Mabel

15

Talia💅🏼
Mabellllll

Talia💅🏼
I need a hoodie

Talia💅🏼
ASAP pls I'm in the studio 😭

Mabel🐟
??? I thought u were studying w your boyfr- I mean morin tonight

Talia💅🏼
shutup no I went to practice instead

Mabel🐟
oOh A lOvErs tIfF?

Talia💅🏼
Bring me my hoodie 😡

Despite my body's protests, who was happily snuggled up in blankets watching Shark Tale (not as good as I remember, really, but still amusingly bad) I get semi-dressed (i.e. pull a jacket on over my Elmo onesie that I bought when I decided to 'relive my childhood' for a day) and slip on a pair of battered shoes I'm fairly certain actually belong to Morin.

I pick up the first hoodie I find in our laundry basket, glad that it's Luca's that I have to lend to Talia, and set off on a Friday night across a college campus in an oversized, ridiculously red and fluffy onesie.

I have the hood pulled up over my head because wow it's cold and just hope that there aren't any parties going on tonight to be seen like this.

Two and a half minutes later, I walk by one of the other dorm buildings, the one between the gym and the food court (aka home for rich kids that just decided to pick a degree at random and just wanna have a good time, bruh, *sunglasses emoji*, *100 emoji*) and I'm only lightly surprised when there is an Absolute Rager going on.

I only get two feet across the lawn where people are throwing alcohol at each other and screaming, the faint sound of bassy EDM coming from the building, when someone shouts to me, "Heyyyy, Elmo! Come join."

I do not join, no matter how tempting (it's a little tempting, I like socialising despite only having, like, four proper friends) and the people look reasonably disappointed which is understandable because Elmo really is the life of all parties.

I get to the studio a few minutes after that, ready to hit Talia over the head with the hoodie because not only did she force me out of bed watching the greatest (eh) movie of all time, but she also made me pass up a party in which I could've had the reputation as 'that girl dressed up as Elmo' which I think sounds pretty cool.

But, when I get into the studio, along to the main room where Talia insists on practising because she believes it's the only room that the cleaners actually clean, I'm surprised to see a flurry of darkish hair, swept back off of a glistening forehead belonging to a very nice broad and rather muscular body wiping down in the practice room.

And not my nasty best friend. 

"Adkins..." I say as a greeting when I open the door, music flooding to my attention as I do, and the man turns around to me with vague wonder.

Smiling as I try to not do something absurd like touch his biceps (even though they look ridiculously touchable) I ask, "Have you seen Talia anywhere?"

The sooner I do my delivery mission, the sooner I can come back here to Kai and be a huge, gaping creep.

Kai shakes his head at me, though, which is very strange but not as strange as when he adds, "She hasn't been here today."

I ponder this for a moment.

Talia... texting me sporadically to bring a hoodie to the studio when I was fairly certain she was with Morin.

Talia... who probably knows Kai's practice times as his study buddy and occasional dance partner.

Talia... who has been trying to force us to have 'moments' every chance she's gotten, lately.