#Scool Fun

[downthetubes]

In Memoriam: Cartoonist Colin Whittock

We’re sorry to report the passing of cartoonist and caricaturist Colin Whittock, who died on 14th February, aged 84

[stella-so-sly93]

Saw this Nijigasaki swimsuit illustration and Ai's outfit instantly reminded me of Merm4id from D4DJ.

Maybe it's the colors but she literally looks like she could pass as a 5th member of Merm4id.

That said, I lowkey wish D4DJ would collaborate with Love Live and I'm almost surprised they haven't already.

[the-nico-di-angelo]

And McDonald's!

[titsnotbrains]

this is me humping a textbook for a class i just failed!

wen i got so dum i started having a hard time reeding i was worid that all the books i got for scool wud be wasted:( lukily daddy showd me that its actuly sooo much more fun to hump books insted of reeding them! this is the best way for dum girls like me to use books:)

[marilynthornhilllover]

I think, I like this little life

Melissa Schemmenti x Fem!Reader.

Warning: fluff, one curse word, slight bullying, trust issues.

It's not like you intended to be annoying - I mean that came naturally and to be honest you had no idea how ava managed to hire you, after repetitively saying that she wouldn't, and if she did she'd have to be stone cold drunk. But the truth is ava needed teachers and as much as she needed them she needed you.

You graduated top of your class and had the credentials that she was looking for in resumes. After two weeks of silence. Literally silence, no emails, no phone call, no mails nothing. While in this period you sat at home while your girlfriend melissa went to work.

When melissa returned home one afternoon with a letter of acceptance you were over joyed. You loved being the kids Art teacher. Seeing the smile on their faces everytime they would paint or go on little arts and craft adventures around the scool. You gained teacher of the month many times and even got a promotion for being the children's favorite teacher.

The kids and their parents loved you, you were kind, respectful, tolerable and definitely fun to be around. You hosted many field trips, fundraisers, community walks etc. Its safe to say that even Janine was the one behind all of this.

Since arriving at abbot the other teachers were.... well asides from melissa, Barbara Janine and even sometimes ava, some of them weren't the friendliest, especially since you were the youngest amongst them. Janine was like your sister. She would sit with you at lunch, sometimes even bring you lunch, she'd watch your class when you had other places to be.

She'd vote for you for best teachers promoted awards came around, back up your ideas in teachers conference meetings, help you clean up after class or school. Janine was an absolute angel. Since winter break ava employed more teachers, since some of the other ones left.

One of thoses teachers being no other than tiktoks biggest sensation jessca. Let's just say you both were the same age, and had the same fashion style, not only that but the both of you loved tiktok and shared the same exact interests. Ever since becoming friends with Jessca, you and Janine's friendship wasn't exactly the same.

Janine noticed this but she stayed silent, she wasn't excalty jealous but anyone would feel hurt if their partner in crime all of a sudden had another partner in crime. Melissa also noticed this and tried to have a decent conversation with you at home but you just thought that she was also feeling a bit jealous, of course, she was.

It was that time of month again. Best teachers promoted awards. Everyone gathered in the lunch room and took their seats as they waited for ava to arrive. Usually she'd be late, because she has this mentality of not wanting anyone else to arrive after her. Which there's nothing wrong with that but ava will always be ava and in her book that's being " uptight and disrespectful".

You and jessca arrive in the lunch room giggling as you both held eachothers hand in hand. You both would always make silly jokes or always repeat silly tiktok slangs and this week it's been " I think I like this little life". You'd both say it when your feeling nostalgic or extremely happy.

" Oh y/n look we're early," jessca said as you both stopped dead in your tracks after entering as if you'd both had seen a ghost. You both slowly turn you heads towards each other before a sheepish smile became evident on both your faces.

" I think I like this little life" you both said in unison before erupting into a fit of laughter. Janine rolled her eyes before purposely butting into Melissa's elbow and giving her that look. Melissa shrugged her shoulders while returning the " I don't know what else to do look" while Barbara on the other hand looked at you and cringed.

Everyone stopped their conversation with effect when ava entered the room. The sound of her heels making her known. She cleared her throat as she entered, taking her time to look at everyone with her hawk eyes before also taking her seat.

" alright folks, let's make this short and sweet I've got my soon to be fiance one the phone waiting for me so we can run off to the Maldives" she spoke as she seductively bit her long acrylic nail. " you mean your burger King double down order" jessca muttered. Ava turned her body and she flipped her hair back.

" got sup'na you wanna say bunny face?" Anyone could clearly hear the insult that ava was trying to implie in her statement. There were some scattered "oh's" from some teachers who taught what ava had just said was the world's greatest comeback including Janine.

Jessca sighed before shaking her head at ava. Giving her a silent 'no' to her question. ava repositioned herself better in front of everyone. You could feel Melissa's gaze burning hard on you putting you in the hot seat but yet you didn't turn your eyes towards her. The meeting went on and was slowly coming to an end.

