Wake Up | E. Caswell [SLOW UPDATES]

twenty-two | senior year round two

Chapter Twenty-Two:
Senior Year Round Two

LUCY STOOD WITH the drama club in the hallway, having just finished the first video for their new instagram page right after school let out for winter break. She stood next to Ej, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as Carlos announced a New Year's Eve party at Ashlyn and Adam's, where the twins, and Gina who had moved in with them for the remainder of the school year, were all hosting.

Lucy laughed and cheered with everyone, her arm around Ej's waist as they stood side by side. She looked up at him and smiled adoringly, and her boyfriend— yes, you heard me right, Lucy and Ej are officially... official? Anyway, he returned the expression and they started to get packed up.

"You guys? Wait, I don't think I was recording the song," Miss Jenn admitted softly. There were some whines of disappointment, and Miss Jenn very hopefully suggested, "Go back to places?"

Lucy giggled, and patted her boyfriend's shoulder, smiling warmly at Gina and Adam who headed back in the direction of the cafeteria where their part was.

"I have your next present in my car," Lucy chirped to Ej as they walked hand in hand to the parking lot later, their hands swinging back and forth by Lucy's movement. Ej sighed and shook his head, looking down at her amusedly.

"I can't believe you're still on this whole twelve days of Christmas thing. I feel bad, like a bad boyfriend," Ej admitted, turning to look at her. From a distance, Nini and Ricky spotted the couple, Nini smiled at the two, and Ricky only frowned. Lucy and him hadn't really spoken since opening night.

"You're not a bad boyfriend, I'm just very extra, and I will be happy with whatever you get me. As long as one of your sweatshirts is also mixed in with the deal," she noted with a smile. Ej laughed and nodded his head.

"I can make sure of that," he assured her. She grinned up at him and the two leaned in for a quick kiss. He released her hand and threw his arm around her shoulders, her arms wrapping around his waist as they walked back to their cars that were parked next to one another.

[Ricky to camera:]

"Okay, so, Lucy and I haven't spoken since opening night, I had no idea that her and Ej were a thing until I saw them kiss in the hall one day and then heard Nini and Kourtney talking about how cute they were together. It's fine though. It's totally fine. It's not like I cried for two hours straight the one night and the only person I wanted to talk to doesn't want to talk to me right now. It's fine. I'm fine."

[Presently]

Lucy had a wonderful Christmas. She spent the morning with her dad opening their presents to and from each other, and then had dinner with the Caswell family like normal. She spent the rest of the break with Ej, as he helped her apply to colleges.

"Okay, so, obviously the plan is still for both of us to go to Duke, however, just in case I don't get in, I do have a couple other schools that I applied to that are around there," Lucy told him as she checked things off of her list in her notebook. She had a list of schools she was applying to beside her, and she was checking them off as she applied to each. Tonight was New Year's Eve and they had a Drama Program party at Ashlyn and Adam's, so they were spending the day together until he had to go to the soup kitchen where he was volunteering with the Water Polo team.