High Point University

Evaline pursed her lips together to suppress a laugh. Rek was being ridiculous. He reminded her of Elias. Maybe that was how he got to this party? She wasn't sure if she wanted to know now.

She continued to sketch and glance up at him, but she found herself pausing for a moment when his next words came out. Piano. Next door. She could come play.

She raised a brow in thought. She told herself she wasn't going to overthink this, but she wasn't overthinking it. He was flirting with her. And obviously he was observant. Surely he wouldn't be this oblivious.

"Sure," she said casually, resuming her sketch. It was easier to talk sometimes when she could be distracted with a drawing. "I'm not very good, though."

She paused, then realized she should probably clarify.

"With piano, I mean," she quickly added, then paused again in thought, deciding to pile on to the playfulness. "I could still use the practice."

Rek nodded, then remembered he was supposed to be holding still. Of course she’d meant with piano. She was obviously good at drawing if she was going for a masters with it.

“That’s okay! The main thing is to enjoy it, right?”

"That's right," Evaline said, offering a shy smile. "It's just in good fun. Nothing more."

“Oh, I mean, /I/ love it. It’s my favorite thing.” He returned her smile, wondering why she’d gone from glaring at him to being so smiley all of a sudden. She still hadn’t even touched the muffin. But he’d take it. Clearly he’d managed to break down her anti-friend wall. Must have just been an introvert. “But I know some people like to keep it casual, and I respect that too.”

Evaline kept her brow raised. Okay, so Rek did this on the regular. That was fine. Good, actually. No mixed feelings. If he was decent, maybe it would be more than a one-night occurrence. She knew she'd have to come back to HPU more often anyways because of the traveling studio class she signed up for.

She was thinking ahead again. She always did. She tried not to, though. For all she knew, he could be a lousy "piano player."

It was amusing to hear him say it was his "favorite thing," but she didn't judge.

"That's good," she said, finishing drawing his outline. She moved on to his clothes next, starting with his pants.

She wasn't sure if they were still talking in metaphors or not. Well, in these kinds of relationships, it was always good to be honest and open with what they wanted. Mixed signals always ruined it.

"I prefer to keep it casual. Not a serious commitment, or any commitment, really. It's easier that way." She flicked her eyes up at him. "No hard feelings or anything."

“Uh, sure.” He frowned at her a bit, no longer following what she meant at all. What commitment was she expecting? Or... not expecting? He’d never offered to give her lessons. Just let her escape the party a bit and play some music. “Whatever you want. I just want you to enjoy it.”

Even with the distraction of drawing, Evaline found herself blushing from that comment. Chivalry was dead in her eyes, but this was the chivalry she'd allow. It was sweet.

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "I appreciate that. And I hope you'll enjoy it, too."

“I know I will.” He grinned at her, glad that he finally understood what she was talking about again. “Maybe I can show you a thing or two while we’re at it.”

The playful banter was back. Evaline smirked.

"Oh yeah?" she said, finishing drawing his pants and shoes and then moving on to his torso. "Maybe I can too. I know you're experienced, but I've learned a lot of new things this summer in the big city. I'll be sure to return the favor."

“I’m excited to see! Always down to try something new.” He was going to be seriously surprised if she knew how to play something he didn’t — she wasn’t even a performance major. But maybe there was some sort of modern music he’d missed. “Anything to improve performance, right?”

Everything had happened so fast that Benji was having trouble keeping up. It wasn't that he wasn't paying attention to what Dr. Lordshire and James had both said. He was. He knew exactly how they had to sort the materials for their class. He would have started doing it if Dr. Lordshire hadn't asked what they wanted for dinner and offered them alcohol.

Benji didn't have a chance to say that he didn't drink - and shouldn't drink, since he was only twenty - before the professor told them to wait in the room. Benji hadn't even figured out what he wanted for dinner yet, much less ask for it.

He let out a quiet sigh. Sometimes it felt like the world was going too fast for him - and that he was always trying to play catch up. It hadn't happened in awhile, but...

He bit his lip.

Then he looked down at the syllabus, trying to figure out what the best way to start working was.


Bo, apparently, hadn't heard Elias's request for chicken food. They waited an awkward moment - Daniel holding Nugget in his arms - for Bo to magically bring out just the right food before Daniel realized they'd have to take matters into their own hands.

In retrospect, years of being forced to take care of his family's chicken coop might have finally paid off.

"It looks like we need to go find some food for Nugget," Daniel commented, glancing down at the chicken in his arms. He eyed the fridge nearby. Maybe they had some scraps there? He would offer up his own fridge, but that was barely stocked - and didn't have the greens that Nugget probably needed.

He looked over at Elias.

"Do you have any leftovers in your room?" he asked. "I used to feed those to my family's chickens all the time."

James watched Lordshire, waiting to see what exactly he would do, but in the waiting, while scanning the papers alongside Benji, he leaned in towards Benji's ear to whisper so only he could hear.

"Why do I feel like I might not like his idea?"

Benji couldn't help but give a little smile at his comment.

"Maybe it's because he's surprising us," he whispered back, "and not asking if we like his idea first."

"Astute observation," James whispered back, before leaning away before Lordy could turn around, flipping through papers like they hadn't said anything at all.

He looked up from the syllabus.

"How should we start sorting it?" Benji asked, glancing over at James. "Should we split the pile in half and each do one half?"