Chương 63: Chapter 41: One Last Hangout

"Alright, tomorrow night, eight o'clock," Luke said.

"That's the night that works for the most people with the fewest conflicts of interest." He pinned his finger down on the schedule, pointing out their chosen date. The group had gathered one last time, to try and squeeze in one more group hangout before the end of the year. As study sessions and finals crammed their schedules, it had proven an arduous task, but they had eventually rearranged their days well enough to suit as many people as possible.

"I'm going to have to sprint from my last final, but yeah, I can make it," Cane said.

"You could just miss the start of the movie," Harley suggested.

"I'm not missing a minute, baby," Cane said. She rolled her eyes at him, in spite of her smile.

"We'll pull out all the stops," Luke assured them all.

"Though, on the note of timing, I got to go."

"Me too," Freddy said. The loopers watched them go. It was still the first loop, so they felt no urgency to run off to their finals. They were avoiding them, in fact, as getting a preview of the test questions was all but cheating. None of them particularly wanted (or needed, for that matter) the unfair advantage. It also gave them a little more time to relax among the hectic schedules of the year's end.

"So," Lee began, glancing in Vell and Harley's direction.

"Can we trust you two to keep to the schedule, or will you be off sneaking in one last bit of fraternization?"

"What?" Vell asked."'Fraternization' is how Lee says 'fucking'," Harley explained.

"Oh. Nah, we sort of don't do that anymore," Vell said.

"What?" Lee asked, all too shocked by Vell's casual attitude.

"When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me you two broke up?"

"Because we were never together," Harley scoffed.

"It was a casual thing, Lee. We did it when we had the time. Now we don't have as much time, so we don't do it anymore. Easy."

"I'm too busy cramming books to be cramming her," Vell said.

"Ha, nice," Harley said, before high-fiving Vell.

"But seriously. It was never that serious. I mean come on, I can't marry this guy, then my name would be Harley Harlan and that'd be ridiculous."

"Isn't your name already Harley Harley?" Vell asked.

"Yeah, but that's at least repeating," Harley said.

"Harley Harlan is just different enough to be ridiculous." As the two debated the merits of Harley versus Harlan, Lee stared down at the table in silence. Leanne watched her, silent for her own reasons. Luke cracked the bottle of champagne and made sure everyone got a glass, before lifting his own.

"A toast," he said.

"To whatever the fuck was going on this year. Never again shall there be a group of geniuses as stupid as us." The gathered crowd of Vell's roommates, the loopers, and Freddy Frizzle raised their glasses in agreement. As the toast concluded, Renard made for the kitchen and then came back bearing armloads of dishes and scraps of paper, carrying them all at once with very tenuous balance. Lee and Luke helped him unload the various dishes safely.

"Alright, I tried to make a little bit of everyone's favorites, and I wrote down the recipes while I was at it," Renard said.

"But if you ever have any questions, feel free to call, I wrote the number for my restaurant on the lists too."

"It's never going to be the same, man," Cane pouted, between mouthfuls of duck confit.

"Why do you have to leave us?'

"Well, I did fail all my non-cooking classes," Renard said. He had only ever attended the Einstein-Odinson college for a handful of culinary courses, and while his grades in those classes were exceptional, they were not enough to make up for his lackluster performance in literally every other area of human knowledge.

"We could've helped you, you know," Luke said.

"I would absolutely commit academic fraud for one more year of your cooking."

"Oh trust me, there's no salvaging this," Renard said with a shrug. A bowl of tomato bisque nearly fell off his shoulders before Lee caught it and passed it along to Freddy.

"Some of the smartest people on campus are in this room," Luke said, notably skipping Cane as he gestured to himself, Harley, and Freddy. Cane didn't notice.

"We could help with anything." In response, Renard produced his report card. Luke took one look at it and dropped his fork.

"I- what? Who could- What- Renard, how did you get a negative grade?" Luke demanded.

"Apparently I invented a whole new way to be wrong," Renard said.

"I don't know the details. Scientists are still trying to figure it out." It took Luke a few seconds of heavy breathing to regain his composure, but once he had done so, he walked back to the gathering and put a hand on Renard's soup-free shoulder.

"Well, genius or no, I'm going to miss you, man," Luke said. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Yeah. And not just the cooking either," Cane said.

"You're a good guy, Renard. It's going to be weird not having you around." The sentiment was echoed from all sides. Renard's warm meals and warm smiles had been a boon in many tough situations.

"You'll get used to it," Renard said.

"I mean, next year you guys are all going to have your own rooms, right? No more roommates." Vell, Cane, and Luke shared a look. There had been surprisingly little friction among them, considering they had started the year as four strangers. Even considering the strangeness Vell brought to their doorstep on a regular basis, they had managed to become fast friends.

"Well, not sharing a room doesn't have to change everything," Vell insisted.

"We'll just, uh, have to take turns hosting these get-togethers."

"Right," Luke said.

"Maybe it won't be exactly the same, but it'll be just as good, in it's own way." Luke lifted his glass one more time, though it was empty now.

"Fill us up and let's do one more," Luke said.

"Lee spent a lot of her parent's money on this champagne, after all, we're getting their money's worth." After a round of refills, Luke led another toast, this time to Leanne and Renard, who would be "irreplaceable". Leanne kept her eyes on Lee as they drank another toast. She continued staring down. Lee managed to sip at her champagne and give a halfhearted cheer at the end of the toast. Though everyone involved didn't want it to be so, the night had to end eventually.

