+THIRD+
Confusion.
Raw, unfiltered confusion. That's what Malia feels.
Why did he kiss her? Why did she enjoy it?
She woke up the next morning with a headache from crying watching Titanic.
That's what started all of this. That movie always makes her emotions run high.
Malia wonders why Namjoon kissed her, why he really did look regretful of his actions. After all of this time, why does he still fluster her this way?
It makes her... happy. That makes her nervous. This is such dangerous territory for her.
She walks into the kitchen to toast some waffles. When she gets in there, he's there. He's making coffee like this is his home suite.
God, she wishes he'd go to his own.
Leaning against the counter, in gray sweats with his hands pressed against the edge, is Namjoon. His biceps aren't even flexed and they're still a good size.
He looks at Malia as she comes into view. She avoids his eyes as he watches her. Opening the freezer, she moves the steak out of the way to grab the box of frozen waffles.
"See you later, Namjoon. Hey, Malia." Chloe says as she leaves.
The door closes and he crosses his arms in amusement as she actively avoids him.
"How you feel today?"
She plugs the toaster in and opens the waffle box. "I'm okay."
"Look at me." His tone is soft with her. She turns her head to find that his gaze has softened as well. "You sure?"
His hand comes up to move her bangs out of her face so he can see her eyes properly. Her breathing pauses at the gesture. "Yeah."
Malia breaks eye contact first to put her waffles in the toaster. She pushes down on the handle until it clicks and the toaster starts to warm.
As it does so, she turns to the fridge to get the orange juice out. Namjoon sees that his coffee is ready and grabs a mug for himself and a cup for her.
"Thank you."
He notices how quiet she is around him. A shy type of quiet. His suspicions of her still liking him were confirmed last night when he kissed her.
He was, admittedly, caught up in the moment but he doesn't regret it. He would do it again if time reversed.
Namjoon wants her to be comfortable around him. He makes his coffee as her waffles pop up. Malia takes them out and cuts them up before pouring syrup on them.
He walks to the living room with her and turns on the T.V. He goes to YouTube to watch basketball highlights out of habit and Malia watches the screen.
He cuts his eyes at her when she doesn't start complaining.
Rather, she gets two waffles on the fork and moves them around on the plate to make sure they have syrup on them.
She puts them into her mouth and chews as she watches the TV. Namjoon realizes that's he's staring and turns his attention back to the screen.
When it's time for them to leave for class, they walk together, not saying much to each other but speaking to other people that greet them.
Malia's greeters are mostly guys and she politely says hi back each time. Namjoon takes note of this.
They get to the room and sit in their usual seats.
"LiaLia."
She turns to Tyrell as he hands her a muffin. Her brows furrow.
"It's chocolate chip." He says with a disgusted look on his face.
She snickers at him.
"Boy, how you don't like chocolate chip muffins? Blueberry flavor the iffy one."
"What? You trippin. Blueberry muffins good as hell. I had two before I walked in here."
"Dirty." Malia shakes her head and he laughs.
"You a hater. I should knock you out."
She smacks her teeth. "Over a muffin? Tyrell, leave me alone." They start laughing together as the Professor comes into class.
"Sorry I'm late guys. They're redoing the parking lot out there. Took me a minute to find a spot."
The class goes on like normal and when it's finished, Malia speed-walks to her next class. She gets in and sighs; relieved. She only has three classes today then practice later on tonight.
She prays that time doesn't drag.
++++++
Namjoon leans on the wall with a toothpick in his mouth, his foot pressed against it as he holds his basketball. He and the guys are talking about plays before they have to get ready for practice.
He gets a few looks and glances from the girls as they pass. His eyes linger on a couple but never too long. Chloe and two of her friends are coming his way.
"Here come your lil girlfriend." Jay says and Namjoon looks in their direction. He smacks his teeth and they laugh.
"Imma keep saying it. She always around you."
"That does not mean I'm with her."
"Mhm. Why you always in her suite then?" Hakeem says and makes a face like he's lying.
"Man, shut up." They crack up at his response as she walks over.
"Hey, Namjoon."
"Wassup, Chloe." The girl walks right up to him and hugs him, wrapping both arms around his torso. He hugs one around her shoulders.
"You have practice tonight?" Her arms stay on him as she asks. They get more looks from their position as people pass by.
