Liliana had barely talked to him at the party, only tangentially knowing Allyn in the first place, so she's surprised when Tom Darwin calls her out of the blue. Liliana may be heartbroken but that doesn't mean she's been lying around crying and getting stuck out of the loop. She knows her gossip, knows that Tom and Allyn, while still most certainly a couple, are seeing other people."We should go on a date sometime," he says with a debonair sort-of-a-laugh.
"How about tomorrow? Coffee on campus? I mean, if you've got time and it's not too much of a journey. I'd meet you back in Serenity but, yanno, can't afford a car what with dorm payments and all..." She keeps her voice casual even though she knows she's rambling a bit, plus she's gripping the receiver hard enough to hurt.
If he cares about her hidden nervousness he doesn't show it. "Sure. 5pm good for you?"
"Awesome. See you then." Click.
Even though Adele now worked in Sim City while Colby was still in provincial politics, they kept in touch and he often came over, but they weren't a serious "item". Adele didn't want anything serious from him, and if he wanted anything more he kept it quiet. It was a good arrangement.
"Oh, hi Jace."
Allyn doesn't know to connect with Drake now he doesn't rely on her for every last thing. She and Tom have never exactly been academics, yet they've somehow spawned a little bookworm. Allyn barely understands what he's talking about over dinner, as he delves deep into world politics (a bit too deep for an elementary school kid). Where does he get all these ideas from?!
(Athena's POV)
Solveig and Jace both worked jobs that occasionally demanded odd hours, and that sometimes meant that the girls were left to their own devices on Saturday mornings. Caroline knew she should have been doing the homework she was given on Friday, but Vikki had other ideas and dragged her to play video games. But Caroline wasn't the easy opponent she'd hoped for.
To say Maya finds her current living situation a bit awkward is an understatement. She'd been entirely prepared for the situation of Ashlee and Liliana both getting boyfriends at university and her being the fifth wheel but she hadn't expected this. It's especially awkward when Liliana gets soppy and talks about what they're going to do when they graduate. Maya knows Ashlee better than her, even if she isn't in a relationship with her, and she knows Ashlee's not ready for commitment.
Tom still couldn't believe he was actually a father - or that his son was younger than his half-brother. Weird stuff. But Drake was a cute enough kid and Tom kind of liked carrying him around on his hip sometimes.
Athena King is no great scholar, but with her family's encouragement she's got her first ever A+ on her report card. She crows about it for days!
Even though the atmosphere in the Darwin household was distinctly awkward, Miranda was doing her best to fit in. Sam helped, of course. For example, one morning Harvey completely blanked Miranda in his search for breakfast after pulling an all-nighter painting. Miranda felt like she was going to cry, but Sam came to her rescue.
Victoria "Vikki" Bhalli is many things but an intellectual isn't one of them. Getting her to do her homework is an uphill struggle, she whines when you ask her to do it and might not even finish it. Her parents don't understand. She's far from stupid, so why does she have such a problem with homework? They've sat with her and taught her to study but it doesn't seem to have helped.
