I was sitting in my dorm room, watching YouTube videos on how to stay in touch with people who moved to another country. I wanted to take a break from my work, so I decided fifteen minutes would be enough to search on how I could stay in touch with Noah.
There weren't much videos that could help me. Most of them were Basic English Lessons or how to stay in touch with people through phone or Skype.
They weren't at all satisfying. I wanted something that could give me advice, and according to me, YouTube isn't the best place to find any.
I looked around my dorm room, unintentionally staring at Amber's desk, wondering where she could be.
"She must be having fun with Del and the others.", I thought out loud.
A part of me wanted to forgive her and for a brief moment, I realized how silly the matter was. But suddenly my mind filled with all those times when Amber upset me, and it was quite disappointing.
I closed my laptop and put in on a wooden side table, next to a lamp. I took a random book in hand and opened it without looking at it's title.
I kept the book down, without reading a single line, not interested in reading any book or doing anything.
As I kept the book down, I heard footsteps coming closer to the dorm room. I could recognize anyone just by their footsteps. I've been observing them for quite some time now, whenever I got upset and angry at Amber.
And I knew that it was Amber who was coming, along with someone else, but I didn't care to move or even react. Why should I move out of my own dorm room just because Amber was coming in?
So, I sat where I was, crossing my legs and holding the random book in my hand again and pretending as though I was really interested in it.
I heard Amber taking her keys out and turning it in the lock, probably because she was unaware of my presence.
She opened the door and I could feel her looking at me. Behind her was Ethan, who I saw in the blink of an eye and somehow stopped myself from reacting to his unusual arrival at our dorm.
'What was he doing here and why was he here?' I thought to myself.
"Hey, Jess!" ,Amber said, acting as though everything was normal between us. "Since when were you interested in 'Jerusalem : A Cookbook'?"
I closed the book and looked at the cover. I closed my eyes and face palmed myself on the inside. How could I be so stupid? But then again, when was I not?
"Uh, I thought of giving it a go.", I replied and shrugged at her, making a poker face.
"Let me know how it is, okay?", Amber said and all I did was shrug, again.
I knew Ethan would understand we fought and ask Amber a billion questions of how it happened and Amber would start her stuttering again. So, to avoid it, I asked, "Hey, Ethan! Did Amber take anything from you that she forgot to return?"
"No.", He replied. "Why do you ask?"
"What else would explain you being here?", I asked casually. I didn't want him to think that I disliked him being here. I just wanted to know why he was here, and I definitely did not plan on asking Amber.
"Ah, we have an English assessment coming up. So, to decide on what to do, I asked Amber if it was fine we discussed here..." ,Ethan replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
"What's it about?", I asked, keeping the cookbook down.
"Oh, nothing. Just acting out an excerpt of Romeo and Juliet", Amber said, her head turned around, busy in sorting her books. But I knew she was only pretending to be busy to hide her red face.
"Oh." I said, raising an eyebrow, my lips curled slightly.
"Yeah", Ethan replied, fixing his hair. I hate it when he does that. I think Ethan knows that Amber likes him, that's why he does that every time to make her fall for him, as if she hasn't already.
"So, it's only the two of you acting in it?" I asked to fill in the silence.
"Yeah," Ethan replied casually.
"And Ethan asked if I was fine with working with him, and I said yes.", Amber continued.
"You did?", I said, looking at Ethan, to which he replied looking down and doing that hair thing again. Oh god, there are no words to describe how much I hate it.
I hope he didn't blush, because I couldn't see his face. If he did, I would have walked out of the room right then and there.
"Well, all the best, you two. I'll get going. I don't want to disturb you", I said, ignoring Amber and making my way to the door and I almost grabbed the knob when Amber stopped me midway by saying, "Hey Jess?"
I stopped but didn't look back. "Could you..." she said but didn't complete.
"If you have nothing to say, then I'm leaving", I replied.
"No, w-wait. Um..." she stuttered. I sighed and grabbed the knob to open the door.
"Can you wait for me at the cafe we normally go to at 7? I have something to say."
"Please?" she asked me. Intrigued about what she has to say and thinking that I'm forgiving enough to listen to her explain, I agreed and immediately went out the door, closing it behind me.
I made my way down the stairs as I realized I didn't plan on coming out of my dorm, and I still had to finish the English essay of 5000 words that I have to submit by tomorrow. But, there was no way I was going back, it would only be embarrassing. So, I continued my way down the stairs and decided to go to the computer lab and continue my work there and then email that to myself and I would be able to complete my work.
It was 5 in the evening and I had two hours to complete my work before I'd have to go to the cafe to meet Amber.
I sighed and sat down before on of the desktops and opened MS Word. I remembered writing about how I had found Romeo and Juliet's story to be, all I had to finish writing was how I would end the story if I were the author. In our English class, we didn't have any option such as a skit/play. If we did, Noah and I were to be a pair, and it'd be so much more easier.
I wanted to be in the same English class as Del and Amber, but before I had realized this fact, the seats to that class were already occupied. So, I had to enroll myself into another batch.
Two hours passed by in the blink of an eye, and I sent the completed other half of the essay to myself; and left for the cafe. I took my cycle and slowly approached the building.
All I could think of was, 'Why did she call me here?
What did she have to say?
Did she want to break our friendship?
Did she feel like she had enough of our fights?'
Negative thoughts surrounded me, even though I hated them. And I will agree that I was done with the fights we had as well, but they weren't such that I would break my friendship with her over a single argument.
I parked my cycle nearby and entered the cafe, the bells chiming behind me just as they always did. Even though we meet here regularly, the vibes were different, today. It was like the Lords from above were screaming that it was a bad idea to enter the cafe.
I saw Amber sitting at one of the seats and she immediately looked at me, a smile creasing her lips, like she knew I would be exactly three minutes late.
And, as much as I wanted to clear things out with her, my gut was telling me that something was going to go wrong. And did I tell you how my guesses were always accurate?
***
Summer Vacay is here! Finally! I will be able to update regularly, so make sure to keep an eye out for the updates 🖤
-jess
