Things changed a little bit. Casey didn't feel like driving to a music store like they originally planned so instead they stayed at the campus. He didn't have until 5 pm for his last class. They had been sitting on the grass while leaning back on the short brick-like walls behind them. Snow wasn't alone with Casey this time. Kyle and Malloy joined them.

The area was calm and pleasing to the eye while they could watch the stones of the path for students walking by. Many trees surrounded them, and they picked out a spot in the shades. The student with the sunglasses in the distance was sitting on top of the brick stone and reading a sheet of paper held in his hands.

Snow thought this should be fine, and they could join in with her and Casey. This wasn't maybe a concept of "date," but it was more of getting to know the person from their preference. And this could be an open discussion, and maybe Casey would get around with that.

People's taste in music says a lot about a person.

"Wait, before we become a part of today of what it is that you're doing, keep us updated on your guys 'relationship.' " Kyle glanced between them.

Malloy nodded in agreement. "Yes, tell us. We only know you've gone out to some places here and there, but anything good to report back?"

Ah, yes. Sometimes after the dates, Snow texted them in their small group chat on how it went with Casey and what happened. She hadn't talked too deeply about her feelings yet, and just only the casual things. Like maybe if they have gotten along better.

She joined her hands and opened her mouth to speak. "I think we're doing okay so far."

Casey responded with an "I guess." She could never know if he meant what he said, or if there was actually something behind it that he wouldn't admit.

"How do you like our Snow?" Malloy asked, and his mouth curved up in a way that was amused.

"Our?" Casey said, asking this.

"Yeah, she's ours. We're a team of three, you know?" Kyle flicked his gaze at Snow and Malloy, and they gave him the same look back.

"You can't beat them," Snow said to Casey with a shrug.

"Okay. Well." He was stared at by the guys. "She's a really nice person, and had so far did her best to keep it simple."

"I told you once you get to know her better, you'll like her," Malloy said, a triumphant smile plastered on his face.

Snow feels the world shifted from Casey's words, which planted a seed inside her with a tiny bit of something positive. Not the nice part since she knows she was nice, but the part where he pointed out how simple her efforts were. It made it in a way that he didn't think she was pushing the time they spent together so far. She'd hoped he wouldn't think of her as someone who was desperate or someone who was trying to waste time. Maybe her efforts weren't futile.

"Now, should we get along with what we're doing?" Kyle asked.

"Right." Snow placed a hand down on her thigh. "Let's just discuss music because I think everyone has a type of music they listen to and their own reasons too."

She looked at everyone. "Let's start from left to right." 

Realizing that she was on the left side, she slipped out a silent 'oh' from her mouth. "Okay, I should start first. Then... I'll begin by first stating what I think makes music interesting. I think that when you're listening to a song, there's a meaning to that song, and that's pretty special because there's something about what the artist feels and what they try to convey for a lot of us; I could feel more connected to their soul."

Snow gestured to Casey. "Now you go."

"All right," Casey said as he sat there, a short silence passed over. "Music, to me, is just getting lost into the world of it and then about what you take from it. Everyone has their interpretation of what it means for them and how the song may define them."

Snow's eyes widened a bit with a brief smile appearing on her face. "All right." She looked to Kyle now.

Kyle rubbed his palms together and made a small sounding clap. "Honestly, music is about the beat. You have to draw people in first because if a few seconds they're listening to it, and it sounds awful or cringe, they'll be turned away from wanting to listen to the song. It has to be something that you can dance to, and it has to make you feel something. The music has to serve justice."

He snapped his fingers and point to Malloy. "Now to you."

"Okay, if we don't count my singing voice. By the way, thanks guys," Malloy muttered the last part. "I believe music is how a person's voice is and how well they fit in with the song. Whether they perform high or low notes, it has to blend along with the whole thing. It could be any genre, but if the song doesn't match the style of it, it wouldn't really be interesting. There's usually a certain voice that you'd like to hear, and if it fits well, I'd be all over it."

Snow checked on Casey. "Any other thoughts, or takes on it? Before we move on."

Casey shook his head. "I'm good. They're right too."

"Then... how about favorite genre? artist? Who do you listen to?"

"Are we going in order again?" Kyle asked.

"Right. That would be fair. I listen to a lot of pop music. I like a lot of artists, but I really like Carly Rae Jepsen, Taylor Swift, and Shawn Mendes. Now Shawn Mendes," Snow held her cheeks. "there's something passionate and wonderful about the way his lyrics send. You see, not only is he good with beautiful messages since Handwritten, but he's so versatile too. He has such an incredible voice and is talented. Shawn's discography is not being talked about enough. Can I just say that Bad Reputation—"

"Are you going to go on and talk about him?" Casey interjected with a raised brow.

"Oh, sorry." Snow was flushed with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to do that."

"You don't know how long she could go on and talk about him," Malloy said. His expression gave it away that he lived through it.

"You know what, dude is cool. He does have some good funk to his songs." Kyle readied himself and began belting out, "It isn't in my blooood."

"Alright. Stop showing off you can sing better than me." Malloy slapped his arm.

"Okay, your turn." Snow motioned.

"I usually listen to a lot of rock like Fall Out Boy, Sum 41, Simple Plan, and occasionally Paramore," Casey said casually.

"Me too for Paramore." Malloy raised his hand.

No wonder they became good friends. Snow saw them as they agreed.

"Ooh, I like some Simple Plan if I'm nostalgic." Kyle looked up at the sky like the clouds were stored, as memories like 'the good old times.' "I still remember the good songs."

