Tw homophobia, misogyny

{August 27}

Kourtney was at her room desk, bent over a pile of sun catchers she was painting. Her mom had been encouraging her to incorporate arts and crafts into her nighttime routine as a way of relaxing before bedtime. Her anxiety attacks had been increasing at night and she found herself having trouble sleeping and staying asleep more and more lately. 

In front of her lay a group of stained glass sun catchers thoughtfully designed for each of her friends with a card stock, handwritten note that she'd give most of them on the first day of school. Nini's was the first to be finished, being that she wanted to make sure it got to her on time for the first day of her senior year in LA. It was a painted portrait of a globe paired next to an envelope with her new mailing address and her carefully crafted letter for her. 

Nini, 

I'm making different sun catchers for all our friends for the first day of our senior year. For you, I chose a globe to represent how the world is as big as you want to make it, and how many people's lives you've touched across it. I miss you so much and I'm so proud of you. I hope all your dreams are living up to your expectations. Keep making all your bops and come visit soon! And tell me everything about LA!

I love you so much bestie! 

Kourt   ♥️

Her mom knocked on the door as she set her pen down. "How are the sun catchers going sweetheart?"  

"Good, I just finished Nini's. I've got the mailing address and envelope ready and everything." 

"I'll make sure that gets in the mail tomorrow. Anyways I've got some news for you." 

"Good or bad?" 

"Good, at least it should be" 

"I'm listening"

"The empty house next door just took down the for sale sign. The landlord told me on the phone this afternoon that a family of four will be moving in this weekend. There are two teenagers and one of them is your age! You should get to know them." 

Kourtney sighed, "Okay I'll do my best." 

"You don't look too excited", her mom inquired sitting down next to her.

"It's just that, I get so nervous talking to new people when my other friends aren't around lately. I used to be much more extroverted and I don't know why that changed." 

"Social anxiety is a very valid and common thing Kourt. A lot of stuff gets harder when you get older, you'd be surprised at how many clients tell me they see their younger self as more fearless and outgoing and that they miss that."

But the girl kept rambling the thoughts that drove her crazy in her head all day, "My career plans don't allow me to be this socially anxious though, if I want to be an actress and keep this influencer thing up, I'm going to have to be able to think and answer questions on the spot and not appear so terrified in interviews. Everyone is judging what you're saying all the time everywhere, and if you say one wrong thing it gets taken out of context and suddenly the whole world hates you and thinks you're a bad person, and I don't think I can deal with that mom. It's too much, maybe this life isn't for me."

"Kourtney breathe", she instructed. "Celebrities are human, I guarantee a lot more celebrities suffer from anxiety than you think. It will get easier with time."

"Will it though? I can't even make a simple phone call without getting nervous these days, I don't like being so anxious. I used to be such a badass, I would openly yell at bigots and make live speeches in front of thousands with no second thought."

"When you're young you feel less judged and there is less peer pressure to be a certain way in general. Kids don't tend to overthink as much as adults, especially in social scenarios, and now you have the pressure of the world watching. Of course that's going to be scary! But for the record, I still think my beautiful and strong daughter is pretty badass, and that you're handling all this change well. I'm proud of you." 

The two shared a tight hug, only breaking away when Mrs. Greene's daughter was ready to let go. 

"Thanks, mom. Talking to you always helps me feel better." 

"You can talk to me anytime."

Kourtney's mom started to walk away when her teenager stopped her at the door with a new thought that she felt was false hope. But she did remember a certain boy saying over the summer that he was in search of a new school after getting expelled from his old one. It was probably reaching for the family to move states, right?

"Mom?" 

"Yes, honey?"

"You don't happen to know their names, do you? Of the family moving in?"

"No, he didn't say."

~

{August 28}

"I'm so glad you've decided to come!" 

Seb gleefully voiced as he wrapped his arms around Ashlyn in the backseat of the orange beetle. (Contrary to popular belief, Big Red actually does drive his own car sometimes.)

