Ben Coccio - Tumblr Posts
cal definitely never wore his retainer after getting his braces off. his mom got onto him constantly about it. she’d find it sitting by the sink or on his nightstand and lecture him about how his teeth were going to go right back to the way they were before he had braces.
andre would tease him about it, say his teeth looked like they were fighting one another. cal would just brush off everything everyone says because his teeth won’t even be in his head in the next couple months. of course, he can’t tell his parents that, but he jokes about it with andre and in his head.
“sometimes i wonder what zero day you guys watched,” “why do cal and andre get so mischaracterized,” “some people need rewatch the movie,” etc.
…is it me ☹️
cal sleeps with a sound machine and every time andre spends the night he wants to strangle cal in his sleep
sometimes i have a bad day but then i remember that cal is canonically a pothead and everything gets better
thinking about andre going to college if zero day never happened.
we all know he got into the engineering school at the university of connecticut. he has a room by himself because his scholarships paid for most of it. he’d have so many eight am classes that he’d complain about nonstop. he’s still close to home, so he’s able to spend a couple nights there if he’s had a rough week or needs to do laundry.
cal ended up going to a community college near their highschool, causing him to still live at home. he basically stays with andre every night, though. they cuddle up together on the twin bed that’s about five feet from the ground and argue that they don’t have enough space. they’ve both fallen off the bed multiple times.
he’s on the school’s track team—long distance, of course. basically all he does is wake up, go to class, go to practice, and do homework, but it’s okay with him. he’s always liked routine. plus, he more than likely has cal waiting at the dorm for him every night. they watch a movie or two before heading to sleep.
it’s a good life. it’s a life andre could have had.
cal with cotard’s delusion.
he believes he’s dead, and no one can convince him otherwise. there’s nothing inside him—no organs, no blood. his actions will have no repercussions; he isn’t real therefore his decisions aren’t either.
zero day isn’t a big deal to him. his death isn’t scary, doesn’t make him worry or wish for more time. the only thing he’s doing is confirming his train of thought. a shot to the brain will only make his body match the way his mind already makes him feel.
he’ll lay in his room for days with no water, no food, and no sunlight. he misses school and has withdrawals from his mental health medications. he doesn’t speak, and when he does, it makes no sense.
no one understands what is going on in his mind. not his parents, not andre, not rachel. he is already gone.
cal knows how to use chopsticks while andre is absolutely clueless with them. andre always tells cal to ‘stop showing off’ even if he’s just simply eating with them. cal’s tried to teach him, but he always gets frustrated, throws them down, and picks up a fork.
thinking about how cal’s mom most likely drove a minivan due to having three kids… imagine cal and his siblings fighting over who has to sit in the back… plus him having to hop out of the minivan in the middle of the school parking lot trying to act all cool…
the day before zero day.
cal is sitting at the dinner table with his family as they talk about their lives and ask cal about prom which was about two or three days ago. as the conversation leaves the topic of prom, when cal no longer has to talk a lot, he begins to examine his family.
he observes the way his dad stops eating when his siblings talk, the way he gives all of his children his utmost respect. he watches the way his mom’s necklace shines; he remembers it being a gift from cal’s grandmother a couple years before. he spends the longest time staring at his siblings. there’s something about the way they move, something so innocent. cal knows they don’t deserve to grow up without a big brother, but there’s nothing he can do now.
he stops eating. he isn’t hungry. there’s anticipation and excitement in his mind and hurt in his heart. his stomach can’t hold anything else besides the butterflies that fly around nonstop.
before bed, he stops by his parents room to give them a hug and a long good night wish that’s full of ‘i love you’s and ‘sweet dreams.’ he asks his siblings if they want to stay up a bit longer in his room just to talk. he has to bribe them with sugar. they don’t know it’s the last time they’ll talk to him besides a short goodbye in the following morning.
they talk for a couple hours before the three of them start yawning. despite his tiredness, cal does not sleep. he can’t.
-
in the kriegman house, andre is eating a leftover pizza from work while his mom sews and his dad is still closing up shop. he’s alone in his room with greasy hands and lips red from marinara sauce.
his mind is running at a billion miles an hour. it shouldn’t be, really, as he knows both him and cal have planned everything, but he can’t help it. what if it goes wrong? what if he gets pulled over on the way to school? what if someone misinterprets their cause?
he eats the entire pizza. fuel for the following day, he calls it. he almost vomits in his bathroom multiple times. his mom gets worried when he starts pacing around the living room, but he just tells her everything is fine.
he wishes he could call his brother or that he could hug his father. he knows both options are impossible and would raise a slight bit of suspicion. instead, he kisses his mother goodnight and doesn’t wait up for his father to get home.
he falls asleep that night will mel purring on his chest. the key for his father’s guns lays cold underneath his pillow. his outfit for zero day is already ironed and hung up in his closet.
this is his last day.
“i’ve never kissed anybody before.”
cal’s voice echoes loudly through the bathroom, bouncing off the walls of the shower.
andre stares at him for a moment, knowing that cal’s asking for something the both of them have always wanted. he doesn’t know how to reply; he can’t get his mouth to form the right words. he simply leans forward, connecting his lips to cal’s.
it feels wrong at first. cal nips at andre’s bottom lip, and andre bashes their noses together. after a while, though, they get into a rhythm.
there’s a constant weirdness about it. not because they’ve been best friends for years, but because it’s their last morning on earth. the boys are able to push those thoughts away, banish them to the very back of their brains.
cal’s hands rest on andre’s shoulders while andre grabs at the younger boy’s waist. the water pouring on them is getting cold, but neither of them mind the temperature.
the boys end up doing a bit more than kissing as their hands wandered lower and lower, but they were soon brought back to reality when they heard cal’s mom yell through the house.
