#went to a junior meeting today and it kinda made me fully take in

[iamfabiloz]

ppl who are going to college/have gone to college: do it get better is it better than the hell that is highschool 😟 I am not having a good time in it rn

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Nia just needed a friend to do a hard mall trip. Trying out dresses. For a formal dance. And hey, maybe Lena and Kara are mad at each other but... She just needs Lena okay?

When Lena receives a call from an unknown number, she almost ignores it. But just enough people spread her phone number that she answers it on the off chance it might be someone who needs her.

“Lena Luthor, how can I help you?”

“Lena, please don’t hang up.”

The voice is familiar, but Lena can’t place it until the voice continues.

“It’s Nia. Nia Nal? And I know--” Lena almost hangs up right then-- not because it’s Nia, but because Nia treads dangerously close to a subject Lena is dead set on avoiding. Almost. “I know you have no reason to take my call, but… I need your help.”

Lena almost hangs up. She doesn’t.

“What do you need?”

---

The crisis, Lena learns, is that Nia has been given the assignment of her life covering the Golden Globes ceremony being hosted in downtown National City, but has nothing even remotely appropriate to wear. The mundanity of it all is so far from what Lena expects that it’s long moments before the words fully register.

“Uh, Lena…?”

“I’m here,” Lena says quickly, clearing her throat. She leans forward in her chair, rattling off an address. “Meet me there tomorrow at 11am.”

The next day, a few minutes after eleven, Nia walks up to Lena outside of Sylvie with hesitation all over her face. “Lena?”

Lena tucks her phone away and turns towards Nia with a professional but bright grin. “Nia, you made it.”

“Uhm, yeah actually… I kinda thought I’d gotten lost…”

Lena looks at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Lena, I can’t afford anything on this boulevard, are you crazy??”

Oh.

“You’re not paying,” Lena says simply.

Wide eyes blink at her in shock. “What? No! No, Lena, I can’t ask you to do that--”

“I’m offering.”

“Look, I was thinking we could just go to the mall--”

“The mall.”

Nia quails under Lena’s judgement, and Lena softens.

“Nia, you are about to be on the red carpet, covering an event that could catapult your career into the stratosphere. I think that warrants something a little more than what a department store can offer.”

“But…” Nia continues to protest, but uncertainty colors her features, and Lena knows she’s slipped under her guard. Carefully, Lena places a hand on Nia’s wrist.

“I won’t force you to accept what I’m offering,” she says gently. “But calling a Luthor for help means calling for a Luthor solution-- and nothing says Luthor more than shopping at the best boutique in town.”

Nia nods, but she ducks her chin with a swallow. “It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“I don’t want you to think that’s why I called, you know?” Nia expels a sigh, working a harried hand through her hair. “It’s just that Kara was supposed to come with me for moral support, but she’s had to cancel four times and the ceremony is in three days and if Andrea hears one more time that I don’t have a dress, she’s going to kill me…”

“Nia,” Lena says softly. Nia stops, and meets Lena’s gaze with a hesitant one of her own. “I would never think you were calling for a hand out. I’m offering.” Nia still looks uncertain, but Lena holds her gaze. “You asked for help… so let me help.”

Nia considers her words, studying Lena carefully. Finally, she wraps her arms around herself with a steadying sigh. “If you’re sure…”

“I’m sure.”

Nia follows a few paces behind as Lena turns and approaches the door to the shop, lingering to let Lena be the one to press the buzzer to be allowed in. But as they near, the door opens for them, ready and waiting to admit them.

Luthors don’t use buzzers.

“Welcome to Sylvie.” A pair of well groomed attendants relieve them of their purses, exchanging their bags for a couple flutes of champagne offered by a third.

“Thank you,” Lena replies easily, well versed in the practice. Nia fumbles a step behind, her movements stiff and uncertain. Instead of moving directly into the belly of the store as she usually did, Lena lingers, allowing Nia the chance to take in the shop for the first time. The showroom looks much like any other, as could be glimpsed through the windows, styled with clean lines and immaculately dressed mannequins. The true Sylvie experience, however, happens further in, beyond the curtains that separate the dressing rooms from the rest of the store.

“If you’ll follow me, ladies, I’ll show you to your dressing room.”

Lena wonders what Nia expected as they approached one of the curtained off areas. Perhaps a cramped alcove like the hollywood thrift stores shown in coming-of-age films, where your elbows knocked the walls as you changed and you’d be lucky to find a stool to put your own clothes. Certainly it isn’t the plush, spacious room that awaits them, if Nia’s wide eyes are anything to go by.

Charnelle waits for them at the curtain. “Welcome, ladies,” she greets, parting the curtain so that Lena and Nia can slip inside. “Lena, lovely to see you again.”

“And you,” Lena returns.

“I’m Charnelle,” she introduces herself to Nia. “Wonderful to meet you. I’ll be assisting the two of you today.”

“Thankyousomuch,” Nia says in a rush, her shoulders tight as she shakes Charnelle’s offered hand.

Charnelle allows the curtains to close behind them, isolating them in their own little pocket of divine luxury. Lena settles herself on the central chaise lounge, folding her legs elegantly before her. Nia perches on the edge beside her, her gaze flicking to the small boudoir in one corner and another curtain that shields the actual changing area. Inside there, Lena knows Nia will find a plush bench to sit on as she undresses, and gold hangers to hold her clothes while she tries on various gowns. It’s designed to be beyond comfortable, a place where one could spend hours-- and lots and lots of money.

“So, what do you have for us today, Lena? Another benefit gala to dazzle?”

“Actually,” Lena replies, “Miss Nal here is covering the Golden Globes this week for CatCo Worldwide.”

“How exciting!” Charnelle rounds on Nia. “And what are you looking for in your gown?”

Caught with a mouthful of champagne, Nia freezes, then swallows audibly. “Um…” she coughs out. “Something nice? I probably shouldn’t be outdressing the stars or anything, so nothing too crazy?” She shrugs. “I don’t know, exactly.”

“Charnelle,” Lena intercedes, “could you bring us some formal options in black, maroon, or blue? Floor length, of course.”

Charnelle nods, beaming. “Absolutely.” She gives Nia a wink. “She has your colors nailed, honey. What are your measurements?”

Nia stares at them both. “Uh. A six, usually?”

“They’ll need your measurements to ensure a proper fit,” Lena delivers gently. “Do you mind if Charnelle--?”

“I’m trans!” Nia blurts, her chinks coloring a solid ear-to-ear pink. “Sorry,” she adds quietly. “But-- yeah. Just so you know.”

Lena stares, surprised more by the outburst than its content, but Charnelle takes it in stride. “So am I, baby girl,” she responds smoothly. “That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to have a dress that fits.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Nia finally, finally relaxes. She offers a shaky grin. “Okay. Yeah. Let’s do this.”

Charnelle gives Nia’s wrist a squeeze on her way to the boudoir to pull a tape measure from the top drawer. While she’s busy, Lena catches Nia’s eye and lifts her glass in a silent cheers of support. Nia rewards her with a small smile, before Charnelle returns and makes quick work of measuring Nia’s bust, waist and hips.

“All right!” Charnelle chirps, wrapping up her tape. “I’ll be right back with some options. You two stay here and get comfortable, all right? I’ll be right back.”

She disappears, and Nia all but collapses onto the chaise next to Lena. “I can’t believe I did that,” she groans.

Lena pats her on the knee. “You’re all right. Sylvie only gets my business because they know the value of discretion.”

“Yeah.” Nia lifts her head with a hum, surveying the dressing room once more. “This is nice. Thank you for talking me into it.”

Lena smirks. “Just wait.”

As if on cue, the curtains part to admit not Charnelle, but the woman who’d offered them their drinks. This time, her tray holds an array of small finger sandwiches. “Refreshments?”

“Oh, wow!” Nia exclaims, quickly helping herself to three. “Okay, yeah. I could get used to this.”

Lena grins, snaring a cucumber sandwich for herself. “Thank you. And another round, if you could,” she adds, seeing Nia’s empty glass.

The woman nods. “Of course.”

When she has disappeared again, the dressing room fills with quiet, and Lena realizes that she doesn’t have a clue what to say. She’s gone shopping with her mother, and with Andrea, and in both cases the conversation flowed easily, for better or for worse. But she’s never been shopping with a girl several years her junior, and never one in the middle of Lena’s biggest heartbreak.

“It happened the last time I went shopping for a dress too,” Nia says, breaking the silence. “The anxiety about… you know. I guess something about formal wear brings out the worst of it.”

Unsure of how to respond, Lena looks at her. “When was the last time?”

Nia sighs. “Prom. I’d transitioned by then, and most people were used to me, but I didn’t have a date, and part of me just internalized it as a fixture of me not being girly enough, and not, you know, the fact I didn’t know how to talk to boys, let alone date them. I didn’t even know if it was worth it to go at all, and I just-- started crying, right there in the dress shop.”

“What happened then?” Lena asks gently.

Nia smiles fondly. “My mom. She just hugged me, and told me how proud she was to have such a beautiful, confident daughter. It was sort of embarrassing at the time, but… it was something I needed to hear, you know?”

She pauses then as the server returns with their champagne. Afte the woman dips out again, Lena nudges her. “And did you ever find a dress?”

Nia snorts, nodding. “Yeah. Like, two minutes after I calmed down I found my dream dress. And my friends and I had a blast at prom, so I’m glad I went after all.”

“Good,” Lena murmurs, sipping her drink. “Well, I can’t promise anything about a dream dress, but I’ll call it a win if we get out of here without any tears.”

“Cheers to that,” Nia concurs, lifting her own glass for a deep sip.

In that moment, Charnelle returns, wheeling a short cart of long dresses along with her.

“All right, ladies-- who’s ready to see some gowns?”

