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insomniactalks · 2 years

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I’m finally on my summer break (at least till the end of August, when I’ll start classes again) so I’ve got plenty of free time to express my thoughts on the show, starting with this post! The thing I wanna talk specifically about is the very end of the episode (3.01).

I will not deny that this scene deff looks like foreshadowing for the rest of Portwell’s journey in S3:

First things first, how cute was Ricky in this scene? He rushes to camp to spend the rest of his summer with his friends after his breakup with Lily. And the way he says these two lines? So adorable!

Given the framing here, and the fact EJ talks about how “nothing is gonna ruin our perfect summer t/g” then shortly after, Ricky enters the scene and stands in the middle of the shot deff makes it seem like Portwell’s perfect summer just might be ruined. I know how it looks. But I just don’t think that’s gonna be Ricky’s intention, nor do I think he’ll completely ruin EJ and Gina’s summer (tho he may temporarily.) I wanna point s/t out before talking more about this moment. We have to keep in mind the scene that immediately precedes the scene above:

EJ was just handed a shit ton of responsibility for the rest of his summer by Dewey. He’s been promising his girlfriend and the rest of the Wildcats the best/greatest summer ever b/c that was always his intention and he really meant it. EJ had no plans to be the director for a high-stakes musical and take on the role of someone who was doing it for 40 plus yrs. He just wanted to spend a fun-filled summer making memories with his friends and girlfriend, before life threw him for a loop. It’s implied in 3.01 that EJ convinced the Wildcats to go to Camp Shallow Lake by making them promises on what to expect (which he fully meant at the time until the moment above happens). EJ even tries to reason with Dewey on why he shouldn’t direct the musical (I mean, look at the poor boy’s face!) He desperately wants to get outta this situation he’s found himself in to no avail. Dewey’ gotta pin this responsibility on someone, and EJ just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Not only is EJ a counselor-in-training, which comes with its own set of responsibilities, he now has to shoulder the task of directing Frozen the musical and prove s/t to himself, Dewey, Corbin, his father (Cash), the rest of the campers, and even Disney Plus. All he wanted to do was make this the best summer ever, and now he has to juggle a lot of tasks all at once. This show probably has to be perfect or the best so that EJ can prove to everyone he could do it. That he’s not a failure at this. There may not be time for mistakes or slacking off, which brings me to my next point.

I know the first gif looks like the start of the EJ/Gina/Ricky love triangle for the season, but you have to keep in mind what leads Ricky to camp in the first place. He just broke up with Lily, the person he chose to spend his summer with instead of his friends b/c he thought that would make him “feel free.” Obviously Ricky realizes the error in his ways and rushes off to Camp Shallow Lake to be with the Wildcats. He sings this in “Finally Free” (which is such a good song btw. Been stuck in my head the whole week!):

Ricky really wants a fresh start so that he can feel free, finally. And he states the way for this to happen is to “break away” from the “broken hearts.” Last summer, he broke up with Nini b/c of the relationship drama b/t his parents. Then, he admits to talking to some girls over that time, even if he was talking about Nini to them (1.01 I think?). Nini makes her boundaries clear in 1.04 (I believe), then Ricky has an interest in Gina (1.05-1.07). By the end of S1, he and Nini are back t/g, until they break up in 2.08, and a few weeks later, maybe over a month or so, he calls up Lily by the end of S2. He goes into the summer with a new girlfriend, who ends up betraying him. For 2 seasons straight, Ricky’s dealt with a ton of relationship drama in regards to his own romantic relationships and his parents’ deteriorating one. For the rest of his summer, Ricky wants desperately to “break away from the broken hearts” cuz he’s done with all that drama in his life. He wants to finally feel free and more like himself (outside of his romantic relationships). Which is why his two lines at the end of 3.01 are so telling (and just overall adorable!): he’s seeking comfort in his friends, even if he’s in an unfamiliar environment. Ricky is fresh off a break up with Lily and he decides to drive to camp. Unlike in S1, when Ricky auditions in the first place for Nini, to prove to her he’s not over their relationship, Ricky drives to camp for himself, not for anyone else. It’d be one thing if he showed up to camp for Gina, which would heavily imply the love triangle aspect, but that’s not his intention. He rushes into the scene and says, “Do you have room for one more?” pauses then “Group hug?” Both statements imply the 3 of them having to work t/g as a team this season more than ever. The boy wants to get away from all the girl/relationship drama in his life. It just doesn’t make sense for Ricky to be a part of someone else’s relationship drama now. I’m not saying he won’t play a part in the bumpy road ahead of EJ and Gina this season, I just think it’ll be completely unintentional and accidental. Why escape his own relationship drama this summer to now join in on someone else’s? I don’t think Ricky wants any part in that (he just wants to spend time with his friends, it seems.) He rushes into camp, stumbles across the first 2 ppl he sees, which happen to be fellow Wildcats, and poses 2 adorable questions to them: “Do you have room for one more?” and “Group hug? cuz he’s just happy to see them and be there with the rest of his friends. That just might be his best shot at feeling free, which is what Ricky is after. I love that he poses these questions to both EJ and Gina, cuz he’s happy (and slightly nervous) to see the both of them. He had been spending most of his time with Lily, so seeing some familiar faces was probably comforting for him.

