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Charlie, a highly-strung, openly gay over-thinker, and Nick, a cheerful, soft-hearted rugby player, meet at a British all-boys grammar school. Friendship blooms quickly, but could there be something more…?
Nick and Charlie are characters from my debut novel, Solitaire. Heartstopper updates three times a month, on the 1st, 11th, and 21st.
I really appreciate reblogs and shares - please help me spread word about this comic! I’m so excited for people to read it!
Now Available— SHORT STUFF, a little feel-good YA anthology
“Breezy tales of first crushes and kisses.” — Kirkus Reviews
At a summer vacation at the lake, just before heading off to college. In a coffee shop, when the whole world is new. In a dragon’s cave, surrounded by gold. At a swim club, with the future in sight. In SHORT STUFF, bestselling and award-winning authors dial down the angst in four meet-cute LGBTQ young adult romances.
SHORT STUFF features stories from Julia Ember (The Seafarer’s Kiss), Jude Sierra (Idlewild, What It Takes), Kate Fierro (Love Starved), and the writing team of Tom Wilinsky and Jen Sternick (Snowsisters). Edited by Alysia Constantine (Olympia Knife, Sweet).
SHORT STUFF is available from the IP Web Store, Bookshop, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository, Amazon, and an indie bookstore near you.
Add it to your Goodreads TBR shelf
Cover art by C.B. Messer.
Gilded Scales by Julia Ember
Trapped in a quiet, coastal town where nothing ever happens, 16-year-old warrior Fenn longs for adventure and glory. When a dragon attacks a neighboring village, kidnaps a maiden and makes its home in the sacred field of kings, Fenn begs her Aeldorman to send her to fight it. Though the fearsome dragon has already incinerated the warriors who have tried before, Fenn sees it as her duty to rescue the girl trapped deep in the burial mounds with the beast, or die trying.
But Fenn discovers that the maiden and dragon are one in the same, the result of a terrible curse. Going against her own people, she sets out to save the girl and forge a new destiny for herself.
A bisexual retelling of the medieval epic poem, Beowulf.
The August Sands by Jude Sierra
As the eldest child in his family, Tommy Hughes always felt the weight of responsibility growing up—to his mother, who depended on him, and to his kid brother and sister, who looked up to him. But during a summer vacation to the Michigan shore, Tommy chafes to break free and to start experiencing a series of firsts before embarking for the new world of college.
I Ate the Whole World to Find You by Tom Wilinsky & Jen Sternick
Sparks fly at the local swim club when the manager orders Will, a snack bar chef with culinary ambitions, to cook for the club’s surly Olympic hopeful, Basil, who is furious when Will’s first special is called the “Basil Rickey.” Challenged by their conflicting ambitions, Basil and Will clash—until they learn the importance of breaking out of their lanes.
Love in the Times of Coffee by Kate Fierro
A story of best friends, Gemma and Anya, told in a series of coffee-flavored glimpses. From the first mocha at age fifteen to cups of simple instant coffee after their first night together at twenty, they laugh, love and learn, taking a scenic route to romance.
Yay it’s my book birthday! Well a shared one 😃 this is my first contribution to the world of YA and I am so excited that this one is finally out!
My contribution to this anthology is The August Sands:
As the eldest child in his family, Tommy Hughes always felt the weight of responsibility growing up—to his mother, who depended on him, and to his kid brother and sister, who looked up to him. But during a summer vacation to the Michigan shore, Tommy chafes to break free and to start experiencing a series of firsts before embarking for the new world of college.
“Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag.” He took a deep breath and sat back down after making the clarifying statement.
“And–” she waved a pen as though to underline her statement–“if you’re interrupting a sentence with an action, you need to type two hyphens to make an en-dash.”
“The speech tag is still part of the previous sentence,” she explained, ‘so it isn’t capitalised.“
“What do you mean?” he asked. “But there’s a full stop as part of the question mark!”
She nodded gravely. “I know!” she said. “A lot of people find this confusing. But the speech tag belongs to the line of dialogue, it’s still part of the sentence, so it’s wrong to capitalise it.”
She reblogged the post again, because she had recently read far too many potentially enjoyable stories marred by poor dialogue punctuation.
“There are two more ways"—she pointed to the blackboard—“to punctuate interruptions. One is with the em dashes outside the quotations marks to indicate continuous speech. The action occurs at the same time as speech. The other—” she sipped from a glass of water “—is em dashes within the quotation marks to indicate interrupted speech.”