---

Nia settles on a bias-cut gown of sky blue, accented with beaded embroidery at the bust and straps. It may not have qualified for dream status, but it’s perfect for the Globes, and Lena can tell Nia is excited by the time they step back out onto the street, garment bag draped over her arm.

“Thank you, again,” Nia offers, hiking her purse higher on her shoulder. “You really didn’t have to do all this, especially with how weird things are right now. I know it probably wasn’t easy to say yes when I called last night.”

Lena blinks. It honestly hadn’t occurred to her to say no. “Nia?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you call me?” It’s her turn now to shift uncomfortably on her feet. “I’m always happy to help, but… as you say, things are weird. Why me?”

“Honestly?” Nia asks. Lena nods. “You remind me of my mom. I can’t begin to tell you how or why, but you do. And the thing is… my mom was probably the kindest person I’ve ever known. So-- if you reminded me of her, I figured you were a pretty safe bet. And the worst you could do was hang up on me, so…”

Right.

Lena nods, her throat locking painfully around a sudden lump in her throat. Forcing a smile, she clears her throat. “Okay. Well… I’m glad I was able to help. Are you okay to get home?”

Nia nods easily. “Yeah, I’ll just catch the bus. Thank you again. This was really nice, and it was really good to see you.”

Lena nods, but before she can turn away, Nia catches her by the wrist.

“I mean it, Lena. I owe you one. If you ever need anything…”

Lena turns her wrist, allowing her hand to settle into Nia’s palm. Giving it a squeeze, Lena offers her a smile.

“I know who to call.”

// prompts are closed

[eveningsinlondontearsmeapart]

Alive

Type: One-Shot | Imagine about Shawn Mendes Word Count: 4240 Rating: PG  Want more? Then let me know Enjoy!

I pulled my hair back into a messy bun. I grabbed my bag and left my house, getting in the car with my best friends. It was our last summer night before going back to school the next day. Sometimes I just wanted to be done with high school but unfortunately, I had two more years. It didn't matter today all that matter was to have fun, enjoy the last day of summer break. We finally pulled up to the beach house, where the bonfire was already going. Everyone from our school was there.

“My parents are going to kill me,” Britney said.

“I'm sure they won't” I smiled as I got out of the car.

“They never do” she smirked as she got out of the car.

“Come on we have to make our entrance,” Luna said as she linked her arm with mine.

“Of course,” I said as I walked with her.

We walked down towards the beach as Britney finally caught up. I grabbed her hand as we made it to where everyone was at. Tyler came up to us and I was already annoyed, let's just say he's the annoying fly that no one wants around. I can't believe I dated him but I guess we all have to learn what we want.

“Hey Luna, Brit,” Tyler said.

“Hey Ty,” Luna said.

“Hey Ella,” Tyler said as he grabbed my hand.

“Go get me a drink please” I smiled slightly as I pulled my hand away from his.

“Of course” he nodded and went to go get drinks.

He finally came back with drinks, I took my drink kissed his cheek softly before walking away. We were always best friends but he didn't take the break up well. I knew it would take him time to become my best friend again. I just didn't want to hear how he wanted us to be together. I sat down on the log in front of the fire, as Britney came and sat next to me.

“Last night as sophomores and tomorrow we start our junior year,” She said as she put her cup near mine.

“Yea finally juniors” I smiled as I touched my cup to hers.

“Who is the new guy?” Luna asked as she sat down next to Britney.

“What new guy?” I questioned.

“The one sitting over there” Luna nodded towards him.

I turned my attention to where he was sitting. I had no idea who he was nor have I ever seen him before. He looked up from his cup and our eyes meet. I looked away quickly so it wouldn't look like I was staring. I look back towards where he was sitting and he was gone.

“That was awkward” I rolled my eyes and took a sip from my cup.

“He was starring at you,” Britney said.

“Was he?” I asked.

“Yea but he's totally hot,” Luna said as she smiled.

“But why would he be staring at me, that's kinda creepy,” I said.

“I guess, don't worry about it” Britney rolled her eyes.

“I won't,” I said as I got up.

I made my way into the house to get a refill on my drink. I went into the kitchen and poured some more drink in my cup. I just kept feeling as if someone was staring at me. I turned to see who but no one was there, I rolled my eyes and went back outside. I pulled my phone out while I was walking, I didn't realize someone was standing close to me. I walked right into them spilling my drink all over them.

“I'm sorry” I looked up and saw it was the new guy.

“It's ok,” he said as he looked at me.

“Come upstairs with me, I can help dry your shirt,” I said as I grabbed his arm.

I lead him upstairs to one of the rooms, closing the door behind us. He took off his jacket, laying it on the bed. He removed his shirt giving it to me. I just looked at him not realizing he was handing me the shirt. I was memorized by his perfect abs, his sexy v-line.

“Are you going to take this?” he asked as he broke the silence in the room.

“Oh, yea sorry” I snapped out of and grabbed his shirt.

“It's fine” he smirked.

I took his shirt and went into the laundry room. I threw it into the drier and made my way back to the room. He was sitting on the bed, I leaned against the door frame.

“I never caught your name,” I said.

“Sorry, I'm Shawn, you?” He asked as he looked at me.

“I'm Ella” I nodded slightly.

“It's nice to meet you Ella” he smiled.

“You two, so where did you come from? I mean where did you move from?” I asked.

“New York” he chuckled.

I fully entered the room closing the door behind me. I sat down next to him on the bed, facing him. I kept my hands on my knees as I looked at him. We started talking but it seemed like it was more about getting to know me than getting to know him. I didn't think much of it because I just thought he was shy and closed off. He brushed the hair from my face brushing his thumb against my cheek. I looked up at him as our eyes met, I never felt so close to someone. Yet I knew nothing about him. He leaned in slightly resting his forehead against mine, keeping his hand against my cheek. I could feel his breath against my lips. I wanted his touch, I wanted his kiss, I wanted him. I softly bite my lip as I looked at him, placing my hand against his chest. Our lips softly touched but then the buzzer went off from the drier. I pulled away as I was scared by the sound. He chuckled softly as he laid back on the bed, I went to go get his shirt. I came back into the room and handing him his shirt.

“I guess we should get back to the party,” I said.

“I guess so” he slipped his shirt over his head.

I made my way back downstairs, he wasn't too far behind me. He caught up with me taking my hand in his. I smiled as I laced our fingers together. He nodded towards the beach as I followed him. We went away from the group so that we were alone. We could see the bonfire but no one could notice us, our little private section of the beach.

“Nice ring,” I said as I held his hand up.

“Thank you,” he said as he looked at me.

“I've always loved here by the water,” I said.

“Why?” he asked as he took my hand in his.

“Peaceful with the waves crashing, it just melts everything for me,” I said.

“It is peaceful” he smiled slightly.

“Come on,” I said as I pulled him towards the water.

He ran after me picking me up taking me into the water. I pulled him under with me making sure he was going to get wet just as much as I was. He made it back to the surface before I did, I could feel him grabbing my arm. He pulled me up to the surface and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We tried to stay together as the waves crashed over us. A wave came over us and tore us apart, we both went under the surface.

“ELLA?” he yelled out as he returned to the surface.

It felt as if something was dragging me deeper into the water. I fought trying to get back up the surface, struggling as I could feel my lungs starting to give out. I closed my eyes and guess that I blacked out. I didn't even realize that Shawn had gotten to me and pulled me out of the water. He yelled for help as he stayed next to me, trying to get me to breathe.

“Come on,” he said as he started CPR.

“What happens?” Britney asked as she ran over.

“The waves tore us apart, something caught her,” Shawn said as he kept his focus on me.The party stopped as ambulances and police cars come. Everyone stood watching as I laid on the beach lifeless. I gasped for air and sat up. Confused and scared as I looked around me, I had no idea what was going on.

“Hey you're ok,” Shawn said as he kneels in front of me. “Focus on me” he placed his hand against my chin, lifting it gently.

“What happens?” I asked as I was transferred onto a stretcher.

“The waves pulled us apart,” he said as he followed me into the ambulance.

The paramedics checked me out in the ambulance, making sure I was ok. Checking my breathing and pulse, but they still decided to take me to the hospital. Shawn rode in the back with me as we made our way to the hospital. I was checked out by the emergency room doctors as Shawn waited in the waiting room. Once I was cleared I walked out not knowing if he was still waiting. 

“Hey are you ok?” he asked as he walked over to me.

“Yeah, I didn't know you were still here,” I said as I looked at him.

“Of course, let's get you home,” he said.

“Thank you,” I said as I followed him.

He had one of his friends pick us up from the hospital. I told them where I lived and his friend dropped us both off.

“Sorry I ruined the night,” I said.

“You didn't, just glad you are ok,” he said.

“Do you want to come in?” I asked.

“You should get some rest” he nodded slightly.

“See you tomorrow,” I said.

I made my way onto the porch, taking my keys out of my bag. I looked back and realize he was still standing there waiting for me to go into the house.

“Come inside please,” I said.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah” I nodded.

I finally opened the door and allowed him to enter my house. I made sure the door was locked before taking him upstairs. He sat down on my bed as I laid down, just looking at him. He took my hand in his as he looked at me, brushing his thumb against the back of my hand. We started talking again this time a little more about himself and his family. I soon started to drift off and didn't wake until morning. It was officially the first day of sophomore year and I didn't want to get out of bed. I was confused about where he was at because he was nowhere to be found, but I pushed that to the back of my mind. As I finished getting dressed I could hear the horn blowing outside, I knew it was Britney. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag as I made my way downstairs. I left my house and got into her car, we stopped to pick up Luna before getting to school. She parked the car and then we went inside, everyone had to go to the cafeteria so we could get our new schedules. I stood in line away from my friends since our last names had different letters, I started looking around for Shawn but there was no sign of him. I finally got my schedule and I was walking towards my locker. I bumped into someone as I was walking. I looked up and it was Shawn, I smiled slightly.

“Guess that's just how we meet each other,” I said.

