*Author's Note: Both the alpha and beta kids are included in this. Jane and John are cousins; Jake and Jade are cousins; and Roxy & Rose as well as Dirk & Dave are siblings. Roxy and Rose live in a separate house with their mother, While Dave and Dirk live in a house with their Bro, since the death of their father. And John and Jane live with Dad.

Also, Rose has long hair in this for right now. You'll see why just trust me thanks

TW: Mentions of past self harm (only briefly mentioned! Nothing too serious! More serious in later chapters, but for that specific chapter, I will have a warning at the top.)

And lastly, the story takes place in Meteor Falls, and it's neighboring town Alternia Bluffs is also mentioned. The creator of these town names isn't me, but is the Fanfiction user, The Indecent Nerd. I am only using them because I think they're really clever and also precious. Thank you.

-Princess

Butterfly Wings | Chapter 1: There she goes

Rose's POV

My name is Rose Lalonde, and frankly I shouldn't be up right now.

I awake to the droning wakeup call of my mother, whom I assume is at the moment heavily intoxicated. She knocks loudly against my wall outside my door before I let out a sleepy response, telling her to wait, and that I'm awake. I push my velvet, purple comforter off my body, leaving my legs exposed beneath my short violet shorts and loose, silk, gray striped top. As the straps fall around my shoulders, I push them up again with a heavy sigh.

I turn to peer out my window. The blinds are open and the sky this morning is a sort of peach-ish orange color fading into a pastel blue. Clouds are barely showing, but they are and they're barely spotted over the atmosphere. In the distance, I hear the faint sound of birds chirping. For the small town of Meteor Falls, the sky seems like it could go on for miles. I yawn again, and drop my head down, letting my blonde curtain-like bangs fall into my eyes. Swinging my legs over the edge of my bed, I hop out of bed and grab my black headband off my dresser top, sliding it into my hair. The rest is in a ponytail, which I'll worry about later.

Standing and stretching with a tiny squeak, I open one of my dresser drawers In it, atop my clothes, is my violin, the bow next to it. I hiss, because this is obviously the aftershock of an unwanted visit from my older sister. "Roxy! I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd stay out of my room!" I call, my voice cracking. I close it tightly, pursing my lips together and swallowing.

"I haven't beenin your room in Ages, Rosy!" She calls back, her voice slurring.

I roll my eyes. Lousy good for nothing sisters.

I move my violin onto my bed, digging around in my array of dark colored clothing. Eventually, I find my favorite shirt. It's white, with an angry lavender colored Squiddle on the front. I've had it since before my aforementioned scene phase, throughout, and now today as I'm a freshman in High school, I have it as well. I sit it against my headboard, peeling off my tank top and sliding the t-shirt on. Then, since it is so old, I adjust the snug article of clothing so it fits correctly. I switch from my worn down shorts to a rather 'plain Jane' pleated white skirt, tugging on it profusely so it fits right as well. Gosh, maybe my heavily inebriated sister's right; maybe I do need a new wardrobe.

I shut the drawer, opening the top one briefly to grab a pair of socks. I sit down on my bed, carefully dodging my violin, and slide them on, curling my toes momentarily. I sit on my bed, and twist around, glancing out my window. The suns just barely coming up, and I still have a plenty of time to get ready. My iPhone chirps, notifying me of a message. I grab it and lay on my stomach, seeing that it's my best friend, John Egbert, asking if I'm up.

EB: hey rose

EB: you up yet?

TT: Yes, John. Hi.

EB: soim curious

EB: do you know who has carpooling duty today?

TT: Are you being serious, or is that a sad attempt at trying to start a conversation with me?

EB: ...

EB: both

Gosh, my best friend is a dweeb.

I roll my eyes and send him a reply with a smirk, tossing my phone to the edge of my bed. Then I sit up, looking to my violin strewn to the side. This brings up the topic of orchestra practice, which isn't today. I do a run through of all my classes in my head.