Fighter’s block - try to defeat a monster by writing
Child’s Traits Calculator ; predict a child’s appearance
Child’s Traits Calculator ; predict other traits
Fifty Plot Twist Ideas For Your Work-In-Progress!
Name generator (Character, Baby, Last name, etc.)
Plot generator ; Inspiration for your next novel, film or short story
Character generator ; Generate Rich Characters in Seconds
Writing Exercises ; This site provides (completely free) writing prompts and exercises to help you get started with creative writing and break through writing blocks.
Notebook ; create your characters, worlds, objects, places, etc. and save them
Festisite ; Create a fake license, marriage certificate, credit card, ticket and you can find other stuff as well.
The most common last names in the US
Lists of most common surnames
List of most popular given names
List of the least common surnames [last names] in America, rank 16,001-20,000
Fantasy name generator (again)
Random Name Generator (Choose origins, gender, etc.)
Said is dead (Remember that you can use said, don’t use it to less.)
How Much Blood Can The Human Body Lose?
How Long Can Someone Go Without Breathing?
The 6 Types of Collars Every Man Should Know by Name
18 Different Types of Sleeves Design Patterns
What are the most widely practiced religions of the world?
Differences Between a Short Story, Novelette, Novella, & a Novel
Hemingway editor ; It grades your writing by its readability.
Zen writer ; writing without distractions (Might not be free after a while)
here’s some of my concept playlist if you wanna listen, they’re pretty cool
you’re lying awake in bed at 3 am at a cheap motel in the upper states after having quit your job on a whim, gotten into your car and driven away
you’re on a sunny beach, surrounded by palm trees, reading your favorite book, swinging in a hammock and sipping a piña colada through an oversized straw
you’re walking your crush home after a date and you’re wondering whether or not you should kiss her
you’re stargazing in an Arizona desert, sitting on the hood of a vintage car, wrapped in a warm blanket
it’s the apocalypse, streets are filled with the undead. you’re alone on a building roof in Atlanta, singing at the top of your lungs and dancing like no one is watching (no one alive anyway)
it’s spring break, you’re in Coney Island with your best friends, wearing a flowery short dress with black converse, and eating toffee apples
you’re in a field late at night, sitting among the sunflowers. it’s raining but you don’t want to go home, not yet
you’re at home on a weekend evening, sprawled on your couch and slowly falling asleep to the tv, a purring cat on your lap and a glass of red wine in your hand
it’s the year 2077 & you’re at a nightclub in tokyo with your best friend, you’re both on the run from a group of rebels but you feel safe in this little neon corner of nowhere so when a robot waiter offers you a strawberry daiquiri you accept it
you’re a tourist on mars & you’re trying to contact home but the signal is really crappy so you just end up buying yourself an icecream sundae & waiting in this strange alien queue to buy an interstellar sim card
you’re in a small virginian town that was wiped off the map several years ago housesitting for a mysterious neighbor when you find a secret passageway in their library, you have no idea where it leads but you’re curious to take a look
you’re in victorian england & you’re walking down a path adorned with the warm aureate glow of gaslights & it’s snowing softly & you have your hands buried deep in your coat pockets while somewhere in the distance, someone announces that the queen is dead
you meet god at a gas station at 3.03 am & he asks you if you want to go for a motorcycle ride with him & when you say yes he warns you that he’s about to introduce you to things you can never unknow
you’re in love with a ghost who shows up in all your household mirrors & keeps turning off the kitchen light but one night you realize that you’re the one that’s been doing all the haunting
it’s a rehab centre for celestial beings, where angels with dying halos flitter past & talk to you of stars, you love working this job, learning about the woes of a dozen flighty beings, & they endow you with their strength & light in return
you’re stuck in a time loop inside of a 80′s horror flick and your entire world feels like it’s glitching around you nothing is real except for your strange lover with eyes like moonlight calling you to come back to bed
you’re at an island at midnight all by yourself, the night sky is so clear the sea reflects the star-matted sky, a salty breeze lifts your hair, you breathe in deep & dream of someone beautiful coming to your rescue
So You Want to Name a Sino: A Guide to Not Making a Fucking Fool of Yourself
Note: this will be long and very, very extensive because god I am so sick of this shit 2k16 I just want absolution and I don’t think that’s too much to ask, and even if it is I’m asking it, I’m not asking it emptyhanded I’m asking it with a WHOLE GUIDE FOR YOUR PERUSAL, because I’ve found that Wiki’s great if you want to know why and how we use names and not really great for when you actually want a name.
