&&better grab a blazer

“Well, that streak won’t continue if the lions can help it,” Aaron joked, giving the other slight finger guns. He…wasn’t sure the other played lacrosse, wasn’t sure the other played any sport. Skylar didn’t really look the type, after all. Aaron certainly didn’t remember playing against him, but while Aaron’s involved with a few sports, he’s not involved in all of them. Including lacrosse. “Do you play?”

If he though the jab would get her to leave, he was sorely mistaken. Hell, it made it even more entertaining for her, and it wasn’t like there was anything else she could do here, phone still with her father. If she was stuck here, she was going to find ways to entertain herself, and…the boy clearly had some repressed anger, which that alone was amusing enough to poke at.

“And how exactly would you know that? Last I checked, I don’t really go with your little group.” She’d dated one or two boys from Dalton, but she’d much rather date someone from North Shore, someone she could use to elevate her own status. Plus, she was more into athletes, which he…clearly was not.

"The same reason we are both standing here talking." Skylar replied with a raise of his eyebrow. "You may not attend Country Crawford Day so you have no reason to be around Dalton. But trust me, gossip about families that attend these parties tends to spread without trying."

“Yeah, they’ve just been…a lot all night,” she replied with a laugh. She wasn’t really complaining, not entirely, at least. She liked having a lot of friends, she liked feeling normal, but…she had told everyone she’d be busy tonight, and yet they still kept messaging her.

“That sounds nice.” In all honesty, she’d been hoping to get some alone time with Skylar, but it was fine. He’d just been so busy lately preparing for regionals, she felt like he hardly had been talking to her. Even before regionals got particularly close, even before she got more friends she felt him pull away a bit, with just about everything they did together somehow involving the Warblers, and…it got old. And yeah, she had her other friends she then fell back on, but it wasn’t the same. She’d been hoping with regionals over she could get some time with him, but not tonight, at least.

“I mean, it’s alright if I tag alone, I don’t want to intrude. And I know it’s an all boys school, you wouldn’t get in trouble if I was there, right?”

He smiled politely. Making sure that he didn't let her know that he was holding onto his disappointed. He missed her, but he knew that she was happy. She had worked so hard to fit in. Worked so hard to have what she did now. And maybe it was time he just take a step back and let her enjoy it.

“Well, you deserved it.” She pulled out her phone again, quickly sending out another text. She didn’t mean to ignore Skylar, but she also didn’t want to ignore her other friends, either. She stuffed her phone back in her pocket, letting out a sigh. “Sorry, Gretchen’s been like, freaking out all night. And, like, so has Regina. And Janis is…being Janis.”

She smiled again, looking at Skylar, “Okay, so what now? My parents aren’t holding me to my curfew because they knew I was here. So, it’s your night. What do you want to do?” She was glad he hadn’t seemed to notice her absences during the show, but still wanting to make it up to him.

In truth, Cady also didn’t want to admit that she was struggling to balance all her friends. Because admitting it felt like she’d have to give some of them up, and she didn’t want to do that. She liked having all the friends she had now. 

It was the new normal for him, to be in the know that Cady had something going on with another friend that he never got her full attention. But it was better than not having her at all. "It's okay, you have friends and I am so happy for you. If you're happy that's all I really want."

He looked back over at the Warblers, smiling softly. "Usually after a competition we choose a movie to watch back in the common rooms and order pizza and just have a lot of junk food to celebrate. You can join us if you want, I bet the boys would love to let you pick the movie too."

She put her phone away at the sound of his voice, looking up. She smiled, giving him a quick hug before pulling back to reply, “Yeah, I just got back a couple hours ago. So I just…cleaned up and came over. I missed you. I would have reached out, but while it was a camping trip, it was also kinda me being grounded. I only got my phone back when we got back.”

She looked down, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. She hadn’t really planned what to say now that she was here. Really, once they had gotten back, she had only talked to her mother for a little while before showering and changing her clothes out. And then she had set off for Dalton. “It was good, though. Getting the chance to just…get away, I guess.”

