Not Today | ✔️

Chapter Eight.

"Just call my name
And I'll be there..."

✧✧✧

"Hot."

"Cold."

"Hot!"

"Cold."

"Hot."

"I'm telling you, cold pizza is better than hot pizza," Tristan said.

"Absolutely not. You're in denial. Pizza is meant to be eaten while it's hot and the cheese is melty. It tastes the best that way!" Evelyn exclaimed, her hands moving as she spoke to emphasize her statement.

"Tell your tastebuds they're bad at their job, because you're wrong. Cold pizza tastes better," he said childishly.

Evelyn let out a small laugh at his... interesting choice of words. "My taste buds are wonderful at their job, thank you very much. Tell your taste buds to stop slacking, because you're wrong."

"I'm not wrong."

"You're wrong."

"That's a matter of opinion," he said.

"Great, I agree," she paused, speaking up once she saw Tristan's satisfied expression. "And my opinion is that your opinion is wrong," she finished, her expression becoming satisfied as she watched the sour expression on his face.

Ah, the sweet taste of victory.

During the past few weeks, Tristan and Evelyn had been sitting next to each other in the library. The first week started out rocky, to say the least, Evelyn making all the efforts to talk to Tristan and being brushed off quite a bit, but by the next week, she found that at times, when she had to stand at the reference desk, instead of having the freedom to sit at the tables next to him, he would change his seat, so he could be closer to her, or just stand by her, altogether.

He even asked if there was anything he could do to help once, which there wasn't but it was a nice thought. A far cry from the behavior that he started with. And she realized, with a small smile, all the little things she learned about him, whether from him telling her or her simply observing. She now knew much more than six simple things about him.

It was eighteen days since she'd first sat next to him and they were arguing over cold and warm pizza. Tristan wouldn't admit it, but she was sure they were becoming... friends.

They were not so close that they talked about anything personal, only argued over superficial things like the temperature of pizza, and they only ever spoke in the library, not at school or hanging out at their homes, but she hadn't had a friend in years, and it felt nice having someone who came close to that.

"What are you thinking about? You just checked out on me," he said, waving his hand in front of her face slightly.

She smiled, parting her lips with the intention of speaking, but having the sound which could only be the generic tune of a ring tone begin to play. She knew it wasn't her ringtone, as the sound traveled from Tristan's pocket to her ears, alerting her of the incoming call he was getting.

He pulled his phone from his sweatshirt pocket, a crease forming between his brows and his pink lips pulling downward in a frown as he checked the caller ID, getting up to take the call, leaving the library, in a courteous, yet rushed manner.

Evelyn's curious nature was nagging her to see why he reacted to the caller the way he did, but she ignored that side of her, instead focusing on another task, getting engrossed in it, until she heard him come back in, jumping slightly.