a/n: So I finally wrote the Christmas chapter. Surprise! Anyways, I apologize for being gone, things got a bit crazy for a while. I hope you like this little wrap-up to the first semester, how have you been liking the plot progression so far? I hope you're all doing well and taking care of yourselves. I'm not going to make a prediction as to when the next chapter is going up, I'll just say I have a plan for it so hopefully soon. 

When Monday finally came, Kayden was mentally and physically exhausted. All he'd done the last two days was sit cooped up in Elias' dorm studying, but at least he felt confident about taking the tests. He might be tired, but he wasn't scared.

He dragged himself out of bed and drowned himself in coffee before his first class. He had all the information he needed in his brain, now he just needed to stay awake long enough to get it on the paper. Fortunately, he seemed to wake up a bit more before he got into English and felt okay by the time the tests were being passed out. 

"Remember, just answer the ones you know and don't get stuck up on any particular question too long," Elias whispered to him and Kayden smiled with a little nod. 

"Thank you," He whispered back just as Mr. Adler was setting the paper on his desk. 

"You will all only have one hour to complete the exam and remember to leave yourself time for the essay questions at the end." The teacher announced, looking at the watch on his wrist. "And we begin...now."

The test was a little over fifty questions with five of those being essay questions. It was a relief to find that more than a few were True or False and multiple-choice, but Kayden was happy he'd spent so much time studying. He didn't know all of the answers and he was cutting it close with the last two essay questions being completed in ten minutes, but then it was over. One out of six classes had been completed and he felt good about his grade on the exam.

 The day went on like that from class to class, he took each test to the best of his ability and when the sixth one was finally finished, he took a breath of relief. He'd officially survived midterms. Maybe he wouldn't have the best grade in his class, but he was pretty sure he'd be scoring A's and B's for all of them. 

When school let out, he met up with Grant, Ezra, Theo, and Brooks in the cafe, a little grin on his face. He felt successful, accomplished even. Well, mostly because Elias had agreed to help, but still. Where was Elias anyway? He knew Grant and Ezra didn't like him much, but he wanted to thank him properly at some point. 

"So, what do we do now?" Kayden asked, because he hadn't really thought about what would happen after midterms had finished. He'd spent the last weeks wallowing in his own impending doom until just a couple of days ago.

"Now we celebrate," Grant said with a grin. "We're all technically on break now, so as long as we don't burn down the building, we've got free rein." 

The redhead grinned at that. "So we can have a Christmas party before we leave?" Kayden asked and Grant shrugged. 

"We can do whatever the hell we want before we leave as long as it's not too illegal." 

"Maybe just a small party though, y'know, like just our group. If we invite anyone from outside the school, Walker will pull the plug on any kind of party ever again." Ezra pointed out. 

"Yeah, friend-group parties are more fun anyway," Kayden said. 

"I have a key to the music room," Brooks said and Kayden has almost forgotten he was sitting with them he'd been so quiet.

"You do? Wait, how did you get it?" Kayden asked. 

"I'm friends with the janitor." He said simply. "He likes listening to me play piano while he works so he let me in after-hours a few times and eventually just gave me a copy of the key. Real nice guy, he wouldn't rat on us if we used the room for a few hours and kept it clean." 

So it was settled. They decided they'd wait until a few hours after dinner when the sun had gone down and most boys were back in their dorms or in the communal spaces playing games. Then, they'd sneak out and go through the window in the auditorium to get to the music room. 

They also figured on bringing any decorations, games, and food or drinks along with them, and they all agreed they'd only bring what they could easily pack up and take back out without much mess or hassle. 

---

"You brought a tree?!" Ezra exclaimed in an equal mix of shock and panic as he stared at his best friend standing in the music room with a medium-sized Christmas tree in his arms looking only a bit guilty. Brooks was setting up the holder for it while Kayden looked through a box of lights and ornaments. 

"Don't blame me, it was Kay's idea," Grant said in his own defense. 

"Christmas isn't Christmas without a tree," Kayden said with a shrug and a smile. "But don't pretend like it was all my fault, you were the one driving the car when we passed the tree farm, and you helped haul it."

"I can't believe you two." Ezra sighed, rubbing his brow like a tired parent while Theo stood quietly next to him, having just come in with him. 

"Well, I think it's a cool idea, as long as we can get it back out, right?" Theo said. 

"Yeah, yeah, I suppose so," Ezra said. "So I guess we can start decorating whenever then?"

"Yeah, Elias should be getting here soon with drinks, but he doesn't really like decorating so we can start without him," Brooks said and Kayden looked over to him. He hadn't known Elias was coming, but he couldn't help but smile at the thought. 

Once they got the tree set up, they started decorating. Ezra hung up strings of lights around the room with Grant, Theo and Kayden worked on the tree, and Brooks untangled another set of lights. They all went along chatting with one another about school, their midterms, and what they'd do when they got home. Theo told Kayden about his greenhouse back home. Apparently, it was set up to keep some plants alive through the winter and his mother took care of it when he wasn't home. 

