#up the wooden stairs to my bedroom where my backpack for school lay.. my bed- yes my bed. the imprint of my body still dents the mattress.

[eggsploded]

spicelantern HD remaster

#do you trust him. i trust him. id shake his hand. im gonna shake his hand guys. #boy it sure smells fragrant in here... like the flowers of my youth.. im so tired... i think ill just.. head home to my old house #up the wooden stairs to my bedroom where my backpack for school lay.. my bed- yes my bed. the imprint of my body still dents the mattress. #my tears of bad days past are laced in the foam and metal springs. #it smells so good in here. im so tired. mom.. im going to bed. im just tired. the flowers are in bloom. im just going to sleep. #(i get staggered and explode into meat bits) #anyway #egg art #limbus company #yi sang #gregor #gregor lcb #spicebush yi sang #lantern gregor #gregsang #edit: color adjusting

[ravendruid]

Be In My Eyes - Chapter 4

You can read Chapters 1-3 here or on AO3. Thank you so much everyone for all the support. I hope you enjoy this long-ass chapter. <3

Ding. The elevator doors opened on the seventh floor. A short girl with pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes walked out, carrying a backpack that looked both too heavy and too big for her size, not to mention that she did not look like she was old enough to be in college.

The girl watched the doors close again and then turned toward the wooden door that led to the stairs just in time to see a tall, strong-built guy walk out. He was carrying one suitcase on each arm and had a big backpack on his shoulders. His face beamed into a smile as he saw the small girl.

“Oh! I almost beat you, Pike.” He said, setting down one of the suitcases before the girl. 

“You almost did, Grog!” She chuckled at him. Pike grabbed the suitcase, and they walked down the corridor, looking for their apartment number.

—

Keyleth and Korrin were eating in the living room when the door to the apartment opened, and in walked the tallest guy and the shortest girl Keyleth had ever seen. She quickly rose to her feet, followed by her dad, and rounded the couch to welcome them.

  “Oh! Hello! I’m Pike,” The girl introduced herself. “You must be one of our roommates.”

  “Yes! I’m Keyleth. Nice to meet you.” Keyleth waved. “This is my dad. He has been helping me move in.” Keyleth gestured toward Korrin, who had rounded up the couch and extended his hand to Pike and the other guy.

  “I’m Korrin. Nice to meet you.”

  “Hi, I’m Grog.” The tall guy said as he shook Korrin’s hand, who winced a little at the strength of the handshake.

  “It seems like our trio is complete, then,” Keyleth said excitedly, clapping her hands together. “Come on. I’ll show you to our room.” 

  Keyleth walked through the open bedroom door with Pike in tow just as Vex closed the wardrobe door after putting away the few clothes she had.

  “Ah… This is our other roommate.” Keyleth gestured bashfully to Vex.

  “Hello. I’m Vex’ahlia. Nice to meet you.” Vex greeted them with a smile and stepped back into the room to let them in. Upon hearing people in the room, Trinket lifted his big head from his paws to see what the commotion was about.

  “Nice to meet you, Vex’ahlia. I’m Pike.” The blonde girl greeted. “Oh! You have a dog. He’s so cute!”

  “Yes, his name is Trinket. I hope you don’t mind him.” Trinket jumped out of the bed, tail wagging, and moved towards Pike, who quickly stuffed her hands in his fur and petted him.

  “Oh, not at all. I love dogs. You’re such a good boy, aren’t you, Trinket?” Pike cooed, not needing to bend down much to pet him, seeing that Trinket was almost as tall as her.

—

After they all finished unpacking, the girls and Grog gathered in the living room – Keyleth taking the armchair closest to the bookshelf – and decided to order some pizzas for a housewarming party. They were discussing toppings when the front door opened with a loud thud, followed by a grunt.

“Oops. Sorry.” 

They all turned towards the door to see what was happening, and Trinket got up from where he lay at Vex’s feet to round the couch to investigate.

The apparent source of the noise came from a short guy with brown hair, dressed in ostentatious purple clothes, who was holding an equally flashy purple suitcase, much bigger than him, a smaller white suitcase, and what looked like to be a ukelele bag on his back. 

Behind him was another guy, although taller, dressed in a fancy blue coat, khaki pants, and a white buttoned shirt. His hair was stark white, and behind his rounded golden glasses stared a pair of piercing blue eyes.

Vex and Pike got up to help the newcomers with their luggage, wheeling their suitcases inside so that there was enough room to close the door behind them.

“Hello, ladies!” Said the shorter man, looking at the girls. “My name is Scanlan Shorthalt, and I will be your handsome savior and protector for the school year. Fear not, beautiful damsels,” he said, getting closer to the girls and holding Pike’s hand, kissing the back of it, “with the Scanman nearby, no harm will come to you.” He clutched Vex’s hand, and before he could kiss it, a voice came from the living room.

“Oy! They don’t need you protecting them,” Grog had gotten up and crossed the room to stand directly behind Pike. “That’s what I’m here for.” He said intimidatingly. 

Sclanlan quickly backed away, stumbling onto the white-haired guy still waiting at the door. “I apologize!” He said, raising his hands in a surrender pose.

“Nice to meet you, Scanlan,” Pike said with a kind smile. “My name is Pike. And who are you?” She asked the white-haired guy.

“I am Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III.” He said, straightening his back and pushing his glasses higher on his nose bridge. Seeing everyone staring at him with open mouths, he sighed and added, “You can call me Percival or Percy, I guess.”

“Well, Percival,” Vex’ahlia said in a sultry voice, “welcome to apartment 7B. My name is Vex’ahlia, but you can call me Vex.” 

If anyone noticed Percy’s cheeks flushing as he nodded in acknowledgment, no one said a thing.

“And this is my brother, Grog. Please don’t pay him any mind.” Pike gestured behind her, rolling her eyes.

“Brother?” Scanlan asked, looking up. They did not look alike at all.

“Yes. Grog was adopted by my grandpa when we were young, and we grew up together as siblings.” Pike explained.

“Yeah, don’t worry. That’s a very normal reaction.” Grog added with a smile.

“Please, come in.” Vex’ahlia gestured to the living room. “We were about to order some pizzas if you want to join us.”

“That sounds great. I’m starving.” Scanlan said, following her into the living room, quickly followed by Percy and Pike.

“You can sit on the couch.” Pike pointed at Percy. “I’ll sit on the floor.”

Percy nodded and took the empty seat on the gray couch next to Vex’ahlia. Only then did he and Scanlan notice the other person, a red-haired girl wearing a yellow dress.

“Oh! Another beautiful lady!” Scanlan said with a grin, approaching Keyleth, who immediately retracted her hands to her lap. 

“H– Hi. I’m Keyleth.” She mumbled nervously. However, it seemed like Scanlan had gotten the message because instead of trying to take her hand, he shortened his smile and took a brief bow.

“Nice to meet you, Keyleth. I’m Scanlan.”

“And this is Trinket.” Vex’ahlia gestured to the big dog resting at her feet, wagging his tail. 

“There’s one bed available in each room,” Pike said. “You can either bunk with Grog or with Vex’s brother.”

“I’ll take the big guy. Sorry, Percival von Musseldorf.”

“That’s not–Ugh.” Percy sighed and raised the palm of his hand to his brow. “Alright, then.”

“Come, I’ll show you to your room.” Vex winked at Percy and beckoned him to follow her.

Vax was sitting on his bed reading a pamphlet with the dorm rules when his sister barged in, followed by a tall, white-haired, snotty-looking dude who carried two suitcases. Vax snorted at that. Good luck stuffing that many clothes in that tiny ass wardrobe.

“This is my brother, Vax,” Vex’ahlia turned to Percy. 

“Nice to meet you, Vax. I am Percival Fredric–”

“You can call him Percy,” Vex interrupted. Vax nodded in acknowledgment.

“Can I help you with something, sister?”

“Well, we are going to order some pizzas and hang out in the living room, and I wanted to know what kind of pizza you two would like,” Vex said, sitting on Vax’s bed. 

“I think I’ll stay in the room tonight,” Vax answered. 

“No, you’re not. You will have dinner with us and socialize like a normal person, Vax.” She stared daggers at him. Vax rolled his eyes at her but admitted defeat. 

“Cheese pizza is fine, then.”

“How about you, Percival?” Vex’s sultry voice returned. And so did the blush on Percy’s cheeks.

“Ah… Vegetarian? No olives, though.” Percy replied. He turned around pretending to open his suitcase, but he was trying to hide the redness in his cheeks.

“Alright. See you all later!” Vex left the room, closing the door behind her and leaving Vax and Percy in uncomfortable silence as Percy started unpacking his things.

—

The group gathered around the living room coffee table two hours later. Vax was sitting on the couch between his sister and Keyleth; Percy and Grog had picked the armchairs, and Pike and Scanlan sat on the floor.

They had gotten four different types of pizza: vegetarian for Keyleth and Percy, cheese for the twins, triple meat for Grog and Pike, and just plain pepperoni for whoever wanted it, which was mostly just Scanlan. They also had bought beers for everyone after Scanlan claimed that every housewarming party needed alcohol and music, which he also provided by connecting his phone to the speakers in the living room.

“Let’s get to know each other a little, shall we?” Scanlan said, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Everyone cheered at the idea. However, Vax felt Keyleth tense right next to him, noticing her knuckles turn white against the bottle in her hands.

“Let’s start with an easy one. What is everyone studying?” Pike asked with a soft smile.

“I’m majoring in theater,” Scanlan answered. 

“Yep, that checks out.” Vex laughed.

“I’m doing sports,” Grog answered next. 

“By doing sports, he truly means doing sports. Grog is not very fond of studying.” Pike teased.

“Engineering for me,” Percy replied, fixing his glasses on his nose bridge.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Vex winked at Percy, who blushed immediately. “Vax and I are both doing the pre-med program, but I’m going into Veterinary afterward.”

“Wait, for real?” Pike asked excitedly. “I’m doing pre-med as well! I’m hoping to follow into medical studies.” 

“That is so cool! Does that mean we’ll have classes together?” Vex asked. 

“Yep, we sure are!” Pike answered. “How about you, Keyleth?” Keyleth blushed as all eyes turned toward her – all except for Vax, who was particularly keen to look at his own hands. 

“I–I’m majoring in Biology, so I think I might have a few classes in common with you all too.”

“Biology? That’s so cool. So all of us girls are science majors.” Pike said proudly. 

“Yes, big-brain girls,” Grog said, grinning.

“Where’s everyone from?” Scanlan asked, sipping on his beer.

“Grog and I are from Westruun, a town not far from here.”

“I’m from Whitestone. It’s pretty far from here and very cold most of the time.” Percy said, as a matter of factly.

“Vax and I are from here,” Vex said quickly. Keyleth could see Vax tense from the corner of her eye, and when she looked up, he was staring at his sister in confusion. 

“I’m from Marquet,” Scanlan announced, winking at the girls.

“And you, Keyleth?” Percy asked this time, bringing her attention back to the conversation.

“Me what?”

“Where are you from?” Vex’ahlia asked with a soft smile.

“Oh. I’m from Zephrah. It’s… on the Summit Peaks.”

“I’ve heard of it, the Summit Peaks. Not too far from Stilben, correct?” Percy asked, to which Keyleth nodded. 

Vax felt Keyleth relax next to him as the conversation moved on. He risked a peek in her direction and noticed her fidgeting with the label of the practically empty bottle of beer on her lap. He lifted his eyes toward her face and saw her looking down, her face still slightly pink from blush and the freckles across her nose prominent against her porcelain skin. Vax’s heart skipped a beat as her bright green eyes met his, filled with curiosity, nervousness, and something else he couldn’t pinpoint.

Keyleth let out a sigh as the conversation moved on. She hated being the center of attention and was never comfortable in big social gatherings, even though she had to attend a few due to her father’s work. However, Keyleth still felt like she was being watched, and when she looked up, she saw Vax looking at her curiously. His cheeks flushed a little when he realized she had caught him staring, and he turned his gaze away toward his lap. 

Vax didn’t seem comfortable either. He had been quiet all night, only briefly answering if questions were directed at him. Keyleth understood how that felt and realized she didn’t feel uncomfortable with him looking at her or just his presence near her. From the corner of her eyes, Keyleth saw him grab his phone and start playing a puzzle game she always played whenever she wanted to distract herself from real life. She allowed a smile at the coincidence and made a mental note to ask him about it later.

#critical role #cr fic #vox machina #vaxleth #modern au #college au #vox machina au #critical role au #Be In My Eyes #mine #ao3

[hawkinspostbite]

STRIKE

Words: 8,116

MASTERLIST

A/N: I do not claim to, nor do I own Stranger Things; the concept, characters, plot, etc.

MONDAY

Joanna stood right outside her locker, Carol, Nancy, and Diana standing around her. “So, strangely enough, I had to leave Billy’s last night. It was honestly embarrassing.” She sighed. “It’s never happened before, but I hit my sex breaking point.”

“Steve is unbelievable.” Di groaned, receiving questionable looks from the others. “Oh, I mean unbelievable in the way that he’s ridiculous. Checking on me every five seconds. I’m fine, just do what you’re doing, Jesus Christ.”

“If only I had your problem, I feel like Billy completely forgets I exist. Absolutely no control, and not a care for me.” Jo sighed.

“If I get within three feet of Tommy, he can’t keep his hands off of me. I can’t stand it.” Carol whined, examining her fingernails.

“Well at least your boyfriend likes you, I couldn’t tell you the last time Jonathan and I slept together.” Nancy counteracted.

“Jesus, we’re quite the mess, aren’t we?” Carol laughed pathetically. A few moments of silence passed.

“What if we went on a sex strike?” Jo spoke. Carol, Nancy, and Di looked at her in shock. “What-“

“That’s honestly not a bad idea.” Nancy said.

“Are you serious? That’s crazy.” Carol shrilled.

“Quiet down!” Jo swatted at her hand. “It’s not that crazy. It’ll be fun to watch them squirm.”

“They won’t even realize anything’s different.” Carol replied.

“One week, maybe not even- One week to prove to them that us and our needs are just as important as their’s.” Jo was becoming desperate to prove to the girls that this was in fact, a great idea. “By Friday, Carol, if Tommy can go without jumping your bones; Di, if Steve stops worrying about you; and Nancy, if Jonathan can’t keep his hand off of you, I win, and I get bragging rights. If not, I will treat you all to a shopping spree at the mall, no limit. And you can all say you told me so.”

“What about you?” Nancy asked.

“What about me?”

“What if you can’t get Billy to tend to you?”

“Then I’ll just look like a fool and continue to suffer.” Jo shrugged. “What do you say?”

“I say we get other girls in on this.” Di spoke up. The others look questioningly at her. “We can’t be the only four girls in Hawkins with bedroom issues. We should spread the word.”

“Damn.” Carol mumbled.

“You’re a genius.” Jo leaned over and kissed Di on the cheek. “Starting now, the female students of Hawkins high school are on a sex strike!” The four girls cheered, drawing the attention of passerby in the hallway. “We have to spread the word. I’ll take art.”

“I can cover gym.” Carol said.

“I have a double-period of English.” Di said.

