Pessimist

15 - Beach

"I think if I hear Mr. Turner breathe one more fucking time, I will shoot myself."

I was ranting to Alex about the tutorial we were just in, frustrated with the class the entire time. When I originally signed up to take it, I expected exciting topics not for him to drown on about the sorrows of the American Dream. We were in fucking Canada, why does it even matter?

"It wasn't that bad..." Alex defended poorly, knowing she was only saying that in hopes of making me feel better. .

"If you ever say that again, I'm considering leaving you behind."

"You wouldn't dare," She rolls her eyes. "I'm basically your only other friend besides Dean. Who, by the way, had apologized to me about his behaviour in your dorm. You trained him well."

"He's not a dog."

"It's a shame, isn't it? Even dogs smile more than he does." She sighed and I nudged her with my shoulder, understanding that she was only teasing.

"He smiles..."

"Yeah, at you. Honestly, Sophia, you must be some kind of Goddamn miracle because I've had Dean in two previous classes and not once have I seen him look happy. What the fuck did you do?"

"Attract him with my personal charm?"

"Yeah, that must be it." She smiled, glancing at me while we walked in the direction of the cafeteria. We still had half an hour before our next class, one that we were unfortunately having a quiz in. "Hey, lend me some of that, would you? I have a professor who I need to seduce in order to give me a good grade. Her class is basically impossible to pass."

"Who? Miss Sohib? I'm pretty sure Dean's had her before. Why don't you ask him for help?"

"No thanks." She waved me off while we stood in like for some pizza. "I'd rather not run out of his home crying."

"He wouldn't make you cry..." I started but trailed off once I saw the look on her face. "He really isn't that bad, Alex. He just really likes being alone. You remember when you took care of me, don't you? I was an asshole to you which, by the way, I'm still so fucking sorry for."

"The difference between you and him are that you were an asshole to me because you wanted to push me away. He was an asshole to me because he thought I hurt you."

When she said it out loud, I couldn't help but smile. He was so quick to come to my defence, it made me want to go home and kiss him all over again.

We were finally at the front of the line, ordering two slices each along with water before moving off to the side, waiting for our order.

"Still living with Dean?"

I nod, unconsciously playing with the necklace around my neck. I had looped in the ring he had given me so I could still wear both items, the ring not fitting any of my fingers securely enough.

"We came up with a system." I told her, glancing around at our surroundings. Students loitered around, some talking with their friends while others were looking down, intensely focused on completing their work. "After I asked the school for a refund since I wasn't living on campus anymore, I put that money into my savings and used it to pay for half of the apartment. We split up the bill evenly and with me now working at the diner across the street, I can easily pay for all of my expenses. Though, my student loans will take a while to pay back."

"That's good, I'm glad. Though, I have to ask...are you sure you aren't rushing into this? Moving in with him is a big step."

Her question was reasonable and as we picked up our orders and sat down at an empty bench, I twisted open my water bottle and took a sip before I replied.