𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 hall, all of them sitting at a table together. sam was sitting with them, all of them talking about whatever came to mind. max had also joined them, the girls quickly realizing that they didn't like him but kept that to themselves for the sake of kimberly. leighton and kit were sitting from across one another, the former sparing looks at the latter every now and then. kit would feel whenever leighton was looking at her, but kit ignored her.

"hey, does anyone have plans tonight?" kimberly questioned.

"i might." bela answered. "do any of you know what a drop it like f. scott part is?" she then asked, holding her phone up so that the others could see the invitation on it.

"f. scott fitzgerald." kit and leighton elaborated in unison, making the two girls look at one another. kit was quick to look away, which made leighton do the same.

"you basically have to look like a '20s slut." the murray girl explained.

"oh, sweet. the catullan is throwing one for all the people submitting, but i don't know if i should go." bela informed. "i ran into the editor this morning, and he basically told me there's no reason to submit because there won't be any female spots this year."

"oh, they have a quota for gender?" kimberly asked. "that's inane. and you should definitely report him to university affairs. or, quite frankly, the aclu." leighton scoffed, gaining everyone's attention. "what?"

"i'm sorry, but that's the dumbest shit i've ever heard." leighton answered, a smile on her lips. she then put her attention onto bela. "well, you want them to pick you, right?"

"yeah." the malhotra girl nodded.

"okay, well, make them like you. okay, don't be some histrionic feminist, just show them you're chill and you're fun to have around." leighton suggested.

"i think leighton's right." whitney said.

"yeah. didn't think i'd ever say that." sam agreed, her voice going quiet towards the end. this earned her a look from leighton, but all sam did was shrug.

"girls!" the annoying voice of max called out, making the girls turn towards him. he was by the entrance to the kitchen. "desserts are out." he informed before he ran inside.

once they were done, the girls went back to their rooms and got ready for whatever they would be doing tonight. bela had somehow found a costume for the catullan party, having already left. kit was in her room, watching adventure time for what felt like the hundredth time, but she didn't care. she wasn't sure what the other girls were up to, having been in her room since coming back from dinner. she heard a knock come from her door, making her pause the cartoon and look towards it.

"yo." kit yelled out, the door opening up to reveal leighton. kit rolled her eyes, pressing play on her new ipad before her attention went back to her show.

"are you enjoying your new ipad?" leighton questioned as she entered the room and closed the door behind her.

"yeah." kit answered, not looking at leighton.

the blonde released a sigh, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. kit was the only one who hadn't forgiven her for how she had been acting. i mean, she understood why, she was just hoping that it would be that easy. "you still don't want anything to do with me?"

"nope." kit mumbled. "but my new ipad should fix that right up, shouldn't it?"

"kit." leighton started.

"look, i know you're not good with apologizing, but you know what you did to me." kit interrupted, pausing adventure time again. "you know what you did, and you saw how it affected me. but we've been here for three days, and you still haven't apologized to me."

"i - i know." leighton muttered, going to sit on the the other bed. she looked over towards the window, trying to find the right words. "i actually came in here to apologize. i know what i did was fucked up. i know that. and i'm sorry. you every right not to talk to me or be a bitch to me."

kit clenched her jaw, looking over at leighton as she sat up from her bed. "why'd you do it?"

"i was scared." leighton answered, making kit furrow her eyebrows. "and on top of that, i let esme and francesca get into my head, and they told me to just. . . stop talking to you. my dumbass did it. i am so sorry, kit. i really am. and i miss you, so much. i really do."

"leighton." kit whispered, seeing how distraught the murray girl had became. her heart ached at the sight, hating the hold that leighton still had over her. "please don't do that. don't cry."

"i'm not trying to make you feel bad. i just wanted to give you a reason, okay? you don't gotta forgive me, i just don't want you to hate me." leighton quickly told her, wiping her face to get rid of all the tears that had fell.

kit shook her head, tearing her eyes away from leighton. she then sucked in a breath as she looked back at the murray girl. "i could never hate you, leight. no matter how hard i fucking tried, i could never hate you."

