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My knee bounces impatiently as I count down the seconds until this class is over. The teacher drones on about a lesson I can't bring myself to listen to. Every time my eyes go to the clock, I'm disappointed to find only a few seconds have passed since I last looked. Vito shakes his head beside me, "You pathetic foo," and I elbow his side to silence him.
The bell finally rings, and I stand to leave the class, ignoring Vito's calls as I rush through the halls and down the stairs, not caring about the people I bump into. I'm too focused on reaching my destination on time so I don't miss her.
When I find Siya walking down the hall, I slow my steps, giving myself a moment to catch my breath so she doesn't suspect anything. "Hey," I greet, resting my palms on her shoulders. She smiles once she realizes it's me. "Taz, how are we running into each other when we don't have classes together on B days?" she asks, walking alongside me.
I shrug, feigning nonchalance, "Our classes are just close together," I lie. We make small talk as I walk her to her next class when I hear someone call my name. "You left your phone in science class, dumbass," Vito says, passing it to me. "Thanks," I reply, not happy about his interruption. "Science?" Siya questions, her brows drawing together. "Isn't that on the other side of campus?" I chuckle, thinking of a quick lie, "What can I say? I'm a fast walker."
➿➿
For the past two months, Siya and I have been hanging out a lot more often. We were getting closer, just as I had hoped. Now here I am I knock on her door, nerves making me tap my foot impatiently. I hear soft footsteps heading towards the door, and my erratic heartbeat only speeds up more with each step.
She appears before me, but just when I think my pulse couldn't get any faster, it stops. Her face is flushed, nose swollen, and eyes teary. "Oh hi, Taz. Sorry, this is kinda embarrassing that you're seeing me like this," she sniffs. "I—what? Why are you crying? Are you okay?" I ask, bombarding her with questions in worry. "Huh, no, I'm fine... well," she considers, "maybe not fine, but nothi-"
"You hurt? Did someone hurt you?" My hands go to her face, wiping away tears that threaten to fall. She laughs, but it sounds hoarse. "Relax," she sniffs, "whoever created this monstrosity is the culprit," she jokes, holding up a spicy cup of noodles that I failed to notice. 'Oh,' my shoulders visibly slacken from relief. Her weak grin widens, finding my panic amusing.
"What brings you to my humble abode?" I smile, answering, "Just wanted to see you, and I wondered if you wanted to hop on the game with me."
A string of curses leaves her mouth as she fails to kill my game character, losing with her eventual death. "Always with such elegant language, Miss Siya," I grin, eyes on my own screen as the winning animation pops up. "The controller sensitivity was throwing me off; I could've won," she insists. I bite my bottom lip to avoid straight-up laughing at her, knowing it would only ignite her competitiveness. "Moving on to the next game," she says, almost sulking at her loss, as she logs into another game that she must've felt confident enough. "Pac-man, seriously?" I joke.
She jabs my arm, "If you're scared of losing, you can always back out."
"Right, you're just bluffing since you know there's nothing you can ever beat me at," I say, smug.
"Watch me," and I did. I watched as the color drained from her face while she witnessed me winning the game she couldn't. "Nope, redo. You got lucky that time; the ghosts were glitching out," she says.
"Why don't you just admit your defeat?" Her face flares in embarrassment. "I'll find your weakness," she promises. Those doe-like eyes of hers are gonna be the death of me.
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