“I guess, how are you?” He asked.

“I'm good, where did you run off to?” I questioned.

“Needed to get ready for the first day of school” he brushed the hair from my face. Brushing his thumb against my cheek.

“What's your schedule?” I looked at him.

He handed me his schedule and we pretty much had all the same classes, even had lunch together. I smiled as I showed him my schedule, but our lockers were far apart. Finally, Britney and Luna caught up with me but were surprised I was with the new guy.

“Who is your new friend?” Britney asked as she rolled her eyes.

“This is Shawn, Shawn this is Britney and that's Luna,” I said as I looked at him.

“Nice to meet you too” he nodded slightly.

“You too,” Luna said as she placed her hand against his shoulder. She pulled away from her hand fast as if she sensed something.

“We have a class to get too, see you later Ella?” Britney said as she looked at me.

“Yea of course” I nodded.

Britney and Luna walked away as Shawn and I walked in the other direction. We finally made it to our class and I took a seat in the back. Shawn followed and sat right next to me, I looked at him and smiled. He placed his hand on my knee as the teacher enter the room. I tried to focus on the class but Shawn was so distracting, just sitting there. We got our new books and a bunch of paperwork. After each class we would always go to my locker, I decided that we should share one since he was such out of the way. It was finally lunch and I knew I would finally get to see Britney and Luna. Our schedules were so different this year.

“Finally we get to see you,” Britney said as she placed her arm around mine.

“I know, sucks they separated us” I rolled my eyes.

“Luna needs to tell you something,” Britney said.

“Where is she?” I questioned.

“Getting food,” Britney said as we sat down.

Soon before I knew it Luna rushed to the table. Sitting next to me, taking my hand in hers. I started to get concerned about what she had to tell me.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

“It's about Shawn,” Luna said.

“What about him?” I questioned as I looked at her.

“It's hard to explain,” she said.

“Luna!” I said.

She was interpreted as Shawn sat down at our table. Things went quiet for a few seconds before I tried to break the silence but it was just awkward. I didn't want him feeling like it was his fault, he as the new guy. No one should feel left out or the black sheep of the school.

“I'm sorry for my friends, don't pay them any attention,” I said as I rolled my eyes.

“Ella we do need to talk,” Luna said.

“And we will when we leave school,” I said as I shot her a look.

Soon the bell dismissed lunch and we were on our way back to class. I distance myself from the crowd as I just wanted to be alone for a second. The rest of the day I couldn't figure out what Luna wanted to say. Clearly, it was about Shawn but I had no clue what, he was new to town so what could it be? The final bell rang and I made my way to my locker, getting everything I needed to take home. I left the building making my way to the parking lot, to see that Britney and Luna already left.

“Of course they left” I sighed.

“Who?” Shawn asked as he came up behind me.

“Britney and Luna” I rolled my eyes.

“Why?” he asked.

“I have no idea why they have been acting weird all day,” I said.

“Because of me,” he said.

“I have no idea why,” I said as I looked at him.

“You want me to walk with you?” he asked.

“It would be nice” I nodded slightly.

He took my book bag from my arm and carried it. We started walking from the school towards my house, thankfully I didn't live too far from the school. Far enough to make you wish that you were driving because by the time we arrived I was tired. I once again invited him inside. We went straight to my room but to my surprise, Luna was sitting on the bed.

“Luna?” I asked.

“Hey,” she said.

“I'll catch you later?” Shawn asked.

“Sure” I nodded as I watch him leave.

“Why are you hanging out with him?” Luna asked as she heard the door shut.

“He's nice and he saved my life,” I said as I sat down on the bed.

“He's bad news,” she said.

“What do you mean?” I asked as I looked at her.

“He's just bad news, you need to stay away from him,” Luna said.

“Why are you saying this? Did something happen?” I questioned.

“Just trust me,” she said.

“I like him and I want to get to know more about him. I'm sorry Luna but I guess I have to learn for myself” I said.

“I can't tell you why but please be careful,” she said as she got up.

“Why can't you tell me?” I asked.

“Its a world you wouldn't believe,” she said.

“Ok,” I said as I started getting confused.

“Be careful” she said.

“I will” I nodded slightly as she left.

I pulled my laptop out and the paperwork I needed to fill out. I finally finished the paperwork and started roaming on my laptop. I couldn't shake what Luna was saying but she didn't give me much to go on. What did she mean about a different world? What was Shawn? I started searching the supernatural and I got lost in all the legends and myths. I shut my computer down as I didn't believe anything. I made my way downstairs to get my mom to sign the paperwork and get something to eat. Unfortunately, all I found was a note and some money for dinner, it was nothing new around here. I decided to call Shawn to see if he wanted to go get something to eat. We met up at the local restaurant that everyone would go to. We sat at a table and ordered.

“I'm sorry about earlier,” I said.

“Don't worry about it” he nodded slightly.

“They will come around, I'm sure of it,” I said.

“It's ok,” he said as he looked at me.

“I like you” I smiled slightly.

We finished dinner and he paid for it. I got up and made my way over to the pool table. He disappeared in the crowd as I looked around for him.

“Looking for someone?” Tyler said as he made his way over to me.

“I guess not” I sighed.

“The new guy right?” Ty asked.

“Yea” I nodded.

“Its Shawn” Shawn said as he made his way over to us.

“Of course,” Tyler said as he rolled his eyes and walked away.

“I didn't see you,” I said.

“Bathroom” he nodded. “You want to play?” He asked.

“Sure but I don't know how,” I said.

“I can show you” he smirked slightly.

I grabbed the pool stick as he got behind me. He placed his hand against my hip as he guided my hand. I could feel his breath against my neck as I leaned back slightly against him. He pulled me closer as he felt my heart rate picking up. Moving my hair from my neck, moving his lips against my neck. I placed my hand on the back of his neck as I kept him close. He turned my body to face him, placing his hand against my cheek. Brushing his thumb against my skin before leaning closer to me. Placing his lips against mine kissing me softly, I wrapped my arms around his neck keeping the kiss. He picked me up placing me on the pool table, moving between my legs. I smiled against his lips as I held him close to me, he rested his forehead against mine.

“I've wanted to do that since last night” he whispered.

“What's holding you back?” I asked.

“I don't know,” he said as he placed his hands against my hips.

“Are we playing?” I asked.

“No” he smiled as he placed his lips against mine.

“You are in public, get a room,” Tyler said.

“Sorry,” I said as I pulled away from Shawn.

“Let's go,” Shawn said as he grabbed my hand.

“Ella?” Luna said as she crossed her arms.

“I told you, ill figure it out on my own. Why won't you say it in front of him?” I crossed my arms.

“What?” Shawn asked as he placed his arm around my shoulder.

“I know what you are,” Luna said.

“A high school student?” Shawn chuckled slightly.

“I'll expose you,” Luna said.

“Then you will also be exposing yourself, sweetheart,” he said.

“You will fall,” Luna said as she left.

“I need to go to the bathroom, I'll be back,” I said as I walked away.

Shawn went after Luna and stopped her in her car. Grabbing her arm pushing her to her car.

“Tell her and I'll make your life hell” he whispered in her ear.

“She needs to know before she gets hurt,” Luna said.

“It's not your place, so let me make myself clear” he placed her hand against her neck. “keep quiet, or next time I see you, you won't be breathing,” he said as he tightens his grip.

“Shawn?” I asked as I came outside.

“I'm right here,” he said as he walked over to me.

“You were trying to talk to Luna?” I asked.

“Yea, she now understands who I am,” he said.

“Good, see you later Luna,” I said as I walked with Shawn.

We made our way back to my house. We went to the backyard with a few blankets. Laying down staring at the stars, I rested my head against his chest. He traced patterns against my back as we watched the stars. I started drifting off as he held me close. Falling asleep against his chest, he picked me up and took me inside. Laying me down in my bed, covering me up with the blankets. Kissing my forehead softly, I grabbed his arm pulling him into bed with me. He smiled slightly as he laid down next to me allowing me to snuggle into his chest. My phone was going crazy with text messages but I left it in my bag so I didn't know. They were all from Luna trying to get me away from Shawn but little did we know she was actually in trouble.

“Let me go!” Luna said.

“Then what's the fun in that” someone said.

“What do you want?” Luna asked.

“You to keep your mouth shut,” he said.

“Shawn?” Luna said.

“Try again sweetheart, I'm your worst nightmare,” he said.

“Who are you?” she questioned.

“I'm Jackson” he whispered in her ear.

“Let me go,” Luna said.

“I will because you will be a good use for me,” he said as he moved from her.

“What?” she asked.

“Run,” Jackson said.

Luna ran away from him, and she didn't stop until she made it to her house. Rushing inside making sure the doors and windows were locked. Making her way upstairs and locking herself in her room. She kept trying to call and text me but she soon fell asleep. In the morning I woke up against Shawn's chest as he was still asleep

“Morning,” I said as I kissed his cheek.

“Morning” he groaned as he placed the pillow over his face.

“It's not that bad,” I said as I sat up.

“No I get to wake up next to you,” he said as he pulled me towards him.

Kissing me softly before getting out of bed. I smiled as I watched him. I heard my mom downstairs so I made him go out the window. It was easy to get down because I've done it multiple times. I jumped into the shower and had a quick shower before getting ready. I finally got to my phone and saw all the messages. I was speechless with what I was ready, and who was Jackson? Shawn finally made it back to his house and he was faced with a little surprise. His twin brother Jackson was standing in the living room.

[dxrkvibez]

⎡More Than Anything⎦ A Tommy x Susan Imagine

Requested: Yes

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol

Word Count: 1276

“Here you go.” Susan said as she slipped off her boyfriends red Cobra Kai jacket and handed it back to him. They had been going out for a little while now. Mainly casual things like going to a movie, or going to Golf n Stuff. Today was the first place that they had actually gone somewhere nice. The two had made their relationship official, right before school got out their junior year. Today marked three months since that had happened, so, they wanted to make it special. Tommy had reserved a table at a nice restaurant, and they had both gotten presents for eachother.

