‘Cause Boy I was Made for You
By wonder-womans-ex for @inloveoknutzy
Sweater Weather secret santa exchange 2020
When Remus Lupin was eleven years old, he learned about soulmates.
“Almost everyone gets a soulmark on their nineteenth birthday,” Mr. Holliday, his fifth-grade teacher, had explained. “A design, like a tattoo, on their left wrist. And out there, somewhere, someone will have a matching one.
“Some people don’t get them until later—no one knows why. Some don’t get them at all. It’s rare, but some people have more than one soulmate, or their soulmate changes.
“Can anyone tell me why this might be?”
Trust a teacher to turn this into a lesson, Remus thought, and put up his hand.
“Because people change, and the person who your soul matches could change, too?”
“Very good, Mr. Lupin.”
***
When Sirius Black was eleven years old, his parents kept him home from school. Instead, they sat him down at the dining room table—which was only ever used for special occasions; he couldn’t fathom why this might be considered one—and told him three things.
“One,” Walburga said, bony fingers and long nails that reminded Sirius of talons drumming on the centuries-old wood, “your career comes first. Always. No matter who your soulmate turns out to be or how you feel about it, you are expected to make the choice that benefits yourself and your role in this family.”
“Two,” Orion put in, “you are the only person who can prove who your soulmate is. If the reality is something that puts your future or your reputation at risk, lying is the best option. Remember, listen to your head, not your wrist.”
“Three—” this was Walburga again, “—your soulmark, when you get it, will remain covered at all times. No one else is permitted to see it. Are we clear?”
Sirius nodded.
“Speak up!”
“Yes, Mother. Yes, Father.”
***
When Remus Lupin was thirteen years old, he had his first kiss. It was with a girl from his first aid course to whom he’d never really talked before, and it was wet and clumsy and didn’t taste very nice. In six years when he got his soulmark, he probably wouldn’t even remember her name.
***
When Sirius Black was thirteen years old, he fell asleep in math class twice. He’d spent the entire night practicing—under his father’s instructions, of course—and the words in the textbook began to swim in front of his eyes.
His mother slapped him across the cheek when she found out. Though he told no one for a very long time, that was when he started drinking coffee.
***
When Remus Lupin was fifteen years old, he googled what if your soulmate doesn’t love you.
***
When Sirius Black was fifteen years old, he found out what it was like to be famous. He enjoyed it, at first. There was so much to enjoy: the attention from his parents, the people who recognized him in public and smiled, and the hockey.
The hockey was everything.
He wouldn’t have thought so, but it was freeing, really, to be on the ice, doing what he loved, and know that the whole world was watching. It showed him he was enough—better than enough. He was the best. He’d been working towards being best his whole life, and now he finally got to feel good about it. What wasn’t to like about that?
Amycus Carrow, apparently. The first guy on his team to notice he was different. “Queer,” he whispered, as Sirius packed his gear up.
Sirius wasn’t sure who he was trying to prove something to by sleeping with Janie Clearwater—Amycus or himself.
***
When Remus Lupin was seventeen years old, he and his mom picked his little brother Julian up from daycare. Jules had a crude drawing of a star on his wrist in green washable marker.
“My teacher has one! So I wanted one too!”
Remus smiled, ruffling Julian’s hair.
That night, he locked his bedroom door and looked up Sirius Black. Video after video of slapshots, passes, interviews, until he finally drifted off to sleep thinking that’s the sort of person I want to be loved by.
***
When Sirius Black was seventeen years old, he had his first panic attack. He wasn’t sure what triggered it; he wasn’t sure how he pulled himself out, but he ran a thumb over the red marks where his fingernails had dug into his skin and tried not to cry.
***
When Remus Lupin was nineteen years old, everything went wrong. He woke up on his birthday to his wrist itching, and it took all his willpower not to look at it. He wasn’t quite ready yet.
It was like Schrödinger’s cat, he reasoned—if he didn’t look, he couldn’t confirm what had been nagging at the back of his head for a while now. He couldn’t deny it, either, but it was better than nothing.
Julian ran to hug him when he got downstairs, grinning to show off his gap-toothed smile. “I got you a present! Wanna know what it is?”
“I think,” Remus told him, “I’m about to find out anyway.”
Two weeks later, Fenrir Greyback approached him in the locker room.
***
When Sirius Black was nineteen years old, he found himself signed to an NHL team he wasn’t supposed to be on and with a soulmark he could make neither head nor tail of: a silver wolf and black dog, intertwined like yin and yang, two crossed hockey sticks behind them. He remembered, distantly, being told that soulmarks were meant to make sense.
The black dog was probably meant to represent him—black dog, dog black (he still hadn’t forgiven his parents for that one)—and the hockey sticks almost definitely had something to do with, well, hockey, but the wolf he had no idea about.
***
It is now that these two stories meet. There is a split second, a fraction of time, and it seems as though the whole world is holding its breath. Will their paths cross, only to continue on their separate ways? Will they travel together for a time, before they are destined to part once more?
“Hello,” says Remus, and when Sirius holds his hand out coldly, their fate is decided.
***
“Pots, c’mere a second!”
Sirius is happy, almost. He’s got the team—he’s one of them, now, really and truly, but there’s something still off. He knows what it is, but he doesn’t want to.
“I’m coming, Captain! Keep your head on!”
James comes to a stop in front of him. “Hi. What do you need?”
“Please poke Dumo.” A few of the guys chuckle, and this makes Sirius smile. He likes making other people laugh.
“What, and you needed me for that? You couldn't do it yourself?”
Finn walks into the room, then, jersey half on. “Why do it at all? What did poor old Dumo do to you, anyway?”
“Yeah,” Pascal says from where he’s sitting by his locker. “Respect your elders!”
“Elder, you say? Edging on retirement, are you?”
“Tais-toi!”
Glancing over to Remus, Sirius allows the barest flicker of a smile to pass over his face. He gets one in return.
“Alright, everyone get moving,” Coach tells them, opening the door and surveying where they’re all arranged, faces like guilty puppies. “You’re paid to play hockey, not sit on your asses and gossip. Practice starts in five minutes, or you run laps around the outside of the rink. In skates.”
Most of them groan, and Kasey downs a Powerade. “Well, boys, that’s my cue.”
James is the next to go, then Finn, then Logan. Leo and Talker continue their argument—something about George Harrison; Sirius isn’t really listening—out onto the ice, and Adam follows them with Olli and Nado close behind. Dumo winks at Sirius before he goes, too, and then it’s just the two of them.
“What did he do?” Remus asks, after Sirius has laced and relaced his left skate three times. “Dumo, I mean.”
“Nothing much. Just… well, if you must know, he put shaving cream in the fridge, once. Guess what I had on my waffles that morning.”
“Waffles aren’t on your diet plan.”
“It was last year.”
“And you waited until now to get James to poke him?”
He knows Remus can see right through him. He always can. “Never question the methods of a hockey player, Loops.”
He meant it as a joke, but Remus stiffens for some reason, jaw clenching and eyes darting away. There’s an awkward pause before Sirius says, “I’m sorry—”
“Don’t be.”
