Freedom, Books, Flowers, and the Moon

Chapter 5

How did I forget to text them? He was so mad, they probably hate me now, Aurie kicked herself. She sank into one of the armchairs in the library. She wanted to pick up a few books before she headed back to her dorm; she had always felt that reading was one of the most important things a writer could do. The girl wandered around the huge space, consumed by her thoughts as she absentmindedly picked up novels and read the blurbs.

When she had finally decided on three books, she checked them out and silently made her way back to her dorm. She unlocked the door a few minutes later and snatched the sticky note off the bedside table. Typing the numbers into her phone, she tried to decide what to say to the trio of men. 10 minutes later, after a lot of deleting, this is what Aurie decided to send them.

"Hey, it's Aurie Coty! I'm so sorry for not texting last night and worrying you, I fell asleep in the middle of dinner and completely forgot all about it this morning while I was getting ready."

She chewed on her nails as she waited for their responses. About a minute later, her phone vibrated with a message.

"It's alright, honey, just try not to do it again. You gave us all a fright." Beau was the first to answer.

King answered shortly after, ignoring the main part of her message and simply asking, "Did you eat enough before you fell asleep?"

Aurelia replied to Beau's message first, "Yes sir, again, I'm so sorry," before in turn replying to King, "I didn't get to eat that much, but it's ok, I'm fine without."

"Don't do that again; you need to eat a full meal."

Aurie noted that even over text, King was still serious and intimidating, even using correct punctuation. She didn't respond to this text, simply thinking that he was overreacting and that skipping a few meals wouldn't hurt. She grabbed one of the books she had retrieved earlier that day, opened it, and lost herself in the pages.

A little over an hour later, Aurie's phone buzzed against her leg once more, this time finding a message from Cielo.

"Ciao bambola, I agree with everything my friends have said in my absence. I'm sorry it took me so long to respond, as you know, my classes run later than theirs."

"It's ok! I figured that you were busy teaching, you don't need to apologize for simply doing your job," Aurelia shot back.

"Aurelia, are you doing anything right now?" King asked.

"No, not really, why?" she answered.

"I need your help grading these quizzes from yesterday; meet Cielo in front of the Wagner building, and he'll drive you."

"Yes, sir," Aurie jumped up to brush her hair and slide on her shoes.

On her way out the door, she decided to grab her trusty tote bag before continuing to rush over to where her professor was waiting on her. A few minutes later, she found the man sitting on the front steps of the building, waiting.

"I'm so sorry for taking so long." The girl apologized once she was in earshot.

"Nonsense, cara, you didn't take long at all."

She blushed then paused, unsure of how to answer him. Luckily, he didn't give her the chance to overthink because he began to speak again. "I'm parked this way." He nodded his head to his left.

They began to walk down the path that Aurie typically takes to the cafe in comfortable silence. The sidewalk forked to the left through the trees, and there was a relatively empty parking lot.

"I never knew this was here," Aurelia voiced quietly, trying to start a conversation.

"Most people don't," The man replied, "Unless you know the path splits, you don't typically notice it,"