#wow kayla DOES know how to cook!

[vesper93]

Bones and All Q's/thoughts/spoilers (literally writing these as I watch for the first time):

1. Was that her dad locking her in her bedroom at the beginning?

2. Random aside- does Taylor Russell have some vitiligo on her face? I never noticed it before.

3. Ooft, that first shot of Sully standing on the street corner. 😬 The sniffing... ew.

4. The sound of him preparing that chicken. Double ew.

5. "We can hurt one another just as bad" - he's warning her.

6. I always wonder if human teeth are actually strong enough to bite through flesh just like *chomp* - I know we do it with steak and whatnot. I just kinda assumed humans would be tougher. Especially without cooking. Idk.

7. Being a cannibal would be a logistical nightmare. Like... a human being is BIG. How much could you actually eat in one go? Like, a thigh? What do you do with the rest?

8. "I profoundly doubt that" - yes Lee, see right through the creepy old man.

9. The Americana guitar throughout is very pretty. This soundtrack is cool.

10. I love how matter-of-fact Lee is. He seems very genuine.

11. The way he takes the shirt off after Kayla calls him a fa**ot hurts. He obvs took it to heart.

12. The first time we see them touch is in the slaughter house barn. Feel like that's significant.

13. Michael Stulbarg is amazing.

14. "There's before Bones and All, and then there's after" - I feel like this is true.

15. The drums of the soundtrack in IA - wow. Love it.

16. The trill of the music as the ferris wheel comes over the top and they're kissing - ❤

17. The look as Lee approaches the milk toss stand - Predator/Prey. Oooft.

18. Lee cruising that carnival worker should not be hot. But it is.

19. The pulling at the skin is a bit ew, but oh well.

20. "In my black cocoon I'm where no one can find me" - whilst Lee sits bathed in blood and moonlight. Double ooooft.

21. It's a good thing DNA matching hadn't been perfected yet.

22. "How dare you make this harder" - true lee. Like what does she want him to say??

23. I keep expecting to see Sully in the back of shots and it's creeping me out.

24. I get Maren's turmoil, but she doesn't need to take it out on Lee, who's also just trying to survive.

25. I have a kink for Timmy's arms, I've decided. I think Dune 2 where he's buffer might kill me.

26. She just fucking leaves him?! What??? He's the best thing thats happened to you!

27. Sully needs to fuck all the way off.

28. The scene where Maren is telling Sully "its gotta go both ways" - I feel her energy there. Its a young girl trying to placate a man who could harm her. That resonates. The stakes are different, but every woman can recognise the moment where they say "it's not you, it's me" to try and prevent harm. Felt that in my blood.

29. A man thinks they're entitled to something because they've misread a situation. Offft, that really hits close to home.

30. The scrape of the guitar as she destroys the tape.

31. I just wanna give Lee a hug.

32. Kayla seems really sweet, and I'm sad that I already know what happens to her.

33. What happens in the months Maren is away from Lee? What's she been doing?

34. The NE sequence is beautiful.

35. Idk how to describe it, but Timothée has a way of being *in* a scene that makes you feel like he's part of the landscape of it. There and natural. There is no acting, because he is in the fabric of the film.

36. I'll say it again but the guitar motif is just so beautiful.

37. The way the guitar just stops in that final scene when she opens the door. Fuck Sully, fuck him forever.

38. Sully is like Gollum. Except fucking weirder and grosser.

39. Okay, the bathtub scene is kinda grim.

40. How can something so grim make me cry?

41. Okay, new canon. Lee survives and the ending was just one of the psycho dreams, brought on by PTSD from Sully's attack.

42. The final shot is them afterwards. Surviving.

[marbleheavy]

more married solangelo because i love it 👉👈

(ft love languages):

- quick but very important note that i forgot to add in the last one: at their wedding, their first dance is to songbird by fleetwood mac and i will die by that

- (will starts crying i m m e d i a t e l y at the first verse)

- anywhoosies

- will’s love language is physical touch and nico’s is acts of service (but also words of affirmation)

- so pda is a weird limbo because will wants to hold nico’s hand and wrap his arm around his waist and kiss his cheek but nico isn’t super comfy with that

- at home or in private, affection is bountiful and constant

- but out in public? nico is hesitant and will respects that, even if he’s itching to intertwine their fingers

- will doesn’t have any of the same insecurities about it as he did when they first started dating (like was nico was ashamed of him? did he not actually like will?) because they were married, nico is clearly in it for the long haul

- so he reconciles his own desire for touch with the fact that nico just doesn’t always like it and that’s okay

- but every time they meet someone new or anything, nico always, always introduces will as his husband and that makes his heart explode

- that’s just how nico shows his affection and if will gets to hear the way nico’s voice goes all soft and warm when he says “this is will, my husband”, then that’s (really, really) good too

- nico is shorter than will (and quick tangent, i firmly believe that will is the one with the abnormal height. nico is like 5’9” or 5’10” which is average but will had a freaky growth spurt at seventeen when he thought he was done growing and now he is a giant, like at least 6’4”)

- (another tangent about the height thing, will and nico thought it was fucking hilarious when percy and jason got all huffy because will was taller than them)

- anyways nico obviously takes will’s clothes and he had to roll sweatpants like a million times to get them to fit and t-shirt collars expose his collar bones and will just melts

- also nico cooks dinner and will does the dishes, that’s just canon i’m sorry

- but sometimes will really does try to make dinner or breakfast in bed for nico even if he isn’t all that great at cooking

- and if the eggs end up over cooked and the toast is burnt, it’s all okay because the way that nico looks at him, sleepy and in awe with messy hair and parted lips, makes him try again and again

- (*cough* acts of service *cough*)

- will also praises nico all the time and for literally everything, plus he is just a fountain of pet names

- excerpts from will’s daily rhetoric: “darling, i love you”, “i’ll see you later, love”, “sweetheart, you’re the most perfect thing to ever exist and i adore you” (said after nico packed him a lunch literally one time and nico got so flustered he had to sit down)

- one time will called nico his “hubby” and nico shoved him so hard

- nico’s favorite terms of affection are as follows: darling, love, (those are tied for top two), sweetheart, and angel (cliche but appreciated)

- some honorable mentions that were probably only said once and met with a scowl/shove: romeo, schnookums, sugar ass, dumpling, baby doll, hot stuff, and heartthrob

- when they tell people they’re married most people immediately are like “wow you guys look so young haha, i thought you were like nineteen”

- and they’re just like “yes. we are.”

- and when they go to college (tbh i don’t think they’d go to new rome but now is not the time to elaborate on that) it’s also a little weird cause they’re college students and they are trying to have a normal college experience and make friends and all that jazz but they’re also married and have been through two wars so the disparity in maturity level is a bit of an issue

- they go to a party and get drunk and just end up making out in the corner (alcohol lowers nico’s inhibitions and will is just so easy to kiss) but not before will manages to drag nico around to meet every single person and says “have you seen him? he’s so pretty! he’s my husband you know, we got married. it was in a church and everything and look i have a ring” and nico just laughs the entire time

- also they have date nights every thursday

- they do stuff on other nights and the weekends too but thursdays are for Dates, like candles and flowers and ~romancing~

- they have an unspoken alternation for who’s turn it is to woo the other, with bouquets and reservations and holding the door open, the whole nine yards

- but sometimes they just cuddle and watch movies and feed each other popcorn

- movie night cuddle position: will on his back, legs propped up on the arm of the couch because he’s too long, nico is situated on top of him and between his legs, his head on will’s chest and tucked beneath his chin, the popcorn is on the popcorn table in front of them and will reaches out and feeds them both the popcorn

- will feeding nico popcorn is such a little thing but it makes nico feel like his heart is going to burst from his chest (*cough* ACTS OF SERVICE *cough*) and it’s also the way that with his other hand, his fingers brush just below his shirt and against the skin of his hip, and nico is so gone

- movie date nights are nico’s favorite

- they’re so gooey and soft it’s nauseating

- one time they hosted a movie night with all their friends (the seven, reyna, cecil and lou ellen, probs kayla, austin, and mitchell) and leo spent the entire time pretending to gag because they immediately went to Movie Cuddle Position™️ but nico just glared at him and refused to move even if he was kinda flustered by being so affectionate in front of others

- nico and will make other people question love, sorry not sorry

once again, this ended up super long lol, sorry! i will also be doing more of these because married solangelo has my entire heart.

[thadelightfulone]

All I Want... 25 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 22

December 25th - Part 1

Erik was at DeeDee’s house waiting for her to finish getting ready. He was relaxing on the couch when his phone rang. He went out to her patio to take the call.

“Merry Christmas man! What’s up?”

“Merry Christmas E! Reena and I wanted to know what you were doing today? You are more than welcome to spend the day with us and the kids.”

“Thanks Quis. You know I would but I already have plans for the day.”

“Take out does not count, E. I know how you are about today. And I don’t want to see you holed up in your hotel room while everyone is with family.”

“Quis! Relax.” He heard noise and turned back towards the apartment. “I promise you, I’m not alone.”

“Who could you possibly - nevermind.” 

Erik could hear another voice and some noise in the background.

“Get back woman. He doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Put it on speakerphone, Marquis. NOW!”

“Fine.” 

Erik heard the click and started to laugh.

“Hello Erik and Merry Christmas.” Serena’s voice came through. 

“Good morning. And Merry Christmas to you too, Serena.”

“So, who are you spending the day with?”

“Don’t answer that.” Marquis’ yelled. “Ouch, woman. That hurt.”

“Answer the question, Erik.”

Erik laughed and smiled as DeeDee walked outside to him. 

“E, what are you doing outside?”

He pointed to the phone.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She whispered to him, “I’m ready when you are.” 

She turned to walk inside and Erik grabbed her hand, pulling her to him. 

“You aren’t interrupting anything. Quis and Reena are on the phone arguing about us.”

“About us? What do you mean?”

He pointed to the phone and put it on speaker.

“I told you he was gonna be with her. Pay me my money.” 

“Reena, you bet on that?” DeeDee looked at the phone.

“Oh, hey DeeDee girl. I mean I just had a hunch.”

They all heard a loud thump. 

“Quis, just get me my money and stop playing.” Serena’s voice sounded far away. “Look, I gotta finish cooking but you two have a wonderful day together.”

“Erik, be careful. She got a family full of women.”

“I think I’ll be ok.”

“We’ll talk to you later. We gotta get over to Ma Dear’s. Merry Christmas Oubres.”

“Merry Christmas DeeDee.” 

Erik hung up the phone, leaned against the wall and pulled DeeDee towards him.

“So, what am I truly getting myself into today?”

“You wanna ask that now?” DeeDee crossed her arms over her chest. “After what Quis said?”

“I don’t care as long as I am with you.” Erik held her in his arms. 

“Oh, they are going to eat you alive.” DeeDee fixed the collar to his shirt, “We could always order in and chill here.”

“Nope. Since you told me you weren’t cooking me a home-cooked meal.” Erik walked forward and backed DeeDee inside. “I gotta get that from somewhere before I leave.”

“I did say that, didn’t I?” She went and grabbed her coat and purse, “Well, then let me not keep you from eating good.”

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the trays of food. 

She shrugged, “I figured all you wanted was pie.” 

Erik sighed and rubbed his temples, “You do not play fair, Miss DeeDee.”

“Fair? Don’t know the word.” She tugged at his arm, “Let’s go.”

---

The drive over to the house was comfortably quiet. Erik observed the scenery as he drove past the big trees lining the one-way streets and highways. He looked at some of the large one-story ranch homes as they entered the residential side of town.

Erik held DeeDee’s hand as she softly dozed in the passenger seat. They were bringing some of the desserts for today. And DeeDee told him store-bought was not an option. They spent last night making apple, pecan, and sweet potato pies from scratch. He had fun and he knew it had everything to do with the woman next to him.

He brought her hand to his lips for a kiss when he noticed a family outside in the cool winter morning. Some older women were sitting on the porch and watched the men of the family play catch or touch football in the front yard. A young mother stood at the top of the steps holding a baby and some little girls were running around with dolls in their hands. 

Erik smiled at the scene. He was his parents’ only child but he always wanted a big family, especially during the holidays. And even though he had his father’s family, they didn’t do holidays like this, not like he grew up with. But his DeeDee already had all of that down here. 

He couldn’t believe how intertwined their lives were and they only officially met a month ago. There was definitely something to what Miss Carrie told him last week, but he knew he was not the man that he is today. No telling what could have happened between them had they met before he was ready for her. 

“Erik.” DeeDee’s sleepy voice drew him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah.”

“You’re about to pass the house.”    

DeeDee pointed towards the house he was just admiring. 

“That’s Ma Dear’s house?”

“Yeah, she’s about 2 streets over from Mama.” 

“My bad, I was on autopilot to Miss Carrie’s.”

DeeDee laughed, “Yeah, I know.”

Erik pulled over and parked. They got out and moved to get the pies from the back seat. DeeDee tapped his arm from her side.

“Marquis didn’t lie. The women run my family. But you should know that since you know Mama.”

“Awww, are you worried about me, Miss DeeDee?”

“You? No. Me? Yeah.”

“Hey. Come here.”

DeeDee pushed the tray over to his side, closed the door on her side and walked over to the driver’s side with Erik. 

“What’s up?”

“A lot and nothing.” 

Erik lifted her chin.

“I don’t bring guests.”

“Just desserts?”

“They know who taught me. So, it’s a safe bet.”

“You say the word and we can go.”

DeeDee sighed, “Yeah.”

“I mean it. Deal?”

“Okay.” She looked at him, “Did I mention that most of my cousins are single?”

“What’s that got to do with me? There’s only one woman’s attention I want.”

 DeeDee smiled and nodded. 

“And that’s Miss Carrie.” Erik laughed and caught DeeDee’s hand when she tried to hit him. “Aht, aht, aht. I already have yours.”

“Maybe.” DeeDee laughed at his facial expression.

“Wow, ok.” He picked up the pies and grabbed her hand. “You ready?”

She looked down at their hands, “Yup.” 

---

“Is that little DeeDee? And with a man?” The man with the football called out, “Ma, you gotta see this!”

“Junior, why you yelling at me?” One of the women on the porch stood up, “I see her. Go sit down somewhere.” She shooed him away.

Erik and DeeDee came up the walkway and were approached by various members of the family. Erik squeezed her hand and DeeDee put a smile on her face.  

“Hey babies.” Miss Carrie pushed her way through the crowd, “Don’t worry about them. Come on inside and put them pies down.”

“Oooh, DeeDee made the pies again?” 

“There is a god.” 

DeeDee shook her head and waved to her cousins. 

They followed Miss Carrie into the house and the kitchen. Erik handed the pies over to a woman who looked like she could be DeeDee’s older sister. Same bright eyes, height, and smile, only her hair was streaked with white. She set the pies on the countertop and turned down the music.

Then she walked over and gave DeeDee a hug. “DeeDee, you gonna introduce us to your friend?” She sat down at the table and pulled a bowl of beans towards her.

“Ma, this is Erik.” DeeDee looked at him. “Erik, this is my mom, Gloria.”

“Call me Glory, everyone else does.”

“You already know Mama.” 

Erik stepped over and gave Miss Carrie a hug. He looked at the table and saw two more women who shared the family resemblance. 

“At the table with mom are my aunts, Randi and Kayla. They are her sisters.” 

DeeDee’s aunts nodded to Erik and continued with their work. DeeDee reached up into the cabinets and got out two glasses. She tapped Erik and gave him one, then walked over to the counter near the sink. Erik followed her as she got some sweet tea for herself.

“DeeDee, make sure he stays with the boys. You know them sorry daughters of mine.” 

“Aunt Kay!”

“Aunt Kay, nothing.” She picked up her glass of lemonade. “If they don’t bring someone, they searching and you know this.” 

“Don’t want to see you crying like Crystal was year before last when -” Randi tapped the table with a knife, “that Gregory boy was snatched up by one of them. I don’t understand why ya’ll don’t wait until you married to bring ya men around.”

“DeeDee, if one of them try you. I give you permission to snatch her bald.” Kayla continued.

Erik filled his glass with tea and lemonade. He leaned against the counter and took a sip while the ladies talked.

“Oh, I don’t think it will come to that. And my mama taught me better than that.”

“What I say? Cuz I am with them on this one. Don’t let them heffas try you over him.” Gloria looked at Erik, “Especially when he seems to be the type worth fighting for.”

“I know that’s right,” Kayla spoke up.

“Are you Mr. Erik?” Randi asked.

“Ma’am?”

“Worth fighting for?” Randi repeated.

“I believe I am.”

All the women nodded and Miss Carrie smiled from her corner. 

“We’ll see about that.” Gloria mumbled. 

“Let’s go. Time to introduce you to the boys.” DeeDee dragged Erik out of the kitchen. 

They walked outside with their drinks and DeeDee leaned on the railing. 

“Are they playing a real game of touch or just passing the ball back and forth?”

“You would have to ask them. I never pay them any attention when they’re outside.”

The two oldest men looked over at them. He had the ball and ran over to Erik and DeeDee. The rest followed. 

“Aye DeeDee. How you been girl?” 

“I’m fine Uncle AJ. And you?”

“You know I’m good.” He pointed the ball at Erik, “Whose your little friend?”

“Everybody, this is Erik.” She looked to him, “Erik, the two older gentlemen are my uncles, AJ and Rob. And the other two knuckleheads are my cousins, Junior and Darrick.”

“We’re Ma Dear’s boys. Have you met her yet?” Rob said.

“Not yet. I only know Miss Carrie.”

“Of course, he knows Mama.” Darrick spoke up, “You one of them Southern boys she be feeding at her restaurant?”

“Not anymore, but I used to be.”

“You play?” AJ held up the ball.

“Yeah, I do.” Erik sipped his drink.

“Good, we just messing around now. But we will have a game of touch later.”

“Just let me know when I’m down.”

DeeDee turned around and saw Ma Dear headed over to her chair. She pulled Erik in that direction.

“Hey Ma Dear.” DeeDee called out.

The older woman stopped and turned around to face them. DeeDee walked over and gave her a hug.

“Hey baby.” She looked at her, “You look good.” Ma Dear looked over at Erik, “And who is this fine young man you brought home?”

“This is Erik, ma’am.” 

He leaned forward and gave her a hug. “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Carrie!” Ma Dear yelled out.

“Yeah Etta?” She could be heard from inside the house through the front screen. 

“Is this that boy you were talking about?”

DeeDee dropped her head, “Seriously?”

Erik coughed to cover his laugh. Then Miss Carrie burst through the front door and looked over at them.

“Oh yeah, that’s him.”

“Hmmm. Well, she looks happy so I can’t complain.” Ma Dear sat down in her rocking chair, “Don’t ever let her smile drop son.”

“Yes ma’am,” He looked at DeeDee. “I don’t intend to.”

---

Everyone was scattered around the house after eating during the first round of food and taking the first of many naps. The second and third turkeys were finally done and the uncles brought the rest of the meat in off the grill. All the food was done for whoever arrived or was ready for their next plate.

