Bear Mountain University

Three days later, Kenny road alone in his Grand Torino that was packed to the max with boxes and bags belonging to Juliet. He completely understood now why Juliet begged him for this help; with his car unable even to fit his cousin in the passenger seat; he could imagine how difficult it would have been to fit Quinn and her bags into Juliet's sedan as well. While the journey to Bear Mountain University was long, just around three hours, it was thankfully quiet and overall scenic. The first two hours brought him around Kaster Mountain, threw Dartwin, and then for the final leg of his journey, he began to climb up the massive Bear Mountain just north of the town.

As his car worked its way up, a few trucks filled to the brim with snow passed him by; another few minutes after that, some flakes began to dot his windshield, and finally, just as the third hour of driving ticked by, he reached the flattened plateau half-way up the mountain. Nestled in a semi-circle around the rest of the mountain was the large, incredible, scenic university. Six massive stone buildings made up its dorms and classrooms, and as expected, the light but steady snowfall kept a beautiful blanket of snow over every inch of the school. He followed Juliet's sedan into a parking lot, passing by a plow truck, and parked.

Getting out, Kenny braced for a moment, expecting a similar chilling wind that he would feel when on Kaster's mountain, but the way the school was nestled into the mountain itself, he was pleasantly surprised to find nothing more than a very light breeze meeting him. In fact, it honestly wasn't even that cold despite the snowfall; it was brisk, if anything. He rested an arm over the top of his car and sighed, looking at the university almost in envy; if he didn't make it as a cop, he wasn't going to hesitate to get into this school for further education. "You are the fucking best, Kenny!" Quinn called out to the teen, who quickly jumped out of his thoughts, looking over and finding the redhead walking over to him with Juliet.

"Took the words right out of my mouth; that drive is way too long a haul. I'd hate doing that multiple times just to get us both moved in," Juliet gave Kenny a thankful smile, "You really are a lifesaver, thank you,"

Kenny let out a chuckle, "Eh, I don't know about that; I mean, you could have just asked your new boyfriend, couldn't you?" Kenny playfully teased. Quinn giggled and Juliet ever so slightly blushed.

"Shut up and grab a box," Kenny chuckled, popped open his trunk, and grabbed a box while the girls grabbed a few bags and suitcases, "We'll probably have to make two trips?"

"For my stuff, yeah, then we can go back for Quinn's," Juliet agreed with a grunt, shutting Kenny's trunk,

"Thankfully, I packed a hell of a lot lighter than this one," Quinn angrily huffed as she hoisted Juliet's large duffel over her shoulder, "Did you pack your bed too?" She sarcastically asked her friend,

"Wouldn't fit in the car," Juliet snarkily fired back, and the trio headed off towards the leftmost building.

It was close to thirty minutes before the group had gotten almost everything out of the two cars and brought it to their dorm room on the fourth floor. They stepped out of the elevator for their fourth and final trip to grab the very last of Quinn's things out of Juliet's car, "That room's small, but it's nice," Kenny noted to the girls,

"Yeah, it sucks we don't have personal rooms, but it's like a little studio apartment," Quinn hummed in agreement, "I'll just have to keep my eye on the door to make sure there's no sock on it after classes,"

Juliet scoffed and clicked her tongue, "Oh, for god sakes, please stop saying that stuff; just because JJ and I are seeing each other we --"

"Fucking," Quinn finished the thought for Juliet, who immediately went after the girl. Quinn let out a loud, playful laugh, sprinting towards the car with Juliet tailing behind.

Kenny could only laugh as he watched the pair, keeping his slowly, steady walking pace all the while. "Well, well, well, look who we have here!" A voice suddenly called out from the dorm building behind him. Glancing back, Kenny's brow jumped as he found Nicole giving him a wave and heading right over to him, "What brings you around here, Clark?"

"Nikki? Oh shit, hey!" Kenny slowed his walk, allowing the redhead to catch up to him, "Yeah, I'm just doing Juliet a favor, helping her and Quinn both get their stuff to their dorm. What are you doing up here? Are you...going to BMU?"

"Hell no," Nicole scoffed, "I'll do online schooling back home or something; I'm not dragging my ass from class to class in a sealed-off little mountain village. It's creepy as fuck here," The pair shared a short laugh,

Kenny tucked his hands into his pockets, "Really? I figured you'd be positively made for the college party scenes," A white SUV passed the pair by.

