#played all the stupid games the boys could come up with like basketball dodgeball

[nixthehomunculus]

technically i was raised gender neutral cause of the neglect

[sad-boy-mono]

High School Casualties

Chapter 4/?

Word Count- 2,048

Master post with Ao3 link

Shayne walk out of the nurses office, holding the yellow slip of paper in his hand, flicking it a few times as he walked. Normally he’d be excited for PE, but now he couldn’t help but worry about his friend. 

Damien's probably fine. No, Damien is fine. What would even cause him not to be fine? The nurse is a murderer? No. The school would know that they hired a murderer, so I doubt that’s the case. What am I talking about? God, Shayne you’re dumb. Just really fucking stupid. Damien’s fine, he will be fine and you’re just overreacting. Shayne though, scoffing to himself. 

He was just worried, that’s all.

After making a quick stop at his own locker to drop off his backpack, he went straight to the boys locker room.

Shayne pulled open the heavy door, and made his way in the room. After fiddling with the combination for a moment, he pulled open the small locker and grabbed his gym clothes (a pair of basket ball shorts and a yellow-orange shirt with a logo from that summer camp he went to). Shayne took his phone out of his pocket to place it on the bench and began getting changed.

===

After pulling his shoes back on, Shayne took a quick glance at his phone. He had a new message.

Damien

Not dead gonna nap :) See you at lunch probably

See he’s fine you idiot

Shayne

Ok see you then :)

He put his phone into his locker along with his other clothes then ran to the gym. 

As soon as Shayne walked in he was greeted by Mr. Moss who was standing near the door.

“Ah, Shayne! You’re not dead, that’s good.” The gym teacher nodded.

“Uh- Yeah, thanks Coach, also I have this,” Shayne said awkwardly, handing over the hall pass.

“Oh perfect, I’ll just take that then-” He took the pass and put it in his pocket.  “-thank you! Now we’re playing dodgeball today, you can be on that team over there, with Tommy.”

Shayne nodded and walked to the other side of the gym and Coach Moss walked into his office. There were a few kids that were already out on both teams, sitting on the bleachers. 

As soon as Shayne joined the game, he caught a ball that was thrown at him. After celebrating to himself, he threw the ball back. Barely missing a kid and making a loud smack as it hit the wall. 

The other team had about 3 out of the 14 people out and that number was going up. Because almost every ball they threw was caught by Shayne. 

Shayne had no time to throw, he was to preoccupied with trying to not get a ball to the face. Or any other part of him, but mostly his face. But once the main throwers on the other team out, he had his chance. He grabbed a ball off the ground and looked for a target. 

He surveyed the team. There were 5 people still in. 2 of which were standing near the door, and the other 3 spread out across their respective side of the gym. Eying the lone 3 players, he quickly came to a decision. Shayne aimed for a thin, lanky boy standing a couple yards away from the wall. And with a new found burst of strength, threw the ball.

===

Oh god what did I do?

The kid flew back.

FUCK

Like someone kicked him square in the chest.

I didn’t think that would happen!

His body slammed into the wall.

How the fuck did that happen?!

His head whipping back with the same amount of force.

Oh god is he bleeding?

It was like he bounced off the wall.

He was so far away from the wall!

Falling to the floor.

How did he-

Unconscious. 

I didn’t even throw the ball that hard!

Barley moving.

Oh god he’s gonna hate me.

Shayne barley knew him.

Everyone’s gonna hate me!

But soon, everyone would know him.

But it was an accident!

And blame Shayne for everything that had happened.

FUCK HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!

But was it his fault?

===

Shayne stood there in shock, the screaming kids around him being drown out by his own racing thoughts. 

The first thing he thought to do was run. Run to make sure he was ok. Run to make sure there wasn’t really blood. Run to be the hero.

But also to run away. Run away from any consequences that would fall upon him. Run away from the judgment. 

Before he even fully decided, his legs ran to the other side of the gym. His mind still racing as he knelt down by him and look at the ground. There was no blood. Only the red lines on the ground that dictated the boundaries of the basketball court playing tricks on him. But he also saw the boys chest rise and fall with shallow and spaced out breathes. 

Shayne sighed with little relief. He still didn’t know whether or not he was going to be okay. But the fact that the floor was clean of blood and the guy was breathing made him feel a little better. But only a little.

"What’s going on!?” Shayne whipped around to see, a very distraught looking, Mr. Moss running out of his office. 

He pushed through the crowd of kids that had formed around Shayne and after seeing the scene, immediately knelt down as well.  

He muttered under his breath before asking “Has someone called 9-1-1?” 

No one answered.

“Taking that as a no!” The coach pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed up the number.

Shayne only heard bits and pieces of the conversation, his mind fixated on the sight before him. He was pulled out of the trance when he heard his teacher yell out to the class.

“Can someone explain what happened?” The coach asked, his phone held towards his chest.

“-threw the ball-”

“-like he was THROWN-”

“-hit the wall-”

“-the whole room shook-”

“OK ONE AT A GODDAMN TIME!” He yelled out to the overlapping crowd, making them go silent. “Much better, now can ONE person explain to me what happened?”

“It was Shayne! He did it!” A kid blurted from the back of the crowd.

Mr. Moss shot him an angry glance before turning to Shayne. 

“Shayne, can you tell me what happened?” The man asked, any trace of anger that was in his voice had left.

“I- h-he was s-standing away from the wall when I-I threw it and then he- when it h-hit him h-he flew back a-and hit the wall and f-fell to the g-ground-I-I’m sorry I didn’t know that would happen I didn’t know I’m sorry I’m so sorry-”

“Shayne! Bud! Calm down! Take a deep breathe!” The teacher said, cutting off Shayne’s panicked explanation. “You’re gonna be fine.”

 The man put the phone back up to his ear and began repeating what Shayne had told him, but in a much more organized manner. He didn’t get everything exactly right, but he didn’t have a lot to work with. 

Shayne could feel the eyes on him. Judging him. Whispering to one-another. He would never live this down. No one would let him. For the rest of his high school career, this incident would follow him. He would be known for this. 

===

Shayne didn’t notice the group of paramedics come in. His mind to deep in itself to truly comprehend anything other than what was right in front of him; the barley moving body of his classmate. 

At some point the class was told to go to the locker rooms and wait. Except Shayne. Shayne was told to sit on the bleachers until they needed him. Shayne panicked when they said that. He thought he was going to get arrested and they were just waiting for the police. But after some time, the kid was in the ambulance and on his way to the hospital when a paramedic came up to Shayne.

