Got a tendency to be a loner

{ ARCHIE RENAUX, 21, CISMALE, HE/HIM } Is that CAREW D'MELLO? A JUNIOR originally from KINGSTON UPON THAMES, UK/SALINAS, CA, they decided to come to Ogden College to study BUSINESS/PSYCH on an ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP. They’re THE INEFFECTUAL LONER on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.

-

Sassa wasn’t having the best night - though she highly doubted anyone was, at a party for a girl who wasn’t even there. Everything about the evening had her on edge, and that wasn’t just because of the texts. It was the whole concept of what they were doing there. A quiet sigh left her lips, lifting her drink and nearly downing it as she eyed the options to make herself another. “Well it’s not going to be a keg,” Sassa replied, glancing over to glance at Carew, her own drink sipped from - and finished - as she considered him for a moment. “Think some people were doing shots over there. If that’s the type of long night you’re having,” she said, tipping her chin towards the group of people she had noticed doing shots. Never mind that she was pretty sure they had been body shots. To each their own. “But personally, I was just about to make myself another atrocious mixed drink with gin.” 

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Of course he’d been seeking out something. Anything really to get him drunk, there was something about joining the group that had been doing shots that sounded about as appealing as a bag of trail mix. He sighed as he turned back to review the other options, nodding his head before remembering that speaking was a crucial part of the socializing experience. “Gin almost never sounds like a good options. Although I’ve heard it can halfway decent in a mojito.” He corrected as he let himself make eye contact and tried to place her. “I think I’m with you on this. I’d rather try my hand at a shitty cocktail than join whatever the fuck’s going on over there.” Carew started as he reached for the bottle of gin and proceeded to pour some of it into his cup. He took a sample sip of it on it’s own, making a point not to react, but hating what he was tasting nevertheless. “What exactly were you planning on mixing this with?” 

open starter location: Greer’s pool party time: a bit later into the party 

The party had gone from mediocre to exciting, from calm to chaotic. She was caught in the middle of it all, seeing as more and more of her friends, acquaintances, enemies and lovers alike forced themselves to spice up the party. It was her turn then, her phone ringing, immediately making her heart race in anticipation and, even if she didn’t want to admit it, fear. Halloween wasn’t for another week, but Dulce knew today would be the real terror. Her eyes widened in shock, Dulce’s gaze slowly lowered itself away from the phone. Here goes nothing. What if G didn’t like her answer? What if she lied on purpose and didn’t name them all? Would G retaliate in some way? 

“Listen,” she stood up, leaving her phone behind. “We’re all caught up in some drama today, so I should include myself in there, too, shouldn’t I? Well, I wanted to tell you all that I slept with four people on this party,” she stood in the midst of them all, looking for all the familiar faces. “Of course I fucked Jesse. On-and-off boyfriend, that’s a no-brainer, you know how much I care about you. I fucked Diego on a beautiful one time date a while back, which resulted in nothing but good, solid sex. Thanks for that.” The other two were much more complicated, much more concerning. She took a deep breath before continuing. “I might’ve gotten drunk at a pool party similar to this one and fucked Nate Shaw of all people,” she didn’t dare to look around and for a moment she thought she’d faint from the stress, which raged inside of her, which she’d managed to hide. Yet she couldn’t hide the wave of guilt and sorrow as she looked towards Mitch. She contemplated not naming him, but decided being truthful would possibly hurt the least, especially to finally acknowledge it in front of everybody else. “And the person who I pretend to hate the most, was the person who I fucked last. Guess I don’t hate you after all, Mitch, not even close. Alright, that’s it,” Dulce walked out of the circle and grabbed her drink, emptying it in one go.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

To say the majority of the night had felt a bit like a shit show would have been an understatement. He’d noticed a bit of the chaos that had been surrounding the majority of their peers. Knew that there was a reality that he had his own that would be blossoming as the night went on. Realistically once he had enough drinks in him to feel up for a good fight. But he still had time before that and when an announcement from none other than Dulce Salvador started up, he found himself compelled to listen. Or at least he did until he realized just what kind of announcement it was she was giving. One he could only sort of assume wasn’t something she was tasked with willingly. Though he had no way of knowing that for sure. But still he listened as she went through the list, making note of the way she finished her drink as soon as she was done. Part of him wanting to laugh, while another was experiencing just the slight pang of jealousy.

