CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE: HIGH SCHOOL BULLIES & HALF-ASSED ARGUMENTS !

12x05

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         THE TEAM WAS CALLED IN FOR ANOTHER CASE AND THEY WERE LUCKY THEY WERE ALL ALREADY IN THE OFFICE TO PREPARE. Spencer and Casey took their spots next to each other with the rest of the team once Garcia had walked in to present the case.

"The Bergstrom family was killed in their home in Winona, Minnesota, last night. Mother, Father, and little boy, all shot execution style." Garcia informed. "Any suspects?" JJ asked.

"Therein lies the mystery. The Bergstrom family was as low-risk as they come." Garcia told. "What about murder-suicide?" Spencer asked next.

"That was ruled out," Emily told. "There was no murder weapon found at the scene, and both Bridget and Scott Bergstrom were shot in their bed."

"But there was a survivor," Rossi reveals. "A teenage daughter."

Garcia nods, zooming in on the daughter's face in the photo. "Seventeen-year-old, Amanda. She was out past her curfew at the time of the murders." Casey concludes, "And she's the one that found the bodies." Garcia nods.

"It almost seems like a hit man scenario." Spencer tells. "Maybe a mafia retaliation kill? But that doesn't seem likely in Winona, Minnesota." Luke points out. "But it does seem like a revenge killing." Emily adds.

"If the unsub expected to wipe out the entire family, he screwed up by leaving Amanda alive." Casey stated. "Unless she had something to do with it." Spencer suggests but Garcia shakes her head. "That's a question mark, but according to the M.E.'s preliminary report, she can't be the shooter, based on alibi and time of deaths."

"On the surface, they were a well-liked family, living a low-risk lifestyle." Rossi told. "The daughter, Amanda, where is she?" Spencer asks. "Protective custody, in case the unsub sees her as unfinished business." Garcia informs.

Rossi looks around the room. "We good?" He asks and everyone in the room nods. "We fly." He decides.

Everyone heads on the jet soon enough, debriefing over the case with Garcia on the monitor before them. "Bridget and Scott Bergstrom grew up in Winona and have deep ties to the community." Rossi started.

"Scott was a local distributor of farm equipment. Bridget cut hair at a salon in the mall." JJ informed. "Yet they were murdered by a family annihilator." Emily points out.

"Sad but true," Garcia starts. "The Bergstrom family had their share of dirty laundry. Though who of us does not?" Casey shrugged at her words in somewhat agreement.

"Scott developed a Vicodin habit a few years back after a skiing accident." Spencer said. "So he could have been in over his head with his dealer." Casey shrugged at the possibility. "And Garcia, Bridget was having an affair?"

Garcia nods to Casey's words. "Yeah. I looked at their financials. She's got a credit card secret just in her name, with charges to a motel just outside of town, and nothing else."

"She might have cut things off, causing him to go off the deep end." Rossi suggested. "Can you get us a name?" Garcia nods, "Yeah, I'm already into it. You'll have lover boy's ID ASAP."

"What about Amanda, the sole survivor? Any motive there?" Spencer asks. Garcia sighs, "Deep sigh. I hate that you're asking that. And deep sigh again, I am bound by duty to report the facts. There's a modest insurance policy. Seventeen-year-old Amanda is the beneficiary."

"$100,000." Emily reads aloud and Casey's eyes widen. "Kids her age, all they see is dollar signs." She comments. Luke agrees, "That would seem like all the money in the world to a teenager."

"People have been killed for a lot less. That's an unlikely motive for the daughter, but we can't rule her out." Rossi tells. "Whatever set this unsub off, he made the whole family pay for it." Spencer stated. "And somehow left Amanda as the sole survivor. Question is why?" Casey wonders to herself.

"Okay. JJ, Spencer, Emily, you go directly to the crime scene." Rossi decides. "Luke, Willows, you're with me. We'll set up HQ at the local PD." Casey nods to Rossi as she continues to look down at the file.

Soon enough, when they land, Casey had followed with Luke and Rossi at the PD. The sheriff took them in, explaining how Amanda was handling the current situation. "Poor kid was so distraught, we took her to the ER. They ended up sedating her. She'll be coming around soon. I've got a deputy stationed outside her room over at county general." He informed.

