#aastuck-open

[academy-maryam]

Sleeping in is Temporary Fun

Kanaya hadn't planned on staying up all night, but her two assigned essays had chosen for her. She hadn't planned on staying up two hours after completing said essays either, but once she started on a new sewing project, she found it hard to stop. Needless to say, the morning was going to be harder than usual. Her alarm went off at 6:00 am, as usual, but after getting only 3 hours of sleep, getting up didnt seem like the most important thing. Kanaya quickly fell back asleep, but almost immediately, there was a knock at her door. "Mm.. what is it.." she mumbled. "Get up, Kanaya! You missed 1st period!" The person at her door responded. Kanaya almost screamed when she saw the time. How could she have slept till 10:30??

[mer-gangsta-blog]

For the Love of Squiddles™

Some people collected cards, or even pressed flowers or art, but then there were the stranger students at the academy that collected things like crystal balls and beads. Meenah wasn’t really the type for anime merchandise or card games, but one thing that she had a secret stash of was Squiddles™ merchandise that would put any super collector to shame. With the contents of her closet in her room being absolutely clogged with her pseudo-shrine to the children’s show, the young heiress was one that now had issues finding pieces of merchandise she didn’t have. Well, until the comic book store in town had specially ordered something in the hopes that the Peixes would bite the lure.

While the show had been long ended after seven seasons, the Squiddles™ franchise still expanded themselves greatly with the release of their comics and a video game series. And one of the things that came with their video games? figurines and cards that could be scanned on your consoles for in-game content. While Meenah had already collected every single figurine and card from the first series released, the second series of merchandise was mere hours from being released - and the young rebel had full intentions of being first in line so she could buy out every product they had.

Not having any students from school know her obsession, Meenah had her hair swooped and tucked up into a faux hipster undercut as she crammed her pink locks into a beanie, even going the extra mile as to wear makeup and fake round wire framed glasses to throw people off her trail. Sitting in a lawn chair at the front of a line of people camped out at the doors of the comic store, the Peixes sipped at her thermos of coffee as she checked the time on her phone, almost spitting scalding coffee on her new phone as someone called out her name despite her disguise. Looking at the person who had recognized her beneath her flawless alter-ego, Meenah tried to play off the flush in her cheeks and the wild panic in her eyes as she scoffed, “Kid, I dunno who ya lookin’ fah, but I ain’t her!” sharply, lie almost breaking her guise as the two students stood parallel to each other in the cracks of early morning.

[mer-gangsta-blog]

Minter is Coming

What does a coffee shop manager do during the months of November and December? They roll out the peppermint and pack it in for awesome tips. Which is exactly what Meenah did. After spending a week decorating Derse Coffeehouse like it was a frosty wonderland, the teen heiress began her conquest with every form of winter treat and drink she could make, which indeed included the ever popular peppermint hot chocolate. It was all ready, and now as the final week before christmas neared, Meenah got herself set up for another busy weekend - that is, until she realized that her boss wanted the employees to pull absolutely all the stops for the final week.

Now standing in front of Derse with the mobile coffee bar rolled out on the patio - both things that were usually only reserved for warm summer days - Meenah stood there with a burning glare in her gaze, the bells on her shitty elf hat blowing into her line of sight as she stood there in a frilly blue and white elf dress to make the time outside in the chill all the more unbearable. As she mixed and blended drinks with a fake smile on her face, Meenah grumbled to herself silently until another customer walked up to the stand, and slid a package of pocket hand warmers across the counter. Blinking at the gift, then at the customer, the barista took the warmers and quickly put them in her gloves, sighing as they warmed up before glancing back at them with a look of relief as she smirked, “Whale, tanks fo’ dat. How aboat I hake ya chumfin warm, free of cost. I’m Meenah, b the wave.”

