"i'm handing in my english assignment." cassie smiled as she gave her work to her teacher.

"thank you, well done." ms. jackson laughed and put them in her map. "have a nice day."

"you too." cassie nodded before walking out of the room, where she instantly was met by vanessa.

"i've got some news." she announced and raised her eyebrows for a split second.

"yeah?" cassie laughed and folded her arms together.

"yeah. you missed the recent meeting, but the student council wants to throw a little party here at school, but they want it to be a bit prom-ish."

"why can't they just wait until the end of the year when we have our actual prom?"

"i guess normal parties at someone's place is getting a bit... high school." vanessa shrugged and looked at her.

"and where exactly would this party be held at?"

"our sports hall. it's perfect."

"and what do the teachers think about this?"

"we... haven't really discussed this with them yet." vanessa said slowly and fiddled with her fingernails. "we need to know if you're up for it first, considering you're the biggest voice."

"i'll think about it." cassie smiled and opened the door to her dorm.

"alright, boss." vanessa grinned and mocked a salute-motion. cassie rolled her eyes before stepping inside and placing herself on the bed.

she started her macbook and tucked some hair behind her ear. a few seconds after it was on, marcus called her through facetime, and she answered of course.

"hey." marcus grinned and waved at her.

"hi." cassie laughed and checked the time quickly. "what's up?"

"nothing, just wanted to see how you are." he shrugged and took a bite from a cookie.

"well, i'm pretty good." she answered and stood up from the bed.

"also called to tell you that mom and dad wanted us for dinner in two weeks, so be free that weekend." he remarked.

"i think i'm free." she nodded and made sure she wasn't visible in the camera before changing to a loose t-shirt instead.

"you better be." he smirked and frowned a bit.

"since when are you so bossy?" she laughed and took off her necklace.

"since i got a roommate." he reminded her, causing her to sheepishly smile and placing herself back on the bed.

"don't tell me your roommate's still–" she started, but got cut off.

"hey, cassie!" a guy exclaimed before pushing himself beside marcus and grinning at the camera.

"hi, ryder." she laughed and shook her head a bit. "what's up?"

"nothing much. how about you, college girl?" ryder smiled and folded his arms together.

"same here. just a bit restless right now." she shrugged and glanced up when the door opened.

"i would encourage you to party or drink but your brother's right beside me, so..." ryder trailed off jokingly, receiving a glare from marcus.

"is that the crazy rommate?" alex whispered as she sat down beside cassie.

"ryder."

"right."

"hi, alex." ryder waved and raised his eyebrows amused.

"hi." she laughed and smiled at marcus.

"and by the way, you're also the crazy roommate." ryder pointed out and pulled up his phone.

"comparing to cassie, yeah. but you're literally crazy." alex joked and bit on her bottom lip so she wouldn't laugh.

cassie focused her eyes on marcus and shook her head with a stupid smile. her brother did the same and lowered his head as he laughed quietly.

"that... is absolutely correct." ryder sighed and sat up properly. "speaking of which, danny is gonna' mix mentos and coke. you coming?"

"thanks, but i'll pass." marcus laughed and pursed his lips.

"alright, see you later. bye girls." ryder said before leaving the room.

"he's going to get himself killed one day." alex stated the obvious and stood up. "i've got something to do too, so bye."

"bye, love." marcus smiled and waved, causing alex to hide a wide smile. she glanced down before nodding to him and then exiting the room, leaving cassie to roll her eyes a bit.

"what's wrong with you two?" cassie mumbled when alex had left.

"what?"

"bye love." she imitated him and raised her eyebrows. "why don't you just ask her out already? and before you say something, i know you've kissed her. more than once."

"how do you know that?" he asked and frowned deeply at her.

"i saw you. and it's not like you two are the most platonic people when you visit."

"i'm not having this conversation with you." he said and crossed his arms together.

"why, because i'm your baby sister?" she asked blankly and looked at him.

"no, because she's your best friend and i have no answer to your first question. and i'd much rather take it with you in person."

"you're so–" she started, but the door opened and this time matt entered with a smile.

"i brought strawberries because you mentioned the other day that you haven't eaten strawberries in the longest time. and i also brought you a chai latte." he handed her a box with strawberries, put the drink on the drawer and sat down beside her.

"oh. thanks." cassie laughed and scooted a bit to the side, giving him some more space. "oh god, they look so good." she added once she laid eyes on the fruit and parted her lips.

