Page 33 of Shattered

Wait.

After watching my stories, he showed up at the gym. I frequently hit the gym after my classes and training sessions. I’ve never seen him there.

Is that why he came? To see me?

“What’s got you happy?”

With a sudden jump, I send my phone tumbling down the edge of my bed. I scowl up at Cope, lips pressed firmly together. “I’m not happy,” I snap. "Not unhappy, but I’m just me. You know. Straight faced.” I stumble over my words as I speak.

Cope gives me a questioning look, a smirk forming on one side of his mouth.

“Am I mistaken, or did I not walk in here to find you grinning like a Cheshire Cat?”

“Nope, it’s clear that you’re still half asleep,” I answer, fumbling around on the floor to locate my phone.

“Sure,” he says, chuckling to himself, before walking over to his wardrobe and grabbing some clothes.

After a short while, I’m still lying in bed, scrolling through TikTok, when Cope comes out of the bathroom already dressed. Since my classes start late in the morning, I decided to relax this morning. Cope picks up his bag and throws it over his shoulder.

“Catch you later, Quake.” I leap out of bed, pat him on the back, and make my way to the bathroom.

“This is the reason why Quake was so happy this morning,” I hear Cope say. I frown to myself.

“What?” I yell from behind the bathroom door, completely clueless about what his talking about. Muffled voices reach my ears before our dorm door is shut.

Weird.

After finishing up in the bathroom, I swing open the door and come to an abrupt halt when I find someone sitting on my bed.

“Laaann . . . ” I say, drawing out the name as I struggle to remember it, but I’m pretty sure it starts with Lan so I’m sticking with that.

“Lance,” he huffs.

“Yeah, I know. I was shortening your name.” Confidently, I flash him a grin and say, “I like it.”

A subtle flush appears on his face as he absentmindedly fidgets with the strap of his backpack.

“How can I help you?” I’m standing there, with only my boxers on, and I notice his eyes repeatedly darting toward my abs.

“I-uh-” he stutters. “Your friend said something about you being happy this morning?” Adjusting his glasses, he peers at me with his innocent, pure eyes.

“He was half-asleep, don’t know what he was talking about.” I brush him off and grab a pair of gray sweatpants out of my drawers, remembering the way Mr. Stiles stared at me in them. I pause and question my impulse to grab a pair, all because of Mr. Stiles.

That’s not weird at all.

I drop my boxers, reaching in my drawer for a new pair and hear Lan clear his throat behind me. I sneak a quick glance back, catching him averting his gaze and pretending to be fascinated by my ceiling, as if he hadn’t just been staring at my ass. However, his face turns bright red. His flushed face is always a dead giveaway.

He’s kinda cute.

With a grin on my face, I hastily slip into my boxers and pull on the sweatpants.

I quickly put on a white t-shirt and then face Lan.

“Why are you here?” He casually pushes his glasses up again, a clear indication of a nervous tick, and quickly stands, gripping his backpack strap tightly, his knuckles turning white.

“Well, we have our next class together. I wanted to know if you wanted to walk together.” I raise my eyebrows in surprise. “Yo-you don’t have to. It was a silly idea. I’ll see you in class,” he rushes out, before pacing toward my dorm door.

“Wait.” I tug on his backpack, causing him to pause. “It’s cool. We can walk together.” I laugh. “We have an hour until class starts. I want to grab a coffee first; you cool with that.” He widens his eyes, smiling brightly and nodding with enthusiasm.

---