By the time I dragged my feet to Tephnine's door, I was ready to cash in my emotional chips and collect my prize: peace, quiet, and my girlfriend's undivided attention. I turned the handle, stepping into the room only to find Tephnine standing right by the threshold with a stack of textbooks and notebooks tucked securely under her arm, looking like she was heading out.
Me: (stopping dead in my tracks) Whoa, where are we going dressed like an academic weapon?.
Tephnine: (adjusting the books) Oh, hey. I was actually just about to head out.
Me: Out?. Where?. It's past 3 PM, and I just survived an assault by the English department. You're supposed to be my safe haven.
Tephnine: (smiling faintly) I'm going to study with some friends. We've got a group session in the common annex.
Me: Friends?. What friends do you need when you have Starling's finest engineering genius standing right here as your personal, certified tutor?.
Tephnine: (laughing) Kei, I love you, but your tutoring style is kinda unique to geniuses like you, and hard to understand by the normals like us. That doesn't really cut it for group revision.
Me: Ouch. That hurts deep. But whatever, I'm coming with. I'll sit in the corner, look pretty, and occasionally flirt.
Tephnine: (shaking her head firmly) No way. You're not coming.
Me: Why not?!
Tephnine: Because it's strictly a girls and close friends study group. You would distract everyone, or worse, find a way to make my friends pump up your already inflated ego.
Me: (gasping dramatically) Me?. Ego?. Never. I am a pillar of humility.
Tephnine: (rolling her eyes playfully) Sure you are. Look, just stay here and wait for me in my room. The reading shouldn't take more than two hours max. Catch up on your sleep, you look half dead anyway.
Me: (groaning) Two hours?. That's two whole hours of you depriving me of your presence.
Tephnine: (stepping past me and opening the door) Be a good boy and wait. I'll be right back before you even notice I'm gone.
Me: (sighing) Fine. But you owe me double everything when you get back.
Tephnine: (smiling as she leans up) Deal.
She pressed a quick, soft kiss to my cheek, slipped out the door, and locked it behind her.
Left alone in her quiet room, the silence hit me instantly. I tossed my jacket onto the chair, walked over to her bed, and collapsed onto the mattress. It still carried that faint, familiar scent of her vanilla lotion. I stared up at the ceiling, letting the exhaustion of Monday's physics and ELA papers finally drag my eyelids down. Within minutes, my brain shut off completely, and I drifted off to sleep.
— * * * —
My eyes snapped open. The room was dim, the golden evening light filtering through the window had been replaced by the heavy purple shadows of dusk. I groaned, rubbing my face and reaching blindly for my phone on the nightstand while muttering to myself
Me: Damn, I didn't mean to sleep that long.
I checked the screen. 8:15 PM.
Five hours. Not two hours. Five whole hours.
Tephnine wasn't back. Her books were gone, her desk was empty, and the room was stone cold.
What the hell?
I tapped her contact and hit call.
Ring... ring... ring...
Straight to voicemail.
I tried her again. Same thing. No pickup.
Is she serious right now?.
pain and irritation mixed in my chest, a sour knot tightening right below my ribs. Five hours of ghosting after promising she'd be back in two?. Fuck this. I wasn't just going to sit here and stare at the wall.
Now I don't wanna come out as that kind of guy, but I hated this emotion I was feeling right now. This emotion of anger. I knew staying here would only amplify it so I stood up, grabbed my jacket and walked away. I can't wait to hear her story
I locked the door to Tephnine's room behind me, i know I'm mad at her but that doesn't mean I'll just leave her door open.
I shoved my hands into my pockets and made the long, quiet walk back down the hallway to my own room. What's 15 minutes of walking?.
When I pushed the door open, the room was already filled with the familiar low hum. Kayode was hunched over his desk with a desk lamp glaring over his notes, adjusting his glasses as he scribbled into a workbook, if i hear one day that he slumped and die. Cause of death for sure would be overloading of the brain. Barry and Justin were lounging near their beds pressing their phones and laughing out loud. Two very useless duo with no clear plan for life.