" ah yes and finally this meeting is coming to an end. Never again am I sitting my fine ass down on a chair this long again" ava mumbled before she took her place in the center of the room after standing. " as if you have a fine ass" you muttered behind Jessca's shoulder which you covered up as a cough as jessca chuckled.

Thankfully avas ears aren't as light as you thought they'd be but melissa sure as hell heard what you said, and they look of disappointment is written all over her face as she kept looking at you. It's not that she was jealous, nah, melissa trusts you and she loves you.

She's confident and knows that no one can make her girlfriend scream in bed as much as she does and plus jessca isn't even your type to begin with. So what's the problem you may ask? From Melissa's point of view or observation whatever you call it, she sees jessca as a bad influence - maybe because that's what she portraits herself as.

And plus melissa is a fifth grade teacher, thoses two things don't mix. Melissa tried to talk to you about it in warm composure at home but you wouldn't listen. Barbara tried to bring up the topic at breakfast but you fanned her off, Janine tried to talk to you but you'd rather do titkok trends with jessca, and ava noticed this all.

So the lady's all decided to come up with a plan to save your sorry ass before jessca makes you one of her insufferable titkok bitches that everyone despised with a burning passion.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when ava cleared her throat.

" the new teacher promotion goes to our 3rd in a row, ms y/l/n, you'll be in charge of the April festival were having with the kids for the schools community walk next week Saturday" everyone clapped and cheered for you except, of course Janine. Melissa clapped a little bit and Barbara gaved you that " you don't deserve me abusing my hands against eachother for you but ok" clap.

You turned to jessca and you both started screaming happily, suddenly you both stopped before melodic shouting " I think I like this little life". As everyone was emptying out from the room you noticed that ava, Melissa, janina, Barbara and Mr. Johnson stayed back and their conversation looked quite serious.

A week had pass and it was time for the April festival community walk, where the entire school would take a walk around the city spreading love by doing something kind or giving away candy, it was something the kids loved since some of them don't go to the city often.

It was Friday night and Melissa was acting strange. Well she's been acting strange since the meeting you witnessed after the teachers meeting. Melissa is Italian, that's her nature. But you knew her all too well. Yeah she acted strange the night before your wedding and other days but sometimes it's just anxiety but this time something was definitely up.

You emerged from the bathroom to see her sitting on the bed, glasses perched on her nose, laptop in hand. She glanced up at you before quickly averting her gaze away. See. Some weird shit was definitely going on. You didn't want to thing too much of it because you didn't want to think too lowly of her.

You forced a smile before sighing dramatically.

" mel" you whispered under your breath as you got comfy under the covers. She put down her laptop and got into the bed time mood as she placed her glasses down on the bedside table. She turned towards you before humming in response.

" if something was wrong or bothering you you'd tell me right?" You asked, a small appeared on her face, she kissed your forehead then you lips before wrapping her arms around your abdomen.

" course i would sweetheart" she muttered, almost in a sly tone as if she was about to commit the world's most best prank or worst crime. Morning came quickly and the both of you woke up early, prayed, do your daily affirmations, eat breakfast get ready then leave.

As you both arrived at the school everyone was already outside and lined up with their water bottles and snack basket. You didn't know why but you had a feeling something was coming your way because just as melissa did in the car the entire car ride everyone had a sinister smirk on their faces, like their apart of some sick cult or twisted game.

You got out of the car and walked up to the benches, and Just as you were about to take up a basket ava snatched it from you.

" hey!" You shouted at her. she mimicked you mockingly, causing Janine to chuckle.

" sorry girlfriend but you won't be needing this" she said looking at you knowingly, as if she knew something you didn't. You looked at her in utter confusion. Jessca appeared at Melissa's side and nudged her, melissa smiled before nodding secretly. Jessca came up behind you and tapped your shoulder.

" were gonna be cleaning the schools toilets today remember, it's our titkok challenge" you felt as if your brain was going to explode. When the hell did she say that?! She said it was going to be a vlog.

" y/n you signed up for weekend cleaner remember" Janine said in the most angelic voice as mr. Jackson came out when some mops and a Mr. Clean power spray bottle.

" no the fuck I didn't " you made sure that no of the camera crew heard or the children before turning back to look at ava who now had a piece of paper swinging in her hand. You snatched it from her and read it. Although you didn't sign it your signature was on it, perfectly written in gel ink. You and had a perfect idea who it could have been. You turned to look at Melissa who was now pretending to admire the freshly painted gate.

Barbara came up behind you and tapped your shoulder.

" you'll do great, plus after this walk the kids will be appreciative for a clean school on Monday. It's the weekend you've got all the time in the world darling" she winked before walking towards her class to get them ready.

You watched as Janine blowed you a kiss before walking to her kiss, as she tried her best not to look bacd and laugh in your face. Jessca had already ran off dying of laughter and the other teachers like Jeffery were snickering at you. You felt humiliated, betrayed and most of all sad.

