#class 12 computer science book back answers

[ms-demeanor]

sorry if you've answered this before, and i hope you don't mind me asking, how do you know so much about computers and what seems to me like everything in the world? how did you become so knowledgeable? it's amazing

i just know a little about a lot of things and I probably have a fair number of things that I've dug into more than most people and less than people who actually focus on that stuff! It's kind of an illusion!

I do know a lot about computers and that's because I've worked at a computer company for 12 years and have been deep into a computery subculture for about 20 years - I do genuinely know a lot about consumer computers. That I'll own and that's experience.

I know a fair amount about literature because I've got a degree in it!

I know a fair amount about journalism because I've got most of a degree in it and I worked with journalists for a long time!

I know a fair amount about nutrition because I've got most of a degree in it and because I've been focused on reading a lot about nutrition for more than a decade because of my own food issues!

But mostly I'm just someone who falls down rabbitholes and has a decent ability to recall what I find when I run down them.

Also I get curious about things and will just go. Experience them.

Like at some point i came across a site for people who own and use RealDolls and I got interested in learning more. The site required an application because they didn't want people just trolling so I applied and I ended up reading through the whole site and reading the magazines they sent out for years after because it was just interesting. The way these guys bought clothes or compared repair techniques and cleaning techniques, the way they constructed identities for their dolls - it was all interesting! So now I know about the proper way to store a RealDoll and how their skeletons are put together and the best way to prevent rips or clean inserts.

Now imagine that with everything.

I got interested in quack medicine so I ended up reading the entire back catalogs of quackwatch and science-based medicine.

I got interested in the history of aspartame as a scare-word and I ended up reading a couple of books, SEVERAL entire blogs with decades-long runs, purchasing a military magazine from the 90s, and submitting a FOIA request.

But, like. I don't own a RealDoll or work in that industry. I am not a medical professional. I am not a chemist who works with aspartame. So I get these weird little collections of information where I know what *seems* like a lot to someone who hasn't looked into it but I know a lot less than someone who has taken the time to actually dedicate themselves to that topic.

And sometimes it's a years-long dive and sometimes it's a months-long dive and sometimes it's a few hours of me digging online until I feel satisfied with what I've learned and I never come back to it, but I've got three more talking points than your average joe at a party would.

(Also though I've attended various colleges at various levels for ten-ish years now and I've taken probably more college-level classes on a lot of subjects than most people have because I've now spent several years just kind of kicking around at community colleges and deciding that a cartooning class sounds fun or that a mesoamerican art class fills certain transfer requirements or that I might as well brush up on spanish, french, and german. Access to low-cost college classes in california is a big part of this, and having the time and money to take classes while i'm working is something that I've been very lucky with)

I've also worked pretty much continuously since I was 18, sometimes holding multiple jobs at once, and I know a lot of interesting people who do a lot of interesting things and I ask them about their interesting experiences and if they offer me a chance to go do cool shit with them, like launch a high altitude balloon or blow up some dynamite that's about to expire or join a band, I do it!

I was also one of those kids who had no friends and spent too much time at the library so I'd do things like read through medical textbooks or pull a book of home chemical formulas out of the trash and read it or take it into my head that I was going to read all of Shakespeare before I got to high school so I was a really annoying twelve-year-old and that kind of thing never really let up.

I don't know! I don't think it's that unusual and I think most people do this kind of thing I just happen to have less focus than a lot of people and talk a lot more.

[izicodes]

hello loa! i hope you've been well ! i have a question, apologies if you've gotten one like this before but i want to get into coding as i recently just got the free coding course from harvard and i trie the freecodecamp once.

is math really a staple? i'd like to think i'm techy, i mean i took a really basic compsci class in highschool lol which was heavily html based nso, super easy.. but i'm scared! idk if im particularly good at math bc i didn't get to see my potential back in highschool but idk if this will make or break my decision of pursuing to study computer science bc people will say its not just coding.

if it IS math based, what should i do? i feel like i would need to go all the way back to grade school and start off from scratch. i'm really nervous, idk what to do

Hiya 💗

So for some background: the area in computer science I'm in is Web Development. Basic maths skills needed.

I think I answered a similar ask but I said that the maths I encounter on a day-to-day is maths from Year 10/Grade 9. It's not hard stuff. The maths I learnt at year 12-13-ish (Grade 11-12) was a lot harder than the maths I use at work and personal projects.

I don't have any proper educational experience outside of web development so but I do have a mate who does Computer Science as a degree in university and he has some maths books. But Web Development is creating art online. Designing, I am a creative person so I think that is why I leaned into Web Development more.

Yeah there's more to Computer Science than coding, that's why I niched it down to learning software/web development at my apprenticeship. With Comp Sci I would have learnt unnecessary stuff that would have made me not to continue learning.

There are degree course that are just a specific area within computer science like web deve, machine learning, game dev, systems, etc. look for the one you actually like rather than doing overall computer science - that's one idea!

[potatomiss]

Scorpion-man, the man of strong will to make things happen

Scorpion, in ancient time, it has its own identity of being a killer. Killer usually takes a goal in executing the killing task and has the persistence and perseverence in acting the task out. And takes a strong will. Killer is just a represenation of quality, but how does it look like in reality? In what way do Scorpion-man to realize his goal? We may find the answer from its gardian Hades.

Hades, the God of death, the brother of Zeus, fell in love with Persephone(pure and young)- the daughter of Demeter, the God of harvest and Zeus. One day, when Persephone was picking the flower in the plain, suddenly the ground broke open a crack and a hand held out from below to drag her into the underground, so she was taken away secretly by Hades. Demeter became wild on the loss of her daughter and didnot work as before to let the ground grow and harvest. Demeter finally found his husband Zeus for help. Zeus interfered and ordered Hades to send back his daughter. But before doing that, Hades gave Persephone a kind of food，similiar to pomegranate, which can make her feel attached to his place of death. One seed for one month stay on earth and Persephone ate four. So in the end Persephone can have just 4months of staying on earth with the rest of time living underground as the wife to Hades forever.

From the myth, we can see Hades can make things happen to his desire and will and make the thing develop in the direction he wanted, if we just look at the way he did things only but not caring the nature of the thing as kidnapping which is against persephone and her mother's will and not morally good to the human society.

To exemplify the scorpion-man way of doing things, we use Bill Gates growth experience on what strong will he has and how he used his strong will in developing his interest on computer and made the things develop as he wanted.

Bill loved the feeling of motion in a baby-crib and liked to sit on a toy-horse, shaking back and forth He kept it as the habit of thinking-shaking the body when thinking, even when he grew up to study at school. He would did shake even at class and did so even when he was asked to answer a question and needed deskmate to remind him to stop. He only interested in math, science and didnot do the homework of other subjects he was not good at. But he was not considered bad but of special talent, so his mother transfered him to a private school of lakeside.(this school is famous for developing freedom and talent and was the first to have computers to let students learn even when the whole country dont have computers but only the scientists can have it. IT just started but computer with a screen like now not yet born out. Computer is still like a machine and just used von neumann theory of program and memory, but it is a good industry since US has just sent aero-ship to the sky and needs computing to work out more)

He came to Lakeside at 12, and the school bought in some computers to let students learn so as to touch avande-garde knowledge. Because of his early interest and ability in math, science and wide knowledge in encyclopedia, Bill got fascinated by the earliest 'computer' -a box-like machine with the keyboad of typist kind. It connected with another computing machine in GE company and any instructive orders on counting entered into from here got out to the end to the GE in very short minutes and the counting result could get back quickly and got printed out in the form of paper out. The teacher just taught a little and Bill with other interested boys learned the program language-basic from the computer operating books by themselves and from there Bill got to know two of his best friends with whom he formed a group for writing program to sell. For learning computers, Bill skipped classes and delayed to hand in the schoolwork and even studied the university math course beforehand. His math/ science score was always taking a lead ahead of other subjects no matter how bad score of his other courses. In order to save money for using computers, since the school needed to pay for the time students take on the computer, Bill and his group worked out a hacker programme which could spoil the center who could control the use of the computers in the school and took charge based on the time, and then got into there to retrieve the bill and changed the time so that the pay could become zero. The school found it out and made it back to charge. But the charge was still there, too high even for the school. So Bill worked out another way..

Not long, Bill and his friends went to the computer center which was some distance from the school and it needed to take the bus. As exchange for using computers, Bill and his friends helped to find bugs for the program and even wrote long reports on the problem and from there they just got more chances of learning from the professionals and access to more advanced books. Still Bill skipped lessons but more, even when night had more lessons added for exams.

Later Bill and his group wrote their first program-counting salaries for an Information company and sold it successfully. Bill asked to sell on the copyright, getting commission for every software with the program sold out. Finally The company agreed to give back 10percentage of selling profit and 10000usd for paying more computing time since computer center needed shut down and They needed to find another place to use computers.

From the story, we could see Bill takes a will with the things he wanted to do and the will can help him realize his goal and made him persistent even when there were the obstacles.

[ear-worthy]

Open To Debate Argues Daylight Savings Time & ScienceStuff Launches

Open To Debate Argues Daylight Saving Time

 It's that time again, when move our clocks ahead to gain one hour of daylight. The Wikipedia explanation is: Daylight saving time, also referred to as daylight saving, daylight savings time, daylight time, or summer time, is the practice of advancing clocks to make better use of the longer daylight available during summer so that darkness falls at a later clock time.

Yet, this time shift has been shrouded in controversy and disagreement for decades. Currently, President Trump has expressed interest in eliminating Daylight Saving Time, and Congress is considering bills to make the change permanent. Of course, he also said that Ukraine invaded Russia, Gaza would make a wonderful resort as soon as all the inhabitants were removed, and he is a supporter of law and order even though he pardoned 1,500 January 6th criminals.

Are you ready to change the clock on Sunday? Is springing forward or falling back still an idea worth practicing? That's the question the Open to Debate podcast tackles in its new episode, "Is it Time to End Daylight Savings Time?"

Those ready to end Daylight Savings Time argue it is inconvenient and has negative health and productivity effects. Those who want to keep Daylight Savings Time argue the time change’s effects are temporary and help improve our quality of life.

Arguing in favor of Daylight Savings Time: Binyamin Applebaum, Member of the New York Times Editorial Board

Arguing against Daylight Savings Time: Joan Costa-i-Font, Health Economist at the London School of Economics

Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates.

Watch or listen to the debate at OpentoDebate.org, YouTube, or your podcast platform of choice (under podcast name "Open to Debate"). 

***********************************************

 ScienceStuff Podcast Launches

 iHeartPodcasts has announced ScienceStuff  a new original podcast hosted by best-selling and award-winning cartoonist and author Jorge Cham. New episodes release every Wednesday starting March 12. Curious listeners can hear the trailer now, here, and follow the show to be alerted when new episodes drop.

Ever wonder if your pet is lying to you, what’s inside a black hole or if you’d survive being cryogenically frozen?Each week, ScienceStuff will tackle the kind of questions everyday people have always wanted to know the answer to, including:

 Do you really have to wait 30 minutes before you can go swimming?

Are near-death experiences real?

What exactly are Quantum Computers?

 iHeart says: "With infectious curiosity, Cham, a former roboticist and Caltech researcher and instructor, will take listeners on a fun and illuminating dive into a new question each week, talk to experts and explain the history and latest scientific results on each topic."

Jorge Cham obtained his Ph.D. in robotics from Stanford University and was an instructor and research associate at Caltech before leaving academia to create Piled Higher and Deeper (known as PHD Comics), a favorite comic strip of scientists and academics with millions of readers online and in print. According to the prestigious journal Science, Cham’s “following in the scientific world are enough to make even the most distinguished professor green with envy.” He is also the main creator and creative director of the Emmy-nominated animated series Elinor Wonders Why which airs on PBS Kids and around the world, and an author of several popular science books including the award-winning We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe and the celebrated children’s series Oliver’s Great Big Universe. “ScienceStuff” is produced and distributed by iHeartPodcasts, joining its flagship family of Stuff curiosity shows, which includes the popular Stuff You Should Know, TechStuff, Stuff You Missed in History Class and Stuff To Blow Your Mind, among others, expanding the brand into the world of science.

[al-mayriti]

okay i'm reading it rn i'll let you know any noticeable thing that happens:

20/07/2011: This is the first day! 'Well, my mum has finally bought me the diary. I am going to write everything that happens to me so I remember when I grow up' 12 yo me did not knew i would have memory problems ten years later but he sensed something going wrong down the line. good for him.

21/07/2011. I thought of my crush at that time and got sad cause we were in different classes now lol. I got lost in an Eroski ???? Also this day was the day I learned I have a 41 shoe size. My feet haven't grown since btw, which means I had probably already had my growth spurt as well. I am as tall as I was as a 12 yo. Lovely.

23/07/2011. My dad told me Amy Winehouse had just died and I was an asshole about it holy shit: 'I think she was going back home after a party and she was so drunk she had a heart attack and she died. It is one of the deaths I'll never lament'. 12 yo vivi wasn't woke enough smh.

24/07/2011. 'My day has been very normal. Ah, and a neighbour died. I also finished writing my book'. Very kafkaesque of me.

26/07/2011. I was reading at my cousin's birthday party??? 'I tried reading but everyone came [to talk to me I guess?] and it was impossible'. I was not like other kids, you know?

29/07/2011. I turned 13 this day! This is the list of the presents I received, of course I wrote it down:

-A pendant for my backpack (no idea what this is)

-A ying and yang necklace (I DO REMEMBER THIS. I WORE IT ALL THE TIME)

-A keychain with my name (I think this was my first keychain?)

-City Life Premium for PC (oh I loved this game!!!)

-Third Percy Jackson book (!!!!)

-3DS (!!!!)

-The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (slay)

Apart from that, I basically played with my 3DS all day, and then I blowed out a cirio instead of a normal candle cause we didn't have them lol. Also they sung happy birthday to me at the ice cream place :)

01/08/2011. My mum bought me Nintendogs + Cats and I talked about how I had a jack russel terrier called Leia and how pretty she was <3

03/08/2011. OH SHIT I know you tumblrinas will like this: 'I spent all afternoon making Memes (memes are strips where there's questions and you have to answer them drawing or writing) about my 6 OC's (Original Characters)', and then I go on talking about these OC's, which were the beginning on the fantasy world I've talked about sometimes here and the fantasy book I'm writing. Also, I meant memes in the DeviantArt way, not the one we all know lol. At that time DeviantArt was my only ''social media''.

07/08/2011. Oh this is a fun one. In the morning we went to the kiosk to buy magazines: my sister got Disney Girl, my dad Esquire, and I got Nintendo Acción. Also, my family watched The Wizard of Oz but I didn't want to (cause I'm not like other guys!!), and we watched Rango after having KFC for dinner. No idea what made me want to watch Rango but not The Wiz.

08/08/2011. I was thinking how I missed school cause I only had friends in school and also 'there's Alicia [the girl i had a crush on], I can only see her face when i look at the group photos in my bedroom'. I was in deep huh. I did not remember being this intense about her.

30/08/2011. This day my mum got my textbooks and my reactions are so funny: 'There's 2 music books, a fat one and another less [fat]. Well, the fat one is the exercise book! I have to read 3 books for French class! And the Citizienship (Educación a la Ciudadanía) textbook talks about politics and our feelings!'

08/09/2011. My first day of 2nd of ESO (8th grade)!! According to my account, 'the things have changed, now it's like a military school'. I love how this is a universal experience. Also I wrote down my teachers with an emoji sharing my thoughts on them:

-Tutor: Mari Luz :D

-Social Sciences: Mari Luz XD

-Spanish: Pablo :D

-Maths: Esther :D

-Natural Sciences: A new guy called Juanjo

-Computers Science: Ricardo :D

-English: Miss T. (i guess)

-French: Genoveva (i guess)

-Physical Education: Celestino :(

-Music: Victor :D

Also this last part 😭😭😭: 'everyone grows except me, I only get shorter. I hate genetics'

After September 14th I stopped writing for almost a year! These next ones are all from 2012, when I was 14.

02/08/2012. 'Sorry for not writing in a year, but I think I'm incapable of writing a diary, so I'll write whenever I feel like it'. Yeah. That still happens to me with my journaling lol. Also I do like a 'that's what happened in glee' and it's constant whiplash, these are the juiciest parts: 'In January I sent an email to Alicia telling her how I felt about her and she told me she doesn't feel the same. On July 27th I sent her another message telling her I wasn't able to forget her [fuck off bestie. also this was through Tuenti]. The guy who called me Randy [he was my bully. he called me like that cause I looked like the character from My Name Is Earl] repeated and now he's in my year and he's friends with everyone. They call him Checo.' Yeah. It wasn't a good one folks.

03/09/2012. I was talking about this girl I hate and I called her 'a Tuenti addict'. If that isn't the most 'being 14 years old in 2012 in spain' thing I've ever written... Apparently this girl knew what people were gonna go in her class that year (which was the most important we needed to know during the summer) and among other people were my now dead friend who I refer to as 'one of my best friends' (lovely stuff) and 'Alicia ( :( ) ' sjdjsdjs.

This is the last day I wrote on the diary, and one of the last stuff I wrote was 'I cannot believe I am going to start 3rd of ESO (9th grade), which is the year that usually appears in adventure books. If I'm being honest, I am scared shitless, but I have to hang on'. Oh buddy, you had a big storm coming.

