I felt bad for leaving Seb in there with Lindsay and her violin skills, or lack thereof, but my amusement and enjoyment outweighed my guilt. I was laughing as I hugged my binder close to my chest and continued down hall.
"Kara!"
I turn to see my cousin bounding towards me. The top of her long black hair was in cute little pigtails, tied neatly with blue ribbon. She was always the cutest in family pictures.
"Violet, hey." I say as I turn around, the two of us standing in the middle of the hall. As it was still lunch, there weren't that many others surrounding us. "What's up?"
"I was just coming over to say hi." She smiles as she glances over her shoulder. I follow her gaze to where her friends were waiting for her by the window at the end of the hall, "I haven't seen you since the party last Sunday. I was wondering how your first week went."
"Ah, it went great. I really enjoy all my classes and the music department is honestly incredible." I smile as I adjust my arms around the binder. It was super heavy with all the notes from my Physics class. I wondered how Scott could ever enjoy it.
Everytime I'm there I'm either falling asleep or fantasising about throwing myself out of the goddamn window.
Her eyes narrow slightly, "I heard you got some new friends."
Ahhh, now I see why she said hi. It's not the first time over the past week that I've been approached by the girl with the ulterior motive of getting closer to the guys. Some girl even asked me to set her up on a blind date with Auggie while I was on the fucking toilet.
"...Yup." I say with pursed lips and a nod.
"Me and my friends were just wondering if you could give us one of there numbers?" She asks as she nervously scratches the back, "Do you have all their numbers...or just one?"
"I have all of their numbers." I answer with a small smile, "But that doesn't mean I can go around giving them out to everyone."
"Not even your cousin?" She asks as she hits me with those classic puppy-dog eyes. Her eyes were a light, glassy blue and I remember they always got my parents to agree to letting the two of us sleep over at each other's houses when we were younger.
"Not even you my sweet, little cousin." I grin as I pat the top of her head lightly, "They deserve their privacy, Vi. I value my friendship with all of them and I don't want to ruin that."
"You're right." Violet says with a small disappointed sigh, "Sorry for asking you."
"It's fine. If you want their numbers why don't you try talking to them? They're not as bad as you think." I say with a small shrug as for some reason the memory of Scott thanking me yesterday comes to mind.
"I'm good. I'm not as confident as you are, Kara." Violet shrugs as she steps backwards, "I'll see you around."
"Bye." I smile at her as she turns and hurries over to her friends. She must've said something straight away because they all look over at me and glare.
I smile and wave. Ah, nothing like pissing of the people who hate you with a sickly sweet grin.
Not wanting to stand there any longer, I spin and head to the library. As I turn the corner to head down the hall, I end up running into someone. I literally face-plant against their hard chest.
"Shit—sorry—" I pause as I stumble back and glance up at their face, "Oh...hi."
Scott was staring down at me with wide-surprised eyes but otherwise a blank expression. He was wearing a tight white crewneck and a pair of dark navy slacks. The straps of his black backpack were stretched over his broad shoulders and I noticed how tight his shirt was.
Damn, can he let me breath for one second. Just one!
He stares at me for a few silent seconds with such an adorable surprised expression. Then he turns and starts walking in the other direction.
"Wait, Scott!" I shout as I speed-walk after him. Two girls walk past us, arm in arm, while looking between Scott and I. I ignore the, and continue to speed-walk like I was in damn olympic race. I manage to catch him, grabbing him onto his arm and forcing him to stop.
"Kara..." He trails off as I double over, putting my hands to my knees as I try to catch my breath, "Are you okay?"
"Just...gimme a second." I pant heavily as I try to catch my breath. I then straighten my spine, put my hands to my hips and breath out heavily, "Whew, you sure walk fast."
"Why are you talking to me?" He asks as I frown with narrowed suspicious eyes.
"Am I not supposed to...?" I ask as my expression becomes even more suspicious. The large windows that ran along one side of the hallway let so much of the afternoon sun in and it bounced off the brown wooden walls, causing it to glint in my eye.
"I thought you were angry at me?" He asks as I shake my head while confusion takes over me, "I got really mad and I didn't drive you home yesterday."
"Drive me home? What do you me—oh, Auggie told you." I say as I quickly connect the dots.
I remember when I got home last night, I called up Auggie and went on a massive rant about Scott and how he pissed me off to literally no end. It was a little over-the-top and exaggerated but I was still angry at how bipolar he was. He confused me and that made me furious.