Barry: (looking up) Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence.
Kayode turned around on his chair pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
Kayode: Where have you been, man?. It's almost 9
That question sounded annoying as fuck, so walking straight to my bed and collapsing face first into the mattress. I used the minimum strength i could afford to lose to answer his question
Me: Teph's room.
Barry: (raising an eyebrow) For five hours?. Damn. Y'all must have had the best time of your lives.
Me: (rolling over, staring at the ceiling) She wasn't even there.
Justin: uhh?
Me: Went over around three. She said she was stepping out for a two-hour group study session with some friends and told me to wait. I fell asleep. Woke up after eight. Saw no sign of her. Called her phone three times, straight to voicemail.
Barry: (wincing low) Ouch. Stood up in her own room. That's tough, sorry.
Me: (sighing, closing my eyes) Look, I'm feeling a very specific type of anger right now, and if I stay awake thinking about it, I'm gonna end up doing something stupid. So I'd rather just sleep it off before Standard Maths tomorrow completely destroys what's left of my brain. So please, let me rest.
Kayode: ( nodding) Fair enough. Get some sleep.
Barry: Any other day I'd tease you, but I guess I'll let you be for now.
Kayode turned back to his desk, adjusting his glasses to dive into his books, while Barry and Justin went back to what they were doing. I pulled the blanket over my chest, letting out a slow breath, ready to tune out the world.
Kayode: Oh, wait! Keima, almost forgot. A package came for you earlier.
I paused, opening one eye.
Me: A package?
Kayode: (reaching down by his desk) Yeah. A student dropped it off at the dorm foyer around six. Said it was for room 4B, specifically for you.
Kayode walked over, leaning down to set a medium-sized box on the edge of my bed. It was a neat, square cardboard box, wrapped in sleek red paper and tied with a crisp, silver satin ribbon.
Barry who said he was gonna let me be dropped his phone again and leaned over the side of his frame, squinting at the package
Barry: Are you expecting anything?
Me: (sitting up slowly, staring at the box) No. Not at all.
Barry: Maybe it's from Jensen? Or Coach John?. You know, team hype stuff for the King's Youth Cup this Saturday?
Me: Coach John will never wrap things in silver ribbons, Barry. He does more of speeches that make you feel like you failed at life.
I pulled the box onto my lap, untying the ribbon and tearing through the paper.
Inside lay a heavy, premium oversized hoodie, deep onyx black with clean, sharp off-white geometric line work running down the sleeves and a subtle stitched number "#10" on the chest. Right next to it was a clear glass jar packed with assorted high-end artisanal chocolates, and tucked underneath that was a customized matte-black metal water bottle engraved with the number "#10" again, my jersey number.
Barry: (whistling) Damn, look at that hoodie. Okay, maybe it is from the athletic board.
Kayode: (leaning in, squinting through his glasses at the material) That's high quality fabric, man. Whoever sent that dropped serious money.
I didn't answer. Tucked right in the fold of the hoodie was a small, heavy card with embossed gold lettering on the front.
I picked it up, opening it.
"Congratulations on leading Starling to the Division Championship," the note inside read, written in precise, elegant handwriting. "Hoping you tear up the floor again this Saturday at the King's Youth Cup. Hope you like the gifts, I heard through the grapevine that you have a soft spot for heavy hoodies and a massive sweet tooth."
My eyes narrowed as I read the final line.
"And finally... if you knew you weren't gonna DM me, why would you take my Snap ID? "
Wait.
My mind instantly threw itself into full detective mode, cross-referencing every single detail.
Team victory message?. Okay, could be a fan or someone from the news club.
But then what about The Snap ID reference... I haven't asked anyone for their ID. I only take their number or facebook username. Wait a minute.
My brain flashed back to Prom night.
The VIP lounge.
The royal purple lights.
