Jasper was definitely starting to feel a little out of it now. One one hand, alcohol made her act out and go along with bad decisions more willingly than she was sober. (A miraculous feat, truly). On the other hand, it made her calmer, and forced her to sit on her ass. Jasper was caught somewhere in the middle, currently unable to feel her face. It took her a moment to understand and process what Mona had said. Watching as she bounced away, Jasper didn’t realize what exactly Mona had said until her friend was halfway towards the lake.

Her spark reignited, Jasper winked at Nate before beginning to walk away. Grabbing the bottom of her shirt, Jasper pulled it off and tossed it on the ground, showing off the black bra underneath. Once she reached the edge of the lake, Jasper promptly removed her shoes. Too drunk to deal with her shorts, the girl gently eased into the water, before turning to smile at Mona.

”The water feels amazing,” she sighed.

"Hell yeah," Mona said with a grin as she waved her arms around in the lake; the water had now stopped right above her waistline, and she no longer cared whether or not her hair got wet. "I hope you're prepared to get wasted tonight, Nate!" Mona yelled loudly as she gestured towards the boy who'd been just a tad too slow to beat Jasper into the lake. "There's three more tequila shots with your name on them!"

“Oh I am so game!”

Nate didn’t like to brag about it, but he was a little slow on the uptake. When the obvious was written in neon letters, he still had trouble seeing what was so clearly right in front of his eyes. So one could imagine just how long it took him to figure out just how much of a handful (no puns intended) these two were. But he wasn’t a quitter -- at least, not anymore! Even before he himself realized it, Nate’s shirt was gone, his wallet and phone tossed onto where the shirt had landed and Nate rushed into the shivering cold lake, immediately feeling just how freezing it was despite it being rather warm outside.

He stood rather close to the two ladies, hiding as much of his shivering body as he could, which even then it started to simmer down. “Yeah it is amazing!” when it’s not being unfriendly to my balls That last comment was for his own benefit.

Laughing as the alcohol continued to take over her body, Jasper splashed the two of them before diving into the water. Mona couldn't help but let out a high-pitched shriek as droplets of the cool water came splashing onto her face.

Shit that’s cold!

Nate stood there for a moment or two, coming to terms with just how refreshing that splash was despite how shockingly cold he found it. After that, he soon shot back with a splash of his own as he brought both of his slender arms up and raised up a mini-wave of lake water, hurling it directly into Jasper’s cocky face.

"Oh, so it's like that, huh?" Ramona said with a mischievous grin as she used the hair-tie on her wrist to put her locs into a quick bun. "In that case... I've got something for you both!" And without another word, Mona lifted her own hands and sent a wave of water towards both Nate and Jasper when she'd finally resurfaced. It was after then that she also decided to pull Nate by the shoulders in a successful attempt to dunk him underwater; afterwards, she retreated with her arms up to block whatever was coming next.

”Oh you guys are so on,” Jasper said, wiping her wet hair from her face. Sending another splash towards Mona, Jasper grinned at Nate once he resurfaced. ”Careful Mo. Don’t drown the poor guy.”

Nate’s long arms dangled above the water, fingers extended and his wrists moving around in the air, desperately reaching for something to latch onto while Mona had held him down with a surprisingly large amount of physical force. Around the same time Mona’s hands left his shoulders, Nate’s hands latched onto…something. He couldn’t tell exactly what they were but he grabbed them as if his last breath depended on it, not realizing that his legs were able to push him up and he immediately took advantage of this sudden realization.

Coming up from under the water, Nate’s breath was like it was the first breath of air he had taken ever. It only took him moments after the fact to see clearly - well, as clear as one could with the limited light of the moon - that what he grabbed onto wasn’t what he thought it was and, though somewhat delayed, he retracted his hands from Jasper’s chest and blushed. “I’m so sorry! I could have sworn that was your hands. I mean, they were soft like arm fat..I’m not saying you have it but like..” Okay, this was the part Nate never succeeded at. Apologizing when flustered was always a no win zone for Nathaniel Blake.

Jasper couldn’t help but laugh once again. In all reality, the young woman was more than accustomed to people grabbing her boobs at random times. Rather the people grabbing them meant to or as a joke, she didn’t know most of the time. What she did know, was that she didn’t really mind whenever it happened. Shaking her head as she smiled, Jasper watched as the young man's face switched through fifty different shades of red. Quickly deciding that she would like to see just how red Nate could turn, Jasper stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck before planting a drunken kiss on him. Releasing Nate and returning back to her normal height, Jasper shoved him back into the water before he had time to respond, causing Nate’s mouth to open as if he was going to say something and the noise of him screeching before bubbles of what was clearly him screaming from below muting his voice..

