#last time we had a sleepover we watched a shitty horror movy then she made a tumblr. so. don't know what i was expecting

[ambreiiigns]

had half a sleepover w alessia* we watched a weird horror and then she let me talk abt ghost and then we put carlotta to sleep for the 4th time and then i drove home. i'm sooo happy

[mamashitty]

I don't want to sleep in case you have to call

My fic for @jackzimmermannturns30! It has been a bit since I last wrote some Zimbits, so I feel a little rusty. Hope y’all enjoy it! 

Fic: I don't want to sleep in case you have to call Relationship: Eric “Bitty” Bittle/Jack Zimmermann Rating: General Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Summary: Jack had had sleepovers growing up. He had pointed that out to Shitty when his friend suggested this one. He had billeted with families in the past and he had lived in a frat house with Shitty for years! But Shitty had pointed out that living with other families, and then living in the hockey haus did not count.

“Brah, you are supposed to wear masks like this during a sleepover!” Shitty explained as he slathered more goo on his face, mustache and all. Jack tried to prevent the grin that was slowly crossing his face as he took in the sight of his friend, a friend whose face was now completely covered in goo, and failed miserably. Shitty held the container that held the goo out towards Jack, and from what Jack could tell from beneath all that green gunk, there was a pout and puppy dog eyes aimed at him.

“Fine! Okay! But, remember this sleepover is for my birthday, Shits. Don’t I get any say in what we do?” Jack asked, reaching for the container that held the gunk. Shitty gently smacked his hand away.

“Allow me to do the honors, beautiful birthday boy. And yes, you do get some say. But you have never had a proper fucking sleepover before. We are going to do this right. Pillow fight included,” Shitty explained, and then he began to slather green stuff on Jack’s face, and it was cool to the touch and smelled better than it looked.

Jack had had sleepovers growing up. He had pointed that out to Shitty when his friend suggested this one. He had billeted with families in the past and he had lived in a frat house with Shitty for years! But Shitty had pointed out that living with other families, and then living in the hockey haus did not count.

Jack also had to admit that he had missed sleeping with Shitty in the room nearest him. He missed waking up to find a hungover and mostly naked Shitty spooning him. They had both graduated back in May, and Jack had not fought too hard when Shitty suggested the sleepover. It would be a small thing. Just Shitty, Lardo, and one of Lardo’s new friends. Jack could do this.

You only turn 25 once, right?

“How long do we keep this stuff on for, Shitty?” Jack asked once Shitty finished and sat back.

“Like twenty or so minutes, brah,” Shitty said, and he wandered into Jack’s kitchen to set the timer on the oven.

Jack had been about to say something when his door opened and in walked Lardo, juggling what looked like a box of art supplies. Following closely behind her was a blonde man in the shortest pair of red shorts that Jack had ever seen. He quickly tore his gaze away from the man’s thighs, hoping no one noticed. Lardo was busy with her box of art supplies and calling for Shitty. The man with the shorts, Jack now noticed had a few pie containers in his hands.

“Lardo! Bitty!” Shitty exclaimed as he bounded out of the kitchen and instantly helped Lardo with her burden. Jack, realizing he ought to do something, moved to help the blonde man.

“Oh! You must be the birthday boy,” the man said as Jack took a pie from him. His voice was sweet like honey with a southern accent.

Suddenly, Jack was grateful for the green goo on his face. It definitely helped hide the red that blossomed on his cheeks.

“Euh, yeah. I’m Jack,” Jack introduced himself and awkwardly stuck a hand out.

“Eric, but most people call me Bitty.” He said, taking his hand. Jack felt some callouses as they shook hands.

“Bitty bakes the best fucking pies in the universe, Jack.” Shitty gushed.

“Oh,” Jack said, feeling dumbstruck.

---

It was midnight and Jack’s phone vibrated on his bedside table. He found himself grinning as he reached over to grab his phone. He knew who it was before he even looked at his phone.

Bitty: Happy birthday, Jack! :) :)

Jack: Thanks, Bits.

Bitty: I’m really bummed that I can’t make it tomorrow :(

Jack: It’s okay. You can miss one sleepover. Shitty won’t cry too hard about it.

Bitty: But you only turn thirty once! And our friendship only turns five once.

Jack: I know, and we will make it up. You can’t miss this opportunity, Bittle. Speaking of which, you should get to bed.

Jack: Put away whatever pie you are baking and get some sleep.

Bitty: I just wanted to be the first to wish you a happy birthday!

Bitty: And my pie is almost done.

Jack: You were the first.

Jack: Promise me you will get to sleep soon?

Bitty: I promise.

Jack: Goodnight, bud.

Bitty: Night! :)

If Jack reread that brief exchange of messages a few times, with a smile on his face, it really meant nothing. Over the past five years, Bitty had become one of Jack’s best friends. Only rivaled by Shitty and Lardo. Sure, he was disappointed that Bitty had to miss the sleepover tomorrow night but he knew they could celebrate together another day. Opportunities like the one Bitty had tomorrow did not come by very often.

Jack’s heart ached a little at missing his friend, but he was used to that ache when it came to Bittle.

With a sigh, he set his phone back down on the table, and then closed his eyes to get some sleep.

----

Jack’s face, clean of green goo, was now being pummelled with pillows from all sides. Shitty had suggested they start the pillow fight in Jack’s room, preferably on his bed, but Jack had put his foot down. Instead, they were in his living room, anything that could be broken had been safely placed out of pillow-thwapping distance.

Except for Jack’s face. That apparently was fair game.

Shitty had shed most of his clothes save for his boxers by this point. Everyone else was in pajamas and Jack really tried not to notice the shorts to Eric’s pajamas. Noticing that was what had led to his being hit by three different pillows at the same time.

He broke away from the fray and managed to whap Shitty upside the head.

“PENALTY SHOT!” Shitty shouted and Jack hoped his neighbors would not complain about the noise level.

“You just hit me in the head!” Jack pointed out.

“Yeah, well--...” but whatever Shitty was about to say was cut short by the sound of music playing loudly from Bitty’s phone. Bitty let out an excited little squeak, and dropped his pillow before scampering to pick up his phone.

“It is John, let me take this.” His cheeks were flushed and Jack wondered if it was from the exertion of the pillow fight or the man calling him. He watched as Eric walked down the hall towards the guest room.

“Who is John?” Jack asked just as Lardo hit him in the back of the head with a pillow.

“His boyfriend. They are long-distance,” Lardo explained, and then she was squealing as Shitty tackled her onto the couch.

“PENALTY!” She shouted while Jack tried to ignore the feeling of disappointment in his gut over Eric having a boyfriend.

---

“I can’t move,” Shitty groaned as he threw himself bodily onto Jack and the couch. Jack grunted but made no effort to shove the mustachioed man off of him. He missed Shitty cuddles. Adulthood was a strange beast. Hockey season always kept Jack busy and even in the off-season he had a lot going on with events and staying in shape. Shitty was busy and being a lawyer meant he had no real off-season.

“Aw, my heart.” Lardo had her phone out and Jack knew she was snapping a picture. “Bitty will love this.”

“I miss Bitty,” Shitty said, hugging Jack even tighter.

“Didn’t you just see him the other day?” Jack teased, even though he himself missed Bitty too.

Ever since his twenty-fifth birthday, it had become a thing for Bitty, Lardo, and Shitty to sleepover at Jack’s apartment on his birthday night. They would eat too much food, have pillow fights, try new facial masks, and fall asleep to bad horror movies. They always made time for it, and Jack really was disappointed that Bitty had had the out of town gig. But, they had managed to do this four years in a row without anyone missing, it was a good record, especially for busy adults. They could start afresh next year.

Jack disentangled himself from Shitty’s embrace to make room for Lardo, but she surprised him by plopping down on the chair nearest the couch. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“I get Shits cuddles all the time. Enjoy,” she said, with a shrug.

“Jaaaaaack come back to me,” Shitty whined, and Jack rolled his eyes before settling back into a more comfortable position with his best friend. Lardo had the remote and she began flipping through the channels.

“Have you heard from Bitty yet?” Jack asked as he lazily began to play with Shitty’s hair. He was pretty sure that he heard a purr come from his friend. He also idly wondered what product Shitty was using in his hair these days. It felt nice.

“Nothing,” Lardo and Shits said at the same time.

“You both are getting too insync with one another,” Jack pointed out with a laugh.  

He tried not to worry too much about no one hearing from Eric most of the evening. He was probably exhausted after his day at work. He was just used to receiving more text messages from him. It was part of their routine. Eric sending him messages when he should be working, and Jack chirping him about it. He could feel that familiar ache in his heart when he thought of his friend.

Jack had always had something of a crush on the blonde from the first moment he saw him. Sometimes, Jack felt like the feelings he had for Eric were returned. But, they were a bit like ships passing in the night. One of them always seemed to have a partner. Jack had been single for over a year by this point, his last breakup happening just before his twenty-ninth birthday and Eric had been single for about six or so months. And Jack… well, he felt like their chirping these days was borderline more flirting than anything else.

And some large part of him had been hoping that he would be on this couch with Bitty tonight instead of Shitty, no offense. But, alas, it was not meant to be this year and Jack knew he had to get his head out of his ass. And focus on enjoying the time he had with Lardo and Shits. It was still special and maybe confessing his feelings towards Eric would be better done on a different day.

Lardo had finally settled on a movie and it was not long before Jack heard Shitty snoring.

----

It was quiet. Lardo and Shitty had fallen asleep curled up around each other on the couch. Jack had looked over at Eric, and through some silent agreement, they both stood up and went out to Jack’s balcony. The humidity from the day had died down some, and it was not so stifling hot out. Eric was seated on a chair across from Jack, nursing a cold glass of water.

“How did you meet Lardo?” Jack asked, his voice sounding almost too loud in the quiet air.

“We met at my job, actually. I work at the bakery near Samwell. I go to Samwell,” Eric said, looking a little shy all of a sudden. “I actually tried out for your hockey team, but didn’t make it. I was not sure how I was going to pay for Samwell because out of state tuition is expensive, but Mama, Coach, and Moomaw surprised me and scraped together what money they could. Loans are helping out of course, and my job…”

Eric continued to talk and Jack found himself wondering how nice it might have been if Eric had been on the hockey team. He looked like he might be speedy on the ice. He also looked like he kept in shape still, and Jack wondered about his workout routine for a moment. Wondered too about his diet given the fact he worked at a bakery and seemed to enjoy baking pies on his free time as well (and his pie really had been the fucking best in the universe).

“It’s a bummer you didn’t make the team,” Jack blurted out once Eric had finished talking.

Even in the dark Jack thought he could make out a flush on Eric’s cheeks, or maybe he was just reading embarrassment in the other man’s body language.

“Oh well, aren’t you sweet?  No, it is probably for the best that I didn’t make it. I’ve seen some of your games, and Lord do you boys hit hard. I’m not the greatest with contact.” Eric said, waving his hand. “But, I did find a rec league, so I do get some ice time still.”

A rec league?  Then maybe there was still a chance that Jack could see Eric playing hockey after all.

“Tell me about your team?” Jack asked, and Eric looked at him.

“Are you sure? It might get boring for you.”

“No, tell me. Please?” Jack said, and he found himself attempting to give puppy dog eyes like Shitty had done on him earlier. Eric laughed, and it sounded like music to Jack’s ears. He had to remind himself not to get so gone on the other man. He had to remember the name John was attached to a real person and that person was attached to Eric.

Eric filled the silent night with stories of his hockey team, and his co-workers from the bakery. Jack surprised himself by readily filling in any gaps in Eric’s talking with stories of his own. He could not remember the last time feeling so comfortable when meeting a new person. He enjoyed the way their conversation flowed, and how yes, silences did happen but they never felt uncomfortable. Jack never felt like the silences were just because he could not figure out how to talk. Words came to him easily, even though he did prefer it when Eric was doing the talking.

He surprised himself even further by asking Eric for his number.

It sounded like the boy would need help with French in the upcoming semester and it would have been rude of Jack to not offer his help.

---

Jack could not sleep. As was tradition, Lardo and Shitty had fallen asleep during the movie. Jack had disentangled himself from Shitty’s grip. He had then found a couple of spare blankets to cover his friends up. He left the television volume down low and made his way towards the kitchen. The stove clock read that it was a quarter to midnight. His birthday was almost over. Jack reached for his phone and frowned when he saw no messages from Bitty.

It was unusual for Bitty to go this long without texting. Jack had just opened up their messages when he heard his door opening. He did not feel panicked, though his heart had begun to race, he felt excited. His feet carried him towards the entryway.

And there was Bitty, trying to close the door as quietly as possible.

“Bits,” Jack said, quietly. Though he really doubted their friends would wake up even if he had spoken louder. His lips quirked into an amused smile when he saw Bitty jump. Startled, most likely, from the sound of his voice.

“Lord, Jack! You scared me. You need a damn bell. You move too quiet for a lug your size.” There was a softness to Eric’s voice, and his face, as he spoke.

Silence lapsed between the two of them as they just stared at each other for a few seconds and then Jack found himself breaking it.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, I finished earlier than I thought I would, so I decided to head here to see if I could make it to the sleepover. Seems like I missed all the action though,” but Bitty did not sound too upset at finding Shitty and Lardo asleep.

