#squad au

Eisuke Ichinomiya rarely questioned his choices in life. Usually, he took a decision, and then he stuck with that, come hell or high water. However, entering the room he was meant to share with Amelia, all his clothing soaked from melted snow, he found himself not only questioning going to Switzerland with them, but also his choice to ever talk to Amelia in the first place.

“They made me promise not to warn you.” Amelia rummaged through her bag, in just her underwear, making Eisuke tempted to forgive her.

“What, under gunpoint?” He peeled his wet button-up from his torso, letting it drop onto the ceramic floor. “This isn’t exactly making me happy I came with you.”

His trousers hit the floor next, and he headed to their en suite bathroom, not looking back.

In the bathroom, he took a look at his red skin and wet hair, and grew increasingly frustrated. He was freezing, and the big jacuzzi hadn’t filled up quite yet.

“Damned woman...”

Maybe angry muttering would keep him warm. Doubtful, but that’s still how he decided to spend his time waiting for the bath to fill. The moment it started flowing over the edge into the drain it had been installed on, he turned the water off, removed his boxers and stepped in, his anger going away slowly as his temperature slowly got higher again. He dipped his head under the water as well, brushing away his hair from his eyes. His styling had gotten ruined from snow anyway, he figured. He leaned back, dragging a hand over his face to get rid off some stray drops of water.

“Damned woman.” He muttered again, but this time it was… almost fond, and no longer angry. Probably due to him having to admit that the house was amazing, and one wall was just glass, giving him a view of a sparkling mountain.

“See how beautiful snow can be? You just need to be more… open.”

He heard the door open, but he was quick to close his eyes and lean his head back, hoping she’d go away to let him be angry some more. If he was completely honest, he also wanted her to worry for a while, but he knew her better than to expect that.

The approaching footsteps didn’t trick him into opening his eyes, but the feel of something on his cheek did. Something warm.

Which he instantly forgot about the moment he laid eyes on Amelia, completely naked, carrying two mugs.

“Cat got your tongue?” she smirked, and nudged his cheek with one of the mugs, again he suspected. He took it, mostly on instinct.

“What’s this?”

And why are you naked?

“Another tradition I didn’t tell you about, I’m afraid. Hot chocolate, with some whiskey, courtesy of yours truly.”

His silent question was answered when she too sank into the bath, sitting next to him and taking his hand under the water.

“First time we brought Charlotte here, we threw snowballs at her too.” She told him, leaning her head on his shoulder, taking sips from her mug while gazing out at the landscape.

“And she let you live?” He couldn’t help it, he simply had to squeeze her hand back, simply had to adjust his shoulder for her.

“We made a mistake. The aim of an assassin isn’t something you should mess with. I’ve never had so much snow under my clothes before.”

He tried to suppress a chuckle by drinking from his mug, sweet chocolate mixed with the sting from whiskey relaxing him further. Amelia was quiet for a bit, lost in thought he assumed, before she placed a kiss on his shoulder.

“I thought we would make your competitive side come out.” She continued with small kisses, ending up kissing his neck and grazing it with her teeth. “Like how you get when I do this.”

He proved her point when he squeezed her hand and moved to kiss her instead, but he caught himself.

You’re supposed to be angry.

“Well you didn’t.”

He felt conflicted when he saw her put her – now apparently empty – mug away, on a nearby glass table. On one hand, it meant she now had both hands to touch him. On the other… it meant she now had both hands to touch him.

“Then I’ll make it do so now.” Before he could answer, her mouth was on his, and sometime during the kiss, the mug was taken from him and put aside.

“You’re a tease.” He breathed, when her hands just stayed stroking a small area on his arm, and when she gave a low laugh by his ear he felt tempted to grab her hair and kiss her.

“Seems you’ve met your match, then.” Her head moved away from him, but she settled on his lap instead, straddling him, and he saw his opportunity to entangle his fingers in her hair and push her mouth against his.