Carlos was in the passenger seat snacking on a package of Fritos, wearing a sparkly rainbow dress that Kourtney sewed for him and designer sunglasses, even though it was forecasted to rain. 

"Carlos! You look so good! You are literally the moment!" Ashlyn squealed. 

"Thank you thank you!" He dramatized running his hand down the sequences and handing the bag of chips out to her. "Want one?" 

"Sure," she shrugged popping one in her mouth to munch on. 

"We're taking our baby gay to her first pride, excited!?" Carlos exclaimed patting Ashlyn on the shoulder.

She smiled back at him, "Yes! But if anyone asks, I'm here to support my besties," she eyed Big Red, "and my supportive boyfriend. Nothing to do with me and my suspected multiple gender-loving antics," Ashlyn winked as she said those last few words.

"Lips are sealed, promise." 

With that, he motioned his hand to his lips and turned it like a key as Seb repeated after him. 

Ashlyn trusted them, but could she trust the world?

*

The streets were lined with happy, cheering people. It was a peaceful, friendly scene with different patterned rainbow flags in every corner of the air. There was live music, live dancing by queer performers, and people of all ages. The group had just walked past a toddler walking in between and holding the hands of two men which they assumed were her Dads. 

"Awww" Ash put her hand over her swelling heart and cooed at the sight.

Her boyfriend looked at her in admiration and reached for her hand as the four of them kept making their way through the busy road.

"Nine times out of ten these are safe but just keep your heads up and stay close. We are still in Utah." Seb reminded them. 

"Way to ruin to moment babe," Carlos playfully slapped his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Yeah I don't know if I needed the reminder that pride parades in Utah can be dangerous," Ashlyn told Seb cynically. 

"Sorry" 

She wrapped her arms around Seb hugging him from the side. "No you're good Sebby, you're just looking out for us."

Along the walkway, a sapphic couple was handing out educational pamphlets and miniature pride flags that they each grabbed. Near there, someone had a booth of label pins they were selling that Ashlyn stared at and admired for a solid five minutes. There in front of her were pins with every flag she could think of, some she didn't even recognize.  

"These are beautiful, did you make them yourself?" She asked the vendor.

"Yup! They're all homemade"

She picked out two heart-shaped pins; one with the general pride flag for herself and one with the bisexual flag for a special someone. 

Once reunited back with the group, she carefully slipped the bisexual pin into Big Red's pocket while Carlos and Seb were too busy endorsed in each other to be looking. He grinned at her wildly when he took it out of his coat pocket and took a glance for himself. 

"I love it," he whispered while kissing her forehead "thank you cupcake."  

*

A quarter after one, it starts to get windy. The air becomes cooler and the sun hides behind a ray of clouds. A sprinkle turns into a downpour and the four kids huddle under a rainbow umbrella desperately trying to keep warm. 

"It's August, it's not supposed to be this cold!" Big Red shivered, staying close to the group for the body heat, one arm wrapped around Ashlyn.

"Yeah, I should have worn a tailcoat with this" Carlos agreed. 

"A what?" Seb asked, somehow managing to think of an animal's tail within a coat.

"It's just an expensive dressy suit coat" he replied.

"Oh" 

"We get it, you're rich Carlos," Big Red said teasingly.

The blond boy gently took off his oversized flannel and handed it to his partner. "Here!" he happily reached it out to him.

"I love you Seb but plaid does not work with this dress at all" 

"But you'll be cold!" He pouted.

"Beauty is pain" 

Ashlyn then did the same; unraveling her grey blazer and handing it to Big Red.

"I'm good" he quickly turned it down.

"I'm good, but you're shivering! Besides, I think you look adorable in my blazers!" She fawned, the two of them blushing as he put on her blazer that was vastly too big on him. But it was cute. She thought it was cute.

Someone else she thought was cute turned the corner of the street through the swarms of crowded people, over the hills of all the loud music and cheering rattling her ears. She kept her brother close making sure he was safe within eyes distance from her at all times. 

