#went to a party last saturday and met so many lovely people
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#went to a party last saturday and met so many lovely people#and THE prettiest guy ever like 100% my type ive never met a guy thats my type#but i was rolling like crazy and didnt manage to holdn a conversation with anyone 😭😭#my friend exchanged numbers with him tho and i did with his friends and im hoping im meeting them at a similar event in 2 weeks#i just wanna have one (1) conversation with him!!!!! 😭😭😭😩#pls everyone manifest with and for me ok this is the only thing i want rn in life otherwise im content#i did ask all of them if theyre staying here during the summer and they said yes so i dont see why they should NOT be there….#pray for me
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I Have Always Seen You
pairing: eddie munson x chubby female reader
summary: of course the boy i've known since 3rd grade, the one i've loved since 7th grade, would be the one to break my heart. i never thought he would be the one to fix it too...
warnings: bullying, fatphobia, use of the word pig towards reader once, falling off a bike, blood and cut knee from falling off said bike, self-doubt and sort of self-hate i guess, cursing, mentality that reader wouldn't be 'missed' (idk if thats a warning but just in case), no use of y/n, underage drinking, reader has an older brother for sake of the story (i gave him a really basic/common name), thoughts and flashbacks are in italics!! nickanames/pet names (shortcake, princess, honey, sweetheart), reader is at least a bit shorter than eddie, very poorly edited, talks of the demobats and upside down, again like very badly edited, lemme know if i missed anything, i'm sure i have!
word count: 9k+
notes: my first fic guys and it turned into this 9,000 word monster! wild! anyway, this might be trash i honestly don't know, i have no perception of it, pls let me know what you think!! also, this story is told in first person point of view so it uses 'i, me, myself' and all that, idk how i feel about it though tbh. uuuuh, enjoy!!
DON'T REPOST MY WRITING OR SHARE IT TO OTHER PLATFORMS (including mentioning it in tiktok comment sections and stuff like that pls) THIS IS MY WRITING, DON'T STEAL IT PLEASE!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sweltering midwestern heat was hitting Hawkins, Indiana early this year. School had only been out for a few weeks and it was already hot enough to have the city pool passing the max capacity damn near every day.
Luckily for me, I had been able to successfully avoid going every time my friends have asked me to join them. Until now.
“C’mon, it’s gonna be so much fun! Steve’s parents are gone again, like usual, so it’ll just be us and a few other friends!” Robin tries to convince me through the phone.
“Robin, I never believe ‘just us and a few friends’, because it is ne-”
“It’s never just a few friends, I know. But this time it really will be just a few people. Like, actually just a few people. After everything that happened during spring break and all that, Steve really just wants the main guys there. There’s not gonna be any crazy partying, we’re gonna swim and relax, that’s it.”
“I don’t know, I might be busy tomorrow,” I attempt an excuse.
“Then we’ll move it to when you’re free. We really want you there, you haven’t gone to any of our movie nights or other hangouts yet,” Robin points out while saying my name softly. “Is it something else? Is there someone you don’t want there?”
Robin isn’t entirely wrong, there is something else that’s keeping me from joining my friends. And technically it does have to do with someone, but not in the way she thinks. And that someone happens to be none other than the Eddie Munson.
I’ve known Eddie for many years. My older brother was one of his best friends while growing up having met in elementary school. James was in the grade above Eddie, and the one to introduce him to D&D, eventually passing on the title of Hellfire Club President to him as well. I was always in the background, hoping my brother would let me learn how to play just so I could impress him and his friends.
While they were occupying the basement, getting pizza and bottles of Coke every other Saturday for their stupid role-playing game, I was in my room reading trashy romance novels and out riding my bike to the library in hopes to seem cool when I came back late at night.
By the time I got to high school, it was James’ second to last year before he went off to college in Chicago on his big-shot football scholarship he managed to snag before he was even a senior. And yes, James was a Hellfire nerd and a star-athlete, so no one messed with their little club while he was there. Eddie was in his sophomore year, already antsy to graduate and move on to greater things.
I was just the outcast that didn’t even have a group. It didn’t matter that I was the captain of the football team’s little sister, I never made any friends because I never tried to.
Needless to say, yeah, Eddie and I had some history and maybe things got brought up when Vecna was trying to take over the world that might have been better left untouched. And maybe the idea of seeing him again brings butterflies to my stomach while also making my gut sink.
“No, it's not that. I just…I guess I just haven’t been feeling it since…since yanno,” I say, half heartedly.
Robin voices her understanding and tells me to just call back when I make a decision on if I would go or not. I promise her I will and hang up the phone. It’s not like I didn’t want to see them, because truly I did but it also wasn’t a complete lie when I told her I hadn’t been feeling quite right since the Venca situation.
It was a really traumatic and horrible experience for everyone involved, and really astonishing that everyone made it out alive.
‘Maybe I should just go…but what if it’s horrible? I know none of my lovely friends would ever say anything to me about it, but I just can’t stand the thought of them seeing me in a swimsuit, especially Eddie.’ I shake my head at the thought. ‘What a stupid thing to think, god, we all nearly died and I’m worried about my stomach in a swimsuit, how shallow is that? I guess some things just never change, no matter the life threatening situation…’
I go about my nighttime routine, washing my face and making sure no lights have been left on around the house. I say goodnight to my mother and fall right asleep. Or, I try to at least.
But my mind keeps me up for much longer than I would have hoped.
‘It would be a good time, though. Have a couple of beers, spend the night in one of Steve’s nice guest bedrooms. I wouldn’t even have to swim, I could just say I’m on my period or something. Ugh, but Robin knows that I always swam even on my period when we were younger. I’ll just wear a suit under my clothes and pretend the water is too cold even though it’s the peak of summer? Yeah, that should work. I can’t imagine anyone will care that much anyway if I’m not in the pool with them. I really do miss my friends.’
~
The next morning I call Robin and tell her I’ll be there tonight. She squeals in delight and tells me how happy she’ll be to see me.
Now it was just time to pick out an outfit, should be simple enough, right?
Well, after leaving it to the last second and now only having about 15 minutes to get to Steve’s when it’s already a five minute drive, having half of my closet strewn about my room doesn’t seem like a very good place to be at.
I finally sigh and opt for a swim suit from the summer before that I never wore, a green one piece with a wrapped sort of style for the top portion, and black cut off shorts and an old t-shirt that fits comfortably loose over it.
I grab my keys and kiss my mother on the forehead, reminding her I wouldn’t be back till the next morning.
Several shouts of my name reach my ears once I reach Steve’s backyard, it does bring a small smile to my face knowing I’ve been missed just as much as I’ve missed them.
“You’re actually here, I’m so happy to see you!” Nancy says pulling me in for a hug, Robin joining on top, squishing us all together.
“Yeah, yeah, I know it’s been a while. I’m sorry.”
“No, you don’t have to be sorry, it’s been a really hard year,” Nancy says sincerely.
Steve comes up for a hug next, squishing me for dear life, I could feel him about to try to lift me up and spin me around so I pull away rather abruptly.
“Alright, alright, it’s nice to see you, too, Steve.”
He answers with a kiss to the cheek and makes me promise that I’ll come to the next hangout and every one after that. I see Jonathan and he waves with a small awkward smile.
Finally my eyes meet Eddie’s.
~
“James! James! C’mon, come outside and play with me!” It was nearing the end of summer before James would go back to school for his 8th grade year and I would be going into 6th grade.
“Not right now, can’t you see that I’m busy? I’m too old to play outside anyway,” my brother rolls his eyes.
I hop down the stairs so I can see the basement fully now. Spotting all of my brother's friends huddled around our dinky old card table while he has books and notepads sprawled on his end.
“Well, can I at least play your game with you guys? I’m sure I can learn it fast!” I beam, faking confidence in hopes to sway them.
“No offense, shortcake, but it’s probably too confusing for you. Besides, we’re right in the middle of a campaign, it would be too hard to add in another character out of the blue right now,” Eddie says with a chuckle, like the idea that I could play is too amusing to even consider.
Naturally, I take full offense.
“Fine! You’re all so annoying, I didn’t even want to play with you anyway. Especially not with someone who has a buzzcut!” I stick my tongue out at them and run away, but not before I can hear them laughing.
Sitting alone in my room I know it was childish of me, especially for my age. James was probably right, he was too old to be outside playing tag with his sister. I was too old to be throwing a tantrum like this over some friends wanting to spend time with each other without one’s little sister hanging around.
~
“Hey, Munson.”
Eddie nods his head in greeting and goes back to talking with Jonathan. Well, that’s honestly about as much interaction as I expected to get from him tonight.
“Alright, let’s get this party started!” Robin exclaims, dragging you toward the cooler filled with ice and drinks, I grab a Sprite to start with.
2 hours later and my Sprite is still mostly untouched and it’s now gone lukewarm. The others are in the pool splashing and playing chicken, I sit on the side with my feet dangling into the shallow end, watching as they fool around and laugh. Giggles and quiet laughs leave my lips on occasion with them.
“You should get in, the water’s really nice!” Nancy says.
“Yeah! Strip for us and get in here,” Robin adds, making everyone laugh.
“You guys just want to get me out of my clothes, don’t you?” I play it off, shaking my head slightly. Giggles erupt again. I excuse myself to the bathroom after pulling my legs out of the pool.
Closing and locking the door behind me I look at myself in the mirror.
‘I should just get in the pool, shouldn’t I? I do feel like I’m missing out on what could be a lot of fun. And it wouldn’t hurt to wash all this sweat off of me. I could just keep my shirt on, I have an extra change of clothes as backup anyway.’
I finish my business and leave the bathroom.
After turning the corner to go back to the pool I run straight into something firm, nearly being toppled over before hands are at my forearms to keep me from doing so. Seeing dark curls fanning across this “something’s” shoulders and several patches of dark ink on its bare skin, I immediately know I have just run head first into Eddie. Great.
“Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” I murmur, keeping my eyes pointed down.
“It’s alright, shortcake. No harm done right?” he says, adjusting his head to try to catch my eyes.
I nod my head and pull away from his hands that still rest gently on my arms.
“Hey, hey, what’s up? You’re so quiet tonight, is everything okay?”
I nod again and pull away harder, rushing out the door to get back to the pool, ignoring his call of my name and a request to “just hold on a second.”
Pulling my shorts off quickly, I step up to the pool and begin to wade into the water before Robin stops me.
“Your shirt! You don’t want the chlorine to ruin it!”
My heart thumps, thinking of how I can handle this. My mouth opens to say something but before I can, Robin cuts me off.
“Just take it off, no one’s gonna make fun of you for being in your swimsuit and if they do I’ll beat them up for you and then we’ll all collectively agree to throw them out of the group. And don’t try to tell me that’s not what it is, I can see it all over your face. You’re allowed to have fun and go swimming, I don’t like to see you excluding yourself, no matter the reason,” she says.
Of course she would see right through any lie I could throw her way. That’s just how Robin is. No matter how clumsy she can be, she really is observant. Not only that, but she’s right. Nobody cares and if they do, that’s their problem.
I rip off my shirt and dive into the pool trying to minimize the time in which people could see me without it. Immediately finding Steve’s legs I yank his ankles so he falls backwards into the water with an unnecessarily loud screech.
It makes the rest of us laugh loudly until Steve comes back up for air with a thirst for vengeance. He chases me around the pool, not for long considering he’s such a strong swimmer and I’m really not trying very hard to get away from him, and catches me easily. His arms wrap around my waist and I cringe as his hands nudge my stomach, scolding myself for the action right after. Steve doesn’t care about my stomach, if he did, he wouldn’t be my friend.
“That really wasn’t very nice,” Steve says and starts lifting me out of the water.
“Steve, hey. Steve! Steve, no, I’m too heavy! Stevie, no! Bad Stevie! Bad!”
I’m thrown in the air as far as he can get me and I splash back down.
I come up spluttering for breath, “Oh, you are so dead, Harrington!”
All at once the rest of us are splashing and dunking him over and over, until he pleads mercy. Shrieks and squeals of glee and what might be considered laughter fill the air as everyone gets their turn being thrown into the water.
Eddie comes back out from the house and cannonballs in the middle of our ‘hate on Steve’ fest.
Eventually I end up back on the side of the pool in my shirt with just my feet in, this time so I can enjoy a fresh soda and mellow out a little, not to make myself smaller. Nancy and Jonathan have called it a night already, leaving Steve, Eddie, and Robin in or by the pool with me.
“I never noticed this scar? Where did you get it?” Robin points to my knee.
~
The nice old librarian put a hand on my shoulder gently to get my attention, telling me the library would be closing soon and it was best I head home, I hadn’t realized how late it already was. I pack everything together as fast as I can, quickly saying goodnight and unlocking my bike, trying my hardest to race home before the sun sets.
The wheels of my rickety bicycle pump faster and faster and in my haste I bump over a high curb without realizing, flying off and onto the pavement.
Tears spring to my eyes as air is sucked in through my teeth. I take a look at my knee and see a small dribble of blood seeping down it, my hands have little scrapes all over, spotted with little beads of red.
Not the worst I could have gotten from a bike incident, but bad enough to keep me from being able to ride the rest of the way home. It’s not far, but so much for getting back before the street lights turn on.
About 15 minutes later I make it into our backyard, dropping the two wheeled contraption from hell into the grass and stumbling through the door, all while sniffling back sobs.
“Oh hey, shortcake! James was starting to get worried about you, you really shouldn’t walk alone at night yanno? Next time ju-” Eddie cuts himself off after seeing the state I’m in. Of course he had to be the one to see me like this. Anyone else could have been sent on snack duty tonight, but it just had to be him.
“Oh my god, what happened?” He walks up to me.
I shrug my shoulders and look away. I catch a glimpse of how bad my knees and hands have gotten on the walk home. Blood drips down both knees, my left knee looking significantly worse than the right. Dirt and pebbles cover my palms along with streaks of crimson.
“Don’t do that, sweetheart. Tell me what happened? Please?”
I still don’t say anything, fresh, hot tears welling up and already spilling out. I refuse to let stupid Eddie Munson see me like this, all it would be is more leverage to make fun of me with.
He pulls my hand gently until I’m sitting down. Eddie appears in front of me with a first aid kit a few seconds later, carefully cleaning the gashes on my knees and scrapes on my hands with alcohol wipes.
“Did,” he lets out a shuddering breath, “Did someone hurt you?”
“No, god no Eddie, I just-, god this is so embarrassing, I just fell off of my bike is all,” I mutter, not really wanting him to hear the words as they come out.
“S’ not embarrassing, stuff like that happens. I just wish you would have told me, here I was thinking the boys and I were going to have to band together to cause hell for our favorite little goblin,” he says.
“You’re just trying to make me feel better, you guys wouldn’t really do that, I guess James might. Most of you guys don’t even really like me that much anyway, you don’t have to lie,” I whisper.
“That’s not true! Of course we would stick up for you!” he says like he’s shocked that I would think the opposite.
I just shrug my shoulders again and wipe my eyes, still avoiding looking him in the face.
“Here, let me help you up to your room. That can’t feel good to walk on,” he pulls me up from the chair and goes to lift me into his arms. I jump out of his reach before he can.
“It’s okay, I got it. Just- you better get back downstairs before they start worrying. I’ll take care of myself.”
“What? No, you’re basically limping just standing here, shortcake, let me carry you, it’ll only take a minute?” He phrases it like a question. Asking but also sort of demanding.
The idea is actually really nice, and I want to say yes to it. It would be like when the prince finally gets the princess in all those books I’ve read. Eddie could sweep me off of my feet and whisk me away.
But I know better, I know that he wouldn’t be able to lift me. Even if he could he wouldn’t so much as glance at me, again, I’m just his friend's little sister. Here only because this is where she lives.
“No thank you, I’m okay. Go ahead and go back to your game, I’m sure they miss you already. Nobody would even notice if I were gone, but they’ll practically riot without you,” I try to cover how deeply I believe those words with a laugh as I wobble away and halfway up the stairs before he can stop me.
~
“Um, I guess I don’t really remember. It’s probably just one of those super old scars you forget are even there,” I say, even though I recall the night I got it vividly.
Eddie’s eyes meet mine from the other side of the pool and they look almost…hurt at the possibility that I might not remember that day. Well, he didn’t get to feel hurt about it. He made it clear that he doesn’t care how I feel when we were in the upside down.
“Hmmm, yeah, I have, like, tons of those actually,” Robin says, “This one is from my cat, Steven, and this one-”
“You have a cat named Steven?” I cut her off. She gives me a look that says ‘duh’.
“But what about Steve? Like human Steve? Was this before or after you became friends? And how has this never come up before?” I practically shriek.
“Believe me, it has come up before. And yes, before she tells you otherwise, it was after we became friends,” Steve says, settling down beside me while throwing his arm around my shoulders.
“That is not true! I found him outside the mall before we became friends! We may have been working together at that point, but we were not friends yet!” Robin shouts.