DeeDee and Erik were sitting on the porch swing. Her legs were on his lap and she leaned back with her arms laid across her body. Before long, she was asleep again. Erik took out his phone and snapped a few shots of her. 

“Uh huh.” A voice came from the screen door before it opened. 

Erik looked over and saw Ma Dear as she walked out of the house. She sat down in her chair right next to him. 

“Ma’am.” 

“Does she know?”

“About?”

“You helping Carrie?”

“No ma’am.”

“Good. And the other thing?”

“What other thing?”

“That you love her?”

“No ma’am.”

“Don’t wait too long.”

“I actually plan to tell her -”

“Ma Dear! How are you?” A loud voice bounced up the steps.

DeeDee stirred on the swing and lost her balance, but Erik caught her before she fell. He looked up to see her friend from the other day.  

The young woman looked at him, “Erik, right. What are you doing here?”

“Phylly Phyll, what are you doing here?” DeeDee asked mid-yawn. 

DeeDee moved her legs off of him and sat up straight.

“Bev invited me like she does every year.”  

“And you finally came.” DeeDee said under her breath. “How nice. Where is she anyway?” She spoke up.

“Over there with Brandon. They are getting stuff out of the car.”

DeeDee tensed up at the mention of his name.  

“Bev is your other friend who I met on Friday, right?” Erik directed his question to DeeDee.

“Yeah. She’s also my cousin.”

“Let me go help them out. I’ll be back.” Erik tapped DeeDee’s leg and left the porch.

“Why would you bring him here?” DeeDee yelled at Phyllis. 

“Because he wanted to see you, duh.” Phyllis rolled her eyes, “How was I supposed to know you were bringing Mr. Note here for Christmas? Shouldn’t he be home with his folks anyway?”

“Little girl, you better not start no mess this year.” Ma Dear called out, “I will have my great-grands toss your fast ass right on out my house.” 

DeeDee stood up when Ma Dear got up and helped her inside. 

“I don’t understand why ya’ll keep her around?” Ma Dear mumbled as DeeDee closed the door behind her. “Ain’t that much friendship in the world.”  

DeeDee turned around and faced Phyllis. 

“Keep him away from me. I mean it Phyll.” 

“I have no control over a grown ass man.” Phyllis shrugged.

“WOW! Phyll.” DeeDee turned and stormed inside the house, slamming the screen door behind her.

---

Erik ran over to Beverly and Brandon down the street. 

“Bev?”

She turned around to see who called her name. Brandon stopped what he was doing to find out also. 

“Oh, Erik. Hey, did DeeDee send you over here?”

“No, Phyllis mentioned you were out here with stuff to bring to the house. Figured I could help.”

“Thanks man. But we got it handled.” Brandon responded. 

Erik looked him up and down. Brandon did not look a day over 16, but he recognized the smug look on his face. Fuckery was afoot and Erik was ready to play. 

“You sure about that?” Erik watched him struggle with some cases of water, “Let me get that for you.”

Erik took the case from Brandon, lifted it up and onto his shoulder. He picked up the other case from the trunk, put it on his other side and walked back to the house.

Taglist: @teakturn​ @ghostfacekill-monger​ @shaekingshitup​ @nahimjustfeelingit-writes​ @woahitslucyylu​ @ladymac82​ @bugngiz​ @eyeknowmywrites​ @ajspencer1892​ @arafatih​ @issimplyaamazinggg​​ @tchallasbabymama​​ @killmonger-fics​​ @beautifullmelodyxx​​ @raysunshine78​​ @fd-writes​​ @ljstraightnochaser​​ @just-peachee​​ @kaleidoscopeofsoul​​ @sincerelykas​​

[thcmpscn]

‘’NIGHT CONVO’’ – Meston.

LOC: preston’s apartment. @fckmonax

MONA

knocks on the door, super nervous but also excited

PRESTON

takes a deep breath before opening the door “You made it in time, dinners almost ready. Come in”

MONA

grins “Yeah, of course. This has been all I could think about literally since we planned it.” steps inside and kisses his cheek

PRESTON

pulls her in for a quick hug after she kisses him “You’re hype for a chicken salad?”

MONA

“I’m so hype for chicken salad.” lingers in the hug for a bit before heading towards the kitchen “It’s kinda weird but I always wonder how the flavor of food transitions into breast milk. Like what will Venecia taste when I get back home? So many questions.”

PRESTON

“I read somewhere that food makes your milk taste saltier or sweeter, depending on what you eat.” says as they both walk into the kitchen “you’re the only person I know that would get hype for a chicken salad” laughs

MONA

“Huh. Honestly, poor kid. Unable to enjoy actual good food. Has to settle for breastmilk.” leans back against the counter, arms crossed over her chest “What can I say? I find pleasure in the little things.”

PRESTON

''I'm pretty sure milk is her favorite thing in the whole wide world right now.'' chuckles before looking at her for a sec. ''You look nice tonight.''

MONA

“Wow, she’s not nearly as complex as I thought she was.” chuckles, glances down at her outfit despite knowing exactly what she chose “Oh this? I just kinda threw something on. My only qualification was that it didn’t have spit up on it. Thanks though.”

PRESTON

''She really isn't. It'll be a minute before she's just as complex as her mama, though.'' chuckles ''You're welcome. Next time we're having burgers, no salad.''

MONA

“I’m both excited and terrified for that when that day comes.” rolls eyes “It’s gotta be a really, really special occasion. But sure, we’ll have burgers at some point.”

PRESTON

''You'll experience what its like to handle Ramona Mason. It's a lot, I'll tell you that.'' smirks and squints his eyes ''Every single time you see me is a special occasion, keep that in mind.''

MONA

“Yikes, it’ll be like karma coming for me.” grins and shakes her head “So. When are we eating? Not gonna lie, I definitely came over here primarily for the food.”

PRESTON

''It really will be like that.'' shakes head and sighs before letting out another chuckle in serving her plate. ''There you go, hopefully you enjoy the only reason you came here for''

MONA

“I really wanted to bring her her tonight by the way. Like why not? She’s a baby, it’s not like she’s distracting or anything. Fabian literally made me pump and leave her though.” smiles widely as he fixes her plate, takes a seat at the table “Fix yours too. It’d be rude of me to eat alone in someone else’s home.”

PRESTON

''It's alright, makes sense he wouldn't want her here. We'll take it slow, I guess.'' reassures her before shaking his head. ''No, it's alright. I already ate two burgers on my way here, I'm good. – and, someone else's home? really?''

MONA

“Still, it’s annoying. He’s annoying. nods and proceeds to take a bite of her chicken salad “P, stop. You know what I mean. Not that I don’t feel at home here, but you literally cooked for me and it’d be super rude of me to proceed to eat without checking if you were as well. That’s all I meant.”

PRESTON

''He's being a dad and an ex, It can't be easy.'' sighs before nodding ''I get that but you'll have to get used to me cooking for you without worrying if I ate or not''

MONA

rolls her eyes “I guess.” continues eating “Ooor you could just wait to eat until you’re with me next time. Could be like a lil family dinner.”

PRESTON

“Good idea, I’ll wait for you next time if I manage to not go crazy with hunger. - is your food good?”

MONA

“The food’s amazing.” makes a show of taking another bite and moaning “Love having my own personal chef.”

PRESTON

laughs and shakes head “Yeah, nothing’s free in life, you’re gonna have to pay for that food.”

MONA

raises brows “Is paying you with my presence not enough?”

PRESTON

“Give me a kiss and we’re good” smirks

MONA

is taken aback for a sec, chuckles before shaking her head “Nah, my breath smells like chicken salad.”

PRESTON

hums “I guess this boutta be the last time I cook for you, then.”

MONA

groans and stands “Fine. It’s just a little weird that chicken salad breath is what you’re into.” leans in and firmly kisses his lips

PRESTON

cups her face and kisses her harder, lingering for a sec

MONA

smiles contentedly as he moves away “This is really fun, but I think we’re supposed to be talking, right?” lightly strokes his cheek “We should talk before anything else.”

PRESTON

“You’re right” nods, taking a deep breath “Finish your food and we’ll talk”

MONA

sighs, is kinda nervous “Ok. But in the meantime, tell me how your day was?” slips back into her seat, eats

PRESTON

“It was good. There was a big group of people ordering a lot of food and they kept me on my toes for the entirety of my shift but it was alright, I enjoyed it. - My neck is killing me, though.” runs a hand through his neck. “How was yours?”

MONA

pouts as she listens to his story, finishes up the last of her food “And then you really came home and cooked again? It’s almost as if you love overworking yourself.” stands to put her plate in the sink, takes his hand and leads him over to the couch “My day was good. Pretty much the exact same as all of my days lately. Ven woke up at around 6 and I fed her. We went back to sleep until like 8 and repeated the process. Then I chatted a bit over text with an old family friend of mine who is apparently seeing Kayla. Watched some tv. Did mom shit. Not a very exciting day.” positions herself behind him in the couch and begins firmly massaging his neck

PRESTON

“I don’t mind cooking for you. I enjoy it, actually. - I’ll watch it later, leave it there.” takes her hand and follows. Moaning softly when he felt her hands on his neck. “Is Ven doing alright? Like, in general? Does she have doctors appointments and such?” moans quietly again. “How did I not know you were so good at this?”

MONA

“Yeah, she’s doing amazing. Hitting all her milestones. She actually had an appointment Thursday of last week and didn’t even cry when she got her shots. I found that both admirable and terrifying.” continues massaging him, overall feeling really calm and comfortable in the situation

PRESTON

“She’s already a champ, I love that.” pauses “So, let’s just talk about what happened and all that. — Are you ready to star a new relationship?”

MONA

“Ugh. I love her.” freezes for a second before continuing the massage “I’ve honestly kinda learned my lesson with answering that question. Truth is, I don’t know. But I think so.”

PRESTON

“I’m not tryna’ make you go from a relationship to another. We can be together, take things slowly.” shrugs “Like, we don’t gotta move in together right away or do anything too drastic. Just enjoy ourselves, be there for each other and the rest will happen organically.”

MONA

manages to be caught off guard by the conversation despite knowing it was planned “I think I would really appreciate that. That’s what I was mostly scared of, I think. The whole jumping into things. I have a tendency to do that and I feel like it always ends poorly.” hesitates “I guess I’m also kind of afraid of the judgment.”

PRESTON

“It would be best if we just took it like a couple of kids, just enjoying ourselves until we both feel we’re ready to aim higher.” sighs “People won’t judge what they don’t know and they don’t gotta know about us until you want to.”

MONA

“I think I’d like that. Just opening ourselves up to something happening, but also not forcing anything.” smiles “I don’t want you to be a secret though.” sighs “As much as I hate the idea of us being judged, I hate the idea of us only being behind closed doors even more.”

PRESTON

“It’s up to you, bbygirl.” shrugs “I’m fine with whatever you decide”

MONA

“P, I am not keeping you a secret.”

PRESTON

“Alright, that’s good.” nods “How do we go about this?”

MONA

“Uh, I don’t actually. know. I literally always just dive right into the deep end of these things.” chuckles “Let’s just maybe start by making every night like tonight? Maybe some days? Like when’s the next time you’re off?”

PRESTON

shakes head and turns to face her. “First thing first.” pauses “Do you wanna be my girl? Like, officially. No messin’ around with other people, no nothing. Just the two of us.”

MONA

“Wait... so an open relationship isn’t an option?” laughs

PRESTON

“An open relationship between you, me, myself, yourself, all of us.” smirks

MONA

“Ohh, ok. Well in that case, I’m totally on board.” smirks before leaning in to kiss him

PRESTON

kisses her back, breaking the kiss to pull her into a hug “I never thought I’d see the day” chuckles, pulling away

MONA

“I never thought I’d see the day.” laughs “Seriously, I remember the day we first met and you seemed so unimpressed.”

PRESTON

“I was unimpressed, believe me.” chuckles “I was like, another rich, entitled, white girl. Groundbreaking.”

MONA

rolls eyes “Well I’m glad you gave me the opportunity to prove you wrong.”

PRESTON

“The minute you started talking about weird shit, I knew you were different.” laughs

MONA

laughs, checks phone for any updates on ven, sighs “So now what?”

PRESTON

“Now we say goodbye and you go home to that cute little baby of yours and we see each other tomorrow.” smiles

MONA

pouts “But I don’t want to say goodbye.” frowns “But I also want to know what Ven’s up to.”

PRESTON

“She’s probably missing her mama.” pulls her in for another kiss “It’ll ve tomorrow before you know it.” kisses her again

MONA

“Probably. Imagine having me smothering you every second of every day and suddenly I’m just not there?” frowns “She’s probably freaking out right now and Fabian just doesn’t want to say anything and make it seem like he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” sighs and stands

PRESTON

“it’s okay, you said she was always calm and collected, Im sure she’s not freaking out. Just missing you.” walks her to the door. “Text me, alright?”

MONA

“Yeah, but maybe that’s because I’m always around?” stops once she gets to the door, turns to face him “Yeah, of course. I’ll text you once I’m there and settled.”

PRESTON

“Please do, let me know how she’s been in your absence.” leans forward and presses his lips against hers. “Go, we’ll talk in a minute.”

MONA

kisses him back, smiles and waves before walking out of the door

[THE END]

[bffhhoneymoon]

Entry 38

 After one birthday, another came.  Then another.  I was staying busy as ever with my business, though Alma and I made plenty of time for sightseeing as well.  Aaliyah made sure we managed to see our daughter whenever she was free without seeing each of her vacations back-to-back from our perspective.  Unfortunately for us, our daughter would occasionally want to go vacationing with her friends and their families.  As much as we preferred having our daughter to ourselves, we decided to follow suit and invite her friends along on a vacation.

 Sadly, my natural magic became troublesome as the girls grew older.  Dani sat Alma and me down to talk at one point, explaining to us that I was far too distracting for her friends.  The girls would apparently want to talk about me constantly after spending time with us.  Alma had laughed and agreed that I was distracting, but I felt frustrated.  Aaliyah wasn’t any help with that dilemma, giggling and welcoming me to fatherhood as if the past years of my daughter’s life were just the precursor.  Perhaps they were.

 “Boss-man, sir, that frown is far too heavy for your face.  You need to lighten up.  Dani still loves spending time with you.  How much time did your friends really hang out with your family?” she questioned, having appeared next to me in the suite.

 Not much, excluding Jarod, but Aaliyah knew even better than I did.

 “Even Jarod spent more time playing video games with you than doing stuff with your parents.  You know it’s true.”

 “Fine.  Yes, but I don’t have to like it.” I told her, unwilling to look for a bright note at the moment.

 “Yep.  You need to stop home for a bit.  I’ll grab Alma!” exclaimed Aaliyah, seeming to pull my wife from her pocket as she had with her aunt on occasion.

 How many years have we been away?  Part of me was in strict denial, not wanting to admit that I could be in my late twenties, possibly older.

 “James..?  What’s wrong?” questioned Alma as if popping out a pocket far smaller than her body was normal.

 I knew she could relate, but Alma didn’t like talking about how we didn’t see Dani enough.  She’d entertain herself with crafts similar to my mother and seem to disconnect from her troubles for a time.

 “The boss-man is being moody, so we’re going to take a short trip home!  Let’s just kill you first.” stated Aaliyah with a grin.

 My spirit was ripped from my body before I could even consider protesting.  Watching my body hit the floor, I sighed.

 “Oh, James.  Is dying really that bad?” questioned Alma, her spirit smirking at me.

 This wasn’t precisely a first for us, probably not even a tenth.  I understood better these days why Aaliyah had no qualms about killing.  She could alter one’s state easier than I could flip a light switch.

 “Wow.  You make dealing with spirits sound tough, boss-man, sir.” stated Aaliyah, an image of her seeming to be peering into my head.

 I knew she was all around us.  In this state, Alma and I could feel her there.  I stared around, realizing we had moved.  How long have we been away..?

 “One day by their reckoning.” replied Aaliyah with a grin.

 Raine was suddenly in front of me, seeming to stare into my eyes.

 “Oops.  Totally forgot the anti-Raine-filter.” claimed Aaliyah before snapping her fingers.  “Powerful demons can sense spirits in a vague sense due to being quasi-spirits themselves.  She felt something and investigated.  Isn’t she such a good girl?”

 As I watched, Raine looked around, seeming confused as she blinked from one spot to another as if searching for something.

 “Does that mean she’s aware of Regina?” I questioned, wondering if I should have talked to Raine.

 Nodding and smiling, Aaliyah said, “Sure, in a very ill-defined sense.  Raine’s attached to her skin and has barely, barely ever touched her power, so her senses are a bit dull compared to what they could be.  Don’t worry.  We’ll get her there eventually.”

 “How strong is she?” questioned Alma.

 “Before I killed her father, she was the third strongest of her kind.  Now she’s second!  The first will die fighting Lilly’s mother, so then Raine gets her promotion.” replied Aaliyah.

 “Yes-yes.  I remember that she’s eventually the strongest, but what could she do?” pursued my wife.

 Aaliyah shrug and said, “Create a small planet with some effort.  Nothing much.”

 To Aaliyah, that really was negligible.  Compared with Alma and I, creating a planet was a completely different level.

 “Nah.  Remember your older selves!?  They’ve totally created a planet for fun.  Moons too!  Took them quite a while, but you two eventually manage!  Creating life on the planet was beyond you without stepping into your mostest favoritest room in your house, but I nudged some things.” explained Aaliyah with a wide grin.

 “I’m sure we were… grateful.” suggested Alma as she glanced at me with a mischievous expression.

 “You were!  Not at all how you’re thinking.” insisted Aaliyah as she pretended to sulk.  Then she grinned and said, “Come on!  Let’s see the others.”

 We followed, gliding along behind her.

 In the ballroom, we watched Brandon and Brenna argue with one another over who got the last lemon tart as Kayla snagged it.  Jemal chewed his sister out as she chewed the first bite, claiming one had been enough.  Raine was in there now, talking with Emma about types of armor she could make.

 Jarod was exercising in the twins’ gym, practicing that lethal style with Mila.  Ai and Mai were in their war room.  Ai was drafting plans for some type of microchip while Mai argued on the phone with someone.

 Dejon was reading a book of poetry in my first floor library, alone again.

 “He told you that he likes quiet.  Don’t worry so much, boss-man, sir.” insisted Aaliyah.  “Dejon’s as happy sitting there as the others goofing around.  Writing poetry just happens to be a hobby of his.  You should go to one of his readings when you’re back.  He thinks about inviting everyone off and on, but he always talks himself out of it.”

 A couple rooms down, Marco was chatting with Mila about what to cook for tomorrow, saying they needed something exciting to cheer everyone up.

 “Is something wrong?” I asked.  “No one really seemed down to me.”

 “You can’t feel them like you normally do at the moment, but they’re not quite up to normal.  Think of them as having a very mild withdrawal from your absence.” suggested Aaliyah.

