Someone Fresh, HONEYDEW

5. In the Park

Y/n's pov

I started getting up at 6 am not long after I moved to LA. Whenever I tell people I do that they say something along the lines of "are you insane?" or ask me what time I go to bed, expecting it to be like 8 pm.

In truth, I really am not a morning person, but I love being up before the world, if that makes any sense. I usually force myself to roll out of bed by my second alarm, and then go to the bathroom and also have a drink of water. I used to follow that with breakfast directly, but one day decided to get dressed and do my morning stretches before I ate , and I never changed back.

I used to stretch to music played from my phone, but I found I would get distracted by text messages and so on, and so I made the rash decision to buy an mp3 player, and then download songs onto it.

That was why I didn't see Eben's DM until I was eating breakfast at around 7.

I had finished going through my schedule for the day, and making sure my diary was updated, and I finally allowed myself to pick up my phone.

Even then, it took me sometime to actually see the message, because — for the exact same reason I bought an mp3 player — I begin with my emails, and not Instagram, because most important messages are emails. I had one email about an extra session of tutoring for one of my students to help him prepare for an exam, to which I agreed.

I finally opened Instagram. And then my DM's. And then I saw it. And then I stared for at least 30 seconds, frozen.

"He saw it," I whispered, barely loud enough to be heard.

I really did not expect you to see my message at all :)

I didn't expect an immediate reply, and didn't get one; I rightly assumed that Eben would still be asleep. Thus I had to endure continuing with my routine, and resisting the urge to check my phone every other second until the latter part of the eighth hour of the morning. In other words, it took Eben almost till 8 am to reply.

I'm glad I did. Would it be weird for me to ask if you want to hang out?

I was just about to leave my house to go to the dance studio when I saw his message.

I will take the liberty not to interpret it as weird. I'd love to hang out :) I have a dance rehearsal until 1 pm, but I'm free after that.

We discussed time and place, and then I told him I would have to go offline so as to rehearse for my assessments.

For probably the first time I can remember, I was looking forward to the rehearsal being over. Don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of it, but I was looking forward to the conversation I would have with Eben.

When rehearsal finished, I grabbed a quick lunch, and then drove to the park we'd agreed to meet in, and waited, observing the world go by around me.

There was a playground right next to where we'd agreed to meet, and a little girl pretending to be a ballerina caught my eye. I couldn't help but smile and see a younger me in her, as she twirled around, and showed off her tutu.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," I hear Eben behind me.

"No, you're not." I glanced at my watch and turned around. "I'm early, as usual. Nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you too," He beamed.

We made eye contact, and for a moment it was awkward, as we assessed if a handshake was too formal, but a hug was too friendly.

"Um, let's go find a park bench," Eben broke the silence.

I nodded, and we made our way further into the park.

"So, how was your rehearsal?"

"It was great. I think we're ready for the assessments."

"Nice," he smiled. "When are the assessments?"

"They start next week, which is a little nerve wracking. The standards are pretty high!"

"How many dances is it?"

"Seven in total. Two solos, three group numbers, and two duets."

The conversation began to flow like it had at the party, effortlessly and naturally. Eben told me about how he had found my Instagram, and I shared more about my YouTube channel. Then he told me about listening to Hamilton a lot since the party, and I confessed I'd had his music on repeat. That segwayed nicely into him telling me about Honeydew, the stories behind some of the songs, and about how excited he was to release it.

"Actually, if you don't mind, I want to play you Sad Song," he offered.

"Yes. Please do!"

The conversation just kept on going and going, and I didn't even realise how fast time was passing, until I suddenly realised that, despite it being June, I was cold.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SHE COLDD Guess what that meanss :)) Also Friend GOALS