“WHAT the SHIT?!” she exploded, jumping to her feet. 

Mikayla jumped, her eyes wide as she stared in shock at Parker. But she didn’t have a chance to say anything before Rae was adding on. 

“You’re in WHAT?!” she burst out, yanking her glasses fully off her face to stare dubiously at Mikayla. “With who?” 

“Well…” Mikayla said bashfully, looking down to fiddle with the soaking hem of her sweatshirt. 

And then she giggled. 

“Don’t give us that adorable little ‘hehe!’” Rae said with a groan, tossing an arm up as she raised her glasses to rest on the top of her head. “Who?!” 

“Yeah, who?” Parker asked, though it was less of a question and more of an ‘I demand to know’ statement. 

“Well,” Mikayla repeated, more forcibly as she gave her friends a pointed look to sit down and shut up. They complied, Rae dropping easily to the floor and Parker sinking to sit on her own bed. “He’s… well, really beautiful.” 

Rae snorted, making Mikayla glare at her. “Sorry, sorry,” she said with a chuckle, raising her hands in surrender. 

Mikayla huffed as Parker stifled a snicker. “He really is. Just you wait, you haters,” Mikayla told them with a wide smirk. 

Parker reached over to pat Mikayla’s shoulder with a few fingers, patronizingly telling her, “Of course, of course. We believe you.” 

Rae snickered once more as Mikayla swatted Parker’s hand away with a roll of her eyes. “Fuck off, you two,” she grumbled even as a smile pulled at the corners of her lips. 

“Yeah, alright,” Rae said with a dramatic sigh before scooting closer. “So? Tell us more.” 

Mikayla smiled as she thought about this boy, her gaze dreamy. Parker and Rae exchanged another glance of concern. 

“He’s… tall,” she said slowly before continuing. “And his eyes are just the prettiest shade of blue. His hair is so soft, too, and his smile is just… fucking blinding!” 

She let out another wistful sigh. 

Rae whistled. “Well, he sounds like a fucking Prince Charming, doesn’t he?” she said sarcastically. 

Mikayla scowled at her. “Shut the fuck up, Rae,” she said, reaching her leg out to gently kick Rae in the knee, who let herself get pushed onto her side as she laughed. 

“Yeah, hush up, Rae,” Parker said, brushing her hand dismissively at Rae and leaning forward, her chin on her hands. “I wanna hear this.” 

Mikayla laughed, sinking her own chin into a palm. “His laugh sounds like wind chimes and bird songs. And his voice is like a choir of angels singing. And he… he… kissed me.” Mikayla blushed, dipping her head as she mumbled the last few words. 

“He what?!” Parker exclaimed, her chin slipping out of her hands in shock. 

Mikayla nodded, embarrassed but still so happy. “And he’s… fuck me, he’s fucking hot, all strong and bare chested with these scars and–” 

Rae interrupted with a cringe, gagging and shaking her head with a strangled sound. “Ew, ew, ew! T. M. Fucking. I!” she shouted, pushing herself up to standing and brushing herself off, like she could brush off Mikayla’s words like a physical thing. “No, no thank you! I don’t want to hear any more!” 

Parker was making a face, too, though she had managed to bite her tongue. She couldn’t hold back the shudder that shook her entire body, however. 

“Yeah, I think that’s enough,” Parker said, her nose wrinkled and her voice strained. “I… Yeah, I’m going to bed.” 

“I fucking agree, ugh!” Rae exclaimed, turning once more on the spot like she could hide away. She finally stumbled towards the rungs leading up to her bed, scrambling up them like the words Mikayla had said were following her, ducking under her covers faster than she ever had before. “Good night.” 

“I thought you guys wanted to hear about him?” Mikayla teased, snickering. 

“Good. Night!” Rae shouted over her shoulder. 

Mikayla snorted, but sobered easily as Parker stood to rest a hand on Mikayla’s shoulder. 

“I’m happy you’re happy,” she said seriously. “Just… I hope you know what you’re doing.” 

Mikayla smiled gratefully, placing her own hand on top of Parker’s on her shoulder. “I do. And I am happy,” she reassured. 

Parker’s hand squeezed her shoulder as worry slipped into her eyes. “I know, I know… Just be careful. You never know,” she said carefully. 

Mikayla frowned. “He isn’t like that. He isn’t like him.” 

“That’s what you thought last time…” Parker trailed off, the rest of her concerns implied in her tone. 

“He isn’t. Like. That,” Mikayla intoned meaningfully. 

They stayed like that for a moment, flashes of memories rushing past both of their minds. 

Mikayla, sad when he couldn’t make it to her competitions. Mikayla, disappointed when he canceled dates last minute over and over. Mikayla, crying after he had gotten upset because she had a boy for a partner in chemistry. 

The way he acted clingy one second, distant the next. 

The way he tried to control Mikayla’s entire life. 

The way he would be such a hypocrite, talking to other girls that were so obviously flirting with him and not shutting them down. 

“I really, really hope you know what you’re doing,” Parker repeated with a small smile. 

Mikayla just nodded before finally letting her hand drop from Parker’s. It was another beat before Parker pulled her hand away, flashing one last smile before slipping under her own covers. 

Silently, Mikayla sat there, thinking. 

Should she listen to Parker? Probably. 

Was she going to? Hell no! 

With that, she smiled, shucked off her wet clothes and tossed them in the hamper, pulled on an oversized shirt from some random band that she used as a sleep shirt, and jumped under her own sheets. 

Because tomorrow, she’d get to see Beau again. And she couldn’t wait. 

