Caffeine | PUBLISHED

13. Ristretto

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ristretto

I FELT LIKE AN IDIOT. I couldn't believe I thought things would be different after Isaac had called me his friend – after he said he'd see me around.

I mean, we did see each other around. We sent polite nods from across the café, but we never exchanged more than a quiet 'hello'. Sometimes we'd smile when we passed in the hallways – on the rare occasion that he bothered to show up at school. Our last text from before Arthur Andrew's party taunted me as I considered texting him each night – ultimately deciding against it every single night, only to reconsider the next.

Either Isaac's definition of a friend was very different from mine, or he'd only said it to be polite.

He was back to his old routine of skipping classes and disappearing from the school quad in the middle of lunch.

It had been nearly two weeks since I'd had a proper conversation with him.

It was on me. I'd embarrassed myself in front of him. I'd told him to reconcile with Lacey. I was the one who encouraged him to go back to his world of popularity and relationships.

And I had to return to mine.

But I couldn't help missing him.

Maybe I was overthinking it.

"Stop staring," Riley scolded.

I turned to see her eyes riddled with concern, leaning against the tree beside William. William's gaze flickered between my face and the soccer field, Isaac and his friends kicking a ball around lazily.

I sighed, thumbing my jeans. "I can't help it. You know he's going to disappear like he always does during lunch. I just –"

"Aspen," Riley interrupted. I turned my focus onto her. She stared at me with eyebrows raised and a pointed smirk on her face. "Go talk to him."

"You think?"

"He said you're friends, right?"

I nodded.

"Then go. Friends talk to each other."

I swallowed. She was right. I needed to take matters into my own hands – if I wanted to talk to Isaac, I should just do it. What was I worrying about? William sent me a small smile of encouragement from beside Riley, and I stood, brushing my pants off from the grass.

"I'll see you guys later, then," I said, my voice quieter than I had hoped. I shouldered my backpack, shrugging it on before turning to the soccer field and sucking in a deep breath.

I shuffled down the hill, practicing what I was going to say in my head – rehearsing in an attempt to not make a fool of myself in front of him and his friends. Hey Isaac, how have you been? Me? Oh, I'm good, just on my way to art early. Are you coming today? We should go together.

Isaac had left his friends and stood at the edge of the field gulping down a bottle of water. I paused, taking in another deep breath and clenching my fists before approaching him.

"Hey Isaac," I began, pushing my voice to sound louder, more confident than I felt. Okay, it was going well so far. "How you been?"

Isaac turned, his brows rising in surprise to see me.

"Aspirin, hey!" His usual charming smile tugged at his lips and my heart fluttered. "Good, good. What about you?"

I mustered up my confidence and sent him a nonchalant smile. This was going well – definitely in my top ten social interactions so far. "Good! I'm just on my way to art early. Are you –"