Chapter Five
Chapter Five
I've decided that I am going to leave. I'm going home to do online college. I just need to talk to Trent about it, then my parents. I would be able to leave. It's only two weeks before Christmas break. I was meeting up with Trent and Kim. I'm not telling him yet. I'll wait until I figure out a time with him alone.
I arrive at the place where we are having dinner. I sit with them. That's when I see it.
"Nia!"
Trent and Kim both stand and give me a hug. I smile at them both, though I know it's a troubled smile. I sit down, and we order our food from the waitress. Trent signes to me,
"So, Nia. We have some news for you. It's really great news. I want you to be the first to know."
I look between them confusedly and notice the more than bright smile on both of their faces. They seemed overly excited. "What is it?" I ask. Kim holds up her left hand, showing me a ring. My jaw drops. I quickly recover and smile, making some sort of noise that ks hopefully, maybe a squeal.
"This is great news! I'm so happy for you both! When? How? tell me everything!" Kim begins the story.
"Remember the last time we hung out when you told me to just say it and tell Trent I love him?" She blushes. "I'm still not used to saying that."
Trent looks at her and says with a light kiss, before she can go on, "Get used to it, darlin'." She blushes harder.
"Trent had asked me on a date a few days ago for our six month anniversary. It was at a fancy restaurant. He picked me up while holding a giant bouquet of roses. We got to the restaurant and had everything prepared. I just blurted it out like a fool." Trent interjects yet again.
"Come on, you weren't being a fool. It was cute." She smiles at this comment.
"He looked down, seeming upset. I was really scared and said it was okay if he wasn't ready or didn't feel the same way. He cut me off and said he loved me too. I, of course, was thrilled. I finally asked why he seemed so upset. Trent told me it was because he wanted to say it first. After dinner, he got down on one knee and proposed."
I feel tears of happiness come down my cheeks. "That is so cute! I'm so happy for you guys!"
"Thank you. I'm going to take you with me for Christmas break to meet the parents." She smiles lovingly at him as he says this.
After the dinner is over, I'm feeling a bit sad. I don't know what to do about the whole 'not going to college the second semester' thing. I don't want to ruin the mood of their engagement. At the same time, I know this has to be addressed. When I make it to my dorm, it takes me forever to fall asleep. When I do, I'm restless.
I wake up super early and take a shower. After getting ready for the day, I decide I'm going to make more of an effort. I could try harder to make new friends. Just because I can't hear doesn't mean I can't make friends with my classmates, right? I begin my morning with a walk. I go to my first class with the intention of hanging out with people.
It didn't work. I tried things...things that just made me seem more like a weirdo. My last class of the day gets out, and I feel discouraged. Why can't it be easier?
It's a whole week later, and I now have a few acquaintances. A few even said we should hang out sometime. I'm walking to my favorite beach bench. There are barely any people here because it's Sunday. Normally, Trent and I hang out after Mass. I already went to Mass with Trent, and he went out with Kim today. I didn't feel like third wheeling, so I decided to go for a walk instead. That's when I see him, a random person. He is walking a few feet in front of me. He turns his head to glance at something to the side of him, giving me a view of half of his face. I feel like I've seen him before. That's when I look to his pocket. His phone is sticking dangerously out of it. He sticks his hand in his pocket and I look away, feeling like I was stalking him. As I walk, I see it. His phone is laying on the ground next to me. I look up, hurriedly looking for him so I could return it. I pick up the phone. It's vibrating rather violently. I look at it quizzically. There must be something wrong with it. I see the person turning a corner. I quickly run after him before I can lose sight of him. With a lot of effort, I catch up to him. I tap his shoulder. He slows down slightly in his walk. When he sees me, his eyes widen in what looks like...shock? I smile at him.
"Excuse me sir, I don't mean to bother you. I just want to return your phone. You dropped it back there."
He looks horrified. He puts his hand out for the phone and turns it on, snapping something else off. He suddenly turns his head and reaches his hand up to scratch his ear.
"Thank you."
"Say, I think I've seen you in one of my classes." I wince at how cringy that must seem. Oh well. I already said it. He winces too, probably for the same reason as I did.
"Yes, we do."
We're walking side by side. I blush because there is an awkward pause.
"Sorry, this is awkward. I'm just..."
I stop what I am saying. I can't talk to a complete stranger like this.
Before I can turn away, he says, "Okay. This is really random. I know we just met, but do you want to...go eat lunch together? I don't really have anything better to do."
I look at him blankly. What? That's when I really realize how sketchy this is. I can't go to lunch with a random stranger. I stop walking and politely smile.
