– it's sublime with you

“Maybe they should try vacationing on the surface of the sun or something,” she suggested bitterly, she’d evidently had enough of the male population at Broadripple for one week. Except for Coach Cobb perhaps but only because he paid less attention to Kat and Andrea being disruptive than Sister Michael did. “PBD,” she suggested, “Plant-based dick- BPBDE,” she almost had a conniption trying to say it but she got there, “Big plant based dick energy,” she clarified with a laugh. Anybody that heard the two girls chattering at one another would likely push them both into the well at once but Kat thought that they were hilarious and charming and extremely attractive and that every word they uttered was as worth saying as it was hearing. 

She laughed and threw her head back without realizing that perhaps Drea’s grip was saving her life or at least the functionality of her spine in her increasingly precarious position. “I’m honestly like a saint because there is nothing but small dicks on this campus- except for you, obviously,” she insisted, “I’m Mother Teresa of hand jobs- I should get house points for my charity,” she joked, though she did sincerely think that she deserved more in return for how generous she was in words and gestures toward the boys of BA. 

“Oh well yeah- obviously,” that was a good point, she thought. If she was indeed going to date a woman or at least give it her very best shot, Andrea Pearson should probably be at the top of her to-do list. “It’s just at the pool party she was all over me,” not true, “-like saying I was eth-” oh fuck, what was the word? “Ethreal- Ethereal,” nailed it, “Like, I don’t know, an angel or a Goddess or something,” Kat added that herself for a little bit of flare but though it was perfectly attuned with how Ella saw her. “-and we kissed a bit,” she added, arguably something she should have lead with but alas. “If we had children they would probably just look the same,” she noted, ignoring the fact that she and Ella would not be producing biological children together any time soon, “Like just blonde and pale and tall,” like the rest of Kat’s family, in fact. “-our children would be hot though,” she bumped shoulders with Drea affectionately, simultaneously ignoring the inherent danger of them both falling into the well because of it and the fact that she’d just referred to children as hot.

✦

andrea laughed easily as kat came up with her acronym for her monster dong, that was apparently now made out of mushed peas or whatever went into veggie burgers. “ oh yeah, my pbd is huge, ” drea confirmed, playing along with stupid smirk pulling up the corners of her lips. “ my bpbde? even bigger, if that’s possible. ” she added, having to say that one a little slower to make sure she said it right. it didn’t quite roll off the tongue the same way bde or even pbd did. either way she played along happily to what kat was saying, she’d much rather talk about stupid things and make jokes and be disgusting over talk about damian a second longer. as far as drea was concerned the fenwick senior was as good as dead, she wouldn’t waste another breath on him unless she absolutely had to or if kat wanted to talk shit about him. 

she gave a snort as kat described her easiness as some sort of charity. to a degree she agreed. hand jobs were an act of charity and the guys both kat and herself had given them too should be far, far more grateful. but it certainly wasn’t a saintly act and even if broadripple wasn’t a catholic school it would never and shouldn’t ever award points for it. “ you know, you’re lucky. maximo is probably the only house captain that might agree with you on that. ” she mused, thinking kat was lucky to have max as a house captain for more than just that. melleray didn’t have a captain at the moment, but the options weren’t looking great. “ you could even earn a special award for earning so many house points. ” she teased, features splitting into a smile once more.

“ thank you, ” she said, flipping a lock of curly hair over her shoulder as kat said it was obvious that she’d be the top of the list if kat started going for women. but then it was back on to ella, and why kat had, for any second, considered her girlfriend material over her best friend. “ wow, ” drea said, not that she was shocked about ella and kat kissing at the pool party. that wasn’t even a little bit shocking truth be told. “ you were busy at that party, huh. how many charitable and saintly hand jobs did you give out that night? ” she teased, usually she’d go for a poke of kat’s stomach with such a joke but she wasn’t sure of the blonde’s stability if she did such a thing. “ cute though, you know, in an albino sort of way, ” she assured, being genuine about the cute thing and an asshole about the albino thing. but then she smiled when kat said their own children would be hot. because andrea totally agreed. if there was a way for her and kat to have children, they would totally be hot. “ duh, ” she agreed, before deciding she’d had enough of trying to hold her steady atop the well, taking her hands and pulling her down (as gently as possible) as she took a couple steps back. “ we should find one of those apps that like merges faces together, so we’d know just how hot our kids would be. ” she suggested, spinning so they were both facing the same direction and she could loop her arm through kat’s. 

