canning-15

[canning-15]

Evidently, Kennedy's plight was not something that she could relate to. When it came to football, Deen was on, and there was no doubt about that, but even then, she could be distracted, she wasted time and messed about during training drills. There was no point in anything, Deen thought, if you couldn't enjoy it or have at least a small laugh along the way. Writing extensive essays and burying your head in peer-reviewed journals about scientific studies, for example, didn't offer much in the way of entertainment so Deen spent as little time as possible engaged in such activity.

She chuckled and tapped on her temple with the index finger of her left hand, "Not much goin' on up here, mate, I've loads of real estate to spare," she assured the other girl.

"Were you now?" she asked rhetorically. Sometimes, Deen just fancied the sound of her own voice, it seemed. Then she sat up, genuinely animated by the content of Keno's discussion with their team manager. "Fuckin' finally, we've entered the year of our lord twenty-twenty-three with no time to spare. You've asked the right person, I'm a social media genius, me," she offered with absolutely no semblance of humility whatsoever "Right, let's think for a moment here," she scooted her chair in a little, suggesting that she was indeed taking the task seriously. "It should be a team intro of some sort, yeah? Like, we want people to get to know us for us, learn our names n' all that then see how dead good we are on the pitch. What about like a erm, how would you put it - like we all put fun facts about players in a bowl, say and we pick 'em out and have to guess who the fun fact is about? We'll have some funny ones in there and some dead weird ones too for a laugh. I just don't trust this lot to learn choreography and not balls it up a hundred times before we get a good take, you know? Let's start with summat simple then,"

Kennedy rolled her eyes. "Okay, yes, I can blow out a candle. But you know what I mean." She had to be on it. An amused look that crossed her face when Deen implied her buckets of energy came from a hot chocolate she had that morning. Maybe she should try that instead of her usual peppermint tea that had absolutely no caffeine. God knows Kennedy could use the extra boost with all that she took on.

"Not yet. But apparently when I get to chapter 5, you should consider getting a helmet because that's when the mind reading tactics really amp up and you wouldn't want me finding out about what goes on in that head of yours," Kennedy played along, no stranger to Deen's antics. She put her pen down, knowing full well she wasn't going to get anything done with her teammate around.

Though very quickly after she decided to 'rest', business was back on her mind. "By the way," she turned to Deen, "Coach and I were talking and we both agreed it'd be a good idea to build more of an image for us Wolves. So naturally, we both thought: TikTok. Right? That's what everyone's doing these days. So we made a profile and everything, but we're still trying to decide what to put in it or who should manage it. Or if we should all get a turn every day." She pulled up the blank TikTok profile on her phone to show Deen. "You're always on this. What's a good first TikTok?"

[canning-15]

Deen had been dodging Peyton's belongings throughout the hallway on her way to Kennedy's room in the same building. She'd been observing Peyton's calamity in the process, amused and slightly concerned about the other girl's seeming lack of composure. She bent over to pick up the loose item of clothing before it succeeded in its apparent attempt at escape, "I'll assume you're moving in and that I haven't just caught you in the process of committing a robbery, yeah?" she queried playfully, though she wouldn't be surprised by anything at this point, perhaps Peyton was looting. "-and if you are indeed a thief, I won't dob on you if I get first dibs on anything I like the look of," she added, still mostly in jest though she would expect some share of the spoils in exchange for not ratting out the other student if she was in fact a criminal at work.

if someone were to ask, peyton would easily lie about how many coffees she'd already had today. she didn't want to admit it but deep down, she knew she overdid it. her defense? she needed it. so it was no surprise she was felt a little jittery and was starting to panic a little. there were a few things she'd forgotten to bring in from her car and in an attempt to get it all in one trip, she accidentally left a trail of her belongings scattered in the hallway leading to her room. she was trying to balance everything out when a pair of footsteps was heard behind her and she quickly turned, not missing the way something else just fell out of the box in her hand, and smiled at the face in front of her. "could you, uh, maybe..." she didn't know how to explain herself and knew she probably looked a mess. the word she was looking for was help, but it was hard to get it out. "just a few things over there or uh, maybe you could.. hold this for a second?" she gestured to the box in hand, unsure what to do.

[canning-15]

Deen narrowed her eyes slightly as she peered up at the menu, spotting the phrase 'cold brew' scrawled across its surface as Briar recommended it. "For all the money in the world, couldn't tell you what cold brew even is," she admitted. It wasn't the first time she'd come across it but it was the first time somebody can recommended it to her. In the cold, often drizzly region of the United Kingdom she called home, cold beverages were rarely on anybody's daily consumption list. "Is it sweet? Strong? Or just like a regular coffee but with a load of ice in it?" she was curious, evidently but not entirely sold on Briar's pitch just yet.