"Yeah." Namjoon sees the dance team coming and Jay starts singing, off key.
"There goes my ba-byyyy."
Tyrell and Hakeem start laughing and Namjoon grins at his antics.
"Are you coming to see me after?" Chloe asks as she looks up at him.
He's not focused on her, though. His eyes are on Malia as the girls get closer.
"Probably not." Her big brown eyes meet his and he smiles at her.
She almost returns it until her eyes see the girl attached to him. She rolls her eyes and looks away.
Chloe's face drops but quickly recovers. "Okay. I was going to tell you that I'm going to be busy later, anyway. The girls and I are having a hitel party."
"You live in a suite. Just throw a party there." He watches as some football players walk by looking Malia up and down.
Taija pulls Malia from the outside of the huddle and moves her next to Ty. "Nigga, keep your eyes off her and step."
"You know I can't do that. Especially not with the roommate I have." Namjoon looks down at Chloe.
"How?"
"She's a quiet freshman. Malia just took her first shot ever a week ago. She's not like you. I like how you keep your friend group so diverse."
Namjoon screws his face up. "What do you mean by that?"
"Just the different dynamics of it. Malia doesn't talk much, Hakeem and Tyrell talk too much. Jay says just enough."
He'll let her slide this time.
"You can stop by the hotel if you have time." Chloe puts her hand on his chest.
"Mm. I'll think about it."
The dancers start walking away and the guys follow.
"Joon, let's go!" Hakeem calls him.
Chloe tilts her head up to kiss his cheek before he walks away. He pushes himself off the wall and walks past her away with his friends.
Chloe shifts her weight, recovering from the rejection that only she seemed to notice.
Malia walks a bit slower than the rest of them as they head straight to practice. Namjoon notices her lagging and looks at her as the group keeps walking.
"What's wrong with you?" He nudges her lightly and she shrugs.
"Nothing."
"So what's the attitude for?" Namjoon asks her as she opens the venue door.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice is nonchalant and monotonous.
"Malia."
"Namjoon."
He makes sure nobody is looking before he grabs her hand and pulls her into the empty office. She crosses her arms and looks away from him.
"What's wrong, Malia?"
Her back is against the wall and he's standing only a foot away from her. She avoids his eyes.
"Lia." He closes the gap and puts his hand on her cheek, gently rubbing her skin.
Her resolve breaks and she looks at him.
"You mad at me?" He asks, already feeling the answer in his bones.
She continues to look at him with no response.
"What'd I do? Hm?" He licks his lips as he looks at her. Malia looks so good to him. Always.
His body is lightly pressed against hers. "You gonna tell me what I did so I can fix it?"
Malia gets tingles in places that have never been activated by anyone but herself. Her face heats up making the small beauty marks of her skin show more.
"No."
"Why not?"
She doesn't answer him. Her eyes flicker between his eyes to his lips and back again. His lips brush hers and her eyes flutter. Her mind scrambles for a grip on reality but one isn't offered.
Her face is hot as she stands under his gaze.
"We have practice."
Attitude gone. Her voice is as soft as it's always been.
Namjoon backs away from her and licks his lips. He tastes her lip gloss. She uses enough to make her lips shine so he's probably got some on him. He wouldn't care, if he didn't have to go in for practice right now.
She walks by him quickly to open the door. Namjoon follows her out and they enter the gym together. They part ways without a second look or glance in the other's direction.
They stretch with their respective teams before starting practice. The dance team's coaches give them new choreography to work and tell the captains that they need to come with the second dance for the week.
"The crowd seemed to really like what y'all came up with before. That mix was nice too. People are excited to watch y'all dance. Keep the momentum, ladies!"
When the music starts, Malia shakes herself from her thoughts to execute the moves. She's clean until the ending part.
Kaia and Cam mess up in the beginning. Taija has got it down. They run through the parts that each of them are missing in slow motion until they hit them.
They gradually speed up until the song's tempo is matched. They do it in 8 counts twice before doing it to the music. Now confident in their execution, they do it full out.
Their Coaches hype them up as they watch.
At the end of their practice, the girls are damp with sweat from dancing so hard. Theirs ran longer than the boys' did today by 30 minutes. That's how determined they were to get this dance down.