“Right.” He clears his throat, trying in vain to find something else to say. He would be lying if he said Remus didn’t mean something to him—he knows it. But, after all, knowing something and acknowledging it are two very different things.
Sirius runs the laps.
***
That night, after practice, Remus is about to head for the bus station when Sirius steps in front of him. He’s walking backwards, even with his hockey bag slung over his shoulder, and Remus isn’t ashamed to say he’s a little impressed. (From a purely objective point of view, of course. It has nothing to do with Sirius and everything to do with the skill it would take, hypothetically, to do such a thing.) (He’s not fooling anyone, least of all himself.)
“Want a lift?”
“You don’t even know where I live.”
“Well, we’ll just have to fix that.”
Remus rolls his eyes; he pretends to think about it. “All right,” he says, finally. “On one condition.”
“Which is?”
“I get to choose the music.”
Sirius lets out one loud ‘ha!’ It’s the most beautiful thing Remus has heard in a long time. (That would go well: “Oh, I’ve changed my mind. No need to put on the radio, I’ll be content if you just keep laughing.”) (There’s a reason people like him are off to the side, out of sight, instead of right in the spotlight with a microphone.)
Remus is glad that Sirius waits until he’s parked outside Remus’s apartment building to bring up their earlier conversation. It says something that they say “So, about this evening—” in unison, but Remus isn’t going to think about that.
“You go first,” Sirius tells him, the corner of his mouth lifting ever so slightly. “Please.”
“I suppose,” Remus says, slowly, “That I haven’t quite been honest with you. Any of you. I wasn’t always a PT.”
“Of course not. You’re my age. You can’t have always worked for the Lions—before that you were a teenager. A student.”
Remus shakes his head. “No. Before that I was a player.”
“You played? Why’d you stop?”
“Bad hit,” he says, shrugging. “I’m over it. But I… I know what it’s like. The pressure. The rules. So, if you need someone to talk to… just remember—I know what the game does to a guy. You’re not the only one who’s been told to be something you aren’t by someone who forgets you’re a person off the ice, too.
“See you tomorrow, Cap. Thanks for the ride.”
***
Sirius is probably the one person in history who has managed to burn eggs without even turning the stove on.
“How on earth did that happen?” James asks when Sirius phones him.
“I dropped them into the toaster—hey! Stop laughing! It could happen to anyone!”
“Yes,” he hears from the other end of the line, “But it didn’t. It happened to you.”
It takes exactly two minutes and thirty-seven seconds after hanging up on James for Sirius to decide to call Remus. Cooking failures might not have been quite what Remus meant when he said Sirius could talk to him, but it’s the problem at hand right now.
(Remus laughs just as hard as James, but at least he has the decency to apologize for it afterwards.)
“Well,” he says, once he’s calmed down, “What are you going to eat now?”
“I’m not sure. Cereal?”
“Practice is in two and a half hours. You need more than that.”
“I’ll be—”
“If you end that sentence with ‘fine,’ I’ll take the laces out of your skates and strangle you with them. Do you want me to walk you through, I dunno, a pancake?”
“Sure. What do I need?”
“Flour, butter, eggs, milk…”
Twenty minutes later Sirius is left with milk on his shirt, flour in his hair, butter practically everywhere else, and a microwave that won’t start.
“I think,” he tells Remus, “I should have cereal.”
“You are going to eat a pancake if it’s the last thing I do—”
“Why don’t you just come over here and make it for me, then? I’m sure you’ll have more success.”
He holds his breath for a moment, hoping this wasn’t a step too far, before Remus responds. “Yeah. Sure. I’ll be over in… half an hour?”
“Sounds good.”
Click.
The instant the call is over, Sirius opens the freezer and grabs one of the popsicles he secretly has stashed there. They’re not part of his diet plan, but he needs one. Then he takes a sponge and starts trying to get the butter out of the sole of his shoe.
***
The first thought that crosses Remus’s mind is that Sirius’s tongue is purple from one of the popsicles he thinks no one knows about. If Remus kissed him, he’d probably taste like grapes. (The thought is banished from his mind the moment it enters.)
“So,” he says, surveying the damage. “I am going to teach you how to make a pancake.”
Sirius, it turns out, is infinitely better at following instructions when they’re simple, and the two of them work out a system quickly. Remus makes the pancake, Sirius gets the ingredients. It works.
“That’s salt, not sugar. Try again.”
(Most of the time, at least.)
“Really?” Sirius is squinting at the package. “Why doesn’t it say so?”
“It does. Right there.”
“How am I supposed to read that?”
“You need glasses, Cap.”
“I have glasses. I just never wear them.”
“What?” This is news to Remus. Visions of Sirius with glasses and bed hair are swimming in front of his eyes. “Why?”
A shrug. “I look stupid.”
“I’m pretty sure you’d be drop-dead gorgeous in anything.”
There’s a beat of silence. Remus realizes that, yes, he said that out loud. “I mean, all those fangirls certainly seem to think so.”
“Right. Yeah.” Sirius clears his throat.
“Anyway, pancakes! I think these are almost ready to cook—can you turn on the element?”
“The what now?”
“The element? The coil on the stove?”
“Should’ve just said that in the first place,” Sirius grumbles. “Fucking Americans.”
“Fucking French.”
Suddenly, Remus has a spatula pointed at his nose. He has to cross his eyes to see it properly. “Say that again; I dare you.”
“Fucking French?”
“Awright, that’s it! En garde, bitch!”
And so begins the great whisk-vs-spatula duel of 2020. There is very little batter left once they’re done—in the bowl, at least. Most of it is on their clothes.
They look at each other. “Cereal?”
“...Cereal.”
***
Kasey’s eyes go wide—almost comically so—when they show up to practice together.
“Cap giving rides?” He says, and Sirius isn’t sure what accent he’s trying to fake but he ends up sounding like a scandalized duchess from the movie adaptation of an Austen knockoff. (Maybe that is what he was going for. It’s hard to know, with Kasey.) “I thought the day would never come.”
“Shut up.”
“Make me.”
Remus’s elbow digs into Sirius’s rib cage. “You don’t want to say that. He tried to make me shut up this morning—it’s something I’ll never recover from.”
Sirius almost laughs at the expression Remus makes when he realizes exactly how that sounds.
“He dumped pancake batter down my shirt!”
“You didn’t!” The look on James’s face is aghast. “First the eggs, now this—what will people think?”
Finn looks up from his phone. “Eggs?”
“Sirius here dropped the eggs he was going to eat for breakfast into his—”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
Dumo slings an arm around his shoulders. “The price you must pay for telling James to poke me yesterday. Learn from this, mon fils. Learn.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, old man.”
“Treachery!”
Shrugging him off, Sirius grins. “I am the kitchen monster. Cross me and I will slaughter you in a food war.”
“Try me.” This is Logan speaking; Sirius hadn’t even realized he was there.
“You’ve been warned!”