A theme of this blog seems to be my long suffering, and I want it known, recorded, carved in stone that as of almost 1:00AM on Thursday, December 22nd, 2016, I am officially Fed Up with the way Sino characters are named in fiction.
Let us be clear: this is first and foremost An Attack™* on all the white authors whose imaginations can only extend so far to provide us with a glut of Lings and Linglings and Ailings (not that those aren’t beautiful names) and Peonies and Pearls and, god forbid they start getting creative with their Sachas and their Wai-maes, but this is also for the Sino authors who can’t seem to do it either. And like, I get it. It’s not easy. Sinos are a disparate bunch with varying degrees of fluency in varying dialects of Chinese. Romanisation and naming customs are weird.
But also can we leave the idea of the inscrutable mysterious unknowable East in the 20th century please? There are resources. This is one of them. Let’s start before I steep for too long in my own bitterness and annoyance.
The real writer experience is standing in the shower and coming up with the most authentic dialogue with perfect phrasing and raw emotion in your head, then stepping out and drying your hair, putting on some clean pajamas and opening a word document to write down all your perfect ideas only to realize everything has evaporated.
Angel looked up from his cup of tea, surprised to hear the tone of Charlie's voice. He cleared his throat before he spoke, "Of course, love."
"Do you believe in soulmates?" She- no, they today- stared directly at Angel with an unwavering demeanor, and yet their voice shook the slightest bit.
He smiled, albeit a little sadly, "Is this about Scott?"
"This isn't about Scott," They shook their head defiantly before their brow furrowed and they frowned, "It is about Scott? It's just- it came up because of Scott."
He laughed a little, setting the cup down and sitting back, crossing his arms loosely as he thought. After a moment, he shrugged, "I mean, I suppose I do. A true love and all that."
They shook their head again, "Not even just that. Not a one true love, Disney happy ending situation."
"Well, what do you believe?" He gestured with one hand, "You seem to have thought about this a lot."
"Stars."
"Stars?"
"The answers are in the stars," Just like that, their eyes began to twinkle and their voice became steady, "I believe, wholeheartedly, that the stars drive us together. That the universe is saying something, thinking something, feeling something at all times. We're all made up of cosmic dust and star matter, right?"
"Something like that."
"So why wouldn't the universe nudge us along?" They moved to the front of their seat, "Angel, have you ever met a person and every time you see them or touch them, it's like they breathe life into you? Something so simple, you could glide your fingers across their back to let you know you're there, and suddenly it's like your whole hand is glowing. Or they hug you and you can feel your body recharging because your stars are doing a dance. Sometimes, sometimes you share things with each other, thoughts, experiences, and your emotions skyrocket and suddenly it's like a supernova between you two. Have you ever felt it?"
He touched his cheek absentmindedly, simply gazing upon the person before him. The way they clenched their fists so tightly and could barely keep in their seat, the way their eyes burned with something loving and yet so angry, hell, the way it felt like... Maybe the universe was speaking through them. "I have," He finally said.
"I think that's a soulmate. And I think you get a lot of them over the course of your life."
College sounds fake. The stories are everywhere online, from nightmare roommates to party horror stories to the constant reassurance that it will be the best four years of your life. There are tricks and tips on how to make your dorm room cozy plastered all over Buzzfeed and supposedly life-saving hacks for when you have to finally brave those communal bathrooms. Naturally, for an anxiety-ridden incoming freshman, those articles are eaten up with unabashed ferver.
However, what those articles fail to mention is that, while there are similarities, art school in the big city is a whole separate genre of fake. Roommates are still game of Russian Roulette, and the meal plans are still too damn expensive to be necessary, but there was something different about a school made up entirely of artists. Which, for Charlie Vega, was both a blessing and curse the moment she stepped foot on campus.
"This is campus?" Mike spoke up as he eyed the two buildings kiddie-corner from each other.
"There are other buildings around, but yes," Charlie quietly defended, "It isn't exactly green rolling hills, is it?"
"Where do you go to ditch class?" He raised an eyebrow, plastering himself to the window to try and scope literally anything out.
She shrugged awkwardly, "Pike's Place, I guess?"
"She isn't going to be ditching class," Their mother spoke up with an eyeroll, still trying to maneuver her way into the alley for car unloading, "Not when we're paying 50 thousand dollars a year."
