Buzzed Hearts

84: not any grinch

THERE ARE ALMOST ALWAYS two types of people that exist in groups of friends: those that are easy to please and those that...aren't. In their tight-knit (tighter than the sweater Roma's grandparents sent them), they are always divided into two categories.

In their case, Camila, Roma, and Jeremy stand on the same side. Elle and Laurent on the other. Camila is a snow chaser. Elle is not.

Jeremy demands an impromptu photoshoot with "his faves," and Elle grumbles along, taking photos of him and Camila. Laurent soon joins them, a brooding look fitting him better than his winter coat does. A tuft of his blonde hair drifts in the wind and Roma stands on her toes to fix it for him.

They get a group photo—a lasting commemoration of their first-shared Christmas in a place that isn't quite like San Diego. The group has been through thick and thin. Well, at least all of them have, individually.

"I'm going in," Elle yells to them and nods at the doorman when she passes him.

"Man, I thought she liked snow," Jeremy says to Roma, staring at the retreating Elle. "Your girlfriend's more temperamental than a hissy cat."

"She's like that. Likes one thing but only for a few minutes," Roma says.

"Thank god you guys are lasting, though, am I right?" he jokes.

Laurent overhears this and rolls his eyes.

"If you don't like being out here, you don't have to be," Jeremy reminds him, seeing the sullen look he's adopted.

With Laurent, it's clear as day when any sort of displeasure hits him. What makes him so difficult to read however, is how he exhibits no signs of outward joy when he does find something worthy of his happiness.

"What's got you down? Christmas with us not enough for you?" Roma asks.

"No, it's just...cold as tits," Laurent says.

"Boy," Jeremy says. "Isn't it cold as tits in Europe? Your little butcher hometown in Germany or whatever?"

"Um, racist," Laurent says but cracks a smile. "We usually go somewhere warm for winter, like Australia. Got lots of family there too."

"Whatever," Jeremy says and goes in.

Camila joins Laurent, after giving directions to a passerby and looks around in confusion. "Is it just us then?" she asks.

"Looks like it," Laurent says.

Staring into her warm, deep eyes, he feels a heartbeat. Or two. Or three. He feels all the heartbeats he's ever had when he's with her but he swallows the proverbial bile and smiles at her, tight-lipped. He can tell she can tell something is up with his behavior but he can also tell that Camila can't tell exactly what's wrong.

"Two days?" she asks.

The snow melts before it even hits the concrete but when they land on his hair, perfectly styled by none other than Roma, they last just a smidgen longer. Camila's eyes flick towards the way his scarf is dusted with snow and fights the urge to swat it off—she can't touch him like that.

"Yeah." Laurent shifts and takes a light hold of her elbow, guiding her closer so others won't bump into her. "I'm coming back for the spring semester anyway so you'll see me soon."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Don't know if you can though, with your schedule."

"I can make time." Camila smiles. "I'm going to have to make time for Jeremy too, since he's moving here."

"Are you going to room together?"

"God no," Camila says. "I mean, I don't know about next school year but I think we'd hate each other if we had to live in the same place."

"Makes sense." He laughs.

The delicate skin around Laurent's eyes are tinged pink from the cold and his cheeks are a healthy hue. He looks beautiful and under other circumstances, Camila would've told him that straightaway but she bites her cheeks and looks around her.

"Come on." He gestures with a nod. "Let's go in. I'll make some hot chocolate and we'll watch some Christmas movie."

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" Camila says. "Remember when you skipped class and hung out in the library, preying on unassuming students and called yourself the Grinch?"

"Not any Grinch."

"The Library Grinch," they say together.