***
“Look, there are twenty-two hockey players in this arena, and I ain’t one of them,” Moody says, and Remus can’t be sure, but he thinks Sirius looks at him.
***
“You’re favouring your right leg,” Remus comments as soon as Sirius is off the ice. “Want me to take a look?”
“It’s fine, really—”
“I’ll try again. Want me to take a look?”
“Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, Loops.”
“That’s what I thought you said.”
They walk into the PT room in businesslike silence, Sirius hoping all the way that one of them will break it. Neither does, and it isn’t until Remus has taken off both his skates for him, now expertly examining his left ankle, that he realizes what he should say.
“You mentioned you played, last night.”
The finger tracing his Achilles tendon stills. “I did.”
“Were you any good?” He knows, somewhere, that he’s entering forbidden territory. He can’t bring himself to care.
“I’d like to believe so.”
“Be honest.” Sirens are blaring in his head. He keeps going.
“There were rumours…” Remus bites his lip, glances away. “People said I was set for first.”
“What? How come you never said anything? C’mon, you need to play with us sometime, just scrimmage or something—”
“Maybe. That hit…”
“Right. God, I’m sorry, Rem.”
If Remus’s Adam’s apple bobs at the nickname, Sirius doesn’t notice. He certainly doesn’t try his best not to jump to conclusions. (Double negative; that’s a yes, a voice that sounds suspiciously like James’s says in his head. Shut up, he tells it.)
“It’s fine. Really. I just don’t like talking about it. And besides, I like this. Working with the team, even if I can’t be a part of it.”
“You are. A part of the team, I mean. Just as much as I am.”
“Sure.”
There’s another awkward pause before Remus clears his throat. “So, I’m gonna put on some anti-inflammatory gel because it’s a little swollen, but don’t get used to it. I want you to keep doing some stretches, not too much pressure. Capeesh?”
“What the fuck is a capeesh?”
“Just say it.”
“...Capeesh?”
“Awesome.”
Remus leans forward towards him, their foreheads almost touching. Sirius’s breath catches.
It’s over just as suddenly. The tube of extra-strength Voltaren is in Remus’s hand, and Sirius feels stupid for thinking he was going to—
Nope. Not thinking about that.
When he feels tears start to prick at his eyes, he glances up at the fluorescent lights overhead; at least then he’ll have an excuse. There’s a moth resting on one. Its wings flutter once, twice, then go still. Fragile things, moths are—maybe it’s died, maybe it hasn’t. He could read into that, but he won’t.
He jumps when the cool of the gel on Remus’s hands touches his foot. “Hey!” He yelps, looking quickly down.
Sirius hates to succumb to cliches, but he would be lying if he was to say his heart doesn’t still.
Because Remus has pulled the sleeves of his jacket up to his elbows, and his wrist is turned to the sky—to Sirius, who has seen that mark before somewhere.
Somewhere. He’s kidding himself. He’s seen it every day whenever he bothers to look at his own soulmark, and he’s seeing it again now.
“You know what, I’m fine,” he blurts out, shaking his ankle out of Remus’s grasp. “Thanks, though. See you later, Loops.”
***
Remus stays there for a second, watching Sirius leave. He doesn’t know what he did wrong, and he’s not sure he wants to.
When he gets up to leave, tossing the container towards the first aid kit on the bench and allowing himself a small smile when it lands perfectly inside, blood rushes to his head. He closes his eyes, waiting for the dizziness to pass.
And then he crashes into Finn.
“Whoa, sorry,” Remus says, stumbling backwards.
“Nah, don’t stress it. There’s just something I want you to check on.”
Remus is hit by a sense of deja vu. He wonders if Finn, too, is going to leave without explanation. He follows him back into the PT room, Finn gesturing for him to lock the door.
Though he may be the shorter of the two, Remus knows it’s his job to be the bigger person. “What was it you wanted to talk about?”
Finn waits another moment before yanking one sleeve up to reveal three paw prints, each no bigger than a thumbnail, clustered together—one forest green, one golden, and one a deep navy blue.
“Your soulmark.” Remus doesn’t understand. “What? Is something wrong?”
“There’s three of them,” Finn says. “Which means there’s three of us.”
“You have two soulmates?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s fine, Finn. It may not be common, but it’s not unheard of. You don’t have anything to be ashamed of.”
“It’s not that. It’s… hey, you can’t tell anyone this, okay?”
“I know. Doctor-patient confidentiality, remember?”
“Right.” Finn takes a breath, squeezing his eyes closed. “What if I told you I know who they are? Or I think I do?”
“Hypothetically?”
“Hypothetically.”
“Well, I’d ask you if they knew.”
“And I’d say I don’t think so. One of them’s pretty stubborn—wouldn’t see love if it stood up on the ice and sang the national anthem—and the other isn’t nineteen yet, so he doesn’t—I mean wouldn’t—have his mark yet.”
“His?”
Finn’s eyes widen. There is a pause before he nods, slowly. “Yeah. Got a problem?”
“Trust me, I’m the last person on earth who’d have a problem with something like that. Hypothetically.”
This, at least, earns Remus a smile. “Are you…?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool.” Another pause. “What if I told you, still hypothetically, that they were both on the team?”
“Then I’d say get the fuck out of here and win them over before they start thinking you’ve forgotten about them.”
Finn, smiling ear to ear, starts to leave. “Wait,” he says, hand on the doorknob. “You said you were…”
“Gay.”
“Yeah. Do—do you know who your soulmate is?”
Remus opens his mouth to say ‘no.’ He really does. But what comes out—when he takes into account the look of recognition on Sirius’s face when Remus had his sleeves rolled up; the understanding that had passed between them outside Remus’s building (god, that was just last night); the way they’ve always just clicked—is most certainly not ‘no.’
“Oh, fuck, I think I do,” he says, and he and Finn run out into the hallway together.
Sirius’s car is pulling out of the parking lot when Remus arrives, out of breath, at the front doors of the arena.
“I don’t know why he’s in such a hurry.” Remus jumps. He hadn’t heard James come to stand beside him. “Just packed up his gear at the speed of light and left. Didn’t even shower; he said he’d do it at home.”
So Sirius had been so appalled—disgusted, even—at Remus being his soulmate that he’d left without explanation, with barely even a goodbye. There was a pleasant thought.
He turns so his back is against the door, sliding slowly down to sit on the floor.
“Y’know,” James says, sitting next to him, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you needed a hug.”
There’s a moment of comfortable silence before Remus says, “James?”
“Yeah?”
“I need a hug.”
James gives the best hugs. Everyone says so. But until now, Remus has never been on the receiving end of a true James Potter hug—warm, strong, and friendly as hell. (“I want that on a t-shirt,” James says when Remus tells him so.)
But eventually, James has to go, too, and Remus heads back to the PT room. He passes Logan in the hall, looking like he’s been hit over the head with a two-by-four. Maybe it’s Finn’s doing; he had mentioned that one of them was oblivious. Logan, Remus knows, is the definition of oblivious.
***
“And I think that’s all,” Coach Weasley says, glancing around, “Unless anyone else has something to say? Moody? Cap? Loops?”
