Halloween was one of Victor's favorite holidays, which didn't mean much because Victor always loved any excuse to throw a lavish party.
Victor's annual costume party was always the center of every senior skater's October, and many went all out on their costumes. And by all out, I mean Yuuri and Victor dressing in full book-accurate costumes as Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward for last year's gothic theme. Unfortunately, I only saw them on Victor's Instagram because I was still a junior skater, but this year I finally get to go.
This year's theme is Romeo and Juliet, and Victor expects everyone to be masked and dressed in "Shakespearean" attire. To be quite honest, I have never read or seen Romeo and Juliet; I just know they die at the end. Nonetheless, Mila sat me down the weekend before and made me watch the movie.
"So basically, they meet at a party and fall in love in like ten minutes? Seems kinda shallow to be honest," I say as I throw a few pieces of popcorn into my mouth.
"and I have zero idea what they're saying"
"It's love at first sight! I think we've all had a 'ooo-that-guy-is-super-fine' moment," Mila replies.
"Well duh, but I wouldn't wanna marry him” I laugh.
“Don’t pretend like the first time you saw Yuri you didn’t wanna marry him, I swear I have a text of you saying it,” she adds cheekily.
“Mila that was like two years ago! I’m over it, he’s an ass, what’s new,” I exclaim.
“You didn’t say I was wrong though!” Mila teases.
I decide to bite my tongue and shrug it off.
“See, it’s not all that inaccurate after all!” She laughs.
After watching the movie, I decided that the only thing I would really need to try for is the mask. I chose to dress as a raven because the only Shakespearian-like dress I owned was my black freshman homecoming dress.
I bought a black mask off Amazon and got to work on my feathered masterpiece. I glued a bunch of black feathers onto the mask and covered the rest with rhinestones. Once it was finished, I set it aside until the day of the party.
That morning, Mila came over once again to help me get ready. However, she showed up at 7:00 AM.
“Mila, what the hell are you doing here? It’s like seven,” I say rubbing my eyes, as I had just woken up.
“You haven’t started on your hair?? The party starts at three this is an all-day event,” Mila replies, pushing by me and entering my house.
She had a big bag full of makeup, hair tool, and what I assumed was her costume. Her hair was in pin curls and she had on a cozy pair of pajamas.
“I feel like this is super unnecessary,” I reply while shutting the door Mila had forced herself through.
“Well I have to get ready, then I have to get you ready,” she adds while placing her stuff onto the ground.
“I guess, but seven still feels a little over the top,” I say as we climb upstairs to my bedroom.
For the next 6 hours, Mila and I got ready.
First, Mila put my hair up into curlers so they’d set while she did my makeup. She decided to do very light makeup to remain “period accurate”, as she said, even thought I doubt they had curlers in the 1500s.
A few hours after I finally got into my costume and put on my feathered mask.
I was quite fond of my creative masterpiece.
Mila was dressed as an angel like in the movie, with a long white dress and feathered wings. She had on a white jeweled mask which slightly resembled mine, only without the feathers.
Mila and I quickly sprayed on some perfume, packed our bags, and headed over to the party.
“My boyfriend won’t wear an actual costume and he’s seriously pissing me off” Mila says while driving.
“Be grateful you even have a date I’ll be in the corner drinking apple juice or something stupid like that,” I add with a laugh.
“You’ll find someone to hang out with, I’m sure Yuri will be there,” she replies.
“I haven’t talked to him in like two years it’ll be so awkward,” I huff.
“Aww cmon it’ll be fine, just be yourself,” Mila adds.
“Just be myself? You sound like my mom” I laugh.
“And your mom is very right!” She chuckles as she parks on the road just before victors house.
There were cars lined up on both sides of the road and in his extremely large driveway. You could see the bright lights and hear the bass boosted music from a mile away.
Mila and I got out of the car and walked down into the extravagant house.
“You guys made it! Ah, I’m so glad to see you two!” Victor exclaimed warmly as we climbed through the front door.
“Looking as handsome as ever old man!” Mila replies with a short laugh.
“You really know how to flatter me, there’s food in the drinks in the dining room if you two are interested,” he replies with a smile.
“Oh I’m definitely interested, cya!” She adds while dragging me into the sea of people.
While navigating through Victor massive house, I somehow managed to lose Mila in the midst of it.
I found my way into the dining room, but she was nowhere to be seen. I wandered around aimlessly, trying to find my red-headed friend, but she seemed to have disappeared.
Feeling defeated, I grabbed a water from one of the many coolers around the house and took a swig.
“You look nice,” a voice said from behind me.
I almost choked in disbelief when I heard it.
I turned around to see a boy in a dark, tiger-printed suit with a matching mask.
“Thank you…Do I know you?” I replied, though the voice sounded vaguely familiar.
“You know me,” he replied while leaning on the wall next to me.
“I’m not sure I do…” I responded quizzically.
“I see that Mila took off with her airhead boyfriend..I wouldn’t waste my time looking for her, that idiots gone for the rest of the night,” he added.
“You know Mila?” I asked.
“Who doesn't?”
“Fair point” I laugh.
“Wanna dance?” The masked boy inquired.
Usually I would’ve said no, but something about it felt right, and I didn’t want to waste my time waiting around for Mila to show up again.
“Sure” I replied while placing my water bottle on a nearby table.
The boy held out his hand and dragged me into the main area.
Dirty little secret was blasting through the house, but for a quick moment, it went silent.
Dancing with him felt natural, like we knew each other, which was quite possible that we actually did.
While on the topic, I couldn’t help but wonder who he was. His voice sounded so familiar, but I couldn’t place it. He was definitely Russian, but I know so many Russian skaters it was hard to tell who the voice belonged to.
The masked boys hand slid down onto my waist and pulled me into his chest as we spun around the room, knocking into many people, but neither of us cared.
After many long hours of dancing, the boy asked, “You wanna get some fresh air?”.
“Yeah, it’s really hot in here” I laugh.
We pushed through the crowd and outside onto Victor's dimly lit deck covered in fairy lights. It was a surprise not many people were out there, as the view was quite pleasant.
After a few minutes of sweet silence, I finally mustered up the courage to ask who he was.
“So…are you ever going to tell me who you are?” I ask with a slight smile.
“Maybe” he laughs.
“Oh, cmon!” I reply, laughing with him.
“Fine, but I actually can’t believe you don’t recognize me,” the masked boy added in disbelief.
“Well, you are masked so it makes it a little bit harder,” I joke.
The boy chuckled slightly in response.
Within a swift second, he reached his hand behind the mask and took it off.
It was Yuri Plisetsky.
I stood in shock for a moment, unable to fathom the identity of my masked dance partner.
“..Yuri?” I muttered.
“Finally” he laughed.
I stared silently, my mouth slightly agape.
“What? Are you shocked at my…striking beauty? He added.
“No, I just wasn’t expecting that” I reply sheepishly.
“Wasn’t expecting what?” Yuri added.
“You”
He laughed a little at my answer.
“Were you hoping for someone else?” He inquired.
“No, I wasn’t. You know that,” I reply with a slight smile.
“What do you mean?” Yuri asked as he leaned against the deck railing.
“You know I’ve liked you since the first junior Grand Prix, the one Victor came to watch” I chuckle.
“I…actually didn’t know that,” he replied, his cheek turning a pale shade of pink.
“Shit, forget I said anything” I add, turning my head in embarrassment.
There’s a beat of deafening silence.
“I’ve liked you for longer, actually. Ever since Yakov brought you onto the team,” he says, a tone of vulnerability in his voice.
“Don’t lie,” I reply with a stiff laugh.
“I’m not lying,” Yuri adds, stepping closer to me.
“Oh please,” I say as I roll my eyes.
He slides a hand down to my waist and softly looks into my eyes.
My cheeks flush red as I avoid his gaze, too embarrassed to look at him.
“I’ll prove it,” he says.
“Fine, prove it” I add, finally looking up at him.
Yuri’s hand leaves my waist for a split second and moves up to my face. He gently pulls me up and rests it on the top of my head.
Then in a swift motion, he grabbed my chin and pulled me into a kiss.
I leaned into it, his hand trailing back down to my waist.
After a few seconds, I pulled back and looked at him in awe.
“Did I convince you?” He asked.
“Yeah, you did,” I reply, still dazed by the kiss.
Yuri laughs
“So, now that you’re convinced, would you wanna go out with me…maybe after practice sometime?” He asks with a soft grin.
“Yeah I’d really like that-“
“Yuuurioooo!~” A loud voice slurred from the house, cutting me off.
