#between her and the pe teacher i had in my last two years of school i cant tell who's worse/more demotivating

[youjustwaitsunshine]

thinking about ballet class and like my parents literally paid some lady for 10 straight years so i could go and get bodyshamed once a week lol

[filmbyjy]

BE IN LOVE

PAIRING: park jongseong x fem!reader

SUMMARY: it was quite cheesy that you fell in love with your best friend’s brother. what could you do to prevent it? jay was someone who you knew was out of reach but you couldn’t help but crush on.

WARNINGS: cursing. maybe slight angst (?). other than that, there isn’t much.

WORD COUNT: 3.6K words

taglist[perm]: @ja4hyvn @ahnneyong @milklix @kar0ki @sugarsunoo

a/n: this is a repost of a previous work I did that I loved! well repost from my old account that got deleted but yeah! I have also re-edited it so it’s better to read. I found the previous one a little cringy but idk if its cringy🙃 hope you enjoy it though!

A typical morning spent in your bed. perhaps, a little breakfast in bed because your parents were worried about your bruised eyes. Now, you must be wondering how you obtained this bruised eye?

[last week] It was any normal day at school and any normal day included physical education, or PE for short form. You didn’t particularly enjoy sports, you would rather be cooped up in your room for hours just watching some Netflix or Disney+, but of course, you couldn’t just escape from it since it was a required subject in high school.

“One point for us!” jake yells. Meet jake, the school’s soccer captain and one of the school’s heartthrobs. Right next to him was sunghoon and jay. Sunghoon was the second heartthrob of your school and he played basketball and badminton (on occasions). Finally there was jay, the third heartthrob and also a family friend.

Both of your families were close and you two have played around as kids before. Well i say kids but the only thing both of your parents did was let you play in the crib together and that’s about it. Growing up, the both of you never got to really talk to each other. Both were too shy to do so and plus...you liked to play alone. guess that’s where wanting to stay-in started from. Since then a natural distance came between both you and jay.

“Oh come on, are you really cheating jake?” Mia, your best friend, says.

“And what are you gonna do about it park mia?” jake yells. your dear best friend was also jay’s twin sister. the girl huffs.

“yah, park jongseong! would you care to smack the back of jake’s head?” and so jay does, he smacks the slightly younger boy. jake groans. Whatever Mia wanted, jay would comply because well...he wanted to be the great brother. Mia slings her arm around you.

“Don’t worry (name), jake isn’t going to bother us anymore.” she proudly says.

“WATCH OUT!” you turned around and a dodgeball comes flying onto your face. Your glasses flew across the room and you fell the ground, blacked out. Well at least Mia was right, jake didn’t bother you. rather a ball flew across and hit you.

[current time] Wasn’t a great thing honestly. Your mom popped her head at the door to check up on you. she brings in a plate of fruits for you.

“Here, eat this (name).” you sighed.

“Mom, it’s just a black eye. You’re acting as if i got hit by a car.”

“But sweetie, you’re injured.” she says.

“Mom, i’m fine.”

“Your glasses are broken too, we should get you a new pair.” she points over at your glasses that had shattered on impact.

“can i buy some contact lenses?”

2 years passed by, it was finally the last year of high school. Your class gathered in the classroom to surprise your form teacher, a small gesture to say ‘hey you survived teaching us for 4-5 years of your life. Hope you live well and we will see each other when we do’.

You were in your graduation gown, putting up the balloons. You felt the table shake but you knew you were great at balancing, well you thought before you fell into jay’s arms. Your eyes widened. You quickly got off jay and apologised. Mia smirks, she pulls you away from her twin brother.

“I saw what happened~so you and jay huh.”

you shoved her shoulder, “i don’t like your brother like that. besides, we are strictly just family friends.”

“oh shush, did you know our parents have this bet that you and jay would start dating?” she excitedly says.

“Whatever Mia. I have to go and grab the cake from the front gate, text me when Mr.Smith arrives alright?” Mia nods. While you went out though, Mia walks over to jay.

“Go with (name) now.”

“But-”

“Go and get the girl you’ve been crushing on since we were kids.”

“I don’t have a crush on her.” mia rolls her eyes.

“yeah sure. It’s like saying i don’t have a crush on jake.” mia deadpans.

“You have a crush on jake?” jay tilts his head.

“huh? what? I didn’t hear you.” jay rolls his eyes.

“I will tell mom on you.”

“We aren’t five anymore jay. Just go with (name) and be confident. I’m sure she likes you too!”

“Fine.” jay goes over to where you were. You thanked the person who delivered the cake and went back. Jay walks over to you.

“why are you here?” you say. Jay shrugs and then silence follows after. both you and jay went back to the classroom. where they graduation party really started.

That was the last time you saw the boy before college happened. It had been 3 years since you’ve last seen jay or even Mia. She went to a different department and so you couldn’t always meet up with her since she was extremely busy. It was just about towards the ending of exam season and so plenty of people started planning for parties.

You spot a familiar figure waving for you and so you walked over.

“It’s been too long (name)!” Mia gives you a tight squeeze.

“You’ve changed.” you say. your best friend looked so much more mature. she had made a decision to study business and so she dressed way more sophisticated.

“And so has jay.” she winks. You rolled your eyes.

“Are you seriously still trying to get me and jay together?”

“Has it worked?”

“No, we haven’t seen each other since the last party we held for our high school teacher.”

“What? But jay has to be in your class. You’re both in fashion right?”

“Fashion? I took arts, mia. I told you i had a passion for arts.” she facepalms and groans.

“Is that why jay cut me off. Urgh i’m an idiot.”

you tilt your head, “You haven’t talked to jay in 2 years?”

“Yeah, besides he has his friend group. Oh did you hear? They started a band together.”

“You mean those 3 heartthrobs of Decelis High?”

“Yeah, along with 3 freshmans and a senior.”

“That’s great. What about you and jake?” Mia shows you her ring. Your eyes widened, “He proposed in these 2-3 years we haven’t talked? Why didn’t you even tell me when you two started dating.”

“No, silly. It’s a promise ring. We’ve been dating for 2 years now. Best 2 years ever by the way.”

“Kinda hurt you didn’t tell your best friend about this.” you huffed and folded your arms.

“I’m sorry!” she goes to hug you.

“You had time with your boyfriend but not me. It hurt when you just cut all contacts with me you know.” you pout.

“Sorry (name).” she whines. You giggled. “I’ll buy you tteokbokki. how about that?”

“With cheese?” you say.

“With cheese.”

The both of you made it to a familiar tteokbokki stand, one that you went to everyday after school. You noticed a pretty familiar face. Mia tilts her head and looks over to where you were staring.

“He said he’d be having band practice.” Mia stares at jake. She pulls you over to where the 6 boys were. Then lets go of you before grabbing jake by the ear. “sim jaeyun, didn’t you say you were having band practice?” mia glares at jake.

“ah ah, i’m sorry, babe forgive me. sunghoon suggested to eat at our usual tteokbokki place so we decided to come here but cross my heart, we practiced before coming here.” jake says.

“(name)?” sunghoon says.

“Sunghoon.”

“hyung, who is she?”

“Oh umm, that is (name). (name), this is sunoo, jungwon, ni-ki and heeseung. Our bandmates.”

“Hi.” you waved.

“Where is jay by the way?” Mia asks.

“Bathroom.” Mia nods.

“Well, we shouldn’t disturb all of you. Me and Mia will just go shopping.” you grabbed her arm and quickly left the tteokbokki place. It fell silent between you and her as you walked around the shops.

“Why did you leave? You could’ve seen jay.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve caught up with each other. Come on, let’s go shopping.” you say. Mia could sense you didn’t want to talk about jay so she nods.

It was around 7.30pm when you finished walking around with mia. you decided to get back to your dorm, however as you were arriving, you saw someone familiar. he was walking a girl home. it was jay. He shyly converses with the girl and bid her goodbye. You mustered up the courage and quickly walked past them. The girl walks in first and you silently prayed that jay wouldn’t notice it was you.

“(name).” well...your hope was now crushed. You slowly turned to face jay.

“Jay. a little surprised to see you here.” you gave him the most sincere fake smile you could, “Why are you here?”

“Oh..just sending a close friend of mine to the dorms since it was quite late.”

“Oh. that’s nice of you. She must be a really great friend.” jay blushes slightly.

“a-ah no. We just talk a little.” it hurts to see jay so flustered by a girl. the younger you would’ve cried. You giggled.

“Someone has a crush on her. Well i’ll get going, see you.” you quickly left before jay could say anything. You were heartbroken. You went back to your dorm. Seems like your roommate just arrived too.

“where did you go?” you asked her. She was in a daze, clearly happy something happened to her.

“The fashion heartthrob walked me home today.” she says. You froze, was that girl your roommate?

“Which heartthrob? Our school has a bunch.” you nonchalantly say as you placed your shoes onto the shelves. it was true, your department and practically the whole school had a bunch of heartthrobs.

“jay. God, he’s so good looking. You think he likes me? He was so flustered while talking to me.” she says. You remembered asking him just now. He did look flustered and kinda happy when talking to her.

“Yeah maybe.” your roommate jumps in happiness.

“eekkk, i’m so happy!! I should get some beauty rest to see him tomorrow!”

“Yeah you should.” you say. Your roommate runs to her room and shuts the door. Your phone vibrates. A text from Mia, she asked if you wanted to call so you replied to her with a simple okay. you picked up the call.

“Hey, got to your dorms safely?” mia asks. you shut your bedroom door and placed your purse down on the table.

“Yeah.”

“Great but why do you sound so defeated?”

you sighed, “Do you think jay still likes me?”

“Of course. Even if it has been years. Jay will still look for you. Why?” you fiddled with your little songwriting book you’ve kept since you were 15. the pages were almost filled with inspirations and lyrics.

“i saw him walking a girl home and that girl is my roommate.”

“what? Oh he will get it.” mia says. you could imagine her holding up her fist.

“No, don’t. He will know i told you because i was the only one that knows about it.” you cracked open the book and began writing some lyrics for fun.

“Are you doubting yourself?” mia asks. you paused. did you doubt yourself? absolutely. jay was someone who was out of reach.

“I mean...he can date whoever he wants. I have no control over him. it’s not like i’m his girlfriend.” you quickly continue to scribble.

“(name), listen to me.”

“Go ahead.”

“We will dress up and meet the band tomorrow.” you dropped the pen.

“What?”

“We have to and besides jay blocked me from everything. i just wanna have a word with him.”

“Mia-”

“Whoops sorry, i have to go. Jake is calling me.” mia ends the call. You breathed in. you had to prepare to meet him again tomorrow.

The next day, mia tells you to get ready by 1pm and so you do. You put on a simple short black dress and threw over a leather jacket. to finalise the look, you wore a necklace. maybe this was a little extra but hey who said you couldn’t dress up.

“My god, what special occasion are you going to?” mia says upon seeing you walk out of the door. you rolled your eyes.

“is it wrong to dress up?” you say. Mia smiles.

“oh no, it isn’t wrong but jay would sooo drool over this. maybe if jay didn’t like you, you could go for someone else. like me perhaps.” mia winks. you laughed and smacked her arm.

both you and mia arrived at where the band frequently practices. The school provided a studio for them and they were elated. Their band played at school related shows and once at a prom. They were pretty known in the school. which surprised you since you’ve never seen them before. i mean, you never really go to school events anyways.

“baby!” jake runs up to mia. They hugged, you smiled at them. they were adorable. way different to how they were back then but you knew along the way that mia just liked jake.

“Okay the younger boys and heeseung have met (name) but yeah. She’s here today.” mia says. you waved.

“Your aura seems different today. Do you have a date later on or something?” sunghoon says as he nudges you. You giggled.

“very funny hoon, unfortunately, i am not going out for one.”

“maybe i could take you out to one later on then.” he smirks. you playfully rolled your eyes at sunghoon’s words.

“shut up.”

“then who did you dress up for noona?” sunoo says.

“yeah, for who?” sunghoon smirks, “is it possibly me?”

“In your dreams. I dressed up for myself.” your eyes met with jay’s, he was definitely checking you out and so you shyly looked away.

“hey (name), i just remembered when you showed me a music piece that you wrote in high school.” jake says. You blushed.

“jake, what do you mean? i never showed you anything.” the boys were interested.

“You’re lying. Mia knows about it too.” she nods agreeing with her boyfriend.

“Don’t tell me you still have it.” you say. jake smirks. He pulls out a book, it was your old lyric book that you had for fun since you had a lot of fun writing it. you swore you lost it so why does jake have it?

“Shall we try singing it, miss singer?” jake says.

“what? I can’t sing, jake.” he turns over to mia.

“Don’t hide that beautiful voice of yours, (name).” she comes up to you and whispers, “besides, don’t you want to impress jay so he wouldn’t be swayed by your roommate?” you breathed in. you really haven’t sang in a while and you didn’t want to do it. however, with everyone’s eyes on you…you couldn’t let them down.

“Fine.” you say. jake claps his hands. He grabs his guitar and starts the chords for the chorus since you only wrote for the chorus and then gave up. it was honestly impressive that you came up with guitar chords to go with the chorus you wrote.

You took a deep breath. you were a little nervous but you closed your eyes and pretended no one was there. it was as if you were singing in your bedroom alone.

Be in love, we know

Heart to heart, you feel it too, right?

Hey love, hey love, please wait for a while

We can be together

Say bye-bye to boring days

Feel our energy

Hey love, hey love, baby just stay in love, love

You stopped right there and when you opened your eyes, you instantly met with jay staring at you. You shyly looked away.

“Wahhh noona, that was great. You should’ve join music production or something.” sunoo says.

“I’m not that great. I just made these lyrics up because i had a crus-” you covered your mouth. great you just revealed the one thing you didn’t want the boys to know about.

“You had a crush? Why didn’t we know about this?” sunghoon says. You looked down at your hands.

“Because it’s not important. It’s just a crush. It wasn’t like i dated him or something.”

“Exactly but crushes are equally important as a boyfriend. So miss (name), are you going to spill the tea or not?” sunghoon says. You looked over at jay, he seemed like he wasn’t upset or anything.

“i-i’m not telling!” you say.

“then if she won’t say it...I WILL! IT’S-” you covered jake’s mouth.

“hehe, well i guess it’s a mystery. Well i have to go now, bye!” you grabbed your bag and left. Mia gives jake one look before running off to find you. Jake grabs his phone when he notices it’s ringing, he answers it and places it in speaker mode.

“(name)! Where are you going?”

“hiding in my room! I can’t believe i blurted that out loud in front of jay!”

“Oh come on, (name). It’s not bad.” you stopped and looked at mia.

“Not bad? that song was literally crafted for him because my teen heart loved him so much. If he found out then i’m fucked. I was stupid. he already has a crush on someone else now. what’s the use?” you confessed. Jake looks up at jay, a blush dusting the older boy’s cheeks.

Mia shows her phone and places it in speaker mode.

“Jay, you heard that? Also unblock me, you idiot.” mia says.

“u-umm can you pass the phone to (name).” jay says. your eyes widened. oh hell nah, he heard everything you just said. mia and her devious plans.

“Mia…” you glared at her.

“Talk to him.” she says handing you her phone after turning off the speaker mode. Jay found a place to quietly talk to you, preferably away from the other boys.

“Hey. jay says.

“Hi.”

“Let’s just get to the point. That song was for me?”

“Yes.” your heart was beating 10 times faster.

“So you liked me.”

“Would it be bad if i still like you up till now and i’ve been waiting for you?” you say.

“Meet me outside your dorm at 6pm.” jay says.

“Uh, sure.”

“I’ll tell mia to send my phone number after i unblock her.” you snort.

“Can’t believe you blocked her because she thought i took fashion.”

“Trust me, i was really mad when i couldn’t find you anywhere in the fashion department.”

“Well see you later.” you say.

“See you.” the call ends. You hand mia her phone back.

“Oh he just unblocked me and he asked me to send you his number...wait what happened during the call.”

“Not telling you.” you stick your tongue out.

Later at 6pm, you came downstairs in a hoodie and sweatpants because honestly, it was too comfy. Jay was waiting for you and you sneaked up on him and scared him. He flinches.

“Oh my god, it was just you.” you smiled.

“So why did you want to meet me here?” you asked.

“Well, i wanted to invite you to a party.”

“A party? Couldn’t you have texted me.”

“Umm...i’m inviting you as my date.” your eyes widened, “you don’t have to accept it. umm, if you don’t want to come to the party-”

“Jay?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll come.” you flashed him a smile. He shyly smiles. Before you left to get back to your dorm, you gave jay a peck on the cheek and then ran off quickly. Jay holds the side where you kissed him at, a wide grin forming. Jay texts you the details of the party.

Friday comes in, the day of the party. Jay comes to pick you up. You opened the door and there stood jay. He snuck up to the dorm apartment place just to meet you at the door. You were wearing a similar black dress that hugged your body even more perfectly than the previous one. Jay smiles.

“You look great.”

“Thank you, you too.” jay drives you over to the party. It was a huge party, almost every popular clique was here and they all were in their own fun world. Dancing, drinking alcohol and probably making out. Jay drags you to where his friends were.

“Oh hey, you two came together.” sunghoon says. Mia eyes you up and down.

“Isn’t that the dress i bought for you only specifically when you and jay are dati-WAIT (name)....” you shyly look over to jay and he wraps his arms around your waist protectively.

“Me and (name) are dating.” mia gasps.

“You didn’t ask me.” you whisper to jay.

“Well both you and i know, we have mutual feelings for each other so you’re my girlfriend now.” you hide your face at the crook of jay’s neck. he runs his hands down your back to pat you.

“AYYYYY (name), can’t believe you and jay are finally together.” jake says. Jay could hear you whine softly. He chuckles.

“Alright, she’s shy. Let’s not tease her.” jay says.

“Don’t makeout in front of us alright.” mia says.

“You and jake should take your own advice.” heeseung says. Jake blushes.

[epilogue]

It was still summer holiday so both you and jay went back home to visit your parents and well…

“I always knew you two would get together. A match made in heaven.” your mom says.

“mom~” you whined.

“jongseong-ah, where is your sister?”

“At jake’s house.”

“Oh my, are they dating? I knew something would spark between them, they used to hate each other and now look at them. Mia didn’t even tell me about both of them.” Jay’s mom says. Your mom settles the both of you down on the couch.

“so…(name), jay. When are the both of you planning to get married?” your mom asks.

“MOM!” jay on the other hand was blushing hard.

[satureja13]

Underwater Love

~ Organisations ~ The Resistance

The Resistance are a loose association of supernaturals (and even a few non magicals). They are acting against the Council and save and support supernaturals who had been suffering from the actions of the Council and other acts of violence. They operate in secret and none of them, except the three witches, knows of everyone who is with them. So even if the Council get’s the grip on one of them, the others cannot be revealed.

The Council does not even see a connection between Dtui and the Resistance. They think she acted at her own behalf. They wish they could get lost of her but are too afraid of her powers.

Theme Song: No Boy, No Cry - Stance Punks (which is also opening no 6 from the Naruto Anime. MV is with scenes from the anime. Original Stance Punks MV is -> here)

Inofficial Leaders

The three Witches Dtui, Demon mentor of Kiyoshi and caretaker at the Temple in Mount Komorebi Francine (Witch), grandmother of Jeb and potion master) Ms Coombes (species unknown), teacher of the boys and involved in the rescue of Vlad, Ji Ho, Siawa and Jack. Partner of Dtui.)

Inofficial Members (since there are no ‘official’ members ;) The Boys: Vlad, Saiwa, Ji Ho, Jack, Jeb, Kiyoshi

Barfolomew (Mawg. Half man - half dog, he’s his own best friend ;). Owner of the ‘Space (Balls) Bar & Grill & ‘Residence’ in Copperdale where homeless and traumatized teenagers find a home. Saiwa, Vlad and Jack lived there for around two years and Ji Ho about half a year. Like Jack and Vlad, Barfolomew likes Star Wars a lot.

Noxeema Jackson, vampiric Drag Queen of Moonwood Mills and caretaker (and nurse) of the Wolves Of Letters Bunker there. Now caretaker of the Boys at the Belgraves Institute in Copperdale.

‘Beware of Greg!’ Lunvik (the Werewolf), former menace of Moonwood Mill, now PE teacher of the Boys at Belgraves Institute and partner of Noxeema (I named them Grexee ;)

LY, athena and Fel-IX (Droids) live at the STaCKS in San Myshuno and helped Saiwa, Jeb and Barfolomew when they tried to find out what happened with Vlad’s dead body.

The Doctor (species unknown) at the Gang Doctor’s Hospital. Since Supernaturals are not allowed at common hospitals, they get treated at the Gang Doctor’s Hospital. The Doctor (Droid) at the Clinic at the STaCKS in San Myshuno. Overly obsessed with Jeb’s eyes. Sells all kind of ingredients too. From Herbs to body parts ö.ö’

Hector (Crocodile). Friend of Ji Ho and informant. Like LY, you can find him on almost each of my lots (with a pool ;)

Claude René Duplantier Guidry (Ghost), owner of ‘Guidry’s Paranormal Investigations Bureau’. We haven’t heard from him since he left for Sulani to rescue Ji Ho’s brother.

Horatio ‘Bones’ McCoy (Skeleton). Roams the graveyard in Forgotten Hollow and opens the ‘Diner de los Muertos’ in San Myshuno once a year (The whole chapter is -> here)

Bonehilda (Skeleton) and Magenta (Ghost). Friends of Ms Coombes. They live at Saarburg and helped Vlad and Saiwa with information how to claim Ji Ho back after he got bitten by Genji.

The Magic Guitar of Toro (Magic Guitar). Relic in the sanctuary of the temple at Mt Komorerbi. Likes to witness the boys’ ‘romantic interactions’.

Aleki Mete and Enrico Wagner from ‘The Organisation’ in Strangerville. They tried to rescue kidnapped and tortured Saiwa and Jack along with 16 year old Jeb.

last but not least DEATH - he helped Jeb and Saiwa to find out what happened to Vlad after he had died.

Here’s an old photograph from my ‘The Family Business’ story! Resistance members from a paralel universe: fltr Giga/Saiwa, Greatuncle Stefan, Jack and Vlad (omg look at them!)

In my ‘Love Hurts’ story, adult Vlad’s Castle is a haven for supernatural refugees and adult Jack is headmaster of the Impossible University and provides education for supernaturals who are not allowed to schools from non magicals. (that was june 2018!)

