Three Years Later | ✓

18 | The Distance

A FEW WEEKS had passed since Milo and I talked, the last and most likely final time at Bella's. Surprisingly, he had kept his distance. He continued to paint in the same spot as he did before in Intro to Art. When coming over to visit Nicole, they'd immediately head to Nicole's room and spend time together in there.

At first, it was nice, a bit peaceful in fact. I didn't have to worry about any awkward run-ins or forcing a conversation. But soon, that feeling wore down, and I began missing him a little more each day. No sideways glance was ever thrown my way or even an acknowledgment; we'd both act as if the other was invisible. But now, avoiding each other was becoming tiresome, even painful too, to the point where it almost felt physical.

After our talk, James noticed my sudden mood change. When he asked about it, I refused to reveal what was bothering me, and he thankfully respected my wishes and had been trying to cheer me up ever since.

"Here's the usual, a caramel macchiato." James placed the coffee mug in front of me and sat down with his cup. Small streams of steam wafted from out of my cup as I carefully blew on it and took a cautious sip. I sighed in delight as the warm coffee spilled down my throat, already feeling a bit energized.

"I know it's been quite a while already, but you never told me anything about your trip," said James, taking a sip from his red mug. "So tell me, how was it?"

I began telling James about all of the places I visited and how Manhattan was constantly bustling with people, leaving out the parts with Milo in them. I even told him about Stacey, although he had a similar reaction to Milo's on the trip.

"Wait, this girl you befriended, what was her name again?" James asked.

"Stacey."

"That name sounds familiar," James said quietly as he looked off into the distance, trying to pull up a memory from the back of his head. "What's her last name?"

"I don't know, I can't remember. I think it started with a T. To..." I sounded out the first syllable, trying to remember the rest.

"Torres?" James finished, perking up.

"Yup, that's it. How did you know that?"

"Well, we shared a few classes with together in freshmen year and sat next to each other a few times," he responded calmly. "By any chance, did she mention anything?"

"Like what?" I chuckled curiously.

"I guess not," James whispered, breathing out a small sigh of relief.

"Hm?" I said, hearing a mumble of words.

"Nothing, I was just thinking to myself," James smiled, taking another sip of his coffee.

Things with James were calm. He's been flirty as always, and one day, I decided to flirt back a little more and see where it took us. Now, it seems like things were moving a bit faster than before I left for New York.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" James lightly asked as he smiled and reached for my hand from across the table, placing a sweet, gentle kiss to the back of my hand.

"Well, since we're talking about my trip, I'm just curious, but why didn't you really call or text? You went a little MIA there," I chuckled, hoping to ease any incoming tension.

He looked down at our hands and smiled softly. "I'm sorry, babe. I was just caught up with studying that week. I had so many tests piled up during the week you left; it was unbearable." He placed a kiss on my knuckles and rubbed small circles over them. "But thankfully, you're back now and things are starting to become much more bearable again."