Ggjbffjvsfhbfrt Chapter 7: Cumming, an academy 7 fanfic

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A Better Life

mkivanon

activensfwmedium reader input2 day read

Tags: mindcontrol worm futaprotagonist slowburn show spoiler tags

Synopsis

You are Taylor Hebert, and you've spent years in a haze just trying to get through the day. You have no friends, your father is dead, your mother is too depressed to care for you, and you are struggling to see the point in bothering.

And then you find an app that lets you change yourself, that lets you change others. And for the first time you see a way out, a way to change your life for the better.

A way to get what you want.

Reviews

by mierz2 years ago

A story with wonderful pacing, great writing, believability, and if and when smut happens, im honestly expecting it to be great.

Also, the app in this story isn't instant perfection etc, Taylor still has to work to get shit, and that just makes things better. Great quest/story!

You aren't entirely sure why you downloaded the app.

Well, that's a lie. You know exactly why you downloaded it.

Because you are lonely, miserable, and most of all extremely bored. It had popped up in an advertisement during a particularly bleak bout of wasting time on your phone in a bathroom during your lunch break. And the tagline had caught your attention in an embarrassingly resonant way.

Have you ever wanted to change your life for the better?

You had successfully avoided Emma and her crew, something that had become more common this semester as you no longer shared classes with any of them right before lunch, and they weren't quite obsessed enough to systematically check every bathroom and cranny you could be hiding in every day.

In the end though, you just substituted fear for boredom.

It had looked innocuous enough, and hadn't requested access to anything else on your phone when you installed it. So, why not.

The real thing is, you aren't entirely sure what the app you downloaded was. The name A Better Life is vague enough to be anything from an RPG game to a self help app. The logo, a simple red heart on a blue background with the name in cursive over it, is also decidedly unhelpful in divining any details about it.

It had been a spur of the moment and mundane whim to cure your boredom, that had been largely fruitless as all you managed to do before you had to go back to class was spend time watching a download bar progress. And then an installation bar. And then a screen with a looping animation of the heart on the icon that asked you to wait while it "Calibrated settings of your better life".

It had killed time, and provided a mild amusement as you wondered if it was just mining data from your phone, before you put your phone back in your pocket and went back to class, and promptly forgot about it.

All in all, by the time you made it back home the app had faded into barely even a tiny blip in the background boredom of your life. And between finishing your homework early, because you had nothing better to do with your time, making dinner for yourself, because your mom was working late again, and taking a shower, because you were 90% sure Madison stuck some gum in your hair (you were right), you didn't notice the notification on your phone until late in the evening.

Your Better Life Is Waiting

SAT, OCT 2, 2021 AT 08:52 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

"How cheesy," you can't help but mutter.

With a faint smile, you tap on it, mentally making bets on what the app actually is as it boots up.

It's probably some type of game, rather than a self help app you thought it might be. It just didn't seem soppy enough so far.

You're no expert with video games, you haven't even touched one since you stopped being friends with Emma and lost access to her and her family's collection of gaming consoles. And even back then, that had been more of Emma's sister's thing that you and Emma only bothered with when you had wanted to bug/spend time with her.

The absent thought about your old friend and your surrogate older sister that you haven't seen in years soured your extremely mild good mood, and with a sigh and a frown, you look at your phone.

Welcome Taylor Hebert, to your new, better, life.

You pause and raise an eyebrow at the fact that it knows your name before mentally shrugging it off, assuming that you had given it access to that through your email or something.

A bit weird and creepy, but you've seen weirder.

A Better Life isn't just a game-

So it was a game.

It's a chance, an opportunity, to change your life, your peers, and your world into something more appealing to you.

A bit aggressive, and you aren't entirely sure how such grand statements could be translated into a game, but you'd be lying if the idea didn't appeal.

You hum to yourself as you scroll through the introduction until you finally get to something that wasn't grand promises.

SAT, OCT 2, 2021 AT 08:55 PMNEW COMMENTCHAT

Before we get to the real game, you need to know how it works.

The main currency in your Better Life is crystals, and the main mechanic will be spending those crystals on various changes in a number of areas. The number of changes you can make with crystals is vast, and limited only by the number you are willing to spend.

Once you get past this tutorial, you will start to accumulate crystals over time, along with unlocking the option to earn crystals through your actions. But for now, just to get you familiar with the system, we've provided you with 25 crystals that you can spend to physically modify your player character however you like.

Once you're past this, you won't just be limited to physical changes, but for now you're limited in the interest of not overwhelming you with choices.

It seems... simple, almost boringly so, you thought to yourself as you tapped through to view the choices, before bursting out into an involuntary snort at the first option presented.

Add Penis - 5 Crystals

You can't control the nervously mortified laugh that escapes you as you realize what you're reading. God, why had you been taking it so seriously?

It's a porn game.

Scrolling down through the options with embarrassed delight, you suppose that this is just a type of character creator mixed with the tutorial. There are all kinds of physical changes you could choose, so you assume that you will be presented with a character by the end of it with all of the traits you selected.

Hair color, height, facial features, a bunch of minor changes to appearance for various costs. The cost ranged from 1 crystal for minor cosmetic changes like 'Change Hair Color - Blonde - Non-Permanent', with the permanent option costing 3 crystals, to impressively costly ones that you can't even afford like 'Add Second Pair of Arms' for over 30 crystals.

The fact that the cheapest option to increase breast size cost just over your budget at 26 crystals also startles some amusement out of you. The developers must love small boobs, huh?

If you had been taking this seriously, you might've noticed the conspicuous absence of changes that would be redundant for your real body. There were no dark brown hair or eye color options, no add vagina, and no reduce breast size. But you weren't.

So you didn't.

SAT, OCT 2, 2021 AT 08:57 PMNEW COMMENT10 CHAT

You aren't particularly interested in a porn game, but so far this has been pretty funny, and you're curious about how exactly a game like this would work. Is it really just buying things?

You barely debate which one to pick first, just picking the first one that caught your eye.

You tap on the Add Penis option and then again on the confirmation screen, not bothering to really pay attention to your choice. It just felt right, considering it was the first one you saw, and the first thing that had gotten a laugh out of you in a long while.

The amused smile on your face freezes as you feel something stirring in your groin.

You nearly drop your phone on your face as you scramble to sit up and pull at your pants as a growing pressure mounted. Your fingers fumble with the button and the zipper for long enough that the outward pressure ceases, and you are just left with a cramped, tight feeling in your panties.

"What the fuck?"

You had a dick.

There's a dick sprouting from your groin, where there hadn't been just a minute before. A solid 6-inch long, hard, penis. Your penis that is definitely attached and had sensation, if the embarrassing yelp you let out after you incredulously, instinctively grabbed at it is any indication Your face burns as you snatch your hand back, cradling it to your chest as if it were burned by the disturbingly hard appendage.

What the Fuck.

There's a moment that might've lasted anywhere between half a second and half an hour where that remains the only coherent thought in your mind as you stare at it, before you snap back to attention and scramble for your phone.

With shaking hands you rush to turn it on and scroll through the still open app, looking for one particular change.

Remove Penis - 10 Crystals

You immediately go to tap on it, wanting nothing more than to try and regain some sense of normality. You just need to fix this, and then you could calm down and spend some time thinking about what the fuck was going on.

You're about to confirm when you pause as your eye catches sight of the change right above it.

Increase Muscle Mass (Major) - 10 Crystals

Slowly, it dawned on you. Really, truly dawned on you.

This is real.

The choices you make in this game affect you. You can change yourself however you like. Looking through the choices once again, actually paying attention this time, you realize that you can change yourself for the better.

There are options to fix your eyesight, clear your skin of blemishes permanently, make yourself more fit, give yourself better reflexes, make yourself taller, make your hair naturally self caring, fix that molar that has been bothering you since you were a kid. You can, make things better.

You can, so long as you have the crystals for it.

You don't want your new penis, at all. But did you not want it more than you want ten crystals worth of changes? You only have twenty left after your stupid choice earlier, do you want to spend half of it fixing that one mistake instead of making improvements to your life? It said that you could earn Crystals after this tutorial, but you have no idea if ten is a lot or not.

Hesitantly, you tap the little 'i' icon next to the muscle mass change. It can't hurt to hold off and get more information, right?

Right, your issue had been not taking this seriously and rushing in. So it's time to take it seriously and take your time.

Increase Muscle Mass changes increase your all around muscle strength, as opposed to Increase Fitness Level which changes your cardiovascular strength. So you will be able to lift more and jump higher, but will still be out of breath just as fast, if not faster, than you did before.

Minor and Major tiers equate to roughly the same amount of gains as three weeks or three months of dedicated, daily, resistance training respectively. (Note: This does not scale with any permanent increases of exercise efficiency that you purchase beforehand.)

SAT, OCT 2, 2021 AT 09:12 PMNEW COMMENT4 CHAT

Intrigued by that note, you scroll down further into the more expensive changes, the ones you can't even afford, to find the exercise efficiency option that cost 25 crystals and tapped on the 'i' icon for it.

Increases the efficiency of all types of exercise by 10x, without requiring a corresponding increase in caloric intake. This essentially means that a week of strenuous exercise corresponds to over two months worth of equally strenuous exercise.

You read the description incredulously, regretting your rash purchase even more, before moving down to the others of similar cost.

Improved Muscle Memory, Decreased Sleep Requirement, Reduced Food Requirement, Efficient Food Intake, Increased Muscle Density, Minor Regeneration.

There are a large number of changes that cost 25 crystals, that all seemed to grant what are essentially minor parahuman abilities, and very few that cost any more than that. Which you suppose makes sense, considering that that is the most you could've spent on this tutorial section.

The absent thought gives you pause. Parahuman abilities? If this thing can give you those, did that make you a parahuman yourself? Is this just a really fucked up and weird manifestation of your powers, or is it an experiment devised by the weirdest and most powerful tinker in the world that decided to use you as a test subject. You, a completely random and insignificant teenager in an unimportant part of a city that only occasionally cracked the top fifty most notable cities in the country.

You hesitantly decide to not worry about it until you, at the very least, finish the tutorial. Either way there's nothing you could really do about it.

Much, much, later, you will think back to this moment and wonder about the fact that simply stopping using it and contacting the authorities never crossed your mind.

Putting the unattainable changes out of your mind, you scroll back up to the more affordable options and wonder which ones you were going to go with, and what you are going to prioritize.

Everything else could wait until after, you think to yourself, before realizing that your pants are still pulled down and your new dick is still flopping out in the wind, thankfully flaccid now.

You hastily pull up your panties, squirming at the pressure, but preferring that to just hanging out.

That doesn't need to wait.

SAT, OCT 2, 2021 AT 09:15 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

You have 20 crystals to do with as you please, you need to spend all of them before moving past the tutorial.

In this case only, you will take all the top options of the vote until you reach past your 20 crystal limit, skipping over any that are too expensive until you run out.

SAT, OCT 2, 2021 AT 09:23 PMNEW COMMENT2 CHAT

Up to 20 Crystals -Voting closed - 16 voters

VOTES

Increase Fitness Level (Major) - 10

12/142

Fix Teeth - 10

6/7

Increase Reflexes - 15

7/7

Increase Muscle Mass (Major) - 10

5/5

Clear skin blemishes (Permanent) - 15

5/5

Gain 20/20 vision - 15

4/5

Gain an inch of height - 5

2/2

Remove Penis - 10

1/21

Gain Self-cleaning Hair -15

1/1

SAT, OCT 2, 2021 AT 09:24 PMNEW COMMENT21 CHAT

Choices -Voting closed - 18 voters

VOTES

Increase Fitness Level (Major) (Again) - 10

10/11

Increase Muscle Mass (Major) - 10

9/101

Gain 20/20 vision - 10

7/91

Gain Self-cleaning Hair - 10

3/42

Fix Teeth - 10

3/4

Cute mole (Permanent, the developers of A Better Life do not guarantee that others think of this mole as 'cute') - 5 crystals

2/2

Remove Penis - 10

1/2

Gain an inch of height - 5

1/1

SAT, OCT 2, 2021 AT 09:38 PMNEW COMMENT68 CHAT

You don't need most of these, to be honest.

Purely aesthetic changes definitely can't compete with some of the other things, maybe if you have 200 crystals instead of 20 you would consider them, but not on your limited budget. Even if they only cost one or two, it's just too much of an opportunity cost to afford.

As for the physical changes… well… better vision would be nice, as would not having to clean your hair, and you still aren't super happy with your new addition.

But are they nicer than possibly not having to catch your breath after you climb the stairs at school with your backpack on?

You are, and it fills you with embarrassment to think this, not the most athletic of people.

That is an understatement, you are completely out of shape.

You don't exercise unless you're forced to, you don't go out because you have no one to go out with, you take the bus or walk from home to school and back again once a day, five times a week and that's most of your physical activity.

You remember being more fit, you remember having energy, running, the exhilarating feeling of going as fast as you can and then trying to go a little faster. Blood pumping, breathing deep, legs burning.

Sure, it was when you were a kid, but even so you used to be more than you are.

And you want to have that again.

And… apparently you can.

You tap the Increase Fitness Level (Major) option and, after taking the time to read the confirmation screen this time, click accept.

There's a moment where you stand there, waiting for something you aren't sure will come. And then it feels like life itself forces its way into your body into you between one breath and the next.

In an instant, your lungs expand easier, you feel your heart beat stronger, slower. You blink and it's like a fog is lifted from your mind that you never noticed was there to begin with, and you want to move.

You can't help but let out an incredulous laugh as you feel the changes happen, you've never felt this good.

You start hopping from foot to foot, marvelling at the ease with which you moved now.

You have the urge to slip on your shoes and run as far and as fast as your feet can take you, just so you know what you can do now.

Well, why shouldn't you?

You look at your phone, at the still active app and the 10 crystals you have left. Perhaps you shouldn't, perhaps it's better to diversify a bit instead of focusing only on one area, but right now you just don't care.

You tap the Increase Fitness Level (Major) again, and feel the same, if less substantial, improvements.

You take a moment to appreciate the feeling, flexing the newly empowered muscles in your legs and back as you marvel at the difference between the person you are now and the person you were five minutes ago.

You look down at your phone as it lets out a cheerful chime and a text box pops up.

Congratulations on completing the Tutorial!

You have unlocked the rest of the game, and will now start to naturally accrue crystals at the rate of one every five hours.

Take a look around, now that you are no longer limited to only Physical changes, the Mental and Social tabs have opened for you.

You will also see another tab and the Character Select screen, but those are greyed out and unavailable at the moment.

Please click on the Character Select screen to learn how to proceed.

You raise an eyebrow, Character Select?

You obligingly tap it.

Some functions of A Better Life are locked behind progression, as rewards for either the various quests you can complete or for certain achievements you unlock.

For example, the Character Select, where you can choose to alter characters other than your main one, is locked behind this quest.

You don't know how the program knows when you finish reading the pop up, but the moment you do another one appears over it with a bit too much fanfare.

New Quest!

Tutorial Part 2

Requirements: Earn and spend 100 crystals.

Reward: Unlock Character Select Screen.

Some quick mental math tells you that 100 crystals at 5 hours per crystal is just under three weeks of time.

That… is a long time to be stuck in a tutorial.

But you hardly have a choice, now do you?

And also, put another way, you can gain four of those 25 crystal super powers in just three weeks.

That hardly seems like something to complain about.

You wonder what options are in the Mental and Social tabs.

The thought of telling anyone about the phone never occurs to you, the idea of not using the phone is forgotten, and your mind goes wild with the possibilities as you look through the new tabs you have available.

Eventually, you reluctantly put the phone away and head for your closet.

Do you have anything good for running in?

SAT, OCT 2, 2021 AT 10:25 PMNEW COMMENT40 CHAT

Your exhilarated high lasts about as long as it takes for you to make it to the end of your block before you're faced with the harsh reality of a severe leg cramp.

Because you didn't stretch and you don't drink enough water.

Because despite what your new and improved lungs and heart may imply, you haven't seriously exercised in… ever. So you perhaps aren't the most aware of what you should not do, such as immediately go from stationary to a full sprint.

Maybe work on that.

It's only a stubborn desire to cling to that brief moment of joy you felt when you started running that makes you walk the pain off and stretch it out before continuing instead of just heading back home.

It's just pain after all.

You don't reach that same high again but, as you return home after running to the boardwalk and back and find you're only breathing hard and not doubled over panting, there is definitely a satisfaction to being able to do something like that now, when you couldn't an hour ago.

It's... nice. And it's a way to just empty your mind for a bit, which you enjoy.

You grimace as you notice your mother's car in the driveway and quietly hope that she's gone to sleep early, unlikely as that is considering you weren't even gone an hour.

You don't bother to hope that she's just gone out without her car, she hasn't done that in years.

It's just as unlikely as.,.. Well…

You doing that.

Which you are.

Hah, who knows, maybe your mother got a magical phone game that has the potential to change her life as well.

It would be just your luck that when something finally goes your way everyone else gets it too.

You sigh as you open the front door and notice the light on in the kitchen, as well as the soft sounds of your mother moving things around in there. You really don't want to talk to her and have to deal with either the questions or conspicuous lack of questions she might have.

But you're thirsty, and you're not so reluctant to the possibility of talking to your mother as to either forgo water or get some from the bathroom sink.

Hopefully that's not a stance you'll regret.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 01:07 PMNEW COMMENT14 CHAT

She looks up from her plate and it takes a long moment for her to process the sight of you, sweaty and in some shorts that you can't recall ever having worn before, before she forces an awkward half-smile to her face and nods at you with a soft "Hey."

You, just as awkwardly because you have to have gotten it from somewhere, return the gesture.

The silence you create is equally as awkward as your greetings have proven to be and you stand there for a moment before nodding again, mostly at yourself for even considering a different outcome, before you go to get a glass of water.

You catch her watching you move across the room with a slightly conflicted expression.

Ah, the good old 'to question or not to question' face.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 01:12 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

Dice: 1d100-15

Options: Sum. Threshold: 50.

14 - 15 = -1 (Fail)

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 01:12 PMNEW COMMENT68 CHAT

She turns back to her food after giving you another smile, and you don't know why you expected anything different.

You fill a glass with some water from the sink, and hide a frown from her even though you know she's not looking at you.

Why would she be?

You down one glass and fill another before you turn around again to see her still in the same position, except fiddling on her phone now, slightly angled away from you to see it better.

As you take a drink, you absently note the growing number of grey strands in her long hair, and the tired darkness under her eyes that's been there for years and only grown and grown.

This is what you are now, you suppose. Two people who can't bring themselves to exchange more than a couple words a day.

There was a time when you were close, when words flowed easily between you about everything and nothing. All words came more easily to you back then, but especially with mom. But then dad died and she wasn't there for you, and even after she came back to be physically present it was never the same.

The years afterward only made things worse, and you aren't sure what to think or feel about her anymore.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 01:31 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

How do you feel about Annette? -Voting closed - 20 voters

VOTES

Tired. You know you love each other, but that doesn't feel like it's enough anymore.

10/14

Concerned. She's your mother and you love her, but anyone can see she's not doing well.

6/91

Resentful. You needed her and she wasn't there.

3/3

WILD CARD. Tell mum that you are into girls and you will look into trying getting a gf in future

that isn't an answer to the question being asked

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 01:33 PMNEW COMMENT11 CHAT

It s been years since dad died, and you're tired.

You're tired of being sad, you're tired of seeing her sad, and you're tired of just waiting for things or her to get better.

You don't think things can go back to the way they were, but the idea of spending the next year and a half doing this exhausts you.

But it's not like she's the only one of you who's not talking.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 01:49 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

Reader Posts- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-25

Options: Sum. Threshold: 50.

22 - 25 = -3 (Fail)

Dice: 1d100-25

26 - 25 = 1

Dice: 1d100-25

Options: Sum. Threshold: 50.

15 - 25 = -10 (Fail)

Dice: 1d100-25

Options: Sum. Threshold: 50.

70 - 25 = 45 (Fail)

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 01:49 PMNEW COMMENT30 CHAT

And maybe you'll fix that someday, but not today.

Your mind is still half on the app on your phone that promises a better life, and you would rather look into that more than hang around having a stilted conversation that won't go anywhere.

You fill and down another glass, and take the time to wash it out and put it on the drying rack before saying a soft 'goodnight' to your mother as you head back to your room.

Your phone is in your hand before you've even closed the door, and you pull up the app nearly as quickly.

A quick glance through the Physical tab shows you that it is essentially identical to what you had seen in the first tutorial, if with a lot more and more granular options in it. There are even some really expensive ones, over 50 crystals, that are greyed out and unviewable.

The Mental tab however, is slightly different. At the top, instead of a bunch of small 1 crystal purchases is a set of tabs that say 'Variable' in the price section.

Insert Surface Thought, Insert Memory, and Alter Memory.

Curious, you tapped the first one and instead of bringing up the confirmation screen, it brought up a text box.

You hit a single letter and the price jumps to 1 crystal then you just mash the keys to get a string of nonsense, and it still only costs 1 crystal. Typing actual words and sentences changes the price, seemingly depending on how reasonable the thought actually is.

"I'm confused" is 1 crystal, but "I know exactly what I'm doing" costs 5.

Presumably, because you are somewhat confused and don't know what you're doing.

The other variable price ones seem to work the same, although the memory ones are significantly more complicated.

These seem… useless.

You don't need to make yourself think things or remember things differently, you quite like having a solid grasp on reality.

But you shrug it off and scroll down, looking at the normally priced options.

A lot of them were options to change your preferences, food, clothing, sexual, and all other types. Opinions,

It would be nice to be able to eat cilantro…

And then you hit the 25 crystal level, and a few more interesting options appear.