“Thanks.” Tommy said with a smirk, as he grabbed the jacket and slung it over his shoulder. He had just walked her up to her door. But neither of them wanted to leave eachother, not yet at least. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Susan said after a bit. “Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?” “It’s Ali’s birthday remember? We’re all getting together. And maybe you and me can sneak off and have some… alone time.” She said. Crawling her fingers up from his shoulder to his hair.

The boy couldn’t help the grin that appeared on his face. “Yeah. Sounds good to me.” He said, leaning in and gently placing a kiss on her lips. She smiled, leaning up to kiss him back before they both pulled away. “See you.” Susan said, as she turned and opened the door to her house, waving before she closed it and went inside. Tommy waved back before going and getting on his motorcycle and driving home.

————————————————————-

It wasn’t long before the news that Johnny Lawrence and Ali Mills, the most popular couple at school, had broken up. No one, except the people closest to them, understood why. They had been dating for two years, their relationship seemed perfect. On the outside, at least.

“It’ll get better, man.” Bobby said as he placed a hand on his drunk friends shoulder. Ever since the break up, Johnny had been a mess. He felt like he had tried everything to try and get her attention, and none of it seemed to work.

Dutch laughed. “No it won’t. You had the perfect girl. And you ruined it. It sucks. Get over it.” He said. Johnny stood up and raised his fist, before Tommy and Bobby quickly stepped between the two before anything happened. “Seriously?” Tommy said in an annoyed tone, glaring over at Dutch. The other teenager just shrugged it off.

They all pulled away from eachother, Tommy pulling a few of them to the side to talk to them separately. “I hate to do this to you guys,” Tommy whispered to Jimmy and Bobby, referring to leaving them alone with a very drunk Johnny. “But I told Susan I’d meet up with her today. We’re gonna just spend time together, before we have to go back to school.”

“Sounds like somebody’s got a hot date.” Jimmy said as he lightly elbowed his friend in the side. Tommy rolled his eyes and looked down, hiding the obvious blush on his face. “Yeah. Whatever. I’m just gonna go, ok?”

“Alright.” “Have fun.” Was all he got in response from his two friends, before they turned back to take care of Johnny.

—————————————————————

Tommy knocked on the front door to Susan’s house. To his surprise, Ali answered the door.

“Oh hey, uh, what are you doing here? I was supposed to pick Susan up so we could go out.” Tommy said. Stuttering a little through his words. Ali and Tommy used to be really good friends. Neither would admit it, but both of them also really liked eachother. But then, Johnny had asked her out and the rest was history. The two hadn’t talked much since then, so standing there together was just a little bit awkward.

“Oh yeah. Sorry. We were just hanging out, Y’know? She’s getting ready right now though.” Ali explained. She stared down at her hands, where her fingers were nervously smoothing out her shirt, instead of looking at the boy in front of her.

“Do you want to come inside and wait for her? Ali said, hearing a ‘yes’ from Tommy, they both stepped inside. Tommy closing the door behind him.

Normally, like when they first knew eachother, Tommy would’ve been just as nervous. But ever since he had joined Cobra Kai, the karate dojo that him and his friends trained at, he had become a much different, much more confident person.

He leaned against the door and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s fine. It gives us some time to talk doesn’t it?” He said. He was being flirty in anyway, he just legitimately wanted to talk to her.

“Yeah. I guess it does. How’s, uh… how’s Johnny doing?” Ali said. She still hadn’t looked up yet. She didn’t understand why, but being around him again made her more nervous then it should have.

Tommy inwardly debated with himself. Should be tell Ali the truth? Then, Johnny’s reputation would be ruined. And so would his, since he was one of Johnny’s best friends. But, if he lies, it’ll make Johnny seem like a jerk. It’ll make it seem like he never truly cared about Ali, because he was just fine after they broke up.

“Johnny? Oh yeah Johnnys alright. Still a little upset about what happened with you, but he kinda deserved it.” Tommy said slowly.

Ali finally looked up, tears were falling down her cheeks. Despite being the one that broke things off, it still really hurt her. Tommy, forgetting any sense of trying to look cool, pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry. I know how he can be sometimes. I get why you did it. It’s okay.” He said

“What do you think your doing?” Came a voice from behind them, that made both of them snap their heads up at the same. It was Susan.

Ali quickly pulled away. It wasn’t like they were doing anything wrong. But it was Tommy’s current girlfriend standing in front of them, who knew that they used to like eachother. “I’m gonna go.” Ali said before slowly walking off.

“That wasn’t anything, Susan, I promise.” He said. His voice sounded hurt. Almost regretful. Why? He didn’t know. He shouldn’t feel guilty about hugging one of his former friends. But he did. “Save it. I don’t wanna hear it. Not if it’s just gonna be excuses.”

“It’s not. Please just let me expl-“ tommy said but was cut off before he even had time to finish.

“You still have feelings for her, don’t you?”

“No! Why would you think that?!”

“Because! That’s how it’s felt all along! I was just her best friend, so you used me to get to her!”

“What?! That’s not true at all! I love you Susan and I’ve tried to show you that! Your the first person I’ve ever truly felt like this with okay?! So don’t go and say that I’ve only been using you this whole time!”

There was a silence in the room. It was only a few seconds, but it felt like it lasted for hours. “You… what?” Susan said quietly. She took a step closer to him as he sighed. “I love you Susan. So much. More then anything.” He said. He stepped towards her, and lightly placed his hands on her shoulders.

“I love you too, Tommy. So much.” She said. Kissing his cheek before leaning her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her fully, and they stood there for the next little while. Just enjoying each other’s company.

[purplesurveys]

815

At what time of day do you normally feel the best? I love the evening the most. I get to have my coffee, it’s quieter around the house, and it also gets a little bit colder so it’s more fun to hang around by then. Do you normally have to hem pants? I’ve never had to do that before. If I need my pants fixed, I usually ask my lola to do it since she’s good at that kind of stuff. Name one reason why someone should not commit suicide. I can’t speak for other people, but I personally stay because I don’t want to leave Kimi behind and because I’ve seen countless mini-documentaries of parents who were left devastated by their kids taking their own lives. What would you do if you had no one to love and support you? That sounds so fucking bleak. I imagine bringing myself to therapy so I can learn how to deal with such a situation, and so that I at least have one person to talk to. If you didn't have love and support, would you feel life was worth living? No. But that’s why I imagine I’d be going to therapy, so my mind can be changed.

If you had no family nor friends nor money, would you feel life's worth living? These questions are so stressful to mull over and a tad bit triggering lmao, can I pass at this point? If you're unhappy, what would it take to make you fulfilled? Depends on what I need, which differs every time. Sometimes I’d wanna be alone, other times I’d want to be with other people, other times I’d need to drive and take longer routes than usual, or to binge YouTube videos, or a good nap...it’s always different. What was the last thing that upset your stomach? The meds I had to take for my UTI. Feeling poopy was one of its side effects, so even though it didn’t upset my stomach per se I did have to have several trips to the bathroom then. Do you have to go the pharmacy a lot? No, only when something’s wrong with me which doesn’t happen too often. Are you sunburned? I haven’t been sunburned since I was like 10. The tendency just suddenly stopped at some point. Do you wish someone loved you? I have a lot of people who already do, fortunately. Do you call yourself stupid often? Like every other hour lmao. What's a song you love? From Eden - Hozier. Do you miss anyone who was mean to you? Not to my knowledge. I’m glad they aren’t in my life today. Name someone you know who is a cancer survivor. One of my former Filipino teachers in high school. Are you friends with any cancer survivors? I don’t think that I am. Does God often answer your prayers? How was your day today (or yesterday, if it's morning)? It was average. Nothing out of the ordinary happened today but I did like the fact that my parents still left the living room aircon on for most of the day even though summer’s over and the weather’s already begun to be a little colder. Do you wish the sunrise and sunset lasted longer? Not really? I’m fine with the ones we’ve got lol. Would you want to relive your childhood again? Fuck no. It had some nostalgic bits, like the shows I used to watch or me playing outside, but it was far too traumatic for me to miss it as a whole. I’m happy being a grownup.

Were your college years the best years of your life? Not fully. My time in college only peaked by the second half, so it wasn’t all that great. Junior and senior year were very fun and eye-opening, though. Would you rather re-live high school or college? Ooh that’s quite a pickle...both periods had their highs. High school was a lot easier (academically), it was a time when I could fuck up and it was okay, and I found my first group of friends. College was a time of independence, a lot of growing up to do, and I also found my second group of friends. As miserable as I was during my freshman year, I ultimately have to go with college because I hated most of the people in my high school anyway and because I really loved the independence I gained in college, from being able to drive on my own and managing stuff on my own time to being free to choose my class schedule. And also, duh, I passed my dream school? I’d relive my years in UP in a heartbeat. What is the dumbest sports-team mascot you've heard of? Not really familiar with sports mascots to begin with. Are you a sports fan? Err, not really. I’m a pro wrestling fan, but it’s not 100% a sport. Where do you feel like you fit in the most? In my college and in my org. I’m sad that I only get four years with them – three when it comes to my org. Do you hate social classes? Yes. Do you think talent should have anything to do with social class? What? I have no clue what this question is insinuating but lmao of course not. I know some crazy talented people who wouldn’t be considered rich, and I know some bland-ass wealthy people who can’t do anything impressive at all. Name a country who's history you know nothing about. Australia. Name a religion you know nothing or very little about. Zoroastrianism. I only remember the founder. Don't you hate know-it-alls? I hate when they start getting conceited. What is your favorite store at the mall? I love visiting Fully Booked every chance I get. When was the last time you went to the mall? That would be when I had my eye checked last early March, because the clinic I visited was inside the mall. Aside from doing that, I also had late lunch at Marugame Udon which apparently would be the last time I’d have their food for a while, unbeknownst to me :( Do you have a bed or do you sleep on a mattress on the floor? I have a bed. When was the last time you went for a run? LOL never. Have you ever tried hard drugs? No. Which school subject did you hate the most? Back in high school I really hated the advanced math and science classes e.g. chemistry, physics, calculus, trig. In college, I found myself hating philosophy and economics the most. What was the last thing you wore from Aeropostale? I don’t think I ever wore anything from them. Which devotional do you read? I don’t read those. Do you appreciate classic literature? I appreciate and recognize their impact, but I don’t like reading them.

