* 𝐒 𝐏 𝐀 𝐂 𝐄 / 𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐓 !

[ARIA SHAHGHASEMI, CISMALE, HE/HIM] WHO’S THAT? OH IT’S [TRACY "TRACE" HUMMEL-ANDERSON]. I HEAR THEY’RE [19] AND ARE KNOWN AS [THE ASPRIRING] AROUND [NEW YORK]. THEY'RE ALSO AN [SOPHOMORE] AT [NYADA], HAVE A VOICE LIKE [AARON TVEIT].AND A PART OF [WAITER AT HARD ROCK CAFE, STAND UP COMEDY]. THEY’RE KNOWN TO BE [LAIDBACK AND COMICAL] AND [DIRECT AND SENSITIVE]. SOME PEOPLE SAY THEY REMIND THEM OF [A TV ON AT 3 AM, POORLY MASKING THE SMELL OF SMOKE, & THE TERROR OF BIG DREAMS]. ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT!

There was a long list of people that Noah never really expected to consider friends. She had her small group of buddies; Sterling, Sammy, Ivy (at least until junior year), and that was how she liked it, but when she got to New York she realized how cool other people from her school were. Although there was no chance she would say Trace was the epitome of cool, but he was a breath of fresh air compared to the stuffy chemistry majors she had to deal with. “I should have known,” Noah chuckled, her nose scrunching in response, but her ears perked up at the mention of Candy’s name. “Is Candy like actually in New York? Because I kinda thought that wasn’t fully true,” if anyone had a bit of intel on the Candy situation, she knew Trace would probably know. At Trace’s question, Noah gave a definite nod. “I don’t do it super often,” she admitted. Anyone who was in the science field knew that drug screenings were always happening so it wasn’t often that Noah got to indulge herself, but it wasn’t like she had anything coming up that would require that. Once outside, Noah let herself rest against the brick, watching as Trace lit up the joint. “School’s… school. Exams are in a couple of weeks so it’ll be nice to have a break and I’m out a roommate which is kind of annoying but,” she clicked her tongue, “can’t stay mad at Angel.” With the joint making its round to her, she inhaled, and passed it back to Trace. “How’s that fancy schmancy school you go to? Honestly, I don’t know how you do it. I don’t think I could go to school with anyone from high school.”

.

“guess so.” trace answered as noah inquired about candy, “but she’s living with ivy i’m pretty sure. from what i know that muckraker article was totally untrue.” he explained, taking a drag of the joint, handing it to noah, then sipping his drink. “even i have my doubts though, like, if she’s not broke, then what is she doing living in ivy’s apartment? joey says julien’s never in their dorm, and alway over there. that can’t be fun.” shaking his head, trace got back on topic and circled back around to what noah had revealed, “angel’s cool or whatever, but i’d rather have a room to myself. like, my apartment with kaden is microscopic, right? but i still have my own space.” he explained, making an extra effort to keep his words crisp as he laid out his thoughts for noah. then, unashamed, he added, “also your cousin is kinda on my shitlist right now for breaking my little brother’s heart. warbler brotherhood or not.” that awkward piece of information flew by and had no real hinderance on the conversation as noah handed the joint back, “you said it best socrates, school’s school. if i had a better job than a waiter, i’d drop out in a heartbeat.” he paused, catching a glimpse of a ladder on the side of the building. curiously, he shuffled over to it then proceeded to bang against it. “seems sturdy to me.” he breathed out, “wanna go up on the roof?”

meadow: if you clsoe your eyes and are just buzzed enough it feels like a weird cracker

meadow: i think ive trained myself in being able to stomach it just from working there forever

meadow: half of the inventory is those breadstix. we have BOXES. its terrifying

trace: what is this rat-ass-tooey ???

trace: "close ur eyes, taste the flavor"

meadow: isn't the deal with 7-11 that its always open

meadow: idk i think something about truly UNLIMITED ""breadsticks"" just sounds good when youve got the munchies

meadow: but i can def bring this breadstix thing up with my therapist

trace: idfk is IT

trace: their breadstix are actually ass

meadow: fuck working on 4/20 i hate this

meadow: all these people with munchies and i just want to be one of them

meadow: but also i cant remember the last time this many people have been excited to eat at breadstix

meadow: ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

trace: u want to eat at breakfast? seek help.

trace: **breadstix

trace: love urself.

“Well, no,” Julien started, scratching his head slightly as he thought about it, “I just meant like…I don’t smoke enough to like buy my own stuff.“ A pause as he debated how honest he should be, and then—“it makes me kinda anxious and paranoid.” Even though it was obvious that Trace was not really invested in the conversation and just wanted to nap, Julien kept talking. Laying flat on his back with his hands on his chest, he let out a dramatic sigh and shook his head. “Yeah…maybe…” he hummed in agreement, further considering the situation, “but what would you do if someone was like…suddenly encroaching on your space?” he asked, not giving Trace time to answer before following up with, “well, I guess it’s not technically my space, it’s Ivy’s space. So okay…let me rephrase and stuff…what do you do if there’s someone who is like just kinda cutting into your alone time with your girlfriend? She’s just like…always there it feels like.” A groan before he mumbled, “and she’s either eating or throwing away my leftovers.” 

.

