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Young Writers Society


Kittens and Trouble



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Wed Jun 02, 2021 3:23 am
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Brought to you by @ShadowVyper and @whatchamacallit

Pratik is a seventeen-year-old "troubled teen" that tends to keep to himself and assumes the worst about people and their motives. Lillian is also a seventeen-year-old senior who is quiet and shy but also optimistic and idealistic and wants to see the best in everyone. They both attend Underhill Preparatory but that's where the similarities end. Or, so they thought. Through unlikely circumstances, they find a common bond in their love of animals and must come together to save their beloved local animal shelter.

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]
  





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Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:44 am
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Pratik couldn't wait to get out of this place. This school. This town. But, more immediately, this class. He usually adored his language classes -- but today were presentations, and it was painful to listen to his classmates' broken Spanish. At long last: freedom.

He silently walked down the hall, hands shoved in his pockets, careful not to make eye contact with anyone even though he was looking around as he walked. He preferred to observe rather than interact.

That was, until now.

Pratik heard a commotion up ahead and quickened his pace. It only took him a moment to process the scene unfolding in front of him. The quarterback of the football team, J.R., was looming over his girlfriend, Tracey, shouting at her. Or, ex-girlfriend, it seemed. She looked terrified.

Pratik threw his backpack on the ground and yanked J.R. away from Tracey, then stepped between the two of them, glaring. "Get away from her!"

J.R.'s expression flashed from confusion to rage in an instant. "Oh, you're dead, you creep!"

J.R. took a swing at him.

The next minutes passed in a blur. Beating J.R. up. Beating up the linebacker who came to J.R.'s defense. Beating up the wide receiver who came to the linebacker's defense. Before long, most of the starting line was pushing their way to the front of the crowd that'd materialized around the fight.

Things were going progressively worse and worse for Pratik with each new footballer that arrived. One of the linebackers managed to pin Pratik's arms and lift him off the ground. Pratik kicked the approaching -- he couldn't be bothered to tell the jocks apart at this point to know what position he played -- squarely in the chest with both of his feet. Then he twisted and threw the guy holding him over his shoulder.

The jock landed in front of a pair of shiny shoes. Pratik looked up and saw Principal Byrd standing just in front of him, glowering. "THAT'S QUITE ENOUGH!"

Pratik roughly wiped his nose then looked down at the blood it left on his hand. His knuckles were also dripping blood. He turned and found Tracey as Byrd dispersed the crowd. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah..." Tracey said, gaping at him. "Are... you? And who are you?"

"I'm fine." Pratik grabbed his backpack. "And I'm--"

"In a lot of trouble," Byrd interrupted. "My office. Now."

"I'll save us all some time," Pratik spat, glaring at him. "Suspended. I know. See you in two weeks."

"My office," Byrd repeated, baring his teeth. "Now."

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]
  





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Wed Jun 02, 2021 4:45 pm
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Lillian waited for the bell to buzz to pack up her backpack. That way she had an excuse to wait for everyone else to leave the classroom ahead of her -- anything to avoid the chaos that is the swarm of hungry students at lunch and friends shoving each other into lockers that clang raucously on impact.

As the last people trickled out, she hefted her backpack over her shoulder and padded out of the room. Her feet led her left and down the stairs to where the library sat, serene and silent. Except -- it wasn't particularly serene or silent there. A horde of students was chattering loudly and seemed to be just dispersing as she arrived, and a blonde girl was leaning against a locker looking shaken.

Lillian deliberated asking the girl what had happened or just disappearing into the library to finish the book she was reading. Drama always seemed like way more hassle than it was worth and she absolutely needed to know what happened after the protagonist found a glass key under his pillow.

"Hi?" The blonde girl inquired, making the decision for Lillian.

"Oh, hi, I'm uh just heading to the library, it's lunchtime you know, I just thought I'd uh eat lunch there and stuff--" Way to be awkward, Lillian.

"This wasn't meant to be an interrogation or anything." She smiled.

"Right, no. Are you... you look a bit tired?" Lillian stopped herself from saying like a mess.

"Yeah, just my boyfriend. It's no big deal." The girl paused and glanced down the hallway, uncrossing her arms. "Some guy tried to take on the whole football team, I bet he's regretting that now."

