#Having a beef with a 14 year old is crazy

[shikariiin]

"You're just a little hater" "And?"

Based on rushingexpress's post AHSHWHA

Also just general beef with those two😭

[metanarrates]

do u guys remember how some teachers would get mad and attempt to enact mini dictatorships in their classroom if kids made fun of them. which only made the kids make fun of them more. now that im an adult I see that as even more of a fucking L dude you're like 30 and the kid laughing at you is 16 max? you're twice that kid's age you can cope

[mazeofyeni]

( 📂 ) ... CECE'S REALATIONSHIP WITH DREAM !

♡. MARK (cehyung) !

the little sister mark never thought he needed until he met cece , both coming into the tough trainee system , away from their parents , he always makes sure he's there when she needs someone to lean on.

she has a level of respect for mark , at only 17 he became the leader to a bunch of young boys and a 14 year old girl , and she knew she wasn't easy to lead.

he's such a great listener , will listen to her go on and on about different science facts , doesn't even care if he has no idea what she's talking about , he just loves to see her eyes light up.

it's safe to say , she really trusts mark , and he really loves her.

♡. RENJUN (rence) !

renjun is lowkey scared of her , not like she intimidates him , more like he's not quite convinced that she's not insane yet.

he does keep her level headed though , he the calmness she needs when she gets really hype.

she's definitely apart of the i love renjun fan club , she maybe the president of the club if you ask her.

sun and moon duo , two totally different personalities , but they get along perfectly, they mesh well.

♡. JENO (ceno) !

that video of the older couple walking and then randomly throwing their hands up , yeah that's them.

their relationship is never serious , like they can't have a conversation longer than ten minutes before one of them is cracking a joke that no one else thinks is funny but them.

her scary older brother privilege is him , even though he's the sweetest thing known to man kind in her eyes.

no one gets jeno sometimes (except jaemin) but she does.

♡. HAECHAN (haece) !

♡. JAEMIN (jaece) !

oh they're evil , but you can't help but love them together , especially when they're making everyone laugh.

claims she hates his sudden affection , but everyone can clearly see the smile on her face when he clings to her.

everyone loves to see their interactions , even non fans because they just have so much energy and are unstoppable.

probably the only one that can make her laugh when she's having the lowest of low days.

they're are the same person , jaemin is cece and cece is jaemin , it's crazy how similar they are.

you will never meet a more chaotic duo than jaece , the strangest noises , random movements.

will have you on your toes , if they both go silent and stilled face , be ready because in a few minutes they're both about to have the biggest outburst known to mankind.

♡. CHENLE (chence) !

if you told younger chence that they'd become know as the twin flames duo , they'd straight up laugh in your face.

the beef these two had when they were rookies definitely needs to be explained, it was bad for them , they joke now , but the group said it was not a day where they didn't argue.

as they grew up , and matured , so did their friendship and they started to spend more and more time together and interact more with each other on camera.

now they don't spend a single day without talking to each other at least three times a day , more if chenle gets needy and going out to dinner at least twice a week.

♡. JISUNG (cesung) !

the 'twins' of the group.

the two babies of the group , that grew up together , they joined sm at the same time at the same age.

two dance monsters , nobody is touching this duo when they're dancing together , they're unstoppable.

he's comfortable around her , he is able to express himself around her , and he can count on her to be there when she needs her.

©️MAZEOFYENI

[killersansofficial]

ABOUT ME!!

Hello! To start this off, I am a very chaotic, loud person who loves people, drawing, and mischief! I like to make fanart and draw stuff I know will make people happy and smile, and I aim to be a kind and caring person! If I notice you are seeming sad, I will message you privately to try and cheer you up (although I’m not a very comforting person…)

I am a female and go by She/Her.

I still sleep with (1) stuffed toy…I’ve had him for 9 years and his name is Happo 😭

My birthday is 7th of October

I say ‘Nuh uh’ and ‘that’s crazy’ a lot

I care a lot about people I like, so that will lead a lot to me asking and talking to you.

I’m 14 years old (damn I’m old) and I live in Australia! 🇦🇺

My favourite food is beef, and I really like mint chocolate ice cream!

My fandoms include: Undertale/UTMV, Helluva Boss, FNaF, TADC (The Amazing Digital Circus), South Park and Wings of Fire! (There might be more but I can’t think of anymore right now lol) I’m also interested in anything to do with ghosts (such as abandoned asylums and stuff like that), I love music and singing, I have a guitar I can play one song on, and I love colouring!

I have three dogs (about to get another one), I have Fergus the pugzu, Leo the Labrador, and Teddy the toy Moodle (the dog were getting this year we will name Lulu, she will be the same dog as Teddy from different parents and our hope is to breed them)

Extras: My favourite colours are blue, purple and yellow. I have a large family of 7 members with my mum and 5 with my dad. I am weird :P I have weird taste in food (I like pineapple pizza, I love spicy food, I love liquorice, etc.) I don’t have a regard for my own personal safety (for example I will eat way too much spice my body can handle or I will jump into a lake fully clothed in the middle of winter off a small rock side (I have done both before))!

DNI if: you are a proshipper, you’re rude, hurtful or disrespectful toward me or anyone else I know, you are homophobic/transphobic, sexist, or an overall asshole

Thank you and I hope if you follow me you don’t mind a bit of chaos!

[mando-abs]

Alright after almost having an irrational breakdown over whether or not I’ll see Spiderverse spoilers, I went to go see it

And since @psychedelic-ink wants to talk about it with someone, here are my notes :)

Spoilers below the cut, proceed with caution

My sibling said they knew of a cameo and I thought it was gonna just be J.K. Simmons as J Jonah Jameson (in two universes)

I was surprised that Gwen took up the intro. But I’m not mad about it, just unexpected. Which is exactly what she said “let’s do this differently”

THE RENAISSANCE VULTURE AHHHH so cool. Loved how the style clashed with the rest of the universe

Miles’ mom’s Spanglish is no joke. She would change mid sentence (mid- word???) my (limited) Spanish class knowledge can’t keep up 😭😭😭😭New respect for the Spanglish kids having to decode their parents all the time

Also was Miles’ roommate playing the Spiderman PS2 game? Like the controller was new but I swear it looked like the PS2 game. I understand the new Spiderman PS4 and PA5 game is popular rn so I’d get if it was that instead. I’m just not as familiar with that

I thought from the trailer that the spot was going to be a minor villain and they weren’t gonna show the main villain. But I like how they made him a genuine threat. He’s still a nerd tho

WHEN GWEN’S FATHER TRIED TO ARREST HER OMG. A cop’s a cop

Pavitr is so 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 I love him

His hair is that luscious bc of shampoo and genetics lol. I get that a lot with my complexion. Never had any publicly visible acne, and yes I love flaunting that fact at least once a year so. This is the one

I thought “wouldn’t it be messed up if they reversed this a killed the captain anyways?” And I’m so glad they didn’t. Please let Pavitr continue to be the golden child. He deserves it

AND HOBIE!!!! He hates the AM and the PM (prime minister) lol. The comedic relief we didn’t know we needed. Also he is super hot. Is he a teenager tho? Hold on. Still don’t know. I’m not about to swoon over a teen but he looks over 18 and I have a soft spot for punk guys 😌😌😌😌

Hobie and Mayday is the best pair and they only had a few seconds together. Sad

ALSO, only critique, I was severely lacking in Mayday content. I would like to see the baby. Give me more Mayday

Does this make Miles Mayday’s godfather? Cause I hope so.

DONALD GLOVER AHHHHHHHHHHH

Donald as the big cameo was the best. I audibly gasped. Our hero. Thank you for sparking Miles Morales

Of course I loved the other Sony Peters.

Also I didn’t realize that was PS4 Peter saying “are you talking to me?” during the video game characters in prison. I thought it was Miles

ALSO WAS THE SPECTACULAR SPIDERMAN TALKING TO (I believe) MILES BECAUSE IT LOOKED LIKE IT

Oh! How could I forget the Lego Peter Parker ❤️❤️❤️ I cackled that Miguel said Lego Peter did some of the best work. Like hell yeah he did. Legos don’t mess around 😂

ALSO DID YOU KNOW THE LEGO SEQUENCES WERE ANIMATED BY A 14 YEAR OLD???? Crazy

Moose-teriyo

I know Miguel is trying to to save a whole universe and doing it for the greater good but holy cow man. He’s a child. It’s his dad you’re talking about. He’s not gonna be rational, and don’t ever expect him to. I wouldn’t. Like I don’t care, I just want my dad to be alright.

Also what is his beef with Peter B. Parker? I feel like there’s more there

Miguel’s backstory hurt tho. No wonder he’s traumatized. I’d become the antagonist too (not villain - just the person that gets in the way of the protagonist)

Also who’s the daddy of Jessica’s baby? We only got glimpses of her backstory. Like did she remove herself from the baby daddy? Did he die? Is Miguel the dad? I doubt it but I’m just nosey. I need her specific trauma gimmie gimmie. Jessica having a soft spot for Gwen. Women protecting women. Gotta love it

Is this the first movie to incorporate footnotes? I feel like it is. It’s certainly the first one I’ve seen. Also “I haven’t got a Scooby Doo” is a phenomenal phrase. And I’m so disappointed that the Brits use it and not us. Like, come on. We’re Scooby Doo capital of the world. Every American loves Scooby Doo.

Okay, Miles being an anomaly was a great twist. But wouldn’t his world collapse then? Wouldn’t Earth 42 collapse? Wouldn’t Miles glitch more? If Mike’s was never meant to be Spiderman than why is the multiverse not already erasing itself?

I think Miles and his universe is the key to restoring other universes, especially the ones where the holes were contained.

PROWLER MILES AHHHHHHH

I kinda knew he’d get stuck in a dimension tho with the “don’t get lost” line from mom. But I didn’t expect a world without Spiderman! So cool.

[lovelyprincessn64]

Thanksgiving Day request event

Gobble gobble that's right this is the month of feast in the middle of the cozy autumn and this year is something special for the middle of November welcome to the Thanksgiving request event everything evolving around food and all kinds of crazy things that go bumping in the middle of fall.

Step right up and don't be shy but most importantly watch out for the Black Friday apocalypse and here is today's menu for a special month of the turkey.

1. Shopping for ingredients

2. Black Friday chaos

3. Cozy nights

4. Turkey day

5. Hunting for turkeys

6. Your ocs (Thanksgiving theme or your choice of picking)

7. Arts n crafts

8. Cooking for dinner

9. Cookbook

10. Thanksgiving Massacre

11. Leftovers

12. Thanksgiving specials

13. Clean up party

14. Animal Crossing

15. Horror themes

16. Decorations party

17. Room for dessert

18. Charlie Brown

19. A new day A New Hope

20. Day off from work

21. Food fight

22. Hungry night

23. Babysitting kids

24. A special toast

25. Raking up leaves

26. Wholesome love

27. Commercials (fan made or references as long if it's good)

28. Parodies of laughing

29. Mischievous Pranksters

30. Sweet as honey

31. To do list

32. Pumpkin harvesting

33. Getting ready for Christmas

34. Order up

35. A day with family

36. Freebirds

37. Break from school

38. Day of madness

39. Japan Thanksgiving theme

40. Delicious goodies

41. Crazy cinnamon day

42. Yuffie's birthday

43. Baking bread for days

44. Jammed up

45. Rosalina's birthday

46. Any type of Thanksgiving theme

47. Thanksgiving prompts

48. Bakery fun time

49. Brightful smile

50. Lovely picnic

51. Sandwich crazy

52. National Men's Day

53. Deep fried days

54. Redraws

55. Nostalgic November

56. Good old times along with old days

57. Delicious evening

58. DIYs

59. Pie of your choice

60. Chilling in cabins

61. Sleepy hibernation

62. Lazy days

63. Aesthetics of choice

64. Craving for tea

65. Dancing dinner table

66. Lame rainy days

67. Fairy tale story time

68. Doodle skits

69. Making scarecrows

70. Playing with board games

71. Biking in forest

72. Hiking through nature

73. Magical Library

74. Ready for vacation

75. Turkey chasing

76. Egg Fest

77. Feeling dozy

78. AUs

79. Parade or Festival

80. Overcooked burnt

81. Busy Chef's Kitchen

82. Love for autumn

83. Retro style of dinner

84. thickgiving

85. Going nuts

86. Writing a wish list

87. Don't beef with me

88. Disney themed of Wonder

89. Are we there yet

90. Sneaking in the kitchen

91. Nostalgic wave of feeling

92. Non-stop Marathon

93. Teamwork friendship

94. What can possibly go wrong

95. Chores of pain

96. Creative mind of Art

97. Starbucks yummy

98. Where's the turkey

99. Hungry appetite

100. Dinner is served

101. Early bird gets the worm

102. Some Creepypastas

103. Wishing for December

104. Wishing on a shooting star

105. Some errands to do

106. Hellish consumers

107. Butter up too exotic

108. Cranberry Harvest

109. Cheesy macaroni

110. Vegan options / alternatives

112. Satire / joke arts

113. Mustard or ketchup

114. Mashy potatoes

115. Too much stuffing

116. pumpkin pie crazy

117. Setting up the table

118. Stayed in bed

119. Too big of sweet

200. Eating up a feast

201. Crazy competition

202. Kawaii seasoning

203. Leafy collection

204. 1950s style

205. Thankful in grace

206. Lumberjack season

207. Jocks around

208. Spicy Danger

209. Exploring the abandon

210. Determination of heart

211. Bacon alive

212. Wildest imaginations

213. Horrific pilgrims

214. Hunting for shinies

215. Best of variety

216. Apple cider bar

217. Enjoying the sunrise

218. Creamy peaches

219. Dead plate

220. Juicy apples

221. Apple cider day

222. Marmalade sky

223. Food wars

224. Mai Valentine's birthday

225. Mai Valentine dressed in lingerie

226. Cake for my Minnie Mouse

227. Minnie Mouse’s Birthday

228. Gifts for my Mickey

229. Mickey Mouse day

Disclaimer: unlike normal requests you have to request on November theme / Thanksgiving theme also if you prefer something Halloweenish feel free to go to the Halloween request event.