Improved Memory, Improved Muscle Memory, Improved Learning Speed, Multitasking.

Much like the ones in the Physical tab, these seem to essentially be parahuman abilities. Each of them elevates an area beyond what you should be able to reach as a normal person.

The Social tab on the other hand is… confusing.

There aren't any options except for the ones that seem to improve your social skills. There are a couple that are 5 or 10 crystals, but a full half of them are over 25.

Improved Cold Reading, Improved Wit, Improved Emotional Awareness, Improved Empathy.

You wonder why the Social part seems so barren compared to the others.

Maybe the developers ran out of time?

On their magical reality bending phone app.

Because time is a factor for them, you're sure.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 02:25 PMNEW COMMENT6 CHAT

You need to spend 100 crystals, and part of you wants to spend the five you get a day to make a bunch of tiny changes to your life, but you don't need to upgrade your Mental stats to not be an idiot.

The expensive permanent ones are just objectively the best way to spend your limited amount of crystals.

Why spend 20 crystals to get six months of strength training when you could get the Exercise Efficiency for 25 and just exercise for three weeks and be better off for it? And then get the benefits for the rest of your life?

Or until you wake up from this bizarre fantasy that you're trapped in, probably because you got obliterated by a car and you're in a coma slowly dying.

Because honestly, that seems more likely than whatever the fuck is actually happening.

But you're getting ahead of yourself, you won't have the crystals to buy anything for at least five days so you can decide what to do then.

Who knows, maybe you'll come to some epiphany about the benefits of buying the cheaper options.

You just have to survive the rest of the week.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 02:33 PMNEW COMMENT14 CHAT

First Week of March

This quest will progress in week increments, at the start of the week you will vote for a set amount of activities to do, right now four, but one of them is automatically taken by school. This number can be increased by buying certain upgrades from the app.

You then go through the activities, do a weekend event, and then start over the next week.

(Also, there are four weeks in a month because I don't feel like bothering putting this quest to an actual real year and timeline.)

(And we start in March purely because I felt like it.)

(Your initial options are limited because you're an antisocial loser with no money or friends, get more options by being a real person.)

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 02:42 PMNEW COMMENT15 CHAT

March Week 1 -Voting closed - 25 voters

VOTES

Go to the Gym, you really don't want to lose what you've gained today.

12/17

Volunteer somewhere, meet some people that aren't your classmates. Maybe at an animal shelter so you also get to pet a puppy or something.

7/12

Go to the Library, you've always been a smart cookie, maybe take advantage of that more now that you're not completely devoid of hope.

7/9

Fuck around on the internet. Because what else would you do.

7/92

Social Option: You would have suboptions to decide who, but at this point you've only got your mother.

4/4

Fuck around the internet V2, learn how to jerk off like a real guy

1/3

Volunteer/look for a job in a charity shop (possible low income over time getting to know and interact with people)

1/2

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 02:50 PMNEW COMMENT39 CHAT

School is an exercise in both tedium and misery.

When your bullies aren't bothering you, it's boring because you have no one to talk to and all the material is simple. And when they are bothering you it's just miserable because there's no escape and you're essentially trapped until they get bored.

But on the plus side, now that you have a new secret in your pants and under two different layers of underwear to try and hide it you have a new and exciting dimension of terror to experience.

Yay.

But thankfully they have toned down the physical aspect of their harassment and, as shitty as they all are, they never fucked with you in a way that would leave you exposed enough that that is a serious worry.

Which, hooray for them, they never sexually harassed you. What good people they all are.

For some reason you expected your life to substantially change after that night, but all that really changed is that now you often sneak a peek at your phone to watch the countdown go down and the number of crystals go up agonizingly slowly.

And you've stopped getting out of breath while climbing stairs.

Yay. Non-sarcastically this time.

Beyond the antsiness and the boredom, your week at school was surprisingly...

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 03:26 PMNEW COMMENT13 CHAT

Does trouble find Taylor? A little bit.

Dice: 1d100

32 = 32

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 03:26 PMNEW COMMENT20 CHAT

Mundane.

Emma and Sophia seem to both be busy with something that occupies the majority of their time and so they fuck with you less than normal.

Which is good, Emma's brand of psychological fuckery is exhausting to deal with and Sophia, if left to her own devices, will just up and shove you.

Compared to them, everyone else is nearly amusing in how little they matter to you.

None of them have any kind of personal connection with you that Emma has, her essentially being your surrogate twin sister for the first fifteen years of your life.

And Sophia is basically the only one brave enough to blatantly manhandle you, partly because for some reason she gets away with so much shit that she shouldn't and partly because you're significantly taller than all of them and they are reluctant to fight someone who could put a hand on their forehead and push them far enough that you're out of their reach.

…

You have been desperately tempted to try doing that ever since you crossed six feet a while back, but maybe someday.

Madison is the only other notable person who fucks with you, and she's only notable because she seems to actually be Emma and Sophia's friend as opposed to just someone who sucks up to them.

She's also, unfortunately, despicably, against all that is good in the world, really fucking adorable.

Which is annoying in several ways.

First of all, it makes you feel like you're being harassed by a particularly small and fluffy pomeranian and it's just embarrassing.

Second of all, she's really short so you have to look down pretty far to look her in the eyes, which she is very demanding about you doing.

And Last of all, she weaponizes that cuteness around the faculty to make you seem like the bad guy and get detention.

Because surely, the four foot ten inches girl with big doe eyes wearing a skirt couldn't possibly have walked up to the over six feet tall giant with malicious intent. If they're arguing it has to be poor little Madison who's got the worst of it.

You hate her.

And apparently she's taken Sophia and Emma's absence as cue to bother you even more than usual.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 03:51 PMNEW COMMENT8 CHAT

How Good is Taylor at Talking? Okay.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-25

71 - 25 = 46

Dice: 1d100-25

71 - 25 = 46

Dice: 1d100-25

89 - 25 = 64

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 03:54 PMNEW COMMENT10 CHAT

Madison is too cute to be phased by your newfound social competence.

Dice: 1d10030

73 30 = 103

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 03:55 PMNEW COMMENT49 CHAT

Oddly enough, she's alone when she corners you in the bathroom this time.

You're oddly proud of the fact that you aren't even in the bathroom to try and hide from her, you actually just happen to be there washing your hands as she walks in.

...Your life is so pathetic.

"Hey Taylor!" Madison chirps with far too much positive energy as she walks up next to you.

You look at her in suspicion as you lather your hands in soap.

She stands there, smiling at you expectantly as she awaits your response.

"...Madison," you finally acknowledge. She smiles like she just won a bet, and you… are too tired to give a shit about this. You turn back to the mirror as you continue washing your hands, "Can I help you with something?"

You do manage to catch the briefly confused look on her face as you ignore her, before she rolls her eyes and moves even closer to you.

"I actually do, how could you tell?" Madison says in faux-shock as she sidles up next to you, weirdly closely.

"D'you need me to grab something off the top shelf?" you ask. And you're honestly surprised by the actual laugh that got out of Madison. It isn't even a derisive laugh, just a short giggle. It is as annoyingly cute as the rest of her.

"Maybe later," she says as she hops up to sit on the counter next to you, after checking for any water or other liquids that may be on the counter of course. She crosses her legs, and you can't help but glance at her legs as they move under her 'just long enough to be plausibly innocent' skirt.

Madison notices, and she grins widely at you but mercifully doesn't say anything about it.

It's not that you're ashamed of the fact that you noticed, or that your leanings are unknown enough to be used as leverage against you considering that Emma has been aware the whole time, but dear god would it be annoying.

"Soo, you know how we're in World History together?" she asks leadingly, as if you would be unaware that you share a class with her when she takes every possible opportunity to annoy you during said class. You nod at her as you rip a paper towel from the wall. "And how there's homework due today?"

"...I am aware, yes."

Is she… really trying to copy your homework of all things?

"And I'm not that great at remembering to do homework," Madison says with an exaggerated sigh and a woe-is-me expression on her face. "So my grade in that class is getting pretty low, and I can't just stand here and do nothing about that, right?"

She is, what the fuck.

"Soo…" Madison looks up at you with an attempt at puppy dog eyes. It would've been a solid attempt if she made any attempt at all to conceal the derision and amusement on her face. You just look at her with a flat expression as you wait for her to reach the point, "I did my homework early and turned it in this morning!"

She says it with a bright smile, and she actually claps her hands a bit in celebration as she looks at you.

What… the fuck is the point of this conversation other than to waste your time?

"I also had a chat with Mr. Thompson, and he's so graciously agreed to let me do an extra credit project for the semester." she says gleefully.

Oh no…

"And, he's taken notice of how we're always talking and messing with each other in class, being such good friends and all," Madison says, fighting back a laugh at the idea, "And considering that you are already slated to do an extra credit project…"

Oh no.

"Please don't tell me he-"

"He offered to let me join you so we could do this together!" she says cheerfully as you gently lean over and hit your head against the wall in despair, "And I know that you take your studies seriously, so my grade is in good hands."

You glare at her.

She smiles at you.

"Right?"

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 04:36 PMNEW COMMENT12 CHAT

Congratulations, you unlocked the ability to spend time with Madison doing your project together.

Of course, you could just do it alone and give her the credit and not subject yourself to her presence and you in fact plan on doing so. But you do have the implicit threat of telling your teacher the truth if you want to, for some ungodly reason, spend time with her.

This lasts until summer break starts in mid June.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 04:40 PMNEW COMMENT34 CHAT

So, that's annoying.

You either let her mooch off of your work, that you were already planning on doing, and take some credit for it or you actually make her do the work by setting up a 'paper trail' of invitations that you can use as leverage with the teacher and subject yourself to having to spend time with her.

Or you could just tell the teacher you don't want to work on the project with Madison and then Sophia, who is weirdly protective of Madison, will kick your shit in.

Fun.

But thankfully for your mood, there are dogs and cats waiting to be petted at your next destination.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 04:49 PMNEW COMMENT40 CHAT

You, in an attempt to avoid spending time alone in your house doing nothing but be miserable, decided to actually do something for a change.

And that something, unfortunately, involves picking up a lot of shit.

Both literal and figurative shit.

You volunteered at a pet shelter, and you were given the job of cleaning up shit outside and whatever miscellaneous mess the pets made inside. It is slowly driving you mad with the smell and repetition, but there's puppies and kittens and one of the kittens has started repeatedly climbing you to sit on your shoulder like a pirate's parrot and you love her.

The people, however, are weird.

Well, that's unfair. Only some of the people are weird.

It's mostly just run very weirdly, there are absurdly high requirements to adopt from them, to the point that you aren't sure whoever runs this place wants to actually get rid of the animals. And it's, frankly, suspiciously well funded.

Like, you aren't an expert in animal shelters or anything. But you assume most don't have a couple acres of property pretty deep in the city and have bafflingly high tech equipment and buy only the most premium of animal foods.

Around your second day you came to the conclusion that this is just some rich person's pet project, no pun intended.

Some of the people are actually really weird though.

Like that one dog trainer who can't be older than twenty and who comes in every day, ignores everyone, and takes a bunch of dogs out to the yard to train them.

She spends an hour with the dogs, comes back in, and leaves just as wordlessly as she came. Neither you nor any of your fellow volunteers know her name or even if she's actually supposed to do that or be there.

She's weird, but the dogs love her.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 05:10 PMNEW COMMENT17 CHAT

Something notable happens while volunteering. -Voting closed - 29 voters

VOTES

You end up talking to the mysterious trainer lady when you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Make a connection)

11/201

You end up getting caught in the middle of a literal dogpile

4/91

You end up having to deal with an irate man who demanded to adopt a dog, and it strains every fibre of your being to continue being friendly. (Practice Social Skills)

6/7

Puppies!

1/5

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 05:16 PMNEW COMMENT16 CHAT

You are just terrible at talking to people.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-10

27 - 10 = 17

Dice: 1d100-10

29 - 10 = 19

Dice: 1d100-10

24 - 10 = 14

Dice: 1d100-10

39 - 10 = 29

Dice: 1d100-10

56 - 10 = 46

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 05:21 PMNEW COMMENT18 CHAT

Rachel doesn't handle your incompetence very well.

Dice: 1d100-20

14 - 20 = -6

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 05:25 PMNEW COMMENT87 CHAT

You take back any positive feelings you had for the crazy trainer bitch.

You're having a fucking awful day.

To start it all off with, the kitten that had adopted you last time has some type of sniffles and you can't spend time with her. And at some point in your asking after the cat, you managed to offend the resident veterinarian, because this animal shelter has one of those, and a couple of the other volunteers and you still don't know how.

So, you were not-so-subtlely banished to pick up the literal shit for a while and on your way back with a full bag you ran right into the trainer, who you later learn is named Rachel.

And you know what? Covering someone else in shit is bad, you'll accept that. Running into someone is rude, you'll accept roughly half the blame for that. So really, her being pissed off at you wasn't the most unreasonable thing.

And she, at first, dealt with it pretty well.

Oh, she cussed at you, glared at you, and gave you the middle finger, sure. But like, you covered her in dog shit. It was kind of deserved.

And then one thing led to another, and your string of bad luck with people just got worse and worse until, after another incident involving a squeaky ball toy hitting her in the face, she wordlessly punched your face in.

And then not so wordlessly screamed in rage as she threw the squeaky toy at your face as you fell on the ground.

So you, of course, did the completely reasonable thing and kicked her legs out from under her.

And then she was on top of you and you were both yelling and her fists were in your shirt and then a hundred pound dog decided that the two of you were having fun and ran into you, bowling Rachel off of you and somehow summoning what seemed like all of the dogs to jump on the two of you excitedly.

And, as you lie there, thinking about your terrible terrible day as a dog tries to lick the blood from your bloody nose off your face you realize something.

This… is actually kind of funny.

At least, it will be if the trainer lady agrees and doesn't murder you after the dogs get out of the way.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 05:46 PMNEW COMMENT7 CHAT

Roll to convince Rachel it was funny.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100

55 = 55

Dice: 1d100

11 = 11

Dice: 1d100

91 = 91

Dice: 1d100

78 = 78

Dice: 1d100

8 = 8

Dice: 1d100

1 = 1

Dice: 1d100

58 = 58

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 05:46 PMNEW COMMENT29 CHAT

You can't help but start laughing a bit painfully as a pitbull decides to sit on your chest, and looking to the side at the other woman where she is trapped under several dogs that can't be more than five pounds each, you laugh harder.

She glares at you, but it's without any heat at this point and you're pretty sure you can see her lips twitch up.

"Ooh… I am not having a good day today," you say, and you wince as your voice comes out nasally and congested, "I think you broke my nose."

"I did," she says matter of factly, "I felt it."

"Well, I felt it too," you say as you slowly push yourself up, the pitbull lazily sliding down your chest to land haphazardly on your lap. You scratch his ears as he pants happily, "Sorry about the… shit. And the ball. And the legs. And the-"

"Shut up."

"Okay," you poke at your nose, hissing in pain as it protests at the attention. She looks up at you with a frown at the noise.

"...Sorry 'bout the nose," she says gruffly, and she looks away from you awkwardly after she says it. You get the feeling 'sorry' isn't a word she says often.

"I kinda deserved it," you say reluctantly. Maybe not that hard, but you have been accidentally fucking with her for a while now.

"You need to set it," she says as she gently shoves the dogs off of her and stands up, "And ice it."

You look up at her.

"Come," she orders, and for a second you think she means the dogs as they all follow her. And then she glares at you and you realize she means you too.

Well… getting ordered around like a dog is a step up from being punched in the face you suppose.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 06:02 PMNEW COMMENT22 CHAT

It s odd, having your broken nose tended to by the person who broke it and whose name you still don't know.

"I'm Taylor," you offer hesitantly as she pokes at your nose. There's a moment of silence before she suddenly grabs your nose painfully and yanks it to the side, drawing a pained gasp, a high pitched curse, and a couple of tears from your clenched shut eyes. But suddenly you can breathe through your nose again. And you reluctantly accept the tradeoff. You take a moment to gather yourself before opening your eyes again, seeing the very amused woman raise her eyebrow at you, "Ow."

"...Rachel," she says, and you raise your hand to, what, give her a handshake? Thankfully, she turns away before she sees, and you awkwardly return your hand to your side. She comes back with some frozen peas that she has for some reason, and you gratefully accept it and raise it to your face. She frowns and speaks authoritatively, "Keep it on for fifteen minutes. Other side."

You look at her confused, before transferring the improvised ice pack to be mostly on the right side of your face.

"...You'll also have a black eye," Rachel says, sounding embarrassed.

You, very politely, do not give in to your desire to ask how she knew so much about broken noses and black eyes and punching.

The fact that she has a couple of scars on her face, one under her eye and one going up into her red hair on her right temple, as well as the fact that her nose is crooked as hell already very strongly imply a particular answer to that question.

You note that her eyes are actually a rather pretty hazel, with a stark mix of colors before you notice her shifting uncomfortably under your stare. You look away, and catch her relaxing out of the corner of your eye.

Focus, don't stare into the eyes of the girl who just broke your nose.

...Do you have a concussion as well?

"At least the bleeding has mostly stopped," you say, mostly to break the silence, and also to lead into the fact that, "I should be getting home, I'm pretty sure I'm late for my bus."

"Ah," Rachel says, "Okay."

"Thanks for the," you gesture with your freehand at the ice pack, only belated realizing it could be construed for a sarcastic comment about the broken nose and elaborating, "...peas…"

Smooth.

"...Sleep upright tonight," she says in lieu of a response, "You'll hurt less when you wake up."

You give her a thumbs up as you head out of the room.

"I'll see you next time?" you ask at the door, and you don't even know what you even mean by the questioning tone in your voice.

"...Yeah."

...

Well, it wasn't the most awkward experience of your life.

Actually, scratch that. It most definitely was.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 06:22 PMNEW COMMENT3 CHAT

"Oh my god, Taylor! What happened?"

Ah, right.

Your mother.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 06:24 PMNEW COMMENT7 CHAT

Roll to reassure your mother. You aren't very good at that.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-25

37 - 25 = 12

Dice: 1d100-25

28 - 25 = 3

Dice: 1d100-25

61 - 25 = 36

Dice: 1d100-25

80 - 25 = 55

Dice: 1d100-25

15 - 25 = -10

Dice: 1d100-25

100 - 25 = 75

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 06:25 PMNEW COMMENT45 CHAT

Annette neither freaks out nor successfully bonds with Taylor.

Dice: 1d100-15

70 - 15 = 55

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 06:33 PMNEW COMMENT2 CHAT

"I got punched by a dog," you blurt out.

"You, I- What?" your mother sputters as she stares at you, unable to even form words at the concern and shock.

Huh… that's more emotion than she's shown in years.

"The… animal shelter," you say, a bit distracted by your own growing confusion, "A dog got excited and I fell."

"...A dog pushed you over?" she asks as she walks toward you and she doesn't hesitate to trace the growing bruise under your right eye in concern.

Her touch is so featherlight that it didn't even hurt.

"It was a big dog?" you stammer and it sounds more like a question than an answer.

She just looks concerned.

"The people were nice, they gave me peas." you say as you raise the now-melted bag of peas. It drips a bit, "...They're melted now, but they were frozen."

"Okay…" she says faintly. It takes her another moment to collect herself, a moment that she spent closer to you than she had been in years, touching your face. You did not like this. Did you? "I'll get you some more ice, so go relax."

"...Okay."

You follow her into the kitchen as she fills a ziploc bag with a bunch of ice from the freezer and crushes it herself. She grabs a kitchen towel and wraps it around the ice once before handing it to you.

"Thanks," you say as you press it against your face. "...I'm going to go to sleep now, I'm tired."

"Good night," she says as she watches you go, "I-I'm here, you know? If you ever have something you need to talk about."

...No.

You don't know that.

You'll believe it when you see it.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 06:40 PMNEW COMMENT15 CHAT

A broken nose is… unfortunate.

Especially because it kind of messes with what else you've started doing this week, namely going to the gym.

Turns out, running with a broken nose fucking sucks.

As does basically all cardio exercises.

And most resistance training ones.

You are this close to buying the regeneration power when you get a chance, just so you don't have to deal with your fucking nose.

"Ouch," you hear as you walk around the gym. You look up to see Hana, the nice woman who's been showing you the ins and outs of actually starting to exercise this week, wince as she gets an even more clear look at the rather brilliantly mottled green and blue and black around your nose and right eye. "What happened there?"

You look at her through squinted eyes, having taken your glasses off in the changing room because you don't want to deal with them when your nose is like this.

You lied to your mother, but do you care enough to lie to everyone else?

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 06:52 PMNEW COMMENT14 CHAT

Choices -Voting closed - 24 voters

VOTES

Tell the truth, ommitting specifics. It's kinda nice to talk to someone who has absolutely no stake in your life.

15/21

You know how it is, sometimes life decks you in the face after you throw shit at it.

9/14

its just one of those stories that are working great as ice breakers

3/5

Tell the same lie. You don't really want to talk about your life with anyone.

2/2

Wave it off and make a joke. You appreciate her concern, but it doesn't really matter.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 06:56 PMNEW COMMENT23 CHAT

Wow, the most comfortable conversation you've had in literal years. That's sad.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-25

11 - 25 = -14

Dice: 1d100-25

58 - 25 = 33

Dice: 1d100-25

87 - 25 = 62

Dice: 1d100-25

74 - 25 = 49

Dice: 1d10025

91 25 = 116

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 07:06 PMNEW COMMENT57 CHAT

Hana decides to just step back and listen for a bit.

Dice: 1d10025

54 25 = 79

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 07:39 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

"I kinda got punched in the face." you admit with an embarrassed smile.