“We were friends, she’s just embarrassed that she named her cat after me,” Steve whispers in my ear, making me giggle like a schoolgirl.
Even though I’ve never seen Steve romantically, he still had the ability to reduce me to feet kicking and hair twirling.
“What’s wrong with you, Munson?” Steve asks, noticing the scowl covering his face that usually carries a bright smile.
Eddie shakes his head, “Nothing man, just thinking about how I don’t have a beer in my hand right now.”
~
A call of my name breaks my gaze away from the mirror.
“You almost ready? It’s time to go!” James yells, entering my room. “Hey! You look great! It almost feels like I’m sending you off to prom already,” he says wiping fake tears from his cheeks.
I shove him in the chest and readjust my hair and the straps to my dress for what feels like the millionth time. It was a rather simple looking thing considering I had to sew it myself since the only dresses even near my size were too far out of theme for the 8th grade Winter Snowball or they were simply just ugly.
Light blue and white fabric lays delicately across my shoulders and down to my knees, matched with white slip on shoes and silver snowflake jewelry.
“You look really nice, seriously. I know how nervous you are, but it’s gonna be okay, I promise,” my brother assures me, slapping my shoulder much harder than necessary to push me towards the door, “Now it’s time to get your butt moving, let’s go!”
When we arrive at the dance I immediately catch eyes with Robin and speed walk to her. James goes wherever he's needed for volunteering.
After about 45 minutes the first slow song of the night comes on as I sit contently by myself at the far end of the bleachers. I wasn’t sad to not be dancing with anyone, I was honestly sort of relieved that I hadn’t had to dance all night. But watching all the couples on the dance floor does make my heart ache just a little.
“I haven’t seen you dance all night, what’s that about?”
“Why are you here?”
“Ouch, shortcake, I don’t even get a hello? And what, I can’t come volunteer with your brother?” Eddie says, fake hurt painting his face.
“It just doesn’t seem like you, I guess.”
He sits down next to me leaving at least enough room for another person to sit between us. He hands me an unopened juice box.
“Seriously though, why aren’t you out there? You don’t have someone you wanna get cozied up with on the dancefloor?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me in his typical annoying Eddie way.
I roll my eyes, as my stomach twists with shame. He’s mocking me, isn’t he?
“Nope. I’m okay with it though. Honestly I was perfectly happy just sitting here. Until you showed up that is,” I say with a shrug.
“Oh really? Well, gosh, who made you such a sour fart?” he laughs as I push him in the arm.
“Alright, c’mon then. Pity party is over, let's go do this,” Eddie holds out his hand and raises a brow when all I do is look at it confused. “Let’s go dance, shortcake, you should at least once before it’s over.”
“Um- I-” I’m at a loss for words. There’s no way he’s being anything but friendly but my stupid heart skips too many beats to count.
“Here, I need to go check on James and see how the other volunteers are doing. While I take care of that, I want you to sit here and decide if you want to dance with me or not. Of course, I won’t make you do anything you don’t wanna, but if you’re up for it, I’m here,” he says, bouncing back to the drinks and snacks table. I smile giddily at his back and stay sitting.
By the time the last song of the night played I was still in the exact same spot I had been for nearly 2 hours, waiting for Eddie to come back.
Immediately after he left, I knew I wanted to dance with him. Of course I would. I’ve known him since I was in 4th grade and have had a crush on him for a year now. All I had to do was wait a few minutes and I would get to live out a fairytale dream. Dancing across the room in a flowey dress with the guy I liked. Of course it would be strictly platonic on his end but it could mean something more to me silently.
So there I sat, with my empty juice box, tapping my foot in excitement. The first slow song ended and there was no sign of Eddie, but I was sure he just caught up with volunteer work. After the next 3 songs played I began to doubt myself slightly.
‘Maybe he hadn’t actually wanted to dance like it had seemed. But he looked really sincere when asking me. Yeah. And even if Eddie is just a regular teenage boy, and he can definitely be a jerk sometimes, he’s much sweeter and kinder than most. He wouldn’t leave me hanging like that. He’ll be back any minute now, I’m sure.’
By the time 11 more songs had played, I knew he wasn’t coming back. Tears were smearing my mascara while I sat as still as possible on the bleachers, not wanting to draw any attention to myself.
Of course he wasn’t being serious. He just wanted to tease me like usual, the only difference was this time it went too far. This time he was cruel about it. He could have just told me he didn’t mean it. Instead he strung me along and had me sitting here like a lovesick puppy for an hour straight.
Who was I kidding? Eddie couldn’t be interested in me. He was my brother's best friend and had seen me grow up. I was just his friend’s chubby little sister. Wearing a dress that doesn’t sparkle and shine like all the others’, sitting alone and pouting like a baby.
He probably thought I would crush his feet if I accidentally stepped on them.
After persevering through another hour of horror, James finds me in my corner ready to head home.
“All ready to go?” he asks jovially like he always seems to be.
“Yes.”
James picks up on my mood right away, but I’m already halfway to the car before he can say anything.
“Okay, uh, I gotta clean up some stuff still but here,” he throws me his car keys when I turn back around, “Go get the car started yeah?”
I nod and head out to the car when I see Eddie jogging up to the doors after me. My steps speed up hoping for all hell to avoid him. He calls my name but I don’t look back or slow down, in fact, the only thing it succeeds in doing is making me walk faster.
My hands shake as I try to slip the key into the driver’s side door handle. Warm hands settle on my wrists.
“Holy shit, I am so sorry, shortcake. I was so excited to dance with you, I really was, I just got caught up in helping another volunteer with something and lost track of time. I didn’t mean to forget you there all alone, I swear on everything. I know how excited you were for tonight and I am so sorry. I didn’t realize how long I had been gone until everyone started leaving and then I saw you get up and realized what I’d done, please forgive me,” he rambles off almost too quickly to understand.
I expect tears but all I get is a deep rooted feeling of shame and anger. Ashamed by the fact that I thought he would come back and angry at myself for sitting there hopelessly when I could’ve danced with Robin at least.
“Please, look at me. Please tell me you at least got to dance with someone else, right? You had a good time? Please tell me you at least had fun,” he pleads.
A scoff escapes me as I whirl on him.
“No, I didn’t dance with someone else, I sat there and I waited for you. I waited for you the whole time, and I guess that was my first mistake wasn’t it, huh? I believed you. I really thought you meant what you said to me.”
I rip my arms out of hold.
“You know what’s funny, too? I was actually having a really good time before you showed up. I told you as much earlier, even. I was perfectly happy to sit by myself, considering that’s how I spend most of my time anyway. I was really enjoying just watching the lights and the twirl of dresses, alone. I was overjoyed to just sit and watch Robin dance with her friends. And you had to come and- and lie to me! You made me feel special for fuck’s sake.”
His eyes flash with guilt and he must have finally realized how much he hurt me.
“I get that I’m not the prettiest and skinniest girl and I know that most of those kids don’t even know my name, but you do! You know me. You know me and you still forgot about me,” I pause and take a deep breath, “Do you remember what I said that night when I fell off my bike?”
Eddie shakes his head.
“Nobody would even notice if I were gone. Nobody, not even you, I guess. You forgot about me not even 5 minutes after making me feel like the most special girl in that whole damn room. And that was really mean, Eddie. I hope you, at least, have a good rest of your night,” I step into the car and start the engine.
~
Steve plops down next to me holding 4 cans of beer, one for each of us.
“I’m really happy I came tonight, thank you, for inviting me and not forgetting about me after I kinda disappeared,” I say quietly.
Steve pats my back while Robin says something along the lines of ‘duh, of course we would never forget about you.’
Eddie stays silent, watching me closely.
I put my drink on the ground beside me and lay on my back, pulling my shirt down to make sure it covers me still. I start to count the stars, just to keep my brain occupied. My eyes drift shut, my mind choosing to visit yet another memory tonight.
~
It was James’ graduation party. All we had were a couple tables set up with snacks in the backyard and a bonfire, nothing too fancy. I made a simple ‘Happy Graduation!’ banner to hang across the gate for everyone to see, too.
I’m wearing a plain white sundress and converse, I knew I would be running back and forth from the backyard and the kitchen too much for heels to be sensible. Making sure there’s enough drinks and food and ice for everyone was my job tonight. The sun is still up, melting the ice and warming every drink out here.
James calls my name softly, “You can quit running around and tending to every little need. Come hang out with everyone for a little bit. Please?”
I set down the metal tub where drinks are kept and walk over to sit around the fire with him and his usual friends. New faces have popped up over the years, but many stayed the same. Danny Williams, a junior who may or may not have been my first kiss when we happened to both show up at the same party and ended up playing spin the bottle together, Jason Carver, a freshman who appeared promising on the football team before switching to basketball instead, Michael Brown, a senior who’s been in the little Hellfire Group since the beginning. There are several others I don’t recognize and even more that I do.
Of course, Eddie is there too. I just haven’t really…acknowledged him in…in a really long time.
I haven’t necessarily been giving him the silent treatment, but I stopped entertaining the conversations he always seemed to start with me.
Danny greets me with a smile as he sits down next to me. He even pulls his lawn chair a little closer towards mine, grinning slightly while doing so.
“What can I do for you Danny?” I say.
“Oh nothing. I just wanted to come sit by you, is all.” Huh. That…that sort of stumps me.
I didn’t think Danny would even recognize me at the party, and I’m honestly even more surprised that he wanted to talk to me after kissing me. We make small conversation, butting into the rest of the group's discussion once in a while to add an opinion.
Night had fallen and marshmallows and graham crackers were brought out for s'mores, as well as a couple of 12 packs of beer that someone had brought with them.
I knew James had gone to several parties to celebrate winning a football game where there had been alcohol, or even just little get-togethers where it was provided. I guess now that it was only soon-to-be seniors and high school graduates, minus myself, left at the party it was time for that portion of the night to begin.
I stand up to go in and let the others have their fun.
“Where’re you going?” Danny asks, grabbing my hand lightly, looking up with wide puppy dog eyes. His eyes are a pretty green color. Brown eyes have always been my favorite, though.
“Oh, I was just going to head in and call it a night. That way you all could have your fun without worrying about me dragging you down.”
My comment makes his brows furrow, his mouth opens to say something, but he’s cut off.
“You can stay out here, you know. No one minds having you here and I’m sure dear old James doesn’t care if you partake in a little drink, do you?” Eddie states. When did he get so close to us?
“Even if I did care she gets to do what she wants, man. As long as you're safe about it, go for it,” James says, patting my back and taking one for himself.
I’ve never drank before, but what the hell? James was leaving in just a few weeks now and this might be my only chance to try it. It’s certainly one of my last chances to hang out with everyone like this, at least for a while.
After just 2 cans my tongue had already loosened significantly. Danny and I had been talking and giggling the whole time until he had gotten up to go home since his designated driver was ready to leave.
“So, you and Danny seem pretty close suddenly?” Eddie phrases it like a question, wanting more information on the subject.
Usually I would just hum in what could be taken as agreement or disinterest but my mind was running a little slower than normal.
“Yeah, he and I kinda ran into each other at a party that I kinda crashed with Robin and we ended up, like, kissing and stuff,” I giggled. “But shhhh, don’t tell anyone else.”
Eddie’s eyes widened, but that could have been a trick of the light.
“What, uh, what do you mean by ‘and stuff’?”
“Oh nothing. We just had one teensy tiny kiss because we were playing spin the bottle,” I say, not really thinking about it.
Now I really know my brain is playing tricks on me because for a second I think Eddie looks pleased with this new knowledge that it didn’t really mean anything.
“I feel like we haven’t really talked in a long time. What’s, uh, what’s been up, lately?”
The question itself is awkward, but the way he struggled through it made it even more awkward.
“I’ve been regular old me, Eddie. Nothing new or exciting. Although I did finish a book last night that really threw me through a loop. Oh! Actually there is something exciting! Do you wanna hear it?”
He smiles, “Of course I do, shortcake.”
“Well,” I take another sip of what is now my third beer, “William Gillar and Stacy Johnson have finally graduated!” I let out a squeal.
Eddie just looks at me confused.
“Do you have any idea what this means, Eds? I am finally free of those two asshats for the rest of my high school experience! Isn’t that amazing! I mean, it was easier to ignore this year than last year, but god I am so thrilled! No more mean notes from them calling me a pig in my locker and book bag, I can even finally find a table to sit at for lunch instead of hiding in Mr. Steerwell’s class,” I sigh happily.
“Do you wanna know what else they did? This is so silly! They used to catch me on my walk home from school and steal my library books. How stupid is that? Why would you steal someone’s library books, right? They would run around with it so I would chase after them and then laugh at how my body would jiggle. How funny, right? I am so happy they’re gone, Eds, you have no idea.”
Eddie has his mouth halfway open, anger flaring in his eyes. But that couldn’t be right, why would he care about a couple of high school bullies.
“No, that’s not funny or silly. That’s been going on this whole time? And you didn’t tell anyone? God, why wouldn’t you tell someone, sweetheart? That’s horrible,” he says.
“Meh, it’s just normal high school bully stuff.” I wave my hand in dismissal.
“No, it’s not. Bullying shouldn’t even be considered normal anyway, but what they did to you? That goes far beyond normal, shortcake. I wish you would have said something. You know James and I would’ve taken care of them for you, right?”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter now, does it. It’s too late,” I dismiss him and his misplaced worry. Honestly, it was nothing I couldn’t handle. He must have sensed how much I didn’t want to talk about it anymore because he dropped it.
The night moves quickly after that, people say their goodbyes as James takes over clean up duty, considering I can barely stand up without nearly falling asleep.
“Eddie, will you take her in and make sure she gets into bed okay?” James asks.
That’s how I find myself being semi-dragged up the stairs to my bedroom and thrown on the mattress like a sack of potatoes. I don’t think Eddie was half as rough as my brain made it seem, to be honest.
“Eds?” I whisper looking down at Eddie who’s kneeling by feet, gently taking my shoes off.
“Yeah?”
A couple beats of silence pass where I try to figure out how to word what I’m thinking.
“I forgive you.” His movements stop. “I hope you know that. It’s probably such a silly little thing to even remember but I forgive you for forgetting to dance with me. I probably would have forgotten me, too. And…and I am sorry. I really am, for pushing you away so hard after. It was really stupid of me and I wish I hadn’t. Robin is a good friend, but you’re kind of the closest thing I’ve ever had to a best friend, I think. And I threw that all away over hurt feelings. Puberty, am I right?” I giggle.
“S’ not silly to remember that. And you weren’t being stupid, sweetheart. You were hurt, you were protecting yourself and I don’t blame you for that. I should never have even walked away from you that night, but I did. And I don’t deserve your forgiveness for it,” Eddie says.
More words mumble out of his mouth but none of it registers. Soon the noise stops and I feel Eddie’s warm hands pull my shoes all the way off, pushing my legs onto the bed and turning me to lay comfortably on my stomach.
He must remember that’s my favorite way to sleep.
My mind must really hate me because I swear, right before I fall asleep, I feel lips pressing gently to my forehead while a guitar calloused hand pushes hair away from my eyes.
Of course, that didn’t actually happen because that’s not something Eddie would do. Right? Yeah, he wouldn’t…
~
A timid shake to my shoulder pulls me from my dozing.
“Hey, shortcake, it’s time for you to go in.”
There’s only one person who’s ever called me by that nickname.
“Hm, it’s been a while since you’ve called me that…Eds.”
I don’t know what made me decide to use his nickname. It never seemed right to use it after we drifted so far apart when James left.
Eddie helps pull me to my feet.
‘Hmmm, he’s always been a lot stronger than he looks. I barely even lifted myself up for him.’
“Oh, now you wanna be all friendly again? Using a nickname and everything? What’s this all about, huh?” Eddie says, steadying me with his calloused hands when my legs wobble.
My brows furrow, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Earlier, when we were in the house. You practically ran away from me. I mean, it’s just that we…we haven’t seen each other since we went into the upside down. I thought maybe,” he lets out a long breath. “Maybe things had changed or something, I guess. I was hoping we could talk about it after we all got out but you’ve been avoiding everyone.”
“And why is that? Why do you think things would have changed Eddie?”
~
“No! No, no, no! Edward Munson, if you cut that rope, so help me god!”
“You know I always love when you use my full name.”
And the bastard cuts the rope.
The next thing I know, he’s out of the trailer doing something entirely too heroic and the exact amount of stupid he always is.
Before I can think I shove Dustin out of the trailer, the one not in the upside down, and send him to go help Lucas.
“No! We need to help him! Can’t you see that he needs help!”
“I know Dustin, I know. That’s why I’m staying here. But I need you to go find Lucas and Erica and check on Max. There are others who still need our help, Henderson. Please, listen to me and go help them.”
I turn back into the trailer before he can disagree again, locking the door to make sure he doesn’t follow. Without second guessing, I jump through the portal, landing somewhat safely on my side.