Note: I'll be adding and updating the list if I come up with something creative be on the lookout for that also be sure to read the rules before sending me requests please be understandable and thank you and have a great Thanksgiving one more thing have fun~🍗🍖🍳🍽

If you like feel free to send me a suggestion to add on the list of the prompts list I am now opening to suggestions to what to add on the list that is considered match to the theme leave them down in the comments below if you got a very good idea or possibly for a future adding to a different one.

[thenewwei]

Today is the 10th Anniversary of the publication of my second book, Good Americans (The Human Tragedy, Volume 1). As such, the Kindle ebook version will be free on Amazon from today Thursday October 12, 2023 through Saturday October 14, 2023. Anybody who wants to check it out for free just needs a free Kindle application for any device. You also have the option of buying the paperback from almost any online bookseller.

From a strictly "literary" perspective, I suppose it is my best published book, but then it is the only ostensibly literary book I've released (until its sequel comes out), a short story collection of 6 stories, a 3-part novella, and a creative introduction.

The collection has a crazy history which I could write a book on itself. The oldest story, "Bridget's Brother," was composed in the winter of 2001 at the University of Oxford in the UK, where I was studying abroad at the ripe age of 20, writing under a special light so I wouldn't get depressed, trying to read (and unsuccessfully like) Henry Green's Loving, biking around George Street, attending the Oxford Union and spying on conversations in Blackwell's Bookshop so I could pick up British slang to use in my work (I also once sat next to Chelsea Clinton, but was too shy to say anything, not to mention that 9/11 had just occurred, making her SS detail all the more apprehensive, I figured. This is also referred to in the story). The story is derived from a real life experience with my fellow students, both American and British, and it shows with its subject matter, "awkward" prose and loose/dynamic construction. The last stories I wrote, "The Apprentice" and the three part jackhammer "Malta: A Love Story," were pumped out the summer before its publication, meant to beef up the collection, and the Introduction was literally written that Fall.

I had been shopping around the book as "Dhan's Debut and Other Stories," sending it to book agents and literary contests I would find in the back of publications like Poets & Writers, AWP Chronicle and Writer's Digest's. I would pay fees, wait for months, and get rejections, over and over again. All the individual stories were being sent out to literary journals and were rejected too. The few journals without word limits were sent "Old Guido." The Florida Review editor sent me back a hand written note telling me how much they admired it--but they still wouldn't publish it. Even "The Mountain," a now praised story within most journal limits, was dismissed.

This was code to me that I was wasting my time with the conventional literary world, just as I had with The Brotherhood. At the same time, I had the revelation that the stories, as a whole, could work as a panoramic portrait of different elements of American society, as collisions of worlds, albeit focused on its dregs. That prompted the creation of the final two stories, and the change in title. For years the story "Good Americans" had been called "A Good American" (and also rejected). I decided to rename it and the entire collection after it.

So while I might have been successful, potentially, at shopping around the new beefed up "Good Americans," at nearly 400 pages, to lit agents, I had zero stomach to do so after so many failures. Instead, I wrote up the satirical Intro as a kind of internal joke, arranged the collection, had readers check typos, and DIY formatted the collection for both ebook and print publications.

It was self-published in Fall 2013 through my own company The New Wei LLC, a year after my first and most popular book The Brotherhood, which would eventually have two sequels.

The few indie reviewers who deigned to read it praised it mightily. Kirkus Reviews called it "a solid collection of rare caliber" that "speaks volumes about the human condition and modern life in America." The Indian reviewer Vault of Books, now deceased, which had dismissed The Brotherhood as a B novel, were amazed at it, calling it a "a great collection of short stories" where "each and every story" "stands out" and "leaves an indelible impression on the mind."

The other indie reviewers also left no doubt this was an important work of American fiction. And yet, still, even after a major publicity tour, radio, TV, print interviews and article publications in HuffPost and Publishing Perspectives, no major reviewers (or publishers) picked it up, simply because of its self-published status.

Other than regular readers somewhat confounded by the contradiction of its low subject matter and high fallutin' self-lauded aims, most of the criticism came on one story, the last one and the original title tale, Dhan's Debut, mostly disappointed or puzzled with its ending. I wasn't surprised by this because I had struggled with the story myself upon composition, rewriting it several times from scratch. It also didn't fit as solidly with the grittiness of the other tales. I had two alternate endings too. I actually think the original ending, a more conventional one, worked better, but a good friend preferred the crazier ending, so I used that one. I realized I could always go back, but I've decided to preserve the published, controversial version for historical purposes.

In any case, now that you know some of the history, perhaps you will be even more intrigued to check out this dynamic work. As Readers' Favorite wrote at the beginning of its mostly praising review, "this book won't be for everyone," but if you're interesting in challenging your perspectives and leaving your inhibitions at its cover, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

And its anthology sequel, Bad Americans, is only a few months from being completed!

Tejas Desai October 2023

[acearohippo]

Here's a concept: Li Ling died at least twice.

First time, when he transformed, it killed him. He was a child, and it was the first contact with divine waves so there was no chance for his little body to adjust and he exploded. But, rather than staying a pile of pulp, his remains gathered and formed into a lotus. His parents and family mourned him and cared for this lotus in his memory. This lotus grew and grew and grew until, several weeks later out of the blue, it opened up and out popped a four-armed gremlin.

It was a miracle and also über terrifying. The transformations and Miracles were still so new and mysterious, so his parents- having grown up with media portraying events such as these- immediately went crazy trying to contain him to their villa, for his safety. They were worried he'd be taken in by the government and experimented on or gigantic miramon would spot him and try to kill him.

You know

Terrifying and totally valid concerns

But, Li Ling is Li Ling and does Not Like Being Constricted, so he would frequently break out of his own room/home and roam, doing as he pleased and definitely pulling all sorts of attention his way. But, because he stayed mostly local and his family comes from money, his parents were mostly able to keep his presence low, still practically hidden. Until his beef with the Tianmen Mountains occured and then his parents struggled to contain, at the very least, his identity from spreading. And they managed it, barely, though esper union fledglings started poking their nose in Tangton to search for this illusive and strong esper they heard rumours about.

Years go by, the Esper 7 are trying to centralise all research on the miracles and espers to one location where they can be safe from society a lá X-men style, and the shadow decree is slowly gaining more traction and infamy for espers who want don't fit in or who demand they fit in a lá, well, still X-Men. Then the next miracle happens and the second wave of esper transformations occur.

This throws the world into complete and utter chaos, now that everyone knows this is going to keep happening, unpredictably, and there are now a decent population of espers as opposed to a few individuals in every large city.

And, within all this chaos, a 13/14 year old Li Ling gets caught in the mess and dies, again. This time, however, there is no flower left behind, not even a seed pod buried in what remains of him, and believe me his parents searched and searched.

They researched Nezha and, to their horror, discovered that he was a child diety, and were even more disheartened to find out that he died around the same age as Li Ling just did. Was his second death destined? Would he not be allowed to age because it wouldn't match the legend of Nezha? Could he... Could he return, even if he was stuck at the age of 14? Could they bring him back like Nezha's mom did?

If they mourned before, they all but became zealots now, praying to every deity to bring their son back. They bought tonnes and tonnes of lotuses, burned his remains and scattered his ashes in the mud they grew from and erected an entire mausoleum/greenhouse (practically a temple) for him, hoping and pleading for another chance at his life.

And Li Ling does return, spectacularly in a lotus but not where his remains are. Rather, a few years later, he appears where he last died, from a lotus again, when Miramon activity peak in the area and the divine waves are at their highest frequency.

His parents watch in a mix of joy and horror as every news channel focuses on their child and the absolute destruction following his return.

They can't hide him now.

Sure enough, the day doesn't even end before Raven shows up at their doorsteps offering to mentor Li Ling and have him join the Union ranks, eventually. His parents have no choice but to let her have him, especially when Li Ling returns, takes one look at her, and tells her he can leave now if she can keep up with him.

Their reunion with their son is short, Li Ling still remembers how much his parents tried to keep him grounded, on practical house arrest and here was an opportunity to get away and see the world without their shackles. Of course he would take it and go, no looking back.

And now, at the still all too young age of 21, seeing their son on the front lines of so many battles and fights, Li Ling's parents are worried that he's tempting fate again and there won't be a third chance.

[starlightsearches]

Omg bestie I’m sorry you had to beef with a 14 year old! I hope it wasn’t anything too serious, but still, what a drag to deal with that! At least I love to hear you went to Spirit 🥺 actual heaven 🥺 I survived my class but now I have to wait for a couple of hours until I have to get home. The topic of your assignment sounds so cool, what a shame it’s with a sucky teacher! And sadly I too have to deal with shitty assignments this weekend. For me, I have to write two reports on Surrealism and the different eras of abstract art, which I like, but the idea of having to write about it while following out this long ass questionnaire it’s just……….ughhhh. So I feel your pain, bestie. Spiritually I’ll be with you in the library, just in the art history section 😌

It wasn't too bad, just put a bit of a damper on the end of my day. That, and the bullshit meeting I had to attend with our department chair.

Honestly, the project is making me hate picturebooks just because of the number and also because of the crazy qualifications. On top of it, the main part of the project is that we have to write reviews for our top ten and it's just so pointless. She knows this class is for teachers and she keeps saying "these are just like the reviews real reviewers write" but I'm not a fucking picturebook reviewer I teach 8th grade and I will literally never do this again in my life.

Anyways, I'm done complaining. I'll work on it tomorrow and hopefully I'll pass the class and never see this teacher again. I hope your assignment goes well and you get to do something fun right now!

Also, I'm watching Us right now!

[nicetrynicetry]

111

“Everybody has a crazy person in their family”, says a man on YouTube into a Shure microphone, “and if you think there isn’t one in yours, the crazy person is you”. I do not feel like painting on Wednesday, so I watch a short documentary about comedian and actor Andy Dick’s descent into drug addiction and sexual misconduct, then a man making slow cooked beef with fancy potatoes to his own voiceover narrating a story about a woman he used to date and who says he had to break up with because she was a hoe, but that she could cook amazing food. “You can’t turn a hoe into a housewife. But shout out Erica, I appreciate you bitch”

I feel accomplished in finally taking my bike to the shop for some diagnostics on my wobbling saddle after procrastinating for 3 weeks. The owner’s dog, a perfectly scraggly black mutt, allows me to pet him while my seat post is replaced. I check the dog’s genitals for confirmation that he’s male. By the time I am settling the modest bill, the dog is pawing at my knees pleadingly. I hang around for another hour to chit chat with the bike men who all know me by name and ask how much my paintings cost. We discuss Christmas, and how one guy gave up smoking weed, and how another is from Essex. I have changed a lot since childhood but one thing is the same, which is that I’m fantastic at kicking it with boys who think I’m gay. It is in perceived straightness that trouble seems to start. I think of what C said yesterday about how every girl he dates is overjoyed by his best friend - me - being female. “They are, capital W, WET. It’s like saying you’re in therapy or something”. I tell him this makes total sense, and that I would feel the same way. “But then”, C continues, “a few weeks in, it always always becomes a giant problem”. God, I say, I can see that happening to me too. Also everybody likes a man in therapy until they’re being discussed unfavourably by said man and said therapist. And as C’s female best friend, I truly want him to get laid and / or find love. I wonder if these women meeting me would help with the souring sentiment. I could play up my gayness, perhaps wear a baseball cap. Is it queer-baiting if I’m helping a dear friend get some pussy?

I text J asking for help with choosing my birthday meal, which he has promised to cook. We land on steak for the carnivores, and an expensive mushroom for the vegetarians. This will mark the largest group hosted at the new house to date, and I am still bent out of shape by the lack of pictures on the wall, and a few pieces of furniture I want to scrap. Of COURSE the house isn’t safe from my ruinous perfectionism, and even when what I think needs doing is done, I will want to do something else. I also cannot believe I’ll be 31 years old in less than three weeks’ time. I could have been legally driving for 14 years, and I can be the president of the United States in a mere 4 years. I am still 3 years younger than Mary Kay Letourneau, who had sex with her 13 year old student and got pregnant and went to prison. I watch the film May December in the evening, which is based on Mary Kay’s story. What disturbs me most are the scenes showing a 36 year old father with his 23 year old daughter, and his 18 year old son, and Julianne Moore’s bizarre lisp. I watch, as V told me she did after seeing this movie, the original interview between Mary Kay and Vili, the now-grown student she abused and later married. Letourneau still maintains she was “seduced”, and that Vili was “the boss”

Feeling safe in reintroducing my second cup of coffee of the day, I down one at 5pm and by midnight I am still riding high on caffeine. I have a date the next day that I can’t be bothered with. When I finally fall asleep at 2am I dream that I learn my mother has been sleeping with him the whole time, and I get so angry that I smash my phone into mosaic-sized pieces. Very Christmassy

[recentlyheardcom]

Ma$e has seemingly alluded to Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged association with Keefe D, the man recently charged as a suspect in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur. During the latest episode of It Is What It Is, Ma$e reacted to Keefe D’s arrest during a segment reporting the news of the reputed gang member’s looming charges.The Harlem native, who was signed to Bad Boy Records during the ’90s and likely aware of Keefe D’s long-rumored connection to Diddy and the label, feigned ignorance of the suspect’s identity. “Wait, where do I know that name from? That name sounds familiar,” the 48-year-old mockingly asked cohost Cam’ron and guest Bubba Dub.Continuing to coyly inquire about Keefe D and the cause of his name being vaguely familiar to him, Ma$e doesn’t reference any names directly, insisting he’s honestly clueless as to the root of his recollection. “No, for real. I don’t know what you talking about,” Ma$e responded when pressed by Bubba Dub, who gave a blatant hint at whom the artist was alluding to, saying “Baaaad Boyyyy” in a cadence similar to the mogul while imitating his signature dance.Rappers Mase (L) and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs pose for a photo at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards at the American Airlines Arena August 29, 2004 in Miami, Florida.The guest then shared with viewers that Keefe D had been accused of plotting Shakur’s murder, news which Ma$e acted surprised by. “Ohhh… that’s crazy,” the “Feel So Good” creator replied, before adding “I pray 2Pac gets justice whoever is involved.” The quip prompted chuckles from the room, as Ma$e clarified that he was not being facetious in regards to his well wishes. “I don’t even mean that in no joking way,” he added.Rumors and theories have swirled around Diddy’s speculatory role in the deaths of both Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. with numerous figures accusing the rapper of having dealings with underworld figures that may have resulted in the latter’s death. The executive was once alleged by Keefe D to have discussed paying the South Side Crips $1 million to murder Shakur and Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight.Sean “Diddy” Combs attends the 2018 Fox Network Upfront at Wollman Rink, Central Park on May 14, 2018 in New York City.However, Keefe D says that he, nor the gang, ever received the down-payment for the alleged hit. It’s also been alleged that The Notorious B.I.G.’s death was a result of Diddy’s failure to pay off a debt owned to the Crips, but none of those claims have yet to be confounded with hard evidence. It’s also been said that Diddy employed gang members to serve as security for himself and Bad Boy artists while on the West Coast during the discord between Death Row Records and Bad Boy amid Shakur’s beef with Biggie.When asked about those rumors in 2016, the 53-year-old shot the allegations down, refusing to even address them. “We don’t talk about things that are nonsense,” he said on the Breakfast Club at the time. “We don’t even entertain nonsense, so we not even gonna go there, with all due respect.”Watch Ma$e speak about Keefe D on It Is What It Is below.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7ajYS4_ppo[/embed]More from VIBE.comClick here to read the full article.