“A-am I in trouble? Because I-I swear it was an accident I didn’t k-know that would happen- I didn’t know he would fly back like that I-”

“Woah, kid, you’re not in any trouble.” The paramedic sat down next to Shayne and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We just need to know what we’re working with. We were given a vague description on what happened, and something a bit more detailed than ‘he fell and hit his head on the wall’ would really help out.”

“W-well shouldn’t you be helping him? Talking to me isn’t going to d-do anything!” Shayne snapped.

“Well he’s being taken care of by my team. He’s in good hands.” They explained “And normally we have a bit more detail on situations like these. So you telling us what happened would help a lot.” 

Shayne opened his mouth before quickly closing it, then nodded. He explain what happened. Voice still shaky and stuttering, but more collected than before. 

===

“Now when you say he flew back, what do you mean by that?”

“I-it was like he was kicked in the chest. Or like something from a movie. I- I don’t know, it... I don’t know. I just remember him like, bouncing off the wall and t-then hitting the floor.” Shayne explained. Voice wavering as he did.

“Ok, well that’s all I need. Thank you kid.” The paramedic stood up off the bleachers, but quickly turned to Shayne. 

“Also, I know probably should’ve started by saying this, but you’re friend is going to be ok. I’ve seen worse things happened and the person still survived.” They said and quickly walked away.

Yeah that would’ve been nice to hear.

Shayne sat there in silence, hugging his arms and looking at the ground. His head was empty, he didn’t know what to think right now. He wasn’t worried about the possible death of his classmate anymore. He was to in shock to think about what people would think of him. So he just sat there, empty.

“Hey, Shayne?” The boy jumped, pulled away from his empty head by the sound of his concerned teacher. “You can head out, you know that right?”

“Oh shit sorry, yeah.” Shayne stood up and began shuffling to the door. 

“And Shayne before you leave you might need this.” Coach Moss handed another hallpass to Shayne, this time it was red. 

“Oh thanks,” Shayne pocketed the slip. 

“One last thing,” The coach wrapped an arm around Shayne’s slumped shoulder. “You’re gonna be fine. I doubt you’re feeling to good about yourself after what just happened. But I can assure you you’re going to be fine. So is Eric.”

Oh so his name is Eric. Good to know.

“Oh- um, thanks, Mr. Moss.” Shayne said, nodding with a less tension in his shoulders.

“Ah don’t sweat it kid, now go get changed! Head to your next class!” The teacher said, patting Shayne’s shoulder then removing his arm from it.

Shayne smiled and thanked him then made his way back to the locker room.

===

As Shayne approached his locker, he heard his phone ringing. Confused, he opened up his locker and picked up his phone. It was Damien.

“Hello?”

“Oh thank god!”

“Damien are you okay, did something happen?”

“I should be asking you that!” 

“Wh-I- What?”

“Ok this is gonna sound really weird, but did something happen to you during PE?”

“How did you- what do you mean?”

“I swear to god that when I was sleeping I heard you. Maybe it was just a dream but you sounded freaked out. Like- like someone was hurt!”

Shayne was silent, he didn’t know how to respond.

“Shayne? You there?”

“Y-yeah uh, how did you hear about that? Did the news spread that quickly?”

“What do you mean, what news?”

“I-” Shayne paused ”I’ll explain at lunch.”

“What do you mean? Explain what? Dude what happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I gotta go.”

“SHAYNE WAIT-”

Shayne hung up his phone, and placed it on the bench. He sat down next to it and took a deep breath. He heard his phone ring again, but chose to ignore it and changed out of his gym clothes. 

[silver-wields-a-pen]

Illthdar High: An au fan fiction

Thursday

Raemina’s mind was reeling since yesterday’s encounter with Rhovan at the mall. Her friends were similarly flustered and preoccupied by their own love lives. Nyima because she and Jingyi finally set up a time to play video games together, and Vyxen because of Date’s forward invitation to the dance, which Nyima and Raemina, along with Vyxen’s brother Salem, all witnessed.

Their excitement led to an eventful shopping trip for the trio. They spent much of the rest of their afternoon laughing and daring each other to try on dresses they knew they’d never wear. In the end, Raemina settled on a smart plaid dress with a cute frilled skirt. Vyxen, no doubt still thinking about a certain singer, found a lacy, black dress with a bit of sheer in the neckline that contrasted beautifully with her pale complexion. But the most surprising pick of the day went to Nyima. Normally content to wear beiges and neutral tones, she ended up choosing a fun and flirty yellow dress with a subtle floral print, though she assured her friends she’d still be wearing her signature cardigan and tights with it because there was no way she’d risk getting sick just before midterms. 

Speak of the devils, Rae thought, smiling when she caught up with her friends in the hallway. “Hey guys! How was math?” It was one of the few subjects the three girls didn’t have together. As future valedictorian, Raemina took advanced subjects when they were still in middle school.

“It was all right,” Vyxen answered for the both of them.

“Are you looking forward to P.E.?” she teased, laughing when the other two turned bright red, no doubt thinking about two specific boys in basketball shorts. Somehow all three of the girls were in gym class with their crushes, and while it might not have been Rae’s favorite subject, it was always a good opportunity to gossip about boys

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Nyima managed.

As they continued down the corridor, Raemina felt a little light headed, but chalked it up to her excitement over getting to see Rhovan again. Maybe today would be the day she’d gather enough courage to ask him to the dance. Just as they pushed open the side doors that led out of the main building and towards the gym, Rae felt her legs get heavy with lead and her fingers tingled. Oh no, oh no. She started frantically searching her bag for snacks. She usually kept a chocolate and nut trail mix in her bag for times like these, but she had been so preoccupied on her way to school today she hadn’t packed them.

Vyxen and Nyima stopped beside her.

“What’s wrong?”

Rae heard the panic in Nyima’s voice, even though the sound travelled to her muffled, as if she were listening to them from below water. She looked up and black spots danced in her periphery. “I just need to sit,” she replied. Or at least she meant to. Her mouth parted slightly, but no words came out. The numbing sensation that had begun in her hands had now snaked its way up the rest of her body. And then everything went black.

~*~*~

“All right, hurry up,” Coach Phanuel boomed from the court as the stragglers made their way out of the locker rooms. 

Jingyi only moderately picked up his pace as he went to join the rest of the class on the bleachers. He always dreaded this period. P.E. was a nightmare scenario for a scrawny asthmatic like himself. Running, jumping, climbing, hitting things…nothing about it appealed. It also hurt that Nyima was in the class. Nothing made his confidence plummet like looking weak and pathetic in front of the girl he liked.

