Instigator

Good Things Come In Threes

It had been a week.

A week of classes.

A week of trying to avoid Josh, and pushing back the thoughts that had been plaguing her mind.

A week of dodging Jake and Sadie's pointed questions to try and find out who she was with at the party.

She found the best place to avoid it all was the library, finding a table near the back where no one could find her. It had worked over the last few days, her schoolwork spread across the table, back to the wall, able to see any and all people that could be coming over to bother her.

Y/n was surprised to see a familiar figure standing in an aisle just ahead of her. Josh stood in the film section, gently thumbing through different reels the university had on hand. She started gathering her papers before she had even realized she was doing so, but Josh had noticed the movement, his eyes flicking towards her. Their eyes locked for a split second before she tore hers away, shoving her laptop and papers into her bag and taking a long stride away from the table.

She heard him say her name, but she had already made her way into the photography aisle, dodging past students as she made her way towards the exit.

Y/n hadn't noticed the feeling of her phone falling from her pocket, but the feeling of someone catching up to her side made her pick up her pace.

"Excuse me, you uh— you dropped your phone." The voice was unfamiliar, and it stopped her in her tracks. She turned to see who the new voice accompanied, her eyes scanning his facial features, wondering why they looked so familiar before snatching her phone and muttering a quick thanks as she rushed towards the exit again.

"Anytime." He yelled after her, earning himself a wave of people shushing him.

Y/n made her way out the doors, relieved to have the expanse of free air overwhelm her senses until she heard another voice come from her side.

"Hey Y/n, how's your day going?"

"Jesus Christ." She said, free hand flying to her chest.

"Close, but not quite." He said, arm draping across her shoulder as he caught up to her.

"Ha ha. Very funny Jake." She said dryly.

"What are you up to? Anything fun?"

"Would you consider running into every person you're trying to avoid as fun?"

"If there's an ulterior motive, then yes."

"Well, I'll have you know that I was trying to avoid the last person I slept with, then ran into someone that looked eerily like you, and now here I am." She said, attempting to rearrange the contents of her bag as they walked.

"You ran into Josh?"

"No, some tall scrawny kid that looked more like your twin than Josh does."

"Oh, that shithead. That's Sam." Jake said, letting out a chuckle.

"Sam...?"

"My little brother. He's a freshman."

"Oh great, another Kiszka to wreak havoc on campus." Y/n said, letting her head lull back to look at the dull sky.

"Hey now. What have I ever done?" Jake questioned, looking at her.

She didn't answer, instead just looking at the boy with an eyebrow raised.

"That's fair. Have you eaten lunch yet?"

"I have not, do you wanna—"

She was interrupted by the calling of her name, the sound making her cringe as she slowly turned to look. Josh stood at the base of the library steps, holding one of her textbooks in his hand, a smug look painted across his features.