"Jeremy!"
I'd been awake for a half hour, but blatantly ignoring Seth that whole time. Something struck me and I winced, finally rolling over to glare at him.
"Did you just throw a shoe at me?" I demanded.
"Unless you left a shoe on your bed last night, then yes, I suspect I did," Seth said. "Get your lazy ass up. We're going to shower and meet the others for breakfast."
I dragged myself out of bed before he could throw another shoe at me. Seth waited impatiently by the door while I gathered my stuff.
We made our way to the bathroom and claimed showers for ourselves. The water was, as always, lukewarm. It woke me up the longer I endured it.
I shut it off once I was clean and got dressed, going out to the sinks to brush my teeth. Seth was already there, styling his hair in the mirror.
I ran a hand through my hair, figured it was good enough, and washed the toothpaste out of my mouth. "I'm ready."
"You look homeless," he said.
"Don't I always? Let's go," I said.
We dropped our stuff in the dorm and left the building. I'd thankfully slept off my headache from the party, and Seth, as usual, seemed just fine. I swear the guy was immune to hangovers.
"Did you even drink last night?" he asked.
"Sure. But that beer tasted like piss, and you know I don't like the punch," I said.
"Where'd you even disappear to? I couldn't find you for a while," he said. "Finally being a man?"
"Sure," I repeated, then forced a grin. "But I'll leave things up to your imagination."
"That's my boy!" he said, punching my shoulder and laughing. "See, I knew you'd enjoy yourself if you'd stop being a damn wallflower all the time."
I let him fill in the gaps of last night with whatever his mind pleased. Seth would think how I'd actually spent the night was boring, and I didn't want to hear him bitch about it.
We reached the dining hall and went upstairs, swiping our IDs and grabbing trays. I drifted away from Seth to browse around for anything semi-edible, settling for a sandwich and some chips.
Seth was waiting for me by the drinks, tossing a cup at me as I approached. We filled our cups and he led me through the seating area to a table occupied by one other person.
"About time you showed up," Brynn said.
"Blame him," Seth and I said at the same time, pointing at each other. "Me?!"
"You take forever on your hair," I said.
"You take forever getting out of bed," he said, shoving me into a chair and taking the seat next to Brynn.
"Because someone had me out late last night," I said.
"For the love of- you're twenty, not two!" he cried. "Toughen up, Jer. There is no bedtime anymore."
"I heard it wasn't even a good party," Brynn said.
"It would've been a lot better if you were there," Seth said, grinning and kissing her jaw.
I made a loud gagging noise, and Seth kicked me in return. "I'm trying to eat. Can you go poorly flirt somewhere else?"
Brynn pushed Seth's face away from hers. "He's got a point. I'm hungry."
"Fine, later, then," Seth said. "And where is- oh, there he is."
Vin dropped into the empty seat next to me, his tray smacking down on the table and making our drinks slosh in their cups, dangerously close to spilling. "I had to wait for tater tots. This place is a fucking joke."
"Sue 'em," Seth said. "I've got to drop paperwork off at the office after we eat."
"Good, we can do a coffee run while we're there," Brynn said. "I hate the shit they serve in the dining hall."
"Like the shit at the Starbucks there is any better? Nah, let's just walk to the Cantina and save a few bucks," Vin said.
"What do you care about saving a few bucks? You don't pay for your own stuff," I said.
"Aw, I upset the poor people at the table," Vin said, frowning. "Here, here, let me donate to the cause." He reached out and dropped a quarter in my drink. "Buy yourself something nice, kid."
I smacked his hand away. "You're terrible and I hate you."
"Couldn't care less," Vin said. "Cantina, not Starbucks."
"Work it out amongst yourselves. I don't care," Seth said. "I just need to drop my paperwork off."
"If Vin's going to throw a temper tantrum, we'll go to the Catina. I can't deal with two ranting toddlers so early in the day," Brynn said.
"You're counting me on that list, aren't you?" I said, narrowing my eyes at her. "Some of us like to sleep, Brynn."
"Shhhhh, you both bitch too much," Seth said, waving his hands at me and Vin. "Just shut up and eat."
"I've got to get myself another drink, because some psycho thought mine was a change jar," I said, getting up.
I was unsurprised as I went to walk and found myself being tripped. I grabbed the closest chair to steady myself as Seth laughed. I grit my teeth, glaring over my shoulder at Vin, who casually pulled his leg back.
"First day with the new legs, Jerry?" he said.
"You fall for that every time!" Seth said, slapping the table as he tried to get his laughter under control. "It's like you know he's going to do it, and you still let him! What an idiot!"
If I was a braver man, I'd dump my damn drink and the quarter in it on one of their heads. But I was not a braver man, so I stomped away from them as Seth continued to laugh and Vin grinned.