[atlastrust]

Faith ford

FAITH FORD FULL

FAITH FORD SERIES

Another good one is the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival in May with its Cajun and zydeco dance contests, a crawfish étouffée cook-off and, the best part, Louisiana crawfish served in more delicious ways than you can imagine. I like to collect antique Pecan Festival posters. Faith FordActress Born September 14, 1964, in Alexandria, LA daughter of Charles (an insurance agent) and Pat (a school teacher) Ford married Robert. There's a big parade, live music, games, fireworks and a queen's ball. People come from all over to attend the Louisiana Pecan Festival. One of my favorite ways to have a good time in Louisiana is our great festivals. If you're into fishing like me, there's no better place to do it than in La Salle and Catahoula parishes. Those are some of my favorite places to visit. Francisville, as well as the Kent Plantation House in Alexandria. If you're into history, I'd suggest checking out the seven plantation homes in St. You pass by plantations and colorful old homes. I like to go through Bunkie on the old highway. But you can also find great things in the smaller towns, too, like the Red Barn Mall in Pineville. We are here to help you find the new or used vehicle for you from our three different. You can walk down Magazine Street in New Orleans and run into a great, eclectic bunch of shops selling furniture, clothing, pottery, local artwork and just about anything you can imagine. Faiths Automotive Group values our customers about everything else. Find out hours and locations for each store on our Hours and Location Page. Our three stores are conveniently located in the southeast Vermont area along I-91. I go crazy for pie, and there's no better place to get it than at Lea's Lunchroom in Lecompte, the pie capital of Louisiana. Faith's Automotive Faith’s Automotive Group is here to offer Westminster area customers all of the best vehicles from Toyota to Ford Models. I can get on a roll and I don't know what happened I look down and I don't know how many pounds I've eaten.ĭid I mention we've got some great food in Louisiana? Try a roast beef po-boy at Ray's PeGe in Monroe. When it comes to crawfish, I'm possessed. It's not good for the manicure, but I can't help it. The best food ever is the homecooked stuff at the truck stops. In Louisiana, you could stop about every other place to eat, and you'd eat well. Ford continued to pop up in films and on television throughout the new millennium, before she delighted "Murphy Brown" fans in 2018 with the news that the show was returning for a new season, and Ford was reprising the role of Corky Sherwood.Like most people, one of my favorite things about Louisiana is food. Born September 14, 1964, in Alexandria, LA daughter of Charles (an insurance agent) and Pat (a school teacher) Ford married Robert. After that show ended, she joined yet another sitcom, starring alongside Kelly Ripa on "Hope & Faith" (ABC, 2003-06), which was a moderate hit during its three seasons. She quickly joined the cast of Norm McDonald's post "SNL" (NBC, 1975-) sitcom, "The Norm Show" (NBC, 1999-2001). Even after the whirlwind ten-year experience of "Murphy Brown," Ford refused to slow down.

FAITH FORD FULL

The show ran a full decade, staying on the air until 1998.

FAITH FORD SERIES

Ford's big break came when she was cast as Corky Sherwood in the seminal sitcom "Murphy Brown." Starring Candace Bergen as the titular investigative TV journalist, the show was a critical and commercial darling, and an awards juggernaut Ford herself was nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series no less than five times. When that series was cancelled after 6 episodes, Ford bounced back with a 5-episode arc on the acclaimed drama series "thirtysomething" (ABC, 1987-1991). Her next series regular role came on the short-lived sitcom "The Popcorn Kid" (CBS, 1987). The next year, Ford joined the cast of yet another legendary daytime soap opera, "Another World" (NBC, 1964-1999). Ford made her TV debut in 1983, when she joined the cast of the legendary daytime soap opera, "One Life to Live" (ABC/Hulu, 1968-2013). At age 17, she moved to Manhattan and began pursuing modeling and acting work. Born on Septemin Alexandria, LA, Ford first became interested in acting when she was a teenager. Faith Ford was an American actress who became a staple on TV throughout the nineties thanks to the hit sitcom "Murphy Brown" (CBS, 1988-1998, 2018), and later reprised her role on the show for a reboot in the late aughts.

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

97 of 2022

All About Me - F-ll -n the Bl-nks

Created by xflirtykaosx

I am 13 or younger. 14-17 years old. 18-22 years old 22-30 years old. Over 30 years old.

I live in The US. The UK. Canada. Australia. Other. // Europe

My name begins with A, B, C, D, E or F. G, H, I, J, K or L. M, N, O, P or Q. R, S, T, U or V W, X, Y or Z

I have Sisters // just one Brothers Step Brothers/Sisters Half Brothers/Sisters No Siblings

and I have Cat(s). Dog(s). Rodent(s). Reptiles(s). Other(s).

My parents are Married/Together Separated Divorced Never had a relationship/one night stand One/both of my parents have passed away, making the other a widow(er)

I am In a Relationship Just out of a Relationship Single Open Relationship Engaged/Married

and my sexuality is best described as Straight Bi-Curious Bisexual Gay // without getting into details no one understands anyway Unsure

I am 5ft or less tall 5-5'4 tall 5'5-5'8 tall 5'9-4ft tall // I don’t get this measurement, I’m 5′11 in America Taller than 6ft

My hair is Non Existant Short Medium Long Below my Waist

and Brown Black Red Blonde Other

I enjoy Art Chinese Food Reading Food Films

and Sports Writing Swimming Politics Psychology

I have my ears pierced my belly button pierced my nose pierced my lip or tongue pierced nowhere pierced

and no tattoos 1 tattoo 2-4 tattoos 5-9 tattoos 10 or more tattoos

My eyes are Blue Brown Green Hazel Other // grey, omg.

and I Wear glasses all the time Wear reading glasses Wear contacts sometimes Wear contacts always Wear no contacts or glasses

I was born in January, February or March. April, May or June. July, August or September October, November, December

On the 1-6th day 7th-13th day 14th-20th day 20th-26th day 27th-31st day

My favourite meat is Chicken Lamb Beef I don't like meat Other

I am a Girl Boy Woman Man Undecided/Going through a sex change/Transgendered

I am against Abortion The Death Penalty Global Warming Marijuana Legalisation Illegal Downloading

I am for Freedom of Speech Knowing if a sex offender is in your area Recycling Censorship The War in Iraq

I want Kids A good job A nice home to live in To get married

My friends would more likely call me funny loving creative sweet unique

Out of all these qualities, which suits you - A? Adventurous Alluring // no idea why, though Antagonising Approachable Artistic

B Beautiful // again, no idea why Boastful Boring Boy Crazy Brave

C Calm Caring Charismatic Chaotic Creative

D Demented Deep Disorganised Dominant Dreamy

E Eccentic Elegant Emotional Enchanting Egotistical

F Fancy Fearsome Fierce Firm Foolish

G Generous Gentle Gifted Girly Giver

H Hateful Healthy Helpful Homely Hormonal

I Ice-Hearted Innocent Intimidating

J Jealous Joker Jovial

K Kind Kissable

L Lenient Likeable Listener Literate Lovable

M Mad Menacing Memorable Mild Moody

N Natural Neat Nice Nurturing

O Obnoxious Open Outspoken

P Patient Peaceful Persistant Polite Pure

Q Quarrelsome Questionable Quiet

R Radiant Realistic Respectful Right Brained Romantic

S Sarcastic Secretive Sincere Sour Sweet

T Tasteful Tetchy Tiresome Tough Trusting

U Understanding Unkind Uptight

V Vibrant Vicious Vindictive Volatile

W Weird Wild Wishful Worldly

X, Y, Z Xenophobic Youthful Zealous Zany

This survey was... Great! Good Okay Terrible You are my Idol!

[dilfcherricola]

Me when I was 14 on tumblr and causing drama and writing petty call outs:

[ID: a cursed emoji with wide, watery eyes that is snarling and biting. Drawn and watermarked by @benniebennielee]

Me now, bone tired, learned to use the block button, watching other young teenagers do the same thing:

[ID: a cursed emoji with a wide, closed mouth with pursed lips and small eyes staring directly at the viewer]

[study-coffee-chicago]

Who Would've Thought? A Government Teacher and an English Teacher (A Halstead Brothers + Upstead + Halstead Daughter! Imagine; Part of AU-gust)

A/N: Thank you for reading! Remember to like/reblog and comment! I'm also donating all the proceeds that from my buy me a coffee account to Save The Children to help the children of Afghanistan. Link to buy me a coffee.

Anyway, enjoy!

"Hey, I know you aren't a morning person," your dad said as he walked up to you sitting at the bar in the kitchen with a piece of paper in his hand.

"You're right, I'm not," you said.

"All I need is for you to look over the seating chart I made for the juniors."

"Make sure you didn't put people who have beef next to each other?" you asked.

"Exactly. And I figured, since it's your class, you'd be the perfect person to do it."

"And because I'm your daughter."

"That, too."

He set the paper in front of you. "Since I'm doing this for you, care to make me my coffee?" you asked

"The pumpkin spice one?" You nodded. "Kid, it's the first week of September. It's like 75 out (23.9 celsius). Fall's not even close. And, technically, it's still summer."

"Listen, Dunkin' came out with their pumpkin spice stuff in mid-August. And, you know the minute it hits September, I get in the fall mood."

"But you still won't go to a Bears game with me and your Uncle Will," he said.

"Dad, I don't understand football."

He pulled the K-Cup out and put it in the Keurig. "I told you that me and Uncle Will could teach you. And, you seem to understand it when you're at school football games."

"I just cheer when everyone else does. It's not that hard."

"Fair enough."

He pointed to the counter of the bar, so you looked down at the seating chart. You waved him back over to you as you heard the sputtering of the Keurig, telling you that all your coffee was almost in your tumbler.

You pointed to two seats. "These two girls have had beef since middle school, so throw them across the room from each other." Your dad grabbed a pen from his breast pocket and drew a line to put one of the girls on the opposite side of the room. "These two are dating, so unless you want them talking all the time, I suggest you at least move the guy to a different group." He drew another line on the seating chart. "And this guy dated these two girls, so you need to make sure that they're as far away from each other as possible."

"Which one is he dating now?" your dad asked as he drew more lines.

"Neither. He was dating both of them at the same time. Get why none of them can be by each other now?"

"Gotcha."

He took the seating chart from you and handed you your tumbler of coffee. "I don't drink it black," you said as you raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, believe me, I know, but I'll leave you to do that because I don't want to mess up your coffee to creamer ratio and have you get mad at me for it."

"Fair enough."

You sighed as you poured your creamer into your coffee because you thought about all the homework that was going to be piled on to your plate this year.

"What's wrong?" your dad asked.

"I'm gonna be drowning at the end of today."

"Can't argue with you there. But tell me if you think your homework load for APUSH (AP US History) and AP Gov (AP Government) is getting too much for one class. I'll talk to the teachers. And, you have me to help you with your government homework." He said the last part with a huge smile on his face.

"Dad," you groaned. "You've been waiting for me to be a junior forever now just so you could be my teacher."

"Yup, and you chose AP over me. How rude."

"Sorry, but college is expensive. It was only like 50 bucks a class when you went to college back in the olden days."

"Young lady, I am not old."

"Fine, you're vintage. Better?" He just glared at you while you finished stirring your coffee and then started making your breakfast. "But, at least Hail- Miss Upton doesn't give us a ton of homework because she knows we're drowning in homework already and have the SATs to worry about, so that's nice."

You were super thankful for your Honors English 11 teacher, who also taught AP Stats. She gave you at least half an hour each class period to do your homework since she knew that most of you had sports or after-school clubs or a part job to get to and didn't have all night to do homework. She was the one who also said to send her an email if you couldn't get the assignment done and she'd give you an extension. She said that your physical health and mental health were way more important than you finishing your homework.

Your dad was like that, too. Granted, he didn't give the students in his class a ton of homework to begin with, and he made the class fun...at least, that's what you heard from the kids who were juniors last year. The only time your dad really gave homework was when he gave out study guides to fill out. He'd give them out a week before the test and then after two days, he'd check that everyone got them done and go over them in class so that everyone had the right answers to study from. Mr. Jay Halstead also didn't give tests on a Monday because that was just cruel...and he knew that when he was in high school, he absolutely hated homework, so he didn't give a lot of it. And, he hated coming to school on a Monday when he forgot to study over the weekend, so he didn't give tests on Mondays.

"You're not going running this morning?" you asked as you cut up a banana to go into your oatmeal.

"No, I think I'll run with you guys after school today at practice."

Your dad was also the high school cross country coach. You weren't a fast runner by any means, but your best friend, Emma, had made it to regionals and was a great runner. And, your dad said that you either play a sport in high school or you get a job, so you joined the cross country team. In all honesty, you liked running for the endorphin rush it gave you after the run and just talking to some of your teammates while running or listening to music or podcasts while running. But, you weren't competitive, so that's probably why you weren't as fast as Emma, and your dad knew this. But, he was just glad you were being active in some way after school and that you enjoyed exercising even if you weren't the best or the fastest runner. He just wanted you to live a long and healthy life, and he knew starting to exercise in high school would help you build those healthy habits.

