𝙎𝙋𝙄𝙏 𝙄𝙉 𝙈𝙔 𝙁𝘼𝘾𝙀

is that SUMMER MILLS? A JUNIOR originally from BEAUFORT, SC, they decided to come to ogden college to study PSYCHOLOGY. they’re THE SPITFIRE VIXEN on campus, but even they could get blamed for greer’s disappearance.

PINTEREST 

TW: drug abuse, childhood neglect, knife talk

“what are you doin’? snoopin’ through mari’s valentine’s?” ida makes no move to answer the question yet, or own up to it. “they were anonymous summer so could’ve been from anyone besides…” her eyes narrow, arms crossed over her chest as she steps closer to the girl. “how would you know all this? were you the one who messed up all the valentine’s? makin’ up shit to make yourself feel better or somethin’?” her accent is laid on thick now, a habit for whenever she was angry. yea, she had sent mari that, and they had met up at the end of the night. “and if i did, what’s it to ya anyway?” 

     okay, she was officially boiling and spilling all over the lid now. “ this is how i fucking know ! ” she grabs the piece of paper that she got from g on a rose from her pocket, a bit crumpled up, and throws it at ida, falling to her feet. “ pick it up and read it for yourself, ida. ” her eyes wide and her face practically turning red at this point. how many times was she going to allow her to do this to her ? “ own up to your shit for once in your fucking life. do you get off to playing with my head knowing how i feel about you ? making me feel like i’ve got a chance with you one day ? and then turning around and doing the same thing with another girl — ” she stops herself short, careful not to say anything about mari’s role in this, and how that also affected summer. “ do you — do you even give a single shit about me and how i feel ? ”

“ sure, yeah, if ‘bambi-on-ice’ is your idea of hot, then absolutely.” french was another one of those pesky knowledge gaps that had formed when anya had decided not to put in any effort into things that didn’t interest them. “your ex?” she laughs then, shaking her head. “please don’t tell me you’re one of those people who’s super into the past.” a pause. “me? i don’t know. but i’m open to challenging that idea.”

     she rolls her eyes, but couldn’t help the little grin that was almost shy — a rare thing, that only even the simplest thought of ida could bring her to. “ not super into the past. just super into the way my ex kissed me. is that really so abnormal ? ” yes, it was, but there was no such thing as a healthy relationship between summer and anything. she just knew that addiction gene was swimming around in her, too. she leans forward again, resting her chin on her hands. “ maybe we could spend this last minute here trying to change that for each other. you’d be doing be a solid, really. ” she teases, her grin growing. 

who: open

where: rumi cafe

“sorry, i just-” logan tried in vain to make eye contact with the barista, fingers drumming on the countertop. she wasn’t one to complain, but it had been almost fifteen minutes since she had ordered her cold brew, no milk, no sugar, and she’d seen what appeared to be half the population of the school order after her and leave with their drinks. “it’s just that i have class,” she tried again, still failing to catch the attention of the baristas. come on, be normal, check on your coffee. anyone can do it. “i’m still waiting on my coffee!” she practically shouted, garnering the attention of not only the employees, but the entire cafe. fuck.

     she’d been in here since the morning, going cross-eyed over this assignment that she had to submit by tonight. so she did see when logan walked in and ordered, and could understand her questioning. summer, being impatient and loud as ever, shut her laptop and walked up to the counter next to logan. “ excuse me, i think she ordered her drink about twenty minutes ago ! ” summer exaggerates, and then goes on to question if this coffee shop was really right to be on campus if they’re going to take this long to make drinks, knowing that most students come in before their classes. after the barista went off to make the simple drink, she turns to logan. “ sorry, i just could not take it anymore. i would have lost it about ten minutes ago if i were you. ” she says with a small grin.  

who – open where – somewhere on greek row when – during winter rush

sure, a disappearance, an arrest and then a murder all in the span of six months did kind of act like a wet blanket over the college experience. it was a nagging, itching feeling, following you everywhere on campus like a particularly clingy sibling. but it didn’t need to be. or so she told herself as she wandered up and down greek row, practically floating from interview to interview. lola stops for a moment to adjust her scarf, looking up at the figure next to her in the process. “rushing here isn’t exactly the same as what they made it out to be on tiktok, is it? if i wore lululemon shorts in this weather i’d freeze.”

      summer smiles at lola, a playful grin. “ do you remember that one vine that goes hoes don’t get cold ? i’m pretty sure if they feed you enough alcohol at these things, you’ll have your own invisible blanket. ” she speaks from experience, but then quickly adds, “ — i don’t recommend, by the way. unless you wanna get really sick the next day. ” summer warns, turning her body so that all of her attention was now on lola. “ how are the prospects doing ? ” summer rushes almost every year, with zero attention to accept any invitations. she just like the big social party that they did every semester. 