“I am glad you made it,” Jack said, softly. Then he reached for Eric’s hand, and Eric took it. He led Eric through the living room and out to the balcony. It was not the first time that they had held hands like this. It was not often they did, but sometimes, leading one another through crowds of people, it made sense to hold hands. Not that there was a crowd of people in his living room or anything, but Eric had not seemed to mind.

“This is just like the night we first met,” Eric said, once they were outside.

“Everyone asleep but us two, eh?”

“Out on the balcony,” Eric said, and he looked distracted. Like he had something on his mind. Jack noticed they had not let go of each other’s hands yet, and he gave Eric’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“What’s wrong, bud?”

“Trying to build up the courage to do something,” Bitty said, looking up at Jack but not quite making eye contact.

“Do what?” Jack asked. He wondered if he asked too quietly because Bitty said nothing, just continued to look at Jack.

“Happy Birthday, Jack. You’re my best friend in the world.” And then Bitty was closing the distance between them and Jack found himself moving without really thinking. Call it an instinct or something. They seemed to meet about halfway, and then they were kissing. Soft and sweet. Jack’s eyes fluttered close.

Then Eric was pulling away much too quickly and Jack found himself following those lips with a pout.

“Been wanting to do that for some time now,” Bitty said, with a breathy laugh. He was smiling, though. Looking happier than Jack had seen him in awhile.

Jack had a smile on his own face, he could feel it. He could also still feel the ghost of that first sweet kiss.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since I first saw you,” Jack admitted. “You had on really short shorts.”

“Jack!” Bitty looked shocked, “did you really?”

“I did,” Jack said, nodding his head to emphasize the point. Then he gently tugged Eric against him for another kiss. This one a bit longer. When they broke apart from each other, they did not pull away too far.

“Boy am I glad you wanted me kissing you,” Bitty said, laughing again.

“Want to head inside before Shitty and Lardo wake up?” Jack asked, not that he minded kissing Bitty on the balcony. His bedroom seemed more comfortable though, and they would have a door to close that was not all glass. They could talk and kiss some more.

“Too late,” Bitty said, with a tiny groan as he pointed over Jack’s shoulder. Jack turned around to see Shitty and Lardo with their faces pressed against the glass of the door. Shitty was giving them thumbs up and cheering now that he had their attention. Lardo gave a thumbs up too, before she began to drag Shitty away from the window.

“Let’s give Lardo five minutes to get Shitty into bed and then we’ll go inside,” Jack suggested.

“Sounds like a plan, and I think I know what we can do for those five minutes.”

Bitty then crowded into Jack’s space and Jack had no complaints about that as they kissed once more.

[yesloverboy]

Baby You’re a Haunted House (Iwan Rheon!Mick Mars x Reader)

Requested: Anon

“Hi! Could you do a Mick Mars one shot where Mick and the reader are really close friends and they’re watching a scary movie at his house and she’s scared so he lets her stay over. And she has trouble sleeping so she sneaks into his room and they both awkwardly admit they like each other?”

note: finally, after an arduous hiatus brought upon by school, I have a new little request to add to the library. I’m a little rusty so I hope it’s up to par. I don’t deserve your patience, but I’m glad y’all have stuck around. :’) (also if anyone wants to change their taglist preferences, lmk)

word count: 3,219

[no warnings! just two idiots in love!]

tags: @lauravic, @lululovesgwtw, @kingbouji3, @oldschoolimagineblog, @thecrue, @colsonbakersnoseringmain

 To say you had a stressful week would be an understatement. Despite your best efforts to hold it together, things just seemed to go completely wrong of their own accord. You burnt your toast at breakfast, found an angry pink parking ticket on your windshield, and spent the entirety of your day working your fingers to the bone. It could have been your sour mood, or the melodramatic attitude you had developed since waking up that morning– but the day seemed completely and utterly cursed. 

 Even as you leave your shift, you can’t help but stare bitterly at the sun as it dips lazily into the horizon, wondering what exactly you did to make everything feel so shitty. It’s a Friday for Christ’s sake and it seems as though you hadn’t even gotten the opportunity to look forward to the weekend, let alone make plans. 

 Speaking of Fridays, you think, eyes flitting down to the watch dangling loosely from your wrist. The hands point toward 6:45, making it known that you are running incredibly and unbelievably late. Flustered, you sprint to your car, keys jingling noisily between your fingers. You should have left at least half an hour ago, but there had been so much going on at work that you lost track of time.

 “Shit!” you exclaim, jamming your key into the ignition and speeding recklessly out of the parking lot. Tires screech against the asphalt as a cloud of dust erupts from behind you, settling only when you skid out onto the open road. The sky quickly shifts from honey orange to dusky purple as you retreat from the glittering lights of the city, instantly becoming more relaxed at the sight of sparse houses and distant mountains. 

 You and your best friend, Mick, have a Friday night tradition of staying in and watching movies while the rest of his friends– and bandmates –go out to wreak havoc on the remaining population of Los Angeles. Mick is similar to you in a lot of ways; you’re both the strong and silent type, usually only speaking when spoken and always responding with a biting comment. The two of you met in a record store off Sunset Boulevard, quickly bonding over your love for the emerging metal scene and your hatred for cheap glam rock. Nothing was ever smoke and mirrors with Mick– no, he was raw and honest. Something you admire far more than you’re willing to admit. 

 Fingers tightening around the steering wheel, you suppress the feeling of your heart twitching excitedly against your ribs. You aren’t sure what’s been up with you lately, but every time you’ve seen Mick these past few weeks your heart has begun to skip along to an unknown rhythm. This new sensation makes you grit your teeth in frustration. Mick is your best friend, you have no reason to feel anxious around him. Right? 

 Typically, when something abnormal is going on in your life, your first instinct is to tell Mick, but you already know this isn’t the kind of conversation you’re prepared to have with him. These days, it feels as though Mick is the only person you can really be yourself around and you can’t imagine jeopardizing your friendship for the sake of talking about your feelings, of all things. 

 With a heavy sigh, you pull into the sloping curve of Mick’s driveway, hoping the walk to his doorstep will be just enough time to get your head back on your shoulders. You rap on his door with a heavy hand, listening to the sound of crickets thrumming softly in the distance. It’s times like this where you find yourself thankful that Mick decided to move outside of the Los Angeles city limits. Sure, the drive is long and the daytime traffic could be excruciating, but there’s at least some semblance of stillness in the air. 

 Mick pulls open the door, greeting you with a soft smile and bright eyes. Rather than wondering what took you so long, he gives your disheveled appearance a once over and simply asks, “Long day?”

 You nod, the fatigued slump in your shoulders only getting heavier as Mick motions for you to step inside. Abandoning your jacket and keys by the door, you flop onto Mick’s plush sofa with a content groan. 

 “Sorry I’m late,” you mumble, voice partially muffled by the pillow pressed firmly against your cheek. At this point, you had been over to Mick’s place so many times that it was slowly starting to feel like your own. You roll on your side, arms cradling the side of your head as you gaze upward with glassy eyes. 

 Mick just chuckles and lifts your legs so that he can sit underneath them, allowing your calves to rest comfortably in his lap. His fingers ghost the exposed skin of your ankle, making your breath hitch uncomfortably in your throat. The gesture is so familiar and yet, you can’t help but feel as though it were the first time. To your relief, Mick doesn’t seem to take note of your sudden uneasiness, and instead picks up a video tape from the glass coffee table in front of you. 

 “I rented A Nightmare on Elm Street,” Mick grins, “you seen it yet?”

 You sit up, eyebrows knitted in concentration as you study the tape, unsurprised to see that it’s a horror movie. The cover art depicts a young girl staring entranced at a set of knife-like fingers as they hover menacingly above her head. The guys in Mick’s band often joked about him being some kind of ghoul or vampire, and his love for the spooky and supernatural really didn’t help his case. 

 “Another slasher, Mickey?” you tease, shoving at his shoulders playfully. Just last week the two of you spent the night watching My Bloody Valentine, all the while jeering and laughing at every ridiculous mistake that the characters made. At this point, it may as well be a Friday night tradition. 

 Mick rolls his eyes, “Come on, Y/N. It’s not just a regular, old slasher. This guy is supposed to come after you to haunt your dreams and shit.” 

 “What? You sick of me haunting yours?”

 “Never,” Mick scoffs, flinging your legs to the side so he can get up and feed the tape into the VHS player. “Not if it’s you.”

 For the umpteenth time that evening, your heart leaps. 

...

 As it turns out, Mick was right, it wasn’t just a silly slasher movie– it was a fucking terrifying slasher movie. By the time that the television screen faded to black and the credits began to roll, you hardly noticed the way your body had wrapped around itself in terror. Gripping the blanket across your lap, you jump as the dark living room becomes illuminated in pale, yellow light. You peer behind a wall of couch cushions to see Mick lurking by the lightswitch with a smirk dancing on his lips. 

 “Jesus, Y/N, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were scared,” Mick grins, his expression infuriatingly smug.

 You feel your face grow hot as your heart hammers noisily in your chest, a mixture of embarrassment and frustration bubbling from within.

 “I wasn’t scared,” you insist, “I was just–just, uh, startled is all. Long day, remember?” Gesturing to your blanket enshrouded form, you hope that the dark circles under your eyes are enough to persuade Mick to say he’s ready for bed and leave you be.

 “Speaking of long days, it’s getting pretty late. Why don’t you just crash here for the night?” Mick points to the digital clock on his mantle, the bright red numbers flashing 1:32. 

 You nibble on your lip wordlessly, trying your best to ignore the feeling of butterfly wings tickling your stomach and climbing into your throat. Mick has a point, it is getting late. However, in all your time as friends, Mick had never once invited you to stay over. Would this change things? Could it change things? 

 “Um, Earth to Y/N?” Mick steps over to your place on the couch a waves an impatient hand in front of your face, making you jolt upright. “What’s the matter? Freddy got your tongue?”

 “You little shit, I swear to God I am not scared–!” your tangent is interrupted as a clap of thunder rumbles from somewhere outside the window, the panes rattling and shaking in protest. 

 A dramatic yelp escapes your lips before you have time to rationalize what’s happening, making Mick double over in laughter. With trembling hands, you pull the blanket up over your head in an attempt to shroud your humiliation from Mick’s taunting eyes. 

 “F-fine, you win!” you relent, voice muffled beneath the quilted fabric. 

 Mick pulls the blanket away from your face, his dark blue eyes glittering with amusement. “Guess we’re having a slumber party after all.”

 “If you wanted a sleepover, you could’ve just asked instead of scaring the fuck out of me. We could have braided each other’s hair by now,” you grumble bitterly. 

 “Better luck next time, I guess,” Mick flicks off the lightswitch with a devious grin, leaving you enveloped in darkness, “Sleep tight, and don’t let the interdimensional sleep demons bite…”

 “Oh fuck off,” you squeak, uneasiness creeping on you as Mick leaves you alone in the blackness of his living room. Living closer to the city’s epicentre, you can’t even remember a time it was this dark in your apartment, let alone right outside the window.  

 Bundling yourself into a tight cocoon, you try to let the rare patter of California raindrops soothe you into unconsciousness. Just as the fuzziness of sleep starts to curl around your weary mind, another clap of thunder rattles through the walls of Mick’s house, your eyes snapping open in fright. You attempt to regulate your frantic breaths, chanting sweet nothings of normalcy and security to no one in particular. But, no matter what you do, nothing seems to unprickle the hairs standing rigidly on the back of your neck. 

 Rolling over, you decide to face the room in the hopes that your tired eyes will eventually adjust to the darkness. The shadows seem to squirm and shift as your spine tingles with paranoia, making you curse yourself for ever agreeing to stay in the first place. You groan internally when you realize that, in the time you’ve spent anxious on the sofa, you probably could have made it home by now. 

 Goddammit, Mick. 

 Ignoring the oppressive movement of the shadows, your eyes wander toward the hallway. The position you have on the couch gives you a direct view of where the curve of the hall snakes into the door of Mick’s bedroom. More than anything, you wish he had stayed out in the living room with you rather than retreating to the confines of his bedroom. It would have been completely unfair to ask that of Mick considering it’s his house, but you can’t help it. You hadn’t been this afraid of the dark since you were a kid and, as far as you knew, Mick wasn’t scared of anything.

 The longer you lay scrunched up on the couch, the more tempted you are to just barge into Mick’s room and see whether or not he’s still awake. Minutes feel like hours as you debate the odds of Mick being mad–or worse, weirded out–at the sight of his best friend shaking him awake in the middle of the night. If Mick were having the same problem you probably wouldn’t be upset, right? Then again, there was a better chance of hell freezing over than Mick actually being afraid of the dark. 

 Deciding you can’t handle being alone a second longer, you swiftly untangle yourself from the comforting embrace of your blanket cocoon and place your bare feet on the cool, wooden floor. Shivering slightly, you hug your arms around your shoulders protectively and pad toward Mick’s bedroom, a nervous lump knotting in the back of your throat. 

 You approach the white door apprehensively, wondering for a brief moment if testing your friendship like this is even worth it. With a hefty sigh, you abandon all caution and pull the door open, a soft breeze rushing forward and tickling your face from the sudden movement. Heart thudding unceremoniously in your chest, you find yourself faced with the sight of your best friend sleeping soundly in a tangle of black velvet bedsheets. 