But, usually what your dad did in the morning was go to school at like six in the morning, so he'd be up at five, and then he'd utilize the weight room or the indoor track to workout. Then, he'd take a quick shower and get ready there, and be teaching by 7:30. Yeah, he was crazy for running that early.

"You know," you started, "Miss Upton likes to run. Maybe you should see if she'll co-coach with you? Or maybe she'll run with you in the morning?"

Jay shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. "Y/N, how many times do I have to tell you that Hailey and I are just friends. Nothing more."

"Says the man who lesson planned with her last week," you said, wiggling your eyebrows.

"Y/N, she's a coworker. I would've done that with anyone. It was just coffee. You read too much into things."

"Dad," you sighed. "You haven't dated in years."

"Yeah, since Abby dropped you off on my doorstep." He used to refer to Abby as your mom, but she wasn't around, so when you were around 14 years old, you just started referring to her as Abby. After all, you had never even met the woman, and she didn't want you, not even leaving an address on the note attached to your pajamas, so she didn't deserve the title of Mom.

"So, 17 years. You haven't dated in 17 years, Dad. You gotta get back out there. Even Uncle Will said you need to."

"You talked to your uncle about this?" he asked. "Oh, and put some egg whites in that oatmeal for some extra protein."

"What? You gonna make us lift weights today at cross country practice?"

He shrugged. "You never know. Now, no more talking to Uncle Will about my love life."

"There's not even anything to talk about. But, he does think you and Miss Upton would look cute together."

You added some egg whites to your oatmeal and put it back in the microwave for an extra minute.

"This has been going on for way too long now, Y/N. We're not gonna date. We're just friends and coworkers. Just drop it."

You put your hands up in mock surrender.

Ever since freshman year when you had Miss Upton for creative writing (yes, she taught one section of AP stats, one section of creative writing, and she also taught Honors English 11 and regular English 11 for the rest of her sections), you knew that her and your dad would be a great match. So, you confided in Emma and she agreed. Ever since then, you hadn't really let the topic go.

"Fine," you groaned...even though you and your dad both knew that the topic would not be dropped in the slightest.

"Now, do you want me to drive you, or do you want to drive yourself?"

Usually, since he left before you, you'd just drive yourself to school since you were 17 and had been driving for a year now. But, during the first week of school, your dad didn't do his morning workouts, so he always gave you the option if you wanted to ride to school with him.

You pursed your lips. "Fine. I'll ride with you, just cause it'll save me gas."

Jay laughed. "You're not even the one who pays for your gas."

He was right. He was the one who paid for your gas because you had always studied hard...and you played a sport, so you didn't have time for a part-time job. Because of this, Jay decided he'd pay for your gas. But, you did have to work a part-time job in the summer.

"Fine. It prolongs the time before I have to go to the gas station. How's that?" you asked.

"Miss Upton would be proud of how you worded that."

"Maybe you should tell her that, Dad. It'd be a great conversation starter."

***

"So," Emma began as you were warming up for your run after the school day ended, "how'd the chat with your dad go?"

You sighed while jogging. "I don't think it's ever gonna happen. He's too damn stubborn to ask her out and he claims that they're just friends and coworkers. I hate it. They'd be so damn cute together."

"I know," Emma agreed. "You know, I overheard her in the hallway between classes saying that she was going to chaperone the homecoming dance. Maybe your dad could get in on that and that's how they could talk more?" she suggested.

"Emma, that's a great idea, but I really don't want my dad at homecoming. That is awkward as hell."

Emma laughed. "Sorry, didn't think about that."

"Hustle up!" your dad yelled. "Time to stretch!"

You started your normal stretching routine before your dad started to give his normal beginning of the school year speech. "Alright, I need all of you to listen up. I don't want anybody talking over me, you hear me?" You all nodded. "Okay, good. So, I know that some of you have heard horror stories about the old cross country coach who said that if you miss a practice, then you miss a meet...unless it was for being sick." Most of you nodded.

Before your dad started coaching and the other cross country coach retired, a lot of the students hated the previous coach's coaching style. His coaching style was run more to get better at running...which sounded good in theory. But, this didn't actually work. You see, what would end up happening was that he'd make the runs longer and longer. He'd even make the athletes do a long run on Saturday and then a short run (which to him was three miles) on Sunday. If an athlete didn't send him the screenshots from apps like map my run, then they wouldn't be able to race in the next meet. This obviously was a recipe for overtraining and injuries. You heard that one girl even hurt her IT band from running so much! So, it was no surprise that most people hated the coach and so many parents complained, so he stepped down, and then your dad came in to coach.

"That's not how I coach," your dad continued. "School and your grades are really important. So is sleep. I don't want you guys not getting sleep or not getting to spend time with friends or not have other social interactions because you have to practice for two hours and then go home and do homework and get to bed late. I don't want you guys to be sleep-deprived zombies." Most of you laughed at that. "With that being said, if you're overwhelmed and feel like there's not enough time in a day, just come talk to me and we'll figure it out. Whether that's only coming to practice for an hour or taking a few days off to study for an upcoming test or taking time off for a family emergency, we'll figure out what to do." Everyone nodded. "Alright everybody, let's go run the big loop. Keep track of your split times."

***

You were walking inside with Emma to go grab your stuff from your locker after you had finished practice. Perks of having your dad be a teacher? You and your friend could leave your stuff inside instead of bringing it outside with you.

"Just meet me in my room when you're done, Y/N," your dad told you. "Have a good night, Emma."

"You too, Mr. Halstead," she replied.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Jay when it's not school or practice hours?" Jay smiled and then walked down the hall to his classroom to retrieve the stuff he had brought with him for the day...with his shirt sticky from sweat since he had run with you guys today.

He walked out of his classroom with his backpack and gym bag, to come face to face with Miss Hailey Upton walking out of her classroom as well.

"Run with the team today, Jay?" she asked.

"Yeah, you know, first week of school, kind of hard to get my early morning runs in when there's so much to do on the classroom side," he answered.

"Understandable. I've been doing mine after I lesson plan and before dinner. Hopefully, I'll be back to nightly runs soon before it starts getting dark earlier and earlier."

"But, when it gets too dark, then you'll be running in the mornings soon...and then it'll be cold," Jay pointed out.

"There's this thing called a treadmill, Jay. I utilize that in the winter."

"That shows that you're an English teacher: you use big words."

Hailey rolled her eyes. "I see you reading books during your lunch period. I know you know big words, you just prefer not to use them."

"Yeah, because I want the kids to think I'm a cool teacher...not a snob."

"I am not a snob!" Hailey jokingly argued.

"I'm kidding, Hailey! I'm kidding! And, I know you lesson plan and grade on your lunch break, too instead of going to the teacher's lounge."

"Spying on me now, huh?"

"Our rooms are right across from each other and we have the same lunch period, what else am I supposed to do?" he laughed.

Hailey sighed dramatically. "Oh, I guess. Tell you what: come to my room during our lunch period and I can give you some good book recommendations."

"I get enough book recommendations from my daughter, thank you very much. But, I guess I can always use more."

"So, see you during tomorrow's lunch period?"

"See you then. Have a good night, Hailey."

"You, too. Tell Y/N I say hi and not to work too hard on all her homework."

Then, they walked down the hallway and Jay walked back towards where you were still chatting with Emma. All the while, he was thanking God that you weren't there during that conversation between him and Hailey because he wouldn't hear the end of it. But, he was also wondering what the hell he'd just gotten into.

***

"You will not believe what I just saw!" Emma whispered to you the next day in your AP gov class.

"What?" you whispered back.

She had forgotten her laptop in her locker and had to go get it. Which, the route to her locker from the classroom you were currently in went right past your dad and Hailey's classrooms.

"Your dad and Miss Upton are in her classroom eating lunch together."

Your eyes practically bulged out of your head. "No way!"

You received a glare from the teacher and were quiet. But, you'd be sure to ask your dad about this when you went home tonight.

***

"Uncle Will's coming over for dinner in an hour," your dad told you when you got inside your house after practice. You had decided to drive yourself to school today instead of riding with him. "How much homework do you have?"

"Uh..." you blanched and set down your backpack and unzipped it. Then, you grabbed your planner and flipped it open, laying it out on the kitchen table. "I have an AP stats worksheet that's due tomorrow, I have to read half a chapter in my AP bio textbook by Monday, I have to read a full chapter of my AP gov textbook by Tuesday, and I have an APUSH assignment due tomorrow. Oh, and I should probably read a chapter of the book I chose to read for my English class plus I have to annotate a few paragraphs of crappy 16th-century literature by tomorrow, too."

"Christ," your dad said. "So, what do you have to do tonight?"

"AP stats worksheet, APUSH assignment, and I have to annotate for English. I could always not read the chapter in the book I chose to read if I don't want to."

"Do you want me to just tell Uncle Will to come over this weekend?" he asked.

Jay know knew you absolutely loved his brother and that you were always excited to tell him about your day and how school was going. It had always been this way because, when Jay found you on his doorstep, he was 22, and had just started undergrad and was working on his teaching degree. Because of this, when Will wasn't studying in his last two years of med school and later working in a hospital as a new resident, he was your go-to babysitter. And you absolutely loved when he came over...despite not being able to remember much because you were so young. Apparently, you had been particularly fascinated by Will's red hair and would pull on it every chance you got. But, he'd let you play with it until it really started to hurt him because you were his favorite (and only) niece and he knew he'd do anything for you. This came in handy as you got older because you realized you had him wrapped around your finger and would always ask him for homework help. Or, if your dad wouldn't give you spending money, you'd go straight to your Uncle Will, and usually, he'd give you some.

"No," you answered. "A doctor needs to know stats, right?"

"I think so," your dad answered. "Why? Are you struggling already? Do you need to go into the regular stats class instead of the advanced one?"

You laughed at your dad's concern. "No, I'm fine. Just figured he'd be able to check it for me to make sure I did everything right."

"Oh, good. And, I'm pretty sure he can do that. Now, go take a shower so you can get started on your homework before he gets here and so I can start on dinner."

***

"Guess what?" you asked as all three of you twirled your spaghetti onto your forks at the dinner table an hour later.

"Chicken butt," Will said.

Jay rolled his eyes. "I swear, I wonder if Mom and Dad were lying when they said that you were older. Maybe I'm the older one and they just lied to us because you sure do act like the younger brother."

"Relax, Jay. Just because I'm more fun than you and Y/N likes me better, does not mean that I'm immature."

"Anyway," you said, wanting to tell Will what you had found out earlier today, "do you want to know what I have to say or not?"

"Go ahead," Will said.

"Okay, so today during AP gov, Emma had to back to her locker to grab her laptop. And she went right by Dad and Miss Upton's classrooms." You paused as you looked over at your dad and saw his eyes slightly widen and then go back to normal. "And they were eating lunch together in her classroom!"

"Awe," Will cooed. "My little brother's back on the market. Good for you, man." Then, he turned to you. "Upton's the short, blonde English teacher you've been trying to set him up with for years now, right?"

"He's not supposed to know about the set-up part!" you hissed.

"Oh, sorry. Jay, forget I said that."

"Y/N, I already you've been trying to set us up," your dad laughed. "It's been kind of obvious."

"Now that that's settled," Will started, "how'd it go? What did you two talk about? And are you having lunch together tomorrow?"

"You two are terrible, you know that?"

"Oh, we know," Will said. "But, you can't ground me, so I can be as terrible as I want."

Jay laughed. "She won't get grounded for that, Will. She might get grounded if she keeps procrastinating her stats homework, though."

"Need help, kiddo?" Will asked. "I have to read stats for things like new drugs and stuff, so I'm good at that. Don't know if I can help you with actually solving the problem because it's been ages since I've done that, but I can try."

"No, thanks, though. I just took a long shower so I have to get it done after dinner. I understand it all, though."

"Good, you can always come to me if you need help with it, though," Will offered. "Or, since it's Miss Upton--" He looked directly at Jay when he said Miss Upton and then turned his attention back to you. "--who's your stats teacher, you can always ask her. But, be sure to drag your dad along with you."

"Will!"

***

Two weeks later

"Might want to tell them to drink a ton of water after this, Jay, because it's so hot," Hailey Upton said as she walked up to Jay Halstead--and Coach Halstead for the next few hours--at an away cross country meet on a Wednesday afternoon in mid-September. "Or better yet, get them some Gatorade."

"Hailey?" Jay asked as he turned around, getting his stopwatch ready. "What are you doing here? And, I'd get them Gatorade if I could. I kinda forgot to pick it up last night."

"I'm here because some kids asked me to come to their meet. And, I always try to come to those things if kids ask me."

Jay cocked an eyebrow. "Would two of those kids be my daughter and her best friend?"

"Among others."

He looked down at the rolling cooler she had brought. "What's with the cooler?"

"Well, you may not have had time to pick up Gatorade, but I did. So, there's one in there for each kid plus the coach...and me of course."

"How'd you know Gatorade would help?" Jay asked. "Other than logic of course."

Hailey laughed. "I've run a few marathons in my life, Jay. I know all about proper hydration and how important it is to refuel after a hot run."

At this, Jay raised his eyebrows. He knew that she ran, but she didn't know that she ran marathons. "Oh, wow. Which ones?"

"You know, the Chicago marathon obviously. Always wanted to do like Boston or someplace, but you have to qualify for those, you can't just go and sign up like here in Chicago. Oh, and I've always wanted to do a Disney marathon. I think it'd be cool, you know? Run through Disney World, maybe hop on some rides during the race."

Jay smiled. "That actually does sound really fun."

The announcer said that it was ten minutes until it was time to race.

"I gotta get to the first mile marker," Jay said.

"Okay, where's our tent? I'll go put this cooler under it."

Jay told Hailey where the tent was and was about to leave when she stopped him.

"Where do I get the maps? I can go to the second mile marker to help out with times in case you can't get there fast enough," she suggested.

"That'd, uh, that'd actually be great, Hailey. Thank you. And, you just get the maps from the table right over there," Jay answered and pointed to a table about 200 meters away.

"Awesome, thanks. See you after the race, Coach," Hailey joked.

Jay nodded and started to jog off toward the first mile marker. But, all the while he wondered what the hell this woman was doing to him. Because he felt his cheeks heating up in a blush as he jogged off.

And, as for Hailey, well she was watching as Jay jogged away and loved the way he ran with perfect form and how his biceps flexed just enough that she could see the muscles slightly bulge.

