#but any other student... i want to eat my lunch and lesson plan in peace please

[pocketramblr]

More realism for the hell school: it's ok when All Might invites Izuku to the staff room but not when he lets Bakugo in, because teachers can't get mad when their coworkers let their families in, but any other time a student enters everyone wants that kid out of our space ASAP

[purerae]

Hii! I love your work!! Could you do a halloween party imagine with any of your characters? or all of them meeting our poor y/n, it'd make a cool crossover

Free form however you like!!!

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YANDERE!HAREM X FEM READER

HALLOWEEN PARTY // AU IMAGINE.

warnings ;; mostly crack, yandere behaviour, male yandere(s), female yandere, mentions of drinking, demon summoning (silas), mentions of blackmail (none to Y/N), alternate universe, not canon to anyone's plot. 

a/n ;; Hi Anon! I know halloween is over but this is such a good idea i couldn’t miss out on it!! By the way, in each one of the yandere stories, Y/N has a slightly different personality. So I wasn't sure  whether you wanted me to do multiple Y/N’s or just one. So I decided to combine the personalities into one. Good luck<3 (please let me know if there are any mistakes.)

CLICK HERE FOR MY MASTERLIST (intro to all the yanderes)

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Hopeless. You felt hopeless as your left arm was dragged around like a piece of meat by the girl no one swore to mess with

“Come on babe~! Wear the angel wings, we have to be matching!” Reina grits her teeth as she attempts to place the wings onto your unwilling back. The fire headed girl gives up with a scoff in her throat before walking over to your mirror and reapplying her dark red lipstick, adjusting the horns that perfectly matched with her crimson wavy hair. 

How did she even get into Y/Ns house in the first place?

You remember pretty clearly. Today is the 31st of October. You were well aware that it was halloween and perfectly content with staying inside your humble abode. You’d buy a bunch of bulk cheap candy and scarf it down whilst watching some classic horror movies. Not enough to scare you, but to make you physically cringe.

That was the plan, Perfect right? There would be nothing to stop you from having a peaceful night of binge watching shitty films.

Apart from the three vastly different individuals who were all pining over you. Though they were complete opposites, they all had a way grinding your gears and irritating you to no end. 

Reina, the delinquent who made your life as the school president 10x worse. She’d constantly hang around you during lunch and break, surrounded by her delinquent friends who’d make jokes you wouldn’t get but would laugh in fear of getting made fun of. Not to mention the lessons you’d have to miss in order to supervise her during the detentions she had purposely got.  You think you spend more time with her then you spend eating the gross lunch your school provides.

Kieran, the playboy who suddenly switched up his entire role once he realised you weren’t interested in him like the others were. God, if only you pretended like you were. Maybe that would’ve stopped him from bothering you in all your science classes with his weird sexual jokes or flirty overbearing personality. Yeah he was a bit funny and maybe he sometimes made your day with his stupid jokes but that came crashing down once he would say his tenth pick up line to you all in one lesson. 

And then there’s Alex, the jock who’s the captain of the football team, a tad bit stupid  but still had the personality of the literal sun, which made him the most tolerable but still pretty overwhelming for your average dream life.  He was the last one to pop up in your weird harem, he stuck around you like a lost puppy once he realised you didn’t like his team. “I’ll make sure you like me, no matter what!” — were his exact words. 

These individuals had a very high reputation in school, most people liked them and often idolised them. So, why were they all vying for your attention? People would go to great lengths to be in your shoes, yet all you desired was to lead an ordinary student's life.

Your internal monologue was abruptly interrupted by the ringing of your phone, and you didn't even have a moment to guess who might be calling before the sound reached your ears (You would've had two guesses). -- In response, Reina let out an exasperated groan and struts over to you.

She confidently picks up your phone and shuts it off before snapping her fingers in your face.

“How have you still not put the wings on.. god what would you do without me!”  If you didn’t know any better, from the tone of her voice you’d think she was annoyed. But in reality you noticed the glint in her eyes. She was genuinely pleased that she had gotten to help you. Happy that you had to ‘rely’ on her.

“Probably live a peaceful life” You murmur under your breath, not realising the close proximity of you two until she snaps her sharp eyes to your tired gaze.

"Excuse me?" The green-eyed girl arched her eyebrows, her lips forming a grimace of annoyance. 

“I said I would probably live a very sad life.” You quickly defer, letting out a sigh of relief once she relaxes her eyebrows and shows you a soft smirk.

 Reina grabs her bag and sprays perfume onto her body, walking over to your bedroom door before abruptly stopping, throwing her arms up. “Come on then! We can't be too fashionably late~” You curse whoever invented halloween parties, and trail behind her. 

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Just ten minutes into the party, and you were already contemplating grabbing that cowboy-clad stranger’s prop gun and pretending to shoot yourself with it.  Music boomed against your ears, drawing out any coherent thought as the smoke from Reinas cigarette mingles in the air. It was as if your personal space ceased to exist, with the red haired girl's body pressing against yours, her presence enveloping you. The sensation became overwhelming, the close proximity sent shivers down your spine. You had no ability to escape, seeing as the delinquent had her friends form a tight circle around you both, acting as protective guards you didn't need or want. There was no room to escape for you, too intimidated to say a word. 

“Hey Y/N!! Is that you?!” A loud voice shouted amidst the music, crowd and smoke. Reinas whole friend group snaps towards the noise, seeing who dared to interrupt the leader with her ‘beloved’. Despite Alex being faced with gnarly stares, all he could see was his cutie dressed like an angel. He settles his drink down on a nearby table, exchanges hurried farewells with his football teammates, and rushes his way towards you.  

The tall friendly giant had no struggles breaking the circle you were trapped in. It was like the sun beaming past a bunch of angsty rain clouds, two things you usually dreaded. But in that moment, you found yourself silently praising the towering, 6 '6 human puppy as he enveloped you in a massive bear hug.

 As he released you, his strong arms remained on your shoulders, and he beamed at you with eyes that formed crescent moon shapes.

He stuttered an apology for the sudden physical contact before staring at you up and down with his doe like eyes and a massive grin. “Wow…you look stunning, like a true angel. You’re my angel!” He giggles proudly because of the cheesy line he made. The jock completely disregards his earlier apology as he wraps you in another tight hug. You murmur a ‘thanks’ and lightly tap his back in return, your lips thinning with a hint of awkwardness as you look around and notice Reina's friend group staring at the two of you as though you'd just committed a crime. Alex's firm grip gradually loosens as he comes to a realisation, and he reluctantly lets you go, you notice his boyish grin turned into a pout. “I invited you to this party, I bought a whole matching outfit and everything! You told me you couldn't come!” The brown eyed male whines , his brows furrowing as his beady eyes bore into your soul. During this moment, you couldn't help scrutinise his Halloween costume.

‘Did he seriously just throw on his jersey with some fake blood around his neck..’ you pondered silently, shooting him a disapproving stare due to the minimal effort he had put into his outfit

Your initial expression of curiosity transformed into one of slight disgust when you realised that the intended matching costume was going to be ‘the jock and his cheerleader’

‘How original’ You thought sarcastically.

For the second time this night, your thoughts were interrupted, but this time it wasn't a ringing phone. It was Alex’s voice, laced with sadness whining in your ear. He pouts as he gazes down at you, gently poking your halo headband, waiting for your response.

“Basically what happ-”

Before you could even begin to explain that you had no intention of attending the party, regardless of who insisted, not until the delinquent showed up at your doorstep and mildly threatened you, your words were cut short. The moment was disrupted as she forcibly pushed the sulky jock away from you.

Despite her noticeable lack of height compared to the towering jock, Reinas attitude  definitely made up for it. 

‘Speak of the devil..metaphorically and quite literally.’ You snort at your own joke, before quickly composing yourself and directing your attention to the scene unfolding in front of you. 

Alex and Reina, two people who couldn't be any more different but they were both madly in love with you. In school, you had always managed to avoid confrontations involving the both of them, but it appeared luck wasn't on your side tonight. 

“Who do you think you are, barging into this conversation where no one invited you? Don't you have dumb shit to attend to? Like shotgunning a dozen beers?”  the delinquent spoke with a withering glare, she grabbed your arm and forcefully pulled you away from him. The crowded party left little room to manoeuvre, so she practically made you turn your back on him to ensure you were separated.

Unfortunately for her, that allowed the charismatic loveable jock to shed his facade, and shoot her an  uncharacteristically intense gaze. His eyes grew dark and his typically cheerful face contorted into a look of hatred and envy  Though it only lasted for a second, anyone who would’ve seen it, the memory would linger in their thoughts for days. 

Reina, being unlike anyone else, didn't perceive his gaze as a threat, but rather as a golden retriever attempting to imitate a wolf. She scoffed and protectively grabbed your hand.

"I'm pretty sure forcing Y/N to be surrounded by your..." The jock paused, glancing at each of Reina's friends, carefully choosing not to insult them, not out of fear, but out of respect with his beloved watching. ".. interesting group of friends might not be comfortable for her. Anyways, don't you guys have more fun plans, like commit vandalism?" He delivered with a cheerful tone, tilting his head to the side in a display of ‘adorable’ confusion.

While the male may come across as unintelligent there are some quirks to his character that reveal a different perspective. He possesses a unique knack for framing his words and expressing himself in a manner that radiates positivity.

‘He’s so stupid and oblivious , he doesn’t mean what he says!! He's just asking a question, he means no harm!’ — is what most people think. 

 But Reina, being a delinquent who often deals with various groups of people, can read him like a book. She knows he’s showing less than what he truly is. What he can truly become. And although she doesn’t give a shit about how he acts around others, she knows he’s interested in her Y/N — and that’s why he needs to stay away from her girl at all costs. 

With Reinas anger level rising, she lets out an annoyed grunt before softly pushing you back, The delinquent puts one finger on the jocks chest.

You think for a second that you should probably step in, Not because you want to but because you have no idea who will win. Reina most definitely has a weapon in her bag somewhere and also her group of friends who would kill to protect her surround you three but Alex’s strength and height  can cover that. Though from what you know  the delinquent is a lot more aggressive than the ‘pacifist’ himbo so he may have a bit of a disadvantage.

Nonetheless, you decide not to intervene and just watch the two idiots fight it out. It's not your issue right? You didn't need any more attention than you already had coming to this party tonight. 

As they both stare at each other, Reina opens her mouth to speak but gets cut off by someone tapping her back. One of her friends grabs her arm and she turns a whole 180 degrees, ready to scream at whoever is trying to hold her back.  Her eyes are narrowed as she pushes the said friend away from her. “What the fuck is your issue, Thomas?!” You now learned who the guy's name was, Thomas. He was dressed as a pirate and barely flinched when Reina screamed at her. He must've been used to it. All he does is show her phone, and mutters “Look at who's calling you.” Reina’s angry expression turns into one of disbelief as she roughly grabs the phone away from his hands. She looks at Alex one last time with a scoff before she excused herself for a moment and engaged in a heated argument with the caller. You couldn't help but overhear snippets of their exchange — it was clear that Reina was being pressured to leave the party. She hung up, her face etched with reluctance, and then turned to you.

"Babe, I've got to go, I'll still be at the party. " she said, her tone uncharacteristically serious. "Just promise me you'll head home soon, okay?" Your face drops into a frown, though you didn't particularly like the aggressive delinquent, she was one of the only people you knew at this party.. Well except for the man who's staring at you with love struck eyes as of right now. Before you could say anything, Reina left your side, with the group of delinquents who followed. She didn't forget to barge into Alex as she was leaving, though it didn't really affect him — he was too focused on the fact that he was alone with you right now. 

 The overexcited jock happily grabs your arm and drags you around the whole house of the party, Although he was meant to be giving you a supposed ‘tour’; you noticed he was just staring deeply at your face whilst speaking. You came to the conclusion that he didn't really know what he was doing, he just wanted to impress you.

Amid the swirling costumes and pulsating music, You  felt as if you were caught in a whirlwind. Every step you took was accompanied by Alex, who remained steadfastly close. The bulky man stayed close, like an overprotective guard dog, as you both navigated the crowd. Y/N couldn't help but feel suffocated by his constant presence. You desperately needed a moment of peace, a brief escape from his watchful eyes. You decide to ask him for a favour, of course he’d help you. 

 You finally mustered the courage to speak up, tugging at the edge of Alex's costume and turning to him with a gentle but tired smile. "Hey, Alex, do you mind getting me a drink? I could really use a break."

The jock beamed at you, happy that you trusted him enough to do something for you. ‘That must mean you like him right?! That's how it works!!’

 "Of course, Y/N," he replied, his voice warm and reassuring. "I'll be right back with your drink. Just stay right here, okay?"

You nodded gratefully, allowing yourself a sigh of relief as Alex disappeared into the crowd, determined to fulfil your request. The distance that had separated them, albeit briefly, was a welcome change, and you could breathe a little easier. 

Although he told you to stay where you were, you began to wander around and observe the revelry around you. People in all manner of costumes danced, drank, and got a little too comfortable with each other. 

You let out a yelp as you open a door to a couple grinding on each other.  Murmuring a dozen apologies, you leave the room flustered. 

As you lose yourself in your thoughts and in the house, you notice a familiar white haired male approaching you, with a wide cheshire grin, Kieran; the host of the party. 

The playboy moved through the crowd with an air of confidence and intrigue. He was dressed up as… a prisoner with handcuffs. Or as he’d probably say ‘a sexy prisoner.’ ‘Please don't come here, please don't come here, please don't come here.’ Is the phrase that repeatedly pops up in your head as you try to look at anything but him. 

“Boo!” The playboy whispers in your ears as he wraps his arm around your shoulders. He then turns you around and ignores the pout on your face, Inspecting your outfit whilst biting his lips. 

“Are you done eye-fucking me?” you sneered, crossing your arms as you tried to move slightly away from the playful male. "Oh man, you would've looked prettier as a princess~" he purred, his voice carrying a flirtatious undertone, his words accompanied by a roguish grin. You were clearly no stranger to Kieran's personality and annoying nickname for you. You roll your eyes and retort  "Well I'd rather not deal with the whole 'damsel in distress' shit tonight," a hint of sarcasm laced in your response. 

Kieran laughed, unbothered by your resistance. "Ooh but I'd have so much fun saving you princess~!” he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "But what made you change your mind coming to my party? I rang your phone like two hours ago and you didn't pick up.” He questions with a raised eyebrow,  his sly smirk still displayed on his face before he laughs.

“Missed my face that much huh?�� Should’ just said! Would've came running to you.” 

You couldn't be bothered to talk about how you were forced to come to this stupid party, and also not wanting to mention Reina because for some reason they both had some weird dislikement towards each other. “Just had a change of heart.” You say before turning around and attempting to walk away from Kieran, but again luck wasn't on your side as he grabs your arm and tuts. The dimly lit room with the midst of the crowd, made you focus on the playful man's eyes and you noticed a shine in his eyes whilst staring at you. Before you could tell him to let you go,he whispers closely to you, so close that you could faintly smell the alcohol and mint laced in his breath. “Hey this is my party y’know? Let me show you a more secluded area, perfect for an introvert like you~” He teases as he drags your arm downstairs, and into one of the rooms which he had to twist to unlock. You silently cuss the playboy as you notice his entire group of so-called friends in the room. LED lights which displayed red, multiple couples in the room doing God knows what.

 As you both walk further into the room, Kieran, too busy dabbing up people who you never once saw in your life, You notice a pile of unlabeled drugs and drinks on the table that was in the centre of the room. Quickly looking away, you squint your eyes as you try to notice anyone that you’re familiar with. In the corner of the room, there's a girl wearing a red corset with red horns, matching yours. You notice her angry expression as she converses with the two people around her. It was Reina. She notices your gaze and her face slightly softens, As she approaches you, she notices your arm being held by Kieran. Her face returns to the expression of which you first saw in the room. The white haired male doesn't notice the vexed delinquent yet, and he stares at your face in confusion as he notices you watching something, following your line of view he finally sees the girl wearing the devil costume. “Oh hey! Didn't know I invited you to my party?” He says playfully, but you notice the snark in his voice.  Reina seems to notice it too as her face contorts into one of jealousy. “You guys know each other?” She questions, her question directed towards mostly you. Your hands begin to sweat as you attempt to stutter out an excuse, but for the second time this night, the living sun in human form interrupts your conversation by walking into the room, except this time he didn't have a happy expression, it was evident that he was sulking. 

Your eyes drift to his hands, noticing the drink in his hands that you had specifically asked for. ‘Shit..’ you think to yourself and for the first time you felt bad for the jock. You didn't mean to leave him for that long! It was more of Kierans fault for dragging you away. “I have your drink Y/N…” He says with wide eyes and pursed lips, clearly upset that you had just left him. With an apologetic gaze, you gently take the drink away from his grasp with a thank you, as you look away with a little guilt. “Oh my god, not this freak here again!” Reina scorns,disdain in her face as she stares at both Alex and Kieran, they stare back with disgust. The entire school year, these three constantly hung around you and you still managed to never make them interact whilst you were there, in fear of any of these bold characters causing a scene. But of course, the one day where you especially didn't want to see any of them, they all surround you possessively with jealousy tangled in their eyes. Could this night get any worse? -

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It most definitely can. You managed to calm them down and now you're all sat in a circle, with random people you don't know. Kieran sat down next to you on the right, while Alex occupied the seat on the left, and Reina sat across from you, clearly not happy with the seating arrangements.

Whilst the room was filled with chatter, one of Kieran's friends mentioned a board game that you've never heard about  that supposedly had the power to ‘summon demons.’

The suggestion hung in the air, Kieran laughed at the idea and laughed harder as he noticed the uncomfortable look in your face. 

“Don't worry babe, i'll protect you~” He whispers in your ear, Reina notices you two conversing but can't hear what he told you, Her already green eyes appear even greener as she looks away enviously. The idea was met with hesitance, but with Kieran's playful persuasion, everyone reluctantly agreed to try it.

As the game commenced, Alex clutched onto your arm, his protectiveness reaching new heights. The friendly giants sends you a look of comfort. Reina, on the other hand, grew increasingly annoyed and impatient, wanting to leave this messed up party. Still, she begrudgingly  stayed, unwilling to abandon her beloved in this situation.

The group followed the game's instructions, and to their shock, the room filled with an eerie energy. The lights began to flicker and in an instant it turned off, most of the room ran away screaming, not caring about the party anymore. Others began to laugh with interest  and waited for what was going to happen next. a sinister figure formed in the centre of their makeshift circle. You freeze as you notice the demon (?), he is fucking terrifying but inspecting him closer the extremely tall thing is quite.. handsome?  

A malevolent demon with smouldering eyes and a sinister grin, stood before everyone. Panic coursed through the room, and everyone, including yourself , scrambled to flee. As you attempted to escape, the demon swiftly locked the door, trapping you inside with Alex, Reina, and Kieran.

With a devilish chuckle, The demon introduced himself as Silas. The red faced man turned his attention to you. He took your chin in his hand, his touch chilling to the bone. His nails dug sharply into your skin. "You're prettier than the angels we have where I'm from" he hissed, his voice dripping with lust.

Your heart raced with fear and arousal as you looked into Silas's eyes, a shiver running down your spine. Alex and Reina attempted to interject, their voices laced with fear and anger, but Silas silenced them with a mere flick of his fingers, flooding their minds with endorphins that dulled their resistance. Kieran seemed to be less affected by whatever poison Silas had put out as he grabs Y/Ns arm towards his chest. “I don't know what the hell you are but she's mine, get in line” Kieran jokes, not scared of the situation at all. You send him the dirtiest look possible as Silas laughs mockingly at the playboys statement.

As the night wore on, and the party raged outside, Y/N, Alex, Reina, and Kieran were trapped with this demon who had an interest in you for some strange reason. Well, everyone in this room has some abnormal interest in you and it seems that you're quite literally trapped in a  room with people who would do anything for you. Even if that means fighting a demon.

Desperation welled up in your body as you realised the dire situation that you were stuck in. "How am I supposed to leave now?" you whisper to yourself, noticing 4 gazes staring at you with different expressions but they all contained one thing, Lust.

Did Silas forget to mention that he was a succubus?

purerae<3

COMMENTS AND REBLOGS HEAVILY APPRECIATED.

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

Whatever Words Exist

StudentTeacher!Cal x Reader (Gender Neutral). Like mostly fluff. 

Reader and Calum have only met briefly. But when the connection is this magnetic, you don’t press fate. 

Masterlist (semi-hiatus) 

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Calum readjusts the strap on his backpack, getting the bag hitched back right on his shoulder. Just up the hill he can see a gathering of people, a general human mass but still too far away for him to make out any one person in particular. He knows he’s in the right place for sure. So he continues on and a few folks wave as he approaches. Derrick, former officemate, spots Calum first and waves him closer. 

“Meet Calum--old officemate of mine,” Derrick tells the group surrounding him. First years, Calum assumes and gives them a tiny smile and wave to the group. 

“Yeah, because this jerk decided to apply for a full time instructor position. And then got upgraded,” Calum laughs. 

“Look, gotta pay the bills how I can,” Derrick returns and then goes around the semi circle introducing everyone. 

Calum looks at each one in return and then his gaze lands on yours. As a first year to the program and student teaching, you ran into Calum during the intense two week training. Well, you two didn’t really run into each other. Calum ran a few sessions during the training and you might have purposefully lingered behind on the free range Q&A that he was a part of with a few other experienced student teachers. He seemed to be calm and level headed about all the teaching and you were quite the opposite, so listening to him answer questions gave you a small amount of peace. 

