industries, it could be many, many other job definitions-not just your direct boss.”

If #TakeTheLead becomes law, that graphic remark from your fellow restaurant server could constitute sexual harassment. So could the threatening text from that guy in the sales department who has a crush on you, and so on.

Let's make sure these bills get to the Governor's desk! #TakeTheLead #CAleg please support #SB1300 #AB1870 #SB224 @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @Blanca_E_Rubio @rudysalasjr pic.twitter.com/NQGvdPwx8o

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 27, 2018

AB1870 is the SHARE Act (Stop Harassment & Reporting Extension), which would extend the statute of limitations from one to three years.

“In California, you only have one year under current law to file a case challenging sexual harassment.,” Farrell says. “We want to make sure people are trained so they know their rights and then they have enough time to exercise them.”

Sorvino adds that extending the statute to three years would match a lot of other civil statutes. “Most people who are being sexually harassed might not even be aware that this ongoing situation they've been trying to handle at work is actually harassment that is not going away,” she explains. By the time an employee realizes the harassment, more than a year has passed and they are powerless. Sorvino argues that, while the statute of limitations could be even longer, AB1870 “will allow millions and millions more people the ability to try and achieve justice against the people or institutions that have allowed these terrible things to happen.”

For girls like these across the country who will be working soon, RT this video urging CA lawmakers to pass #SB1300 to end harassment based on sex and gender identity, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, & age @EqualRightsAdv @SenHannahBeth pic.twitter.com/K6GGPchyCt

- Noreen Farrell (@farrellERA) August 27, 2018

SB1038, the Protect Victims from Retaliation Act, would protect workers from the punitive action that victims like Sorvino are all too familiar with.

In The New Yorker article where Sorvino first shared her Weinstein story, the actress expressed a belief that refusing Weinstein's advances and reporting the harassment to a Miramax employee harmed her career: “There may have been other factors, but I definitely felt iced out and that my rejection of Harvey had something to do with it.” In 2017, directors Peter Jackson and Terry Zwigoff confirmed her fears.

Just seeing this after I awoke, I burst out crying. There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure. Thank you Peter Jackson for being honest. I'm just heartsick https://t.co/ljK9NqICbm

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) December 15, 2017

After restating her personal experience with blackballing, Sorvino tells me, “Can you imagine being someone who was working on a fairly livable salary, and then being fired because you reported that you were sexually harassed? Or your name blackened and it made impossible for you to get a job somewhere else-you can't even get recommendations? Or not being promoted because you won't accept the boss's sexual advances?” SB1038 will end immunity for the people who facilitate this kind of retaliation and will make retaliators (the boss who fires you, etc.)-not just harassers-personally liable. “It's going to go a long way toward ending the cycle of people being afraid to speak out because they are afraid of being punished.”

Equal Rights Advocates runs a national helpline for people who need help taking action against sexual harassment. “We hear from women in hundreds of different industries at all different employment levels,” Farrell says. “We know that anywhere from 50% to 60% of all women workers say they've experienced some form of sexual harassment, but 75% of those women don't ever report because they're afraid of retaliation.” If more people are on the hook for enabling sexual harassers and punishing employees who speak up, then it will be harder for retaliation tactics to occur.

A #sexualharasser=not just the person who hired you! #CAleg Pass #SB224 Clarify #sexualharassment by elected officials, lobbyists, investors, directors & producers is ILLEGAL @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin #TakeTheLead

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 27, 2018

If California government does the right thing by taking the lead in anti-sexual harassment legislation, it could help fight these injustices across the country. “There are structures in place that not only perpetuate sexual harassment, but profit from the devaluation of women workers. This is about structural change in the laws that govern our workplaces,” Farrell says. “It's a really important place to be in the movement.”

Go here to learn how you can support #TakeTheLead, whether or not you're a California resident.

The post Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S. appeared first on HelloGiggles.

[gayyogurt-blog]

Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S.

Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S.

On Monday, August 27th, California legislators are voting on a package of bills that, if passed, would be the strongest legislation against workplace sexual harassment in the history of the United States. #MeToo and the fall of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein finally brought the pervasive plague of sexual violence against working women out of the shadows and into national conversation. The TIME'S UP legal defense fund-a project organized by many of the actresses speaking for the #MeToo movement in Hollywood-demonstrated that while sexual violence in the entertainment industry first made headlines, abuse of power harms women (and all employees) in any and all industries. These four California bills-SB1300, SB224, AB1870, and SB1038-are some of the first legislation to come out of the sexual assault “reckoning” that began in 2017.

On social media, politicians (including California senators Hannah Beth Jackson and Connie Leyva), lawyers, and advocates refer to the group of bills as #TakeTheLead-referencing California's influence on progressive legislation throughout the country. Noreen Farrell, a lawyer, gender equality advocate, and Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates, tells me on a phone call, “California is home to 12% of the nation's women. So what happens here matters in other states.”