"Good. If the unsub wanted to wipe out the entire family, she could be in danger." Rossi tells as they walk into a room to set up. "What about the wife, Bridget? We heard she was having an affair?" Casey decides to ask.

The sheriff nods, "Yeah, that was an open secret. She was seeing Ron Ferguson. They met at the gym. He was a trainer."

"Was?" Luke asked. "What happened?"

"Sticky fingers," The sheriff told. "Ronnie got caught stealing personal items from lockers. They called us over, but nobody pressed charges. Just sent him packing."

"Ferguson sounds like bad news." Rossi comments. "He's no altar boy. Couple of DUIs and a few assault convictions. Bar fights, mostly. But nothing like this. You don't think he's involved in this, do you?" The sheriff questions.

"The guy's got a temper and he likes to drink." Luke tells and Casey shakes her head, "And that is not a good combo." She spoke from experience.
"Where is he now?" Rossi asks.
"Living off unemployment, just outside town out by I-90." The man informs.

Casey looks over at Luke. "You up for a field trip?" Luke nods, "Lead the way."

Luke had offered to drive and since it hadn't been very far, Casey let him. She also figured that the man was probably a little scared of her driving since the last time she drove on a case. She swears she only drives like she's in the Fast and the Furious franchise when it's an emergency. But of course, the team doesn't trust it and hasn't for nearly ten years since she's been working here.

They had finally arrived at the complex where Ron Ferguson lived. "So, knocking on doors remind you of fugitive hunting?" Casey asks, striking conversation.

"Yeah, a little bit. That was a... that was a one-man show, though." Luke tells. "Don't forget, this is a team sport, sir. It took Rossi a while to figure that one out." Casey commented.

Luke contemplates on asking the next question. "Hey, you and Garcia are close, right?" He asks anyways. Casey shrugs, "Probably my favorite person on the planet Earth besides my son, my husband and JJ. Why?" She furrows her brows.

"Do you have absolutely any idea why she hates me?" Luke questions. "She doesn't hate you. I think that maybe she doesn't wanna get close to you. We've lost a couple people on this team already. One of them practically being her work husband." Casey reveals.

"Work husband, huh?" Luke asks. Casey nods, "Derek Morgan, her chocolate thunder to his baby girl. Be patient, she'll get used to you." Casey assures. "Was she like that when you first joined?" Luke asks curiously. "No, she was in love with me from the start. I've always been her fair maiden."

Luke laughs at Casey as they finally approach the front door to his house. "This is it." Casey says. She pulls out her badge from her pocket as she opens the gate. "Ronald Ferguson?" She calls. The man is standing in front of his window as she shows her badge and draws his attention to the two. "FBI. We'd like to ask you a few questions?"

The man tries to make a run for it but Luke runs towards the open door and knocks the wind out of Ron Ferguson and holds him down as Casey points her gun towards Ron.

"Where do you think you're going? Huh?" Luke questions and turns towards Casey as he pulls her handcuffs out. "This takes me back." Casey raises her brows and puts her gun back in her holster. "I bet."

As soon as Ron is put in handcuffs, Luke grabbed him and sat him up on the couch. "I didn't do nothin'." Ron tells. "We want to know about Bridget Bergstrom." Luke told the man. The man shakes his head. "I don't know, it was messed up. But I didn't have nothin' to do with it. Bridget and me broke up a while ago."

"Ron, where were you last night?" Casey questioned. "Out at the CC club... in town. My buddy Steve got in a fight, got cut, so I took him to the hospital." Ron gave out his alibi. "What about afterward?" Luke asked. "I was there all night. Waited with him while he got stitched up. I didn't get home till almost 6am. And there were security cameras in the waiting area. You can check."

"We will." Casey nods. "That's the truth. No matter what that little liar says." Ron told. Casey furrows her brows as well as Luke. "Who are you talking about?" Luke questions.

"Amanda, Bridget's kid." Ron told. "She knew you were having an affair with her mother?" Casey asked. Ron nods, "Yeah. And she blackmailed me for almost a year. Threatened to tell her dad all the time. Amanda acts all innocent, but she's always working some angle."

"Pretty crude way to talk about a seventeen year old." Casey comments as Ron shrugs, "It's true."