She doesn't say anything, and instead just looks very concerned from where she was using the leg press machine. You glance at her legs a bit enviously as she continues working out without looking away from you.

"It's fine, we worked it out in the end."

You guess you did, she apologized and then set your nose for you. That's settled, right?

...Right?

"It's just, You know how it is, sometimes life decks you in the face after you throw shit at it," you say, going for a lame joke to cut the growing concerned tension on her face. It… kinda works.

"I don't recognize that saying," she says dryly.

"That's because it isn't one, that's what happened," you say with a cringe, "I volunteer at an animal shelter, and I actually covered someone in shit on accident."

"And so they punched you in the face?" she asks, still sounding unimpressed with the situation.

"Not immediately, that took me tripping over myself at her a couple more times until I eventually hit her in the face with a dog toy from point blank range, then she punched me."

"...Are you normally that clumsy?" she asks, seemingly thinking over the past few days that she's helped you.

Probably wondering if you might've accidentally killed her with sheer clumsiness at some point.

"No! I was just having a really bad day," you say with a grimace that you quickly stop as you realize that expression really hurts, "...I don't suppose you know any exercises that won't jar my nose?"

"Nothing won't hurt you," she says in a low, amused voice as she rose up from the exercise machine, shaking her legs absently as she walks over to you. It's always jarring to see how short she is when you know for a fact she could break you like a twig, "But maybe these will hurt the least."

You follow her, listening attentively as she explains some of the ways to not hurt yourself enough to want to stop to claw your nose off your face.

"Are you sure you are okay with the other girl?" She asks with narrowed, searching eyes after she got done essentially devising an impromptu workout plan for you out of the kindness of her heart.

She's... really nice.

"Yeah, she seemed to feel really bad about it," you say, pretty sure you aren't lying, "She helped me set my nose and gave me some ice."

"...You should let a medical professional set your nose, if this happens again," she says slowly, "It can get messy without one."

"Noted."

You don't inquire what exactly 'messy' means, you aren't sure you want to know.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 07:43 PMNEW COMMENT8 CHAT

How well do you exercise? Okay.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d10010

39 10 = 49

Dice: 1d10010

23 10 = 33

Dice: 1d10010

5 10 = 15

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 07:47 PMNEW COMMENT66 CHAT

Hana thinks there's some hinky shit going on in your life, and she's getting worried.

Dice: 1d100

13 = 13

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 08:16 PMNEW COMMENT12 CHAT

Your nose hurts. It may not have been a good idea to come today.

The worst part about it is that Hana keeps looking over at you with eyes filled with concern and you feel really badly about that.

Now, a reasonable person might take that and decide to stop early so that they aren't in pain and nobody has to see them in pain.

But you aren't reasonable, so instead you try to pretend that you aren't in pain with very limited success.

You do… decently.

You work up a sweat, which stings your nose. You get your blood pumping, which stings your nose. And all in all you're feeling pretty… Well, good is an exaggeration, but optimistic about your progress today when you're interrupted.

"Okay, I can't watch this anymore," Hana says from right next to you, startling you. "You're stopping for the day."

"I think that's a good idea," you say stoically as you feel your entire face pulse with pain in time with your heart. "...I probably should have stopped ten minutes ago, huh."

"You should not have started," she corrects kindly.

"That's fair."

"Come on," she says as she pats your back encouragingly, and you take a brief moment to feel embarrassed about the fact that you're just wearing a baggy t-shirt as opposed to her nice sports bra and tight top. "Let's get you cooled down and I'll buy you a drink from the cafe across the street alright?"

You briefly wonder if this counts as a stranger danger situation, but then you wonder again if you can be prey to a stranger danger situation when you're nearly 18 and are also in the top percentile for height.

Also, she's nice enough that you might as well go for it.

It may end up with you kidnapped and trapped in a basement, but honestly, you'd take it. There'd probably be a lot fewer incredibly awkward situations in the basement.

But still, politeness.

Say what you will about her parenting over the last few years, but your momma didn't raise an impolite child.

"You don't have to do that…" you say hesitantly.

"To celebrate being punched for the first time," Hana jokes, and you're pretty sure that's the first time you've heard her joke.

You think it's a joke.

You make a valiant attempt at not seeming incredibly weird about how much you're trying to hide your body from her in the changing room. It doesn't go well, she basically immediately notices and politely excuses herself to a different side of the room to make you more comfortable.

It works.

By the time you're sat in a cafe drinking a cup of tea, you're pretty sure you died the instant Rachel's fist hit your face and this is some weird alternate reality where people are nice and you talk to them.

She ends up teaching you how to throw a punch, or at least how to hold your hand while throwing a punch.

But before, after, and honestly in the middle of that you end up talking. And it is frankly embarrassing how much you enjoy it, and you're pretty sure you only make sense half the time, but it's more than you've talked in a single day since your dad died and you nearly feel like crying.

So overwhelmed are you, that you don't catch the gentle nudges as Hana guides the conversation, or just how much you end up saying about things you maybe wouldn't have said if you had been paying attention.

You only catch yourself when you start to mention school, and you can feel your jaw snap shut as you realize you were about to talk about that.

You… didn't need to do that, Hana has listened to enough of your problems for the day.

You dismiss yourself after a short bit, and negotiate Hana down from buying you a sandwich to just a cookie as you leave.

You leave feeling a strange mix of relief and guilt as you go.

You don't notice the concern on Hana's face grow greatly the moment you're not looking at her, and even more when you wince and rub at your side where you had fallen on a rock in the brief tussle with Rachel on your way out.

You don't see the connections she's making in her mind based on the little bits of information you let slip, and you don't see her frown as she doesn't like the conclusion she arrives at.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 08:21 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

Didn't notice Library and Internet tied, rolling to break tie.

Library is 1, Internet is 2.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 08:25 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

Internet it is, but at the library.

Dice: 1d2

2 = 2

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 08:25 PMNEW COMMENT16 CHAT

What does Taylor do on the Internet? -Voting closed - 22 voters

VOTES

You hear that the community college near you is offering classes to academically advanced highschool students.

10/121

Look into a way to possibly find a job. You're kind of sick of having no money.

6/9

If I don't write it, someone else will. Porn.

6/91

You just wanted to distract yourself for a bit.

1/1

You have a dick... experiment

this will happen on the weekend, don't worry

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 08:33 PMNEW COMMENT22 CHAT

Your investigation is promising, if you can call looking it up investigating.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d10020

39 20 = 59

Dice: 1d10020

62 20 = 82

Dice: 1d10020

89 20 = 109

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 08:44 PMNEW COMMENT16 CHAT

You decide that you aren't going to do much of anything else after that, but you also don't want to go home.

So… time to take advantage of Brockton Bay's crumbling publicly funded library system!

If you were closer to the University, you might've gone to one of their libraries instead, they usually smell nicer. But you aren't, so you don't.

Speaking of the University, you heard some of your teachers mention the possibility of taking classes there instead of at Winslow. Which, you are in favor of. Because it means less time at Winslow.

And Winslow sucks.

It doesn't take long to find what you're looking for, Brockton Bay University offers a dual enrollment program for students in their senior year of highschool to substitute out Highschool level classes for undergraduate level ones at the University. And Winslow is one of the highschools that's participating in it.

Which is great, except you aren't a Senior.

And also Spring Quarter starts in three weeks.

But… you don't see a deadline to apply, and a little more digging reveals that it isn't only seniors that can participate, but also juniors with the approval of their guardians and the recommendation of the…

Damn.

The recommendation of the school administration for the school that they're attending.

And Principal Blackwell fucking hates you for some reason. There's only so often you can bring evidence of physical assault to someone, up to and including video evidence, and then have them ignore you before you just start assuming they have it out for you.

And while you assume she'd be absolutely delighted to have you on the premises as little as possible, that would mean good things for you and apparently that's against her principles.

...No pun intended.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 08:58 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

So, either you need to convince Blackwell in the next week or two to give you this opportunity, or you need to figure a way to go over her head to someone on the school district staff.

Which will definitely piss her the fuck off.

But, who knows, maybe her heart will grow three sizes and choke her to death and you'll only have to deal with Vice Principal O'Connor who is, and you say this with only a little derision, kind of a well meaning idiot.

You think even you could talk him into something like this.

But, that would require hoping ill would befall your principal and that's immoral and you'd never do that.

Also, murder is frowned upon in Massachusetts. And getting caught for that would do more to limit your future than being stuck entirely in Winslow for a couple more months until you're properly a senior and you just need to pass an interview with the University.

Not that you'd do anything like that, you're a good person.

Right?

Right.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 09:07 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

That is the end of the week, and you have waited long enough to accrue 25 crystals. You can now buy a superpower of your very own.

In addition to their narrative benefits, they each provide mechanical ones as well.

Here are your options:

Physical.

Increased Exercise Efficiency: Exercise is 10x as efficient. Roll a Bo3 10d100 instead. Additional dice will apply as normal.

Reduced Sleep Requirement: Require only 4 hours of sleep a day, gain an additional option per week.

Increased Muscle Density: Raises the upper limit of physical fitness before you start seeing diminishing returns. Halve the amount of rolls you need to increase your physical bonus, up to 100.

Minor Regeneration: Heal from injuries more quickly, but nothing that you wouldn't normally heal from. Adds one die to all Physical rolls.

Mental.

Improved Memory: You can remember what you had for breakfast last year, and hold a grudge even longer. Adds one die to all Mental rolls.

Improved Learning Speed: Learn things 10x as quickly, roll a 10d100 instead of a 1d100 when attempting to learn something. Additional dice will apply as normal.

Improved Muscle Memory: Adds two dice to all rolls for any learned skill that requires physical manipulation. Includes things like singing, dancing, fornicating, and fighting. (I am not actually going to gamify fucking)

Improved Neuroplasticity: Adapt to learning faster. Halve the amount of rolls you need to increase your mental bonus, up to 100.

Social.

Improved Wit: Adds one die to all social rolls.

Improved Cold Reading: Increases your ability to purposefully dig for information from other people without them realizing you're doing that. Adds three dice to investigative rolls and to noticing when people are doing the same to you.

Improved Emotional Awareness: Be more aware of your emotions and the emotions of others. Halve the amount of rolls you need to increase your social bonus, up to 100.

Improved Empathy: Learn who people are and how they tick. roll a 10d100 instead of a 1d100 when attempting to figure people out, in exchange for losing control of the conversation. Additional dice apply as normal.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 09:24 PMNEW COMMENT40 CHAT

Choices -Voting closed - 34 voters

VOTES

Improved Emotional Awareness

13/20

Increased Exercise Efficiency

7/13

Improved Empathy

3/9

Improved Wit

4/7

Minor Regeneration

3/5

Improved Cold Reading

2/4

Improved Learning Speed

2/4

Reduced Sleep Requirement

4/4

Improved Neuroplasticity

2/2

Increased Muscle Density

Improved Muscle Memory

Improve Meta Awareness

Improved Memory

Improved Penisness

let's not leave this to confuse later readers

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 09:33 PMNEW COMMENT48 CHAT

You lay awake at night, nervously watching your phone as the little timer next to your crystal count ticks down.

After a lot of thinking and considering and dithering and doubting and all that nonsense that came with making a big decision, you finally made a firm choice about what you're going to spend the crystals on.

Emotional Awareness.

It's a bit humiliating, but you are really bad with people.

Like, really bad.

You weren't terrible at it when you were a kid, but you also weren't great either. You were more the kid whose blind confidence and enthusiasm smoothed over or ignored any differences in opinion.

And now, after a few years of social isolation and what was probably a case of clinical depression you are, in fact, terrible at it.

You have trouble reading people, trusting people, and understanding people.

And this week you'd gotten a taste at not being that.

A mostly civil, if annoying, conversation with Madison, making an enemy and then possible friend out of Rachel, and the really big one: the very nice conversation with Hana that nearly brought you to tears.

Which is another big part of this.

You… want more from life.

And whenever you thought about that in the past, it always came with images of a bigger house, a car, a job, a degree. Success and power and wealth were what you imagined More to be like.

And you realize now that, at least at the moment, all More is, is to not be so lonely.

And maybe Emotional Awareness could help you get that, and maybe it could help you find other Mores that you aren't aware of yet.

Because you're a person too, and it's dawning on you that you're pretty bad with yourself as well.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 10:06 PMNEW COMMENT3 CHAT

You tap on Emotional Awareness the moment you get your last crystal, but you hesitate on the confirmation screen for a long moment.

Are you sure this is what you want?

And the answer is yes.

You tap accept and feel as something happens. It feels like your ears pop, your spine shudders, and you fall off a cliff all at the same time.

And you aren't sure if the change actually hit you that hard, if you were just tired, or if the sudden relaxation from worrying so much did it, but you nearly immediately pass out.

Hopefully something will be different when you wake up.

WED, OCT 6, 2021 AT 10:11 PMNEW COMMENT49 CHAT

You wake up, feeling both the same and notably different.

There isn't any one thing that you could point to as being definitively different or changed but at the same time things seem… clearer. It's as if a fog of confusion and doubt that you hadn't even realized was there vanished overnight. You aren't certain how big of a difference that actually is, or if it will turn out to be the right choice in the long run, but as you slowly come to terms with waking up, you certainly don't regret your choice.

There is, however, one choice you do regret.

As you push yourself up, you look down at your crotch with an annoyed expression. There, standing proudly against gravity, is your not-so-new-anymore dick.

It bobs with your heartbeat as if to mock you.

The penis, all told, actually isn't exactly a massive problem for you. It hasn't prompted any feelings of disgust or dysphoria and frankly, after you put some effort into dressing in a way to hide it, you usually forget about it most of the time.

Most of the time.

There are, of course, occasions when it made itself known.

You just wish it wasn't so… unsubtle.

Having such an obvious and impossible to hide tell about your arousal is annoying, especially because it not only brings attention to itself, it's just straight up uncomfortable.

And waking up every morning with it standing to attention is bothersome.

You recognize that there's an easy solution to your problem, one that you're told is even enjoyable. You also recognize that using said solution would probably make it less of an annoyance in general.

But you have been pointedly ignoring the possibility of masturbating for the last five days, and you had been intending on continuing that trend, but every day that passes the more… insistent your body becomes.

Even before the dick, going five days without masturbating would've been notable.

Because you're a teenager and you're horny.

You've never felt any particular shame about that. And you still don't really. It's just… really embarrassing. It's really different, and the idea of touching yourself now feels strangely intimate in an unfamiliar way.

You ignore a little feeling that tells you that's just because you haven't fully accepted it as actually being part of your body yet.

...

You're starting to regret your more recent purchase now as well, if your newfound awareness is just going to give you helpful but unsolicited advice.

But, despite your admirable attempt at repression and ignoring the problem, it's become abundantly clear that your options are to either get over it and get off or become completely celibate.

And, yeah, you're not doing the latter.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 01:09 PMNEW COMMENT9 CHAT

Part of you wants to go do research about how to properly do this, but another, larger, part of you really does not want to do that for several reasons.

Also,

It's a dick, it's a cylinder of meat with pleasure receptors in it, it can't be that hard to please.

You begrudgingly step into a hot shower, because you're not doing this anywhere you could cause a mess, and stare down at it for a moment.

Well… you guess you have to… touch it now.

You do so.

…

Well, now you're just standing in the shower with your dick in your hand.

Great.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 01:15 PMNEW COMMENT37 CHAT

You are being ridiculous.

You let out a sigh that is half a chuckle as you realize how much you're stressing yourself out over nothing, you've even made Little Taylor deflate a bit.

…

You're never calling it that ever again.

Reluctantly, you adjust your grip on yourself, taking it fully in your hand as you stroke it for the first time.

A shiver runs up your spine at the sensation, and you let out an embarrassingly high-pitched squeak in surprise.

Well, at least you're not having that deflating issue anymore.

You rest your forehead against the cool shower wall, trying to cool the burning in your face a bit as you repeat the motion, gradually picking up speed until your knees nearly buckle at the feeling and you brace your free arm against the wall next to your very red face.

You can't hold back the moan that leaves your lips when you adjust your grip mid stroke and accidentally drag your thumb across the head.

...Maybe this isn't so bad.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 01:24 PMNEW COMMENT11 CHAT

As minds are wont to do while masturbating, yours wanders to some places that you would find embarrassing if you were paying actual attention.

Where does your mind go to?

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 01:27 PMNEW COMMENT8 CHAT

Where does your mind wander to? -Voting closed - 28 voters

VOTES

Madison, she's an annoying bitch but she's cute.

9/142

Top 2

9/12

Hana, you definitely aren't conflating commonplace kindness for attraction. haha, definitely not.

5/11

Your Mom

5/111

Rachel... She definitely gave you a concussion that crossed a few wires if she's coming up right now.

2/6

The Trio, all three of them, nude and making sexy porn mag poses

3/6

...your ideal self (larger boob, nice skin, light makeup etc)

5/62

Top 3

3/5

Emma, you may hate her guts now, but she is hot.

No, you are not going think about real people while jerking your new dick.

3/3

the dallion sisters knealed before her mouths open

you don't know them

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 01:29 PMNEW COMMENT118 CHAT

You generally don't think about much of anything while masturbating, except for whatever porn you happen to be using.

You aren't sure if it's the week you've had, the new appendage, or just the fact that this is different from your usual modus operandi but you find your mind wandering to… unwelcome places.

Like to the glimpse you got of Hana as she undressed in the changing room, or the appreciative glances you took at her toned form while exercising. The way sweat beads on her olive skin, and the...

And, no. You aren't doing that. You most definitely aren't going to jack off to the image of one of the only people who has been nice to you completely unprompted.

The fact that it is because she's nice to you that she came to mind first, and that you're just, in some way, clinging to that kindness she showed you is something you unhappily realize as you struggle to think of anything else.

And, as if your mind is a pendulum, you immediately land on the opposite of unprompted kindness, Madison.

Which, frankly, is more acceptable to you.

Because you feel absolutely no guilt about it.

A bit of awkwardness, sure. But you're hardly going to beat yourself up for beating yourself off to her, for all your beef with her you can't deny that she is attractive.

She has that faux-innocent look to her, with her small frame and big blue eyes that she actively encourages with her fashion sense. All cardigans and cute tees and skirts, all just barely skirting the line between innocence and not.

You remember the smirk on her lips when she noticed the glance you took at her legs, the dimple it formed on her cheek, the skin an olive just a couple of shades lighter than Hana's…

Fuck.

Your face burns with a feeling of shame as you gasp and tense at the thought of the older woman. With a low groan, you feel yourself release against the shower wall.

You shudder at the feeling as you orgasm for the first time, and slump against the wall in embarrassment. You watch as the running water takes it away and down the drain.

Goddamnit, you actually did do the thing you meant not to do.

You gently hit your head against the wall repeatedly as you half-heartedly chastise yourself. Despite your chagrin, you're really feeling more disappointed in yourself than guilty.

Well, no use crying over spilled milk.

With one final, slightly harder smack of your head against the wall for that shitty pun, you stand up straight.

…

Ah, fuck.

Right, broken nose.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 02:28 PMNEW COMMENT9 CHAT

You have the entire weekend free to do whatever you want, what do you want to do with your time?

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 02:33 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

What do you do this Weekend? -Voting closed - 28 voters

VOTES

Go shopping, you need some exercise clothes and some underwear that isn't painful to wear.

9/171

Make an attempt at hanging out with your mother.

10/133

use social media to stalk Madison and download few sexy selfies of her, you know, for the "science"

7/111

Go pet some dogs and cats and pick up some shit. And try not to get punched this time.

5/7

Use your new found empathy powers. talk with mom, or Rachel, or anybody really.

3/5

Wander the boardwalk, you just really don't want to stay home.

1/1

Go see a movie, you haven't gone to one in a long while.

1/1

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 02:33 PMNEW COMMENT37 CHAT

You loathe shopping.

You were raised frugal, and you don't exactly have a great surplus of cash waiting around to spend on whatever you want.

But sometimes you just have to buy some things, and sometimes those things aren't the kind of things that get sent to a thrift store.

Such as compression underwear.

And so, sometimes, you are forced to go to the fucking mall to acquire your specialty underwear to hide your dick.

And also some exercise clothing, because you might as well while you're there.

You hate the mall.

Which is why you're utterly unsurprised that its where you happen to see an unfortunately familiar head of red hair in the crowd.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 02:51 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

Ah, shit. It's Emma.

Dice: 1d100

9 = 9

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 02:51 PMNEW COMMENT19 CHAT

...Ah, fuck. She's with her family.

Dice: 1d100

71 = 71

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 02:54 PMNEW COMMENT10 CHAT

Your eyes meet, and it takes her a moment to recognize you.

But when she does, she smiles wide.

Fuck.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 02:58 PMNEW COMMENT2 CHAT

It's not running away, except it absolutely is.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-20

13 - 20 = -7

Dice: 1d100-20

98 - 20 = 78

Dice: 1d100-20

85 - 20 = 65

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 02:59 PMNEW COMMENT9 CHAT

Emma doesn't care about your feeble resistance.

Dice: 3d10050

2898100 50 = 276

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 03:00 PMNEW COMMENT37 CHAT

"Taylor!" Emma shouts gleefully, as if you are actually good friends that just happened to bump into each other and not like she's signing your death warrant.

That's dramatic, but you feel like this is a situation for being dramatic.

She actually fucking skips over to you like she's a deer prancing through a meadow, and damn near bowls you over with an affectionate hug before she loops an arm around yours and pulls you to her parents.

For just a brief heartbreaking moment, you are thirteen years old again. Leaving a movie, talking a mile a minute with Emma as she drags you ahead of your parents to wherever it is you were going to spend the rest of the night before you would beg to be allowed to sleep over at her house.