”Too much?” she asked, looking at Mona.

With wide eyes, Mona watched as her friend planted a smooch right on Nate's lips. And once the boy had been shoved back under water, she burst into yet another fit of laughs and shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, why not? But girl, all I know is if he wasn't already in love with you before, he definitely is now."

Jasper pursed her lips in a thoughtful response. Shrugging her shoulders as she waited on the boy to resurface, she stood there, her arms crossed. ”I mean… he is a little cute?” Mona pondered this statement for a few moments before simply nodding in agreement.

As though he was caught in a time loop, yet again Nate arose from the depths of the shallow part of Lake Meadow and gasped for what - again - felt like his famous last breath and again, he was wheezing due to the lack of airflow. “I’m okay!” He grinned, breathing heavily. “...I think.” He inhaled a few times to make sure everything was fine. Aside from a few deep coughs that should have resulted in internal bleeding, he was fine. After he took just a moment, he blinked at the two. “So, yeah that kiss! Wowzers!” Nate chuckled. “Best kiss I’ve had since high school!”

Jasper rolled her eyes, returning back to her usual bitchy self. ”Oh shut up. Freaking nerd.”

Nate’s gaze stayed on Jasper and moved to Mona for a quick second as if searching for an answer in her eyes but he found nothing. So, as those blue gems returned to her round face, he spoke. “Sorry, did I say something wrong?” He asked, blinking in confusion.

"Uh, of course not," Mona said as she approached the pair and gently patted Nate on the back. "Sorry for almost drowning you, bud. But, hey! What do you two say to getting out of this cold ass lake and getting some more to drink? Especially you." Her last couple of words were directed towards Nate, who could probably tell from the look on her face that there was no way he'd get out of his 3 tequila shots. Boy, was she determined.

Jasper shrugged her shoulders. ”I’m down.” She began to make her way out of the water before she turned back to Nate. ”And nah man. You didn’t do anything. I’m just like… reaaaalllyyyy fucking drunk.” Stepping up onto the bank, the dark haired girl did her best to try and find her missing shirt. ”Does… anyone know where my shirt went?”

He was last out of the bank and Nate surveyed the surrounding area. Under the moon, he was afforded limited light, so he couldn’t necessarily find her shirt. “Wait…” He looked to the shirtless Jasper. “Didn’t you take it out in the lake?” He asked her, unsure about the whereabouts of her shirt, shaking his head quickly. “Well, nevermind that! Until then, you can just wear my shirt!” He squatted down and picked up his blue polo shirt covered in dirt. “I know it’s not your style but it’s gotta be better than nothing, right?” He chuckled with a grin.

”Nah, I don’t think I did…. Maybe? I dunno.” Still looking around, Jasper gave Nate a small smile when he offered her his shirt. Shrugging her shoulders as she took it from him, the girl attempted to shake off most of the dirt before slipping it on. The shirt was just a little bit too big for her, but that was fine. Spotting Mona, Jasper smirked at her friend before asking her a question. ”You really think he’ll survive another three shots?”

“Of course I can!” Nate proclaimed as he hiccupped. At least I think I can… The thought came as he felt a little woozy. He couldn’t tell if it was due to the booze or the repeated dunks he took in the lake.

After shooting a hesitant glance at both Jasper and Nate, Mona simply shrugged her shoulders and continued on to fix her skirt. “Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

And it was at that moment, Nate truly was in for a long ass night.

“Man, I can’t figure her out.”

Theodore felt like shit. His head was pounding, neck and shoulders felt sore as shit, and he was pretty sure a few of his ribs were bruised. In what was probably his second most idiotic idea ever (the first being when he consumed the mystery drink thanks to his best pal), Theo was left in the eye of the shitstorm that all started because Cassian Lee couldn’t take a hint. He just had to keep on pushing Theo until the point of no return and now, as royally fucked up things were, the cherry that topped it was Mac.

Fucking Mac.

Never in Theodore’s life had he felt such an intense, not to mention simultaneous, confusion and anger when it came to someone like MacKenna Diedrickson. She was an absolute bombshell, but hell be damned that he understood her. In his mind, what he thought he did was noble. It might have been macho and maybe on some level, he did it because he hated Cassian and not because he wanted to defend Mac, but for her to react how she did was, well it was confusing. Cassian was rude to her and disrespected her without a moment’s hesitation, so Theo came to her defense. Yet, after it was all said and done, Theo was still given the third degree.

As he exhaled, wincing from what was obviously internal pain, Theo glanced at Connor with a weary expression, one that was the visual definition of ‘I’m so done’. “I’m ready to blow this joint.”