Yuri and I turned to see a disheveled and obviously drunk Victor shuffling onto the deck.
“Oh, what are you two love birds chatting about hm?” Victor added, throwing an arm around a clearly annoyed Yuri.
“We were just talking,” he replied flatly.
“You know he’s had a crush on you for a looooong time,” Victor teases.
“Oh, I’m well aware,” I say with a laugh.
Yuri rolled his eyes and hid his face in embarrassment.
“Well, I’m sorry to bother you two, but I need to borrow your boyfriend~” Victor adds with a cheeky grin.
“He’s all yours," I laugh.
Yuri violently shakes his head at me as Victor pulls him away.
“Don’t worry I’ll bring him back soooon!” he adds as they walk back into the house.
This is crazy because I just started working on the new going gold chapter as I saw this, it’s a sign 😝. Also I am in dire need of new stuff to write about so PLEASE leave requests if there is anything you guys want me to write about 😜😜.
On September 1st, Remus woke up to a loud, irritating alarm clock blaring from across the room.
Upon hearing the noise, he sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes.
“What the hell is that?..” Remus spat, barely awake.
“Sorry guys…I forgot how loud that gets,” Peter said as he quickly worked to turn the clock off.
“Well, now that we’re all up, might as well get ready,” James said with a yawn and an exaggerated stretch.
Remus pulled the covers off his bed and slid onto the carpeted floor. He looked over to see Sirius, still asleep in his bed.
“Should we wake him up?” Remus asked.
“Yeah, but let me do it, I’ve got an idea,” James replied with a mischievous grin.
The boy quietly walked into the bathroom and came back out with what looked to be pencil eyeliner. James slid the cap off and carefully began drawing all over Sirius’s face. He squiggled on a unibrow and a moustache before quickly putting the cap back on and waking Sirius up.
“Sirius, you’ve got to get up, we’re going to be late!” James said dramatically.
“What!?” Sirius replied as he sprang up off his bed.
“Yeah, man, it’s 7:30!” James responded, clearly trying to hold his laughter back.
“Shit shit!” Sirius yelled as he sprinted into the bathroom.
Remus looked over at Peter’s alarm clock to find that it was not 7:30, but 6:58.
“JAMES!” Sirius exclaimed from the bathroom.
James burst into laughter and then ran behind Remus.
“Shhh, hide me!” He said as Sirius ran out of the bathroom.
As soon as the boy entered the dorm, Remus stepped aside, revealing James’s hiding spot.
The long-haired boy then jumped on top of James and started wrestling with him.
Sirius ripped off James’s glasses and held them high in the air.
“Have fun in class without your glasses!” Sirius laughed.
“Not funny! You know I can’t see without them!” James retorted as he mindlessly waved his arms in the air.
“That’s the point, idiot,” Sirius spat.
Remus ignored the antics of the two boys and decided it was the perfect time for him to get ready.
He grabbed his uniform and walked into the bathroom. After changing, the clothes felt all too restrictive for Remus, so he undid one of the buttons at the top of his shirt and allowed his tie to hang loosely around his neck. He then brushed his teeth and lathered on some of his deodorant before re-entering the dorm.
Sirius now had smudged eyeliner across his face, and James kept laughing every time he looked at him.
“I’m going to go wash this off,” Sirius said, clearly very irritated.
“Have fun!” James replied with a grin that earned him a slap on the back of the head from Sirius.
“Owwww!” He groaned.
Sirius then rolled his eyes and locked himself in the bathroom.
Remus ignored James’s wailing and sat down at one of the desks to look over his schedule. First, he had Algebra, which made him very happy because he had been eager to learn more than just the basics all summer. He then decided to check over his summer work one last time, just in case he made any minor errors.
Moments later, Sirius emerged from the bathroom in his uniform. He was wearing a strong cologne that made Peter cough a few times when he walked by.
“Did you pour the whole bottle on yourself?” James asked while pulling his shirt up over his nose.
“I only did one spray!” Sirius retorted.
“What even is it?” James added.
“I dunno, it's some fancy stuff my mom got me for my cousin's wedding in Normandy,” The long-haired boy replied, slightly embarrassed.
“Whatever I’m getting changed,” James said as he walked into the bathroom, leaving Sirius and Remus awkwardly lingering by each other.
“Whatcha doing?” Sirius asked as he leaned on the back of Remus’s chair, clearly over his embarrassment.
“Checking over my Algebra packet,” he replied without looking up at him.
“I forgot about that, whatever, I’ll just say I never got the packet,” the dark-haired boy said as he began to walk away.
A few seconds later, the loudspeaker came on.
“Good morning, St. Andrews! I’m hoping you all slept well. The cafeteria is now open for breakfast, make sure to head over to the auditorium after eating!”.
After the speaker clicked off, James hurried out of the bathroom and rushed to grab his things.
“I am so hungry, can we please go get food?” James pleaded.
“Peter hasn’t even been able to get changed yet,” Remus replied.
“I’ll be quick, I promise!!” Peter added as he rushed into the bathroom.
“Ughhh,” James groaned dramatically while flopping onto his back.
When Peter came back out, James shot up once again and bolted towards the door.
“Let’s go!” He said as he ran out into the common area.
The rest of them followed, walking down the fancy staircases into the main building.
When they arrived at the cafeteria, they sat down at a rectangular table with four seats on each side. James and Sirius rushed over to one side, which left Peter and Remus sitting across from them.
The four boys quickly dropped their bags off at the table and rushed up to the buffet.
Remus grabbed a red plastic tray and a white ceramic plate. The cafe was littered with different kinds of food, many of which he had never tried before. He walked over to a tin with scrambled eggs in it and scooped a few onto his plate. Meanwhile, James and Sirius were fighting over who was going to take the last pancake, which heavily annoyed Remus. He decided to walk as far away from them as possible, and ended up grabbing a few pieces of toast that he very slowly layered in butter to avoid meeting up with them again. Before returning to the table, Remus poured himself a glass of orange juice and was satisfied with his breakfast. He was the first person back and found the silence to be quite enjoyable.
Sirius, James, and Peter all appeared back at the table a few minutes later. James had taken the last pancake, and Sirius kept trying to steal a bite, but every time he tried, James would slap his hand away.
After breakfast, all the students in the cafeteria began walking to the auditorium, and the group of boys followed suit.
The room had thousands of seats and a large stage at the front. A man with a long grey beard and crescent glasses was standing at a podium in the middle with a microphone and a small sheet of paper.
“Can we sit in the back?” James said as they passed by the first row of seats.
“I don't really care where we sit,” Remus replied.
James then shrugged and slid into the first seat in the second-to-last row. Remus ended up between Sirius and Peter, which made him feel severely claustrophobic.
The large room was filled with the sounds of chattering students until a microphone clicked on, and it went dead silent.
“Good morning, everyone, how are we today?” the bearded man asked.
The crowd of students' answers ranged from “good” to “awful”.
“Well, I'm glad to see everyone here. I know there are many important things you’d like to hear about, like homecoming and sports tryouts, but first we must go over the boring details,” the man added.
There were many groans and “booo”s from the audience.
“I know, I know, to start off for any new students, my name is Dumbledore and I am the principal of St. Andrews. You may have noticed that you are separated into teams; these teams are your family while at St. Andrews, so treat your dormmates as such. We have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying, and we encourage our students to report any rule-breaking behaviors to their team guidance counselor. If you have any questions about our rules, please refer to our student handbook or contact a member of our staff. Now, onto the more interesting news. Fall sports tryouts will start next week. Please check the schedule outside the office for specifics. This year’s homecoming dance will be on Saturday, October fifth, and our homecoming king and queen will be announced during the football game the day prior,” Dumbledore said, occasionally clearing his throat in between sentences.
“I’m thinking about asking Mary to homecoming,” Sirius whispered to James with a sly grin.
However, Sirius Black was terrible at whispering.
“Why, you don’t even know her?” Remus objected, having heard everything Sirius had just said.
“Because she's hot, and I need a date,” the dark-haired boy replied.
Remus didn't reply and began feeling slightly uncomfortable hearing him use the word “hot” to describe a 13-year-old girl, even though they were the same age.
Soon after, the assembly ended, and the group of boys began on their way to their first period.
“We have Algebra first, right?” Peter asked as they navigated their way through the math hallway.
“Yep, should be right here,” James replied, stopping in front of a classroom with a big red door.
He pulled the handle, and they all filed in.
“Good morning, boys, what are your names?” a voice said next to them.
Remus slightly jumped at the sudden noise.
All the boys gave their names, and surprisingly, they were all seated relatively close to each other.
