𝕚𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖

chapter four

I tapped my foot in anticipation as I sat in the cafe munching down on a danish. I was jotting down notes in my planner, I had to have a clear plan for the day. It was my first day of college after all. I had a business class first, the one my mother signed me up for. It was the only class I was thankful she signed me up for. She kept sending me text reminding me not to slack off. I debated on telling her that I wanted to drop the intro to music class and take art instead, but decided against it. I knew she wouldn't let me, she desperately wants me to take over the label.

"I love your pens." A voice says, snapping me out of my daze. I look up to see a girl with long black hair that was pulled into a ponytail looking at me.

"Oh, thanks. They're my lifesavers, couldn't go anywhere without them." I tell her.

"I'm the same way, my brother calls me OCD for it." She tells me.

"My sister does the same, I just happen to like being organized." I say, causing her to chuckle.

"Finally, someone who understands me." She says, causing me to grin.

"My name's Thea." I say.

"My name's Riley." She tells me.

"Well, Riley would you like to sit?" I ask her and her face lights up.

"I would love to. It's my first day here and I was starting to get worried that I wouldn't make any friends." She tells me as she takes a seat.

"Oh, I feel the same way. Are you a freshman too?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm nervous but excited. Hopefully it will be different than high school, because that was actual hell." She says.

"I hope so too." I say. We sit in a comfortable silence jotting away in our planners. We had exchanged numbers and talked about our classes. I was grateful because we found out that we have calculus together. I don't think I would've been able to make it alone in that class.

"Well, I have to get to Business, but I'm free for lunch if you are." I tell her as I gather my things.

"I would love that, we can meet up back here and then decide what we want to do." She says.

"Sounds like a plan." I smile. We bid each other a goodbye and I make my way to my business class. I was genuinely happy, I had made another friend. One that was a little bit more like me.

I was fifteen minutes early to class and the room was empty. I plopped my stuff down in the front row. I mean if I'm to run a whole record label or own my own business when I graduate, I might as well learn everything I can about business. I take out my notebook, planner, and pens, setting them up in perfect color coordination. The next person that walked into the class was a tall brunette with chocolate brown eyes. He sets his stuff down next to me. I look over to see he's dressed very simply, but very nicely.

"Do you mind if I sit next to you?" He asks.

"Of course not, I'm Thea." I smile.

"I'm Max. It's nice to meet you Thea." He says smiling back.

"It's nice to meet you as well Max." I tell him.

"So are you new to Hudson?" He asks me.

"Yeah, are you?" I ask.

"Well, sorta. I mean I'm a freshman, but I lived near campus my whole life." He says.

"Maybe you can show me around then, I've lived in Manhattan my whole life, I don't know how to handle small towns." I tell him.

"Yeah, that would be nice. My parents have been pushing me to make friends, I'm not really great with social interaction." He says.

"I think you're fabulous at it." I grin and he grins back. Max and I exchange numbers and talk a bit more. I was really enjoying my first day.

The professor was going on about the course description and what we would be covering this semester when the door burst open and the rude guy from the party Saturday night strolled in carelessly. His backpack was slung over one shoulder and he looked completely nonchalant that he was late to his first class of the semester.

"Nice of you to join us Mr. Wilder." The professor says, causing people to snicker. The boy just rolls his eyes and scans the class for a seat, seeing as it's a full class the only seat is the one next to mine. He takes long strides and places his stuff down and slides into the seat next to me. I let out a small huff, of course I had to have the rude boy sit right next to me.

"Hey Max, do you want to get lunch with me?" I look at the look on his face and blush, "Oh, uh, I mean totally platonically though. My other friend Riley's coming. I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, I was just wondering. I'm so sorry." I ramble out.
"It's fine Thea, I would love to come." Max says and I smile. I turn to grab my bag to see the rude boy staring at me. I stare back at him, our eyes never breaking apart. He finally rolls his eyes before walking out of the class. I roll my eyes before I turn back to Max. I see Max's eyes looking at me curiously.

"Do you know Vince?" He asks me. So, that was his name.

"Kinda, I sorta met him at a party I went to this weekend." I say, "Do you know him?"

"Unfortunately." Max murmurs.

"Unfortunately?" I question, was Vince rude to everyone else too?

"Yeah, he's an asshole to me." Max tells me.

"Oh, how do you know him?" I ask.

"It's complicated." Max says, scratching the back of his neck.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." I quickly apologize as I see the look on his face.

"It's alright Thea, let's just not talk about Vince." Max says and I nod along. I send one look to the door that Vince had walked out of before turning back to Max and leading him to the cafe.

We make it to the cafe by noon and I see Riley sitting at the table we were at this morning. I slide into the chair directly in front of her and Max sits down on the one next to her.

"How was your class?" I ask.

"It was good, how about you?" She asks as she glances over at Max.

"It was fine, the professor just talked about the course and went over the syllabus," I say, "Oh and this is Max. I invited him to lunch, I hope that's okay."

"It's totally fine, I need more friends anyway." Riley says.

"Me too." Max and I say at the same time, causing all three of us to laugh.

"So, where do we want to go to eat?" Riley asks.

"Um, I'm not sure. I don't really know the campus." I say.

"There's a really great pizza place, it's just down the road." Max says.

"Oh, I would love pizza." I say.

I was practically moaning while eating this pizza.

"Oh my god, this is amazing." I say.

"I know, it's to die for. I love this place, it's always been my pizza place. For as long as I can remember." Max says.

"Well, I for one am glad you shared it with us. I'm usually not a pizza person, but this, this is amazing." Riley says. The three of us chatted for hours in that small pizza joint, it was an incredible feeling to have gained new friends. I was so happy, genuinely happy. 

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i hope you like riley and max cause they're going to be here for awhile!

--xoxo g