Kat’s eyes widened a little at the offer, clearly charmed by the idea, “Is it anything I can pick?” she asked brightly, clearly some ideas were already swirling around in that mostly empty head of hers. “Ooh,” she cooed a moment later, equally, if not more inspired by the idea of a surprise. “Yeah, a surprise then,” she confirmed, delighted by the idea of all the time and dedication it would take for Drea to come up with something so creative and especially tailored for Kat. 

“Against their heads I think- not that it does anything to deflate their giant egos,” she noted, scrunching her face up as she chastised the male portion of the student body for no real reason at all. “No- not that, I’m a vegetarian,” she reminded her best friend, as if the conversation actually had any sort of an impact on Kat’s dietary conditions whatsoever. “I’m very dedicated though, I can make it work- and you’re so small everywhere else, there’s space,” she reminded her friend, poking her in the tummy playfully to reiterate the point she was making.

She leaned into Andrea’s touch and a smile tugged at her lips at the same time, “I think so, yeah,” she confirmed, though perhaps it wasn’t as confident as Drea would have liked. “I’m not all fucked up anymore,” she assured her, “Except for UTI,” she added, though that wasn’t really for Damian or Drea to fix, that was Dr. Skrule’s problem and arguably Katherine’s as well. “Sometimes I think about what things are like after school- it’s going to be so good for us to meet smart boys that know how to be- and with like, jobs and cars and interesting things to talk about. Maybe I can just wait for that,” she was almost settled with that idea before another emerged, seemingly out of nowhere, “- or do you think Ella is actually in love with me or maybe she was just drunk at the pool?” she asked, forgetting that Drea wasn’t even present for Ella and Kat’s weird encounter regarding Katherine being an ethereal entity. 

✦

“ that’s true, ” andrea noted, nodding her head for a moment before she tilted it to one side. innocent smirk playing on her lips “ maybe they should try hitting harder, ” she suggested, smirk spreading into a smile and a chuckle falling from her lips. though truthfully she thought if the underage binge drinking hadn’t killed enough of the boys’ braincells to deflate their egos then bashing rocks on their skulls didn’t have much luck of helping. “ my tofu is huge? my plant based meat substitute is huge? do either of those do it for you? ” she asked, tone coated in playful facetiousness. another thing she could have said in place of meat could have been mashed fish considering it apparently didn’t fit into kat’s definition of vegetarian. but any time kat wasn’t shoving a mashed fish sandwich in her face she was repressing every memory that mashed fish was even a thing. “ oh– oh, okay, ” drea played along, holding seriousness for a second until kat poked at her stomach and a giggled escaped her. she pushed the hand away but feeling kat wobble her hands returned to holding onto her just above her knees. “ no wonder you’re so popular, so accomodating to my monster dong– guys with tiny dicks must really appreciate the hype up. ” she mused with a grin.

she wasn’t sure she totally believed kat but she didn’t think there was much else she was able to do to help. so all she could really do was return kat’s small smile and nod her head as if she did believe her. she gave a soft chuckle at mention of kat’s uti again however. “ you need to get some cranberry juice for that, ” she advised with a grin, amused by kat’s pain. as kat spoke, drea joined in the day dreaming. it was hard to think of her life after broadripple because there were always two paths. the way she wanted to go, the things she wanted to do– and what her parents envisioned for her, what she would probably do. she always been comfortable with there being two paths but she was not at all comfortable with the idea that eventually, and soon really, she would have to pick one. she’s about to comment that waiting wasn’t such a bad idea when kat continues with a comment about ella that totally confuses her. “ okay, i have no idea what you’re talking about but like– obviously if you’re gonna start swinging for the other team i’m candidate number one, ” she insisted, raising her hand to her chest. she loved ella, but ella hadn’t spent the past five minutes making sure kat didn’t fall down a well after being upset by damian. “ like, hello? i’m total wifey material. not saying she isn’t, but like– hello? ”

