⊱⋆ we're literary soul mates ⋆⊰ ¹ˣ¹ ʷᶤᵗʰ ʷᶤᶰᵗᵉʳ

[abeille]

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this here, is a one x one strictly for winter and
myself, so you're clearly not us and shouldn't post. c;
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he found a note at the end of a book that just
a hundred percent required discussion.
she wrote a note in a book, like, months ago,
begging for someone to talk to her about it.
he obliges and bam. segue into a disgustingly
adorable college romance.
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[abeille]

saving just to be safe.

[winterwonderland.]

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxfull name →
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxhollie diana fisher
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxage →
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxtwenty-two
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxpositive traits →
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxathletic, friendly, outgoing, forgiving, happy-go-lucky
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxnegative traits →
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxobstinate, untrusting, not too bright, impatient
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxmajor →
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxsociology

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[abeille]

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shark belongs to link

❝ umm, can you repeat that? i coulda sworn you said physical labor and i didn't sign up for that? ❞

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name: finnigan marshall gilbakienxxxxxage: twenty one years
nicknames: finn, finny, or dorsalxxxxxmajor: marine biology
+ personality traits: deft, intelligent, convivial, dependable
- personality traits: exasperating, boastful, frank, inattentive

finnigan is really passionate about the things he can get into and obsess over; problem is he's only really ardent about, like, three things. sharks, coffee, and books. and that, my friends, is why our lovely male protagonist is drowning in student loans, living off of peanut butter, bread, and ramen, as well as spending almost all of his spare time in the library reading or studying. like, his dorm mate must seriously love him, he's practically nailed a single room instead of a double considering finn seriously lives in the library. the guy's minoring in latin, which, you know, fun. he's not the most athletic college stud, but he does run regularly and actually participated in track while he was in high school. he has a couple of friends (if he can even call them that, they usually just steal his notes) who spend more time in his dorm room than he does. oh, and he's like, the college equivalent of valedictorian in his major right now. gotta work for that scholarship i suppose. oh, and did i mention he's swimmingly single?

[winterwonderland.]

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xxxxxxThump. The book Hollie threw bounced off the wall and fell onto the ground. She was done with it. Done. Finished. There was no way she could get to the end of that wretched, torturous joke of literature. It was The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. Hollie adored reading. She liked Charles Dickens and Jane Austin, but William Faulkner was not one of her favorite authors. The book was already difficult enough to read in English, but it was impossible to comprehend in Latin. Yes, Hollie had to decipher the story in Latin. She decided to minor in Latin, which she now saw as a mistake. Of course, Hollie loved linguistics. She majored in sociology but her true passion lied in Greek, Latin, French, Portuguese, Japanese, and German. Hollie worked hard and was talented, too. Unfortunately, that was not enough. There was an annoyingly intelligent boy in her class. He knew everything, but Hollie would not let herself get beaten so easily. She wanted the highest achievement in the Latin honors system. When Hollie wanted something, she would get it at all costs. Her best shot at her goal was to ace the next project. In class, the professor randomly assigned a list of classics written in the English language. As luck had it, Hollie had the honor of writing a twenty page Latin report on The Sound and the Fury. Could she have gotten worse? Probably. Could she have gotten better? Absolutely. Without having to rely on cheating, all Hollie could do was prepare. The best place to start was library. She dug out the book and spent hours reading and rereading the same passages over and over. Hollie took notes in English and Latin and sometimes found herself drifting into French. After four straight hours, her head hurt. She gave up and chucked the novel. It went flying across the room, with its pages flipping like a bird, and bounced off the wall and landed on the floor. The librarian would probably fine her or whatever peevish librarians did, but Hollie could care less. She buried her face in her hands and cursed under her breath. How could she complete this assignment. There was no way she could do it. Unless...
xxxxxxHollie had an idea. A brilliant, ingenious idea. She jogged to the other side of the room, picked up the book, grabbed a sticky note and a pen, and started to write. The words flowed from her mind onto the wind paper. The ink bled, and her messy handwriting was barely legible. Nonetheless, the words were there. Her plea was written. Dear whoever reads this, it stated. I am a college student in desperate need of a translator. If you understand this book and would be interested in explaining it to me, please email swedishfisheys@gmail.com. P.S. A reward involving money or something along those lines will most likely be included. Thanks for your help. :) Hollie slid the sticky note into the book and tossed it on the table. Maybe someone would answer her call; maybe not. What mattered was that she tried, and she would keep trying until she beat her aggravating competitor and claimed the title of the best Latin-speaking person known to the world (or at least her class). And what do you know, someone did respond. Days later, Hollie sat on the bleachers with her laptop propped up on her lap. There was football practice but no game, so it was basically empty. She anxiously logged onto her email dedicated to social networking sites and chatting with friends. And there it was: a response to her note. From there, a beautiful exchange of banter, rambles, and discussion was born.

