STARING INTO OUTER space, the letter from the other day echoed throughout my head: For I am warning you so that history doesn't repeat. But he himself is not sweet. What the heck did that even mean? Warning for what? Who was he?
I was pulled away from my thoughts as someone called out my name multiple times, "Miss Summers."
"Hmm?" I hummed, eyebrows lifted.
"Care to join us while we warm up with some grand pliés?" Mistress Elaine suggested.
I looked around and realized that everyone was staring at me, waiting for me to get into second position. Warmth oozed to my cheeks as I adjusted my footwork, placing one hand on the bar and the other out to the side.
As Mistress Elaine counted aloud, I couldn't stop thinking about the note, despite how hard I tried to focus. The more time had passed, the more intrigued I became.
Luckily for the remainder of time, I was able to follow along, feeling fatigued after the good workout.
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"STILL NO LUCK in finding out who the culprit is?" inquired Ava as she munched on her Caesar salad.
I shook my head frustratedly, picking at the salad in front of me. "No, but I do have a few suspects."
Intrigued, Ava's eyebrows rose, "Care to elaborate?"
Drawing in a deep breath, my eyes shut briefly before opening and meeting with Ava's. "So far, all I could think of was Milo or Nicole."
She stayed quiet, waiting for me to continue. "I mean think about it," said I, leaning in closer while lowering my voice, "there was no return address or even a dorm unit on the envelope. And they were the only ones who saw it and supposedly found it at our doorstep," I claimed, using air quotes. "I don't know something just doesn't sound right to me."
"Oh please, why would either one of them want to send a letter like that to you?" Ava said with disbelief.
"Well, a few weeks ago when I told Milo about going out with James to meet his "roommate", he told me to be careful. Why would he tell me to be careful when I would be with James?"
Ava opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off, holding up my pointer finger to her face. "And maybe it's Nicole because this is her way of getting back at me for fracturing her toe," my eyebrows shifted up. Pretending to dust off my hands, I sat back in my chair, "Case closed."
"You're. Going. Insane," Ava pointed her fork at me as she paused between every word, dramatically rolling her eyes.
"Hell yeah, I am!" Flailing my arms and speaking a bit too loud, a few of the students inside the cafe, Bella's, with us glanced in our direction. "I'm curious as hell in finding out who sent that note, what it means, and why."
Ava huffed and shifted in her seat, throwing her fork into the empty salad container and resting her elbows on the table, head in one palm.
"Well, on another note, how's it going with James?" Wiggling her eyebrows, a smirk formed across her lips.
"It's going well, I guess," I nonchalantly claimed, although my cheeks gave away something different.
Ava giggled, "You know, I never imagined that after all these years, you and James would end up together. What a plot twist."
"Slow down, Ava. The farthest we've gone was holding hands." I placed my hands in the air in front of me.
"But you like him though, right?"
"It's...complicated," I mumbled, looking down as I fiddled with my fingers.
Ava opened her mouth to say something witty but shut it as it dawned on her. "You still like Milo too, don't you?" Her voice was slow and wary, her statement coming out in a questioning tone. I sheepishly nodded.
Ava blew out of her mouth, ruffling her hair, "I know you're trying your best to figure things out, but when you do figure it out, don't lead him on, okay? It wouldn't be fair for him."
The table vibrated and I glanced over to see who the text was from.
James
Can't wait for tonight ;)
"Ooh, what's tonight?" Ava wiggled her eyebrows with a smirk, peering over my shoulder. I instinctively pulled the phone closer to my chest, feeling warmth creep up on my cheeks.
"Um, we're going on another date. To the movies," I softly smiled. Ava's smirk grew into a colossal smile as she bit her lip to keep herself from exploding in her chair. Without warning, Ava snatched my phone and tapped away before I could even blink.
