#opossum writes

[opossum-writes]

One Way Or Another

(Mari Ibarra X GN!Reader)

In which a certain brunette is determined to learn more about Jackie Taylor’s burnout sibling (pre-crash)

~~

Mari walks through the halls of Wiskayok High School, school bag lazily hanging off one shoulder as she clutches the strap loosely with her right hand.

Everyone is talking and whispering about the new kid.

Y/N Taylor.

They just got back from some boarding school a state away. Apparently, they pissed off their parents so badly, they got shipped off to some super strict school.

Mari approaches her locker, where Akilah is waiting for her. “Did you hear?” She asks. “Hear what?” Mari grumbles, furrowing her brows and scrunching her nose up slightly. “About Jackie’s sibling.” Mari rolls her eyes with a scoff, and nods.

“They can’t seriously be all that, can they?” Akilah clicks her tongue slightly and smiles. “I don’t know. I heard they threw a grocery bag full of dirt at Principal Berzonsky and got the nickname Dirtbag for two weeks.” Akilah explains, and Mari smirks slightly.

“Wait, really?” Akilah nods enthusiastically. “Yep!” She says, smiling. “I’ll write down what I know. See you at practice!” Akilah waves and walks off, leaving Mari to collect her things from her locker before first period.

~~

“Psst!” Mari tries (and fails) to get Jackie’s attention. It’s first period, which means history. Thankfully, the teacher has thrown on some war movie with the help of the AV club.

Mari huffs, blowing a strand of hair out of her face before grabbing a sharp pencil and leaning forward to poke the girl sitting diagonally in front of her. “Ow!” Jackie whisper yells, turning around and glaring at Mari.

“What?” She asks, keeping her voice low. “Are the rumors true? About Y/N?” Mari whispers. Jackie rolls her eyes, and shrugs. “Some are. Some aren’t.” Jackie explains, and turns back around. Guess she’ll have to find another way to get the good gossip.

~~

Mari cannot believe she’s asking Misty freaking Quigley about the gossip surrounding Y/N Taylor, but here she is. She’s asked pretty much everyone else on the team, and they all said similar stuff. “I don't know.” “Maybe.” “Ask Jackie.” “Ask Y/N, not me.” It’s left Mari feeling quite frustrated.

“Misty!” Mari calls out to the equipment manager as she’s picking up the cones from the pitch. Misty stands up straight, pushing her glasses up her nose with a smile. “Oh, hi Mari!” She waves enthusiastically, clumsily dropping the cones in the process.

“Oh, criminy!” Misty huffs, bending back down to pick up the cones once more. “Have you heard about Y/N Taylor?” Mari asks. “Oh, Y/N! They share their lunch with me. Well, that was until they got sent to boarding school… but they’re back now! Why?” Misty asks, ecstatic that someone on the team is actually talking to her. Misty Quigley actually has a friend?

“Is it true they threw a bag of dirt at Principal Berzonsky one year and got called dirtbag for weeks? Or that they smoke so much weed that they’re constantly stoned?” Mari stops herself from rattling off the rest of the rumors.

“Oh… i’m not sure! But you could ask them! They always walk Jackie to the car after practice, so they should be here soon.” Misty explains.

Mari grins. “Thanks, Misty! I owe you!” Mari definitely doesn’t owe Misty, and even if she did, do you really think she’d follow through?

~~

Y/N’s boots are loud against the pavement as they stomp toward the field to walk their sister to the car. However, before they can get to their sister, a certain brunette stops them…

“Y/N!” A voice calls out to the burnout, and they whip around to see who the culprit is. Mari Ibarra confidently saunters up to them. A faint dusting of pink is spread across Mari’s face as she approaches the taller individual.

“Who are you?” Y/N asks, which only deepens Mari’s flushed cheeks. “Mari. Mari Ibarra.” She introduces herself with a smile, holding her hand out for Y/N to shake.