You miss whatever it is she says as she drags you over, but you don't miss the overjoyed expression on Aunt Zoe's face as you meet her eyes for the first time in nearly three years.

"Oh, Taylor!" she exclaims as she strides up to you, and you feel disoriented as you realize that she doesn't even come up to your chin when last time you saw her you had to look up to meet her eyes. "You got so tall!"

You can't do or say anything as she cups your face in her hands and smiles up at you. Her green eyes are watery with sudden unshed tears and you can't bring yourself to even try to excuse yourself from this now.

"Hi Aunt Zoe." you say softly. You force a smile on your face despite how foreign it feels on your face, because this is Aunt Zoe and you can't not make the effort, "It's been a while."

"It's nice to see you again," Uncle Alan says as he awkwardly pats your shoulder. He's no less genuine than his wife, if a bit more stiff about it.

For a blissful few seconds you forget all about Emma, until she pulls your arm closer to her body as she smiles up at you.

You look down at her and your own smile wavers as hers turns into a smirk.

"Oh, we should get lunch together," she says cheerfully, "So you can tell Mom and Dad all about what you've been up to!"

You've never hated her more, for reminding you of what else you lost when she turned on you.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 03:39 PMNEW COMMENT23 CHAT

You don't get a choice. You're going to lunch and you're going to make an effort to get along.

Due to Emma's crit, you're compelled to try and keep things peaceful so that you don't upset her parents. This includes trying to taunt Emma by talking about the bullying, even without naming names.

How do you want to approach this?

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 03:46 PMNEW COMMENT16 CHAT

What do you tell Emma's parents. -Voting closed - 26 voters

VOTES

Tell a version of the truth, you were in a funk for a long while but you feel like you're coming out of it.

14/23

speak about trying to get fit (dont mention going to gym)

7/15

mention taking up voluntary work to make use of our time at the gym and eventual post school things to do

1/5

Say as little as possible, redirect the conversation to them.

3/4

Straight up lie, say life has just been busy but overall good these last couple years.

1/1

Let Emma take the lead, make her come up with a story about why you've been distant.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 03:53 PMNEW COMMENT7 CHAT

You're opening up, gross.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d10015

48 15 = 63

Dice: Invalid input

Dice: 1d10015

97 15 = 112

Dice: 1d10015

57 15 = 72

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 04:06 PMNEW COMMENT20 CHAT

Dice: 2d10050

Options: Individual.

70,71 50 = 120,121

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 04:09 PMNEW COMMENT37 CHAT

" ..Sure," you say. For some reason Emma looks surprised by that, and you'll take that as a win. A very, very small win. But a win nonetheless, "I'm not doing anything that can't wait. That is, if it isn't an imposition."

"Oh, of course not," Alan dismisses, "You're family."

You let yourself be dragged into a familiar but forgotten rhythm as you follow the pair, falling into an uncomfortably comfortable step with Emma. Seemingly the only thing different now from four years ago is that you're now the tallest one and you participate in the conversation much, much less.

"What exactly is your plan here?" you dip your head down to ask Emma, "Because it really does just seem like you're treating me to lunch."

"...I thought you'd freak out more." Emma admits freely. "Kind of expected you to cry."

You look at her with raised eyebrows.

"Wow, that's blunt."

"Don't try anything by the way," she says as she faux-casually picks at her nails despite the fact that you are sure they're perfectly maintained, "My parents would be heartbroken to learn that you are a compulsive liar with a documented record of blaming me for the trouble you get into."

Ah, Winslow and Principal Blackwell. How you hate them.

"I'm not an idiot," you say flatly. No matter how much they liked you, you aren't going to out argue Emma to convince her own parents that she's a bitch, "I won't bring anything up if you don't."

"I'd be delighted to hear what other stories you have about these last couple years," Emma says under her breath, "About all of those friends you've made and things you've done. I mean, I haven't seen any of those, but I'm sure they're there."

That is just petty.

You ignore her as you turn to answer a question from Alan, deciding to just keep doing that.

Hopefully forever.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 04:52 PMNEW COMMENT15 CHAT

"Well, you saw how I was after… Dad died," you say, loathing the words coming out of your mouth. You hate talking about yourself, you hate talking about Dad, you hate 'opening up', and you hate the idea of Emma hearing about any of this, "I guess being back at home, being in a new school, I kinda… had a hard time with it. And I... didn't want you to see me like that."

The words burn your mouth as you say them, and your skin crawls.

Your halting frustration really sells the fact that what you're saying is true, and the understanding and emotional faces of Alan and Zoe set your teeth on edge.

The picture you paint is one of a lonely girl who isolated herself from them and everyone else, stuck in a depressed slump until just recently.

Laying all the blame for Emma's hand in your isolation at your own feet.

You talk in half truths and lies, to protect the girl sitting next to you who is enjoying your discomfort. You come up with excuses that feel real, why you stopped talking to Emma, why you stopped talking to them.

You hate it.

The pity you see in their faces, in their eyes.

The mocking sounds of sympathy that Emma lets out at appropriate times, making all the motions of an estranged but loving friend.

You hate it and you hate Emma.

You can't stand the pity and sadness, so you force yourself to speak as if all the misery and uncertainty is a thing of the past. About how you've been getting out more, doing more, how you've been meaning to reconnect with them, really.

The hope and happiness don't burn any less.

You force yourself to tell a joke about your now recovering black eye, to laugh off the concern. You smile more in the hour you spend with them than you have for the last two years and you hate every moment of it.

But… What's the alternative?

You can't tell the truth.

Even if you could tell the truth, it would break their hearts. And you aren't sure if you can do that.

And what lie can you tell them that explains why you vanished from their lives without warning one day?

You force yourself to ignore the frustration and anger, and focus on the very odd reaction Emma shows when you mention you've been doing better.

She looks… alarmed?

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 05:37 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

Emotional Awareness Check- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-10

34 - 10 = 24

Dice: 1d100-10

10 - 10 = 0

Dice: 1d100-10

32 - 10 = 22

Dice: 1d100-10

32 - 10 = 22

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 05:38 PMNEW COMMENT26 CHAT

Whatever that expression was, you sure didn't see it.

Dice: 2d10050

Options: Individual.

62,90 50 = 112,140

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 05:41 PMNEW COMMENT17 CHAT

You raise an eyebrow as Emma quickly gathers herself again and forces her expression to look more like how a considerately concerned friend might look.

All it does is annoy you.

You decide to ignore it, you didn't manage to catch what that look was and you don't really care.

Eventually, you have to part ways.

Thank god.

They are actual people with busy lives, and you still need to do your shopping.

You want to go home and sleep for a year after dealing with this emotional bullshit. Maybe after punching something.

You've never punched anything before, it feels like it's time to start.

Zoe is a bit tearful as she extracts a promise that you'll come around sometime, and Alan mentions that you just have to come to their next barbecue/pool party when summer starts.

Because yeah, right, you're going to wear a swimsuit anywhere near Emma.

But, that's a problem for the future you, so you agree just to get them to go away. Summer is still a ways away.

So now back to the important things.

Underwear.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 05:58 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

You survived your first week, yay.

Now to do it all over again.

You have three activity slots.

Also note that this time order does matter, as you will cross the 25 crystal threshold in the middle of the week, so there will be a followup vote to decide the order of events.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 06:01 PMNEW COMMENT15 CHAT

What to do for the second week of March? -Voting closed - 34 voters

VOTES

Work out with Hana.

14/23

Volunteer with Rachel.

11/17

Work on being a, ugh, more sociable person.

9/161

Try and convince Blackwell to let you go to college. (2 weeks remaining)

5/93

Invite Madison over to work on your project. Why would you do this now? (14 weeks remaining)

3/8

use internet to get tips on how trans "girls" hide their penises in swimming pools

2/71

if work out with hana do it with a hard on

4/6

Spend time with your mom.

3/5

Invite Madison, no studding, you just want to see that cute little butt upclose

1/3

Learn to dab

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 06:06 PMNEW COMMENT30 CHAT

You have four activities, school, Hana, Rachel, and being sociable. You will get your next 25 crystals and thus the power vote after the second one, so we will be voting for the order of things.

Highest number of votes goes first, least number goes last, so vote for the things you do not want to have the benefit of the power for.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 06:14 PMNEW COMMENT3 CHAT

Order of Activities. -Voting closed - 25 voters

VOTES

School

10/15

Being Sociable

9/121

Workout with Hana

9/101

Volunteering with Rachel

7/8

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 06:15 PMNEW COMMENT10 CHAT

Does trouble find Taylor? Yes.

Dice: 1d100

51 = 51

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 06:20 PMNEW COMMENT26 CHAT

Trouble is in a bad mood.

Dice: 1d100-10

3 - 10 = -7

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 06:27 PMNEW COMMENT42 CHAT

Dice: 1d10035

35 35 = 70

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 06:31 PMNEW COMMENTCHAT

Okay, let's get a Bo3 d10010 against a DC of 70.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 06:32 PMNEW COMMENT4 CHAT

Reader Posts- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100

95 = 95

Dice: 1d10010

92 10 = 102

Dice: 1d10010

12 10 = 22

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 06:32 PMNEW COMMENT24 CHAT

It's not that you ever like school, but sometimes you really dislike school.

Sometimes you dislike school so much that you do the mental math and decide, "Nah, fuck it."

Such as today. Today you find yourself strongly considering 'fuck it', because today is the day you walked in to find Sophia Hess looking about as pissed off as you've ever seen anyone be. To the point that even Emma was edging away from her.

She had a scowl, a limp, and a cut lip and you know what?

You're not dealing with that.

Fuck it, you're out.

You meet her eyes across the hallway, see the storm raging there, and promptly turn on your heel to go stick your backpack in your locker.

Sophia is the least consistent of your tormentors. She, by far, fucked with you the least on her own. Oh, she might shoulder check you if you're passing in the hall, but she won't go out of her way to bother you if she isn't with Emma or Madison.

And you're pretty sure half the time she does so it's motivated by Emma's urging.

It's rare that she, completely of her own volition and with no outside nudging, bothers you.

But when she does, she really goes for it.

And your face can't take another punch right now.

And if she wasn't planning to before, she certainly is now that you've very clearly decided to avoid her like the plague today.

"Hey Hebert," you hear behind you as you put your backpack in your locker. The hairs on the back of your neck stand on end as you slowly close the door and turn to face her, "That was pretty fucking rude of you."

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 07:04 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

Sophia is going to try and beat the shit out of you eventually, try to delay the inevitable with your charm and wit.

Bo3 d100-15.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 07:08 PMNEW COMMENTCHAT

Reader Posts- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-15

12 - 15 = -3

Dice: 1d100-15

95 - 15 = 80

Dice: 1d100-15

59 - 15 = 44

Dice: 1d100-15

4 - 15 = -11

Dice: 1d10-10

5 - 10 = -5

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 07:08 PMNEW COMMENT29 CHAT

Dice: 1d100-10

58 - 10 = 48

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 07:13 PMNEW COMMENT11 CHAT

"You don't enjoy my company on the best of days," you say as you edge away from her. Well, you try to, she just follows you step for step, "Felt like I would spare you the bother of my presence."

"What the fuck happened to your face?" she asks, seeming to just notice the splotchy bruise that was turning a delightful yellow that completely dominated the middle and right side of your face.

"I got punched?" you say slowly, "And my nose broke?"

"Damn, by who?" She draws out the 'damn' to be very long, it seems the mystery of your broken nose has captured her interest more than the imminent violence did.

"Just some girl I know," you say dismissively, "I managed to piss her off even more than I usually piss off you."

"Well, tell her she's got a sick punch," she says, sounding impressed, "It looks like she damn near broke your cheekbone, that shit must've hurt."

"...It did," you say warily. "And will do."

"Did you hit her back?" she asks, sounding genuinely interested, "Usually you just kinda... take it."

"The punch knocked me down but I managed to kick her legs out from under her," you say, feeling strange about having a normal conversation with Sophia. You also don't mention the fact that she landed on you, that makes it seem less impressive, "Fought on the ground a bit after that."

"Nice," she nods approvingly and you, for lack of any better response, nod back.

This is awkward.

"You know, I was just going to come beat the shit out of you, but now that someone's beaten me to the punch I kinda feel bad for you." she says sympathetically. You don't believe that at all, and your suspicion is justified as she continues, "And I could also use a run, so you've got a ten second head start before I start chasing you."

"Wha-"

"Nine."

You stare wide-eyed.

"Eight."

She gives an exaggerated look to the side, and then you see her mouth open to say seven.

And you fucking book it.

You don't even know if she actually bothered to chase you or if she was just fucking with you, because the next time you look behind you you're at a bus stop two blocks away from the campus.

...Well, it's hardly the least pleasant conversation you've ever had with Sophia.

And hey, you've got some free time now that you've been chased from school.

Neat.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 07:33 PMNEW COMMENT24 CHAT

There aren't a lot of things that you hate more than being in a large crowd of people, and yet here you are. In a large group of people.

You… regret greatly everything that has led you to this point.

Namely deciding to go to an orientation at the University you're trying to get into a dual enrollment program with.

You get a tour around campus that you really don't need considering that your mother works here and you spent a significant amount of your childhood wandering around it given by just the most exhaustingly perky girl you've ever met.

You want to die.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 07:49 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

Dice: 1d100

87 = 87

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 07:52 PMNEW COMMENT6 CHAT

Being fucking sociable, ugh.- Closed - 2 posters

/roll 1d100-15

Dice: 1d100-15

73 - 15 = 58

Dice: 1d100-15

97 - 15 = 82

Dice: 1d100-15

62 - 15 = 47

Dice: 1d100-15

42 - 15 = 27

Dice: 1d100-15

52 - 15 = 37

Dice: 1d100-15

95 - 15 = 80

Dice: 1d100-15

24 - 15 = 9

Dice: 1d100-15

72 - 15 = 57

Dice: 1d100-15

10 - 15 = -5

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 07:59 PMNEW COMMENT83 CHAT

You should've just gathered your courage and talked to your mom about this shit. Or failing that, just come here by yourself on your own time.

But you've already started, and the invisible rules of politeness that you've been raised with mean that you can't just leave in the middle of the tour. That would be insane.

Even if the girl and her mother who are standing next to you seem to think you're her new best friend who she must tell her entire life story.

About the third time she's brought up and gone on a tangent to explain one of her extended relatives, you just about broke.

You want to cry.

Maybe this would be nice, maybe this would be the start of a beautiful friendship. If she wasn't completely insufferable and rude.

The snide comment about a pride flag also set off some alarm bells.

You… you just wanted to find information on their dual enrollment program.

That's all.

And now your patience is being strained like a test from a god who you don't even believe in.

As much as you don't want to talk about your life to this girl, at all, by the time 45 minutes pass and she still hasn't asked you anything but your name you're starting to get offended.

Thankfully, mercifully, for some reason the group split in two. You don't know why, you weren't paying attention. And then she asks you which one you're going to, and you know you are trapped.

Then, like an angel descending from heaven, your tour guide cuts in and grabs you from that group to make them even. You nearly weep as you say goodbye after promising to exchange contact information when you all meet up at the end.

"I'll let you know when we're going to merge again to give you time to make a run for it," the tour guide whispers to you as she pats your back consolingly, "Don't worry about it."

You take back every single bad thing you've ever said about her, which is nothing, but still.

She's a fucking angel and you love her.

"Thank you."

She just laughs off your gratitude and bounds up to the front of the group again.

And true to her word, 10 minutes later and 5 minutes before the end of the tour, you run off to go hide in an administrative building, knowing nothing more than you started with other than how to best bite your tongue.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 08:24 PMNEW COMMENT63 CHAT

Dice: 1d2

2 = 2

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 08:56 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

You re leaned over a table staring down at a collection of pamphlets, trying to figure out where the fuck you need to go to get the information you want, when you hear your name.

"Professor Hebert?" a girl behind you calls unsurely.

Well, technically not your name.

You turn around with a raised eyebrow, and the blonde girl immediately cringes when she realizes you're not your mother.

Maybe it was the four inches you have on her, or maybe the fact that you're a teenager and she's a full grown greying woman.

"That-"

"I'm sorry, I got you mistaken for someone else," she says apologetically despite rudely cutting you off. It looks like it's more from nerves than any intended rudeness as she shifts awkwardly in place.

"Annette in the Literature department?" you ask, getting a surprised nod from the girl, "Yeah, she's my mom."

"Oh!" she says, looking relieved, "I didn't know Professor Hebert had a daughter."

...What do you say to that?

She also seems to realize that, and visibly winces. Her confidence falters even more.

"Are you a student here as well?"

"No," you see the remaining glimmer of confidence in her eyes die at your monosyllabic response and you feel bad. You rush to elaborate, "I'm, uh, looking into the dual enrollment thing and I'm not entirely sure where to go."

"Oh, I do!" she says happily, "It's just… all the way across campus actually."

You sigh.

"Of course it is."

She laughs nervously.

"I have a class, otherwise I'd take you there but uhh, do you have a map?" she thinks aloud.

You obligingly hand her your stupid paper map of the school and she produces a sharpie from somewhere to circle a building.

"Yeah, it's kinda hidden in some trees but you should be able to find it once you know where you're looking," she advises as she hands you the map back, "Both me and my cousin did the double enrollment thing, well she's still doing it, and it's always a pain to find the building."

"Oh, thanks." you say with a genuine smile and sigh of relief, "I've been wandering aimlessly around campus for an hour now."

"Oof," she commiserates with you before glancing at a clock behind you and cursing, "Fuck, I've got to go. Uhh…bye."

"See you," you say bemusedly as you watch her dash out of the building.

It's odd not being the more awkward one in any given conversation.

You don't know if you like it.

Well, at least you know where you're going now.

The only new information you gather is the fact that you are correct, you need Blackwell's approval and that you need to get that approval before the end of next week.

What a waste of time.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 09:00 PMNEW COMMENT40 CHAT

Another five days and five hours, another 25 crystals to play with.

A quick look at your phone tells you that your options are unchanged, except for the new addition of a Improved Emotional Awareness Level 2 which has the decidedly unhelpful description "Increases the effect of the Improved Emotional Awareness option."

By how much?

Who knows. Not you.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 09:10 PMNEW COMMENT11 CHAT

Second Big Purchase -Voting closed - 36 voters

VOTES

Increased Exercise Efficiency

8/17

Improved Wit

8/13

Increased Emotional Awareness Lvl 2

7/9

Reduced Sleep Requirement

7/8

Improved Learning Speed

5/7

Improved Neuroplasticity

3/5

Improved Cold Reading

3/5

Minor Regeneration

4/51

Improved Empathy

1/4

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 09:13 PMNEW COMMENT101 CHAT

You still remember that feeling of suddenly getting stronger, that exhilarating moment where you were suddenly more than you were before.

And you are now emotionally aware enough to say that you don't really care about figuring out the particular, optimal, ways of improving your life, you want to be happy.

And that feeling made you happy.

Exercising with Hana makes you happy, feeling your muscles burn and strain makes you happy, the sensation that you're making progress with yourself makes you happy.

So you pick exercise efficiency and look forward to the fact that you're going to the gym tomorrow.

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 09:36 PMNEW COMMENT11 CHAT

Dice: 1d100

79 = 79

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 09:40 PMNEW COMMENT2 CHAT

Dice: 1d100-15

14 - 15 = -1

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 09:40 PMNEW COMMENT24 CHAT

Hanging with Hana- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-10

20 - 10 = 10

Dice: 1d100-10

27 - 10 = 17

Dice: 1d100-10

16 - 10 = 6

Dice: 1d100-10

52 - 10 = 42

FRI, OCT 8, 2021 AT 09:42 PMNEW COMMENT149 CHAT

Dice: 1d10025

76 25 = 101

SAT, OCT 9, 2021 AT 07:27 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

Dice: 1d10035

81 35 = 116

SAT, OCT 9, 2021 AT 07:50 PMNEW COMMENT47 CHAT

"How's the nose?"

The sound of Hana's voice startles you as you exit the changing room of the gym, and you spin to greet her with an awkward smile.

You absently wonder how often Hana has to go to the gym to make it so that she's there every time you go.

Sure, you go at roughly the same time every day, but you haven't been regular about the particular days of the week you go, and she's always there when you get there and still there when you leave.

Surely she doesn't go every day of the week and stay for half the evening working out alone.

...Right?

"Ah- okay," you stammer as you realize you haven't responded, for a slightly uncomfortably too long time. You reach up to prod at the still bruised flesh on your face, managing to barely flinch at the touch, "It looks pretty bad, but it doesn't hurt as much."

"Mmhmm," She makes a polite but disbelieving sound at that, but she doesn't inquire further as she turns back to what she was doing before. She does look at you from the side of her eye though, "Just take it easy, alright?"

"Yes ma'am," you say, with only slightly exaggerated respect.

You start going about your warm-up routine and quickly find that, while she seemingly goes about her business and only exchanges a few casual words with you, she is keeping a close eye on you.

It takes a monumental amount of effort to not flush noticeably under the attention, especially when you remember her appearance in your fantasies over the weekend, an amount of effort that you just straight up do not possess.

Luckily, being in a gym gives you a good excuse to be flushed.

If only you knew why she was watching you so closely.

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 03:32 PMNEW COMMENTCHAT

You decide that you have absolutely no chance at figuring out the answer to that mystery and put it out of your mind.

And so, as your face throbs with pain, you decide to just pay attention to your exercise routine and see what kind of difference your new efficiency will make.

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 03:35 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

How good is Exercise Efficiency?- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 10d100

5829034927121368592 = 581

Dice: 10d100

8870533674101845673 = 473

Dice: 10d100

1140586456599299113 = 430

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 03:36 PMNEW COMMENT45 CHAT

It turns out that Increased Exercise Efficiency is really, really good.