Between early starts next morning or a need to do last-minute cramming tonight, the group of friends had to disperse to address their busy schedules.

"Want to walk back to the dorms?" Leanne asked Lee. As Lee's parents had insisted on her having only the best, they'd bribed her way into the senior dorms from the first year, making sure she had the most spacious one available. It had only further isolated her from potential friends her own age, but the Burrows never actually considered the ramifications of their actions and they weren't about to start for their daughters sake. Lee nodded along with Leanne's request and trudged her way out of Vell's dorm.

She took one last mournful look at the dorm room, and waved goodbye to Renard, but said nothing. Leanne tucked her hands in her pockets and stayed silent until they were out of the dorms. Once they were a good distance away, she pulled one hand free and pointed to a bench that faced the ocean.

"Hey, I'm not in a hurry or anything, so if you want to, well, sit and talk for a while," Leanne said.

"Look at the ocean. I've got time." Leanne nodded and sluggishly stumbled towards the bench, all but falling into it. She did manage to look up, if only to stare at the crashing waves some distance away. Leanne sat down next to her and also took in the dark horizon, as pitch black waves lapped against sand that looked grey-blue in the darkness.

"I could talk to my parents," Lee spat suddenly.

"You could be a coach. Athletic director. Something. You don't have to leave."

"Lee…" Any pretense of dignity left the equation, and Lee leaned forward, clutching her knees hard to try and stop herself from crying.

"I don't want you to leave," she said.

"I don't want Renard to leave. I don't want- I don't want everything to change." Leanne waited for a moment. She told herself it was to let Lee collect herself, but really it was because she didn't know what to say yet. With all the torment Lee had been through in her life, she didn't know what to say. Lee was scared of losing a few of the only people she'd ever called true friends.

"I can't- I'm afraid of what happens next," Lee admitted.

"Even back when you were still silent, Leanne, I still saw you -your strength- as something I could rely on. A rock. When everything else was confusing, I knew exactly who to turn to. And now that we're- now that I hope we're friends…"

"We are," Leanne assured her. She could say that much, at least.

"Friends, I mean. Even back when I was giving you the silent treatment, I sort of liked you. I was just being my own brand of weird." The reassurance of their friendship did draw a small smile to Leanne's face, though tears were still welling up in her eyes. Leanne dared to put a hand on her shoulder, in hopes of comforting her.

"I'm happy, Leanne," Lee said.

"Even with all the chaos and everything we've been through... I'm happier than I think I've ever been. And I'm terrified that these changes... losing you, might end that happiness."

"You're going to be fine, Lee. You'll have Vell and Harley, and whatever loopers join up next year, and odds are you're going to make new friends on top of that. Thing's will get better." Taking a single deep, shuddering breath, Lee managed to bite back most of the tears that threatened to burst forth. She took a few more seconds to look at the ocean, and that, as always, calmed her down.

"It will never be the same without you," Lee said.

"Thank you, Leanne. For this, and for everything you've done the past two years."

"Same to you," Leanne said. She leaned forward, bending a bit closer to the waves.

"And don't act like this is some dramatic ending. You've still got my number."

"Right. Of course," Lee said. In the digital age, no one was every truly out of reach.

"Leanne? Can I ask you to promise me one thing?"

"Depends on the promise," Leanne said.

"Will you come to my graduation?" Lee asked.

"You've been such a big part of my life here at school these past two years. I can't imagine you not being there when it all ends."

"Of course," Leanne promised. Then she leaned back.

"You might need to help me pay for the ticket, though. I don't know how expensive it is to get from Finland to this island. Lot of ground to cover."

"Naturally," Lee said.

"Though, if I may digress, Leanne, what is it exactly you're going to do for a living after you graduate? Ballball isn't a very competitive field, salary-wise."

"Oh, yeah," Leanne said.

"Pretty much every athletic commission in the world got together and agreed to pay me a yearly fee to not compete in any sports."

"Pardon? To not compete?" Lee asked, emphasizing "not".

"Yeah apparently I'd 'completely shatter all known world records and standards of play, making any team I joined into an unstoppable juggernaut that would shatter the league for years to come'," Leanne said, quoting the exact words of the contract she'd received.

"Hmm. What are you going to do with yourself if not playing sports?"

"Training," Leanne said.

"Got to keep them scared of me if they're going to keep paying."

"The coaching offer stands," Lee said.

"If you ever need something more fulfilling."

"Maybe. But for now," Leanne said.

"I'm a bit homesick." The ocean of this tropical island was nice, but it was a far cry from the chilling wind of Finland, from the cold crashing waves of the fjord down the road. She needed home -a taste of it at least. Maybe in a year or so she'd realize she'd been driven too mad to appreciate the mundanity of normal life, but she wanted to at least try. She wanted to see her mom again, to sleep in her old bed, to feel the comforting familiarity of her own home.

Leanne's heart dropped out of her chest as she dared to glance at Lee, who was staring pensively at the waves. She didn't have a home to go back to. She'd never known a place of comfort that wasn't this island, never known a family other than Harley, and Vell, and Leanne.

"Let's get to bed," Leanne insisted. Lee obliged, though Leanne didn't know how much sleep she would be getting. The thought of Lee's future nagged at her. At least it did, until she remembered that Harley and Vell would be with her. Harley would graduate alongside Lee, and Vell -Vell just had a way of making things seem like they'd be all right. Somehow. Leanne still struggled to sleep, as her thoughts drifted between the underclassmen she would be leaving behind. To Lee, to Harley, and to Vell.