𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 // 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑

 “  i’m  not  embarrassed  about  what  happened  over  there ,  she  would  have  got  more  than  a  piece  of  my  mind  if  i  hadn’t  got  carried  away  like  a  freakin’  toddler  to  my  naughty  step … ”  she  rambled ,  her  fingers  gripping  onto  the  edge  of  the  bench  as  her  legs  bounced  up  and  down  impatiently .  “  you  also  don’t  have  to  pussyfoot  around  me ,  i’m  not  soft  you  know  -  i’m  not  gonna  break  down  &  cry . ”  she  replied ,  as  she  tore  her  eyes  away  from  her  victim  ,  to  find  his  eyes .  “  i  need  to  get  out  of  here  before  i  get  into  a  real  fight … ”

“okay,” fin, raise his hands up in surrender, not wanting to fight, nor to argue. so his next bit of words were really more of a mumble than a statement; more for him than anyone else. “yea, wasn’t thinking you were.” tongue poking the side of his mouth as he listened, fin figured himself misunderstood and all given thanks to a joke. or to annie hathaway. seemed better and easier to name it on miss devil wears prada than his own miscommunication. “only ever figured we’d blow the popsicle stand.” there he gave a simple yet honest shrug. a true one. sticking out his elbow, fin tucked his board under his other, fin committed to the cause. “heard there’s freshman with access to ice cream. soft serve.” fin extended his elbow out more, offering it further. “sprinkles even.”

fineastin​:

fin shook his head in response to a few things, first being the apology. but mostly it’d been in regards to the situation neither had yet to directly address. spencer. figuring he’d have to address it with them in some shape or form one day or the next, fin said ‘one, two, three fuck it’ and shrugged his shoulders before opening his mouth. “listen, i’m not gonna come at you unless you want me to.” because if fin was good at one thing it’s playing dumb. addressing the issues was never quite his style. “i mean, i’m fine,” he answered simply, hiking his bag higher up his shoulder. “think my western civ t.a. might hate me — “ pause for finger guns, “ — but just smoked a blunt with my poetry professor. which, you know, speaking of if you want some just, you know, i gotcha.”

noah wasn’t one to make a scene about apologies - it was something he rarely did. but he knew when he was in the wrong, when a simple word would make the tensions a lot better. granted, that counted on noah actually wanting to make things better. if he had been in any other state of mind, he might have retorted back with something along the lines of a don’t get used to hearing it, but today was too much. he nodded, noticing how both of the two skirted around the name that hung in the air that surrounded them, but didn’t say anything about it. “your poetry prof is definitely cooler than my psych prof,” noah laughed gently. “and i… might take you up on that. god knows i need it,” they said, voice heavy with a streak of despair.

fin nodded because, really, what else was there to do but nod? maybe a less hazy mind might’ve found a solid solution. maybe. yet they stirred and fin’s best response was to chuckle along in agreement. “oh, i assure you, totally an easy battle. dude won’t admit to it but fully pledged witness to him socking out a man-Karen two months back.” as a warning, plus addition to the story, fin raised warning, “Dude’s got a mean left hook.” His smile edged wider intentionally; call it the vodka in his system or just a sense... but something called for fin to sling his arm ‘round their shoulders. not squeezing. just being. “straight up? want to say sorry but kinda always felt like those were bullshit, like... i didn’t do shit. what’s two words gonna do, you know?” so no sorry. just fin standing there with uncertainty of what words would do the trick.

her perfectly manicured eyebrows screwed up into a face that said, are you serious? “did you just tell me to unclench?” with some reluctance she moved towards fin in wary anticipation of what he would request this time. “also since when do you have…meetings.” the word was quizzical on her tongue as if she was second guessing the phrase. kanon stowed the ribbon in question and crossed her arms over her chest. “well what is it now? i don’t want to lose practice time so make it quick.” 

fin looked back, squinting softly, as if he too were recalling the very words that had just passed his lips. “chances you thought i was talking about your jaw?” a simple question, though in the moment it felt entirely dangerous. dental health wasn’t his focus, of course. nor was it on stocks or other business terms one might have to pull out their sleeve. fin journeyed up the steps, pausing upon his selected row before continuing down. “you say that like i’m not serious.” fin took the time to mock tightening the knot of a tie around his neck. see, he could be adult. he could be professional. but with business not a one sided venture, fin was left to respond as best he could. “flip away. mary lou whatever you have to. i can wait solo.”