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After Emily and JJ had questioned Amanda after what Luke and Casey found out about what Ron Ferguson told them, the team gathered up again. When Scott developed his addiction to Vicodin, he'd gotten aggressive with his family and this started the affair with Bridget and Ron. When Scott started getting clean and had gotten a six-month chip, Bridget called off the affair.

Rossi walked into the room with Luke as Emily, JJ and Casey sat in the conference room. "Just got off the phone with Garcia. Ferguson's alibi checks out." Rossi told.

"I can't even begin to imagine it," Emily spoke. "Her whole family gone in the blink of an eye." Casey spoke up next, "I can," This made everyone look at her as she avoided eye contact. "She's devastated."

"Ferguson seems to think that Amanda was some kind of conniving shrew." Luke told. "Well, Amanda may well have been hostile towards him, but for good reason." Emily told. "She wanted her parents to stay together. Typical kid. She was candid about what went on. She was genuinely baffled by who would do this and why." JJ tells.

Emily nods, "Agreed. That last text from her mom, that one's gonna haunt her."

"What's gonna happen to her now?" Rossi asks. "She has an aunt and uncle in Seattle. They flew in today. So it sounds like she'll be going home with them." Emily informs.

"We know Ferguson's way too disorganized to pull this off, so where does that leave us?" Luke questions. "The family had their problems, but they were getting back on track." JJ said. "And yet someone wanted this family dead." Rossi added.

"But it doesn't make sense that they'd be targeted by a family annihilator." Casey spoke. "What if it's not about this family? What if it's just about families?" Rossi asks.

"So the Bergstroms could be surrogates." JJ tells. "Meaning our unsub will probably strike again." Emily adds.

The team had been called in on a 911 call and found a teenager hiding in the closet while the rest of his family was found dead in the house. JJ and Luke questioned him but the boy was traumatized by what had happened. After delivering their profile, Garcia had found some information and called the team about it.

"What's up, Garcia?" Rossi started. "Do you have any idea how many selfies the average teenager posts on social media on any given day?" Garcia asks and Casey looks over at her husband, who she's sitting next to on the couch and he has his mouth open to say something but Garcia stops him before he can. "I'm gonna tell you before you say anything. So many. And like the guys, too."

Spencer stands up from his seat. "Actually, some studies indicate that men take twice as many selfies as women 'cause it's considered to be an acceptable form of male vanity." He explains.

"How many pictures of yourself do you really need? And they're basically making the same expression— oh my God. Am I officially... not young?" Casey smiles to herself because it sounds like Garcia's freaking out about being called 'old', she can't even say it.

"You, my dear, are the portrait of everlasting youth." Rossi assures and Casey can tell Garcia's smiling at this answer. "I'm timeless, right. Good answer."

"Well, if she's 'everlasting youth', what am I?" Casey questions, noting that she is the youngest member on the team as of right now. "You, my fair maiden, will always be fair." Garcia speaks and Casey shrugs, "I'll take it." Spencer smiles at his wife as Garcia then continues.

"Okay. Back to my point. I have been drilling into the social media footprint of both of our adolescent survivors." Garcia tells. "Any connection between Amanda and Matt?" Rossi asks. "Yeah. Stay with me while I go around here for a second. So, basically, both of their Facebook pages are just an outpouring of love and support from their peers. And it's touching, really, and it's very reassuring for the hope of our species." Garcia explains.

"What did you mean, 'basically'?" Emily asks. "In between all the wonderfulness, there's a tiny tributary of nasty comments from some of their peers, saying that Matt and Amanda got what they deserved."

"Well, they're kids. Kids can be cruel and thoughtless." Rossi tells. "But you would think some remorse would be given to these kids considering what they've been through. I mean, their families died." Casey stated.

"Right. But we all know that cruelty is sometimes inspired by previous action, which made me wonder what Matt and Amanda might have done to provoke some of their peers to saying some of these things on their Facebooks. So I looked into their school records, and both Matt and Amanda have complaints against them for 'harassing behavior.'" Garcia explains.

"They're bullies." Emily concludes. I suddenly feel less bad for the rodents, but they don't deserve to have their families die because of it. Casey thinks in her head.

"Were they disciplined?" Rossi asks. "No," Garcia informs. "To paraphrase the Violent Femmes song, nothing went down on their permanent record."