Tephnine and Andrew dancing on the main floor.
The girl in the sleek dress stepping up behind my chair with a cool, sharp smirk.
"Bianca Roxanne. Second year Gamma."
I stared down at the card, the realization hitting me like a bucket of ice water.
Bianca.
Fuck!. I had so much going on that I totally forgot about her. I remember saving her details on my note. Okay here we go. @BiancaRoxanne04
Barry: (watching my face carefully) So?. Who's it from?. Coach or Jensen?
Me: (quietly) None of your business
I shoved the card into my pocket and grabbed my phone off the nightstand, unlocking it to swipe over to Snapchat. With everything going on, the Division finals, exam prep, and constant dorm stress. I hadn't really been checking my social media.
I tapped the search bar and typed in @BiancaRoxanne04. Her profile popped up immediately, but right next to her name, there was a pending chat icon. Because I hadn't added her back yet, her message had been sitting in my request inbox completely unread.
I tapped open the chat.
Bianca: Hope you aren't waiting for heaven to fall before you text me.
Three days ago.
Fuck.
I winced, rubbing the back of my neck. Three days sitting on read with a second-year Gamma who just dropped a high-end package in my room was not a good look.
I quickly added her back and started typing out a reply.
Me: Hiii
Me: Sorry I haven't done the needful. Had a lot on me.
Me: Thanks for the gift. I love them.
I sent the messages and leaned back against my pillow. I refreshed my feed and started mindlessly scrolling through random stories, watching the seconds tick by on the clock while waiting to see if she was online.
Ten seconds passed. Twenty seconds. Nothing.
Whatever. She's probably busy anyway.
I let out a long sigh, clicked the side button to turn off the screen, and set the phone face down on my chest. I closed my eyes, trying to force my brain back into sleep mode so I could forget about everything and prep for tomorrow's Standard Maths paper.
BZZZ.
The phone vibrated against my chest. I opened my eyes and flipped it over.
Snapchat • just now
Bianca is typing...
A split second later, another notification flashed across the screen:
Snapchat • just now
Bianca sent you a chat.
I opened the chat.
Bianca: What's the apology for?. It only took you three days to reply
I rubbed my forehead. I was already running on fumes from physics, ELA, and Tephnine's vanishing act, so I was so not in the mood for sarcasm. I typed back fast.
Me: Wasn't intentional. I promise.
Bianca: i know. Just felt like pulling your legs
i hope you liked the gifts
Me: yeah. I loved them. I could tell a lot of thoughts went into them
Bianca: a whole lot did
And right there, my brain went completely blank. I genuinely didn't know what else to reply. I stared at the screen for a couple of seconds before typing out the safest thing I could think of.
Me: thanks again. Promise to make up for this one day
Bianca: really?. But you know nothing about me
Me: true. But at one point even best of friends were strangers
Bianca: i guess so
wanna meet?
Uhh. Meet?. That was way too fast, even for me.
Me: meet?. Like see?.
Bianca: yeah. We could meet up right now.
Is she fucking crazy?. It's almost 9 PM. Why the fuck would I wanna go out right now?.
Me: its almost 9. Maybe tomorrow?
The typing indicator flickered for a few seconds before her response popped up.
Bianca: i made something and im sure its gonna go bad by tomorrow so i was hoping you could drop by
Is she serious right now?. What if I never replied her?. The fuck is she talking about?.
Me: what if i never texted?. What would you have done then?.
Bianca: i knew you were gonna after seeing the gift. So you coming?.
Ughhh. I so can't do this right now. But if there's a negative about me, its that I've never really been able to say no to requests.
Me: Fine. where should we meet?.
Bianca: come to the streak ward, room 1c.
Uhhhh. The fuck is a Gamma doing in the Streak ward?.
Me: i thought you were gamma
Bianca: i am. My friend is'nt though, so i crash at her place sometimes
so how long till you get here?.
