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If Stevie were a decisive person, she would have a drink in her hand by now, but her tastebuds couldn't choose between an iced coffee and an iced matcha latte. Emerson suggested she close her eyes and point to something on the menu, and she would have if black coffee wasn't a possible result.
"This isn't a life or death situation, Steve," Emerson said. He didn't understand, Stevie needed to savor this drink from Flynn's Coffee, it would be her last one until she was home again for summer.
When Stevie didn't order after a few more minutes passed, Emerson told the barista that she would get a small iced coffee with cream, light ice and two packets of brown sugar.
"If there's traffic, then we'll have more time to listen to the road trip playlist I made," Emerson said, grinning and putting his arms around Stevie.
Stevie mirrored his smile. "All the songs from Cheetah Girls on shuffle with a dash of High School Musical?"
"Mixed with The 80s' Best Hits — the works." He said. "By the time we reach Berkeley, I bet you'll know all the lyrics to Under Pressure."
"It's, like, an hour drive?" She asked. He's taken the trip before, he would know.
"Around that." Emerson smiled. Stevie picked up the drink that waited for her at the edge of the counter.
"Have Theo and Ivy reached yet?" She asked, chewing the end of her straw. Emerson checked his phone for a notification. He had texted Theo half-an-hour ago and there was no response. Stevie saw this from over his shoulder.
"She's probably asleep." He said, sitting in his car. Stevie grinned as she sat in the passenger seat.
"That's what she gets for dating a morning person." She said, about Ivy.
"And I'm lucky you're not."
"I could be if I wanted to."
Emerson laughed. "I doubt somebody who always fell asleep in first period would suddenly become a morning person."
Stevie shot him an inquisitive look.
The grin still on his face, he said, "Yeah, y'know, once Theo knows, the whole world knows."
"Ah, remind me to never tell her anything ever again." She joked. Emerson saluted.
The trip didn't seem long for Stevie, probably because she spent half the time immersed in Emerson's playlist. She had been preparing herself for orientation day for months. Before Emerson and Ivy graduated, the four had promised each other that they would apply to one school that was the same and then separate schools. They were all accepted into the University of California, Berkeley not soon after. She couldn't pass up the chance to go to one of the best schools in the state, none of them could. Theo was going to be her roommate, she was going to join a club, and she was going to pass her classes — simple.
After picking up her ID card, Stevie and Emerson lugged her boxes and bags to her dorm: 216, California Hall. Stevie scanned her card and nudged the door open. She wasn't completely inside the room when Ivy took the box of clothes from her hands. Theo laid on her bed, scrolling through her phone.
"You guys took forever," Ivy said.
Emerson smirked. "We stopped at Flynn's first."
Ivy shot Stevie a look. "And you almost missed orientation because of that."
"Ive, it starts in an hour," Emerson said.
Stevie smiled. "You unpacked." She grabbed one of the boxes Emerson held and put it on the bed that had yet to be claimed.
Theo's side of the room was adorned with bright art prints covering her wall and a willow dreamcatcher on her headboard. She looked at Stevie from behind her phone. "Cool, now we can get food," Theo said in the voice she uses to mimic Ivy.
"I still don't sound like that," Ivy laughed, climbing onto Theo's twin bed and placing her head in her lap. Theo kissed her forehead.
Stevie smiled at how Ivy's eyes gleamed when looking up at Theo and how Theo caressed Ivy's cheek. She rarely ever saw them apart since they got together, but that was going to change now that Theo and Stevie planned to be roommates for all four years of college.
Emerson helped Stevie drag in her last box and she thanked him with a soft peck on his cheek. "You want to unpack after orientation?" He asked, twinkling his fingertips on her hand until they were intertwined.
Stevie nodded. "Food, then?"
"Yes!" Theo jumped out of bed, apologizing to Ivy when she realized that she disturbed her comfort. "There's this place, like, a mile away that has build-your-own ramen and I need it."
Stevie arched a brow, looking between Emerson and Ivy who seemed to be down. "Ramen it is." She smiled.