“So, athletes,” Coach continued once everyone had taken a seat. He never referred to them as students, always athletes, as if he thought by calling them so it would somehow be true. “Since this week will already be stressful enough with homecoming coming up, I’ve decided to let all you blow off some steam.”

Jingyi nearly groaned. Whatever he was planning wouldn’t be good.

“Dodgeball,” Coach Phanuel finished with a grin. “Miu, Lerki, you two are team captains.”

“YES!” Miu punched the air and hopped to her feet while Lerki followed, less ecstatic, but with some glimmer of amusement in his eye that promised nothing good for anyone.

Jingyi felt his stomach drop, it didn’t matter what team they put him on this would still be a nightmare. Miu would doubtlessly be preferable, but that would mean he’d be against the quarterback of the football team. If Lerki picked him—unlikely—then he’d have to worry about getting pushed around by his teammates and getting smacked by a bunch of not-so-soft softballs. There was no winning in this unless he stabbed himself and got excused.

Rhovan had no feelings about dodgeball, he was only hoping that Rhoe got put on the opposite team so he could hit her in the face and get away with it. He tied his long blue hair up into a bun at the base of his skull and spied Vyxen and Nyima scurry towards Mr. Phanuel. Their teacher pulled the most exasperated face at the sight of them and waved them both towards the bleachers without even bothering to speak to them. They did this every class. Nyima had some kind of doctor’s note that got her out of contact sports and Vyxen was, apparently, allergic to whatever they made dodgeballs with. Also: nets, baseballs, soccer balls, footballs, tennis balls and probably oxygen. Needless to say, they were Coach Phanuel’s least favorite ‘athletes’.

To the side of him, Miu and Lerki’s voices rang out as they picked their teams. Lerki picked Seth first, Miu grabbed Anna, and they carried on with each of them fighting to get the best players. Rhovan didn’t expect to get picked until near the end. He was decent in gym, but he’d never been very interested in sports.

“This will be so stupid,” Date’s voice bemoaned beside him, no more a sports fan than Rhovan was.

“Tell coach you’re allergic to paying attention and maybe you can go sit with your girlfriend,” Rhovan suggested and snickered when Date appeared to be considering it. He knew that Date and Vyxen were going to the dance together because it pissed Salem off. He’d had to listen to the two bicker all morning like a married couple. He hadn’t paid too much attention to it though. It was usual for those two to go back and forth, but his thoughts stuck on Raemina and whether he’d talk to her today.

“Band boys, you’re with me,” Miu yelled out to them, gesturing both Date and Rhovan over. Left were a few stragglers, begrudgingly called to join, and the two teams took their places on the floor.

Rhovan was on a team with Date, the quiet asthmatic boy, a bunch of girls he didn’t know and a single football player. Lerki’s team had several football players, and some random nameless background characters. Despite Miu’s pep talk about how they could win with a strategy, it was clear he was on the losing side. The only upside to the situation was that Rhoe was on the opposing team and he made sure to take a position right in front of her.

“Is that supposed to be intimidating?” Rhoe asked, both amused that the little drummer boy thought he could beat her and still angry from dealing with him yesterday afternoon. She hated sports but if there was one skill she did have, it was killer aim. “I’m gonna break your face, pretty boy.”

“Try it,” Rhovan challenged as they both parted to walk to the opposite side of the gym, waiting for the whistle to sound so they could run forward and grab a ball.

As it turned out, challenging a girl known for throwing rocks through windows was a bad idea. Not even three minutes in, Rhoe nailed him in the face with a ball, sending him staggering backwards and onto the gym floor.

~*~*~

I guess this is what I get for getting involved with a guy who’s obsessed with vampires, Imogen thought sourly as she adjusted the collar of her shirt for the fifteenth time that period. As hard as she tried yesterday to cover up the hickey Salem left with foundation, her neckline hadn’t done her any favors. Of course Zercey had noticed immediately when Imogen finally emerged from the bathroom. Her friend’s eyes went right to the glaring mark on her neck, but thankfully she didn’t do more than raise her eyebrows in question. Imogen counted herself lucky that Scyanatha and Seth left the group while she was still tied up with Salem. Zercey, being the loyal friend she was, hadn’t mentioned anything or made a scene in front of Lerki and Laura when they all shared a ride home. Imogen would be dead if either of them knew the whole truth. Socially, at least.

She sagged with relief when she saw that today’s weather would be chilly and gratefully put on a collared shirt and sweater that hid what the makeup could not. She’d made it through her first two classes just fine, but now she was on a field trip for her science class with Salem and acutely knew how much space there was between them.

As if he were reading her thoughts, he looked up from where he was standing a few feet away. His eyes went first to her neck where he had branded her and then up to meet her own. She felt her face get warm and quickly looked away. “Hey, can we meet at your place after school? I have an idea I’d like to run by you,” Salem asked, turning to Xyl. “It’s not safe to talk about it here.” He didn’t elaborate, and it reminded him why he had the very best friends in the world when Xyl just shrugged and agreed.

Date had been similarly nonchalant about it and he hadn’t asked Rhovan yet, but he’d get to that at lunch. Scyanatha and Seth snapped his very last nerve, and he wouldn’t let it go. It was about time those two got a taste of their own medicine and he would ensure that it happened. Unfortunately, this was hardly a one-man job and if he would pull it off, he would need backup. His grey eyes drifted back to Imogen again, wondering if she’d help him. It could go either way with her. He didn’t believe for a second she was so oblivious as to not realize what Seth and Scy were like, but she also cared entirely too much about her social standing. Maybe he’d ask her later, after she finished yelling at him for that hickey. “Do you think you can get Rhoe and her friend to come too?” Salem added suddenly, thinking it might be good to have some pro-delinquents on the team. He was sure they didn’t care about helping anyone but themselves, but they might be interested enough in causing some havoc to be useful anyway.

Xyl hadn't expected that. He blinked stupidly at his friend. “What? Why?” He didn’t care what Salem wanted to talk about, he figured it was some supervision plan to keep Date from being alone with Vyxen at the dance. That theory went out the window if he wanted to talk to Rhoe and Cowan. Those two weren’t nice, even if one of them looked really nice, and if they were involved then something potentially criminal was happening. “Should I be concerned about this meeting?”

“Probably,” Salem answered with a grin, “but if all goes well, it’ll be worth it.”