I manage to find a bike and just a few minutes later I’m riding as fast as I can towards the bat tornado that Eddie stands in the middle of.
“Eddie you dumb jerk, you better not be getting yourself killed!” I scream at the top of my lungs. His eyes catch mine as a look of horror crosses his face.
“Why the hell did you follow me? I specifically told you not to!”
“Yeah, well I specifically told you not to cut the rope!”
We fight off the bats as best we can until they all suddenly drop to the ground.
Eddie and I stand breathing hard, our brains trying to catch up with all of what just happened. Eddie turns to me, a grin beginning to form.
I punch him as hard as I can in the chest. And then I do it again, and then again and again, until I’m pounding my fists against his chest over and over again.
“What the hell?! Honey, stop, you’re gonna hurt yourself!”
I choke on hiccupping sobs as hot tears overflow past my lashes.
“Don’t you ever do something like that again! Ever!”
Eddie grabs my wrists to keep me from hitting him anymore. I keep trying until I realize his hold on me is too strong.
“Princess, you gotta stop. I don’t want to see you hurt anymore, please stop.”
He wraps his arms around me, stroking the back of my hair, pressing soft kisses to my forehead.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, it’s okay. We’re okay, I promise.”
“That was not okay, Eddie. Not okay!” I tell him looking up into his eyes.
“I’m sorry, I really am. But look, we did it!”
He looks down at me thoughtfully. His eyes flit down to my lips. My breath catches.
He couldn’t possibly be…
His lips are on mine. And Eddie Munson is kissing me.
Both of his hands are on the side of my face, rubbing his thumbs softly across the apples of my chubby cheeks.
I pull away, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Kissing my shortcake,” he says with a smirk while I grimace at the phrase. He laughs at the face I make and kisses me again.
I kiss back harder this time, getting lost in all things Eddie. The way his hair feels soft even despite being so dirty. His lips are somehow minty. He smells like smoke and old books.
My heart soars. This has to be proof, then. Eddie must think of me the way I think of him. I can’t imagine ever kissing someone with this much passion if it didn’t mean something more. I smile into the kiss.
Footsteps sound behind where we stand and Eddie pushes me off of him, placing several feet between us. I look at him confused and hurt by his sudden change in behavior. He refuses to meet my eyes. He even wipes the back of his hand across his mouth, looking straight ahead at Steve, Robin and Nancy appearing in front of us.
Oh.
He’s too embarrassed to let his new friends see him with the big girl? Is that what it is? Does he suddenly regret kissing me? Was it just a heat of the moment type of deal, then? I was the closest human thing, so he settled on me for a little ‘yay the world didn’t end’ kiss?
In my whole life, I don’t think anything has hurt as much as that did.
~
An uncomfortable amount of silence fills the air..
“Things got weird after James left, but you know that. We both felt it, even though we tried to ignore it. Jason started to act like he ran the damn school even though we were friends at one point. I never saw you because we were never at your house anymore. Then I got held back and we basically had every class together. Then I got held back again and you graduated. I missed you. I really, really missed you,” he says the last part quietly. Almost like he was afraid for me to hear it. I hold back a scoff.
“I missed you so much, it’s ridiculous. I just wanted my shortcake back. My sweetheart, my princess, my honey,” he laughs to himself, I stay quiet. “God, I was such a jerk to you growing up. And not because ‘I had a crush on you’ because that’s bullshit, guys shouldn’t be allowed to be mean to girls with the excuse of it being ‘romantic’. I wish I had treated you better, been a little friendlier. I never realized how much you meant to me until your brother’s graduation.”
He takes his eyes away from his feet to glance at me.
“Do you remember that night? It was your first time drinking and you got so sleepy I had to tuck you into bed. You had told me about you and Danny at that party and it made me jealous. I’d never really felt jealous before, certainly not like that at least. It made me realize how deep my feelings for you went.”
I remain silent, partly because I didn’t want to interrupt him when this is the most honest and vulnerable he’s ever been, out of respect, and partly because I was utterly confused and angered by what he was saying and claiming.
“You forgave me for leaving you alone at the dance, even though I never deserved to be forgiven for that. I didn’t even know how badly you were being bullied at school until you told me, that’s not a person who deserves to be forgiven.”
A soft laugh and a pause. “I guess what I’m saying is…is I wish things had, in fact, changed after Vecna. And I know, that’s probably not something you want to hear because I know it’s not the same for you but I figure if you’re not gonna talk to me anyway, I may as well tell you, right?”
He takes a step towards the house but I don’t let him get far.
“What do you mean it’s ‘not the same for me’?”
“Well obviously you’ve been ignoring me since I kissed you so, clearly it wasn’t something you wanted.” He shrugs his shoulders. “And that’s okay. I’m not saying you have to be with me or anything, I’m just saying…I don’t know what I’m saying.”
“I’ve been ignoring you?” I ask, dumbfounded by his idiocy.
“Well, yeah. You haven’t even been answering the walkie.”
“And you think that was because I didn’t want to kiss you? Not because, oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that the second Nance and the others showed up you shoved me away from you? It couldn’t have been because it was obvious you couldn’t stand the thought of being seen with me?”
Eddie’s face drains of color.
“I can’t help but see now that this is all you think I deserve. A quick kiss when no one can see, right? A little making out before someone can figure who you’re with, huh?”
“No! That is not at all what that was! I can’t believe you would think that. I pushed you away so you wouldn’t be seen with me!” he shouts, cutting me off.
“What?”
“The whole town wanted me for murder! Murder! They thought I was running a cult that killed my friend as a sacrifice! My friend! I didn’t want you to be tied to that anymore than you already were, so I pushed you off before the others could see. If someone, somehow went yapping about a girlfriend of mine and things went sideways when we got out of the upside down, you might have gone down with me and I couldn’t let that happen. I just couldn’t. I was going to tell you all of this as soon as I could but you never let me get the chance, and I see why now. I am so sorry it looked like I was embarrassed to be with you, but that will never be the case with me.”
He takes my face in his hands and looks me directly in the eyes.
“You are single-handedly the most beautiful person I have ever met. Inside and out. You have always cared for me and the old Hellfire Club. Don’t think I didn’t know it was you sending cookies on our campaign nights, even after graduating. I remember when I showed up at your house looking for James because some older kids had taken my lunch money in middle school, little you went after them yourself and did one helluva job doing it. You sat me down and cleaned me up. Gave me peas to put on my forehead.”
It was like a forgotten memory was just pulled up by his words, I did remember that.
“I could never be embarrassed by you, ever. I don’t care what people think. I…I love you. And I love your hair, and I love your eyes, and I love your laugh, and I love your stomach and your thighs, and I love your mind. I love you and I hope you can see it. I hope…I hope you can see me,” he finishes off in a very quiet whisper, tilting his head down and away from my eyes.
I place my hands over his that still hold my face.
“I have always seen you, Eddie Munson. Always.”
His head jolts up to look me in the eyes once more.
“God, Eddie, I’m so sorry. I know you’re not a horrible person, I should have known, I’m so sorry. God, you were literally being hunted for murder and I was crying about you being embarrassed by me? I’m so fucking sorry.”
I shake my head and take a deep breath.
“I love you, I have for so long. I love the way you smile, I love the way you’re not afraid to take up space, I love the way you’re there for Dustin, the way you were there for me countless times. I love you and your horrible music.”
“Hey, now. Watch it.”
I laugh, “I love you and I see you and I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re forgiven, I promise. You didn’t even really need to apologize in the first place.”
“Yes, I did. Because none of that was fair to you.”
“And none of that was fair to you, shortcake. It’s okay.”
I look at his lips, and that’s all the cue Eddie needs to kiss me. Finally. We put our hearts into it, getting lost in each other. Getting lost in our sudden understandings of the other.
“We’re both really kinda stupid aren’t we? Stupid and oblivious,” I say, chuckling quietly.
“Oh, definitely. I mean, we’ve known each other for, what, at least ten years and we couldn’t figure this out without a bunch of drama?”
“It seems very on brand for you actually, you’ve always been one for the dramatics.”
“I love you.”
“And I love you.”
#eddie munson x female reader#eddie munson x chubby reader#eddie munson x plus size reader#eddie munson x reader#eddie munson#stranger things#eddie munson fluff#eddie munson angst#my boyfriend eddie#my writing
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The pool party. The wife gets her “game” back!
I promised more details from the pool party.
For a little background, the wife had surgery back in December and has been very self conscious about her looks. I and everyone else that has seen her naked since has tried to tell her that she looked great was falling on deaf ears. So for the last few months I have been trying to get her back to her former slutty self. On Friday we met a new bull for the first time and all went well, but she still wasn’t 100%, but dealt a lot better. This brings us to the Saturday Pool Party.
Since we her long time friends with the hosts and hadn’t seen the, for awhile, we arrived early and started drinking. By the time the other guests arrived, the wife was well lubricated, but still holding back. As the party progressed, more and more clothes started disappearing, but the wife kept her suit on. At this time she was only one of two clothed. Enter the new guy, we’ll call Bob. Even though Bob was married, he came to the party alone, with a free pass. Pretty much everyone was in the pool at this time and several groups were starting to play. Several people, including the hosts kept telling my wife to take off her suit. She said, someone would have to get it off. Well several tried and failed. About this time she was daring guys to try to take it off. About this time mentioned that she should dare Bob, and she did. I admit she put up a struggle, but he managed to get the suit off. I told her she should reward him for his effort, so she approached him in the pool. Within minutes ites she has her arms around his neck kissing, and obviously trying to get his cock inside her. Now, once my wife puts her mind to something. It’s going to happen. Soon, she was riding him in the pool and screaming with her first of many orgasms.
Something happened, and they broke apart, and she had to leave to go to the bathroom. I went up to Bob and introduced myself, and then told him, he had already met my wife. He was a little concerned, but I assured him that this was why we were here he then told me how lucky I was. About 15 minutes later several people had moved inside to get food including. The wife and Bob.I got there just in time to hear the wife ask where they could go and “play”? They’re were directed to one of the bedrooms and off they went.
Now as I have mentioned before I love watching my wife with other guys, but this time, I let them go knowing I would hear details later. I went back to the pool to have my own fun. After about 45 minutes, Bob comes out the door, and walks straight over to me and state, “ your wife is Fantastic, and I was a lucky man” . Now realize that Bob is a young stud and he is jealous of me, because of my wife.
Eventually the wife comes out , with a big smile on her face and gives me a big kiss. I could tell that wif great “slutty wife “ was back. She gave me a brief rundown of what happened including lots of fucking with a few breaks to recoup and talk. Found out later that he had deposited 2 loads inside her during that time.
I figured they were thru, and it was our time to play as a couple with the host.. she had promised the wife that she was going to “jump her husband.” The four of us headed to a private room, and Bob followed. I assume he didn’t find anyone else to play with. Unfortunately for the host, the husband was having performance issues, so the wife could get him hard, so the host wife stepped in. My wife says, “well I can’t get him hard, but I know who I can, and looked right at Bob”. Well Bob didn’t need a second hint. Within seconds, they were goin at it on the couch while I was eating the Host wife’s pussy while she tried in vein to wake up her husband. Now I got a great show and and understood why my wife had enjoyed the previous times. They fucked for another half hour, before the wife had to to call time. She had to d it that Bob had worn her out.
After exchanging numbers and saying our goodbyes, we went back to our hotel. Now I got to reclaim my beautiful wife. Even though, she was complexly worn out, she was as determined as I was. Now I love ducking a good cream pie, so I was not disappointed. Even though it had been at least 30 minutes since he pulled out for the;last time, I was shocked at how filled her pussy was. I also pulled out several times so she could taste him on me. That really turned her on and I eventually got to add my load to hers and we both drifted asleep.
She woke the next morning with a text from Bob, saying “ he couldn’t wait until next time, and to be sure and tell her hi]us and how lucky he was”. Trust me, I know….
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Kupo Con: Pom Central, Feb 24th & 25th 2024
Hey, everyone! It’s me, the elusive Blossom here with my post from KupoCon 2024!
My mum and I travelled down to Birmingham on Friday the 23rd of February, fully laden with cosplays for both Ardyn and Cloud it didn’t take long to get there by train and the walk to the hotel was short, as it was only across the road from the station. Once there we got settled, I unpacked my costumes and put them ready for the weekend, then I went downstairs and joined the attendees already hanging about in the bar.
It made me smile every time that I saw one of the guests arriving in the hotel lobby too, casually saying hello to David Menkin (Barnabas, FF16) as I got out the lift, or walking past John Eric Bentley (Barret, FFVIIR) having a long conversation with one of the artists who were attending
I reunited with friends that I’d met at Pom2 and met new ones that I’d missed last time, I traded Tripom (KupoCons series of trading cards, based on triple triad from the FF franchise) had drinks with friends, and had dinner and drinks at a restaurant called The Alchemist, then I headed back to my room at about half 10 for an early start on the Saturday.
An early start… I woke up at half 3 and didn’t get back to sleep 😆
We got up at 7 and went and had breakfast, I spotted David Menkin again at breakfast, as well as some of the Con staff, like Eric (the official photographer) who got some amazing pictures (honestly they’re incredible, they’re available on KupoCons FB page)
Then came the main convention, which was so fun! The queuing system worked so much better than it did at Pom2 which allowed me to meet the 4 attending guests; David, Lorraine, Christopher and Gideon (Barnabas, Charon and Gav from FF16 and Balthir from FF12 and Biggs from FFVIIR) they were all lovely and I was so happy I got chance to meet them all ☺️
Then I spent time catching up with friends, getting pictures, spending a ridiculous amount of money on official merch and artists merchandise, I’d saved up for this so damn it I was going to spend it all 😆
After the main event me and mum ventured out to get something to eat before making our way back to the hotel, we got in the lift with some other attendees and when we got out we saw Chris again and he asked if we were attending the evening party
Yes! I attended a party! I socialised… ME! I can barely believe it myself 😆 but I did and I had a great time!
Then came day 2, the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launch event which was just as good as the 1st day, I queued to meet the guests and managed to get there just before they were needed to go and do a panel, I met Caleb, Gideon again, John and Paul (Zack, Biggs, Barret and Cait Sith) who were all lovely, John repeated his actions from Pom2 and gave me a masquerade token for my Cloud cosplay, and he took the photo too because I couldn’t lean across the table because of the Buster Sword on my back, to which he replied “I’ve got you”
I had a lot of compliments about my sword, which really made my day! There was a Zack cosplayer, and a Cloud cosplayer that were really impressed with it (they had been following my progress on instagram) and my friend who printed the kit for me was really impressed with it too their compliments were so appreciated and I was so happy that they liked my cosplay and it made me feel proud that I had attempted it
Cloud was a cosplay of firsts; first prop, first attempt at armour, and first attempt styling a wig, I am so proud of it and to see so many people liked it really made me happy
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King of Wishful Thinking - Pt 2
1978
Steve Harrington x Reader
The ongoing saga of Steve Harrington's declarations of love for you being discouragingly, hilariously and ironically stolen from him.
Previous (1974) || Series Masterlist || Next
Summary: Steve is a few years older and becoming more aware of how the world - his world - works. To his surprise, you're in his homeroom this year and he's thrilled to inch closer all year long...and eventually take a risk.
-----
Steve Harrington had very little for also having so much. His parents kept him so busy, he always felt like he was performing. For who? He wasn't so sure, but he was pretty sure by this point in his life that the world was a stage and his parents plopped him right front and center for a show. By 6th grade it was piano lessons on Monday, basketball on Tuesdays and Thursdays, swim every Wednesdays and most Saturdays he was ushered off to baseball. He liked the sports. It gave him a purpose. It kept him busy and it didn't really matter if the other kids liked him or not.
Steve could argue that he didn't really have many friends. Lots of people were always around him - classmates, teammates, other adults .. sure, but not actual friends. When everyone was invited to classmates Birthday parties, his parents rarely found the invitation high enough on their social calendar to make sure he attended. If it wasn't something that made them look better, he didn't get to go. So while his classmates spent weekends at the park running around with one another or meeting up at Julie or Tommy's birthday parties, he found himself sitting idly at the Country Club while his cheeks were getting pinched by older women he has never met before. It was terribly embarrassing for a kid who was just shy of being a teenager.
In all his downtime tagging along with his mom and dad, Steve became a silent observer - noticing subtle things that most would miss. He wasn't surprised when he overheard his mother gossiping on the phone about Janet Parsons fling with the cart boy at the Country Club. Steve noticed when her skirts got shorter and she started spending her days on the Green instead of poolside. He sensed the subtle shifts in his household when he scored a few points in the winning basketball game compared to the days where Jimmy Toth scored most of the points instead of Steve. The latter were days that Steve would rather spend hidden in his room to avoid any unwarranted snarky comments from his father. He could tell that his mother doted just a little more on the days he wore his khakis and a polo instead of his t-shirts and tube socks that made him feel a bit more like the kids he went to school with. He knew that Mrs King, his homeroom teacher, takes lemon in her morning tea and preferred to write with blue pens instead of black ink.
