GOLD RUSH

That’s not quite how life works when you’re part of the social elite, unfortunately. I’m here at my parent’s request, but nice try. And while we’re on the topic of nice tries, if you want to get political with a law major you might want to get your fact straight right off the bat. If we’re talking about complaining vs. progress, I’d think that the most recent segment of history would teach people that use terms like “Karen” and are financially oppressed enough to think free Big Macs are a prize that complaining is the basis of all progress. But go off, I guess. We can’t all approach verbal debate prepared, some of us have to come in half-cocked.  

You are so pretentious that it is physically exhausting to even look at you. I wasn’t actually commenting in order to be argumentative, but it seems like that’s just how you respond to any kind of criticism, even if it was intended to be constructive. Which says quite a lot more about you than it does about me, so I’m not particularly worried about your opinion or what you seem to think you’re some sort of expert on. I actually just feel sorry for you. 

Does anyone else ever feel like they run into Coach Sylvester just a little too often? I mean, it’s obviously not that odd when it happens in the hallways or at the grocery store, but what on earth is she doing at Between The Sheets? This was the third time that she was suddenly standing behind me this week, and I’m kind of starting to think she’s stalking me.

I see her around far more often than I would care for, especially considering I’m not a Cheerio. It takes an admittedly great amount of skill to be able to harass every single student that’s enrolled here. Being honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some stalking clause in that ridiculous contract she makes you all sign, 

Clearly it was too much to expect something to be going on around here; both in this dustball of a town and on this social media wasteland. Ground Control to Major Tom, is anybody even out there? My mistake, this is Lima after all.

Not that I disagree about Lima being a little on the.. slow side, but you did choose to attend college here. There were surely plenty of other options, so why not make the best of it? We don’t stand to gain anything by complaining. Unless you’re a Karen looking for a free Big Mac, but to each their own.

Hunter’s eyes ran over the woman in front of him, taking note of both her style and demeanor. If he were being honest, one of the things he disliked the most about himself was his tendency to be judgmental off the bat, especially when it came to new people. The environment in which he’d been raised had left him burdened in many ways, though perhaps the greatest of those were his inclinations to jump to every sort of conclusion as possible. Nodding appreciatively, he slid into the empty seat across from Sydnee, bringing his coffee up to take a sip. His eyes closed slowly as he savored the moment, sighing contentedly. “I’ll remember that; punctuality is of the utmost importance, it bothers me that more people aren’t more conscious of it. But, nothing can ever truly be perfect I suppose. Sydnee, that’s a rather uncommon name, is it not? I don’t recall hearing it frequently.” As the air began to settle around them, Hunter began wracking his brain for possible topics of conversation. It had long ago dawned on him that he was not the most stellar conversationalist, and even more so in situations requiring small talk. “What are you majoring in, Sydnee? Have you been here long?” He asked, settling on two more generalized questions. 

An astute person by nature, Hunter’s evaluating stare wasn’t lost on Sydnee and she instinctively rolled her shoulders back to perfect her posture. Slouching certainly wasn’t going to give the highest of impressions and she could vaguely hear the voice of her mother in her ear, reminding her to project her best self. Meeting new people wasn’t the most difficult for her, but there was always an awkward lull and she offered a smile when he responded. “It is one of the most important things, in my opinion. Especially when you’re first meeting someone. You never get a chance to make another first impression,” her tone was matter-of-fact and she allowed herself to ease slightly and take a sip of her own drink. “Nothing can be perfect, but we can try,” she told him, chuckling just a bit at his comment on her name. “It’s not the most common, but I suppose you have to be resourceful when you have five children and want to be consistent with ‘S’ names,” the blonde told him playfully, shrugging her slender shoulders. It seemed the most natural in this setting to talk about school and she was happy to oblige. “I’m a biology major, pre-med. And I’m a sophomore, so it’s not horribly intense yet.” Her eyes watched his face momentarily. “And you? You seem like you have quite a lot of ambition.”

