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NOW PLAYING: mutual butterflies- ryan trey
↠ⁿᵉˣᵗ ˢᵒⁿᵍ ↺ ʳᵉᵖᵉᵃᵗ ⊜ ᵖᵃᵘˢᵉ
"These love things are mutual when they somewhat beautiful."
MAY 2022
ROME SAT IN THE PARKING LOT OF what used to be his university and scrolled through his Twitter timeline. After his second semester, he came to the conclusion that maybe college wasn't for him and decided to leave. It's not like he had declared a major anyways. He would just be wasting time and money staying at school when in reality, he had no idea what he wanted to be yet. Even though he dropped out, that never stopped him from going to see Jordan or India.
Looking up from his phone, Rome noticed her walking out of one of the campus cafeterias with a plastic bag in one hand and a Starbucks cup in the other. He locked his phone and placed it in his cup holder before hopping out of the car and jogging to the other side to open the car door for India. Her face lit up when she noticed Rome waiting for her. She put a little pep in her step so she could get to the car quicker.
"Hiiii." She dragged out once she stood in front of him. She smiled big enough for her eyes to appear closed and her cheeks to start hurting. She slid into the car and moved Rome's phone a little so she could sit her cup in the holder without either of them touching.
Rome walked around the front of the car and settled back into the driver's seat, immediately being hit with the cool sensation of the air conditioning. The scent of India's food mixed with her strawberry poundcake body spray filled the car.
"What's that?" Rome asked as he buckled his seat belt and studied the bag on India's lap. He could see the yellow writing on the bag but the way India held the bag made it hard for him to read the restaurant's name.
"You can try it and see if you like it." India responded and opened the bag, pulling out a cardboard food container and a fork. She opened both of them and passed the food to Rome who could do nothing but stare. "It's nachos made with chicken, rice, and two different kinds of cheese. Stop being picky for once and try it." Rome continued to stare at the food silently, trying to comprehend what India said.
"If these are nachos," he pointed down at the plate. "Where are the chips?"
"Ain't none."
"How the hell are you going to have nachos without chips?" Rome scrunched up his face and dipped his fork into the plate. "I'm still going to try the food but I don't think this would be considered nachos."
India watched in anticipation as Rome brought some of the "nachos" up to his mouth and started chewing. She tried to read his expressions to see if he liked the food but his face failed to give her any signs of how he felt. After he finished chewing and swallowing, Rome cleared his throat and passed the container back.
"I mean... it's not nasty. I just don't like how the flavor disappeared as soon as I started chewing. Now, what's that." He pointed down at the large cup with a pink-colored drink and strawberries in it.
"Oh, that? That's a venti strawberry açaí refresher with lemonade and sweetener." India repeated the words she said to the barista while ordering the drink a couple of minutes ago. She pulled most of the paper off of the straw before placing it in the cup and pulling the rest of the paper off. She swirled the drink around in the cup and brought it up to her lips taking a sip. India held the cup in Rome's direction, offering him a sip of the drink. He took a quick sip and gave it back to her so he could back out of the parking space.
"It's alright." Rome lied straight through his teeth. India could tell he liked it from the way his eyes widened when he got his first taste of the drink. "What's it called again?"
"A strawberry açaí refresher with lemonade and sweetener." India took another sip as she stared at the side of Rome's face. He kept licking his lips as if he was trying to get another taste of the drink, but if he wanted more all he had to do was ask. India didn't have a problem with sharing, most definitely not when it came to sharing things with her boyfriend.
After the party on the quad, India and Rome had gotten closer. They were friends for a little almost a year before their friendship turned into a relationship. They say opposites attract but at times, Rome still wondered how he managed to get India. He has never had an actual girlfriend but the few girls he talked to before India were all like him in a sense. Introverts that hated bringing too much attention to themselves, preferring to be out of the mix. If he brought the topic of their relationship up to India, Rome would learn that she felt the same way.
Truth be told, this was the longest relationship India had ever been in which is surprising considering how the relationship has yet to reach the one-year mark. All of her exes were toxic, there's no denying that. India swore up and down she hated the toxicity but at times, it excited her. It excited her so much that she would often wondering why things failed to work. Did she have commitment issues or did she just know her worth? At this very moment, she still has no idea what the answer is.
What she does know, however, is she likes Rome and the breath of fresh air he gives her compared to her other relationships. She also knows that he likes her because if he didn't, he would have never asked her to be his girlfriend back in August. Since the beginning of their friendship India could tell Rome was a good person so why would she turn down the chance of dating him? In her eyes, mutual feelings called for mutual attraction which means they had to be in a relationship. Call it mutual butterflies if you will.
Rome carefully maneuvered the car around the parking lot, occasionally stopping to let students pass or pull out of their parking spaces. He eventually found his way off campus and on the main roads of the crowded city. With traffic heavy and the traffic light turning red, Rome looked over at India and asked, "Can I have another sip of the refresher."
India smirked at Rome saying he liked the drink without actually saying he liked it. She took another sip before passing him the cup. "You can have it, I'll just stick with the nachos."
The light turned green as Rome grabbed the cup. The couple sat in a comfortable silence as Ryan Trey's "Mutual Butterflies" started to fade out and the next song started to play. They drove through the city with no specific destination, but neither of them complained. They were just happy to be around each other.
ʀᴜɴɴɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ᴇ.
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