“I think the champagne bottle is miss…” Jared stopped mid-sentence and took a long look at me, his brows furrowing. “What is it? Are you okay?” My phone was squeezed in my hand and I wondered if it was something worth worrying about. We’d come here for a little get away and drama was the furthest thing from peace. Besides, I didn’t want to have to tell him if there was absolutely nothing to worry about. “Nothing.” I smiled. It should be nothing. “Sure?” He didn’t seem convinced so I stretched my hand towards him and he walked forward. I pulled him gently until he was at my level and kissed him, suds all over my body. “Yeah.” I pulled back, giving him the sweetest smile I could muster. “There should have been a bottle of champagne here but I can’t seem to get a hold of the manager. Reception isn’t the most perfect here.” That piqued my interest. Maybe that was why I hadn’t heard anything when whomever it was had called. I looked at the man before me, his wavy/curly hair falling ov

“Jer, what’s this?” I wasn’t sure I was seeing properly. After the short vacation, I didn’t go to back to my hostel immediately. I would’ve gone to Alyssa’s place but she had finally gone home and would be back in a few weeks or days. She said ‘it depends’. “What?” Jared didn’t look up from his lego assembly, completely concentrated on finding matching pieces. He was such a nerd sometimes. “This!” I obstructed his vision with my phone in his face. He looked at it, then looked away like it wasn’t important but I caught the sheepish look in his eyes. “Nothing.” “A hundred thousand dollars isn’t nothing.” I yelled at him. The prize money was meant to be shared by the both of us but he’d sent everything to me instead. “I have no use for the money and I’d love for you to have it. Consider it my gift to you for making the school proud.” I looked at my phone and my face morphed into that resembling pain. “Jer… I, I can’t take this.” He deserved it too, even if he had all the money in t

I was mid moving my bed when I heard someone call for me. I couldn’t turn since the bed was a bit heavy and obstructing but I recognized the voice.“Alyssa?” I heard her pick up and pace and she appeared in front of me. “What are you doing here?” I was expecting her in like a few days from now.“I finished early... what are you doing?” She motioned to the bed I now leaned against the wall. “Uh... moving a bed?” She rolled her eyes at me and smacked her forehead.“Duh... I can see that. I’m asking why you’re doing it. You have a bed, don’t you?” “I had.” I picked up the bed and went inside, making sure I wasn’t dragging it across the floor. It was almost impossible to do.I suddenly felt the weight reduce drastically and looked back to see Alyssa lifting up the rear end of the bed.“Thank you.” She just shrugged in response.“You know, this is my first time being in your room. Didn’t know you’re quite the minimalist.” I almost scoffed. Or more like my things were destroyed.“Yeah.”

I blinked real fast, real hard. Jared pushed the phone closer to me so I’d grab it. “What is this?” It was a picture of my room, the mess it was before I cleaned it up. “How…” I trailed off. He’d never been to my room before so he should have had no idea whose room he was looking at. Secondly, how had he even gotten the picture in the first place? “How I have this?” He grabbed the phone from my hands and scoffed. “Gee, I don’t know. Someone thought to tell me and not my girlfriend.” Contrary to what I should have been feeling, my heart did a little back flip and I had to stifle the smile that was about to stretch my face. Jared was seething as he paced the room. “A call woke me up this morning with an email of what is supposed to be your room. Can you please tell me what the hell is going on?” Jared sat down on the bed and faced me, apparent confusion and somewhat watered down anger dancing around his pupils. He’d softened his tone to speak to me. “Who told you about it?” “Doe

I wasn’t sure how but Ashley didn’t say anything about the image. Either she hadn’t seen it or she was storing that information for later use. Regardless, I was careful around her. Her boyfriend had left a few minutes ago after a lot of side eyes and scowls from Ashley. The room was a lot more uncomfortable than usual and I felt like a lot of questions hung in the air. I was no busy body but I couldn’t help but wonder who the guy was. Sure the campus was huge but that face didn’t look like it belonged here and they were so chummy, you’d think they’d known each other for years. I was probably overthinking it. *** “… study sessions.” I’d zoned out as usual but a nudged by the rib brought me back to reality. “What?” I whispered to the person who’d called my attention. “You should volunteer.” I looked at the dude and recognised him. How had I not noticed him before? The bag guy. I suddenly realised I hadn’t forgotten his name. He just hadn’t told me. “For what?” When he saw the app