Page 102 of Clichés & Curses

As I joined him with my parts of the song, and we sang the last chorus together, I couldn’t help but be hopeful that the after-events of the duet this time around would be different than the last time. In a good way.

And I was very much looking forward to it.

The funky sound of the second track started to play, and I joined the band as they sang out the words.

Colton’s eyes widened as he stole a glance in my direction, before returning his focus to the road.

I burst out laughing at his reaction. ‘What?’

He shook his head. ‘Nothing. I’m just a bit surprised. I don’t think this song was in theMamma Miamovie.’

‘It’s not,’ I agreed. ‘It’s not in the second movie either.’

‘Then, how …’ he trailed off.

‘So, there’s this really handsome guy that I like, wholovesABBA,’ I started. ‘I’m talking having their physical albums kindof love. It’s the cutest thing ever. And I don’t know, I thought I would expand my ABBA music knowledge and listen to their other songs that are not in theMamma Miamovies.’

After that night, when I had played theSuper Trouperalbum to prepare dinner, I started listening to their other albums, and actually went through all the songs on each of them, instead of just skipping to the ones I knew. I remembered rationalizing to myself that I was just listening to the songs from a very beloved band. But I think, deep down, I knew that the main reason for it was the person sitting next to me.

With that being said, it didn’t mean I would ever be bold enough to admit this to him out loud. But after having Colton reveal to me how he had read my favourite book, just because it was my favourite book, I figured it was worth the potential embarrassment.

Colton didn’t say anything as the song continued to play. Just as I was starting to feel mortified, he reached his hand across the console to grasp mine that was settled on my lap.

I looked over at him and saw a genuine smile on his face as he gave my hand a gentle squeeze before pulling it away to switch gears.

But that gesture alone was enough for me to convey what he meant—the things that couldn’t be expressed through words.

I gave him a smile of my own—even though he couldn’t see it—before turning my head to the open road. We sang along to the rest of the songs as Colton drove ahead.

Unlocking the door with my keys, I twisted the door handle and let myself into the apartment. Colton followed closely behind me with a large box of pizza in his arm.

‘Welcome to the apartment,’ I said to him. ‘This is the kitchen, that’s the living room and that’s where the washer and dryer are. This one is Nina’s room and that’s mine.’ My fingers pointed out each of the spaces and the door to mine and Nina’s rooms respectively. ‘Do you want to eat at the counter or in the living room?’

‘Living room sounds good.’ Colton made his way to the living room, placing the pizza box on the coffee table.

I headed to the kitchen. Placing my tote bag on the island, I opened the fridge to see what drinks we had. ‘Okay, so you have two options for drinks,’ I called out. ‘Do you want water or chocolate milk?’

‘Chocolate milk?’ I heard him ask.

I closed the door of the fridge partly to look at him. ‘Too old for chocolate milk?’ I arched a brow, slightly offended by his remark.

‘Definitely not,’ he answered without missing a beat. ‘Just a bit surprised, that’s all. I’ll have the chocolate milk, please.’

Pouring him a glass and one for myself, I brought them with me as I headed to where he was standing right next to the TV, holding up a framed photo of me and Nina in our old dorm room during freshman year.

‘Here you go.’ I handed him a glass.

‘Thanks,’ he said, taking it from me with his unoccupied hand. Raising his other one with the framed photo in my direction, he asked, ‘when was this taken?’

‘Freshman year, second semester,’ I answered. I still remember the day we took that photo. There wasn’t anything special about that particular day: no birthdays, no achievements to celebrate, nothing worth commemorating. Nina and I were just chilling in our room, catching up on our work, when I randomly realized we had never taken a picture together in our dorm room before.

We had immediately enlisted the help of Claudia and Lily to help us take the photo.

The photo was nothing more than me and Nina with our arms around each other. No cute outfits and our slightly messy room, just two best friends, standing in a place where their lives intertwined with one another. But there was always something endearing about that photo, and when we moved in together for sophomore year, Nina had surprised me by having it printed and framed. And then, it sat proudly next to the TV.

‘You look cute here,’ Colton pointed out.

A blush rose to my cheeks.

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