Same here, can't wait for our date! :)
"Why did you put that last part?" I groaned, feeling my cheeks turn crimson red. She simply chuckled in response, having a satisfied grin. Feeling like my lungs were being constricted of air, I picked myself up and trudged out of the cozy cafe.
"Have fun," I heard from behind. Why do feelings have to get so complicated?
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"SO, WHAT DID you think of the movie?" inquired James as we exited the theater. Humming for a response, I drew in a deep breath, feeling the cool autumn air brush against my skin.
"It was alright," I shrugged. "Kind of predictable if you ask me."
"How so?" His eyebrows lifted in amusement.
"Well, when she wandered away from the group and bumped into someone in the sixties, I could sort of see what was coming."
The movie, In Hindsight, told the story of a girl who traveled in the past and accidentally bumped into a relative. Because of that, it caused her life to change forever, and because the time machine she traveled in was destroyed when she went back to the future, she wasn't able to go back and fix her mistake in the past. Typical time travel plot.
"Fair," James slowly bobbed his head in agreement.
As we leisurely strolled down the street, a comfortable silence lingering with James falling in step, I glanced up at the starry night sky, not a single cloud in sight to hide the mesmerizing sprinkles of light.
"Calming, isn't it?" James spoke, also looking up with a soft smile as we stopped for a moment. I nodded, glancing over at him as I took in his features, his sharp jawline and brown tousled hair that paired well with his plain black glasses.
"Whenever I can't sleep, I look up at the stars and it always takes my breath away." James smiled down, slipping his hands into mine and intertwining our fingers, "Kind of like you."
My breath hitched as he pulled us around a corner and stopped in front of an ice cream shop, all the while I continued to blush profusely.
"Here's our next stop," James announced, pulling the door open.
Ironically, I ordered a Nutella, Strawberry, Banana crepe while James got plain, strawberry ice cream. We sat on two stools in the corner of the small shop, devouring the sweet treats with no words said in between.
"Mmm, that was good," I sighed, wiping my mouth with the napkin. James looked down at his phone, checking the time.
"We should head back. It's almost nine and classes start early tomorrow." Sliding off the stool, we threw away our rubbish and headed back to campus.
Twenty minutes later, we arrived back on Berkeley grounds, James ceremoniously walking me to my dorm. As we neared my dorm, fingers intertwined, I drew in a deep breath, feeling my muscles completely relax.
We stopped in front of the lobby entrance and I turned to face James. "Tonight was great," I smiled. "It was fun."
Even though it was fun, a voice in my head made me feel like I forced myself to say that. But I did have a great time tonight, didn't I?
"Yeah, I had fun too. Especially all of the times when I saw you blush," he smirked. He then pulled our hands up and placed a gentle kiss on the back of my hand.
I rolled my eyes dramatically, trying to suppress my blushing tendency. "Was that the highlight of your night?" I teased.
He feigned being in thought, "Mmm, yup," he chuckled. "Goodnight, Hadley."
He untangled his fingers from mine but stood in place, drilling holes into my eyes with his intense gaze. Then, he slowly leaned down, eyes closing. There was enough time to stop him, but I didn't.
His soft, plump lips brushed against mine, giving me a goodnight kiss. I closed my eyes and slowly kissed him back, feeling a small spark. James pulled away first, smiling down softly as our faces were still mere inches apart.
"Goodnight, James," I whispered, feeling a tight squeeze in my chest as I stared into his hazel eyes. He lingered for a second more before retreating back. I pushed the door to the lobby open, waving goodbye to James.
I watched as he stuck his hands in his pockets and slowly descended down the few shallow steps before stopping and turning around one last time to shoot me a smile. Right when he turned back around and headed to his dorm, the elevator pinged and I stepped inside, my pulse still beating erratically.
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A/N: Hello everyone! I know this chapter wasn't that interesting (at least in my opinion), so I tried to keep it short. There was some significance though. Things have been moving kind of slow, but starting next chapter, things will speed up a bit.
Have a great day or week!
-Karlee ð