 “Great.  I must have forgotten that I’m a drug.” I replied, surprised when I could feel Alma lean against me.

 “Portentia’s out on a job.  Iris is with her family.  Let’s go see Regina!” exclaimed Aaliyah.

 Alma seemed to tense but followed along.  When we reached the pond, Regina’s spirit drifted to us, embracing me instantly.  On my other side, I could feel Alma was even more tense.

 “Relax!  Regina likes you too.” suggested Aaliyah.

 “Why isn’t she saying anything?” questioned Alma.

 Aaliyah brushed the questioned aside as she said, “Doesn’t remember English.  Spirits don’t tend to retain much knowledge of their lives.  There are exceptions, of course, but relax!”

 “She seems to remember James just fine.” stated Alma blandly.

 “He’s not easy to forget, but you know why she does, though there’s no need to be jealous.  I mean, if you really want to talk with her, sure, but you won’t like the conversation either.”

 Alma acted as if she was taking a deep breath before saying, “But why must she be here?”

 “To her, this is heaven.  I like to grant the reasonable requests of wonderful people.”

 “This is reasonable?” questioned Alma as she gestured to Regina.

 “Sure.  She didn’t request to be reincarnated here with Lilly-like powers, now did she?  I’ve created alternate universes for people, so this really was nothing.” insisted Aaliyah.

 Alma shrugged and said, “I… Well, I suppose I’m still acclimating to different views than those I was taught.”

 “You’re not the only one.” I assured her.

 Aaliyah separated Regina from me and brought us to visit Alma’s home in the U.K. next.  Then she took us on a general tour of the world, telling us about various famous deaths and the afterlives of said people.  Time seemed to alter, given that we were always arriving during the day.  Perhaps Aaliyah was showing us that life happened, death happened, and we were privileged in knowing more than most?  If this was a reminder that my daughter would eventually die, I didn’t need it.

 “You can still talk with people after they’re dead, boss-man, sir.  Unlike most people, you two don’t have to miss anyone that’s died.  Take comfort in that fact.” she replied, smiling as she stared at me.

 I could understand that I’d be able to spend time with my daughter a thousand years after she died, but having an infinite amount of time with her later didn’t mean I couldn’t miss her now.  I found myself smiling as I thought about how silly Dani would find this one day.

[bestfriendforhire]

Entry 367

 “Hi, Jemal.  What can I do for you today?” I inquired as he nervously stepped into my office.

 “Well, umm… You see… Kayla has these friends she adores, and they really want a sleepover.  Here.” he told me, fidgeting.

 “Please, sit down.  No need to stand.  We’re friends.” I assured him.

 He nodded and quickly blurted “I know that’s probably out of the question, but I promised Kayla that I’d ask you.”

 “Her friends are beginning to have doubts about where she lives?” I inquired on a hunch.

 He stared at me with his mouth hanging open, purposefully shut it and shrugged.  “Yeah, pretty much.  Knowing Kayla, she… well… She might say more than she should at times.”

 “If she says what can be publicly known, I wouldn’t be surprised if not everyone believes her.” I pointed out.  “Our home isn’t precisely normal.”

 “Yeah… that’s true.” he admitted.

 “As for the sleepover, I don’t see a problem.  Any idea on when?” I asked.

 Hesitating, Jemal said, “Umm…”

 “Master, I believe tomorrow would work for everyone.” suggested Mila.  “None of Kayla’s friends seem to have weekend appointments as far as I can find, and I’ll gladly provide transport with the limousine while chaperoning.  Mind if I check with Kayla, Jemal?”

 “W-What?  Tomorrow?  I uhh…” he started.  “Don’t I have a couple jobs tomorrow?”

 “Yes, which is one of the reasons I offered to provide transport.  Here is my suggested schedule.” she informed him, displaying it on the wall.

 Jemal would be dropped off for his job.  Mila would then pick the girls up from school fifty minutes later, take them shopping for a couple hours, and collect Jemal before returning home for dinner.  He’d then take himself for his next job while Mila entertained the girls with a movie in the theater, games, or other options depending on whether or not some of our friends decide to join.

 “You know Dani will want to participate if Kayla’s fine with it.” I stated with an amused smile.

 Jemal looked from the display to me and said, “I feel like I should be saying something about not letting them snack too much, but I think Marco would be disappointed if there was a party without his cooking.”

 “Glad to see that you’ve got a good handle on things here.”

 He nodded and said, “Seems fine by me.  Are you sure you want to take up time watching them for me?”

 “Are you sure you don’t mind a one-year-old watching them?” teased Mila.

 “If that bothers you, I could stop in and make sure my daughter’s behaving.” I offered.

 Looking a little worried, Jemal said, “Umm… no offense, boss, but is that even a good idea?  Wouldn’t they… well…”

 “I’m sure my magic wouldn’t bother them nearly as much as Dani’s complaints if I were to pop in.” I assured him.

 “Okay, but uh… about the shopping.  I doubt their parents would appreciate me asking them to bring money, so got an estimate on how much this will cost me?  What type of shopping are you planning?”

 “Makeover kits, some clothes, and that sort of thing.  Don’t worry.  The company’s party budget barely gets touched thanks to our resources, so I’m allocating a little for this.” she explained.

 “We have a party budget!?” inquired Jemal in surprise.

 “Yes, that was raised to fifty million per year.  The party budget is also used to cover company vacations and such, so I really ought to make sure we spend more of it this year.  Let me know if there is somewhere you’d like to vacation.” I told him, imagining how he’d react if he knew that wasn’t even a drop in the bucket compared to some of the other planets where my company thrived.

 He was already slack-jawed and staring at me.

 “I know.  Our excursion to France barely touched it.  We’ll have to plan at least one long vacation as well as some more little trips.”

 “B-but how!?” exclaimed Jemal.  “I mean… how can our budget be that big!?”

 “Jemal, we receive more than that per month from our holdings in Global Princess Entertainment alone.  The shares in the Intergalactic House of Awesome Sauce easily cover the party budget as well.  I can assure you that this business is very secure financially.” explained Mila.

 “Shouldn’t more of that be going to James?” asked Jemal.

 “I have plenty.  You’ll be seeing a substantial amount from profit sharing at the end of the year, so smile and enjoy the company benefits.

 He nodded and asked “Does everyone know this?”

 “Probably not.  Alma and I are the only ones who bother reading Mother’s memos regularly, but all employees can easily access financial information concerning them on the company site or by asking me.  You should know that I’m always happy to assist if there is any confusion.” insisted Mila.

 “I do.  I just…  Ever wonder how some people manage to fit so much into their days?” he questioned.

 I shrugged and said, “Not anymore, but I did before.  Life can pull you ten thousand ways at once, so I thought lightening the load would be agreeable for everyone here.  Aaliyah and Mila are kind enough to make this possible.”

 “I still don’t get how such a tiny girl does so much.  Oh.  Think she’d want to join the sleepover?  She’s like twelve, right?” he asked.

 “Thirteen soon.  She was already on Kayla’s list.” stated Mila.

 Nodding, he said, “Right.  She really doesn’t look it.”

 “She never will.  Aaliyah has a condition that’ll keep her body young forever.” I told him, knowing most of my friends needed to have the same misconception I once had.

 “Oh.  Wow.  That’s… just wow.  She’ll look like that when she’s forty?” he inquired.

 “Without ever having aching joints or other pains from age.  There are certainly perks to her condition.” I replied.

 “But… think she’ll be okay without ever experiencing… uh… romance?” he asked.

 “I’m certain she’ll be fine.” I assured him.  “If you have nothing else to discuss, I probably should get back to work.”

 He nodded and said, “Oh.  Yeah.  Sorry, boss.”

 “No trouble.  We should have a chat more often.  I’ll see about scheduling it if you’d like.” I told him.

 “Really?  I mean, sure!” he exclaimed with a grin.  Then he gave me a wave before stepping out and shutting the door.

 I’d like to have a little one-on-one time time with each of my friends regularly.  I knew Aaliyah would give me the time.  With how much time I spent off world, I felt like I never saw anyone here enough.

[bffhreprise]

Entry 302

 Time passed as I stared at the ceiling, still trying to catch up with my world toppling me around yesterday.  Magic was real.  I had seen it in so very many forms.  Fairies existed.  I saw one, felt her projected thoughts in my mind, and had fallen without any knowledge that stopping my descent was effortless for these people, though Mila was the one who did the actual catching.  My memories were no longer certainties.  They could be altered or erased with a spell, and James would do that to me if ever I attempted to tell others.  I had no way of knowing if he had already cast a spell on me to tell him if I broke my word, but I was certain he would.

 Shuddering, I hugged one of the plump pillows against me.  Tall and exceptionally handsome, James had always carried himself with the rare certainty of someone accustomed to getting their way, but I saw a new side of him yesterday, a power in him that was frightening to behold.  Even if I could know of some magic he had been using, I wouldn’t be any less awed by the memory of that towering man speaking in a way that made his words seem as if he was forcing the universe to accept new laws.

 “Breakfast is already being served.” stated Mila from nearby.  She had spoken a while ago, warning me that breakfast would be ready soon.

 How long had I lay here lost in my thoughts?  “Coming!” I told her, my mind already checking to see if I was at risk of breaking contract in some way, but I knew I was being silly.  James didn’t care about whether or not I ate with everyone.  He was only protecting us…  I knew he was trying to protect me as well, though I wasn’t certain from what.  How did I know?  What had he said to give me that impression?

 I left the soft bed behind, wandering through the halls on autopilot as my mind still attempted to find logic in the chaos of yesterday.  I had known this place was incredible after the first visit.  The people here had all seemed intelligent, educated, and… confident, few rooms hosted as many people with absolute confidence.  Having magic surely helped bolster their confidence, but I suspected some of it came from having James as a boss.  With him backing them—my eyes looked from the soft, highly-decorated carpet to the paintings to the ceilings—there was an incredible amount of wealth, and it was meaningless next to the power of these people.  Even Brandon had magic, and he still struck me as the most normal, approachable one of the lot.

 Despite the great length of the halls here, I arrived before I was mentally prepared, hearing voices just ahead.

 “... get you out there more quickly if you want.” came James’ voice.

 “No-no.  Thank you, but I’m actually liking it.  I know how to build most of a house from scratch now.  This is pretty cool.” replied Jemal, sounding nervous.

 James sounded amused as he said, “Some of us do a fair amount of that type of work.  The wages vary greatly, but you’ll hopefully always be entertained by the diversity of work here.”

 Jemal’s mouth snapped shut as I stepped into the room.  For him, I obviously wasn’t one of them yet.  Could I ever be without magic of my own?  Maybe.  Jarod supposedly didn’t have magic, though his inventions might as well be from my perspective.  “That smells amazing.” I admitted aloud to break the silence.

 Marco smiled and nodded toward me.

 “Here’s one for you!” exclaimed Kayla, skipping over to me and handing a card to me.

 “Wow.  Thank you!  This is pretty amazing.” I assured her, completely shocked at the three-dimensional heart portrayed on it.  A piece of candy was attached, reminding me today was Valentine’s Day.  “I’ll try the chocolate later.” I told her, not wanting to be even an ounce filled up before eating Marco’s cooking.

 Kayla grinned at me before running to Jarod and the twin sisters as they entered the room.  James hadn’t lied about not knowing which was which.  I had seen identical twins before, but every hair on their heads seemed to match.  The two seemed as delighted as I had felt about the cards, but my eyes were quickly drawn elsewhere as a clear image of pancake at the end of a fork entered my mind.

 I quickly looked around but was too late to catch the fairy grabbing her target, only seeing her after she was already expressing her joy at the stolen chunk of pancake nearly as large as her.  “Does she eat here often?” I questioned, surprised that she was inside.

 “Yay!  The fairy!” exclaimed Kayla, bouncing on her feet.

 No one had to speak to answer my question.  The tiny fairy was showing me countless meals on which she had dined here, and I understood her excitement completely as she shared the sensation of each mouthful.  Then a questioning feeling came to me as the fairy recognized that Kayla was trying to hand something to her.  Suddenly, she dropped the bit of remaining pancake to dive at the chocolate on the card, biting the wrapper as soon as she arrived.  Spitting that out with distaste, her feelings returned to joy as she teeth met the dark substance underneath.  The rest of the foil was quickly torn away, so she could hug the chocolate with both arms as she continued to devour it.

 Before I could express concern over whether that was safe for her, Marco proclaimed “One day, I will a get her to use her plate.  Then I will a make the most amazing fairy food.”  As he spoke, he had glanced at a dollhouse that had previously seemed out-of-place in a kitchen.  Now I understood.

 “I have no doubts.” stated James with a small smile as he looked to his chef.

 My hand brushed over the baggy clothes, reminding me of what I was wearing before I had managed to find a seat.  “I should go change.” I muttered aloud, half-hoping they’d tell me not to worry about it, though every Kayla was dressed for the day.

 “Change!?” questioned Emma from behind me.  “You’re perfectly adorable as you are!”

 “Happy birthday!” exclaimed numerous people behind me.

 “Thank you!” she replied with a big grin.

 “It’s your birthday?” I verified, feeling embarrassed that I hadn’t known.  What was being born on Valentine’s Day like?

 “Yep!  So kisses for everyone!” she insisted, pulling me down slightly as she got on her toes and kissed my cheek.

 I stared at her dumbfounded, not sure how to react as she immediately moved to Jemal, gracefully dodging his hand to kiss his forehead.

 Moving onto James, she said, “Pucker up, man-slave!”

 “Don’t you dare.” stated Lady Alma sourly.

 Emma’s grin suggested she would dare as she wrapped her arms around James’ neck.  Then she kissed the top of his head.  “Kayla!  Kisses!”

 Kayla stretched as tall as she could with her cheek raised toward Emma.  As soon as Emma had kissed her cheek, Kayla was handing her a card.

 “It’s adorable!  I’ll keep it forever!” promised Emma as she hugged Kayla.

 “You’re welcome!” replied Kayla, looking perfectly proud.

 Emma danced over to Alma, kneeling down as she took her hand, kissing it.  “Were I to try for your cheeks, I’d surely hit your lips.” she teased.

 Alma’s lips twitched ever so slightly as she rolled her eyes.

 “Good morning.  Am I missing something?” came Cosette, entering the room from the other door.

 “You’re next!” exclaimed Emma, looking ready to jump at her.  “My birthday is a global kissing day!”

 “Careful, I’m said to have a very deep kiss.” replied Cosette, opening her mouth wide.  Her fangs elongated to at least an inch.

 Forgetting myself, I swore as I stepped back, dumbly pointing at the vampire.

 “Sorry.  I guess we didn’t inform you that I’m a vampire yet.” apologized Cosette, nodding at me.

 My feeble brain recognized the concern in her eyes and only then realized that I was still pointing.  I quickly lowered my arm before asking “Vampires are real!?”

 “And so cute too!” insisted Emma just before grabbing Cosette’s head, turning it, and kissing her full on the lips.

 “That wasn’t my cheek.” pointed out Cosette with a smirk.

 My eyes were fixed on her perfectly white teeth, expecting the fangs to reappear at any moment.

 With a shrug, Emma said, “I miss at times.”  Then she danced over to the twins, stopping only when the fairy flew over to kiss her cheek.  “Thank you!  Looks like she understands the day!” exclaimed Emma gleefully as she watched the fairy dart around to kiss every cheek.

 “You’re a terrible influence.” stated Alma.

 “Should I give everyone kisses too?” questioned Kayla.

 “Yes!” exclaimed Emma immediately.

 At the same time, Jemal said, “No!”

 “But Jemal…” complained Kayla, the disappointment adorably plain in her voice.

 “Get it over with.” stated one of the twins as she moved her hair out of the way for Emma.

 Emma kissed her cheek immediately and then moved to kiss Jarod.

 “Ah!  Not my neck!” complained the other twin after Emma had pretended to be going for her cheek before dipping after he neck.

 “Sorry.  Cosette inspired me.” teased Emma with a big grin.

 “Sounds extra lively today.  What’s for breakfast?” questioned Brandon, finally arriving.

 “You are!” exclaimed Emma, literally jumping several yards at him.

 He dodged, staring at her in confusion.

 “Fine.  Hand then.” stated Emma, grabbing his hand and kissing it.  Then she giggled as he looked even more bewildered.

 “Wait.  Were you going to kiss me?  Like kiss me, kiss me?” he asked with clear disappointment.

 “Easy there.” I warned him, staring up at him.

 “What?  I was just asking!” he insisted, though his face told another story.  We were going to have to work on his poker face.

 “Where’s Portentia hiding?” asked Emma hopefully.

 “I’m walking towards you with her at the moment.” replied Mila.

 “Which door?” questioned Emma with a grin.

 Mila briefly appeared on a mirror next to the door where I had entered, winking and vanishing just after.  Emma moved into position.  The moment Portentia reached the door, Emma sprang around it to embrace her, kissing her just after.

 “What was that for?” asked Portentia in surprise.

 “My birthday!  Kisses for everyone!” explained Emma, grinning again.

 Portentia nodded as if that made perfect sense.  “I see.”

 I quickly found myself wondering if I would ever grow that accustomed to the endless oddities here.  Deciding not to bother changing, I took a seat next to Brandon at the enormous table.  The food was every bit as amazing this time as before, though I mentally questioned whether the fairy had better taste buds than me.  I was certain this was the same type of pancake, but through her thoughts, everything seemed exaggerated to me.  In time, I’d learn.  I always did.  I just needed to take things one step at a time.

[stop-killing-my-goat]

I Thought You’d Never Ask, Chapter 2

“Hey Nico, I’m home!” Hazel called as she opened the door. She slung her bag off her shoulder. “Wanna watch the new Doctor Who?” There was no answer. She frowned. Usually when he was going out, he texted her or left a note to let her know. As she set her keys on the counter, Nico emerged from the hallway with a wild and slightly disoriented look in his eyes.

“Hazel! What are you doing home at—“ he looked at the clock. “Oh, it’s 4:30 already?” She looked at him, worried.

“Are… you alright?” his focus snapped back to her.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I mean yes. I think so. No, definitely. I’m good.”

“Nico, what the hell is going on?” he took a deep breath.

“I, umm… I have a date tonight. With Will.”

Hazel dropped her bag in shock. She stared at her half-brother for a second before squealing and hugging him.

“Oh my god Nico! When? How? Where? What–” she paused to regain her composure.

“Tell me everything.”

They sat down on the couch and Nico recounted everything that had happened that morning as Hazel sat, enthralled. When he got to the part about how Will had asked him out, she rolled her eyes.

“You are such a clueless dork!” He shot her a look. “What? You are! He’s been flirting with you all this time and you never picked up on it? How thick can you be?”

Nico grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. “Give me a break Hazel! Reading guys has never been my strong point.” She shrugged.

“That’s the truth. So what are you going to be doing tonight? Did he say?”

