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aria-writes · 4 years

Text

[Non-]Confession

Dear Tegan.

When I think of you, I’m reminded of fruit. Something sweet and citrus with a tough and slightly bitter rind, but once you really dig your fingers in there, the shell falls away to reveal the bright softness underneath.

Or perhaps it isn’t really that thick, and it’s more like the skin of a mango– easy enough once you know how, it’s just that no one really bothers to put in the effort to do so.

But when the right opener comes around, the long wait was worth it, saving the beauty inside for the perfect moment.

One fruit I personally find perfect and beautiful is the peach, which is ironic, because you definitely do not have one of those as advertised in emoji form, it’s more like a pancake than anything ;D

Insincerely, your frenemy Viktoria

P.S. ahahahahaha please don’t hate me

Tegan swiveled in his seat and glared at Viktoria and Tyler, who were sitting behind him and failing to contain their laughter.

He shook his head slightly as they high-fived. “Did you really go through the trouble of thinking of and writing down all that just to lead into ‘lol your butt is flat’?”

Viktoria clenched her hands on her desk and composed herself just long enough to say “Yes,” completely deadpan, before dissolving into another round of giggles.

Of course my best friend and my crush would team up against me, he thought to himself. Fate is a cruel mistress.

...Okay, tone it down, Kylo Ren.

“That’s just so...extra.” He inclined his head, considering. “Okay, fair, extra is kinda Arlington’s thing I guess, so if—“

“Mr. Novak! Please!” The teacher’s exasperated tone called out from the front of the room.

Tegan’s shoulders slumped as he gave Viktoria the most pity-inducing look he could muster, who mouthed ‘Sorry!’ at him and at least had the decency to look sheepish in response.

***

Tyler jostled Viktoria’s shoulder as they left class. “Congrats, you’ve finally made it into the ‘lost cause’ club!”

Viktoria pumped her fist into the air with a sarcastic grin. “Every parents’ dream!”

Tegan hiked his backpack farther up his shoulder. “I don’t know how I've managed to avoid entry for this long.”

Tyler gestured with his hands. “You just gotta act out more, in less passive ways.”

Tegan groaned and flopped sideways as he walked, leaning his head on top of Viktoria’s. “See, but that requires effort.”

Viktoria grinned and patted the top of his head. “Poor baby.”

Tegan righted himself with a groan and half-heartedly attempted to fix his hair.

“Viktoria, sidebar.” Tyler grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the garden area before she even had the chance to blink, let alone protest.

“Why haven’t you told him?”

Viktoria fiddled with the hem of her skirt and glanced at the blades of grass peeking out from underneath her shoes. “Told who what?”

Tyler crossed his arms and scowled in a scarily accurate impression of Tadashi. “Don’t play dumb with me, Vik. It’s not cute.”

Viktoria collapsed onto the bench, head in her hands, and let her bag fall to the ground. “I just… I dunno, I feel like it’s so painfully obvious, I guess, then if he can’t tell then it’s because he doesn’t want to. React. Or see it. That I am– or, that I have, um...”

Tyler took a seat next to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Okay, listen. I love Tegan. And he is denser than liquid mercury.”

Viktoria’s brows furrowed. “But—“

Tyler gestured grandly outwards at their surroundings.

“Call it Newton’s third law or perfectly balanced as all things should be or whatever, but somehow, despite his IQ of like, 200, he’s not going to get a hint unless you physically drop it in his lap.” He cocked his head. “Maybe not even then,” he said, mostly to himself.

Viktoria took a deep breath, then sat up straighter and squared her shoulders. “What can I do?”

Tyler half-shrugged and braced one hand against the seat.

“Honestly, the only way you’re going to get through to him is to walk up and say something really straightforward like ‘hey, I like you and I would really like to go out with you sometime, what do you say?’...and you might have to clarify that yes, you mean as in a date date and not just as friends.”

Viktoria recoiled. “What? Tyler! That’s gonna kill him!”

Tyler rolled his eyes and leaned back against the backrest of the bench. “He’ll survive! Probably!”