I let out a heavy, exhausted sigh, typing with one hand while slumping back against the pillow.
Me: around 15
Bianca: okay. Will be expecting you. I'll go arrange the stuff now. See you later
Me: yeah. Bye
Gosh, I hate this so much. I don't have the strength for this right now. And yeah, in case you were wondering, Starling does have a strict dorm curfew. But rules are usually lifted or loosely enforced during exam week so people can move around for late-night revision.
I tossed the blanket off my legs, sat up on the edge of the mattress, and grabbed my hoodie.
Kayode: (turning around in his chair) Wait, where are you going?. I thought you said you were sleeping off your anger?
Me: (pulling the oversized black hoodie over my head) Change of plans. I have to go deal with something before my brain explodes.
Barry: (grinning from his bed) In the middle of the night?. Who's the DM from?
Me: ( walking to the door) Again. None of your business.
I slipped out into the dimly lit hallway, dragging my feet toward the Streak ward. It's a 10 minute hike. I plugged in my earpiece, swiped into Spotify and made my way to my sad music playlist I dubbed "my eyes". Cause you know?, you cry when you hear sad songs. Scrolled at random before I dropped at All I ask by Adele. Please don't ask me why I'm listening to a sad song on hike, I'm weird. That's common knowledge.
Tracking down room 1c was actually hard cause these dumbfucks for some reason refused to go in order. 1A, next thing i see is 2S. How the fuck do you go from 1A to freaking 2S?. How!?. Sheesh, i shouldn't be lashing out at you guys, sorry about that.
Finally, 1C. I knocked once, calmly. And then knocked aggressively since the inhabitants have decided to go deaf. A voice from inside screamed something along the line of "I'll be right there". And so I wanted. Around five to seven seconds later Bianca opened up. I'll just say it as is. She's beautiful.
Being European, she had that sharp, striking elegance that seemed entirely effortless. Flawlessly fair skin, soft golden-brown hair pinned up into a loose, messy bun with a few stray tendrils framing her face, and piercing blue-grey eyes that caught the light the second I looked at her. She was naturally gorgeous, but what really threw me off was what she was wearing.
Over a simple fitted top and short, she had on a cute, vintage-style linen apron tied loosely around her waist. The bow at the side looked slightly lopsided, giving her a surprisingly soft, domestic look that completely clashed with image i had of her. The contrast was lethal: I remember her looking like an unapproachable force at prom, and right now, holding the door open for me in a dorm room, she looked like she'd stepped straight out of a cozy European café.
Bianca: Look who finally decided to grace me with his presence. I was beginning to think you died on the walk over.
Me: (pulling out one of my earpieces) Blame the architecture. Whoever designed the numbering system in this wing deserves to be tried for war crimes. You go from 1A straight to 2S. Who does that?.
Bianca: (chuckling softly as she closed the door behind me) Starling.
I turned around, taking in the room. It smelled warm, sweet, and buttery, completely different from the cold, sterile vibe of the standard dorm corridors. Over on the small kitchen counter, a ceramic plate was waiting with freshly made salad. I hate salad.
Me: (glancing around, then pointing at her outfit) I have to ask... are you filming a cooking show, or is this just an elaborate trap to lure tired engineering students into manual labor?.
Bianca: (raising an eyebrow, walking past me toward the counter) Oh, please. I made something for you, and this is the thanks I get?. Criticizing my apron?
Me: (raising my hands defensively, following her over) Hey, I didn't say anything bad about the apron. The apron is... surprisingly domestic. It's the 9:00 PM summoning ritual I have a few questions about.
She picked up the small ceramic plate holding a warm, perfectly made chicken salad with the dip and everything, then turned back to face me
Bianca: Eat. Before I decide you're too ungrateful and keep it for myself.
I looked at the salad, then back at her face. Another rando was now playing quietly in the earpiece, reminding me of all the chaos I was currently running from.
She put so much effort into making this so i might as well eat it up. Whether I wanna or not.