persona || paige bueckers

Chapter 10

Kazzi got weird looks all day.

The play ended at around 1. Apparently it was just a rehearsal run-through, but Kazzi concluded that it was probably just as good as the real play since the actors didn't make any noticeable mistakes. She enjoyed it more than she thought she would. She almost forgot whose jumper she was wearing until Bea pointed it out once they were out of the theater, waiting for her friend.

"So...why are you wearing Nika Mühl's basketball jumper?"

Bea had a teasing smile on her face, and Kazzi rolled her eyes, shoving her away, "It's a long story."

"Well, we have plenty of time, don't we?"

Kazzi dutifully ignored the suggestive looks Bea shot her, "I bumped into her this morning. She spilled iced coffee all over my shirt and gave me her jumper to wear while she went to wash mine."

"Oh, Bea slumped, "Boring."

Kazzi jostled her side, leaving the other giggling.

An unfamiliar voice spoke, "Yo, Bea!"

Bea brightened, waving excitedly at a male who was walking towards them. Kazzi recognised him as the guy that played the villain's right hand man, he was pretty good. The male came to a stop in front of them, smiling, "Thanks for coming."

"No problem," Bea grinned, "Oh! Tyson, this is Kazzi. The friend I said I would bring."

Tyson's eyes flickered to Kazzi, a polite smile on his face as he held his hand out for her to shake. She took it. "Nice to meet you, Kazzi."

"Likewise."

Tyson's eyes glanced at the jumper, mouth twitching a little higher as he commented, "Nika's jumper?"

Kazzi released his hand, and raised a brow, "Is everyone gonna keep making a big deal out of this?"

"Yes." Both Bea and Tyson answered in unison, before turning to giggle to each other, much to Kazzi's exasperation.

"Isn't there merch for this?" Kazzi muttered dryly, "Maybe I'm just a diehard fan."

Tyson shook his head, "You couldn't buy that even if you wanted to, it's their sport jumper. Merch is different."

"Oh."

"Yeah, you're gonna get a lot of looks parading around in that."

Kazzi bit her inner cheek, refusing to acknowledge the implications of that. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, suddenly hyper focused on the rumbling in her stomach.

"Enough of that. How does lunch sound?"

She was met with matching grins, and wondered where Bea found her other half.

The brunch place was packed with students milling around, even though it was already hours past the appropriate time for brunch. It was one of the best places on campus, so it wasn't really a surprise when the trio had trouble finding a spot to sit at. Kazzi kept having people doing double takes on her, eyes wide as they stared at her jumper. She was getting a bit tired of it, to be honest.

They finally found a recently vacant booth, and Bea slumped into it dramatically.

"It's like fighting a war here."

Tyson chuckled, eyeing the menu as he patted Bea's head, "We made it out alive."

"Barely," Kazzi murmured, tipping her head back to wait since she already knew what she wanted.