Viktoria started down at her lap and picked at the skin at the edges of her fingernails.

“I’m still trying to figure some things out. In the meantime, do you mind not telling him about this?”

Tyler sighed and crossed one of his legs over the other so one ankle was resting on the opposite knee. “I can’t lie to him.”

Viktoria bit her bottom lip. “I wouldn’t ask you to. But could you please not bring it up out of nowhere otherwise? Or like, unless he directly asks you.”

Tyler solemnly raised his right hand. “Scout’s honor.”

Viktoria squinted at him. “You were a scout?” she asked, dubious.

Tyler grinned suddenly. “No, but I will swear on my most prized box of thin mints.”

Viktoria grinned back and reached over to high-five his raised hand. “Even better.”

Tyler let his hand drop and shifted his weight. “So who else knows?”

Viktoria winced and pulled the hair back out of her face. “Um, Alistair, Tadashi, Ellie, I think Neha, maybe Claire—”

Tyler blinked owlishly and motioned for her to stop. “Bruh, at this rate everybody in the entire school is going to know before Tegan does.”

Viktoria wrapped her arms around herself. “Well, at least I didn’t tell Raquel. I get the feeling that she’s not exactly a vault of secrets.”

Tyler pursed his lips and looked over her shoulder at the lattice. “Oh, you sweet summer child.”

Viktoria swallowed thickly and slumped backward in her seat. “And I just set a ticking time bomb for myself.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow and patted her on the knee. “Look, whatever it is that you have to work out, you better make it quick. I’ll do my level best, but I make no promises that I cannot keep.”

Viktoria reached over and gave him a gentle punch on the arm. “Snitches get stitches, Williams.”

Tyler shivered involuntarily. “Ooh, I just felt a chill. Did you just feel a chill? Two can play at this game, Lin. No, that’s not really–“

“–it’s too short to be threatening,” Viktoria finished, glancing up and to the left as she recalled her friends’ surnames.

“Drew. See, it just doesn’t work well.”

Tyler furrowed his brows and leaned forward. “Collins. There we go. Durand.”

Viktoria smiled slightly and rested her arm on the armrest nearest to her. “Novakova. Pereira-Carma— no, that’s on the other end, it’s too long.”

She reached over to grab the strap of her abandoned backpack. “Dude, did we just skip class?”

Tyler scratched the back of his head. “Hm, I think we did. Well, it was the last one of the day, so…”

Viktoria sighed and pulled herself to her feet. “Alright cool, I’m going to hide in my room until morning.”

Tyler grinned and shot finger guns at her. “See you then. And good luck.”

***

The next morning, Viktoria headed to the bathroom first thing. She had just set her bag of toiletries down on the sink counter when Tyler came rushing in, frenetic.

Viktoria broke into a cold sweat and whirled around to wave her toothbrush at him. “I’m brushing my teeth! I am brushing my teeth! I promise!”

“Ugh, you would not believe– well maybe you would, but I digress—“ Tyler barreled on, ignoring her.

“I stayed strong for as long as I could, but the constant battering of ‘does she like me Tyler? But like, like like me, Tyler? are you listening to me, Tyler?’ cracked me like an egg so I finally blurted it out and he goes, ‘No, I think you’re either reading too much into things or trying to make me feel better.’ I can’t take this anymore!” He threw his arms skywards, then collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Viktoria began brushing her teeth and stared at him, as other people filed in and out without paying either of them any attention whatsoever.

Extra, as ridiculous as it seems, may have been an understatement.

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aria-writes · 3 years

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Hello! I saw some of your works while scrolling tumblr and all I can say is that you write really well! Thank you for sharing us your works. ❤️ Do you accept requests? If yes, can I request a drabble of fem!Scholar being sick but is stubborn asf (like they still attend classes) with her Karolina? I'm such a sucker for both Karol and Raquel. 😂 Thank you! Hope you keep writing! 😄

Don’t worry, I will keep writing as long as I have access to a keyboard and internet connection! And barring that, paper and pen! You couldn’t stop me if you tried! ^-^ Lol, thank you for your patience! Here it is!