[abeille]

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xxxxxx"now what's cooler than bein' cool? icceee cold!! i can't hear ya'." it was pretty safe to say finnigan singing while wearing headphones was an awful idea. actually no, not just awful, it was flat out unconstitutional. it was noise pollution. he was going to be kicked out of the library for being illegally annoying and he wouldn't even be able to complain. "alright alright alright alright alright."
xxxxxxhe had been sitting in the library since the end of his only class of the day which had been earlier in the morning. usually he was in the library to do home work, and essays, and to play spit, war, or other card games with the strange kids who sat in the corner of the science fiction section, but today it was mostly because he'd been sexiled. which, usually he could work around because he actually had stuff to get done, but he'd finished all his assignments earlier in the week when he'd been kicked out of his friend's dorm for the same exact reason. so now he was purposeless, sitting against a bookshelf on his laptop listening to everything and anything he could think of while revising his latin project. again. the same twenty page latin project he'd finished as soon as he'd gotten it. also the same twenty page latin project two other students asked him to do for them, which was just pathetic honestly. finnigan didn't even like latin. he was only taking it because he needed it for marine biology. scientific names, terms and just pretty much every other name in the course was so much easier when he knew the meaning behind it. and considering latin was pretty easy if you actually did the reading and the homework, finn was just becoming plain bored with the language. his classmates probably couldn't say the same. he doubted they'd become disinterested enough with the course work that they'd managed to teach themselves both archaic and classical latin like some over achievers he may or may not personally know.
xxxxxxhis teacher must have been feeling impeccably terrible when he assigned the awful translation project and considering the books he'd assigned had been pretty much thrown at them randomly, managing to snag fahrenheit 451 was a god send; and he loved ray bradbury. so everyone was happy. er, well, not really. finnigan, was happy, but over half of his latin class? well, not so much. and finn knew for a fact that as a result half the translations his professor was bound to get would be absolute rubbish. he ultimately assigned a project which would only result in hours of reading somewhere around fifty half-assed twenty page book reports in another language. his prof. was clearly a genius. kudos dumb ass.
xxxxxxtired of rereading his ridiculous composition, finn slammed his laptop shut with the last song he'd been listening to surrounding him in vigorous shrill humming. he seriously didn't understand how he hadn't been kicked out of the library yet. he stuffed the now quiescent mac into its case in his messenger bag which was slung across his shoulder. perfect. with a substantial sigh, the gangly latin minor picked his limbs up off the dirty college library carpet and left the non-fiction section silently. on his way out he noticed a solitary book against the stark wood belonging to one of the birch tables he often set his temporary college work military camp at. the edges were a little ruffled and there was a questionable crease in the spine of the book which definitely wasn't from age. maybe someone had thrown it? it appeared that way, also managing to look pathetic all by itself, so distracting. of course finnigan was drawn to it.
xxxxxxupon closer inspection everything made sense. the book, the sound and the fury, was a piteous excuse for english literature. it deserved the wear and tear it wore so miserably. dumb faulkner. finnigan had read this book a nauseating five times through out his school years, analyzed it, and wrote the most ridiculous essays about it. he hated faulkner as much as he hated the kids who'd shoved him into a honey coated locker in grade school. he grabbed the paperback roughly, flipping through it's pages with only the intent of taking a quick glimpse before dropping it into the return box. towards the last page though, a flash of color caught his already curious eye. it was a note. someone clearly hadn't bothered to clear out their annotations after finishing the atrocity, but maybe that was best for anyone out there forced to read it.
xxxxxxfinn grabbed the post-it and yanked it off the page, closing the novel and tossing it back onto the table. oh well, the library assistant could put it back, he was more interested on what he'd noticed written on the post-it. it was a blatant cry for help and as much as he really hated that book, he also had the misfortune of knowing it like the back of his hand. he wouldn't mind being the white knight in shinning armor to some poor college student's damsel in distress. also how could he ignore the fact that this person may have the honest to god best email ever. everyone loves swedish fish. seriously. he stuffed the note into his bag to be inspected further back in the comfort of his dorm. if his dorm was decent again.
xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx---
xxxxxxhis dorm was not decent. at all. what a mistake going back there had been, jesus. finnigan shuffled around the outside of connor's door unsure whether to knock or not. he didn't have his cell on him, it was in his dorm, on his side table, where he'd left it when he'd been forced out of his room. this meant he had no way to actually say, 'hey connor my lovely pal, good friend. i know you were supposed to be having friends over, but i may need a place to stay tonight? oh and also, the librarian said if i tried to sleep with the books again, she'd personally take me to sleep with the fishes. which honestly was hilarious considering i don't think she knows i'm a marine bio major, but yeah. can i crash your shindig man?'
xxxxxx after a few more minutes of pacing and uncertainty, it turned out, finn would't have to knock after all. the door swung open to reveal connor and three other people finn actually knew quite well. "uh, good evening ladies and gentlemen. i am tonight's entertainment?" to the right, finn could see the razor sharp smile spread across teresa's mouth. phew. crisis avoided for the most part.
"finny, did you seriously just quote the joker after pacing around my dorm hallway for fifteen minutes?" did connor seem pleased?
"maybe?" yeah. he totally had. guilty as charged.
"well then, come on in dude. seriously. you knew where the key was too."
finn shuffled into his friends room behind him and the others already there. he was silently relieved to see that they were the normal group of people connor and him hung out with. teresa, tyler, and abby. he hadn't really felt like socializing with new people tonight after being booted from his dorm anyways.
xxxxxx after settling onto the couch beside abby, finn pulled his laptop and the note from with in his bag. he took a quick survey of everyone else to see if he would be a distraction, but no one was paying him any mind, their eyes were all glued to the latest x-man movie. good taste. he read over the note for the third time that day and then opened his mac, signing onto his email as quickly as he could while waiting for the technology to load. hopefully, he would get a response soon. hopefully.

