High Point University

Elias patted Nugget who looked up at Daniel, tilting her head. He also looked up at him, tilting his head just a little, almost like his subconscious was trying to mimic the chicken.

"Daniel," he repeatedly slowly. "Dinner guy."

The gears in his mind were turning oh-so-slowly, and the booming music and buzz from the beer certainly didn't speed things up. Nothing was coming to him until...

"Oh!" He snapped his fingers and pointed at him with a grin. "Clicker guy from biology last year. Yeah, yeah, I remember you! Thanks again for passing the answers, man."

Elias then lifted Nugget a little higher, shifting his arms so that he was holding her like he was holding a sleeping baby.

"See, she climbed into my backpack before I left this morning. I figured I could return her from where she came from -- the frat house -- but then realized her chicken parents weren't around. So then I took her to class."

James had halfway gotten out of his seat when he saw Daniel trip and fall, but Morrigan got to him first. He slowly slid back down into his chair and looked over to Lordy.

All James wanted was to do some homework. It was that simple. But being exempt from assignments... he didn't know if that would work in his favor. He didn't know if he wanted Lordy to have that kind of leverage over him.

He looked Lordy up and down, assessing him. He didn't know him well enough to understand his motives.

"Depends on what the favor is," he said carefully.

It seemed like Bo was letting everyone else get in on the muffin action. Jerica had been trying to be responsible and wait until the rest of the food was ready, but if everyone else was going to steal muffins then she wanted one, too. She reached past him to get a muffin and then sat back with it.

"Mmmmm!" She gave a derpy smile before swallowing it. "I'm not super into sushi but aren't there like, different kinds of rolls? Do you know what kind you wanna make?"

She took another bite of the muffin, still not sure how she was as hungry as she was, this shortly after eating so much Chick-fil-A. But, "This is the best muffin I've ever eaten in my entire life!"


"Yeah, that makes sense." Rek nodded along, absently brushing the calluses on his own hands. "It takes a lot of work to keep up with an instrument."

He grinned a bit at Carter, trying to find common ground. "So, what do you like to do in your free time?"

"Best muffin? Well, I'm honored," Bo said, setting his hand on his chest and dipping his head in a little bow. He turned his attention back to the hashbrowns as he kept talking.

"And hmm... I'd love to make a shrimp tempura roll or a soft-shell crab roll."

He paused, thinking.

"I know you said you're not really into sushi, but what kind of food is your favorite, would you say?"



"Well, aside from frat things," Carter said, looking at Rek with a little grin as he reached under the table and pulled out a hidden bottle of beer and a bottle opener. He popped off the cap and set it on the table, before taking a sip.

"I'm on the wrestling team. So, practice, and working out."

Lordy paused for a moment, he didn't think he'd get this far. "Well you see, my TA this year hasn't exactly been the shining star I hoped he'd be. I was hoping you'd be able to help me organize some of the coursework I have planned for the next few classes. Normally I don't let students peek into what they'll be doing ahead of time, ruins the surprise and all, but that won't be an issue for you since you won't be having to do any assignments."

Lordy peeked over to Benji, "That goes for you too!"

SHHHH! another muffled shush in the distance.

"Shush me one more time and I'm setting this building on fir-"

"Okay kids! Me and Lordy have to get going, think you'll be able to take him up on his offer?" Morri interrupted, finally deciding on the fourteen books he was going to check out.

Lordy raised his eyebrows with a smile and looked between the two, "I'll treat you both to dinner after."

After what? Did Lordy even know how to contact him? James supposed... there were always their student emails.

Basically, it sounded like Lordy was asking James to help with TA work. He glanced at Benji. He knew Benji would have to make his own decision, but James figured... well... it was better than doing homework, he supposed. He was already retaking one class. This would lighten his coursework, hopefully.

"Sure," James said quietly. He was aware others in the library were getting annoyed. "Deal."

He hoped he didn't regret it, though.

"Oh, you don't want to go there," Jerica answered with a smirk, slipping off the counter to grab another beer. "I'll break your little culinary heart."

She hauled herself on the counter, frowning a bit when she realized how much harder it was this time. She'd only had... four? That wasn't enough to feel this uncoordinated. It was far too early in the evening... was it even evening yet? No matter.

"I like most food that is bad for you. Pizza, burgers, chicken nuggies--" She gasped, suddenly remembering her favorite food of all time. She turned to look at him solemnly. "Lasagne."


"Does she know?" Rek looked over his shoulder, suddenly paranoid, but Jerica was nowhere in sight. Good. He looked back at Carter and said with a low voice. "Don't tell Jerica."

Rek shook his head slowly, taking a long drink of his beer as he realized he was going to have to explain that one.