What is something you find strange? People who keep pushing for the All Lives Matter narrative. Cringe. Do you like your natural hair color? Sure. I’ve never actively complained about it, that’s for sure. Would you rather get a pixie cut or get dreadlocks? Pixie cut, because I’m pretty sure getting dreadlocks as a Filipino is a form of cultural appropriation? Would you rather dye your hair or get a perm? Dye it.

Do you keep Christmas lights up year-round? No, we don’t. Have you ever started a new trend? Just me? Lmao no. Do you have any artwork of yours from high school? I definitely don’t. Whenever a teacher would give our artworks back, I crumpled it up as soon as I got it and would throw it away. I just simply rejected all of my attempts to be creative lol. What did you win a scholarship for? I’ve never gotten one. But my university did start implementing free tuition for all undergrads starting in 2017 when I was a sophomore, so it’s kinda like the same thing. Did your college meet your expectations? Yes, and more. UP taught me far more than classroom lessons as it opened my eyes to the more important societal issues happening outside of school. It made me recognize our farmers who never earn the income they deserve; the factory workers stuck in poor working conditions; the jeepney drivers whose work is never respected; the millions of working class Filipinos who simply deserve better;  and the government that is more corrupt than I thought. My college on the other hand taught me to be fearless and to never hesitate to search for, report, and defend the truth, and to disseminate just that to the masses. Bottomline is that words can’t even begin to describe how grateful I am to have studied there and I will always be very much in love with my school. What was the best thing about college? The best thing about mine, at least, was the throng of life lessons and eye-opening realizations it gave me. Each of them has been more valuable than any lesson I learned in the classroom. UP taught me that there were a thousand other issues far more important than problems I face in my own privileged bubble, but that I can help facilitate change if I wanted to. How old were you ten years ago? 12. Easily the worst age I’ve been in. What's the best piece of advice you can give someone ten years younger? Stay. It’ll get better. Not instantly, but it does get better. Do you feel like you are old enough and experienced enough to give advice? I think anyone’s fit to give advice no matter how old they are. Even kids can be quite insightful. The differences just lie on the topics people give advice on. How old were you when you started to feel mature and experienced? 17, after I had a series of shitty stuff happen to me at one point in 2015. When I got past those, I could tell I wasn’t the same person that I was, like, two months back. Were your 20's hell? I’m only in my second year lmao, can you get back to me in eight years? What type of bug do you see the most often in your home? We don’t get a lot of bugs at home, fortunately. We have tons of ants though. Do you put off things until the last minute? If I’m not passionate about the task, yes. Do you have the air conditioning on right now? Nope, just the fan. Is your mom the same size as you? She’s slim but she’s still ever so slightly a bit larger. We can technically share clothes but some of them would still look loose on me.

Does camping appeal to you? I have moods where it does and moods where it doesn’t lol. What color is your sleeping bag? I don’t have one. How often do you pray? Do you surrender to Christ daily? When was the last time you went to church? Do you know any Christians who aren't judgmental? Only a handful, and it’s usually people in my age group. Most of the others suck, and I can say this because I’ve had coooooooountless personal experiences with rude, hypocritical, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic Christians and Catholics. Do you believe there are any good people in the world? Of course. What's one thing you are scared of? Flying cockroaches.

[flowerfan2]

Bound To Be Together - Ch. 20

McDanno, M, A03 A continuous story of Season 9 codas exploring the bond between Steve and Danny as they grow even closer.

Chapter 20 (9x20)

Danny wakes up slowly, his body reluctant to get up and face the day.  As has become his habit, he carefully tests his muscles to figure out if there’s anything that’s going to give him a problem when he tries to get out of bed – it’s a hazard when you spend so many days chasing after bad guys.

But the case of the community .38 was more a mental challenge than a physical one, and except for a familiar twinge in his knee, he doesn’t discover anything out of the ordinary.

The bed shifts and Steve flops over, spooning up against Danny’s back and slinging a heavy arm over his side.  He had come over late last night after his trip to California with Duke, making himself at home in Danny’s bed as if he belonged there – which, as far as Danny is concerned, he does.

Steve presses his palm flat against Danny’s bare chest, and snuffles adorably against the back of his neck.

“Good morning to you, too,” Danny mumbles, wiggling a little to get comfortable in Steve’s embrace. He drifts back into sleep, enjoying the feeling of having Steve all around him, sleep warm and relaxed.

Some time later Danny wakes to the smell of coffee.  He gets up reluctantly, pulling on a pair of shorts, and meets Steve in the kitchen. Disappointingly, Steve is fully dressed, and he gives Danny a wide eyed look of apology.

“I promised Junior I’d go to the range with him this morning, and then I’ve got a meeting at the base.”

“It’s okay,” Danny says. He coaches Charlie’s Little League team today anyway, and he’s got about a thousand errands to run after that.

“You’re free tonight, right?”

As if he’d have any plans on Saturday night other than hanging out with Steve.  “I can probably clear my calendar.”

“Good.  I’ll pick you up at six.”  Steve grins confidently at Danny, and gives him a slap on the ass as he brushes past on his way out the door.  Cocky bastard.

Danny’s at the grocery store later that afternoon when Steve texts him.

<i>It’ll be more like six-thirty.</i>

<i>Okay, that’s fine.</i>  It’ll give him time to get ready, Danny thinks.  He’s still in the t-shirt he wore to Charlie’s game, which may or may not have shave ice dripped on it from taking him out to eat afterwards.  <i>Where are we going?</i>

<i>That’s need to know.</i>

Danny shakes his head. <i>I do need to know, so I can dress appropriately.</i>

<i>No ties. Casual.</i>

Danny has learned from experience that the two of them have very different definitions of the word “casual.”  <i>Business casual or beach bum casual?</i>

His phone rings, and Danny picks up.  “What? It’s a reasonable question.”

“It doesn’t matter what you wear, Danny, just be ready at six-thirty.”

He loves Steve’s mildly exasperated tone.  “Steve, come on, I can’t afford to ruin another pair of dress shoes, not on the salary you pay me.”

Steve huffs at him. “I don’t set your salary, Danny, we’ve been over this.  Just wear whatever you’ve got on right now.”

“A stained t-shirt and sneakers?”

“Yes, perfect.”

“You’re an animal, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told.”

By the time Steve picks him up, Danny has showered and changed into a clean black t-shirt, but he sticks with shorts and sneakers.  He suspects Steve is going to take him to one of his secret favorite places – he still manages to present Danny with new ones, despite how long they’ve known each other – and those tend to fall squarely in the beach casual zone, although often with hiking thrown in too.

His suspicions are confirmed when they drive up to the north shore, although he loses track of exactly where they’re going as Steve fills him in on his trip the day before with Duke.

“It was a little scary, seeing Duke standing over the guy, ready to fire another shot.  I guess he had a lot of pent-up anger over what happened to his partner all those years ago.  Said he hadn’t really talked to anyone about it.”

“Gee, maybe talking about stuff isn’t such a bad idea?”

Steve glares at Danny. “That’s what I’m doing, isn’t it?”

“So how do you feel about yesterday’s adventure?”

“It wasn’t so much what happened yesterday, as…”  Steve keeps his eyes firmly on the road as he speaks.  “Made me remember that night with my dad, when I was a kid, and he went out.”

Danny feels a lump in his throat.  He puts a hand on Steve’s leg.  “It’s okay to miss him.”

Steve glances over to Danny. “I know.  It’s… it’s more than that, though.  I guess it kinda made me feel close to him?  To finish off the case, and find that guy?”

“That makes sense. He’d be proud of you.”

Steve shrugs this off. “That’s not what I mean.”

Danny senses there is something he’s missing, which isn’t all that unusual when it comes to Steve and feelings.  He thinks back over what Steve told him about the night his dad responded to Duke’s call, and takes a chance.

“Maybe you understand why he had to go out that night, and, um, other times too?”

Steve nods almost imperceptibly.  He’s suddenly holding himself very still.

“Why he had to do a lot of things, to protect people,” Danny goes on.  “Even things that maybe didn’t go so well for you?”  Like sending Steve and his sister away from their home. Like putting an ocean of distance between a teenager and the only parent he had left.

They pull over to the side of the road, and Steve brakes just a tad too hard.  “I should have understood before.  I should have forgiven him.  He was trying to do the right thing.  He sacrificed, too.”

Danny gives Steve’s leg a squeeze.  “Kids aren’t often very good at that sort of stuff.  It doesn’t matter.  It’s not a dad’s job to need forgiveness.”

Steve seems to think about this for a minute, and then lets a long breath out on a sigh.  “Well, water under the bridge.”  He turns to Danny.  “Let’s go.”

Steve hefts a backpack onto his shoulder, and leads the way down a narrow path that eventually takes them to a deserted section of beach.  Steve continues on for a few more minutes, apparently searching for just the right spot, and finally stops under the shade of a cluster of palm trees and sets down his bag.

“This is beautiful,” Danny says, although it hardly needs to be said.  There’s a gentle curve to the shoreline, with waves breaking over the large rocks off to one side.  

Steve nods, letting a smile finally spread across his face.  “I thought you’d like it.”