From the Beginning   ~  Underwater Love   ~  Latest

[strititty]

per my last reblog i decided to ramble in about nerds aint got shit, my most popular fic.

well, ostensibly i’m rambling about that but honestly i have 3 am motormouth and i took an edible so im just in that sort of mood, you know. all philosophical like. more under the cut

i wrote that fic in 2015 for drone season, when i was living in - and i cannot stress this enough - the MIDDLE OF FUCKING NOWHERE, though not as much as i would be the year afterward. my internet was shitty cornfield hotspot net and it was the summer after my first year of college so i had a helluva lot on my mind already.

the original document was just a little notepad file with word wrap turned on cuz that’s how i used to write all my shit, and i’d send people wips via pastebin. can you even imagine? PASTEBIN? i use google docs now but sometimes i wonder if i should go back to notepad lmao. smaller size, less evil google involved. when i was a kid i used word, though i can’t remember when that stopped being a thing. might have been during high school.

since i wrote nerds aint got shit so shortly after i had graduated high school i had a very clear picture of my OWN high school in my head, which probably lends itself to some weird stylistic quirks. my high school was very very small. i shan’t name it, of course, lmao, what am i some sort of fool? but it was tiny as hell and that tends to infect any sort of high school adjacent au i write. rereading it i can so clearly picture MY high school that it’s frankly a little funny.

fortunately my high school only had one creepy teacher and it wasnt the PE teacher + we got his ass fired, but fiction makes for a much more fun place to explore these sorts of ideas for me. idk why i have such a thing about age differences & teacher/student fics but i SURE DO.

i can still remember the summer days writing this fic, kind of, in a hazy way. i remember my phone being the only way i could connect with my friends and loved ones, and the sun beating down, and the way things were far too hot in my little room. my cat had gotten out and gotten pregnant by a farm cat, so i had to cough up money to get her fixed - she should have been already but the people i lived with were less concerned about that sort of thing and i’d been at college so i hadn’t been able to make my case. the kittens were cute but tiny and stunted b/c my cat was very young and small & only two of them survived. i think the third one was stillborn and that my cat ate that one, but since i wasn’t there when they were born i didn’t get a lot of the details.

i still think about this fic sometimes for the memories it draws up and the plans i have to revamp and add on to it--my initial idea was a sort of 7 day format where dave goes back to bro every day of the week, but that was a plot for when i was a more prolific writer with a clearer grasp of smut. now im lucky if i can get a coherent smutty fic down in a few weeks god save me lmao. i don’t know if it’s because i’m older or just a little more burned out.

it was a fun idea though and i do semi frequently consider revisiting it, especially when i get the energy and inspiration to write strider stuff. right now that energy is being conserved for certain other works but hey you never know.

i feel like there’s also a hundred points i could make about how my most popular fic is also my oldest homestuck fic, like. yeah, okay, homestuck was more popular back then, so it makes sense that it would have more kudos and what not. hs fanfic is a much quieter affair now, between the fandom controversy, the natural drop that happens after something ends, and how half of all fandom seems to be girlbossing too close to the hayes code. brodave used to get you 200 kudos and now you get like 20!

and you know i don’t like. hate that. i do post for engagement but i never really expected to be POPULAR you know what i mean? more like sharing this thing i wrote about something i’m interested in-- “i wrote this for me but you can read it too, please enjoy!” energies. but i think that it’s so interesting that something that is now approaching its eighth birthday (What The Fuck) had its biggest surge of participants ages ago. i wonder what they’re doing now and actually whatever theyre doing i hope theyre having fun with it but i don’t need to know because i’ve been burned before okay. ppl turning into fancops or whatever. shitty as hell.

the hour grows late so i shall return to the actual topic at hand:

nerds aint got shit’s ill-begotten romance. that shit was gonna be so toxic. i was definitely gonna write dave growing to sympathize with bro, kind of, with his crush fueled by terror kicked into overdrive. bro’s kind of a sad and pathetic weirdo even though to dave (and this is real, not imagined, dave’s not making it up) he is a significant threat. and dave was going to start to pick up those sad jerk vibes in addition to the horny vibes and start to, in an almost lalondian fashion, romanticize the shit out of it.

in a manner of speaking, anyway. im not sure if that was my full plan or what but there’s also just the gremlin brain breathing heavily going “god this is my favorite dynamic” which back then was fairly true. i had also written almost 20k of original teacher/student fiction so romanticizing that was not a new concept to me. i think there’s a part of me that does want to be in that place, you know, but from a safe distance where it’s also just fun and games.

that’s why fics are fun! that’s why trashy romance is fun :) insert something about ace kink here. i do not want to actually touch it but mentally touching it is ok.

nowadays i don’t write so much teacher/student fic tho im still hells of deep in my love of age differences. more often than not i find myself kind of drawn to a cougar/kid in their late teens dynamic nowadays for original fiction, tho i also love ancient vampire/regular human and just minor age and experience differences.

(jotting down ‘rose lalonde as a cougar’ for a future fic idea thanks)

i think ive grown away from this fic mostly, but it feels like a wild time capsule to me, and maybe one day i will unearth it to add more. maybe in 2025 for the a ten year anniversary.

[restlessmaknae]

yours truly, karma

Summary: You and Sunoo have been enemies ever since you met each other at a debate competition in freshman year. This year, it seems like you have no choice but to compete alongside him instead of against him. And so all hell breaks loose…

➳ Characters: high school senior!Sunoo x high school senior!reader/you

➳ Genre: fluff, comedy, enemies to lovers, debate club au, high school au

➳ Words: 8.5k

➳ Warning: hints of insecurity; reader and Sunoo hating each other in the beginning, so hate and its synonyms are being thrown around; reader denying any affectionate feelings until almost the very end + two mentions of feeling the need to puke (ironically) and a few uses of the word ‘asshole’

➳ A/N: This is my contribution to @emeraldenha’s Unlikely collab. Please, make sure to check out the other works, too!

➳ Taglist: @dat-town, @lemonqi, @sweetjaemss, @hira127, @hyunjinswife​, @studioreader (Click here to be added!)

➳ Check out: my Enhypen masterlist

“Oh my gosh, no way!”

“Yeeees.”

“No, it can’t be possible!”

“I’m telling you, it IS possible.”

Your best friend, Shin Yuna, was nodding so fervently that you were afraid her head would fall off. Meanwhile, you couldn’t stop gaping like a fish out of water, trying to make sense of this situation. It just didn’t make sense. It really didn’t. 

“Couldn’t you have mistaken him for someone else?” You quirked an eyebrow, tentative, hoping that Yuna had actually just mistaken the boy for someone else.

“I’ve seen him with my own two eyes, okay? I put my contacts in today,” she justified matter-of-factly, letting out a huff as if you had hurt her by implying that she might have seen it wrong. You really wished she had seen it wrong because dear gosh, how could Kim Sunoo, out of all people, be at your school on the very first day of your senior year?

Kim Sunoo: your archnemesis, your worst enemy, your greatest nightmare… No matter how you wanted to put it, Kim Sunoo was someone you wished to avoid at all costs. Even if you were offered all the money in the world, you wouldn’t want to be in the same room with him. Okay, maybe, if it was about all the money in the world, you would, but still…

Kim Sunoo was someone you desperately wished to avoid, especially apart from the times you were forced to be around him either way. Every year since freshman year of high school, you had met him at the annual national high school debate competition because both your team and his team had made it to the finals. In freshman year, his team had won. In sophomore year, your team had won. Last year, his team had won. Now this year, you were desperately hoping to win with your team. Let’s just say that both of you were a bit too competitive for your own good, both during and outside of the competition when you were bickering to no end, and that had created a tiny bit of tension between you two. (And by tiny, you meant an enormous one.)

“Aaaaaaanyways,” Yuna broke the silence, snapping her fingers in front of your face to regain your attention. “Even if he’s at our school, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he will-”

She was cut off by the squeals around the classroom when the door opened and Mr Bang, your homeroom teacher, walked into the classroom. Not alone, but with someone else. And that someone else just so happened to be Kim Sunoo. He wore your school’s uniform and neat cotton pants, and he was holding onto the straps of his backpack while a giddy smile was playing on his lips.

“Oh my gosh, who is he?”

“Wow, he’s so handsome!”

“Do we have a new classmate?”

Such exclaims could be heard around the classroom, and you felt the need to puke when you saw how lovingly the girls looked at him. As if they were giving him the heart eyes already. If only they knew what kind of a person he was…

“Attention, please!” Mr Bang announced and knocked on the teacher’s desk a few times to quiet down the murmuring students. When everyone finally shut up about the newly arrived student who still looked as if he had been the happiest person on Earth to walk into your classroom, he continued. “We have a new student in our class from today. His name is Kim Sunoo, and he has recently moved from Suwon. Please, welcome him with open arms and a round of applause!”

A few girls started clapping a little too excitedly while some guys started hollering as if they had been watching a football match. You kind of had an idea why, but Hwang Intak just had to confirm it when he exclaimed:

“Yeah, finally! There are more boys than girls!” He shrieked as if he had won a round of his favourite game (a sight too common during breaks when he was immersed in his beloved phone). He boasted a boyish grin that didn’t fade even when Mr Bang warned him to keep his voice down.

Yuna glanced in your way, curious to see your reaction, but you averted your eyes from her face to the newly arrived student, only to catch him already staring at you. He seemed less surprised to see you there, but it wasn’t that weird considering that he knew the school you had come from, so if he was going to be transferred here, he might have already prepared himself for the big reunion. Unlike you who couldn’t believe your luck (or therefore lack of), and wished that he wouldn’t want to continue doing the one thing you loved the most, but-

“And he’s going to join the debate club, but I guess we don’t need to introduce him to you since I’ve heard his team won last year’s competition,” Mr Bang stated, and bamm, there, all hopes of not having to compete alongside him instead of against him lost.

You tore your gaze off the boy’s face, chewing on your lower lip to hold back the curse that was about to fall off your lips. No. You couldn’t lose your cool. The best thing you could do was to show him who was the bigger person here, and act all nonchalant. He deserved silent treatment at best. Yeah, it was best if you tried to ignore him as much as possible.

So you decided, and that actually worked… until you actually got to the first debate practice of the semester, the first one you had with Sunoo present.

Miss Kim was a good teacher. It could be seen that she loved organising the debate club’s practices, but she was a tad bit too excited to have Sunoo in the club, someone she had actually seen with her own two eyes at the previous years’ competitions. She looked at the boy as if he had been the seventh wonder of the Earth, and you had to physically force yourself to not put your eyes out upon seeing how pumped up she was.

“Why don’t we start with a round of introductions?” Miss Kim clapped her hands, looking from one student to another. She looked like she assumed that it was the best idea she could have come up with. No, actually, she probably believed that it was the best idea.

“Oh, oh, I’ll go first!” Intak flung his arms into the air, childish excitement lacing his words. When no one objected, and Miss Kim also gave him the green light, he continued. “Hey, dude! My name is Hwang Intak, and I’ve been a part of the debate club since sophomore year. My parents made me join the club because apparently, I have too much energy, and my football practices don’t wear me out enough, so I have to spare my extra energy somewhere. Plus, I’m a bit too talkative for my own good,” he chattered as if they had been best friends already, and fist bumped the guy who sat beside him.

The awkward thing about sitting in a circle was not being able to hide your face, hence your facial expressions. So you were pretty sure that Sunoo caught sight of your eye-roll, but you couldn’t care less. Intak befriended everyone, it was no surprise he could get along well with the boy from the very beginning.

“I’ll go next then,” Ahn Yujin announced when the silence became a bit too awkward. She pushed her long locks over her shoulder, letting them pour over her back like a waterfall. “My name is Ahn Yujin, and I’ve been a member of the club since freshman year, but you probably remember. I’m hoping to become a politician or at least a councilwoman in the future, so debating comes in handy, and earns me a few good points on my CV in the long run,” she explained briefly yet thoroughly.

That was who she was; Yujin knew what she wanted to do, and how she wanted to achieve it. She planned in the long run, and she didn’t do anything foolish to mess up her future chances. That’s why you shared her work morale: both of you were hard-working and determined to achieve what you wanted. Even if it meant that sometimes you burned out.

Sunoo gave her a friendly smile and a bob of his head before Miss Kim prompted the shy boy sitting on the other side of Sunoo to speak up.

“Hi! My name is Yoo Kangmin. Honestly…” The boy started, scratching the back of his neck a bit sheepishly. “I’m here because my parents wanted me to develop some social skills. I’m usually very quiet and reserved, so they wanted me to learn how to stand up for myself, and how to disagree with someone. Though I’m not sure how that’s going…” His voice trailed off by the end, his gaze darting between different parts of the room. Kangmin was so shy, it was honestly adorable, no wonder Yuna felt the need to reassure him in her own lovingly nagging way:

“Come on! You’re doing great!” The girl hollered, and you were sure that she would have patted the boy on the back if they had been sitting beside each other. Yuna was like a cheerleader for the whole team; even if she might have been impatient a lot of times and gave in to others’ reasoning because she got fed up debating someone, she was usually the one who cheered everyone on.

Just like this time when awkwardness started to be a bit too noticeable in the room, she decided that it was best if she went next:

“I’m Shin Yuna, by the way. I’m Y/n’s best friend, and actually, I’ve joined the club because of her, and sometimes I’m not even sure what I’m doing here, but I like arguing with people,” she explained with a casual shrug. As she turned her head towards your deadpan expression, she gave you a wink and turned back to look at Sunoo.

It’s true that you might have persuaded her to join the debate club because she really did enjoy arguing with people, but it didn’t mean that she needed to call you out like that. Especially not in front of Kim Sunoo! For god’s sake, did she really have to throw you under the bus?

You were thankful that Miss Kim prompted Taehyun to go on with his introduction which went like:

“I’m Kang Taehyun. I believe learning how to debate is a valuable skill that can come in handy no matter what field you choose, so I’ve decided to give it a try, and haven’t looked back ever since,” he justified as eloquently as always. Taehyun might have been the same age as you all, but he seemed the most mature out of all of you, and it did show in the way he spoke. And in the way he disapprovingly glanced in Intak’s direction when he was trying to spin his rubber on his pencil or playing basketball with the bin. They seemed to be on the opposite end of the childish spectrum.

With the students’ introductions coming full circle, you realised that you were the only one left who hadn't done so. Thus, with a resigned sigh, you broke the silence.

“Well, I don’t think I need to introduce myself,” you shrugged, hoping to get away with only this much, but Miss Kim looked at you as if you had set the room on fire, so you continued. “I’ve joined the club because my sister also won the high school debate championships, so I kind of had to follow her footsteps to prove to my parents that I’m as good as her.”

Which was true, and no one was surprised to hear that since they had all heard of the success of your sister and her team, her being only two years older than you and having attended the same high school as you. Well, everyone except Sunoo, obviously, who just had to butt in and ask:

“Why did you give in?”

That was an absurd question. Coming from him, it was even more absurd. If he wanted to nitpick your life choices because you despised each other for years now, you wouldn’t let him have his way just like that.

“Do you even have a sibling?” You raised an eyebrow challengingly, and when he shook his head, you scoffed. “Well, then, you don’t know what it’s like; the pressure of being the younger sibling,” you bit out, hoping that it was enough to shut him up because clearly, he didn’t know what he was talking about if he was an only child.

Yet, Sunoo being Sunoo, he just couldn’t let it be.

“I think pressure is pressure, even if it comes from being a younger sibling or merely from being a member of society. It doesn’t justify why you should have given in,” Sunoo counter-attacked in such an eloquent yet smart-ass way that you felt this immense urge in you to punch him in the face. Hard. And quick. So that it would hurt even more.

“Pressure might be pressure, but when you’re exposed to it all day, every day because you’re living with that pressure, and it haunts you even at school because everyone knows who your sister is, it’s not something that you can just shrug off.”

“Pressure isn’t something physical. It can’t follow you anywhere. It’s something in you that is triggered by it that doesn’t let you forget about what people think of you, or what they are supposed to think of you given your sister’s background,” he told you casually as if he had been merely playing with words when you felt like he was attacking you, throwing daggers at you while he was mocking you. If he assumed that you were a heartless person who couldn’t be swayed just because she was good at debating and defending her opinion, then so be it, but you wouldn’t let him lecture you about your life.

“Oh yeah? So are you saying that I’m just overly emotional? Maybe it’s because I’m a girl and-”

And you would have called him out even more if Miss Kim hadn’t clapped her hands to gain your attention and to put an end to this whole conversation between you two. Even if it might have been a good example for a debate, you hated how it made you feel. When you were to defend global warming activists or you were agreeing to the use of school uniforms, it was all good, you could gather enough arguments to prove your point and go along with it. Yet, when it was about your own life and your own feelings, and they were criticised by someone you despised with all your heart, you swore you could have started a fight.

“Oh, this is getting interesting. Should I bring popcorn next time?” Intak joked, smiling widely as he looked around for laughs and approving smiles, but his lips curled downwards when he saw your deadly glare and heard the complete silence following his words. “Nevermind,” he retreated back, chuckling nervously as he asked Miss Kim for the topic for the next practice. Intak never inquired about it, so you assumed that he learned his lesson.

Right then and there, you decided that Kim Sunoo was even worse than you could previously have thought, and you would make sure to make his senior year as much of a hell as possible.

Turns out Sunoo could easily befriend people, almost as easily as Intak. He even sat down to have lunch with your debate group the day after the first debate practice, having seemingly very interesting conversations with Intak and Taehyun by his side (and Kangmin shyly listening to them, occasionally speaking up to indicate that he was listening). Which left you sulking on the other side of the 8-person dining table, pushing your chopsticks into the noodles a bit more forcefully than intended.

“It’s actually not that bad if you think about it. If our teamwork turns out to be good with him, we can perform even better. And it’s not just me, there are probably studies about it somewhere online,” Yuna mused out loud as she was watching your facial expression.

“But if one person absolutely hates him while the rest are on good terms, then how does that affect the team performance?” You inquired matter-of-factly, raising a challenging eyebrow as if your best friend could give you the answer you were looking for, but even she opened her mouth only to close it after a few seconds. When Shin Yuna couldn’t defend her point, it was game over.

“Coming to think of it though,” Yujin chirped in between two bites, her foreboding tone earning your and your best friend’s attention. “What will we do with 7 members? We can only qualify with a 6-member team,” the girl asked absentmindedly, yet you immediately shared a glance with your best friend, lips parting at her reasonable inquiry.

She was right. You had always been lucky because your debate club had 6 members and you could only qualify with 6 members that were later distributed into two 3-membered teams in the actual competition. The scores of the two teams added up as one team was ‘for’ and the other was ‘against’ a different argument as it was only fair. Yet, you would only know at the competition which three members would form a group and what side they would take since everything was selected on the competition days.

“I mean, I would gladly let Sunoo have his time to shine since he’s definitely better than me and-” Yuna yelped when you hit her shoulder, sending her a deadly glare.

“You are not going to drop out, so that Sunoo can take your place! Understood?” You lowered your voice not to gather the said boy’s attention (not that he would glance in your way), and Yuna pouted, massaging hair blade bone while nodding fervently. “I think we need to discuss this with Miss Kim,” you announced as you looked from Yuna to Yujin, and both girls agreed, saying that there should be no room for disagreements when you actually needed to apply with the list of the selected members, and the deadline was only about two weeks from now on.

Needless to say, when you shared your concern with Miss Kim, she wasn’t that delighted to realise that a problem was to be solved, and she couldn’t help it. If she wanted to be fair, she needed to give everyone an equal chance to participate (even though Kangmin insisted that Sunoo could take his place), so after another heated debate how to solve this problem, you all decided on a mini competition where all 7 members would participate and the already retired ex-debate club teacher, Miss Kang, would be the judge because Miss Kim already knew you all too well.

The date was settled, you only needed to make sure that everyone was prepared to gather enough arguments for both sides (the topic was whether social media was aiding teenagers these days or ruining their lives) because just like at the real competitions, you would only get to know which side you would be on when you would get there. So you secretly (or not so secretly) bombarded the guys with resources and smoothly tried to discuss some details with the girls all because you wanted to make sure that they were as prepared as possible. Meanwhile, you tried your best to avoid Kim Sunoo at all costs even though he was your classmate now, so it was pretty impossible.

No wonder you managed to run into him (quite literally) in the hallway after your last class a few days before the mini competition.

“Do you know that I actually know that you’re helping the original members of the debate club, right?” He quirked an eyebrow, lacing his arms in front of his chest as if he was older than you or superior to you. Huh, what was he thinking?

“And? I don’t think you’re making any sense.”

“I could call this unfair treatment or discrimination, but it seems that the guys don’t think that it’s big enough of a deal because they are doing the same with me,” he mentioned casually, but it felt like he was dropping a bomb right onto you. Maybe it wasn’t even that coincidental that you had managed to run into him that day, maybe he had actually wanted to rub it in your face.

“What do you mean?” You played the innocent little girl, wanting him to admit what they were doing (even though you were already planning ways to strangle the guys after this).

“They’re preparing for the mini competition with me. They say because it all might be new to me how things are organised here, they share with me what they have gathered and we sometimes even discuss a few questions.”

“Oh yeah, I know that. Don’t worry.” No, you didn’t know that, but you wanted to keep your pride, so you forced a smile onto your face, keeping the eye-contact. It actually went on for a few seconds, him staring at you while the ends of his lips were slowly curling upwards, and you wished you could wipe that off his face, but the only thing that came to your mind was that he actually had nice eyes.

Wait, what?

No. Nope. Kim Sunoo didn’t have nice eyes. Maybe they were a warm mahogany colour and maybe they were like little crescents, especially when his lips stretched, but no, you weren’t looking at him like that. No absolute way.

“Then, it’s all good, I guess. Healthy competition is always good for a team’s performance,” he mused out loud, and you were sure that if Yuna were there to be beside you, she would definitely agree with him. Instead, you just nodded, mumbling something about the fact that it was definitely needed according to the rules of the qualifications anyways, and left without looking back.

You felt like you were running away from more than just your enemy; you were running away from your own thoughts as well.

The thing is: you couldn’t push the mini competition’s day any further because it was the only day Miss Kang was free that week (turns out she was going a trip afterwards with a group of other retired teachers, they were going to the seaside for a few days), and it was also the last Friday before the deadline for applications.

Yet, Intak just had to be missing from the after school debate practice when you were supposed to be having your mini competition, and you were almost tearing your own hair out when he didn’t say a word for a while, only to receive a call from him in your 13th minute of waiting for him.

“What? At the hospital? But how?” Miss Kim shrieked, holding her phone to her ears as if she was holding onto the last bits of her sanity, but you could share the sentiment. What was Intak doing at the hospital? “And how long? Okay, sure… Rest as much as possible, and please, be careful next time… Yes, I’m going to tell them, too… Yes, don’t worry.”

With that, Miss Kim ended the call and nearly dropped her phone onto the table in front of her. She let out a long sigh, the only sound that could be heard in the dead silent room, then turned to Miss Kang who was already impatiently tapping on her notebook with her fingers.

“I’m sorry, Miss Kang. It seems that we have called you for nothing,” she started, already breaking into a frown after her announcement. Before Miss Kang could voice out her indignation though, she continued. “Unfortunately, Intak won’t be able to join us today or until the application deadline because he broke his leg during football practice, and he needs to stay in the hospital for the weekend following his surgery. He says that everything happens for a reason, and that Sunoo should take his place. It’s not like he could move freely when the actual competition rolls by because his recovery might take 2 months.”

“OMG, that’s terrible!” Yuna exclaimed, absolutely horrified, and the only thing you could do was to nod. Yep, that was terrible. Absolutely terrible. You felt bad for Intak for his condition. You felt bad for Kangmin who looked like he had just missed his chance to chicken out and was about to faint. And you felt bad for yourself as well because it meant that you would need to prepare for the actual real competition with Sunoo by your side, and if you were successful, that didn’t mean just the preliminaries but the final competition as well.

“Jesus christ, that is terrible,” you hummed under your breath, and Yuna held onto your hand while she was trying to hold back her tears. Only if she knew why you were mopping so bad. It was as if ever since you had met Kim Sunoo, a small dose of him appeared in your life every single day and turned things even worse.

This was terrible, and it was going to be terrible in the future as well, you thought as you glanced in Sunoo’s direction who looked the most dumbfounded out of everyone, insisting that he wanted to talk to Intak. Miss Kim said that the boy’s wish was final though, so there was no need to object, but you had the debate you had been preparing for nevertheless, although everyone appeared a bit disheartened. Even Sunoo himself did.

Which was surprising, but you had to realise that maybe even he had his conscience. Not that it meant that you would think that he was suddenly a good guy. Oh no, pff, no. Never. He was just. Well, at least he wasn’t an asshole about this.

The preparations for the competition went smoothly. Or at least, as smoothly as possible considering how competitive you and Sunoo were and how much fate liked to play with you, always putting him and you on different sides of the argument. You disagreed to clone animals while he defended the right to make a small sacrifice to help out more people, you insisted on keeping school uniforms while he was against the uniformed look for daily use, he took the side of those who said that democracy was the best form of government while you disagreed and so on.

You were always disagreeing with each other, and it seemed like you did the same outside of practices, too. Sometimes it was about something as petty as him liking mint chocolate and you saying that it tasted like toothpaste while other times it was about something more personal like him calling your perfectionist tendencies self-destructive while you argued that you had gotten to this point in your life because of how hard you tried to please everyone.

It wasn’t that Sunoo was wrong all the time; it was more like you hated to admit when he was right because you didn’t want to share anything in common with him. Though you did share a lot of common things starting from the fact that you attended the same school, were in the same class, were in the debate club and prepared extra hard for the competitions. It was just… you started to realise that maybe he wasn’t that terrible of a person, but you wouldn’t have admitted it for the world.

Not even when he suddenly put chocolate-covered almonds on your desk before one of your debate practices, something that he had never done before, and something that you had definitely not seen coming (and something that made your heart do a silly little turn, but that wasn’t the main point).

“What’s this?” You furrowed your eyebrows in question, examining the famous vending machine snack that you liked to get for yourself. One: almonds were said to be effective for brain power, something that you desperately needed around this time of the year. Two: it was chocolate, and it was scientifically proven that it produced serotonin which was also known as the happiness hormone.

So it was definitely the best kind of snack you could have gotten for yourself considering that you were a senior on top of preparing for the debate competitions, but you wouldn’t have thought that Sunoo had taken notice of your snacking habits.

“It’s just… The vending machine malfunctioned and pushed two of these out, so I’ve thought you might want it. The others don’t seem to want it,” Sunoo justified with a shrug, and although you wanted to call him out on lying (because he hadn’t been going around the classroom, asking the others if they had wanted to eat it, that much you could have noticed in the past few minutes), you held yourself back.