The second reason you lingered until everyone else was gone and asked their questions is because you thought he was attractive. The baggy t-shirt but nice fitting jeans and the way he titled in when he was listening to someone. He seemed to really care and take his time to answer any questions--even when he had other things he needed to attend to as well. “Hey,” he says as his smile brightens around your name. 

“Hi Calum,” you return. “Slumming it with us first years.”

“I would never call it slumming, not in the slightest,” he laughs in return. The conversation steers away from that, talking about the summer and general shared interests. But every so often you and Calum lock eyes, gazes lingering for way longer than you’d like to admit. Mostly because you don’t want to be this into someone so early into the semester. And truth be told, the semester hadn’t even truly started. 

About ten minutes pass before professors start to approach, a couple of them holding boxes of pizza. And while you definitely weren’t sure how to juggle all the responsibilities of teaching, classes, paying rent on time, you were grateful for the lunch of pizza. It also meant that you’d be taking some home if enough people didn’t go in for seconds. And getting a free meal plus an easy dinner was always worth it. 

As the pizzas are lined up, you linger back, not wanting to be the first person to get food, but close enough to the first brave souls. “So, have you done any exploring around town?” Calum asks from behind you. 

You spin to half face him to talk to him. “Not a lot. By the time we get done with training I’m too tired to do anything else. But I need to get my bike looked at, so I probably should get downtown at the very least.”

“What’s up with your bike? You said it was your main mode of transportation.”

“Just double checking tire pressure--nothing major. One of them feels like it’s not as high as the other. But rather be safe than sorry since the semester starts.”

Calum nods and shuffles up as the line moves. “If you need a ride to the shop, I have my car.”

You’re not sure if Calum’s offering just to be nice or if it means more. So you default to telling him he doesn’t have to, but he insists. And even as you’re grabbing a slice of pizza and Calum’s right behind you, you try to tell him that he shouldn’t completely disturb his whole day just for you. 

“I cannot have you blowing a tire on the side of the road. Do you have your bike with you today? We could go after this.”

If there were any way to die right in this moment, you’re wishing for it. “I do,” you answer cautiously, walking towards the metal picnic tables. “But really, I can do by myself. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Oh, c’mon, this town’s not necessarily the nicest to cyclists and if you got stranded I’d feel like an ass.” Calum settles across from you on the bench, slipping his backpack off his shoulder. You do the same, setting your backpack next you and pulling your water bottle from the side pocket. 

“I don’t know what your plans are. I don’t want to intrude,” you counter, unscrewing the top to your water bottle to take a sip. 

“My plans were to sit in my office and pretend like I was lesson planning.”

“Where’s your office again?”

Calum rattles off the name of the building, before taking his first bite of pizza. And you swear for a moment the universe is fucking with you. It has it out for you. “I’m in the same building,” you state. 

“I’m in room 138.”

Oh, how cruel is the universe. How fucking cruel could it be. “Same,” you state after finishing your bite of pizza. “Haven’t been inside to see it yet though.”

“Oh, it sounds like I’m your personal tour guide today.” And it’s not that he’s being adamant about it. Because you know if you were in the reverse positions, you’d do something similar. But a glint crosses his eyes, his smile is a slight curl of his lips and he’s looking up at you from underneath his lashes. 

Your stomach flutters, and suddenly pizza looks and feels like lead, but you take another bite to do something other than let panic settle. A quiet settles between the two of you as you eat. Though more people are turning up and settling in around you to make up for the silence. A few more minutes pass, even with you tossing away your plate and saying hi to some other people who are also teaching for the first time this year before you hear the professors calling for the group’s attention.

As the group quiets down, you return back to the spot where your bag is and Calum’s still there, laughing at something Derrick is saying. You catch his gaze and you really only think that you should look away. But you do. He’s too fucking handsome not to keep your gaze lingering for a moment longer. The humorous smile changes, becomes more subtle as the two of you continue to gaze at each other. 

You can feel your cheeks getting hot but slowly feel your own smile over taking your face before you cast your gaze down and then flick it back up to who’s speaking. It’s good information to get, as you listen to each professor in turn talk about the program more. You get a good sense of who each person is, and it’s not too much longer before each of the new and old cohort introduces themself. 

It’s a natural break as everyone starts to talk again with the business now out of the way. You mingle with some of the instructors but gravitate towards the snacks that are available. Just as you get a good grasp on one of the oreos, your name is called out. You spin, making sure to keep the Oreos in a tight hold. Calum waves you over to the group he’s in and you walk over. You know you shouldn’t. You know you’re playing with fire. But you do so anyway and he introduces you to some other people in the same year as him. They weren’t at the student teacher training. 

You’re thankful for the introduction but slowly the conversation drifts to the group joking about something that you seem to be missing and you know almost without thinking that Calum’s going to seize this opportunity. You turn to him first. “I like the vibe of this program,” you start. 

He smiles. “I’m glad. It’s all pretty tight knit.” You nod, agreeing with this point, but also not sure if you’re reading the air between you and him correctly either. “Do you wanna duck out now?” he asks quietly. “Get that bike fixed up for the first day of classes.”

“Ye-yeah, that’s cool.”

He nods over to where your belongings are with a smile. And the two of you gather your things. As you lead Calum over to where you locked up your bike you pause. “Wait,” you start, “do you even have a place to strap a bike down?”

“My friends and I bike the trails a lot during the year. My SUV can handle it, I promise,” he returns with a laugh. The two of you walk side by side down the parking lot. “Where do you call home?” he asks. 

You rattle off the answer and in return ask him the same. “Well home home is Australia. But I came to the states with some mates and we’ve sort of always called California a second home.”

“You beat me the longest distance from home,” you laugh. 

“Well, only on a technicality.”

“So like your mom, dad, and siblings--if you have any--are like clear across the world?”

“Mum and Dad are. Sister’s in London.”

“Is she studying too?”

“Singer--she’s over there doing that.”

You hum. “Is singing a family trait?”

Calum laughs and you watch some lights blink from a car and you spy the keys in his hand. “I wouldn’t call it a family trait. But yeah, we all sing. In our own ways. Originally made some moves for music. Career paths changed just a tiny bit.”

“So you and the friends you moved with were in a band?”

“Of sorts. Went well for a while. Then we just needed rest.”

“So your idea of rest is going to school and teaching?” You laugh. Calum opens the trunk first for your bags. And when he closes it, you finally spot the rack to set your bike on. 

“Like I said, career paths took a turn. Rest or new experience--I’ve yet to decide on the name yet.”

With the bike settled and secure, you walk around to the passenger side door. Calum’s quick to turn the air on in the car once he’s inside. His radio starts up immediately and he scrambles to turn it down. “Sorry, don’t wanna blast you out of the car,” he states. 

“No, no worries.”

“Any requests? You can plug your phone in too, if you want.”

“Oh God, I take over the aux and you’re going to get some anime theme song and I’d rather save myself the embarrassment.”

Calum’s chuckle is quick and clear of the click of the seatbelts. He switches over the radio and hands you the white cord. “Now you have to embarrass yourself.”

“That’s what I get for opening my big mouth.” Plugging the cord in, you shuffle for a decent opening song as the truck starts backwards out of the parking spot. 

“So what about you? How did the universe drop you here?”

“Pure determination and spite,” you laugh as the song starts over the speakers. “I finished my undergrad, worked for a couple years and then promptly said this is not what I want to do forever and started looking to go back to school.”

“Pure determination and spite,” Calum repeats. He keeps his attention heavily on the road as he’s driving out of the park and through the neighborhoods. But once he hits a stretch of main road he can glance over to you. And you’re staring out of the front windshield, head slightly tilted. “You look lost in thought?”

“Just admiring the view.”

And Calum hums, a sound of agreement, but the view he’s enjoying isn’t the sight of campus and the surrounding area. The two of you continue on, weaving around some traffic and soon you’re turning down a side street. One that reminds you almost of home. And maybe that’s just the universality of it all. Almost anything could be home if you wanted it to be, because there was always going to be a piece of a place that you could connect too. 

“The guys here are nice and really quick about anything that’s a simple fix,” Calum offers. “Also, your music isn’t that bad.”

Your jaw drops just a little and a small squawk of indignation falls from your lips. “What’s that supposed to mean?” you ask, jumping out of the car. Calum’s already at the back, pulling your bike from the secure rack. 

“It means that having an anime theme song play would’ve made it ten times better.”

You huff, but follow behind him into the shop. The two of you greeted almost immediately and when the guy working on the floor spies the bike, he’s quick to walk over and see what the issue is. You explain that you’ve noticed a difference in tire pressure. In your move your gauge got misplaced and you hadn’t quite yet had time to get someone to look at it until now. 

“Yeah, we can check that for you. No problem. So any other plans for today?” he asks, making small talk. You talk briefly about the weather, though there’s not quite a lot to talk about it. Not too long later, the guy’s able to confirm that one of tires did have something puncturing it and letting out some air. But he’s quick to let you know that they can fix it in just a few minutes if the two of you have it. 

“I’d greatly appreciate it,” you start and then look at Calum, who just shrugs. “Yeah, can you fix it?”

“Sure can. Just give me a few minutes.”

“Thank you.”

You watch Calum browse, trying not to linger on the way his back moves underneath the t-shirt as he reaches up for something along the walls. And it’s like asking to get into trouble. Though there’s nothing wrong with instructors dating. You just had a plan, that's all.The first semester you’d get settled, figure out what this whole student teaching life was all about. And the more you watched Calum, the more you were sure that plan was going to fall apart. 

“Here she is, all fixed up.” You look up from your spot, in the store, having migrated to the opposite end of the door and walk over to the man with your bike. “Just a little puncture. Nothing too bad.” He rattles off the costs and it’s more than you anticipated, but not so much more that you have complaints.

Calum’s quick to take over the bike and walk it back outside, smiling as you hold the door open for him. “Thanks.”

“No, thanks to you. For chauffeuring me around.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he returns, getting the bike back onto the rack. “Did you want to explore some nearby shops?”

“Oh, hmm. Maybe later. I haven’t an ounce of lesson plans just yet. So I think I should maybe get my week 2 planned.”

“Well it sounds like you have something of week one planned,” Calum counters. 

“We were forced. Thanks to orientation.”

He laughs. “Yeah, they wanted you to have that down at least.”

In the brief glance around, as you try to tell yourself, you shouldn’t explore, you spy a little coffee shop. It looks intriguing. And you point out the sign. “Have you ever tried them?”

“Yeah--it’s a really good shop.”

You take a small step towards the building, careful though because you’re still in the parking lot and about to head into the street. “Can I tack on just a tiny bit of exploring and grab a cup?”

“Of course.”

“Recommend anything?”

Calum holds the door open as he speaks. “Chai Latte, but you can’t tell anyone that it was me that recommended it.”

“Your secret it safe with me.”

In line, you try not to think about how close Calum is, as he stands behind you. But you can feel him, or maybe you want to feel it, you’re aware of him that it’s like all you’d have to do is fake a clumsy step back to be resting into his chest. You imagine it to be firm, but somehow cozy. And maybe that’s just the worn t-shirt he’s adorned in and the beanie on his head. But his presence feels soft to you. 

Your daydream doesn’t last long as the line shuffles forward and you take the step forward rather than the step backward. The coffee shop is quaint, the wide windows letting in plenty of sunlight. But the tables are dark brown and look worn from your place in line. It feels lived in and you enjoy that even though the outside was painted a hunter green, the inside is a pretty beige accented by the chocolate wood of the tables. 

“It’s like a dream,” you state in a whisper, taking in the lights in the ceiling and the scattered bodies of students with backpacks at their feet and others whom you assume live in town and are most likely trying to enjoy the last bits of quiet before the rest of the students descend onto the campus and town. 

In all your sight exploration, your order is called up and Calum has to get it for you. He smiles though, watching the wonder that fills your eyes. “The offer’s still on the table,” he states, handing over the correct cup t you. “We can explore.”

“Can we raincheck? What does next weekend look like for you?”

He still hadn’t responded to Ashton about the hike. So he doesn’t really have plans. “Free as a bird.”

“Would it be okay? To wait till then?”

“Of course,” he exhales. “I’m not the one still learning with training wheels of teaching. I can do this in my sleep.”

“Oh, so big and tough,” you joke, but head back to the front door. The two of you break back out into the bright sun and it’s warm on your skin. “Just give me a semester. I’ll be able to knock you down a peg.”

And Calum doesn’t doubt that for a second. Not with the way you talked about getting into the program. Inside the truck, you’re handed the aux yet again and this time don’t think twice about plugging it in. “To our office?” he asks. 

“You’re not even going to be doing anything for real.”

“I like the sense of productivity.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” you laugh. The drive back to the campus isn’t as long as you thought it would be. But somehow it comes all too quickly. You’re still not sure what’s happening between you and Calum. It’s easy, natural between the two of you. But your plan--you know it’s all going down the drain. All his jokes make you laugh, and you know one or two shouldn’t. And when you do laugh, Calum turns sheepish. He goes quiet, a tiny smile quivering at his lips. 

Calum parks in the employee parking lot in front of the building with your office. Both of you climb out at the same time. And with backpacks, coffee, keys and phones all in place you two trek up to the door. “I think it’s only three of us in the office this year,” Calum talks, fishing out the right key on the hook. 

“Only three?”

“This used to be an old dorm building. So they can usually stick four of us into the room. But the email we got about office assignments only had three names. There was a fourth, but I don’t know what happened to them. They were in a different English program than us. And I don’t know if they graduated or not.”

“Ah,” you return, stepping through the door behind him. And it doesn’t remind you too much of a dorm, not in the always at least. But when Calum unlocks the door, you can see where it definitely once was an older dorm building thanks to the sink in the corner. “You weren’t kidding, huh?’

“About it being an old dorm? Not in the slightest.” He drops his backpack into the desk on the left side of the room but closest to the window. A couple pictures decorate the desktop. The desk next to him as a blanket and the whiteboard above it, has something written on it. So you assume it’s the third person. The desk on the right, closest to the door has nothing on it. The one closest to the window, across from Calum is also empty. 

You walk into the room some more and Calum pulls out his laptop from his bag and then steps around you. “As a heads up, the door stays locked. So you’ll need your key if you go out and close the door. I got locked out once or maybe twice. And it’s definitely not fun.”

You nod. “Thanks for the heads up.”

He smiles and then slips out of the door and you study the empty desk. It’s stupid, trivial to take the one across from Calum, but you drop your backpack into the office chair. The next time you come, you’ll bring desk decorations. To claim which one is yours. Because right now in the depths of your backpack you don’t have much. Well you do have a book that you don’t really need to keep up with too much. Maybe you can leave that. 

Exhaling, you get mostly settled and just before you can get your laptop out of the sleeve the door opens to Calum walking through again. The beanie’s now in his hands as he strides across the room and you can’t help but stare at the curls falling from his head. You want to curse him for looking so good. But you force yourself to go back to your screen. 

Calum settles back into his chair and watches you, sitting up straighter than he’s ever seen a person sit. And he wishes he wasn’t so chicken shit about it. You fucking asked him to hang out next weekend. But still, it’s like toying the line. Trying to make sure he’s reading the cues right. Maybe not right now, maybe next weekend he can get a better read, make a move. He turns back to his own laptop and finds the syllabus he made from the last semester. He can still use most of it. Though in the spring they had a break and in the fall, now they don’t. So he can delete that week as no class and actually have time for the group project in class that the department requires for them to teach. 

A couple hours go by, silence between the two of you, but the clacking of keys makes a chorus around the room. Calum pauses every so often to look over his shoulder. Sometimes you’re deep into work, pushed up into the seat. And once or twice, he found you slouched, staring out at the window next to both of you. 

Another hour passes and shuffling ensues behind Calum. He looks over and finds you packing up. “Headed home?”

You nod. “Managed to get the first unit mostly planned. We’ll see how it goes.”

He smiles. “I’m sure it’ll go well.” He goes to turn around and then remembers your bike is still attached to the back of his car. “Oh, let me go with you to get your bike,” he says ,shooting up from his chair. It rolls backwards for a split second but then makes a sudden stop. 

“Oof,” you let out, rubbing at your stomach. 

“Oh my god,” he rushes out, stepping in closer. “I’m so sorry. Had no clue you were that close. You okay?”

“Yeah,” you laugh and then look up. And Calum’s eyes are a deeper brown that you initially thought. Now that he's closer to you. “Yeah, I’m okay,” you exhale in a breath. 

“You sure? I think the Campus Health Services is open. Or you know, urgent care?”

“I don’t think you caused internal bleeding. Just caught me off guard.”

He finally brings his gaze up from where you’ve stopped holding your stomach to your eyes. And he shouldn’t. He shouldn’t let his gaze drop below your eyes, because truth be told he already stared too much at your lips during the entirety of orientation. And he already knows just how plump they are. 

It’s silent--almost uncomfortably so. “Can I--I should get your bike,” Calum says, saving himself from sure embarrassment. 

He steps around you and you stretch out, capturing his wrist in your hand. “No, what were you going to ask?” you ask. The question leaves you without much thought and you know you shouldn’t ask. But you just can’t help it. Because you almost stretched up to kiss him. 

“It’s nothing,” he returns. But he doesn’t pull his wrist away. 

“Is it really nothing?”

Calum feels you step in closer. He inhales and lets it slowly. He shouldn’t. He absolutely should not let the question cross his lips. But he turn, and sees you illuminated by the sun from the windows and god, how can he deny an angel standing in front of him. “I was going to ask if I could ask you a question.” And it’s not really what he was going to ask. But it buys him some time. 

“You can ask me.”

“Do you--is this--,” he exhales, for a moment hating that the words are getting caught in his throat. “I don’t know if you’re feeling the same thing I am. But I-I’ve been interested in you, like from the second I saw you at the orientation. And I really, really don’t want to make a fool of myself. But I was hoping, are you interested? In me?”

There it goes--the plan--down the drain in just a few sentences. “If you’re asking if I thought you were attractive, yes. And if you’re asking if I care to see where this goes, the answer is also yes. But it really wasn’t supposed to go down like this.”

The elation covers his face and makes his cheeks push up as he smiles--so much so that the skin around his eyes crinkles. “I’ll gladly interrupt all your plans.”

You scoff at the sentiment, but feel your body heating up. Calum steps in even closer to you. His fingers find yours and thread them together. “So the real question I had was if I could kiss you? But I wasn’t sure if that was too forward.”

“Too forward a minute ago. But not too forward for right now,” you state, already moving in to kiss him. It’s short, longer than a peck, but not quite long enough. Because as you pull away, Calum’s other hand is cupping the back of your head and keeping you closer. His hold is firm but his lips are soft and you melt, knees buckling just for a moment. Thankfully, you manage to recover quickly. It doesn’t stop Calum from chuckling. 

“Are you telling me that I have that kind of effect on you?”

“Shut the fuck up, and kiss me again,” you state breathlessly. He doesn’t need to be asked twice. His lips capture yours again, happy to finally get a small taste of you. And you’re acutely aware that it must look ridiculous--you with your backpack full to the nines pressed up against Calum’s chest, chasing down his lips because his touch is mixing in with the scent of his cologne and all you know for sure is that it’s an intoxicating mixture that you want to be trapped in forever. 

You pull away, needing just a moment to catch your breath and Calum rests his forehead against yours. “Are you sure you want to leave me now?” he teases. 

“I--I’ll be honest. The reason why I was leaving was because I knew this was going to happen.”

“Oh? You knew?”

You laugh, cupping his jaw. “Calum, I know one thing for sure. You’re a dangerous man to be around.”

“Oh you’ve just met me. I should be offended.”

“Should be?” you question. 

“You’re--I don’t know what. But I knew that I wanted to know you. So whatever words that exist for that--that’s what you are.”

“I’m flattered,” you state softly. 

“If you give me 5, I can pack up my stuff and drop you off back at home. Now I’d be an asshole not to drop you off.”

You watch him, pulling back from the closeness. “I can make it home now that my bike’s fixed. Thanks to your insistence.”

“Well, let me insist one more time that I make sure you get home safely.” 

“Fine,” you resign. And he’s quick to pack up. Out in the hallway, he takes your hand, threading your fingers again. And it’s natural, easy between the two of you. You bump shoulders, laughing as you step out in the daylight. 

Inside his car, you slip back into the passenger seat. But when Calum settles into the driver seat and gets buckled in, he rests one hand on your thigh. Not too high up, nothing too suggestive, but not directly on your knee. You try not to let it fluster you, the ease at which he establishes touch, but your heart races just a little. 

You curl your fingers around his palm--it’s something to do with your hands, but also allows you a bit of control. You direct him easily back to your apartment. It’s nearly a straight shot, minus the one left turn needed and when he pulls up into a parking space in front of your building, he squeezes at your fingers just a little. 

You face him with a smile. “Thanks, for everything.”

“Yeah of course,” he returns. “So, next weekend? More exploring?”

“I’d like that.”

“I’ll text you about the date and time for sure. Unless we meet again in the office.”

Unbuckling your seatbelt, you laugh gently stretching across the console. “I have a suspicion we shall meet again in the office.”

“Lovely,” he breathes and you meet his lips, capturing them gently before pulling away and grabbing all your things. Your bike is easy to get down and then you lock it back up on the rack outside, even though Calum does help. He leans up against the door and you spy him watching. 

“Enjoying the show?” you tease shaking your butt at him at the outside door of the building.  

His laughter rings out. “Making sure you get inside safely, actually. But a show is always welcomed.”