"I didn't really mind that you didn't drive me home. I would not have gotten on your doom wagon of death anyway." I explain as I scoff and brush through the air. "And I obviously pushed a little too much and you didn't deserve that."
Scott nods as he glances down at his shoes, "But I know I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. Auggie told me off."
"You confuse me, Scott Cameron." I smirk as he glances up at me with a curious frown. I can't help but laugh at his face, "What's this adorable reaction?"
"I don't want to confuse you, Kara. Tell me what I'm doing and I'll stop." He say directly as my eyes widen in shock. I then start laughing again, "What? What's so funny?"
"Nothing, you just make me laugh." I say as I reach up and flatten the top of his brown waves. The tips of his hair were so soft under my fingers, "I'm not angry at you, Scott. You reaction was completely reasonable and if anything, you should be angry at me."
"How can I be angry at a puppy-dog?" He asks and I could see the small, teasing grin pulling at his lips. I settle back on my heels and squeeze my binder tighter in my arms.
"I don't look like a puppy-dog. Why does everyone keep saying that?" I grumble under my breath as Scott chuckles lightly. I glance up at him, "Your laughter terrifies me."
He instantly sobers it, "Then I'll stop."
"Oh no, I—Scott, I was joking." I giggle at him as his eyes widen and he glances away. "How about we forget about yesterday afternoon? What do you say?"
"Okay." He nods.
"Oh, can we also forget about what I said when we got arrested?" I ask with a sheepish, hopeful grin. I would give anything to go back and change what I said. I wouldn't change what happened, but I would've at least not told him that there was a possibility of me developing a goddamn bladder infection.
Scott chuckles and shakes his head, "Nope."
"Asshole." I scoff as I roll my eyes. "Well, I gotta go study for my Physics quiz."
"Physics?" Scott's eyes brighten and I remembered that he was quite interested in the subject.
"Yeah, you take senior AP Physics right?" I ask as he nods, "Would you mind helping me out sometime?"
"I...uh...shit." Scott says before he turns and walks-off.
I watch him until he turns the corner and disappears from sight. I couldn't help but giggle at his reaction.
And Seb thought I was cute when I got flustered.
✤ ✤ ✤ ✤
I tap on the surface of the table to the piano music that was stuck in my head. The library was quiet during my free period which was great, it meant I could study in peace.
Which was not going to plan in any way whatsoever. All I could think about was the stupid song that played over and over inside my skull.
"That's not a piano."
"Gah!" I shout in fright as I end up throwing my pen away. I glance around and turn, seeing Quinn standing behind me with a few books clutched in his hand as he smirks down at me. I roll my eyes, "What do you want?"
"Your tapping was annoying me." He says simply, "I could hear it from across library."
"How unfortunate." I say sarcastically as I turn around and get back to studying. I start tapping point five of a second later just to annoy him.
"Are you studying for waves?" Quinn asks and I glance up to see how close he had gotten. He was basically leaning over me, "You got that equation wrong....and that's not even the right equation for that question."
"I will shove this pencil in your eye." I say as I hold up a yellow 2B at him .
He smirks arrogantly at me, "I did this quiz in eighth grade."
"That's nice. I don't care." I huff as I glance down at paper in front of me, "I don't understand anything about waves. I just thought the only waves that exist were in the fucking ocean."
"I can help you." Quinn says as I glance up. He then awkwardly clears his throat and pulls at the collar of his blue and white plaid shirt, "I mean...uh...if you want me to."
"Yes please!" I plead as I slap my hands together as if praying to him.
"Shhh!" I hear a harsh whisper as Quinn and I both stare at the person sitting a couple tables away.
Her eyes were narrowed in to slits behind her glasses and the sun from the large windows reflected of her light blonde hair.
"Sorry." I give her a sheepish smile as I turn back to Quinn, "Will you actually help me?"
Quinn sighs, rolls his eyes and slips the strap off his backpack from his shoulder. He puts his books on the table and takes the seat next to me.
"If I can tutor Auggie, then I should be able to help you." Quinn smirks and I realised he had compared me to Auggie.
I mean, don't get me wrong Auggie is smart. Adorable to but so very, very dumb.
"Okay, let's see what we're working with." Quinn says as he slides the book over to him. He reads over the practice quiz I was doing as well as the notes in my small notebook, "Obviously not much."
"Hey, we all can't be walking-calculators, okay?" I say as I hit his arm slightly, "I actually tried on those equations."