☎ : Who is the last person you texted? Bonus: What was the text?

jay, and it was just some stupid danny devito meme. my suggested instagram feed is probably at least 96% danny devito or its always sunny in philadelphia shit at this point

✈ : Can you speak another language?

not fluently but i do have an a in asl and i know a couple of norwegian words from kat and my mom so take that as you will

✌ : Post the sixth photo in your camera roll.

she fell on her ass two seconds after this photo for the record

                     incoming call from ...... 🤢 🤢 🤢 respect urself hoe

                        ♪      if i could go back to the day we met                                                        i probably would just stay in bed      ♫                                              do re mi by blackbear

Katherine laughed aloud at Drea’s primary concern, “You and Doctor Skrule can bond over it then, I think,” she chimed, trying not to genuinely think about how fucking weird it would be for her best friend and the school doctor to have that conversation or any conversation like it. “- but yeah,” she uttered a beat later, conceding to Drea’s words. She was right, she was very right, whether Kat liked it or not. 

She smiled again at that. It was obvious to anybody that knew Kat well enough that she wasn’t all that difficult to please and the thought of Drea buying her a hot drink and drawing a picture for her was enough to make her week, at least for now. “Would you?” she asked, squeezing Drea’s shoulders a little as she rocked the two of them affectionately, clearly forgetting that they were perched dangerously close to an unmeasured but potentially fatal drop. 

“Is that true?” she didn’t need confirmation from Drea, she already believed without a doubt that girls were smarter than boys and now she had Drea’s uncited scientific resources to back it up. No wonder Damian was being so weird, Kat was obviously way more mature than him. “You have the biggest dick I know, actually,” she reminded her sincerely. It was supposed to be a compliment to the other girl and she meant it that way, though anybody else that could have heard them might have been slightly perturbed by the comment. -but I still want that, yeah,” she assured the other girl, “-and the coffee too,” just in case she was already forgetting about that.

✦

“ mmhmm, ” drea hummed her confirmation, giving a small attempt to move her head in a nod but from her position against kat, with arms wrapped around her middle, it made it a little hard. letting go she only backed up a little. her stomach still pressed to kat’s knees, anchoring her to the top of the well, and her hands either side of her leaning against the stone. “ is there anything in particular you want me to draw you? ” she asked, figuring it couldn’t hurt to ask. if kat wanted something specific, she’d deliver. but if she wasn’t fussed, she’d think of something. something that was better than the stupid flower damian drew her anyway. “ or do you want a surprise? ”

“ of course it’s true, some of the guys around here probably hit rocks against their hands for entertainment. ” she commented, a grin on her features as she threw a quick glance over her shoulder at the rest of camp. again she silently made her exclusions for the guys she could stand talking to for more than a few moments at a time. but kat didn’t need to hear those names, as far as kat needed to know drea was closer to dropping on one knee and proposing to her before she thought any of the broadripple guys in a positive light. she chuckled as brown eyes returned to kat’s. after a second to pull a somewhat straight face onto her features she spoke again “ that’s true, my meat is huge, ” nodding her head, but smirk quickly betrayed her and started tugging up the corners of her lips. “ spooning might actually be kinda hard, you know, because of my giant package. ” she added, a chuckle escaping even though she was trying her very hardest to appear serious.

she shifted her weight to one hand so she could lift the other to kat’s features. pressing her lips together as she delicately tugged a blonde lock behind her friend’s ear. she knew her friendship wasn’t what kat wanted, she wanted real damian to be like the damian in her dreams. or for some other dude to be like the damian in her dreams. but maybe drea’s friendship could be a bit of a distraction, a reassurance that she was still loved even if it wasn’t rom-com worthy. “ do you feel a bit better now? ” she hoped the answer was yes, but worst case, they could always see if anyone had any mango juul pods in the cabins that they could borrow without asking and with no intention of returning. 

