#my alarm didn't wake me up so instead of being up at 7:30 i wasn't up until 8:06

[busycucumbermelon]

The Cullens' Treasure

Summary: After befriending a new kid at your school, you soon realize your brother only focuses on his girlfriend and partying. you got fed up and decided to ask your new friends for help.

Part 2 of our coven mate

 Warning:  threats, unwanted, physical, touch, mention of child endangerment 

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The buzz of your alarm clock woke you up out of your deep slumber. You glanced over at the clock - 5:30. Here comes the rush of your morning. Get up, make breakfast, wake your brother, and wake the kids. Bathe them and get them dressed, make sure they have all their homework done. Then you're part of the morning. You'd usually just let them play while you take a shower, get dressed, do your hair, and double-check that you have everything you need for the day. Out the door at 7:00!

The kids got to school around 10 minutes before they needed to, but the staff there had a schedule with you and your brother. You could drop them off early and they could spend some time in the classroom doing their own thing. Today, you took a few minutes to encourage Sarah and Melanie. The two of them would be giving the new girl attending their school, the tour. Carter didn't really want to walk around with his sisters and a random girl though, so he would just be playing in one of the classrooms.

Your brother didn't accompany you while you were talking to your siblings. Currently, you and him were having a fight, but that wasn't going to stop you from being the best big sister you could as always. You gave your little siblings a kiss and went back to the Jeep.

"you know, it would be nice if you at least got out of the car and put yourself aside for your little siblings."

"Oh, shut it! I'm tired. Me and Olivia were up all night." You whipped your head towards your brother so fast you were sure you'd get whiplash.

Recently, all that had been talked about was your brother's girlfriend Olivia. You had nothing against her; she was a sweet, loving girl. However, your brother was skipping shifts while still begging you to clock in for him. You were basically working double time because of him.

On top of that, when you got home, you had to take care of two sick little girls and a cranky little boy who was trying to make sure his sisters were okay. Yet, your brother still had the audacity to complain about it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm trying to take care of a family, while working, and making sure my little siblings are okay. Melanie has cancer, and Sarah's hydrocephalus doesn't exactly make everything all okay with her. We're lucky Carter doesn't have anything similar, or we wouldn't be able to pay for food, the rent, school, hospital bills. You don't care about any of that though, just Olivia!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't want to spend my entire life with my annoying sister and little siblings that, honestly, could just die for all I care."

The last thing you wanted to hear was your brother ranting about everything, especially bringing kids into it. These were your little siblings, the last trace you had of your parents, and the fact that he just wanted them to die hurt.

The rest of the car ride, you were quiet, crying out of your window, happy you decided not to put on makeup this morning, otherwise, this would be a whole other scene.

When the two of you pulled up to school, you grabbed your bag up from the floor and jumped out of the jeep, slamming the door behind you. The first person you saw that day was Olivia, running up to the car. She looked like she was going to give you a hug, but then second-guessed herself and went to your brother’s side of the car instead.

She probably noticed how upset you were and realized that it wasn't her place to comfort you, since the two of you hadn't always been on the best terms.

In your distress, you didn't notice the new fancy cars parked next to you, until now. As you stormed past, you could make out the people inside. The first car closest to you had a blonde with slightly wavy hair wearing a floral green top, a white scarf, and jeans. They were pretty pale, just like the guy on the passenger seat. You didn't give them more than a glance as you continued to walk across the parking lot.

When you got closer to the school building, you saw your two closest friends standing there - Chris and Crystal.

Crystal was the first to notice the tear stains on your cheeks. Chris was too oblivious, pulling you into a hug. It was exactly what you needed. After an argument with your brother, you knew they wouldn't ask any details or harp on it too long.

Although the company of your friends was comforting for you, it wasn't for the people sitting in their cars behind you -

Jasper and Bella, sitting in the parked cars behind you, had their eyes closed, just to make sure nothing happened once you went inside with your friends. As soon as you stepped inside, they opened their eyes again,

You were quiet as you watched your two best friends chatting while walking down the hallway. The tiredness was starting to slowly set in, but you weren't too worried about that. Even your teacher had made an agreement with you. As long as you got good grades, she would let you sleep in class. So, you tried to engage in the conversation as much as you could, even if it made you exhausted, as it usually did talking to the two idiots you called friends.

"No, I'm saying Natalie and her roommate disappeared." Natalie was one of the popular girls in school. You weren't friends with her or her roommate, but this was where the gossip would usually go.

"Maybe something happened to Natalie's roommate and she's just looking after them," you added to the conversation, providing your own speculation.

"No, no. Well, maybe, I guess no one knows. Did you guys hear? Sounds like we might be able to get out of a little bit of work in gym today. It sounds like we'll just be sparring and you know how the gym teacher is. He's so sexist - he won't let any of the girls participate," Crystal always hated gym class. Her excuse was she had really bad hand eye coordination.

"Uhhhhh." Chris was obviously not excited to fight one of his friends in front of a bunch of girls.

"Yup," Rose teased, throwing an arm around your waist, and pulling you into her. If Chris decided to hit her, this was always her ploy to use you as a human shield.

"Alright, alright. You idiot, let me go to class." Crystal walked away, heading for her Spanish class and telling Chris that she'd see him in gym.

You walked into your English class, saying hello to your teacher, and took a seat at your usual table. You didn't like sitting next to the window, so you took the seat right next to it. No one usually sat around you because well, you wouldn't be much help. You usually just fell asleep and as you did everyday, you put on your hood and put your head down in your arms.

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

Everything for English went perfectly smooth, even with you sleeping through the entire class with your notebook under your arm. Jasper took down notes for you, periodically looking at the clock to look at your reflection. Bella sat behind you, staring at the clock for the majority of the class. if you had been awake, you would've thought she'd had enough of school already, or she just really wanted to see her partner. You'd seen Divine do it multiple times before, and it could only be assumed it was the same for Bella.

Next was Biology to, as usual, you sat by yourself. Usually, you'd pair up with some acquaintances that you had in that class, For this class, you were sitting next to one of the new students, Emmett.

Seeing him immediately brought you back to the parking lot, You just stared straight ahead, deep in thought, not taking in a word your teacher said, as you thought about what happened earlier that morning.