to: swedishfisheys@gmail.com

uh, hey? what's up? i saw your note in the back of that retched book, man, and seriously i totally feel your pain. what ever assignment this is for, i'm totally willing to help. i can only translate stuff that's in latin, polish, or italian though. oh! and english of course. i also promise i have a justifiable knowledge of the book, and will help you get it done as fast as a can. i seriously ran out of assignments to do, crazy, i know. um, so yeah. just message me back if you want help i guess? i don't really need your money or anything. just something to occupy my time. c:

from,
fin-ominalscientist21@gmail.com

xxxxxx well, finn was certainly satisfied with his message. he hummed contentedly and clicked send before shutting down his computer and curling up to finish the movie with the rest of his friends. he'd seen it already, and so had connor. in fact they'd gone to see it together, but he didn't care. next to him, abby's head slumped onto his shoulder and he smiled tiredly. maybe if he stayed up he could check his email later? maybe whoever it was that needed help with the sound and the fury had already opened his message and respond. maybe they didn't even need his help anymore? who knew. that note could've been there for months. maybe they would never even open his email at all. seriously, oh well. if he mentioned it to his friends, teresa would probably pinch him and scold him for worrying so much, abby would certainly tease him, tyler would laugh until he was wheezing and connor would just shake his head. he could totally stop worrying about it. he didn't even know swedishfisheys. they could be anyone.

[winterwonderland.]

