HOLD IT DOWN

“I’m not crying. I’m just — I’m processing…” Poppy said, staring blankly at her planner. There was a remarkable amount of dates with assignments written next to them on her calendar, she could hardly believe it. “I’m so burnt out. Are you burnt out? Is this normal?” 

“Right...” Callum was never good with emotions. His own or others’. He couldn’t tell which he was worse at to be honest. He tended to ignore his own, made them easy to manage, but it wasn’t like it was viable advice for him to give other people. “Nah, pretty used to stretching myself thin.” Callum lived by that harder you push, higher you fly mentality. He knew it wasn’t for everyone though. “Look, just... chill out, alright? You want some water or something? Maybe you’re just dehydrated.” He took his water bottle from his bag and slid it over. “Here. Drink some of that and take 5.”

she  couldn’t  keep  her  grin  from  growing  wider.  sure,  her  plan  would  have  left  anyone  absolutely  gone  just  a  few  minutes  into  the  professor  beginning  his  lecture,  she  just  hadn’t  expected  to  get  called  out  on it.  esra  screwed  the  top  on  the  water  bottle,  pushing  it  back  into  her  book  bag.  “fair  enough,  but  what  makes  you  think  i  wouldn’t  be  prepared  to  drink  you  under  the  table  in  this  alternate  universe?”  she  couldn’t,  not  even  in  this  universe,  but  the  thought  of  losing  just  didn’t  sit  right.  she  took  his  hand,  shaking  her  head  at  the  other.  “esra  yildiz,  it’s  nice  to  meet  you.  as  shocking  as  this  may  sound,  i  promise  i  don’t  accidentally  pulling  out  a  water  bottle  full  of  vodka  during  orientations.”

“Touché.” It was a fair point. And not one Callum had the brain power to be cheeky about so early in the morning. “Callum,” he told her in return before giving her hand a shake. “Really?” He did his best to inject sarcasm in his voice despite sleep still weighing on him. He was never the most expressive person, and he didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with this person by coming off stony. “Well, you could’ve fooled me. Hell of an icebreaker though so maybe you’re onto something.” He curled his hand back into the pouch of his hoodie now that introductions were out of the way. “So, what’re you gonna do about your water situation now? Risk thirst? Ryerson has a way of making an hour feel like an eternity. I heard that’s why they hired him actually.”

She nodded her head, an approving expression decorating her features as she admired Callum’s utterance, “Nice one,” she complimented sincerely, it sounded almost as good as when her Dad shouted it in traffic or at the telly whenever Melbourne Storm was playing but not quite. “You don’t think that describes you? Mate, you’re one grey hair away from waving your zimmer frame and telling kids to get off your lawn,” she assured him. Though he may have looked like the quintessential strapping young lad, he certainly didn’t sound like it, the way he went on and on about the other people who dared suck up oxygen in his airspace. “Ninnys!” she chimed, raising her voice more than what was generally appropriate for a public setting. “Oh my God, there you go- I rest my case,” she chuckled, confident that she had never heard anybody below the age of seventy eight say anything like that.

“Righto, I’ll start organising an outfit for your funeral then,” she provided, trying to disguise the smile creasing her cheeks, “-and I’ll drink a full carton of milk first and you won’t be able to do a thing about me letting ‘em rip all through the service,” she teased, childishly, “Sucks to be you, Marcho,” she cooed as he addressed the barista.

She rolled her eyes, deciding that she’d rather drink hot lava than a straight black coffee packed with sugar, “You sure there’s gonna be enough coffee in that sugar cup of yours?” she questioned without making her judgement discreet in any manner. “Oh, fuck off, I’ve never even had it,” she lied through her teeth. At most coffee shops in Melbourne they had more types of milk than they did coffees and she was pretty sure she’d tried just about all of them, oat included.

