When We Were 18 ENGLISH

Chapter 13

**********************One Year Later**********************

Daniel's POV

"Hello?" I answered the phone just to stop that unbearably sharp ringing.
"Did I wake you up?" Gabriel's voice was lively.
"Just as always, right, Hill?" He laughed, and I lay in bed. "But tell me, what do you want?"
"Know your address!"
"For what?"
"Just give me the fucking address, Lewis!"
"I'll text you!"
"Deal, you can go back to sleep." I ended the call and typed my address to Gabriel in the message.
I turned around and saw what time it was on the clock next to my bed. It was already past noon, I sat on the bed and question whether or not I could go back to sleep, it was already late.
It had been an intense year, with college and everything I hadn't rested, I wanted to rest on summer break. I got ready to get out of bed, and I heard my cell phone telling me that it had a notification on Instagram. I opened the application and saw that the notification was from a new post by Cami. She was smiling next to Lisa.

"There's nothing better than being able to meet the best friend in the world, again! I love you!"

She smiled, loved to see those two together, and Camila was even more beautiful than before, her hair had returned to its natural color, and was shorter. She was wearing jeans and a wide T-shirt.
I opened the messaging application and opened my conversation with Lisa. 

"Are you with Camila?"

I blocked the phone and got up to take a shower. I walked to the bathroom, I had a bunch of clothes thrown on the floor, and eventually, I would have to wash them, but I would have all the time in the world to do it. I took off my sweatpants and underwear and threw them along with all the other dirty clothes. I turned on the shower and went into the box. I took a quick shower, just to get the rotten out of the night before.
I had gone to a party in one of my classmates' apartments, and every time I went to those kinds of parties I found out how much I hated college parties. It was so ridiculous, those people drinking like retards, kissing twenty people at once, it was ridiculous. I was the kind of guy who would get one and spend the whole party with her, sometimes, depending on my mood, I'd take her to my house. Something that didn't happen yesterday.
I came out of the shower wrapped in the towel, and I heard the apartment bell ringing. I ran to the door to answer it, on the towel anyway. I opened the door and bumped into a smiling Gabriel.
"What? What are you doing here?" I pulled him in and we hugged.
"Oh no, Lewis, you're naked!" He grumbled trying to get out of my hug.
"My bad, I didn't even notice!" I let him go.
"There's something that doesn't change, not even when we leave school." Gabriel took his bags and went into the apartment.
"What's that? Are you staying here?"
"Yeah, do you know any other best friends I have here in London?" I denied it, and I shrugged.
"The problem is that I don't have a guest room!"
"No problem, you sleep on the couch and I'll stay in your room!" I had a loud and ironic laugh.
"Sure!" I turned to go back to my room. "Are you hungry? I'll just get dressed and we can go to the coffee place around the corner."
"Oh, okay!"
I went into the room and opened the wardrobe, put on dark jeans and a plain black T-shirt, put on socks and my black all-star, looked at my hair in the mirror, and left the room. I found Gabriel staring at his cell phone.
"I'm ready!" I told him and he looked at me.
"Come on!" Gab got up and we left the apartment together.
It was great to have Gabriel here, I missed our crazy times together, and I really enjoyed his surprise to come to visit me. No doubt it would be the most fucked-up vacation we have ever lived. No parents, no rules, no girlfriends, no charge. It would all be peaceful.
"Hey, I was looking at Cami's Instagram, and Lisa's in London, too, right?"
"I think so, I asked her, but I still haven't gotten an answer." He nodded and shrugged.
"Do we run the risk of finding each other?" I denied it.
"I've been in this city for a year, just like Camila and I haven't met yet, it's a huge city."
"I know that but it's the same university, you never got to go to the same party?"
"No, if it happened, we didn't meet." I shrugged.
We got off the elevator and walked down the street until we got to the coffee place on the corner of the street in my condo.
"Do you think they hate us too much?" I nodded.
"No doubt about it, I believe they're arguing right now about which one of us was more of an asshole."
"You!" Gabriel pointed to me with a playful smile and I slapped his hand.
"Stop it, Hill! I at least waited till we weren't gonna meet anymore." We walked into the coffee place, the doorbell rang and some heads turned to us. "Naturally. you don't say anything, your accent's too strong."