Danny sits down on the plaid blanket Steve has spread over the sand, and examines the meal Steve has laid out.  Kalua pork, still warm and steaming when Steve pulls it out of an insulated container. Huli-huli chicken.  A dish of sweet potatoes – probably in place of poi, which neither Steve nor Danny like very much.  Two purple taro rolls wrapped in a colorful cloth, and a box of what Danny guesses are coco puffs.

When he meets Steve’s gaze, the serious look on his face surprises him.

“This should have been your welcome to the island, Danny,” Steve says.  “I’m sorry I wasn’t around when you got here, but you never should have been alone, scrounging for food at a convenience store.  Chasing a perp without your service weapon.  No wonder you didn’t like it here.”

Steve turns and digs around in his now almost empty backpack, and then turns back to Danny, a purple and white lei in his hands.  He kneels in front of Danny and places the flowers carefully over his head.

“Aloha, Danny. Welcome to Oahu.”

Danny feels tears gather in his eyes.  He touches the orchids and inhales their fresh scent.  “Thank you.”  His throat is tight, and he begs himself not to actually cry, although he realizes he’s fighting a losing battle as one tear slips down his cheek.

“Hey, don’t…” Steve wipes Danny’s face with his thumb.

“No, it’s okay, I’m just…” Danny can’t really finish his thought, but Steve seems to get it, and smiles softly at him.

“Okay.”  Steve leans in, one hand still cupping Danny’s cheek, and kisses him.  Danny opens his mouth, letting Steve in, even as his breath still hitches with emotion. Steve pulls him against his chest, and Danny immediately protests.

“Careful, don’t squash it.”

Steve grins.  “All right, fine.  We need to eat now anyway, before this gets cold.”

Danny agrees easily, glad for the chance to calm down.  But in between bites he can’t help touching the flowers on the lei, feeling the smoothness of the petals.  Steve sees him doing it, and from the expression on his face, he’s almost as affected as Danny is.

Later, when they’re lying together on the blanket, listening to the waves crash against the sand, Danny finally finds his words.  “Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

[wmucradio]

Q & A with Gabrielle Smith of Ó (formerly Eskimeaux)

On April 12th, I attended a show at the Black Cat featuring the band formerly known as Eskimeaux* as the opening act, followed by Why? It was the first time I had been able to see Gabrielle Smith and her gang perform live, so I was very excited. The show was incredible, and the band was very tight. Every pause or idiosyncratic beat was facilitated expertly by Felix and Gabrielle, followed by head nods and curtsies between Oliver and Jack. The band is a joy to watch live, as you can see and feel their chemistry in every song. The set included many of my personal favorites, along with a few previews of new material. Following their set, I met with Gabrielle for a “brief” interview that ended up lasting over an hour. I can only speak for myself when I say this, but our correspondence felt more like catching up with an old friend than it did an interview. Gabrielle Smith is honestly one of the most pleasant human beings I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I have transcribed questions from the interview below.

*Since this interview, the band has changed their name to Ó. This came to fruition following a confrontation with Inuk throat singer, Tanya Tagaq, in which she made clear that the term “Eskimo” is considered derogatory by much of the Inuit population.

 Q: What music did you grow up on?

A: When I was growing up my parents were really into Carol King, the Carpenters, and I grew up in choirs. So I was always performing, thinking about, and singing really weird hymns. A lot of Hallelujah and stuff like that. And my grandma is a pianist, so she would always play really good classical stuff.

Q: Was that when you started with music making? (Like when you were a kid, through choir, or did you do other things?)

A: Yeah, it was between that and I took violin lessons when I was growing up. But I didn’t really think of it as “making music.” I feel like when I was little I didn’t understand that choir, and orchestra, and Ace of Base were the same thing. There was this really big separation for me between musician, which I didn’t understand as being human, and the product. I sort of knew phonetically El-ton John and Ce-line Di-on, and Ace of Base. But didn’t understand that they were people until I was much older.

Q: Was it sort of like finding out that Santa Claus isn’t real?

A: It’s kind of the same thing. You’re like “Oh my god, someone made this. This is like art, I guess. Woah.”

Q: Are you still coping with that realization?

A: It’s kind of hard to. I feel like making music and doing this has made it clear that musicians are human beings. But I still didn’t connect some of my favorite ones. Like Why? for example. I was like “I could probably meet so-and-so if I networked this way.” Or “I bet this person through this person knows person X.”

Q: So it’s still kind of non-people with artists that you’re into?

A: Yeah. I mean, especially ones from my younger years.

Q: Did you have any specific female influences in your life when it comes to songwriting or even getting into instruments?

A: Yeah. Definitely Bjork was a huge one. Joanna Newsom. So amazing. So amazing. It’s unreasonable. I remember hearing her for the first time. There was this kid that went to a different high school. I thought he was so cool. He had a band, and wore scarves, and was very glam. He had “The Book of Right On” on his Myspace page, and I was like “What is this? I’ve never heard anything like this before. This is so amazing. It’s kind of annoying and it’s so brilliant. And the lyrics are so amazing. And I’ve never noticed lyrics before. And holy sh*t.” It was a huge realization. So, Joanna Newsom. Really big one. And probably Greta, from Frankie Cosmos.

Q: I was actually going to ask you about shaving your head. Because I know you’ve done it, she’s (Greta) done it, and so has Adrianne Lenker from Big Thief. I was wondering if it was significant in some way or if you all just did it?

A: So, I was on tour with Oliver’s project, Bellows, and Felix’s project, Told Slant, and The Hotelier. Pride Weekend happened and my friend Meghan shaved her head, and I was like “Wow. You look so hot and cool. I just think I need to know if I could do it.”

Q: Are you into any other art form? Because I know that you went to University of the Arts.

A: For like a second. I went for like a month. It was so bad. Not that the University of the Arts was bad, I was bad. I just felt like they… First of all, I wanted to go for animation. And they were like you could go for animation or you could go for film and we’ll give you a half scholarship. And I was like “okay, what’s the jig here?” And I never found out because I only stayed for a month. I basically got offered to go on a tour with this band, and then I said yes. And then I called my parents from Indiana. And I was like “I’ve been on tour for a week, and I’m not in school. So…”

Q: How did they take that?

A: They were really pissed, obviously.

Q: When did they finally come around- Have they come around?

A: They’ve come around. They came around. I mean, my parents have always been really supportive. But they really, really, came around after Frankie Cosmos played at the MOMA. That was the moment, they were like “Oh, this is cool.”

Q: Was it a hard decision for you?

A: I didn’t like it at all. I was miserable. We were just watching Westerns, and it’s so unreasonable. There were kids in my class that had turtlenecks and low pony tails. It was like the black turtleneck with the round glasses, the low pony tail, and the beret was what really pushed it over the edge for me. You can do anything you want. You can dress that way and it’s totally fine! I just think that sitting in a class talking about which Western is the best in the summer, while wearing those things. And that being said, it was really air-conditioned, so I kinda wished I was wearing it too. But I didn’t give in. My point is that these kids just took themselves really seriously. And I feel that the point of art school is that you’re supposed to unlearn everything you know so that these professors can say “this is how you do it. This is what art school is all about. This is the technique you never knew. If you don’t allow us to fully give you what we know, you’ll just waste your money here.” But these kids were like “my name is Remington.” I don’t know how else to explain it. It was just a vibe that I got. The kids were just super like “I was the weird kid in my town in New Jersey.” That’s also fine. I don’t know, I feel really stuck-up saying all this, but. My priorities were just elsewhere. I also think I wasn’t ready to go to college, realistically.

Q: Were you trained on the instruments that you play now, or were you self-taught?

A: I took piano lessons very minimally from my grandma. It was nice, except I was an asshole. She was teaching me about all these important things like scales and I was super not interested in what she had to say. I was like “Piano sucks.” It’s super overwhelming. It looks like nothing, so it’s just really weird. But lo and behold, I play keyboard in Oliver’s band. Well, I play synth. It’s more like pushing a button and turning the knob. I do know the chords!

Q: How was growing up in New York? Did you feel like you had a normal childhood?

A: I think so. My parents work so hard. My dad is a lawyer. And my mom’s had a bunch of different jobs, but they’ve always in the finance department of whatever thing she’s doing. Right now, she works at this humongous insurance company. I think they insure business, so like malpractice insurance. I only know this because I worked there for a little while, and they gave me this really fancy title. I was a “Junior Financial Analyst.” However, I was scanning W-9 forms and digitizing their clientele. I was basically a scanner.

Q: It’s fine. I just gave myself a job. My sister has this madrigal group so I made myself their “administrator.” But now I’ve actually started to do things!

A: What are you doing?

Q: I’m booking a gig for them! It’s crazy.

A: Wow, a madrigal choir. That’s so cool. I love that.

Q: My sister’s all about renaissance music. I’ll be listening to my music in the car and she’ll just be like “can I put on my recital repertoire?” and I’ll be like “Oh my god, okay fine.” And it just completely ruins my day, but it’s fine. She’s actually really good, so I don’t mind. But I don’t really like other people’s voices.

A: There was one day where for a few minutes we listened to Gregorian chants. And it was so amazing. Jack is really into this mash-up artist named Neil Cicierega. He just came out with a new record Mouth Moods. So, you should totally check it out.

Q: Is it what it sounds like it’s going to be?

A: Yeah. Well, he’s really about All Star by Smash Mouth.

Q: Why is everyone all about that song?

A: It’s just what it is.

Q: SO confusing.

A: It’s just the most amazingly horrific pump-up jam. You’re just like “yeah, I think I can do whatever I set out to do today.” So one day, this guy, Neil Cicierega, decided to mash up the YMCA to the Inception soundtrack. It’s really moving and really emotional. So we’ve been pranked a lot with that. You should just listen to it. It’s bad to describe it. You should listen to it even though you shouldn’t.

Q: I understand. Back to All-Star, the radio station played All-Star for 24 hours straight once.