We only have four periods a day, and an A-day, B-day schedule. Today is an A-day, So I have History, my least favorite class. As far as I know, we're just taking notes today, which I could easily get off the website. Then Chorus, which I have no problem missing since I'm top of the class. Lunch, then Academic Enrichment, a class all about general knowledge to help in life, which we only ever take notes in. However those are also online, or I could ask for them and easily get what I want. Lastly is Algebra, which we have a test in today. Although I'm sure some extra study time for it wouldn't kill me. I honestly don't think I'd miss anything (If I do, little to nothing) if I wasn't to go today. I debate faking being sick to fool my mother and sister, and shift to lean against my bed's headboard, letting out a small sigh.

Roxy taps her knuckles against my door, then without waiting for a response, she enters the room. "Rose, I'm driving you in today. Mom has to deal with her hangover." She says, droning out the 'r' sound. I look up at my often heavily intoxicated sister. She makes me hot just looking at her. She wears a black tank top, and a white shirt over it that's so large that it hangs off both of her shoulders. However, she has it tied in the back so it's more form fitting. A pink pencil skirt that matches the color of the mutated cat on her top wraps around her waist to her knees. She also wears gray legwarmers over her black tights with pink converse. A long striped purple scarf wraps around her neck and falls about to her hips in front, then to her ankles in the back.

I rest the back of my hand against my forehead, looking at her overdramatically. "Sorry, Roxy, no can do. I'm sick." I mimic a cough.

Roxy narrows her eyes at me, chewing her gum slower. "No you aren't." She says, tilting her head. It takes me a minute to see if she's joking along with me or taking me seriously.

"No, I seriously I am." I cough again.

"What the hell is your problem, Rosy? It's just school." Roxy's tone sounds careless, but her words are harsh.

"Can you not, with the nicknames?" I fiddle with the bottom of my shorts to waste time. "Today is going to be terrible, I can feel it."

"Can you really?" She asks.

"More than I can feel the love in my gay wizard fan fiction." I clarify. Now, being anyone else, I wouldn't have said something so obscure. However, since it is my sister, I feel comfortable. Now, of course Roxy isn't a picture perfect daughter, or anything close, she is my sister. And the closest thing I have to some guidance around here.

"Rose, come on, seriously." Roxy laughs, sitting her wine glass down on my dresser. She comes over to me, sinking down on her knees. I glance over, looking into her deep brown eyes. They almost look magenta in the light. Pushing a piece of my long blonde hair back, Roxy begins to subconsciously braid a piece of it. I don't particularly like my hair as long as it is, but at least I can tie a little ponytail at my chin and pretend to be a wizard from time to time.

"Roxy, really, I don't want-"

She shushes me and places a finger to my lips, hushing me. "Rose, come on. You have to!" She says in a way that I suppose makes her think that I'll actually go through with it.

"What makes you say that?"

"If you don't, I'll.." She trails off, biting softly on her lip.

"You'll what?"

"I'll tell all your little friends about your scene phase." She says, the corner of her lip curling into a smirk.

"You wouldn't fucking dare." I hiss, narrowing my eyes.

Allow me to explain. Before I moved down here to the lovely small town of Meteor Falls, I lived in a place that should not be named for privacy reasons. And yes, before I turned 13 and actually started to get a sense for everything, I was 12 and wearing all black and black lipstick and spiked bracelets and collars and I'd cut myself and I'd bitch and moan about everything. I even dyed my hair violet and cut it in this ridiculous short pixie cut for extra measure. Mother didn't mind and Roxy even said it looked good on me. However, that's in the past and that was a troubling time in my life that I'm sure no one remembers besides Roxy and I. I look into her dark eyes now, and I can tell- She isn't joking.

"Oh but I would." She practically purrs.

"Oh, fine!" I say in mock-exasperation. She takes my act seriously and stands, straightening out her shirt. She says something to herself that I can't quite hear and I sigh, looking down at the Violin that's on the floor next to me. "At least for today." I mutter under my breath.