Parker was not at all surprised to see that Mikayla had taken her advice and chucked it out the window. She just watched, helplessly, as Mikayla returned home late every night, some combination of wet and sandy. Both she and Rae tried to be upbeat about it (Rae actually was pretty pumped about Mikayla’s excitement) but it was hard (for Parker). 

Not even during midterms week did Mikayla stop visiting her secret boyfriend. The only reason Parker let her be was because Mikayla seemed to be doing just fine during her tests. And also because she, herself, was absolutely swamped with exams. 

For some reason, Parker and Rae expected to be able to celebrate with Mikayla on their last day of tests. But of course, she sprinted from the exam halls and zoomed away on her bike the second she had finished. 

“I don’t know why I’m surprised,” Parker said, tossing her hands in the air. “Well, fuck that plan, I guess.” 

After a pause, Rae said, “Let’s get something to drink. Where the shit is Amy?” 

Parker looked at her phone and squinted, trying to remember. “Her shift ends in… it’s a Friday, right? Yeah, her shift ends in twenty minutes.” 

They stood there for a moment before they looked at each other and simultaneously said, “Coffee.” 

With a nod, they went off. 

They didn’t see Mikayla again that day; they had already gone to bed long before she returned. And they didn’t see Mikayla in the morning either. 

“How fucking early does that bitch get up? What the shit…” Rae grumbled at eight in the morning as she and Parker finally arose on their first day of break. 

“Pretty fucking early, it seems,” Parker replied. 

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” Rae deadpanned as she leapt over the side of her bed to the floor. 

“Rae, I told you not to keep doing that,” Parker said with a roll of her eyes. 

Rae just laughed as she pulled out a fresh pair of jeans and a dark green sweater. “Come on, let’s go to town and celebrate,” she said as she pulled on her sunglasses. 

Parker rolled her eyes as she pulled on a pale sky blue sundress and white sneakers. “Fine,” she agreed with a sigh as she pulled on a white windbreaker. “Let’s go ‘celebrate’.” 

“Yipee,” Rae said in an even voice as she opened the door and made her way out of the dorm. 

The two girls piled into Parker’s small white car and took off from campus to visit the downtown area. Around them, students were packing their own cars and making their way back home for the holidays. 

It was rather frustrating for Parker as traffic slowed to a crawl even though they were in no rush. 

Rae had her feet up on the dash, her hands behind her head as she snickered. She was having fun, watching other students panic to get oversized suitcases in their cars, honking at one another. 

“College kids…” she snickered as if she wasn’t one herself. 

Parker rolled her eyes, her fingers gripping the steering wheel hard enough to make her knuckles white. 

Eventually, they managed to get through the stressed out crowd trying to escape the college campus and it was smooth sailing from there. 

Due to prior experience, Parker slipped into a parking spot relatively far from the clumps of stores that made up the local area, closer to a wide open park. 

They got out of the car and made their way towards the stores. 

“Where should we go?” Rae wondered aloud, her mirrored gaze drifting over the storefronts. 

“Coffee,” Parker said, turning abruptly into a Starbucks. 

“Yeah, that sounds– hey!” Rae backtracked immediately to follow Parker, who was already at the counter and ordering. “Warn a girl!” 

Parker just shrugged with a smirk. 

After about ten minutes, both the girls had their drinks and were making their way back outside. They made their leisurely way down the sidewalks, sipping their drinks as they went. 

That was when they saw someone who looked rather familiar. Well, Parker saw someone familiar—a girl with black hair in a familiar red hoodie, jeans, black boots, and a black handbag. 

“Isn’t that Mikayla?” Parker asked, squinting towards a couple turning the corner. 

“Is it?” Rae asked, unconcerned and not looking as she focused on licking a bit of whipped cream that fell onto her hand. 

Parker sped up, dragging Rae by a sleeve, determined to check. And when she turned the corner, she saw she was right. 

“Oh my fucking god,” Parker breathed, tugging Rae’s sleeve to get her attention. 

She pointed at the couple, one of whom was definitely their best friend and roommate. 

Rae finally looked up. “Huh, it is,” she said nonchalantly. She shrugged. “Cool, I guess.” 

Parker tossed her empty cup in the trash; Rae followed suit. 

“Mikayla?” Parker called out as she and Rae stepped off the dirt path in the park. 

The couple turned and Parker’s and Rae’s eyes went wide. 

Because damn, was Mikayla right. This boy, he was stunning. His hair seemed to fall like a halo around his face, crowned with a band of shells that would normally make the girls curious—but it didn’t because it worked. 

His blue eyes were brighter than what seemed humanly possible, his skin tanned like he spent hours in the sun for months. And he really was fucking tall. 

“Rae? Parker?” Mikayla said, her own eyes wide as she saw her two roommates staring at them. “Er… hey?” 

For Parker, it was the strangest encounter she had ever had. At first, the boy—Beau—seemed to prove her every concern. He was out of school, unemployed, a freeloader living with his parents. 

But then he said something that made her pause. Something about taking his father’s place? 

Unfortunately, the couple turned and walked away before Parker could ask any more questions. 

“Relax, Parks. He seems chill.” 

“Yeah… Yeah, he seems alright.” 

“And besides, he makes her happy.” 

“I haven’t seen her smile like that in years.”  

Parker huffed a sigh that blew a stray brown strand of hair out of her face as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent a text. 

‘He seems nice. I’m happy for you.’ 

She paused before typing more, ignoring the three little dots that signalled that Mikayla was texting back. 

‘But if he hurts you, I’mma kill him.’ 

Parker waited for just a moment before Mikayla’s reply came. 

‘Noted, thanks.’ 

“Well, that’s that!” Rae announced happily, pulling away from where she’d been looking over Parker’s shoulders. “Let’s go get a pizza.”