Y/N grabs her hand firmly, looking at her with a quizzical expression. “Did you… need something?” They ask, their eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Are the rumors true?” Y/N scoffs lightly, then smiles. “No, I didn’t screw my teacher for a better grade. No, I don’t smoke weed so much I’m constantly stoned. Yes, I did throw a bag of dirt at the principal, but no, I wasn’t called dirtbag for two weeks.” Y/N explains with a laugh.

“Oh. Well, that was underwhelming.” Mari huffs, a slight pout on her face as she looks up at the Taylor. “The rumors? Yeah. But…” Y/N leans down slightly to make eye contact with Mari.

“I’m certainly not.” They say with a wink, before walking off, leaving Mari a flustered mess. “That is… so unfair!” Mari grumbles, before stomping off.

She got the truth… and a new crush with it.

[selfshipping-opossum]

No Choice

Morray finally finds his dearest friend and brother, but witnesses something he could never forget.

@hopethesillyheartwitch (cuz idk who else to tag for this lmao)

It had been weeks since Kurloz disappeared.

Morray only knew small bits of what happened before the purple blooded troll took off, though most retellings of the story confused him. The only explanation that made any kind of sense was Meulin’s account.

According to her, Kurloz had woken up from another nightmare with a scream so loud it had deafened the olive blooded troll. Afterwards, Kurloz fled and no one has seen him since.

Morray knew there had to be a good explanation for all of this. After all, Kurloz always had nightmares that left him badly shaken, this was no different. As well as that, Morray and Kurloz were so close that the two considered each other to be brothers. If it wasn’t for the difference in blood color and appearance, one could assume the two were hatchmates. If Kurloz was going to open up to anyone, it would be Morray.

Whatever questions Morray had, it was determined to find the answers today.

As Morray slowly approached the church looming before it, it couldn’t help but feel a shiver shoot up its spine. The church seemed abandoned, the windows were shattered and tattered curtains hid the inside of the building.

Morray’s tail lashed back and forth, its nerves threatening to turn it around and run back to safety. But if there was any chance Kurloz was in there, Morray had to find him.

Every step towards the church made Morray’s bloodpusher beat harder, as if it was trying to break out of fins chest. Fin felt every violent beat, but he wasn’t willing to turn back.

Once Morray reached the door, coral took in a long breath. Kurloz needed coral, coral can’t back out now. Morray’s fingers brushed the church’s large doors, deep scratches covering every inch of the old wood. Carefully, Morray opened the door and took a few steps inside the desolate room.

Morray couldn’t see a thing in the room’s pitch black darkness, but gill could smell something metallic. Suddenly, the stench of death attacked gills senses and made gills blood run cold.

“Kurloz?” Morray’s voice came out shakily, panic beginning to set into his think pan, “Kurloz are you in here? Where are you?”

As Morray whipped its head around frantically, its vision slowly adjusted to the darkness. It stopped and stared at the walls, though it desperately wished it didn’t. In different colors, what seemed like hundreds of smiles were painted on the wall. Multiple splashes of color similarly stained the wall, and Morray’s gaze slowly followed to the source.

There were corpses, so many corpses. They were mutilated and bloody, but Morray could recognize a few. Fin might not have seen them as often, but he considered these trolls his friends. Fin felt sick, fins breathing was shaky and fin could feel tears slide down his cheeks.

But then coral saw the troll at the farthest end of the room, another painting made of bronze and jade blood on the wall in front of him. He kneeled above another body, Morray didn’t want to see if coral knew them too, mumbling something inaudible. Morray noticed the long, twisting horns protruding from the troll’s head. Coral recognized the bone patterns that lined the troll’s sleeves.

Morray silently begged for him to not turn around, to keep gill in the dark without knowing who it was gill was looking at. But gill already knew.

As the troll heard Morray’s footsteps grow louder, he turned to face the violet blood. His painted face was stained with blood and tears. Kurloz’s wide purple eyes stared right back at Morray.

“What have you done?”