Roxy spins on her heel, slamming her hand on my dresser, just inches away from knocking her glass down. I snap my head up, squinting at her. "I heard that, you little.." She trails off, pressing her lips together. The next words she says run a chill down my spine and I have to catch my breath before I can speak. "X-x-Goth-Squiddle Princess-x-X, follow for follow!" She'd yelled with a laugh, swiftly grabbing my phone off my bed and speeding out my door, her scarf flowing behind her.

I hop to my feet, darting after her. "Roxanne!" The two of us run through the house, Roxy shouting all of my text posts I'd put on Tumblr from my scene phase, trying to embarrass me. I shout back at her to be quiet until I finally lose her running down the steps into the living room. Once I reach the floor, I stop for a moment to catch my breath. I glare at my mother's wizard statues, their gray rocky eyes taunting me. I ignore them, walking slowly into the kitchen. Roxy's back is to me, and I almost say something rather crude until I realize why she's stopped.

My mother stands there, leaning against the counter on her elbows with her head resting in her hand. "Girls, what have I told you about running in the house?" She asks in a monotone voice.

Oh god, she's hungover. I think.

"I'm sorry, mom..." Roxy says softly. She hands me my iPhone back begrudgingly and walks over to the refrigerator, making a shooing motion with her hand behind Mother's back. I slowly sulk out of Mother's sight, then walk through the living room again and back up the carpeted stairs to finish getting ready.

~BW~

As it turns out, today is the day Roxy has carpooling duty to drive my friends and I to school. Since Dave wasn't there, Roxy drives on to pick up John. Our conversations vary easily, from how we slept to a recent book or film we'd read/seen. I ask him if he'd seen Dave. He'd said no. We quickly changed back to our classes and how we both despised the song we were singing in our Chorus class, and how our English teacher was horrid at her job. Then John went on to talk about a popular girl at our school and I eased out of the conversation. Of course John is my best friend; however something deep in me still gets stirred up when John talks about liking someone. But he continues on and doesn't seem phased by my silence, talking about her long hair and how she just oh so adores Nic Cage just as much as he does. I don't catch her name, and I don't bother to ask.

Eventually we reach school and John thanks Roxy for the ride. She sips at her coffee and winks at him, telling him not to worry. I smile. Roxy has always gotten along with my friends, and that's one of the many things I like about her. Even though she's a junior, she doesn't mind talking to me and the other underclassman on campus. That's respect; Or perhaps she's just doing it because we're sisters and bonded by blood? Either way, it's a kind gesture.

The three of us walk on, and Roxy stumbles into the front doors of Meteor Falls High School, her coffee (most likely with alcohol mixed in) in her hand as she stomps up the stairs on the left side of the lobby, up to where her junior friends usually gather. John and I continue on, Meeting our friends. Dave Strider; a close friend of ours and a "cool kid" who, as he calls it, just wants to spend time with the little people instead of his popular theatre crowd. I know Dave like the back of my hand and I can honestly call that pure bullshit with a Capital B. I think Dave sees the theatre kids as lame.

Karkat Vantas and Jade Harley are also there, Karkat's arm around her shoulders and one of her hands reaching up to link her fingers with his. He's her boyfriend, and it's been this way for as long as I can remember. You wouldn't think they'd be a good match, since Jade is a transfer student from the sun kissed island of Hawaii to the cold hustle and bustle of New York, and she's happy as a bee, and always smiling and going out of her comfort zone just to make others happy. Karkat on the other hand has maybe four friends, and anyone else could take a trip to hell for all he cares. He's a loudmouth, she's timid. He's easily frustrated, She has all the patience in the world. Somehow she fell for him and he fell back and now these two are madly in love and she's the only thing that can pacify him. So usually, he wouldn't be my first choice of company. However, since Jade won't let him get into any trouble on his own and is always on his arm, he's here to stay.