“All he said was that he would cook dinner.” Hazel grinned.

“He’s cooking for you? That’s sooo romantic!” Nico grimaced.

“Yeah, well. I don’t know what to say or do on a date. I haven’t exactly been on many of these. I’m kind of freaking out here Hazel, what if I mess this up?” Hazel put her hand on his shoulder.

“Look, he obviously likes you, or he wouldn’t have asked you out in the first place. Just be yourself and try not to overthink it. You’re a sweet guy, big brother, you’ll be fine.”

Two hours later, he certainly didn’t feel fine. It felt like a colony of butterflies had set up shop in his stomach. He knocked on the door to Will’s apartment. After a few seconds, the blond opened the door, smiling that wonderful smile at him.

“You’re early!” exclaimed Will. But he didn’t sound upset to Nico, more surprised and maybe even happy. That was a good sign, right?

Oh, crap I’m going to ruin this.

“Yeah I, umm, I thought maybe I could help you cook?”

This was a bad idea, abort abort abort ABORT—

 “Sure! I mean, there’s not much to do, but you can chop the vegetables while I start cooking the chicken. We’re having fajitas.” Will opened the door wide and ushered him in.

“Do you want a beer?” asked Will as he walked Nico over to the kitchen. “I was just about to get myself one.”

“Yeah, I’d love one.” Will opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles. He popped the caps off and handed one to Nico.

“Thanks.” Nico took a long sip of the beer and set it on the counter. Then he grabbed a knife and set to work chopping the vegetables that Will had sitting on the counter. It was nice having a simple, repetitive task to keep him busy, so he could zone out and stop thinking himself to death. He quickly finished off the peppers and started in on the onion. Will’s voice pulled him out of his reverie.

“Wow, you work fast!” Nico shrugged in response and kept chopping.

“You know I do this for a living, right?” he cut the last of the onion and picked up the cutting board. “Let me know when you’re ready for these.”

Will appraised the chicken in the pan. “Now is fine.” Nico tipped the board and let the vegetables slide off, sizzling as they hit the pan. He inhaled deeply.

“Oh, that smells good.” Will grinned.

“Thanks, it’s a friend’s recipe. I got him to teach it to me a few weeks ago and decided this was the perfect chance to try it out.”

They passed the minutes as the food cooked talking kitchen tips and stories. Once it was ready, they took it to the table and ate, making conversation about their families and where they came from. Nico learned about Will’s siblings, Austin and Kayla, and about their childhood out in California. He found himself talking about his childhood, hopping from private school to private school with Hazel and his big sister Bianca. He told Will about how he had learned to speak Italian from his mother, a Venetian immigrant, and watched Will’s eyes light up as he heard about Nico’s trips to Italy. He told Will things that only the people who knew him best knew. After dinner, Will led him out the fire escape and up onto the roof. When they got there, Will had a blanket laid out on the ground.

“Will, what are we doing up here?” asked Nico. The blond smiled and lay down on the blanket.

“I like to come up here at night to just look at the night sky. I thought you might enjoy it up here too. It’s a great place to come to get away.” He motioned for Nico to join him. Nico sat down next to Will and carefully stretched out beside him.

“It does seem very peaceful.” He tensed slightly as the blond’s fingers found his own, but he forced himself to relax and accept the contact. It was… nice.

“Yeah. I love to come up here and just look up, try to count the stars, find the constellations. Looking at all that up there, really just reminds you how small the problems we have down here are.” There was just a tinge of sadness in his voice. Hearing it made Nico feel overcome by a desire to make the sadness go away. Surely if anyone deserved happiness, it was Will. He shifted a little closer to the other boy and gave his hand a squeeze.

“Want to talk about it?” Will turned to look at him and Nico found himself getting lost in those beautiful blue eyes. Will shook his head and smiled at Nico.

“It’s nothing. Just, thinking about my patients at the hospital. I have a hard time accepting that you can’t save everyone, you know?”

“Yeah. I know what that’s like, to have a hard time letting go.” Will gave him a sympathetic look and moved his head to lie on Nico’s shoulder. They sat together like that in comfortable silence for a while, but it felt like the time that passed had no meaning. It could have been an hour or a minute; there was no way to tell in that moment. After some time, Will spoke up.

“I’m really glad we finally did this, Nico. I just wish one of us had decided to say something earlier.”

Nico smiled up at the stars. “It was worth the wait, though.” He worked up his courage before he could think twice about it and turned to the blond on his shoulder, kissing him deeply. After a few seconds of pure heaven, he pulled back and looked deep into Will’s eyes. The blond seemed startled but he was grinning ear to ear. Nico realized that he was smiling just as wide. He kind of liked the feeling.

“I’m not waiting any longer though.” Will rolled his eyes and slipped his free hand around onto the back of Nico’s neck.

“Shut up and kiss me again, you idiot.”

[topicprinter]

Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Summer Pierce of the POP IT PAL, a pimple popping simulator toy.Some stats:Product: Pimple Popping SimulatorRevenue/mo: $53,675Started: January 2018Location: MonroeFounders: 4Employees: 4Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?My name is Summer Pierce. I’m the Co-Owner, Co-Inventor along with my husband Bill Pierce who is the CEO & Co-Inventor of the product known as the POP IT PAL! Billy and I are from Monroe, Michigan and have been together since we were teenagers and have been married for 15 years. Together we have 3 beautiful, amazing children. We are just your normal hard working family who had an idea for a new product that had never been created before. We decided not to sit on our idea, but to act on it. We wanted to teach/show our children that if you have an idea, you should go for it and make it happen no matter what obstacles come your way.We started our company Unique Obsessions, LLC along Billy’s cousin Kayla Roof VP of Marketing & Sales and her husband Collin Roof VP of Engineering & Logistics.We sell the POP IT PAL which comes in 3 versions peach, brown & glitter edition. We also sell our Pimple Pus and Glitter edition Pimple Pus. The Pop it Pal is the world's first ever pimple popping simulator!We have a broad range of customers that range from 5 years old and up. Some of our customers purchase the POP IT PAL for a gag gift, a fidget toy, just a toy to play with and then we also have customers who have a skin picking condition called Dermatillomania.The POP IT PAL for these customers serves a different purpose. I have received multiple emails from numerous customers who suffer from this disorder.They have told me how this product has changed their life. As the person who came up with this idea, to hear them say that really touches my heart. For me to think I had an idea for a product that my husband was able to bring to life has made a difference in other people's lives makes me feel as though, just maybe I’ve helped make a difference in this crazy world we live in.After launching our website on January 19th, 2018 we ended up going viral within the first two weeks of selling our product online. We did over $100,000.00 in sales within 8 days and almost 200k in February 2018 the second month since we launched. We never imagined that we would go viral or that we would end up on season 10 of Shark Tank, The Today Show, The Doctor’s and Pickler & Ben! We’ve done many Radio Show interviews and have had over 50 articles written about us through different magazines and online articles! We definitely never would’ve imagined that BuzzFeed, Forbes, Fast Company, Cosmopolitan, Aol. and Yahoo News would’ve wrote stories about us! We’ve had over 50 million views worldwide.Fast Company actually dubbed us “the next fidget spinner”. I’ll never forget opening up my browser to Aol.com and seeing my product on the front page. It was AMAZING to say the least.What it looks likeWhat's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?The idea came to me while my husband Billy and I were driving. As we were driving down the I75 on our way back from seeing a sick relative, we were bouncing different business ideas off of one another like we’d done many many times in the past. When all of a sudden I said to Billy what if we could make a pimple that actually popped like a real pimple? Just like the video’s we watch on YouTube?Billy instantly looked at me and said I think I can make that! I immediately searched all over the internet to see if there was anything like this that existed. I couldn’t find anything at all. That’s when I grabbed a pen and paper and we started thinking what it would look like, what could we make the pimple pus out of, what to name the product & our business.Billy and I have been together since I was 14 and him 17. As far back as I can remember we have always talked about owning our own business or inventing a product one day. Every time we would have an idea I would look it up and it would be taken. I wanted to be original. I didn’t want to bite off someone else’s idea. So it took years to finally think of something that wasn’t yet created, but we were determined.I’m a Licensed Practical Nurse and I have always loved gross things like picking pimples. My husband Billy has his Associates in Business Management and a background in Managing Production Manufacturing, but he loves gross things just as much as I do.Anytime either one of us gets a pimple the other person will spot it and it’s all over. Whoever has the pimple is now laying down with a spotlight over them and the other person has the pimple popping tool in hand, ready to get at it!At the time we created this product we had just moved to South Carolina, Billy had taken a position with Samsung and since we had moved somewhere we knew nobody, we didn’t have help with the kids.Since we didn’t have family to help with the kids I was not working any longer. I really wanted to find a way to contribute financially. When I had the idea for the Pop it Pal I had done a google search and could not find anything anywhere like it at all. So I knew at that moment that this would be something that had never been invented yet. At that time though I really had no idea what the public would think of it.I wasn’t sure if people would be totally disgusted or intrigued and interested in it. We built it with the intention of starting a business, but we had no idea if it would sell or not. The day that we went viral is a day we will never forget. At that moment when my phone was sending me notifications (making a cha-ching noise when we make a sale) one every 1 -2 minutes sometimes less, I had a realization.I thought to myself... wow! We went from not knowing how it would be perceived to selling one every 1-2 minutes! I was overcome with happiness, joy, thankfulness and I was scared to death. We had no manufacturing set up. We made everything by hand, down to making the pus, filling the pimple pus bottles and having to hand-label everything. At that time we had only 70 made up ahead! That first day we went viral we made $13,050.00.We were so excited but what were we going to do? We instantly started with good customer service and were honest and upfront with our customers letting them know that we were on a six week wait.Thankfully, they were very nice and understanding. It took us from that day which was February 2, 2018 until May 15th 2018 to get off the six-week wait. Thank God for family! My parents, as well as Billy’s parents, dropped what they were doing to drive down immediately and help us. Two of my sisters were able to come as well as one of Billy’s sisters and her husband and our niece.Billy and I were so appreciative of everyone's help. While we were working hard making, filling, packaging and shipping the orders, Kayla was handling everything else and her husband Collin was hard at work looking for a manufacturer.Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.DesigningWhen designing this product, my husband Billy had to think of what would feel the most realistic.We found that medical grade silicone was definitely best! Although expensive, it was worth the money, because other types of silicone doesn’t have a realistic feel and were too hard.The first prototype was made from a small wooden box, with little wooden sticks glued to the lid. Billy poured the silicone in the box, put the lid on it and waited on it to finish curing. Once it was finished curing in order to get the silicone out of the box he had to actually break the box because the silicone wouldn’t peel out.Some images of early prototypes:1234Once we had it out of the box we put candle wax inside, but when we tried to squeeze it, it wouldn’t work correctly. It didn’t have that pop and the wax was hard. Billy then started doing some research on what does the human pore look like… he found out it’s kind of similar to a teardrop. We loaded up the family and went to hobby lobby. We found these tiny footballs that you can string on a necklace or bracelet. We also bought a plastic pencil holder with a lid.He was able to drill holes into the lid, put the wooden sticks through the holes and hot glue the footballs to the end of the sticks. Billy then poured the silicone into the plastic pencil holder and placed the lid on top. When that was finished we were trying to think what can we make the Pimple Pus out of? We tried boiling flaxseed which turned into some sort of clear snot mixture that we attempted to drain off but didn’t work.Then a few days later while Billy was applying chapstick he said the idea just came to him. Chapstick melts when you apply it but stays formed when in the applicator. He looked up the ingredients of chapstick and found that a lot of them use beeswax. But we needed the beeswax to be thinner so it would come out of our pore he had made.We started looking at oils, I went to the store and picked up regular cooking oil and seen on the back that it may contain peanuts! I knew with the amount of people with peanut allergies that kind of oil wouldn’t work. Then I saw Olive Oil and it was only made by pressing olives so there was nothing that was harmful about it. When I got home Billy took the beeswax and olive oil and melted them together. Billy then used a dropper to put the oil/wax mixture inside the fake pores he had made. He let it sit for a couple minutes and then I heard Summer!!! Summer! I did it! I’m thinking there's no way because we had been working on it for so long now. He brought it over to me and had me squeeze it and it WORKED! He had done it!We did it but would people really like it? We weren’t sure so we decided to contact some close friends and family members. We collected 8 of our closest friends and family members addresses and sent them out. We asked our friends and family to give us their honest opinions. Every single one of them said they loved it!PackagingNow that we had our product we needed to package it. I went out and bought cellophane bags, cellophane clear wrap to wrap the POP IT PAL’S in, bottles to put the Pimple Pus in and droppers to put inside each package.While Kayla was working on writing the directions, I went and bought stickers to use as labels on the Pimple Pus bottles and on the outside of the cellophane bag to seal the packaging. Once we had everything we needed, Billy would build the POP IT PAL, I would then fill them with PIMPLE PUS, I would cut the rolls of clear cellophane and wrap each Pop it Pal in it. I would then put the Pop it Pal inside the cellophane bag along with 1 bottle of our hand filled & hand labeled Pimple Pus, 1 filling tool and the folded directions.Building the websiteNow when we contacted Kayla Roof who has her MBA once we had the prototype for made, she asked us “What platform are you guys selling on?” Billy and I looked at each other and said what the heck is a platform!? We had no clue and we had no clue on how to create a website… I had been attempting to create one for days and was seriously struggling.Thankfully Kayla took over and built an amazing website. We spoke with Kayla and her husband Collin Roof who has his Masters in Mechanical Engineering that night and asked if they would like to be apart of this business/journey with us to which they happily accepted! Now that we had this product with good feedback from family and friends we needed to protect it and it’s name. The day that we had a working prototype was December 26th, 2017. We immediately that day we filed for our patent.Going viralThen on January 19th 2018, we launched our Facebook and website and within 2 weeks and $35 in facebook ads I received a private message from LAD Bible asking if they could share the video. I had no idea who LAD Bible was so I got on our group text with the 4 of us and said hey these people by the name of LAD Bible want to know if they can share the video.Kayla immediately said umm YES! We gave LAD Bible permission that day to share the video. About an hour after hearing from LAD Bible we started getting more and more social media sites asking if they could use the video and add GIF’s to them. We, of course, said yes.Here’s an example of one of the videos that went viral.As soon as the social media sites started sharing the videos, the sales started coming in! Our apartment then turned into a full-time manufacturing facility with family members coming down from Michigan to help us lol!Following our first viral video, we did over 100k in 8 days! At this time and up until December 2018 we have been making them by hand! We hand built over 10k POP IT PALS in that year! We were on a 6-week wait and thankfully our customers were very nice and understanding. We were just normal people making a handmade product out of our house. Family and friends came down to South Carolina to help us build, fill and package the POP IT PALS.Since there had never been a toy like this made before there was no mold for what we were doing. We contacted a management company who helped us find a manufacture overseas. The mold had to be made, once the mold was made our manufacture would send us samples which took about 3 separate times before we finally had a product that we felt was as good as the one we hand built. This process took 10 months start to finish.To initially start this business it took $7,500.00 out of pocket. That was for silicone and start up items. Once we went viral the money was made back! We were able to use the funds that the business made and pay for the patents, lawyer fees, packaging design, trademarks and manufacturing start up.Our 1st packagingOur 2nd packagingOur newest PackagingLessons learnedDuring those first 2 weeks before we went viral Billy and I would sit on the couch and watch the traffic on our website through Shopify. We would see a person get on, then they would start a cart then all of a sudden they would leave. We would be like no!!! Why didn’t they buy lol! We were so new and nobody had heard of us, they didn’t know if we were legit or not.Lessons learned from the start up process would be once you have your prototype made do some research and find potential manufactures before you start selling your product. That way if your product does very well you know exactly where to go to start producing it on a mass scale.Another lesson would be is that Amazon is huge, people love to buy from their site. As a seller, actually selling your product on Amazon can be very aggravating. I say this because before we became entrepreneurs I would order from Amazon and never actually look at who was selling the products I was purchasing. Since starting the business we have learned if you don’t have a full patent (not just pending) or trademark (brand registered on Amazon) people can hijack your listing and sell counterfeit versions of your product. So as people are buying from what “they think” is your listing because everything looks the same, you have to read the fine print to know who your buying from. When the buyers receive their orders which have the same name as your product, product can look the same but may be inferior to yours in many ways. The buyer will either assume this was the real thing and give you a bad review or they will recognize that it is a counterfeit and leave a review saying YOU are selling a counterfeit product. You as the seller will then call Amazon and tell them what’s going on and they will do nothing to help you, if you do not have a patent or registered trademark.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?We have found that social media, the ads you can create has been the best way for us to attract and retain customers. You can create a video of how your product works or show someone else using the product and enjoying themselves.There are many different tools for creating videos. A really good one is Animoto which allows you to create videos that look professional and you can use them to create an ad. You can add in different Gif’s, text, stickers and combine multiple videos.Also, being able to say As Seen On Shark Tank and that we’re invested in by Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful has also been a unique tool we’re able to use when advertising.It’s amazing how you can target the people who you know are buying or interested in buying your product. The power of social media is huge. It took us from selling 1, 2 or 3 a day to in one day making over 27 thousand dollars!Shark TankOur Shark Tank experience was honestly amazing. Shark Tank is a huge T.V. show! We have watched Shark Tank for years and so have my parents who watch is religiously.In February of 2018 a producer of Shark Tank contacted us, he had seen the article that Fast Company wrote about the Pop it Pal. He said if we wanted to apply to the show that the deadline was in March or April.We, of course, wanted to apply. We were beyond ecstatic when we found out that we had made it onto the show! Everyone who is involved with the t.v. show was so very nice. We will never forget walking out and pitching to the Sharks. We were, of course, nervous but we nailed the pitch!We had been practicing for months so that we hopefully wouldn’t mess it up. I told Billy that next to having our children that going on Shark Tank was the coolest most amazing thing we’ve ever done.How are you doing today and what does the future look like?Unique Obsessions, LLC future is very exciting to think about. We have lots of ideas for new products and are currently in the process of our 2nd Unique Obsession. We’re very excited to be doing a product test run with Spencer’s!We have quite a few things working in the pipeline, we’re very excited to see what’s going to happen in the future.We are profitable, but we have learned that running a business is not easy. It takes time, money, hardwork and dedication. Often times I will be asleep and will hear my phone go off with either an email, social media message/comment or even a text. I will wake up out of a dead sleep and squint to see the message so I can respond right away.As business owners we want to be available for our customers at all times and while you’re asleep the other side of the world is awake and on the go. So as you lay in bed asleep someone else is awake and working just as hard as you are and it could be your competition.Our ultimate goal is to get into major retail stores and create all types of Unique Obsessions (new products). I have to say the day that I walk into a major retail store and see the product that Billy and I invented will be one of the happiest days of our lives and I will most definitely cry tears of joy!Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?Since starting the business we have learned that a pending patent or trademark really does not help you at all. Until your patent has been fully issued or your trademark has been fully registered other people throughout the world can copy your product and call it the same thing.About 60 days after we launched our product, we started seeing counterfeits. At first, I felt like someone had my child. It was devastating and I thought to myself this was my idea something my husband and I worked so hard on, to build and bring to life. Now there are people ripping us off!I’m not going to sugar coat it, it was hard and brought me to tears a few times. I would pray every night and ask God why is this happening? As a hardworking normal couple that invented a product it’s hard to take a look around and see the counterfeits out there making money on our hard work, our blood sweat and tears.Then it hit me.I’m looking at this the wrong way. Of course it sucks to watch people make money off your invention but if it wasn’t popular or something that was sought after, then they wouldn’t be making counterfeits!Now I choose to look at it as a compliment. Unfortunately, our patent is still pending, patents take a long time for approval. We send cease/desist letters to the people infringing on our pending patent and once it’s issued we will do what needs to be done. We let them know we will be taking further action when our patent is approved.Because it’s not ok for people to steal other people’s ideas. It took us years to come up with an original idea but we never stopped. We were always trying to think of an invention. If you put your mind to something, you can accomplish anything.What platform/tools do you use for your business?The platform we use is Shopify which has been awesome. Shopify has an app for your phone that will alert you when you make a sale. When someone purchases your product it will make a cha-ching sound which is fun to hear.The Shopify platform is very user-friendly and has many different reports such as your conversion rate, online store sessions by traffic source, sales by social source, average order value and total sales attributed to marketing campaigns just to name a few. The only thing I think that they should add is a scanning sheet.I fulfill and ship all of our orders through Shopify, eBay, and Etsy. I also use to fulfill all of our Amazon orders until we switched to FBA (which means Amazon fulfills the orders). When we started shipping hundreds of orders a day I remember the post office asking if we had a scanning sheet.A scanning sheet would include all of the orders that you are shipping that day and would allow the post office to just scan one barcode for all of the orders being shipped.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?We have always been huge fans of Shark Tank. So when the opportunity came about for us to be on the show, we jumped at the opportunity. Being apart of Shark Tank was such an amazing experience and thankfully we were able to land a deal with the one and only Kevin O’leary aka Mr. Wonderful! My husband and I really enjoy listening to Kevin O’leary’s Podcast Ask Mr. Wonderful. There is a lot of use information on his Podcast.Dr. Matthew Loop, DC is a Social Media Revenue Strategist is Billy’s Cousin and Kayla VP of Marketing & Sales Brother. He has also been very resourceful to us. When it comes to social media he’s an expert!Kayla Roof who is our VP of Marketing & Sales has her MBA. She is also a Business Advisor and creator of The Work from Anywhere Business Academy. She helps women create purpose-driven businesses that allow them to work from anywhere.Billy and I were very lucky that when we started this business we had family who had the knowledge, skills and schooling in marketing & sales which were skills that we lacked. I believe that’s why the four of us make such an awesome team. The four of us also have a strong Christian Faith and we know that whatever happens, happens for a reason. We want to somehow make a difference in this world. Part of our mission is to spread kindness into the world. Inspired by our daughters movement, we will be donating a portion of every sale to charities that support kindness and the anti-bullying movement.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?My advice for other entrepreneurs who would like to invent a product or start a business would be... If you have an idea or dream do not sit on it because if I can do this, anyone can! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. We’re all human and we learn from them.Growing up Billy and I both struggled in school. We were both in educational support classes, school was hard for us and we’re not ashamed to say that. Billy was determined to get his Associates in Business Management and I was determined to get my Nursing License.. At the time our three children were ages 1, 4 and 6 when Billy obtained his Associates and I went to Nursing School and received my Licensed Practical Nursing Degree.So if you’re reading this article and you struggled in school or feel you don’t have the skills and think to yourself there’s no way I could start a business or invent a product. I’m here to tell you that, YES YOU CAN. If I can do this anyone can. If you sit on your idea someone else will have the same idea and they will act on it.If you’re thinking of inventing a product or starting a business and you're not sure of what to do to get it started, please feel free to email me summer@popitpal.com. We want to see people succeed. If the journey and things we’ve learned along the way can help someone succeed, then we would be more than happy to help.Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?We’re looking for a Sales Rep that can help us achieve our goal of getting into the big box stores.Where can we go to learn more?popitpal.comSummer@popitpal.comIf you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM

