The Collegiate Chronicles

Chapter 21

What do you even say to the guy who broke your heart after not speaking for months? I was confused as to why he was here but was confusion the only thing that I felt? Was I over the anger? Was I over him?

"Sup, stranger," Jose broke the silence.

"Why are you even here?" I snapped. Nope, not over the anger.

"Nice to see you, too," he responded sarcastically.

We stood there looking at each other again, "You gon' invite me in?"

"I hadn't planned on it. Why are you here?"

"I ran into Georgy earlier, and he didn't want to keep it a secret from you that we talked, so he made me come to see you."

"Oh. Why would I care that y'all talked? What did you talk about?"

"You asking a lot of questions for someone who won't even let me in."

I sighed, side-stepping so Jose could come into my room. He looked around as if he had forgotten what it looked like before sitting on the couch.

"Careful, if Kynsey finds out you're hanging around an openly gay guy, it could cause issues."

Jose looked at me like he was surprised.

"Yeah," I continued, "I know y'all are still together."

"I didn't know you were on the lookout for me."

"I'm not, but that doesn't mean we don't cross paths every now and then. Like that time she was In the commons with you twerking on your lap when you were trying to read a book."

"Oh, you saw that?" Jose looked embarrassed.

"It killed my appetite. That was a few weeks ago."

"One of the few times I even got her to come out with me, and that's how she acted," Jose said, annoyed.

I was surprised. I think Jose forgot where he was for a moment and didn't mean to get that candid with me. Judging by his wide-eyed stare at me after he said it, he definitely didn't mean to say that aloud.

"But yeah," I said as to break the awkwardness, "I don't just go around campus seeking you out."

"Maybe I go around campus, seeking you out."

"Please," I scoffed, sitting on the opposite end of the couch. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I wanna know how you're doing and make sure you're okay."

"Then text like a normal person would."

Jose stared at me for a moment before taking out his cell phone. He showed me he was about to text me before sending a simple '.' and it was sent as a text message.

"Oh, whoops!" I gave a nervous laugh, forgetting he was blocked.

"So, are you good? How's school this semester?"

"It's going well. I'm aiming for straight A's."

"If anyone could do it, it's you."

I smiled, "And yourself?"

Jose shrugged, "Not so great that I'll make the Dean's list, but not so poorly that I regret spending money on the place."

"C's get degrees, right?"

"Hell yeah."

We both laughed for a moment before I looked at Jose, "So, why are you really here? I know it wasn't to catch up."

He looked away from me briefly, a sign that I was right. I waited for him to look back at me, and he finally did. He started fanning himself, "Why is it so damn hot up in here?"