James was placed in a seat up one and to the left of Sirius, the two of them being separated by a greasy-looking black-haired boy.
Remus sat a few seats behind Sirius, and Peter was placed in the seat to the left of James.
Remus looked next to him and saw the blonde girl he had met the day prior.
She shot him a slight smile, and he awkwardly returned it.
Suddenly, a loud bell rang and the door was quickly shut.
“Good morning, everyone, I hope we all did our summer work!” the teacher said as she made her way up to the front of the room.
She looked fairly young and had long blonde hair wrapped tightly inside a braid that fell just below her back.
“My name is Ms. Crowe, if you weren’t already aware, and I will be your algebra 1 teacher this year. Now, I would appreciate it if you would all pass your summer packets to the front of your rows.” She added while picking up a piece of chalk off the dusty rack in front of the chalkboard.
Remus quickly realized that he was one of the only students who did their summer work when he saw only a few packets getting sent up.
When Ms. Crowe saw the lack of participation from her students, she decided to give the class a lecture on the importance of homework.
Remus didn’t pay attention to her speech because he felt it didn’t apply to him, and to be quite frank, he found her to be utterly boring.
After his first class had finished, the rest of the day seemed to fly by.
He had some light reading to do for his history class and music to look over for band, but other than that, he had nothing to do that evening.
When he returned to his dorm after his last class of the day, he found James and Sirius tossing a football around their common area.
“What are you doing?” Remus asked bluntly.
“Practicing for football, me ‘n James just signed up for JV tryouts next Wednesday,” Sirius replied while throwing the brown ball over to James, who was standing a bit too close to the fireplace for Remus’s liking.
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll hit something?” He added.
“Not really,” Sirius replied as the ball flew back over towards the two boys.
Sirius jogged backwards and jumped in the air to catch the ball, but he ended up slipping on the floor instead.
This earned a loud cackle from James, and even Remus had to hurry into the dorm room to hide his amused expression.
When he got inside, he saw Peter sitting at one of the desks doing the history homework.
Remus decided not to disturb him, and quietly sat down on his bed to read the textbook himself.
The first chapter was short, which was why it was assigned for them to do by themselves. It discussed the Age of Exploration in 1492, which Remus found to be slightly intriguing.
When he finished his reading and made a few sticky-note annotations in his book, he slipped it into his backpack and went to change out of his clothes.
Dinner was soon approaching, and Remus wondered how long Sirius and James would be out for.
At six o'clock, the two boys burst through the door and threw their ball onto the floor before racing back out into the hall for dinner.
Remus and Peter shot a surprised look at each other, and silently agreed to follow and get dinner themselves.
After eating, all the boys returned to their dorm and were exhausted from their first day.
They all took turns showering, and before they knew it, it was lights out.
“Have you guys done the reading?” Peter asked as he climbed into his bed.
“Nah, I’ll do it during lunch tomorrow, it’s easy, right? Just stuff about Columbus?” James replied.
“Yeah, it is, but there’s other stuff too, so I’d look over it,” Peter added.
“Yeah, even if I didn’t read it, I’m sure I’d get a good grade on the assignment, learned about it last year. I’ve got a pretty good memory,” James responded, before drifting off to sleep.
The rest of the summer was a blur for Remus, mostly because he was so excited to start at his new school, but also because he had spent the rest of his time studying. The incoming freshman students all had to take the same four core classes: Algebra 1, Biology, Literature 1, and American History. His Algebra class required that an introductory packet be handed in on the first day of the quarter. Remus finished the packet within a week and then spent the rest of his time brushing up on his history and biology knowledge at the public library. He was also signed up to take Latin 1 and concert band. In middle school he played percussion and enjoyed it enough, though he only chose it because he didn’t find any of the other options interesting.
The day before the semester began, Remus and his mom began to pack up his things. They were permitted to bring a large suitcase, a backpack, and a bag of their choosing to their dorm rooms, which they would share with three other students. According to the letter, the student body was divided into four sections: Sycamore, Redwood, Palm, and Oak. When his uniform came in, he was notified that he would be on the Redwood team. The outfit consisted of a black blazer, a white button-up, black dress pants, and a gold and maroon tie. Remus had never really liked formal attire, button up shirts always made him feel itchy, and ties made him feel like he was suffocating. He stuffed the uniform into his suitcase and zipped it up so he wouldn’t have to deal with it before his departure tomorrow.
When Remus arrived at the school on the first day, which he didn’t consider to be the first day because there weren’t any classes, it was flooded with students walking out of expensive cars with massive suitcases. He felt slightly out of place as his parents drove a Dodge Dart, which was something he had never thought about until then.
Remus grabbed his suitcase out of the trunk of his car while his mom carried his backpack. They walked up to the front of the dormitory building and climbed up many flights of fancy staircases before reaching their destination. The Redwood boys' dorms were on one side, and the girls were located on the other, while having a “common” area in the middle. This area had benches, couches, a fireplace, and rows upon rows of bookshelves, which made Remus feel at home. He then walked into his dorm room, which was much fancier than he anticipated. It had four beds in all four corners of the room, desks, two decently sized closets, and a bathroom.
One of the beds already had someone's things on it: a familiar-looking football, a jersey, and a small UC Berkeley flag. Remus placed his things on the bed closest to the one window, which also happened to be the farthest from the taken bed.
“Are you sure you have everything? It looks a little empty in here…” his mother asked.
“I'm sure, I didn't need to bring much anyway,” Remus replied.
“Well, if you need anything, have the people in the office give us a call, alright? Come say bye to your dad before we leave,” she adds as they start on their way out of the expensive building.
After saying his goodbyes and receiving many mini lectures from his parents, they left, and Remus was on his own. The reality of it all was beginning to sink in, and he started feeling homesick. He knew there was nothing he could do about it now, so he wandered back to the dorm building and began putting his clothes away.
“Is anyone in there?” a sheepish voice said from outside the door.
“Er, yeah..come in,” Remus replied as he placed his uniform blazer onto a hanger.
Moments later, a short, slightly chubby, blonde boy walked into the dorm room with a suitcase and backpack.
“I think this is my dorm..are you James, Sirius, or…Remus?” he asked, reading off a piece of paper.
“I'm Remus…how did you get a list of your roommates?” He asked curiously.
“It came in the package along with my uniform..I’m Peter, by the way,” he says, obviously nervous.
“Nice to meet you,” Remus replies as he continues putting away his uniform.
Remus thought he must’ve accidentally thrown it away, but then he realized one of the names sounded slightly familiar.
“Did you say James?” Remus asked.
“Um.. yeah, why?” Peter replied while starting to unpack his belongings.
“No reason..the name just sounds familiar,” He responded.
Of course, it was just his luck to be sharing a room with the guy who almost knocked him out right before his test.
“Sirius, get back here!” A mature voice boomed from outside their dorm room.
“Sirius Black, if you don’t come here now, I’ll have you shipped off to France, do you hear me!?” The voice shouted again.
“Mom, seriously? Why can’t I go to my dorm?!” A smaller voice replied.
“Because I said so!” The lady yelled again.
Moments later, the dorm door swung open.
“Hey guys- Hey, you’re the guy I hit with my football!” A familiar-faced boy said.
“I’m James Potter by the way, sorry about your head,” he says with a beaming smile.
“It’s fine…I’m Remus,” he replies, folding up an extra pair of his dress pants and placing them in one of the drawers under his bed.
“Nice to meet you,” James replies.
“What’s your name?” He adds, gesturing towards Peter.
“I’m Peter Pettigrew,” The boy replies awkwardly.
“Pettigrew…I feel like I’ve heard that name before..” James replies while jumping onto his bed.
Seconds later, the door bursts open again, but this time it wasn’t anyone Remus had seen before. It was a boy with long black hair and fair skin with dark eyes, but he couldn't figure out what color they were.
He looked almost like royalty, Remus thought.
“Sorry about my mom, James, I swear she hates when I talk to anyone outside the family. It’s like the fourth time she’s threatened to ship me off this week!” He exclaims while throwing a fancy suitcase onto the remaining bed.
“It’s fine, I’m just happy you’re finally away from her for the year,” James replies while taping his UC Berkeley flag onto the wall above his bed.
“I’m away from her now, but the holidays will be hell!” The dark-haired boy says with frustration.
Remus continues unpacking his clothes into his drawers, attempting to mind his business.
“Have you met our roommates, Sirius?” James asks.
“No, I don’t think so,” he replies.
Remus turns around to face Sirius, who has the bed next to him.
“I’m Remus,” he says with a tight smile before turning back to his clothing.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Sirius Black,” He says with a charming smile.
