"It's early September 2021 as I'm typing this AN. I'm trying to finish this arc before school starts for me which is in three days," she foolishly said. Little did she know that she came back to work on this chapter in mid-November when the semester is almost over because asking for references is giving her too much anxiety. And little did she know again that she came back at the end of December because she wanted to finish the arc to have it up by the new year.

A Crown of Thornes: Part Nine

Andromeda Academy, Luna

It's well into the evening and Jacin yawns as Iko approaches him and Kinney in their school's student lounge. Allegedly, Jacin yawned upon Iko's arrival. He claims it was a coincidence following a long day and Kinney vouches for him like a good friend, but Iko doesn't care. Instead, she sits between the boys and pulls out her phone to show them pictures of Cinder and Winter's civvies day at their school. Jacin knows that Iko knows they've seen the pictures so he's waiting for her to get to her point.

"Why can't we have a civvies day?" Iko asks.

The students of Andromeda Academy are allowed to wear whatever they want in their dorms and in the student areas. They only have to be in their uniforms during school hours and at special events.

Iko swipes through Cinder and Winter's photos with their friends, all smiles and laughs for once not being in the same daily outfit and look like everyone else. It's refreshing. At Andromeda Academy, even during their off-hours, a lot of people are in their Academy sweatshirts and/or sweatpants.

"Imagine running laps in your tight jeans," Kinney tells her.

"You can imagine it," Iko fires back.

Kinney clears his throat as Iko raises a brow with a grin before returning to her phone and scrolling through more photos. Jacin looks away, pretending he never saw or heard that exchange as he tries to remove it from his memory. Aces, it'll be there forever.

"Nobody would take me seriously," Jacin states.

Iko laughs. "You could run drills in your pyjamas and they'd take you more seriously than the rest of us in our uniforms."

"Facts," Kinney seconds.

Jacin rolls his eyes. They're not wrong, though. He wouldn't have to be running to be the topic of conversation. That's how things work when he's a cadet at a military school his dad is in charge of after many years of faithful service to the country.

He catches a glimpse of Iko's sleeve. She's wearing their school sweatshirts that all have their last names sewn onto their right biceps near their shoulders facing out. Iko's would've had Linh on hers but Jacin sees Kinney's name.

Jacin looks at Kinney who's just in a plain tee before glancing at Iko who's definitely in Kinney's sweater. Jacin doesn't want to know why Iko's wearing it. She has her own and would never wear Kinney's hoodie voluntarily. And if Iko was ever cold, Kinney would just let Iko get frostbite and hypothermia. She'd have to have been in his dorm to get his hoodie and the only real reason why she would put it on is - yeah, screw those spades. Jacin isn't even going there. This is just another memory for him to purge.

Or just replace it with something better, something funnier.

"Iko, that's Kinney's sweater," Jacin states. He doesn't ask because it's not a question. That certainly is Kinney's name on her sleeve.

Iko pauses, putting her phone down on her lap as she looks at her sleeve. Her dark eyes nearly pop out of her head as she reads Kinney's name. She looks at Kinney who's avoiding her eyes. Jacin bites back a grin, happy that they're not looking at him.

"Why do you have it?" Jacin asks just to see what they'll come up with.

"I don't know," Iko responds. Jacin guesses it's because she couldn't pull an excuse out from the stars. "I bet the laundry messed up."

Iko takes the sweater off in a fluid motion and tosses it to Kinney who catches it without looking at her. She's wearing a crop top underneath and runs her hands along her bare arms. Jacin was right. Not only are they still hooking up but this awkward exchange where those two think he doesn't know anything is a far better memory.

"I gotta finish a geography paper," Kinney says, rushing back to his dorm

Spades, he hopes they didn't go to the same dorm. Speaking of, he has some business to attend to in his own dorm.

-o-

Jacin: What do you know about cacti?

Scarlet: Why?

Jacin: Oh wait, I'll look it up in French to help you.

Scarlet: Screw your spades.

Jacin: Le cactus.

Scarlet: … I know you just added a Le to the English word and I hate you because it's the same in French.

Jacin: Absolument.

Scarlet: What do you want? Do you not have the internet for your cacti inquiries?

Jacin: You live on a farm.

Scarlet: NOT THE DESERT.

Jacin: Cacti can grow on farms. I looked it up.

Scarlet: See, you have the internet and know more about cacti than me. Why are you even asking?

Jacin: I'm purchasing some.

Scarlet: Okay, weirdo.

Jacin: Not asking why?

Scarlet: Might as well.

Jacin: Kinney said that instead of roses, he would buy a girl a cactus because it's a thorny plant so might as well. I decided to help him out since he's been doing things that give me nightmares during the day.

Jacin: Thoughts?

Scarlet: None of that made sense. I hope you're sober. Not for your health but because it's funnier.

[Jacin sends her a series of cactus photos he's derived from his research. There are cacti in all sizes, species, and colours].

Jacin: If I can get a good deal, I'll buy you a Le cactus as well.

Scarlet: Merci.

Jacin: Okay, it says that gifting a cactus either means you're telling the receiver that they're resilient or that you're providing warmth and protection.

Scarlet: Oh you're serious about this.

Jacin: I don't kid around. Ever. Especially about Le cacti.

Jacin: For the record, this conversation never happened and Kinney mailed you a Le cactus.

No, I will not disclose my cactus research. I wrote this at 1:28 AM.