When Elias walked in half an hour later, he was carrying two brown paper bags and a bag from the grocery store. "I've got vodka, whiskey, and two liters of coke." He said and Kayden grinned.

"Oh, fuck yeah." The redhead said as he took the vodka, quick to pour himself a cup before adding in about as much coke as you would creamer to coffee. 

"Slow down, Tiger, you'll be throwing up the whole car ride home tomorrow if you're not careful," Grant said and Kayden snickered. 

"I can handle it, I'm fine." He said with a smile. "You want some?"

"I see you've got all the decorations up," Elias said, glancing around the room a bit.

"Yeah, it's not Christmas without decorations," Kayden said.

"You said that about the tree," Ezra pointed out.

"Christmas has a lot of qualifications," Kayden said as he took a sip of his vodka.

"People celebrate Christmas in a lot of ways," Elias said, pouring whisky into his own cup before he passed the bottle to Brooks. 

"No they don't, shut up." Kayden shot back, giving the blond a playful glare. 

"Alright, well whether we qualify for Christmas or not, we've only got tonight to hang out before break so let's not waste it," Grant said. "We've got Monopoly, Coup, Poker, Clue, and Uno." 

"I'd be down for Poker," Kayden said. 

So the night went on, the boys playing different board games and drinking except Ezra and Theo who filled their cups with coke instead. It was quiet, but fun. Kayden liked it better than Christmas with his family anyway. At one point, Books got up to walk over to the piano bench and played the tune to Baby, It's Cold Outside. 

Kayden was laying on the floor staring up at the ceiling when he heard Grant whisper to Ezra "You wanna dance?" It was said as if it could have been a joke, but when Kayden looked over to the two, Ezra was rolling his eyes with a smile and getting up with him. They danced in the way that friends do, or maybe new lovers, maybe friends that could be lovers but won't say it out loud because they're scared, it was clumsy and spontaneous, and neither really held the other.

Kayden looked to his left when Elias' knee bumped into his and the redhead smiled, though Elias seemed to pretend he hadn't done it, or he hadn't realized. 

"Why don't you care about Christmas?" Kayden asked all of a sudden, quiet enough so it wouldn't be heard by the others. 

"Why should I care about it?" The blond asked, watching Ezra and Grant make spins around the music room as they laughed. 

"It's a holiday, you get to hang out with your family and give presents and decorate and shit," Kayden said, taking a sip of his drink. 

"I'd rather just be here," He said softly, and Kayden thought there was something desolate about his voice.

"Well, you're only gone for two weeks, so you're coming back soon," Kayden said with a shrug and a small smile. 

"Yeah, you're right," Elias said, taking in a breath before he downed the rest of his whiskey.

When Ezra and Grant came back over, both quietly panting and still grinning, Ezra looked away from his friend to see Kayden and Elias talking. "When did you two get so close?" He asked. 

"We're not really," Kayden said, running his fingers through his hair. 

"Yeah, but you hated him at the beginning of the year," Grant said, a bit too tipsy to filter his thoughts. 

"You hated me?" Elias asked with a small smile and Kayden could feel his face heating.

"You were an asshole." 

"I'm still an asshole."

"Yeah, but a bearable one," Kayden said.

"Elias has been tutoring Kayden since the beginning of the year-" Theo blurted out, fidgeting with his hands as everyone turned to look at him. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't wanna keep it a secret anymore." 

As Kayden looked at him, he couldn't quite figure out why he'd told them, though when Grant, Ezra, and Brooks looked at him, he just shrugged awkwardly. "Yeah, kind of."

"Why was that a secret?" Brooks asked. 

"I don't know, it doesn't really matter anymore, I just didn't want anyone to think I was stupid or something," Kayden said, glancing back to the floor. 

"Oh, that's where you've been going after school on Fridays, I thought you were just ditching us," Grant said.

"No, I love you guys, I'm just shit at History," Kayden said with a quiet laugh.

"He's not actually, he just wasn't using flashcards," Elias murmured and Kayden elbowed him in the side. 

"Fuck off. You and your flashcards, my god." He said back. "Hey, Grant, can you pour me another?" He asked, holding his cup up. 

"I think you've had enough," Elias said, taking the cup out of his hand to set it on the ground. 

"I've only had three...or four."

"You've had half the bottle," Theo said, picking up random cups to throw them away. "And anyway, it's getting late. We should get back to our rooms."

"Please, it's hardly past..." Kayden grabbed Elias' wrist to check his watch. "1:30-" 

"Yeah, let's clean up and head out," Brooks said, stretching for a moment before he moved to start collecting up board game pieces.

Kayden couldn't remember much after that. He was pretty sure he blacked out or fell asleep because he had vague dreams of being carried out by someone, but couldn't piece together anything else after that. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in the morning with a splitting headache, the sun shining unjustifiably bright through his curtains.