“boys! school starts in thirty minutes, and you still haven’t eaten! come downstairs soon!”
cal pulls away laughing, his forehead leant on andre’s chest. andre is breathing heavily, almost annoyed at the interruption. he has to remind himself that she doesn’t know this is the end. she doesn’t know that there is something to ruin.
quickly, the boys wash their hair and each other’s bodies. they get dressed in their outfits and eat breakfast. the plan is to drive a couple blocks around cal’s house until his parents leave for work before going to andre’s house to get the guns.
the morning is almost surreal. it’s everything they’ve been planning for. the kiss they shared didn’t even feel real by the time they pulled the triggers. it felt like a nice dream before walking into a living nightmare.
callie and andrea hcs are in the works, will post them after my class is over
cal celebrates hanukkah with the kriegman family. he’s there when they light the menorah. he loves seeing andre so happy.
he helps with the meals and brings little presents for every family member. his mom makes him bring cards with little notes from all the gabriel family members.
while andre’s dad sometimes argues that the time is only for family, andre gets angry and tells him that cal is family. ultimately mr. kriegman just gives up. mrs. kriegman is happy he’s there.
Callie and Andrea Headcanons
- Callie always wears lipgloss. Andrea loves how it looks on her but gets frustrated because every time Callie kisses her, it leaves gloss everywhere.
- Andrea is muscular, especially within her thighs and back from doing track. Often times, she’ll just wear shorts and a tank top or sports bra when Callie is around. Callie almost drools every time she sees her.
- Callie bruises easily. Andrea laughs at her when she has to help Callie cover hickeys with concealer.
- Andrea’s hair is long. Like… really long. She rarely ever takes it out of ponytails or braids. When she does, though, Callie is always playing with it, even when they’re at school.
- You will almost never find Andrea in a dress. She mainly wears suits to formal events. One time the track team had a formal celebration at the end of the season, and Andrea brought Callie as her plus one. Her teammates giggled when they saw Callie in a soft red dress and Andrea in a matching button up with dress pants.
- Andrea allows Callie to do her makeup when they have sleepovers. Sometimes she’ll even wear it out of the house. Her mom says she looks like a completely different person.
- Boys often hit on Callie. They’ll become friends with her or have crushes on her but soon realize she’s a bit disturbing.
- They both have really dark senses of humor. They talk about death all the time. It off puts people more than it does in the movie since they’re both girls.
- Callie wears sundresses a lot. When they’re making out, Andrea puts her hands under her dress just to tease her.
- They love sharing clothes, though they have very different styles. Still, some of their clothes align like when Callie wears her band t-shirts and Andrea wears mom jeans.
andre kriegman in a parking deck…
he’d get so pissed. there would be no spots, and he’d actually start tweaking. if cal was in the car, andre would start ranting about how dumb people are and how many shitty drivers are in their stupid town.
he’s the type of driver to turn down the music so he can see better. if someone turned too wide or too sharp and almost hit him, he’d roll down his window and yell or flip them off.
i can imagine him having to park in a parking deck when he’s at university if zero day never happened. he’d get to class late and have nowhere to park. his professor would just count him tardy, and andre would imagine strangling him.
he loves driving, but parking will always be the death of him.
thinking about how much andre loved learning.
he had gotten into college and a damn good one at that. he was going to major in engineering. he had good grades and was in a ton of clubs that he probably really liked.
even outside of school, he knew so much. he knew about the army, weaponry, and the history of people like him and cal. he knew the specifics of cameras and how he could hide the tapes.
he would’ve loved school so much if it wasn’t for other people. they ruined it for him—their ridicule, their teasing, their hate. he could’ve been so much in life if he was allowed to be happy.
HOLY SHIT???? THIS IS SO GOOD!!!
save me t4t transfem school shooter yuri….😪
(inspired by @operationandre ‘s female zero day headcannons)
cal and andre taking cal’s siblings trick or treating.
cal would dress up slightly, maybe wearing a blood soaked white shirt and saying he’s billy from scream. andre would be in his camo shirt and cargo pants. cal says he should at least make an attempt at dressing up. in response, andre says he’s dressed as a soldier, causing cal to roll his eyes.
they drive around in andre’s car to find the “good houses,” aka the ones that give out full candy bars. the boys stay in the car while cal’s siblings run towards the front doors of the houses they chose. andre gives them tricks to get the most candy in one handful while cal warns them not to get the gross flavors of anything.
later that night, when the boys are having a horror movie binge and the kids are asleep, they sneak around and steal some candy from them. they sleep late the next day, stomachs full of beer, chocolate, and pizza andre had nicked from his job and hid in the fridge all night. when they wake up, cal still has dried fake blood all over him and andre’s in an old band t-shirt from cal’s closet.
rachel calls andre ‘andrew,’ and it pisses him off to no end. she even does it when she’s just talking to cal and not andre because she likes to see how worked up cal gets while defending him.
Would Cal and Andre be the type to eat cafeteria food or bring lunch from home?
okay so... cal eats lunchroom food. he downs the greasy ass pizza and extra-sloppy sloppy joes like it's nothing. his mouth always has random stains on it after lunch, making him need to go to the bathroom to wipe his face with a towel.
andre, on the other hand, packs his lunch from home. it started when he was little, when his mom would pack it for him. she'd send him to school with fruits and vegetables as well as some german food, both savory and sweet. he starts doing it for himself when he gets to high school. his mom wouldn't mind still packing it for him, but he wants to be independent, so she lets him.
he packs healthy foods, claiming that he's too good to eat the shit the school serves, that his body is too sacred. he makes up so many excuses to keep from eating school food, all of which make cal laugh. cal eats the really greasy food and smacks his lips in andre's face. he gets a hand in the face and andre's elbow in his side.
the boys are so different in small ways, but that's what makes them good together.