"you're welcome." he grinned and looked at the computer screen. "hello."

"hi." marcus smirked and poured some juice in a glass.

cassie ate one with closed eyes and smiled. she then seized one and held it in front of matt's mouth, smiling wryly and raising her eyebrows.

matt narrowed with his eyes at her before hesitantly taking a bite from it and nodding slowly. she laughed quietly and looked down at the keyboard.

"can i ask you something?" she mumbled and ate another one, temporarily forgetting about marcus.

"you don't have to ask me that."

"why are you here? not that i mind because i actually like spending time with you, but you're the football captain with so many friends and things to do, yet you come in here most of the time."

"is that a serious question?" he laughed and nudged her body with his. "i'd rather spend time with you than being at a stupid party, or whatever you think i do. i thought you were smart enough to figure that out after a few weeks."

"i just thought you love to maybe go to places with your friends, like a bar but without drinking." she shrugged and sucked on her bottom lip.

"well yeah, but i've done that for three years now." he smiled and glanced at the computer screen.

"right."

"right."

"i hate it when you do that." she murmured before stretching her hand out and grabbing the drink. she was careful not to shake it as she removed the top. "another i? il.. ili...?"

matt cracked a laughter when she tried to pronounce those three letters together. he dropped his head and pressed his lips together while she playfully punched his arm.

"it's i li... the first i is a word itself." he explained, still chuckling.

"oh, okay. can't you give me two letters each time instead?" she whined and pouted a little.

"i'll think about it."

cassie smiled in satisfaction and turned her eyes back to the computer. marcus wasn't there though, but she could hear him moving around and then the rustling from cutlery.

she drank from her cup carefully and opened up netflix instead while her brother finished whatever he was doing. matt raised one of his eyebrows and stole another strawberrie, not that she minded though.

"what do you want to watch?" she asked and logged into her account.

"i don't know, i've seen pretty much every movie i want to watch already."

"what you want to watch. i've found great movies just by randomly picking one. like, the women is a great movie but it's not one that makes it to the toplist."

"okay. or we could watch a show."

"we could do that." she shrugged with her lips and nodded weakly. "which one?"

"i heard sense8 is pretty good." he suggested.

"it is pretty good." marcus butted in loudly. with a frown, cassie opened up facetime again and found him sitting back down on the couch with a bowl of cereal. "you should watch it."

"alright." she mumbled and searched for the show. "but we'll watch it later."

"so, anything new since i left?" marcus asked and ate his cereal.

cassie frowned with her lips while shaking her head and shrugging. she had already told him about the cheerleading competition they won recently and other small things that happened.

"no, not really. vanessa and i ate a whole cake by ourselves the other day."

"did you tell him that you're signing up for a membership at the boxing club?" matt asked with a weak smirk.

"you did what?" marcus asked and almost choked on his food. "since when do you box?"

"matt!" she muttered and shoved his body. "i don't. i mean, since he brought me there. look, you and i always used to wrestle for fun, but you also taught me important things. boxing is a way to improve my strenght and strategies."

"hey, i'm thrilled you're doing that. it just came as a surprise." he raised one hand in the air defensively. "and matt, you don't look like the boxing type of guy."

"i know." he laughed and got up from the bed.

cassie talked a bit more with her brother as matt sauntered around the room. he quietly opened a drawer which said ok and smiled down at the few drawings he could see. he found her art so extremely cool and beautiful.

when he was about to open the drawer beside the open one, cassie looked up and rushed up from her bed, quickly pushing it close and sheepishly smiling.

"not that one." she quickly said and licked her lips. "in case you didn't notice, it says not okay."

"sorry." he apologised and raised his hands.

"don't worry, just please don't open my drawers. ever." she mumbled and flickered with her eyes up and down his body.

"really, i'm sorry. i'm just too curious sometimes and then i don't think."

"okay, understandable. just don't–"

"i won't."

cassie nodded as he sat down on the bed again, this time with his back against the wall. she joined his side and tucked some hair behind her ear, smiling at marcus.

they continued talking from where they stopped, and matt kept looking at her as she communicated with not only her mouth but her hands too.

he smiled, admiring her beauty, and thought about something he wanted to ask her. he wasn't sure if he dared to ask her because of how weird it'd sound, but he also knew he'd regret it if he didn't.

"... if it wasn't for mom, you'd still be–"

"do you want to go on a date with me?" matt blurted out. cassie froze before turning her head to him with parted lips and a confused expression.

