painting her in technicolor

CONNY intro. interactions. musings. mirror. pinterest.

JOSH intro. interactions. musings. mirror. pinterest.

-

Was that… fondness that Damian detected? It wasn’t the usual distaste or disapproval he seemed to get from her. He didn’t think he was capable of that when it came to Andrea but he certainly wasn’t going to question it. In fact, it brought something of a good feeling and he let it show with a careful smile on his face. “Yes, they… don’t seem to hate me terribly yet,” he offered with a soft chuckle.

“Oh, law school?” Damian didn’t mean to sound so impressed. It was just something he never expected of Andrea. Then again, he didn’t know much of anything about her. Perhaps if he did know her a little better, that wouldn’t have been such a surprise. “Biological sciences, yes. I’ll be attending med school upon graduation. The plan is Harvard, just like my father.” Hence the grievous amount of work Damian put into his studies these days. “What law school do you have your eye on?” Shifting the ball back in Andrea’s court. Just putting to mind just how much more of his life will be dedicated to following in his father’s path made him feel a bit queasy. 

He could sense the suspicion radiating off Andrea in waves. He tried not to make a big deal of it and let Andrea enjoy her little puff in peace. “Ah, guava raspberry… Interesting combination. I have to give it to vape industry, they do select some unique combinations.” Not two he’d put together if it were his choice. “I think in my time in this house I think I’ve smelled… Peace Ice? Blue Razz? Rainbow Skittle? Aloe Grape? Just… a myriad of things, really. Do you have to have a sweet tooth to enjoy those things? The scent comes off very sweet. I imagine it tastes much of the same.” Damian didn’t enjoy candies or anything of that sort but he did relish in a dessert now again, especially with his sister. Though that probably had more to do with spending time with Eliza than enjoying what he was consuming. His mother always said processed sugar was never good for the body.

-

Oh, law school? Forget the charm Damian had managed to have for half a moment. That was gone, and Drea was picturing him in a pit of quicksand with his face about to disappear beneath the mud. Her head tilted to the side, eyes narrowing and lips pursing tightly. A silent challenge of the way he said that. But it remained silent as he answered her question. Med school made sense. Though it wasn’t what stood out to her. She heard something very similar said by someone close to her in the past. “ My brother just graduated there. Harvard Med. ”  She said, a slight tone of approval unintentionally sneaking into her voice. She couldn’t help it, she been trained to speak about schools this way from the moment she understood the importance of it to her parents. “ It’s great– obviously, I mean, it’s like the top rated in the country, right? ” She felt a little silly, but she continued the thought, “ But I mean that he really enjoyed it there. ”  And that was more important to her than it being brag material for her parents. 

For fuck’s sake. Couldn’t he just be like every other frat bro she knew who only wanted to fucking talk about themselves all the time? Only posing a question to her when they didn’t really care about the answer? Not that she thought Damian cared about her answer, but it was still bullshit. She took a quick inhale, preparing herself for another condescending tone towards something she knew she was capable of. “ Well, I’m between two. ” And a secret third option of not going at all. “ Yale is close to my home, and my family, and they’d really like me to apply there. But I’ve been looking into Stanford too lately. They’re a little more modern, you know, for what it is. And I’ve always wanted to go to California. ” Digest that, Damian. Fucking oh, law school? Shut up. “ Part of the appeal of Harvard must be staying close to family, right? ”

Her eyes narrowed again, but with less ferocious judgement and more so amused judgement and maybe some suspicion too. Was Damian’s resolve so strong that he hadn’t been peer pressured into at least a hit or two? Or did his ‘brothers’ just not care enough? “ Only smell? ” She questioned, false innocence to her tone. “ So you’ve never tried one? Not even a puff? ” She asked. Would she be willing to give Damian a puff of her’s just to see it happen? Well ... that was a tricky one honestly. She wasn’t sure. It might be a little worth it, and she didn’t suspect he’d be the kind to pocket it. “ They’re mostly pretty sweet, but I don’t think its the same as like, candies or anything. It doesn’t have the same weight. ” She explained, or tried to explain to the best of her ability. “ It’s just smoke, after all. ” 

-

“I find keeping my surroundings clean quite enjoyable,” Damian offered as a counter point, pairing his words with a slight lift of his shoulder. It was what he was taught at a young age. Mother would gaze upon his room fondly whenever it was tidy. It certainly helped Maria with her duties as well. Besides, it was just shameful to have his space be so messy once his age reached double digits. Ten years old? He was a grown boy by then, certainly more than capable of returning his belongings to their rightful place and keeping things in ship-shape.

With a nod of his head, Damian agreed. “Yes. Passion certainly makes things… easier. Effortless, really.” Slight overcompensation on his part? Possibly. But he pushed past it, eager to keep the focus on Andrea’s major instead. “Psychology. Right. My mistake. Are you looking to get into the clinical field with that? Become a licensed psychologist or something of that sort?”

Seeing Andrea produce a vape from her pocket, Damian’s brows lifted slightly before he shook his head and gestured for her to continue. “Oh, not at all. Please, enjoy yourself.” Did he disapprove of those harmful death sticks? Yes, of course. Anyone in their right mind would. But time away from home has taught him to become more tolerant of the ways of the world. As long as he held onto his values, what others did were of no matter to him. Besides, it wasn’t like his brothers were innocent either. A fair share of them indulged in electronic cigarettes. More than a few smoked marijuana. Damian had learned to exist in the same space as substance users since it seemed impossible to escape with everyone being a fan of one thing or another. “What, um, flavor is it? These things have flavors don’t they?” See? He even knew how to make vape small talk. He’s loosened up since their high school days; he hoped Andrea would see that.

