The Missing Gem

31 | To New Adventures

Nicole 

"You're not going to become a frat boy now, are you?"

Lucas shot me a knowing look, not even needing to say a word for me to know that he was definitely not going to become the guy who drinks shitty bear every night and who attends every party on campus. He knew I was joking when I asked him that question anyway. 

"You wish."

At his late come back I couldn't help but laugh out loud while I tried my best to balance the weight of the last box I carried. 

Coming back to sunny California with Lucas and knowing that this time it was for good, hits different. It's better, so much better. 

I understand how this can be seen as convenient, how it worked so well for me that he decided to choose himself and his dreams first and move here, but mostly I'm just happy he made this choice for himself and not for someone else, in this case, for me. 

"Alright, we finally got it all here." With his hands resting on either side of his waist, he looked around the room, the wheels in his brain rolling as he was thinking about where to fit all of his stuff. 

Most of the things Lucas didn't consider totally essencial were in my place in San Francisco, while all the items he couldn't go without were inside the square sized brown boxes that we  carried inside his dorm room. 

For this semester he'd be attending college, and he'd be living in a shared dorm room with a roommate he didn't know yet.

"Yep. Come on, I'll help you unpack."

I opened the Spotify app on my phone and clicked on a 90's music playlist to distract us with some background noise for the next two boring hours. God, I really hate unpacking. 

Two hours later, and as if on cue, we finished unpacking and getting everything ready and set when a young boy who couldn't be more than eighteen walked through the door. 

His shaggy blonde hair covered his entire forehead and hid his eyebrows well, only his blue eyes contrasting the golden, sun kissed skin.

"Hi! Are you Lucas?"

"Yes." Lucas politely answered, reaching out his hand to shake his. "I'm moving in today."

"Cool. I'm Mike."

"Nice to meet you, Mike. This is Nicole, my girlfriend."

The boy looked at me and shook my hand too, not without flashing me a smile as well. 

"You go to Santa Monica College too?"

"Oh, no. I already did the whole college thing and I'm done and over with it." I chuckled at my own response. "I just came here to help him move in, I actually live in San Francisco."

"That's cool." He nodded as he took in the information before turning his head back to his new roomie. "Lucas, do you have anything against me playing video games?"

"Not at all."

"We'll get along great, then." The boy shot him a smile and laid on his back on his bed, his eyes immediately drifting towards the screen of the iPhone he held in his hands before adding something at the last minute with a quick glance at Lucas. "I hope you enjoy your time here."

Lucas thanked him and the two of us made our way out of the dorm room to go on a very special short date we had planned once we read about this new place online. It was also a great way for us to spend some time together before we were apart. 

The ice cream parlor looked like it came right out of an old cartoon show, decorated with pastel colors - mostly pink, blue and purple - that made it look like we were walking in cotton candy land.