Jun 9
Liu Rework + bunch of closeups and doodles
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Liu Rework + bunch of closeups and doodles
college crushing - 3!
synopsis: alysa came back for her sophomore year at UCLA, only to find herself crushing on her roommate
₰ alysa
Three weeks and two days.
That was how long Alysa had been noticeably crushing on Sienna, to the point where Amber would tease her at shows' practices, where even Massimo would raise a suggestive eyebrow whenever Alysa checked for messages from .
Three weeks and two days.
That was how long Alysa managed to keep chill untill Amber devised a plan to get you two together.
"Okay, so you're saying she gets back friday at eight?"
"Yeah, I convinced her to try out for the volleyball team. Tryouts start at 4:15pm, hold back to 6:00, they have until 6:30 to announce who makes the team and some sort of celebration, and by the time it's done, it'll be around seven fifty, and it's a seven minute walk from the court to here, so around eight." Alysa mumbled, still munching on chips as she stared at the ceiling, back against the bed, Amber sitting at the foot of her bed, legs crossed and phone open.
Amber stared at her. "Oh you're whipped."
"Probably." Alysa shrugged.
"So she'll probably leave at 4:00 ... ish, right?"
Alysa nodded.
"Great, then I can get here at 4:10 or 20 at the latest, and we can set up the entire room."
"No can do, I promised I'd walk her to the court and wait for her back here."
"Oh, yeah, you're whipped." Amber snorted, shutting off her phone and getting up and looking around the room.
"What?" Alysa groaned, looking at her study the environment.
Amber pointed at the walls, "I'm trying to figure out where to hang out the letters."
"What letters?"
"The balloon letters."
"What balloon letters?"
"The balloon letters that spell out "Will you be my girl?"
"What the fuck?"
Amber sat back down, and sighed. "Come on, don't you want to make her your girl?"
"I mean, yeah, but— not yet."
₰
A week and three days.
That was how long it took for Alysa to not physically combust after you made the volleyball team, as she followed you to each practice and math, practically killing her vocal cords as you cheered.
She went to every game, grinned as she saw you close your eyes before every serve and jump so high it frightened her sometimes, she jumped up and down in the stands when you scored another point, her eyes followed the ball with every rally and, cursed when you missed a pass, and she grimaced whenever dove the ball and had to get up almost inmediately.
And after every single time, even after the celebration parties, you two walked back together to your dorm, stopping by that same café.
You developed a routine that went deeper than roommates.
She'd tie your hair in pretty styles before you played, retouch your hair dye after certain matches, pass you your water even when you thought you'd forgotten it back home. She made sure you had your knee protectors and that you'd actually wear them.
₰
Three minutes.
That's how long is took Alysa to lift you up by your waist as you cheered and ran to her from across the court, smiling, having won your first trophy with the school.
And as you laughed.
Alysa couldn't help it.
She kissed you.
₰ zoe
"I'm sorry—" Alysa stammered, pulling back from the kiss.
A kiss.
Alysa had kissed Zoe.
She shook her head. "No. Don't," Zoe said, kissing Alysa this time.
Zoe could physically feel Alysa melt and smile into the kiss.
And when she pulled back, Alysa only grinned.
"Yeah?" She asked, a sort of unspoken message crossing between them.
Zoe laughed, then nodded. "Yeah"
₰ zoe
Eight months.
That was how long it took for Zoe and Alysa's relationship to go public.
It wasn't actually on purpose.
Alysa just accidentally let it slip at a grand prix event in Utah.
It was after the medal ceremony, where she'd placed first overall. She was fidgeting with her gold medal as she answered questions to the press, sat down and eyeing the microphones.
"Do you expect to win this grand prix series, Alysa?" A journalist questioned.
"No, not really, I just expect to have a lot of fun."
"Alysa, is skating still as great as it was before the olympics?"Someone else spoke up.
"Oh, definitely, I think it's because I've learnt to accept that skating is skating, no matter my outcome."
Someone yelled over the rest of the questions, and it caught Alysa's attention. "Alysa! How do you deal with the post-olympic pressure?"
"I think it's about finding an anchor, I mean, if it hadn't been for Sienna, I'd have probably crumbled after the olympics, the events, the brand deals, it's a lot to handle if you're not centered."
"Who's Sienna?"
"My girlfriend— oh fffuc—"
₰ zoe
A couple hundred miles away, Zoe laughed at her screen, seeing Alysa turn pink on national tv and burry her face in her hands after admitting to having a girlfriend back home.
When her mother found out, Zoe knew, she'd have a fit.
And through the course of two weeks, her mother called, almost every hour. Zoe ignored her.
Even blocked her at one point.
Her father though?
Had simply sent her a screen shot of Alysa blushing on the interview and texted;
Nice girl.
Her father's approval had been enough for Zoe, and when she told her girlfriend, as she got home, the olympic champion grinned and twirled Zoe in the air like an ecstatic little kid.
₰
A month and a half.
That was how long it took Alysa and Zoe to confirm the relationship oficially.
With an instagram post Alysa randomly posted on a Thursday.
A picture of Alysa retouching Zoe's hair dye in their bathroom. Zoe sitting on the bathroom counter.
A picture of Zoe laying on Alysa's bed, her shirt slipping of one shoulder, a lipstick mark behind her ear and a smile and her tongue out at her camera.
A picture of Alysa holding Zoe's waist, the last girl wearing Alysa's olympic gold medals with a grin.
The music in the background: Girls & Boys by Blurr.
The caption read; meet my roomie (mine btw)
/justagirl: so, i'm done. this last one was slightly unenthusiastic, but honestly, this was my perfect ending. hope ya'll like ittt <3
Marjorie Merriweather Post-Honorary Degrees
Information concerning Marjorie Merriweather Post and her honorary degrees. The first one is from LIU note
After that here are photos of Marjorie receiving honorary degrees from Bucknell University, Hobart College and William Smith College. I found these photos on the Hillwood Museum Instagram site: https://www.instagram.com/hillwoodmuseum/
college crushing - 2!
synopsis: alysa came back for her sophomore year at UCLA, only to find herself crushing on her roommate
₰ zoe
Whoever decided to shedule shop week into a single week instead of several days, clearly hates seeing college freshmen be happy.
Also, apparently, Sy hated herself enough that she signed up for 10 classes at shop week, and would then have to reduce them to 5. Sounds like hell, right? It totaly was. Sy spent the entire week running through campus to get to each lecture hall on time, running solely on caffeine and orange tic-tac's.
Come friday afternoon, she unlocked the door of her dorm room, her key looking bare in her fingers as stepped into the room, closing the door behind her, and sighing, placing her head on the hard cold wood.
She was exhausted, physically and mentally.
She wanted to do anything besides college right now.
But this had been her ultimate goal for years.
To leave the confines of her new york aparment. To leave her mother's judgmenetal stares behind. To be free. To be unique.
To go out into the world.