~*~*~

Raemina woke up flat on her back and with a throbbing headache. The crinkling sound of paper when she shifted told her she was in the nurse’s office. A quick look around proved that theory correct. She barely got to sit up before both the school nurse and principal Chiyoko were on her, asking her if she was ok and shoving a box of dried fruit in her hand to eat while she waited for her mother to rush over some iron pills. They knew she was anemic, but since she was usually careful about what she ate it wasn't a big deal. She gingerly sat up, her head spinning slightly with the move and opened the box of fruit. One bite of some dark colored lump that tasted like sweat and regret had her immediately spitting it back out and setting the box to the side, she would wait for her mom to bring the pills. She'd also bring a lecture and Rae knew she deserved it. This was her own fault, she’d been so giddy from talking to Rhovan and going dress shopping that she’d forgotten to eat when she’d got home and then had rushed out the door this morning with only a poptart for breakfast. She hoped Vyxen and Nyima weren’t too worried about her, the poor things. If her mother hurried, she could be back in time for History class to let them know she was ok before they both spiralled further into anxiety.

A hollow clicking sound alerted her to the door opening and she looked up, expecting to see her mother only to find Rhovan standing there with blood dripping down half of his face.

“Oh my gosh, are you ok?” She jumped off the bed in an attempt to help but needing to immediately sit back down when a powerful wave of dizziness hit her.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Rhovan had been hurt worse in his time and the ache of his nose was nothing compared to the blow his ego took. Rhoe hit him hard and although his nose wasn’t broken, it was going to end up bruised. So much for looking cool on stage tomorrow. “Are you ok?” He took a seat on the bed beside her and looked her over. She was pale and shaky and looked more worse for wear than he did.

“Yeah, I just had a small fainting spell. I should be fine once my mom gets here,” Rae explained, picking up the nearby box of tissue and handing it over so Rhovan could stem the tide of blood coming from his nose. The situation wasn’t ideal, but at least she still got to see him in his gym shorts. He had really nice legs.

Further conversation paused as the nurse bustled over, making a cross noise at the state of Rhovan’s face, helping to clean him up a bit. The blood would eventually stop and apart from the nasty bruising around the area and under his left eye, he’d be just fine to return to class. The nurse left to fish him a new shirt out of the lost and found, letting the two teens have a short moment by themselves.

“You usually walk home, right?” Rhovan asked, trying to make it sound casual and not like he’d been watching her like a creep. This whole scenario kind of sucked, but he liked to think of himself as an opportunist and this was probably the only time he’d get her alone until school let out. He shouldn’t waste it. “Not to sound creepy or anything, I see you walking sometimes on my way out. I wouldn’t feel right letting you walk home after you fainted, I could give you a ride if you want?”

Rae was surprised he noticed, but she smiled thinking along the same lines he was. This would give her the perfect chance to ask him to the dance! “That sounds great, thank you!”

“All right, cool.” Rhovan gave her a smile, but since his face was still sore from where he’d been hit, it quickly turned into a grimace. 

The nurse walked back in with a fresh shirt and handed it to him. “Go ahead and change in the toilet there,” she instructed, pointing to the bathroom door, “and then you can get back to class.”

He did as he was told and five minutes later, he was back in the gym holding an icepack to his face. It might not have been ideal, but he was finally going to hang out alone with Rae. He closed his eyes and leaned back on the bleachers, visions of lace panties dancing in his head.

~*~*~

The school lunch room was a beige monstrosity with the worst layout Date ever saw. Trying to maneuver his way through tables, legs, elbows and butts while holding a lunch tray should count as military training. He paused briefly to lean down and press his lips against Vyxen’s cheek. “You look nice today,” he whispered against the shell of her ear. As he moved on to sit beside his bandmates he noticed she'd gone beet red.

Salem scowled at him, but he hardly cared. “Did you guys finally figure out the set list for tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Rhovan, slightly bruised but no worse for the wear after gym class, answered for the group and handed Date a piece of paper with the two songs they would perform tomorrow during the talent show. They wouldn’t have been Date’s first choice, but they would work.

“I need you to come over to Xyl’s house with me after school,” Salem informed him and he just nodded. It was probably to talk about some harebrained, ridiculous, scheme to take on their royal majesties and while he didn’t think it would end well, it could still be amusing. Or maybe it wouldn’t be, since Rhoe and her friend arrived a minute later and if they were involved then this could very well end them all in prison.

“How does your nose feel, pretty boy?” Rhoe asked as she elbowed Rhovan to make room for her on the bench. He didn’t move.

“What do you want?” he growled back.

Cowan smirked.

Salem rolled his eyes and moved over himself so Rhoe and Cowan could sit beside him instead, knowing that Rhovan was too stubborn to do it himself. “Can you not act like a bunch of tools?”

“What are they doing here?” Rhovan would sooner poison himself then put up with this girl and her boyfriend for a second longer than necessary. The fact they even allowed her to sit with them was pissing him off.

“We’re meeting at Rhoe and Xyl’s house after school,” Salem explained. “We need them. So play nice.” He fixed his drummer with a pointed look that suggested every piece of blackmail he had on him would be made public if he didn’t cool down.

Rhovan wasn’t having it. “I got permission from Culvers to do the project on my own. Enjoy your failing grade.”

“If you keep saying such sweet things people might get the wrong idea,” Rhoe retorted. One of her favorite pastimes was seeing how far she could push someone, and Rhovan was an easy target. If she had known this before she would have tortured him sooner. 

Cowan set a hand on her shoulder, silently communicating that she should lay off. “Come on, Rhoe,” he said, deciding it was better to leave now before someone threw punches, “If we want to get a smoke in before class, we’d better go.” Turning to the band, he added, “We’ll see you after school.”

Xyl watched his sister and his crush walk away with an increasing sense of dread.

~*~*~

“Admit it, we slaughtered you, Miu,” Lerki joked, good-naturedly elbowing her in the ribs as they and Seth made their way from gym class to the cafeteria together.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “Just wait ‘till we scrimmage next season. My girls are gonna wipe the floor with your boys.” She gave him a punch on the arm and left the two men to join the rest of her team for lunch while Lerki and Seth sat down next to Zercey and Scyanatha. 

“Aw man, Kallder, you should’ve seen it,” Lerki said excitedly once he took his seat. Imogen knew his use of her last name was an indicator he was still talking about sports things, and she fought back a groan; athletics were so boring. “Your sister was on our team for dodgeball. She may be a freak, but that girl has a wicked arm on her. She pelted that blue-haired dork so hard I thought he’d cry.” Seth laughed beside him, content to keep rehashing the day’s victory with his friend until Scyanatha let out an impatient whine. Quickly correcting his mistake, Seth engaged his girlfriend in a seemingly intense game of tonsil hockey.