The silence after Morray’s question stabbed into its bloodpusher, its anger slowly rising. Kurloz opened and closed his mouth as if he wanted to say something, even as Morray got closer and closer. When the violet blood got close enough, it grabbed the purple blooded troll and forced him to meet its gaze.

”I will give you one fucking minute to explain yourself,” Morray said as fin gestured at the scene around them, “to explain ALL of this.”

Every second of silence made Morray even more enraged, tears spilling down corals face as corals brother remained silent. Violently lashing corals tail, coral screamed “FUCKING ANSWER ME KURLOZ.”

It was one sentence. It came out weak and raspy, as if his vocal cords were strained. As purple tears streaked down his face, Kurloz gave his answer.

“I had no choice.”

Only one troll left the church. Running back home as fast as gill could, violet tears clouding gills vision. It felt like something was slowly squeezing the air out of gills bellowsacs. He was barely aware of how much time had passed before gill approached a group of trolls. His friends.

“There you are, finally! You two took your sweet time returning-“ Kankri had cut himself off when he saw Morray alone, it looked like he was about to collapse. A wave of dread hit Kankri as he approached the violet blood.

“Morray. Where’s Kurloz?”

All Morray could do was scream, agony and despair dripping off each cry. It wanted to scream until the sky shattered into a thousand pieces, even if its voice gave out. The image of the mutilated corpses plagued its vision, the knowledge of knowing those were his friends infecting it with an anger it never knew it had.

Fin couldn’t focus on anything other than what fin had seen. The trolls gathering around fin felt like ghosts, like they weren’t even there. All fin could think of was Kurloz. He killed them. Kurloz killed fins friends. Fins brother was a murderer.

But Morray didn’t really have a brother anymore, did he?

[awesomeopossumpng]

Having this song in my writing Playlist so that I have a reminder to fix my posture so I don't inverse shrimp up

[all-seeingelias]

Girl With One Eye ~ The Magnus Archives

Cassandra is 8 years old. She lives a quiet life with her father, her papa passed away when she was just a baby. She's happy here in her small village in the English countryside. At night she has visions of a man with green eyes and greying hair. He reaches out to her and tells her she's going to be very important one day.

Cassandra is 10 years old. She lives a quiet life in an academic institute, not usually one for housing orphaned children. She makes her bed every morning, braids her hair, and reads the story placed on the desk under the barred window. When she's done, she quietly slips on her shoes and makes the trek down to the archive in the basement, where she places the file on the desk of the lovely archivist. Then she returns to her room and sits on her bed, waiting for her Uncle to tell her what's next.

Cassandra is 14 years old. A woman with hair like hers and a head wound that never heals visits her once a week to do her hair and tell her things she already knows.

Cassandra is 18 years old. Her Uncle tells her it's time.

Rated M, Chapter 1

Tags, Warnings, Link below the break

Tags: Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe, Archivist Sasha James, Manipulative Elias Bouchard | Jonah Magnus, Grooming, Suicide, Orphaned Character, Emotional Manipulation, I have not listened to The Magnus Protocol so there will be no references to that canon, Creepy Elias Bouchard | Jonah Magnus, Developing eye powers, Taking liberties with the way Fear Powers work

Chose Not to use Archive Warnings (This fic will get dark, please heed the tags)

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Thank you for reading!!!

[opossum-writes]

Dating Natalie Scatorccio headcannons

Dating Nat is probably a little messy at first. She doesn’t communicate well, and has a ton of walls up. She’s very protective of you, and if anyone talks bad about you she’ll always stick up for you, even if she might get beat up or something.

She doesn’t strike me as someone who’s big on PDA. Maybe she’ll hold your hand or have her arm draped over your shoulders, but she’ll save most affection for when you’re alone.

She’s warm. She gets super cuddly when she’s tired. Definitely a big spoon, even if you’re taller than her, she’s always gonna find a way to hold you.

She definitely gets jealous. She’ll never admit it, but it’s obvious when she is. If she sees you talking to someone she doesn’t like or if someone flirts with you she’s stomping her way over to you to wrap her arm around you or hold your hand or try to pull you away from the conversation.