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xxxxxx"Hey, Hollie!" a voice in the distance called. The blonde sitting on the bleachers did not look up. She was immersed in the email she received. Hollie anxiously read and reread the beautiful, eloquent, heartwarming email. Fin-Ominal Scientist had no idea how much this moment meant to Hollie. All her stress vanished all because whoever emailed her (she decided to call him Scientist) simply pressed "send." Her shoulders relaxed, and her head titled skyward as she silently thanked Scientist for answering her prayers. Hollie returned her gaze to the screen, and her fixated eyes analyzed the glowing words on the screen. The words, I totally feel your pain, caused Hollie to wonder, for a brief second, if this was a match made in heaven. Then, there was the part about being able to translate from English to Latin. While Hollie already had a tough time understanding The Sound and the Fury in English, it was unbearable in Latin. She tried Google Translate, but the words came out strange and funky-sounding. If she had a real translator, she could ace the assignment...So if this person could fluently speak Latin, it would be a miracle. Then, he or she (most likely a he based on his email address and wording) could help her write her book report. The last sentence was the hardest for Hollie to hear. No money, no catch? Surely, this was too good to be true. She allegorized the meaning for a minute. Perhaps, Scientist was subtly hinting he wanted something else, or he was a serial killer and a stalker that had targeted Hollie. She limited her imagination and decided that was unlikely. The only way he would have seen the note was if he was on campus. And based on his writing, Hollie deemed him as a sweet, caring, intelligent guy.
xxxxxxShe wiggled her fingers and was about to start typing when the voice came again. "Earth to Hollie." Her hands were suspended in midair, but she did not look up until the voice repeated her name. Hollie sighed and reluctantly glanced up. "I'm kind of in the middle of something," the irked blonde explained. She blew a stray strand out of her face and stared at the person with a blank expression. It was Joey, one of the football players. Practice ended for him, so the players dispersed, crossing the field and heading their separate ways. The boy towered over Hollie but always seemed goofy with a lopsided grin plastered on his face. Despite his happy-go-lucky attitude, there was one characteristics she loathed: he was buddies with her ex-boyfriend. They dated their senior year and planned to go to university together as all beautiful relationships go. Unfortunately, a messy break occurred when they arrived at UCLA, so Hollie tried to steer clear of her ex and all things related. "You're going to want drop what you're doing because there's something more important," Joey said. Hollie made a gesture, indicating Joey to elaborate. "So there's this sorority party tonight, and Lexi told me to invite you if I saw you." Oh, yeah, Hollie remembered. Joey and Lexi are dating. "You better come, m'kay? I mean, everyone knows you're the life of the party," Joey remarked. In response to being the life of the party, Hollie made a face that elicited a chuckle from Joey. "So, I'll see you there," Joey said matter-of-factly. He turned and walked down the bleachers until he was nothing more than a blob disappearing in the distance. With Joey out of sight, Hollie reread the email for the millionth time to refresh her memory. When she scanned it this time, a genuine smile brightened her face. Then, she got to work. Hollie typed like she never typed before, getting all her thoughts down on the computer. Oh, she hoped Scientist would reply soon.
To: fin-ominalscientist21@gmail.com Subject: You're a Lifesaver
xxxxxxYou have no idea how happy these makes me. You know, it's awful to endure a joke of a book. But if you drag another person down with you and force them to feel your pain, it makes it all better. (FYI, You're the person that's going to suffer with me. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into.) So thank you for your help. Are you sure you do not want anything in return? Maybe, someday, I can repay the favor. I also know Italian, French, German, and a bit of Greek and Spanish. If all you want me to do is occupy your time, you can start with giving me a general explanation. I am really struggling with understanding the meaning of the book. I have read through it and am familiar with the plot, but it does not quite make any sense to me. If a mastermind like yourself can figure it out, perhaps you can enlighten me. Thanks again for all your help. I swear, you're like an angel sent from heaven.
From: swedishfisheys@gmail.com
xxxxxxDing. The email sent and probably took at least a few seconds to process and appear on Scientist's screen. Hollie threw all her logic out the window and impatiently waited for her new friend's reply as if he would reply right away. When she did not hear anything for a minute, the frustrated blonde slammed her laptop shut and got up. She stomped down the bleachers and paced across the field. Hollie quickly dropped off at her dorm. Her roommate, a petite brunette with a crooked smile and gorgeous glassy green eyes called Amy, tagged along with Hollie. Together, they headed to Lexi's place. Hollie had been to the sorority before for sleepovers and parties because Lexi was one of her best friends. However, the sorority had yet to grow on her. As she approached the building, Hollie was reminded why she despised the sorority with every fiber of her being. First of all, it was enormous and was the biggest sorority on campus. It was extremely expensive, too. Hanging from the walls were signs of hot pinks and periwinkle that spelled out the sorority's name. Furthermore, the members of the sorority were the prettiest, smartest people Hollie had ever met. Unfortunately, that package came with backstabbing and lots of complaining about this cute guy or how their waterproof mascara was not waterproof enough or blah blah blah. Lexi could be grouped in that category, but unlike some of the other girls, she was two-faced. In other words, she could be the worst enemy but the best friend, and luckily, Hollie was on Lexi's good side.
xxxxxxWhen Hollie stepped inside, it was everything she expected. The sorority was overflowing with party animals. There was a keg in the center of the room. Two guys tried to perform a keg stand, but one of them was dropped on the floor by the other. To her left, there was a group of girls laughing and hanging out. On the other side of the room, a few immature boys chanted the name, Mike; they were probably trying to coax the poor victim into doing a dare. Two other clearly drunk people guffawed like they just heard the funniest joke in the world. Hollie spied Lexi and Joey lingering on the stairs. Lexi held a vibrant red solo cup in her hands and leaned into her boyfriend. Hollie groaned inwardly. Ugh, couples. She went into the other room to grab a soda. Sometimes, Hollie drank, but she knew how idiotic people turned when they were drunk. Therefore, she tended to stick with a Coca Cola. Hollie grabbed a snack from the refrigerator, too, knowing none of the sorority girls would notice if a muffin went missing. When she finished, Hollie struck a conversation with a girl she didn't know named Aubrey and a vaguely familiar guy called Austin. They started talking about university until the subject somehow drifted into politics and then how they felt about the recent movies and celebrities. Before Hollie knew it, she was having fun, like she did at all parties she attended. Hollie was not the life of the party, but that did not mean she did not like a life of partying. In spite of this, Hollie used her phone to check her email every once and a while because, no matter what party she was at, she would drop everything to talk to a mysterious scientist that she was dying to get to know.

[abeille]