She had a feeling a few of her newly found wildcat friends would be there, including a certain redhead, and when she spotted that firey hair from a mile away her heart skipped three beats. 

She sneaked up next to the girl and the rest of the crowd as subtly as possible whispering "Boo!" in her ear. 

Startled, Ashlyn gasped and jumped around immediately dropping her mouth and pulling the other in for a hug when she saw who it was.

"Maddox! What on earth are you doing here!?"

"What do you mean what am I going here? It's a pride parade in August, I'm here to rave!" 

"No! I mean what are you doing in Salt Lake? Did you drive all the way over here just for this?"

"I live here now!" she performed a little ray of jazz hands as she vocalized "surprise!"

Her brother shoved his sister out of the way so he could make his appearance. "We live here now" he added with a hint of saltiness. 

"Jet! It's so nice to see you too!" 

Ashlyn hugged him next and pushed the two siblings towards the umbrella they were under. 

"Get in here you two you're probably freezing!" 

Ashlyn wrapped her arms around Maddox hugging her from behind. She noticed as she brushed across her bare hands that they felt like ice. "Oh my God, your hands are cold. Lemme warm them up nicey nice!" Big Red bit his tongue as he watched his girlfriend take Maddox's hands and blow into them. Both of them blushed profusely.

He knew jealousy was a bad look and tried not to let it get to him. After all, he trusted Ashlyn. He knew she would never cheat. But at the same time, he knew there was something there that wasn't platonic, she told him that herself. She was honest about her crush on Maddox and Val when she came out to him but made it clear to him that he was the one she wanted to be with. 

For now, he could only tell himself "Stop it, you don't own her. They are allowed to be friends", every time he saw them interact in a totally platonic manner.

"Nicey nice?" giggled Maddox in a more high-pitched tone than her usual laugh, so much so that her brother raised an eyebrow.

"Hi, Maddox!" Big Red tried to make his presence known in the most casual way possible but it turned out more passive-aggressive sounding than he intended.

"Hi, Big Red", Maddox responded in an almost similar tone that wasn't inherently salty but did have a hint of jealousy "Is that your blazer on him, Ash?"

"Yeah, I think he looks cute!" Ashlyn announced all bubbly and oblivious to the tension in the air between the two. She grinned and moved her arm back around Big Red.

Maddox glanced between the two, looking at the oversized blazer on the boy and then back to Ashlyn who was now only wearing a burgundy tank top, a large necklace with the Gemini birthstone, and mom jeans with the cuffs rolled up to a few inches above her ankles. Her damp red hair was blowing in the wind, she looked stunningly hot and beautiful but also not dressed for the rain. 

"I think you look cold," she handed her her jeans jacket. Maddox was at least not wearing a tank top under it.

The girl took it slightly hesitantly, the tight dark blue sleeves resting above her wrists and the heart-shaped Lesbian pin glistening on the tip of the jacket. Maddox's heart rate picked up just looking at the sight. 

Big Red sighed to himself, it seemed to him that Maddox only wanted to give Ashlyn her jacket after noticing he was wearing hers. Not that she wanted her to be cold because of course not, but because it felt like she wanted to one-up him and he really didn't want to make drama with her.

*

After a couple of hours of cheering, parading and six people huddling under a rainbow umbrella and a pride flag to keep warm, Ashlyn spotted a few workers from Salt Lake's local news station with cameras as a rumble of thunder gave way in the distance. She started to get visibly anxious, her eyes mixing between following the cameras, staring off into space, and looking down at her hands as she picked her nails. 

"You okay Ash?" Big Red noticed and whispered to her.

"I'm afraid of thunderstorms" She blurted out while closing her eyes and squinting. It was only partially true, she had a huge fear of them as a kid that she had mostly gotten over. It wasn't the physical storm that she was afraid of now.

"It's okay if you want to go home early, I can drop you off and come back for Carlos and Seb." 

Before she could even answer a group of teenagers came over and started pestering Carlos. 

