indeed, there will be time.

“It’s this or punching the next person who asks.” She sighed in annoyance. “I’ll definitely take the fall. It’s not like they’re paying us to be here. Honestly, if these losers thought social curtesy would stop me from biting back, they are severely mistaken.”

“I’ve heard that green tea has calming effects. Maybe you should consider paying the hot drinks stall a visit before you decide to assault somebody? I can hold down the fort ‘til you get back,”

“Cupcakes are three dollars, cookies are one fifty, and for the last time, no, this is not a fucking kissing booth.” She said while rearranging the goods on display, not looking up to see who had approached the stand. 

“I don’t think you’re supposed to swear at our patrons,” Casey noted, halfway through eating a cupcake instead of actually doing anything productive for the time being, “It’s not like- the law or anything but it’s customer service 101,” she wasn’t sure if Leia had a job or whether she worked with customers but as a delivery slave for the local pizza shop, Casey had had ‘the customer is always right’ drilled into her head for over a year now. “I think it’s pretty funny but if we get in trouble, you have to take the fall,”

corina chuckled at the idea of casey holding conny up with a ski mask on, nodding in agreement. “i guess, but he’s pretty great so i guess i wanted to help out.” she said, biting her lip to suppress a grin. “sorry if i came off as pushy.”

“What’s your home life like? We can swap if you want. You can live with our Lord and savior the almighty Connor Roberts on a permanent basis and see how great he is then and I can do whatever it is that you do when you’re not mopping up puddles of drool and....writing Taylor Swift-esque loves songs about my brother? That last one was just a guess, maybe you’re more of a poetry gal, I can totally see it,”

“I can see that. I’m pretty sure if I tried to show it to my parents, they’d be more confused than anything else. Right? I can’t think of the last music video I even saw before this one. Ex-boyfriends aren’t worth it, in my opinion. I feel like you can apply it to pretty much anyone who isn’t in your life anymore.”

“I don’t think I have anybody like that either- maybe my life is just incredibly boring in comparison to everybody else’s. Instead of h aving like three friends, maybe I should try making friends with people who will inevtiably let me down and dating fuckboys- there’s plenty of those around- then I’d feel like I deserve Ari in my life. Who do you think about when you hear the song?”

“you see.. now i have real doubt that you don’t have a clue what garbage disposal tastes like. you seem to be covering your tracks a lot here. i think you’ve actually had a full mouth of it before… just be honest, it’s just us here,” kenny had to let out a laugh though at her words, grinning as she went on to describe whatever this kombucha thing had been, “i have to admit i’m very intrigued that you put so much actual thought into this. usually i just say something doesn’t taste all that great – but you went all out today. it’s a talent.” the distraction from the topic at hand was nice, except for the fact it temporarily made him forget about his concoction. so when he’d gone to take a sip of it, he crinkled his nose in slight distaste. it probably needed more sugar, or cream. or something. he wasn’t an expert. “yeah espresso is not my thing on its own. like, a nice latte or mocha is fantastic… but espresso on its own just… isn’t good. i like.. like, normal coffee? mostly dark roast. sometimes double brewed coffee depending on the day. need that extra kick on occasion, you know?” 

“I’ve been thrown into a dumpster and I was swirlied at the Halloween party but I can’t say I’ve taken a mouth full of garbage disposal- not yet anyway, I won’t hold my breath. With the advance of technology, the internet is providing local bullies with a colorful spectrum of creative ways to punish their victims, I have first hand experience to prove it,” she spoke very matter-of-factly about being victimised, joking about it made it easier to cope with, it seemed. “Thanks, my English teacher says I have the gift of the gab,” she said with a chuckle at her own expense, shrugging her shoulders, she knew it was more or less her teacher’s way of telling her to shut the fuck up for the most part.

“Normal coffee? Like instant coffee? Drip? I don’t know the difference between them- ask me about deli meats, I’m your girl but coffee? I thought a cappucino was just the foam for a solid portion of my childhood,”

Emerson took her wireless headphones off, placing them on the table in front of her. “Okay, but… why is ‘Thank U, Next’ such an absolute bop? I just can’t get over how perfect it is. You’ve seen the music video, right?”

“I basically hosted a private screening for my family and I’m pretty sure I was the only one that was into it- but yeah, seriously, it’s so good. I can’t even remember the last time I actually thought a music video was cool and I feel like I should get an ex-boyfriend just so I can feel like a badass bitch while listening to it,”

“i really don’t think that sounds very good. but to my knowledge, i am not exactly sure i know what garbage disposal tastes like. do you have personal experience with the taste of garbage disposal? is the taste poignant? what meal would you compare it to, not using our previous kombucha comparison.” as much as kenny was joking, he hoped she could follow his humour. “hey – actually, i am the most un-mr–… pandemic or whatever word you just used was. i think doubling the sources of caffeine would be like an espresso shot. coffee, tea bag, shot of espresso… great mix, i hope. not sure how i feel about espresso’s though. the taste is.. odd.”

“How garbage disposal smells like, then- you know what I mean, like when something has such an intense smell it basically feels like you’ve got a mouth full of it,” she insisted with a chuckle at his cheeky scrupulousness “It’s like a beer that’s been left out all night and you find it at the end of the party and maybe somebody’s accidentally put some of their own drink in it- like they were drinking a VCR and put just a splash in your warm beer that’s been sitting on the kitchen counter for hours- that’s not a meal but it works, you know what I mean right?” she was confident in her somewhat elaborate comparison. She laughed again at his claim that he was anything but pedantic, finding it hard to believe given the nature of the question, “That would be three sources,  two parts coffee and one part tea all has caffeine in it. You don’t like espresso? We have a Nespresso machine at work that basically keeps me alive- what kind of coffee do you like then? Aside from the weirdo tea added variety,”

corina nodded mutely, crossing her hands behind her back. “i think he’s plenty smart already.” she said, smiling fondly. “er, in a street smart like, kind of way.” 

