Coffee, Cats, and Space Buns

Chapter 2

Connie's dorm room had been boisterous since 9 in the morning that day. People came in and out to speak with her dorm mate while she quietly studied. Well, at least, she tried to study. After an hour of attempting to get her calculus homework done, she let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back. "Macie, can't you and your friends hang out somewhere else?"

Macie looked up from her phone and rolled her eyes, "Connie, you're so antisocial. How about you hang out with us for once? Didn't you say you would help us study one of these days?" Connie frowned at her before setting her pencil down.

"You can come study with me anytime. You always say you're too busy. That's not my fault." Tension rose in the room as they glared at each other. Connie felt that Macie was always purposely stepping on her toes. She had asked to be roomed with someone neat, quiet, and studious. Instead, she had been given someone who was the complete opposite. People were always in and out, clothes and make up were always strewn everywhere, and she had never seen Macie pull out her textbooks even once.

After a long stare, Macie sighed. "Fine. How about you help us study right now, then? We could really use the help. I promise we'll take our fun elsewhere starting tomorrow." Connie hesitated. Could she really trust the deal? However, the idea of having a quiet space in her dorm room for the rest of the semester was an intriguing prospect. Connie nodded, "Okay, sure, if you pull out your books, we can start."

Macie pulled out her study supplies as her friends left to grab their bags as well. As they came back, one of her friends brought some more dorm mates. They all sat together as Connie helped them through math problems. They all happened to be in the same Algebra 2 class. Connie thanked the stars that it was such an easy class. It made it a breeze to explain it all.

Right before they passed the thirty minute mark, a boy with sandy hair groaned and dropped his pencil onto his notebook. "Ugh, this is so boring, can't we take a break? I hate math!" A couple other kids nodded in agreement. Macie looked over to her, the corner of her lip upturned. "Yeah, can't we? You seem pretty cool, Connie, and you're a great teacher. How about you loosen up a little and then we'll keep studying some more?"

She hesitated. She thought she had something she was supposed to do today, but she couldn't quite remember what it was. Everyone looked over to her expectantly as she tucked a hair behind her ear. "W-Well... I guess that's alright. We'll study in a bit then..."

'A bit' turned into an hour, and an hour turned into multiple hours. Before she knew it, it was after 2pm and they were all outside on the Quad eating fries and hanging out in a circle. The kid with the sandy blonde hair seemed to take a liking to her as he chatted her up with a friendly demeanor. Connie had never felt popular before in her life, and if this is what it felt like, she would definitely get used to it. His name was Devon, and Connie couldn't help but feel at ease around him. He spent the majority of the time with the group playing his guitar and talking to Connie and the other girls.

As she chuckled at a guy named Trey throwing fries over to a flock of birds, a familiar ringtone played. She pulled out her phone and quickly answered, excited to talk to Steven. "Hey Steven! What's up, how are you?" Steven sounded nervous on the other side. As he spoke, she realized just what he called her about. "Oh my goodness, Steven, I'm so sorry! I completely forgot about our date!" She continued to explain the situation until everyone laughed at Trey feeding the birds. Even Connie couldn't help but chuckle at his antics. "Anyways Steven, I can't g-"

Devon was the one to cut her off this time, "Hey! Connie! You comin' back to the group or what?" She shot him a look. Steven could get so jealous and insecure over little things. She had been around him long enough to know that Devon's attitude would plague him with little doubts. "Hey Steven, do you maybe want to go tomorrow? I'm kind of busy today, I'm so sorry I forgot!"