 Lying flat on his back with arms crossed securely over his chest, Mick slept like the dead, looking just as peaceful and twice as forbidden to disturb. A soft smile ghosts your lips at the sight of Mick looking so unwound and at rest. He was always a high-strung individual, that much is true, and watching him sleep so soundly made all your anxieties from earlier feel unbelievably not worth the effort. The realization that Mick’s face alone is enough to settle your nerves makes your heart hammer out a strangled pulse of adoration, twisting your stomach into a knot. 

 Inching away slowly, you decide that it’s probably for the best if you just saunter back to the couch and squash your feelings. Mick deserves a good night’s rest, not a lovesick best friend who is becoming blindsided by her feelings. Cursing your heart for being so fixated on the trivial human need for intimacy, you take a step back and immediately bump right into Mick’s dresser. 

 “Fuck,” you hiss as the dresser’s wooden frame trembles noisily against the floor.

 To your horror, the man in front of you begins to stir. Raising balled fists to his eyes, he wipes away the sleep and glances over to the source of the sound in a haze of weary confusion. Your heart plummets to the ground as his eyes find yours in the darkness.

 “...Y/N?” he mumbles, as he rises stiffly from his pile of blankets like a mummy from a sarcophagus. “Am I dreaming?”

 “I was just leaving,” you squeak, hoping beyond hope that Mick would be tired enough to think nothing of his best friend suddenly creeping into his room in the middle of the night. Turning on your heel, you attempt to reach for the door knob but are immediately halted by the sound of Mick’s voice. 

 “Wait–” Mick calls out, his voice faint, “stay.”

 You suck in a breath, grateful that the cover of night conceals the cherry red flush of your cheeks. Taking a tentative step forward, you find your fingertips gingerly clinging to the cool metal of the doorknob in worry. Swallowing the lump in your throat, it feels as though you might be the one dreaming. 

 “Mickey, look, I can explain, I, uh–I was just…” you stumble over the words of your confession, eyes now well-adjusted enough to see Mick’s expression go soft, almost as if he were concealing a smile. 

 Mick chuckles at your embarrassment, his gravelly voice making your heart flutter involuntarily. “You were scared, weren’t you?’

 “Yeah,” you sigh, not bothering to dig an even deeper hole, “I guess I was.” 

 Staring down at your bare feet, you allow a beat of silence to pass between the two of you. Mick says nothing, only stares, and for a moment you squirm at the thought that you may have overstayed your welcome. The thought alone is enough to make you cringe.

 Mick clears his throat, startling you out of your compulsive rumination. Peering up like a scolded child, you watch him scoot toward the far end of the mattress and straighten out his wrinkled duvet with a lazy hand. 

 “Well don’t just stand there,” he grins, “get in.”

 “Seriously?”

 Mick rolls his eyes and pats the empty space for emphasis, “Yes, seriously. Freddy can’t get ya so long as you’re with me– scout’s honor.”

 “As if you were a fucking boy scout,” you snort, unable to let your previous feelings of shame conceal the utter ridiculousness of the present situation. Here you are standing at the bedside of your best friend with a bleeding heart, and he’s already prepared to bandage you back up.

 “But it’s the thought that counts, right? Now hurry your ass up, I want to get back to sleep.”

 Your feet seem to propel you forward of their own accord and, before your neurotic brain can shift into overdrive, you’re already nestling into Mick’s bedsheets. You hum comfortably, the velvet still warm from where he had been sleeping. Every inch of the fabric smells of him, and it takes the last shred of your willpower to not just let your feelings leak straight out of your mouth and onto deaf ears.

 “That’s easy for you to say, Mickey,” you tease weakly, “you’ve never been scared of anything.”

 “I get scared sometimes,” Mick confesses, “I just wouldn’t want you to ever think differently of me because of it.”

 You don’t need to see Mick’s face to know that he’s frowning.

 Emboldened by his sudden admission of vulnerability, you turn on your side to face him. Mick’s eyes are fixed firmly on the ceiling, as if all the answers to life’s deepest, darkest questions could be etched somewhere in the popcorned pattern.

 “W-what do you mean?” you meant to sound confident, but your voice comes out as barely more than a whisper.

 To your disbelief, Mick turns over as well, his deep blue eyes shining through the shadowy bedroom like the frothy caps of a stormy sea. You can practically feel your heart reaching out to him, begging to pull you under and keep you there. 

 Mick’s hand finds yours somewhere beneath the velvet sheets and gives you a gentle squeeze, his warm palm enveloping your cold one in an instant. 

 “There’s something I want to say but I’m afraid…” he whispers, voice as delicate as spun sugar, “...I’m afraid I’ll lose you if I do, and I don’t wanna lose you.” 

 For a moment all you can do is blink, your mind reeling from the implications of what your best friend may or may not be admitting to you. You know that you need to say something quick, but your tongue turns to sand in your mouth. 

 Mick’s hand still entwined with yours, you take the opportunity to move in closer. Slowly you close the gap between the two of you, leaving nothing but the space reserved for the halo of mutual body heat forming around your place in the sheets. 

 “I think I know what you mean,” you bring Micks hand to your chest and let the frantic pulse of your heart do all the talking. 

 Without warning, Mick gives you a gentle kiss on the nose. The touch is so faint, you’re almost worried you may have imagined it.

 “Y/N?” 

 “Yeah, Mickey?”

 “I think I love you.”

 Your free hand rests gingerly on your best friend’s cheek, and for the first time that night you find yourself unafraid of what comes next. His face is red hot to the touch, and you wonder if anyone else knew Mick could be so warm. 

 “You sure you’d want to do a crazy thing like that?”

 Mick just chuckles and shakes his head, “Nothing feels crazy when I’m with you.”

 “Then I guess I’m just gonna have to love you, too.”

[secretblog1212]

Fuck, Marry, Kill.

So this is kind of really shit but I can’t figure out how to make it not shitty so here you go folks. XD sorry. Pretty much more High Steve with Robin just chilling with hints of sad because oof. Not a ship, they just friends.

The store was empty for the first time in three, long, trying, and teenage filled hours. Needless to say Steve and Robin were dead on their feet as they closed up shop.

Robin was quick to lock the doors, and Steve sped threw mopping the ‘poop deck’, otherwise known as the shops front. Chairs were flipped and scoops were washed at record speed. Robin was about to grab her purse when Steve stopped her.

“Hey Rob, I was wondering if you wanted to smoke tonight? We could just throw a movie in or something.”

Well that was new. Not that she didn’t know Steve smoked every now and then, but she’s never been invited before. They had been getting closer over the summer, so it kind of made sense, and hey, if he was going to offer it out for free who was she to say no.

“Sure, just let me go home and change first, meet you at yours in about an hour?”

Steve’s smile was damn near blinding. He nodded along eagerly, and they split off, Robin heading to where her mom was picking her up and Steve to his car.

After five minutes of small talk Robin decided she couldn’t put it off any longer.

“Hey mom, I was wondering if I could hang out at a friends house tonight. They’re having a movie night, I know it’s kind of last minute but I thought it might be okay since I’m off tomorrow anyway.”

She hummed in thought, “Who’s house is it?”

“The boy I work with, Steve, I’ve told you about him before.”

“He won’t try to get in your pants?”

Robin couldn’t hold back her laugh, “Not a chance, he knows I like girls mom.”

The elders face lit up, “Oh of course then Honey, I’ll drop you off whenever your ready and maybe he can take you home tomorrow.” She relented, relaxing back into her seat.

They pulled into their driveway and Robin made quick work of showering and getting comfy close for the night. Clad in sweat pants and an old band t-shirt she threw her still wet hair up in a messy bun and gathered her favorite blanket in a bag. Down stairs her mother was watching the end to the nightly news.

“Ready Mom!”

The brunette turned and did a once over of her daughter. Concluding that she was appropriately dressed for a sleepover she picked her purse up from the coffee table and the two made their way out the door.

A quick drive later and they were pulling into the Harrington’s long driveway, the first floors lights sprinkled to show where exactly Steve was.

Her mom wished her well and Robin made her way to the doorbell. Soft chimes sounded through the house.

The double doors were yanked open to reveal none other than Steve Harrington himself, ushering her inside and waving to her mom as she pulled away.

“Welcome, welcome to the wonderfully cozy Harrington residence. We have two of fifty rooms occupied, my bedroom and the living room, feel free to pick either to get fucked up in.”

Robin eyed the blank walls of the too clean house. It just wasn’t Steve at all, it seemed empty? Lonely? Like some Hallmark mansion, just not realistic at all. Down the hall she could see the flashing glow of a television and pointed. “There.”

“Living room it is then.” Steve hummed with a soft nod. “That’s where I got everything prepared so I was hoping you’d say that.”

God he was a dingus.

There was a large L shaped couch in the middle of the room, a TV facing it against the wall on top of a dresser like stand, and a coffee table littered with snacks, movies, and a few blunts between the two. Given the stack of blankets already pulled out Robin assumed that tonight was going to be filled with warm, cozy cuddling and lazy conversations.

She wasn’t complaining though. She plopped down on the bouncy cushion and reached to flip through the movie choices.

“Anything in mind Harrington?”

“Nothing particular. They’re mostly horror though.”

That raised an eyebrow, hadn’t he already had enough horror in his life already? “You a big fan of horror then?” she asked.

Steve just kind of huffed then chuckled. “My dad says a real man doesn’t watch musicals or romance stuff. He only allows ‘manly’ movies in his house, don’t you want to watch a manly movie Rob?”

Robin just rolled her eyes and mumbled. “Wouldn’t know good movies if it hit him.” But she loved a good horror movie herself, she grabbed the copy of Nightmare on Elms Street and waved it in Steve’s face. “Pop her in then buddy.”

A minute later and they were situating blankets across the two of them as trailers flickered across the screen. Really Robin thought five blankets was a little excessive but Steve seemed to think it was lacking. He leaned forward and grabbed the pre popped popcorn, a lighter, and the first blunt of the night.

Ever the gentleman Steve gave her the first hit. She held it in her mouth, coaxing it down her throat while he took his own puff. After a few seconds she opened her mouth and let the smoke find its own way out, floating from her mouth and into the air like a cloud.

Steve was not as patient or content to see the slow going process, after a few seconds he blew the air out like flames from a dragon's mouth.

They traded it back and forth, watching each other’s different tricks as the drug slowly took effect, till the movie started up, their eyes glued to the screen.

Something Robin realized fairly quickly was that Steve was not a fan of horror movies. She could feel him slowly pressing further against her, flinching when things got too jumpy. She couldn’t blame him, besides if she could help comfort him through this one then she could find at least one happy movie to put in next, right?

After a particularly gruesome scene she decided she couldn’t wait that long. You might be thinking, why doesn’t she just say she wants to change the movie? Well, the thought didn’t even cross her mind. Instead she moves in with a quick distraction.

“That Nancy Thompson is pretty cute right?”

Steve stares up at her for a few seconds before nodding. Hell yeah she was cute.

“And that Glen dude, any character Johnny Depp plays is going to be eye candy.”

“Yeah.”

Good. If she had him talking then he wasn’t paying attention to the movie.

“Quick! Fuck marry kill, Johnny, Nancy girl, or Tina?”

He stuttered for a few seconds, his mind wrapping around the character selection. “Umm, kill Tina, Marry Johnny and fuck Nancy?”

Robin couldn’t help but laugh at how unsure he sounded.

“Hey well how about you?”

“Mmm,” she paused to think. “Kill Johnny, Marry Tina, fuck Nancy.”

The game kept up with characters before moving onto people they knew in real life. “Clair Burk, Tommy H, and Carol.”

Steve huffed long and hard for that one, taking another drag before even contemplating. Robin thought about her own answer as well, Clair was pretty cute, and surely Carol would have some redeeming qualities. Tommy was a nice guy if you caught him around the right people, but prone to violence, she’d have to go with “I’d marry Clair, fuck Carol and kill Tommy.”

Steve actually laughed at that one. “Understandable, understandable. But get this okay. Fuck Tommy, kill Clair, Marry Carol.” He was quick to continue when Robins head jerked to look at him, eyebrows raised. “I’ve known them for a super long time, right? So marry Carol cause we could just act like friends, and like I know you like girls and all but Tommy is kinda cute. He has freckles Rob, freckles. And he’s super strong-“

She stopped him before it could get graphic “Woah woah woah keep it PG, I don’t need a full description of how you’d want him to give it to you.”

They’d cycled through most of the kids in their grade that they both knew by the time the credits started to roll.

Steve sat up and stared her down, excited not unlike a golden retriever.

“Wait wait wait okay okay. So. Watch, sleepover with, or dinner with, kid addition.”

Color her intrigued. She gestured for him to continue. “Okay So Mike, Dustin and Max?”

The kids had grown on her since that night at the Mall, she’s like to think they were all friends. “Okay so watch Max, Sleepover with Dustin and Dinner with Mike.”

Steve burst into laughter.

Fine, if he was going to just laugh at her she’d give him something to laugh at.

Robin turned to face him and reached to grab ahold of his side, squeezing away at the fleshy skin. “Oh your going to laugh at me? Well you have a better idea Dingus?”