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xxxxxx there was definitely someone asleep across his lap, and maybe another body against his shoulder? finnigan blinked the sleep away from his eyes and glanced around the room he was occupying. it was dark out, which meant that he'd fallen asleep watching the movie that afternoon. or well, him and everyone else. tyler was sprawled out across his thighs, arm hanging off the couch with his mouth hung open unattractively, and abby was pressed up into his shoulder, hands clasped tightly around his arm. connor and teresa were no where to be found. "great." he pulled his arm away from the girl's grasp and proceeded to shove tyler unceremoniously from his lap. the larger boy groaned upon impact with the carpeted floor and finn stepped up and over him leaving abby to slump down into the furniture's cushions. "rise and shine sleepy heads!" the daggers abby drilled into his head were deadly.
"yup, listen to finny. let's go, up and at 'em." a pillow flew across the living room colliding with tyler's head. well, finn had found connor. he turned to look at the boy, and realized teresa was there too holding in the most horrible inconspicuous giggles he'd ever seen. they were both dressed up, and they looked nice. maybe they had another date tonight?
"fancy. where are you two going?" he swiveled to face his other two friends who were both sitting together groggily on the couch now. they looked dubious, smiling at him from their seats. holy crap. that was more than slightly worrying.
"what you should really be asking, is where we're going, my dear dorsal finn." abby chided to him gleefully. oh no.
"i don't want to know, do i? you guys seriously need to stop ganging up on me. it's not cute. i need new friends." they all looked so dubious. he hated them.
"there's a party. you're coming with us. you never go finn. you don't have a choice." betrayal. tyler always took his side, why'd he have to choose today to be unfaithful? just because finnigan was hopelessly single and drowning in school work, his friends decided he needed to 'socialize'. parties didn't help finn socialize, they helped him work out how to stand in a corner with a cup full of bitter tasting alcohol he'd end up dumping into some poor plant. just because they were happy in relationships with each other it didn't mean he needed a relationship to be happy.
"c'mon finny. we just worry about you, ya know?" the small girl standing beside connor was pleading. "we just want what's best for you." curse teresa and her stupid big doe eyes. the boy let out an exasperated sigh and looked to the ground in defeat.
"fine. i'll go." the responding shrieks of approval were not reassuring.
xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx---
xxxxxx they'd manhandled him all the way to his dorm, where luckily his roommate was no where to be found, and dressed him into a henley and a nice pair of jeans that abby claimed made his butt look 'enticing' while finn just called them uncomfortable. at least going back to the dorm had allowed him to grab his phone, which he was certainly going to need in order to survive the night. and also check his email which he'd almost forgotten about entirely. he really wanted to know if the girl or boy (probably a girl, he didn't think the email address belonged to a dude) he'd taken to calling fishey had gotten his message.
xxxxxxthe stupid party was being hosted by a sorority, just one more reason not to go. the house he followed his small gang of friends into was everything his dorm wasn't. it was huge and regal and alive, brimming with wasted college students. it smelt of alcohol and pizza and was vibrating under the waves of excruciatingly loud rave music playing; finnigan wasn't sure if it was socially appropriate to want to throw up with out having downed a single cup of alcohol yet. a weight slammed into his shoulder and his stammered forward to catch up with connor and everyone else. although that turned out to be an awful idea made out of extremely poor judgement. teresa slammed a bright red cup full of sloshing liquid into his hand and pushed him back off into the crowd with a simple, "we love you! have fun." finn decided he sincerely hated her and her stupid dimpled smile. he trudged through the crowd of swaying (he couldn't bring himself to call it dancing) people, managing to stick his still full cup on a coffee table before leaning up against a wall in one of the main rooms. he didn't really know any of these people. sure, their faces were familiar, he definitely had classes with a few of them, maybe even conversed with a few of them; but he didn't know them. or well he didn't until he spotted hollie fisher talking to a pair of students. oh god. finnigan shoved his hand in front of his face and snuck away into the kitchen where plopped onto the cold tiles behind the center island. he was pathetic really, breathing heavily into his hands. another reason this whole party thing, was an awful, terrible, no good idea.
xxxxxxhollie fisher was a goddess among mortals. she was beautiful and brilliant despite her occasional lack of knowledge, and finnigan had had the pleasure of debating with her in his latin class. if he was an acne covered middle school girl, he'd dare to say he was in love. the only problem was finn didn't even breach the same league she did. no one as popular, amazing at sports, and striking as her would ever go out with some loser marine bio nerd like him. and even if she would it didn't matter, because hollie fisher hated him. she'd told him so herself, or well not exactly. she'd done things that highly suggested it, and actions spoke louder than words, right? he totally understood. he was abrasive and annoying and just flat out lame; but she made is heart throb. so of course the unattainable would be here, at a sorority party he just so happened to be attending. "oh my god. i'm going to kill them."
xxxxxxfurious with abby, who he was certain he could call the master mind of this plan, finnigan stuck his hand into the back pocket of his jeans and whipped out his phone.
to the breakfast club: i'm actually probably gonna murder you guys tonight when we get home, so kiss each other goodbye now. losers.
xxxxxxsatisfied he went to shove his phone back into his pocket, but realized, he hadn't checked his email. what an idiot, fishey had probably responded hours ago. if she (he was definitely going with fishey being a girl) even had. he shook his head while long slender fingers tapped against the device's screen. he had one new email. fishey responded, and after reading the email it was clear she wanted his help. clearer than clear. finnigan reread the message another time, smiling at the anonymous girl's humor. he also couldn't help but smile at being her 'angel sent from heaven'. he didn't even know this person, they were about as relative to him as almost everyone attending the party he was currently suffering through, yet he felt like they'd been talking for years. maybe they had been. maybe they were friends? no. that couldn't be. the only people he really knew that went to ucla were connor, abby, teresa, and tyler, and out of the four only two of them were girls and they both knew his email. so not anyone he knew then. oh well. maybe once he'd finished helping her with the project they would keep talking. maybe fishey would want to be friends? honestly, finn couldn't remember the last time he'd been this interested in befriending someone. his phone vibrated beneath his fingers, alerting him that one of his friends had respond to his text, but he opted to ignore them and instead respond to fishey.