I FOUND MY DIARY FROM 2011

[python-program]

CBSE Class 12 Computer Science and Informatics Practice

CBSE Class 12 Computer Science and Informatics Practice

numpy-class-12-computer-scienceDownload pandas-class-12-computer-scienceDownload

[songmingisthighs]

[15.08] badboy!seonghwa × reader

⇀ had you known that's why he confessed, would you have accepted him ? Or smack his annoyingly perfect face with your laptop ?

⇁ part 1 / 2

⇁ prologue part 1 / 2 / 3

Things had gone great between you and Seonghwa. You and he would often meet at your dorm or at the diner at least three times a week.

You'd ask him why you both never hung at his dorm but his answer was that he doesn't want the boys to disturb your 'quality time'.

Normally you'd question answers like that, but the way he looks at you and holds your hand made you forget why you even wanna ask that in the first place.

But like all things, everything dissipates with time.

Nearing the end of the semester, group projects lessen and solo assignments accumulate which put a strain between your and Seonghwa's hangout time. You've tried convincing him that you both can hang out whilst doing your solo assignments but you remembered how his eyes trailed after a girl as you spoke at one of your last hangouts at the diner.

Seems like he's lost interest in you too.

Which, it sure hurts, but you both were never official and neither had verbally confirmed to the other about their feelings. It sucks.

But you power through.

You pretend that his silence during class's group discussion didn't affect you, you pretend that when he immediately pack up his stuff to leave the class and only throwing you a polite smile didn't make your heart wrench, you pretend that him ghosting you didn't make you feel both embarrassed and angry at the same time.

You're light and breezy.

Heck, you're so light and breezy, you still go to that diner every Friday all alone. And it's not because you had hoped to see one particular man.

Even though you did.

When he was on a date with some girl who's obviously very pretty.

On the booth you both had 'claimed' as 'your booth' without ever verbally saying it.

"Hi, excuse me," a voice broke your train of thoughts.

You look up from your book to see a really handsome man standing in front of you with a smile on his face. He looks very handsome, definitely mixed-race, and he has this chill aura on him that is honestly refreshing to you.

"Sorry to bother you, but can I sit here?" He asked. You look around to see that there are a lot of other places left in the library where he could've sat.

Sensing your apprehension, the man raised both of his hands, "I'm not a creep or a weirdo, I'm just very particular about where I work,"

He's got a point. So you just nodded, "sure, it's not my table or anything anyways, you could've just taken a seat without asking my permission," he shrugged as he put his things across you, "I mean sure, but you seemed like you don't wanna be bothered and this particular spot has the best walking distance to anywhere at all and plus the secret charging port? Genius," he said, grinning proudly.

You raised your eyebrows at him, "you seem to know your way around the table, mister..." you trailed off to which he immediately caught on, "Hansol, Choi Hansol, but my friends calls me Vernon," he held his hand out for you to shake, "(Y/N), (Y/N) (Y/L/N), and why Vernon?" "My english name, I'm half American,"

And with that, you got yourself a new friend.

Vernon is a computer science major, and the other thing major about him is his nerdiness. And his hotness. Which is a ridiculous combination.

Ever since that day in the library, you both somehow find the other popping up everywhere. Just a day after your first meeting in the library, he came into the café you part-timed at. He came in to order 13 drinks and several pastries, shocking you at first but then he told you he lives in a frat house with 12 other guys and that he's not a caffeine addict.

Then you both bonded over the many sessions in the library which eventually venture out to sitting together during lunch, and then suddenly you both started meeting outside campus.

And this did not go unnoticed by Seonghwa.

"Hey, Seonghwa, how well do you know (Y/N)?" Hongjoong asked, breaking Seonghwa's glare on you and Vernon from all the way across the cafeteria.

Seonghwa raised an eyebrow at him, "(Y/N) from my statistics class?" As if he hadn't considered you as something more at some point, "I'd say well enough as a groupmate, why?" He asked back.

Hongjoong nodded towards you and Vernon with his chin, "Vernon there saw you both working together and he wants to make sure he won't be stepping on anyone's toes when he's making a move on her,"

At that moment, Seonghwa almost choked on his fries. Too surprised with the fact that you've possibly moved on from him so quickly.

It's only been a month and a half since you both stopped hanging out outside of obligation.

Hearing that made his blood boil and he's pretty sure it's not jealousy. Most likely territorialism. HE took interest in you first waaaaay before Vernon did.

The smile and laugh you give Vernon was supposed to be for him. He used to make you laugh so hard at any stupid pun he concocted in his head. No matter how stupid it is nor how much it doesn't make any sense.

To be completely honest, he didn't know why he pulled away from you in the first place. He had been so comfortable with you, never once had he ever let his guard down and just be carefree, not even with his closest friends.

He needs to get you back to him.

No matter what.

So he made his move the next time you both had statistics again.

Unlucky for him though, the professor decided to not have any group discussion that day which threw Seonghwa's plan out the window. But thankfully he still remembered your schedule, you don't have any class after statistics which means you'd be grabbing a simple lunch before your part-time job starts until 8 pm.

So he waited patiently for the bell to ring.

Legs bouncing in anticipation as his eyes flit towards the clock every five minutes.

When the professor finally dismissed the class (10 minutes later than he's supposed to, as per usual), he immediately put all his belongings back in his bag and ran after you. Somehow you've mastered the art of cleaning up quickly over the month and a half without him.

"(Y/N)! Wait!" Seonghwa called.

You stopped in your tracks and turn your head to see Seonghwa jogging towards you with that stupid, charming smile on his face.

Damn his good looks.

"Yeah? Is there something wrong?" you asked him when he caught up to you. He raised an eyebrow at you, confused as to why you'd think there'd be anything wrong.

"Ah!" you suddenly exclaimed, "Is this about my part of the presentation? Don't worry, I'm close to finishing it, I should be able to compile it in the PPT tonight by... 9.30-ish? I have to finish my shift at the café," you explained.

He chuckled at you, deep voice that you oh so missed ringing in your ears, "wha- no, (Y/N), I'm not here to talk about our project, I just wanna... talk with you," he said, tilting his head to the side slightly. It somehow made him look both hot and cute at the same time. Which doesn't make sense.

Now it was your turn to raise an eyebrow at him while crossing your arms, "why? No offence, Seonghwa, but you've kinda been blowing me off for the past month and a half now, what makes you think I'd have anything to talk with you about?"

Those words coming out of your mouth shocked him. It's not like he didn't expect some apprehension from you, but hostility? Boy, you must've been really affected by his shitty doings.

"I-I- no, (Y/N), I haven't been blowing you off," bullshit, even he knows that, "I've just been really-" "really... what? Absent? Ghosty? Hot and cold? Whatever it is, Seonghwa, you don't owe me any explanation," you tried your best to not roll your eyes at him because honestly, how dare he blew you off and now acting like he didn't whilst hoping you don't notice what he has been doing.

What did he take you for? One of his brainless bimbos?

Surprised at your words, Seonghwa was left stunned. You waited for a solid 10 seconds for him to say something. Anything.

Literally, how hard is it to say sorry?

Realizing he wouldn't realize what he's supposed to do, you just shook your head at him, "I'll finish inputting and editing my part by tonight, I'll see you in class next week, Seonghwa," you said before walking away.

You would've thought that he'd take the hint and go back to ignoring you.

But now, of course not. He's stubborn and he plays by his own rules. It's an understatement to say that you were shocked when you saw him entering the café nearing the end of your shift.

Despite the shock of seeing him, you pretended like nothing's wrong and do what you're supposed to do to any other customer as per usual.

Heck, you'd give yourself a pat on the back, head, and butt for being so calm whilst handling Seonghwa. You managed to keep that "strictly professional" smile on your face as you take his orders, you didn't fumble when he made small talks as you typed in his orders into the computer (like really, who the heck said "good thing tonight's not cloudly, love the moonlight," ??), and you didn't flinch when your hands accidently touch as you hand him his strawberry frappucino.

Yes, the badboy strictly and secretly drink sweet, fruity drinks.

You'd thought that his presence was merely a coincidence. As he waited in his table, you had assumed that he's waiting for some girl (who isn't you, sadly) so all you wanna do is run out of there as soon as you can.

"Hey, Jaemin," you called your co-worker who's in the middle of sipping his 6 shot americano at 8 pm, "I'm gonna head out, okay? Think you can hold the fort until Yena's here? She said she has to turn in an assignment, that's why she's late,"

Jaemin just rolled his eyes at you, "(Y/N), I'm drinking coffee that's powerful enough to paralyze a horse, I can definitely handle the slow Wednesday night crowd," he said sarcastically to which you laugh.

After getting your things from your locker in the back room, you proceed to go out through the front door.

Unbeknownst to you, Seonghwa had followed behind.

You were only several steps away from the café when suddenly Seonghwa caught up to you and grab your hand.

Knowing that it's quite late and it's dark, Seonghwa should've known better. You honestly only feel slightly bad for punching his chest.

Slightly.

Like 2%.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Seonghwa you scared the devil out of me!" You exclaimed after realizing that it was just him, pulling your hand away from his grip. He coughed, trying to ease oxygen back to his lungs after you had brutally knocked them out.

"Guess I deserved that," he coughed out, but he was smirking as if he's amused by your attack, "sorry, I was just- I need to talk to you," he said, looking at you pleadingly.

"Well, it doesn't seem like that for the past month and a half, Seonghwa, you seemed just about done with me," you said while crossing your arms, your expression showing nothing but disdain at him. He seems to feel remorse after seeing how you looked at him. Never once did you showed any negativity nor hostility to him during the time you both spent together.

Seonghwa didn't really know what made him pull away from you. All he was sure of is that he felt something so strongly about you to the point that it scared him so much. He never felt the need to be with someone as much as when he was with you. He found himself thinking about you when you're both not together, he found himself only focusing on you and nothing else when you both are together, and he found his vulnerabilities open for you to access.

It scared him to hell and back when he realizes that there is a possibility of him wanting something more from you.

With you.

The man before you sighed, "I... Have no excuse for how I acted recently but believe me when I said that I regret pulling myself away from you because I'm scared, you're too good to and for someone like me, you deserve the best and I wanna be the best for you," he stepped closer to take both your hands in his, his eyes were genuine which rendered you incapable of being too mad at him, "I wish I could rewind the time and take back what I did, I never should have pulled away from you, I should have just told you the truth," he said.

For a second, he forgot about his image and he just let whatever he was feeling out, he wanted to make sure that you understand how he truly feels.

Both of you stood in silence, just staring at each other as he rubs his thumb on the back of your hand. With the way you're staring at him now, he was sure that your initial resolve had completely melted.

But suddenly from his peripheral vision, he saw Vernon coming out of a bookstore across the road and was looking around.

Remembering what prompted him to get closer to you again, he pulled you in close into his arms, a hand to your cheek and lips just centimetres away from his.

"So? Would you please give me another chance to show you how much you mean to me? Not as just some guy from your statistics class," his words made you chuckle and roll your eyes, "but as your boyfriend," he said before he could stop himself.

Your eyes widened, "m-me? With y-you? Boyfriend and girlfriend?" you choked out, not believing your ears in the first place. You wanted to make sure that he's not kidding, making a joke or making a fool out of you.

Instead of answering, however, he simply leaned in and places his lips softly on yours. The kiss was sweet, it conveyed how much he wants and misses you. For some reason it made you feel comforted, he feels like home and his arms makes you feel safe.

So then and there, you kiss him back as a form of an answer to him.

When you both finally pull away, you both could see dumb smiles decorating the other's face, proof of happiness over what just happen.

Remembering that you're in the middle of the road and there are people around you, you pulled away from his arms first but reached to tangle your hand in his.

"Come on, I believe I owed my groupmate my part of the presentation," you started as you walk, pulling him with you.

But as you walk, you turn your head at him to throw a flirty smirk, "boyfriend" you said, making him grin so wide, it could rival a Cheshire cat.

Maybe you and he isn't a bad idea at all.

All you can do now is hope that he won't break you.

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

𝑀𝑦 𝐺𝑖𝑟𝑙 (𝑆𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑔ℎ𝑤𝑎×𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

Part Two / Part Three/ Part Four

Pairing: Bad boy! Park Seonghwa (Ateez)/ Reader (Female)

Genre: Fluff, Angst, School AU.

Summary: Y/N never cared about a lot, her only goal was to get through college as quickly as possible. One day, she makes eye contact with the notorious bad boy class and unintentionally glares at him. Did she just screw up her peaceful school life?

Requested by a very close friend who better appreciate this or else :) ♡

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12:53

Only 2 minutes had passed since Y/N had looked at the clock, but it felt like an eternity. She always did hate computer science. Not because she felt it was difficult or kept her up at all hours of the night trying to finish the assigned tasks, that was more of a biochemistry thing. It was because although her professor was really excellent at teaching them and helping them maneuver all the software, he had an awful tendency to leave early, sometimes up to half an hour, and just let them do as they pleased. While some decided to watch stupid cat videos, browse through their social media, others went as far as to play video games or even go onto some questionable websites that more than once made her cringe with disgust.

Y/N often just sat there, either finishing up assignments for her other classes or bored to death, waiting for it to be 1pm so she could go off campus and get something to eat. Having forgotten to eat breakfast, even a simple untoasted bagel cause she accidentally overslept through her alarm, she could really use some fuel in her system. She was tired, hungry and therefore moody, which was never a good combination.

12:56

She groaned softly and let her head fall back on the head of the chair. She closed her eyes, not caring about dozing off right then and there in front of the whole class. What would they care? They're too immersed in their narcissistic fake Instagram lives or their sadomasochistic porn desires to pay attention to her. In fact, no one ever really payed attention to her and she didn't care. She liked it that way. Invisible, unseen. It meant no one bothered her and no distractions from her only goal in life. No one seemed to notice or even look at her.

That's what she believed. But for some odd reason she couldn't shake off a weird feeling of someone watching her. She slowly opened her eyes and was indeed met with a pair of dark, glassy eyes staring right at her. Dark eyes sitting on top of a perfectly straight nose, small luscious pink lips accompanying a sharp jawline only complimenting the rest of his heavenly features.

Park Seonghwa.

If someone were to ask Y/N her honest opinion of him, she'd probably respond:

"I don't know. Everyone is afraid of him and everyone tells horror stories though."

Yes, he had a reputation for being the school's bad boy. She's personally never actually seen him be violent towards anyone, but she had heard about fights that often happened at the football field, always ending in his apparent victory. She never payed mind to such stories, frankly she didn't even care. She had even forgotten that he was in the same class as her, up until this very moment.

She somehow expected him to look away, but he didn't. He kept his gaze locked on hers. In any other circumstance, she would have looked away, but something about his stare kept her from looking away. The corners of his lips were slightly curled upward, almost as if they were forming a soft smile. That could just be his lip shape though, after all, she's never actually looked at him closely. His eyes as well had a particular glow to them, and if she wasn't in such a bad mood maybe....just maybe, she would have felt her cheeks heat up and turn a baby pink shade. But she simply looked away after a minute of staring into his eyes. Wait...was it a minute?

12:58

Yep. Pretty much around that time. 2 minutes left until her torture ended. Maybe if she looked at it hard enough, maybe time would go faster. Foolish thought but it is often said that the mind works wonders. Although in this case it seemed to be doing the opposite of what she wanted. And she still felt the same pair of eyes staring at her. So turning back she found she was correct.

Only this time instead of curled lips and glowy eyes, she was met with furrowed eyebrows and a clenched jaw. Now she felt a shiver ran down her spine as Seonghwa glared at her, almost as if he was threatening her. And it truly was menacing.

The light twinkling of a bell signaled that it was 1pm and time to leave. Y/N grabbed her books that were out in front of her desktop and quickly shoved them in her book bag as if it was an Olympic sport. She nearly tripped as she scurried out of the classroom, ignoring the throbbing pain on her shin which had collided with the leg of the chair. All she knew is that she didn't want to stay long enough to figure out if all the stories she heard about Park Seonghwa were true or not. So she practically ran out of the campus, completely forgetting about her hunger or tiredness. She was fully awake now and her stomach felt sick that she couldn't possibly even think about taking a bite out of anything.

Meanwhile the man she left behind at the classroom stood there in shock, his mouth letting out a soft scoff at her behavior. He shook his head as he picked up his jacket that was hanging on his chair and a notebook that had fallen out a few feet away from the row of computers in front of him. His mind was already working, planning on how to deal with this.

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I heard he was pissed.

Seriously?

Didn't you hear the way he slammed the door?

She must have done something to piss him off.

I don't know, all I know is that Seonghwa was fuming while muttering something about giving it to her.

Whoever she is, she sounds as good as dead.

That's what Y/N overheard some girls gossiping about while she was in the bathroom. Now half of the school was hell bent on finding out who was the mysterious girl who dared glare at Seonghwa and what he'd do to her. That's practically what the school thrived on: gossip and drama. And frankly, she wanted no part in it.

So for the next week, she completely changed her usual routine. She purposefully used routes that she'd never gone through before to attend her classes, she refused to eat at any nearby cafes around the neighborhood, and she went as far as to not physically attend her computer science course. One of the blessings of a course involving a computer was the fact she could do it right at home and she decided to take full advantage of it. And she most certainly avoided any places where she knew Seonghwa and his group of friends tended to hang around in.

