The Writer | #4✓

Chapter 4

"Xander, get up."

I rolled to the side, avoiding Ollie's look. I pulled the covers over me, hugging one of my pillows to myself as I closed my eyes.

"Xander. Our lectures start tomorrow. You need to get your textbooks and sort out your school ID. Come on, I postponed getting my stuff, so I could go with you," I heard Ollie say as I felt the twin-sized bed sink with his weight. He was probably sitting beside me now, and my guess was confirmed when I couldn't pull the section of the blanket he was sitting on. "Okay, forget the textbooks and the school ID, what about just going out to eat?"

"Xander—"

"Just leave me alone, don't worry about me," I said, cutting him off. My voice was coarse and rough, seeing as all I'd done for the past day and a half was sob into my pillows.

I heard Ollie sigh, and after a while, I heard him get up. "At least come out to eat. Have you eaten anything at all today?" he asked, and just on cue, my stomach rumbled.

"I guess that's a no," he said, making me chuckle a bit. I sighed, taking my blanket off before sitting up on the bed. Ollie turned to me, smiling a bit before he headed to take a sit on his bed. "If you're up for it we can go and grab lunch at the cafe downstairs," he said, making me look down at my hands.

"Okay," I said. He wasn't asking me to go out of the building or anything. I'm sure I could manage going downstairs.

"Great!" he cheered, clapping his hands before getting up from his bed. "I'll head to the gym downstairs for a quick run. That's enough time for you to take a shower, right?" he asked, making me nod. When he left I got up from my bed before heading to the bathroom. I took a warm shower, trying to just concentrate on my empty stomach and the action of washing my body instead of what had happened back at the student union building. When I was done I headed back to my room and called Ollie. He was back up just in time, and he waited for me to get dressed before we headed downstairs to the dining hall together.

The cafeteria downstairs wasn't as large as the one in the student union building. It had enough tables for about a hundred people to be there at the same time, and there weren't many food options. Ollie and I grabbed toast, bacon, and cups of juice before heading to sit at one of the high tables at the center.

Ollie started and tried to keep a conversation afloat, probably to keep me out of my mind so that I wasn't a moping. I smiled to myself, happy that he was trying to be understanding. Ollie was still in his gym clothes, and his black hair was a mess. From time to time he'd move his attention to his phone, replying to whoever before looking back up to talk to me. I was so lost in watching Ollie talk that I didn't realize when a person with ginger-colored hair pulled up a seat right beside me.

"Hey." My body stiffed, and I could feel my mind go faint at the sound of the person's voice.

Maxwell? I thought, turning to find him sitting right beside me with a very small smile on his face. He seemed wary, and he soon looked down at the tray of food in front of him. I didn't say anything out loud, I just sat still as I wondered what he was doing here.

Wait. If he's here that means he lives in this building. I thought to myself, realizing that avoiding him was probably going to be impossible if that was true. I retreated to my mind as I tried to figure out ways to avoid bumping into him in the future.

Ollie had gone quiet as well, and I looked up to find him looking from me to Maxwell with a confused look on his face — like he was trying to figure out what was going on. His brown eyes looked partly worried and partly confused. I couldn't blame him. Maxwell was all smiles while I was cowering on my seat.