Melissa chuckled as she grabbed you by the hips and pulled you in for a kiss. You looked up into her eyes and noticed a glint of love in them.

" cheer up sweetheart, it's only one day. And plus I'm taking you out next weekend" she spoke before smirking, her hands playing with your hair.

" take me with you" she chuckled before bringing your knuckles to her lips, leaving a red lipstick stain on them.

" no can do princess, I think I like this little life" she broke down into a fit of laugher before giving you one last hug and a kiss.

" andy o schemmenti " ava shouted.

" what the hell is andy o" melissa asked as she got on the bus.

" let's go in your naive language" ava replied.

" you mean Ándiamò?" Melissa asked, her accent thick as she pronounced the word properly. " that's what I said? Now don't be smart mouth before I put you to stand with you girlfriend out there, look how miserable she looks" everyone turned their face out their windows to look at you before laughing as the bus drove off.

Gosh karma really is a bitch.... and you don't like this little life.

[pebbles-agere-blog]

hi!!! hi!

im smal at scool!! m in class n i wanna do my work but. is hard n confusin an is overdue bu thas ok cuz i fix it m gona fix it yayayaya!!!

m brainstormn for the thingy n im so far qoting a post i made on m main the othr day so we see if i keep that!! um um i duno wat to do realy but thas okay! im havin fun!!

im excited to see um um how i did on my test last week in acounting! i think i did prety good on the test even though im VERY bad at acounting. but thats ok!

oh oh i got to tell my frend a bedtime story last night!! it was fun it was one i made up on the spot and it lasted like a hole OWER!!!

ok ok um im gonna go keep writing my thingy now bye i love you!!!!!!!

[scary-lasagna]

This might sound weird but toby trying to get someones(tims) validation?

Toby

"Why do you keep looking at me like that every time you shoot?"

".....Nooo reasonn...."

Proxies are trained with various weapons, not just the ones they are comfortable with. Toby has his hatches, but it's also fun to go out to the target range with a crossbow in one hand and Tim's jacket in the other.

Just an excuse to get him to come searching for Toby and strike up a conversation over why he stole his work clothes.

Toby is actually pretty decent with a bow, and enjoys going to the range on his free time.

Usually it's alone, but he usually asks for company if he desires' it. Although, if that person is busy (such as Tim, which isn't out of the usual), Toby will find a way for them to seek him out.

It's all a devised plan of taking something of theirs, telling Slender where he's going, and then wait for them to find a scold him for taking their stuff.

Tim always has the best cargos and flannels, which people borrow often without telling him, but his work cargo is his most prized possession.

It's big and comfy, and Toby likes to steal it whenever he gets the chance, not just to forced Tim out of his little self-isolating bubble.

"I just need my jacket so I can go get the chores of today done, don't make me get angry." Tim sounded tired.

"Okay, okay, watch me get this bullseye first."

"Alright, then."

"..."

"You missed."

"That was on purpose."

Tim could just sigh, check his vintage hand-me-down watch, and cross his arms as Toby loaded another arrow to aim.

"Okay, okay, I'll get this one, watch."

"Hold it." Tim lazily tapped the inside of Toby's foot, urging him to scoot it outward more, as well as pushing up elbow upward to the proper position. "Alright, shoot."

And not to Tim's surprise, Toby hit the target through the bullseye with an excited yelp, "YOU SAW THAT, TIM ??? YOU AOAW STHAT IM SO SCOOL!!"

"Yeah, yeah, you did a good job, just remember to keep your posture correct next time." With a tired clap on the shoulder, Tim grabbed his jacket with his other hand and moseyed off toward the trail leading to the manor.

Toby loaded in another arrow and paused, watching as Tim shrugged the jacket on as he walked, smiling in a bittersweet way. The brunette gave himself a firm nod, and turned back toward the target.

He made sure to keep that elbow up this time.

[samson-the-whale]

There here

There here!!!

Ahahahagagaga *kiking my laegs rapidly like a littel scool girl*

I so happy rn my haneds are sore frome asembly but its all worth it hehehehe there purfect

(So ya i was finaly abel to scrowendg up eknof monny to get two figurs so i got starscream and sowendwave hopfuly i can get the others in the set at soe point witch includs bee optimus megs and grimlock 11cm love them hehee)

Decent articulaiton not top tear figurs but worth what i payed stil fun and fonctonal and im verry happy :]

[cozy-cg]

Milomilomilomilomilomilomilomilomilomilomilomilomilomilomilkmilomollmolomilomilomilomiklimilomilkmilomilomilkmkllokmklo

Hihis !!!!!! :333332

Wan be Itty bitty bu is go nini times cuz I no wan be scool late ! :(

Bu no be Itty bity in long ! Brain go jtjwjrknqtihekthwor no tiny !! >:(

Eepy bu excite ! I pay dres ups wif fwiend lil while ago ! Funsies!!!

Milo dres ups funsies? Lots? Wat doin?

