By the time Ralph finished blowing the shell, everyone had gathered around him, he leaned on the rock behind him, to his left were the choir, alongside you whow as standing a little farther from them, to his right was Conch boy, and the little children sitting in front of him.
Ralph now having the silence, cleared his throat.
"Well," he starts.
"We've been on the mountain. That mountain," he points, all of your eyes follow his hand. "We saw water all around, we saw no houses, no boats, no smoke, no footprints. We're on an island and there's no people here."
Jack butted in.
"Not quite no people," he smirks. Ralph inhales, nervously. "No, uhm. We saw the pilot. He was dead."
The crowd clamors into conversation.
"Dead?" You hear a little 'un say. "We think that the others part of that plane may be up there too. We found bits of the plane but.. we can't be too sure."
He continues. "But we think all those that weren't in the passenger tube and.. that's all the grownups," he pauses. "Well, they're all dead."
The crowd explodes to another uproar.
You frown, fiddling with your sling of mangoes, a kid taps on your leg and extends a hand, you smile and quickly handed him a mango.
They all prostested and the noise increased even more.
"Listen! Listen!" Conch holds his hands up but none listen, from the corner of your eye, you see Jack roll his eyes. "The time for talking is when your out of a meeting. When the meeting's going on No. Talking."
The silence resumes once again.
"How boring," Maurice groans, "like class.. or prep,"
"It's time to gather my army now, Ralph, for hunting. Hunting pigs-"
"Pigs?"
"There's pigs in the island?"
"Yes. There are pigs in the island everyone." Ralph cuts in.
"If we want to catch a pig we better go now." Jack stands up, pride plastered on his puny face.
"Bet you my mango we could catch one before sundown."
They start moving for the forest, jumping down the rock they were sitting on.
"Wait, wait stop!"
"Wait a minute!"
"Jack! Wait just a minute please!" Ralph yells after them.
The choir pauses when Jack does. He turns around and smirks.
"I do like it when you say please." You look at him with clear disdain and repulsion.
He sits back down the rock as do his choir.
"So you see," Ralph starts. "We need hunters to get us meat. There aren't any growb ups, so we shall have to look after ourselves."
The crowd erupts again.
Conch irritated, suddenly raises the shell. "Perhaps no one speaks unless they're holding the conch."
"Conch? What's a conch?"
"That's what the shell's called. I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he-" he pauses and glances at you. "-Or she, is speaking."
"So I'll start. The important things are food, and thanks to madam here," he gestures to you and you laugh, other boys seemed to follow and chuckles alongside you. "We've got ourselves mangoes."
"But that wouldn't last long would it?" You groan when the demon raises his hand as he says it.
"Yes. It wouldn't last long," Conch nods. "But it's the least we have as of now—"
"We're going to catch food" Jack cuts in.
"We need shelters—"
"Sleep under the trees."
"And toilets—"
"He's a talking duck!" The boys laugh, a proud look on Jack's face.
"He's got a point!" You glare at Jack, as do he to you.
"Yeah! Listen to Piggy!"
"Shush! So I think we should choose three spots almost immediately." Conch pauses. "One, the toilet everyone uses, even the little 'uns. Two, where the signal fire will be. And three where we'll build the huts."
"We should just go and hunt pigs. Much more progressive than whatever toilet your on." Jack says, Conch look at him pointedly.
Suddenly, Conch feels the shell lifted from his hands, then you stand beside him, cradling the pink and cream shell and the shouting died down.
"You're hindering him from saying important things." You pause. "Who knows we're here?"
"The people from the airport."
"The trumpet man."
"My dad."
You sigh, giving back the conch to the stout boy beside you.
"Nobody knows where we are," Said Conch, his face much paler than earlier. He takes his glasses off and tries to wipe it down, then it returns even more blurry.
"Perhaps they knew where were going, or perhaps not." He huffs, his breathing heard throughout the quiet crowd.
"But they don't know where we are 'cos we never got there."
The boys are quiet, the lot of them squirming uncomfortablely.
Conch is right, you didn't even know where you were supposed to be going to, much less where you are now, and much less the adults who must be thinking you're safe in the plane they had you in just hours ago.
Ralph takes the shell from Conch. "He's right. The plane went down in flames and. We.. W-we might be here a long time."
The mood dampened, that even the kids hadn't said anything.
Suddenly, Ralph grins widely.
"But this is a good island. The four of us, Me, Piggy, Jack, and Simon climbed the mountain, there's fruits, and water, and—"
"Rocks—"
"Tall trees—"
Ralph continues. "While we're waiting for rescue, we can have a good time on this island."
Ralph starts again. "It's like in book!"
"Ooh ooh! The little island!"
"Time of wonder!"
"The island of adventure!"
"Yes that's it! We found and may even find a lot more good things in the island. Is there anyone who found something interesting today?"
A kid beside you raises his hand.
"You want the conch?" Ralph says, the kid nods and makes a move to stand up, Percival beside him also joins in.