[angel-riki]

Dazed & Dreaming {Ch. 2}

summary: Y/N's life was always quite normal, some may even consider it boring. However, Y/N enjoyed her simple life and the little pleasures it brought. Unfortunately, that all changed the day she found out her best friend's biggest secret. Her discovery leads her down a rabbit hole of a new and confusing world she never knew existed. She must now navigate this new life filled with love, fear, and the supernatural. What awaits her down this path?

pairing: enhypen x reader (vampire au)

warnings: light swearing

word count: 1,569

chapters: [Ch.1] [Ch.3] [Ch.4]

~~~~~~~~~~

You bit into your second piece of toast of the morning as your phone buzzed in your pocket. After rummaging around for a few seconds, you retrieved your phone. You smiled at the notification, it was from Jake.

Jake: "We're here :)"

You quickly typed out and sent your reply as you hurried to finish the rest of your breakfast,

Y/N: "Ok, omw!"

One huge bite of toast and a painful swallow later, you were gathering your things and scurrying out the front door. You half-jogged down your driveway until you reached the car, greeting the boys like usual,

"Good morning," you said cheerfully as you climbed into the back seat.

Heeseung had been giving you rides every morning now for a couple of weeks, it had become your daily routine. And even though you insisted that you could walk, the two boys wouldn't take no for an answer. You eventually accepted their generosity, however you still felt a bit guilty. Fortunately, this new routine had allowed you and Heeseung to grow much closer over the past weeks. Now, you considered him a friend instead of a mere acquaintance. This was a relief as you had gotten much more comfortable around him. Although, Heeseung was just good at making everybody feel comfortable. He was just so charming and kind. This made it a lot easier for you to manage your nerves, but a lot harder for you to keep your crush on him from growing.

*****

The bell rang, signaling that it was time for lunch. Relief washed over all of the students' faces as they were freed from a horrendously boring lecture. You shared that relief as you packed up your stuff and strolled out of the classroom. You made a quick pit stop at your locker before heading down to the cafeteria.

After grabbing your food, you walked into the bustling dining space. Gosh it's so crowded, where are they? You scanned the tables until you noticed someone waving at you rather enthusiastically. Shocker, it was Jake. Heeseung was beside him, smiling and waving at you as well. You waved back before heading over to where they were sat. You set your food on the table and pulled out the chair in front of you. As you sat down, you noticed that Heeseung didn't have any food. How strange, you thought.

"Heeseung, where's your lunch?" You asked, knowing there had not been enough time for him to have already finished eating.

"Oh, I'm just not hungry today is all," he said awkwardly.

"Are you sure? You can have some of mine if you'd like," You offered.

"That's okay, thank you though," he smiled.

Something was odd about his demeanor after you brought it up, but you couldn't put your finger on it. You decided to stop interrogating him as you turned to Jake,

"How was that math test you had earlier?" You asked.

"Good! Aaand I may or may not have written down that one formula I can never remember on the inside of my hand..." he replied.

"Smart move," you giggled.

"I know," he said, grinning proudly.

You rolled your eyes as you began eating your lunch. Your school lunches were mediocre at best, but it could be worse. Another day, another stale pb&j. As you ate, the two boys started rambling about their after school plans. Apparently, there were a few other boys that they hung out with quite often. You had never met them, although Jake had mentioned them here and there. Listening to their conversation, you suddenly felt a slight sadness come over you. It wasn't that you were jealous, you were just afraid that one day they would get sick of you and leave you behind. They had other friends, but you didn't. Jake and Heeseung were all you had. You shook your head as you tried to expel the negative thoughts. Why am I getting upset over something that hasn't even happened? They would never do that anyway, you reassured yourself.

Before you knew it, lunch was over and you were running late for your next class. You were speed walking down the hall when you turned a corner and ran directly into something. Or some one, rather. You looked up to see who you had just harshly collided with. You recognized him from your english class, yet you had never spoken to him before. You realized you didn't even know his name.

"Ah, I'm really sorry!" You apologized, feeling your face heat up in embarrassment.

Seeing him up close like this made you wonder how you hadn't paid more attention to him. You had never noticed how handsome he was. He had a very sharp jawline and thick black hair that dangled just above his eyes. You also noticed there was a beauty mark on the side of his nose. Wow, his nose is like, perfect.

"It's alright. It's not every day that I run into a cute girl," he replied coolly.

You thought you were flustered before? Well now you were REALLY flustered. You opened your mouth to respond but before you could speak, he cut you off,

"Your lip is bleeding," he said, his face suddenly full of concern. His skin seemed to be growing paler.

"Oh, I didn't notice," you said, reaching up to wipe your mouth. You must have slightly busted your lip when you ran into him. You looked down and noticed a little trail of blood on the back of your hand. Thankfully, it was only a small amount so you weren't too worried. You looked back up at the boy and you noticed he was staring at your mouth rather intensely, almost as if he was in a trance.

"Uh...well I better get to class. Sorry, again." You apologized one last time before hurrying off down the hall.

Weird.

*****

Your class seemed to go by faster than usual today. Maybe it was because you ended up being almost 10 minutes late after your little incident in the hallway. Or maybe, it was because you couldn't stop thinking about that strange boy. Either way, you were relieved that class was over. However, that relief quickly left you once you realized what your next class was; English. You really didn't want to see that boy again after your previous meeting. You were still quite embarrassed and his reaction just made you even more uncomfortable. You sighed as you reluctantly accepted the inevitable.

Once you were seated at your usual spot, you pulled out your notebook and a pencil. You scanned over yesterday's notes as your teacher began the lesson. Everything was fine for a bit, until you began feeling eyes on you. Maybe you were just paranoid, but you could've sworn you saw that boy from earlier staring at you every so often. You attempted to pay attention to the lesson, but you couldn't. He was making you incredibly on edge. You put your head down in frustration. God, can't this day just end?

*****

You tapped your temple with the end of your pencil as you tried to make sense of your chemistry textbook. Although you were reading the words on the page, you weren't absorbing or internalizing any of it. You sighed and defeatedly closed your textbook as you decided to call it a night. You had been at the library studying for hours, you hadn't even noticed how dark it had gotten outside. You packed up your belongings and threw on your coat and scarf before heading out of the library. A shiver passed through your body as you entered the cold evening air. You began walking at a faster pace than usual, trying to get back to some warmth as soon as possible.

After a couple of minutes of walking, you could feel your cheeks stinging and you could see your breath in front of you. I need to get home faster, I'm freezing. You thought while looking around for a shortcut. You found a path down the edge of the forest that seemed to be the quickest route home. You sighed as you hurried down the deserted trail. As you continued on your way, you started to get an eerie feeling. Perhaps it was just the setting you were in, but you were considerably creeped out. You never liked walking alone at night, I mean, who does? Suddenly, as if on cue, you heard something behind you. You whipped your head around as you scanned the area for any potential danger. You didn't see anything but you could've sworn you heard another set of footsteps following close behind you. Maybe you were just being paranoid again. You turned back around, sufficiently scared at this point as you anxiously jogged the rest of the way. You sighed with relief as you made it to your house safely. You opened the front door and locked it behind you, not daring to look back out into the night. After shaking off your uneasiness, you headed upstairs and changed into your fuzziest pajamas before crawling into your warm bed. You quickly melted into the soft blankets as you drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ooooh, spooky ending! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter which was full of foreshadowing ;). I know it's taking a while to get all the boys introduced but I promise it'll happen soon! Thank you for reading! I’m also uploading this series on wattpad if you’d like to support it over there!

~Elle <3

[fandoms-writer]

Past and Present Pranks

Remus Lupin x Reader

This takes place during Order of the Pheonix, and Remus is still the DADA professor

Word count: 1.9k

You were in the middle of talking about your History lesson when the Ministry’s Charms teacher came in. Professor Flitwick was taking an off year for personal reasons, and the Ministry decided that they needed an inside woman. They decided on a human cotton candy, as you like to call her, but your husband said to stop because you might call her that to her face one day, and you honestly couldn’t care less.

You’ve heard about her coming around and interviewing teachers, so it was only a matter of time until she came to you. She decided, of course, to come interrupt in the middle of one of the most important lessons of the class. She didn't even bother knocking when she arrived, she just barged in, just like Snape, but a little less dramatic. 

You composed yourself before addressing the pink lady,”What can I help you with, Professor?”

“Oh don’t mind me, this is just a routine check for the ministry. Just continue with your lesson,” she said with her haunting laugh.You tried, oh you tried, but every other sentence, she would say a snide remark under her breath. Some you would catch, others you wouldn’t. After about 30 mins of keeping your cool, she decided that she’s seen enough.

“Thank you for your time, Professor Lupin,” she said with that evil smirk.

“Of course,” I said, sarcasm coming out automatically. Once the door closed, you let the eyeroll out that has been there since she walked in. Thankfully, you were close with the students you had now, so they knew how you got. You felt comfortable with them, and they felt comfortable around you. “Alright then! Where were we?”

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

The rest of the lesson passed by fairly quickly even though you were still in a mood, and before you knew it, you were walking down the corridor that led to your and Remus’ shared room. Once you walked in, you saw him sitting on the couch reading, like usual. Once you closed the door, you dropped your bag, and flopped on top of him on the couch.

“Hello to you too,” he said with a chuckle, and you responded with a groan and nuzzled your face in the crook of his neck. “That bad, huh?”

You finally looked at him, and kissed him before you started your rant. “She’s absolutely terrible Remus. She walked in, in the middle of my lesson saying that I wouldn’t even notice her, but every time I spoke, she would mumble something. She thinks that she is above everyone because she’s from The Ministry. You know, I wouldn’t even mind going to Azkaban if it meant saving the students and staff from her tyranny. At least you didn’t have to deal with her yet.”

“Actually-”

“-Wait! When? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I would if you’d let me finish,” he said while giving you a pointed look.

“Okay, okay, continue,” you said while staring at him intently to which he just shook his head and laughed. You rested your chin on his chest while his hands were on your hips, his thumbs stroking them softly. 

“She came in during my last lesson of the day. Everything was fine, until after her being there for 5 minutes, and then she decided to bring up my lycanthropy. She asked about the events from 2 years ago, and if it was safe for a werewolf to be a teacher.” You opened your mouth to say something, but before you could, he put up a finger over your mouth. “I know what you’re going to say, but let me finish before you do anything rash.”

“I was completely honest and open with her since I don’t have anything to hide, including the potion that I take. She even asked the students how safe they felt about a werewolf teaching them. Some answered, and a lot of them just glared at her. She apparently wasn’t expecting that answer because she immediately left. So, I dealt with it, and now there is nothing more to do,” he finished.

“Nothing more to do! I’m going to kill her,” you said while getting off of your husband, and making your way to the door. “That was inappropriate, and unprofessional of her to bring that up in front of the kids,” you continued, but before you grabbed the handle, a pair of arms dragged you back to the couch and enclosed you. “What are you doing?”

“I’m saving you from being fired, my dear,” he said matter of factly. “Now, it’s late, we have lessons in the morning, and we both had stressful days, so I think,” he said while carrying you over to your bed,”that we should go to bed.”

“But Rem-”

“-No buts. It’s over, there’s nothing more you can do,” he said while throwing you one of his jumpers that looked like a dress on you. 

“Alright, fine,” you said while curling up under the covers. ‘It’s definitely not over’ you thought to yourself.

After the ‘Goodnights’ and ‘I love yous’ you lied awake, unable to sleep. While listening to your husband's soft snoring in one ear, and his steady heartbeat in the other, you thought about how to show her to not to mess with your family, without getting caught. After about 30 more minutes of thinking, you figured out the perfect plan, and all you had to do was wake up early.

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

That morning, you got up carefully to not wake the sleeping man beside you. You knew how tough sleep could be for him at times, besides, he looked so peaceful. You got ready for the day, and made your way to the woman of the hours chambers. The castle was quiet except for the sound of the wind flowing throughout the halls since it was pretty early, and no one would be up for another hour. You made it to the chambers, recited the spell, and got out in under 5 minutes. In order for the spell to work on time, you have to say it an hour before. Instead of going back to your room, you walked the halls of the castle, and when it was time for breakfast, you made your way to the hall. When you got there, Remus was already there. 

“Goodmorning love,” you said while kissing his cheek and sitting in the chair next to him.

“Hello darling. You were up early.” he said with a tone of a question.

“Yeah. I had to finalize my lesson for today,” you replied while starting to eat.He didn’t question it any more, just nodded and started eating also. The hall was quiet except for the normal chatter, but that was about to change in 5...4...3...2...1.

The doors of the Great Hall flew open, and there stood a very angry professor. It was quiet for a minute, and then slowly, the hall broke out into laughter, including the teachers. 

“You all think this is funny,” she said while pointing to her hot pink hair. No one answered, only laughed even harder. “Which one of you did this?” she asked while looking around the room. You could feel 2 sets of eyes on you, and you knew who they were. Minnie and your husband. You had to hide the smirk that was trying to show itself. She eventually gave up and stormed out. 10 minutes passed, and it was time for the teachers to head to their classrooms. 

You kissed your husband with a quick ‘see you later’ and walked out of the hall.You didn’t get very far until someone called your name. You let them catch up to you. 

”What can I do for you Minnie?” you asked while continuing your walk.

“Still with that name,” she said while shaking her head with a soft smile. “You know, that prank looked very familiar.”

“DId it now? Interesting,” you said feigning innocence.

“It looked very similar to the one that was played on me during your 6th year.”

“Hmm, that is very interesting. The only ones that would know about it would be Remus, Severus, me, and you.”

“Did you at least dispose of the evidence?” she asked with a knowing look.

“Of course I did. I am a professional prankster.”

“What did she do, other than the obvious,” she asked with a serious tone.

“Short story, she decided to berate my husband in front of his class,” you said straight forward. And she nodded.

“Alright, and just between us, well played,” she said while walking toward her class.

“Thank you,” you said with a bow.

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

During your lunch, you decided to grade papers instead of eating. 5 minutes in, there was a knock on your door.

“Come in,” you said while not even looking up. You didn’t need to, especially when the knocker kissed your head. 

“Hello love.”

“Hi,” you said while looking up at him, and gave him a kiss.

“I brought you lunch since you weren't there.”

“Thank you,” you said while moving papers so he could sit. 

After eating in silence for a couple of minutes, he spoke up. “Do you know anything about the prank pulled this morning?”

“No, I don't. Did they catch the culprit yet?”

“No, but doesn’t it seem familiar?” he asked, and you knew that he knew, but you wanted to keep the act going for a little while longer.

“I guess. I remember James doing something like that in our 6th year.”

“Y/n..?”

“Yes, darling?”

“Is that what you were doing this morning?”

“I already told you, I was finalizing my lessons,” you said while keeping your eyes down because you knew that if you looked into his, you would break.

“Y/n, darling, I know it was you, and if you don’t want to admit it, I guess you don’t need this sandwich.” he said while snatching the half eaten sandwich out of your hand.

“Remus John Lupin, if you don’t give me the sandwich I swear,” you said while reaching for it, but his height on you made it extremely difficult. “Remus, please,” you begged while exaggerating the ‘please.’

“I’ll gladly give you the sandwich when you admit it.”

You huffed, admitting defeat, “Fine! I did it! Now give me my sandwich.” You eagerly snatched the sandwich when he lowered it.

“Now was that so hard,” he said while smirking, and you just glared at him.

“In my defense, she deserved it. You should’ve also known that I wouldn’t let it go.”

“I did, I just wanted to make it difficult for you.”

“I should’ve chosen Sirius all those years ago,” you quipped while smirking at the man glaring at you. “I’m kidding love, I would’ve chosen Severus.” You were now crying from how much you were laughing. 

“If that’s how you feel, I’m going to get ready for my lesson,” he said while pouting and standing up.

“No! I was just kidding Rem. I love you,” you said while grabbing his arm preventing him from leaving, and hiding your face in his chest.

“And I love you, but I should go get ready,” he said, which earned a groan from you, and chuckled while kissing your hair. “I’ll see you later”

“Bye,” you said while kissing him. 

You spent the rest of the day in a good mood. Partially from your scheme from this morning, and partially from the amazing man that you get to call your husband.  

[theonlygamergost]

French homework and a Dream - fd!au. ( part 1 / 2)

This fanfiction is based on the Family Dynamic au made by @antarctic-bay ctic-bay if you would like to know more, go check them out!!!

Also please bear in mind that the things written in this might not be canon!

This fic was corrected by the lovely @im-default

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Techno and Dream did the fatal mistake of choosing French over Spanish and now they have to suffer the consequences together

next part --->

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy~

Lunch break was sacred for Techno, it was that magic moment where he sat at a table alone, in the corner of the cafeteria with a book of his choice to read and block out the chaos of the fellow students. You know what they say: if you can't find peace, create your peace.

With lo-fi music or classical piano in his ears, he would peacefully eat his lunch, recharging his social energy (already consumed in the first half of the day) by not talking nor seeking company. Even though, from time to time, he would get some visitors:

One of his brothers could drop by if they needed to talk to him or they were also already feeling exhausted, Skeppy would also sit with him and try to initiate conversations, in vain since Techno ends up ignoring him unless he needed something important.

All in all, Techno didn’t allow anyone to disturb or interrupt his moment of peace, neither he liked sharing his book or music with anyone…

Well, anyone apart from Dream.

In between the rivalry for the smartest kid and best (nerd) Minecraft pvp-er, the two had started frequenting now and then, maybe studying at the library together or grabbing a bite after school before parting ways, all in all, they found to have a similar love for quiet company and taste in music.

So, to see Dream sit next to Techno, steal one of his earbuds, and tug the book a little closer for him to read as well wasn’t rare, but a treat to see.

“TALK TO ME TECHNO!!!” Skeppy had been trying to get his friend’s eyes off of the book for about five minutes or so, just to get completely denied by an unbothered and concentrated face. “Techno pleaseee!!!! I need attention!” his head fell on the table, “...I can tell” he finally replied while turning the page.

Skeppy groaned and went on bothering him for another five minutes.

Techno sighed, “Can’t you go bother someone else?” Skeppy was about to complain again, but a familiar laugh made the both of them stop and look at the direction it came from, “You’re so needy Skeppy”.

The boy in the green hoodie placed his tray next to Techno’s, leaving his backpack on the seat next to him, “YEAH! And this stupid pig isn’t giving me any attention!!!” after a second of silence they all giggled at Techno being addressed as “Pig”, something that only Skeppy could get away with. Not even Dream could call him that without either a complaint or a casual roast coming from the other teen as a consequence.

“Have you studied for tomorrow’s French test?” He took a bite of… whatever the cafeteria had made that day, he couldn’t really tell since it was so… revolting-looking, but it didn’t taste that bad and Dream was pretty hungry. Skipping breakfast was a habit of his so whatever he could eat at lunch was fine by him, it just needed to fill him up until the end of the day.

“Nah… I can’t remember some of the verbs, let alone when and how to use them” he replied before sipping on some water, “Same… some words are unpronounceable too… “ Dream and Techno both made the grave mistake of choosing French over Spanish as a second language, Techno made a very bad first impression with the teacher and Dream overslept three lessons in a month, let’s say that if they didn’t do good on this test… they could kiss goodbye a good French overall vote at the end of the year.

Skeppy exploded in a loud laugh, banging one of his fists on the table meanwhile holding his stomach, “Sucks to be you!” they sighed in defeat, Skeppy got convinced into choosing Spanish by a friend so he couldn’t relate to their problems since legends told that the Spanish teacher was a very nice person.

“I’ll leave you two to your nerdy problems, later losers!” Dream told him goodbye meanwhile Techno simply waved.

The blonde boy stretched his arms and grabbed both his phone and diary out of the backpack, flipping through it he nudged the other boy lightly, “We only have French for tomorrow… wanna study together?” Techno hummed a reply as the blondie took one of his earbuds, Techno reacted with a question: “Want to study at the library or..?” Dream’s head tilted, “Or what? We don’t have another place to study” Techno furrowed his brows for a second, “Well… no, you’re right”.

The reply made Dream curious, but he limited himself to finishing his meal in silence, enjoying the quiet company until the bell rang.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s already six pm?! We haven’t even finished memorizing this stuff!” Dream groaned in frustration while Techno just dropped his head on the book in front of him, they had been studying for two hours interrupted only by a bathroom break, and they weren’t even half-way done with their homework.

“This will be the only low grade on my paper this year…” the low murmur was muffled by the fact that Techno’s head was still slumped on the books, “Oh come on…”, Dream rubbed out the tiredness from his eyes, “I know that I won’t get anything done once I get back home, my ADHD goes crazy when I’m studying French… it knows I don’t want to study it so it makes me think about everything but that!”, the blonde boy chuckled, “I can never focus when It’s French too…”