She laughed to herself. If they ever went running together, she'd have to tell him to loosen up because you weren't supposed to run with your arms as taut as his were; he was wasting energy.

But, for now, she just made her way over to the tent and left the cooler and then went to get a map and start off toward the second mile marker to help out a fellow teacher...well, maybe he was starting to be more than just a fellow teacher. Neither of them really knew at this point. But, Hailey liked the thrill of it all. She felt like she was in high school again...a high school student, not a high school teacher.

***

You panted and winced as you crossed the finish line. Shit, your shin splints were really acting up this time, and God, it was so hot out and you felt nauseous and even had to walk during some points of the race. We'll see what your dad had to say about that.

Wait, was that Miss Upton coming up to you?

It is! She actually came!

"Y/N, are you okay? I saw you walking," she said worriedly while your dad jogged over since you were the last one on your team to finish.

"You good, kid?" your dad asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. My shin splints just hurt really bad and I think the heat's making me feel sick."

"Okay, well, I have to go watch the boys and make sure they're ready. Hailey, can you, uh, help Y/N? The medical tent's across from here. Maybe make sure she gets under our team tent without puking and get her something to drink?"

"I can do that, Jay, don't worry."

Emma walked up to you. "Good job!" she exclaimed.

"Girl, I didn't even run as fast as you! You flew through there. But, it's hot as hell!" you said.

"It is really hot. You gonna watch the guys' race?"

"No, Dad told me to sit under our tent in the shade. Gotta get some ice for my shins first, though."

"Shin splints acting up?"

"Yeah."

Then, you, Miss Upton, and Emma walked over to the medical tent where you got bags of ice wrapped around your shins.

***

"I'll run to Mcdonald's and get you ice, too," your dad said before you got in your separate cars back at school after the meet. "What do you want?"

"Uh, a ten-piece nugget--don't forget the honey mustard--a medium fry, and a medium lemonade," you said as your dad typed it into the notes app of his phone. "Thanks."

"I'll see you at home. Drive careful."

"See you in like half an hour."

Then you drove home and decided to start on some homework while still in your sweaty cross country uniform.

When your dad got home, you gobbled down your food because damn, you were hungry after that mentally taxing race. Then, you and your dad filled the bathtub up with ice and cold water.

Time for hell...aka an ice bath. At this point, you'd do anything to prevent your shin splints from getting bad. At least the old coach wasn't coaching because, from all the horror stories you heard, it'd be worse for your shins if he was coaching and not your dad.

After you changed into a pair of spandex shorts and a long-sleeved running shirt and a hoodie, you lowered yourself into the freezing and icy water. You set your phone timer for eight minutes and braved the cold for that long.

Then, after that, you drained the bathtub and took a very hot shower. But, as you were in there, you started feeling nauseous again. You crouched down and actually ended up throwing up a bit in the shower. It was nothing major, you just figured it was from eating too fast. But, you were still really tired.

And this is what you told your dad when you got out of the shower.

"But, I still have homework," you said defeatedly. "I kinda wanna just go to sleep now. It's already 7:00 and I have at least two to four hours of homework to do."

Jay sighed. He never wanted to play this game, but he wasn't going to let you run on not enough sleep tomorrow when you weren't even feeling your best.

"What classes?" he asked.

"Uh, I have to get APUSH done which will take me like at least two hours, and then I have English and stats homework," you answered.

Jay sighed. "I'll give Hailey a call and explain the situation and see if she'll give you an extension on the English and stats homework."

Your eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes, now go grab some water and get started on your APUSH homework. And.. it will only be a one day extension."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best Dad ever!"

Then, you grabbed your water and went back upstairs to your room.

But, all you could think about was that your dad and Miss Upton were talking over the phone outside of school. Maybe they were becoming more than just co-workers.

Jay dialed Hailey's phone number and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

"Jay?" she asked when she answered.

"Hi, Hailey. Yeah, it's Jay. Listen I have a huge favor to ask you," he said.

"What is it?"

"So Y/N puked a bit in the shower, probably because of the amount of sodium in those damn chicken nuggets she wanted, and then she took an ice bath and then a hot shower, so the quick and significant temperature change probably played a role. Anyway, how it happened isn't the point. It's just that she's really tired and she has AP US history homework that she has to finish. So, would it be okay if you gave her a one day extension on her English homework and her stats homework? If not, I completely understand because you can't just make exceptions because she's a teacher's kid and--"

"Jay, relax," Hailey laughed. "Yes, I'll give her the extensions. What is it that you always tell your team? Their physical and mental health comes first?"

Jay chuckled and then took a sip of his beer. "Yeah, that's about right. And, thank you. Y/N will greatly appreciate that."

"No problem. But, I also have a favor to ask you."

Jay cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"So, we're short on chaperones for the homecoming dance and I was wondering if maybe you could chaperone? And, I figured that since you have a kid and would probably want to be there for her pictures before the dance, you don't have to help us set up. Maybe just chaperone and then help us tear down? If not just chap--"

"Hailey, of course, I'll help out. Now, Y/N, she might not be happy that I'll be chaperoning her school dance, but I'll be there. Count me in."

***

2 weeks later, 3 days before homecoming dance

"Okay, I know I'm just your English teacher," Miss Upton started at the beginning of class that day, "but I still care about your guys' safety. So, please, please, please do not drive drunk or buzzed. Call your parents to pick you up. I can absolutely promise you that they'd be happier that you called them to pick you up than you trying to drive home and getting into a car accident."

"What if my parents will be mad at me for drinking anyway?" one kid asked.

"So, if that's the case, you can always call me and I will come pick you up from wherever you're at. I can lose a few hours of sleep to make sure that you guys are home safe." She started writing numbers on the whiteboard. "Right here is my cell phone number, if you think you'll need it, write it down or make it a contact in your phone. Again, I'd rather not come to school on Monday and learn that one of you is in the hospital because of something that could have been prevented."

You pulled out your phone, you didn't think that you'd need Miss Upton's number, but you figured you'd put it in just in case since two girls from your AP gov class asked you to be the DD for a party. You were kind of friends with them, like you studied for tests together, but that was it. But, you had debated it because it was a party after homecoming and you had never been to a party before...let alone one after a dance.

"Oh, Miss Upton," you said as you put your phone face down on your desk.

"Yes, Y/N?" she asked.

"What color dress are you wearing when you're chaperoning the dance?"

"I haven't really thought it much." She furrowed her eyebrows as she wondered why you were asking this question. "But, probably red. Why?"

"Just wondering."

And now, you just needed to make sure that your dad had a red tie and that he actually wore it when he was chaperoning the dance.

***

3 days later, homecoming

"What about this?" your dad asked as he walked out of his room in dress pants, a white shirt, a navy blue tie, and a sport coat.

You were already in your dress and had gotten your hair and nails done earlier in the day, so now you were just waiting to take some pictures with Emma and then actually go to the dance.

"Hmm, I don't know. The shirt and tie are kind of what you wear to work everyday, so I think you need something different. Maybe a brighter tie or something," you said and then walked into his room and opened his closet.

You sifted through the closet until you found what you were looking for: a black shirt and a red tie.

"I think you should wear these," you said and laid the two pieces of clothing on his bed.

"What? Why? You know I never wear red. That tie has been hung up in my closet since you were probably ten," he argued.

"That's the point, Dad! You need to get out of your comfort zone and wear something besides what you wear to school...or in your case, work. It's a dance, so you have to wear something fancy."

Jay groaned. He knew he wasn't going to be able to win this argument.

"Fine. I'll change."

"Good."

Then, you walked out of his room.

Your plan had worked.

***

"Mr. Halstead," Hailey said as she saw Jay walk onto the dance floor a few hours later when all the lights were off and the cleared-out cafeteria became full of students dancing.

"Miss Upton," he greeted. She laughed. "What?"

"It's nothing," Hailey said quickly. "It's just that, well your tie..." she trailed off while his eyes raked down her body in the slightly tight (but not too tight because they were at a school function) spaghetti strap bright red dress that she was wearing. "Let's just say I now know why Y/N asked me what color dress I was wearing."

Jay groaned and shook his head. "My daughter. Always...you know, I don't know what her game is at this point, but I should've suspected something when she told me to go change."

But damn, Jay thought, she does look good in red.

God, Hailey thought, I wish he'd wear those kind of black shirts to work more often.

***

It was now after the dance and you and your dad had arrived back at home at around the same time.

"You're a little devil, you know that?" he asked when you were both inside.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I plead the fifth," you replied.

"Very funny. You can't do that."

"Yes, I can. You should know this, Dad, you teach government."

"You can plead the fifth in court, but you cannot do it with your dad. So, I know that you asked Hailey what color dress she was wearing just so my tie could match it."

"Oooh, so we're calling her Hailey and not Miss Upton now. I'd say that's a step up. What did you two talk about at the dance? Because I know for a fact that you didn't ask her to slow dance."

"And you didn't slow dance with anyone either, so we're even, kid," Jay retorted.

You rolled your eyes. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Get this hair out."

"Okay." Your dad yawned. "I'm gonna get to bed. Now I know why you sleep until noon the day after dances: they're exhausting."

"Tell me about it. Goodnight. Send Miss Upton-- well, Hailey now-- a text to make sure she got home safe!"

You didn't even wait for your dad's witty reply before you bounded up the stairs and into your bathroom.

But, you didn't actually end up taking a shower. You ran the shower while you washed off your makeup and re-did it into something more party-appropriate and then took down your hair and put it up into a ponytail.

After half an hour, you turned off the shower and wrapped your still dry body in a towel after you had stripped off your dress. You peeked out of the bathroom to see that your dad's bedroom door was closed, which meant that he was asleep.

Then, you tiptoed into your room and changed your clothes.

You pulled out your phone to tell the girls to park a few houses down so your dad didn't hear the car pull in the driveway or see the headlights.

Your plan of going to your very first high school party was a go.

***

It had been two hours since you had snuck out and it was nearing two in the morning. And, you weren't feeling too hot. You had decided not to drink because you were the DD out of you and the two girls from class. And, you had kept the car keys away from them so that they couldn't do anything stupid...and so you could keep them safe. You hadn't drank anything, but you had eaten the fruit off of the top of the spiked punch bowl and, for whatever reason, you were starting to feel lighter and happier.

Shit.

Your dad had warned that fruit soaks up alcohol. How could you have been so stupid to forget that? He was going to kill you! There's no way you could call him to pick you up, absolutely no way!

Somehow, you found your friends, they were by the makeshift bar, no shock there because you knew the only reason they were there was to get drunk. Note to self: if people you only know because of one class ask you to come to a party for the sole purpose of being the DD, do not go.

Luckily for you, one of the girls' boyfriends played on the football team and wasn't going to risk his season just for one party. So, you told him that you needed to leave and that you were the DD and asked if he could get the two girls home safely. He agreed and you passed off the car keys to him.

Then you walked outside, the chilly mid-October night air helping to slow the nervousness coursing through your veins about facing your dad.

You pulled out your phone and hit the contact you had made in class a few days ago.

"Hello? This is Hailey," you heard Hailey's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Miss Upton, it's Y/N Halstead," you said.

"Y/N? Are you okay?" You heard shuffling on the end of the line and assumed that Miss Upton was standing up from somewhere.

"I mean, I'm kinda woozy I guess. But, I snuck out and my dad doesn't know where I am." You hung your head. You couldn't believe you had been so stupid.

"And you had a drink so you can't drive home?" she finished.

"Yeah." She didn't need to know the details. All she needed to know was that you needed help getting home.

"Okay, send me your location and I'll be there soon, okay? Is it safe for you? Do you need me to stay on the phone or call the cops?"

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine. Just need someone to drive me home."

"Okay good. Send me that location and I'll be there soon."

Then, she told you the model of her car and the color so you could spot her easily. Once you were off the phone, you sent her your location and she replied with a thumbs up, telling you that she got it.

Your phone rang. You thought it was Miss Upton, but then you looked down and saw it was your dad.

Double shit.

***

"Please don't tell my dad," you said when you pulled up to your driveway half an hour later.

"Y/N, I have--"

But, she was saved from telling you that she needed to tell your dad when the front door flung open.

Your dad must've seen the headlights.

"Go," Miss Upton said. "You're only prolonging the inevitable if you stay in here."

You sighed. "Will you walk me up?"

"Sure."

So, both you and Miss Upton exited the car.

The minute your dad saw you, he ran down the steps to you.

"Young lady!" he yelled. "Where were you? Do you know how worried I was? You could've gotten seriously hurt!" He paused. "Get over here!"

You knew to listen to him when he pulled out the dad voice.

He put two fingers underneath your chin and tipped your head up. "Breathe. Now."

It was faint, but it was there, your dad smelt stale vodka on your breath...mixed with a citrusy scent and teeth that hadn't been brushed since the previous morning.

He sighed and clenched his teeth. Then, he put his hands down and he finally spotted Hailey. "Hailey, what are you doing here?" he asked, unclenching his jaw.

"I always tell my students that they can call me if they need to get picked up from parties and can't drive. So far, Y/N's the only one who has utilized that."

"Well, thank you. I'm sorry she had to make you come out at this time of night." He turned back to you. "As for you, go inside. Not only did you drink, but you went to a party, too. We'll talk in a few minutes."

You hung your head and made your way inside and sat down on the couch in the living room.

Jay walked up to Hailey. "I'm really sorry about her. But, thank you for getting her home safe. How far did you have to drive? I can give you gas money for all of this on Monday."

"Jay, it's fine. I make this offer for homecoming and prom every year. You don't have to pay me. I just wanna make sure all the kids get home safe, that's all."

"At least let me buy you coffee or something. You brought my little girl home safe when I didn't even know where she was. I think that warrants some type of reward."

"If you want to repay me that bad," Hailey began, "I'm lesson planning and grading at Starbucks tomorrow. I guess you can buy me a coffee."

"Done. Text me the time and I'll be there."

"Will do."

"Now, excuse me, but I have to go deal with my daughter."

"Goodnight, Jay."

"Night, Hailey."

Then, she drove off and back to her house while Jay walked up his front steps and wondered what he was going to say to you.

"Look at me," your dad demanded when he made his way into the living room.

