Illuminate

“Parker, if you don’t shut the fuck up right now I will show Kelly all those letters you never had the balls to send her.”

Simone and Parker sat anxiously in the auditorium of New York University, one of the most prestigious schools in the entire country. The two were attached at the hip, inseparable since they were babies, but that didn’t mean they didn’t ever step on each other’s toes.

“And if you do that, I’ll go through your phone and send Devin those nudes he’s just been dying to see,” he threatened his foster sister with a devious smirk.

“If you do what?” Kelly asked, showing up out of literally nowhere and taking the empty seat next to her best friend.

“Oh, I was just saying that I’m gonna show you-”

“The map she got of the campus on the way in here,” Parker interrupted, covering his sister’s mouth with his hand and wrapping the other tattooed arm around her shoulders. “It’s mind blowing.”

“You’re a weird one, Cannon,” Kelly remarked at him, shaking her head slightly before running a hand through her hair. “Anyway, you better not do it. That Devin creep’s been stalking you since the eighth grade. If he catches a hold of those nudes you’re fuckin’ screwed because if he hasn’t given up yet he definitely won’t after getting a little taste of what ya got goin’ on.”

Simone responded with a snort and smiles, covering her mouth while Parker makes a gagging noise that sounds entirely too realistic, making Simone lean away from him.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going lesbian for my sister,” Parker pleaded.

“Would you rather I go gay for you, lover boy?” Kelly responded quickly, popping a piece of winter green gum into her mouth. Parker turned away from the two girls to awkwardly cough into the cease of his elbow before directing his undivided attention to the empty stage ahead of them.

Simone’s smile didn’t fade as she reached over to take a piece of gum from the packet, not bothering to ask. After unwrapping it and putting the gum in her mouth too, she placed a light kiss on Kelly’s cheek. Surprisingly enough, the dark red stain of her lipstick didn’t leave a mark on her cheek.

The three looked odd in the auditorium for two reasons:

One, they were just odd in general.

Parker was one of those typical early 20s punk kids, with tattoos littering his tan skin, including both of his arms. He was nearly always clad in khaki shorts and a band tee, but since it was always cold in New York, he would now be forced to switch up his California style, where both him and his sister were from. He had always been the kind of guy who could make friends with anyone in the room, a social butterfly by nature. His only weakness was Kelly, who he met five years ago when her and Simone became friends.

Simone had an usual blend in her style, having tattoos and a nose ring, along with several ear piercings. She had long dirty blonde hair that reached her hipbones and a style that wasn’t strictly tomboy but wasn’t strictly feminine either. While she had always been the passive type, the recent years of struggle and heartache (along with Kelly’s powerful influence) weighed down on her, pushing her to build the backbone she so desperately needed. She’d learned to accept herself and know how she deserved to be treated. She had a lot less friends as a result, but she didn’t mind it. She’d take less friends over shitty friends any day.

Parker’s family, The Cannon’s, adopted Simone at birth. A tragic accident that Simone refused to hear about left her being put up for adoption essentially straight out of the womb. Parker’s, and now Simone’s family were incredibly wealthy, having more money than any of them knew what to do with. The trio all did incredibly well in high school and community college, providing them with amazing scholarships. George and Lily Cannon paid for whatever tuition was left, and they didn’t leave it up to discussion. They even paid for the rent of the apartment, insisting that they pay for the expenses such as food. However, they all drew the line there. They could at least pay for their own food.

Kelly… well, Kelly was a breed all of her own. Being born and raised in New York, she was the toughest girl this school was sure to ever see in the history of its existence, and she took pride in that. She had dyed her hair more times than she could count and she had recently changed it to a deep purple color shortly before moving out. She was loyal to the bone, unafraid of standing up for either her friends or herself. She moved in with Parker and Simone in California their freshman year of college, but now she was back in New York where they were all transferring.

Two, they all had a solid three years over a majority of the room.

This was freshman orientation, and for some reason there was a strangely low amount of transfers this year so they decided to turn it all into one big clump of newbies.

Kelly and Simone whispered to each other the entire time, paying no attention to the Dean who was now speaking on stage.

“Why is this even required?” Simone asked. “This is all common sense shit and it’s way too cold to even consider a campus tour.”

“We already signed in and got our packet,” Kelly pointed out. “I say we bounce.”

The two stood and quickly shuffle through the aisle, a very confused Parker following behind him. They reached the lobby moments later, all in a line with Kelly leading the way. Suddenly they stopped, making Simone crash into her friend’s back harshly and her shoulder bag fall on the floor with it’s contents flying everywhere.

“Shit,” she hissed under her breath. “The fuck’s going on, Kel?”

“You know The Maine is playing here tonight, right? Well John O'-fucking-Callaghan just went past those doors.”

“Then go get him,” Simone urged, pushing her friend forward. “Get some.”

Kelly raced forward and ran out the door like a mad woman. God knows she was determined, and if it involved attractive boys in a band, she reached an ungodly level of determination.

“Maybe if I were in a band then she’d want me,” Parker sighs, walking away like a lovesick puppy. It would’ve been pretty pathetic if he weren’t so damn adorable.

Simone looked to the ground on her left, sighing as she saw all the papers, makeup, and keys that were sprawled on the ground in front of her. With a defeated sigh she got on her knees to clean up her belongings when a pair of tan hands entered her line of vision.

“Here, let me help,” a deep raspy voice said, the British accent clear as day. Simone looked up to see the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen.

She froze in place, not even beginning to process how horrifyingly cliché the whole scenario was. He had long, dark hair that went just past his shoulders in adorable ringlets. He was wearing a black button down with a tan winter coat, black skinny jeans and boots adorning the lower half of his body. When he looked up to meet his gaze, his piercing green eyes put hers to shame. His jawline and cheekbones were predominate and a small smirk was placed on his lips.

Frazzled, she blinked a few times and looked back at the ground with a furious blush on her cheeks. She helped him stuff everything back into her bag.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “You didn’t have to help.”

“It’s no problem at all, love, I assure you,” he said with a smile, and she couldn’t help but look up at him again. He stood up and extended a hand for her. She accepted it gratefully, standing back on her feet and sliding her bag back over her shoulder.

“Well, I have to get going,” he told her, “this orientation is dull and I have loads to unpack.”

“I see,” Simone nodded in understanding. “I’m in the same boat.”

The two stood in awkward silence for a minute.

“Well, I’ll see you around,” she states with an awkward wave as she takes a step back from the beautiful stranger.

“See you,” he smiled at her, waving back.

Before she could make even more of an idiot of herself, she turned around to walk out the door.

“Wait!” he called. “What’s your name?”

“Simone,” she replied with a stupidly giant smile, “My name’s Simone.”

“Well, Simone,” her name rolled off his tongue with such ease, “I hope to see you around.”