He shook his head with a laugh, "Jesus Christ, kid. That much for singing and dancing classes?"
"You went to trade school for music in L.A., I'm not sure you have much of a position to judge from," She argued.
"I'm not judging you," He waved his hand casually, "I'm judging your pretentious school." His eyes scanned the now bustling alleyway and smiled at a woman in a bright colored shirt who had two large rolling bins with her. They exchanged nods and he got out of the car, ushering his sister to do the same.
The two emptied the tiny car's contents into the bins, Mike making small talk with the upperclassman helping out. She lead the two into a parking garage where people in a shirt just like hers stood beside bins just like theirs with freshman that looked anxious just like Charlie. She pointed to a tall Hawaiin man in a purple bandana, telling them to go "stand with him, he'll get you up the elevator."
By the time they had gotten to the eighth floor, Charlie was nearly reeling. The doors dinged open and she was greeted by a loud, excited voice.
"Hi!" The woman nearly sang, "You must be Charlie! I have your card for your room and a few papers for you to look over and hand back to me later tonight." She shoved the contents into her dazed hands and beamed like a million suns all fused together, "Go check out your room!"
Charlie took a second, realizing for the first time in thirty minutes where she actually was. She took a step back, eyes sweeping the doors in the hall and finding the one that belonged to her, just the second door down. She read Charlie and internally cringed, having forgotten to mention that little name switch to her family before they came. She looked back to the excited woman, finding her just watching with anticipation. She smiled awkwardly and went to her door, pressing the keycard to the reader and falling against the door as it opened.
"I made it," She announced loudly as she entered. She looked up to find her roommate, having stopped dead in her tracks the moment the door opened, and her two moms.
"So, you're... Charlotte?" One of the mothers asked.
"Charlie," She corrected, ignoring the way her skin crawled as she was acutely aware of her brother behind her. She came fully into the room, emptying the bins with shaking hands so that Mike could bring them back out to the loud woman.
"I'm Riley," Her roommate finally spoke up once Mike had come back. She stepped to the middle of the room, holding out her hand to Charlie.
She watched her wearily before shaking her hand, "Good to put a face to the texts."
"Same," She smiled before going back to organizing her side of the room.
"Alright, Charmander, you want to make your bed and start setting up or do you want to wait for mom?" Mike asked, sitting in the desk chair provided.
"Let's just wait," She answered quietly.
For what felt like hours but could have only been twenty minutes at most, Mike and Charlie sat and watched as the Winters set up Riley's half of the room. Every so often, one of her moms would strike up conversation, which Charlie tried to continue but her smiles were tight and her looks were fleeting. Eventually, the two women recognized how uncomfortable the girl was and left her alone, holding nothing but empathy for the anxiety ridden artist.
Just around the time that Sofia came back from parking the family car, the Winters left to go shopping for the extra necessities they had left back home. Together, Sofia and Mike put the art on the walls and made the bed, allowing for Charlie to put her knick-knacks where she chose, her clothes in the order she needed, and her plant in just the right spot in the window. By the time the room was setup, Charlie was sat at her desk holding her Scrump doll tightly against her body.
Danny Boy (9:32am): Hey, are you all setup?
She read the text over and over as if she couldn't understand a word it said. She looked up at her family as they made plans before leaving, and then back to her phone.
Charmander (9:34am): Almost. Mom and Mike are gonna bounce soon, I guess, but they want to go shopping first so I have some kind of food.
Danny Boy (9:35am): They're leaving so soon? Like, not even lunch?
Charmander (9:35am): :^) I'm dying inside.
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat before they all headed out to a nearby grocery store, getting cheap and fast essentials that could last her until the next time her mom came into town. She had a meal plan afterall, but as far as they could tell, musical theatre majors were going to be driven into the ground so any kind of extra snacks would be appreciated. Of course, it wasn't the most fun shopping experience she had ever had, as she really just roamed the aisles without an appetite for ten minutes before her family started grabbing things they knew she liked.
Arriving back at the dorms, Charlie and Mike took the stairs with the groceries, making for an earlier goodbye with Sofia on the first floor before she went to fetch the car. Riley was still gone and, after a choked up hug between the two siblings, Charlie was alone in her room for the first time.
Charmander (10:32am): Is your roommate there
Danny Boy (10:34am): No. Is yours? Do you need a friend?
Charmander (10:34am): mike just left
Danny Boy (10:36am): :( Come up to my room. The doors open.