Regardless once she was seemingly done, he made a point of grabbing himself two more red solo cups, filled to the brim with whatever the fuck he could find before daring to approach. “There’s the lady of the hour.” He teased, offering her one of the cups he’d brought with him. “That was an awfully brave thing to stand up in front of all your peers to admit. But maybe next time I’d work on your locations. Might save it for like graduation, or parents night. Considering everyone here’s probably fucked half those people as well.” It was an assumption but he wasn’t sure if he was too far off. “The joys of college right?” 

“I’m a woman of many talents. Or a time traveler, whatever works better.” Parisa had expected that she’d cross paths with Carew again at some point, but didn’t expect that it’d be so soon. As he asked about the drink, Parisa frowned as she looked down. “I don’t know, maybe my taste buds are just off tonight. The soda doesn’t seem flat,” she mused, furrowing her brows as she looked down at the cola. “No mixers, I don’t drink. Just a personal choice, nothing against alcohol,” Parisa explained, hesitating before handing the boy her almost empty cup. “If you end up spitting it out because it tastes so bad, don’t blame me,” she told him, looking up at him as he spoke. 

Being somewhere that wasn’t your scene, it wasn’t quite an enjoyable experience. “I enjoy some social events, but things like this aren’t exactly my scene either. A bit too loud and rowdy,” she admitted, a smile playing on her lips as she considered. “Well, I guess if we’re both just making the best of it, can’t hurt to do so together for a while. Unless you’d rather chill alone, no worries.” As intriguing as Carew was, Parisa didn’t want to impose. “But I saw that there’s body paint, so I might go to some artwork while I’m waiting for that bad soda taste to pass. You did say you wanted to see some of my work, so now may be your chance. I don’t have to do it on you if you don’t want me to, though.” She was fine being her own canvas, or offering to do it on someone else.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

He offered her a courtesy chuckle at her bit about being a time traveler, but raised an eyebrow at the bit about not drinking. He wasn’t sure why, there were plenty of reasons for someone to choose not to partake, but it seemed almost like finding a unicorn of sorts on a college campus. “I’m sure alcohol takes very little offense.” He teased as he took her cup from her and proceeded to take a sniff. Almost immediately cluing in on the issue at hand. He almost second guessed himself considering what she’d just told him, but if she really meant what she said about it he let himself be curious and actually took a sip. 

As he did so he’d paused in telling her his findings, letting himself admire the way she went on to invite him to spend time with her. For a long moment he just nodded, as if he really needed to think about it at all before finally speaking up. “Yeah no um. Some company actually sounds nice. Suppose I’ve had enough of my alone time for the evening.” Which wasn’t entirely true, but he did believe that time with someone else would be a nice distraction from he had to inevitably do later. “You know.. I feel like it’d be an awful waste for such an artist to offer to show me their work and to not accept.” He offered, the smile on his face growing as he made a move towards the paint. “Although I’ll admit it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out because there is nothing virgin about what’s been in your cup tonight love.” 

-

Kit was suuuper thirsty. He was in the midst of guzzling down a bottle of Gatorade when he felt his phone go off in his pocket. The buzzing pulled his brows closer together, wondering who on would be texting him at this hour. Practically everyone he knew on campus was at this party. Slipping a hand into his pocket, he fished out his phone, wincing at the light it emitted when he unlocked it to check the texts he just received. It was from… Mari? That was weird. He didn’t think Mari’s ever texted him for anything ever. With squinted eyes, he read the messages. She triple texted so it must have been important.

