0 results found for early retirement at 18

[ninthvibration]

        Weekends were pretty quiet at Broadripple with most of the student body and faculty away visiting their homes and families. Only those who lived too far away to travel or just didn’t want to leave remained on campus and this weekend Hanna found herself among the latter. It wasn’t that she was avoiding home or anything, simply that she hadn’t felt like packing up and returning this week. Something that certainly earned her an earful from her mildly disappointed mother who had no doubt planned yet another jam packed weekend. Three years at Broadripple and the woman still acted as if they were apart for years every time she came home when in reality it was usually only five days. 

       Lounging in one of the living areas Hanna laid happily content in her cocoon of plushy blankets on the couch. Dark hues fixated upon the only light source emitting from a few feet away; the television. It was rare to find the large screen not being hogged by a bunch of uncivilized freshmen fighting over what to watch. So when Hanna saw a chance to use the vacancy to her advantage and binge watch something she wanted for once, she jumped at it. Her attention only drifted upon the sudden presence she felt behind her. “If you expect me to move any time soon or relinquish my ownership of the remote you’re sorely mistaken.” 

[mattveras]

Matt didn’t go home as often as he used to when his father still was single. While he tried to be understanding and supporting of his new relationship, it felt a bit like he was sort of just forgetting about Matt all together. At the very least, every other weekend his grandparents sent him enough money to take the bus home to Boston so he was able to see his dog. Only this weekend wasn’t one of those.

So while he wandered into the empty confines of the living area, looking to see if anyone else was around, and if they were too high energy or wanted to do some sort of extreme activity outside of lounging, he figured he could just retreat to his room with snacks, and that gave him a sense of safety. Only when he’d entered, he heard a voice with laced defense. At first it caused a smile as he shook his head. “No, don’t worry. I’m just trying to see how long I can walk around until my baked potato gets done in the microwave. What’re you watching, anyway?” 

[mattveras]

hcymickey‌:

Mickey had been splitting her time between trying to play catch-up for all the class time she was missing sneaking around to see Hugo, and actually sneaking around with him. All those cliche 90′s teen movies she watched had made this situation look so easy. She’d thought to herself a million times she’d never be so stupid as to get herself roped into something like this. And she wasn’t – roped in. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.

Leaning on the edge of the wall with her eyes distant in thought, she almost looked annoyed at being interrupted until she realized who was speaking to her. Easy mistake, since he didn’t actually address her by name, but there was no mistaking the familiar, quiet tone once the face behind it registered. Her face softened. “Yeah, of course. Are we not talking privately right now?” Everyone around them was either busy themselves or already walking to their next class. Mickey leaned in closer. “It’s not a sex question, is it?”

Were they? Matt could never be too careful when it came to privacy. He pursed his lips for a moment before he eyed around at the hallway. “I guess I mean, somewhere we can’t be overheard.” He attempted to explain quietly. Suddenly his features turned beet red, and he was shifting his weight back and forth in question. Did it sound that pathetic? Oh God. “No, no, no. Not... a that question.” Clearing his throat, he gestured so they could walk amongst one another. “It’s a girl question and you’re you know... a girl.” That was stupid, so Matthew tried to explain further. “You know what I mean. A girl who is very... perceptive.” 

[mattveras]

Given Matt was intimidated of Mickey, he found it difficult to approach her for any sort of personal life talk. But when push came to shove, she seemed to be the only one who would insert her insight when he didn’t ask, so he wondered what would come out of it if he actually had asked. Figuring he didn’t have a lot to lose, he took a drawn out breath before approaching her after class left out. “Can I talk to you about something... sort of personal? Privately?” He eyed around as if anyone would’ve suddenly eavesdropped their conversation. 

