Taylor West is the epitome of self-reliance. Or she must be. Relationships are fickle. Despite finally enrolling in her dream studies and thriving in them, her social life is only skin-deep. When she finds out that her so-called boyfriend is a selfi...
"Of course!" She beamed at me and lifted her over-stuffed Kim Possible backpack as proof.
And just like that, the rest of my gloomy mood dissipated. I opened my trunk and reached for the child seat I had stashed in there shortly after I'd moved into my apartment eight months ago.
Albeit small, the apartment had everything I needed. Plus, Sofia was basically my only neighbor. Our flat was added to the complex later and thus set a bit to the side. We had our own entrance that nobody else used and only had to climb a few steps to carry our groceries. It wasn't exactly a prime location, quite the opposite really, but first and foremost, it was one thing—affordable.
The drive to school was filled with Angie's happy chatter telling me about her friends and teacher and what pet she would like to get. A turtle. Go figure.
"Do you want me to pick you up later and we watch something tonight?" I had a feeling her mom would be working late. Like this, I could spare her the embarrassment of having to ask.
"Yes!" she shouted. We high-fived and after sitting back in my seat I quickly sent Sofia a message. At least now I had a date for tonight.
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However, my gloomy mood returned without my pocket-sized ray of sunshine to keep my thoughts distracted. I rushed into the lecture, half an hour late, earning a snide comment about the virtues of punctuality from my lovely professor.
I murmured a quick apology, searched the room, and finally spotted that familiar mop of curly brown hair.
Last row. Perfect.
I knew Julian would have saved me a seat. He was bent over his laptop when I dropped down next to him. His long fingers rushed over the keys, and his elegant brows were crunched in concentration as he hung onto the professor's every word. His face was all angles and sharp lines, only further enhanced by the slim pair of glasses perched low upon his nose. Somebody could stick him into a fashion show and nobody would notice. And yet his only response was that I'd watched too many TV shows whenever I brought it up. Completely oblivious.
The whole day my thoughts drifted back to my fight with Chris. Should I break up with him? This hadn't been the first time I'd asked myself this question. My skin had started breaking out again and I could feel the stress from the last weeks weighing on my shoulders. That should have been my cue but the mere thought of ending it made my palms sweaty and my legs weak. I sucked at drawing a clear line. To cut someone out completely. Had I even given him a real chance?
I sighed again. Maybe I should give it some time. Maybe it would get better. But for some reason, my stomach clenched more tightly at the thought.
"So, when should we get started?" Jules asked. With a start, I noticed that everyone was packing up. The last lecture was over.
"Started? On what?"
"The Physics Two Labs. We finalized groups this morning when you weren't there."