You scanned the room, and sure enough, you were able to recognize the girl who was sitting with Emmett in the car. She was pretty and had paper-white skin, something you hadn't noticed when you were walking past her. Maybe it was because your eyes were blurry with tears?

A small part of you was kind of worried, though. It wasn't even possible for some one to be that light. Maybe vitiligo, or a lack of sunlight? Or, maybe they just didn't go out a lot?

But before you could think too much on it, the professor started the lesson. Today, you were going over chemical bonds. It sounded complicated from what you could gather before you started to space out. In the corner of your eye, you noticed that Rosalie and Emmett had a close eye on you.

What did their proximity to you mean? You had no idea, but as you started to space out on the lesson, you couldn't help but pay more attention to the duo than anything else in the class.

"When you think of bonds, you may not think of ions, like most people you probably think of bonds between people - like-." After that, the professor started speaking again, although, just like earlier, you started to space out as soon as he did once again.

It seemed like he wasn't planning on giving a long spiel and was going to give you a paper or partner work regardless. Either way, you were pretty sure that spacing out wouldn't hurt that much. You'd already slept through English today, and you'd been fine.

You ended up resting your hand on the table as you began gazing into one of the walls. Sitting in the back middle of the class, it was pretty much far-fetched for the teacher to notice you and call you out. On top of that, the majority of teachers knew of your home arrangement and would give you much more leeway than the rest of your classmates.

Your hand on the table felt like something was slowly taking away some heat. It started at your pinky and a little bit of your wrist. When you glanced over to your new table-mate, you saw that he had his hand next to yours and was tapping the table.

What do you make of this? Do you just keep staring ahead? Or, do you try to get a better look at what he's doing and maybe even talk to him? Just as all these questions started to swirl around in your brain the teacher told all the students that they would be choosing partners. 

As kids scattered around the classroom to find a partner, you noticed your table mate quickly look over at the girl from the parking lot. Their gaze was intense and it looked like they were whispering or mouthing something to each other. The motion was almost fluid, it was as if they were having a personal conversation of some sort. But, they weren't yelling or getting loud, and the situation was so tense that you had the impression that they were discussing something else... like, a secret! What was it about though?… As your table mate moved his hand, his arm flexed and muscles contracted, as if he was holding back from reaching out to you or trying to make some point or comfort himself. You couldn't quite tell what his motive was, but something was definitely on his mind...and it made you curious.

"Hey there!"

Nella was as sweet as her nickname and was not like any of the other students who treated new students like freaks at a circus. She had a natural gift for making friends anywhere she went.

"So I was wondering," Nella says. "But it's all up to you." She pauses, "I know you don't really like partnering up with people you're not really comfortable with, and I totally get that."

"But," she continues, "I was thinking, maybe one of us," she gestures to you and herself, "each could partner up with one of the new kids?"

You nod in agreement, as the group of remaining students breaks out into hushed chatter, discussing partnerships and strategies.

A small, nagging voice in the back of your mind was telling you this was a mistake, but it was too late now. Nella was already off to find the girl from the parking lot. It made you feel awful that that was all you really knew about her.

You turned to see your table mate, his eyes fixated on you. Everything in you told you that this was a bad decision and you were right. He asked the question you feared, only serving to confirm your suspicions.

"So we're partners?" his voice sounds off. Though you've never heard him speak before, something feels wrong. The way he spoke...it was weird.

Fear and worry took hold of you as he asked the question, afraid that you had made a mistake.

"No, this is all in my head," you tell yourself. "I'm being paranoid. There is nothing to worry about; I'm probably just on edge since I've been feeling so emotional all day."

Then, you hear your table mate ask you a question, which makes your heart start racing all over again.

"so what's your name? I don't think you've told me yet." His tone was so friendly, that you almost forgot what you were panicking about.

"Y/n, what's your name?" You're noticeably calmer now and are actually able to focus on your partner. You decide to ignore those intrusive thoughts and take a deep breath to remain in control.

"I'm Emmett," he says, "and your friend is partnered with Rosalie" he adds, as if that explains everything. The fact that he dropped that information without any sort of preamble makes you wonder if he was just making a casual observation or maybe he noticed you were kind of nervous up

As the class continued, you were mostly tuned out. However, you were surprised to realize that Emmett was doing most of the work. It was as if your table mate had a hidden talent for understanding this stuff that you just couldn't comprehend.

Rosalie also caught your attention; she frequently looked over at you, but it was never nerve-racking or intimidating. It felt...natural and normal.

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

 In your Spanish class, you need to discussed something with Crystal. You anxiously rocked back-and-forth on your heels, waiting for her outside English classroom. You always walked together, and you needed someone to talk to about your feelings and how weird class was.

You also felt uncomfortable with the way the town perceived the new kids. They gave you bad vibes, and you just couldn't fully trust them.

Although Crystal wasn't the first one out of the classroom, a new girl was. You had never seen her around, so you suspected she was new to town.

When she spotted you, the new girl quickly stopped in her tracks. She bit her bottom lip and quickly continued walking.

Although you hadn't spoken a single word to the new girl, you could tell there was something else in her mind. It seemed like she wanted to approach you, but was hesitant to do so...

And before you knew it, Crystal was right in front of you with a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips, hoping you would indulge in the drama.

"She's a bit strange, isn't she?" Crystal whispers and pauses for a moment. "She goes by the name of Alice, and we are sitting next to each other."

With that, Crystal quickly moves on. Beginning to walk to Spanish class.

"Well, in every single one of my classes there's been a new student, and I was partnered with one of them. Alice seemed pretty okay, so maybe you should just give her a chance."

You paused, unsure of what to say next. You felt so anxious and stressed out by the whole situation, but you didn't want to sound like you were complaining or making excuses.

So instead, you decided to keep it quick and concise. "I've been a little stressed out lately and the new kids don't really help."

"God, it's your brother and Olivia again. I hate them," Crystal says in an annoyed tone. "I know they're in love or whatever, but she can't just throw away all the responsibilities he has."

She got really upset when it seemed like someone was screwing you over, especially with Olivia since the two of them hadn't gotten along too well. You, however, felt conflicted. You understood your brother's anger, but your siblings would be distraught if they heard what he had said.

You tried to keep your attention on Crystal, but you kept getting sucked back into your own thoughts. After getting thrown back into your thoughts for what felt like the hundredth time, a tap on your shoulder brought you back to reality. You looked over at Crystal, who now wore a bright red flush on her cheeks.