-

Drea rolled her eyes at his response. But unlike previous eyerolls to some dumbass shit Damian had said, this time it seemed to be in good nature. Paired with a slight smile. Like, for once, she was charmed that Damian had counted with something stupid and Damian-like. Rather than just annoyed. She would, however, deny it. It was totally the booze’s fault anyway. “ You do you, then, I guess. ” She said, giving up on trying to convince him otherwise. “ I’m sure none of your pledges will be complaining. ”

Yeah, effortless. Drea didn’t know shit about that. But she hummed a note of agreement, lips pursed together. Because yes, the theory was true, she just didn’t enjoy her studies. Her eyes narrowed slightly, wondering if Damian was actually picturing her as a clinical psychologist in that moment and what that would look like to him. She’d hate to know. “ No, not exactly. I’m applying to law school next year. ” Or that had always been the plan. Though she’d looked at the application once and it had made her feel sick for 24 hours. “ And you? What do you study again? Some sort of science, right? ” She asked, unknowingly just as eager to move the topic to him as he was to keep it on her. 

Well that ... threw a massive fucking wrench in her plan. She tried not to let the surprise show on her face, but she couldn’t stop the slight raising of her brows as she lifted vape to her lips. She certainly didn’t expect any follow up questions, more than ready to stand there in silence and hope that ended the conversation. She turned her head to exhale, making sure to blow the smoke far from Damian just in case it caused him to explode. “ Um, ” She started as she turned the vape to the side, reading the label on the green and pink stick. “ Guava Raspberry. ” She answered, deciding to take another puff while she had it out. She almost always picked flavours truly on impulse. Or if she had someone with her that recommended a flavour. It was all the same sweet flavoured shit most of the time. She blew the smoke to the side again before tucking it in beside her cup so she could comfortably cross her arms again.

.

Wendy, who was the absolute Queen of Getting Ahead of Herself, couldn’t relate but she did respect Conny and his artistic processes. “If I had to do a documentary about something around here, do you know what I’d do?” She allowed herself a dramatic pause, which she was sure Conny was familiar enough with to wait out before she continued. “The Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. But get this: it would start with a montage entirely from the Pee-Oh-Vee of one of the bears.” Was that how documentaries worked? She didn’t really know. She’d really only seen the one that she liked, and then a couple that bored her to tears and then into forcefully removing the memories from her brain. “Carefully made, shipped off in his little ‘Bear-Gram’, beloved by some little child in some random corner of the country. But — gasp! He’s absolutely messed the hell up when he’s thrown out the car window on the highway by a disgruntled older sibling. We’re talking mud and we’re talking run over by an eighteen-wheeler, it’s looking rough for Mister Teddy. So, lo and behold… what’s there to do?”

She smiled as the bus rattled on, eight minutes or so from their destination. “Send him back to the factory, to — guess what? Be healed and nursed back to health at the Bear Hospital. Did you know they have a Bear Hospital? And it’s totally free. How chic and generous of them, right?” She knew this because she had ordered one for her little cousin during her freshman year, and she was utterly charmed by the information. “And then… I don’t know, there must be some other story buried in there to make this whole thing real compelling, I’d just have to put my detective cap on and do some digging. Nancy Drew the hell out of it. And you, of course, would be my trusty cameraman. Then we’ll be heading to Cannes as equals.” The bus slowed as it approached the next stop, and Wendy relaxed further into her seat. She felt so warm and giddy, being reunited with him. For all that she liked to talk, she wasn’t entirely sure how to put the feeling into words. She wanted to know everything that happened to him between the end of last semester and now. Every dream, meal, and movie he saw. Everything that didn’t fit into their FaceTime calls and text conversations. “Hey, did you experience any life-changing events over the break I should be privy to? Or anything less major, I guess. I should’ve asked that first. It was a long, long summer and all.”

-

“ What would you do? ” Conny prompted with a smile, knowing damn well it was coming whether he liked it or not. Though he definitely would like it, he knew that before she even started. He thought that if he could just sit and listen to Wendy for the rest of his life he would probably be a happy guy. He didn’t notice it, but a dopey joy filled look overtook his features as he listened to her pitch. He’d never met anyone else that had such a visual way of speaking as she did. He’d heard close to it, in interviews of famous creatives he admired. But still, Wendy had something special. “ No way, is that true? ” He asked, at the reveal that the bear would be sent back to the factory to be repaired. A bear hospital. He really enjoyed that. And while he thought that the information she had already provided was probably enough to make a documentary, he wasn’t against Nancy Drew-ing either. 

“ Well, I’m in. All the way. ” He assured with a smile. She could have said she wanted to make a documentary about gross bugs that lived under rocks and he would have been in, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that it was genuinely a very good pitch, something he thought he’d want to watch for sure. And he’d be lucky to be a part of it. “ And not just for a Cannes tour, though that is a bonus. ” He tacked on with a grin. 