to: swedishfisheys@gmail.com

seriously, right? that book gives american literature a bad name. dude, i don't think you could ever possibly drag me down considering i know this book like the back of my hand even if it is such a god awful pain to have any assignments on. and when i said i wasn't in it for anything, i really meant it. i don't mind helping, and i'm serious about not getting anything out of this. i mean, it's really nice of you to offer your intelligence, but i'm kinda a self-proclaimed genius? like i was the valedictorian of my high school class, so i'm usually good, but if anything ever stumps me i guess i could always ask you for help. oh, and i'm in no way, shape, or form an angel, but, i can be the spiderman to your mary-jane, the pinkman to your heisenberg, the remora to your shark, the scott pilgrim to your ramona flowers. but anyway, about the book.
it's basically falkner's first ever critically-acclaimed novel, and is boring as heck, as well as the key to faulkner's success. the novel traces the decaying values of the southern society it's based in, while also tracking the desperation and hopelessness of individuals (the three compson brothers) as they each try, in their own way, to mourn the loss of their sister, caddy. caddy’s sexuality, her early pregnancy, and her quick and unhappy marriage are the obscured heart of this novel: everything else happens after (and as a response to) the actions of caddy. bravo farm girl. and its ironic that caddy is the one compson who isn't given a section of the novel to explore her own story. instead, faulkner allows the center of the novel (caddy) to exist as a gaping hole, one which her brother as narrators try to fill with their own recollection of the past. there's some pretty deep symbolism embedded into the story as well, like dilsey and quentin's watch.
hopefully this helps? i can explain more if you want. i'm free like, all night. hopefully i'll get a response soon.

from,
fin-ominalscientist21@gmail.com

xxxxxxhe reread his email, hoping he didn't sound as cocky as he felt, and sent it. now, all he had to do was wait. and suffer through the rest of this despicable shindig his friends had dragged him off to. the ground was beginning to hurt under his butt which he'd been completely oblivious to while trying to respond to fishey. he shifted his weight, slipping and almost braining himself on the corner of the island's counter when the phone in his hand vibrated, like, six times in a row. he groaned rubbing the back of his head and opened the slew of texts that were no doubt from his no good, finnigan ditching friends.
from the betrayer: www u dont mean that finny
from abby spells evil: yeah finny, you don't mean it
from abby spells evil: i take it you've found venus?
from really an assassin: hey, not my fault the grls r evil, leave me out of it
from the betrayer: finny?
from tyler: stp blowin up my fone
from tyler: n whos venus
from abby spells evil: c'mon dorsal finn, you're no fun
xxxxxx it was going to be such a long, long, looong night. finnigan ignored the mass assault of texts his friends were sending him instead cramming is phone back into the pocket of his jeans, and picked himself up. he was finished hiding. the floor was much too uncomfortable anyways, and he'd decided to rethink his perspective on drinking. he didn't have the capacity to handle this much chaos. between his friends dragging him out of the dorm and hollie being at the same party, the only thing keeping him even remotely sane was fishey and the promise of school work. it was pathetic. maybe just this once it'd be okay to have a glass or two of beer. letting his feet carry him out of the kitchen, he found his still full cup exactly where he'd left it. perfect. as typical college students say, 'turn up'.

[winterwonderland.]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx♔ ↷ ＨＯＬＬＩＥ ＦＩＳＨＥＲ