“I just wanted to feel special,” she confessed but a moment later she was already wanting to clarify what she’d meant, “Not that special- not like- like obviously I want him to feel like he would die or go crazy without me but not actually die or go crazy, it’s supposed to just be pretend,” she wasn’t really sure what it was supposed to be but it certainly hadn’t hit the mark either way. She wanted her romantic life to feel like she was the star of the rom-com movies she refused to watch because they made her jealous and fussy. She smiled at the comments that followed and giggled softly, “Yeah, that’s true,” she agreed, she was too hot to be a doctor, not to mention the fact that she could barely string a sensible sentence together and whenever somebody was sick or injured her reaction was more likely to be ‘ope’ than to leap to their rescue.

“Doctor Skrule basically has a monobrow and she thinks I got a UTI from touching myself in the locker room before shower,” she frowned a little though it had been Katherine that had enforced that theory so that the school Doctor didn’t go into a diatribe about being sexually active that Kat didn’t want to stick around and listen to. She sighed as Drea continued, it was fun to joke about the school staff and even to joke around Damian a little but it was less fun to address the fact that her romantic fantasies were not going to come true any time soon unless it was in her dreams. “He paid for my coffee at the Kettle once,” she offered in his defence, “-but I’d rather you draw me something anyway,” she assured Andrea, wrapping her arms around her again, unaware that her best friend was purposefully keeping her steady as the blonde wobbled in place, adjusting her position. 

“I just want somebody to be sexy and in love with me and be not that mean or problematic or like- crazy or anything. Maybe just in good health and hot and not have too much free time. I don’t know why it’s hard,” Drea was in love with her and awesome and so why couldn’t everybody be? It seemed like everyone else was choosing between being hot or being normal and in some cases, like Ezra Bergman and Logan Gunderson, they were picking neither. It was stupid, if you asked Kat. 

✦

usually when drea called kat special it was to make fun of her. maybe she’d said something stupid or tumbled over nothing or just ate something some weird way. and although she was about to say kat was special, and mean it in the way she meant it, apparently kat hadn’t forgotten any of the jokes she’d made in the past. it made the corners of drea’s lips tug upwards but she pressed her lips together to stop the smile from fully forming. instead nodding her head to show she understood what kat meant. 

it became significantly easier when kat started to smile, and giggle, and making fun of faculty members. like she had said the right things, successfully comforted her friend. and she used those feelings to cover up her guilt for not telling kat about jay. for continuing to not tell her. she couldn’t help but snort as kat brought up the uti again. “ yeah, okay, see? i’m right. i’m concerned about the state of your vagina, but i’m right. ” she teased, only keeping a straight face for a moment before she chuckled and smile spread on her features. she was well ready to launch back into her fuck damian tirade when kat mentioned a single coffee at the kettle. part way through rolling her eyes and sighing when kat pulled her in for a hug. smile spread as her feet kept them both from tumbling into the depths of the well, she wrapped her arms around kat as well. “ a drawing and a coffee is still totally bullshit but i will draw you something and buy you a coffee if you really want me to. ” she pledged into kat’s shoulder. or her tit. she couldn’t really tell which she was pressed against. “ you know, along with my regularly programmed stunning, incredible, and irreplaceable friendship. ” she smiled as she pulled away.

“ it’s hard because boys are stupid, ” drea replied without missing a beat, though in her head she made her exceptions for jay and maybe a couple other guys she was friends with. “ girls are smarter, especially at this age. it’s, like, a proven thing. ” she didn’t know for sure it that was true, but she knew if she said it with enough conviction it’d be enough for her and kat. “ but your perfect guy is out there somewhere. sexy, and in love with you, and smart but not in a nerd way, and totally normal and not weird. but until he crawls out of the woodwork and makes himself known, you got me. ” it was stupid, she was aware it was stupid but she grinned anyway. “ i don’t have a dick but i’ll totally spoon you if you want. ”

☆

𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓’𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐄, although he’s wondering what the hell is in the water here that people are so eager to be possessed, or have things blown up in their faces. Just the other day he’d had a nice morning chat with a spunky junior about how boring the school year had been so far, for how allegedly “haunted” the campus is. “Yeah, if they’d ever let us blow up anything,” he answers, always ever the contrarian. “Otherwise it’s just math with extra steps. Memorizing the atomic weights of all the elements? Pre-tty boring, in my opinion.”