But that year, 12 year old Steve Harrington noticed a lot about you. The little fruit snacks girl from the playground. He's seen you around school for the last few years, never really crossing paths. He heard his dad telling his friends once that "Steve's not in those classes that the smart kids get assigned to" so he always assumed that you were way more intelligent than he'd ever be and he'd be doomed to just daydream about the cute girl hiding under the willow tree when he was 8 years old. But that fall, he clambered into Mrs King's homeroom on the first day of school and stopped dead in his tracks. You were sitting there perched in the second row - the perfect spot for someone not quite a teacher's pet but always paying attention. Pigtails long gone and replaced by a sweet barrette sweeping back your glossy hair from your eyes.
And he guessed that he really wasn't that far off about his assumption that he'd be doomed to daydream about you for all of eternity. More often than not he found himself distracted by you, chin in his hands. He may as well have little hearts in his eyeballs, that's how he felt looking at you. You answered questions so confidently. Smiled and laughed with the girls around you - the ones you walked through the hallway with to the next class and ate lunch with on the lawn - your real friends, he lamented.
He noticed that your chapstick was strawberry flavored. He noticed that you rode Bus 16, so that meant you lived on the other side of town. He noticed that you always had a little pink journal in your backpack tucked between library books, so you must love to write or draw. And the books, they changed so frequently he knew you were definitely a bookworm. He loved when you would wear your rain boots to school, especially when they didn't match your outfit. He saw that you often had colorful band aids slapped somewhere on your knees or legs and always wondered if they were a result of you being more adventurous or more clumsy. He was pretty sure you were into Star Wars after he noticed the pigtails return, but instead of dragging across your shoulders like they did when you were small, they were tied up, wrapped around themselves in buns like Princess Leia. Yeah, you were definitely cooler and smarter than he'd ever be.
After half a year of pining over you from afar, he made a decision. He changed his seat. Steve didn't move too far up front - he wasn't absolutely crazy - but after much consideration he chose a seat that not only he could see you but maybe you could see him too. He spent the next month exchanging a few words with you whenever he could and with extra supplies curated specifically for you in his backpack. When you rummaged around your bag looking for your favorite pen, he passed a spare Shuttle Pen with loads of extra colors across the rows and he just so happened to tell you "You can keep that one" when you go to return it. He traded his go-to cinnamon gum with spearmint in case you needed a piece. He used that carefully honed skill of observation to his absolute advantage, hoping to anticipate your every move and be there to save the day when you needed it.
Now that Steve wasn't hiding in the back of the classroom he also found himself making friends with the other kids around him each morning. He was grateful to have people his own age to talk to and found he looked forward to going to school a bit more every day now that other kids seemed like they were happy to see him, too. Because of this, in some ways, Steve considered you the reason school started to seem less like a chore. If he didn't pick a new seat just to get closer to you, it would have never happened.
As the summer months creeped closer, the classrooms becoming more humid than the air outside, Steve mustered up the little confidence he did have to slave away on a note for you. He spent two weeks writing draft after draft in his best handwriting, filling his garbage pail next to his desk about three times over before he was happy with the results. He meticulously folded the note into the perfect shape, edges tucked in and crisp. He zipped it in the front pouch of his backpack and marched off into the school with a sense of vigor - a little pep in his step.
And so he sits, tapping his toes on the tiled floors that morning, turning the carefully crafted note over in his hands while he waited for you to slide into your seat for the day. It wasn't long before you bustled in with the friends that sat around you, smiling like sunshine. Feeling a bit bold in the final hour, Steve reached in his bag for a pen and scribbled a little heart on the outside of the note before tapping the boy in the row next to him on the shoulder. He motions to Tommy, signaling for him to pass the note over to you with a jerk of his chin in your direction.
In the next few moments Steve is elated. He's nervous. He's feeling optimistic. He just wants to be the reason you smile. The boy next to him grins wide, giving him a thumbs up before swinging his legs around in his chair and leaning over the isle, hand outstretched with the note - the sweet declaration of admiration and innocent young love, addressed to "The prettiest girl on the playground." Steve's eyes are wide in excitement, fingers tapping on the edge of his desk and before he knows it the note lands right in the hands of your friend, Veronica Campbell. She looks at the boy next to her curiously as he jabs his thumbs in Steve's direction, still grinning. A shy smile unfolds on Veronica's face when she sees the heart, and time slows down like a snail as Steve watches desperately as Veronica opens the note meant for you.
Veronica freaking Campbell squealed as she read the note. Passed it around all the girls in your group, all giddy and peeking over the classroom desks in Steve's direction. Steve felt immediately like an idiot for writing a note that left out your actual name, but all he could do was sit there smiling back at the group of murmuring girls - you included - excited for their friend who was now the first of the lot to garner the affections of a boy - or so they thought. But, oh God, little did they know it's been you that's wormed your way deep into his brain and you've lived there for years already. If only they all knew. If only you knew and God damn Tommy to hell for being so stupid and passing the note to the wrong girl. Steve didn't have the heart to correct the mistake.
And that is exactly how Steve Harrington got his first girlfriend.
A little meek and absolutely playing his part, just like he does in all the other walks of his life, he finishes out his 6th grade year holding Veronica's clammy hand in the hallways. Sharing the spearmint gum meant for you with her. Veronica wasn't all that bad, as far as first girlfriends go, either. She was nice, and pretty. She thought that it was so cool that Steve had a pool in his backyard and wondered if they'd be allowed over this summer to swim. He never thought about the things he had before in that way, and so he too wondered if his parents would allow some friends over to swim. Maybe they'd like him even more that way.
And that's where he found that the silver lining in all of this was that as he walked hand in hand with her, he got to spend more time with you, too. You talked directly to him now instead of just existing in the same space. When Veronica asked him to sit with her at lunch, it meant that he could also hear you talk about your most recent borrowed book. You now knew that he played sports at fancy private clubs instead of park leagues and that he wasn't being rude when he didn't go to your birthday party when the rest of the class showed up, it was just that his parents didn't let him do any of that. Steve sometimes felt bad that his attention still drifted to you, but that was a problem for another day. Because right now Steve Harrington had a role to play, and if he knows how to do anything well, it's be what someone else wants him to be.
#Spotify#steve harrington imagine#steve harrington x reader#steve harrington#stranger things fanfiction#stranger things steve#steve harrington is an absolute idiot#steve harrington is in love#joe keery
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LET’S PLAY HOUSE. | austin!elvis presley (part 2)
notes : “elvis wants to play house with you, if you know what he means.”
extra notes : here’s part 2, this is the last part unless i drag it out and you guys want drabbles of this as a mini universe (?) just a thought
“y/n, c’mon girl! you gon’ keep them boys waitin’ on us for too long!” your best friend yelled at you from outside your bathroom.
you had decided to accompany her to a party that she oh so sweetly begged you to come to with her and two other guy friends. “girl, hold your damn horses! i don’t wanna look a mess goin’ out!”
parties—especially with people you don’t know—were not your cup of tea whatsoever. but you didn’t want your friend to be going out by herself so late at night and decided to just go anyways. the worst thing that could happen is you having to fight some guys who couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.
when you finished making sure you looked presentable enough for the outside world, you opened the bathroom door and saw your friend standing there. “ohh, you look good, y/n. i guess it was worth the wait.”
you chuckled at her and walked out the bathroom and into the living room where your momma was sitting on the couch. “momma, we about to head out. i’ll be back later so don’t wait up.”
“all i know is you better not be bringing one of them boys back into my house in the late hours, i know that for one thing.” she stated as she stood up and kissed you on the cheek.
“i won’t, you know that.” you rolled your eyes and you checked your purse to make sure you had your house key and motioned to your friend to head out. “i love you momma.”
“you too, love.”
now you really understood why you didn’t like parties.
the closeness of everyone around you, the smell of sweat and alcohol, and the bump and grind of women on men was all too much for you.
when you arrived at the place where the party was, club handy, you had thought this party was gonna be a few people. but as the time went on, more and more people flooded in that the party traveled onto the streets.
you were glad and your friend were able to secure a seat somewhere before it was too packed you could barely move anywhere.
“this party bangin’, ain’t it, y/n?” your friend nudged you after she saw you were sitting too quiet in your seat.
“yeah, i guess it’s okay. just too many people.”
“well it’s a party on beale street on a saturday night, whatcha expect, girl?” she giggled and turned to her date, you never caught his name.
his friend that was supposed to be your date was of no interest to you and he had found someone else to keep company while you sat by yourself. and you hated being the only one without someone to talk to. you cursed yourself for not at least trying to make conversation with the man before looking around at the people at the party.
it was only black people, not unexpected of beale street. they were having a fun time and you cursed yourself again for not trying to get up and dance like you knew you could.
you decided to just leave but you still didn’t want your friend to be alone so you opted for going outside and getting some fresh air. it was a task trying to get through the sea of bodies packed all around but you finally found the entrance and stood against the wall of the club.
a couple of minutes went by before you saw a nice, sleek cadillac pull up in front of the sidewalk where you stood with your back to the wall.
the guy who drove it wasn’t like the average person you’d see on beale street: he was tall with slicked down black hair, a pink see-through button down on with some slacks. when he closed his car door and turned around, the lights illuminated his face and you could see he was white.
he looked around the street as if he was waiting on someone before his eyes met yours.
you looked down quickly, reminding yourself that your momma told you to not make eye contact with white folks before walking towards the entrance of the club.
“hey, wait.” a deep voice called out. it dropped honey and it made your knees weak.
you turned around and saw the man walking closer to you. he had a faint smile on his face. “what’s a pretty lil’ lady like yourself doin’ out here?”
“no reason, sir. i was just gettin’ some fresh air.” you twiddled your thumbs behind your back so he didn’t see you fidget. “i’m sorry for staring at you.”
“no, no. don’t worry about it, darlin’, he stepped a little closer to you. “i would’ve stared at you too. you’re gorgeous.”
you blushed, it didn’t show on your skin, but you definitely felt your face heat up. “why, thank you. you’re not so bad to look at either.”
he laughed a little, “well thank you. you came to this party with someone?”
you had relaxed a little, feeling a sense of familiarity with him. he didn’t make you nervous so that was the thing that roped you in. “i came with my friend but she had a date so i’m not with anyone.”
“well, you can be my date, if you don’t mind.” this time when he stepped closer, he grabbed your hand and laced your fingers together.
“i’m afraid i don’t know your name.”
“elvis.”
you furrowed your eyebrows. elvis? as in the scrawny little white boy with golden hair from tupelo? couldn’t be.
“what’s your last name, elvis?”
“presley. why, what’s the matter?”
presley. the scrawny little golden haired white boy from tupelo was now a very tall, not so scrawny and not so golden haired white boy holding your hand. in the middle of the sidewalk.
“nothing, i just used to have a friend with that exact name. white, too. but you look nothing like he used to,” you saw elvis’ face contort into confusion. “he had golden blonde hair, was skinny, and he loved to dance.”
“wait, darlin’, what’s your name?”
you glanced up at the man. “y/n.”
his eyes widened and he broke out into a big grin. “y/n! oh my gosh, baby you look so good!” he pulled you into a hug, spinning you around.
“so you are my elvis? i thought you looked a little familiar but, i wasn’t so sure. heavens you look so.. handsome.” you placed your face in his chest, smiling when you realized your words were kinda muffled.
“i always wondered what happened to you. my momma kept saying one day we’d cross paths but, i didn’t think so,” he pulled back from the hug, taking all of you in. “look at you, just as pretty as the day.”
“like i said, you ain’t so bad yourself, elvis. this new hair is something i’d never think you’d go for.
“well,” he said teasing his hair. “i like trying something new. it’s just shoe polish for now.” he chuckled.
“well, like i said, it looks great.” you smiled up at him.
he smiled back and rubbed your shoulder. “thank you.” he was about the say something else but someone interrupted him.
“y/n! girl, oh my. you had me worried sick about you!” your friend emerged from the entrance of the club. “don’t scare me like that.” she stopped speaking when she saw you and elvis standing together. “oh, well, pardon me. carry on.”
“um, elvis, this is my friend, terese. she brought me here with her, terese this is elvis.” you introduced the two.
“oh, i know who this is.” she said smirking at you. “look at you gettin’ all the pretty boys. nice to meet you, elvis.”
“you too. i was just about to bring y/n back into the party because i know she can still dance.”
“me?” you raised an eyebrow at him. “i haven’t danced in the longest time.”
“oh, really? i think i’ll be the judge of that then.” he pulled your hand and you both made your way back into the club.
click here to be added to the taglist!
@adoreyouusugar | @kmaximoff
#a friedwangsss original#friedwangsss post#austin butler elvis#elvis x reader#austin!elvis x black reader#lph!universe
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4 years ago I sent this to a complete stranger…. I have no idea why I sent it or why it is completely deranged but I sent it and 4 years later we are probably closer than two people 1,000 miles away could be
Kaz it’s been 4 years, 1,461 days, that have been the best days of my life, because you have been in them. You are my oracle, my rock, and the other half of my brain. I have no idea what I did to be so lucky to have met you.
In the first days of our friendship I think we wrote 4 peer reviewed papers just on Ezra Standish alone. I don’t think I ever told you this but I saved some (most) (for at least the first week) of our messages in a word doc because I liked rereading our convos. You are still just as verbose and detailed as you were back then and I consider myself so lucky to be able to read about your OCs and Aus whenever you get a hankering to share (which is fortunately often)
You have made me grow in so many ways, with your kindness and your snark. I strive to be as good a friend to you as you are to me. You’ve broaden my tastes to the moon (Fire and Ice and The Eagle are still burned into my brain) (Special mention to Rem Lezar and those eps of Rawhide because I can’t put those psychological horrors in this category but I wanted to mention it because they would have been good cause to lose my number... and yet)
Kaz this message could probably last at least 3,000 words, when it probably needs just three, I love you, I honestly believe it’s more than love, it is just a natural part of my heart, that you now inhabit. There is not a quality that you’ve shown me that I don’t love, from your strong convictions (that have rubbed off on me), your imagination that knows few bounds, and especially your patience. You are probably more important to me then you know and I hope I give as much as I get because you deserve it. Kaz you are the whole package plus about 6 other packages that I didn’t expect but happily unwrapped
I remember in 2022 when our friendship went from a casual, still very close but casual relationship, to what it is today. Our first watch party was the last two eps from Our Flag means Death season 1. What babies we were back then, there was little talking (due to how we watched but still) there was no screaming no brain melting a far cry from today. Our Saturday nights have always been sacred to me and I will/have bent over backwards to not miss them, they make getting through the week an easy task because I know I will be able to hang out with you for approximately 4-8 hours which sounds crazy and is crazy. Anyway now in 2024 I literally can’t imagine a day we aren’t in contact (I still get soft when I remember that week where I barely had the energy to open your messages and yet you were here on Tumblr being a bright spot which i definitely needed) And I get to have that everyday even if it’s just a check in or a in-depth psychology analysis on Jess Harper I get to have the pleasure of talking to you which is priceless.
One more thing Kaz when I met you I didn’t have close friends I had a couple but they felt very hollow and it was hard to communicate with them sometimes, due to my Visions TM (it’s probably the autism but I’ll blame Visions and not how my brain functions) my real world friends did not share my interest in Gay cowboys or weird shows from the 70s so I felt very alone for a long time but then I threatened a random Incorrect quotes blog and I found someone I could make a home out of a multitude of fandoms with. You will have no idea what an impact you’ve made on me. And I hope we have at least 80,000 more anniversaries that we can share
I could go on, I should go on because I definitely don’t think I talked enough about how perfect you are and literally you are perfection but this has to come to an end for one our sakes lol. Kaz you really are the breath under my wings and I want to make sure you never forget just how much I cherish you
I am so excited to see you in person in 144 days!!!
@incorrect-gunslingers
#I’ll see you Saturday my love#does 8 paragraphs mean I win?#I was listening to your playlist while I wrote this becasue i wanted the right amount of feels to write this#sorry for not mentioning our sons I was going to I swear#I wrote a rough draft at work and like none of it made it in lol#4 year anniversary#AND YES I SCHEDULED THIS ON THE EXACT MINUTE I SENT THE MESSAGE BECAUSE IM A SAP#im so excited to watch trapeze with you (i know i keep saying this but its true)#okay so I was gonna post this at 105 BUT ITS 105 your time and 1205 my time#I think
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Tuska 2023
So the metal festival over now but that was fun!
This was three days, my Son and his girlfriend were full three days I was friday saturday and She was on friday.
Definite highlights were Gojira In Flames, Jinjer and Butcher Babies. Avatar kicked plenty of behinds and Clutch did a good show despite technical difficulties.