You looked up. "I'm so--"

"No," your dad said quickly, cutting you off. "You don't talk. You only listen. Do you understand me?" You nodded. "Good. Do you know how worried sick I was when I couldn't find you inside? I was beside myself, Y/N. I didn't know where you were, I didn't know if you were hurt. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you. What you did was stupid and reckless and please do not ever, ever do that again. Never do that again. Do you hear me?"

"Yes," you answered.

"Good."

You took a deep breath before you asked your next question. "Am I in trouble?"

Your dad sighed and sat down next to you. "As much as I want to ground you, no you are not in trouble. I'm just so relieved that you're home safe. And, you made the right decision by not driving and calling someone to pick you up...even if it wasn't me."

"Do you want an explanation as to why I went?" you asked.

"No, God no. I may look calm on the outside, but on the inside, I'm still pissed."

"Can I ask how you knew I snuck out?"

"You forgot to leave your fan on and I knew it was way too quiet in your room."

The doorbell rang.

"Shoot, I forgot to tell your uncle that you're home safe. But, you better go up to bed before me and him talk and think of a punishment for you."

"So you're still mad?" you asked.

"A little mad, but mostly I'm just relieved and disappointed. I thought you knew better." You hung your head. "Now, go to bed."

"Okay." You stood up. "Goodnight, I love you." You gave him a hug.

He gave you a kiss on the forehead. "I love you, too, kid. Now, get to bed."

You went upstairs, but instead of going all the way to your room, you sat down on the landing, intent on listening to your dad's and your uncle's conversation about you.

"Hey, she's home. It's all good," Jay said as he answered the door and then motioned for his brother to come inside.

"Oh, thank God. Where was she?" Will asked as they made their way to the living room and sat down on different couches, facing each other.

"Apparently she went to a party. I know she drank because I smelled alcohol on her breath. It was just a bit, but it was there."

"If you want, we can bring her to Med and I can do a tox screen to see the level of alcohol in her system," Will suggested.

"You know, that's not a bad idea actually."

Jay quickly stood up, but Will stopped him. "I'm kidding, man! Don't do that! She was still lucid when she came home, right?"

"Yeah, she was walking and talking normally."

"Okay, then sit your ass back down and don't drag your daughter to Med. Did you ground her?"

"No, I actually didn't."

"There's a shock. You always said you'd ground your kid if they snuck out. Oh, how things changed."

"I was just so relieved," Jay said and sat back down. "When Hailey pulled in the driveway and Y/N got out of her car--"

"Wait," Will started, cutting Jay off, "Hailey picked her up? Hailey Upton?"

"Yeah," Jay answered. "Apparently she'll give out her phone number to the kids in case they need to get home safe from somewhere after prom and homecoming. And, Y/N called her and not me."

"I wouldn't call you either," Will joked. "You'd probably scream at her in front of everyone at the party."

"I would not!" Will cocked his head to the side. "Okay, maybe, but that's beside the point. All that matters is that Y/N had the wherewithal to know that she couldn't drive and she solved that problem. God, Will, the amount of adrenaline that left my body when I saw her get out of that car was astronomical."

"I bet. So, do you know where she went?"

"I just know it was some party. She got lectured when she got home, don't worry about that." Jay put his head in his hands.

"What? What's wrong, Jay?"

"Anything could've happened to her, Will, and I wouldn't have been there to protect her. I wouldn't have been able to protect my own kid."

"Jay, you can't blame yourself. Hell, most teenagers do this stuff."

"I know, I know. It's just that her grades have been slipping slightly and I'm wondering if I should have her transfer schools." Your eyes widened as you listened to that part of the conversation. "Maybe, having her dad teach at the same school isn't helping her. She went to a party, Will. Maybe it's the kids she's meeting in class, maybe being at another school would be better for her."

"Jay, you can't make a decision like that based on one stupid decision the kid did." He knew his brother was torn up about this, so he changed the subject. "What'd Hailey say?"

"I offered to pay for her gas, but she shut me down."

"Anything else?"

Jay sighed. He knew his brother wouldn't let up. "We're going out for coffee tomorrow to grade. She said I can repay her by buying her coffee there."

"Aw, you're going on a date."

"It is not a date! It's just two coworkers working in a coffee shop together...in their off time."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that."

A few minutes later, the conversation was over and Jay walked Will out, so you made your way to your room.

One thing was for sure: you were not giving your dad another opportunity to even think about you switching schools.

It was time to grind...starting tomorrow because you desperately needed to sleep right now.

***

You woke up around 11:00 the next day, which was Sunday. Then you got up and went downstairs to eat some breakfast.

"Morning," your dad said. "I made breakfast sandwiches. There's two in the fridge if you want one...or both."

"Thanks," you said. You wanted to ask if he was still mad, but you didn't really want to have an argument right when you woke up.

But, being around teenagers all day must've given your dad a sixth sense.

"Listen, kid, I'm not mad at you if that's what you're worried about. You just... you scared me last night. If something happened to you because I couldn't protect you-- because, as a parent, it is my first responsibility to keep you safe. Anyway, if I couldn't keep you safe because I didn't know where you were, I would never be able to forgive myself."

"Can I tell you why--"

"No. As a teacher at the school, the less I know the better. I really don't want to have to tell the administration and then get kids suspended from their sports for drinking. So, all I know is that you snuck out, went to a party, and drank. I don't wanna know who else was there or whose house it was at."

"But, I--"

"Y/N, end of discussion. Now, I have to go and meet Hail-- Miss Upton, for coffee since she so graciously picked you up when you made a bad decision last night. Don't do anything stupid when I'm gone or else you will be in trouble, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. I'm just gonna study for the SATs."

"Good idea. Be back later. I love you."

"Love you, too, Dad."

***

"...And whatever she's having," Jay said and slid over so that the barista could input Hailey's order.

"Just a grande vanilla sweet cream cold brew, please," Hailey ordered.

Jay paid and then he and Hailey waited by the other side of the counter for their drinks to be ready.

Jay laughed. "You and my daughter have the same taste. You both like vanilla sweet cream cold brews."

"I'm shocked you let her get that with the amount of caffeine in cold brew," she said.

"Eh, it's just like once a week. On my rest day when I don't have to be at school before dawn to run, I'll grab her and I something from Starbucks, and then she'll just stop by my room to get it before school starts."

"That's nice of you," Hailey mused.

"Yeah, but nothing compared to Miss I have coffee in my room for the kids and you can drink as much as you want Upton."

"If you've ever heard kids talk about how little sleep they get like I do since I teach AP classes, then you'd get why I do that, Halstead. I hear kids saying that they normally only get four hours of sleep a night because they're up so late doing homework. While I don't think they should become dependent on caffeine at such a young age and need to be getting a lot more sleep than that, they need to stay awake during school. That's also probably the reason why you and I don't give a lot of homework."

"And it's ridiculous how early school starts anyway," Jay said and grabbed their drinks off the counter.

"I'll drink to that," Hailey laughed and then poked her straw in her cold brew and took a sip.

Once they took their seats, they talked a little before starting to grade and lesson plan.

"Not to pry or anything," Hailey began, "but did you ground Y/N? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, I'm not her parent, so I know I'm not the least bit entitled to that information."

"Well, you did pick her up when she needed help, so I'd say you are entitled to that information," Jay chuckled. "But, to answer your question, no I didn't ground her just because I was so relieved that she was home. The amount of adrenaline and cortisol that dropped in my body when I saw her get out of your car was amazing, Hailey. Thank you so much." He paused and took a sip of his cappuccino. "But, we did have a talk about how she shouldn't be doing that because it's dangerous and if something happened to her, that I wouldn't be able to help her and since I'm her parent, my first job is to keep her safe. She does know that if she sneaks out or goes to a party again, I will be grounding her, though."

"Well, you had a much different and a way better reaction than my dad did when he learned that I snuck out," Hailey muttered.

But, Jay had great hearing and heard her. He put down his coffee and furrowed his eyebrows. "What happened? You don't have to tell me anything you aren't comfortable with."

"Why did you become a teacher?" Hailey asked instead.

"Why did I become a teacher?" Jay repeated and Hailey nodded. "Well, as you know I was in the Rangers in Afghanistan and, while I was there I saw so many kids walking super far to schools or us accompanying children to school. They had to go through so much just to get to school, and I wanted to make a difference in kids' lives here Stateside. So, when I came home, I enrolled in college and got my degrees in education and a minor in history." Hailey had known that he was a veteran, which explained why he took every September 11 off, but she didn't know he became a teacher because of what he saw over there. "What about you?" he asked. "You went into social work before you became a teacher, right?"

For the past almost month and a half, the two teachers had been eating lunch together in either Hailey or Jay's classroom, and during those, they obviously talked about their experience with education and what made them want to go into the teaching field. Hailey mentioned one time that she was originally a social work major but then switched it to education. But, Jay didn't know why.

"Yeah, yeah, I was originally a social work major. But, it uh, it brought up some really bad memories and I didn't think I could handle being around that all day," Hailey answered, staring directly at her coffee.

Jay cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean? Again, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

"Um, it's okay. It's a part of my past. So, why I said that you were a lot nicer to Y/N when she snuck out was because, well, when my dad found out that I did, he uh, he..." she trailed off.

Jay's gaze was soft and sad as he finished for her. "Physical?" he asked, referring to the type of abuse she had endured as a child and teenager.

"Yeah," she whispered.

"Hailey, I am so, so sorry that happened to you. I'm honored that you'd tell me this."

"It's uh, it's why I give those kids my phone number in case they need help. And, at the beginning of the year, it's on my syllabus, too," she said.

"In case they need a way out, they can call you," Jay said, piecing it together.

Hailey nodded.

Jay reached across the table and gently grabbed Hailey's hand in his. "You're a good woman, Hailey Upton."

She smiled sadly and nodded, grounding herself by focusing on the feeling of Jay's hand in hers.

"Do you want to get started on grading now?" she asked after a minute had passed.

"That might be a good idea," Jay laughed. Then, he let go of Hailey's hand. But, neither of them wanted that little handhold to end.

***

One month later

God, you were in pain. You didn't wanna get out of bed; you just wanted to sleep. Hell, you needed sleep.

Over the past month, you had thrown yourself into studying. You wanted to stay at this school. You loved all your teachers and you didn't want to leave your friends, especially your best friend Emma. And, you were also scared that if you had to transfer schools, that you might not do well on your AP exams or that you'd have a bunch of other requirements that the new school had that you'd have to do the last half of your junior year and during the entirety of your senior year.

You didn't want any of that.

So, you had come up with a plan.

The day after homecoming and that next week, you studied an hour or two hours later than normal. But, you still felt that you had work to do if you didn't want your dad to transfer you at the end of the semester. So, during your study hall hour, you'd go to the teachers and ask how you could get your B+ up to an A- or your A- up to an A. You'd even review questions you got wrong on quizzes so that you could get them right when those types of questions showed up on the tests.

Yes, the teachers probably thought you were crazy because you had good grades already and were trying to be Little Miss Perfect (or they thought that you were trying to get into another scholarship bracket for college or trying to become valedictorian), but you didn't care if you looked crazy. You wanted to finish your high school career at the school you were at now.

Also during this time, you had been "going to sleep" around 10:00-11:00, which was your normal time, just so that your dad didn't get suspicious. But, what you'd actually do was sleep for an hour-ish and then get up and study more.

It started with you studying until midnight and at the latest 1:30 in the morning...and then you'd wake up five hours later at 6:30. It wasn't ideal, but you could manage. Because, since your dad went to school earlier than you, you just brought extra coffee to school and he didn't notice a thing.

But, since all the teachers wanted to get their tests in before Thanksgiving break, for the past two weeks, you had been doing your power nap thing so your dad assumed that you were asleep, and then would wake up and do homework and study until 3:00-3:30 in the morning. This meant, that during the week, you were running on just three to three and a half hours of sleep a night. And, it wasn't like you could catch up a ton on the weekend, or else your dad would get suspicious. So, you just got like seven or maybe eight hours of sleep on the weekends. So, you were constantly in a state of sleep debt and in desperate need of caffeine.

You had done the extra cup of coffee for the first two weeks, but for the past two weeks, you had been drinking two cups of coffee at your house before school and finishing the second cup at school right before classes start, but then going into Miss Upton's classroom and getting another cup of coffee. Then, you'd also get another one from her room a little after lunch. (You made sure to never go in there during her lunch period because your dad and her still ate lunch together and you didn't want him to get suspicious.) Also, sometimes you and Emma would go to Starbucks to study after school. So, lately, you had been averaging four to five cups of coffee during the week and just two on the weekends. Because, again, you couldn't have your dad getting suspicious.

And, your dad and Miss Upton ran together in the morning before school now, so you really had to be careful about what you told Miss Upton. You couldn't have her telling your dad that you were drinking a couple additional cups of coffee. You just told her that your coffee never stayed warm long enough when you brought it from home, which is why you opted for hers. And, she bought it.

To cover the bags under your eyes, you had been wearing a bit of extra foundation and cover-up. And, to make sure that your dad didn't notice at home, you'd wash off all your makeup after school, but then quickly redo the area under your eyes.

So far, he was oblivious.

But, for a week and a half, your stomach had been super achy and you couldn't stand to eat anything in the morning before you had at least one cup of coffee. So, what would typically happen was that you'd end up eating a bowl of overnight oats in your car in the school parking lot before walking inside so that your coffee had time to digest. You figured out that you were fine after that. Well, it was still achy, but not as bad as in the morning.

God, you wish you were at that point right now.

For the past five days, you've been feeling nauseous and your stomach has been achy, but in the morning, there'd be a stabbing pain before you had any coffee. You'd roll out of bed when your alarm went off and go straight downstairs to get coffee because that seemed to be the only thing--besides ibuprofen--that would alleviate the pain.

But right now, right now was the worst you had ever felt in your entire life. You felt like someone was stabbing your stomach and it wouldn't let up. You felt nauseous like you'd puke any second. And, trying to get into another position didn't help. Nothing helped.

Fuck, you had to swallow your pride and your secrecy and go tell your dad.

You needed help and you needed it now.

So, you got up. But, that just made it worse. You swallowed, trying to keep the lump in your throat and not have it go on the floor.

You whimpered and then walked a few steps and opened your bedroom door.

Then, you threw yourself on the floor and crawled across the hallway.

You held your breath as you stood up, anticipating a ton of pain--which came--when you stood up and opened the door to your dad's room.

