March   Over a month had passed since Aspen’s reunion with JB, and they had somehow fallen into a sort of routine. He began a life for himself in San Francisco, transferring to a full time job at the Sports Authority in SOMA and finding a a small, affordable place for himself, until he could resume classes at a university the next semester. He reported all of this to her when he saw her, which he made sure was often; she spent more of her lunch breaks in his presence than not, and, in the event that he had to work himself, she would at the very least hear from him later, if not see him. He was trying to keep her from maintaining the distance between them, she could tell; she wasn’t doing the best that she could do to maintain that distance, either; if she had been, then those lunch breaks, evening visits and phone calls would be nonexistent, the way they had been for years. But she was weak when it came to JB – she always had been. She had done well in his absence, but he was back, and she wanted to see him, and hear his voice; it was a miracle that she had enough strength to ensure that the first night didn’t repeat itself, even when he took it upon himself to walk her home, as he did often. In this way, they began to pick up the shards of their relationship, little by little, to put back together; Aspen wasn’t sure of how well that would turn out, but she was along for the ride regardless.   They were still doing this dance when spring break arrived for the University of Miami, resulting in a sudden surging influx of JB’s friends to visit. The thought was bizarre to Aspen, who hadn’t seen any of JB’s friends (with the exception of Iris) since the day she and JB had broken up, but this didn’t really have anything to do with her; they were coming to spend time with their friend and leader, who just so happened to be in San Francisco with her.   This was why she found it surprising, to say the very least, when she was invited to spend time with them on their first night in town. She supposed that she shouldn’t have been too surprised; she was invited at Iris and JB’s insistence, not anyone else. Regardless, she had been invited, and she was off from work and free to go. It felt weird, trying to get dressed up as new Aspen to go and hang out with the people who had known her in her original state, but she didn’t want to backtrack. On the night of the outing she dressed in jeans and a slightly oversized shirt that hung off of one shoulder, leaving her hair to frame her face and adorning herself with dangling earrings. She was slipping her feet into a pair of ankle boots when a knock on her door sounded, surprising her. She halfway expected for it to be Iris, and without thinking much about it she crossed the floor of her dorm, her heels tapping dully against the floor as she approached the door, to unlock and open it. The sight of JB standing on the other side of the door surprised her; he smiled and her heart stopped for the briefest of moments, as it always did.   “JB…what are you doing here?” she inquired of him once her senses returned. “I thought you were going to meet up with everyone straight from work.”   “I wanted to go with you,” JB responded with a shrug. “Is that okay?”   “Well…yeah,” Aspen responded, lowering her gaze. “Yeah, I guess so…”   “Great.” Aspen froze as he stepped forward, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. “You look beautiful.”   “I guess I cleaned up okay…” Aspen said automatically, like a reflex in his presence.   “I don’t think you came here to still treat yourself like that, did you?” JB asked candidly, surprising her; Aspen glanced up at him, finding him watching her intently. Aspen sighed, shaking her head.   “I can’t help it…”   “We’re gonna have to get you out of that,” JB said amusedly. Aspen smirked, rolling her eyes.   “Can we just go, please?”   “As you wish.”   There was a Lyft waiting for them downstairs, to take them to the restaurant that they had decided on; Skool, on Alameda Street in SOMA, twenty minutes away. Aspen was distinctly nervous as she exited the car with JB, her eyes on the storefront of the restaurant as they stepped onto the curb. Surely this wasn’t a good idea; she had severed any small ties that she had had with this group when she ended things with JB; wouldn’t it be in bad taste to just waltz up to their table like nothing had happened?   “Let’s go,” JB said suddenly, placing