@hcymickey

[jaysster]

ROLL CALL → { M E L L E R A Y }

• Andrea Pearson • Edwina Clussy • Faith McKay • Isacco DeSantis • Eden Williams • Matthew Veras • Jason Mckenna

[mattveras]

phoebestclair‌:

“I think you’re probably right,” she laughed, feeling herself start to relax a little. Not completely, because she was still Phoebe, but that was more than she could say for most of the day. “Yeah. All sorts of scribbles and poems and little, I don’t know, slivers, I guess. Scenes. Detailed descriptions of things I see. Like  this one,” she said, flipping to a page she‘d written about a couple on a bus. It was mostly made up, but a lot of it was inspired from coming here. “Yup. Super nice. He even gave me his number for when I wanted help around the lodge.” Admittedly, when she walked, she was leaning on him for more than just balancing herself. “Well, because… I wanted to go with you.”

Matt just nodded with a slight smile considering those words were always music to his ears. As he leaned slightly forward to eye out of her notes, his eyes scanned the page. “Wow.” He supposed he didn’t necessarily see the world as romantically as someone who could gather muse from couple on a bus, but then again everyone had their own calling. “That’s really talented and inspiring.” He conveyed in a genuine tone. “Oh no,” He started as he furrowed his brow suspiciously. “Phoebe, I think he was hitting on you.” He hated to state the obvious when Phoebe always seemed well... oblivious. Not that he was exactly one to talk. “You what? Why?” 

[ohcndrea]

@mattveras

cold and alone had certainly not been how andrea had originally planned to leave the public school party, she hadn’t really planned on her night being so crap either. she should have just gone back to the blue house when she’d first wanted to. before all the shit unravelled and she just kept making bad decision after bad decision. but she had to stay, she’d told herself, if she left after the shit things, everyone would know she cared. in reality, no one cared if she cared. it might show more of her humanity if anything, but she hated being vulnerable. she especially hated being vulnerable in front of her peers, she thought any sign of weakness would get her thrown to the lions. and the fear was only heightened when she was drunk and actually kind of vulnerable. 

so when she’d lost kat again, she couldn’t find maddy or hanna, and she’d heard one too many guys tell twenty too many haha you’re so wet jokes, she finally had to give in. she had to leave. she’d gotten to the point where she didn’t know if the burning in her throat and the churning of her stomach meant she needed to vomit, cry, or both. but no matter what it was preluding to, she couldn’t do it in those hotel rooms. her clothes were no longer dripping, so that was a plus. but they were still damp, and cold, and heavy, and were probably going to be the cause of her getting a cold if she couldn’t find her jacket before making the trek back down. she’d started standing, casually digging through the pile of jackets to find her own, but after a moment, and a panicked thought that someone else had taken her jacket she kneeled, digging through the jackets with a quickly growing desperation. 

throwing the ones that weren’t her’s backwards with increasing force as she couldn’t find the baby blue snow jacket her mom had bought her after her first semester at broadripple. that certainly didn’t help the growing feeling that she had to cry, and only made her need to find it more. she’d long since stopped paying attention to what was going on around her, and certainly didn’t notice when someone came up to her. not until her arm went flying into their leg that is, throwing another jacket that wasn’t her’s out of view. “ shit! ” she announced, pulling her arm back in, holding it to her chest. it hadn’t hurt, but the surprise made her react like it had. she looked up, praying to whoever the fuck had ruined her night so far, that it wouldn’t be someone she’d already fucked over that night. “ oh, matt, ” not who she’d been expecting, which was kind of a relief. “ sorry, i- yeah. sorry. ” she apologised, starting to explain what the fuck she was doing, but stopping before she really began. “ you haven’t seen a blue snow jacket, have you? like, light blue? white details? ”

[mattveras]

If Matt were honest, he never really cared for social events, especially ones that contained strange teenagers from another school. He was a recluse enough as it was with the kids around his school. From an outsider perspective, it seemed like a recipe for disaster. So while he made his way by the jackets, he’d hoped he kept his Nintendo 3DS in his coat pocket, at least he’d have some entertainment as he stumbled back to the lodge. 

What he hadn’t expected, was someone to be flinging coats around when he got there. He didn’t wanna make too much noise or seem bothersome due to now who he realized was Andrea seeming distressed, but as she continued, he frowned. Matthew wondered if there was anything he could do to help after thinking about how the party and the teenage dumb factor of this caliber probably wasn’t easy for anyone. “Hey, no worried. Uh...” Scanning the room, he stepped back. “I actually think -- Is that one on the hook above the pile what you’re talking about?” He gestured before he reached to tug it out from another one hanging on the wall. “Are you like, are you good?”

