CLEARLY, HE'S MISSING BRAIN CELLS.

Adeline and Derek were sitting together on a picnic blanket on the main quad, both working on their biology homework. Well, Derek was working and then slowly explaining things to his sister as they went along, which she appreciated. They were joined by Cici, Sidney, and Mickey since Randy and Hallie had classes.

"Don't forget the quiz that's due tomorrow when you're done with that," Cici said, knowing that Adeline hadn't started hers for their film class.

"I'll get to it. We're about done with this, I think," she told her. Then she glanced at Derek for confirmation, who nodded to signal that they were almost done.

The group worked in silence for about ten more minutes, letting the twins focus even though Mickey was dying to steal Adeline's attention away — not that he'd ever admit to that out loud. But once they were done, Adeline snapped her book shut and looked over at Sidney instead of him, making him pout a bit.

"How's building sets going?" Adeline asked her, knowing that they were starting to get ready for 'Death of a Salesman' even though it'd be a month and a half before the show was ready.

"Really well," she said with a soft smile. "And I'm learning a lot about the carpentry side of it all — I never did much of that in Woodsboro's theater department."

"I'm picturing you in, like, overalls with a tool belt on and stuff," she said, grinning. "Very hot."

Sidney threw her head back and laughed as Adeline giggled. "Definitely no overalls," she told her. "That's a little too 'country hick' for me."

"Hey, now," Mickey spoke up, leaning back on his hands. "I'm from the country."

"Yeah, but barely. And you're not a hick," Adeline said, finally looking at him. "I mean, you hide your Kentucky accent really well. And you never talk about home."

Mickey sucked on his teeth, knowing there was a reason he didn't talk about home much. Randy and Sidney weren't the only ones that chose a far away college with the hopes of forgetting a past life.

"Yeah, not exactly a proud cowboy," he said, forcing a chuckle.

"Well, the thought of you in a cowboy hat is mighty funny, partner," Adeline said in a fake southern accent, making him scoff and chuckle. "You should be one for Halloween next month."

"Yeah, right," he said, rolling his eyes a bit.

"Come on," she said, sitting up on her knees, her eyes bright. "I'll be a cowgirl with you. It'll be cute! And Halloween is on a Wednesday, so we can wear costumes to class."

Mickey stared into her pleading eyes for a moment before sighing. "I'll think about it," he decided.

"Yay," she cheered before looking at everyone else. "What are you guys thinking of dressing up as? There's gonna be tons of Halloween parties—"

Adeline trailed off on her own when they were suddenly joined by a new face. He wasn't a stranger by any means. It was Luke Miller from their film class. He had neatly cut brown hair and green eyes, standing tall over Adeline — but not as tall as Mickey. Not that she thought about Mickey's height a lot.

Definitely not.

"Hey, Luke," Cici greeted as Adeline smiled and Mickey just nodded to him.

"Hey, Cooper," he said before setting his sights on Adeline. "I was wondering if I could talk to this one for a second."

"Of course," Adeline said while standing up to look at him properly. "What about?"

"Well, I was wondering if you had a date to the party being thrown at the Kappa Sigma's house that's this Saturday?" he asked, referring to the party being thrown by his own fraternity. Nearly everyone was invited.

"Well, no," she said with a frown, tilting her head. "But I thought you and Karli Pritchett were dating."

"Nah, not any more," he said, leaving out the fact that Karli had dumped him a mere forty-five minutes ago. "And besides, you're way hotter than her."

"Oh, well, thank you," Adeline murmured, toying with her fingers. She didn't really love being called 'hot' — it wasn't that romantic, but she'd also never been on a proper date before, so it wouldn't hurt. "Um, I guess we could go together if you want."

"Perfect," he grinned. "I'll pick you up from your dorm at 7?"

"Sure," she beamed. "See you there."

Once Luke walked away, Adeline sat back down on the picnic table, smiling at Cici and Sidney, not seeing the frown on Mickey's face — but Derek sure did.

"So," Derek spoke up. "Who was that? Never met him."

"Luke Miller," Mickey muttered. "Dumbest guy in Film Studies."

"He's not that dumb," Adeline said, shaking her head.

"Please," he scoffed, "he said that Cameron was an overrated director. Clearly, he's missing brain cells."

Cici smirked at him, knowing Mickey was both up Cameron's ass while also just jealous of Luke. "Well, he's not the best that ever was either," she told him.

"God, don't start with me, Cooper," Mickey said, hiding her face away with his hand. "Can't even look at you when you're like this."