"Sorry, I can't right now. Maybe we can go some other time. I'll see you in...what class do we have together again?" He looks really disappointed, a little too disappointed. Before he can respond, I walk briskly away. I feel shaken and weird even though nothing happened. There was something about the phone vibrating that weirded me out.
After the incident, I look for the guy in all of my classes. Finally, I see him. I decide to sit by him. When he sees me, his eyes widen. I smile at him, and he smiles back. It seems...weaker. After class, I walk with him and begin to talk.
"Hey. I've actually been wondering which class we had together. I'm sorry I had to run before. Now we can talk for real." He smiles and replies, slightly chuckling.
"Yes. I'm Sebastian."
"It's nice to meet you properly. I'm Nia." He smiles widely just at my name.
"It's nice to meet you too." We shake hands and begin to walk in the same direction together.
"Now can I treat you to lunch?" I blink. Should I? I had nothing else to do. This was a lot less sketchy than before. I shrug.
"Sure. Why not?"
He takes me to a car that seems to be his.
"I hope you don't mind going off campus for lunch."
"That sounds exciting. I hardly ever go off campus,"
"Hmm. I guess I can change that."
"Goodie." I hop into his car without even thinking about it. He begins to drive.
"So, Nia. What is your major? Tell me about yourself."
I smile. "Biology." He smiles widely at this.
"Aye."
He puts his hand out. Why does one put their hand out? I have a very delayed reaction.
"Are you going to leave me hanging?"
"What do you mean 'hanging'?" He flat out laughs.
"A high five. We're both biology majors."
I finally get it. I high five him quickly before he says anything else about it. He playfully raises an eyebrow.
"Wow. I was not expecting you to hit that hard. Next time I'll just leave you be."
I roll my eyes. "Sorry. I was just expecting your hand to be stronger."
"Oof."
I laugh at his weird sense of humor.
"You're funny Sebastian." His eyes widen. I blush for no reason.
"Most people just call me Seb. Uh...Sebastian is too long." I smile at this.
"I'm just going to call you Sebastian if that's okay with you. Seb is such a degraded version of it, and I like the whole name." I finish my long speech blushing harder. Where did that come from?
We pull up at a diner. I smile at it. It looks great. I haven't had anything but salads for a while. We walk inside, and he gets us a table.
"Thanks for bringing me here." I say this with a slight blush. We just met, but he was already being super nice. I feel special.
"Thanks for coming." He says this while chuckling.
We did some small talk before the food arrived. When it did arrive, it was harder for me to talk to him while I ate. I had to constantly look upon his lips just in case. He probably thinks I'm a creep already. Eventually, I give up and only glance at his lips sometimes. I see him mid sentence.
"-ly we sat. Well anyway enough about me. What about you?" I try not to widen my eyes.
"Uh, um, ahem. Sorry. What about me?"
"Oh, just in general. What have you been doing lately? What are your hobbies?"
"Well...hobbies. Uh." I broke into a nervous laugh. "This isn't really much of a hobby. It's more of a story. When I was younger my brother Trent and I used to play a game where he would..." I stop. The table is vibrating. That was it. I shake my head. "Sorry. I...yeah." I finish speaking. He seems very surprised. "Sorry. Did I say something?" He doesn't respond. He picks his phone up, and I realize it must have been ringing. He looks at it and turns it off. I look down at my plate for a moment and back up.
"Sorry. I got momentarily distracted there."
"Oh, yeah that's fine. I have to...go to the bathroom. Be right back."
I was feeling uncomfortable. I need a moment to collect my thoughts. When I come back, he is sitting there. I shudder at the thought and walk to my seat to sit down.
After we finish up our lunch, he opens the door to the car for me. We drive back. When I give him directions to my dorm, he drops me off. He begins talking again.
"This has been fun. This is sort of awkward to ask, but can we exchange numbers?"
I almost laugh. He was the first and only person to ever ask me for my phone number.
"Yes. I mean, yes, let's exchange numbers."
I walk to my dorm. When I get inside, I get a notification. I check my phone. Sure enough, it's from him.
'Niaaaa.'
The extra letters make me smile.
'Sebastiannnn.'
'Just double checking that you didn't give me some sort of fake number.'
'I should have thought of that.' I send this before I can think it through, and my eyes widen at my sarcasm. I cross my fingers and hope he doesn't block me on the spot. He responds a few seconds later.
'Wow. Good thing I didn't give you the idea when we were exchanging.'
'True.'
We end it there. I'm pretty sure he's driving now, so I don't say anything else. I plop into my bed with a happy sigh. I finally made a friend.
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