“Why did you want to get this?” You threw the question at him, not having heard anything of his love for chocolate-covered almonds even though Intak had been talking about his blooming friendship with Sunoo so much since he couldn’t join your classmates to play football during breaks that you felt like you knew more about Sunoo through him than you would have ever known for the rest of your life. Then again, Intak got along well with everyone, and then again, he had just broken his leg, so he still needed to use crutches to walk, hence he couldn’t do anything else but talk to those around him.

Sunoo looked perplexed for a moment, but tried to shrug it off and play it cool.

“Well, it’s chocolate after all. Since they don’t have mint chocolate, it’s better than nothing.”

“Right,” you bobbed your head, only half-believing his explanation, but reached for the bag of almonds nevertheless. He took notice of your approval and was about to leave for his own desk when you cleared your throat. “Thanks,” you blurted out, hoping that he wouldn’t take advantage of your politeness and tease you over thanking him for anything because you swore you would send him a deadly glare if he did so.

Thankfully, he turned around for only a few seconds, let his lips curl upwards and then continued to walk towards his desk. You swore that you could see Yuna grin to herself beside you, but Miss Kim walked into the classroom right then, and your best friend didn’t have the time to tease you about your little interaction with the boy.

The truth is; you were a good team. Even with Sunoo replacing Intak (who, by the way, insisted on going to the practices and being your cheering squad… maybe not with pom poms but with his crutches), it was as if the dynamics hadn’t changed. You worked together well, and everyone was determined to do their best during the preparations which led to good results. Excellent results, on top of that, as Miss Kim would say because you were reaching the finals without any mishaps.

In the meantime, Sunoo had become a part of your friend circle, and it was as if he had always been there. He joked around with others, Yuna shared the latest gossip with him very eagerly, Yujin liked discussing controversial topics with him off-debate practices, Taehyun had already pulled a prank on him, and even Kangmin had warmed up to him, not to mention Intak who frequently called him ‘bestie’ and ‘dude’. Sunoo even joined you all for lunch at the canteen, frequenting your usual place instead of sitting with others.

You had gotten to know a lot about him during these casual conversations; about how he had moved to Seoul with his family from Suwon because his father had gotten a new job; about how bad the teamwork had been with his debate team back in Suwon and how much his teammates had hated when he had suggested practising more; about how he had been the class president in middle school, about what foods were his favourites and so on. Bit by bit, you had realised that Sunoo was just an ordinary boy with his occasionally sassy moments and bickering, and he teased you only because you teased him back. He wasn’t that bad of a guy.

You had also began to notice how much he bit down on his lower lip when he was nervous or how his eyes were darting between different parts of the classroom when he was pondering over an answer; how his eyes turned into little crescents when he was laughing hard or how his voice got higher when he was offended and tried to justify himself. Gosh, he was such a drama queen sometimes! Yuna liked to remind you though that you too were a drama queen of some kind (a perfect combination, she added with a mischievous smile, but you merely hit her shoulder in response).

So basically you could say that you were on good terms (and actually talking terms) while you were preparing for the competition, but first and foremost, you were both seniors, and studying didn’t stop even when you were preparing for the finale.

No wonder you hit up the library for a Friday afternoon study session, revising your notes for your upcoming History, Maths and English tests, and it didn’t seem like you were the only one who thought of it as the perfect time and place to study.

“Hey!” Sunoo greeted you cheerfully as he hopped down on the seat beside yours. You looked up from your notebook, gifting the boy with a surprised albeit friendly smile. A few weeks ago, it would have been a rather outrageous situation for you. Heck, you might have even stood up from the desk, letting him study there by himself because you wouldn’t be able to tolerate his presence more than it was absolutely necessary.

However, this time, you merely pulled your books closer to you, so that he would have more space on the desk.

“Hey!” You greeted him back, watching as he packed his books out of his backpack one after another. At the sight, you decided to ask about his reason for stopping by the library. “Preparing for next week’s tests?”

“Yeah. You too?” He hummed, busy reaching deep into his bag. You nodded, telling him that the three upcoming tests were all you could think about for the past few days (and nights). The boy shared your sentiment, and when he managed to settle down well, he didn’t turn to his books. Instead, he kept his eyes on you.

“Do you want to discuss the topics together?” Sunoo suggested casually. You could literally see Yuna’s grinning face in front of you because if she were to hear what the boy had said, she would be surely teasing you about it, saying that it would be a private study session. She would be right though because it was the first time you two would be spending time alone without the others being around.

Odd, you thought to yourself. Not the fact that it would be the first time, but because it didn’t scare you. It didn’t disgust you. It was just… what it was. Plus, since you had begun to accept the fact that Kim Sunoo wasn’t the worst person that could have been transferred to your school, it didn’t particularly make you feel frustrated to be associated with him.

“Yeah, sure,” you gave in, trying to suppress Yuna’s chiming voice in your head. You were just studying after all, right? It wasn’t about anything else.

Except that it was because even though you started with just studying, sharing notes and discussing some topics that were tough for the both of you, occasionally looking up some online forums to have your questions answered, it turned into more of a conversation than a study session by the end.

At one time, you even laughed out loud at the boy’s joke, so loud that the librarian told you to keep quiet.

“Gosh, that librarian’s so scary!” Sunoo turned back to you when he made sure that the woman was out of hearing range. You snickered into the paws of your hoodie, trying to conceal your laughter after seeing the elderly woman’s horrified expression.

“I know. Kangmin said that he had a recurring nightmare in junior year after the librarian had shouted his head off for one drop of water on one page of a rented book,” you recalled, still chuckling. Your heart was light, lighter than it had been an hour or so before, and you knew what was the reason.

“You guys seem to be really good friends,” Sunoo mused as he rested one of his shoulders on the opened book in front of him, turning towards you with his body. Such a casual sight would have really been impossible some time ago, but look at you! Willingly sharing with him how you had all become friends.

“Yeah. The debate club got us together. Before that, I’ve only had Yuna, but we’ve known each other since elementary school, so that’s a bit different. Yet, here, everyone felt a bit unfamiliar until we got together for the debate practices and became friends.”

“I wish it was the same with me at my old school, but most of my team members were there for the extra after school activities or possible future opportunities. It was hard to make them work when they had an attitude like that,” the boy shared sincerely, bitterness lacing his words.

Since he seemed like the type who got along well with everyone (okay, maybe not with you in the beginning, but you had your reasons), you had a difficult time imagining him being the dictator in his previous debate team because no one else had wanted to work. It seemed that the reason his team had managed to win in previous years was because of his hard-work only.

“I’m sorry,” you blurted out, finding yourself sympathising with him because you knew how much it would have sucked if your team members had been slacking off or they had been absolute assholes.

“No, don’t be!”

“But you have us now,” you confessed without thinking twice about it, but you realised only how emotional it must have sounded when you caught sight of that surprised glint in the boy’s warm orbs. You cleared your throat, uncomfortable with the way his stare made you feel. “I mean, we are your friends. I guess?”

You faltered a bit by the end, and if anything, that just gave you away even more. You weren’t good with words related to your own feelings. You had never been, let alone with a boy whom you had hated only a few months ago. Maybe he knew that just as well, maybe he had just been waiting for a time like this because in the next moment, he said:

“You guess? Do you want to be something more?”

He raised an eyebrow as well, an almost challenging one, and instead of fervently denying it like you should have (like you would have if it had been you a few months ago), you were rendered speechless. You could only be saved because the librarian came up to you to tell you to leave if you wanted to keep talking, and without a word, you turned back to your books, hiding the fact that you were blushing in the meantime.

This was so not the study session you had expected…

Your face still burned whenever you were reminded of Sunoo’s question about being something more than friends. You wanted to shout into his face that no, you absolutely would not love to be more than friends, thank you so much. Being a senior with all the exams coming up, teachers giving you extra homework and assignments to prepare well, uncertainties regarding your future and having the final debate competition on your plate was more than enough drama that you would have wanted to invest in. You had your friend group as well, you were fine on your own, so perfectly fine that you didn’t need anybody else to fill a so-called nonexistent empty void inside of you…

But. And there’s always a but. It wasn’t about Sunoo being the missing piece of your puzzle or whatever cringe-worthy lines kdramas threw at you these days, it was about you feeling more comfortable around him than any other boy in your life. And like not on the friendly comfortable level because that could be Intak or Taehyun, too (Kangmin too but you weren’t sure that the boy was equally as comfortable around you as you were towards him). It was about being comfortable enough to share your worries, struggles and your down moments with someone who had every right to hate you for how you had acted in the past towards him. Yet, still, he cared about you. His messages leading up to the finale were more and more frequent. He remembered the smallest details about you like what you liked from the canteen food and gave you his side dishes that you preferred. He was there to comfort you when he found you crying in the back yard of the school, putting yourself down after completely failing a History test.

And the looks he gave you… they made you feel some sort of way, and suddenly, when a love song came on the radio, you didn’t want to puke because you felt like it was relatable. Yet, love? Gosh, how could you have fallen in love with Kim Sunoo?

So no, you didn’t bring up the question ever again, and the boy didn’t do so either, so you made yourself believe that it was because he had been merely joking. That helped you move on with the preparations for the finale, helped you concentrate on winning this for your team, your school and for yourself. One last time before you were no longer a high school student.

“I’m telling you, guys. You might not have me, and that’s a serious drawback, but hey, maybe you will thank me for breaking my leg,” Intak joked around as you were all standing in the corridor, waiting to be called in for the final debate when the big day had finally come. He still had his crutches, but that smile on him was ever so radiant, and that helped you all to not feel so bad about not having him on your team this year.

“Because you think you could have won Sunoo over in our mini competition?” Taehyun teased with a side-glance, and you were sure that if the athlete didn’t have his crutches, he would have easily smacked the other boy in the side. Instead, he just pouted, and upon the otherwise adorable sight, even Kangmin’s lips curled upwards.

“We’re all going to be great, don’t worry! We aren’t even against Sunoo’s old team, so I’m pretty sure we’ll nail this. Around 99.9% sure,” Yuna chirped in, reminding you that your opponent was the team who had always been 3rd place ever since your team had entered the competitions. This year though, Sunoo’s old team had been eliminated in the preliminary rounds, just another proof that he had been the ace in his team, not someone else.

“Yeah, we’ve got this!”

“Let’s do well since it’s our last time!” You hollered after Yujin, and you all put your hands in the middle of your little circle, one upon the other. You tried to ignore the slight shiver down your spine when you put your hand on Sunoo’s, but you couldn’t ignore Yuna’s knowing glance.

After your cheer, you felt a bit less nervous, but before you were called in, you caught Sunoo’s stare, and when your eyes locked, his lips turned into the most reassuring smile ever, and he even gave you a thumbs-up. You smiled at him, thankful, and averted your eyes almost immediately, feeling your face flush.

Thankfully, there was no time to waste because the events picked up their pace around you. You felt more and more confident the more time went by, and you felt like your team was really all in this together. The other team was good too, but they wavered more often, and they were less confident in their claims whenever you tried to raise an argument about what they said. While coming up with ideas and presenting them, you didn’t think about winning or losing, you just tried to prove to the others and the judges that you believed in what you said, and that you could back up your words.

No wonder you felt like you had run a marathon when you were over the final part of the competition and only the winner’s announcement was left. All three of you girls immediately went to the women’s room, chit-chatting about how you were feeling, recalling certain parts of your arguments, contemplating whether you were good enough and so on. When you went back to the classroom assigned as the waiting room, you saw that the boys did the same.

Despite the slight tension in the air over the uncertain results, your little team had a good chat until you were called in for the winner’s announcement. As you made your way to the stage, walking beside your team members of four years (or only a few months with Sunoo), you were hit by the past memories; the yell of frustration when Intak had decided to pull a prank on Kangmin when you had told him to take the practice seriously for once, the tears of annoyance when everything had seemed to go wrong and unsuccessful practices had become the tip of the iceberg, the tears of joy when you had first won the national competition, the laughter shared over the pizza Taehyun had bought for you all when Intak had been complaining that he had been hungry and that’s why he couldn’t concentrate on his tasks, the tea Yuna had always spilled about the latest school drama, the book reviews Yujin had always given involuntarily even though most of you wouldn’t read what she read, and the more and more frequent times Kangmin had seemed to come out of his shell… and Sunoo’s trademark laughter and crescent-like smile whenever he had found the boys’ joke funny or tried to share his own ones.

Everything came back all at once, and as you were standing there beside the others, you felt a bit emotional. And a bit perplexed when you felt someone’s hands brush yours.

“It’s all okay. You did great,” Sunoo whispered beside you, and when you looked down at your hand, you saw the exact moment he reached for yours. Your eyes shot up to his face, but he was merely smiling, and god damnit, you found yourself smiling, too!

“And now, let me announce the winners of the 22nd Annual National Debate Competition for High School Students…” The host started as she opened the envelope, and you felt your heart skip a beat when she looked up from the paper, ready to finally say the name of the winner. Unbeknownst to you, you squeezed Sunoo’s hands in yours when the crowd erupted into claps. “Seoul Hybe High School!”

You didn’t register for a moment what happened, but in the next, you already found yourself abruptly hugging the person beside you: who happened to be Sunoo. He hugged you back, his arms lacing around your waist, and you only realised what you had just done when you caught sight of Yuna’s grin over Sunoo’s shoulder.

Timidly, you backed away, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, clearing your throat in an attempt to hide your embarrassment. Sunoo, on the other hand, was full of smiles, and he even dared to ask:

“So is that a yes?”

“A what?” You furrowed your eyebrows, not knowing what he meant by that.

��A yes to my question.”

“What question?” Your eyes widened in anticipation at the possibility of him referring to the question you thought that he had long forgotten, but when he confirmed your hope, you almost fainted on the spot.

“That you want to be something more than just my friend?” Sunoo asked straight-forwardly, taking one step closer with an almost amused smile hiding in the corner of his lips.

“Hey, y/n, we were just talking that-” Yujin came up to the two of you, a wide smile plastered onto her face, but when she caught sight of your perplexed expression and Sunoo’s closeness, she exchanged a glance with your best friend who couldn’t stop wiggling her eyebrows. Taehyun looked as if he had known everything all along while Kangmin looked around, confused. You were sure that even Intak from the crowd would be able to tell what was going on.

“Oh my gosh, please, continue! We’ll be outside,” Yuna announced triumphantly, already pushing the others off the stage.

“What is going on?” Kangmin blinked innocently, looking from one friend to the other, and Yuna promised him that she would tell him everything as they were walking away from you two.

“Go, boy! Just be confident!” Taehyun hollered before they got lost in the sea of people congratulating them, and yet, you felt like no one else was around the two of you when Sunoo looked at you so expectantly. That radiant smile of his was enough to make you go weak in the knees, and it was almost laughable how you had wished to wipe that smirk off his face a few months ago, but now… Maybe you wanted the same, but lovingly.

“I-I don’t know…” You mumbled when you finally found your voice, but when you caught sight of hurt flashing across his orbs, you quickly justified yourself. “I mean, I’ve never had a boyfriend before. I don’t know how that works.”

Sure, you have seen enough kdramas and read enough books and heck, you have read even many theoretical articles about love and affection, but nothing could be compared to when it actually came into practice.

“Well, I’ve never had a girlfriend either, but should we give it a try?” Sunoo said casually, shrugging his shoulders. No matter how much he tried to play it off coolly, you could see that he was reassured that you felt the same way.

“That’s not a bad idea.”

“Oh, so do we actually agree on something?” He asked playfully, and you smacked him in the shoulder, but he caught your wrist, and turned you towards him. Then, in a matter of seconds, you found yourself in his embrace again, but this time, you didn’t want to let go of him so soon.

What’s more, you wanted to stay there forever.

[bodhrancomedy]

Sometimes I have dreams where I think, “Yeah, you can tell EXACTLY what anxieties lead to this.”

Like, it started off nicely enough. I was with my family outside and we were going to go on rides. My sister and I were discussing making gingerbread and icing it. I was even holding a living version of my childhood toy.

Then suddenly, I was in a corridor between two bathrooms. I went into the male bathroom. I opened what I thought was the exit door out and I was in a second bathroom. Possibly also male. I opened a third and it was a female bathroom.

THEN IT WAS A CONTINUOUS OPENING OF DOORS INTO FEMALE BATHROOMS. It was like a fucking endless mirror of bathrooms I didn’t want to be in. Over and over again I yanked open the door to find myself in the wrong bathroom, panic building because I WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE. IF SOMEONE SAW ME THERE, THEY’D BEAT ME UP.

TRANS MASCS CANNOT BE IN THE FEMALE BATHROOM.

Then, finally I opened a door and was out, but I’d stepped into a school. But I wasn’t supposed to be there either. I wasn’t a student, I was a fully grown adult and fully grown adults are not supposed - quite rightly so - to be in schools where there are primary school children without a reason.

But schools also are dangerous places for obviously queer people.

But there were no classrooms, but another unfolding maze of PE halls. No matter which direction I went, no matter which door I opened, it was yet another PE hall all set up and ready for sports day. And every room had a different primary school with a teacher and every time I had to offer some explanation of how I got lost, of how I wasn’t a creep because I was trans. I even came across my old primary school with kids I didn’t recognise in my old school uniform, but of course the teachers didn’t recognise me and why should they? They’d last seen a miserable twelve-year-old girl with a raggedy bob and an unyielding hate for her body.

Someone did try to give me directions to the building I wanted, but they started pushing me to take part in the sports and I was trying to explain that I was in a binder, you can’t exercise in a binder.

They were so disappointed that I ‘had fallen victim to all that’ that I suddenly had to defend myself on this PE hall with the basketball court lines painted on the floor that seemed to suddenly, symbolically be a courtroom complete with teacher stood in front of me with a basketball.

For a gravel, I suppose.

And just as I was finishing an explanation of why a children’s writer is hardly some beacon of intelligence or omnipotence until the lives of trans mascs, I was climbing up a massive bed-thing where I was trying to hang onto the fitted sheets which kept tearing -

And I woke up with the words, “Children’s books are a microcosm of the time they were written,” on my lips and I knew with absolute certainty I was talking about that bit in Narnia where the Pevensie children tumble out of the wardrobe again, shrunk back to prepubescence with the knowledge and life as adults where no one understands or believes them and how it’s a metaphor for returning from a War you fought and - somehow won - before you were even 21.

I think I was explaining why Harry Potter isn’t some bible of literature to try and shake the hands She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, that cowardly streak of piss (pretty sure this is what I called her, so much for measured eloquence) has around a generation of trans kids’ necks.

So, yeah. It sucks for trans people at the moment.

At least I wasn’t late for an exam or forgot my lines on stage, eh? (Bitter).

[ghstandpucks]

Teacher Appreciation Part 3 ~ Nathan MacKinnon (4+1)

Here it is! Part 3 (and last) of Teacher Appreciation! I'm so thankful for all the comments and love, thank you to everyone who has read it! Let me know what you think of this part! Shout out to @cozynightscandle for asking about a part 3 and providing some inspo, as well as @avsfans95 for always letting me bounce ideas off of her!

Also, sixth grade is still considered elementary in my district, so I kept it that way for purposes of the story!

Summary: The four times Nate surprised your class, and the one time your class and Nate surprised you.

Warning: mentions of the pandemic (not the main focus, just touching on how teaching was during that time as I spent the beginning of my teaching career pretty much online)

Word Count: 4,634

Master List

Your first year of teaching sixth grade was actually more successful than you would have thought. It was a different type of bond you were able to build with your students. Instead of having to tie shoes and clean boo-boos, you became someone that your students would come talk to if they were too stressed. They told you their dreams and aspirations; all the while still relying on you to calm their fears when math became overwhelming. Long story short, you absolutely loved it. Yes, some were taller than you, and on more than one occasion Nate would lose you among your kiddos when he would come to help in your classroom. Still, you built connections that you didn’t think were possible after always working with the younger kids. Nate loved seeing how excited you were, and loved when you would come home and tell him all about what your kids did that day.

And yes, home was now with Nate. During a bad snow one evening, you were panicking about having to get back home so you could change just in case school wasn’t cancelled for the next day. Nate, off-handedly, suggested that it would be easier for you to just move in, since you were over all the time anyways; his office half taken over with craft supplies already. You agreed with a sarcastic laugh, thinking he was joking, but woke up to him clearing out space in his closet. During winter break, you officially moved in. Now it was your second year in sixth grade, and a handful of your kiddos from third grade when you first met Nate were back in your class. And if you thought third graders were intrusive, they just got worse, especially when they already knew you.

1

“Miss Y/L/N, could you not give us homework tonight? I have practice,” Steven asked right after the morning bell rang and you were checking over last nights homework.

“Steven, I already don’t give you much homework and you have time to usually start it in class. Use your time wisely kiddo,” you said, stamping his paper as he groaned.

“But Miss Y/L/N…”

“But nothing, do your work,” you responded, making a face at him that caused the young boy to huff out a laugh. You had only been in school for a month now, but have been having a great time with your kids. Today, the Avs would be on campus talking with the fifth graders as they do every year about the presidential fitness test. Last week when your students caught word that the hockey team would be there, half of them pleaded with you to get the team into your classroom. Little did they know that you had a different surprise planned for them. During recess, Nate ran into your classroom as you gathered your PE supplies. “Do they know yet?” he asked, giving you a quick kiss and taking the kickball from your hands.

“Not a clue,” you giggled as he retreated to his teammates and you went to get your kids from line. Leading your students into the gym as you had PE after recess, they all started to shout and jump around when they saw who was joining them. You waved as Nate came into view, accompanied by the entire Avs’ line up.

“Hi Teacher Dad!” Alexa squealed over the commotion, and you swore your face was beat red. She hadn’t used that term yet this year and to be frank, you had forgotten about it.

“Alexa,” you started as the guys laughed.

“Hi Alexa,” Nate called out, smiling at you with a look that told you not to get upset. Looking back at the girl, she sent you a sweet smile and you just shook your head with a laugh.

“You know better,” you said and she giggled. “Alright, ladies and gentleman gather around please! Today we will be continuing our game of….”

“Kickball basketball!” your kids yelled, running off to their teams and taking their positions. “Wait wait wait. Before we get started, would someone kindly explain the rules of kickball basketball to our newcomers,” you gestured towards the Avs who looked completely confused at your fusion of the two ballgames.

“So one team pitches the ball like in kickball and the other team has to kick it. Then they skip around the perimeter of the basketball court and have to make it back home before the other team can get the ball and shoot it through the hoop,” Justin explained.

“There are also no bases so you can’t stop. You aren’t safe anywhere unless you make it back home,” Kalel added.

“This is really a game now?” Andre asked you and you nodded.

“And it is our favorite. So I have my kids playing odds vs evens based on their class numbers. I think you all can split up that way too,” you said, gesturing for the guys to join their respective teams. Nate watched as you settled the argument about who the pitcher would be between three of your boys, not handing the ball over till they figured it out diplomatically.

“She wasn’t joking when she said her students were taller than her, was she?” Andre laughed from beside Nate as he chuckled along. You stood on the sideline, cheering and calling out foul balls for the duration of the game. The Avs took it easy with your kids, just laughing and having fun. Your kids were ecstatic, being able to call some of the guys their teammates; getting high fives and being cheered on by the pro athletes. You PE time was about to end within another five minutes as the teams switched sides after the evens got three outs on the odds. You saw Isaac hand Nate the ball to make him pitcher, smiling as Nate gently rolled the ball to Kiely. After she kicked it and almost made it around, Steven was up.

“Miss Y/L/N, will you kick?” he called out to you, and your class started to cheer. It was no secret that you played PE games with your kids from time to time. A chant of your name was started as you laughed and put your keys and walkie talkie off to the side.

“Teacher Mom vs Teacher Dad, yaaaasss,” Alexa cheered and you shook your head.

“Alexa,” you called and she smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry!” Nate laughed and turned his attention back to you. He rolled the ball slower than you knew he could, but that didn’t stop you from kicking it with all your might. Your kids (and the Avs) on your side were cheering loudly as you skipped around the perimeter laughing, coming back to home a second before Tyson got the ball in the net.

“Evens win!” you called out, then made your two teams shake hands with each other and collect the equipment as it was time to head back to class. As your class was saying goodbye to the Avs, Nate walked over and bumped his arm into you.

“You know I went easy on you right?” he asked, ever the competitor. You laughed and smiled sweetly at him.

“You know you shouldn’t have, right?” you shot back, laughing as he rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you back home. Love you,” you whispered.

“Love you,” he whispered back. You gathered your class and ushered them out of the gym and back to your classroom. The rest of the day went well as your class was floating on cloud nine from their interaction with the Avs.