Breakin' away from the broken hearts

No more mistakes, no more empty starts

I'm finally, finally free, finally, finally

Last point, I think EJ’s issue with Ricky this season may have more to do with Ricky’s reliability as a performer, not so much Ricky and Gina’s friendship. I’m not saying Gicky spending time t/g won’t play a part, I just think EJ being the director for this musical that has a lot riding on it may fear Ricky won’t be up to the task as a lead. EJ was present for both of Ricky’s auditions in S1 and S2, so he knows that process doesn’t always go well for him. Ricky showed improvement when he finished the whole musical in S2, but EJ and the rest of the Wildcats had to help him along. With Val casting the show, maybe EJ feels a little uneasy with not only Gina and Ricky playing romantic leads, but also with Ricky as the lead in a musical EJ has to direct. The show has to go on without a hitch, and if Ricky doesn’t take it as seriously as the rest of the cast, EJ may take issue with that. Ricky wants a summer of fun which might just clash with EJ’s need to make the musical perfect. If Ricky goofs off too much, or doesn’t take rehearsals seriously/ try hard enough, EJ might feel frustrated with that, with him. That’s where EJ 1.0 might make an appearance, until EJ is reminded of what’s really important (literally like Mitchie and Troy in Camp Rock 2 and HSM2). Remember how their friends reminded them of what’s really important about their summers? Even tho Mitchie and Troy (and EJ!) lost their way for a minute there? Yeah, I see the vision... Totally fine if you disagree with my take on where the season is headed. These are just my thoughts given each of their character arcs and the storytelling aspects of the show.

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rosehvney · 4 years

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♡ . * omg helloo !!! just a lil heads up that i most likely won’t be able to do replies tonight or maybe even tomorrow, but i promise i’ll get back to u as soon as possible !! it’s the end of the semester so i hav term papers and finals due, so i’m just a lil overwhelmed, but i can’t wait to continue my threads and plot more <3

in the meantime, i made a plots page for ophelia, and here’s my plots page for amora if we haven’t plotted at all yet. pls like this post if u would like to plot ( for both or even just one of my charas ) and i’ll message u within the next few days, or feel free to im me and i’ll get back to u in the next few days !! also here is my discord if u would rather talk there: i miss fromis9 </3#5522

#♡ . * 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒂 ╱ ooc.#just cant wait 2 b done with spring term #even tho my summer classes start shortly after these end at least it's only two classes

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charlotteu · 3 years

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⟨ SON CHAEYOUNG. CIS FEMALE. SHE/HER. ⟩ though the mist might prevent some from seeing it, CHARLOTTE TAM is actually a descendent of H E P H A E S T U S it’s still a question of whether or not the TWENTY TWO year old CIVIL ENGINEERING/BUSINESS MAJOR from SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA has taken after their godly parent completely, but the demigod is still known to be quite PRECISE & TENSE.

heyheyhey girls gays & they’s. my og’s remember charlotte and how deeply i love her also the looming promise that i’d bring her back. and here are we so ✌️ if any of you don’t know, i’m dakota, i’m nineteen (19), i live in cst, and i’m a part time barista along with a full time political science major. i’ll have some vague wanted connections at the bottom of this but my dm’s are always open both on here and on discord @ wet ass politics#6969

trigger warnings: death

full name & nicknames :

charlotte chunhwa tam / lottie & lola

major :

civil engineering & business

sexuality :

lesbian

gender idenitity / pronouns :

cis - female / she/her

age / birthday :

twenty - three, december tenth, nineteen - ninety - eight

zodiac :

sagittarius

personality :

charlotte is known to find literal scraps of anything and manage to make something gorgeous from it - whether it’s food, metal scraps, or a nearly - ruined picnic table - it’s a skill that she takes great pride in. she constantly tries to bring her loved ones together in one form or another, which results in quite a lot of last - minute plans and “family dinners.” because of these two traits, if someone just happened to forget to plan a birthday party or a baby shower and needed it thrown together within a day or two (maybe that is on her bucket list, maybe not,) charlotte is your perfect person. regardless of this, charlotte is still considered that friend that never has their life together and has an extensional crises every few weeks. family wise, their relationship with their siblings is something that they take very seriously. even the ones that give her stress acne are still very much able to feel the affection and love she’s has for her family. she constantly checks in on all of her siblings and regularly makes an effort to be as involved in their lives as possible.

when it comes to school work, charlotte is perfectly organized. a well - planned and well - filled out academic calendar is always in her backpack and she has a few dozen notifications on both her phone and her laptop to remind her of class assignments. she is well - known at the tutoring center for her near constant sessions to ensure to that she is totally, a hundred percent getting the assignment. her math classes is where she thrives, and she has a record of taking several math classes during the summertime to further her knowledge. charlotte’s known for the immense pride that she takes in her work along with the very long academia career that they wish to have.

myers - briggs, vice, & virtue :

entp, temperance, & distrusting

hobbies :

welding, drawing, sculpting/general crafting, trivia games, meditation, going into nature & finding animals,

powers :

sensing faults in metal ores, technokenesis, and pyrokinesis. charlotte considers her technokenesis powers to be the stronger of her abilities now that she’s taken the time to work on it since her break. she uses it to help both students and professors on campus deal with their I.T issues and to make small devices to help her friends in their way to help with their daily life. she plans to use her sensing abilities to help with her career choice later on in life, so she continues to work on improving them to help later on. with honesty, she doesn’t use pyrokinesis beyond helping her forge things or as a cute party trick. they have very few plans to ever venture beyond the walls of a protected area ever again so her ability to control whatever flames she makes under pressure is virtually nonexistent.