But here she was, and suddenly, the world had never felt so small, as she turned around and looked at her dorm room.
She sighed, looking down at the folders with syllabus between her arms, and walked over to her desk, setting them down.
Checking her phone, the clock striking 5:27 pm, she remembered her mom yelling at her years ago.
"Mamá." A little zoe would be groaning, knees against her chest as she sat on the chair in front of her desk, staring at the history homework in front of her.
A woman, brown shaggy hair like Sienna's would shake her head, arms crossed. "No, I told you, you study, then do stupid things."
"Mamá, but I'm hungry—"
"No food." Her mother would scold, hands on her hips. "Get 100, then eat."
Years of harsh hours of studying, of endurance, had tormented Sienna, but if she had learnt one thing. It was to set her needs aside, and lock the fuck in.
₰ alysa
Alysa was getting tired of never talking with her roommate.
For an entire week, they hadn't spoken, at all, only, "don't forget your keys'," and 'try to eat today'.
To her credit, Sienna had been reading syllabus' and career requirements all week, only stopping to leave for classes, the bathroom, or sleep.
Alysa hoped that since it was Friday, Sienna had settled down, maybe she only had to pick her classes, then they could bond again.
Because Alysa was certaintly dying to get to know the girl. There was just something about Zoe.
₰ alysa
War flasbacks, Alysa mumbled to herself, as she opened the door and was once more faced with a sight to behold.
Zoe was sitting at her desk, her phone propped up against a waterbottle, a live clock on. Her laptop was open, the UCLA classes guidelines website open too. She was slightly hunched over, a notebook open next to her, a highlighter in hand as she read through another syllabus. A pair of black headphones over her cute shaggy hair, and a look on her face, Alysa physically felt like flinching.
It was the look of those girl's she'd seen before she was homeschooled, those girls who studied for hours and could recite entire textbooks, but could never remember where they'd left their will to live.
Alysa wondered, for a second, if she could interrupt, or let Zoe be, let her exist in that bubble she'd created around herself.
She closed the door, then headed over to her bed, and decided to just wait and see.
₰ alysa
She waited for three hours. Found herself staring at the girl highlighting syllabus' at 12pm.
Another hour went by, Alysa's brain slowed down to a nothing, and despite her concerns, she fell alseep at 1.20am.
₰
Though she expected, when she woke up, to find the girl fast asleep, the sight in front of her made her sleepy brain uncomfortable.
Sienna was still working.
Alysa glanced at the live clock Zoe still had on. 8am.
That meant, this girl had been working for over ten hours.
And still, she was leaning back in her seat, headphones still on, writing something down in a red notebook.
Alysa felt like she had to intervene.
So she did, a few minutes later, she walked over, and tapped the girl's shoulder.
Zoe didn't move, only hummed softly, still working. She was so focused, so concentrated, it almost made Alysa feel guilty about wanting to pull her away from it. Almost.
Alysa tapped Zoe's headphones, finally snapping the girl out of it.
"I'm assuming you've lost the concept of time?" She asked, as Zoe lowered her headphones.
She shook her head, looking at her notebook "Uh— no, I'm just— almost done."
"Okay, but, what are you even doing? I don't even do this much, and I'm a year ahead of you." Alysa said, sitting back down on her bed, trying to alleviate some of the girl's obvious stress.
"I'm mapping my classes." Zoe said, slightly sheepish.
"For the next decade?" Alysa joked.
Zoe kept quiet.
Alysa had to double back. "Wait, no kidding?"
"I mean, I was just checking what classes I would need to take and when, how many units they were worth, long term availability, career focus, I—" Zoe stopped, perhaps noticing the probable look on Alysa's face, one of both awe and confusion. "What?"
"You're.... really going for it." Alysa mumbled, taking a breath. "Wow, okay."
"I— like being prepared." The girl shrugged.
"And I like breakfast, so How long until you're done?"
"Two or five minutes? Uhm, why?"
"I'm going to take a shower and get ready. By the time I'm out. You should be done, you're going to shower, and whatever, then we're going out to this café a couple blocks down the main entrance." Alysa said, as she got a towel out and grabbed some clothes.
"I—"
Alysa looked back, now standing at the door of the room. She pointed a finger at the girl. "Not asking, Sienna, you need a break. Food, substenance, energy, the shit."
And as she walked back in, she couldn't help but catch the girl's hesitation, almost fear.
₰ zoe
It was nice of Alysa to get her out of the room, especially when Zoe had spent 13 hours mapping our her entire college academic experience and what classes would lead her to what qualifications for what career paths and.... a bunch of other stuff.
And don't get her wrong, Zoe really, really thought it was nice of her. But she didn't have the healthiest relationship with rewards.
Her mother had made sure of that.
"You want to watch meaningless videos." Her mother had answered, incredulous, as she stared into her phone.
"No, mamá, I want to be entertained." A young Zoe would smile, trying to convince her mother.
"Entertained? Be entertained with your studies! You think I am entertained when you do meaningless things?" The woman would scoff, shaking her head.
"But I've been studying all weekend, it's only fair—"
Her mother would explode. "I decide what's fair! Not you, you miserable child! Now go, study more. No dinner for you."
Simply put, she stopped believing hard work should be rewarded a long time ago, she thought hard work wasn't the extra, it was the bare minimum, the standard to achieve.
And food?
That was a whole different issue.
Still, she wrapped everything up, and decided just this once, she would comply with Alysa's idea. Just to let loose, understand some of the college experience, bond with her celebrity roommate, then focus. Just this once, she would relax, then she would lock in.
₰
By the time she got into the bathroom, Zoe's adrenaline had worn off, her body felt like it would pass out.
According to her useless weather app, it'd be slightly chilly outside, and to a New Yorker, slightly chilly California was distinct, so she brought jeans, a light blue tank top and a black jacket.
As she stepped into the shower, the contact of the hot water inmediately felt like heaven to Zoe.
She relaxed, washed her hair, and got rid of the stench of stress of her skin.
₰ alysa
"And the dead come back to life." Alysa joked, the reflex almost instinctive as Zoe walked out the bathroom.
She was wearing jeans, a baby blue tanktop and a jacket zipped up halfway.
But that wasn't what caught Alysa's attention.
Sienna's hair was in a ponytail, and though the hairstyle had nothing new, Alysa noticed a simple tattoo behind her left ear, a simple outlined arrow, the spear pointing upwards.
"I was just mapping—"
"Out your classes, yeah I know." Alysa finished. "Still, you have not slept, you have not eaten. I suggest, the biggest cup of coffee ever. Wait, how old are you?"
"Turning twenty soon."
She grinned, and spoke up again. "Jeez, that sucks, I was going to suggest getting you vodka or something."
Zoe laughed, and Alysa felt a small weight lift of her chest.
₰ zoe
Hanging out with Alysa was nice, she was surprisingly (not) in touch with reality despite being a celebrity.