He raised his brows quickly before he thought. Life changing was a hard enough task to meet, but then also something that he hadn’t already shared with Wendy was a tall order too. “ Me and Casey rewatched all of the Simpsons again. Start to finish. I’d call that pretty major. ” He said, and it’s a little bit of a joke that that might fall into the category of life changing but it was he and his sister’s favourite show. Perfecting their Marge Simpson impersonations was like top tier boredom cure for the twins. “ And Rosco gave me the perfect going away gift: upgraded from peeing on my floor to peeing on my bed. So the last thing I had to do before I left was wash all my sheets again. ” He complained jovially. He’d also gone to a baseball game with his dad but that had been awkward and weird and not something he wanted to dissect. And, above all, Wendy knew he’d gone to a baseball game. He’d been texting her through it. “ But besides that, it’s Oshkosh. I don’t know that anything life-changing has ever happened there. ” He said, soft smile on his features and his tone affectionate in a sort of way. His home town would always be comforting, even if that meant it would always be boring. “ What about you? Jamaica Plain’s gotta have Oshkosh beat for life-changing summer moments. ”

-

Nervous? It was difficult to think of Bradley in that way, especially with his profile photos being all bitten lips and smolder. But maybe this girl had a point. Guys did put up fronts sometimes. She’s seen practically all the men in her life do it. They’d pretend to know how to do something when they clearly didn’t or they’d claim to be knowledgeable in something they clearly knew jack about. On the inside, they were just nervous and trying to impress. God, was Bradley worried about trying to impress her? Kira grew mushy at the thought of it. “You’re right,” she relented after giving it some thought. “Maybe he is just nervous. Maybe we should do something more low pressure.” Kira was nothing if not giving after all. She could accommodate Bradley. In fact, she would. Her friends could suck it; he did like her. He was just nervous probably. “We haven’t,” she responded, though delayed. “You know, hung out outside of that time we met at the party. Maybe we should.” Bradley probably had anxiety or something. Most people did. She let out a sigh, as if finding the will to give Bradley the benefit of the doubt for the umpteenth time was so difficult when it reality, it was as easy as flipping a page. “Thank you for your advice. I really needed an objective third party.” She fiddled with her phone a little, already thinking up ways to segue the conversation she was having with Bradley currently into a more general hang out rather than a one-on-one. “I’m Kira by the way. Sorry, I totally didn’t tell you that.”

-

“ Totally. ” Shiloh nodded her head in enthusiastic agreement, they should meet at a party or something low pressure– ideally around other people. Because while yes, obviously she was invested and hoping for the best, there was still something all-the-red-flags-of-a-catfish about it all. “ Oh my god, no worries at all. Happy to help. ” She assured with ease. There’s a part of her that thinks maybe she could start charging for boy advice, or at least, boy debriefing. She was, like, really good at it (delusion). “ You’ll have to let me know how it goes. Obviously I’m invested now. ” She grinned, and though her tone was joking, she was in fact ready to whip out her phone and follow this girl on Instagram. Kira. That was a cool name. “ That’s so okay, I get it. High pressure moment. ” She excused with a friendly smile. She had been guilty of rushing past pleasantries more than once in her life. “ I’m Shiloh. ”

.

Ben tried not to cringe as Connor responded—for no reason other than the fact that listening to the guy talk was legitimately weird as hell. It wasn’t that he had an odd voice or TikTok inflection or anything, but on move-in day (and all the days that followed…) Ben pretty much went out of his way to avoid him. But it was just the two of them here in this far-flung corner of the library, and Ben sure as shit didn’t want to track down a librarian to solve this issue. They always gave him the nastiest stank eye. “Um,” Ben started, inadvertently echoing Connor’s own pause filler. He lifted the keyboard from the table, rotating it enough to check if the wire was still plugged in at the back. It was certainly there. He placed it back down and used his fingers to follow the wire; it disappeared down a purposefully-constructed hole in the tabletop.

“Huh.” Ben pushed back his chair and ducked his head to peek beneath. The desktop towers for each computer at the table sat beneath, blinking innocently, all wires connected to it at the back of them. “One second,” he continued, pushing the chair back further to place a hand on top of the table and keeping it there as he crouched down further. “This the one?” he asked, once he had reached behind the tower connected to his monitor, his fingers finding purchase on a wire and giving it a little shake. He pulled his head back to peer over again, waiting to see if the wire connected to the keyboard would give a corresponding wiggle. It did. He exhaled heavily. “All connected.”

-

Okay, so, like – this was better than nothing, right? It was one of the more awkward and tense conversations he’d had (save for conversations with a certain relative the two shared) but it was a conversation. Kind of. More than they’d had so far as dormmates. And it wasn’t as if Conny wanted to be best friends with the guy or anything, he just didn’t want it to be weird. So this was a win. A huge win. ‘ This the one? ’ Ben asked, and Conny found himself a little surprised. He stood awkwardly, like part-way up, one hand still on the desk. Trying to get a look over the computers to where Ben’s keyboard sat without encroaching on the delicate space he’d purposely put between the two of them. “ Think so. ” He said, though was relieved when Ben decided to check for himself anyway. God forbid Conny actually hold any responsibility in a conversation with Ben. Unfortunately though, his first suggestion was fruitless. He pressed his lips together in thought and sat back down. Just so he wasn’t looming over the computers or whatever the fuck from Ben’s perspective. “ And your control-alt-delete? Or escape keys? Tried those? ” Another basic solution that he hoped didn’t sound patronising for suggestion.