And how rude it would be of me to butt in and tell him to go find someone else to yell at. Besides, I've had a thought scratching at the back of my head about him and John for the longest time. I don't care how much my best friend talks about some girl; I know him.

"Oh Rose, Have you met the new kid?" Karkat suddenly asks, flipping his ginger bangs out of his dark colored eyes.

"No, I haven't. I just got here." I say with a small shrug. I shove Dave's arm. He pulls out one of his earpieces and gives that same expressionless stare of his.

"Oh, hey Rose. John. Where have you guys been?"

"Where have we been? Trying to pick you up! Where were you this morning?" John asks.

"Had to get here early to finish some stupid project for Chewning." He rolls his eyes, sticking out his tongue at the thought of our English teacher.

"You're only in English 1; I'm in English 2 Advanced. How hard could your work possibly be?" I snarl teasingly at him.

"Oh piss off, Lalonde. You over achiever." Dave glares at me from behind his sunglasses.

"Karkat, do you know where room 112 is?" Asks a soft, petite voice.

I furrow my brow. That's not one of my friends, and we're the only people who meet in front of this patch of lockers. Is this the new kid Karkat was talking about earlier? "I do. Do you have a name?"

Beside Karkat who's slumped against the lockers, all I can see behind an open locker door is what looks to be a long, red skirt, draped over black flats. The girl shuts it, and I can see she's wearing a black long sleeve shirt under her T-shirt of the same color, a jade colored Virgo sign embroidered in the center. This is something unusual, but I'm used to seeing it since Karkat and so many other people wear them. I suppose it's just a fad I've never gotten into. Her hair is dark brown and cut extremely short and her pageboy haircut leaves her bangs strewn loosely across her forehead.

"This is my cousin, Kanaya." Karkat continues.

After making sure she's got a hold of the green colored notebooks in her arm, she smiles at me, showing her slightly pointed teeth. "Hi." She says softly, and I swear she has a bit of an accent there.

"Hi there. I'm Rose Lalonde, head writer for our schools Newspaper." I say with a smile. I glance down at her shirt. "Virgo, huh?"

"Yes. It's my zodiac sign. I really love the zodiac." She says, quite excited. And the answer is yes, she does have an accent. It's slight and pretty English, but it goes along with her already proper voice quite well. "So, of course, I thought I'd wear it on my sleeve."

"Yeah, a lot of people do it here." I say kindly. She smiles back at me, and I actually feel, flustered. I'm not attracted to this girl, definitely not. She's just pretty really pretty. I'm not like, attracted to her of course. What an outcast I would be if I was. I shake my head, combing my long hair with my fingers. "So room 112, right? Is that your first period?" I ask her, changing the subject.

"Yeah, it's History." She nods, tightening her grasp on her books.

"Ah yeah, it's my first period as well." I say. Then an idea quickly forms in my head. I turn to Karkat, who's turned away from Kanaya and I to have a side conversation with his girlfriend. "Karkat." I say with hesitance.

"What?" He asks, looking up from Jade. She turns to me as well, pushing her glasses back up on her nose.

I cough. "Is it alright with you if I show Kanaya to class?"

"Sure. That way I can walk Jade to art." He says, looking down at her and smiling softly. She smiles back to him, kissing the tip of his nose. I smile. Gosh, Jade and Karkat are cute. It's almost ridiculous.

"Should we go ahead?" Kanaya asks.

"Yes, Probably." I say. "Going now is better than getting trampled by the others later." I mutter a quick goodbye to Jade and to Karkat, Kanaya telling him she'll speak with him as soon as she can. Then we're off to History, My least favorite class. Oh goodie.