"Murder is illegal, murder is illegal," I muttered to myself as I grabbed a cup and filled it.
That was Vin for you, though. If he liked you, he heaped his loyalty onto you. God only knew what had drawn him to Seth, but it was enough that he happily bullied me over things like being broke while never mentioning Seth was in the same position. Scholarships and student loans limped us financially through college, while Vin just held out his hand and got money slapped into his palm.
I dragged myself back to the table despite every instinct in me screaming to flee before Vin got bored and turned his attention back on me. I carefully set my drink out of reach of Vin.
I pushed my food around my plate as I listened to the three of them talk about everything going on around campus. There was little that happened around here that Seth and Vin didn't know about. Brynn knew all the sports gossip since she was here on a scholarship for softball. Between the three of them, I didn't think anyone could sneeze without them knowing.
I was relieved when Seth finally stood up, ending our breakfast. I hopped up, careful of Vin's feet this time, and shifted to put Seth between the two of us.
Seth rolled his eyes but allowed it. Even he knew Vin could take things too far sometimes, and it was best to stop him early.
Brynn shoved Vin out of the way so that she could be on Seth's other side. Vin glowered at her for a moment, but didn't say anything.
Walking through campus with Seth never seemed to get old, even though I'd been doing it for years. He was one of those people who was damn near bursting with charisma, able to swap personalities to charm whoever he wanted with the snap of a finger.
Not everyone liked him, of course. Some people downright hated him. But most people at least knew him.
I caught the stares as we walked along the sidewalk, taking up the whole thing in our little group. I was the only one to fall back and shift behind the others to make room for people trying to pass us so they didn't have to step into the road to do it.
"I swear, I have to put a child leash on you," Seth said when he noticed me doing that. He grabbed my arm, yanking me back to his side.
I didn't even bother to point out that it was rude to take up the whole sidewalk when we easily could've split into two groups of two and only taken up half of it. Seth wouldn't care. He had the kind of confidence that gave him permission to own the whole damn world if he felt like it.
I was relieved when we reached the Student Union building. It was quiet in there as we entered, though I could see the Starbucks on the other side was fairly busy. The actual offices were quiet, especially as we went up to the top floor.
Seth ditched us to go drop off his paperwork. He was president of the science club on campus, and worked as an intern in one of the faculty labs, as well as being an assistant to one of the science professors. God only knew what his paperwork was for this time. I felt like he was constantly dragging me here to drop something off.
Vin leaned against the railing, looking out at the lower levels of the building. "Why can't he ever just email this stuff?"
"Going up all those stairs tire your legs out?" I asked.
He kicked me in the shin, hard. "Does that answer your question?"
I hopped away from him. "Very forcefully."
He tilted his head to the side the slightest. "What happened to that jacket you always wear?"
With any luck, I'd have it back by tomorrow. "Forgot it. Seth rushed me out of the room."
I wondered if Arlo would even remember how I told him to get it back to me. I couldn't remember ever seeing him around campus before, though I'm sure we must've passed each other at some point in the past few years. I'd be pissed if I lost my jacket to a guy who couldn't even fit in it.
But I couldn't bring myself to regret giving him the jacket. Or, at least not yet. Maybe if I didn't have it back by the end of the day tomorrow I'd feel differently.
Seth came out of one of the offices, charming smile plastered on his face as he shook hands with the person in there. He turned to us, smile dropping off his face as he rolled his eyes.
"Let's go. I need caffeine or I'll die," he said, breezing past us and starting down the stairs.
"You don't even like coffee that much," Vin said as we followed him.
"No, but I need caffeine," he said. "Did you miss the part where I'll die without it?"
"Some days you sound almost as overdramatic as Jeremy," Brynn said.
"Nah, even I can't manage that," Seth said.
"I will knock you down these stairs," I warned.
"Yea, careful, Seth, Jeremy knows all the ways to fight someone. He's read comic books," Vin said.
I glared at him. "I have read comic books, and there's this one scene where a guy squirts mustard up the villain's nose that I've really been wanting to try out on someone..."
"Mustard? Up a dude's nose?" Seth said. "The fuck kind of comics are you reading?"
"He's got to read all the weird indie comics so he's not too mainstream," Vin said.
"Not true. I just can't figure out the order of Marvel comics for the life of me, so I don't bother," I said. "And DC comics aren't so bad if you've got a really, really big bottle of vodka."
"Enough nerd talk!" Seth said. "I don't give a shit about comics or superhero movies, and it bores the hell out of me when you talk about them."
"You're the one who keeps him around," Brynn pointed out.
I wanted to point out that I'd been around longer than her or Vin, but kept my mouth shut. Seth slung an arm around my shoulders, dragging me in close.