"Oh my gosh, you look like the kid that played Olaf in that viral production of Frozen!" One of them shouted and then glanced at Ashlyn and Jet. "Wait that is you because you two were in it as well!"

Carlos looked towards Ashlyn nervously, not sure if he should pull her away and run while they still had the chance. Big Red grabbed her hand to comfort her.

She smiled at the teenager hesitantly putting on a brave face, figuring it was better to just own it. "Yeah, that's us." 

"Can we get selfies with you guys that way I can say I met you all when before becoming mega famous?"

This is a pride parade, they should be understanding.

It was time to do what she had to do and put faith in strangers.

"Can you promise not to post anything of me here until I'm publicly out?"

"Of course not, I would never do that!"

The group of friends seemed genuine, she relaxed and even enjoyed taking pictures with them and the small talk that came after until other people noticed and started to line up.

Shit 

The area surrounding the Wildcats became crowded as more and more people noticed and swayed in the direction of the commotion out of curiosity. Several phones were aimed in their direction, and people who recognized them started begging for pictures, signatures, and questions to be answered. Not a single one of the kids were prepared for this much attention before the trailer was even out.

"Guys!" Carlos yelled over the crowd, "as much as I would love to stay and talk I have to be home by six to prepare for an audition!"

"Come on," he then whispered to Ashlyn taking her other hand and making a run for their cars through all the crowds and the pouring rain. 

Once back in the big orange beetle, Ashlyn stared out the window of her backseat blinking back tears. The car was dead silent as they all took in what had happened.

Ashlyn felt a hand on her back, "Are you okay?

When she didn't respond Seb shifted over to the middle seat, wrapped his arms around her, and gave her a tight hug. The water under her eyelids released and she found herself crying in Seb's arms the whole way home. 

Instead of driving directly to the Caswell place, Big Red found an empty parking lot on her street to pull over in and hopped in the backseat with her, throwing his arms around her as well. 

"Hi, it's going to be okay" he whispered gently running his fingers through her hair.

"This is exactly what I was afraid of," she choked out.

"I know," he sighed patting her back. "I know this is terrifying, but you are surrounded by people who love and support you and are here for you no matter what." 

"And I'm ready to throw hands at whoever I need to!" the blonde boy added. 

This prompted an almost chuckle from Ashlyn. "Seb suggesting violence? Are you okay?" 

"Oh I'll use it if I need to"

Carlos handed Ashlyn a tissue box and gave his boyfriend a glance of heart eyes. "Seb is like a bear, cute and sweet as a button but ferocious when they're angry at you."

"Damn right!" 

He squeezed in the back to join the hug fest "We love you so much, you are going to be okay Ash." 

When she felt ready to let go, she took out her phone and glanced at herself in the camera, and laughed a little at the runny, smeared mascara. "Wow look at how dramatic I look." She took a few pictures of her face to add to the crying photos collection, "Does anyone have a makeup remover?" 

They collectively all said no before a white jeep with a million stickers plastered over it pulled in next to them out of nowhere. The group could see from the window that the girl in the driver's seat was Maddox and in the passenger seat was Jet. The two got out and knocked on the orange beetle's door, standing right in the pathway of the rain.

"How did you find us?" Ashlyn asked slightly shocked when she rolled down the window.

"Snap Map" 

"That's kind of creepy Maddox not going to lie."

"Then put your bitmoji in ghost mode. Look, I wasn't trying to stalk you, I was worried about you. I drove halfway home and turned right back around because I knew something was wrong."

The ginger looked up from her lap and shot her a look of annoyance. Obviously, something was wrong. "Congrats, you want a cookie?"

"Oh Ashlyn", Maddox's eyes softened when she got a close glance of Ashlyn's red and puffy face, mascara-smudged cheeks, and lower lids. Even the tips of her hands and knuckles were black with mascara where she had been wiping her eyes. "Here I've got a makeup wipe," she unzipped her purse and handed her a whole box of them.

"What's wrong?" 