Like, you end up needing to up the weights in the middle of your reps, good.

It is amazing and exhilarating and you are even more sure you made the right decision to pick it. The emotional awareness has been nice, but this? This is just fun.

It's and also a bit nerve wracking because you have an audience who probably knows what normal progression with exercise looks like, but thankfully she seems too distracted looking for something else from you to notice.

But you can't hide your good mood, and that if nothing else seems to relax Hana a bit. To the point where she stops just watching you and starts chatting with you.

It's nice, and for a moment you let yourself forget all your worries and just let go and talk with your new… friend?

Are you friends?

Workout friends, at least. Right?

She bought you tea. That makes you friends.

You're pretty sure that's how it works at least.

It's been a while since you've had friends, so you aren't sure.

Haha, now you're a little sad.

The conversation goes all over the place, from family to school to your recent volunteer work, and you learn that she works for the PRT, but disappointingly at a boring desk job.

That does stress you out a bit, and you experience a fit of paranoia about the PRT investigating your phone, before you realize that that makes absolutely no sense.

Unless they have some master powers that you don't know about, it's not like they made you just happen to join a gym that one of their employees works out at. And if they did, surely there are better ways to use that power to get the information from you.

And if they were, why would Hana tell you that she works for them?

It's just a slightly unfortunate coincidence.

Still, it does set you on edge a bit.

But otherwise, it's a very pleasant casual conversation.

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 03:58 PMNEW COMMENTCHAT

Hana rolled a 101 on her investigation roll, she found out some shit about you.

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 03:59 PMNEW COMMENT3 CHAT

What did Taylor let slip? -Voting closed - 30 voters

VOTES

She figured out that your school life sucks, like chronic physical and emotional abuse sucks.

16/264

She figured out that you have recently acquired some type of power.

4/5

She figured out that your home life is unpleasant and neglectful.

4/4

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 04:00 PMNEW COMMENT67 CHAT

You end up slightly pulling back from going as far with the workout as you feel you could go, partly because Hana is right there and partly because you have no clue whatsoever how you'll feel tomorrow.

You really, really hope that it doesn't increase muscle soreness by ten times as well. That would suck.

"...I'm going to be really sore tomorrow, aren't I?" you say morosely as you try to catch your breath. You wipe the sweat from your brow as you feel the stray strands of hair that escaped your ponytail stick to your skin.

Gross.

"You did a lot today," Hana says, as enviably composed as ever. She was only barely breathing hard, and you wonder guiltily if you distracted her from her own workout. "It was good progress."

You took off your glasses at some point because they kept getting fogged up, and also you're less likely to get caught looking at her if Hana is just a vaguely person shaped olive colored blob rather than a very attractive and sweaty woman.

...You try not to notice as your cheeks get even redder when she pats your shoulder reassuringly, the thin material of your shirt doing little to diminish her warmth.

"Try and take it easy when you get home," she says, "You don't want to end up overdoing it."

"Yeah," you say as you stretch your shoulders a bit, "I'm probably just going to collapse."

"Make sure to get something to eat first," she says warmly, "And, hopefully things will be better at school, yeah?"

"Things have been getting better recently," you say shyly, still a bit mortified that you had let slip about getting bullied. It had just… slipped out.

Maybe you're a little too comfortable talking to Hana, or maybe you are nervous in a way that makes you blurt out information that you don't mean to. You aren't entirely sure.

You aren't sure whether you appreciate or feel incredibly awkward about the… concern she showed you after that.

Probably both.

It's nice to see she cares for some reason, but also you thoroughly dislike the feeling of being worried about.

You aren't very practiced at it.

...You ignore that thought.

You also kind of enjoyed the feeling of having someone to talk to that knew absolutely nothing about you, and now she does and is worried and it feels weird. Like, your school life has already warped what feels like your entire life with how shitty it is, now it feels like it's affecting your new friendship and you can't help but feel a bit resentful of that fact.

"You don't have to worry about it though," you say awkwardly as you stand up to leave, "I'm doing fine."

…

Your weak smile does nothing to reassure her, and you can tell.

...damn it.

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 04:58 PMNEW COMMENT49 CHAT

Well it isn't ten times the soreness, just about three times.

Which, ow.

It's bad enough that it shows in your gait, and attracted several concerned glances from your mother, teachers, and even from Madison of all people.

You think that last one was more her doing her own fucked up calculus on whether it was appropriate to mess with you right then, she has some weird fucking logic behind it that she has mentioned once or twice. Like that time she said she wouldn't bother you because it was Valentine's Day.

You still aren't sure whether that was a legitimate consideration for her, or if it was just a joke or whatever.

The fact that she repeated the sentiment on April Fool's day last year did not lessen your uncertainty.

Regardless, she apparently decided to leave you alone and you had a relatively peaceful, if painful, day of school.

And now you're going to the pet shelter for the first time since Rachel broke your face, not because you've been avoiding it but just because they've apparently not needed the help.

You aren't sure how you want to approach this.

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 05:19 PMNEW COMMENT37 CHAT

How do you approach Rachel this week? -Voting closed - 39 voters

VOTES

Let Rachel decide and go with what she does.

17/24

Ask her to teach us how to punch someone. That hurt a lot.

12/21

Make a joke about it, someone sends her compliments for her punching ability.

10/132

ask hobbies, maybe hanging out on weekend ?

1/4

Seduce her

1/3

Act like the punching thing didn't happen, start fresh.

2/2

Don't avoid her, but kind of avoid her.

1/1

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 05:27 PMNEW COMMENT23 CHAT

Dice: 1d100-20

44 - 20 = 24

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 05:36 PMNEW COMMENT15 CHAT

Taylor's conversational skills showed up today apparently.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-10

22 - 10 = 12

Dice: 1d100-10

38 - 10 = 28

Dice: 1d100-10

96 - 10 = 86

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 05:38 PMNEW COMMENT77 CHAT

You decide the best way to approach her is to just not approach her. From what you could gather last week, she already doesn't really interact with anybody and you're pretty sure just strolling up and starting a conversation won't go great.

So you kind of just go about your business and when she shows up give her a polite nod and smile before moving on.

Which, maybe isn't actually the best idea because it just makes her scowl at you.

...Well, at least you aren't being punched.

She goes to train a bunch of the dogs, and you spare a minute here and there to watch because it's actually kind of fascinating how well she works with them. She can wrangle them ten at a time while actively teaching them to follow commands. Meanwhile you can't get that one kitten to stop eating your hair.

You are in fact, trying to get that kitten to stop clinging to you when she does finally approach you, hands in the pockets of her jacket as she avoids your eyes.

"...How's the nose?" she asks gruffly in your general direction.

You experience a brief moment of deja vu as you're pretty sure that is word for word how Hana greeted you this week, although you quickly realize that they are two very different people.

Unlike with Hana, you get the feeling you're going to have to take the lead here.

"Pretty good," you say honestly, "It's still a bit sensitive but it's no longer painful just breathing, so that's progress."

Rachel nods in understanding as she relaxes a bit. And then the two of you are just standing there in silence as you silently wrangle an uncooperative but loving kitten.

Well, now you aren't sure if you should stay silent or put some effort into leading the conversation.

You look at her thoughtfully as she leans down to pet one of the many dogs, milling around her. She approached you this time, so clearly she isn't annoyed with you. But at the same time, you are like, 80 percent certain that this is not the behavior of someone out to make friends.

If only you had chosen an option that improves your ability to perceive and understand the emotional states of others, you might be able to figure this girl out.

Oh, wait.

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 06:16 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

Super Emotional Awareness Powers Go! It is adequately effective.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-10

20 - 10 = 10

Dice: 1d100-10

60 - 10 = 50

Dice: 1d100-10

42 - 10 = 32

Dice: 1d100-10

77 - 10 = 67

Dice: 1d100-10

89 - 10 = 79

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 06:16 PMNEW COMMENT18 CHAT

Because why not, I'll give you an achievement to celebrate the fact that you serendipitously managed to accrue exactly 1000 exp in Social.

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 06:37 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

The Antisocial Whisperer:

When interacting with people with a negative social value, add the absolute value of their malus to your own roll. This includes people who are just bad socially and also people who, for whatever reason, have a negative bonus specific to you. (There will be upgrades available that will give people opposing you a disadvantage later.)

Powers of Ten are Fun:

For each of the three areas, for every power of ten past 1000, including 1000, add a die to your base number rolls.

Just Enough. And No More:

Gain the ability to sacrifice xp equal to half of the amount required to reach the next bonus to reroll a roll in that area. This can lower your bonus if you use it with less than 50% progress.

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 06:42 PMNEW COMMENT2 CHAT

Which Achievement do you want? -Voting closed - 35 voters

VOTES

Powers of Ten are Fun.

16/211

The Antisocial Whisperer.

11/17

Just Enough. And No More.

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 06:42 PMNEW COMMENT42 CHAT

You wish it were that easy, that you could just think it and a little pamphlet for Rachel's emotions would appear in your mind, but apparently you actually have to like, think and put effort into it and pay attention.

Blegh.

You don't have to do that when your subconscious throws up little reminders about your own mental and emotional state being on rocky ground that you have to deal with every couple of hours, that just seems like a double standard.

You ignore the thought that you're just spending time complaining because you're hesitant to actually make an effort to reach out to someone who might reject you for reasons completely unrelated to Emma.

…

Ouch, you can't even try to ignore that one.

That one just kinda hurts.

You ignore that bit of painful self realization as you turn to Rachel.

Obviously, she felt bad in some way that she punched you in the face last week, otherwise why would she approach you?

Perhaps also as obviously, she either does not enjoy spending her time in the company of others or is, like you, bad at it.

Or both. It could very easily be both.

So… you got nothing.

She's made an effort to speak to you, she hasn't left immediately after saying what she had to say, so might as well start a conversation.

If it goes badly… Well that is something to remember for next time you run into her.

"I really should learn how to punch like that," you muse to yourself as you finally manage to extricate the kitten from your shoulder, only for it to immediately grab on to your sleeve as you go to put her in her crate, "I feel like it would come in handy."

"...You just close your fist and hit 'em in the face," Rachel says after a brief pause. She doesn't look up at you as she speaks, "It's not that hard."

You snort, Hana would probably beg to differ on that one, given the fifteen minute long lesson on how to hold your fist she gave you at the coffee shop.

"Probably," you say. You frown as the kitten digs her claws even more firmly into your arm. You reach to disentangle her little paws from your wrist as you speak chidingly, "Please stop hurting me."

"Huh?" Rachel looks up with a frown and sees the magnificent sight of you losing a fight with a one pound kitten.

"...The cat doesn't want to go."

Rachel just rolls her eyes and reaches over, picking it up by the scruff. The kitten flops in midair, seemingly losing control of every muscle in her body and lets go of your sleeve as Rachel raises it to look it in the eyes.

"Behave."

It mews pitifully in response.

She then easily puts it back in the cage and closes the door before it can jump toward freedom.

"Being delicate and slow when picking them up just freaks them out," she explains as she turns back to her dog, "If you can't get a solid platform for them to stand on, just grab 'em by the scruff."

"Huh, noted."

The kitten mewls mournfully, and you wiggle your fingers into her cage for her to play with as you look down at Rachel. She really does seem to be an expert in all this stuff.

You... should probably go. You have other things to do, but they're not here, and Rachel is.

A brief battle between your sense of responsibility and your desire to 'talk' with Rachel more, before you decide with a sigh that you shouldn't inconvenience others.

"Thanks," you say as you check the little scratches on your forearm, "I've got to do some stuff on the other side of the building, see you later?"

She narrows her eyes at you, the first time she's looked at your face since you started talking, seemingly looking for something on your face.

You raise a confused eyebrow.

"...Sure," she says slowly, "You coming back next week?"

"I was planning on it," you say honestly.

"Okay," she turns back to her dogs, seemingly done with the conversation.

Well, you suppose that's progress?

SUN, OCT 10, 2021 AT 07:18 PMNEW COMMENT160 CHAT

Another week another weekend spent desperately trying to occupy yourself instead of sitting around doing nothing just watching time pass you by.

What do you end up doing? As always your social options are limited because you have no friends.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 01:58 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

Weekend Vote #2 -Voting closed - 23 voters

VOTES

You volunteered to help your mother with something at the University, and it's a pain.

8/14

Talk with mum about the dual scholarship.

5/11

You're still sore, but no pain no gain right? Go to the gym.

4/62

Go watch a movie, you could use a little time away from your life right now.

3/5

Goddamnit, you're at the fucking mall again. (random dice based encounter)

2/3

Masturbate to Mum

Browse through the news,find what going on

See if the pet shelter needs any help, if not you can probably still pet some kittens.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 01:59 PMNEW COMMENT20 CHAT

Dice: 1d100

33 = 33

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 02:17 PMNEW COMMENT26 CHAT

You blame your mother for this, both because she's literally the reason why you're here and also because she had the temerity to raise you to be polite and helpful.

So when she makes an offhand comment about having to spend a lot of the weekend at the University helping set up and manage something for the literature department, you do the polite thing and ask if she needs any help.

And then she says yes, and then you're stuck spending your day at the University doing what amounts to very little. It's a miniature symposium where the department invited some scholars, experts, and authors to come and chat and give talks with the Literature Majors and graduate students and somehow your mother got roped into managing it, including the set up, food, and taking attendance of all the talks.

So you end up spending fifteen minutes setting it up, and then do a whole lot of nothing afterward.

Well, some of the talks are interesting and you get free pizza. So hardly the worst way to spend your time.

You do get a lot of surprised looks from the students though, especially when you're next to your mother.

Which you are quite often.

It is fine when you're just talking logistics and duties, but when it's more casual it gets a bit awkward as usual.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 02:27 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

Due to your mythical social prowess, you now have a bo4- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-5

17 - 5 = 12

Dice: 1d100-5

7 - 5 = 2

Dice: 1d100-5

33 - 5 = 28

Dice: 1d100-5

73 - 5 = 68

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 02:28 PMNEW COMMENT18 CHAT

Dice: 1d100-10

21 - 10 = 11

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 02:29 PMNEW COMMENT148 CHAT

You try.

You really do.

You're not great, you know this. But you do try.

You realized at some point that it isn't only her that has made your relationship turn so stiff, you haven't exactly made yourself approachable recently. And, even if you shouldn't be the one that has to go out of their way to make up, you decide to at least try.

After all, she's the one that invited you here. Surely that must mean that she's trying too?

It sure doesn't feel like she is though.

Whenever you branch out even slightly from talking strictly about what to do, even to comment on what is going on around you, she just… stops.

Her smiles turn stiff, her eyes look away from you, and her words turn stilted and awkward.

Every time.

Eventually you get the hint, and stop trying.

You go about your business and stop approaching her except when you need to and just try to enjoy the experience a bit.

But then she just kept looking at you.

Not all the time. Not even most of the time, but sometimes when you're busying yourself with something or talking to someone, you will look over and see her watching you with an expression on her face that you just can't pinpoint.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 02:53 PMNEW COMMENT2 CHAT

Reader Posts- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-4

39 - 4 = 35

Dice: 1d100-5

94 - 5 = 89

Dice: 1d100-5

82 - 5 = 77

Dice: 1d100-5

16 - 5 = 11

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 02:55 PMNEW COMMENT110 CHAT

You expect to see grief. Grief and apathy. You expect to see her be so consumed by her grief that she just can't bring herself to care about you.

You don't see that.

The grief is there, of course.

How could it not be?

You don't need any special emotions awareness skills to see that grief infects everything your mother does, you need only look at her to see that.

But more than that, you see guilt and shame on her face.

There isn't a single shred of that apathy you had been expecting, she cares so much.

But all that care is buried under a mountain of guilt, shame, and self pity. To the point that apparently she can't bring herself to have a conversation with you.

You don't know if the fact that she cares but can't bring herself to act on that is better or worse than the idea that she just doesn't care anymore.

Either way, it's not something you can or want to deal with right now.

So you go back to the old standby of just ignoring what you don't want to deal with.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 03:30 PMNEW COMMENT6 CHAT

Dice: 1d100

31 = 31

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 03:30 PMNEW COMMENT75 CHAT

You spend your weekend mostly bored, but you are bored outside of your house so you suppose it's better than how your weekends usually go.

Things with your mother get slightly more comfortable as the hours go by, if only because she's too busy to be super awkward about things, and you even manage to exchange a halfway reasonable conversation about one of the presenters' thesis.

Nervous map girl also makes an appearance, but in the ensuing torrent of words she unleashes before she leaves just as quickly as last time you neither learn her name nor provide your own which honestly might be the highlight of your weekend for how silly it is.

All in all, you don't feel like you helped enough to justify your presence at all.

At least you got pizza.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 03:56 PMNEW COMMENT2 CHAT

Reader Posts- Closed - 7 posters

Pick up Madison and twirl her around like a body pillow

Classic flying brick package

obligatory MUSK

talk with mom about getting the school thing done. get number/social media from the 'Nervous map girl', we so gonna tap that ass. Remember to buy the Cold Reading bonus for upcoming social battle with Blackwell. Use internet to learn how traps hide their dicks when in swimsuits.

Ask Hana about learning to fight, your bullies have gotten a tad more aggressive. Punch Sophia when she's being a shitlord Cute college girl designing clothes Establish a PHO account, start styling yourself as a cape in the bay but want info before committing to things Look up "Girls with dicks" online, that should give some inspiration on how to use it Spank Madison

Maybe we can find a way to charm people without being better socially. Either attractiveness or pheromones or an aura or something.

Start looking at the specific options and what they do. You want to save crystals, but you also need to see just how far this changes go and how specific this changes can be.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 03:56 PMNEW COMMENT94 CHAT

What to do in Week 3, the last week of the Tutorial. Top three make it. -Voting closed - 27 voters

VOTES

Try and convince Blackwell to let you go to college. (Last week this is available)

14/22

Work out with Hana.

10/16

Volunteer with Rachel.

7/141

Spend time with your mom.

5/7

Investigate the App online, because surely it didn't magically appear out of nowhere, right?

5/61

Invite Madison over to work on your project. Why would you do this now? (13 weeks remaining)

2/5

Look into learning how to fight, you don't think you'll ever be 'fight crime in the streets' strong, but might as well learn how to use what you have.

2/5

While messing with the app you were idly taping the screen and pressed the "bigger dick" option... life is suffering.

2/5

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 04:20 PMNEW COMMENT50 CHAT

Third Big Purchase, 75/100 of the way there. -Voting closed - 35 voters

VOTES

Improved Cold Reading

15/251

Improved Wit

5/10

Improved Learning Speed

6/10

Reduced Sleep Requirement

7/81

Bigus Dickus :)

8/81

Increased Emotional Awareness Lvl 2

2/4

Improved Empathy

3/4

Minor Regeneration

2/4

Improved Neuroplasticity

1/3

Increased Exercise Efficiency Lvl 2

1/1

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 04:33 PMNEW COMMENT17 CHAT

Reader Posts- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d10020

51 20 = 71

Dice: 1d10020

85 20 = 105

Dice: 1d10020

7 20 = 27

Dice: 1d10020

10 20 = 30

Dice: 1d10020

69 20 = 89

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 04:39 PMNEW COMMENT11 CHAT

Reader Posts- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100

42 = 42

Dice: 1d10020

64 20 = 84

Dice: 1d10020

84 20 = 104

Dice: 1d10020

98 20 = 118

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 04:40 PMNEW COMMENT30 CHAT

Well, you've put off trying to get Blackwell's signature for as long as you possibly can, it's the last week before the deadline and you have to get it done now.

Or… you can put it off until Friday.

After all, you need to purchase your new social thing, and then well, you need a few days to get used to it.

Yeah, get used to it.

That's your excuse.

Maybe you'll have an opportunity to use it at school in the coming days.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 04:47 PMNEW COMMENT3 CHAT

Does trouble find Taylor? lol, yeah

Dice: 1d100

96 = 96

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 04:47 PMNEW COMMENT28 CHAT

Trouble finds you consecutively rather than concurrently. Is that better?

Dice: 1d2

1 = 1

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 04:52 PMNEW COMMENT37 CHAT

You absently wonder if there's a giant monkey's paw watching your life and only activating when you make a comment that will maximize your regret.

When you asked for opportunities to cold read people, you didn't exactly want them to be forced upon your unwilling personage one after the other.

You don't know exactly what you were thinking of when you thought that, but it definitely didn't involve spending your Monday being confronted by your three biggest bullies one after the other.

You picked Cold Reading because you wanted help figuring out the best way to convince Blackwell to let you join the program, not to investigate the no doubt incredibly compelling inner lives and hobbies of your bullies.

What the fuck do you even want to learn about Madison, anyway?

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 05:05 PMNEW COMMENT14 CHAT

What are you looking into about Madison? -Voting closed - 41 voters

VOTES

Why are you fucking with me?

18/22

Soo... are you actually gay or do you just enjoy fucking with people?

14/212

Are you actually this big of a bitch, or is it an act?

10/14

Would you be interested going out on a date ?

6/12

What's up with your friendship with Emma and Sophia?

7/8

How does such a cute package contain such Chihuahua like spirit

2/4

Is she doing this because she noticed my dick? Or is she just gay?

This choice is inconsistent with the story so far.

Is the sluttery because of nymphomania or is it a way to get attention from your peers?

This choice is inconsistent with the story so far.

What would you think and do if I was a girl with a functioning dick ?

This choice is inconsistent with the story so far.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 05:10 PMNEW COMMENT26 CHAT

Taylor tries to figure out Madison to no success.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-5

34 - 5 = 29

Dice: 1d100-5

28 - 5 = 23

Dice: 1d100-5

35 - 5 = 30

Dice: 1d100-5

38 - 5 = 33

Dice: 1d100-5

11 - 5 = 6

Dice: 1d100-5

42 - 5 = 37

Dice: 1d100-5

30 - 5 = 25

Dice: 1d10-5

5 - 5 = 0

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 05:18 PMNEW COMMENT44 CHAT

What Madison wants, Madison gets.