I hope you were able to get some tiny time in, my friend! It’s always important to have that space for yourself ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡. And dress up sounds like so much fun, pal! I don’t really play dress up, though I know it’s a blast! >:3

Right now I’m playing the sims and eating some chips before I go night night! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

[chyurrorats]

Weird day at scool today !!

During break i read warrior cats in a place thats out of bounds because i didn't want to be bothered. But the vice principal came and saw me and he just looked at me and i looked at him. And he didn't say anything!! Thats surprised me, i was expecting to be told off for being there.

During my business class, im working on a group project. The ppl im doing it with are,, actually nice! And they don't ignore me! They didn't even force me to do it on my own! Infact one of them offered me a fidget toy, an i said no thanks but she gave it to me anyways?! They were being kinder than my actual closet friends are, lol. Anyway we couldn't figure out the project, but the teacher told us we can use chatgpt....for some reason??? And the other ppl said fck it were gonna use chatgpt to explain it to us. Obv i didn't want to but what the hell. Well we couldn't get it to work anyway. So me and one of the ppl from the group just played fireboy and watergirl. Which....fuck ...bro......i haven't played that since.....3rd grade elementary school..................uh wow. They were fireboy and i was watergirl. Yeah. It was fun.

[the-octopod]

HI KWAZIII!1! how is life like as a pirate? do you have any stories to tell? Also, i dare you to prank all of the octonauts in exchange of some leftover catnip that i have hehe

Not cant cant accept catnip now, the crews making me not take it. Sadly. Makes lil ol me sad. Hello!!! How life was like as a pirate it was.... i dont have ONE word for it maybe I do I would use the word... "tough". It was pretty tough I have a lot of mixed emotions about my childhood. I had the freedoms of being a little kitten and play and have fun instead of going to scool and being misrable. I had an entire crew that raised me and helped learn many skills and things and they turned me into the man I am today. Calico Jack made sure my life was full of adventure, he was always looking for some lost treasure and always took me with him. Thats why when he left it was tough. But I know now my childhood was not normal. And it was very stressful actually always running always traveling and not having enough to eat. The fights and battles and evrything was not normal thing either and my current crew kind of let me know its kind of messed up. And it was always too HOT, and messy and I had fleas my entire child-and-teen-hood which is GROSS! That was my life as a pirate, summed up. But I'm an Octonaut now. I was always in search for cratures and monsters, not money or gold, so it makes sense.

Love,

Kwazii

[theflyingfeeling]

Fourtheenth Day of Gift-Giving: Fun Adventures

Prompt: A group project in school brings some unusual friends together

Yes, it's a high school AU, somewhat inspired by / based off this fic idea I had a while ago! I've never written a high scool AU before so pls be nice, also I've taken some liberties with the prompt again, because there's no group project per se, they're simply in the same chemistry class 😌

Banner made by @kraeuterhexchen again, thanks for suffering for me a bit I love youuuu <3

~

Aleksi muffled his third yawn in a row on his palms. Every single week at this exact time he regretted his promise to his father that he’d take at least four optional courses this school year on top of all the compulsory ones in exchange for a language course in Amsterdam next June. The tragedy was that his schedule was already so full with the compulsory courses alone that he could barely find gaps to fill with anything else at more humane times than at eight o’clock on a Monday morning, which was when his additional chemistry class was held. It didn’t help that none of his friends or acquaintances were taking the same class; Aleksi envied them for their superior life choices.

Chemistry could be alright at best, but in general it wasn’t among his favourite subjects. Rather than reaction equations, Aleksi was much more fascinated by the only other guy in the group he knew by name, who, by the happy coincidence of the two of them both being late to class on the first day, ended up being his lab partner. He didn’t know Olli because they were buddies, quite the contrary, in fact; one of Olli’s friends was still bitter about Aleksi standing him up regarding a music project (which had been but a case of bad communication, of which Aleksi was deeply ashamed, even though in the eyes of his own friends it had been ‘such a big-dick move to put that cocky emo loser back in his place lol’), so Aleksi wasn’t exactly surprised that Olli never replied to his sleepy greeting on Monday mornings. Thinking back to it, Aleksi couldn’t recall the boy saying anything at all during the chemistry classes, so that by now he would’ve started suspecting Olli was mute, if it wasn’t for the times he had seen Olli laugh and joke about with his friends at recess. From the little Aleksi had heard when he had passed by the group in the school corridors, Olli had a soft, quiet voice, often blending under the much louder ones of his friends, which was why Aleksi had set making Olli speak to him as his main ambition for the course, rather than getting a high mark.

“Morning,” he said to Olli like he did every Monday, and like every Monday, Olli barely glanced his way. What made this Monday different from all the other Mondays was that Aleksi could’ve sworn he had seen Olli nod at him this time, sort of in a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of way, although it may as well have been just his tired brain making things up. Nevertheless, it gave Aleksi the spark of hope that had him sit up straight, ready to converse Olli’s ears off in case he finally happened to be in the mood, but before he could open his mouth to ask Olli about his weekend, the teacher started the lesson by shoving hand-outs on their tables.