Holy hell. Everything exploded around Connor in a blink of an eye and the situation escalated in the worst way possible. The brawl ended quickly, quicker than Connor could react to. The blond was the last person that’s allowed to be judgemental but he’ll be damned if he thinks Theo handled it well. Connor simply shot an apologetic look towards Mac at her final words. With a sigh, he held his hand out towards Theo.

”Man, that wasn’t how I saw the evening unfolding.” Connor fished out his pill bottle, offering the Bonfamille a few. From experience, he’s seen Theo lose it but never to this extent. The whole situation reminded him of a few things in his past. ”Jeez man, what happened back there, Theo? I know Cassian can be a bit much at times- well, most times, but he’s mostly all bark.”

As he stood up and walked a few steps to a nearby table, he grabbed a handful into a bucket of melted ice and Theo downed two of the pills that Connor offered him with a handful of ice-cold water. He shook his head from just how chilly it was and winced with every motion his neck made. “I don’t know man. I just...lost it,” he sighed, turning back to Con. “All I know is that piece of shit Cassian Lee pushed all the right buttons and got what he wanted. Not only does he have the judgemental Lola Russo on his side, now even Mac is less to me and more towards him.”

Connor initially planned to just sleep in his car after the party, let the drunkenness fade. However, his mood to party has all but disappeared. As expected of the Great Bash. His mind drifted to how childish Cassian was acting, nearly playground-level insults. What was worse was how Theo reacted. He sympathized with him, if he was still his old self the situation might’ve played entirely the same. Lastly, Connor couldn’t help agreeing with what Mac said.

There was an awkward tension that filled the air; the gawkers pretending to be occupied were giving them both leery glances. Connor had sobered up quickly, what little buzz he had going was entirely gone. ”Don’t worry about that. Mac probably went away with worse opinions of both of you.” He said sharply. ”Fuck what Cassian and Lola think of you right now, worry about yourself. Are you alright? Do you need me to drive you home or to the hospital or something?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about me, bro! I’m a little banged up but I can walk.” Theo might have felt immense pain in his upper body but he wasn’t seeing stars, which he was thankful for. “But what I will need your help getting my ass away from these annoying ass onlookers who DON’T KNOW WHEN TO MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS!” Immediately after he shouted, all of the progress he made to find himself comfortable and in a place where he wasn’t wincing every five seconds went out the window.

Theo waited for the pain to subside and when he wasn’t wincing as much, he stepped a few feet closer to Connor. “Since I royally screwed up your chance to be my wingman, I’m giving you a different job! You’re going to be my escort and your first job is to get me from this cabin to campus without me dying.”

Connor winced at Theo’s sudden shout at the onlookers. Seems like he’s still letting it all out. The blond tossed his prescribed paracetamol bottle at Theodore. ”Keep it. Seems like you need it more than me. Just don’t tell my private doctor.” He half-joked, trying to lighten up the somber mood. ”Come on, lean on me. We’ll head back to campus. The party’s a blowout anyway.”

The blond fished in his pockets, surprised to find a ping pong ball there. The duo was pretty far from the beer pong table now. ”One sec.” He threw the ball, with another high arc it cut through the air and strongly landed into the cup. ”I’m telling ya, Theo, that was an easy win...” Connor said as the cup shook violently, threatening to fall over. He didn’t look back as it stabilized itself. With a chuckle he let the redhead lean on him again.

Theo couldn’t agree more and he walked with Connor, pushing through those who tried to get a piece of the person that Cassian Lee showed mercy to (their words, not Theo’s). “So much for this being the biggest party of the year,” Theo murmured, it being the last thing he said while at the party. This was when he and Connor disappeared into the darkness of the woods, disappointment on their minds and a gentle reminder that hype is often just that.

As the minutes timed closer to eight in the morning, the set time when a special assembly was announced (as well as being known for weeks now), the staff had met prior to the third years rolling in. They met behind closed doors and in the office of Emilia Beaumonte. When they all had gathered -- or at least those of the head of the major departments -- a wide variety of topics were brought up but none were prioritized higher than what came to the attention of the Head of Campus Security, Frank Robinson.

Frank was someone who took his job seriously. Unlike most who enjoyed the scenery a bit too much for their own good, Frank was a by the books kind of guy. As a former Meadow Police Officer who had been one of the toughest, yet surprisingly just, officers of MVPD’s recent history, he applied that to his job at Head of Campus Security. He took great offense when rules were broken and took it personally. At the same time, when rules were broken and he didn’t know about it, that’s an act of war to him.

For five years straight, he tried to stop this so-called “Great Bash” from happening and every year he managed to at least know about it and stop it from going all night but this year was different. The kids were getting craftier and Frank didn’t find out about the party until one of his officers brought a recorded fight of two students and a Youtube video, which now has over 50K views on Instagram, that was a bunch of cellphone recorded videos of the party.