Court gladly agreed to meet Summer for a walk, pratically bolting to her side to meet her. He didn’t want to see clingy to his cousin, her having already attended Ogden when he enrolled, even though they had always been close growing up, Coco feeling closer to her than his actual siblings sometimes. So he hesitated in reaching out to her  as much as he’d like to - and right now, he had really wanted to. That didn’t mean he was about to explain everything - or potentially anything to her - Court having long since lapsed into silence as he walked by her side, Even if he had wanted to get into it, he wouldn’t have known where to start. Summer’s words took a moment to register, as far in his head as he had gotten, finally blinking in her direction, already - automatically - smiling in response to her question. “I’m fine,” they answered, even though it was a lie, slipping his arm through Summer’s. “As fine as anyone could be, I guess. With…you know. Everything.” 

     she accepts their sudden closeness, sinking into the familiarity of it. one thing she was grateful for was that court and summer ended up going to ogden together, and didn’t have to say their goodbyes. family was re-taught to summer when the mills took her in — they reminded her that family wasn’t all ugly, and love wasn’t supposed to be conditional. court was a prime example of this, and she wasn’t sure what she would do without him by her side. he knew everything there was to know about her, and probably knew her better than she knew herself. that also meant that she knew him better than most. “ i just get the feeling that it’s a little more than that. ” summer shrugs her shoulders, letting her head rest on their own shoulder as they walked. “ you know you can tell me anything. ”

Mari’s head angled ever so slightly, her chin lifting up as an ear tipped towards one shoulder, eyes staying on Summer’s the entire time. “A bonus gift?” Mari cooed, her fingers still fiddling with the earring, lashes sweeping down over her eyes demurely, energy (intoxication) thrumming through her, making it nearly impossible for her to stop herself from grabbing at Summer herself. She wanted to play it cool - act like she hadn’t been craving the touch of someone, anyone, for weeks now. Months, really, if you discarded after the gala on New Year’s. And the incident with Jesse (which Mari certainly did, hard-pressed to even recall it to herself). “Well?” she asked after a beat, gaze blinking back up to meet Summer’s again, an eyebrow quirking up in anticipation. 

     when summer takes a step closer, she doesn’t back away — she memorized mari by now. when they were alone, she leans into summer’s touch. when they were around other people, she would take a step back. she wishes she could be able to kiss her whenever she wanted, but she would take kissing her in the dark over not kissing her at all. her hands come up to touch her face, getting her hair out of the way. “ — i think it’s more of a gift for myself. ” it comes out in almost a whisper with how close they were. her eyes cast over her features one more time, capturing the way mari was looking at her right now so that she could think about it later. finally, she leans in closer, and catches her lips in a soft kiss. 

     “ don’t remind me. ” she mumbles, seeing how giving charlie any power at all could end in disaster. summer loved to be around charlie because of how much of a hot mess she was — much like herself. it was both why they loved and hated each other so much. she pauses, looking up at the picture, almost for a moment considering her suggestion. then she came to her senses. “ — fuck off, charlie. this is an important job i’ve given you ! you better take it seriously. ” she points a finger at her with a hint of a grin. her tattoos were probably the one thing in life that she took seriously. “ now, if you were flirting with a girl, and you saw a tattoo that instantly made you wanna take her home... what would that tattoo be ? ”

Obviously Nat knew the point of this game was to kiss other people. And it wasn’t like she was a stranger to it— she was an actress!— but there was so little preamble, Summer’s hand fisting into Nat’s shirt to tug her closer all the warning she had before Summer’s mouth was on hers. She wasted only a second on her racing heart before she shut her eyes tight and kissed her back. It was a soft sort of thing, like a testing of the waters before Nat stopped living in her head and decided to live in the moment instead.