backstory :

tam chaewon, aged thirty, had just finished her blacksmith apprenticeship abroad in the netherlands when she decides to go to a bar to celebrate with some friends before trying to find a job when she’s approached by a man claiming to overhear her accomplishment. eager to talk about her future, the two of them end up talking for three hours about it along with the various paths open for her to take. maybe it’s the willingness to sit and listen to her or maybe it’s the legitimacy in his interest that drew her in, but the two ended up spending the night together; they spend only two days together before he leaves with an address for chaewon to write to him if it’s needed. and she does, approximately two months later when she learns she’s pregnant with a baby girl. he writes back nothing but an apology, money to help with the expenses, along with a separate letter to give to the child when she turned ten.

(trigger warning in the paragraph: death specifically during child birth.) fast forward through a tornado of eight months and chaewon is visiting her parents when charlotte was born prematurely in seoul, south korea in chaewon’s childhood bathroom. there’s a complication with both chaewon and charlotte shortly the birth and the paramedics sped through the streets to pick up the two, doing their best to keep the two of them alive during the ride. the woman’s family races behind them in the family car, barely able to find the room the two are in to see the nurses rush ahead of them. (no one can tell charlotte what the complication is, but her mom stays alive for an gruesome day and a half, straddling the border between life and death. she’s declared dead on december eleventh at 12:18 pm, 1998.) legend has it that silence ran through the waiting room that the family was in, an unearthly wail leaving charlotte’s grandmother as she realizes what she had to pay to receive her granddaughter. no one wants to touch the child, let alone raise her. their family is faced with a choice when they’re handed the death certificate of their daughter, the birth certificate of their granddaughter, and their granddaughter herself.

her uncle is the one that ends up taking her in that day. the oldest sibling to her mother by six years, he had been an entrepreneur bachelor his entire life up until that point. so it’s whiplash, to say the least, to completely upheave his life in seoul and move to the small town of parga, greece to raise charlotte. the transition period between being a bachelor to a single father is hard, but he does his best to not give up on it. along side the lack of support from his family, it makes it all such a draining process. when she turns six, her uncle hires the first person to help the family: a highly recommended local nanny by the name of phoebe who would stay with the tam family until charlotte turned eighteen. it’s around this time that her uncle begins to drift away more, trying to keep his business on track, but he always comes back with an elaborate apology and an equally elaborate gift for charlotte to make up for the digression.

when she turns twelve, she starts to develop ... slightly unusual powers that always came as a shock but were immediately chalked up to scarily accurate guesses. it’s a fun party trick she uses at classroom gatherings, guessing where faults where in desks, trying to figure out what was wrong with technology, etc. and it didn’t go much beyond that for a very long time. it’s a rainy summer day when her uncle sits her down with a strange man who explains to the both of them that she’s a ... demigod. it takes a whole afternoon to convince charlotte of this fact while her uncle looks at her like a monster. she promptly declines any move to go to a camp (much to her uncle’s dismay) and the next six years of her life is promptly laid out. a life lived in a private plane, tucked away from the world to live out of a few suitcases and bought time from others.

this quiet life sealed away from the outside world leaves her doing whatever she can to keep busy. building whatever she can, trying to stay as occupied as much as she can. it results in a suitcase full of little trinkets by the time she’s six months into home schooling. the next few years of her life pass her by in a terrible haze as she does everything she can to catch up to the life that has been set out for her. her life begins to slow down when she gets into college at the age of nineteen, where she finally finds a safe haven amongst people like her. however, at the beginning of 2020, charlotte finds herself catching deep feelings for one EILILDH GALBRAITH. a fiery, vibrant, and resistant spirit immediately draws charlotte into deep feelings for her. the relationship happens for several months before the relationship comes to an abrupt halt in the end of october. unable to come to terms with her first major breakup, charlotte cites a personal, family matter to switch to online classes before coming back to in person at the end of finals shortly before the evacuation.

wanted connections :

DREAMLAND / a v simple plot with room for extreme nuance! someone that charlotte can help bounce ideas off of and vise versa. enable each other’s terrible ideas but do it with much love and a camera on hand at all times. ( 0/2 spots taken )

HIT DIFFERENT / some type of fun flirtatious relationship. maybe they’re just friends, maybe they’re party buddies (for the rare parties that she goes to,) or maybe they just happen to keep meeting. hopefully it’s very relaxed on both ends. ( 0/1 spots taken, must be afab )

ALWAYS GOLDEN / best friends, ride or die type shit. can we get some friend group for it tho because i always love a good group dynamic ( 0/5 spots taken )

I DIDN’T FALL / some kind of missed love, like those missed connections on craiglist. maybe the two of them grew close during charlotte’s time away from university or maybe they almost dated before charlotte was out, either way there’s still some mixed feelings of resentment for not making a move, the deathly “what if’s?”, and mayhaps some feelings that still linger. ( 0/1 spots taken, must be afab )

SPORTS / someone who helped navigate charlotte through her own experience of coming out and how that fits into her cultural identity along and her career field. i have a decent idea of her coming out process but i’m definitely flexible with it ( 0/1 spots taken )

#i said i'd make her kind of different and wow :)#euintro

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duckybeth99 · 6 years

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Choice (Past Fic)

hullo this fic is backstory for Marianna, Johnny, and Jared here we go. very long tho be warned

——

She knew him since they were kids. Primary school, to be exact.