Sticking to 100 words is muy difficult-o for me, so you get a triple drabble. Triple the words, triple the Karolina! Win-win-win in my book! Okay, here it is for real this time—

💄💄💄

Scholar let out a loud sneeze that seemed to almost shake the room, then hid behind her sleeve as people looked around for the source of the noise.

This disturbance was quickly forgotten as the bell rang and a mass exodus begun.

Scholar started to reach for her backpack when two pale, slender hands slammed down on the book in front of her.

She cleared her throat of mucus as her eyes traveled up the arms to the face of the girl standing in front of her. “I’m fine.”

Karolina shook her head at the excuse, eyes narrowing. “You are clearly not fine. It doesn’t even take someone as attentive as me to notice.”

Scholar swiped a tissue across her nose and mouth haphazardly and gave Karol a weak thumbs-up. “I’ve powered through worse.”

Karolina let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t care what you have done, I’m concerned with what you should do.”

She leaned over and held her forehead against Scholar’s to gauge her temperature, frowning slightly at the intense heat radiating off of her mildly sweaty skin. “Namely, go back to your dorm and lie down. I’ll send someone to check on you every half hour—“

Scholar crossed her arms stubbornly. “No, I can do this, I promise. Gotta keep those grades up, you know?”

She tried to jump to her feet, but got caught in a momentary dizzy spell and had to grip the back of the chair she was previously sitting in, eyes clenching shut. She swallowed thickly and turned to Karolina. “There. See? I’m perfectly alright.”

Karolina huffed and placed her hands on Scholar’s shoulders. “Well, if you insist on being bullheaded, then at the very least allow me to lend you my assistance. Just for today.”

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aria-writes · 3 years

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Karolina gave Viktoria the slightest glance of acknowledgment as she stepped up to the mirror beside her to reapply her lip gloss, which she supposed was an improvement. At the beginning of the year, she would’ve gone to the opposite end of the row of sinks or used a different bathroom altogether. They stood side by side in a tense silence that neither of them seemed eager to break.

Why was it always in the bathroom?

Karolina zipped her makeup bag up and prepared to leave without a word, but Viktoria forced herself to step in front of her before she had the chance to lose the nerve. “Karolina–”

Karolina’s eyes flashed dangerously as her weight shifted. “Viktoria, I don’t have time for this right now.”

Viktoria frowned and squared her shoulders as she rose up to her full height. “No. Why. I thought you were actually starting to like me, or at the very least not hate my guts, but now I don’t know what to think.”

Karolina gave an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s precisely because I don’t hate your guts. I wouldn’t even be explaining this to you if I didn’t care.” Her eyebrows lowered.

For a split second, Viktoria caught another glimpse behind the tower.

Karolina’s cold blue eyes looked straight into hers as she drew breath. “Through anything, no matter what, I will always stand with him over anyone else. But I don’t want to see you hurt, either.”

Viktoria blinked as if a floodlight had just been switched on. “...Oh. I understand.” She stepped out of her way.

Karolina nodded sharply a single time. “Good.” She started towards the exit, then turned and called over her shoulder, “Despite your feelings toward the contrary… I do hope it is you.”

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aria-writes · 4 years

Text

Sweet Elite

Deleted Scene from Chapter 3 (Not Really)

gen fic

Description: a short and passionate rebel with a mediocre cause gets in over their head.

Setting: Right after Tegan reveals that he even went so far as to check the government websites for the exact requirements on what is considered “cruel and unusual punishment”.

“Ugh, at least you tried.” Scholar frowned. Many had remarked on their stubbornness, but today all of Arlington would witness the full extent of that trait.

“No.”

Tegan startles, almost falling off the side of the bleachers. “Know what?”

“I’m not going to just roll over and do what the man says just because they told us to!” Scholar jumped to their feet and pulled the hair back out of their face as they started towards Coach Davis with determination. “Come on, they can’t steamroll all of us!”

They marched with purpose, their hotheadedness pushing aside all logic.