You’re usually the first to apologize after an argument. She has a hard time admitting when she’s wrong. She’ll try, but it always comes out half-assed, even when she means it.

Overall, dating Nat has its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, she loves you. A lot. Even if she struggles to show it.

Edit:

Since this has been getting more attention than i’ve ever seen on my page b4, I have a masterlist on my profile that has a Yellowjackets Lottie & Natalie x Male!Shipman!OC love triangle fic linked :) check it out!

[opossum-writes]

I’m writing a Lottie Matthews and Natalie Scatorccio x Male!OC and you can’t stop me. Like Mystery Man there will be two endings. Might make an X Reader version of the same story. Maybe not.

But anyways, the power of the polls cannot stop me, my simpage and hyperfixation is too strong. Will probably sprinkle in some jackieshauna.

[selfshipping-opossum]

When I Wake Up, It’ll All Be Back

Looks like someone’s having a bad dream :o)

oops forgot to do this: @hopethesillyheartwitch

Your name is Acetia Foarin, and everything has gone wrong.

You wear the clothes of the deceased, but the memory who they used to be before they became corpses has gone fuzzy. All you remember is the color of their blood. Fuchsia, violet, olive, indigo, and bronze. No matter what you thought of them before, their deaths broke your heart. You had never cried so hard if you life before. But for two deaths in particular, you were sent down a never ending spiral.

On the ground amidst the olive and indigo were droplets of a familiar purple, the same purple that stained the claws on the gloves you wear now.

No one else understands your anger, they never will. They have the audacity to treat him like he was stupid and worthless, but now act like he was always some bloodthirsty monster. You are angry at him, make no mistake, but they have no right to act like this was a betrayal for them. If anything, you think they were waiting for this moment.

You know he isn’t some cruel monster, but maybe that’s what makes it hurt the most. He’s your brother, you love him more than anything. But he killed your friend. She never looked down on you for things you did that others said was strange or unbecoming of a violet blood. Even with him, you know there was more to him deep down, she wouldn’t have bothered with him otherwise. You don’t even remember their names, everything feels so blurry.

Despite everything you still love him. He’s your family. Your only family. But he still killed trolls you cared about.

It clouds your mind. Clouds your vision. You will never forgive him. NEVER.

But even still, they have no right to enact vengeance. They don’t deserve it. Not after everything they’ve done. THEY DO NOT GET TO ACT LIKE THEY WERE WRONGED WHEN ALL THEY’VE DONE IS LOOK DOWN ON HIM.

You stand above a ledge, looking down on the scene below. It’s a standoff, everyone in a circle waiting for someone to make their move. You see one of them telling the others to stand down, but he has no gog damn right to act like this. He cared so much about him, but all he ever did was treat him like shit.

You want to blame him, you wanna blame everyone. But you can barely make out who they are, your anger is instinctual. You barely can control your own actions.

Your breathing is heavy, your violet tears are hot on your cheeks. Your teeth are bared and your tail lashes back and forth. Finally, he notices you. You don’t process the horrified realization on his face, you don’t see his eyes go from orange to yellow. You see nothing past your tears.

You scream. It’s loud and piercing, it feels like your throat is being ripped apart from the effort. You scream until it feels like the sky has shattered from your agony.

And you leap.

You run like a feral barkbeast towards the only one you have left. Everything feels like a blur, you barely register what you’re doing.

Then you feel teeth sink into flesh, you taste the vile blood on your tounge. It’s mostly purple, but it morphs into all sorts of colors. You can’t even place who you’re angry at anymore. Something in you tells you to stop. And then you see it.

That’s your sister. You’re hurting your sister. What are you doing? Stop it!

Stop. Stop~it. Make~it~stop! STOP~IT~YOU’RE~HURTING~HER!

MAKE~HIM~STOP! HE’S~HURTING~MY~SISTER! PLEASE!

I~WANNA~GO~HOME! I~DON’T~WANNA~DO~THIS~ANYMORE!

PLEASE!