They walked through campus, reached the main entrance and walked out into the streets. Alysa was wearing baggy jeans and a green "dope" hoodie, with the 'p' written the other way around.
They talked about everything and nothing, light conversation, nothing deep, about the weather, about Alysa's experience as a freshman, the sort.
As soon as they walked into the café, Zoe knew she would not be attending the place often, or she hoped so.
It was lively, and though she loved lively and energetic places, the smell of freshly baked pastries, chocolate and sugar, and the couples giggling in the corner made Zoe sigh.
It was the kind of environment her mother would despise.
But Alysa inhaled the scent of the room, and sighed profoundly.
"This is the life." She mumbled, nodding and looking around.
It made Zoe want to laugh, Alysa was so at peace with her life.
It almost made Zoe envious. Almost.
Just today. Zoe thought, then followed Alysa as she walked to the counter. Just for today.
₰ alysa
After quick small talk with the cashier, she finally decided it would be decent to actually place an order.
"One matcha latte, and a chocolate croissants please, also," She turned to Zoe, who had been staring at a couple in a booth in the corner laughing and holding hands. "Zoe?"
"Oh! Uhm—" The girl turned around, smiling politely at the cashier. "Chilled mocha frapuccino, please."
The cashier nodded, and tapped on his screen. "Great, anything else?"
"No, thank you." Zoe shook her head.
"You don't eat anything?" Alysa mumbled, frowning. She was seriously starting to understand why she had a gut feeling about Sienna. The good kind.
"No, not really—"
"Nonsense. Make that two chocolate croissants, please."
"That'll be right up." The cashier smiled, and added it on his screen.
Alysa saw Zoe digging through her purse, and tapped her card before the girl could react. "Thank you!" She told the cashier, then dragged the girl over to a booth.
"Wait, no, what—?" Zoe blinked, slipping into the seat in front of Alysa. "Don't do that, how much do I owe you?"
Alysa grinned, and tilted her head. "Nothing, my treat."
"There's no such thing as that." Zoe would frown.
"I promise, there is." Alysa said, holding up her pinky.
"You know if you break the promise I get to cut your pinky off." Zoe said, slightly amused.
"I do." Alysa nodded, because Amber had once told her.
"Okay." The girl said, then hooked her pinky with Alysa's.
₰ alysa
Alysa learned three main things that moring.
Sienna loved chocolate, it was in her mocha, and in the croissant she loved, though Alysa had to push her to eat it,
Sienna loved her mocha frappuccino or chilled frappuccino or whatever it was called, to the point where Alsya could catch the difference in her smile before and after,
Sienna was the most interesting person Alysa had met in a long while
She realized the girl was pensive, thoughtful, somehow quiet in nature but explosive in energy.
As they talked, Alysa had to ask about the tattoo.
"So, an arrow, that's an Apollo, sunlight, wow, thingy too?" Alysa spoke up, gesturing at Zoe's ear.
"Uhm, no, actually, it's for love." Zoe answered, her hand reaching up to her neck.
"Love?" Alysa had to blink in confusion.
"Uhm, yeah, I don't know if you notice, but it's not an arrow, it's supposed to be one of Eros' like, lovestruck spells." She explained, playing with a strand of her hair.
Alysa's eyes zeroed in on the tattoo.
"Oh. Oh."
"Why love though? Is there an actual someone you haven't told me about?" Alysa joked, and though she really didn't find herself that interested in Zoe, she wanted to keep the field clear.
"No, no, I just really, really want to find love." The girl shrugged.
Alysa laughed, then had to ask. "How is it your mom won't let you dye your hair but let you get a tattoo?"
"She doesn't know, I'd wear concelear and my hair down." Zoe mumbled, fidgeting again with her hair.
"When'd you get it?"
"Uhm, a year ago, maybe?"
"Walking around with your hair down for a year. Jeez, I could never. Your mom sounds super strict."
₰ zoe
Your mom sounds super strict.
Hadn't Zoe heard that same phrase, thousands of times, and convinced herself they were lying?
Your mom's abusive. You cannot feel free living like that. Won't she let you live a little? She's not supposed to do that.
She'd heard everything, in every shape, way, and form, but when Alysa said it, it sounded different, not pitiful, not a factual observation, not an accusation, not a figure of speech, just something. Her mom sounded super strict, she didn't make it sound bad, deadly, lethal or good. She just said it.
Your mom sounds super strict.
"Fun fact, I was born from a surrogate, so I'm immune to your mom jokes." Alsya suddenly said, taking a sip of her matcha.
Zoe had to laugh.
She and Alysa would get on just fine, she decided, maybe even more.
₰ zoe
The saturday morning breakfasts became a regular thing, and Zoe actually sheduled some of her studying around it, just how she noticed Alysa moved her saturnay mid-evening training to a different hour.
It was nice, for the both of them, she thought, to talk and relax for a couple hours over sugar and caffeinated drinks.
Alysa got her to try different sandwiches and sugarized pastries, it was fun. More than fun. Sienna enjoyed the routine.
₰ alysa
Alysa's gut feeling had been right, Sienna was fun, so much fun. She was interesting, curious, witty, slightly quiet, vulnerable and honesty but quirky and also slightly annoying in that way that made Alysa's heart race.
Even as she practiced her programs, and ran laps around the rink, she kept thinking back to their saturday breakfasts, and her heart would race and she would either skate the most incredible run through of her life, or she would stumble and slip on her toe pick.
She was too hyped.
The last time she'd felt this excited, she had been quitting figure skating, piercing her skin, dyeing her hair, then returning to skating and dyeing her hair again
Her body needed a way to fight the hype, wait, scratch that. Her body needed a way to accept the hype.
So she decided to take drastic decisions.
₰ zoe
"We should dye your hair."
Zoe's brain lagged, taking longer to catch up than it usually would. She looked up from the essay draft she had been writing for her initiation class, blinked twice and Alysa, and took way too long to answer.
"Come again?"
"You told me, like, five weeks ago, that you'd like to dye your hair." Alysa set, closing the door and setting her bag and stuff down on her bed. She had a white bag in hand, and Sienna could vaguely see the outline of hair dye boxes.
Zoe still didn't understand, but she nodded. "I, did, yes."
"What color?"
"I don't—"
"Zoe, you've definitely thought of it. What color?" Alysa said, softer, rummaging through the white bag.
"Red.... the brownish kind." She mumbled, after a second.
Alysa hummed, then picked out two boxes of hair dye. "Peekaboo, right?"
"Yeah, how do you even know?" Zoe said, a small smile on her lips, as she pushed her papers and notes away. She wasn't going to get anything done today.
"I stalk your pinterest."
"Wow, okay."
Alysa only shrugged, setting both boxes on Zoe's desk before pulling out another one. "You've got good vibes going on."
Zoe smiled, more genuine this time. "Huh, thanks."
"So, these are semi permanent, and I think, if we mix some of the red, the brown and black," Alysa said, sitting on the floor in front of Zoe, gesturing at the three coloured boxes. "We'll get a nice color. It should stay a month or two, tops, then wash out."
