⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

julie had left to go talk to bombay about getting to play, while connie and arabella continued to get ready after showering. they were listening to 'hot to go!', thanks to connie. 

it's safe to say, there was more dancing than getting ready. the boys knocked on the wall that they shared, telling them to shut up. after laughing, they just continued singing even louder. 

kenny was on the other side of the wall, and he smiled as he listened to arabella having fun. they were definitely listening to a wide variety of music, seeing as it went from chappell, to soulja boy.

he couldn't hear arabella singing, but he did hear her laugh and ask connie what kind of playlist they were listening to. kenny couldn't hear the answer, but he figured that since his roommates were going out, he'd go and talk to dean and fulton. he didn't know where charlie and adam were, and he didn't want to bug them. 

after they left, he could hear 'fell in luv', making him laugh. he pulled out his phone to see that connie had sent him a photo, so he opened it. it was a photo of arabella getting ready. she was in front of a mirror, posing since connie was taking a picture. he noticed she was wearing his sweater and some jorts, but he didn't see the full outfit because the way the camera was positioned. he didn't care about the rest of the outfit though, because he was too mesmerized by how pretty she looked. 

that reminded him, and he saved the photo before going to his sister's contact, debating if he should text her or not. kenny decided he should, and texted her something pretty vague, knowing she'd call him. 'what would you do if you liked someone?'

he waited a few minutes for it to say read, and a second after, his sister facetimed him. he accepted it, obviously, but made sure to turn his volume down because he knew she would be screaming. 

"kenny! who is it, who do you like? is it someone on your team?" chloe, his sister, asked to find out more about her. 

"it's a girl on my team. her name is arabella." he didn't want to give out too much information, but figured she would probably find her anyways. 

chloe gave him a look that meant 'aww', but continued talking anyways. "have you guys been talking, or is it just like crush from afar?"

"we've been talking, we sat next to each other on the plane and she helped me up on the first meet thing."

"wait! is arabella the one that leaned on you during the interview?" 

"yeah, and she-"

chloe let out a loud gasp, making kenny stop talking. "she's way too pretty for you. like have you seen this girl? damn."

kenny frowned. 'was he not good enough for her?'

he tried to push that thought to the back of his head. "how do you know?"

"her tiktok and insta. she just posted. arabella myers, right? her user is hellabella."

kenny went to tiktok to put in her username, and she posted a video with the two other girls. it was the three of them lip-syncing to the song 'meddle about' by chase atlantic. the video would switch from connie to arabella to julie, and they'd each lip sync a lyric from the beginning of the song. arabella started, and kenny's eyes widened as she lip synced the lyric, 'we only met each other just the other day, but you already got me feeling some type of way'.

he liked the video and followed arabella, before going back to his sister, who was trying to get his attention. "sorry, i'm here."

she sighed, already knowing he was in love with this girl. "it's good. so, anyways, why do you think you like her?"

"i like her smile and how funny she is, like she always makes me laugh. and her smile is just so perfect. she's super cool too, she's good at hockey and won't let people walk all over her. she's super pretty, too."

the fact that he mentioned her looks last told chloe everything she needed to know. the call lasted a few more minutes, before kenny hung up to go talk to adam and charlie, wondering what he should do. he knew charlie was close to her, so he figured that was his best shot. 

right when he was passing arabella's dorm room, the door opened to reveal three girls. arabella was wearing the same outfit from the photo connie sent him earlier. she looked gorgeous, and kenny paused for a moment. 

"oh, hey kenny!" arabella smiled, not expecting him to be there. he waved, not trusting his voice. 

"we were just gonna go out and go shopping, we wanna try and get some fancy california clothes," connie explained, and kenny nodded, finally taking his eyes off of arabella.

"that sounds cool, have fun." he smiled, and arabella returned it. the girls walked out the door, and picked up guy before going out, and kenny walked to charlie's room. he knocked and waited for an answer, and a few seconds later, adam opened the door.

"hey kenny, what's up?"

"are you guys doing anything? i don't have anything to do."

adam shook his head, and charlie came to the door to see who adam was talking to. "oh, hey kenny. wanna come in?" 

he opened the door more, and kenny walked in. he saw that megamind was playing on their tv, and he smiled. it was a funny movie, so he didn't leave. 

"so, how are you and arabella?" charlie asked as he closed the door, making kenny's eyes widen. 