So naturally, he brought this to the Headmistress’ attention. If you thought he took it personally, the Headmistress, though when the talks happened it wasn’t clear on how this affected her, when it was all said and done, she assured the muscular man that she would handle this in her own way.

Fast Forward a day and she stood solo against a podium centered at the central platform of the Meadow Auditorium that normally held assemblies (not to be confused with the theater and arts center where plays and the like were held).

As the third years started to arrive, their whispers became louder and louder. The ever professional and stone-faced Headmistress simply waited for all of them to be seated. Some appeared to be more energetic than others, making it apparent that about half the students who now sat and filled up almost every seat in the first seven rows, were clearly morning people while others looked like they barely slept the night before. Knowing what she does about some of them, she probably knew why a large percentage of the young adults she saw were running on low.

But she wasn’t going to lead with that. Emilia was a lot of things but she wasn’t about to make them feel worse. She had to lift up their spirits and to do that, she would begin with what she had planned on saying long before the news about their unsanctioned party came to light.

Emilia lifted her hand up, signaling them all to quiet it down and she began.

“It is wonderful to see you all here! I do apologize if this is just a tad earlier than any of us would prefer, but thank you for arriving on time. I wanted to take a moment to congratulate you Juniors. You have done what most in this world aren’t able to do for one reason or another,” she paused, her smile gracing them all as she surveyed the students left to right. “You have reached your third year of college! Be proud of this accomplishment. You are here and that much closer to getting your respective degrees!”

As she let that sit with them, she saw some faces that barely react and others that brushed what she said off as the usual rhetoric. And that was fine. She understood these young people couldn’t possibly appreciate the little things of what they have accomplished.

“Take a moment and congratulate yourself!” She clapped for them, hoping some would follow suit (some did).

After the moment passed, Emilia allowed them to sit in silence for nearly a minute. When that minute was up, her resting stone face soon turned frigid and her gaze matched it plenty. “And while I am most pleased with how far you all have come, there are a few among you who chose to celebrate your accomplishments in a way that disrespects those of you who abide by our rules, that disrespects the faculty, and that disrespects the prestige of not only this university but the entire Ivy League.”

As she spoke, she sighed that, if one really was paying attention, you could just feel the disappointment emanating from her. “I can’t express how dissatisfied I am with how you chose to behave. Of course, it brings me great joy that you could find reasons to enjoy your accomplishments, but what you did and…how you chose to make a mockery of everything Meadow University stands for pains me beyond anything anyone here can begin to comprehend.” She took a moment before continuing, inhaling and exhaling slowly. “And this is why it pains me, but because the few decided to break so many rules and because they thought they were so much better than you, as of right now, everyone who sits in this room is placed on Academic Probation until further notice.”

And that, as they say, was that. Emilia left the podium, left the platform, and left the students to sit with that. Whether they accept this new normal or try to appeal, this was going to be their life until they proved they could follow the rules of the university.

When the time came for Emilia to finally step back from her podium and exit the room Cassian was among the group of students who groaned out loud. Perhaps his reasons weren’t the same as theirs but right now he could empathize with him. Apparently, it wasn’t enough that his head felt like it was going to explode and his swim coach was waiting to pounce on him at practice tonight after learning how much he had drank, but now this information?

She’s going to kill me

Eventually he followed suit behind the crowds of people out of the auditorium, his eyes scanning the crowd for a familiar face, he would’ve taken any of the people he knew and.. mostly liked. Luck has it his eyes landed on a furious looking blonde bombshell who had stormed out and disappeared from his apartment that Saturday night, after not quite getting what she wanted.

There’s no way she was still…

“You look as peachy as ever. Getting in touch with your lawyer to sue ‘queen’ Emilia?” His voice was relaxed, and he leaned against the wall beside her with his arms loosely crossed against his chest.

Although Lola had clearly heard Cassian speaking to her, she chose to act like the grown up she was and pointedly ignore him. She continued to angrily tap away at her phone instead, and even went as far as to begin her trek away from the immediate auditorium surroundings without so much as a glance at him. No matter how much she thought about it, the blonde still struggled to understand how he had the balls to even look at her after the humiliation he’d put her through.

Cassian let out a sigh and was half tempted to let her walk away, playing these games was never his cup of tea, but Lola was his friend... and this was his job, or something. So he pushed off from the wall and quickened his pace to catch up with her. Being a good seven inches or so taller than her allowed him to easily match her pace once he caught up, and fed into his nonchalance when addressing her. He might have caved in and chased after her, but he wasn’t going to acknowledge her pouting, at least until she acknowledged him.