Conch guy takes the shell and kneels beside the kid.
"Why's he giving it to him.." a boy whispers.
"Do we even have time for this? Let's allocate the jobs so we can go hunting," Jack groans.
"If they want to speak we should let them." You cross your arms and gave Jack a side long glance. You see him scowl at you.
The little 'un continues to whisper to Conch. And finally, Conch speaks up.
"He wants to know what you're going to do about the snake thing."
"Snake thing?"
"There's a snake here?"
"Of course there's snakes in an island idiot."
The majority laughs as they talk about the snake, Ralph being on of them.
"Ralph!" Conch calls out. "Sorry, uh, tell us about the snake thing."
The kid whispers to Conch again. "Now he says it was a beastie."
"Beastie!"
"Rawr!"
"Beastie?" Ralph tilts his head. Percival huffs and steps forward. "A big snake thing! He saw it, tell them!"
"Where?" Asks ralph. "In the woods."
"There is no beastie in an island this small," Ralph explains kindly. "You only get beasts in big countries like Australia, you've no need to worry."
Whispers, then nodding of heads.
You kneel down beside him, giving him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll protect you from the beastie if it ever comes here."
"But I saw it." He says, lips quivering as he looks at you. You glance up to Ralph who was in front of him.
The little 'un whispers to you. "He says the beastie came from the dark."
"Then he couldn't see it!" Percival adds.
Laughter and mumurs.
"And it'll come back tonight."
The older kids didn't mind what he said, preferring to play around with the beast joke.
But the litte 'uns looked terrified around you.
"I'm scared."
"Will the beastie really come tonight? Will it will it?"
"There's no beastie," a boy from the choir says.
The kid whispers to you again. "He says that in the morning they turn into those curtain of vines and come back at night."
"I don't like this."
"This is scary."
"The beastie is real?"
Ralph looks migrained as the little 'uns continue to voice out their concerns.
"He's dreaming" another one says.
The older boys around seemed to agree, nodding along. But the little 'uns needed more confirmation and assurance.
"Guys, there isn't a beastie." Says Ralph.
Jack snatches the conch from Piggy.
"Ralphs right of course. Even if there is a beastie, you have my word, we'll hunt and kill it. Will we boys?"
The choir explodes enthusiastically, hi-fiving and bumping their chests and yelling.
"We'll hunt for pigs and get our meat and we'll hunt the snake too. We're going to keep everybody safe."
They clap and celebrate, it seemed to calm the little 'uns down too because they join in on the celebration.
"My father's in the navy," Ralph announces, "And he said there aren't any unknown islands left. He says that the Queen has a big room full of maps and all the islands in the world are drawn there. So, the Queen's got a picture of this island and sooner or later exploring these islands, a ship will be out here. It might even be my father's ship. So we will be rescued."
"Well I hope they give us at least a week so we can have a little fun first." Jack says, the boys laugh with him.
"Fun is necessary," Ralph nods," But first we need to divide ourselves. We'll need a team to build a signal fire for which I propose st the top of the mountain there,"
"The hunters will make the BEST signal fire," you groan as Jack cuts in again.
"Come on! Follow me!"
At once, all the boys are on their feet, Jack leading them, they clamor and cheer as they head to the woods.
"Fire fire!"
"Make a fire!"
"Wait guys! We need other teams to build the shelters and lavatories.." Ralph's voice fades out as they leave, Simon begrudgingly behind them.
You sigh, following along and leaving Ralph and Conch to themselves, you give them a lopsided smile as you went along.
"Kids," Conch mumbles. "Acting like a bunch of kids."
"Are you gonna be my mummy now?" You blink, glancing down at yet another kid latching onto your leg. Your hand still holding a mango, feeding another child.
"W-what's your name little one?" You manage an awkward smile as you squat down to his level.
"Timmy." He whispers, latching onto your arm with the absence of your leg.
"Timmy, I'm sure your mom's waiting for you out there, I think she'll be happy seeing you when we're rescued," you hand him a mango, one that's currently not getting devoured by the other kid in your other hand.
"Really?" His eyes sparkle, biting unto the fruit. "Yes, really. But in the meantime, I can be a big sister if you want?"
"Ermm, Okay!"
"Ma'am!" Sam and Eric salutes beside you, delivering another round of mangoes.
"Thank you, both. The kids are absolutely loving this."
"Ma'am!" You laugh as they salute and march in sync into the forest again.
"Could you hold this, Percival?" You smile, Percival takes the mango from you without removing it from his mouth. You laugh, standing up and dusting your knees.
You pick up a stick and walk towards the forest. About time you go foraging again, the boys, well- the choir, because they consisted of older kids, have been helping you find fruits, most were mangoes, and little to no berries or any other, or maybe you were just searching to shallow, there were coconuts, but they were too high and risky to take, and some of the kids don't like the taste of coconut juice anyway.
