Heather
"That was brutal," Heather muttered while her chin rested on her tented hands. Jenna, Zach and Matt all nodded in agreement, staring off into space as if they too were traumatized by what they'd witnessed an hour prior.
Jenna shook her head. "Poor girl, she didn't deserve any of that."
The group had all sat down in a booth at the MSC shortly after their class let out. A couple of students were using the pool table nearby, and the normal chatter of people coming and going filled the space, along with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and cheese curds from Matt's tray.
They'd eventually found Eden, and as Heather and Jenna tried to help her out of her stall, Eden quietly sobbed and told them to let her be alone for a little bit. They'd of course stayed, and Heather's heart broke for her as Eden slowly ambled out from behind the door. Eden's eyes were so red, her lids swollen, tears still flowed down her cheeks, her makeup smeared, and she was bent over as if in physical pain. Jenna and Heather helped her over towards the sink to clean her up.
No one had said a word, but as they all congregated towards the main doors again at the Applied Arts entrance, Eden had quietly announced she wasn't hungry and just wanted to go lie down. They'd all offered to walk her back, but she'd reiterated wanting to be alone, so with a smile that hadn't reached her eyes, Eden walked back to their dorm alone.
"What an asshole," Matt glared down at the table. "She does what he told her to do, and then pulls the rug out from under her like that."
"That's so not fetch," Heather said, but no one laughed. Yeah, too soon to try and lighten the mood, she'd inwardly cringed.
"I remember reading reviews for him on rate my professors," Zach shrugged. "A lot of them had said his guidance is inconsistent and aimless like that, but if he's that harsh on someone, it means he see's major potential, and tries to squeeze it out of them."
Heather snorted. "There's a difference between guidance and just being an asshole. What happened back in that classroom was just plain bullying."
Zach had no response for that.
Heather hated to admit it, but Zach had a point. Usually if Arquez talked to someone, even if it was harsh criticism, it'd meant he cared about their work to some degree. If he'd said maybe two words and moved on to the next student, that was the worst sign that he'd given up. That only happened with the few in their class that hardly ever showed much effort, so it'd been semi-deserved, but it was obvious Arquez had his favorites too.
"I just hate how subjective art school is," Heather crossed her arms. "I mean, we can all agree when I say Eden's art is amazing, right? Well, it's not fair that someone's grade has to suffer just because their instructor's personal opinion determines what counts as good work or not."
"I feel like teachers are pretty good about being nonbiased in their evaluations," Jenna said. "As they should, but to what degree does that stay enforced? I mean, art is and has been about the eye of the beholder. Someone's personal taste being a deciding factor in what they deem is great or not."
"And whether the instructor thinks the student was able to show the requirements of the assignment handed to them," Zach argued. "Like, were they able to successfully show the themes they meant to convey?"
"Sorry to interrupt," Matt had cut in. "But haven't we talked about enough art today? Can't a guy eat his cheese curds in peace?" he'd emphasized his point by shoving a curd into his mouth.
Heather rolled her eyes. "Of course, all you can think about is food."
Matt shrugged; guilt was obvious in his expression, but he'd kept eating.
Boys...Heather surmised.
Speaking of, Heather had noticed a familiar face walking towards them amongst the other students. The disheveled hair, the quiet confidence in the way he'd carried himself, the plaid pattern on his long sleeve shirt partially hidden beneath a worn gray jacket, and the stoic expression he'd worn.
Heather looked down as Luke approached their booth.
"You guys look like they canceled Game of Thrones or something," he'd commented.
"First of all, NEVER joke about something like that," Matt pointed a finger at him. "Second of all, what if that actually happens now? I'm coming for you for planting that seed in my head."
Luke scoffed. "Cool it, dude, or you'll lose your head faster than Ned Stark."
Heather cracked a smile, but it'd disappeared when Luke gave no reaction towards her.
"We're just concerned for Eden," Jenna admitted. "We've been having presentations of all our work since January, and hers today didn't go as well as we'd hoped."
"The Instructor tore her a new one," Zach added.
Concern flashed in Luke's eyes. "Where's Eden now?"