“So you want to take a stroll around the courtyard. Seems redundant. Why don’t we sit down and chat.”

“I’m not interested,” she answered curtly, still refusing to move her eyes away from her phone screen and tearing across the university’s courtyard. It didn’t take a genius to realize Lola was still very much upset about the events that had transpired between them after the party, and had no plans to ever forgive Cassian for it.

“Can’t you play nice while I’m chasing after you? Lola, slow dow-“ Cassian grumbled, cutting his words off sharply as he planted his feet in the same moment he grabbed her bicep. Despite her attempts to power walk through the courtyard to get away from him, he was able to momentarily cease her movement and then continued what he was saying while standing somewhat nearer to her, “On the contrary to how I may come off, I don’t go about my day with the intentions of pissing people off… Well, save for Theo-- he deserves to have his fragile feathers rustled… but definitely not my friends. So stop being a brat and just talk to me, Lola. Why are you walking in circles to get away from me?”

If Lola had been annoyed before, it was nothing compared to how furious she felt when Cassian grabbed her by the arm and forcefully turned her in his direction. How dare he lay a hand on her?! “You think you can just make a fool out of me and then come around acting as if nothing happened?” she hissed, jerking her arm away from his grip and looking like she was ready to gauge his eyes out. “Come on, Cass. I thought you were smarter than that.”

“Make a fool out- what?” Cassian’s confused expression almost broke out into a grin as he connected the dots and had to pass off a rogue chuckle as a cough into his hand before continuing in an even tone. “Lola, are you serious? You’re mad at me because I didn’t sleep with you? Come on.” This time he couldn’t help but conceal the slight upward shift at the corner of his lips. Truthfully he was amused, usually girls were appreciative to not have a drunk asshole trying to sleep with them but here was Lola, wishing him dead with just her narrowed eyes.

If Lola had been upset before, the blatant amusement painted all over the smug bastard’s face didn’t help matters. At this rate, she was honestly taking internal bets as to how long it would take her to crack. “It’s not that you didn’t sleep with me, Cassian Lee-” she began to explain through gritted teeth, her usual cool and collected composure now hanging by the thinnest of threads. “It’s the fact that you led me on and then fucking turned me down because you’ve got some ugly little tomboy in the back of your mind!”

Cassian could see that she was angry, hell the whole courtyard could see it on her face if they looked at her, but there was just something humorous about the situation. And even despite the risk of Cassian looking like a “genuine asshole” he couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore. Not quite doubled over, he let out a good, hearty string of laughter and shook his head in disbelief, where the hell did girls like Lola even come from?

The crisp, hard slap across his face that could have rang across the courtyard was drowned out by the sea of upset students exiting the assembly. But it seemed that not even Lola’s physical gesture of rage was enough to phase him, because Cass was still looking as fresh as he did before. Instead of releasing her anger, his unphased expression only served to fan the flames.

“Fuck, Lo, I’m sorry for that, truly-” Cassian choked back the last of his laughter, ”It’s rude of me to laugh like that when you’re obviously on the verge of morphing into the green-eyed monster, but me leading you on? How did I lead you on? You were banging my best mate in our flat all last year.”

Of course, Lola decided to follow his example of ignoring what he was right about and focusing on whatever else he had said instead. “Hmmmm, let’s see-- ” she began, pretending to think for a second as she raised her fist in the air and lifted a finger for each sin Cassian had committed against her. “You took me back to your place, you kissed me, you had your hands all over me groping me everywhere, you took my clothes off, and when I’m down on my fucking knees is when you suddenly change your mind?! You don’t think that’s fucking humiliating?!”

“You weren’t on your knees-” Cassian started but quickly moved on from the unimportant detail while Lola’s death glare intensified, “Lola, I was drunk. I wasn’t trying to humiliate you, I was being responsible. Being told ‘no’ isn’t the end of the world. Do you really think we should be sleeping with each other when we’re honestly interested in other people?”


The blonde could only shake her head and let out a dry, sardonic laugh. “I knew it,” Lola growled coldly, in both satisfaction and rage. “I fucking knew it.” It was as if something had snapped inside of her. The boiling anger that had been coursing through her veins just moments before slowly turned into ice, filling her with a wrath of steel she’d never quite felt before. An odd sense of calm seemed to settle upon her, and it reassured her that the steps she’d taken on her way to a well-deserved revenge had their merit.

“Knew what, Lola? That I’m interested in someone? It’s not like I’ve actively tried to hide the fact. But great deductions, Nancy Drew: you’ve cracked the case.” Cassian replied with a good deal of sarcasm, his arms drew across his chest a signal that he was getting tired of the conversation. With how the rest of the day was sure to go, Cass was growing increasingly disinterested in Lola’s tantrum.

