Kasey tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Cole. His "two minutes" quickly turned into five, and soon the crowded hall emptied out. She could hear the voices of the school supervisors echoing behind the auditorium doors and even though she wasn't excited to sit through the assembly, she wished Cole would hurry up. She wasn't going to go sit alone, even if it was true that no one would probably even notice. She had abandoned her search for popularity years ago and had done well at ignoring people's opinions, but she wasn't comfortable with being the literal loner on the first day of senior year.
She heard him before she saw him. The front doors of the building creaked open and Cole, looking more formal than Kasey was used to, strolled in. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that he was almost ten minutes late for the assembly or that they were the last stragglers in the hallway. In his hands were a drink tray and two bags.
"Took you long enough," Kasey said bitterly as he approached.
His cheeky grin didn't falter though, and he tossed a brown paper bag into her arms. "Plain bagel with butter, and a coffee."
She examined the coffee cup that he had handed her lastly, and took a sip of the steaming beverage. "Black with t-"
Cole cut her off, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah, black with two sugars, I know. Even if you don't want to give me credit for putting up with your shit, I'd think you'd be able to give credit for remembering how you take your coffee." He took Kasey's small smile as the closest thing he would get to gratitude and stepped past her, quietly opening the auditorium door and leading her inside.
There were a few empty seats in the back row, so they took the two closest to the aisle. Being able to eat breakfast made the assembly go quicker than normal, and even though Kasey was content with how the morning was playing out, Cole wished that one more girl was sitting with him. Aria, his girlfriend. Their relationship wasn't as public as most, since they had only began dating at the end of their junior year, but Cole wasn't trying to hide her. She was an amazing girl who was kind, intelligent and fun and while Kasey wasn't a big fan of her, Cole was.
When the assembly ended, the two were some of the first out of the school. "I'm coming over," Kasey informed him once they had reached the courtyard.
"Okay, but I'm inviting Maria over too."
"Ugh, invite those new girls too then. I need something to balance out her annoying energy," She knew that Maria was friendly with the two new students, Hana and Melissa, and even more than she didn't want to be around Maria, she didn't want to third wheel with her and Cole.
Cole was about to text Maria to find out where she was, but she beat him to it. He read her message and smiled, but pulled his phone closer to him when Kasey leaned in to read it. He doubted that Kasey would be willing to go to that party but if they were all going, she would have no choice but to come.
To: Aria
I'm down to go if you are ;). You and your friends should come to my place before. I'm heading over there rn so meet us there whenever you guys are ready.
I'm down to go if you are ;). You and your friends should come to my place before. I'm heading over there rn so meet us there whenever you guys are ready.
His apartment building was no more than a ten minute walk at the casual pace that he and Kasey moved at. Neither of his parents were home when he got there, which he expected since they both worked full time. Annelise's party wasn't for another few hours, so the pair planned on watching as many movies as possible, ordering pizza and then, against Kasey's wishes, getting ready for the party. Cole hoped that Aria would show up sooner than the party, but he knew that she was close with her grandparents and may need to spend the day with him, or even with the new girls she had befriended over the summer.