Written And Composed

07 / stupid crush

CONSIDERING JAKE'S CHARACTER, at least from what she'd seen, Melannie thought he would go back to being the guy who disagreed with everything she had to say. She assumed the talk they had that night wouldn't have meant to him as much as it meant to her. But, apparently, she was wrong.

The next day, the tension between them had visibly reduced. Melannie was unsure if she was imagining it but the others felt the same. They had looked at both of them as if they'd grown a new head.

"What?" Jake asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall lazily.

"Did you two have sex last night?" Char asked. Melannie choked on her coffee and Jake almost slipped off the wall.

"WHAT?" Jake asked again.

"Something did happen last night, didn't it? I mean, you guys are acting like civilised people. Jake gives Melannie coffee and she says Thank you, staring at his eyes. Jake says You're welcome in return. It feels like -"

"We are in a multiverse," Jackson completed.

"Exactly."

Jake and Melannie exchanged glances. "Nothing happened. We just decided to stop trying to ruin each other's day. It got tiring," Melannie said. Jake agreed.

"Weird. So fucking weird," Dylan had muttered before walking out the door.

𝄙𝄙

Days passed. All of them left for Thanksgiving break.

Melannie didn't really celebrate Thanksgiving since it was the time her mother had passed away. Ashton and her cleaned their house instead and followed up with a trip to the shopping mall to buy things that should be replaced. Ashton, unlike any of the men she had met, enjoyed shopping. Whenever they had time to hangout, they would visit the mall or unpopular stores that sold goods at a cheaper price.

They had home-made pizza for dinner, watched a comedy show and went to bed. Melannie had spent the next few days trying to find inspiration to write. A blank document stared at her whenever she attempted to. She hadn't known until recently that a white wordless screen could scare her so much and give her enough anxiety to drain her energy. She tried to push it away from her mind but when Ashton went to work and she was left alone at home, she couldn't.

She was thankful when she returned to college because there were plenty of distractions to keep her thoughts away. For example,

"Why does our room smell like chicken roast?" Melannie asked, as she dumped the duffel bag on her bed.

Char sat on her bed, cross-legged, with a bowl and a fork in her hands, her eyes glued to the movie on her laptop. "Mom packed the leftovers and gave it to me but it's too much. I asked Dylan for help to finish it but he said he was so stuffed that he was on a fruit diet for a day. I guess it's up to you and me. Will you help me?"

Melannie laughed. "Just a minute. Let me change," she said, hurrying into the bathroom.

And a few hours later, the bowl of roasted minced chicken and mayonnaise was licked clean, along with two cans of soda. "Ah, god, I am so full," Melannie said, rolling onto her stomach. "I'm just going to let this food coma put me to sleep."

𝄙𝄙

Fortunately, other distractions followed. Exams were right around the corner. That meant that Melannie had to start collecting notes and focus on her studies. So, she found herself cooped up with Saakshi in Dylan's room. And one day, she dozed off there after studying all night.

In the morning, she woke up to a banter.

"Dylan, please. Help me find it."

"Not today, Red. Let me sleep."