"really?" leighton breathed out.

"yeah." kit nodded. "look, i forgive you. just don't go and do that shit again, leighton. don't make me regret forgiving you, okay?"

"i won't." leighton quickly promised.

"good." kit laughed at leighton's eagerness.

"what are you watching?" leighton questioned, gesturing to kit's ipad.

"adventure time." kit answered.

"i don't even know why i asked." leighton mumbled, shaking her head slightly.

"kit, is leighton in there with you?!" bela's voice appeared, making both girls turn towards the door.

"yeah." kit replied, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked over to leighton.

"both of you come out into the common room, please!" bela told the two.

the duo did as told, kit placing her ipad onto her bed as she slid off it. the both of them walked out of her room. kit plopped down in one of the arm chairs while leighton sat on the couch. sam was also on the couch, sending a smile over to kit, who sent one back.

"guess what i did." bela told the three girls, a smile on her face.

"uh, had a fun time at the party?" sam answered, although it sounded more like a question.

"nope. i gave six handjobs." bela corrected, looking between the three girls with raised eyebrows.

"you did what?" leighton asked, just as shocked as the others.

"i gave six handjobs!" bela repeated, this time much louder. "not at the same time, or anything, i'm not like a porn star. i talked to each of them, told them i was a writer, that i loved their work, and if they voted for me, i could be into doing some hand stuff. i told them i'm a girl who's chill, just like you told me to."

"i - i definitely didn't tell you to jerk a bunch of dicks." leighton reminded.

"okay, first off, why the shade? i got two things out of this. this is a win-win for me." bela reasoned. "i helped my chances of getting on the catullan, and i got to give a bunch of hand jobs."

"no one likes giving hand jobs!" leighton exclaimed.

"maybe i do. maybe i love it. i've had, like, zero sexual experiences for most of my sad-ass life. so if suddenly i'm hot enough to have a bunch of dicks thrown my way, sorry, but, imma crank them." bela continued, earning a groan from leighton.

"what's going on?" kimberly's voice appeared, making the group turn to see her and max coming out of her room.

"bela traded sex for an opportunity." leighton answered.

"just like men have been doing for centuries." the malhotra girl shrugged, a proud smile on her lips.

"she has a point there." sam mumbled, making kit nod in agreement.

"i flipped the script." bela added.

"i'm not sure you did." leighton told her.

"i'm sex positive, y'all! deal with it." bela celebrated as she entered her and leighton's room.

"as a feminist, i think female sex positivity is great." max decided to announce, making sam and kit share a look with one another.

"that is good to know. thank you, max." sam nodded.

❅ ✩ ⍣⃝ ✩ ❅

𝐊𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 work, having her sips shirt tucked into a pair of jeans. she had slicked her wild red hair back into a ponytail. she had barely slept the night before, hearing max and kimberly having. . . a fun time the whole night. kit honestly wanted to rip her ears off and throw it into her trash bin that was in the corner of her room. instead she just put her headphones in and turned her music all the way up. she could still hear them, kimberly being the main one talking.

"are you fucking kidding me? you took my virginity, and now you're dumping me?" kit heard kimberly quiz, making kit look at her door with furrowed eyebrows.

kit opened her door, almost gagging at the sight of max only being in his underwear, showing off his hairy body. she could see the other girls in their doorways as well, just as confused as she was. kit and leighton made brief eye contact, leighton feeling her heart skip a beat as she looked away.

"whoa, whoa, whoa, we took each other's virginity. mine was just as fragile as yours." max quickly defended, making kit furrow her eyebrows.

"dude, that is fucked up!" bela chimed in.

"uh, can we have some privacy, please?" max questioned, looking around once he noticed that he was being watched.

"uh, no. you had the common room all last night with your grunts, novice boinking while we were trapped in our rooms." leighton quickly answered.

"and we had to listen to your crappy sex playlist on repeat. you made me hate ed sheeran." whitney quickly added.