That was the first place she differed from all the generic articles online. She had a friend from high school that was also attending her school of choice. She wouldn't say they were best friends, no, but they had certainly seen some things together. From homecoming disasters, to first heartbreaks, to gender revelations, to say they had history was a bit of an understatement.
Which is how Charlie found herself sitting in Daniel Knowles' room, streaming with tears as he hummed while putting away Poptarts. She wasn't offended, in fact she kind of preferred that he ignored her. It was sort of just a moment for herself.
Until he decided to actually talk to her about it.
"What is it that's freaking you out so much, if you don't mind me asking?" He inquired, not even looking in her direction.
She looked up, eyebrows drawn together and shoulders rigid, "Well... I mean... I've never done anything like this. I mean," She sniffed and swiped at her nose, "I lived with Mike for that one year. But it was different, I was still home with everyone. I was in a small town. I had somewhere to be. I had Mike."
"Well, you have me," He shrugged.
"Why am I the only one who's not excited?" She suddenly asked.
He paused then finally leaned against the counter, looking at her. "I don't think you are," He finally said, "I think everyone just says that they're excited so they can cover up how dreadfully anxious they are. But you don't tend to do that. You... Well, Charlie, you wear your heart on your sleeve and, ya'know, that's not a bad thing."
"I didn't use to do that," She mumbled to herself.
"No, you didn't," He agreed, "But then some larger than average poop broke your heart, you got sad, and now everyone knows you feel approximately all of the time because you just stopped hiding it. Which is a good thing if you ask me. You're here to study acting."
"So, I should be able to act like I'm not a horrible mess," She defended.
"Nah, I think it just makes you more genuine," He smiled, "You're very in touch with your mess."
She scoffed and rolled her eyes, wiping underneath them to try and remove any evidence of her sobfest. A quick look through her camera on Snapchat and she could see that somehow her Wal-Mart brand makeup stood the emotional test and was looking just fine. With that in mind, she turned so that Danny was in the background of the photo and snapped a selfie. She posted it to her story with fake enthusiasm, mostly putting on a show for their friends back home, before setting her phone down and curling up in the chair she was sat in. For the next hour or so, she watched as Danny, soon to be joined by his roommate, set up their room. Or at least tried to.
She eventually spoke up, seeing how uncomfortable he already was with his roommate, "Can we stop by my room? See if Riley's back and grab my computer?"
"Sure," He answered quickly, dropping what he was doing and grabbing his keycard. "I'll be back, Nate." He didn't wait for an answer before he left the room, Charlie at his heels.
It was only when they reached Charlie's room only a floor down that either of them said anything. She bit back a cheeky smile as she unlocked her door, "He's... certainly a character."
"I don't trust him," Danny deadpanned, "I, can already tell that I'm going to hate him."
With no sign of her roommate, Charlie let out a sigh, "I think I'm going to like my roommate. I don't know. I don't know if she's going to like me."
"You'll be fine," He drawled.
For the next several hours Charlie and Danny bounced from one floor to the next, answering calls from friends back home, sorting out their rooms, and trying to have any kind of communication with their respective roommates. Eventually they ended up on the floor of Charlie's room for a good forty minutes just talking to Riley before she left again to go to a family dinner.
Alone in the room, Charlie rubbed the back of her neck, "So, like... My family's gone... I don't have dinner plans."
Danny looked up from where he lay on the floor, "Oh, I'm sure my family can bring you out."
"I hate your mom," She scrunched up her face at the thought.
"So do I," He shrugged, "But it's food."
After a moment, she nodded in agreement. They called Danny's mom and sorted out dinner plans, and soon enough they were headed out, pressing the elevator button and waiting.
A tall person with incredibly light blonde hair rounded the corner and, seeing that the button was already pressed, stood back with their hands in their pockets, staring at the door. They sort of kicked at the ground a little impatiently, never quite standing still. They had a softness about their face despite having a completely blank expression.
Charlie took a minute to just stare at their shirt, silently admiring the design and briefly wondering if it was a reference to anything. Then, having realized they were staring at this stranger's chest for an indeterminate amount of time, she looked at their face. "Hey," She said, gaining their attention, "Uh, I realize now that it looks like I was just staring at your chest and I look weird. I was checking out your shirt."
They blinked then smiled, "Oh." They looked at their shirt, almost as though they forgot what it was, "Yeah, thanks! I like it." They looked back at Charlie, scuffing their shoe again, "I like your outfit."