Young ones got their 15 Warholian munutes of game being on Gojira Instagram and Finnish YLE as frontrow. Here is YLE pic
And yes the dude peeking behind my Son throwing horns is his old man in a kilt. And yes there is nothing but me under the kilt for fucks sake.
Avatar was a great festival opener and good live band. On friday Gojira and Jinjer crushed it.
Tati is a goddess
The kids said my stupid face was on screens from audience whether trance like or moshing like a freak I do not know. This band rules
Young ones liked Arch Enemy too but while I like the band they have way too many guitat solos. I want riffs on riffs and brutality guitat solos are utterly useless 999 times out of thousand and you can keep them.
And we met up with my groovy ex girlfriend which was fun too.
Mokoma had a great tent gig even if it was the most drunken crowd of friday. And Gojira absolutely smashed it.
Today Satan, today. And yes that is bright blue Donald Duck slingbag.
Her friend turns fifty so while on saturday She went to a birthday party ( snd see their new puppy) me and young metalhead couple went back to Tuska.
Orbit Culture was s nice surprisr but despite some rain I left to see Clutch from front roe. And despite drums needing fixing and some looping they went to town. I checked my phone during set and found out that some ranfom female tried to choke my Son but thanks to his great goth girlfriend they got out of situation. And the drigged out assaillant was lucky that I wss elseehere.
We were feeling amgry and down awhile after that but thanks Motionless in White. This was in a way most fun set. My Son wanted to see them. Me and his girlfriend we...found them unintentionently funny emo band. So we just goofed snd danced. As my Son said " I had the gig and a free stand-up show" and it began to pour rain during the set. I had rainponcho from Her and as my son's girlfriend marked " you turned into hairiest, grumpiest purple metal garden Elf"
Then we waited for In Flames. In the downpour. And made new friends.
In Flames eas good. No. Great. DINOSAUR!
That is not a song. Someone had brougth an inflatable dinosaur. On which the vocalist commented and got the chant of Dinosaur! DINOSAUR!" From the crowd and he apparently forgot this is Finland. I guess he thought saying"I want to see someone riding the Dino " was a joke. Still. Finland.
So, someone riding the inflatable dinosaur on people carrying Said dinosaur. In the pit.
I left through the pit because while In Flames was..well in flames I wanted frontrow of Butcher Babies. ( After I left it apparently went even more mental as flood of crowdsurfing began)
I went Mental with Butcher Babies. Carla and Heidi went to Yorktown and it was great show. And thsnkfully there was last december so I could rest and not have cardiac arrest. Will see them again for sure.
Managed to find the youth utterly spent and had a few as none of us gave a shit about Ville Valo. Though. The final heartfelt ballad "When love and death embrace" it is a pretty ballad. It is And it's a ballad.
So we had three person synchronized moshpit the whole song. Laughing.
They went sunday, me and Her went to movies.
Horns up!
#Tuska#Tuska 2023#Tuska metal festival 2023#curtvile#Jinjer#Mokoma#orbit culture#Clutch#Gojira#In Flames#Butcher Babies#Avatar#motionless in white#ville valo#Metal
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The Hand You Hold
Just finished editing this short for my collection. Kinda like it so thought, why not share early?
[I've changed the title of the collection too - it's now Becoming Something Else. Hopefully for the last time lol]
~~~
How to describe Melda?
I think I have to start with her mum. Everyone called her Mata, and she was a bonafide hippy, a painter and genuinely strange person. She had a habit of staring at herself in the mirror for long stretches of time – even when they had visitors.
She said, when I first went to their place and saw her doing that, that she was an artist ‘searching for her deepest soul’. Melda had just rolled her eyes.
Not surprisingly, Melda too was unconventional, and we had an unconventional friendship: we didn't make a lot of demands on each other. Even if I'd been keen to be in her pocket, I'd have had no chance.
She was always busy. She loved sports, watched pretty much all of them, and played many. She took salsa lessons once a week, went swimming every day at the local pool, and did Tai Kwon Do as well; somehow, she squeezed all this around studying full time. I have no idea how she did it.
She was a total extrovert. She could, and did, talk to anyone and everyone. She could never just stand in line for the bus, or walk through the checkouts at Woolies; she had to have a conversation with anyone who made eye contact, whether they wanted to talk to her or not. A remarkable number of people would start off surly but end up chatting happily to her anyway; and everyone remembered her, even the checkout chicks, who saw a thousand faces a day.
Back then, I never stopped being amazed by the things she remembered about these virtual strangers. If they had kids, she knew how old it or they were, their names and birthdays; ditto for their dogs; if they'd crashed their car, moved house, got married, engaged, had a birthday, changed jobs. Anything and everything.
In stark contrast, I rarely left my room, except to attend lectures and tutorials, and to eat in the central café.
I often wondered why Melda bothered with me, after we met in class during our first semester. She’d just chosen me, and I went along with it.
It was a hot, summer afternoon at my study desk when I remembered that I was supposed to be meeting her at the campus Tavern. I wished I hadn't agreed to go, but it was too late to back out by then, so I reluctantly left my air-conditioned room and hurried across the burning tarmac towards the shade of the trees in the main quadrangle.
Aside from hating the heat, I was also keeping a low profile because one of the girls who lived in the same block as me, Amy, was on my case about donating to the 'campus social fund.' She liked to say that the proceeds were used to pay guest lecturers to speak and such; but I knew it mostly financed student parties. I'd never been to one of those parties and had no intention of ever going, so I saw no reason why I should feel obligated to donate. Amy fervently disagreed with my stance.
As I made it to the relative safety of the trees, I saw Melda through the window of the Tavern. She waved, but even at that distance I could see that she was unhappy about something.
I went in and took a seat across from her. She had a drink ready for me, which she slid across the table. She was already halfway through her own.
'What is it?'
'John.' That was her long-term boyfriend.
'What's happened?'
'He's been weird the last few days – kinda distant. I asked him what’s wrong, and he said that he feels like an accessory in my life. I told him that’s not true, but he says he feels like he never sees me, and when he does, I’m always distracted.'
I understood his position to some extent. Though her unavailability had never bothered me, if I'd been a different kind of person, I could see how that might bother someone. I didn't say that though.
'But you guys go on date nights all the time?'
'Not enough, apparently. We were meant to be going to the cricket on Saturday, just to watch his old team play, but now he says he's not going. I suppose I have to give it a miss, too.'
'Why?'
'He’s made me feel like shit about it.' She sighed. ‘It’s annoying. I wanted to catch up with the girls while I was there.’
I felt bad for her. It wasn’t her fault that she was who she was, and I thought that John was an asshole for making her feel that way. She didn’t choose to be outgoing, that was just how she was made.
I didn’t say that either, though; instead, I suggested, 'I could go with you, if you like?'
She stared at me. 'Really? You'll hate it.'
'I'll take a book.'
'You never know - you might get into it,' she said optimistically.
That idea was ridiculous, but I'd committed to going, so I tried muster some enthusiasm.
'I have no idea how cricket works.'
Melda smiled. 'I'll explain everything. Another drink?'
'Sure,' I said, just glad that she’d cheered up.
***
When Saturday arrived, I prised my eyes open at eleven. I was looking forward to spending the day in bed, and maybe doing a little work on an essay in the afternoon if I could be bothered, but of course – I was going to the cricket.
I groaned.
I really didn't want to, but I knew better than to say so to Melda when she arrived. Even if I hadn't thought it was shitty to be a flake, she'd never have let me get away with it, anyway.
Melda had a dodgy old car which ran on prayers and the smell of an oily rag. It made a weird and probably dangerous thumping sound when it reached speeds above eighty. The car was as much a part of our friendship as if it was sedentary.
That morning I wished it really was alive; then it could’ve escorted my overly upbeat friend to the cricket without me.
I was relieved when we reached the ground and I found an area of lawn beneath huge eucalypts where I could stretch out on the grass.
For the first couple of hours of the game, I paid very little attention to the cricket, but eventually, I put the book down and sat up, stretching my back.
I'd have laid back down again, but I was distracted by a situation near the clubhouse.
A girl, who was perhaps eighteen but probably younger, very made-up and very confident, was flirting outrageously with a guy who at a glance I took to be at least a few years older than her. They were far enough away that I couldn’t hear what was being said, but he was looking away from her, scowling.
Behind her back, and facing me at an angle, there were three guys who were also watching what was going on. Two of them were laughing between themselves, while the third was slowly shaking his head, his face serious.
He must’ve sensed me looking, because he turned and caught my eye.
I flushed in embarrassment and snapped my attention back to the field, mortified.
When I looked back again, the whole tableaux had shifted, and the serious guy was gone.
I sighed without realising I’d done it, and Melda, who’d been chatting with one of the women behind us, asked, ‘Are you bored?'
'No,’ I said reassuringly.
She gave me a suspicious look. 'I'm watching you.'
I snorted. 'Well, that'll bore you.'
I allowed my eyes to wander – I wasn’t looking for the guy, I swear, but I found him anyway. He was standing on the boundary line, so I had a chance to get a decent look at him then.
He was dressed in whites, with a bat in one hand and his helmet in the other – padded up, as Melda would say. He was tall, broad shouldered and slim, blonde with a bit of stubble on his face. Good-looking, in my opinion.
A few minutes later, one of the batsmen already on the field was caught out, and he took to the field.
I didn't do anything that I thought was obvious, besides actually watching the game for the five minutes he was playing, before he too got caught out. As he walked off the field and disappeared into the changerooms, I settled back and took up my book.
I'd just opened it when Melda said knowingly, 'Ahh, I see.'
I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
'What?'
'You were checking out Maddox.'
'Mad Ox? Interesting nickname.'
'That's his surname,' she said, spelling it out, before adding, 'He's the team hottie. I was tempted myself, before John; but he has a long-term girlfriend.' She gave me a mock-evil smile. 'I'll introduce you, if you want?'
I scoffed. 'Don't you dare.'
Melda chuckled before turning back to the woman she'd been speaking to, leaving me to my book.
***
One afternoon a few weeks later, I set out for the city centre. I was in particular need of new music which, in the days before the push of a button delivered every conceivable song to your mobile devices, entailed an expedition. I had wide ranging taste, and I could never get what I was looking for at the local shopping centre. There was one particular store in the CBD where everyone went. They had almost any album you could imagine.
I was standing on the platform at the traino, oblivious to everything beyond the book I was reading, when someone put their hands on my shoulders from behind.
I spun around, prepared to use the self-defence moves I'd been taught in a one-day course back in high school, but thankfully it was just Melda.
'You're a prime target for a mugging.'
'I worry that you've thought about that,' I said lightly as I slipped my book into my bag.
'Well, if all goes to wrack and ruin, it's good to have a backup plan.' She grinned before adding, 'What are you doing anyway, other than reading Eliot?'
'Going into the city for new tunes.'
'Nice. I've got to buy a dress for a wedding I'm going to. I'll come with you, if you'll come and offer an opinion on the dress?'
'I don't know how useful I'll be, but sure. Why not?'
She asked, 'What's on your wish list?'
'I've been searching for a CD copy of that Eartha Kitt record I have for ages without any luck; and I could always do with more Talking Heads… but maybe something completely different – techno, or hip hop. There’re a few options.'
She smiled. 'It's good to keep it diverse.'
The store was in one of the pedestrian malls, and filled three storeys. We stepped off the escalator on the second floor, where I made a beeline towards easy listening and was soon up to my elbows in Frank Sinatra and Roy Orbison.
I was reading the track listing of a CD when a voice caught my attention.
Glancing up then swiftly down again, I saw Maddox was in the alternative section, with a girl who I assumed was his girlfriend. She was pretty, with one of those faces that I’ve always thought of as kind – gentle lines, an easy smile.
A minute later, Melda came over to me.
'Have you found it?'
'Nah – but look who's here.' I nodded in their direction.
She grinned and ducked around the racks, heading for where they were standing.
'Hey Maddox!'
He looked over, and for a moment I saw him hesitate, before saying coolly, 'Melda. How's things?'
‘Aw yeah, all good,’ before adding, ‘Hi, Susie.'
She said, ‘Hey,’ quietly.
Meanwhile, I was sidling off towards the dance section, further away, hoping Melda would forget I was there, but no such luck.
'Hey Deanna - come here a minute.'
I was tempted to pretend I couldn't hear her, but I resigned myself. She would just pursue me across the store if I did – it’d happened before.
When I reached them, Melda said to Maddox, 'This is Deanna. She's my friend from uni.'
Maddox smiled at me.
'Hey Deanna. We've met before, haven't we?' Up close, I saw that his eyes were very green. I had to remind myself to look respectfully.
I shook my head, feeling shy. 'I was at the cricket a few weeks back, though.'
'That’s right. You witnessed Dan Michaels getting flirted at.'
There was something about him that made me relax. I guess it was just that he was so casual, and it was contagious. I shook my head a little.
'He looked so awkward about it, I felt sorry for him. And those other two, just laughing about it.' I shook my head again.
He replied seriously, ‘That girl’s only sixteen you know. Same age as my sister. I’ve tried to tell her it’s not a good look, but she keeps coming back regardless.’ He paused before saying, ‘This is Susie by the way - my girlfriend.’ He glanced at Melda as he said it.
‘Good to meet you,’ I said to Susie.
She smiled back. ‘You too.’
Maddox asked me, 'What did you think of the game, though?'
'I can’t lie - I’m not into sports. I had no clue what was going on.'
Melda had been remarkably quiet; I looked at her to back me up, and found she’d zoned out, staring into space. She snapped out of it when I looked at her though, and put on an easy smile.
‘She’s not lying. I explained the rules, but she didn’t take any of them in.’
That wasn’t entirely true, but I didn’t argue.
Maddox chuckled as he looked back at me.
'You seriously never played cricket? Not even in school?'
'Hell, no. I'd rather be reading.'
Susie smiled. ‘I’m just the same. Only fools run around for “fun” in the middle of summer.’
‘Exactly,’ I agreed with a chuckle.
Susie turned to Maddox. ‘We should really get going. Mum’ll be waiting.’
‘Yeah, you’re right.’ He said cheerfully to me, ‘Good meeting you, Deanna.’ Almost as an afterthought, he added, ‘Seeya, Melda.’
We said goodbye, and I turned back to the racks of CDs.
To my surprise, the copy of Eartha Kitt I’d been looking for was right there – in the wrong section and all. I picked it up, and held it up.
'My luck’s in!' That’s when I noticed she was looking at me with slightly narrowed eyes. 'What?'
'What the hell was that? Or should I say, who the hell was that?'
Puzzled, I said, 'I don't know what you mean?'
'Yes, you do! I've known you for two years, and never - not once - have you spoken to a male, of any description.'
‘That’s not true,’ I said, offended. ‘I talk to people in my classes all the time.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘You know what I mean – one’s that you think are attractive.’
‘Even if that was true, which it’s not, it’s not like they start conversations with me, either.' Her tone irritated me, and I thought uncharitably that she only believed that because I couldn’t get a word in edge-ways when she was around.
I went to pay, setting the CD on the counter.
Melda followed, saying, ‘'What happened at the cricket that you didn't tell me about?'
The clerk serving me caught my eye as I gave her the cash, then looked at Melda and back again as she handed me the change with a sympathetic look.
I rolled my eyes, then thanked her as she handed me the bag.
Once we were outside, I said, 'I was just watching some guy getting hit on by a young girl, and in the background two of his mates were ripping the piss. You know I'm a people watcher. Maddox saw me looking.' I felt resentful having to explain this. Everything felt out of kilter suddenly. ‘It was nothing,’ I said, drawing a line under it.
She accepted that, and we talked about other stuff, but I could tell that something about all that annoyed her.
***
March arrived, and the days slowly became less offensively toasty.
Melda had got over whatever it was that’d made her so sulky with me, though it'd taken far longer than I’d expected. I had asked her what it was that’d been bothering her, but she'd just brushed me off, saying she was just feeling moody. That was plausible, because sometimes she’d been like that in the past, but… it didn’t feel the same.
The truth was, something had shifted between us, but neither of us wanted to admit it or try to figure out what it was, so we ignored it; but she was cooler towards me, and I wasn’t as trusting as I’d been. We saw each other less.
It was Thursday, and I'd just left a lecture. There'd been a rain shower while I’d been indoors, so I threw off my shoes and walked on the grass in the quadrangle, enjoying the rainy grass on my feet.
Melda found me like that, enjoying the moment.
'What are you doing?'
I looked up without hurry, smiling.
'What does it look like?'
'Well, I know what you're doing, but why are you doing it?'
'Your Mata told me it's called earthing. It’s good for the soul.'
She just looked at me, one eyebrow raised.
I smiled, just happy to be alive. There was no real reason - sometimes the universe is just like that; it grants me – and I’m sure, everyone else too – these moments of joy for no other reason than that I exist. I thought that the effort to explain that would probably destroy the feeling though, so I ignored her pointed look.