[gwescott]

@mattveras

The party wasn’t turning out to be all that exciting in Gwen’s truthful opinion, but it may have had something to do with the fact that she’d lost her cousin two seconds into arriving, her boyfriend next and then her best friend was cooped up somewhere out of state with wires strapped to her having a miserable time. So really, all she’d been able to do was drink cheap wine and hope for something fun to cross her path. A game of 7 Minutes In Heaven had felt like just the thing, not to mention it pulled together some familiar faces, but when the bottle had landed on her after one of the pool boys from their school swim team, she felt herself deflate in disappointment. Of course, Matthew, the boring boy she’d told her cousin she knew next to nothing about because all he did was study in the library like a total nerd. Gwen had nothing against good grades or those who kept them, of course, but she could already tell from the way he walked that they had to have nothing in common. He was probably a sweaty virgin too; oh well, she’d find out.

Once they were both ushered into solitary confinement together, Gwen took a seat by what seemed to be a very nervous senior boy, herself clearly not bothered by the situation at all. It’s not like anyone outside expected her to go for the likes of Matt Veras anyway, she literally had nothing to worry about.

“Truth or truth,” She began without an invitation, looking at him and expecting him to choose the only option there was. He didn’t strike her as the dare type, and there was no way she was going to be caught doing anything dumb that someone might video on their phone for later. “Okay, obviously you have to pick truth so I’m just going to ask. Have you ever fucked anybody before?”

[mattveras]

If Matt were being honest, he didn’t really know why he was participating in a game like this. Was this peer pressure that he’d finally succumbed to? He couldn’t exactly back out now that the bottle hand landed on him, could he? It being Gwen made matters so much worse. He didn’t just fear her, he felt himself clam up whenever he tried not to sound like a total loser around her. This was gonna be way worse than he thought. With a deep breath, he tried to make his pulse go down but with no avail, he followed suit into the solitary space. 

His knee was bouncing uncharacteristically fast as he leaned forward slightly. He didn’t know what to expect, or what was gonna happen. It was her question with the same two options that gave him comfort. Truth, he could do that. It wasn’t physical, it seemed alright-- Oh no. Then he heard the question. 

A nervous chuckle left his lips at first as he turned to look back at the girl. “Do I have to answer that?” He wondered before averting his eyes around. “Is there like a pass option?” 

[mattveras]

phoebestclair‌:

It might’ve been her imagination, but Matt actually looked happier now that she wasn’t so embarrassed. “Yeah, but TV is socially acceptable. But… thanks for saying that.” She figured if they still hung out they might’ve done it together. “Oh, great. I’m getting so many new ideas being here. I must’ve filled up like, half this journal already,” Phoebe said, sheepishly lifting it up. Sure enough, half of the pages looked fuller and more creased from overuse at the edges. And slight warping from the falling snowflakes. “That’s the spirit! Come on, I’ll help you get your skates. The guy at the rental booth is really nice.” Standing (more like wobbling at first), she held out her hand for him to take. The knee pat didn’t go unnoticed. In fact, her face was still flushed from the minor contact. “Oh. No. I mean, I did, but… I turned them down.” The unspoken part of that was because she thought he was going to ask her.

“I think socially acceptable is sort of beyond us now after you landing in my lap.” He attempted to poke fun, finding maybe if he had she would loosen up in the slightest. “Oh, yeah?” Matthew asked in the tone as if he wanted her to elaborate without so much as asking for her to. “Oh, okay.” He was sure the rental booth guy was probably creepy just from observation of her saying ‘nice’ but then again, he often passed judgment prematurely. Reaching for her hand hesitantly, he stood up and positioned them so he was walking behind her so he could reach for her to balance with both their hands together. “Wait, you did?” A look of perplexity took over his face as he curiously eyed around. “But why?” 