Well, that was a slump, both of them knew that going part-ways wasn’t going to work… If they wanted a decent grade they had to have a study partner.

So Techno took a shot in the dark.

“Ok listen, I’ve got a plan:  come sleep over at my place, my desk it’s a bit messy but if I throw everything on the ground we’ll fit, you can’t eat dinner with us because Phil already cooked it and it’s not enough for five people, it’s not enough- but we can go eat somewhere”.

Dream froze in genuine shock: he had never gone to the Pandel house, nor he had ever been invited by Techno anywhere really, he was usually the one that asked him to grab a bite together, Techno only ever asked him to study, and that was already pretty rare. So getting such an out-of-nowhere invitation to eat together AND sleep at his house was… very surprising.

“Uhh… sure, can I borrow a shirt to sleep in?” Techno nodded, “Well then…  should we go eat now so that we have more time to study later?” Techno nodded again and they started packing up their stuff, grabbing books and pencils that scattered on the table while studying.

“McDonald’s?” Dream proposed, “McDonald’s” Techno replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, they were crunching on some fries, Techno texted the Pandel chat about Dream sleeping over, Phil agreed almost instantly, telling Techno where he could get some blankets and an additional pillow, the problems were Wilbur and Tommy that didn’t like the idea of having Dream in their house, (because they had a Minecraft server where they and Dream had a bit of a… “difference” of opinions…) but Techno told them to cry about it and closed the chat, reassuring the boy in the green hoodie that he could spend the night with him.

On their way home, Techno had noticed by reading the notifications that the Berry brothers had proposed a last-minute movie night, to which the other Pandel’s agreed, already counting Techno off, so it wasn’t a surprise that they met Wilbur and Tommy leaving when they arrived.

“I’m glad we are leaving, two tryhards together must be a revolting sight” Wilbur adjusted his coat as Tommy tied his laces, “I’m glad you guys are leaving too, we really need to study and my desk is a bit small, we can use the kitchen until you come back” Dream stifled a giggle, the passive-aggressive energy the Pandel had when speaking to each other was very entertaining, Techno turned to him and pointed at the clothes hanger behind the door, “Put your jacket there, oh and don’t forget to take your shoes off, I’ll get you a pair of slippers, Eret’s one should fit you”

He opened the closet to almost disappear in it, “Bye big D! Have fun with TechnoNerd!” Dream cringed at Tommy’s goodbye while Wilbur snickered at it, “Bye… and please don’t call me that ever again”

The front door closed as Techno dropped a pair of dark blue slippers in front of him, he thanked him, grabbed his backpack and followed the pink-haired boy while looking around:

the living room and the kitchen were in the same room, there was also no proper table, not that there was room for it, so he guessed that they ate on the kitchen counter.

There were four doors in the room, the first one on the left before the kitchen, a pig sticker gave Techno’s room away, on the other side of it, next to the couch, there was a door with a big sign spelling “NO BITCHES ALLOWED” with an evil smile scribbled next to it, he guessed that was Tommy’s room.

Not too far away from Tommy’s room, there was another door, but this time nothing was on it, and the fourth door was to the right of that blank door aka on the opposite side of the front door. He guessed one was a room and one was the bathroom, there was a hole next to the fourth door though…

Techno sat on one of the stools and opened his backpack, “As I’ve said, we can stay here until the others come back, if you need the bathroom it’s this one” He pointed at the door directly behind him, door number three… but then…

“Why is there a hole next to that door” Dream pointed at the forth door, Techno smiled briefly, “Uhhh… It’s a long and secret story, but to give you an idea that is Will’s room” He blinked a couple of times to let the information sink in, Techno snapped him out of it by waiving his pen in front of his eyes.

“C’mon nerd, we have work to do.” To which Dream apologized and sat next to him, taking a deep breath before opening the french textbook.

[sweethq]

♡ how you became friends with them // headcanon

𑁍 Characters: Oikawa Tōru, Kuroo Tetsurō, Akaashi Keiji, Sugawara Kōshi

»»—Trigger warning(s): none—-««

➶ Genre: hmmm fluff?

-ˏˋ A/N: i’m an absolute hoe for all of them, I just had to put them in the same post ˊˎ-

Click here for part 1!

your nephew’s friends were going to the park to play volleyball and he wouldn’t stop begging you to take him

both of his parents were at work, forcing you to keep an eye on the little booger

all you wanted to do was stay home and watch terrible reality shows

but you decided to be nice and grant him his wish

besides, it would be nice to leave the house every once and awhile lol

when you got to the park you saw your nephew’s friends playing volleyball with a guy who was definitely not their age

“do you know that guy?” you ask the young one standing next to you, hoping that the older boy in the distance wasn’t some creep that was preying on children

“yeah, that’s _____’s uncle. he’s really good at volleyball so he likes to come and show off”

what kind of grown ass man would want to show off his skills to a bunch of 9 year olds lmao

you didn’t question it any further and took a seat on a nearby bench while your nephew ran to his friends

after about two minutes of scrolling through your phone, your nephew returns

“tooru wants you to come play volleyball with us”

“did you tell him that i don’t know anything about volleyball?”

“yup. come on, let’s go”

deadass pulls your phone out of your hand, grabs your arm, and drags you over to the group

he was freakishly strong for his age

“hi! i’m tooru, what’s your name?”

“uh, i’m y/n”

“cool! do you want to play volleyball with us?”

“do i have a choice?”

“nope!”

he quickly goes over the gist of the game and shows you how to position your arms for a receive and how to spike the ball

honestly most of it went through one ear and out the other, but you nodded as if you understood everything he was saying

you finally started the mock match, you and tooru on opposing sides

first play into the game, tooru serves it (at like 30% power from his usual serves) and it’s coming straight for you

instead of taking a step backwards so you can receive it, you just stare at it until it hits you dead in the face hAAA

all of the kids started laughing while tooru stood there in shock

who would’ve known this would be the start to an amazing friendship

we all know, math is FREAKING HARD

and the fact that you had to learn about imaginary numbers irked the hell out of you

they don’t even exist, WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW THIS

but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it

your teacher could see you visibly struggling with this lesson, even seeing that you nearly failed one of your quizzes

she pulled you to the side after class one day and told it to you straight

“if you don’t get a B on this next test, you’re going to have to retake this class”

“y-you expect me to get a B?!!!?!?!?!?”

yeah the rest of the day you were depressed lol

how in the world were you supposed to magically understand all of the material within the next week?

that’s where smartboi!kuroo comes along

he approaches you during lunch, taking the empty seat in front of you

you just kinda 👁️👄👁️

“hi so i couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with our math teacher. i can help you if you want. i don’t know if you know this, but i’m kinda good at math”

he gave you one of his infamous smirks, making you scoff

you had never talked to kuroo before, but he had a reputation around school for being arrogant and cold

“please tell me why i would want help from you?”

“because if you don’t get help then you’re probably going to fail this class and have to retake it, and we both know that’s not what you want.”

you hate that he’s right

“ugh fine”

over the course of that week you and kuroo hung out every day after school

and you found out that he’s nothing like what people say he is, he’s just a big nerd

you start to become fond of him, liking how patient he is with you and how much effort he’s putting into your tutoring sessions

by the end of the week, you’re actually able to call him a friend

and you got a B on the test :p

you were not a morning person

you were the type or person that needed to set 50 alarms in the morning just so you’d wake up for school

unfortunately, sometimes 50 alarms still isn’t enough to keep you from falling back asleep

one morning, you closed your eyes after turning off your alarm, knowing that another one will go off in 10 minutes. I’ll get up then, you tell yourself

what you didn’t know is that the alarm you turned off happened to be the last one

you wandered back to sleep and waited for the alarm that never went off

when you woke up, you checked your phone and saw that you were most definitely running late

you quite literally jumped out of bed and threw on your uniform and shoes before grabbing your backpack and running out the door

you didn’t even bother grabbing something to eat or checking the weather, two things you usually did every morning

you sprinted towards the bus stop, hoping that you didn’t just miss it and have to wait for another

but of course, as you’re approaching, you see the bus depart

and, to make matters even better, it was starting to rain

you made your way to the bus stop, standing under the small roof for shelter from the rain, staring at the bus that was slowly getting smaller

you sigh loudly while taking out your phone, finding the bus schedule only to see that the next one won’t be coming for another 20 minutes

school starts in 15, which is around the same time it would take to run there

but at this point, it wasn’t just raining, it was absolutely downpouring. but what choice did you have?

you prepared yourself to ruin into the rain, but before you could leave the shelter of the roof above you, a cold hand grabbed onto your wrist

you turned around to see sugawara, a boy who was in your third period class

he reached into his backpack and pulled out an umbrella before handing it to you

“here, use this. if you run to school in this weather, you might catch a cold”

“no, that’s okay. if i take this, then you might catch a cold. plus, it’s your umbrella, you should use it”

he laughed before grabbing your hand and placing the umbrella in it

before you could protest, he pulled his hood over his head and ran into the rain

you were dumbfounded, but decided not to waste any more time and make your way to school

you returned his umbrella to him when you saw him in class, and bought him lunch as a thank you

found out that you guys live in the same direction, and decided to walk to and from school together

now you don’t need 50 alarm clocks, knowing that suga will beat ur ass if you’re not ready to leave by the time he gets to your house lol

it was the week before finals, so you were doing the same thing that most students were doing

pulling all nighters at the library and drinking way too much coffee

it was approximately 2:30 in the morning when you were approaching the last class you needed to study for

the problem was, you had left your textbook for that class at home (freaking idiot)

thankfully for you, the library had one in stock that you could borrow for free

you wandered around the building that was surprisingly empty

on most days, every seat would be filled regardless of the time, everyone wanting to cram as much knowledge into their heads before their big exams

you finally found the section you were looking for and started scouting the bookshelves for the textbook you desired

after a solid 10 minutes of grazing through hundreds of books, your eyes finally fall onto the one you’ve been looking for

the only problem was

it was on the top shelf

and you were definitely not tall enough to reach it

but were you going to ask someone to help you get the book like a normal person?

of course not

no, the only logical answer to this problem would to be to climb the bookcase and use the tips of your finger to hopefully bring the book into your grasp

so that’s what you did,,,, kinda

the book was just out of your reach, so you started to swat at it like a cat, hoping the momentum would make your reach a tad longer

and it did!

but instead of you grabbing the book, your arm decided to fling it off the shelf

and right onto the head of a pretty boy who happened to be standing right beneath you

“oh my god are you oka-” *falls off the bookcase*

you were surprisingly able to land on your feet, but you twisted your ankle in the process

“are you okay?” akaashi asked, seeing the pain flash in your eyes

“I should be asking you that, i just dropped my book on your head :(“

akaashi was definitely not planning on spending his friday night in a nurses office with some clumsy person that drops books on people’s heads

and he definitely didn’t appreciate having to be checked for a concussion when he could be using this valuable time for studying

but when he was given the all clear and your ankle was wrapped, you offered him your last onigiri as a peace offering

instantly forgets about the whole incident and becomes a happy puppy

you find out that you guys are studying for the same class so decide to combine your brains and study together

study buddies 4 life!

[taglist] — @avylee

📥 click here to fill out the taglist form

[moonlit-imagines]

History of Romance

Indiana Jones x reader

warnings:

a/n: 💖💖💖

prompt: @writerdream22: “Hi👋🏻,could I request an Indiana Jones imagine where the reader is a wildlife expert and historian who met Indy while studying at uni, and the two of them began dating during those years? During one of her lectures(like her partner, the reader is a teacher)Indy barges in and starts talking to her about an excavation they were both invited to inspect, and the reader gets irritated but doesn't want to seem rude to Indy.If you take the time to read another one of my requests, thank you very much💕”

You’d come a long way with Indy, from your first days in college up until now...still in a college, Chicago to New York. You’d always be there with each other. There were so many joys to working with your fiancé at Barnett College. You could drive to the school and come home together, you both taught a handful of the same students, your classrooms were only a short trip down the hall from each other, you could eat lunch together almost every day, and every once in a while, you’d get a joint assignment. Life had treated you right.

“I’ll see you at noon, doctor.” You gave Indy a peck on the lips just outside your classroom, you never tired of seeing him blush and push his glasses up afterwards.

“I miss you already, dear.” He opened the door for you because he just loved being all “gentlemanly” like that, and off he went to his own class. Today’s lesson plans would be a breeze, you set your suitcase down on the desk and pulled out a folder of notes to look upon before your kids all arrived.

“Dr. l/n?” You heard a knock at the door and peered up at the clock, it was just about that time.

“It’s open, come on in!” You announced and as soon as you did, a hoard of students pushed in, each giving you a different greeting. You patiently waited for the bell to ring before starting class, and there was a sudden silence as the ringing ceased. “Good to see everybody this morning! Today’s lesson is all about extinct animals today, anyone want to give me an example?” Your question earned a few raised hands and you called on someone in the middle row.

“The dodo bird?” They answered and you gave them your signature sign of approval, a snap and a point.

“Good, yes! The dodo bird has presumably been extinct since 1662. Any other animals come to mind?” A few more hands shot up. “James, give us the name of an extinct animal.”

“Mammoths?” He replied and you clapped your hands together.

“That’s right! Now, mammoths were believed to die off about t—” You were interrupted by the sound of your classroom door swinging open, everyone’s eyes redirected to the entrance of the room. Your fiancé had just barged in out of nowhere.

“Y/N, you’re never going to believe where they invited us to go!” Indy announced and your facial expression changed to a mixture of confusion and annoyance, peering back at your students to check if they were seeing what you were. They definitely were (unfortunately). “Our first stop is going to be Greece, we’ve got to meet someone there, but after that we’re going to Italy, do you know what were going to be doing in Italy?” He walked across the room, paying no mind the the students who’s eyes followed. “We’re going to get the chance to investigate Pompeii!” Indy’s announcement earned a chorus of gasps and he gave you the biggest smile, he was so passionate and excited about this excavation. “Why haven’t you said anything? Aren’t you excited?”

“Um, Indy..?” You tilted your head to motion to the six rows of students focused on your conversation that definitely could have been private. “I’m kind of in the middle of teaching a class.” You whispered sheepishly, feeling bad for knocking your fiancé’s excitement down a peg or two. He suddenly realized that his enthusiasm had clouded his mind and he just interrupted your lecture.

“Oh, god, y/n. I’m sorry. Okay, I’ll see you after the bell, love you.” He sort-of stammered out with a flushed face, making sure to give you a quick peck on the cheek before he escaped. “Bye, kids!”

“Bye, Dr. Jones!” They all called back as the door slammed and returned their focus to you. You let out a brief sigh, running your hand over your pulled-back hair and shaking your head with a entertained smile.

“Sorry, everybody, where were we?”

—————

The bell finally rung and all of your students pushed out of the door while you sat in your desk chair. Once they’d all cleared out, your lovely fiancé found himself back in your classroom.

“I brought you coffee and a doughnut as a peace offering.” Indy walked near you and set the snacks down on your desk. “Sorry for so rudely interrupting your lecture.” His apologies were always so—what’s the word?—adorable.

“All is forgiven, dear.” You stood up from your chair, “Now, give me a kiss! Another adventure for our book!” You hopped into Indy’s arms and planted a kiss right on the lips, feeling a smile form of your fiancé’s face.

“We leave at the end of the week, better start packing tonight.” Indy gave your nose a poke.

“Think we’ll run into any trouble there?” You asked as you fixed his tie.

“With our track record? Most likely.”

[official-weasley]

The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley: Pt. 1, Ch. 7

PART 1: WHERE IT ALL BEGAN Chapter 7 - The Lake Invitation

Charlie

As much as I enjoyed Christmas and all the snowball fights Tonks made us have after Nova told her how much fun she had with Bill and me, I was glad to see the first hints of Spring. It meant that I could go to Hagrid's and play with Fang outside. It meant sitting with Nova in the Courtyard, watching her draw while I play with Pip who would probably be offended for the 100th time why is she not drawing him.

It also meant that I could finally invite her to the Black Lake as I was so busy with all the homework that I still had the book Bill got me for Christmas to finish. I finished the one he gave me for my birthday and it was time to start with Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland. I already had it but this one was a new edition meaning it had 2 more breeds and lots more details in it!

I woke up on a sunny Friday morning and since Gryffindors had classes with Ravenclaws all day I decided to ask Nova to accompany me to the Lake in Transfiguration class where we sat together.

I put on my jumper, glanced at the snowball Nova gave me for Christmas and was now placed on the desk next to my bed, and hurried down for breakfast.

We were still not practicing any spells in Defence Against the Dark Arts but we have learned about so many new creatures and as I was making notes I always made sure to circle those, Professor Rakepick told us lived in the Forbidden Forest, so that I could go an search for them when Hagrid finally decides to take me there.

“What are you doing today after Transfiguration?” Asked Jae while munching on a piece of fries at lunch.

“I was thinking of inviting Nova to the Lake since it's finally warm enough to sit on the ground. Want to come with?” I stole one of his fries.

“Nah, I was going to invite you to sneak into the Kitchens.”

“Why do you want to sneak into the Kitchens?” I asked puzzled.

“Well, the other day Tonks and Tulip were talking about it and were telling me all about how they got inside and I got curious. You know I like those sort of things.” I chuckled.

He did like to sneak around and lately Tulip and Tonks gave him quite some ideas.

“Unless you find a way to sneak into the Forbidden Forest, I'll pass.” I took another fry from his plate and for that one, he slapped my hand.

It was kind of incredible how our friendships intertwined. Nova met the girls on the train. I met Nova when she saved me from those Slytherins, which by the way left me alone now. Penny told me later that Snape made them test potions students from Year Five and Six made and apparently that did the trick.

Penny thus met Bill who she loved to study Potions with. She said that it was like taking advanced lessons, as she was copying from Bill's notes. Bill, however, didn't want to admit that even though he was in his Third Year, Penny was helping him with his homework.

Jae joined us for breakfast one morning and Tulip and Tonks immediately sensed that he likes to break or 'avoid' rules as he likes to call it and they were already making a plan to do something with the brooms on our next Flying lesson which was the only class we had with Hufflepuffs.

Nova and I took every opportunity we could get to go to Hagrid where he told us tales from his youth. We liked to daydream with him about all the creatures each of us would like to own.

I know it's cheesy to say but I thanked Merlin every night for giving me such awesome friends.

Mum wrote to me more often each week as I didn't go home for Christmas and she missed me and Bill. I think she finally realized that we were pretty chill and behaved compared to Fred and George.

As Transfiguration began and Professor McGonagall started to write notes for the Mending Charm I quickly scribbled a note for Nova and gave it to her, making sure McGonagall wouldn't see it.

Nova read it, smiled, and nodded with her eyes on our teacher, careful not to get in trouble in her favorite class.

Again, she was the first one to get the spell right and I have to say I didn't do that bad on this one as I managed to repair the watch in front of me on my third try. Nova let out a loud cheer and started clapping.

As I was the first Gryffindor to do it, I earned my House 5 points. But I think McGonagall did it out of pity for her own House as all she did was give points to Ravenclaw since Nova was on top of our class.

After lessons, Nova and I hurried to the Lake. We didn't have a blanket so we put our jackets on the ground.

“Thank you for inviting me, Charlie. What are we reading today?” She started eyeing my bag.

“How did you know we were going to read?” I asked rather sarcastically. She only chuckled as I pulled my book out.

We squeezed closer together on our jackets so that the book was half on me and half on her. We already read the old edition together and I lent it to Nova to read in peace when I got the new one in December so we were searching for the pages with new information.

When we were done reading or rather decided that perhaps we should leave a few pages for another time, we laid on the grass and talked about how cool it would be if we had access to the Creatures Reserve here at Hogwarts.

Apparently, it's supposed to be a secret for anyone below Third Year as Professor Kettleburn takes the Third Years there for their first class. There is also supposed to be an assignment that you pick one creature and take care of it for the whole school year.

We got the information from Hagrid, who upon telling us said something between the lines“Shouldn't 'ave said that. Yeh were not supposed teh know 'bout that”.

—

“I bet there are Kneazles in there that would be cute. Or imagine if we get an assignment to take care of little Crup puppies!” Said Nova excitedly as we couldn't help ourselves but play one of our favorite games where we guessed and wrote down as many creatures as we could think of. We decided to save the list until the Third Year and whoever got more creatures right, would buy the other Butterbeer in Hogsmeade.

“I bet they have Salamanders.” I said thoughtfully.

“Ooh, which one fire or frost?” She asked in a high pitched voice. I chuckled at her, knowing she loved Salamanders and I still remember when she told me that she was begging her dad to buy her one for her 10th birthday.

