4. crush

                                    

                                          
Allie
"Oof, my lab partner needs a fucking exorcism." Alex dumps her tote bag onto the floor and drops onto our couch.
Today, she's rocking the I'm-done-with-biochemistry look with her dark-brown hair (that discoloured from black from swimming competitively in high school) hastily braided into pigtails, red sweats, and her infamous blue PowerPuff-girls crop top. 
"Jack's at it again?" 
Being a part of a lineage of accomplished doctors and engineers is enough pressure to break anyone. But luckily for Alex, she'd inherited her mom's fervour for biology which made the process of picking out her major a lot easier. 
"First, he complains I'm not doing enough work. Then he complains I'm doing too much work and I'm alienating him from the research, like dude, just shut the fuck up because you're being annoying and your mom probably doesn't love you." 
She gets up from the couch and starts rummaging through our alcohol cupboard (which mainly consists of Somerby's apple cider). "I need a drink."
"Want me to come with you to egg his car?" 
She stops her searching and deadpans. "Nah. I'll sucker punch him the next time he complains about me. I love you for offering though." 
"Babe, you looking for the vodka?" 
She sighs, preoccupied. "Yeah, where is it?"
"We finished it the day-" 
"Yup," her voice wobbles a little, "I remember now." 
It was the day we finally finished The Good Place and the day we cried more hysterically than any mourning mother. It was the type of cry that ballooned our faces to a size of a basketball the next day and swelled our eyes shut. 
We looked like shit but it was so worth it.
"I'll run down to Conor's to get a couple of bottles."
"I'll come with you." Despite being in a relatively safer part of Massachusetts, we can't discount for the fact that creepy people are everywhere and that they are most prolific at night. 
"Okay." We link arms and walk two blocks down as Alex continues to complain about Jack's unacceptable behaviour. 
*
We arrive at the six thousand square-feet party house the three other tenants of this massive house were lucky enough to have because a Van Kirk is living under their roof.
Leon's dad coincidentally had a house lying around that was also coincidentally within walking distance from campus that was also coincidentally fully-funded by his massive IT conglomerate.
I mean, crazy to think that this house just kinda fell into their laps.
Conor strides over to us the second he spots us at the doorway. 
It still baffles me that Conor and Alex are twins because they're essentially the most different-looking pair of twins I've ever seen in my life. The only feature they share is that they've got the most distinct dark-blue, almost black, set of eyes that look incredibly intimidating. 
"What's with all," she gesticulates, "this?"
"Coach moved training to the afternoon and Brock came down with a flu." He says like we know who Brock is. "You ready to go?"
Alex extends her neck and narrows her eyes. "Go where?" 
Conor crosses his arms. "You forgot again?"