But he quickly falls silent again, after receiving a couple more sharp looks from his surrounding classmates, beginning to work on his problem set. It’s only as he’s three-quarters of his way through that he gets stuck, and throwing his pencil down in frustration, he groans loudly, tipping his chair back. “God. What’s the point of school anyways? This shit sucks.”

✦

“ obviously they wouldn’t let us, it’s not like this is the anarchist cookbook ” she wiggled a page of her textbook as she spoke, trying to emphasise what she was saying. “ but there’s still the risk if you make a mistake. ” she asked drea didn’t even like chemistry that much, but she liked being right and that made her stubborn as a bull. “ like if you didn’t memorise the atomic weight of the elements you’re messing with, for example. think you’re just gonna get a little fizz then– boom. ” even keeping her voice kinda low, the boom earned a hush from the table next to them and a side eye from drea followed by a roll of her eyes as she returned her eyes to her work.

there was only a few moments of silence before orion spoke again. a small disturbance, sure, drea could deal with that. what was five, ten minutes, right? it was back and forth that annoyed her. “ okay, no offence, orion but you’re completely throwing off the energy here. ” she said, waving a hand just in front of her as if gesturing to the so called energy he was destroying. “ school sucks, everything sucks. ” and andrea did not have a career in motivational speaking in her future. “ but you’ve gotta do it. ”

Katherine hummed softly, she didn’t have anything to say on this rare occasion so instead she just listened to Andrea and focused on wrapping her arms around the girl’s shoulders, snuggling into her side. It was comforting to have the warmth of Drea’s body as she assured her that it was true, that Damian wasn’t good enough for her though it didn’t ease the anxiety she felt about it all. “Maybe it’s true,” she confessed. She’d always thought it was the other way around, that she wasn’t pretty enough for him, not rich enough for him, not smart enough for him. Maybe none of that even mattered if her feelings weren’t enough for him.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, sitting up a little now that she was no longer leaning into Drea so dependently. “I tried to say things- I tried to make him feel  better but it was like I wasn’t even there,” and she didn’t want to be there, so maybe it was her fault. Maybe if she’d cared as much as she thought she did, she’d have known the right things to say. She clicked her tongue at Drea’s snide remark but allowed it to slide this time, since she was certain it was going somewhere. 

“He-” she started speaking before she’d even properly digested the other girl’s words; the things she was implying and the questions she was throwing in Kat’s direction. She dropped her arm, no long curled around Drea but limp as the realization set in. “No, I don’t think so,” she admitted, her voice a little weak. “He never did, not really,” she confirmed, reiterating it for herself as much as for Drea. She thought about it in silence for a moment or so, her tongue tracing the contours of her teeth as her mind ran a mile a minute. “What the fuck does he want from me?” if it wasn’t sex and it wasn’t a girlfriend and it wasn’t cute Instagram photos to show off to his friends and family back home then what was it? “What the fuck do I want from him?” her voice lifted in volume and pitch as she pitched the next question, she was barely speaking to Drea now but thinking out loud instead. She thought she’d known so clearly what she’d wanted from Damian, now all she knew was what she didn’t want. “Not to be his doctor, actually,” she realized, caught somewhere between disappointment and frustration over the way things were.

✦

drea didn’t like that it sounded as though damian just blurted out all his problems, put them all on kat, made them a part of her life, and then refused to listen to her, refused to let her help. it was awfully reminiscent of what she had accused damian of during her last conversation with him. she held onto the thought that she didn’t like the sound of it. it seemed as though kat was already walking down the path of fuck damian, she didn’t need drea to rub hurtful things in her face just because she didn’t like the guy. but she wouldn’t forget it, she wouldn’t forget that she’d called damian out and he’d only continued his shitty behaviour. 

when she no longer felt kat’s arm around her she looked up at her, properly. watching her face. she hated that she’d had to ask the question but she thought it was important kat answer it for herself. it wouldn’t be the same if drea just said what she assumed about their relationship. gently she placed her hand on kat’s leg, an affectionate, comforting move. if she could have safely reached her hair from their current position she would have run her fingers through it gently and started to braid it. but in place, a hand on kat’s leg would hopefully have a similar comfort and if she started moving too much, risking a fall, drea might be able to stabilise her. 

