UNEXPECTED CIRCUMSTANCES - HBCU!SHURI X READER
prompt: a leak in your residence hall calls for unexpected pairings…
contains - cursing, shuri x fem!reader,
disclaimers - this is not my idea!! all credits to @vargskelegore for hbcu shuri. it is an amazing idea. however, the storyline is mine. also, i would prefer if only black people read this story, simply because it is a reader insert specifically for us. thank you <3
this will be a continuous story that i use, but with different prompts. but it will follow about the same storyline. feel free to request !
“Girl, are you fucking serious?”
“Look, my girlfriend offered and I have no reason to decline. I’m sorry.”
You resisted the urge to lunge at your roommate. There was a monoxide leak in your dorm, meaning that you two were kicked out of your housing, amongst many, many others. Both of you agreed that it’d be better to just get a nearby hotel for the time being, but at last minute she switched up and decided to stay with her girlfriend and her girlfriend’s roomie.
You knew you wouldn’t be able to find anyone else on such short notice because, who the hell would accept a third person, especially a stranger, into a dorm meant for two?
“So, what am I supposed to do then? Nobody’s gonna wanna room with me, and I don’t have enough money to pay for any hotels nearby right now,” You argued, practically fuming. The agreement was to split the bill, but now that she had backed out, there was no way for you to pay solo.
“I’m sorry, (name). I’ll try and ask people if they have room to squeeze you in, but for now, just worry about finishing the rest of your classes. We’ll talk later.”
You shut your eyes, huffing loudly. “Okay. But I swear, if I can’t find a place to stay tonight-“
“Chill,” Your roommate, Tati cut you off. “We’ll figure out something.”
“We better,” You grumbled, readjusting your laptop and notebook in hand before turning on your heel to get to your next class.
You had history next, a class that you were dreading simply because your professor was an absolute snooze fest. Nothing in that class was enjoyable.
Well, scratch that. There was just one thing to look forward to in that class.
That happened to be because of the girl who sat next to you during that class. It was none other than the princess of Wakanda herself.
Towards the end of freshman year in college, there were rumors that the Princess Shuri would be enrolling there. It was all just talk, though, so you never really trusted it. Plus, out of all places, why would literal royalty waste her time at a college when she could be traveling the world?
You had moved back in a few weeks before the first day and thought your mind was playing tricks on you when you saw her while you were trying to figure out where your dorm was supposed to be.
You hadn’t even realized you were staring until her eyes eventually met yours. She offered a smile, but you stupidly stared back at her dumbfounded, still in shock. That got a laugh out of her as she walked away, leaving you feeling incredibly stupid.
That encounter had lived freely in your mind for a long time. You even told Tati about it, which only made her laugh at you and mock you for actual months about it. She couldn’t blame you, though. The princess was fine as hell.
What you didn’t know was that you’d get a second chance later to make a better impression.
Surprised would be an understatement when you saw Shuri enter your history class. You hoped your mind was playing tricks, but looking around, just about everyone had the same reaction as you.
You looked away from the princess, not wanting a repeat of last time. Everyone else in the class silently hoped that Shuri would make the choice of sitting next to them.
It was when you heard shuffling on the opposite side of you that you realized someone had taken the seat on the very end of the row you were sitting in.
The seat next to you.
And well, the rest was history. Heh, get it?
“You look stressed,” Shuri noted, snapping you out of your thoughts. It was like your brain had been in auto-pilot while you were walking to class.
Shutting your eyes, you grumbled in frustration. “Is it that obvious?”
She hummed in response with a nod, sitting up from her chair to shift closer to you. “What’s wrong?”
“Nah, we can talk about this later. We got a presentation due like next week and we’ve barely started,” You dismissed, pulling up Powerpoint. You two had been paired up for a project.
“Yes, but I know you, and I know we won’t be able to do this assignment properly until you tell someone why you are so tense.”
“Okay, first of all, you don’t gotta call me out like that.” You narrowed your eyes at the princess. “Second of all, you heard about that leak in one of the residence halls?”
Shuri’s nod was your signal to continue. “Yeah, so, I was living there. And my plan was to book a hotel room with my roommate until the college can get us a more permanent place to stay, but she just backed out at last minute because of another offer. A free one. I can’t afford to buy my own room, so as of now, I literally have nowhere to live. Like, most of my stuff is in my locker in the locker room.”
“You should’ve said something sooner,” Shuri chuckled, tapping her pencil against her notebook. “Like texted me, or something. You can room with me for tonight. Or however long you need to.”
There was no way you’d turn down that offer. “Seriously? You’re okay with me crashing for a little?”
“Of course. It gets lonely every once in a while and I have enough space for two. Consider it a thank you for helping me adjust to college in the first few weeks,” Shuri confirmed, a smile playing at her lips.
“You are a lifesaver,” You breathed out, nodding at your friend. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
Once class ended, you told Shuri you’d meet her in the quad as soon as majorette practice ended. Unfortunately, it was a whole lot longer than you had anticipated. The worst part was, it was an outside practice, so not only did you have to work your ass off, you also had to do with the heat of the sun basically frying you.
Practice could not be over soon enough. By the time it did end, the sun had already began to set and the sky turned a cool blue. You hadn’t had the chance to tell Shuri you’d probably be a little later than you told her because you didn’t have time.
You grabbed your water bottle, wiping sweat off your neck. When you felt a tap on the shoulder, you turned around to see Tati. “Hey, you know Kendall? That junior who bombed her tryout for the team? She has a free spot in her dorm cause the last girl moved out.”