I~wanna~go~home. I~want~my~sister~back.

Oh~gog~what~have~I~done?

…

You wake up in a cold sweat, shaking violently. Your breathing is heavy as your eyes dark back and forth around the room. Your room. You’re in your bed, your shelves are lined with potted plants, and many pictures of you and your roommate hang on your walls. Your old husktop sits on your desk, and the phone your roommate gifted to you lays on the nightstand.

You shakily grab your phone and open up your messages. You don’t have to look for too long when you see her name. There’s an unread message sent an hour after you went to bed. You open it.

Oh YeAh, BeFoRe I aLl Up AnD mOtHeRfUcKiNg FoRgEt, HaPpY bIrThDaY mY mIrAcUlOuS sHaRk BrOtHeR. I kNoW i’D sTiLl HaVe A cHaNcE tO sAy It ToMoRrOw BuT i WaNnA bE tHe FiRsT tO sAy It To YoU :o)

You smile, relieved. It’s okay, she’s okay. Your sister is alive and everything is gonna be okay.

You wonder why it all felt so real. But you cut that thought short. You hate thinking about those nightmares for too long.

It just makes you miserable anyways.

[opossum-writes]

Nature’s Wrath: Part VIII

TW: Laura Lee flies a plane

~~

Van is dead.

We’re giving her some kind of viking burial. I don’t know. I tuned out pretty much everything after shit calmed down some.

I knew I had a bad feeling about this stuff. And Tai didn’t listen to us—to all of us, and now Van is dead.

Van is laid across a bed sorta thing made from sticks and other flammable things. Tai lights it with a torch, before stepping back. I feel tense. I don’t know why. It’s not from Van dying or the wolves, surprisingly.

I feel like I need to run away. I’m… fucking terrified. I can’t be here anymore. I have to run. But I can’t. I’m frozen in place.

Mari says something, and then everyone freaks out, but I can’t focus. I feel tears stinging at my eyes. What the fuck is wrong with me? Focus! FOCUS!

~~

Taissa is helping Van walk. Apparently she isn’t dead. We’re going back to the cabin, a trip that is long overdue. I’m still not… present. I feel like I’m watching myself… like a character on a tv show. It doesn’t feel like me.

Tai and Van stop, and everyone is having a conversation. I can understand bits and pieces. Like Misty going on about how to keep Van’s wounds cleans

That reminds me, my wounds have stopped bleeding, so… thats something.

I always was a cat person. This just solidifies my distaste for canines.

“Sean!” Taissa shouts, snapping me out of whatever trance I was in. “…what?” I mumble in response, staring off into nowhere in particular. “Go!” Tai replies. “Go where?” I ask, my gaze still on nothing.

She says something else, but it’s all messy and muffled to me. My mind keeps going back to the fire. And the wolves. And the screaming. The pain…

The pain.

~~

I’m drawn out of my thoughts by Taissa firing the flare into the air. I look around, confused. It’s dark out. My knees feel like they’re about to collapse, and my eyes are burning. Have I been standing here this whole time?

~~

“Sean. Sean? Sean, speak to me.” I feel a warm hand on my cheek, gently caressing me with their thumb. I blink for the first time in what feels like years. It’s Natalie. She’s crying. “Nat…” I croak out. I’m laying down in my sleeping bag. When did that happen?

“What is wrong with my brother, Misty?!” I hear Shauna whisper shout from nearby. “I-I don’t know! He’s been like this since we started the fire!” Misty replies, clearly sounding stress.

“Fire…” I mumble, my eyes widening and I pull away from Nat. “No fire. Fuck! No fire!” I shout, hitting my head with my fist. “Hey, hey, hey…” Nat shushes me, grabbing my wrist and forcing me to look at her.

“Breathe, Sean. I’m here. You’re here. In the cabin. Your wounds have been patched up. You’re exhausted, you need to rest.” Nat explains. I take a deep breath, and look around me.