"She gets a little...competitive...sometimes." Rek nodded, satisfied with his own explanation. "Like, don't get me wrong, she's fantastic. Aggressively loyal, once you earn her friendship. But she will insist on wrestling you if she finds out, and will probably try to prove she can out-lift you too. It's best if you just..." Rek took a long drink of his beer, thinking about how poorly this was sure to end. "Don't."

Carter nodded slowly with understanding, taking another sip of his drink.

"Keep the wrestling on the dl," he said. "I can do that."

Kayla, who was still sitting behind him, leaned into the couch, and against his shoulder. He glanced back at her.

"I don't know much about wrestling," she said. "I've never been into sports, really. I'm majoring in graphic design."

"You'll have to make the header for my resume," Carter joked. Kayla scoffed at that.

"She's probably busy trash-talking Bo about lifting, then," Carter mused to Rek, not letting his jealousy leak through his expression. "He can handle it, though. He's ridiculously chill. And usually, the designated driver. Which is a shame, because I keep trying to tell James that he could fill that role, but he just doesn't come to these things."

He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. You live next door, right? You can come over when you want to hang."

"Bo? The big guy?" Rek asked, glancing over his shoulder again as if that would answer his question. Maybe that was where Jerica had disappeared to. He rubbed his face tiredly. "I'd almost guarantee she already has."

He flashed a quick grin at Carter's invite.

"Yeah, and same to you! My place isn't...." He glanced around. "Anywhere near this nice. But if you ever want a change of pace, my door is always open."

Rek realized his beer was empty and stood up to go in search of more. "I'll be right back."

He wandered into the kitchen and saw Jerica sitting on a counter. Because of course, she was. He gave her a playful smile. "I thought you knew better than to harass the people making the food."

"Rek!" Jerica looked up and beamed, slipping off the counter to come give him a hug. She felt a little unsteady as she turned back towards Bo. "Only the best kind of harassment, we're just talking about lasgne." She patted Bo's shoulder awkwardly. "And being a Marvelous Muffin Man."

She turned to the fridge and got another beer, then bowed. "But I'll leave the chef in peace."

Jerica grabbed another muffin and wandered out of the kitchen.

Rek grabbed his beer and then looked at the big man who was cooking. It smelled good. "What's up? I'm Rek."


"Frat Boy!" Jerica pitched the muffin at him from across the room, nailing him in the chest. "Have you tried Bo-Bo's muffins? They are da bomb dot com!"

She flopped down on the couch next to Carter, twisting the top off her beer. Her head was buzzing so pleasantly now, all traces of the hangover -- and her interrupted nap -- long forgotten.

Her eyes landed on Kayla and then got wide. "Oh, no, I forgot, I'm sorry! You should go get a muffin. They're so good." She looked back at Carter and nodded solemnly. "So good."

"Bo," he answered, glancing over at Rek with a warm smile as he took the pan of hashbrowns off the heat. They were nice and browned, and smelled yummy. He hoped they tasted as good as they smelled.

Also, in the back of his head, he noted that both Jerica and James had the same food. Lasagna. One day he'd make lasagna and give some to both of them. That would be nice.

"How do you know Jerica?" he asked Rek. "Roommate?" He saw a little resemblance, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

While talking he started throwing slices of bacon onto a hot pan, and covered the hashbrowns with a lid to keep them warm, setting the hashbrown-filled pan on a potholder he set on the counter.



Carter caught the muffin as it fell into his lap, and just as Jerica plopped down and mentioned Kayla, Carter split the muffin in two and handed half of it to Kayla. He looked back at her with a little grin, and he could see something in her drunken expression melt.

It was a small gesture. Some college girls were so easy.

He took a bite, nodding. The muffins were high-quality, as usual. He expected no less from Bo.

"So," Carter said. "Rek told me you have a competitive streak."

Ah, so Bo was the big man. Hopefully, he was as mellow as Carter seemed to think. Even Jerica's ego didn't seem as massive as the man in front of him did.

"She's my cousin." Rek flashed a grin. "And roommate, yeah... ish."

It didn't seem worth it to try to explain that arrangement.

"This smells amazing," Rek said, gesturing vaguely at the food. "You live here?"


"Damn straight." Jerica took another drink of beer and looked at Carter with a grin. "Why? You have something you want me to beat you at?"

Before Daniel could respond to Elias's question, a knock was heard at the door. Of course, the door was unlocked and they were welcome to come in, but it appeared that some people actually had manners.

"One sec," he said to Daniel, then zipped over to the door. He smiled in delight when he saw who it was.

"Hey guys!" Elias said, still holding Nugget. "Took you long enough to get here."

"You gave us like, no notice," Mel said with a half-roll of her eyes, but swooped in anyways to peck his cheek like a chicken. She smirked, and he realized that she did that motion that on purpose.

Evaline was behind her, not at all dressed for a party and had her arms crossed on chest, staring at Nugget.

"Wow," she said flatly. "You really did get a pet chicken."