Dice: 1d10030

61 30 = 91

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 05:19 PMNEW COMMENT88 CHAT

Madison does not want much it turns out.

Dice: 1d100

39 = 39

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 05:28 PMNEW COMMENT247 CHAT

Mr. Thompson is actually a pretty good teacher and a very nice old man, it's a wonder how he's survived in Winslow this long honestly. He is however, eighty years old, nearly blind, weirdly optimistic, and doesn't pay super close attention to his class while teaching.

And he's convinced you and Madison are the bestest of friends because she keeps talking to you, mostly to exchange some good old elementary school level insults, and all he notices is that the two of you keep interrupting the class to talk.

You would be more angry if he wasn't so nice about it.

Case and point, he goes out of his way to pair the two of you together for this class period. You really don't want to work with Madison, but whatever. She won't try anything extreme while in class, she likes Mr. Thompson too.

"I think you asking to join my extra credit project convinced him that we're friends even more than he already thought," you say tiredly as you sit down opposite her. You slouch forward, resting your cheek on your palm as you watch her completely ignore you to fix her lipstick, "...Are we going to actually do this worksheet or are we going to sit in silence for the next 45 minutes?"

"Option three," Madison says with a newly slightly sparkly-pinked smirk. "We have a pleasant conversation for 45 minutes because we're the bestest of friends."

"Why do you hate me?" you ask plaintively as you settle in for an annoying class. At the very least, verbally sparring with her was the least of the three evils, because Emma knows how to hit you where it hurts and Sophia has a cutting tongue in addition to knowing how to actually hit you, "There's so many other people you could torment in this school."

"I don't hate you," she says, seemingly affronted, "I just dislike you a normal amount and think it's funny to make fun of you. Emma is the one that hates you."

"...Is that supposed to be any better?"

"No."

You sigh and look down at the worksheet you'd been given, and make it roughly a fifth of the way through before she snatches it out from under you.

"Don't be a cretin, at least read it out loud, we only have one," Madison says, with an unfortunately valid point. She, annoyingly, does just that and you have to listen to her speak as she reads through it, making offhand comments along the way.

Fortunately it doesn't seem too hard, and as you nod along you assume it won't even take half the time allotted, which leaves you to deal with Madison without a buffer for the rest of the time.

"What will it take to keep the insults to a minimum today?" you ask tiredly, "I'm too tired to deal with you this early in the morning."

"Had a late night doing something fun?" Madison asks, and you aren't sure if the joke is that someone would fuck you or just the inherent discomfort of someone you dislike bringing up sex.

"I went to the gym if that's your definition of fun," you say.

"Oh, getting swole?" Madison asks mockingly as she leans forward to invade your personal space and squeeze your bicep hidden under your hoodie, only to blink in surprise as she finds actual muscle there. She squeezes again.

"Can you stop fondling my arms?" you ask, both because it's weird and also yesterday was arm day and ow.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Madison says, for once breaking the character of your tormentor to look at you in confusion, "Since when have you had muscles?"

"I'll answer that question if you agree to leave me alone today," you say, and you don't entirely know how or why you are now bargaining to not be tormented by telling Madison your workout history, but it beats dealing with her for the entire hour.

You're pretty sure you went into this conversation with a plan to learn something, but you've apparently given up on that.

She narrows her eyes at you, seemingly doing a mental calculation as she weighs the pros and cons of this situation. You aren't entirely sure what any of those were, but Madison takes a while weighing them.

"I'll agree to that if you also agree to let me see if I can touch the ceiling if I sit on your shoulders."

She looks at you seriously, like she has just made an important request of you and not something bafflingly inane.

"...Why?"

"Because I want to?" Madison says, looking at you like you're an idiot, "And you're tall?"

"...I'm not following."

"You don't have to follow, you just have to let me sit on your shoulders and stand up," Madison says dismissively. She kicks you in the shin gently as she continues, taking on a more mocking tone, "And don't act like you won't like having your head between my legs."

"You'll be sitting on my hair," you complain as you pointedly don't respond to her last point, "That shit hurts."

"I have a hairband, you can put it in a bun." She's really determined to do this for some reason.

You stare at her in confusion.

Why… Why any of this? What is the point of this, why does she want to touch the ceiling?

But also, do you care? It's a day of not being annoyed by her insults.

"...Make it a week," you say finally.

"Deal." she says with a satisfied grin.

What the fuck is going on?

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 06:32 PMNEW COMMENT86 CHAT

She manages to extract a promise to meet after classes end, and you only belatedly realize that you had meant to actually find out why she bothered you so often.

You go about your day, still confused, but decide by lunch time to just roll with it.

Madison is weird, don't question it.

Besides, you quickly forget all about Madison's weirdness as you're confronted by something more unfortunate happening. Sophia finding where you are loitering during your lunch period.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 06:52 PMNEW COMMENT6 CHAT

Reader Posts- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-5

26 - 5 = 21

Dice: 1d100-5

63 - 5 = 58

Dice: 1d100

58 = 58

Dice: 1d100-5

71 - 5 = 66

Dice: 1d100-5

99 - 5 = 94

Dice: 1d100-5

93 - 5 = 88

Dice: 1d100-5

83 - 5 = 78

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 06:53 PMNEW COMMENT29 CHAT

Sophia doesn't do great against your marvelous wit.

Dice: 1d100-10

48 - 10 = 38

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 06:55 PMNEW COMMENT11 CHAT

But she did come looking for an argument.

Dice: 1d100

73 = 73

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 06:55 PMNEW COMMENT70 CHAT

"What s this about you giving Madison a piggy back ride or some shit?" Sophia asks, as she strolls up to you casually.

"She asked me to," you defend yourself as she steps way too close to be comfortable and you take a step back to compensate, "I don't know why."

"Yeah, I know. She's fucking weird," Sophia dismisses, and you feel like that speaks magnitudes about what the fuck kind of friendship they have, "Just don't fucking think about doing anything to her, alright?"

"What would I even do to her?" you ask, confused. Actually, wait… Is she giving you a shovel talk? "Are you... threatening me to not harass the girl who has been harassing me for nearly three years?"

"Yes," Sophia says, "Just don't get any weird ideas about this alright? You're still a loser."

"...I don't think I'm the one with weird ideas," you say slowly, "I'm like, 90% sure Madison made a cunnilingus joke while asking me."

You watch as Sophia's indignant and protective stance collapses under the weight of her own sigh of exasperation. She brings her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Of course she did."

"Seriously, I'm just doing this because she bribed me with a week of leaving me alone," you say placatingly, "I don't have any other plans for this, I'm still kind of confused about it."

"...This is why you're a fucking loser Hebert, you don't have any plans to get back at any of us?" Sophia seems nearly exasperated with you and your passivity, and her stance relaxes from absurdly aggressive to only mildly aggressive. "After two and a half years of making your life miserable?"

"What would I even do? Piledrive her into the linoleum?" you ask rhetorically. There's a pause as you try to picture how that would go, and you can't help but say, "As funny as that would be, I'd get sent to jail in an instant."

You see a reluctant smirk form on Sophia's face before she hastily scowls at you to cover it up.

"But nothing else?"

"Why do you even care?" you ask, sounding bemused, "You're acting like I'm going to jump Madison or Emma in the streets with a knife."

You don't expect her eyes to widen and for her to look at you, shocked, for a brief moment before she manages to school her expression. There's an awkward pause as she looks at you with narrowed eyes.

That… is a very strong reaction to an offhand comment.

"Just making sure you aren't going to snap and go crazy on them," Sophia scoffs.

Them? Not us?

She seems very... protective of them.

"Maybe if that's a concern you should stop fucking with me," you say dryly. "I'm pretty sure I'm not going to snap, but if it's stressing you out it seems like there's an easy solution here."

"That's not how this works," she says with a grimace.

That isn't the expression and those aren't the words of someone really devoted to making you miserable.

...You've figured for quite a while that neither Sophia nor Madison actually give enough of a shit about you to focus on you so much, but with Madison's "Emma's the one that hates you." and Sophia's seeming complete lack of investment in your bullying you're almost certain that it's entirely Emma's animosity driving them.

For a long while you had let yourself believe that it was Sophia that corrupted and turned Emma against you, that Sophia was the devil in her ear pushing her against her will to do those awful things to you.

If that was true at one point, it isn't true now.

"So, now that we're having a frank discussion about this like real people," you say casually, "Can I ask why exactly you and Emma decided to make my life miserable? I've never really been clear on that part."

It's a question that you've dreamed of asking for years now, as if the answer would magically solve all your problems. But you've always assumed that asking Sophia is a good way to get punched in the face.

"Because you're weak, and a loser. And we could," Sophia snaps as she turns away from you with a scowl. She quickly walks away as she says, "So fuck off."

"But why me? Surely there's other weak losers in the school to bother." you ask as you refuse to let the question drop and follow her, easily keeping pace with her quick stride.

"You'd have to ask Emma," Sophia says as she turns for a second to shove you back a bit. She points at you firmly as she backs away before flipping her hand around to give you the bird as she turns to walk away from you, "And if I hear you tried anything with Madison I'll break your fucking legs."

Well, you didn't get an answer to your question. But you think you learned that the only way you'll ever get an answer to your question is to ask Emma.

Which you do not want to do.

You put it out of your mind, it's not like you're going to go looking for Emma to ask.

And you don't have any classes with her anymore, so with any luck you won't see her for a long while.

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 07:48 PMNEW COMMENT10 CHAT

Reader Posts- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-5

76 - 5 = 71

Dice: 1d100-5

20 - 5 = 15

Dice: 1d100-5

36 - 5 = 31

Dice: 1d100-5

56 - 5 = 51

Dice: 1d100-5

74 - 5 = 69

Dice: 1d100-5

88 - 5 = 83

Dice: 1d100-5

58 - 5 = 53

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 07:53 PMNEW COMMENT17 CHAT

Dice: 1d10050

70 50 = 120

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 07:53 PMNEW COMMENT6 CHAT

Dice: 1d100

12 = 12

MON, OCT 11, 2021 AT 07:54 PMNEW COMMENT124 CHAT

And, honestly, even if Emma shows up and openly talks about it you have absolutely no confidence whatsoever that you could divine any information from her whatsoever, even given your newfound ability to read reactions.

Which is a sentiment that you are unfortunately quickly put in position to test.

Emma looks you up and down with narrowed eyes as she stands in the doorway you would quite like to go through.

It is the end of the day and you, for reasons you still haven't quite come to terms with, have to meet up with Madison fucking Clements of all people in one of the chemistry labs and Emma is blocking your way with her hands on her hips as she assesses you like a piece of meat.

"...Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually." Emma says with a smirk.

You really need to stop asking people that.

"...I don't want to help you," you say with a flat honesty, "With anything, really."

"Oh, relax," Emma dismisses with a scoff as she digs in her pocket to pull out her phone, "I just need your picture."

Immediately, you raise your hand to block the camera on her phone as you look at her with great suspicion.

"Why?"

"To initiate my grand plan that will create a series of convoluted events that, in three years time, will come to a grand conclusion with your tragic death," Emma says sarcastically. You glare at her as she rolls her eyes at you and makes a hurry up motion with her hand as she gestures pointedly with her phone, "Anne heard you're tall now, she wants a picture."

"Ah."

Anne is Emma's five years older sister, and up until a few years ago might as well have been your sister too.

You are basically family. She's even named after your mother.

You… haven't seen her in a long while, since well before you started high school.

Actually, your dad's funeral might be the last time you saw her.

That's depressing.

"So suck it up and let me take a picture," Emma says impatiently, "I have shit to do, hurry up."

On the one hand, you really don't feel like helping Emma out. On the other, it's for Anne and you have no problem with her.

You sigh.

"How do you want to do this?" you ask, defeated.

THU, OCT 14, 2021 AT 04:00 PMNEW COMMENT9 CHAT

How is this picture happening? -Voting closed - 19 voters

VOTES

Somehow, Emma managed to talk you into doing a shared selfie to compare heights.

3/81

You aren't doing this, just ask for her number and you'll send one yourself.

5/62

You just stand where she tells you to and stand up straight.

4/5

she grabs your butt as a joke

2/5

Emma unsuccessfully attempts to get you to do several 'sexy' poses

1/4

THU, OCT 14, 2021 AT 04:06 PMNEW COMMENT42 CHAT

"Why a selfie?"

"Because it will show that you're taller than me and also it makes you uncomfortable, and that's funny to me," Emma says as she moves to stand next to you and you have to fight the urge to take a step away. She leans her head against your shoulder and it takes a great amount of willpower to not shove her off of you, "Stop leaning away from me like I'm a leper and smile."

You grimace and force a smile to your face as you look at the phone.

"Wow, you aren't good at this," Emma says as she watches your face twitch into something resembling a smile on her screen, "Take the phone, my arm isn't long enough to get your absurd height in frame properly."

Your smile drops off your face as you take it and follow her rather rudely phrased orders on how to take the picture. You really just want this to be over.

And a few fake smiles and an embarrassingly high number of failed selfies later, it is.

"Aww, we look cute," Emma says as she snatches her phone back and goes through the couple of photos you took, "Well, I do, you still look like you."

"Not one of your best insults," you say as you take a big step away from her, "Are we done?"

"Yeah yeah," she dismisses as she walks away, "I'll give her your number so she can stop going through me, she's been bugging me with questions all week."

"...Why do you have my number?"

"Aunt Annette gave it to me when I stopped by your house a couple days ago," she says nonchalantly, not pausing as she walks away.

Oh.

Wait, what?

"What, why were you at my house?" you ask her retreating form, getting no response from her as she turns the corner.

You debate following her before deciding that no, you don't care enough to subject yourself to more of her company today.

You still have to deal with Madison.

THU, OCT 14, 2021 AT 04:37 PMNEW COMMENT5 CHAT

Dice: 1d100

71 = 71

THU, OCT 14, 2021 AT 04:40 PMNEW COMMENT29 CHAT

"You're late," Madison calls petulantly from her seat on one of the stools in the chemistry classroom.

"Take it up with Emma," you say tiredly.

"Did she shove you down the stairs or something?" Madison asks in a frankly disturbingly chipper tone.

"No," you say flatly before you pause and look at her warily, "...Has that idea come up between you?".

"Only in jest," she says with wide innocent eyes, "Probably."

"Well, that's unpleasant," you say, "Let's get this over with."

"That's a disappointing attitude to approach this with," Madison says pityingly, "Can't you have some enthusiasm for the more frivolous things in life?"

"It isn't the frivolity that bothers me, it's the fact that it's you."

"That's hurtful."

"No it isn't," she doesn't give a single shit about your opinion of her, and you don't need any special insight to know that.

She blows a raspberry at you as she flings a hair tie at you.

"Why do you even have these?" you ask as you start to tie your hair up into a bun, "Your hair isn't long enough to tie up."

"Sophia always forgets hers," Madison says idly as she watches you, kicking her feet in the air as she waits, "And I'm a good person, so I carry some for her."

"Uh-huh," you mutter as you finish putting your hair into a messy bun, "I'm ready, why are we in this classroom?"

"Because reasons," she says dismissively, "Now come kneel over here."

"I'm not kneeling," you say flatly even as you walk toward her, "You get a squat, take it or leave it."

"...There are several jokes that could be made here," Madison says thoughtfully. You roll your eyes as you turn away from her and squat as low as you can go, "But considering that you're going to be carrying me in a couple seconds, I'm not going to say anything."

"Because a dirty joke is the thing that's a step too far and will make me drop you," you say dryly as you suddenly feel her throw a leg over your shoulder, "Not, you know, literally everything else you've done in the time we've known each other."

Your voice nearly cracks as your face turns a bright red when you realize that she is wearing a skirt, and it gets caught by your head so you're suddenly surrounded on both sides by the bare flesh of her thighs.

You close your eyes as you try to compose yourself as she settles and you hesitantly reach up to grab her calves to steady her.

"Okay, I'm ready," she chirps.

You let out a shaky sigh as you stand up, taking her with you as she lets out a squeak at the sudden movement. Her hands suddenly go to the top of your head and her thighs clench around your neck, and you feel your face burn.

"...You really don't weigh anything, do you?" you ask as you stand up straight, her weight barely an imposition.

"I guess," Madison says with a shrug you can feel but not hear, "Now onward, to the K-shelf."

You suspect that there's more to this than just letting her feel tall for once, but you don't really care.

Once you reach the section of shelving labeled "K-P", you stop and hear Madison shuffle above you followed by a triumphant shout.

"I knew that bitch was lying," Madison cries happily, and you can't help but tilt your head back to look up. You ignore the fact that you're pressing your head against her as you see her reach over the top of the shelving unit and retrieve...

A calculator?

A piece of plastic falls off of it and lands in front of you.

A broken calculator.

"Was all this seriously just so that you could find your old calculator?" you ask, unimpressed.

"It was about proving someone a filthy fucking liar," Madison sniffs imperiously. She then tosses the calculator to the side, and you track it as it falls very close to but not in her bag with a loud clatter, "'Not broken' my ass."

"Couldn't you have just asked me to look for it?"

"Sure, but that's not as fun," she says with a pat to your bun.

"Don't touch my hair."

"Let's do one lap around the room, and then we're done," Madison says cheerfully as she continues to touch your hair. "Also, holy shit you're tall."

"You didn't know that before?" you ask as you grumpily start walking around the room.

"Everyone is tall compared to me, but you're like, actually tall."

"...I feel like a human stepladder," you complain.

"That's because that's what you are at the moment," she says with annoying cheer. "Or maybe right now you're one of those really old timey super tall bicycles."

"A penny-farthing."

"Why the fuck do you know what they're called?"

You just shrug as you step up next to where she had been sitting, just a couple tables down.

"Ride's over, get off."

She laughs a bit as she shakes your hand off her foot to try and step on the table next to you.

She can't reach.

You obligingly lean down a bit to cover that extra distance, and she quickly throws her other leg over your head to stand on the table. She sits down on it as you take a step back and cross your arms, trying to look more annoyed than flushed.

"...Cute blush you've got there," Madison says with a smirk when she finally gets a clear look at your face.

"Shut up."

"Maybe I should adjust my prices going forward if you're enjoying being between my legs that much," Madison says with a very punchable amount of smugness in her voice.

"Gross," you say flatly, "Are we done?"

"Yeah, we're done," she says reluctantly as she looks over the edge of the table at the ground with a concerned expression.

You don't even wait for her to finish before you've turned around and are striding for the door.

"Cool, see you next week."

"See you tomorrow," she responds cheerfully. There's a long pause before she talks to herself quietly, but not so quiet you can't hear it, "Where are the chairs, how am I going to get down?"

As you step out of the room you hear a crash and a muffled "Fuck!" and you can't help but smirk as you don't turn around.

What an exhausting Monday.

THU, OCT 14, 2021 AT 05:51 PMNEW COMMENT46 CHAT

Dice: 1d100-20

53 - 20 = 33

THU, OCT 14, 2021 AT 06:08 PMNEW COMMENT8 CHAT

It's strange that the place where you were injured only a couple weeks ago is one of the most peaceful places of refuge you have.

To be fair, it does help that there are a lot of cute animals there.

And mostly friendly people, although for some strange reason you end up thinking about Rachel more than any of the more… normal people there.

She probably knocked some screws loose when she broke your nose.

Still, you can't lie and say that you aren't looking forward to seeing her again.

THU, OCT 14, 2021 AT 06:14 PMNEW COMMENTCHAT

What's up with Rachel this week? -Voting closed - 36 voters

VOTES

You get the feeling Rachel is pressuring you into adopting the kitten that won't leave your side.

17/222

You get drafted to be an assistant in her training, it goes... okay?

12/18

Cold Reading Rachel on idea of becoming actual friends with you, and not just work buddies

5/10

Wait, why does Rachel have a black eye now?

2/4

THU, OCT 14, 2021 AT 06:14 PMNEW COMMENT38 CHAT

What Breed is the Cat? -Voting closed - 40 voters

VOTES

Russian Blue

15/20

Maine Coon

9/16

it has two different eyes colors

8/101

Domestic Shorthair

4/8

Calico

4/7

Orange Tabby

2/5

Mixed, we have no idea what it is

3/5

Domestic Longhair

1/2

Garfield

Beerus

Savannah

A bit much for a random shelter kitten

THU, OCT 14, 2021 AT 06:32 PMNEW COMMENT74 CHAT

Oh, Taylor...- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d100-5

1 - 5 = -4

Dice: 1d100-5

22 - 5 = 17

Dice: 1d100-5

2 - 5 = -3

Dice: 1d100-5

32 - 5 = 27

THU, OCT 14, 2021 AT 06:49 PMNEW COMMENT258 CHAT

You've given up trying to manage the kitten while it's out, it can just ride on your shoulders eating your hair while you do all the shit you're meant to be doing.

It's better than trying to not trip over her as she repeatedly launches herself at your legs in a pitiful attempt to climb you to reach its rightful perch on your shoulder.

There's only so much sniggering you can take from the other volunteers and employees as you're forced to do an impromptu dance in a desperate attempt to not punt the little critter on accident as you do your job.

It's come worryingly close.

The only time she isn't hanging off of you is when you go outside to do your absolute favorite part of your job, cleaning up the dog shit in the yard.

Even then, she just sits in a window with her paws against the glass watching you and it melts your heart.

You are perhaps less efficient than you could be, given how much time you waste wiggling your fingers at her. It takes long enough that when you come back inside you're surprised to find Rachel gathering her dogs for their training session already.