"Thanks," She smiled, rocking back on her heels and tapping her toes together, looking down at her shoes shyly.
The elevator dinged open and all three of them got in, riding it down before branching off to their respective destinations.
Unfortunately what followed suit was one of the, if not the most awkward dining experience Charlie had ever had with Danny's family, which was really saying a lot considering the four or five years they had known each other. After a fight that had been sparked from absolutely nothing, Danny's mother refused to join them at the table, and it was just the two of them and his sister eating. With some awkward small talk here and there, Charlie managed to be the Switzerland of the family war, and got back to the dorm with enough time to spare before her floor meeting.
A couple minutes early, she and Riley crept out of their room and peered into the lounge, finding half the floor sitting in various places around the room. The two of them exchanged looks before choosing to sit against the wall on the floor next to one another. Riley focused her attention on her phone, while Charlie scoured the room with her eyes, noticing as each new person slowly filtered into the lounge.
What came by next was a bit of a blur, mostly a ton of information from their very loud and excited RA. Somewhere along the line Charlie made a remark under her breath, which the RA laughed brightly at, calling attention to Charlie by name. She ducked her head awkwardly, smiling a bit and noticing the way Riley chuckled in response.
Finally, as if the universe knew how to mess with her, they were instructed to find someone in the lounge to speak to. The catch being that it couldn't be your roommate. Charlie didn't miss the way Riley seemed to physically brace herself for the following conversation. It got worse when they found out they had to do it twice.
After a conversation with an upperclassmen that she absolutely forgot the name of despite hearing it multiple times within the past twenty minutes, she had to find another stranger to communicate with. She glanced around, recognizing the person from the elevator, but they had already found a partner to speak to. She rubbed at her arm uncomfortably before her eyes landed on what she had deduced to be the elevator stranger's roommate, due to earlier comments made in the meeting.
Perfect.
She sat next to him, startling him, and just let the words roll out of her mouth, "Hi, I'm Charlie, you look uncomfortable and I'm incredibly uncomfortable, so we're going to talk."
He stared at her like a deer in headlights before cracking a smile, "Yeah, sure, that works for me. Uh, Scott. Matthews. Acting major."
"Musical theatre," She nodded, recalling him saying that earlier in the meeting, "So, we'll have a bit of a similar experience."
He pursed his lips, tilting his head, "Well."
"It can't be that different right off the bat," She furrowed her brow, "We do the same thing, I just sing and dance more than you do."
"Still pretty different," He adjusted his seating position just barely, pushing back his hair, "But ya'know, it's. It's whatever."
"Jesus, okay," She huffed to herself, "Uh, interesting fact? I wrote a book once."
"Wow," He looked mildly impressed before shrugging, "I don't know, uh, I went to Catholic school."
She blinked, "You... Really?"
He smiled- no, he smirked. It was definitely a smirk. "Yeah. It's just as terrible as it sounds."
"Yikes, dude," The more she thought about it the more she hated it. She had her own experience with having a wildly religious dad, so to imagine growing up and going through the Catholic school education system was just horrendous.
"I mean, it's fine," He cracked his knuckles absentmindedly, "It's just, ya'know, the surefire way to make sure your kids are never Catholic. That was a fun conversation."
"Yeah, I... I get that. With my dad," She looked down at her hands then, fidgeting with her sleeves.
Their RA called for their attention shortly after, and she could feel an awkward wall go up between her and Scott once they were no longer engaged in conversation. She didn't think anything of it, nothing more than a failed attempt at making a friend anyway.
"Alright, and one last thing before we head out," Their RA finally said, "I need to show you guys the trash room!" Somehow she managed to make even that sound exciting. She stood, startling Charlie when she was only around 5'1", and headed down the hall with the elevators. Everyone followed after her and the moment they walked in, there was a murmur.
"Wow, look, it's my home," Charlie said to herself.
Scott's roommate, Grace as Charlie learned, gasped and turned to her. Excitedly they whispered, "That's what I said!"
Charlie looked at them and grinned, "Oh my God."
When their fun adventure to the trash room was over, they were dismissed from the meeting and Charlie and Riley immediately took to hiding in their room.
"So, there's that weird... mixer, party thing on floor twenty," Charlie mentioned, checking herself in the mirror.
"I don't think I'm going," Riley said.
"Yeah?" She looked at her.
