I'M GROWN € Grown-ish

Cashin' Out

Luca sighed, walking into one of the kitchen areas, the culinary building where Arlo had basically lived in the past week and a half.

After Zoey's scene, Arlo had kept their distance from her and the group. They attended classes, stayed in their dorm, or stressed baked.

It was more than obvious that Zoey's statement affected them greatly. The first couple of days Arlo stayed in their dorm laying in bed, refusing to see anyone and Luca was basically their guard telling all who tried that Arlo didn't wanna speak.

They only talked to Luca and the boy was the only reason they smiled throughout the whole week. He made sure his roommate took care of themselves and did whatever he could to get them smiling or forget what was said to them for just a moment.

Everybody in the group was feeling the loss of their presence pretty quickly. They soon all realized that Arlo was really the life of the party when they were around. They brought a smile to all of their faces just by walking into the room, without them it felt awkward. The group lost its groove, missing an important piece of the puzzle.

The twins were taking it the hardest. They checked the dorm everyday hoping that Arlo would answer but always was met with Luca and told that Arlo wasn't in the mood to talk to them yet. They were easily agitated, more than usual and constantly made passive remarks to Zoey who couldn't even blame them.

Jazz texted and called Arlo every other hour in hopes that they would at least answer to her but they never did. She was saddened at the silence but couldn't blame them. What Zoey said was extremely hurtful and Arlo obviously just needed time to themselves to recollect.

The others respected the silence and just hoped that Arlo would talk to them soon. Many leaving messages with Luca which the boy delivered if he felt it was important enough.

Arlo though, kept to themselves and Luca making it clear that they didn't want to associate with Zoey or anybody who associated with her. After what she said to them, they decided it would be best for their own mental state if they just took some time to themselves. This wasn't the best idea though as being alone usually caused them to be stuck in their head, her words along with their mothers replaying in their head until they snapped out of it and found themselves baking the stress away. Luca usually found them and calmed them down before bringing them back to the dorm, making sure Arlo slept peacefully or at least was in a better state than before.

That brings us to the present, another day of stress baking and another day of Luca breaking them out of their dissociation.

Arlo was whipping something up in a bowl, headphones in their ears as they rocked to the music softly, various smells in the room and two tables were full of pastries.

Walking over, Luca picked up one of the crescent shaped pastries and bit into it, smiling at the taste. He then picked up a cookie, walking over to the work area Arlo was vibing at,"Lolo," he caught their attention

Taking one earphone out, Arlo smiled at their friend,"Lu, hi, I'm sorry for the mess. You take whatever you want, kay," They said, gesturing to the tables and going back to whipping whatever was in the bowl

"What're you gonna do with what I don't take?" Luca questioned, chewing on the cookie he took and sitting down on the counter

"Probably give it some to Vi and sell the rest," Arlo shrugged, though they haven't talked to any of the group, they still gave Vivek most of what they baked because the boy always begged for the food they made. It was only Zoey they were angry with, why should Vivek be deprived because of it?

"You wanna talk?" Luca asked, he always asked before pushing his friend, he never wanted to push Arlo if they didn't feel like talking about their struggles