As you looked over, you saw a new student. He was a tall, buff guy, obviously Crystal's type. His teeth were sharp, and his hair looked greasy, like he'd been sweating.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where Spanish is?" he asked. His tone came across as a bit demanding and harsh. You didn't know what his problem was, but you were quick to jump as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

He quickly apologized for scaring you. He explained that he was in a rush, which was why his tone sounded a bit harsh. He was just kinda frazzled, since he didn't really know anyone in his new school.

In that moment, Crystal shot her shot and began trying to push you out of the conversation. She knew you were stressed, and she wanted to take control of the situation.

Jacob and Crystal continued their conversation as they walked to Spanish class together. Although his eyes occasionally gazed your way, you felt comfortable; it wasn't the same as everyone else looking at you with some weird thing in their eyes.

Jake was enjoying the conversation; he seemed comfortable and happy to talk. He reminded you of the time when your brother and you were on the same team and felt like the two of you could take on anything together.

Once you made it into the classroom, you moved to your seat. You typically went on autopilot at this point, distracted by your daydreams. But today, you were having just a little too much fun eavesdropping on Jake and Crystal's conversation

Slowly but surely, Crystal and Jake make their way to you. If Jake had been in a different Spanish class, you were positive Crystal would have followed him.

you decided it would be better if you stopped eavesdropping and simply let your eyes wander around the classroom. You were curious to see if your conspiracy theory about every single one of the new kids being in your classes was actually true...

And sure enough, one of the new students was Alice from before. Her eyes seemed to stare at you with a blank, empty expression. It was almost as if she was dead, like a zombie, waiting for the right moment to pounce. Before you could give it too much thought, you grabbed your pencil pouch and laid out a few of your favorite colors on your desk.

This class wasn't your favorite, and you typically stuck to monotone colors when taking notes. But this could be an exception, especially because Alice was sitting so close to you.

Jake and Crystal's conversation began to taper off as Jake continued to look down at his phone. His eyes occasionally lingered on you and Alice , but you were only getting most of this information from Crystal.

Since the lesson had already begun, you chose to pay attention to what Miss Glosson was teaching. Despite all your curiosity about the new students, you decided it was best to try and focus on studying instead of getting distracted.

As Crystal and Jake's conversation died off, Allison and Jake were now involved in their own stare down. Each of them waited for the other to make the first move, deciding between who would finally budge and move.

Edward had been sending everyone texts throughout the day detailing your thoughts. You had a really bad gut feeling and you felt like this whole situation was kind of freaking you out. However, the Cullens were known for their stubbornness and unwillingness to do what they didn't want to do, The hardest thing was that Jake didn't want to see the same thing happen to you as it did to Bella. You were anxious and had your own issues to deal with. You didn't need a clan of vampires desperate for your attention, especially not with their abilities.

The Cullens were stubborn, especially when they wanted something. This was going to turn out to be way more than Jake thought it would be.

At some point, Alice finally broke when she looked at you and then down at her phone. Jasper and Edward both texted her, presumably worried about your weird vibes and how odd they made you feel.

Jasper expressed concern over your emotions, saying they were "off."

Edward also weighed in, saying you were going through a lot. He mentioned your worries about your family, school, and also made a mention about the staring contest between Alice and Jacob, which was definitely not helping your stress levels. There was always a slight hint of mint whenever you were thinking about school, and your family, The flavor either varied between vibrant, cherry, or strawberry for positive thoughts, or sour for negative feelings.

When you were stressed in particular, it was a bland flavor. A taste that was salty and extremely stale, like everything just went away. An empty void of flavors. It was almost like eating food without salt or any seasoning. Like a stale bread crust, devoid of any flavor.

At some point, Alice finally broke when she looked at you and then down at her phone. Jasper and Edward both texted her, presumably worried about your weird vibes and how odd they made you feel.

Jasper expressed concern over your emotions, saying they were "off."

Edward also weighed in, saying you were going through a lot. He mentioned your worries about your family, school, and also made a mention about the staring contest between Alice and Jacob, which was definitely not helping your stress levels. There was always a slight hint of mint whenever you were thinking about school, and your family, The flavor either varied between vibrant, cherry, or strawberry for positive thoughts, or sour for negative feelings.

When you were stressed in particular, it was a bland flavor. A taste that was salty and extremely stale, like everything just went away. An empty void of flavors. It was almost like eating food without salt or any seasoning. Like a stale bread crust, devoid of any flavor.

Alice couldn't believe what was happening. She couldn't believe Jake was staring at her like she had anything harmful in mind towards you. She was there to protect you, to cherish you, to do anything for you.

How dare he think she could do something to harm you?! It was crazy to even think she could do anything like that. That was just ridiculous and out of the question.

Jacob finally looked down at his phone. He almost snarled at the way the Cullens talked about you. They spoke about you as if you were already part of the family, like you had already accepted their offer.

The fact that Jasper talked so freely about your emotions made Jacob even more frustrated. Just because he could taste them, didn't mean he should discuss them so openly. Your home life was not just an open topic for the Cullens to talk about freely with each other.

As Alice suddenly stood up without asking permission, she nearly threw the door off the hinges while leaving. Jake, on the other hand, followed after her, not to comfort her, but to scold her for her outburst.

This whole ordeal confused both yourself and Crystal. You were both directly behind Alice and the door. When she threw the door open, it ended up scaring the hell out of you both.

As Alice left the classroom, she knew she scared you. Edward and Jasper had been texting her non-stop.

Jasper hated the new taste in your mind. It was overpowered with cinnamon and something sour, like a lemon. The tastes didn't blend well at all.

Upon seeing Jake follow her, you’d thought they'd be back-to-back arguing, but it appeared they weren't. Instead, the moment Alice was out of your vicinity, she took off running down the hallway, much faster than she should have.

Humans might not have been able to see a blur like Alice, but she was moving so quickly that she was just barely detectable. The hallway cameras were mostly for show, and Jake knew that Alice was headed towards the elementary school that was just nearby. When Alice was looking for something that reminded her of you, she opted for the elementary school.

It wasn't far , and the elementary school wasn't very big or important in itself. But it was a place that would remind Alice of you. well, your little siblings reminded Alice of you would be more correct

Once Alice arrived at the elementary school, she stopped outside of one of the windows and looked inside. She was able to see right into your sibling's classroom. Renesme was also inside the classroom.

