⁎ 、 ° DISTANT 𝘔𝘌𝘓𝘖𝘋𝘠 .

                           — *   remembering   games   &   daisy   chains   &   laughs   * —

welcome   back   to   gallagher   academy   ,   virginia   byrne   !   according   to   her   records   ,   she’s   a   third   year   specializing   in   threat   elimination   +   knife   fighting   skills   ,   sword   training   ,   precision   shooting   ,   firearms   and   swat    training   ;   and   she   did   not   go   to   a   spy   prep   high   school   .   when   i   see   her   walking   around   in   the   halls   ,   i   usually   see   a   flash   of    pink   stained   lips   ,   baby   blue   satin  dresses   and   vintage   reebok   sneakers   .   when   it’s   the   aries’   birthday   on   4/1/1999   ,   she   always   requests   a   cheeseburger   ,   french  fries   and   vanilla   milkshake   from   the   school’s   chefs   .   looks   like   she’s   well   on   her   way   to   graduation

𝐨𝐨𝐜  —  hi  hi  ,  my  name  is  christina  !!  i’m  twenty  ,  i  live  in  the  est  timezone  and  my  pronouns  are  she  /  her  .  i’ve  been  in  this  b4  so  u  might  know  me  but  !!  hello  hello  i’m  so  happy  to  finally  b  back  !!  u  can  find  ginny’s  intro  on  google  docs  cause  ,,,  es  pretty  :)  there’s  a  few  connections  i’d  like  to  see  on  the  doc  ,  but  i’m  also  rlly  excited  to  plot  if  anyone  has  ideas  !!  other  than  that  ,  i  have  her  pinterest  and  her  inspo  playlist  ,  and  that’s  rlly  about  it  .  if  u  like  this  post  i’ll  message  u  for  plots  :)

“ listen–  i’m  more  than  willing  to  help  you  practice , love . all  you  had  to  do  was  ask  nicely . ”  she  teases  the  other . 

“ i can’t deny it’s iconic place in her discography, so, i respect that. ” seb nods, in complete respect. there were many lonely nights spent listening to tay-tay. “ probably busted, they do that one ‘ he said i’ve been to the year three thousand — not much has changed but they live underwater ! ’ … c’mon surely you know that ? ”

     “   she  says  it’s  her  least  favorite  ,  but  i  think  that’s  ,  like  ,  absolutely  ridiculous  .   ”   and  this  next  bit  will  catch  her  full  attention  ,  eyes  squinting  at  the  other  in  near-disbelief  .   “   are  you  about  to  tell  me  the  jonas  brothers  didn’t  write  year  3000  ?  because  if  so  --  i’ve  literally  never  felt  more  lied  to  than  in  this  moment  .   ”

“ most probably, yeah. they only come out when i’m drunk. don’t tell anyone ! ” maeve winked. her room mates were probably one of the best things gallagher has ever given to her. they truly didnt make school seem so bad. “ as long as i get to sing backstreet boys and y’all have to be my hype men. ”

“i have fun with a lot of things, so you don’t worry about that either.” and while that could have him sound like a complete nerd, he doesn’t mind. he likes what he likes and when he likes them. “and besides, anything productive is never a waste of time!” rizo rubbed his hands together and clapped. “alright, what do you got? i’m sure with both our heads together, we’ll get it done in no time!”

     “   well  ,  only  if  you’re  sure  !  --  &  i’m  sorry  for  how  bad  it  is  ,  in  advance  ,   ”  she  admits  ,  scrolling  her  mouse  to  the  top  of  the  essay  .  it  wasn’t  that  she  couldn’t  write  .  she  just  wasn’t  particularly  enthusiastic  about  the  class’  content  .  that  --  &  she  inevitably  bore  a  lack  of  drive  for  school  altogether  .  these  factors  certainly  didn’t  help  .   “   i  totally  feel  like  it’s  done  ,  but  i  still  need  ,  like  ,  three  hundred  words  to  reach  the  word  count  .  i  guess  i’m  not  so  sure  about  my  intro  ,  either  ,   ”   ginny  explains  ,  hoping  these  were  the  only  issues  .  she  wasn’t  really  confident  when  it  came  to  peer  reviewing  ,  after  all  .

a mock gasp of shock escapes him, the hand on his chest only adding to the sneer that followers. her words don’t even come close to making a dent. “ it will do. ” features return to bare the edges carved out of him as he casts a sharp and dismissive look. “ if you’re going to insult someone, do it properly. that was quite pathetic. ”

“ well, at least the beatles are british. but i won’t lie, i fucking love taylor swift. i’m in a constant battle between knowing whether 1989 or red is better. ” seb nodded, a secret stan for sure. “ you think i won’t ? to be honest, i wouldn’t even know where to start. ”

     “  it’s  probably  biased  ,  but  i’m  a  sparks  fly  girl  myself  !  ”  and  she  can  thank  years  of  middle  school  love  and  woe  for  that  ,  naturally  .  “  well  --  what’s  your  favorite  !  ”

“ i’m literally baffled. ” he nods, eyes just slightly wider to express his shock. “ what did you listen to growing up ? i just can’t imagine being the person i am today without, like, the sugababes, you know ? ”

     she  has  to  pout  --  it’s  almost  sad  she  doesn’t  understand  !  “  i  was  rasied  on  the  beatles  !  ooh  --  and  taylor  swift  .  ”  she  giggles  at  the  next  one  ,  “  you’re  gonna  have  to  start  singing  their  songs  ,  just  to  prove  they’re  deserving  of  the  hype  you’re  giving  them  .  ”