“Actually, yes,” says Remus after a moment. “Checkups! Not naming names but Kris lied about his rib acting up so now all of you get to be interrogated.”
Sirius swallows. He’s not anxious to be alone with Remus; not after yesterday. There’s no way there aren’t going to be questions.
Kasey goes first, Remus taking just under five minutes to deem him ‘good to go.’ Kris, surprisingly, is only kept for eight, despite the claim of his ribs acting up again. Finn takes the longest—fifteen minutes—and as soon as he’s out he grabs Logan and Leo by the wrists and marches them off somewhere. Sirius’s turn comes last, right after Pascal’s, who gives him a knowing look as he enters.
“Hi,” Remus says, first aid kit nowhere in sight. “Sit down.”
“Where?” Sirius gets only a shrug in response.
He hesitates a moment, then sits on the floor, picking at the sole of his sneaker.
“How are you feeling?” Remus asks suddenly.
“Fine. Ankle’s not bothering me any more.”
“No, I mean how are you feeling?”
Scoffing, he starts to stand up. “I’m not doing this.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Sirius Black, sit your ass back down before I make you.”
Sirius sits his ass back down.
“Good. Now, how are you feeling?”
“I’m… confused,” he says, trying to be honest without being specific. “And nervous. And I cried myself to sleep last night, which I haven’t done since I was like seventeen, so there’s that. But mostly I’m just really fucking mad.”
“At me.” It isn’t a question.
“No, not at you! At me! At the—” he gestures wildly. “—Universe, or whatever. Can I go now?”
Remus doesn’t even acknowledge his request. “So you’re disappointed.”
“...Yeah.”
“May I ask why?”
“I’m pretty sure you fucking know why.”
“Maybe I do. But I’d like you to explain it to me.”
The stupid thing is that Sirius wants to talk about it. He really does. And Remus is the only person he can conceivably talk about it to. But he still chokes on his words when he says, anger burning his throat, “It was never supposed to be like this.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Sirius practically screams. “Stop trying to fucking— psychoalalyze me or something, for fuck’s sake. You fucking asked, and I—” He tears his fingers through his hair, feeling his chest start to constrict. “Just stop talking!”
The echoes of his shouts fade out too quickly, and the only thing worse than the voices is the sound of his breathing getting faster and faster. Remus’s hand twitches, as though he wants to touch him but thinks better of it.
“It was always supposed to be someone different. Someone faceless; nameless. Someone I could run away from. I can’t fucking run away from you, Remus.
“I always thought I could lie. That I could—pretend, or something. Just keep hiding. It was supposed to be someone I could hide from, because I’ve spent my whole life fucking hiding and that’s all I know how to do. It was never supposed to be someone I could fall in love with.”
There’s a choked noise from where Remus is sitting on the bench, but nothing else. Sirius refuses to look at him.
“And I just—I just fucking hate this, because all I’ve been told is that hockey comes before my dreams. And that’s made sense until now because until now hockey was my dream, but now there’s you. Yeah.”
Remus, to his credit, waits until Sirius’s breathing has calmed down and he’s furiously wiped the tears from his eyes to speak. “What do you need?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean forget everything. Forget your family, forget the team, forget me—what do you need?
“Right now? For the rest of my life? Because those are two very different things.”
“Let’s start with now. Can I do anything for you? Can you do anything for yourself?”
“I need a hot chocolate.”
***
They wait until everyone else has gone, and then make their way outside to Sirius’s car. There’s only one other in the parking lot—a grey Toyota Remus thinks belongs to Nado, or maybe Kris. He’s not sure why he thinks it matters, because it doesn’t.
Silence hangs around them the whole four blocks to the nearest Tim Horton’s. Inhale; exhale. Inhale; exhale. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
That doesn’t stop Remus from hoping.
He knows it’s wrong; of course he does. It’s Sirius’s choice, in the end, because Sirius is the one who will be most affected. His career, his life—all on the line if he decides to trust whatever plan the world has in store for them. It’s not like that for Remus. Not anymore.
There’s a parking spot right outside the front door. Sirius pulls into it, but he doesn’t get out right away. He glances around, makes sure there’s no one immediately in sight, and then he looks down to where his hands now rest in in his lap. Slowly, he pulls up his right sleeve to expose, bit by bit, his soulmark.
“I don’t know why I never guessed it could be you—Wolfy McWolf Wolf.”
Remus feels his lips twitch upwards into something resembling a smile. “I could say the same, Dog Black.”
When he puts his hand on the console, Sirius rests his on top of it. It’s not much.
But it’s something.
***
Sirius looks longingly at the Boston cream doughnuts. “Please. I haven’t had one in so long.”
“Think again, Mr. I’m-on-a-diet-plan.”
He’s not surprised. What was he thinking, having his PT as his soulmate? (Well, he wasn’t. He didn’t get to choose. But, he thinks to himself, the point still stands.)
“I’ll have a medium hot chocolate, please, a plain toasted bagel,” Remus looks at him and sighs. “...And a Boston cream doughnut.”
When the food is set down on the pickup counter, Remus snatches it before Sirius has a chance to. “Hey, this is my doughnut.”
Sirius pouts.
“You’re cute. Here.” He tosses him the brown paper bag, and Sirius removes his prize carefully. He‘s going to eat every piece of chocolate glazing if it kills him.
Back out in the car—this is a conversation neither of them is willing to have in the public dining area—Remus chews on his bagel thoughtfully. Sirius tries and fails not to swear when his hot chocolate burns his tongue.
“Shit!”
Remus glances over at him. Their eyes meet for a moment, then both look away. “So,” Sirius says after a while. “I think we need to talk.”
“Yeah.”
Silence, then—
“You go first,” they say at the same time, and laugh. Some of the tension is broken.
Sirius reaches hesitantly to where Remus’s arm rests between the seats. He doesn’t need to voice his question—Remus sees it in his eyes; nods.
Up close, he can see that there are a few differences between their marks. Nothing that could possibly mean they aren’t soulmates—just the discolouring on the dog’s tail; the angle of one of the sticks; the faded white gash that stretches from one side of Remus’s wrist to the other, separating the wolf’s head from its body. Sirius doesn’t quite know what he’s doing when he presses his lips to the scar.
When he looks up, he sees that Remus is trying not to cry. And that’s when he makes his decision.
“I want this,” he says, voice soft but sure. “All of it.”
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BOAWS Top Records of 2019
20 – Control Top – Covert Contracts (Get Better)
Sometimes you sit around and you try and think about what makes an album good or why you like it as much as you do and it's not entirely easy to narrow it down to one or two things. Usually there are some distinctive parts or sounds that strike me, but occasionally there are albums like Covert Contracts that bring together a number influences and pull them off quite nicely...and it just simply rips. I guess the three years between their debut EP and this first full-length were well spent refining whatever they were ingesting musically at the time, as what came out is a wild blast of post-punk that spans decades worth of sounds/eras that all fit along snugly next to one another on Convert Contracts. Is it going to reinvent the genre? Absolutely not. But is it kind of dance-able while also trying to smoothly hide that black eyeliner? Yup. It sure is. But it's also really good at doing it too.