"Party, sure. Taking classes an hour away from the nearest bar? No way," Nicole brushed a few strands of hair from her face, "Only reason I'm up here was to help Anna move the last of her stuff into her dorm room. Was about to head back home when I saw you,"

"Oh cool, yeah, we only have a little left to bring into the dorm, and then I might help them unpack for a bit before going home?" Kenny shrugged, "Not really sure yet,"

Just then, the two heard another voice, "I told you it was him! Kenny! Yoohoo!" Kenny and Nicole both spun around, and a few cars back, climbing out of the white SUV that passed them earlier, were Ellie and Tessa Westchester, the latter the one excitedly waving at him.

"Oh, goodie, Tess and Elle, this should be lively," Nicole muttered with just a hint of bitterness before instantly putting on a large smile, "What's up!" She waved back,

Tessa and Ellie quickly walked over; the blonde immediately snapped her eyes between Kenny and Nicole, "What are you two doing here together?"

"Oh, we're not here together," Kenny began to explain while Nicole and Ellie both shared a quick knowing glance with one enough. "Nikki was helping Anna move in, and I'm here helping Julie and Quinn with their stuff,"

"Sounds fun; how long have you been going at it with them?" Tessa asked back, and for just a moment, Kenny's words caught in his throat, the irony of the question taking a moment in his head,

The teen gave his throat a quick clearing cough, "We've, uh, we've been here for like a half-an-hour so far," Nicole moved her attention to Tessa, her brow ever so slightly arching as she gave the brunette a once-over as well,

"Oh, cool, so you'll be around her for a bit longer then!" Tessa excitedly clapped her hands, "Maybe you could even help Mimi and me with her stuff if you have the time,"

"He's not free labor, Tess," Ellie chastised her older sister, giving Kenny a sheepishly smile, "Though you're welcome to come to see my dorm room if you'd like,"

"Whoa, where'd the party come from?" Kenny all but jumped as Juliet's voice asked from right behind him and the teen swiftly turned finding his cousin looking curiously at the rest of her friend group, and more importantly Quinn glaring at the lot of them with annoyed, protective eyes already, "Wow, hey, funny running into all of you here!"

"Yeah...real funny," Quinn muttered as she glared hardly at Ellie, "It's...been a little while, Elle," Ellie awkwardly looked away from Quinn and hummed out in agreement, "Nikki, I don't think we've even seen each other since that day at Juliet's house," Quinn then added on, with just a little bit of extra bite that Nicole took in stride.

"Oh no, I definitely saw you at the carnival if I remember," Nicole slyly replied, and Kenny immediately let out a loud cough, cutting off the conversation before another word could be spoken of his secret date with the redhead,

"Yeah, big coincidence, anyway, we should all probably get back to it, right? Don't want to waste time," Kenny suggested with a clap of his hands,

Nicole crossed her arms, "You're so right, but you know what, Quinn's right too. When was the last time we all hung out together? I mean, Tess wasn't even at that hangout at the start of the summer! Since we're all here, and the summer vacation isn't over yet, maybe we should all chill tonight! We could even do it in Juliet's dorm! An old fashion sleepover!" The redhead suggested, and Kenny's eyes just about popped right out of his skull.

"Oh! That does sound like fun!" Juliet immediately agreed before Kenny could even try to come up with an excuse or reason why that was, in fact, a terrible idea, "Does that work for the rest of you? Would you all be comfortable with that?"

"I took this weekend off to help Mimi, so I'm totally down!" Tessa agreed without a thought,

Quinn glared between Nikki and Ellie, "I don't mind; maybe it's time to let bygones be bygones," She said in a chipper tone that only made a cold shiver run down Kenny's spine,

"I'd love that, Quinn," Ellie softly agreed, giving a quick look to Kenny, "A sleepover sounds super fun,"

"Then it's settled! Ken, you help Quinn and Juliet get their dorm set up; I will go secure us a few drinks, and you two..." Nicole pointed to Ellie and Tessa, "I guess...just unpack and meet us there?"

"Works for us," Tessa agreed with a shrug, "Ken, you're staying for the night too, right?"

"Uhhhhh," Kenny droned back, just about breaking into a panicked sweat at the question,

Juliet's eyes lit up as she looked between her cousin and brunette, "Of course he is!" She agreed for him, "I won't be seeing him as much come next week, so he absolutely should stay," The brunette smiled, wrapping an arm around Kenny's lower back, "You helped me, I'll help you," She very quickly and softly whispered out to her cousin,

Gee, thanks, Julie, you're the fucking best! FUCK! Kenny swallowed hard, "Yeah, I guess I'll be staying too,"