"Back in her room after we all but had to carry her out of the girls bathroom," Jenna shoulders sank. "She was practically in hysterics, and could barely walk on her own."
"You guys have been having it rough lately," Luke nodded around the table. "With that fashion thing keeping you up every night, I don't know how you artsy types keep doing it."
"With naïve hope for the secure job market it'll present us with after graduation," Matt quipped.
Heather ran a hand through her long hair as Luke sat down in the seat Eden would've occupied if she were there. The two of them had still barely spoken since spring break; it was just like after that kiss back in January. She'd felt trapped and desperately wanted to call out for help without having to rely on someone else, because she couldn't have someone else turn against her too. She was lost amongst the people that surrounded her, pulled down by the vast weight of her secret inner dilemma, unable to call out for help.
"You know what you guys need?" Luke spoke up, and Heather was jerked out of her thoughts. "You need a night to take a break, and just let loose to forget about all the shit that's going on."
"God, that does sound pretty great right about now," Zach admitted.
"What'd you have in mind?" Jenna inquired, raising a single brow.
"I know a guy who has a place," Luke grinned.
"Your brother's house?"
Luke nodded. "I'll ask and see if he's willing to have a couple people over this weekend."
Jenna's eyes widened in shock. "You'd do that for all of us?"
Luke shrugged, and Heather felt some sort of emotion hit her right in the chest at the gesture. He was just up and willing to offer something like that because he saw how stressed out and worn out they all were. She knew he'd thought otherwise, but Luke Mitchell was too pure for this world.
"I know we're roommates and it'd be super weird between us, but I want to kiss you right now," Matt told him, and Luke chuckled despite the blush that blossomed on his cheeks.
"It's no issue, I'll ask Brett later today," Luke rose from the booth. "I gotta get to class, but I'll let you guys know what's up later on, okay?"
Everyone eagerly said their goodbyes as he'd walked towards the exit, and Jenna swiped Heather's shoulder to grab her attention.
"How the hell did you let that boy go?"
Matt
For what felt like the twelve-hundredth time, Matt was out in the study lounge with Madison while they'd worked on their outfit. He'd sat in the same chair so many times, he'd been certain he'd left a permanent butt-imprint for anyone else who'd sit in it for years to come.
Ever since the night he'd snuck away into Heather's room, things had been icy with Madison. Matt had known it was wrong; he hadn't had much fun in quite some time, or had even hung out with friends without worrying about that damn project, and honestly hadn't known it was going to turn into a giant spa treatment. He'd just been relieved to see her, and even have Ali and Lindsay there; what guy wouldn't love having the attention of three gorgeous girls? Sure, he was gay, but for someone who had felt invisible for most of his life, it'd still meant the world to him.
Madison worked fast across the table from him; her focus entirely on finishing the pants that had frustratingly refused to stay up around Matt's waist and not tear apart. She'd hardly said a word to him since they'd sat down.
Matt coughed, discomfort evident in his expression. "Hey Madison?"
She didn't respond, and Matt wondered if she was purposely giving him the cold shoulder, or she legitimately just hadn't heard him.
Without looking away from her work, Madison nodded. "What's up, Matt?"
Oh, thank god...
"I just wanted...I want to...I...," Matt had stammered out. He'd taken a deep breath and started over. "Look, I know what I did was pretty shitty to do, and I'm sorry about ditching you." Madison stopped working and finally looked over at him. Her expression wasn't welcoming or friendly, but Matt continued. "I'd gotten into my head that since I was the model, I wouldn't have to do as much work. That wasn't fair to just assume, and I hope you can forgive me so we can go back to being friends."
Madison's expression remained stoic, but after a few moments, her whole body sagged. Once again, Matt noticed how worn out she'd really looked.
"It's okay, Matt, I forgive you," Madison said. "I can admit I'm not the easiest person to work with because I have high standards for everything, and can be a bit of a boss-bitch if I can't control every little thing, you know?"
Matt nodded wordlessly, worried not to interrupt her.
"I've just been so stressed lately with everything; this project, track meets every weekend, not getting any sleep, friends getting upset that I'm never around," Madison rolled her eyes at that last one. "Point is, it's all taking a toll, and I guess I've kind of been taking it out on you since you're the person I've seen the most of for the last couple of weeks."