The others went for a swim, they were put on babysitting duty for the kids who also wanted to swim, though you doubt they were doing much babysitting.
You also told some of the choir to at least watch the kids in the area so they wouldn't stray too far.
Except the majority of them, as well as the little 'uns started catching crabs and comparing.
You spot a cluster of mangoes not too far up the tree, you stab the stem holding them together with your stick, poking it till it loosens, it drops to where you are instantly, sadly, some of it fell to the ground, squashed.
Your head snaps at the sound of a pig, you clutch your chest, this island will be the death of you.
You quickly adjust the mangoes in your arms, shrugging your school blazer off and put the mangoes in before tying it closed so nothing falls out, you tie the makeshift bag around you, the mangoes secured at your back.
You grip the stick in your hand, hearing the pig once again. You squint, catching it's pink color, when it passes by you, you make a run for it. The leaves and branches slap you as you sprint behind the pig, a laughable gap was between you, but at the very least, you can see it.
It takes a sharp turn to which you skid to a stop, it bumps a big mass of roots and just behind it, the spit of blond locks appear.
Jack whips out a pocket knife, eyes zeroing in on the pig, it emits a loud squeal as it runs away again, only to be caught between curtain of creepers, or are they called hard vines.
You glance at Jack, who was slowly approaching the animal. He raises his arm in the air. There's a pause, a moment of stillness, the pig continues to squeal in terror of its captors, the curtain of creepers jerking as it tries to escape. You frown at Jack, motioning for the pig but he makes no move, the glint of the knife stares at you menacingly.
Your eyebrows try to talk on behalf of your mouth, as the suspense reaches its climax, the pig successfully wriggles out and ran for the undergrowth, its squeals now a distant past.
"You idiot! You let it go!"
up as Jack, another choir.
You hand him a mango along with your name.
"Yeahh, kinda hard not to remember the name when you're the only girl in this island. But my name's Maurice." He smiles, saluting with two fingers, you chuckle at him, then a hand slaps his arm and Maurice stops laughing.
Ugh. Jack.
You roll your eyes yet again and grab another mango, handing it out to him.
He doesn't take it, only glares at you straight in the eye, your hand was still out with the mango, waiting for him to take it.
He stares at the mango for a long time, jaw clenched.
Your hand stays stretched between you both, waiting.
You nudge it towards him again.
His eyes flick back up to yours, sharp and unreadable, the choir around you are tense.
Then, instead of taking it, he knocks it from your hand to fall on the ground.
It hits the dirty sand and rolls amongst the grime.
You frown, your eyes snapping back to him. "We could've given it to someone who needed it!"
"Well I didn't want it."
"Dick." You mumble, moving on to the next person.
Except, his hand shoots out and grabs your arm, pulling you back to him.
"What did you just call me?" You wince as his grip tightens around your arm.
"Can you let go." You try to budge your arm but it doesn't so much as move from his hold.
"Jack, I think you should-"
"Shut your mouth." Jack snaps, Maurice bites the inside of his cheek giving you a pitiful glance.
"You think you're so high up there, woman?"
"Woman?" You scoff, tilting your head in disbelief. "You're the one high up your head!"
"You forget yourself, you wouldn't even be here if we didn't find you."
You bark out a laugh. "We would've had a decent dinner if you hadn't-"
He slaps his hand on your mouth, pulling you along with him on the rock, your back against his chest.
"I dare you say that out to everyone and I swear I'll cut off your tongue." he whispers on the side of your head, his hand on your lower face grips firmer.
You dig your nails into his arm in retaliation, you hear him hiss as he pushes you away from him. You stumble just as Ralph blows the trumpet at the same time.
You massage your face, rubbing your jaw.
"Ugh," you send him a stormy glare just as he sends you one too, clutching the moon crescent shaped wounds on his arm.
Notes: Aged up the major characters, reader will be the same age bracket as the boys. Sbsolutely NO SMUT, nuh uh.
Masterlist
Your skin is burning, back itching as you squirm from the heat, you feel something poking in your back, moments later, you hear voices around you, whispering, yelling, little mumurs.
You groan, frowning as the noise increases. You feel something poke your leg, something sharp, something—
"Ouch!—" you sit up in contempt, your eyes squint as you try to adjust to the light, a very bright light.
"C'mon! There's another one here!"
"Not someone! It's a girl!"
Another groan emits from you and you cover your eyes from the scorching sun, you see shoes of small sizes on the ground where you're sitting, forming an almost circle around you.
"Wot?! A gorl?!"
You clutch your head, where are you? Who are these.. people?
Are they kids?
"Are you alright miss? Are you injured?" You squint when you look up to the source of the voice.
"Of course she's not alright douche bag!"
"I'm.." your throat is parched, voice cracked and ugly. You swallow a wad of saliva, it scratches your trachea, but at least not as dry as it was earlier.
"Who.. what.." you mumble, looking around, you look down and see your hand clutching the sand.
Sand?
You're at the beach?
What..