She was scared, she was willing to admit that. Scared of whatever Seonghwa was planning for her, scared of it becoming the new school gossip and overall just terrified. So even if it was a pain and hassle to go to such extremes, she wanted to avoid the confrontation at all times and she thought she was doing a fairly good job.

Apparently not good enough.

Having forgotten a few things in her locker, she went back after almost everyone had cleared out, only the staff stayed behind at this hour, locked in the teacher's lounge no doubt complaining about their day's work. She was so distracted trying to organize the books and journals in her arms that she was only brought back to reality when her locker was slammed shut right in front of her, frightening her so much that she dropped all her things to the ground. She looked back and froze when it was none other than Seonghwa who stood in front of her.

"6 days..."

His deep voice felt like ice, freezing her from moving let alone breathe.

"For 6 whole days, I've been waiting for you in class, only to find out you stayed home. Then, no matter where I searched, you always figured out a way to avoid me...."

Seonghwa leaned down, close to her face, smirking right at her.

"Well I finally caught you little one....and there's been something I wanted to do..."

Oh no! This was exactly what she feared. There was no one around to protect her or even witness what was going to happen. So Y/N closed her eyes and braced herself for whatever was going to come. She only hoped that it would end as quickly as possible.

"I like you."

Wait. What?

She looked up in shock, wondering if she heard what she thought. Seonghwa had leaned back up and stared at her.

"I like you. I've been wanting to tell you that. " He repeated himself.

Y/N didn't even know what face she made, but whatever it was, it made Seonghwa chuckle softly at her reaction. Bending down, he began to pick up her stuff that she dropped.

"I don't expect you to confess your feelings for me nor even answer me at the moment." He continued as he handed her the books and journals.

"I know you're confused right now, I would be too if I was in your place. Besides...."

He looked at her and smiled very faintly.

"There's plenty of time to get to know each other. After all, the weekend starts tomorrow."

He picked up his bookbag that he had previously set down on the floor and slung it over his shoulder. Then he took out a baby pink journal with sparkles on the side from his bag.

"By the way, you left this at class when you ran out the door." He handed her what rightfully belonged to her. She recognized it as her sketching notepad.

"See you soon Y/N. Real soon." He winked and waved goodbye at her before walking away.

Y/N stood there, her mouth wide open and looking around, questioning if this was a dream, a nightmare or reality.

What the hell just happened?!

· · • • • ✤ • • • · ·· · • • • ✤ • • • · ·· · • • • ✤ • • • · ·

"Medium hot white chocolate mocha with Irish cream syrup and whip cream."

The customer went up to the counter and picked up their drink, not even bothering to say a thank you or even acknowledge her presence.

"Thank you. Have a very nice day." Y/N repeated the customary line they all had to say when someone left the shop, making sure to add a warm smile and to use a light tone of voice.

Once the customer had left, Y/N turned back to her coworker, Jinhee, who was already groaning.

"That old geezer was such a pain! You're lucky you didn't take his order. I was about to strangle him." Jinhee complained and made a choking gesture with her hands.

"That bad huh?" Y/N asked as she wiped down the counter around the espresso machine.

"It's Saturday Y/N, and it's almost night. What do you expect? Only Karens and their annoying husbands come by for caffeine at this hour." Jinhee shook her head, tired from dealing with so many demanding and pushy customers.

"Look on the bright side, it's almost 7, meaning we get to go home soon." Y/N tried to remain positive.

"Hell yeah! I can't wait. Me and the girls are heading out to that club I was telling you about. You should seriously come."

Y/N expected Jinhee to ask her to join them, she always did. She loved Jinhee, she really did, but her style of having fun wasn't exactly her cup of tea. Y/N did not want to spend a perfectly good night getting shit faced drunk and waking up the next morning in some stranger's bed.

"Thanks Ji, but no. I have...plans tonight." She quickly said, although both knew that was a total lie.

"Yeah..... let me guess, plans that involve packets of ramen, an order of chicken wings, tub of ice cream while you rewatch some anime about a demon butler or about a people murdering journal?" Y/N hated how Jinhee knew her so well.

"Leave me alone!" Y/N threw the rag in her hand at her friend, who was now laughing at her reaction.

They both went back to their usual task of cleaning and disinfecting what was already clean since there weren't many customers when it was nearing closing time. Jinhee decided to go to the back room to make sure everything would be stocked for the next day, leaving Y/N to attend anyone who came in. Since she wasn't expecting anyone, she took out her notepad and began sketching like she usually did. She didn't know why, but the serene, tranquil atmosphere in the coffee shop, the scent of the freshly brewed coffee mixed with the light hint of cinnamon and other spices always seemed to inspire her to draw to her heart's content. And right now, she knew she wanted to draw a face. What face exactly? She didn't know. But she decided to start drawing the outline to give her a base to work with, while she figured out if she'd draw someone she knew or just an imaginary person that would only live in her mind.

The ringing of the bell signaled that someone had come inside, just when she was about to relax. Getting up, she quickly put her notebook out of sight and straightened her apron.

"Welcome! What can I get for-"

She stopped when she looked up to see Seonghwa himself in the shop. He looked at her and snorted softly.

"Don't you look adorable in that uniform."

Y/N pouted slightly, feeling self conscious about the pink and red apron.

"Aww come on, don't give me that look doll. You do look cute." Seonghwa complimented her, making her blush a little.

"Wha-what can I get for you?" She cleared her throat and went back to being professional.

Seonghwa scanned the menu options before looking back at Y/N. He studied her features closely before asking:

"What's your favorite drink?"

"Huh?" Y/N wasn't expecting him to ask her that.

It always did threw her off whenever people asked her what she liked. She hated answering cause customers would always say how boring her favorite drink was or complain it wasn't their type. Well if it's not your type, then why ask in the first place right?

"I'm still waiting for an answer doll."

Seonghwa's voice brought her out of her trance. She pondered over her choices: either tell him and get it over with or just lie and pick some random drink.

"I like a simple hot chocolate with caramel." Guess the first option was the winner.

Seonghwa looked at her endearingly when she answered.

"Not a fan of actual coffee?" He raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head. Ironic how she worked in a coffee shop yet couldn't even down a simple cafe latte cause the espresso felt too bitter on her tastebuds. Seonghwa chuckled softly, muttering a barely audible 'cute' under his breath.

"Well little lady, I guess I'll take a medium one of those and a small strawberry frappe. No coffee in that one either please."

Y/N looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"What? You're not the only one who doesn't like coffee sweetheart."

He handed her a $20 bill, not even bothering to hear the price and telling her to keep the change. He then sat down at the closest table and watched as she skillfully prepared the drinks.

When she heard the sound of the machines working, Jinhee rushed out to the front, thinking Y/N needed help.

"Do you need help?" Jinhee asked as she looked over, trying to see what Y/N was preparing.

"Relax Ji. It's only a frappe and a hot chocolate, not that difficult. It's for the guy over there." She turned her head and signaled to Seonghwa.

Jinhee had to do a double take when she saw him, her jaw dropping. Then she looked back towards Y/N.

"What?" Y/N asked as she piped the whipped cream on the frappe.

"Did one of your anime boys come to life!?" She exclaimed, making Y/N slap her arm and try to shush her.

"Shut up! That's just a guy in my class." Y/N explained as she put the drinks in a tray and maneuvered herself to put them in the front counter.

"Well now I wanna transfer to your college." Jinhee giggled, making Y/N unconsciously smile at her comment, trying hard not to laugh or she'd end up spilling everything.

"Your order is ready." She composed herself and went back to her usual demeanor.

Seonghwa walked up slowly to the counter and took the frappe and straw in front of him.

"You should smile like that more often. Makes you look even prettier."

Y/N felt her breath get caught at his comment and Jinhee nearly squealing in the back wasn't helping. She just blinked slowly as Seonghwa walked away with his frappe.

"Wait! You forgot the other drink!" She called out to him when she remembered how to use her voice.

Seonghwa shrugged.

"It's for you. You did say it was your favorite right?"

He opened the door and took one last look at her.

"See you later." He winked like he did the last time they saw each other and walked out of the shop.

Y/N stood frozen, replaying everything in her mind. Jinhee's loud voice shook her awake though.

"Holy shit! You're so lucky! He was totally hitting on you! Is he like this in class too?! I'm so jelly! Oh my God! I want one of your lover boys too!" She crossed her arms and huffed slightly.

Y/N got flustered at her comment.

"He's not my lover boy....." She whispered softly and started wiping the counter to try and get her mind off Seonghwa.

"Not yet.....but he might be." Jinhee playfully nudged her on the shoulder before giggling like a dolphin.

Y/N rolled her eyes. She still couldn't wrap the idea that Park Seonghwa actually liked her. It was a concept so foreign to her, it didn't make sense. She stared at the hot chocolate in front of her. She contemplated throwing it away, but it was too tempting. And it was for her.....

She picked up the cup and started taking small sips out of it, trying hard not to burn her tongue like she usually did. She replayed the conversation in her head once more and she found herself replaying his last words:

"See you later."

What on earth did he mean by that?

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*Possible part 2 coming up*

[skzshortcake]

helluuu, can i request a minho bookstore! au, but its enemies to lovers and the "okay, maybe im crazy but did i just hear you say that out loud?" (14) or the "is that the best you can do?" (12) prompt? 🤲💓 thank youuu (and i wanted to say that i really appreciate your blog and what you write!!!! 🥺)

member: minho

prompt: #14 “okay, maybe i’m crazy but did I just hear you say that out loud?” + #12 “is that the best you can do?”

au: bookstore

trope: enemies to lovers

warnings: some angst if you look really hard. i’m really bad at writing minho, i’m so sorry, I did my best! if you have any tips feel free to tell me! 

---

god. anyone but him. please, not now.

the universe really wasn’t on your side when you saw minho walk through the doors of the bookstore you worked part-time at. 

“please don’t look at me. please don’t look at me. please please please.” your mind was moving a million lightyears an hour.

his judging gaze flicked over to you after he browsed the books on the front table. did he even like to read? isn’t he a computer science major? does he think reading a fantasy book is going to make him smarter than me?

“I didn’t know you worked here! so nice to see you.” he faked politeness “would you mind helping me find a certain book, doll?”

doll. he called me “doll”.

“of course.” you try to turn your sneer into a smile. maybe if he was feeling generous he would leave a couple coins in the “tips” jar that was forever empty at the front desk.

“i’m looking for a little something called “algorithms to live by”. do you know where that might be?” he glanced over at you as you walked over to the far right side of the store. you did your best to not look him in the eyes. if you looked at his pretty face for too long you might just fall, that is, if you didn’t already. you didn’t want to give him the time of day, it would probably just get to his head and he would hold his 4.0 grade over your head a bit more.

“i’ve read that book before. it’s over here.” you say in a monotone voice, reaching up and picking the book off of the high shelf that you just put it on just a week ago.

“aww. too short?” he smirked, raising an eyebrow.

“is that the best you can do? you’re choosing to insult my height. real mature.” you shove the book lightly into his chest and swiftly walking past him over to the front desk, the lingering feeling of you bumping into his arm left him feeling a little fluttery.

“stupid boy.” you mumble as you sit down in the worn out spinning desk chair again, you pretend to read something on the computer in an attempt to mask the butterflies from getting so close to him. 

but he’s just minho? why did you have such a problem?

maybe that was it. it was just minho.

“okay, maybe i’m crazy but did I just hear you say that out loud?” he strides over to you, slightly leaning over the desk to look you in the eye.

oh no. his hand was on the desk. why was he so close? why do I feel embarrassed? my face must be heating up now, is he noticing it? why does this feel so familiar?

“yes. I did. I called you a “stupid boy”. because you are.” your timid voice gains some confidence.

he leans back, not breaking eye contact. “just a “stupid boy”, huh? you sure about that, babe? last time I checked I was just slightly above your grade in class.”

“it’s not about the grade, minho. it’s about how you’re so annoying around me. you’re not like this around anyone else. no, i’m not oblivious. I notice things like that. what is so different about me?” you rant to him, your eyes suddenly finding the corner where the paint on the walls met the molding very interesting. the paint looked chipped at the bottom, and it didn’t completely line up perfectly.

back to minho. you didn’t want to be that direct, but you were pretty fed up with him at this point.

“I didn’t know you felt that way.” 

silence for a moment.

“i’m sorry.”

“what-”

“i’m sorry. I never meant to be mean. I just thought a little bit of competition would be funny. I didn’t know it was too much. you should have told me sooner.”

you’re taken aback, was he really apologizing? was this the same minho that winked at you every time tests were handed back? the one that always acted as if quizzes were a race to the finish line?

“I accept your apology. thank you, minh-”

“you see... the reason I was so... extra, is because I kinda think you’re cute. you’re cute when you’re mad. so I-uh, I probably pushed you too much. i’m sorry.”

he wasn’t looking you in the eye at this point. he held the book in his arms, slightly rocking back and forth on his heels. his glasses slightly fell down his perfectly-sloped nose, and the sweatshirt he wore looked really comfortable. you wondered if it smelled like him.

“I think you’re cute too.” you blurt out, and the chipped paint was interesting again. the sweatshirt and glasses look must have solidified your opinion. you liked him. 

why? because it’s just minho.

“so we’re agreed.” he looks back at you and laughs. “give me another moment to browse, then i’ll pay for the book.” and there he went.

you sat at the desk, staring at the same word on the computer to try and process what just happened. “incoming books” it read. 

a couple minutes later minho walked back up to the front table, looking more shy and timid than you’ve ever seen him.

“you look a little nervous.” you point out, giving him a comforting smile to show that things were okay after the previous conversation. you scanned the one book. “$18.59 please.”

“i’m not nervous.” he laughs and gives you a gorgeous smile, glad things had returned to normal. he was so enchanting... 

“okay then.” you grin as he hands you a $20 bill. you give him the extra change and he drops it all in the tip jar, even pulling out a $10 bill and a small folded paper that was dropped into the jar too.

he winks on the way out, smiling at how flabbergasted you looked.

the door shut. mrs. cadrillion walked back in to the main room.

“who was that darling boy? a friend from school?” she asked, moving another pile of books back into her office. 

“a friend... yeah...” you answer her as if you’re on autopilot.

friends. how weird did that sound? it didn’t feel right... you pulled out the $10 bill and note as soon as she closed the door again.

“my number is 289 xxx 5714 <3. call me :) -stupid boy”

you feel even more butterflies, and you quickly glance around the store before you pull out your phone and send a very confident text.

“hey, stupid boy. it’s me. you need to apologize for stealing my heart during work hours. I could get fired for that, ya know.”

you wait a minute, and then a minute more. you get a little worried that the text was too flashy for a moment, until your phone lights up.

“sure thing. how about I take you out for coffee as an apology. maybe if you need more of an apology I can be your “stupid boyfriend.”

there were the butterflies again. stupid boy.

“take me out for coffee first and then we’ll see ;)”

but you already knew your decision.

[july-19th-club]

i’m a curious/terrified sophomore in college contemplating the future, and i was wondering how you became a librarian? which area, what did you do in undergrad, how did you decide on that career—the cliche stuff. i’m looking into archival and information studies mostly bc i think libraries and museums are cool af places academically and socially, and the evolving media landscape does interesting things to them but like… is that motivation gonna cut it?? how does one Go About figuring this out lol

weeellll im gonna tell you first off that i did not major in anything library related, and the main reason i have my job rn is luck - so i dont know if i can really answer your questions. i majored in creative writing and english, and was/am intending to publish novels. after college i managed to get a part time (like, VERY part-time, like 15 hours a week part time) at a small-town public library (like VERY small; it was two rooms and i was one of two employees). but i learned the computer system and the basics of shelving and patron interaction there and when a position opened up at a nearby slightly larger library (like, three floors and thirty staff members at the time) i was able to apply and i got the job on the basis of the fact that i was the only one of the candidates who already was familiar with the computer system. then i worked part-time there for a year or two, got laid off during the early pandemic, got brought back after a couple months and offered a full-time position because we had a number of elderly employees who were retiring, and got put in charge of donations and memorials with no prior experience in either and spent the last year and a half in a constant state of flying by the seat of my pants. because we now only have about 12 employees, it's a very everyone-does-everything all-hands-on-deck situation and the only thing i don't regularly do around the library is story hour or the children's floor.

so in some ways what you do in college doesn't have as much bearing as you'd think on what you do later in life. if i want to advance any further at work and head a department or order books, i would need a MLS, and at least at my library the board pays for any online classes you take to round out your degree. but i feel like i'm busy enough already that i don't want to try to fit in college work again if i'm not physically at college. most of the people i currently work with did not go to school for library sciences - the people i work with at the circ desk were a newspaper photographer and a fine arts student, respectively, and downstairs in children's we have a former architecture professor and a woman who mostly did childcare before becoming a children's librarian. everyone where i work who has their MLS degree got it online while already working at the library.