“I guess I’ll cover science.” Nancy spoke.

The first period bell rang, interrupting their small power-trip. “Meet at lunch?” Jo asked. The others nodded, each of them smirking to themselves. The four girls went their separate ways, going to spread the word of their great idea.

Carol had gym first period. Normally she would stand, grumbling to herself against the bleachers, but today she almost made Mr. Sweeney keel over in shock from her participation in volleyball and her friendliness towards other students.

Nancy had science second period, and luckily for her, they had a group lab that day. Small notes, written in code were passed from female to female in the class.

Di had a double-period of honors English third and fourth, so her friend’s new plan made for interesting conversation between the girls at break.

Jo had art right before lunch, which made it a little more difficult to spread word, due to it being such a quiet class. But most of the work had already been done for her, because within the small whispers of the classroom, she heard talk of her master plan to rule against men.

Jo walked into the cafeteria, where she found Carol sitting with Tommy and Billy at their usual lunch table. “Hey babe.” Billy reached out to her, like he did every day. Jo ignored him, standing at the head of the table and seeing Nancy and Di waiting patiently at an empty table in the corner of the room.

“Carol, did you forget about that project we’re doing?” Jo whipped her head to look at her friend. “The others are waiting.”

“Oh shit! Yeah the project, totally forgot.” She pried herself away from Tommy’s grip, grabbing her bag and standing up.

“Hey, we don’t have a project in any class.” Billy said, his face twisting in confusion.

“Well we do.” Jo shrugged. “Super top-secret. You’re not allowed to know… And we’re pressed for time, sorry, bye.” She dragged Carol by her sleeve away from the table.

“Close one.” Carol sighed, sitting down next to Di.

“Yeah, I didn’t think I would’ve had to track you down though.” Jo rolled her eyes and sat next to Nancy.

“So have you heard the word around town yet?” Di asked proudly.

“Yeah, not much to talk about in a double-period of English is there?” Carol sneered.

“Jesus, must you be such a bitch all the time?” Jo snapped.

“Seriously?” Nancy groaned.

“I think the word is sufficiently spread.”

“I heard some freshman whispering about it in the hallway before third.” Carol smiled. “It’s definitely sufficiently spread.”

“So what’s the next move?” Nancy asked.

“We should have a party.” Jo said.

“I can’t host, my parents literally never leave the house.” Nancy sighed.

“I can’t either, my mom’s still pissed about the hole in the deck from the fourth of July.” Carol frowned.

The girls looked at Di. “Not even in the realm of possibility.”

“Fine, I can host.” Jo groaned. “I’ll just tell my dad to go away for the weekend or something.”

“He would do that?” Carol asked. “Like if you said, “dad just go away for the weekend”, he would?”

“Um, yes?”

“What if we made flyers?” Di asked. “Like maybe wallet-sized or something, so it would be harder for the guys to come across.”

“I could draw one up pretty quickly.” Jo shrugged.

“If we can find a way to make copies somehow, we can each give them out, and make official.”

Jo looked down at her watch. “There’s enough time for me to make a rough copy of the poster if I go now.” She gathered her things, standing from the bench.

“I’ll come with.” Carol grabbed her things as well.

“We can meet at my place after school.” Nancy said. “Mike will probably have his friends there, I’m sure one of them can help us figure out how to make copies of the poster.”

“If Max is there-“

“She would give her life for you Jo.” Di chuckled, making Jo smile.

“Alright, we’ll meet in the parking lot after school, see you then.”

Across the lunchroom, Billy watched as Jo and Carol left the room in a hurry. He had watched as they spent ten minutes talking with Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington’s new girlfriend, who he didn’t quite know the name of yet. That, the fact that Jo had left so suddenly last night, and her distance from him all day rubbed him the wrong way. “What do you think of that?” He asked Tommy.

“Those two being weird?”

“Yeah.”

“Well they’re always weird.”

Billy rolled his eyes, unsatisfied with his friend’s response. Hopefully, for both their sakes, Jo would stop being so strange.

In the empty art room, Jo scrambled quickly to find two pieces of poster-board and a marker. “So what’s the game-plan here?” Carol asked, sliding her backpack onto the big wooden table.

“A very rough draft of a sexy, female-empowering poster.” She concentrated on the paper as she scribbled Girls STRIKE at the top of the page, looking over at Carol questioningly.

“Yes, keep going.” Carol smiled.

Next, some random words at the bottom of the page, just to fill in the space. “What do I put in the middle?”

“Lips? Lipstick? The sign for females, you know, the one with the circle-”

“How about this?” Jo quickly drew the silhouette of a girl. “She can wear a dress. Or maybe not?”

“Right now she can just be a stick-figure.”

“But you get the idea?”

“Yeah I get the idea, I think it’s hot.”

“Well then we have our poster.” Jo high-fived Carol and rolled the paper up as the bell rang. The girls made their way to Jo’s locker where they placed the poster into safety.

At the end of the day, Jo retrieved the poster from her locker, meeting the others in the parking lot by Nancy’s car. “Come on, we’ve gotta go before the guys get out here!” Di squealed.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Jo and Carol climbed into the back of the car, leaving Di up front with Nancy and the middle for Mike.

“Hi boys.” Jo smiled at them as they climbed into the car.

“Just two of you today?” Nancy asked.

“Max, Dustin, and Will are coming over in a little bit. Max had to go home first and Steve’s gonna bring them over later. Hey.” Mike replied, suddenly noticing Jo’s appearance.

“We have a project.” Jo replied to Mike’s question he had yet to ask.

“Cool.”

Upon arrival at the Wheeler’s house, the four girls practically sprinted up to Nancy’s room, locking the door behind them. Jo pulled the poster out of her bag, laying it out on Nancy’s bed. “That’s…” Di began.

“Rough.” Nancy said.

“Yes, thank you.”

“But I think we get the picture.” Di smiled.

“So what exactly is the plan for the party? How are we supposed to keep guys from showing up?” Nancy asked.

“Or finding out?” Carol added.

“We aren’t.” Jo replied. “I mean, we’re supposed to try, but you know there’s no way to completely keep it from happening.”

“It’s like Hargrove has a built-in party-detector

“We need to try our best to make sure that other girls keep it as quiet as possible.” Di added.

“We should have a dress-code for the party.” Carole burst out.

“Like…?” Jo asked.

“Black and red.” Carole grinned. “Those are powerful colors.”

“Leather and lace optional?” Jo said, jokingly.

“That’s going on the poster!” Nancy agreed.

The girls continued to work out the details of the party, arrival time, alcohol, music, etcetera, and Jo noticed that Steve had dropped off the other kids. She left Nancy’s room, opening the door to the basement, she was met with immense noise. All six sets of eyes turned to look at her. “Max, can I talk to you upstairs quick?”

Max, confused, followed Jo up the stairs, back to Nancy’s room. Upon seeing the poster on the bed, she stopped dead in her tracks. “What is going on?”

“We need your help.” Nancy said.

“What are you guys doing? Organizing some weird sex strike or something?” Max laughed nervously.

“Actually, yes.” Jo said.

“You’re joking- That was a joke. Are you serious?” Jo nodded. “That’s disgusting, I did not need to know that.”

“Relax Maxine, sex is a part of life-“ Carol smiled.

“Jesus Christ, Carol! The last thing I need is Billy finding out that we gave Max a bootleg sex-ed class in Nancy’s bedroom, oh my god.” Jo snapped at her.

“So what exactly did you need help with?” Max walked up to the bed, further examining the poster.

“We need help making copies of this, to pass out to other girls.” Jo answered.

“We were thinking maybe wallet-sized, or a little bigger?” Di added.

“I know how to copy and print and everything, but we figured that the schools wouldn’t be too happy knowing that we were producing sex-strike posters to hand out on campus.” Nancy shrugged.

“Yeah, I can imagine…” Max sighed.

“But we know you have an in at the library-“ Jo began.

“I work there on weekends, yes.”

“Do you think we could get in this week to make copies?” Jo smiled. “Please Max, I’ll do anything. I’ll take Billy off your case for as long as I can, I’ll even take you and your friends out for pizza and ice cream next week. Literally anything, just please get us twenty minutes in the library copy room.”

Jo was practically on the floor, begging Max. She pursed her lips. “You and Nancy pick me up after school tomorrow. I’ll tell Marissa that I need the copy machine for a school project.”

“Thank you so much Max!” Jo jumped up from the floor, wrapping her arms around the younger girl.

“You owe me so much.”

“I’ve never broken a promise before.” Jo held her pinkie out, locking it with Max’s.

Max left Nancy’s room, still feeling slightly uncomfortable, and she rejoined her friends in the basement. “What did she want?” Will asked.

“Something stupid about my brother.” Max rolled her eyes, playing it off.

“I still don’t understand how they’re together.” Lucas said.

“What do you mean?” Max asked.

“Your brother is like the biggest asshole on planet Earth, and Jo is like-“

“The total opposite!” Dustin interrupted. “She’s into art, and she’s quiet, and she’s nice to us. I don’t get it.”

“I don’t get it either.” Lucas agreed.

“Me either.” Mike said.

“I don’t get it just as much as you guys.” Max shrugged.

Upstairs, Jo had rolled the poster back up, in preparation to leave. “I’ve got to head out before it gets too dark.”

“Prince Bad-ass in his blue chariot isn’t going to come give you a lustrous ride all the way to Trestle road?” Carol snickered.

Jo patted at the poster in her hand. “Nope, it would ruin the plan.”

“He’s gonna be pretty pissed when he finds out you walked home by yourself.”

“So come with me?” Jo raised her eyebrows. “You can spend the night. We’ll stop at your house, you can pick up some clothes.”

Carol sighed. “I suppose I could.” She turned to gather her things. “Your dad home? He gonna let us drink?”

“It’s Wednesday for god’s sake.” Jo rolled her eyes. “Di, you wanna walk?”

“No, I’m gonna hang here until Steve comes for Dustin, but thanks anyway.”

“Be careful.” Nancy waved them goodbye.

“Play it cool, see you tomorrow!” Jo yelled back.

The two girls began their sunset-trek from Maple street to Pine, where they stopped at Carol’s house. Her mother was at the grocery store, and her father had yet to return from work, but her older brother was there. “Hey, we’re gonna need you to get us some supplies for a party Friday.” Carol said, writing a quick note to her parents about her whereabouts.

“Don’t I get an invite?” He asked.

Carol snickered. “Not with that thing hanging between your legs.”

“Sorry, girls only.” Jo shrugged. Carol and Jo retreated into her room briefly, for Carol to pack an overnight bag. Her phone began to ring. “I didn’t know you got your own line?”

“It’s the latest addition.” Carol set her bag down and walked over to the phone. “As you can imagine, only one person really calls it. And I’m sure that’s who this is now- Hello?”

Surely it was Tommy.

“Yeah I’m sleeping over at Jo’s.

I know we were at Nancy’s all night, for that project we told you about at lunch?

“Uh, well- What class is this project for?” She held the receiver to her shoulder, blocking sound from traveling to Tommy.

“Art?” Jo answered, questionably.

“It’s an art project Jo has. She needed us all together but she has to work with us separately. We ran out of time at Nancy’s so we’re going to her house.

Yeah, my mom’s gonna give us a ride.

Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.”

“Jesus Christ.” She hung up the phone, and then unplugged it. “I’ll save my folks some grief.”

Carol finished packing her bag as the sun set, and the girls finished their walk, two streets over to Trestle road, where Jo lived. “Hey dad, I’m home, and I brought Carol with me.”

Jo’s dad sat in their small living room, half-asleep as the television lulled in the background. “Hey girls, what are we up to tonight.”

“I have an art project that I need Carol’s help with if that’s okay. She’s gonna spend the night.”

“Fine by me, just make sure you two are up for school in the morning.”

“Thanks dad, love you.”

“There’s pizza in the fridge by the way, and anything else you want, just help yourselves.” Carole smiled at Jo’s dad’s kindness. “By the way, Billy called. He seemed worried, you might wanna call him back.”

Jo rolled her eyes.

Jo and Carol went down the steps, into the basement, which had been fortified as a bedroom for Jo. Quite frankly, it was the best hangout spot any of their friends had. It had a bed, 2 couches, a small television and radio, an attached bathroom, and a pool table, making it the ideal place for drinking, smoking, and sleeping, and now, secretive “art” projects.

Carol unrolled the two posters, laying the scribbled one next to the blank one. Jo picked up the phone connected to the wall, dialing Billy’s number and hoping that whatever god was listening, made him not pick up. Lucky for her, he didn’t, so she proceeded to leave a quick message on his answering machine. “Hey baby, it’s me. Don’t be mad… But Carol and I walked from Nancy’s home after school… C is sleeping over, we’re still working on that project. I’m guessing you’re pretty pissed at me, and you’re probably out drinking or something like that. Be careful. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.”

“That was disgustingly cute.” Carol snickered from the floor.

“Yeah, and he won’t suspect a thing. Plus tomorrow we’ll fight about the fact that I walked home, so he won’t even care about the mysterious project anymore.”

Jo gathered her markers and watercolors and sat down next to Carol. “So honestly, you can turn the T.V on, you don’t have to sit and watch me try to perfect this.”

“It’s fine, I like to watch artists work.” She settled herself more comfortably onto the floor, holding a pillow in her lap.

“I am by no means, an “artist”, but I appreciate your enthusiasm. Go put a record on.” Jo hated to make Carol get up after she had gotten comfortable, but she couldn’t work in silence.

“I don’t know how you expect to work with this absolute masterpiece playing in the background, but to each their own…” Of all the records to pick, Carol had chosen Queen’s, “Jazz”.

“You’re totally right, why would you put this on?”

Carol threw herself onto the couch. “Because I don’t want to listen to anything depressing while we’re plotting a sex strike.”

“Right.” Jo nodded her head.

For quite awhile, Jo worked on the poster, while Carol watched over her, quietly humming to the music. Occasionally, they would burst out singing, and laugh, and then return to work.

After three hours, a short pizza break, and only one “maybe we should rethink this whole plan” dilemma, the sun had completely gone down outside, no light peered in from the singular tiny window across the room. The poster was complete. “That’s a keeper, for sure.” Carol admired the artwork laid out on the floor.

“I’m quite honestly shocked that I did it with such little preparation.” She turned around to look at her friend. “Do you think it’ll get the point across?”

“I mean everyone basically knows from word-of-mouth anyway, this is just a seal-the-deal type of thing. I think it should be fine.”

“Not too much information? I mean, it doesn’t say my house but nobody else lives on this street except for Mrs. Goldson.”

“Yeah, she’s deaf.”

“Exactly-“

“No, I think we’ll be fine. Stop worrying. This is gonna be awesome.” Carol climbed down from the couch, sitting face-to-face with her best friend. “We’re gonna get to watch them sweat. Can you imagine their faces when they realize what’s going on? It’ll be priceless.”

Jo raised her eyebrows. “This isn’t a little cruel?”

“The whole reason we’re doing this is because we need paid attention to! Who gives a shit what they want, it’s time for them to cater to us. We’re women, damn it! Without us, nobody would be here, so they’re gonna start being a little more grateful for our presence.” Carol grinned.

