Hazel slammed her head into her pillow and groaned.

"You good?" Cecil asked, peeking their head up from their phone.

"When have I ever been good?" Hazel countered.

"True." They paused. "What are you guys even doing?"

That was a good question.

When Hazel asked, Frank simply said, "It's a surprise."

"That's not at all menacing," Cecil said. Hazel simply rolled her eyes. "What? Honestly, Frank is too friendly. All the nice guys have an ulterior motive."

"You watch too much true crime."

"No such thing."

Hazel snorted. "Well, what about you and Lou?" she asked, trying to steer the conversation away from herself.

Their cheeks immediately reddened, and they looked down, refusing to meet Hazel's eye. "I don't know." His hands gestured wildly at the statement.

Hazel grinned. "Yes, you do."

"No--" Cecil forced a laugh, "--I don't."

Hazel raised a brow, to which Cecil buried his face in their hands. "Stop this bull-fuckery."

"Aw, you're in love."

He sighed. "Yeah. I am. What about you?"

Hazel paused, unsure of whether or not to reveal it.

"Haze, it's normal to not be head-over-heels on the first date," Cecil said, somehow reading her mind.

Hazel offered a small smile. "I know. But I feel guilty, because I know Frank is."

Cecil looked at Hazel, really looked at her. Emotions that Hazel couldn't decipher flashed rapidly across their face before settling on a reassuring stoic. "I know that even if Lou Ellen does somehow like me, it probably isn't to the same compacity that I like her." Hazel snorted at that, to which she was sent a glare. "Shut up. Anyway, I would still wait for her, because I understand. Some people need more time than others.

"Life isn't a rom-com. Relationships will always take work from both sides. This is that first piece you guys need to work through. The beginning of a relationship can be invigorating and wonderful, but it's also the most challenging part. It takes so much to get to the stability that, I don't know, Carter and Zia have.

"Do you know how long they've been together? Two years. Relationships don't just magically align like people say they do, okay. Even you and your soulmate won't have the perfect relationship because there is no such thing. It doesn't matter if you were meant for each other; you'll still disagree. You'll still want different things. That's why people and their soulmates separate. They think they're always going to agree and always know exactly what the other wants. No one believes in putting in the work.

"So, trust me--why are you crying?" Hazel shook her head and gestured for him to continue. "Trust me, if he doesn't want to even try to wait for you to feel with the same intensity as him, he isn't worth it. And guess what? That's okay!"

Hazel sniffed. "You should join the parents of the school."

"I--what?"

"Carter, Zia, and Shel. They're our parents."

Cecil snorted. "Okay." They paused. "Do you need a hug?"

Hazel didn't even answer. She just flopped into him, tightening her arms around them as he did the same.

"Now, I need you to answer this honestly, okay. There is no right or wrong answer."

Hazel popped her head out of the crook of their neck. "That's a very scary thing to say, Cecil."

Cecil ignored that. "Do you even want to go on the date?"

Hazel nodded. "Yeah, I do. Just to try it out, and see if it works. Because I do really like Frank."

Cecil smiled. "Okay then. Let's raid your closet."

-

Annabeth was exhausted. Rehearsals were going by slowly, and Annabeth wanted to go home.

percy: heyo

And would you look at that? All feelings of wanting to curl up in a ball and die evaporated with that simple text.

annabae: hi i'm dying

percy: mood

percy: quick question

percy: would you be up for another date on Friday??

annabae: yes i would

percy: cool!!

percy: what would you want to do

annabae: idk i kinda want to be ~extra~

percy: can we be ~extra~ in a cheap way, because shit's expensive

annabae: what if we just got McDonald's and then dressed up very fancy

percy: hell yes

percy: and we can go to a nice place and have a picnic there and act like we're eating a gourmet meal

annabae: since when is a big mac not a gourmet meal?

percy: true

percy: OMG IMAGINE IF THE ICE CREAM MACHINE ISN'T BROKEN

annabae: MIRACLES CAN SOMETIMES EXIST THE WIND THE WIND THE WIND

annabae: sorry, my speech to text is getting the actors

percy: dude, that's happened to me so many times

-

percy: hey this is shel right?? it's percy

~gay~: yeah i think we have mythology together

~gay~: now what advice can i offer you today my young padawan

percy: ok you know annabeth

~gay~: the scary blond girl whom i adore, yes

percy: that would be her

percy: so we're dating

~gay~: i'm aware

percy: and i want to ask her out for homecoming and idk how

~gay~: I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK ME THIS

~gay~: WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN

percy: i'm scared

heyo my violation beans

me, literally yesterday: guys i'm drained and it may take a bit for me to update

me this morning: i just wrote an essay in an hour for an exam there is no way i can write a chapter today

also me: writes 800 words faster than me writing 200 for the essay

psa: it was a shitty essay i and probably failed but that's ok

anyway hi guys

as you can see, i am still a bit preachy because of the essay

but it matters not for it made the vast majority of the word count today

low key i'm trying to at least make the a/n get the chapter to 1000 so bear with me as i add in another episode of tangents with gabby

so, currently thirsty for validation, so please read my new fic. for me. it took so fucking long. and the chapters are actually 1,500 words WITHOUT including my notes

please, feed the gremlin in my brain

anyway

i hate exams so much my brain is mush and my hands hurt and i want to rip testing booklets to shreds

lmao y'all remember that one shot book? i hope not because i'm probably never updating that again

ITS ANNUAL HATE READ A SJM BOOK TIME

i got her new book and it's better than i expected, especially given ACOSF but at the same time, it still sucks

can i do any better than her? no.

will i judge anyway? absolutely!

i just read the sentence "his snarl rattled the glasses on the counter." currently dying of both pain and laughter

sims: it is still happening. it's just taking me 20 years

i did get a few houses out down and i started on shel, jackie, and goblin. so that will be up when i actually have the time and motivation to finish that

riptide2406  the way you doubted me when i said i would make shel and percy friends

i have proved you wrong

i've actually had this idea of shel and percy as friends for a while, i just didn't know how to start it

and the i got the opportunity

also, cecil is now a part of the parent gang. they have a group chat now

well, cecil isn't there "officially" but will be soon

also lou ellen and cecil w i l l be a thing

now for the possible drama over my preachy relationship advice: trust me i'm right

take my friend for example. she didn't really like the guy she dated as much as she does now. you know why? cause they dated through out all of middle school

he actually broke up with her recently, and i am ready to riot. because it was sour of nowhere and he texted her as a friend exactly 3 hours later

the way i almost committed a murder i—

anyway, that's all for now because this is a long ass note so i'm gonna go pass out and respond to you and my broken motifs in the morning

love y'all!!!