"what?" she exhaled with a frown and an awkward smile.

"i want to take you out on a date." he repeated his question and tried put on a confident facade. "i know we've only known each other for a few weeks now, but i still wanna' know you better. and a date is a perfect opportunity for that. unless you go and see a movie."

cassie had never been so quiet and speechless before in a very long time. she parted her lips as if to speak, but nothing really came out — just the sound of her inhaling.

"oh come on, don't leave the guy hanging." marcus commented and raised his eyebrows.

"like, a date... romantically?" she mumbled slowly and barely scrunched up half her face.

"or friendly. you decide." matt shrugged and fiddled with his fingers, already breaking the confidence.

cassie studied him briefly and pressed her lips together. she blinked at him and tried to think of any reasons as to why she wouldn't do it. she couldn't think of any. sure, she went from not acknowledging him to finally talk to him, and going on an actual date was really not something she would imagine herself doing. but that was before she actually hung out with him, and learned that he wasn't so bad after all.

matt glanced up at her and chewed on the insides of his cheeks. for each silent second that passed, he grew anxious, and regretted ever asking her such a question. why the hell would she say yes? he thought, over and over again.

her expression changed in a split second. she went from looking stunned to cracking the weakest smile, her eyes being a bit narrowed and glimmering as usual. meanwhile she finally spoke up, she tilted her head to the side.

"i would love to go on a date with you." she said, causing him to look up at her with big eyes.

"wait, really?"

"oh my god, i was gone for like, fifteen minutes?" alex uttered as she stared at them.

"yes, really." cassie laughed and nodded assuringly.

"are you two seriously going on a date? come on guys, don't ignore me!" alex whined and folded her arms together.

cassie and matt looked at each other with raised eyebrows. they really didn't need to share a word since they both thought of the same thing. to put it bluntly, when it came to alex, they were both annoying little shits.

whilst she closed her computer without warning marcus at all, matt grabbed her free hand and quickly stood up from the bed. thanks to alex's habit of now closing the door, they could escape the room in a fast motion, leaving alex confused and annoyed, calling out a "hey!".

cassie giggled shortly while glancing behind her shoulder. she slowed down beside matt and bit on her bottom lip as they moved towards his dorm room instead.

matt still held onto her hand as he opened the door — because this was a once in a lifetime opportunity — and turned the lights on. cassie realized that she had never been in his room before and suddenly felt very weird.

"i can imagine how annoying you were as a child." she laughed and glanced at the two beds.

"i was." he grinned and nodded a bit. "mason will probably be back soon, in case you're wondering. and the left bed is mine."

"it really smells like male perfume in here. wow." she exhaled and scrunched up her nose.

"what did you expect?" he asked as he sat down on his bed, back against the wall.

"something like this, yeah." she laughed and carefully positioned herself beside him. it felt really odd being in his room and on his bed.

she opened up the computer again and started the first episode of sense8. pushing some hair away from her face, she tried to suppress a smile when noticing matt's gaze on her. he looked away though and focused on the show instead, already finding it interesting.

when nomi and amanita's first scene showed up, cassie awkwardly stared at the screen and could hear matt scratch his own upper arm. it wasn't the embarrassing sort of awkward, but the one where they both tried not to laugh because of how typical it was.

unfortunately, she cracked and bit on her thumbnail, only passing the laughter over to him. he shook his head and folded his arms together, sinking down a bit so they were about the same height.

"they're cute." he remarked, earning an agreeing nod from her.

"yes..." she laughed again, this time with closed eyes.

"stop doing that or i'm gonna' start laughing to."

"i can't."

"stop!" he snickered and nudged her body, which was stupid since she only sounded louder now.

"i'm trying!" she exclaimed and hid her face behind her hands.

after a few seconds, they both slowly became silent again and watched the show. cassie glanced down at his hands when he started fiddling with his fingers again. she frowned a little and reached for it, surprisingly lacing their fingers together.

"what are you doing?" matt asked and looked at her.

"don't act like you don't like it." she murmured teasingly and stroked the top of his hand with her thumb.

"you're pretty dangerous, you know that right?" he exhaled through his nose and licked his lips.

"i know." she smiled knowingly and blinked back to the screen, completely changing her face expression. "makes life easier."

matt didn't comment any further. he just gazed at her profile, taking in a
the new expression of hers that he's never seen at all, before closing his mouth and watching the show.