                                we’re the ones greer was hooking up with last year!

He spat out whatever was in his mouth, the hand holding the bottle moving to put it down on the surface closest to him. Did he read that right? Kit rubbed at his eyes, shook his head, and went over the messages again. He even held the phone closer to his face like that would somehow make him understand the words better. “Pretty important in common, ones Greer was hooking up with last year… Feel like we should be guests of of honor tonight or something…” For someone who was halfway through a bottle of Gatorade, his mouth felt really dry all of the sudden. He needed to find Mari.

“Mari, what the hell is this?” Kit asked when he found her, holding his phone in her direction and looking just as incredulous as when he first read the message. “Is this a joke? Because if it is, it’s not funny, dude. My heart fell to my ass.”

@jessehart @rewdmello​

-

There really was only one thing worse than being added to a group chat. And that was being added to a group chat with a handful of unfamiliar numbers, calling you out for a rumor he really wasn’t about to admit to. Still he felt frozen in his seat as he read over what the messages three and then four and then five more times just for good measure. His eyes, scanning the crowd for a moment as though he was looking for anyone else checking their phone. Unfortunately a moot point as he found himself looking at dozens upon dozens of phone addicted young adults, staring at their devices instead of talking to each other. A sentiment that wouldn’t have usually frustrated him had he not been in his current predicament. 

Carew: very funny. Last I checked Greer had a boyfriend.  Carew: Shit like this is messy and I’ve no interest being involved in it. 

He thought for a minute about adding a crack about not knowing who half of the people were in the chat, but decided against it as he pushed an exasperated hand through messy blonde locks. Fully prepared for that to be the end of it until he thought further about what he’d been asked to do tonight which all of a sudden had him lifting his phone up once again. 

Carew: and just assuming one of you is probably said boyfriend, sorry bout that mate. Probably having a rough go of it seeing shit like this. 

Carew wasn’t sure why he felt nervous about this. It wasn’t like it wasn’t something he’d done before. Boxing club, certainly provided ample opportunities for him to knock KJ around and vise versa. But something about this felt different. This wasn’t going to be a friendly spar. Not with G’s threat on the line. But all night he’d continuously reminded himself that maybe it could be. Or at the very least maybe he could make it feel that way to KJ while making everyone else believe it was all too real. He just couldn’t be sure and it wasn’t like he could talk to him about it. All night he’d noticed a series of strange events going on around the party, and he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps he wasn’t the only one who’d gotten a message. Leave it to G to know how to make a guy feel really special right? That didn’t exactly scream her forte. Either way it needed to get done and time was running out. So he made a point of pushing himself up from his seat as soon as his eyes locked onto the other boy. He was quick to finish off the drink that he was going to blame for the entirety of this as he made his way over to the other boy, instantly making a point to toss the empty beer can directly at the other’s head. “How’s it going Hyuk?” He started, tilting his head as he sized him up. “Didn’t think it was possible for you to look more shit than usual.” 

He was already annoyed. That much he was certain, was obvious in the way he’d kept to himself almost the entirety of the night. He didn’t want to be bothered anymore than he wanted to get in this fight tonight. But neither of which seemed to be his choice when he found himself coming face to face with none other than their golden girl herself’s cousin. Quinn Morrison. Someone initially he really liked to believe he would have gotten along with. Intellectually he could appreciate just about anyone who seemed smart enough to keep up with him. But her personality? In comparison it was like nails on a chalk board. If he wasn’t afraid of getting in two arguments that evening he’d have passed her on all together. But he decided against being rude when she stopped in front of him. “Quinn..” He started, not quite willing to make eye contact with her. “Didn’t expect you to want to be at something like this.” He suggested, glancing down to finally meet her gaze. He wasn’t sure how the hell he’d handle a party thrown by a missing relative but it sure as hell seemed like one he’d wish to avoid himself. 

closed starter for @rewdmello​  when: tuesday, october 25th early-ish in the night where: school pool

Parisa thought that her drink tasted slightly different after she put it down on the table, but it wasn’t undrinkable. Maybe the soda had just gone rancid, she didn’t check the expiry date. Maybe it oxidized during the minutes she had been poring over the text from G? How unfortunate that she missed that someone else had placed their red solo cup down next to hers, the only difference being that one drink had vodka in it. And the drink without it? Well, the other partygoer was going to be surprised that they weren’t going to get tipsy from Diet Coke alone. 