The young woman snorted, and even cracked her first smile since this whole conversation with Cassian started-- an eerie grin with pitch-black eyes as lifeless as a shark’s.... That dangerous calm before a raging tornado. “Then I guess all that’s left to say is that I wish you the best of luck on your little safari adventure,” she said with a small shrug, seemingly about to turn on her heel to make her exit but stopping herself to face Cass again instead. It was time to drop the parting grenade.

“I just hope you’re both able to find the time to spend together, you know? With how upset the headmistress was to put everyone except me on academic probation, how furious her daddy must be about the probation maybe messing up her scholarship and how livid your swim coach is after I sent all of them that saucy little video of the party, I’m not really sure there’ll be enough time to spare for you guys to enjoy yourselves...” she trailed off, her grin now turning into a triumphant beam.

“Nooooo, you wouldn’t.” Cassian’s face dropped as seconds passed by without her admitting she was all talk, but this was exactly something she would do. Then her words really sunk in and images of his coach holding him under the water to kill him drained the color from his face, “God, how did Blake put up with you?” Cassian grumbled before stalking off, he needed to find out from a trustworthy source if this was truly his last day to live.

“He knew better than to fuck with me!” Lola called out after him, waving at Cass’s back and watching with evil glee as he hurried off in the opposite direction, probably to do some damage control. It was a hard lesson to learn-- not just for him, but for Mac and anyone else to dare get in the way of her goals. Yet it was a lesson that would stick with everyone else for the rest of their college careers.

“What!?” Joey exclaimed. Sitting near the back and as close to the exit of the auditorium as she could manage, Joey sat in her seat, bearing witness to such a travesty that it made her physically ill on top of actually being physically ill.

It’s true, Joey wasn’t feeling like her best self. She barely talked to anyone for most of the day yesterday but that was mostly due to how weak she felt after getting back to the sorority house. She didn’t know if it was the mild heartbreak of seeing Lottie and Kieran, the indigestion from a 3AM snack that didn’t agree with her or the remnants of the effect of the E that she stupidly took, thinking it was a good idea and that it would make her feel better. In the moment it did, but the moment passed and for over 24 hours, Joey immediately regretted it.

Sitting there, yeah she was trying to stomach the news of academic probation. She shared the sentiments of those who thought it was unfair, an abuse of power, and just flat out rude. But then you had some who, similarly to Joey, were too hungover from the Bash to register exactly what happened. And the truth was, as much as she was feeling all types of nauseous, Joey had bigger things to worry about. Of course she had seen the video and of course she knew that Cass and Theo probably were most to blame, but she didn’t want to cast the blame solely on them, not when she was at the party too and especially not when she indulged in some of the illegal activity the Headmistress explained. Besides…

buzzbuzzbuzz

Inside her striped shirt front pocket, over the left side of her chest, Joey felt a strong vibration from her phone. She ignored it for the time-being but then she felt another and then another. It was at the point she checked it just so she could shut it off. Before that could happen, however, she read the message quickly. It mentioned Jasper and it seemed to come from that cutie Nathan Blake. Joey also realized one, little discrepancy. “Nate, he didn’t…” She giggled, though part of her did feel bad. He was probably in for a world of hurt, especially if a certain twin brother found out.

Joey wasn’t sure if she should feel terrible for not caring enough about Nate’s ordeal or not, but she thought about it more and pocketed her phone, moving her legs along to the courtyard, taking a seat on the cool, refreshing grass under a pine tree. Her legs were brought halfway to her chest and Joey fooled around on her phone, face-timing with her twin brother. “Brad, hey! What time is it for you?”

“A little after five,” Brad said, smiling at Joey’s weary face. “You look like hell.”

Joey laughed. “Gee thanks,” she said, shaking her head with a smile. “You don’t look so hot yourself,” she teased, partially sticking her tongue out of her twin.

It had been nearly nearly two years since Brad had enlisted in the Navy. Joey hadn’t graduated from the English boarding school she was shipped off to after their sweet sixteen and he was already off to their form of basic training. So, really, the only chances she had to talk, let alone see Brad, was on the off chance his shore leave was near wherever she was staying at, or their bi-weekly facetime chats. She treasured these moments and anything else was non-essential.

“So, what’s going on?” Joey asked. Before she got an answer, she happened to look up and there was Lottie, walking over. Rolling her eyes, she sighed and glanced down at her screen. “Sorry, I’ll have to call you later.”

“Oh,” Brad said, disappointed, “Well I’ll be free for the next five hours. Nothing to do here. Talk later then!” Brad waved and kissed before the call ended.