She remembered when he was introduced to the class, the teacher asking him to say something about himself. Of course, he went by a different name back then and looked different. He identified differently. He told everyone how it was his first time in school. He told that his dad was a teacher, too. He said he liked baseball and video games.

She didn’t really pay too much attention to him back then. She already had her own circle of friends. But Marianna felt bad a few times, in those early weeks, when he ate lunch alone. Mariana introduced herself first.

Johnny eventually found friends on his own, but he thought about Mariana on occasion. The first one to talk to him.

He had plenty of guy friends in middle school. A small ring of them, and Mariana had her friends, a small ring of girls. The two groups hung out and made trouble on occasion.

High school was when things started to become different.

She visited him over the summer, and that’s when he told her he was a boy. He was now Jonathan Bosteau, Jr., and Mariana instantly started doing her own research to find things to help him. Bought him nice binders for his birthday. They looked at style magazines for new haircuts for Johnny, looking at different ways he could do his hair. He seemed to like the experimentation.

That whole summer, though, Johnny had a suspicion about Marianna Wilson.

Why was she suddenly spending more time with him, one on one?

“Hey, Johnny? You there, man?”

Johnny blinked, shutting his locker. He looked to two of his friends, standing beside his locker. Johnny flashed one of his signature big grins.

“I’m fine,” he said. “Just thinking about later today.”

“Baseball tryouts!” the first guy cheered. “Dude, this school has like, the best sports, man. You get in, everybody’s gonna notice you.”

“I heard talent scouts came last year in the spring and recruited some guys,” the second boy thought. “I think they recruited Jones and Callaghan.”

“They’ve got school records,” Johnny shrugged casually, walking with the boys to class, “I’m not surprised.”

“They won’t have those records for much longer.”

Johnny and his friends stopped, looking to another boy. He was older than them, a little bit taller than Johnny’s friends—but about equal height to Johnny himself.

His growth spurt was nice for trying to look older.

“Jared Morrison,” the older held his hand out with a coy, confident smile. “Although, I’m sure you’ve already heard of me. Junior class president. Number four on the field, best pitcher and batter on the school’s team. And, ahha—“ Jared checked his nails, puffing air onto them then brushing it coolly on his shirt, “assistant coach and team captain.”

“Wow,” Johnny smiled. “That’s—that’s awesome. I’m Johnny. My friends and I are going to try out later today.”

“Good luck, guys,” Jared smirked, turning away. “We don’t normally take freshmen on the team, but maybe you’ll change that.” He left the boys in the hall, walking with his own group of boys, presumably the other baseball players.

“I have to get on that team,” Johnny grinned, determination on his face. “And I’m gonna.”

Later that day, at the end of school and plenty of time for the boys to change into their gym clothes, Johnny stood tall and proud, stretching out his arms. His two friends sat beside him, stretching their legs. Johnny watched the coach and Jared talking further away.

“I’m gonna blow all these guys away,” Johnny smirked, “you guys just watch.”

“Hey, I think Jared wasn’t kidding about no freshman on the team,” one of the boys murmured, squinting and looking around at all the other boys trying out. “The only people in our grade are us.”

“Well then,” Johnny stretched his legs, shrugging calmly, “just easier for us to break that record, huh?”

“What if it’s a school rule or something?” the other boy piped up. Johnny rolled his eyes.

“You’re too paranoid about that shit,” he mumbled. “Besides, it’s a stupid rule if it is one. I doubt it.”

Johnny glanced over to the hill beside the field, seeing a group of students taking pictures. He assumed it was the photography class. He saw Marianna among them.

She spotted Johnny and gave him a friendly wave and a thumbs up for good luck.

The coach blew his whistle, sunglasses and baseball cap on, the sun shining on them, “Alright boys, line up.”

As the boys were told what to do for their tryouts, each boy got a chance to prove their skill (or lack thereof) to the coaches. Johnny rooted loudly for his friends, enough to warrant sideways glances from the coach and Jared.

“He’s, uh... spirited,” the coach mumbled. Jared nodded.

“He’s just a freshie, though,” he whispered. “Don’t have too high hopes for him.”

Shortly after, Johnny himself was called up. The coach noted his speed, his accuracy with catching, and his sheer strength and skill at pitching and batting. The coach wrote down on his clipboard what he noted.

As Johnny finished his tryout, he glanced over his shoulder and caught wind of Jared glaring at him. His mouth twitched.

Johnny blinked at it initially. Then, feeling his pride rise, he gave a smirk, stuck out his tongue and winked at him with a cocky wave. He saw Jared’s pale face turn a deep red and his frown turn more apparent.

——

“Did you hear?! He broke the record!”

“What? No way!”

“Go look!”

“He’s the first freshman on the team!!”

Johnny pushed open the door to the freshman building, on his way to get his books from his locker, when everyone stopped and stared at him. He looked a little confused for a moment, then everyone started cheering and clapping.