“I think both.” I teased her, knowing that sooner or later we would end up at Hagrid's begging him for more information about the Reserve.

We also made a plan that when Hagrid decides to tell me how to get into the Forbidden Forest or accompanies me, I would ask him if Nova can come too. I was surprised when I told her that Hagrid was letting me go in my Second Year and she immediately wanted to go to his hut to get invited along.

When I was growing up and watched every one of my younger siblings I couldn't help but wonder why was I the only one with such love for animals. Percy definitely couldn't stand them. He wouldn't even help degnoming the garden. Something Fred and George had the most fun doing. I, on the other hand, wanted to befriend them ever since I could talk, mum told me. I couldn't understand, and still protest sometimes, why we couldn't keep them or why couldn't I have one for a pet.

Of course, I help my brothers get rid of them because mum would have my head otherwise, but sometimes Bill hides one or two from the twins so that I can play with them before we have to take them away. Bill is the best big brother.

It was getting dark and as usual, I forgot to tell Bill where I was going and I couldn't let him flip out again. Just last week Nova and I lost track of time while we were at Hagrid's and Bill couldn't find me for an hour. We found him in the Owlery while taking Pip back, already scribbling a note to mum that he lost me and that she should disown him as a son.

We decided to go to the Great Hall and see if any of our friends were still at dinner. We sat down next to Penny and a Ravenclaw boy I couldn't remember the name of.

“Hi, Penny.” Nova and I said at the same time.

“Hi, Murphy.” Nova greeted the boy. Murphy, that what his name was! Penny was helping him study Potions; as she did for half of the First Years.

“Where are Tonks and Tulip?” Nova whispered, trying not to disturb their study session while putting some mashed potatoes on her plate.

Before Penny could answer her, Tulip, Tonks, and Jae came rushing into the Great Hall.

They sat next to us and when they finally caught their breath they started laughing their hearts out.

“What happened to you lot?” I asked.

“We...we...we...” Tonks tried her best.

“We were...” Jae started but burst out laughing again.

Tulip took a deep breath to collect herself. “So we sneaked into the Kitchens and gathered as many sweets as we possibly could.”

“You mean steal?” Penny glared at them.

“You know you don't have to do that as all food appears at dinner anyway?”Murphy asked.

“Ah, Murph, you wouldn't understand.” Tonks wiped her eyes as tears of laugher covered her face.

“You were saying?” I turned back to Tulip.

“So we decided to go back when we couldn't carry anything else and we were almost out when Tonks bumped into someone, all her sweets fell from her hands onto the floor.” Tulip burst out laughing again.

“I looked up and there was Dumbledore!” Jae said. We all gasped.

“Oh, no! How many points did we lose this time?” Penny groaned.

“Relax Penny, none!” Grinned Tonks. “He looked at us through his glasses, chuckled, and let us through.” She took one of the muffins from Tulip and started eating it.

“Dumbledore chuckled?” I asked as I couldn't imagine him doing so.

“Okay, perhaps he smiled not chuckled.” Jae rolled his eyes. “It doesn't matter it was cracking!”

After dinner, Jae and I said goodbye to Murphy and the girls and head over to our dormitories.

“Thanks for introducing me to Tonks and Tulip, mate.” He said as we were going up the Grand Staircase. I grinned.

“You're welcome. That way I get to spend more time with Nova.”

“Were you talking about animals again?” His voice hoping it wasn't true. I simply nodded. “You HAVE to come with us more often, a little mischief will do you good.” He was convinced that if he picked a proper prank or mischievous adventure he could 'turn' Nova and me to what he called the 'right side'.

“Come off it, mate.” I shook my head. When we got to the Fat Lady's Portrait, Bill was standing in front of it with crossed arms.

“Were you at dinner?” His eyes now narrowed.

“Yes, Bill. I was at the Lake with Nova and then went up for dinner. Right, Jae?” I turned to him for affirmation.

“Affirmative!” He nodded quickly.

Bill could get quite angry with me when he was worried and I think Jae started to fear him as he was avoiding his eyes lately. That made me chuckle.

Bill let us both inside and I couldn't wait for him to get his Prefect's badge in the mail in two years as I couldn't see anyone else do a better job than him.

[uwua3]

your name (pt. 3)

❄️📚 tsukiokia tsumugi

part 1 — part 2 — part 3

summary: as tsumugi wakes up, he meets your best friend

warnings: lack of food

author’s note: good day everyone! i hope you enjoy part 3 of my newest series !! ₍₍ ( ๑॔˃̶◡ ˂̶๑॓)◞♡ please have a good rest of your day~! :D tsumugi & tasuku ♡LOVE♡ you!!!

word count: 1,966

Tsumugi woke up.

For once, he felt well rested. That’s when Tsumugi knew something wasn’t right. Rapidly straightening his back, Tsumugi felt like he was living in the past. It seemed as if he was in a classroom, a setting Tsumugi hadn’t seen in quite a long time. Rows of clean desks surrounded him neatly, with students filing in to fill each seat. Tsumugi slowly looked around, the bright sunlight nearly blinding him as a cloudless blue sky greeted him. The chatter of noisy college students became more audible, and Tsumugi felt like he was back on the morning shinkansen. As Tsumugi looked out the window at the small school campus, a hand abruptly ruffled his hair.

“Morning, lazy. You just got here and you’re already tired?” The boy scoffed, but not in a cruel way. It was a manner of speaking that came from being childhood friends, even if Tsumugi had no idea who this man was. Tsumugi cleared his throat, unsure of how to respond before his eyes widened. Just at that slight sound, Tsumugi could tell this wasn’t some dream. And, this wasn’t his body to begin with.

“Hey… wait, you okay?” The man asked, concerned but when he addressed Tsumugi by a new name, Tsumugi could feel his heartbeat in his ears. What was going on? Where was he? Who was he? Who was this student before him? As Tsumugi barely comprehended the situation, the bell rang as the teacher walked in. Immediately, every student stood up to greet the head instructor. The man just talking to Tsumugi pulled him up by the arm, forcing him to bow so he wouldn’t get in trouble. The touch upon his lower back seemed to bring him back to reality, because Tsumugi forced out a polite “Good morning, sensei” in tune with everyone else. As everyone sat back down, the man sat next to Tsumugi with worry apparent in his facial expression.

The man already appeared cross and serious at first glance, but the furrow in his thick black eyebrows was even more alarming. As the professor began lecturing about some subject he had a basic understanding of, a note was expertly slipped onto his desk without another word. Tsumugi could tell the pair had done this more times than they could count. Tsumugi hadn’t, so his fingers were unfamiliar with opening the paper without getting caught.

Meet me on the rooftop after class — Tasuku

Tasuku, Tasuku, Tasuku. Tsumugi read the name over and over again, even after he shot Tasuku a weak thumbs up (he had received a confused look back, but a nod nonetheless). Something about that name rang every alarm inside his head, but then again, it’s not like Tsumugi trusted his gut. Where did he know that name from? It was out of the ordinary for Tsumugi to mindlessly drift off during a lesson, but he couldn’t help it. Tsumugi was silently accepting that this was all too real to be a figment of his wild imagination.

The sound of the harsh eraser ripping paper, furious note-taking with pens, the conversation from other classrooms drifting through the open windows. It was all so much to take in at once. The professor went on as they wrote key points with chalk upon the green board, the loud scratch and clack of the white dust making Tsumugi’s head spin. Tsumugi didn’t even take out his notebook at first, and when he did, he realized this handwriting was not his own. The person’s writing was messy and rushed, like all his other students. It was for a subject Tsumugi didn’t recall that well. Before Tsumugi could read the date of the entry, another hand was placed upon his shoulder. Warily, this time.

“Class is dismissed.” Tasuku stated, as a matter of fact. Tsumugi didn’t have to do much to confirm it was true, as the group of students left for their lunch period. Even the professor was looking at the two, wondering why they were still here. With a flush of embarrassment, Tsumugi quickly grabbed his bag and nodded, unable to speak. Tasuku’s eyebrows raised even higher at this profound silence, but didn’t say another word before tilting his head towards the corridor. Tsumugi had no choice but to follow. What else could Tsumugi do except put all his trust into this random student named Tasuku?

The two walked against the crowd, but no one paid any mind to Tsumugi. That was the joy of college, Tsumugi gratefully remembered. Everyone was always too busy with their own plans that judging others became a hobby only for the privileged. Or, maybe it was the fact Tsumugi’s small frame was already being covered by Tasuku anyways. Tasuku was tall, much taller at this shorter height Tsumugi found himself in. Not only that, but Tasuku was clearly physically fit, with bulging muscles beneath his skin tight soccer shirt. The uniform was designed with unfamiliar school colors, and Tsumugi didn’t recognize the name of the university. However, Tsumugi read the name in bold letters on the back with a sense of recognition.

Takoto #6. Takoto Tasuku. Tsumugi thought of this name over and over again. It wasn’t until Tasuku looked over his shoulder with narrowed eyes that he randomly stopped in the middle of the hallway. Life went on as students simply passed them without sparing a look.

“Did you just say my name?” Tasuku asked, and Tsumugi grew redder realizing he was most likely muttering out loud. Perhaps that reaction wasn’t normal, because Tasuku quickened his pace to the rooftop. Tsumugi attempted to match Tasuku’s steps, but the height difference was staggering. It was clear Tasuku was some big name soccer player with how fast he was. Whoever Tsumugi was, was not that athletic.

Tasuku held open the door as the two made their way up the stairs. Entering the rooftop, Tsumugi could spot a few students here and there eating their packed lunch as the wind carried their conversations away. At this height, Tsumugi could barely see anything except scattered homes and thousands of trees. A little town not too far from here was peeking through on the mountainside, and Tsumugi almost forgot how peaceful a small town was. Tasuku sat down near a net, waiting for Tsumugi to choose a place as well.

This must’ve been some sort of test, because Tasuku was carefully watching him. Naturally, Tsumugi sat beside Tasuku on the right like it was second nature. That seemed to be the right choice, because Tasuku let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Without taking out his bento box, Tasuku crossed his arms as he leaned against the volleyball net pole.

“We’re alone now. What’s wrong with you?” Tasuku finally asked, carefully analyzing Tsumugi’s every move. Tsumugi didn’t know what to say; he was usually the one listening, not talking. It was out of his comfort zone to now be expected to talk. What was he supposed to even say? What did this original person even act like? Tsumugi wished he could read Tasuku, but the man was a closed book so far.

“I… I’m just tired.” Tsumugi admitted, trying not to pay attention to every inflection in this new voice. Tsumugi knew he’d just overthink himself to death if he actually observed every little change in this new environment. It definitely wasn’t a lie to say he was overwhelmingly exhausted, not only with this body switch but with life’s challenges in general. Tasuku seemed to see that, since he nodded and accepted the response. Thankfully, it seemed like Tasuku wasn’t the type to demand an explanation so quickly. At that, the two finally took out their lunches and ate in relative silence.

Tsumugi took some time to think everything over rationally as he tried to not devour this homemade lunch. It had been so long since he had anything not from the 7/11 convenience store. Right now, he was having an onigiri only a grandmother could make. It took all of Tsumugi’s willpower not to act like he was starving (he was) in front of the effortlessly cool and intimidating Takoto Tasuku.

From the short time Tsumugi’s known him, Tasuku was already impressive. Students acknowledged him in the hallways, he obviously had a reputation with sports, and he was a loyal friend right from the start. Tsumugi couldn’t help but admire him, even if he had just met the man a mere hour ago. But, there was something about Tasuku. Something more. Tsumugi couldn’t place his finger on what exactly made Tasuku feel so... familiar.

Tsumugi spaced out, already finishing his lunch. Before Tsumugi could get too distracted, Tasuku’s hand appeared in his sight once more. This appeared to be a common theme, not that Tsumugi minded. In Tasuku’s hand was a pair of chopsticks holding some sort of… fried fish?

“Here. Make sure to eat more, I can hear your stomach from here.” Tasuku grumbled, pretending like it was an inconvenience to take care of Tsumugi, but his proud puff of his chest betrayed him when Tsumugi took a bite. It was so good, Tsumugi wanted to know the recipe straight away. At the sight of his sparkling eyes, Tasuku just pushed his box over, insisting that he wasn’t hungry anymore.

“Besides, I have to stay fit for my game tomorrow anyways. You’re coming, right?” Tasuku shot Tsumugi a genuine smile when he immediately nodded his head. Tsumugi internally cursed himself over the fact he had no idea where Tasuku was even playing, but shoved food into his mouth to avoid thinking about it too hard.

“I-I’m…” Tsumugi swallowed the vegetables quickly, forgetting his mouth was open to begin with. He truly wasn’t used to this much food being in his mouth all at once. Tasuku smirked, trying to stifle his snicker behind his hand as he pretended to cough into his fist. Tsumugi didn’t know why, but his immediate reflex was to send a light punch against Tasuku’s bicep. Was that the right move? Tasuku froze for a split second before sending one back, twice as hard. Ow.

“I’ll be your biggest fan tomorrow, Ta-chan.” Tsumugi said honestly, not knowing if it was solely his words or someone else’s. Maybe, even a mixture of both. Tsumugi never got swayed by anyone quickly, but it was hard not to do that when Tasuku seemed to be his only friend. Tasuku widened his eyes before looking away, watching some boys play volleyball with a slight hue of red across his cheeks. Tasuku was desperately trying to hide his embarrassment, but it was a fail once his voice cracked at the beginning of his next sentence.

“Ta-chan? You haven’t said that in so long, idiot.” Tasuku ended roughly, acting like this was nothing. Tsumugi didn’t have the heart to tease such a nice boy, and just hummed.

“Thanks, though.” Tasuku quietly replied, and Tsumugi just noticed his country twang to his words. They must’ve been hours from Tokyo, Tsumugi mused, but he smiled anyways. Tsumugi didn’t know how it looked upon this face, but it seemed to work when Tasuku smiled back.

The bell rang once more, signaling the end of recess and lunch. Tasuku stood up and offered his hand, the other behind his neck as his blush became prominent in the daylight.

“Come on, you must not want to move with how much food you ate.”

“It was good!” Tsumugi defended himself, but took Tasuku’s hand anyway. Something flashed in Tsumugi’s vision before it was gone as soon as it came. Tsumugi didn’t think anymore of it, and followed Tasuku to the next class.

Tsumugi was so full and content that he didn’t realize he didn’t let go of Tasuku’s hand all the way to class.

[nialledfromfics]

The Dating Game | Chapter Six

~~

That Monday morning came like any other Monday morning for Joey. Up early before the sun had even peeked past the horizon, a walk with her favorite little lady, Sadie and a huge welcome to her students for starting a brand new week. Her focus was right where it should’ve been; sorting out the weekly lesson plans and preparing for the upcoming fire drill that she had gotten a notice for, but her mind...her mind was drifting off to someplace else. Someone else. 

Joey just couldn’t shake the thoughts of Niall. Of how she had felt being with him, warm and cozy all snuggled up on his couch. Of how she had passed out and he had, without hesitation, let her crash right there on his sofa and didn’t leave her side the entire night. But she also realized that Niall was just a nice guy. He was sweet and caring and thoughtful, and everything that had happened, could be, without a doubt, chalked up to him being a decent friend. Clearly, he was just being a decent friend. There was no other intention behind it. Any other thought was just laughable. 

A loud screech of a chair across the linoleum floor made Joey jump in her seat, her eyes flicking up from the zoned in focus of her lunch. Alexis gave Joey an eye roll, sitting down next to her at the small table in a huff as she plopped a container of quinoa salad in front of her. Joey snorted. “Been that kinda day already, huh?”

Alexis leaned forward, her blonde hair sliding off the slope of her shoulder. “I had one kid tell me to ‘go to hell’, and that was before the first tardy bell even rang,” she puffed out, peeling off the top of her plastic container. “I just wanna sit here with you, eat my lunch in peace and not think about those heathens for the next twenty minutes.”

Lifting a bite of grilled chicken breast to her lips, Joey chuckled. “I’m so glad I teach Kindergarten.” 

Alexis shot her a smile. “By the way,” she paused to finish chewing, “what happened to you on Saturday? I know you said you were going out with that firefighter guy…” 

“Ugh, that guy was a total joke,” Joey scoffed, taking a sip of her water. “He pretty much said, without actually saying it, that I was too fat for him.” 

“You’re kidding me?” Alexis gasped. 

“Nope.” 

Her friend shook her head, her brows pulling in. “What kind of girls does he usually date then? Ones made of air?” 

“Yeah...the blow up kind apparently,” Joey said with a giggle, “But...I did go over to Niall’s later that night.” 

Alexis’ blue eyes went big. “That’s where you went? To his house?” 

She nodded, taking another bite of food. “Yeah, we ate some dinner, had some wine–a lot of wine–and watched a movie. I ended up staying at his place, so it’s a good thing you let Sadie out for me.” 

“Wait…” Alexis said, holding her hand out at Joey, “you slept over there?” 

“I didn’t sleep with him, like, in his bed or whatever,” Joey tried to explain, “I slept on the couch. It was really late and I had way too much wine and I guess I passed out on him.” 

“On him?” 

“Yeah, we were, like, kinda cuddling…”

“You were cuddling?!” Alexis screeched.

Joey pushed the back of her hand to her mouth to keep in her laugh at Alexis’ overreaction. The blonde was full on shocked. “We both had a lot of wine, so…” 

“So…” 

“Seriously, it was nothing, Lex!” 

Alexis rolled her eyes and grabbed her bottle of iced coffee. “Mmm hmm...” 

Sitting back in her chair, Joey wrinkled her brows. “What?”

“Nothing,” Alexis shot back, fighting off a grin as she took another bite of her salad, “So are you guys still just friends?”

Joey huffed out a breath as she put the lid back on her empty lunch container. “Yeah, we’re cool. He definitely doesn’t see me as anything more than that.” 

“Are you sure about that?”

“I mean, I haven’t asked him, that would be weird,” Joey scrunched up her face, “but yeah, I swear it’s totally nothing more than friends, no matter how much I want it to be. And I’m good with that. I’ve accepted my fate.” Joey pushed out a short laugh as she peeked down at the orange sitting next to her water. 

“Okay,” Alexis said, “well, what did he say to you the next morning?” 

Joey shrugged. “Nothing? When I woke up, he was still asleep on the other side of the couch. I guess he had slept out there with me, which is kind of sweet if you think about it. But, I didn’t want to wake him, so I just left.” 

Dropping her fork into her bowl, Alexis leaned back in her chair. “You just left?” 

“Yeah?” Joey bit at her lip, wondering if she had made some kind of mistake by not waking him up before she left. “I did text him later to tell him I had a good time and everything. He was okay. I just...I didn’t really know what to say to him.” 

Alexis licked across her lips, her brows raising. “So nothing else happened then?”

“I told you he doesn’t like me like that,” Joey reiterated with a shake of her head.” 

“I still don’t believe you.” 

Joey rolled her eyes. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter anyway, because I’m giving up on dating. It just doesn’t work for me. I’m too flawed.” 

“Oh!” Alexis spit out, reaching over and patting Joey’s forearm that was resting on the table. “Oh my God, I forgot to tell you that I met this guy the other day–,”

“Ooooh Lex–,”

The girl pulled her face in. “No, not for me, you crazy,” she joked, “yeah right, I have a kid. But I met him during the orientation for rising 6th graders last week and I think you two would actually be really cute together. He’s a math teacher over at East Valley Middle. Super cute, smart, great smile. I told him about you and he seemed pretty interested…”

Letting out a sigh, Joey folded her arms across the edge of the table. “Are you seriously trying to set me up right now?” 

“Well, if this thing with Niall isn’t really a thing, then what’s one more date?”

Joey picked up her water and took a small sip, her eyes glued to her friend. “What’s his name?”

“Ross.” 

“Ross?” Joey squeaked out. 

Alexis chuckled. “Just...go with it. Believe me, this could be good!” 

Taking in a deep breath, Joey pondered over her friend's statement for a moment, realizing that she did have a point. What harm would it do to give this Ross guy a chance? Surely if Alexis thought they’d be a good match, it should at least be a decent date, right? And if her weird growing feelings for Niall obviously weren’t coming to a reciprocated fruition, why should she just give up all together? 

Peeking back over at her best friend, Joey gave her a sweet smile and nodded her head. “Okay, fine. Give me his number.” 

•

Niall pulled into the studio parking lot late that Monday afternoon. He had a recording session planned, one of many for the week, and even though he was in the midst of creating his 3rd album, there was only one thing on his mind. Joey. He sat in his car after easing it into a parking space and turned off the engine. Scratching at his grown-in beard, Niall turned to stare out of his side window, and under the disguise of his sunglasses, his eyes trailed a couple holding hands as they walked by with their dog. 

It wasn’t like he had expected her to be there when he woke up on his couch that Sunday morning, really, he had no expectations at all, and he knew that he had no right to. But a tiny part of him just wished she would’ve stayed. That he could have made them some coffee, had breakfast and maybe hung out a bit. Regardless of how he felt about her, and knowing she probably would never feel that way about him, he just loved being in her company. He loved to see her bright smile and hear her infectious laugh. He loved the way she flipped her hair over her shoulder when she spoke or how excited and animated she got retelling stories to him. He loved the way she looked at him, the way her skin felt under his fingertips. The way her body felt so natural nestled up against his. 

It had been a longtime since he felt that way about anyone. And the only thing he wanted was for her to feel that same way about him.

The sound of his text tone jolted Niall out of his mini daydream. Furrowing his brow slightly, he reached over and grabbed his personal phone from the cradle of the passenger seat. It was her. 

J: Hey, so I know this is probably ridiculous and I don’t want to be one of THOSE girls, but I just want to make sure we are okay? 

J: I really am sorry for just leaving your house without waking you up or saying goodbye yesterday. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to say lol

Niall chuckled as he read over the text. The fact that here she was, texting him about the very thing at the very moment that he was thinking about her...it made him smile. A faint warmth started to swirl in Niall’s belly and he pulled off his sunglasses, quickly shooting Joey a text back. 

N: its really no problem, love . We are okay , I promise ya

J: Good. Okay because I was just a bit worried since I hadn’t heard from you since our texts yesterday. 

J: But that’s just me being irrational and anxious as usual lol

N: hahahahahhaa

N: Sorry for not texting back , I get kinda lost in me work when it gets Busy like this . I’m actually sittin in the studio lot right now 😂

J: Oh geez, I didn’t mean to fuck you up with work. Just text me back later then. I just wanted to make sure we were good. 

N: Yeh we’re good darlin . I’ll text ya later

J: 😊

He breathed out a half smirk and licked across his lips. At least he knew that he was on her mind as much as she was on his. And that thought was going to make the rest of his day fly by.