"My accent is my best part, Alfie!" Gab pushed me lightly.
"Oh fuck you, haven't you stopped pushing?" Gabriel shrugged and stared at me.
"There's something that's never gonna change." I snitched and we walked to the counter.
"Hey, Jessie!" I said to the blonde behind the counter.
"Hey, Dani, how are you? I thought you weren't coming today!" I smiled at her sympathy, that girl was beautiful.
"I'm fine! Yeah, there was an unwanted visitor at the house, I had to give his attention." I pointed discreetly at Gabriel and she laughed.
"Hey, who are you calling an unwanted visitor?" Gabriel spoke and I stared at him.
"You!" I shrugged. "Jessie, this is Gabriel. Gab, this is Jessica." I introduced them and Gabriel extended his hand to greet her.
"Pleased to meet you, Jessica!"
"You can call me Jessie, Daniel knows I hate my full name." She stared at me with those vibrant green eyes, smiled, and shrugged.
"I can't do anything, Jessica Donovan!" I provoked her and she showed her tongue to me.
"What is your order today, Lewis?" Jessie smiled.
"The usual!" I replied as if it were obvious.
"I don't know why I insist on asking."
"Me either, by the time we were talking here you would have already made my order and would be ready by then." I tried again and this time she showed me the middle finger.
"Don't bother, Dani! Your order is ready!" Kimberly got my attention to her.
"What would I be without you, Kimmy!" I took my coffee and gave the money to Jessie. "You need to learn from Kim, Jessica!" Jessie showed her middle finger again.
"Fuck you, Lewis!" I laughed at her cursing.
I loved to tease Jessie, but fall easy on teasing, and get mad fast.
"Dani, come here!" Kimberly caught my attention and I walked up to her, leaving Gabriel to make his order for Jessica.
"You talked to Hannah?" Kim spoke softly and I shrugged.
"No, did I have to talk?"
"What the fuck, Daniel! You had sex with her, and you didn't even have the decency to send a message."
"Kim, I don't fuck the same person twice, you know that!" I made a suggestive look at her.
Kimberly and I met long before I started going to her family's coffee shop, she bumped into me one day when I was leaving the apartment, she knocked coffee over me and I offered her to come up to the apartment with me, what happened then became history, we had sex and she ended up becoming my friend. I never nurtured any kind of hope, and I always made it very clear that it would not happen again.
"I know that, but she was delighted with you!" I nodded.
"All of them get, don't they?" I shrugged and smiled maliciously. "Tell her she'd be better without me, Kimmy! I won't call, I won't text, and it'll be lucky for her if she finds me again."
"All right!" Kim raised her hands in surrender. "I'm not here anymore." I agreed. "Who's your handsome friend?"
"Gabriel, he studied with me in East Sussex, and came to spend the summer with me." We looked at Gabriel, who engaged in an exciting conversation with Jessie. "It seems you weren't the only one who liked him!"
"Who? Jessica?" Kimberly laughed sarcastically. "She likes someone else, Lewis!"
"Really?"
"Yes, except she swore she'd never get involved with him, because he's a jerk, asshole, heartless, and he fucked her sister." I looked at her and frowned.
"You mean me?" Kim crossed her arms.
"Do you know another one?" I shrugged.
"Good to know she likes me. Now it gets easier!" Kimmy frantically denied it.
"Oh no, not my sister!" I laughed.
"Fell in the net, it's fish!" Kimberly slapped me on the arm and I laughed more.
"Asshole!"
Gabriel and Jessica stopped and talked and came to Kimberly and me.
"What's going on here?" Jessica asked with a smile.
That smile was beautiful, she had such an innocent look, which made me want to have her even more.
"We were talking about the party that's going on at my apartment tonight, aren't you guys going?" I answered, looking directly at Jessie, who instantly turned red.
"I didn't know!" Kim teased me and I stare at her with a face.
"I'll work hard to make it, I can't promise anything." Jessica smiled, and I smiled back. I loved that girl's friendliness.
"Then deal, the party starts at eight, but if you want to arrive before that, no problem!" They agreed. "Thanks, girls, you rock!" I kissed Kim on the cheek, and I went near Jessica. "Really, Jess, try to go!"
"I'll try, Dan!" That was a new nickname, I liked it.
I hugged Jessie and left a kiss on her cheek, close to her lips. I waited for Gabriel to say goodbye and we left the establishment.
"Did you really plan a party in your apartment for today?"
"No, but now I'll plan it." I took my phone from my pocket and opened the messaging app.