Finding Ambrose

12.0

 
Ximena watched with a mix of concern and frustration as Isabella paced restlessly in their shared dorm room. Isabella's once-neat hair now hung in disarray around her shoulders, and her low-cut tank top revealed more than she probably intended. Her eyes reflected a storm of emotions, with anger and worry prominent among them.

"What exactly happened?" Isabella asked for the third time that morning, her tone a blend of exasperation and anxiety.

"Y-You and Cha-Cha-Chaz... you k-k-kissed," Ximena responded with a nonchalant shrug, though she knew it was an understatement. In reality, it felt like they'd done more than just kiss.

Isabella winced, realising that Ximena was sugarcoating the truth and downplaying the whole situation. They hadn't merely kissed; their encounter had been far more intense.

"Knowing Chaz," Isabella narrowed her eyes at Ximena, "we didn't just kiss, did we?"

Ximena took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I-I-It's goin-g-g to be o-o-okay, Isa."

"But it's not, Mena," Isabella groaned, collapsing dramatically onto her cluttered bed, which was strewn with clothes. "I never wanted to kiss him."

Ximena couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her friend but she knew that Isabella definitely harbored romantic feelings for Chaz, his playboy nature though deterred her from pursuing him as more than just friends.

"A-A-Are you absolutely s-sure?" Ximena inquired gently as she began to tidy up the chaotic pile of clothes on the bed.

Isabella hesitated, her emotions momentarily betraying her before she shook her head firmly, as if to fortify her resolve.

"No, not now, not ever," she declared with conviction.

Ximena sighed. "I'm s-s-s-sorry, Isa, but the t-t-truth is that y-y-you did kiss hi-h-hi-mm."

Isabella checked the time on her phone, her expression shifting to one of sheer panic. It was 12:47.

Thirteen minutes. That's all the time they had left until Anastasia would return from her lectures.

"Oh my gosh," Isabella gasped, her hands instinctively flying to her already messy hair. "Ana is going to kill me."

"Y-Y-Yeah," Ximena responded, her tone a mixture of reassurance and understanding. "B-But she'll e-e-eventually under-under-u-understand, once we e-e-explain."

Unable to contain her pent-up emotions any longer, Isabella broke down into uncontrollable sobs. Ximena tried her best to console her, but Isabella's tears flowed freely, her cries echoing through the room until her eyes were bloodshot and her breath ragged.

"I'm such a fuck up Mena" she muttered in between sobs.

And that's the scene Anastasia walked into when she returned home from her lectures: a distraught Isabella and a panicking Ximena, both awaiting her arrival with trepidation.

In a not-so-distant location, a strikingly handsome young man, who went by the name Mason, reclined on the sofa in his shared apartment with his closest buddies. He leisurely scrolled through a particular girl's Instagram profile, a boyish grin playing on his lips as he gazed at the screen.

Observing Mason's content expression, Leon, one of his friends, couldn't help but express his curiosity. He turned to Alvin, another buddy who was busy on his phone with a stoic expression.

"Why is he grinning at his phone like that?" he inquired, directing his question to Alvin, who was engrossed in his own phone.

Alvin glanced at Masom, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "He's been stalking this girl," he remarked casually.