Moving around the side of the bleachers, Parisa almost ran into someone. Blinking a couple times, she muttered an apology before recognizing him. “Carew, right? Parisa, from the ren faire last week,” she reintroduced with a smile, brushing a strand of hair behind her ears and leaning on the wall. “I think this soda is a bit rancid, but not undrinkable. I drank most of it and I just feel… a bit uneasy but hopefully it passes soon. How’ve you been?” she asked, swirling the remainder of the soda in her cup. 

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Carew wasn’t sure what surprised him more. The fact that he was agreeing to show up for this party at all, or the fact that he was showing up on time. Sure he knew what he’d been instructed to do. But the intentions behind the threat.. still hadn’t quite sunk in. Or mostly he didn’t want to believe it. And yet there he was. Moving about, eyes peeled for the very person who’s night he’d been instructed to ruin. The whole thing, mixed with the pre-gaming he’d done, leaving him less alert than he’d normally be when he found himself running face to face with the girl he recognized from the Ren Faire of all things. 

“Ah yes. Almost didn’t recognize you without the 14th century attire.” He teased, offering her a light smile. Wouldn’t kill him to be polite right? At the mention of the soda he glanced down at the cup in her hand. His face shifting to one of confusion as he peered over her to see what was in it. “Rancid soda? I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of such a thing. Unless you mean it’s flat? Which may be a bit more likely.” He added as he took a sip from his own drink. “What’d you mix it with? Could be a bad mix.” Carew offered his hand out as though to see if she’d allow an almost stranger him to solve her mystery for her. “I’ve been alright. Parties aren’t usually my scene, but I’m here so, making the best of it. Yourself?” 

KJ Hyuk. The name had been rolling around in his head all night. Attached to a face he had to practically force himself to pull from memory. Although once he’d arrive it hadn’t been that hard to point out exactly who he was. Still he’d made a point of trying to avoid the other boy for the majority of the night. Spent most of his evening, sitting by the pool, doing what he could to blend in. He’d been nursing the same beer since his arrival at the beginning of the night, thinking little of how dangerous his position was until someone decided to cannonball their way in. Right beside him. Soaking his t-shirt to it’s core. He wasn’t even sure why he was annoyed. How could he not have seen it coming from his classmates? But regardless it lead to him finally pushing himself up, discarding the shirt, and finally making his way over to grab another drink. “What’s the strongest thing we’ve got?” He asked quietly of the first person he approached when he found himself near the kegs. “It’s gonna be a long fucking night.” 

.

She really loved the way he made her feel: happy, content with who she was and how she represented herself. Her inner struggle and the struggle regarding her family, plus being her own independent figure apart from her family name, seemed to vanish into thin air while Carew was around. Just for once she could put all of that behind her in exchange of being looked at the way Carew looked at her. Maybe she was interpreting too much into their friendship. It was certainly her going after his almost submissive attitude for her – the constant brooding nature of his very being turning soft whenever she was around, the words he said to her or the way he made room for her, no matter what. To just be appreciated for once, to not having to fight for it, felt like a Godsend at the moment and she really needed every bit of attention she could get from him.

