The small campus cafe was nothing to write home about. Juniper certainly never did. It didn't need to be though, as long as the coffee never ran out and they never ran out of the pistachio biscotti she loved to indulge in.

As soon as Juniper stepped inside she felt that familiar aroma wrap around her. In her freshman year this had become her on campus sanctuary. Someone behind the counter waved as she went by. All the previous two semesters had seen her here nearly every other day. During finals they'd joked about roping off her favorite table.

They had her regular order ready at the register and she was seated at the two person table by the back window minutes later. A text came through and she barely suppressed a groan. It was so like Gigi to cancel because of a sudden need to sleep. Juniper couldn't even summon the energy to be mad after her morning run. She let her phone drop to the table and settled more comfortably into the plush arm chair.

"Is this where all the cool kids congregate?" a voice suddenly asked.

Sherman stood to the side of her table, a to-go cup in his hand. His hair was flattened against his forehead under a grey bucket hat and his glasses caught the sunlight.

"Who says congregate?" Juniper snorted. Using her outstretched foot she nudged the seat across from her away from the table.

"English majors, I'm guessing," Sherman said. The deep burgundy chair groaned under him. "Try to have some culture."

Juniper scoffed and broke off a piece of her biscotti and nibbled at it. "Look, PoliSci boy, not all of us get our vocabulary from fantasy video games." Crumbs bounced down from the edge of the cookie and across the table.

"You're right," he cleared his throat and waved his forearm in a sharp hello. "Dag dag."

The laugh that tore itself out of Juniper's throat was somewhere between a guffaw and a bullfrog's croak. Some of the people nearby looked over with raised eyebrows. Their attention lasted milliseconds while Juniper got herself under control.

"I did not have Simlish in a coffee shop on my bingo card," she said after she had her breath back.

Sherman grinned and raised his cup to her with a subtle nod. "I live to impress."

After a moment Juniper shrugged. "I wouldn't say the cool kids congregate here," she said, putting emphasis on the controversial word. "Are cool kids a thing in college? I would have guessed the whole cliques and whatever would be impossible with the size."

"Some groups don't fall out of popularity no matter the size of the crowd," Sherman said.

As if on cue a group of young women filtered into the cafe, giggling and shaking magazines at each other. One had her phone out filming the entire group as they neared the counter. It didn't take a super sleuth to realize they were live streaming their morning. Their voices, still too high pitched for anyone that early, carried clear across the room.

"I can't believe Regiment canceled all of their shows," one of the girls whined. She fanned herself with the half folded magazine. "It's so unfair."

"I heard Elias was seen at a dog fighting ring and they had to cancel everything to let him do his community service," another of the girls said in what sounded like a very loud whisper.

The first girl gasped, brows furrowing as she scowled. "Elias volunteers at animal shelters, he'd never do something like that."

"Well I heard Warren had to hide his identity because..."

Their voices faded out in a chorus of giggles and coffee ordering. Finally the high pitched pain noises drifted out and Juniper could feel her ears trying to recover. "It's like people don't have better things to talk about."

"Not a fan of Regiment?" Sherman asked, resting his chin in his palm.

"It's not like I hate them, I just don't care a lot. My little sister is totally obsessed," she explains. Obsessed was putting it lightly considering the floor to ceiling posters in her sister's room. She called herself a Declover, whatever that was supposed to mean.

"I figured cheerleaders would be super up to date on all of the popular songs," he teased.

"Up to date, yes," she begins crossing her legs at the knee. "But I can't just hold every song in my hand and how often do you hear rock music being used for cheer? Drill team maybe, or dance competitions, but the beat needs to be so specific for cheer."

"You're telling me a rock song wouldn't have a good beat to follow?"

"Now you're twisting my words," Jnniper said, groaning as she leaned back in her seat. The irritation lasted all of two seconds before she caught the way he smirked over his cup. "Are you a fan of Regiment or do you just take offense to any negative talk about rock?"

"They're alright," he said quickly.

There was something in the way he looked away that set her nerves on edge. It was too fast, the movements too jerky. He looks like one of the junior cheer campers trying to prep themselves for their first basket toss.

Juniper gasped, sitting back. "You're obsessed with them aren't you? That's why you were so quick to ask," she said in a hushed whisper. "So which one of them do you like best? I know you guys have favorites. My sister is one step away from getting that Declan guy's face tattooed to her arm."

"I am not obsessed," Sherman told her, rolling his eyes. "I just appreciate good music."

"Oh sure okay," Juniper scoffed. The nearby church bell rang suddenly, nine steady tolls. "Oh shit, I've got to go. Good seeing you." She grabbed for her things, throwing back the last of her coffee.

Then she paused at the door, lips pressed together tightly. "You should come to one of the games sometime, see if our cheers are up to snuff, maestro."

Sherman shakes his head but smiles all the same. "Yeah, maybe."