2

One Thursday afternoon before Winter break, you came home with several bags of potatoes in hand. Opening your apartment door, you walked in on Mikko and Andre watching a basketball game with Nate; your boyfriend automatically getting up and taking a few bags from you. “What’s with all the potatoes?” Mikko asked.

“We’re mummifying them tomorrow in class,” you answered casually, walking off into the kitchen as Nate sat back down on the couch while Mikko and Andre looked entirely confused.

“Did what she just said not phase you at all?” Andre asked Nate and the center shrugged.

“I’ve been hearing about this project for like 3 months now,” he said casually. You walked back into the room and sat on the edge of the couch near Nate.

“Mummifying potatoes?” Mikko asked, looking slightly horrified.

“Yeah, we’re learning about ancient Egypt. We’re going to wrap the potatoes in foil and decorate them with plastic jewels like they were death masks,” you explained in an excited tone.

“How?” Andre asked, now completely more interested in what you were talking about than the game.

“I’m going to cut large slices of potatoes so ever student gets a handful. Then we’re going to pour baking soda and salt on them to dry it out like the Ancient Egyptians would dry a body. Then we are going to wrap it in tin foil like a sarcophagus and decorate. When we get back from winter break, we’ll ‘excavate’ them by unwrapping the potatoes and see how we did with drying it out, documenting changes and what we see like archaeologists,” you explained. Nate smiled up at you as Mikko and Andre tried to figure out if the project seemed cool or crazy. They settled on cool.

“Can we help?” Mikko asked and you laughed.

“Nate’s coming in tomorrow to help. The two of you can come with him if you want,” you said and the guys nodded.

The following day, Alexa answered the door when there was a knock as you were starting to explain to your class what they were going to do with their potatoes. “Teacher Dad! You’re here!” She said quietly as to not get in trouble by you. Nate chuckled, nodding as Mikko and Andre planned on chirping him later for how comfortable your class was with him if they were calling him teacher dad like it was no big deal. It was one thing when they were younger, but took on a different comfort level as they were older.

The guys helped you pass out the materials and made their own sarcophagi as you circled the classroom making sure your students were staying on task and not just goofy around. A few of your sports obsessed boys clung to the hockey players and copied their every move, decorating their sarcophagi to look similar. You laughed, passing by Nate’s and adding an extra jewel because you wanted to make it more sparkly. He narrowed his eyes at you, but let you keep adding jewels until you were content and circled the class again to see how your kids were coming along. Mikko and Andre snickered; only you would be allowed to touch anything of Nate’s and not have him explode on you.

“Mr. MacKinnon?” two of your girls came up to Nate with little giggles. He looked at them confused, but answered.

“Yes?”

“You and Miss Y/L/N are dating right? Like you’re here all the time. Ever since third grade,” Audrey asked in a hushed tone while Cierra continued to giggle. Nate flushed, not sure how to answer them.

“You must really like her. Like, marry her like her,” Cierra added as Nate cleared his throat and his teammates started to laugh. Before Nate could formulate a sentence though, you were calling for your class’s attention, letting them know it was time to put their ‘sarcophagi’ on the back counter and clean up for the day. As you circled the room again, you noticed Nate looking a bit red with the two forwards trying to hold in their laughter.

“You okay?” you asked him quietly.

“Fine,” he shot you a smile, and though you were skeptical, you returned to your class.

“Yeah Teacher Dad Mackinnon. When are you going to make her Teacher Mom MacKinnon?” Andre chirped quietly, muttering a sorry when you shot him a look having heard his voice, but not what he said. Truth be told, Nate had already thought about it and had plans for an off-season proposal.

3

Campus was quiet on a Thursday after school. You had made copies and stapled a few packets together, graded math tests, and prepared a social studies test for Friday. One task led to another and you kept walking around your room hanging up new student work. Sitting down, you started working on going through your students work from the week to check for understanding and participation. As you were stamping and writing comments, you heard your door being unlocked. Figuring it was the custodian, you kept on plugging away. “Hi Ms. Kay,” you said cheerfully, before looking up and jumping in shock. “What are you doing here?” Nate looked at you incredulously.

“Why are you still here? Y/N I thought something happened to you,” he walked over to you and pulled you up and into a hug. Was he worried about you?

“No, I was just getting some things done. How did you get in?” you asked as he let go of you.

“Ms. Kay gave me your room key when I ran into her in the parking lot. Why the hell are you still here? I tried to call you like ten times,” Nate said, obviously worried, but you still weren’t sure why.

“I have bad reception in my room, I’m sorry babe,” you said, grabbing his hand. “Why are you so worried. Is everything okay?”

“You don’t know what time it is, do you?” Nate asked you, laughing humorlessly.

“It’s only like 4:30,” you said, looking at him confused.

“Hun, no,” he said, showing you his watch. “It’s 7:30.”

“Oh my gosh Nate. I am so sorry! One thing led to another and I wasn’t paying attention and…” you rambled.

“Hey it’s okay,” Nate tilted your chin up with his forefinger. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, realizing you had worried him. Nate smiled softly at you, giving you a quick kiss before grabbing your backpack and keys.

“Let’s go home,” he tugged on your hand but looked back when you didn’t budge.

“Nate I have so much to do. I don’t know how I got behind this week but I need to get all their work together and sent home in their Friday folders,” you rushed out, starting to feel overwhelmed that you didn’t have all the time you thought you had.

“Then they can get them on Monday. You need to come home and get some rest,” Nate tried to reason patiently with you.

“Nate, they’re called Friday folders for a reason,” you said.

“And I’m sure if they get them late one week no one will riot,” he responded.

“You don’t know that.”

“I know your class adores you as their teacher. Now let’s go home and you can finish them tomorrow if you’re going to stress over it,” Nate started to pull you along.

“But…”

“Leave it.”

The next day you were running on pure caffeine and more thankful than usual that it was Friday. The unfortunate part, your schedule had no room for you to work on your Friday folders. Figuring you would skip lunch to get it done, you went about your day as usual. You were helping Noah with dividing fractions when there was a knock at your door. As you continued to help your student, Justin got up and answered. “Mr. MacKinnon!” he yelled and your head shot up.

“Justin, that is not an appropriate classroom tone,” you said as your class was all trying to get a better look at Nate. “Get back to work you guys. I’ll be right back Noah. Try number 12 by yourself,” you suggested, getting up and walking over to Nate. “Everything okay?”

“What do you want me to file?” he asked.

“What?” you asked, confused by his question.

“You were stressed yesterday about your Friday folders and they still look empty,” Nate gestured toward your hanging files on the wall with all the student’s folders in them. “I figured I would stop by to see if you needed help.”

“Are you my room mom for the day?” you laughed quietly and Nate nodded. Checking the time, you shook your head.

“You just got out of practice. I appreciate the help, but I’m sure your tired. Go home and rest,” you said, feeling guilty that you had worried him yesterday.

“I’m good. Where should I start?” he smiled.

“Please let him stay Miss Y/L/N. I love making my brother mad that Nathan MacKinnon spends time in our class instead of his,” Isaac said from behind you. Turning around, you laughed looking up at the tall sixth grader.

“Why are you up?” you asked.

“Oh! I need help on number 15,” he showed you his messy paper.

“We’ll go over everything right now. But did you flip the second fraction and then simplify?”

“No….”

“Ohhh, I would start there,” you smiled.

“Yes ma’am,” Isaac saluted you and went back to his desk. You laughed softly, shaking your head and turning back to Nate. “If you’re sure you want to stay, their work is all ready to be filed and it’s sitting on my desk. Thank you.” You smiled at Nate with a sigh of relief. He squeezed your arm reassuringly for a moment, then walked over to your desk to grab the stack he needed. “Alright my crazies, let’s go over our keep, change, flip.”

4

This wasn’t actually happening, was it? There’s no way this is real. These thoughts swirled in your head on a Friday in March. The school was closing for an extended spring break due to an outbreak. COVID-19 was closing your school. Nate’s season was just postponed, and now school. You went home in tears that day, not knowing what was going to happen next.

Over the next two weeks, you prepared Google Classrooms and work to do digitally as your school year was called. A month in a half online, then summer. Nate was getting agitated, not knowing what to expect with hockey and also worried for the both of you in the city. “I’m getting us a flight to Coal Harbor before they close the borders,” he mentioned one night during dinner.

“Nate, I can’t leave. What if I need to get back into my class? What if my kids need me?” you asked, your anxiety heightening.

“Then I’ll find a way to get you back here as quickly as possible. I just think we would be safer at home with more space, not an apartment in the middle of Denver,” he explained.

“I don’t have anything to teach there. At least here I have a white board, I can’t take that on a plane,” you rambled. Nate reached across the table and grabbed your hand.

“I already ordered you one for there. It’s being delivered tomorrow. You can turn one of the spare rooms into your classroom, or you can take my office and I can do things somewhere else. I just want to go back home, and I’m not comfortable leaving you here,” he said, wiping a tear off your cheek with the pad of his thumb. You weren’t sure if you were stress crying or worried crying at this point. He did have a point though, and you were online for the remainder of the school year. You nodded.

“Okay.”

~ ~ ~

Three weeks later you were laughing at a story one of your kids was telling you over Google Meet. You had to give it to your class, they were very resilient and working hard to finish the year off. Deciding that you wanted to do something fun for PE, you roped Nate into a low-key training session. You told your kids to come to class that morning in their favorite sports gear and be ready to move. Opening your meet, you appeared in your MacKinnon jersey. “Of course you have a MacKinnon jersey Miss Y/L/N,” Cierra said laughing. You looked at her shocked.

“Who else should I have?” you laughed with her.

“Crosby,” Kiely unmuted herself quickly.

“I heard that Kiely!” Nate yelled from somewhere in the hallway. Your kids started laughing and you smiled at them, thankful to have them all healthy and safe in front of you, even if it was through a screen.

“Okie dokie kiddies. I have something fun planned for us today. Are you all ready to meet our special guests?”

“We know Mr. MacKinnon is there Miss Y/L/N,” Steven unmuted himself and laughed.

“I said guests as in plural Steven. But if you don’t want to meet him, I guess I can just send him back home,” you shrugged, starting to turn around in your chair.

“No no no! Steven stop talking. Miss Y/L/N, who is it?” Noah called, practically bouncing out of his seat.

“Hey, be nice Noah. Alright ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. I would like you to meet your PE coaches for the day. Mr. MacKinnon you already know, but say hi!” your kids all unmuted themselves to say hello to Nate as he walked into the room. “Okay now, drumroll please! Your other PE coach, Mr. Crosby!” The screams of your kids had you pressing ‘mute all’ really quick. If only there was a mute all in real life. Sidney waved at your kids while Nate laughed as Kalel fell out of his chair in excitement. You saw parents running into the rooms of your students, all waving and excited themselves once they saw there was no danger.

After a 30 minute workout with Nate and Sid demonstrating and counting for the kids, you let them have time to talk with your class. They had been working so hard, you figured some time missed from learning to enjoy themselves in this hectic experience was needed. Friday was half day for you online, so after a math review and reading time, you said goodbye to your kids as they all started to log off. Waving till the last one left, you sunk back into your chair as you ended the call. Nate came into the room and placed a kiss on your forehead. “Thank you for doing that today,” you said, smiling at your boyfriend.

“Of course. I would do anything for you, you know that,” he said simply and you smiled. “I am mad at Kiely though. Why should you have a Crosby jersey?” Nate made a face and you giggled.

“She just wants what’s best for her teacher,” you teased him, leaning forward to give him a quick kiss and then standing up to head to the kitchen for a snack.

“Yeah sure,” Nate said, then comprehended what you just said. “Hey!” he ran after you, circling his arms around your waist while you laughed and tried to get away from him.

+1

It was the last day of school for the year, and you were watching a movie with your kids on Google Meet. After the meet you talked about the summer and what they hoped to do if they could. You had them also talk about what their favorite part of the year was and what they look forward to in Junior High. “You guys know that I will always be here for you. I know you will all be awesome seventh graders and I can’t wait to run into you all at the grocery store one day and have you all tell me about it,” you said, starting to get choked up with having to say goodbye to them after such an insane year.

“I’m gonna miss you Teacher Mom,” Alexa unmuted herself and you almost broke. Even though you would get after her when she would call Nate Teacher Dad, you loved being her Teacher Mom.

“You’re going to make me cry,” you said, tearing up and laughing as your kids all started to unmute themselves to tell you not to cry.

“Miss Y/L/N, can you call Mr. MacKinnon into the room please?” Kiely asked softly and you nodded, figuring she wanted to say goodbye to him too. You called for Nate, laughing at a joke one of your boys told you while he walked into the room. Seeing him through the camera, you turned around in shock.

“What’s all of this?” you said to all the little presents and cards Nate was holding and placing down on the desk beside your laptop.

“We all wanted to get you something, so my mom emailed Mr. MacKinnon to plan how to get it to you!” Isaac shouted.

“Email?” you asked Nate, not knowing they had his email.

“Instagram,” he whispered. Your actual room mom DMed Nate.

“You guys! This is too much! Thank you,” you gushed, looking at the outpour of love from your class. “You’re all the best and I love you guys,” you said, not helping the tears that came to your eyes.

“Love you Miss Y/L/N!” a few of your girls shouted while your boys just laughed.

“There is also one more thing,” Nate muttered to you, rubbing the back of his neck. “You guys ready?” he asked your class, and you could hear the nerves in his voice. Why was he nervous? Your kids all nodded, big smiles on most of their faces. “Okay, hold them up.” You watched the screen as your kids held up colorful posters with different sayings on them. Confused, you started to read them.

“Teacher Mom + Teacher Dad”

“Congratulations!”

“Mrs. MacKinnon’s Class!”

“Say yes!” … Kiely’s had a picture of a ring on it. Your jaw dropped as your heartbeat sped up.

“Turn around!” Alexa yelled through the speakers. Spinning in your chair, you came face to face with Nate kneeling in front of you, a beautiful ring in his hands.

“I had a whole speech planned out, but I’m forgetting it now,” he chuckled and you giggled with him, more tears filling your eyes. “I know this time has been crazy, and I didn’t plan on purposing to you during a pandemic, but I didn’t want to wait any longer. I love you Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N. I’m thankful everyday that those kids brought you to the rink that day three years ago. I love having crafts all over my desk because you need more space, and I love being Teacher Dad; more than I thought I would. But most of all, I love the peace and steadiness you bring to my life, even if you’re running in circles yourself. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

“Say yes!” shouts came from behind you on the computer screen. You smiled, nodding your head.

“Yes, of course,” you said, tears falling. Nate smiled at you and slipped the ring on your finger, standing up and bringing you into a hug. He wanted to kiss you, but knew you would get mad that it was in front of your class. Cheers erupted from the meet, and you turned to see not only your students but their parents also. Laughing, you showed your class your ring quickly.

“Yay Teacher Mom and Teacher Dad!” Alexa shouted and you couldn’t get mad at her this time. After they all calmed down and you said your final goodbyes, you ended the meet and found Nate laying on the couch. You lowered yourself on top of him and kissed him.

“How did you get them to do that?” you asked, referring to the signs.

“When Isaac’s mom messaged me, I brought it up. She coordinated it all with the other parents,” he said and you laughed.

“I love you,” you said, kissing him again, Nate wrapped his arms around you, holding you close.

“I love you too, future Mrs. MacKinnon.”

Tagged: @avsfans95 @capsvsducks @justjosty @tysojost @natxpat @evphemia @stlbluesbrat21 @fallinallincurls @joeyisourranger @kyratallent @drewseph93 @ayohockeycheck @tkbarzal @stormingroses @dreamandrow @handwrittenheros @brandonbagel @bakerclaire123 @miranda0102 @cherrylita @musiclove-12 @reallyawkwardbandlover

[teddy06writes]

Can I request a Karl x Alex x Nick x Reader fic in which the reader is a teacher and they bring their boyfriends in for career day? I just thought it’d be so cute to see them interact with little kids.

sapnap x karl x quackity x reader

trigger warnings: none

premise: pretty much everything from the ask, although I know nothing about children so..., sorry lol

requested by the person above as well as @eliasxxk who asked for more karlnapity x reader

(y/n/n)- your nickname

(y/l/n)- your last name

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Career day?” Nick asked.

You nodded, quickly packing up the last of the assignments you had finished grading and tucking them into your bag, “Yeah, remember how I was planning the different stations and stuff for the kids?”

“Oh yeah, I thought you had all that stuff sorted?” Karl handed you your laptop from across the table.

“We did,” You sighed, “But someone backed out and now we have a slot to fill. So, one of you, all of you, I don’t care, we still need someone to do it.”

Alex frowned, “What would we have to do for that?”

You ran a hand through your hair, “Make a presentation on what you do? We were looking for a broad spectrum and the guy who backed out was someone’s cousin who did like, animation or something.”

As you gathered the rest of your things you explained that one group or person would be set up in each classroom, and that kids would rotate through, not just the fifth graders you taught, but the whole of the elementary school.

Karl grinned, “What time would we have to be there?”

“The welcome thing for the speakers is it 9 ish on Friday, so I can bring back the forms you’d need to fill out today to get them in on time.”

Your boyfriends agreed, and with a smile you pecked them all on the lips, “Alright, I gotta go. I’ll see you later.”

“Love you!” Karl called as you started out the door.

“Love you too!”

~~

After practically zooming through your first three units, ELA, Math and History, and sending your kids off to PE, you headed down to the admin offices to make copies and grab the forms.

“Hey Sadie!” You greeted cheerfully.

The secretary smiled, “Hey mx. (y/l/n).”

You moved over to the copier, starting your copies, “Do you have any of those forms? For the people giving the presentations on career day?”

“You found someone?” Adam, the sixth grade teacher who had been organizing the career day asked as he entered the office.

“Three someones actually,” You smiled, “Alex, Karl and Nick said they could.”

“Oh, that’ll be interesting.”  Sadie laughed.

“Minecraft youtubers,” Adam mused unenthusiastically, “I’m sure the kids will love to hear about people without real jobs.”

You rolled your eyes, “They pull just as much if not more than me every year, plus Nicky and Alex are still in college.”

Adam cocked an eyebrow as you grabbed your copies, and then the forms from Sadie, “Well at least I can’t complain, your saving my ass.”

“Damn right I am,” You scoffed starting out of the office, “You owe me.”

Heading back down the hall and then up the stairs to the fifth grade hallway you pulled out your phone, sending a text to the ‘loves <3′ group chat, ‘the files have been secured’

Back in your classroom you began to set out the Novels your class had been reading, and set up the last of the things you would need for the mini science lab that would happen later in the after noon.

~~ The next few days passed quickly, and soon you were pointing your boyfriends in the direction of the library, where the volunteers were supposed to be meeting before heading up to your classroom, greeting the kids who were already inside.

“Hey guys! Are you excited for today?”

A few kids nodded.

“Which presentation are you most excited to see?”

“Probably the actor!” Damien exclaimed.

“The actor? Any reason why or you just think they’d be cool?”

“I wanna be an actor.” He said.

“Yeah?” You chuckled, “What about you Sam?”

The girl through for a moment, tapping at her desk absently, “Probably the firefighter, I want to save people like them some day.”

You nodded, “Calum? Any your excited for?”

“Well I was excited to Ricky, he’s my cousin and an animator but he couldn’t come.” The boy pouted.

“Aw, well I’m sorry about that, but I’m sure there’ll be plenty of interesting people for you to see.” You looked over the schedule again, answering a messege from Adam, willingly surrendering yourself to running around and helping wherever needed during the day, instead of watching the presentations with your kids.

The morning announcements came and went, and the teaching aid who would be taking your place, touring the kids around came in, “Alright guys! We’r~~e going down to the auditorium so that the principal and Mr. Alderton can explain the plan for today, and so that the people who are going to be in these rooms have time to set up!”

She herded the kids out of the room, smiling at you as you grabbed your phone, following them out, but turning down a different hall to the library.

Adam breathed a sigh of relief as soon as you got inside, “Oh thank god! Okay, I need you to get these lovely people to there rooms, Adda is already going around to set up projectors.”

You nodded, taking the papers from him, “Okay people! If you’d follow me, we’ll get you into these classrooms on time!”

The group of various adults followed you out of the library as you started calling out names at each floor, in between the intersection of grade level hallways, pointing out room numbers.

By the time you had made it to the cross roads between the fifth and sixth grade, Adam was already frantically messaging you about being late so quickly you called out the last of the room numbers, pointing various directions and telling the people to let themselves in.

You turned to your boyfriends, “Right you guys are in my room, it’s at the end of the hall, my computer should be unlocked.”

“You’re not like, staying to hang out or anything?” Karl asked.

“I’ve been roped into over seeing this thing. I might be in and out at various times through out the day,” You pressed a kiss to each of there cheeks before starting back towards the stairs, “Have fun!”

~~

You spent your day running around, delivering different things to various classrooms and basically doing Adam’s bidding.

A little way into the last rotation of kids around the building you finally got the chance to take a break and head back up to your room, slipping in and sitting in the back as Karl tried his best to explain streaming to a group of kindergarteners.

They may not have fully understood what he was talking about, but they sure did find him funny.

You watched quietly as your boyfriends interacted with the kids, opening up for questions sooner than they had with the older kids, and patently answering each one.

“What are you going to college to learn how to do?” A young girl asked.

Alex smiled, “Well I’m going to get real smart to be a lawyer, and Mr. Sapnap here is learning about computers.”

“What’s a lawyer?” Another kid asked.

“My uncle’s a lawyer,” someone two desks away offered, “My mom says it’s someone who works in a court!”

Alex chuckled, “You are absolutely right Big Man, lawyers defend people who go to court.”

“If you and you are goin to college,” A boy near the front pointed at Nick and then Alex, “Then what’s he learning at college?” He pointed at Karl.

“Karl isn’t in college anymore.” Nick said simply.

“Not honking smart enough.” Karl grinned as kids laughed at his use of the word honk.

They continued to joke around for a while, until the pa crackled that it was time for everyone to head back to there normal classrooms, and you moved back to the front of the room, “That was entertaining.”

“(y/n/n)! This was awesome!” Karl exclaimed.

You nodded, glancing at the clock as you began to re arrange your desk, “Theres like, maybe ten minutes to the bell, you guys want to hang out in here?”

“Sure.” Your class began to file back in as Alex spoke.

“Mx. (y/l/n)! Why didn’t you tell us you were dating famous youtubers?” Damien asked.

You groaned, looking at a shrugging Nick, “Why have you done this?”

You class laughed at your displeasure, and you were about to start asking everyone how there days had gone when Karl beat you too it.

“Who was your favorite?”

“It better have been us!” Alex stage whispered.

The kids laughed, and you sat back, content to watch your boyfriends entertain the class.

[theredconversegirl]

hiii do u know any fics where sasuke and sakura are both teachers???? or like one of them is a teacher (but not teacher x student)

Hi nonny,

Thank you for stopping by! 💕

I know a few fics where one of them is a teacher, not many though. I tried to search for more but I only get results for student x teacher... *sigh* 😐

Here are they:

Teacher!SS 🍅🌸

⚠*Fics where at least one of them works with kids.

interdepartmental memos By: @windsilk

Note passing isn’t limited to five year olds. Or maybe it is. [Rated T, complete]

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

The Lipstick Records By: extraordinaire

And then, as he’s leaning against the fridge, smirking in that brooding, sexy, amusing kind of way, he says, “I like your red lipstick.” And it was just so hot coming out of his mouth, so what I said next totally ruined it. "I like yours too." [Rated T, complete]

This story features camp-nurse!sakura and supervisor!sasuke and it's adorable! I squealed multiple times reading this. There's this kid meddling in SS' relationship and it's the cutest thing! 🥰

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Trading Heartbeats By: extraordinaire

"I'm glad you didn't end up being gay." Because this love was made of secret smiles and everyday lunch dates between twelve to two and the promise that the next day they spend together will be better than the last. [Rated T, complete]

Featuring kindergarten-teacher!sakura, this story goes through moments of their relationship since their first meet/date. It's sweet and beautiful. ❤

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

batter up By: monophobian

While in law school, Sakura succumbs to a blind date with a very attractive high school teacher that unfortunately loves baseball. As life would have it, she ends up marrying the guy. The love for baseball grows as she learns to love him and they pass that love onto their daughter. So sets the scene of Sasuke coaching Sarada while Sakura is the obnoxious mother in the stands. They have a second daughter, Natsumi, a brilliant star that burns out too soon. Because apparently, we had to taint the fluff verse.