[mattveras]

phoebestclair‌:

Phoebe nodded at the reassurance, finally able to catch her breath. It always seemed next to impossible around Matt. “I love it,” she corrected, smile still worn into her features. “Did you come to people watch, then? I do that sometimes. Not in, like, a creepy way. Just observationally? For like. Writing purposes.” This time it was an awkward smile that pressed her lips, but it was still uniquely Phoebe. “Yeah, of course. I mean, we don’t have to. It was mostly gonna be me jerking your chain and then we go read at a lounge or something. But then I just ended up here. And there you were. And there I was… tripping. Um.” A finger gun directed out of her right hand from a snap. “But yeah, if you wanna go, we absolutely should. I need a buddy otherwise I’ll hug the wall the whole time and look silly. – Hm?” That question was posed to her almost like it caught her completely off guard. Because it did. “Uh, yeah. I did. Was it really not obvious?” Back then she thought maybe she’d been too aggressive. Evidently that was not the case.

Matthew shyly looked up to eye the necklace around her neck. Taking care of people always put him at ease, even if it was something as simple as giving her something as small as a gold necklace he wore. “I’m glad.” He said, finally looking down as he nodded. “To people watch, sip on some hot chocolate. I don’t think it’s creepy. People watch tv, don’t they?” He attempted to reason. “How is your writing?” Matt asked, genuinely having his interested piqued. “Oh, right. Well.” He hummed for a moment, before chuckling quietly at her gesture. “I’ve got good balance, but I don’t know if I’m much of a skater. Guess we can find out, I wouldn’t want you falling alone.” For Matt to get something, it would’ve had to be spelled out. Subtleness wasn’t exactly his forte. With hesitance, he reached out and patted Phoebe’s knee. “I don’t think it was, I mean. I wondered it, but I was thinking maybe you’d be asked by someone else.” Then again, he was terrified of any sort of physical contact after first base.

[mattveras]

phoebestclair‌:

Her eyes were already glassy from the cold, but at his question, she froze again, feeling strangely and deeply sentimental. “Are you sure?” She asked, frowning with a sniffled nose. “Yeah, I mean, I’d love that.” Yes, mere moments ago she’d been rambling about how she didn’t wear gold jewelry ever, but that didn’t much matter now. “Only if you really want me to.” She couldn’t decide now whether the appropriate reaction was to tear up or blush. Currently, she was doing both. Taking it in her hands, she pressed it between her palms at first, then held it to her cheek, smiling when she felt it was warm. “I promise I’ll never take it off. Are you going skating?” Phoebe gestured to the rink in front of them, after she’d looped the necklace over her shoulders and clasped it neatly behind her. “It’s funny. I was actually looking for you earlier. You know, technically, you still owe me a couple’s skate.” She was mostly teasing, given that they’d actually never made it to the one back home in Boston, but they’d kind of lost touch after the baseball game they went to. She wanted to think it was just because BA kept him busy, but a part of her wondered if it was on purpose.

“Yeah, it’s no worries.”He continued in attempt to get that worried panicked look off of Phoebe’s face he was oddly used to. In a strange way, he always felt like whether it be rescuing her dog, or making her feel at ease in a situation by offering her something, he just wanted her to not wear that distressed expression. “I really want you to have it.” Matthew insisted with a nod as he finally averted his gaze away, and reached up to itch his face like it wasn’t already numb from the weather. The sentiment was nice in her response, even if he hadn’t understood it. “Uh, yeah. I’m glad you like it.” A nervous chuckle followed as his eyes paid a glance to the skating rink. “I don’t know.” He said in thought before he turned to listen. “I do? Oh.” As quickly as he wondered about the thought, the memory returned to him. Admittedly, he did like his date with Phoebe the summer before, but it scared him. Maybe that’s why he didn’t invite her out for the couple’s skate. “You were looking for me? I mean,” Blinking once, he sighed. He didn’t want her to look on the edge of tears again. “If you wanna go skating, we can. Did you really want me to ask you back in Boston?”