after a moment to think on it all, all the details kat gave and the ones drea was filling in the gaps with in her head, she spoke again “ fuck him, ” she announced, lifting hand but only so she slap kat’s leg with enthusiasm . her voice loud, clear, and passionate. kat ditching damian for good was a cause she could get behind with her whole heart. “ you’re too hot to be a doctor, and you’re way, way, way too hot for him. ” she assured, pushing up from her spot against the well, instead standing directly in front of kat. her navel leaning against kat’s knees, her hands resting just above them on her thighs. “ you had fun, or whatever, with him for a bit– but it’s not healthy. sneaking around, him using you for a therapist, and what do you get for being a super hot, super caring person that deals with it? one drawing? bitch, i’ll draw you something, fuck him. ”

“Shit is the right word, indeed.” He couldn’t name how many god awful items of clothing he had been forced to search through just to try and find his sunglasses. It was no secret most of the students had terrible taste, thankfully for the wellbeing of his eyes, most days he was only forced to look at them dressed in the academy’s uniform. However, at the Retreat most of them found themselves dressed with their regular clothes. It was torture enough as it is but having to go through said clothes, one by one? He wouldn’t wish that on his worst enemy.

Arlo stepped off the sweater he hadn’t even realized he was standing on and slightly kneeled down to pick it up. He held it far away from him as if he was a trash bag filled with litter about to explote at any given moment but the more he inspected it the more he realized it was somewhat decent. “Glad to know I’m not the only one with a fashion sense around here.” He admitted as he offered it back to her. “Are you missing anything?” 

✦

andrea liked fashion, maybe more than an average teenage girl. she spent a lot of time online window shopping and was a confirmed hoarder of clothes. but she didn’t care as much as arlo did. she didn’t give a fuck what anyone else wore as long as she was either looking hot or feeling comfy, or both if she got really lucky. so when arlo complimented her sweater part of her was flattered and part of her wanted to roll her eyes. meeting somewhere in the middle she gave a light chuckle, “ and who are you? broadripple’s very own miranda priestly? ” she joked, but also giving a quiet “ thanks, ” when he gave her sweater back. both for giving it back, and for the compliment. she was silently very glad it was some sweatshirt she’d ordered off depop while she been home and wasn’t her dad’s ratty sweatshirt that she’d stolen for her own, comforted by the scent of his cologne. 

she lifted her shoulders at his question. “ maybe– probably, i don’t know ” she answered, folding the sweater and setting it aside so she could return to the small pile in front of her. “ maybe i have too much stuff but, like, i don’t know every little thing i own, you know, ” there were few belongings that she immediately thought of when she saw the mess. and they were sentimental, unique things she’d been able to find pretty quickly. the ring that had been taken from her wouldn’t cross her mind until she wanted to wear it. she gave a short, irritated, tired sigh, hands dropping in her lap before she looked up again “ do you know who did this? ” drea wasn’t stupid, if anyone had snuck out of class to just prank everyone she suspected popular senior boys first. maybe not arlo specifically, but maybe he knew something.

ba-central

At first, when they were just getting off the bus, he had almost laughed at the sudden make over the Retreat had gotten. It certainly made it look more colorful with all the stuff that were laying all over the place, but it wasn’t until he got closer that he realized that all those stuff he had originally thought was trash or food was nothing more than their belongings. His belongings. All color drained from him face in that moment. 

Arlo rushed straight into his room, only to come face to face with an even bigger mess. Well, not really, the entire Retreat seemed to be in the same conditions but from the way his heart started beating the moment he saw his clothes laying all over the ground, one could’ve argued he had stepped into a war zone. He completely ignored whatever was going on outside of those four walls, as he took the time to carefully rearrange every item of clothing back into his suitcases. Some clothes were scattered on the floor, some he found on his roommates beds, and others he had to search for in the grass outside. He didn’t utter a single word to anyone as he did so, he could only handle so much right now.