Matt cracked a small smile in understanding.
"It was easier, and yeah, I was pissed at you for that night," Madison admitted. "But, it's all good now. I shouldn't have taken all my frustrations out on you, that wasn't fair of me either." She'd paused and shifted in her seat. "To be honest, I've been taking Adderall again to try and help with everything."
Matt nodded silently, not sure how to respond.
"I admit, I've had problems with it in the past, but that was a different time with college applications at ACT Prep, and I know my limits now, so I should be fine," Madison said.
Matt nodded, but his concern didn't dissipate at all. If anything, he'd literally felt red flags continue to rise. So, his partner and friend just admitted she's had a drug problem, is back on them, and hasn't been herself ever since she'd started back on it? He wanted to mention his concern, but he also didn't want to argue after he'd just gotten back into her good graces. He absolutely hated it when people were ever upset with him.
Matt tentatively looked up at her. "So, friends again?"
"We never weren't," Madison's expression softened.
Matt felt hope rise in his chest. She'd had no idea how much he'd liked hearing that. He still worried, wondered if the added stress of everything was all that her moodiness stemmed from. He'd keep an eye on her, make she didn't run herself into the ground.
"Well, if you want, there's this thing going on this weekend," Matt said. "Luke said his brother was willing to have people over Friday night as a way to de-stress. If you want, you and the girls could stop by."
He hoped she'd take him up on his offer, he'd secretly wanted their groups to join together. He'd hoped maybe there wouldn't be as much drama then, and if he could be friends with both groups, why couldn't they get along?
"That actually sounds really nice, I'll run it by the girls and see what they think," Madison smiled for the first time in awhile. "Thanks, Matt."
"No problem," Matt smiled back. "Like you said, we're all just so stressed and need to unwind."
"Very true, I plan on going wild once the fashion show is over," Madison chuckled. "Then I plan on sleeping for, like, a whole week afterwards."
"Me too."
They fell back into the rhythm of their work with a sense of rejuvenation, the morale of their reconciliation had given them newfound energy, and they rode that wave as they'd continued to get that much closer to completing their project.
Luke
"So, is Heather coming tonight?"
Luke inwardly groaned in the passenger seat of Brett's truck as they'd pulled out from the parking lot of the local grocery store. It was near the 1-94 bridge, and the weather was the best they'd seen all year so far with campus coming alive once again. People had been staying outside, and Luke had even settled for just a simple t-shit instead of his usual flannel since it'd gotten so much warmer.
As soon as he'd finished his Friday courses, he'd traveled over to Brett's house to help out with setup. It would be easy, mainly just moving stuff up into bedrooms so they wouldn't be knocked over or be broken by Matt. Luke always chuckled about that; Matt had become known as the guy who broke furniture whenever he got drunk. He'd broken his bed that first weekend, he'd also broken a toilet seat, a coffee table, and even accidentally tripped and headbutted a thermostat out of the wall.
Luke turned to Brett. "Why do you care?"
"No reason, I'd just thought you would've invited her is all."
"Whatever."
"Oh, come on bud," Brett patted Luke's shoulder while he'd kept his eyes on the road. "Don't tell me that whole thing is over before you could even screw it up yourself."
"First of all, fuck you. Second of all, she was with the gang I'd invited, so I wasn't about to single her out, and third, she got back with her guy, so I guess that's it."
Man, he hated how defeated that sounded...
"You haven't learned anything, have you?" Brett shook his head. "Dude, it's like I've been telling you all year. If you're serious about her, keep trying and eventually the odds will be in your favor."
"Yeah, okay Haymitch, great advice," Luke snorted. "I tried, and she still chose the other guy."
"Okay, so things didn't end up your way, that sucks. Now you've got to decide for yourself: is she worth it to keep fighting for, or are you going to get over it? 'Cuz bro, bitching and pouting about it all this time later isn't doing anyone favors."
Luke hated to admit it, but Brett was right. He'd really put himself out there, something he'd hardly ever done before, and had still gotten rejected. Multiple times. He couldn't help the sharp pang that'd struck him right in the chest whenever he saw her, and couldn't look her in the eye in case he'd reveal how much it'd still affected him.
