so slay, but also scary. also I'm gonna stop w these little rando paragraphs before the chap starts, they seem useless
first person pov
"What the actual hell." I internally screamed, dropping my bags on the ground in the process.
This caused the man on the couch to abruptly look up and pause his game.
"Do I know you?" He asked in French, craning his neck to get a better angle.
How I was able to piece that sentence together, I have no idea.
"Um, this is supposed to be my dorm room?" I stated, though it sounded more like a question at this point.
"Carlinha? That's who my roommate is supposed to be." The boy replied, full British accent coming on.
Okay well at least he speaks English.
I shook my head while he opened up his phone, scrolling intently for something.
"Wait sorry, Catalina? That must be you right?" He confirmed, showing me the email he'd received.
I nodded, "Yeah Catalina Alonso. And you are? Sorry they never confirmed whether or not I'd have a roommate. Especially not a male one."
"I'm Gabriel Seang, from London. I got an email a few days ago that I'd be getting a roommate. You know how back on the main campus in Boston they're having dorm shortages? Well apparently it extended out here to their international European campuses. So to combat that, they're rooming guys and girls together if necessary. I probably should've paid more attention to the email because I was sure you were gonna be a guy." Gabriel explained.
"Thought the name Catalina was a dead giveaway." I mumbled.
"Listen, I'm not going to go around assuming people's genders." Gabriel held his hands up in defense, clear he was joking.
"Call me Gabe." He smiled, coming closer to shake my hand.
"Call me Lina, or Catalina. Whichever works." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Well Lina. I think this could be a great friendship. That is...if you like playing COD." Gabe offered, raising an eyebrow at me.
I laughed, "I mean I've only played like once but sure."
I surrendered, plopping down on the couch with him as he passed me a controller. He tried to reexplain the directions to me, but it was getting nowhere, so we just played. It did not take long for me to realise how terrible of a player Gabriel was. He got beat quite badly, and was quite the sore loser.
"Another round?" I smirked, holding up my controller.
Gabriel shot me a dirty look, "Absolutely not. We're watching the ligue one instead."
I shrugged my shoulders with a lazy smirk on my face.
"Also you do realise how out of context you could've sounded right?" Gabriel laughed, switching channels.
"What do you mean?"
"Another round?" Gabriel emphasised, winking.
I groaned, at how that sounded now, before smacking him with a pillow.
"You watch football?" Gabriel asked, gesturing at the TV.
"Somewhat yeah. I'm super big on international football, the prem, and champions league. I don't go near ligue 1, serie A, or any of that crap." I answered, adjusting my eyes to the screen.
PSG were toe to toe with Marseille, 2 to 2.
"Fair. I'm more of a prem guy myself." Gabriel agreed with me.
I was about to say something when Gabriel started shouting at the television.
"FUCK YOU MBAPPE. I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!"
I had to cover my ears at the shear noise. After he was yelling, Gabriel however, just went back to watching like normal. I snapped my fingers in front of his face.
"What was that all about?"
"Oh sorry. I don't have anything against PSG, I love Messi, Neymar, and Hakimi. Just some unresolved feelings from the World Cup quarterfinals." Gabriel grinned sheepishly.
"Oh yeahhhh. You're English! Your lack of an accent sometimes makes me think you're American." I thought out loud.
"So, you really hate Mbappe after his little cheering when Kane missed his pen?" I guessed.
Gabriel nodded, "He's good, I'll give him that but I loathe him. Mbappe's public enemy number one."
I laughed inwardly. That summer night just a few months ago was more like a dream. I was so sleep deprived, it didn't seem real. Especially since I had no contact with him right after I said goodbye. Kylian has honestly never found his way into my mind after that night. I rarely thought about him. We were both a little delirious. But it was fun.
The only person I'd told about the encounter was Emme, who of course was very excited for the time being. But that whole event quickly became overshadowed by me moving to Paris. So here I was, watching a PSG game, at my apartment, in Paris.
While I was in my thoughts, PSG had scored another goal, Neymar with an assist from none other than Kylian Mbappe. Gabriel chucked the remote down in frustration. I looked at him trying not to laugh. Gabriel was a funny character. I decided to go Instagram just to confirm if he was legit. It may not have been the best manner of a background check but hey, something's better than nothing.
I looked around the room and spotted a bunch of papers with the name Gabriel Seang. Oh right, that's his last name. I quickly punched the name into my Instagram and smiled as a profile matching his look and energy popped up. Thankfully he was public. I scrolled down to check some of his photos. Okay, he was legit. At the very least, I didn't have to worry about him kidnapping me. At least I think.
Damn, I was hungry.
"Wanna get something to eat?" I suggested.
"Yeah okay. There's a bunch of cafes and shoppes right down the street."
We both got up, grabbed our things and put on some shoes before heading out the door, to which point I stopped him.
"Bro, you gotta put a shirt on." I ordered, pushing him back into the apartment.
Gabriel rolled his eyes and grabbed a sweatshirt.
"Happy now?" He grunted.
"Ecstatic!" I cheered with false enthusiasm.
This time, it was him who pushed me out the door as we began our walk to the elevator. Gabriel however stopped in his tracks abruptly.
"Wanna race?" Gabriel proposed.
He reminded me a lot of my brother.
"Stairs." I directed him to the stairwell where we both got ready to sprint down four flights. I would definitely lose but I didn't really care. Being with Gabriel made me feel like I was with my brother again. It made me feel less alone in this big city in this foreign country.
And for that, I was very thankful.
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the brother sister relationship they're about to have is the cutest! I'd like to think of Gabriel as Catalina's best friends in Paris (Francesca, Colette, and Hakimi will be close seconds).