The smile didn’t leave his face as he set his bag on the chair in his room and put his attention back on Cady. “It’s okay, I had my hands full so it wasn’t me spending all my time hoping that you weren’t getting attacked by a bear or anything.” Skylar had never really been camping so he didn’t know what happened on those trips. 

“And who are you to dictate what her authentic self is?” Another point based in truth. Cady did seem to like the changes. She probably would have changed even if Regina hadn’t stepped in, or even if she hadn’t started crushing on Aaron. It just would have been more gradual. Regina simply sped it up.

And then he finally made a comment about Aaron, and she knew she was getting somewhere. If she can start a fight between Skylar and Aaron, it’d be pretty great. Especially if that then caused a rift between Skylar and Cady. “That’s literally what I said ten minutes ago. He didn’t care for her, he just was amused by her. He was going to break her heart and humiliate her.” The new common ground based in her lies didn’t change anything, though, it was too late for that. She was just going to give him false hope while she worked, then she’d start an issue between Cady and Skylar before setting Cady up with someone different. It would be too easy, really.

It was a terrifying thought. He couldn’t tell if this was just Regina being Regina or if he really had been a terrible friend to Cady. She had valid points, and suddenly he was the one going in circles because he was so caught up in all the things that were wrong with the situation that he didn’t stop to think about what it was Cady wanted. Skylar wasn’t her type, she was into Aaron. And maybe he just needed to accept that he was meant to live in the friendzone. “Because I can see what her real joy come from.” 

“That’s…cool.” Aaron was often aware of how different he was from the peers from the North Shore district, but this felt completely different. It had been pretty obvious Skylar had money from the…everything about him, but hearing him say that was a bit of a reality check. Even aside from the actual cost of attending a private school, the money in gas it would take to drive back each weekend? Jesus. “I hear they have a pretty good lacrosse team.” Aaron didn’t play lacrosse, but he’s pretty sure he remembered someone saying that.

@warblerskylar​: 

“Here you go, have a super awesome day!” Mason said with a wide smile handing the coffee to the very confused looking girl who took a sip of her coffee and quickly moved to rejoin her friends at the table nearby. Grabbing a rag from the sink, Mason began to clean the machine he had just used as his eyes drifted out to the beautiful summer day outside while he was stuck inside working at the Lima Bean. Feeling his pocket vibrate, Mason reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to see a picture of Madison with her tongue sticking out with her group of campers behind her. Madison had gotten lucky, she was spending the summer after sophomore year working with the younger kids at cheer camp. Looking around quickly to make sure his manager wasn’t around, Mason took a quick picture of himself making a similar face and then swiftly moving to text it to Madison. Despite his best efforts to push the whole #Twinning coaching method, Mason had been unsuccessful in getting a job at cheer camp, so the next best thing was working here. 

Things at the Lima Bean were great and Madison would always come by after cheer camp for her usual Mango Mood Boost and tell him all about how awful some of the kids were at stunts. Out of the corner of his eye, Mason realized someone was standing at the counter and he quickly shoved his phone into his apron pocket and moved toward the counter. “Hey - welcome to the Lima Bean, how can I help you?” Mason asked as he looked at the guy with a smile. “Hey - wait - Skylar! Hi!” Mason said, recognizing the former Warbler and greeting him with a wave. “How’s your summer going?” Mason asked with a smile as he hadn’t seen many of the New Directions since school had ended a few weeks prior. “Mine is going pretty awesome, I must say - I’m working here, I get all the coffee and cookies I could want, which is just the best!” Mason grinned as he scanned Skylar for a moment. “The only thing that kind of sucks is Jane broke up with me since she’s doing this summer abroad thing, which is a bummer, but it’s cool - we’re still friends.” Mason said speaking a mile a minute as per usual, when his brain suddenly realized he hadn’t gotten Skylar’s order. 

“What did you want to order? I got so psyched to see you, I forgot to get that.” Mason chuckled as he focused his attention on Skylar fully.

Things were different now. Skylar unsure of what to really do for the summer. With Dalton being well ashes it was hard for him to put together what he was going to do with the summer. He knew that the parents were putting together money to try and rebuild the school but that didn't really help solve his problem for his senior year. He didn't want to go back to McKinley, they had enough problems there. But nothing was going to be Dalton either. It was a rough patch and he knew that his parents were looking at other schools for now, to see where he could end up.