Joey stayed seated but brought her legs closer to her and balanced her phone in her lap and looked up. “Hey,” Joey said, half-smiling up at the petite blonde that towered over her.

“What the fuck is up with that?!” Lottie cried out as soon as she’d reached her girl, jerking her head in the direction of the auditorium they’d just left and plopping herself next to Joey. “They can’t just put everyone in probation! Do they even realize what that means for the athletes and the artists?! And, like: how do they even know if I was at that party or not?! For all they know, I was watching Netflix in bed with you the whole weekend! Or at least that’s what I told Dad, anyway. He wasn’t happy when we talked, but after I swore up and down I hadn’t been near that party he told me he was looking into it. And you know when DA Diedrikson says he’s gonna look into it, whoever’s in his way better be in for a war.”

Her smile lessened, though it still held its u-shape. She had spent most of the time Lottie did complaining glancing at her phone, checking for messages, so a lot of what the blonde girl had said went in one ear and out the other. She caught the last of it, though and found herself nodding, if not slowly. “Yeah, I’m sure,” Joey said, her head lifting itself up and resting against the cool bark, its rough surface providing a weird, relaxing calm for Joey’s rising annoyance. “So what’s up?” She asked.

When you knew someone as well as Lottie did Joey, it didn’t take long to notice the signs when something was bothering her. The body language, the lack of enthusiasm and intentional disinterest in what was being said… It was textbook ‘Joey is annoyed’ behavior. The question was what, out of all the million reasons she could have, was the main reason for her annoyance.

“I guess I should be asking you that,” the blonde said curtly, her cheerful manner giving way to a cautious curiosity. “What’s up with you, J? Everything okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Couldn’t be better! Absolutely peachy!” She wasn’t able to pull off sarcasm like most would. When she attempted it, it sounded more like someone putting on their best, fake impersonation of a person successfully using sarcasm. When she did it, the blanket that she typically put over herself to hide her true feelings was nonexistent. She looked at Lottie and asked, “Why do you ask?”

Uh oh. This wasn’t good. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because of how you’re acting right now?” Lottie quickly shot back, her eyebrows knitted together in a frown now. She didn’t appreciate the tone Joey was taking with her. She was her girlfriend, and they were supposed to be open and honest with each other.

Joey rolled her eyes, not bothering to turn her head around to hide it from Lottie. And since she wasn’t doing anything to hide how she really felt (aside from outright admitting it), she put her phone in her pocket and stood up. “Sorry but I have to pee,” she said, abruptly walking away and to the nearest women’s bathroom she could find, which happened to be a lot closer to the auditorium than she thought and she went inside.

“Don’t apologize, because I’m not leaving you alone until you tell me what’s up,” Lottie called out after her, hurrying away after Joey and taking guard outside the door of the bathroom stall she had occupied. “I’m still here, Jo. I’m not going anywhere, so you might as well just tell me what’s going on or we’ll be here all day.”

Her ruse didn’t work. She didn’t have to pee, but she knew Lottie knew that she had a weak bladder, so that excuse was an easy one to rely on. She was just going to head in the direction of the bathroom and go somewhere else, but when she saw Lottie had started to follow her and was hot on her trail, she had no choice but to actually go inside. “You’re going to be waiting a while!” Joey shouted from inside the stall. “I drank a lot of water this morning.” Another lie. She didn’t feel like talking and just wanted to be left alone but Lottie, the Persister, didn’t get the memo.

“I’ve got all the time in the world, pumpkin!” the short girl insisted, crossing her arms in front of her chest and making no motion to leave the bathroom. There was no way she would be letting this go anytime soon. Charlotte knew that the longer whatever was happening festered inside of Joey, the worse it would be when things finally exploded. “You can talk and pee at the same time, you know. Your mouth doesn’t stop working when your bladder does.”

She sat on the shockingly clean toilet seat, repeatedly tapping her left foot while she considered all of her options. Lottie not leaving made her anxious and knowing she wasn’t going to leave wasn’t doing much for the bottomless pit-like feeling she felt in her gut. The longer she sat there, the more she remained fixated on a singular image: the sight of Lottie with Kieran. It played back like it was the only thing she could see. The result of that was her current mood. And it festered. She didn’t want to feel like this nor could she explain why.

But in a moment that flew by her, so did the stall door and Joey rushed out, passing Lottie by and stopping in front of the sink. She glanced up at the mirror, turning her head slightly to the right and gave the blonde as much attention as she could muster. “Why are you even here, Lo?” Joey asked. “I thought for sure you would have been clinging to Kiki any moment you got the chance to.” She remembered exactly how desperate Lo was to see Kiki, so her being here now, even after Joey had excused herself, didn’t make a lot of sense to her. “Or did you guys get enough time together in the cabin and now you want to be with me?” She asked bitterly.