She settled onto a bench nearby, pulled a sandwich out of her bag and began eating it, while I continued to walk and smile to myself.
When the sandwich was gone, and I'd had enough of getting my wet feet, she asked, 'Do you feel like going for a walk? I'm going to see John – my next class isn't for a couple of hours.' John worked at an office fifteen minutes' drive from the uni, and she knew I had no classes that afternoon.
'I’d never walk that far, even if I'd just won the lottery and I had to so I could claim the cash.'
Melda chuckled.
'I was going to drive down to the park and walk from there. That way I'll get my workout in without going swimming this arvo. John says he wants to take me to the movies.'
'OK, I'll come. No canoodling in front of me, though.'
She shook her head with a faint smile. 'I promise.'
We met John outside his office, and while they talked, I went across the street to a café – well, I say they talked, but from what I could see through the window, John ate, while Melda did all the talking.
As I drank a coffee, I was thinking disconsolately about the essay I had waiting for me back in my room. It was grim: thirty thousand words on Joyce’s Ulysses - gods.
Eventually I zoned out, looking unseeingly at two men on scaffolding above. They were cleaning the windows of the multi-storey building which stood at right angles to the cafe. I couldn’t see their faces through the distortions of the glass, but one of them was older and bald, the other was younger and blonde; both of them seemed to be completely unconcerned about the height at which they were working.
I couldn't even imagine climbing that high, never mind moving around while I was up there like it was nothing at all. The first gust of wind and I'd be clinging to the railing for dear life - crying, probably.
Melda and John had stood up, presumably saying goodbye, so I went to wait for Melda on the sidewalk.
'Deanna?' The voice came from above, and looking up, I saw that the blonde window washer was Maddox.
'Are you stalking me?' The words were out before I thought them through, and I flushed.
He just laughed though, and shimmied down the ladder.
I shook my head, and he raised an eyebrow at me.
'I don't like heights,' I explained while I pretended I wasn’t flushing.
'You get used to it,' he said. 'What are you doing here?'
I pointed across the road, where John had already moved halfway into the building, while Melda went on talking. John’s arms were crossed firmly. He wasn’t smiling.
'Waiting on the lovebirds,' I said dryly.
He looked, pondered them a moment, then said, ‘I think she said you go to the same uni?'
'That's right.'
'One of my mates goes there,' he said. 'He’s studying engineering.'
'Oh, he's one of those.’
He laughed. 'He really is. What are you doing?'
'Arts, English major.' I know I didn’t sound very enthusiastic - the spectre of that Joyce essay was looming over me.
He didn’t notice though. Melda was preparing to cross the road and he began moving away.
'I better go. We do this building every Thursday, and the owners are tyrants about quick completion.' He smiled, gesturing up to where the older man was leaning against the railing looking down at them impatiently. 'He'll be on my case as it is. It was good seeing you.'
I smiled back. ‘Good to...’
Melda had reached us, and talked over me. 'I didn't expect to see you here, Maddox.'
He'd already begun climbing the ladder, and said over his shoulder without turning back, 'Gotta go where the work takes me.'
Melda and I went back in the direction of the park, and we hadn't got very far before she said with a certain brittleness in her voice, 'Must be your lucky day, bumping into Prince Charming again.'
I searched her face, wondering where the attitude was coming from. I put it down to the conversation she'd just had with her boyfriend.
'What's going on? John looked a bit sulky.'
She said dismissively, 'John's fine. He's just having a moment.'
‘A moment?’
‘Reckons he heard some bullshit rumour about me. I put his mind at ease.’
‘What rumour?’
‘Oh,’ she waved a hand dismissively. ‘The usual thing where I talk to a guy, and onlookers just assume I’m hitting on them so they go tell John I’m cheating, or trying to. You know how it goes.’
It hadn’t happened since we’d been friends, but perhaps it had before we met.
‘Who are you supposed to be cheating with?’
She waved the hand again. ‘Oh, just some guy. You don’t know him.’
She began talking about something else then, and I let it go. She’d tell me if she wanted to. I wasn’t one to push for confidences.
***
I went back to the café the next Thursday, telling myself it had nothing to do with Maddox, but of course it did.
As I walked towards the café from the bus-stop, I anxiously asked myself what I was doing, and the honest answer was that I didn’t know.
Yes, he was attractive, but from what I’d seen of him, he also seemed like a nice person – and at least half my interest was simple curiosity about who he was.
Perhaps I was wrong to act as I did, but at the time, it seemed right.
When Maddox and the older guy had finished work, and the scaf was back on the truck, he came in to buy himself a coffee. He said hi then loitered casually near my table while he waited for his order to be prepared.
He thankfully acted as though he didn't realise I'd come to see him, though of course, he must've known; and afterwards, I realised that he'd probably deliberately mentioned that he’d be there so I’d come back.
'This your new local?'
I shrugged, and was about to reply when I saw the old guy drive away in the scaf truck.
'I hope you weren't expecting a ride?'
He glanced where I pointed and smiled absently.
'Nah, one of the boys in picking me up to take me to training.’ He hesitated before saying, ‘We had a corker of a wind-up on Saturday. I expected to see you there.' He avoided looking at me as he said it.
I could feel my neck and ears turning red, but I said as coolly as I could muster, 'I don't go to those kinds of things – not my cup of tea. I'm sure Melda was in fine form, though.'
'Yeah, you could say that.' He paused, hesitating. ‘She had quite a lot to say about you.'
That surprised me. 'She did?'
He nodded. The barista called his name then, and he went to collect his coffee before coming back. He pulled out the chair opposite mine, and perched on the edge, like he was ready to spring away at any moment.
It must be quite a thing to be that athletic, I thought abstractly.
'What did she say?' I asked, trying to keep my voice casual, but I think I probably sounded anxious. I certainly felt anxious.
'I know she’s your friend, but I don't like back-stabbing, and the things she said about you...’ He grunted in annoyance, pressing the coffee type tabs in on his cup, one after the other. 'She’s a piece of work.’
I'd been watching him warily. I wondered whether I really wanted to hear whatever he was going to say. I had no way of knowing whether it would be true or not; but I decided that I should hear him out.
'What did she say?' I repeated, sounding more apprehensive than before.
He took a deep breath.
'She said you're super weird – needy and a bit desperate. She warned me away from you, said I could do better.' He shook his head, muttering, ‘As if she knows anything about me.’
I felt the words like a punch to the chest. She'd called me weird to my face before, but always in a playful way, so I’d thought she was only joking. The desperate and needy really hurt though, because it simply wasn’t true; but it wasn’t a struggle to imagine her saying it – and who knew how much more there’d been, knowing what she was like when she’d been drinking.
Into the weighted silence, I said, 'You said she was warning you away from me? Why?'
He was still looking down at his cup. 'I asked.'
‘You… oh.’ My face was burning. 'But you have a girlfriend…?’
He interrupted, catching my eye a moment as he said, ‘Had.’ He looked at the cup again.
I couldn’t stop myself asking, ‘What happened?'
He shook his head slowly.
'Has Melda ever told you about me and her?'
'No, not really.' She'd only mentioned that she'd found him hot before she got with John, but I wasn't going to say that to his face.
'Why am I not surprised?' He took a drink before continuing. ‘Ever since she’s been around, she’s tried it on with me. At first, she was dating a friend of mine, Pete - that’s how she got involved with the club in the first place. She used to hit on me openly, in front of him, then when he’d get pissed off, she’d say she was only joking.’ He shook his head, looking out the window. ‘I’ve knocked her back at least a dozen times, I reckon. She really only backed off when Susie came into the picture.’ He looked at me then. ‘Last month, after I saw you guys in the city, that Saturday, she came to the club and had another crack.’
I frowned. 'Another crack?’
'Got drunk and was all over me, even though Susie was there, and she lost it. Melda and her had a bit of a scuffle.' He sighed, and added, ‘Things between Susie and I were going badly anyway. This was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.’
Leaning back in my chair, I let out a long breath.
I wanted to believe he was lying, but I didn’t. It fit too well with what I did know. She usually told me when she’d been to the club - the fact that she hadn’t mentioned it at all was telling. Then there’d been that ‘rumour’ that’d upset John, which she’d brushed off; and other smaller hints, too… Her moodiness and coolness towards me in the previous months felt like the final seal on what was probably the truth.
He was watching my face closely, and when I met his eye, he looked like he was about to say something; but the door opened then, and glancing up, he recognised the guy that'd come in.
He stood, and pushed his chair in.
'Here's Pauly. I better go.' He hesitated a moment longer. 'Sorry to tell you all this.'
'It’s better that I know,' I said reassuringly, even though I felt sick. 'Even if it sucks.'
He rested a warm hand on my shoulder, pausing a moment before asking tentatively, 'I'll see you around?'
Even with such a lot of difficult thoughts whirring in my brain, I had butterflies at the question, the slightly anxious smile. I smiled back.
‘Same time, same place?’
‘Alright.’
After he was gone, I sat for a long time staring at my fingers curled around the cup in front of me, trying to process everything.
I felt devastatingly hurt. I’d been more open with Melda than I was with most people. She understood me, or I’d believed she did – but I’d clearly been wrong. That she’d tried to sabotage the potential relationship out of sheer jealousy was breathtaking in its cruelty. If she’d talked to me about her feelings towards Maddox, I’d have respected them; but the way she’d acted, the things she’d said… I simply couldn’t forgive it.
Still, a part of me insisted I seek out confirmation that what he’d said was true, beyond his words and my own thoughts.
So I waited, and left the café in time to intercept John as he left his work.
***
I was in my room working on the final draft of that wretched Joyce essay a couple of days later when there was a knock on my door. I recognised Melda’s knock. She'd tried to call twice, but I hadn’t answered. What was there to say?
She said jokingly, 'I know you're in there. I can hear your music.'
I didn't answer.
'I'm starting to think you're avoiding me. I know I've been a moody bitch lately, but you know how I am.'
'Do I really, Melda?'
'Are you having an existential crisis in there? Do we need to get you to the Tavern and out of your own head?'
'Nope. I’m perfectly fine,' I replied. It was only a half-lie.
'Are you going to open the door, or are you going to make me stand out here all afternoon?'
'If you want to stand out there all day, that's your business.'
She finally twigged that I was serious. I could hear the frown in her voice.
'What's going on?'
'You tell me. Have you got something to say to me?'
'No.’
'Yeah – it is easier to say things behind my back instead, isn’t it? Then you can just go on pretending we're friends to my face.'
There was a pause before she asked, 'Who have you been talking to?’
I closed my eyes for a moment. It was an admission.
She continued, ‘I suppose it’s Maddox. So much for sisters before misters.’
‘How dare you say that to me when your knives are still in my back?’
I could hear the eyeroll in her voice.
‘Stop being so melodramatic. I never said anything about you.’
‘So when he asked you about me, you just said nothing? Righto. That sounds just like you.’
‘You know I meant I haven’t said anything negative. I only told him good things – he just hates me, so he’s twisted it around, hoping you’ll hate me, too.’
‘Interesting way to get with someone you like – break up one of her friendships first. Quite the opening salvo.’
That prodded at her jealousy, as I’d suspected it would. The brittleness was back in her voice.
‘Says a lot for the person he is, doesn’t it? That he’d just lie to get what he wants.’
I sighed. ‘It would – if he’d lied; but John confirmed what he told me. I suppose he hates you too, does he?’
There was a lengthy silence. She must’ve known the jig was up. When she spoke again, her voice was flat.
‘So – what. We aren’t friends anymore?’
‘No,’ I confirmed.
She said with derision, ‘I don’t need you anyway.’
At some point, when I made no reply, she walked away; though I didn’t hear her go.
~~~
Contents page of the Collection
#jpdoingwords#BecomingSomethingElse#short story#original fiction#contemporary fiction#failing friendships#the title is from an Everclear quote#you were blind to the fact that the hand you hold#is the hand that holds you down#wip wednesday
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Yes, you read that correctly. The former One Direction star has put on his very own festival – and it's a guitar bonanza in Málaga with Hinds and The Vaccines on the bill. Rhian Daly finds out why
“I was 16 when I went to my first festival,” Louis Tomlinson recalls towards the end of his headlining set in Málaga on Saturday night (August 28). Beneath his usual stage swagger, there’s a healthy dose of awe coursing through his voice as he looks out over the 15,500 people gathered at Marenostrum Music Castle Park, the beach-side venue that is playing host to this year’s edition of Away From Home Festival. “Never did I think I’d be involved in something like this.”
Tonight, Tomlinson isn’t just headlining a festival on the Costa del Sol – he’s put the whole party together. It’s the second run of the event, which he founded in 2021, and this year has moved to a location far more exotic than its original base of Crystal Palace Bowl in south London.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to create something like this,” the star explains to NME backstage hours earlier. “But it’s always been exactly that – a dream.” As was the case for many people over the last couple of years, the forced halt of normal life in lockdown gave him an opportunity to start thinking about how to turn his festival organiser fantasies into reality. “Around that time, it came back to my mind and I thought it might be a nice thing to do.” The first Away From Home took the form of a free one-dayer intended to “celebrate live music being back” after the pandemic ripped away opportunities for bands to perform.
Think of Tomlinson and your brain probably doesn’t immediately jump to indie music. The 30-year-old solo artist famously got his start after auditioning for The X Factor in 2010 and being put into world-conquering boyband One Direction. Tell anyone outside of his fandom you’re going to a Louis-cruated festival that features the likes of The Vaccines, Hinds and – until a scheduling conflict scuppers his appearance – a DJ set by The Libertines’ Carl Barat, and you’ll be met with reactions of complete bewilderment.
For The Vaccines’ Justin Young, that element of the unexpected was part of the appeal of accepting the invitation to perform. “I was so up for it [when I first heard Louis wanted us to play,” he says. “Probably 90 per cent of festivals are all the exact same line-up these days and I think one of the reasons we really wanted to do this was because it’s really fun playing to audiences that you would never normally play to and, they in turn, will never hear you. You’re sort of this blank canvas and you’re reminded of just how many people are out there that love music, but aren’t necessarily exposed to different corners of the scene.”
23-year-old punter Adriana, who bought her ticket to Away From Home just to see Tomlinson, backs this up: “I hadn’t heard any of the other bands before today.” Like most of the crowd today, she came to the festival early and watched every act. “It’s like getting recommendations from Louis, so I wanted to see what he likes. I really liked all of the artists – I’d probably go see them again at their own shows.”
Speak to Tomlinson and you can easily see his passion for the bands on the bill and beyond. As a kid growing up in Doncaster, the first band he fell in love with was Oasis (you can feel the Gallagher influence in his show, sound and style), while’s quietly been building a reputation as someone willing to give new bands a leg-up.
He describes himself as someone who is, when he has the time, “actively trying to look for new things” to excite him and gushes about Liverpool’s Stone, whom he’s particularly excited to see play at Away From Home today. “My best mate showed me them about four or five months ago and from the first time listening to them, it’s just really, really interesting,” he says. “Watching the live show – which I’ve only seen on YouTube – it looks like fucking chaos. Their lead singer’s an amazing performer. I’m honoured that they agreed to do it.”
Last year, it was reported that Tomlinson made another show of support to Manchester band Muraja, donating £4000 to the group after they had their gear stolen. For Away From Home 2022, he started a competition to find a new act to open the festival. “I’ve always been really interested in the development stage of band’s careers – I think they’re some of the most exciting times,” he explains. “So, you know, any way where I can help benefit [new bands] like that has always been really important to me.”
The festival is, he says, a chance for him to not only showcase rising acts, but also – as Adriana noted – to show his fans the bands that he loves and spends his time listening to. The latest band to be added to that list are Glaswegian four-piece Voodoos, who entered the contest to perform but had no expectations that they would be chosen. After whittling down all the entries, Tomlinson decided they would be the best fit. “We got some great entries, to be fair, but Voodoos just felt the most appropriate with the line-up and again, going off what I love listening to,” he explains.
After the band have performed, singer Piero Marcuccilli tells NME: “It was only one or two days ago that we got an email saying, ‘Do you still want to do this?’” He’s clearly still somewhat surprised to be there. The crowd – as is the case for every band on the day – greeted them warmly and wildly, despite their late addition to the line-up. “I wasn’t sure it was going to be Louis’ fans’ style of music, but they were screaming when we came on stage.”
Voodoos are no strangers to big support slots – they joined DMA’S on their Scottish dates last night and opened for Stereophonics in Dundee this summer – but a slot at Away From Home has given them a valuable opportunity that is getting harder to come by for new bands. “This is the first time we’ve played outside of the UK,” notes drummer Marco Conte. “Louis’s giving bands a leg up and that’s amazing that he can do that.”