“What’s all this about?” Johnny blinked, as his friends and Marianna ran up to him.

“Haven’t you seen the results for the team yet?!” Marianna asked. Johnny shook his head.

“I came in late so I couldn’t stop by the—“

“You made the team!!” his friends exclaimed. “You’re a Wolf!” Johnny beamed.

“I told you I would!” he laughed. As his friends continued to congratulate him, Johnny noticed a boy watching him as they all walked away to class.

They passed by the senior building, and there, leaning against his locker with a glare, was Jared watching Johnny. The younger boy stopped and let his friends continue on their walk.

“Hey,” Johnny jogged up to Jared, “I wanna say thanks for putting me on the team, and talking to us earlier that day. Challenging us like that was really great, and—“

“I didn’t put you on the team,” Jared spat. “Coach did. But listen to me, kid, you’re on thin ice. We added one more extra person on the team by putting you in. So if you screw up enough, if you get enough of a bad rep, or you’re nothing but a benchwarmer, you’re out the minute I can get you out.” Johnny felt his hands ball up into fists.

“What’re you gonna do if I stay? You’re just assistant coach.”

“Trust me,” Jared turned to walk away, “I’ll find something on you.”

“I’ll tell coach—!”

“He won’t believe you, freshie. Best advice is to stay in your lane.” Before Johnny could say anything else, before he could pick his fight, the bell rang. He knew his dad would be mad at him if he started a fight and missed class. Again.

————

“I need something on him,” Jared vented in the back of class, under hushed voices to his friends. “He’s gotta have some dirty secret, some shit I can expose him for.”

“Y’know, I heard a rumor from my little cousin,” one of the guys began. “He’s in the same grade as Johnny. He said that when they change for P.E., he always goes into the stalls to change. He never does it in front of anyone else.”

“Gee, maybe he’s takin’ a piss or a shit at the same time,” Jared sarcastically groaned. “C’mon, that means nothing!”

“No, no, no, listen,” the friend continued. “He told me that he talked to at least his gym teacher before they started anything, and pretty much all his other teachers about something. Always in private.”

“Maybe he’s shit in class.”

“Maybe he’s a trouble maker?”

“No, man,” the first friend shook his head, and in an even lower voice, a more quiet whisper, “Someone says his name isn’t right on his papers. First day, he stopped all his teachers before they called his name. After that, was when he talked to them.”

Jared thought for a moment. “I want dirt on him,” he decided. “Anything and everything. I stop by the office all the time for leadership stuff. One of you guys just distract the front desk lady and I’ll go snooping.”

“Why not us?”

“You’ll fuck it up. Best way to get this done is to do it yourself.”

“Mr. Morrison,” the teacher spoke up, his voice high and strained in annoyance. “Is there anything you’d like to share with the class?” Jared smirked.

“Sure,” he shrugged. “Wanted to tell everyone to come to our opening game in a few weeks. You can see that new freshie there. He’s really great.”

“Please leave your extracurriculars outside of class,” the teacher sniffed. He turned back to the board and proceeded with his lecture. Jared glanced over his shoulder at his friends with a mischievous smirk. His friends looked at him with intrigue and gave him a thumbs up on his plan.

In his leadership class, Jared did exactly as he planned. He headed down to the office, texted his friends as he delivered papers, and as he started heading towards there, his friends distracted the secretary. Jared snuck into the back office and looked at the cabinets, labeled by first two letter of last names.

B, b, b...

Bosteau.

Jared pulled out the record file and crouched to the floor as he read it.

Bosteau, Johanna. NOTE: Legal name change in progress. Refer to as Johnathan Bosteau, Jr. in future paperwork. Permission granted to use private restrooms and private space in locker rooms.

Jared reread the name and the note.

Slowly, he grinned.

He quickly pulled out a camera borrowed from the photography class, and snapped pictures of the record. As fast as he could, he tucked the camera away, put the file back as he found it, and slipped out of the office casually. His friends waited before following him out of the office to deter suspicion.

“So? What’d you find?” one asked. Jared smirked and showed them the preview of the photo. “No way. What’re you gonna do with that?”

“I got one more piece of evidence I want to find before I pin the creep. You guys are gonna help me. Then, I’ll send this to Marcy in the journalism class.”

“What if she doesn’t post it?”

“Then I’ll make someone else do it. I got plenty of things to bribe ‘em with.”

———

With Marcy out sick, Jared had to resort to another plan. When he called her, she told him what to do: put in the password on her computer in the lab, upload the photos to it. When he asked about deletion, she told him that with everyone in that class constantly needing photo and video files for projects, they manually deleted everything, not the school. She warned him that there was another student she shared the computer with and to make sure she didn’t see the files. Hide it, if you have to, just make the file name something stupid, she said. She warned, If we get caught, we’re in huge trouble.

So as his friends found out the ‘special space’ Johnny changed in every P.E., they snuck into the area during their gym class, and hid a video camera. Jared uploaded the photos quickly during lunch period.

As he left the lab, he passed by Marianna.

Making up for missing the other day, she came in to catch up on her photography project. She booted up the computer and got set to editing, when she noticed a new, odd folder on the desktop. It had a weird name.

Just numbers. 12345678.