noah silently cursed themselves for coming off so defensive. it wasn’t like they didn’t have a reason, but they had barely even… let the person in front of them get a word in. and when he heard fin’s voice, noah visibly winced. he didn’t mean harm. “i… sorry,” noah whispered. “i didn’t mean for… i just thought you were… coming to talk to me about something else,” they said. if he had been, it wouldn’t have been the first time today or in the last 24 hours that someone had (problematically) asked noah what he knew. “no it’s fine. i’m sorry - really. how are you doing?” noah asked, desperate to make amends - at least with his own fraternity members.

fin shook his head in response to a few things, first being the apology. but mostly it’d been in regards to the situation neither had yet to directly address. spencer. figuring he’d have to address it with them in some shape or form one day or the next, fin said ‘one, two, three fuck it’ and shrugged his shoulders before opening his mouth. “listen, i’m not gonna come at you unless you want me to.” because if fin was good at one thing it’s playing dumb. addressing the issues was never quite his style. “i mean, i’m fine,” he answered simply, hiking his bag higher up his shoulder. “think my western civ t.a. might hate me — “ pause for finger guns, “ — but just smoked a blunt with my poetry professor. which, you know, speaking of if you want some just, you know, i gotcha.”

a look at kanon’s stoic face would never give you the idea that she’d been admitted to meadowbank on a rhythmic gymnastics scholarship. sure enough though when her proud nose wasn’t buried within the pages of a book it was usually looking down at the floor of the severely underfunded gym that she trained in. her nose scrunched uncomfortably as the door to the gym swung open. too bright light poured in illuminating the dust that covered most surfaces. “i rented the gym for the hour.” her face showed no willingness to compromise on the subject. “did you hear me?” @meadowbankstart​

“yea, loud and clear,” fin nodded in confirmation, though he continued onward as if hadn’t or — the truth — as if he didn’t care. the bleachers were empty, meaning that he was early. as he headed towards the steps, fin waved off kanon. was it bold of him to presume he could dismiss her fight? potentially. but there were reasons people called him dumb and wasn’t just his grade in history. “unclench. i’ll be gone in like.. fifteen tops. i got a meeting. i’m not here to stand between you and your flips and,” fin paused on the stairs to turn to her and wave his hand through the air, “your, like... ribbon shit.”

her  hands  still  balled  into  fists  out  of  frustration , rose  forced  back  the  tears  that  were  still  stinging  at  her  eyes . as  she  heard  someones  voice  from  beside  her  ,  she  just  nodded  along  in  agreement  to  what  they  were saying  without  actually  listening  to  what  he  had  said .  it  was  a  few  seconds  later  before  she  shook  herself  out  of  her  tunnel  vision  to  look  up  at  the  person  who  had  spoke  through  narrowed  eyes .  “ wait ,  what  did  you  just  say …. ”

he’d been convinced that his plan had worked as he watched her nod along, but the idea of being big brained like that fell flat shortly after. his eyes squinted as he peered down at her, shoulder rising towards his ears as his hands tug into the front pockets of his jeans. “anne hathaway. annie hathaway,” fin repeated as his foot casually rolled the skateboard still beneath his converse back and forth on the pathway. “i don’t know, figured you’d prefer i maybe, you know, played dumb to starbucks-head over there.” he nodded his head in the vague direction of ongoing shrieks. while late on the scene, fin wasn’t completely oblivious. kinda hard to miss the off-broadway version of gloppy from candyland. “up to you.”

INT.  LIBRARY  –  [ open / @meadowbankstart​ ]

Noah sat in the library, papers sprawled out around him on the desk. It wasn’t unlike Noah to find himself in the library to study. It was just… easier. Something about the bookstacks encouraged Noah to work instead of slack off. If only Noah could wrap their head around their work. But ever since the… accident, Noah’s mind had been drifting back and forth. The pictures, the reports. Everything all over the news. The only thing that shook them out of their daze of replaying images was the sound of someone else approaching his table. “If you’re going to interrupt me, you better have a damn good reason,” Noah said, partially snappy, not looking up from where his eyes were trained on the paper in front of him, glasses on the edge of his nose, blonde curls falling around their face, coming loose out of their messy bun. He was just… agitated.

his forward momentum ceased the second noah spoke. fin even flinched, mind transporting him back to being a kid when he’d used to bound into his father’s office and receive lectures instead of attention. the whiskey was doing a number to his memory— and liver — but fin could have sworn he’d heard those exact words before. and so he went on the defense, just like he’d learned, lifting his hands up in surrender. “i mean, i was just going to pay you last month’s dues but, i mean... hey,” fin shrugged, retracing his steps backwards, “clearly a bad time. i’ll just catch you later.” and for anyone that knew fin, later wasn’t in a few hours or even the next day. later often meant weeks or never.