" the cold brew is pretty good , but everything is worth trying. " briar shares , having watched the other stare at the menu for a while now. were they a freshman ? or maybe just uncertain. she hoped her suggestion was taken in kind , only trying to help. " i get one every day , and maybe twice during finals. " her coach was trying to get her to lighten up on the coffee consumption , but briar certainly had an addiction. // @timberstarters

[canning-15]

hmu to plot with deen, she currently only has teammate and roommate connections but has room for:

classmates (studying anything human biology related)

exes/hookups

fellow international/exchange students

other student athletes

people she has pissed off/had beef with/wronged

anything else! let's chat! ⭐

[canning-15]

Deen was proficient in ignoring the way Kennedy impulsively spat her name out in a reactionary manner - she'd had plenty of practice in the art, in fact. She clicked her tongue and reluctantly dragged her feet off of the table in an exaggerated manner. Deen's mother had been ill for much of her daughter's childhood, so though she'd never admit it, Deen liked Kennedy's maternal manner, even when she was being scolded for misbehaving. It was something she had largely missed out on at home. "Blow it out then," she encouraged, "You're saying you can't blow out a candle? C'mon Keno, you and I both know you've the strength for that if nothing else," she countered without missing a beat.

"I do realise that," she confirmed facetiously, "holding her wrist up to display the knock-off G-Shock on her wrist, "Just getting a warm-up in early doors," she explained, "I've buckets of energy, me. I had a hot chocolate this morning," she spoke as if her words justified her actions, and quite obviously so.

She motioned toward the laptop with just her eyes, "'What have you been doing? Can you read my mind yet?" Deen was aware that psychology was not about mind reading as such but she enjoyed saying things like that to wind psychology students up whenever she had the opportunity. Kennedy was no exception.

Within two seconds of Deen's showing up, Kennedy found herself swiftly distracted. "Deen—" Torn over which issue to mom her about first — leaning back on the chair or the dirty sneakers on the table — Kennedy opted for the latter, lightly smacking her teammate's leg. "Get your shoes off the table." Life would certainly be a lot easier if Kennedy shared Deen's mentality. Unfortunately, she did not. "I'm literally here because I keep the candle lit," she explained, using a somewhat unusual way to explain her reliance on an academic scholarship. "I can't just unlight my candle willy-nilly." Kennedy defended herself, cautiously moving her notes away from Deen's muddy shoes.

"Take it you've had some fun this afternoon?" She tapped her pen against Deen's dirty shoes. "You do realize we have training later, right?" Then again, Deen was like a bottomless well of energy. It wouldn't surprise her if she performed as usual or somehow even better when they met up on the pitch later.

[canning-15]

The look on Sophie's face was unfortunately familiar, Deen had witnessed more than her fair share of horrified students walking in on peers in compromising positions. Admittedly, she'd been the culprit on one or two occasions, not that it was anything she'd been particularly apologetic or remorseful about. "Won't say no to a bevvy on a school night if you're picking up the tab" she chimed, grateful for being in the right place at the right time, it seemed. "Judging by the look on your face, your roomie isn't planning on packing it in any time soon," she paused and listened to the noise coming from inside the door, "Yep, sounds like you're in for a long night mate," she added, confirming her suspicion with a chuckle.

" sorry! " sophie shouted before slamming the door to her shared room shut, expression a mix of mortified and disgusted as she turned to a familiar face, " hey! you want to grab a drink? i have a mental image i DEFINITELY need to forget. first few rounds, on me. "

[canning-15]

It was probably no surprise to anybody who knew her that Deen spent close to none of her free time in the University's library. During the time she did spend there, she was too busy distracting other students from their productivity to achieve anything herself. "You want to know my solution for burnout?" she asked, plopping herself into the seat beside Kennedy and leaning back in her chair quite leisurely, planting her feet atop the desk as she did so, exposing muddy sneakers that made it quite clear she'd likely spent the afternoon kicking a footy around instead of doing homework. "Don't light the candle at all," she mused, as if she'd said something profound. "When's the last time anybody ever asked their GP what mark they got for introduction to human science? That's right - never! Nobody cares about this stuff once you've got your fancy little degree paper. Do the bare minimum", she advised sagely, "Save your energy for where it matters," and naturally, she meant on the pitch.

What's that saying... all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy? Has society ever considered changing that to: all work and no play makes Kennedy a very sleepy girl? It was her own fault, really. Taking on too much. Letting loose too little. They may have just come back from summer break, but as someone who spent most of the summer working, she might as well not have taken a break at all. "How early is too early to experience burnout?" Kennedy asked a nearby student, looking away from the laptop screen in front of her. "The first week of school is definitely too early, right?"

[canning-15]

Deen caught the words that came from Rafe's lips as he parked his frame in the doorway of an egregiously candy coloured bedroom. "Fuck me," she uttered, taking in the sight of the room, her eyes wide as they adjusted to the colour pallette. "It might not be yours but it's certainly not mine. It looks like a bloody unicorn's been sick all over the walls - I wouldn't be caught dead decorating my room like that, you can be sure of it," she assured the male. "Either your're lost or somebody's playing tricks on you, pal," she advised, "You sure you've got the right room number there?"

" i'm going to take a wild guess that this isn't my dorm then ? " rafe questions , leaning in the doorway of a very pink room. it was already all set up , the common area at least , and left him to wonder if one of the roommates just got out of hand , or if he'd misread. god he hoped it was the latter , rafe didn't care about pink , he just didn't want someone who cared about every detail of the room and had this much time to set up within hours. // @timberstarters