"Really? What's wrong? Were you not there when I told those kids not to post pictures on the internet of me at pride because I'm not out to my parents and then we got swarmed with groups upon groups of people with their phones out? I kind of thought you were reading the situation better than that Maddox!" 

"You know what? Never mind. I was just trying to help but I guess I always make things worse. Come on Jet," she tugged on her brother's shoulders and started heading back to her car. She was halfway to closing her door when Ashlyn yelled, "Maddox wait!"

When the girl turned around Ashlyn was already standing right in front of her taking her turn getting drenched in the rain. "Let's go for a walk."

Ashlyn opened the rainbow umbrella in her hand for the two of them to share as they started to head towards the back of the elementary school parking lot to the children's playground in the back. "I really didn't mean to snap, I'm sorry." 

"It's okay. I didn't mean to sound insensitive either, I knew what was going on. It's just a difficult conversation that I wasn't sure how to start."

"I get it and I don't doubt you. After all, you seem to always have a way of knowing what's going on with me."

The rain had conveniently settled down to a sprinkle by the time they reached the back of the school. Ashlyn lowered her umbrella and eyed the yellow monkey bars at the side of the playground excitedly. 

"I used to sit on top of here and spy on people when I was younger." She started climbing the side to get on.

"I swear to God if you fall Ashlyn.."

She shrugged nonchalantly, "It wouldn't be the first time, you wanna know how many bones I broke on this thing?" 

"Don't even" she rolled her eyes but ultimately started climbing up to join her. In the distance, the sun was starting to set and they both sat there on the monkey bars gazing at the sky. 

"I'm glad you found me." Ashlyn started gently putting her arm around Maddox from the side. "I'm lucky enough to have friends that care enough to hunt me down on Snapchat to check on me."  

"And you deserve that"

"So do you"

In the sky, the rain stopped. The grey clouds seemed to disappear and a colorful sight appeared in the west.

Maddox nudged Ashlyn on the shoulder and pointed towards it. "Look at the double rainbow!"  

"A double rainbow after pride?" she replied, "God loves the Gays." 

The two sat on their perch admiring nature as the sun sat together. They were unsure of how much time had passed before heading back to their cars, but what mattered is how much braver and calmer Ashlyn felt than before. 

There's always a rainbow after the storm somewhere out there

~

{August 30} 

The Porter household was quiet that Monday afternoon. Gina was adjusting well and enjoying spending so much time one on one with her mom. They had spent the last few days unboxing and moving furniture in. All to the sound of the radio and local news in the background, and their small talk. Her mom had so much to catch up on and was fully proud of the growth and maturity she was seeing in her daughter from the last few months that she'd missed. 

During their break for lunch, Mrs. Porter sat with her daughter over sandwiches and announced that she had a little surprise for her.

"Yeah?" Gina piped up with curiosity.

"Remember how you said you always wanted a dog but I never let you get one because we moved so often that I was afraid it might have a hard time with long road trips and constant new environments?" 

"You got me a dog!?" She asked out of surprise and excitement.

She smiled at her daughter, "I wanted you to pick one out yourself, but consider it my we're here for a good gift to you."

"So, I invited a couple of people to dine with us, and after we'll take a trip to the humane society" 

Ricky who has been listening through the door for his cue cracked open the door. He was a little more dressed up than usual, almost as if he was going to a fancy restaurant. On the top, he wore a white collar shirt with the top two buttons remaining undone, tucked into nice black pants with a belt and dress shoes.

"Hey, you!" Gina dragged out the y, saying it slightly flirtatiously. 

"Gina! Hi!" He breathed, gazing into her gorgeous eyes.

A fiery redhead made her way through the door wearing a striped romper and her famous jeans jacket loaded with a million pins. "I'm just a third wheel don't mind me," she teased.

"Don't be weird we aren't dating!" Gina snapped almost instantly.

"Oh yeah, nothing going on between you two at all....." 

That earned a playful slap on the side from her friend while Ricky turned beet red. 