“Hey! What’s the big idea? Every year, we have this outdated farce of a test where we all are forced to sweat for no reason to the point of exhaustion, and for what? Humanity has stopped evolving! Survival of the fittest is no longer reserved for ‘me throw big rock the farthest’, the most successful people rising to the top of the world are CEOs and businesspeople who work office jobs! Why are we relying on a Neanderthal measurement of days gone by when what should be rewarded is working smarter, not harder?”

“It... seems like you’re the only one who has a problem with it, Scholar.” A pretty senior with long brown hair said softly in the split second of silence before Coach Davis proceeded to give Scholar the what for.

That was about the moment when Scholar realized that they were the only one standing there. They looked over their shoulder to glare at Tegan. He gave them an awkward smile and a thumbs up, which was much less encouraging to them than he meant for it to be.

When they turned back around, Coach Davis will still saying whatever it was he was saying as Ellie sidled up beside them.

“Looks like revolution will have to wait another day,” she said as she sympathetically patted Scholar on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll pull out the big guns next time.”

“What?” Scholar whirled to face her. “I’m not giving up yet! That’s what got us here!”

Coach Davis was not pleased to be interrupted, to say the least. Ellie visibly winced as he took a deep breath to continue his tirade.

Back against the wall on the far side of the gym, Raquel clapped Alistair on the back before jogging over to where Scholar, and now Ellie, stood.

He immediately picked up on her intentions and followed suit.

“Hey Scholar, maybe you should...”

“Oh, screw it.” Raquel sighed and wrapped her arms around Scholar’s torso to lift them, motioning with her head for Alistair to do the same with their legs.

As soon as Scholar caught on to what they were doing, they transformed from a short angry rebel without a cause— okay, a mediocre cause— into an even angrier cat that has just been placed in a bathtub full of soapy water.

To this day, Raquel and Alistair note that as the scariest thing that they’ve ever done and lived to tell the tale of.

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aria-writes · 4 years

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A paper plane shot across the room and gently glided to the floor. The sounds of restless students tapping their fingers and sighing out of pure boredom filled the class.

On a regular day, Viktoria would’ve been thinking about lunch right about now, but this time her mind was on other things. Her grades were high enough to spend a few minutes on some self-indulgent daydreaming, and it was certainly better than standing by the pencil sharpener and turning and turning a perfectly good pencil until it was down to a nearly unusable stub. Not that she was naming any names here. Axel. Whoops, did she just think that out loud?

She let her mind wander where it pleased, and even missed the ringing of the bell, too thoroughly absorbed in scrawling Viktoria Nováková and Viktoria Novák-Lin and other variants in looping cursive across the paper in front of her.

Viktoria Lin-Novákova, Viktoria Lin-Novák, Mrs. Tegan Novák...

She tested that last one out loud under her breath, letting the sound roll off of her tongue a few times. Ha. As if. Could you imagine? That would mean–

Tegan awkwardly shuffled over to her and stood about half a foot away, going completely unnoticed until he cleared his throat. “So, do you–“

Viktoria startled in her seat, then haphazardly ripped the piece of paper from her notebook and stuffed it in her mouth as her pen clattered to the floor.

“Oh! Pardon me, Tegan,” she mumbled around the large wad, trying her best to appear nonchalant as she propped a hand against her desk, “what was it were you that… ah, that is, you were saying?”

This sucks, she thought to herself, but it’s far from the worst thing that I’ve ever tasted. She willed the paper to dissolve quickly, but it was stubbornly resistant.

Tegan rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand and averted his gaze with a glance at the far wall. “I was just gonna ask if you wanted to go grab something to eat together.”

Viktoria felt a familiar twinge of hunger hit her stomach at the mention of food. “Great idea, I’m starving.” She eagerly jumped to her feet and began gathering her supplies.

“Yeah, I could tell.” Tegan nodded towards the notebook on her desk, where it lay open with half a page missing.

Viktoria blinked, at a loss for words, then snorted suddenly as realization dawned on her. She grinned despite herself.