"So the victims were also victimizers." Spencer tells. "If the unsub was bullied himself as a teenager, that could be the original narcissistic wound that's fueling his present day rage." Emily explains.

"Turning his surrogate victimizers into victims is the point for our unsub, then." Casey nods along to Emily's explanation.

"Bullying leaves lasting scars," Spencer tells. "Our unsub could be a teacher or staff member at the school who seems himself as an avenger of students who are current victims of bullying. Someone who punishes the bullies when no one else does." He explains.

"Hold on," Casey speaks. "Let's rewind for a second. Could there be a possibility that our unsub may be one of the students? Hurting the families for raising victimizing children?" She asks but Emily shakes her head, "No, this killer is way too organized for this to be a juvenile. From the unsub's point of view, the bullies themselves are responsible for the violence, he's perpetrating against their families."

"We need to dig into the backgrounds of the teachers and staff of Pillsbury High and identify anyone who was bullied as a kid." Rossi tells Garcia, who continues, "Already got digital shovels already throwin' up dirt."

"We also need a list of any other known bullies at the school so that we can warn and protect their families." Emily adds.

"Oh, here's something." Garcia speaks up. "There is a school counselor there named Eric Bakken. Not only is he the school administrator who's in charge of handling bullying complaints from the students, but when he was fifteen, he was charged with assault. He was arrested. He claimed he was provoked by a long-time bully, but the charges were dropped."

"Let's get him in here." Emily decides.

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After talking to the counselor, they knew he had nothing to do with the murders. While JJ and Luke sent five families into protective custody so they wouldn't be targeted, they had arrived to find one of the bullies murdered in his own home.

Spencer and Casey were sent over to the house for fresh eyes since JJ and Luke were already there. Casey had just gotten off the phone with the ME and walked into the house were JJ, Luke and Spencer were looking over the crime scene. "ME's preliminary time of death confirms that we couldn't have missed him by more than a few minutes."

"There's extreme overkill here." Spencer stated. "Victim was shot six times and then bludgeoned. He's decompensating."

"Or evolving." Luke added. "Yeah, he doesn't care about the family anymore. He's going straight for the bully." JJ tells. "Could Austin have been the object of his rage?" Casey questioned. "Be one hell of an object of rage with the overkill." Luke told.

"Hey, guys." Spencer called from across the hall. The three headed on over to Austin's bedroom, looking around the deshelved room, ripped posters, pillows and blanket cut open, blood on a trophy of his on his bed. "Austin's room." Spencer said and Casey looked around.

"The other murders, the unsub left the homes undisturbed." JJ tells. "Well, it certainly looks like this is what he bludgeoned the victim with." Luke pointed to the trophy. "He could have left it in the living room with the body, but instead he brought it back in here and destroyed Austin's other sports trophies." Spencer tells.

"Yeah, you know, everything about this, the overkill, trashing the room, going after Austin's prizes, it fights against our profile of mission-oriented organization and impulse control." JJ explained.

"He's more stressed now. He knows we're closing in." Luke figures but JJ shakes her head, "It's more than that. His behavior reads juvenile."

"Casey was right," Spencer speaks. "Our unsub isn't an adult, he's a child." As Spencer and JJ walk out to call Rossi and Emily, Casey sighs and Luke looks at the girl, since they are the only ones left in the room.

"I take it nobody believes you sometimes?" Luke figures and Casey shrugs. "Only when I think it's a child. Every time."

Casey could count on two hands when she'd identify the unsub to be younger but there was only a few times where the team had agreed with her when they found more evidence. Maybe she resonated it with internal behaviors as a kid but knew to never act on impulsive urges. She knew how the kids were feeling, but knew she'd never act like that. With that, the four headed back to the PD after informing Rossi and Emily what they found.

"Garcia, we need the records of every student at Pillsbury who filed a bullying complaint against Amanda Bergstrom, Matt Doherty, and Austin Settergren." Rossi tells and Emily adds on, "Also, anyone who received counseling for being bullied by those students."

      "Wow. This is a really big pool. I've got twenty-seven names." Garcia tells. "Any of those students bullied by all three?" JJ asks. "No." Garcia tells.

