Three Years Later | ✓

06 | Cheesy Pick-Up Lines

LEISURELY STROLLING back to my dorm, a gentle gust of wind wafted James's citrus scent towards me. Lampposts lining the campus sidewalk dimly lit our path ahead as the last bits of daylight lingered in the sky, birds flying and chirping overhead.

"God, enough with the cheesy pickup lines!" I exclaimed, chuckling at another one of James's corny pick-up lines that he saw online. It was kind of our thing.

James and I had grown a lot closer ever since I arrived at Berkeley, walking around campus aimlessly as James constantly spat out cheesy pickup lines that he somehow hasn't run out of yet. It gave me a comforting feeling knowing that I had someone else here apart from Ava.

Ignoring my previous statement, he smiled and looked down at me, a sparkle in his eyes. "Ooh, what about this one?"

He cleared his throat and an eyebrow quirked up, "Do I know you? Because you look a lot like my next girlfriend." My cheeks began to sport the lightest tint of pink as I tried to mask it with an amused chuckle.

"Oh?" He stated with amusement. "Well, clearly that one was not cheesy, because it seems like someone's blushing," teased James, singing the last word of the sentence. I rolled my eyes in response, a smile still inhabiting my lips.

Deciding to spare him a witty comeback, I picked up my pace with James trailing shortly behind. A short, deep chuckle left his lips before he caught up with me once again, flanking my right.

"Aw, come on, Hads. You know I'm just joking," James said playfully with a grin, stepping in front of me.

"You're so cute when you're blushing." His tone was playful and gentle, like he was talking to a toddler. He pinched my cheeks and I scrunched my nose in response, playfully pouting my lips.

The red hue, that already stained my cheeks, darkened as I felt tiny jolts of electricity prickle my cheeks. Oh god, what's happening to me?

"I am not blushing." I swatted his hands away and continued to walk, James right beside me.

"Yes, you were," he taunted.

"Nope," I defended.

"Yup."

"No."

"Nope."

"Yes." I paused for a second, eyes growing wide, and sighed, face beginning to scrunch up. "Dammit," I whispered under my breath.

To my relief, we reached the front of my dorm building. I looked up to James and found that he was already looking down at me with his hazel eyes, a giant goofy grin smothered across his face. Still feeling quite embarrassed, I began to walk to the entrance, about to shout goodbye to James on the way, when he grasped onto my arm.

"Wait, before you go upstairs, I wanted to ask you something." A bubble formed in my chest when we locked eyes, his hazel ones gazing intensely into mine. A sudden, but subtle shift in his eyes, a yearning sparkle, caused the bubble to grow immensely bigger.

"One of my new roommates invited me to dinner with them this Friday, but they sort of left out the fact that their girlfriend was coming along with them. I know he had good intentions, but I have a feeling that I'll probably become the third wheel later in the night," he chuckled. "So I was wondering, do you want to come with us?"

At first, I thought that James wanted me to be there for friendly support, but the shimmer in his eyes and the mysterious, jittery feeling bubbling in my stomach said otherwise.

"Sure," I replied softly with a soft grin. Some of the tension that had built up in his shoulders ceased as he sighed a breath of relief, a smile replacing his stressed state.