Control Top - Unapologetic (stream)
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19 – Spotlights – Love & Decay (Ipecac)
Spotlights ride the fine line between post-metal and shoegaze, which I'm usually a little weary of because boy oh boy is there a lot of those bands and all those big riffs generally amount to a big old snoozefest. However, Spotlights caught my attention awhile back when their named popped up when playing alongside Hum on one of their many sporadic appearances. Turns out Spotlights weren't too shabby and their album Seismic was a bit of a winner too. They've since released their second album for Ipecac records and it takes the balance between the two aforementioned genres and toes that line even further. Love & Decay tweaks things a bit closer to the metal side of things, but still with some Midwestern flair and creativity in the realm of melody and definitely has the layers to appeal to the shoegaze crowd.
Spotlights - Xerox (stream)
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18 – Spit-Take – Falling Star (Dead Broke)
Spit-Take have been scattered around these pages plenty of times before, usually good for churning out two or three songs per release that make me appreciate them all that much more. Falling Star would mark their third full-length effort and it's about as consistent of a record that I've heard them release that sees them navigate though a pleasant balance of classic indie-rock/power-pop vibes while also throwing out some very Midwestern-ish clanky emo run throughs (“How”), which is usually always a good way to work your way into my memory. Short and sweet and available on both cassette and LP.
Spit-Take - How (stream)
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17 – VR Sex – Human Traffic Jam (Dais)
This is basically an alter ego of Andrew Clinco of Drab Majesty, wherein he typically goes by the alias of Deb Demure...here he opts for Noel Skum. I'm taking a guess that it's supposed to reflect the shift into a grimier/noisier side of the dreamy landscape that Drab Majesty typically inhabits. VR Sex contain much of the same undertones of something that Mr. Clinco would be associated with, remaining vastly catchy and rhythmic but now the game is a disassociated future where technology has apparently ruined society and now it gets darker, louder, and muddled in filth. Skum indeed. I'm not so sure the message is as conveyed as the presser would like one to believe, but I enjoy the tunes from a standpoint that it sounds like a slightly more modern Sisters of Mercy, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry or something along those lines. Not bad. I guess Human Traffic Jam will gain another level of appreciation years from now if it ends up hitting the nail on the head and we do in fact find ourselves in some type of Black Mirror episode.
VR Sex - Sacred Limousine (stream)
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16 – Cave In – Final Transmission (Hydrahead)
The trajectory for Cave In over the years has been one of the more interesting ones. Once a premier metalcore/hardcore band, they pulled the rug out from just about everyone and released their second album Jupiter, which sounded nearly like a different band...showcasing big hooks, melodies, and definitely a large infatuation with space-rock themes. I naturally loved it and was actually kind of excited for some reason when I saw that they had landed on a major label for their third album Antenna. Sadly it didn't go as planned and it was pretty much over after that album came and went without moving the needle a whole lot. Fast forward a handful of years following major label disappointment, the band suffers the tragic loss of bassist Caleb Scofield. The band had been in the process of recording/demoing for their first album in 8 years up until the point of his death and the recordings on Final Transmission are a collection of those. Andrew Schneider and James Plotkin did a nice job in smoothing out some of the rougher edges around what were mostly unfinished recordings, cause honestly I can't really tell in most places and the songs stand on their own for the most part. Final Transmission is, or likely would have been, an album that plants itself right in between Jupiter and Antenna, circling back to some of the spacey atmosphere and guitar tones that fed greatly into both of those albums sound. Possibly the album they would have made if RCA hadn't come knocking? Although it's unknown to me whether this is an actual final statement for the band, if it does indeed end up being that, it's a good'n.
Cave In - Night Crawler (stream)
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15 – The Bismarck – We Will Never Be Young Again (Self-Released)
The Bismarck have been around long enough to still have an actual website that hasn't been updated in years. As someone who still pays yearly hosting costs for some dumb reason and haven't quite convinced myself not to anymore, I guess I get it...but I know that's gotta be costly. The band is firmly in the PRF rock stable of bands, so that right there should give most of you an idea of what The Bismarck bring to the table. Over a run of what I think is five albums now, We Will Never Be Young Again seems to be an album that wants to prove defiant of its title, coming with full fire and energy and holy shit...anthems? Yeah. A song title like “Fuck You, Let's Boogie” certainly seems like something you could easily write off, but ends up being a bona fide gem of a tune. Solid album all the away around and if it ends up being to your liking, they have a rather deep catalog to pull from if curiosity strikes.
The Bismarck - Fuck You, Let's Boogie (stream)
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14 – Crumb – Jinx (Self-Released)
First album for the Brooklyn based Crumb and I'd thought I'd heard an EP or something before this, but upon further research, it would appear I hadn't. This introduction is fine enough anyway, wherein they combine that niche of slacker ethos that worked its way through a number of indie bands in the 90's and spin it with a chilled loungy/psych thing. Maybe a tinge of jazz influence here and there, but more or less it sticks to the poppy psych side of it all, leaving for a very breezy and smooth 28 minutes of music. The ambiance, or I guess mood, of Jinx is pretty heavy throughout, likely forcing the album to be something that is relegated to particular times of which it strikes just right, however when it does...it certainly works.
Crumb - The Letter (stream)
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13 – Razorlegs – Skip Skool (Self-Released)
Latest cassette from this improvisational noise/psych outfit, each side consisting of its own roughly 18 minute long descent into fuzz, pummel and blown amps. Side one is “Transistor Love” and gets things going with a rapid paced drum explosion that contends to outpace the entirety of the track, leaving me seemingly off balance for the duration. There are faint voices coming and going as the track progresses into its squalls of feedback and I'm left to envision that this is to mimic the joys of still using the radio dial (FM mute OFF...no cheaters) and then it promptly ends...picking back up with another steady drum beat that steers pretty much the rest of the track from one critical guitar injury to another. Flip the tape, you have “Skip Skool” and we're off with a death march of drums and the sputtering flare ups of distortion before turning into a full fledged burnt out psych mantra, sounding like it's trying to rip and tear its way off the tape that it was laid on to.
Razorlegs - Transistor Love (stream)
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12 – Breastmilk – Bliss (Chicago Research)
Chicago Research put out a variety of things this past year that I thought were all very solid in their own uniquely bleak and disturbing way, however Breastmilk kind of wins out of for things to play in the background if you genuinely want someone to be creeped out while being in your house. An interesting take on downtempo, that reaches its grimy fingers into the same head spaces of Throbbing Gristle, Nurse With Wound or the likes. An ebb and flowing bass churn scrapes along for 18 minutes of whatever hellscape this may be, the opener “Transient” using a ring-back tone to voicemail sample to unnerving ability. Not to mention a woman sobbing to the background of glass shattering and various other noises on “Jesus Piece”. Breastmilk provides the soundtrack for the horror, however part of the fun of Bliss is the open ended scenarios of whom and what it's playing for...