[mattveras]

phoebestclair‌:

She felt incredibly terrible at his shyness. Usually, she would’ve combatted that with her punchy ongoing blabbering, but her mind tended to do this thing when faced with fear – she froze up. Sometimes her brain stopped and her mouth kept going. This was not one of those times. “Um.” Her face was still flushed. “Thanks.” An awkward smile as she pulled herself the rest of the way up, smoothing down her coat which had somehow, and possibly thankfully (given the state of her ever-reddening cheeks), risen completely over top of her, with only the pom-pom in her hat peeking through. It was comical, really. Maybe even cartoonish. If she was someone else, someone cooler and with less of a glaring crush, she would’ve laughed about it confidently. Illustriously. Instead she had the faintest feeling something was stuck to her hair. “Um.” Oh my go—gosh. “I’m so sorry,” she stammered, pulling her pigtail from his necklace that she’d gotten caught on. It hurt a little, but it was nothing quite as bad as the emotional pain and addition to the mental filmstrip of Phoebe’s Greatest Hits (or, alternatively, the worst and most embarrassing, cringe-y moments of her life that seemed to play nightly just as she was falling asleep) that was sure to come. She actually really wanted to cry, and she almost did, but she held it in. She’d been practicing. “Sorry,” she finally said, after a long pause and her just sitting there still for a moment. “Uh. You can look now,” Phoebe added sheepishly. A beat passed before she spoke up again, seemingly returning to her regularly scheduled programming of unbridled word vomit. “I like your necklace. It’s sharp. – I mean not… literally sharp. It didn’t hurt or anything. It looks nice. You look nice. Is it Mary? I like the gold. Gold is a good color, very positive and regal. My sister says you shouldn’t wear gold if you have pink undertones so I don’t wear it a lot but it looks good on you. Like everything. I mean. A lot of things, really.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Matt voiced quietly behind her, still awkwardly struggling with his arm placement. At best, it was Phoebe, and the memory wouldn’t be too scarring, at worst, people were starring and wondering what the heck was going on. At least it’d be over soon, and maybe he could somehow save the embarrassing moment with a better subject than fumbling through words. That was, until he felt his necklace tug up from beneath his shirt. He supposed that spoke volumes as to how close Phoebe actually was. His face felt more heated than previously, as he tried to laugh off how this moment seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. “No, no. Don’t worry about it.” Matthew tried to reassure. Even if he was feeling like he regret leaving the area by the fire place in the lobby, it wasn’t her fault. At least, not intentionally. His eyes were shakily going back and forth from viewing things other than directly what was in front of him until she gave him the cue that all was clear. “Okay.” He mumbled quietly before eying down at the exposed necklace. It wasn’t like it had any special meaning to him other than it being The Virgin Mary. “Oh, yeah. Uh... thanks. It is, yeah.” Reaching to tug it off over his head, he held it out on his palm. “Do you want it?” He didn’t give any sort of explanation, but he was hoping she’d stop rambling on about it and this scenario if he offered. 

[mattveras]

phoebestclair‌:

She was so red. She couldn’t see herself, of course, but she just knew. Immediately recognizing the voice made it that much worse. It seemed like God was playing a cheeky joke on her, since she’d been spending all day looking for Matt and then directly crashed into his lap when she’d given up. She didn’t know whether to pray up a genuine thank you, or a sarcastic one. “–Yeah,” she finally said, crawling up the bench with wobbly noodle legs. Her throat felt dry, which wasn’t from the weather because they’d been here a few hours already and it seemed to come on extremely fast. “Right. – No, yeah. Mhm.” She didn’t realize it but her face was making a visibly horrified expression, lips pulled back and cringing. “Can you… look away for a second?”

It should’ve alarmed Matt by how he wasn’t met by Phoebe’s rambling in response, but it was cold out. That might’ve excused it. Only then he heard her short not very detailed responses, and that lead to slight more discomfort in the overall situation. “Are you o--” Then he heard her request to look away, and he tried to clear his throat as if he hadn’t just readied to ask her if she was okay, he nodded. “Yeah, right. Sorry. Sure.” He said in punctuation sounds, finally turning his head around, in that short span of times he wondered what the heck he was gonna do with his hand placement, nothing seemed like a good place to put them, so he opted for holding them up and behind his head, only to shift them as if he was itching his back.  

