IN THE MIDDLE of the living room were Nicole and Milo. Nicole giggled as Milo swept her off her feet, and spun her around in his arms, her back pressed against his chest.
After Milo released Nicole, she turned around and they were face to face. Milo leaned down and placed a quick kiss on her lips, making me feel queasy.
Ava was quick to close her mouth and cleared her throat a bit louder than normal, interrupting their moment. They immediately pulled away and looked at us, shocked to have some company. I felt my face begin to heat up and jabbed Ava in the ribs.
"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Nicole asked curiously with a soft smile.
"Uh, well," I said quietly, slowly averting my gaze to my toes.
"I guess we're your new roommates," Ava interjected, finishing my sentence.
"Oh, that's great!" Nicole responded, shimming out of Milo's hold. She pranced over to us and engulfed Ava in a hug. At first, Ava was surprised and froze like a deer caught in headlights, but then returned her embrace.
"I'm so glad you guys are my new roommates. I know we're going to be great friends!" Nicole said with a giant smile. She let go of Ava and shuffled to the side. I greeted her with a soft smile, and it was my turn to be engulfed with a warm embrace.
Nicole began to talk about all of the things the three of us could do together to bond, but I wasn't paying attention. My smile dropped as I looked over at Milo, and he gave me a small, friendly smile. But his eyes said something more.
There was a glint of something hidden behind his eyes that flashed briefly before he masked it away, hoping that I hadn't caught on. But unfortunately for him, I did.
That spark in his eyes scared me because I knew that look all too well. It was the same longing, yet crestfallen look I had on not too long ago.
I must be crazy, I thought to myself. He has Nicole. Why would he be disappointed?
For some stupid reason, I couldn't bring myself to look away. His stare was too powerful and enthralling.
Milo also seemed to have the same problem, and we continued to stare at each other for what felt like an eternity until Nicole stepped back, pulling me out of my daze.
"Sorry if it seems like I come on a bit too strong. I'm just a bit more friendly than most people, which I hope isn't a bad thing," she chuckled softly.
"Of course it isn't. It'll help us become friends even faster," I said, using only my lips to smile. Her shoulders relaxed a bit, and a brief second of awkward silence ensued.
"Well, we'll just get out of your way then, and you two can go back to...what you were doing," Ava said quickly, the awkward tension growing so thick that you'd need to cut it with a sword.
A blush crept onto Nicole's face as Ava grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the door.
"Oh no, you guys can stay if you want. This is your dorm too," Nicole said gently.
"We still should go though. We're actually meeting up with someone," replied Ava.
"Who?" Milo questioned, finally breaking his silence.
"James," I interjected.
A faint scowl played at Milo's lips, confusing me even more. With tensed shoulders, a tinge of jealousy and exasperation hid behind his eyes. What's up with Milo and James?
"Oh, well don't let me hold you up. I'll see you later then," Nicole said, oblivious to Milo's scowl.
"Bye!" Ava chirped, dragging me away against my own free will. As she closed the door, I took one last peek at Milo. Staring back at me, a slight frown was etched onto his face, as if he was disappointed to see us leave so soon.
The door clicked behind us, and we walked down the hall.
After we stepped onto the elevator and the door closed, Ava was finally able to let out her amusing thoughts.
"Geez, am I the only one who felt the sexual tension building up in there, or did you feel it too?" Ava jested playfully. I shoved her shoulder and rolled my eyes, feeling a bit of heat rise to my face.
"Shut up, Ava. There was no sexual tension building in there," I grumbled, sending her a glare.
"Are you serious? Didn't you see it? Milo clearly still likes you!" Ava exclaimed, shaking the elevator as she bounced up and down.
"Ava, stop!" I panicked as I pushed down on her shoulders, fearful that I would be stuck in the elevator shaft for hours with Ava pestering me about Milo. But thankfully the elevator reached the ground floor and we hopped out.
"No, he doesn't, he has Nicole. Besides, we haven't even spoken to each other in three years," I reasoned with Ava but also with myself.
Ava's words were causing those damn butterflies to beat their wings in my stomach again, and I didn't want that feeling. I could feel that tiny spark of hope was starting to ignite itself again, but it was useless. I'll never be with him.
"Umm, yes he does," she sang. "As soon as we caught them, Milo couldn't keep his eyes off of you. And when I looked back at you, it seemed like you were having the same problem," said Ava with her eyebrows raised. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at the same time.
"Maybe I had something on my face," I suggested.
"Yeah, you do. It's called beauty," a low voice said from behind, making me jump. I spun around and was met with round hazel eyes and a pearly white smile.
"Geez, James. You freaking scared me!" My hand was tightly clutched to the collar of my shirt as I took in a deep, calming breath.
"You're so easily startled, Hads," James chuckled.
"Really? I didn't notice." I tapped my chin as I pretended to think before faintly laughing. "Anyways, how did you get here so fast? I didn't even get a chance to text you yet, but BAM, here you are. Are you a mind reader?" I joked.