A: That’s like two- two stories about that. One day, we tried to listen to Build This Pool by Blink-182. We tried to take the 45 minute challenge. We made it like 10 minutes I would say, but we had to stop. The other story is that I used to go to this camp, called Camp Lohikan. It was on the New York/Pennsylvania border. It was a really shi*ty camp. But the camp owner thought it would be really funny to play Hero by Enrique Iglesias for a full day over the loud speaker for the entire day of camp. So I forever know all the words to that song. We tried to cover Hero actually. We learned it one time, but forgot it since. So, we’ll have to learn it again!

Q: If you weren’t doing music what would be doing? What would your dream job be? Because I’m assuming this is your dream job.

A: It is my dream job, definitely. Well, I have this back-up plan. Which requires a lot of money. So it’s not really a good Plan B. But my friend and I are super passionate about animals. She works at the ACCT in Philadelphia. It’s a kill shelter, but her job is getting animals to rescue. So she calls rescues all day to promote animals that are ready to be adopted. She’s very cool. We have this pipe dream to have an animal sanctuary. And there was a moment this year, I guess it was last year, where I was just feeling super down on everything. I was like “What the f*ck am I doing? Why am I doing this? What does this mean? This is super weird. Well, you know. This is such a weird job. And it’s based on validation which doesn’t always come. Or like when you’re not on an album cycle, what are you doing? You’re just living your life and it’s weird. And I grew up in a choir, so being like “listen to me” is a weird impulse that I don’t really possess naturally. So anyway, I was having this whole moment of crisis, and then I called up my friend. We were talking about it and saying “we could just have an animal sanctuary.” And she was like “There are a bunch of goats in my job right now. You should come down and pet the goats.” And I was like “I can’t come down, because if I pet the goats I’m going to take them home.”

We discussed the pros and cons of having a goat as a pet in New York City, but decided that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. However, according to Gabby, a goat would likely be one of the few animals that would understand her dog. She’s had her dog, Frankie, for 4 years. He’s a smallish pitbull-esque dog that a lot of their neighborhood kids are scared of. However, Gabby stated that he’s a very good “muffin.” We talked a little bit about the Chinese zodiac, along with the origin of the line “2011, the Year of the Rabbit.” (It was a “really good rhyme” that was incidentally true!) This led to a discussion about reading horoscopes and being a Taurus.

Q: What do you embody about a Taurus?

A: Well, we’re really stubborn. And we love food and money. And aren’t really good about either of those things. In that, because I have such a high standard for what food should be like, I’m really picky about quality. Though I’ve been trying to get better because obviously touring is a nightmare. It’s more of just like an “oh my god, this texture is disgusting” type of thing. I’m really weird about food. Like, I don’t like fruit. Yeah, none of it, it’s gross. I mean, I like lemons and limes.

We discussed the correctness of calling lemons and limes, “fruits.” Ultimately, we decided to be honest and call it what it is. They’re more along the lines of sauces and stuff to make lemonade with. Lemonade, according to Gabby, is just “sauce in a cup.” Back-up Plan C for Gabby may well end up being “Cup Sauce” lemonade. She’s even come up with the slogan: “Buy it. Do you like it?” A slogan that I immediately shot down and told her that she’d likely need to hire a better PR person. Gabby then brought up her stage banter during her set and said it’s not very good at selling. I, however, disagreed. Her understated and meek “thank you’s” perfectly compliment the direct tone in her songs.

She did tell the crowd earlier in the night that she was in a really bad mood. An issue that started earlier in the day with a looming phone call that she had already pushed back. The ride to DC was also stressing her out, and causing her to be angry and grumpy. (Something that I could never imagine!) She was able to turn it around though, and it ended up being totally fine. There were also some issues with the voltage of her second-hand Japanese amp. She was getting shocked during soundcheck but the sound guy helped her out with all the technical bullsh*t!

Q: Have you ever felt that you’ve had something to prove, because you are a female musician, to people who might know a lot about the technical stuff and things like that?

A: I think that I did when I was younger and first starting. I feel like I was really, really, adamant about being my own producer and recording everything myself. And whenever I enlisted the help of other people, it was as an arrangement kind of thing. I had a really big, well it wasn’t a really big deal, but I had this other bandmate who was a man. For a while, it was just the two of us. And a lot of times, people would come up to him, asking him questions. Or they’d be like “producer, Him, and songstress, Gabrielle Smith.” It was just like “Ew. F*ck. Uh, no.” So it took a lot to kind of re-write that. But, that being said, I am super, super, lucky. All of my friends have been supportive and treat me as an equal even though most of them are male. We all share secrets about songwriting with each other, and it’s this super reciprocally nice supportive process. So I’ve been in a bubble basically, for my whole coming up time. (She’s referring to her music collective here.) It’s been easy in that way, but I do think that people, even on this tour don’t assume- like, I work my own merch table, and a lot of times people are like “oh, is this the opening band? Are they good?” And they just assume that I’m not in the band. Most times, people generally know who we are before we get there. Yeah, it’s been really chill, to answer your question. I feel like it was harder when I was younger, but now I don’t really care, so I don’t think about it.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I feel like, usually all of my songs have already come out before we come out with an official record. So yeah, this time, we have a whole record written. I’ve written a couple more songs on this tour that I want to see if they’re better than some of the other songs. Because some of them are kind of like- they’re good, but they don’t make sense on the record.

Q: Is there a theme that they’re not fitting?

A: Well yeah. The record, I think, the overarching theme, is sort of the opposite of O.K. Where O.K. was very like “and this moment is this, and I’m in love with this person!” and “ this moment is this, and I like you.” And “this is how you’re affecting me in this moment.” It was very descriptive of external observation and how I was feeling about them. The new songs are a lot more internal, and more about trying really, really, hard to exist in the present and not being able to fully be there. It’s a lot more impressionistic. There’s more color rather than nature. It’s a lot more internal and hard to escape yourself kind of feeling.

Q: And this was around the time you were having your “goat moment”?

A: Oh yeah! So sick- I’m gonna call it that from now on.

Her hope is that the band will hit the studio after this tour and the next tour (w/ Frankie Cosmos). She’s hoping they’ll be done tracking the record by July, and that it’ll be done and ready to release by the Fall. She’s very excited about it. In a new song, there’s even a visual of a goat that is trying to stand on a moving truck bed, but is having a difficult time standing up. She was hoping they would play this new song on tour, but they couldn’t due to instrumentation needs.

Q: What’s your favorite part about coming to DC?

A: Well, usually. This is going to sound like a humble brag, but I’m really good buddies with Bob Boilen. He’s the best, and so nice. Kate Tempest is in town, and he was like “I’m so sorry, I can’t come to the show. Usually you know that I’d come make it work, but you’re playing at exactly the same time as Kate Tempest. She never comes here, so.” And I was like “it’s totally fine,” but now I’m really sad. We just like chill. He’s so chill. The last time I saw him, Eskimeaux came here and played at Rock and Roll hotel with Japanese Breakfast, and he stopped by the NPR office. And we had written this Christmas song the night before that we performed on All Songs Considered. It’s really good. I actually stole- for one of the new songs that we played tonight, I realized that I actually stole one of the melodies and chord progressions from the Christmas song. And I had to text Michelle and be like “I hope this is okay. I’m really into this song that I just wrote, but I know that I stole the “Christmas tree-ee” part, and I know that it’s maybe not chill to do that. And she was like “oh my god, it’s fine.”

We then discussed the fact that interning at NPR’s Tiny Desk is my dream, our love for HBO’s Bored to Death, and methods for figuring out the name of someone you’ve forgotten. If you’re wondering, the right way to do it is by introducing another friend to the aforementioned forgotten friend, and just hope that they’ll say their name.

Gabby told me about her favorite things about touring: amazing food and being touristy. (Places that she recommended include White Sands National Park and Meow Wolf in Santa Fe.) Along with seeing friends from other cities and getting to tour with bands that are super inspirational to her.

“This is so surreal, and it’s really amazing that I was able to get so out of it that I was in a bad mood.”

When I told her that it was completely human to feel bad, and that she shouldn’t be apologizing or feeling bad for feeling bad, she said something that made me realize what an amazing artist (and person) she is.

“I just want so badly to not normalize this experience at all- and have it be this overwhelmingly amazing thing.”

We talked a bit more about the pros and cons of touring. According to Gabby, the worst thing about tour is that she’s not as available to be a good friend. It’s hard to be like “just so you know, I’m still your friend. Tell me if you need anything, I love you.” Another things is navigating her coffee addiction.  Something that started when she was working at a coffee shop in New York. She told me a bit about her experience there, which she asked to have off the record. She now drinks two cups a day, but Oliver is on a very rigorous coffee schedule. She goes along with it, but now has gotten into buying tinctures, so that she won’t need coffee as much. Apparently they taste like sh*t, but she’s been putting it into Kevita. (Which is basically just “bubbly cup sauce.”)

Q: Super weird question, but would you be willing to take a mirror selfie with me?

A:

Written and transcribed By No Boys Allowed DJ Ava Mirzadegan

[nothingiswritehere]

Colorful: An Original Story Chapter 1

Young Kelly makes their way through a colorful world after waking up in an entirely different dimension.

Their head pounded as the nightmares creeped away from the edges of their brain. Kelly looked around their room for the familiar things they used to ground them, but found nothing was the same. This wasn’t Kelly’s room.

They stood up and felt dizzy. “Mom?” they called out, “Dad?” They held a hand to their chest, noticing a difference in their voice. Deeper. But they didn’t have much time to think as their room flooded with light.

“Kelly?” said Kelly’s mom, “What’s wrong?”

Kelly took a second to answer, gazing around their room. Everything was a dark green color, or a shade lighter. Even their mom was green.

“Um,” Kelly stuttered, “It’s...g-green.”

“Well of course it is, silly! It is your room of course.” their mom said, looking at Kelly like they’d grown a set of horns, “Now go back to sleep, you’ve still got two hours before you have to go to school. Don’t forget you’re taking the bus today. I’ve got work.” she shut the door and left Kelly alone.