Lillian shook her head. "Nice."

"Yeah, really." She ran her fingers through her hair absentmindedly. "Hey, uh, I have to get going -- but if you see a tall guy, tan skin, dark hair, looking all beaten up, walking back this way, can you tell him Tracey says thanks?"

Lillian nodded and gave her a weak smile. "Sure, of course." Approaching some random guy from the school -- the type who got into fights -- and thanking him for some random girl? Just her cup of tea.
When you're faced with something you don't understand, I think the most natural thing but also least interesting thing you can be is afraid.

-- Hank Green

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(previously whatchamacallit and Seirre)
  





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Thu Jun 03, 2021 7:40 am
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Apparently, it was three weeks this time. Two weeks for fighting and one for being 'disrespectful' about getting suspended. Again. Whatever.

By the time Byrd finished yelling at him, his nose had almost finished dripping blood -- at the expense of his band shirt, which now had dark red blotches down the center. Again, whatever. It was worth it to ruin a shirt to get to ruin J.R.'s day.

He'd been the first one called in since he was the 'aggressor' and, therefore, got the delight of Byrd's freshly-ready-to-shout lungs being directed towards him. The team was sitting in the seats outside, and they sneered at him as he walked past.

"I'm gonna bash your frickin head in!" J.R. snarled.

"You got it to do!" Pratik snapped back.

J.R. was on his feet in an instant. Byrd was between them almost as quick and he gave both of them a shove backward.

"Would you like to turn the three weeks into an expulsion?" Byrd threatened.

"Oh no," Pratik said sarcastically, walking towards the door. "Not having to come to this hell-hole. What would I ever do?"

"I don't know, what would you do?" Byrd challenged. "You think that scholarship offer's still gonna be on the table when Mr. magna cum laude turns into Mr. High School Dropout?"

That was enough to shut him up. He snorted and pushed his way into the hallway. J.R. was worth a band shirt. He wasn't worth college. Pratik flexed his hand, looking at how bloodied and mangled his knuckles were as he made the long walk of shame towards the front doors.

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]
  





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Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:45 pm
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Hijinks says...



Lillian hadn't come across anybody matching Tracey's description during lunch. She internally high-fived herself. Social interaction dodged.

Now, she was making her way down the main corridor, headed to the attendance office. Her chemistry teacher had delegated the tasking of taking today's attendance sheet up to the office for him, and Lillian wasn't going to argue with an excuse to get away from that class. They were in the midst of a lab experiment -- or, that was the assigned task. Apparently what that actually translated to was: hovering erasers over Bunsen burners, turning on the methane gas tap when the teacher wasn't looking, and leaving sinks running indefinitely after using them.

Looking up, Lillian saw a guy strolling down the hallway towards her. Probably playing hooky. Typical. As he loomed closer, Lillian grew aware of just how short she was. This guy was at least a foot taller, had a dark mop of hair, and looked a bit -- beaten up. Oh no. Apparently social interaction had not been dodged.

"Hey! Tracey says thank you," Lillian blurted out.
When you're faced with something you don't understand, I think the most natural thing but also least interesting thing you can be is afraid.

-- Hank Green

they/them
(previously whatchamacallit and Seirre)
  





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Thu Jun 03, 2021 2:00 pm
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'Mr. High School Dropout' Pratik mocked as he walked. Byrd was such a jerk. He couldn't wait to get out of this stupid school in this stupid town. There was a girl coming towards him.

He glanced towards her. Lillian.

He made a point of memorizing as many people's names as he could. It was always best to know who you were around. Tracey, for example, was a sweet girl who was easily bullied. She'd be back with J.R. before the end of the week, probably. Hopefully not. But probably. Lillian was harder to get a read on. She seemed like the idealistic type, but was quiet so it was hard to tell for sure.

He put his head down as she approached, unwilling to answer questions about why he looked like he'd slammed his face against concrete. Although, the whole school probably knew at this point. Word traveled quick around here.

Pratik blinked at her as Lillian initiated a conversation. That surprised him. It also surprised him that Tracey had sent her with a message. "Oh, uh, cool. Yeah. If you see her, you can let her know it's no problem. And that I hope she stays safe."