“Seems I have.” A small whisper, followed by a tingling laugh from her that broke off when he stopped paying attention to words, and dedicated himself completely to finding out which sounds she’d make.

Before you can even process it, your feet pivot and lead you towards Art, who’s looking at you with a dumbfounded expression. A tomato slides out from in between his sandwich and plops down onto the ground, and he scowls and shakes his head.

“Don’t try to give me pity,” he whispers between his teeth, nodding his head over to Ty’s group. “Network before they take the invitation back. They’re not gonna wanna invite you again if they see you talking to me.” He gave you a gentle shove, leaving you stumbling over to the group of girls, whose expressions had changed.

The matching pendants around their necks drew your attention as you sat down next to Ty, greeting her shyly and waving at the other two girls. Her arm slings around you, pulling you close to face the rest of the clique. “This is the new girl I was telling you about, Tash! Isn’t she so super cute?” Ty leans forward to knock your heads together, grinning at you. “You are so cute, you know that, right?”

The girl who Ty was talking to raised an eyebrow, popping her gum. She was gorgeous, in the most intimidating way– caramel brown hair that reached her waist, sleek and shiny like her perfect skin. She looked down at you, twirling the end of her ponytail with her finger. “Hey, new girl. Nice jacket.” You looked down to inspect the jacket, an old tasseled thing that had definitely seen better days. Even though she didn’t say it unkindly, something in her tone made you feel like it wasn’t a compliment.

“Were you talking to Art Donaldson?” Ty asks, stealing your attention back for a bit, and the two of you turn to where the blonde sits by his lonesome in the courtyard. You stammer a bit, unsure of what answer she’s looking for.

“Um, kind of. Yes. We have AP Lit together,” you mutter, toying with the fringe on your tasseled jacket. Was it too cheugy?

“Aww, that’s so sweet of you,” Ty pouted, sighing dramatically. “I could never be caught dead even looking at him. You’re so much of a better person than me.”

You laugh a bit (though you aren’t quite sure if it’s a joke) and turn your attention to the other girl, scowling down at a wayward buckle on her heel. She looks up to greet you, lips curled up in a slight sneer.

“Amelia,” she introduces, her gaze dropping again. Ty reaches over to swat her knee gently, winking at you. “We all call her Melly,” she whispers conspiratorially, which Amelia hears. She scowls and looks back up, shaking her head.

“I prefer Amelia-” her words are cut off as Ty redirects your attention again, back to the girl who seems to be the leader of the group. “And this is Tashi!” Your eyes lock on the fine sheen of sweat that seems to make her dark skin shimmer under the sunlight, her sharp eyes digging into yours as if she’s taking you apart, bit by bit.

You barely have time to take a bite of your sandwich before they all start asking questions, each with varying interest and amounts of enthusiasm– some easy to answer, and some easier to avoid.

“Do you get good grades?” “Were you popular at your old school?” “Ever wax your upper lip?” “Is that white bread on that sandwich?” 

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Tashi asks, abruptly stopping Amelia and Ty from their flow of questions as they turn to you for an answer, Ty’s eyes wide and excited, while Amelia’s eyes are narrowed, waiting for you to answer.

“Um, no. No boyfriend.” You take another bite of your sandwich, shrinking under the trio’s imposing gazes. “My last school was all girls? So…”

“Oh my God!” Ty squeals, her curls flouncing around her shoulders. “Are you a lesbian?” she asks eagerly, wincing when Amelia sharply smacks her knee. “What? Those schools are always filled with lesbians.”

You laugh weakly at that, tearing your eyes away from Tashi’s legs peeking out from underneath her skirt, long and gorgeous. “Yeah, well… no boyfriend, anyway.”

“Ignore Ty.” Tashi’s commanding voice pipes up, and she shoots Ty a withering glare before turning back to you, letting her ponytail swing to the other shoulder. “She can be a little… narrow-minded, hm?” she raises her eyebrows at Ty, who frowns but stays quiet.