   a  red  mist  had  descended  over  her &  she  just  lost  herself .  how  could  they  stand  their  &  cry  for  someone  who  they  -  on  more  than  one  occasion -  told  to  &  kill  themselves.  the  last  thing  she  remembered  was  dumping  her  double  chocolate  frappuccino  over the girls  head  before  shoving  her really hard &  screaming  in  her  face .  now  she  was  getting carried away .  once set  down ,  she  slumped  down  on  the  nearest  bench  &  took  in  as  deep  of  a  breath  that  she  could.  “  fucking  fake  contradicting bitch ….. ” she  muttered ,  more  to  herself  than  anything  else  as  her  eyes  began  to  sting  from  the  tears  that  were  threating  them.    @meadowbankstart​

in true fin fashion, he arrived late to the scene, gliding in on his skateboard and coming to a stop just a few feet from rose. overhearing her muttering, he stood there in silence for a moment. a few of his brain cells pinballed back and forth in skull, navigating his words for a few simple seconds before resulting in purposefully ignorant response. “i know, right. i mean... like, annie hathaway?” fin shook his head, years of experience being and not just playing dumb. “this whole time had me calling her anne. genovia’s got to be fucked up right now.”

his name was a RING as daphne moved her way through campus; loud and constant and to a point, overwhelming. she understood why there was such a commotion - how could there not be when one of the college’s beloved students were dead. daphne didn’t know spencer as well as his friends or family did, but she knew him enough, and that alone etched a frown upon her porcelain face. she neared the library as a group gathered by a now popular pillar, their conversations humming until she was close enough to hear their string of words. OF COURSE, they were talking about spencer, as well as staring at a few of the posters plastered against the recognised pillar of his face and kind words left by friends and admirers. daphne’s arms folded across her chest as one of her eyebrows cocked. she clicked her tongue before looking to the person beside her, “how long do you think this will go for?” she started, needing to raise her voice to overtake those around her, “the sadness and the shock? don’t get me wrong, i know that this… it was a big deal, but will things ever be normal again?” @meadowbankstart

there was something about seeing spencer’s face everywhere that unsettled fin. not the turn-your-stomach-make-you-sick type of way but the one that had fin unscrewing the lid to his recycled bottle of aquafina faster, itching for a sip. “fuck, i hope so,” he exhaled after wiping his lips with the back of his hand. yea, maybe it was a bit selfish of him to want to move on, hardly knowing the guy save a few late night conversations. friend or not, death wasn’t a fun thing for anyone to have looming around. and with fin it felt like a taunt. after another swig from the plastic bottle, fin cast his eyes down to the path they walked. “depends i guess. mostly on whether the cops decide be competent or not.” fin braved a look up at the group briefly before shrugging his shoulders lazily. “definitely got the... okay, fanbase is the wrong word but, like, it’s early so take pity.”

a steady headache lingered over a still intoxicated tony as he stumbled out of the frat house, sunglasses shading the early afternoon sun as he tugged the backpack strap over his shoulder with a water bottle mixed with day old gatorade as he adjusted his focus. he had class in just a short ten minutes but his mind went straight to the dining hall and the greasy bacon egg and cheese that awaited him. pushing his way into the hall he let out a groan, pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head as he eyed the small line before the counter, hand on his stomach. “guess everyone is fuckin’ slumped today.” he muttered more to himself than anyone else as he looked down at the student standing before him.

not that his math was up to par at the moment but if fin were to have ventured a guess he’d say that he’d managed to get about a hour-twenty worth of sleep the previous night. tag onto that that he’d been sprawled out on a bench near admissions and, well, his current half-there state wasn’t all the big a shock. but oh, what he wouldn’t do for a mouthful of pancakes. “fair enough considering,” fin nodded, looking back in tony’s direction but his mind ten thousand paces back, dancing between memories of johnny walker and red solo cup concoctions. “some of them got the right idea at least. i mean... in my experience only two things that can cure it.” before needing to be prompted, fin lifted two fingers. “hair of the dog.” an obvious. “and bacon.”

sharpie scribbles on bar napkins, fallen branches on a dysfunctional family tree, thrifted jean jackets and converse worn years past their worth, a room decorated with emptied bottles, loose-leaf shoved to the bottom of a bag, heavy eyes that just can’t close.