Still he could at least get coffee at the Lima Bean and pretend like things were normal. And when he saw Mason behind the counter it did help make him feel a little more comfortable. The transition into McKinley had been hard, it was so different from Dalton and they had no choice but to learn fast. But he had been actually nice to them, despite all the changes and arguments that came out he was nice and actually could sing so he didn't feel bad letting the taller take the spotlight.

He nodded as the cheerleader spoke, keeping his coffee order in mind as he tried to retain all the information at the speed it had been given to him. It was sad to hear that he had broken up with his girlfriend, Skylar thought that they were actually good together. Not that he ever cared much for the personal lives of others, but it was hard to not know about the pair. "I am sorry to hear about your girlfriend, but at least you can still be friends. Perhaps there is a greater opportunity for the pair of you."

Letting out a soft chuckle, Skylar nodded. "Totally fine. I will just have a medium latte with honey please."

@warblerskylar gets a(nother) cady starter

If there was any silver lining to the situation, at least her parents had some understanding of how to handle it. They knew isolation wasn’t the answer, and that she was hurting and needed them more than ever. So instead, her father had dug out some of her old clothes and camping gear and insisted they spend a little over a week camping. No phones, no contact with her peers, just her father trying to comprehend how it all happened, and Cady trying to figure out where to go from there.

The trip had been nice though, enough to help remind her of herself and refocus her. Still, she found herself at Dalton not long after getting back, intending on surprising Skylar. It really hadn’t been hard to slip into the dormitories, and when no one was actively in his room, she just waited by the door, sifting through a bit of what she had missed online since heading out into the woods to pass the time.

Skylar knew that Cady needed time. He tried his best to respect that. That didn't make him miss her more than anything, and it didn't stop him from wanting to reach out between classes and after meeting with the Warblers. Instead he changed his focus to be on Nationals. To focus on that and try to remind himself that they had a lot weighing on their shoulders.

“And how far do you think she could have gotten with just you? I get that you did what you could, but even if you were there, I don’t think it would have been enough to get her through. You want her to yourself, but she needed more than you could do on your own.” Another statement that wasn’t exactly false. Cady wouldn’t have made it through, and Cady had wanted friends, plural. While Skylar was busy trying to keep Cady the same as she had been, tried to keep her all to himself, she gave Cady what she had wanted: friends, a place to belong, someone who’d teach her about interacting with people.

“All I did was buy her a pair of shoes, it’s not like she had to wear them. It was all her choice.” She paused, “Did it ever cross your mind that maybe she wanted to change some things? That she was completely isolated before, and when she saw all the different styles and people, she decided she liked that better? Then again, Gretchen did tell me Cady asked if Aaron was into girls with the style and the makeup, so…maybe I’m mistaken.”

Being honest, Skylar knew that they were just going in loops. Regina was going to insist that she was doing the right thing and he was going to disagree with her. They were almost too similar that way. Stubborn and always assuming that they were right. But he also knew that she ran off a different moral compass than he did. "I did not want her to myself, I wanted her to be her authentic self." It was the best thing about her, how different she was.

“Uh…Yeah, you too.” Aaron…almost thought there was something up with the guy, he seemed a bit stiff and he struggled to see Cady getting along with that, but he brushed it off. He only had just met the guy, after all. Aaron shifted a little, clearing his throat, “So, Cady mentioned that you go to a private school.” He’s pretty sure he remembered that. At the very least, Skylar didn’t go to North Shore and he hadn’t been at the school Aaron used to go to.

“Yeah, actually, I didn’t.” Seriously, who the hell names their son Skylar? Granted, Regina wasn’t the most common name, but…well, her mother had picked the name her father hadn’t even been at the hospital when she was born, and…it’s not like her mother is exactly normal. 

“Mm, that’s cute,” she replied, forcing a stiff smile at his response. People…typically didn’t talk to her that way, but if Regina was caught off guard, she didn’t show it. “Not particularly mature, but you do you or…whatever.”

