Jia was awakened by what seemd to be a consistent pounding, of something crashing to the floor over and over again. Opening her eyes slowly and feeling irritated by the disturbance, she sleepily wandered her eyes around her room. There on the other side, she saw Bea sat on the edge of her bed, body hunched over as she desperately tried to wear her shoes, which was proving to be a difficult task due to her injured finger.
As Jia stared at her, she saw Bea drop her shoes yet again, which went down with a loud thud on the floor. Sighing in frustration, Bea picked those up from the floor as she repeated her previous action.
Jia could see that she was already sweating, and by the way her face flushed with anger, it appears that she has been failing this task for a while now.
"Care for some help?" Jia said as she got out of her bed and started making her way to Bea.
Bea seemed startled upon hearing Jia's voice, but she immediately regained her composure. "No thanks, I'm fine" she replied, as she again, for the Nth time, picked up her shoes from the floor. Scrunching her face to vent out her frustration, Jia couldn't help but laugh at her.
"Come on Bei, you obviously need help or you'll be late for class."
"Nevermind, I'll just wear sandals" Bea replied as she stood up to make her way to her closet, but Jia blocked her way. Holding her shoulders, Jia pushed her slightly to sit on the bed. She then knelt in front of Bea as she guided her feet inside the shoe and started tying the laces. The whole time, Bea was just staring in shock at Jia.
"Jia, you don't have to do this."
"I know.. But I want to" Jia smiled back, using the same words that Bea used to tell her whenever she would resist her kindness.
Standing up, Jia checked the time. "It's 9am, I know you have a class at 9:30. Let me just take a shower quickly and I'll bring you to your room so that I can carry your stuff." She said while rushing around the room grabbing her stuff.
"Ji, seriously that's not necessary. I can manage"
"Bei, it's ok, I want to do this. I'll be done in 5 minutes.." Jia smiled as she made her way to the bathroom
"Ji, I.."
Bea was cut-off by a knock on the door, and they both turned to look at their guest.
"Hey Bei, ready to go? Oh, hi Ji!" Maddie entered the room and proceeded to pick up Bea's books and bag.
"Is this everything?"
Bea could only nod, as she could not bring herself to look at Jia. Jia, for her part was standing by the bathroom door, silently observing Maddie and Bea.
"Ok, let's go" Maddie said, oblivious to the tension between the roomates. She slung Bea's bag on her right shoulder and offered both of her hands to pull Bea off the bed.
"Bye Jia" Bea told Jia, but she did not hear it as she entered the bathroom, slamming the door in the process.
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"How are things with you and Jia?" Maddie asked, as they made their way to Bea's room.
Bea just shrugged her shoulders, not really feeling like talking about their issues. Or rather, she doesn't really know what to talk about even if she wanted to. Things just fell apart between the two of them and she doesn't have a clue why. One moment they were inseparable, the next, there was an invisible wall between them.
Maddie stopped walking, and touched Bea's arm so that she can look into her eyes. bea turned around, waiting for Maddie to proceed.
"Is this about Miguel?"
"What about Miguel?" Bea raised one eyebrow at Maddie, as if challenging her to proceed.
"Well, things became different with the 2 of you when Miguel came into the picture."
"I honestly don't know what you're talking about" Bea shook her head as she resumed walking, leaving Maddie to rush after her. As they got to her room, Maddie handed her her stuff and kissed her on the cheek.
"Wait for me here after your class, Ok?"
Bea nodded her head, mouthing thanks, as she entered her room.
The next hour passed by in a blur as Bea totally lacked focus in class. Her mind kept wandering towards Jia, how distant they've been the past 2 weeks, and then with how, since her injury, Jia has been sweet with her, as if the past weeks did not happen.
The bell signalling the end of class has not yet rung but Bea already saw Maddie outside her room, and waived at her. When the class ended, Bea stepped out and Maddie got her bag and books from her, before kissing her on the cheek and hooking their arms together as they walked.
"Don't you have class?" Bea asked her
"Not until 2pm later, so for now, I'll be your personal assistant" Maddie jocked, bumping their shoulders together.
Bea went in front of Maddie so that she could look at her. "You're a good friend Maddie"
She nodded her head, smiling back at Bea, and Bea ruffled her hair like a kid. Resuming their previous position, Bea hooked their arms together, but as they lifted their heads, they noticed Jia and Miguel standing directly in front of them in the corridor.
Bea couldn't make out Jia's reaction. She was staring at them and their intertwined arms, and then looked back up at Bea and Maddie alternately, as if asking for an explanation. Beside her, Miguel greeted then, "Hey Bea, Hey Maddie!"
Bea returned Jia's gaze and matched her staredown, neither of them moving nor speaking.
Still looking directly at Bea, without breaking the gaze, Jia slowly hooked her hand to hold Miguel's hand, who looked surprised with the gesture. Changing gears, she smiled sweetly at Miguel, "Let's go, I'm hungry" then addressing Bea and Maddie, "Bye girls!" She said, with a slight cockiness in her tone.
As Miguel and Jia passed Bea and Maddie, Jia slightly bumped Bea's shoulder who shuddered with the contact. Bea unconsciously closed her eyes at the contact. She turned her gaze to follow Jia, but immediately regretted her decision as she saw Miguel put his arms around Jia's shoulders.
She felt a slight tug on her arm, "Let's have lunch, my treat" Maddie smiled at her. Bea smiled back at her as they walked arm-in-arm exchanging stories about their day and laughing candidly.
Being with Maddie has instantly made her day better.