Zimmer frame? It took a second but Callum managed to piece it together and figured Joss was referring to a walker. A fucking walker? Oh hell no. Before he could come to his own defense again, Callum had to switch gears and shush Joss instead. “Yo, shhh.” Callum hushed her with a laugh, coming to act as the world’s worst sound barrier. “Listen, I know in Australia, you all like to go wild and shit but in Canada we’re nice and quiet, okay, shhh.” He could barely contain the grin that wanted to split his face.

Callum only rolled his eyes at Joss’s ribbing, knowing black coffee with extra sugar was the superior drink and she was only hating. "Yeah right, you’ve never had it.” Chapman was selling him shit and he knew it. “You’ve probably had that and more. Probably get soy milk on the weekends. Treat yourself to all other kinds on the holidays. Lil fake milk aficionado hiding right beneath our noses.” He laughed, poking Joss on the shoulder repeatedly with the plan to do it until she broke but was soon distracted by the arrival of their drinks.

“Hey, peep it.” Callum nudged Joss’s arm once he lowered his drink from his lips. “Someone’s earned herself a number.” He jutted his chin toward the writing on her coffee cup. “Looks like Mr. Barista Guy’s into fart play. Might have a reason to stay off oat milk after all huh, Chappo?” He stuck his tongue out at Joss and jogged out the door before she could do anything like whack him for how annoying he was being.

“oh,  it’s  definitely  vodka.”  keeping  the  lid  of  the  bottle  lightly  screwed  on  top,  esra  pursed  her  lips  to  try  to  keep  from  laughing  and  drawing  anymore  attention  than  needed  her  way,  especially  now.  shifting  in  her  seat,  so  that  she  was  just  a  little  bit  closer  to  callum  and  away  from  prying  ears.  “how  about,  every time  ryerson  reads  literally  everything  he’s  written  on  a  powerpoint  slide,  we  take  a  shot.  a  double  shot  if  he  stop  to  go  on  a  tangent  about  something  from  his  personal  life  that  he’s  reminded  of,  but  does  nothing  but  waste  our  time.  deal?”

"First of all, if we followed any of those rules we’d have alcohol poisoning before class is over,” Callum told her with a chuckle. Everyone knew Ryerson had a tendency to not only be redundant but also useless. “And secondly, probably most importantly, that sounds like a blast but I’ve been off alcohol for the past two years.” Callum clicked this tongue. “Tough luck, but in another universe, I’d’ve drank you under this table.” A lie. Even back then, Callum wasn’t much of a drinker. Don’t get him wrong, he wanted to be. But the universe and his genes worked together so that he’d be red in the face and sloppy by the fourth beer. And he wasn’t much better with hard liquor either. “I like your style though. I’m Callum.” He held his hand out for hers to slap against in introduction.

She chuckled at Callum’s pantomime, impressed that he had the energy to be silly and hadn’t spent it all on restraining from knocking the girl in front of them out with a single punch.  “Loogie,” she repeated the word, scrunching up her face, “That’s a new one,” she noted and a gross one, she thought but kept that part to herself.

“That right there is what my Dad would call a fuckwit” it was a personal favorite of hers, it had more oomph than dick head and it was a little more unique as well. At least, that was the case in Canada, she’s discovered. “He’s a grumpy old man, like you,” she added with a smile on her face as she patted Callum’s shoulder affectionately, “You two would get on like a house on fire,” she considered playfully, picturing the two of them sat at a cafe complaining about every person and their dog that wandered by.

“Just a skim latte, double shot, no sugar, thanks,” she ordered before turning her attention to Callum, “Happy?” she asked, raising an eyebrow, though she suspected as much, her order couldn’t get that much more simple, “You can’t whinge if I get gassy now, cos I skipped the plant milk for you,” she teased, not caring if the barista heard her or not.