“In the end, we’re gonna win, regardless.”

TUESDAY

After Jo’s pep-talk, and a shot, for an extra boost of courage, the two girls went to bed. The next morning, Jo’s dad drove the two of them to school, the finished poster rolled as small as possible so as to not draw any suspicion. It was hard work, trying to avoid Billy and Tommy, and the rest of their friends on the basketball team, where they usually hung out in the parking lot in the morning. They had to crouch behind a group of freshmen girls to safely get inside the school.

“It should be safe in my locker.” Jo said, hushed. “He doesn’t know my combination- Thank god.” She shoved the poster inside, quickly closing the door and turning to face Carol.

“Ready to face the world?”

Down the hallway, Billy and Tommy came into view, the rest of their friends following behind like groupies.

“Act natural.” The two nodded to each other, making their way towards their boyfriends.

Neither of them suspected anything.

Throughout the day, they tried their best to carry on like normal. Nancy and Di briefly caught up with each of them at lunch, saying that Jonathan and Steve hadn’t expected anything. Speaking of lunch, it was the most difficult period, trying to not to perform excessive PDA on their boyfriends without them suspecting something was harder than they had originally thought. “Strike! You’re on strike!” They had to keep reminding themselves.

At the end of the day, they had to, once again sneak away from the boys. Steve was in the parking lot, waiting with Dustin for Di. Jonathan was with Nancy, standing between their cars. Will, Lucas, and Mike were inside Jonathan’s car. “Hey.” Jo said, walking up to them.

“We’re waiting for Max.” Nancy replied.

“She had to pick up her skateboard from the office.” Will spoke from inside the car.

Jo gave him a questioning look. “She was skating before homeroom and the secretary took it from her.” Lucas answered.

“What a bitch.” Jo rolled her eyes, seeing Max walk into view.

“Sorry, Ms. Leen took my board this morning-“ She grumbled, her board tucked under her arm.

“No worries.” Nancy said, turning to get into her car.

“What’d you tell Billy?” Jo asked, climbing into the passenger seat. They waved goodbye to the boys in the other car.

“Picking up extra hours at work.” Max replied, laying her board down on the floor. “You guys were taking me so you can work on your project.”

“Thank god.” Nancy sighed.

The girls drove to the library. The older girls followed Max inside, waiting for her to convince Marissa to let them use the copy machine. After quite a few minutes of coaxing, she allowed them thirty minutes, after that she’d have to charge them for ink.

Inside the copy room, Max set up the machine, making roughly sixty wallet-sized replicas of the poster Jo painted. Nancy and Jo began to cut them up as Max watched them run through the machine. “Do I want to know the story behind this scheme?”

Nancy and Jo looked at each other. “No.” They said in unison.

“It’s probably better if you didn’t.” Nancy said.

They somehow managed to copy, print, and cut up all the cards within their thirty minute time-slot. Thanking Marissa, they rushed back to Nancy’s car. Nancy took Jo home first, a rationing of cards enough for her and Carol in her grasp. “I’ll get some to Di tonight, they’ll probably come and pick up Will and Dustin.” Nancy said.

“Max, not a word to Billy, right?”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Start trying to find a date that works for everyone to go out for food, okay? See you guys tomorrow.”

Billy had been suspicious of Jo since Monday, when she left him alone with Tommy at lunch. Jo was always sneaky and strange but it wasn’t out of the ordinary. He admired her for her quirks. But this time it wasn’t just one of her quirks, it was more like she was deliberately being weird. It bugged the shit out of him.

Monday and Tuesday he had been fucking up in practice, getting his ass reamed out at home by his dad, and practically slept through the first half of his school schedule. He spent half the night awake, wondering why Jo hadn’t come over at all, and barely let him touch her.

By the time practice ended on Tuesday, he had already reached his breaking point. “Has Carol been acting weird at all this week?” He asked Tommy, as they gathered in the locker room to shower.

“Not really, she’s just been spending a lot of time at Jo’s, why?”

Billy shook his head. “Well Jo has. She hasn’t come over at all. Normally she’s over every damn night.”

“Chicks are weird, man. They go through phases.” Tommy shrugged.

Billy didn’t buy it. Tommy was no help, but he knew who could be, and he was ready to push some buttons.

Billy arrived at Jo’s house, and let himself in. Her dad wasn’t home, so she was alone. Quietly, he passed through the living room and into the kitchen, seeing her standing over the stove, the draw-fan on full-blast, blocking out any background sound. “Ya know, you really shouldn’t leave your door unlocked.”

“Jesus!” She jumped, turning around and clutching a wooden spoon to her chest.

“No, just me.” He smirked, stepping forward to grab her hips. But she twisted out of his grasp, turning back around to stir whatever was in the pot. He narrowed his eyes at her, leaning forward. “What’re you making?”

“Trying to boil noodles for macaroni and cheese.” She mumbled, concentrated at the pot of still water on the stove. “Don’t think I have it hot enough.”

He looked up at the dials, reaching to turn the one for her burner all the way up. “Can’t cook noodles on a simmer.”

“I don’t love cooking. Can you tell?” She laughed as the flames grew underneath the pot. “Wanna do it for me?”

“If you insist…” He rolled his eyes jokingly. “Just as long as you get everything else ready. Think you can manage it?”

“I think I can.” Jo turned to grab a packet of powder off the counter. “It’s Kraft.”

Billy boiled the noodles, and drained them, and Jo mixed the cheese sauce together. The two ate their macaroni, and talked about their days at school. Eventually, they moved down to Jo’s room. They sat on the couch, enjoying the comfortable silence they provided each other. Until Billy had to ruin it.

“You been okay lately?” He whispered, running his hands through her hair.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Yes… Why?”

“Dunno… Just haven’t seen much of you this week. How’s that project of your’s going?”

He felt her tense up in his lap. “It’s fine. Almost done, gotta hand it in Friday afternoon.”

“Huh, really. How have the other’s been? Helpful?”

“Others? Oh, Nancy, C, and Diana? Yeah, very helpful, probably couldn’t do it without them.”

“When do I get to see this super top-secret, mysterious art project?” He smiled, trying not to make it seem like he suspected anything weird was going on.

“Well…” She sighed. “I don’t know if I’ll be getting it back, it might be going to the art show at the end of the semester.”

Nice cover. He thought.

Billy was currently content with sitting in the quiet and enjoying each other’s company. It was the most physical contact they had had all week. Eventually though, he let his mind wander, and soon his hands, and then Jo found herself in a predicament.

God, it felt nice, having him kiss her, and touch her, but damnit she was supposed to be on a strike. She couldn’t let it go any further.

Billy’s hands traveled under Jo’s shirt. She pulled away from his kiss. “Mm, I’m kinda tired.”

He still didn’t move his hands. “C’mon, this is the most I’ve seen of you all week. Let’s just have some fun.”

He leaned forward, catching her lips in his again. She sighed, once again pulling away. “No- No. I don’t want to, c’mon not tonight.” She wrapped her hands around his wrists, removing his fingers from under her shirt.

Billy groaned, flopping his head against the back of the couch dramatically.

Jo couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit guilty.

She climbed off of his lap. “I’d say you can spend the night, but I don’t trust you won’t somehow talk me into sleeping with you, so I think I’m gonna have to ask you to go home.”

Billy’s jaw dropped. She had never asked him to leave before.

“What has gotten into you lately-“

“Nothing, nothing. My dad’s gonna be home, and we have school tomorrow…”

“That’s never stopped us before.” He grumbled, standing up and fixing his shirt.

“Doesn’t matter, no means no.” She chewed at her lip. “I’m sorry, I just don’t feel like it.”

“Okay, okay, fine.” Billy rolled his eyes, staring at his girlfriend. “Am I at least permitted a kiss before I go?”

Jo smiled softly, leaning up on her tip-toes to kiss him. “Come on, I’ll walk you out.”

Billy was damn sure there was something suspicious going on now.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday was tough. Carol had skipped school, just to avoid Tommy. Nancy had skipped for a college visit, and Di joined her. So it was just Jo alone all day, with Billy and Tommy, and their idiot friends.

Billy was sure he had become wise to what was going on. Putting the pieces together: Tommy saying Carol was acting weird, Jo not wanting to have sex last night, the secret “art” project. The two of them had created a sex-pact, and the art project had something to do with it. (He hadn’t worked out all of the pieces yet.)

Billy was a born-instigator, so naturally, he made it his mission, to break the pact. And he took out all the stops.

He made sure to wear extra of the cologne she loved on him, only buttoned his shirt up halfway, smiled more often, and was extra sweet to her in the morning.

In their fourth-period gym class, he gave Mr. Sweeney to brilliant idea of having the guys play shirts versus skins during their basketball drills. He, of course volunteered his group for skins, trying his hardest to drive Jo wild. He winked and smiled at her from across the gym, watching repeatedly as her cheeks flushed red in the middle of a conversation with someone.

At lunch he made sure to keep at least one of his hands on her thigh at all times, complimenting her any chance he got. And when he waited for her at his car after school, he made sure he was smoking a cigarette, because although she detested the habit, she thought it was hot.

He greeted her with a kiss and watched as she got into the passenger seat; He followed, in the driver’s seat. He reached across her lap, into the glovebox, grabbing a piece of gum. “Gum?” He asked, slowly breaking the piece in half and sticking it in his mouth.

She practically drooled. “I know what you’re doing. It isn’t going to work.”

“I dunno what you’re talking about princess.” He grinned, starting the car. “Just asking my gorgeous girlfriend if she wants a piece of gum.”

Jo breathed in deeply. “Shut up.” She said through clenched teeth.

Wednesday afternoon was when Steve began to get suspicious. Di hadn’t wanted to do anything but drive around and listen to music since Sunday night. She made no extra effort to be affectionate, physically or verbally, and Steve was beginning to panic. Had he done something wrong? Had he said something wrong? Did he spend too much time with Dustin? Did she not like the music he played? A million questions ran through his mind all day, leading up until the very moment he picked her up from school.

He had told Dustin that morning he was going to have to get a ride with Jonathan, because he desperately needed to talk to Di. Dustin asked no questions, he knew exactly what Steve was going through, he had had his fair share of lady-problems too. Communicating with his girlfriend Suzie in Washington was more often difficult than simple.

When Di got into the car, she greeted him with a kiss, which was not out of the ordinary. They went through their regular routine of asking how each other’s days were, and chit-chatting about the college visit and work at the video store. A few moments of silence passed, and Steve couldn’t control himself anymore. “Are we okay?”

Di turned to look at him suddenly. “What?”

“Are we okay? Am I doing everything okay?”

“Steve-“

“You haven’t really talked to me that much the past few days, and all you’ve wanted to do is drive around, not that I mind, I love spending time with you, but we haven’t just done nothing, or just hung out in awhile and I feel like it’s something I did, or something I said. If it is, please tell me, I’m so sorry, I won’t ever say it again. Whatever it is, I didn’t mean it, it was stupid of me-“

“Steve. Relax.” Di tightened her grip on his hand, where it was placed on her thigh.

“Oh- Sorry. It’s just-“

And then that’s when Di began to panic. “Please take me home.”

Steve slammed on his brakes in the middle of the street, his eyes going wide. He ripped his hand from her thigh, placing it on the gear shift. Di was never confrontational, she wasn’t aggressive. There was nothing wrong with between her and Steve, and she couldn’t come up with a logical excuse for why she wanted to just drive around, so she told him to take her home.

She was already mentally slapping herself.

“I-uh, okay.”

The rest of the drive to Di’s house, Steve said not one word. Neither did Di. He dropped her off, watching longingly as she silently got out of his car, and walked to her house.

Steve spent the entire drive home trying not to cry.

Billy dropped Jo off at her house, watching as she begrudgingly gave him a kiss. “Call me if you need anything… Or anyone.” He winked, watching as she clenched her jaw.

On her front porch she stood, shaking her head and flipping him off as he drove down the street, music blasting at max volume, pleased with the shit he had pulled.

He had definitely cracked the code.

THURSDAY

Jo spent Wednesday night sufficiently frustrated. She was mad at herself, for coming up with such a stupid idea. Who even strikes things anymore? She was mad at Nancy, Diana, and Carol for agreeing to her stupid idea. And most importantly, she was mad at Billy for figuring out what was going on, and making it his life’s mission to tease the shit out of her.

She expressed her frustrations to Carol over the phone after she had been dropped off. “How could we be so dumb?” “Since when did he get so clever?” “What the fuck is wrong with us?” Were just a few of the things she had said to Carol.

Carol was practically glued to her side all day Thursday. “They can’t possibly mess with both of us. We just have to distract each other.” She had said. She was only partially right.

Billy seemed to have let Tommy in on the girls’s little secret, and the two of them were the pair from hell. All day, any opportunity they got, they were doing something to get under their skin. Tiny little movements, whispering in their ears, stupid shit. And of course they got a reaction, because Carol and Jo were nothing if not predictable.

The pair went to Carol’s after school. She left her phone unplugged still.

After practice, Billy ditched Max, telling her to skate home, and drove himself to Steve Harrington’s house. He hated that he even knew where he lived, but he had been at a party there last summer, and he hated to admit it, but Harrington threw a wicked party.

He had barely gotten out of the car when he saw Steve step out his front door, a bouquet of roses in his hand. “I love you. I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry? What the hell am I sorry for?”

“Hey, Harrington!” Billy called, casually walking towards him.

Steve looked up, eyes wide in shock. He flung the flowers behind him, quickly stuffing both of his hands into his pockets. “Hargrove, hey man, what’s up.”

“Those for your girlfriend?” Billy pointed to the discarded bunch of flowers on the ground.

“Oh, these?” Steve turned around, picking them up. “Yeah, they’re for Diana.”

“She been acting weird lately?” Billy chewed at his lower lip. “Because Joanna has, and I know they’re doing a project together, so I was wondering-“

Steve interrupted him. “Joanna is always weird.”

Billy rolled his eyes. “That’s besides the point. Has Diana been acting weird? Jo has been out-of-the-ordinary weird, and I’m wondering if it’s that project they’re doing.”

“Di hasn’t mentioned a project to me…” Steve fiddled with the wrapping on the bouquet.

Billy raised his eyebrows. “Hmm. That’s weird. Jo said she had a project in art. Wheeler, Carol, and your girlfriend have been helping her out with it since Monday. Funny she didn’t mention it. You’ll have to ask her about it… Thanks anyway.”

Billy turned on his heel, walking back towards his car. “Actually, she has been acting a little strange.” Billy grinned, turning back to face Steve. “Every night she just wants to drive around and that’s it, she won’t do anything except hold my hand.”

Billy nodded, motioning to the flowers in Steve’s hand. “You go give her those flowers, I’ll handle the rest.” Billy twirled his keys between his fingers. “I’m gonna figure out why the girls have been acting up, don’t you worry pretty boy.”

Meanwhile, Steve had taken it upon himself to drive over to Diana’s house. She clearly didn’t want to talk to him, so he decided to leave the flowers at her doorstep. He managed to find an sticky note in his glove box, and on it he wrote I love you, I’m sorry. Just as he rehearsed, even though he still didn’t know why he was supposed to be sorry. He rang the doorbell and sprinted back to his car.