Was it worth it to keep fighting for her? Was the pain it'd brought worth it if he'd only had a fifty percent chance at a happy ending? Could he get over her? Would he be able to move on to the point of being able to hold a conversation with her and not have his heart broken everytime?
Luke honestly didn't have any answers.
They'd gotten back to Brett's house and finished setting up the house, Jackson and a couple of their friends had sat around with drinks in hand, chatting away. When the two of them were done, Brett grabbed two bottles of Spotted Cow out of the fridge and offered one to Luke. As they'd clicked glasses and started the night off right, Brett gave him the thumbs up to send over the others.
Matt arrived with his usual group of Eden, Alex, Jenna, Heather, but even Zach joined them for once, much to everyone's delight. He still wasn't drinking, but if it's a small house party with everyone he knew, why stay in? Luke patted him on the back and almost offered him a beer anyways.
Heather had given him a clipped little smile, and Luke thought maybe they could chat at some point and sort things out. He'd told himself he'd see how the night went.
Jared and Brayden had showed up a little later. Luke honestly thought they would have forgotten his invite all together, and would've gone to some other house, but they were in Brett's kitchen, schmoozing with the other guys and clinking glasses with their drinks.
"Dude, I've been wanting to see this place for some now," Brayden admitted.
"Plus, if it means getting this lazy fucker off the futon, all the better," Jared gave Brayden a playful shove, to which he'd stumbled back a few steps and couldn't stop giggling. "I think there's a thing going on at Chi Lambda later tonight, so maybe we'll head there next."
Luke nodded. "Yeah, no worries, my brother and those guys are probably going to the bars later too."
"Speaking of your brother, can we finally get an introduction?" Jared looked around the room. Brayden, who'd thankfully gained back his balance, also looked around but with more exaggerated movements.
"Here he is, actually." Luke grabbed Brett as he'd walked by, and they'd made their introductions, and no surprise, they all hit it off. Luke thought they were pretty much the same type: the charismatic, jock type who usually owned the room they were in. He'd never been able to match the level of "hype" those guys always got when they were out and had booze in their system.
Luke slowly backed away from the three of them talking about the Greenbay Packers, and they hadn't even seemed to notice him any longer. Fine with him, he was more in the mood to wander anyways.
The most unusual part of the night was that the group of girls, the one that Ali was a part of, showed up at the front door sometime later. Luke watched as Madison popped up to the front of them, and Luke noticed Matt maneuver across the room until he'd reached them at the door. Luke personally had nothing against any of the girls, but he knew there was usually some drama going down with them and the others, so he'd watch over how things transpired and see how the night turned out.
Anything to avoid a certain person who still seemed to look anywhere but at himself.
Madison
Despite being invited to a small party hosted by Luke's older brother, who was actually kind of sexy, Madison decided she wasn't going to drink that much, if at all. They were taking a night off from the project and school in general, sure, but what about the next day? There was absolutely no way she was going to a track meet so close to sections and compete with a hangover.
Madison was still touched that Matt invited her and the girls, and thought it was funny how it seemed like most of the 3rd floor were all there. Eden and her gang—even Zach—were over in the next room facing off against a couple older guys in some game on the pong table. They bounced balls diagonally across the table, and tried to land them off their chests into one of the three cups at each corner. Now, Madison was usually pretty well-versed in what went down at parties, but she'd never seen that game before in her life.
The girls as they'd gone off to mingle, so Madison stepped away and rested against the wall, a plastic cup of Sprite with a lime to make it look like a cocktail. She'd learned from the many frat parties if a girl was alone and didn't have a drink in her hands, strange guys took it as an excuse to come up and talk. She didn't think anyone would've tried anything, but growing up in Chicago taught her it's better to be safe than sorry.
A game of "Fuck the Dealer" got started, but Madison remained against the wall, feeling left out despite her lack of effort to talk to people. Much to her frustration, she'd felt on edge: her skin itchy, and heartbeat faster than usual. She was anxious to go somewhere, not even sure where, but maybe a change of scenery would just calm her down.