[mattveras]

ohcndrea‌:

really, andrea shouldn’t have been surprised that matt was one of the ones to be using this vacation to do what he could literally do anywhere else but she was a little bit. did sheltered people want to be sheltered? she wondered, entirely unaware of how unsheltered matt might be. “ okay but, you hear what you’re saying, right? ” she questioned, misleadingly sweet smile on her lips. as if she was about to encourage him for his benefit and not just so she could have a laugh. “ you’d probably be terrible at it. you don’t know, and you don’t know until you try. ” she encouraged, having to hold back a cringe at her own words that sounded straight out of a disney special. she knew she had to be nice to win over people like matt, calling him a pussy and trying to challenge his masculinity wouldn’t get her anywhere. “ and the lifts slow down when you’re supposed to get off, and the seats are really low so it’s super easy. it’s not like you have to jump off, you just stand up and walk away. ” she teased, gentle chuckle accompanying her words. 

Matthew tried to feign matching his expression on the outside, with how he felt on the inside. Drea was talking to him, like on purpose. Or at least, he thought so. He hadn’t went out of his way to do a double take behind him just to rid him the embarrassment. The sentiment remained, Andrea was like the intimidating cool girl, and he felt like he was bland oatmeal at best. Thinking about his response for a short moment, he nodded. “I did hear. Is that...” Just for a mere moment his eyes widened at her very inspirational quote. “I had no idea you gave motivational pep talks to wimps too afraid of the ski lift.” He retorted shyly as he blushed down at his cracked open book. “Wait, really? That doesn’t sound so bad. They always make it seem so much worse in movies.” Maybe that’s because the movies he was used to watching discouraged extensive physical activity, but still. 

[mattveras]

pennyoneill·:

In theory, the prospect of going to some ski lodge sounded nearly idyllic in a Hallmark movie kind of way. Thoughts of hot cocoa in front of a massive, roaring fireplace and wearing one of those big, furry hats like the one Keira Knightley had in Anna Karenina alone were tantalizing enough for Penny to feel a spark of excitement when the trip was announced. Though it quickly dawned on her that while the shops were quaint, she had no money. And while Stowe boasted of their mountains, she both hated sports and had ever put on a pair of skis once in her life. Quickly—first day kind of quick, in fact—Penny was bored. And boredom was, if anything, her worst enemy. It bred frustration, leaving her quick to snap. So while impatiently swiping through her dismal Tinder matches, she nearly had to hold back a hiss in response to the question that came from her right. Her gaze snapped the face that came along with the voice, eyes narrowing. He looked familiar. She had definitely seen him with Eden before, at least, but Penny never really bothered to remember his name. Mark? Miles? Something beginning with an M. 

“They literally gave us a whole spiel about it when we got here,” she said, which was something of a half-lie. She asked the member of the resort’s staff who led the girls to their accommodations, so anyone standing within hearing distance got the 411. Sighing, she extended out her hand, making a beckoning gesture. “Hand it over, I’ll show you.”

Matt typically didn’t like asking for help, but in this situation, as obnoxious as it was to admit, he really wanted the wifi password. In retrospect, he should’ve been more prepared, or maybe even brought more reading material. He wasn’t a fan of how the polar vortex made the mountains seem ten times colder, so while he eyed the girl with reluctancy for he had an issue with his privacy, especially his phone background being him and his dog, he studied her suspiciously. “They did? I don’t... I don’t think I caught that bit.” He could’ve kicked himself if he’d spaced out the moment they started to say the wifi password when they’d arrived.

“I-- Fine.” Slowly, he extended his hand out after unlocking the screen of his phone, knowing it’d seem straight out ridiculous of him to change his background now. Not to mention odd. “Do-- Did you like, memorize the password or write it down or something?” He asked with an uncharacteristic nervous chuckle, hoping to get it for future reference before he slowly started to sit at the edge of the chair near her.

[mattveras]

jaysster·:

Jay stared at his roommate with a set jaw, growing impatient for whatever bullshit interrogation was going on here. He’d suspect it from the teachers, hell, maybe his swim team captain if Damian felt the health of one of his team members was at risk. But what did Matt care what he put in his body? What, was he so high and mighty that he felt he needed to do God’s bidding? To dictate who made the naughty or nice list? Oh my god, he needed to pee but he couldn’t because his roommate had his fucking bong wedged under his hoodie and it looked bad.