But—
"Weren't we on a plane earlier?" You ask, massaging your forehead.
"Finally. she speaks." You feel venom ooze out when he said it. Though you couldn't care less why and who it was, you abruptly stand up, the crowd nearest you gasps like you performed some magic trick in front of them.
"Wait, don't stand up too fast—"
You ignore the people now behind you as you stagger and fight for balance, clutching the side of your head, finally getting a clear view of everything, of the place.
The waters grow bigger as you approach, your foot getting caught on a stray wood, you stumble and fall to your knees in the waters, your hands catch you in time before you face plant.
You were in an airplane. Were. You're in an island, maybe abandoned, or maybe uncharted, you didn't know, all you know id that you have to calm yourself before you vomit your breakfast.
You glance back from the corner of your eye and see them forming a half circle around you, they're quiet, except for the whispers and mumurs that seemed to go on for so long.
Finally, you shakingly stood up, your right knee going up first, then you pushed yourself on your left knee and stood straight, barely
You huff, straightening yourself, patting your clothes from all the dirt and sand, your shoes and socks are wet as the tides roll in methodically, you turn to them to which they quickly straighten, you can see them more clearly now, you could almost laugh at how robotic their stances look like, especially the boy with glasses and pink cheeks, he holds a conch at his side.
There's a lot of little ones too, an overwhelming number of them.
You frown. "Where's the grownups?" You yell as you approach them, waves too loud to be just talking.
"W-we were about to check in the mountains," the conch boy stutters.
You stop in front of them, here, you can see the variety of boys you saw on the airport strip.
"Mountains?"
"Yeah," a taller boy beside conch boy answers. "Some- well most, landed there, inside the forests."
You nod, a little boy catches your attention, he slinks beside another little one with a birthmark on his face, oh your heart, they look so small.
"If you want, you can come?" He gives you a weak smile, shrugging, the conch guy elbows him thinking himself discreet, the taller one kicks his foot in return.
The conch guy clears his throat and extends his hand to you. "Anyway, what's ya name?"
You smile and take his hand, telling him your name, the others around you say it back.
"My name's—"
"Piggy is what we call 'im," a guy wearing a too long cloak and a funny hat stands forward, the crowd parting for him, blond locks lighting up under the sun.
"Isn't tha right, Piggy?" He playfully slaps conch guy's arm.
You ignore him, turning to the tall guys beside the conch.
"What's your name?"
"Oh— Ralph," he shakes your hand all the while the funny hat guy glares at your head.
"Well, who's going to the mountain?"
"Uh, Me, Ralph, Jack, and Simon," Conch guy points as he goes.
"Those are kids names," Jack says. "Why should I be Jack? I'm Merridew," you hear a groan from conch boy.
Jack. Fits his rude face. Simon gives you a small smile which you reciprocate.
"This is an island isn't it?" You ask.
"I climbed a rock," Ralph said slowly. "And I think this is an island."
Your eyes land on the little ones again, you sigh and look back at the waiting boys.
"I'll stay here," you hear a small yay probably from one of the littles, Ralph and Conch nods at you. "Maybe forage for food—"
"Forage?" Jack quips, but before anything comes out of his mouth, you retort. "Yes forage. The kids might be hungry."
"Tch," he rolls his eyes and motions for Simon to follow him, they disappear behind the crowd. "All right, choir. Take off your togs."
"Yes!"
"Finally."
"It's so hot.."
A bunch of them quickly shrugs of their 'togs'.
The crowd quickly turns into a loud talking mess, conch tries to take their attention but none of them are hearing him.
"Everyone, quiet!" Ralph yells, he extends a hand out to Conch for the shell, Conch hands it to him then he lifts it up. "We ought to have a Chief to decide things."
"A chief, a chief!"
"I ought to be chief," Jack announced from the back, once again, the crowd makes way for him, opening to another circle. "Because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp."
You frown, flabbergasted at the gall of him.
The crowd bursts into noise once again.
A moment passes and a guy wearing the same clothes as Jack speaks up.
"Let's have a vote."
"Yeah!"
"Vote for chief!"
"Chief chief!"
"Him with the shell." You speak up, and suddenly, all eyes are on you. You cringe and fiddle with your nails.
"Ralph. What about him being the chief with the trumpet thing?"
A beat goes and another clamor starts. Ralph raises his hands for silence.
"Alright, who wants Jack for chief?"
In obedience, the choir raises their hands.
"Who wants Ralph?"
Everyone, besides the choir raises their hands. Ralph counts them.
Jack frowns.
"That's not fair! They knew you already and they hardly knew me at all!"
"The votes happened, Jack" Simon says, nodding his head. "We can hardly have another.
"Ralph is chief."
The circle of boys as well as you broke into applause, even the choir applauded, you see Jack in the corner of your eye, his mouth opens but nothing comes out of it, then, he begrudgingly sits down as the crowd celebrates, sending Ralph a mean glare.
Ralph glances at him, trying to think of something.
