running on e.

PROLOGUE: talk 2 u

NOW PLAYING: talk 2 u—brent faiyaz

↠ⁿᵉˣᵗ ˢᵒⁿᵍ ↺ ʳᵉᵖᵉᵃᵗ ⊜ ᵖᵃᵘˢᵉ

"I wanna know everything about you, but first I gotta talk to you."

OCTOBER 2019

EVERYTHING ABOUT HER infatuated him. From the way her eyes would light up just before she started to laugh to the way she would move her hips almost perfectly to the beat of every song she loved. She was a complete enigma to him and he wanted to know more about her than what he saw on the surface. He wanted to know what kind of person she became when she was alone and what or who made her that way. He wanted to know what made her tick, what made her happy, and what she couldn't live without.

She made her way around the packed quad, greeting her classmates and people she did not know with a smile. A smile that could light up the darkest of places and warm the coldest of hearts. A smile that could rival the sun on its best day and make a similar expression creep across the face of anyone in her presence. She was a real social butterfly... unlike him. While she wanted to talk to everyone and 'network' as she would say, he wanted to stand back and observe everyone around him.

She made her way closer to his area with her friends not far behind. With each step she took, the harder it became for him not to focus on her. His friend and roommate, Jordan, tapped him on the shoulder and pointed at the woman he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of.

"Yo, Rome, I know that's not who I think it is!" Jordan exclaimed as she got closer. "How you doing, India?" He asked and pulled her into a hug once she got closer. He knew about Rome's little crush on India and even though he could easily get them together, he decided not to. Why? Could it be the fact that he knew Rome would rather make the move himself? Or could it have been him using his better judgment in the situation?

On the other hand, Rome would often wish he could have been more like Jordan. Ever since the two of them met in sixth grade, Jordan just made girls gravitate towards him without as much of a word. Maybe it was the greenish-hazel eyes. Or maybe it was the fact that he towered over almost everyone in their grade at the time.

Rome tuned out the conversation and fought the urge to take a look at India now that she stood right beside him. The fruity scent of her perfume easily drifted through his nostrils despite them standing near the food trucks and a bunch of potheads.

"I know you, right?" The question caught Rome's attention because he knew for a fact that the question wasn't aimed at Jordan. He looked down to see India talking to him. On the outside he seemed calm, cool, and collected. On the inside, he was panicking. What would he say to someone like India? A simple 'yeah, we have algebra together.' would have done him justice, but he wanted to say more than that. What else could someone as boring as Rome say to someone as interesting as India? "I don't think we've met, but we have algebra together, right? With Dr. Luke?"

"Uh," Rome cleared his throat. "Um, yeah, we do."

"Oh, well I'm India Santana, kinesiology major." She smiled and held out her hand. By now she had forgotten about her friends who were taking their sweet time ordering at the birria taco truck. Rome had also forgotten about Jordan who was standing nearby smiling at the interaction

"Romero Porter, Undeclared." Rome returned the smile and shook her hand.

"Are you ready for homecoming?" India moved out of the way of the rowdy group behind her, placing herself directly beside Rome.

"Eh, it doesn't really matter to me." Rome shrugged and shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. Which was the truth. He couldn't care less about homecoming. Matter of fact, he forgot why Jordan had him out on the quad in the first place. Homecoming and all of the festivities that came with it weren't his thing and even though he hated it, he hated the thought of missing out and hearing about it later even more. Now that India was here, it seemed like the night had gotten better.

The whole night India had been walking around and bouncing from one group of people to the next. For some reason, she stayed near Rome and continued a conversation, much to his surprise. That night on the quad opened the door for a lot of opportunities. One of them being a beautiful friendship that would turn into an even more beautiful relationship.

ʀᴜɴɴɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ᴇ.

Hey! I hope you all enjoyed the prologue to Running on E. I wanted to make a quick little author's note to see how you guys were feeling about the book,India, and Rome so far. Chapter one will be up shortly! As always,

ENJOY!