17 DATES

CHAPTER 1: the wrong way to start uni

THE WRONG WAY TO START UNI

"It's him. He's the guy I like." Ruby didn't know that when she muttered those words to her new best friend with a giddy grin, that she put the curly haired boy on the girl's radar. For being an overthinker, Ruby was an incredibly dumb person. It wasn't as if she hadn't mentioned him to Mia before that day in the coffee shop. She spoke about him to her friend almost every week. The moment they met on the first day of university, Phoebe had told her friend everything; about her past, home and crushes.

Suspicion brewed in the back of her mind ever since Mia told her Will texted her and teased her over messages on Instagram. The way she quickly brushed it off and bad mouthed him in the next five minutes, Ruby leaned back in her seat and sipped her tea, while staring into space beside Mia's head. That day, she saw a new side to Mia, one that had been concealed to her for their first two months of friendship. The sweet, quiet Mia she spent every waking moment of her College with was definitely keeping her cards close and Ruby hadn't even noticed.

It took them meeting and a talk about fashion to become conjoined by the hip. Mia Anderson ended up studying the same course as Ruby, because fashion school ended up not being what she expected. She grew even closer to Ruby's heart when she complimented her outfits every single day of classes.

While Ruby and Mia were known as close as sisters, Ruby loved meeting new people, which was why she often went out with other people from her Journalism course. There wasn't anyone she didn't know when she entered the lecture hall, however Mia was the one who heard about her every day and told her about her own weekends. They had their own presentations together and even went celebrating onto a field after one terrifying presentation about cultural theories and Stuart Hall. Ruby brought out a pink champagne bottle and Mia took pictures of them. It was the kind of friendship every little girl dreamt of.

It wasn't until early December that their Intro to Communications ended when it was already dark out. Light rain spilled from the dark clouds right as Ruby opened her umbrella and leaned it on her shoulder. They were all headed to the closest bus stop. Ruby kept busy chatting with Jules, another girl that mistook Journalism for an Acting diploma. Mia only occasionally chipped in, her mind in the clouds.

Under the safety of the bus stop roof, Ruby kept on discussing the lecture with Marvin, Anton and Jules until she noticed the absence of Mia. Her eyes ran over the faces of the people she only met a couple of months ago with a ghost of smile. Her lipstick was smudged, but she didn't notice and no one pointed it out. Most of them kept glancing at the red mark and kept quiet. A laugh followed to their right. Ruby's gaze was stuck on the pair by the stairs leading up to the bus stop.

Her lips pinched together, lines forming on her forehead.

"Get out of the rain, Rebekah." Marvin tried to tug her under the roof. Anton chuckled from beside him.

Marvin and Anton were two people she was closest to right behind Mia. At the beginning of the year the two boys came as a package deal. After a month, Marvin grew closer to another group and Anton liked to spend lectures by Ruby, who reminded him to follow the professor and sent him the answers to exams.

"It's barely drizzling," she said. Her eyes strayed to Mia and Will again. Her blonde friend giggled at something he told her. With a graze of her fingers over his shoulder, Ruby glanced away.

"I hate the weather in Leden. It's either foggy, pouring or scorching hot." Marvin shuddered, his hands as deep in his pockets as they could have been. His accent was deep and Ruby still struggled to understand him.

"I don't mind." Anton shrugged and lit a cigarette.

"That's because you have a cold heart," Marvin barked back. Ruby and Jules chuckled. The wind picked up again and the four huddled together to hide from the frosty night.