It felt weird giving someone a message like that. Especially since they'd never actually directly interacted before this point.

"I'm, uh, not gonna see her for a few weeks at least." He forced a smile even though it hurt his already-swelling cheek. "Heh."

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]
  





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Thu Jun 03, 2021 2:11 pm
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Hijinks says...



Lillian hugged herself nervously. This was not the sort of guy she usually stopped in the middle of the hallway to chat with. Come to think of it, she didn't usually stop in the hallway to chat with anyone, but that was beside the point.

She glanced at his face quickly and involuntarily winced. He looked like he'd sprinted into a brick wall, been run over by a bulldozer, and then put through a cement mixer. Or something.

"You uh...yeah, I think I can see why." Was that mean? Crap. Lillian quickly backtracked. "I mean, it's not like you look awful or anything, just, a little worn out--" She decided to stop talking while she was behind.
When you're faced with something you don't understand, I think the most natural thing but also least interesting thing you can be is afraid.

-- Hank Green

they/them
(previously whatchamacallit and Seirre)
  





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Thu Jun 03, 2021 2:20 pm
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Shady says...



Pratik snorted and his smirk grew. The more she talked, the worse it got, and the more amused he was. "I look like I took on the entire football team and got exactly what I deserved."

He wasn't shy about it. He knew he was going to be bruised for quite a while, and if how he felt now was any indication, he was going to be feeling it for quite a while too.

He shrugged. "Better me than Tracey though."

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]
  





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Thu Jun 03, 2021 2:39 pm
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Hijinks says...



Lillian relaxed slightly, loosening her grip on herself. He didn't seem too offended. "I don't know if that was the wisest move in the history of humankind. But um, that was nice of you though."

She waved the attendance sheet absentmindedly. "I've got to take this to the office and then get back to class, don't want to be gone too long. Uh, have fun with that suspension?" Lillian scratched her nose. What in the world was she doing -- this guy probably thought she was an idiot. Who even was he? Lillian realized she'd never introduced herself.

"Oh, and I'm Lillian." She stretched her hand out hesitantly.
When you're faced with something you don't understand, I think the most natural thing but also least interesting thing you can be is afraid.

-- Hank Green

they/them
(previously whatchamacallit and Seirre)
  





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Thu Jun 03, 2021 2:43 pm
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Shady says...



"I know." That was the wrong response. He knew it the instant it was out of his mouth, but it was too late to take it back. He probably sounded like such a creep. So he continued, "That you need to get going. I probably should too, before Byrd lets the idiots go. And, uh, Pratik. Nice to meet you."

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]
  





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Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:25 pm
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Hijinks says...



Lillian glanced at the clock back in the classroom and realized she'd been gone for at least twenty minutes. She looked apprehensively at the teacher as she slid into her desk, but he didn't really seem to care. Or maybe it was just that he hadn't noticed her coming back -- her mother was always telling Lillian how wraith-like she was. "It's not too late to change your name to Phantom you know," she would poke fun at her sometimes when Lillian managed to slip into her room unnoticed after school. "Even got some good nicknames! Fanny, Tommy, Ant, you could work with those."

The rest of the school day trickled by, muffled under a premature layer of summer heat. By the time Engish rolled to a close, Lillian was ready to leave the hyper-bulls and onomatopaisasfdkjdfi behind. A book and a tub of ice cream were waiting for her at home and she was dying to recharge.

But her social battery -- and her phone battery -- was destined to go below 20%, it seemed. She got out of the school just in time to see the last bus rumbling away, and when she pulled out her phone to call her mom, it gave her a weak Battery low, charge now pop-up before silently turning black.

"Are you kidding me??" Lillian groaned, squeezing her eyes shut like she could just reboot the world.
When you're faced with something you don't understand, I think the most natural thing but also least interesting thing you can be is afraid.

-- Hank Green

they/them
(previously whatchamacallit and Seirre)
  





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Sat Jun 05, 2021 10:01 am
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Shady says...



Pratik kicked himself mentally as he made his escape. He was usually so good at choosing what persona he wanted to pursue. Usually, he chose to come across as grouchy and withdrawn so that people would leave him alone. Sometimes he was charismatic.

With Lillian he'd just been... awkward.