"i literally wanted to rip my ears out. it was fucking horrible." kit continued, the girls pointing to her in agreement.

"is that why you came here? to have sex and then dump me?" kimberly quizzed.

"look, i really care about, kimberly." max tried.

"no, don't say anything. i never, ever want to see you again." the finkle girl told him before she grabbed her bag and left.

"um, i am so sorry about that, and i'm gonna go, but i did forget my toothbrush." max said.

"put a shirt on!" leighton exclaimed.

"get the fuck out of here, dude!" whitney added.

"if you're not gone by the time i get back, i will get sam and we will kick your ass." kit told max as she followed after kimberly. she grabbed her coat on her way out, slamming the door behind her.

kit had decided not to catch up with kimberly, wanting to give the girl some space to process what had happened. when they had gotten to sips, they clocked in and immediately got to work. lila and canaan greeted the both of them, talking about whatever as they did their jobs. kimberly was more quiet than usual, kit knowing why. time had passed, kit restocking some cups and other things.

kimberly was behind the counter, canaan was sweeping, and lila was on the counter redoing the menus. kit was humming whatever song was gently playing from the speakers, still restocking whatever items roger told her to. her back was turned to the others, so she didn't see when one of the customers had dropped a paper ball onto the floor.

"hey!" kimberly yelled, making kit spin around, eyebrows furrowed. "did you just throw your trash on the floor in front of him?"

"he was already sweeping there." the student reasoned.

"oh, so you just bounce your little breakfast wrap wrapper on the ground instead of carrying it to the trash like a normal fucking person? what the fuck is wrong with you? he's not your goddamn servant." kimberly spat, canaan, lila, and kit all sharing confused but amused looks with one another.

"it's not a big deal." the student said.

"look, i get it. you're some asshole from that town where they shot big little lies or some shit, and you wear 100 fucking dollar jeans." kimberly continued.

"that's not a lot of money for jeans." the student told her.

"shut the fuck up. not everyone on this campus has money." kimberly demanded. "some of us have to work for these jobs because, even if we didn't know it until we got here, we're kind of poor. so, yeah, maybe i don't have the newest iphone, and maybe i don't know what couscous is, but i'm still a fucking person and so is he, so treat us like we fucking matter, okay?"

"okay, fine. i'm sorry." the student quickly said, going to pick up the paper ball before he turned back around.

"and no parts should cost more than $40!" kimberly yelled out.

"i agree with you, bitch." lila nodded before she stuck up her middle finger.

"oh, to be a rich kid." kit mumbled, going back to what she was doing.

❅ ✩ ⍣⃝ ✩ ❅

𝐊𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐃, suddenly deciding that she was sleepy and she wanted to take a nap before actually going to sleep. clearly, someone else had other plans because she heard her door open. she slowly turned over, seeing that it was leighton. kit turned over completely, laying on her side as she watched leighton close the door behind and go sit down at her desk. she didn't question why leighton had decided to sit at the desk instead of her bed, knowing that she still wanted to give kit some space even if she had forgiven her.

"so is this gonna be a frequent occurrence?" kit questioned, snuggling more into her pillow as she closed her eyes.

"what?" leighton asked, the blonde smiling slightly at how adorable kit had looked.

"you coming into my room every night." the hayes girl elaborated.

"well, since you forgave me, it might be." leighton answered, shrugging her shoulders.

kit opened her eyes at that, looking at the murray girl with raised eyebrows. "then at least be comfortable."

"what do you mean?" leighton asked, tilting her head.

"you're sitting so far away." kit pointed out, eyes closing again.

leighton raised her eyebrows, not expecting kit to want to be so close to her so fast. the red head wasn't really that big on touching, only letting the people she's closest to touch her in any way. leighton didn't know if she was still one of those people to kit.

"you. . . i just wanted to give you some space." the blonde shrugged. "considering the fact that we just got in good terms and everything."

"you're good, leight. all i wanted was an apology. an explanation." kit mumbled, her words slurring as she started to doze off. "you don't have to sit so far anymore."