“You can’t be serious…” Lottie muttered in disbelief, slowly shaking her head before turning to stare at Joey. Out of all the possible things that could be bothering her girlfriend, this was possibly the last one Charlotte was expecting. And the more she thought about it, the dumber it sounded. “That’s why you’re mad? Because I wanted to spend time with Kiki after months of not seeing him, and even after the however many times we hung out during the summer?”

“It’s not because you wanted to spend time with him or even that you spent the summer with me,” Joey said, facing Lottie, hand positioned on the edge of the sink. “It’s that you didn’t even bother asking if I wanted to spend time with him as well!” Joey shouted, her voice cracking. Echoing. “Instead, you just went up and left me without so much of a goodbye.” Her hand gripped tightly on the edge of the white sink.

“Are you listening to yourself right now?!” Charlotte yelled back, the absurdity of this whole argument making her scoff. What in the actual fuck was happening right now? “You’re pissed at me because I didn’t say bye to you, Joanna?! Seriously?! Are you jealous of Kiki or something? Because I’ve been hooking up with him for three years now without it being a problem! Why is this suddenly all a big fucking deal?” She had no idea what had gotten into Joey, but whatever it was needed to go now.

Joey wished she could tell Lottie the reason why. She wished that she had an answer that made sense, but the soul-crushing truth was she didn’t because even Joey didn’t know why. Yes, it was true that she had literally no problems with her and Kieran, well until a couple of days ago. Even them talking about him didn’t strike a chord, but something changed the moment she ran into Kieran’s arms. For nearly two days (when she was thinking about it), she tried to come up with a reason as to why she was so angry, why she felt so betrayed, and why she had kissed Jade for (mostly) all the wrong reasons.

At the end of it all, she couldn’t and that’s what frustrated her the most. That’s why she’s been moody and it’s why she couldn’t bring herself to look Lottie in the eyes. She knew her girlfriend was right. She knew it and it irritated her even more. Moments before speaking, she let out a defeated sigh. “What’s the point in telling you? It won’t change anything,” Joey said quietly, though still loud enough for Lottie to hear her.

As much as Charlotte wanted to stay angry at Joey, there was no way her girlfriend’s crestfallen expression and defeated tone didn’t tug at her heartstrings. She hated seeing her hurting, hated making her sad, and hated knowing she was the reason behind it all. “Baby, what’s going on?” Lottie asked the platinum-haired girl in a kinder voice, reaching out to cup Joey’s face in her hands and basically pleading with her eyes for an answer. “Tell me what I’m doing wrong so I can fix it. I love you, okay? You know I don’t want to see you like this.”

When Lottie’s hand came to caress Joey’s cheek, she immediately slapped it away and stepped back about a foot and a half. “Then don’t! Go see your precious Kiki instead!” Joey’s venomous words came out and she knew they stung harder than anything Joey had said in a long time.

The spite in Joanna’s words hurt Charlotte harder than any injury she had ever suffered in her life, even as an athlete. The blonde could almost hear her heart shattering in her chest, filling her with a pain she’d never thought possible. For the last three years, Lottie had devoted her time to making her girlfriend the happiest, most spoiled girl she could be. Here she had been: making sure her JoJo was loved and cared for in her highs and lows, in all circumstances, unconditionally. And this is how she was paying her back? By pushing her away and hurting her with harsh words-- all over an unsaid goodbye?

Nope, not happening. Not on her watch.

Although her eyes were full of tears that were quickly streaming down her cheeks, Charlotte icy resolve was definite. “You know what? I’m going to do just that,” she said coldly, walking past Joey with squared shoulders. She was about to reach the exit when she turned to face the girl one last time. And even when she knew what she would say next was probably the last nail in the coffin, Lottie knew it needed to be done for her own peace of mind. “I’m done with you, Joanna. I’m done with all of this nonsense. After all that we’ve been through, I don’t deserve to be treated this way, and I’m not going to put up with it. I’m going to crash at Mac’s for a few weeks, or at least until I get the living part figured out for the rest of the semester. I’ll get my stuff from your room after practice and be gone before you’re back.” And with one last sigh, Charlotte turned on her heel and walked away.

Wait. Don’t go. I’m sorry.

Joey’s voice betrayed her. Her timing was too little and way too late for it to matter; and when it set in, so did she onto the ground. She gripped the sink until the shortness of her arm fell down, smacking on the tiled floor. There she sat, cold and alone. She craved comfort but in solitude, the only one to comfort her were fractured memories and a broken heart barely holding itself together.