Steve’s laughter doubled and his hands grabbed onto her wrists. No matter how hard he tried to squirm to the other side of the couch he was stuck. Their legs had gotten tangled in the many many blankets about an hour ago, and neither had the motivation to unstick themselves.

Boy does he wish he had.

“I was lahaughihing cause mihine is the sahahme! Ihits the sahame.”

Oh. Well, no reason for her to stop. “Yeah, cause Mike's a shithead and gets in trouble, of course it was going to be the same! But now look at you Stevey, Hmm let me think of one.” She slowed down for a second, focusing in on who she would pair up. “How about Lucas, Jane, and Will? I won’t stop tickling you till you answer.”

I Steve kicked out as she moved her way up his ribs, digging between the bone. Somehow he ended up with his back against her, trapping himself.

“Wahahtch Lucas, dineher with Jahanehe, Wihihill sleheep ohover!”

She slowed down her fingers, not quite stopping but changing to fluttery touches that left him giggling.

Steve’s arms felt heavy and all he could think about was the tingling of her nails over his stomach and neck. He let his hands drop into his lap and threw his head back onto Robins shoulder.

“It feheheels weirherd.”

Robin leaned down to his ear to tease the poor boy. “Do you mean it tickles Steve?”

The boy nodded, hiding his blush in the crook of her neck.

“Come on, you can say it buddy. Tick-le, easy peasy.”

Steve burrowed deeper into her neck, hiding himself away from the word.

“Fine,” she huffed. “If you won’t say it then at least tell me that you like it. It’s kind of obvious at this point.”

He only leaned further onto her, probably hoping to disappear.

“Well that just confirmed it Dingus.” She cooed.

She kept up the light touches till Steve’s face had lost some of its pink. He was still squirming occasionally when her fingers strayed a bit to close to his side, and he rolled himself so they were chest to chest.

If she was wondering what kind of stoned Steve would be before she had her answer. He was touchy and clingy when high, and it somehow fit perfectly even with his previous bad boy routine.

His breathing evened out and he was fully slumped against her.

Robin stretched as far as she could for the remote and a bag of chips before laying herself back down. Now that Steve was actually asleep she could try and really watch the movie. What were best friends for if not being a pillow anyway?

[mst3kproject]

Elves (1989)

Christmas is a weird holiday.  We all talk about joy and generosity and love, while it’s actually a season full of stress, greed, and hate.  We hate our politically incorrect grandparents, we hate our in-laws asking why we’re not pregnant yet, we hate the expense, we hate the crowds, we hate the traffic, and most of all we hate anybody who doesn’t partake in this flaming bag of holiday. Partly because how dare they actually relax and enjoy the season while we go festively mad, but mostly because we’re white people and we just hate everybody.

That brings us to Elves, a Christmas movie about Nazis.

Three ditzes meet in the woods for a dark ritual in which they officially swear off Christmas.  In the process one of them cuts herself – the blood falls on the ground and naturally awakens some primal horror sleeping below. It follows her home in a POV shot, and then we spend a little time getting to know Kirsten and her abusive family. There’s her German grandfather who slaps her around and enforces weird rules, her mother who steals her money and drowns her cat, and her perverted little brother who spies on her in the shower. All right, these people definitely need to die.  Bring on the evil elves!

But no, instead we follow her to work at the department store, where she gets hit on by a drunken Santa Claus.  This guy at least dies quickly, stabbed to death by the elf while trying to do a line of coke without getting it in his beard (is this a Santa Claus and Coca Cola joke?  I hope so).  Later, the evil elf digs up the body of the cat and leaves it on Kirsten’s windowsill, which gets Herr Grandpa thinking.  He meets up with some of his old Nazi friends, and learns that after forty years, their terrible plot is finally coming to fruition.  It seems that Kirsten is the last pure Aryan virgin, who is destined to mate with the evil elf on Christmas Eve and give birth to the Antichrist!

Are you going wait, what the fuck? at this point?  Don’t worry, so am I, and this is only the first third of the movie.

Meanwhile, we’ve also been following a homeless guy who gets hired to replace the murdered Santa Claus and decides to play detective.  The girls invite some of their boyfriends for an orgy sleepover in the department store, but the boys are killed by Herr Grandpa’s Nazi buddies who are here to offer Kirsten to the elf.  Replacement Santa saves Kirsten herself but her girlfriends get killed, and the elf (and the Nazis) decide to follow her home.  Herr Grandpa tries to atone for the mistakes of his past while Replacement Santa consults some scholars to find out what’s up with the Nazi Rape Elf.  The elf was the product of genetic engineering.  Kirsten was the product of incest between her mother and grandfather. A car blows up for some reason.  The elf has a gun.  My brain hurts.

The upshot is that with Herr Grandpa dead and Santa Claus neutralized, it looks like Kirsten’s got to save herself.  I don’t give that good odds.

There’s quite a bit of foul language and a few boobs in this movie that MST3K would have had to cut or cover, but it would have been worth it because god damn this movie is bad.  The summary above probably makes it sound weird and incoherent but trust me, it’s a vast improvement on actually having to watch this thing.  There is no entertainment value here whatsoever.  Thirty minutes in I felt like I’d already been watching it all day. Not even my incredulity that I was watching a Christmas movie about a Nazi Rape Elf could carry me through it.  This is the Manos: the Hands of Fate of Christmas movies.

Most of the time you can barely tell what’s going on.  An awful lot of important scenes take place in various levels of darkness, and then they pile the distorted elf-cam on top of that.  There are bits where you can’t hear the dialogue and when you can it doesn’t make any sense.  The characters aren’t likable and nobody can act – the nearest thing to an exception is the Santa Claus guy.  The character seems like a really decent person who doesn’t need to get involved in this but does, simply because it’s the right thing to do.  Dan Haggerty occasionally tries to give a performance, but mostly he just stumbles through the film in the same dead-eyed how did it ever come to this? haze as Graham Greene in Atlantic Rim.

Kirsten and her two friends are annoying bimbos.  The friends’ names are Brooke and Amy but I don’t remember which one is which… one of them’s the horny one and the other one is the stupid one, and that’s the extent of their personalities.  Maybe they’re both horny and stupid.  Their boyfriends are absolute assholes, who are thankfully only on screen for thirty seconds total before they get killed.  Kirsten’s mom is a sadistic bitch (I guess at least she’s got a reason), her bother’s a brat, and the bad guys are a bunch of German accents distinguishable only by the fact that Herr Grandpa is in a wheelchair.

The elf is made of disconnected puppet parts so ugly and immobile they almost wouldn’t be out of place in Troll II.  It moves about as fast as the Creeping Terror and kills people by stabbing them repeatedly with a fruit knife.  There is nothing remotely threatening or scary about it.  The only emotion it inspires in me is an urge to punt it across the room.  It looks like a cheap, shitty Hallowe’en decoration that isn’t sure how it wandered into this cheap, shitty Christmas movie.

Every so often the movie tries to be funny, but it never succeeds.  The thing with the tape on the door seems like it’s setting up a wacky misunderstanding, but it’s a joke without a punchline.  The guy explaining the history of Nazi Rape Elves while his children sit there waiting for him to carve the turkey is probably supposed to be a joke, but again, it never goes far enough to get a laugh. The closest we get is with little details that are often more clever than funny, like Santa and his coke – or my favourite, a shot of a rack of guns with a sign that says gift ideas for mom.

I understand the urge to make a Christmas-themed horror movie.  Christmas is, frankly, just begging to be ironically subverted, and plenty of film-makers have tried to rise to the challenge.  Not all of them have succeeded, but Elves doesn’t even try.  A movie that has, say, a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus (examples are numerous) is commentary.  It’s saying something about how we tell children to put complete trust in a guy in a weird outfit who breaks into our houses every year. The Christmas imagery in Elves is completely irrelevant.  If this were a movie about one of Santa’s elves snapping and killing people, it could be about holiday stress and taking advantage of the working class.  It’s not.

The movie can’t even keep its own mythology straight.  One of the scholars tells us that the elves were on Noah’s ark and are supernatural beings that have been around since the beginning of time – that’s why the offspring of an elf and a human will be the Antichrist, and why it must be conceived on Christmas Eve.  The other one says the elves were genetically engineered by the Nazis to be the fathers of the master race… so which is it?  The fact that Kirsten has had visions and the elf is so desperate to get the deed done before midnight speaks for version one, while some of the stuff the Nazis say seems to point to version two.  If this ambiguity is intentional, they could have made that way clearer.  The elf draws a rune by each of its victims but these don’t seem to serve any purpose besides being creepy and giving Santa Claus a clue.

I think some symbolism may be intended by having the guy investigating all this be a department store Santa Claus.  Santa Claus is a lover of children and a giver of gifts.  When he catches the girls sneaking into the store after hours, he allows them to stay and have their fun as long as they don’t steal anything – this might metaphorically be considered a gift for good children.  Later he gives another gift, when he passes the ‘elfstone’ to the little brother to pass on to Kirsten.  This isn’t really developed enough to accomplish anything, though.  It’s more of a motif than an actual theme.

And of course, there’s the ‘it’s not over!’ ending, where the credits begin to roll over a shot of a fetus.  What?  There was definitely no rape scene in the movie, nor any implication that one had occurred and the film-makers, showing more restraint than usual, didn’t show it. While Kirsten waited injured in the woods for her brother to bring her the elfstone, the elf was distracted eating a toad.  Did it impregnate her by passing a hand over her stomach, like the guy in Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe?

Man, do I ever hate this movie.  What a boring, stupid waste of my time.  Who makes something like this?  Who decides to put the words Nazi Rape Elf in that order and then thinks the result would make a good Christmas movie?  I dug this piece of shit up in search of something to watch and review besides The Star Wars Holiday special and I’m actually sorry I did.  I’m not even joking.  Elves is that fucking bad.

[mama-m1na]

Into the Jungle: Chapter 1

                                                     ~~~I~~~

“And the winners of the challenge are Kerstin Vera, Sophie Maki, Jack Cole, and Rhamina Miyu!” an announcer over the series of speakers in the fake jungle.

“Wait, what the fuck?!” a Filipino with dark brown, almost black, hair exclaimed as she walked in the direction of the exit with a white female with brown hair and a British male with curly blonde hair.

“Kerstin, did you even know she was still in the game?” the white female asked hearing the name of one of her friends, “We didn’t see her at all.”

“Yeah, I thought she dropped out in the first night,” the male added as they made it past the trees to the door only to see the ravenette whose name was called out along with theirs.

“Mina!” Kerstin exclaimed looking at her sibling who looked much cleaner compared to the other three covered in dirt, “How the fuck do you look so clean after a week in here?!”

“I’ll explain it to you guys later,” she replied, “I’m honestly so surprised I fucking lasted.”

Upon entering the building they were led to luxury bathrooms to wash up before meeting with the hosts of the competition.

In the states of California, Washington, New York, Maine, Florida, Texas, and Nebraska the government was holding competitions of wilderness survival in order to recruit people to go to the continent of Pandora for research purposes.

For an unknown reason the competition was only offered to ages fifteen to seventeen.

Sophie, oldest out of the four winners, barely made the age cut due to her birthday being in July.

Kerstin, the younger Filipino, was in the safe zone as she was sixteen and her birthday wasn’t until September 1st.

Jack, the British male, had just turned  seventeen a month prior.

Rhamina, the ravenette as well as the older Filipino female, turned seventeen in March, two months before the competition started.

For the challenge in California, the contestants were left in a fake jungle and had to survive on their own for a week.

Those who had a pitfall were taken out before anything fatal could happen and contestants could leave at any time, they just had to click a button on a device each of them were given.

Once they were finished, Rhamina’s long black hair was left down to fall to her upper thighs, golden brown skin practically glowing other than the spots of slight discoloration in her face and her various scars, the gold flecks in her brown irises sparkled as she shifted in the lights of the building. She wore a white, loose fitting, tank top with some text she didn’t bother to remember, bleached, denim shorts that ended mid thigh, and brown combat boots which her heeled.

Kerstin’s dark brown hair was tied up into a ponytail with bangs left out to frame her face, brown irises enhanced by the plum colored eyeshadow she used, and light brown skin finally clean after a week of the ‘wilderness’. She wore a pair of leggings and a hoodie with some random brand on it.

Jack’s blonde curls were smoothed down from still being damp and his blue irises hidden behind the transition lenses that sat on his nose. He wore a white t-shirt and jeans with a dirty pair of black sneakers.

Sophie’s brown curls were also damp at the moment and her brown irises looked tired as they all were. She wore a pair of grey sweatpants, a white tank top with printed cherries on them, and a slightly oversized denim jacket to go over it all.

“So, I’m guessing Sam went home already,” Kerstin began as she waited her phone to charge with the portable battery she brought while they were being led somewhere.

“She called it quits about two days ago,” Rhamina said as she did the same.

“Oh, so you were with her?” Sophie asked, “I thought we weren’t allowed to team.”

“We weren’t I just saw her very clearly from my spot.”

When the four teens were led into a large meeting room they were greeted by the smiling face of the host of the challenge.

He was an older white man with brown hair which was beginning to grey. He wore a cream colored suit as he gestured for the four to take a seat across from him.