On his way home, and throughout the rest of the night he couldn’t stop the thoughts swirling his head. Why was she mad at him? What did he do? What did he say? Did she get the flowers? If she got them, did she like them? Did she see the note? He didn’t sign his name, would she know they were from him?

Steve didn’t sleep much that night.

Upon arriving at home, Billy found the house completely uninhabited. Max’s backpack had been thrown haphazardly inside the front door, almost making him trip over it. He kicked at it, causing it to slump sideways. Normally, he wouldn’t have thought twice about picking it up and taking it to her room, and then yelling at her when she got home about it “Max don’t leave your fucking backpack right inside the door, I almost died!” But a small piece of white paper sticking out of the front pocket caught his eye first.

He bent down, pulling it out of the bag, and when he read it, he almost threw up. It was a tiny, wallet-sized piece of card-stock, Girls STRIKE was painted across the top of it in red ink, but that wasn’t the most disturbing part. “Leather + Lace optional”, was what really got him. What the hell was Max doing with a card that said that on it? Where did she get it? Why did she keep it?

Holding the card between his fingers, he rushed into the kitchen, quickly dialing Tommy’s number on the phone. “Dude, you have got to see this shit. I’ll meet you in ten.” He said, hanging up and going back outside to his car.

He did make it across town to Loch Nora in record time, laying on his horn for Tommy to come outside. He had just planned to sit in the car and show Tommy the card. “Look at what I found in Maxine’s backpack.” Billy sighed, tossing the card into Tommy’s lap.

“Shit, what’s your thirteen-year-old sister doing with this?” Tommy examined it.

“My thoughts exactly.” Billy replied. “But then I remembered that she went to the library with Joanna and Nancy Wheeler on Tuesday after school. And who’s been acting weird this week, but Jo and Carol, and they’ve been working on that stupid art project with Wheeler.”

“So… You think this is the art project?”

“Could be.” Billy lit a cigarette. “I went over to Harrington’s after school. He said his girlfriend has been acting weird too lately.”

“She’s included in that project the girls are doing.”

“Precisely, amigo.”

“So what are we supposed to do about this?” Tommy waved the card in his hand.

“Looks like we’ve got a party to go to.”

Also, over on Isola Road, Nancy was secretly sleeping over at Jonathan’s. Joyce never actually had an issue with Nancy staying over, she trusted both of them, but understood how it might be awkward to asl your mom if your girlfriend can stay over, so she let them continue with their “secret” sleepovers. Nancy was hesitant to say yes Jonathan’s fifth-period offer, “Wanna stay the night?” He asked. Then she figured, maybe she should stay over, and make it a point to mention their issue. After all, her problem was very much different from the other girls’s.

But alas, they never got the chance. When she arrived, they got right to work on studying for an English exam, and then they decided to watch a movie. (A television was the latest and greatest edition to Jonathan’s bedroom) And by the time the movie was over, they were basically half-asleep, so what would be the point in mentioning sex now? Whether it was happening, or not.

They laid in bed, side-by-side, barely touching each other. “Jonathan?” Nancy said, the darkness of the room making her voice seem a lot louder than it actually was.

“Yeah Nance?”

“You know you can touch me, right? Like we can cuddle or whatever, you aren’t gonna break me.”

From beside her, Jonathan chuckled. “Yeah, I know.”

“Okay…” Nancy turned on her side, facing away from him. She was about to fall asleep, feeling completely and utterly defeated, when she felt Jonathan’s arm wrap around her middle. She smiled, feeling slightly accomplished.

Nancy had a good night’s sleep that night.

FRIDAY

Friday was a relatively easy day. Tommy and Billy had decided to keep their distance from their girlfriends, not wanting to draw any extra attention to themselves, or make them wise to the fact that they knew everything that they were scheming.

After Billy had talked to Tommy, he had driven over to Steve’s, tossing the card at him just like he did Tommy. “Told ya I’d figure it out.” Steve was shell-shocked, eyes wide and nodding at everything Billy was saying. He grasped most of the information. “This is why your girl’s been acting weird… Party at Joanna’s on Friday… Better call Byers to let him know…”

Steve did call Jonathan, who had absolutely no clue anything was going on, he had had a big project at the Post throughout the week that had taken most of his focus away from school.

So the plan was set, Billy was going to pick everyone up, and they were crashing the fucking party.

Jo had told her dad to go away for the weekend. “It’s just a little party dad, a couple girls. No boys, I pinky-swear. Please…” She didn’t have to beg much, her dad would probably do anything she asked, almost short of murder if she said please.

Nancy and Di had made sure to have secure alibis with their parents, and bags already packed. Nancy drove them all to Jo’s house, where they finished setting up what Jo had done earlier.

She had cleaned the house the night before, trying to take her frustrations out by tidying up. Carol’s brother dropped off copious amounts of alcohol, and a gram of weed just for an extra treat (He had a soft-spot for Jo). Red lights were strung up around the entire house; the living room, kitchen, all over the basement. The entire kitchen table was covered in drinks, and Carol was on music-duty so it would be nonstop bangers all night.

Nothing could go wrong.

They all got dressed, none of them wore leather or lace, it was more of a joke, but they did wear black and/or red. “We look hot!” Di squealed.

Girls began to arrive as early as seven thirty, to which they were gladly welcomed. Within an hour, the party was in full-swing, music blasting, alcohol flowing; someone had brought glitter and it was everywhere, but nobody cared, because there was not a man in sight.

That was, until, Jo heard the roar of a scarily familiar car engine from outside the house.

She stopped, dead in her tracks, almost spitting out her drink. From across the room, her and Nancy locked eyes. Shit. No, no, it couldn’t be, the boys didn’t know about the party.

Jo walked through the crowd of girls to the front window, staring in shock as Billy stepped out of the Camaro. “Holy shit.” She mumbled.

She set her drink down on the windowsill, rushing to step onto the front porch. Nancy, noticing her panicked stare from across the room, grabbed Di and Carol and they followed her onto the porch. “What the hell are you doing here?” Jo said, trying not to sound as annoyed as she greeted her boyfriend.

“You’re found out sweetheart. We’ve come to crash the party.”

“But- How? How did you find out?”

Billy pulled the wallet-sized card out of his pocket. “Max kept a copy for herself after your little library rendezvous.”

“Well shit.” Jo face-palmed.

“Just give up, give in. You’ve lost.” The four girls stood, shocked at the presence of their boyfriends, who stood smugly in front of them. “C’mon, it was a good effort, but we figured you out. Throw in the towel.”

Not thinking her friends would give up so easily, Jo shook her head. But to her surprise, her friends had actually thrown in the towel. Billy walked forward, pulling her to him by her waist. She couldn’t put up a fight, she had been so strong all week, but she was finally ready to give in. “How I’ve missed you, princess.” Jo pouted as he peppered her face with kisses. “We’ve got some lost time to make up for, come on.”

Jo was a too drunk to form coherent thoughts, let alone form a coherent argument to figure out how or why or when Billy had figured out their plan. When she took Max and her friends out for food this week, she would have to investigate how Max managed to steal a copy of the poster.

From over Billy’s shoulder, she watched as the other girls desperately fell into the arms of their boyfriends. Shit, they had lost. They had lasted the entire week, but the hadn’t been able to keep it a secret.

Defeated, she let Billy drag her to the depths of her bedroom, locking the door, and finally surrendering to him.

MONDAY

On Monday, the girls met outside, next to Nancy’s car.

Nancy was glowing, the winter sun illuminating her face, her cheeks a bright rosy tint. Carol was grinning from ear to ear, clearly exponentially happy. Diana was staring blissfully into the distance. Jo was happy, albeit angry with how her plan failed, she had an extremely euphoric weekend.

“So, ladies, how was your weekend?”

#stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things masterlist #stranger things fanfiction #Billy Hargrove #billy hargrove blurb #billy hargrove x reader #steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x reader #jonathan byers #jonathan byers imagine #Nancy Wheeler #nancy wheeler imagine

[vanchlo]

Under The Bed / Chapter One, “Josie”

ABOUT: Josie Stephens was having a hard enough time at her mere age of five, having to start Kindergarten and move to a new house. Little did she know that it all would get a lot worse that first night when a monster popped out from under her bed, changing her life forever. Inspired by the 1989 movie, Little Monsters, one of my childhood favorites, I began this story in 2016 and recently fell back in love with it.

->   SERIES MASTERLIST

->   MAIN MASTERLIST

-> READ ON WATTPAD

WARNINGS: None

WORD COUNT: 4k words

TAGLIST: IDK HOW TO DO THESE, BUT IF YOU WANNA BE ADDED SO YOU KNOW WHEN A NEW CHAPTER IS POSTED, JUST LET ME KNOW! :)

@berrynarrybanana​

@wotamelonsugar​

SNEAK PEEK OF COURSE -> 

“He remains quiet, and when his neon green irises dart away from me, I know that something is up. 

He may be a monster, but I can read him better than any human I know. His long pale fingers dotted with those blue freckles picks at a hole in my comforter, head bowed and two little mustard colored horns poking out from his mess of hair with one on the left, and one on the right.“

NOW

/

Leaves ranging every shade of red and orange blow around me and settle on the cracked sidewalk. They crunch under my scuffed and dirty high tops as I walk fast around the corner, waiting for my cream house to come into view. Cars and school buses whiz past me, and I hear a barking dog a few blocks away.

I take two steps at a time up the walkway and then on the stairs to the porch, the porch swing in front of the window swaying slightly in the wind. It suddenly stops as I approach, but I don't give it another thought as I pick up the heavy orange potted plant next to the door to find the plate it sits on. The plain silver key sits there catching the sun's light, where I left it yesterday, because my copy has been missing for months. I only wonder who could have done that. Grabbing it, I stick it into the door and give a twist before placing the key back under the pot, like any other day.

The house is silent and dark when I step inside. I flick on the light and the living room is awash in light as I toe off my shoes, warm sunlight pouring in from the open door until it slams shut suddenly. My head flies up and I look around quickly, taking a deep breath and after a minute, I decide it was just the wind. Dropping my heavy backpack at the end of the stairway around the corner, I walk through the living room and into the kitchen against the back of the house.

/

I push open my ajar bedroom door with my foot, leaving my backpack at the door. The sun peeks into my room from the left, coming in through the hastily pulled drapes above my desk. I choose my steps carefully amidst the mess of clothes flung haphazardly across the floor, and others falling out of the open duffle bag sitting by my desk. Falling onto my bed, I click on the TV and bring my crustless PB&J to my lips. Crumbs litter my lap and covers as I watch the rest of an episode of Bones, a rerun but a good one nonetheless.

After awhile with crumbs clinging to my shirt sleeves and sticky peanut butter fingers, I drag my feet over to my desk and get started on my homework. Music trickles from the bluetooth speaker sat at the corner of my desk. I scribble answers in the blanks on the worksheet, turning it over and groaning at all of the questions waiting for me on the back. Peeling my eyes away from the history worksheet, my eyes lift to the gently open blinds. There’s the sliver of outside visible through them, and what really catches my eye - the sun setting on the horizon. My heart does a jump at the sight of it, and I look over my shoulder before I can stop myself. I automatically look to my bed, and the emptiness and scuffed wooden floor underneath it.

With an impatient sigh, I back to my homework with a sullen face. Skipping the next song, I flip the page of my textbook and move on to the next question. I just want to get this shit done already. Who knew it could take so long to find the answers to questions about The Constitution. Yet, more than anything, I try to stay busy. After awhile and two Vampire Weekend albums later, I stuff every single textbook and mechanical pencil away in my backpack.

"Josie, did you hear me? Dinner's ready, come on!" Dad calls up the stairs to me, and I zip one last zipper before yelling 'coming!' and getting to my feet. Opening the door, I step a foot into the hallway and search for my bedroom light with a wandering hand. Something out of the corner of my eye moves, and I look around until I notice the comforter hanging over my bed flutters upwards again. I flick off the light and the room is sent into darkness, before I head downstairs.

/

Wiping the dot of fudge from my lip, I take my time walking up the stairs. The murmur of my parents voices melts together into a background noise as a soft darkness covers the staircase. When I look up to the top of the landing, something stands out from the dark, and my heart does a somersault. A bar of light peeks out from the bottom of my closed bedroom door, and I hear sounds trickling from my bedroom. When I set my foot down on the next stair, a long creeeeeak peels out and the noises cease. The light flickers off and it's silent once again. I lift my foot off the creaky step and walk up another stair, wanting to take them two at a time, but I don't. I try to slow down, no matter how fast I want to go right now, forgetting the fact that I want to run in there right now.

I push open the door slowly, hearing it's long creak before its little clunk when it hits the wall. My hand runs over the wall until I find the light switch and flip it upwards, bathing the room in light. My backpack still sits open by my desk. My laptop is open, but the screen is dark next to my dormant desk lamp. My bed is a mess of wrinkly covers, albeit a dip in my pillows where I sat earlier. Oddly enough, there's another dip at the head of my bed that pulls my eyebrows down into a question. It also yanks my lips up to pinch my cheeks with a smile.

A scuffle pricks my ears, and I look around, confused. First, to underneath my bed where it sounds like it had come from, but the sound is gone as quick as it had happened. My lips set into a frown as I turn and take another look, and when I'm facing my door a loud 'boo!' almost scares me off my feet. I jump back and feel myself start to fall, and luckily, my bed catches me.

"Ugh! You don't have to do that just because you're a monster!" I huff, sitting up and laying my eyes upon the giggling guy in front of me.

"Wha', why not? 's me favorite, it gets ya every time!" he squeals in excitement, and I have to hold myself back from rolling my eyes. That becomes the least of my worries when everything blurs and I'm pushed onto my back. "Hiiiiiiiya, goose! I thought it was you I heard on da stairs, but had t' make sure. Smelled ya when ya walked in, y’know. I knew it was you cuz ya smell like berries and cream," he says as he lies dead weight on top of me. I laugh and hear his silly one in return.

"You'd think you'd be lighter for being- you know, nonhuman, but you definitely aren't."

"Tha's no way t' greet me afta not seein’ eachuther for days. That was rude, goose. Think ya need t' be shown a lesson, you do,” he scoffs and I watch his lips fall into an exaggerrated pout.

"No no no, please don’t!"

"Oh, yes!" he laughs evilly, and I feel it start. It doesn't look like it, but he's strong. Dammit, is he. "Waitin' up here fer tha last half hour for you, thought I was two sweet seconds from gettin' caught fer tha first time in . . ever, and ya call me fat. Tsk tsk, think ya needa lesson taught t' ya," he says, clucking his tongue in the middle of my shrieks and laughs.

"NOOOOOO, WAIT! YOU’RE GONNA!" I shriek in between laughs and desperate pleas for him to stop. His long and quick fingers continue to poke and prod at my ribs, dancing along my stomach and wandering to my armpits, every now and then. Sweat builds on my brow as I flail and squirm, trying to kick him and hit him, but he's expecting that. He knows.

"Josie! What's going on up there?" the loud voice of my dad booms up the stairs, and his movements come to an abrupt stop. His crazy green irises framed by yellow tinged scleras grow wide and alert before darting around.

