you’re in the middle of a perfectly normal evening—homework, earbuds in, pretending to study—when your phone buzzes.

RODRICK 🤘🖤: outside. got somethin cool to show u

you glance out the window.

and there it is.

the löded diper van. parked right in front of your house. like a black-and-white, duct-taped beacon of teen rebellion. with rodrick leaning against the door, arms crossed, sunglasses on even though it’s 7 p.m. and cloudy.

you nearly choke.

You: ARE YOU INSANE WHY ARE YOU HERE MY PARENTS ARE HOME

RODRICK 🤘🖤: i thought u said ur mom liked me

You: SHE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW YOU EXIST

RODRICK 🤘🖤: guess im gonna change that 😎

you fly down the stairs, throw open the front door, and march out like you’re about to commit a crime—which honestly, you might be.

“rodrick!” you hiss. “what are you doing?!”

“i was in the neighborhood. and also, we needed to return the smoke machine from our last gig, but i figured i’d swing by and say hey to my favorite roadie-slash-girlfriend.”

rodrick opens the van door with a grin. “come on. you gotta see what i did to the fog machine.”

“what if my parents see us?”

rodrick pauses. “then we’ll run?”