      "Like Bakken said, most victims never come forward." Rossi tells. "So I'm seeing the tip of a really big iceberg." Garcia nods. "Nobody wants to be a snitch." Luke adds. "Otherwise, maybe you're punished for it by the terrorizers themselves." Casey nods.

     "Also, bullying is often so widespread, it's normalized." Emily nods. "It would only amplify the unsub's feeling of powerlessness." JJ adds.

     "The pool of suspects is still too big." Rossi sighs. "Garcia, can you cross-check the names you pulled with any mentions on social media of bullying?" Luke asks. "Oh, there's a boss idea. I'm gonna do that right now, and... oh, this is interesting. I pulled up six names from my list, and they all belong to a private chat group." Garcia nods.

     "Some kind of bullying support group?" JJ asks. "It's called the Anti-Terror Squad, but, yeah, that's exactly what it is." Garcia answers.

     "It's an apt analogy," Casey tells. "Ongoing bullying would feel like terrorism to those experiencing it."

     "They warn each other about which stairwells and bathrooms to avoid on any given day. They walk each other to and from school. That kind of thing." Garcia tells. "Least they were protective of one another. They only had each other." Casey says.

     "I tell Henry school's a safe place, but for these kids it's anything but." JJ sighs. "I can't even imagine Christopher going through that." Casey shakes her head.

     "Are there any mentions of retribution or payback, planning?" Emily asks but Garcia shakes her head. "No. But there's a lot of content here. I'll do a keyboard search. It'll take a while."

     "Okay, so these kids took back some of their power by banding together. They call themselves the Anti-Terror Squad, so they see themselves as righteous." Emily explains to the team and Rossi adds on, "The unsub may be one or all six of these kids."

       "If it's all six of them, it would explain how the murders are like a clean cut." Casey agrees. "Garcia, is there any way you can locate their cell phones?"

       "Sure. Um..." Garcia pauses. "They're all in the exact same place. All six of them are in a classroom at Pillsbury High."

         In the end, Emily, Luke and Rossi were sent over to the high school and their unsub was a kid named Kyle Eckland. Only child, mother left him, dad was an alcoholic and was bullied by a lot of kids. He was duct-taped to a basketball hoop and the kids involved in this incident happened to be the children whose families were killed. He was left there taped to that hoop all night with a red face from basketballs being thrown at him and broken glasses. It was enough to let anyone stir up internal rage.

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       Once the team flew back, they had done their paperwork and headed on home. Christopher requested his dad put him to bed — which was usually the norm, anyways — and Spencer tucked his son into bed after reading a story to him.

       Christopher played with his giraffe in his hands as Spencer put another blanket over him since he got cold easily. "Dad?" He asks. "Yeah, kiddo?" Spencer asks.

      "Why do I have to go to so many doctor's appointments?" Christopher asks. Spencer knew this question was coming soon from him since he was getting older and liked asking a lot of questions now. Spencer blinked as he started, "Well, do you remember that time when you kept having seizures and we had no idea why?"

        Spencer looks at Christopher as he nods. "Well, we bring you to those doctor's appointments so that we can prevent you from getting sick and having more seizures."

       "And if I do get sick?" Christopher asks. "Well, that's not gonna happen, okay? I won't let it." Spencer assures to his son, running a hand through his hair.

      "And Mom won't?" Chris asks and Spencer nods, "And Mom won't."

      "I love you, Dad." Chris tells Spencer and Spencer softly smiles at his son. "I love you, too." He gives Chris a kiss on the forehead. "Get some rest."

      Spencer stands up from the bed and Christopher looks at his dad with pleading eyes. "Night light?" He asks. Spencer nods, "Night light." He turns it on, indicating some more brightness in the room. "Goodnight, Dad." Chris tells and Spencer smiles, "'Night, kiddo."

       With that, Spencer turns off Christopher's room light and closes the door behind him. Casey was in the kitchen doing dishes but what Spencer didn't know was that Casey happened to pass by the room when she heard the conversation going on and Spencer could tell by Casey's face that she was annoyed and tense, but he had no idea why.

        Spencer walked up behind her, holding her but Casey didn't stop like Spencer expected her to. She just kept doing the dishes. "Hey." Spencer spoke, hoping that maybe she'd stop but her movements continued. "Hey." Casey said sharply and shortly, tightening a pain in the bottom of Spencer's stomach. He hated when she was short and curt with him.