“Nothing wrong with acknowledging the sapphic history of all-girls schools,” you mutter quietly under your breath, surprised when it draws a laugh out of Tashi. She meets your gaze, eyes glimmering as she regards you with a new sense.

“You’re smart,” she says, her voice low and sultry as she leans closer, observing you appreciatively. Her attentiveness makes you shiver, and you have to look away before she can look closer.

“Tashi’s, like, hella smart,” Ty pipes up, happy to finally get a word in the conversation. “So if she says you’re smart, then you’re smart.”

“Um… thank you?” you feel like it’s only right to make eye contact with Tashi as you thank her, but her gaze hasn’t wavered at all, still hungry and wanting, daring you to look away. She smiles when she notices your nervousness, picking at her nails and changing the subject.

“Ty, Melly, and I all have a tennis team meeting after school today, but you’ll come along with us after school tomorrow,” she says, completely focused on her nails as she gives orders. She isn’t requesting your presence, she’s scheduling it like you’ve already said yes– and unconsciously, you have, given that you’ve already scooted closer to her. “Unless you play tennis?” Tashi raises an eyebrow at you, prompting you to scramble for an answer.

“Uh, no. Sorry,” you say meekly, looking away and scratching your neck. “I run cross-country…?”

“Love,” she says simply, looking up from her nails to smile at you. “Gotta stay fit. I get it.”

Your conversation is interrupted by a rowdy brunette in a blue and gold letterman jacket, pulling Tashi to her feet and smacking a fat kiss on her lips, one hand shamelessly grabbing at her ass. Ty makes a cringed smile at the sight, like she’s trying to be supportive, while Amelia can’t help but look away in disgust. 

“God, Patrick, you’re so gross,” Tashi mutters, but she smiles into the kiss nonetheless, smacking his arm when he grins and says, “You love it.”

“That’s Patrick,” Ty says helpfully, and you can’t help but scoff a bit.

“Yeah, I figured,” you mumble, eyes glued to where Patrick’s hand seems to slot comfortably on the small of Tashi’s back, and how Tashi looks up at him with a twisted sense of adoration in her eyes.

“He’s going to Stanford to play tennis,” she says, frowning when you only hum distractedly in return. “Um, that’s D1?” she waits until you turn around to face her, her lips pursed and pouty. “That’s. A. Big. Deal.”

“Nice jacket, new girl!” It feels like your attention is being tugged from every which direction, and you turn to face Patrick and his smug grin as he looks over your outfit, lingering for a little too long on your chest.

“God, don’t be a dick, Patrick,” Tashi smirks, giving you a look that said to ignore him, but also saying that she agreed. You look down at your jacket again, frowning as you look it over– seriously, was it the tassels or something? You shrug it off anyway, laying it beside you as you look awkwardly at it.

“Tash and Patrick have been together forever. They’re so cute,” Ty muses, tugging at one of her curls, while Amelia echoes “so cute,” in a bored tone. “They’re like one of those cancer kids in movies, but like, prettier.”

You snort at that, the unwelcome insecurity about your jacket dissipating for a moment. “Oh, totally. And also, no cancer, so that's awesome.” That gets a big laugh out of Ty (which isn’t saying much) and a small smile out of Amelia (which is).

The bell rings abruptly, jarring you back into reality, and you look down at the sandwich in your hands. It was still intact, with only a few bites taken out, and you frown. “Shoot.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Tashi says, and you meet her gaze as you stand up. She holds her palm out for the rest of the sandwich, and you hesitantly give it to her, watching in slight dismay as she tosses it without a second thought.

“We don’t eat lunch,” Ty chirped happily, while Amelia nodded with a small scowl on her face. You rejoin the trio, walking off to class when a call from behind makes you stop.

“Yo, new girl, you left your jacket!” It’s one of Patrick’s friends, holding up your poor jacket, now looking frumpy and outdated after all the judgement passed by Tashi. You look back at the group, who regard you expectantly, before turning away, heading to class with the rest of the girls. 