"Well, his movie taste doesn't matter," Adeline said, making both Cici and Mickey look at her skeptically. And were Randy there, he'd have torn into her. "He's really nice. And I've never been on a real date before, so it'll be fun."

Mickey raised a disbelieving eyebrow as Adeline got out her Film Studies quiz to work on, unable to fathom the fact that a girl like her had never been in a date before. But he didn't comment on it, instead shaking his head and looking back at his textbook.

"I can help you get ready," Cici offered her roommate.

"Sid, can you come over too?" Adeline asked her. "I love your style."

Sidney grinned, knowing that she and Adeline had polar opposite senses of style. Adeline dressed in pastels and bright colors and was always wearing dresses and skirts while Sidney stuck to dark, muted colors, always opting for jeans and the pair of black boots she wore with everything. In a way, Adeline reminded her of Tatum when it came to the way she dressed.

Actually, she reminded of Tatum in a lot of ways. The way she was boy-obsessed and preferred the social parts of life over academic. She loved sleepovers and clothes and shopping and talking about movies — just not scary ones. Sure, she was a little softer when it came to her attitude, but they were still so similar.

Adeline made Sidney's heart warm and ache all at once.

"I'll be there," Sidney promised. "Can't guarantee that Cici won't eat me alive for how I dress, though."

"Can't guarantee it either," Cici joked.

"It'll be perfect. Just let Hallie know to come too," Adeline said before frowning down at her paper. "Hey, Mickey, could I see what answers you put for the take home quiz?"

"Here's a word a pretty princess like you has never heard — no."

Okay, so maybe Mickey was still ticked off that Adeline said yes to a date with another guy right in front of him. Even though nothing was going on between them, he had a notion in his head that maybe Adeline had a crush on him.

Instantly, Adeline focused on the first half of his sentence rather than the last, her cheeks heating up. "Awe, you think I'm pretty?" she asked sweetly.

The tips of Mickey's ears burned as all eyes turned to him smugly. "I didn't mean it like that," he insisted. When her face fell, he wanted to reassure her that she was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen but swallowed that admission quickly. "Do your work. And don't ask Cooper or Randy to help either."

"Fine," she mumbled, looking at her quiz, her mood a little worse off. "But when I make a C, it's totally your fault."

☆︎

Mickey didn't want to be at the Kappa Sigma party, but Derek and Randy had dragged him out of his dorm room where he'd planned to edit down all the footage he'd shot on his camera the past week. He didn't say it out loud, but the last thing he wanted was to see Adeline on a date with someone like Luke Miller while he was standing on his own with a beer in hand and wishing he was anywhere else.

"Mick, I get that you're jealous of Miller and alone and miserable without Adeline by your side, but stop pouting. You're bringing the mood down," Randy said while brining him a red cup full of a mix of juice and vodka.

Mickey quickly glanced at Derek, worried about him knowing about his slight crush, only to see the boy smirking.

"Dude, it's obvious," Derek said, patting him on the back. "If it's any consolation, thought she liked you too before she said yes to this Luke guy."

"I don't like her," Mickey muttered. "She's - she's annoying and whiney and prissy and—"

"God, you're such a goner," Randy chuckled. "Classic pretending to hate her scenario."

Mickey grumpily rolled his eyes while sipping on his drink. "Fuck both of you."

"No, you wanna fuck Ad—"

"Hey!" Derek snapped, glaring at Randy. "Watch your mouth, man."

Now Mickey was snickering as Randy sheepishly apologized. "My bad, man. That's your sister."

"Yeah," he huffed. Then he looked at Mickey. "Look, sorry that Luke beat you to it. But just don't take your bad mood out on her or anything just because she's not here with you — need I point out that you didn't ask her."

"Fair point," he muttered.

"Right," Derek said. Then he nodded to the side. "Gonna find some of my brothers, but I'll see you guys in a bit. Gonna kick your ass at beer pong, Randy."

"I mean, yes," Randy said flatly. "I don't have an athletic bone in my body and a major gunshot wound in my dominant arm."

Derek chuckled before walking off, leaving the two film majors together. And as Mickey leaned against the fence, Randy spoke up.

"Seriously though, it's very evident that you want to fuck Addy," he said casually, making Mickey groan.

"It's not just that," he admitted. "God, I'm starting to really like her. It's annoying as shit."