“You’re hilarious. That’s why I l– uh, that’s one of the things I like about you, you know.” She punched Tegan affectionately on the arm as she passed him on her way out the door, cheeks burning. She quickly spat out the half-chewed wad of paper into the trash can sitting by the door.

“...ow,” Tegan muttered from behind her, barely audible. He discreetly rubbed his arm as he followed her, just a step behind.

Viktoria raised an eyebrow. She wasn't entirely sure if he was joking or not, so she decided against bringing attention to it.

She glanced over her shoulder and inclined her head. “Well, let’s go. If Alistair and Raquel beat us to the cafeteria there won’t be any food left.” She turned the corner into the next hall a little too sharply, which caused the loose zipper on her backpack to unzip entirely and spill its contents all over the floor.

“Ugh!” Viktoria groaned as she threw her head back, then turned and addressed the water fountain built into the wall. “Why me?”

The water fountain did not respond.

“You’re no help,” Viktoria muttered crossly. She turned on her heel to begin collecting her things once again, nearly stepping on Tegan in the process. She tried to hop out of the way to avoid him, but misjudged the distance and ended up tripping over his arm anyway.

“Uff.” She huffed, the wind momentarily knocked out of her.

“Whoa!” Tegan leaned over her, concerned. “Are you hurt?”

Viktoria rolled her eyes, mostly at herself. “Only my ego.” She took the sheaf of papers from his hands with a slight smile. “Thanks.”

Tegan’s eyes crinkled slightly. “You’re welcome.” He suddenly realized their respective positions and just how close they had gotten, with him hovering over her. He scrambled backward, hitting his shoulder against the very unhelpful water fountain in the process. He muttered something under his breath that Viktoria didn’t exactly recognize, but sounded more or less like a curse word.

This is FINE, Viktoria thought to herself as she pulled herself to her feet, then offered a hand to Tegan. He hesitated for a moment before taking it in his own.

Pulling Tegan’s weight up was easier than Viktoria thought it was going to be.

She studied his expression. He looked somewhat awkward, as per usual, but not uncomfortable. Gods, she could get lost in those warm brown eyes for days. And she was still holding onto his hand much longer than strictly necessary like a total weirdo!

She quickly released him and began shoving her papers into her bag. “Right.” Viktoria straightened her spine and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Tegan shoved a hand into his pocket, then jerked his thumb towards the general direction of the cafeteria. “So… lunch?”

“Indubitably.” Victoria said, then, “That’s not how you use that word… oh well!” She straightened her blazer and carried on with as much dignity as she could muster.

Tegan smiled and nudged her with his elbow. “All in all, a 100% successful trip.”

Viktoria shook her head. “Nerd.” She said, not without affection.

Tegan pushed the bridge of his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “And proud.”

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aria-writes · 4 years

Note

Hey Cat, I want to thank you for deciding to share your talent with us ❤️. I’m looking forward to reading more of your genius fics! They are funny and so well written. Would you mind taking my request? I’d love it if you would write an Alistair x fem!scholar drabble of Alistair eating spicy food (and dying cause he’s not used to that unlike scholar?) please 🥺

Thank you for my very first ask, I’m so excited! Love you fren!! 🖤 This is a double drabble, aka 200 words– somehow I ended up with that many exactly so I hope you enjoy!

☀️☀️☀️

“Here we are!” Scholar chirped as she set two plates down on the table. She turned and beamed at Alistair, hands loosely clasped behind her back.

Alistair shook his head and smiled back. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

Scholar slid into the seat across from him. “Uh, I can’t rap.”

“Haha! This looks so good.” Alistair scooped a hefty bite up in his fork and shoved it in his mouth. His expression quickly changed from excitement to horror.

Scholar reached out towards him in concern. “Oh no, is it bad?”

Alistair clamped his hand over his mouth and leaned over to dig through his backpack, frantically searching for a bottle of water.

“Spicy...” he managed to mumble, tears quickly forming at the corners of his eyes.

Scholar slid a glass of milk across the table to him, which he took gratefully and downed in one gulp.

Alistair wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and sighed in relief, sagging backwards in his seat. “Thanks.”