Mira Sorvino-the Academy Award-winning actress and UNODC Ambassador Against Human Trafficking-is one of the 80+ actresses to have come forward with sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, and she is also one of the loudest voices campaigning for #TakeTheLead. In a separate phone call, Sorvino tells me, “A lot of other states, historically, have just almost wholesale taken [California's] bills and drafted them for their own state's legislations and passed them.” If #TakeTheLead becomes law, not only will the nearly 40 million people living in California finally have access to desperately needed workplace protections-potentially the rest of the country's employees will, too.

New from @equalrightsadv: #TakeTheLead: To the Governor's Desk https://t.co/wmoLWUB4fQ

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 24, 2018

The bills are revolutionary, but to any working woman, their focused mandates might seem obvious: closing loopholes in existing sexual harassment laws, extending the statute of limitations, addressing the fear of retaliation, and widening the definition of a harasser at work.

“I think [these bills] address three or four main reasons why harassment and discrimination hasn't been eradicated and is getting worse,” says Farrell. “It's not knowing rights, it's running out of time before you know your rights and can file a complaint, and then the fear of retaliation. We especially see this for young women who are entering the workforce, who really make this assumption that sexual harassment is the price of a paycheck.”

It's simultaneously shocking yet not surprising that these types of laws were not already on the books; it took a movement like #MeToo for the government to take workplace sexual harassment seriously. “The next wave of #MeToo is this policy revolution,” Farrell says.

Sorvino agrees: “Awareness raising is not enough. The next step has to be action….If we don't change the institutions that govern the rules of our daily lives, that impact how we take care of ourselves financially and how we take care of our families, and that let us move ahead in our chosen professions, [sexual harassment] will continue to happen,” the actress and activist says. “#TakeTheLead was a way to take what we're all feeling and we're all thinking about and put it into action that will change lives and give agency to people who formerly were deprived of it.”

It's time for change! Let's end sexual harassment in CA. #CAleg please support #SB1300! @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @AsmBlancaRubio @rudysalasjr #TakeTheLead pic.twitter.com/1vrQFTAYVN

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 24, 2018

SB1300, the Sexual Harassment Prevention and Accountability Act, would prevent employees from unknowingly signing away their rights to report harassment. It would also change what is legally considered “bad enough” to be sexual harassment.

Currently, many California employees (and other U.S. employees) have no idea that their work contracts include non-disparagement agreements that prevent workers from speaking out about workplace violations. Moreover, some of these agreements actually mandate that, in exchange for raises, bonuses, and basic employment, an employee must give up their right to report sexual harassment or other workplace misconduct. After employees who unknowingly sign required paperwork that includes this clause attempt to report harassment, they find out that they can't go to court or have to keep quiet to keep their jobs. “Senate Bill 1300 address loopholes employers use to silence victims, including conditioning bonuses or raises on silence,” Farrell says.

SB1300 also challenges normalized acceptance of sexual harassment, or the belief that “one inappropriate touch” can't be proven harassment. (Gloria Steinem called it the “one free grope” legal standard.) Right now, courts deciding what counts as “severe or pervasive” harassment can follow a 2000 ruling in which a 911 operator-while on the phone with a 911 caller-was assaulted by a coworker who grabbed her breast. Unbelievably, the Ninth Circuit Court reviewing the case ruled that the grope was “offensive” but not “severe enough” to be classified as harassment. Under SB1300, this precedent would no longer influence California courts; a grope would rightly be considered harassment and the person harassed could seek justice.

Insane! How can boob grabbing at work not be #sexualharassment ??? Support immediate passage of #SB1300 #EndSexualHarassment #TakeTheLead #WeCanDoThis !! https://t.co/tNgbSRs73c

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 24, 2018

Farrell adds that, additionally, SB1300 “authorizes an employer to provide bystander intervention training to its employees.” The lawyer explains that more thorough training would lead to more women understanding that “what's happening to them is against the law.” Sorvino adds that if everybody in a workplace has an understanding of sexual harassment-not just the senior level of employees-then more people will know how to call out abuse because more people will know what it looks like: “You're creating communities of potential denouncers rather than communities of people who don't know what they are looking at and therefore stay silent.”

But it doesn't only place responsibility on the victims or bystanders; Sorvino continues, “I think it also prevents perpetrators from doing what they were planning on doing because now they know that people are on to it…I've been on some sets where things were definitely happening, and nobody stepped up to try to help the person who was at the receiving end,” Sorvino says. “No one reported them, but if every person on the film crew would have been educated on sexual harassment [and  how to intervene as a bystander], then maybe someone would have said, 'Hey, that's not okay. You have rights and I'm gonna help you.'”

