Drive-Thru

Where They Met

They met at a classroom. It was the first day of classes. Fresh new faces were everywhere, and he was starting to feel awkward because he knew no one (except for his one friend from a different course, but they weren't classmates nor close at all).

So, he plugged in his earphones and listened to some loud music to cover the noise around him. Everyone seemed to know someone, and the awkward ones were in the corner. Like him.

She was sitting near the air conditioner, which was a bad decision since she was wearing a sleeveless dress. Her friend insisted that they sit as far as possible from the professor's table but still near the whiteboard. She couldn't say no.

When she looked back and scanned her surroundings, they eyes met each other. They looked away and she continued searching. She though, what an odd boy. The boy wore a green poloshirt. It seemed like he didn't want any to notice him.

The professor went in without the boy noticing. Good thing that he noticed when the room went silent to the point that he could hear his music when he removed his earphones from his ear. He hoped that the girl wouldn't look again in his direction. Err, he radiated pure awkwardness.

Things went from okay to worse when the professor asked to group themselves by five. He mentally cursed. Or was he? He noticed that the people around him looked at him suddenly, like he had done something wrong. He avoided their eyes. He crossed his fingers and wished that it should be by count.

The girl thought it was fine, but she hoped to be grouped with her friend. She never knew the extent of her extroversion today. She might be sitting in her chair and just looking at her groupmates, or she would stand up and lead the group. The weather seemed good for her today, so she might take the initiative.

The professor started counting. He made a mental cheer, on his head now, he made sure this time. She mentally tsked.

She was grouped to number five. He was five as well.

They became friends after learning that they are in the same course, had the same interests (Harry Potter for life!), both freshmen... the list goes on. He asked her out five months after, on the fifth. After five years, what could they be?

--

He met her through a common friend. This certain friend was asking for a help to edit a video. She agreed on doing it as a commission. She figured, might as well earn some money because her allowance was running out. Fast.

They agreed to meet on a milktea shop. Good thing that it was his treat, because she was really craving for a Hazelnut milktea for weeks now. And she couldn't buy one because she was saving for Comic Con. Ugh.

She set up her laptop and patiently waited for him. She watched anime videos for a while.

The bell chimed. A boy in sando and shorts came in. He was rugged, his hair messed up and his eyes kept on blinking, just to stay awake. He was holding his phone and wallet on one hand.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. He overslept! They were supposed to meet at 4PM, and it was already 4:50! And he didn't even think of dressing up nicely. He rushed, ran even, just to be here. He wiped his sweat with his sando.

His friend said that she will be wearing a The Incredibles shirt matched with a maong short. She was engrossed in her laptop, which is a good sign. Maybe she didn't notice him being late.

Of course she did. Good thing the place had wifi.

"Hey, sorry for being late," he started. He widened his smile and had his friendliest smile. He said to himself, Damn this girl's cute!

"I don't mind. Sit please," she said, although that came off somewhat angry. She was starving, for goodness' sake.

"Would you like some waffles? My treat as well."

Her eyes gleamed when he said waffles and treat.

"Mine's strawberry filled waffle. And Hazelnut milk tea!" she requested.

He ordered. He made a mental note of that. Then, he sat down in front of her.

They started discussing about his commission. He had his files uploaded on the cloud. They will be working on a short film for his subject. He wanted to ace that subject, so he was desperate to have a really good video presentation as their final output. None of his groupmates knew how to edit.

It was fairly easy for her. She had tons of practice editing to the point that making videos was her hobby now. Just one night's work and it's done.

It was odd, though. When she edited the video, she seemed focused on the boy's face.

She even took a screenshot at one point where he was really... handsome. Fine, I admit it. He was pretty cute.

He asked her to edit another video, but this time, he just wanted to meet her.