-

He laughs at her response. The deadpan humour was his favourite kind. Lucas knew he shouldn’t have been feeling sorry for himself, but he was not above it either. He decided not to let it show through, emotions were only cool when confined. Besides, it was a fun night. He was gonna have fun. “No one tell him we’re in 2023 either…” the music being played was absolute garbage, but he attributed that to the fact no profanity was allowed during such a boujee event. – When she affirms the presence of alcohol, he inches off the wall and towards the door. “Cool, should we head back in?” he assumed she wasn’t gonna stick around in the cold just for his sorry ass. – When she mentions Wendy he nods, but is then taken aback by the question regarding the flowers. “Wh- those? Nah, Wendy and I are friends. She cool…it’s not, it’s not like that…” it really was that simple. “Been trying to make more friends, get out more, you know?” he smiles again, he felt some weird sort of tension though he had no clue what had caused it. “Those were for my girl but she cancelled just now. After letting me wait out here for an hour like a prick.” he didn’t mean for it to sound so…the way it did, so he tried to salvage it. “I’m annoyed but it’s fine though, shit comes up, right?” good, that was good, she’d get that. “How you been anyway Drea? Had a good summer?”

-

“ Mm, sure, ” Drea agreed easily, though she would have have just as easily stood there for another five minutes talking about fuck all if he’d suggested that too. Though admittedly, the biggest draw of heading back inside right now was that it sounded like he’d be heading straight for the bar. Which Drea could use too, but would much prefer it to look like she was being a nice friend or something over her own reasons. She listened to what he said and it’s like ... sure, she believed him. But it was a long answer for something simple. She was fiercely loyal and naturally suspicious. A dangerous combo. “ I get that. ” She said in response, nodding her head a little. “ Well, Wendy’s a good friend. She’s sweet. ” She wouldn’t call herself and Wendy friends, but she was fond of her. And for that, Drea would probably kick the ass of anyone who tried to fuck with her or tried to drag her into anything. And then there’s, like, another change in tone. She wonders if he’s aware of it. Her lips pressed together to stop herself from making a comment. She wasn’t naive enough to believe relationships were all sunshine and roses all the time, but it didn’t really sit right with her. He tries to save himself, and she notices that too. She nods. “ Yeah, things come up. ” She repeated his words in assurance, though her tone wasn’t necessarily. “ Hope she’s okay. ” She added on, politely. Or at least, her tone was. 

Walking up the steps to the entrance she looked over when he spoke again. “ Yeah, it was good. Really nice. ” She said. It sounded a bit sad to say but it was honestly one of the best summers she’d had in a while. She never had much desire to go home, it had been a huge relief to spend a lot of her summer with Ben rather than avoiding her parents in her childhood home. “ Me and my boyfriend ” – that felt good to say, “ went to a bunch of beaches on the coast where we’re from. ”  She explained. “ What about you? Get up to anything interesting? ”

-

“Sisyphus.” Damian echoed the name of the character with a fondness. Not because he held any attachment to the story personally, but because it surprised him that Andrea thought to bring it up. Not what he expected from her. Then again, after all these years of very casually knowing her, they never quite got to know each other. “Well, yes…” Damian agreed with a tilt of his head to one side. “But there will be less of a task to undertake tomorrow if we begin some of the cleaning tonight is the point I’m trying to make.” Not uncommon for Damian, an air of rightness radiated from his words. Old habits died hard. He may not have worn a shiny pin on his lapel but he was still rather helpless against wanting his word to be supreme. “Still unpacking? Ah, Benjamin.” He clicked his tongue fondly. See? Old habits did die hard. “Right, your sisters. How are you liking sorority life? Oddly… fulfilling isn’t it?” At least that’s how Damian felt about his brotherhood even if there was more drunkenness and tomfoolery he expected to deal with. Getting rowdy was the way of the Modern Age. Even Damian couldn’t fight that, so he’d learned to ‘roll with it’ as people his age liked to say. “Me? Oh no, just myself. And well, my brothers I suppose.” Fraternity brothers, but brothers all the same to Damian. “You’d think without all of the rules, there’d suddenly be more freedom, but I find myself still just as committed to the books and the classroom than I was before. Probably even more so sometimes.” Regrettably, a quiet voice in his head thought. But he quickly shushed it. “What is it you take again? Communications… or?” He couldn’t recall a single true thing about Andrea other than the sour looks she used to give him back in high school. He was clueless in knowing what she held a passion for.

-

“ But you could just, I don’t know, enjoy yourself instead? ” Yeah, one reference that Damian would approve of and she was done. Drea was swiftly back to saying what she thought. As determined as Damian might be there was just no way his efforts alone could make any sort of meaningful impact on the mess Drea anticipated for the night. So why bother. And why bother in the morning when you could just get freshmen to do it. She didn’t get it. Sorority and fulfilling weren’t exactly two words Drea would put together. Not even with the accoutrement of ‘oddly’. “ In a way, yeah. ” Was what she said with an assuring nod, deviating from saying what she thought as quickly as she had returned to it. She tried not to but she did still often flip like that. Her reasons for rushing sororities in freshman year were complex. Or they were simple but she didn’t want to explain them. And not to Damian, of all fucking people. So yeah, sure, Damian, it was super fucking fulfilling. She hummed an acknowledging note, just with his brothers. Definitely wouldn’t be sharing that with Kat. And then another one as he continued. Another thing she could not relate to. Certainly, she was a committed student. She always had been, finding it almost second nature to balance school and partying and socialising. But she didn’t feel any draw to books and rules, she did it because she had to. She longed for the freedom of leaving it behind. “ I guess that can be a good thing, if you like your major and all, ” And she didn’t think Damian was the sort to say if he had made a mistake in selecting his. Communications? The fuck? “ Psychology. ” She answered, a little bluntly. She didn’t like it, she didn’t want to talk about, she definitely didn’t want to know where the fuck he’d gotten communications from. She reached into her pocket instead, pulling out vape she’d stopped herself from hitting just a couple minutes ago. “ Do you mind if I ...? ” She asked, any other frat brother and she wouldn’t ask, but a part of her hoped this would give her reason to excuse herself. It would be ditching the person in the bathroom she was waiting for, but that was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