"You know how to dye hair?" Zoe said, then laughed at the look on Alysa's face as she gestured her blond halo rings.
Alysa grinned. "I mean, I used to do my own, these are from a hairdresser in the bay area, but I used to dye my hair."
"So I can trust you won't kill my hair with bleach?"
"Bleach makes it more permanent, and that's what we don't want. Because in case this is too much for you, we switch it out."
"You lost me at bleach." Zoe said, waving her words away. "I trust you."
Because truth be told, she did.
She trusted her Olympic champion roommate.
₰ alysa
Alysa loved Sienna's hair.
It was one of the very first things she noticed about the girl, her shaggy short brown waves, and the way it was also mostly straight, it was weird, and Alysa liked weird.
And so the entire evening, they laughed, tried to prevent the dye on Alysa's gloves from getting onto the walls of the bathroom, the bathroom tiles, and on the sink.
Zoe was now sitting on the bathroom counter, and they'd just been vibing to music for a while.
Alysa had learned Zoe's music taste was pretty much alternative too, much more punk and rock-y than Alysa's, which was always a mix of indie artists and underground sounds.
As they listened to 'thick skull', by paramore, one of Zoe's apparent favorites, Alysa couldn't help but admire Sienna.
She was pretty.
Not the pretty kind Alysa had gotten used to in figure skating when she was younger.
Not the pretty kind she realized she crushed on during her two year long retirement.
And not the kind she found when she started finding herself.
A pretty that seemed refreshing, but also tightening, in the sense that Alysa's heart would stop sometimes, or it would speed up, and she could almost feel her blood rushing in her ears.
The best part about Zoe being pretty?
Her personality was even prettier.
She tended to smile small, but when her most genuine smiles were teeth and all, and the very corner of her eyes would crinkle.
She laughed in this way that was impossible to map or recall, only leaving Alysa wishing she'd hear it again.
She was insanely dedicated, sometimes refusing to back out of study groups with people in her class (Alysa overheard the late night calls), just because someone else backed out.
She was too persistent too, and would not listen to anyone, and Alysa often felt like she had to bribe her to come back down to earth and behave humanlike.
She was weirdly authentic too, the kind that one could only find after years of repression.
Which led Alysa back to her main question about Zoe.
She was bisexual, sure, but was she really? In everyone's eyes?
In her mother's eyes?
She'd noticed. Alysa truly had. Whenever someone talked about their parents, especially about their mothers, Sienna would shrink, and shrug, merely mumbling some short sentence about not being close to her mother.
Alysa ended up assuming, after everything she'd learned, that Zoe's mother wasn't very supportive.
She saw how, even when she was free, Zoe would inmediately hang up on her mother, but take her father's phone calls without hesitation.
And for some reason, that rebellion and defiance, even if maybe just Alysa's assumption, made her even prettier.
Even now, seeing her simply humming the words to the song and swinging her feet on the counter as they waited for her hair to come out, she looked really pretty.
And Alysa was never one to shy away from her thoughts. So,
"You're like really pretty." Alysa blurted out.
Zoe's head snapped up so fast, Alysa laughed, covering her lips in a slightly shocked expression.
Her cheeks were now tinted a dark pink, and Alysa had never seen Sienna so caught off guard, so flustered.
"You— I — come again?" She said, blinking rapidly at Alysa, as if she was trying to catch up.
"I said," Alysa said, slower this time. "You're like really fucking pretty."
"That's.... kind, thank you." Zoe answered, blushing and looking down at her feet, but for some reason, her answer felt so rehearsed, practiced, like she wan't used to compliments or being flattered.
Alysa lowered her head, from where she sat on the closed toilet. "I mean it."
The way Zoe's eyes quickly glanced away, and the color on her cheeks darkened, and the way Alysa's heart jumped at the sight, only confirmed one thing.
Alysa had caught feelings.
Alysa was college crushing.
₰ zoe
Forget being stressed.
Alysa being much more attatched to Zoe these past few weeks was intense.
Maybe she'd always been like, this, and Sy had never noticed.
But that wasn't a huge issue.
The issue was trying to watch Alysa's figure skating programs, without looking like a creep, but also not getting caught by Alysa, because it was, evidently, slightly creepy.
So one Wednesday afternoon, when Alysa had rink practice, Zoe sighed and flopped on her bed, opening her lap top.
She had a specfic playlist on youtube for figure skating.
Evgenia Medvedva, Yuna Kim, Sasha Trusova, Alysa, Wakaba Higuchi, and some other skaters.
She scrolled through the videos, and opened one of her favorites. Alysa's first rendition of the McArthur Program, before the version she skated at Worlds or the Olympics, one where the sountrack and jump layout was distintctive.
The first one Zoe had watched of Alysa after she came back.
And so, as the hour passed, and Sy lost track of time, all she did was watch her roomate competing on youtube videos.
But not just that, warm ups and training too, because Zoe was obsessed with how Alysa cracked her knuckles as she ran laps, obsessed with how she stretched her neck before competing.
She watched her triple axels, her attempts at quad lutz's.
And even when she knew all the competitions, all the jump cues, by heart, she kept yelling at her screen.
The ending of her McArthurt free skate. "Biellman, biellman, biellman, and point at the sky!"
The middle of the promise program. "Spin, spin, spin, lift, double axel! Yess!"
The end of her lady gaga free skate. "Camera, look at the camera!"
Her triple axel's in pratice. "Arms in, unwrap that leg."
She was always so hyperfocused on Alysa, she hadn't even noticed the key turning in the door, when she was humming along to the ending of Alysa's original bad romance free skate, at the lombardia trophy in '24.
"Wow."
Zoe's attention snapped to the figure in the door, shutting her lap top close as she turned to look at Alysa, her hand still on the knob, and a grin on her lips as she looked back at her.
"I mean, I know you said you were a fan, but this feels stalkerish level."
"I'm just catching up." Zoe groaned, suddenly defensive as Alysa laughed, closing the door and stepping inisde.
"On what? Pretty girl, I live two feet away from you."
Pretty girl.
Over the past few weeks, Alysa had taken to calling her that, on top of everything else. Usually, it only made Zoe slightly flustered, she was getting used to it.
But now, when she was already embarrassed? It only made matters worse. "On, stuff, I mean, preparation for when they announce what grand prix events you're competing in June."
Alysa pointed at herself. "What? They announce that in June?"
"How do I know this and you don't?" Zoe said, feeling lighter.
"Mmm, maybe 'cause you're stalking me?"
"First of all, you stalk my pinterest and my tiktok reposts all the time, I notice, Second of all, in my defense, I'm catching up on Ami, Trusova, Petrosian and Isabeau, just like, it's not just you?"
"Who's your all time favorite?" Alysa said, diverging the topic as she sat down.
"Evgenia Medvedeva," Sienna said, without missing a beat. "Love her to death. I'm still depressed she didn't win gold in pyeonchang or make the team for beijng."