“And is that so bad?” she asked, hoping he would say something positive about her invitation and him being here. Fluttering with her eyelids, Dulce shot him a bright smile, “I hope you didn’t hear anything too bad then, huh? The who’s fucking who drama – it’s all a fucking joke if you ask me. They’d all do so much better in keeping their studies in mind, but, right now, most others are pretty occupied.” She could only admire Carew for still focusing on what was important. With herself practically flinging herself into the drama and herself having to find a way to cope with everything she wasn’t really thinking about her studies at the moment, especially not considering this would mean she’d have to work with Nat again – which would only remind her of something else. “Ah, no it’s alright,” if only she had a leash right now, would he be willing to wear it and bark for her? Just that thought made her laugh out of the blue, “he won fair and square, I’m just bad at poker.” Or he was simply better. The question now confused her a bit, but she quickly recovered by shoving him closer towards her friends. “Do you really think we drink Vodka Red Bull or any other mix you’d find at a frat party? Come on now.” Once they arrived at the fireplace a bunch of introduction followed. “We got Margaritas, an red wine or a few beers. Pick your poison,” she winked at him.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Each time Carew spent any amount of time with Dulce he was reminded of the very first time he’d had a run in with her. He could recall what she was wearing. Who she was hanging out with. That piercing grin she sent his way like she knew he couldn’t look away from her. He may have thought that what was going on between he and Greer was dangerous, but the way he felt around Dulce was world changing. A candle couldn’t be held and it was something about himself he dreaded. He’d done such good work at keeping himself contained around so many people, and all it took was one girl to tear down his carefully crafted facade. 

“To get to spend a little bit of time with you? Of course not.” He offered, stroking her ego in a way that was just light enough. He could have been joking, but they both knew that he wasn’t. In truth half of the time when he caught wind of drama he’d done a well enough job of keeping to himself that half of the time he couldn’t put faces to the names he was being told. Except for a very select few. But as far as he was concerned, the only time it’d ever really concerned him was when the rumor spread like wildfire about he and Greer. A rumor he was hoping, although doubtful would never reach Dulce’s ears. “Couldn’t agree with you more. Personally unless I’m hearing it first hand from the source, I consider it to be mostly child’s play. We’re all adults are we not?” He offered, tilting his head slightly as he found himself getting caught up in admiring the way she composed herself. “Well if you’re ever in the need of some lessons, I’d be happy to help without robbing you blind.” A bold suggestion, even for Carew as he allowed himself to advocate for more of her time. He allowed himself to be shoved closer to her friends, as his eyes scanned the selection of drinks. His normal safety net of a beer was tempting, but he wondered if it was the kind of thing she’d expect. And on a night like this one, he figured he could afford to switch things up as he grabbed for a bottle of red and proceeded to pour some into two cups, offering her the other. “To you. For looking absolutely stunning in red.” 

    bowie makes a face at him, his mouth open into an ‘o’ shape as if he was shocked that someone else didn’t want to put that hat on their head. “ oh come on, don’t be such a bore. besides, you’ll catch attention with this bad boy on. ” he says with a small grin, tapping at the hat. “ i’ll leave you alone if you wear it for like… five seconds. i’ll even wingman you if you let me take a pictuuuuure ? ” he says in a sing-song voice with a wide smile on his lips, already pulling out his phone. 

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Carew continued to shake his head as he lifted his beer off the counter and brought it to his lips. “You see my friend, while I don’t believe you’re wrong in the kind of attention it would attract, I’m not sure I’d be interested in the kind of people who would be attracted to such an attention grabber.” He explained, uncertain if guaranteed alone time was even worth the seconds of humiliation he would feel from wearing the other boys hat. “Am I even really the one who needs a wingman after you’ve just been stood up? No faith in being the one to bring someone home for the rest of your night?”

.