For once, the couple’s PDA relieved Zercey. All she’d heard all day was Scyanatha going on and on about the dance and how her and Seth would make the perfect Homecoming King and Queen. It was starting to make her crazy. She already had plenty on her plate with cheer practice and she didn’t want to hear any more of Scy’s so called ‘problems.’

“So,” she said, taking the opportunity to switch the subject, “Imo, you’re still staying late to plan the dance, right? Did you need a ride home?”

“Uh, yeah, that’d be great,” she answered. Zercey was clearly mad at Lerki for something, she barely even glanced his way when he sat down.

“Wait a minute, sweetness, I thought you and I would be riding home together.” Lerki, finally coming out of his victory high, tried to reach across the table to take her hand but Zercey snatched it away before he could. He rolled his eyes. “What did I do now?”

“You didn’t do anything,” Zercey commented, shooting a glare in his direction that suggested otherwise.

Lerki huffed dramatically and threw his hands in the air, annoyed that he’d pissed her off again and thinking she might not be worth the effort. The head cheerleader was almost as high maintenance as Scyanatha.

“Good, I wanted to talk to you, anyway.” Zercey ignored him and returned to her conversation with Imogen, her eyes glancing to the girls covered neck. There was an interesting story behind that hickey and was determined to find out what.

Imogen just sighed and silently reminded herself to murder Salem the next time she saw him.

The rest of their lunch break progressed in much the same way until they all parted to go to class. Scy hooked her arm through Seth’s, allowing him to lead her through the halls while she lost herself in thought.

“What did your parents have to say?” Seth asked, finally broaching the topic that had been bothering him since last night. She never did text him and they hadn’t gotten a moment to themselves until now.

“The usual,” Scyanatha replied flippantly. “I’m a shame to the family, I’m slutty, why can’t I be more like Oidhan, the same spiel as always.”

Seth pulled his arm out of her grip and wrapped it around her shoulder pulling her close and pressing a kiss to her temple. “One more year, baby,” he promised softly. “That’s all we have left before we’re eighteen and you can come live with me and never have to see those jackasses again.”

Scyanatha smiled, resting her head in the crook of his neck and letting the scent of his cologne calm her. One more year and then I’ll be free.

~*~*~

The end of the school day couldn’t come quick enough. Xyl had been thinking over everything Salem said and it wasn’t putting him at ease. They should worry about getting in a final band practice before tomorrow and instead they were all going to this ‘meeting’ as if it was some undercover SWAT operation. Luckily his aunt wasn’t home, and neither was Imogen, so he didn’t have to worry about that. Mostly, he tried to gather up snacks and drinks to lie out, hoping to keep everyone’s hands busy so no one killed each other. Everyone was here except Rhovan and while he didn’t think Date or Salem would try to murder his sister, it was still a good idea to take precautions. Besides, keeping busy helped him keep his eyes off of Cowan. Rhoe may not be perceptive enough to notice his not-so-subtle ogling, but Salem would and he didn’t really want anyone to know about his crush yet.

“So, what do you geeks want?” Rhoe broke the awkward silence first, grabbing a fistful of chips and then flopping back on the couch to eye Salem and Date with obvious boredom, matched by the equally bored look Date gave back.

“We’re going to take Seth and Scyanatha, and possibly all their friends, down a few notches.” Salem informed them all bluntly, not bothering to beat around the bush. If he tried to ease them into it, Rhoe and Date would for sure lose interest and zone out.

Xyl almost choked on his drink, eyes widening comically in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.” He was hoping Salem wasn’t serious. “Doesn’t Seth’s family own like… this whole city. We’d never get away with it.”

Neither Date nor Rhoe looked bored anymore.

“We can get away with it if we do it right,” Salem argued, “if everything goes according to plan then no one will even find out we’re responsible. What is Seth gonna do? Sue the whole student body?”

Xyl firmly believed that Seth would sue the whole student body, just to prove he could, and he was about to tell Salem that, but got cut off.

“Look, those two have been acting like gods sent to earth since middle school and I’m done with it. They torment everyone just to amuse themselves and I’m going to get revenge with or without your help.”

“I’m in!” Rhoe hadn’t expected much from this little get together but she guessed she misjudged them. There was clearly more to them than eyeliner and body glitter. Not much more, but more than she anticipated. She’d been thinking about taking Scy and Seth on for a while anyway and at least this way she had other people to blame if things went south. “What’s the plan?”

Her answer was total silence and she rolled her eyes, casting a ‘can you believe this?’ look towards Cowan. “Are you telling me you don’t have a plan?”

“I didn’t decide to do this until last night, so no, I don’t,” Salem defended. “That’s why I invited you two here.”

“I’m touched that you think so highly of us,” Cowan commented with a grin, deeply amused by the situation.

“When were you planning on carrying out this little coup?” Rhoe snapped her fingers as if she just remembered something. “Oh wait, I forgot that you don’t have a plan.”

“We should do it at the dance,” Date intervened before Salem could dig himself too deeply into a hole. “Everyone will be there. It would be hard to pick out who was responsible from a crowd that large.” He paused for a moment, considering their options. “And if we really want to hurt them then public humiliation would be the best route.”

“I’m not dumping a bucket of blood on anyone,” Xyl informed them all, crossing his arms and envisioning a horror scene worthy of the movie he referenced. If anyone would use telekinetic powers to murder someone, it was definitely Scyanatha.

“We won’t go that far, stupid, that could get us in serious trouble.” Rhoe liked trouble but she’d prefer to not end up in cuffs over this. “Lucky for you nimrods, I have an idea. If you really want to get back at the king and queen, this is what we’ll do.”

~*~*~

“You’re way better than I imagined!” Jingyi breathed, impressed by Nyima's skill in Mortal Kombat. He was good, but she was excellent and if he wasn’t already stupidly infatuated with her, he would be now.

Nyima giggled and straightened her back, proud of herself for picking up on the game so quickly and kicking his butt. They had been playing for a little over an hour and she was slowly getting more comfortable with him. She honestly thought she was going to die when she first arrived at his house, and he didn’t look much better. Jingyi was a flustered, stuttering mess. He was beginning to loosen up though and Nyima found that she liked how he looked when he wasn’t working hard to be invisible. “You’re not letting me win, are you?”

“I promise I’m not,” Jingyi assured with a laugh and Nyima tried to pretend like it didn’t make her heart flutter to hear it. “I was trying pretty hard to win so I could impress you, but you walloped me cleanly.”