“You’re a Black?” Peter says, clearly surprised.
“Unfortunately,” Sirius retorts.
“Isn’t your family French royalty?” he asks.
“Descendants of French royalty, which means almost nothing. I don’t get why my family is so hung up on it,” Sirius replies as he, too, begins unpacking.
“I’m Peter, by the way,” the blonde boy adds sheepishly.
“Nice to meet you,” Sirius responds.
“Did you guys get your schedules?” James asks as he climbs off his bed.
They all nod.
“I’m pretty sure everyone has the same core classes…if I’m not mistaken,” Remus responds.
“What about electives? I’m taking Spanish 1 and home ec,” James adds.
“I’m in French 3 and intro to journalism,” Sirius replies, sitting on his bed.
“How’d you get into French 3?” James questioned.
“I speak French,” the long-haired boy replied.
“Damn I should’ve thought of that,” james responded, scolding himself.
“I’m in concert band and Latin,” Remus adds.
“Are you in marching?” Sirius asks, the comment piquing his interest.
“No, I didn’t want to have to go to band camp,” Remus replies.
“Damn, James and I are trying out for the football team. At Least you’ll get to come and watch the games if we get in, tho,” Sirius adds.
Remus nods, not having any real intent to go.
“Do you guys wanna go check out our common area?” James suggests happily.
“Sure,” Sirius replies.
Remus stood up, not really wanting to go, but felt it would be too awkward for him to stay behind.
The group filed out into the common area to find a group of girls sitting on the couches in front of the fireplace, which was not on.
The first girl had shoulder-length, bleach blonde hair and bangs cut across her forehead that made her look slightly intimidating. The second girl had a softer look; she had dark curly hair and brown skin that suited the warm smile she gave when they first walked in. The last girl had long fiery red hair and piercing green eyes, which seemed to have caught James’s attention.
“Hey guys, I’m assuming you’ll be our female Redwood counterparts?” James said with a charming smile.
“I’m afraid so,” the redhead replied, clearly taken aback by his forwardness.
James ignored her remark and continued.
“What are your names?” He asked.
They then learned that the blonde girl was Marlene, the dark-haired girl was Mary, and the redhead was Lily.
“Well, hopefully we’ll see you guys around,” James added, shooting awkward finger guns at them.
“Bye!” Mary waved as the group retreated to their room.
Remus felt that the entire interaction was pointless, but James had other ideas.
“I’m calling it right now, I’m going to homecoming with the redhead,” James said as he plopped into his bed.
“In your dreams, Potter! she wasn’t even the slightest bit interested,” Sirius replies with a laugh.
“I’ll win her over with my outstanding charm!” James adds as he runs his fingers through his hair.
Remus rolls his eyes and returns to putting the last of his clothing away.
He found James to be quite full of himself, and that was a trait that always seemed to rub Remus the wrong way.
Moments later, a booming voice came over the loudspeaker.
“Good afternoon, students, I hope you’re all having a wonderful time getting settled. Tomorrow, there will be a school-wide assembly after breakfast, so make sure you make your way down to the auditorium before 8. The time is now 9:30, and I would advise everyone to head back to their dorms and get as much rest as they can before their first day. Good night!”.
“It’s already 9:30?” Peter asked.
“Time flies, my man,” James replies, giving him a pat on the back.
“I’m going to get changed and brush my teeth,” Remus says while collecting his toiletries.
He then walks into the bathroom and locks the door. He stared in the mirror for a minute, trying to process all of today’s events. He splashed his face with a bit of cold water before brushing his teeth and then getting changed.
He walked out of the bathroom to see everyone in their pajamas, lying in their beds.
“Remus, can you hit the lights?” James asks with a smile.
“Mhm,” Remus responded before flicking the light switch off and climbing into bed.
As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was off to sleep.
Remus Lupin’s life was comfortable. He had food, a roof over his head, and parents who loved him. He felt there was no need for fancy clothes or expensive boarding schools, that life was better the simple way. After his eighth-grade graduation, Remus thought he had it all figured out. He was going to attend the same public high school as his parents and then attend a local college to earn a degree in a field that suited his interests. However, his plans were dashed on a hot day in mid-June when his mother received a pamphlet in the mail.
“Oh, Remus, would you come at look at something for me?” His mother asked with a pleasant smile.
Remus quickly flipped his book over, leaving it faced down so he wouldn’t lose the page he was on, and walked over to meet his mother.
“What is it?” He asked as she combed through the many envelopes she had just recently collected from the mailbox.
“There was an envelope from your school with a few high school recommendations for honors students,” she replied as she pulled out a maroon pamphlet with a fancy-looking gold crest on the front.
“One of them is St. Andrew’s boarding school, I think it’s worth looking into,” his mom adds, handing over the extravagant trifold.
Remus carefully scans over it, his eyes quickly settling on the tuition cost.
“Mom, it costs 72,000 for one year, there’s no way we can afford that. Besides, I don’t need to go anywhere fancy. I'm fine with what I’m already doing,” He says as he places the pamphlet onto their kitchen table.
“Yes, but if you apply and take the entrance exam, you could get up to a full scholarship. I think it would be a wonderful opportunity for you. I mean, Remus, you’re so smart…much smarter than I ever was, and I can’t stand the thought of you not having the best education I can provide you with,” His mother says with a sunken expression.
Remus sighs, now feeling slightly guilty for turning down her offer.
“I can apply, but I don’t think we should get our hopes up,” he replies.
His mother then smiles softly and kisses his cheek.
“I’m going to go see if I can print out the application form, there’s a website listed on the back,” she says as he sweeps the pamphlet off the table and into her palm before venturing off to their office.
Remus returned to his book, almost completely forgetting about the prior conversation.
Later that evening, Remus’s mother submitted an application along with his 8th-grade transcripts to “show his academic rigor”, which Remus cared very little about. He didn’t mind school, but it most definitely wasn’t his favorite place. He was frequently bored and would often get in trouble for dozing off in class and drawing all over his textbooks. Despite this, he tested very well and ended the year with nothing under a 95%, landing him the title of an “honors student”.
Many days later, Remus’s mother burst into the kitchen and handed Remus an envelope addressed to him with the same red and gold crest as before.
“I think you should be the one to open it, kiddo,” she says as she places a warm hand on his shoulder.
Remus’s finger gently slides under the flap of the envelope and then swiftly rips it open. He pulls out a long piece of paper, addressed to him.
“Mr. Remus Lupin, We are excited to inform you that you have passed the first round of admissions! To be eligible for acceptance, you must submit your SSAT or ISEE scores. If you have not yet taken one of these tests, St. Andrew’s will be proctoring the SSAT test from July 10th through the 15th. Please sign up for a day to take the test before the 10th. Best wishes, Minerva McGonagall, St. Andrew’s admissions officer.”
“So I have to take a test?” Remus asked.
“I guess..if you want to try and get in, that is, I can go see if they have any prep books online,” his mother replied.
Remus knew he had nothing better to do that summer, so he nodded his head and his mother walked away.
He then spent the next few weeks studying various subjects. Remus generally enjoyed the content, and that his learning was on his terms and not stuck in a boring classroom. He particularly enjoyed the math section; it made sense to him, and he felt a sense of accomplishment after solving tough equations.
On July 11th, the day Remus was scheduled to take the SSAT test, he woke up with a stomach ache. He was nervous, not because he wanted to get in, but because he didn’t want to disappoint his mother. He had rarely seen her so excited, and didn’t want his own failure to be what cuts it short.
They drove thirty minutes down to St. Andrew’s at around noon, and when they got there, Remus had to go in alone.
“Good luck, baby, I know you’ll do great,” His mother said as she gently kissed his forehead.
Remus nodded, afraid he’d throw up if he opened his mouth.
“Bye, Mom,” he quickly replied before jumping out of the car.
He looked around at the campus, the tan stone walls and open courtyards made it slightly resemble a castle.
No wonder it’s so expensive, Remus thought to himself.
He started on his way up the stone path that led to the entrance building. There was a long line of students waiting outside the door, and a lady who had a big pile of what he assumed to be tests. Remus stood in line, thinking about what kind of questions he might see on the test.
Seconds later, Remus was snatched away from his train of thought by a loud thud on the head. He fell to the ground and reached back to feel a lump forming on the back of his cranium.
“Sorry!..went a little overboard with my ball.” Remus heard from above him.
He looked up to see a relatively tall boy with tan skin and black wire glasses.
“It’s fine..” Remus replied as he climbed back onto his feet.
The boy then scooted behind him and picked up a football, which Remus assumed was the object that had just hit him.
