"I've studied calc before," I said, shaking my head. "I've seen you before, and I've drank coffee before. Hell, I do these things pretty regularly. So I don't know why you think a study date at a coffee shop is 'special'."

Maia leaned forward. "Have you ever done all three of those things at the same time?" When I didn't reply, she grinned. "I thought so. I'm going to go buy my coffee now."

"Wait," I said, pulling out my wallet. "I'll pay for you."

"No thanks," she said dismissively. "Don't feel obligated to spend money on me. I don't believe in that." She pushed her chair in, and I watched her get in line.

Now that I didn't have to make eye contact with anyone, my gaze flitted to the floor-to-ceiling glass window. Sunlight bathed the street in warmth, and ____--a perfect day to be outside. Unfortunately, a calculus exam waited for us the next day, and Maia had successfully roped me into studying with her. I didn't really need to review, but I couldn't deny spending a few hours with Maia.

She returned with a cup of iced coffee, and I went to buy my own. When I sat down again, she spread her things out on the table. "You came very prepared," I observed.

"Well, I need my grade to go up. But to be honest, at this point, I don't know if it's worth saving."

"We still have the AP test," I said, opening my laptop. "So I don't know about you, but I don't want to retake calc next year."

She sighed. "Why do you always have to be right?"

Ignoring her, I opened the review and wrote down the first problem. Maia, meanwhile, was already frowning at her laptop. "How do you do this again?"

"Wait a second," I said, finishing the problem. "Okay. Here." I explained it to her, watching as she nodded in response. Slowly, her lips curved up, the smile reaching her eyes too--a smile that could have lit up the entire world.

"Thank you so much," she said. "I literally do not know what I would be doing without you."

"Oh, it's no problem," I said, feeling my cheeks warm. I looked down at the problem I had been doing, and Maia did too.

I was checking my answer when she threw her pencil on the table. I looked up. "I can't do this anymore," she declared.

"Why?"

"I just. Cannot. I can't study with this--" she gestured around the room-- "music. Some of the things they're playing are awful."

"Put your headphones in," I suggested.

"I can't listen to any type of music when I study. It's distracting."

"Then why did you want to come here, knowing that coffee shops...play music?"

Maia sighed in exasperation. "I forgot."

"Well, do you want to go somewhere else?"

"No," she said quickly. "No, it's fine. I'll just...never study here again."

"What do you like to listen to, if you can't listen to music?" I asked, as the screen of my computer turned off.

"I like to listen to silence when I do homework. If I'm super stressed about something then I listen to ASMR."

"ASMR?" I said. "That's--"

"What?" she said, crossing her arms. "Weird? Have you ever listened to it? I swear that stuff's so therapeutic. Therapy is expensive, but ASMR is free."

"Well," I said, "if you're being so defensive about this, then maybe it is worth a try."

"I wasn't being defensive. I just wasn't going to let you bash ASMR like that."

"That's being defensive, Maia."

"Tae," she complained, swatting at me. "Leave me alone." In an effort to ignore me, Maia went back to her math, and I returned to my pretend studying as well. My comfort with the content only increased my boredom, and my gaze drifted above the screen to settle on her.

Her forehead furrowed at the sight of her next problem, and she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear in concentration. I let my gaze travel over the slope of her nose, the slight pinkness of her cheeks, the line of her jaw. I suddenly remembered why I'd fallen for Maia in the first place. Even while stressed, she carried a steady aura, an aura that said: I've got my life together.

I, who did not have my life together, liked that very much.

Maia peeked over her computer, her eyes crinkling. "What're you looking at?"

My cheeks heated, and I looked back down at my papers. We didn't speak again until the road outside filled with cars as the rush hour began, and we began to make our way home as well. To my relief, the music stayed off, but she didn't speak. As we turned onto my street, I turned to look at her, and I couldn't deny the unease that radiated off of her. Her knuckles, I noticed, were white around the steering wheel.

"Stop clenching the wheel," I said.

Slowly, color began to come back to her hands. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to die, you feel?"

"I don't feel, actually."

She looked at me. "Anyway. Your yard looks nice. Mine always has yellow parts."

"Thanks, but I don't think I should be the one to accept this compliment. Since I don't mow the lawn or anything."

"Oh, don't be like that," said Maia, waving a hand in dismissal. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good luck." She unlocked the door. "Now get out."

"What?" I said, feeling brave. "Are you not going to give me a kiss?"

She blushed and looked away, then pulled me towards her, and I felt the soft touch of her lips on my cheek. "Is that better?"

"It is better," I said, unable to fight my smile. "Thank you very much."

a/n: a lot of stuff has happened since i last updated this book more than a month ago. ahahahah sorry i've been MIA, my motivation to do anything lately has gone down a lot so it was kind of hard to force myself to write

anyway!! firstly, my AP test was cancelled so i'm very happy about that

secondly, my state joined the growing list of states cancelling school until june so i have been vibing at home :D online school isn't too bad but this whole virus is exposing some things about our society that we've been ignoring

next, bangbangcon was very nice to experience considering ive never been to a bts concert before. i forgot how good some of the old songs were ahahaha bts world domination

lastly, with all of this extra time i have, i've been getting into loona and i've listened to their entire discography over the past few weeks and i'm now trying to learn all their names. stan loona

i also know this is alr a long a/n but please i just want to show you these 2 memes i found on twitter

edit: ah ha ha it's may 19 right now and while i really wanted to write some more, my paper is due to c*llege b*ard on the 26th, and my english teacher decided to also make an essay due on the 22nd so i think you'll have to wait until after the 26th for an update </3 if you're reading this stream streetlight by changbin