[heliosfinance]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!)

‘Sup sup!

J. Money Claus here to spread the wealth, both literally and figuratively! ;)

Just spent three solid hours reading and responding to all the great entries from last week’s Christmas Stimulus giveaway (over 800+ comments!), and WOW was it fascinating! You guys are so freakin’ creative!! We had the usual “I’d pay down debts” or “I’d bank it/invest it” or “I’d give it all away to charity” responses of course, but I was blown away by the level of thought that a lot of you put into this too.

You’re good :)

But since I can’t give $100 to *everyone* who made me smile today (and also because I made this a *randomized* drawing vs hand-picking the winners), I wanted to showcase a lot of these gems I came across in case they help you with your OWN ideas for the upcoming holidays, but also just to show these commenters some love too. Perhaps the fame you get off it today will amount to more than $100 over time? I mean, this IS the most fantastic blog in the world, you know!

Before we get to all that though, let me announce the 5 people who DID win the contest so you’re not biting off all your nails and annoying your co-workers.

So drum roll please…. dum ditty dum ditty dum…

The 5 lucky winners of $100 a piece are:

Nicole P.

Maisie

Sarah P. 

Danny (Commenter #633)

Mike (Commenter #756)

Woo! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out to you on the side to get your money, and be sure to not be strangers the rest of the year as if this was some sort of Church where you only pop over on the “important” days ;) Free education is better than free money, damnit!!

Now to the fun ways to use $100 this holiday!

(Or really, any time – because why only be nice once a year?)

We’ll start with the ones that made me laugh the hardest, and then go down the list to those that were just clever as hell, and then finally right into the ones that make you say, “awwwwww….”

Runners up to the people who mentioned: Chuck E. Cheese’s, doorbells, monks, manatees, accordions, tacos, sensory deprivation tanks (?), pickles, cabin escapes, tequila, fruit roll-ups, marijuana stock, escape rooms, “dutch ovens” (hah!), lunch tables, baseball cards, greenhouses, livestock water troughs, and finally to the one who almost made me spit out my coffee with their “Careergasm courses” line, haha… *goes to turn browser on “private” mode*

Now to the ones we’re paying in fame:

*******

The Prankster

I’d take it to the bank and ask for all quarters, and then take the quarters and glue them to the sidewalk and sit on my porch with my phone filming all the kids so excited to see 400 quarters on the ground, and then me laughing at them because they can’t pick them up.

Then I’d start a YouTube channel with my daily videos and take my millions of dollars from my massive subscriber growth and buy a cabin up in the mountains and buy all the turtles from pet stores to start training them to fight terrorism and then set them free all around the world. – Lance

*******

The Jeffersonian

First I would ask to be paid in $2 bills! Then I would stack those Jefferson’s as high as they would go and just admire them a bit. Then I would hop on my electric bike and head downtown handing them out to anyone in need, ending up at my favorite watering hole with just three of them left. I would then order my favorite IPA and drop my last three Jefferson’s on the unsuspecting waitress and call it a day! – bmiles62

*******

The Convert

I’d convert the $100 all into pennies and leave noticeable and various pennies around the house to drive my brother crazy. – Kevin

(Editor’s Note: I don’t know why that would drive him crazy? It’s FREE MONEY!!! :))

*******

The Goldbug

I would buy gold. Then, I would ask my friends what they would do if they had $100 worth of gold. The best response gets the gold! – Meghan

*******

The Kidder

I would use the $100 on hookers and blow. Just kidding. Something boring like saving for my kids education. – Josh

*******

The Original Zac Efron

I’ll buy 2 MyHeritage DNA kits at a discount. One for myself and another for Zac Efron. I wanna prove everyone wrong that he’s not my twin brother :) – Menard

(Editor’s Note: I actually DO want this kit! It’s pretty cool!!)

*******

The Gamer

I would throw a $100 party. It would consist of me and my girlfriend maybe a brother or cousin in there randomly sitting on the couch at my place drinking crown royal (750ml) $22.97. I would eventually get off the couch, and cook up some ribs (3 racks $38) that had been marinating in the fridge over night (spices and various ingredients $10). After the food is consumed we would partake in a intense game of drunkin-go-kart on the Nintendo 64 (24 pack of Bud Light of Coors Light $20). With the remaining $9.03 we would donate it to a random homeless person. – Heath

*******

The Gambler

Put aside for buying lottery tickets in all of 2018, because someone once said “Is $1 a week worth a chance to win $100,000,000 or even $1,000,000,000?” For me it is. – Nitin

*******

The Adventurer

We’re looking to convert a school bus over the next year and then take a leap year to travel with our 5 kids (ages 4 months-18yrs) all over the US. I’d add it to our school bus fund! – Aden

*******

The Stealthy Kleenexer

I will exchange them into 100 $1 bills and treat my 10 friends with a box of Kleenex each for Christmas. And after the first couple of Kleenex, there will be surprises waiting. – Kim

*******

The Money Oozer ;)

I would use an extra $100 to buy a bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume. My kids love it when Mommy smells good and it makes me feel sexy – LIKE $$ MONEY $$! – Rebekah

*******

The Dollar Tree Fan

I would get 50 $1.00 bills and hide them around the Dollar Tree with my granddaughter. Then take her to lunch and leave the rest for a tip. What a fun day! – Rose

*******

The Financial Gabber

I would use it to pay you $100 for a 30 minute phone call for some financial advice. This would be the biggest gift of all. I feel like the hardest part is talking about money with other people (no one want’s to hear your problems) and it’s driving me crazy because I really want to talk about it and get good sound advice on how to get out of the mess I’m in. – Mike

(Editor’s Note: This is actually a REALLY good idea and there’s a big need for this in our community! Unfortunately I don’t do coaching anymore, but here’s a list of other people in our space here that does – in case anyone else is looking for a good money coach: http://ift.tt/2jvY42T)

*******

The Brainstormer

I have 2 Ebay stores that have been running for a few years now and need to know how to increase our sales… I would use this for a brainstorm session at our local Panera or Starbucks hoping to find someone that could help me with promotion of our sites – or run a contest online for the best idea. – Kate

*******

The Quitter

I will put in my 2-weeks notice at my job for early/mini-retirement on Friday! – JP

(Editor’s Note: I sure hope $100 isn’t the only thing stopping you from doing this! :))

*******

The Self-Promoter/Do-good-er ;)

I’d buy 49 copies of my book, Success: For Minority Teens (& Their Friends) at $4.99/copy, defraying the cost of taxes, and I’d give these to 49 of my most needy 8th grade students at school. So many need a book like mine but can’t afford to buy on Amazon. – Carlos Gomez

*******

The Gardener

I would buy $100 worth of seeds, plant them and go back and give them out to all of my elementary school classrooms. Learning how to tend to a garden, getting your hands dirty, keeping plants alive and getting to enjoy the result of your hard work is one of those timeless lessons that is hard to recreate in our candy crush obsessed society. – Alicia

******* The Compassionate Knitter

If I won the money I’d use it to buy yarn to knit a blanket for my mother-in-law. The yarn is sort of expensive, like $70 per blanket, and it takes about 15 hours of knitting (so not a smart time or money investment) but it is a handmade blanket, and relationships with the in-laws are important. – Hannah

*******

The Knowledge Pusher

I’ll use the money to buy books related to Investing and give them away to my coworkers. I have given 2 books away for my coworkers In the past years: Total Money Makeover, The Millionaire Teacher. – Vielka

*******

The Tree Gifter

I’d use $100 to purchase a bike for a little boy – there’s a giving tree at my local wellness center with tags listing gift wishes from local children in need. This particular tag has been languishing as it’s a request for a larger gift. I’ve purchased a few gifts to match other requests, and saw this tag when I delivered the gifts. It’s been weighing on me since – I’d hate for this little one to go without and will find a way to get a bike to him – Heather

*******

The Perfect Wife ;)

I would use the money to buy my husband 10 movie tickets so he could get out of the house, take a break from the kids, and treat himself to a movie about once a month! – Kayla

*******

The Fiscal Librarian

I’d use the money for books that I want to read. Then I’d donate the books to my local library so everyone else will have a chance to read them too. Not a big choice for money management, retirement, investment, or financial books available and I’d like to change that. – Michelle

*******

The Best Christmas Game (Not really an entry, but still a fun idea!)

Every participant puts in twenty bucks cash. The wad of money is wrapped in paper, then more, then a box, then more paper, another box, etc. until you have a large box wrapped. You set a timer or play music and you have only so many seconds to unwrap. When the timer dings, you have to pass the wrapped wad of cash. Whoever touches the cash first wins it all!!! One year I used my teeth – she said it wasn’t allowed but I say house rules. – Victoria

 *******

And lastly, The Boobie Award

I’m not going to lie, I’d probably blow the $100 on food and drink for Christmas day… Probably why I’m in debt and reading this blog… – Kate

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks ;)

Happy weekend, y’all!

****** Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links, and I want you to buy 1,000,000 of those books/DNA kits so I can give away another $500 and keep being entertained by you all… Make it happen!

[Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!) published first on http://ift.tt/2ljLF4B

[fesahaawit]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!)

‘Sup sup!

J. Money Claus here to spread the wealth, both literally and figuratively! ;)

Just spent three solid hours reading and responding to all the great entries from last week’s Christmas Stimulus giveaway (over 800+ comments!), and WOW was it fascinating! You guys are so freakin’ creative!! We had the usual “I’d pay down debts” or “I’d bank it/invest it” or “I’d give it all away to charity” responses of course, but I was blown away by the level of thought that a lot of you put into this too.

You’re good :)

But since I can’t give $100 to *everyone* who made me smile today (and also because I made this a *randomized* drawing vs hand-picking the winners), I wanted to showcase a lot of these gems I came across in case they help you with your OWN ideas for the upcoming holidays, but also just to show these commenters some love too. Perhaps the fame you get off it today will amount to more than $100 over time? I mean, this IS the most fantastic blog in the world, you know!

Before we get to all that though, let me announce the 5 people who DID win the contest so you’re not biting off all your nails and annoying your co-workers.

So drum roll please…. dum ditty dum ditty dum…

The 5 lucky winners of $100 a piece are:

Nicole P.

Maisie

Sarah P. 

Danny (Commenter #633)

Mike (Commenter #756)

Woo! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out to you on the side to get your money, and be sure to not be strangers the rest of the year as if this was some sort of Church where you only pop over on the “important” days ;) Free education is better than free money, damnit!!

Now to the fun ways to use $100 this holiday!

(Or really, any time – because why only be nice once a year?)

We’ll start with the ones that made me laugh the hardest, and then go down the list to those that were just clever as hell, and then finally right into the ones that make you say, “awwwwww….”

Runners up to the people who mentioned: Chuck E. Cheese’s, doorbells, monks, manatees, accordions, tacos, sensory deprivation tanks (?), pickles, cabin escapes, tequila, fruit roll-ups, marijuana stock, escape rooms, “dutch ovens” (hah!), lunch tables, baseball cards, greenhouses, livestock water troughs, and finally to the one who almost made me spit out my coffee with their “Careergasm courses” line, haha… *goes to turn browser on “private” mode*

Now to the ones we’re paying in fame:

*******

The Prankster

I’d take it to the bank and ask for all quarters, and then take the quarters and glue them to the sidewalk and sit on my porch with my phone filming all the kids so excited to see 400 quarters on the ground, and then me laughing at them because they can’t pick them up.

Then I’d start a YouTube channel with my daily videos and take my millions of dollars from my massive subscriber growth and buy a cabin up in the mountains and buy all the turtles from pet stores to start training them to fight terrorism and then set them free all around the world. – Lance

*******

The Jeffersonian

First I would ask to be paid in $2 bills! Then I would stack those Jefferson’s as high as they would go and just admire them a bit. Then I would hop on my electric bike and head downtown handing them out to anyone in need, ending up at my favorite watering hole with just three of them left. I would then order my favorite IPA and drop my last three Jefferson’s on the unsuspecting waitress and call it a day! – bmiles62

*******

The Convert

I’d convert the $100 all into pennies and leave noticeable and various pennies around the house to drive my brother crazy. – Kevin

(Editor’s Note: I don’t know why that would drive him crazy? It’s FREE MONEY!!! :))

*******

The Goldbug

I would buy gold. Then, I would ask my friends what they would do if they had $100 worth of gold. The best response gets the gold! – Meghan

*******

The Kidder

I would use the $100 on hookers and blow. Just kidding. Something boring like saving for my kids education. – Josh

*******

The Original Zac Efron

I’ll buy 2 MyHeritage DNA kits at a discount. One for myself and another for Zac Efron. I wanna prove everyone wrong that he’s not my twin brother :) – Menard

(Editor’s Note: I actually DO want this kit! It’s pretty cool!!)