“I can’t say the same about San Francisco. It’s pretty great, amazing food scene and lots to do. But also the tech bros took over, so there’s that. My father works in tech, so I’ve been exposed to a lot of them.” That was a modest way of saying her father founded one of the original startups in the now famous Silicon Valley. An eyebrow of hers arched in surprise, wondering how she and Carew hadn’t crossed paths if they were in the same grade at the same small school. “I’m also a junior. Still on track to graduate in 2024, but I might go for a double major - in which case I’d do an extra semester. I’m not entirely sure yet.” Parisa didn’t need to get a dual degree by any means, a minor was fine. But in case fashion design didn’t work out, having more of a marketing background certainly didn’t hurt either. “Thank you, it’s Persian,” she replied politely, giving him a nod as she smiled. “Carew sounds very refined, if I may say so myself.” Her interest was piqued as he mentioned fencing as part of his physical education program, and even more so at the mention of soccer. “You mean football, right?” she teased, a reference to what the British call it. “Do you play for the school team?” Maybe she’d attend a soccer football game the next time the men’s team played. “I did equestrian training in high school, and sailing. But if I’m being honest, I’m more artsy than athletic. I’m a fashion design major - this dress was actually part of my portfolio last year,” she explained, looking down at the fantasy-inspired gown she was donning. “But I do some drawing and painting too, mostly as a passion project.”

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

It didn’t usually come as much of a surprise to Carew when he’d run into someone from his own class that he hadn’t met yet. He’d spent the majority of his time in college, choosing to keep to himself. Choosing solitude over parties. But still to have not had at least one class together? Seemed almost impossible in a school as small as Ogden. And while it was all too likely that they had, in fact shared a class or two, Carew was equally as certain she had an air about her that would be hard to miss. “A double major? Ambitious.” He mused as if he wasn’t in the exact same boat. A small chuckle escaping his lips at the as she referred to his name as refined. Not exactly a word he’d ever think to use to define himself. “That’s exactly what I mean. I appreciate the correction. I’ve had my fair share of a few too many run in’s with confused Americans.” Rew teased, nodding his head in answer to her question. “I do. I’m a forward for the team actually.” He added, smiling to himself at her confession. While it wasn’t something he’d say allowed, he’d always had a preference for the arts over athletics anyways. “Well the dress looks incredible. I’d love to see more of your work sometime.” 

it was a pre-game before the game, and though alethea didn’t usually end up out at sports game, they were definitely making a different effort this year. plus the company of others and booze was something they found themselves around more and more now, enjoying the atmosphere on their own. and so after a bit of socializing, she plopped down in an empty seat, bringing her leg up to her chest as she nursed her seltzer, taking the time to people-watching. “huh?” a voice pulled her attention away for a second and she realized that there was in fact a person next to them in the opposite chair. “oh! yea, any particular kind? we’ve got…” she paused, flipping over the lid of the cooler that was by her side. “pbr, miller lite, bud light, or a white claw? though it seems there are only grapefruit ones left.” which she grabbed on her own before glancing back at the other. “also, you look really familiar. are you in my anatomy class?” 

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

If there was one thing Carew appreciated it was someone who seemed almost blissfully unaware of his presence. It meant that he hadn’t been the intent of them sitting down beside him. Just two people who could co-exist in the same space without the intent of socializing. Until he was the one who’d broken that solemn pact by asking about a drink. But perhaps that wasn’t the worst thing in the world. “You gonna totally judge me if I ask for a pbr? Not that the rest doesn’t sound wonderful, but I do think the grapefruits kinda shit.” He teased as he awaited for her to pass him the can. Upon it’s return to his hand, he sat back and carefully tapped the opening before making a point to crack it open away from her. “Do I?” Carew asked, almost playfully, until he sat back up and took a better look at them. He liked to think of himself as somewhat of an expert of who joined him in his classes. If for no other reason than he’d often spent his time sitting in the back of the majority of them, making silent notes of who he’d most like to avoid. So when she asked, his mind instantly ran through the students in his anatomy class until he placed them. “Alethea right?” 