“Sean!” Shauna rushes toward me, and sits down beside me. “Sean. I was worried.” She mumbles. I chuckle slightly. “I’m-i’m here. Not there. Here.” I remind myself, staring up at the ceiling.

“That’s right. Here. With me. And Shauna.” Nat says. “Lottie! Come here.” Shauna calls, and I see Lottie sit next to me out of the corner of my eye.

I feel her hand grab mine, and I squeeze it slightly. I’m so tired. I feel like i’m gonna pass out. My legs are killing me. “I’m sleepy…” I mumble.

“Go to sleep. Save your energy for tomorrow.” Nat says, and places a tearful kiss to my lips. “I’ll be here when you wake up.” She whispers.

~~

“It’s cold. You should warm up.” I hear a voice from behind me. I turn around to see… me?

I go to reply, but I can’t speak. “Don’t bother. You wasted your breath screaming.” He says. It’s me before the crash. I reach toward his arm, the one i’ve now lost, but something is holding me back.

“Oh, you want this?” He smiles, holding up his right arm. I nod. “You don’t get it again.” He grins. “It’s you’re fault, you know. That we lost it.” I try to scream, but nothing comes up. I can’t breathe.

The air is warm. “Looks like the fire has been lit.” He points behind me, and I turn around to see the plane wreck, fire blazing and engulfing it and all that surrounds it.

I see blackened hands clawing at the windows of the plane. I hear their screams. I hear Nat, and Shauna. Lottie. All of them. “You should’ve saved me!” I hear Van shout.

“They’re dead because of you, Sean.” I say… well, not me. The other me.

A tear falls down my cheek, but it boils and evaporates. I reach up to touch it, but my hand is just… bone. I look down, and i’m just… bones. Burnt bones. I finally speak, my voice hoarse. “I’m sorry!” I scream.

The other smacks his hands together loudly. “Hello! Hi! Excuse me!” He shouts

~~

“Hello! Hi! Excuse me!” Laura Lee shouts, banging two metal spoons together. It was just a nightmare. Thank fuck.

“Jesus H. Christ, Laura Lee!” I groan. She glares at me. “Right. Sorry.” She looks at my pointedly and points upwards, and I sigh. “Sorry, God.” I mumble.

“Thank you, Sean.” She nods at me, and continues her announcement. “In light of the expedition ending as it did, I have decided that i’m going to take the dead guy’s plane and fly south. I’m going to find us help, and i’m going to get us out of here.” Laura Lee explains.

What the fuck? Is she crazy? “You’re gonna fly?” Lottie asks. “But, you—you don’t know how…” Natalie adds. “I’ve been studying the flight manual for weeks. And I checked the gas tank, it’s full. I used to watch my grandpa fly. He even let me steer a few times. I know that I can do this.” Laura Lee states, clearly very confident in her ability to fly a motherfucking plane.

“You can’t deny that Van needs serious medical attention.” Laura Lee gestures toward Van. She has a point, but this is insane. But, we pretty much all do in some way. I got bitten up by the wolves too, admittedly not as much, but i’m missing my fucking arm.

Coach Scott is missing his leg, too! We’re all fucked up. “She’s not the only one.” Jackie speaks up. “Exactly! Thank you. I’m missing my arm, and Coach doesn’t have a leg.” I reply.

“Not that.” Jackie turns to Shauna, and I give her a confused look. What does she mean ‘not that’?!

“Shauna, tell them.” Jackie says, and everyone, including me, turns to look at Shauna. “Did something happen to you?” I ask. Now i’m worried.

“I—I really don’t…” “Tell them.” Jackie interrupts her. Clearly, whatever it is Shauna needs to tell us is important.

“What is it?” Akilah asks. “Yeah, tell us what?” Mari adds. Shauna glances at me, and I quirk an eyebrow at her in response.

“I’m—I’m pregnant.” WHAT THE FUCK?!

“Shauna, what in the godforsaken, motherfucking, WORLD did you just say?!” I shout, standing up and walking towards her. “This is the worst possible place to find out i’m an uncle.” I huff.