        Spencer had thought that maybe he could do something for her so she'd be less tense and hopefully not mad at him. He knew that his massages were one of her favorite things.
"You seem tense," Spencer tells, beginning to rub at her shoulders. "Let me give you a back rub." He adds but Casey pulls away, continuing what she's doing. "No, I don't want a back rub." She tells.

      Casey keeps trying to get out of Spencer's tiny grasp on her as she continues the dishes. "Spence—" She speaks and begins to squirm. "Spencer. Stop!" She nearly shouts, halting his movements and he pulls away from her. "Okay, just... back up. I'm tired." Casey didn't bother to look at Spencer's confused and broken face, knowing her heart would tear in two if she saw it.

      "What's wrong?" Spencer asks as Casey had finished up the last dish and turned the water off. There's a pause and Casey turns around to look at her husband. "Why would you tell him that?"

     Spencer furrows his brows in confusion. "What are you talking about?" He questions. "Why would you tell Christopher that him getting sick isn't gonna happen? You don't know that." Casey tells.

     All the more, Spencer is still very confused at his. "So, you're mad at me for giving Chris hope that he might not get sick?" He questions. "False hope, Spencer." Casey clarified. "You don't know if he's not gonna get sick. You shouldn't be the judge of that." Casey tries to change her tone, noticing Spencer get visibly frustrated. "I just don't want you to lie to him. That's all."

       Casey didn't want Spencer to tell Chris he was never gonna get sick and that nothing was wrong with him. But they had no idea if he was going to or not. She didn't want Spencer telling him lies when in all honesty, he had no idea what to expect.

      "And be up front with him and tell him he'll inevitably get sick?" Spencer questioned and Casey noticed she started a fight and that was the last thing she wanted to do tonight.

      "You know what? Forget I said anything, okay? Sorry." Casey tells as she walks away from the sink. "No, you brought it up so we're talking about it." Spencer spoke, following behind her.

         Casey turned around to face her husband in front of their bedroom door. "I don't wanna go to bed angry tonight, Spencer! Okay? Aren't you tired of it? We've had three fights in last month." Casey takes a deep breath, wanting to just wipe the slate before it can escalate further. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I was wrong. Let's just forget about it and go to bed."

         Spencer can see in Casey's eyes that she's tired and she just wants to go to bed. It was true, they'd been fighting a little more recently. About the simple stuff, as well. Everything that had to do with Spencer's mom and their son. This whole thing was straining them. And frankly, Spencer just didn't want to fight tonight either. He sighs, "You're right. Let's go to bed." With that, he moves past Casey and the two quietly get ready for bed.

       No other words are said as they both head into bed. They know that they'll talk about it in the morning like they always do, but right now, they'd need to get past the awkward part. The two turn towards the opposite sides of the bed, their backs touching for at least a little comfort.

       Both Spencer and Casey could only hope they'd get past this stage of their relationship.

hey lovelies!
yes i took a couple of days off from writing bc mental health be important sometimes lmaoooo

anywaysssssss
i need SOMEONE to PM ME RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I HAVE AN IDEA FOR THIS BOOK AND THIS SEASON BUT IM SO SCARED TO DO IT SO WILL SOMEONE PLEASE MESSAGE ME SO I CAN TELL THEM IM DYING HERE-
it's in regards to drama hehehehe

me AND penelope bc parents are fighting:

anywaysssss
so not looking forward to the next chapter😭
or literally this entire season because there is definitely gonna be more than a few fights 👀
adding just a lil ✨angst✨
COME ON Y'ALL HAD TO EXPECT THIS WITH THE AMOUNT OF HAPPINESS YOU WERE GETTING FOR A WHILE PLUS WE'RE ALMOST AT THE PRISON STORYLINE MAY NEED SOME ADD THINGS IN

also
thinking of writing another spencer reid fanfic starting from s1 hehehehe

also also
ik this is so sucky and i'm in that overthinking stage of writing where i feel like i haven't let casey grow so much and i feel like i be letting her down as much as everybody else and yea😀👍

also sorry this is so long ew
thank you for reading i love you all
-mya </3