"He has his uses," he said.
"Still waiting to see them," Vin said.
"I'm full of nerd knowledge. Take me to trivia night and I'll earn my keep," I said.
Vin scoffed. "Yea, I'll get right on that."
I was trying to glare at him again, but Seth grabbed my hair and tugged my head away as Vin began to blink rapidly. Vin hated when anyone stared at him when his tic was acting up like that.
We left the Union and started towards the library, where the Campus Cantina was. I liked going there, especially since I spent a lot of time in the library. It was usually pretty quiet, and it was a nice place to get a drink or a snack while I was working.
It was a nice day out. I would've loved to just take a walk around campus, or go out by the fountain and read a book in the shade.
But Seth had other plans for us, so we marched along the sidewalk until we reached the Cantina, heading inside. Seth sent Brynn to get us a table while we ordered.
We got our drinks and an order of pretzel bites before joining Brynn. Seth slid her a drink and she looked at it skeptically.
"Babe, c'mon, it's your favorite!" Seth said, leaning back in his chair. "Have a little faith in me, will you?"
She sipped the drink, then nodded in satisfaction. "About time you have that memorized."
"I'm a romantic, what can I say?" Seth said. I choked on my drink, and he whacked me in the shoulder. "Shut it, you. You're just pissed you can't get more than some theater nerd to suck you off."
"Hey, some theater nerds are damn good with their tongues," I said with a shrug.
"Yea, trying to eat here, guys," Vin said.
"Right, right, forgot Vin is a little prude boy," Brynn said, grinning down at her drink as she saw his blinking start up.
I looked around the Cantina while I waited for Vin to calm down. Best not to speak while he was already mad at someone else.
I frowned, tilting my head. The Catina's doors were glass and let you see out into the library. I could see a girl with her back turned, her hair pulled back. It looked like there were streaks of pink in it.
Well. A little late, but I guess I found one of Arlo's friends.
"What're you smiling at?" Seth asked, peering past me.
"Inside joke from last night," I said, sipping my drink. "Had to be there."
"You mean you weren't scampering after Seth all night nursing the same beer for four hours?" Vin said in surprise.
"He was totally nursing the same beer the whole time. But the little bastard disappeared for a while," Seth said, grinning and slapping me on the back.
"Easy, Seth. Vin's trying to eat," I said.
Really, I just didn't want them all prying in about it. Seth was content to let me lead him to a conclusion. But Brynn and Vin would realize I hadn't been doing anything scandalous if they started prying.
I was curious if Arlo made it back safe, though. I started to get up, figuring it couldn't hurt to go ask the girl if she knew him and if he'd made it back alright last night.
But Seth grabbed my arm. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Saw someone I knew in there. Wanted to go say hi," I said.
He tugged me roughly back into the seat. "Oh, no, I know you. You'll disappear again if you go in there. Or you'll run off with one of your theater nerds."
"Seth, I'll be back in two minutes," I said.
He didn't release my arm. "You're staying with us."
He tightened his hold on my arm. I winced and reluctantly nodded.
"Yea, alright, I'm sticking around. But only if Vin stops inhaling the pretzel bites so the rest of us get some," I grumbled.
Seth finally released my arm, looking pleased. "Vin, either save some for Jeremy or go buy more."
"Jeremy can go buy his own," Vin said, then laughed. "Oh, man, I'm hilarious. Jeremy? Being able to afford anything? Fucking classic."
I grabbed a pretzel bite and shoved it in my mouth to keep from saying something that would get me hit. God, Vin was such a dick.
I turned my head to look back out the doors. The girl had disappeared from view.
Seth grabbed my hair, tugging my head so that I was focused on our group again. "Focus, Jerry." He snatched the last pretzel bite from Vin's fingers and held it out to me. "We're much more entertaining than whatever lame bastard you saw out there."
I took the pretzel bite, ignoring the blinking glare I was receiving from Vin. Of course he'd never get mad at the guy who actually took the damn food from him.
Still, it was clear Seth wasn't letting me escape today, so I'd just have to endure Vin's jabs. I guess I'd just have to wait until tomorrow to see if my jacket- and, ultimately, Arlo -had made it back safely. It bothered me more than it really should, but there was nothing to be done about it now, so I resigned myself to being stuck with Seth, Brynn, and Vin for the rest of the day.
-------------------------------------------------------
A.N.- I know waiting so long for an update is annoying so I'll try to get the next one up next week to help the story pick up a little, but on the bright side a lot of these chapters are a little longer than the chapters in my other stories, so I guess that's the compensation here? Regardless, let me know what you think now that you've gotten to see more of Jeremy and Seth, and their (questionable) friend group!