"Fuckwit,” he let the word roll off of his tongue. Sounded right, felt right. “Good enough for me.” Callum decided to make a point of incorporating the word into his everyday vocabulary now. It’ll switch things up from the usual ‘dickhead’ and ‘asshole’. “Grumpy old man?” Callum blinked, only slightly insulted. “I’m not a grumpy old man,” he insisted, “and if your dad’s anything like me, that just means he has impeccable taste and doesn’t have time for ninnys.” Because yes, anyone who didn’t just order coffee they way it was written on the board was a ninny. What was wrong with a plain black coffee? Or a regular latte? People were getting spoiled and it fucking showed.

“Delighted,” he responded, even rewarding Joss with a smirk. “Yeah, you’re not spotting me in the gym today,” he told her in response to hearing that. “If I die by a barbell to the throat, it’ll be because I was weak shit, not because your ass burp sabotaged me.” A colorful way of putting things but true nonetheless. He gave Joss a poke before ushering her to the side so he could put in his order. Show her how it was really done. “Black extra sugar.” No more than three words. “Thanks.” And though the thanks was meant for the barista, he was looking directly at Joss when he said it. “Hear that? 3 words. Simple. Fucking skim latte double shot.” He slid over his payment and headed off to the side to wait for his drink with Joss. “You an oat milk girl? You’re probably an oat milk girl aren’t you? Blondie.” He ruffled Joss’s hair.

“Aw, I’ll add that to my list of things you get cranky about then- can’t believe it’s not even noon and we’ve got two new additions,” long coffee orders and spit play were a couple of the more strange gripes on Callum’s long list of nuisances but she was confident she’d discover more before either of them graduated or moved to a different school.

She grinned devilishly at the warning, “Yeah, nah, actually, it’s gonna be twice as long. Just to piss you off,” she decided, “I’m gonna stand there umming and ahhing for a few minutes, just for good measure and then I’m gonna ask where every bean and seed in every type of plant-based milk is grown, then I’m going to ask for recommendations and reject every single one of ‘em. You’re gonna love it, mate. My Mum is the most annoying person in the World at any cafe or restaurant, I’ve got a life time of experience under my belt,”

Callum was well aware this was just a long-winded joke but it still struck fear in him. Just the thought of suffering through beans and seeds and fucking plant based milks made him want to drop dead where he stood. It was too much for someone who didn’t have an ounce of caffeine in him yet. “Yeah, okay, I’m just gonna—” He faked leaving the line, going as far as taking a couple of steps before returning to his place beside Joss once he’d given his show. “Don’t you dare,” he told her once he’d settled back next her. “I’ll change my mind on spit play and drop a loogie in your drink when you’re not looking.” His empty words were paired with a playful nudge to Joss’s side. “Thank fuck.” He sighed in relief when he noticed the line was finally moving again. “That girl should come with a warning sign,” he muttered to Joss as he watched Two-Pumps-of-Praline-Caramel-Swirl-whatever-the-fuck leave with a cup filled with enough sugar to make Dwayne Johnson get Dad Bod. “Is there a term in Australia for people who fucking suck?”

By now, Joss was fairly familiar with the way Callum operated and she was getting used to his running commentary. She was half listening to his lamenting, half scrolling through her Instagram feed while he complained about things that were beyond either of their control and arguably completely irrelevant to both of them, “I reckon you’ll survive,” it would be two minutes at most, she thought, “Shit, you’re not dying of thirst, are you?” she asked with faux urgency, raising an eyebrow as she questioned him playfully, “If you are, I can spit in your mouth for you, you might last a few more minutes that way, quick, let’s give it a go,” she suggested, her full attention on him now, her phone abandoned and screen locked, “Open wide, Marcho” she encouraged, bumping shoulders with him in a manner that made the Karens in the venue scowl at the pair for being rowdy in a public place.