"Did you?" Quinn scoffs as I roll my eyes and sag back into my chair. He frowns in concentration as he reads over my work through his glasses. He handsome without them, but there was a certain appeal to seeing him with those on.
They were a metal-thin framed and made of a dark gold. He also had a killer side-profile, of course, and I noticed he was biting his lip while he was thinking deeply. Hey! I do that.
"Okay, I see what you did wrong here. You missed two decimal places in your frequency." Quinn points at my page as I lean forward with narrowed eyes. "Do you know how to find the frequency, Kara?"
I give a sheepish smile as my gaze rises to his eyes, "Not exactly."
"Give me your pencil." He sighs as he flips open a new page in my notebook and begins to teach me.
Quinn basically teaches me the entire subject of Physics waves in less than an hour. He was oddly calm and understanding when I got something wrong or asked really stupid questions. He didn't get angry once, maybe a little frustrated, but he usually helped me through it.
It felt nice to actually being able to talk with him without Auggie. Auggie usually hogs me in the friend group and I don't mind it, it was just a breath of fresh air being able to chat with Quinn who was always so quiet and calculating.
With about fifteen minutes until the end of class, Quinn tells me to pack up. He told me it was so my brain could process everything it had just learnt and it made it more likely for me to remember later this afternoon.
"Thank you so much Quinn." I say as I slide all the books into my backpack. I glance at hit to the side to see him leaning back in his chair with a small dazed smile on his face, "I feel so much more confident now."
"You should be. You're a smart girl Kara, you just need to figure out your style of learning." Quinn explains as I zip up my bag and lie it on the table. I turn in my seat and bring one bent leg up underneath me while facing Quinn.
I cup my ear, "Ah, what did you just say? I didn't—I didn't quite hear that?"
"What?" He tilts his head back and laughs at me, "I'm not saying it again."
"Nope, that wasn't it." I shake my head with a small, cheeky smirk.
Quinn sighs heavily, "I said you were a smart girl."
"There it is!" I exclaim as I shoot finger guns at him.
"Shhh!" We hear again from the girl a few tables down. She had been glaring at us and repeating the same thing over and over again. If she wanted a quiet area to study, there were plenty of study rooms in the second level of the library.
"Oh, just go to your next class, Amanda." I hiss back as Amanda rolls her eyes and stands up. She begins packing up her things as I turn back to Quinn. He was smiling at me, amused at the situation, "Hey, I was wanting to ask if you would up to the idea of helping me out in the future."
He raises an eyebrow, "You mean for study?"
"No, for hiding dead bodies." I roll my eyes sarcastically, "Of course study. This scholarship means so much to me and my dad and since the grades I get here are a massive factor when it comes to keeping it, I really want to get good marks."
"So you want me to tutor you?" Quinn asks and I sigh. Sweet baby Jesus, for a genius he's having some trouble understanding the simple thing I was asking of him.
"Yup. I would pay you and we would only have to meet once a week. Maybe twice depending on how much I'm struggling with." I explain with a small shrug, "I don't want my dad worrying about me so if we can do it during my free periods, that would be even better."
Quinn pauses for a moment as if weighing up his options. Then, "Okay."
"Woohoo!" I exclaim in happiness as I wrap my arms around his shoulders. It was just a random reaction and I could feel Quinn tense under my hug.
"Shhh!" Amanda who was still here repeats for the umpteenth time and I pull my arms from around Quinn and point a finger at her. I don't say anything but she quickly turns and leaves the library.
"Sorry about that. I'm just really happy." I smile at him to see him staring at me with a weird expression, "What?"
"Ah, you should probably go to your next class." Quinn clears his throat as I nod and stand up from my chair.
"Thanks again, Quinn. You really helped me out." I say as I face him while slipping my bag onto my shoulders, "I owe you big time."
"It's fine, Kara. And you don't have to pay me for the tutoring sessions either." Quinn explains as my smile grows bigger at his generosity. "You should focus on your music here at Briarwood. Not bills or money or anything like that."
"You're too nice." I say while smiling down at him, "And to think, I thought you wanted to kill me once upon a time."
He frowns in confusion, "What?"
"Bye Quinn." I wave before skipping away and heading for the exit of the library. I could feel his stare on me as I left but I was too happy thinking about our future study lessons.
It's free and I'll get to keep my scholarship. Shit, is this what it's like to have no problems in the world?
✤ ✤ ✤ ✤
I adjust my grip on the white cardboard box in my arms. It wasn't heavy but the long day of classes I had just endured sure as hell made it feel like it.