As they leave the building, Camryn and Malia walk side by side talking about what songs they'll use this time.
"We can ask Midas to mix them for us again. He did really good last time."
"About him," Camryn starts and Malia stops her.
"It's okay. Don't even explain. Midas is cool but I don't like him that. I don't have the time anyway."
"I'm sorry. He told me everything with him and Ty when we went out to eat that night. I thought he was gonna ask me more about you but it took a totally different turn."
"There's no reason to apologize. I wasn't actually that interested in any of them." Malia says as they walk.
"I want to know who hurt you so I can beat their ass."
"It's not worth it. Trust me." Malia huffs.
Not worth it because one, it's a fight she'll surely lose. And two, she doubts it's going to stop him from being around her. He's so resistant to just leaving her the hell alone.
"Okay. Well, I'll text you tomorrow if I think of or find any song suggestions."
"Alright." The girls walk in separate directions to get to their suites.
Malia realizes that she's alone in the suite and hoots to herself.
Finally!
She showers and plays music to drown out the quiet. Dressed in a crop top and biker shorts, Malia dances around as she grabs stuff to start baking.
Candy by Cameo is playing as she sings and dances. She grabs the brownie mix out of the cabinet and makes sure that her frosting is still in the fridge.
She preheats the stove as Always Be My Baby by Mariah Carey starts playing.
"This my sooonngg."
There's a knock on her suite door and she sways her way over with the brownie box in her hand.
She opens it and her gleeful expression falls.
"She's not here." She says and turns back to the kitchen.
"I know. That's why I'm down here." Namjoon says as he walks into the suite. He hears the music and looks at her.
Malia scoffs. "Thanks. That really makes me feel better." She replies as she walks back to the stove.
He smacks his teeth and takes his slides off. "I ain't even mean it like that."
"I don't care."
She opens the fridge and gets out the eggs before opening the drawer to take out the measuring cups.
"Why lie?" He stands next to her in the kitchen.
He's wearing a white short sleeved shirt and some black Nike sweats.
Malia ignores him as she reaches up into the cabinet to grab the oil. She grabs the clear mixing bowl as well.
She then turns around to the counter behind them and sets everything down. She dumps both packages of brownie mix into the bowl before filling the measuring cup with the proper amount of water.
Namjoon comes and wraps his arms around her as she cracks the eggs into the bowl. She ignores his presence as she pours the amount of oil that she needs in.
"I meant that I came here to see you, anyway so it doesn't matter that she's not here."
"So you would have still been down here if she was here?" Malia stops what she's doing and asks. He doesn't say anything.
"Exactly. Namjoon, get off me." She shrugs him off and he smacks his teeth as he gets off of her.
"Why would I come down here while she's here so she can start her bullshit?"
"As she should because you're not about to be in her face and my face. You playing yourself." She starts mixing the ingredients together with the spatula.
"I don't be in her face, she be in mine." He sits on the counter next to her.
"Namjoon, please stop playing with me before I kick your big ass out. And get yo ass off my counter."
"How you know I'm big?"
"Because all you do is eat and work out. Your arms are big as hell. Look at your fucking thighs. You got some nerve bringing mine up and I-."
He watches in amusement as she rants until she narrows her eyes at him, finally catching his innuendo.
"Actually, I don't know. By the way you act, you're probably extremely disproportioned. Big ass ego, little ass dick." She says as she starts to mix again.
He smacks his teeth. "Yeah, ight."
"Yeah, ight." She mocks him and he smiles at her. She fights her own smile as he starts laughing.
"Come on, Lia. Why you playin' with me?"
"I'm not. You playing with yourself. Did I not just say that?" She finishes mixing and gets the brownie pan from one of the bottom cabinets.
She starts pouring and scraping so that it's even across the pan. Namjoon watches her as she puts the dish in the oven and then closes it.
He puts the measuring cups in the sink for her. Then he drags his finger around the bowl and licks it.
Malia hums to the music as she washes the dishes. She puts them on the drying rack and turns to face him.
"Can I have that, please?"
"Hm." He holds his finger out with batter on it.
"Boy, I don't know where your hands have been. You be touching Chloe." Her face twists in disgust.
He screws his face up at her. "Don't insult me. I don't put my hands on that girl." He licks the batter from his finger.