SO i don't know if that's encouraging or the opposite...i think whatever it is that you're aiming to do, focus on the practical aspects of the job. if there's a local library or museum that has open part-time positions near where you go to school, see if you can apply. or see if your school does work-study at the college library. what you learn just working there can act like an apprenticeship of sorts, and you can use it when you do get your degree to say "I have experience with X cataloging system" or "I know both Dewey and Library of Congress filing systems" or what-have-you. and since you're interested in archival stuff, know that's gonna be very different from what i do, and the college library might be a better place to find practical experience in it. but i do think that a degree can only take you so far, and having concrete "i worked here for x many months, i know how to do x specific thing or use x specific tool" will be way more valuable when you look for a job in your field. then any future libraries/museums/etc that you apply at will see not just that you're *interested* in the work but that you know *how* it works, and you could jump into a position with minimal training.

i...hope this helps? i realize it's not exactly the answer you were looking for, but it's the information i have. and it's a fun field to work in, even at the local public level where it's mostly confused patrons trying to figure out how their wifi hotspot works and very little poring over old texts for obscure references. and having phrases like *evolving media landscape* ready to go never hurts.

[effieduan]

GIVE RIO JOB 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 | Rio & Effie

TIMING: Present

LOCATION: Vulpine Voltage Repairs

PARTIES: @3starsquinn & @effieduan

SUMMARY: Rio’s ability to afford groceries is called into question.

CONTENT:  No Triggers!

Effie sat at the counter, tinkering with a giant black box. It was a monster, a dinosaur, and an absolute disgrace to modern computers. But Florence wanted it back in suitable working condition because it was “so simple”. Effie learned early on in this business that it was important to give the customer what they wanted -- even if she thought she could give them a better experience. Florence was elderly, and she could understand wanting things to stay the way they were. And truthfully, after Effie was done with this big old dinosaur, there wouldn’t be much to complain about other than its size and heavy weight -- that reminded her. She would have to schedule a drop off at Florence’s apartment. Watching the little old woman waddle in carrying that thing had almost given her a heart attack. She was working on replacing the cooling fan when she heard the door jingle as someone entered.

She would have preferred to be in the back sitting in her workshop, but that meant  she would have to constantly be getting up from her work to come out front whenever a customer came. Annoying. She poked her head up over the harddrive to get a look at her customer. “Just a second,” she said, swiftly hopping off the stool, placing her tools on the counter, and grabbing her lime-green gloves. She looked at the boy. College student, most likely. “Can I help you?” she asked. “Did something break?”

In a lot of ways, a shop like this should make Orion feel right at home. Ever since he was old enough, he practically lived on his computer if he wasn’t reading. Nowadays, he did a lot of his reading on the computer anyways, with the scribe archive coming along. It was slowly but surely growing, and Rio was starting to find it easier to find information through the database instead of skimming through the books like he always had to before. Of course, there were probably thousands of books still unaccounted for, but he had tried to prioritize to get some of the most common books translated first.

If his pastimes weren’t enough, then his old second major made a shop like this feel even more familiar. Computer science had always felt like more of a means to an end than an actual passion, but he had still picked up on a few things in the first two years before he had dropped it to focus on history and mythology. After all, the groundwork for the database had already been built thanks to Winston’s help. That was what Rio had wanted the degree for in the first place.

Now, Rio just needed work. Money wasn’t exactly tight. His parents had left behind a generous amount split between himself and Athena, and despite the size and grandeur of the home that he currently lived in, his living expenses were surprisingly cheap. Perks of only paying utilities he supposed. Still, a steady income wouldn’t hurt. And despite the change in majors, Rio still knew enough about technology that a place like this could be a potential job option. If they were hiring that was. “Hey there.” Rio gave a small wave when the woman behind the counter spoke to him and slid closer to the counter. His fingers began tapping against it rhythmically as he considered his words, “Nope. Nothing broken here. Not technology anyways” Rio rattled off, letting his words slowly fade as he realized this was not the best conversation starter, “I was actually just wondering if you knew if this place was hiring? I’m sort of looking for employment.”

Effie stared at Rio, mouth opening slightly in surprise. “... Employment…” Effie said slowly, as if she didn’t quite understand. Truth be told, she didn’t understand. She was quite clear that she was not looking for any other staff for her store, even if Eva told her she was being ridiculous because she would get so much more work done if she had someone watching the front counter while she sat and worked on orders in the back. And what did this boy mean by nothing broken - at least not technology. Was that a Gen Z thing? Was she so old that she was starting to call things gen z things? Was she going to rage war on middle parts and baggy jeans next? Effie had to shake herself out her head, reminding herself she was going to live long enough to see Gen Z 10.0, to stare at the boy. He was… Skinny. And polite enough. Effie’s snarky comment of why didn’t you check the website’s F.A.Q before coming in here died on her lips. “Uh -- “ Effie coughed. “I own this store,” she said. “My name is Effie Duan. And I’m not - I mean, I’m not really looking for employees.”

The woman, who turns out was the owner of the store, didn’t seem especially thrilled about the idea of Orion asking if she was hiring. Apparently, that wasn’t something she did a lot of. Or maybe at all. Rio had passed by the store on a few occasions, had only actually popped inside once or twice to check the place out, but he clearly remembered her face from each visit. Did she have any other employees, or was she running this place all by herself? “Oh! That’s awesome. Hi there. My name’s Rio. Technically it’s Orion, but nobody calls me that except my family.” Rio exclaimed, holding a hand out towards the woman as a means of introduction. He quickly backtracked to correct himself, “Er- well I guess my family used to call me that. Now nobody really does.” Well that was awkward. Definitely not the greatest first impression. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to bother you or anything.” Rio bit at his lip. Well there went another option. Was he cursed to live on his family’s money in that oversized home forever? Could that even be counted as a curse? “Do you uh- run this place all by yourself? Because that’s crazy impressive. How do you have time to do everything?”

Effie’s gaze shot down to the hand he outstretched to her as if it was going to bite her. She did not like contact, especially with humans. Well, especially with anyone. Still, that’s why she wore the gloves. They were the solution and the reason she could be around people. Effie quickly recovered and reached out to shake his hand, hoping he didn’t mind the feeling of rubber. “Orion,” she said. “Rio.” Only his family called him Orion -- had called him… Something flashed in Effie’s memory about the doctor and business owner that were brutally murdered, leaving behind their children. She didn’t remember the girl’s name, but she did remember Orion because it had been one of  Eva’s favorite constellations growing up. Then again, Eva’s favorite constellation changed every week - maybe she just remembered Orion because she would get poked in the side with a stick shrieking and giggling. Now that was a reason Effie never wanted to have kids. Her demeanor softened though, realizing that this kid was on his own now. She felt that familiar, heavy feeling in her chest -- like whenever she looked at a frustrated old woman who just wanted her dinosaur hard drive fixed or a man that just wanted a stupid gaming system repaired because it meant a lot to his father. Effie cursed under her breath, straightening slightly. How hard must it have been to have your parents murdered and now had to provide for himself?

“You’re not a bother, Rio,” she said shortly. “It’s just - I mean, I do run this place by myself. It’s my store - my business, I mean. I’m open Monday through Friday, from 9-5 and then on Saturday’s from 9-12.” Officially, at least. More often than not, she was here, open late or early because it wasn’t like she did much. “So … Well…” Effie looked at Rio. God, could he afford groceries? He was so skinny! “What - What experience do you have?” she asked, lamely.

Orion tilted his head curiously as Effie repeated his name, followed by his nickname to him. “That’s me.” Rio responded quietly, trying to figure out what Effie was thinking about. Clearly something was processing. She was still looking up towards him, but she wasn’t meeting his gaze, instead staring past it. She must have been lost in her thoughts, the same way Rio did. “That sounds busy.” Rio agreed, listening to her hectic schedule. While RIo tried to keep himself busy too, none of his hobbies were exactly time sensitive besides his classes. She was bound to this schedule to run a business. Owning a business in general was way more stress than Rio thought he could handle. Being the sole employee was another thing entirely. She surprised him when she asked about his experience. Hadn’t she just said that they weren’t hiring? “Oh well uh-” Rio considered her question. Technically, he didn’t have much. Not officially. “Well I used to be a double major with computer science as one of those. I’m still a double major, just not computer science anymore. But I learned quite a bit in the first couple of years. I’m pretty decent when it comes to like coding and stuff.” Rio scratched at his neck nervously. It wasn’t like he could exactly show off the database he and Winston had built. Not without looking completely insane. “And I also worked as an assistant in my old job, taking calls and talking to people that came in. It uh- burnt down last year.”

Gears were churning in Effie’s mind as she stared at Rio. He certainly had a series of unfortunate events happen to him. Parents murdered and his job burnt down. Other than making sure some poor college kid could afford groceries, she would get her sisters off her back. It wasn’t only Eva that thought she worked too much. Not to mention if this kid could code, he was likely smart enough to learn how to fix phone screens and the like so she didn't have to waste time with those while she worked on her larger products. Not to mention, if she didn’t have to answer the phone or talk to people… Temptation was something Effie learned not to engage with a long time ago because it only led to disappointment and more self loathing than she could handle. What would she do about this kid’s safety? Make him wear gloves? “A couple of years in computer science is certainly better than nothing,” Effie said finally. “What do you study now?” That seemed like a decent question to ask. She could put him in a full rubber suit, though she wondered if that would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. It wasn’t like the feds would believe it was just her version of wrapping him in bubblewrap.

But how many incidents did she have in her shop? She was comfortable here in her shop and her apartment. Other than making the lights flash when frustrated, she never had done anything dangerous. The danger happened when she inevitably had to go outside. “Look, Rio,” Effie started. “I think -- Why don’t we try it out?” The words fell out of her mouth, surprising herself that she was going through with it. “Obviously, you’re a college student, and I don’t expect you to work all the hours my store is open. We can adjust to your schedule so you can have a healthy class life and social life as well as adequate free time to decompress.” Now she sounded like Eva, who frequently lectured her about what it was like to actually live. Not an option for her. She looked at Rio, before remembering something. “Oh, and I should… Probably check your references.”

[bensk]

Be curious. Be humble. Be useful.

I was invited to give the annual Taub Lecture for graduating Public Policy students at the University of Chicago, my alma mater and the department from which I graduated. This is what I came up with.

---

I am incredibly grateful and honored to be here tonight. The Public Policy program literally changed my life.

My name is Ben Samuels-Kalow, my pronouns are he/him/his. I’m a 2012 Public Policy graduate, and I will permit myself one “back in my day” comment: When I was a student here, the “Taub Lecture” were actual lectures given by Professor Taub in our Implementation class. I’ve spent the last nine years teaching in the South Bronx. For the past two years, I have served as Head of School at Creo College Prep, a public charter school that opened in 2019.

I was asked tonight to tell you a bit about my journey, and the work that I do. My objection to doing this is that there is basically nothing less interesting than listening to a white man tell you how he got somewhere, so I'll keep it brief. I grew up in New York City and went to a public high school that turned out Justice Elena Kagan, Chris Hayes, Lin-Manuel Miranda, among many others…none of whom were available tonight.

We, on this Zoom, all have one thing in common — we have been very, very close to graduating from the University of Chicago. I have never sat quite where you sit. I didn’t graduate into a pandemic. But the truth is that everyone graduates into a crisis. The periods of relative ease, the so-called “ends of history”, even the end of this pandemic, are really matters of forced perspective. This crisis isn’t over. Periods of relative peace and stability paper over chasms of structural inequality.

You went to college with the people who will write the books and go on the talk shows and coin the phrases to describe our times. You could write that book. You could go into consulting and spend six weeks at a time helping a company figure out how to maximize profits from their Trademark Chasm Expanding Products.

You could also run into the chasm.

What is the chasm?

It is the distance between potential and opportunity. It is a University on the South Side of Chicago with a student body that is 10% Black and 15% Latinx, with a faculty that is 65% white.

It is eight Black students being admitted to a top high school in New York City...in a class of 749.

What is the chasm?

The chasm is that in our neighborhood in The Bronx, where I’m standing right now, 1 in 4 students can read a book on their grade level, and only 1 in 10 will ever sit in a college class.

It is maternal mortality and COVID survival rates. The chasm is generational wealth and payday loans.

It is systemic racism and misogyny.

It is the case for activism and reparations.

In my job, the chasm is the distance between the creativity, brilliance, and wit that my students possess, and the opportunities the schools in our neighborhood provide.

In the zip code in which I grew up in New York City, the median income is $122,169. In the zip code where I have spent every day working since I graduated from UChicago, the median income is $30,349. The school where I went to 7th grade and this school where next year we will have our first 7th grade are only a 15 minute drive apart.

In my first quarter at UChicago, I joined the Neighborhood Schools Program, and immediately fell in love with working in schools. I joined NSP because a friend told me how interesting she found the work. I’d done some tutoring in high school, and had taught karate since I was 15. I applied, was accepted, and worked at Hyde Park Academy on 62nd and Stony Island in a variety of capacities from 2008 to 2012.

At the time, Hyde Park Academy had one of very few International Baccalaureate programs on the South Side, and every spring, parents would line up out the door of the school to try to get their rising 9th grader in. I worked with an incredible mentor teacher and successive classes of high school seniors whose wit, creativity, and skill would've been at home in the seminars and dorm discussions we all have participated in three blocks north of their high school.

In my work at Hyde Park Academy, I learned the first lesson of three lessons that have shaped my career as a teacher. Be curious. I had been told in Orientation that there were “borders” to the UChicago experience, lines we should not cross. I am forever grateful to the people who told me to ignore that BS. Our entire department is a testimony to ignoring that BS. We ask questions like, why did parents line up for hours to get into what was considered a “failing” high school? Why had no one asked my kids to write poetry before? Why are they more creative and better at writing than most of the kids I went to high school with, but there is only one IB class and families have to literally compete to get in? I learned as much from my job three blocks south of the University as I did in my classes at the University...which is to say, I was learning a LOT, but I had a lot more to learn.

I knew I wanted to be a teacher from my first quarter here. I did my research. The Boston Teacher Residency was the top program in the country, so I applied there. I was a 21 year old white man interested in education, so...I applied to Teach for America. In the early 2010’s, I looked like the default avatar on a Teach for America profile. It was my backup option. I was all in on Boston, and was sure, with four years working in urban schools, a stint at the Urban Education Institute, and, at the time, seven years of karate teaching under my belt, I was a shoe in.

I was rejected from both programs. Which brings me to my second lesson. Be humble. We are destined for and entitled to nothing. There is an aphorism I learned from one of my favorite podcasts, Another Round: "carry yourself with the confidence of a mediocre white man." If you are a mediocre white man, like me, do as much as you can not to be. If you look like me, you live life on the "lowest difficulty setting." This means I need to question my gifts, contextualize my successes, and actively work against systems of oppression that perpetuate inequity.

Over the last two years, I have interviewed over 300 people to work at this school. There are a series of questions that I ask folks with backgrounds like myself:

Have you ever lived in a neighborhood that was majority people of color?

Have you ever worked on a team that was majority people of color?

Have you ever worked for a boss/supervisor/leader who was a person of color?

The vast majority of white folks, myself at 21 included, could not answer “yes” to these three questions. This is disappointing, but I've also lived and worked in two of the most segregated cities on this continent, so it is not surprising. By the time I sat where you’re sitting now, I had learned a lot about education policy and sociology. I'd taken every class that Chad offered at the time. I'd worked at UEI, I'd worked in a South Side high school for four years, and I still thought I was entitled to something. Unlearning doesn't usually happen in a moment, and I certainly didn't realize it at the time, but these rejections were the best thing that has happened to me in my growth as a human.

I moved back home to New York, was accepted to my last-choice teaching program, and started teaching at MS 223: The Laboratory School of Finance & Technology. I ended up teaching there for 5 years. I had incredible mentors, met some of my best friends, started a Computer Science program that’s used as a model at hundreds of schools across New York City…and most importantly, while making copies for Summer School in July of 2015, I met my wife.

All this to say — if you aren’t 100% convinced that what you’re doing next year is Your Thing, keep an open mind…and make frequent stops in the copy room.

I learned that teaching was My Thing. I didn't want to do ed policy research. I got to set education policy, conduct case studies, key informant interviews, run statistical analysis…with 12 year olds. This was the thing I couldn’t stop talking about, reading about, learning about. I really and truly did not care about the “UChicago voices” of my parents and my friends who kept asking what I was going to do next. My answer: teach.

If you look like me, and you teach Computer Science, there are opportunities that come flying your way. I was offered jobs with more prestige, jobs with more pay, jobs far away from the South Bronx. I was offered jobs I would have loved. But I’d learned a third lesson: be useful. If you have a degree from this place, people will always ask you what the next promotion or job is. They will ask "what's next for you" and they will mean it with respect and admiration.

Here’s the thing: teaching was what’s next. “But don’t you want to work in policy?” Teaching is a political act. It is hands-on activism, it is community organizing, it is high-tech optimistic problem-solving and low-tech relationship building. It is the reason we have the privilege of choosing a career, and it is a career worth choosing.

I had internalized what I like to call the Dumbledore Principle: “I had learned that I was not to be trusted with power.” This meant unlearning the very UChicago idea that if you were smart and if you think and talk like we are trained to think and talk at this place, you should be in charge. The best things in my life have come from unlearning that. Learning from mentors to never speak the way I was praised for in a seminar. Learning from veteran teachers how to be a warm demander who was my authentic best self...and more importantly brought out the authentic best self in my students. Being useful isn't the same thing as being in charge…and that is ok.

I believe this deeply. Which is why, when I was offered the opportunity to design and open a school, my first thought was absolutely the hell no. I said to my wife: “I’m a teacher. Dumbledore Principle — we’re supposed to teach, make our classrooms safe and wonderful for our kids.”