“No, because I’m not fucking walking around with it out am I?” He accused in a whisper to his roommate, not getting why this was even something they had to talk about. Matt knew he smoked. Surely he could just assume Jay did whatever else he wanted under the sun and call it a day? Who cared? Nobody! Nobody cared about Jay and what he did, that was the whole point.

“I don’t… even know what that is, man, I’m just—” He frowned, the kon what now? Whatever. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that Matt was going through his shit. What else did he touch back at school and not tell him about? How many things had Matt’s weird little fingers probed and Jay had been none the wiser? “Look. Dude. I’m not…” Jay gave a sigh of frustration, “This is stupid. Why don’t you just put it back, we forget this whole thing happened, and you just… I don’t know, pray or do whatever makes you feel better at night, okay? This is fine or whatever when we’re on campus but… I’m really just out here trying to fucking have a good time, alright?”

Matt didn’t exactly realize just how controlling his behavior was, and how it might’ve rubbed someone wrong who was forced to live around it. But in his defense, he had the impression it was under everyone’s best interest, rather than just his own. If he were to dig deeper, it probably had to do with the fact he never felt any real control in his environment at home, but that was another story. “Does random bed checks mean nothing to you? I wouldn’t put it past Mr. Cobb, or Mr. Farrell.” Matthew replied in a hush whisper as his eyes darted around again in a paranoid manner. 

“Tidying Up? With Marie Kondo? Come on, Jay.” Matt didn’t binge watch things often, but that was a can’t miss Netflix gem. As he processed the other boy’s response, he furrowed his brows and eyed down at the item beneath his hoodie. He could tell there was clear annoyance in Jay’s voice. Even if prayer was warranted at anytime, was that how his roommate really perceived him? “I’m-- I’m not trying to be a wet blanket for the record. I just thought maybe something was wrong--” Blinking a few times, he realized he was sounding like a wet blanket, and maybe Jay didn’t like having him as a roommate either. He tried to push down the daunting reminder of how every now and again, he wished he had been able to fit in with the likes of Jay. Pursing his lips for a moment, he nodded. “Right. Well, I’ll go pray, and sorry for bringing it up.” Awkwardly, he shifted his weight away and started in the other direction of the hallway.

[ruinedchildhood]

[mattveras]

phoebestclair‌:

Phoebe was waddling along in her rented skates, still actually too nervous to hit the ice yet. She also was ridiculously over-bundled in a scarf, a hat with one of those fuzzy pom-poms at the top, gloves, leg warmers over her fleece tights, and a larger-than-life puffer coat with a thick cable knit sweater underneath. You could lead a horse to a colder climate, but you couldn’t make their body acclimate to it, it turned out. She’d been in Massachusetts for seven years now and hadn’t quite yet learned how to separate herself from her sweaters. Just as she was thinking of entering the gate, her shoelace caught underneath her own opposite skate blade and she fell, right into someone’s lap. Her immediate reaction after turning beet red was to roll over and away awkwardly, hiding her face in the bench for fear she might actually have to talk to the person. “Sorry,” she mumbled, in what was possibly the smallest voice anyone had ever uttered.

When Phoebe was walking in front of Matt, he didn’t initially recognize her out of the simple fact alone she was practically covered in winter attire from head to toe. Luckily, Matthew had just placed his hot chocolate down just adjacent of where he was sitting on the bench. So his head was averted in the other direction when he felt someone make a hard landing directly into his lap. His gasp was loud, but once the startle faded, he blushed, which might’ve not been noticeable due to the fact his cheeks were already red from the cold. “Are you okay?” Leaning away he turned his head to get a look at the skater that’d taken a tumble into his lap, sighing with relief upon realization it was Phoebe. “Oh my goodness.” He started to laugh as he shook his head. “I’m so glad that was you, and not a total stranger. -- I mean, not that this isn’t...” He gestured not knowing how to explain.