As soon as the four sat down cups of either coffee or tea were placed in front of them as the man said, “Congratulations on your win you all have shown great promise for going to Pandora!”

“But before we get into that let’s go over why you all won,” he said as small tablets appeared in front of each of the teens.

“First up, Kerstin,” he started as a video of Kerstin with a spear she made appeared on the tablet, “You have exceptional hunting skills and can somehow start a good fire in less than a minute.”

“Hell yeah, I can,” the brunette smirked as she took a sip of the milk tea in front of her.

“Next, Jack,” a video of Jack in a tree began to play on the tablets as the man continued, “Not only have you managed to survive mostly up in the trees, but you know the plants quite well.”

“I was a boy scout,” he replied before taking a sip from his coffee.

“Alright and onto Sophie,” the video then displayed the female going into a shelter hidden in the trunk of one of the larger trees, “You have managed to stay hidden for quite a while in this game of ours.”

“Hey, gotta do what you gotta do.”

“And last but not least, Rhamina,” he sighed as a video of her walking through a waterfall played, “You were the only contestant to find this space and thereby were the only one able to stay completely hidden the entire week.”

“Mina, what the fuck?” Kerstin asked watching the video, “There wasn’t anything there. I checked that shit on day two.”

“You checked the sides,” the ravenette explained as a blueprint for the water fall appeared, “The sides were flush against the water but the middle was hollow and was an entrance to a cave with ventilation. The waterfall let me hide the smoke from my fire and dispose of my trash.”

“So that’s why you were clean,” Sophie groaned realizing to enter and exit the ravenette would have to get wet.

“I would’ve done the tree thing, but bugs plus long hair equals huge mess,” Rhamina chuckled before taking a sip of the peach tea.

“That’s not the only thing we noticed during our observations though,” the male continued as a video of a contestant walking through the jungle played, “We noticed you’re also quite adept at hunting man.”

“What?”

The video continued as the person was tackled to the ground by a figure in black before they stood up to reveal the other contestant still on the ground but bound by rope.

The figure in black then went through the pack of the other before taking a few items and turning slightly towards the camera to see the face of Rhamina.

“Mina!” Sophie exclaimed as the video continued with the ravenette touching the other contestant’s neck causing them to stop struggling before she cut them free with them still not moving.

“What? They said we couldn’t team they didn’t say we couldn’t take. Plus it was Mari,” the ravenette shrugged watching as she booked it away before the other began to sluggishly get up and look around before the video ended.

“What the fuck was that?” Jack asked still looking at the tablet.

“What the fuck was what?” Rhamina asked lazily.

“Why did she just stop moving for a few minutes?”

“Pressure point,” Rhamina stated before taking another sip of tea, “Paralyzed her for two minutes so I could get away.”

“Your skill set would be important for defending yourselves against the natives of Pandora,” the man continued, “They’ve been getting more aggressive for no reason over the past few years but that’s if we let them get to you.”

“Now about those contracts,” he started as folders were given to each of them, “It’s a three year gig, but it will count as college credit for all of you but you will be paid big for this and once you come back you’ll already be ahead of others in your class.”

As he continued talking Rhamina was looking over the contracts and found him basically reciting everything word for word which she found perfect and considerate as they weren’t trying to put any hidden loopholes which would have been used to take advantage of them that she could see.

By the end all four of them signed and they each shook hands with the male as he said, “Great to have you four on board. My people will be by in a month to pick you all up for departure.”

With their things and copies of the contracts the group of four were all driven to their homes in Temecula, California so they could rest and prepare.

The following day Rhamina and Kerstin met up with their sister who had dropped out of the competition at the mall.

“Both of you guys made it? Holy shit!” she squealed in happiness wrapping her arms around both of them, “Congratulations!”

Both of the Filipino girls let out a chuckle at their Mexican sister’s excitement before Rhamina said, “We’re leaving for Pandora next month.”

“How long are you guys going to be gone?” she asked as they sat in the food court.

“Three years,” Kerstin replied as she picked at her food, “But we’ll have connection so we can still talk to each other while we’re there.”

“Fuck, well we better hang out a lot before you guys leave,” Sam said taking a sip of her drink.

“Yeah, so we down for watching a shitty horror movie then?” Kerstin asked, “La Llorona is playing in about an hour.”

“Sam, it’s a horror movie about your culture,” Rhamina chuckled drinking her Thai Tea.

“It’s a fucking white washed version,” the emerald-eyed female with glasses hissed, “But I’m down to watch it.”

As the females spent the day together the two Filipinos were getting quite a bit of attention since the announcement of their win was aired on the news.

At around six in the afternoon the girls were about to head to Sam’s house for a sleepover until she stopped in front of a Pandora store.

“Hey, we should get matching bracelets,” the brunette suggested while looking into the store.

“Are you sure?” Rhamina asked, “It’s a good idea but Pandora bracelets are a bit pricey.”

“We don’t have to get big shit it can just be the bracelet and a charm to start off with,” Kerstin chuckled pulling the ravenette into the store along with Sam and herself.

After a bit of browsing around the woman sitting behind the counter asked, “Did you three do the Survival Challenge?”

“Uh, yeah, why?” Sam asked as she looked at a green charm.

“I thought I knew you girls from somewhere, you three have great skill,” she chuckled, “Tell you what anything you want from here is 50% off.”

“No, you don’t have to do that,” Rhamina said in shock at the offer.

“No, it’s fine, this is my store after all,” the woman chuckled.

Reluctantly, the ravenette went back to browsing the bracelets and charms around the store.

In the end each female got only a bracelet with the letters ‘K.M.S.’ engraved into the end caps since they couldn’t decide on the charms they wanted. The letters were an inside joke and stood for ‘Kerstin. Sam. Mina.’

Each girl wore their bracelet on their left wrist and left the store happy as they could possibly be.

The following Monday the four winners of the competition were called into the councilor’s office before classes started.

When they arrived they saw a woman dressed in an army uniform talking to their councilor.

“Hello, Kids,” the woman greeted, “I’m Maria Cara, I’ll be training you four to survive Pandora.

“It was really lucky that you all were in the same school,” she chuckled looking at the uniform clad teens, “I’m hoping you can at least work together well.”

“So, your schedules will be different from now on,” the counselor began as she handed the four students new schedules, “On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays you will be training with Mrs. Cara and on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be your regular classes.”

“That being said I was hoping to start today, but since you don’t have athletic wear then-” “Actually we do,” Rhamina interjected, “Kerstin, Sophie, and I have extra clothes in the band room.”

“And I have my P.E. clothes in the locker room,” Jack added putting a smile on the woman’s face.

“Well then, be dressed and meet me down on the blacktop when the bell rings,” the woman said before dismissing the group.

After changing Rhamina wore black leggings with a fine mesh wrapping around both legs and a light colored, loose tank top with a sports bra underneath with teal running shoes.

Kerstin wore a form hugging sweater with a pair of red shorts and her white Filas.

Sophie wore a black crop top and black leggings accompanied by grey slip on walking shoes.

Jack just wore the baggy grey shirt and navy blue shorts which was the school P.E. uniform and a pair of blue and white running shoes.

When they met the woman she was wearing her black leggings and a black tank top.

“Since this is the first day and you don’t have water with you I’ll go easy,” she started once the kids got there, “So take a warm up lap to the back softball field and come back so we can get started.”

Immediately the females groaned at the thought of running but reluctantly began what they were told to do as Jack just dashed ahead.

As they were coming back Kerstin let out a screech as she began to walk with Jack as Sophie and Rhamina kept jogging.

Their throats were getting dry and they were jogging slowly but they jogged the rest of the way back.

Rhamina immediately placed her hands on her head and began to time her breaths, in for four and out for four, after realizing she had forgotten to do so while running.

‘Fuck, it’s been a long while since I’ve even done any running,’ she thought as the three waited for Kerstin and Jack.

“Come on!” Maria exclaimed towards the two who were still walking, “If you were being chased by an animal you would be dead by now!”

They heard another screech from Kerstin before she began jogging once again next to Jack.

“Alright,” Maria stated once everyone had returned before turning to Sophie and Rhamina, “Good job you two on jogging the whole way but you both need to speed it up.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Rhamina wheezed, still trying to catch her breath earning an approving nod from the military woman before she turned to the other two.

“Kerstin, you have a good initial speed but you need to keep it up,” she said to the wheezing Filipino, “and Jack you were holding back. Comradery is nice but for now I need to see where you all are individually.”

“Take some water and do some stretches,” Maria said, “We’ll get started in ten minutes.”

It was a long four hours before lunch when the four were allowed to change out and enjoy their thirty minute break.

“Fuck me!” Rhamina groaned in one of the practice rooms of the band room as she changed with Kerstin and Sophie, “That was fucking hell. Today is the day I forget a hair tie.”

“Yeah, that fucking sucked,” Sophie commented as the ravenette looked through her bag, “I’m going to be sore tomorrow.”

“No joke,” Kerstin added before Rhamina let out a cry of agony.

“I forgot my lunch!”

“Do you want me to get you something?” Sophie asked, “I get free lunch everyday.”

“Yes, please,” the ravenette groaned before standing and bringing her things with her outside where she sat in their usual corner.

After about five minutes a shorter Filipino female came around with brown hair and in set her things down in front of the ravenette.

“Mina! Hoot!”

“Chloe, I’m dying,” she groaned while leaning her head back on the wall behind her.

“Mina, why?!” Chloe asked in concern while struggling to sit on the ground.

“Training fucking sucks!”

“Training for what?” a male voice asked as the females looked up to see a Vietnamese male with fluffy dark hair.

“Pandora.”

“You were one of the winners of the competition?” the male asked as he sat down earning a nod from the ravenette, “Congratulations.”

“Did you compete too?” Rhamina asked.

“Yeah, but I dropped out the third night,” he said, “I was running low on food.”

“Oof,” was all she could say before Sophie and Kerstin returned with food.

The Greek female handed a chicken sandwich and turnip sticks to the female who proceeded to open it and pour the included ranch into the sandwich before taking a bite.

“Oh, Mina, pudding,” Chloe said handing the ravenette a vanilla pudding cup and a plastic spoon earning an excited noise from her.

After lunch the Rhamina, Sophie, Kerstin, and Jack went up to the second story of the office into the conference room to see Maria and a powerpoint set up behind her.

“Welcome, to the second part of training,” she introduced while gesturing at the powerpoint, “Informational training.”

“Now to start off Pandora is almost like another planet,” she said while tapping the smart board and the image changed to a landscape with glowing and strange looking plants like straight out of a video game.

After a thirty minute lecture about the plants of Pandora the image changed to a picture of a male with tanned skin and tribal looking clothes.

“Now the most dangerous part of Pandora would probably be the natives,” Maria started before clicking the smart board again, “They are human but incredibly hostile and tend to attack with arrows dipped in a neurotoxin.”

“Many of the tribe near the base know how to speak English since we did have a school there for them before but they mainly speak their native language,” she started while showing various images of the tribes of humans on the continent.

“What language do they speak?” Sophie asked looking up.

“They call it ‘Lingua Dei’ but it sounds like a bunch of gibberish.”

“Can we hear it?” Rhamina asked raising a brow at the hostile tongue of their instructor.

“We don’t have any audio recordings of it,” the female said before handing out papers, “You can work on these until the bell rings. Use the notes you’ve been taking.”

Immediately, Sophie, Kerstin, and Jack tensed while Rhamina sighed and looked down at her journal she had actually been taking notes in before writing on the paper.

The next thirty days passed with the four mostly focusing on training and memorizing as much about Pandora as they possibly could.

Their normal classes didn’t particularly matter anymore either since they got an automatic pass for going to Pandora.

Two days before the four were supposed to leave, their school had a rally in celebration for the four teens.

The theme was ‘Jungle Adventures’ and the usual performances like the various dance teams, choirs, and cheerleaders went up but at the end it was the four teens standing on the gym floor with Maria Cara.

“And now as official members of the Pandora Operation I present these official uniform jackets,” Maria announced as she held up what looked to be a varsity style jacket still folded and wrapped in plastic.

She handed one to each of the four teens and they looked down to see it was personalized to them with their last names embroidered under the the operation crest.

With excitement they unwrapped the jackets and wore them as cheers erupted from the classmates around them.

‘I’m not going to miss any of you,’ Rhamina thought as she smiled at the bleachers around her.

Once the rally finished there was still about thirty minutes until the dismissal bell would ring so the four just chilled in the gym.

“Hey,” Dustin called walking up to the ravenette.

“What’s up, Dustin?” she replied turning around from her conversation.

“So you’re leaving in two days,” he started.

“Yeppers,” Rhamina said brushing some of her hair behind her ear, “Gonna be gone for three years but I still get paid and I’m getting my G-E credits so when I get back I get a good shot into college.”

“Aren’t you going to miss people here though?” he asked.

“Of course I am but there’s internet connection at the base so I can still talk to people over Discord.”

“You have a Discord?”

“Yeah, here,” Rhamina said holding out her phone with her Discord information allowing the male to copy it down before the bell rang, “Welp, gotta go I take the bus. See you.”

“Bye,” he said as the female dashed out of the gym with her bus pass in hand.

On her bus she sat alone since her usual friends weren’t there but it didn’t bother her in the slightest since it meant that she could just listen to her music with no interuptions.