That day, however, Aleksi was determined to succeed in his plan at long last, even if he had to get a little creative.

While Olli was concentrating on keeping his eyes open as the teacher explained the theory behind the day’s experiments, Aleksi picked up his pencil and wrote on the corner of Olli’s hand-out:

Hi! :)

The anticipation nearly had him tremble as he waited for Olli to react in any way; for the longest time, bordering Aleksi’s patience, Olli did nothing but stare at the letters Aleksi had scribbled. He still didn’t look at him, still didn’t say anything or – god forbid – smile; he just blinked at the single word that had appeared in the corner of his paper.

Then, after a million years in Aleksi’s experience, he grabbed his own pencil.

hi

Those two letters alone made Aleksi feel like a winner already.

How are you?

Still keeping his eyes firmly on the paper, Olli seemed to be pondering his answer for a while.

good

Aleksi wondered if Olli was as terse speaking up as he was in writing.

Great to hear! I’m doing good as well :) Do you have a long day on Mondays?

Exactly like a moment earlier, Olli did nothing but stare at their brief written conversation. Aleksi wanted to believe that Olli was just about to write his answer but was ruthlessly interrupted by the teacher ordering them to walk over and look closer as she’d perform an example experiment for them to later mimic.

They didn’t get a chance to continue their little chat later on in the lesson, and they never spoke during the practical experiments they were asked to do – or rather, Olli never spoke, despite Aleksi’s best efforts to at least have him answer some simple yes-or-no questions, such as ‘do you want to try first?’ or ‘can you pass the pipette?’ or ‘oh fuck, do you think we should tell the teacher?’ when their experiments sometimes failed unexpectedly. The best Aleksi had gotten out of Olli was a suppressed snort when the other day Aleksi had accidentally spilled some red colour additive on his brand-new Off-White t-shirt.

“Quit laughing, or I’ll tell everyone it’s your blood,” he had said in hopes of making Olli properly giggle, but it had seemed to have the opposite effect, for Olli hadn’t let out a single sound for the rest of class after that. Later, Aleksi had wondered if it had been because Olli was scared Aleksi actually might, and to prevent his friends from getting wind of them being lab partners – because clearly he was that opposed to the idea of being associated with Aleksi – he had firmly kept his lips sealed for the rest of the class and all the ones that followed it.

This day, someone must have put something in Olli’s breakfast porridge, however, because when the class was dismissed, Olli spoke in his low, quiet voice, not even directly at Aleksi, but more to his general direction, so that Aleksi knew the words were addressed to him.

“See ya.”

“Yeah, see ya!” Aleksi replied, perhaps a little too eagerly, rolling his eyes in frustration when Olli hurried out of the classroom.

It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

~*~

The next Monday, Aleksi decided to go past formalities and straight to the point to get Olli to interact with him.

Had a nice wknd? :) 

Aleksi was most definitely too optimistic for his own good, but he had a feeling Olli didn’t take half as long to answer this time, even though his reply remained brief.

yup

Literally on the edge of his seat, Aleksi waited for Olli to elaborate on his reportedly ‘nice weekend’ – in vain. He rolled his eyes and picked up his pencil again.

What did you get up to?

Olli flipped pencil in his fingers like one would do with a drumstic, clumsily, almost dropping it on his desk. Aleksi saw an attractive blush slowly spread on Olli’s cheeks and hoped it wouldn’t discourage Olli away from the budding conversation. 

At last, Aleksi’s patient waiting was rewarded.

went to see a gig

Aleksi clenched his pencil into his fist out of sheer excitement. If there was a topic Aleksi could’ve chatted about for hours on end, it was music, his first and (so far) only love. He knew Olli played in a band and was sure that if he only could somehow make Olli lower his walls for him, they might actually find a lot to whisper about to pass the time a bit more merrily on Monday mornings.

So cool! Who did you see?

Olli didn’t keep him waiting for long, which Aleksi decided to take as a sign of Olli also being keen on their current conversation topic.

If only Aleksi knew how to help Olli get out of his shell a little more.

a friend’s band

Aleksi nodded, careful not to appear too enthusiastic or intrusive to scare Olli off, now that he had gotten him to write more than one word at a time.

Any good?

The teacher was just about to have the class gathered around her table again, so instead of a thorough review of the music show, Olli only jotted down a wonky yup in response before hurrying to the front of the classroom. During the whole rest of the class, Aleksi was not given another chance to fish more out of Olli’s weekend.

Well, he sighed to himself, standing up to join his coursemates, another Monday, then. 

~*~

Later that day, sort of by coincidence (of having purposefully lingered around the music classroom on the pretext of asking the music teacher about an upcoming extra credit class), Aleksi learnt Olli’s band had a practice slot in the music classroom on Monday evenings. His plan was not to spy on Olli, but he figured he might as well use this newly-acquired information to squeeze a little more out of Olli in their next chemistry class.