Breastmilk - Transient (stream)
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11 – HTRK – Venus in Leo (Ghostly International)
It sure doesn't feel like it's been roughly five years since HTRK released the excellent Psychic 9-5 Club, but that's the case. Following the death of co-founding member Sean Stewart, HTRK continued forward as a duo and have seen their sound venture further into the electronic world; relinquishing the heavy low end found on early recordings while cold pulses of bass and synth have since flooded over. Remaining consistent has been Jonnine Standish's vocal presence throughout, one that dictates the miscues, misery and loneliness in hushed breathy swoops. On their fourth effort, Venus in Leo, Standish and guitarist Nigel Yang return to the same nighttime introspection of regret, however with Yang's shimmering guitars coming back into play more so than we've heard in quite a while...fading in and out of the background. I kind of miss the heavy minimalism, almost deep-house vibe, that Psychic 9-5 Club had...but melancholy plays out in many different ways...and Venus in Leo seems to be the way HTRK wanted to tackle it this time. No matter, it's still immensely enjoyable.
HTRK - Dream Symbol (stream)
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10 – Jessica Pratt – Quiet Signs (Drag City)
Funny note, Quiet Signs was one of the first albums of 2019 that I really liked and accordingly I included one of the tunes from it on that respective months mix. My now fiance listened to it and then sent me a picture of the name of the song that was on and simply said “hate this”. Noted. It's OK though, we still love each other. How could you hate something as serene as Quiet Signs? Anyway, Jessica Pratt has been honing in her sound for several years now and took the plunge with her third album to record in a proper studio, which resulted in an album that sounds really far removed from being recorded in a proper studio oddly enough. The sparseness in instrumentation and the dreamlike echoes of Pratt's voice feel like both are in the same room with you, but still somehow a million miles away...or if that I'm not careful enough the whole thing will disappear entirely. It's the indescribable feeling of distance and brief lapses of clarity that make Quiet Signs so beautiful sounding. It comes and goes all too quick however, so I'll be anxiously awaiting the next appearance from Jessica Pratt.
Jessica Pratt - This Time Around (stream)
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09 – Notches – New Kind of Love (Dead Broke / Salinas)
Was blown away by Notches and their debut record High Speed Crimes around three or so years ago. It was pretty much everything I could ask for in a pop/punk record, bringing plenty of fuzz/distortion and a heaping fuck ton of melody. While New Kind of Love doesn't necessarily register on that same scale with me, it's still a fantastic record from a band that continues to peel off some of the catchiest material within the genre. It being the bands third album and all, it's kind of fun noticing them “growing older” of sorts and moving away from the turned up to “11” mindset. It's about the song now man, I mean it's always been I'm sure, but now it's no longer buried underneath a sheet of distortion. Can't blame them. I entered my listening to public talk radio in the car phase of my life here not too long. Totally feel ya. Give these guys a listen please.
Notches - Funny How (stream)
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08 – Dry Cleaning – Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks (It's OK)
From the opener “Dog Proposal” Dry Cleaning establishes very quickly that Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks is exhausting. I don't mean that in the negative sense either. The second EP from the UK based post-punk group is merely informing all of you out there that life is just extra fucking exhausting. Because it most certainly is. Singer Florence Shaw takes the six songs on this EP and crams so much of our current day-to-day nonsense in it that I'm basically getting an anxiety attack listening to this sucker. However, the honesty is appreciated and the contradicting jauntiness of some of these tunes is an excellent way to remind that no matter how tired I am that everything else is going to keep rolling as it always has. While there are much bigger issues at hand that Dry Cleaning tackle throughout, it's the debilitation of everything as a whole that Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks really conveys the most. After two excellent samplings from the band, it's pretty terrifying to think of the destruction on my nerves that they could cause with a full-length. Time will hopefully tell.
Dry Cleaning - Viking Hair (stream)
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07 – Kim Gordon – No Home Record (Matador)
It had never really occurred to me that Kim Gordon had never released a solo album up until this point of her lengthy career. I was kind of blown away by that to be honest. I guess it's just that Thurston Moore seems to fart one out here and there, so I'd assumed Gordon had done the same. However, as it stands, No Home Record is Kim Gordon's first solo effort and completely took me by surprise. Maybe I'd expected it to sound much like her material in Body/Head? I don't know. Or for it to be closer threaded to Sonic Youth? That's unfair, I know, but it is what it is. The good deal is that No Home Record is completely left field of about anything I expected; that takes equal parts no-wave and drags it through the glitch/industrial minefield. Gordon's voice fits right in with it all, adding to the instability and jarring nature of practically everything on this record. I'd never thought I would have wished for a Kim Gordon experimental electronica record, but it's 2020 baby and things are apparently really fucking different now. Fantastic stuff.
Kim Gordon - Don't Play It (stream)
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06 – Joshua Abrams Natural Information Society – Mandatory Reality (Eremite)
I somehow wish I could have this album playing practically the entire time I'm at work (it's almost long enough), but unfortunately my boss sits perched only a mere few feet away from me to ensure that maximum stress is achieved. Joshua Abrams and the NIC have created an absolutely astonishing collection of work on Mandatory Reality that is likely easier to zone out to than to deliberately ignore. You'll want to, because wherever Mandatory Reality exists, the grass is most certainly greener and I'm frantically waving my ticket to hop aboard whatever space-age craft is going to take me there at any given time. But really more to the actual music, Joshua Abrams and the NIC have laid out 4 slow moving, borderline minimalist, pieces of avant-garde jazz that sooth and calm the bludgeoning attempts of our actual mandatory reality sometimes. It's pretty brilliant and perfectly recorded/captured by Greg Norman. Played on a proper stereo, it's a variety of nuanced sound that demands repeated listens simply on that alone.
Joshua Abrams Natural Information Society - Shadow Conductor (stream)
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05 – 55 Deltic – You Could Own an American Home (Kingfisher Bluez / Strictly No Capital Letters / Barely Regal)
I love the title of this record so much, because here sometime in the next year we're going to have to start looking for a house and having been through this rodeo once before...I know how utterly dreary that's going to be. The only fun part about it right now, is the non serious part where I'm just cruising Zillow listings at work and seeing the inside of all these cool houses I can't afford. And what better of an idea to center an emo/slowcore record around? In actuality I'm pretty positive that's not what 55 Deltic are even remotely channeling here, but I would imagine there is a definite longing/nostalgia for a time when working towards a successful future was something not increasingly hard to obtain. The songs on You Could Own an American Home weigh heavily through a slow but sturdy pace, that lines up well with bands like Bedhead or Codeine, who both seemed to pull at a lot of the same strings that 55 Deltic are equally bummed out about no longer being commonplace in society. Really enjoyed this one, as it touches upon a lot of the aspects I like about the genre and isn't afraid of getting a little raucous here and there.
