ᴋʟᴜᴛᴢ | ʟʀʜ

𝟒. 𝐂𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐦

An exhausted sigh left Alina as she hung her apron up, done for the day. She worked at Ketchup's three times a week — Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, which were days where she only had one morning class, and Saturday. Her shifts were usually four hours long, plus thirty minutes extra to help Kelly bus some tables as she was lacking a bit in staff. A week had gone by since Kelly pasted a "hiring" sign on Ketchup's street-view window; however, no one had dropped by to interview to be a busser.

Now at 3:34, she waved goodbye to her boss and a few other coworkers before leaving through the backdoor. Alone with her thoughts for the first time since the start of her shift, Alina could not grapple with the fact that she reencountered the boy she literally ran into two years ago. She tried to classify her feelings fo- associated with Luke, but she could not tell if she felt annoyed by his charming presence or annoyed by being charmed. The party invitation offering her another chance to see him again, Alina couldn't decide if she would attend and try to gain a better sense of this jumbled mess of emotions or just ignore them altogether.

The ten-minute walk back felt like two minutes as her brick apartment complex appeared suddenly, breaking Alina out of her deep contemplation. Two flights of stairs were too much for her to reach their apartment on the third floor.

Most people would turn to a nap after such a tiring, mentally taxing day, but Alina could not take naps. It was hard enough for her to fall asleep at night, when she was so tired that she was alive, or hyper as Nina liked to call it.

"Calum, I swear. Put the goddamn show on."

"No, I'm watching Glow Up. I don't want to binge The Office for the fifth time."

"I need my daily dose of Dwight," Nina whined.

Overhearing the roommates who were not even trying to keep their voices down, Alina fumbled with her keys. Her friends were her nap, Nina thought with a smile. Wait that sounded wrong. They aren't boring; they're much needed and beneficial for her mental health. Why am I like this?

Turning the key and then pushing the heavy door open, Nina stepped inside. She wasn't surprised to see Calum and Nina fighting over the remote, the latter ferociously slapping the boy's grip off of it. A victorious cry left Nina as she held the remote up to gloat before Calum.

"That's Calum abuse," Alina teased, closing the door behind her and slipping off her shoes. She wiggled her toes that were covered in her light pink socks, glad to be free of the restriction.

The two bickering, before unaware of her presence, now swiveled their heads to greet their third roommate. "Lina, you look like shit." Nina joked, but she got off the couch to give Alina a much-needed hug. Resting her head on the 5'8 girl's shoulder, Alina closed her eyes and took comfort in their gentle embrace. Their bonding moment was interrupted, however, when Calum spoke abruptly:

"Did you bring me back any food?"

Alina's eyes flashed open with a small pout, directed towards Calum. "What a friend," Nina scoffed, turning her head and giving the boy a soft glare. She earned the finger from Calum who rose from his comfortable position on their black leather couch.

"Just wondering," Calum defended, frowning at Alina's empty hands but also her vacant expression. "You usually seemed pooped after work, but not this shitty. What happened, baby?"

"Nothing bad. Just strange. I-I don't know," Alina murmured with a small shrug.

Not taking her shrug for an answer, Nina released her arms from around Alina and directed her towards the couch. "Sit."

The two girls lounged on the couch while Calum sat on a stool in the kitchen, which opened up into their tiny living room.

"So. Um..like two years ago I was walking Lacey-" Alina began, but not before being interrupted by Calum.