───✰✰✰✰✰───  

she grinned as he tossed back more than one edible. “you’re going to be so fucked up. you have someone to take you back to your dorm tonight?” she teased. there were a few occasions in which she took a second gummy, but most were only after her first began to wear off. she put the bag back into her messenger purse. quite un-ladylike, she snorted at his question. “a few, unfortunately,” she said. “most of them are entitled douchbags, almost as bad as football players. trust me, i don’t go to support them. i go to laugh when they get their ass beat.” if there was one sport she had never quite taken a liking to, it was basketball. “they get really pissed if you show up wearing the other team’s colors.” she signaled to her maroon crewneck. 

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Carew shrugged as he took another sip from his beer, lulling his head back slightly like he could will the gummies to take effect faster that way. He knew well enough that wasn’t the case, but he could dream. “I sure to fuck hope so. I’m actually riding solo for the evening, so if you insist, might make my way back to my dorm before these kick in too much.” He explained, taking that as an excellent excuse to slip out sooner than planned. But he still waited a beat as she continued talking. It didn’t surprise him, what she had to say of the boys on the basketball team. You’ve seen one jock you’ve seen them all. Although at the mention of the football boys he shot her a look of irritation. “Hope you’re talking about the American football players. The soccer team’s not bad. Mostly tolerable guys.” He mused, putting a little American accent on the word soccer as he said it. “So is that your plan for tonight then? Piss off the lads?” 

-

“I don’t know what to say, man. Curiosity is definitely doing something to this cat.” Avery chuckled. If she was being honest with herself, a lot of this was because she felt… indebted to Gabe in a way. Since Casino Night. She put herself in a dangerous situation that evening and she was extremely fortunate that Gabe was willing to put up with her shit.  A simple ‘thank you’ didn’t feel like it cut it. She felt like she needed to do more and she wasn’t exactly going to handwrite him a letter of gratitude, so showing up to his basketball game for fifteen minutes was the next best thing. That felt like a good compromise, right? Her mouth sat in a devious twist when she took the joint back from Carew, delight in her stare as she watched him consider her offer and took a drag from the blunt. You’ve got yourself a deal. “Yesss.” She smacked her hand against his and gave it a squeeze. “Just fifteen minutes. I’ll try not to make you hate it. Come on, drink up.” She jutted her chin toward the cooler of beers. “If you’re buzzed, you’ll hate it less.”

The basketball game was… a basketball game. Dudes in shorts. Running around. Dribbling a ball. Shooting it. At some point during the fifteen minutes, she made eye contact with Gabe, giving him a wave from where she was sat on the bleachers. The bastard put his hand on his heart in dramatic fashion and she chuckled at the sight of it, flipping him off –  affectionately, of course. She glanced down at her phone not long after to check the time, seeing that the fifteen minutes were almost up. She turned to Carew. “You ready to go? Or did school spirit wiggle its way into you after that last beer?”

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

As far as Carew was concerned, it didn’t really have to make sense to him. Nor did it, her reasoning behind wanting to go to the game. But every once in a blue moon he got the burst of desire to actually spend time with someone and as far as he was concerned, Avery might have just been one of the most tolerable people in all of Ogden. So he accepted her reasoning as fact and downed the remainder of the beer he’d been drinking with the intent of getting on as much of a buzz as he could before being dragged off to the game. 

Football, for as long as he could remember had always been more his speed. The game itself could be just as energizing if not more so, but the crowds never seemed quite as... intense as the ones at basketball or American Football games. But he stood quietly beside his friend as he watched the boys dribble the ball up and down the court, catching on fairly quickly to when the crowd would start to become more and more rambunctious. To say he was grateful for the amount he’d had to drink would have been an understatement. Making it easier to blend in. To woo when appropriate. He caught the brief moment between Avery and the boy on the court, chuckling about it to himself before he caught her turning back to him. “Frankly I’m not sure there is enough beer on this campus for school spirit to ever wiggle it’s way into my heart. Let’s get the fuck out of here before I have to hear another round of defense chanting. Guy behind us thinks he’s hilarious. Been shouting Cheesecake every time to try and impress his friends and the secondhand embarrassment is doing me in.”