Trigger Kids

Chapter 4

Authors Note: Hello!! I wrote this as a bit of a short interlude before we can get into the good stuff, which I promise (hope like hell) is wayyy better than this. Thanks for struggling through the bog with me.

Maya xx

I drag myself through my day. Morning lecture, gym, groceries. Then back to my lonely dorm. The space is void, despite my attempts to liven it up. I flick on all the lights, blare a playlist of Sebastian's favourite songs he so humbly gave me for my birthday a few weeks ago. I cook macaroni, completely ruining the cheese sauce, and douse it in ketchup before going to eat it on my messy bed.

His side of the room is unmade, the thrashed chair laying near the heater missing its legs. Sooner or later I forget how to eat, and stare into space- just wondering. Wondering about that flight, about his brother.

Sebastian had never mentioned his family before. In fact, last night was the first I'd heard of a sibling. Was he older, younger? Did they look similar, did they have quite the similar mannerisms and quirks?

Why had he never mentioned a brother?

I'd told him stories of Mikey and I growing up; stories of family barbeques and summers and that time he'd broken my arm pulling me out of a Plum tree. These were things you share with friends, right?

I glance down at the bowl in my hands, giving up on feeling. I was exhausted, exams were fast approaching and I haven't been able to seriously get my mind off this boy, especially within the last day. He was like a contagion, spreading right through my mind and body, heading straight for my heart.

Damn.

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"Hey, Seb?"

"Mhmm," he replies, buried in a text book, hanging upside down on his bed.

"You're one with the ladies. What's guy code for: 'We should hang out sometime?'"

"Quick tap," he answers in the same pulse, his voice penetrating boredom.

"Oh."

Sebastian flops over onto his stomach, losing his page in the process. "Why is that?"

"Just wondering," I hum, tapping out a response to Drent's offer.

Maybe.

I'm tucked up against the headboard of my bed, my knees to my chest at a comfortable angle. My hair is devilishly unruly, stuck in its bun, with strands framing my face. A small grin turns up the corner of my mouth as I get an immediate reply from Drent.

"Wrong," I sing. "It actually means 'I have two tickets to the Flume concert next weekend, am I busy then?'"

Sebastian's chin jerks up from resting on his hands. "What?"

"Nothing," I say, accepting Drent's invite happily.

"Did someone ask you out?"

"Umm..."

"Who?"

I quirk an eyebrow at Sebastian, noticing his flush cheeks. "Settle down, it's not that big of a deal."

Pause. "Oh, yeah, I know. I just, uhh- so the Flume concert huh? That'll be, um, pretty lit."

"You're blushing."

"No I'm not!"

"Whatever," I grin, hopping off the bed to go make myself some tea. I pad barefoot past Sebastian in my pajama shorts and matching singlet, leaving my phone on my pillow as a temptation of sorts. I'm positive he knows my password just from observation, so whether he uses that knowledge in this instance is up to him. Frankly, I'm surprised at his sudden interest this time, but I know not to get my hopes up.

Sure he'd made jabs at guys I associated with on campus in the past, and I was used to his body checks once in a while when he thought I hadn't been looking, but there was nothing there. Any strange intimacy we'd shared in the small confines of our co-existing habitat since I arrived last month was purely unconscious. An arm brush in passing, a hand grab for the television remote. I never read into any of these things and doubted whether he did either. In fact, the only time I became hyper-aware of his presence and the pull of his attraction, was once when Sebastian had leant over me to read through my electronic essay, his hands placed flat against the desktop on either side of mine.

In the kitchen now I flicked on the jug. Just as I'm placing a bag of herbal tea into a mug, Sebastian calls to me, "So what's his name again?"

I smirk to myself. "Oh, I didn't mention it?" I call back over my shoulder.

"No," he says flatly. "No you didn't."

"His name's Drent," I reply, pouring in the boiled water.

"Drent, who?"

"Holden, I think. Why?"

I enter back into the main area with my tea to find Sebastian unashamedly stalking the Drent Holden's of Facebook.

"Seb!" I gasp.

"Says here he's a law student. Is that true?"

"Who cares?" I laugh, scooting next to Sebastian on the end of his bed. "God, you're such a girl. Not even I've stalked his social media yet," I giggle, taking a sip of my tea.

"Shut up," he scrolls down Drent's impressive feed. "When did you meet him?"

"Like, two weeks ago in the common area," I recall, cupping my hands around the toasty ceramic mug.

Sebastian purses his lips, unimpressed. "And he's taking you on a date?"

"It's hardly a date," I scoff.

"From what I heard there's only two tickets," Seb closes the laptop, placing it behind him.

"From what I know there'll be twenty-thousand odd people there with us."

"But do they all get to cop a feel? No."

"Sebastian Harvey!" I squeal in appalment. "Your mind is filthy!"

"Just voicing every male's opinion."

"Well thank you- not- for the concern, but I'm a big girl and I can handle myself."

"Oh yeah, says who?" Sebastian stares at me, a defiant smirk on his lips.

"I did, just now," I reply, narrowing my eyes playfully at him.

We're close, the back of my mind is squealing in excitement and fear. Too close. Way too close. Sebastian is the first to look away, dropping his gaze to his hands.

He clears his throat, "Well alright then. I'm going to go for a run."

"At nine thirty in the evening," I tease.

Sebastian stands. "Helps clear my head."

I retreat back to my half of the room as he tugs on his jumper and running shoes. "Don't wait up," he tells me.

"You know I will, Harvey."

"Yeah, I know you will," he smiles.