Even though Renesme technically shouldn't be put into the school yet, the Cullens had found a way to make it happen. They knew that it would give them an excuse to see you just a little bit more. It also helped further cement Renesme's place in the family, which was a plus.

When Alice looked into the classroom, she saw Sarah and Melanie playing dolls with Renesme. Carter occasionally tried to insert himself into the game, either by slamming a dinosaur into the doll or sneaking in toy cars here and there.

Renesme was having a great time. She had never had the opportunity to play with kids who were the same age as her or looked the same age as her. Even though she wasn't taught everything she needed to be a part of human society, it still brought Alice great comfort watching Renesme enjoy herself.

Even though Renesme was a definite bonus, she wouldn't completely calm Alice down. If she was Bella, then seeing her kids and a small dose of you and your siblings' bone structure would have definitely calmed her down. However, since she wasn't Bella, Alice was thinking about requesting Jasper to come see her

Before Alice could do anything, Jake arrived. He walked all the way to the elementary school to follow her.

"You look like a total creep, standing in front of a school and peering in through the window," Jake said.

"If you're trying to be subtle, you're doing horrible, and Edward, standing outside the classroom? Seriously? Can she have any privacy?" Jake continued.

It's not our fault," Alice said defensively.

"It's only way for Edward to hear her thoughts. If he couldn't, then this process would be moving much more quickly."

Alice then continued, "If you don't like the speed we're moving now, then you definitely wouldn't like it if it was moving at the same speed that we're thinking..."

She explained that it wasn't their fault. Even though Alice understood Jake's thoughts, she still felt that the Cullens deserved more of a chance.

It's not my fault," Alice said. She defended her position once more. "It's the only way Edward can hear her thoughts."

"Edward got really crazy last time when he couldn't hear Bella's thoughts at all," she continued.

Alice also seemed bothered by Jake's constant input. "Why do you always have to insert your opinion into everything," she said.

Jake and Alice had retreated into the nearby woods. They had spotted a teacher watching them and saw Renesme looking at them out of the corner of her eye.

The fight had not ended, and in fact, there was no end in sight, as the two sides seemed pretty determined to stick to their own opinions.

~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as gym class started, it was time for the boys to spar. Chris was paired up with Emmett for this, while all the girls were required to sit on the bleachers.

Bella and Rosalee was sitting behind you, while Crystal was right next to you. You had been leaning on her shoulder, curled up in a ball.

This was the first time in a few days where you just felt so tired. You wanted a break from life's craziness

Suddenly, you felt a cold hand over your forehead. You jerked back abruptly, as the person who touched you was concerned.

"Are you getting sick? You're burning up."

You quickly denied it, trying not to even think about the possibility. There was no way you could be sick right now, not with everything else going on. You had a doctor's appointment to get to in just 30 minutes. You just couldn't be sick.

"No, no, no."

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Author note 

So sorry this took so long because I had been lacking motivation, which has made life very hectic and difficult. I realize there's a lot more that I need to add, and this is already a lot to begin with. However, there will be another part. Rest assured it may just take a while

[troublesjunkyard]

So I was super tired! Like, so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. So I rested my eyes at 4:19 pm (Because I wanted to talk to my mom when she got home at around 4:30.) and then went to bed around 4:40.

I then got woken up by Puppy Chaos opening my door at around 5:00. So I shooed him off and locked my door, (With the chain lock.) but he continued to open my door. (As much as the chain would allow.) I finally got him to stop opening my door around 5:30 - 5:40 and went back to bed.

But then I got woken up again by my mom having a loud argument over the phone with her mom. (And I mean loud. I could hear her with my door shut, and music playing on a speaker right next to me. [I don't remember if my AC was on at the time. That's really a 50-50 in the equation.]) I fell back asleep a few minutes after waking up because I just tuned out the argument.

But I then woke up around 9:30 to my mom yelling at Tucker for being a dick to Puppy Chaos while she was feeding them. (Because I [tried] to go to sleep early so I didn't feed them like I was supposed to.) And thus ends all the nonsense I was woken up to.

...

I then woke up on my own at around 10:30, so I went back to sleep. But then I woke up again at around 11:30, so I went back to bed. And again, I woke up at around 12:30 am, and again, I went back to bed. Again, I woke up at around 1:30, again, I went back to sleep. I woke up at 2:12 and was pretty pissed; it hadn't even been an hour this time! well, I went back to bed anyway. When I woke up at 2:25 I just gave up entirely.

I wasn't even sleeping in hour blocks anymore, so why bother? I wanted to sleep all night to try and fix my sleep schedule, that way I would have a good sleep schedule when I start work. (Even if I don't start for another week and a half.) But my body said "No! Fuck you!" so I just stopped trying.

I then got up and decided to do a couple of chores. I unloaded the dishwasher and took out the trash.

And we're about to sell a bunch of our shit, so I cleaned some of the stuff. I cleaned the dining room table and the two chairs that go with it, the living room TV, the TV stand, and the two TV trays.

The TV stand was so dirty! I wiped it over with one paper towel to get the bulk of the dust off and then proceeded to use 7 Clorox wipes to clean off the rest of the dust. It has shelves/sections, so I used one Clorox wipe for each section, (5) but one needed two Clorox wipes to clean off, (6) I then used one more Clorox wipe to wipe down all five sections to make sure it was clean. (7) The last Clorox wipe came up with some dirt, but it didn't look like it was just dumped in a mud puddle like the other six did.

Also, I didn't want to sit down while cleaning the TV stand, (It's low to the ground.) so I crouched down instead; but my body had different ideas. My kneecaps move a lot more than the average person, and I can literally grab my kneecap and move it almost completely out of its socket. (My legs needs to be straight and limp/relaxed to do this though.) But while I was crouching, my left kneecap decided to move itself and lock up. (When this happens, I just have to straighten my leg and it will pop back in place. But it's painful to move my leg when it's like that, and it's painful when my kneecap snaps back into place.) I ended up falling on my ass when I was trying to straighten my leg from the crouched position I was in. But hey, me falling on my ass allowed me to be able to straighten my leg.