“Do you play?” The boy asked curiously.
“Erm..no not really”, Remus replied.
“Why would you bring a football to a test? They’re just going to take it away.” Remus added bluntly.
“Because waiting in line is boring, besides, since I can just pick it up when I’m done,” the boy replied as he tossed the ball into the air.
“James!” A loud voice from within the line called.
The boy's head instantly whipped backwards.
“I’m coming!” He called out before taking off back down the line.
Remus rolled his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on, and hoped that the line would move quicker so he could go home as soon as possible.
Once he reached the front of the line, he was met by a lady with brown, slightly graying hair pulled back in a tight bun.
“Name?” She asked him.
“Remus Lupin,” he replied, nervously fidgeting with his hands.
She leaned over and looked through a box filled with tests, each sorted by last name. Once she got to the “L” section, she pulled out a test labeled SSAT Lupin, Remus.
“Here you are. You may start once you sit down. I advise you to pay attention to the instructions written on the board. If there are any violations, your test will not count, good luck” the lady said, allowing him to pass by her.
He stepped inside and was directed into the gymnasium by a security officer. He wandered into the silent room and took a seat near the back. There was a large whiteboard at the front with instructions on how to answer the questions.
“Fill in the bubbles completely, erase all stray marks, read the code of conduct, and fill in the bubble. Make sure all written responses are transferred into the correct section if scrap paper is used.”
Remus grabbed one of the provided number two pencils off the desk and followed the instructions to a T.
After what felt like hours, Remus finished the test and let out a sigh of relief. He felt it was fairly easy, but knew that was rarely a good sign on big tests. He placed his completed work in the “turn-in” bin, which was also organized by last name. After dropping it off, he went outside to meet his mom in the parking lot.
“How did it go?” She eagerly asked.
“It went well, I think,” he said as he fastened his seatbelt.
“I’m so proud of you, bud, do you wanna do anything fun for dinner?” She added with a warm smile.
“Can we have vegetable soup? I know it’s summer, but I’ve been craving it recently,” he replied hopefully.
In his humble opinion, his mother made the best vegetable soup in the world. It was an old recipe that had been passed down on his mom's side for generations, and every fall she would make it for him.
“Of course,” she said as she lovingly ruffled his hair.
For the next four weeks, Remus eagerly waited for a letter from St. Andrews. Every night, he would walk up to their mailbox and scan through the letters, hoping to see the fancy red and gold crest plastered on the front of one.
Sure enough, on an abnormally hot day in early August, he got his reply.
“Mom! There’s a letter from St. Andrews in the mail!” Remus exclaimed as he ran down the driveway, waving it in the air.
He quickly sat down next to his mom and ripped open the letter.
“Dear Mr. Remus Lupin,” he read, “We are excited to inform you that you have been accepted into St. Andrews boarding school. On behalf of the entire staff, we would like to welcome you and hope you consider joining us in the fall. Along with your acceptance, we would like to offer you a full scholarship, given your outstanding test scores. Within this envelope, you will find a uniform order form and sizing guide, a list of supplies for the upcoming year, and a course selection form. Wishing you the best, Minerva McGonagall, Admissions Officer of St. Andrews”.
“I did it! I got in!” he yelled as he held up the letter like he was afraid it would disappear.
“I’m so proud of you, sweetheart,” his mother said as she wrapped him up in a firm embrace.
Tears streamed down Remus’s face, and even though he was crying, he swore it was the happiest day of his life.
Chapter 12, France Free Program. Strong language and emetophobia warning!!
On the way back from the rink, I was giddy with excitement.
However, Yuri didn't look too happy.
I watched awkwardly as he scowled in the silent car.
"Hey Yuri...you did really well today," I said, breaking the deafening silence.
He dosent reply.
"..Yuri?" I add.
"Yeah, whatever." He finally says, his voice cold.
My once-happy expression falls as I look away from him.
As we continue on our way back to the hotel, I sneak glances at him every once in a while.
He's always on his phone with the same solemn expression on his face.
Sometimes he'll be typing, sometimes he's just looking out the window with it face down until he gets a notification. Then the cycle repeats.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and open it to thousands of messages congratulating me on my score.
It was a bittersweet moment, I was so happy about my score..but I also felt bad about Yuri..but I also didn't care because I was winning.
I swallowed my empathy and decided to allow myself to be happy, regardless of how he was feeling.
When we got back to the hotel, Yuri didn't say a word.
All he did was grab a pair of pajamas and walk into the bathroom, the door slamming with a loud 'thud'.
I awkwardly walked over to my bed and sat down, waiting for either Yakov or Lilia to break the silence.
Twenty minutes later I heard the bathroom door creak open and saw Yuri walk out, a boatload of steam pouring out from behind him.
"Jeez save some warm water for the rest of us" I complained.
"My bad let me go fetch a bucket and get some extra hot water just for you" he spat as he turned and sat on his bed.
"Just because you didn't get the score you wanted dosen’t mean you get to be an asshole" I say, clearly annoyed.
"I can do whatever I want" he replies.
I roll my eyes and divert my attention to my phone.
I posted an Instagram story, thanking everyone for their support, but I seriously couldn't help but feel bad for Yuri.
I sighed and got up and stood beside his bed.
"What?" He groans.
"Come here," I say with little context.
"No thanks, I'd rather not.." he adds, rolling his eyes.
"Get up," I say again.
"No"
"Oh my god Yuri move your ass!" I exclaim.
"Fine stop fucking yelling!" He adds as he reluctantly gets off his bed.
"We're going somewhere," I say, slipping on my shoes.
"I'm not dressed, sorry" he replies with a 'too bad!' Look at his face.
"It doesn't matter, you don't need to be dressed" I add.
"Let's go," I say as I open the door.
He groans and slides on his shoes.
We walk out the door and head outside.
"Mind telling me where we're going?" Yuri asks, obviously unhappy.
"You'll see," I said as I led him down the street.
We walked for about twenty-five minutes until we reached a small, secluded park.
It had benches and flowers and a gorgeous view of the city.
"We're here," I said with a smile.
"Where are we" Yuri asks with a confused look on his face.
"It's a park. Duh?" I reply.
"Well no shit, how do you know about it" he asks as we wander over to one of the benches.
"When I was a kid my mom took me here. She studied abroad in Paris and told me it's where she would go to relax" I reply.
"Ok, so why did you bring me here" he adds.
"Because it's pretty, and quiet, and maybe it will get you to chill the fuck out because there's no way you're gonna do any better tomorrow if you keep bitching about your score" I chuckle.
"I'm not bitching I'm just upset" he says as he rolls his eyes.
"Same thing" I reply.
"You're really fucking annoying sometimes" He adds, his tone playful.
I laugh, and a small smile appears on his face.
"But seriously I don't get why you're so upset it's really not that bad" I reply, a more serious tone to my voice.
"It's not bad, but it's not good either. It's first or nothing" he replies.
"That's a little harsh don't you think?" I add.
"Harsh is how you win"
"But have you won?"
It's silent for a moment
"You can't be so hard on yourself Yuri," I say, softly placing my hand on his.
He slides his hand from underneath.
"I don't need you to tell me what I already know" he replies.
A good twenty minutes pass.
It's silent most of the time, but it's not an awkward silence, it's comforting.
"I think we should head back," Yuri says, scooting to the edge of the seat.
"I guess" I add, standing up from the bench.
When we arrive back at the hotel room, Lilia and Yakov have dinner on the table.
"You ordered?" I ask as I see plates of pasta and salads on the table.
"Yes, come eat," Lilia says as she wipes her mouth with a napkin.
I slip off my shoes and take a seat at the small table next to her.
"Pasta? Didn't we have pasta like two nights ago?" Yuri says, referring to the restaurant.
"The carbs are good for you" Lilia adds.
Yuri shrugs and takes a bite.
After dinner, I excused myself from the table and went to shower.
After showering, I went to my bed and laid down.
Yuri was on his phone, the bright screen light fuzzy in the corner of my eye.
I could just barely make out what he was doing.
He was texting Mila.
I sighed and rolled over onto my other side so I didn't have to witness any more than I already had.
I actually had zero idea what he was texting her about, I just didn't want it to be about her.
That mystery girl.
The girl who was apparently too special for him to tell me about.
I hated her.
I pulled myself out of my head and decided shitting on some rando I knew nothing about wasn't worth the time and I eventually fell asleep.
I woke up the next morning to Yuri shaking me out of bed.
"Get up asshole you're gonna make us late" he said as he aggressively shoved my body.
"We're not gonna be late" I grunt as I sit up.
"Yeah now we're not, because I woke you up" he adds as he walks over and sits back down on his bed.