I also knew that teaching kids to code wasn’t worth a damn if they couldn’t read and write with conviction, so I started looking for schools that did both — treated kids like brilliant creatives who should learn to create the future AND met them where they were with rigorous coursework that closed opportunity gaps. In our neighborhood, there were schools that did the latter, that got incredible results for kids. Then there was my school, where kids learned eight programming languages before they graduated, but at which only 40% of our kids could read.

We were lauded for this, by the way. 40% was twice the average in our district. We were praised for the Computer Science — the mayor of New York and the CEO of Microsoft visited and met with my students. It felt great. I wasn’t convinced it was useful.

Kids in the neighborhood where I grew up didn’t have to choose between a school that was interesting and a school that equipped them with the knowledge and skills to pursue their own interests in college and beyond. Why did our students have to choose? I delivered this stressed-out existential monologue to my wife that boiled down to this: every kid deserves a school where they were always safe, and never bored. We weren’t working at a school like that. I was being offered a chance to design one. But…Dumbledore principle.

My wife took it all in, looked at me, and said: “You idiot. Dumbledore RAN a school.”

Friends, you deserve a partner like this.

The road to opening Creo College Prep, and the last two years of leading our school as we opened, closed, opened online, finished our first year, moved buildings, opened online again, opened in-person (kind of) and now head into our third year, has reinforced my lessons from teaching — be curious, be humble, be useful. These lessons are about both learning and unlearning. A white guy doing Teach for America at 21 is a stereotype. A white guy starting a charter school is a stereotype with significant capital, wading into complicated political and pedagogical waters. The lessons I learn opening a school and the unlearning I must do to be worthy of the work are not destinations, they are journeys.

Be curious

I didn’t just open a school. Schools are communities, they are institutions, and they are bureaucracies. If you work very, very hard, and with the right people, they become engines that turn coffee and human potential into joy and intellectual thriving capable of altering the trajectory of a child’s life.

First you have to find the right people. I joined a school design fellowship, spent a year visiting 50 high-performing schools across the country, recruited a founding board of smart, committed people who hold me accountable, and spent time in my community learning from families what they wanted in a school. There is studying public policy, and then there is attending Community Board meetings and Community Education Council Meetings, and standing outside of the Parkchester Macy's handing out flyers and getting petition signatures at Christmastime next to the mall Santa.

I observed in schools while writing my BA, and as a teacher, but it was in this fellowship that I learned to “thin slice,” a term we borrowed from psychology that refers to observing a small interaction and finding patterns about the emotions and values of people. In a school, it means observing small but crucial moments — how does arrival work, how are students called on, how do they ask for help in a classroom, how do they enter and leave spaces, how do they move through the hallways, where and how do teachers get their work done — and gleaning what a school values, and how that translates into impact for kids. Here’s how I look at schools:

Does every adult have an unwavering belief that students can, must, and will learn at the highest level?

Do they have realistic and urgent plans for getting every kid there? Are these beliefs and plans clear and held by kids?

Are all teachers strategic, valorizing planning and intellectual nerdery over control or power?

Is the curriculum worthy of the kids?

Can kids explain why the school does things they way they do? Can staff? Can the leader?

If I'm in the middle of teaching and I need a pen or a marker, what do I do? Is that clear?

What’s the attendance rate? How do we follow up on kids who aren’t here?

How organized and thoughtful are the physical and digital spaces?

Are kids seen by their teachers? Are their names pronounced correctly? Do their teachers look like them? Do they make them laugh, think, and revise their answers?

Would I want to work here? Would I send my own kids here?

Be humble

I learned that there are really two distinct organizations that we call “school.” One is an accumulation of talent (student and staff) that happens to be in the same place at the same time, operating on largely the same schedule.

These were the schools I attended. These are schools you got to go to if you got lucky and you were born in a zip code with high income and high opportunity. These are schools where you had teachers who were intellectually curious, and classmates whose learning deficits could be papered over by social capital…and sometimes, straight up capital.

“Accumulation of talent” also describes the schools I worked at. These were schools where if you got lucky and you were extraordinary in your intelligence, determination, support network, and teachers who’d decided to believe in you, you became one of the stories we told. “She got into Cornell.” “That whole English class got into four year colleges.”

Most schools in this country, it turns out, are run like this. I knew all about local control and the limits of federal standards on education and the battles over teacher evaluations and so much other helpful and important context I learned in my PBPL classes.  But when thin-slicing a kindergarten classroom in Nashville on my first school visit of the Fellowship, I saw a whole other possibility of what “school” can be.

School can be a special place organized towards a single purpose. One team, one mission. Where the work kids do in one class directly connects to the next, and builds on the prior year. Where kids are treated like the important people they are and the important people they will be, where students and staff hold each other to a high bar, where there is rigor and joy. A place where staff train together so that instead of separate classrooms telling separate stories about how to achieve, there is one coherent language that gives kids the thing they crave and deserve above all else: consistency.

We get up every morning to build a school like that. It’s why my team starts staff training a month before the first day of school. It’s why we practice teaching our lessons so that we don’t waste a moment of our kids’ time. It’s why everyone at our school has a coach, including me, so we can be a better teacher tomorrow than we were today. It’s why we plan engaging, culturally responsive, relevant lessons. It’s how we keep a simple, crucial promise to every family: at this school, you will always be safe, and you will never be bored.

Be useful

Statistically speaking, it is not out of the realm of possibility that several of you will one day be in a position to make big sweeping policy changes. You will have the power to not only write position papers, but to Make Big Plans. I will be rooting for you, but I hope that you won’t pursue Big Plans for the sake of Big Plans.

The architect who designed the Midway reportedly said "make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood." I had that quoted to me in several lectures at this school, and you know what?

It’s bullshit.

I am asking you not to care about scale. Good policy isn’t about scale, it’s about implementation, and implementation requires the right people on the ground. Implementation can scale. The right people cannot. We can Make Big Plans, but every 6th grade math class still needs an excellent math teacher. That's a job worth doing. I could dream about starting 20 schools, but every school needs a leader. That’s a job worth doing. Places like UChicago teach us to ask "what's next" for our own advancement, to do this now so we can get to that later. I learned to ask "what's next" to be as useful as possible to as many kids as I have in front of me.

I hold these two thoughts in my mind:

The educational realities of the South Bronx have a lot more to do with where highways were built in our neighborhood than with No Child Left Behind or charter schools, and require comprehensive policy change that address not only educational inequity, but environmental justice, and systemic racism.

The most useful policy changes I can make right now are to finalize the schedule for our staff work days that start on June 21, get feedback on next year’s calendar from families, and finish hiring the teachers our kids deserve.

I will follow the policy debates of #1 with great interest, but I know where I can be useful, and I’ll wake up tomorrow excited to make another draft of the calendar. I hope you get to work on making your Small Plans, and I will leave you with the secret — or at least the way that worked for me:

Find yourself people who are smarter than you and who disagree with you. Find problems you cannot shut up or stop thinking about. Do what you can’t shut up about with intellect and kindness. Use the privilege and opportunity that we have because we went to this school to make sure that opportunity for others does not require privilege. Run into the chasm.

Be curious, be humble, be useful.

Thank you.

[justoneday-namjoonii]

Too Sweet. Part- 13 BTSvampire!au

Genre: Angst | Fluff | Mature themes / Descriptions of blood and…other things/ Supernatural

Biased: You X Yoongi X Jungkook X Vampire!au BTS

Type: Vampire!au

summary:  y/n is on a botany retreat to a dreamy island that leads to a surprising encounter and startling discovery!

A/n:Thank you for reading and enjoy!!❤

| INTRO I Pt. 1 I Pt. 2 I Pt. 3 I Pt. 4 I Pt. 5 I Pt. 6 I Pt. 7 I Pt. 8 | Pt. 9 | Pt. 10 | Pt. 11 | Pt. 12 |

In the corner of the library at 7 o’clock in the morning, you sit curled up on a study-chair with your reading glasses stuck to your face. Finals week. Every other paragraph you write down a few notes and your handwriting is beginning to look more and more like hieroglyphics. Despite the stress from a bunch of classes, your glad that your classmate just informed you of the donor requested break policy—a policy that no one had bothered to mention to you. 

Basically, you can request a period where you don’t feed and they respect it. You requested two weeks, and despite the cries from Tae and Jimin to make an exception, you declined—you need a break. After everything that’s been happening, Rain coming here, Jungkook acting out, and even Yoongi, it’s been really stressful and Jin actually thought a break was just what you needed to regroup.

“Y/n, I was wondering where you were,” Namjoon peeks around the corner, “still studying I see.”

“Yeah, I have a test at 9 so just thought I’d just get some extra studying in.”

“Hm,” He nods, “so how are you liking your break?”

You furrow your brow and look up at him briefly. “It’s nice.”

“That’s nice.” He nods, leaning against the bookshelf for no reason.

“Um, did you need something or?—”

“I was wondering, what is your field of study?”

“I’ve been in general studies up until now, why do you ask?” 

“Jin wanted me to ask you if you were interested in the botany program. An internship just opened and he thought you’d be great for it.” He finally gets to what he came here to say.

Your eyes brighten. “Really? Well, I’ve always thought about botany but I never knew much about it. Would I have to change any of my classes if I started the program?”

“No, we might switch one of your classes around with one of the required courses for the program but it won’t be difficult. Besides, your grades are good so I don’t think an extra class would put you in a rough spot. I’ve skimmed through your test scores and I’m proud, especially of your biology test. Honestly, you were struggling so much in our study sessions, I didn’t think you were gonna make it, but you did.” He grins like a proud teacher and you giggle because that's not the first time Namjoon has shared his concern regarding your lack of promise during lessons. “What? I’m proud.”

“Namjoon, you sound like my advisor or something,” You laugh, putting your book down to stretch your legs and pull your hoddie hood off your head.

“I kind of am in a way,” He takes his hand out of his pocket to comb it through his hair, “your academic life is important to me.”

“Quick question, why didn’t Jin just tell me about this himself? He normally would tell me something like that over tea or something, is he really busy this morning?”

“You know the whole Jungkook situation is stressing him out so he’s relying on me to relay the message, but he sends his love. He’ll be out for a majority of the day and if you accept the offer, you’ll be packing for the botanical sciences retreat so you’ll see him tonight.”

“A retreat?” You have the widest smile, “You mean like a vacation?”

“No, not a vacation- Although, the botanical gardens on the Island are exceptionally beautiful this time of year the spas there are amazing-”

“Islands!? I get to go to the Island and its for school? I’m definitely accepting now.” You glance up at the clock on the wall and sigh, “I’ll see you later, I gotta go sign in for testing.” You pack up your books and Namjoon watches you run off and out of the library.

Namjoon has been thinking a lot about your time here at the college and over the past year, he’s realized some things. Firstly, he’s recognized that there aren’t many donors that get the opportunity to spend as much time as you do with people like him. He’s got scholarly titles that he’s not even sure you know about and some of the top-paying families have paid him to mentor their children. But here you are, not rich by any means, in fact, you’re here on a well-deserved scholarship awarded by Jin. And he’s felt like he’s taken you under his wing and all he’s wants is for you is the best.

It’s almost a maternal feeling he has towards you and your education. That’s a lot coming from him, he’s not the type to just dish out his help like a tutoring center. Normally he wants compensation of some sort. He has an extraordinary mind and one lesson with him can cost a pretty penny if they’re willing.

Namjoon left the library and went back to Jungkook’s lovely little abode across the campus. But rather than Jungkook being inside looking for something to get into, he was out on the track, running to his heart's content.

Namjoon approaches the track and Jungkook’s personal trainer is standing at the finish line with his hands on his hips.

“He’s doing well. Working out has lightened him up a little bit,” The trainer says, watching Jungkook run up to them when he caught Namjoon’s eye.

“Hyung,” He slows down, panting lightly with his damp hair sticking to the side of his face, “hey,”

“Hey, Jungkook. You look refreshed,” Namjoon grins, “I came to let you know that we’re leaving tonight and your uncle will be stopping by tomorrow morning to check on you.” The trainer says Jungkook can go shower because they’re done for the day so they make they’re way to the house.

“Where are you going?” 

“Botany retreat, it’s a three-day trip. Jin is going and for the first day and since Y/n has entered the program, she’s going too.”

“Oh...” Jungkook looked down for a moment, a bit shy suddenly, “H- How is she by the way?”

“She’s good. Right now she’s taking a donor break so she’s living like a normal human girl.” Namjoon was slightly taken aback but he answered nonetheless. “Why do you ask?”

Jungkook runs the back of his neck and sighs. “Uh, I don’t know, I was wondering if she was still mad at me or something.” 

“You’d have to ask her. She’s been busy with her studies lately, so I’m sure the last thing she’s worried about is being mad at you.”

Jungkook had to laugh, knowing you two were always at odds made him like you even more.  “Beleive it or not, I do feel bad for what I did to her. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t take back what I said but I can see why I went about it in the wrong way.”

“That’s a start I guess.” Namjoon scoffed, not surprised by Jungkook’s partial apology. “Well, while we’re gone just call if you need anything.” He gives the younger a hug before saying his final goodbyes as he walked back to the main university building.

“Last time I checked, you aren’t in the botany program, Taehyung. So you won’t be joining us.”

Jin is sitting in the office part of his bedroom as a maid packs his suitcase with the appropriate attire for the island. Taehyung came in here not too long ago and he refuses to leave because he’s trying to get Jin to let him tag along.

“But I can transfer over, can’t I?”

“Taehyung, that’s so short notice, what program are you in now? Psychology, right?”

“The only reason I’m in that program is because of my abilities. My parents want me to know how to use my gift with a well-rounded understanding of how the mind works. It’s so boring sometimes.” Tae leans on the desk with a pout.

“Look, you have to finish your program. Your parents are right, your gift can really help people if you know how to use it. But,” Jin sighs, “I think we have room for one more guest.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Taehyung bolts out of the room to pack his bag and Jin just shakes his head. If there’s one person who could talk him into something, it was Taehyung—that’s the only time he’s annoyed by his powers.

“Sir, your bag is packed, is there anything else you need?”

“No, thank you, Bella, you can go.” Jin dismisses her and his eyes go back to his computer. This trip has always been something he’s looked forward to. Even though he normally can’t stay for the entirety of the trip, the first two nights are always beautiful. The gardens are very well-maintained and every time he goes he learns about new medicinal herbs that he purchases to bring back to the schools. 

Namjoon slips through the door after mentally sending Jin a little warning.

“Do you come bearing gifts?” Jin grins to himself when he sees the plate in Namjoon’s hands.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” He sits a plate of assorted pastries in front of him. “The pastry chef just put these out, she let me have first pick.” He smiles, taking the chocolate croissant for himself with swiftness. 

“Thank you, I was getting a little hungry,” JIn takes on and sits it on a napkin so he can finish typing, “did you talk to her by the way?” Jin peeks up at Namjoon whos sitting idly in the chair in front of the desk.

“I did, she accepted and she’s pretty excited about it.”

“Oh, I’m glad,” He sighs in relief, “this program will be good for her.”

“Yeah, I think so too...But, just curious, what’s the sudden interest in her entering this program?”

“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve been doing my job very well. Ever since she’s started attending this school, I’ve realized forgotten that she’s not just here to give blood. I know that’s the exchange for her degree but that’s not all she is. I’ve let her unusual situation influence what I allow and don’t allow. I mean, she’s close to me, I have a relationship with her that I don’t and never have had with any other donor. I feel like during this trip, once I leave she’ll have time to just be a student, no blood-related pressure or anything like that.”

“I get that, but you do have to remember her situation as well, she’s not just any donor, she’s the only one with blood like that in this country, let alone this school. That comes with a different set of rules and you shouldn’t feel guilty because you’re trying to figure that out.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But I do need her to spend some time outside of the university for a little bit, just so she can take time to focus on other things other than everyone wanting her for blood.” 

It was finally over, your last test of the day and midterms were no longer holding you mentally captive. You’re strolling through the campus to meet up with Jimin at the campus bakery before you leave this evening. He said he had a few art pieces he wanted to show you and you thought you’d make it a date.

When you open the bakery door, he’s sitting at one of the windows and his eyes land on yours. “Y/n,” His smile brightens as he stands up to pull out your seat, “how are you, love?” 

“I’m good, done with finals.” You give him a hug and he pecks your cheek. You take a seat and so does he.

“Well, to be honest,” He opens up his folder, “your donor break is killing me a little bit. But I’m glad to see you, spend a little time with you before you go.” 

“Yeah, I’ll be back before you know it. So, what are the pieces you wanted to show me?”

“This one,” He pulls out a sheet of paper and puts it in front of you, “it’s inspired by the pond near my family's retreat.”

“It’s beautiful, Jimin.” The pond on the painting is filled with lilies, the reflection of the trees nearby. The colors remind you of Monet, the impressionism is something you wish you could do as effortlessly as him. “What are these for?”

“The universities are having a joint exhibition and they want artists from royal families to participate in the collection. They chose me from my family, I was surprised they didn’t choose my mother. She’s got more talent than my whole family combined.”

“Is this something you want to do professionally?”

“I thought about teaching classes on the side, but I don’t know.”