One hand settled on Summer’s shoulder, right where it met her neck, while the other slipped around her waist. She wanted to be bold, memorable, so she trailed the hand on her waist up the length of her to tangle into a mess of curls as she deepened the kiss, Nat’s tongue sweeping along Summer’s bottom lip in a silent request for permission.

     if summer wasn’t so into it, she would have pulled back out of sheer surprise at the unexpected boldness that was being poured into this kiss from natalia right now. while summer had wanted to be a little softer, expecting that to be her style, she received something else entirely. and it would be insane for her to complain, because this was definitely beginning to look like one of the best kisses she’s recently had with someone. and so she parts her lips, allowing natalia’s hands to tangle in her curls. summer gets bold herself, getting into more of her personality as she moves forward a little, to push nat up against the wall of the closet they were in — hoping to god her head didn’t bump into something. 

    she pulls back, just a little, but their bodies stay close. “ vega, if i had known you’d kiss me like that, i would have done it a long time ago. ” she tells her with a small smile, confident that she couldn’t even see her in the dim room, but she couldn’t help it. 

as bobby gets dragged into the closet, he could only stare at the back of summer’s head in astonishment. he really did not get summer mills. at all. he’s good at maths, good with graphs, but something about her just wasn’t adding up. because whilst he knew everyone loved him, he couldn’t get why she was like that with him. and whilst he understood the hot to crazy scale perfectly, he felt like she couldn’t be placed anywhere near it. so what was happening? very rarely, when he’d think about it too much, it felt like he was the butt of a joke he wasn’t aware of. “ well, it’s only half poor because obviously i’m, like, super fucking loaded and my lungs know to breathe in the right air molecules so i’m literally so fine, actually. ” although his epipen is outside and if she brought him in here to attack him with peanuts then he’d be screwed. a new thought: “ oh fuck, ” he groans. “ you’ve got peanuts on you, don’t you? ”

     summer furrows her brows at him. “ — peanuts ? ” she says it with a small scoff escaping her, entertained by his genuine concern. “ word of advice, bobby, considering the fact of... well, your personality, i wouldn’t go around telling people i have a fatal peanut allergy. make it a little harder for them to murder you if there was ever any intention ! ” she meant it to come off as a joke, but in her mind, that was pretty sound advice. “ now, you wanna make out or not ? ” she asks, a little impatiently. maybe this would finally get this twerp out of her system once and for all. 

he nods, taking in the information. seemed legitiment, and none of it was surprising. “hey now, i’m pretty great with cats too.” he pointed out, feeling the need to defend himself. “but i get it, you definitely seem like you connect on a whole nother plane.” he’d never seen her with a cat, but it felt true enough. “ah well….there ain’t much to take sorry about that, so it’ll be a short court date.” that much was true, and seemed to always be true. “not to into an open relationship but i’m sure we can work on it.” if he was being honest summer wasn’t his type, she was beautiful and all that. but then again, he figured he wasn’t her type either. “so anyone here catch your eye?” 

     summer pouts playfully at leaky, “ well now i would feel bad scamming you out of all of your money ! tell you what, we won’t divorce for a while, and spend our efforts scamming actual wealthy people. and we’ll get a cat. did i miss anything important ? ” she asks with a small laugh, getting comfortable in leaky’s presence. she looks around and makes a small sound, giving leaky a shrug of her shoulders. the answer was always, always mari — it just sucked that she couldn’t say it out loud. “ tons of people. the girls really ate this event up. ” her eyes land back on leaky with a grin. “ what about you ? you crushing on anyone this v-day, leaks ? ”

     the anger that she’s been trying to hold back with a very thin rope broke through, and she could physically feel her blood boil. “ cut the bullshit, ida ! stop lying straight to my fucking face for once and own up to it ! ” a buildup of pain inflicted upon summer by ida was coming to the surface, and there was very little summer could do to compose herself right now. “ i saw what you sent her during valentine’s day, so what the fuck ? did you actually meet up ? ”

     summer scoffs, “ yeah, i don’t know if i can imagine you trying to win over some mediocre white guy... and i mean that as the highest form of a compliment. i think i’d wanna do the challenge — i’d be good at elimination rounds. ” especially if they’re physical. “ i have, uh... ” her mind blanks, trying to remember what she has left of her edibles as she crosses over to the bedside table and opens up a drawer, to reveal what was left of it. with a grin, she grabs it and looks up at deja with an excited grin. “ — chocolate bar edibles ! love these things... you know i stupidly ate one of these whole things in one sitting ? anyway, you want a square ? ” she asks, breaking one off for herself. 

they aren’t stupid, they know summer is just dragging them along, but they can’t help it. besides there were worse things in the world than to harmlessly flirt with a beautiful woman and have her break your heart just a little bit. in fact most poets would agree with them - it wasn’t a good life if that wasn’t happening. “i’m so full of it summer, no need to worry about me.” he cheesed, hand pressed to his chest as he laughed. “besides, there’s always a little hope, amiright? cupid might shoot his arrow at you, the moon might align just right where you see how beautiful my skin is under it, and the next thing you know you’ll be blushing under all this cheesy.” okay maybe that was a tad too far, but give them a break, they’re drunk and she’s beautiful and it’s a fucking valentine’s day party. “tell me the truth, anyone out there got the same lines as me?” 