“You were a decent opponent.” Nyima gave credit where it was due, he’d almost beaten her a few times. “Next time, you should come to my house and we can try you out on Final Fantasy!” The words didn’t register in her head until a minute after she’d said them and her whole body froze up. Oh my giddy aunt, did I just invite him on a date?

“I’d love too.” He could see her nerves started to rear up again. It fed into his own and he knew that if he didn’t fix things quick then the fragile comfort they built up would shatter around him. “Can I walk you home? We could get ice cream on the way; my treat?”

Outside and back on neutral ground, the comfort seemed to return and Jingyi steered her towards talking about her beloved Final Fantasy, endeared by how expressive and excited she was as she gave him a full run-down of the storyline and all the characters. It seemed a lot more complicated than most of the games he played and he made a mental note to research it later so he wouldn’t totally suck at it when they got together again. The easy talk about Eidolons and chocobos over chocolate ice cream eventually turned into talk about school, the antics of Nyima’s friends and life in general. Before Jingyi knew it, they were at her front door and he felt the smile fading from his face when he realized that his time with her was up. Now that they were able to talk without choking on their words he felt like he could do it forever. If he could drag the conversation on a little longer without making himself look like an idiot, he would do it in a heartbeat.

“Thanks for walking me home.” Nyima was sad to see him go, but also kind of excited because this afternoon had been the best and she couldn’t wait to tell Vyxen and Raemina about it. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Jingyi hesitated for a second, fighting to gather his courage. It must have taken a while because he heard her fish her keys out from her bag, unlock the door and prepare to go inside. She got one step into the house before a burst of blind panic gave him the tiny bit of courage he needed. “Wouldyoulikedanceme?”

Nyima paused, turning back to look at him and cocking her head to the side, not understanding a word he’d just said. “I’m sorry?”

Smooth, Jingyi, very nice, he chastised, taking a deep breath and desperately holding onto that tiny spark of courage as he tried again. “Would you like to go to the dance with me?”

The butterflies in Nyima’s stomach came back full force, but even they couldn’t stop the smile taking over her face. She should say no, she’d be a nervous wreck the whole time and she knew it, but much like it had at the game store, her mouth seemed to function independently of her brain. “Yes, I’d like to.”

“Thank god.” Jingyi breathed out, flushing a bright red when he realized he’d said it out loud.

Nyima giggled.

“I mean, cool. Cool… I’ll see you tomorrow then?” He didn’t wait for an answer before speed walking away.

Nyima felt both nauseous and giddy. Her brain was running at a mile a minute and she had no idea what to do about anything and so she did the only thing she could do. She raced up to her bedroom, dropped her bag onto her pawprint comforter, dialed Vyxen’s number and screamed directly into the phone.

~*~*~

“He didn’t ask me to the dance!” Zercey had all but screamed once the final pep rally practice was over, throwing her bag into the back seat of her cherry red sports car and slamming the driver’s side door shut.

Imogen tried not to sigh too loudly as she slid into the passenger’s seat.

“He expects that we’ll go together,” Zercey continued. “I mean, we are going together, but he could have asked! It wouldn’t kill him to be romantic!” Lerki had never, not once in their entire relationship, done something nice for her just because he wanted to. He only ever did nice things when she was mad and then he had the gall to wonder why she was always mad. “Sometimes I feel like he’s only interested in my body,” she confessed as she started the car. “Seth and Scy have been together for years and he still asked her to the dance, and he did it with a dozen long-stemmed roses and a diamond pendant!”

“What do you think of Seth and Scy?” Imogen cut in, having been pondering that same question for a while now herself.

“I think they’re both awful human beings who don’t care about anyone or anything beyond each other.” Zercey didn’t even hesitate before giving her answer and it took Imogen by surprise. “They’re terrible, but Seth has connections I need if I want to get through college without having to work too hard. Once I’m through with that, his connections will help me get a good job and I’ll move across the country and never speak to either of them again.”

“You’re using them,” Imogen concluded, unsure on how she felt about it.

Zercey stopped at a red light and shot her an annoyed look. “Of course I’m using them. I’m sorry, Imo, are you hanging out with those two for their stellar personalities?” When she didn’t respond, Zercey nodded as if it proved her point. “We’re both using them for their connections and Seth’s money and they’re using us to boost their social status and make themselves look good. Everyone wins, except us because we still have to deal with them.”

Imogen had never thought about things that way before and she didn’t like the way it made her feel, like she’d just swallowed something slimy.

Luckily, Zercey was quick to change the subject. “So how did you get the hickey you’ve been trying to hide all day?”

“I would rather die than tell you,” Imogen informed her honestly, feeling like there wasn’t a need to lie but also not willing to talk about Salem yet. She felt conflicted about everything right now and she didn’t know if she had a single real friend she could count on.

Apparently she did though, since Zercey just shrugged in response to her statement. “Ok, but I’m here for you if you need to talk.”

The rest of the ride passed in silence with Zercey still stewing over Lerki and Imogen trying to figure out what she was going to do from here on out. She didn’t snap out of it until they reached her house and she saw several cars blocking her driveway, one of which she recognized as Salem’s.

“Your brother’s friends are over?” Zercey asked with a nod towards the cars. She knew for a fact Imogen’s sister didn’t have that many.

“It looks like it,” Imogen said as she hurried out of her seat. “Thanks again for the ride, Zerce. I’ll text you later.” She tried her best to be nonchalant even though seeing Salem’s car had made her heart start to beat faster. 

Zercey narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but said, “All right,” just the same.

On her way into the house, Imogen gave herself a pep talk. Just act normal. She walked into the living room and was surprised to find not only all of Xyl’s band, but Rhoe and her burnout friend Cowan as well. They were all huddled around each other, talking in hushed tones as if they were conspiring, which they definitely were since it seemed like Rhoe was leading the whole thing. 

Seeing her sister walk in, Rhoe sat back. “The golden child returns,” she mocked. At her words, the boys broke off their talking as well and looked to the new arrival.

Imogen glowered from the doorway. “Whatever. Did Nayidh leave anything for dinner?”

“Yeah, leftovers are in the fridge,” answered Xyl from where he sat in the corner.

She left for the kitchen, not bothering to acknowledge any of the other people sitting in her living room. As she waited for the oven to preheat so she could warm up the vegetarian lasagne from the other night, she popped into her room and threw her bag on the bed. A few seconds later she heard a faint knock on her door.