I sighed as I threw my head back against the headboard.
I looked at the tiny alarm clock on my bedside table and saw it was 9:30.
I practically flew out of bed and rushed to brush my teeth.
I can't believe I actually forgot to set my alarm.
I swiftly slicked my hair back into a tight bun and brushed on some dramatic makeup.
By the time I finished, it was nearing 10:50 and I was starving. I grabbed a peach yogurt from the fridge and sat down at the table.
"That's what you're having for breakfast?" He says with a judgmental look.
"What's wrong with it?" I ask as I place a spoonful in my mouth.
"You're gonna end up puking on the ice if you eat that," he added as he crossed his arms.
"Literally how?" I reply.
"Because it's most likely expired," he says as he leans against the wall.
"What it's not-"
I turn the cup around and look at the date listed just next to the barcode.
It had expired a month ago.
My eyes widened as I ran over to the sink and spat out the yogurt along with many peach chunks.
In my hurry, I forgot about one of Lilia's only flaws.
She doesn't believe in expiration dates.
I could just barely hear Yuri laughing over the sound of the tap water rushing next to my ear.
I turned off the faucet and wiped my tongue on a clean washcloth.
“Screw you” I say as I throw the piece of cloth at him.
"Ew, you should be thanking me! If I hadn't told you I would've been holding your hair back while you blow peach chunks into the toilet," he says with a smug smile.
"The only thing you're good for" I reply angrily.
"Doing what? Telling you how not to get food poisoning?" He laughs.
I groan as I sit down on my bed, accepting defeat.
85% of the time when I'm with Yuri, I want to bash my head into a wall.
The other 15% of the time is when he's sleeping.
Or when he shuts his fat mouth.
Or when he's not talking to that random bitch on the phone.
Or when he decides he actually wants to hang out with me.
I am snapped out of my internal temper tantrum by Lilia busting through the door.
"Kids let's go. I have snacks in the car we're late" she says as she shoves her head through the doorway.
I grabbed my bag and headphones and headed out to the elevator with Lilia.
When we got outside, Yakov was sitting in the car listening to the radio.
We hopped into the car and Lilia started driving towards the rink.
I popped on my headphones and listened to music on the ride there. At one point I briefly looked at the snacks Lilia packed, but decided I couldn't trust them after the incident this morning.
When we arrived, we followed the same steps as before, went in through the back doors, checked in, and headed up to the ballet rooms to stretch.
The rink had a lonely feeling to it today, like a dark, dimly lit living room where the TV is playing but nobody’s there. I placed my bags down in the ballet room and started stretching. My stomach felt uneasy, probably because I hadn't eaten, and the pre-skating nerves weren't helping.
I grabbed onto a chair and pulled my leg up, sucking in a deep breath between my teeth. I then turned and stretched the other side.
Yuri was in the other corner, stretching in a straddle position.
A while later, we finished stretching and headed down to the stands before the men's free program. I sat next to Yakov on the chilly bleachers and watched as the first group performed.
Before I knew it, Yuri was on the ice.
I watched as he danced; he almost looked like a different person.
He was graceful and so beautiful, unlike his usual self.
I caught myself staring for too long, and quickly averted my gaze.
I knew that nobody could tell I was watching, but I almost felt flustered when I realized what I was doing.
I took a sip of water as he finished up his program, gently tapping the side of the bottle instead of clapping to cancel out my recent staring dilemma. He doesn’t get that much credit.
As he glided off the ice, I quickly stood up to congratulate him.
"Nice performance," I say as I lean against the bleachers.
"Well no shit it was nice" he replies as he swiftly squirts water into his mouth.
"Are you sure? How do you know I wasn't just feeling charitable?" I say, clearly taken aback by his words.
"Because you're never just “feeling charitable”" he says with a cocky smile as he walks off to the locker rooms.
At that very moment, I realized that the Yuri on the ice and the real Yuri were two very different people.
I scoffed and walked back to the women's locker room to meet Lilia before going on for my free program.
"Y/N, how are you feeling?" She asks as she crosses her arms.
"I'm ok..a little nauseous," I confess as I lean against the wall.
"It's just the nerves, I'm sure you'll be fine," Lilia adds, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.
I softly smile and walk with her out to the rink entrance.
They called for the women's group to warm up, and I took a sharp breath and went onto the ice to warm up.
I went through the basic elements of my routine, popping a few of my jumps, but I knew it was just the nerves.
When I stepped off the ice, Lilia handed me my water bottle, and I took a few sips before handing it back to her.
I waited impatiently as I counted down the number of skaters before me.
5...then 4...then 3...then 2...then 1..
And finally, it was my turn.
They announced my name, and I stepped onto the ice, having done this so many times that it was like second nature.
I smiled and skated to the center of the ice before taking my starting pose.
The music began, and I skated my routine, as per usual, but I couldn't help but feel nauseous.
I went into a spin and felt myself traveling, which wasn't a good sign. I'm also certain that I popped my double axel, and that didn't help my stomach either. As my program came to an end, I could feel my gut begin to churn. The second my music ended I bolted off the ice and ran straight into the women's restroom. I tripped over my toe pick and fell into one of the stalls, causing my knees to scrape against the rubber. I lean over the toilet and gag, but nothing comes up. A nasty pattern of dizziness, gagging, and sweating goes on for about 5 minutes until I hear footsteps enter the bathroom. I rest my clammy forehead on the toilet seat and hope it's my guardian angel coming to put me out of my misery.
"I brought you some medicine, Lilia said It would help with the nausea. She said to just let it sit under your tongue," an all too familiar voice says from behind me.
The person who entered the bathroom was, in fact, not my guardian angel but Yuri. I make an incoherent noise to signal my understanding, afraid that I'll gag if I open my mouth. I gently peel back the thin foil covering the drug and place it lightly under my tongue. After a few seconds, my nausea begins to lessen, however, not much later the foul taste of the medication hits my tongue. It tastes like mixed berries on crack and battery acid. If my nausea hadn't gone away, I'm sure I would've vomited on the spot. When I feel safe enough to speak again, I turn around on the floor and face Yuri.
"Thanks.." I mumble, wiping the cold sweat off my forehead.
"Are you sure you're done blowing chunks? I dont want to have to clean that up," he says as he leans against the doorframe.
"I haven't actually thrown anything up, I just keep gagging," I reply.
"Oh, so you were just being dramatic then. Also, didn't I literally say this was going to happen this morning? Thank god I didn't have to hold your hair," he adds with a bitter laugh.
"Ive literally been sweating my ass off, shaking, and gagging for the past like five minutes and you dont get to just walk in here and be like "oh so you're just being dramatic" when clearly im not," I spat, obviously annoyed.
"you know you have a fucking attitude problem right? Whatever get up off your ass were leaving," Yuri replied with a cold tone.
I slowly stood up onto my feet, but my legs started to give. I began falling forward, but Yuri caught me. He gently wrapped his arm underneath mine and grabbed my side, giving me extra support. He placed me down on a tiny bench near the exit of the bathroom and kneeled down infront of me.
"you didn't even think to take off your skates first?" he asks, the question clearly rhetorical, so I remained silent.
He began gently untying my skates, his fingers pulling at the delicate laces. I leaned my chin in the palm of my hand and secretly watched. Seeing him be so gentle almost made my heart flutter. He then slid my skates off my feet and stuffed the laces into the shoe.
"Do you need help getting up too?" he asked coldly.
"I'm not sure, I think I need your skinny twig arms to help me up!" I add sarcastically.
"your such a bitch" he scoffs as we walk out of the restroom.
"That was so unoriginal, -5 points" I reply, unimpressed by his insult.
"what the hell does that even mean" he adds, but before I can reply I’m cut off by Lilia.
"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought those yogurts!" she says as she engulfs me in a hug.
I assume Yuri informed her of the yogurt incident.
"It's ok.." I manage to squeeze out through the tight embrace.
"I'll get you whatever you want for dinner, and you can sleep in tomorrow our flight back home isn't until 5..but we do have a layover in London for a few hours so you might not be able to sleep on the plane..." Lilia adds, slowly forgetting what she was originally talking about. We walk outside into the moist air, and I hop into the backseat of the car.
Yuri sat to my left, and Yakov was already in the driver's seat. As the car started moving, I began to feel the toll my dry-heaving episode left on my body. My eyes felt heavy, and my seat was abnormally comfortable. I quickly dozed off and fell over to my left.
