Chapter 5

“What have you found so far?" he repeated impatiently which earned a shrug from Vegas. “Nothing much yet, but he's some scholarship rat, Architecture" he replied calmly.

"So your plan is to punish him?…" Remmy questioned with a pointed look. “Obviously, he needs to pay for my shirt. It was a gift you know" he remarked looking upwards at the server who'd begun to place their food on the table.

He took his iced coffee, taking a sip as he looked out the window, thinking about what Autumn was up to at the moment. Probably being oblivious, he seethed. “You know it's been a while since we had a little fun, what's the plan?" Julian asked before proceeding to stuff a couple of fries in his mouth. 

Vegas inclined his head, expression unreadable as he thought ‘what then?’ He took another sip of his coffee as drifted off once more, using the noise at the background to make up some scenario of seeing the face that's been etched in his mind in reality. It was like he could almost see him, he thought.

……..

Across Campus, Autumn had been practicing all morning. He was supposed to address his group for the project they got assigned earlier. They'd picked out topics and been split into groups of eight. Apparently the lecturer was adamant on equal participation from every group member. “It helps for team building" he remembered him say which earned a lot of side talk from a couple of his classmates. 

And although he had no problem on the topic of group contribution, he'd never addressed that much people before and even worse, everyone was to speak on their individual sub-topics in front of the class after the work was done. He usually did a large part of the research, building then one or two others addressed the class. 'What a semester?’ he thought. 

“I can tell what you're thinking, you know, it's not that bad. You're just talking to a couple of people, what do they know?" Allison's voice lifted over the noise as they stepped into Alvin's Cafe. “Well it's the first time Ally, you know how I get with these things" he replied as they took a seat at a spot near the entrance which had been vacant. 

While Allison took care of ordering their food, he decided to search for his keys, an old habit which helped his anxiety, made him feel in control. After fishing them out of his bag, he brought the keys close to his forehead as he exhaled deeply, now bringing back his attention to Allison who had already begun munching on a burger. 

“Think about it, you're starting the semester in the most exciting way. Your first party, you're going to speak for a class presentation and you had a cute guy hit on you" she teased purposely drawing out the last part. Apparently she had noticed the eyes the flirty bartender had been giving him and got into full fangirl mode when he mentioned it that morning. 

Since forever, she'd been obsessed with getting him more into been social though she wasn't hyper social herself. Truth be told, he needed it. She was literally his only friend though he'd spoken with a few people from time to time which included his dorm receptionist. He'd just convinced himself that he liked his space, his own little circle but Allison was always on his case. 

Also, she got to spend more time with him recently, practically dragging him everywhere she went after her last relationship ended. He wondered if someone else had caught her eye and she didn't want to leave him all to himself soon. Then again, she would have mentioned it already. A smile flashed across his lips as he replayed the conversation he had with the bartender. 'Maybe this is a good thing' he thought, taking a sip of the smoothie she'd ordered for him. 

“Shit" he said, suddenly jolted from his reverie. I didn't even ask for his number. Heck, I don't even know his name” he said, holding his head in his hands. That was just on brand for him really, forgetting something that important.

“Well we could always go back you know" she said calmly. That made sense, easy. Though he couldn't help but ponder on how exactly those things went. “Wasn't he supposed to ask for my number though? Maybe he's not actually interested, just being polite" he remarked, feeling rather gloomy all of a sudden. 

“I'm sure he actually found you cute, have you seen yourself? You're a total babe" she deadpanned suddenly becoming serious. The one thing she wouldn't let him do was go downgrading himself. He thought about the first time they met and how she quickly took on the role of some hype coach. He was truly lucky, he thought. 

“Hey I'm going to get another smoothie, want anything?" she asked standing up, already reaching for her bag. “I'm good" he mumbled as he watched her head to the counter. After she was out of sight, he took out his phone, checking for notifications, finding a message his mom had left him 3 hours ago:

'Hey baby, how's the start of the new semester? I just got back from my group's retreat yesterday. Stop by the house for some food in the evening ok.”

Apparently, her little clique had invited her out camping over the weekend. His face glowed, a smile tugging at his lips at the thought of his mom actually making friends and even travelling with them. 'Guess we both needed that' he thought as he sent her a quick text to tell her he was fine and would ensure to stop by at the house later.

Suddenly, he felt like something shifted. Like he was been watched. He decided not to even bother lifting his head but he decided against that. He lifted his head slowly, scanning the room but everyone was engrossed in themselves or other people, then he noticed a pair of eyes staring straight at him from the other side of the room which were quickly averted to someone else. 

He was left puzzled wondering if he was just feeling nervous, if he just imagined what just happened. “I must really be in over my head” he muttered as he turned his attention back to his phone, scrolling through some old pictures he'd taken a few months ago with his mom. After Allison got back to their table, she suggested heading back to campus which he was grateful for. 'I really need to get a grip' he mumbled to himself as they gathered their things to leave.