17 Chapter 17 (2/2)

”Oh, he's just an asshole” Aeris says. ”Which reminds me, how many times were you rude just now? Three times? Four times?”.

Aeris begins to take out her notebook again. ”Are we still seriously doing that!?” Jackson asks.

”Yep, I've lost control of my life...” Emily says.

”Oh, it's not you” Jessica says, ”they're just weirdos. Fun weirdos, but still weirdos. Maybe it's a laibah thing?”.

”A laibah thing?” Emily asks. ”No, I don't think so...”.

”Well, I wouldn't know” Jessica says. After a short pause, Jessica says ”Oh yeah, I'm human, by the way”.

”What?” Emily asks.

”You said before that you heard we were all laibah” Jessica says, ”but I'm a human”.

”Oh... okay” Emily says. ”Not sure... why I'd actually... care”.

”Who knows?” Jessica says with a shrug. ”Most people nowadays are super picky about that kinda stuff. I just figured you might've been curious at the very least”.

”Oh, I guess that makes sense” Emily says.

After school that day, Wyatt goes to work and Emma waits for him in the dorm. When Wyatt comes back home, Emma was wearing her purple dress again. Emma was standing in the middle of the room, with a bright smile on her face. ”How do I look?” She asks.

”Y-you look...” Wyatt says as he fumbles for the right words again. No matter how many times he sees her in that dress, he couldn't get used to it. She seemed infinitely enchanting to him. ”A-amazing!” Wyatt finally says. Emma blushes lightly and Wyatt says ”Hang on, I'll get changed real quick and we can go out!”.

Wyatt takes a while to get ready in the bathroom. Eventually, Emma asks ”Are you alright in there?”.

Wyatt comes out of the bathroom, still trying to get his tie on just right. ”I'm just having a little trouble with this”.

Emma helps Wyatt fix his tie. When Wyatt begins to lean back up, after Emma fixed his tie, Emma pulls him back down. Pulling on his tie, forcing Wyatt to lean forward, Emma brought Wyatt to eye level and kissed him. ”W-What was that for?” Wyatt asks.

Emma shrugs her shoulders and says ”Just felt like it, I guess”. Emma then thinks to herself ”Good thing my ears aren't popping out now. I think I've finally managed to keep it under control for now. Either that, or maybe I really am just getting more comfortable with being around Wyatt”.

The two of them stayed up late at the festival. As they spent their night out together, Aeris and Jackson also spent their night together. As Emma and Wyatt spent their time trying out rides together, playing mini-games, and relaxing in the festival, Aeris and Jackson spent their time walking around town, trying out a restaurant they've never been to before, looking through a book store (which was Aeris's idea) and sitting at public parks just to talk for a while. After that night, Emma and Wyatt felt like they were getting closer to each other, as did Aeris and Jackson.

The next day, Emma and Wyatt went to the festival again just to see what the concert being held there would be like. Although, they weren't familiar with the musicians playing, they stayed anyways. It was fun for them simply just having something to do together.

The rest of the weekend seemed to pass like a blur, as finally Monday came around again. On the morning of Monday, September 30th, The Rejects show up to school before class. The rest of the classroom was still excited and busy. ”What's everyone so excited for this time?” Wyatt asks. ”The festival just ended, so I thought they'd be more... depressed”.

”It's the last day of September” Jessica says.

”Already!?” Emma asks.

”Yeah” Jackson says, ”which means...”.

”Which means...?” Wyatt asks.

”Halloween is coming up...” Emily says.

”Is... is that it?” Wyatt asks.

”Yeah, I'll be honest” Emily says, ”it's not that exciting anymore”.

”Well, it's still fun for some of us” Jessica says. ”Sure, we won't be going around getting free candy, but...”.

”Please don't say 'let's have a party'... please” Jackson says.

”I was actually thinking” Jessica says, ”that we could just... hang out at like... a park?”.

”That's... a little better” Jackson says.

”Are you guys dressing up?” Jessica asks.

”And there it is!” Jackson says, ”the point of which I say 'screw this, I'm out'! Seriously, I'm not dressing up”.

”Come on!” Jessica says, ”you don't have to be so... negative”.

”Yeah, I hate to say this, Jessica” Wyatt says, ”but I'm not sure if I really want to do anything for Halloween either”.

”I'm kind of planning on just... relaxing” Emma says. ”Like I always do for Halloween”.

”You mean, you've never been trick or treating before?” Jessica asks.

”Nope” Emma says.

”Yeah, and the rest of us kinda live... outside of the city” Aeris says. ”So like... way too much effort to try and go trick or treating. I just stayed home and ate snacks”.

”I guess that's not so surprising” Jessica says.

”I just didn't really like seeing anyone in my neighborhood” Wyatt says. ”We also never really felt like trying to travel to another part of the city just to trick or treat, so...”.

”Not you too, Wyatt!” Jessica complains. Jessica then looks at Emily and asks ”Emily?”.

”I've done it before” Emily says. ”But I don't promise dressing up now...”.

”That's fair...” Jessica says, her head hanging low.

”Well, on the bright side” Wyatt says, ”we still have a whole month until then. So I guess if we do something after all, we have plenty of time to think about it”.

”Y-Yeah!” Jessica says, ”I guess you're right!”.

”Good morning” Refus says as he enters the class.

”Ah, shit” Jessica says, ”I guess class is starting”.

When lunch started, and The Rejects were on the roof, Emily asks ”So how long are you all staying in Harrison University for?”.

”Dunno” Wyatt says, ”I still haven't really figured out what I'm going to be doing”.

”I thought it was just a two year course” Emma says.

”Well, for colleges like Harrison, they have extra courses to help people” Emily says. ”Like, two years gets you certified to work for the city, but you can go a third year for an extensive course. Like, if you figure out what you want to do while you're here, they have a few courses set up in hopes they can help you get certified for that job too. Then there's the fourth year. The reason you don't really see any of them around, especially in dorms is because most of that year is spent with internships. They do practical work within their profession, in order to get a job immediately out of college. Most of their time is spent off the campus”.

”I didn't know about the fourth years” Jackson says.

”I did” Aeris says.

”Well” Wyatt says, ”I guess that's just another reason why we plan on making our club. Once we decide what we want to do after college, we'll decide if we're going to be staying for a third or fourth year”.