"The choir belongs to you, or course."
"They could be the army—"
"Or hunters—"
"They could be—"
The defeat drains away from Jack's face. The choir eagerly discusses a name for them.
Ralph waves for silence once again.
"Jack will be in charge of the choir. They can be— what do you want them to be?"
"Hunters."
Ralph nods, the choir celebrates and hi-fives ring around the air.
"Then it's settled yeah? Four of us will go to the mountain." Ralph turns to you.
"And you'll stay here to find fruits, if you need help, you can ask the boys okay?" You nod and give him a thumbs up.
Not a moment later and they begin to depart.
"Stay safe and come back as four." You call after them, waving as they disappear from your line of sight.
Summary: You're stuck with tutoring your sister's boyfriend for an accounting class he's currently flunking because apparently the teacher thinks you're the only student in his class that he can see.
Notes: I've spent two days bed rotting and reading stuilly x reader fics. Please feed us authors and hydrate our fandom💔
(P.S. Tatum Riley is Tatum's full name btw, because people will call reader tiny riley and wtv in this fic)
He's late.
Or probably ghosting you for the 3rd time this month. It's a twice a week arrangement that was originally three but he managed to haggle it down with the teacher, and despite that, he's been a no-show the past two instances.
Your foot taps on the ground impatiently, fiddling with the corners of your book.
Though you don't mind tutoring on your free time, you babysit kids needing help with homework all the time, but Stuart Macher isn't really a kid anymore, much less babysitting him.
So for the third time, you're being ditched beside the fountain you agreed he insisted as a meetup place after school to drive to his house.
You didn't want to bring him home because Tatum's just gonna suck his balls off the moment he steps inside the house and it's gonna be on you if he flunks, then you'll fail the class and you're going to be stuck in this small town working on some diner.
And you also didn't wanna spend a dime for a drink that costs a leg and an arm just to sit in a cafe.
You sigh and sit on the edge of the fountain, tiny bits of water sprinkle on your bag.
5 minutes.
You'll wait 5 more and leave if he doesn't show up anytime soon.
He didn't.
You already grabbed your bike and headed for the street, you can never be too careful, so you strapped your helmet to your head and pedaled away.
As you slowed down to a stop behind another car, a honk startles you from the side.
"Tatum junior!"
Oh and what do we have here.
Stuart Macher.
Your eye twitches, he gives you a lanky wave in his convertible that's blaring music like there's no yesterday.
"Hop on in, Teach!"
You blink at him a few times, he's got to be kidding you—
Your bike sits uncomfortablely in the backseat, strapped in poorly with seatbelts and extension cables.
Everytime you pass a hump, your bike tries to lurch out of its confines.
You fiddle with your fingers in the passenger seat, opting to focus on the passing houses than your fellow passenger.
"So, hows you doing?"
You roll your eyes. "Look, I don't wanna fail this class okay? So if you're gonna be a dick and miss our sessions, don't. He's gonna fail me if I fall short and flop you and I'm not gonna be able to move up okay, get it? I'm gonna repeat a stupid grade and we only have I dont know before his long test and if you're not gonna pass that, I'm actually gonna disappear from the surface of earth and no one's gonna see me again because I'm gonna be lying in— in a ditch somewhere—"
"Woah woah woah! Hey—" Stu has his eyes furrowed and his eyes wide as saucers, debating on looking at the road or looking at you.
"Chill out, little tates!" He raises a hand at you as if that was gonna help you calm down. "My bad alright? My bad. I missed a session once—"
"Twice, and almost thrice If you didn't come today,"
"Buut, I did okay? You're sitting in my car ain't ya?"
"And that's so not coincidental am I right? That you just— what, happen drive by beside me, just in time that I left from the fountain where we were supposed to be meeting at?" You huff.
"I'm sure you we're on your way in whatever after school beer time you were supposed to be in then you saw me right in front of you and you didn't wanna be caught lacking so why not invite me in the guise of tutoring you so I would think you actually wanted to study."
You lifted an eyebrow at him, crossing your arms. He glances at you, a glint passes by his eyes but he wore a big smile on his face, then he snorts and ruffles your hair.
"Oh, tiny Riley! You got me there," you try to swat his hands away but he snatches it faster as he clutched his chest, pretending to be hurt.
"Aight, the thing is, I'm here aren't I? Big Stu is here!" He yells out the car, thumping his chest like a gorilla, laughing as he went back down.
"So, whats on our itinerary, teach?"
"Aside from introduction to accounting and analyzing business transactions which we should've covered during the last sessions," you grit your teeth and glare at him. "We now have a very easy basic accounting equations on our shoulders,"
"Oh, I think that's an easy peasy right, tate junior? We've basically got all the time in the world."
" 'All the time in the word' my butt," you grumble, crossing your arms and turning your back against him, looking about the houses once again.
A few trees passes by and Stu's mansion of a house comes into view. Stu parks like he doesn't have license, rattling your bike behind you.
