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XV

Saturday, November 4th, 2034

Saturday mornings were usually productive for the Y/l/n bunch. Due to both Normani and Y/n being injured from the accident, they'd taken a more relaxed approach to their weekend days recently. The only thing that didn't change was the fact that everyone had some kind of chore. Cleaning a bathroom, vacuuming or mopping, cleaning their rooms, doing their laundry, and more were on their list weekly.

Thanks to Amala and Megan staying with the family for the time being, weekend chores have become much easier to complete. For Sebastian, that meant he had extra time to do some research on the colleges he was being recruited by. He compared locations, clubs and organizations, even alumni success. Everything he could've found on the internet, he read, but the drum major was still wary of what school to pick.

Once the old fashioned way became boring, Sebastian turned to what felt more trustworthy: vlogs of current students in YouTube. He watched vlog after vlog every weekend to gain more insight into how it would feel to attend these universities. He took notes of what he liked and disliked so he could compare later, hoping to get closer to his final decision.

*Knock, knock*

"Shit!" Sebastian jumped, startled by the sudden noise on the other side of his bedroom door. Since he still hadn't told his parents that he was seriously considering Jackson State University, he hid all of his notes immediately. He minimized the tab on his computer and reopened the tab of whatever game he was playing previously.

"Come in!" he yelled once he felt he could comfortably act normal.

"Yo, you good?" Amala chuckled as she peeked out from behind the door.

"Oh it's just you." he sighed in relief. "Yeah I'm good."

"You sure? You not in here doing coke or something right? I know I'm usually the fun aunt, but I draw the line at hard drugs."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Sebastian laughs at his aunt's joke. "I thought you were my mom's. I was looking at college stuff. You can sit in the bean bag over here."

"Why you hiding that from them? Parents usually love when their kids are interested in that kinda stuff."

"Nah it's not that. They're just hella excited about me going to USC." he spins in his desk chair to face Amala.

"Yeah, they've been talking about that school since you were in like eleventh grade."

"See? Even you know they want me to go there."

"We all do, what's wrong with that?" Amala shrugged.

"I wanna go to Jackson State, and I know they're gonna be disappointed because it's nowhere near USC."

"Oh... How close is USC to here?"

"Like 40 minutes."

"And how far is Jackson State?"

"27 hours driving or a three and a half hour flight."

"Shit." Amala scratches the back of her head, now realizing the gravity of the situation. "Okay, scratch that. You're still researching right?"

"Yeah. I feel like I know everything there is to know about each school, while still knowing nothing at all." Sebastian threw his head back in frustration.

"Have you toured any of the schools?"

"I've been to USC plenty of times and I've been to Alabama State University too. We played there for a band competition. Haven't been to JSU yet."

"Okay pick a date and I'll take you. Problem solved." Amala shrugged and began walking out of the room.

"Wait, for real?" He spun in his chair to face her.