"Whatever."
"Why do you think I'm lying to you?"
She ignores him as she takes the bowl from him and washes it. When she's done, she turns the music off and goes into the living room to watch TV.
"Are you going to watch Titanic again?"
She ignores him as she clicks on it.
"Are you going to cry again?"
Ignored.
After 30 minutes into the movie and her attitude filled silence, he checks on the brownies and takes them out. They wait for them to cool before he cuts them up and puts them in a bowl for her.
He takes the ice cream out of the freezer and brings the tub over with the bowl.
"Here, crybaby."
She glares at him as she takes the bowl out of his hand. He opens the ice cream up and eats a spoonful.
Malia eats her brownies quietly as she watches her favorite movie. Namjoon looks at her as she looks at the T.V.. Her features glow under the television lights.
The bulb of her nose shines. The reflection of the movie plays in her eyes as she smiles. The curls of her natural bang lightly touch her lashes as the rest of her hair is pulled away from her face.
He snaps out of it as she looks at him expectantly.
"Hm?"
"I said can you hand me the ice cream, please?"
Her voice is full of a lot less attitude than earlier. Namjoon looks at the TV and then back at her.
This movie has that much power over her? Why?
He digs the spoon into the ice cream and holds it out for her. She looks at him as he holds the spoon up. Her brown eyes bore into his as she opens her mouth to eat the dessert.
"Why do you like this movie so much?"
She finishes the ice cream in her mouth and looks at the TV before answering him. She doesn't have to think about her answer. She's figured it out long ago.
It's nothing she'll ever tell him.
"It just makes me happy."
Namjoon notices that she sounds sad when she says it. Like it has the exact opposite effect that she just stated.
He doesn't get it.
But he wants to figure it out.
For the rest of the movie, he feeds her the ice cream as they watch it. At the end, she cries and he hands her the tissue.
He throws out the ice cream tub and washes the pan out as he stretches his legs.
When he walks back to the couch, Malia is done crying and looking for another movie.
"So you really do just spend your nights watching hopeless romantic movies and eating ice cream."
"If you're going to talk shit about how I live my life, feel free to take the exit."
Namjoon raises a brow at her double meaning.
"You don't have to act like a dickhead all the time, you know. Not all of us are new to Namjoon." Malia says as she plays a Bring It On movie.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I have a passion for dancing. I'm Captain of the dance team at Georgia Tech. Something I'm sure that most people that knew of never thought I could do."
Namjoon listens to her talk.
"Some nights I have practice, some nights I dance full out in a stadium of people cheering for me, for us. For my team. And I claim my title as dance captain." She smiles softly as she thinks about it.
She turns to look at Namjoon. In all of his beauty.
"And other nights, I stay in this suite and I cry to my favorite movies. I take my contacts out and put my glasses back on."
He hadn't even noticed that she was wearing them until now.
"I eat ice cream and make a whole pan of brownies. I read my favorite books. Some nights I'm just Malia. And that's okay."
Namjoon looks at her as she smiles softly at him.
He remembers why he was so enthralled with her in high school. She's effortlessly beautiful. And she's always kind to him.
Even when he feels like he doesn't deserve it.
++++++
Namjoon wakes up on the couch by himself.
He stretches and groans as he reaches for his phone. They don't have their first period class today but he still hears her up.
He goes into Chloe's bathroom to pee then washes his hands and brushes his teeth.
He walks out and sees Malia in the kitchen. She sees him and mutters a small good morning. He wraps his arms around her and puts his chin on her shoulder.
"Good morning."
The deep huskiness of his voice surprises Malia. It sends a small shudder down her spine.
"Why are you up? We don't have seminar today."
"I forgot to disable the alarm for the class and it went off." His arms around her make her feel warm.
"Mm. And you're getting a little too comfortable, sir." Malia says as she looks back at him. His face is right next to hers.
"Am I?"
"Yes." She turns to push him and walk away.
He cages her in with his arms. She looks up at him as her heartbeat speeds up.
"You're pretty as hell." Namjoon says as he looks at her.
"Thank you." She says as she looks away from him.
"Mn mm. Why you always looking away, Lia?"
She doesn't respond and continues to look in the other direction.
"I make you nervous?"
