Quinn looked at Mitch and said “Sorry I didn’t get your number either.” She’s been sitting here for all this time and never asked them?!

Justin said “Really bad “scary” movies, or my mom and I watch those old dating reality shows”

"They're kinda like stabilizers, that vines can grow on," Lily explained.

Matt wasn't deterred by Quinn asking Mitch too, he had Quinn's number!

Mitch shrugged. "I usually stay busy outside've school, so I'm not worried about that kinda stuff."

"How so?" Greggory asked, curious how a dating show could be funny.

"Oh, those big metal things, gotcha." Travis responded, understanding now.

"Eh, it feels like something to me, if it makes any sense." Quinn admitted to them.

Justin commented "Well sometimes the people on the show do things that no reasonable person would ever do, and it gets really, really funny."

"Oh that's interesting, I don't think I've seen that," Lily said, curious.

"...sure," Matt said, a tad awkward.

"Nah that's just him, he sounds like that sometimes." Mitch speaks up, trying to spare the little dude the awkward situation.

"Hm." Greggory was fairly sure he understood, but he doubted he would ever watch any of those shows. "Well, I should finish my lunch, looks like we're running out of time."

"Yeah it's some kinda sculpting thing, I think." Travis pulls out his phone. "Lemme see if I can find a picture, it was something about messing with the tree so that it grew in certain directions, I think? Oh, yeah, there we go." He pulls up a picture of the tree in question, grown out to a rounded, semi-circular shape that made it look like some sort of seat.

Justin nodded and went back to eat happy he sat down next to Gregory. He's making friends just like she asked.

Quinn sighed with relief saying, "Don't scare me like that." she looked at the time and went to finish eating, grateful that things were still cool.

(That day after school)

Kara ducked into her dad’s room to grab her skateboard, surprised to find him not there. He must’ve left to head to practice already. She glanced at the window, wondering how Puer talking to Quinn was going to go.

Lily waited quietly in the hallway, going through her scales silently as she waited for her turn. It was chair placement auditions today, and she was somewhat uncomfortable waiting here, surrounded by who she thought was her friends that were actively avoiding her and shooting her nasty glances.

Allie waited, watching for her mother’s car. Someone cleared their throat next to her and Allie looked over to find Maddie. “Oh, hi Maddie,” she said with a smile.

“I’m having a sleepover this weekend. You should ask if you can come,”
Maddie said with a smile. Allie grinned, her eyebrows raising. “Really?” Maddie nodded. “You can just ride home with me from school Friday.”

Liz anxiously stared at her email, refreshing Everton few seconds. The gallery was announcing their picks today, and she was desperate to know if she’d been accepted.

Puer walked outside, his backpack tightly pulled against one shoulder to avoid scuffing and scraping as he walked up to Quinn. "You're Quinn, right?" He asked, wanting to reaffirm. He had met her once, but only the once to his knowledge.

Travis soon headed outside, waiting for his mom to arrive.

Jillian was sure to check her phone frequently, waiting to see what word she got on Liz's results. She had worked harder than ever to get here, the results had to show for it, surely?

Molsa said "Well I'm proud of you for listening. I think this calls for a treat." She said with a smile as Justin was just giddy.

Quinn got up and said "Yeah, that's me," she paused a bit "Oh, you're that dude Kara was hanging around with, Puer right?" she paused wondering why he was here looking for her, though she had a bad feeling in the pit of her gut about it.

"Claire, right?" The boy asked, who she remembered was Christian. "Is Kara short for Claire then?" he added and Kara froze, looking up at him through her hair. He held up his hands. "Listen, I promise I didn't go snooping. The student who did my tour is really mouthy and doesn't know a thing about privacy. I don't...blame you. For wanting to keep your heritage private."

"Heritage," Kara snorted, jerked her skateboard back beneath her feet. Christian seemed nonplussed. "More like curse," she muttered. "Did you need something, new kid?" She crossed her arms.

"No, just wanted to tell you to have a good day," he said with a smile, stepping out of the way. Kara glanced at him sidelong and pushed off on her skateboard. Weirdo.

Mickey pulled up to the high school next, to pick up Travis.

Liz hit the refresh button again and an email popped up. CONGRATS was spelled out in all caps and Liz squealed. She opened the email eagerly, scanning it to confirm she was reading it right, before calling her mom.

"Okay. Have a safe trip home." Puer began walking off as abruptly as he had arrived.

Seeing his mom show up, he went and got into the car as usual. "Hey mom." He greeted.

Jillian continued waiting until the call finally came through, practically feeling her heart beating in her chest as she answered. "Did you hear back yet?" She asked immediately, hoping to everything that the answer was not only a yes, but a happy yes. An overjoyed yes. The yes of a girl whose work would be displayed in Everton in the near future.