After agreeing to meet Sydnee for coffee, Hunter collected his keys, phone, and wallet before making his way out the door. The walk to the shop wasn’t far, and Hunter enjoyed the fall breeze rustling around him as he moved. It had been quite some time since he’d had the time or inclination to meet anyone to do anything other than school or Warblers related work, and it felt nearly foreign to for him to do it now. Still, he nodded his greeting once he’d stepped inside the shop, placed his order, and made his way to where the woman was sitting. “Good afternoon. Pleased to see you made it here in tact and on time. My name is Hunter Clarington. I believe I’ve seen you around campus.” @asksydneekingston​

Already having been on campus, Sydnee couldn’t lie that she was feeling incredibly positive in the wake of the successful day that she was having. It was a very short walk from one of the picturesque halls to the coffee shop and she smiled to herself as the chill of fall air caused a rosiness to glow against the fair skin of her cheeks. Hiking her backpack up one shoulder, she pushed the door open and found herself a seat after getting her coffee. Settling in, it wasn’t long before she saw Hunter enter the building and approach her. “I’m a lot of things, but never tardy,” she told him as she gestured towards the seat across from her, inviting him to sit with her. “It’s a pleasure, Hunter. I’ve seen you around too,” she admitted with a smile. “I’m Sydnee Kingston.”

😈

Someone has to - though I consider myself more of a devil’s advocate. Exactly. I’m alls ‘bout giving back to the community like that.

Call it whatever you want, it sounds productive to me. It won’t win you many friends, but sometimes improvement is the better outcome. I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Sydnee Kingston.

Good, it appears as though you possess a good work ethic. That’ll get you far in life, trust me on that. I congratulate what is deserved, when it is deserved. Consider yourself lucky, because the older I get the more I realize that 90% of the pleasantries we exchange are completely arbitrary, and therefore I refrain from giving them easily. Free time has been hard to come by my whole life, really, but I’ll agree that it has become even more so over the past few years. I’ll be there, yes. I’ll look forward to meeting with you. 

That’s one thing I’ve always been able to pride myself on. I wasn’t raised to be a quitter or to back down. I do trust you on that one, absolutely. It’s an important quality to possess. Oh, really? In that case, I’ll definitely feel lucky. I try not to say anything that I don’t mean, myself. But praise when it’s deserved is never misplaced. You tend to keep busy, then? I do as well, but some downtime is important, I think. I’m looking forward to meeting you too! I’ll see you in just a few minutes.

I'm currently living life to it's fullest every single day. I see it this way, if you lose focus for even a moment, you can't get that time back. I intend to live as largely and as boldly as I can until I can't anymore. A doctorate will open doors, but I refuse to stop there. I haven't taken my eyes off of Grammys, Oscars, Tonys. I refuse to give up on my art. It's all there, I just have to keep my eye on the prize until I can grasp it. There's so much life to live and I refuse not to live it to its full potential.

Congratulations. Enjoy the feeling, but don’t let it go to your head. Doing so would bring your guard down, which only makes it easier for someone to slide in and steal those top spots from you. Just as a friendly piece of advice. I never say no to coffee, and surprisingly I have a moment of free time. So, I suppose that’s a ‘yes’. Where should I meet you?

And good advice, at that. You’re right. I can’t let myself get distracted for even a minute and I intend to celebrate shortly and then get back to laser sharp focus. But thank you for the congratulations, it’s always appreciated. Free time is always hard to come by in college, but it’ll be fun. Meet me at the Quad in ten? 

Of course, in most situations. They're great, but I doubt they would hesitate to rip the crown off of my head given the chance. That's show business, though, isn't it? Life is like running a race and we all want to come in first.

It's incredible, like being a celebrity. Everyone's always trying to talk to you, snapping photos, asking for autographs. But I guess that just comes with being in the premiere show choir in the midwest. Nothing beats stage lights. standing ovations, and national championships.

.. why, what have you heard?

Attention everybody. Auntie Tana’s just arrived to point out all of your surface flaws and to tell you about the many ways in which I think you all suck. It’s kinda like doin’ charity work, but without the quid pro quo.

You are welcome.

Doing the Lord’s work, then? At least it may help people self-evaluate and then improve. It’s good in the long term.

If I have to hear another newbie on the squad complain about how tough practices are, I might start to side with Coach Sylvester about her idea of randomly cutting Cheerios off the squad. You should know well enough what you are getting yourself into, and if you can’t handle it? Don’t join. Simple as that.

It sounds like there’s a stunning lack of discipline and commitment in the Cheerios this year. It’s a little disappointing when you think about it, no one wants cheerleaders without the cheer. Maybe it’s time to break out the threats. Everyone responds to that and no one wants to lose their spot at the top, right?