Page 71 of Clichés & Curses

I continued admiring the beauty I was holding in my hand, before glancing up at Colton, my lips tilted up when I realized the tips of his ears were a light shade of red.

‘Well, you’re in luck because I completely forgot to get them,’ I told him, trying to ease away his nervousness. But it was true, it had completely slipped out of my mind to get flowers this week.

‘They’re beautiful, Colton. Thank you,’ I then added, my voice faint. I tried to think of more things to say. ‘Thank you’ just didn’t seem enough to convey my appreciation for how thoughtful these two gifts were.

But it seemed like I didn’t need to. The soft look on Colton’s face told me he knew exactly what I couldn’t voice out. ‘You’re welcome,’ he replied, his low tone matching mine.

We just stood there for a moment, looking like two fools who were smiling at one another. I snapped out of my daze when I realized I hadn’t even invited him into the apartment. ‘Crap. I didn’t even ask you to come in.’

‘It’s okay. I just came by to quickly drop those off,’ he quickly reassured me, gesturing to the two gifts he had just given me. ‘I was just about to get going actually. I’m hanging out with the baseball team tonight.’

‘Oh, right,’ I said, trying my best to disguise the disappointment in my voice.

But of course, Colton caught it. The spark of joy radiating from him diminishing by the second.

I didn’t want to make him feel guilty over this small thing, he shouldn’t be. I could sense that he was starting to. Before he could linger in that feeling any longer, I quickly added, ‘Have fun with the team tonight. Guess I’ll see you next Wednesday in class?’

With the promise of seeing each other again, his smile came back. ‘Next Wednesday it is.’

I thanked him one more time and waited for him to walk down the corridor to the elevator. He waved me goodbye as he went into the elevator hall. Once I was sure he was out of sight, I closed the front door and stepped into the kitchen, my handsbringing up the flowers to my nose as I breathed in its floral scent.

I was so stuck in my own little bubble that I completely forgot Eliza was there.

‘So, who was that?’ she asked, bringing my attention to her.

‘Just a friend,’ I answered, trying my best to avoid eye contact with her. I placed down the flowers and the bag of bubble tea on the kitchen island, while I opened the fridge, clearing up some space to put the two new drinks I just received.

‘A friend who brings you flowers,’ she pointed out, eyeing the abundance of pink petals. ‘And is this bubble tea?’

Once I was sure I cleared up enough space for the drinks, I took both bubble teas from the bag and put them inside the fridge. ‘Yeah. One is for you by the way. He got one for himself, but he wanted you to have it instead,’ I explained.

‘Well, isn’t that sweet of him?’ she asked. ‘But why is he bringing you bubble tea and flowers?’

‘It’s a long story,’ I told her, wanting to steer away from having to talk about Colton.

Despite our weekly phone calls, I was yet to bring up Colton in any of our conversations. I pretty much told Eliza everything, even the most mundane things. But, for some reason, I had refrained myself from talking about him, and I wasn’t sure why. I definitely wasn’t planning on telling her any time soon, but it seemed that plan had gone off the rails the second Eliza opened the front door with Colton on the other side.

‘Well, good thing we’re heading to dinner, and you can tell me all about it,’ she proclaimed. Her tone told me I wasn’t getting away that easily.

I let out a sigh, already knowing I was fighting a losing battle. ‘Fine. Give me thirty minutes to get ready.’

Chapter Fifteen

Eliza sat across from me in the restaurant—the one she had fallen in love with, when she came to visit me last semester. Our table was seated in the corner, allowing us a bit of privacy over the tables that were scattered all around.

I texted Nina before we left the apartment and invited her to join us when she finished her training. Her reply came ten minutes later, saying that the track team was heading to dinner, and she was just about to ask me if I wanted to join them. We ended the conversation by saying that we’d see each other back in the apartment.

After a quick peruse of the menu, we ordered our food, and the waitress left us.

And the moment I dreaded most has finally arrived.

Eliza took a sip of her water and placed her glass back on the table before settling her gaze on me. ‘Start talking.’

I let out a sigh.Might as well just get this over with.‘His name is Colton and he’s my partner for the ASL class I’m taking this semester.’

‘And why is he bringing you bubble tea and flowers?’ she asked, arching her brow.

‘We usually practice ASL after the class at the bubble tea shop nearby,’ I answered. ‘And afterward, we head over to the shop across the street, so I could get flowers for the apartment. But since he had an away game this week, we didn’t get to practice. So, this was his way of making up for it, I guess.’ I shrugged. Picking up my own glass, I took a sip of the iced tea I ordered.

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