We Are Just Friends...right?- Justin Degryse × OC

Chapter 15 - New Friends

* Intrise POV *

I dropped my bag on the table, and then flopped down the sofa on our common room. Beside me, Maya and Emily joined my tired self, while the boys took the bean bags for themselves. It was just us so far, we had rushed here as soon as dinner was over.

"Is it just me or was the tour EXHAUSTING?" Maya groaned.

"Not just you, bestie, same. It was wayyy too long.", I said, and poor Emily could only groan and nod twice in agreement.

"Well, at least tomorrow we will be given free reign to mix with the other students and have fun", Connor said sipping on a cup.

Maya narrowed her eyes on him. "Connor! Did you just nick off a cup of cold chocolate from dinner??!"
  My eyes trailed down to the Connor's hands and sure enough, it was a cold chocolate right there.
"Erm...Maybe?" He said hesitantly

Maya looked ready to kill.
"We're supposed to be responsible prefects! We  cannot set a bad example, and taking unpacked food from the cafeteria is against the rules!" She fumed.

"Chill Maya, no one's gonna listen to that rule any time soon anyway-"

"You- you- But-"  We couldn't help but laugh as Maya fumed over Connor's nonchalance. They were a cute couple, and their adorable banter only served as further entertainment for the rest of us.

Usually I kept my thoughts around me when near my friends, but today my mind wandered away. "Who was that guy back in the hall? Why was he staring at me? And more importantly, why did I feel the need to go talk to him so bad? "

  Just thinking about him let a small blush appear on my cheeks, and I had to shake my head to remind myself to come back to now.
I blinked back into focus and saw Emily staring at me, wide eyes. I smiled at her, and decided to ask her about her school, but guess someone else beat me to it.

"Hey, Emily, what's Daffodils like? Do you have extra co-curriculums or do you just have school clubs?" Max asked.

Her green eyes snapped towards Max, and I could tell she was surprised to be addressed at all. "Wonder why? She seems like such a sweet girl, but she's always so anxious and twitchy."

"We-well, we have clubs that meet every Mondays and Fridays, yes, but we do have skill subjects too. We can choose a-any activity off the board charts the sta-start of term and go with it."  Her reply was smooth, as compared to before, though her cheeks were still red. She looked at me with this strong message if "I need to get away!!"- and being the person I am, I offered to escort her out till the rooms where visitors are staying.

"But-"  Max began, where Justin cut him off.
"Dude, she needs rest, just like we all do. Why don't we head to our own dorms now?"

Stan seconded this idea, and so I slipped out with Emily.

She breathed out in relief the very second we stepped out of the room, and gave me this look of gratitude which I had to lessen down.
"Max doesn't really mean any harm, you know, nor does he dislike you. Quite the opposite, I should think. I won't be surprised if he likes you or anything. I mean, if you're still uncomfortable around him, it's okay, you don't need to-"

"N-no, it's just that-"  Emily mumbled, blushing, "we'll, I never really had anyone pay much attention to me, I'm not really used to it. And he's, well, cute...."

I had to laugh out  her mumbled confession. They were both so cute, we needed to watch out before we got out Maya × Connor.02 in this group.

"You two would be sweet together. Atleast you'll have someone..." I trailed away. It just seemed so unlikely that Justin would ever see me as anything more than a friend, I wish I could move on.
  Emily must have noticed that I was staring at the distance for no apparent reason at all, so she broke the silence before it could get awkward.
"Di-did you ever have a boyfriend, Intrise?"

I smiled at her innocent, curious tone. "Yes, I once did date this one guy back in middle school. We decided we'd be better off as friends, so we broke up within a few months"

"And you haven't been on any dates since then?", she seemed genuinely curious.

"No, not really. I guess I've been waiting for the right one to come along." I mused.

"Well, could one try to be the right one now?" I was startled at the unexpectedly smooth voice and turned around to be find a pair familiar of gentle chocolate brown eyes staring at me.
"Might I interest you in a bookstore-cafe date, señorita?"

My brain turned into mush. It was the boy from the hall.

__________________________________________________________________________

A/N

Well, I did tell you that I won't completely abandon this....
No matter how cringe I write, I will finish this....someday.
And this just might be THE most important year of my educational years, but, uh, yeah, I'll try.
I promised.

So here you go, a update for "We're Just Friends...right?" after more than a year!
Let's see where we go from here-
                          -Polaris Celeste✨