Gingerbread Latte

Chapter 5 - Black sheep

"Her heart was wild, but I didn't want to catch it. I wanted to run with it, to set mine free."

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One week later...

Max's POV

"Dear Valerie,

You still didn't send me our tutoring schedule for today, which got me worried, are you alive and breathing? Or did you forget about me?

Since I am hardly forgettable, I am guessing it is the former ;)

Waiting to hear back from you, gingy.

Best regards,
Max."

I stared at my phone's screen, rereading the email I sent her this morning, a one holding the same mocking professional tone she always emails me with. She didn't reply back, which was just so like her. No surprises there. Sighing, I locked the phone and tossed it away. I would drop by the coffee shop anyway before class and get my answer face to face.

I tilted my head, curiously looking outside of my window, I was sitting in my car for the past ten minutes, waiting for Cole outside of a house that is not his, picking him up from one of his fling's places for sure. Just as I was about to get down and drag him out myself, I saw his tall figure tumbling outside of the door, one sleeve inside his sweater while struggling to put the other one too, hurrying toward me, while sneaking a couple of looks back to where he was running away from.

A few seconds later and he joined me in the car, immediately shutting the door. His hair all messed up, and still wearing last day's clothes, "It was so hard to get out without waking her up, jeez," He mumbled, panting a little but delighted at his successful attempt.

My eyebrow raised, "Where did you leave your car?" I questioned as I pulled us into the street and headed for campus.

"Got too much drunk last night, left it at the club," He said, his lips curling up into a small smile as he probably recalled the memories of the night before.

I rolled my eyes at him and kept my attention on the road. That was me just a couple of months ago. The whole partying, drinking, and sleeping around - the college life's holy trinity. It was fun as long as it lasted but...not anymore. After everything that happened in my life, the way it turned upside down in a matter of seconds, I could no longer find joy in these simple activities anymore.

All of a sudden, it all lost its taste. It all felt so meaningless, weighing nothing against the real fucked up shit going around us.

Cole was saying something but I couldn't focus all of my attention on him, my gaze kept drifting to my phone's screen, waiting for it to light up any moment now. A low sigh pushed off my nose and my fingers tightened over the steering wheel, I am getting way too desperate way too soon.

I felt his hand push at my arm. Confused, I turned to him to see his eyebrow raised, "Dude, where is your brain lost at?"

I shook my head, "Nothing. You were saying?"

"I said why didn't you come along last night?" he repeated, "The party was fun," He added, smirking, "Too many girls, I might add."

"Just didn't feel like it," I simply answered.

He gave me a confused look, eyes narrowing at me, "Did you make a girlfriend for yourself behind my back," He questioned, suspicious of my recent behavior, "What the hell happened to you?"