His head titled to the side slightly as he tried to fully read her. Skylar knew about Regina, but everything he knew was from junior high. He didn't care to get to know her now, he had heard about the things that had happened and how she called out one of the other girls and used her sexuality against her. As someone who was bisexual, he almost felt hurt by it himself.

@warblerskylar jealousy time babey

“Hey, it’s, uh, Skylar, right?” He hoped so, otherwise this would be…pretty awkward. But he’s pretty this is the guy he’s seen in photos with Cady, and he can help but say something. He’d like to meet some of Cady’s friends, maybe see if she talked about him or…well, that didn’t matter just yet. “I’m Aaron, I’m a friend of Cady’s.”

@warblerskylar​ gets a cady starter

Admittedly, Cady wasn’t having the greatest time. She had been trying to pay attention to the competition, really, but her phone kept buzzing, signifying yet another and another text. It wasn’t just one person, but rather several people at once. Normally she’d overlook it, but Gretchen was upset, convinced Regina was mad at her, and Cady was trying to get Regina to tell her otherwise, and then there were other people from school texting her as well, including Janis and Damien both. Cady was often free to answer people’s messages, she supposed they figured the same now. So Cady ended up going into the lobby when the Warblers weren’t performing to try and answer the messages.

 It wasn’t a perfect system, almost having been late to get seated when they did perform, being somewhat distracted by her phone still buzzing in her pocket, and ultimately not realizing when they were announcing winners and missing it. Still, Cady lingered after it ended, hoping Skylar just…hadn’t noticed any of it.

She greeted Skylar with a hug, smiling widely, “That was amazing.” Her phoned buzzed yet again, and Cady pulled away from the hug to check it. See it was Gretchen, she took a few moments to respond before turning her attention back to Skylar. “You were incredible.”

It was his first year being Head Warbler and in all honesty Skylar was terrified. He was the first junior to lead in almost 5 years and he didn't want to let anyone down. It was an honor his brother never held and one that so many Dalton legends. After their win at Sectionals he had hope that he could lead them even further. Take them all the way to Nationals. And this was the stepping point, the biggest leap they were about to take.

As they finished their warm ups, Skylar continued their show circle prayer as they held onto the hope that this wasn't the end of their competition season. He would catch himself turning around as he sat in the audience as the New Directions preformed, disappointed to see Cady in the audience at all. He shrugged it off, she wasn't going to just bail on it. That wasn't like her.

@warblerskylar liked for a regina starter

It wasn’t often that Regina got pulled into doing things with her family, usually she could get out of them, but it was one of the rare times when her father was in town, meaning there was no getting out of it. So instead she’s scrolling on her phone at some dinner party with a few other families, just waiting until her mother caved into her sulking to convince her father to let her leave. However, that didn’t come, instead her father took her phone from her and insisted she go and talk to people.

Eyes scanned the room for a moment before she spotted a boy around her age she didn’t immediately recognize. It took a moment before it finally clicked who it was. It was one of the Johnston family’s kids, the one who went to a private school now. “You’re the one that goes to Dalton,” it’s not a question, but rather a somewhat pointed statement as she approached the boy, “Tyler, is it?”

Skylar didn't mind when his parents dragged him to different parties. He was friends with some of the boys, there were even a handful of fellow Warblers there. Old and new and it was nice to learn from the graduated class as well as the opinions of those who were beyond his years. So he kept bouncing around talking to a few different people smiling as he did so.

There’s almost the urge to give an exasperated sigh, but that wasn’t the angle Regina was approaching it from now, so she didn’t. Instead, she kept her eyes downward. “You didn’t see it,” She protested, voice low, “When they weren’t bullying her, they were trying to…take advantage of her. I’m not even sure she realized it, not in it’s entirety. She spent her first week eating lunch in the bathroom, Skylar.”

That much is all true, a mix of her observations and what Cady had told her. It was killing two birds with one stone; she’d poke at his guilt over not getting to be there for Cady, as well as get more at his jealousy over mentioning how some of the guys had spoken to Cady. She will make things hell for Skylar though. She needed him out of the way.