"Ow!" Ashlyn gasped rubbing her shoulder, "Gina gave me a bobo!" 

"God, you're dramatic!"

She put her arms around Ricky and Gina, "Really? What club are we in again?"

Gina snorted, she was quite content around two people who meant the world to her being their silly little selves. 

"Help yourself," Mrs. Porter nodded to the sandwiches and fruit platter on the table.

Ricky couldn't help feeling nervous around Gina's mother. From what she had told him, she was fairly strict and he wanted to do everything in his power to make a good impression around his close friend/crush? 

He felt like a boy meeting the parents of his girlfriend for the first time, except they were just friends. So why did he feel this way? It occurred to him that he never actually had the "meeting the parents' experience" with Nini because they grew up together, he'd known her mom's his whole life. 

Ricky didn't want to mess up his first "meeting the parents."

He held his posture so straight and his mannerisms so polite that even Ashlyn raised an eyebrow. How was this the same boy who ate popcorn by having Big Red throw it at his mouth to see if he could catch it on his tongue? Or the same boy that ate steak whole with his hands at camp? Or the boy that stomached a whole pizza in less than five minutes? 

This boy held a seat out for Gina, actively engaged in all conversation, was the first to volunteer to help wash and put away the dishes, and blushed with pride when Gina's mother said he seemed like a good kid. 

"I think she likes you," Gina whispered in Ricky's ear when the two of them were out of hearing distance from the other women around.

"I sure hope so"

*

Fluffy. Dogs. Everywhere. 

And there was nothing more adorable to Gina than watching Ricky crouch down to interact with each and every one of them.

He was gentle; he gave them little kisses on the forehead, rubbed their bellies, and watched as they climbed all over him.

Her mom once told her dogs were an incredible judge of character. They're known for highly accurate intuition, and strong predictive and judgment abilities. They read human emotions and can smell fear, sadness, happiness, you name it!

The dogs must have been able to sense Ricky's kindness because they were all over him, and she found herself helplessly falling for him as he picked a Yorkshire Terrier and cuddled it. 

"Here, give Gigi a big kiss" 

"Gigi?" the girl giggled.  

"Yes Genevieve Mabel Porter"

Gina pouted, "How am I going to pick between all these sweet fluff balls?"

"Well, any particular kind of dog you're looking for?"

"The same qualities I look for in humans Ricky, someone who's loyal, has your back, a travel buddy, someone who defends you when you're not around," she poked the side of his shoulder, "kind of like you." 

He grinned at her in adoration, "That was sweet, but I meant breed silly."

"Oh, well no. I have no dog breed prejudice," she then looked back at a noisy Chihuahua in the back of the room that started rapidly barking at a couple of other dogs. "Though maybe Chihuahuas are the exception." 

"Hey, Chihuahuas are great! They're just a little mouthy, hyper, and probably have the dog form of ADHD."

"So what you're saying is you're a Chihuahua?" 

Ricky shrugged, "I guess so. Any dog works really. I mean they're all similar, we like cuddles, road trips, nature walks, food." 

"Definitely golden retriever energy..." She tilted her head to the side while gazing at him, "With a little Chihuahua." 

Ricky broke eye contact and smiled at his feet.

"What about me?" Gina asked, "What dog am I?" 

"A Border Collie" he replied confidently, "The most intelligent breed. They are athletic, quick learners, and extremely protective of those they love.

"Awwww!" she cooed. 

Just like that, a black and white Border Collie appeared at Ricky's feet, laying down by them and whimpering cutely. 

"Look this little guy was listening," Ricky bent over to pet the dog with Gina following shortly after. 

"He's definitely the one" 

The curly-haired boy's mouth gaped open for a second with his heart dropping like a rollercoaster speeding down its first hill of the ride. She's talking about the dog idiot! The dog.

"What should we name him?" the girl with the braids inquired. 

"Sunshine, just like you." 

Gina felt herself becoming fuzzy. It took her back to that moment backstage where she watched Ricky sing the reprise of What Do You Know About Love while looking at her the entire time. 