Scholar couldn’t stop herself from giggling once the worst of it was over. “So wait, you mean to tell me that you eat those terrible sriracha bars but can’t handle a few peppers?”

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aria-writes · 4 years

Text

Viktoria frowned and crossed her arms in front of herself. “Tyler, leave the seagulls alone.”

Tyler grinned cheekily as he tried in vain to wave her off. “Mr. Boss said to bring something back from the beach for him!” Viktoria shifted her weight and glanced over her shoulder in Tegan’s general direction, but it was immediately clear to her that he wasn’t going to be any help whatsoever in this sort of situation.

“You and I both darn well know that he didn’t mean the wildlife!”

Tyler pointed at her. “He didn’t specify. So, there is still a very slim but entirely probable–”

Viktoria threw her arms up in the air. “Dude.” “Do it for the meme,” Tegan called from under his frowny-face umbrella.

Victoria turned and looked straight at him for the first time that day, hands resting on her hips. “Where did you even find that thing?” Tegan shrugged nonchalantly. Well, as nonchalant as one can be while sweating to death, at least. “The internet.”

Viktoria sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, then directed her attention towards the mock volleyball court that Raquel, Alistair, and Axel had set up. Axel and Ellie were up against Raquel and Alistair, and it was not going very well for the former team.

On Viktoria’s opposite side, Tadashi seemed lost inside his own little world as he drew a large square in the sand with a big stick, then started writing in large block letters underneath it. “D...E...T…”

That was clearly going to take him a while, and she was already bored watching.

Tegan shot Tyler a look that Viktoria couldn’t even begin to decipher, but she could tell it meant something meaningful.

Tyler began loudly heckling Axel, mocking his (admittedly lackluster) volleyball playing style from what he probably assumed was a safe distance away.

“I hope your vocal warmups aren’t as weak as your physical warmups are, AHAHAHA– OW!” Tyler was cut off abruptly via an inflatable beach ball to the face, courtesy of a smirking Axel.

Tyler snatched it out of the air with his hands before it had a chance to fall and raised it above his head, then ran straight towards him with a battle yell.

The smirk quickly disappeared off of Axel’s face, replaced by a scream of “SHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII–” that completely drowned out Tyler’s voice as he started running down the beach, both of them being deliberate in their avoidance of Claire’s very elaborate sandcastle, of course.

Viktoria raised an eyebrow. “That’s a very impressive lung capacity right there. And here I thought ‘singing on a treadmill’ was just an exaggeration.”

Tegan ran a hand through his hair and muttered something under his breath that Viktoria couldn’t quite catch. Something about someone owing someone, perhaps? Viktoria grinned to herself at the mental image of Tegan as a mob boss.

Karolina and Neha relaxed on lounge chairs a good few yards away and pretended not to know any of them. Neha took a long sip of her iced lemonade as she sketched out ideas for a swimwear line while Karolina thumbed through a magazine, protected from the sun’s harsh rays under an umbrella, a very fashionable floppy hat, Guccy sunglasses, and three layers of 100 SPF sunscreen.

Speaking of which… “Did you at least put some sunscreen on?” Viktoria turned and asked Tegan suddenly. He fell silent, then gave her a guilty smile. “That would be a no.” Viktoria sat down beside him and pulled a brightly colored tube out of her tote bag despite Tegan’s protesting.

Axel and Tyler ran by, still screaming at the top of both their lungs as they went right on past Tadashi’s…

“DETENTION DUNGEON,” Viktoria read aloud.

The beach ball must have gotten lost somewhere along the way, as Tyler was now just flailing his arms around above his head as he chased Axel.

Viktoria blinked dumbly. “Huh. Interesting. I guess old habits die hard.” She shook her head and squeezed a generous amount of sunscreen into her palm, then moved to apply it to Tegan’s arm.

Tegan gasped as the cold cream made contact with his uncomfortably warm skin. “You uh, you really don’t have to fuss over me like this...” Viktoria grinned as she slathered it up and down the length of his arm. “Awwh, but I want to, though.” She set to work, watching Tadashi out of the corner of her eye.