"Fuck, no. Not yer parents," he whispers fast, and in a blink, his weight from on top of me is gone. My lungs are spewing tiny thank you's, but when I look around, he's gone. There's that same scuffle again and my bed lifts to fall back down a second later.

The old bead necklaces around my door handle slide back and forth when the door opens. My dad's towering figure stands in the doorway and quickly, his hands fall onto his hips in a question while he looks around my room. "I heard yelling up here, what's going on? Are you okay?" the words fall from his thin lips fast, his brown eyes staring back at me while his frown is hard to see through his thick beard. I swing my legs over the bed and face him with a nervous gulp.

"I'm fine, Dad. I was just uh, watching something on TV and the volume was really loud.I'm sorry."

"Hmmm, I could've sworn . . . ," he begins but he waves his hand, his old gold watch falling down his hand along with his wedding ring catching the light. "You just um, try to keep it down up here, sound good?" he finishes with a little smile.

"Yeah, Dad, of course," I reply, and his gelled back ashy blonde hair moves as he nods. I feel a tug on the bottom of my jeans, and I reply with a kick of my foot.

"Okay, well . . ," my dad trails off with a shrug of his shoulders. He then forces an awkward smile before turning around to leave. There's a sharp pinch on my ankle and I wince before giving another kick, and hearing an 'ouch!' I cough quickly to cover it up, sighing when my dad doesn't turn around and walks down the stairs.

"You idiot!" I exclaim under my breath, jumping off my bed and hurrying across my room to close the door.

"How come 'm tha idiot here? I don' remember bein' tha one screamin' her bloody lungs out, now was I?" I scoff as the door meets the hinges and I turn to watch him sliding out from beneath my bed. His sickly pale hand the lightest shade of blue hangs onto the edge of my bed that’s propped up in the air.

He gets to his feet and it falls back to the floor slowly and without a sound, just like every other time. Only a scuffle. He just smirks, his yellow but perfect teeth showing behind his sly smile. My hair moves with my shaking head as I sit back down on the bed, his tall figure moving towards me out of the corner of my eye.

"I dunno why ya don' enjoy me tickles, they're fun. 'm good at it. Y’know 'm quite givin’, could be loads worse, Jose," he comments matter of factly. His  shoulder knocks against mine, and he pushes me over to make room to sit down next tome. I bump shoulders back, but he hardly moves. Figures. "Jus' be lucky ya don' have tha tickle monster under yer bed 'stead, love."

"Sureee," I say, falling back to lie on my bed. There's a little poof and the mattress bounces when he lands next to me.

"Rememba when ya first put up those stupid plastic stars. Thought ya were a bloody genius, you were," he smirks beside me, our elbows knocking against each others. I feel his right shoe nudge against my foot and I kick it off the bed. "Hell, babe! Wha's yer problemo t’night? Wha', ya not miss me, Jose?" My eyes remain on the ceiling, and on the chipped, peeling glow in the dark stars stuck there in an array of sizes and arrangement. Their opaque white color has turned a slight yellow during their age, but his hand pops right in front of my face to block my view of them. It goes back and forth, and finally, I catch it and push it away.

"C'mon, goose, talk t' me. Hate it when yer quiet, makes this no fun."

"That's just it, Harry!" I retort, sitting up and looking to my right to find him lying there on his side looking up at me, confused. His mussy brown curls are crazy once again and swept over his forehead. A few of his sky blue, oblong freckles that cover his body poke out from his fringe of dark hair.

"Wha's just it? 'm not one o’ them monsters who can read minds, Jose, not some jinn or those bloody bogus fortune tellers you lot put so much worth in," he mutters curtly, tsking quietly, thinking I can't hear it, but he's one of the loudest monsters I know. Possibly the only one, but still.

" . . You didn't come last night."

He remains quiet, and when his neon green irises dart away from me, I know that something is up. 

He may be a monster, but I can read him better than any human I know. His long pale fingers dotted with those blue freckles picks at a hole in my comforter, head bowed and two little mustard colored horns poking out from his mess of hair with one on the left, and one on the right. "I didn't think ya'd be home from yer gram's 'till like, this mornin', like ya said," he reveals with a heavy huff holding a hint of an animal-like sound to it, catching me off guard and tearing away any kind of response I had ready. "But, I popped in 'round quarter afta four, afta gettin' done at Ronny Snooker's house, and found ya all curled up like a toasty lil' burrito. Wanted t’ wake ya, trust me I did, but I knew I shouldn't cuz ya'd get all angry at me fer wakin' you an' I hate it when yer mad at me. Can' handle it."

". . I shouldn't even be talking then," I speak up, and his head of curls lifts, letting me find those magical eyes past those long-ass eyelashes. If every monster has eyelashes those long, I fricken swear.

"No, 's not yer fault, Jose. Jus' a teenie tiny misunderstandin’, 's all."

"I did miss you, though. I mean, I guess."

"Ha! I knew it, just had tha feelin’," Harry smirks, his ghostly lips spreading high and wide, and almost up to his eyes. Dark dimples fall into his chiseled cheeks as he whispers an 'aha!' and then, all of a sudden, his wiry stony arms are around me. "Ya miss me, ya miss me, now ya gotta kiss me!"

"I don't think that's how it goes," I get out in between the middle of tight hugs enclosed in his stiff arms, as his familiar musty smell comes over me. It’s like an old basement.

My favorite smell.

"Sure, it does. I know what 'm talkin' 'bout, gotta respect yer elder, goose," he insists, and when I look up at him, he's still grinning. Soon, it falls into a pensive line, and the nostrils of his big pointy nose flare. And sure enough, he sniffs me. "Wha's that I smell on ya?"

"What the hell, Harry?"

"Ya smell like . . Smell like peanut butter, love. Thought you lot ran out last week, like ya said," he says quickly, the words leaving his devilish lips at light speed.

Oh no.

His thick eyebrows hike up his forehead as he sniffs around me fervently, only making me giggle and giving me a tickle. "Oh, ya think 's so funny, do ya? Don' like it when ya tell me lies, goose, an' you know jus’ how much peanut butta 's me favorite. You silly goose, you." He raises a finger and wiggles it at me, giving me a glimpse of his short dirty nails.

"Okay, Okay, I'm sorry! Mom brought home some the other night, like a big tub from Costco. But, Harry, you can't eat it all this time!"

"An' why bloody not?" he replies, annoyed. His dark unruly eyebrows come together and down in a furrow.

"Because! I got blamed for it the last time, like you always seem to do!" 

"Dunno wha' yer talkin' 'bout. 'd never be such a big meanie an' blame sumthin' on ya like that," he smirks, and I push him off of me, getting up and walking over to the black dresser sat against the wall by my door. "What, 'm I s'posed t' do, Josie? Y’know I got this love for peanut butta I can' control."

"You can say that again," I mutter, opening one of the drawers of my dresser and rifling through my clothes

I hear him tsk tsk from behind me, and a squeak from the mattress follows in suit. When I glance over my shoulder at him, he's lying on the left side with his hands behind his head, getting all comfy. Rolling my eyes, I grab a t-shirt and pajama bottoms at random to change into for the night.

"But, I don't know, Harry. Don't they have peanut butter down there?"

"No, I’ve already told you this how many bloody times?! Ni's allergic or summat, tha bloody weirdo, so he neva let's me within like, a mile radius of it. He’s afraid 'm gonn' kill him or summat, even though tha's impossible. Dunno how he can be allergic t' sumthin' so bleedin' delicious. 's rubbish, 's what it 's," Harry says, shaking his head which I laugh at. His eyes drag over to me and he leers at me before shaking it again with his lips pressed into a disapproving line. "Talk it up, Jose. You try bein' a monster for a day."

"I would, if you'd let me," I say quietly. Walking across the room, I slip into my closet,shutting the door behind me.

"Don' even ge'mme started, you li’l shit. Ya think I dunno what yer gettin' at, d’ya?"

"Hey! Be nice to me, and what ever happened to trying not swearing around me? I thought you said it was 'unbecomin’ o’ me t’ swear ‘round you’ and all that," I yell through the door, turning my back as I slip off my clothes to change into the others sitting at my feet.

"Ya, that lasted 'til you were 'bout I dunno, ten, goosie. 's like me vocabulary, I can' help it. I mean, God, ya should hear Ly’ swear - he curses like a friggin' fairy. But, don't tell him that cuz he'd kick me in tha jewels if he heard me compare him t’ a fairy. I mean, ya wouldn' think they're capable o' cursin' - those fairies with that teeny tiny body o' theirs, but boy, oh boy. do they. ‘m quite envious of his swearin’, tho’, if I do say meself."

"I know, I remember. You taught me my first swear words, my parents were horrified when I said 'shit' for the first time. When was it again? Oh yeah, that day in fourth grade when I fell learning how to roller blade," I giggle in return, sliding on the pair of plaid pajama pants, tying the strings at the waist. "And, how would I tell Ly’ anyways when you won't let me meet him?"

"They should be lucky I didn' start ya sooner, but ya, one o' tha proudest moments o’ me damned life," he sighs happily as I walk out of the closet splaying my caramel blonde hair over my shoulders. I try to ignore that he dodged the second part of my sentence. Now, I'm rolling my eyes as I walk to the door and flick off the light, soon joining him and his fake crying on my bed.

Curling up under the covers, my bedside lamp lights his features as he stares up at the ceiling, thinking. Thinking about what, I don't know, but I'm curious. "What do monsters think about, Harry?"

"Y’know . . I rememba tha first time ya asked me that when ya were- what, five? Jus' came home from yer second or third week o’ school an' asked me it. Suddenly, yer in Kindiegarten and ya think yer such a hoot."

"Well, I don't remember what you said then, considering it was almost thirteen years ago, so please, do enlighten me," I joke, and the single dimple in the middle of each of his cheeks falls down when a smile bends his lips upwards. Who knew a monster could have dimples, or be so cute.

"Okie dokie, smartass, well 's not real different from you humans. Y’know, think 'bout food and things we wanna do," he answers me, turning his head and looking me in the eyes. Yellow smile falling and dimples slowly disappearing. He raises his eyebrows at me, only to wiggle them a second later, making me giggle.

He almost scoffs, biting his tongue as his head of curls goes from side to side. I murmur a dumbfounded 'what,’ earning me a shrug of his bony shoulders in return. "Dunno, missed yer laugh, I guess. Don' hear 'em often when yer not 'round. Well, not happy ones, that is," he tells me, giving me a cheesy smile showing no teeth. I sigh and move closer to him, my forehead just missing his shoulder by a centimeter. His calming musty smell walks up my nose, and I close my eyes with a happy smile.

"What did you do while I was gone?" 

"A whole lotta nothin'," Harry hums in reply, and I feel the hard tips of his fingers on my scalp stroking at my hair. "Jus' went 'round me business scarin' tha other kiddies in town. Ronny, Daisy, the redhead, and the new little tot on Willow Street. They're pretty easy, 'cept Ronny, he's such a li’l shit, ugh. Did I tell ya I took all tha air outta his bike tires, and drank his chocolate milk that was s'posed t' be for lunch tha next day?"

"No," I giggle, moving closer to him and finding his shoulder and the soft holey fabric of his pitch black t-shirt.

"Ah damn, it was a hoot. Wish I coulda been there tha next mornin' t' see his face. Tha li’l devil deserved it, he gave me a right bruise on me shin kickin' me when I popped in tha other night," he huffs, making a funny sound with his lips. “That kid can't grow up soon enough. Hell, 'm almost tempted t; make it seem like 'm a ghost hauntin’ their house, so they'd move tha fook out an' I don' hafta deal with him anymo'."

A chuckle falls from my lips as my eyes remain closed and I breathe in his smell. Oh, how I missed you. "Ya fallin' 'sleep on me already, Jose? 's hardly nine o'clock, 'm disappointed in you."

"I'm tired, and I have school tomorrow," I whine, hiking the covers up my shoulders with a groan when they don't come easily. The bed moves and the comforter goes up smoothly, making me open my eyes to find his nimble, pale hands draping it over me. He gives me a smile before lying back down and replacing his hand in my hair, going back to lulling me to sleep playing with it.

"Oh ya, yer a big ol' senior now, hmph," he clucks, ending it with a final sigh. "Fine, I guess ya can go t' bed. But, we gotta catch up one o' these nights 'bout yer trip t’ yer gram's. Ya betta have saved me some o' her butterscotch cookies, or 'm not gonna be too happy with you, goosie. And, I was searchin' real hard for where I hid yer house key, almost thought 'd found it, but I dunno." I hum a sleepy 'okay' as I close my eyes again, grunting in frustration as I try to find his shoulder again. His lovely giggle touches my ears and I find him not long after with a huff.

"Funny li’l thing, you are. Now go t' bed, ya sleepy bones. An' try not t' snore, will ya? I mean, 's awfully cute, but it interrupts me readin'. Gotta see what you lot are readin' this year an' catch up t' ya," he jests, and I shove him with a small groan.

His squeaky laugh leaves his devilish lips, hanging there for a small second. "Alrighty then, go t’ sleep, you. Have tha sweetest o' dreams, goose. Oh, and don' let tha beddy bugs bite."

#harry styles #harry styles fanfic #harry styles wattpad #harry styles fic #monster!harry #asshole!harry #young adult #wattpad #fanfiction #fanfic #fiction #fantasy #horror #halloween #spooky #halloween story #fanfiction story #monster #monster friend #friendship #narrymccartney writes #chaptered fic #scary story #under the bed harry styles #U.T.B #harry + josie #writing #my writing

[glassesofroses]

Limerence || Chapter 1

Hello all! Once again coming out with a book I’ve already written a lot of chapters for that was originally for Wattpad, yes I was one of those people and I need tumblr to help me fix it. Tell me what you think! I’ll be posting these chapters on Monday at 11 am CST! 

//

Stumbling out of bed, her feet thudded on the plush rug beneath her unawakened feet. Her arms slowly reached above her in a stretch that popped her back in a satisfying fashion, hands coming down to her face to massage the muscles in attempt to awaken them. Her tired body floated over to the curtains, body itching in anticipation as to what would come next. Gripping the curtains, her arms flailed away from her, the beaming sun scaring away the tiredness she felt. The woman turned her head slowly, afraid if she moved to fast there would be an unwanted crack.

7:32 am

An hour to get him out the door. Pulling a cardigan on, one arm at a time, she managed to get her bedroom door open, the cold air of the almost empty house biting at her open skin. She trudged down the wooden hallway, peering at the walls to the sides of her, a small smile gracing her face.

"Harrison, time to get up! You have an hour until Mrs.Hall comes to pick you up! It's the first day of school, you don't want to be late." A crackly voice emerged from the depths of her throat; the first words of the day.

"I'm up," A similar crackly voice from beyond the depths of a 14-year-old's bedroom.

"Breakfast in 15!" Her hand brushing up against her son's door before her body made it's way down the carpeted steps and sauntered into the kitchen, already bright with the light of the day.