I lean back against the walls of the elevator as I watch the numbers climb up to the fifth floor. However, it suddenly stops at three and the doors open.
"Whoa, your uniform is so pretty Kara!" Bianca gasps as she runs into the elevator and stands next to me.
"Oh thank you sweetheart." I smile down at her, hoping that I didn't look like I was dying under the weight of this large box. What the hell was even in here? "Are you coming up to play with Max?"
Max was the eight-year old boy who lived on my floor. He had down-syndrome and was the most sweetest, softest creature. It breaks my heart because they have the most to be angry about in the world and yet they give nothing but kindness.
"Yup, he got a new video game and we're going to play together." Bianca explains as I smile softly. I knew every single person in this complex. Usually because they're all too afraid to call up Ken with their problems and they make me do it.
I also baby-sit many of their kids for a little bit of extra cash. I didn't have any friends my age in this complex because all the other kids were ten or younger. I was fine with it, we share the same mental age anyway.
When we reach the fifth floor, Bianca waves goodbye to me and rushes off down the hall. I turn the other way and head to my apartment.
I struggle to push my keys into the lock while keeping the oversized box stable in my arms. Eventually I unlock the door and it swings inward. Scout greets me on the other side, wagging her cute fluffy tail.
"Hey girl." I smile at her as I walk past and place the box on the dining table. Once I was free of it, I crouch down and give her some love and attention she's no doubt been craving all day. Dad had a night shift last night which means he's probably been asleep all day.
My phone starts ringing from the pocket of my skirt. I unzip the pocket and pull it out. I glance at the caller ID before accepting it and placing the device to my ear.
"Good afternoon Augustus." I say formally into the phone as I slip my bag off my shoulders. I lean back against the table and begin to unbuckle my heels.
"Hello my dear." He greets into the phone, "Did you receive my package?"
"Wait, you sent the white box?" I ask as I glance over my shoulder to see it sitting on the wooden surface of the table. I kick off the rest of my heels before taking off my black knee socks.
He hums, "I sure did. It's a present for you to wear at the upcoming charity polo match."
Charity polo match? What kind of rich people bullshit...
"Have you opened it yet?" He asks seemingly eager to hear my opinion. I take the phone from my ear, put it on speaker and place it down on the table beside the box. I begin to undo the large white ribbon on top.
"It's a little extra, Auggie." I scoff while staring down at it.
"Extra is my middle name." Auggie's voice floats through my house, "And my first and my last. My name is Extra Extra Extra, it's nice to meet you Kara."
"You're an idiot." I laugh as I slide the lid of the box. My lips part in wonder as I stare down at the soft blue material of the sundress. I carefully lift it and hold it in front of me, "Auggie...I can't accept this."
"Yes you can and you will." He orders sternly, "I think I got your size right. I also have shoes on their way but they're still making them so it might be a couple days."
"I wasn't even invited to this polo match thing." I say as I bring the dress forward and press my nose to it. It smelt nice and clean and like so much money.
Auggie chuckles lightly, "That's because I'm inviting you right now. As my date."
"Date?!" Dad exclaims through the house. I glance over my shoulder to see him shuffling down the hall towards me with a shocked expression. "Who's asking my daughter on a date?"
"Hello Mr Wynters!" Auggie greets from the phone as I stand frozen by the dining table, holding the dress in my hand and smiling sheepishly at me, "It is I, Augustus Fitzwilliam, your future son-in-law."
"My future son-in-law, huh?" Dad smirks as he shuffles over to me, still in his pyjamas and leans both his hands on the dining hall, "Let me ask you this one question; were you the one that cooked those leftovers Kara brought home on Friday?"
He hums, "Twas I."
"Welcome to the family, son!" Dad cheers as I roll my eyes, "You're welcome over any time, Augustus. Our kitchen is your kitchen."
I face-palm in embarrassment, "Oh my god, Dad."
"Just call me Auggie, pops." He replies cheekily as I groan and pick up my phone.
"I'll be taking the rest of this call in my room." I say as my dad chuckles at me while filling up a glass of water from the tap. I lie the dress back in the box before turning and flying to my room, the cheeks of my face beet red.
Okay, so maybe I do kinda have the tendency to blush.
ahhh, we get more of scott, quinn and auggie content in this!
hopefully i can get on a roll with updates again
tell me what you thought about quinn and scott's interactions with our girl kara!