Malia blinks before nodding her head subtly. She looks at the floor. He puts his hand on her cheek and turns her face to look at him.
"Bad nervous?" His brows furrow a little bit.
If she says yes, he'll back off and change his entire approach. He just can't help but want to be near her.
"No."
She looks up at him and he smiles a little bit before he kisses her on the mouth. He pecks at her until he feels her annoyance. Namjoon fully kisses her, just without the tongue.
All of his kisses have been soft with her.
Her hands are on his chest from when she was about to push him away. Her touch makes his body warm in ways that have nothing to do with lust. He hasn't touched her with that intent at all.
"You know you can breathe when I kiss you, right?"
She looks away and smiles. "I don't think about it."
Namjoon finds her cute. "To breathe? You want to pass out or something?" She laughs at him before looking up.
"No."
"Then breathe." He leans in and her breath is shaky.
It's not that she doesn't want this. She's just nervous. It's Namjoon. She's liked him for all of her high school years. Of course, she'd be nervous.
"Relax, Li." He soothes her with his voice before he kisses her again. It's slower, like he's reminding her to breathe. And so, she does.
When they stop kissing, Malia's heart is pounding. Namjoon outwardly seems unaffected. His mind is buzzing rapidly.
"Let's go watch your shows before I have to leave."
MALIA
I don't question him. That's not really my place. Besides, I know he has to get ready for his own class.
I'll just happy to have him here for a short while.
Everything's confusing and it's happened before I can process any of it. But somewhere inside of me, the part I've tried to suppress for so long, I'm happy that he's being this way with me.
When it's time for him to get ready for our classes, he stands up and goes to the back of the couch. He kisses my cheek before leaving to go upstairs.
15 minutes later, I'm leaving the suite and see Chloe coming back. I then remember that I share a suite with this girl and Namjoon was there all morning.
It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. One that I don't want to think too hard about.
"Hey, Malia."
"Hi, Chloe."
As I walk by, I curse myself for being in the situation in the first place. Janae would wring me by my neck if she knew.
Well, maybe.
She's been in the situation before. I think she's out of it, for the most part. She stopped telling me about him because he was so inconsistent. Now she only talks about him if something big happens.
Janae loves very hard despite her outwardly abrasive attitude. She's the type that can't leave until she's been broken by the person or until she absolutely hates them.
It's not the healthiest way to do things and she knows. But it's the only way that she knows how. She'd like to be able to say she tried everything, you know? That no matter what happened, she did everything that she could to make it work and it just wouldn't.
I walk to my second class to find that we're being paired up for a 'literary library hunt'. The professor gives us our papers and reads the partnered names.
I'm with Sebastian. The guy from the other night with Midas, his friend. I clearly don't pay much attention being that I didn't even realize that he was in this class with me.
He finds me before I find him.
"Malia. Good to see you again." He says as he walks over.
"Bash, right?"
He nods as I stand up so we can leave.
"The one and only." He gives a friendly smile as we leave the class. "You take a lot of accelerated classes or is English just a good subject of yours?"
"A little of both, I guess." I respond. "English is fun and I love it. Which is probably why I'm always in accelerated classes for it."
"Ah, that makes sense." He nods.
"What about you? You like English?"
"The class? Hell no. The content?" He nods. "I fuck with it. I just don't like formal learning settings. If I could do all this online, then I would. Unfortunately, my major and my scholarship don't really care for my wants and preferences."
"Of course they don't. In their terms and their terms only, do you get to use free stuff."
"Their terms my ass. I got accepted without the scholarship. Nobody told them to give me that shit. But I'm not gonna pass up on free money, though. Especially if it'll keep me and my moms out of debt."
THIRD
Sebastian and Malia get to the library building and he holds the door open for her.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
They walk to an empty table away from all the quietly working students since they have to actually speak to each other.
"So other than dance, what are you majoring in again?" He asks as they sit down.
"I'm not totally sure yet. I'm microbiological science or bio med." Malia says as she looks at the paper. "Mostly bio med though."
Sebastian looks impressed. "So you can dance, you're pretty and you're smart. The holy trinity."
Malia looks at him to find him smiling at his paper.
"What are you here for?"
"Me? Architecture. Or medical genetics. Backups in case this lacrosse scholarship doesn't pan out. It's working so far. Second year."