The next day the four were excused from school as a relaxation day before they would be travelling by boat for about three weeks.

Rhamina spent her day just at home by herself since both her parents were overseas. She watched Youtube, anime, read some fanfics and went down stairs occasionally to get food before deciding to spend the day watching all of the Studio Ghibli movies.

Kerstin was just at home and didn’t wake up till noon and when she did she just ate food, took care of her younger siblings, and watched anime.

Jack just spent his day either playing video games or watching Youtube.

Sophie just spent her time on her phone reading web comics or watching anime in her pajamas and occasionally going downstairs for her food.

The next day each teen woke up early for the van that was picking them up.

It went to get Kerstin, then Jack, then Sophie, and finally Rhamina.

Taking one last look back into her house she closed the door and locked it before throwing her bag into the back of the van before getting into the second row with Kerstin.

It was about an hour and a half drive to the San Diego Bay and the girls were led onto the destroyer they would be riding to Pandora by Maria.

“So you girls will be staying in Bay 5 and Jack will be staying in Bay 6,” she explained leading the teens into the ship.

“Fuck!” Kerstin screamed as they were walking through one of the doors.

“Careful, those are called kneebreakers,” Maria said with a smirk as Rhamina walked ahead.

“Do you know where you’re going?”

“If this ship is like the ship my mom is on then yes,” the ravenette said walking down one of the steep ladders, “I know where I’m going.”

“Oh, so you’re mother works on a destroyer?” Maria asked letting the teen take the lead to Bay 5.

“Yeah.”

“I’m surprised they would let her bring you on,” the woman chuckled.

“It was new so they had a ‘family cruise’,” Rhamina explained, “and I was able to basically walk around the whole ship.”

“Well, I hope you don’t have sea sickness,” joked Maria only receive a strained smile from the ravenette and Sophie.

“Well, about that,” Sophie chuckled as they finally reached Bay 5.

“I hope you brought some pills for that then,” Maria chuckled before walking back towards the door, “I’ll be on deck if you need anything since you already have someone who knows the layout of the ship.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” the females replied as she led Jack over to where he would be staying on the boat.

“I call top bunk,” the ravenette said before she dashed towards a back corner that had pipes which could be used to climb to the top bed before flinging her bag on top as the others caught up.

“Mina, fuck you,” Kerstin said as she claimed the middle bed leaving Sophie with the bottom bed.

“Hey, at least we get it easy when storing our shit,” Sophie shrugged.

“Yeah, but I have the most room,” Rhamina chuckled from her spot earning a middle finger from both brunettes.

After about an hour of un packing and getting settled in the girls went up to the front deck just before the ship was about to leave.

“Well, goodbye normality here we come adventure,” Rhamina chuckled as she held hands with Sophie and Kerstin.

“Yeah, but it would be better if Sam were here,” Kerstin stated.

“Don’t worry, she’ll have next year’s competition as well,” Sophie said as they watch the pier grow smaller, “They’ll be needing more if people keep being as stupid as they have been.”

“No shit.”

The next three weeks each of the teens fell into a routine of waking up, eating breakfast, exploring the ship, trying not to puke (in Rhamina and Sophie’s cases), eating lunch, spending time on deck, playing with whatever devices they brought that work, eating dinner, and going to bed only to wake up and start again.

It wasn’t all boring though as on some of the days they were taken by Maria and finally taught how to use guns.

“Kerstin, don’t point that shit at people!” Maria called watching as the teen was flailing her gun around.

“Relax, it’s fake,” Rhamina stated as her sister pulled the trigger only for a stream of water to come out.

“... What?”

“Yeah.”

“How did she-” “She brought it with her.”

“Why does it look so-” “Real? I have no clue,” Rhamina said before running as her sister got closer, “Stay away from me!”

“Mina!”

“Fuck off!”

At the beginning of August the ship finally docked at the base on Pandora at the edge of the jungle.

It was very colorful and lush compared to the rest of the world which looked more industrialized due to the growth of more modern ideals and societies.

The air was very fresh and they could already hear the calls of the local creatures as they got off.

As they as well as the other groups of four chosen from the other six states were gathered in a meeting room they looked around in awe.

However, as soon as Rhamina locked eyes with a sneer from a blonde from Texas she could immediately feel a strong dislike begin to grow.

She met the female’s sneer with a low growl before taking a seat with her group as the meeting began.

“Children, hello and welcome to Pandora,” a male wearing an army uniform announced from the front.

He looked very aggressive and intimidating with many scars on his exposed arms.

“Now, this is not all fun and games many of you will get injured and want to go home to Mommy,” he continued, “This is your mission to go…”