What if U were sexually harassed but discovered you had no way to fight it? Employers sneak “release of claim” agreements into employment documents-workers unknowingly sign away their rights to sue! Pls support #SB1300 @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @Blanca_E_Rubio @rudysalasjr

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 27, 2018

SB224, called Personal Rights: Sexual Harassment, would expand the definition of a sexual harasser.

Historically, sexual harassment in the workplace is considered to only be committed by a person with direct power over you. #TakeTheLead recognizes that this dated law does not protect employees from all the ways that sexual harassment manifests. “A sexual harasser is not just your direct boss. It doesn't have to be the person that employs you,” Sorvino explains. “In my case, in the entertainment industry, that could mean a director or producer [could commit sexual harassment]. It could also mean a casting person. It could also mean an agent or an investor…In other industries, it could be many, many other job definitions-not just your direct boss.”

If #TakeTheLead becomes law, that graphic remark from your fellow restaurant server could constitute sexual harassment. So could the threatening text from that guy in the sales department who has a crush on you, and so on.

Let's make sure these bills get to the Governor's desk! #TakeTheLead #CAleg please support #SB1300 #AB1870 #SB224 @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin @AsmPatODonnell @QuirkSilva65th @Blanca_E_Rubio @rudysalasjr pic.twitter.com/NQGvdPwx8o

- EqualRightsAdvocates (@EqualRightsAdv) August 27, 2018

AB1870 is the SHARE Act (Stop Harassment & Reporting Extension), which would extend the statute of limitations from one to three years.

“In California, you only have one year under current law to file a case challenging sexual harassment.,” Farrell says. “We want to make sure people are trained so they know their rights and then they have enough time to exercise them.”

Sorvino adds that extending the statute to three years would match a lot of other civil statutes. “Most people who are being sexually harassed might not even be aware that this ongoing situation they've been trying to handle at work is actually harassment that is not going away,” she explains. By the time an employee realizes the harassment, more than a year has passed and they are powerless. Sorvino argues that, while the statute of limitations could be even longer, AB1870 “will allow millions and millions more people the ability to try and achieve justice against the people or institutions that have allowed these terrible things to happen.”

For girls like these across the country who will be working soon, RT this video urging CA lawmakers to pass #SB1300 to end harassment based on sex and gender identity, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, & age @EqualRightsAdv @SenHannahBeth pic.twitter.com/K6GGPchyCt

- Noreen Farrell (@farrellERA) August 27, 2018

SB1038, the Protect Victims from Retaliation Act, would protect workers from the punitive action that victims like Sorvino are all too familiar with.

In The New Yorker article where Sorvino first shared her Weinstein story, the actress expressed a belief that refusing Weinstein's advances and reporting the harassment to a Miramax employee harmed her career: “There may have been other factors, but I definitely felt iced out and that my rejection of Harvey had something to do with it.” In 2017, directors Peter Jackson and Terry Zwigoff confirmed her fears.

Just seeing this after I awoke, I burst out crying. There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure. Thank you Peter Jackson for being honest. I'm just heartsick https://t.co/ljK9NqICbm

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) December 15, 2017

After restating her personal experience with blackballing, Sorvino tells me, “Can you imagine being someone who was working on a fairly livable salary, and then being fired because you reported that you were sexually harassed? Or your name blackened and it made impossible for you to get a job somewhere else-you can't even get recommendations? Or not being promoted because you won't accept the boss's sexual advances?” SB1038 will end immunity for the people who facilitate this kind of retaliation and will make retaliators (the boss who fires you, etc.)-not just harassers-personally liable. “It's going to go a long way toward ending the cycle of people being afraid to speak out because they are afraid of being punished.”

Equal Rights Advocates runs a national helpline for people who need help taking action against sexual harassment. “We hear from women in hundreds of different industries at all different employment levels,” Farrell says. “We know that anywhere from 50% to 60% of all women workers say they've experienced some form of sexual harassment, but 75% of those women don't ever report because they're afraid of retaliation.” If more people are on the hook for enabling sexual harassers and punishing employees who speak up, then it will be harder for retaliation tactics to occur.

A #sexualharasser=not just the person who hired you! #CAleg Pass #SB224 Clarify #sexualharassment by elected officials, lobbyists, investors, directors & producers is ILLEGAL @AsmCaballero @AsmCervantes @KenCooley @AsmJimCooper @AsmFrazier @GrayForAssembly @ASM_Irwin #TakeTheLead

- Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 27, 2018

If California government does the right thing by taking the lead in anti-sexual harassment legislation, it could help fight these injustices across the country. “There are structures in place that not only perpetuate sexual harassment, but profit from the devaluation of women workers. This is about structural change in the laws that govern our workplaces,” Farrell says. “It's a really important place to be in the movement.”

Go here to learn how you can support #TakeTheLead, whether or not you're a California resident.

The post Mira Sorvino talks to us about the California anti-sexual harassment bills that could protect working women across the U.S. appeared first on HelloGiggles.