The drabbles follow moments through their meeting, getting to know each other, dating, getting married, having their first child, then their second, and beyond. [Rated E, complete]

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Call The Nurse [Ch 9 of In Another Place] By: @lady-otori

The prompt here was for an awkward Sasuke as a teacher and Sakura as the school nurse. I love their dynamic! And of course, Naruto and Kakashi as a PE and English teacher respectively. [Rated T, complete]

——————————————————————————

There's another fic I read where Sakura is a new teacher in the school and Sasuke, who also works there, kind of shows her around. Kakashi is the principal (I think) and ss talk in the teacher's room. I can't find it right now. Does it ring a bell for anyone? 🤔 Thanks to a nonny, we found this (excuse my foggy memory that didn’t quite describe the fic as it is haha), It’s Call The Nurse! 😊

Well, I hope you enjoy these stories! 😁 If anyone knows other fics for this list, please send them my way. Thanks! ❤

~ Happy Reading & Stay Safe!

xoxo

[thewidowsghost]

Daughter of the Sea - Chapter 1

So, I started this on my Wattpad, and if figured I'd just put it on here! Just tell me if you want me to add you to the taglist!

Percy's POV

My name is Percy Jackson.

I am twelve years old. I'm a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York, and my sister, (Y/n), taking online schooling at home.

Am I a troubled kid?

Yeah. You could say that.

I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan—twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.

I know—it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.

But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.

Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.

I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course, I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that...Well, you get the idea.

On this trip, I was determined to be good.

All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwiches that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

"I'm going to kill her," I mumble.

Grover tries to calm me down. "I'm okay. I like peanut butter -" He dodges another piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it." I start to get up, but Grover pulls me back to my seat.

"You're already on probation," he reminds me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."

Mr. Brunner leads the museum tour.

He rides up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.

It blows my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.

He gathers us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and starts telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.

One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."

Mr. Brunner keeps talking about Greek funeral art.

Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickers something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turn around and say, "Will you shut up?"

It comes out louder than I meant it to.

The whole group laughs. Mr. Brunner stops his story. "Mr. Jackson," he says, "did you have a comment?"

My face is totally red, I think. I answer, "No, sir."

Mr. Brunner points to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

I look at the carving, and feel a flush of relief, because I actually recognize it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner says, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..."

"Well..." I rack my brain to remember. (Y/n) would have known the answer. She was nuts for this kind of stuff. "Kronos was the king god, and —"

"God?" Mr. Brunner asks.

"Titan," I correct myself. "And...he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—"

"Eeew!" says one of the girls behind me.

"—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continue, "and the gods won."

Some snickers from the group.

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbles to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner says, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover mutters.

"Shut up," Nancy hisses, her face even brighter red than her hair.

At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

I think about his question, and shrug. "I don't know, sir."

"I see." Mr. Brunner looks disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifts off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."

I knew that was coming.

I tell Grover to keep going; then I turn toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go—intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything. "You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner tells me.

"About the Titans?"

'"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh."

"What you learn from me," he says, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, swordpoint against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C– in my life. No—he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.

I mumble something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner takes one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.

He tells me to go outside and eat my lunch.

The class gathers on the front steps of the museum, where we can watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm is brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figure maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.

Nobody else seems to notice, though. Some of the guys are pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit is trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds isn't seeing a thing.

Grover and I sit on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.

"Detention?" Grover asked.

"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius, not like (Y/n). She seems to know everything."

Grover doesn't say anything for a while. Then, when I think he is going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he asks, "Can I have your apple?"

I don't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.

I watch the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and think about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sit. I hadn't seen her or my sister since Christmas. I want so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. Mom and (Y/n) would hug me and be glad to see me, but Mom would be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I couldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.

I am about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appears in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumps her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.

"Oops." She grins at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles are orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

I try to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I am so mad my mind went blank. A wave roars in my ears.

I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy is sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.

Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—"

"—the water—"

"—like it grabbed her—"

I don't know what they were talking about. All I know is that I was in trouble again.

As soon as Mrs. Dodds is sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turns on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey—"

"I know," I grumble. "A month erasing workbooks." That wasn't the right thing to say.

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds says.

"Wait!" Grover yelps. "It was me. I pushed her."

I stare at him, stunned. I can't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.

She glares at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she says.

"But—"

"You—will—stay—here."

Grover looks at me desperately.

"It's okay, man," I tell him. "Thanks for trying."

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barks at me. "Now."

Nancy Bobofit smirks. I give her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turn to face Mrs. Dodds, but she isn't there. She is standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.

How'd she get there so fast?

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.

I wasn't so sure. I go after Mrs. Dodds.

Halfway up the steps, I glance back at Grover. He is looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner is absorbed in his novel.

I look back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She is now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.

Okay, I think. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.

But apparently, that wasn't the plan.

I follow her deeper into the museum. When I finally catch up to her, we are back in the Greek and Roman section.

Except for us, the gallery is empty.

Mrs. Dodds stands with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She is making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.

Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze as if she wanted to pulverize it...

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she says.

I do the safe thing. I reply, "Yes, ma'am."

She tugs on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"

The look in her eyes is beyond mad. It was evil.

She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. I say, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am."

Thunder shakes the building.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."

I didn't know what she's talking about.

All I can think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.

"Well?" she demands.

"Ma'am, I don't..."

"Your time is up," she hisses.

Then the weirdest thing happens. Her eyes begin to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretch, turning into talons. Her jacket melts into large, leathery wings. She isn't human. She is a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

Then things got even stranger.

Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheels his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.

"What ho, Percy!" he shouts and tosses the pen through the air.

Mrs. Dodds lunges at me.

With a yelp, I dodge and feel talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatch the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hits my hand, it isn;t a pen anymore. It is a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always uses on tournament day.

Mrs. Dodds spins towards me with a murderous look in her eyes.

My knees are jelly. My hands are shaking so bad I almost drop the sword.

She snarl, "Die, honey!" And she flies straight at me.

Absolute terror runs through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swing the sword.

The metal blade hits her shoulder and passes clean through her body as if she was made of water. Hisss!

Mrs. Dodds was a sandcastle in a power fan. She explodes into yellow powder, vaporizing on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes are still watching me.

I'm alone.

There is a ballpoint pen in my hand.

Mr. Brunner isn't there. Nobody is there but me.

My hands are still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.

Had I imagined the whole thing?

I walk back outside.

It had started to rain.

Grover is sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit is still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she sees me, she says, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

I answer, "Who?"

"Our teacher. Duh!"

I blink. We don't have a teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I ask Nancy what she is talking about.

She just rolls her eyes and turns away.

I ask Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.

"Who?" he asks, but he pauses first and he wouldn't look at me, so I figure he was messing with me.

"Not funny, man," I tell him. "This is serious."

Thunder booms overhead.

I see Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book as if he'd never moved.

I go over to him.

He looks up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."

I had Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.

"Sir," I ask, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"

He stares blankly at me, "Who?"

"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."

He frowns and sits forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"

Word Count: 3159 words

So yeah, this is the first chapter of this book.

Not much (Y/n) yet, but we'll get there.

Love y'all!              Kaitlynn ❤️😍

[viastro]

kiss later | yoon jeonghan

ミ★ synopsis: by you putting jeonghan into a chokehold over him taking your banana milk, you and him were assigned to clean the classroom for two hours after classes ended. it doesn’t help that jeonghan is your sworn enemy, now does it?

ミ★ genre: enemies to lovers!au, humor, fluff, slight spice

ミ★ warnings: jeonghan’s just a little shit

ミ★ word count: 2,655

ミ★ pairings: jeonghan x female reader

ミ★ notes: hi guys! it’s been a while since i’ve written a oneshot, my apologies hehe. i’ve been spending a lot of my time in trying to finish my upcoming jun series, remember us. i’d like to thank you guys again because i just hit 1,000 followers today! that’s a huge ass number and i never expected it to happen HBKSHTE but yeah that’s enough being sappy. i hope you guys enjoy this oneshot! 

“You’re the absolute bane of my existence.” You seethe, glaring at the handsome guy who’s cleaning the whiteboard across the room. Jeonghan just flashes you a shit eating smile, the type that makes his eyes disappear, before replying, “I feel the exact same way, sweetheart.” 

You bite the inside of your cheek in an attempt to prevent yourself from going feral, and Jeonghan turns back towards the whiteboard, spraying more cleaner onto the surface. You glance at the desk, frowning at the dirty wood as you begin wiping it again with a sponge.

Here the two of you are. An hour after classes ended, cleaning the whole classroom as punishment for what occurred earlier in the day. It doesn’t help that you and Jeonghan are quite literally enemies. How the feud began? You don’t know. That’s actually a lie, you know exactly when and why the two of you began hating each other.

“Jeonghan! Hannie!” Jeonghan glances up from his journal at the call of his name, noticing Seungcheol speedily passing through the other students filing into the classroom. He lets out a small smile once his friend makes it to his desk, practically panting at how fast he sped over. “Good morning to you too, Cheol.” 

“Did you hear?”

“About your rash? Cause I did. Do you want my cream-”

“No! This isn’t about- wait. How did you even hear about that?” Seungcheol asks, now looking more confused. Jeonghan gives him a grin, waving his hand to try and change the subject. “Not important, what did you sprint over here for?”

“Oh yeah. There’s a pretty new student being transferred to our class today. She came from Jeju Island. I feel kinda bad because it’s already our last year in high school and she has to make new friends.” Jeonghan raises an eyebrow in interest, about to ask where Seungcheol heard the news, only to turn his head when he hears their professor announce his presence.

“Good morning class, today we have a new student joining us.” He states, placing his papers down onto the podium in the front of the class. Seungcheol pats Jeonghan on the back, before walking over to his own desk. “You can come in.” 

You let out a breath, pushing your hair behind your ear, before stepping into the classroom. Immediately the whispers begin, and you feel your heart fall at the thought that your classmates may be making fun of you already. Jeonghan raises an eyebrow in interest, leaning forward onto his desk in an attempt to try and get a better look at you since you’ve been staring at the floor since you stepped into the classroom. You walk up beside the podium, and turn to face the class. 

“Introduce yourself.” Your professor whispers, and you nod your head. You finally look up at the class, and you feel warmth rise to your cheeks when you hear some of them comment on how they think you’re pretty. You let out a smile, and the class lets out a quiet, ah, at the sight.

“Hi, I’m yln yn. I moved here from Jeju Island, and I hope that you guys will take care of me.” You state, and your professor begins discussing the basic things he’s supposed to when introducing a new student to the class. You glance around the classroom, and lock eyes with a- holy shit he’s so fucking beautiful.

The ethereal looking boy you locked eyes with has black hair that falls over his forehead softly, and piercing eyes that are staring directly back at you. He has high cheekbones, and soft, pink lips, and- 

you’re staring. 

You turn away, feeling heat rush to your face, and Jeonghan lets out a small smile when he takes notice of your gaze looking at everything but him. He leans back into his seat, feeling intrigued by you once you refuse to glance his way after the teacher leads you to your desk. 

You sit down, placing your backpack beside your chair. You unzip it as quietly as you can, before reaching into your bag to grab your journal and pencil pouch. Once they’re in your possession, you sit back up straight and place them onto your desk. Glancing up from the tabletop, you feel a pair of eyes on you, and you turn your head to see the handsome guy from earlier looking at you with a small smile on his face.

You bow your head towards him, before turning back and attempting to pay attention to your professor’s lecture. You raise your hands to your face and cup your cheeks, covering the oncoming warmth.

Jeonghan grins, resting his chin on his hand, taking small glances at you for the rest of the period. 

Jeonghan was apparently so intrigued by you, that he didn’t know how to properly display it. His way of showing interest in a person, is being an annoying shithead. He had to explain that to Seungcheol when they first became friends because he was always offended whenever Jeonghan would cheat during one of their games. Or the time where he was so annoying when they’d play league that Seungcheol actually left the discord server once, so Jeonghan went to apologize. That’s just how Yoon Jeonghan is, he’d do anything to beat the people he cares about in a game.

but he never explained that to you.

“Dodgeball? Shouldn’t that game be banned…” You ask Tzuyu as you line up on the opposite side of the gym as the other team. She shrugs her shoulders, picking up a green ball and handing it to you, “It really should be. I heard that last year a girl got a whole ass black eye from this game.” 

“If I get a black eye from dodgeball, I’m absolutely going to hate the person who threw that ball.” You mutter, and Tzuyu lets out a laugh, shaking her head. You look at who’s competing against you on the other side of the gym, only to lock eyes with Jeonghan. His lips quirk up at the corner, and you raise an eyebrow at the sight.

what is he planning? You wonder once he looks away. You glance down at the floor, trying to fight back the warmth rushing to your cheeks, cursing yourself for still being so affected by the ethereal looking man. While Jeonghan watches you from his side of the gym once the PE coach places the whistle in his mouth, grinning at the thought of getting you out of the game.

“Let’s go.” Jeonghan mutters under his breath once the sound of the whistle resonates through the room, and he chucks the ball in your direction.

The last thing you see is the ceiling as everyone begins to surround you, asking if you’re okay. 

You glare at the memory of Jeonghan chucking the ball at your face, still managing to feel the embarrassment you felt that day all the same. You scrub the desk more aggressively, feeling anger coursing through your veins at the fact that Jeonghan is the reason you’re even here after hours anyways.

After Jeonghan made you blackout within the first few seconds of dodgeball, your guys’ dynamic did a complete 180 since he never apologized. Which may have been your fault since you started to be aggressive towards him but that’s a secret you’ll never tell. It went from the two of you smiling whenever you made eye contact, to you and Jeonghan getting into each other's faces when the other made a snarky comment. From asking each other for help on questions, to mocking each other when the latter would get the answer wrong. Instead of borrowing a pencil from the other, it’s now attempted murder with a 0.1 led mechanical pencil whenever it’s deemed necessary.

god. you loathe that handsome ass bitch.

Alright, you may still find Jeonghan incredibly attractive and quite literally your ideal type, but you will never admit that. 

You bite the inside of your cheek, before slamming the sponge down onto the desk, causing Jeonghan to turn to look at you with a bored expression on his face. “You know what!” 

“You have something else to complain about?” Jeonghan asks, and you internally scream. You walk up to him, and his eyes slightly widen at the close proximity between you two when you stand a few feet away from him. 

“We’re only stuck here cleaning the whole fucking clasroom because you’re an imbecile!” You shout, and Jeonghan’s eyes immediately squint at you. 

“An imbecile? Says the one who thought I stole her banana milk and decided to choke me!” 

“You literally did! It was on my desk when I went to the bathroom, and I came back to it being gone and in your hands!” 

“Finders keepers.” 

“That’s not how it works!” 

You step back into the classroom after using the restroom, walking over to your desk and taking a seat. You frown when you notice the banana milk you brought no longer sitting at the corner of your tabletop, and you look around your desk to see if it may have fallen, but it’s nowhere in sight.

“Where the fuck-” You look up once you hear that familiar god forsaken laugh, and your eyes land on the banana milk you brought in Jeonghan’s hands as he talks to his friend, Seungcheol. You squint, standing up and walking over to his desk without a second thought.

“Oh, hi...” Seungcheol begins, but trails off once he notices how angry you are. Jeonghan glances up at you, flashing a smirk.

“Hey yn.”

“That’s my banana milk.”

“Is it? I just found it around the classroom.” Jeonghan responds boredly, and you feel your eye twitch.

“Yeah. On my desk.” You state, and Jeonghan smiles at how annoyed you look. You clench your fists in an attempt to stop you from doing what you’re thinking, and it almost works. Until Jeonghan decides to open his mouth again.

“Guess you shouldn’t have left it out.” You reach out and grab the banana milk, squeezing it tightly and watching as it explodes onto Jeonghan’s face and uniform. Seungcheol raises a hand to his mouth in shock, and you just let out a quiet laugh at Jeonghan’s reaction. He reaches up and wipes his face with his hands, standing up from his seat and looking down into your eyes. 

“What the fuck is your problem yn?” Jeonghan asks in a cold voice, anger apparent in his voice as he stares at you. You give him a smile, “Oops. I didn’t even notice it was full.” 

Jeonghan lets out a laugh, before reaching down and grabbing the banana milk. He pours the rest over your head without another word, and your mouth drops open at the action. Jeonghan leans down so that you’re eye to eye, and gives you a shit-eating grin. “It’s what you deserved.” 

You attempt to count to three, you truly do. However, next thing you know, you’re being pulled off of Jeonghan by Seungcheol, and the professor is assigning you and Jeonghan detention. 

The punishment? Staying at school for two hours after classes ended to clean the classroom.

“You know, I’m not the only one to blame. You reacted like a fucking child when you saw that I took your drink, when you could’ve just asked for it back.” Jeonghan states, snapping you out of your memory. Your eyes practically bulge out of their sockets at the complete lie he just told you, wishing to just remember you choking Jeonghan for those godly few seconds.

but alas...

“No you wouldn’t have! You absolutely would not have given it back if I asked because you’re a shithead!” You shout, taking a step closer and getting into his face. Jeonghan glares down at you, not backing down from the challenge. 

“Maybe if you weren’t so fucking infuriating. After what happened during gym a few months ago you always had such a horrible attitude towards me! You didn’t even give me the chance to explain or apologize!” You gape at Jeonghan, struggling to find words to retaliate with. He rolls his eyes, reaching back out towards the towel to begin cleaning the whiteboard again. 

“Oooo! You wanna kiss me so bad!” Jeonghan turns to glance at you, frown apparent on his features. 

“What?”

“You want to kiss me!! You wanna kiss me so fucking bad!!” You shout once more, and Jeonghan clenches his fist at his side. 

“You, Yoon Jeonghan, want to kiss me!” Jeonghan’s tongue darts out to lick his lips, and you feel your heartbeat rapidly beat against your chest as the two of you stare at each other in silence. “Say that one more time, I fucking dare you.” Jeonghan states, and your eyebrows furrow as more rage builds up within your body.

You open your mouth to say it again when suddenly Jeonghan’s reaching out and resting his hand on your neck, pulling you close and pressing his lip to yours. Your eyes immediately widen at the contact, before you slowly melt into his arms and entangle your hand into his hair. 

The kiss is full of anger, the two of you clashing and biting each other's lips. However, you can’t deny the feeling of butterflies in your stomach. While Jeonghan can’t hide the fact that he’s literally blushing and the goosebumps rising onto his skin the more he kisses you. 

“You’re so,” Jeonghan’s hands fall onto your hips and lift you up onto the desk mid-sentence. “fucking,” You bite his bottom lip and he pinches your waist in retaliation, eliciting a squeal from you. “infuriating.” 

“Me? Infuriating?!”

“Just be quiet and kiss me.”

“You’re the one who’s annoying!”

After a moment of the two of you bickering in between kisses, you both pull away, foreheads resting against the others as you stare into each other's eyes. You have a lot of questions, as does Jeonghan, but do you want to ask them right now? 

“You’re annoying.” You state, feeling the anger simmer down. Jeonghan laughs at the pout on your lips, pressing a kiss onto the tip of your nose. “It’s my brand, pretty. I like riling up the people I’m interested in, but I may have went a bit too far with you.” 

“You think? You made me pass out during dodgeball.” You tell him, and Jeonghan smiles. 

“I’m sorry for chucking the ball too hard at you and for apologizing so late. I was too embarrassed to go up to you and tell you I was sorry.” Jeonghan explains, and you shrug your shoulders. 

“I guess it’s okay, I never really gave you a chance to anyways.” You mutter, and he giggles, making your heart flip within your chest at the sound. Jeonghan leans back to his full height, glancing around the empty classroom, before turning his head to look at the clock. 

5:45 PM.

Jeonghan turns his head back toward you, and gives you a mischievous grin. You raise an eyebrow at the sight, already beginning to feel suspicious at that familiar look, “What?” 

“Do you wanna spend the last 15 minutes cleaning the exact same desks you already cleaned? Or do you wanna make out on this table?” 

Feeling heat immediately rush to your face at the question, you raise a hand up to your cheek. Jeonghan’s mouth drops open slightly in awe at sparkles in your eyes, feeling his heart warm slightly. You grin at him, “I think there’s an obvious answer to that question.” 

Jeonghan smiles, raising his hands up to cup your face, and you stare into his eyes. “You know we still need to talk about us after, right?” 

“Of course.”

“Okay, great.” You let out a breath, and Jeonghan chuckles soon afterwards. He shakes his head, before leaning in and capturing your lips once again. 

[shadowsof-thenight]

Reunited

Summary: It’s been 15 years since you’ve stepped foot in this school, but now you’re back and Sam is as charming as ever. (this takes place after AoU) Words: 4250 Ship: Sam Wilson x Reader Warnings: Fluff

*** A/N: I’ve been trying to finish a story for Sam for a while now. I hope you’ll like it! The amazing @gnomewithalaptop​ was my beta for this (like she is for pretty much everything I write) Thank you for all your hard work and kind words! I truly appreciate you.

***

Masterlist      

*** You paused for a moment after stepping into the decked-out gym. It was hard to believe that 15 years had come and gone since you’d last had a party here. The room brought back so many memories, not all of which you cared to remember—though plenty had been well worth reminiscing. High school definitely hadn’t been all that bad. Glancing around the room, you recognised many familiar faces, and one in particular stood out. Perhaps it was because of the large group of people surrounding him, or his boisterous laughter resounding through the large open space. Either way, Sam Wilson stood out amongst the crowd, and his smiling face was enough to make you happy you had come.

The group of people currently surrounding him weren’t the people you’d both hung out with in school. This group mostly consisted of what had once been the popular crowd, now eager to drink up the buzz this man was creating. Then again, even if Sam hadn’t become an Avenger, they’d probably still be drawn to him. That’s how it had always been after all. There had always been something so incredibly captivating about him, and he definitely had the charm to back up the interest he sparked.

Another round of laughter over something Sam had said broke you out of the trance you’d found yourself in, and you mentally shook your head to stop yourself from staring any longer. It would soon become weird, possibly a little creepy. In an attempt to quiet the restless butterflies in your stomach, you smoothed out your red dress and took a deep breath. Then you stepped to the side of the entrance and accepted a name tag from the grumpy-looking lady that sat behind a large desk. She looked familiar, though it took you a minute to place her. Mrs. Broussard, the gym teacher that had never really warmed up to you.

She’d only started teaching at the school in your senior year, and by then you had given up any pretence that you enjoyed PE. She had been both surprised and annoyed by your lack of commitment, and many discussions had followed about the necessity of running a minute mile. And while you did receive a passing grade in the end, it was the lowest number on your list upon graduation.

You smiled sweetly as you greeted her and asked how she was doing. Mrs. Broussard only grumbled something in return and then gave her attention to the next arrivals, making you chuckle as you walked away. Honestly, she hadn’t been a bad teacher at all, just one that hadn’t understood others might not be as athletically inclined as she was.

Stepping further into the big square room, you looked around for a familiar face. Though you wanted to walk up to Sam, you hesitated to join the large group. It had been years since you’d last spoken, and you didn’t want to feel like an intruder in the ongoing conversation. Perhaps his newfound fame was a little intimidating. There was also no indication that he would remember you as fondly as you remembered him, and you wondered if he would even want to speak to you at all. You could almost hear your sister’s voice in the back of your mind, scolding you. She’d tell you to man up. He was here, which obviously meant he wanted to see his old school friends.

But, you didn’t man up and walked in another direction instead. Perhaps you could circle back around later on, or he’d find you—which would be even better. Less stressful. Grumbling at your own trepidation, you took a deep breath and plastered a smile on your face. It was time to mingle and if not with Sam, then certainly the wonderful women you’d spend most of your high school years with would do.

“Girrrrlll, you came!” Aurelia called out loudly at your approach. The slight slurring and her enthusiasm told you that she’d already gotten acquainted with the bartender. You chuckled and sped up a little to walk into her outstretched arms.

“How could I pass this up?” you said with a bright smile, your mood infinitely better with the reception your old friends offered.

Soon enough you were pulled into hugs by the other girls and introduced to the people they married—well, the ones that were there. Aurelia’s husband had had to pass, in order to stay with their two young children. Georgette had married her high school sweetheart Joe, who had been part of your group of friends. Hayley was still single, happily enjoying her life as tour guide. And Felicity and Trix were clearly still very much in love with each other. Trix had been a transfer student in your senior year and  already out of the closet—it had been her confidence that had given Felicity the courage to come out as well. Each of them looked absolutely stunning in their evening attire, and they certainly appeared happy. Their upbeat demeanour was also enough to finally relieve you of the jitters. Coming alone had been a little scary after all these years. You’d lost touch with all these wonderful people, and you’d had no idea which of them would show up tonight.

“Come on, aren’t you all fancy now?” Trix asked with a wink, and you chuckled. After college, you were the only one that hadn’t come back to New Orleans. A choice you’d never thought twice about, as you’d found your dream job in DC. It wasn’t until you came back this week that you realised just how much you’d missed this city—it really was the most wonderful place on earth. Full of life, laughter and memories. It was like no other.

