"I've heard so much about you. Weird to see you... here!" Nettie nervously laughed, as she wheeled through the park amongst the group. She looked at Jasper and Marco. "You both, too!"

"Please," Marco chuckled. "no need to be impressed. We're not celebrities!"

"You might as well be!" Nettie replied. "All Tea ever talks about is you guys. You must've had a lot of fun in high school..." She trailed off, her wheelchair slowing a little.

"Didn't you?" Bailey said, confused.

"No... not really. I didn't have many friends..." Nettie frowned. "That's okay, though."

"Of course," Marco smiled. "There's always a chance for college."

Teagan's head whipped around to stare at Marco. "C-college?"

"Yeah. She's going to college." Marco looked at Nettie. "Right?" To which Nettie nodded.

"I'm taking a gap year. To work on myself for a little, learn how to live on my own. Be with Tea and stuff. I have been working on my application to a couple schools, though. Some are in Washington, New York, I was thinking about Texas but I don't know..." She listed each place on her fingers, as Tea got more puzzled and worked up.

"They're all so far away!" Tea protested. "I... I'll be so far away from you..."

"We'll still be together. We've done it before, when we first met, remember? It will be fun. You'll be busy with school too, right?" Nettie paused. "Right...?"

"Tea?" Marco spoke slowly. "Are you... not going to college?"

"No..." Tea mumbled. "I... I wasn't planning on doing anything. I'll probably just get an office job or something. Like my mom. And my dad. And my stepdad."

"Don't you think you're destined for better? You don't seem happy about your future." Destiny put a hand on Tea's shoulder.

"I don't think I can do anything, really. I have no talents or anything..." Tea trailed off.

"Not true." Celeste rebutted. "You can sing like a goddess. And dance like nobody's business. And remember when we were trying to expand our club at Northhill? You directed and produced an entire commercial, and it rocked!"

"Got me interested." Jasper smiled. "You helped me first come out, you helped me and Marcy Marc get together." He pulled Marco in close and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Ever think about being a director?" Nettie suggested. Tea slowly nodded. "Why not do it? Nothing to lose, everything to gain! The whole world is waiting for you to do something great. I know you can do it. I believe in you. We all believe in you!"

Tea smiled. "Thanks guys..."

"Hey," Destiny swung her arm around Tea's shoulder. "What are friends for?"

•••
a/n; adult and future shizz gee whilickers!!¡

QOTC: what do you think you're going to do as a career?
AOTC: a musician probably! (maybe YouTube as well, i don't know! something like what Dodie does?) maybe i'll post a face reveal and a singing video for 1mil reads 🤔🤔