AN: This chapter is kinda butt. Sorry for the hiatus, high school has been a lot of work. Buttt I’m done my freshman year! (insert clapping). I have so many ideas for the summer and I can’t wait to write more. Thanks for reading!! - Lutz
Okay, so I may or may not have written the rest of the new Going Gold chapter, and it may or may not have been deleted. (It was storming and my wifi went out.) Trust it will be coming out soon. I'm also working on a separate Yurio story about a beach trip, so stay tuned for those :p
I am SO SORRY for not posting, this school year has been super challenging and I’ve had to but all my free time into my studies. However, I have a lot of free time coming up and will most definitely be updating soon. ❤️
Synopsis: Your best friend and neighbor Carl Grimes asks you to form a band with him over summer break.
WC: 1.5k
On a sweaty Monday morning in King County, Georgia I had the misfortune of being cornered by my best friend at my locker after the eighth-period bell.
“Hey Y/N I got an idea,” Carl says as he rests his arm against the red metal locker beside mine.
“And what would that be?” I reply as I stuff my backpack full of binders and worn-down notebooks with torn covers.
“Hear me out…we start a band” he replies with a slight smile, leaving a pause between the phrases.
“Are you serious, how would we do that” I reply with a look of disbelief, shutting my locker and starting on the way to the exit doors.
“You play the drums, I play guitar, and we both can sing…you not so much..but it works out” he adds as he readjusts his backpack on his one shoulder, which he only does to make himself look cooler. However, it just makes him look stupid.
“Insulting me won’t get you anywhere Grimes, where would we practice? And we need other members” I reply as I push open the heavy metal doors into the humid Georgia air.
“I got Enid to play backup guitar and her boyfriend Ron can play bass,” he says as we make our way down the sidewalk.
“Alright..where would we practice?” I questioned, attempting to get him to say ‘I don’t know’ so I can rule out the absurd suggestion completely and go on about my day.
“We can rehearse in my garage, I’m sure my dad and Michonne won’t mind,” he says enthusiastically.
“Well..what about like performances and stuff?” I ask, running out of things to say.
“We can perform at the King's Hall, and the local bars, and festivals…and maybe even play that one venue in Atlanta” he replies, clearly having a well-thought-out plan.
The Kings Hall was a medium-sized outdoor venue in the center of the town, where local bands and musicians who grew up here would come back and play. It was a popular spot for dates and hangouts. But most people who played there were old country singers and jazz bands, and I would rather die than sing country.
Unfortunately, I was left with no rebuttals or objections, so I had no other option but to say yes.
“Fine but under two conditions. One, I get to pick two songs we play. Two, we will be singing alternatively. I don’t care if it’s rock, goth, or emo, and maybe the occasional pop song but I will NOT sing or play any country. Deal?” I say as I stop on the street corner, right before you’d turn onto the road to get to our houses. Which fortunately happened to only be a few down from each other.
“Deal” he replies with a mischievous smile.
Which leads us to the current, the week after, and the first official day of summer break. I now sit in a sweaty garage, in a black tank top and uncomfortable jeans shorts, on a wooden stool in Carl Grimes’ garage.
“Alright so, where do we start?” Carl says as he cracks open a can of Dr. Pepper.
Enid and Ron, who were sitting on a maroon couch that looked practically ancient, exchanged awkward glances.
“It was your idea Carl why don’t you decide where to start?” I say with an annoyed tone, as I was feeling incredibly crabby and wanted this “meeting” to be done with as soon as possible.
“Fine, what about band names?” He says as he slouches back into a collapsible blue lawn chair.
“What about ‘Carls nasty pit-stains’” I reply with fake enthusiasm, referring to the large sweat marks showing through the underarms of his light gray T-shirt.
“You’re not funny” he adds with an annoyed expression and an incredibly dramatic eye roll.
“What about something cool like ‘Young Monday’ because that’s when we started it?” Enid said with a shrug, an obvious unsureness in her tone.
“Actually…I kinda like that” Carl says with a pensive look, bringing a finger to his chin which made him look almost slightly intelligent.
I could honestly care less about what the name was, so I had no problems with it.
“I don’t have any objections” I reply as I mindlessly twirl one of my drumsticks, my chin resting in the palm of my unoccupied hand.
“Yeah I think it’s pretty sick” Ron adds as he slings his arm around Enid.
“Ron I am sweating so much right now and your arm is sticky, I might actually puke” she adds as she moves his arm away from her shoulder.
“Jeez fine” he dramatically retorts, with no actual hurt feelings.
“So Young Monday?” Carl asks as a final confirmation.
Everybody nodded, and there it was decided that our ‘band’ would be called Young Monday.
“Now that that’s out of the way, what are we playing?” He asks as he takes a long swig of his soda.
“I have my two songs” I reply with a slight smile, my mood increasing with the new subject.
“What are they?” He replies with interest.
“First we’re playing Fluorescent Adolescent..and Carl I know you can also play the drums so I’m singing Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer” I add with a grin, knowing he can’t decline my offer or he’d be down a drummer.
“Fine..but not every show,” he says with a sigh.
“Sounds good to me” I smile.
I had no interest in solo singing itself, but I knew it would piss off Carl so I couldn't pass up the opportunity.
“I would like to play something by Nirvana..what about you guys?” Carl adds, gesturing towards Enid and Ron.
“Uhh…Radiohead?” Ron suggests with a light shrug.
“Alright alright, Enid?”
“Uhh I don’t know I don’t listen to much alternative stuff” she adds as she taps on her phone, supposedly playing a game.
Her answer confused me, why would she want to play in an alternative band if she had no interest in alternative music?
I assumed she didn’t know about the chosen genre and left it at that.
“Alright..I’ll look into some songs, I’m sweating balls so I’m going inside. I know you guys were gonna go out to lunch” he gestures towards Enid and Ron.
“So..Y/N is stuck picking songs with me,” Carl says as he folds up his lawn chair.
“Alright man I’ll see you later,” Ron says as he and Enid walk out of the garage, Enid giving a silent wave goodbye.
“Do I really have to help pick out songs” I mumble as I place my drumsticks down on my stool.
“Yes you do, plus weren’t you the one complaining about what we could and couldn’t play?” He adds shutting the garage and cracking open the door to his house.
I roll my eyes and reluctantly follow him inside. I felt the cool air surround me, quickly relieving me of my crabby heat-driven attitude.
When I stepped inside I saw Michonne on the couch watching something on the TV, and Judith playing with some abnormally large plastic Legos on the floor.
“Hello Y/N, how was the band rehearsal?” She chuckles, an unserious tone in her voice.
“Sweaty” I reply with a chuckle as I follow Carl upstairs to his room.
It wasn’t the first time I’d been in Carl's room, as we had been friends practically as long as we’d been in school.
His room smelled of clean laundry and old spice deodorant, a combination I found to be strangely comforting.
I plopped down into his gaming chair and started spinning around as he sprawled out onto his bed.
He reached into his back pocket and pulled his phone out, then swiftly opened up the ‘Notes’ app.
“So, where do we start?” He asks.
After a few hours, and multiple excruciatingly long debates, we landed on a list of artists.
“So Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, TV Girl, The Neighborhood, Cigarettes After Sex, and Nirvana” Carl lists, satisfied with their conclusion.
“Don’t you think Nirvana stands out?” I ask as I spin towards him in his chair.
“Don’t you think ‘Kiss Me’ stands out?” He replied with a sassy look, one that always manages to get under my skin.
“Fine,” I said as I stumbled out of the chair.
“I’m going home, text me a list of songs you’re thinking of doing. I need to make sure they don’t suck” I added, already halfway out his door.
“Whatever, cya later.” He replies while dramatically rolling off his bed.
I shut the door behind me and started on my way back home, making sure to thank Michonne for having me before I left.
I was unable to tell whether or not this was going to last longer than a few weeks, but Carls's enthusiasm had me in a chokehold. So no matter what the outcome is, I’m stuck with it.
SYNOPSIS: most of the time when you’re bedridden, you’ve been injured or bitten, so it’s pretty embarrassing for Carl to be in with a stomach bug.
WC: 1.1k
!!Vomit/Emetephobia warning!!
On a normal Sunday morning, you could catch Carl grimes out on watch, or on the porch with Judith, but not today.
As I walked down the sunny streets of Alexandria I walked by the grimes’ house, which was looking particularly unlively today. As i made my way around the corner, I saw Rick walking out onto the street.
“Hey..sorry to bother you but where’s Carl, we were supposed to be on watch today?” I ask my boyfriend’s father.
“Oh he’s not feelin' too good…ate somethin' bad. Nothin' serious though, he should be fine. I was about to go out on a run to look for some medicine.” He says as he stops in his tracks, turning around to face me.