~BW~

Usually, I don't pay much attention in history. It's no different now; especially with Kanaya sitting in front of me. I don't know why, but this girl has easily stolen my attention. I run over our previous greetings to each other, and our short conversation as we took the short walk through the cafeteria and up to the stairs to get here. She'd asked general questions about the school- the sport teams, the students, if there were any special literature courses offered. That I took note of and told her of the Advanced English 2 Class offered mornings of B Days. She said she'd look into it, which of course I'm looking forward to because I have that class as well. That wasn't completely in my favor, right?

After further debate, I pull out my binder and take a sheet of paper, writing a note to her. I decide to ask if she'd like to accompany me in perhaps hanging out at the mall or something later. I don't usually like the mall, because of the annoying popular kids that go, and because of the hustle and bustle. However because of remodeling, my favorite book shop, Books Galore, is closed down, so I have no other choice. Plus, it would get mother off my back if I showed that I actually had friends. Besides, I wouldn't want her to come to my house. One; I've only just met her this morning. Two; Cute innocent girl + Raging Alcoholic Mom = Friendless Rose.

Before passing it to her, I sign off with 'TT', the abbreviation of my chumhandle, tentacleTherapist. I poke her innocently enough in the back with the folded up paper, and she turns, grabbing it from me with a questioning smile and a head tilt, and then quickly spinning back around to avoid getting scolded. In a matter of minutes, the note is dropped over her shoulder back onto my desk. I cease my mindless scribbling and pick up the note.

TT: Hey, Kanaya, Do you want to hang out later?

GA: Well, Yes. I'd Like To Accept Your Offer Upon Hanging Out. And When Persay Shall We Do This?

G.A. hmm? So, she has one too. She seems nice enough.. Maybe I could look her up? Oh gosh, I hope that's not too forward; Or Creepy, for that matter.

TT: Are you free after school?

GA: Karkat Said Something About 'Grabbing An Espresso' Or Something Of The Sort. But Otherwise, Yes I'm Free.

TT: Ah, Coffee. Sounds good! Mind if I tag along and then maybe I could walk you home? Because surely, he has plans with Jade after she gets done with band practice. And I wouldn't want you to have to go alone and be the third wheel.GA: Of Course. That Sounds Lovely.

So it's a date then. I smile, folding the note neatly and stuffing it into the side pocket of my binder, as the bell rings. I whisper thanks for the class finally being over. Then I'm left behind by most of my classmates leaving while I'm stuck in the aisle, packing up my belongings. My binder, since I won't need it next period, and the note from Kanaya, tucked softly in its pocket. I smile softly, tracing a small circle on the spine of the binder. "Bye Rose." I hear someone say, then I glance up and- Oh gosh- It's Kanaya, waving bye kindly before she walks out the door. I wave back, sort of star struck then I instantly groan because I probably looked lost and stupid.

Zipping it up, I pull my bag onto my back and begin to leave. Stepping out the door, immediately I'm met with an arm going around my shoulders. I glance over, not only because of this, but only because about three people can do this. Of course the boy here now isn't one of them. His hair is dirty blonde and slicked into kind of a cowlick in the front; with this purple stripe in the middle, and his eyes are a deep violet, similar to mine, only darker. And of course he has on those ridiculous, obviously fake hipster glasses. "Hey, Lalonde." He says to me.

I shove him off. "What do you want, Ampora?" I ask, mocking his tone.

Eridan Ampora is a girl-crazy boy who wouldn't know fashion if he got smacked up aside his head with a copy of an Elle magazine. Because currently, he wears a cashmere sweater, an unnecessary blue striped scarf and a pair of vertically striped blue & black pants, with a pair of purple shoes. I roll my eyes as he begins to speak to me again. "So, I saw you and that new girl." He says in his ridiculous- and most likely fake- accent that sounds like some lame villain from a Pixar movie.

"Who, Kanaya?" What a dumb question. Obviously, Kanaya.

"Kan, hmm?" He asks, thinking over her name, as if to see if it suits her. God it annoys the ever-loving hell out of me that he doesn't actually call anyone by their full name. Not even his girlfriend, Feferi, whom he calls Fef.