Madison contemplated ghosting the whole night before she'd spotted Jared coming towards her, a meaningful look in his eyes. She'd nodded, her heartbeat still going rapidly, but maybe then for a different reason.
"Well hello there, stranger," Madison greeted him before she'd taken a sip of her soda. She'd inwardly hoped he hadn't noticed how shaky her hand was.
"Always a pleasure, Mads," Jared leaned against the wall by her side, all calm, smooth, and confident. Madison fought the urge to fix her hair or readjust her cashmere sweater. "It's good to see you out and about, even if we have an early roll call tomorrow."
Madison rolled her eyes. "I know, but Matt invited me, and I couldn't say no. Plus, I haven't had a night out in forever, which has been so disappointing."
Jared grinned. "You staying out long?"
"I might leave in an hour, maybe? Or head back once the girls want to go to another party, probably."
"Right. I was going to take Brayden to Chi later, but I might just have the Bryans come pick him up instead," Jared smiled ruefully. "Coach has been riding my ass lately about not doing as good as he expects, so maybe I need to cut back a little, which sucks."
Madison chuckled. "It's amazing you haven't failed any of the drug tests yet."
"Yeah, 'random drug testing' my ass. I think he's out to get me."
Madison wouldn't have been surprised. Even she'd found it odd that Jared had been selected to be tested three times already, when she hadn't gotten the notice once. Maybe it wasn't as random as they'd made it out to be, but it wasn't like she'd wanted to trek over to the Johnson field house at six in the morning just to pee into a cup.
"Well, just keep chugging that cranberry juice, and you'll be golden, Ponyboy," Madison winked.
Jared laughed; his blue eyes lit with mischief. "Geez Madison, I haven't smoked since, like, October."
She'd remembered that night: they'd gone down behind the Waterfront Bar & Grill along a trail by the lake, shared about two bowls of Purple Kush, then walked back through campus in a euphoric haze. It might've been one of the few times she was never stressed about something on her mind.
The two of them agreed to leave together a half an hour later, and even overheard Luke's brother give him the orders to watch the house while him and his buddies had decided to go hit up the bars. Madison was surprised that someone would just leave their house open to a bunch of strangers like that, but he must've thought Luke could handle it. She'd watched as the older guys in the crowd all dwindled out the back door, and it was just her floor that were left.
Mandy and Lindsay came up to the two of them, and Madison noticed how Jared tensed beside her, but chose to ignore it.
"What are you two over her chatting about?" Mandy casually asked. Lindsay looked mildly curious, and maybe she was paranoid, but Madison hadn't liked the way Mandy's eyes traveled between her and Jared, like she knew what they've done.
"Our track meet tomorrow, actually," Jared replied coolly. "We're going to head back early, if that's alright with you?"
Mandy snorted as she'd ran a hand through her glossy dark hair. "No need for the attitude, Jare-bear, I was just trying to have a normal conversation."
"Seriously, I thought you'd both be over this whole..." Madison gestured between the two of them. "...thing is between you two. Just leave it in the past already!"
Jared's icy gaze turned towards her, but Madison refused to shrink under his scrutiny. She'd merely shrugged, hoped he understood that she'd just wanted to not draw any suspicion towards them.
"Actually, we were wondering if you'd heard if anything else was going on tonight?" Lindsay asked by trying to break the tension, her hand played with a strand of her curled platinum blonde hair. For someone who liked gossip, she sure got nervous around drama, Madison thought to herself.
Madison was about to respond, but a heavy knocking on the door stopped and angry voices could be heard shouting from outside. The four of them turned as Luke quickly went for the door to investigate.
Jared turned to her; his brows knit together. "Was anyone else coming tonight?"
Madison shook her head; she honestly had no idea.
Luke slowly came back into the room, his skin deathly pale and his eyes looked haunted. He ran a hand across his face, and Madison's heartbeat accelerated again.
Something wasn't right.
"Dude, what's going on?" Jared asked him.
Luke looked at all of them with a defeated look in his gaze, and Madison knew what was going on, what that expression told, and she felt like the floor was about to collapse.
Luke coughed to clear his throat, but his voice rough with dread. "The cops are here."