“I think he might want some company though” he smiles with a light chuckle.
I nod and carefully step up onto the porch.
“Good luck on your run!” I say as I gently creak open the front door.
Rick smiles back and swiftly turns around to jump inside his car.
As soon as I stepped inside I heard the sounds of violent coughing echoing from the upstairs bathroom, located just outside of Carls' bedroom.
I climbed up the stairs and opened the door to see him leaned over the toilet, his head resting weakly on the bare toilet seat.
“Hey..” I said as I quietly walked in.
“..Hi” he said with a scratchy voice, followed by a few coughs.
“Stomach bug?” I ask as I take a seat next to him on the floor.
“I think I ate something bad..”
I chuckle slightly.
“Your hair is all in your face” I smile as I gently pull his hair back into a bun, but soon realized there were no hairties within my vicinity.
"do you have any hairties?" I ask as I lay his long hair back down onto his neck, combing it out of his face with my fingers.
"I think there are some in my room.." he replies softly.
"alright, ill be right back. if you need anything, just call for me ok?" i whisper softly as i gently pop up onto my feet and leave the room.
i quietly exit and slip into his bedroom, which was plain except for the many comic books and the occasional photos of us he had taped to the wall.
i made my way over to his dresser and opened the top door, which was filled to the brim with random items and trinkets. i quickly dug through the mess and pulled out a bright purple, stretched out hairtie.
i shut the drawer and made my way back into the bathroom where carl sat.
“Thank you baby..” he says as he turns his head sideways, smiling at me.
“No problem” I reply as i gently comb his hair back into a ponytail.
“You think you got it all out?” I add as I carefully rub his back.
“Yea..that was the first time I’ve puked in a while” he replies with a weak cough.
“Wanna try and lay in bed?” I asked.
“Yea..” he answers as he slowly stumbles to his feet.
I carefully wrap my arm around his shoulder and help him to his bedroom.
A majority of his weight is on me,making it hard to move.
Slowly, we stumbled our way into the room.
I pull the comforter off the corner and gently sit him down onto the bed, placing his trash can next to it as a precaution.
He slides down into the comfy sheets, gently sinking into the soft mattress.
I lift up the comforter and place it on top of him.
“Need anything else?” I ask as I sit on the edge of the bed.
“Mm lay with me..” he says with a sleepy tone.
“Lay?” I chuckle.
“Mhm..” he hums as he grabs my hand and lightly tugs on it.
I playfully roll my eyes and climb onto the other side of the bed.
He slides over and gently snakes his arms around my waist, pulling himself into my chest.
“Are you always this clingy when you’re sick?” I laugh.
“Mm maybe…” he mumbles.
I smile and softly place my hand to brush his bangs away from his forehead.
“You’re clammy” I whisper.
“Well I just puked up my breakfast” he chuckles lowly.
“Atleast you don’t have a fever” I add with a hopeful smile.
“You want any water? You’ve got to be dehydrated” I ask as I gently comb my fingers through his hair.
“Yea but later..” he muttered.
“Later?” I smile.
“I want you here” he adds.
“I guess I’ll grab you some while you’re sleeping” I chuckle.
“You’re really gonna leave me while I’m sleeping? What if I get sick again?” He complains.
“You’ll be fine, you puked five other times without me” I playfully protest.
He groans into his pillow.
“Now sleep” I add as I softly rub his back.
“Oh no now you’re rushing me so you can leave?” He jokes.
“You’re ridiculous” I laugh.
Soon enough, the long haired boy in question was sound asleep on my chest.
I gently slid him off and onto the pillow beside me, and placed a gentle kiss on his sweaty forehead.
i quietly slipped out of the room and tiptoed down the creaky stairs, weary of making any noise.
The lights in the kitchen flickered on and I pulled out a pot from under the sink. I gently filled it up with whatever soup I could find..which just so happened to be chicken noodle soup..and left it on the stove to simmer.
While that was cooking, I filled up a water bottle with ice water and placed it off to the side.
After the soup was done cooking I poured it into a bowl and carefully brought it up the stairs.
I slowly creeped around the corner, unsure if he’s awake or not.
His eyes flickered open as I entered the room.
“Good morning” I joke.
“..you made me food?” He asks as he rubs his eyes, slowly adjusting to the light.
“I found some soup in the pantry” I say as I place the warm bowl onto his lap.
“thank you..” he smiles, adjusting himself to sit up against the headboard.
“And I brought your water..would you consider now to be later?” I chuckle as I place it next to him on the bed.
“Ha ha” he says sarcastically as he sips the soup.
“It’s really good..I really appreciate this..” he adds with a shy, but genuine tone.
“Of course” I reply as I comfortingly rub his arm with my thumb.
SYNOPSIS: Tooru Oikawa has kissed many girls, but kisses don’t mean much do they?
WC: 0.7k
Flufftober fic 1: first kiss
TOORU OIKAWA - a boy with a reputation larger than him. He’s a “lady’s man”, the kinda guy you’d swoon over at the mall, a guy with all the girls he could ever dream of having.
Unfortunately, with such a high reputation comes high standards.
Standards in which I certainly do not meet.
The moment flys by me as I feel a tap on my shoulder.
“Y/N?” My friend asks with a concerned look.
“Hm?” I reply as I looked up at her, regaining my consciousness.
I was in school.
“I don’t get this part…what’s slope?” She said as she intently looked down at her paper, searching for answers she couldn’t seem to find.
“You have to grab the points” I say as I gesture down to her paper.
“Ohhhh” she reply’s.
“Anyway, you still wanna go to the game later? I heard Oikawas got something up his sleeve, it being so close to the end of the season and all” she says with a giddy smile.
“Why would I want to go watch him get swarmed by a bunch of chicks” I reply, scribbling an answer onto my paper.
“Oh please you wish you were them” she jokes.
“Whatever” I add as I roll my eyes.
“But I seriously think you have a shot with him!” She adds excitedly.
“Don’t get my hopes up it’s not worth it” I sigh.
“He tries to talk to you all the time, you just ignore him” she adds while drawing little hearts on the corners of her paper.
“When has he ever tried to talk to me?” I reply with a confused expression.
“Yesterday in the library he asked you to show him where the fiction books were, and then asked you what your favorite was” she says with a deadpan tone.
“He just needed help, that’s totally different” I argue.
“Yea and asking for your favorite was totally necessary, and he got the book too!” She exclaims.
“Maybe he’s a book enthusiast” I suggest.
“When has he read anything ever, also I can name like a hundred other times he’s talked to you!” She practically screams, which was followed by the loud ringing of the bell.
“Just please come to the game!” She begs as I grab my books.
“Fine but you have to get me something from the concessions” I laugh.
“Deal” she happily replies as we walk out of the classroom.
The day flew by me, and before I knew it I was walking up unstable bleachers in a humid gym.
“So wait who are we playing again?” I ask as I stuff my face with compensation chips.
“Karasuno I think” my friend says as she plops down into the spot next to me.
“It should be a good game then” I add as I watch the teams warm up.
I wasn’t really interested in the game at all. I mean with minimal volleyball knowledge, I could just barely make out what was happening.
I wasn’t really focused on the game though.
Just his entourage of girls at the bottom of the bleachers.
I scoffed.
The score was 3-2, we won by a hair.
“Damn that was a close game, can’t believe we won though!” My friend said as we walked into the cool outdoor air.
“You sure you don’t need a ride?” She asked.
“Yea I’m good” I replied.
“Alright I’ll cya!” She added as she walked to her car.
“Hey Y/N!” An unfamiliar voice said from behind me.
“Uh..hi?” I said as I slowly turned around.
Oikawa was standing behind me.
“What did you think of the game?” He asked.
“Oh I uh..I thought it was good. You played well” I replied nervously.
“Anyway I wanted to ask you about something” he says, the tone turning slightly more serious.
“Oh what’s up?” I reply with a concerned look.
“Have you ever kissed anyone?” He says as he leans against the brick gymnasium wall.
“Uh..no..no I haven’t” I hesitate.
“Would you like to?” He says with a cocky grin.
“I-I don’t know..I mean why would you wanna kiss me.?” I stutter, my face completely pink.
“Because I like you, and I wanna kiss you?” He says as he steps forward, placing a gentle hand on my side.
“So what do you say?” He whispers softly in my ear.
“I wouldn’t mind..” I replied, feeling my heart betting out of my chest.
He smiles, and abrupy pulls me in.
His calloused hands had a tight grip on my waist as his soft lips pressed against mine.
As we slowly pulled apart, all words left my brain.
“So I guess this is my way of asking you out” he winks.
