﹙I DON'T SMOKE ★﹚

KAT SMILED!

cherry and mateo sat down at the table.

maddy awkwardly said nothing.

"hi." mateo greeted the entire table.

scattered hello's moved around the table.

"what if these are the big moments in life?" cassie questioned. "my mom always talks about highschool like it was this monumental part of her life, but i cannot imagine being 40 and looking back on this moment like, wow."

"i can't imagine being 40." cherry grimaced.

mateo laughed.

he gently placed his hand in hers.

"that's because most people peak in high school." maddy explained.

"i definitely haven't peaked, so." kat shrugged.

"i'm not even a person yet." lexi laughed.

"i'm definitely at about 25% peakness." cassie smiled.

"i'm a little girl. you guys are old." cherry shrugged.

"i feel like i'm at 100. but i can definitely get to 150." jules sipped on her gatorade.

"i never thought i'd make it this far." rue spoke.

"what do you mean?" jules questioned.

"i don't know, i've always had this overwhelming anxiety that something bad would happen." rue snitched.

"in all fairness, last summer, there were 3 weeks where i actually thought you were dead." maddy confessed.

"yeah, but she's been sober for 3 months!" jules said, proud.

mateo placed his hand in cherry's.

"good for her." mateo nodded.

"yeah. i'm really proud of you." cherry smiled.

"weren't you in rehab, like, 6 months ago?" maddy questioned.

cherry glared, but maddy didn't notice.

rue laughed.

"maybe people get nostalgic about highschool because it's like the last time in their life that they get to dream. after this, it's just bad jobs, bad bills, and bad husbands." cassie changed the topic.

jules looked down at her phone.

"maybe i'm generalizing, you know?" cassie asked.

"i don't know, i kinda feel the opposite. i feel like high schools super suffocating." jules began.

"this is getting really deep." mateo whispered into cherry's ear.

cherry nodded, with a laugh.

"do you wanna dance, cherry?" he questioned.

"yeah." she smiled, and stood up, leading him onto the dance floor.

her friends teased her, as the pair walked away.

"i'm still rooting for her and ashtray." rue glared at mateo.

"i thought they, like, hated each other?" maddy questioned.

"yeah." cassie waited.

"not anymore." rue shrugged.

"good for them." maddy nodded.

awkwardly, nate and some tall blonde girl walked into the dance floor.

"ew." cherry cringed.

maddy stared at nate from the table.

she stood up, walking onto the dance floor and pulling some random guy out to dance with her.

nate and maddy stared each other down.

"i gurantee you maddy and nate are gonna get married. probably divorce 3 times, and in some strange way, live a pretty happy life." kat spoke.

the entire table agreed.

rue stood up, and walked to the bathroom.

mateo and cherry danced, ignoring everyone else.

ashtray was at home, but still, on cherry's mind.

she hadn't asked him to the dance, because they were barely even friends.

it's not like she wanted to ask him.

she just wondered if he was bored.

and she wondered what he was doing.

and if he missed her.

and if it would've been a better idea to stay home and watch a shitty ass movie with him.

"are you okay?" mateo asked.

"yeah. i'm good." cherry smiled.

rue and jules were the next pair to walk onto the dance floor.

cherry greeted them, and continued to dance with mateo, silently.

"i feel like love is super dark and like, no one ever talks about it." cassie spoke.

"yeah, but that might be specific to their kind of love." lexi shrugged.

"or my kind of love." kat said, staring at a boy from far away.

nate made eye contact with rue, as she walked past him.

"i'm gonna do everything in my power to not fall in love for like, the next 3 years." cassie frowned.

"what if you do?" kat asked.

"intervene and fucking destroy it."

kat and the boy she was staring at made eye contact, and she walked up to him.

she apologized for leaving him, for hating him and hating him for no reason.

but they agreed to at least try at a relationship.

jules and rue danced next to mateo and valentine.

mateo took cherry's hand and spun her around, admiring the way she looked under the purple light.

maddy continued to dance on the random guy, trying to make nate jealous.

it was working.

he left the girl alone on the dance floor, walking out the door.

rue immediately followed after him, telling jules she'd be right back.

"i'm sorry, i'll be right back." cherry spoke quickly, abandoning mateo on the floor.

"can i ask you something?" lexi asked cassie. "how do you decide who you wanna hook up with?"

"i don't know, they usually just come to you." cassie shrugged.

"yeah, but what if they don't?"

"then go and do whoever the fuck you want."

"okay. i'm gonna do that."

cherry followed rue right out the door.

the cold air struck her skin.

rue looked at cherry, and nodded her over. the pair stood behind nate.

"why do i feel like you're the reason fez's house got raided?" rue asked.

"sometimes when you do illegal shit, bad things happen to you." nate looked over at rue.

cherry stared.

"you ever done anything illegal?" rue questioned.

"you talking about your friend jules?" nate asked.

"actually, i'm talking about your dad." rue said, with a grin.

"your dads a fucking creep." cherry added. "are all the men in your family fucking freaks, like you?"

"i just wanna make sure you've given it some forethought. i know over the years you've lost some brain cells. i wouldn't want you to say something you might regret. valentine, hanging out with drug dealers really has made you a dumbass. is it that secondhand smoke?" nate insulted.

"are you gonna ruin my life? i can do a lot better than you can." rue asked.

"you still wanna go to college, huh? what college is gonna let you in with a dad like that?" cherry smiled.

"what do you guys want?" nate said.

"i want you to leave fez alone. i want you to leave jules alone. if you ever fuck with them again, i'll destroy your life. i'll destroy your dads life. i'll burn your whole shit to the ground." rue threatened. "because i personally have no problem walking into any police station and telling them that nate jacobs daddy likes to fuck little kids."

"you look very pretty tonight. are you sure that jules told you everything? you know what i like about her? she has these very real dreams. and i seriously think that she's gonna achieve them." nate trailed off. "if you look at everyone inside, most of them are gonna on and live these lives that aren't even fucking worth mentioning. not jules. what about you?"

rue stared. "honestly, i don't really give a fuck."

"i gathered that. it's probably why you're spending all your time with someone who's gonna leave you and won't even remember who the fuck you are in 10 years." nate continued. "i really meant what i said. you look really beautiful."

"go fuck yourself, nate." cherry said, as he walked away.

cherry rubbed her arms, and re-entered the gym, instantly searching for mateo.

his eyes lit up when he saw her, and he waved her over.

"everything okay?" he questioned.

"yeah. good." she nodded.

"good. you wanna dance again?"

"yes."