Rowan had set herself up at one of the wooden tables in the Japanese garden, a palette of paint on the table in front of her and a canvas in her lap. She was staring off into space, hadn’t even realized she had company until they were right up next to her. “Shit!” she said, cursing as she jumped and splattered paint on her dress. “Crap,” she cursed again and looked up at the other. “This is why I usually wear a stupid smock,” she muttered, almost under her breath. // @gallagherstart​

     the  garden  was  crowded  enough  ,  that  afternoon  ,  and  perhaps  that’d  be  a  reason  to  eat  lunch  elsewhere  ,  if  she  hadn’t  already  made  the  trek  here  .  she’ll  unassumingly  take  a  seat  at  the  other  end  of  a  picnic  table  with  only  one  other  student  --  sitting  quietly  while  rotating  between  bites  of  her  sandwich  ,  and  scrolls  through  instagram  .  only  the  red  head’s  exclamation  will  claim  her  attention  --  ginny  jumping  in  her  seat  ,  and  her  phone  hitting  the  ground  .  “  i  --  sorry  ,  ”  she  starts  ,  bending  down  to  pick  up  her  phone  ,  “  i  didn’t  wanna  bother  you  --  but  there  weren’t  many  seats  .  if  you  need  help  getting  the  stain  out  ,  i  know  a  few  ways  !  ”

“ so i know the spice girls MUST HAVE, but did you guys get girls aloud over here ? what about the saturdays ? please tell me you know jls… ”

     “  honestly  ,  bud  ,  you  lost  me  after  spice  girls  .  ”  blame  it  on  her  attention  span  ,  or  rather  her  lack  of  knowledge  in  90s  era  music  groups  .  especially  of  the  british  variety  .

“boooooriiing.” he rolls his eyes at all the whispers in the halls about someone stealing the damn sword. deep down he thought the prank was a little pointless because if the thief wanted fame, they succeeded, all that remained was the doubt about who had done it, so far he had no information about it nor the brotherhood and that was frustrating. “this whole sword game is wacky already, can we move on now?”

     head  will  tilt  ,  a  slight  shrug  on  her  shoulders  .  “  i  dunno  ,  it  seems  kinda  lighthearted  .  i’ll  take  that  over  ...  the  other  stuff  .  ”  naturally  .  as  one  of  the  first  scandals  post  the   double  murder  back  a  few  months  ago  --  she’s  inclined   to  see  this  one  as  amateur  ,  and  thus  not  a  threat  .  perhaps  she’s  wrong  .  she’s  too  idealistic  to  consider  that  ,  however  .

          “ yeah, that sounds great ! “   kass laughs, a smile growing on her face.  she glances over at the refrigerators full of drinks.   “ should we grab something to mix with ?   what do you normally drink tito’s with ? “  she wasn’t really a vodka  ( ? she thinks it’s vodka ? )  kind of girl, but when in rome, right ?

“ i must’ve crawled back into the room then or used my teleportation skills, ” she winked at ginny. clearly, maeve couldn’t remember at all and so she decided to poke some fun at instead. “ you know, that’s not necessary, ” maeve smiled at her room mate. “ but yes, we should do that though i don’t think drunk karaoke is lowkey. i wont be opposed to it though. he can drag clem into it too. it can be a small roomie weekend type of thing. ” 

“i think ginny is a fancy name, no fancy titles needed.” he offered. as he took a glance at her screen, rizo briefly remembers that his own was due in a few days and thinks about reconsidering. but rizo also knows that he cannot function well when he’s bored and uninterested in the work and he prides himself on being able to actually enjoy all of what Gallagher has to offer him. he figures a short break wouldn’t hurt.

“i could help you out! then maybe after, we can totally ditch. so you don’t have to worry about it so much! ‘cause if you don’t finish it and we ditch, you might get distracted from the fun.” he tried to explain.

     and  she’ll  sport  her  usual  glossed  smile  ,  “  well  ,  thank  you  !  it’s  short  for  virginia  --  but  i  think  that’s  kinda  boring  .  ”  in  honesty  --  her  nickname  had  a  lot  more  to  do  with  what  caught  on  ,  back  in  the  group  home  .  the  abridged  version  caught  on  ,  somewhere  along  the  lines  ,  and  it’s  casual  enough  to  feel  comfortable  .  eyes  will  dart  between  the  screen  and  the  boy  ,  and  she  can’t  deny  it’s  the  right  thing  to  do  .  “  like  ,  you’re  right  .  but  i  wouldn’t  wanna  waste  your  time  !  i’m  not  sure  how  fun  you  can  really  call  peer  editing  ,  yeah  ?  ”

luna  thought  about  it  for  a  couple  of  minutes , and  thought  it  best  to  just  go  along  with  the  other ; not  really  sure  how  to  respond .  she  sometimes  forgets  not  everyone  shares  the  same  logical  and  analytical  way  of  thinking  that  she  does . “ uh–  y-yea  sure… if  you  say  so  sweetheart .”  she  retorts  with  a  small  grin . 

almost everything rubs nico the wrong way, but there’s nothing like an utterance that is neither here nor there that truly irks him. thank god for his parents’ intuition for not sending him to a school which opened the doors to everyone. he can feel the symptoms of a migraine from the mere thought of having to mingle with people that can barely stand up for themselves. a sharp tongue is prepared to wield words like daggers as he turns around. “ come again? ” his tone is harsh, almost patronising. “ if you have an opinion, do try and voice it. a little more volume might help. ”

there’s no difference between gallagher’s academy and a zoo, and the students are like rabid animals on steroids. at least to nico. he despises it here and it starts with the accent. leering across the large and busy dining hall, he plays with his cuff-links as he grimaces with disdain. “ so … this is what happens when a school turns into a charity. ”