"Y'know when I was younger—"
"You were the american Medvedva, I remember." Zoe nodded, smiling.
Because how could she not, she'd freaked out over the comparison for too long to not remember.
"Wow, you're a huge fan, then?"
"You're a great skater, leave me alone!" Zoe groaned, burrying her face into her pillow.
Alysa only laughed, then spoke up again. "You should come by the rink sometime."
"No way." She snorted, shaking her head.
"Why not?" Alysa raised an eyebrow.
"One, new scenarios make me nervous. Second, I'm a fan, not a friend in this context, I shouldn't be getting any special privilege." She said, opening her lap top again.
"Mhm, fair enough. My offer still stands though."
"Who's your favorite?" Zoe asked, deciding to ask whatever she thought.
"Probably Yuna Kim, or Michelle Kwan." Alysa said.
"Want to watch Wakaba Higuchi skate?" Zoe suggested, scooting over on her bed.
"Love that, also, I've seen her live multiple times, y'know?" Alysa said, sliding in next to her.
"Humble, much?" Zoe snorted.
"Obviously. I recommend the elle gouding one."
"The short?" She asked, opening her youtube playlist again.
"That's the one." Alysa hummed.
And as they spent the entire afternoon watching skaters cry and fall, and land combinations, Sienna felt strangely close to Alysa. More than just physically, emotionally too.
Technically, skating was Alysa's world.
But fangirling over edges and crying at wobbly triple axels behind a screen?
That was Sienna's world.
And she was glad to welcome Alysa into it.
₰ alysa
"I still don't know how you do this." Sienna was groaning from the bathroom, trying to mix her hair dye into a bowl.
"You're doing okay! Just stir and add the dissolvent, it'll probably be fine." Alysa called out, stepping back into the room.
She'd only walked over to her desk to get her phone to play music for the vibes, but as she stepped in, she ehard soft vibrating on Zoe's desk, an incoming call.
She made the mistake of picking up.
"Yeah?"
"Hello? Who is this?"
Alysa had never heard a voice so cold in her life. "Alysa Liu, are you looking for Zo— Sienna?"
"This is her mother. Please pass her the phone."
Alysa wasn't so sure Zoe would appreciate that. "I think her hand's are busy right now, but I can take a message." She offered.
"No, that will simply not do. Put her on the phone, now."
Alysa was tempted to hung up, but she didn't want to worsen the situation she had started.
She muted the mic on Zoe's phone, then walked over to the bathroom. "Pretty girl, I swear, this was not on purpose."
₰ zoe
Zoe blinked at the look on Alysa's face, then glanced at the phone she was holding.
Clear phone case and a volleyball polaroid.
Not Alsya's. Sienna's.
She glanced at the screen.
The contact name.
Mamá.
Zoe's blood ran cold.
"I—"
"The mic is muted. I told her you were busy, but she insisted." Alysa said, slowly, strangely calm for how Zoe was feeling.
She'd spent so long, all these months, managing to avoid her mother completely, only quick texts, excusing herself with her mother's favorite justification, her studies. Her mother's only updates had only been coming in through her father, with whom Zoe talked with often.
But as she stared at the muted screen, she shook her head. "No, uhm, oh gods."
She took a second to breath, took the gloves off, and stared at her hands. "Oh, gamoto." She mumbled, staring at the bowl of dye.
"What, what's wrong?" Alysa said, setting the phone on the counter and staring at Sienna. "The dye won't dry, if that's what you're—"
"I haven't told her." Sinna shook her head.
"About, the hair?"
"Yeah."
"She probably doesn't know?"
Zoe's heart was beating out of her chest. "What if she does?"
"She probably doesn't."
Sienna spiraled. "But what if she does? Oh, di inmortales, she's going to send me back to New York, and I'll be miserable and coped up again—"
"She won't, breathe."
Sienna's eyes widened. "Oh, gamoto. What if she knows I'm bi? F—fuuck."
"You— you're not out to your parents?" Alysa said, blinking at Sienna.
Zoe shooked her head, fast. "No, I only told my dad. No one back home knows."
"Wow, wait then—"
"Sienna! I will not tolerate your ignoring any longer! Pick up!"
Her mother spoke, and Sienna froze completely.
She could recognize her mama's voice anywhere.
Sienna took a breath, and picked up the phone, unmutting the speaker and lowering the volume stepping back into the room and leaving Alsya alone in the bathroom.
"Yes, mamá?"
"You haven't answered my calls."
"I have been busy, mamá, studying, making sure money doesn't go to waste." Sienna said, the answer almost robotic to her.
"No time for your mother?"
Sienna thought of Alysa consuming her entire shedule. "No, mamá, I have just been busy."
"Good, you are not being ridiculous then?"
Sienna thought of Alysa dyeing her hair and watching stupid shows with her. "No, mamá."
"You are not eating stupid food?
Sienna thought of Alysa making her try Californian sweets and desserts, the chocolate croissants, the matcha ice cream. "No, mamá."
"No boys and no relationships?" Sienna thought of Alysa, in a way that shocked her, because it went beyond frienship, but answered quick. "Of course not, mamá."
"Good. You should answer my calls more."
"I will do my best, mamá."
"Good, Now study. Make mamá proud."
"Of course, mamá."
It ended as quick as it begun, and the knot in Zoe's chest loosened, but it was still there.
She threw her phone on her bed, then she backed herself against the wall, and slid down, taking a deep breath.
No time for her mother? She certainly didn't.
No being ridiculous? She was being way more than ridiculous.
No eating stupid food? She'd gained weight, that she was still trying to loose.
No boys and no relationships? Well, "no boys", was right. No relationships though?
She didn't have one, but...
Then there was Alysa.
What was even going on there?
She could feel the staring, the soft spoken tones and the smiled that bloomed whenever Zoe laughed with her.
And Sienna couldn't even pretend she didn't like it.
Because it felt so nice, to have someone pay attention.
But Alysa was Alysa.
She was everything.
And Sienna was, just Sienna.
She was nothing.
Not even brave enough to tell her mother who she really was. Not brave enough to try out for the UCLA volleyball team. Not outspoken enough to materialize her feelings for Alysa....
Her feelings for Alysa.
Because the truth was that she did have feelings for Alysa.
It wasn't love, or was it?
Half a second later, Sienna snapped back to reality.
"I finished mixing the dye." Alysa said, standing in the bathroom doorway. "If you still want to retouch the strands. Though, I can still add in other tones, like, say, redder?"
Zoe could only smile.
Alysa new how to cheer her up. "Sure, why not?"
"Good, don't want you to stay plain, pretty girl. Now c'mon, I'm trying to figure out if we play Eminem or Zara Larrson." Alysa said, moving back into the bathroom.
Zoe laughed, as she got up and slowly walked over.
She glanced back at her phone on her bed, then at Alysa mumbling the words to some Eminem rap beat.
