Chapter 3

A flustered Emilia grabbed her shoulder bag and sprinted off the bus, practically falling down the stairs. She hadn’t gotten enough sleep last night enjoying the last remnants of summer and that resulted in her taking a nap, in public, on her first day back.

She dusted herself off and let out a big sigh.

She had this, she had overcome much worse things after all. She straightened up and held her chin up high. When she had walked a little further in, she finally got a chance to look around the courtyard.

The surrounding buildings had an old look to them, but the stones and bricks were well maintained. The architecture was rustic with lots of greenery and garden beds along the border.

Emilia couldn’t believe school had started already and because she was in a daze, she didn’t notice the hanging tree branch in her path.

“Ahhhhggh! Stupid tree…”She took a second to rub her forehead before realizing she had dropped all her textbooks and notes.

“I just bought those too,” she pouted and bent down to pick them up. Before she reached the floor, one of her notebooks was flung in front of her face.

“This yours?”

She glanced towards the sound of the voice and saw a young man with softly styled up dark brown hair. He was very fashionable and had the feel of pulling it all off without trying.

He shot her a cheeky grin and she had a feeling she was going to regret all the nice things she just said.

“Here you are beautiful, are you alright?”

Emilia rolled her eyes as she grabbed her books back. She forced a smile and abruptly turned around. As she took her first few steps, the man stepped in front of her blocking his path.

“What? Not even a thank you?”

“Thank you, I appreciate your help but I’ll be late for my first class so I don’t have time to chat. You’re better off talking to another girl.”

He scratched his head and wondered what her problem was. He only tried to help because she looked lost and she seemed like his type. Then again, who wasn’t?

“I’m such a scumbag,” he chuckled to himself and continued walking to the campus coffee shop where his friend James Kim was waiting for him.

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James was in a chic café surrounded by fellow students on their laptops or on dates. He had just gotten comfortable while waiting for his friend Mickey.

As usual, he was late but today, he didn’t care. In front of him, was the most delicious looking cinnamon bun.

The warmth of the bun carried the sweet smell up to his nose. The white icing dripped down the sugar crusted edges, causing his mouth to water. He took his fork and stabbed into the outer edge, breaking off a piece. He put it into his mouth and felt nothing but bliss.

The taste of cinnamon always made him happy. Not just because of the taste, but there was a nostalgia to it for him. It always brought him back to a time where he would make them with his mom. They would wait together for his father to get home and no matter how late, he always smiled and ate one.

Of course, that was when they were still somewhat a family. And now, well…

“Earth to James, you there?”

“Huh? Oh, hey Micky. Sorry, I just remembered something about the past…”

“The past, eh? You always seem to have something on your mind,” he sighed at James as he sat across from him.

“It wouldn’t hurt you to be less brooding and smile once in awhile.”

“Oh come on, don’t be one of THOSE guys,” James rolled his eyes as he took the last bite.

“Maybe then you could finally get a girlfriend,” Mickey smirked then broke out in laughter as his friend threw a used napkin at his face.

“Are you finished with that sir?” A young female barista held her hand out towards the now empty plate in front of James. He nodded while avoiding eye contact.

“Did you want anything sir? I could bring it to you?” She was now facing Mickey with a charming smile. Mickey flashed his signature smile and leaned closer.

“I’ll take a coffee with milk. I want to leave the sugar out so I can sweeten it with your smile.”

The barista blushed and scurried off while hugging a tray close to her chest, forgetting the used plate she came to get originally. James made a face that looked like he wanted to puke.

“That was so cringe, what was the point of that.”

“You’d know if you were the least bit interested in girls. But forget about that! Guess who’s going to be on the cover of Men’s Fashion?!”

“Whoa, really?! Congrats Mickey! I guess the modeling’s really taking off! Does this mean your parents are more open to it now…?” James voice trailed off because he wasn’t sure if it was still a touchy topic.

“Actually, they were happy for me when I told them I got on the cover. I think they’re really coming around!”

“That’s good, that’s good…” he mumbled as he shifted in his seat. Mickey noticed his response and quickly changed the subject.

“Oh, listen to this! I met the rudest girl today! She dropped her books, so I helped her pick them up and she didn’t even thank me! She even had the nerve to tell me to find someone else to bother.”

James looked at his friend and just started laughing.

“What?” Mickey smirked but laughed with his friend.

They may have been total opposites, but they knew each other so well. Mickey had always been the outgoing playboy and him, the quiet introvert that no one really took any notice of. He was glad he had at least one person in this world that understood him.

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*Ring Ring*

“Rylieeeee!”

“Emiliaaaa, I miss you! How is my bestie doing? Did your first day back go well?”

“It did! The professors seemed nice, I saw some cute guys but I know that’s not why you’re calling…” she sighed and stopped walking, waiting for where Rylie wanted to drag her off to today.

“Hehe, you know me so well. Well, since your first day was so successful, let’s celebrate at Club Iris?” On the other line, Rylie nervously tucked her dark brown hair behind her hair and brought her fingers to her lips in anticipation.

“We just went like a few days ago!” Emilia sighed in response.

“Yeah…but I really don’t want to go home, I can’t…”

“Ry, you should go home once in awhile.”

“She doesn’t care as long as I bring home enough to support her. That bitter woman doesn’t care what happens to me,” Rylie mumbled bitterly. Emilia knew she shouldn’t push it any further. They’ve known each other for years but she had never gone to her house. All she knew was that her father left her mother after Rylie was born. Her mother has blamed her ever since for him leaving her.

“So? Are we going? Come on, it’s Friday night!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll go. But only because I have nothing else to do tonight.”

“Thanks Em! I love you!” Rylie squealed into the phone.

“You better!” Emilia smiled at her best friend’s excitement.

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“Hey! That’s the girl I told you about this morning!” Mickey yelled and pointed to a young woman up ahead with medium chestnut hair on the phone.

“What? I thought you just made that up to make me feel better!”

“Dude, you’re not THAT special. She’s the one that brushed me off and didn’t even say thank you,” he grumbled.

“Psssh, maybe you just can’t handle rejection,” James laughed at his cocky friend.

“Me? Yeah right, whatever. It wasn’t that big of a deal anyways. You free tonight?”

“I guess, as long as it’s not Iris. The girls there aren’t really my…type?”

“Would you do anything even if they were? Come on man, you need to get out more. Plus, you’re with me. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you,” Mickey wrapped his arm around James and continued walking with him.

“Fine, but if you ditch me again like last time for a girl, I’m never going anywhere with you again.”

The two of them were so engrossed in their conversation, they didn’t notice the girl from before stop in her tracks as she ended her call.

“Owww! What the-? Oh, it’s you again,” Emilia looked to her right and glared and Mickey as soon as she recognized him.

“Whoops, sorry miss, won’t happen again,” he said with an exaggerated salute.

She gave him a fake smile and continued walking, not noticing the other person to her left.

Taking a closer look at her side profile as she walked further away, James lingered his gaze on her longer than he expected. Something about her was familiar to him but he couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Her face was scrunched in annoyance, but you could tell she had soft features that were pleasing to the eye; the kind that you never get tired of looking at. Had he seen this face somewhere before?