The Scots aren’t the only less familiar band on the line-up today. San Diego surf-rockers Sunroom – who previously joined Tomlinson for the North and South American legs of his world tour earlier this year – have made the trip over from the US. “This is definitely the biggest crowd we’ve played to in our whole lives,” frontman Luke Asgian marvels during their set. Moments later, a group of girls at the back of the crowd scream along to every word of the band’s final song.
“It’s been monumentally valuable,” Asgian later tells NME backstage. “It’s definitely put us in front of a ton of people that we never would have been put in front of. It’s super-cool that he’s taken us under his wing.”
Guitarist Ashton Minnich adds: “I think it’s really cool how Louis uses his influence in music to help support smaller bands that he’s interested in.”
Tomlinson is far from the only artist to hold their own festival. There’s been a big rise in events curated by musicians themselves in recent years in all genres, be that Tyler, The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw, Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner’s Eaux Claires or Courtney Barnett’s touring festival Here Or There. The fact that more and more artists are taking control over their own events, says Young, could be down to them “having more control than they’ve ever had before”.
The Vaccines frontman continues: “I think social media has created this kind of democratised way that we consume. All of sudden, you’ve cut out press or labels or management – whatever it may be – and people can speak directly to the artists they love and the fans that follow them. So I think there’s this empowerment of fandom and artists that comes with that.”
For much of the day at Away From Home 2022, the focus might be on other artists, but when it comes to the headline set, all eyes are on Tomlinson. He delivers a performance that wouldn’t feel out of place on the main stages of Reading & Leeds Festival, the guitar-driven sounds of his debut album ‘Walls’ mixing with amped-up versions of One Direction tracks ‘Drag Me Down’ and ‘Little Black Dress’. He throws in a handful of covers into the setlist that share another glimpse into his playlists too – first, a rendition of Catfish And The Bottlemen’s ‘7’, followed later by his take on Kings Of Leon’s ‘Beautiful War’.
In between it all, he airs two new songs – ‘Changes’, which sets lyrical reflection to a sweeping, slow indie sound in the same vein as one of Oasis’ softer moments, and ‘Copy Of A Copy Of A Copy’, on which he ramps up from plaintive verses to a stomping chorus. They’re two hints at where his imminent second album will take him. Although Tomlinson is far from a new artist, he sees his solo journey so far as not too dissimilar to the early days of some of the smaller acts on the festival’s line-up, saying the period around his first album had “an element of me going through my own development stage, but doing it in the public eye”. What’s about to come next will, he adds, “define me better as an artist”.
He grins: “I’m really excited about this next chapter. My first record, I’m immensely proud of it, but it was hard to work out where I stood in the industry coming out of a band the size of One Direction and exactly what One Direction were. Where I’ve got to on this record, I feel really, really proud of.”
“Any way I can help benefit new bands has always been really important to me” – Louis Tomlinson
For this next album, Tomlinson has looked to DMA’S’ last album ‘The Glow’, emboldened by the Australian trio’s open-minded approach to their songwriting. “With my first record, I think I’d been a bit close-minded in the sounds that I wanted to produce,” he says. “There’s a lot of interesting, dance-y elements that they brought into that record with [famed producer] Stuart Price and it just showed me that you can bring in these trendier sounds, but do them in a really authentic way.”
As Tomlinson promises to “follow my heart musically” in the future, he also has grand designs for the future of Away From Home. The plan is for the festival to move to a different location each year, while he says his “biggest dream” for 2023 is to expand the event to two days. Suggest stretching it to something even bigger – three days, multiple stages – and he can’t keep a broad grin from spreading across his face.
“Three days, camping… Yeah, that’d be good,” he beams. “I see it as a long-term thing. We’ve already doubled in size from the first year, so I’m just gonna keep chipping away at it. As long as I can do it, I’ll do it.”
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Back when I binged glee in covid I used to bother my then friend, now ex about all my glee opinions and stuff and we somehow made this running joke that sebastian was a brown boy because why else would someone have so little chill about a school extracurricular right?
It started as a joke, and it's little more than crack even now but the thought of a biracial seb (sebu as we called him) is still funny and it endeared him to me. Through him we'd go on to make fantastical stories about the universe in which he was half brown. I don't know if I need to mention I'm brown too but yeah
The lore went as follows Sebastian's father Arshad Smythe was a second generation south asian immigrant who studied law in France where he met Mrs. Smythe.
we made him the most run of the mill brown dad imaginable and we loved him so much because of it , he was obviously just based on our fathers and uncles and brothers. The people we loved, who loved us in return, the people whose dad jokes and overbearing old timer antics we rolled our eyes at.
Mr and Mrs Smythe alternated living between France and Ohio, where Mr. Smythes childhood home was. It was a dilapidated suburban duplex complete with ugly beige carpeting. But Mr. Smythe just couldn't bear to part with it so he never sold the house or moved out. He would buy his son the best cars and enroll him in the best schools. He'd spend on everything else but he just couldn't change anything about the house his mother had lived in.
Sebastian and his mother understood. She had been important to them too. Samantha Smythe remembered all the times she sat on the floor of this house so the older woman could rub coconut oil into her hair. Sebastian remembered the spicy pickles she cooked in her kitchen, how good they tasted. So they understood.
Burt Hummel was an old friend of Mr. Smythes. He'd babysit Sebastian every once in a while, Santana too. So Kurt, Sebastian and Santana were all friends that got upto fun shenanigans in this world.
Sebastian had a cat called Maribelle, who scratched and bit everyone except for their trio and Mr. Smythe, she was also a mafia boss and an interdimensional/ divine immortal being who had a life of crime on the weekends. He had found her as a stray and begged his dad to let him keep keep her. He did albeit begrudgingly as all dads do, and then quickly became best friends with her as all dads do. I drew cartoons of Kurt and Sebastian as preteens chilling on beach chairs with sunglasses on, in the front yard of Sebastian's grandma's house. Mr Smythe , a portly gentleman with a half bald head with borders of dark hair lining the sides, wearing thick framed glasses would yell at them about their homework to which they'd reply "It's Sunbathe Saturday, Dad!"
Mr Smythe would then grumble and pick up Maribelle who had been in the process of burying a man, unbeknownst to him.
We had so many really specific just brown people things jokes about Sebastian, like him putting 'manja', a type of liquid glass used in competitive kite racing in South Asia in the rock salt slushie. Just him in general being really excited about sharp drinks after his brown cousin back in his home country show him the ropes.
Him being the kind of typical annoying uncultured highschool boy, ' kamla', who hung around coffee shops all day.
Him challenging his father to a game of cards at age eleven by making Mr. Smythe promise if he won he would have to love him unconditionally. Just as he pulled out the last ace he yelled out 'I'm gay but you love unconditionally no take backs!" And ran up the stairs yelling "no take backs!" As santana and kurt blocked mr smythes entrance to the stairway by popping ill timed party poppers.
If Seb ever got into any scuffles with them during play time he'd fire off a flurry of mixed French and Bengali curse causing Kurtana to exchange confused glances like, did you get any of that ?
His early s3 backstory was literally Mr Smythe being a little bit of a tiger parent. But then when he breaks down because of the Dave thing his dad makes amends saying "I want you to be the best at everything seb, and that includes being a person."
The scandals fix it in this universe was Maribelle scratching Blaines eyes out when she overhears about it from kurt and seb discussing it.
I figured later that Mr Smythe must have taken his wife's name because it's hardly a brown name even in Christian circles, to which my ex had replied you only realised now?
There's really no words in English to properly translate the jokes and their cultural significance to us. Parts of brown seb universe bled into my shitposts and fics but I could never part with him fully. Because the world wasn't ready for or interested in him. Since then I've graduated college, I've lost access to the Instagram account we used to text about this world in, and I've lost my ex and I've lost that time in my life, Brown Seb only exists in my memory now. So now maybe it's time to give him to the world so he exists outside of it too. Idk if there are Desi gleeks out there who get the jokes, but til then this post is just for me to remember
#Thats all i can recall#The rest I lost to the account i got locked out of#Went no contact with my ex so I can't exactly ask for screenshots#sebastian smythe#Kurt Hummel#santana lopez#Glee#lol blaine anderson#Constant mentions of sebs tan in acitw and other fics reminded me of brown seb
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(Lana's POV)
FORD & COLLINS WEDDING WEEKEND
Day 1 & 2 - Bachelorette Party & Wedding Rehearsal + Welcome dinner
Day 1
The time that I've prayed for has finally come - WEDDING WEEKEND!
Our family and friends have made their way into Oasis Springs for our wedding weekend and I couldn't be more excited! I've spent the last few weeks getting the last details done with for this weekend and for it to be finally happening makes my heart sing. The first official event was my bachelorette party on thursday, followed by the wedding rehearsal and welcome dinner for our families on friday, and the wedding on saturday. My girls got my this wonderful 'Bride' sash to wear for the weekend's festivities until the wedding, I've had my fill of white outfits in the past couple of months and I can't wait to cap it off with my wedding dress to end the weekend.
A few weeks before the wedding, my bridal party and I did a little weekend away as a little pre-bachelorette event before the main one before the wedding. My hair and makeup artist are based in the next town over, so my girls and I headed there for a quick weekend getaway so I could do a hair and makeup trial and spend some time with my bridal party. We had a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant on night one, and once we had done my hair and makeup trial we spent a day at the spa in this wonderful resort. One of the bridal shower gifts I got was a bunch of coupons to use at the spa, which we gladly put to good use. Lorilee and Priscilla are both postpartum after having their babies, so they made sure to get the special massage that the spa offers to mothers who have recently given birth.
The Lord knew what he was doing when he blessed me with my little sister Lyndsay. She's been my right hand woman for this whole process, and has really stepped into the role of Maid of Honour. We've spent many a night planning, laughing, and even crying as we really took in my last few weeks that turned into my last few days at home.
I love these girls so much! For my bachelorette party I asked all the girls to wear pink, and we spent the day together. We started with a brunch at my parents house, the girls were able to see my childhood home, then we did a hymn sing before we went to a friend's place where we played all these cute 'newlywed' games before sitting down for a meal. Macie and one of my aunts volunteered to make the meal for us, having such great family reminds me how greatly I am blessed.
I'm so thankful that Adalynn and Kyleigh made the effort to travel down here for the wedding with their children, as well as being pregnant. They've come and taken the role of the older sisters that I didn't have growing up, and for that I'm very grateful. That's not to say I'm forgetting the other sisters, they've all made such sacrifices for us all to be able to be together for the wedding. The only people missing are Beckett and Mandy, but their responsibilities in the mission field come first, we'll celebrate with them at Harvestfest.
My bridal party have really gone above and beyond for me, as much as I would've liked to have a 20 person bridal party, I had to be realistic in my wants. My sister Lyndsay is my maid of honour, she's been there for me for this whole process and not living with her will definitely be an adjustment. Lorilee and I have known each other since we were young girls and essentially grew up together and without her meeting and marrying Charles, I would've not met Parker when I did. Annette and I have gotten quite close during my visits to Newcrest, and has become a confidant of mine. Priscilla lives in Oasis Springs so we've been able to bond due to our proximity to one another, she's taken me in and treated me like family since we met and I couldn't thank her enough. My bachelorette party ended that afternoon to allow the ladies to go off and be with their families again for the evening, and to prepare for the rehearsal on the next day.
Day 2
Day 2 was the wedding rehearsal and the welcome dinner that evening. The weather was perfect for an outdoor wedding, and I can only hope that it stays just as beautiful for the wedding day. Parker's family rented out a restaurant close to the ceremony space for the welcome dinner, so we headed there afterwards. During dinner, both of our parents made speeches, as well as some of our siblings and a few friends. There was lots of prayer of course, and afterwards we headed home so we could have an early night and get loads of rest for the wedding.
#fundie sims#fundiesims#quiverfull sims#quiver full sims#collins family#modest sims#sims 4 legacy#collins legacy#homeschool sims#gen 3#Parker and Lana#FINALLY this wedding is happening#it took me an unnecessarily long amount of time to finish this because I'd get so sick of having of think like Lana 😂#The manicures and pedicures are the safest thing to take pictures of when posing because the spas are buggy af#Lana is so happy shes marrying into a large family that she's embracing them all#its very Wissmann coded
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Welcome to Away From Home, the indie festival hosted by Louis Tomlinson
Yes, you read that correctly. The former One Direction star has put on his very own festival – and it's a guitar bonanza in Málaga with Hinds and The Vaccines on the bill. Rhian Daly finds out why
“I was 16 when I went to my first festival,” Louis Tomlinson recalls towards the end of his headlining set in Málaga on Saturday night (August 28). Beneath his usual stage swagger, there’s a healthy dose of awe coursing through his voice as he looks out over the 15,500 people gathered at Marenostrum Music Castle Park, the beach-side venue that is playing host to this year’s edition of Away From Home Festival. “Never did I think I’d be involved in something like this.”
Tonight, Tomlinson isn’t just headlining a festival on the Costa del Sol – he’s put the whole party together. It’s the second run of the event, which he founded in 2021, and this year has moved to a location far more exotic than its original base of Crystal Palace Bowl in south London.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to create something like this,” the star explains to NME backstage hours earlier. “But it’s always been exactly that – a dream.” As was the case for many people over the last couple of years, the forced halt of normal life in lockdown gave him an opportunity to start thinking about how to turn his festival organiser fantasies into reality. “Around that time, it came back to my mind and I thought it might be a nice thing to do.” The first Away From Home took the form of a free one-dayer intended to “celebrate live music being back” after the pandemic ripped away opportunities for bands to perform.
Think of Tomlinson and your brain probably doesn’t immediately jump to indie music. The 30-year-old solo artist famously got his start after auditioning for The X Factor in 2010 and being put into world-conquering boyband One Direction. Tell anyone outside of his fandom you’re going to a Louis-curated festival that features the likes of The Vaccines, Hinds and – until a scheduling conflict scuppers his appearance – a DJ set by The Libertines’ Carl Barat, and you’ll be met with reactions of complete bewilderment.
For The Vaccines’ Justin Young, that element of the unexpected was part of the appeal of accepting the invitation to perform. “I was so up for it when I first heard Louis wanted us to play,” he says. “Probably 90 per cent of festivals are all the exact same line-up these days and I think one of the reasons we really wanted to do this was because it’s really fun playing to audiences that you would never normally play to and, they in turn, will never hear you. You’re sort of this blank canvas and you’re reminded of just how many people are out there that love music, but aren’t necessarily exposed to different corners of the scene.”
23-year-old punter Adriana, who bought her ticket to Away From Home just to see Tomlinson, backs this up: “I hadn’t heard any of the other bands before today.” Like most of the crowd today, she came to the festival early and watched every act. “It’s like getting recommendations from Louis, so I wanted to see what he likes. I really liked all of the artists – I’d probably go see them again at their own shows.”
Speak to Tomlinson and you can easily see his passion for the bands on the bill and beyond. As a kid growing up in Doncaster, the first band he fell in love with was Oasis (you can feel the Gallagher influence in his show, sound and style), while’s quietly been building a reputation as someone willing to give new bands a leg-up.
He describes himself as someone who is, when he has the time, “actively trying to look for new things” to excite him and gushes about Liverpool’s Stone, whom he’s particularly excited to see play at Away From Home today. “My best mate showed me them about four or five months ago and from the first time listening to them, it’s just really, really interesting,” he says. “Watching the live show – which I’ve only seen on YouTube – it looks like fucking chaos. Their lead singer’s an amazing performer. I’m honoured that they agreed to do it.”
Last year, it was reported that Tomlinson made another show of support to Manchester band Muraja, donating £4000 to the group after they had their gear stolen. For Away From Home 2022, he started a competition to find a new act to open the festival. “I’ve always been really interested in the development stage of band’s careers – I think they’re some of the most exciting times,” he explains. “So, you know, any way where I can help benefit [new bands] like that has always been really important to me.”
The festival is, he says, a chance for him to not only showcase rising acts, but also – as Adriana noted – to show his fans the bands that he loves and spends his time listening to. The latest band to be added to that list are Glaswegian four-piece Voodoos, who entered the contest to perform but had no expectations that they would be chosen. After whittling down all the entries, Tomlinson decided they would be the best fit. “We got some great entries, to be fair, but Voodoos just felt the most appropriate with the line-up and again, going off what I love listening to,” he explains.
After the band have performed, singer Piero Marcuccilli tells NME: “It was only one or two days ago that we got an email saying, ‘Do you still want to do this?’” He’s clearly still somewhat surprised to be there. The crowd – as is the case for every band on the day – greet them warmly and wildly, despite their late addition to the line-up. “I wasn’t sure it was going to be Louis’ fans’ style of music, but they were screaming when we came on stage.”
Voodoos are no strangers to big support slots – they joined DMA’S on their Scottish dates last night and opened for Stereophonics in Dundee this summer – but a slot at Away From Home has given them a valuable opportunity that is getting harder to come by for new bands. “This is the first time we’ve played outside of the UK,” notes drummer Marco Conte. “Louis’s giving bands a leg up and that’s amazing that he can do that.”