"..." Rachel watches you with a flat expression as the little menace that's been stalking you leaps off the windowsill at your torso like a flying squirrel. You hurriedly move your hands to catch her as she clings to your hoodie, and maintain awkward eye contact with Rachel as the cat clumsily climbs further up.

"Hi," you say, your voice muffled a bit as the kitten butts her head against your jaw, purring loudly.

Rachel looks caught between unimpressed and reluctantly amused.

Which is fair.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 02:21 PMNEW COMMENT27 CHAT

"She likes you," Rachel observes dryly.

"It's the hair, she likes to eat it," you explain, trying and failing to match her dryness. You feel the now familiar tug on your scalp of said cat eating said hair. Without looking you reach up and pull the lock of hair away from her. You turn to look at the little criminal in question, "You need to stop doing that."

"...When are you going to take her home," Rachel asks. You can't help but be a bit surprised by that; from everything you've heard from the other volunteers about this place, and Rachel in specific, they are very selective about who they let adopt from them.

"I'm not…" you start, only to trail off at Rachel's incredibly unconvinced look.

"You just spent fifteen minutes playing peek-a-boo through a window with her."

You cringe a bit.

"You saw that, huh?"

"Mmhmm," she hums, crossing her arms as she stares you down despite having to look up at you.

You aren't opposed to the idea of adopting the kitten, in fact you'd love to. It's just that… you've never owned a cat before and you're nervous about it and also the big issue of…

"I'd have to talk to my mother about that," you say, feeling incredibly embarrassed. Rachel looks surprised for a moment before a look of realization crosses her face. She must've thought you were older than you are, something that is pretty common, "Can't exactly bring home a cat unannounced."

"Ah," she says before the two of you lapse into another somewhat awkward silence as is rapidly becoming a common occurrence.

"I'm not uninterested in adopting her, I'll think about it," you say, more to stave off the silence than anything else. "I need to go put her back before I go though."

Rachel nods and, to your surprise, follows you as you head to the cat cages, speaking only to tell her posse of dogs to stay put as she does so.

Maybe you actually are on your way to becoming friends?

"Okay, you," you say to the cat as you hold her in front of your face, "You need to go back home."

"You do know her name, right?" she asks as you put her advice from the previous week to good use and manage to get the kitten in the cage with minimal fuss, "You keep calling her 'you'."

"Uh, yeah?" you say, turning to look at her with a confused expression. You tap the nametag on the front of her cage that has her name in big, bold letters, dodging the swiping paws that come out to play. You smile awkwardly as you say: "It's not like I'm illiterate."

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 02:55 PMNEW COMMENT39 CHAT

Rachel Doesn't Punch You This Time

Dice: 1d100

72 = 72

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 03:18 PMNEW COMMENT15 CHAT

You miss the subtle flinch Rachel gives at your statement, too busy giving the cat a chiding look.

"Just feel kind of weird calling her that," you muse as you turn back to face Rachel, "It's a weird name…"

You trail off as you're met with a very unhappy looking Rachel glaring daggers at you.

…You hadn't realized she held such strong opinions on using the names of animals properly.

"Are you calling me stupid?"

What… The Fuck??

"No?" you say slowly, feeling very confused.

You see her work her jaw in anger, a flush rising on her pale and freckled cheeks as she glares at you. And for a moment you fear getting another black eye before she lets out a harsh scoff and shoves her clenched fists back in her jacket pockets.

"Fuck off," She mutters through her teeth as she whirls around and stalks away from you, her stompy storming off slight interrupted by the care she put into making sure not to upset any of the animals in her way.

"Well, fuck you too," you say, bemused.

You watch her walk away for a bit, feeling hurt and honestly a bit irritated by the sudden turn in mood.

Whatever, you don't need to deal with this right now, you think to yourself with a grumpy sigh, it's not like you were friends to begin with, she isn't your problem.

You try to ignore the knot in your gut and the little voice in your head that whispered that you wanted her to be your friend. That you want to fix whatever went wrong here and try again.

You make it to the bus stop, and halfway home before you give up trying to ignore it.

Stupid Emotional Awareness, can't even let you be grumpy in peace.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 03:28 PMNEW COMMENT2 CHAT

What The Fuck is Up With Rachel? You Don't Know.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d1005

22 5 = 27

Dice: 1d1005

25 5 = 30

Dice: 1d1005

7 5 = 12

Dice: 1d1005

25 5 = 30

Dice: Invalid input

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 03:28 PMNEW COMMENT52 CHAT

After thinking yourself into circles that go absolutely nowhere on the bus, you decide to just shelve the problem and deal with it next time you saw her, mostly out of spite for the part of your brain that seems to have decided to constantly inform you of your problems while doing fuck-all to help you actually deal with them.

That part of your brain helpfully informs you that that is neither a logical nor helpful approach to your problems, you tell it to fuck off.

It also informs you that anthropomorphising it is really weird and also neither logical nor helpful, you tell it to fuck off again.

The fact that you also feel no closer to having a solution to your Principal Blackwell problem also weighs on you, so by the time Thursday evening rolls around a visit to the gym seems like exactly what you need to work off some steam.

And hopefully you won't say something that would make Hana blow up at you too.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 03:43 PMNEW COMMENT8 CHAT

Hana Notices Something's Up

Dice: 1d10025

75 25 = 100

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 03:51 PMNEW COMMENT25 CHAT

It s... almost embarrassing how immediately Hana catches on to the fact that you're upset.

"You okay kid?" she asks, leaning over the machine next to you as you work on the leverage squat machine, stubbornly working with just slightly too much weight. "You look..."

She politely trails off and finishes her statement with a gesture and facial expression you don't feel like deciphering. You understand what she meant, you look upset and frustrated.

Because you are.

About... a lot of stuff honestly.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 03:58 PMNEW COMMENT13 CHAT

What do you tell Hana? -Voting closed - 30 voters

VOTES

You definitely don't burst and lay out all of your problems at once on the poor woman, haha, definitely not. Oh fuck.

7/142

Hug her. It's not like we NEED the comfort. She's just nice.

5/141

Talk about trying to make friends with Rachel, maybe she can spot something obvious you missed.

6/13

Mention the Rachel interaction last, as a final cherry on top as a "missed out on making a friend" thing. Mabye she'll have advice for that at least.

4/12

Mention that you're nervous about trying to convince your Principal about the college thing.

5/10

Tell her you have social autism, severe social autism maybe she know how to help

2/5

top 3

1/4

top 0

Brush it off and put on a smile, you don't want to bother her with your problems

2/2

...You really don't want to, but maybe you should talk about mom with someone who will listen.

Oh and also, there's this really hot woman from my gym I keep staring at and I feel inapropriate and a pervert

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 04:02 PMNEW COMMENT38 CHAT

You Do What You Need To, Not What You Want To- Closed - 1 poster

/roll 1d1005

Dice: 1d1005

81 5 = 86

Dice: 1d1005

32 5 = 37

Dice: 1d1005

49 5 = 54

Dice: 1d1005

51 5 = 56

Dice: 1d1005

51 5 = 56

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 04:13 PMNEW COMMENT16 CHAT

You Fail to Notice Hana Observing You Closely

Dice: 3d100

Options: Individual.

2,29,13

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 04:14 PMNEW COMMENT17 CHAT

Hana Gets You to Open Up More Than You Wanted To

Dice: 2d10025

Options: Individual.

86,91 25 = 111,116

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 04:16 PMNEW COMMENT13 CHAT

You Have a Good Workout- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 10d100

81914410514828478285 = 567

Dice: 10d100

484396656012722781 = 432

Dice: 10d100

738176905343208771 = 522

Dice: 10d100

16527238084643327 = 350

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 04:21 PMNEW COMMENT71 CHAT

You start reasonably, you know?

You already fucked up last time and talked about how bad your school life is, so what's the harm in giving her a little update, and hey, it was even mostly good news so you don't have to brush it off or lie to her to reassure her.

Things have been weirdly okay at school, with all your bullies mostly too busy doing other things to bother with you, and there's a shining ray of hope in the whole college thing. So things are… good.

"Forgive me if I seem unconvinced," Hana says softly, "You don't seem 'good'."

"Well…" you hesitate as you start to explain, you really don't want to bother her with all your issues, "I do still kinda-sorta have to talk to my Principal about entering the college program thing."

"That doesn't seem too-"

"And she hates me," you blurt out, flushing when she looks at you in surprise, "She knows about the… others and just doesn't do anything. Because one of them is super rich."

Madison is apparently the daughter of legitimate millionaires, very busy perpetually over seas millionaires. And the threat of Madison calling and making enough of a fuss for them to come back home to deal with it is apparently enough of a consequence for Blackwell to side with the three of them all the time. At least, that's why you assume she does it.

"She knows?"

"I took a video," you mutter, "Which apparently isn't… legal."

Two party consent laws are apparently a thing that exists and makes taking secret recordings of people in Massachusetts a felony.

Who knew?

Not you, otherwise you wouldn't have showed it to the Principal. Thank god you didn't give her a copy though, you don't think she'd blackmail you but at this point you wouldn't put it past her.

"It is not," Hana confirms, looking even more worried.

"And like, I get that she couldn't do anything because of that in that particular case," you say, definitely appreciative of not having been arrested and charged with a felony, "But it proved that I wasn't lying about it, and she still called me one whenever I brought other, legal, evidence about it."

"She called you a liar?"

"To my face," you confirm with a mutter. And you absolutely don't mean to say what comes out next, but you're just so tired of pretending that things are fine that you can't help yourself, "I believe her words were 'an attention seeking compulsive liar with a vendetta'. It's apparently in my file because teachers have said it verbatim a few times."

You chance a look up at her, and flinch away at the very obviously controlled expression on her face.

You don't need your new cold-reading perk to see that she was pissed.

"Forget I said that," you say hurriedly, "It doesn't matter. She might actually agree just to get rid of me for half the days of the week."

Your rushed reassurances did not have the effect you wanted them to, if the frown and the twitch of her hands towards her waist before she clenched them and folded her arms were any indication of a suppressed emotional reaction. Which they obviously were.

Well, in for a penny you suppose.

"I've also been putting it off and the deadline to get her signature is tomorrow," you say nervously, "So I'm kinda nervous about that."

Her eye twitches.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 05:16 PMNEW COMMENT40 CHAT

"But really, it's fine," you say with a weak smile, "I'm fine."

She looks unconvinced, and you duck your head to avoid her gaze as you anxiously play with the hem of your shirt.

You need to figure out what to say that will convince her to stop looking at you like that.

You're fine. Things are getting better, you're on your way to a better life, you're fine.

"And I… I was being honest, things are going better," your voice leaves you in a rush, an embarrassingly watery rush, "I've been getting out more, the bullies have been leaving me alone more, and I do really think I can convince her to let me go to college instead of staying in Winslow all week! It's just…"

"Taylor…"

"What if I can't?" Your voice cracks as you ask the question you've been avoiding thinking about for almost two weeks, ever since you got this spark of hope that is a way out, "I want to so badly, to go somewhere I have a shot at being normal. But what if I can't, and all this… progress just-it just goes away, and I'm stuck there for more than a year-"

"Taylor."

"-and Emma and Sophia go back to fucking with me and Rachel's mad at me and I don't know why and mom's still not there."

"Taylor," You jolt as you feel Hana wrap an arm around your shoulders, and realize with mortification that there are tears falling down your face. You shamefully try to rub them away, as if she could've possibly not seen them, and even more shamefully lean into the embrace, "It's okay, just breathe."

You try to take a deep breath, and all you manage is a pathetic hiccup that catches in your throat and brings out a sob that you try futilely to smother before it leaves your throat. She pulls you in closer as she sits next to you, and you have to muffle another one.

You hate this.

She wraps her other arm around you and holds you until your forehead is resting on her shoulder, and you have to redouble your efforts to stop crying so you don't get her wet.

This is pathetic.

You can't help yourself, you wrap your arms around her and pull her closer. You can't help yourself and you hate it.

You're pathetic.

Your efforts not to cry on her amount to nothing, and the sight of a single tear falling on her shirt is enough to break you. More drops join the first, until you can't see anything through the blurry sheen on your eyes.

…You don't deserve this.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 05:46 PMNEW COMMENT66 CHAT

"I m sorry," you say miserably, wiping your eyes with Hana's proffered tissue. You're nearly too tired to really feel the deep mortification at the fact that you just cried on her shoulder.

Nearly.

"It's fine," Hana says with a casual shrug.

"Things are actually better though," you say petulantly. "I'm not like… breaking down like this all the time, you know?"

"I believe you," Hana says softly as she reaches around to pat your back, "Sometimes things need to improve for you to feel safe enough to process how bad things were before."

You aren't sure that makes sense, but you'll go with it.

"I… I should get going," you say awkwardly, partially because you're still ashamed about breaking down, and partially because you really do need to go, "The last bus is going to come soon."

"Okay," Hana says.

Neither of you make a move to stand up though, and after a slightly too long beat of silence you hear her speak.

"If you have to rush, then go ahead. But… now that you're all cried out, is there something you want to actually talk about?" Hana asks, "Something I can… help with?"

"You mean as opposed to me blubbering it out uncontrollably in your general direction?" you mutter, eliciting a sound halfway between a snort and a sound of disapproval from Hana. There… is.

"There's this person who works at the shelter I volunteer at," you say slowly. This more than anything else has been bothering you, mostly because you can't shake the feeling that this is your fault, "I think I said something that really upset her, and I don't know what."

You explain what happened, going into detail that probably isn't necessary but you aren't going to risk not explaining the thing that you missed that set Rachel off. You finish your explanation with Rachel asking if you knew the cat's stupid name and your response about not being illiterate, when she cuts you off.

"Is she illiterate?" Hana asks with an arched eyebrow.

"I-What?" you ask, baffled, "No. She's like, 20."

"That doesn't mean she's not illiterate," Hana explains, grimacing slightly as she continues, "Even in the US, people can just… fall through the cracks. And once you're behind, especially about something basic like reading, it can be hard to ask for help."

That… would make a lot of sense.

You think back, trying to figure out if you've ever seen her read or write anything.

You can't, but that doesn't mean anything really, there's plenty of people you could say the same about, and you wouldn't just jump to illiteracy. But then you think about Rachel's whole… everything.

…You're an idiot.

"I'm an idiot."

"You're an idiot." Hana doesn't actually say this, but the fact that she doesn't reassure you that you aren't one convinces you that she did think it.

In your defense, your mom is an English professor and you knew how to read before you started preschool, so the idea of someone not knowing how to read is (apparently) literally incomprehensible to you.

"I basically insulted her to her face by accident, didn't I?" you ask rhetorically.

"It seems like it."

"Well, fuck."

"...Don't you need to change and go catch your bus? It's been ten minutes since you said-"

"Shit!"

You scramble to get up and gather your stuff as you rush toward the changing room, pausing only to turn back and give Hana the most genuine smile you could.

"I... Thank you, and sorry about the... crying." You don't wait for her response before dashing toward the changing room with a red face.

"Anytime," she says, but you don't hear her.

You also don't see her frown once you're out of sight, and you definitely don't hear her mutter to herself as she goes to check her phone.

"Sophia, huh?"

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 06:24 PMNEW COMMENT15 CHAT

The only thing you have left to do this week is the thing you've been putting off.

Talking to Blackwell.

And you still haven't made up your mind on how to approach her.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 06:33 PMNEW COMMENT4 CHAT

How do you approach the Principal -Voting closed - 25 voters

VOTES

Be blunt, she knows your grades are good enough and that it's in both your best interests if you're not around much.

8/211

Just pretend that you're a normal student and this is all normal, don't even hint at anything else.

3/5

Bring your entire academic transcrips from before you entered Winslow.

1/2

Bring twenty dollars as a bribe. Just in case.

Ugh, suck up and try to convince her if she does you'll swear to stop 'causing trouble' for her.

Forge her signature

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 06:36 PMNEW COMMENT27 CHAT

You Comport Yourself Better Than Expected- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d1005

64 5 = 69

Dice: 1d1005

32 5 = 37

Dice: 1d1005

22 5 = 27

Dice: Invalid input

Dice: 1d1005

45 5 = 50

Dice: 1d1005

72 5 = 77

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 06:48 PMNEW COMMENT17 CHAT

Blackwell is Weirdly Cooperative, but Mostly Tired

Dice: 1d10010

33 10 = 43

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 06:49 PMNEW COMMENT2 CHAT

Attempt at Reading Blackwell

Dice: 3d1005

Options: Individual.

29,80,15 5 = 34,85,20

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 06:49 PMNEW COMMENT88 CHAT

Ultimately you decide that honesty is the best policy.

You ignore the fact that you absolutely do not believe that in general and have in fact been lying to your mother about your bullying partially to protect Emma who doesn't deserve it and also that you will absolutely never tell anyone about the magic phone game you acquired.

But in this specific case where you are negotiating with the ENEMY, who is also not really your enemy and more just your enemy's ally, about something where your interests happen to actually align for once in your association, honesty seems to be the best policy.

So it's with that in mind that you arrange to meet with Principal Blackwell during your free period, with already filled in forms and your transcripts in hand.

"Ms. Hebert," She says flatly, her voice as cold and dry as the antarctic, "To what do I owe the pleasure."

"Well, you'll be happy to hear I'm not here to report anybody this time," you say, equally dryly. And you're surprised to see the slight uptick of her lip. "I'm here to inquire about the Dual Enrollment program you have with Brockton Bay University."

She looks at you over her glasses.

"A little early isn't it? You don't start Senior year for another five months."

"I'd like to apply for spring quarter," you say simply.

"The Dual Enrollment program is exclusive to Seniors whose grades are in good standing."

"It is not, Juniors are allowed to participate with the approval of their High School Principal," you say, taking the opportunity to slide the relevant sheet of paper over her desk for her to look at, "It's weird to start in Spring Quarter, but it's not unheard of."

She sighs and leans over to read the sheet of paper, and you can feel your heart pounding in your ears as you wait.

This was going… surprisingly well.

You can't wait to find out how it'll all go to shit.

"That… is true," she says as she leans back in her chair, "However, enrolling as a Junior requires for your grades to be in good standing, even more so than as a Senior and your grades are…"

"I'm sorry Ma'am," you cut her off, and you ignore her arched eyebrow of disapproval, "But may I be… blunt?"

"I'm sorry?"

"May I stop pretending that we don't both know why my grades are not, in fact, exemplary?" you ask heatedly.

"If you're going to go back to blaming others for-"

"I have scored in the 97th percentile on the PSAT all three years I've taken it and I have a 4.0 or better in all classes that either don't have homework or allow online turn ins," you say, "You know as well as I do why my grades aren't as high in the other classes, and you also know that there is no formal grade requirement for the program, just your signature."

She glares at you.

"I've given up trying to have them face consequences for what they do, I'm not here about that, but I'm not going to let their actions jeopardize my academic future when you know full well what they've done."

You practiced that line in a mirror last night.

"Well, with a reminder that secretly recording someone is a felony, I will also allow myself to be blunt," she says flatly as she reclines in her chair and crosses her leg, "You aren't doing this for your academic future, you just hate this school and want to be as far away from it as possible as often as possible."

"...You aren't wrong," you say warily. This isn't exactly how you expected this conversation to go.

"You also probably have a thinly veiled threat prepared about how you being absent from Winslow more often will mean you have less of a chance to cause trouble, or be on the receiving end of said trouble."

"...I was thinking it was less of a threat and more of a statement of fact, but yes."

She sighs and takes off her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose, and you feel a bit weird at the strange anti-climax this conversation has turned out to be.

"Give me the papers," she says with a final sigh.

You obediently hand over the papers, feeling a bit cheated out of the dramatic confrontation you'd been imagining as she pulls out a pen.

"You should've talked to me about this earlier," she grumbles at you, "Arranging everything on my end this late is going to be a pain in the ass for the Vice-Principal."

"I only found out about it last week," you admit. "You really should make the program more accessible."

She ignores you.

"Here," she says as she brusquely hands back the papers, "Get your mother to sign this and then get it to Admissions before Sunday, and you'll be fine, they'll fit you in."

"Thank you." you say, a bit baffled by how easy this turned out to be.

"You're welcome, and have the rest of the day off to arrange that. Now get out of my office."

"Yes Ma'am."

As you stand outside her office, feeling incredibly confused, it occurs to you that perhaps being forced to cover for a bunch of malicious kids because of who their parents are wasn't something Principal Blackwell particularly enjoyed, and if given the option to lessen that pressure, she'd take it happily.

But that would require thinking of her as, like, a person who wasn't just another of Emma's lackeys and that feels weird.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 07:35 PMNEW COMMENT21 CHAT

Now… Mom.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 07:38 PMNEW COMMENT12 CHAT

Choices -Voting closed - 18 voters

VOTES

Go see her at the University, it's why Blackwell gave you the day off after all.

8/141

Just wait for her at home.

2/41

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 07:42 PMNEW COMMENT16 CHAT

Your Mom Can be Not a Travesty Sometimes

Dice: 1d100-10

88 - 10 = 78

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 07:49 PMNEW COMMENT40 CHAT

It's odd how easy it is to find your way to Mom's office, for the first time in years.

You remember how, on the nights when she was working late, you and dad walking up this same path and these same stairs with food to surprise her with dinner.

Or how Emma would race you across the grass to be the first to greet your mom with a hug going full speed, something easier when you were young enough that your mom could pick the both of you up and swing you around.

Before you grew up and got too big to do that.

Before… dad died and your mom stopped eating and lost weight to the point that sometimes you're scared she'll just snap in two if someone touches her wrong.

…You don't think you've been here since he died.

You sigh and try to shake off the melancholy mood you've suddenly found yourself in as you round the final corner and approach your mother's office.

You note the fact that the light is turned off, because you couldn't be lucky enough to stumble in at a time she's in, and look at the schedule taped to her door.

…She'll be teaching a class for another hour and a half.

Of course.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 08:10 PMNEW COMMENTCHAT

How do you want to kill time -Voting closed - 17 voters

VOTES

The English department has a semi-hidden room for the students to just hang out in, you remember it as being really comfy.

9/15

Just go for a walk, the campus has always been pretty and maybe it'll cheer you up.

4/4

Go to a cafe and get an absurdly over priced cup of tea and a bagel.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 08:11 PMNEW COMMENT22 CHAT

It takes a bit to find your way there, but thankfully your memory doesn't fail you and eventually you find the 'hidden' room for English majors that is significantly less hidden than you remember it being.

It's just like, down the hall.

You suppose it's hidden in that it's in the same area as all the teachers' offices, so undergrads didn't spend a lot of time there to find it in the first place.

And it looks… basically the same as you remember it.

A few round tables with chairs, a few whiteboards on wheels, a single projector and a smattering of bean bag chairs strewn about.

And it was absolutely empty.

With a shrug, you stroll in and look around to fail to find anything different from how you remember it being before arriving at your destination. Your destination being a bean bag chair that you flop on in an ungraceful heap, your too-long legs sticking out at awkward angles that you can't bring yourself to care about.

"Meep!"

…Meep?

You look to the side, where the nervous squeak came from, to find a conspicuously placed whiteboard blocking a corner of the room right next to you. And, just visible under the bottom of it, the suspiciously taut side of a bean bag.

Arching an eyebrow, you push yourself back so that you can look around the whiteboard, and are greeted with the sight of that nervous map girl sitting cross legged in the corner, on a beanbag, looking over the top of her laptop at you with ridiculously wide eyes.

The two of you stare at each other for a long moment, as if the other would pounce the moment you looked away. But eventually you just can't take the silence, and also you're kind of in an awkward position being held up entirely by your legs, and speak up.

"...Yo."

And with that said, you let your legs relax and slide back onto the bean bag, once again unable to see the other girl.

Smooth Hebert, smooth.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 08:33 PMNEW COMMENT1 CHAT

Nervous Map Girl is Nervous and Accidentally Pokes a Nerve

Dice: 1d100

11 = 11

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 08:33 PMNEW COMMENT6 CHAT

You're actually socially competent for the first time in your life.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d1005

90 5 = 95

Dice: 1d1005

8 5 = 13

Dice: 1d1005

11 5 = 16

Dice: 1d1005

71 5 = 76

Dice: 1d1005

15 5 = 20

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 08:34 PMNEW COMMENT18 CHAT

Nervous Map Girl continues to not provide her name.

Dice: 1d2

2 = 2

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 08:37 PMNEW COMMENT15 CHAT

Attempt at Reading nervous map girl.

Dice: 3d1005

Options: Individual.

15,43,40 5 = 20,48,45

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 08:50 PMNEW COMMENT7 CHAT

There s a very long moment where you think that'll be the extent of your 'conversation' as she continues to say nothing and the whiteboard between the two of you continues to be between the two of you.

And then that moment drags on long enough for you to pull out your phone and boot up a sudoku app.

And then halfway finish a puzzle.

And then, out of the corner of your eye, you see a hand grab the edge of the whiteboard and push it down, revealing nervous map girl's nervous smile as she says:

"Hi."

For a moment you have the very unfair thought that this girl is way too pretty to be so nervous. Which, you are aware that that isn't how nerves work, but you can't help it. She has a very soft and pretty face, with very long blonde hair that she has to brush out of the way of her face to meet your eyes.

"Hey," another pause before you remember that you'll probably have to take the lead here, "We keep bumping into each other, don't we?"

For some reason, this very simple and benign statement sets off a very bright blush on her face and a rushed response.

"I-I'm here to see Professor Hebert as well is all," she says, "At least, I assume you're here to see her. She's your mom."

She visibly cringes at her last sentence, and you can't help but let out a soft laugh that unfortunately makes her sink even further in her bean bag.

"She is, and I am," you say gently, trying to channel Hana's reassuring and confident aura. Who knew you'd be on the other side of this? "Here to see her that is."

"Oh, well… That's good?" she asks more than says as she looks up at you from where she sunk into her seat.

"When she gets back, I'll let you go first. I might take up a lot of her time unfortunately," you say with a grimace as you realize you'll probably have to both explain why you're there and also then it's 50-50 whether your mom will escort you to do the administrative nonsense you have to do. Speaking of, "Thanks for the directions again, that building would've been a pain in the ass to find."

"Oh, no problem," she says, and you watch with relief as some of the tension leaks out of her shoulders and her smile gets less shaky, "I know when I had to find it the first time-"

You lean back and let her talk about her first experience on campus with her mother and one of her cousins. They seem… nice, but then she'd hardly bad mouth them to a stranger if they weren't you suppose. You absently wonder if she'll remember she never introduced herself, and if you're going to end up learning the names of all of her family members before she does. (You already learned that her cousin is named Vicky and her mom is named Sarah.)

"Don't let me distract you by the way," you say on one of the seemingly rare occasions she needs to stop for breath, "If you're doing something important."

"Oh," she looks down at her laptop where it lays half fallen off her lap, "Oh, no. I'm not- It's still spring break so I- It's nothing."

"Okay," you say, and you take the lull in conversation to look at her. She was an oddly endearing mix of very anxious and very talkative, you're pretty sure the two are very much related. And you didn't mind, listening to her talk about her family. It was a bit… bittersweet to hear about a happy family, but it wasn't unpleasant, "You mentioned that your cousin is also doing the dual enrollment thing, do you think we'll be in any of the same classes?"

"Oh, probably," she nods, her eyes flitting up and to the side as she thinks, "They tend to stick all the high schoolers together when they can, but you're starting late? Early? So who knows."

You hum in acknowledgment before asking a question that nicely set her up to talk about her cousin and how cute/smart/annoying she is, and you quietly marvel at just how long she could go.

Was this… how you were when you were a kid? Everybody always told you that you were a chatterbox, and this girl definitely fit the bill. Although you don't remember ever being as nervous as her.

You… can't imagine it. These days it's a struggle for you to find five words to string together, let alone have enough in you to dominate a conversation for nearly an hour.

…You refuse to let that thought turn this experience more bitter than sweet.

Eventually, it's time for her to meet your mom, and she bounds off with a cheerful: "See you later!".

And you're left with nothing but memories of a happy family that isn't yours and a version of yourself in your thoughts that you can never be again.

...

It takes a while to gather the urge to stand up and head out.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 09:18 PMNEW COMMENT7 CHAT

You're actually socially competent for the second time in your life.- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d10010

70 10 = 80

Dice: 1d10010

57 10 = 67

Dice: 1d10010

5 10 = 15

Dice: 1d10010

91 10 = 101

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 09:29 PMNEW COMMENT35 CHAT

You stand in front of the door weighing the option of just turning around and going home in your head before you knock on the door with a sigh.

"Come in!"

You crack the door open and lean in, seeing your mom bent over her desk, writing something on a piece of paper. You quietly walk in as you watch her work, and frown as you notice her too-big shirt drape around her too-skinny shoulders and collarbones. Even her hand holding the pen looked too… gaunt.

Your observations take long enough that she finished what she was writing, and looked up at you with a half-smile on her face right as you start to talk

"Hey mom," you say quietly, and you don't know how to feel about the sudden and extreme changes in emotion you saw on her face. From complete shock, to utter delight, and then a frantic worry before settling somewhere in between the last two as she rushed to simultaneously stand up and clear off her desk.

"Taylor! Come in, let me just," she scrambles to cross her desk and adjust the chair, leaning down to pick up the small stack of books that was apparently sitting on the only other chair in the room. You can't help but smile as you look around and see just how much of a catastrophic mess of paper and books the room is, and you wonder if she actually just makes everyone stand or if it's a scramble to find space like this every single time someone walks in. She gestures with the newly picked up books at the newly freed chair as she says, "There you go. Let me just… find somewhere for these…"

Well, this is definitely familiar. Dad always made fun of her for her inability to keep her places organized.

You stand back and let her find a different place for her books to be an inconvenience before taking a seat in front of her desk.

It takes her a moment to find a place, put the books there, and then make sure they wouldn't trigger an avalanche before she returned to her own seat and looked at you.

"So, what are-" She starts to say something, and then you see her freeze, and isn't that familiar as well. You can see the gears turning in her head as she tries to work out a way to ask what you're doing there without bringing up the fact that you haven't been there in nearly three years and thus bringing up the nearly three years of stiff awkwardness that lay, unignorably, between the two of you at all times. But for once she forces herself to unfreeze before it gets… unbearable and she smiles at you as she asks, "What brings you up here?"

And now you feel awkward about the fact that you've only come here because you need something from her.

"Also… isn't it still school hours?"

Ah right, and that.

THU, JAN 6, 2022 AT 10:02 PMNEW COMMENT297 CHAT

"So you know the high school thing?" you start out incredibly eloquently.

"...High school, thing?" she asks, looking justifiably confused. She draws out her next words slowly as if not knowing where she was going, "You mean... Winslow...?"

"The, uh, dual enrollment program that the University has with Winslow?"

"Oh, of course," she says, very politely pretending that the answer was obvious and she just missed it, "The girl who was in here just before you used to be in that, but from Arcadia."

"Right, well, I got into that?"

"...What?"

"Yeah, they accept Juniors if the Principal signs off on it," you decide to explain the bit that she most definitely wasn't asking about first, "And she did, and because it's so close to the start of the quarter she gave me the day off to come up here and deal with all the administrative stuff."

"That was… nice of her," your mom says faintly, "But I didn't know you were looking into it?"

"I… wasn't sure I could talk her into it," you say, not technically lying but also not answering the very clearly implied, 'Why is this the first I, your mother, have been informed about the fact that you, my minor daughter, are trying to get approval to study at the University that I work at?'. Which you don't really have an answer for so you're ignoring that, "I didn't want to get my hopes up if she was just going to say no."

"Oh, so you just need my signature," she says, with a visibly strained smile as she blatantly fought down a look of disappointment at the fact that you're obviously only there for practical reasons and also dodged the implied question because there's no answer other than 'you weren't around so I handled it myself', "I can do that, let me see."

You stand and hand over the papers, musing that this meeting is somehow more tense than your earlier one with the Principal as you hover awkwardly.

"If I remember correctly, this needs to go down to…" She starts muttering about the paperwork as she looks over the forms, seemingly falling into her 'Helpful Professor' mode more easily than she finds her 'Good Mom' mode these days. She looks up at you as you take back the papers, "Did you want help finding where to send these?"

Your immediate, knee-jerk reaction, is to say no. You aren't a child that needs her mom to walk you to the office and talk to people for you, you can handle yourself just fine. And you've been handling yourself just fine.

But then… you look at the embarrassingly hopeful expression on your mom's face, and you think about the fondness nervous map girl talked about this exact experience with her own mother, and you think that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to let her help.

And then you remember the fact that you basically collapsed crying on the shoulder of a veritable stranger at the first expression of affection and resignedly note that maybe you haven't been handling yourself just fine.

"...If you're not too busy," your voice comes out aggravatingly timid as you offer her a way to decline, half expecting her to take it.

"Of course not, I can miss an office hour or two," she says, already standing up to grab her coat and bag.

…Great, you just agreed to spend an hour walking around campus with your mom doing administrative bullshit. Nearly late administrative bullshit as well.

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 03:32 PMNEW COMMENT16 CHAT

It is… less terrible than you expected.

There's enough going on around you to keep up a stream of conversation that doesn't have any emotional weight at all, and enough things to do that the inevitable awkward silences you fall into seem less like you failing at being family and more just stuff happening around the two of you.

It's the longest you've spent with her in a long while, made longer by the fact that you are going around the administrative wings of the University on a Friday afternoon barely more than a week before the start of Spring Quarter and as such they're both understaffed and very busy and it takes for-fucking-ever and you're pretty sure the lady at the desk cursed you out under her breath when you left.

But you end up with it handled and a promise to have your class schedule sometime next week.

Yay, education that isn't fucking Winslow.

Thankfully, your mom has an evening department meeting that she has to get to so you don't have to figure out how to deal with her inevitable attempt to offer to drive you home.

And, as you settle into your seat on the bus you heave a sigh of relief. That's one of your worries addressed. Now for... all the rest of your life.

Starting with killing time this weekend in anticipation of finally finishing the stupid tutorial.

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 03:44 PMNEW COMMENT15 CHAT

What do you want to do this Weekend? -Voting closed - 35 voters

VOTES

Acquire Cat, and maybe talk to Rachel.

16/231

Try to brainstorm a way to say "Want me to teach you how to read" that isn't insulting as fuck.

12/17

Tell/ask Mom about getting the cat

8/151

Textbook shopping with your mom... yay...

8/14

Reassure Hana that you aren't in the midst of a pathetic breakdown. And also work out.

6/11

Research the App, almost definitely futile but maybe there's something

4/7

Turn off your brain and watch some stupid movies, you've earned it.

3/6

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 03:48 PMNEW COMMENT132 CHAT

"How do you feel about a cat?"

There was possibly a more subtle way to bring up the fact that you want to adopt a cat, but honestly, it's a cat. It doesn't need a softball lead in, it's a cat, people love cats.

You used to have a cat, but then it died when you were a kid. And apparently you and Emma cried so hard about it for so long that your parents decided to hold off on getting another pet until you were older.

Well, you're older now.

"In general?" your mom asks as she looks up at you blearily from where she's making her coffee.

Something your dad always said was to ambush your mother before she got her morning coffee if you ever wanted something from her. You think he would approve.

"The shelter I volunteer at," you say as you settle across the counter from her, "has a cat that has forcibly adopted me, and I keep getting comments from the staff about taking her home."

"Oh," she says, too tired to be perturbed, "Sure, we still have some stuff from Tizzy we can dig out of the basement."

"Cool," you say watching with furrowed brows as she fills up her mug and takes a swig of the concerningly hot liquid.

How does she not burn her mouth like that?

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 04:25 PMNEW COMMENT56 CHAT

"Finally going to take the little monster home, huh?" Sally asks when she sees you walk in with your mother and a pet carrier.

"That's the plan," you say with a faint smile as you lean against the counter, "How's she been?"

"Terrible, she pouts in the back of her cage when she realizes you aren't coming in that day," she says with a roll of her eye before she puts on her professional smile to look at your mom, "You must be the mother, she's been a big help, even if she's exceptionally clumsy sometimes."

"It was just once," you stress, sounding embarrassed as you talk over your mom's response, "I was having a bad day."

"Honey," she says in a very faux-worried voice, "I don't know how to tell you this, but no one else has ever gotten a black eye working here."

You sigh loudly, and ignore the growing smile on your mother's face.

"Let me get the paperwork and the goodie bag together," Sally says with a wink, "The two of you can go get her from the back, Taylor knows her way around."

"She's friendly," your mom notes with a smile in her voice that you refuse to look at her to see. You walk away toward the back as she talks, "What was the cat's name again?"

You wince a bit as you remember the last time this subject of conversation came up, but answer her.

"I've been calling her..."

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 04:48 PMNEW COMMENTCHAT

"Faye " you say as you reach her cage and watch as the little kitten in side perks up at her name and outright bounds to press her face against the wall and stick her paws out to grab at you. You reach out and poke at the flailing limbs as you turn to look at your mother.

"...You weren't joking about her liking you," she says with a soft smile on her face as she also reaches out to poke at the paws.

As you reach to open the cage, you see one of the doors open and Rachel walk through.

She looks at you, then your mom, then the cat, and then back to you before slowly walking back through the door and shutting it.

Oh, right.

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 05:12 PMNEW COMMENT3 CHAT

To Talk or Not to Talk -Voting closed - 19 voters

VOTES

Go talk to her while your mom bonds with the new cat.

10/171

Let her go, you'll probably see her next week.

2/2

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 05:13 PMNEW COMMENT15 CHAT

How do you Approach Rachel? -Voting closed - 22 voters

VOTES

Apologize, but be direct about it.

11/212

Apologize, even though you dont know what you did, you just know that you like her.

1/2

Act like nothing's wrong and chat.

Apologize, talking around the illiteracy thing.

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 05:19 PMNEW COMMENT18 CHAT

Dice: 1d100-20

98 - 20 = 78

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 05:22 PMNEW COMMENT10 CHAT

Reader Posts- Closed - be the first to post.

Dice: 1d10010

56 10 = 66

Dice: 1d10010

37 10 = 47

Dice: 1d10010

9 10 = 19

Dice: 1d10010

4 10 = 14

Dice: 1d10010

1 10 = 11

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 05:23 PMNEW COMMENT72 CHAT

Dice: 3d10010

Options: Individual.

24,95,95 10 = 34,105,105

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 05:32 PMNEW COMMENT207 CHAT

"Uhh hey," you stammer as you enter the relatively small playroom behind Rachel. She looks up at you with a flat expression from her position sitting on the floor with a puppy in her lap and you briefly question coming in without a plan for what exactly you want to say.

"What."

You cringe a bit at the flat response and decide that you might as well go all in. Moving a few scattered toys out of the way, you sit down in front of her with an awkward smile.

And she doesn't tell you to fuck off, so that's something. Right?

Probably.

"I'm… sorry," you say, pausing briefly when the dog on Rachel's lap notices there's a new lap to explore and jumps towards you. You take a moment to pet it. It's a good excuse to stop talking and find the words you want to say, "About last week, I didn't-"

"I know," Rachel snaps, and you notice a faint flush form on her cheeks and the tips of her ears, "I'm not… stupid."

You flinch back a bit at that, and Rachel avoids your eyes.

"I know you didn't mean anything by it," she continues gruffly. And, seemingly sensing her distress, the dog abandons you to go try and lick her face, "You didn't... Know."

She's embarrassed, you realize, and doesn't know what to say but she's trying.

…

Damn, that was relatable. Except you feel like she's doing way better at it than you are.

The trying thing, you think you're taking the crown in being embarrassed and awkward.

The two of you sit there in your awkward trying glory for a moment that stretches on for what feels like forever but is probably like, 10 seconds before you speak up again.

"I shouldn't have needed to know to not make a shitty comment," you say, wanting to actually apologize, even if Rachel cut you off before, "It would've been shitty, even if you weren't…"

"If I wasn't…?" Rachel prompts flatly. You flounder, and you just know you look like you're panicking trying to think of a word to use that wouldn't sound like an insult. You fail to find one in a timely manner, and flinch as she snorts derisively. She stretches her legs out, and nudges you with one foot with just slightly too much force, "You think too much."

"I… do," you admit. "I'm not good at the… friend thing."

Her head snaps up and she stares at you with wide eyes and, living up to her accusation, you find yourself thinking yourself into a spiral. Was that too forward? Were you being weird about this? Does she just think you're coworkers or something, oh god she does, you're being weird aren't you?

"Shut up," she scoffs with another harsh nudge with her foot that snaps you out of your thoughts to see that she had tilted her face down to look at the dog on her lap, and her hair had fallen in the way so that you can't see her face. But you can see the very tips of her ears blushing a very bright red as she continues, "Stop thinking and go get your cat."

You let out a sound, somewhere between a shaky nervous laugh and a sigh of relief at that.

You take that as the dismissal it is and stand up, awkwardly waving to her from barely a yard away as you go.

"I'll uh, see you later?" you ask and get a grunt of affirmation and a nod from the other girl as you go.

That... went well?

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 06:43 PMNEW COMMENT84 CHAT

By the time you wrangle the cat back home, teach it where the litterbox is, and have dinner it's nearly time for your final purchase on the app before you're freed from the terrible tutorial that has drastically improved your life and you feel weird for complaining about it.

Now it's just a matter of choosing which one and waiting until midnight.

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 06:54 PMNEW COMMENT4 CHAT

Final Tutorial Purchase! -Voting closed - 51 voters

VOTES

Improved Learning Speed

8/243

Improved Neuroplasticity

16/232

Reduced Sleep Requirement

8/183

Improved Empathy

5/14

Increased Emotional Awareness Lvl 2

4/13

Improved Cold Reading Lvl 2

1/8

Increased Exercise Efficiency Lvl 2

3/6

Improved Wit

3/4

Firmer Butt

1/4

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 06:56 PMNEW COMMENT132 CHAT

These last three weeks have been… almost surreal in how much they've changed your life for the better. You've used the app as an opportunity to broaden your horizons and do things you wouldn't have had the courage to try before.

You aren't sure you would've started exercising, or if you had you almost definitely wouldn't have kept at it after that painful first week or so if you hadn't had the promise that it would get easier using the app. And then you wouldn't have met Hana your new… friend?

Without the promise of better social graces, would you have had the courage to talk with Rachel after getting your face hit in? Would you have even thought to approach Principal Blackwell to get her approval?

You aren't sure, and some small part of you whispers that a lot of it was done in ways that the app didn't directly help with but you can't bring yourself to listen to it.

The fact of the matter is that while your life has changed for the better, it only happened after you started using it.

But after three weeks of spreading your wings, trying new things and forcing yourself into uncomfortable situations with mixed but overall positive results, you kind of just want to do something you know you're good at.

You're smart.

And if this app can elevate your, admittedly below average, social life and level of fitness to these new heights in only three weeks, what can it do if you focus on what you're good at?

Also, you'd be lying if you said you weren't at least a little bit intimidated by the fact that you're going to start taking college courses in a week.

So after some deliberation, you tapped on Improved Learning Speed and waited for the end of the Tutorial.

FRI, JAN 7, 2022 AT 07:17 PM

xxx

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