open starter: <3 when: early afternoon, day leading up to the Event where: library

Ben had his own laptop, but it came equipped with a fuck-ton of distractions. By twenty, he’d learned which ones he shouldn’t have within reaching distance. Including, but not limited to, MTG Arena. But he was about halfway through a entry for his class-assigned blog (God help him), when something funky went down. He hit the A-button, eyes on the screen, and nothing came up. No A. He tried again with another letter, the P-button, and got the same result. He pressed it again, many times in succession. Nothing. Growing annoyed, he pressed all ten fingers down on the keyboard, three times in a row, to no avail. The cursor on the screen blinked mockingly at him, refusing to regurgitate what he wanted to put down. Of course this would happen right when he finally got into the flow of things. His leg bounced under the table.

Ben turned to the person working at a computer nearby. “Hey,” he started, his voice at a normal volume. He quickly remembered where he was, and then adjusted. “Hey,” he repeated, this time in a half-hushed tone. “You know anything about fixing small-time computer issues?” He pressed down on the spacebar a couple times. “Keyboard’s given up the ghost.”

-

All cards on the table, Conny knew Ben was sitting there. Something about the two of them being put in a dorm together had made him hyper aware of his presence. It felt like even outside their dorm that they were constantly near each other, even if it wasn’t true or if it wasn’t any more than the years before. He’d considered leaving. He could come back in a few hours, he thought. But his second thought was what if Ben was still here in a few hours. The presentation on the themes and implications of 1950 film ‘Harvey’ was due tomorrow and he’d still like to run through the speech and get a good night’s sleep before it. Could he have used his laptop back in his dorm? Yes. Well. Kind of. Last time he’d made a PowerPoint on his laptop, it had refused to play in class. He’d avoid that if he could. Plus, he didn’t want to stop downloading the last season of The Walking Dead. There were a lot of reasons!

So he’d picked his seat from afar. Not too close, not too far. Either extreme risked being noticed he thought. Middle ground was safe. So, opposite, and two seats over. That was his pick. And for some time, it had worked. Protected by the screens between them, and Ben’s focus on his own work, but also Conny’s making sure that hair fell in his face. But it only worked for a time.

“ Um, ” He pulled out the one wired headphone he had in, as he looked up. He knew damn well he was the only one sitting there but he glanced around quickly just in case. “ Kinda, ” He answered the question as he looked back, looking between the computers to him. “ Stupid question, but it’s still connected, yeah? ” He didn’t like to ask that, made it sound so simple to fix. Or more specifically that someone would be simple for not trying it. But that wasn’t what he meant. “ It’s happened to me a couple times, you know, old computers and all, ”  

-

”Thanks…” he’ll reply simply, though he didn’t much care about the suit or the trim or the effort he’d put in right about now. He was often complimented on his looks, particularly by the older ladies during Sunday mass. They went out of their way to let him know. To shove their daughters and granddaughters in his face and remind him he’d make a ‘great husband’ someday. As if they could possibly know that. World was a shallow place. — Glancing down at the flowers, he’d have offered them to her if it didn’t feel too much like a betrayal to Mary. So he chucks them into the trash anyway and slides his hands into his pockets and approaches the other. “Looks like prom’s been cancelled last minute.” what else was new? He smiles though, he wouldn’t let anyone see him bothered by that. “Bummer, but I can mingle…there’s booze in there right?” he should have preed. Or brought the flask with. Shit. “Wendy in there?” 

-

A brow flicked up but Drea didn’t say anything. The absolutely abysmal response to a friendly compliment wasn’t ... well ... she had to assume it wasn’t meant to be rude. Even if it was. However it did also make her realise that she’d been duped by the original friendly tone. She should have seen this for what it was immediately, the flowers were right there– or now they were right in the trash. This was some sad puppy bullshit. “ Damn, no one tell the DJ. He’ll be so bummed. ” She played along a beat longer, her tone deadpan. “ Obviously. ” She answered question about booze. But it was poured like they had started running out two hours ago and it was overpriced. Classic fundraiser shit. When he asks about Wendy her brows come together for a second. A slight alarm in her head considering all the elements of what she had walked into and the extreme lack of context. “ Not sure, maybe ” She answered, and it was true. To a degree. She hadn’t seen the other since she left their dorm but she could pretty easily guess. “ I left before her. ” She finished before she nodded to the trash can, meaning the flowers when she asks, “ Where those for her? ” A judgemental sort of crease over her nose. Last she knew, Lucas still had a girlfriend. As much of a hellfire she’d heard that relationship was, Drea thought that was even more of a reason to keep Wendy the fuck out of it. If she could.