The others waited on Kyle, and when he looked back, it was his turn. "Right. I guess you're done speaking?" he asked Casey, and he nodded. "Then I'm all about the chill R&B and rap. I have my homie Alicia Keys, DJ Khaled, Bruno Mars, Big Sean, Beyonce, and oh. Although he doesn't do rap or R&B, I'm a huge fan of my man, Ed Sheeran."

He'd always play his speaker at home blasting them until his two sisters would tell him to turn it down. His younger brother that was 11 years of age would just dance along with it when he hears them. He was a small groovy kid.

"Like Casey, Paramore is quite one I listen to a lot. I'm into almost everything as long as the voice and music blend well as I said. Katy Perry, Coldplay, Nickelback. If Rihanna comes back to her music career," Malloy turned shocked from the thought. "I would drop everything, but also am I quite ready?"

"I do miss her too," Kyle said. "she's also the reason I don't listen to Chris Brown anymore."

From all the music talk, and she wondered if this made Casey more comfortable than when they were alone like it wasn't a date but just another casual hangout session for them. It was... a total change of plan, but it wasn't a bad one. Maybe just sitting around with the four of them sometimes could lift off the pressure and expectations rising from a normal relationship.

If a guy she likes in the future would love to hang out with her friends, he was the perfect one. 

"So," Snow said to Casey, "is it fun to just sit around and talk about music? Maybe... this was more thought-out than you thought?"

"Not really... something I'd expect, but it's a lot less nerve-wracking," Casey responded.

So what was hearing was that he perhaps liked it; what a relief for her. Her mind was trying to piece together this scenery of normal time they hang out like they were just normal friends that they could be.

She smiled. When this is over, it could be natural like this.

"So, you guys," Malloy said. "how does it feel to just... go on dates?"

"It's nothing special," Snow said simply. "I think we've learned a little bit about each other and grown a bit comfortably, but we don't do much but just that."

"You're not giving her a hard time, are you?" Malloy questioned Casey, his gaze was also questioning.

"What?"

"It's fine. He's doing okay." Snow assured Malloy.

"I just thought that with his recent breakup, I don't know." Malloy waved at her to lean closer. As she did, he whispered, "I didn't want you to feel burdened by it and push yourself."

Snow felt her lips smiling and looked into his eyes. "Thanks, I'll handle it," she whispered back.

Casey looked at her like he wondered what he just said to her.

She just smiled at him before she shrugged a shoulder at him then look to her friends. 

Snow walked with Casey to his next class. Malloy already left a while ago to go home to finish some homework before he would go to work at his part-time job at a Frozen Yogurt palace, and Kyle was going to use the restroom and then wait by the parking lot for Snow. They had passed the time talking about a bunch of nonsense with music things like a fun little lyric game and memories they had with music.

"Now that we're alone for the time being, maybe we can still talk about music..." Snow said.

"Okay."

"Has your taste music changed over the years?" Snow asked an easy question.

"I mean, not too much. Pop music is nice maybe if I'm really into it."

"If you had intro music, what song would it be? Why?"

"What do you mean?" Casey wondered.

"Like if you were to start your day, what's the song that would always get you into the mood or describes you most of the time?"

"My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark, I guess," he said after thinking about his answer.

"Really?" Snow questioned.

"The music is all fired up and like what you would walk into if you were in a haunted movie."

Snow pictured him in a haunted house, and the killers just coming up eerily. Would he act frightened, panicked, or show no emotions and try to reasonably make his way out before he would get killed? Suddenly, she felt a laugh coming but instantly caught herself and covered up her mouth, holding it in.

"What?" The confusion came to his face.

"Nothing." She shook her head quickly.

Even though he continued staring at her like that, she thought it was something she should keep for herself. "Anyway, I think Fifteen would be mine. I like the soft opening and the exciting new feeling, thinking I could fall in love."

Snow bit her cheek. Of course, any other girl might play a Taylor Swift song when their heart got broken by a boy or was just lost in thoughts about wanting love. Either way, she didn't know if he thought that was corny or kind of awkward.

"Sounds nice," he said casually.

Once they made it to the building floor, she waved him goodbye.

Snow walked to the parking lot and saw Kyle sat inside his black car. When she came closer to the window and gently tapped the window, he unlocked the car.

"Thanks for always waiting for me no matter the time," Snow said instantly, getting in as she shut the car door and buckled her seatbelt.

"No problem," Kyle said, checking the rear mirrors before he began backing up the car.

The schedule. Snow remembered and pulled out a sheet from her binder. She put a greencheck mark next to the things that they had done so far.

Remembering earlier that Malloy was concerned for her because she thought she was pushing herself a bit, she should do something to erase it. Maybe she did a little. Was it wrong though to try to be there for him?

Sometimes in the group chat, Malloy was feeling a little uncertain, but he tried to not say anything about it. Maybe she should figure a way to convince him they were okay. Looking at the list, the next thing coming up was a second date.

She may know exactly where it could happen.

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Hello, I brought back the two guys earlier than originally planned because I miss them, haha. I also did change the original date so they could just stay on campus than having to go anywhere. I'm saving Casey's gas, you're welcome.

Don't worry, you'll see them again soon enough. They'll occasionally be around when I need them to so just be patient. I just thought a simple talk with the four instead of two makes it more lightweight for our main two characters. 

Music does kinda say a lot about a person and who they listen to, bringing more to the character. I just made it this story so simplistic, but as it goes on, some things will be revealed in time. For now, just enjoy their days before it gets a little heavy, haha.

Please vote and comment as it means the world to me.