*******

The Gamer

I would throw a $100 party. It would consist of me and my girlfriend maybe a brother or cousin in there randomly sitting on the couch at my place drinking crown royal (750ml) $22.97. I would eventually get off the couch, and cook up some ribs (3 racks $38) that had been marinating in the fridge over night (spices and various ingredients $10). After the food is consumed we would partake in a intense game of drunkin-go-kart on the Nintendo 64 (24 pack of Bud Light of Coors Light $20). With the remaining $9.03 we would donate it to a random homeless person. – Heath

*******

The Gambler

Put aside for buying lottery tickets in all of 2018, because someone once said “Is $1 a week worth a chance to win $100,000,000 or even $1,000,000,000?” For me it is. – Nitin

*******

The Adventurer

We’re looking to convert a school bus over the next year and then take a leap year to travel with our 5 kids (ages 4 months-18yrs) all over the US. I’d add it to our school bus fund! – Aden

*******

The Stealthy Kleenexer

I will exchange them into 100 $1 bills and treat my 10 friends with a box of Kleenex each for Christmas. And after the first couple of Kleenex, there will be surprises waiting. – Kim

*******

The Money Oozer ;)

I would use an extra $100 to buy a bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume. My kids love it when Mommy smells good and it makes me feel sexy – LIKE $$ MONEY $$! – Rebekah

*******

The Dollar Tree Fan

I would get 50 $1.00 bills and hide them around the Dollar Tree with my granddaughter. Then take her to lunch and leave the rest for a tip. What a fun day! – Rose

*******

The Financial Gabber

I would use it to pay you $100 for a 30 minute phone call for some financial advice. This would be the biggest gift of all. I feel like the hardest part is talking about money with other people (no one want’s to hear your problems) and it’s driving me crazy because I really want to talk about it and get good sound advice on how to get out of the mess I’m in. – Mike

(Editor’s Note: This is actually a REALLY good idea and there’s a big need for this in our community! Unfortunately I don’t do coaching anymore, but here’s a list of other people in our space here that does – in case anyone else is looking for a good money coach: http://ift.tt/2jvY42T)

*******

The Brainstormer

I have 2 Ebay stores that have been running for a few years now and need to know how to increase our sales… I would use this for a brainstorm session at our local Panera or Starbucks hoping to find someone that could help me with promotion of our sites – or run a contest online for the best idea. – Kate

*******

The Quitter

I will put in my 2-weeks notice at my job for early/mini-retirement on Friday! – JP

(Editor’s Note: I sure hope $100 isn’t the only thing stopping you from doing this! :))

*******

The Self-Promoter/Do-good-er ;)

I’d buy 49 copies of my book, Success: For Minority Teens (& Their Friends) at $4.99/copy, defraying the cost of taxes, and I’d give these to 49 of my most needy 8th grade students at school. So many need a book like mine but can’t afford to buy on Amazon. – Carlos Gomez

*******

The Gardener

I would buy $100 worth of seeds, plant them and go back and give them out to all of my elementary school classrooms. Learning how to tend to a garden, getting your hands dirty, keeping plants alive and getting to enjoy the result of your hard work is one of those timeless lessons that is hard to recreate in our candy crush obsessed society. – Alicia

******* The Compassionate Knitter

If I won the money I’d use it to buy yarn to knit a blanket for my mother-in-law. The yarn is sort of expensive, like $70 per blanket, and it takes about 15 hours of knitting (so not a smart time or money investment) but it is a handmade blanket, and relationships with the in-laws are important. – Hannah

*******

The Knowledge Pusher

I’ll use the money to buy books related to Investing and give them away to my coworkers. I have given 2 books away for my coworkers In the past years: Total Money Makeover, The Millionaire Teacher. – Vielka

*******

The Tree Gifter

I’d use $100 to purchase a bike for a little boy – there’s a giving tree at my local wellness center with tags listing gift wishes from local children in need. This particular tag has been languishing as it’s a request for a larger gift. I’ve purchased a few gifts to match other requests, and saw this tag when I delivered the gifts. It’s been weighing on me since – I’d hate for this little one to go without and will find a way to get a bike to him – Heather

*******

The Perfect Wife ;)

I would use the money to buy my husband 10 movie tickets so he could get out of the house, take a break from the kids, and treat himself to a movie about once a month! – Kayla

*******

The Fiscal Librarian

I’d use the money for books that I want to read. Then I’d donate the books to my local library so everyone else will have a chance to read them too. Not a big choice for money management, retirement, investment, or financial books available and I’d like to change that. – Michelle

*******

The Best Christmas Game (Not really an entry, but still a fun idea!)

Every participant puts in twenty bucks cash. The wad of money is wrapped in paper, then more, then a box, then more paper, another box, etc. until you have a large box wrapped. You set a timer or play music and you have only so many seconds to unwrap. When the timer dings, you have to pass the wrapped wad of cash. Whoever touches the cash first wins it all!!! One year I used my teeth – she said it wasn’t allowed but I say house rules. – Victoria

 *******

And lastly, The Boobie Award

I’m not going to lie, I’d probably blow the $100 on food and drink for Christmas day… Probably why I’m in debt and reading this blog… – Kate

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks ;)

Happy weekend, y’all!

****** Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links, and I want you to buy 1,000,000 of those books/DNA kits so I can give away another $500 and keep being entertained by you all… Make it happen!

[Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!) posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnwIdQ

[itsudemoyoshiwara]

[18:06] Kisling turns the corner, fiddling with the phone in her skirt pocket. Today had been remotely boring and Callista hadn't texted her at all. As she looks forward, she freezes upon who it is exactly that she sees. She stares at Lek, her face as white. Should she talk to him? Should she leave him alone? Agh... [18:07] (no name) Lek walked down the street with music blaring about in his headphones, taking a deep breath through irritation in an attempt to calm himself down. Looking over the area for anyone before spotting the female. Although she seemed to already start walking off before he could talk with her. Clenching his teeth as he looked around some more. He would definitely be recognizable for Lumi, he even had the backpack and baseball bat with him right now just like the teen years. Although with his back turned the male wouldn't notice her, looking down to ruffle at his hair with a sigh. Stressed Lek was stressed. [18:09] Kisling stares at him a bit more before shaking her head, clenching her fists and walking stiffly up to him. He'll probably run, or something. She stands behind him for a moment, unsure of what to say or do but she probably looks like some sort of stalker, she knows. Kisling reaches out to touch his shoulder gently and she would back away after doing so, afraid of his reaction. Nobody wants to get hit with a bat. Even if it's in his backpack. [18:17] (no name) Lek didn't seem to notice her until Lumiere walked up behind him and touched his shoulder. That glare and smug look still stuck on his face while pissed. Turning walkway while pulling down his headphones, figuring the person talked already and he hadn't heard. The man thought it may have been Kayla and didn't make any rude or harsh movement towards the touch. Although seeing Lumi he would freeze, frowning deeply before turning his back to her. Planting both hands over his face while peeking up at the sky in a mumble, "Go figuah." Taking a deep breath with puffed cheeks on the exhale he would start to walk off like she wasn't even there. He didn't need this, there was way too much to deal with. All this stress and turn of events keep piling up, the last thing he needed was for Lumi to go right back at it. Although his actions would have seemed rather cruel or heartless even though, despite his anger, each step just stabbed at him. [18:20] Kisling looks completely dejected, her arms hanging at her sides limply. She kinda knew he'd ignore her but, hot damn. Gotta be like that? You should probably go home and wait for Callsita. Then again, Callista would get on you for not taking the chance to talk to him. Remembering her roommate's words from the night before, she walks slowly after Lek, her hands clutching the sides of her skirt as she moved forward. The scene was probably awkward to see, should anyone pass by it. [18:30] (no name) Lek kept walking, tensing up as he didn't hear her call out yet. Was she... really going to leave him alone? That just didn't seem right, after what she did before it was hard to imagine that Lumiere would just NOT follow. Lek felt rather uncomfortable about it, trying to peek around his shoulder without giving it away. Which would lead to turning his head an inch and then trying to play it off, going near the corner to turn. With this he would take the chance to quickly glance over and notice a piece of her arm. She was following! Bah! He looked forward and facepalmed, another deep breath before spinning around. "What?!" Wow. That was rather harsh and blunt. Although he was already so stressed this week and knew she would eventually say something if the woman was following after. Easing up he looked upset for barking the word out, noting her hair. It was different. Even after seeing her three years later it seemed like his memories kept pulling out images from three years back. [18:35] Kisling bites her lip as she follows him, wondering how he'll take her essentially stalking-- She flinches as he finally notices her, her gaze falling downward. She knew that seeing him was probably the worst thing right now, especially if what Callista had said was right. Looking back up at him, she says nothing, reaching out to grab lightly onto his backpack. Should he start walking again, she'll just keep following; though if he pulls some sprinting crap, there's not much she can do at that point. Her body was weaker than it used to be, after all. Shame really. "I'm not going to try and talk you into anything, I promise," Kisling says quietly, her grip on his bag a little tighter as she speaks. He'd better not run. [18:44] (no name) Lek looked down at her, his expression growing soft. When seeing her for the first time in three years he thought it was a dream, him going mad. He had those dreams before, rather they be consider nightmares or not was uncertain. But.. seeing her again. It was more of a realization. It really was her. She really was here, now, and she was going to stay here. He wanted to leave this town badly but not until he would fix things with those two men threatening Kayla. Looking down at her hand grabbing the backpack he was thankful she wasn't going to hold his hand. Contact.. only made things even worse- harder- to deal with all this. Turning around as he started walking again, taking deep breaths through the stress. Today was more exhausting than most days, Kayla and him fought- what? Twice? Thrice today? His whole body was tensed up while noting that Lumiere was still following. After awhile he would turn around again. His voice at first a shout before getting weak, "Lumi! Will you... stop?! Sirousley?! (c) [18:44] (no name) All you.. ugh.. ya say ya ain't gunna talk me in nahthan but followin' me is da same shit.... yur bein' selfish." [18:44] Kisling (honey.martiel): LOL.)) [18:51] Kisling keeps her attention locked on her hand, still holding tightly onto his bag as she continues to follow. His stop seemed somewhat abrupt to her and she bumbs into him softly, looking up before he turns around. Lek's words hurt, of course. However, they were true and she couldn't help but smile a bit, covering her mouth soon after she notices her expression. "But I am selfish," she says simply. "And, I want to see you before you try and run off or something." Kisling had a feeling he would. Did Kayla fail to keep him with her too? Was he that adamant about not being around her? [18:58] (no name) Lek flatbrowed a little as it seemed like she was smiling. What? No. Maybe you're seeing things, or her lips would tensing up. Then again it was Lumi, so maybe she was trying to smile to lighten the mood? It was still.. a little odd. Taking a deep breath he would continue, as if just flushing out feelings to her once she admitted. "Ya'know?! Do ya even fuckin' think 'bout how all dis is makin' me feel?! But nah. Ya jus wanna do what -you- think is best. Well it's not best. Jus go ba-...jus... stop it." He turned around and started walked away a little faster. Lek's voice had grown weaker and even slightly shaken while he ranted. Noticing his blurt all that out he would at least stop himself before saying more, last thing the guy needed was to do something embarassing like cry. [19:03] Kisling takes a deep breath, seeming a bit agitated at his accusations. Not thinking about him? He didn't think about her either. It's only returning his behaviour. As he picks up his pace, she does as well, still following him quite dilligently. She reaches out to grab into his bag again, pulling him back a bit in hopes that he'll face her a third time. Where does he get off about feelings and shit? He's the one who left her ass without a word for two years, and then refused to try and explain himself. Lek could give her that courtesy, she's sure. "Hey!" If he resisted, she'd pull again or grab tighter in order to relentlessly follow him. [19:10] (no name) Lek clenched his fist and rubbed the right thumb against the curled up index finger near the fleshy part. Other hand on the backpack that, as she tugged, he would stop to turn. Looking at her weakly before beginning to look forward as if ready to attempt walking off again. Although she would repeat it, looking over in a agitated grunt. He just wanted this to be over with. His expression was almost a plea, "What?" Seeing her was just too difficult. Hell, just knowing she was within 100 miles of him was too difficult. Lek wanted to hold her and pretend like nothing else matters but it did. He didn't need to get her hopes up to crash them back down. [19:15] John Cook (markandrewharris) waves tot he pair on teh street. "Excuse me, folks. Can I have a moment of your time? [19:16] Kisling looks at him with a frustrated expression, her free hand also clenched into a fist. "Where do you get off telling me shit like that? When you're the one who was inconsiderate in the first place." Her tone is low, angry. She'd tried really hard not to resent him for that, to think he had a good reason but the way it stood... him not telling her, it really pissed her off. "The least you could do is tell me. Do you want me gone? I want you to honestly tell me that you don't want me anymore. Why did you leave? Huh?" The setting for this was probably inappropriate, also given that her volume was beginning to increase the more she spoke. Maybe Callista shouldn't have cheered her up last night. Pulling on his backpack again, she starts to drag him away; a nostalgic feeling. If he tried to run off, she'd steal his backpack. Mhm. John's words distract her for a moment as she turns to look at him, "Uh... I guess?" she says, somewhat shly. So bipolar today. [19:25] (no name) Lek took a deep breath as she said what he was waiting to come out of her mouth. Raising his voice at her in frustration, "Incasidareut?! Realley?! I fuckin' did it fo' you! Bu naah, what da fuck you do? Huh!? Ya say it dohn maddah why I'm doin' dis. What if ya got hurt?" He grunted in frustration and looked to her shocked as she said to just say it. Should he? It did seem like if he didn't Lumiere would continue on with this. Clenching his jaw at the thought, was it really time to do something he would hate himself for? Although it seemed the best, he would have to hurt her for Lumiere to finally have some closure and heal. To find someone else in her life and be happy. Biting at his lip he would mutter out, "I'm gunna leave tahmorrow. Dohn try ta follow. I....I dohn waunt you." Uggggggggh. His heart just about ripped up from that. Being dragged he would lower his ground and pull at the backpack with a grunt through his teeth, "Lumi. Stop. It's.. over." His feeling spinning negatively, (c) [19:25] (no name) anger at himself but anger nonetheless. Lek of course didn't channel it at her, he seemed to never actual channel his temper at Lumi like others. Although there was John. It would probably seem like Lek hadn't changed the last three years as he glared over at the man and snapped at him in a brusk tone, "Fuck off!" [19:26] John Cook (markandrewharris) held u pa figner to Mat. "Mind yourself, son." He looks to the nicer girl. "I'm looking for information about a woman who drowned in this town and now haounts the town as a ghost with seaweed hair and water flowing out of her mouth." He said, with a serious face. [19:31] Kisling keeps a grip on Lek's backpack as she hangs her head. Now wasn't the time to be yelling at him, not in the middle of the street. Glancing over at John, she shakes her head, "I'm not sure. I haven't heard about that." The way he took it so seriously, with how that sounded... Normally it would make her laugh but. Ugh. As soon as Lek goes off, she jerks him forward, glaring at him. Had he not grown up at all? Good lord. "You..!" This whole scene was embarrassing. She had to get him somewhere else so they could talk. Looking at John again, she apologizes and starts to drag Lek off again. [19:32] Kisling (honey.martiel): i.e., she's disregarding Lek's words till she gets him alone. u wu So it falls on deaf ears.)) [19:34] (no name) Lek looked at her like he was perfectly innocent, "What?!" and frowned as the other man spoke to him, seeing it as if it was some sort of insult. Especially as he said son, turning around all and laughed in disbelief ((like 'ohnohejustdidnt' type of gesture)) with the shake his head. Hearing about a ghost he would, quite literally think this guy must be insane. Suddenly the man pulled would his baseball bat and point it towards John with a pissed look. His tone was still harsh, "Listen dipshit! I look like yur son?! Fuckin' watch yo mouth bahfo' I bust it!" Although it may have looked almost comical with his stance all 'tough guy' and the bat pointed at his before he stumbled sideways in the same stance as she dragged him away before lowering the belt, "Bah! Let go!" [19:34] John Cook (markandrewharris) calls after them as they leave. "I'm holding a sermon the sunday after next in the townhall during the evenign! I hoep to see you there!" Before he looks around for someone else to randomly talk to. [19:46] Kisling stops after the gate clicks shut and turns around, grabbing his jacket with both hands. "What... is your," she pauses, pushing him against the gate with as much force as possible. "Your issue!?" Wow. Violent much? Not very like you, Lumi. Kisling glares at him, her eyes finding his. Letting go of his shirt, she leans forward as usual and is up in his face. "Tell me again what's over? Who do you not want? Look me dead in the eyes and tell me exactly what you just said." Her tone becomes less angry and more upset the more that she rambles, looking like she might cry by the end of it. Kisling balls her hands into fists that hang down at her sides, continuing to look up at him. "Well?" [19:52] (no name) Lek quirked a brow at the man's words in a mumble, "Da fuck is a sermon?!" Meanwhile he would have got dragged about reluctantly and lowered his head. Memories. Groaning as he stumbled with her, "Lumi.. stop... didn't ya hear meh?!" It pained him already in saying that it was over once, he didn't want to do it again. Stopping abruptly as she turned around with a dumbstruck and upset look on his face. Suddenly grabbed he would just allow her to push him with a step back before his own voice rose, "Calm yoself!" His eyes wouldn't meet hers and constantly look off anytime she tried. Suddenly.. up in his face. Flashbacks right there of about anytime she had every yelled at him three years back. Finally he would back up and try to head for that small door, shouting out as he didn't need to look at her. "IT is ovah. IT's been ovah. Since I left two yers back. -We- done." His posture turned more slumped, "We're done.. I'll be gone so it ain't mean no thang. Jus fo'get me." [19:59] Kisling watches as he scrambles to ditch her, her frustration hitting it's peak. She stomps angrily, like a dissatisfied child. He couldn't even look her in the eyes and say that? "God dammit! You're so pathetic!" she screams, rushing forward and pushing him away from her. "I'm not taking that bullshit from you! You can't even be convincing?!" His lies hurt more than if he had actually meant it. She knew he was lying, he had to be. He couldn't say it to her face and he was terrible at lying to her. Unable to handle it anymore, she falls to the ground in a blubbering heap and tries to text Callista. She takes off her glasses, fumbling with the buttons as her vision becomes blurred with tears. Why did she even try? [20:11] (no name) Lek stopped as she called him pathetic before stumbling forward as she pushed the man. He tensed up completely, his heart seeming to stop as he bit his lip so hard that blood was drawn. He had to really do something to make her hate him, to stop this. What exactly though? He was doing this for her, right? To protect her. But turning around he would hate himself in these actions. Grabbing onto her arms he would slam her, although lightly, against the wall and lean down. Lying through his teeth before sounding rather harsh, "Ya wanna know da truth?! I. Hate. You." And there he might have just died inside. Convincing though. Was that convincing enough? Maybe not. He needed her to HATE him, "I've- I've ahlways hated you. Yur a fuckin' waste ah mah time. Ahlways held meh back at da 'cadamy. Yur. Nahthin. To. Me. So fuckin' drop it. -Now-. Bah'fo-" although whenever she started to cry he would let go of her and back up. Watching her wall down and gave this heartbroken expression. Was that really neccessary? (c) [20:12] (no name) She was.. so persistant. He felt like it was the only way to make her stop trying. His heart seemed to beat painfully and stomach feeling with toxins as he turned to walk away. Each step felt like miles. Going on he would proceed to the motel, this seemed as low as everything could go. [20:23] Kisling leans forward, her hands pressed to the ground as she bites her lip to muffle her sobbing. What the fuck was with him, he could seriously say things like that to her but not look her in the face while he does so? Even if she knew he wasn't being truthful, those words hurt. She forces herself to stand and brushes off her skirt,  rubbing her face with her sleeves. "I still don't believe it." She pushes her way through the gate and heads back to her workplace, probably to hide behind some of the bookshelves and sulk while she waited for Callista.