I also have a wound on my... chest that's super infected, and a line of 3 months worth (Maybe a bit longer than that.) of dust got onto the wound when I fell and the TV stand opened up the wound. So yeah, that's definitely not gonna get any more infected than it already is. :/

After all that went down, and I put the TV and TV trays in the office, I ended up making my mom a cup of coffee because I heard her 4:00 am alarm go off. So that's how my day is starting off...

Anyway, how are you doing, Trouble?

Damn your sleep schedule is more fucked up than mine was...

And fixing sleep schedules can be really hard especially when your body isn't playing along. My sleep schedule is more separated in several blocks and some small naps but back to the point.

I'm okay (*^▽^*)

Very exhausted, much stressed but soon I've got some weeks off so-

A small light on the end of the tunnel for me hooray!

I hope you can sleep better the next time. I'll try to send you some of my tiredness /j (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

[scythegameing]

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 1: Late Again

Hi! I got this idea after reading a bunch of other hero/villain au fics, and wanted to try my hand at making my own! I hope you enjoy!

Word count: 1471

beep. beep. beep. beep.

Scythe groans as his alarm goes off for the…who knows how many times by now, likely the third or fourth. Finally looking up at his phone, he realizes what time it is.

8:30 “Shit!” Scythe curses as he rushes to get out of bed and get dressed. “I really need to get better at waking up.”

As he walks out of his room, still trying to pull on his shirt, Scythe sees Ella sitting on the couch, watching another random show that she must have found while browsing around. Without even turning around, Ella tells him, “There's food in the microwave for you. Hopefully it's still warm but maybe not since you woke up late again,” and only then does she turn around to look at Scythe with a glare shooting daggers.

Scythe sighs and looks down, “I know, I know you don’t have to remind me. I’m working on it,” he says defeatedly, knowing well that she was right. “Thank you for making food.” Instead of saying anything, she just turns back around and continues watching whatever she put on the TV.

Grabbing his cooling food and practically running out the front door, Scythe makes his way to his class. This would be the second time he was late to his 8am, and he only has this class, Feline Behavior and Psychology, three times a week. His professor isn’t necessarily keen on attendance, but he also isn’t the most lenient on it either.

Around 7 minutes of painfully speed walking from his dorm later, he arrives at his classroom and awkwardly walks in, praying he wouldn’t be noticed.

“Late again Mr. Cristaal.” the professor says, not exactly annoyed, but not happy either. Mostly disappointed honestly. 

Stiffening for a moment then accepting defeat, Scythe turns around, “Sorry Professor Scar. My alarm didn't wake me up.”

Sighing as Scythe walks to his seat, Scar turns his wheelchair to face towards the young ender hybrid, “That’s the 6th time you’ve used that excuse this semester.” shaking his head, Scar turns back towards the board. “Just see me after class and we’ll talk about it” he says, trying to be a bit more cheery, then continues with the lesson.

Scythe tried to pay attention to the lesson, but his mind inevitably wandered off somewhere else. This somewhere else just so happened to be the night before when him and the villain known as Tanuki were causing some mischief.

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

“Damn Ender, you really got some spunk!” Tanuki credited Scythe. He obviously can’t go by his real name, and the media deemed him to be named Ender with his Enderman features being more prominent thanks to his illusion magic. He looks like a completely different person.

His horns are larger and thinner, he has almost no fair-toned skin (only a few spare patches down the right side of his body), most of his hair was purple instead of being split ginger and purple, and both of his eyes are purple instead of only his left. It definitely wasn't easy holding this major of an illusion for so long either; months of training and exercises were needed for the illusion to be completely stable. Funnily enough, he does the same kind of illusion while he’s working for the agency too, but that’s a different story for a different time.

“You’re not too bad yourself oldie! Can you catch up to me though?” Scythe replies as he teleports away to another rooftop.

Now Tanuki was the type of guy to never back down from a challenge, “Oldie?! I’m not even that old you blummin idiot!” he said, laughing as he pursued Scythe across the rooftops of Hermiton. 

Tanuki was actually a good friend of his, and he even helped Scythe get more confident and stable with his illusions. With this, he has seen Scythe without any illusion applied. Scythe had of course seen Tanuki outside of villain shenanigans as well, and his name is Joel. In times like this, when they’re just having fun after a night of doing who knows what and causing some chaos just for the hell of it, they tend to just chat.

There was one time where they chatted about Scythe's college work, another where Joel was talking about his two partners (being teased by Scythe the whole time, of course), then there was one night where they were just watching the stars move by in comfortable silence.

This night, however, the two were chasing each other and messing around all the way until the late hours of the night, and around probably 11:30pm, Scythe finally started to feel tired, and figured it probably best he get home to Cursia before he gets no sleep at all. 

“Well it’s probably about time I head home. See you another night Tanuki!” Scythe said, stretching, as Joel caught up to him on what would inevitably be the last rooftop of the night.

“Pleasure as always, Ender. See you next time!” Joel replied with a smile, and they both went their separate ways.

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

“...ythe, can you hear me?” Scythe sat up with a jolt, Scar next to him in his wheelchair. Looking around the room, he saw that all the other seats were empty, the projector turned off, and Scar looking at him a bit worriedly.

Scythe rubbed his eyes, “Shi- uh- crap sorry Scar. Apparently I didn't get back at as descent of a time as I thought I did.” He didn't meet Scars gaze. Not because it was angry or scolding, but because it was full of pity and worry.

Scar sighed and put his hand on Scythe’s arm, “Were you… out with Joel again?” he asked, and Scythe knew exactly what Scar meant by out.

Though to most Scar would seem like a simple college professor in a Cursian College, he had a few different tricks up his sleeve. This being said, he was well aware of what Scythe and Joel got up to at times, sometimes even joining in himself, even if only just to let off a bit of steam.

Scythe knew he couldn't pass it off any longer, and he just nodded and explained, “I thought I would be able to get home sooner than I did, but apparently I didn't have enough energy to be as fast as I hoped to be.”

“I can’t always get you the material from the day, you know that right Scythe? As much as I would like to help you as a friend, I can’t always help you as your professor.” Scar said as he turned his wheelchair back towards the front of the room, and his desk. Turning his head around one more time, Scar gave Scythe one last bit of advice, “Just try not to fall too far behind. I’ll email you the material that we went over today, just make sure you get your work done.” 

As Scar turned back and started heading towards his desk, Scythe stood up and replied, “I’ll try. You might have to help me when you join in some nights though.” He caught Scar chuckling and shaking his head before turning and walking out of the classroom, towards the opposite side of the building for his next class.

