A Guide to Love (ONC 2023)

Chapter 4

It was awkward.

Very awkward.

Mila had walked in on Julius in the library, and had stopped awkwardly, wondering if he still remembered her. The boy was calling someone, who was either reprimanding him or flirting with him, she didn't know. All she knew was that he was constantly blushing and scratching the back of his neck.

"Stop! Ma, I-er, I have to go now, I-"

A long line of words followed, and he lowered his head, changing into a different language. Mila, awkward as always, dropped her bag onto a chair, wishing desperately that someone, anyone would show up and stop this awkward moment. A moment later, a girl with bubblegum-pink hair sat down across from her, throwing her water bottle haphazardly onto the table and thunking textbooks down.

"Hello!" she said.

Definitely an extrovert.

"Uhm, hi!" she glanced down at her book. She had decided on Immortal Longings, a book that Lila had gotten for her 20th birthday.

"Mind if I study here? What are you majoring in?"

"Uhm, yeah sure, you can study here. I'm majoring in philosophy. You?" Mila didn't know what she was saying, only hoping that the girl could continue this conversation.

"Thanks! I'm majoring in engineering right now, my name's Vivian, what's yours?"

"Mila. Mila Jordans."

At that moment, Julius plopped down next to Mila. "Hey! Mila, right?"

"SHHHHH!" the librarian hissed.

"Hey Julius!"

Vivan smiled a secretive smile at them, and flipped open her books and grabbed some graph paper.

"Whatcha doing here?" He fixed some papers and picked out a random book on the shelf. Flipping it open to a random page, he read a few paragraphs. "Oh right, you're studying here."

It was at that time that Mila realized that Immortal Longings was going to have to wait.

*_*_*_*_*_*

"Can someone come to the bathroom with me?"

Scarletta sighed a little. She was in the park with Celia and her friends, reading a book outside, and one of her friends, Cassandra, was not in the least interested in her book.

"Yeah, sure." Celia dogeared her book, Instant Karma, and threw it onto the picnic blanket, where Isabella was currently digging around for more chips.

Isabelle sat up, and collected her books. "I need to get to class now, I told my professor that I would come in to check in on my essay."

Waving a hand at her, Scarletta rolled onto her back. The afternoon sun was bright, and she threw her sunglasses on. People were throwing frisbees, lounging in the last glimpses of sunlight, and others talking about their classes. College hadn't been too hard, and all her professors were quite nice, as well as the fact that she had made plenty of friends such as Celia, Cassandra, and Isabelle.

"I should get going too. I told my mom that I would call her around 5 everyday." She packed up her book and grabbed her water bottle. "See you guys later."

Packing up, Scarletta started across campus, and spotted a familiar mop of pink hair. "Vivi!!" she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"SCAR!!" the equally loud yell came back, as Vivian barreled through the crowd. "I forgot that you were coming!!"

Vivan, her highschool bestfriend, had moved to LA, and, consequently, they had lost connection-until a few weeks ago, when she had posted Stanford, here I come!! with a photo of her acceptance letter. Scarletta had immediately called her, and asked her about it, excited. The two friends had thus learned about their going to the same university, and now, Scarletta finally remembered about this.

"Where were you?" Scarletta asked after Vivan slung an arm around her.

"Library. Was with a girl called Mila, and then some guy came and I left."

"I know her! She's one of my roommates. Wonder who that guy was."

"Dunno! He had a nice accent though." Vivan pulled open a pack of gum. "Gum?"

*_*_*_*_*

Kathleen was not expecting this.

After going to the music room with Aspen, he had considered going out for boba, and she agreed, needing time to catch up with the childhood friend. It was surprising how many people she knew got into Stanford, considering that it was an elite school, but, again, most of the people she knew were pushed to the brink by their parents. But again, it was surprising with the fact that she had passed Scarletta, who had her arm slung around a pink-haired girl, so she assumed that Scarletta knew someone as well.

"Hello! May I have a mango milk tea boba with jelly in it?" Aspen leaned on the counter, reading the menu.

The girl at the counter tapped at the screen, and smiled at Kathleen. "And what would you like?"

"Uhm, can I have lemon milk tea with extra boba and honey?" she pulled out her phone, and was about to pay when Aspen inserted his card.

"My treat!"

The girl smiled again, and gave Aspen the receipt. "Here you go, and have a nice day!"

Once the bobas had been ready, Kathleen and Aspen walked out to her Volkswagen beetle, a birthday gift from her parents that were currently in Europe. She slammed the car door, started the engine up, and Aspen got in on the passenger side.

"How's Auntie?"

"You know, the normal."

"So...the 'be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, or disappointment?"

"Basically."

Kathleen's phone rang then, with an incoming call of Mom, and she groaned. "Aspen, tell her I'm driving right now."

"Your phone does that for you, idiot."

Kathleen rolled her eyes at him. "Guess what, that only happens when they message you."

"Fine..."