You smile. “That’s a great idea! I know a lot of people who’d love a lesson with you-” 

“But I don’t think I can...My parents, they want something else for me. They’re fine with me continuing art but they can be really particular when it comes to my interests. They’d want to practice the art a prestigious art academy and feature in global exhibitions, that’s all a little too much for me right now.’

Your excitement dies down as his statement reminded you that he isn’t entirely free, he’s under his family’s jurisdiction in more areas of his life then you realize.

“It wouldn’t hurt to just try, you might end up loving teaching,” You have such a hopeful expression, “and your parents might just be okay with that,”

“Maybe,” He smiles, “Hey, I wanted to say that I’m so sorry for setting you up with Jungkook, I never formally apologized to you.”

“Jimin, it’s still hard for me to grasp anything that happens in this place,” You scoff, “You put me in a position where I was vulnerable, he could have done anything to me.” His eyes lower and you know he’s just beating himself up right now. 

“But he didn’t do anything to me, so we got lucky. I know it was your feeding cycle and you probably didn’t take your medicine, right?” He shakes his head. “You need to get back on that medicine, it keeps you and others safe. But Jimin, it’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it.” You place your hand on his and give him a genuine smile

“Y/n,” Namjoon walked into the cafe, “we’re leaving in 20 minutes, you should make sure you’re all packed before we put the luggage on the bus.”

“Oh, ok,” You stand up and walk around the little table to Jimin, “bye Jimin, I’ll see you when I get back.” He stands up and you hug him for a few seconds. 

He pecked your cheek and bid you farewell, already eager for your return as you follow Namjoon out of his sight. You rush to the common area where the students were advised to take their luggage. You look around for your suitcase and carry-on, you find it right where you had put it and let out a sigh of relief.

“I have everything.” You state confidently.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course.” You nod, “well, I might have left-”

“Your toothbrush, you can run and get it, be quick.”

Of course, he knew. You run to your bedroom and to your bathroom where you skim over everything just in case you might have forgotten anything else. Quickly, you grab an extra perfume, your toothbrush and walk down the hall—that’s when you realize you haven’t said goodbye to Yoongi. Even though he’s been a little standoffish lately, you thought it would be nice to at least say goodbye to him.

It takes you a little while, but you walked all the way from your dorm to their living space upstairs. At times like this, you wish you could initiate the whole mental bond where you can talk to one another. But now that you think about it, the bond might have weakened because of the lack of contact you two have had. That makes sense. You look around, the living room and his room and he’s nowhere to be found.

“Yoongi?” You call for him, assuming he might be napping or something.

“Y/n, come on! We’re leaving. What are you doing up here?”

“I was trying to say bye to Yoongi-” Namjoon places his hand on your back to lead you to the stairs.

“You’ll see him when we get back, we gotta go.” 

All you wanted to do was say goodbye and you can’t help but you feel like he’s trying to hide from you. 

When you finally get downstairs, the botany professor tells everyone to get on the bus. You stay close to Namjoon and follow him onto the bus, he’s kind of like a comforting presence in a bus of students you don’t know. Namjoon gestures for you to take a seat and you grudgingly oblige. Students are already chattering and giggling, excited about the trip. But you on the other hand, just want to go wherever Jin is because you feel socially awkward.

“Ok, do we have a headcount?” He looks at the professor in the front seat.

“Yes, we’re all here.”

“Great, I’ll be riding with Dr. Kim but we’ll meet you at the airport.” Namjoon turns to you with a tender grin. Y/n, you need to socialize with your peers.

Talk to someone, make some friends.

And that’s all he says to you before leaving you on the bus with no one you know except for Taehyung, and he’s chatting with his friends. You hug your sweater to your chest and sigh—this isn’t what you thought it’d be.

“Hi,” You hear a voice coming from above you and you peek up, “I’ve never seen you in a botany class before, what’s your name? I’m Xiaojun.”

“Hi, I’m Y/n.” You reach your hand out and he shakes it before moving to go sit with you. “Oh, you didn’t have to leave your friends-”

“No, it’s okay, I’ll spend all my time with them on the trip. You look a little,” he hesitates when you furrow your brow a bit, “shy?” He smiles, and his little fangs peek out. He’s a vampire.

“I’m not shy I just, I’m a little reserved when I don’t know a lot of people.” 

“Well, let’s get to know each other, then you’ll know someone. I’m actually from the island. I don’t know if you know but my island is famous for our medicinal herbs, plants, and organic and humane animal blood sourcing. We’re Pure Bloods and we do a lot of agricultural work. My family sent me to this school to get exposure to other places and people, broaden my horizons I guess.”

“Do you like it at Jin—” You catch yourself, you can’t just call him by his first name with everybody, “I’m sorry, Dr. Kim’s school?”

“I love it. There’s a reason my family sent me here and not to some other university, the education is top-notch, they know I’ll be healthy with whatever blood I’m given here. Plus, the university has prided itself on the human-vampire integration efforts.”

“Yeah, it is a great school. Not gonna lie, I do miss my family and friends back at home sometimes. But I have to remember that the education I’m getting now is for my future. When I go see my family, they’ll be so proud to see that I’m making something of myself.” 

“I feel the same way.” He slouches back in to chair. “Um, forgive me for asking but how come I can’t smell your blood at all?” 

“Oh, I was on a donor break so the nurse gave me scent-suppressants.” You push back a piece of hair, your face heating up when he leans in just slightly to confirm for himself.

“Wow, they must have given you a lot.” He pauses to laugh, “You have no scent whatsoever.”

“Yeah, they had to give me a little extra,” You glance out the window to remember your excuse, “I have somewhat of an immunity to them.”

3 times the regular dosage to be precise.

“Oh, that makes sense.” 

The rest of the ride, you realized how kind and easy-going a majority of the students were. Xiaojun introduced you to Melanie and Caterina, and eventually, you all began talking.

This isn’t so bad.

There you went, overthinking things and making yourself crazy over nothing. These people are sweet and you’re lucky that Jin let you switch to this program so last-minute. He treats you so well. Sometimes it feels like you’re undeserving of the special attention. Then you remember, you’re in all of this in exchange for your blood. Your blood is your free pass and it seems precarious—but a lot of things feel that way since you’ve been here. Other students seem to not notice but you’re pretty positive there are some students who suspect you. Nonetheless, you’re confident that you can hold your own and stand firm in the fact that you’re like any other student.

Soon enough, the bus pulls up at the airport and all of the students hurried out of the bus. You debated following Xiaojun, but when you saw Taehyung coming toward you, you figured you’d be sitting with him. 

“Everyone, follow me so we can get on the plane, it’s in gate G. The luggage is already taken care of so don’t worry about grabbing anything.” The professor signals to all of the students and you find yourself zoning out a little bit because you’re looking for Namjoon or Jin.

“Y/n,” Taehyung walks up to you and looks at you funny, you notice he dropped the pet name, “looking for Jin hyung and Namjoon hyung?” You nod. “They’re over there,” He points to the two of them and their small entourage, “but you can’t go with them, you have to stay here with the other students.”

Confusion flashes in your eyes, “But why-”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be here.” He smiles, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. 

“I’m not worried, I just- I was just wondering where they were.” You shrug, thoroughly disappointed that you were being kicked to the curb by those two. You guess that’s a little entitled that you think you’re supposed to be with them 24/7, but it’s what you’re used to. Taehyung stays by your side as the class is led to board the plane after FSA and a few bathroom trips. When you walk onto the plane, you’re greeted with a pretty flight attendant. 

“Good evening, miss.” She bows and you return it with a kind smile.

You’re led to a comfortable chair with a table in between the chair directly in front of you. To your delight, Namjoon comes to sit directly in front of you with a thick book in his hands.

“So, how did it go?” He inquires.

“It was good, I met Xiaojun and his friends, Melanie and Caterina, they were nice.” You cross your arms and sigh. “I socialized, happy?”

“Very.” He smirks. 

“Where’s Jin?” You look around, noticing that he had disappeared.

“He’s in the personal suite, he’s got a lot of business calls to take care of.” Namjoon sticks in his earphones in his ears and continues to read his book. You lean against the window and gaze out of the window, soon enough, your eyes slip shut and you drift to sleep.

When you wake up, everyone is unbuckling their seatbelts and taking their carry-ons and such. You blink, rubbing your eyes and sleepily unbuckling your seatbelt. You follow every one of off the plane and you inhale deeply when you walk out into the fresh air. A few vans pull up and you’re directed to get in the one with Xiaojun and a few other people. Everyone buckles up and the driver pulls out. Some of the students were talking about how beautiful the resort was, and how it's covered in thriving wildlife and surrounded by beaches.

Even though it’s dark out, you can still appreciate the beauty of the island. Judging by the tiny airport, it's not a highly populated place. 

You're pretty quiet on the ride to the resort but your mind wanders. Yoongi. He comes to your mind. And you know you shouldn't feel this way, but you're a little upset at him. He tends to be a little distant when he wants to be. Sometimes it makes you feel a little weird. Due to the bond, it's hard for you not to feel like he should at least validate you in some way. 

“Y/n,” Xiaojun calls your name from the seat next to you, “tonight they’re serving dinner out on the beach where they always serve it on the first night for the retreat. Some of my friends and family members will be there, I’ll introduce you to some of them.”

“That sounds nice,” You grin, finding it endearing that he’s taken such a liking to you. Then again, some of these people tend to like you so much because of your blood. What Jin regards as a gift, you see as a burden sometimes. You’ve come to terms with the fact that you’re just seen as a fulfilling meal to some of them. But you know Jin and the others see as more than that—Yoongi definitely has to see you as something more than that.

Eventually, you all made it to the resort and there was a group of women who lead you to your individual rooms. As they called everyone's names to take them to there rooms, you were the only one left in the foyer, awkwardly holding your hands.

“Hi, honey, this unit is actually taken,” A woman with beautiful long brown hair and bright eyes comes up to you, “what’s your name?”

“Y/n.”

“Oh! You’re the one Dr. Kim wanted in the other unit, that’s where your belongings are,” She smiles, putting her hand on your back to lead you out of the door, “you must be special.”

“No, I wouldn’t say that,” You let out a nervous laugh. She walks across the tropical plant-adorned walkway connecting the beach-houses and leads you to the one not too far from the other. She guides you up the stairs and into the house, when she opens the door, you immediately notice that it looks a bit personalized. Like personal touches were put on it, probably by Jin.

“Okay, your room is upstairs, I’ll show you,” She walks up the stairs and points to the room with the sunset-colored flour on the door. When she opens it for you, you instantly fall in love. The room is so charming and tropical, there’s a balcony and you see your belongings in there. “What do you think?”

You walk further into the room. “It’s beautiful, I love it. Thank you,” You sit your purse on the chair near the balcony and take a moment to take in your view of the beach. It’s so tranquil. 

“I’m glad you find it to your liking. My name is Layla, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask, okay? Also, dinner will be served outside in about fifteen minutes. Your muumuu is in the restroom, you can slip that on for dinner, it’s very comfortable.”

“Alright, thank you,” She grins before closing the door to leave you to wind down for a minute.

You walk into the large bathroom to see a multi-colored floral two-piece wrap hanging on the closet. You get undressed and put the dress on, it’s soft and sits right above your knees. You’re hoping you could buy more of these because you actually really like it. 

When you wash your face and freshen up a bit, you walk out of the room and you hear Namjoon.

“Layla, could you have brought here after the dinner? Preferably some of your freshly picked floral teas, surprise me.” He’s standing in the foyer on his phone and he changed as well. He’s wearing the same print but with white paints and a floral shirt, and a little necklace. When you walk downstairs, he immediately notices you and the biggest smile comes to his face.

“Aw, don’t you look precious.” He giggles, watching you walk down with the same slides that were provided for everyone in the house.

You can’t help but roll your eyes and laugh. “Thanks, you look nice too.”

“I love the clothes they give us here, they’re so comfortable.”

“Yeah, um, how come Jin has me in here with you guys? I thought I’d be with that other students.”

“I thought so too, I’m not sure why he changed it. Anyway, let’s head over to the eat, I’m sure they’re about to start bringing dishes out.” 

The two of you walk out together and Namjoon leads the way of course because he knows where it is. When you start walking into the sand you can see the light lit by fire and a huge mat of some sort where a long table is. You can see other students coming from their rooms and taking seats wherever. And you get excited as soon as you see Jin, sitting next to Taehyung and someone you’d never met.

“There’s no need to be nervous, it’s just dinner.” Namjoon teases, taking his rightful seat next to Taehyung and you sit next to him.

“I know that it’s the new people, not the meal,” You mumble.

“Y/n,” You hear a small call of your name and look to where it’s coming from, it’s Xiaojun, “this is my cousin, Kun.” The guy next to him waves.

“Hi,

“Hi, nice to meet you.” He smiles and you feel a warmness from him. “Xiaojun says you’re new to the program?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Well, I hope you enjoy your first experience here. Our people have been supplying medicinal herbs, plants, basically anything you can grow right here on this island. Vampires all over the world buy from us and humans as well.”

“Really?”

“Yep, and we discover new plants and herbs on our sister islands every year or so.” 

He goes on and on but you actually get really drawn into what he has to say about the contributions the island makes. It draws the attention Jin and you don’t even notice. He’s talking to some other people and Namjoon so he’s not going to talk to you now, but he wants to know how you’re doing. By the time the conversation comes to an end, dinner is over. The food was delicious and you’re already ready for breakfast.

“It was nice talking to you Kun,” You stand and give him a small bow, “have a good night.” 

“You too, Y/n.”

You walk back to the house, slides in your hand so you can feel the sand under your feet. When you get up the stairs, you enter the house and go straight to the shower. Overall, this day has been pretty successful. You met people, learned some things, and even ventured out of your comfort zone. 

Before you head to the shower, you pull your toiletries and pajamas out of your suitcase. The shower is tiled with smoothe gray pabbles that feel heavenly under your feet and the showerhead is like a gentle rain. You get out of the shower after a good fifteen minutes and do your routine. The pajamas that Jin gave you are the ones you decided to bring and they’re your favorite. They’re super soft, long-sleeved, and surprisingly breathable.

After you jump into the king-size bed and relish in the comfy bed sheets, you decide to go talk to Jin. You leave your room and go search for him, and it doesn’t take you long to find him and Namjoon with tea in the living room upstairs.

You walk into the room and he beams when he sees you. “Y/n, I was just about to come to see you. Please, come sit,” He gestures to the couch next to Namjoon whos looking very relaxed.

“So, how are you liking everything? I’m sorry I haven’t been able to be with you, I’ve had a lot of business to take care of.”

“It’s okay, it’s been nice actually. I met a few people and I learned some things about the island.” You sit cross-legged, expression bright since you get to talk to him finally.

“I’m glad, I was telling Namjoon that I thought this program would be great for you.” He takes a sip of tea. “Also, I wanted to let you know that if I’ve ever made it seem like your blood is more important to me than your job as a student, I apologize. I don’t ever want you to feel like I’m neglecting your studies for your blood. I know sometimes I let your circumstances dictate a lot but I don’t ever mean to isolate you from your peers, you just have to understand that I’ve never had a student like you.”

“I mean, I’m a student at the university in exchange for my blood. But I will admit that sometimes it’s hard because some students notice when I’m getting special treatment and things like that...I don’t want anyone to think that I’m not meeting my academic requirements if that makes sense.”

“I assure you, ” Namjoon looks at you, a slight smile that shows his dimples, “I will make sure you meet your academic requirements, that’s not a problem, kitten.” Jin nods in agreement.

“I also want to mention Director Rain, what did you think? Do you feel okay with him being around?”

Rain.

His name gives you chills.

“He- He seems kind of intimidating, I felt a little nervous around him...Remember when bit me? He had me do things that I’d never had to do before, it was weird.” You admit. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, he wants to spend some more time with you, just to get to know you and learn about your blood. He’s genuine. He’s not one of those higher-ups that want to steal donors and treat them like nothing but a means of nutrients. He’s very knowledgeable and he’s going to be monitoring Jungkook for a while until his awakening is under control, so he’ll be around more often.”

You furrow your brows. “Jungkook’s awakening? What is that?”

“He’s awakening. In his bloodline, its called The Eyes of Eclipsia.”

This is all new to you. “Who’s Eclipsia?”

“She was their great-great-grandmother and she was very powerful. She was born with no vampire traits but her deep violet eyes that glow saffron red were the mark of her strength. Rain has it, Jungkook’s father has it, and now, so does Jungkook. I really don’t know how to help Jungkook through this so he’s going to assist me with him.”

“Do I have to spend time with him?...” You say that hesitantly.

“You don’t have to, of course, I’m not forcing you, but it would be nice if you just gave him a little of your time. Just think about it, okay? No pressure. I’m gonna head to bed, and I think you should do the same, we’ve had a long day.” 

“Wait,” You catch him before walking out, “I was wondering, why am I not with the other students?”

“The suppressants in your systems could where off and I don’t want any of the vampire students to get any ideas. I think it’s safest that you stay where we are, I hope you don’t mind.”

You shake your head, “No, I was just wondering.”

He gets up and walks over to you. He rubs your head lovingly, leaning down to look you in the eye. “I’m gonna balance out your energy, okay?” You nod. He touches your forehead for a few seconds and you can feel your body relax slowly. Namjoon suddenly places his hand on your shoulder and your eyes open to looking over at him.