"Yes, she's new. And, No, we don't have a thing."

He raises his eyebrows defensively as we head to my next class, which we have together. "I didn't say you did, but if you're clarifyin'-"

"Eridan, I'm serious." I narrow my eyes. "I don't like girls. I don't like boys. I'm just not someone who'd like to waste their time with a relationship right now, okay?"

He rolls his eyes, pursing his lips together. "Mhmm."

"Oh shut up." I snap.

"Hey, I was just sayin' that if you did like her or somethin', I think you guys would be cute." He says. I scoff.

"Yeah, right."

As we enter the Chorus room, John immediately greets me. "Hey, Rose!" He says with a grin, handing me one of the many black folders that contain our sheet music.

"Hi, John." I say, my voice still sounding rather annoyed with the whole run in with Eridan. John ignores him as he drops his bag beside us, then sulks off to go talk to one of the many students that everyone assumes he's having a side relationship with, named Sollux. I roll my eyes, turning back to John.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Not much. But get this- Apparently, Feferi's having a Christmas party this weekend." He says.

"Oh, that sounds like fun." I say indifferently. Feferi Peixes is Eridan's aforementioned girlfriend. She's a mixed Latina girl with bright eyes and long dark hair who always has a smile on her face. She's popular, on the cheerleading & swim team, and the two of us have had conversations before, considering I go to her dad's music store (where she works) often.

"Yeah. And couples get in free." He smiles, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Single people don't?" I raise an eyebrow of my own; ignoring what I assume is his sad attempt at flirting.

"Nah. It's two dollars a head unless you go in as a couple."

"Says who? Eridan, I presume?"

"You guessed it." He laughs.

I roll my eyes. "Ugh, why is he always trying to control her and run her parties? Does she even like him?"

"She's known him since they were little apparently!" He informs me. I raise my eyebrows, putting my bag under my chair and sitting down in the alto section, crossing my legs. He sits next to me, pulling his legs into his chair, and then turning to me, draping his arms over the back of his chair. "So, you wanna go?"

"What- To the Christmas party? With you?"

"Well, yeah! Come on, I think it'll be fun. Besides, it wouldn't be like.. a date!" John says. And I can't tell if this is a rebound off of a failed invitation to go on a date with him, or if he's being genuinely friendly.

I shrug as if either way it couldn't possibly matter. "Sure. You can come over tomorrow and we can get matching outfits." The two of us laugh. "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." He nods with a toothy grin, turning his attention to the front of the room.

~BW~

As it turns out, Kanaya and I not only have first period together, but also lunch. And Algebra 1. Clearly this is a sign, however I don't try to act on it anymore than I already have by asking to walk her home. And so by the end of the day, I'm sure Kanaya thinks I'm sick or something because most of what I've been doing all day is hiding my lower face in my shirt to keep her from seeing me giggle or smile every single time a phrase comes out of her mouth. However, I manage to recollect myself enough that when our Algebra teacher calls free time after our final bell while we wait for announcements, I go over and lean against her desk coolly.

"Hey, Kanaya. How are you liking high school here so far?"

She grins up at me. "Oh, it's really quite nice. I still may need some help getting around though.. You don't mind walking around, say, tomorrow morning do you?"

"Of course I don't." I smile. "I'll make sure Roxy drives me here early just for you."

Kanaya tilts her head. "Roxy?"

"Oh, that's my sister. She's a junior." I say.

"Oh! Yes, my sister's a junior as well. She transferred this morning as well, just as I did."

"Did she?" Goodness, I literally could not be any less social.

"Yes. Her name is Porrim, and she's already a social butterfly. I had a run in with her leaving the office before I came in here."

"How was that?"

"Oh it was okay. I just really hope no one starts comparing me to her. They used to do that all the time back in my old town and I really hope that was just something for there. It really rubs me the wrong way to think that some people see us so similar; Of course I love Porrim, but I'm nothing like her. I didn't mean to ramble off-"

"No, I understand." I say softly. "But, sorry that happened in your old town. Where are you from again?"