"Doubt it,” Callum quipped in all of his grumpy dramatics, tipping his head back and sighing so he didn’t have to look at the patron’s head as she tried to decide what fucking milk she wanted in her drink now. It would probably take the next 5 minutes and he wouldn’t be surprised if it involved quarter cup measurements of different kinds of milk at the way this princess was customizing her fucking beverage. At Joss’s ribbing, Callum couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, leaning his head forward again and turning it to the right so he could catch Joss as she started to jostle playfully at his side. “Fuck off,” he told her breathily, a smile on his face that even he didn’t expect to have. Look at that, Bulky Grinch did have a sense of humor. His hand went up and pushed lazily at Joss’s cheek in a half-assed attempt at pacifying her. “Your spit goes in my mouth, I’m sending you back to Australia myself. Go be kinky with your kangaroos, I’m not into spit play.” The image of Joss getting weird with a bunch of marsupials entertained him more than he cared to admit. “Your order better not be that long when we get up there,” he threatened when they calmed down. It was a joke. Ish. If Joss’s order went beyond three words, Callum decided he was abandoning her there in advance.

@somersopens​

edies eyes continue to wander across the noticeboard, before turning to acknowledge the other student “ well. information about upcoming productions always get posted here first. ” her tone is matter of fact, but she offers the stranger a smile nonetheless. “ i like to have as much time as possible to prepare before an audition. ” edie surveys the other, a smile still painted on her lips, “ you know, i don’t think our paths have crossed before. edie adler, it’s nice to meet you. ” she offers him her hand. shaking hands might be a little on the formal side for most university students but if there’s one thing edie values, it’s making a good first impression.

“Production? Like, acting and shit?” Not the most eloquent way to pose a question but Callum wasn’t the most eloquent person. At the sight of an extended hand, he blinked, thinking: oh shit, a handshake. Okay, so this girl was like... serious. In an attempt to meet her level of sophistication, Callum cleared his throat, pulled his shoulders back and met her hand with his, giving it a firm shake that would impress any girl’s father. “Callum,” he introduced himself, forcing his lips into a slight smile. “Marcher,” he thought to add after a moment since she’d given him her last name, almost blanking on the reality that sharing surnames was a thing because he hardly ever gave his unless he was speaking to someone that was responsible for giving him a grade. “Yeah, I don’t think we’ve... crossed paths,” he borrowed her vocabulary, the words feeling strange on his tongue. “What do you take?” He asked, moving beyond ‘polite’ and venturing into ‘curious’ now, wondering if they could have shared a general subject or two without him realizing.

    she  gathers  her  things  from  her  table  in  the  library,  hand  brushing  against  another’s  as  they  too  reach  for  her  notebook.  she  snatches  the  book  quickly,  only  feeling  relief  when  it  is  in  her  grasp.  “  did  you  think  that  was  yours  ?  ”  ava  asks,  brows  knitted  together  in  confusion,  “  because  i  can  assure  you,  it  is  not.  ”  /  @somersopens·

After hours at the library hammering facts about nutrition into his head, Callum’s energy was shot. He just wanted to get home and fall into a small coma but unfortunately still had a commute home to struggle through. Though it seemed he couldn’t even get through packing his things into his bag properly. “Fuck.” He groaned. “Sorry.” A quick shake of his head in an attempt to become more alert. “Honest mistake. I’m just...” Piss tired. In dire need of a nap. Any and all of the above. Callum sighed, feeling his eyelids get heavier by the second. “My bad. Seriously,” he insisted, not caring to finish the explanation he started. He moved his hand over to grab the correct notebook and shoved it into his backpack. Bag now slung over his shoulder, his plan was to head out and home but he couldn’t in good conscience just bounce having noticed how stern the girl had been with him. “Sorry, aight,” he reiterated. “Didn’t mean to mess with you. Or your things rather.” Grammatically that was probably incorrect but it wasn’t like he could fucked in the state he was in. “We good? I didn’t take anything else of yours, right?” At least he hoped not. He would be pissed if he had to toss his things back out onto the table just to maybe find something of hers.

location: some dorm party

the solo cups were sticking together and as much as reese tried to pry them apart, she was having absolutely no luck. who knew that it’d require upper arm strength to rip apart plastic? she internally said ‘fuck it’ and poured the whiskey straight into the stack of cups. eyes widened as someone approached, “oh fuck…did you want some?” there were no other cups in sight. the journalist let out a loud, contemplative hum as she found a straw and stuck it into the whiskey. “here, we can share. i’ll sip from the cup and you can sip from the straw like a classy motherfucker.”