The Scots aren’t the only less familiar band on the line-up today. San Diego surf-rockers Sunroom – who previously joined Tomlinson for the North and South American legs of his world tour earlier this year – have made the trip over from the US. “This is definitely the biggest crowd we’ve played to in our whole lives,” frontman Luke Asgian marvels during their set. Moments later, a group of girls at the back of the crowd scream along to every word of the band’s final song.
“It’s been monumentally valuable,” Asgian later tells NME backstage. “It’s definitely put us in front of a ton of people that we never would have been put in front of. It’s super-cool that he’s taken us under his wing.”
Guitarist Ashton Minnich adds: “I think it’s really cool how Louis uses his influence in music to help support smaller bands that he’s interested in.”
21-year-old festival-goer Jess agrees, telling us: “It’s really cool that Louis chooses to support new artists – he doesn’t have to. It’s really inspiring to see how much he loves music and I think it makes the fans more passionate as well.”
Tomlinson is far from the only artist to hold their own festival. There’s been a big rise in events curated by musicians themselves in recent years in all genres, be that Tyler, The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw, Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner’s Eaux Claires or Courtney Barnett’s touring festival Here Or There. The fact that more and more artists are taking control over their own events, says Young, could be down to them “having more control than they’ve ever had before”.
The Vaccines frontman continues: “I think social media has created this kind of democratised way that we consume. All of sudden, you’ve cut out press or labels or management – whatever it may be – and people can speak directly to the artists they love and the fans that follow them. So I think there’s this empowerment of fandom and artists that comes with that.”
For much of the day at Away From Home 2022, the focus might be on other artists, but when it comes to the headline set, all eyes are on Tomlinson. He delivers a performance that wouldn’t feel out of place on the main stages of Reading & Leeds Festival, the guitar-driven sounds of his debut album ‘Walls’ mixing with amped-up versions of One Direction tracks ‘Drag Me Down’ and ‘Little Black Dress’. He throws in a handful of covers into the setlist that share another glimpse into his playlists too – first, a rendition of Catfish And The Bottlemen’s ‘7’, followed later by his take on Kings Of Leon’s ‘Beautiful War’.
In between it all, he airs two new songs – ‘Changes’, which sets lyrical reflection to a sweeping, slow indie sound in the same vein as one of Oasis’ softer moments, and ‘Copy Of A Copy Of A Copy’, on which he ramps up from plaintive verses to a stomping chorus. They’re two hints at where his imminent second album will take him. Although Tomlinson is far from a new artist, he sees his solo journey so far as not too dissimilar to the early days of some of the smaller acts on the festival’s line-up, saying the period around his first album had “an element of me going through my own development stage, but doing it in the public eye”. What’s about to come next will, he adds, “define me better as an artist”.
He grins: “I’m really excited about this next chapter. My first record, I’m immensely proud of it, but it was hard to work out where I stood in the industry coming out of a band the size of One Direction and exactly what One Direction were. Where I’ve got to on this record, I feel really, really proud of.”
“Any way I can help benefit new bands has always been really important to me” – Louis Tomlinson
For this next album, Tomlinson has looked to DMA’S’ last album ‘The Glow’, emboldened by the Australian trio’s open-minded approach to their songwriting. “With my first record, I think I’d been a bit close-minded in the sounds that I wanted to produce,” he says. “There’s a lot of interesting, dance-y elements that they brought into that record with [famed producer] Stuart Price and it just showed me that you can bring in these trendier sounds, but do them in a really authentic way.”
As Tomlinson promises to “follow my heart musically” in the future, he also has grand designs for the future of Away From Home. The plan is for the festival to move to a different location each year, while he says his “biggest dream” for 2023 is to expand the event to two days. Suggest stretching it to something even bigger – three days, multiple stages – and he can’t keep a broad grin from spreading across his face.
“Three days, camping… Yeah, that’d be good,” he beams. “I see it as a long-term thing. We’ve already doubled in size from the first year, so I’m just gonna keep chipping away at it. As long as I can do it, I’ll do it.”
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JoJo's weekly round-up IV
안녕하세요 여러분 Hello, everyone. This week starts with one of my favorite songs. I hope you can feel happy through their music. Because I just want to live a better life because their songs give me too much happiness. Make your life more colorful.☺️Hello, everyone.
Let's take a look at what happened this week that I think is worth sharing.
I went to watch the school activity. I heard a big shot come to our school. He also performed the drum. It was really exciting to hear the drums live. I also saw a lion dance that I had not seen for a long time. They all gave wonderful performances. I also received oranges from the God of Wealth. In the evening, there will be a Spring Festival party for us Chinese. I've been working all day. It was a very tiring day for me, but it was also a very rewarding one (seeing a lot of great performances and meeting new people).
This should all be familiar. Yes. I participated in the offline event again. The cake in the cafe is beautiful and delicious this time. I made new friends. We had met at many events before but had never spoken. This time we finally connect. I am really happy to meet this group of friends who have the same love as me. We also arranged to meet again.
Saturday of this week is our Chinese Lantern Festival. I went out to dinner with my friends for a long time. I've been on a diet for a week. Have a nice dinner with some friends after the holidays. I didn't control my diet. This Japanese Wagyu barbecue restaurant is really good.
I had a date with a friend of mine to go to Pavillion's K-pop cafe and clock in. Then last week Korean girl group ive came to Kuala Lumpur for a concert. We went to clock out their yogurt and ramen. (Hey hey) This is the happy daily life of the star girl. Then I went to McDonald's, a very popular online celebrity punch point, to take a few photos. My friend is going home for vacation. It's the last time we see her before she goes back. I'm gonna miss her so much. When she gets back we're supposed to clock out again.
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Beginnings part one
Summery: Jennie Blake goes to a pool party with her friends, and they wind up mixed up in something they don't fully understand.
Words: 1372
A/N: I have about 6k words written but am splitting it up to just start getting the baseline intro out, There are four main characters; Jennie, Vera, Billie, and Klove. Jennie is the pov character for the intro bit. I'll come back and edit to fix somethings some time, but idk fr fr.
It’s a bright sunny Saturday morning as 15 year old Jenien Blake, or Jennie, as she prefers to be called, wakes up. Today is not just any ordinary Saturday, it is the last Saturday before Jennie and her friends start their Sophomore year of highschool. Jennie always liked school more than Summer break, she missed Commonwealth high. Not the schoolwork itself, that was always tedious, but her friends. Today was a rarity, Jennie and a few of her friends had been invited to a back to school pool party at her friend Dylan's “country club”, if you could call it that. The Madison country club was little more than a pool with a decent sized park around it. Jennie always thought a proper country club ought to have a golf course and fancy restaurant. The Maddison only had an overpriced snack bar.
Nevertheless, Jennie was excited, she loved to swim and many of her favorite friends would be there. Dylan had even promised to cover Jennie’s entry so she could save the $5 entry cost for a soda or something, but she would probably hold on to it for some time. She went to the bathroom to get her hair in a braided bun, she liked having her hair up, felt like armor. She always saw in those movies that the smart girl let her hair down and looked super pretty and Jennie liked to be left alone. Wanted to be liked for things other than her long strawberry blonde hair.
She was quiet as she went onto the balcony to put on her sunscreen, she was pale and didn’t tan, simply burnt. She put a generous amount on her shoulders then sprayed her arms and legs and made sure to rub it in. She wished she’d timed shaving her legs better, they were prickles now and she would’ve liked it if they were smooth. She saved her face for last, going back to the bathroom to make sure she didn’t miss any spots or leave any large blotches. She’d have to ask Klove to get her back when she met up with her.
It was almost nine am when Jennie put on her swimsuit cover ready to make the walk to Klove’s house across the railroad tracks. Jennie stopped by her mom’s room and knocked on the cracked door. Her mom liked to leave it cracked so their cat could come and go, but she also slept naked so Jennie closed her eyes as she went in.
“Hey mom? I’m headed out. I'll keep you updated when I get to Klove’s, then the pool, then when I head on my way back tonight. Dylan’s dad is going to barbeque us some burgers so I’ll eat there. Love you” Jennie said softly, trying to shake her mom awake gently. She got a grunt of approval and went ahead and texted her mom to tell her the same thing, knowing she was still asleep. With her pepper spray handy Jennie headed out the apartment, bag slung on her back. It was her school bookbag, a Jansport her brother picked out with a donut print, her dad bought it for her before her 6th grade year.
She walked through the neighborhood by her old middle school, Stonewall Jackson middle school. She always was uncomfortable that it was named after a dude who really liked slavery, considering half the student population was black. She remembers how Klove would joke that it was subliminally meant to keep the black kids in line, but really would make them respect the school less. Jennie walked past the school and grimaced at the sheer amount of trash the students would leave around, she passed several people walking their dogs or heading out for brunch. She got up to the big crossing where there was a Walgreens, and an old empty CVS they ran out of business, a bank, and a small strip of shitty walk in food places. Jennie hadn’t tried them herself, but she heard the Papa John’s was crawling with ants inside.
As the light turned on indicating it was safe to cross Jennie jogged across. She went under the railroad tracks into the other side of town. The houses were just as big, but looked like they needed some love as her Nana put it. There was a big laundry mat by the food lion Jennie wishes was closer to her house. Being a little white girl she dealt with plenty of catcalling but ignored it knowing she’d be left alone because most of the guys here were black and they both knew how cops were. So she ignored them and they didn’t follow her. Jennie made it to Kloves house, a duplex that used to be a standalone colonial house. She checked her phone, nine-thirty, she was fifteen minutes early but that’s how she liked it. Jennie knocked on the door and heard Klove call her in. Klove’s place was cozy, small but homely, the walls were covered in family pictures or trophies from Klove’s parents or Klove and her older brother. He was much older, ten years older, and Jennie doesn’t know much about him.
“Heya dollface! You want something to eat? We got cereal?” Klove said hopping off the couch and heading for Jennie.
“Oh no, I’m alright. I had a small breakfast already.” Jennie lied, she knew she only had coffee but she wasn’t hungry and didn’t want to look bloated when they got there.
“Alright. I know better than to push you,” Klove said with a worried glint in her eye “oh Pops offered us a ride, I said yes because y’know it’d far as fuck”
“Language princess” Klove’s father said coming downstairs “Hey Jennie, next time have Klove get me to come pick you up it’s a long walk from your place isn’t it?” he said ruffling his daughter's untamed bed head. She stuck out her tongue at him and nodded in agreement.
“Oh, it’s alright Mr. Tannerson I don’t mind the walk, but I’ll ask Klove next time” Jennie replied trying to be polite. She was still just standing there waiting for Klove, who was drinking the milk from her cereal bowl.
“Alright, Jennie, I’m gonna go change into my suit then we can go! Dylan said we could be there by 10 right?” Klove asked. Jennie nodded in the affirmative. Klove was very hyper and quite rebellious, but she was always sensitive to the fact Jennie hated being late. Jennie appreciated it, she got sick of other people complaining about Jennie wanting to be on time to engagements.
“Y’know, you’ve been a good influence of her” Mr. Tannerson said once he knew Klove was out of earshot. Jennie smiled, not knowing what to say. “I mean it, kiddo, I think she’s gonna do even better in school this year since you two are so much closer” It was true to be fair. Jennie would get frustrated with Klove, but wouldn’t push her away. On the contrary, Jennie helped Klove with her homework quite often, never doing it for her, always just explaining how it all works. Klove had begun to do better in classes as a result of Jennie’s persistence.
“Alrighty, old man, let’s get to the pool!” Klove said, jumping down the stairs. Mr. Tannerson downed the rest of his coffee and got up to grab his keys. Jennie glanced at her phone nine-forty-six, they’d get there at an acceptable time. Klove raced to the car and opened the door for Jennie, she was sweet like that. It was how Klove would say ‘I love and appreciate you’, doing stuff like this. Jennie hopped into the back of the car and Klove hopped into the seat next to her.
“Ah, so I'm the chauffeur for you lovely ladies, am i?” Mr. Tannerson said, chuckling. Klove rolled her eyes, as Jennie buckled in. Since they got a ride, they made it right after ten. Jennie texted Dylan when they got there and he met them outside.
“Bye thank you!” the girls said in unison as Mr. Tannerson drove off, blowing a kiss to his daughter, laughing as her cheeks got red and she blew another raspberry at him.
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Not me being perceived, but yes, it is me. The 🎭🌙 anon from Becca’s page.
I don’t know if all theatergoers feel the way I do but after paying $350+ for my seat for last night’s show, I wasn't buying a whole new outfit with money I don’t have. Let’s just say theatre could be a whole lot more accessible especially with the prices of tickets, as you mentioned.
The wait does depend on the day/night, I think. I saw pictures from an after-party last night, and I'm assuming that's why they came out so soon and got through everyone so fast! Then again, who knows? The most I ever waited for Oscar was at BAM the second time I went, I was out there for an hour and a half.
Anyway, yes, you aren’t stalking them. You purchased tickets for a show, most people know about stage door and go to it. The actors know this as well. If they didn't want to meet people, they wouldn't.
So, it's pretty standard, you just hold out your Playbill, and you can ask for pictures. I wasn't going to ask Oscar for one, but before he got to me, I saw he was doing them. I have a feeling they'll only be signing Playbills or copies of the book/play.
When I met Oscar the second time, he signed one of my Moon Knight comics and I saw him sign other stuff as well, but that night was full of autograph hunters and he outright told them he wasn't signing for them and only for people who saw the show.
Last night, I didn’t see many autograph hunters, but there were definitely people who didn’t see the show and just wanted pictures. I had to push my way through two people in front of me to get my picture with him because they just wouldn’t move and I don’t think one of them even saw the show. – 🎭🌙
Hi 🎭🌙 anon! @softlyspector come get your nonnie out my askbox I'm kidding, I love you and talking to you
I didn't specifically buy a new sweater for the play, but I'd only worn it a handful of times. But I really don't know how people manage to afford these kinds of tickets on a regular basis. For orchestra seats I find that it's alright, since you're only there to listen to the music so it doesn't matter if you're at the end of the venue, but theatre? You gotta have good seats otherwise you're just wasting your money, and I feel that that's getting abused right now, particularly on Broadway. I paid around 600 CAD for the seats we had, and though I am 100% happy paying that amount (because Oscar was incredible) it was still a bit of a ridiculous price to pay, just so I could see the play, ya know?
Besides that, I think me and my friend were the only POC in the whole theatre. And the whole irony was that the TSISBW was essentially denouncing these upper circles of pretentiousness. Just to be a bit of a snob, I really do feel like they didn't understand what the play was about. In the third or fourth scene of the play, where Sidney, Gloria and David are drunk and dancing, though they're 'dancing' they're clearly all in agony. And the audience was laughing? As if it was a comedy or something. And sure there were funny lines, but the play, in my opinion, wasn't a comedy per se. And they were just roaring their heads off.
Anywhoo, that's my two bits on the play and the audience and this whole debacle that's happening right now where the arts are getting gatekeeped for the rich and no matter how much this gets criticized, it seems that nobody wants to do a damn thing about it. Because these are the people that should be paying taxes to fund the arts, to make seats more accessible, instead of thinking that changing the dress code policy will do jackshit about it all.
:))
As for the autographs, we were super lucky because it was raining both Friday, Saturday afternoon and Sunday, and I saw some videos where they didn't stop to do Stage Door afterwards cause it was pouring. But Saturday night there was just a light mist and Oscar and Rachel came out. It was super fun and super overwhelming as well omfg! I pushed through a bunch of people to stand at the front because nobody was moving. I didn't manage to get Rachel's autograph 'cause I was kinda tongue-tied and the people around me were really loud so I think she thought I was just waiting for Oscar.
I think breezing through people now is going to be their policy for Broadway? At BAM it seemed they spent more time, though I'm happy they were quick, I really wasn't sure what to say to them! Oscar signed both my Playbill and a copy of the play. I'm so happy I got the play because the Playbills were a bit floppy, but because the book was more sturdy, his signature ended up looking so nice! And I think his fingers left some marks on my copy but I'm a little obsessed with it anyways lol
The vibes were definitely more autograph hunters than anything, even if people did go to see the play. They didn't really seem all that interested in talking to them, but getting their signatures and photos with them. (There's no business, like show business)
Long story short, I'm really happy I decided to do stage door, it was a once in a lifetime experience! Though I am looking at going back to NYC in June so I can actually explore the city, and I'm telling you TSISBW tickets are looking enticing. It was such a powerful play, and the cast and crew really brought it to life, especially Oscar. He really acted his heart out, and I think everyone felt it.
I do wish I had caught the run at BAM, I think it stayed truer to the source material? They changed around the number of scenes in each Act, I think to balance it out a bit more.
Anyways nonnie, that's my long two bits on the whole thing. Hope it wasn't too pretentious lol, thanks for all your help in this absolute whirlwind of an adventure!
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