"You need a more positive attitude."
"I'm positive I'm going to fail math."
Maka taps a finger on her crossed arms, scowling at him. "If you'd just listen to what I have to say instead of arguing with me every step of the way, you might just learn something."
Soul lays his arm across his notes and rests his cheek on his forearm. Math tutors are for dumb kids, not for Evans. At least, that's how the saying goes. But with midterms coming up and no other options, he has no choice but to recruit Maka in an early morning study session in his room. Or rather, after begging her to come over for their weekly movie night despite upcoming exams, he sort of gladly accepted her deal to study first thing in the morning.
"It isn't naptime, Soul, we have to focus!" Maka exclaims. "What aren't you getting about this problem?"
"All of it," he replies through gritted teeth. "Couldn't even tell you what formula you're s'posed to use."
"I think you're full of it," she sighs before turning to flop on his bed. Soul turns his head to rest his other cheek on his arm and let him watch Maka as she swipes a hand over her face. "I think you do actually know this stuff, you just need some sort of motivation other than just grades. That's it!" she exclaims, snapping her fingers and causing him to jolt up from his desk. Maka sits up and leans on her arms on the edge of the bed. "Let's say you get an A on this midterm. You get to pick whatever prize you want."
"And if I don't?" The option he feels is far more likely.
"Blake's been wanting to go to the Rebels-Wolf Pack game. Guess who gets to tag alongside his loud mouth?" She flashes him a Cheshire grin, and he sets his forehead directly on the desk this time. Maybe his time would be better spent trying to memorize the school's fight song.
...
"Yo! You made it!" Blake shouts, punching a fist towards him for a fist bump. Soul offers probably the weakest bump ever, but Blake only barely shows his disappointment. "You ready for the game, dude? We're gonna kick some ass!"
An equally weak smile. Soul is way out of his element. The nice thing about playing piano: no pep band, meaning no sporting events that count for your participation grade. Sure, he'd enjoyed some basketball during PE, but this? A college football stadium full of rowdy fans shoving everyone to watch a bunch of buff dudes pass a ball around? Not really his cup of tea.
"The girls were searchin' for some grub, they're probably waiting around for us," Blake says, throwing an arm around Soul's shoulders.
He can feel the bartender gently tugging him towards the sea of people closer to the stadium, so he sighs and puts on his best smirk. "Can't leave a lady waiting."
Blake slaps a hand on his back. "'Atta boy!" He leads the way towards the stadium, shoving through the crowd of people with Soul in his wake. He almost misses Tsubaki waving a Coke can in the air as he continues crashing through the people.
"Blake! Over here, I found some of my residents! They have food!" she calls out to him as she attempts to meet him halfway. As they meet, Tsubaki's eyes land on Soul. "Glad to see you could make it! You hadn't decorated your door for the game, I didn't think you were interested in coming."
Soul scratches the back of his head with the best smirk he can manage. "I had a little encouragement," he admits. Attempting to look past his RA, he asks, "Where's Maka anyway?" She had better still be there, he thinks. No way will he let her skip out on this if he's stuck having to go to the game.
Tsubaki whirls around and scans the crowd for the girl. With her height, it doesn't take too long for her to point her out. This time, Soul takes the lead and attempts to clear a path toward Maka. She's mid-bite into a hotdog when he taps her on the shoulder.
Bringing her food down, she snickers at him, "You actually came."
"You knew there was no way I was getting an A, so are you really surprised?" He points to her hotdog. "You get that from Rose and company?"
She takes another bite and nods. "Go get one, they're great," she says, words muffled by food still in her mouth.
He does as he's told, walking up to the nearby pickup to grab a hotdog from the grill cook. Rose, a girl from his floor, offers him a Sprite, and he gladly takes it, ducking away as quickly as possible to avoid more conversation than is absolutely necessary. As he tries to make his way back, Soul realizes he may have lost Maka. Certain he sees Tsubaki's high ponytail, he fights his way through the crowd to grab her by the shoulder.
The girl turns around to reveal that she's actually Jacqueline and very confused. "S-sorry, about everything!" he stammers. She looks like she's about to speak, but once he catches a glimpse of Kim's bright hair nearby, Soul decides to bolt. He feels sort of bad about it. Jackie's always quiet, but at least somewhat nice in their math class, and here he's left her in dazed confusion twice now.
Eventually it's Blake who finds him, pushing him even closer to the stadium. "We gotta go now! They're bringing out the cannon!"
Soul's eyes nearly bug out of his head. "Cannon! What cannon?"
"Fremont Cannon, now let's get a move on! The girls are finding us a seat!"