"Well, maybe if things don't work out with Luke—" Randy cut himself off, catching sight of something across the yard, tilting his head in confusion. "Luke, who is making out with Karli by the shed."

Mickey quickly looked up from his cup, his eyes landing on the couple who was clearly back together. And Adeline was nowhere near her supposed date.

☆︎

Adeline was curled up on her bed, crying on Sidney's shoulder — Cici and Hallie were both out, leaving only one person to comfort the girl who'd been stood up. She'd waited a good hour for Luke before she got the message that he wasn't coming, which was humiliating.

"He's a dick, Addy," Sidney told her softly, running her fingers through her blonde hair.

"Yeah," she mumbled. "God, I'm so stupid."

"You are not," she told her firmly. "You're perfect, and he's the dumbass. You're way cuter than Karli. I have calculus with her, and she's such a bitch."

"It's not nice to call other girls that," Adeline sighed halfheartedly. "She didn't make Luke ask me out then stand me up."

"Well, they still suck," Sidney insisted while grabbing another tissue for the crying girl.

"Thank you," she whispered while rubbing her red eyes. "I'm never showing my face in class again."

"Oh, come on now, Princess, then I'd have nothing good to look at."

At hearing Mickey's voice, Adeline and Sidney looked up, seeing the boy standing in the doorway. And their eyes went wide, seeing that his bottom lip was split and his knuckles had smeared blood on them.

"Mickey?" Adeline asked, getting up and rushing to him, forgetting about how sad she was. "What happened?"

As she grabbed his hand to look at his hand that was red and would probably bruise, he looked down at her softly.

"Saw Miller making out with Pritchett after the party. Put the pieces together," he said casually as if he hadn't started a fight and gotten thrown out of the Kappa Sigma house — he'd been permanently banned, but he broke Luke's nose, so it was worth it. "Figured someone should check on you. But I see Sid beat me to it."

"I'll, um, I've gotta go check on something anyway," Sidney said, not really having anything to check on. "If you wanna relieve me."

Mickey just nodded, not even glancing at Sidney as she slipped out of the room, going to hers next door. He let Adeline lead him over to her desk chair. Once he was seated, she grabbed the cheap first aid kit that she thought her mother was ridiculous for making her bring it to school — as well as some baby wipes she used to take off makeup since she didn't have anything better to wipe the blood off him.

"You hit him?" Adeline asked softly as she slid on top of the desk and started cleaning the blood off his knuckles. She glanced at his deep brown eyes that were fixed on her face. "For me?"

Mickey shrugged as casually as he could. "He was asking for it. And I'm glad I did. He made you cry."

Adeline sniffed, her tears already having stopped. "Well, I'm stupid for thinking he liked me. Figured he just wanted to make Karli jealous. And it worked by the sound of things."

"You're not stupid," Mickey told her. "Any boy would be stupid not to like you."

"As if," she said weakly, finishing with his hand. Then she moved to his face, focusing on his bottom lip that'd stopped bleeding. All she could do was clean it with the antiseptic that came in the first aid kit and hope it wouldn't hurt too much.

Mickey couldn't talk as she did so, just focusing on how she was gently cupping his jaw with her left hand while taking care of him with her right. She was gentle as she cleaned the cut, and when he winced from the stinging sensation, she quietly apologized.

"I'm not..." Adeline trialed off nervously as she finished. She looked down at her supplies instead of at him. "I don't love violence. And I hate blood. But thank you for what you did for me. It was sweet."

"Well, he deserved worse," Mickey said, rolling his jaw, looking at her splotchy cheeks and red eyes. "And I'm sorry. I know you liked him."

Adeline let out a weak laugh. "Barely. I mean, he was cute, I guess. But god, it's so embarrassing — being stood up by him. Everyone's gonna know. I guess Hallie was right. Dating in your major is a horrible idea. I'll never do it again."

"Oh," Mickey said, his shoulders sinking, her not noticing his disappointment. "I guess that's a smart idea."

"Yeah," she mumbled. Then she forced a smile. "You're good to go."

"Thanks, Dr. Feldman," he said with a smile.

"Please, that's Derek," she laughed. And he was glad she seemed happier. Then she glanced at him with a smile on her face. "Sid and I were gonna watch a sad movie. You wanna replace her since she's checking on stuff?"

"How about instead, we watch a horror movie?" he asked with a smirk. "It's sure to take your mind off things."

Adeline scoffed and shook her head. "No one can get me to watch a scary movie. I wanna watch 'Dead Poets Society'."

"God, you really do wanna be sad."