rosaleen channing ↠ applyfic [ongoing]

↠twenty

-𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓽𝔂

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During the slow song, Sam, Evan, Arthur, Lucia, and Lance had all migrated from the dance floor to one of the tables.

Lucia had grabbed a plate and filled it with various sweets, and was now picking at them slowly.

And they were just talking, and talking, about who-knows-what.

However, about halfway through the song, Evan stood up. He said "I have something I need to do" and had promptly disappeared into the crowd.

Sam stood up, ready to chase after him, but Lance spoke up.

"Let him go," he said, "He'll be fine."

"...You're right, you're right." Sam sat back down.

Sam, Lance, Arthur, and Lucia continued to talk. Sam barely partook, lost in her thoughts. Where had Evan gone? What was he doing? Why hadn't he explained anything? He'd just gotten up and left--

Conversation continued, and continued, but Evan did not return.

Sam only got more worried. She drummed her fingers on the table, and tapping her toe on the ground.

"Hey, Sam, are you alright?" 

That was Lance's voice.

"Oh, ye--" Sam cut herself off. "I'm worried about Evan."

Arthur and Lucia shared a look, both realizing they wouldn't be needed in this conversation. Arthur pointed to the exit of the gym, where Aisha was slipping into the hallway. Lucia nodded, and the two of them got up and followed after her.

Which left Sam and Lance alone.

Which Lance didn't like at all. He had felt much safer in a group. If he was in a group, no one could accuse him of dating--

"He's okay, I know he is. He's stronger than you give him credit for."

"I guess you're right. But he just disappeared with no explanation and he's been gone for like ten minutes! What if something happened to him?"

"Like what? What do you think might've happened to him?"

"Like--! Like--! Maybe he got kidnapped, I don't know! He's my brother, I'm allowed to be worried."

Sam crossed her arms.

"I know you are. I never said you weren't. But do you really think he's going to get kidnapped from prom? Where there's other students and school staff virtually everywhere?"

Sam didn't say anything. Her arms fell back to her sides. She then turned and plucked a chocolate covered strawberry off of Lucia's place--which she had left when she'd run off to find Aisha.

Lance grinned, "She'd kill you if she knew you did that."

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"But what if I tell her?"

Sam playfully smacked Lance on the arm, and he tried his absolute hardest not to flinch away. Sam had no idea what she was doing! He was already on edge, just sitting alone with Sam, in their nice clothes at a prom table. Laughing. Enjoying themselves. 

He was already rocking on the edge. He was just saying things like to calm himself down.

"You wouldn't...!" Sam gasped.

"Oh, but maybe I would."

"No, no, no--"

Their conversation came to an abrupt end, as Evan suddenly suddenly appeared. With Wyatte and another boy that everyone in the entire school could recognize but no one knew.

No one except for Wyatte, that is.

"Guess I should probably introduce everyone, then?" Wyatte said, looking around. 

"Alright, okay. You guys probably already know this, but this is Jasper. He's... my boyfriend."

Wyatte paused for a moment, and everyone said a quiet hello.

"And Jasper, these are my f--" Wyatte cut himself off. "This is Sam, Lance, and you already know who Evan is. I imagine Aisha, Arthur, and Lucia are around here somewhere?"

"Yeah, somewhere," Sam said, waving her hand softly. "I'm pretty sure Lucia and Arthur are looking for Aisha actually, so they should know where we are."

Wyatte, Jasper, and Evan took a seat at the table. Obviously--you didn't even have to ask--Wyatte and Jasper were seated directly next to each other. As a matter of fact, they'd had taken the two chairs and pulled them closer together.

They talked for a bit. Jasper was mostly quiet, but that was honestly just who he was.

"So," Lance said during one of the pauses in conversation. Everyone turned to look at him.

Wyatte's left hand landed on the table, and Jasper immediately intertwined their fingers together.

"How would you guys feel about ditching? The prom, I mean. We could go hang out at my place or whatever. We could order a pizza and watch movies."

"Anything so that I don't have to go home and get grilled about how my night was," Wyatte dropped, maybe a little too casually. Wyatte felt Jasper's hand tighten around his own for just a second, in an act of understanding. 

Jasper knew what "getting grilled about how my night was" REALLY entailed, while no one else did.

Sam was embarrassed. Going to Lance's house? I mean, she'd been before. For house parties. But this was... different. Very different. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Evan didn't have much of a choice. Sam was his ride home. He actually didn't care a whole lot where they went though, he just wanted everyone to stick together. "Are we gonna go find Aisha, Lucia, and Arthur then?"

"I guess we are."

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next chapter is going to be... aisha!!! and also lucia and arthur towards the end

and also i'd like to clarify one thing concerning the 'j' word: Jasper is not a part of the group. he has no idea that Wyatte is even trying to solve the murder. once they get back to solving Rosaleen's murder, Jasper is out. He'll come back in during different parts though.

so if you ever find yourself asking "are they solving the murder or emotionally bonding?", all you gotta do is ask yourself "where is Jasper?". if you answer "i have no idea", then they're probably solving the murder.

uhhh also can you tell that i love the word "intertwined"? i feel like i've used it 400 times already lmao

-𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓽𝔂