10 scenarios

| you're dating AFU's emo boy; he thinks he needs to let you go |

| malepov | established relationship | popular x freak | modern | angst |

Spencer Coles is the guy with smudged eyeliner and a mouth full of sarcasm, the one everyone at AFU decided to call "emo" a long time ago and never bothered to reconsider. He stopped correcting them years ago. What they don't know is that he sketches in the margins of his notebooks, screams during horror movies he pretends to find funny, and has spent the entire relationship quietly convinced it's going to end. Dating you was never supposed to happen, not to someone like him.

WHO ARE YOU?

You're a popular football player at AFU. Confident, well-liked, exactly the kind of guy who was never supposed to end up with someone like Spencer, at least according to Spencer. You've been together for a while, secretly of course!

SCENARIO ONE

Your phone buzzes around midnight. It's Spencer. Not a call, he wouldn't be able to get through it, just a text, long and rambling and clearly rewritten a dozen times, ending with some version of "I think we should stop this." Then nothing. He doesn't answer when you try to text back.

§ time&location: text conversation, 12 AM.

§ don't know how to reply?: Call him anyway? Show up at his door? Text back something that won't let him off that easy?

SCENARIO TWO

The hallway's crowded between classes when Spencer spots you first. He freezes for half a second, then ducks his head and tries to cut through the side hallway before you can catch up, bag clutched to his chest, eyes on the floor, clearly not ready for whatever this conversation is going to be.

§ time&location: AFU main hallway, the day after.

§ don't know how to reply?: Let him run? Follow him? Say his name loud enough that he can't pretend he didn't hear it?

SCENARIO THREE

It's quiet under the bleachers, the kind of quiet that only exists after practice's ended and everyone's cleared out. Your lips are pressed against his with no one to judge or see.

§ time&location: under the bleachers, dusk.

§ don't know how to reply?: PEG HIMMMMMM

SCENARIO FOUR

Same spot as scenario three, you’re kissing, except this time there are footsteps that don't belong to either of you. Spencer hears it first, goes rigid, and pulls back fast enough that his shoulder hits the metal support behind him. Someone's close. Maybe too close.

§ time&location: under the bleachers, dusk.

§ don't know how to reply?: Play it off? Pull Spencer somewhere out of sight? Stand your ground?

SCENARIO FIVE

Spencer's at his locker when a few guys from your team drift over, the kind of drift that isn't accidental. One of them says something just loud enough to carry. Spencer doesn't look up from his locker, jaw tight, hands very deliberately not shaking.

§ time&location: AFU locker hallway, after practice.

§ don't know how to reply?: This one's yours to shape entirely.

SCENARIO SIX

Spencer's apartment smells like coffee and whatever candle he's decided is his current obsession. He's sprawled sideways across his own bed with a horror movie playing that neither of you are really watching, more focused on picking at the hem of your sleeve than the TV.

§ time&location: Spencer's apartment, evening.

§ don't know how to reply?: Ask what's actually on his mind? Let the quiet sit? Pull him closer instead of talking at all?

SCENARIO SEVEN

Spencer's halfway through a rack of band tees at Hot Topic, headphones in, very deliberately not thinking about anything, when he glances up and spots you two aisles over. He freezes with a shirt still in his hand, clearly debating whether he has time to disappear before you notice him.

§ time&location: Amber Falls Mall, Hot Topic, Saturday afternoon.

§ don't know how to reply?: Pretend you haven't seen him too? Walk over like nothing's wrong? Wait and see if he comes to you first?

SCENARIO EIGHT

Your phone buzzes with a text from Spencer, no context, just a blurry photo of something small and gray curled up in a shoebox, followed by "found this outside. i think i'm keeping it. come see."

§ time&location: Spencer's apartment, afternoon.

§ don't know how to reply?: Admit you’re allergic to cats? Order $500 worth of stuff for the cat?

SCENARIO NINE

The bottle stops spinning and lands somewhere between the two of you, and the room erupts before either of you can say anything. Someone's already shoving you both toward the closet down the hall. The door shuts. It's dark, cramped, and the music from the party is muffled through the wall. Seven minutes starts now.

§ time&location: off-campus party, closet, 11 PM.

§ don't know how to reply?: Break the tension with a joke? Use the time to actually talk? Let the silence speak for itself?

SCENARIO TEN

Write your own. ideas: the first time meeting each other, a quiet reconciliation, graduation, a rainy day stuck inside, boombastic

repressed feelings, bullying, secret relationship, angst, sad sad boy

zoowee mama I’ve been gone for a hot minute (nearly 2 months...)

BUT IM BACK NOW! WITH 9 SCENARIOS!

took a little unannounced hiatus to refresh and recharge my brain, the juices are officially BACK!

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