it's sandra's attendance that jerri really wants to talk about, but she's hesitant to bring her up first, even if rust's aware of jerri's feelings for the older girl. it's rust's boyfriend who seems to be more apt to tease her about it, and maybe some part of her does want to be teased this time, just for an excuse to talk about her, but she tries to focus on how successful the class was otherwise.

the age rage was impressive, really — teenagers, her classmates, some of rust's classmates, and even a few adults. she's proud of @baypen, and she only hopes he feels that pride, too.

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

can't ignore the way the books mention every other page how tired and exhausted cole looks 🤍 he regularly goes to bed late and has trouble falling asleep every night (which is partly why he takes his time getting to bed at all.) his mind is always racing and his house is so big and lonely, the silence is so deafening to him and his mind spirals. he usually tries to tire himself out by doomscrolling (usually his youtube's comment section) or editing videos. once he and rust are together and start practically living together, it's easier for him to fall asleep because there's no safer place for cole than in rust's arms. he feels safe, it's the first time he really feels at home. that doesn't mean he starts sleeping better, obviously — he has more nights with nightmares than without, and if he's not having one, rust is. but at least he's not alone in them anymore, and he and rust always find a way to make it feel okay eventually. he still sleeps better with rust than without, even with everything he has to fear in his sleep then. before he and rust were together, he still slept better on nights he fell asleep in rust's truck in their clearing than he ever did at home.

🌺 HIBISCUS - do they have any allergies?

no. well actually he's allergic to matt trent

🏊 SWIMMING - can they swim? or are they afraid of water? how well do they swim? how do they feel about swimming in the ocean?

📖 OPEN BOOK - do they like reading? what's their favourite genre?

she prefers movies over books but she still loooves reading. she's usually reading behind the counter at the eureka when she's waiting. her favorite genre is mystery (really into treasure hunting especially). despite what she's been through, she's not turned off by the horror genre in any kind of fiction. she kind of sees it as exposure therapy in the sense that it's easier to read/watch fiction because it's comforting, knowing it's not real. she wouldn't seek out clown stories / slashers but she wouldn't be opposed to them, basically.

🌩️ LIGHTNING - are they scared of lightning?

she thinks lightning is really pretty, but thunder always makes her jump. she's not necessarily afraid of it, she just doesn't like loud/sudden noises.

🍁 MAPLE LEAF - what is their favourite season? why?

that doesn't mean he's not still paying attention, rolling his eyes as he hears one of his peers yell that matt's fighting someone. of course he is, and cole feels an instinctual responsibility to stop it (because it's always up to him to keep his friends in line, isn't it? but he clearly hasn't done a good job of that lately, and... when has matt ever really listened to him, anyway?) he tells himself not to pay attention to it, some part of him expecting this to be some desperate attempt from matt to get cole's attention in the first place, but then —

"redneck rust is gonna kill him! he's fucking crazy!"

cole's head shoots up the same way it always does when he hears the nickname, but his stomach drops as he processes the rest of the words, learning who matt's fighting. or rather.... rust is fighting him?

he follows in the direction everyone's attention is, trying to piece together what's going on from the other comments his peers are making around him. he shoves people out of his way until he sees the two boys on the floor — matt so small compared to rust that cole can barely make him out, all he can see is ruston on top of him, punching him, seemingly no end in sight. his stomach drops, eyes shooting up to tucker nearby, who gives him an innocent shrug that says 'what am i supposed to do?' janet's next to him, filming, surely satisfied to see matt get his face punched in. and ronnie, next to her, seems to be attempting to coach matt from the sidelines, and doing it poorly.

and no one seems willing to stop @baypen.

"rust!" he yells, desperately trying to assess the situation. he's always made it clear to his friends that rust is off limits from the pranks, and while he doesn't expect matt of all people to spare rust, he can't ignore what's happening in front of him, mind drifting back to what cole had told rust recently, how frustrated he was with his friends and how awful they were making him feel, and he felt bad for how he talked about them, but he trusted rust with it. trusted that he wouldn't do anything. and some logical part of him knows that he wouldn't, but — all he can think now is that he's hitting matt because of what cole said, and that makes him feel sick.