House Ghost ONC 2022 LONGLISTER

Chapter 10: What Happened

POV: Justin

ONE YEAR AGO

"Hey Justin!" Somehow the clomp of Kaylee's shoes down the stairs manage to bleed into my noise-cancelling earbuds.

"Mm?"

"I'm heading out, do you need anything?"

"Mm..."

I shouldn't have pushed off this thesis as long as I did. There's over six thousand words due by the weekend.

"That's not an answer Justin," she snickers. "hey, dorky."

Fly me to the Moon disappears out of my left ear.

"Wha-huh?" I jerk back in my chair, pressing a hand to my ear. Kaylee giggles behind me, holding my earbud next to her ear.

"Clearly Brendon Urie is more interesting to listen to than I am."

"Oh yeah, much better singing voice," I tease. Kaylee claps a hand to her chest in mock pain. "Whatcha need?"

"I was gonna go out for a bit. Just some shopping and swing by Mcdonalds. No biggie but I thought it'd be fun. Wanna come with?"

With a sigh I pull off my glasses and rub my temples. The fourth counterargument is really stumping me.

Kaylee's grin drops a bit. "It's late, I forgot you have exams. You don't have to come."

"Nah, nah, my exams are fine; I'm all set for those. It's this damn assignment that's kicking me in the ass."

"The 20k one?" Kaylee asks from beside the coat-rack, "How much you got left?"

"It's 30k. I've got six thousand left, and it's due by the end of the week."

"End of the week? You've got plenty of time then. Come on, you've been staring at that screen for hours."

"I need to get a good score..." I begin hesitantly.

"C'mon Justin!" She reaches for her sparkly purse and slings the chain over her shoulder. "You've been cooped up in here for three weeks now studying. School isn't everything! Live a little! You never know which day will be your last. Besides, you reek of recycled air, you dork."

I snort and shake my head. "Damn, you're really putting that debating course skills to use, aren't you?"

Kaylee cocks her head and quirks her brow, spinning the car keys on a bright-colored fingernail. "Ya comin'?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh my god, I am so hungry," Kaylee practically moans when the mcdonald's food is handed through the window. "Why did we have to go so far to get that last color sample?"

"I've never heard of Unicorn starburst before," I say, grabbing the bags. "And I'd never have guessed it was tan."

"Beige, it's beige. Ugh, I wanna scarf this down right now but I gotta drive."

"We can park and eat?"

"No, Trevor's gonna swing by the apartment in about thirty minutes to pick me up. I'm gonna spend the night at his place."

"At 12:30 in the morning?" I smirk at her. "You wanna swap so you can eat?"

"Nah, it's cool."

"I'm not that hungry, Kaylee. It's fine, I can drive. You better eat before Trevor eats you out--"