They stood up and looked at their hand. Green, just like their mom. They looked at photos around the room of them with their friends. Kelly sighed in relief as they realized that they were still friends with the same people, but something caught their eye. It was them, smiling, but wearing distinctly more masculine clothing than normal.

“Oh.” they said, realizing that green Kelly hadn’t yet come out to their parents. They sat on their bed, trying to think of what to do. They hadn’t done anything to come here, so they had no way of knowing how to come back. They looked at their bookshelves, the carefully organized green books on the green shelves. 

Opening a window to look outside, Kelly saw a much more colorful version of their neighborhood. Their friend Amber’s house was brighter than normal, and across the street her girlfriend Mackenzie’s house looked like a highlighter in the early hours before sunrise. 

Kelly hoped this was all a dream and went back to sleep, only to be rudely awakened by their alarm clock. Quickly dressing with green Kelly’s clothes, they felt a wave of discomfort sweep over them but ignored it, “You’ll be home soon, don’t worry...”

Sitting alone on the bus to school with everything school related in green Kelly’s bag, they began to form a plan, but were interrupted by Amber, now a vibrant orange.

“Hey greenie, what’s up?” she giggled, sitting beside them, the charm bracelet Kelly usually noticed replaced with a cord tied orange and yellow.

Amber noticed their gaze, “Don’t you like it? Mac made it for me over the weekend. It symbolizes our love.” Amber held her hand dramatically to her forehead.

“Shut up.” Mackenzie blushed from a seat over, “Do you want the whole world to hear? My mom would kill me if she found out I was dating an orange like you.”

Kelly kept quiet, something that Amber and Mackenzie noticed. Feeling that they didn’t want to talk, the girlfriends began talking about a school assignment they’d partnered up for.

The colorful world passed Kelly by as they barely made it through their classes, though at least green Kelly kept a similar organized binder for their assignments.

At lunch, Kelly was surprised to find they’d been moved to a table away from the rest of the school, labelled the allergy table. Seated with them was Clarence, their school’s conspiracy theorist, and then they were struck with an idea, just as the bell told them that lunch was over.

“Hey, Clarence!” Kelly ran to catch up with him, putting a hand on his wheelchair.

Clarence stiffened, turning his head, “What do you want?”

Kelly immediately regretted their decision, “I, well, I know you believe in that whole, um, that whole multiverse thing and I, well, I just like--”

Clarence turned even more red than before, “Are you making fun of me? You haven’t said a word to me since you got moved, you don’t know anything about me.”

“Not, um, this version of you.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not, well, not the Kelly you know.”

“You’re yanking my chain, dude.”

“I promise! I’m from a different universe, I swear on my mom.”

“Your mom?”

“Yeah.”

“Fine. Meet at door 13 after school, okay?

“Um. Sure.”

Kelly went through the rest of their day in a daze, believing that there would actually be a way to get them home. Clarence had to be in the know of some of these things, right? He did his presentation on them last year.

They found door 13, and was surprised to see Mackenzie with a green boy holding hands. That must be one of her friends in this universe Kelly thought, absentmindedly tugging on one of their backpack strings.

Clarence approached, “Alright, let’s hear it. What kind of universe are you from?”

“It’s really different. Um, less colorful, for one. You’re a lot lighter, actually.” Kelly blushed, “Here, everyone’s only from the rainbow. Where I’m from, well, you’re Caucasian, or African American, or Asian, or Hispanic or, um, Native American.” They felt bad, summarizing everybody like that, but they didn’t know how much time they would have before their mom came to pick them up.

“People are sorted based on where they’re from? Are you sure?”

“Yes, but it’s not like that, it’s more like, because they’re from those places they look that way and...urg, I can’t explain it. My world doesn’t have people that are purple!”

“That’s purplist.”

“No, it’s just the way things are. Does any color here have any power difference?”

“No, of course not. We’ve always been red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple.” Clarence crossed his arms.

“You’re better than we are, then.” Kelly sighed. Was it really worth it to go back to so much hate?

“So why are you here?”

“I don’t know! I woke up and everything was green.” 

“And that was it?”

“Well, I was having a nightmare, but I don’t remember it now. Are nightmares part of switching realities?”

Clarence scoffed, “Of course not, it’s entirely science. Magic and nightmares have nothing to do with it. But why you? Why here? There’s infinite realities and maybe Kelly Green has something to do with everything.”

“Kelly Green?”

“That’s you, man.”

“No, I’m Kelly Burke. And stop doing that.”

“What?”

“Calling me dude. And man.”

“Sorry, didn’t know it bugged you so much.” Clarence was silent for a few seconds, then started up again “But there’s something comforting in knowing that you exist in all realities, don’t you think? What am I like in yours?” A hopeful gleam touched his eye, and Kelly felt guilty.

“Well, you’re still a multiverse fan...and you sit at the allergy table. Hey, what am I allergic to anyways?”

“Strawberries.”

“Oh, okay. But, I don’t really know much about you besides that. I mean, I guess you’re alright. People kinda think you’re crazy, though.”

“Oh.”

They sat in silence for a while before Kelly’s mom drove up in her green car. Clarence waved them off before they left.

“Who was that red boy you were talking to, Kell?” she said, suspicion in her voice.

“Oh, nobody. Someone I have to work with for a project.” Kelly lied, “Hey, can you drop me off at Amber’s house? We wanted to go over some plans.”

“Of course, hun. Don’t stay out too late. Your father has something he wants to say to you.” she could barely contain her excitement, and Kelly was struck by how different their mom was before they came out to her. They liked being close with their mom, but they liked themself better. 

“Mom...” Kelly started, but decided against it. It was green Kelly’s decision whether or not they would come out, not theirs. Even if they were the same person. It wasn’t right to out them when they wouldn’t be the one dealing with whatever emotions green Mom had for green Kelly.

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“Of course, honey.”

Kelly went to Amber’s house. They wanted to make sure that they didn’t have any outstanding homework. Using the key Amber’d given them, they entered. Amber was hunched over a book Kelly couldn’t quite see, but she quickly slammed it shut when she saw Kelly.

“Kelly! What are you doing here?” she said cheerfully.

“I just wanted to check if I had any homework. Remember I was sick the other day?”

“Oh yeah!” Amber seemed a little confused, “Here’s the stuff. You should really email your teachers.”

“Yeah,” Kelly said, knowing fully that they probably couldn’t convince the teachers that they were absent, especially if they were there.

“Bye, then,” 

“Bye.”

Kelly walked out the door and across the street to their house, where their mother was just preparing dinner. “Hey Mom. Hey Dad.” They said

“Hey Junior. How’s it going?” Kelly’s dad asked.

“I’m alright, Dad. How was work?”

“Fine. You know, Slate from accounting could really do better. He just sits there. I could probably take his job if I wanted to.”

“Yeah, Dad, I know.” It was good to know that nothing much had changed; their father still hated that guy from accounting. Kelly knew the name always changed, and they doubted that ‘Slate’ was an actual person either. Their dad just liked to talk to them.

Dad was a tall man who made sure that Kelly’s short height of 5′ 4″ was noticed, especially when they went out to dinner and everyone thought Kelly was 12. It was embarrassing to a point where they had, at one point, altogether stopped going out to eat.

But Kelly was over that, “Mom said you wanted to tell me something.”

“Ah, yes. Well, your mother and I were talking, actually we’ve been thinking about this for a while and--”

“Are you guys getting a divorce?” Kelly’s heart raced. 

“No, no! No. We’re not. Actually, we were thinking of adopting a child, or at least fostering one. We just wanted to know what you thought.”

“Oh,” Kelly pondered this for a few seconds, “It would be nice to have a sibling, I guess.”

“Wonderful!” Dad said.

“Time for dinner, boys!” Mom called out.

Kelly flinched, but they stood up nonetheless and went to eat dinner with their parents

Clarence opened up the web page and typed in ‘alternate realities where people aren’t rainbows.’ He frowned when he got results mostly from some game, and instead went back to his trusty forum friends.

Claret: hey guys. I’ve just had an amazing experience. this dude who sits by me at lunch told me he’s from an alternate reality

Gr3as3r: No way. he’s pulling ur l3g, my man.

Saphire: as much as i hate to agre with grease, he’s got a point. if he realy was from an alternate reality, wouldn’t he be diferent? maybe have more eyes?

Claret: I get it, but he does say that where he’s from, everybody’s like, grouped based on where they’re from or something. I mean, that’s how they color them.

Gr3as3r: Fak3. wasnt th3r3 a book lik3 that? split or som3thing lik3 that. th3 girl marri3d som3on3 sh3 wasnt supposed to. not that iv3 r3ad it

Saphire: I’ve never heard of that. Are you sure it exists?

Gr3as3r: Positiv3! Its right h3r3 on my bookshelf. I 3v3n got it in all the colors.

Saphire: Gotcha

Gr3as3r: Damn. cold

Claret: focusing on things that matter, what if the dude is from an actual alternate reality? would he have like, bodyswapped? is the normal version just in his reality?

Gr3as3r: 333... dud3 you don’t 3v3n know him.

Claret: do you have to type like that?

Gr3as3r: It’s in my name. plus it’s like homestuck, so people know im cool

Claret: pretty sure no one thinks that

Gr3as3r: shut up. you ignore saPPhire

Saphire: I just don’t like double leters. To much work.

“Clarence! You better not be on the computer! Go to sleep!”

“Yes Dad.”

Claret: gotta go. dadzilla’s coming.

Saphire: later

Gr3s3r: lat3r :)

Claret: ugh

Clarence laid back on his bed, thinking of all the possibilities. Sure, Kelly could be lying, but it was different from when he normally spoke. Was that because he was lying or because he was actually a different person? Clarence sighed. He’d figure it out tomorrow.