"oh, uh, what are you talking about?" kenny tried to pretend he didn't know what was going, but charlie and adam rolled their eyes. 

"it's obvious you like each other," adam stated, before continuing, "giving her your sweater after like, a week of knowing each other?"

kenny groaned, wondering if it was really obvious. but even if other people knew, arabella hadn't realized. "is it really that obvious?"

charlie and adam shared a look before laughing. adam threw an arm around him as they sat down on one of their beds. "everyone except arabella has noticed."

charlie looked as if he didn't believe it, which made kenny confused, but charlie explained what was probably happening before he could ask. "arabella's really observant. even if she's dumb sometimes, she always notices things. but she doesn't notice things about herself, or if she does, she ignores it. usually, it's if she likes someone. once she realizes she likes someone, she starts to distance herself from them, so make sure you keep her close if you really like her."

kenny was confused. why would she distance herself? adam had the same thought, and he asked charlie why she wouldn't act on those feelings. charlie wondered if he should tell them, but he didn't want to break arabella's trust. 

"you can't tell anyone else this, okay? it's serious." charlie waited for them to nod, then continued, "she saw how her mom changed after her dad left. bella hated how her mom turned out, and she didn't want the same kind of heartbreak. so instead of giving someone a chance, she just leaves them. even when she really needs them."

kenny felt his heart break. he knew she didn't have a great relationship with her mom ever since he saw her look for a message her mom sent, but got nothing. he didn't know anything about her dad, but figured something happened. he was speechless, and was trying to find something to say. "she breaks her own heart instead of someone else breaking it?"

charlie nodded, and kenny felt worse. adam noticed this, and tried to cheer him up in a way. "it'll be okay, she might change. besides, you've only been nice to her, so she might realize you're different."

kenny nodded, not finding the right words. they turned to watch megamind, laughing at some of the funny parts. 

meanwhile, the three girls went out to the city to find some cute shops to go to. they found somewhere to shop, a small little store with a few different things. there were a bunch of clothes and makeup, as well as some little trinkets. 

they walked into the store, and arabella immediately went to the little toy section. she found a little stuffed penguin, and let out a small 'awww'. she turned around to show connie and julie, but they were in the clothing section. 

she took it to them, and saw that connie found a pair of jeans that she was showing to guy, asking for his opinion, and julie found a pink tank top with white lace at the top. arabella decided to look for some clothes too, and found a pair of jeans that had stars on the pockets, and she grabbed it so she could buy it with the penguin.

she turned to the two other girls to see julie about to film a tiktok. she rolled her eyes jokingly before walking over to her, and saw her filming the area they were in. julie turned the camera to arabella, who posed with the little penguin and smiled. then she watched as she turned the camera to connie and guy, and he wrapped his arms around her and smiled.

after julie posted it and captioned 'love my girls (and guy's here too ig)', they went back to shopping. they ended up getting a few clothes, including jeans, shirts, makeup, and matching pajama sets.

it was getting close to 4, so the four of them decided to go back to the dorms so they could have a self care night, and guy could hang out with the guys. they had bought face masks, and they were wearing the matching silk pajamas they bought earlier.

when they got back to their dorms and guy had left, they changed into the pajamas and walked to the bathroom, playing connie's music. they did their own skincare routines, then put a hello kitty face mask on. arabella took a picture of them in the mirror to post later, and they laid down in their own beds as they put on 'clueless'. 

they were laughing and having fun, and when it was time, they took the face masks off and continued to watch the movie. it was about half way through before there was a knock on the door. arabella got up to open it, and she saw charlie standing there, looking nervous. 

"hey spazway, what's up?"

he rolled his eyes but ignored the nickname. he felt guilty, he shouldn't have told kenny and adam about arabella, and he knew that. he just wanted to help. but he knew that she'd get really mad, and that the topic was sensitive to her and didn't just give it out to anyone. 

he pulled her out of her room and took her to his, which was when she noticed something was wrong. adam, averman, and guy hadn't been in the room, which meant it was probably serious. "charlie?"

he took a deep breath before he said something. "before i tell you what happened, i wanna let you know that i'm sorry, and i know that i shouldn't have said anything, i was just trying to help you."

arabella nodded, slightly confused. charlie continued though, and arabella felt her heart drop when he was finished. "i kinda told kenny about your dad and mom."