“How far along are you?” Misty asks. “Wait… did you get knocked up here?” Mari asks. I run toward Travis and pin him to the wall. “Did you impregnate my sister, you piece of shit?!” I yell.

“Woah! Sean, calm down!” Nat gets up and pries me off of Travis. “No! Sean, sit down!” Shauna huffs. “It doesn’t matter when it happened. Okay? It just matters that we get them both help.” Jackie states.

“Alright. Can everyone just…” Coach Scott interrupts. “Laure Lee, you can’t do this. No. It—it’s not even close to safe.” Coach Scott argues.

“There is no ‘safe’ anymore, Coach Scott. It’s going to be winter soon. If I don’t do this, we’re… we’re all gonna fucking starve.” Laura states, her tone stern. She cursed. Holy shit. I didn’t know she had it in her.

I let out a low whistle and look at Nat with wide eyes. “She means business. Ms. Catholic is cursing.” I chuckle, and Nat smacks my arm lightly.

“Sean, buddy, be quiet.” Coach Scott sighs, and I hold my hand up defensively. “Anyways. I’m still the only adult here, so, no. I’m not gonna let you do it.” Coach Scott says. Poor guy. He has zero authority over anything now.

Laura Lee takes slow steps toward him, with an unreadable expression. “What are you gonna do to stop me, Coach?” She asks. Jesus Christ, she really DOES mean business.

~~

We’re all doing our part to clear a runway for Laura Lee. I’m tugging vines off of the wings with help from Lottie. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this plane.” I mumble.

Lottie looks at me, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She looks adorable. “What?” She asks. I turn back to the vines and keep pulling them off. “I don’t think it’s gonna work, that’s all.” I sigh. “So, what, you think she’s gonna die?” Lottie asks, her voice slightly shaky.

I’ve noticed the two of them hanging out much more. They’re clearly closer than before. Shit.

“If she goes through with this?” I pause. “Yeah. I think she will.” Silence washes over us. We don’t talk again after that. We just keep doing our part to clear everything up.

~~

We’re all lined up near the plane as Laura Lee walks toward it. She hugs everyone as she passes them. I’m stood beside Lottie. I can feel her reach for my hand, but she’s to the right of me, so she ends up just locking her arm around mine.

I give her a smile, and Laura Lee stops at me. I give her a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t die.” I smile, and she gives me a determined look, and gives Lottie a hug, before opening up the door to the plane and climbing inside.

Coach Scott stops her before she can shut it. “For God’s sake, Laura Lee, please. Don’t do this.” He pleads. “Thanks for worrying about me, Coach, but… this is my purpose.” Laura Lee states, and practically slams the door shut.

We all back away from the plane, as the engine sputters to life. It doesn’t sound in very good shape. The plane moves forward and everyone cheers for her, except me.

This poor girl is going to die. And she doesn’t deserve it. I may give her some shit for being Catholic, but she’s kind and sweet.

We all start to chase after it, and I grab Lottie’s hand as we all follow after the plane.

The plane lifts off the ground. “Oh, my god! She’s doing it!” Jackie laughs. We all keep chasing after her, and eventually reach the lake, leaving Coach Scott behind.

I’m standing next to Jackie, my hand still holding Lottie’s. The plane looks like it’s… smoking. I look at Lottie, but she’s smiling, clearly not having noticed it. I look Jackie, and she looks back, and I can tell by the look on her face…

She sees it too.

“Is that smoke?” She asks. The cheering stops. Suddenly, the plane explodes, and Jackie yelps in surprise.

Some of the girls start crying. Lottie lets go of my hand and runs into the lake. “Lottie, wait—“ I call after her, and she drops to her knees in the water.

I jog after her and kneel next to her. She looks so distraught. It’s heartbreaking. I hug her and pull her into my chest, and she cries against my shirt.

Snot and tears are staining it, but all I care about in this moment is Lottie. She needs to be okay.

Laura Lee is dead. I knew she would die, but… sheesh. She flew too close to the sun… and her wax wings melted.