What does he know about love? Well, he's certainly pretty smooth with words. He's the sunshine.

"Me, sunshine? That's all you. I'm the sunshine protector," she looked towards the dog, "Right my guy?" 

The dog suddenly changed position from laying to sitting and barked causing them both to burst out laughing. 

"See, he agrees! I'm going to name him Sunny after you." 

"Awww!" This time it was Ricky's turn to coo back 

*

"Ricky, I think we lost Ashlyn" 

It was a while since they had first been dropped off at the humane society, Ricky and Gina passed the time making small talk and enjoying each other's company with their new side companion, and Ashlyn was well...

It wasn't that they hadn't picked up on the fact that Ashlyn seemed to be giving them "space" and spying on them from a distance the whole time, but now she quite literally wasn't in the room. Was she even in the building?

She was in the building. 

The two found Ashlyn in the small feline petting room in the back of the humane society, laying sideways in the recliner chair with three different cats in her lab. Oh Ashlyn

"So did you guys kiss while I was gone?" 

How was that the first thing that came out of her mouth? 

"Oh, will you stop it!"

Gina screeched flustered while Ashlyn giggled, acting extremely satisfied with herself. 

"You're a worse instigator than Carlos sometimes Ash, and that's saying something." 

"It is my honor, thank you Bowen!" 

"Anyways, this is the newest member of the Bowen/Porter family, Sunny!" Gina and Ricky exchanged a loving second of eye contact before showing off the dog.

Ashlyn giggled once again at their oblivion, I mean Ricky literally said it like they were the parents of their newborn kid. 

"Whatttt!?" Gina voiced back in a slightly irritated tone.

"Nothing nothing. Sunny's adorable!" 

"What are the names of your friends there?" The girl with the braids asked her friend, desperate to get her off the topic of her and Ricky. 

She pointed to the Tabby that was closest to her waist, “this fluff is Andromeda,” then to the small black cat on her knees, “that’s Lyra, and the Calico at my feet is Carina."

”You just came up with that didn’t you?” 

“Of course, they’re all named after the first three constellations that came to mind.” 

The redhead picked the cats up and moved them out of the way so she could join Ricky, Gina, and the dog.

“Those two are trouble,” she whispered in its ear, “watch them.” 

Gina rolled her eyes fondly, one thing about a girl’s found sisters is once they know who you like, they never shut up about it.

~

{August 30th} 

"Maddie! I'm freaking the hell out right now!" 

Jet came speeding down the stairs barging into the living room where his sister was watching Netflix. 

She looked up from her show in annoyance at her pesky little brother for interrupting her, "Why?" 

"You wouldn't believe who our next-door neighbors are!" 

Maddox rolled her eyes, "You need to put down the Xbox and come out of your room more because I can't believe you're just figuring this out now."

"So you know?" 

"Of course, Kourtney and I literally had lunch together where have you been? She was asking about you by the way." 

"She was!?"

"You better get over yourself and go talk to her soon Jet. Because she's going to get awfully suspicious if I'm the only one talking to her and she knows we live next door. I can only make lame excuses as to why you weren't there for so long." 

"I feel like I'm going to puke," Jet whined.

"You better not in front of me."

"What did you tell her?" 

"That you had a stomach ache."

Jet felt his tummy doing flips inside of him.

"Shit Maddox, she's going to think I don't want to talk to her which is so far from true!"

"Then talk to her!" 

"I'm scared!"

"Of Kourtney? Oh please." 

Maddox almost laughed. Kourtney is a literal sweetheart to anyone, so long as you aren't a bigoted ass-whole. But she also understood how it felt to be an outcast and have anxiety about messing up in social situations, especially around someone she liked. 

"You like Kourtney, don't you?" She inquired.

"Yeah... But she has a boyfriend, I don't know why I'm worried about messing up with her when we're not going to be anything more than friends anyways." 

God, that line felt so familiar it pained her, but this was now only the case in her situation and her brother deserved to know the truth. 