•

Joey held onto Ross’ number for the next couple days. She knew she should just bite the bullet and text him, there really was no harm in it, but there was something inside her that was making her hesitate. That wouldn't let her take that leap. She could argue that it was Niall, but they had only texted a few times over the course of the following days, and it was back to being their normal friendly banter and laughs. So really, Joey wasn’t sure that was it. 

Maybe she was just scared. 

But by Thursday night of that week, after pushing away the anxiety that she had been building within herself, she decided to just do it. And she did. And he was surprisingly...really great. 

He was very kind and respectful, super funny and they had much more in common then she had anticipated and it got to a point that they were talking so frequently, that Joey almost forgot about Niall. Almost. Ross asked her out for that Saturday night and she happily accepted. 

He was taking her to a local winery and Joey was beyond excited as she had never been to a winery before but had always wanted to go. That Saturday afternoon came and she was busy getting ready; having put on a cute flowy dress with a modest split up her left leg, a pair of low wedge sandals and was planning on topping it off with a big floppy sun hat that she had borrowed from Alexis. She had just finished blow drying her hair into long waves when she heard a knock at her door. Glancing at the clock, Joey crinkled her brows at who it could be considering it was almost an hour before Ross was expected to pick her up. 

Sadie was already barking at the threshold of the front door by the time Joey had walked out of her bedroom and when she opened it, she was more than surprised to see Niall standing there. 

“Niall!”

His light blue eyes slowly spanned down her body, and she giggled as he rounded his lips and blew out a low whistle. “Wow, Jo,” he muttered, catching Joey’s stare, “you look…really fuckin’ nice.”

She smiled and bashfully peeked down at her outfit. “Thanks,” she said before moving aside and holding open the door, “c’mon in.” 

As Niall stepped into her apartment for the very first time, he was immediately bombarded by a tiny little fluff ball of crazy eagerly jumping up at his feet. Niall crouched down to show some attention to the dog and Joey eased the door closed as she kept her widen stare on the two of them. Niall gently ruffled his big hands around the little pup’s face, even leaning in to let her give him a tiny lick on his cheek. Sadie was not only being friendly towards Niall, but wasn’t even barking at him and Joey couldn't believe it. 

“And who’s this little cutie?” Niall asked, peeking up at Joey.

She crossed her arms over her chest, her lips resting in a part. “Her name’s Sadie,” Joey started, a look of pure amusement befalling her face, “and holy crap, she’s letting you pet her? Niall...this is crazy, she doesn’t like anyone.” 

He laughed. “I’m a dog whisperer, didn’t ya know?” 

“Yeah, I see that!” she said with a chuckle as Niall stood back up. They both watched as Sadie happily toddled off in search of her warm comfy spot on the couch. 

Niall stuffed his hands down into his pockets as Joey brushed past him to grab her bag from one of the kitchen stools. He took a few steps forward, glancing around her small apartment for a moment before landing his stare back over to her. “So, what’s up Niall?” Joey casually asked, feeling his eyes on her as she dumped out the contents of her bag onto the countertop to organize her things.

He pushed out a reserved laugh and reached up to run his fingers through his hair before pointing over at her. “Are ya busy? Goin’ somewhere?” 

Tucking some hair behind her ear, Joey peeked over at Niall from the corners of her eyes. She hesitated to tell him exactly what she was up to, she wasn’t sure why and she gently cleared her throat. “I’m actually getting ready to go out.”

“Oh,” Niall said, licking at his lips as he gave her a nod, “that’s cool. I didn’t mean to drop in on ya like this outta nowhere…”

Joey shook her head. “No, please Niall, it’s totally fine. Any other night of the week and I would be in my pajamas stuffing my face on my couch, so...please, don’t worry about it.” She paused, flicking her eyes over his. “You can come by anytime you want.” 

A smile took over his mouth before he slightly bit it away. “Yeah, I was just stoppin’ by to see if ya wanted to hang out. Do a bit of shoppin’, maybe some dinner...I dunno.”

“Oh...” Joey said, her shoulders fell to a slump and she paused putting her things back into her bag. “That actually sounds really great, and...normally I would be all over it, but...I, um, I have plans. Another date.” 

Niall raised his brows. “You do?”

“Yeah,” Joey said, closing up her bag and walking back over to where Niall was standing. She hooked her hands on her hips and slightly tipped her head to the side. “Some teacher that my friend, Alexis set me up with. He seems like a nice guy.”

“You’ve talked to him?”

She nodded. “Quite a bit actually. Not through Tinder or anything, but we’ve been texting.” Niall gave her a slow nod, his eyes dropping to the floor at his feet. He stayed quiet, and she watched as the tip of his tongue just barely pushed out to run across his lips. Joey shrugged her shoulders in a soft sigh. “So, yeah, I dunno, just thought I would give the dating thing one last go. I guess, that’s kind of pathetic.��� 

Niall peeked back up at her. “No, not at all,” he snapped back with a shake of his head. His face was slightly scrunched in and the tone of his voice was indicative that he was not having any of Joey putting herself down. For any reason. 

She breathed out a sweet smile and flipped her hair over her one shoulder with the comb of her fingers. “But, um, we were just gonna go to this winery for a few drinks and dinner, maybe we can hang out afterwards? I mean...if you still want to.” 

The look on Niall’s face softened and he gave her a smile. “Uh, yeah, I don’t want ya to, like, end your date all early and shit ‘cause of me though.” 

“Oh no, I’m not really expecting this to go anywhere anyway, so it’s fine,” she laughed. 

“Alright.” 

“How about I text you when I’m done and we can meet up for drinks or something?”

He gave her a nod. “Yeah, that sounds good.” 

“Cool.” 

They both stood silent for far longer than the words that had left their mouths and dreamily stared into each other's eyes, oblivious to the surges of feelings that were firing through the other the longer they stayed locked in the heavy gaze. And it wasn’t until Niall broke his eyes away from the intoxicating heat of hers and cleared his throat that Joey was able to properly breathe again. “I’m gonna, uh, go get some food ‘cause I’m fuckin’ starvin’,” Niall blurted out, stumbling back over towards her front door and grabbing at the handle as he turned to look back at Joey once more. “But I'll see ya later?” 

She nodded as Niall lifted his chin to peek over at the tiny dog that was laying on Joey's sofa. “Bye Sadie,” he called out, making the young woman cover her mouth in a laugh. Niall settled his eyes back on her with a lopsided smirk and a subtle quirk of his brow. She felt as if she could nearly faint just from that one look. “See ya, Jo.” 

Biting at her bottom lip, Joey eased a hand up to give him a wave. “Bye, Niall.” 

•

Alexis was right, Ross had a great smile. He showed up at her door right on time, dressed in a nice pair of fitted slacks and a polo shirt and had even brought her flowers. It was a simple, old fashioned gesture, but it was sweet of him and Joey couldn’t wipe the flattered grin off her face. He drove them to the winery, not too lost in conversation on the way, and his manners; opening the car door for her and pulling out her chair as they sat down at the table, were impeccable. He seemed almost a little bit too good to be true. 

But Joey quite liked him. He was averagely handsome with dirty blond hair and brown eyes and he was kind of reserved, but still very interested in whatever Joey had to say. They had a good laugh, bonding over their work as teachers and the fact that they both owned tiny dogs with big personalities and as the date went on, Joey started to wonder if maybe this could actually turn into something. 

Upon tasting their fifth and final wine, a fragrant and overly sweet dessert wine that left a satisfying tingle on Joey’s tongue, Ross held up his glass to clink against hers. She obliged with a giggle. “To Alexis,” he stated, “for being a good matchmaker and introducing us.” 

“And for pushing me to go out on just one last date,” Joey added, taking a sip of her wine. 

“One last date?” 

Joey locked eyes with Ross, and for a split second she thought she could see blue. His blue. That heart-stopping baby blue with swirls of gold, swimming endlessly over her own and something quickly snapped her back to her date. She swallowed hard, willing herself to be content with the dark brown that was staring back at her. Ross smiled and curiously raised his brows. He really did have a beautiful smile. “Well, maybe I could be talked into another one.”

He licked across his lips. “I hope so,” he mentioned, “because I really want to take you out again.” 

It was the first time in years that Joey had heard those words. It was the first time that she had even contemplated a second date. And it was the first time she decided to say yes. They spent the next twenty minutes chatting and giggling, finishing their wine before Ross paid the check and asked her if she needed a ride home. 

Pushing in her chair, Joey flipped her hair over her shoulder and softly shook her head as they began to walk towards the entrance of the winery. “I appreciate it, but I’m okay. I’m actually meeting a friend for drinks.” 

“Oh, okay,” he said, holding out his hand to her, “well, it was a joy to meet you, Joey.” 

She shook his hand with a smile. “Yes, it was good to meet you too. I had fun!” 

“I will…text you tomorrow? And we can figure out a plan for our next date, sound good?”

“Sounds great,” Joey nodded

And with a wave and goodbye, Joey watched as Ross walked out of the door and hopped into his car. The second her date had pulled out of the parking lot, Joey yanked her phone out of her bag to text Niall. 

J: Do you know where Italiano’s is? 

Expecting to be waiting for his answer, there was barely any time for the little dots to make an appearance on her screen before Niall responded back. It made Joey snicker. 

N: Yeh. Are ya done ?

J: I’m done. 

J: You want to meet at Italiano’s? My brother works there and they have a decent house Chianti if you fancy that kind of thing.

N: So yer british now eh ? hahahaha 

J: Just trying to fit in with you 😉

N: LOL 

N: meet ya there in 30 ?

J: Sure. 

Clicking into her Lyft app to order a ride, Joey was just about to choose when another text from Niall popped up at the top of her screen. 

N: So I finally get to meet the fam ? Must be gettin serious 😂😂😂😂

Joey rounded her shoulders in a laugh, shaking her head as she finalized her ride and stepped outside to wait. 

•

As usual, Niall was already waiting for Joey out front of Italiano’s as her ride pulled up. He tilted his head in a goofy grin, scrunching up his face as he bent over to wave at Joey through the car window. She couldn’t help but break out in a fit of laughter as she climbed out of the car and rushed over to him. Joey practically jumped in his arms, bringing him into a tight hug. It felt good to be near him again. The sense of calm that came over her the second he was in her vicinity, Joey couldn’t compare it to anything else in the world. Niall buried his face against the side of her head, his eyes slipping closed for a moment as his arms wrapped around her waist. 

After a few more seconds, they pulled away and both fiddled nervously with their hair before Niall let Joey lead the way inside. Ramona greeted them both, her eyes going wide at the sight of them together before Joey was able to bring her back down to earth and ask her for a seat at the bar. She fought her coy smile as she led them to their seats and Joey had just started to introduce Ramona to Niall as Carter walked up. 

Joey almost couldn’t believe how personable and lovely Niall was, though given how well she knew him, she should have. Her brother was not always the most easy person to talk to or get along with, but after the two of them conversed for a good five minutes, it was clear that they got on like a house on fire. Carter left them to their drinks and to tend to his other tables, and Niall turned to look over a Joey. “He’s a good guy,” he remarked.

Joey nodded and took a sip of her vodka soda, having decided that she had had enough wine over the past week to last her a lifetime. “He really is, I think he likes you too. And that’s...rare.” 

“Really?”

“He doesn’t like many people.” 

Niall laughed and set down his glass of wine. “Kinda like Sadie?”

A snort slipped past Joey’s lips, her head rolling back onto her shoulders as she giggled. “I guess you’re a people whisperer too, huh?” 

“Another one of my many talents.”

She bit at her bottom lip before pulling the straw of her drink into her mouth. “Full of surprises.” 

Niall quirked a brow. “Ya don’t even know the half of it, baby.” 

Rolling her eyes, Joey could feel a flush rise to her cheeks and she set her drink down, clearing her throat. “So, I’m, uh...gonna go out with that guy again.” 

“Are ya?” Niall replied, his jaw tightening slightly.  

“Yeah,” she went on, peering over at him. “I didn’t really have any expectations for our date, but it was fun! He’s a nice guy, the date went well, he didn’t even try to kiss me–”

“Amateur.”

She chuckled. “It was respectful, Niall,” she continued, Niall bowing his head in a smile knowing that Joey had taken his joke lightly, “and we had a lot in common...I dunno, I just felt like maybe I should give it a try, ya know? Give him a try.”

Running his tongue across his lips, Niall hooked a hand over his knee as his gaze settled on the light brown of hers. Joey had this undeniable sparkle in her eyes, it was something he noticed every time he looked at her, and it never failed to make his insides turn to mush. “You like him?” Niall asked her, taking another sip of wine. 

Joey dropped her stare to her lap, watching her fingers slide the split of her dress closed over her thigh. Taking in a deep breath, the clattering noise of the restaurant around her began to drown out and it was as if the only sound she could hear was that of her heart, thumping faster and faster in her chest. Slowly glancing back up at Niall, she caught his stare, the dark of his eyes having grown the longer he kept them on her. 

She raised a shoulder, the corner of her mouth tugging up. “Yeah, I think I do.” 

And in that split second, Niall felt his heart collapse in on itself. He was dying inside. 

[idonthaveanaccent]

It’s been a while

Hello everyone, it’s been months since I last posted anything on here. I don’t know if I still want to post anything on tumblr, but I figured I should use the platform I gained a little at least. 

I’ve changed a lot and I like to think my writing has improved since creating this blog at 14/15. I’ve included the first chapter of a story I’m writing. I’ve included a link to it, it is available on wattpad.

The Immortal and the Cursed

Who knows if I’ll ever post anything again...college was shit so I’m no longer in school for this semester so I have a lot more free time and plan on working on writing more and hopefully one day publishing my stories.

I hope you all have a good day.

Seattle, 2018

"AND SO, THE WAR of 1812 was significant to America as it helped to..."

I watched as the class remained silent, their lifeless eyes staring at me with hollowed expressions. A sigh escaped me as I ran a hand across my forehead. As per usual, my class was basically dead. This was what my on-level history class looked like. My eyes scanned the crowd before landing on Derrick, a kid who was busy whispering to his friend about something. I was going to relish this moment. "Derrick?"

The kid jumped in his seat before looking at me like a deer caught in headlights. "Yes, Mr. Herwy?"

"Can you answer my question?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Derrick muttered something under his breath as he looked around. "Uh— What was it again, sir?"

A few people snickered, but I quickly cut them off with my hand. "How did the War Of 1812 impact America?"

The boy frowned as he began to think. I watched the gears turn inside his head before he looked up. "It made lots of people die?"

I nodded. "That's one impact. But what I want to know is long term impacts. There's one big one that I think we should really focus on. Think of today's world and think of the people we fought during the war. What changed between then and now?"

Now everyone was thinking. I knew I had mentioned it. I did, didn't I? Honestly, couldn't tell anymore if I had said something or if I had forgotten to mention it entirely. Derrick frowned, rubbing his chin. Suddenly, a voice from the back piped up. "Canada."

Everyone turned their attention to Cera, a young and timid girl. Her voice immediately paled as she saw all the attention. "What was that, Cera?" I asked.

Her face flushed as she looked down at her hands. "Our relation—relationship with Canada changed."

"Thank you, Cera! That is a perfect example!" I shot up from the desk I had been perched on. The entire class jumped at my sudden burst. I didn't care, though. My passion for history overtook everything. "Before the War of 1812, Canada and the US were simply just neighbors. They didn't like one another, especially since Canada was still under the control of England. After the war, the US and Canada made a treaty that is still lasting to today. It is the longest standing peaceful border in the history of the world. We have never fought against Canada since."

I saw a few students scribble down what I said before I changed the slide. "Another very important part of the War of 1812 was—"

••••

THE SMELL OF RANCID lunch meat made me gag. Thankfully I didn't have to sit in the cafeteria. However, I needed to talk to a teacher that was on duty here. Due to budget cuts, Maryanne had to watch the high schoolers in order to keep things safe.

My eyes scanned a table populated by giggling teenagers. I grimaced. My stomach rolled in physical pain at the sight of the 'meat' and 'food'. It had gotten really bad in my entire existence.

I immediately remembered hunting and killing my food way back in the day. My chest tightened. Maybe I didn't miss those days as much. It was always a fight for survival, one more intense than todays. In today's world I could drive down the street and pull into one of the fast food places for a quick bite to eat. I could stop by any gas station and buy a water or a bag of chips. While it was less healthy than the past, it made things more convenient.

My mind wandered to my old friends. They would've loved this.

Immediately my mood soured. I couldn't indulge in such thoughts. My attention went back to the task at hand. Finding Maryanne to ask her about a lesson plan.

I was tasked with teaching her class during fifth period because she had to help set up the assembly the school was having during sixth. I don't know how she managed a wild group of history students while also being the student council teacher. I was barely able to hold these rug rats at bay in my classes, and yet she taught two different types of kids.

Dividing these students into types made it easier for me to identify the most likely reaction they would have to something. There were the charismatic popular kids, the popular for some reason kids, the average kid who was smart, the average kid with average grades, the failing kid who was smart, the failing kid who was not smart, and late but not least, the delinquents. Of course, there were sub groups as well, but I didn't have time to list all of them in my head.

I had just found Maryanne.

The petite woman looked like the super sweet Hispanic neighbor that those kids in movies always have who shower them with delicious food. Maryanne was that woman. She couldn't bake or cook in general, but otherwise she was really sweet. I towered over her, but most times people couldn't tell the difference between me and a student.

My chest tightened. I would forever look like a teenager. It made going to bars really difficult. It also made it real awkward when a parent came in and asked where Mr. Herwy was. I once had a parent ask me if my dad was out at the moment, and another time one of my student's sister hit on me. Awkward.

"Maryanne! Mrs. Garcia!" I called, waving at her.

The woman looked to me and then smiled. "Lawrence! How can I help you?"

"I need your lesson plans. Where did you put them?" I asked, stopping in front of her.

"I believe they are in the second drawer on my desk. If not, then just know they are learning about the Salem Witch Trials."

I felt my throat dry up. "You're that behind?" I croaked.

Maryanne nodded. "As an AP teacher we go more in depth. That means we spend more time on events."

I tried not to take offense to that. I didn't want to go through and learn how to teach AP kids. Plus, it was way harder to grade them and such. Ick. "Well, it's a good thing colonial America is kind of my thing."

"That's why I wanted you to teach them. I think they'll like you, Lawrence." Maryanne winked at me, a grin spreading on her face. "Oh, by the way, there is a new student too, so just keep a good face on and all that jazz."

I nodded, giving the needy woman a soft smile. "Will do. I will see you later. You owe me!" I called after her as I walked away.

Maryanne laughed as I walked off. My mind then ran off to the task at hand. I had to teach the Salem Witch Trials.

I rubbed my neck, my face darkening. History was my thing, but there were certain events I did not like to talk about. Whenever it was time to talk about be witch trials, I typically briefly talked about them. However, if I were to just gloss over it, Maryanne wouldn't be happy. Something twisted within my gut. I immediately tumbled into the nearest teacher's bathroom. My legs gave out in front of the toilet. It was just in time to as all the contents of my delectable lunch spilled into the bowl. A groan escaped me as I leaned back, pressing my back against the wall.

Dammit.

After making sure I was not going to throw up again, I stood up and made sure to clean any evidence of my episode up. I knew it had to do with thoughts of the trials, but that couldn't be helped. After years of it still haunting me and talking to a few people about it without giving away too many details, it was determined I had PTSD. It wasn't hard to imagine that I did, especially since that was the most horrific time of my life.

My neck ached once more, and I rubbed it as I walked out of the bathroom. The next ask for me was getting a mint because I could taste the vomit in my mouth. My mind immediately went to Miss Robinson, the lady at the front desk. She had a huge bowl of mints and I would need some of them.

By the time I reached the desk and had grabbed a handful of them, lunch was almost over. "Lawrence, did you eat some tuna or something?"

I looked down at the young woman and gave her a dazzling smile. "Yep. I have to teach Maryanne's kids too so I gotta make a good impression."

My stomach rolled hazardously as she laughed. "Good luck. I heard fifth hour is full of the self-centered kids that everyone loves."

I muttered a few obscenities, which only furthered her hysterical state. "Goodbye, Miss Robinson."

"It's Emma, Lawrence!" The young woman said as I walked off, a bright red flushing over her cheeks.

While I was flattered that she was into me, I knew that nothing would come from it. I couldn't afford to hand my heart out to anyone. That would only lead to yet another crack. I don't know how many more I could endure before my heart shattered.

I barely made it to Maryanne's room before the bell that ended B lunch and started fifth hour began. I quickly went to her desk and found the lesson plans. My eyes skimmed the paper before I heard people begin to come into the room. I glanced up and saw students walking in. When they noticed me, they immediately began to whisper amongst themselves. I sighed before continuing to read this paper full of retched memories for me.

By the time the bell that signaled class was starting rang, I had managed to quell any nausea threatening to break way. I looked up at all the students talking. I picked up the roster sheet and then looked down. I adjusted my glasses before clearing my throat. "Okay then."

Everyone looked at me. I saw a girl looking at me with a confused glint in her eyes. She was probably the new kid. "So, I'm Mr., Herwy, one of the other history teachers here. Mary— Mrs. Garcia is busy setting up the assembly for next hour, so I'll be filling in. Let's do roll first, okay? Uh— Marcus Alcantara?"

I watched a boy in the back nod to me as I raised his hand. "Here."

And so, I continued down the list, butchering a few names. It's not my fault I can't read every single name these kids have. I speak five languages and yet none of those names were ones I could speak. It's honestly stupid. People these days were so strange. "Did I get everyone?" I asked after marking down everyone who was absent.

The one girl raised her hand. "And what's your name?"