"Up n up, baby Riley," you slung your bag and opened the door, you push it close as you stare at your bike, somehow Stu caught on immediately and gave your shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"Nothings gonna happen to your bike, tiny tate, we're out in the middle of nowhere, no one comes out here," he wiggles his eyebrows, "Except when there's a partaaaay!"
You mock his face as he turns around, hands in the air, you make your hand chatter.
He jogs ahead of you in lazy confidence, expecting you at his heels, you sigh your eyes for the nth time and stomped behind him.
He shuts the door behind him, letting you absorbed the house first.
"Check it out, got myself a little stray!" You frown and snap your head to him, who's he shouting out and about.
He struts ahead of you, checking the living room and the stairs, then he howls like a maniac startling you.
Is this what Tatum endures everyday?
You cannot fathom how he is with his girlfriend if this is how he is with strangers.
Then he boyishly sashays to where you are, hands in pockets.
"Scared ya? Pardon thee," he bows dramatically.
"You mean thy?"
"Anyways— C'mon, teach, lotsa room around, where do you wanna start?"
You tilt your head, is he expecting you to lead with the venue which is HIS house?
"Oh, um, ok," you awkwardly shuffled and approached what you assumed was the living room.
"So," he starts, hands still in pockets, he stands at the foot of the table as you kneeled down and began pulling out notes and books, "Why accounting?"
"What kinda question is that?"
"What do yew mean? It's an icebreaker, zuh," he playfully rolls his eyes and waves you off.
A beat goes and no one says anything.
Finally, you clear your throat and pat the floor beside you, you can see him visibly pause and tilt his head at you.
"We need to start? Like asap please?" You raise your eyebrows, his mouth makes an o before he bounces and lands beside you.
You flip through the table of contents, you sigh, landing on the first page of intro to accounting.
"Okay... What do we have here." you mumble, "You know Luca?"
"The racer? Why?"
You grind you teeth and shot him the best are you serious face.
After a few seconds you sigh in defeat.
"Luca Pacioli,"
"Sounds Italian," he wiggles his eyebrows.
You might as well stab yourself, but no, you inhale, 123.
"It's okay, Luca Pacioli was—"
"Pfftt, gosh I know who Paciole is, everyone and their mom does, I'm just messing with you, you douche," you stare ahead at the wall, gripping your pencil, you stutter in irritation as you finally spoke up.
"O-okay.. I'll assume you must know the branches of accounting right?"
You asked, not sparing him a glance, you check off Luca Paciole out of the list oh father of accounting.
"Yuh-huh, okay— can we actually pause. All these notebooks are giving me the heebie jeebies," he shudders, "When's your sister finishing her prac?"
"7:00. Give me the branches of accounting and their uses,"
"C'moooon, gimme a break, baby tatum puhlease," you give him a pointed look.
"I don't really get why there's 5 fucking ways to say money problems, it's all numbers and stress and making people feel important," he playfully waves his hands around, his head dramatically falling unto the sofa behind the both of you. "Like, one is watching other peoples money, one's figuring out why everything costs so much, one is taxes, which is basically robbery in plain sight! And the rest is just peoole double checking on each other so no one gets yelled at. Ugh this is making me dizzy, I'm gonna skedaddle."
"That's.."
He sighs and abruptly stands up, headed for the kitchen, "You need anything? Water, beer, Apple juice?"
"Yeah.That makes sense." You nod, skimming over the book, his head whips out of the refrigerator. "That's pretty much financial, management, cost, tax, and auditing."
Okay, you actually think you can get through this in a breeze. You felt like the rocks on your shoulders being lifted up.
"Now can you tell me what ALCIE stands for?" You asked, flipping a page.
📞🩸🔪
You yawn as you check your watch.
9:00 pm
You have a 10 pm curfew because apparently no one cares that the age gap between you and Tatum was close with each other so they treat you like your 10.
You glance at scooby doo beside you, his head rested on the coffee table, turned away from you and snoring.
You suppose it was you reading, droning on and on and on, but thank goodness, at least he fell asleep during an unimportant part.
You rub your eyes, it was about time you fix up and go home.
But you needed to pee so bad, all the juice you drank went straight down. You groan and stood up, choosing not to wake him up, you stood at the center of the hallway and looking around for any signs of bathroom.
Then you heard keys jingling at the front door.
You didn't even realize Stu was awake till you heard the clanking of your bag behind you, he pulls you with him up the stairs in the hurry.
"Stu what—"
"No time, hurry up," you shut your mouth when you saw his worried face. He didn't speak till you arrived in what you assume was his room. He nudges you in first before locking the door behind him.
"Coming in a minute, mom!"
"Your parents are here?"
"Yeah. Fuck," the last word was supposed to be mumbled, his eyes snap to yours, "Don't tell Tatum,"
You lift an eyebrow, a puzzled look on your face.
"What?" He says, albiet almost defensively but still having that playful tone of his. "I'm not a kid idiot,"
"Really? Won't your ears burst if I curse in front of ya?"