Any plans after school?

Only when he noticed Olli freeze upon seeing the question on the margin of his notebook, Aleksi realised how it must sound like to him, so out of the blue.

Just curious btw :) 

Olli seemed to hesitate before answering.

band practice

Aleksi hid his smirk behind his palm.

Hook, line and sinker, he thought to himself, the pencil in his hand itching to write down all the follow-up questions he had prepared. By the end of the class, Aleksi congratulated himself, for his plan to have Olli blabber about their common interest had worked out splendidly: Aleksi had learnt, for example, that Olli had been playing the bass for seven years already and that their band was actually working on their first EP, which Aleksi was genuinely impressed by. What really had made Aleksi feel like he was on top of the world, however, was when he noticed the smallest hint of amusement on Olli’s face; he still hadn’t managed to lure Olli to look him in the eye, but he had made him smile, which was perhaps even better.

The rest of the week Aleksi spent barely paying attention to what his friends were talking or laughing about in between classes, too busy searching for his chemistry class conversation buddy with his eyes. He did so every day, even though he was convinced the principal granting him the rest of the semester off with no consequences was more likely than catching Olli looking at him.

That was, until he did.

It was only a fleeting moment in time as they passed each other in the canteen and over before Aleksi’s heart could settle back to its place from his throat where it had jumped up to. He couldn’t tell since when his lab partner looking his way had started rousing this kind of reaction in him; then again, Olli had never really glanced his way before, so how could he have known?

Maybe that was also why Aleksi hadn’t noticed the shade of Olli’s irises until now. They were dark grey, he could tell, serious but not cold by any means. He couldn’t wait to take a closer look at them the next time he was given the chance.

Perhaps it was time for Aleksi to change his tactics.

~*~

“Hi Olli,” Aleksi said as soon as Olli walked up to his desk the next Monday. As if surprised to hear his name spoken out loud, Olli looked up at him, and Aleksi was granted another glimpse of those mysterious eyes.

Olli didn’t let him rejoice for too long, though, before turning his gaze to his desk as he sat down.

“Hi.”

And that was it: their first spoken conversation (in which Olli had also participated), despite Olli avoiding his gaze for the rest of the class, as was his right. Aleksi supposed. Even Aleksi himself was too giddy about the interaction to think of anything else to say.

It was almost ridiculous, if he was honest with himself. Yet, for the first time during the whole autumn semester, Aleksi was looking forward to the early Monday morning chemistry class.

~*~

Within the next couple of weeks, their conversations evolved from exchanging casual greetings (‘Hi Olli!’ ‘Hi…Aleksi’) to deep discussions about the current events in their lives (‘How’s it going?’ ‘Good.’ ‘Awesome’), which was equal parts exciting and frustrating to Aleksi. His heart would do the silly bouncing-up-to-his-throat thing whenever Olli blessed him with a quick glance of his dark eyes (Aleksi could swear they were a different shade every time he looked), but the moments only ever lasted for a second or two at a time. On the bright side, Olli would no longer rush out of the classroom to get out of having to perform any more small talk, but instead took his time putting his books and pencils back in his bag carefully, even if Aleksi never managed to open his mouth in time before Olli would make his inevitable escape. Aleksi suspected that it was, indeed, the newfound thrill of being graced with the occasional, fleeting look from Olli that rendered him speechless and caused him to miss his chance of getting to talk with Olli at least until they’d reach the classroom doorway. From there onwards they’d go their separate ways anyway, to their different worlds: Aleksi to one in which Olli was a moody emo kid with no sense of humour (or so Aleksi had been told by Isac who went to the same biology class with Olli), and Olli to one in which Aleksi was probably portrayed as a self-satisfied snob who once did his friend dirty.

The Monday after that, Olli never walked in through the classroom door, no matter how intensely Aleksi stared at it. When the days passed and Aleksi hadn’t caught a glimpse of the boy by Friday, he became worried, to the extent he considered walking up to Olli’s friend group to ask about him. He was almost certain that the one with the short platinum-blond hair might have actually told him, or at least he looked the least intimidating out of them all. One of them was almost two heads taller than Aleksi, so he saw it best to stay out of his way, although his smile – in those rare occasions he did smile – was anything but frightening. The one with the baggy clothes Aleksi had once heard rapping at a house party was tiny in comparison, but something about the angle of his eyebrows gave Aleksi the chills. Joel was obviously out of the question; Aleksi would probably never dare speak to him after The Incident. Joonas, on the other hand (Aleksi knew his name because he and Joel often squabbled loudly, with Joel shouting his name in bewilderment, his obvious affection for the boy poorly masked as annoyance), seemed like the kind of guy who would whisper you the right answer just in time before the teacher’s drill of a stare would bore a hole through your skull.

Taking a deep breath to brace himself, he watched as Olli’s friends were stepping in the Swedish classroom. As if on cue, Joonas was the last one about to walk through the door, and seeing his chance had come, Aleksi zoomed over and grabbed him by his sleeve.