Zoe was in for it.
She really was.
She'd heard of this, situationships and stuff in college.
But she never thought she'd actually be college crushing.
₰ some stories don't need a narrator₰
In the dead of the night, nearing midnight, two girls both slept in the same room, each in their own bed.
However, none of them slept.
A girl with a shiny smiley piercing above her teeth was staring at the wall next to her bed, her back turned against the girl with brown and red dyed hair, in the opposite side of the room.
Said girl was laying the exact same way, her back against the pierced girl, turned towards the wall. She stared down at the capybara plushie between her arms.
Almost one after the other, they seemed to realize the exact same thing, in the exact same sequence.
They sighed, shut their eyes close.
But when they did, all they could see was each other.
A pierced girl with halo coloured hair.
A greek girl with a small but charming smile.
And nearly a second after seeing each other's face, they both had to admit to themseleves once more.
They were truly, and undoubtedly, college crushing.
₰
/justagirl: ya'll, this took me DAYS to write, 'cuz i was soo busy with school and stuff, but i'd rather take months to write a paragraph than to ask chat gpt or stupid ai to write it for me, so, hope y'all like it, this took me soo long. as always, this is absolutely not proofread. HAHAHA, anyways, also, please notice my details, i work hard on them. finally, this is part 2 of 3, and i'm only doing three, but will maybe revive the characters once in a while for like a random day in their lives or smth hope ya'll liked it!!
college crushing - 1!
synopsis: alysa came back for her sophomore year at UCLA, only to find herself crushing on her roommate
₰ lysa
Alysa was exhausted. Both physically and mentally, she wasn't quite catching up with her new Olympic champion status.
The months after the Olympics and her off-season had been a social blurr, the Met Gala, touring with Stars on Ice, the brand sponsorships, the partnerships the contracts, the events, the amount of things she had done was mindblowing.
Settling back into college was her real challenge. Sophomore year should be easier than freshman year, she thought, but when you come back as an Olympic gold medallist, the odds aren't in your favour.
A cardboard box in her arms, and a backpack slung over her shoulders, she walked past the dorm room number, as she read the assigned names, looking for her own.
Eventually, she did find her room. A paper tag on one of the doors on the second door read;
Alysa Liu (So) Sienna Zoí Caridis (F)
Alysa could only sigh as she opened the door, twisting the handle, she hadn't expected to be roommates with a freshman. But the sight in front of her left her standing upright like a tree.
₰ sy
Sienna was buzzing, literally. Having moved to California from New York was an inmense change, and though change scared her, she was so glad to be out of her house.
Only her father had accompanied her into her moving into college, but that was because he had always been much more supportive of her dreams than anyone else had ever been.
When Sienna told her parents she wanted to study Anthropology and Philosophy, her mother had frowned and spent an entire half hour talking about how useless that would be, and that she should study Business like her father. He, in turn, had shaken his head, and urged Sy to study what her heart wanted.
When Sienna told her parents she had applied for, and gotten into UCLA, her mother had made a huge show about herself, claiming and wailing her only daughter was abandoning her, and turned what was supposed to be Sienna's grand moment into her own. Her father, however, had smiled with pride and hugged her tight.
So Sienna and her father had spent the entire road trip singing bad songs and talking about how she would decorate her room.
Which led her to this very moment, trying to put up a small, but noticeable, bisexual flag above her bed. Even as she tried, her father kept slapping her hands and saying this was his parting gift, as he placed it for her.
Her father had been the only one to know of her sexuality, and now, she was entering a stage of her life far away from her judgemental mother, and felt brave enough to make it publicly part of who she was. Seeing her father, one again support her, made her grin.
₰ lysa
There was a girl with short brown hair sitting at the edge of one of the two beds in the room, and a man hanging up a small bisexual flag above the girl's bed. Surrounding her bed were similar carboard boxes to the one Alysa held, and two suitcases.
Music was playing in the room, something loud but not noisy, kind of like alternative rock.
Not even a day in, and Alysa's head was reeling.
She didn't want to interrupt, but if she was going to share a room with this girl, she might as well, right?
After a beat, Alysa finally spoke up. "Heyy," She said, closing the door behind her. "You must be Sienna." She said, setting her box and backpack down on the other bed, before extending a hand to the girl.
The brown haired girl, Sienna, turned around and gave a small smile. "Heeyy— uh, yes, hi, gods, I thought you were a joke." She said, her voice an ushered sentence as she shook her hand, standing up.
Alysa could only blink. "Sorry?"
"I mean, I read your name, at the door, and I was like, no way I'm going to share a room with the Alysa Liu. I'm being pranked." Sienna said, dropping her hand.
"Oh, you're uh- familiar with me?" Alysa mumbled, sighing in her mind. Another girl who knew her becaue of her hair, maybe?
"I'm a fan, like, intensely." Sienna said, sheepish. "But don't worry, I'm not stupid about it or anything."
"No, she's stupid about everything," The man said, after setting the flag up, turning towards Alysa. "Hello, I'm this here's father."
"Nice to meet you." Alysa said, a polite smile on her face.
"Well, now that I've done my part," He said, turning to Sienna. "I'm out, sweetie, call me if you need absolutely anything, and do not answer, under any circumstances, your mother's phonecalls." He pressed a kiss to the girl's hair, and left.
Silence crept up in the room as Alysa looked around, trying to get a sense of her new cramped dorm.
₰ lysa
By the time Alysa had gotten all of her stuff into her room, Sienna had already made her side of the room an actual place where a human being lived.
She had posters on the walls, someone she recognized as Hayley Williams and a band's poster next to it. The bi flag above her bed, and a couple books on her shelf, coupled with the fact that she already did her bed, a capybara plushie sat on top of her pillow, and a white cardboard next to the posters.
There were two polaroids, she quickly realized, stickered to Sienna's wall. One was of her biting into a medal, a volleyball underneath her arm, standing in what looked like a match court. And the other of her in hugging a sleek, long haired, very white girl in the middle of a beach, a beautiful bright blue sea landscape behind.
"You're quick." Alysa laughed, seeing Sienna already unpacking her clothes and folding them into drawers.
"Oh, yeah, I don't like having my stuff out, makes me feel like someone cut my brain open." Sienna said, before turning to look at her. "I don't mean to be rude—"
"Ask away, we're going to be sharing a room the entire year." Alysa said, plopping down on her bed, deciding to unpack later.
"Where'd you dye your hair?" Sienna asked, sitting down aswell.
Weird question, Alysa thought, but answered nonetheless. "This boutique in the Bay Area, it's a bit far from here, I think."
Sienna hummed, then tilted her head. "Is it hard to mantain?"
"Depends, I bleached my hair down to the very bone, so the stripes don't fade for a while. Why, you thinking of dying yours?" Alysa asked.
"Yeah, maybe. I don't know." Sienna sighed. "I've always wanted to dye my hair."
"Go for it, why not?" Alysa said, leaning back in her bed.