You roll your eyes.
"Why'd you bring me up here anyway?"
"Yeahhhh, about that," he scratches his head. "So basically, parents = tutor, is a big no-no."
"What?"
"They can't, CAN'T know I have me a tutor, they're gonna hang me by the balls!" He whisper-shouts, holding his hands around his neck trying to emphasize the gravity of the situation.
He slowly brings his hands together in front of you. When you don't answer, he starts to kneel and shake his hands.
"Please, mademoiselle."
"Urgh, alright alright just— fricking stand up please,"
A wide grin graces his face as he slowly ascends from his position, he towers over you in a slow motion kinda way.
"Fricking? You're such a kid, tate junior,"
You roll your eyes.
"What am I supposed to do now?" You glance around his room, okay, typical teenage hormonal boy room.
"Hmmm," he makes a thinking face, then puts his hand below his chin, scratching it. "You can climb down the window."
"Absolutely not!" You gasp.
"Well why not!"
"I could die!" you gesture to yourself.
"Well, I'm gonna die!"
"Stuart!"
"Stu, sweets,"
"I can't climb down a window!"
"Look— believe me—"
"I'm not gonna believe you!"
"SHHH," he covers your mouth abruptly.
"Stu? Is there someone with you?" You hear his mom from downstairs.
"I'm on the phone, mom!" You can feel him deflate when he hears no reply from his mom.
"Junior, look at me, hey," your eyes sting as you glance at the window. This was not how your day was supposed to end. "Why can't you just tell your parents that I'm like- someone not like-"
You exhale, trying to fan yourself. "Hey- look at me, junior," Stu holds your head in between his huge hands, he squats in front of you as he momentarily shakes your focus on him.
"Listen to me. I've went down my window before and trust me when I say this, you're not gonna die, sweet cheeks. It's just like a little jump in the pool but no pool just jump— hey, it's okay,"
You rub your forehead and then your eyes.
"Stu, we're on the second floor of your house, how is this a jump in the pool. I'm gonna die if I jump out that window."
You huff and puff out carbon dioxide rapidly, the plants can thank you for that.
"Don't you have a ladder somewhere—"
"Wait. Stay here. DO NOT make a noise."
"Stu—"
"Shosh." He quickly exits his room, leaving you and yourself.
You glance around for your bag, you see it hapazardly discarded on the floor, but everything inside is complete, you completely zip it close and strapped it to yourself.
"C'mon, where are you, Stu." you whisper, walking around his room trying to calm yourself.
A beat goes and you hear pebbles tapping on the window, you glanced down and see Stu, he waves with his whole body as you slide it open.
"C'mon! I'll catch you!" He whisper-shouts.
Your eyes widen.
"We're both gonna die!"
"Hurry! Or you'll be seeing my corpse on that fence!"
You bite your lip, your mind trying to scramble for other possible solutions.
"Are you sure this is safe?"
"Perfectly!"
You back up the window, worse comes to worst, you'll break an ankle or an arm.
"1!" You hear him whisper-shout.
"2!"
"3!"
You hop on the ledge and jump, closing your eyes and hoping for everything but death.
You hit Stu hard, as in he almost falls to the ground hard, or at least that's what it felt like to you. You felt an arm circle around your torso and and the other beneath your legs, your arms automatically clutched around his neck.
Your eyes are still shut tight, arms still hugging his head in a headlock.
"J-junior- you can- let go- now-" your eyes snap open, you look around and breathe a huge sigh of relief when you see the ground, your arms loosen around Stu as you huff and puff in joy.
"Told gya, I'd catch you. Big Stu in the house!" You almost laughed if not for the fact he almost killed you.
You jumped down from his arms and dusted your clothes, you catch him already looking at you, raising an eyebrow you held you chin and stared at him, his smile grows wider.
"Thank you, Stu," You bite the inside of your cheeks.
He frowns, tilting his head as his hands cover his ears tryna hear you. "Huh? Wha? What did you say?"
"Thank you, you douchebag!" you yell.
"Hey— shush. your. mouth!"
You look behind you, Stu's parents' both on a call, you look back to Stu who was approaching his convertible.
You jog quietly after him. He opens the backseat door and begins untangling your bike.
"Shit. Damnit." He mumbles, pulling on the extension cords.
"I'd offer to drive you, junior- but the motherlode is back at the spaceship." He says, not paying you a glance, too busy with pulling and untangling.
"Come on, come on," he whispers, tugging on the ropes.
You check your watch again.
9:20 pm
"Shoot. My curfew's at 10, Stu!" You whisper.
"What? What time is it?"
"9:27!"
"That's like a long way to go, there's still time,"
"Uhh, your house is like seperated from any living civilization?! They're all gonna kill me if I come home late!"
"You have a bike, kid. Bike it?"
"Ughhhhh!" You knash your teeth together, crossing your arms. "Your house is so fricking far from anywhere!"