“What?” Imogen figured it was Xyl coming to bother her for who-knows-what and so she didn’t even bother to turn around when she heard her door open.

“I have like one minute before they realize I lied about using the bathroom and come looking for me.” Salem normally would have been excited to be in Imogen’s room, but he knew he was potentially walking towards his death, so he couldn’t enjoy it. If she didn’t kill or break it off with him, maybe he’d get to see it again sometime in the future and he’d be excited then. “I wanted to come say that I’m sorry for yelling at you yesterday.” It would look better for him if he started to grovel immediately. “And for giving you a hickey. I know you’re pissed about it, I kind of got lost in the momen…ooomph!” His apology was cut short by a pillow smacking him directly in the face.

“Don’t give me that bull, you knew what you were doing Salem!” Imogen snapped at him, the scene very similar to the one that played out in the mall bathroom, though this time she wouldn’t let him off easy. “This mark could ruin everything! Zercey saw it and she’s already asking questions. Do you know what will happen if Scy sees it?” She didn’t even know what would happen if Scy saw it but she was sure it wouldn’t be good.

“I’m sorry,” Salem remarked lamely, automatically taking a step back when she stalked towards him. She was shorter than he was but Imogen was scary when she was mad and he didn’t want to get thrown out a window today.  

Her hands fisted in the lapels of his leather jacket and he braced himself for a shove out of her room. It surprised him when he felt her pull instead of push and soon her soft lips were pressing insistently against his own and Salem wondered if Imogen had a thing for kissing guys after she snapped at them.

“Don’t do it again,” Imogen warned when their lip lock broke. “And I expect there to be flowers and chocolates delivered in the immediate future as proof of your remorse.”

~*~*~

Rhovan pulled into the driveway of Xyl’s house with a grin. He didn’t care that the stretching of his lips made his face hurt or that he would have to endure Rhoe’s presence for however long they took to hear Salem out. Everything was well with the world and nothing, absolutely nothing, could bring him off cloud nine. Except taking on Seth and Scyanatha, which apparently was what everyone was planning. “Are you actually stupid?” he asked them incredulously. “Ok, not only are those two not worth this kind of time, but Seth’s dad is a douchebag lawyer who sues everyone who looks at him wrong. There is no way you’ll get away with this.”

“You don’t have to help if you don’t want to,” Salem informed him in a tone that suggested he absolutely had to help and would pay dearly if he didn’t.

Rhoe smirked evilly at him from where she sat across the couch and he started to seriously reconsider his policy on not hitting girls.  He was trapped and he knew it, he couldn’t go against Salem with everything the vampire-wannabe knew about him and since the whole band was in on it, he’d get blamed alongside them even if he had nothing to do with it. “Fine, but if we get in trouble for this, then I’m killing all of you.” He tried to block out most of the plans being made around him. On the off chance they were doing anything crazy, he figured the less he knew, the better. It was a relief when he was finally free to go home, it being too late by then to have band practice. Once in his car and heading far away from everyone, especially Rhoe, he was able to reclaim a little of his earlier good mood.

Driving Rae home had been a blast. He knew she was smart but he didn’t know how funny and sly she could be, she kept up with his snark and made him laugh. He’d always just grouped her in with her friends as some anxiety riddled little girl who was afraid of her own shadow, now he knew better. Raemina was one of a kind and he was entirely captivated by her. They’d both asked each other to the dance at the same time and then burst out laughing. He was surprised that she was willing to take that kind of initiative. Most girls would fling themselves into the sun before they asked a guy out, that Raemina was willing to take the first step just made him like her more. She was full of surprises and he felt like he could be with her forever and never grow bored. Whoa. He stopped that train of thought before it got too far. It was entirely too early to even be thinking about words like ‘forever,’ they weren’t even officially dating yet. If the dance went well, then maybe she’d agree to spend more time with him and they could go from there. She had also told him that she’d definitely make it to the talent show tomorrow night. Hopefully the band wouldn’t embarrass him. Since Khrome had spent the night on Salem’s half-assed revenge idea, they’d be going into the whole thing pretty rusty. It’s simple, Rhovan thought to himself as he turned off the engine and walked into his house, If Salem’s plan ruins my chances with Raemina, I’ll kill him.

By @guardians-of-las-vyxen & @yogiwithabook

[idkitshiro]

Mar.11 ,2017  2:23 pm

as im trying to looking forward, a part of me is whispering failure.. can I make something, something beautiful, something inspiring, encouraging? to spread a heartfelt smile on somebody’s face, reassuring whoever is behind their computer screen there is reason, no matter how stupid or small it is, to laugh or smile. I want to remind people how video games are really meant to be played, what creates the pro environment and  competition in the first place, showing them how to have fun with their video games, showing them how to enjoy spending their free time so that its at least not wasted. If I can leave at least one thing to take away and let people know they feel reassured, loved, supported, not alone then all the time I put into the videos im making have been worth my time.  Acts of kindness, sportsmanship good cheer. Make them feel like holy crap this makes me want to play this game

Here i go as I just write down whatever im thinking about:

some of the funnest games I really enjoyed playing as a kid: Super Smash bros melee: at first had all my favorite characters from different games EVER , kirby, pikachu, mario, all these nintendo characters like Link, Fire emblem’s marth and roy, so much variety Pokemon: such a fun adventure, not having much access to the internet , the world was magical, every corner was a new surprise. There were random Pokeballs on the floor, instances where your in game rival would show up and challenge you to a battle with his own unique pokemon.  the pokemon I had felt unique, the team I had felt special and I bonded with these pokemon. I didnt have in mind what my friends or any one else who also played the video game what strategies or pokemon they thought were good and were their own personal favorite. The competition element fair and exciting because there weren’t many popular guides or communities and forums that people were aware of. Internet spoiled the fun because it exposed many of the surprises and secrets of the game. It almost was as if there was a person sitting next to me telling me how they already beat the game, caught all 150 pokemon telling me which pokemon were trash and not worth my time, the perfect IVs and proper way of how to make the strongest team possible. Though they may be right it totally killed my joy for the game, stripping of the surprise and wonder element video games used to hold as this now apple is to almost every other video game. and altho the right answer is to not focus and compare my self to the people surrounding me its like someone standing right behind me saying video games are FAKE, WASTE OF TIME. So spending my free time trying to  Man people need to pay less attention to how others are spending their time playing video games. MANNN you’re winning if you’re enjoying your time having fun whether kicking ass, accomplishing a hard puzzle or challenge, discover something rare on your own again i guess thats added to your personal merit, get a good laugh, listening to good music, reminds you of something important to you whether its through story telling and the music, whether its learning more about experiences and other people around you. Theres so much video games could teach you, what you could learn from. like many other hobbies or people like to do on their spare time, video games are another outlet of creating happy memories, memories that could be shared with the people we love. I find my self exploring all these different video games to try and remember why I fell in love with video games when I was a lot younger. What made it so exciting and fun, and when I let something else rob me of that joy. I remember when I was in elementary school my brother and I had our own Gameboy Colors. I had purple one given from my Auntie and my brother had a neon Green gameboy color that was given from our grandpa’s brother, i guess granduncle. Both of us had our seperate Pokemon version where Pokemon Red was my first video game ever and my brother had Pokemon Yellow.  anyways my mom would only allow us to play for an hour or two a day and I just remember my sister wanting to play pokemon too and so I let her play mine, and althouhg i wasnt playing I really enjoyed watching them just play. I felt so happy that we were all able to play together even if I was just watching my brother thumb through his starting Pokemon team in Saffron city. Idk why thats so vivid. We had to share alot things growing up, rooms, 1 hour turns on the computer, hand me down clothes, Gamecube turns. i remember i bought a tv plugin game which was star wars/ spongebob that didnt need a console. it had 5 games in it , but crowding around the small tv in me and my brothers room playing video games together.. i miss that so much. i just wanted us to get along and have fun. 