"My mom's weird about it." She shrugged.
"I don't see her around."
"Yeah." Sienna laughed, slightly awkwardly.
The conversation died down, and the silence was definetely uncomfortable, but Alysa had an inkling, a gut feeling about Sienna.
₰ sy
Freshman initiation was just fucking weird. Sienna decided after thinking of it for a while.
The senior guide basically gave them their student ID's, gave them a quick tour, explained shop week, how the dining hall worked, then asked if anyone had brought pot.
Yeah, just weird.
₰ sy
"Motherfu—"
Sienna heard Alysa curse as she opened the door, and couldn't help it, she laughed at the sight before her.
The girl was lying on her back on her bed, halo colored hair, ironically, falling around her head like halo, her legs up against the wall like she was sitting in on the walls like spiderman. She was groaning, suddenly sitting properly and pinching the bridge of her nose, her phone lying near her.
Sy tried to be nice, tried to ask, "Did your phone—"
"Fall on my face?" Alysa groaned. "Yeah, kinda."
"Been there." Sienna laughed, finally closing the door behind her.
An uncomfortable silence filled between them again, the kind Sy inevitably wanted to interrupt, but she couldn't, because what do you tell your olympic champion roommate to break the ice? (pun intented!)
As she sat down on her desk, opening her laptop and browsing through the classes she could sign up for shop week, her mind wandered to what they both might have in common.
Alysa was a figure skating athlete. Okay. So was Sienna, she played volleyball.
But Alysa was olympian level and world class, Sienna was still figuring out how to try out for the collegiate team and overcome her highschool era.
Alysa liked music. Okay. So did Sienna.
But asking would require her starting a conversation and having a conversation starter, which was exactly what she was looking for.
Alysa dyed her hair. Okay. Sienna wanted to.
But they'd already talked about that, briefly, yes, but enough.
Alysa had a piercing. Okay. Sienna didn't want to, it scared her.
Wow, helpful.
Alysa was American-Chinese. Okay. Sienna was Greek-American.
Maybe they could talk about that?
Just when she was about to turn around and speak up, or was building up the courage to think about doing so, Alysa sat down on the floor, a game box in her hands.
With a grin, she spoke up. "Since you've been staring at the same file name for almost seven minutes, I'm assuming you're not very busy." She said, sitting criss crossed on the floor, then patted the spot in front of her.
"I—I'm not, I guess." Sy chuckled, sitting down.
"We're gonna bond," Alysa said, opening the game box. "Wait, before anything, how do you like getting to know people?"
Sy blinked, then let out a breath, "Jeez, uh, deep questions. Uhm.... I don't know." She shrugged.
"I, for one, love to like, not talk about everything always, but show it." Alysa said, noticing her helplessness. "Like, you wouldn't know I adore matcha unless you saw me constantly buying it, y'know?"
"Ohh, yeah, I get it, uh— no, I'm the very opposite." Sienna said, shaking her head. "I info dump, like, hard."
"Yeah?" Alysa said, sorting through the game cards.
"Mhm, I just, talk, a lot."
"Well, yay for you, 'cuz I did this with my roommate last year, we played this game like, for a week, because she was a junior and very busy, but, we played to like, get to know each other." Alysa said, setting some of the cards down infront of Sienna. "But I think we both have enough time to answer most the questions."
"How do I— like, do I see the cards?" Sienna mumbled, blinking at the blue cards now infront of her.
"I'll show you, I'll start." Alysa said, setting the box aside and picking up one of her cards. "What's on the top of your frustrated dreams list?" She read out. "So you answer the question," She said, looking at Sienna.
She only sighed, then reached a hand to rub the back of her neck.
₰ lysa
Alysa was starting to think her gut feeling about Sienna was wrong.
Because what do you mean the girl was hesitating to play a game with her?
"Deep questions." Sienna groaned, mumbling to herself before speaking up. "Ugh, I have so many."
"Frustrated dreams? Or deep questions?" Alysa joked, trying to alleviate the obvious discomfort and tension.
"Frustrated dreams." Sienna mumbled. "I mean, just off the top of my head, to speak Mandarin."
Alysa snorted. "Why?"
"I mean, it's one of the most spoken languages in the world, and it has so much history." Sienna said, sheepish. "And it sounds cool."
"I speak mandarin." Alysa noted, as she hummed.
"Yeah, I know." Sienna said, then looked away.
Right, she was a fan.
The silence crept up again, before Alysa asked. "Do you speak any languages, besides english?"
"Is that allowed, asking more questions?" Sienna said, rather close guarded.
"I mean, we lost the rules hella lot ago.... so.... yeah it's allowed. What languages do you speak?"
"Uhm, greek, spanish, and french." Sienna said, humbly.
"That's so cool." Alysa said, grinning. "And a lot, wow."
"Not really, romance languages are really similar, and they're easy to learn."
"Which one do you speak best?"
"Greek. My parents are greek, so I was raised with it." Sienna replied, fidgeting with a golden chain on her wrist, a single charm on it, a sun.
The silence settled again.
"Your turn!" Alysa said, almost exasperated.
Sienna seemed so bubbly, warm, but why on earth was she so shy or closed off?
"Are you an extrovert or introvert?" She finally read, before setting down the card.
"I'm an extrovert, you?" Alysa said, quickly. Then looked at Sienna expectantly.
The girl frowned. "Do I also have to—"
"I mean, yeah, right?, it's fun that way."
"But you didn't answer the previous one—"
"I've always wanted to live in Japan or the French Alps." Alysa interrupted. "I feel like that's a big frustrated dream for me."
"Okay, uhm, I'm an introvert, surprisingly. It's weird, I take these tests and the results change a bit, but I've always been an INFP? Y'know, from the Miers Briggs test?"
"Yeah, yeah, I took that years ago, I think I'm ENF something." Alysa said, happy conversation was flowing.
"Technically, you're supposed to take it every six months."
"They're like a hundred questions." Alysa laughed.
Sienna grinned. "I know.
"Okay, okay, my turn." Alysa said, pulling out another card. "What's your favorite food? Oh this is basic."
"Garides saganaki," Sienna said, grinning. "They're these like, greek shrimp, with like, tomato sauce and cheese."
"Love that, I like, anything like, chinese honestly, like xia long bao? There's these like dumplings, incredible."
"I love chinese cuisine," Sienna laughed. "When I was younger, my family used to live near this one restaurant, and I would always order like green chives siu kao. I loved those little things, I still do."
"Ohhh, I have a recipe somewhere." Alysa said, now defintely sure of her inkling about Sienna. "We should totally make some sometime."
"I can help with moral support, I suck at baking."
"Lies, I'm sure you're fine." She snorted.
"No, I mean it, have you seen those, in a cup three ingredient desserts? Like the oreo cakes and stuff?" Sienna asked, to which she nodded. "I've blown them up. Several times." She deadpanned.
Alysa laughed. "They're like just eggs and flour!"