“Into the Jungle.”

~~~Fin. Chapter 1~~~

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Picture: https://pinterest.com/pin/436497388883824264/

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[lady-fiona-rossi]

Practice Challenge Two:  Fiona you’re fucked as hell.

AN: I know this has already been posted once. However, the ending has changed due to the sleepover being the first night.

Girls will be girls. It’s the phrase that is rarely heard. Instead, it’s opposite, boys will be boys takes its popularity. At the flower farm, the tendency is untrue. Girls will be girls is more commonly said. The defense for why one girl will cut off another’s hair while they sleep, the defense for why they rise and fall in an over dramatic flare. It’s just what girls do. Humans act like they are so much higher than animals, really we are just like them. We are savages who fight in wars for popularity, thinking the eyes of others mean you have some kind of power. This contest will probably be filled with girls like these. Hot movie stars who will act however they want because they were raised to believe they are always on the right side, or always a victim, intense athletes looking to gain approval from their parents who never could just be proud of them, girls just looking for friends who will be torn apart limb by limb, the attack done by said girls. A battle. The excuse for this horrific and animalistic attack, the phrase girls will be girls. However, I was not raised to accept this battle. Rather I’d like everyone to be warm, regardless of how unrealistic my aspirations are. Thus gifts seemed like a reasonable peace offering. Gifts of what? It stumped me for awhile, but then I realized my surroundings and decided on flower crowns. Though, this is a battle to become Queen, they are all Queen in their own right. Every woman is perfect in her own way. Despite the views of Dom, I want to remind them that they are their own Queen. Each of them just as wonderful, strong, and beautiful as a Queen.

I worked first on sending the letters, mailing each of them to the girls with basically the same phrase, I didn’t want to show favoritism. Then I collected the flowers, the warden allowing me to do so, and made each flower crown. With a soft hum, I finished up the last crown as the time to leave arrived. I didn’t have any clothes to bring so all I had to pack were these crowns. Oh and a book for Prince Evan, and some cookies for Prince Percy and some of the girls. On me, I wore my necklace. My only memory of my mother, I had forgotten her face by now, I knew it in my mind. I would try harder to remember her but the memories only caused me too much pain to think. All I needed to see my sister, however, was to look in the mirror.

The black pants I wore clung to me like the tragedy that reminded me of the ways I was betraying her just by going. It had slipped my mind till recently. The ways we would curse the Royals. Wish them death for the pain they gave us. Now I was going to cozy up to him.  I wonder what my mother would think of me? She might be fine with it, knowing why I’m going, Stella on the other hand…she was much more against them. It’s not their fault. It’s their relatives. I can help, I can help them see the darkness they’re keeping themselves blind to. I miss her though, I miss the warmth of her holding me in her arms, comforting me as I grew up far too fast, trying to hold me down and keep me in my youth without restraining me. I sang a soft song as I began to pack the flowers up, the suitcase I had asked for being cold with ice packs to keep the flowers fresh. A song that my mother used to sing to me when I had a nightmare played in my head while I packed.

“When you gonna make up your mind

When you gonna love you as much as I do

When you gonna make up your mind

Cause things are gonna change so fast

All the white horses are still in bed

I tell you that I’ll always want you near

You say that things change my dear

Boys get discovered as winter melts

Flowers competing for the sun

Years go by and I’m here still waiting Withering where some snowman was

Mirror mirror where’s the crystal palace

But I only can see myself

Skating around the truth who I am

But I kn-”

“Lady Fiona it’s time to go to the send-off.” An older man said as he leaned against the doorway looking down at his watch, interrupting me from my song, luckily I was all packed by now.  

“Thank you for telling me, but who might you be?” I asked as I had never seen this man before, he was a little creepy. Not too much though, he didn’t have a very good nose. It was far too large, and his eyes were oddly distanced. They were a nice shade of blue, however.   

“I work as a royal chauffeur. I’ll be driving you to the airport in Paloma.” He grumbled.

“I see. Thank you very much, sir.” I replied before picking up my suitcase and rolling it with me to the car out in front of the building. I turned back for one moment looking at my childhood. This is where I became who I am today, but it is somewhere I will never go back to, no matter how much it calls to me.

The people of Panama are primarily poor sevens, eights, and a few fours. It’s a province which serves as a large agriculture hub. As we drive I see it. My home, I had never known how far away I had run when they attacked. I was only about fifteen minutes from them. What if they were there? Always waiting for me? What if I had just driven past them? No, I needed to stop thinking like this. They are gone, I am me, I am not them. I am doing this for myself.

“Did they prep you for the send-off?” The man asked, his voice sounding a little concerned.

“Uh, kind of? They said I would have to say like one or two things before heading off to the airport.” I answered the male sighed in response.

“The people, they’re not too happy about the selection they may seem a bit rude. If it ever becomes too much for you, just leave through the back. That’s where I will be.” He explained. It made sense. Why would they be happy about the royal family, the family leaving them in such a shitty condition, throwing a game show about their son finding the proper fuck buddy? Yes flirting with men like him and his cousin Prince Percy would be fun, but I can also understand the people’s frustration at this.

Upon arriving at the stage I saw what the driver had meant. The people, covered in dirt, grime, the sweat from the sevens work in the heat, dirt or sewer water from the work, the sixes seeming much cleaner, but their clothes covered in tears, the eights hiding in the alleyways, some families of eights watching in horror, fearful that the crowd would become too wild and become a stampede. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Then I stepped out of the car, making my way slowly to the stage, making direct eye contact with everyone I could. I wouldn’t let them forget me and what I was about to promise them. Once I got to the stage I stood straight as I could and let out a sigh.

“People of Panama. I understand your frustration. I am one of you, no matter how I am dressed up. I’ve lived on the streets that you live on, I’ve dug out of the same trash you have. I have seen the same shame in the eyes of those who pass us by that you do. The way they ignore us..like we’re nothing. I can’t promise you I will fix us, I don’t even know how much I will matter in this frivolous game, but I can swear to you, as long as I live I will be pushing for us to be treated as equals. We do not deserve the mistreatment we get solely dependent on the numeric ranking of our relatives.” I spoke, my words stern and precise as I listened for the response. However, the silence was the only thing left after I spoke. I took a deep breath in and out, then gave a small curtsey and turned to the back of the stage. As I walked back I began to hear the applause. I kept on my path and got back in the car.

“It was nice of you to try and help. You know though, you won’t have much influence just as a selected.” He said. I gave a soft sign.

“You’re probably right, but I still can try. I can’t stand to see their faces looking so sad.” I replied and leaned against the window drifting off into sleep.   We had to stop in a different province for the night.

The drive was too long and the driver needed a break. So we went to a small hotel and got set up there for the night. The bed was low to the ground and rather soft when I laid on it like I was laying on a marshmallow. I had never slept on something so soft before. The curtains were made out of a thick fabric, they were a pale blue the color of a summer sky, one without a single cloud threatening to drown the citizens, along with the blue small sunflowers were embroidered onto it, like small drops of sunlight coexisting with the summer sky.

“Do you like sunflowers?” The male driver asked. He was staying in another room so I was a little startled to hear his voice suddenly behind me.

“Yes, I suppose. My mother loved them. She would tell me to be bright and sunny just like them.” I answered softly as I held the fabric running my fingers over the stitches making the sunflowers.

“Your mother sounds sweet, and from what I’ve seen of you, you seem to be listening to her.” He complimented. I turned to face him letting the curtains drop.

“Is there something you need?” I asked looking up at him with my eyebrows furrowed.

“No, I wa-”

“Actually what’s your name? I’m tired of not being able to properly address you.” I interrupted.

“It’s Nathaniel Volts, and I was just curious to what one of the selected was like.” He answered and finished.

“Well, now you know,” I replied and leaned against the window. There was a small lake near the hotel, I kind of wanted to go explore it but I doubt I’d be allowed.

“Sooo, Lady ginger. Why’d you enter this thing anyways? You don’t exactly seem too power crazy, or like you’re looking for a playmate. So why?” He asked. I crossed my arms not wanting to get to into it.

“You saw where I lived, I wanted to leave that place. Plus the food is probably awesome, and the prince doesn’t seem like he’d be a bore.” I replied. Nathaniel opened his mouth ready to speak, but once more I cut him off.

“Can you like, go? I’m feeling a bit tired and I’d like some sleep.” I requested though phrasing it as more of a demand, avoiding eye contact with him.

“Right, I’ll go. Sleep well.” He replied stiffly, gave me a pat on the shoulder and then left.

I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes. Quickly one of those dreams began. One of those dreams that cage me, dump ice water on me, then boil me alive like a lobster.

“Stella stop please,” I begged to my sister who was standing on top of a small cardboard box.

“Mamma’s gonna be mad at us, get down.” I pleaded as I tugged at her sleeve. Mamma was out scavenging. There was a parade going on, to celebrate the birth of Princess Callie. They happened to be going through our part of town and Stella was very insistent on having her opinion heard, and I was very insistent on us not getting beheaded.

“How dare these fiends force us to live like we do, while they parade around celebrating the life of another one of them, who will live just as they do in comfort!” She yelled. I felt tears begin to fill my eyes as she was starting to get the attention she wanted. Suddenly a man walked over to us.

“Oh look a little street rat? Just because your mother was a whore doesn’t mean we have to listen to your gibberish.” He grumbled and pushed her down off of her box and onto me. She toppled on me crushing me against the ground. How dare he hurt my sister.

“Maybe you’re a whore!” I yelled, not knowing the meaning of the word at the time but wishing to use his words against him. He gripped my ankle and pulled me out from underneath me sister.

“Oh look the brat’s got a clone.” He spoke as he lifted me up by my leg.

“Let go of me, you stupid person!” I yelled throwing my arms around anywhere I could and kicking my free one. The man tightened his grip on me as I felt my leg break.

Suddenly I was in the woods. It was the last day. The world was spinning as everything became gray. The face of my mother as I listened to her last words while holding my sister’s hand.

“It’ll be okay. I’ll protect you girls. Now can you promise me something?” She asked as we nodded.

“Promise me that you will both always protect each other and that you will always have kindness, courage, and love.” She said before kissing us both on the said.

“I promise mamma.” We said in unison. Me through muffled tears. Stella was always so much stronger than me. Then she pressed a ring into my hand.

“You will be fine, Fiona. Stella and I will protect you.” She added giving me the hug I needed. Then she ran. Then I was running. A loud noise, like a firework. A gun, and my mother’s pained scream.

“Stella you need to hide. Wait for them to pass by, then run away from us. You won’t make it if you keep slowing down for me.” I spoke to her sternly. My leg still had not healed from the past year, without proper medical attention. She hid inside a bush. The last thing I remember were her eyes. What’s next what’s next. What else can this dream hit me with?

Nothing. I sit up fast, not hitting my head this time. I’m drenched in sweat and my hands shake. I stand up and walk to the bathroom, happy to feel the cold tiles on my feet.

“You betrayed me.” I hear Stella say, looking back at me in the bathroom mirror.

“I’m dead because of you, you were supposed to protect me!” She yelled as her hands stretched from inside of the mirror gripping my throat and strangling me.

My eyes open, finally actually awake. I pant and throw the thick blanket off of me, sweat covered every inch of my body. I got up and walked to the bathroom, turned on the light and looked in the mirror. I slowly raised my hands to rest on my cheeks.

“I’m me. She is not me.” I said to myself slowly before taking a deep breath in and out. It was only two am. I couldn’t go back to sleep though. Not when she was waiting to claw her way back to life through me. I snuck out creeping down the hallway and to the outside.

The grass was damp. It must have been raining when I slept. Through the darkness, I made my way to the small lake I had seen from my window. I sat down on the wet grass and watched the resting water. There were no thoughts here, nothing plagued my mind causing the constant screaming in my head to continue, no sisters to save, no one to fail, nothing to do but rest with the water. Then the rain came. I laid down on the grass and let it drench me.

Each drop of rain beating down on my body, washing me of the past that plagued me. Cleaning off each desire that harassed me. The desire to free Stella from whatever fictional hell I had fabricated for her, the desire to impress all I meet, the desire for everyone to love me. The desire to keep up this gilded facade. I had no desire, but the desire to be me. I was clean. I was ready.

My life is mine, and I am going to take it back.

   After an hour or so of sitting in the rain, I decided to retire back to my room, then got in the shower. I would need an excuse for my drenched body and hair. Once I was out of the shower I set my nightgown down and used a hair blow dryer I had to dry the nightgown, for the time being, I felt fine wearing only my underclothes. I laid down on the bed and felt the blanket on each part of my skin. I wasn’t often like this as there were so many others who slept in the same room as me. But for now, I felt comfortable, I felt myself.

   Once morning came we quickly began our journey I would have to wear my clothes from yesterday as people still may see me and we were supposed to be in the formal wear of the selected until we arrived. I clipped the small flower into my hair, braiding two strands and tying them back like a tiara. I believed the flower was a lily of the valley. They were small flowers that looked almost like bells, they looked delicate and weak. Though someone who knew a lot about flowers can tell you, lily of the valleys are some of the most poisonous flowers if consumed. Normally it takes a lot of a flower to make one ill, not with these small things.

I was the last to arrive at the airport. The first thing I did was walk up to Madalena and give her a hug. We had been writing back and forth during the time after being selected. She seemed like a sweet daredevil. Then I gave each of the girls a hug with the exception of Margarita who settled for a handshake. Calista was very sweet. She joked saying she couldn’t tell if it was a friendly golden retriever who had hugged her or me. She’s blind but has very good hearing. She could hear the plane before it even was in sight. Maria was like me, never had ridden a plane before and was a little scared to. We held hands and made it together.

Upon arriving at the palace I was sat down in a large room to begin what they called a makeover. First, they took a before picture of me, I was wearing a dull colored dress. It seemed a little fake. Of course, I’d look better in a dress that wasn’t so boring. I sat down on a small chair that leaned back like a bad as they began. They put a hot liquid all over me and then ripped it off with small pieces of papers, used weird things I had never seen on my nails, then cleaned my hair.

“Do you think you could cut my hair?” I asked. I had still been meaning too after my first attempt but hadn’t gotten around to it with all of the talking, packing, and flower crown making.

They lady gave a small sigh. “Are you sure about that?” She asked. Why? Would it look bad if I cut it? I had never thought it looked bad short. Does Prince Dom not like short hair? Wait, why do I care what Prince Dom thinks? Maybe I should cut it. Yeah. I opened my mouth about to speak but found myself getting cut off.

“We’ll just trim it a bit and layer it. If you end up wanting that drastic cut, just ask one of your maids later.” She answered and sat me up to begin cutting the hair with a weird kind of scissor that would apparently layer it. Maids? I would have maids? I knew Rebecca had one made named Melissa, we all called her Mel though and were friends. It seemed weird for me to have maids. I would have to make them something.

Once I was finished I spoke to a girl named Debbie, I needed to hand out some of the flower crowns while I could, so I gave her hers, then we got caught up in conversation. Quickly she became a close friend. Next, I would need to find Madelyn, we had been writing back and forth for awhile so I was thrilled to finally meet her. She was talking with a girl named Emmalyn. Berklee and a girl named Charlotte were also talking. Though as our conversation began Charlotte seemed a little wary at everyone coming into the conversation. Berklee had a chicken nugget crown, she had specifically asked for chicken nuggets so her’s was in a different bag meant to keep the nuggets warm.  

After the makeovers, we met some lady who would be training us on how to becoming proper ladies. She quickly went over things like table manners, the different types of dresses per each time of the day, and a thousand other things. It made me feel dizzy and sick to think of so many new rules.

Once she freed us from her sickening speech about etiquette, I found myself wandering off to the gardens. It was already fairly dark. The sun normally didn’t set so early in Panama. I walked outside and took a deep breath welcoming in the fresh outside air. Then I began my slow walk, after walking for a bit I bumped into Princess Alina. Rumor had it she liked flowers so it didn’t surprise me too much to see her. We had a rough conversation. I apparently was much more offensive to her than I had intended to be. Something must be wrong with me. Maybe I needed more sleep.

Afterward, I stopped by my room thankful that my maids seemed to have given up on waiting for me to come. I opened my suitcase of gifts. I had already passed out a few of them once I had finished my makeover. But now I would hunt down Prince Evan, and Prince Percy. I’d have to give Princess Alina her gift later.

First I spotted Prince Percy and made my way over to him.

“Hi, Prince Percy! I’m Fiona Rossi one of the selected. I wanted to make gifts for everyone for when I got here, and most of them include flowers but I was really very stumped on what to get for you, considering that my knowledge of you is very slim and I wasn’t sure if you’d like flowers, and Prince Evan has a very clear statement of liking books. So, I decided you can’t go wrong with cookies. Unless of course, you’re allergic to cookies, in which case I will hunt for something else to properly give you as a gift.” I said and held out a box of cookies to him.

“I’m not allergic, and who doesn’t love cookies? Thanks, gorgeous.” He replied. Ooh a flirt. This could be fun.

“Sadly I can think of a few sad girls who don’t. And thanks, you don’t seem to be too bad on the eyes yourself.” I replied with a sly smirk enjoying this conversation already.