“Hey,” he said once he had pulled Joonas aside, hidden from the disapproving looks of Joel and company.

“Huh?”

“Do you happen to know where Olli is?” Going straight to the point seemed like the best strategy to get anything out of Joonas, in case Aleksi had completely misjudged him and he was about to be punched in the face.

“He’s caught the cold. Why?” Knitting his brows and eyeing Aleksi up and down, Joonas seemed sceptical about Aleksi’s intentions, to say the least.

(It had Aleksi wondering if any of his own friends would act as protectively about him, but that was a matter of concern for another day entirely.)

“Ummmm… I have his chemistry homework for him.”

Aleksi could almost hear the cogwheels turning inside Joonas’ head until his expression brightened.

“Aaah… Right! Yeah, I suppose you would.” (Whatever Joonas meant by that.) “I’m gonna go over later today to see how he’s doing, so I can forward the message for you.”

“Oh, great! Thanks!” Aleksi said, as if he had any clue what they had actually been given as homework four days ago.

Ironically, Aleksi was saved by Joel calling for Joonas from inside the classroom.

“I’ll catch up with you later, alright?” Joonas winked at him, and then he was gone. 

Joonas never did catch up with him, however, and so Aleksi was saved from the embarrassment of admitting he hadn’t been following their chemistry lesson after all, more or less due to the disappointment of not seeing Olli after having spent the entire weekend planning what he’d say to him. Not knowing if Olli would be attending the upcoming Monday’s class either, the weekend went by slower than ever, which normal-Aleksi would’ve embraced; this new, strange, maybe-crushing-on-his-quiet-lab-partner-Aleksi was on pins and needles.

~*~

There it was again, that awful skip of his heart, when Aleksi saw Olli enter the classroom on Monday. So relieved he was that he had no means to tone down the excitement in his greeting.

“You’re here!”

Olli looked up at him but said nothing, his silence a pang to Aleksi’s chest. His joy upon their reunion changed into defeat in less than a second, and Aleksi felt like a right idiot for having thought Olli, too, might have been waiting to see him again.

Suddenly fascinated by the cover of his chemistry course book, Aleksi put his head down to hide his disappointment. He was already settled for staring at the abstract drawing for the next 75 minutes to avoid more heartbreak, but then a slip of paper appeared in front of him.

can’t speak doctor’s orders

On his face, Olli was wearing a kind, small smile. In that instant, Aleksi forgot what he had even been so saddened about. He flashed Olli a smile in return and started searching with his eyes for a pencil; he would’ve felt too weird talking to Olli out loud without him being able to answer. Tragically, it seemed that in anticipation of possibly seeing Olli again after so long, Aleksi had forgotten to pack his pencil case. Noticing this, Olli offered him his own, the same, tiny smile still on his lips.

Shame! You’re usually so talkative

He knew he was taking a risk poking fun at Olli’s quietness, but to his great relief, Olli’s smile widened and his shoulders twitched in a voiceless chuckle. Encouraged by this, Aleksi continued with an equally risky revelation.

I missed you in class last week

Having written down the words, Aleksi could barely look at Olli as he felt his cheeks heaten up. He let Olli take back his pencil from his fingers, as well as the paper slip from his desk.

Olli spent almost a minute writing down his reply, erasing and rewriting, until he finally passed the paper back to Aleksi, immediately directing his face to the opposite side of the classroom.

missed you too

Aleksi had never seen three words so pretty in his life.

~*~

What followed next was an entire week of unexpected encounters between the two lab partners, as if the universe was purposefully making them cross each other’s way to make up for the past seven days of not seeing each other. On Tuesday, their shoulders brushed walking past each other in a crowded corridor. On Wednesday, they were returning their trays at lunch at the exact same time and exchanged brief smiles. On Thursday, they almost ran into each other at the restroom door, which is when Aleksi learnt Olli had regained his voice, mumbling a small ‘oops’ after having bumped into Aleksi.

On Friday, at the last recess of the day, Olli’s friend Joonas grabbed Aleksi by his wrist and pulled him into an empty classroom.

“Wait here,” he ordered, and utterly confused as he was, Aleksi had no choice but to obey.

A moment later Joonas returned, pushing a red-cheeked Olli into the room before promptly leaping back to the corridor, closing the door behind him.

For one long, anxious moment, neither of them said anything, Aleksi because he was still too baffled by the latest turn of events to open his mouth, and Olli because he was… Olli.

“Ummmm…” Olli finally said, his voice a little hoarse, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “I just… ummm… there’s this… band… tomorrow…”

Aleksi had to bite his lip, both at how adorable Olli was, fumbling with his fingers as words fell out of his mouth one by one, as well as to keep himself from blurting out ‘yes’ before Olli even got around to asking him anything.

“And I was just… thinking if… ‘cuz I have an extra ticket… so… I thought maybe you–”

“Yeah!” To Aleksi’s turmoil, his tongue could sometimes be quicker than his brain. “I mean… what?” 