"Like, maybe for a little bit because I hear food's involved. But I'm not, ya'know, a people person," She shrugged.
"I get that," She smiled a little, "I'm mostly just going because Danny wants to. I probably won't stay long. It's been... a day."
And so they went, Riley bailing out after a few minutes. Charlie sat with Danny and a few friends she had met during an Accepted Students Day in June, but mostly she was aching to leave. After some dancing and a weird conversation with a boy from her floor she couldn't remember the name of, she retreated to her room, finding Riley already in bed.
After a tentative shower, Charlie crawled into bed for the first night at college. She didn't know how long she stayed awake, staring at her string lights with something heavy weighing on her heart, but eventually she was able to sleep with Scrump in her arms.
It wasn't exactly what he was planning to do now that he had his degree, but hey, he was getting paid in the meantime so it wasn't the worst job in the world.
Or that's how Jay Hanson was explaining it to his relatives that were raising their noses at the news that he was going to be working at an Arts Summer Camp the Summer following his graduation. He had spent most of his college experience explaining to them the business that was musical theatre, and yet, they didn't quite get it. He had to audition and be cast before he could actually be in a show. So, right now, this was the best he could do. Teaching kids how to put on their own showcase revues.
It wasn't terrible. It really wasn't. He didn't hate kids, a lot, and the main thing he would be doing was workshops and then by the end of the camp they would put on their own show. There were multiple rotations he'd do that Summer, as it was only a six week long intensive. (Camp. It was sleepaway camp. But intensive sounded more impressive.) Also, as he covered numerous times, he was getting paid. His department head had hooked him up for a real counselor position rather than "volunteer," so he wasn't just giving up his time for nothing. (Although, it didn't matter to him either way, to be honest.)
Of course, the camp was for any art concentration you could think of. There was visual arts, solely dance, music kids, even kids interested in film had a place to be. The whole final week of camp was a week full of showcases for the concentrations. An arts exhibit, a dance showcase, a recital, a film night, and then the musical theatre kids running rampant onstage. He loved theatre, but it's true when people say actors are just children posing as adults.
He had to admit, though, he wasn't expecting it to be set up like a camp. There was a disturbing amount of trees around, and there was definitely a lake somewhere nearby. The facilities from the outside looked wildly unprepared for the oncoming storm, but he trusted it simply because his department head said he should. And that man had never steered him wrong.
Jay scrambled off of his bed and grabbed his roommate before he could go into the bathroom and change. He tugged him back to the vanity, turning on the light and holding him in place in front of the mirror. "Look in the mirror. What do you see?"
"Defeat," Kris huffed out.
"That's not what I see," Jay hummed.
"And what do you see?" He asked, running a hand down his face before taking off his appropriately colored beanie. He messed with the threading with gentle fingers, avoiding looking at his own reflection.
"I see someone who's spent eighteen years in hiding and who's ready to be open with himself at the biggest party in Seattle," He said. He reached up, pushing on Kris's jaw so he'd look up at the mirror again, "Dude, nobody's going to say anything remotely rude."
"Are you sure?"
"Me, you, and Caleb create the holy trinity of fake sexualities, man, we're fine," He winked to emphasize that he was merely joking. After a small pause, he took the hat from Kris's hands and placed it back on his head, "We have to go now if we want food and decent spots."
Kris nodded then quickly pulled out his phone with shaking hands. "Can we take a selfie first?" He asked.
"Always and forever," Jay said dramatically. He struck a pose, holding double peace signs by his eyes lined in black and white eyeliner, sporting black shorts and an asexual pride snapback with a purple galaxy tank.
Kris shoved his phone his pocket before he could take too much time looking over the picture. He took a deep breath and headed out the door, going to the elevator and hitting the button rapidly. It was only when Jay joined him that he searched his pockets. "Did I-"
Jay whistled innocently as he stuffed Kris's keycard into his wallet before pocketing it, "I'm going to keep a hold on that because you can't be trusted. The others are at the Starbucks just down the street right now."
"Oh God, we're doing this in a Starbucks," He held his face in his hands, groaning at the thought of it, "In our Starbucks!"
"You're fine," He sang, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the elevator, "It'll be fun."
The whole way down, Kris fidgeted with his hands. Every few steps he'd stray just the slightest bit behind Jay, causing him to force them side-by-side once more. It only worsened the closer they got the Starbucks and by the time they were outside the doors, Jay practically shoved him inside and barricaded the door so he couldn't leave.