"But they blew up anyways!"
"In the actual stove—"
"Worse, in a microwave!" Sienna laughed.
Alysa ran her hand through her hair. "Jeez, you're like, a threat, y'know?"
"My dad always says I should study so I can pay someone to keep me alive."
Alysa died then and there.
₰ sy
Seeing Alysa laugh was some weird reward Sienna felt like she won just because she was being herself.
It was honestly a huge change from her apartment in New York, where her mom would always make her feel like her authentic self was either garbage or idiocy.
"What's your sexual orientation?" Sienna read out.
"Oh, that's such a hard guess for me." Alysa said, sarcastically, then laughed, while staring at Sy's bi flag over her bed.
Sienna smiled, and it was so nice to hear that her sexuality was so openly part of herself now. "Yeah, you?"
"Oh, defintely unlabeled, and I really just don't care." Alysa shrugged.
"Been there." Sienna mumbled, setting her card down.
"Yeah? Did it take you long to figure yourself out?"
"Kind of, I was in sixth grade, and realized I was bi, while watching a movie honestly. Then had a mid-mid-mid life crisis and for two years denied being queer at all, then decided to suck it up, but not tell anybody I was bi until I got to college, so, here I am." Sienna shrugged.
"That's, oddly nice." Alysa hummed, thoughtful. "Why'd you deny yourself? Or not tell anyone?"
"It's weird, in greek culture, everyone's gay, but my mom's very uhm, conservative, so for a while I thought I'd go to the m— hell." Sienna mumbled, almost letting 'the mourning fields' spill out, remembering most didn't understand what that was.
The thought of it reminded her of her mother, of how weird she was about everything that made Sienna, Sienna. "And I just didn't want anyone to know, I thought it was wrong, so." She finished, shrugging.
"And you were calling me deep." Alysa noted
"Yeah, yeah, I guess."
"My turn!" Alysa said, picking up another card already, with such an expression, it made Sienna laugh again.
₰ sy
She and Alysa kept playing, laughing and talking for hours.
"What's been your longest relationship, crush or situationship?" Alysa read out.
Sienna groaned. "Ughh, uhm, my longest crush was four years." Sienna mumbled.
"Four years? Yearner much?"
"Yeah, but it was weird, because I knew we'd never be together, I just had to get over it." Sienna mumbled, but before Alysa could answer, she kept going. "My longest situationship was eight months, in a battle of an undetermined relationship."
"And relationship?" Alysa asked.
Sienna only shook her head.
"No, no way."
"Yes, yes way."
"Shut up, that's amazing. You've never been in a relationship?" Alysa said, her voice way too excited.
"Nope."
"Me neither!" Alysa said, grinning like an idiot.
₰ lysa
"Me neither!" Alysa basically yelled, feeling like the grin on her lips made her look like an idiot.
"This is destiny," Sienna snorted. "Two losers in the same room."
"Nahh, I think you're a bigger loser." Alysa snorted.
"Wow, how bond-like of yours." Sienna laughed.
"Shut up, it's just, my longest situationship was almost two years so..."
"Two years." Sienna said, taken aback. "I could never."
"Says the four year crush girl." Alysa laughed.
"That's different, that was clearly one sided, yours, if a real situationship, makes it seem like there was something on both sides."
"Honestly, I think there was." Alysa groaned, running her hands through her hair.
"Ooh, deep dark territories." Sienna said, smiling.
"Your turn!" Alysa said, moving on, but she couldn't help pause for a second on Sienna's smile. How genuine and lively it looked.
"Right, right, uhm, What's your nickname?" She read, then frowned.
The girls had been talking about deep or interesting topics, just to have a basic question restart it all.
"Everyone honestly calls me Alysa." She said, shrugging.
"That's boring, I'm not going to do that, just fyi." Sienna said, placing the card down,
"Did you just verbally abreviate?" Alysa laughed.
"Fyi is a common abreviation, Lysa."
Alysa could only raise an eyebrow. "Lysa?"
"Any objections?" Sienna said, raising an eyebrow back, smiling.
Alysa paused again, eyes focusing on her smile, that genuine, lively smile.
"None."
"So, what should I call you?" Alysa asked, after a second.
"Mmhm, people generally call me Sy, but, ugh, this is weird—"
"No, nope, tell me." Alysa said, now curious.
"Like, my closest friends, and my father, they call me zoe."
"Zoe? That's an entirely different name—"
"It's from Zoí. My second name" She mumbled. That shy mumbling she just noticed.
"Zoí, greek, right?" Alysa asked, genuinely interested.
"Yeah, for light."
"Yeah, my father says—"
Alysa didn't hesitate. "You radiate light, yeah, it's kind of like staring into the sun."
₰ zoe
Sienna had to pause, and blink, before laughing.
"Thanks, yeah, my father says the same thing. He thinks I'm blessed by Apollo and buys me like, everything sun related."
"Yeah, I noticed, the sun charm?" Alysa gestured, pointing at her bracelet.
Sienna nodded. "Yeah, yeah."
"Zoe." Alysa said, testing it out. "Yeah, makes sense."
Eventually, they stopped talking, Alysa had some Sophomore meet up, and had to leave.
But Sienna felt comfortable thinking about when she'd come back. Alysa was nice.
And though it might not seem sane, she liked having the nickname question at the very end. In reality, when you meet and get to know someone, you don't call them by specific nicknames at the beginning, you do so at the very end. And it's fun that way.
/justagirl: y'all i wrote this in two days. like, what? alysa liu inspo kicking me right in the face after a long block. this is only part 1 btw, of probably 2 or 3 or 4 or 5, who knows?, hope ya'll liked it. also, Y'ALL I LEFT A LOTTT OF DETAILS, if you didn't catch them, here: 1. saying alysa was like a tree at the beginning cuz of her hair 2. the ice pun 3. the volleyball thing will mean something, trust 4. zoe being a fan 5. the pov titling changing (CHECK IT OUT, PLEASEE) 6. the cultural heritage detailing a. on alysa being chinese b. on zoe being greek!! 7. the NICKNAMESSS 8. on the parent thing with zoe 9. zoe's inner homophobic-nezz 10. zoe's rocky extro-introvertedness 11. alysa narrates way more than zoe because.....??? CHECK IT OUT, INFERE!! 12. there being 12 details on this list because of 12 in greek myths.... (also, ya'll, there are so many details, JUST HERE!!, these are only some of my fav or the ones i thought out the most) also: ya'll might have noticed i stopped answering requests and just stopped, writing. it's because i realized requests don't really flow with me, and ill still try to answer them and take them and write good shit, but i work best from within, love ya'll
college crushing!
alysa liu college student x female college student reader!
synopsis: alysa came back for her sophomore year at UCLA, only to find herself crushing on her roommate
part 1: the encounter - 3.338k words
part 2: college crushing - 5.648k words
part 3: the finale - 1.042k words
Back onto that rexgi shit again.