The process of her daily coffee was very simple. No Keurig. Coffee grounds, filter, water, set, press, magic. She wasn't the one to make pancakes with a Disney persona, but she wasn't going to let her son go to his first day of 6th grade without a good memento. A bagel with cream cheese and a raspberry mango smoothie would have to suffice. A loud thump echoed throughout the kitchen, her head shooting up with her eyebrows high on her head.

"Harrison?" She called out, hand gripping the countertop, feet ready to run.

"I'm fine, Mom! I just fell putting my jeans on!" Her son responded with another thump, "still fine!"

"Oh God," She whispered to herself, praying non religiously that her son would make it through the day without a visit to the nurse.

The bagels popped up and coffee buzzer buzzed; her bare feet slid heavily across the dark wooden floors to reach to her morning drink. Just the smell improving her mood already. The sound of an elephant came crashing down the stairs, her son emerging from the wild. His clothes held him up to present a scrawny kid; her scrawny kid.

"Bagel is on the counter, making the smoothie now," Raising her cup of coffee in his general direction before placing it down and shuffling towards the freezer.

"You have to start making your own breakfast now kid, you're 14, going into 9th grade, that's a big step," She talked into the freezer, grabbing the raspberry and mango chunks.

"At least I made my bed today," He goofily grinned, the bags under his eyes making a statement.

"At least," She guffawed, "that's an everyday thing, so is helping me more with chores. Such as, and drum roll please, mowing the lawn!" She spun around, closing the freezer with an open mouth of sarcasm.

"Dibs on front!" His pointer finger shooting up to rest on top of his nose.

"Honey you forget, I make the rules around here and rules are, we switch off. This Sunday, you get the back, I get the front." Coping his actions and putting her pointer finger on top of her nose.

Rolling his eyes with a smile, he slowly nodded his head and took a monstrous bite out of his bagel.

7:43 am

A comfortable silence fell over them like a fog, the only noise coming from the blender and the calming radio music playing from the speakers above. She took out the Sweet Italian Creamer from the fridge and poured the creamy liquid into her coffee. Pouring some of the smoothie into a to-go cup, she placed it in front of her son and took her place at the dining table. The two talked about their goals for the day, for themselves and for each other. Harrison hoped his mom would allow them to splurge and go out to dinner tonight and hoped he wouldn't fall in the hallway as much as he did in elementary school. She hoped the same thing for him and hoped that her meetings would do well to discuss interviewers 'worthy enough' for the Marvel company.

7:56

"Are you sure you have everything you need today?" Pointing to where he backpack lay sewn across in the entryway.

"Yep," Finishing tying his sneakers and stood up from the bench and slung the backpack over his shoulders.

"Okay, and remember you're going over to Brooklyn's house today after school because I have a late meeting. I'll pick up surprise food around 6:45 and then I'll pick you up around 7:15 okay?" Pulling her phone out to take a picture of him.

"Mom, you know you don't have to take a picture of me right?" He groaned yet getting into door position.

"Oh hush, it's a mothers prerogative." Crouching to get to his height, pictures vertical and horizontal.

"Mrs.Hall is here mom, you know she doesn't like to wait." Harrison moving towards his mom.

"She can wait a few seconds," Opening her arms to envelop her son into a big hug, tightening her grip at the thought of him entering 9th grade. He was still her little boy, nothing would change that.

"Okay, go learn something today and tell me about it at dinner." Tousling his hair before opening the door to let him free and into the world.

"I will," He grinned at her, closing the door behind him.

"My little boy," She whispered to herself.

With her cream-colored coffee cup in hand, she stepped her way back to her room to get herself ready. She set the cup down and opened her closet doors. Her eye gravitated towards a loose navy blue tunic with light pink birds patterned across the fabric. To match, light pink jogger like pants yet it had a more breathable fabric more appropriate for a work setting. For shoes, just a simple pair of white thick heeled pumps. Taking her hair down from the messy bun, she straightened her hair and brought it to the back of her neck, wrapping it in a low ponytail.

8:17

Heels clicking down the stairs she grabbed everything she knew she would need for the next 11 hours. Computer, phone, both chargers, notepad, an abundance of pens, another ponytail binder, some fruit snacks, her water bottle, car keys, wallet, a giant brown bag that everything seemed to fit into. She seemed to be the next Mary Poppins. Taking one final look around her house, she exited through the back door, locked it, and walked down the paved path towards her garage. Stepping into her car and turning it on, Dvorak rang through her ears and she smiled, the immaculate yet complex beat sending energy through her body.

"You've got this day, Olivia Wilder, you've got this."

8:30

#Chris Evans #Marvel #Captain America #Boston #massachusetts #United States #America #Captain #single mom #young kid

[mistymark]

the one with the summer job [part one] // l.j.n

lee jeno x reader // summer camp au // 5.4k words

in which y/n needs work placement and finds herself working in an infirmary helping little kids, and one very injured jeno // masterlist // part of the Hideaway Hollow series // warnings: none? probably swearing, knowing me // part 1 of 4

“Why, why, why did I choose biomed, again?” You sighed, dropping your head onto the textbook that lay expectantly in front of you. Your friend hit you on the shoulder with her pen as you reached into your hoodie pocket to retrieve your phone, checking the time. You closed your eyes when you realised it was almost 11, the stress and panic having taken its toll on you. The library was open until the early hours of the morning, and there were still groups of students at every table studying intently, cups of cold coffee and energy drinks beside them, littered on the floor surrounding them, and in their backpacks.

“Because you’re a kind, smart individual who wants to help others feel better,” you friend stated optimistically, trying to push your head from where it lay against the textbook. Your notebook and various sheets of notes were sprawled around you, and, like the other students, an empty cup sat sadly beside your laptop. “Have you decided where you want to work over the summer?” she asked, leaning back in her chair and watching you expectantly.

“No,” you moaned miserably, having forgotten about the summer work positions until this very moment, being so focused on your studies. “Have you found yours?”

She jumped excitedly in her seat, “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. You know how Dad owns those summer camps for kids that go on over the break?” She continued when you nodded your head, your forehead still pressed against the cool pages of your medicine textbook, “He said he could get me a work position there, running the books and everything.”

You looked up at your best friend proudly, “That’s fantastic! And working at a summer camp will be awesome, at least you’ll have people of all ages there.” You suddenly wished you had studied accounting like her, but remembering how bad you were when you took the subject in high school made you glad you’d chosen a subject you understood, even though it wasn’t really evident at the moment, as you had previously been rereading your notes, looking lost.

“It gets better!” She was practically bouncing in her seat now, and her excitement was spilling over to you, causing you to be eager for her to continue, “One of the assistant like, nurse people, just got sick and can’t come on camp ‘cause he might infect the other campers, right? Which means… there’s a position available for an assistant in the infirmary. And, if you want it, it’s yours!”

You were so grateful for your best friend right then, leaning over and hugging her tightly, “You’re such an angel, oh my God, of course I accept, thank you so much! And thank your dad for me, too. Oh my God, this is so much better than the GP office I was going to apply for.”

“I’ll get Dad to send you all the forms, though I technically may have already signed you up, so there shouldn’t be much for you to do,” she shot you a grin as she pulled out her laptop from its case, excitedly tapping her nails against its surface.

“Hey, babe,” your friend greeted you on the phone happily, and you smiled at the sound of her voice. She sounded distracted as she ‘uhh’d into the microphone.

“Hi, I don’t think I’ll be able to get there in time for orientation,” you said, dragging a heavy suitcase down the last flight of stairs in your building, looking up sadly at the other one that remained at the top of the staircase, glaring down at you.

“Oh no, what happened?” She asked, her attention suddenly on you.

“I can still come!” you reassured her. “I have to meet with one of my professors this morning before the break, because I might become a TA, but if I leave straight after I can make it there at around 11 tonight, and then do the orientation tomorrow morning, right?”

“I’m sure that’s fine,” she said, her voice suddenly distant, as if she had pushed the phone away from her face. “Sorry, I’m trying to help Dad organise his office now that everyone else is here… Did I mention this was the camp I attended?”

You smiled, rushing back up the stairs to grab your last suitcase, “You may have mentioned it a few times in the last couple of weeks. Anyway, I should go, but I’ll see you tonight!”

“Okay, I’ll wait up for you,” she grunted as she lifted something and then pulled the phone closer to her mouth, “Get here as soon as, Dad hired a lot of very attractive staff this year.” You could practically hear the smirk on her face.

“He certainly did,” a guy’s voice suddenly yelled into your ear, and you pulled the phone away at the sudden loud noise.

There was laughter on the other end of the phone, as your best friend’s voice returned, “Sorry, that was Jungkook, he’s one of the senior staff, don’t worry, you’ll meet him when you arrive, I’m sure. I’ll see you tonight, y/n, can’t wait!”

You said your goodbyes and hung up, grabbing your bags and pulling them out to your car, opening the trunk and loading everything up and then checking your watch to see how much time you had before your interview with your professor.

There was a ding in your pocket and you pulled out your phone, reading a text from your friend, ‘i forgot to tell u to bring a sleeping bag, you’ll need one xx’.

“Y/n!” There was a loud shout from the wraparound verandah of a large wooden cabin, and you saw your best friend sprinting down the few steps and out to meet your car as you parked. You got out of your car quickly, switching off the engine before getting out and hugging her. When you retracted your arms, you looked around the camp, unable to see very much in the dark light. She gestured for you to follow her into one of the largest cabins, “This is the administration office, and basically where I’ll be living for the next two months, but I’m just going to quickly let Dad know you’re here.”

She disappeared around a corner and you were left on the cute porch alone, the only outdoor porch with a light, apparently. You grabbed your suitcases, backpack, pillow and sleeping bag and dumped them on the deck as quietly as possible before sitting on the steps. Where you were from, there was a lot of light pollution, so you weren’t able to see many stars at night, but here… there were so many, and they were all so bright. You stared in awe at the night sky.

You looked at the sky until your friend came back, “Come on, I’ll show you where the staff stay.”

“We don’t stay in there?” You asked, gesturing to where she had gone.

“No, only the really important, like, senior staff stay there,” she grabbed one of your suitcases and your pillow, already lugging it away towards the staff cabin. “There’s always a light on so that campers can find their way if they’re really ill or lost or something, I don’t really know.” She shrugged, cocking her head in the direction she was walking, gesturing for you to follow her.

“How many people are staying in this cabin?” You walked beyond a path that led to 10 cabins, all arranged in a semi-circle around a fire pit. You noticed a light on in one of them, but you walked past nonetheless.

“Not many, but there are separate rooms, so you and I will be rooming together,” she spun in a circle to shoot you a happy smile, and your mood was instantly lifted knowing that you wouldn’t be sharing a bedroom with strangers for two months. When you finally arrived at the cabin, you realised it was nothing like the cabins you’d seen back at the main part of the camp, but rather one much larger, more modern version. The cabin was still made of wood, but there were three storeys, and the ground floor had a fully furnished kitchen and a large living room, complete with comfortable-looking couches and a flat screen TV, and what looked to be a gaming console.

The two of you silently agreed to go straight to bed, and she reminded you that you had to be awake early for a brief orientation in the morning by the Head Leaders, who “are, like, in charge of the other team leaders but they’re not senior enough to be actual counsellors or directors, so they’re still monitored and everything…yeah”.

The next morning, you woke up and drearily pulled yourself from your cosy bed, moving slowly to the bathroom to get dressed and ready for the day. You noticed an orange shirt had been placed on the end of your bed sometime throughout the night, but when you looked over to your friend for more information, you discovered she was still fast asleep.

You got dressed quickly and quietly, trying not to disturb your sleeping best friend and left the cabin with the soft click of the door, making sure you had your room key with you. Downstairs, the older staff were eating their breakfasts, a feast of eggs and bacon, cereals, different kinds of toast and pancakes. They all greeted you merrily, wearing similar camp shirts to you, but instead of being orange, they were all wearing a deep pine green colour. You suddenly felt very obviously out of place. Older men and women bustled about, grabbing their breakfasts and things for the day before leaving to head to the main camp, but a group of younger-looking guys sat at a large wooden kitchen table.

Awkwardly, you sat down next to a guy in a black jacket and cap, his green shirt peeking out from the collar, and grabbed some toast, reaching over him, “Sorry.”

He laughed good-naturedly, “No need to apologise.” He pulled his hand up from under the table, “I’m Jungkook.”

You raised your eyebrows in shock, before grinning easily back at him and shaking his hand, “Oh! I’m Y/n, I believe we spoke on the phone?”

He smiled at you and nodded, “Did you just get here? I swear I didn’t see you yesterday.”

“Oh, I arrived late last night. I have to meet the Head Leaders at the administrations cabin in ten minutes, but I don’t know where it is,” you said shyly, continuing to eat your toast.

“Easy, we can show you,” he gestured to the group of guys surrounding him at the table. “This is Taehyung, Jimin, Hobi and Yoongi. We’re all semi-experienced, so if you need anything we can definitely help you.”

You smiled thankfully at them, “Wow, that’s so nice of you guys, thank you. Do any of you know who’s working in the infirmary? I haven’t met anyone.”

The guy Jungkook had introduced as Hobi stuck his hand up excitedly, “I am! There’s two experienced doctors that we have on call, but I’m your first aid man. You’ve got experience, right? If you’re working the infirmary this year?” You nodded, and, if it was possible, his smile got bigger, “Great! The last guy we had in the infirmary was absolutely useless, he had no first aid training at all and- “

“Hey!” One of the other boys, Yoongi, you thought, spoke up, leaning over the table to hit Hobi. “I wasn’t that bad! And I was filling in for someone, it’s not like I was meant to be there.”

The rest of the boys were laughing, until Jimin grabbed his phone and said, “Oh shit, Y/n, you’re going to be late if you don’t leave now. Jungkook, you take her to the admin cabin, Taehyung and I can clear up everything.”

You shouted out a quick ‘thank you!’ as Jungkook pushed you out the door, walking speedily towards the main part of camp. In the day light, you could see the whole camp, and you were mesmerised. The cabins that you had seen arranged in a semi-circle all had different coloured rooves, and a sign above the doorway painted with the cabin’s name. The fire pit was black from a recent fire, and the lake beyond sparkled invitingly. Each cabin was a clean, light coloured wood, and they stood proudly, awaiting their campers.

You could see some of the team leaders sitting in the mess hall as the door opened, and two emerged, one tall, older looking boy and a much shorter girl, who talked to him animatedly. Your friend was right, they had hired very attractive staff this year.

Jungkook saw you watching them with interest and waved, “Hey! Jisoo, Jeno! Morning!”

They both looked your way and smiled, calling back greetings. You met Jeno’s eyes, and gave him a small, shy wave before continuing to follow Jungkook’s lead to the Main Cabin, feeling the weight of them both looking at you.

Jungkook dropped you off at Main Cabin’s entrance, before walking inside to begin his own work. He’d told you cheekily whilst you were walking that he wanted to get in early and take all the fun activities for the summer before his older friends got them. He saluted you as he walked past again, wishing you good luck as the two Head Leaders walked up towards the porch.

“Hi, you must be Y/n,” the boy said, giving you an innocent smile and handing you a clipboard with all the information you required for the summer on it. “I’m Mark, and this is my co-Head Leader, n/n.”