“If you need more weird dresses and candles in your life, all you have to do is come to church with me sometimes, you’ll have plenty of opportunities,” Kat hadn’t yet found a local church to attend whenever she felt the need to check in with Jesus and make sure they were still cool. It hadn’t slipped her mind however - she was just trying to delay it for as long as possible before the guilt of ghosting God outweighed her desire to not sit around listening to scripture without even being able to pull her phone out to kill time.

“Wow,” was Kat’s only response to the revelation for the time being. Both girls knew that Drea had not already told Kat about the development but this wasn’t unusual for them and it rarely bothered Kat. Katherine trusted Drea and knew that though she was inclined to withhold some things until the very last moment before they were forcefully squeezed out of her, Kat knew that Drea was honest when it mattered. 

Their disparate willingness to be candid was one of the many characteristics that distinguished Kat and Drea. While Andrea was more reserved when it came to the intimate details of her life, Katherine would share them with just about anyone that allowed her the opportunity.  It wasn’t that Drea was shy, nobody had ever accused her of that, she was private. Having grown up in a household that was so overpopulated by fair-haired children that it never knew a moment’s peace, privacy was a concept almost foreign to Kat. “Did he do all that?” Kat questioned, struggling to picture the boy she had known in high school organising anything, to be perfectly frank, let alone something even remotely romantic. Maybe she ought to cut him some slack, Katherine considered. “It sounds so nice - can I see photos?” she tried not to let jealously tarnish her words, nor the genuine sentiment in her tone of voice. It was a nasty thing, jealousy and she had tried to train herself to not fall victim to it.

“Oh my God, you can’t say this now that I’m here- okay, so maybe my husband can wait but a good- decent boyfriend at least. Any chance?” It sounded to Kat like Ben had managed to clean up his act. Surely he had a friend he could vouch for? “We have to have a double date,” and how awful that would be for the poor sucker who got tagged into that one. Without a doubt it would be an evening of wistful reminiscing about their boarding school days with little room for outsider contributions. 

-

Drea’s nose crinkled as she gave a noncommittal hum in response to Kat’s offered. “ I might be all white dress and candles-ed out. ” And what she meant by that was she was church-ed out. For like, the rest of her life she thought. The fact that she no longer had to sit quietly in uncomfortable chairs and listen to hymns and psalms and homilies for minimum an hour a week was an incredible relief. 

There’s some sort of lump in her chest at Kat’s reaction. A tensity, that she had expected but not quite been prepared for. If she could keep her entire life private from everyone around her, she might have. But she knew better now than she did as a teenager that it wasn’t sustainable to close off. It wasn’t even nice or what she wanted most of the time. And this was something she certainly didn’t want to keep to herself. What she and Ben had was good. Better than good, she didn’t even really know how to start. But she wanted to try to share it, and have people know that she was happy. “ Mmhmm, ” She nodded, assuring her that Ben had in fact organised an extremely nice date for them. “ Yeah, it was really sweet. ” She wasn’t oblivious and thus the slightly dubious tone didn’t go unnoticed, but she didn’t connect that the doubt was surrounding Ben doing something romantic like he had. She assumed it was more that he had done it for Drea, given the way they used to behave. The way they used to treat one another. “ Oh my god, yeah, ” She answered with enthusiasm, patting her back pocket in search of phone before turning to grab it off bed where she’d left it before Kat arrived. She would almost always take the option to show someone something rather than attempt to tell them. She quickly opened up her photos, and found the day from a few weeks ago as she took up position beside Kat. “ Okay, here we are, ” She opened up towards the start of the few photos she’d taken in the gallery. Mostly of the gallery and the art inside, a couple with Ben wandering in front of her, a selfie of the two of them outside. “ It was, like, a local showing. So all artists from the area, kinda unintentionally sea themed, I think. ” She mused with soft smile. 

Drea chuckled, “ I could have told you before, ” She insisted, though truthfully she should have known Kat would be coming back with some sort of absurd goal like that. She hummed in thought for a moment, lips tugged to one side. Her truthful answer was no, probably not. As far as she could tell, the graph of guys Kat was interested in and guys that Drea approved of for Kat never ever crossed. They didn’t even exist on the same dimension. But the good news was that Kat hadn’t really ever let Drea’s approval stop her. “ Maybe. ” She said after a beat, her smile cracking through her features again. “ Maybe, maybe I can find someone for that. ” She allowed, a playfulness to her voice. “ Oh my god, ” She said, grabbing Kat’s arm as she mentioned the idea of a double date. Mostly the idea made her want to stab herself in the eye, and she imagined it would be a similar feeling on Ben’s part. But it would be a really easy way to see if a guy could handle Kat. And that was something she would be willing to both put up with and drag Ben through for her. “ That would be the real test, huh, if he could survive that. ” She grinned.

where: in front of the museum when: like an hour into the fundraiser  open. 

he was early. lucas was usually early. but even though he got all dressed up, paid for the tickets, stopped by at the shop to get some flowers on the way, and was genuinely looking forward to tonight – mary didn’t seem to share in his enthusiasm. at first he thought she was busy getting ready, hence she did not hear/pick up the phone. but as the time went on and he stood outside for little over an hour, it seemed she was likely not coming. he was tempted to call up an uber and go check on her. but then he noticed her snapchat score go up and it was all the sign he needed that she was, in fact, alive and awake and ignoring him. it was nuts, he knew that, keeping an eye on followers and snapchat scores and other small indicators of her life, but was it really that difficult to reply to a simple message? just as he thought it, he got a response ‘headache, can’t make it tonight. sorry, i’ll call you in the morning.’ – bullshit excuse, and he was about to toss the flowers in the trash and go in when he spotted a familiar face. now more adamant than ever to have a good time, he smiles at the figure approaching. “well damn, you look good. fashionably late too, huh?” 