Tadashi scooted over to the ‘entrance’ of his detention dungeon, then started drawing what seemed to be some very elaborate puzzles and traps.

Viktoria paused and sat back on her heels, squinting. It was difficult to tell where exactly the sunscreen ended and Tegan’s pale skin began.

“What exactly is Tyler going to do if he catches Axel, anyway?”

Tegan rolled his eyes as the corners of his mouth turned upwards. “Well, you know the four F’s? Axel’s doing one of them right now, and then two out of the three remaining ones are… take your pick.”

Viktoria groaned and smacked her forehead against the armrest of Tegan’s chair. “Tegaaan!” “Viktoriaaaa!” Tegan whined back, matching her tone.

Viktoria raised her head and grinned suddenly as a thought struck her. “Hey, do you think Tadashi would throw people in his detention dungeon for PDA?” Tegan nearly fell out of his chair as he sputtered, barely coherent. “I– What– are you– I mean, he– you mean like–” “Because Ellie and Alistair have been making googly eyes at each other all day,” she continued, seemingly oblivious.

Was that a hint of a genuinely relaxed smile on his face as Tadashi added an extra leg to his manticore? Maybe it was a trick of the light.

Tegan took a deep breath to steady himself and sank further into his seat. “You are going to be the death of me, Viktoria.” He pulled his hood up over his head and covered his face with it, the corner of his glasses getting hooked on the fabric in the process.

“You… have a T-shirt... with a hood attached to it?” Viktoria asked incredulously, eyebrows raised.

Tegan stuck his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout and crossed his arms, the effect only enhanced by his askew glasses. “Don’t judge me.”

Viktoria smiled as she moved from his left side to his right. “Well, at least it’s on-brand.”

Tegan lifted his hood to pull it back just enough to uncover his eyes and fixed his glasses. “So, what, I’m predictable now? I gotta change things up a bit.”

Viktoria motioned towards Tyler and Axel. “You could go join them, nobody would expect that.” She involuntarily cringed as Axel’s scream went shrill and went just sharp of the high C.

“Ugh, exercise. Never mind, I’ll stick with predictable.”

Tegan rolled his eyes again and wiped the palms of his hands on his shorts. “Lovely weather we’re having,” he said sarcastically.

Viktoria slowly inclined her head. “I don’t want to pry or come across as rude, but…” She trailed off, electing to stare at the crook of his elbow instead of his face. “Why are you out here instead of inside with the sweet, blessed air conditioning if you hate it so much?” She glanced up to gauge his reaction.

Tegan’s mouth twisted to the side as he avoided looking straight at her.

“...An hour of pure torment is paradise if I’m spending it with you.”

Viktoria inhaled sharply. “Tegan, I…”

Oh no, She thought to herself, not emotions and feelings! Not here! Not now!

She racked her brain for a fast and simple way to deflect. “If Axel ever decides to rebrand as darker and edgier, you could totally be his songwriter.”

“Like, what,” Tegan gestured grandly into the air with his arm, “The night sky is dark/just like my soul/and like the full moon/it swallows me whole?” Viktoria squeezed Tegan’s shoulder. “Pure poetry.” Tegan ran a hand through his hair, laughing in disbelief. “I don’t even know what it means!” Viktoria shrugged and shifted her weight. “That’s what makes it so perfect, though. Even if it has no meaning, people will eventually find one, anyway.” Tegan nodded slowly. “Wow. That got deep.”

Just then, Axel and Tyler came running by for the second time and collapsed on the sand, panting heavily.

“I’m,,, never,,, doing,,, that,,, again,,,” Axel gasped, arms wrapped around his middle.

“Me,,, neither,,,” Tyler agreed, nodding weakly as he stared straight up at the crystal blue sky.

“Okay, that dragged on for way too long.” Tegan stretched his arms above his head and let out a satisfied groan as his joints cracked loudly.

Tadashi’s head snapped to attention. “WHO BROUGHT FIREWORKS?!”

“Ooh, Tadpole’s gonna throw you in his detentsand,” Viktoria teased, resting one arm across the back of his chair.