Normally, people put in their last name, first initial, then the project name. At least, in the photography class.

Marianna clicked the folder.

As Jared met up with his friends at lunch, they handed him the video camera. He played back the footage, looking at it intensely.

“Hey, man, I’m... I’m not totally sure about having video on him,” one friend piped up, arms crossed, though he didn’t look confident in his words. “I mean, how old is he even? This could be considered porn, Jared. Of a kid. He’s undressing—”

“Will you stop calling her a boy?” Jared glared. “Besides, we just need the evidence of the chest.”

Right as Jared expected, Johnny had a binder on. He grinned a wicked, cruel smile.

“I’m gonna put this on Marcy’s computer,” he said. “She can take a screenshot of this for the paper. We got the tranny.” Jared started to leave the lunchroom.

“You’re just gonna dip?!”

“I got bigger fish to fry, boys. I’ll catch up.”

Jared jogged back to the lab, as the clock was ticking for lunch to end. He knew video always took a while to upload. Cheep ass computers.

He sprinted inside and pushed the door open, and was relieved to see no one there. That was, until Marianna’s head poked out from behind one of the large computers. Jared felt his smile drop.

“Um,” Marianna piped up, “the other computer lab is for everyone else. This is for photography, video, and the journalism classes—“

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Jared replied, waving his hand irritatedly. “I just have to upload something. I’m helping out Marcy.”

“Well, this is her computer,” Marianna blinked. “Uh, I could move aside. I’m pretty much done with all I can do.”

“Thanks,” Jared forced a smile and slid to the chair next to Marianna. He grabbed a cable and connected it to the computer. Marianna still sat there, waiting. He glanced over his shoulder at her, “Uh. What’re you still doing here? Don’t you have to get a head start to class?”

“Well, I have to shut down the computer after you.”

“I can do that, don’t worry.”

“It’s the rules that kids in the classes have to be the ones to—“

Jared felt himself growing more annoyed by this brat. He took a quiet, slow, deep breath. Just do what his dad did. Charming smile. Just do what his mom did. Butter up people.

He flashed his charming smile, and shrugged coolly at Marianna, “Aw, I admire you for trying to do the right thing. It’s rare to see, especially in freshmen. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. But really, I’ve got this. I’m a junior. Don’t you think I’m experienced in this sort of stuff? I help Marcy all the time!” Jared saw Marianna blush when he smiled and complimented her. Perfect.

“W-well, I guess—“

The computer let out a quick beep to let Jared know the file was finished. A preview played of the video. Marianna glanced at it then gasped.

“Th-that’s Johnny changing!” She looked to Jared, now a glare on her face. “What are you doing?!” Jared smoothed his light brown hair and flashed another calm, cool smile.

“This isn’t what it looks like,” he chuckled. “I really am helping Marcy with something. Biggest story she’ll have in the paper.”

“Y-you’re going to out him,” Marianna looked disgusted and enraged at Jared. “Y-you’re awful! Some team captain you are! I’ll tell the teacher, everyone that you did this!”

Jared quickly swooped to Marianna, holding her back and kissing her deeply. Marianna’s face turned red. Jared slowly released the kiss and looked at her.

“There can be more of that,” he murmured, “if you don’t tell anyone about this.”

“But Marcy... sh-she’s your girlfriend,” Marianna began to argue, but was stopped as Jared held her hand.

“What she doesn’t know won’t kill her. Besides, she’s done the same thing. Just keep this all between us.”

“But—“

“What do you want, me? Any other boy? Cash? Popularity? Drugs? I can get you anything, Marianna. Any single thing.”

The bell for lunch rang. Marianna glanced up at the clock. Jared quickly ejected the camera and signed off of the computer.

He kissed Marianna’s cheek, whispering in her ear, “I’ll let you think about it.”

———

Another day went by, and Marianna didn’t say anything to Johnny about the article. She wasn’t sure how to. Besides, she would rather take care of it herself and not get him hurt or worry about it.

Then came the text.

[txt] hey mari. it’s jared. soooo marcy is out sick again n i can’t figure out how the fuck her newspaper software works. but she said u helped her figure it out so meet me after school b4 practice. xoxo

So, she did. And in one more attempt, she tried to convince him to do the right thing.

He didn’t.

Making her tell him what to do, he formatted and wrote the entire article himself. He saved it to the week’s edition of the school paper. Again, he kissed Marianna for her help and promised to pay her back with more than just kisses.

With the lab empty, Marianna felt her heart pound. This wasn’t right. But the article was already saved and it was going to be printed and seen by everyone that Friday. Tomorrow.

There wasn’t another article written to replace it, to get it deleted and off the paper.

Or was there?

Marianna looked through the newspaper, passing by the ads for the school dance that Saturday. She looked through the student images for the yearbook and grabbed hers. With shaking hands, she image searched for a flag with three colors.

She typed up the story as fast as she could, and replaced Johnny’s story with hers.

Jared would hate her. Make her life a living hell. What would Johnny think? Her dad? Both her parents, her family, the whole school when they found out?

She didn’t care. It was better than Johnny being exposed without his consent.

At least this was her choice.

The next day found Johnny walking into the freshman building, giving high fives, and flashing a smile to the boy who watched him weeks ago when he first made the team. His name was Harry. He was part of the drama club.

