Our Romantic Horror Story

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Dylan

Yawning, I struggled to pry my eyes open to keep my eyes on the lecture board in front of me.

The words seemed to be swirling into one too bright blur that was stinging my sleep-deprived eyes. Rubbing them with the back of my fist, an article sprung to mind about how  people rubbing their eyes was actually bad for them because it put pressure on your brain... Or something along those lines. I needed to stop doing that.

The lecture seemed to drag on all day in my sleepy state and I was kicking myself for bothering to even show up in the first place. It wasn't like I took any of it in.

"You look stoned."

Blinking away the blurriness, I realised Kai had plopped himself in the seat across from me in the dining hall. After my lecture had ended, I had moved here on autopilot. I vaguely registered Kai sitting down, but not really.

"Tired." I replied through a yawn.

"Doing what, exactly?" Kai tried wagging his eyebrows at me but couldn't quite pull it off.

I frowned, not quite sure what he was implying by that.

"Were you talking to Alex?" Kai cooed, making me bop my head.

"Yes, we had a lot to say. He's a really interesting guy and he has a vintage console at his place that he's going to show me." I gushed, excited.

"Who knew your perfect match would be an A-list celebrity?" Kai clicked his tongue, "You jammy dodger." 

As if on queue, my phone chimed with a text. 

Alex: Good afternoon, Dylan. I enjoyed talking last night very much. I feel almost hungover on happiness this morning. Make sure you get yourself a vanilla milkshake to perk yourself up. x

"I cannot get over the fact you are casually texting the Alex Hill on our lunch break." Kai cawed, "No wonder everyone is staring at you."

"They are?" I scrunched up my nose, glancing around.

In my daze, I hadn't realised it but there was, indeed, quite a few people staring our way. 

"Why?" I kept my voice down, confused about what was happening.

"Dylan, you were seen getting into Alex goddamn Hill's car yesterday." 

All of the eyes on me and the whispers beginning to creep up in volume made me a little uncomfortable. I kind of wish Kai had left me in my ignorant bliss because now I couldn't ignore it. Why would anybody care whether I had climbed into his car or not? I began to shake my hands, wringing them, trying to calm myself down.

"I have a scandalous idea, Dylan." Kai cooed, "I know it's not the routine, but why don't we skip our afternoon lectures and take a walk down by the fountain. It should be quiet this time of day."

Glancing around the canteen once again, I slowly nodded. I couldn't think of anything worse than having to sit around staring eyes for the rest of today. I think the fountain and some fresh air was exactly what I needed.

Kai grabbed my lunchbox and waited for me to get up from my seat before pulling me along. Usually I would oppose to the unnecessary contact, but I let him since he was being a good friend and helping me avoid this weird attention I was getting.

"Let's study and chat about your new love life." Kai hummed, "It'll be a nice afternoon, I promise, so don't worry."

Nodding, I steadied myself on me feet and began to keep up with Kai instead of just being dragged along. The walk to the fountain was short and I found myself calming down from my heightened state with every step we took.