"Kris, Jay!" Shaun called, causing the others to look up.
"Jay!" Caleb yelled, alerting the unfortunate staff, and ran over to the two boys. He skidded to a stop as he caught sight of what Kris was wearing.
He uncomfortably shifted, rubbing his palms together and not meeting Caleb's eye. There he stood, in acid wash jean shorts, a bisexual flag colored tanktop and a matching beanie.
"Kris," Caleb said slowly in a quiet voice.
"Look," Kris interrupted, "I know it's been a year, but I didn't even know if it was true, and-"
Caleb reached out quickly and grabbed Kris's hands, holding them between his own, "I'm so proud of you!"
There was a pause before he looked up and smiled a bit, "Thank you..." He furrowed his brow then, "Are you in a pansexual colored sundress?"
"Hell yeah!" He beamed in response, "Shaun has a matching demi one!"
"That's really cool," Kris blinked owlishly.
Jay just smiled at Kris before bypassing the two and ordering breakfast for both himself and Kris. The four of them, soon joined by Dorian wearing uncharacteristically civilian looking clothes, ate and chatted before heading out to snag a spot in the shade along the parade route. As they waited, they sat on the sidewalk just behind the barriers, munching on fruit and drinking water. As more people started to gather, they stood to make more room.
By then, Will had found the group, pink and blue stripes on his cheek and a trans flag around his shoulders like a cape. He came up behind Jay, lacing their fingers together and kissing his shoulder, "Hey there," he murmured.
"I'm glad I can recognize your voice because there are so many people that just approach me and grab my hand and honestly, I was momentarily confused," Jay breathed out, squeezing his hand.
"Sounds about right," Will nodded.
"Did you two finally get together?" Dorian asked as she opened her bag and began to dig around.
She didn't miss the way Will rolled his eyes from behind Jay's shoulder. "No, Dorian," He answered, "This isn't a thing."
"Darn, I was hoping I could stop making fun of you behind your back and start doing it to your face," She shrugged as she tucked sunscreen and a lesbian flag between her thighs. She took off her tanktop then, revealing heart pasties over her nipples and tied the flag around her like a cape, matching Will. She then held up the sunscreen, "If any of you assholes need this, now would be a good time to request it."
"I think we're good-"
"I'm talking to you, Hanson," She pointed the bottle at him, "Your little Irish ass isn't going to survive long in the sun."
He paused then reached out without a word, taking the bottle and applying a layer or more.
Finally, the parade started and with each passing group the six college students got more and more excited, cheering wildly for just about anything that came by. Before they knew it, the parade was nearly halfway over and Dorian had migrated onto Kris's back, claiming it was because she was short but they all knew she was just tired. There came a lull in the traffic, as the parade got stopped every so often to let emergency vehicles through the intersections, and the squad was chattering amongst themselves, taking a much needed water break.
Suddenly, however, there was an uproar of cheers and Jay leaned over the barrier to peer down the street, trying to see what was so exciting. There appeared to be a group dedicated to LGBT parents and their LGBT children unified and marching together. He smiled at the thought, but then, upon inspection, he found what the crowd must have really been screaming over.
"Oh my God," he whispered, "You're fucking kidding me."
"Hm?" Will looked at them then to the marchers. Within seconds, he saw it, as the group came closer and closer.
There, towards the front, was Raven and Trevor, marching hand in hand. Trevor was in black jeans and a bisexual tanktop, his hair pulled back into a ponytail and his glasses had been swapped out in favor of contacts. But that wasn't what was causing all the excitement. It was Raven, clad in a black corset and spanx, black stilettos and thigh-high socks, wearing a tophat and glammed out Babadook makeup.
The group erupted into cheers, chanting Raven's name and catching the attention of the pair. As Raven winked and sent kisses flying every which way, Kris was the only one to notice the way Trevor took in his bisexual garb and smiled softly, giving a single nod.
It came as no surprise when Jay and Caleb jumped over the barricade to join the parade as their school marched by. It came as a slight surprise when the others decided to jump the barricade and march with them. It was certainly a shock to certain family members the next day when pictures came out showing perhaps a bit too much skin, too unconventional of clothing choices, and too much pride in themselves to begin with.
However, perhaps the least surprising thing of all was the sunburn they all suffered after choosing to stay out even after the parade ended. All except for Raven, who managed to walk away from the entire event unscathed, save for the thousands of photos that were quickly circulating Facebook and Tumblr.