"Jet, Kourtney and Howie broke up." 

"They did!?" He gaped with his mouth open.

The girl nodded slowly.

"Wow, perhaps I should go check on her."

"You think?" 

Jet closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His little antisocial self had never been so focused and so nervous about a social situation. He wanted to be there for Kourt and the last he wanted to do was wimp out.

Maddox scooted over towards him, "Hey, just be honest, straightforward, genuine, and yourself. That's what she wants." 

"Okay," he sighed again and hugged his sister. 

"Take her a cookie from the new batch mom made and good luck." 

"Thanks, sis." 

Shortly after, Jet found himself nervously adjusting the collar of his shirt after knocking on her dark wooden door. 

Kourtney's face grew a smile when she opened up to see him standing there. 

"Kourtney, hi! Can I come in?" 

She held the door out for him and welcomed him in. 

When Maddox's sister didn't see her brother come home for three hours and looked more energetic than she had ever seen him, she had to assume everything was okay with her brother and her undying love for one of her new friends.

~

{September 2nd} 

A week had gone by since EJ had arrived at Duke. His STEM classes were monotonous and boring. He wasn't passionate or very interested in any of the classes he was taking but he was getting through it, he had gotten an A on his first exam in Intro to Engineering and his professors were tough but they were good teachers. He wasn't super fond of his roommate, his girlfriend that followed him around like a lost puppy, or any of his buddies though. 

He had gotten paired up with a Sophomore after being under the impression that his random roommate would be his age, and unfortunately, this meant he already had his clique of douchebag friends that he tried to fit in with. Yup, he was so desperate for friends that he was actively trying to fit in with people he knew he didn't like just from the first day. 

EJ's blood boiled around him from the minute he was trying to make small talk with him and he kept poking fun at the pictures on his dashboard. 

"You did theatre? What are you gay?" 

"No! Straight men do theatre all the time!" 

He wasn't just asking him, his tone about it was clearly ill-suited and the fact that he was a Trump supporter checked out. He probably got into Duke on daddy's money just like him.

EJ could just feel Ashlyn giving him the biggest "fuck you" eyes from across the continent for saying that. He wasn't even sure why he was acting so defensive, or like it was a bad thing to be a gay guy in theatre just because it was the stereotype. He wanted to believe his old self would have just punched the shit out of Bradley and his homophobic ass but for some reason he had gotten so passive.  

And he hated it. 

And of course, after just getting through a bad breakup with a girl he cared about over the summer, he had to watch this Hazel girl follow him around everywhere, sneaking into his dorm with her at night and whatnot. Having to listen to Bradley go on and on about Hazel and how hot she was was not only annoying but uncomfortable. Is it normal for guys to talk about girls they're dating like that around their guy friends? He knew Ashlyn would disown him if she ever heard him talk about any of his former girlfriend's bodies weirdly, especially Gina. 

EJ tried so hard to convince himself that he was no asshole, no misogynist, and no homophobe, so why the hell was he trying so hard to seek validation from these jerks? 

I'm really that much of a loser, huh? 

Maybe all the tweets from strangers on the internet that didn't know him calling him that were true after all.

Loser Loser Loser

EJ had no plans of getting himself into trouble. He was here to focus on his studies, graduate early, and start his career so he could be finally financially stable enough to cut ties with his parents as soon as possible. 

But his loneliness did inch its way to the surface as soon as Bradley and his stupid gang invited him to a party that Friday night.

At first he passively turned it down, "no I'm not really a partier." 

That wasn't fully true, he did go to plenty in high school with his sports teams. But he had no intention of going to one with this pack. 

"Come on, don't be a loner."

"What, are you scared someone is going to force vodka down you're throat? Nah nobody cares if you drink."

I guess maybe a bit of socialization wouldn't kill him, and maybe he'd meet someone outside of this group that he would love to not have to associate with.

"Fine, I'll go" 

And that was enough to earn the satisfaction and cheering of the guys.