"Lavern Yeller."

I stiffened at the name but smiled nonetheless. "Are you the new student Mrs. Garcia told me about?"

Lavern nodded, her face flushed red. I chuckled before writing her name down. "Perfect. Who wants to take this to the office?"

After handing it to someone, I began to lesson. "Today we will be talking about the Salem Witch Trials. Who here knows what they were and why they happened?"

Some kid whose name was Kyle raised his hand. I pointed at him as I took a seat on a table near the Smartboard. "So, the Salem Witch Trials was an event in which people were executed for being witches, and they happened because of hysteria or some form of it."

"Yes. There're other theories that perhaps disease and boredom also played a part, as well as a want for power. Other than that, that is basically what happened. A group of 22 people were executed because they were thought of as witches or warlocks. Warlocks being male. Now, Salem was a Puritan colony. Can someone explain a Puritan to me?" I adjusted my glasses again, my stomach churning.

A young girl whose name was Hannah raised her hand. Kyle did as well, but I called on her instead. She gave Kyle a pointed look score looking at me, batting her eyelashes. "The Puritans were a group who came from England because they believed that the church was corrupt, and so they wanted to come to America to make their own, better version."

"Very good, Hannah." Her face flushed red and she winked at me. I kept my face as neutral as possible. She was a teenager, she had to know flirting with me was illegal. "Puritans followed the Bible to a T because they saw it as the exact word of God. They also believed in predestination, so no matter what they did, they were either going to heaven or damned to hell for all eternity. Now, one thing they did think would automatically damn you was becoming a 'Devil's Agent'."

I watched as thy began to write down what I was saying. "They believed that when a person made a deal with Satan, they became a witch or warlock. There were tell-tale signs of them being one too. If they were unable to speak the Lord's Prayer or if they were able to hold a rifle, with their arm extended and their finger in the barrel, they could be a witch or warlock. They also checked for any physical flaws, such as a skin tag. They called them 'witch's tit', and so the person might be sent to the gallows.

"Now, of course, finding proof of actual witchcraft is impossible. However, people would often fake being possessed by demons in the witch's presence or fake symptoms of curses to better sell the witch. The people who started the witch trials are two young girls named Betty Parris, who was only nine, and then her cousin Abigail Williams who was eleven. They talk to a slave named Tituba for advice on their future husbands. After telling their fortune using a West Indian ritual, the girls began to act erratically. They identified Tituba and two other women as witches."

I watched as they continued to write. I took this chance to begin writing down every person executed. My stomach rolled, and a sick feeling began spreading across my spine. As I wrote my name, memories of the rope tightening around my neck flooded through me. I bit my lip, trying to focus on anything but that. If I blacked out now—

"Mr. Herwy, why is your name up there? I mean, your name is Lawrence, right?"

"It's a strange coincidence, isn't it? But no, me and his Lawrence are not the same. He was barely nineteen when he was executed. Hung. Poor kid. Anyways, let me get into some of these people and why they were accused—"

A strange feeling suddenly filled my body. I immediately felt dizzy. The next thing I knew, the ground was rapidly approaching me. I could hear people calling my name as I fell forward. The feeling simply spread, and it took me a moment to realize what it was.

As soon as I realized exactly why I had collapsed, my head hit something hard. A desk, I think.

My eyes rolled into the back of my head. As everything turned black, I came to the realization of where this horrific event had just taken place.

Salem.

[onefourjisung]

Newfound Friendship (Stray Kids Han)

Prompt: (y/n) is a kid who doesn’t usually care about things that doesn’t affect themself, but when a foreign exchange student, Han Jisung, was struggling to fit in, they can’t help but step in. Even going out of their way to make sure no one messed with the fluffy cheeked boy. (gender neutral reader, highschool au)

Warnings: bullying, racism, a small school fight, strong language

Word count: 1,551

“Everybody, I want you to welcome our new exchange student, Han Jisung.” Your homeroom teacher walked in, a blond boy tailing behind her. “Go on, introduce yourself,”

“Hi, uh- my name is Jisung, from Korea.” The new kid awkwardly waved, his bottom lip unintentionally sticking between his teeth by the end of the sentence.

Your teacher patted his back gently before smiling at Jisung, “Go on have a seat,”

He nodded before walking nervously down the rows of desks searching for an open spot. Just to your luck, the first one he noticed was the seat next to yours. You didn’t have anything against the new kid in particular, you’re just not very good at making friends. Your slightly individualistic demeanor and resting bitch face (along with your dark aesthetic and your undying love for leather jackets) have always been successful in sending people away and earning you the title of “the bad kid not to messed with” -and you never bothered to deny it.  

When Jisung wordlessly pointed at the empty chair beside you, your brain didn’t even have enough time to come up with a proper response before he grinned, putting his bag on the desk. You internally sighed, saying goodbye to the peaceful semester you had imagined.  

“Hi,” Jisung whispered, leaning slightly to you while keeping his eyes on the board. “I’m Han Jisung.”

“(y/n),” you answered shortly as you continued to make no effort to actually pay attention to your teacher.

“My English name is Peter,” he casually said with a smile.

You finally turned your head to the boy, eyeing him up and down. Once again, your resting bitch face must’ve sent the wrong signal as Jisung’s smile faltered to a somewhat scared look that reminded you of a squirrel due to his chubby cheeks.

Not wanting to give off a bad impression to the already nervous boy, you mustered up a small smile. “You look more of a Jisung to me,”

After your lighthearted reply, he seemed to regain his positivity and lowly chuckled making sure you weren’t getting any unwanted attention from the teacher. He then became quiet for a while before saying “Will you help me?”

You raised your eyebrow slightly at the sudden proposal, “help you with what?”

You noticed him fidgeting with the pen in his hand before looking up to you. “Uh- my English is not very good? Will you help me?”

You once again smiled softly, “I think you’re doing just fine, but sure I’ll help you.”

Jisung couldn’t help but grin at the confident boost from you and he sighed in relief as he already gained his first friend within a few minutes.

Turns out, Jisung ended up being in most of your classes trough out the day, this led to Jisung always sitting next to you. You thought the stares people were giving the two of you was because the notorious (y/n) who had always sat alone and don’t give a damn about it finally has a chair mate slash friend. However, when you find a sad Jisung on the other side of the door as you exited your chemistry class –the only class you didn’t have with him- you were unfortunately proven wrong.

"Jisung?” you touched his shoulder in worry. “Are you okay?”

He raised his head at your presence, the usual cheerful glint in his eyes was nowhere to be seen. Instead, his eyes were tinted red and slightly puffed as if he had been crying.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” You questioned your friend further, ignoring the stares of your pupils passing by on their way to the cafetaria.

“They’re mean,” Jisung pouted, his eyes getting slightly teary.  

“Who is?”

“Kids in biology class.” Jisung sighed, blinking faster to stop his tears from falling. “They teased my English.”

You felt your heart drop to your stomach at Jisung’s confession but managed to keep your composure. “Look at me,” you grabbed Jisung’s hand gently before smiling at him. “I’m here now, let’s go grab some lunch, yeah?”

Jisung only nodded as he let you guide him through the hallways, your hand still securely wrapped around his.

You sat on your usual table as the both of you ate your food. Jisung’s mood was getting better thanks to the distraction the horrible food provided.  

“Do you eat this everyday?” Jisung cringed as he continuously poked on the undercooked green beans on his plate.

“Well, not exactly this menu everyday,” you smiled in amusement, “but the other menus are not any better, honestly.”

“Ew, gross.” You heard Jisung murmur under his breath, causing you to laugh.

“Well, you gotta deal with it now that you’re here, Jiji,” you teased.

“Jiji?” Jisung pointed out your nickname for him.

“Yeah, why not,” you shrugged. “Can it be your nickname? Do you like it?”

Jisung contemplated for a bit before responding. “But jiji in Korean means gross,”

“Great, just like this food and just like you.” You joked.

“Hey, not true!” Jisung retorted playfully.

“I’m gonna start calling you Jiji from now on.” You stated and when he didn’t argue, you accepted it as a permission.

It was quiet between the both of you for a bit before a boy passed by your table, throwing some rude remarks and a degrading laugh, you recognized the kid as Ashton from your PE class. You were taken aback and couldn’t help but feel offended and stared at the brown haired kid as he left the cafetaria. When you turned back to your original position, Jisung was slightly hunched as if trying to make himself smaller, keeping his eyes to the untouched food in front of him.

“Jisung,” you called to gain his attention. “Was that the kid that’s been bothering you?”

His silence was more than enough to clarify your theories. You eventually got up from your seat with Jisung staring at you questioningly.  

“I’m going to the bathroom, you stay here, okay?” You told him.  

Ashton fell back with hands on his cheek, obviously not expecting you to actually throw a punch. "What the fuck?!”

You obviously were not going to the bathroom. You were going to find Ashton and have a little word with him. You were really not planning on picking up a fight. Ashton was a well-known dick with nothing but a big mouth, he was not a fighter and you knew it from that one time last semester when you kicked his ass during a Taekwondo lesson. But when Ashton exaggeratedly mocked Jisung’s accent in front of you after you brought up the problem, you just couldn’t hold yourself back. Before you knew it, your knuckle had made contact with his cheek in full force.

By then, people were starting to crowd around the two of you, it was only a matter of time until a teacher will come and break you two up.

“Next time you even try to look at Jisung the wrong way, I’ll be giving you much more than a bruised up cheek.” You pointed your finger at him threateningly to make sure you got your point across.

“Okay! Fuck, I’m sorry!” He finally responded.  

Ashton, still taken aback by your outburst only stared at you in disbelief, knowing better not to fight back. To this, you reached out to apply more pressure on his hand that was still on his cheek, making him groan in pain as he flinched away from your touch.

Just then, one of your teachers finally got to the scene, breaking through the crowd of student surrounding you.  

“(y/n) (y/l/n)! Ashton Carter! Principal’s office, now!” He shouted sternly.

You obeyed his words and wordlessly left as the teacher shoo off the crowd. In the corner of your eyes you see Jisung’s worried face, you spared a glance at him as you smile reassuringly, silently telling him not to worry.

The hour you spent in the principal’s office was not too bad. Considering Ashton's reputation, the principal didn’t need to be told twice to believe your words. Still, he didn’t agree with your way of dealing with the issue so he sent you to detention while Ashton was suspended for three days.

You were mindlessly doodling on a page in your notebook when the door of the detention room opened. The teacher on duty really couldn’t care less as he continued to scroll on his phone without acknowledging the new presence. You tilted your head in confusion as Jisung made his way towards you after spotting you in the back of the room.

“What are you doing here?” You asked as he took a seat beside you.

He rummaged through his backpack before pulling out a chocolate bar and a boxed milk. “I’m lonely,” he shrugged.

“What’s this?” you eyed the treats he offered to you.

“I bought them at the store.” He smiled. “You didn’t eat because you were fighting,”

“Right.” You chuckled at his words before accepting the food. “Thanks, Jiji.”

“No, thank you.” He replied. “But you don’t have to punch people for me next time.”

Once again you laughed quietly. “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

A few minutes ago you kind of hated the fact that you got detention, but with Jisung by your side, the one hour actually was unfairly short for your liking.

[spectraspecs-writes]

Korriban - Chapter 92 (Carth, Jolee)

Link to the masterpost. Chapter 91. Chapter 93.

@averruncusho @ceruleanrainblues @chubbsmomma @strangepostmiracle thank you for reading, you get a tag. @skelelexiunderlord thank you for support, you get a tag.

-------

Archaeologists and scouts are a similar breed. While I would follow a set of tracks to my own doom, archaeologists are certainly prone to going too deep into a tomb or a ruin and not being able to get out. We’re both drawn to nesting sites in our own way - mine to animal, them to humanoid. We get along with others of our same profession, despite our client, but we keep our secrets just the same. And we both think of the other as far too obsessive over our chosen passion. There are archaeologists in the Valley, but the tombs are closed. Not sealed - you can still get in - but they aren’t open for archaeologists to go in and dust to their hearts’ content. Which strikes me as odd. Like I said to Thalia, I can’t resist a cave. Or a forest. Or a valley. Or a prairie. Really, any place I might conceivably find life, I can’t resist. And I’ve never met an archaeologist who could resist a tomb.

I want to know more. But first I need to meet with Lashowe before she gets herself killed.

She’s standing near the edge of the Valley, in front of one of the tombs. When she sees me she rolls her eyes. “Finally!” she groans, “If you were any later in showing up, we would have had to abandon this.” Chill out, it’s been twenty minutes. Thirty, tops. “I've been calling to the tuk'ata mother in their language. She should respond fairly… ahhh, here she comes now.” The tuk’ata matriarch is flanked by two smaller tuk’ata. She’s scarred, and her horns have been damaged. “Get ready,” Lashowe says, “This will not be easy… she’s a tough beast.”

I stop her. “Let me give this a shot first,” I say, and she steps back. Carth holds his blaster ready, in case the matriarch jumps at me. Animals have a different body language than people, but most animals have learned to recognize ours. Humans tend to approach aggressively, full-on body, no weak spots presented, arms raised as a threat. It’s different for every animal, of course, but most of them don’t like eye contact and prefer it when your head is low. I approach her slowly, my feet sideways with each step, my head and eyes lowered, and my torso open to her. She’s still a predator, and still a danger to me, but the other three are ready if she attacks. I can handle this otherwise. She’s confused - her head tilts at me. But her posture is still defensive. My hands are low but open, and when I get close enough I kneel into the dust. I don’t reach out to touch her. That would be a threat. I reach out with the Force. An animal wouldn’t understand a holocron. Only that she has something we want. We do not want her pups. We do not want her food. We do not want her land. We simply seek a human trinket from her den, and then we will leave her in peace.

And then Lashowe cuts her head off. The matriarch was surprised. She didn’t suffer. Carth reacts quickly and shoots the other two. Okay. Calm over. Lashowe, what the hell?! “I said let me handle it!” I shout at her.

“And I told you that the holocron was in her gullet - she ate it!” Lashowe shouts back, “I thought you were going to get close enough to kill her, not reason with her! What sort of Sith are you?”

Well, I’m not one. “The kind who doesn’t want to add ‘animal cruelty’ to her conscience!”

“You saw her, she didn’t suffer!” Lashowe cuts the matriarch open at the stomach and pulls out a small crystal. “And here is the holocron,” she says, examining it, “Such a small thing to be so valuable and require so much effort to obtain. I'll just run along, now, and give this to Master Uthar. I'll be sure to tell him of your contribution, naturally.”

No. She won’t. “Wait,” I say, “We’ll go to Master Uthar together.”

“Forget it,” she says sharply, “I’m not waiting up for you. That wasn’t our plan, anyway.”

Carth’s hand rests on his blaster, Jolee’s on his lightsaber. “The plan was we both get credit,” I remind her.

“Back off, I’m warning you!” She reaches for her own lightsaber now. “I’m not giving this up!”

“No more arguing,” I say firmly, “We take it back together.”

“Over my dead body!” she shouts, and she comes at me with her lightsaber. Mine comes out just as quickly. She’s scrappy, but not much of a fighter. She relies on agility rather than strength, but I have both. I don’t even need Carth or Jolee to help me. I take her down, no problem, and take the holocron. I take a moment, to honor the tuk’ata matriarch, and then I stand and shake a little bit. Trying to get off the dust of this world. That sort of brutality is a little hard to believe, even from a Sith. I know I shouldn’t be surprised. Lashowe barely showed any consideration for people, much less animals. But once - you know? Just once I’d like to meet a Sith who isn’t an asshole. You can be evil without being an asshole. You can wreak havoc on a galactic scale without kicking puppies for fun. Hell, Sith scouts weren’t like that. Maybe they didn’t all view an ecosystem as a living breathing thing rather than a resource, but they weren’t assholes. They weren’t evil, either, so I guess they don’t count. I can’t fault them for having a conservation view over my preservation view, I guess, it’s a valid enough position even if I don’t agree with it.

I take a breath. “We should probably take this back to Uthar while I’m thinking about it,” I say, “Then, I could go for some lunch, you guys?” They both agree so we head back.

-----

Master Uthar hasn’t moved from earlier - he’s still meditating in the central chamber, but he acknowledges me when I approach. “Greetings, young one,” he says, “I sense you have something to show me, yes? Something to earn you prestige.”

“Yes,” I say, “I have found a Jedi holocron.” I hand him the crystal.

He chuckles. “I had heard that such an artifact existed,” he says, examining the crystal, “Tell me, young one, did you acquire this device by yourself?”

“No,” I say.

“So I see.” He doesn’t seem to hold it against me. Like he knew anyway. “And Lashowe… does she yet live?”

“No,” I say, “She’s dead.”

He laughs gladly. Which is weird - I thought he liked her. That was the impression I got yesterday. “Well done!” he says, “You gained an artifact through trickery and eliminated an opponent at the same time. That is deserving of great prestige!” Ah, that’s what he was glad of - I was displaying Sithy behavior. “I also heard you ventured into the shyrack caves - tell me, what did you find there?”

“I dealt with the renegade students,” I say.

“Ahh,” he says, “The ones I ordered executed for their mutiny? It’s done then?”

Well, ultimately, yes, they aren’t a problem anymore. “It’s done,” I repeat, “They are… gone.” Not a lie, really.

“Indeed?” he says, his infection raised with just a hint of doubt, “We checked the caves and found only a couple bodies.”

“There was a large beast in the caves - perhaps it ate them?” I offer, trying to blame the terentatek. Not like anyone else will find it. If the caves are that dangerous, I doubt a lot of people go that way.

He shrugs. “Ah, it is just as good, I suppose,” he says, “The lesson is learned, I believe. Go now - you have done well, but you have not impressed me enough to declare you the victor.” And he returns to his meditation

We go for lunch in the cantina - there is a cafeteria of sorts in the Sith Academy, but frankly, I don’t want to deal with the sort of childish antics I’m sure happen there. I just want to eat in relative peace. Or at least Carth and I eat there. Jolee goes back to the ship for some reason. I don’t get why - he was complaining about the synthesizer on the Hawk so why he would choose to get lunch there is beyond me. But, whatever, he’s an adult, I won’t stop him. I figure I’ll just buzz him on the comm when we’re ready to go back.

Carth finishes first - he just got some sort of sandwich - but I’m going slower with my bowl of soup. Idly scrolling through what I skimmed off Master Uthar’s datapad. And Carth is watching me. He’s trying to be subtle about it but failing miserably. And I’ll admit it’s sort of nice? But also kind of creepy, so rather than just sit and live with it, I bring it up. “You’re staring - you need something?”

“Hmm? Oh, no,” he says quickly. Awkward bunny man. “Sorry.”

“You know, come to think of it, you’ve been watching me a lot lately,” I say. He’s been ready for a surprise fight a lot. “Why is that?”

His cheeks go red. “Oh, I…” he says softly… “thought you hadn’t noticed.”

I scoff playfully. “If you were any more obvious about it, your eyes would fall out of your head.”

His redness gets even worse and he smiles sheepishly. “Err... I'm not that bad, am I?”

“Not bad for a monkey-lizard, no, not bad at all.”

He smiles and laughs. “Damn it, woman, if you keep hounding me I'm going to put you over my knee and teach you a lesson!” he jokes.

Whoa! That’s the most overt thing he’s ever said to me! “I’d like to see you try!” I laugh.

He shakes his head. “You just wait, you’ll get yours.”

“I’m sure I will!”

“At any rate,” he says more seriously - not like serious, serious, but he’s not joking anymore, we’re just two close friends chatting over lunch. I mean, hopefully more than friends, but as it stands, anyway - “I wasn’t ogling you. I've just been admiring you.” Don’t melt, Rena, you’ll spill your soup all over your lap and kill the mood. “I've been watching you in action. Your- your skills. You have a natural talent that is incredible. Not that, ah, all I do is watch you or anything. I don't mean anything by it.”

I raise my eyebrow. “Any other observations?”

“Well,” he says slowly, considering his words, “maybe a few. I hope you don’t mind if I keep those to myself.”

“You don’t have to be so embarrassed, Carth,” I say, “although it is adorable. I don’t mind if you watch me.”

He relaxes, relieved, and lets out a short laugh. “Why didn't you tell me that sooner? You would have saved me a lot of trouble!”

“Give up the chance to give you trouble? As if!”

He laughs again. When he calms down a bit, he continues. “I will say one thing, though,” he says, “We've come a long way with your help. Whether it's the Force or fate or just dumb luck… I'm glad you're here.” Don’t melt, no melting. “We probably would have never made it this far without you.” He scratches the back of his head. That’s his apology scratch, I know that well. “I, uh… I should have said this long before, instead of doubting you. I, uh, hope you can forgive me.”

I smile softly at him. “You already apologized once, Carth.”

“And you accepted it, but that doesn't mean I'm forgiven,” he says just as softly, and I love his soft voice, “I'd like to be.”

“Why do you need my forgiveness, anyway?” I ask, casually going back to my soup.

“Because you're an impressive and beautiful woman,” he says, “In some ways… good ways… you remind me of my wife and I'd like to make things right between us.”

Beautiful? I mean… he’s called me that before, but always more like a flirty nickname, never as… never like that, I mean… whoo, really hard not to melt right now… Is my face red? “You… you think I’m beautiful?”

He smiles. “I'll, uh, take that as a yes,” he says. He’s also trying to play it cool. “I’m glad that’s settled.” He’s probably wishing he hadn’t finished his sandwich so quickly so he’d have some way to avoid meeting my gaze.

He starts to say something but before he can get a word out I reach over the table and kiss him. He’s startled at first but then he leans into it. I could get used to this.

Suddenly Jolee clears his throat. Where the hell did he come from? He’s smiling, but God, this is kind of embarrassing, which is weird because I’ve been talking to him about this, it’s not like this is a surprise for him. But Carth and I break away from each other and try to casually regain our composure. Even though clearly neither of us was done with the other. “Don’t stop on my account,” Jolee says, which makes it even worse. “I’d ask if you were ready to get back to the Valley, but it looks like you’re still eating.”

“Yeah,” I say awkwardly, “Soup.”