“Trust me, nothing fancy going on in DC,” you shrugged. Politics weren’t very glamorous for those involved, especially not as a lawyer. There were too many people that needed help hiding their checkered past. “Just very busy.”

“Now that I believe,” Aurelia chuckled.

“So how have you all been?” you asked, and you ended up spending the next hour or so getting caught up in all there was to know about the girls you’d called your friends all those years ago.

It surprised you how easy it was to fall back in step with them, and soon your stomach hurt from laughter instead of those uneasy jitters. You could finally fully relax. You’d missed this place, sure, but not quite as much as this group of people.

***

“A beer and a glass of water please,” you asked the bartender as you leaned on the bar with a smile. Joe had confiscated a tray of champagne, but you’d never acquired a taste for it and had decided on beer instead. Aurelia had opted for water, not wanting to get too drunk to enjoy their reunion.

“I thought I’d never get you alone,” Sam’s voice sounded from behind you. “It’s like high school all over again.”

“Well, it’s the place for it.” You smiled brightly and turned to face him. Quickly, you were engulfed in a tight hug and you could feel Sam’s laughter reverberate through his chest and yours.

“True,” he agreed, his lips close to your ear. Pulling back from the hug, his hands remained on your waist as he looked you over.

“You haven’t changed a bit,” he said approvingly, going in for a second hug.

“You’re such a liar,” you chuckled, “but you look so good doing it.”

“Don’t I know it,” Sam said wiggling his eyebrows, and you barked out a laugh. It was good to know he was still who you had known him to be.

“Hey, would you stop hogging our celebrity!” Haley said loudly, her voice full of laughter, as she stepped up to the bar beside you. She ordered herself a soda and then turned back to the two of you. “For the two people that spend so long away from here, you do seem to fit right back in,” she added with a smile.

“It’s always going to be home,” Sam admitted and you smiled, nodding in agreement.

“Good, you should visit it more then. We miss you around here,” Hayley said earnestly and thanked the bartender for her drink, moving back towards the rest of the group. Taking your drink and Aurelia’s in hand, you and Sam followed her.

“Oh heavens be praised, another man,” Joe said dramatically and Sam laughed as they too hugged. Back in the day, their group had been pretty equally presented, but some of the other guys were standing with the rest of the football team. Probably reminiscing about their hay days.

***

“Who wants to sneak out of here?” Aurelia whispered, as if anyone outside of their group could hear them over the loud music. It had been a good two hours of chatting and Aurelia clearly wanted to spice things up.

“And go where?” Georgette wondered.

“I don’t know, see how much of the school has changed since we were last here,” Aurelia shrugged and you wiggled your eyebrows, excited to check out the school. For some reason, the fact that you weren’t supposed to made it very appealing—as if none of you had done any growing up these last 15 years. Everyone chuckled and the mood changed from carefree laughter into one of mischief.

Dispersing into smaller groups, you all stealthily tried to make your way towards the exit of the gym. It wasn’t going to be easy; Mrs. Broussard was still seated at her table by the door, and she had never been one to turn a blind eye. However, Sam promised he’d have that covered. After all, he’d been athletic and the woman had actually liked him. You promised to wait for him just outside the door. 
Aurelia and Georgette held hands as they snuck past the table, Joe following them while laughing at their antics. You’d learned that Joe had been fast friends with Aurelia’s husband, and the two women were still very active in each other’s lives. For a split second, it had made you jealous—as you’d been so absent—but soon enough, they’d made you forget all about any distance that had existed between you. You remembered that one of their many talents had always been to connect people. Aurelia, much like Sam, drew people to her with her quick-witted and happy character, and Georgette had the biggest heart of all of them. You were actually sad that you weren’t able to meet Aurelia’s husband tonight, but she had made you promise to have lunch at her house tomorrow—an invitation you fully intended to follow up on.

Next were Felicity and Trix, who were giggling far too much to be covert. You had missed Hayley’s exit, though you were sure she’d be close to Georgette and Aurelia. None of that mattered though. Mrs. Broussard was too eagerly engaged in conversation with Sam—and you could tell that it had little to do with his status as Avenger. She seemed genuinely interested to hear how he had been doing. Before you snuck out yourself, you overheard them speaking of his time with the air force, a career choice her son apparently had made as well, having gone on his first tour only last month. Her proud smile softened you up to her a little more.

Hidden in the shadows down the hall from the gym, you waited impatiently for Sam to join you, and when he finally did, his smiling face made your heart skip a beat. It no longer surprised you—he’d always had that effect on you, though he had always been blissfully unaware of it.

For most of high school, you’d had a crush on the man before you, though nothing had ever come of it other than a chaste kiss on a drunken night, and you’d been too afraid of his response the following day to bring it up again.

When he hadn’t spoken of it either, you had simply brushed it off as a drunken adventure—one you did not regret one bit, even if it had sucked that nothing ever came of it. And while it should’ve surprised you that he still had this much effect on you after all these years of radio silence, it really didn’t. He was just that charming.

“Let’s go,” he whispered, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and guiding you into the dark hallway leading towards the classrooms in which you’d spent so many hours of your life.

“We never agreed on a place,” you suddenly realised and you both doubled over in suppressed laughter as you tried to remain quiet.

“So none of us got any smarter about our mischief?” Sam asked as you’d both straightened up again.

“Guess not,” you chuckled. “Why don’t we just wander for a bit? Surely we’ll run into the rest.”

He nodded in agreement, going left and pulling you with him. 

“So, what’s DC like for you?” Sam asked after a few moments of comfortable silence.

“Busy mostly, lots of crazy situations to manage,” you said, shrugging.

“I can imagine,” Sam said almost solemnly, and you laughed. He looked at you with confusion.

“Come on, I’ve been doing clean-up for the situations you’ve already fixed,” you said, a little louder than intended, and you both glanced around to make sure you weren’t heard.

“Did I fix them though?” Sam wondered.

“Well, I do like my government organisations to be free of Nazis,” you said, keeping the tone light, though the message was very true.

“It’s still politics.” Sam shrugged. It was clear that nobody needed to tell him that there were a lot of lies involved in politics. And you could not deny it, or make the situation any better than it was.

“True, I doubt that’s ever going to be your scene, but every improvement is important,” you said, ready to break free of work talk. It’s been years since you spoke to Sam, outside of the occasional run in in DC. You felt horrible for not keeping up with him, while living in the same city.  “Anyway, enough work talk—what’s life been like since your last tour?” you asked.

“Well, an adjustment for sure.” Sam said as he looked away from you and down the hallway to his right. “I needed a lot of time to get used to things again.”

“I can’t begin to imagine,” you said, looking at the floor in front of you. Perhaps this wasn’t the best direction you could’ve steered the conversation into.

“I got there in the end,” Sam said, a smile back on his face, “Your letters were nice.”

“I hated that I was overseas when you first came back. And then, by the time I’d returned, your life had taken a bit of a turn.”

“It did, but we’re here now, aren’t we,” Sam said, bumping your shoulder. His bright smile was enough to bring about a better atmosphere between you.

“Yes, here,” you chuckled and looked around you and pointed at the classroom to your right. “At history.” Fitting, you thought.

“We’ve got plenty of that,” Sam chuckled, the irony not lost on him either.

“I’ve missed it, this city, the people—you,” you admitted and Sam’s arm was quickly wrapped around your shoulders again.

“This place never does leave you, does it?” he said, looking off into the distance. Perhaps you weren’t the only one to miss it as much as you did.

“I for one wouldn’t want it to either,” you smiled.

“Remember the time we had detention in Mrs. Johnson’s classroom?” Sam asked with a wink and you chuckled. You’d all been caught sneaking into school grounds after hours and been kept after school for two weeks. You’d spent the last detention in your English classroom with Mrs. Johnson, who had been too busy to stick around. She’d been in and out of the room, leaving the lot of you time to have fun. Near the end of the first hour, Sam had decided to carve your initials into his desk—just his and yours. He had said it was because of the fact that you were both getting out after graduation—you’d need something to remember, something to come back too.

‘You think those tables are still there?” you asked, giddy at the idea.

“Let’s check it out,” Sam said, taking your hand in his and pulling you through the hallway towards the right hallway. Both of you were eager to see if your legacy was saved. So eager in fact, that neither of you really appreciated how well your hand fit in his. Not until later.

Two hallways down, you had almost reached your destination and you were nearly skipping to get there. Somehow you’d shed your more serious persona and reverted back to the happy-go-lucky person you used to be—before DC. You could hear voices in the distance and you chuckled at the idea that your friends were already there—Mrs. Johnson had been the only teacher that you'd all had together in your senior year. You were just about to call out when the voice of another person from your collective past boomed through the space.

“Miss Thibedeaux, Miss Cormier, you know better than to wander these halls after hours,” the voice of your old principal rang through the silent hallways. You hadn’t expected him and it startled you enough to freeze. Luckily, Sam quickly pulled you into a dark corner, his hand over your mouth just in case.

“Mr. Williams, we were just reminiscing,” Georgette replied, her voice bright and calm. She was always good at talking her way out of trouble. Not that there’d be much trouble, but for some reason these hallways brought back old habits. You were still hiding from the principal after all.  

“Where’s the rest of your little group, Mrs. Thibedeaux?” Mr. Williams asked and Sam’s chest reverberated with the silent laughter he was struggling to keep in. Mr. Williams would not be fooled. The man had been as shrewd then as he was now.

“It’s just us,” Felicity answered for Georgette and you leaned to the side, just to see who’d gotten caught.

In the dim light of Mr. Williams' flashlight, you could see Georgette and her husband standing in the entrance of a classroom, while Trix and Felicity were still in the hallway and smiling brightly at the elderly man before them.

“Let’s go back to the gym and perhaps call your other friends to return as well,” Mr. Williams said with a smile. “There really is no reason to roam about the hallways, now is there?”

“What makes you think anyone else followed us?” Georgette tried innocently.

“Because I wasn’t quite as distracted as Mrs. Broussard,” Mr. Williams chuckled merrily, before waving his arm to lead the way back.  

As they moved down the hallway, back to the busy gym, Sam took your hand in his and led you in the opposite direction. Looking over your shoulder, you locked eyes with Trix who waved and smiled, before turning back around.

“Do you want to go back?” Sam asked softly after a few minutes.

“Nope,” you said, popping the p. His hand was still wrapped around yours and you were enjoying the feeling, finally realising how natural it had been for him to grab it twice now. You froze again when footsteps echoed through the hallways a short distance away, and to the right, you could see flashlights coming in your direction.

“Though I do think we’re still sought-after,” you added, pointing towards the lights. Mischief grew in Sam’s eyes, and you chuckled with anticipation.

“It’s a good thing you already ditched the heels,” Sam said, before pulling you down another hallway at a sprint.

“Sam, dude, you know I’m not made for running,” you said, working hard to keep up with him—already breathing wrong.

“Just a little further,” he promised, sprinting down another hallway, before rounding a wall of lockers and pushing you up against the side of them. The flashlights swept the hallway you were in, but no footsteps came closer. Whoever had been holding the lights probably figured you’d run in the other direction. After all, this hallway brought you closer to the gym. It didn’t matter though; all that mattered was the close proximity in which you found yourselves now. Out of breath and still full of laughter, you stood chest to chest with Sam and it was having its effect on you.

Sam took a deep breath, leaning over your shoulder to put his forehead against the cool locker and you took a shaky breath yourself. He smelled nice—something fresh and minty, with a hint of pine. You wouldn’t mind taking a sniff, but again, that would be a little weird. Sam pulled his head back up once he’d gotten his breathing under control, though he remained pressed against you in the dark. His eyes found yours and the mirth was still all too clear in them, bringing a smile to your face again.

“I feel like I’m 16 again,” Sam whispered and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Really, because after that little sprint, I feel 80,” you whispered back.

“A beautiful 80-year-old though,” Sam said, his voice soft and genuine.

“Hmm, keep those compliments coming, and it might get you anywhere,” you chuckled, keeping the vibe light despite the heat that travelled to your cheeks at his words. Even flushed as you were from running and hiding out, he still called you beautiful—that would make any woman flustered, right? Surely it wasn’t just you.

His eyes flickered to your lips for a moment, and your breath hitched—perhaps that crush you’d had on him never really ended. It had just laid dormant all those years. Unconsciously, your eyes flickered to his lips as well and you licked your own in anticipation. Would they be as soft and gentle as they’d been all those years ago?

Sam audibly sucked in air, and your attention went back to his eyes, finding him already looking at you. The staring seemed to last for a few minutes at least, before Sam moved again.

“Beautiful,” he whispered and leaned in, slowly moving towards you—clearly giving you ample opportunity to stop him if you wanted to. But you didn’t. You wanted his lips to devour you, for his tongue to dance with yours and his hands to become oh so much more familiar.

His breath mingled with yours momentarily, and your head got foggy. You never wanted these feelings to end. And when his lips softly pressed to yours, the fog lifted in an explosion. Chaste, quick, gentle—much like all those years ago. And the effect was as devastating as it had been then.  When he pulled back all too quickly, you needed a moment to catch your breath.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,” Sam whispered, and you finally opened your eyes again to look into his as you nodded. You had wanted it too, and you wanted to tell him so, but all your words seemed corny, and you didn’t want to break the spell you were under. So instead you acted—pressing your lips to his in a more eager kiss. One that showed him how much you had thought of it as well, or so you hoped.

His arms snaked their way around your waist, pulling you impossibly close as he responded to your kiss with an eagerness to match it. Heat rose from your stomach to your chest as your hands reached up to caress his cheeks, before going back down his back. All insecurity left you, and you surrendered to the tingling feeling that spread from your toes to your head. Sam pressed you harder against the locker, your bodies touching all over.

Despite the heated moment, the irony of it happening in your old high school wasn’t lost on you, and you nearly broke out in laughter over the silliness of it all. That was, until your heart nearly stopped altogether when a bright light shone in your eyes. 

“Well, well—guess who’s been taking the time to catch up,” Aurelia’s voice rang through the air, and Sam reluctantly pulled back from you. He laid his head on your shoulder, while you squinted to look over his shoulder to see Aurelia and Hayley standing there with two Cheshire Cat smiles.

“Hi,” you said lamely, and they laughed as they finally lowered the flashlight they’d been aiming at you. Sam raised his head only to look into your eyes with an intensity that took your breath away. Heat settled in your stomach again as you stared back, and neither of you seemed to care that you had an audience now.

“Maybe buy her dinner first, dude,” Aurelia said loudly, voice full of laughter, and you chuckled, shaking your head. With a deep sigh, Sam stepped back from you finally. He took your hand in his and turned back to your old friends.

“So what’s the best place to do that these days?” he asked them, and Aurelia quickly stepped forward to high-five him.

“That’s more like it. Come on, let’s go find the others and get ourselves some good old fashioned late-night burgers,” Aurelia said, taking charge and walking towards the gym, certain the rest would follow.

[bellafarallones2]

From the meet uglies prompt list:

84. I’m not entirely sure who you are but we’ve been in a massive prank war ever since your first prank on your friend went awry and I was covered in paint

For JakeHollis, please? Sfw or nsfw! This screams them to me!

JakeHollis, SFW, very light angst, some absolutely weird vibes! QueerElfClub's Hollis cosplay is my headcanon for them always and forever

All told, Jake’s first day at Kepler High hadn’t been too bad. Barclay and Dani had told him roughly what to expect, including a rapid rundown of the Earth history he’d be looked at strangely for not knowing. So far, math was his favorite class, because it was the same as on Silvain. Mama had gotten him into something called AP BC Calculus, which seemed like far too many acronyms for a class about shapes. His next most favorite class was PE.

Now it was almost three, and the final bell had rung. Packing up his backpack had taken so much time that the hallways were mostly empty, and he wandered idly, looking for the exit. Barclay was supposed to be picking him up somewhere called the “kiss and ride,” though Jake had been assured kissing was not mandatory. No signs pointed the way, and Jake knew better than to ask someone for directions. Teenagers were the same everywhere.

He found himself in a wing of the school none of his classes had been in, passing rooms labeled ORCHESTRA and BAND and COLOR GUARD EQUIPMENT STORAGE. The sound of music came through the walls.

Finally, though - miracle of miracles! - he saw the light of day, and hurried towards the door it was coming from. The door was even cracked open, and Jake pushed it open the rest of the way and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Something hit his head.

Something that made a klang noise against his skull, and he thought for a moment his head had cracked - he didn’t know how fragile these disguises were - but no, there was something else dripping through his hair and down his face and down all over his new colorful jacket. He looked down. It was white and foul-smelling, and when he blinked his eyelashes clumped and stuck together.

Jake was fairly certain neither Dani nor Barclay had mentioned this. He could barely see, just the edges of a person saying oh fuck, I’m so sorry, I thought you were Keith, and tugging him back into the school, which was not at all where he wanted to go.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” the voice said, and Jake found himself in a restroom, without even the time to make sure it was the correct one - he needed to be in one called BOYS or MEN, or the one with a little outline of a person without a skirt. or GENTLEMEN. (Barclay knew a long list of things he’d seen printed on bathroom doors.)

But here he was, and he bent to the sink to wash his face and came up dripping. Then he repeated the introduction he’d given so many times already today.

“I’m Jake,” he said. “Dani’s brother.” (People knew Dani; she’d graduated only two years earlier. He told teachers he was Barclay’s brother. Barclay was a little older, but a better student than Dani had been.)

“Oh,” said the person. “I think I had an art class with her. I’m Hollis.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Hollis had curly black hair and brown skin, and the sleeves of their shirt were tattered like they’d been cut off and not hemmed afterwards. When they rubbed at the stuff on Jake’s sleeve with a wet paper towel he could see the fine line of muscle beneath the skin in their arm.

Jake took a deep breath. “Do you think you could point me towards the kiss and ride?”

By the time Jake climbed into Barclay’s truck, he was as clean as one could get with hand soap and paper towels.

“How was your first day?” said Barclay, tactfully not saying anything about the paint.

“Fine. I’m really glad you and Dani told me so much about what to expect. But when I was trying to find my way out at the end of the day a bucket of paint fell on my head.”

“Oh, dear.”

“Someone helped me clean up, though. Their name’s Hollis. I think we’re friends now?”

“Well, that’s nice.”

“One girl in my homeroom brought in brownies to share with everybody because it was her birthday. Are you allowed to do that even if it’s not your birthday?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Can I bring in cupcakes tomorrow? The ones you make are really good and I think people would like me if I gave them some.”

Barclay looked over at him, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll make you some cupcakes.”

--

The cupcakes were gorgeous. Each was as the platonic ideal of what a cupcake should be, the cupcake held before the fire to cast a shadow in Plato’s confectionary cave. The cake part was delicate and moist and yellow, and the frosting was pink, dusted with rainbow sprinkles.

“Oh,” said Jake’s homeroom teacher when she saw him come in carrying the lovingly packed tray. Barclay had put crumpled saran wrap between each cupcake so they wouldn’t knock into each other. “Is it your birthday, Jake?”

“Nope! But I brought cupcakes for everyone.”

“Alright,” said the teacher. “You can start passing them out now, if you’d like.”

Jake held out the tray to each person in the first few rows in turn, receiving varyingly sincere ‘thank you’s in return. But sitting in the back corner by the window was Hollis, and when Jake got to them, he didn’t hold out the tray. No, he selected the most perfect cupcake there was, cupped its soft bottom, and shoved the perfect pink frosting into Hollis’ perfect face.

“Oops,” Jake said sweetly.

“Jake!” said the teacher. “What do you think you’re doing!?”

But Hollis was already laughing, wiping pink frosting off their face and licking it off their fingers. “It’s fine, Ms. B., we’re in a prank war.”

“Well, please refrain from waging it in my classroom!”

“I’m sorry,” said Jake. He’d never heard the phrase prank war before, but the word war he didn’t like at all. War was the slowly narrowing boundaries of habitable land, war was an enemy that was somehow both inuman and implacably angry.

The boy sitting to Hollis’ left was looking up at Jake with something like shock and anger in his face. Looking away, Jake held out the plate of cupcakes to him so he could select his own.

--

Jake still had trouble finding the cafeteria, and so most of the students were seated when he arrived. He was scanning looking for a seat where he wouldn’t be intruding on someone else’s friend group when Hollis’ waving hand caught his attention. “Yo, Jake! Come sit with us?”

Jake hurried over. Before he reached the table Hollis elbowed the boy who was sitting next to them, the same one who’d been next to them in homeroom, and he scooted hurriedly over into the next seat so Jake could sit next to Hollis.

“Hello,” Jake said, nodding at each person at the table.

“This is Jake,” said Hollis. “He got me good in homeroom with a cupcake to the face.”

The others at the table laughed.

“Jake, this is Keith, Madison, and Ty,” Hollis continued, indicating the boy who’d been displaced, a girl with purple streaks in her long brown hair, and a boy with a mullet.

“Nice to meet you,” said Jake. He listened to them talk as he unpacked the lunch Barclay had packed him. A sandwich on part of a baguette, a chocolate-chip cookie, a honeycrisp apple (Jake had just been on earth long enough to have opinions about the different varieties of apples), and a note reminding him that Barclay loved him and wanted him to have a good day.

His tablemates were discussing what they were going to do over the weekend. Ty suggested going to Walmart, which was shot down on the grounds that they’d done that last weekend. No one’s parents were out of town, which eliminated the possibility of a house party.

“There’s nothing to do,” Madison whined.

“Can you drive places?” Jake asked.

Everyone went quiet. “Yep,” said Hollis. “When Madison’s parents let her use the car.”

It was Jake’s first autumn on earth, and from his bedroom window on the second floor of Amnesty Lodge he could see the leaves changing colors, red and orange and yellow between the bristles of the evergreens. “You could drive around and look at leaves. I’d like to come along, if that’s alright.”

Everyone was silent, deciding whether that was the lamest thing they’d ever heard or so lame it went straight through the other side into being kind of a good idea again.

“Fuck it,” said Hollis finally. “Let’s do it. And of course you’re invited, Jake, let me add you to the group chat.”

--

That Saturday, a silver Honda pulled up in front of Amnesty Lodge. Madison was at the wheel, Ty in the front passenger seat, and Keith sulking in the back. Behind it was a sleek motorcycle, and the rider’s helmet reflected the autumn leaves above.

Hollis pulled off their helmet. Their hair was disheveled and gorgeous. “If it was five of us in the car someone would have had to sit in the middle back, and that sucks,” they said. “Hop on, Jake.” They were holding out a second helmet.

“Um,” said Jake, offering them a bottle of sparkling cider with gold foil around the neck. “I brought something for us to drink?” The agreement had been that they would drive to one of the pull-off spots along the highway and have drinks there.

“Sweet,” said Hollis. “Put it in the back of the car?”

When Jake opened the back door of the car he saw a case of white claw on the seat next to Keith. “Was I supposed to bring alcohol?” Jake said. “I could have.” There was wine at the lodge; sometimes on the weekends Mama and Barclay went wine-tasting together, because Dani’s ID said she wasn’t old enough.

“No, Jake, you’re fine,” Hollis said. “Climb on.”

Jake fit the helmet over his head and climbed onto the smooth leather seat of the motorcycle behind Hollis. “Hold on tight,” said Hollis.

The motorcycle roared to life like one of Silvain’s larger beasts. Then it leaped forward, swerving hard to veer around Madison’s parents’ car. Jake swallowed a shriek and held on tighter. He could no longer feel the soft fabric of Hollis’s shirt, only the beast beneath them and the wind tearing at their jackets and the red, orange, and yellow leaves racing by above.

By the time they reached the appointed meeting place the others weren’t even in sight.

“So,” said Hollis when they pulled their helmet off. “What brings you to Kepler?”

Jake knew how to lie, when presented with questions like this. But with Hollis they found they didn’t want to. “I got kicked out of my old school.”

Hollis’s eyebrows went up.

“For… stealing.” Stealing food, because his family’s traditional hunting grounds had been corrupted by the Quell, and everyone else had barely enough for themselves. The huge mounds of apples in the grocery store in Kepler were the first thing to convince him he’d been exiled to paradise.

“Damn, Jake. And here I thought you were so wholesome.”

Jake threw up a hang-ten. “Nah, I’m a real bad boy.”

“Are you… with anyone? From your old school?”

“Nope. Are you?”

“Nah.” Hollis took a deep breath. It was the first time Jake had noticed them breathing. Human beings had to breathe so frequently, he’d found, and he sometimes forgot to until his lungs reminded him. His old body had been able to hold its breath for over an hour, collapsing his lungs so he was sleekness against the water inside and out. Incompressible.

