NEW Campus Crush (boyxboy)

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˚₊‧Pic of Nash‧₊˚

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MONDAY

I was still stalling.

Nash had invited me to hang out with him–again–and I couldn't give him an answer. I liked him well enough, so that wasn't the issue. I was just too afraid of getting hurt all over again.

By the third week of school, we'd fallen into our own intertwined morning routines. I never put much thought into my closet choices, but he had his meticulously planned out. And, like he did each morning, he snapped selfies of his outfit of the day, which would be uploaded to his social media by noon. Consequently, my phone would go off because I had his post notifications turned on. Sad, really, but he'd grown to expect my like. I caught him smiling at it once.

Once he was satisfied with his pictures, he turned to me, hoping that I'd look back, but I wouldn't. I tried to focus on literally anything else, but something about him– that undefinable something– drew my attention.

"What are you doing later?" He asked when I was almost out the door. I paused, my hand on the knob.

"Nothing..." My eyes narrowed into slits. "Why?"

"I think I realize why you're not ready to give me your answer. It's because I haven't given you a good enough reason to."

I turned toward him, about to object to his statement. He lifted his hand, stopping any sound that I was about to utter.

"I know you've been burned by your crushes in the past. But I think you know I'm an honest guy. I would never switch up on you or get your hopes up for no reason. I just want us to have fun with no strings attached and no expectations. You'll be glad you said yes, trust me."

It was cocky, but I expected nothing less. I was tired of pushing him away. It wasn't as if anyone had ever asked me out before. I was always the one doing all the pining. Felt good to be wanted for a change.

I smiled. "Okay. I'd like that."

"It's a date then?"

I studied the way his perfect eyebrows lifted in question, how his hopeful eyes implored me to oblige. His head tilted down a bit, letting loose strands of hair hang in front of his face.

I just about melted. Just say it, Casper. You know you want to.

"It's a date."

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"One of the most popular schools of psychology is the psychodynamic approach, to which the biggest contributors were Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and more..."

I watched some of my fellow students either typing or scribbling notes down. I didn't need to follow suit, considering that this was basic knowledge.

Ava was absent today, which was funny because she hated passing up the opportunity to swoon at the sight of our professor. With little else to do, I pulled A Frozen Heartbeat from my backpack, determined to finish it by the end of class.

I tore through a dozen pages, and it wasn't a slim book in the slightest. Novels as large as these were my favorite. I read to escape from my reality. What would be the point of leaving a fictional world too soon?

A warm hand touched my shoulder, and I jumped.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

I looked up to see Dr. Larsen staring at me in slight concern and amusement. He took a step back as I assessed the room. Not a single seat was occupied.