"are you sure?" leighton asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"yeah." kit nodded.

leighton nodded, a small smile pulling at her lips. she got up from the desk chair and moved over to kit's bed. the hayes girl scooted closer to the wall to give leighton space to sit. leighton climbed onto the bed, her smile widening when she had noticed that kit was slowly falling asleep. leighton felt a wave of deja vu wash over her, thinking back to all the times that her and kit had slept together. she signed, ridding her head of the memories, knowing that they were just that. memories.

she noticed that kit had gone fully under, her breath evening out. leighton slid off the bed, getting ready to leave and go into her and bela's room. over the course of the last few days, leighton had realized that she still had feelings for kit, but there was nothing she could do because she was certain that kit had gotten over her. the blonde girl walked over to the door, getting ready to leave.

"what were scared of?" kit's voice questioned, making leighton turn around and face her. she was met with brown eyes staring right at her.

"what?" leighton asked, eyebrows furrowed slightly as she leaned onto the door.

"last night, you said you were scared." kit reminded. "what were you scared of?"

"nothing." leighton mumbled, shaking her head. "just go back to sleep, kit."

"leight." kit called, sitting up from the bed.

the blonde sucked in a breath, "a lot of things." kit tilted her head, silently telling leighton she was listening. "scared to be myself. scared that i was holding you back. you were so secure with yourself and didn't let what anyone said affect you. i was scared that i was holding you back with keeping us a secret. i was scared that i was gonna hurt you. i still ended up doing just that."

"you weren't holding me back." kit mumbled. "you wasn't ready to be out yet, and who am i to force you out of the closet? you weren't holding me back."

leighton sighed, unsure of what she should say. she didn't know why kit had forgiven her so easily and was back to her old ways of trying to comfort her, but she was thankful. she knew that she'd have to warm up to her other suite mates at some point, but until that time comes, she had kit. the only person that made her feel safe. made her feel at home.

before the blonde could figure out what she was gonna say, a knock came from the door. leighton leaned off of it and opened it, revealing bela. "kit, you sexy beast! did leighton tell you?"

"tell me what?" kit asked, bringing her hands up to rub her tired eyes.

"we got invited to an upperclassman party!" bela answered before a squeal left her mouth. "now, i've convinced kimberly, sam, and whitney to come. do i have to convince you too?"

"no, i'm down." kit shook her head, shrugging her shoulders.

"ugh, i love you, kit!" bela exclaimed. "we gotta pregame before we leave so hurry the fuck up and get dressed!"

before anyone could say anything else, bela slammed the door shut. kit chuckled at that, shaking her head again. she was slowly getting used to bela, which included the random and inappropriate compliments.

"i'm assuming nico invited you?" she asked, looking at leighton with raised eyebrows.

"he invited us." the murray girl corrected, nodding her head. "but yeah, he did. perks of having an older brother that goes to the same college as you."

kit hummed. "i wonder what other perks comes with that."

"not that much." leighton said, earning a chuckle from the curly haired girl. that made leighton smile. "okay, i'm gonna get dressed before bela starts to have an aneurysm."

"okay. i'll see you out there." kit nodded.

leighton nodded back, opening the door before she left and closed it behind her. when the door shut, kit let out a breath of air that she didn't know she was holding. she felt a familiar feeling appear in her stomach, a feeling that she hadn't felt in a long time. a feeling that she only felt when leighton was around.

"fuck." she breathed out.

daij speaks!
heyyyyyy. so i know that i said that i was gonna update i love you so, but i honestly don't have any motivation for that book. i don't think i'm gonna put it on hiatus or take it down, i just need to take a break from it because idk why, but it's suddenly getting hard to write. but maybe i'll come back to it. but i might be — I MIGHT BE doing another obx book with the love interest being jj cause i've been wanting to write for him and jiara in season 3 just pushed me a little further.

no hate to the tiara shippers out there. i'm just more of a jjpope gal myself.

but i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter 🫶🏼