July   Jae was waiting for Ellie when the Cobra shuttle arrived at AIAS’s campus.   By this time in their relationship, Ellie was no longer surprised; in fact, a part of her had been hoping to see the green Challenger when the bus pulled up, and to see Jae waiting at the entrance of the college put a smile on her face. He started moving towards the bus as the passengers started to get off, and was waiting at the door for her when she stepped off; without a word he took her backpack with one hand and draped his free arm across her shoulders, leading her casually into the campus.   “So, how was your day?” he said, his tone melodic. Ellie smirked.   “It was alright,” she responded. “Just long.”   “Did you miss me?” he questioned suddenly. “You missed me, right?”   “Jae, I texted you the entire time I was gone.”   “Liar; I distinctly remember there being an hour when I didn’t talk to you.”   “What, one hour out of eight?” Ellie said, laughing incredulously.   “I think I proved my point.”   “Sure, Jae; whatever you say…” As with all of their walks, their destination seemed to appear a lot sooner than Ellie would have hoped; before long the Second House was coming into view, and, even though she had been up and moving for a full shift, a part of Ellie wished that they could go around the campus and come back just once, for a little more time.   “You’re not too tired though, are you?” he inquired of her, causing her to frown curiously.   “Why?” she asked warily.   “Ah-ah; I asked first.” Ellie sighed, shrugging.   “No, I guess not,” she allotted. “Why?”   “Good; then you’re good to go to a party with me.”   “A party?” Ellie repeated, turning to look at him. “What party?”   “Ellie, in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s the fourth of July in LA,” Jae said with excessive patience. “This city is full of parties.” Of course she remembered that it was the fourth of July; she had been pissed that she had to get up and go to work on a national holiday, even if she had been able to make time and a half.   “Jae, I’m not going to no party.”   “Why not?” Jae demanded in a whine, bumping her with his body. “Ellie, it’s the fourth of July!”   “Why are you whining?”   “But…the fireworks, and the music!” He bumped her again and she nearly tripped over her feet. “Ellieee!”   “Jae!”   “That’s it! You’re going!” Jae declared suddenly, his voice loud. “I’m putting my foot down.”   “You’re really going to force me to go to a party?”   “Absolutely.” They reached the Second House and stopped at the entrance; Jae grabbed Ellie’s shoulders and turned her to face him, the light from the setting sun reflecting partially against his glasses as he blinked down at her. “We’re going tonight at, like, six, alright?” Ellie frowned curiously.   “You’re gonna leave and come back?”   “No; I took my stuff over to Song’s place.” The name was not unfamiliar to her; Even Ellie, an incoming sophomore who liked to spend her leisure time in quiet solitude, knew a lot about the New Sounds Era graduate school president. “I’ll get ready over there, and meet you later.”   “Oh, I see…” Ellie froze as he placed his forehead against hers, the frames of their glasses clicking lightly against one another.   “Don’t be late, alright?” He released her, turning to head back down the entrance steps with two finger wave. “I’ll be back.” It took a while for him to disappear from her sight but finally he did, leaving Ellie with no choice but to retreat into the Second House. Six o’clock wasn’t very far off at all; Jae hadn’t been as generous with his time frame as he had been before. With a sigh Ellie hurried into the dorm and went about getting ready, taking advantage of a very temporarily vacant bathroom to wash the coffee off of her before retreating to her room to fuss over an outfit. She had never been to a party before, and wasn’t sure of what to wear; everything that she had worn with Jae up until that point seemed childish in comparison to the idea that she had in mind. She didn’t have a very big selection to choose from, anyway, but there was a sleeveless cardigan that she had that was too dressy for just everyday wear, in her opinion; she paired this with a thin T-shirt and jeans and refreshed the curls in her hair, looking herself over in her mirror and hoping that she wouldn’t look ridiculous in front of whatever people Jae was about to have her around.   Figuring that Jae would just pull his car around to the Second House, Ellie took the initiative to go out to the back entrance where they usually met; sure enough she found the car there, with Jae seated on the hood of it, dressed no different from his usual, oversized style in a blue printed Hawaiian shirt over a white T-shirt and jeans. He looked up as she walked out but said nothing for a while, simply watching her approach the car.   “I thought you were getting better,” he commented finally.   “Maybe you just get ready really fast,” Ellie countered; Jae reached