Promises - Joel Pimentel

Chapter 1

"Do you think this is weather friendly?" I whipped out a pink furry coat from my closet and showed it to Ingrid who was currently on FaceTime with me.

My phone was laid on my bed, leaning against a wall for proper angle support and currently, Ingrid was helping me pack for college. 

"I mean it's cute but... pink? Really Maya?" Her facial expression drops to a cringe.

"I'll take that as a yes" I smirked at her while folding my coat gently and placing it in my suitcase with my other clothes.

There was a knock on the door and it could only have been one person. They welcomed themselves inside and took a seat on my bed.

"How's the packing going Maya?"

"Fine mom, almost finished" I replied with a half-smile at my mother.

"Hi Mrs. Francis" Ingrid's voice rises from the phone.

"Oh Ingrid, hello darling I didn't see you there" mum turns around and sees Ingrid's face behind a screen. "I'll let you girls finish up" and with that, she stands up and exits my room.

"Can you believe we're already in college? It feels like just yesterday we were messing about in class chatting away until one of us ended up being separated into different seats" I giggle as I remembered the memorable moments of high school.

"Yeah, too bad we won't be in the same college. I really can't be bothered making new friends and just dealing with people in general" Ingrid's face drops to disappointment.

"Is this your way of telling me you're going to miss me?" I smile as I jump on the bed with my stomach resting on the bed.

"Oh please Maya, you're the last person I'm going to miss" she teases.

"Wow ok now I'm hurt" I placed a hand on my heart.

"I'm only messing around" she chuckles.

I shake my head with a laugh and continue to finish packing.

"I'm definitely taking you" I weakly smiled picking up a framed photo of Joel kissing my cheek with a smile spread across my face filled with pure happiness; a feeling that I missed. 

Staring at the photo and lost in thought, a tear rolls down my pink cheeks. Joel is miles away from me at the moment, living his dream. No doubt I miss him more as each day passes.

"Earth to Maya!"

I snapped back to reality quickly wiping away the tear with my thumb before Ingrid could see.

"Yeah? What's up?" I ask picking up the phone and placing the frame in my bag on top of the folded clothes.

"I've been calling your name for the past hour. Is it Joel again?" She asks catching a glimpse of the frame.

Nodding my head, I tell her it was nothing to worry about. Telling her I would get over it and I'll definitely see him when he comes back into town for summer break. But that's months away however, for Joel, I'm willing to wait as long as it took. Zipping up my bag, Ingrid and I hang up the call because I had to head downstairs for lunch. 

"Everything finished?" My mum asked placing a dish of my favorite pasta onto the table.

"Yup, all that packing has me hungry"

Mum and I sit on the dinner table across from each other chatting and laughing away. This is my last chance to spend time with my mother before I head off to a place where I would know no one and be far away from my family. Dad on the other hand, was always travelling with the boys of CNCO. He would frequently send mum and I post cards reminding us how much he missed us. The previous card was from Paris as that was where the boys were at the moment; it had a beautiful photograph of the Eiffel Tower at night with city lights in the background and a sweet message at the back of the card.

My phone vibrated as a message popped up.

Taxi Service: "Your taxi will be arriving in 5 minutes"

"Oh shoot, I should probably start gathering up my stuff" I stand up and walk up to my room gathering my bags and placing them downstairs.

As if on cue, the doorbell rings and my mother opens up to reveal a man in uniform. 

"Taxi for Maya Francis? Am I at the right house?" He asks standing at the door way.

"Yup that's me" I raise my arm and begin to carry my bags.

The man was nice enough to help my carry the rest of my things and placing them into the trunk of the car.

"Well I guess this is it" my mother sighs as she stood right beside the car.

"Yeah I guess so" I also let out a deep sigh.

Pulling my mum into a hug, I say my last goodbyes and promise to call her every week. Turning away from her, I sit in the backseat of the taxi and close the door as I wave one last goodbye to my mother. 

'Welcome to Summer Heights University' 

Reading the welcome board, I look out into the big buildings and grab my bags while paying the taxi driver. I drag my suitcase on its wheels into my assigned dorm room that has my name on it along with someone else's name. 

'Bailey Rose' 

"Hm that must be my roommate" I say to myself as I entered the room.

As soon as I enter, I see clothes spread out all over the ground, papers all over the bed and the smell of food was starting to fill my nose.

"Oh god, what is that smell" I furrow my eyebrows and hold my nose shut with my fingers.

"Maya, right? You must be my new roommate. I'm Bailey, nice to meet you" a girl exits the bathroom in her sweats and shakes my hand to greet me. 

"Um, hi" I awkwardly manage to say.

I unpack my suitcase and set everything up. My bed is right next to the window as that is the bed Bailey had left for me. I have no complaints because I enjoy sleeping next to the window, it's been a habit of mine since I was 7 years old. Thankfully, Bailey had cleaned up her part of the mess and I was finally able to breathe in some normal air. 

"Well, all this unpacking has me starving. I'm going down to the café, want to join me?" I ask. 

"Sure thing" she smiles grabbing her phone and wallet as we head out to explore our campus. 

After we had eaten and gotten to know each other, I decided to head back to my room. However, Bailey wanted to stay down there for a while which I was ok with. However, as I enter, I see a figure standing near the window. They have their back facing me and the person was wearing a hoodie therefore, making it harder to make out if it was a boy or a girl.

"Excuse me can I help you?" I ask still standing in the door frame with my hand on the doorknob. 

The figure turns around and it was at that moment I felt my whole world just turn completely upside down and my heart dropping.

"Maya" he smiles.

"Joel?"