Roommates

Chapter 7

Esther

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I walk along the sidewalk next the Ashton crunching on my apple. "What time do you finish today" I ask him. "one" he answers "you?". "Three" I reply "and then I start work at four". He smiles "congrats on getting the job". "Thanks" I smile and continue walking next to him. I finish my apple and chuck the core in one of the bins on the sidewalk outside campus. "I have a free at one, did you wanna grab some lunch" I ask. "Sure" he smiles. I smile back. "Alright I better get to class" I say "I'll meet you back here at one". He nods and I walk off to class.

I'm currently sitting in one of my psychology lectures bored as hell. The guy next to me is face down on the desk sleeping. I can't wait to go to lunch with Ashton. It's gotta be more fun than this. I look at the time. It's half past twelve. Only half an hour left. What seemed more like two hours later it was finally one o'clock. I grabbed my books and walked out of class to go meet Ashton. I see him leaning against the wall watching people walk pass. He watched as a group of girls walked pass. "Like what you see?" I tease him. "Not really my type" he replies. "Then what is your type?" I question. "The type that doesn't slut around with every guy they see" he replies seemingly angry. I don't question it though. We've only just gotten on good terms and I don't want to ruin that.

"So where to for lunch?" I ask trying to change the subject. He shrugs "lets just go to the cafe around the corner from the apartment". I nod and we start walking in the direction we came from this morning. We reach the little cafe that I'm soon to be working at and Ashton opens the door gesturing for me to go in. Such a gentlemen."Thanks" I smile. He just nods. I walk in followed by Ashton and we sit at a little corner booth at the back of the cafe. After a couple minutes of looking at the menu we are greeted by a waitress. "Oh hey Esther" she says. It's Zoe one of the girls that works here. "Hey" I smile. "When do you start?" she asks. "This afternoon at three" I reply. "Oh cool, looks like I'll be the one training you then" she smiles. I smile back. "Anyway, what can a get the lovely couple?" she asks. "Oh we're not a couple" I correct her looking at Ashton. We laugh awkwardly at each other. "Oh sorry" she says "I just assumed you were". I smile and say "I'll just have a ham and cheese sandwich with a chocolate milkshake". I look at Ashton. "I'll have the same" he says. Zoe writes our order on her notepad and smiles "shouldn't be too long guys" and then she walks off to take other orders.

"So how was your class?" I ask Ashton. "Good" I replies "what about yours?". "Boring" I say. "I'm having a hard time understanding some of the components" I say as our milkshakes are being put in front of us. "I can help you study" Ashton says taking a sip of his chocolate milkshake. "Really?" I question. "Yeah" he says. "Your courses are quite similar to my Law course" he states. "Are you sure? I don't want to bother you" I ask warily. "Yeah of course" he replies. I smile "thank you, you really are a good friend" I say to him. He gives me a tight smile. I hope I didn't say something wrong I think to myself. My thoughts are broken when Zoe places our plates down in front of us. "Enjoy" she smiles and walks away. We start eating our lunch. Not a word spoken between us. Awkward.

Ashton

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I'm walking along the sidewalk with Esther who's chewing on her apple. "What time do you finish today" she asks me. "One" I reply "you?". "Three" she replies "and then I start work at four". I smile at her "congrats on getting the job". "Thanks" she smiles and walks next to me. I watch her as she finishes the apple and throws the core away. "I have a free at one, did you wanna grab some lunch" she asks me. "Sure" I smile. She smiles back. I'd love nothing more then going to lunch with Esther. "Alright I better get to class" she says "I'll meet you back here at one". I nod and watch her walk off to class. Then I start heading to my class.

I finish a couple minutes early and walk to our meeting spot. I watch the people walk pass as I wait. A group and girls walk by me giggling and talking about what happened at some party they attended the night before. "Like what you see?" I hear Esther's voice. "Not really my type" I reply. "Then what is your type?" she asks. "The type that doesn't slut around with every guy they see" I say coldly. Thankfully she doesn't reply. I haven't opened up to anyone about my ex. Not even Lucas and I'm not about to open up to Esther.

 "So where to for lunch?" she asks. I shrug "lets just go to the cafe around the corner from the apartment". She nods and we start walking to the cafe. Once we reach the cafe I open the door for her. "Thanks" she smiles. I nod and follow her in. We sit at a little corner booth at the back of the cafe. We grab our menus and start looking. After a couple minutes a waitress comes up to take our order. The waitress starts chatting with Esther. I sit there not really paying attention to their conversation. "Anyway, what can a get the lovely couple?" I hear her say. "Oh we're not a couple" Esther corrects her. We laugh awkwardly at each other. I couldn't help but be a little hurt by what Esther said. I'm really starting to like this girl. "Oh sorry" the waitress apologises "I just assumed you were". Esther gives her a smile and says "I'll just have a ham and cheese sandwich with a chocolate milkshake" and then looks at me. "I'll have the same" I say. She writes down the order and says "shouldn't be too long guys" and walks away.

"So how was your class?" Esther asks me. "Good" I reply "what about yours?". "Boring" she says "I'm having a hard time understanding some of the components". Our milkshakes are placed in front of us. "I can help you study" I say taking a sip from my chocolate milkshake. "Really?" she asks. "Yeah" I reply. "Your courses are quite similar to my Law course" I tell her. "Are you sure? I don't want to bother you" she asks again. "Yeah of course" I reply. "thank you, you really are a good friend" she says. Ouch. I just got friend zoned by the girl I like. I give her a tight smile. Then our food is placed in front of us. "Enjoy" I hear the waitress say. We start eating our lunch in silence. It was definitely awkward.