shining brighter than a star

As Hunter finished his shift at Baker’s Delight, he grabbed the handouts stating the artists that would be playing that night at one of the many local bars, his name was obviously included. It was certainly a benefit to be friends with the bartenders who’d get him a spot without him having to pay much for it. Rick had allowed him to display the handouts at the desk and as Hunter made his way out out of the shop, he handed one of them to the person in front of him. “Great show tonight, you won’t wanna miss it.” He said.

Lana accepted the handout with a kind smile, glancing over it for a second or two before she spoke. She hardly had the time to partake in any extra activities that night, but she’d humor the young man anyhow. She didn’t want to be rude, after all. “Oh, that sounds very fun! Are you performing?” 

“Seriously, I think watching Hearthstone championship last night wasn’t a good idea. Damn timezones changes.” Annie murmured while trying to keep herself awaken. She had promised to her mates that she would cheer for them. Now she regrets a little.

Lana, as much as she traveled, understood the annoyance of timezone changes all too well. It’d been a minute or so since she’d been on a trip, but she still understood. “Where’d you fly in from?”

“I am very single!“ Tucker froze just briefly, embarrassed by how quickly he had responded. “One of the side effects of a Med major probably. That or i’m just too much of a dork for any girl to handle.“

Lana couldn’t help the bemused smile that remained etched on her face as a result of the young man’s quick interjection and immediate embarrassment. “I’m a theater major. I think that’s pretty dorky too,” She joked kindly.

“I’ve been trying to flatter you the entire time,“ he paused, feeling like he was caught doing something wrong. “That’s okay, right? Or is your boyfriend going to kick my ass for failing miserably to flirt with you?“ Tucker realized he probably should have thought the whole situation through before acting on his impulses. 

Lana let free a soft, short laugh, shaking her head vigorously as she went to speak, her long, black curls waving from side to side as she did so. “No boyfriend, so don’t worry about any acts of physical violence being pushed on you,” She reassured. “Although it’s very noble of you to be concerned about that. I find it hard to believe you’re single, though.” 

“No one should be trying to look good in paisley,” he teased. “Though you could rock the paisley look if you really wanted to. And even if you can’t, you just flash a smile and distract everyone from your outfit.“

“I feel like you’re definitely just trying to flatter me now,” Lana snorted softly, shaking her head with a smile. “Like I said--no one looks good in paisley. But you have a very sweet smile yourself.” 

When you come home, you’ll find a hand delivered gift basket on your doorstep with a printed note that reads: 

“Happy Holidays to you and your families from the staff at Seacrest Cove University! We’d like to thank you for your hard work this school year and look forward to seeing your return to campus after winter break has ended. Please, enjoy your time with your loved ones and have a wonderful holiday hiatus. 

On behalf of the board members, professors, and all the staff at Seacrest Cove University, please enjoy this complimentary gift basket as our way of saying we hope merry tidings are coming your way.”

Carter grinned and nodded gratefully. “Thanks, I’m glad you have so much faith in me,” he joked before tilting his head to listen to her excited ramble about Hamilton. “That sounds like a lot of fun for you then,” he commented, smiling at the infectious enthusiasm. While he wasn’t too well versed in the hip-hop style songs that Hamilton seemed to feature, he couldn’t deny that the modern style had been an interesting feature, and definitely one that had helped booster its popularity. “Which part do you have?”

“Elizabeth Schuyler!” Lana exclaimed, the same amount of excitement in her tone as she continued. It was a lot of fun for her, Lana internally agreed, holding back from blurting everything she loved about the production and working on it in a fit of word vomit. “The female lead, as it were. She’s such a beautiful and complex character--which, naturally, Eliza Hamilton herself was as well, so--” 

Listening to Lana speak she lets a small sigh out. “Yeah?” Looking over to the brunette Audrey offers a small smile. “Sounds like a happy little dream, but I’ll take your word for it.” Running a hand through her hair she turns facing the girl. Audrey wondered briefly what the girls home life had been like, she assumed that it was much different than her own. “In the mean time. Libraries are and always will be extraordinarily boring. Why not grab your things?” Standing Audrey picks her book up. “The diner is much easier to get things done at. I’ll buy you something as a thanks for not chucking a book.” Walking to towards the girl Audrey lifts her brows smiling. “So… What do you say, sound like a deal?”

Lana’s lips turned up into a smile as soon as the other young woman finished speaking, pleased more than anything that a non-physical weight had been lifted from the conversation. Lana had enough to worry about on her own without having to excessively comfort those around her. “That sounds...ideal, actually. I could use a break.” Gathering her things, she neatly arranged them in her Burberry laptop case before standing. “Is it merely a case of mistaken identity or do I know you from somewhere, by the way?” 

A note from your Secret Santa: 

He shrugged and offered gestured halfheartedly to the few notes written, all of them crossed out. “I’m not sure it’s ‘brilliant’,” he sighed, picking up and twirling a pencil between his fingers. “I’ve had to restart it about three times already, and I’m about ready to scrap it before I end up hating the entire concept.” He shook his head and refocused. “Which musical is coming up?” he asked. “Some obscure one or something I might know?”

“I’m sure you’ll hit a breakthrough soon enough,” Lana reassured the young man with a curt, but friendly nod. “You always do.” At the mention of the school musical, however, her eyes lit up, her passion plastered on her face as she answered him with no hesitation. “I finally praised Lin’s genius enough for the school to let us do Hamilton.” She exclaimed, almost giddily. “Although I’m sure the production’s popularity on and off Broadway has something to do with Professor Reynolds’ go ahead. We’re almost through with rehearsals and by the end of the month, we’ll be stage bound.” 