Then, you went back on the floor and crawled in there with tears streaming down your face.

It took all your energy to whisper, "Daddy."

***

Jay blinked sleepily. He thought he heard his daughter mumble "Daddy", which she hadn't called him in years. But, then he heard it again.

He looked down and saw a figure curled up in a ball on the floor.

"Daddy, make it stop, please," you whimpered.

He quickly flicked on the light so that he could get a better look at you.

"Y/N, baby, what's wrong?" he asked quickly when he saw your tears, your face contorted in pain, and how jagged your breathing was.

"Hurts," you whimpered as more tears fell and you clutched your stomach.

He jumped out of bed and knelt down next to you. "Your stomach?" he asked urgently. You nodded. "Can you sit up?"

You nodded and leaned against his bed. But, that was a bad idea because the minute you were upright, you puked right down yourself. You groaned and pressed down more on your stomach, which just caused you to vomit more and more.

The minute you started to vomit, Jay looked at the clock. He started to soothe you by rubbing your back, but then quickly stopped and ran into the adjoining bathroom to grab the trashcan and put it underneath your mouth instead.

"There you go, there you go," he soothed as he held the trashcan with one hand and rubbed your back with the other. "Get it out. It's okay. It's okay. I'm right here. I'm right here, Y/N."

But, when you puked for almost four minutes straight and were still in pain after, Jay knew something was seriously wrong.

"Don't get up, you'll make it worse," he said. You nodded weakly. "I'm gonna go grab you some water and Gatorade and put those and a bowl in the car. Then, we're gonna go to Med to get you checked out." You nodded again. "I'll be right back. I love you."

He gave you a quick kiss on the forehead and then sprinted off into the kitchen to grab the stuff he previously mentioned. Then, he ran outside and unlocked his car, turned it on to start heating up, put that stuff in the backseat, and sprinted back inside.

"Y/N, you still awake?" he asked when he walked back into his room.

"Mhm," you hummed with your eyes still closed and your hands still clutching your stomach.

"Okay, I'm gonna throw on a hoodie and my shoes, and then I'm gonna run into your room and grab you some shoes and a hoodie because it's pretty cold out. Are you okay here?" you nodded slowly. "Okay, I'll be right back. Don't get up."

Five minutes later, you had your shoes and hoodie on. You weren't much help getting those on; your dad basically had to dress you as if you were a baby again.

"I'm gonna pick you up and bring you to the car and we're gonna go to Med to see Uncle Will."

"Uh huh," you said, letting your dad know that you had heard him. Then, you felt yourself being lifted off the ground and soon felt the chill of the late November air and then the leather seats of your dad's truck on your back and the warmth of the truck.

"There's water and Gatorade. I want you to take a few sips," your dad said. "There's a bowl, too in case you have to puke again."

You drank a few sips of Gatorade and then laid back down and closed your eyes.

As your dad backed out of the driveway, he called Will to explain the situation and tell him that the two of you were on your way to Chicago Med.

After the call, he threw his phone into the passenger seat and reached his left hand into the backseat, and grabbed one of your hands. You gripped your dad's hand weakly as he drove as fast he could to Chicago Med.

He had to make sure that his little girl was okay.

***

"We've got a treatment room right here," Maggie said when she saw Jay sprinting into the ED with you in his arms.

She quickly led him to it and he laid you down in the bed.

Will rushed in with Natalie and April a few seconds later.

"Y/N, Y/N, can you hear me?" Natalie asked.

"Hurts," you mumbled.

"Jay," Will started, "did she puke on the way here at all?"

"No, no, she didn't. She just puked for almost four minutes straight at home and it's worse when she sits or stands up. She's been clutching her stomach since she woke up."

"Gonna- gonna--" you started to heave and a pink basin was thrust under your mouth and then you emptied the few sips of Gatorade into the basin. You started to cry even harder once you finished. "Make it stop, make it stop! Please make it stop!"

Natalie turned to your dad. "Do we have permission to administer medications?"

"Please," he answered, his voice cracking. He was terrified. He was terrified something was seriously wrong. He had never seen you in so much pain. "You have permission. Just please help her."

April pushed antinausea and pain medications as well as a light sleeping medication because it was apparent that, along with puking and being in a world of pain, you were also utterly exhausted.

"Y/N," April started, "you're going to get sleepy soon. But, can you give us your pain level on a scale of one to ten?"

"Ten. My stomach hurts at a ten," you answered while tears still ran down your face.

"Did you eat anything you weren't used to? Drink anything?"

"No, no," you panted. "Just- just lots of coffee. Not a lot of sleep. Studying."

Will and Natalie shared a look. They knew what this could be. And, at least they got it out of you now, because it was clear that the meds were starting to work and you were fading fast.

"Hun," Natalie began, "we're gonna leave April in here with you in case you get sick again. Is it okay if me, your Uncle Will, and your dad have a chat outside real quick?"

"Want my dad. Please."

Natalie smiled sadly. "Okay, he'll stay. We can talk to him later."

Your dad reached for your hand and held it and rubbed his thumb over the top while you drifted into a medication-induced sleep.

Five minutes later, you were out.

Jay looked at his brother. "What's going on? What's wrong with my kid?"

"From what she told us, it sounds like the acid in the coffee she's been drinking has been irritating her stomach lining. Has she been drinking a lot of coffee lately?" Will asked.

"Not that I've noticed. But, sometimes there's a little less in the coffee pot than I think there should be. But, even if she is drinking two cups, that can't cause this, can it?" Jay asked worriedly.

"No, two cups shouldn't. But, if she isn't sleeping a lot, sometimes lack of sleep can make people feel pretty crappy. So, if she's drinking more than her normal amount of caffeine and not sleeping, then that could be what's causing it."

"But, she goes to bed at her normal time," Jay argued.

"That doesn't mean that she's sleeping. She could be lying awake in bed. Has she seemed more tired to you?"

"No, not that I've noticed. Uh, what do I do, Will? Can't you run some tests?"

"I mean, I can run one to see if she's sleep-deprived, it's a plasma cortisol test. If her levels are elevated, that means she's not getting enough sleep. But, it wouldn't give us the reason why her stomach's hurting so bad and why she's nauseous and vomiting," Will answered.

"Then don't run the test," Jay said. "If it's not going to figure out the problem, then I don't want to put her through that. But, what do we do?"

"If it's what I think, an irritated stomach lining, then we keep her for observation for a few days, ween her off of caffeine to a healthy amount, give her antinausea and pain medications, and just wait for her to go home until she feels better," Will answered.

"Okay. I guess we wait. You mind grabbing me some coffee?"

Will laughed because they had just been talking about how you had been possibly drinking too much coffee and now Jay was asking for it. "Yeah, I can do that. My shift ends in an hour, so I'll be down here to wait with you then."

Jay smiled. "Thanks, man."

***

It was 7:30 in the morning the next day, which was Thanksgiving Day, when Jay's phone rang, waking him up. He answered it without checking the caller ID because he didn't want to disturb your peaceful sleep.

"Hello?" he asked groggily.

"Jay? Where are you and Y/N?" he heard Hailey's voice through the phone.

Shit, the Turkey Trot, he thought.

He and you always ran the Turkey Trot every Thanksgiving, sometimes dragging Will along if he didn't have to work. Then, you'd have your Thanksgiving feast later in the day. Granted, your dad had to keep pace with you for the entire time, so it really wasn't a race. But, it was a nice bonding experience, so the two (sometimes three of you) kept it up.

Jay had mentioned it to Hailey one morning when they were running the indoor track before school started, and she said she'd sometimes run it, too. So, Jay had invited her to run it with him and you, and she agreed.

You were convinced that Miss Upton and your dad were secretly dating.

But, Miss Upton had been waiting for you and your dad at the designated meeting spot for half an hour now. And, Jay Halstead was not one to be late.

"Listen, me and Y/N aren't going to be able to make it. She had some stomach issues last night and now she's in the hospital and the doctors are trying to figure out what's wrong," Jay said.

"Oh my God," she said as she started to walk away from their planned meeting spot and towards the parking garage where she parked her car. "What hospital are you at?"

"Chicago Med," Jay answered. "Why?"

"I'm gonna find someplace that's open and grab breakfast and then I'll be there."

"Hailey, you don't have to."

"Jay, I want to do this. I'll be there within the next hour."

Then, without waiting for him to protest once more, she ended the call.

***

When you woke up a few hours later, you rubbed your eyes, despite the IV in your hand, and rolled over.

"Well good morning, or almost afternoon," your uncle Will said and stood up. "How's the pain on a scale of one to ten?"

"Uh, maybe a six, seven?" you said.

But then, you looked around the room.

Why was Miss Upton here?

"I'll go get a nurse and let you three talk," Will said and then left the treatment room.

You looked at your dad and raised your eyebrows. At the same time, the achiness in your stomach started up again and you clutched it.

"Gonna be sick?" your dad asked.

"I don't know," you answered.

He handed you the pink basin anyway (a clean one because last night's was gross and went off to get cleaned) and you set it on your lap.

"Feel like you can eat anything?" your dad asked. "Hailey brought food...and coffee, but we'll have to check with the nurses about how much coffee you can drink."

"You brought it?" you asked as you looked at Miss Upton.

She smiled. "I did. I called your dad to see why you two weren't at the Turkey Trot yet, and he said you two were here, so I figured I'd find somewhere that's open and get you breakfast." She rummaged around in the bag and pulled out a container. "He mentioned you were having stomach issues so I opted for something light, so the fruit and nut oatmeal from Mcdonald's. I also grabbed a packet of syrup in case you wanted it sweeter."

She passed the food to you along with a spoon and a napkin. "Thank you," you said as you took them from her. "Sorry I messed up your run."

Hailey laughed. "It's okay. My run's the least of my problems. Me and your dad just want you to get better."

You tried to hide your smile. She said she and your dad. She cared about you more than she did other students...and you were just waiting for them to slip up and call each other babe at this point.

"Hey, I'm back," Will announced as he walked into the room. This time, he had Dr. Choi and Monique in tow. "Natalie and April have Thanksgiving off, so you have Dr. Choi as your doctor and Monique as your nurse."

You nodded.

"Hi, Y/N, I'm Dr. Choi, as your brother just mentioned. Monique here is just going to check your vitals." You nodded again. "I understand you've been having some stomach issues. Can you tell me when they started? Any changes to your diet or routine that I should know about?"

Here goes nothing.

You looked at your dad as tears formed in your eyes. "I'm sorry," you said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Your dad moved his chair closer to you and gently grabbed your hand. "Tell me what, baby?"

"I- I went to that party because--"

"Y/N, how many times do I have to tell you that I don't want to know why because I'm a teacher? Me and Miss Upton are both teachers."

"But I didn't go to drink at all! I hadn't even planned on drinking! I didn't even drink a drink!" you yelled, causing Monique to take a step back. You took a deep breath and turned to her. "Sorry, sorry. I'll be calm so you can do your job." After a few breaths, Monique went back to checking your vitals and you continued your story. "These two girls I know from my AP gov class asked me to come to the party to be their DD. So, I went. But, when I was there, I ate the fruit from the punch bowl and I forgot that the fruit absorbs the alcohol. I'm sorry."

"And when you realized what happened, you called Miss Upton?" your dad asked.

"Yeah," you confirmed. "And, I even made sure to give the car keys to one of the girl's boyfriends who wasn't drinking because he plays sports so that they'd get home safely."

Jay smiled slightly; he had taught you well.

"Did you keep drinking consistently after?" Dr. Choi asked. He couldn't see one drink causing all these problems.

"No, God no!" you said. But, then you clutched your stomach and took in a deep breath.

"Pain?" Dr. Choi asked.

"Yeah, it's not as bad as last night, though."

He looked to your dad. "If she wants more pain meds, will you allow it?"

"Yes," your dad answered.

"Do you want more pain meds?" Dr. Choi asked.

"Please," you answered.

So, Monique started to get the pain medication ready to go into your IV and then pushed the meds.

A few minutes later, once the medication had started to work, you continued your story.

"I heard you and Uncle Will talking," you said.

"When?" your dad asked. "Me and Uncle Will talk a lot."

"The night I snuck out. You and Uncle Will were talking and you said that you might make me transfer schools if my grades don't get better. I don't want to transfer schools, Dad."

Your dad sighed. "Kid, I was mad, but in reality, I wouldn't do that. That was just me being angry and trying to find a solution when I wasn't in the right headspace. Were you so nervous that your stomach hurt all the time?" he asked.

"No," you answered. "but, I started staying up later and doing homework."

"Really? You always seemed asleep to me."

"I'd sleep for an hour and then wake up and study more." Your dad sighed. "I'm sorry. And then I was just sleeping for like three hours, so I'd drink four or five cups of coffee a day and my stomach hurt so bad in the morning if I didn't drink any coffee, so I'd eat breakfast in my car before school."

"For how long?" your dad asked. "For how long have you been bottling this up? For how long have you been waiting to eat breakfast?"

"The stomach aches started a week and a half ago. I'm sorry I didn't tell you." You started to cry harder.

"Hey, hey it's okay. We know what happened now, so hopefully, Dr. Choi and everyone else here can fix it." He looked up at Dr. Choi who had been intently listening as well. "Right, Doc?"

Dr. Choi smiled. "That's right, Y/N. And, what it seems to me is that you've just been drinking too much coffee, and coupled with the lack of sleep, have had abdominal cramping and nausea due to all the caffeine irritating your stomach lining. So, what we'll do is ween your caffeine intake back down to one to two cups of coffee per day, not go cold turkey because you'll probably feel pretty crappy if we did that, and then continue giving you pain meds and antinausea meds. We'll probably keep you here a few days upstairs in a recovery room just for observation to make sure nothing else is going on."

"So, I have to spend my whole Thanksgiving break in the hospital?" you asked.

"I'm afraid so," he answered.

"Well, this sucks." You looked at the table next to Miss Upton. "Is that coffee for me?"

"It is. I don't know if you can have it, though," she answered.

"She can have it," Dr. Choi answered. "Just, no more after this one seeing as that's a large."

You nodded.

"I got you a vanilla iced coffee. Since apparently, we have the same taste because your dad said you also like vanilla sweet cream cold brews as much as me," Miss Upton said and then handed you the coffee.