Behind the classroom door, someone clicked their tongue.

“Yeah, ummmm.” Olli scratched the back of his neck. “So yeah. Would you… like to come? To the show? On Saturday? With me? Maybe? I mean, of course you already have plans–”

“I don’t!” Aleksi hurried to say. “I can come. But… will your friends be coming too though?”

Olli shook his head. Aleksi decided not to dwell on what the evident horror in Olli’s eyes was a sign of. It might have been because he, too, thought it was a little too soon for Aleksi and Joel to make amends – or maybe he was just that terrified of being seen with Aleksi in public.

“No, they won’t. I mean, Joonas was supposed to, but he, ummmmmm, he’s going… ummmm…” Olli’s gaze wandered towards the door, as if for help.

“To my great-uncle’s funeral!” the door whispered at him.

“To his great-uncle’s funeral,” Olli confirmed.

“A-ha,” Aleksi nodded. “Sorry for your loss,” he said to the door.

“...Thanks,” the door replied. Holding back his laughter, Aleksi turned back to Olli who, for the first time since Joonas had urged them on the stage of their current scene, was looking at Aleksi, his round eyes expectant and hopeful for Aleksi’s final answer. Aleksi thought of taking a step closer to him, perhaps even gently touching his hand, but decided against it before his brain would command his limbs to make such reckless movements.

“Guess I’ll see you on Saturday at…?”

“At six. At Sandro’s.”

If Aleksi didn’t get a wink of sleep the following night, it wasn’t only because of excitement; the moment he laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes, his mind was filled with pictures of a boy with twinkling eyes and a bashful smile, keeping him awake until he fell asleep to them.

~*~

Aleksi couldn’t bring himself to care if he looked a little dumb, smiling to himself and leaning his chin on his palm at eight o’clock the next Monday. Even the teacher announcing a pop quiz could not have washed away the dopey grin that had been painted on his lips since Saturday evening.

He was smiling at the way Olli’s eyes had brightened when he had spotted Aleksi in the crowd. He was smiling at Olli’s shy offer to get him a Pepsi. He was smiling at how star-struck Olli had looked when the band had first got on stage and the way he had lost himself in the music, rocking his head and closing his eyes as if to let the bass lines and guitar riffs swallow him whole. The band had been excellent, Aleksi had to agree, but more than half the time, all Aleksi had seen or heard was Olli.

And for the last three minutes of the show, all Aleksi had felt was Olli; more specifically, he had felt Olli’s hand searching for his, fumbling and hesitating until it finally clasped Aleksi’s during the final song of the band’s setlist, a melancholy rock ballad that prompted lighters and cellphone flashlights to be lit. In Aleksi’s eyes, they were all dim in comparison to the glimmer in Olli’s eyes.

Lying in his bedroom later that evening and throughout the entire next day, Aleksi had still felt the warmth of Olli’s hand in his, even though they had let each other go as soon as the stage lights had been turned off.

“Hi.” Olli’s voice brought Aleksi from Saturday evening back to Monday morning. 

“Hi,” he simply answered. There were a million things he wanted to say to Olli, but his sleepy, happy brain was still working on finding the exact words.

The smile on Olli’s face told him he’d have time to figure it out, at his own pace.

In the meantime, Aleksi could always improvise, and so he picked up his pencil.

♡

They both stared at the tiny heart on the corner of Olli’s notebook, and just when Aleksi was about to convince himself he had made a terrible mistake, Olli took the pencil out of his hand.

♡ ♡

[titsnotbrains]

you can always tell when school is geting more intense for me because i will get extra into dumbification. the moment midterm season hits im like ‘wat if i was to stupid for scool and it was actualy realy fun and sexy so i dont have to worry about it’

[duckciferthecg]

hihi! gess wat? me an cloud (☁️) r habin a playdat were both us r regwessed bc dey ben verrrrry stwessed wit scool an i dink dey ned chu 2 help dem :)

~🪴

I hope you two have fun during your play date!

And you can always ask for homework help!

I’ll even research stuff to try and help if I need to

[alainas-sims]

Gloria's Diary

Victor and I made a deal— whoever does better on there spelling test this week gets to make the other push them on the swing at recess. He thinks he's so smart but it's all in fun. I did end up skoring higher then him tho. Betsy asked me why I care if he does good and I told her I have to show girls are just as smart as boys and just as good at things.

Mom is trying to show me how to sew but I'm not very good at it unlike at scool. During the war she had to "make do and mend", but the war's over now!

[mother-athena]

mama mama mama mama gots a secret to trll ou

wasnt able to go to scool day cas of m not feelin eell but geuss what else!!

boo!! 👻

-🪷

*Gasp!* You startled me, angel! 😄

I hope your silliness means you're starting to feel a bit better. Its always fun to have a day off from school, but make sure you're getting lots of rest and drinking plenty of fluids while you're home. Want you to start feeling better as soon as possible. 🌼