With You

05. Gone

Mondays were my worst days at college. Not only was I sore from training, and exhausted from catching up on lectures all weekend, but I had classes until dinner, with only a break for lunch.

At least now I had Flora to suffer through it together.

She sat across from me at Mandy's, waiting for my lunch order to be called out. I rested my chin on my hand, leaning onto the table to hear her over the chatter of the lunch crowd.

"– and then David literally deleted his Facebook account! Like, how are we supposed to work on the project now? No one knows how to contact him and it's due next week."

I inhaled sharply through my teeth. "That's rough. What are you going to do?"

She levelled me with a look. "What do you think? Do it all myself. Such is the way of group projects."

She sighed and slouched down in her seat. I frowned.

"That doesn't seem fair," I said.

She shrugged. "When is anything ever fair?"

"Well, what about your other group members?" I asked. "Can't they help out?"

"They're too busy with their other subjects," she said, shaking her head.

Before I could respond, the waitress called out my number, which was great because I didn't know how to respond anyway. Flora was busy with her other subjects too. Why couldn't she just get them to help?

"Number fifteen!"

I sprung from my seat, spinning to the counter. My food sat in a takeaway bag and my stomach growled at the sight of it. I plucked it from the counter and turned back to Flora who stood, already hiking her backpack higher on her shoulder.

"Soccer field?" she asked.

I nodded. Mandy's was way too crowded and maybe I'd be able to get a little training in before our next class if I ate quickly.

The walk to the field was brisk. The weather was starting to turn to a chill and each breeze made me clutch my jacket a little closer. Flora shivered beside me and I glanced at her, realising she was dressed terribly for the weather.

Wordlessly, I slipped my letterman off my back and draped it over her shoulders. She blinked, looking up at me with wide eyes.

"Oh!" she sputtered. "You don't have to –"

"It's fine," I said, waving her off. "I've got this sweatshirt. Plus, like, ten layers of muscle underneath."

She rolled her eyes, "Ten layers is a bit of an exaggeration.

I laughed, flexing a bicep. "Is it, though?"

"Thank you," she said after a minute. "Really. I – this is cheesy and all, but it's nice having someone to hang out with between classes." She paused to let out a dry chuckle. "I mean, someone who doesn't ignore me."

"For what it's worth, I like it too. Hanging out with you," I said. She looked up at me with scrutinising eyes, like she doubted my words, and I sent her a genuine smile. "I – er – none of my friends moved here with me, and I've been so busy with soccer that friendship had sort of become a last priority. So, it's nice. You know. Having someone there. In class. And all that."

She giggled and I felt my smile grow, my face warming from admitting that outloud. It really was nice having a friend. How many meals had I scarfed down in my dorm, too embarrassed to be seen eating alone? It'd probably only fuel more hazing from the team – from Rowan.