Malia raises her eyebrows. "So you're cute, smart and you play lacrosse." She copies his lead and he laughs.
"Gotta have a backup somewhere, you know? I'm a first gen high school graduate in my family. I've got a big point to prove a fat ass ego to go along with it." He smiles proudly and she joins him.
Hearing things like that make her happy; genuinely happy for the people experiencing them.
"Congrats. That's big. Are you the youngest or do you have sibling that could follow you?"
"My little sister, she's a junior in high school and wants to go to college for fashion. My brother's a freshman in high school but he's... he's in and out of school right now. Suspensions and stuff. His friends are getting in his head, you know?"
She nods. She does know. The dropout rate at her high school was mid level. And if they didn't dropout, they were kicked out. Expelled.
The gang and violence activity that seeps into the school area from off the streets was ridiculous.
But what could she expect? Her parents moved her to the outskirts of the city so that she wasn't at risk as much but she still wanted to go to the city school. Her dad thought that was a better idea, anyway.
He didn't want her to be 'gentrified'. She can be educated without being 'colonized by the white man' were his exact words. He's got some pent up animosity. A lot of it. But after the stuff he's been through, she doesn't really blame him.
"I try to keep his head on straight but sometimes he doesn't listen, you know?" Sebastian tells her. "It's hard on my mom. She lost my pops that way."
"Maybe you just need to have a sit down talk. Like a full one-on-one talk. Take him out to eat or do something that interests him. Find something tangible that's still related to school that piques his interest, you know. There'a always something in the outside world that can relate to something educationally."
"I didn't think about that. Just been worried about keeping him off the streets. That makes sense, though. I'll work on that, figure something out. Thank you, Malia."
"Don't thank me for that. He's just a kid. Any way we can get them out of the streets is worth it. If anything, just let me know how it goes."
"I got you." He says as their professor comes in to address the class.
"Alright, guys. You have your papers. The job is to find books that match the words or phrases that you're given. Pull a stick and get to work."
Sebastian is the one that pulls a stick for them. He pokes his lips out and cringes.
"Oof."
"What is it?"
"Tragic love stories."
Malia's eyes sparkle.
"Titanic for the movie, The Great Gatsby for the book. Romeo and Juliet if he needs a play."
Sebastian looks at her with an impressed smile and his slit eyebrow raises.
"Look at you go."
They fill in the spaces on their sheets before starting their hunt.
"Oh, by the way," their professor gives them a smile "the books have all been mixed up. Have fun, guys."
They all look at him with gaping mouths. Professor Mauby isn't sure why they're confused. He always messes with them.
Last week, he told them all that he lost their work from that week and that they'd have to redo it. He laughed immediately after and they all smacked their teeth when they realized that he was joking.
"You start down there and I'll start down here. We can meet in the middle and then do the same thing over there if we haven't found it yet."
Malia nods in agreement. "Okay. Got it."
She walks to the far end of the library and starts looking at the shelves to find The Great Gatsby.
She gets to the second shelf and squats to skim the lower shelves before moving up to the higher shelves. Malia stands at her full height as she searches. She mumbles titles to herself as she walks.
She turns around to the shelf behind her and squats to skim that one as well.
Across the library, Midas and Namjoon do homework together. Their professor saw that they were finished and let them go. He's going over the questions that other students had trouble on.
If they knew that they were to be let out, they'd have just stayed in their suite.
If Malia didn't have a second block, I would have stayed with her. Namjoon thinks to himself.
"Malia!"
Midas hears her name being whisper yelled and a familiar voice along with it. He thinks he's hearing stuff because of how quiet it is.
Until he hears it again.
He looks up to see Sebastian calling her. His brows furrow in subtle confusion. As far as he knew, that was their first time meeting at the diner.
Probably have a class together. He decides as he watches.
Malia pokes her head out with a smile on her face.
"Aye." Namjoon nudges his elbow. "Isn't that your friend?"
Midas nods. "Yeah. Sebastian. He's on the lacrosse team. He was with us for dinner a couple nights ago."
"Oh." Namjoon says. " They're friends already?"
"They probably have a class together. By the looks of it."
They watch as Sebastian holds up a book smiling. Malia holds her hand out with a grin on her face.
