No Ordinary Exchange

a kiss to make it feel better

1. Follow @ nowhitesaviors on Instagram! They go into great detail about issues with white saviorism and the need for all people (but especially white people) to work on "decolonizing their mind" (e.g. getting rid of the idea the Africa is a continent full of "primitive" people that somehow "need saving" by white people, because that is far from the truth). I've learned so much on there that school has never taught me!

Confession time: I almost completely forgot about updating this weekend. Like it came very close to slipping my mind entirely. College starts in two weeks and I'll be working an office job on campus (which I have never done before so I am very, very nervous) so my brain has been elsewhere for most of the past few days lol!

Anyways - I hope you guys are all doing well, staying safe, wearing masks, and all that jazz! I'm still deep into my A:tLA obsession lmao, so I will undoubtedly be posting more A:tLA fics at some point if any of y'all are interested in that. This chapter is probably one of my favorites so far, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed writing it! :)

xXxXxXx

"Hey," Callum said, grabbing Rayla's hand to keep her from walking away. "Want a kiss for luck before the game?"

Rayla laughed. "Really? You didn't think to ask me until after I put my helmet on?" She pulled her hand out of his, shaking her head and grinning. "Nope. You'll have to wait until after we've won."

"Whoa, don't jinx us," Felix teased, elbowing her in the side as he walked past. "It would suck to have our winning streak broken by such a measly opponent all because of one offhand comment."

Rayla rolled her eyes. "So, you tell me not to jinx it, and then go and call them measly? How hypocritical of you."

Felix looked like he was tempted to defend himself, but Soren walked into the room before he could get a word out.

"Okay, guys," he said, clapping his hands together. "Time for all non-players to clear out."

'Non-players' meaning Callum and Claudia, because they were basically the only two people not on the team that Coach Zhou allowed in the locker room. Callum often wondered if that had anything to do with who his and Claudia's fathers were in relation to KSU, but for once, he was not complaining about the privilege.

They waved goodbye to the team, with Callum rolling his eyes at his girlfriend's overly-dramatic wink that he could barely see through the mask of her helmet, then both proceeded to make their way out of the locker room and into the bleachers of the stadium's student section.

"So, what have you been up to lately?" Claudia asked as they sat down together. "We haven't had a real conversation since, like, Ezran's birthday party!"

Callum blinked. She was right. It was weird for them to go so long without even texting. "I've mostly just been slammed by assignments this week," he answered honestly. "Midterms are around the corner and I guess my professors are trying to make sure they cover all the content we'll need to know for exams."

Claudia cringed. "Ugh. Midterms. Don't remind me." Then she nodded. "But yeah, my professors are all loading on the work, too. I think Soren is starting to lose his mind - you know, more than he already has - because he has major senioritis for everything. Except football, of course."

Callum shrugged. "Well, I can't blame him for wanting to graduate and get out of here."

Claudia stared at him incredulously. "Seriously?" She shook her head. "No way. Callum, you were completely unaffected by senioritis in high school. Everyone kept saying that you'd been vaccinated for it. Or so went the rumors I heard, at least."