Her eyes flicker. "Oh- Um, Alternia Bluffs."

This surprises me. Alternia Bluffs is the neighboring town to Meteor Falls, and the two are very different. I have never been to Alternia Bluffs, because of its ridiculously tight security system, and every time Mother had tried to drive Roxy and I there to visit a friend of hers, we get told to leave. Jade tried to go to see Karkat when he lived there in the past before he moved and she got shouted at to leave as well. And the few things Karkat has told us about it is that it's a really high class and tiny town. It's never on the maps and has a small population as it is. The entire town seems like some big ridiculous joke, and whenever they are on the news for Meteor Falls, anybody from that town seems rather gray and emotionless. Kanaya is the last person I'd expect to come from Alternia Bluffs.

"Oh, yeah, Alternia Bluffs." I say. "I went there for a blood drive once but they wouldn't let me in." Then I glance over and realize how Kanaya's face has gone almost white. "Hey, are you alright?"

She closes her eyes, breathing quietly. "I.." She coughs, anxiously running her fingers through her hair. "We're still on for the plans today, right?"

"Yes, of course." I notice her change the subject, but the fact that her face went almost completely white kind of frightened me. I allow it. The bell then rings and Kanaya and I grab our bags, and then walk out of the room together. A few kids shove pass us and Kanaya quickly grabs my left arm to avoid us getting separated. I smile, tucking my hands into the pockets of my skirt. I stop before we reach the stairs back down to the Café and move against the wall. Kanaya follows suit. "Do you know what class Karkat has right now?"

"Oh!" Her eyes light up. "I'm quite certain he has Gym."

I narrow my eyes for a moment to remember exactly where the gym is from where we are. "Oh, okay."

"Is that alright?"

"Yes, of course." I say quickly. "I just don't go to the gym from here usually." Then we walk down the stairs and through the cafeteria, which is almost empty, given a few cheerleaders and janitor staff. We then hang a left, walking through the lobby. Then, coming out of the exit that lead to the gym, Jade and Karkat walk out, holding hands and smiling. I've never seen him smile before. It's almost cute.

"Karkat!" Kanaya calls. He looks at her, and smiles with a small wave. Then he notices me and his smile slightly drops. I narrow my eyes as if to say 'I saw that'. He rolls his as if it couldn't possibly matter either way. "You're still going out for coffee, right?"

Karkat gives a look that's some sort of a mix between proud and confused. I can't quite explain it, nor do I get it. He furrows his eyebrows together, glancing from us to Jade. "Oh, Actually I-"

"I'll walk to band practice on my own!" Jade tells him.

"Are you sure, Jade?" Karkat asks with hesitance.

She laughs, letting go of his hand and shoving his arm gently. "Well, yeah. I won't get lost, silly, I can assure you." She reassures him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"Okay." Karkat says, hugging her back. He releases her quickly and she kisses his cheek, and then passes by Kanaya and I, whispering for me to call her. I tell her I will.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to walk her to band practice is all. You joining us for coffee?"

"If that's okay with you. I already texted my sister saying I'd be home late but if it's too much of an issue, it's no problem to go home now."

"No no, it's no problem." He reassures me. "You don't drive yourself?"

I shrug. "Not 16 yet."

"Ah." He says. Then he glances down and smirks, glancing from Kanaya to myself. I tilt my head and then I realize Kanaya's arm is still linked with mine. I smile, and then nervously run my fingers through my hair again. "So, I was thinking we could walk. Is that okay?"

I roll my eyes and chuckle. "It's Meteor Falls, everything's in walking distance. Of course it's okay. Care to join Kanaya and myself?"

"I'd be honored." He laughs. Then he links his arm with Kanaya's free one, and the three of us exit Meteor Falls High School.