He had been going through, his now organized belongings, over and over again but each time there was one item that was no where to be seen. His sunglasses. The black ones, to be more precise. He had found some of his stuff outside before, maybe he just needed to keep looking. Arlo was scanning the grass, but it was difficult to spot anything among all the clothes, books and other belongings that he couldn’t even care to name that laid all around the Retreat. 

“You gotta be fucking kidding me.” He muttered to himself. He brought another three pair of sunglasses with him, but that was not the point, they were his and he wanted them back. Who the fuck had even done this? “Hey, you!” He called out without realizing he was stepping over something that certainly wasn’t grass and most definitely belonged to someone. “Did you see a pair of sunglasses laying around here somewhere? Black ray bands, golden earpiece.” 

andrea didn’t know it just yet but she was missing something too. only she likely wouldn’t notice the gold midi ring with small quartz stone was gone until she wanted to wear it. it wasn’t special, and she was disorganised with her clothes and accessories at the best of times. she’d bought the ring in a pack of six from a market back in conneticiut last summer. and if other people hadn’t had things taken as well she would just assume she lost it at some point, that it slipped off her finger at a party months ago and she hadn’t noticed. not that someone had pulled apart all her things and taken it for themselves or for some unknown reason.

for the moment, she was far more concerned for the state of her clothes, strewn across the campsite dusted in dirt and leaves. she’d either have to put them all through the laundry or wear dirty clothes and for what? what the fuck had this been for, she wondered. she was lost in her thoughts as she kneeled over a small pile of things, investigating a white school shirt that could be her’s or any other girl’s, when arlo called out. confused by his question she furrowed her brows a second and shook her head “ no, don’t think so, ” she might have seen them, but she was really only focused on looking for her own things. “ but, you know, ” she gestured around her, though a lot had already been collected up there was still a fair amount of belongings scattered around. “ still loads of shit out here. ” she finished her thought before her eyes focused on a sweater by arlo’s feet. she pointed at it, white button down quickly forgotten in her lap, “ can you hold that up? i think it’s mine, ”

    “I wish I was,” Jay shook his head in some kind of comedic remorse, lips upturned at the corners and eyebrows high because… well, he really wished he was. Sharing a dorm building with half the sweaty excuses for teenage boys was one thing, but sharing a bunker room with sweaty excuses and girls who prayed because the weather was only so-so that day just felt like a personal Hell to him. Jay tried not to judge, he really did. He liked giving people the benefit of the doubt, and he couldn’t really hold grudges even if he tried. But mild discomfort in his living space was something he was pretty used to by now, something he assumed Drea knew about him too by now, since both of their families seemed to live in pristine idealistic environments and well… they just didn’t quite always fit into that. Jay smiled a little at the thought. Living with Faith was probably going to be a bit like living with his mom. God, the horror at that thought. “Story of my freakin’ life, am I right?” He chuckled at Drea calling it tragic. It was funny how whenever Kat was around, Jay usually was the one copping all the blows from Drea. It was nice to have that one person to gang up on together, lovingly of course, but he didn’t mind being Drea’s punching bag either. He preferred it from anyone else, actually.

    “Man, please don’t. If she gets even the slightest hint that I wanna go, I swear, she’s putting me on a flight all by herself.” He pointed at Drea as they walked, nervous that it might actually happen too, since she’d definitely already suggested it. “I don’t know how, but she’ll manage it. It’s a hard no from me.” 

    Jay threw his head back in laughter at the Mormon get up comment, shaking his head. “Wow, you really got a picture in your head, huh?” He joked, “It’s like you forget I’ve seen you and Kat in those weird Scandy dresses. If anyone’s rocking a traditional look, I think it’s you, D.” He teased her, right in time for Drea to lose her balance. His hand whipped out to catch her, but only knocked her forearm and twisted, grabbing air instead of anything. Grinning at her on the ground, he reached a hand out for her to grab it.