“Wanna make out?” said Hollis.

“Yeah,” said Jake.

Hollis leaned in and kissed him. The best part was how warm their lips were, how warm their face was, right up close to his. No, scratch that. The best part was how they smelled, a smell Jake hadn’t encountered on earth up to that point but knew now he could never get enough of. No, the best part was -

Tires on gravel. Jake startled, but Hollis didn’t stop kissing him, even as Madison honked the horn on her parents’ car.

To Jake, that was the most surprising thing, that Hollis would want to kiss him in front of their friends. Teenagers were the same everywhere.

[nicknellie]

@millie-andrews-rose requested: Alex gets put with a bully on a paired project, so Willie goes with him when they work on it to help him stay calm. Willie and the boy bond over skateboarding and Alex gets jealous, causing an argument between them. The boy then apologises to Alex for being so awful. Alex and Willie make up and it ends with their first “I love you”s. (This was edited/simplified just to make it shorter.)

This is the longest oneshot I’ve ever written and I absolutely love it. I really hope I’ve done you proud, especially since this was such a great prompt! Thanks!

And It’s Not My Fault

Alex adored projects. He loved having something big to focus on, a goal to work towards, something to keep him preoccupied. Any big time-consuming task was a lot of fun for him whether it was a five-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle or work for school worth a large part of his grade. There was, however, a single word that could be placed before the ‘project’ that would instantly transform it from Alex’s dream to his worst nightmare.

The word wasn’t ‘group’ as it would be for a lot of people. Alex liked group projects almost as much as he liked solo projects. Group projects were what he did with Julie, Luke, and Reggie almost every day, jamming in the studio and working towards having a complete set list in time for an upcoming gig. Group projects were what he occasionally did with Carrie and the girls of Dirty Candi when he would assist them with some choreography. Group projects were even tolerable with people Alex didn’t know well because he knew how they were supposed to work and usually he could convince everyone to do their fair share. So group projects were fine.

The word the ruined any chance of Alex having fun was ‘paired’.

Paired projects were the worst type of project. They always spelled trouble and Alex had never got a decent grade on one in his whole school career. It never felt like his fault, but when he thought about it he was the common denominator in every nightmare paired project scenario, so he had long ago decided that there must be something about paired projects that he was simply doing wrong.

Maybe it was that he wasn’t good one-on-one. Alex had always functioned better in groups (albeit small ones that couldn’t be overwhelming) and being face to face with just one person could be stressful. It was fine if it was a friend, and more than fine if it was his boyfriend, but when alone with a stranger Alex found himself running out of things to say and having nowhere to turn when the awkward silences set in. Or if he didn’t run out of things to say he would eventually say the wrong thing and that would start an entirely new alarm bell ringing in his mind as he panicked about accidentally being offensive. Overall, conversations without his emotional support band could be frustrating at best and somewhat dangerous at worst.

Perhaps it was true that Alex was the link in all these situations, but what he had always failed to consider was the fact that he had never been paired in a project with somebody who was actually willing to try and do well, which perhaps was a more prominent reason he’d never received a decent grade.

Alex had been having a good day. He was feeling bright for no reason in particular – needlessly optimistic days like this were his favourite, even though they usually were followed by needlessly pessimistic days as all those bad feelings caught up with him at once. Still, by now Alex had learnt to clutch that senseless joy while it was there and relish it before it was gone.

The joy was gone by noon.

“Alright, class,” Ms Osbourne said, clapping her hands to gain the class’s attention.

Alex hated his English classes. While he was good at English and rather enjoyed the subject itself, his class was rowdy and unruly and made it difficult to concentrate, while Ms Osbourne was a teacher so strict that if someone so much as thought about breaking a rule she would be able to sniff it out like a dog – but her bark was worse than her bite, and while she would shout an unnatural amount she rarely doled out punishments. The combination made for a lesson that was purely people shouting and no work being done.

The class quieted to a steady hum of chatter which was usually as silent as Ms Osbourne could get it. She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes, and continued. “Seeing as the end of the semester is coming up, I’m going to be setting you a project that will be worth forty percent of your grade. Essentially, it’s your final exam on our study of Macbeth.”

Alex perked up a little. He had been assigned projects for a lot of classes, but English projects were always the most enjoyable – they involved a lot of writing, which most people hated, but Alex found therapeutic; the only downside was that the source material was usually dreadfully dull. Still, Alex suddenly found himself looking forward to it.

And then she had to go and ruin it.

“I will tell you your assigned partners at the end of the lesson.”

Alex felt himself deflate and heaved a sigh. It had been too good to be true. Now he was going to be stuck on some boring project with a random student from his awful English class because he had no friends in this lesson and it was going to be horrible. It was all he could do to not let his head fall onto the table and scream in furious defeat.

It was on his mind all lesson. Who he was going to be with, what specific things the project would be on, how he could get out of it. His mind was buzzing with questions, building up energy that released itself by making his leg bounce up and down. Several times he found himself tapping out a rhythm on the table like it was his drumkit, his bouncing leg acting as if it was pounding the bass drum, and he had to force himself to stop and actually pay attention to the lesson.

The end came painfully slowly. The school bell rang and most of the students were up out of their seats immediately, ready to leave.

“Hang on,” Ms Osbourne yelled. “Everyone sit back down! I need to tell you your partners for the upcoming project.”

Alex listened attentively as she reeled off a list of names. Most people let out an annoyed groan when they found out they weren’t with a friend, and there was the occasional excited, “Yay!”

Alex knew he wouldn’t be one of the ones celebrating.

“Alex Mercer,” Ms Osbourne said eventually, pushing her glasses further up her tiny nose. “Your partner is Harry Reynolds.”

“Oh god,” Alex murmured. He felt his stomach squirm just as somebody kicked the back of his chair so hard that he jolted forward and nearly whacked his face on the table. The person laughed a moment later, obnoxiously loud, begging for retaliation – Alex didn’t dare turn around to look at them.

He knew already that it was Harry Reynolds sat behind him who had kicked his chair. His project partner, and possibly the worst person in the class that it could have been. For reasons unknown to Alex, Harry had always had it out for him. In middle school he had pushed Alex down a flight of stairs and he had landed unceremoniously in a trash can – Harry had started calling him Bin Boy and the nickname had stuck for a year afterwards; Harry was the only one who used it anymore though. Since then, Harry had just been a general jerk towards him, and upon hearing that they were going to be partners, Alex’s whole body told him to run.

Run where? Alex thought. This wasn’t a problem he could run from. Besides, Harry could probably run faster.

“Looks like it’s you and me, Bin Boy,” came Harry’s voice from behind. “I’m sure we’ll have loads of fun.”

Ms Osbourne finally finished listing pairs and then announced, “These partners are non-negotiable. I will not indulge any requests to switch for any reason. Life isn’t fair, sometimes we have to work with people we don’t like. Get used to it. Now go on, you’re already late for your next class.”

Alex wasn’t usually one to ignore instructions, but as the rest of the class filed out into the hallway he remained behind. He didn’t know what he was planning to say to Ms Osbourne, but he desperately needed to find a way out of the project, or at least switch partners.

“Go on, Alex,” Ms Osbourne said, “you’re going to be late.”

He swallowed thickly and said, “Miss, I was just wondering about the proj–”

“You’re not swapping partners,” she returned sternly. “I’ve already said this. I won’t make any allowances.”

“But, Miss, I can’t work with him,” Alex protested. She raised her eyebrows and started walking around the room, putting sheets on each table for her next class. Alex followed her as she went. “He hates me! It’s going to be awful.”

“Well, maybe the two of you can use this as a way to bond and get to know each other better, hm?”

“Miss, please,” Alex said, his desperation finally rearing its ugly head in his voice. He could feel his legs shaking and his hands wringing themselves together and his head tingling in a way he couldn’t describe, and finally he broke. “He has it out for me and I don’t even know why! He’s been awful to me ever since we were kids, he tries to pick fights with me, he calls me names. Last year he chased me around the field with a baseball bat for a whole PE lesson! If I have to work with him I’ll just end up panicking – or dead, that’s also a possibility – and the project will go terribly and I’ll fail the class. Please can I just work by myself?”

Ms Osbourne’s expression softened as she look at Alex over her glasses. For a moment, Alex’s hopes were raised just that tiny bit – maybe he had got through to her, maybe she would see sense.

But then her face turned to stone again.

“No,” she spat. “What you can do is figure out with Harry when the two of you are going to work on this project and how you’re going to go about it. And you can get to your next class.” She turned away with a cold air of finality. Alex could have sworn he actually felt chills.

Without a word, Alex heaved his bag onto his shoulder and made his way out of the classroom, crushed and dejected. He stared down at his feet as he walked and tried not to think about what the next few weeks could have in store for him.

Lunch couldn’t have come sooner. After what felt like an eternity, Alex finally made his way down to the cafeteria to meet up with his friends. If there was any one thing that was guaranteed to cheer Alex up when he was in a bad mood, it was the good company of his band and his boyfriend.

The rest of the group was already sat at their usual table when Alex arrived in the cafeteria; just seeing them laughing and joking together put the tiniest hint of a smile of his face. He headed over to them, but was stopped in his tracks by somebody stood in front of him – it was Harry Reynolds.

The boy had his arms crossed over his massive chest and was leering down at Alex with an expression of disgust. Alex tried to look past him at his friends, to get their attention, to ask for help, but they hadn’t seen him. Instead, he forced himself to look up into Harry’s brutish face and try not to squirm.

“Partners, huh?” Harry grunted. “I’m failing English so you’ll need to get us a good grade.”

“That’s the plan,” Alex said, willing his voice not to shake. It wasn’t that he was too frightened or intimidated by Harry, it was just the fact that he really didn’t feel like getting chucked in a bin today. One wrong move and he could consider that a real possibility.

“Be at my place on Saturday at one. Bring all your notes – I don’t have any.”

“I can’t do Saturday,” Alex told him, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I have band practise.”

Harry took a step closer. Alex couldn’t move back – his feet were rooted to the spot. “You think I care about your dopey little band practise? You’ll be there. That’s that.”

Alex swallowed, nodded hurriedly, and finally forced himself to take a step back so that he wasn’t chest to chest with Harry. “I’ll be there,” he echoed, still nodding.

Harry snarled, condescendingly patted Alex on the head, and walked off. Alex took a moment to collect himself, to breathe, to remind himself that he was okay and he wasn’t hurt, that Harry hadn’t done anything. He steadied himself and kept walking towards his friends, trying to mask the worry on his face.

Of course, he failed miserably.

The moment Alex sat down in his usual space between Willie and Luke, Willie took his hand, watching him with concern. “Hey,” Willie said gently, “what’s up?”

Julie, Luke, and Reggie immediately stopped their conversation, turning to face Alex and Willie. Alex hated the way they were looking at him, like he’d break if they dropped him, but it wasn’t like he could ask them to stop caring – instead, he looked at each of them, trying and failing to give them a reassuring smile before he spoke.

“Nothing,” Alex said, “nothing, it’s just… just this project for English.”

Luke sighed dramatically. “Has your class got that stupid Shakespeare assignment too? I get it, bro, it’s totally pointless–”

“No,” Alex interrupted quietly. “No, that’s not it. Well, kind of. Yeah, we’ve got the Shakespeare assignment but that’s not… not the problem.”

“What is it?” Willie prompted gently when Alex didn’t continue.

Alex shrugged. “It’s stupid.”

Julie leaned over the table and grasped Alex’s other hand. “Alex, your feelings are not stupid.”

She smiled warmly. Funny things happened when Julie smiled – when she did it to Luke, it wasn’t uncommon for him to literally trip over himself; when she did it to Reggie, it made him smile in return for hours on end; and when she did it to Alex, it gave him such overwhelming confidence that for a moment or two he could truly do anything.

“It’s just that we were assigned partners and I got stuck with Harry Reynolds,” he admitted, clutching Willie and Julie’s hands tighter. “It’s nothing and I shouldn’t be worried but–”

“It’s not nothing,” Willie said. Alex couldn’t quite read his expression – it looked to be something between sympathy and outrage. “That guy is the worst. Did you talk to your teacher about it?”

Alex nodded gravely. “She wouldn’t let me switch.”

“How much did you tell her?” Willie asked.

“What I thought would have been enough,” he replied, shrugging like it was nothing. “But it wasn’t.”

“She should be fired for that,” Reggie interjected. Everyone turned to look at him. “I’m just saying – if by ‘enough’ you mean that you told her what a jerk he’s been to you then she should follow that up and treat it like an issue instead of making you work with him.”

What would have been wise words were ruined slightly by the fact that Reggie spoke them around a mouthful of pizza.

“Reggie’s right,” Julie said, “she’s definitely in the wrong here.”

“I know that,” Alex told them, because he did, that much was obvious. “But it’s a little late for that now. I’m stuck with him.”

Willie clutched his hand tighter, threaded their fingers together. Alex leaned to the side, rested his head on Willie’s shoulder. Julie let go of his hand and Willie immediately picked it up – he smiled a little at both of them.

“I know saying it’s all going to be okay won’t help,” Willie whispered to him, “but you’ve got to try and believe that it will. And if it isn’t, I am just one call away. If you need anything – I mean anything – you call me and I will be there. Okay?”

Alex’s tense muscles relaxed the tiniest bit. “Okay,” he muttered back. “That’s okay.”

Willie kissed the top of his head and a fraction of Alex’s anxiety lifted. Willie would be there when he needed him no matter what. That was something he could always count on.

*

Luke hadn’t been happy when Alex had called him early on Saturday morning to tell him he wouldn’t be coming to band practise that day. He had given Alex a half-hour-long earful about how they had a gig coming up in a few days’ time and they needed to be rehearsing like crazy. It hadn’t been pleasant for Alex in the slightest, but at least it had been a welcome distraction from the other thing on his mind, the reason he had had to cancel band practise in the first place.

It was the day he was supposed to go to Harry’s house to work on their project. Alex had hardly slept the night before – he had lay awake in bed for hours, tossing and turning, trying to empty his mind and relax, but sleep just wouldn’t come. At half past two he had crept downstairs and made a batch of brownies using a recipe of his grandmother’s. At the time he’d thought that maybe he could use them to placate Harry once he got to his house, but he’d accidentally ended up stress-eating the entire batch instead.

He felt sick, but couldn’t tell if it was the brownies or the anxiety. Probably an unhealthy mix of both, he decided.

But he had passed the first hurdle and he told himself to be proud of that – he had arrived outside Harry’s house. It was a small bungalow on a road that led nowhere and Alex was struck by how normal it looked. It didn’t look like the sort of place somebody like Harry Reynolds should have lived; Harry was larger than life, tall and brooding, moody and mean – this house looked as if its occupants sold flowers and rescued kittens in their spare time.

Despite the outward appearances of the house, Alex was almost certain that he was in the right place. The front window seemed to show Harry’s bedroom because through it Alex could see innumerable trophies, all for different sporting events; a large stack of magazines (Alex was sure he could already guess what each contained); and a small enclosure that looked to Alex unbearably similar to a tank that might house a snake or a spider or any other creature that Alex would have preferred stayed thousands of miles away from him where it belonged.

He could not make himself walk into the house.

He had been trying for almost fifteen minutes and had walked past the house almost thirty times. He had counted his steps and was somewhere near eight thousand. His mind was racing, shooting through a hundred anxieties before Alex had the chance to dwell on any of them – maybe that was for the best. But it didn’t help the fact that he could not force his legs to walk in the direction of the door.

The worries stopping him weren’t even big ones like ‘What if he tries to hurt me?’ which Alex stressed over every time he interacted with Harry. It was the little things and the impossible things pricking the back of his mind like needles: What if he doesn’t answer the door? What if nobody’s home? What if I’m at the wrong house? What if he’s changed his mind? What if I got the wrong day? What if I got the wrong time? What if he’s not actually my project partner? What if… What if… What if…

What if I call Willie?

Alex blessed his brain for having its first sensible thought that day. He fished his phone out his pocket and called Willie, who picked up after one ring.

“Hey,” Willie said, “what’s up, hotdog?”

“I, um… I’m at Harry’s house. I can’t go inside.”

“Why not?” Willie asked. “Is the door locked? Are they out?”

Alex shook his head although Willie couldn’t see him. “No. I don’t think so. It’s just… I… I can’t do it.”

“What do you mean you can’t do it?” Willie asked patiently.

“I can’t go inside,” Alex repeated. With his free hand, he tugged at the strap of his fanny pack, fiddling with the buckle where it lay over his chest. “I can’t go up to the door. I’ve been trying for, like, twenty minutes and every time I try my head starts buzzing and my legs go numb and I’m starting to feel really sick now because I ate an entire batch of brownies meant for at least ten people and I can’t do this–”

“Okay,” Willie interrupted. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Breathe, Alex. Remember the breathing exercises we went over? Breathe in for four and out for six. Come on, hotdog, you’ve got this.”

Alex did as he said, taking great shuddering breaths of bitter air and releasing them slowly. Willie kept talking him through it, slowly, softly, kindly, and after about ten minutes Alex felt refreshed. Not necessarily worry-free, but his mind had cleared a little bit.

“Okay,” Willie said. “That was great, well done. Can you give me this guy’s address?”

Alex gave it to him.

“Luckily for you, that’s just down the road from where I am right now,” Willie said, chipper. Alex could hear the smile in his voice and it almost made him smile himself. Almost. “I’ll be there in a minute. I’ll go inside with you, if that’s what you want?”

Alex breathed a haggard, relieved sigh. “Yes. Please. If you don’t mind. Thank you, Willie.”

Willie gave a small chuckle. “Any time, hotdog. You know I’d do anything for you. I’ll see you in a minute.”

And he hung up.

Alex waited, still doing his breathing exercises, but didn’t need to wait long. Hardly five minutes later, Willie rolled up (literally – he was on his skateboard) and gave him a bright smile. Alex didn’t hesitate before lurching forward and pulling him into a hug.

“Thank you, Willie,” he whispered. “I really appreciate it.”

Willie’s response was simply to hug him tighter.

Together, hands clasped tightly between them, Willie with his board tucked under his arm, they made their way up to the bungalow’s front door. Alex swallowed, steeled himself, and then firmly knocked on the door. When nobody answered it in the first five seconds, Alex told Willie, “This is a bad idea,” and tried to turn away to leave.

However, Willie just pulled him back and a moment later the door opened. On the threshold of the house was Harry, staring down at Alex and Willie. Something about him wasn’t quite as nightmarish as it was at school, yet at the same time Alex was much more afraid. He held Willie’s hand tighter.

Harry nodded in Willie’s direction. “Who’s this, Bin Boy? You brought your boyfriend?”

“Actually, yeah,” Willie said, speaking for Alex. He was glad – his throat felt thick and he didn’t think he could have summoned up any words if he tried. “I’m Willie. I’ve heard about you.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? What?”

“Just a few things,” Willie said nonchalantly. “Nothing important. Anyway, I was in the neighbourhood and Alex and I are set to hang out when he’s done here anyway so I thought I’d come along. Is that alright with you?”

“It’s fine,” Harry returned with a shrug. Then his eyes landed on something and his entire expression changed. Alex didn’t think he’d ever seen Harry look like this before. Could it have been what he thought it was: excitement? “Bro! You skate?”

Willie lifted his board half-heartedly. “This isn’t just for decoration.”

Harry grinned, clapping Willie on the shoulder so hard that his hand dropped from Alex’s. “Dude, that’s sick, I do too. Come on, get inside, man.”

Harry headed back into the house and Willie followed him. Alex took a moment to wonder what the hell that had been, then took a deep breath and hurried after them. When he caught up with Willie he grabbed his hand again. Willie just smiled bemusedly up at him.

Harry led them to his bedroom and beckoned them towards his desk.

“Come look at this,” Harry said. “I had a photo taken with Tony Hawk last year!”

Alex perched himself right on the edge of the bed awkwardly as Willie went over to inspect the framed photo.

“Are you sure that’s Tony Hawk?” Willie asked. “Doesn’t look like him.”

Harry shook his head. “You’ve got to imagine he’s holding a skateboard, then you’ll see it.”

Alex watched Willie squint at the photo for a moment or two longer, then he gasped and, to Alex’s horror, began to smile. “Oh, wait… yeah, kinda. That’s awesome, dude!”

“Yeah! Anyway, how long have you been skating for?”

As Willie answered, Alex zoned out of the conversation. Ordinarily, he loved listening to Willie talk about skating – he lit up whenever he explained a new trick he’d learnt, and seeing him flush with pride after he demonstrated it perfectly to Alex always made him feel giddy – but it just wasn’t the same listening to him chat with Harry Reynolds of all people. Alex didn’t even know who that Tony Hawk guy was and it didn’t seem like anyone was about to bother explaining it to him. He would never have admitted it, but listening to Willie talk to Harry was almost annoying.

He busied himself by looking around the room, getting a glimpse at what the real Harry Reynolds was like. At school, Harry was the classic, early-2000s movie jock, on every sports team the school had to offer, constantly bragging about his luck with girls, and picking on people smaller than him (which, because Harry was built like a tree trunk, was pretty much everyone). His room reflected it too; there were even more trophies than Alex had seen through the window, most for football or, unexpectedly, karate, and the walls were plastered in posters displaying buff men and weirdly specific motivational quotes. Only now did Alex notice the skateboards stuck on the wall and the stack of helmets by his bed, as well as several skating posters directly above them.

He turned back to Willie and Harry just in time to hear Willie laugh. Properly laugh, loud and genuine. Willie only laughed like that with his friends and it hearing it in Harry’s room stirred an uneasy feeling in the pit of Alex’s stomach.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, trying to smile.

Willie waved him off. “Don’t worry, hotdog, just a skating joke.”

Harry snickered, shaking his head. “Pretty freaking funny though.”

“Oh,” Alex said. He tried for a laugh but it was the least genuine noise he had ever made – judging by the look Harry sent him, it had been obvious how fake it was to him too. Alex cleared his throat awkwardly. “Shouldn’t we get on with our work? We’re already running behind schedule.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Shut it, Bin Boy, we’re having a conversation here. You start if you want, I’ll join you whenever.”

Alex sent a look to Willie, eyes wide and pleading. Willie frowned, looking conflicted, but then shrugged.

Willie and Alex didn’t fight often, but Alex wouldn’t have minded giving Willie a piece of his mind right then and there.

He didn’t though. He sighed, shuffled back on the bed so that he could have more room and lean on the mattress, and he started working on the project. It wasn’t too difficult, just an analysis on the themes of Macbeth, something they had gone over in class a hundred times; still, Alex would have appreciated some help, seeing as this was a paired project and he didn’t exactly want to do the whole thing alone.

But it was fine. He kept telling himself that it was completely and utterly fine. But every so often Willie or Harry would laugh or suddenly shout, and the abrupt noise would startle Alex. The third time that happened he accidentally jogged his highlighter so it zigzagged all over his painstakingly neat paragraph on King James I. He gripped his pen so hard that the plastic almost cracked, and set about writing the whole thing again on a new piece of paper.

Alex didn’t know how long he had been working for, but he did know that it had been a hell of a long time and Harry still hadn’t made any effort to help him. He had copied up all his notes on the supernatural, women, ambition, and the Great Chain of Being, all the while Harry had sat there with Willie, not doing anything.

The strange thing was, Alex found himself more angry at Willie than he was at Harry.

Eventually, he checked the time, his hand aching. It was almost five o’clock, which meant he had been working alone for about four hours solidly. He had done pretty much half of the project in that time and was nearing his breaking point – he thought that if he left now he could catch the tail end of band practise and take his frustration out on his drumkit.

Gathering his notes and all his work, Alex said, “I’m going to head out.”

Willie checked the clock on Harry’s desk and then set about clipping his helmet on. “Yeah, we should get going. This was fun, though, man. It was nice to talk to a fellow skater for once.”

“I hear you, dude,” Harry returned. They fist-bumped and Alex physically cringed. “Catch you later.”

Alex didn’t say goodbye, just saw himself out. He didn’t wait for Willie. He simply walked, trying to get out of the house and as far away as possible in as little time as he could. Alex could hear Willie shouting for him to wait up but he didn’t stop.

He felt Willie grab his hand and pull him to a halt, but pulled his hand from Willie’s grasp.

“What’s up with you?” Willie asked, seeming truly bewildered. “I thought that was alright back there, it was relaxed, not stressful. Are you still feeling anxious?”

Alex didn’t answer his question and instead he said with much more venom than he had intended, “What the hell was that?”

Willie looked taken aback. Alex almost felt bad. Almost.

“What was what?”