55 Deltic - Tangen (stream)
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04 – Cherubs – Immaculada High (Relapse)
I guess the rumor of Cherubs signing to Relapse finally came true...albeit for their second album, fourth overall. Not sure why that took so long, but whatever...here we are...Cherubs consuming roster space on the same label that I remember receiving some pretty wild catalogs from years and years ago and lots and lots of pretty bad cover art. Or really good cover art if you were into grindcore. Either way. I guess it makes sense, Cherubs were, and are, fairly extreme in the realms of the noise-rock world, being a band that released one of the true classics in Heroin Man. When they got back together, there was a level of fear that the burden of having to follow that sucker up would be a bit hard to do, but 2 Ynfynyty wiped away any concern of that as I foolishly had mistaken the band as a group of people that would even remotely worry about something like that. The album ended up being nothing short of amazing and sounded like a band that had a little regard as to what they “should” sound like and just made a record that they wanted to. They returned this past year with Immaculada High and did exactly the same thing, producing a record that isn't simply a repeat and pushes their sonic explorations of marrying noise/melody even further into the grandiose murkiness. At this point, I'm calling it good. I mean, this is two more Cherubs albums than I ever thought I would get already, so I'm not really willing to push my luck here. However, if more is to come...then I'm here for it.
Cherubs - Full Regalia (stream)
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03 – Clear Gash – Replenish (Iniquity)
Knew nothing of Clear Gash when listening to Replenish and still know nothing about Clear Gash. They are from Germany and apparently have a very sparse web presence other than releasing this album on Iniquity Records, which have graciously provided it on their Bandcamp site or in the form of a....CD? Beggars can't be choosers I guess and at least Replenish got out there one way or another. Clear Gash are a bit of an oddity in this day and age, as there just aren't too many people out there really trying to bring murky moodiness of grunge back to the forefront, however that's not too far from what they are attempting on their debut (I'm assuming?) album. It's fuzzy, down tuned and pretty filthy sounding stuff. The interesting part is that they are taking the tone/sound and partially playing it like slowed down hardcore. Odd, but it jams sure enough. The production almost lends a bit of a raw Born Annoying/Strap it On era feel, which is definitely appealing to me. Replenish rips and is a distorted mess of riffage that has sorely gone missing in the past couple or so years for some reason or another.
Clear Gash - Ode to Discrepency (stream)
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02 – USA/Mexico – Matamoros (12XU / Riot Season)
Considering the players involved that make up USA/Mexico, I would be really really bummed/surprised if they managed to put out a record that was crap. It just doesn't seem possible when bringing together members of Butthole Surfers, Shit & Shine and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth...three very very fine purveyors of completely fried and distinctive noise-rock. So, it's relatively safe to say that Matamoros falls within that same realm of noise and dives deep into the red at the drop of the needle with the title track opener and spots some extra guitar ugliness from Spray Paint member George Dishner, which seems ridiculous that an extra amount of mangled feedback would seem necessary...but listening to Matamoros one gets the sense these fellas operate in a world unbeknownst of limitations. This then segues right into a grossly heavy cover of Cherubs' “Shoofly” with guest vocals by Mr. Kevin Whitley himself. Even he can't really crawl above the heaping amounts of distortion that USA/Mexico uncompromisingly continue to pour on, as his voice is repeatedly swallowed up by the mass. Matamoros carries on much in the same manner for it's duration. “Vaporwave Headache” cranks up the RPM's some and rips through two and a half of minutes of chugging maxed feedback and alien vocals as a possible representation of a vapor wave song if it were dubbed over on the same cassette roughly 400 times and then played at five times the speed. In the end, Matamoros greatly out performs the bands debut Laredo and is essentially the exact product of which could be expected through this collaboration of sorts. Well worth the risk of potential hearing loss.
USA/Mexico - Matamoros (stream)
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01 – Possible Humans – Everybody Split (Hobbies Galore / Trouble in Mind)
Yeah, this is my kind of thing. I'll never shy away from bands that want to continue hoisting that Homestead/Flying Nun flag and pumping out those type of jams. Possible Humans have apparently been lurking around Melbourne for a handful of years now, playing shows...etc. However, just towards the beginning of last year put out their first full-length through Hobbies Galore and it's been nice to see it gain some traction over the past few months. Enough so that Trouble in Mind picked up the record after the initial pressing of 200 sold out lightning quick. I got hooked after hearing the sprawling psych flavored “Born Stoned”, which despite being eleven minutes long it makes good on every single second of it, masterfully combining the Homestead or Athens sound with something that could have been an absolutely smoking Blue Oyster Cult deep cut. It quite simply rules and will undoubtedly be the best track I hear for a very long time. Definitely not trying to sell the rest of the album short, because Everybody Split is front to back a fantastic listen and piece of work that encapsulates a general feel/sound so well. If you haven't heard it yet, please make this one a priority.
Possible Humans - Born Stoned (stream)
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Chapter 1- New Life, new me
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl. She was the only daughter and the youngest of the royal family. Everyone knew who she was, she was a cheerful girl as bright as sunshine. Everyone remembered her as the girl with eyes, one green and another blue. Her silver and golden smooth hair were extraordinary.
The kingdom, Zeleria is a very peaceful country, with no problems with trading and investments with other countries. The royal family was loved by many people as the king who is the sun king, brought faith and hope to the kingdom and the queen who is the moon queen, lead the kingdom with the king with wisdom and tranquility.
As much as the royal family is loved, there are a few rebellions in the kingdoms. Those who rebel thinks that the sun and moon cannot be together as both are from different worlds. One night, The kingdom was under attacked. The king told the guards to protect the princess, but then, she vanished. Up till now, the guards couldn’t find her. In order for the people of Zeleria remember the princess who smiles with light and beauty that shines like the moon, the king placed a glass statue of his daughter, in every town.
Sun is shining brightly, as the breeze blows through the buildings. It’s the start of school which means that spring is coming. The chilly wind passes the cheeks of arethea.
Arethea: (running) huff puff
Arethea: I’m going to be late!!!!
(gate is closing)
Student leaders: hurry!!
arethea : (dashed)
Arethea: phew made it...
Arethea: oops! (bumped to Olivia)
Arethea: oh my! Are you okay??
The person arethea bumped is someone that she should not mess with. The arrogant, egoistic student whose hair is slick black, sun-kissed skin, with agate black shade eyes, was hit, turned around to face arethea and flared at her prey.
Olivia grabbed Arethea by her collar.
Olivia: how dare you hit the one and only glamourous Olivia??
Olivia looked down at her clothes and saw something that displeased her.O
Olivia: look at my skirt, it’s torn!! Now, they looked like rags!! You better pay for this!
Nixa: well at least, it didn’t cut your face.
Olivia seemed shocked and stunned when arethea talked back to her.
Olivia screamed at arethea, who didn’t know her place.
No one dared to make a sound or try to interfere. Footsteps are heard, and the crowd suddenly screamed. The reason for the sudden noise is the sudden approach of a 155 centimeters tall girl and a 182 centimeters tall boy walked side by side.
Kran: well what’s the ruckus is about?
Nixa: hmm.. Predator trying to get a grip of her prey and it seems like the armor of the predator is broken.
Olivia: look here! my clothes are ruined…
Nixa: well I think that is not such a big issue here.