He was... kinda cute.

He turned his gaze away from him, and stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw next.

There, stood Marianna in the hallway, staring at her locker. Her hands were balled into fists. People were laughing at her. Johnny slowly walked over to her locker, and saw what happened.

All over the blue lockers, in bright red spray paint, were the words sprayed all over it. Dyke. Homo. Greedy bitch. Whore. Johnny looked at his friend’s face. It was red and she held back crying. Johnny whipped his head to the people laughing.

“Which one of you did this?!” He shouted so loud, it rattled the hall. The laughing stopped immediately. “Who?! You got no fuckin’ right to call her that shit, and I’m going to beat the ass of whoever did it!!” Marianna felt her hair stand on end and static crackle from the lockers.

“Does it really matter, Johnny?”

The young boy glared at Jared and his friends, including Marcy. Jared shrugged with a cocky, proud smile, “I mean, all that shit’s true. Didn’t you see the school paper? She’s a fuckin’ lesbian.”

“I’m not,” Marianna whispered, voice tight with tears. “I said I’m bi.”

“She’s a greedy little slut,” Marcy’s nasally voice whined. “Jared told me she made moves on him! Oh girls, watch out, or she’ll take your man! Or you! Kiss you when you don’t want, force you—!”

Johnny grabbed Marcy by the shoulders and slammed her into the lockers.

“Take that shit back right now,” Johnny growled. Marcy nervously pushed up her glasses, blonde curls bouncing as she tried to break free from Johnny’s grip.

“Whoa, you can’t hit a girl,” Jared peeled Johnny off of Marcy. “I mean... I guess for you, it doesn’t matter.”

“What the fuck are you talking about.”

“I mean, since you are a—“

“What is going on here?!” a teacher rushed to the scene. Harry was behind her. “Jared, Johnny, Marcy, and Marianna, to the principle’s office, now!” She looked to the students, “And all of you with those newspapers, throw them out! That’s an order from the vice principle!”

Johnny was used to this part. His dad driving in from work, begging for the principle to overlook his son’s aggressive tendencies. He’s a good kid, really, he does well, he means well, really, I swear.

This time, Marcy’s dad, Jared’s mom, and Marianna’s dad were joined in the meeting. It was easy to get Mr. Wilson since he worked there anyway.

“The school paper is not to be used for this sort of content,” the principle lectured. “Student’s identities is a private matter, and frankly, it’s a sensitive topic for a lot of students and parents. Now what I want to know is this: who published the article?”

“Wasn’t me,” Jared crossed his arms and relaxed. “I’m telling the truth.”

“I didn’t,” Marcy mumbled. “I was out sick.”

“You think I’m the kind of person to do that sh—“ Johnny glanced up at his dad. John shook his head. Johnny went into an annoyed silence, pressing his cheek against his hand, glaring away, annoyed.

“It was me,” Marianna whispered. “I... I outed myself.”

“While I’m glad this isn’t a matter of someone else publishing this,” the principle began, “this still is a misuse of the paper. Marianna, I’m going to have to suspend you from using those computers outside of your photography class and you’ll have to be monitored while you do it now. As for the locker situation,” and she cleared her throat, “who did that?” Silence fell. “Jared? Do you know who?”

“Probably Wyatt,” he shrugged. Johnny glared at him. The rat didn’t even try to protect his friends. “He’s bought spray paint before.”

“My son hangs out with the wrong kind of people,” Helen Morrison began, “but his father and I have been trying to work on that.”

“Mhm,” the principle looked with clear doubt on her face. “Then there’s the matter of Johnny’s threat and physical attack. Mr. Bosteau, I’ve talked to you plenty of times about Johnny already, and so has his middle and elementary school teachers. We’ve given him a lot of leeway, but if this continues, I’m going to have no choice but pull him from the baseball team, and suspend him. You’re lucky we haven’t done any of that already. And you’ll be lucky if he doesn’t get expelled.” John nodded and looked at his son with worry. Johnny sunk in his chair and glared at the floor, away from his father’s gaze.

“I demand some sort of punishment now for Johnny for attacking my daughter!” Marcy’s father frowned. “She could be bruised, and that bully did it.”

“If you want to accuse Johnny of bullying, I can accuse your daughter of the same thing,” the principle looked seriously at the father. “We have records of it since day one of her freshman year, all the way to now as a junior. Now what Johnny may have done wasn’t right, he was defending Marianna from her verbal attacks.”

“Is there anything else or do we have permission to leave?” Helen glanced at her phone. “I have things to attend to.”

“Of course, Mrs. Morrison,” the principle nodded. “One more thing to note: why this happened.” She pulled out the school newspaper and flipped to Marianna’s article. “If you haven’t read this to the end, you’ll not know why this was published. But here it is.” She cleared her throat and read from the page, “‘The reason I’m sharing this is for one reason and one reason only. Jared Morrison. He’s threatened to reveal secrets of one of my friends, he’s manipulated me and who knows how many others for this. To protect my friend, I’m doing this. I wasn’t ready to say I’m bisexual, but I had to be to protect them.’ Now, I don’t know about you, but the person who deserves the most punishment is Jared Morrison.”

“Whoa, this is a he-said, she-said thing now!” Jared shouted. Helen frowned at her son’s outburst.

