MY BEST ADDICTION

Chapter 24

I entered the room and leaned against the door trying to calm myself down.
“With the way you’re grinning I’m sure your weekend was very fun”, I heard startling me. I fixed myself and rushed past a smirking Ezra who was busy on her laptop.
“Bryan has already lost”, she said shaking her head. At the mention of his name I remembered what happened the last time we spoke and blushed profusely. Ezra looked at me confused and I shook my head to tell her I was okay.
“So what are you going to do about him?”, she asked when I sat by her. I realized she was doing her project and I was once again reminded why I couldn’t tell Bryan off.
“I’m going to make things clear to him after we are done with our project. You know we are doing it together, right? I don’t want us to be awkward with each other to the point where we can’t focus on our work”, I said sighing. That ended my weekend bliss.
“Yeah you are right but I hope you know what you are doing. I hope it doesn’t become harder to end it later. I don’t want you to lose a good friend because of this”, she said and went back to her report.
“Thanks for worrying about me”. She reminded me so much of Haven. Thinking of her, I sent her a message telling her I was in school to which she replied telling me to have fun. I smiled at her message and put my phone down so I could take a shower but stopped when my phone pinged. I checked to find a message from Seth.
“You won’t escape so easily next time so you better be prepared”, it read. I gulped after reading it because I knew he was going to work on his words the next time we met. I felt a tingle run through my body and I heated up just imagining what was going to happen the next time we met.
“Keep it PG woman, some of us are still kids here”, she teased and I threw my pillow at her laughing at her bewildered look. She shut her laptop and turned to look at me with a serious face. I thought she was going to attack me too but she sat facing me.
“Is he good to you?”, she asked instead. It didn’t take a genius to know who she referred to. I smiled and nodded.
“That’s good. I wondered who managed to make you give up our sweet Bryan. So far as you know what you want and know what you are doing I have no problem. Just take things slow and be certain of your choice so you don’t regret later”, she advised.
“Thanks mom”, I said hugging her.
“Now it’s time for you to suffer”, she said and before I could acknowledge her words I felt a pillow hit me in the face.
“It is on”, I said and threw it back at her laughing and that is how we ended up trashing our room. 
“I am happy for you”, she said after we had calmed down and prepared to retire for the night. 
“I’m going to shower”, I said and left her to continue her work as I went to the bathroom. I came out to find her already asleep. I giggled at her posture and adjusted her well on her bed and went to bed feeling elated about the day.
“Which companies do you think will be attending the annual workshop this year?”, a girl asked her friend as Bryan and I passed by them to the library. It’s been about a month since I last saw Seth and he hasn’t stopped reminding me of his proposal even though he said he was going to give me time. Not that I didn’t want to think of it, I was just busy with getting our report finalized.
“Annual workshop? Has there ever been something like that on campus?”, I asked confused because I had never heard of something like that before or maybe I never paid that much attention to it to realize it.
“Yeah, it happens every year. How come you never heard of it? Well you do now so you have to prepare for it since most of the well-known companies are usually invited. It is done to give students the chance to network in the corporate world before we leave school”, he explained and I nodded to affirm that I had understood.
‘Does that mean Seth’s company will be coming?’, I thought feeling excited and anxious all of a sudden.
“Which companies do you think will be attending?”, I asked trying to tone down my curiosity and excitement.
“I’m not sure but I know a lot of companies will be attending. It’s a pity that S&S Corporations never attend our workshops”, he said and all my excitement disappeared.
“Oh”, I said feeling deflated.
“Penny is there a problem?”, he asked sincerely concerned and I felt a pang in my chest. I felt bad for him as I couldn’t give him what he wanted.
“I’m fine Bryan”, I assured him when he looked like he didn’t believe what I said.
“Okay then….”, he started to say but my phone interrupted him. I checked the name to find out it was Seth. It’s been almost a week since I heard his voice so I was happy I could hear it again.
“Excuse me”, I said and left Bryan to answer the call.
“Hello”, I heard and I felt all the sadness from earlier disappear into nothing. His voice was like music in my ears after not hearing it for a long time.
“Hello Seth”, I responded trying to hold in my smile.
“Where are you now? Are you still on campus?”, he asked confusing me.
“Yeah I was about to go the library. Is there a problem?”
“Oh, I’m around your campus and thought of inviting you for dinner but if you are busy then let’s have it later”, he said surprising me.
‘What do I do?’, I thought. I wanted to see him because I didn’t know when I would see him again but I’m supposed to learn with Bryan too.
“Penny are you okay?”, I heard from the phone startling me.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay”, I said and was about to tell him we could have dinner when he interrupted me.
“You don’t have to think too much about it and don’t worry. We can always have dinner another day, just take care of your studies”, he said and I felt annoyed. He sounded like he didn’t want to see me when I wanted to see him eagerly.
“Yeah whatever”, I said and hang up not waiting for him to speak. I knew I was being childish and he was thinking of me but I had missed him and it sounded like I was the only one missing him. I walked back to Bryan and motioned for us to go to the library feeling sour with every step I took.
“Penny should we cancel the meeting today?”, Bryan asked and I realized he noticed my mood.
“No let’s continue. It’s almost time for the submission and we still have some parts to review”, I said and tried to calm down so we could finish the work early.
“Okay let’s do this”, he said and I laughed at how energetic he sounded.
“Let’s get some books for reference first”, I said and he nodded. We went through the aisles looking for the books we needed for our report. We found the books and prepared to start when I got a message from Ezra telling me she was staying out. I replied and left my phone on silent to not distract us.
“Finally”, we said at the same time as we finished the work. I stretched and glanced at the clock in the library only to find out it was very late.
“Are you hungry?”, Bryan asked packing his books.
“I’m not really hungry. I think I’ll just feast on some snacks”, I answered packing my books.
“Are you sure it is enough? We can have something just around campus”, he insisted but I shook my head making him drop it.
“Okay. Let me drop you home then”, he said instead and I smiled at him. We arranged the books back in the shelves and left the building to his car.
“Thank you. I’ll see you later”, I said when we got to my dorm and opened the door to alight but he held my hand to stop me. I turned to look at him to him contemplating about something.
“What is it Bryan?”
“Can we still hang out?”, he asked expectantly.
“Of course we can. We are friends after all”, I said smiling at him. I hoped he understood what I was trying to convey to him so he didn’t get his hope up.
“Yeah we are friends”, he repeated as if testing the words on his tongue.
“Goodnight Bryan”, I said when I alighted from the car.
“Goodnight Penny”, he said and waved. I watched as his car left and turned to enter the building only for the smile to fall from my face.