“Winter recess can’t come too fast.” Lola complained, content to know she wasn’t the only one overwhelmed with school, hopefully after turning some projects in a few weeks she’d have some more leisure time to enjoy. “Fiji sounds like a dream. I was thinking of Belize or Costa Rica, too. Bora Bora got a bit too tiring.” 

“While I agree that Belize and Costa Rica are fantastic alternatives,” Lana started in, the mass amounts in which she traveled making way into the conversation. With no thought of expenses from ones parents nor themselves, a person could find themselves on very interesting vacations. “Bora Bora...tiring?” She scoffed softly. “The island is so relaxing. I feel like I could go to Bora Bora a hundred times before I tired of it.” 

With the roll of her eyes Audrey looks up from her phone. Glancing over to the person that had been sitting in the room. She clears her throat slightly biting down on her lip. Quickly looking down at the book she’d long since abandoned. Staring at the title until the words seemed to meld together she shakes her head. Of course there was another person here. Audrey wouldn’t have cared if she’d gotten a surprise call from her mother if she was alone. But the fact that she realized another person had been sitting in the room with her, made everything different. It made it so much worse. The words that her mother always seemed to shout when she spoke over the phone. Audrey was certain the other person heard it all. Tapping the book she sighs shaking her head again. “How… How much of that did you hear?” Looking at them her brows narrow. She wasn’t sure how many more calls she’d be able to take of her mother letting her know she’d let her family down.

“None of it at all,” Lana lied, shifting her gaze (officially--as she’d peeked over at the redhead in sheer curiosity a few times throughout her phone call) to the young woman so that she could offer her a forced, yet reassuring smile. Lana tried to avoid prying her way into other people’s business, but save getting up in the middle of the now ended phone call (which she assumed would have announced herself) to move somewhere else in the library, the raven haired young woman didn’t see much of a way to avoid eavesdropping the tiniest bit. “But if I had, I’d let you know that parents can be very demanding,” Not that hers were--Ford and Francine wanting her to be happy and comfortable whilst chasing her dreams, “And by the time you’re a senior, they’ll have gotten on board with you doing what you wish to do or you’ll just stop caring about what they think. Either way, you shouldn’t have to fret.” 

“I have a feeling you can pull of nearly any look, but thank you. That’s means a lot, given that about 86% of my life is just a disheveled mess – but at least I look good with it. “

“I absolutely agree. About you, not me!” Lana added quickly, in effort to correct the haughty sounding statement she’d made. “I’d hardly say I can pull anything off...Paisley...Not a lot of people look good in paisley.”

The familiar voice is what finally made Carter look up, and a small smile appeared on his face when he realized who it was. “Caffeine is supposed to fix all problems of the average college student, or so I’ve heard,” he joked, moving some of his things to make room for Lana. The song wasn’t going anywhere, anytime soon, so he figured a break from even thinking about it might be in order. “What about you?”  he asked, gesturing to the busy cafe. “What’s calling you to coffee?”

“Where do I start?” Lana laughed softly as she sat, pulling her bag off her shoulder to sit it on her lap. “I’ve got a million things to do for the musical right now, exams are coming up soon, my mother is nagging me about a role she thinks I’ll be just perfect for...” Lana huffed a breath, waving off her own words with a simple movement of her manicured hand. “What are you writing, Carter? Another brilliant song?” 

“Remind me again what you dragged me into?”

“Charity, Matthew.” Lana returned. “I need a hand planning this benefit and it seems that everyone else is just too busy. And you seem to have a knack for pulling things together.”

“Is it too soon yet to call it a year, drop everything and fly somewhere tropical? Because I swear my body and my brain can’t take anything else and yoga isn’t helping me to relax.” Lola mentioned as she took a seat.

“I’m starting to think that myself,” Lana chuckled softly in return, although she knew that there was no way that she’d be able to allow herself to take a holiday with everything going on at school currently. “I’m dreaming of Bora Bora right now. Fiji, perhaps.” 

(open)

It wasn’t often that Carter would leave his apartment unless it was for a specific purpose, choosing instead to hole himself up with his keyboard and music sheets. But he’d hit a roadblock on his latest composition, realizing that the direction that he’d been going was completely wrong, and in his frustration he realized that he needed to take a breather.

The Wicked Bean probably wasn’t the best place to get some quiet, but he figured that a little coffee would do him good. After the still absurdly long wait to order, he made his way to a surprisingly empty table, sipping his coffee and pulling out a notebook to write down an idea that had come to him. He chose not to glance up when he realized that someone else had joined him, though with so many students already hanging around, he wasn’t entirely surprised. “Hello,” he greeted, scribbling out another false start on his paper. “Busy day today.”

Lana had a million things to do today. Not quite, but it felt about so. With a swim meet later on, a class in an hour, and having just left from a rather lengthy rehearsal of Hamilton with the drama club, Lana was well due for a nap, but she didn’t have time for such pleasantries. Instead, she knew it was that time of day to turn to caffeine while she was pouring over the notes for her Women in the Industry notes in between activities. 

The Wicked Bean was rather busy that day and rather than take her coffee to go, she settled with sitting down at a table she saw a familiar face at, carrying her coffee over with a sweet smile. “Hello back,” She murmured with a short nod. “Time for a fix for you, as well?”