𝗞𝗜𝗦𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 // mcyt apply fic // ᶜˡᵒˢᵉᵈ

⁰⁰⁹ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪᴅᴇ ʜᴏᴍᴇ.

𝟶𝟶𝟿. [𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎.]

𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛.

-

Cora leans on the hood of the red camero, umbrella swung over her shoulder, collecting weight as tufts of snow fall from the clouds above. The vintage car isn't hers, but she's hoping she can get a ride home in it anyway. She shrugs her scarf tighter around her neck as Karl approaches.

"Hi?" He says, slightly confused.

She grins pushing herself off the car to stand. "Any chance you can lend me a lift home? Not really a fan of walking in the snow,"

Her cheeks are dusted pink from the cold, and she's looking at him like he's her entire world, so realistically, how could he say no?

He smiles, shaking his head, flakes of snow flying from his hair. "Hop in, you can put your address into the GPS,"

"Mind if I have the aux?" She asks once he powers up the car, his heated seats warming up.

He smirks. "You gonna play Christmas music?"

Her face falls into confusion. "Um... do you want me to?"

Karl's world nearly plummets. He can't believe he just said that. "No, no, never mind it's- it's nothing," He hands her the aux cord and turns his attention to the road.

She flips through her playlist for a minute, only letting a few notes play before she skips each song. "OOH!" She cries suddenly, "This one!"

The song starts and a smirk slowly spreads across Karl's face. "Oh, fuck yeah,"

"THE STORY STARTS WHEN IT WAS HOT AND IT WAS SUMMER AND-" They scream at the same time. "I HAD IT ALL I HAD IT JUST THE WAY I WANTED HIM,"

Cora glances over at Karl and something about his expression is unsettling. She picked the song just because she loves Taylor, but something about the way he screams, "SHE CAME ALONG, GOT HIM ALONE, AND LETS HEAR THE APPLAUSE, SHE TOOK HIM FASTER THAN YOU CAN SABOTAGE," seems nearly personal. She might be imagining things, but it sounds like the 's' has dropped off the 'she', like he's saying he took her faster than you can say sabotage, like he's singing from experience.

She doesn't like it.

-

Cora's teacher's voice rings out, shrill in a quiet classroom. "Test next Thursday! You can have the next few minutes to yourselves,"

Cora looks over at Karl and he sends her a look. He has no fucking clue what's gonna be on this test.

Karl jogs up to her after class that day, interrupting her conversation with Rose.

"Hey!" He grins, hugging a binder to his chest.

"Hi," She replies shyly, Rose giving her a knowing look. "What's up?"

"Uh, figured you might wanna study for the Psych test after school tomorrow?" He says, a hopeful smile on his face.

She smiles softly and nods, "Yeah, that sounds great,"

He grins. "Sick. Is your house good? I have the address saved,"

She gasps and feigns horror. "You saved it? Oh my God, are you a stalker?" She accuses, shoving him lightly.

He smirks. "Just for you," Cora goes pink when he winks at her.

The second he leaves to go to his next class, Rose smacks Cora on the shoulder.

"Okay, when was Karl at your house? And when were you planning on telling me?!" Rose is beyond ecstatic, a suggestive look on their face.

"Its not like that, Rose," She replies, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "At least not yet anyway," She blushes shyly.

-

[𝟷𝟷.𝟸𝟻.𝟷𝟷]