Bzzt. bzzt.

Scythe pulled out his phone, checking his notifications. It had to have been something important to go through his do not disturb; not many things do after all.

New Message from Spore: Agency, 30 minutes, mandatory attendance for all recipients.

Scythe sighs, turns around, and starts heading back towards his dorm to drop off his stuff. Swiping away the message, he pulls up his texts with Scar.

Scythe: Did you get it too?

Scar: Yup. Do you think you’ll make it?

Scythe: If I can get back to my dorm quick enough without needing to teleport.

Scar: Good luck then. Meet you there, and DON’T be late. It won't end well for anyone.

Scythe: I know I know and I won't. Meet ya there.

After the lovely reminder of his increasing tardiness and time management issues, Scythe decides to start speed walking back, which turns into a light run as he exits the building.

He makes it back to his dorm in 3 minutes flat, thankfully, and hurries into his room past a curious Ella. He changes into his uniform, hidden by an illusion to the public eye, and hurries back out. Before he can make it out however, Ella grabs his arm and he looks back.

“Where are you going?” Ella asks. “Agency meeting, mandatory and last minute, as always.” Scythe replies quickly, and Ella lets go immediately. As he closes the door, he hears Ella say something along the lines of “Good luck,” before running back out the door and heading towards Hermiton, and the Agency Building.

Next>>>

[threnodians]

this morning is one of those "if it can go wrong, it will go wrong" mornings and i'm sitting in my car bawling my eyes out before work because i'm an anxious wreck 🤪👍🏻

[pbandjesse]

Day 2 of our teaching! Allergies are bothering me and I'm very tired. But it was a better day.

Last night after everything I felt a lot better. James is just such a good boyfriend letting me store a cat at his house. He fell asleep pretty quickly after making cookies and hot chocolate for us. And I pups around the apartment for a while. Played with the cat. And eventually was able to go to sleep.

We were supposed to wake up at 7 and he was going to make us pancakes. But he accidentally set the alarm for 7 p.m. instead of am. So we didn't get up until 8 and he had to go to work so we're going to have pancakes another guy. I got changed and headed out of there before he had to leave for work. I wanted to get something to eat and hang out at my apartment.

I biked home and made breakfast. How waffle and a banana. And I eventually just went and lay down for a little while. I kind of have napped until 10. I got up and worked in my studio for about an hour. Started my diorama. Work on some other stuff for the store. It was a nice morning.

It was absolutely gorgeous outside. I still am wearing a coat because there's still a little bit of a chill in the air but it's just so nice out. I headed out and sat at the bus stop and listen to music. Had a good bus ride in and got to the school at about 12:45.

I'm still having some trouble with Fitsum being a bit timid. But I think we do work well together. And he got there soon after I did. We worked on my example piece and we talked about how we would approach the day. We decided to have our first youth Circle in the hallway. In the kind of Alcove outside the classroom. It's still really hard that we have to move all of our stuff from one end of the building to the other and by the end of the day fitsum was able to get the the cleaning lady Miss Jen to let us use her storage closet that's near where we're teaching. And that's going to help a lot. But we still really need to find a better solution for how we're going to store our stuff. I ask Marshall if maybe we could get a second Kart but even that I feel like will be hard. We'll see what happens.

220 the kids came up and we started our youth Circle. Marshall was filling in for Tiffany because she has strep throat and is going to be gone today and tomorrow. And he stayed kind of around taking notes. But today went so much better than yesterday. They were listening and actually paying attention. We were able to go through the rules and the kids took the tests. And things just went a lot better. That is not to say there weren't troubles but it was a lot better.

I felt really bad because I got a little confused about the schedule and the kids were not doing things I wanted to be doing so we end up going to recess late. But it was fine. They got out to recess and they run around and it was a beautiful day.

We went in for dinner and that was fine. I ran to the classroom and got some stuff set up. One of the kids dropped a sandwich on the ground and was very upset because he said that he wasn't allowed to have a second one but I went and got him a second one and it was fine.

And then it was our kind. First I have the kids cover their portfolios and paper and as they finish that they were allowed to come get paint and then paint a color wheel on the outside of their portfolios. Mackenzie finished first and she was so sweet. I had her be my assistant and as I was handing out paying people will go to her to get instruction on how to draw the circle and the color wheel. She was so helpful. Like I had told the entire class what they were expected to do but she gave them more Concrete Construction and it was just so good. I was very proud of her. But some was helping the few kids that still needed to finish their portfolios or for the two new students making the privalia from scratch. This led to some drama because one of the girls felt like fitsum wasn't paying enough attention to everyone else and was trying to finish a complete profolio at a time and that was taking forever for them. Which I totally understand if that is what was happening but she was being very disrespectful and besides that she had lied to me about what her name was and try to get another student trouble over it. It was just kind of a mess. Enough that Marshall had to take her out of the classroom for a while. She wasn't the only one there was one other student who threw a bit of a fit. I had to talk to his mom at the end of the day. And I hate that I don't want people to get in trouble I want them to have a good time. But he was really having some outbursts that were very inappropriate. But today really was a lot better than yesterday so I think we're on a good up tick.

After all the kids got picked up Marshall had a meeting with us to make sure that we were okay and asked us about any of her concerns. I said that we probably need to get our own paints and that the system that I was using of using the back of a paintbrush to scoop the paint out of the bottle was not working it was not an effective use of my time. I also brought a second Kart thing and he talked about how we need both need to be present. That it seemed like I was taking more of the authoritarian Rule and put some was very much sitting back. And honestly yes that is what I'm talking about him being too timid. It's not that he's not a good educator I just think he hasn't figured out how to talk to them yet. I think he'll get better I just hope he doesn't give up. He was very upset on the ride home.

I overheard Marcus one of the other teachers say to one of the kids that he was friends with that cat that lives outside. And so I pulled him aside and I said hey I took that cat home last night and gave it a bath are you looking for a cat. And he said I wanted to get a cat that's so cute that you brought it inside and gave it a bath. So he may be taking that cat if his roommate is okay with it. It's not a guarantee but I'm very very quickly. It would be really nice if that works out. He's such a nice little cat he deserves a good home. And Marcus has a really nice guy. I hope that his roommate is cool with it.