“Saying somebody is street smart instead of just regular smart is like saying somebody is interesting looking instead of good-looking. What the hell is street smart anyway? I’m pretty sure I could mug him if I bought a ski mask,”

“what’s kombucha? that sounds like some foreign disease i might catch if someone sneezes my way. i wouldn’t say double the caffeine, it’s like a lot of caffeine plus the small amount that’s in earl grey. apparently it was already invented though… too bad, i coulda made so much money in the tea community.”

“I don’t actually know the answer to that. All I know is that it tastes like the contents of a garbage disposal with a hint of sparkling water- so imagine drinking a La Croix next to the dumpsters behind the school; basically that.” she explained though it wasn’t necessarily a decent description of the beverage, “-and I saw this BuzzFeed video about a mushroom or something like that anyway, I don’t know how that factors in,” she added as an afterthought though once again, it wasn’t contributing much. “Okay, Mr. Pedantic, you knew what I meant. Double the sources of caffeine then- wait, somebody already invented it? Why? Where?”

“can’t even get decent tea around here. they ended up putting coffee instead of water… can you believe that? on that same topic, earl grey coffee is actually not half bad..” 

“Maybe you’re onto something there. I mean if yoga moms can drink that kombucha bullshit, whose to say they wouldn’t love a coffee/tea hybrid? Double the caffeine to get them through school pick up time and complaining at the nearest retail location of their choosing. Plus, tea is an antioxidant and you know how middle-aged white people go crazy for that antioxidants. I think you should come up with a fancy name for it and patent it,”

adjusting the straps on her backpack, she let out a deep sigh. what was it with the roberts siblings and being so difficult with one another? she decided to try again. “conny is at tech crew right now and i had nothing to do, so maybe…” she said trailing off, “maybe i could get it for him?”

Casey closed the book on her desk, it was evident that her studying- or pretending to study at the very least, if she was being honest- was on hold for the time being. “No cigar, Corina,” she shook her head, “One, I don’t have the money, two, I’m not rewarding this behavior,” she said, wiggling a finger in Corina’s direction, “If you want to do something nice for Conny, find a petri dish and grow a brain for him,” she suggested with a shrug of her shoulders, “I’m pretty sure I have a twenty in my piggy bank, I’ll give it to him when we get home- he’ll survive until then, I promise,”

CLOSED ! @whycaseyroberts​

corina took a long breath as she walked to casey’s desk. she was always so awkward around her and being the shy girl that she was, she found herself constantly scrambling for the right words to say. “hi casey,” she said politely, offering a nervous smile. “um, conny sent me to ask you for his twenty dollars back.” she said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

“Hello Corina,” Casey greeted impersonally, attempting to copy Corina’s tone and use of the other girl’s name. The smile on her face only lasted a moment however and soon her eyes were rolling to the ceiling as she tipped her chin with a small groan. It wasn’t as if Casey was normally perturbed by Corina Weston’s presence but the moment she found out why the other girl had approached her, she prickled. “Does he suddenly not have legs anymore? Did a Sea Witch put his voice inside a shell so that he could kiss the man of his dreams? You don’t have to be his lackey, Corina, he’s perfectly capable of not being lazy, I’ve seen it once before,” she added at her brother’s expense, “You tell him that for the standard fee of twenty US dollars or one hundred and eighteen thousand Paraguayan Gurani, he can kiss my ass,”

“Yeah. The flu shot itself won’t protect you entirely; but it does, likely, greatly reduce your risk of getting the virus.” Tessa explained. “I’m not sure of the exact stats; but I think it’s somewhere in the 40 to 60% range?” She’d have to double check that when she the chance, if she remembered. “And yes. You’re supposed to get it every year. The flu virus itself changes; so the vaccine changes to keep up. So you wanna get it annually in order to best protect yourself.”

“Best protect myself? Or like half-assed protect myself at best, man, flu shots suck. You know, if my Mom wasn’t a nurse we’d have to pay for that- we’d have to pay to get stabbed for a maybe 40% chance of being protected against the flu- who is making money from this? I bet they want us to think that it changes every year but it doesn’t, they’re just raking in all that sweet, sweet shot cash,”

“Here’s my PSA for the week… If you haven’t already gotten your flu shot this season, go get it. The flu’s not fun; and having to make up weeks worth of homework is even worse.” Tessa would know. She’d been out of the school the past two weeks with the flu, despite having gotten her flu shot. Talk about unfair. “And if you have already gotten your flu shot, thank you from all of us with shitty immune systems who still get sick despite getting the damn shot.” She knew she had to have contracted it from someone at school who hadn’t bothered with the shot yet. That was most likely the case; and it sucked that such a thing could so easily be prevented. 

“Wait, wait, wait. You can still get the flu even if you’ve had your flu shot? I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ve had my shot- how often do you have to get them? Is it every year? - and what is the point in getting a flu shot then?” Casey was firing a lot of questions at Tess but she had many more than that, the more she was thinking about the whole thing. In fact, she was starting to wonder if flu shots were some sort of conspiracy. To what end, she wasn’t sure of just yet.