Wingman

Cutie With Dimples

Chapter Twenty-Two

"I've gotten a stranger mad at me. This is brilliant." The girl rubs her face with her hands before sitting down in a huff. Her books scatter along with her coffee which spills onto her thumb and index finger. She slurps it up, mouth away from her skin she says, "Wait...the stranger isn't mad! Just annoyed, I see." Ella grins while wiping the cracks of her hands.

"Where have you been? I've been waiting here for a straight hour." You aren't smiling.

Ella takes out a bag and pulls out two bagels. With a shift of her hand, her smile is small when she hands you one. "I made it from scratch," she says causing your anger to flush away. You look down to the bagel she places on your open textbook. "The cream cheese and coffee I didn't make from scratch." She laughs.

"Thanks..."

"Of course."

"This still doesn't answer my question."

Ella sighs. "I was hoping the delicious bagel would stop you from asking questions I don't want to answer." The girl moves the bagel made for you into her hands, shakes it, then plops it back down to crumb all over your work. You grit your teeth. She apologizes quick, noticing your jaw tense.

"It's been two weeks. I didn't see you for both work days in class...we could've been done our partner-portions in class by now."

"I was busy."

"You could've contacted me! I've been messaging you!"

"I messaged back yesterday," Ella whispers.

The tips of your ears burn. "Yes. You messaged yesterday to meet this morning and managed to be late!"

"I was baking your bagel."

"I didn't ask for this. I asked for you to be on time."

Ella's lips curve into a tiny smile. Child-like, she plays on embarrassment. "At least I didn't show...?"

"Ella!"

"Okay, I'm sorry," she sighs, "I've just got a lot going on. Alright?"

I do too! But you don't see me— "Fine," you say softly, trying not to burst flames onto a woman you don't know. "...Let's just—Let's just get our parts over with so the rest can be easier to complete alone."

There is something in the girl's eyes across from you that you don't catch. Sadness? Awkwardness? Both? Instead, you focus back to your textbook and wipe away the crumbs that block most words.

"I uh," the girl rummages through her papers and pulls out a stapled few, "I got some of my parts done in paragraphs, but I didn't understand how to format it for the final lab...maybe you could read it over and see if it's any good?"

You move away from your crisp and clean notes, and over to hers that are jumbled with doodles on sides of the page. Taking her notebook and her stapled sheets, you glance over what she has and once heightened shoulders slump vastly. You whisper, "Yeah, they're great. You did what you had to do."

Ella smiles when you give her back the sheets. "Okay good. I was thinking things were going to be brutal." She laughs, and you try not to smile. It feels wrong to smile at her laugh. You wonder how many times Taehyung has stared at her and admired that soulful ring in her voice, or the beauty of her chuckle. There's a drop in your stomach.

Clearing your throat, you say, "I can help you with the format when we put all parts of the assignment together. That way, you'll get an idea for next time and I'll have an eye on you for the remaining two classes we have together."