"Seeing as everything looks good, me and Monique will check on you later." He turned to the three adults in the room. "If she pukes up that food or her stomach pain gets worse, come get us."

"Will do, Doc," your dad answered.

"Jay," Hailey started, "can I talk to you for a minute? Outside?"

Jay furrowed his eyebrows slightly but nodded. "Of course. Be right back, Y/N. I love you."

"I love you, too, Dad," you said.

Then, your dad and Miss Upton left the room.

Outside the treatment room, Hailey took a deep breath, grounding herself as she prepared to talk to Jay.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out.

"For what?" Jay asked, utterly confused.

"I knew she was drinking extra coffee but didn't tell you! Well, she told me when she brought it from home, that it would get cold too fast, so she always came to my room and had two cups during the day. If I knew she was drinking some at home, too, I would've never let her have any. I'm so, so sorry, Jay!"

"Hailey," Jay began and placed his hands on her shoulders, "it's not your fault. Hell, I didn't even notice it and she's my daughter."

"I know, but I just feel slightly responsible for her being in that hospital bed--"

"It's not your fault, Hailey. I promise. I don't blame you one bit and I know Y/N doesn't either."

Meanwhile, back in the treatment room, you really needed to use the bathroom.

"Uncle Will?" you asked, causing him to look up from his phone where he was trying to figure out what restaurants were open for dinner on Thanksgiving. He really didn't want him and his family eating hospital cafeteria food for Thanksgiving dinner.

"Hmm?" he hummed and gave you his full attention.

"I really need to go to the bathroom," you told him.

He pocketed his phone and stood up and moved over to you. "Okay, I'm gonna help you up and with one arm, I'll hold on to you and with the other, I'll hold onto the IV pole for you. Is that okay?" You nodded. "Do you think you'll need help in the bathroom? I can grab a nurse if you need me to," he offered.

"No, just help me to the bathroom, please. I should be good when I get in there."

"Okay." Then, he helped you up and the two of you made your way over to the bathroom where he stood and waited while you went inside.

Back with Hailey and Jay, Jay reassured Hailey once again that none of this was on her.

"If anything," Jay began, "I should be thanking you. You got Y/N home safe after that party."

"Jay, we've been over this. I would've done it for any one of my students," she said.

"But, would you take their dad up on their offer of buying you coffee if it wasn't my kid you picked up?" Jay asked and tilted his head to the side.

"Probably not," Hailey said, a blush rising to her cheeks.

"Can I ask why?" She stayed silent. "Listen, Hailey, it's been a long time since I've seen you as just a fellow teacher," Jay admitted.

She looked up at him. "Since we're all sharing secrets today, it's been a long time since I've seen you as a fellow teacher, too, Jay."

Jay smiled and moved a piece of her hair behind her ear. He leaned in. "Can I?" he asked.

He didn't get a response because she quickly pressed her lips against his. It was the kiss she had been waiting for since she asked him to eat lunch with her that first week of school.

You and your uncle Will had chosen that exact time to make your way back to your treatment room. You two had seen everything: your dad putting a strand of Hailey's hair behind her ear and them leaning in and kissing.

You were glad that one of your hands was free because you whacked Will across the chest in excitement.

It was finally happening!

Jay and Hailey pulled away and looked at each other and smiled.

"I uh, I hope that was okay," Hailey said quietly.

"Oh, it was more than okay. I'd happily do that again, but we should probably get back into Y/N's room. She's probably wondering what's taking us so long," Jay said.

Hailey laughed. "Probably."

The two turned around and saw you and Will standing thirty feet away. Jay's eyes widened. "Uh..." he trailed off as Hailey blushed hard.

"Finally!" you exclaimed.

"Yeah, I agree with Y/N on this one," Will laughed. "But, who would've thought? A government teacher and an English teacher?" He started to help you walk back to your treatment room but turned his head back to Jay and Hailey. "Oh, don't stop on our account."

"Will!"

A/N: hank you guys so, so, so much for reading! Again, please remember to like/reblog and comment because I love reading all your comments and seeing that you liked/reblogged because that means you enjoyed reading the imagine! Again, I am donating all my proceeds on buy me a coffee until the end of AU-gust to Save The Children to help the children in Afghanistan. Buy me a coffee here.

As always, if you want to be added to my taglist, just tell me and I’d be happy to add you!

Taglist: @theambracer88@virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @onechicago18 @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things @herecomesthewriterwitch @liampayne88

[myblueeyedbuggers]

My Boys

Chapter 13

Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Chapter 5  Chapter 6   Chapter 7  Chapter 8  Chapter 9  Chapter 10  Chapter 11  Chapter 12 Chapter 14

Pairings: Steve Rogers X Reader (Best Friend) Bucky Barnes X Reader

Word Count: 2063

Warnings:  Swearing, bit of violence if you looking very closely 

Summary: After being abandoned by her parents in Brooklyn in 1929, y/n makes a living for herself by working for the Црни лабуд gang until she meets two boys in a back alley and her life slowing begins to change.

Ey up my Loves, so we’re back and kicking ass! Quite literally in this Chapter, I’ve been going back over my previous chapters and I’m considering rewriting them to fit my new style. Let me know what you all think, do you prefer them as they are or would you want them to match my new style ? Anyways without further ado here's chapter 13, enjoy everyone! <3 

3rd person POV

Years have passed since that moment, time brought changes to the trio, what was once a childhood crush developed into a fierce love that neither of the pair wanted to acknowledge or admit in fear of loosing the other.

As you can imagine both Steve and Becca were ready to rip the heads off of their dumbass siblings.

6 years is a verrrry long time to put up with long looks of pining and repressed feelings, but unfortunately for the Brooklyn natives, y/n and bucky were about as stubborn as each other and refused to listen to the reasonable, sometimes frustrated, rants of their best friends. So much to the utter frustration of Steve and Becca, the two young lovebirds lived in a state of denial and attempted (the keyword being ATTEMPTED) to move on with their lives.

Naturally, someone as charming and handsome as James Barnes seemed to have a never-ending line of girls begging to be his, it had become a common occurrence for him to have a new girl on his arm each week, not that Steve or Y/n approved of his behaviour but hey Bucky can be a real big dumbass when he wants to be. Y/n did try to hide how much it bothered her, thankfully not only was Bucky a dumbass he was also completely unaware of her feelings and simply chalked it down to her being the unapproving sister, but to Steve it was a clear as day. He could see it in her face every time Bucky left to take the new girl dancing, or when she’d finish work early only to see Buck and his new girl on a romantic date in the Café opposite the dinner she worked at. The bright light behind her eyes always dimmed a little and she wouldn’t talk for hours, which for anyone that didn’t know her was enough to ring an ambulance and arrange a mental evaluation.

Now that’s not to say that Bucky was any better, the look of absolute utter rage that covered his face when another man called for Y/n was enough to make Steve and Becca completely loose it and simply laugh at his misery, neither of them felt bad because they’d been telling him for YEARS to man up and confess his feelings. Occasionally the pair did feel a slight twinge of guilt towards their brother, like the time the trio went to Y/n’s house to surprise her after work, only to see her kissing the cheek of a guy they’d never seen before, just like his other half Bucky did try to hide it, but the flash of pain that crossed his face was impossible to miss.

It’d gotten to the point where Steve wanted to lock em both in a closet til they finally admitted their feelings and put themselves out of their misery, though the fact that he had all the physical stats of a toothpick quickly nipped that idea in the bud.

Cut to today, for once it looked like it’d be a fairly normal day for everyone, boys were off doing god knows what, knowing those two it’d involve a punch up started by a small blonde idiot and finished by an even bigger idiot of a brunette. Though the same couldn’t be said about their girl, ever the more responsible one of them all Y/n had agreed to work overtime in the local dinner over on main street, meaning that she’d be the one closing the place down at 9pm.

Y/n didn’t even wanna think about what her two idiots would get up without proper adult supervision, though over the years she’d learned to expect that it would more than likely be something illegal.

Thankfully, it wasn’t something she had to worry about for the next couple of hours, though 9 times out of ten she’d be the one cleaning up the cuts and bruises only for them to come back the next day fresh wounds. As much as it did on occasion piss her off to no ends, Y/n wouldn’t want it any other way, they were and always will be her boys.

Y/N’s POV

Well, that was an absolute shit show of a day.

I mean you’d of thought that I was common knowledge not to put ya hands up a waitresses skirt, but nay some men didn’t seem to have got that memo, ever the public servant I made it my job to enlighten then with a hot cup of coffee to the crotch. How I’ve not received employee of the month is beyond me, what’s not to love ? I’m a fucking delight!

Thank god it’s home time, if I’da stayed in that place any longer something would of happened, knowing my crazy ass it’d of been something violent but in my defence….okay I don’t have a defence, but men can seriously suck ass when they wanna. All I wanna do is have a peaceful walk home, ignore the homeless guys that like to gawp at my ass and run a big old bubble bath whilst relaxing with a decent book.

Naturally, that didn’t happen.

Now, If ya spend as much time around a bunch of over aggressive monkeys that love jumping into fights as much as I do, you’ll probably get real good at recognising the sounds of a fight. And I’ve got a pretty good idea who the two dipshits are that started this pissing contest.

The sounds of shoes scuffling across the pavement were pretty much impossible to miss now, that along with the grunts and groans of a bunch of guys smacking the absolute shit outta each other tipped me off to what was happening around the corner. Everything in me screamed to carry on my merry way and let these morons sort out whatever beef they had in peace and believe me I was so close to ignoring it and walking past em, but it’s kinda hard to do that when ya hear ya best mate scream “come at me motherfuckers!”.

I couldn’t help the frustrated sigh that came outta my mouth but come on guys! This is the 5th one this week!

Very reluctantly I doubled back and went to help my idiotic boys out of whatever trouble they managed to get em selves into, and boy I’m glad that I did cause they were losing. Badly. It would seem that Steve’s request was met for them to “come at” him, cause one of em had him by the arms and was pummelling the life out of his small body, and Bucky wasn’t having any better luck either. Buck was in the same situation, but he had the pleasure of two guys restraining his arms whilst another two took turns in kicking him in the stomach, I mean I was already pissed off at what was happening to Steve but now,  I’m beyond pissed and IF I’d of taken the time to calm down for a few seconds I’da thought of a better plan than this.

“Man…I really liked these shoes”.

In my defence, I didn’t mean to throw them as hard as I did, I was hoping to distract them for a couple of seconds so I could get the jump on the guy beating the crap outta Steve, instead I hit him square in the back his head and knocked him the fuck out. Any other time I’da been wetting myself laughing, but instead it seemed like time slowed down as the assholes holding Steve up froze and made eye contact with me, even the guys on Bucky stopped to see what had happened, all four of em had a look of complete and utter disbelief when they finally saw me. Not that I really cared, all I wanted was for em to get the fuck off of my boys.

Nobody seemed to wanna say anything for the next couple of seconds, the assholes beating up Bucky and Steve were still trying to wrap their heads around what just happened, and my idiots were looking back and forth between the guy on the floor and me, not even taking the time to try escape their holds. How the hell they manage to survive all these years without me is beyond my understanding.

“Sup my dudes, my names Y/n and I’ll be kicking ya ass today”.

I think it’s safe to say that I snapped everyone out of their shocked states, cause the guys holding both Steve and Bucky dropped their asses to the ground and instead focus on me, which is pretty fair considering I did just knock their mate out with a 2-inch healed shoe.

“Do ya know what we do to girls that don’t know their place round here? Cause ya about to find out girly” why is it always the ugliest motherfuckers that try to act tough, I mean look at this guy! he’s got more stains on his shirt than he does teeth, and about as much hair as a furless cat, I’ve been more intimidated by a group of 12-year-old girls in the dinner than I have him!...teenagers are fucking scary don’t judge me.

Right back to this absolute shitshow of a ‘fight’.

Mr ‘I’m only 30 years old and I already need dentures’ swung his arm out towards me in a pathetic attempt at a punch, which massively backfired on him cause I threw that dumbass over my shoulder and ‘accidently’ knocked his last 4 teeth out.  That left me with the rest of the hounds, two of em were rushing at me the second I let go of their newly toothless friend, the one on my right missed me completely and fell over a fence, dumbass. The dude on my left though, well he didn’t miss I’ll put it that way, he fully rugby tackled me into the car behind me, knocking the wind outta me and leaving me dazed for a few seconds.

But just like the first guy, his ‘punches’ were about effective as a marshmallow. Pretty embarrassing for him really, I mean you hate to see it.

“Okay no, give me your hand I’m gonna teach you how to punch cause this is just embarrassing for you dude, first don’t put your thumb at the bottom cause ya gonna break it, second don’t just throw ya arm forward and hope it hurts, use your body weight cause ya got a lot of it and throw it into the punch.”

At that point I’d pushed him off me and the car, his form was absolutely terrible so I went ahead and corrected it for him, found out his name was Eric, which was pretty interesting, gave him a few practise shots and then let him hit me for real, and I must be a fucking amazing teacher cause that one hurt!

“Really Doll?”

Let me tell you, I’d never seen Bucky so unimpressed in my life, his face was completely deadpanned with only his eyebrows raised, Steve wasn’t too impressed either, his infamous mum glare was in full force as I sheepishly backed away from my new best friend.

“In my defence, you left me unsupervised, and Eric’s form was absolutely atrocious, wasn’t it Eric my lad ?”

“….She’s a pretty good teacher to be fair”.

“See? I’m a good teacher! Suck it Barnes!”

Bucky Knocked Eric the fuck out in response. I think you can all understand how heartbroken I was.

“What the hell Barnes?! If it weren’t for me you and Steve would be dead!” I’m pretty sure I looked as insane as I was acting, Steve was full on laughing his ass off behind Buck, I mean if I weren’t so annoyed by them both right now I’d be on the floor with him just dying of laughter. But nay, I had a bone to pick with the both of them, which I think they both realised considering they both went pale before turning around and bucking it to my house. What you need to remember is that these are fully gown men, running around a Brooklyn neighbourhood screaming bloody murder, with a much smaller y/h/c lass running right behind them brandishing a pair of heels, fully intending to murder them both.

How we’ve gone all these years without being arrested or locked in a mental asylum astounds me.

So hopefully you all enjoyed this, let me know what you all think, we’ve got about 2 more chapters left of my boys then we move onto Captain America the First Avenger!! 

lots of love

Rose xx