Maka and Tsubaki wave the boys down once they see them, having found open seats near a railing. Soul and the girls claim their seats while Blake leans over the railing to watch staff roll out a red, replica howitzer. "So what's with the cannon?" Soul turns to Maka and asks.
"School tradition," she shrugs. "Part of the schools' rivalry. Whoever wins the game gets to take home their 'trophy'. We just got it back this last year, I doubt anyone wants to lose it again so soon. That's why doofus over there is so excited."
Soul turns his attention over to "doofus" who gets even more pumped when the long-moustached mascot, Hey Reb, takes the field, dancing around and generally trying to hype up the crowd. Tsubaki ends up dragging him back to their seats by the arm, settling him between herself and Maka. Soul isn't sure if it's to block in Blake or to give the quiet one, him, some space from the doofus. Either way, he's grateful.
The marching band starts up the Rebel fight song, and Soul is still definitely out of his element. Blake claps enthusiastically to the beat, shouting, not singing, along while Tsubaki cringes and tries to sing in tune. "Win with the Rebels a victory today! Win with the Rebels, the Scarlet and Gray!" Maka doesn't sing, instead doing her best to keep a steady rhythm with the band. The rest of the audience can't seem to do the same, as they, too, shout out the words off tempo.
Soul does his best to remain positive. Hopefully his companions are having a good time, and maybe it'll rub off on him. He certainly doesn't want to be the downer of the group.
The song eventually ends, and suddenly the teams are ready for the kickoff. No one in their vicinity is quite as intense about the start of the game as Blake, and it makes Soul want to disappear in his seat. Maka, who sits right next to the animated man, seems to feel the same way as she shares pursed-lipped, eyebrow-raised looks with him. Her looks change the situation from cringey to comedy, and he fights the urge to laugh.
"C'mon, Ref, what the hell was that?!" Blake shouts, rising from his seat. "Do! You! Have! Eyes?!"
Soul turns to Maka to see if she has another hilarious reaction to find that she, too, has risen from her seat. "That was holding, you idiot! What are you doing out there!" she shouts out to the field.
He looks past the blonde to Tsubaki, and the two can't help but laugh at their friends. Especially at Maka. For someone who had shrugged off the big rivalry, she sure is into the game.
...
"Can't believe we had to give the cannon back," Blake laments as the group steps out of the stadium.
"When you get that far behind in the first half, what do you expect?" Tsubaki teases.
He clasps his heart and feigns pain. "Why taunt me like this, Tsu? Can't you see I'm already hurtin'? It's been back and forth for, what? The last four years? Can't we just keep it for a little while longer?"
"Losers don't get to keep trophies," Soul joins in. Maka giggles at the group.
"Not cool, dude. Just.. not cool…" Once they've all made it down the stairs, Blake starts walking backwards, hands clasped behind his head now. "Any chance you guys wanna after-game party? Tsu?" He waggles his eyebrows at her.
She does her best to look very professional. "Not me, I have to go make sure no one's partying too hard in the dorms."
Blake pouts. "Maks?"
Shaking her head, she explains, "I should really rest my voice after all the yelling we did."
He turns to Soul, arms outstretched. "Soul, my man!"
"Reached my daily quota for socializing today and then some. Maybe next time," he answers with a sigh.
Blake scoffs at them, throwing his hands up in defeat. "You're all lame! Have fun being killjoys!" He stops in his tracks, letting the group continue ahead of him. They don't want to give into his antics, but Soul chances a look back over his shoulder. The sea of people exited the stadium has already devoured him.
Tsubaki bids the remain two farewell before taking off in the direction of the Tonopah Complex, leaving Soul behind to walk Maka to her car.
"You never did tell me what grade you go on that math midterm," she finally speaks up once the crowd has dispersed enough that they don't feel the need to shout over them.
"Low B."
Maka laughs. "Better than you thought, huh? I had a feeling a little extra push would help. I'm still surprised you showed up though. It's not like we shook on it or anything."
He shrugs and answers honestly, "I like hanging with you guys. But, uh, can we never do this again? I've decided I hate football." She laughs again as they make it to her car. "I'll catch you later then. Rest up that voice."
"Sure thing. Have a good night." Maka ducks into her vehicle and starts it up.
Soul backs away so she can pull out of the lot without running over his foot or something. His gaze lingers on her vehicle as she leaves, breaking only when another car honks at him to move out of the way. It really had been a good day, he thinks, all things considered.
…
"Everybody out of the pool!" Blake shouts, shoving the car keys in his pocket and jumping out of the vehicle. Soul and Maka follow suit, the former drinking in their stop.