[mer-gangsta-blog]

Musical Hypnotism

Music classes at the academy weren’t always just classical stuff - a lot of students couldn’t do more classical music with their choice instruments, anyways - and this one new assignment was far from classic. Students were told to be their own band, be it through recording and overlaying their instruments or playing multiple instruments at once, but the chance to show off in a most spectacular way had the young heiress spinning in her seat until the class bell rang, instantly sending her running out of the room to solidly book the music rooms for the next week straight. Everything had to be perfect for this.

For Meenah, why couldn’t she overlay some of her music recordings and play other instruments live? Not many students would do both, but music was one of the few classes that had the young Peixes prodigy excited and completely ready to blow everyone away. For Meenah, she was always playing as the second instrument in formal performances - her best friend always holding the first piano spot, and the bass guitar not being a wildly prominent instrument - so she was absolute in her decision to be number one for once in this class. This also allowed her to do something she had only previously done in front of her closest companions; sing.

Practicing and recording until her fingers were bruised and tired, even going so far as to pull all nighters in the recording booth, Meenah pushed herself furiously to get everything flawless - the background instrumentation, the overlays, the cueing - up until the very night before the class show. Having bribed the tech team students that were in her physics class, the teen Peixes got to set everything up in the late hours of the night, lighting up the stage and setting up her recordings and keyboard at centerstage, just her school skirt and a black tank top on as she slung her bass guitar strap over her shoulder, readying her fingers on the keys as she inhaled, then exhaled as her music started.

Fingers knowing every motion automatically, Meenah began to start playing the tune to “On My Mind” by Ellie Goulding, humming to the tune for a moment then starting to nervously sing, her usual drawling voice becoming stronger as she brought herself to the mike with closed eyes. As everything picked up, she let a free finger move up to play the pre-recorded piece on the keyboard, her hands flicking up her bass as the music picked up at the chorus. It was exhilarating feeling the music run through her body in such a way, her fingers plucking at the guitar quickly as she opened her eyes a bit to look out at the empty auditorium, only to find a figure standing right in front of her, causing Meenah to choke and step backwards, tripping on the keyboard cord and unplugging everything with a static-like boom as she felt on her butt, still stepping away from the light as she tried to let her eyes adjust enough to the change in light to spy who the intruder was.

[mer-gangsta-blog]

Duly Noted

Most kids on campus went out of their way to avoid Meenah when they could - her tall stature and hard personality, combined with looks that could kill (as well as fists), she wasn’t one people approached easily - but there were always exceptions to that. There were people who saw the need to push back, people who wanted to crack her to the core like she had a toffee center, and even people who thought she was attractive in some regards. The last one, she firmly doubted on most occasions, but for the past few days in her classes it felt as if someone was watching her, maybe even following her around campus a bit as she hung out with other students and did her work. It was a foolish worry - especially when she towered over 95% of students around her, like anyone wanted to risk getting caught by her and getting beaten up - but the feeling didn’t go away even when she was in the hallway at her locker.

It’s not that Meenah often used her locker, but she needed a textbook she rarely used that was buried under the athletics gear she had shoved haphazardly in the bottom compartment of the locker, the mess of stuff toppling gracelessly around at her feet as she groaned and bent down to pick up her things. As she was tossing sweaty gym shorts in the locker, something caught her eye as it lay balled up on the ground. It could have been there before all her shit flooded the hallway, but curiosity got the best of the young Peixes as she reached a thin hand out to unfurl the rumpled envelope. It didn’t appear to be originally crumpled up, but if it fell in the avalanche of crap Meenah had, it’d have gotten somewhat mussed up. In clean script on the front of the envelope, Meenah’s name was printed neatly, prompting her to open the small package and reading out:

“When I saw you in class, I wanted to introduce myself. Saying you aren’t lovely would be a lie. I felt that greeting you in front of the class would be rather pressing, but I’d love to get to know you better on Friday after class. I’ll be on the roof.”