-

As Andrea walked back to the building, she turned phone over tightly in her hands. Making sure to move it so she wouldn’t accidentally snap it in half while she ruminated on the conversation her mom just had to have with her right that very moment. She intended on going back inside without much fuss. Internalise and get through it, that’s what she did, how she functioned. But instead she’s spoken to on her way back in. Maybe she could use a second to breathe, actually. The fresh air for just a minute longer wouldn’t hurt. And Lucas was nice. If nothing else, she could say that about him. “ Hey, thanks, ” She replied, offering easy smile with her words. “ You don’t scrub up half bad yourself, ” She complimented in return. “ Ah, no– ” she held her phone up quickly “ had a call I had to answer. Just stepped outside for a second. ” She explained, making sure not to hold the tensity across her shoulders. The night was still young and though it felt like standing on a steep cliff face and saying she didn’t want to fall, she didn’t want to be in a bad mood. “ What are you doing out here? ” She asked instead, a crease of confusion coming between her brows. And what was he doing out here with flowers? Maybe it was for something inside, but she’d make a joke from it first.  “ Waiting for prom or ... ? ”

-

“Well… yes, I suppose. But there’ll be less to clean tomorrow if we make an effort to keep things tidy tonight. Wasn’t it H. Jackson Brown that said ‘the best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today’?” He paired the quote with a amiable half smile. It was the attitude his parents taught him to have about things. Start early. Be prepared. Don’t waste time being idle and lazy when you could otherwise be productive. Besides, Damian had things to do tomorrow. An early morning jog. Swim practice. A study session slash coffee meet-up with a fellow Biological Sciences major. Seeing Andrea lift her cup faintly, Damian’s mouth fell open in acknowledgement before nodding his head and pressing forth. Track down who it was? “Er… no.” He made a slight face against his wishes. Did she think he was Sherlock Holmes or something? “I don’t think that’s within my capabilities,” Damian admitted. It would have been nice if it was. But it wasn’t. Unfortunately. “Anyway, it’s not an issue. I have the bottle. I can get rid of it.” Further issue needn’t be taken and get in the way of the evening’s festivities. “How’s your night? Are you here with a friend… or Ben?”

-

Drea tried to keep her judgement from her face, to be polite, but a small crease between her brows still formed. The worst thing about Damian was that he said the most straight forward things in the most ridiculous way. If there was ever talk like a regular person challenge he’d lose immediately. He wouldn’t even be able to open his mouth, she thought. “ Sure, but it’s kinda more like Sisyphus and the boulder, no? ” See, Drea could make references too. And she didn’t sound 80 years old when she did it. “ Seems kinda pointless to try and get ahead of a task that will always be there tomorrow. ” And she didn’t imagine Damian had successfully roped many others into his task. So by the stakes of Damian vs everyone else that was already here and would arrive later, it was extra pointless. At his response to her question, stating that it wasn’t within his capabilities, she gave a small huff of a laugh. And exhale through her nose, looking down to her cup for a moment before taking a small sip. So maybe he wasn’t as righteous as the caricature Drea had in her head. Didn’t make it not funny to her, however. “ Yeah, good. Fine. ” She said, amicably with quick smile. Polite, though vapid. To say she was tired of parties would be a stretch, but she was certainly tired of parties that all felt the same and nothing new happened. “ Ben’s coming later, he’s still doing some unpacking and stuff. I just came with some friends. Sorority sisters, you know, ” She explained easily. She was jealous that Ben was arriving later, even if she was one drink away from sending him annoying texts that she missed him. “ What about you? Here with anyone? ”

-

“Right?!” Two months was practically two lifetimes in the age of modern dating. Well, in the age of modern Talking Stage™, in Kira’s case. “How is it complicated? I like him, he likes me. Enough to talk to me every day for two months.” Has she mentioned that? Twoooo months? Because she would reiterate it as many times as anyone needed for them to understand just how long that is. Hell, that’s longer than Kira’s last relationship. Then came the question that made Kira bristle: have they hung out before? The long and short of it was that it was complicated. “Well — sort of?” She answered. A sigh shortly followed before she explained. “Apparently we met that night at the Pi Kappa Alpha party. We just hadn’t matched yet then. But he said he remembered me and we talked a bit. And I was kinda drunk but I swear I remember him. He had the same red and blue snapback he’s wearing in his profile picture. So yes, we have hung out.” She was at least 80% sure they have… 70%… 65%… Okay, maybe like 40%.