Elias grinned. "Nice to see you too, Ev." He gestured inside, opening the door wider and inviting them in to the room that smelled of breakfast and booze.

Evaline looked hesitant (as she did with any room that was louder than a lecture hall), but Mel took her hand and led her inside, gushing about how it had been so long since the two of them went to a party together.

Feeling pretty accomplished that he brought more girls to the party, Elias closed the door and walked back over to Daniel, chicken still in hand.

"Yeah, so anyways, chicken," he said. "Wanna hold her?"



"Have you met anyone here?" Mel asked, weaving Evaline around the apartment. "Actually, this is the first time you're meeting Elias's friends, huh? I'll introduce you to everyone."

Evaline was starting to regret saying yes to coming here. She thought, maybe, after a stressful summer, she should visit Mel because it had been a few months. And she thought, maybe, why not Elias too? It felt like she hadn't seen him for even longer. She worked so hard to be admitted to the Master's program at Prestige University, and although the school year didn't start for a few more weeks, she still had so much more work to do. Live life and blend in to the big city, make a new name for herself, expand her portfolio, work on her entry to the competition in a few weeks...

But yet, here she was. At a student apartment at High Point University. Getting personal time with her two friends... at a loud party.

It was partly her fault for being so passive and not letting Mel know she was uncomfortable. But... Mel was right. Evaline was stressed. How a party was supposed to help that stress, she didn't know, but... whatever.

"Hey, um, Mel?" she found herself protesting as she weaved through the wave of people, but suddenly Mel was hugging two girls—Stephanie and Brittany—and apparently recognized them. Something something about past clients?

Evaline sighed, finding herself pulling away from the group and conversation. She gazed at the hallway walls with prints hung up then noticed that there was a big couch nearby with many open seats. She sat at the edge of the seat furthest away from everyone sitting, pulling out her phone and scrolling through Instagram.

"Oh! Haha, no, I don't live here. But Carter doesn't care that I use his kitchen," Bo said. "If anything, he wants me to provide him with free food. I don't think he's ever learned how to cook for himself, though, I have offered to teach him. I mean, I'm always making things. If you ever have spare time and want to learn, it's always nice to have someone to help clean up after, or just, like, lick the bowl - which, there isn't always a bowl to lick, but you anyways. Normally Elias helps with the eating-all-of-the-leftover food and anything I can't finish I just give away."

All the while Bo was talking, he was monitoring the bacon, flipping pieces when they started browning and curling up. He took a plate out of the cupboard and threw a paper towel on it to soak up some of the grease, and started setting down cooked slices of bacon. In almost the same movement, with his other hand, he threw more bacon in the pan to cook.

"Only thing is a lot of the stuff I make is for class, so no one's going to be getting any special requests today. Maybe on a weekend or something, though."

[center]--<>--[center]

Carter laughed and leaned back into the couch, and Kayla leaned into his shoulder more.

"Nah," Carter said, shrugging.

"Wait, Rek said we shouldn't mention--" Kayla started to say, and Carter reached over and slapped his hand on her mouth, before curling his fingers and just putting one finger against her lips. The universal sign for 'shut up.'

“Oh, I assure you, based on what I’ve seen so far you could probably give them whatever you wanted to and tell them they ordered it and they’d believe you,” Rek laughed.

He leaned against the wall, wishing he knew how he could be useful

“And that sounds nice. I can make a few things okay but not a lot. I’d always like to learn more dishes,” Rek said, taking a drink of his beer. “And if you ever want to learn an instrument, I’m happy to teach you. I like helping people learn.”


“Rek said you shouldn’t what?” Jerica leaned forward, instantly suspicious. This was just like Rek. Always trying to ruin her fun. She raised an eyebrow, staring Carter down. He brought up competitiveness and Kayla brought up Rek which only meant...

“What is it?” Her mind hazily flicked through the different sports he looked like he might play. She already knew he wasn’t on the football team. Or basketball. “Baseball?”

Carter scoffed.

"Baseball," he said it like it was derogatory. "No."

"Wrestling," Kayla blurted loudly, pulling away from his hand.

Carter swiveled around towards her.

"Seriously, Kayla?" he said, looking her up and down. "Couldn't pick up on any form of subtlety could you?"

He realized how flushed her face was from beer. She hadn't had that much, but it seemed like she was a lightweight. Unlike him. He was only feeling a little buzzed.

He rolled his eyes, and she leaned back on him sleepily.

Carter looked back over to Jerica with a sigh.

"So much for keeping that on the down-low."



Bo's eyes lit up, even though he was currently visually preoccupied with all of the food.

"Really? Because I actually have always wanted to learn how to play the piano," he said. "I like to sing, but I've never really had the opportunity to learn an instrument. Do you accept food as payment?"

He paused, realizing he was getting ahead of himself.

"That is, uh, if you play piano."