The Math of Love

Chapter 3 - Coffee Dates

Maya

Edward and his friends decided to go to a coffee shop that was 30 minutes away from campus, which I was not happy about since I had a lot of homework to get to when I got home, but I chose to ignore Edward and his obnoxious friends and started on my homework as soon as we found a table at the coffee shop.

After a while the bell at the coffee shop rang and the person who I least expected to see there appeared to be entering the coffee shop. Gregory, and a pretty girl that was almost as tall as him, step into the coffee shop. I could not help but stare at the way his white jacket complimented his skin. Something about this boy made me curious and I could not wrap my head around why.

Gregory and I lock eyes, an action that seemedly has become a habit since we first saw each other. Edward and one of his friends approach Gregory and the unknown girl, and after a while they all start laughing. I wondered what made them chuckle like that. I stand up, clear on my intention of going to the bathroom, when the girl that was with Gregory also does the same. The stalls are all full, to my bad fortune. The girl and I had to make a line in order to go to the bathroom. After a while, we were both washing our hands when she decided to speak to me.

"You go to school with Gregory right?" She asks.

"Yup," was the only thing that came out of my mouth.

The girl went on to bombard me with questions about Gregory that I didn't even have the answers to since I had barely even spoken to him. She asked about how he was with the teachers, the other students, and me. She asked a lot of questions about me too, which to be honest, made me feel a little uncomfortable since I did not like her. 

*Why didn't I like her?* She seemed curious about me, just as much as I was curious about her, but I asked 0 questions. I did not want Gregory thinking I wanted to get close to him as he seems to believe based on what Edward had implied. I learned the girl's name at least, Ally, who told me Gregory had a sister named Crystal.

When we return from the bathroom Gregory and Edward had already made themselves comfortable in the table that I was studying in. I sit down and try my best to concentrate on the presentation I was working on for my Anatomy and Physiology Lab. 

I struggle to get anything done as I feel someone looking at me. I look up and Gregory is staring straight at me. The intensity with which he was looking at me almost made me flinch. After realizing this I insisted Edward on leaving because I was tired. Edward called me a party pooper, but agreed to make his friends leave.

We say bye to Gregory and his little friend and make our way out of the coffee shop. They both stare at me as we are leaving.

I take a quick nap on our way home and when I open my eyes Edward is pinching my nose to wake me up.

"Asshole," I snort out.

"Love you," he says and gets his head out of the car just to say bye to my mom.

As soon as I step into my small apartment my nostrils are filled with the tasty smell of pupusas. A must have in a Salvadoran household. My mom sure knows how to put me in a good mood. When coming tired and burnt out from school, warm delicious pupusas can put anyone in a good mood.

My sister is reading, a habit I brag she got from me, and my brother is helping my father out with whatever handy job my mom had assigned to him. My parents did not have the perfect relationship, but it was better than some of the relationships I have seen between the parents of some of my friends.

I have to confess: There was a time in our lives where we did not live as harmonically, if you can even describe it that way, as we now do. I try to not think about those dark times, but I often find myself wandering off to those memories I wish I could forget.

"Que tal la escuela (how was school?)" asks my dad. A phrase he says to me almost everyday after school.

"It was okay pa (my way of calling him dad), lo mismo de siempre (the same as always), but I went out for a bit with Edward today. Mom told you right?"  I ask.

"Of course she did, who do you think gave you the permission?" He says with a proud smile on his face, obviously waiting for my mom's reply to that comment.

"Aja (mhmm)," was the only thing my mom said. Unbothered and sure of herself. That is how my mom usually shows herself when it comes to replying to my dad's jokes or comments.

I eat my delightful dinner while I do my homework, and though I have been trying to have a rule of no phone out when eating or doing homework, in which case I was now doing both, I could not help but look at my screen and what I saw was very unexpected, to say the least. 

Note from author: 

Hellooo! 

As promised! Here is another chapter for this week. Thank you for those that have taken the time to read until now. To those who have just arrived: I hope you are liking the story and continue to support me. 

Talk to you next week! <3