We got out of there a little late. And fitsum was still a little upset about everything. Just the way the students were talking to him and he felt like he wanted them to respect him but they weren't. And I just had to keep telling him like I think tomorrow will be better and we just got to keep plugging forward. I think we'll be a good team just got to keep working at it.

I got back here at like 6:30. I made pizza and had an avocado with a egg inside of it. I worked on some necklaces for the store. And then around 8 James came over. We watched videos and cuddled on the couch for a while. We made brownie cookies and they were very good. And he just left. And I am about to go get ready for bed. I am sleepy and tomorrow is my last few hours off before I have 5 9 hour days in a row. Making that money. Which is good because I have $22 and I would really like to get my savings back on track.

I hope you all sleep well tonight. Fitsum taking over tomorrow to leave his own project but I'm still going to be very present. And I really hope that it's a good day. Sleep well everyone. Stay warm.

[hardyorange]

✨Productive morning journal✨

We're starting out strong today! This morning I:

✨ didn't even realize that my first alarm at 6:00 am was an alarm and instead interpreted it as a noise that I just had to make stop; this was after a night of interrupted sleep (more on that later), and it took nearly until my next alarm for me to realize what I had done; this is why I set multiple alarms!

✨ fortunately, I was ready when my 6:15 am alarm went off and hopped out of bed then!

✨ I finished using the restroom, checking social media, and making bed (:O !) by 6:30 am; I don't always fully remake my bed every day, but my blankets were pretty tangled this morning and merely flipping them closed and smoothing them out wasn't going to cut it

✨ I had my hair brushed and braided and was dressed by 7:00 am

✨ our countertop dishwasher was empty and the kitchen sink was fairly full, so I took advantage of being up early and started a load of dishes by 7:15 am; this is a chore that we fall behind on a lot AND a dishes in the sink is the #1 thing I hate the most, so I'm very proud of doing this

✨ I had breakfast ready to eat by 7:30 am; we went to the DeKalb World Market yesterday, so I had a pre-made bacon, mushroom, and cheese quiche ready for me to cut a slice out of, to which I added a banana and half a grapefruit, and treated myself by making my tea with the new, fresh loose leaf Earl Grey I just bought (I've still got to finish some older black tea with rose petals, but it's gotten quite weak from not being stored in an airtight container; I might try making it into cold tea so it can steep for longer in the fridge?)

✨ I ate breakfast while watching a yt video about prepping your garden beds for winter and finished by 8:00 am; I'm quite familiar with most of the base knowledge of gardening, but I wanted both another person's perspective and something positive to watch while I ate

technically, I could have been up, dressed, and fed by this time under my old habits, but I wouldn't have felt this prepared and relaxed; similarly, I could probably "optimize" my routine to speed through everything, but part of why I'm trying to do this is because I don't want to feel stressed and like I'm already falling behind before I've even started the actual to do list for the day

as I mentioned, we went to the DeKalb World Market yesterday; we take our recycling there because we don't have local pickup, and we were very much due for a drop off! I also took a small bag of donations to the G**dw*ll nearby (they massively underpay disabled employees, so I don't recommend going out of your way to support them, although they are often the most convenient place to get fairly cheap clothes and household goods and definitely the most convenient to pass on items that could be appreciated by someone else but aren't worth the money or time to sell or re-home on your own); I love getting rid of things and having empty spaces, which regularly conflicts with my desire to have an entire room packed full of shelf stable foods and household goods, lol

even spending several hours doing that, we still got home early enough for my to be in bed by just after 9:00 pm, where I had a little discussion with myself and determined that the thing I wanted most was at least eight hours of sleep, so I was able to put my phone down by 9:15 pm; this turned out to be quite good, because my roommates woke me up at 1:30 am having a conversation at full volume right outside my door about cleaning hair out of the bathtub drain; I very much wanted to murder them, and I now recognize that our fourth roommate who works from midnight to mid-morning and goes to sleep in the afternoon is a saint for somehow either sleeping though all of our noise or not sleeping through it and not killing us all after a month of living here

I had trouble going back to sleep after this because my body was feeling overly warm from the, idk, adrenaline rush of being woken up? I often have this problem if I either wake up in the middle of the night or stay up way too late; this lead to a somewhat hazy doze that I think persisted for quite a while (an hour? several hours???) until I finally dropped off fully without realizing it, leading to the confusion when my first alarm went off

I've spent a fair bit of time typing this (it's now past 8:45 am), so I'm going to go get started on one of my two assignments that are due next Monday!

[road-of-self-love]

365 Days Ago

5:43am

The pattern on my ceiling is burned into my mind. I keep anxiously waiting for a text to set me free from this prison my mind has become, but it never does. I know I should be crying, but no tears will come. I feel hollow, yet my limbs are heavy enough the world could've been on my shoulders. Closing my eyes, I pray to God that there's still a chance.

There wasn't.

10:37am

I sat on the cold asphalt of what was once the place we'd meet, sobbing. I felt nothing, but also everything all at once. It was real. Everything was gone. My life was over.

11:07am

After calling everyone I could think of, one of my friends finally answers. We meet at Starbucks, tear stains down my cheeks. She takes one look at me and pulls me into a hug. I begin sobbing. This is too real.

3:17am

His best friend's girlfriend forces me to eat something. It'll be the first meal I've ate in three days. She orders for me: my favorite Mac n cheese. The Mac n cheese we shared prom night. My heart seizes inside my chest. When it gets there, I nibble. I'm too ashamed to look at anyone. It's my fault we failed. Everything was always my fault. I wasn't good enough.

6:45pm

She takes me to her boyfriend's house for puppy therapy. His dog cuddles me the whole time I'm there. For the first time in a very long time, it isn't sad tears I cry. It's relief.

9:03pm

I'm dropped off back with my car, and the fear of being alone grabs me tight. I have plans to get breakfast, and I can't show up like this. I haven't showered in days. I haven't been able to. When I get home, I force myself through the shower. Standing in the center of my room, staring at my bed, I realize everything smells like him. I throw everything on the floor. I'll wash it tomorrow.

The night brought me no sleep, I kept mulling over those painful minutes that left me alone. I prayed and prayed and prayed for help, but instead I was left cold, alone, and helpless.

But that was then.

I didn't fall asleep until 2am this morning. I was talking to some of my friends and it was too good to say goodnight. When my roommate's alarm went off at 6:30, I groaned and rolled over. I set an alarm for 7:50 to wake me up.