@somersopens·

Callum swiftly declined the offer with a half-hearted raise of his hand and an easy, “I don’t drink.” An explanation that usually earned him a question or two at a place like this. Yeah, he had no idea why he still attended parties either. "Do you like, want me to give it a shot?” He asked the girl. And by ‘it’, he meant untwisting the cups from each other. “I’m a pretty decent jar opener. Can’t be too bad of a cup... puller?” His brows knit together and his face pinched up. That didn’t sound right, he thought. “Anyway,” he continued on, hoping to gloss over that awkward moment. “Mind if I?” He held his hand out, figuring he could tug a cup from the bottom and separate the rest that way. “I’ll try not to spill your whiskey.”

esra   looked   down   dubiously   at   the   uncapped   water   bottle   in   her   in   hands.   she   had   filled   two   the   night   before,   but   in   a   rush   to   get   to   her   morning   class,   she   had   grabbed   the   first   one   she   saw   in   the   fridge.   bringing   the   bottle   to   her   nose,   she   sniffed   the   contents   before   relaxing   back   into   her   seat.   “there   is   always   a   fifty   percent   chance   that   it’s   vodka,   can’t   be   too   careful.”

The early morning was hardly Callum’s favorite time of day. The only redeeming thing about being awake at such an hour was that most people were usually too hungover or too lazy to be conscious, leaving the campus a generally quiet place until everybody managed to drag their asses out of bed. It left a pretty decent slice of time for Callum to enjoy being in public, scrolling mindlessly on his phone until the lecture officially started or something caught his attention. Mid-like of a 9GAG post, a voice beside him pulled his focus, his seatmate’s words earning a twist of his lips. “So, which is it? You gonna be wasted before Ryerson pulls up his PowerPoint or are you gonna suffer through this class sober like me?”

status: open location: by the campus noticeboards

it’s a daily ritual for edie to check the campus noticeboards. despite having alerts set up for the theatre society’s posts on all social media platforms, there was something about seeing the announcement of a new production in glossy poster form that edie just adores. as she is scouring the board for anything of interest she notices another student sidle up beside her, and shoots them an interested look.  “ sorry, did you need me to move? ” without waiting for an answer she shuffles aside just a little to allow them some room, before looking back up at the notices. “ it’s not an overly exciting array today unfortunately. ”

Callum hardly ever checked the noticeboards —  he didn’t feel the need to since he was pretty much settled in his campus life and knew where and when he had to be somewhere — but since it was the start of a new term, he thought he’d give it a look-see. It’s not like he was on the lookout for anything specific. His schedule was pretty much set with hockey, working out, and leaving time to study but it never hurt to see if some hopeful fire-starter was putting forward new shit like a knitting club called Gosh Yarn It or something with some other equally quirky name. “Oh, nah, I—” But before he could finish, the shorter student moved aside. Well, barely, but still. “Right... I see that. I’m not really looking to join anything, just wanted to see what’s up. You, uh... looking for something specific?” He was being polite, awkwardly at that, but he felt like he owed the chick some effort for being so courteous and using words like ‘overly’ and ‘array’.

「 BEN LEVIN | 21 | CIS MAN 」 CALLUM MARCHER studies PHYSICAL EDUCATION and i think HE is in THIRD YEAR. also, pretty sure HE lives in COOLEY and they call HIM the GUARD. probably because HE is PROTECTIVE, DEDICATED, GRUMPY and IMPATIENT.