You furrowed your eyebrows suspiciously. “Why’d she move out?”
Tati shrugged in response. “I don’t know, but I could ask her if you want.”
“Nah, I think she has like, a personal vendetta against me. Pretty sure I took her spot this year,” You replied.
“Girl, that wasn’t her spot. She messed up that audition all on her own,” Tati spoke, only half-joking.
You laughed at her harsh, but true words. “It’s all cool, though. I found a temporary roommate, anyways.”
“That’s good! I’m sorry again for bailing on you at last minute.”
“Don’t worry, I get it. We don’t got the money to be booking hotels when there’s a free option. You’re good.” You smiled, closing your water bottle.
You and Tati looked at the other group of majorettes socializing and noticed they had stopped talking to stare at something. Or rather, someone.
“Is that the princess?” You heard one say.
Tati turned to you. “Quick, look away before you end up staring at her like a deer in headlights again.”
You narrowed your eyes at your roommate. “Funny.”
You looked to the entrance of the large stadium that your group was practicing near and you couldn’t say that you weren’t surprised to see Shuri coming through them, looking around your group as if searching for something.
Once her gaze met yours, her eyes lit up as she began to walk towards you. It was like she didn’t even notice the entire team gawking at her.
“Hey, I was getting worried,” Shuri greeted you with a grin. “Are you ready to go?”
You looked at her slightly confused. “Wha…oh! You here for me?”
The princess looked at you as if you were crazy. “Who else would I be here for?”
“Right.” You mentally face-palmed, shutting your eyes for a moment in embarrassment. “I’ll be ready in a second, can you just meet me in the locker room so I can get my stuff out of there?”
Shuri nodded silently before turning away and heading towards the locker rooms just like you had asked.
When you turned to Tati, her eyes were practically bulging out of her head. “You didn’t tell me your new roommate was the princess!”
Tati must’ve said it too loudly, because her word quickly attracted the attention of your teammates, who began to walk towards you.
You knew exactly how this was gonna end. You’d be bombarded with questions you didn’t feel like answering, nor feel comfortable answering. You sent a wave to Tati before jogging towards the doors Shuri had just left through.
“You better tell me everything!” You heard Tati yell before exiting.
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Sidekick Journal Setup
Wanted to make some notes on how I set up the newest version of my sidekick journal. It's still an A6 Leuchtturm 1917 notebook- though this time I'm using a dot grid, not ruled, version. Still using a Traveler's Notebook Monthly insert in the back as well. Past that, I've adapted it to loosely use the PARA framework by Tiago Forte that I've had luck using with my digital notes.
Much like last time, I still have a today card for tasks on the front. Some days I pick some out at the beginning. Some days I just write things down as I go. Not much has changed there.
It's worth noting that this journal springs open if I don't keep the strap on it. I use the strap to notch in a gel pen (currently trying to find one of my spare fountain pens to use instead). I don't personally mind this but I know it bugs some others.
On the back side of the front cover, things have changed more. I still have a next card to jot down tasks that don't need done today that come up throughout a day, but underneath is the P in PARA - projects.
Each project gets it's own card. I like this because things were getting lost in my notebook and I can more easily see what I've committed to so I don't overcommit. Tiago Forte recommends 10-15 projects but I am disabled and have issues with energy so I shoot for 5-10. I think currently I have 9 which is a little on the high side.
They all fit nicely under the black clip here and I can shuffle through them each day to see what I want to work on.
I have a To Read, To Watch, To Listen (podcasts), and To Listen (music). I occasionally have people recommend me things and they tend to get lost in my phone. So this is just a space to jot those down. My complete TBR is still kept in Storygraph atm. My TBW is on Letterboxd (kind of). I don't listen to a lot at the moment but I'm hoping to change that.
For the first A in PARA - Areas - I set up topical indexes. I know a lot of people tend to have a lot more but I group my stuff under Personal, Home, Work, and Ria (my partner). Personal is just me. Home is anything shared with Ria. Work is mostly writing and freelance projects at the moment. Ria is for anything that is just for Ria. Anything that doesn't fit in the categories goes in the main index that comes preset up in the notebook.
This way I can jot down whatever notes I want in this notebook but when I'm looking for something specific or just want to see what's going on in a given area, I can flip to that index.
This is just an example of the kinds of things I tend to use this notebook for. I did a menu plan and wrote down the order of steps to make a new dish I wanted to try (came out really nice). It's mostly to just order my thoughts and help my brain let go of things.
This is the Traveler's Notebook Passport Size Monthly Insert I really enjoyed last year. I've set up the first few months and will set up a few more. I need to go back in and add events/holidays.
A big reason why this still felt necessary is that I'm looking at switching to a dumbphone which means I won't necessarily have access to Google Calendar on the go. So I plan to keep this as up to date as possible. I might use it for some light memory keeping as well.
Lastly, I flip the notebook upside down from the back and this is where my commonplacing will go which will be how I manage the R in PARA - resources. I have 3 categories I tend to like jotting down information about to start with but there's room for more. I won't keep the markers with me but will periodically add circles for ease of reference.
For the last A in PARA I'm planning on storing these in a nice box when I'm done with them.
I don't really intend to journal in this though I suppose I could. I have a separate "bullet journal" that in all honesty I don't use super often. I do stream of consciousness journaling on 750words.com. It's mostly to jot down notes and get things out of my head quickly. I like that it's small enough to toss into most bags.
Hope this is interesting to someone!
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