“What were you going to do, Jared?”

“You can’t make me tell anything.”

“I can, and I will,” the principle folded her hands on her desk. “I’ll stay here until you say what was going on, and so will everyone else.” Helen placed her hand on Jared’s shoulder. John saw her clench it tightly.

“Johnny’s a girl,” Jared scoffed. “I was gonna prove it.” Johnny’s face dropped. It quickly turned back to rage, and John quickly grabbed his son’s shoulders to hold him back before he did anything.

“Jared, that is a private matter,” the principle scolded, “and he is not a girl. He is a young man, just as you are. For your involvement in this, you are no longer on the baseball team for this year.”

“What?! That’s not fair!! I was telling the truth!!”

“This school promotes tolerance and acceptance,” the principle sat straight and tall. “I will not allow this sort of bullying at Riverview High. Understand?”

Jared felt his face grow hot. He glared at Johnny, and Johnny glared back. John kept the hold of his son’s shoulders. With the principle dismissing the parents and children, Marianna gave her father a quick hug. He spoke to her gently for a moment, before releasing her. He saw her mom come into the office, taking her home for the day.

“I’m sorry all that happened to you, Johnny,” John held his son’s shoulder. Johnny shook his head.

“Nothing happened to me,” he murmured. “‘Cuz of Marianna.”

———

That Saturday, everyone knew Jared was kicked off the baseball team. Another boy, Brennan, a senior, was promoted to be the team captain. People congratulated him at the dance. Jared stood in the corner brooding.

Johnny walked around the gym, music and lights showing off for the back to school dance, and he looked around for her. For Marianna. He hadn’t talked to her since yesterday.

He spotted her leaning against the wall in the corner, talking to Harry. Johnny grabbed three sodas and walked over to them.

“Hey,” Johnny spoke up. Marianna blushed and gently played with a strand of her hair.

“Hey.”

“I, uh, brought some sodas. You guys want some?”

“Sure,” Harry piped up. Johnny smiled and handed him one. He held out another for Marianna. She shyly took it.

“Hey, uh,” Johnny looked at Harry, “you don’t mind if I borrow Marianna for a minute, yeah?”

“No problem,” Harry smiled shyly a Johnny. The taller looked at Marianna and nudged his head towards the dance floor.

“I’m sorry for everything that happened,” Johnny murmured. Marianna shook her head.

“I... asked for it when I published the paper,” she said. Johnny shook his head.

“No, you didn’t,” he spoke gently. “And, look, maybe some people at the school aren’t ready for people like us. But... there’s plenty of others who are. That Harry guy’s nice to you.”

“He’s... yeah,” Marianna gave a small smile and nodded. “He is. Well, part of it was because he knows what it’s like. He lived in a different town last year. Came out there and had the same problems. Lot more people were against him than were for him. But... he says people are a lot nicer here. I just got involved with really bad people I guess.”

“Hey,” Johnny smirked, “so did I. At least I had you to defend me.”

“I can say the same thing about you,” Marianna giggled. A slow song came on. Marianna looked shy, almost embarrassed as it came on. Johnny only shrugged and went ahead with placing his hands on Marianna’s hips. She slowly placed hers over his shoulders.

“But if I’m being real for a minute,” Johnny began, “you really didn’t have to do that. I could have handled it.”

“Even if you could have,” Marianna sighed, “you shouldn’t have. But... thanks.”

“Thanks to you, too,” Johnny smiled. “For, uh... I don’t wanna say keeping a secret, but keeping my stuff safe. At this point, though, I have a feeling Jared’s verbally blabbed about it.”

“I’m sorry,” Marianna murmured. Johnny shook his head.

“You know what?” he smirked. “I’ve never felt happier until I’ve started being the way I feel. There’s gonna be shit people who don’t like it, but guess what? I don’t give a fuck.” Marianna laughed.

“I wish I had that confidence,” she said. Johnny shrugged.

“Best way to get that kind of confidence is to just go in, full throttle.” Marianna felt her face flush. “I mean, that’s just me.”

“I think you’re right,” Marianna slowly nodded. She glanced at a girl standing in the corner, a wallflower.

“Can I ask you something, though?” Johnny asked. Marianna nodded. “You... do you have a thing for me?” Marianna held back a snort.

“Don’t get a bigger ego than you have,” she giggled. Johnny rolled his eyes with a smirk. “Okay, okay, here’s the truth. I did, for a while. I liked you a lot. Before you came out, too. But... I realized I was more into the friendship than being a couple. Especially when I picked up that you were eyeing somebody else. And, uh, I was, too.”

“You’re into Lily, huh?”

“You’re eyeing Harry, aren’t you?”

The two friends laughed.

“Let’s be real with ourselves,” Johnny smiled. “Alright?” Marianna grinned.

“Alright,” she said. “And then we tell each other how it went.” Johnny nodded. The two left each other in the middle of the song. Johnny crossed back to Harry and held out a hand to him. Marianna shyly approached Lily and asked her to dance.

Jared glared at the couples on the floor, and some people whispered to each other. But others smiled. Johnny’s words were right. Some people wouldn’t like them. Some people would.

But what mattered was their own happiness.

#Beth writing #Johnny Bosteau #Marianna Wilson #Jared Morrison #welcome to Riverview #ask bloge

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