    “So what do you think of this place so far? I give it a day and a half before Kat breaks out in hives or something for trying to give a rat she thinks is a possum refuge or something.”

drea couldn’t help the laugh easily falling from her lips. she tried to subdue it at least a little bit seeing as they were sneaking off, but she couldn’t hold it back. “ dude, she’s just gonna hulk out, ” she said, playing serious but smile and bright eyes giving her away. “ she just spent all that time building, like, a bunch of houses or whatever, ” she waved a hand, she actually had no idea what faith had done on her mission trip, nor did she care. her generalised view of mission trips was enough for her jokes.  “ she may not look it but she’s probably secretly buff now, ” she flexed her own arms in a comedic dramatic fashion, “ she’ll literally put you on the flight herself, like over her shoulder or something. ” she grinned, painting yet another very clear image in her own head and hoping it translated between the two of them. 

she hit the ground with a quiet ooft, followed by a stupid smile tugging her lips as she took his hand to pull her back to her feet. “ first of all, it’s called a bunad and it was actually pretty comfy. and kat’s dad let us drink beer at the festival so just jot that one down. ” she lectured teasingly, as she was pulled to full height again. she didn’t even think of how she might have liked to keep her hand in his until she let go. that maybe she should have moved her fingers between his instead of letting go in favour of dusting off her backside. just add it to the list of little things that made her worry she was doing this all wrong. she tried not to linger on the thought, instead continuing what she’d been saying, “ second of all– i did kinda forget you’d seen that. just a little bit. ” she admitted, holding up her hand in front of her face with her thumb and index finger a fraction apart, before dropping her hand again as face broke into a smile once more.

“ well, she already found some sort of hive in the junior cabin, so a day and a half is probably pretty generous. ” she mused, “ you know, if i don’t kill her for poking the hive and trying to befriend the bees or whatever first. ” it was only kind of a joke. while she loved kat, she’d be the first in line to choke her out if she brought down a plague of bees or any sort of insect on the junior cabin. but that didn’t answer his question, she’d purposefully avoided it for a second.

as they got further from camp and closer to the creek, she slowed her pace somewhat. “ but uh– it’s okay, i guess. ” she answered, which was a giant cop out. drifting closer to the water and flipping a pebble into the water with her shoe. the cover darkness made the woods creepy as fuck, but the sound of the water was comforting. “ i mean, it’s whatever ” shit, it’s shit, was what she meant. but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. it wasn’t quite what she wanted to say “ i don’t know how much longer i would have made it all cooped up at home so you know– it’s not there so it’s fucking awesome. ” she chuckled, a less genuine smile on her features for a second. it felt weird that she could say that sort of thing to him now and he would know what she meant. likewise if he felt the same way, drea would know what he meant. she liked it, it was a good weird, but it was still strange to her. “ what about you? besides the whole holy roommate thing, ‘course. ”

𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃, 𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀 𝐈𝐒𝐍’𝐓 going to lend him a pencil, forcing him to search for someone else he knows, which would’ve been his biggest annoyance of the day. Too many acquaintances and not enough friends, Rion is hardly known for being the friendliest guy around Broadripple, preferring his peace and quiet over anything else. But at the last second, she huffs, offering him a pencil, and he grins “Thanks. Could’ve used without the sass, but I guess that’s the price that I have to pay for you know, asking nicely.”

But before he can divert his attention back to his work, she’s tugging the textbook from under his hand, a snarky comment to match her sly move. “Right, I’m taking Calculus because I find it thrilling.” Snorting, he shakes his head — which earns him a sharp glance from another student. Rion throws his palms in the air, a silent apology made, though it’s hardly sincere. “Let’s see what you’re doing then and see how thrilling it is.”

“ it’s the price you pay for being a dumbass, ” drea corrected, a chuckle accompanying her words. if no one else, at least andrea always managed to amuse herself. “ charity isn’t free, you know, ” she joked, smirk tugging at her lips. in truth she didn’t care that much, or at all really, that orion had to borrow a pencil from her. she didn’t even care if he would give it back when he was done. it was an entirely selfish act about giving herself a break from her chemistry homework. 

she follows his eyes when he apologises with a gesture for his noise. a huff of a laugh as she observed their irritation. even though she’d been almost as irritated by rion when he disturbed her moments ago. “ chemistry, ” she replied with a small flourish of her hand over her set up. it wasn’t thrilling at all, no school subject could be, but she did believe that chemistry won over calculus. “ still kind of math but there is the risk of blowing something up at the end– that’s gotta win me some points in thrill factor, right? ”