-

How is it complicated? While Shiloh appreciated a person that had passion and a head strong attitude– she was about to start spouting out lies just to keep the stranger happy. “ Just in that, like, feelings are complicated. Or maybe luck really, genuinely hasn’t been working out on being able to hang out. ” She reasoned empathetically, there were many reasons this situation she had the bare basics on could be complicated. Though the writing felt like it was on the walls of the Meri Brown Catfish of it all. Just no Disneyland trip with the ‘assistant’. She listened closely as the other continued, nodding her head a little to show she was listening intently. “ Right, okay, yeah, ” She nodded, gathering her thoughts for a beat before she spoke. “ But that wasn’t just you guys, and you were tipsy, and it was at night, and like– I don’t know, it’s sounding to me like he might be nervous what you’d think of him in, like, a one on one situation, you know? ” She said, “ I’m so on your side that two months is a long time and I think he’s totally into you, ” She said, in case that wasn’t clear. Shiloh had just now promoted herself to advice giving ... something literally nobody was asking for. “ But it sounds to me like he’s just nervous, maybe. People can be crazy insecure about the dumbest things. ” Like not looking like their photos, for example. “ Maybe you could try to meet up at a party again, or something low pressure like a movie night with some friends. ” She suggested, before she remembered she did not know this girl and tacked on quickly, “ If you haven’t already, obviously, you know, ”

.

Wendy smiled easily, charmed by his Wizard of Oz reference, and then laughed fondly. “You’re definitely a dweeb, but I love it,” Wendy said truthfully. Quickly, her eyes widened as he continued. “Ohhh, wait. I loved the penguin one,” she interjected, actually kind of excited to realize that she recognized the title of a documentary. It made her feel kind of sophisticated, even if said documentary was one about a bunch of cute animals. “Nell and I watched that over Christmas break one year. I think I was in eighth grade… ish. We were totally hopped up on sugar and we laughed sooo hard when this one little penguin slipped and all his buddies kind of went ‘aaahhh!’ Our next door neighbor banged his cane against the wall to make us shut up. My dad was super peeved at us when Mr. Garcia tattled the next day.” She didn’t recognize the other movie Conny listed, but she wouldn’t have said no if he offered up the idea of a marathon—just the two of them. Their tastes sometimes differed but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a good time. 

“That, I could dig. I like the hyper-niche of it all. Plus—” Wendy smiled again as she took Conny’s preferred hand and stepped onto the bus, shooting the bus driver a smile as she went. Leading Conny to a seat somewhere in the middle, she continued: “No matter how silly it is, if there’s petty drama in it? I’m there.” It was one of those things that was always a lot of fun to watch, which explained her passion for House Wives, and less so to be a part of.  And, to be fair, the premise seemed just outrageous and silly enough that it could conceivably hold her attention. She sat down then slid toward the window so Conny could sit beside her, immediately turning to face him as he did so. “Are you so totally excited? Do you have any ideas for it? You’re like, a totally real filmmaker. Color me extremely impressed.” Wendy sighed with exaggerated wistfulness. “Remember me when you’re at Cannes, basking in the sun and surrounded by supermodels. Or, better yet, invite me so I can wear a gorgeous gown and get my photo taken with Jonathan Majors. Oh my God—or Timothee Chalamet.”

-

Conny immediately lit up when Wendy recognised a film he mentioned, and started telling a tale of when she’d watched it. It didn’t matter that it was possibly one of the most well known documentaries of the twenty first century, that would never matter. Nodding along, and chuckling a little when she spoke about one of the penguins falling. “ Right? It’s so good, ” He enthused, as he followed behind her, “ I can’t believe your neighbour told on you, like it’s penguins. What a grinch. ” He said, shaking his head with a smile. Deciding to go with the angle that that was the reason Wendy’s neighbour had tattled on her and her sister. And not that they were kids being noisy late at night. 

He followed behind her, hands tracing over poles as he did just in case the bus suddenly started moving before he was ready. “ There’s so much of that, ” He assured, “ So much petty drama, and it’s just so ridiculous. Because it’s not even personal, it’s just about Donkey Kong. And arcade games. And just, this attitude of wanting to be the best at something. It’s bonkers. ” He continued, having forgotten how much he’d enjoyed the doc after not watching it for years. “ We’ll have to watch it, I’m sure it’s on something. ” He said as he swung himself into the seat beside Wendy. He tried to turn his body to meet her’s, but with his knees against the back of the seat in front of them it left little room for movement. Much less comfortable movement. Instead his upper body angled in, head turned towards her. Though it turned away a moment later with bashful shake of his head. A real film maker. He didn’t know about that but it was kinda crazy to think that his portfolio was genuinely starting to grow. It wasn’t just shitty high school project made by him and his sister that he wasn’t even bold enough to put online anywhere. It was real things, that he worked on with other people. He looked back to assure her, “ Oh, of course you’re getting an invite, ” In this hypothetical and somewhat fantastical Cannes scenario, “ You’re, like, my number one hype man. It would literally be the least I could do. Just remember to tell old Timothee all sorts of nice things about my movie. ” His joked, though the first part was true. Wendy was one of the most supportive people he’d ever met, especially when it came to creative passions. She was such a great friend. “ I’m still trying to think of ideas though, like– obviously I’d wanna do something niche, something unique, but I dunno. I’ve still got time, it’s a whole semester away. ” He was certain he could find a topic that fit the categories niche and unique in a state like Vermont. His issue was more so finding something he could make interesting. Something people might want to watch. Something he’d want to watch. “ And I don’t even know what the criteria for grading is gonna be, so it’s probably for the best I don’t get too ahead of myself. ”