Two Steps Back | Bada Lee Fanfic

Prologue

The air was balmy when I came to the university that same morning. The leaves were crisp and dry, thirsty for some water. I guess they got what they wanted because, as I was running through the empty hallways with my phone in my hand that afternoon, the weather had gone feral. The sky was grey and mad, and its usual orange hues were nowhere to be found.

I clutched my phone tighter and dialed Travis' number as I took the familiar steps I have walked on the entire summer.

"Hey, just wanted you to know I'm gonna go home and not wait for you. You're not answering, so I called my driver instead," I remember saying when he still didn't pick up on my fifth try.

There's this thing about Travis where he does the opposite of what he says. He wasn't like this before. I wasn't really sure when this started exactly, but I could say his change was gradual. I just noticed one day and realized how he'd been doing it for a while. It used to be over simple things—not calling on the time he said he'd call, not meeting me in the place we decided to meet. And then it got worse—he'd cancel the dinner dates he planned, and like what he did that day, he'd ditch me after saying he'd take me home. This wasn't always the case, but it happened more often than not, which irritated me. And I did get it—how he sometimes had to cancel plans for something very important—I really did, and I still do now. What I didn't get was how he didn't have the decency to inform me beforehand. I had gotten used to it at some point and learned what to do, but every time I remembered how I used to wait for him for hours before, I wondered whether I was that stupid.

I made a left once I sent the text informing my driver to fetch me. Despite the rainy weather, the summer season has not fully bid goodbye, so there were only a few of us inside the campus that day. Aside from students like me who had to take up summer classes to catch up, the only people lingering in the place were the university staff, probably getting ready for the opening of classes next week.

"Bitch, what did I tell you this morning?" were my cousin's words the moment I answered her call.

"Five minutes haven't even passed yet." Rolling my eyes, I pressed the speaker button. I had to walk from the parking lot to the waiting shed, and there's no way I was getting myself soaked. I get sick easily, so running the distance wasn't an option. Scanning my bag for my umbrella, I continued, "I only called the driver. How did you know?"

"I am with the driver, duh!"

"Of course you are." Once I saw the blue umbrella stashed in the deepest part of my bag, I pulled it out and bid Lisa goodbye before running towards the shed in a haste.

The sound of my boots squeezing as they hit the wet ground echoed in my ears. I winced at the feel of water hitting my thighs. I so hate that. Just thinking about how that water came from the same ground I'm walking on grosses me out.

I reached the shed just as a car sped right in front of it.

"Watch it!" I shouted, despite knowing the driver obviously could not hear me.

With what just happened, I became cautious of possible F1 racer wannabes. The umbrella that shielded me from the splash it caused remained in front of me as I stood waiting. My legs were already wet from all the running I did. There's no way I was letting anyone splash me with more water.

Five minutes passed, and the weather only got worse. Lisa and our driver were still nowhere in sight, and the rain was starting to get inside the shed, slowly soaking me. I rocked myself back and forth, a habit I could not get rid of when I looked down and realized my socks had already been drenched. I was beyond disgusted to see how my constant rocking had dirty water squeezed in and out of my boots.

"I am so showering at least three times when I get home," I told myself.

"Heavy traffic, but we're almost there," my cousin texted when I asked her when they were coming.