“I can’t do the show.” He sighs. His face is grim, and I feel like I can hear the sound of all our hearts, broken into pieces and rattling in our chests, and it’s bullshit.

Katherine takes Taylor’s other hand, so she’s holding both now, and he looks at her. “I’m going to hot glue Christopher’s dick to his thigh,” she says, and we all gasp, shocked into laughter.

“Katherine!” Nevaeh says, snickering. “Language!”

“Don’t come for my friends,” she says darkly.

And the snow just keeps falling and falling, covering everything.

On Friday morning after arts block, Taylor texts us: They’re grounded to their dorm for a week, aside from classes and meals. And he’s on warning status for the rest of the year, can’t breathe wrong or he’s out.

we should just cancel, I type. i don’t want to do it without you. i don’t want anyone to get caught. i can’t take this

it’s fine, Taylor types back. don’t you dare. And I’m distracted from the rest of the message when my dorm elevator door opens on a crowd in the lobby. I step out into a ton of kids gathered around the bulletin board, taking photos, laughing, the RA trying to shoo folks out of the way, pulling down papers and folding them over, asking students to back off. I crane my neck to see what they’re looking at, then push through the crowd.

The bulletin board is plastered with black-and-white dick-pic prints. Ones that seem familiar. The thumbnail with the blood blister. In marker, in handwriting, in caps, the words at the bottom of every single picture read CHRISTOPHER DAVENPORT LIKES TO SEND DICK PICS.

I clap my hand over my mouth, glance to either side of me. Everyone’s taking pictures as fast as the RA can shuffle them out of the way, and I quickly snap my own, then back off and out of the crowd.

And in the quad there are more: dick pics on lampposts and on the entrance doors of the science building next door, and the giggles are exploding in my chest. I message my photo of the bulletin board to our group.

Almost immediately, Katherine types back. SURPRISE!

Nevaeh texts, my beautiful Katherine is BRILLIANT AND MY HERO

we win! Taylor texts.

A blushing face emoji from Katherine.

Then the eggplant emoji and the knife emoji.

can’t explain how much I love you, Katherine, I type.

Jack helped, she texts.

Taylor types, his penis is viral!

probably literally, Nevaeh types.

Oooooo from Taylor.