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IT'S THE LAST day before winter break and the smile on Su's face is sufficient attestation of her current joy. Her dress rides up her thighs, flowing ever so slightly, and she finds herself scanning the corridors to ensure no school administrators are roaming around, prepared to call out students infringing the dress code.
Her best friend, Nayeli, groans beside her while tossing books into her locker haphazardly. Her curly brown hair cascades across her shoulder blades as she bends down to access the front covers of the books littered in a heap at the bottom of the locker. The darker brown ends of her hair gleam in the lights above. She scrunches up her nose when her eyes flit up to Su, who leans against the row of lockers.
"I need this year to be over already."
Over Nayeli's shoulder, Su sees her twin brother and his friend peeking into view, the latter gazing around forlornly until his eyes meet hers. He's wearing the same jean jacket that he was wearing yesterday and the day before that. Their eyes meet for a fraction of a second before he's pulling his gaze away and sliding his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
"It gets worse when you start getting acceptance letters," Su replies, a smirk pulling at her lips. Her friend visibly rolls her eyes and shuts her locker door closed.
"No need to rub it in," she murmurs, hoisting the strap of her book bag and eventually following Su's gaze to the two guys gradually approaching them.
Caden and Jeremiah finally reach the two of them and Su doesn't miss the way her friend's demeanor instantly shifts. Nayeli provides a tight smile as Caden presses a kiss to the side of her forehead, pulling her close to him. His hand reaches for her subtly and squeezes it.
Su smiles, while Jeremiah stands off to a distance. He looks deep in thought, his eyes trained to a discolored spot on the floor underneath them. His face is expressionless and his motions restless as he takes his hands in and out of his pockets like there's a burning sensation on his palms and he's incapable of shaking off the feeling. He's always been like this for as long as Su can remember. She can vaguely reminisce about a time when he wasn't on edge, when she caught him at a party a couple months ago in a corner of the room while Caden was chatting with some of his basketball teammates. As the night drew out, she humored him with her stories while watching the grin on his face elevate, revealing the dimples on his cheeks, before he launched into his own.
It's the closest she's gotten to unraveling the mystery hinged to him.
"You're coming tonight, right?" she questions him now, moving so she's closer to him while Caden and Nayeli branch off into a separate conversation. Jeremiah looks up, his eyebrows furrowed, eyes briefly darting to the couple on their right.
"The party? Yeah."
"Okay, good," she responds, picking up her Saint Laurent handbag from her open locker. "I swear, it's just a small get-together. Nothing over-the-top."
