Wild Ride

Chapter 6: The Unspoken Connection

Xandria's pov

I woke up from sleep early today because I had an 8 am class I couldn't afford to miss. I stretched my arms and legs, yawning softly. I checked the time on my phone. It was 7:30 am. I had half an hour to get ready for class.

I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, took a shower and combed my hair. I applied some moisturizer and lip gloss. I looked at myself in the mirror. I was happy with my appearance.

I went back to my room and opened my closet. I had a lot of clothes to choose from, but I decided to go for something simple and formal. I picked out a milky white high-waisted silk pants and a V-neck baby blue blouse. I put them on and tucked in the blouse. Then I added some accessories: a pair of earrings, a necklace, and a Jacob & Co Rose Gold watch. I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my mini backpack.

I was ready to go. I checked the time on my phone again. It was 7:50 am. I didn't have enough time to eat, so I grabbed some cookies and cranberry juice to take later.

I smiled, and put my phone inside my backpack. I took my room key and locked the door behind me. I began walking to class, feeling the breeze on my skin and the morning sun on my hair. I was very happy and excited.

Lectures were so stressful today, I wish I could have just been in bed instead. After lectures, I was on my way to get food, I turned the corner to the restaurant and almost nearly collided with someone. My heart skipped a beat, and I stumbled back, only to find myself face-to-face with Mark—my friend who I hadn't seen in over two weeks.

“Xandria!” Mark’s eyes widened. “Fancy meeting you here.”

I chuckled. “Mark! I didn’t know you liked this place too.”

He smiled. "I'm a regular here. Their mashed potatoes are awesome. Always tastes so good."

I nodded, "I know right. It's one of my favourites here."

We walked into the restaurant together and both went to place our orders. After doing that, we went to get seats. I sat down, looked around the place, then my eyes landed at the table next to us. I spotted Damian and the mysterious man talking.

Damian spotting me first, smiled and waved a little, mysterious man noticing his friend's gaze had shifted from him, looked straight and at me. We held each other's gaze for 15 seconds before he turned his face.

"So", Mark said, breaking the silence, "how has classes been going for you?"

I smiled a little. "Well, it's been very hectic, but not too boring."

He laughed, "That's good, compared to my department where my lecturers hardly ever come and whenever they do, they give us assignments and deadlines on when to submit them."

One of the counter servers called for us to come and get our foods. I stood up but Mark motioned for me to sit down. "Don't worry, I got this", he said. I smiled appreciatively and thanked him. He brought mine first, then his.

After dropping his food, he went to get a drink for himself and on his way, he stopped and peered at the mysterious man's phone. "Woah, is that season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen that you are watching?", he asked.

"Yeah, it is", mysterious man answered. "That's cool man", Mark answered. Their conversation continued and I zoned off and focused on my food and thoughts.

Deep in thoughts. Firstly, I was impressed he watched anime. I was also shocked. Secondly, it made me develop a stronger fondness for him, because these days it's hard to see mature men watching such.

I was almost done with my food when Mark spoke to me, it was then I realised he was back at our table. "Uh, what? Sorry can you repeat yourself?", I said.

"I was saying, the guy over there asked if you had started watched season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen because I told him you were also into anime", I turned to where he was pointing at and realised the mysterious man was looking at me, patiently waiting for an answer.

"Yes, I have. Although I've only watched episode 1, I've been so swamped with classes and assignments, but I'll try to watch the remaining episodes this weekend ", I answered him.

"That's good. I would have been done watching it, but I've been busy writing my thesis. I hope to create time sometime this weekend and finish off the remaining 4 episodes."

"Did you just say thesis?", I asked with curiosity. "Yes, I said that, I'm a master's student at this university."

"Oh, wow. That's good. If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

"I'm Carl. And you?", he said. "I'm Xandria", I replied. He repeated my name out, probably testing it with his tongue.

"It's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl", he said. I blushed in response and thanked him.

Deep within me, I was so happy I finally knew his name, this way I will stop calling him the mysterious man.

"Alright, can we go now?", Mark asked interrupting my thoughts. "Sure, we can." I stood up to leave.

"See you around", Carl said. I waved goodbye to him and Damian.