The Space Between

Chapter 4: High School Sweethearts

The café was bustling with the usual crowd of students—some buried in their textbooks, others animatedly chatting about their first week at college. I tried to focus on the laughter and conversation at our table, but my mind kept wandering back to Mateo. He sat across from me, seemingly relaxed, but there was a tension in his eyes that I couldn’t quite place.

Suddenly, Mateo’s phone buzzed loudly on the table. He glanced at the screen and hesitated before answering. “Hey, Bianca,” he said, his voice tight. The name alone sent a chill through me—Bianca Marlowe, known for her perfect hair, perfect grades, and a reputation for getting what she wanted. Even back in high school, she had a way of making everyone else seem a little less sparkly in comparison.

I could hear Bianca’s voice faintly through the receiver, sharp and demanding. “Mateo, it’s Freshers’ Week, and you still haven’t asked me out. What’s going on? You know how important this is to me!” She continued, her tone growing more insistent. “I can’t believe you haven’t even planned anything yet. I’ll be on campus soon, and I expect you to make it up to me. You promised we’d go together.”

Mateo rubbed the back of his neck, looking more uncomfortable by the second. “Yeah, I know, B. I’ve just been busy, but I’ll figure something out, okay? I said I’d be your date, didn’t I?” His eyes darted around the café, avoiding everyone’s gaze as he tried to placate her.

After a few more tense exchanges, Mateo ended the call and put his phone down with a sigh. Marcus, sensing the awkwardness, jumped in. “So, you and Bianca are still together, huh? High school sweethearts making it through to college—that’s rare these days.”

Mateo shrugged, forcing a smile. “Yeah, we’ve been through a lot. I guess we’re still figuring things out.”

Emma, always the optimist, chimed in with a bright smile. “That’s actually really sweet. It’s nice to see that some high school couples can make it work in college. It’s like a testament to true love, right?”

She nudged me lightly, but I stayed silent, my thoughts drifting. High school sweethearts, she’d said. It was supposed to be a fairytale—two people making it through the chaos of teenage years and stepping into adulthood together. I glanced at Mateo, wondering what it was like for him and Bianca. But as Emma’s words hung in the air, I couldn’t help but think of Derek, and how differently things had turned out for us. The bitterness of that breakup still lingered, and unlike Emma, I wasn’t ready to celebrate anyone’s high school romance just yet.

Mateo smirked slightly, his eyes still flickering towards me. “Yeah, it’s not always easy, but we’ve managed,” he responded, though his gaze lingered on me a little longer than it should have. I could feel him watching, trying to gauge my reaction, but I kept my eyes on my drink, not wanting to engage. His stare felt like a challenge, like he was trying to figure out what was going on in my head, but I wasn’t about to give anything away.

He continued, trying to play it cool. “Bianca’s... persistent,” he said with a slight chuckle, though his eyes were still searching for something in my expression. I refused to meet his gaze, focusing instead on the swirl of my thoughts, wondering why his attention was so fixated on me when I was clearly not in the mood for it.

As Emma and I left the café, we walked in comfortable silence for a moment before she glanced over at me. “Sophia, you’ve been really quiet. Everything okay?”

I shrugged, forcing a small smile. “Yeah, just a lot on my mind. It’s weird how things turn out, you know? Like, here we are, sitting in a café with the campus heartthrob and his friends. It’s not exactly where I saw myself ending up.”

Emma chuckled softly. “Yeah, it’s a little surreal, isn’t it? But maybe it’s a good thing. College is all about unexpected twists, right? Who knows where it’ll take us next.”

I nodded, letting her optimism wash over me. As much as I wanted to stay guarded, there was something comforting about her perspective. “Yeah, you’re right. Guess we just have to see where it all goes.”