Tegan pointed with his pale, ridiculously slender index finger. “Out. Get out.”

“I just—“ Viktoria started.

Tegan shook his head vigorously. “Nope nope nope, that was too horrible.” His glasses fell off. He retrieved and replaced them as nonchalantly as he could, which was difficult since he dropped them back onto the sand twice during the process.

Viktoria wandered over to the volleyball court, palms turned upwards. “Looks like I’m booted, so–” “Oh, good.” Ellie grabbed her arm. “We need another player to balance the teams, since–” she gestured vigorously at Axel and Tyler, who looked like a couple of stranded fish.

Viktoria grimaced and shied away. “Oh no, I’m terrible at all sports.” Ellie placed her hands on her hips. “Do you run away from the ball when it comes toward you?” Viktoria shuffled her feet, reluctant to answer. “...Yes, except for in dodgeball, because that’s an easy out.”

Ellie groaned and threw her head back. “Well, at least you’re capable of running, so there’s a start.”

Viktoria pursed her lips and cocked her head, crossing her arms behind herself.

“That depends on your definition of running. Because ‘moving as fast as you can, which is still not a lot’, is just about all I can muster.”

Ellie gave her a deep frown. Viktoria didn’t even know that mouths and eyebrows could turn like that before.

Viktoria gave a backward glance at Tegan, who seemed to be doing a decent enough job of entertaining himself on his phone. Little did she know, he was most definitely taking photos of her. Tasteful ones, of course.

“Okay, fine, I’m in. What do we need to do?” Viktoria began stretching, then started pulling her hair into a low ponytail.

Ellie offered her a spare hair tie and clapped her on the back. “Win, of course!” Viktoria’s jaw dropped open, almost cartoonishly. “Against Raquel and Alistair?” She shook her head, eyes wide. “I’m just gonna hold you back, hon. This has ‘bad idea’ written all over it.”

Alistair looked in their direction and shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m open to switching if you want.” “Tired of winning?” Raquel teased, spinning the ball on the tip of her finger. Viktoria watched enviously.

“Nah, but it sounds like you are.” Alistair chugged a bottle of water, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I am very in over my head I’m not competitive at all this isn’t going to end well for me–” Viktoria very much resembled a deer that wandered onto the highway and was now caught in a rapidly approaching car’s headlights.

Claire rose to her feet and carefully stepped over her completed sandcastle and matching sea dragon, dusting the sand off herself.

“I can join in too, if you want? To take the pressure off of it being two vs. two.” She gave her a tentative smile. Viktoria made a noise of appreciation and threw her arm around her shoulders. “You’re the best, Claire.”

Claire pulled her thick hair over her shoulders and smiled down at her feet. “Now we can suck together. Yay?” Viktoria stared at her in shock, then doubled over laughing. “I can’t believe you just said that! You’re not wrong, though!”

Raquel stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled, one fist in the air. “ALRIGHT, PANSIES! HALFTIME’S OVER! LET’S GOOOO!”

“Y’all are going down!” Ellie bounded over to the other side of the net, game face on.

Alistair placed his hands on his knees and planted his heels in the sand. “In history, maybe!” He hollered back, then to his teammates, “Don’t let them intimidate you, they’re all talk.”

The fire in Raquel’s eyes and the way Ellie pounded her fist into her opposite palm said otherwise.

Claire and Viktoria shared a tight-lipped, ‘we are doomed’ glance.

Claire reached over and weakly touched her fingertips to Viktoria’s. “That’s our team high-five,” she whispered.

“Dream tea–” Viktoria started to whisper back, but was rudely interrupted by Alistair’s shout of “BALL!”

Viktoria flailed her arms outwards. “Ack!”

Claire shielded her face as it headed in her direction. “Eep!” Raquel threw her arm out to the side, palm flat. “OUT!” She called, gleefully.

Viktoria scrunched up her shoulders and reached over to tap fingertips. “Yay, Claire! You got it over!”

Claire returned the gesture, eyes shining. “Dream team!”

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