The Middle | ✔️

Chapter 23

I pull up along the curb outside Symposium, and I cannot lie, I am a little excited. This mixture of excitement and nerves I'm feeling in the pit of stomach right now is not cool, though. I don't like this guy. I don't. Just because we fooled around last night and I am insanely attracted to him, doesn't mean I like him. He's my new study buddy, that's all. I'm meeting him to go over a few things about Pride and Prejudice, that's it. So what if I haven't read the book in forever and I can barely remember anything that happens at the beginning of the book... I'll wing it.

I walk into Symposium, and see that he's not here yet. Well, maybe he meant 10 hours and not 10 minutes, because I myself am already 10 minutes late. Whatever. I'll be spontaneous and order two coffees. I don't want plain coffee though, I want a latte. Maybe I should order him a latte too. Shit, but he's into running - would he even consume caffeine at this time of night? Fuck, what do I do?

I don't have to freak out for long though, because the door opens, and there he is, looking as good as ever. His hair looks a little damp, actually. Did he take a shower before coming to meet me? That's so cute. I'm smiling now. I'm smiling at him as he approaches me. He's not smiling back, but his face is so set against smiling, I'm not exactly surprised. Oh wait, hang on, the corners of his mouth are attempting to twitch up a little. Oh, a small smile! Great. We are such good friends.

"Hey, I just got here, I was gonna order a latte - what do you want?" I say to him, with an actual smile. Not a painful looking forced one like the one he's currently sporting. I choose to ignore that, were getting along here, that's all that matters.

"Um, black coffee. I'll get it." He says, and I don't miss the awkward edge to his voice. He does not need to pay for my drink though, were just friends, and even if we were more than friends, I wouldn't expect him to dote on me. I'm not that type of girl.

"It's fine, you get it next time." I say dismissively, before turning my attention to the barista.

"Hi, can we get a latte and a black coffee please?"

"Sure, you'll need to take them to go though, we close in fifteen minutes." The barista tells me. Shit, well this is awkward.

"That's fine, thanks." Noah says to her, while taking his wallet out of his back pocket. I don't think so.

I raise my eyebrows at him before handing the Barista a ten. He rolls his eyes at me and puts his wallet back into his pocket. I take my change, and the barista starts making our drinks.

"Thanks, I will get it next time." He assures me, without a smile. So, I can't resist.

"You know, your face won't crack if you smile every once in a while. And as I recall, you were smiling and laughing quite a lot last night." I tell him cheekily, and he just stares at me like I'm crazy. "You're much more fun when you've been drinking."

I hope this will make him feel a little more at ease around me, because he looks so uptight, and I am of course kidding. His features relax a little, and I'm relieved that my shit joke had the desired effect.

"Well, you're more fun when you've been drinking too. Most people are." He says, with a much more genuine smile now. Awesome.

"True." I laugh. "So why'd you decide to stay in and read tonight? Aren't your friends going out again?"

"Yeah, they are. I just wasn't feeling it." He says. "Why aren't you out with your friends?"

"I just wasn't feeling it." I grin at him and he actually laughs. I am breaking down his icy exterior, it'll take some time, but I'll get there.

"Fair enough." He says, looking over at the barista. She's putting the lids onto our to go cups, and I'm wondering where the hell we're gonna go to drink these. We could take a walk I guess, it is a nice night. I'll wait and see what he wants to do though.