Vivid Memories

Chapter 7

Heading home from the cinema pretty great. Penny offered to drop me home and while I did invite them to stay over for a while, they both said they couldn't. Though we eventually did plan a day where we could meet up at my place. It's not on campus and also it's good enough for like three people so it was a nice plan.

The first I did was just get changed and lay in my bed. So far, I think the first semester is going well. I made a few good friends and I'm helping someone get over their own problems. Though, looking back at now, was I being a bit too pushy? I did force Dante to become friends with. I feel as if I made things a bit too one-sided.

And same with Cait. I haven't talked to her as often as I would like to. I wished I could see her more often since she was the first person I met when I first came to UCLA. I hope we can be close like we were back then.

Even so, I moved forward. I made sure Dante had time to spend with his friends during lunch or whenever he's free. I'm glad he's finally found a crowd where he can be himself. I feel like now that he has some company, everything has gone back to normal. Caitlyn comes by more often and Penelope, well, she's always been the happy-go-lucky girl I've known her to be.

So why didn't everything feel as if it was alright?

"Did you finish the summative yet?" Penny asked me during our lunch break. We were by the cafe with all of our textbooks and laptops. She was aimlessly scrolling through the web like I was.

"Ugh, no," I sighed and shook my head. I swear I was going insane. "I'm so fucking annoyed with the fucking biology report since it should be easy but there's no fucking source which backs up my fucking point!"

"Easy girl," Caitlyn patted my back and smiled. "We'll get there and if not, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. You'll burn out too quickly if you stress out too much. We have a week and we're almost done."

"You're right... You're right..." I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "I'm good. I'm good. I'm going for a walk to the shops to cool my head. Do you guys want anything?"

"Hmm... I'll take a bag of Lays," Penny requested. "Just salted."

"Can't believe you're going to make get you a bag air," I chuckled after teasing Penny.

"Well, if you're buying, grab me some brownies or anything sweet," Caitlyn asked as well.

"Am I not sweet enough for you Cait?" I raised my eyebrow, teasing her.

"You're too sweet for me, Ava," She winked and laughed slightly. "You might give me diabetes."

"Ooh nice save," I giggled and grabbed my bag and purse. "Alright, I'll see you guys in like ten-ish minutes."

You know, living in the cloudy skies of Britain, I've learned to appreciate the reason why the sun should never come out every single day. It's blazing here. Cait and Penny tell me it's always like this but god it's hot. I got tanned real quick when I first got here, and I had to buy so many denim shorts and ripped jeans because I badly underestimated the sun.

So I'm always grateful for rain, whenever it comes to this sun-blaze country.

As I walked towards the campus shop, I noticed how Dante wasn't with his new friends. They were by the fields, just chatting around. God, I feel like his mum for some odd reason.

"Hey," I walked up to his group and looked around. "Where's Dante?"

"And you are?" One of the guys looked at me suspiciously.

"His friend, Avalon," I introduced myself. "We take the same course."

"Ah, well, we actually don't know where he is," The guy shrugged and sighed. "It's a shame. The only man who has the same taste in Esports isn't here."

"I'm just saying, while you two are on the G2 hype train, you can't deny FunPlus is better," One of the girls raised both her hands, trying to make herself look like the more justified one.

"And I'm just saying my boy Caps will carry G2 to victory,"

And that was when the nerds forgot I was there.

So I decided to head to the shop and got the things the girls wanted. As I was about to leave, Dante popped into the shop. We both looked surprised.

"Yo, why aren't you with your friends?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"Yo, why aren't you doing your summative?" He replied back. "Don't you have a summative due in like the next week?"

"Uhhh... how would you know that?"

"I am literally taking the same course as you, except I'm a sophomore and you're a freshman," He sighed and shook his head. "And like it's nearly December, so you should get some sort of task."

"Yeah, well, I was going to break my Mac if I didn't have a break," I sighed, realising just how bad my temper was. "Okay, now answer my question."

"Well, those guys were making their weekday bets, but I have two summative reports due next week on Monday, and I'm halfway through it so I desperately need more time on it," He answered, though it sounded as if it was a lot of work. "So I couldn't hang out with them."

"Ah, well... I guess that's understandable," I smiled at him, then he mirrored my action. "Well, what brings you to the shop?"

"I actually needed a break, so I thought a walk from the library to here would calm me down," He shrugged and breathed deeply. "So that's how I got here. I got frustrated with my work at one point, so I needed a break after working for like two hours."

"If you're free, could you help out with my report?" I asked suddenly. "L-like not to copy you. I just want your opinion on how it looks and all."

"I'm sure you'll be fine Ava," He sighed and shrugged. "Besides, I've got my own battles to deal with. You're a smart girl."

"I'm wondering, are you feeling happier?" I asked him randomly. "Like, from what I can see, you're doing well, but I'm concerned still."

"I'll be fine," He smiled and ruffled up my hair - which was not okay, but since it's Dante, I'll let it slide. Just this once. Any more than this, then I shall murder him in his sleep. "Don't worry yourself over me, okay?"

"Hm... Well, I can't just do that Dante," I sighed and shook my head whilst trying to fix my hair. "I know! I'll come to one of your friend's events. Just to see how you're coping."

"Dude, you're like what? Eighteen? An eighteen-year-old girl hanging out with like four nineteen-year-olds and two twenty-year-olds," He sounded like he didn't want me around. "You're not my mom man." Ah, there it is.

"Just this once! Please?" I pouted. Hehe, this was my secret weapon. Guys could never say no to this face. "Please?"

"I... Ugh... fine if you stop making that face," Dante groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. "We're meeting up at Hazel's place this Saturday. We're watching the Worlds Finals. I've already watched it, but apparently Leah and Issac have yet to watch it. So yeah, uh, guess you're coming. Be ready to hear nerd shit from us."

"Will do,"

If I do not live past Saturday, you know what happened.