god i always hear people saying that their entire life they were losers and the bullied kid, but did they ever have a fanny pack with 100 calorie Special K bars on 1,000 diet imitating their favorite Taijustus specialist? (Rock Lee Image) I used to be obssesed with my eating only 1,000 calories a day because I was pretty chunky in middle school. One time in PE we had to do our quarterly mile run and I remember always dreading these big days. Every week we had to run around the track for 20 minutes, no walking, and see how many laps you could run in that time. We were graded on how many laps we could run, 6 laps was  D , 7 Laps was a C , 8 Laps was a B, 9 and more was an A. I dreaded every single week for these 20 minute runs, but I celebrated super heavily after it we were done. I was always super nervous and anxious thinking about these days because I always forced myself to do my absolute best. I hated the thought of competing with the people next to me. I used to run 10 laps and my best being 11 laps, which I thought was insanely good. The fastest was I think 12 or 13 laps but they werent in my class. I suppose I felt proud of what I accomplished, my classmates thought I was fast. I would wear shorts everyday in middle school. In 4th and 5th grade I used to run 3 miles every day in the summer with my grandpa and sometimes my sister  because I came home one day from a a Dr.’s Checkup saying that my cholesterol was pretty high. Seperate from my school’s 5k I only entered one 5k run with my grandpa who did the 7k run. I felt horrible because I was just overweight and I didnt find myself that attractive. God, especially when your older brother was more handsome had abs and biceps since 5th grade.  ashjdkasld yeah this is where my self esteem issues come from, but anyways, I was complimented on my  buldgy calves. They were pretty big, for a big boy like my self. I remember one time when runnign the 20 minute run I always thought about falling over and getting hurt so I didnt have to run, mentally I wanted to just stop myself from pushing my body. ashdbjnka My best mile time was 5:37 by the way. When it was raining and they made us stay inside our school’s gym, playing dodgeball. I WAS SO HAPPY. I would pray that it would rain enough so that the track would be too wet where we all the PE classes would have to walk around the basketball quarts and then the other  half o the class would have to play basketball. I WAS ALWAYS SUPER EXCITED. Those were the best days regular days of school. of course not more exciting than Game days, honor-roll Bingo , or field trips of course AHAHA One time I brought I red chocolate balls that I got from people standing in front of safeway that were wrapped neatly in this plastic bag. I gave some to my friends before we ran, thinking wow we could be just like Choji and his ration pellets. Jesus. It was just concentrated choclate balls of sugar.   -- It was pretty good tho. Middle school was awesome. I did whatever I wanted no matter how uncool people thought it was. I thought that just doing what I loved was the coolest thing ever. I used to read the Shonen Jump manga magazines and I was reading the YugiOh Gx weekly chapter and Jesus H. christ it looked so fun. The next day I talked to my friend who was fanatic about Yugioh and he helped me create a deck. The next two years FUHHHH our whole friend group was playing yugioh. It felt like some anime, going home editing decks, dueling in my friends garage drinking cans of Dr. Pepper and honey Twisted BBQ chips. Playing some Halo 3 and Pokemon Stadium 2 on the side. IT WAS SO FUN. When we would have a party in class or potluck I’d get 4 cups of Pepsi, Plateful of Doritos , Lays and Hot cheetos and my friends and I would whip out our decks. Living the life. At the time the Wii , xbox 360 and itouch were very popular. I didnt have a smart phone til the end of my high school and wasnt until my freshman year in high school that I bought my own prepaid phone and minutes and texting plans. anyways the only console my brother and sister i had was teh game cube so these consoles were treasures whenever I would go over to my friends house after school. there was also this one time in middle school where our homeroom teacher allowed 4 people from our AVID class, and at the time I thought AVID students were the smartest collection of indivuals in our school, to go around campus picking up recyables such as cans and bottles so we could sell and add to our class field trip fundraiser. At first our teacher assigned us only 10 minutes and expected us to comeback. 10 minutes of missing class was amazing. My group of friends and I felt so free, so powerful, passing the doors of other classrooms and students, walking where we shouldnt be. And when we would comeback she would reward us with homemade cookies. HOLY, our teacher was so kind. I cant remember if this was a daily thing, but we did this each time we had class. But every time we would come back deliberatly a little later. From intially 10 minutes we started coming back 15 minutes later, then 20. And I kid you not we started going out “recycling” for the entire class period which was about 50 minutes. IT WAS AMAZING. And we may had been in middle school, but we werent dumb. We were AVID students. Advancement via indpendent determination. We were the futures most brightest, up and coming. So we were thinking if we could somehow find more cans and bottles to fill up our garbage bags itd be more than enough reason to explain why we were coming back later than we were orginally suppose to. So initally we would invite ourselves to other classrooms tell the teacher ‘we’re reclying, dw , were supposed to be here’ and go through their blue bins and take whatever cans and bottles we can add it to our bags. Then we started looking at the larger reclye bins in the shcools court yard and just take all the bottles in their. Realistically it took no more than 5 minutes to fill a garbage bag filled with cans and bottles, but we would spend the rest of our vacation racing each other on our school’s track and kick each other on the school’s monkey bars. Jesus. it was so fun. my life feels pretty defeated right now, so I just wanted to share with