“That’s not mine,” you say, and you swear you see a smile on Tashi’s lips.

Getting used to the squad wasn’t easy at all. You weren’t used to being looked at, and definitely not ogled at. But that’s how things went with this new group– wherever you went, it was infinite pairs of eyes glued to the four of you, watching each step carefully. Just a trip to the mall the next day made you feel like a celebrity overwhelmed by paparazzi. Everywhere you went, people watched you. Or at least, watched them.

“Are you a two or a zero?” Tashi asks while she rifles through stacks of dresses. You’re still in awe of the WASP-y paradise you’ve just been welcomed into, a store you would have never stepped foot in if you’d never met these girls.

“Um… a four?” you answer tentatively, and there’s resounding disappointment on all the girls' faces. Pity on Ty’s, slight disgust on Amelia’s, and despair on Tashi’s face.

“I don’t understand why we’re even trying,” Amelia says, throwing her hands up and running a slim finger down your side, settling on your waist and giving you a pinch. Ty gently smacks her hand away, pouting and shaking her head.

“She’s a small four,” she insists, pinching her fingers together to emphasize her point, and Amelia scoffs in response, looking you up and down reproachfully.

“Well, she’s gonna have to keep that small four under control if she wants to share clothes with us,” Amelia says, lip curled up in a mean-looking sneer. You’re not focused on her expression, though, only her words.

“Share? With you guys?” you seem almost in awe at the idea, looking down at yourself before looking at the girls in front of you– sleek and shiny, like plastic instead of living flesh. Tashi dumps a stack of clothes into your arms, making you stagger under the weight of the fabric as she struts ahead of you to the dressing room. “Christ–! This is so fucking heavy, how did you carry–?” Ty hurries to bear some of the weight as Amelia prods you towards the dressing rooms.

“You’re way too pretty to be dressing like a Santa Monica basic,” Tashi says, unceremoniously pushing you down a hallway to the dressing rooms. You aren’t sure what to say to that, so you begin hanging up the outfits she wants you to try, and Ty moves to your side to help.

“Don’t take it personal,” Ty whispers quietly, a comforting hand on your shoulder. “She doesn’t mean it like that. There’s just, you know, a certain way we dress here.” You don’t know what kind of ‘we’ she’s talking about, seeing the difference between your baggy sweater and jeans to Ty’s babydoll pink dress.

“We?” you echo, and Ty grins, squeezing your shoulder gently and winking.

“You know. The squad.” Just her smile and those last two words alone are enough to send your heart fluttering. You’re in. You still have a few more rules to learn (like how to do what Tashi says, but not as Tashi does), and maybe a few more pounds to lose, but even Amelia’s small nod confirmed it.

You scroll through your phone later that night, pausing on a post from Tashi’s account of photos from the time at the mall. You, amidst a cluster of dresses and laughing. Amelia, making an exaggerated duckface while Ty sported a pink feathered boa. And the final photo… you and Tashi shoulder to shoulder, her arms wrapped around you as she beamed at the camera, her cheek pressed against yours while you smiled nervously for the picture. You smiled big and wide at the photo, double-tapping to like it and setting your phone down. You can’t force the smile off your face, too giddy to even try. You’re in.

Getting used to the new life was exhausting, but exhilarating. It was party planning and dealing with Patrick’s frequent interruptions to make out with Tashi, so much gossip and a huge pantry with foods that were never touched. It was a completely new area for you to deal with, and sometimes, you still weren’t quite sure what the rules were.

The girls had been talking about a party all week, so you had assumed you were invited, so it surprised you when the three of you had cornered you after school let out, Tashi taking the charge.

“So, there’s a party happening in lower Piedmont,” she begins, and you blink, nodding slowly.

“Yeah, I know,” you respond, waiting for her to continue. She purses her lips, tossing her pony over her shoulder before sighing.

“We want you to come with us. Make your… squad debut, you know?” she pauses, a smirk curling her glossed lips. “Are you down?”

Are you?