     why couldn’t summer go for a man like aj ? it baffled her, but in reality, the answer was quite simple — aj was too good, and way too well adjusted. they could definitely be otherwise, that summer doesn’t know of... but that was what it seemed like to her. she just couldn’t resist this attention and flirting back with someone who looked like they did. maybe eventually she’ll do herself a favor and like them back ? take him away from the next pretty and actually well-adjusted person that could make them happy ? she moves in a little closer, on that note. “ you do look pretty, aj — even under faux LED frat type lights. ” she compliments with a small giggle. “ oh, you mean those cheesy lines that i hear at least once a week ? plenty of people. however, it’s the delivery that’s pretty hard to nail. if it helps, i don’t think you’re a creep when you say shit like that to me. i just think you’re cute. ” she grins, eyeing his facial features for a brief moment. 

“can’t elaborate, i’m afraid. firstly, my french is crap. like, laughable. très terrible or whatever. second point, the character cards were barebones at best. i have no idea why he had so many cats. maybe he steals them?” they don’t break eye contact. “can’t say i have,” says anya then, words spilling from upturned lips. “but i’m willing to try. my philosophy has always been ‘try anything once’.” she pauses. “okay, tell me. out of the people you’ve made out with at ogden, who’s your favourite?”

     “ oh, but i bet it’s so hot when you’re speaking french. ” she grins shamelessly, leaning forward in her place. once that first seal of a flirty comment was allowed to pass through, it felt like free fall. there’s a glint in her eyes as they suggest that they’d be willing to try, and many images that have only ever flashed for seconds in summer’s mind began to fill into it again. fuck, she really needed to stop trying to fuck her friends. she looks up, making an uhhh noise. “ — would it be too pathetic if i said my ex ? ” realistically, it was mari. but summer wasn’t going to spill any secrets that weren’t meant to come out. “ — and what about you ? ”

Shortly after the revelations brought about by the valentines, Nate had departed the party, his anger sharp and growing. The way he usually dealt with it was by hitting the shit out of someone - but the option was Jesse, and apparently Nate was growing into a more mature version, one that possessed self control. Because he was back in his room, alone, staring at the ceiling as he tried to settle the anger to a simmer. 

Something that didn’t help that was the door banging open, Summer standing there with obvious irritation once she clocked that Nate had beaten her back to their room. He glanced her over, before his eyes returned to the ceiling, shrugging up a shoulder. “’Cause,” he said, his tone short. He wouldn’t explain to anyone, but especially not to a the roommate he didn’t particularly get along with. “Why are you back here so early? Don’t you know the party is still going on?” Nate asked after a beat, his tone almost veering into mocking.

       summer rolls her eyes at him and walks further in, dropping her purse onto the floor without a care about where it ended up. she was livid and seeing red, and needed to direct her anger somewhere — nate was the unfortunate victim. “ it got too fucking boring and everyone was starting to couple up. it was getting to be too much for a so-called singles party. ” she sighs. truthfully, summer couldn’t give less of a fuck about who was leaving with who. she only really cared about two people — the only two that could really hurt her in these situations. 

     summer crosses her arms over each other, her gaze averting back to nate. “ you know it’s really getting old, having to come home to a raging asshole every time i wanna be on my own. ” she is a tad more cruel with him than usual, needing to release this energy and fire in her somehow. “ could you be useful for anything before the semester ends ? ”

they’re not sure what they’d expected her to do when she reached out but it certainly wasn’t that. maybe a light slap to the face urging them to snap out of it, which they would’ve understood. the touch of her fingertips does ease them up a little, much like the comfort of familiarity, which was strange because there was nothing familiar about this situation with summer. but they won’t question it. “ yeah, sure. ” there’s a twinge of softness in their gaze when they look at her, and they find themselves considering whether to cross the line they’d both been hovering over. “ but only if you acknowledge that compliment. ” they say, leading them out, unconsciously maintaining the closeness between them.

      she holds onto their hand as she leads him outside, holding onto the excuse that it was to stay together through the crowd. but this level of intimacy was unusual for them, and something that summer was always afraid of — but now, more than ever, she felt comfortable and relaxed in it, as if they’ve been this tender with each other the whole time, rather than their more vulgar and suggestive conversations. 

     they finally make it outside, and summer begins to light up her last cigarette before taking a drag and offering it to them. “ so talk to me, kep. we’re all alone now — ” kind of, but the few stragglers were far enough that there was no way they’d hear their hushed conversations. “ what’s up with the mood and the... the camera ? ”