“cool.” trace said flatly as julien explained how weed made him anxious and paranoid blah blah blah. that was the least shocking thing about the kid, honestly. he just figured if he could be terse with julien, maybe he’d quit it with all the gabbing. unfortunately, that plan didn’t hold up. not bothering to mask how irritated he sounded, he let out a hefty sigh. “um, fuck, i don’t know, tell her to knock it off? candy doesn’t really listen to anybody though.” he said simply, squeezing his eyes shut tighter as if maybe he could will julien into silence. “why don’t you just bring ivy here? or take her out somewhere? work around candy.” trace said, as if it was obvious. he figured something would click with julien at those questions, and he would leave it be. 

ELI: stfu

ELI: i have class until 5:45 but i can be over after

ELI: buy edibles

ELI: is anyone else joining or is it just gonna be us ??

TRACE: i am in disbelief that ur lame like this now.

ELI: ltrly how dare u

ELI: god what the fuck am i losing my edge ??

ELI: fine

ELI: ur buying

TRACE: sorry u needed to hear it

TRACE: kinda

TRACE: did u do a dare pledge🤩

TRACE: happily, bitch.

ELI: ew i'm not a nun !! some of us are trying to make money off being hot so we need to "be mindful" or whatever

ELI: no plans

ELI: u ??

TRACE: ur a nun, and lame, and sound like ur sister.

TRACE: be hot enough so they don't drug test u. idc! figure it out!

TRACE: time to stop being a nun and have some fun with me for this national holiday.

Julien had been resigned to sleeping in his dorm room the last couple of nights because someone had decided to start acting like the queen of the castle (Ivy’s apartment) and refused to stop bugging him when he was around. Julien liked Candy. They got along just fine in high school and he enjoyed her company in glee club and stuff…but he didn’t like her being all up in his business when he was just trying to do homework at Ivy’s place or have alone time with her. This minor inconvenience had led him to spending more time on campus and at his own place, which was why he happened to be in the room when Trace came knocking. “Hey man,” Julien greeted, quickly stepping out of the way once he opened the door for his friend, “make yourself at home.” As Trace got situated on Joey’s bed, Julien shut the door and quickly hopped on to his own bed, mirroring Trace’s position and trying (and failing) to relax. “I was just doing homework and stuff, but I could use a break,” he explained, staring up at the ceiling and occasionally stealing glances at Trace, “and sorry, dude. I don’t have weed. I don’t really like…smoke and stuff.” Julien cleared his throat, feeling a little bit like a square at the admission, but he quickly got over it. Turning on to his side to fully face Trace, Julien let out a dramatic sigh. “Hey…you’re friends with Candy, right? Do you know like…what her plans are? Is she planning on couch surfing with Ivy like…forever?” 

.

“how do you not like...smoke and stuff?” trace asked with a scoff, opening one eye and looking over at julien. “not to shame you or anything, well...that’s actually exactly what i’m doing, but you’re in college in new york, that’s like, about as mild as you get. do you actually just say no?” he asked, just giving julien a hard time for the sake of giving him a hard time. closing his eyes back up, trace adjusted his position slightly and waited for sleep to come and take him. right as he was feeling himself on the brink of drifting off, julien piped up again. biting back a groan, he tilted his head to look over at the other, “yeah, i’m friends with her.” he said, then shrugged, “but i don’t know what she’s up to or anything. we don’t really talk about stuff like that when we’re together. i’m sure she’ll get bored of not living in a palace and eventually leave.” trace assured dismissively. maybe if he cared, he’d actually ask julien why he was all up in candy’s business. but he didn’t care, so he turned his head away again, closing his eyes, and trying to sleep.

WHO @julienschuester and trace hummel-anderson. WHEN wednesday, 4/14, afternoon. WHERE julien and joey’s dorm.

being an adult was exhausting. between schoolwork, actual work, and trying to actually book all his comedian shit, trace was left without a minute to breathe. being swamped by city life was invigorating most of the time, but he was still human, and that hump day slump was hitting him harder than usual.

by his lunch hour, trace ditched the idea of going out for food and settled on the idea of making his way up to the julien and joey’s dorm. he knew joey would be in class, but julien on the other hand had this time off. once class was over, he wasted no time hurrying up to the compact room much like one he had lived in last year. knocking frantically, he waited for julien to answer, and once he did, trace slipped in without much of an invitation. “thank fuck you’re here.” he said casually. tossing his backpack in the general direction of joey’s desk, he climbed up into his brother’s bed and leaned back with his hands locked behind his head. eyes closed, he let out a deep sigh, “thanks for letting me chill in here man, i know i didn’t really ask, but i knew you’d say yes.” hoping to get some shut eye, he encouraged julien, “you can keep doing whatever you were before. unless you have some weed, then we should definitely smoke.”

JOEY: not kaden!!!! but don't let him use it either!!!

JOEY: so do i! and i have class in the morning

JOEY: i'm too scared to be alone in ur place

TRACE: why would he use it?

JOEY: I LEFT MY LAPTOP AT UR PLACE

JOEY: can u stop by the diner tomorrow and drop it off

JOEY: plus don't let ur ghost touch it, i don't want my laptop to be haunted

TRACE: what? the ghost named kaden? he won't.

TRACE: idk abt tomorrow bro i work.

LINK: well first off, never call me 'bro' again

LINK: but yes gawd you bet your ass i do

LINK: one of the girlies that did sound for my last movie got the address from a friend of a cousin who knows this guy who's girlfriend is best friends with the person hosting.

TRACE: yea so i followed zero of that