No Ordinary Exchange

let teens be teens

1. Sharing videos of police brutality, at the end of the day, does not help anyone. In fact, it is incredibly traumatizing to Black people having to see violence enacted against them over and over. Instead of sharing another video of racially-charged violence committed by police officers, consider sharing videos/messages/photos etc. from Black people about their stories, their frustrations, their ideas, etc. Don't perpetuate the cycle of trauma by sharing videos of police brutality. (Information condensed from @ glographics on Instagram.)

2. Every year, 8-12 million metric tons of new plastic trash enters the ocean; furthermore, plastic never truly disappears, only breaking down into smaller pieces known as "microplastics". By 2050, the ocean is expected to contain more plastic than fish by weight. And it is not straws making up all the plastic in oceans - plastic water bottles are among the top five most common items found in beach cleanups around the world. It can take 450-1000 years for a plastic bottle to photodegrade (and we don't have that much time). What can we do, on a personal level? Skip single-use plastics (ex. get a reusable water bottle and make it last), advocate for local policy change, and aim for progress over perfection (if we want to get it 'perfect', then plastic pollution is only going to get worse before any tangible change happens; we need to start now). (Information condensed from @ soyouwanttotalkabout on Instagram.)

Bonjour vous-autres! Happy half-way point of "No Ordinary Exchange"! I hope y'all are doing well. This chapter was a lot of fun to write; it's nice when teens are allowed to be teens and just have fun together. :) Also, to a user I think on Wattpad who wanted to see more of Nyx - ask and ye shall receive! (It's actually just a really great coincidence since I've had this chapter written for a while, but the timing of their comment was perfect lmao.) Shoutout to you - you know who you are. I hope y'all enjoy!

xXxXxXx

"We did it!" Rayla cheered, pumping her fist triumphantly as she jumped down the stairs that led out of the history building. "I don't know about you guys, but that was my last midterm." She spun around in a gleeful circle. "Time to celebrate!"

Callum laughed at his girlfriend's antics. "It was my last midterm, too." He'd had physics earlier that day and the rest of his exams the day before. "So celebrating sounds pretty good to me."

"Ooh, we can invite Claudia and Soren!" Rayla suggested eagerly. "Didn't they both finish midterms today, too?"

"No idea," Callum answered honestly. He'd been completely preoccupied with his own exams and hadn't spared a second thought to anyone else's schedule. Except Rayla's. He then turned to Sonya. "Want to join us?" he offered, putting a hand above his eyes to block the sun while smiling at her. "It'll be fun!"

Sonya chuckled, tucking her phone into her back pocket. "I'm sure it will be. But you don't really sound like you know what you're doing to celebrate, and I prefer to have a game plan."

Callum gasped in mock-offense. "How dare you. We totally know what we're doing." He glanced at his girlfriend, who snickered at his 'give me a hand here, please' expression. "Don't we, Rayla?"

"We... are going to Aimee's Creamery," Rayla said triumphantly, though not quite convincing enough where anyone would have believed she hadn't simply thought of the place on the spot. "I haven't been there in a while, and as far as I know Callum hasn't either, so it should be fun!"

Callum grinned, turning back to Sonya. "See? We have a very coherent plan. Therefore you should join us!"

They'd all come to a stop at the foot of the stairs, Rayla busily texting someone as Sonya looked at both of them in amusement.