The girl shook your hand politely and begun to explain the basics of the camp and your tasks for the summer, and you listened eagerly. You learnt that the two of them were similar in age to you, and were also currently studying at college, which meant that the three of you got along really well.

They dropped you off at the infirmary, a quaint cabin with large windows and a beautiful view of the lake; the back porch hung out over the water slightly. Hobi was already there waiting for you, and he made sure to say goodbye to the Leaders before explaining more thoroughly what your roles in the infirmary were. “It kind of sucks that if a kid gets food poisoning at 2am, we have to be awake to deal with it, and let me tell you, it happens more than it should, but other than that, infirmary’s not that big of a deal,” Hobi shrugged, before flipping open a clipboard that contained a checklist of supplies that were required in the cabin.

“Do you need help with that?” you asked, eyeing the clipboard of at least ten sheets of paper, each with a list of materials. Inventory had to be a boring, monotonous job.

He looked up from his list, smiling at you, “Oh, yes, thank you.” As you worked, you learnt more about Hobi, and he was happy to discuss his college life, as well as the partner he had back in the city, and how he had met all of his best friends through this camp. You smiled softly as you listened, thoroughly going through the cupboards, and making sure to respond to his questions.

You were pretty happy to say that working in the infirmary was really fun, and despite most days being slow, you almost always had a kid come in by lunch time with a red face and a distressed team leader. By the second week of camp, you’d met almost every staff member, spent your lunchtimes with your best friend on the lake’s jetty eating delicious meals prepared by one of the cooks, and developed new and exciting friendships with the older staff. You had to admit; this summer program was a fantastic idea.

It only got better when you’d run into Jeno. You’d seen him around quite a bit, and were lucky enough to have dinner with the team leaders every night, and you couldn’t help the growing attraction you had towards the guy. He would always smile at your warmly as he passed you, his eyes turning into small crescent moons, and he always made sure to include you in the conversations the Team Leaders were having, making sure to always sit beside you at mealtimes.

On the Thursday of your second week in the infirmary, he’d brought in a sobbing nine year old boy, who’d hurt his wrist during archery. Hobi checked over the injury with ease, and the boy was smiling and eating a lollipop happily within fifteen minutes.

That meant you had fifteen minutes to talk to Jeno, uninterrupted. He was pretty distracted, constantly checking over your shoulder to monitor his camper’s injury, but when you assured him it was probably just the string of the bow hitting it too many times, he relaxed.

“He’s going to be fine, you know,” you stated, moving to stand beside him and providing an unobstructed view of Hobi and the younger boy.

“I know,” Jeno said, before glancing at you, a small smile making its way onto his face. “It’s just that… Philip’s my favourite.”

You were confused for a moment, before realising that the boy’s name must be Philip, and you laughed, “Ah, so your worry isn’t for his health, it’s just panic that your favourite won’t like you anymore.”

He fought back his smile, instead feigning hurt, “No, I care very deeply for all my campers, how dare you accuse me of favouritism.” He made a silly face as he spoke, and you noticed the green wristband on his arm slid down as he crossed his arms over his chest.

This caused you to giggle and you tried to be quiet as to not distract Hobi, “Sure, Greenie. Not to be rude, but I’m pretty sure either Red or Orange are like, guaranteed to win camp favourite this year.”

He turned to look at you, furrowing his eyebrows, “You know about camp favourites?”

Now it was you that feigned hurt, “I’m new, I’m not an idiot. And, yeah, you know y/f/n? Her Dad runs the place, so I’ve heard quite a bit about it.”

“Ah, well,” he began pacing the small space distractedly as he talked, swinging his legs as he turned around, “Jaemin’s partner, the Red Leader, was camp favourite last year, and she’s determined to win it again this year, but Jaemin’s super competitive and wants to beat her. I’m pretty sure he’s just using it as an excuse to flirt with her, though.”

You smiled, having seen them together around camp, oftentimes looking to be flirting, but you were never certain, as you were pretty sure Jaemin flirted with anything that had a pulse, including the older staff, the guys (I mean, hey, you could respect if he swung that way) and yourself.

“You’re all good to go, little buddy,” Hobi gave Philip a high five and let him walk towards Jeno, a lollipop hanging from his mouth. Hobi then pulled out a small form that needed filling out from a drawer, giving the details of the injury and what he did to help, ready to give it to Main at the end of the day.

“Jeno, can we go back to archery now?” Philip whined, now apparently eager to do it again.

Jeno nodded and grinned at you, heading for the exit to follow the younger boy out, before spinning around at the last moment, “You’re coming to the bonfire tomorrow night, yeah?”

You looked up from your work, “Uh, yeah, I think so.”

He nodded, “Good.”

“I can’t believe that’s the first group gone,” your best friend stated, watching as the last of the cars drove out of the carpark, the parents pulling onto the main road with excited children in the back seat. One kid waved to her as she stood on the porch, whilst you sat comfortably on the steps.

“I can’t believe how accident prone kids are,” you said, rifling through the pages Hobi had given you to hand off the Admin Senior Squad (also known as the ASSes), which, in your opinion, was really poorly named by Taehyung.

Your friend turned on you, “Lighten up, tonight is the first big bonfire, and we’re going night swimming!”

“In the lake?” you asked, suddenly unsure. Your years of science classes had taught you about the many hazards that could be present in the lake’s water. You wrinkled your nose at the thought.

“Where else?” she raised an eyebrow at you. “Come on, it can’t be that bad. Besides, you’ll get to see Jeno shirtless.”

You were taken aback by her comment, physically shying away from her, “I don’t- I wasn’t – what are you talking about?”

She laughed, “You forget I’ve known you for years. I can tell when you’re into someone.”

You straightened your back, uncomfortably stretching your neck in order to clarify, “I’m not INTO him, I just think he’s cute.”

“Sure, Y/n, and I’m secretly hooking up with a staff member,” she sighed, a small smile evident on her face, stepping inside Main. “Do you want to go to the girls’ sleepover tonight? I’m pretty sure Pink is hosting once everyone’s cleaned up their cabins.”

You shrugged, “Yeah, sounds good. I’ve missed having girls my age around. And, before you say anything, you’re like 85 at heart, so, no, you don’t count.”

She pulled a face and hit you lightly across the arm, “Whatever. Oh, are you busy tonight? If Hobi hasn’t got you doing anything, can you drop of the spare toiletries to all the cabins? Dad wants me to do the rounds, but I haven’t finished the finances for this week and he’ll kill me if I don’t get at least one thing finished.” You laughed with her, nodding and stepping up to grab the bag of toilet amenities; soaps, toilet paper, paper towel, cleaning wipes, fragrant spray, and small first aid replacements – all simple necessities that each cabin was required to be equipped with.

You started at Pink cabin, which was directly opposite White, the cabins holding the seven and eight year olds. You presumed it was best to keep them separated, as they were oftentimes the loudest of all the cabins, from what you’d seen in the past two weeks. The Head Leader opened the door and looked as if she were about to cry, and you immediately stepped inside to help. The cabin was a right mess; you were unsure how such a mess could be left after all the kids had cleared out, taking all their belongings with them.

“Can you take the mattress protectors for me, please?” She asked, struggling to scrape off a hard, previously very sticky substance, on the floor of the cabin.

“Of course, I’ll do it during my toiletries round,” you assured her, gathering the protectors and dumping them outside onto a porch seat.

“You’re a lifesaver, thank you,” she said, helping you unload the amenities.

You moved onto the next few cabins, dropping off the products before moving on. You arrived at Green, and were somehow really surprised when Jeno opened the door, almost as if you had forgotten which cabin he was in. He had changed out of the camp shirt, and was now wearing a plain white T-shirt, letting his black hair flop down over his forehead and a pair of thin-framed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose. For a moment, you were unsure what to say, “Housekeeping?”

You were worried he wouldn’t get the joke, but sure enough a wide, amused grin made its way onto his face as he shook his head at you, pushing the door open with one hand to allow you to duck under his arm and enter the cabin.

He’d already cleaned most of it, the bathroom was the only part he hadn’t got to yet. You wolf whistled jokingly at his efforts, as he had obviously achieved a lot more than the other leaders, and dumped your bag on the ground to help him stock the small bathroom cupboards. Each cabin had a tiny bathroom; just a sink and a toilet, whereas showers were located elsewhere.

When you’d finished, he flopped down onto one of the beds, “Do you know when the campfire is?”

You checked your watch, “Two hours from now?”

He groaned, grabbing his pillow and pulling it over his face, “You know, we’re supposed to go night swimming tonight.”

You wrinkled your nose, “I heard.”

He noticed your slightly disgusted tone and sat up on his elbows, letting the pillow fall away and sit neatly beside him, “You got a problem with lakes, Doc?”

You rolled your eyes at the nickname, “What I’ve got a problem with is your attitude.”

“Oooooh, sticks and stones, y/n,” he clutched his heart dramatically. After a moment, he turned to face you again, “So you’re not coming with us?”

“No, I’m coming,” you smiled at his expression. You couldn’t quite pick his emotion, but you didn’t dwell on it. “I’m just not sure about whether I should swim or not. I could conduct a few tests easily before our next opportunity-“

“Another two weeks from now?” He groaned again, the sound contradicting the smile on his face. “Come on, Doc, how bad can it be?”

You sent him a smile, using your index finger to point matter-of-factly as you began pacing the floor beside his bed, “I’m glad you asked; VERY bad. Do you know what that water could contain? It could-“

“Jeno?” There was a call from the other side of the door, and Jeno stood up to answer it, lightly brushing his arm against you as he walked past. When he opened the door, Jisoo began talking rapidly, “Hey, I just wanted to know if you’re still planning on coming night swimming with us tonight.”

Jeno glanced back at you with a smirk before focusing back on Jisoo, “I don’t know. Could be dangerous.”

She looked confusedly at him and then noticed you behind him, her eyes widening, “Oh, well. Um, either way, I hope you can come. And, you, too, Y/n.”

You waved, “Thanks, Jisoo.” She promptly turned around and walked back down the steps towards her own cabin.

“I thought Jisoo was Renjun’s partner,” you said, sitting down on the floor to organise and inventory the leftover amenities. This was normally a job you’d do back at Main, but for the rest of the summer, you found yourself doing it in Green.

He smiled at you, and you couldn’t help but feel as if he was accusing you of something, a glint in his eye as he turned away from you to go through one of his suitcases, “She is. But, I think she thinks I’m her partner sometimes.” He chuckled, rifling through his bag.

When you were finished with the toiletries, you grabbed the mattress protectors the Head had given you, and bid him goodbye, after promising you’d see him later (but not necessarily to swim).

After a noisy dinner in the mess hall, everyone shouted excitedly as they returned to their cabins to get changed. It was only the start of summer, but it was already really hot, so the weather in the evening was perfect for swimming. Despite your earlier protests about the lake, you put on your swimsuit anyway, pulling a short black dress on over the top. Making sure you’d packed your towel, and inserting a small antiseptic spray into your bag at the last minute, you turned around excitedly to look at your best friend, who was still getting dressed, “Come onnnnn. It might actually be night by the time you’re ready.”

“I’m sorry not all of us are desperate enough to get changed in a second because we’re so excited to see a boy,” she teased you back, poking out her tongue childishly.

You laughed and flicked her towel towards her, making a satisfying whacking noise, before stuffing it into her own bag. You ignored her comment, “Are the other guys coming? Jungkook and the other ASSes?”

She snorted at the nickname, “Uh, no. Typically, these nights are just for the leaders, but since most of them are our age, they invited us anyway.”

When she was finally ready to go, you let her lead you down a path using a flashlight. You found that you weren’t going to the area of the lake you’d seen the campers heading, but rather onto a path that circled the lake. You walked for a few minutes through some trees, until you heard you best friend mumble a “yes”, as she stepped out into a clearing.

The small section of the lake that had been turned into the leader’s night swimming location was almost set up like a beach. There was a large deposit of soft sand, on this side of the lake, and you could see a bonfire somewhere off the lake’s edge. A small jetty jutted out towards a deck a few metres above the bedrock in the lake, floating calmly.

It looked as though all the team leaders had arrived, and most were standing around talking, waiting for the sun to set fully for night swimming.

“Hi, guys!” Your best friend excitedly bounced over to where Donghyuck, Mark and the other Head were talking, greeting the other female leaders as she passed.

You were unsure where to join in, so opted to walk to a small spot to put down your belongings on the beach. When you turned around, Jeno was standing beside you, peering into your bad, “Where’s all the testing equipment, Doc?” He immediately began laughing at his own joke, and you found yourself laughing along with him, despite the fact that you hadn’t even found the joke remotely funny.

“Left it back in the lair,” you shrugged, looking at your bag. You turned around and surveyed the scene in front of you, “What have I missed so far? Care to fill me in?”

He crossed his arms and examined the group, sucking his lips in and scrunching his face up before looking back at you, “Not much; Donghyuck has been complaining about this being lame, Renjun has been arguing with my partner for the last fifteen minutes over God knows what, the two Heads have been off doing whatever – they arrived like a minute before you – and Jaemin, Jisoo and I have just been hanging out, waiting for you to arrive.”

You felt a small blush creep up your neck when he said he’d been waiting for you, though you tried to oppress it; they’d probably all been waiting so the real fun could begin. You pointed to where your best friend was talking to Donghyuck, “Yeah, well, she takes a very long time to get ready in the morning. Chuck in a day of financing work, and she’s EXTRA slow. Frankly, I didn’t even think she could go any slower.”

He laughed, opening his mouth to say something before Jisoo walked over, “Hey, Y/n. Jeno, here you go.” She handed him a cup of… well, something, and stood expectantly waiting for someone to say something.

“When are we going to actually swim?” She asked no one in particular, despite looking at Jeno most of the time.

He looked towards Mark, before shouting across the beach, “Mark! We ready to swim?”

Mark looked confused, cupping his ear with his hand, and Jeno yelled again. The second time, however, Mark leaned back and smiled in understanding, before shooting the younger boy a quick thumbs up and clapping his hands together, walking towards where the rest of the group was huddled, not too far from where you were currently standing with Jisoo and Jeno.

“Alright, children, into the water!” He gestured dramatically towards the lake, as if the leaders were kids who needed to be shown where to go.

Instantly, the group began whooping and undressing to swim, and you shyly looked away as Jeno removed his shirt, tugging it over his head.

Jisoo began to remove her t-shirt and jean shorts, “This is going to be so much fun!”

Jeno tossed his shirt to the side, placing his hands on his hips he turned to you, “You’re coming in with me.”

You quirked an eyebrow at him, slowly removing the straps of your dress from your shoulders, “Bold of you to assume I would listen to your demands.”

He watched as you tucked your dress into your bag, “Was I wrong in my assumptions, though?”

#nct #nct dream #nct 127 #nct 116 #nct 2018 #nct u #nct c #nct dream series #nct series #nct dream imagines #nct 127 imagines #nct imagines #nct au #nct dream au #college au #summer camp au #kpop imagines #kpop writings #nct dream fic #nct drabbles #nct jeno #lee jeno #lee jeno x reader #jeno #nct dream jeno #nct writings

[studpuffin]

The Richie Diaries Chapter 2:

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Richie Tozier talks a lot. In fact, most of his friends would say one of his defining features, is that he never shuts the fuck up.