[relationshipsattherefinnest]

CHAPTER 4 MEETING THE PARENTS I liked him so much at this point I thought it would be a great idea for him to meet my parents. I was so nervous and scared so many thoughts were going through my head what if my parents didn't like him or thought he was not good enough. But I knew he was worthy because he actually cared. Like they day of his birthday day before mine my ex-best friend frustrated me so bad at lunch that I was crying during my third block which was yearbook and they all where giving me a birthday celebration it was so sad My teacher. Mrs.Sam calmed me down but I still went to his third block got him out of class just so he could hold me. I was so use to him making me feel better he was they only person I wanted to talk to. It was more than just her pissing me off school was stressing me out and I was stressing out about him meeting my parents.    The thing that made this even more, nerve racking about him meeting my parents is he wanted to get high at this football game before he came so he would be relaxed. I begged him not too because my mom is like a bloodhound when it comes to smells that would have gone so bad. Anyways he was coming to my kick back I invited a few of my friends and it was chilled however he was the last one to show up my party was from 5pm-11pm and he showed up 10:15 but he was the only one that bought me a gift and I loved it. he got me a dark purple mac lipstick Cyber my dad hated that color on me but I loved it because he took the time to pick it out for me at the mac counter. He also got me my favorite candy milky ways and a chipotle gift card I was so happy. But the night went ok I got dared to kiss him and it was a cute little peck and he actually liked it. however there was a lot of things that went wrong that night my so called best friend told me she would get me a hello kitty birthday cake for my birthday for free because her sister does bomb cakes then she goes and charges me 35.00 and that was supposed to be a gift to me that cake was so nasty and everyone talked about her and her stank attitude when she left. She tried to call me out along with mary when joe got there because it seemed like I was flirting with my guy best friend Jon but i wasn't that's just how me and Jon are we have known each other for years and we love each other he's a true friend no matter who I date or talk they will know he’s going be in my life so just understand I don't have feelings for him like that he's like family. anyways that after everyone left my parents told me how much they liked joe and I explained everything he bought me then my dad hit me with the really like this boy don't you all I could do is blush and go to my room and post it all over snap chat on top of the beautiful picture we took together. then I called him cried to him and then we talked he understood and I started to fall for him more at this point he's everything I could ask for. CHAPTER 5 FIRST TIME I SAW HIS TRUE COLORS My friends thought it was time for him to ask me out. I wasn't too sure about it because I know he wasn't really looking for a real relationship for his senior year and he had never really had a real relationship before all of this was so new and different to him so I had to show him a lot. A when we first starting talking he told me about once he graduated went to the military and moved to New York (queens) he wanted to become a man hoe and just experience the world. Every time he would talk about moving up there I would get chills because I know it wouldn't work for him and he is way too nice for a New York City. But I brought it up one night on face time to him to see how he really felt about me and if I have influenced him not to be a man hoe. He shut me down and the idea completely so I went I few days without talking to him. But see this is my thing you have to like going out and actually talking to females to be a man hoe, not unless you plan to do online dating and that's just dangerous in its self. but anyways I go on my friend jasmine snap chat and see her sitting on his lap at some kick back which made me very upset I was ready to go get my friend Jessica's car and run them both over. You're supposed to be my friend why are you sitting on my boo's pretty much my boyfriend's lap. The other day there was a lap sitting indecent in the yearbook room after school. So I'll explain that situation its kinda funny. So I and she were play fighting about something the night before and she was talking about getting payback at me. So that's when I and joe were in the yearbook room and I was standing in front of him and he was poking my butt yes poking with one finger like I was a toy or something. So he got a little excited you know down there. Then jasmine Jessica and Kayla busted up in the room and jewel jumped in his lap like yeah payback then when she actually felt it her face was priceless she was so uncomfortable after that and never liked talking about it to this day. she didn't have a boyfriend at the time they were all getting a what we call lit before one of the football games at the kick back. Most seniors go get lit before games at North point it's like slight tradition. She didn't know I was mad at him but he knew and didn't say anything she posted it as a joke but it made me so angry I could have killed them both. So I didn't talk to him until thanksgiving day then he was giving me the cold shoulder like I did something wrong so we got on FaceTime he thought I was made because he wouldn't officially make me his girlfriend so I had to call him out and told him I was mad because for one you knew jewel was my friend and two that I was already irritated with you three you go ahead and let her sit on your damn lap!!! Then let her posted it on snap chat knowing I was going fucking see it, yeah you really busted have been on something. or it must just spell stupid on my forehead.So, of course, he hit me with the I'm so sorry I didn't know it was that I won't do anything like that again. I actually like you. so, of course, I forgave him and we made up and everything was going well would have to say. It was coming up on the Christmas break and my mom wanted to have a Christmas party but she really wanted him to come because she knew how much I liked him and I really wanted him to get comfortable with my family because I wanted him to be in my life for a while. Anyways my mom moved the party up because I knew he had to leave for Florida the 19 and that's when she first wanted to have the party. But she moved it to the 12 and that was a lot on me and her because that was my last day of driving school had to run home and help her cook and all that then he comes back and says he is leaving the 10th. so I'm hurt and mad because he knew I was making all of these changes and he waits to the last minute to tell me and I had to rush to give him his Christmas gift. For Christmas, I had got him two polo's more graphic socks and some sour patch kids and I wrote another nice meaning full note. So he told me when he got back he was going to give me his gift and all that. But leading up to Christmas I was doing a cute or somewhat sexy picture each day until Christmas he loved me but the whole time he was gone he could never find the time to face time me so I missed him so much couldn't spend any of the holidays with him. But I kinda understood because his family means a lot to him I didn't have that same feeling about my family so it was a little hard for me to understand but anyways everything was going well he was on his way back from his grandparents house to his cousin house to bring in the new year because he was having a party. almost every year before that he would always go to church this year he wanted to be different so he went the party.

CHAPTER 6 ALL THINGS MUST FALL APART So New years day I send him this beautiful message about how much I like him and how I'll always have his back never leave his side and how I miss him and can't wait to see him and talk to him and make him my first kiss of 2016 and my last. Like it was super cute and nice. Of course, I went to church and stayed holy. Except when I left there I went to my best friend her mom wasn't home so we was too lit but all of these happy new year messages were rolling in from all these people I really didn't care about and not one text yet from my world “joe” so The next morning I wake up and go to this brunch with the best friend still no text from nit even a thank you. So then I feel in my stomach he did something is wrong and I was scared because I knew he did something stupid. So I go home and take a nap because I had a pretty bad headache and I was stressing so I needed a nap and took some medication. so i wake up like 7:00pm and read this horrible message from him stating “So my old friend with benefits from the summer that I was telling you about came to the party and she told me she wasn't in love with after all she was just saying it because she thought that's how I felt so I have known her longer than you and she wrote me this long message and I fell so bad so I'm going go back to her I'm sorry please don't just shut down on me and say K please tell me how you feel.” So as soon as I start reading this message I burst into tears and cry my eyes out like I knew it was coming I could feel it in my stomach I had never cried so hard over a guy before in my life. My usual attitude was ok bye you wasn't special on to the next but I had actually got caught upper once in my lie I was stuck. So I text him back Saying “ wow I must be the stupidest girl in the whole world I really thought you were different you made me feel beautiful on my darkest days and now you're causing one of my darkest days what kind of shit is that. How are you going to just announce to me you going back to this chick she doesn't own you. So what you known her longer i make you happy she is literally lying just to get you back how am i supposed to feel you literally just gave up on me for nothing all I have been to you is loyal because literally I could have gone out with this guy from my church named DeMarco and he really liked me and had just got back from basic training at the time and really wanted to go out and do something and I turned him down because I know you would have been upset. I had told him the story of DeMarco before hand and how we talked for a while then he laid a move on me right before he left and I really fell for him but I gave up on him because he was gone and Joe was there and you are blowing it for what some hoe that doesn't even really wanna be intimate with you, she just likes claiming you. Not saying that I was definitely going to be just saying knowing that she really wasn't should have been enough. how was i supposed to feel about you doing i was supposed to just be oh cool like what no you know how much I like you this is hurting me so much right now I can't even think straight.” so it was hours before he responded and I had to sent several more messages by then. So he calls me on FaceTime and I'm still crying. so I'm sitting in the dark in my room he is in his closet folding clothes and looks somewhat upset almost as if he was crying too. so he starts trying to explain so I guess I would understand then we began to talk and he realizes he is way more attracted to me and he has made a mistake and he needs to tell her he can't do it so he promises me he's going to fix this and everything was going be ok and stuff so I believed him because I loved him and trusted him biggest mistake of my life.

[bffhreprise]

Entry 324

 After the limousine stopped at what I could only guess to be James’ home, I was guided out.  I felt the change in the air as doors opened for us.  Then there were popping sounds I couldn’t place immediately.  Tiny.. confetti.  Confetti and streamers landed on me.  The popping was from the shooters.

 “Maxine?” questioned someone as I was brought further inside.

 “You brought her here?” questioned one of the twins.  Ai and Mai were nearly inseparable from Lady Pendreigh, so their voices I knew well.

 “Do we get to keep her?” asked the other twin, sounding threatening.

 Being kept by them sounded much more appealing than personally watched by Lady Pendreigh.  I very much doubted that they shared in Lady Pendreigh’s immortality, and they would certainly be tricked more easily.

 James replied by asking “Have you and Portentia been hanging out, Ai?  That’s precisely what she had asked.”

 “You’re Ai?  You said you were Mai!” complained a girl I didn’t recognize.

 “Never trust the twins.” muttered someone familiar…

 Brandon.  I remembered his file, but I hadn’t bothered trying to get a voice profile for anyone employed at Best Friend For Hire.  Losing my gear so completely never even occurred to me.  My home should have been impregnable.

 “She obviously just had me confused with my sister.” replied Ai, probably.  The twins had identical voices.

 I had once spent a large part of a day trying to find a way to differentiate between the two with no success.

 “I can’t believe you were hanging out with Portentia and not telling me.” claimed Mai, having moved closer to where her sister stood.  Telling them apart would be impossible without someone saying now.

 “Who’s Maxine?” came the voice of a young girl.

 “Her, obviously.” stated a masculine voice near the young girl.  He sounded protective of her.

 Ah.  Jemal.  He had a younger sister according to his company profile.  James plucking him up had been fortuitous, given his dire straits.  The poor boy had been on the verge of losing his sister after his father had died.  His stepmother had moved down South, but she wouldn’t be useful leverage.

 “Yes, but who is she!?” exclaimed Kayla, sounding very excited.

   Kayla, however, could be very useful eventually.  Children were typically easy to manipulate.

 “What does she… like to eat?” questioned a voice that had to be Marco, the chef.  He had a thick Italian accent and was very well-renowned by chefs who had met him.

 “Who’s she?” asked Portentia, ignoring Marco.  Her grip had been tightening on me when Kayla had spoken, possibly meaning she cared for the girl as well.

 “Hi!  I’m Iris.” replied someone I didn’t recognize.  “I started part-time here while you were away.”

 Great, an unknown element.

 The general chatter suddenly cut off.  Then James spoke, saying, “Due to unfortunate circumstances, Maxine will be staying with us indefinitely, so there will be plenty of time for questions later.  Let’s just get on with the party for now.”

 “Boss-man, sir, we should have Maxine sign her tenant’s agreement before the party.” suggested Aaliyah.  Her voice was unmistakable.

 “I don’t sign anything without my lawyer.” I informed her.

 Placing a hand on my shoulder, Lady Pendreigh said, “I’ll go over the terms with you if you wish, but I can already assure you that there won’t be room for debate.”

 “Fine, but I want to go through every detail.” I agreed, confident in Lady Pendreigh’s ability to understand legal code.

 “No, you really don’t.” stated James.  “That would probably take years.”

 Visions suddenly swam through my head, making me see a forest.  I could feel the wind on my skin.  There were wings on my back!  I could feel them.  Whoever was doing this had realized James was coming home, spotting the vehicle and racing across the long yard here.  This mansion was enormous, but I also could tell this person was very tiny.  Leaves seemed far too large through her eyes.  Abruptly, the visions ended.

 “Boss-man, sir!  She hadn’t gotten to finding the cake yet!” exclaimed Aaliya, sounding disappointed.

 “Yes, well, we don’t need spoilers.” argued James.

 “But it’d be like eating cake without the calories.” insisted Aaliyah.

 Calories weren’t something that affected my body.  Like Portentia, I could eat all day long.  The food would simply be destroyed at regular intervals by some natural reaction of our bodies.  There was a time I had attempted to harness that energy quite unsuccessfully.

 “I like the sound of that.” agreed a girl I didn’t recognize.

 “Me too.” concurred the girl from earlier who had been disappointed that the twins lied about their identities.  “Marco, your cooking’s too good.  I had to start working out more since I started dating Brandon.”

 “Brandon has a girlfriend?” I asked in surprise.  That update had certainly not made it into his file.  Who would date him?  Why?

 “You know me?” asked Brandon stupidly.  “Wait.  Were you interested?”

 “Hey now!” exclaimed his girlfriend, sounding like she stepped toward him.

 A new vision distracted me.  The forest had appeared in my mind again, and I could see some sort of creature I didn’t recognize.

 “Maxine does not need help.” stated James, probably referring to the visions.

 “I’m not opposed.  There was something different in the image that time.  How are you doing this?  What is it I’m seeing?” I asked in earnest interest.

 “You don’t know?” taunted Portentia.

 “I wanted to see if you could have a seeing-eye fairy!” exclaimed a girl in a high, playful voice.

 “A what?” I questioned, uncertain if she was just messing with me or had a peculiar naming sense for that magic.  Surely there couldn’t be… Well, the size might argue the point.  I had felt like I was flying with a distinct feeling of wings on my back.

 A vision of the assembled group appeared, but the focus was on a tiny, luminescent girl fluttering around.

 “I’m getting better, but I can’t keep this up for too long.” commented the playful girl shortly before the vision ended.

 “Sight through magic?  Camila would be most interested in learning that as well.” I mentioned, wishing again that my friend was with me.

 “I love your hair.  It’s so fluffy!” exclaimed Kayla from right next to me.

 “Sh-She’s… d-dangerous.” warned a new voice, sotto and feminine.  Someone timid might be easy to manipulate.

 “Wow!” exclaimed Kayla, much farther from me.  “Can we do that again?”

 What had I missed?  How had she moved?

 “Dangerous!?” exclaimed Jemal, sounding nervous.  “How so?”

 “I’m not surprised.  Everyone here is dangerous.” commented a boy in a dull tone, as if he was bored with what he was saying.

 “But when has Raine ever called someone dangerous?” argued Jemal.

 So the timid one was named Raine, but how he spoke of her…  Was she actually someone dangerous with a voice like that!?

 “Fair point.” agreed the bored boy.

 “Maxine has a nefarious background, so you should be wary of her motives, but I doubt she’d try to harm anyone here.  She’s like Portentia in that she heals instantly, but she can’t utilize any sort of magic.” explained James.  Then he asked “Can she fight?”

 “Not really.  She needs her gizmos.” teased Portentia.  Her sudden ability to fight as she did was still baffling.

 “Do I get extra meals?” came another voice, soft and girlish while enunciating perfectly.  She might be well-bred.

 “No!” exclaimed Portentia.  “There’s something weird about how she heals.”

 “No.  You’re the weird one.” I pointed out.  “Don’t think I missed the strange shadows that follow you.”

 “Sh-She’s like… l-like… Ariadne’s m-magic.” commented Raine.  “I feel it.”

 “Really?” questioned Lady Pendreigh in surprise.  “What do you feel from Portentia then?”

 “M-Myself.” replied Raine.

 “Oh!” exclaimed James.  “Raine, would you mind doing a few hundred laps around the city for me?”  The doors behind us opened.

 What was he playing at?  Even flying in my suit, doing a single lap would take…

 “B-Back.” stated Raine, her voice suddenly by the door.

 I sighed, realizing this was some weird joke where they did ventriloquism through magic.  Camila could pull something like that off.  “Ha ha.  Trying to prank the blind girl?”

 “No.  Raine is that fast.” stated Lady Pendreigh matter-of-factly.  “Let’s be off and take care of your tenant agreement before I’m late for the party.

 “If we must.” I replied, though my mind was still trying to calculate just how fast someone would have to be to do a few hundred laps around this city in… a second?  Less?  If they truly weren’t making a bad joke—which Lady Pendreigh joking at all seemed odd—then I had absolutely no explanation for how someone could manage such a feat.  From what I knew of Lady Pendreigh, even she would take a good quarter hour to manage a single lap, by my rough calculations.

 “Oh, we must!  I’m not missing the cake twice in one day!” insisted Aaliyah, coming along with us.

 Suddenly, I could taste a delectable, soft cake as if I was enjoying it myself.  The feeling was enough to make me salivate.

,,,^._.^,,,

   “James, can we talk for a bit?” I asked after Maxine, Alma, and Aaliyah had walked off.

 He nodded and followed me out, down the hall, and into…  I almost sighed.  All of these rooms actually had names, but I never bothered memorizing them all.  No one ever used this one to my knowledge.

 “What’s up?” asked James once we were inside.

 “Are you sure having Maxine here is a good idea?” I asked.

 He shrugged and said, “No, but I don’t want to cover her in iron and bury her somewhere either.  I doubt a jail would survive her even if they tried keeping her in solitary confinement.  Here, Mila will keep tabs on her, and plenty of us can easily overpower her physically if necessary, though I very much doubt she could get around Mila.”

 “I understand that, but…” I started, considering what he said.  Assuming Maxine shared Portentia’s strength and agility as well as the healing, there wasn’t a cell designed to withstand her, especially not her intellect.  She’d probably control the other inmates inside a week.  “I suppose you’re right.”

 “You might even enjoy chatting with her, given her expertise.” suggested James.

 “Yes, I’m sure Ai and Mai will love that idea.” I sarcastically told him.  “I will admit that Maxine’s brilliant.  I’m surprised you’re okay with this.”

 He shrugged again.  “I assure you that I’ll be considering other options and will gladly take any from you as well.  Portentia didn’t give us warning before bringing Maxine home, but I can understand why when she didn’t feel comfortable leaving Maxine to the police.”

 “James, there’s a supervillain in your home.” I told him, unable to keep my smile suppressed.  The geek in me was thrilled by the idea of a real-life supervillain.  Maxine probably had a low level of super strength, super agility, and definitely a healing factor.  Her mind might actually be up there with Lex Luthor or Doctor Doom.

 “Crazy to think how much has changed in a year.  I keep thinking about it and still find myself amazed.” stated James thoughtfully.

 Abandoning my thoughts of Maxine for later, I said, “I know.  Dude, I’m married already!  You’re going to be married soon.  We haven’t even been out of high school for a year.  We could have kids in another year.  Ever think about that?  Some little baby with superhuman powers wanting your attention.  How do you even go out with kids like we could have?  Imagine one throwing a tantrum in public.  Did you know they might not have their parents’ abilities?”

 “Hold on.” requested James.  “What’s that about their abilities?”

 “So the Slayer family has some crazy lore, but Duncan can control air while Ai and Mai control water.  That’s not because of their parents, it’s apparently random.  The twins showed me some books discussing the abilities from different lines of the family.” I explained, surprised that James had never asked about it yet.

 “I wonder what the limits are.  Alma seemed interested in Jemal, Kayla, and Dejon’s abilities.” he admitted.

 Nodding, I said, “Yeah, but those are from fey magic.  People descended from the Slayer family and fey typically get one or the other for magic, not both, but having that fey ancestry gives a high probability for the magic to reoccur.”

 “Lovely.  I wonder if my magic can be passed along.” he commented, probably picturing children with his natural magic.

 I had considered what that’d be like.  James could eventually send his kids off to negotiate with outrageous advantages.  If they didn’t take after his personality, they might become nigh-unstoppable, political forces.  “No idea, but having a kid who’s impervious to magic might be a bit of a pain if he or she also has Alma’s knack for magic.” I pointed out.