Biting her lower lip and cramping the note into her back pocket before someone caught her reading it, the young Peixes snatched up her things and threw her locker shut, storming off towards the one person she could trust with this information - Jane Crocker. As she discussed with her best friend about the situation, Meenah was finally talked into going and meeting this mystery person, even if it was just a ruse to fuck with her. At least now that she was stronger, she could defend herself and hurt the people who tried to hurt her based on her appearance. She could at least handle herself now.

As Friday’s classes came and went, the young heiress made her way onto the roof of the campus, wearing her usual school uniform and heavy winter jacket, black leggings ripped and pink hightops making audible crunching noises through the fresh snow as she stood there, lighting a cigarette lazily and taking a single puff from it before someone came through the roof doors, making Meenahme instinctively spin around and take a defensive stance as the mystery note person stood in the shadows of the doorway, leaving Meenah without a face to throw a name to as she barked out, “Okay, I’m here. Now water you fuckin’ wantin’ from me?”

[grimdarkstudies-blog]

Budgeting Problems

Christmas was just around the corner- okay, maybe it wasn't. But when most of the things you give your friends is hand-made, you're stressed to get things done in time even when you start two months in advance. Now, late November, and Rose was running out of yarn, paper, ideas, and money to purchase all these things, not to mention she had to keep in mind money for other things such as clothes, food, note-paper, and more. Now, this meant that, in order to stop herself from going completely broke until she got more money, she'd have to ask a few people if she could borrow for the next few months. She kept asking people for a couple bucks here and a couple bucks there with a promise to make it up to them, but now she stood before a student's dorm room, ready to knock and ask to make a loan as a last ditch effort before going to a bank. This was better, she told herself. They would help... She hoped.

[grimdarkstudies-blog]

Textbook-Mixup

Rushing through the halls, Rose Lalonde muttered to herself as she tried her hardest to NOT be late for her next class. She'd let her mind wander too much during lunch, and by the time she realized the bell had gone she was supposed to be well on her way to class. But she wasn't, and now she was moving way too fast to notice the number of people she was bumping along her way. Sure, she muttered sorries to each one, but the later she was the less number of students there were for her to run into. As she was apologizing to the last person she hit, when she ended up going face-first into another student and sending them flying to the ground as Rose herself fell flat on her butt, books and papers flying out everywhere. Quickly gathering up her things and handing the other person a few of their things, Rose apologized and hurried off to her class. Halfway through class, Rose realized she didn't have her own things! She had the other student's books and notes, which meant that half her music-sheets and the notes on what her songs are about, which are often personal. Great, just great... The minute class was over, Rose immediately began searching out the person who had her papers.

[mer-gangsta-blog]

Like a Bass

The issue with working at Derse was that there were always open positions that needed to be filled - those of which, were previously owned by students. Students that left the academy because they were either kicked out for not being smart/gifted/etc enough or because they were switching schools for some reason. Either way, the near campus coffee shop needed new bodies to work with, and Meenah - being the student manager - was hellbent on finding someone somewhat capable for filling at least one of the positions.

The first step, as always, was to place a stupid Help Wanted sign in the window of the shop, the next step was simply Meenah spending too much time making shimmery Help Wanted posters to place around the school. If there was a humanly possible way to add more glitter to her posters the teen Peixes surely would have, but at a certain point one had to choose between less glitter and permanent blindness. Roaming around the school grounds when she should have been in english class, the young heiress metaphorically decked the halls in November, wearing a sweater with a huge shark knitted on the front and her usual sneakers and jeans at Meenah went on with her handiwork.

As english was her last class, Meenah simply walked to work as she finished up covering the world in posters and glitter, walking in and switching into her work clothes as she got herself situated behind the counter of the establishment. She hadn’t expected anything to happen involving the posters for at least a few days, but as the after school study rush slowed to a halt and she stood there cleaning the counter and restocking the glass display for food, someone set one of her shimmery posters on the counter next to the register, the glitter sticking to the still drying counter as Meenah stood to her full height, looking down at the student and raising a skeptical eyebrow as she drawled, “Can I fuckin’ kelp ya?”