At 8:07, I rolled over, threw one of my pillows at my roommate, and told her happy birthday. She laughed so hard she cried. I went to my 9am class and learned how to load film for a pinhole camera, then began discussing fake news in my 10am photojournalism class. Shortly after 11, I started my laundry.

At 12:08ish, I'll go to lunch with my beautiful roommate and I won't tease her for getting a pizza bagel.

At 1, I'll roll my eyes because class isn't starting on time and the majority of the class is gone anyway.

At 1:55, I'll start making a cake for my roommate.

At 3:50ish, I'll take my roommate to the taco bus for her birthday dinner.

At 5, I'll go to class and wonder why my professor hates us all.

At 7:35, I'll play Wii Sports with my roommate all while laughing and sneaking cake in between our turns.

Today's the best day of my life. I lived for years just floating by, and I can finally say I'm proactively making each day better than the last. Of course there are bad days, but a year ago every day I breathed was a bad day. I remember thinking that day would be the most painful day of my life, that every year I'd be despondent and miserable on this day. But I'm not.

Maybe God remembered how much I pleaded for the pain to be taken away from me when he gave me Kenna. I'm sure he did. But regardless, I'm so thankful for Kenna's birthday. Instead of mourning, January 15th has became a day of celebration.

Here's to a year of choosing me. It's been the best year of my life, and I can't wait to make the next 365 days even better than the last.

[pbandjesse]

Today was a good day but I'm really tired. And I'm not looking forward to having to wake up tomorrow and go to the BMI. I'm going to try to be as positive as possible but I don't feel good right now and I biked in the rain and I'm cold and I want to go to bed.

I slept okay last night. And I actually felt really good when I woke up this morning. My alarm went off at 7:30 and I decided that was too early. So I got up at 8:30. I got dressed and went downstairs to do laundry. I grabbed a bag and went to the grocery store to get soda. I got a couple other things. The girl at the counter thought that my pumpkin bag was very funny. I was very surprised that the my pizza fit inside of it.

I headed home and move my clothes over to the dryer. I made breakfast. I had an omelet and some toast. I hung out with sweet pea and just enjoyed my morning. It was a nice day. I worked on some pendants. And eventually I wandered over to Rite Aid. I got dry shampoo and some candy.

I went over my lesson plan for today and remember that I have to go to the BMI tomorrow. So instead of bringing my robotic toys tomorrow I brought them today. I wandered down to Subway to grab soup for lunch and then went to the bus. One of my Furbys talk the entire ride to work. Only one girl noticed and she got a laugh out of it.

I got to the school and I ate my lunch. I got to work cutting paper for their projects. And then put some came in and we talked. I got a little bit of a headache because he just wasn't understanding what I was asking of him. And I just felt very frustrated. I hate that my job starts at 1 in the afternoon when I am as tired as I am all day. I was nap time. And it is hard for me to feel perky starting my day then. But I do really enjoy that schedule. Being able to work on whatever I want in the morning and then going to work is really nice. Especially now that I'm getting used to doing stuff afterwards. Like going to James's house or going out. But I got to work on communication with my teaching partner.

And we had a pretty stellar day. The kids were loud. And we have two new students. But it went really really good. They started the day with a drawing prompt and most of them worked on it. We went out to recess on time. Some of the girls braided my hair while we were out there and they really liked my new backpack. Everybody wants to hold my stuffed animals. Dinner was fine. And then it was time for art.

Today they were doing experimental drawings using string. I had them watch a few videos of artists that use trees attached to paint brushes and markers to create drawings. Some of them thought it was very beautiful others. It just like like scribbles. But it was really interesting letting them explore some contemporary art. That wasn't exactly what they think of when they look at regular artist. I explain the project and they seemed pretty on board with it. I had a table for water down ink I had a table for markers and I had table for watercolors. Most of the people went to the watercolor table. A couple went to the end table. I only had one person interested in markers which was funny to me. The project didn't take as long mostly because I didn't have enough paper for them ready. I was very concerned. But a lot of them used too much water so that ended up being an issue. And they finished the art after about a half an hour. So we had about a half an hour left. So we spent a lot of time cleaning up. And then we watched videos for tomorrow. Including some of my work. Which they seem pretty excited about. The girls were very chatty today which was a little bit of a problem. But in general like it's a really good and I'm bored and engaged. I hope tomorrow that they have fun with the robot stuff and everyone gets to try a little bit. And then Wednesday Thursday they're going to make their own big pieces and I think it's going to be really fun. I talked about non-representational Contemporary Art today and they gave me what they thought the definition of that was and they got it. They're very smart kids. I hate when I have to yell at them because they can't hear me. But besides being loud they're very good kids.

I stayed behind after the kids went to pick up to clean up. And then me and fitsum Switched Off so I could talk to some of the kids. I ended up teaching a few of them how to do a pirouette and some turns. It was fun. And we got to go home on time which I always enjoy.

I had asked James early today to go to my apartment to see if my package was there that FedEx had been refusing to deliver. It was not there. And I was worried. But it actually end up being at my front door when I got home. My new planner and my pens are here and I'm very very pleased about it.

I got changed and put my jacket back on and went to James's house for dinner. It was raining a little bit but not too bad. He made french onion soup which is his favorite but I don't really like onions so I mostly just ate the cheese off the top. It was very very hot though so that just made my mouth hurt. We shared the creme brulee and then just laid around playing on our phones in the same space for a while. I got to give him his hockey Boy painting all framed up and he sent it to the group chat for the fantasy league and I might have some commissions based off of that. So that's cool. But I really need to go home and eat something else besides croutons and cheese.

I parked in the rain. It was much worse going home. And I was very very cold when I got back. I changed and made a piece of pizza because you know that's not bread and cheese again. I watch some videos. And I think I'm going to go make some waffles or toast or something. And then I'm going to go to bed. I'm very sleepy but I think I'm going to sleep all the way through the night. Not have any problems. I have to wake up tomorrow and go to the museum but it's only a shadowing shift so I'm not that worried about it. I'm hoping I can stop at McDonald's or something beforehand or make an egg sandwich here. I'll try to wake up early enough so I can make something. I always like that better anyway. Wish me luck tomorrow it's going to be a long day. Sleep well. Be kind