Get A Room!

~:*:~ Fifty-Five ~:*:~

Chace

"We don't have our first class until ten, so we have time to hit up the diner just off campus for breakfast! Are you almost ready to go?"

"I don't want to go there."

"Okay, then how about we go to the bagel place? We'll probably have a lot of spare time after we eat, so we can stop into the campus bookstore to pick up that textbook you forgot to buy."

"I'll buy it later."

"Sure... so then we can just chill at the bagel shop until class if you're too tired to move around."

"I don't want to sit around there."

"Uhhhh, okay. Then we can just go to the coffee cart! You love to hang out there... or we can just grab our food to go? I'm fine with heading straight to the lecture hall if you want to sleep on the desks there-"

"I might as well just sleep a little more here."

This was getting fucking ridiculous. Why was Ian being so short with me this morning? There's no way it chalked up to 'first day jitters', so something else had to be going on.

I let out a heavy sigh as I offered, "Do you want me to go pick you up breakfast then? I can bring it here, or just meet you at the lecture hall whenever you're ready..."

"I can get my own breakfast."

He wasn't even looking at me. He just sat in his desk chair and perused the internet for nothing in particular just to look busy.

I wasn't about to fall into his wormhole of despair. If he didn't want to outright tell me why he was in a mood, then I wasn't going to play his game with prompts of concern and interest.

"Fine, I'm heading out then. I'll see you in class."

I swung open our door just ask Miriam was about to knock. Her cheeks flushed as she smiled up at me in embarrassment. She was nervously holding a box of chocolates and a card in her other hand, trying to hide it behind her back.

Oh, I get it now! Ian must have been in a bad mood because of something Miriam said or did last night on their date. When I came back to the room, I was surprised to find him already in bed with his eyes glued shut. It never occurred to me to associate his morning mood to his early bedtime last night. The chocolates and card were probably part of her apology.

"Great timing!" I exclaimed both in reference to our synchronized movements to the door and to Ian's poor mood that was in desperate need of lifting.

She smiled, "I'm glad I caught you before class. I didn't want to waste any more time."

"Well, he's all yours! I'll leave you both to it."

I tried to step around her, but she blocked my path and spoke frantically, "Oh, wait! Please don't go just yet..."

I added dumbly, "But I'm really hungry."

"Okay... then I'll go with you! Let's get some breakfast! I know how much you love it..." She teased playfully in reference to Ian's previous lie.

"But Ian isn't coming with me to get food. I'm just gonna see him in class-"

"That's great! It will give us a chance to talk properly."

I was beyond confused. "So you'll stay here to talk with Ian?"

She laughed flirtatiously before correcting me, "No, silly! I'm going with you!"

I looked back into the room to see that Ian was still just scrolling through his computer, but his tense shoulders and contorted face told me that he'd been listening to us. I turned back to Miriam. "I'm confused. Aren't you here to make-up with Ian, or something? Are those not apology chocolates with a card?"