"Sadly, no," he chuckled. "I just got done with a class and was heading back to my dorm to put my things away. Then, I was going to text you and see if you wanted to catch up, but is now a good time?"
"Yup, right now is perfect," Ava chimed in.
"Great," James said with a smile and began to walk ahead of us. Ava followed not so far behind as she still clutched onto my arm, worried that I would make a run for it.
Ten minutes later, we stopped in front of a small coffee shop that had a sign hanging above it with the words, Bella's Café in swirled letters. When we entered, a tiny bell chimed off, and the young woman standing behind the counter flicked her gaze at us, a smile making its way onto her face.
"Well if it isn't one of my loyal customers," she sang. She looked like she was around James's age, maybe a bit older.
"What can I get for you? The usual?" She asked as James made his way towards the counter. Her crystal blue eyes reminded me of the clear waters of Bora Bora or the Maldives, something I had only seen in pictures. A beautiful contrast to her eyes, her ginger hair was wrapped up in a messy bun, sitting at the top of her head.
"You know it," James winked and turned back to Ava and I. "Do you guys want something?"
"I'll have a cappuccino, and the same thing for her, please," Ava spoke up and gestured towards me.
"And who are these two lovely ladies?" The cashier asked, turning her attention towards us. I looked at her apron and saw a name tag pinned to the corner. In blue ink, the name Bella was written neatly.
"I'm Ava and this Hadley." Ava gestured, smiling.
"They're friends from back home that's going to be attending Berkeley, and possibly new, loyal customers," James added. The corners of her mouth reached up to her eyes as Bella smiled.
"Well, any friend of James is a friend of mine. Tell you what, as a warm welcome, this one's on the house," she smiled.
After thanking Bella, we sat at one of the round tables in the shop, James joining us soon after.
"So, what are you two going to study at Berkeley?" James asked, resting his elbows on the table.
"Well, I'm going to be taking their Dance and Performing Arts program," I said, finally breaking my silence.
We continued to reminisce about our hopes and dreams that we had three years ago. Fortunately, I was able to turn my passion, dance, into a career as I had already gotten some offers from various dance groups and talent agencies that scouted me during some of my competitions.
Ava and James had also shared what their majors were, Ava's being English Literature and James's being Civil Engineering.
But as we kept on talking, with Ava mostly leading the conversations, I would constantly catch James peering at me, although I wouldn't show it. It'd only be for a brief second, but those brief seconds were starting to add up.
Behind those gray rimmed glasses, those hazel eyes would glimmer with something else that I couldn't exactly put my finger on. For a second, I thought it could've been something along the lines of desire, but I chuckled at myself internally for deriving the silly thought. That's crazy, Hadley.
"So besides that, what else is new? Anything interesting happened?" James asked with a goofy smile, looking between the two of us.
"Nothing much, everything back home is still pretty much the same," Ava mundanely said and shrugged. Bella approached our table and placed our drinks in front of us before returning back to the counter. "But California is a whole different story. I didn't expect anything big to happen during our first day here."
"What do you mean?" James curiously replied as he sipped on his coffee in a reusable cup.
"We found out who our other roommate is." James stayed silent so Ava could continue. "It's Nicole." James continued to stay silent as he gave Ava a confused look, waiting for her to elaborate again.
"You know...Nicole? Milo's girlfriend?" Ava prompted. Suddenly, as if James's drink had gone stale, the colors in his face depleted. I gave him a skeptical look, but he didn't seem to notice as he began to cough profusely, his face turning red, and earned a few glances from other customers in the shop.
"Oh my god, James are you okay?" I asked, panicking as I reached over and gave him some napkins.
When he was finally able to speak, he cleared his throat and said, "Yeah, I'm fine."
I began to suspiciously eye James again, confused as to why the mention of Nicole caused that type of reaction from him. He's hiding something.
"So, how's Milo?" Ava mentioned casually, discreetly throwing me a quick glance at me before focusing back on James. Oh, she's good.
"I have the same question. I don't know, to be honest. We don't really talk that much anymore," replied James, a saddened expression slowly seeping onto his face. He took a sip of his coffee and handed a soft smile before looking out the window, watching the cars pass by.
"Why not?" I asked, curious as to what's going on between the two of them.
"I don't know. I guess we just sort of drifted apart as time went on," James shrugged, the somber expression settling deeper onto his face. But I could tell he was holding back from telling us the rest of the story.
It just didn't make sense.
James and Milo were so close and have always been that way since we were little. How could they suddenly drift apart after all of the memories they've made together?
"Is that all? Just because of time?" I pressed on.
"Yeah, pretty much. I guess some friendships aren't meant to be," James supposed, but there it was again. For a second, his eyes showed that he was withholding something; a brief flash of hesitation.
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A/N: hey, so I know we haven't had much interaction between Milo and Hadley just yet, but be patient. The time will come! ;)
Thanks for reading, my darling readers! â¤ï¸
-Karlee ð