“Her energy has been off all day,” Namjoon reveals, “I think it’s because she was nervous and all the suppressants we gave her don’t go without side effects.” 

“Well,” Jin pulls away, “that should help. Good night.” Jin leaves you two and you were about to get up to go to bed as well but Namjoon grabs your wrist lightly.

“Beleive it or not, I’m at the end my feeding cycle but I’m having bad cravings...Do you feel up to giving blood? If not I can get blood from someone else but your blood is much preferred.”

“No, that’s fine, just please don’t make a mess, I just showered.” You grant him his request and he stands up, hands eagerly grasping your shoulders.

”When have you ever known me to be messy?” He giggles, leaning down to your neck and biting down you with a sharp inhale. You stiffen. It’s been a week or so since you’ve last been fed on and it hurt. “It hurts...” 

I’m sorry, just give me a minute, it’ll feel better in a second, he speaks into your thoughts. He doesn’t move but you can feel him gulping down considerable amounts of blood. It starts to burn, your heart is drumming and you feel your head getting loopy. 

Slowly, his hands leave your shoulders and slide down to hold your hands. He simultaneously opens his mouth and latches on a little tighter, sealing your skin to his mouth completely. You squirm in discomfort, trying to get away from the sting on impulse. 

After a few seconds of him not letting you move, a fuzzy feeling starts to set in. He’s releasing his venom into your bloodstream and you sigh in relief. It doesn’t take long for your head to be in the clouds.

“That’s better...” You breathe, letting yourself go pliant. 

Your legs suddenly feel like jelly and your legs give way. It didn’t bother him though. He made sure to slide down with you, kneeling right in front of you. Finally having your blood in his system makes him feel a thousand times better. Recently, he’s been trying to get through the feeding cycles with as much self-control as possible. But sometimes, it’s hard for him to keep himself from craving the blood.

“Namjoon,” You know he has the ability to basically numb his pray out, but you were already sleepy and you’re about to pass out, “I know you-...I know you’re doing that thing to take away the pain, but I feel like I’m gonna pass out.”

He acknowledges you with a hum, but instead of stopping, he just drinks slower. Instead of complaining, you take the bratty liberty to push all of your weight back. He loses his bearings for a second, but he doesn’t let your tactic stop him. He just gets on top of you and continues, holding your hands to the ground and finishing the last few gulps of blood. 

“Ah,” He pulls away with a pop, “you’re so dramatic.” He sits back on his heels, smiling down at your flat expression. “Can you walk?”

“No, my legs are numb. You should know, you made them numb.” You sulk, trying to move your head up but even that felt numb. 

“I was trying to make it comfortable for you, its not my fault that you succumb to it so willingly.” 

“Whatever...” You sigh, eyes slipping shut.

He scoops you up in his arms and walks you to your bedroom. He pushes the door open with his foot and easily lays you in bed, covering you with a blanket. Namjoon pats your head with a fond smile and leaves.

Jungkook was drinking his second portion of blood and all of a sudden, he heard the most disturbing statement—goodnight, kitten. 

He nearly choked. 

“The hell?”  

Yoongi and Hoseok glance at him from their spots on the couch, brows furrowed when the young vampire sits up.

“Uhm, what’s the matter?” Hoseok looks up from his phone, judgment engraved in his features.

Jungkook looks puzzled. “Did you hear that?” 

“Hear what?”

“You mean you didn’t just hear that?” He looks at both of them. “Neither of you heard that?”

“Jungkook, heard what? What are you talking about?” 

“I heard, ‘goodnight, kitten,” like, very clearly.” 

Yoongi looks at him. “Goodnight, kitten? That’s what you heard?” Jungkook nods surprised that Yoongi even acknowledges him. “The only person who I’ve ever heard say something even close to that, is Namjoon. That’s what he calls Y/n. Why would you be hearing that?”

“Yeah, are you sure you aren’t imagining things?”

Jungkook scowls, disgusted that they would even consider that he would think that. “Why would I even want to imagine someone saying that to me??

“I don’t know, we all have intrusive thoughts that might sound weird to others.” Hoseok snickers, going back to his phone.

“I don’t know why I would be hearing that,” Jungkook mutters, giving up on trying to find an explanation. He goes back to watching his movie but Yoongi looks away from his book in thought.

There are times where he’d connect with your consciousness and it was rare, but sometimes, he could hear when others spoke to you. Is Jungkook connecting with you? But how could that be? You and Jungkook haven’t bonded and you’re hundreds of miles away. Assuming Namjoon is on the trip with you, then it would make perfect sense for Namjoon to be the voice he heard. 

_

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island.

“Director, I prepared your flower-petal-soak in the sauna,” Yona, one of his personal maids peeks into his quarters, she’s a short little girl with short brown hair, “do you need assistance?”

He’s adorned in a luxurious robe, it’s opened in the front and she tries not to look at his bare chest. His fingernails are long and pointy, he let them grow out recently. Traditionally, power-bearing Jeons are known for their luscious locks and long manicured nails. His long black hair drapes down his back, some strands fall on his face and it makes her swallow—he’s stunning.

“I can manage, thank you, Yona.” She bows, leaving the director to do what he needed to do. He left his room and went down the stone pathway to the natural sauna. 

He undresses and sits his robe on a marble stool near the water. The water is filled with freshly picked flowers and he steps into the steamy oasis. “Ugh...” He sighs, sinking down into the water and leaning back on the ledge, inhaling the floral fragrance.

“Master Rain, may I come in?”

“You may, Lilian.” He looks up at her.

“I have a few updates for you, do you want me to read it to you here? or in your bedroom?”

“Here is fine.” He gestures for her to have a seat. 

“Okay, I’ll read the updates of the board, then the extra things.”

Lilian reads off of the papers, reciting the same old updates as always, but she says something that catches his attention.

“Wait, what was that?”

“Dr. Kim is on the other side of the island on a botany trip. You also have an appointment with him late this week for your nephew.” 

“He’s here? Hm,” He sighs, tapping his nails thoughtfully, “can you squeeze a meeting in with him tomorrow, at any time.”

“Sure sir,” She writes some things down and nods, “may I ask why?”

“I need to talk to him about my nephew and a few other things.” She nods, satisfied with his answer.

And you would be other things.

taglist: @hodginss @forevermoremagcon

[ms-rampage]

Eden's Gate: Left Behind Chapter 2 - Secret Admirer

Warnings: None

Word count: 1.5k

Once again John Seed is slightly out of character (because Winchester 😂😂). Locations I added in for this series that don't exist in game because #HeacanonShit.

*****************************

Kate’s been living in Hope County for a week already, and she starts her first day at the University that same morning, taking 8 classes, and working 4-7 hours shifts at the cafè & diner on the weekends and her days off from class. Her class schedule is.

Introduction to Therapeutic Skills

Monday & Tuesdays: 8:30am-11:00am

Human Sexuality 

Monday & Tuesdays: 12:15pm-3:00pm

Drugs & Behavior

Mondays & Tuesday: 3:30pm-5:45pm

Abnormal Psychology 

Wednesdays: 7:15am-10:15

General Psychology 

Wednesdays: 10:45am-1:30pm

Social Psychology 

Wednesdays: 2:00pm-3:55pm

Adolescence 

Thursdays: 8:30am-11:30am

Personality 

Thursdays: 12:30pm-2:15pm

She wakes up at 6:30am, slamming her hand down on her phone trying to shut off the alarm. She forces herself to sit up, rubbing her face aggressively. 

After a few minutes she gets up and takes a quick shower. 

She gets dressed, grooms and eats something. 

She looks at her phone for the time it's 7:21am. 

She feeds Haley, she grabs all her books, and other class supplies, puts them in her backpack. Still has over an hour until her first class starts. 

Looking at her work schedule, she starts her job at the cafè on Thursday from 4pm until 10pm.

Thursdays: 4:00pm-10:00pm

Fridays: 8:00am-5:00pm

Saturdays: 8:00am-5:00pm

Sundays: 9:00am-5:00pm

She goes over her class material, looking through her syllabus, modules and everything else. She checks the time, 7:32am. 

"I gotta get going" she says to herself. 

"Bye Hale I'll be back later" she says petting her dogs head. 

She goes outside to her car, locks the front door, and drives off to the University.

*******************************************************

Meanwhile at the Seed ranch, John is working on his computer, paperwork, lawyer shit, and sending out threatening messages to property owners to take over their properties to expand the Project. 

His mind keeps throwing him off his work. Kate keeps coming to mind, he kept thinking about her non stop even when he was asleep. 

She kept interfering with his thoughts, he didn't even know her name. 

Only that she drives a black 1970 Chevy Monte Carlo, he leans back in his chair, and closes his eyes. He sees her face, how she walks, how her brown eyes reflect off the sun. 

He gets up from his chair and looks out a window. 

"What's going on?' he asks himself, that feeling in his stomach comes back, he tries to ignore it but it won't go away. 

It takes him a moment to realize that he's fallen in love with her. 

How can he fall in love with someone he doesn't even know?!. 

He doesn't know her name, where she lives, what she does for a living. 

Is she a sinner? a nonbeliever? 

Should I have her confess and atone so she can be near me!? So she can be underneath me!?. All these thoughts come flying into his mind. 

He takes Joseph’s advice, he should go to her. 

He goes back onto his computer, and accesses personal information about the residents of Hope County.

He goes onto some illegal public records website. 

Types in “Hope County, Montana residents” and a bunch of names pop up. 

Scrolling through the names. He figures, she's new, because he’s never seen her before. 

He narrows it down to recent residents of Hope County, he finds Kate but it only gives him her first initial, middle initial and last name.

"K.E. Winchester?'' he mutters to himself. 

Taps the keys on his keyboard, and shows an image of her house 

"That house looks familiar" he tells himself. 

Zooming in on the photo to see the cross streets 

"Melrose and Kelley?" he asks himself. 

A few hours go by. He was able to get her full address. 

He wasn't able to get her first name. 

All he knows is that it begins with the letter K, her middle name starts with an E, and her last name is Winchester. 

************************************************

Kate is sitting in her first class 

Introduction to Therapeutic Skills, listening to the professor go over their syllabus and the lecture. 

She still has 2 more classes to go to that day. 

*A few hours later* 

Her class finishes, she walks out the building, and looks at her clock on her phone, she has a whole hour and 15 minutes until her next class begins. 

So she goes back home and checks in on Haley. 

As she’s walking to her car, her friends Alissa and Sarah call out for her.

“Kate!!!!” they call out. She turns to them. 

“Hey!!” she responds.

“What are you doing on Friday?!” Sarah asks.

She looks around, humming incoherently.

“Nothing. Why?!” she replies.

“We’re gonna all hang out Friday night at the Whitetails” Alissa says.

“Sounds fun. Who else is gonna be there?!” Kate asks.

“Me, Alissa, Morgan, Ryan, Dylan, Kevin, Becky and a few others” Sarah answers. 

Kate shrugs, and says “Yeah sure, I’ll be there. Just text me where its gonna be, and I’ll be there”

“Awesome, see you later. Bye” Alissa says, and they all go their separate ways. 

Kate goes into her car, and drives back to her house. 

*10 minutes later*

She pulls into the driveway and goes inside her house. 

Leaving her backpack and books in the car. 

When she opens the front door Haley jumps at her in excitement. 

"Hey girl, I'm gonna be leaving again in 45 minutes. I'll give you more food before I leave" she tells her, petting her head. 

Dropping herself on one of the chairs, turning on the TV. 

**************************************************

At the Seed Ranch, a desperate John looks up potential names for his mystery crush. 

Klaire Winchester?. No records. 

Kara Winchester?. Nope.

Kali Winchester?. Nope. 

Kimberly Winchester? Nothing. 

Kandace Winchester? Nothing. 

Kristen Winchester?. Still nothing 

Tapping the keys of his keyboard on his computer. 

None of those names come up in any records. 

He groans, leaning back in his chair. 

Groaning somewhat frustrated. 

He can't seem to figure out her name. 

It's probably something simple, and he can't think of it. 

He has her home address. He can probably send flowers, or something to her house. 

That’s what he does, take notes fellas. 

He puts in an order of roses to be sent to her house that same day, and as a bonus he puts in a card with a short but to the point message. 

Time passes by relatively fast. 

Kate looks at her phone's clock 11:55am. 

"Shit I gotta get going!!" she says, shooting up from her seat. 

As she's about to open the door. 

Haley lets out a loud bark to get her attention, 

"What?" she asks her. 

She lets out another loud bark. 

"Oh that's right, I have to feed you". 

She goes into the kitchen and pours some food into her bowl. 

"Okay I'll be home later" she says, petting her head. 

She goes into her car and drives back to the school. 

Driving the 10 minutes back to school, going to her next lecture which is in the same building as her first class that morning. 

*An hour later*

Kate is in her Human Sexuality class sitting at her desk taking notes while the professor goes over the lecture and class work. 

Several hours later at 5:45pm, Kate leaves her final class for the day, and walks back to her car. Throwing her stuff in, starts up the car, and drives off. 

She decides to go into town and buy some stuff for dinner. 

Parking her car in the same spot as before next to that gas station. 

She walks to the same grocery store that's near the church. 

John, who is at the church, sees her walking in the distance. 

His heart literally skips a beat.

He steps outside, taking a drag of his cigarette. 

"A student?" he says to himself. 

Admiring her beauty as she walks by 

"Kaitlyn? Kourtney? Karen? Katherine? Kara? Kathleen? Khlöe?" he whispers to himself. 

Trying to guess her name. 

"Math? Science? History? Law?" he continues to whisper to himself. 

She looks back coincidentally, looking in his direction.

Giving him a little smile. 

He smiles back while taking another drag of his cigarette. 

She walks into the store, grabs a shopping basket, browsing the aisles, and grabs stuff for dinner. 

John stands outside the church waiting, and hoping she walks by like she did the other day. Maybe he can say more than "Nice car" to her. 

Kate pays for her stuff and goes outside. 

John sees her walk out the store. and prepares to say at least more than 2 words to her. 

But unfortunately God wanted him to be patient. 

She doesn't walk by the church.

Walking on her side of the street. 

"Damn it" John mutters to himself, disappointed he really wanted to get to know her. 

Hopefully the flowers he sent made it to her house. 

He leaves the church, goes to his car, driving to her house. 

Hoping he beats her to her house so he can see her reaction to the flowers. 

5 minutes of driving, he makes it to her house. 

She hasn't made it home yet, the flowers are sitting on the front porch. 

He parks his car across the street while trying to remain hidden. 

A few minutes later he sees her car from up the street. 

Kate pulls into her driveway, and sees something at her front door when she gets out of her car, she sees that it's a vase with 2 dozen white and red roses. 

Surprised, and completely caught off guard by the unexpecting gift. 

She picks it up, and sees a card on it. 

"You're beautiful ❤" a smile on her face, and she goes inside her house. 

A smile grows on his face just by seeing her smile.

******************************************

Later that night, John is doing lawyer stuff and gets an unexpected visit from Joseph.

“John!” he says, walking into the ranch. 

He turns around, and sees his older brother.

“Yes, Joseph?” he says.

“That girl?. Did you do what I told you to do?’ he asks, his voice soft.

“I-I sent her flowers” he answers, his going soft.

Joseph nods his head, and says. 

“Don’t let her slip from you John. God has plans for the both of you. She will be one of us”. 

[nahimjustfeelingit-writes]

Imagine:

Erik is the student and reader is the professor.

“When you are in my class, you will learn to pay attention and not disrupt me.”

Miss. Baxter.

Professor in Microeconomic Theory II for the Doctorate program in Engineering. People who previously had her as a teacher complained of how much of a hard ass she was but it was for good reason. That’s why Erik decided to get within the woman’s good graces and become her teachers assistant. All he cared about was getting his Doctorate degree at MIT and graduating. If he was being honest, the whole school thing was weighing heavy on him. Noticable dark circles under his eyes, facial hair more filled out, consuming more coffee than he would have liked, overworking his body in the gym to keep fit for his life after college, all of those things played a role in his shutting down.

Miss. Baxter was only nice to Erik in class, maybe it was because he had a way of sweet talking people. Erik was charismatic and Miss. Baxter enjoyed his company while grading papers and in class activities. She looked forward to seeing him, and the older woman couldn’t hide her attraction to him. She was still young, just five years his age. Currently, she was teaching a segment on Supply and Demand. A poin-dexter type who loved to challenge Erik every second felt the need to disrupt Miss. Baxter during her teaching hours. She hated that, no, despised it.

“You want me to have a talk with him, Miss. Baxter?”

Erik looked at the guy who reminded him of Mandark from Dexters Labortatory, squinting his eyes to show him that he wasn’t fucking around. That seemed to work, the Mandark look alike kept his eyes in his books now, good boy.

“No need, Mr. Stevens. I’m sure this is the last time, yes?”

Her Caribbean accent soothes him. Especially when she was putting someone in their place. The class lasted for about an hour and a half and tonight Erik was more tired than usual. He even had to stop from fucking his usual campus pussy to get some sleep. Then here is Miss. Baxter, his professor and crush, sounding and looking all types of sexy. She spoke her final words on the lesson and dismissed the class, everyone except for Erik leaving the lecture hall. Miss. Baxter erases the board, giving Erik a full view of her ass in those tight charcoal grey wide leg pants she wore.

“How was the lesson today, Erik?”