xxxxxxHollie could not stop laughing. She enjoyed being sober among drunk, toppling college students. It was hilarious. Austin, the clumsy boy—not man—in front of her, spun around in a circle. For a reason she had forgotten, the boy attempted to imitate a ballerina and was quite frankly doing a poor job. Tissues tied together were a poor excuse for a tutu. Not to mention his screeching singing was nothing like Mozart's. Aubrey downed another cup of beer and guffawed alongside Hollie. Austin did a big twirl to finish and fell halfway through. The drunk, six foot tall boy slipped on a puddle of spilled beer and collapsed. On the floor, he shook with mirth and did the best bow he could from a sitting position. Aubrey tightly gripped her stomach and tried to catch her breath, but it was basically impossible when faced with so much humor. Likewise, the blonde was caught in that soundless laughing, where her mouth was open but no sound came out. When she caught her breath, all one could see was Hollie's bright, dimpled smile illuminating her face. She had started to have so much fun that she had forgotten to check her email. Scientist must have replied by now. When she fished her phone out of her pocket and checked her email, Hollie grinned uncontrollably. Aubrey had inched her way toward Austin, but Hollie had not noticed.
xxxxxxShe was enthralled by the email, but it was honestly rather difficult to concentrate. The blonde exited the kitchen and found a quiet corner when she could focus. The first part of the email made her smile like a lunatic. She felt like she had known Scientist forever. When Hollie read his nonchalant, touching words, she felt like they were coming from an old friend. For a second, she contemplated if she knew this person. What if they were best friends? But no, it was impossible. If she had met someone as sweet and helpful as her pen pal by now, she would have married him, whether he agreed or not. Maybe she could meet this person someday. They could work side by side on Latin assignments and talk for hours about video games and comics and all things in life that were magnificent yet meaningless. On the contrary, when she scanned the second part of the email, she was not so sure. Hollie's head spun when she tried to decipher the words. Sweet Jesus, what was this wizardry? It sounded like it was written in a language she did not know. Nonetheless, it was helpful. Scientist pieced together the mystery, and Hollie could never convey her gratitude. She made a mental note to include this information in her book report.
To: fin-ominalscientist21@gmail.com Subject: You Just Blew. My. Mind. Attachment: My Notes
xxxxxxThe book really is crap. I thought American literature was about the exciting adventures of cowboys and Indians. This novel crushed my hopes and dreams, so it means a lot to me that you're reliving the madness. Seriously, Mr. Smarty-pants, your explanation was beautiful. It blew my mind. To be honest, I'm still trying to process all the symbolism, but I'll figure it out. Maybe you can attach your interpretation? If it was in Latin, that would be great. And I'll attach my interpretation of The Sound and the Fury to this email. It's in Latlish (a combination of Latin and English), by the way. As for paying you back, if we ever meet, I can train you in volleyball. Girl's volleyball, of course. ;) I can make one mean coach, you know. Anyway, you're seriously the best, my man. Keep surprising me with your boundless knowledge.
From: swedishfisheys@gmail.com
xxxxxxHollie attached the notes on her phone that she took while reading the novel. Then, she pressed "send." Hopefully, her Spiderman would reply soon. She ignored the texts that popped up her phone, questioning if she was at the party or not. The athletic, outgoing blonde had lots of friends but none that were very close. Even if they were friends she could not live without, Hollie would not hang out with most of them at a party. She could already spy a few playing beer pong, but she did not feel like joining in the game anytime soon. In her opinion, it was one of the least forms of entertainment. Besides, Hollie was only interested in emailing Scientist. Unfortunately for her, he did not give an immediate answer. Therefore, she slipped her phone back into her pocket. Hollie wondered if she should go over there and join in the pathetic game. She abandoned her placid corner of solitude and headed toward the table. Hollie was halfway there when her, phone vibrated. An obnoxious notification popped up on her screen, and Hollie groaned inwardly. It was not a new email or a text but rather, it was some junk about running out of data. It seemed like a meaningless error, but the damage it inflicted was major. The careless blonde made the dreadful mistake of walking and reading at the same time. She mindlessly bumped right into someone. "Sorry—" Hollie began, but the words dissipated when she realized who it was.
xxxxxx"YOU!" Hollie exclaimed. Drunk on fury, she directed her finger straight to his chest. Hollie pounded it three times for dramatic effect. It was the least she could do if she had to resist the urge to strangle him right then and there. She was certain the poor boy must have been terrified by now, but she was too self-absorbed to give it a second thought. This was the person who threated her entire existence. Well, that was an overstatement, but the point was that this boy wreaked havoc on her life. He vied for the highest achievement in the Latin honors system. No one else tried as hard as the two rivals, or at least no one else was intelligent enough to have a shot at it. If it were not for her competitor, Hollie would hypothetically be at the top of her class. She did not enjoy sociology as much as she thought she would have, so she wanted to make sure she at least excelled in her minor. Unfortunately, the trek to greatness was sometimes blocked by obstacles. In this scenario, Hollie was determined to overcome it, or in other words, defeat Finnigan Marshall Gilbakien. "How dare you show your face around here? I can't believe you would have the audacity." Hollie lowered voice and crossed her arms. "I bet you came here to gloat about how you're the genius who's going to claim the honors and become a billionaire. But you know what? I'm not going to let that happen. You are never going to beat me. Ever." she firmly stated, gesticulating wildly as she spoke.
xxxxxxHollie seriously blew off some steam. It felt refreshing to get that out in the open. When she reasonably evaluated the situation, she had no right to say what she said. If Hollie met him a random day at a bowling alley or at the library, she probably would not have given him a second glance. He seemed sweet and compassionate, and to be frank, he was cute in Hollie's opinion, too. She may have smiled or waved, but that would have been it. Hollie never would have yelled at him. Perhaps, she would have never talked to him. However, in this reality, emotions were involved. Hollie was infuriated by him. In some ways, she was like her friend, Lexi. Hollie was a kind, loyal, and forgiving friend. But to her enemies? Not so much. When Hollie got mad, she got mad.

[abeille]