The pumpkin patch is flooded with people, many of whom form an impressive line for the corn maze near the back of the lot. Nothing more festive than searching for the perfect gourd to gut with your friends, surrounded by the screams of lost and terrified children.
"Not near as fun without Tsu," Blake mumbles, shielding his eyes from the low sun. "Alright, kiddos, we gotta find the perfect pumpkins for my house and Maka's house! Tsu said no pumpkins were allowed in the dorms, so Soul, your mission is to find the two tiniest pumpkins to sneak back with you. Got it?"
"Isn't she busy making paper ones instead of coming out with us because they're not allowed to have pumpkins in the dorms?" Maka points out to him.
Blake shrugs. "Details, who needs 'em?" With that, he runs off in search of the best pumpkin to carve for later that night.
Soul turns to Maka to ask her what their plan is, but she has disappeared from his side. He scans the area for her, nearly getting knocked over by a very excited child, before he finally spots her. She practically skips across the patch, leaning over every so often to check out a pumpkin before moving on to the next one. He decides to sneak up on her, shouting "boo!" once he catches up.
She startles easily, but settles into annoyed very quickly. "That isn't funny."
"Just relax," he laughs. She pouts a bit at this, and it only makes him want to laugh more. "You sure seemed chipper. Are you really that into pumpkin patches?"
Maka hums in thought a moment before replying, "It's been so long since I've been to one. I think the last time we went was before I started high school. It was right before Mama found out Papa was cheating on her."
Children screech nearby as they wave their parents over to the "perfect pumpkin". Soul shoves his hands into his pockets. "You, uh, never mentioned that before."
"Huh. I guess I haven't." She kneels down next to a pumpkin, turning it over to inspect it. "In retrospect, their marriage was doomed from the start. No one should really be surprised it ended the way it did."
He squats down beside her. "Why's that?"
"Two kids, not even out of high school, pregnant at a time when you marry your baby daddy? Does any part of that sound like the romantic, 'till death do us part' kind of marriage to you?"
"I mean, they must have loved each other at some point, right?"
"Maybe." She turns the pumpkin over in her hands once more. "I can't help but feel like… Sometimes I feel like I was the reason it all ended this way."
"Okay, that's not tru-"
Maka throws the pumpkin into the dirt. "I am though! They decided to stick it out! For my sake! Neither of my parents went to college, I was the one holding them back!" Glancing up, she must notice bystanders watching them. "Go on, show's over," she calls weakly, picking herself up off the ground and walking away.
Soul picks up the abandoned pumpkin and finds that it's undamaged. Probably too small to carve properly, but definitely big enough to paint. Gourd in hand, he chases after Maka who has taken to watching the corn maze. He offers the pumpkin to her, but she ignores it.
"Parents really suck, huh?" he tries. Silence. He sighs. "Dunno if they ever mean to make you feel like shit, but they're good at it. You know there was once a time they didn't make you feel that way, but it's hard to pick out exactly when that feeling started. Like for me, the piano?"
Maka perks up at this, and he hands her the pumpkin once more. She takes it this time.
He continues, "Mom and Wes taught me C major way back when. I was hooked, I loved to play, and my folks praised me for it. Wes focused way more on his violin, and Mom started to get really serious about me playing piano. So we worked on technique all the time. And I was pretty good. Not Wes's level, never Wes's level, but decent. And as I got better, I changed things up a lot. Switched up the keys to songs, gave pieces my own flare. She hated it. Wes's music was always beautiful. Mine was a horrifying, jumbled mess."
"So you don't play."
"So I don't play. Every recital was terrifying, a whole lot of judgement in one room. And all I wanted to play was my music, but I had to do what Mom wanted. She wanted me to major in musical performance. So, here I am."
Maka's fingers drum on the skin of the pumpkin in her hands. "Sorry… I didn't know how much it bothered you."
"Being here helps a lot. Being away. Parents suck, but friends don't. Right?" He offers her a warm smile, and she returns it.
"Right."
"Guys!" Blake comes barreling up to them, one large pumpkin under each arm. "Found the perfect ones for me and Maks! You ready to gut these babies later?" He doesn't wait for Maka's response before focusing in on Maka's pumpkin. "Tsu's gonna love that one! Soul, buddy, we gotta get you one like that for your room!"
He shakes his head with an exasperated sigh. "Tsubaki's not gonna let either of us have a pumpkin in our room. That's just the rules."
"Screw the rules! You've got a friend in a high place! She can't really object if she's got one of her own! Let's get this show on the road! Yahoo!" Blake starts running to the front of the lot to go pay for the pumpkins. Soul and Maka share a look and start chasing after him, laughing the whole way.