He sits down next to Carth, who thankfully takes over the conversation. “What were you doing at the Hawk?”

“Nothing important,” he says with a shrug, “I wanted to put on a different pair of boots. You’d be surprised how much the wrong pair of boots can hinder your connection to the Force.”

“Seriously?” Carth says in disbelief, “Boots can limit your abilities.”

“Not like that,” I say, “It’s not like you can’t fight if you’re wearing the wrong shoes. But some boots are better for dirt and some boots are better for rocks. If you’re uncomfortable, then it’s just harder to hear the Force. Right?” Jolee nods. Carth still looks skeptical. “I swear to God.”

“You spent a month in the Enclave on Dantooine learning about boots?”

“Not just boots - it’s… a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force, and if your feet hurt, then there goes some of your focus. Not just feet, either - any sort of pain or discomfort. But there’s a reason we wear robes instead of armor. It’s not just a fashion choice.”

Carth blinks a bit. “Okay,” he says finally, throwing his hands up in defeat, “Any other strange Jedi things I should know about? Special socks?”

“Ah, I can’t tell you about the special socks,” I say teasingly, “Jedi secret.”

“Jolee, she’s not serious, is she?”

Jolee starts to open his mouth, but I interrupt. “He’s not a Jedi, he can’t tell you about the socks.” Jolee smiles at me. Carth looks between me and Jolee, eventually figures out I’m bluffing, and just gives up. I go back to my soup. But now I’m curious. “Why did you leave the Order, Jolee?”

Jolee gives a small chuckle. “Who said I left the Jedi?”

“You did,” I say, “You said you weren’t a Jedi anymore.”

“Well, technically, I was never a Jedi, I was only a Padawan,” he corrects, “Not that that makes a difference to most. But as for the order, itself… no, I never left it. It left me.”

“Hang on,” Carth says, “You’re not a Jedi?”

If I had asked that question, he would bluster at me a bit, but not Carth. “I follow the Jedi Way and use the Force. That makes me a Jedi last time I checked. But the Order, itself, the Jedi Council and so forth… no, I'm not a part of that and haven't been for a long time. And good riddance, I say!”

“You say the Order left you,” I say.

Jolee groans a bit. “You know what I hate?” he says. Then he tosses his head a bit. “Well… you know, lots of things, really. But I'm old and easily annoyed. But that's beside the point. What I really hate are how most people view the Jedi. Everyone thinks the Jedi are perfect, that they can do no wrong. They think the Jedi Council is completely incapable of injustice.”

“I don’t think that,” Carth says with a shrug.

“Hmm,” Jolee hums, “No doubt you've been on the receiving end of Jedi justice at least once, eh?” Has he? I guess the Mandalorian Wars. “And I'm not even talking about how some of us fall to the Dark Side,” he says to both of us, “No, that's plenty indication of our fallibility, but it's something else entirely. No, I'm talking about how, more often than not, your average robe-wearing Jedi can try to do the right thing and still be completely wrong.”

I shrug. “Nobody can be right about everything.”

“That's true,” he says, “but it's not what I meant. I guess I'm not being clear, am I?” He scoffs. “Come to think of it, I don't have to be clear. Someone my age is entitled to ramble, dammit!” (Carth chuckles a little - he isn’t as used to Jolee’s manner of speaking as I am.) “But for your sake I'll try to explain. I'll tell you a little tale about a Jedi Master I once knew. Hortath, I think. Or was it Hartoth? I could never get it straight.” He shakes his head. “Master Hortath was a kindly old Jedi who meant well, but the most near-sighted thing in the Core, I swear. He would walk into walls, knock over tables, mistake apprentices for rancor beasts, that sort of thing. And he was too proud to submit to proper treatment. Some used to counsel him and urged ‘Use the Force, Master Hortath. Allow the Force to see for you.’” Now there’s a solution. “But he refused to believe that his eyes were failing. He simply squinted more and more as the years went on, the other Jedi resignedly passing it off as the amusing quirk of a compassionate old man.”

“Ah, like blustering on with stories from the past,” I tease.

“I’m not finished yet! Now shush!” Jolee mock-scolds, “So one day a young Padawan meets Master Hortath in the courtyard and, not knowing of his blindness, asks him for directions to the Council. Quite sure of himself, Hortath gave the lad directions… which happened to lead outside and away from the Enclave. The Padawan is confused, naturally. He asks if Master Hortath is sure, and of course Master Hortath says that he is. The Padawan suggests that perhaps he should ask someone else… but the proud Hortath now feels insulted. He tells the Padawan to take the route he prescribed and no other. Rather dejectedly, the Padawan did as he was told... and so ended up leaving the Jedi Order forever.” Carth grimaces a bit. “It was decided that the boy's fate was to leave the Order anyway… though whether that was out of respect for Hortath or because the boy went on to something else, well, we'll never know.”

Carth and I are both silent for a moment, then Carth asks, “So… you knew this Master Hortath? Or the Padawan?”

Jolee shakes his head. “No, no. Both of them were before my time. Well before the Sith wars, even.”

“I don’t think I understand…” I say, and Carth indicates the same.

Jolee sighs. “The tale is about blindness and I thought the point was clear,” he says, “At any rate, you think about it. You're the one who asked why the Jedi left me, remember? Finish your soup - my feet are itching for a traipse through a tomb.”

“But you didn’t really answer the question,” Carth objects.

“He never answers the question,” I say, and Jolee harrumphs, “Amusing quirk of an old man.” I have some soup to finish.

[eldri-sv]

11 - Aizawa

Kaori Shinsou has always been fascinated by people's minds. She is one of the best students in her Criminal Psychology course at U.A. and - being the lucky girl she is - her professor is not only one handsome dude, but is also working on the case of the serial killer Stain - a case that has been going on for years. As she is about to become Professor Aizawa's TA during the next term, a lot of other interesting cases start popping up all over the country... AU, OC x Aizawa

Trigger warnings: nothing really?

(possibly incomplete, if you’d like something added, please let me know)

The city's ours until the fall

(Halsey - New Americana)

Shouta Aizawa did not enjoy having lunch in the cafeteria. The place was loud, there were always a bunch of annoying kids around and people would just randomly approach him and talk to him, when all he wanted was some peace and quiet. But with all his injuries right now, he didn't really have the energy to prepare some lunch at home, before he left in the morning. And the lunch in the cafeteria was insanely good, so that somewhat made up for everything else.

He was sitting on a table with a bunch of other teachers, not because he wanted to, but because there was no table available where he could sit on his own. And sitting with one of his students would just be plain weird.

At the moment Yamada and Kayama were having a heated debate about whether Kombucha tasted good or not and whether it was worth trying for the health benefit. Kayama was absolutely in favour of it and was showing off her home-made Kombucha that she had brought to school. Yamada had never tried it and was convinced it couldn't be healthy AND good.

At the moment Kayama was forcefully trying to get Yamada to try some of her Kombucha. Yamada protested wildly, which was unfortunate for Aizawa, as he was sitting right next to him. He was keeping a close eye on him, just so he could dodge any accidental attacks from Yamada.

"Oh, come on! At least try it! One tiny sip?" Kayama asked. Aizawa gulped down some orange juice. He had to switch to that from coffee. The doctors told him to stay away from alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and anything else for at least two weeks. Which wasn't too bad, because in two weeks they would have the U.A. Sports Festival, which was a big thing within the national police force.

A lot of people from different divisions across the country came to see it and to scout out people for internships later on. Of course anyone who was not in basic training (or really athletic and in some other course like Criminology) would have a rough time trying to intern with the actual police force. A lot of the other people just turned to forensic laboratories, prisons, courts and so on to get their internships done.

Aizawa had done his one-week internship at a prison during his first year. Thankfully he had been able to kick ass during his second year and had started working with the local Naruhata police department. That's where he and his best friend Shirakumo had been spending most of their days away from university. Aizawa smiled a little, as he remembered his friend, but the smile quickly faded.

"What do YOU think, Shouta? Should he try it or not?" Kayama asked, taking him out of his thoughts. Aizawa glanced at Yamada who was shaking his head dramatically while grimacing.

"I don't really care, Nemuri. Why do you need him to drink it so badly?" he replied with a shrug.

"I made it myself and I'm proud of it! Plus, he's never even tried it and keeps saying that it'll taste bad. I just want him to try, before he'll start judging." Kayama said and sighed melodramatically.

"Why don't you try it then, Yamada? It hasn't killed Nemuri so far, it most likely won't kill you." Aizawa suggested, hoping to be left alone. He wasn't going to be so lucky. Yamada was shaking his head violently.

"Nuh uh. She's a toxicologist, dude, she could be telling me anything while trying to poison me. And she'd be getting away with it, too!"

"I can't believe you're accusing me of trying to poison you! Yamada, we've been friends for how long now?"

"Maybe you're just playing the long game, who knows..."

Aizawa sighed. His head had started hurting again and he really couldn't deal with the two of them arguing about petty shit like that right now. He grabbed the bottle out of Kayama's hands, opened it and took a big sip. He gulped it all down, as he put the bottle back down on the table.

It was nasty. It smelled foul and a bit like vinegar. And it tasted just the same, with a slight hint of sweetness. It took everything out of Aizawa not to make a weird face. And all that just because he wanted Yamada to suffer just as much as he did. If he drank the stuff, Yamada would have to, as well.

"How... how is it?" Yamada asked, giving him a worried look, as if Kayama had actually been poisoning it. Aizawa shrugged again.

"It's alright. You should try it, I think you might like it." he replied, knowing full well that Yamada would trust his judgment without questioning. Aizawa seriously didn't know why Yamada would still trust him, but maybe he was just one of those people that simply didn't learn.

Yamada grabbed the bottle, still eyeing it suspiciously, but finally getting over himself and taking a sip of it. It took a while to hit him, but then he quickly put the bottle down and pushed it away from himself.

"This tastes like ass! What the fuck, Shou?" he exclaimed. Aizawa grinned a little. Sure, Yamada was his friend, but it made him kind of happy to see him suffer right now. He was coughing and drinking loads of water to get the taste out of his mouth.

"Yeah, I know. It's really not my thing, Nemuri, and I think that one has been standing for too long. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to get some more orange juice, because that was truly disgusting." Aizawa said, as he got up with the glass in his hand. Kayama was shaking her head.

"You all just don't have taste..." she mumbled and packed away her Kombucha again. Yamada looked disappointed.

"I can't believe you've done me dirty like this, Shou." he said. Aizawa shrugged and gave him a wide grin.

"Again, I have no idea why you still trust me, Zashi. Anyway, I'm off to get something to drink and then I'll probably take a nap before my next lesson, so I'll see you all later." he replied and walked off.

I passed a few tables with students, some of them I knew. There was one table with a group of first years in basic training, their names were Todoroki, Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida and Asui. It was incredibly obvious that Uraraka was crushing hard on Midoriya. How he didn't realize it was completely beyond me.

At another table there was Nishiyama and her entourage. She always had a crowd of people around her and most of them kept changing all the time. Nishiyama was probably the true drama queen of this university. Most people who weren't stuck in high school anymore were not paying much attention to her, thankfully. She was a pain in the ass, but Aizawa had to admit that she usually had very good grades, although that was probably due to her learning all the notes by heart just before the exams.

The last table he passed was literally right beside the place where all the drinks were. Aizawa recognized Kaori Shinsou and her brother. Kaori was picking at her food, as if she wasn't hungry. She probably felt sick due to the painkillers. Aizawa felt a little pang in his heart, seeing her with the bandages around her forehead, knowing that it was his fault, because she was trying to save him.

Her brother looked like he had just seen a ghost and was whispering to her. I could see Kaori raise an eyebrow and give her brother an amused smile.

"What, you mean Pikachu?" she said loudly. Her brother looked around in a panic and then quickly gestured for her to be quiet.

Aizawa who had been watching this exchange was wondering who they were talking about. There was only one person he knew and he would describe as Pikachu and that was Denki Kaminari. He somewhat doubted that Hitoshi Shinsou knew Kaminari. From what he knew they had little in common, except that they were both first years. Well, it wasn't really his business anyway.

He poured himself a glass of orange juice and squinted at it. There seemed to be a few tiny bits in it, probably because someone had been swirling the jug and not letting it settle properly. Shouta Aizawa absolutely hated bits in his orange juice. Or any juice, to be fair. Things he was drinking or eating should be one consistent texture. Anyone who said otherwise was a potential psychopath.

"Well, forget about your crush on coffee boy for a second and let's talk about the plan for this evening. I've had this desire to watch Aristocats all day, are you with me?" he heard Kaori ask. Aizawa stopped squinting at his orange juice and froze. He loved that movie. It was one of his favourite childhood movies. It was his guilty pleasure whenever he felt stressed out or sad or overwhelmed by life and work and everything else. And no one - no one - could ever know about it.

"Yes! Absolutely! We haven't watched that movie in ages!" Hitoshi Shinsou exclaimed. Kaori laughed.

"I know, right? We should just get all wrapped up in blankets, get some nice, fancy ice cream and watch that movie. It's even raining outside, it's the perfect day for that. Plus, you can take your mind off the Sports Festival for once."

"Let's do it."

Shouta Aizawa decided he had been creepy listening in on his students' conversation for long enough. He took his orange juice and made his way back to the table with his colleagues. It looked like he hadn't missed much, since Yamada still seemed to be complaining about the Kombucha. What a fucking nerd.

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 3

I think I might be uploading this daily until I catch up with the chapters I have up on Ao3, so I hope this updates don’t annoy anybody! xD

If you haven’t read the previous chapters, here they are!

Chapter 1 - Returning to the living

Chapter 2 - Infiltrating the 24th floor

CHAPTER 3

A hell of an entrance

Sam Cortland was early to school on the second day of classes, as he wanted to get a feel of what people were thinking, what the mood was and what people’s patterns were. He knew Celaena had been around the premises multiple times before the term had started, but he hadn’t expected to be joining her until only a few days ago. Arobynn had approached him a week before and threatened him in a way that made him comply with being his spy. He hated it, but he didn’t really have any other viable options.

He was sitting on a bench by the entrance waiting for the bell to ring and watching people come and go. A few of the girls had approached him and said hello, some had even asked which classes he was attending and tried to flirt a bit. Reality was that he wasn’t interested in any of them, and he didn’t have time for romance anyway, he was technically at work. He had been polite and nice to each of them regardless, because he had an image he wanted to portrait. He wanted to be the good guy that everybody could count on, the one they’d trust with their secrets.

The loud rumble of an engine and the sound of squealing tires took him out of his daydream, and he looked up, his brows shooting up in surprise.

“So much for being one more in the crowd,” Sam muttered under his breath.

Right in front of the entrance’s stairs he saw a black motorcycle that had just parked up. The bike’s sinuous and seductive lines were perfectly in harmony with the curves of the girl that was getting off it. It was a sight he was used to, at least under different circumstances. The whole crowd had turned their heads around, and everybody was already whispering, watching the girl jumping off the bike. 

Sam had to give her credit, Celaena did look fantastic as she jumped down, lifting her flexible and long leg high up and giving the whole school a pretty decent view of her inner thighs. She stood next to the bike for a second, probably making sure that there were enough eyes on her before she took the black helmet off, shaking her blond hair around and then brushing it back with a hand. 

“Wow, who’s that?” A girl whispered next to him. 

“What a slut,” another one murmured under her breath, Sam barely heard her as she walked past him.

“You gotta be shitting me,” he heard Dorian Havilliard say as he elbowed the guy next to him, which Sam was pretty sure was the president of the student’s council.

“What is it?” The brunette guy asked.

“That girl, she’s staying at my family's hotel,” he replied.

“Celaena, the new exchange student?” The president asked, furrowing his brows.

“Yes, I ran into her in the lobby yesterday, I can’t believe I didn’t notice her at school!” Dorian said, and then the pair started slowly walking towards Celaena, as if wanting to watch her from closer.

Sam hid his smile behind a hand, pretending that he was coughing. He wasn’t surprised at all that Celaena had managed to run into him on her first night at the hotel; she was amazing at what she did. Cunning came to her almost as second nature.

Almost, because it hadn’t always been like that and Sam could still remember the broken girl that had shown up lying limp on Arobynn’s arms all those years ago.

“Who’s that?” Sam had asked, standing on his tiptoes to look at the girl’s face.

Her coat had been dripping water over in the foyer as Arobynn walked towards the staircase.

“Her?” He had asked disparagingly, “She’s my lottery ticket,” he had said as he quickly walked up the stairs.

Sam could still remember the hushed whispers around the mansion on those first days, the planning and plotting. Arobynn had wanted to get a ransom for the girl, but had finally concluded that it was most likely that she was wanted dead, so it would be a safer bet to use the girl until things were certain; until he came up with a better plan.

Weeks had led into months, and months into years, and the girl had stayed. Arobynn had trained her, and she had slowly come out of her shell, proving to be strong, ferocious and sassy. Damn, she could be so sassy, Sam thought. Him and Celaena had clashed so much during the years, and had gone from being strangers, to almost friends, to enemies, and all the way to lovers for the one quick peck that had been both of their first kiss. 

Sam chuckled at the memory, Celaena had been so annoying that day. They were probably around 12 years old, and Sam had wanted for her to shut up so badly, that he had kissed her once, pressing his lips hard against hers. 

He had ended up with a black eye for it.

“What happened with being inconspicuous?” he asked his female counterpart as she walked past him. He joined her pace, quickly walking by her side.

“That was never my plan,” she hissed under her breath. “Now piss off, I don’t want anybody to see us talking,” she said as she sped up and walked through the front doors, letting them slam closed behind her back.

“Noted,” he murmured, slowing down and taking a peaceful pace while nodding happily at all the girls that grinned at him. 

He made his way to his locker and grabbed a few books, slowly stacking them in his arms as he tried to catch anything from the few conversations around him. It looked like the whole school was talking about Celaena’s entrance. The girls were a bit upset about the new competition, and every single guy sounded like he wanted to get under her skirt.

He shook his head, and made his way to homeroom. 

The day went by without any more major events. He went from class to class, only running into Celaena in one of them. The talk about her dramatic entrance had subdued by then, but he could still hear whispers about it here and there, most of the guys were focusing on her ride now, instead of dribbling over the image of her. 

There was one reaction that he was eager to hear about, and it was the one from the only student he thought he hadn't run into that day. He had tried to join as many advanced classes as he could, but he wasn’t as literate and smart as Celaena was, hence why he had had to join the school as a junior and only had a few advanced lessons. 

He found the guy he was looking for during the lunch hour, and he made sure to sit at a table close enough to eavesdrop. Aedion was sitting with all the jocks, as it was to expect. It must have been practice day, because instead of wearing his classic uniform, he was wearing a black polo, the number 15 written on big yellow letters on his back. He hadn’t even taken off his captain band, which gripped his bicep tightly as his arm flexed when he rested his head on a fist.

Aedion was talking with a few other players, a huge grin on his face showing all his perfectly white teeth. Sam watched as his eyes shot up when someone called his name, and a tall curvy girl with dark brown hair cascading up to her waist walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around the captain’s neck, gave him a quick peck on the lips and then sat on his lap. Sam wasn’t surprised to see that she was wearing the cheerleader’s outfit. There was an elegant look in the way her bare pale legs were crossed at the ankles in a careful manner.

He was close enough to hear most of their conversation, so he leaned closer not to miss any words.

“Hi honey, how was cheerleading practice?” Aedion asked as he played with a strand of the girl’s hair.

“Not bad, the squad was a bit distracted though,” she said, sounding mildly annoyed.

“Why was that?” Aedion asked, his bright turquoise eyes looking up at her, seeming genuinely confused.

“That new girl, she has them all a bit crazy. Apparently she made a big entrance this morning, but I missed it because I was talking with the coach, did you catch her?” the girl asked, sounding curious to see her boyfriend’s reaction.

“Oh, I was a bit far, but I did see her. Her ride is actually a piece of art,” he said.

Sam had to cover his mouth to hide his chuckle for the second time that day. The guy was good, he knew how to deflect the conversation not to make his girlfriend jealous. Sam was genuinely impressed.

“Lysandra!” A blond girl called as she rushed over to Aedion’s girlfriend.

“What’s the matter?” She asked, turning around and letting Sam get a full view of her big and beautiful emerald green eyes. 

“Sorry hun, coach needs a word with you, would you mind going back to the gymnasium?” The two girls left in a hurry and Sam’s eyes trailing after them.

“She’s so taken, mate,” a skinny guy sitting next to Sam said as he elbowed him playfully. “I recommend you to be careful, Aedion won’t like it if he catches you staring,” he said in a low voice, as if to make sure that the next table over wouldn’t hear them.

Sam thanked him for the advice, and kept on eating his lunch. He spotted Celaena on the opposite side of the cafeteria then, and followed her gaze to see what she was looking at so intently. Her eyes were fixed on a table not far away from him, and Sam noticed Dorian Havillard sitting there with the same brunette guy from before. So far, those two seemed to go together everywhere. They were talking and elbowing each other, their eyes on the blond girl that was eyeing them shamelessly.

It looked to him like Celaena wasn’t wasting any time; she was hunting, and only for a second, he felt sorry for her prey. 

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Hope you enjoyed this! You know you can always read more on Ao3, read some of my originals on Wattpad, or even find me on Instagram for some bookstagram galore and random texts/poems/updates on my writing! :D

Here’s my take on stunning, gorgeous, love of my life... Aedion Ashryver xD