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xxxxxx all finnigan had managed to do after quickly chugging his beer was move against the wall leading out of the kitchen. he got points for drinking, sure, but he didn't get points for doing absolutely nothing but stand around. bored, and watching the commotion around him, finnigan stuck his hand back into his pocket searching for the phone he'd put away only minutes ago. except, it wasn't there? what? the young man in a semi-frantic haze glanced around before dropping to his knees. it had to be somewhere around here. he'd just had it, there was no way he'd lost it. no way. he groped around the cold hard wood floor hoping something he grabbed would be small and rectangular and hopefully not a foot. jesus, his friends were going to be the ones killing him if he couldn't find the thing. he only spent about another minute molesting the ground before he decided he might as well stand up and reevaluate where he'd been. maybe he should check the kitchen? finnigan was about halfway into a standing position when another body collided with his, sending him back sprawling across the floor. great. finn recovered quickly, brushing it off before standing up to apologize. only, the face he was met with made him screech, a perfectly manly, testosterone filled, screech. he had bumped into hollie fisher; or, er, hollie fisher had bumped into him?
xxxxxx the mini state of euphoria that had bubbled up inside him was crushed immediately upon hollie's words following the apology she had begun. "YOU!" oh no. that wasn't good, it especially wasn't good when the furious blonde began jabbing her finger into finnigan's chest. and yeah, that kinda hurt to be honest. finnigan was a skinny, fragile, weak human being, and if he was pained at being stabbed by a goddess' finger, well then it certainly wasn't anyone else's business.
"uh yeah, me? seriously? calm down, i actually happen to like this shirt, it's like, the only decent thing i own." he said, running his hand over the offended material covering his chest. happy with the now smoothed shirt, finnigan stuck a lop sided smile onto his face and looked up to meet hollie's eyes. maybe she wasn't actually all that upset? one could dream, right? no, wrong. hollie looked absolutely livid. if she was a cartoon character, steam would be streaming out of her ears right about now, and her face would be bright red. well, brighter red than it already was. he didn't really get it. sure, they'd bumped into each other, they'd gotten into an argument or two in class, they had a decent competition going on for fun over who would be on top of the latin honors system, and finnigan could be pretty annoying, maybe she even knew he liked her. he wasn't sure about anything anymore, but the one thing finnigan did know, was that no one could hate someone this much for no reason. it just didn't make sense.
xxxxxx "How dare you show your face around here? I can't believe you would have the audacity." yeah finnigan wasn't proud of it, but he physically flinched, "I bet you came here to gloat about how you're the genius who's going to claim the honors and become a billionaire. But you know what? I'm not going to let that happen. You are never going to beat me. Ever." her words were laced with venom and she was adamant about making sure they stung. finn didn't even really understand what she was talking about, and it still stung. become a billionaire? gloat to hollie fisher?? was she crazy, why would he want that. "i, uh, it's just that. i, well." his hand was quick to come up and rub against his chin nervously. how did she want him to respond to that? "i didn't mean to be here? sorry? i mean, you're sorta being rude. you're not hosting, ya know? i have just as much right to be here as you." well, his voice was steadier that time, but he was still nervous enough that his knees wanted to sink into the ground and his teeth were biting into his knuckles. at least the girl seemed like she had deflated, even if it was only a little bit. her hands weren't flying around dangerously anymore and she was just standing there, her gaze boring into his skull as she breathed out heavily with exasperation.
xxxxxx "and why would i wanna be a billionaire? i just wanna get out of college and go home, but i can't do that if i don't keep my scholarship." he mumbled mostly to himself kicking the ground, "i just have to make my parents happy." finnigan turned around, leaving the beautifully angry girl behind him, calling out a simple, "always a pleasure seeing you hollie." he had bigger fish to fry. it wasn't important if hollie fisher hated him, he needed to stop worrying about it. he needed to forget about his stupid feelings. he was at college. and he had just pointed out that he had a scholarship to keep; his parents couldn't afford this school even if they sold their house and all their research. what was he doing?
xxxxxx finn stormed off into the kitchen, where he found his phone on the island counter. where he had left it. also where it was vibrating madly with texts from his friends. the people he hated. loathed. abhored. disgusted. he grabbed the device and stuck it in his pocket. something in the back of his mind was screaming to check his email, but he'd lost the past need to do so. it was getting fairly late anyway, fishey would understand if he didn't respond till tomorrow. hopefully. the only thing he could concentrate on now, was getting back to his dorm. the crowd of dancing students was too much, the music was too loud, hollie fisher's presence was everywhere. suffocating. he pushed through his peers searching for a familiar face. the first person he found was teresa, maybe he didn't have the worst luck after all. he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the girl she'd been animatedly talking to. teresa squealed in protest, but finn ignored her. not only was she bound to be his only sober friend, she was the only one who would understand. "finnnnnyyy, what's going on?"
"text your boyfriend and the others, i don't care about them right now. we're going home."
xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx---
xxxxxx it was being friends with your best bro's girlfriend, especially when she had a key to his dorm room. teresa pushed the door to connor's room open before she turned back to look at finnigan, her face was creased with worry lines that finn just wanted to rub away. "okay, so let me get this straight. you ran into hol- er, venus, i meant venus," the boy face palmed behind her, this was not helping, "and she basically told you off?" yeah. that was pretty much what happened.
"yeah, i mean i guess. she could've been drunk reese. she probably hadn't meant it, right? i mean, i've never personally offended her have i?"
"not that i know of. finny, i think you should just get over her. she clearly isn't very nice. she's not worth your time." but she really was. he'd seen her with her friends. she was always smiling and laughing. she was kind to them, and she seemed loyal enough, and he'd seen her wave to their other classmates around campus. she never waved to him though, and he saw her in the library all the time. it made finn want to pull his hair out. instead of dignifying teresa's statement with a response, he just hummed, falling back into the couch and pulling out his phone. he guessed he could check his email. a distraction would be good. but he had underestimated just how exhausted he was and before he knew it, he was asleep with teresa curled up next to him on the couch, his phone in hand, blinking with one very important notification. one new, unread email.