Oh well.

It wasn't like he was going to have to interact with her much after this. He wasn't allowed back in school for a few weeks. And there were only a few weeks past that before he graduated. With any luck, his teachers would still let him turn in assignments via friends so that his GPA didn't tank.

He put in his headphones and started back towards the run-down pop-up camper that he'd been living out of the past few years. He needed to get the blood off him. And take Advil. And lay down.

He desperately wanted to lay down.

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]
  





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Sat Jun 05, 2021 2:47 pm
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Hijinks says...



As far as she could tell, there was one option. Well, two, but only one acceptable one. She could either go up to the attendance office and get them to call her parents, or she could walk home. She could imagine the conversation with the person at the desk: "Hey, I was too slow to get out of the school in time to catch the bus, and I don't have a phone -- I mean, I do, but it's dead, it died, and I don't really have any friends either -- they're not dead though, they just don't exist, so there's no one to drive me home and -- the point is, could you call my mom for me like I'm a dependent little nine-year-old?"

Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but she wasn't going to risk the chance of saying something even half as stupid as that. It was only a 30 or so minute walk home anyway. Walk home it was.

By the time she heaved herself through the front door she was uncomfortable, tired, and a tad grouchy. She barely managed to drag herself up the stairs to her room, where she quickly shed her backpack and sank onto her bed. Was she too old to take an after-school nap? It was very much a possibility, but at the moment she didn't particularly care.

Her black and white cat curled up next to her, and before you could say "what about the ice cream?" they were both out like lights.
When you're faced with something you don't understand, I think the most natural thing but also least interesting thing you can be is afraid.

-- Hank Green

they/them
(previously whatchamacallit and Seirre)
  





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Sun Jun 06, 2021 4:49 am
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Shady says...



Pratik stared at himself in the broken mirror hanging over the sink. He'd taken off his shirt, but there was still blood smeared on his chest. More blood on his nose and chin. And his face was swollen and bruised.

Oh well.

It was still worth it.

He didn't know Tracey. He hadn't ever actually spoken to her directly, as far as he could remember -- and he'd almost put money on her not knowing he existed until the moment he cut in. But it was more the principle of the matter. People didn't get to hurt other people, just because they happened to be bigger and stronger.

It was clear that J.R. was harassing Tracey. And that's all that mattered. He wasn't sorry. And he wasn't going to be, either. He had no doubt that the team would be coming after him with a vengeance -- either once he got back to school or before then. They'd gotten two weeks. Pratik personally thought it was ridiculous that he got a longer suspension even though J.R. was both the aggressor and the person who threw the first punch.

But whatever.

He took on the entire football team once, he could take them again.

He only hoped Tracey was going to be okay.

Pratik cleaned himself up and pulled on a fresh shirt, then walked over to the small counter next to the alcove where his bed was shoved. He sprinkled a few pellets of food into the small tank on top of it.

"You like fighting people too," he said, watching his Betta nibbling the food. "Don't ya, Alexander Swamilton?"

"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus
"From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf
"A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni
[they/he]
  





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Reviews: 455
Sun Jun 06, 2021 8:38 pm
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Hijinks says...



Lillian blinked awake to a paw on her eye. Pandora, her cat, had carelessly draped herself over Lillian's head and was humming a sleepy purr in her ear.

"Well good afternoon to you too," Lillian murmured drowsily, reaching up and petting the warm blob of fur. She slowly pulled herself out of the creature's embrace and sat up. She reached over to check her phone and -- darn it. She hadn't even bothered to plug it in before falling asleep.

She did that now and then made her way to the kitchen for a drink of water. Her mother had her back to her, chopping peppers with ruthless determination. "Honey, I was thinking you could fire the barbecue up in half an hour? The burgers can go on whenever and these veggies are almost ready."

"It's Lilli," Lillian raised her voice above the ruckus of dinner preparation.

Her mom turned around, wiping her hands on her apron. "Oh hey you. Got back early?"

"What do y'mean early? School ended a couple hours ago."

Oh.

Volunteering.

Shoot.
When you're faced with something you don't understand, I think the most natural thing but also least interesting thing you can be is afraid.

-- Hank Green

they/them
(previously whatchamacallit and Seirre)
  








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