 “I can’t imagine that I’ll have kids for quite some time yet, so I’ll worry more about it after I see yours.” he replied, sounding too serious about the notion.

 “Ever talk with Alma about it?” I asked, hoping he had.

 “Well, no, but I don’t really think we need to yet.” he told me somewhat defensively.

 “If you start thinking about something, you probably should start discussing it.  Seriously, man.  Better to find out if they’re ready to discuss something than to make assumptions and have it bite you.” I insisted, rubbing my arm as I remembered some of the discussions with Ai and Mai.

 James nodded, looking amused but at least somewhat thoughtful.  I didn’t envy him if Alma lost her temper and pummeled him.  Even he might bruise for a minute or so if that happened.

[bestfriendforhire]

Entry 325

 As the doors to my home opened, party favors exploded, sending confetti and streamers everywhere.  Jarod was using his custom party gun again.  The “welcome home” died partly after “welcome” though as people realized we had an extra guest.

 “Maxine?” asked Jarod.

 “You brought <i>her</i> here?” inquired Mai.

 “Do we get to keep her?” asked Ai with a wicked grin.

 “Have you and Portentia been hanging out, Ai?  That’s precisely what she had asked.” I stated.

 “You’re Ai?  You said you were Mai!” complained Deyanira, who apparently had shown up for the party.

 “Never trust the twins.” muttered Brandon.

 “She obviously just had me confused with my sister.” replied Ai.

 Grabbing her sister’s hand, Mai then pouted and said, “I can’t believe you were hanging out with Portentia and not telling me.”

 “Who’s Maxine?” asked Kayla.

 “Her, obviously.” stated Jemal as he nodded toward Maxine.

 “Yes, but who is she!?” exclaimed Kayla with a grin.

 “What does she... like to eat?” inquired Marco.

 “Who’s she?” asked Portentia, pointing to Iris.

 “Hi!  I’m Iris.” replied Iris with a wave.  “I started part-time here while you were away.”

 I raised my hands and motioned for everyone to be quiet.  “Due to unfortunate circumstances, Maxine will be staying with us indefinitely, so there will be plenty of time for questions later.  Let’s just get on with the party for now.” I suggested.

 Aaliyah was smiling at me excitedly.  Breaking the momentary quiet, she said, “Boss-man, sir, we should have Maxine sign her tenant’s agreement before the party.”

 “I don’t sign anything without my lawyer.” stated Maxine warily.

 Placing her hand on Maxine’s shoulder, Alma said, “I’ll go over the terms with you if you wish, but I can already assure you that there won’t be room for debate.”

 “Fine, but I want to go through every detail.” insisted Maxine.

 Seeing Aaliyah’s grin widen, I said, “No, you really don’t.  That would probably take years.”  I almost stopped mid-sentence when I felt magic off to my left, but my little fairy friend simply removed the spell concealing her.

 I heard Maxine gasp as my little friend started showing us what I had missed in her day.  What was this like for her?  I doubted her tech had allowed her vision to match that of my little friend, and now she got to see a vibrant world with all the wonder of a fairy.  I managed to cut my little friend off at the point she entered the house, uncertain of how much I wanted Maxine to see.

 “Boss-man, sir!  She hadn’t gotten to finding the cake yet!” complained Aaliyah.

 “Yes, well, we don’t need spoilers.” I argued.

 “But it’d be like eating cake without the calories.” insisted Aaliyah.

 “I like the sound of that.” agreed Brenna.

 Nodding, Deyanira said, “Me too.  Marco, your cooking’s too good.  I had to start working out more since I started dating Brandon.”

 “Brandon has a girlfriend?” asked Maxine incredulously.

 “You know me?” he inquired.  “Wait.  Were you interested?”

 “Hey now!” exclaimed Deyanira as she grabbed his arm.

 I sighed as Emma started encouraging my little fairy friend to relay what she was seeing to Maxine.

 “Maxine does not need help.” I stated.

 Maxine sounded curious as she said, “I’m not opposed.  There was something different in the image that time.  How are you doing this?  What is it I’m seeing?”

 “You don’t know?” teased Portentia.

 “I wanted to see if you could have a seeing-eye fairy!” exclaimed Emma.

 “A what?” she asked.

 Emma projected what she was seeing into all of our heads as she watched the little fairy.  Then she said, “I’m getting better, but I can’t keep this up for too long.”

 “Sight through magic?  Camila would be most interested in learning that as well.” commented Maxine.

 “I love your hair.  It’s so fluffy!” exclaimed Kayla, who had wondered closer to Maxine.

 I was trying to decide how to warn Jemal that Kayla probably shouldn’t spend time with Maxine when Kayla was suddenly repositioned back by her brother.

 “Sh-she’s… d-dangerous.” warned Raine, who was standing by them now.

 “Wow!” exclaimed Kayla.  “Can we do that again?”

 “Dangerous!?” exclaimed Jemal, eyeing Maxine as he hugged Kayla.  “How so?”

 “I’m not surprised.  Everyone here is dangerous.”  stated Dejon.

 “But when has Raine ever called someone dangerous?” argued Jemal.

 “Fair point.” he agreed.

 I quickly told them “Maxine has a nefarious background, so you should be wary of her motives, but I doubt she’d try to harm anyone here.  She’s like Portentia in that she heals instantly, but she can’t utilize any sort of magic.”  Looking to Portentia, I then asked “Can she fight?”

 Portentia grinned and said, “Not really.  She needs her gizmos.”

 “Do I get extra meals?” teased Cosette, who had been quietly observing everyone.

 “No!” exclaimed Portentia.  “There’s something weird about how she heals.”

 “No.  You’re the weird one.” argued Maxine.  “Don’t think I missed the strange shadows that follow you.”

 “Sh-she’s like… l-like… Ariadne’s m-magic.” muttered Raine.  “I feel it.”

 “Really?” inquired Alma.  “What do you feel from Portentia then?”

 “M-myself.” replied Raine.

 “Oh!” I exclaimed as realization hit me.  “Raine, would you mind doing a few hundred laps around the city for me?”

 She shrugged as Mila opened the doors behind me.  Raine was gone too quick for even my eyes, and I confirmed my suspicions. For a while now, I had felt something from Portentia, not just when she healed.  I never knew what I was feeling till now.  When Raine moved, some sort of energy inside Portentia moved as well.  Perhaps, the energy just moved more than normal.  The difference was very faint, but I could tell if I was focusing on it.

 “B-back.” stated Raine, stopping by me.

 Sighing, Maxine said, “Ha ha.  Trying to prank the blind girl?”

 “No.  Raine is that fast.” stated Alma.  “Let’s be off and take care of your tenant agreement before I’m late for the party.”

 “If we must.” replied Maxine.

 “Oh, we must!  I’m not missing the cake twice in one day!” insisted Aaliyah.

 Seeming to sense Aaliyah’s plight, the little fairy projected her experience when stealing some cake earlier.  The taste was exquisite as expected when Marco was involved.

 “James, can we talk for a bit?” asked Jarod.

  I nodded and followed him out, down a hall, and into one of the side rooms.  “What’s up?” I asked when we arrived.

 “Are you sure having Maxine here is a good idea?” he inquired.

 Shrugging, I said, “No, but I don’t want to cover her in iron and bury her somewhere either.  I doubt a jail would survive her even if they tried keeping her in solitary confinement.  Here, Mila will keep tabs on her, and plenty of us can easily overpower her physically if necessary, though I very much doubt she could get around Mila.”

 “I understand that, but… I suppose you’re right.” he admitted, obviously thinking things through.

 “You might even enjoy chatting with her, given her expertise.” I suggested.

 “Yes, I’m sure Ai and Mai will love that idea.  I will admit that Maxine’s brilliant.  I’m surprised you’re okay with this.” he told me.

 Shrugging, I said, “I assure you that I’ll be considering other options and will gladly take any from you as well.  Portentia didn’t give us warning before bringing Maxine home, but I can understand why when she didn’t feel comfortable leaving Maxine to the police.”

 “James, there’s a supervillain in your home.” stated Jarod with a straight face that quickly became an ear-to-ear grin.

 I nodded.  “Crazy to think how much has changed in a year.  I keep thinking about it and still find myself amazed.” I admitted.

 “I know.  Dude, I’m married already!  You’re going to be married soon.  We haven’t even been out of high school for a year.  We could have kids in another year.  Ever think about that?  Some little baby with superhuman powers wanting your attention.  How do you even go out with kids like we could have?  Imagine one throwing a tantrum in public.  Did you know they might not have their parents’ abilities?” he asked, rambling away.

 “Hold on.  What’s that about their abilities?” I asked.

 “So the Slayer family has some crazy lore, but Duncan can control air while Ai and Mai control water.  That’s not because of their parents, it’s apparently random.  The twins showed me some books discussing the abilities from different lines of the family.” he explained.

 “I wonder what the limits are.  Alma seemed interested in Jamal, Kayla, and Dejon’s abilities.” I commented.

 “Yeah, but those are from fey magic.  People descended from the Slayer family and fey typically get one or the other for magic, not both, but having that fey ancestry gives a high probability for the magic to reoccur.” he replied.

 “Lovely.  I wonder if my magic can be passed along.” I pondered, hoping for my children to be protected.

 “No idea, but having a kid who’s impervious to magic might be a bit of a pain if he or she also has Alma’s knack for magic.” warned Jarod as if he was reading my mind.

 “I can’t imagine that I’ll have kids for quite some time yet, so I’ll worry more about it after I see yours.” I told him.

 “Ever talk with Alma about it?” he questioned.

 “Well, no, but I don’t really think we need to yet.” I replied.

 “If you start thinking about something, you probably should start discussing it.  Seriously, man.  Better to find out if they’re ready to discuss something than to make assumptions and have it bite you.” he insisted, rubbing his arm.

 I nodded and smiled, wondering what Jarod had gotten himself into this time.  Things with Alma would probably progress more slowly on the kid front, but we would get there eventually.  What if she already had started planning baby names?  There was only one sure way to find out.

[heliosfinance]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!)

‘Sup sup!

J. Money Claus here to spread the wealth, both literally and figuratively! ;)

Just spent three solid hours reading and responding to all the great entries from last week’s Christmas Stimulus giveaway (over 800+ comments!), and WOW was it fascinating! You guys are so freakin’ creative!! We had the usual “I’d pay down debts” or “I’d bank it/invest it” or “I’d give it all away to charity” responses of course, but I was blown away by the level of thought that a lot of you put into this too.

You’re good :)

But since I can’t give $100 to *everyone* who made me smile today (and also because I made this a *randomized* drawing vs hand-picking the winners), I wanted to showcase a lot of these gems I came across in case they help you with your OWN ideas for the upcoming holidays, but also just to show these commenters some love too. Perhaps the fame you get off it today will amount to more than $100 over time? I mean, this IS the most fantastic blog in the world, you know!

Before we get to all that though, let me announce the 5 people who DID win the contest so you’re not biting off all your nails and annoying your co-workers.

So drum roll please…. dum ditty dum ditty dum…

The 5 lucky winners of $100 a piece are:

Nicole P.

Maisie

Sarah P. 

Danny (Commenter #633)

Mike (Commenter #756)

Woo! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out to you on the side to get your money, and be sure to not be strangers the rest of the year as if this was some sort of Church where you only pop over on the “important” days ;) Free education is better than free money, damnit!!

Now to the fun ways to use $100 this holiday!

(Or really, any time – because why only be nice once a year?)

We’ll start with the ones that made me laugh the hardest, and then go down the list to those that were just clever as hell, and then finally right into the ones that make you say, “awwwwww….”

Runners up to the people who mentioned: Chuck E. Cheese’s, doorbells, monks, manatees, accordions, tacos, sensory deprivation tanks (?), pickles, cabin escapes, tequila, fruit roll-ups, marijuana stock, escape rooms, “dutch ovens” (hah!), lunch tables, baseball cards, greenhouses, livestock water troughs, and finally to the one who almost made me spit out my coffee with their “Careergasm courses” line, haha… *goes to turn browser on “private” mode*

Now to the ones we’re paying in fame:

*******

The Prankster

I’d take it to the bank and ask for all quarters, and then take the quarters and glue them to the sidewalk and sit on my porch with my phone filming all the kids so excited to see 400 quarters on the ground, and then me laughing at them because they can’t pick them up.

Then I’d start a YouTube channel with my daily videos and take my millions of dollars from my massive subscriber growth and buy a cabin up in the mountains and buy all the turtles from pet stores to start training them to fight terrorism and then set them free all around the world. – Lance

*******

The Jeffersonian

First I would ask to be paid in $2 bills! Then I would stack those Jefferson’s as high as they would go and just admire them a bit. Then I would hop on my electric bike and head downtown handing them out to anyone in need, ending up at my favorite watering hole with just three of them left. I would then order my favorite IPA and drop my last three Jefferson’s on the unsuspecting waitress and call it a day! – bmiles62

*******

The Convert

I’d convert the $100 all into pennies and leave noticeable and various pennies around the house to drive my brother crazy. – Kevin

(Editor’s Note: I don’t know why that would drive him crazy? It’s FREE MONEY!!! :))

*******

The Goldbug

I would buy gold. Then, I would ask my friends what they would do if they had $100 worth of gold. The best response gets the gold! – Meghan

*******

The Kidder

I would use the $100 on hookers and blow. Just kidding. Something boring like saving for my kids education. – Josh

*******

The Original Zac Efron

I’ll buy 2 MyHeritage DNA kits at a discount. One for myself and another for Zac Efron. I wanna prove everyone wrong that he’s not my twin brother :) – Menard

(Editor’s Note: I actually DO want this kit! It’s pretty cool!!)

*******

The Gamer

I would throw a $100 party. It would consist of me and my girlfriend maybe a brother or cousin in there randomly sitting on the couch at my place drinking crown royal (750ml) $22.97. I would eventually get off the couch, and cook up some ribs (3 racks $38) that had been marinating in the fridge over night (spices and various ingredients $10). After the food is consumed we would partake in a intense game of drunkin-go-kart on the Nintendo 64 (24 pack of Bud Light of Coors Light $20). With the remaining $9.03 we would donate it to a random homeless person. – Heath

*******

The Gambler

Put aside for buying lottery tickets in all of 2018, because someone once said “Is $1 a week worth a chance to win $100,000,000 or even $1,000,000,000?” For me it is. – Nitin

*******

The Adventurer

We’re looking to convert a school bus over the next year and then take a leap year to travel with our 5 kids (ages 4 months-18yrs) all over the US. I’d add it to our school bus fund! – Aden

*******

The Stealthy Kleenexer

I will exchange them into 100 $1 bills and treat my 10 friends with a box of Kleenex each for Christmas. And after the first couple of Kleenex, there will be surprises waiting. – Kim

*******

The Money Oozer ;)

I would use an extra $100 to buy a bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume. My kids love it when Mommy smells good and it makes me feel sexy – LIKE $$ MONEY $$! – Rebekah

*******

The Dollar Tree Fan

I would get 50 $1.00 bills and hide them around the Dollar Tree with my granddaughter. Then take her to lunch and leave the rest for a tip. What a fun day! – Rose

*******

The Financial Gabber

I would use it to pay you $100 for a 30 minute phone call for some financial advice. This would be the biggest gift of all. I feel like the hardest part is talking about money with other people (no one want’s to hear your problems) and it’s driving me crazy because I really want to talk about it and get good sound advice on how to get out of the mess I’m in. – Mike

(Editor’s Note: This is actually a REALLY good idea and there’s a big need for this in our community! Unfortunately I don’t do coaching anymore, but here’s a list of other people in our space here that does – in case anyone else is looking for a good money coach: http://ift.tt/2jvY42T)

*******

The Brainstormer

I have 2 Ebay stores that have been running for a few years now and need to know how to increase our sales… I would use this for a brainstorm session at our local Panera or Starbucks hoping to find someone that could help me with promotion of our sites – or run a contest online for the best idea. – Kate

*******

The Quitter

I will put in my 2-weeks notice at my job for early/mini-retirement on Friday! – JP

(Editor’s Note: I sure hope $100 isn’t the only thing stopping you from doing this! :))

*******

The Self-Promoter/Do-good-er ;)

I’d buy 49 copies of my book, Success: For Minority Teens (& Their Friends) at $4.99/copy, defraying the cost of taxes, and I’d give these to 49 of my most needy 8th grade students at school. So many need a book like mine but can’t afford to buy on Amazon. – Carlos Gomez

*******

The Gardener

I would buy $100 worth of seeds, plant them and go back and give them out to all of my elementary school classrooms. Learning how to tend to a garden, getting your hands dirty, keeping plants alive and getting to enjoy the result of your hard work is one of those timeless lessons that is hard to recreate in our candy crush obsessed society. – Alicia

******* The Compassionate Knitter

If I won the money I’d use it to buy yarn to knit a blanket for my mother-in-law. The yarn is sort of expensive, like $70 per blanket, and it takes about 15 hours of knitting (so not a smart time or money investment) but it is a handmade blanket, and relationships with the in-laws are important. – Hannah

*******

The Knowledge Pusher

I’ll use the money to buy books related to Investing and give them away to my coworkers. I have given 2 books away for my coworkers In the past years: Total Money Makeover, The Millionaire Teacher. – Vielka

*******

The Tree Gifter

I’d use $100 to purchase a bike for a little boy – there’s a giving tree at my local wellness center with tags listing gift wishes from local children in need. This particular tag has been languishing as it’s a request for a larger gift. I’ve purchased a few gifts to match other requests, and saw this tag when I delivered the gifts. It’s been weighing on me since – I’d hate for this little one to go without and will find a way to get a bike to him – Heather

*******

The Perfect Wife ;)

I would use the money to buy my husband 10 movie tickets so he could get out of the house, take a break from the kids, and treat himself to a movie about once a month! – Kayla

*******

The Fiscal Librarian

I’d use the money for books that I want to read. Then I’d donate the books to my local library so everyone else will have a chance to read them too. Not a big choice for money management, retirement, investment, or financial books available and I’d like to change that. – Michelle

*******

The Best Christmas Game (Not really an entry, but still a fun idea!)

Every participant puts in twenty bucks cash. The wad of money is wrapped in paper, then more, then a box, then more paper, another box, etc. until you have a large box wrapped. You set a timer or play music and you have only so many seconds to unwrap. When the timer dings, you have to pass the wrapped wad of cash. Whoever touches the cash first wins it all!!! One year I used my teeth – she said it wasn’t allowed but I say house rules. – Victoria

 *******

And lastly, The Boobie Award

I’m not going to lie, I’d probably blow the $100 on food and drink for Christmas day… Probably why I’m in debt and reading this blog… – Kate

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks ;)

Happy weekend, y’all!

****** Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links, and I want you to buy 1,000,000 of those books/DNA kits so I can give away another $500 and keep being entertained by you all… Make it happen!

[Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!) published first on http://ift.tt/2ljLF4B