She read me like today's newspaper

2

Music credit: I was thinking about us , by Bluedoom

Feel free to listen to it while reading - Enjoy!

(Just so you know: In this chapter, I will introduce a nonbinary character that uses singular they/them pronouns. It's intentional. :))

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Back home, I couldn't stop my brain from re-thinking over and over again when just went down after we left the library. The scenario is just so surreal, I can't believe it actually happened. 

My hands are trembling so much I can't fit the damn key in the keyhole and at this point, I can't tell if it's because I'm freezing or absolutely freaked out. Maybe both. Finally, the door opens and I drop my bag on my apartment floor. Home, sweet home. I let out a sigh, close the door and fall straight on the couch. I am drained both physically and emotionally. 

"I told you to bring an umbrella, dude."

A purple-haired head pops out of underneath the kitchen counter. Right, of course, Char is home at this point it's like 10 pm. They get up and I can see that they are wearing the stupidest shirt I've ever seen, with the drawing of a pen and a paintbrush with the words "It's too dangerous to go alone, take this" written above it. What a nerd. They even had time to cook something and it does not smell good at all. 

"I can't tell what you're trying to cook," I mutter, shoving my face in a pillow, "but it smells like burnt plastic. you should've waited for me before you tried to burn down the whole building."

They let out a sad laugh, "I tried, Tess, I really did." 

Charlie is my flatmate. They have all the talents in the world, really: they're great at music and painting stuff that I can never understand, knows how to fix literally anything that's broken in the apartment and are just the sweetest person someone can know. Sadly, they're definitely not a great cook.

"Did you get the book?" They brush off a bit of blue paint in their hair. They still have paint on their hands, they must've worked all day on their project.

"Yes," I sigh. "Karie really needs to sort out her priorities though, because I will NOT do that again. Ever." I roll on my back and look at Char. They're putting whatever they were cooking in the trash bin. Good choice. "Do you need me to make something for you? I already ate, so..."

"You did? No, it's not necessary, I'll just..." They look at the fridge, with a look only broke college students can relate to. "...try to make something else. It's weird, you never eat out alone usually."

"How nice of you to assume that I can't make any friends besides you," I throw a pillow at them. "I just went to Taco Bell with a friend."

"A friend."

"Yeah?"

"Usually a normal person would name that friend, and I would be like, oh! Right! That friend! Cool!"

Then a faint sound interrupts our conversation. My phone. This evening's events flash in my mind and I immediately know who's calling. Shit. I turn to Charlie and they shrug and wait for me to answer. I reluctantly get up and answer.

"Hey, Tess," my heart skips a beat. She sounds so different on the phone, maybe she's nervous. "I thought you'd never answer. Are you alright, with what happened..."

"Yes of course I am, don't worry. Sorry, my phone was still in my coat." I can feel Char's gaze behind my back. 

"Who is it??" I hear Char yelling. We're in the same room they don't need to speak so loud!

"I hear you're not alone." There's something in her voice I can't quite figure out. 

"Yes sorry, it's Charlie, my flatmate. Don't mind them." I turn and mouth at them to shut up for a moment. "Is everything okay?"

"Don't worry about me, I just wanted to call. Also, I wanted to ask you something..." She pauses for a moment. "Tonight was really fun. Not caring about college and family drama was something I never realized I needed. So..." She stops talking, I can hear faint voices, probably someone that lives with her too. She whispers something I can't quite hear. Her voice is trembling.

"Hazel, is everything okay?"

It takes a little while before she answers, "Sorry. I should go, it's late and... God, I shouldn't have called here."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll call you tomorrow. Good night, Tess."

"O-okay, um, Good-" She hangs up before I can answer. 

I sigh and sit on the couch, frustrated. What's going on at her home? She said she has trouble with her family, does she live with her parents? Does she have a partner? I never even asked her. Either way, it didn't sound like she was happy with this person.

"Hazel, huh." Char sits next to me and drops a blanket on my thighs. I take it an wrap it around my shivering shoulders. "The Taco Bell friend." I nod. "Tess, you're shaking, what's going on?"

"I don't know. I met her today, at the library. We talked and she seemed really nice, and-"

"Slow down girl, you're gonna give me a panic attack just by speaking!"

"WELL, I'M HAVING ONE NOW DON'T MIND ME." I breathe in, then out and explain what happened after.

----

Before I left, I figured that we could have more time together, Hazel and I. I mean, we clicked, and I didn't want to leave her alone in the library. So I awkwardly asked her if she wanted to eat out, and before I knew it we were in the Taco Bell across the street. Not the fanciest place ever, but it does the job. A few people were there, and as soon as we entered half of them turned to look at Hazel. I don't know how she does it, she just minded her own business and acted as if nothing odd was happening. So yeah, we ordered our food and talked for a pretty long while. She asked me about my classes and if I knew what I'd do after college, and told her that I would like to be an author someday, and write novels for children. She seemed surprised but actually told me that she writes almost every day, and explained that she wrote fanfictions.

"Isn't that something 13-year-olds do?" I laughed. "I mean, I never got into it. I prefer to write my own characters."

"It's more of an exercise than anything," she blushed, "but if you find the right websites there are some pretty good ones out there. Some are even better than the original work."

Then it's all kind of a blur. A guy came up to us, he seemed kind of drunk. He had bleached hair covering almost half of his face and his coat was dripping wet and honestly smelled like he just stole it off a dead guy's body. He tripped to our table and said that we were cute lesbians and asked about Hazel's hair, and something just got to me. I don't know why I just felt my blood boiling up. I got up, and...

--

"You punched a drunk guy??" Char drops on the couch, astounded. Their face is priceless "Tess Wellington it's like I don't even know you!"

"I don't know! It just flew all by itself..." I stick out my hand out of the blanket, moving my fingers to prove to myself that they were still mine. "Then we just ran out- we paid our stuff stop looking at me like that. We ran in the rain and it was pretty surreal. I waited for her to hop on her bus, and then I just came home."

"Tess Wellington." Char takes my two hands and holds them in front of their face. I flinch, my knuckles hurt a little. "You are the most badass person I know. You are unbelievable." They jump out of the couch and grab their phone. "I'm ordering a pizza, want something? To help with your nerves." They do finger guns and wink at me. I laugh, they're such a dumbass.

"Nah just take what you want, I'd eat anything."