You groan and help Stu free your bike, the faster you finish the faster you get home.
You swear you could feel your heart beating out of your ribcage.
Finally, you managed to pull the bike out after a much needed cardio.
You fastened the helmet to your head and threw your bag in the basket, without another glance you hop on your bike.
"Thank you for tonight, douchebag,"
"Oh— Come on, junior," he shakes his head.
You clicked the stopper away and pedaled because your life depended on it.
📞🩸🔪
"Why aren't you freaking out?!"
You roll your eyes, taping another poster on the bulletin.
"What is there to worry about, Ruby?" You huff, climbing down the ladder. You grin at your masterpiece, the board filled with the event poster, now no one will miss it if its as big as this.
"Besides, you're freaking out enough for the both of us." You laugh. She scoffs and rolls her eyes.
"You're not helping," she groans. "It's been days since we put these posters up, and ever since, it's either been ripped down or used as toilet paper."
"I'll find a way—"
"Boogah!" You shriek and turn around.
Stu stands in a crouched dracula position, his hands curls in front of him and you, his left leg lifted up.
"Idiot!" You whisper, eyes darting around as people gave you a weird glance.
Ruby behind you was long gone, not wanting to bear the second hand embarrassment.
"You coming to buff Stu's party yeah?"
You snort and move unto another board. "No."
"Your sister's coming though!"
"Unlike her, I have this coming," you lift up the poster to his face, he snatches it from your hands.
"Now what do we have here," his eyebrow lifts up.
"Car wash?" He laughs, like maniacally laughs, you jump as he claps his hand as he snorts. People passing by not paying him any attention except for the occasional glance.
"Fundraising for the school's maintenance support."
"Pfft, the school's maintenance?" He slaps his thigh, laughing yet again.
"Piss off if you're not going to help."
"Alright, alright. I'm ouuut," he salutes you, turning his back to you cartoonishly and skips across the hallway.
📞🩸🔪
"Okay, alright, your sister's calling us, see ya tomorrow!"
"Bye, dont break a leg, Ruby." You hear her laugh before hanging up. You park your bike outside the corner store, clicking the stand on, you don't bother taking your helmet off because it's an in and out mission.
The bell of the doors ring open as you enter, the smell of days old cigarette swirls around the air.
Right.
In and out.
You grab a pack of beer and a juice box for yourself. Setting then down the cashier, she makes it quick as you give a perfect amount.
She recites the usual grocery conversation and you leave.
Finally, you cough a bit when you exit the store, bad ventilation.
A meow catches your attention, a cat loafs just beside the store's entrance.
You smile and approached slowly. "Hello."
It blinks and yawns as your hand hovers near its nose. Without any rejection from him, you pet his head, then slowly scratch his chin up to his side belly.
"Aren't you a little too small to be a guard dog?" You laugh when he meows back.
"I'm sorry, I don't have anything on me right now."
A noise from the alley behind you, just beside the store surprises the both of you, the cat quickly scurries away to wherever pocket hide out he has.
The noise sounded like a trashcan getting trashed, but then you hear someone cursing and squeaks of shoes then another punch.
After a beat, you see two people leave the alley in a hurry, their noses bloodied and bruised.
"Fuck 'im. I'm gonna get him next time."
The first one bumps your shoulder in a hurry.
The second guy narrowly avoids you but curses you anyway for blocking the path.
You frown as you watch their backs disappear from your line of sight. Your head snaps back to the alley you don't see when you hear a kick of the garbage bin and a thus of the wall.
"Rule number one: Don't check the noise."
Or whatever Randy says when he picks Tatum up at home.
A groan catches your focus.
Cautiously, you take small steps till you reach the corner before the alley, you hide behind the corner as you try to peek into the semi-dark space.
The person is hunched against the wall, head hung low as his elbow rests heavily on his knees.
His shoulders shudder when he exhales out a shaky breath. You're already out in the open, right at the center if the alley.
"Billy," you whisper, waiting for him to see you. But he doesn't move, his eyes still trained on the ground.
Your lips form a tight line, without giving it much thought, you approach him quietly, stopping infront of him, you squat down and took a good look at him.
His fists are bloody and burst open, you don't see much of his face, only that his nose is bleeding down to the ground, a second passes but he still doesn't pay you any mind.
You tilt your head up and sigh, reaching into the plastic, you grab the juice box because Dewey forbid you give his beer a dent.
You place it in front of him, a breeze passes by in between you and nothing makes a move.
You bite the inside of your cheek.
"Ohh-kay." You tut and stood back up, quickly walking back to your bike, you walk your bike just far enough from the store but near enough to check on Billy once again.
Your eyebrows lift when you see him in the the same position.
Sheesh, okay, bad day.
You pedal away as the sky turns orange. He's pretty intimidating without Sidney, wait no, he's intimidaung any day. You wonder how Sidney landed him on the boyfriend lottery, he's the definition of heebie jeebies.