Kran: rich kids...
Olivia: you guys are rich too!!!
kran: anyway, there is no need for a huge commotion, go now people..
(crowd disperse)
Arethea: I better get going as well...
Arethea greeted herself at the staffroom, and the teacher leads her to the respective classroom she will be in. the teacher told Arethea to wait outside of the classroom as he would introduce her to come in the classroom.
Mr. Eric: Well it is nice to see you once again, school starts mean that studying must go on. Things would be tougher this year, you will face new encounters and we have a newcomer who is joining our class. Please come in!
Arethea enters the room and everyone was excited. The boys were excited that there is a new girl joining in the class and the girls were happy to make a new friend. The teacher silenced the class and told them to leave burning questions for later.
Mr. Eric: It’s already half of the year and many of the topics are already taught so if you have a problem, especially in studies, you can approach me anytime! Now, you would seat near the window, the second last seat from the back.
The bell rang, it was in a bird whistle, chirpy and very cheerful notes rang all about the whole school.
Mr. Eric: idols? Time for you to get going.
Leo: Yeah… see you guys later.
Arethea’s mind: idols?
Students: girls(screaming), boys (i hope it would be a girl this time)
Teachers: and guys! I need all of you In two roles to go to the assembly hall now!!
Students: (shriek) yes sir!!
In the assembly hall, everyone was already very excited. Arethea was wondering what the assembly was about.
Arethea: idols? This school has a system of idols?
A old man, dressed with class walked up to the stage with his golden walking stick, greeted the school
principal: greetings my dear students!!
The whole school greeted him unanimously.
Principal: now i know what are you guys anxious for, who will be the next school flower idol?
I know that you are all excited but first, idols?
The back door of the hall opened and light flashes towards the three people. Arethea recognised the two people which are 5.1 foot tall girl and a 6 feet tall boy, but there seems to be another which is 5.8 feet tall. The three idols walked up to the stage and bowed to the audience.
The whole school cheered and screamed at their arrival. The spotlight shined at them, making them very classy and very beautiful.
Principal: hush now.. May we present the represented flowers to the flower idols?
Different flower crowns are presented to each of the idols respectively. The flowers seemed like they are glowing which makes them more sparkling. The principal introduces them, name and the flower they represent as.
Principal: nixa, idol of positivity, dandelion.
Kran, idol of bravery and pride, yellow tulip.
Leo, idol of wisdom, iris.
And now, the new idol, arethea
Arethea: me?(walks out)
Principal: Arethea, the idol of encouragement, the flower of heather.
The student whispered and clapped as arethea walked up to the stage awkwardly. The principal placed the flower crown on arethea’s head and arethea stands beside Nixa.
Arethea whispered: erm.. Why are the audience whispering?
Nixa whispered back: well it’s because of you are the idol of encouragement. Your flower crown, has both lavender and white heather, lavender heather means admirations and white heather means protection. It is one of the rarest title of an idol and no one can achieve it easily.
Kran: I hope to work well with you!!
Arethea: ah you too…
Arethea’s mind: such prestigious title..
Suddenly, a female student stands up and flared up her complaints. It was the girl who arethea accidently tore her skirt.
Olivia: she??!! The one who just transferred yesterday?? Just because she has a pleasant face, what makes her an idol?? She should not be the one to be the new idol!! I can be!
Olivia was about to come out to stage. Leo picked up the mic and was about to calm her down.
Leo: Olivia..woah!
Leo was about to trip before he could finish his sentence. Arethea managed to grab a hold of his hand
Leo suddenly saw a white-haired, blue and green eyes girl reaching out her hand, trying to save him. What was in front of his was the girl with black hair, and black eyes, Arethea.
Arethea: are you okay??
Leo nods and blanked out for a moment.
Arethea snatches the mic: your name is olivia right? I do not know why i was selected as an idol or given such a prestigious role either. I know I have just transferred yesterday, but can I give it a try? (charmed the school) I might not be perfect but at least I can try.. Please give me this chance! (bows to the school)
The school appluad and screamed out loud, saying: “yes!”, “you can do it!!” etc.
The idols seemed shocked when arethea snatched leo’s mic then, but no one seems as surprised as olivia. Olivia sits down and sulks.
The assembly was over and students are dismissed back to class to begin their lessons.
The first lesson was math. During the lesson, arethea was distracted.
arethea thoughts: me? A school idol? an idol of encouragement?
Nixa turns around: I never thought that there would be someone who would make olivia keep quiet.
Kran: me too!
Leo tapped arethea’s shoulder, and blushes a little: thanks.. For just now..
Arethea: no problem?
Nixa and kran whispers to each other: woah woah.. Leo gets embarassed.. How long didn’t we see that?
Teacher: okay.. Now a pop quiz!
Everyone whined unanimously, the teacher ignored their whines.
Teacher: Question 1...
(After the quiz)
Nixa: man, that was difficult...
Kran chuckled: It’s always difficult for you
Nixa: well do you think you can defeat our king again?
Arethea: king?
Nixa: look at the time! The queue will be long, hurry! I’ll explain later.
It was recess and many students rushed to the cafeteria. The three of the idols, arethea, kran, and Nixa rushed to get their food
Nixa: phew! We are lucky!
The three idols sit together on the bench and gulped down their food.
Arethea: continuing from just now, who is the “king” that you said about defeating?
Kran: that would be him, (points at Leo)
leo: were you guys talking about me?
Arethea: so you are the king? King of?
kran: king of the smarts.
Nixa talks while counting her fingers: well he is king in other factors as well. Everyone calls him the king of looks as well. He is like the prince in this school.
girls from the same class, walked past and screamed: the iris king!! Yellow tulip prince and dandelion fairy!!
Arethea: well looks like you guys are really idols.
Nixa: trust me, you will be too!
After recess, the students continued their day with more studying. The school was different for arethea as this school that she goes to has an idol system which was different from many schools she went. School ended and everyone leaves the school. Arethea said goodbye to her friends as she needs to go home quickly to help her dad.
Arethea reached home during the evening.
Arethea: I’m home!
After eating dinner, she helped her dad, Adam to move a few things around the house and a shower, arethea lied on her bed. Arethea sighed.
Arethea: ahh..home, first day of school is over and there is no homework….
Arethea stared at her necklace that she always wears it since her childhood. It sparkles with the silver and golden rings over each other, centering a gem that has both emerald and deep blue sapphire . arethea closed her eyes for a while. 10 minutes later, arethea saw a moon and sun painting on a ceiling. She suddenly saw a brightly coloured castle that at the front of the castle, there is a marble bridge that shines rainbows of colours and saw a statue, that shimmers like a diamond.
Arethea woke up and suddenly heard a doorbell.
Arethea: huh?
Arethea came out of her room and came downstairs to the living room, where her dad was sitting on his favorite couch reading some newspapers
Arethea: dad? Did you hear that?
Arethea’s dad seemed distracted so arethea guessed that he couldn’t hear it. Arethea anxiously opened the door. Who could it be, late at night, at the door?
Arethea: who’s there!?
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