Erik grabbed his things, heading down the steps within the lecture hall to take his usual seat next to Miss. Baxter at her large dark oak wood desk.

“It was pretty good, you know I don’t have any complaints, you teach very well.”

Finally next to her, half empty coffee mug in hand, Erik could make out the smell of apricots and peaches on her skin. Damn, she always smelled fruity. Yesterday he caught a whiff of her pin curled hair. It smelled like strawberries and kiwis.

“Mango slices?” She offered, like always.

“Sure, you must’ve heard my stomach.”

They both share a comfortable laugh before Miss. Baxter handed him her folder of activities that needed to be graded. After that, she would have a pile of Research papers for him to take home and look over. 12 page research papers.

“I’m not going to nag you like a mother, but, Erik, are you sure this is okay for you? This isn’t overwhelming?”

Erik finished chewing on the juicy mango slice before answering, “Nah, I’ve dealt with worse stress than this.”

Miss. Baxter watched the way Erik would sit with a straight back, eyes sharp like a hawk and reflexes so quick it reminded her of the speed of light. He was so structured it made her organized life look less put together.

“Are you a military man?”

“Yes,” He turned his low eyes on her, “Navy first, now Military.”

“Wow,” she pulled some stray hairs behind her ear, “No wonder why you’re so...”

“Intimidating? Was that what you were going to say Miss. Baxter?”

She smiles, picking up her red ink pin to start on her pile of activities, “No, just very structured...and at ease in stressful situations like a Military man. My father is a veteran.”

Erik rolled his tongue over his teeth, nodding his head in acceptance of her response.

“You have a good eye for that shit- sorry,”

“You’re grown, no need to apologize.”

“You just, I don’t wanna cuss in front of you.”

She scrunched her face, “why not?”

“You might use that metal ruler to wack me over my head.”

She couldn’t fight the fit of giggles escaping her. The sound was so peaceful to Erik. None of the other classmates would ever have the pleasure of witnessing this. Such a beautiful and intelligent black woman.

“You’re so gorgeous, Miss. Baxter.”

She stops abruptly, the tiny hitch of her breath causing him to smirk.

“I...Thank you, Erik.”

“Are you married?”

“No.” Miss. Baxter has to double check question five to make sure she marked it correctly.

“Damn, that’s a shame...I would wife you up if I wasn’t so fucked up...”

She gave him a curious look, wondering what he meant by that exactly. She couldn’t see what was so fucked up about him. Maybe he suffered from a little PTSD from being in the Military that she didn’t know about but what else could be so fucked up about him? He seemed so...perfect.

“It’s never good to talk down on yourself.”

“It’s not a talk down, it’s just the truth.”

Erik unwrapped his hair from the head wrap he wore, shaking out his tapered dreads. They framed his eyes, shadowing them from her line of vision.

“I’m finished this pile, give me the rest of yours.”

She handed it over without hesitation.

“So...what’s next for you? After school? Do you plan on applying your Engineering skills in the Military? I mean, you could get into the mechanical aspects of it, or even the computer science bit of it too.”

Erik recapped the pin, adding the finished activity to the finished pile, “Yeah, just for a bit. Then I plan on traveling.”

Miss. Baxter nods before taking a sip of her cold water. What She really wanted to do was tell Erik how handsome he was but then she felt like that was going too far. There was a comfortable silence for a while until she reached out to grab another mango, grazing Erik’s fingers with hers. She could feel that in her skin, her teeth biting down hard on the mango to fight an airy sigh from escaping her lips.

“Shit,” Erik says while stroking back his dreads from his glasses, “I didn’t realize it was 10:00 pm.”

Her eyes looked up at the old grandfather clock on the wall. It was indeed 10:00 pm.

“You’re right, we should wrap this up.”

“Mm,” he hums in approval, packing things away in his carry on. Miss. Baxter took that distraction of his to admire him fully. She stared at the angles and contours of the side of Erik’s face, the pout of his lips so inviting and the curl of his lashes adorable against his masculine face.

“What’s your first name, Miss Baxter?”

She stole her eyes away from him, packing her things, “Mya.”

“Is it cool if I call you Mya from now on?”

She blushed, side eyeing Erik in a playful manner, “Only because your my favorite student, Erik.”

“Cool,” he reached out to squeeze her shoulder gently. It was friendly but it held a certain longing as well. Miss. Baxter grabbed the hand on her shoulder, taking it to squeeze it. She looked down at their hands, body turning from side to side in that swivel chair nervously. Miss. Baxter felt Erik release her hand, taking his pointer finger and thumb to gently grab her chin, making her look up at him.

“Relax, there is nothing wrong with what’s going on between me and you. Like you said, I’m grown...you’re grown.”

“I know but,” She blinked away from him, “I don’t want my attraction to you to interfere with your education, Erik.”

“Oh, I’ll get my education regardless. Only problem I have is how sexy that Island girl dialect sounds rolling off your tongue.”

Miss. Baxter bit down on her lip, closing her eyes to calm her fluttering belly.

“And then you like to wear those fitted bell bottoms...” Erik makes his voice sultry and low, “and you smell like the fruit you eat...”

He was probably wondering if she tasted like it too.

“Erik, I think...I think we should go, it’s late now and...I don’t want to keep you up any longer.”

Miss. Baxter stood, grabbing the handle to her rolling bag, other bag on her shoulder and water bottle in her right hand. Erik stood with her, grabbing his bag from the floor. He walked in front of her, holding the door opened so she could exit first. Their eyes marked similar paths, looking eachother from head to toe.

“Thank you.” She kept in front of him as they walked down the deserted hall of the Science building at MIT. She tried to lessen the switch in her hips but it was too late, Erik was already on it like clock work.

“You ain’t gotta do that,” his words confirmed it.

Finally within the parking lot, Erik walked her to her car, ensuring that she was cool before he made it to his. She placed her things within her trunk, walking back to her drivers side were Erik was leaning against the front of her car, arms folded.

“Same time, Friday night?” Miss. Baxter asks timidly while hanging on to her opened door, not exactly stepping inside.

“Of course, research papers and all, Mya.”

The sound of her name mixed with his West coast dialect made her toes curl in her four inch heels.

“I’m assuming now you’re going to use my name more loosely,” She couldn’t hide her teasing tone.

“You like it so much might as well, right?”

She twirled her key on her finger, “Yes, I like it a lot.”

Before she could crouch down to get into her BMW, Erik grabs her waist, turning her towards him. Her breath hitches, the sudden influx of air burning her lungs. Erik takes both of his hands, grabbing the sides of her face, pulling her into a searing kiss. His tongue rolled with hers, the warm and wet appendage tingling her very own. Sweet from mangos, and sharp in a good way. Miss. Baxter hadn’t had tongue down her throat in a long time. The hardening of her nipples brushed across his T-shirt, her shaking fingers grabbing and twisting the fabric. He was so needy and insatiable. Her back pressed hard against the car, his leg between her thighs keeping them open so he could feel the heat from her crotch against his thigh. She could feel him alright, knocking against her leg like a heavy pole.

“Miss. Mya,” he whispers against her lips, that sly smirk littered with dimples weakening her further, “You sure you don’t wanna see what it’s like to be with me outside of that classroom?”

She bit into her lip harshly, eye lids fluttering. He had his forehead pressed against hers, his hands holding hers at her sides to keep her still.

“Answer me...” He whispers shakily, her head falling back against the car. This gave him access to her neck now, his lips and that tongue of his tasting what he always wanted to taste.

“Answer my fucking question.” He spoke through gritted teeth in her ear, his tongue curling around the diamond stud she wore. His nose was in her hair, hands moving to grab at her hips, rolling his thumbs along her shirt, lifting it from being tucked inside of her pants. Now there was skin on skin contact.

“Yes, yes, I want to,” she spoke rather quickly.

“Forreal?” He was pressed hard against her now. No one could see them so why was she so damn nervous? Maybe it was the fact that a man had showed her interest again.

“Yes, Erik.” She was weakened by this man.

“Fuck. You don’t know what your getting yourself into with me, girl.”

She didn’t know, but maybe Erik could teach her a few things this time around.

[plasticbullet]

BET YOU WON'T ANSWER THEM ALL

1: Full name

I've gotten creepy messages on here so I'm gonna keep that private lol

2: Age

27

3: 3 Fears

Abandonment, driving by semi-trucks, bugs

4: 3 things I love

Music, coffee, nature

5: 4 turn ons

Sense of humor, intelligence, height, big hands.. happy trails are sexy

6: 4 turn offs

If they're rude, judgy, closed-minded, or act fake

7: My best friend

Tammy

8: Sexual orientation

Straight

9: My best first date

I have no idea honestly. First dates are always weird

10: How tall am I

5′5″

11: What do I miss

Not having anxiety, traveling, when my boobs were bigger

12: What time was I born

11:30 pm

13: Favourite color

Yellow, green, blue

14: Do I have a crush

It’s more than a crush, but yes

15: Favourite quote

"This is cracking me out" - my kid

16: Favourite place

The forest, Havasupai, California

17: Favourite food

Just about anything Italian. Or with a lot of cheese

18: Do I use sarcasm

Pretty often

19: What am I listening to right now

Wind blowing through the window. It’s like 65 degrees here I love it

20: First thing I notice in a new person

If they seem nice or not

21: Shoe size

7 or 7.5 depending on the shoes

22: Eye color

Blue

23: Hair color

Reddish dark blonde

24: Favourite style of clothing

Grungy but hot

25: Ever done a prank call? Yes

27: Meaning behind my URL

I’ve answered this a couple times before, I’m too lazy

28: Favourite movie

Peanut Butter Falcon

29: Favourite song

All the ones that make me feel things the most

30: Favourite band

A Day to Remember, Brand New

31: How I feel right now

Relaxed

32: Someone I love

My son

33: My current relationship status

In something

34: My relationship with my parents

They’re cool

35: Favourite holiday

Christmas

36: Tattoos and piercing I have

Treble clef on the back of my neck, pierced ears

37: Tattoos and piercing I want

I’m good for now! Maybe more one day

38: The reason I joined Tumblr

I don’t even know, I’ve used this shit off and on since I was 16

39: Do I and my last ex hate each other? Nope!

40: Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts? Yep

41: Have you ever kissed the last person you texted?

Nope

42: When did I last hold hands?

Held hands with my son today

43: How long does it take me to get ready in the morning? Like 20 minutes

44: Have you shaved your legs in the past three days? Yes

45: Where am I right now? In my room

46: If I were drunk & can’t stand, who’s taking care of me?

Probably one of my friends lol

47: Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level?

Loud unless I’m sleepyy

48: Do I live with my Mom and Dad? No

49: Am I excited for anything? 🎄🎄🎄

50: Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to?

Yepp I think so

51: How often do I wear a fake smile?

Sometimes if I don't want my kid to sense my stress. Or during boring conversations

52: When was the last time I hugged someone?

Today

53: What if the last person I kissed was kissing someone else right in front of me?

🤷🤷🤷

54: Is there anyone I trust even though I should not?

I don’t think so

55: What is something I disliked about today?

I was super sleepy, slept until some stressy dreams woke me up, and can't go back to sleep 🙃

56: If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

That guy from My Octopus Teacher

57: What do I think about most?

People I love, things I have to do, and the randomest shit imaginable

58: What’s my strangest talent?

I barely have any normal talents

59: Do I have any strange phobias? No

60: Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it? Behind it unless I feel cute

61: What was the last lie I told?

Something about Santa to my kid

62: Do I prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online? Depends!

63: Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

I feel like ghosts are possible, our energy could keep existing in some ways after our body dies who knows. Aliens exist for sure. Just not anywhere near our planet imo

64: Do I believe in magic? No

65: Do I believe in luck? I believe in good karma

66: What’s the weather like right now?

Kinda chilly/breezy but nice

67: What was the last book I’ve read?

Read Fox in Socks to my kid

68: Do I like the smell of gasoline? No

69: Do I have any nicknames? Kind of

70: What was the worst injury I’ve ever had?

One time a horse stepped on my foot and it was bruised for months lol

71: Do I spend money or save it? Both

72: Can I touch my nose with my tongue?

Noo! I just tried though hahah

73: Is there anything pink 10 feet from me?

A crayon

74: Favourite animal? Sloths but I love all animals

75: What was I doing last night at 12 AM?

Sleeping surprisingly

76: What do I think is Satan’s last name is?

I can't think of anyone I hate enough to make a good joke out of this

77: What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it?

Colorado Symphony version of The Stable Song by Gregory Alan Isakov

78: How can you win my heart?

Good conversations, make me laugh, show me you care, show me good music, etc

79: What would I want to be written on my tombstone?

Nice things, I don't know lol

80: What is my favorite word? Fuck

81: My top 5 blogs on tumblr

I ♥️ all the ones I follow

82: If the whole world were listening to me right now, what would I say?

Realistically I would have a panic attack and say something stupid 😂

83: Do I have any relatives in jail? Not that I know of!

84: I accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow me with the super-power of my choice! What is that power?

Maybe the power to pause time so I could sleep or do whatever for however long I want without wasting any time. Or maybe the ability to teleport

85: What would be a question I’d be afraid to tell the truth on? Idk I can't think of one

86: What is my current desktop picture?

It’s the default one, I don’t go on it very often lol

87: Had sex? Yes

88: Bought condoms? No the guys always did that

89: Gotten pregnant? Yes

90: Failed a class? No

91: Kissed a boy? Yes

92: Kissed a girl? Yes

93: Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain? Yes

94: Had a job? Yes

95: Left the house without my wallet?

Yepp I used to forget it all the time

96: Bullied someone on the internet?

No I'm not a pussy ass bitch

97: Had sex in public?

If you count in a parked car, yes

98: Played on a sports team? Yes

99: Smoked weed? Yes

100: Did drugs? A while ago

101: Smoked cigarettes? Yes, quit a while ago

102: Drank alcohol? Yes

103: Am I a vegetarian/vegan?

Nope! I tried one time just for fucks and it did not last long

104: Been overweight? No

105: Been underweight? Yes

106: Been to a wedding? Yes

107: Been on the computer for 5 hours straight? Yes

108: Watched TV for 5 hours straight?

Yes. Marathons and binge sessions

109: Been outside my home country? Yes, Mexico

110: Gotten my heart broken? Yes

111: Been to a professional sports game? Yes

112: Broken a bone? Nope

113: Cut myself? Yes

114: Been to prom? Yes

115: Been in an airplane? Lots of times

116: Fly by helicopter? No

117: What concerts have I been to?

Oh fuck I know I’ll leave some out. Kelly Clarkson (don’t judge me I was 12), All Time Low, Avenged Sevenfold, Papa Roach, Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, Flogging Molly, Jason Mraz, Ed Sheeran, Atreyu, Escape the Fate, went to Warped Tour a couple times in high school so a bunch more emo bands

118: Had a crush on someone of the same sex? No

119: Learned another language?

A decent amount of Spanish

120: Wore make up? Frequently

121: Lost my virginity before I was 18? Yes

122: Had oral sex? Yes

123: Dyed my hair? Yes

124: Voted in a presidential election? Yes

125: Rode in an ambulance? No those are expensive

126: Had a surgery?

Does getting my wisdom teeth removed count

127: Met someone famous?

Saw Alice Cooper at a Cheesecake Factory one time

128: Stalked someone on a social network?

Not stalked, more like checked up on lol

129: Peed outside? On camping trips

130: Been fishing? Yes

131: Helped with charity? Yes

132: Been rejected by a crush? Probably!

133: Broken a mirror? No

134: What do I want for my birthday?

Christmas is coming first idk

135: How many kids do I want and what will be their names?

I have one kid whose name I won’t be posting publicly, annnd I’m open to having another kid sometime in the future but not set on it. No names in mind for that lol

136: Was I named after anyone?

My parents are Catholic so they named me after St. Kieran

137: Do I like my handwriting? It’s alright idk

138: What was my favourite toy as a child?

I liked my toy horses and barbies the most probably

139: Favourite TV Show?

Idk I have lots of favorites. I've probably rewatched The Office the most out of all of them tho

140: Where do I want to live when older?

Somewhere chill, surrounded by lots of nature. Arizona doesn’t have much of that lol

141: Play any musical instrument?

I can play the piano but it’s been a while

142: One of my scars, how did I get it?

One on my knee from a car accident

143: Favourite pizza topping?

I love onions on my pizzaaaa

144: Am I afraid of the dark?

No, unless I watched a scary movie or something

145: Am I afraid of heights? No

146: Have I ever got caught sneaking out or doing anything bad?

Got caught sneaking out when I was 15. Countless other things I can’t remember

147: Have I ever tried my hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end? Yep!

148: What I’m really bad at

Doing things on time, paying attention when I’m not interested in something

149: What my greatest achievements are

Having an amazing kid, got first prize in the science fair in 6th grade for gluing a fucking key finder mechanism to the back of a shoe charm (shoe finder), was on time to something once

150: The meanest thing somebody has ever said to me

Idkkk

151: What I’d do if I won in a lottery

Give a lot of it to some family, save a lot of it, get a new house, set aside a savings for my kid, buy a sloth or something

152: What do I like about myself

Fuck I don't know, I try my best hahah

153: My closest Tumblr friend

@spencerwithac

154: Something I fantasize about

Sex in public

155: Any question you’d like?

Nope this was plenty thank you