“Well, obviously. I am a Schreave, after all.” He replied. Yes obviously.

“Mmmm I wouldn’t say I find all in your family are attractive, some seem a little poorly unshaven,” I spoke thinking back to a very unfortunate picture I had seen of one of them.

“Hah! And who would that be, I wonder?” He asked.

“Not sure I can trust you enough to say. Wouldn’t want someone hating me already.” I replied and looked back up at him making eye contact.

“Hey, if it’s making fun of someone in my family, I am all here for it. Your secret is safe with me.” He assured. I pursed my lips thinking for a minute over if I should spill it or not. Why not.

“Well, Prince Evan is clearly not the most attractive in the family. Maybe he would be a little better if he fixed his facial hair though. Since after all it’s not like I memorized the flaws and benefits of all of your faces before coming.” I explained, adding in the part about memorizing faces as a small joke.

Then Prince Percy began to laugh hysterically. I started to chuckle a bit too, proud I had succeeded in my comment.“Oh, wow. This is priceless. I agree. Evan is a troll. And of course you didn’t memorize our faces, but… if you had… what would you say are the positives about me?” He asked. Oh, so he wanted his ego to be even more inflated. Yeah, I’m gonna at the very least make out with him before I go. He was pretty perfect. Hot, funny, and a flirt. What more could a girl ask for? He then made a ‘smolder face’ waiting for a compliment from me. I leaned forward pressing two of my fingers against his lips.

“Hmmm well, I can’t properly judge when you’re making such a silly face. However-” I paused to move my fingers to give his nose a light pinch. “-your nose is greatly proportioned.” I complimented trying to think of something weird to compliment him with, wouldn’t want to tell him what he wanted to hear so soon. Probably something about his sexy eyes.

“My nose is proportional? That’s all you like?” He asked. Ah, such a wounded animal.

“Well, if I was held at gunpoint and forced to say something else it’d be your eyes, nice color, not too small,” I added trying to keep him hooked.

“Mmhmm. I see how it is.” He replied. Aw, did I go too far?

“Well, maybe I’ll say more if you say some good things about me in return.” I offered up, then very overdramatically batted my eyelashes. Oh how I loved equivalent exchange.

“I’ll wait,” I added.

“You’ve got nice hair.” He replied, such a boring compliment.

“Hmm if that’s the only compliment you can think of, I’ll be so disappointed. I hear it from too many people to enjoy it. To be fair my next complement will be that you’ve got nice hair.” I said before taking a step closer to him and running one hand through it.

“It’s a good color and very thick,” I added. That was when it all went downhill. Percy leaned away from me before saying,

“Hey, don’t touch the hair.” Aw, he was defensive over his mane.

“Why not? Spend hours on it in the morning?” I teased.

“This hair is insured for millions of dollars. Magazines everywhere are willing to kill for a chance to get this hair on the cover of their magazines. I do model, you know.” Goodness, he’s such a guy.

“No, I didn’t know that. I doubt you remember the caste of every girl but I’m the seven. I don’t get magazines often.” I joked.

“Well, I do. Model, I mean. And no one touches my hair. So… a Seven you say…” He said suddenly seeming awkward and closed off

“Yeah…do you have a problem with that?” I asked my eyebrows furrowed. Oh great. Not even in one day and I’m already being treated differently because of my caste. Everything was going fine until he heard that stupid number.

“Hmm… I don’t know yet. I’ve never met anyone in a lower caste than Three.” A three? That’s so high. There are plenty of girls here who are fives and sixes. Is he just going to ignore them?

“Well, there are plenty of people in lower castes here. And you shouldn’t have a problem with it considering regardless of whatever number we’re assigned for a particular job doesn’t change the fact that we’re just people the same as you.” I replied not being too aggressive but simply stating my beliefs as fact.

“I know you’re all people. We just may be very different people.” He said. Well, we weren’t very different people not even a minute ago. Suddenly we’re very different people just for saying a number?

“If that’s a concern of yours then fine, but don’t judge me until you know me. It’s getting rather late so I think I’m going to be off to my bedroom now. Have a good night Prince Playboy.” I excused myself, not wishing to be insulted anymore.

“See you later, Ginger…maybe.” 

Now in a slightly upset mood, I went to see Prince Evan. I kept the meeting short and to the point. I got a small book for Prince Evan. I had read somewhere that he liked to read. So I got him a book about the history of flowers in war. As the types of flowers and colors, all had meanings and played a big part in wars. I was hoping we could talk about it, but I found myself too annoyed to keep the conversation going for long. Thus I got a book recommendation to read something by Jane Austen, and left heading for the library. As I made my way down to the library I looked at the wall, the paper on it was so detailed. When there was a door or a bedroom I would also look at everything I could in the time it took me to go down the hall, and on my way down I saw the most infatuating person.

Prince Dom Schreave. I knew we weren’t supposed to speak with him yet so I took in all I could see of him with a giddy smile as I made my way past his room.

Thank God, he’s hot.

At the library, I was in awe at all of the books. I didn’t even know one could have so many books. As I hunted for the Jane Austen books I found myself drawn to a book about social etiquette. I should probably work harder to understand how to act and such. Threes probably need good etiquette too, so regardless of how this ends up I’ll need to know it. I picked up three books, one on etiquette in general social interactions, and one on social etiquette in eating. How could one write a whole book on the rules of eating?

On my way back to my room for the night I bumped into Madelyn. She had made me a poem, it was inspired off of a picture of my favorite flower, peonies, then about friendship, it was actually very lovely. I had some cookies to give her as well and suggested we hang out for a bit in one of our rooms and maybe watch a movie. Maddie then told me there was a sleepover going on with most of the selected and we should probably go.

I do not get drunk often. Primarily because the few times Rebecca has snuck me to a club, or given me alcohol she says I become a very different person. She found this very funny. I, on the other hand, found this very embarrassing. But with all of the stress piling up I decided to chug as much alcohol that I could get my hands on. This resulted in a very drunk me wandering about the palace late at night, which one could see, is not a good result. I found myself wandering off to Princess Alina’s room. Someone had dared Emmalyn to flirt with Princess Alina. However, Emmalyn used everyone’s pick up line but mine.

“Hey hottie, do you like watering flowers, because you’re as pretty as as flower and I’ll make you wet?” I slurred as I leaned against the doorway.

“I told emmalyn to use that one but she said it was too much. It’s too good to go to waste.” I sighed as  I turned to face the hottest woman in the palace.

“It’s decent. I’ve definitely heard better.” Alina replied. No freaking way.

“Really. Tell me them then or I don’t believe it. Also, here have some whiskey it’ll make everything so much better in life.” I challenge and motioned for her to take the bottle.

“I’m good. I’m not a whiskey fan. But here’s one: My watch says you’re not wearing underwear. Oh wait! It’s an hour fast.” Alina replied certainly proving me wrong as I began to cackle.

“Ooh that one’s fun! I admit defeat. My pickup line was personalized to you though.” I replied and took a chug of alcohol.  

“your cousin came to the sleepover and basically had sex with Charlotte. I couldn’t take watching that and I had pickup lines to avenge so I thought I’d stop by you, princess cutie.” I added then gave her a quick wink.

“That’s a new one.” Alina said seeming slightly surprised at the nickname.

“A new what?” I asked wondering what I had said.

“Nickname. No one’s ever called me Princess Cutie.”

“Aw well, they really should have. You’re a princess-” I paused and walked over to her sitting next to her on her bed, then lightly tapped her nose. “ “-and you are very much a cutie” I finished.

“You’re a little drunk, Lady Fiona,” Alina stated as I chuckled, my face close to hers as I had bopped her nose. God, she’s so hot. How is she not like already married or at least dating?

“A little is an understatement. You should have seen Annette though. She could hardly stand. Prince playboy dared Charlotte to kiss her and she fainted. Though even if I wasn’t drunk I’d still say you’re Princess cutie. The cutest most badass princess of them all.” I said and stretched my arms out to quantify how much of a cutie badass princess she was, but then fell back on her bed now laying on it with my legs dangling off the side and my tiptoes on the floor.

“Compared to who? Callie?” Alina asked. Of course not. Well, Callie included. But not just Callie.

“Compared to every princess on the history of ever!” I exclaimed.

“That’s quite a few princesses.”

“Yup but you’re still the best of all of them, Princess cutie!” I cheered before throwing myself onto Alina giving her a hug.  

Alina laughed as she pat me on my back. “Well, thank you, Lady Fiona.”

“Aw your laugh is even so cute. Honestly, they should say fuck all and hold a selection for you. You deserve the most perfect love of your life and deserve the optimal chance to find them. I’m sure everyone would swoon at the thought of signing up for you.” I suggested as I looked up at her.

“I’m perfectly fine without a Selection.” How else is she going to find her perfect love then?

“Ah right you find Sera sexy. I wish you luck with her. She threatened to kill all of us in the sleepover because we were annoying her with our conversation. Though I can see what you mean about her appearance. Like woah. Hot.” I’m not gay though, just can respect a hot girl.

Alina raised her eyebrows before clarifying, “I’m not looking for anything from this. I find plenty of you sexy but I still would never want a Selection.”

“Why not? Wouldn’t most people scream of joy at having 35 hot people of their preferred gender coming to their home and trying to date them?” I asked.

“It’s demeaning and sexist and incredibly constricting,” Alina said. I pulled away from her as my eyebrows furrowed. I hadn’t really thought about the social activism perspectives on this thing.

“How so? I haven’t put much thought into it since I mostly just used it to get off the farm.” I asked wanting to hear her ideas. She seemed like a very smart woman.

“Well it forces heteronormativity, it’s basically a pageant. And it’s not like if Dom doesn’t find the girl he’s looking for he can’t just… cancel this and start over. He’s trying to find someone he loves with only 35 girls here. It’s not as many as you might think. People meet and date tons of people before they find “the one”. He didn’t even get to pick you all for himself. Not that that would be a good thing either.” Alina explained. I hadn’t really thought of any of this.

“Are they not allowed to have a gay selection? I don’t really think of this as a beauty pageant if I don’t like Dom or anyone I’ll just act like a monster till I’m kicked out. I suppose you’re right though. In terms of activism, I’ve mostly thought about activism in castes. Because it’s personally hurt me my whole life and hatred against members of lower castes results in death, but I suppose when I think about it sexism here is pretty bad as well. Why can’t women have sex before marriage, if they wanna fuck they should be able to fuck. And why can’t people be gay? Man we’re really fucked. I should drink more, the best solutions always come from being drunk.” I said then took another chug of my whiskey.

Alina laughed then reached for my whiskey, “Maybe that’s enough for you.“ She then took away the only thing that mattered to me at that particular instance. My alcohol.

“Nooo, Princess cutie Lina, not my only love!” I pleaded and made a lazy attempt to reach for it once more.

Alina smiled at me before saying, “I’m sure you can find another love.”

I laughed and laid back on the bed. No, this is basically my last and only chance at finding a romantic partner. “I’m very sure I won’t Princess cutie. People don’t like sevens, let alone sevens who used to be 8s. I’m going to be a three now which means I’m not going to be around a lot of people who are around my true caste. I’m sure people will avoid me like the plague. Take me to the gardens  Lina? I wanna see your garden. I bet it’s amazing just like you.” I said and tried changing the topic to her gardens. The book on social etiquette had said not to get too much into personal stuff.  

“I don’t really show people my garden…”

“Oh, that’s fine then. I don’t want to overstep. Sometime though if you feel like it, I’d be more than happy to see it. I’ve always loved gardening. Even before I was a 7. When I lived in the alleyways with my sister and mom I would find dandelions and plant their seeds in places where I knew we’d stay for awhile just so I could hope that one or two of them would grow. I think it started because I was always wishing for a better life for my mom, I wanted all of the wishes I could get.” I said just blabbering on. I was getting into very socially incorrect territory though.

“That’s… I’m sorry.” Alina mumbled.

“It’s okay. She loved us and was happy with us, so it wasn’t too bad. I hated myself when I was younger for awhile. I would always wish for her to have a better life but I had hated myself for not wishing she would have a long life. I don’t mind as much now. I know dandelions can’t really make wishes come true.” I said and chuckled a little sadly, I used to be so stupid.

“Maybe they do, it just takes a while. I mean… you’re here right?” Alina suggested. Yes, I suppose I am much better now. But she isn’t, she’s dead.

“Ah, that’s true. I am at a better place now. I actually joined this not to escape the farm. I say that because I’m trying to tell myself that I did this for me, but I did it because I’m decisional and I think maybe my mom and my sister are still alive. I never saw either of them die. Or maybe my dad will regret being a jackass and get his ass over to this country and try and make things right. But mostly, I want them to be alive. I was supposed to protect my twin Stella. We were running from a group of people who harm 8s trying to clean them off the streets like weeds as they say. I had broken my leg a year before and hadn’t gotten the right medical help so it hadn’t healed, so I told Stella to hide and I would lure them away from her since she would make it further without me. But I never saw her again after that.  I miss them. But I guess it’s improper for me to be talking about all of this. I would normally hold my tongue. I guess I’m just not the best at holding my liquor.” I lamented. Why couldn’t I just shut my mouth?

“It’s not improper to have feelings.” Alina excused, trying to make me feel better about my failure.

“But rambling on like this to you would be. I tried reading a book on etiquette, I really don’t want people to use my caste against me, it said to refrain from talking too much about your personal life to people you hardly know. I’m not doing too well at it.”

Alina shrugged, “You’re drunk. And, hopefully, you’ll be here for a while. We have to get to know each other eventually.”

“Hopefully so. I don’t seem to have too much luck with men though, so your brother might quickly toss me aside. I had one conversation with Prince Percy and he has deemed me most hated. Granted I did yell at him because he said we might not get along after learning about my caste. It just seemed stupid that we were having a fine conversation but when that stupid number comes up suddenly I’m an alien.” I exclaimed, day one and I already had been judged for a number.

“Percy’s a shallow asshole, don’t pay attention to him.”

“Really? Do you think your brother will be the same? I want to stay here long enough to get to know you better and finally see your garden, Princess cutie.” I said then lightly bopped her nose once more.

“I never know what my brother’s thinking.”

“Men, such puzzles. Princess cutie, I never made you a flower crown. You deserve one too. You said you like Azaleas right? Or do you have a flower you prefer even more?” I asked.

“Lilies. Peruvian lilies, specifically, but ya know… All flowers are nice. Except for maybe orchids. I hate fucking orchids.”

“I will make you a flower crown with Peruvian lilies then! And those grass looking flowers you said you’ve been growing lately, they’ll do well to hold the structure of it. ah, orchids…the vomit of flowers.” Vomit was probably not the best word. They were one of those plants that looked like vines, but the part of the flower that’s supposed to be pretty just seemed unfitting on them. They were more like the preteen flowers. Awkward and lanky.

Alina laughed “They’re little bitches is what they are.”

“I had this one rose I named Lincoln, he wouldn’t grow right. I kept fighting with him. He wanted to be a vine and grow on something but I didn’t have anything for it to latch onto and it just kept flopping over.” I explained. Poor Lincoln. He ended up getting stepped on. Far too tall.

Alina raised her eyebrows and smiled, “You named a flower?”

“I name all of my flowers. They all have personalities. Lincoln was Lincoln because at first he was sturdy, dependable, and had futuristic ideas like trying to be a vine.” I explained. The name was very fitting.

Alina laughed, “That’s cute.” Like her.

“Aw, thanks like you. I will name my next flower after you. It will be Princess Lina, Cutie of Illea. It will be a Peruvian lily!” I exclaimed overjoyed at my new idea.

Alina laughed, “Well… thanks, I guess.”

“You’re very welcome Princess adorabes. Soooo, what are you going to do with that alcohol that you took from me? Because if you’re not going to drink it I will happily finish it off.” I suggested trying to get my lover back.

“I’m going to put it back where it came from. And you, Lady Fiona, you should get some sleep.” No, I’m not ready to leave just yet, I want to talk more with the best girl.

“Aw but sleep is overrated. All it does it make you lose time that I could be spending talking to pretty and hot girls like you, or gardening, or learning by reading, or dancing, or so many other things!” I argued.

“But I suppose if I must, could you walk me to my room, I’m afraid I’ll go to the wrong one, they all look so similar,” I added still wanting to have as much time with her as I could get.

Alina laughed once more, “Of course, Lady Fiona. This way.”

“Thank you, Princess hottie,” I said before rising and taking Alina’s hand. It was so soft and warm. I leaned against her a little as we walked.

Alina nodded at our hands, “You don’t uh… I mean, you can if you want but… I’m not a guy…” She mumbled. Aw such a cute stutter.

“Do you only take people’s arms when they’re male? Personally, I need the balance help.” I laughed. It’d be a shame if I could only hold her hand if she was male. It was a wonderful hand.  

“I mean, it’s not… Never mind. I’ll make sure you don’t fall.” Alina replied.

“Also I’m very aware that you are not a guy, you are the sexy, cutie, hot, badass, and above all 100% glorious Princess Alina Schreave.” I flirted before looking up at her and smiling while we walked.

Again I got to hear Alina’s amazing laugh, “I guess so, something like that.”

“Yup, not even something like that. You are exactly as I have described Princess. The very best.” I clarified.

Alina rolled her eyes, “You’re wasted.”

“But people tell the truth when they’re wasted, so you know what I’m saying is 100% accurate,” I argued.

One last time I got to hear Alina’s laugh, “Well… this is it. Your room.” She said. No, I would have to leave now. Part ways with the amazing cute button.

“Are you sure? I could have sworn it was much further than this.” I asked and pouted a little. Then I turned to face her. She wasn’t wrong it said my name on the plate.

“ well, I suppose it is. Goodnight princess cutie.” I added then leaned up and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

“sleep well!” I add then closed the door to my room before she could reply.

I walked over to my desk, pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a note.

To Do:

Make Alina flower crown.

Make Alina flower.

Alina.

Fiona you’re fucked as hell.