“In there!” Alex yelled, pointing in the direction of Harry’s house. “You talking to him like you’re best friends! That guy is a jerk, you know that, Willie, so why were you laughing and joking with him as if he’s the nicest guy in the world?”

Willie didn’t look impressed. “Sorry, I was under the impression you wanted me there. I was talking to him to distract from you. That’s what you wanted, right? You were nervous about going so you wanted my help to take the pressure off you. I was helping you, Alex, because that was what you asked me to do!”

“Not like that,” Alex protested. “You weren’t supposed to bond with him, leave me out completely so that I had to do all the work by myself and listen to you two talk about skateboards and… Toby Eagle, or whoever that guy was!”

“It was Tony Hawk. And it’s not my fault that Harry likes skateboarding,” Willie shot back. “It’s also not my fault that I enjoyed talking to someone who shares that interest for once. You listen and you pretend to know what I’m talking about, but it isn’t the same.”

“It didn’t have to be him!”

“Actually, given the circumstances, it did. And like I said – it got the attention off you, so I don’t see why you’re complaining.”

Alex felt his temper rising with each sentence. He never got this upset at Willie, this was a complete first. Sure, they had argued like any couple would, but he had never felt any real anger towards his boyfriend. It frightened him, and that fright stopped him from seeing any sense, taking a step back, calming himself down.

“I didn’t want you to do it like that,” he said, as if it was obvious. It was obvious to Alex – why wasn’t it obvious to Willie?

“I can’t read your mind, Alex,” Willie shouted, pointing at himself. “I don’t know what’s going on in your head!”

“You should know!”

“I don’t! It could be anything! I don’t think you realise that when it comes to you and your anxiety, I’m pretty much flying as blind as you are. Sure, I’ve done my research and I can handle it, but I never know what’s going to trigger you and set you off like earlier today. I may seem prepared, but I don’t know what you’re thinking and I don’t know what you’re going to worry about most. It is not my fault that sometimes I might not handle it in the best way. I’m trying my hardest, Alex.”

“You aren’t the one who has to go through the panic attacks and the constant worry, are you?” Alex seethed.

Willie shrugged. “No, I’m not. But I still worry about you all the time because I don’t know what’s going to set you off.”

“It’s not my fault I have anxiety,” Alex yelled.

“I never said it was! But it’s not my fault either – I dropped everything just to come and help you today and all you’re doing is throwing it right back in my face and arguing with me for helping you out! It’s not my fault that you can’t do these easy things and that you need me to hold your hand all the time!”

Alex froze. Willie did too. The words were out there, they’d been spoken without hesitation. They hung between the two of them like a toxic cloud, as both of them slowly realised the weight those words had held.

Willie broke the silence, reaching out his hand to Alex, trying to bridge that gap between them that had widened impossibly in the last ten seconds. “Alex, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean t–”

Alex stepped back, out of reach from Willie. Willie flinched and he withdrew his hand, instead crossing his arms and rubbing circles by his elbow with his thumb. It was a nervous tick Alex only ever saw when Willie was really stressed out. Normally he would have tried to soothe him, calm him down, but all he could hear were Willie’s words echoing back and forth through his mind.

It’s not my fault that you can’t do these easy things and that you need me to hold your hand all the time!

Alex schooled his features to careful neutrality, not betraying any emotion. It wasn’t hard, seeing as he wasn’t feeling much at that moment anyway, just a cold detachment.

“I heard you,” Alex said quietly. He couldn’t look Willie in the eye. “I heard exactly what you said. I know what you meant.”

“Then you’ve got to know that I wasn’t trying to–”

“I know what you meant,” he repeated. “I’m going back to band practise. I don’t think you should come and watch today.”

He shook his head and, turning on his heel, walked away. He didn’t hear Willie’s footsteps following him this time.

*

Band practise had helped calm Alex down with a mixture of wrestling his drumkit and talking things out with Julie, Luke, and Reggie. They had all seemed utterly shocked that Willie would say anything like that, but Alex wasn’t so surprised. After all, things like this were what he worried about – being left alone, being disliked by the people he cared for most, being a nuisance, being abandoned. Deep down in the pit of his worst anxieties, he had been worried that something like this could have happened.

He just had never thought it would have come from Willie.

While band helped him calm down, it didn’t help cheer him up. He regretted even bringing the argument up in the first place – if he had ignored his feelings (which Julie had bluntly explained to him were jealousy) then he could have avoided the whole argument. Instead of lying in his cold bed, unable to sleep that night, he could have been curled up with Willie on the couch in the studio, warm and cosy because Willie was like a human radiator.

He knew that neither of them had been fair on each other. He could see Willie’s side of the argument once he had calmed down. But he knew that what he had said was equally valid and he couldn’t get past the scorn in Willie’s voice when he’d said those damning words.

He didn’t hear from Willie all throughout Sunday and didn’t make any moves to contact him himself either. If he did, he had no clue where he would have even begun. Perhaps an apology – but where was he supposed to take the conversation from there?

So Sunday was silent.

Alex was slightly dreading school on Monday, but he wasn’t about to ruin his high grades by not showing up, especially this close to the end of the semester. Grudgingly, he headed to school and went straight to his first lesson, which just so happened to be the lesson from Hell: English.

He arrived there before the rest of the class, including Ms Osbourne, which meant he had time to dwell on his thoughts alone. He probably wasn’t going to fail this class – despite Saturday having been a nightmare, he had managed to get a lot of good work done on the project and it would be of a very high quality when he finally got it finished. But he still had more work to do and he knew that he really ought to do it with Harry. Absently, he pondered whether or not to bring Willie next time he needed to go to Harry’s house.

Talk of the devil, Alex thought as the classroom door swung open and none other than Harry himself sauntered in. He looked at Alex sat there alone, the only other person in the room, and grunted, coming to sit beside him.

Alex didn’t have the energy to be scared of Harry Reynolds today.

“I’ve been looking for you, Mercer,” Harry said conversationally.

“Oh, joy,” Alex deadpanned. Harry looked surprised, probably because Alex wasn’t cowering in fear, but he shrugged it off.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he continued. “I just wanted to say that your boyfriend, that Willie guy, he’s really cool. I mean, the way he was talking about skating the other day – I don’t know if you realise it, man, but he has a real shot at going pro.”

“I know,” Alex spat. “He’s my boyfriend, of course I know. Maybe I don’t skate but I still listen to him. And I know him better than you do.”

Harry held up a hand. “Woah, calm down, Bin B– uh. Alex. I’m just trying to say the guy is really cool and you’re really lucky to have him. And also… talking to him the other day, he said– well, you weren’t listening, were you?”

Alex shook his head.

“We did stop talking about skating at some point, you know,” Harry told him. “Willie was telling me how awesome you are and, you know, explaining why he likes you so much. And I guess it made me realise that I’ve kind of been a jerk to you for a long time – I mean, he literally told me so. He told me to stop being such a douchebag to you.”

Alex grunted. “He’s right. You should stop. It sucks.”

Harry nodded. “I wanted to apologise for it, I guess. I’m sorry for being so nasty to you. I think it’s just because I was young and dumb and I didn’t realise it was hurting you at first, then it just stuck. I kind of always thought it was friendly too – I didn’t think you minded. I thought it was banter.”

“It wasn’t,” Alex said, meeting his eyes. “It never was. I’m terrified of you, you’ve made my life a misery. Thanks for the apology, but it’s no excuse.”

“I know that,” he admitted. “But I just wanted to explain why. I’m going to try my best to be a better guy from now on. It won’t make up for everything I’ve done in the past, but can you give me a chance to get this right?”

Alex considered. Somehow, Harry seemed completely serious. His expression was slightly pleading and he looked a little awkward and uncomfortable to be asking this of Alex, but it seemed real.

So he nodded.

“Fine. Thank you.”

Harry clapped him on the back. “No worries, dude. And, uh… this might not be my place to ask, but are you okay? You look down.”

Alex shrugged. “I had an argument with Willie after we left your place the other day. I’ve not spoken to him since.”

“Was it my fault?” Harry asked.

“Kinda,” Alex told him, shrugging again. “I just… I didn’t like how friendly you two seemed. After everything you’ve done to me in the past, watching him get along with you like it was nothing made me a little mad.”

“Sorry, bro,” Harry said, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m not into him or anything, so you’ve got nothing to worry about there – plus, he’s crazy about you, so even if someone else did like him they’d be out of luck. I just wanted to talk with someone about skating for once, none of my friends are into it.”

“Willie said the same thing,” Alex admitted.

Harry nodded awkwardly. “I don’t have any say in your relationship, but honestly I’m kind of invested in it now and I think you guys should talk it out. I’d hate to think I played some part if you ended up breaking up over this.”

“I don’t want to break up with him,” Alex objected, horrified. The thought of breaking up with Willie, losing him forever, made him feel sick to the stomach.

The rest of the class began filing into the classroom. Harry stood up, shrugged, and then clapped Alex on the shoulder.

“Go talk to him, then.”

*

Alex, for the first time in his life, took the advice Harry had given him and decided to take that first, absolutely terrifying step towards fixing the break between himself and Willie. If he knew his boyfriend (and he did) then Willie would have gone to the skatepark straight after school, so that was where Alex headed too.

Sure enough, Alex found Willie at the skatepark, sat at the top of the highest ramp. Every now and then, someone on a board would do a trick nail-bitingly close to Willie’s face, but he didn’t flinch even once. He was staring off into the peachy sunset, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Alex climbed up there and sat himself down next to him.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked uneasily.

Willie startled and turned to Alex, caught unawares. “Alex! I thought you–”

Willie didn’t get to finish his sentence because Alex pulled him into a tight, bone-crushing, fierce hug, pouring every last ounce of love and regret into it. He felt Willie hug back with equal force and buried his face into Willie’s long hair. This, he knew, was how it was supposed to be – Alex and Willie, boyfriends who care far too much about each other, not Alex and Willie, boyfriends on the edge of a break-up.

Eventually, Alex withdrew himself and let Willie go mostly, still keeping a tight clutch on his upper arms.

“I am so sorry,” he said, breathless. “I’m sorry for everything I said and for starting the argument and for everything that happened that day.”

Willie shook his head. “Don’t. I’m sorry, I should have realised how talking to Harry like that would have made you feel. It was dumb of me, and I shouldn’t have said such hurtful things to you, and–”

“I get it,” Alex said breezily, “I’m a lot to deal with.”

Desperately, Willie said, “But that’s not what I meant! I can’t explain what I was trying to say, but I wouldn’t change anything about you or our relationship for the world. You mean the everything to me, Alex, and I never want to do something to jeopardise what we have ever again. I’d do anything to take back what I said to you that day.”

Alex pulled him back into the hug, needing to be close to him. “It wasn’t just you. It was both of us. And Harry. But we’ve all apologised now, even him, so we can put this whole thing behind us.”

Willie pulled back, surprised. “He apologised?”

“Yeah,” Alex said, nodding. “Because of you. He said you were going on about how amazing I am and he realised he’d been a jerk.”

Willie blushed the tiniest bit, and playfully punched Alex’s arm. “Well, you are amazing. You’re more than amazing. You’re a miracle and I’m lucky to have you.”

Smiling, Alex cupped Willie’s cheek and gently pulled him in for a kiss. It was soft, slow, and Alex felt like they were glowing, bright and warm and happy. They kissed until every unspoken word had been said, until the last of the orange sunset had ebbed away into night-time blue, until streetlights cast an amber glow across the skatepark, in which they were the only ones left. Alex felt like he was finally at peace, with himself and with Willie.

He pulled back and rested his forehead against Willie’s. “I’m lucky to have you too. I can’t even begin to understand what good luck brought you to me.”

Willie moved back slightly, shuffled further away until he was only holding Alex’s hands, until that was the only point where they touched. Alex missed his warmth.

“Sorry,” Willie giggled, smile bright. “I wanted to be able to look you in the eyes for this.”

“For what?” Alex asked.

Willie’s smile softened. “I love you, Alex. And I’m pretty sure I always will.”

Alex’s heart stopped. It was the first time he’d ever heard those words out loud. Sure, he had felt them in every little action from Willie in all the time they’d been together – he had felt his love in the way he cared for him when he was sick, in the way he bundled himself up in Alex’s hoodies, in the way he played with Alex’s hair, in the way he brought him back from the edge when he was anxious, in the way he devoted every part of himself to Alex.

He had loved Willie in return too, in the little ways – how he listened to Willie talk about skating and watched him practise, how he brushed and braided Willie’s hair to relax them both, how he danced with Willie whenever he wanted because he simply couldn’t say no, how he wrote songs that only Willie would ever hear, how he listened to Willie talk nonsense in his sleep on those nights they slept at the studio together.

But he too had never said the words out loud.

He pulled Willie in for another kiss, brief but burning, and then held his hands again. Willie was right – this was something Alex wanted to look in his eyes for.

“I love you, too, Willie. I’ll never stop.”

[the-necessary-unnecessary]

I can't read the athletic article about Hannah. What were some of the stuff in it?

I'll copy below some of the main points of interest in the article!!

The date was March 11 and Hampton’s Birmingham City were hosting Everton in the Women’s Super League. Hampton, the squad’s resident DJ, was blasting her music through the speakers when the song skipped and the email tone rang out.

“I didn’t open it (the email) — I got one of the girls to — and then, obviously, like… You know what it’s going to be anyway. Wardy (Birmingham’s manager, Carla Ward) then found out just because I was just so annoyed that it came through at the time it did.”

Ninety minutes before kick-off of her club’s latest match, Hampton was told she had not made the shortlist for Great Britain’s squad for the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer.

Two hours on, by which time Birmingham had lost 4-0 and Hampton had delivered what her manager described as a “performance which isn’t Hannah Hampton-esque”, morose images of one of the country’s most talented goalkeepers crumpled wearily in the centre circle were being slapped all over newspaper pages and topping sports websites across the world

...

There is a part of Hampton that blames herself — “looking back, I’m probably more annoyed at my performance than the actual call itself” — and she has directed any reflection on that Thursday night almost exclusively inwards. “I probably shouldn’t have: one, gone on my phone, or two… I don’t know… let affect me as much as it did.

“After the game, it gives you a bit more time to think. I’ve got no problem in not being selected for the squad, because it comes with the game. You just get on with it and try to get into the next one. I think the problem that I’ve got is just then receiving so much hate through social media. That’s the problem. What I think people don’t understand is you’re human. You’re not just a player.”

One corner of social media — Hampton’s own Twitter mentions, thankfully, were overwhelmingly supportive — devoted itself to a veritable character-assassination and the comments below BBC Sport’s tweet on the story make for particularly grim reading.

One orders her to grow up. Another tells her she never stood a chance anyway. Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope wouldn’t cry if he’d missed out on England selection in similar circumstances adds a third, citing this as proof that women’s football will never be taken seriously. They call her weak. One tells her it was obvious to everybody that she never would have made the squad. On and on it churns and screeches and spits, a toxic conveyer-belt delivering bile directly onto her phone.

“Social media is the problem,” she says quietly. “Just a lot of hate. Just a lot. I just got on with it. Now I’ve just literally been off my phone for about five weeks.” She gestures to her agents, who are listening in on our Zoom call. “You can ask Brad and Luca — I’ve not responded to them so many times. I think it was a bit of an eye-opener for me that a story so little could become so big.”

...

Here’s another thing Hampton has never spoken about before: she has no depth perception. Never has. It is a great paradox that someone who is one of the WSL’s most agile goalkeepers sometimes cannot even pour a drink of water without “completely missing the jug”. In many ways, she has defied medical science to play football professionally.

She was born with a severe squint and by the age of five, had undergone three operations on her eyes “just to try and get them straight”. She only remembers the last one, and, specifically, waking up to find that her eyes had been temporarily glued shut. Her eyes, each vying for independence from the other, do not work together: “I can’t really judge distances and it gets very noticeable when I’m so tired. My left eye will just start wandering.”

Hampton herself is not quite sure how she does it and coaches and team-mates have been baffled, amused and impressed in equal measure. “A lot of people just go, ‘It’s mad to think our goalkeeper can’t see a thing’. All the time, they laugh about it. I’ll think you’re closer than you actually are, or I don’t know how far away you are from me.”

...

When she was aged five, the Hamptons moved to Spain just so that their children would experience another culture (it paid off, as Hannah speaks fluent Spanish after spending five years there). Hampton’s mother and father found work as PE and maths teachers respectively at the school attended by the offspring of the Villarreal men’s team. The Argentinian centre-back Fabio Fuentes, while collecting his own children, observed Hampton’s skills on the playground and implored her to have a trial for the academy. “I knew no Spanish then,” she says, “so I had to get the translator over.”

She was a nimble right winger in those days and trained with the boys’ academy. The adage goes that champions are made on cold, rainy nights in Stoke and thus it has proved for Hampton, who, having moved back to England and joined Stoke’s centre of excellence, deputised for their injured goalkeeper in a youth game against Liverpool.

She so thoroughly deceived the onlooking England scout, who had no idea he had just watched a moonlighting striker have a stormer between the sticks that, at age 12, she got called up by England Under-15s. “I just thought, ‘I’ll give it a go if I’ve just been spotted off one game’,” she says.

[mellometal]

Hiyo!

For everyone new here, welcome! Glad to have you here. Hope you enjoy your stay!

For everyone who's been here for a while, Y'ALL ALREADY KNOW WHAT'S ABOUT TO GO DOWN.

Yep, this is part two of why I hate Glee so much.

Let's get it. (If there's anything I forgot to mention, go ahead and add them on in the comments or reblogs.)

Obligatory TW: This contains subject matter that may be triggering for some audiences. The following post contains homophobia, biphobia, ableism, underage drinking, faking a pregnancy to manipulate a partner into staying with them, teachers being creepy towards students, mentioned past child m0l3stati0n and invalidation of the victim's trauma, statutory r@pe (between teachers and students), pr3datory behavior....you get the picture.

If anything mentioned above is triggering for you in any way, again, feel free to scroll past this and consume media that's safe for you.

Gentle reminder: This is all my opinion. This is my take on specific moments in the show, plus evidence to back everything up. Not asking for anyone to agree with me or anything.

***If you like the show, good for you. I couldn't care less. As long as you're not out hurting people, I don't care. Live your life.***

Sit back, relax, grab some snacks and drinks, and let's get to this thing.

How about I talk about Artie for a few minutes? He's a character I have a ton of issues with. Not because he as a character is disabled. That has nothing to do with why I have issues with Artie. The issues there have to do with his actor, who I'll get to in a minute. It's because everything Artie says that's considered problematic is excused and/or ignored simply because of his disability. They only focus on the fact that Artie requires a wheelchair to get around and nothing else. Honestly, it feels like they pity him and praise him just for being in a wheelchair. While he has had some rough times in the show, it doesn't change that he's no better than anyone and he's just as bad.

There are physically disabled actors who play roles of physically disabled characters and they never make it about how they require a wheelchair, a walker, or any other equipment to get around. An example of a physically disabled actor off the top of my head would be Michael Patrick Thornton. He plays Dr. Gabriel Fife on a show called Private Practice, which nobody mentions the chair and his character is a lot more than his disability.

Kevin McHale, Artie's actor, is an able-bodied actor who was cast as a physically disabled character who requires a wheelchair to get around. The way that Glee portrayed disabled characters in general was inaccurate, extremely unrealistic (i.e., Artie joining the football team and then being told that his wheelchair would be a safety risk....like, don't you have sports made for disabled people at that school? Because disabled sports teams do exist.), the storylines with Artie made no sense (i.e., his whole backstory, how he was the lead dancer in one episode and was never mentioned again), and it was offensive. There is a term for this that I didn't even know, and it's called "cr1pface". Basically, that's when able-bodied actors are cast as physically disabled characters. This is a reoccurring theme in live-action media and it's gross.

Glee could cast a Down's Syndrome girl JUST FINE. That's great. Love that. YET THEY COULDN'T BOTHER TO CAST A PHYSICALLY DISABLED ACTOR FOR THE ROLE OF A PHYSICALLY DISABLED CHARACTER. SPECIFICALLY A YOUNG PHYSICALLY DISABLED ACTOR. Because I very rarely see them in live-action media, if at all.

There are more physically disabled characters in cartoons than in live-action media. At least younger physically disabled characters. My point about how younger physically disabled characters need more representation in live-action media still stands. Just in GENERAL, y'all.

Artie isn't all innocent. Here are some screenshots of him sex-shaming Mary Sue and Blaine (a.k.a., Diet Br3nd0n Ur!3) for them not being close in their rendition of West Side Story:

Hey, ummm....news flash, this isn't what directors would actually require their actors to do, let alone request them to do. Unless a director is putting together an on-stage production that has anything to do with sex, they wouldn't do this. (I'm mainly talking about stage productions here, not movie productions. Movie productions are a little different in that aspect.) Also....why would a director who's supposed to be Mary Sue's and Diet Br3nd0n Ur!3's friend ASK FOR THIS? YOUR PLAY WILL NOT SUFFER IF THERE'S NO SEX WHATSOEVER. YOUR PLAY WILL BE FINE.

(I mean it this time. This is your last chance to scroll past this post, click off, whatever you gotta do. This next scene contains mentioned child m0l3stati0n and invalidation of the victim's trauma.)

I want to bring your attention to this scene:

This is the nail in the coffin for me to lose any respect I had for Artie left...which I didn't have much of, to begin with.

Ryder confides in the Glee Club about he was m0l3st3d by an older woman as a child. The older woman was HIS BABYSITTER. A person who was being paid to watch over him by his parents. An eleven year old child...just children in general CANNOT CONSENT to s3x.

(By the way, pedos, this is your daily, unfriendly reminder that your attraction to children is disgusting. Pedo apologists, the fact that you justify pedos being attracted to children is also disgusting. Get professional help. NOTHING can justify grown adults being romantically and/or sexually attracted to children. Stay the fuck away from kids. Pedos and pedo apologists will NEVER be welcome here.)

He didn't ask to be m0l3st3d as an eleven year old boy by a babysitter. When it's an eleven year old girl who gets m0l3st3d by her babysitter who just so happens to be an older man, people are more sympathetic towards the girl and condemn the man. Rightfully so. On the contrary, if it's an eleven year old boy who gets m0l3st3d by his babysitter who happens to be an older woman (like Ryder), people congratulate the boy, tell him he's "lucky", and they don't take what he went through seriously. Why? Because men are expected to ALWAYS want to have s3x, women are pretty much always assumed to be asexual and s3x-repulsed....you get my point. Men don't always want to have s3x. Women actually have s3x drives! SHOCKER.

Artie's response to Ryder telling him that he was literally m0l3st3d AS A FUCKING CHILD makes me SO angry, and I'm about to tell you WHY. They play it off as Artie being naïve and not knowing any better...ALL BECAUSE HE'S PHYSICALLY DISABLED. THEY TREAT IT AS IF HE'S MENTALLY DISABLED TOO, WHICH I CAN'T RECALL IF THEY HAVE EVER DISCUSSED THIS ANYWHERE IN THE SHOW. Seriously? Can you stop pitying and infantilizing disabled people who use wheelchairs to get around all because they use a fucking wheelchair? Naïveté is one thing (this is ONLY IF Artie GENUINELY DIDN'T KNOW anything about m0l3stati0n), but you know, they could've used this moment to teach him about m0l3stati0n and how it fucking affects people. Someone could have CALLED ARTIE OUT because he said something extremely fucked up DIRECTLY TO A VICTIM OF CHILD M0L3STATI0N! But nooooo! Apparently boys can't be victims of m0l3stati0n, according to the dumbasses plaguing the fucking planet, so I guess fuck the THOUSANDS of Boy Scouts who were m0l3st3d by their scout masters since 1944, right? /s

ENOUGH SAID. Let's move on.

The second character in this part I really wanted to get to is Mr. William Schuester, or Mr. Schue for short. Good GOD, this teacher...if I can even call him one at this point, is a terrible person and creepy as all hell. I will call Mr. Schue "Mr. Pr3dat0r" because he's a disgusting waste of splooge who should be in jail.

We can talk about how Mr. Pr3dat0r doesn't have any friends his own age (except for his fiancée, who faked a pregnancy to get him to stay with her), he was literally in the boys' locker room spying on Gary Stu (Finn) WHILE HE WAS IN THE FUCKING SHOWER because he was singing, blackmailed Gary Stu into joining the Glee Club™️ by planting drugs, he has put on racist costumes on quite a few occasions in the show, encouraged his students to twerk to the song "Blurred Lines", and got off on two of his students shaking their asses to the song "River Deep, Mountain High". He's fucking gross. I'll put down the screenshots as evidence so you can see what I'm talking about.

Mr. Pr3dat0r shouldn't be a teacher. I don't think I need to elaborate more. These pictures say enough.