But right now Richie is speechless.

Not only is he completely at a loss for words, but he’s also mildly horrified that his estranged grandmother is three feet from him with an expectant smile on her face, like he’s supposed to start jumping for joy that he has yet another thing that’s going to make him a freak to his peers.

He’s barely surviving high school. How the fuck can anyone expect him to run a country?

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” It’s out of his mouth before he can find a nicer way to say it, although he does get a quick flash of joy at the horrified look on Claria’s face.

“I beg your pardon. Does your father let you get away with that language?”

“You can’t just waltz into my life and tell me this. And are you SURE you have the right person? I mean look at me!” he frantically gestures to himself in all his frizzy-haired, chipped nail polish, dirty sneakered glory.

His grandmother gives him a sympathetic smile, “Richard, I know this is a big change in your life. And I know that the adjustment won’t simply happen, but once you’re all settled in Genovia you’ll see it really isn’t-”

“I’m sorry what?!” Richie slumped lower in his seat, “Move to Genovia?”

“Of course,” She smiled in that cool, calculated that made Richie want to knock himself out on the heavy marble table, “You’ll meet parliament and get to know the traditions of the country.”

“Who said I was doing it?” he cut in quickly, “You can’t make me do this,” he shoved his chair away from the table, “No FUCKING way,” he grabbed his backpack and bolted from the room.

Half an hour later, Richie stomped into the apartment and was instantly furious with the scene in front of him. It wasn’t that the scene was particularly offensive or even that uncommon. Went and Mochi was curled up on the couch watching some Simpson’s rerun. What made Richie fume was that his father could act like life was completely normal when the world was clearly falling apart.

Richie slammed the door loudly, causing Went to look over from the television.

“Hey Rich. How was seeing grandma?”

That was the final straw, “Like you don’t know how it was,” Richie huffed, flinging his backpack into an empty chair, “You knew!” he rounded on his father who was giving him that look. The look parents give as if to say, ‘sorry for lying to you but I have an excuse.”

“Rich…”

“Oh no, you don’t get to make me feel bad for being mad. You lied to me! For 18 years!” He kicked off his sneakers, and shot up the stairs, his bedroom door slamming shut behind him, blocking him off from whatever excuses his father could have made.

Richie’s alarm blared the next morning, beeping loudly until he kicked it off the table near the foot of his bed, flinching as it crashed to the floor.

Fuck school today, he thought to himself, pulling the blankets over his head and tugging Mochi to his chest. He buried his face in his pillow, letting the events of yesterday circle around in his head.

This has to be a nightmare. That didn’t happen. He shifted onto his back, letting Mochi push her paws into his stomach and make herself comfortable. He lay there a few more moments longer until the grumbling of his stomach forced him out of bed.

The sight in his kitchen was not at all what he expected. His father was reading the paper and drinking coffee and sitting across from him was his grandmother, daintily eating a toaster waffle and sipping coffee.

His brain spun so fast, he felt a wave of panic and nausea rising in his stomach. This wasn’t supposed to happen. If they were in the same place that could only mean one thing.

They were going to make him do this.

“Dad...what’s going on?” he cautiously walked over to the counter and picked up a cup of coffee. His eyes darted quickly between his dad and grandmother. Wentworth looked up from his paper and ran a hand through his hair, much like Richie did when he was nervous.

“Rich...we have to have a talk.”

“No kidding,” he mumbled, taking a sip of his coffee and scowling at the neon green floor tiles of their kitchen.

There was silence for a moment until Claria cleared her throat, “Richard-”

“Richie,” he snapped, glaring at her.

“Richie,” she amended, “This...whole situation was supposed to be avoided. You...you were born out of wedlock and your mother was meant to come home and get married. But when she...well she had some health complications that made it impossible for her to have another child, leaving you as her sole heir. Our country's sole heir.”

“But no pressure or anything,” he deadpanned.

“Quite the opposite. The future if the nation rests on your shoulders.”

Richie barely suppressed a snort, and looked over at Wentworth, “Do they not have sarcasm in Genovia?”

Wentworth gave him a warning look, “What your grandmother is trying to say,” he looked over cautiously at Claria, “is that there are...some expectations. However,” he held up a hand as Richie tried to protest, “I know this is a lot to spring on you. And I completely understand if you don’t want to do it or if you need to take your time to make a decision.”

Richie narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “What’s the catch?”

Claria gave him a small satisfied smile, “You’ll be attending lessons with me.”

Richie scrunched up his nose, “Lessons?”

She nodded, “Lessons. In diplomacy, fashion, etiquette. Every day after school until the Independence Day Ball that is a month away.”

Richie choked on his coffee “A month? I’m supposed to learn all of this in a month?!”

Claria gave him a smile smirk and he shudders at the sudden realization that there were, in fact, facial similarities with the woman who was attempting to ruin his life, “Trust me, Richard. In my hands, you will.”

“Richie you promised!” Bev slammed her history textbook on the table, “You said you would help me edit tonight!”

Richie looked up from where he was listlessly poking at his cafeteria food, “Bev, believe me, I’d rather be with you editing for the newest episode of Breakfast with Bev but Madam has made it explicitly clear that if I’m not the Plaza at 3:30 sharp she’s going to send the entire NYPD after me. Get Ben to help you.”

“Can she do that?” Eddie’s eyes widened in concern.

Richie shrugged, “Legally? Probably not. Will she anyway? Most definitely.”

Bev huffed, “I wish you’d at least bring the camera. Your grandma would be a great interview subject for the family history episode.”

“Something tells me she’s not the family history project kind of person,” he mumbled before turning to Eddie again, “Hey Eds did you fix my baby yet.”

Eddie had quite the talent for cars. He loved to help people and fix things, and that coupled with his dexterity and patient nature is what made Richie come to him with the insane project of fixing up his 1985 Mustang.

Eddie cringed, “Err...kinda?”

Richie gulped, “Kinda?”

Eddie gave him an apologetic smile, “sorry Richie. Come by later though. Mike might be able to fix it.”

Eddie...sweet caring Eddie. Always going out of his way to help

Richie shoved his shoulder gently, “At least lemme pay you for staying late this time.”

Eddie smiled shyly and shrugged his hand off, “No way. Come one you know that the Hanlons just let me stay late and practice anyway. Not like my mom would let me bring the keyboard home.”

What a gem this kid is. Seriously Richie why haven’t we wifed him up again?

Are we seriously still gonna sit here and pine over Denbrough until we graduate?

Richie shook his head slightly and sighed, willing himself not to think about what was coming after school as he got lost in whatever story Bev was telling now.

3:45 pm. Richie slumped lower in his chair, scowling at the clock. 15 minutes and she still wasn’t there. He jiggled his foot, watching it come dangerously close to an intricate looking statue on the table in front of him. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance, picking at his nails.

“Mr. Tozier?”

The voice startled him, making his foot slip, causing him to hit the statue and knock it off the table where it shatters on the floor. He looked up, making panicked eye contact with a pretty girl with long auburn hair, pulled up in a neat ponytail. She surveyed him with a look of vague amusement on her face.

“I can fix that…” he whispered.

“I doubt it,” she laughed, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder, and held out her hand, “I’m Patricia. Your grandmother’s assistant,” she nodded towards the door, “She’s ready for you.” He scrambled to stand, accidentally knocking over the chair he was sitting in. He cringes as he hears the dull thud and the tinkle of what he assumes was the expensive looking vase on the table next to it breaking. He quickly through another, ‘sorry’ over his shoulder at Patricia and takes off down the hallway toward the large wooden doors.

She’s ready for you. God that makes her sound like a fucking bond villain. He thinks to himself as he pushes the door to her suit open. Sure enough, there’s Claria, sitting in a plush high-backed chair with her white Persian cat Elsa perched on her lap. She looked up when he entered and regarded cooly.

“I’ve been expecting you,”

BOND VILLAIN called it!!  

“Yeah...I’ve been here for like 15 minutes already.”

“Do you realize adding ‘like’ into your sentence makes you sound exponentially more uneducated than you are? I’m sure that fancy school of yours doesn’t allow it.”

“Uhh…”

“And they ‘uhhs’! You young people today. You don’t know how to speak I swear.” She stood, shooing Elsa from her lap, “Let me have a look at you. Come on now come here.” She crossed the room to him in easy strides and looked him up and down.

“Turn.”

“What?”

“A circled Richard. Turn in a circle.” She gave him the same look he’d often given Audra as if to stay ‘what are you? Stupid?’

Richie turned slowly, feeling his skin prickle uncomfortably.

“Patricia! Patricia come in here and take a list! And phone Stanley. Tell him I’ll need him for tomorrow!”

Patricia nodded, “Right away your majesty.” she clicked her pen as Claria circled Richie again.

“Hair is far too long for a boy his age, and far to mess. I swear Wentworth knows better than to let you galavant around looking like one of the Wild Things,” she clicked tongue in disapproval and then continued, “Eyes, beautiful like his mother’s,” she paused for a moment to give him a soft smile, and then immediately launched back into her rant, “Nail, horrid. Clean nails from now on. And we’ll be taking your measurements,” It takes Richie a full 30 seconds to process she is, in fact, speaking to him, “I want you in pants that fit not those baggy monstrosities you’re currently wearing. And no more street shoes. Oxfords or dress shoes from now on. Are we clear?”

He’s too stunned to do anything but nod. No more Chucks? No more nail polish? She was going to cut his hair? This was too much. He had to run. Say ‘no no thank you, not for me’, book it back to the Village, and spend of the afternoon watching Eddie work on his car while he and Bev edit videos for her youtube channel. But before he can even move, a tall older man with sunglasses, who had been standing so quietly Richie hadn’t even noticed him, was shutting the wooden door and moving to stand in front of it.

“Alright,” she settled back in her chair and gestured to the chair across from her, “Let’s begin.”

Tag List: @tinyarmedtrex @dyslexictozier @sunflowertozier @richietoaster @jem-carstairs-is-perfection @totaltozier @richardxtozier @reddie-for-anything @aizeninlefox @reddiepop @oldguybones

#reddie #reddie fan fiction #reddie fanfiction #reddie fanfic #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #the princess diaries AU #the richie diaries

[thesandlot-1962-blog]

I’M NOT PRIM (Benny Rodriguez)

CHAPTER 1 | PILOT

Everything was a blur, nothing made sense.

It's like the floor I built was falling beneath my feet. I finally made friends, joined clubs, and actually fit in for once but of course, it had to be ruined. Again.

A new start, I wasn't ready for it like the other times. Not to mention, Los Angeles was in a whole different state. Where I used to live, we had cattle and fields all over the place. Here, it seemed like everything was cramped in one place and the space between the houses appeared to be suffocating. Did the construction workers ever think of personal space?

Not only that but the air also seemed stuffier if that makes any sense. It was almost like it was harder to breathe because of the pollution in the air. But the other kids didn't seem to mind, they were just dilly-dallying in their yard like nothing was wrong.

"Why is the air so stuffy?" My little sister, Sophia, spoke my thoughts while coughing dramatically to get her point across.

"You're in Los Angeles, it's way different than Ohio," My mother told Sophia.

"What are you doing mother?" I asked her, confused why her brown eyes were scanning every house that we drove by.

"I'm keeping an eye out for our house- Oh, wait! I found it! Right there honey!" My mother squealed, gripping onto my dad's arm. Both Sophia and I gave her weird looks, not really sure what was happening with her.

My mother quickly sat up straight and retracted her hand from my dad's arm. "Excuse me, I may have got a bit too excited."

The car swerved to the left, pulling into a small one-story wooden house. Looking over, I noticed a bright pink house right next to ours. Why would they want to paint it pink? It stands out, that's for sure.

As soon as my dad parked the car in the driveway, Sophia slumped down in her seat. "Ugh," She grumbled, "Did we have to move?"

"Now, honey, you know we had to. Your dad and I thought it would be better if you made friends before you went to school too, which is why we moved right when you got out of school," My mother answered her, opening the car door and sliding out.

My sister and I groaned before deciding to get out of the car too. There's no sense in trying to argue to move back anymore, they already sold out last house.

After getting out of the car dreadfully slow, I went to the trunk of the car to help my dad unpack the belongings we stowed in there last minute.

"Sorry kiddo," my dad said, handing me a broken frame, "I guess it broke on the way here."

"I thought I asked mother to wrap it up for me," I time him, carefully opening the back so that I could extract the photo from it.

"I guess she forgot."

Yeah, she forgot.

"I'll take my bag, I told him, carefully holding onto my broken frame while picking up the stuffed backpack that I threw in the trunk."

"Thank you, but you know that your mom won't like it that you're carrying such a big load by yourself," My dad told me.

"Yes," I responded, "But it's okay, I can carry things bigger than me if I want to."

"Teenagers," I heard my dad chuckle under his breath as I left.

"Why did we have to get here so early?" Sophia complained, laying her head on the island counter.

"Stop whining," My mother scolded her, "And sit up, you're not being very lady-like."

Quietly, I tried sneaking past them and to the stairs but my mother caught me last minute. "Riley Marie Lee," She said in a low voice, "Turn around."

I slowly turned around, carrying my heavy bag in one hand and my broken frame in the other. "Yes, mother?" I asked her, trying to be as polite as possible.

"Why are you carrying so much luggage? A woman like you should not do that. Take a few things at a time. Now, set your photo down and gently carry your bag up the stairs and into your room."

Great, now I got in trouble. I trudged over to the island, making my mother give me a dirty look before I turned around and headed up the stairs. First door to the right, I reminded myself. The room was empty, of course, but still seemed like a decent size. When I add a bed, a dresser, and maybe some posters if my mother would let me, I think it would feel right at home.

After gently setting my backpack down on the floor, I headed back downstairs to grab my photo.

"Sit up Sophia," I heard my mother scold her, "You're picking up bad habits from your sister."

Rolling my eyes, I stepped inside the room and grabbed my photo before heading back up the stairs and into my room.

"Riley!" My mother called.

"Yes ma'am?" I responded, opening my bedroom door a bit.

"I'll let you go explore a bit, maybe you'll be able to make some friends."

I nodded but then yelled thank you to her, noticing that she couldn't exactly see me from downstairs. Before I made my way downstairs, I set my photo next to my backpack.

"Take your sister too," my mother told me when I got into the dining room. Sophia's eyes lit up as she ran toward me, following me out of the house before our mother could scold us again.

"Hey kiddos, going out somewhere?" My dad asked, shutting the trunk of the car.

"Yes," I answered him, giving him a small smile, "We'll be back before dinner."

"Be safe!" My dad called out as we rushed down the sidewalk.

"Where are we going?" My sister questioned me, struggling to keep up with me.

I slowed down a bit so that she could catch up. "I don't know, that's the fun part."

Read more chapters on my Wattpad!

Chapter 2 will be posted on Thursday!

#benny rodriguez #the jet #benny the jet rodriguez #benny the jet #benny #the sandlot #fanfiction #fanfic #mike vitar