Midas side eyes and looks to Namjoon. He assesses as Namjoon's jaw tightens. He stares at the scene intently as Malia and Sebastian talk to one another.
They talk for a few seconds before they sit at a table nearby. They fill out their paperwork; using and citing their sources.
After about 10 minutes, Malia gets up from the table and approaches the librarian's desk. She's greeted with a warm smile.
Namjoon's face twists when he sees Sebastian watch her walk away. It's just a short glance and nothing more. But it still bothers him.
He decides that he's done watching the two of them or he's going to be irritated by the situation. He goes back to doing his work.
Malia talks to the librarian and the lady points in the guys' general direction. She looks behind them to a shelf of DVD cases and nods to the lady before walking off.
Focused on her destination, she isn't paying much attention at all to the table that she walks by. One aisle over from it, she searches the shelves for the Titanic DVD.
Namjoon side eyes Sebastian as he walks to the shelf.
"Did they mix up these shelves too?" He hears him ask.
Malia shakes her head. "No, I don't think so. They're in the right order. Ouu, here it goes." She takes the Titanic DVD off of the shelf.
"I have never seen this movie. I just know they were floating and her ass could've moved over." Sebastian says.
Malia smacks her teeth. "Right? That's what I'm saying. People be tripping. Big ass door and her skinny ass want to hog it."
Midas has to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing at her. Instead, he turns around with a smile on his face.
"Why are you always dogging her?"
"Oh. Hey, Midas. I didn't see you right there. And because. Jack died for no reason. I don't want to hear it."
Sebastian laughs at how passionate she is about this. "Is it that serious? Wassup, Midas."
He daps the man up with a friendly smile.
"Yes! You gonna see when we watch it." Malia points.
She walks away from the men and Namjoon watches her. She didn't acknowledge his presence at all. Not even a glance in his general direction.
"Yall in what? English or something?" Midas asks.
"Hell yeah. Gotta do this little mini project from genres we picked out of a cup. Tragic love stories."
"Oh, so right up her alley?" Midas jokes.
"Seems so. She was ready and quick with the answers, too. I'm impressed. Might not even have to read the book if she's already read it. I can skim it and let her give me a detailed synopsis."
"Yall gotta read a book and watch a movie?" Midas wonders. "What is this? High school? Who's yall professor? Let's switch. That's light work."
"Hell nah. Your professor had you writing a paper four days into classes. I'm good." Sebastian laughs as he walks away.
Midas smacks his teeth. "Pussy."
"Your daddy."
"You right." Midas nods. "He's definitely the police."
Sebastian laughs harder as he walks to his table, covering his mouth as he goes.
Namjoon swallows thickly as he watches Malia and Sebastian get to work and chat. They smile and laugh often. He feels like they're doing more talking and giggling than actual work.
He has a mind to ask Midas if he thinks they'll be watching the movie in Sebastian's dorm or Malia's. Or if they'll be watching it in a more public space.
But he keeps his thoughts and questions to himself. He wouldn't be able to come up with any explanation as to why he cares or wants to know. And it bothered him to no end that Tyrell 'felt the need' to tell him what's going on between him and Malia.
They're just friends, so what? What does he care? Why does he care? That's not his business. She's not his girl.
She's just.... Malia.
His heart thumps at just the thought of her name.
He inhales deeply and sighs the breath out. Shaking his head, he picks up his pen and gets back to work.
Midas senses his distress and looks over at him. For a second, he debates about asking. Then he decides he shouldn't press him.
Then he decides everything is his business and he's nosey anyway.
"Yo, so." He begins. "The other day, Lia seemed upset about you being around, or speaking to her. Y'all beefin or something?"
"No." Namjoon says curtly. "She's not my girl. The hell would I be beefin with her for." He continues to look at his paper as he speaks.
Midas blinks at him before nodding slowly.
Yeah, something's definitely up.
Namjoon looks over to Malia and Sebastian, unable to fight the urge.
He sees her talking to him, enthused about whatever the topic is. It annoys him to no end.
Probably running her mouth about that depressing ass movie.
++++++
Later that night, Malia and the girls have dance practice. The guys don't have basketball practice, so that leaves just the women in the gym.
They get the dance down quick. It takes three times before they get it done without mistakes on the fourth and fifth run through.
Changes to positions in the formation are made to better accommodate some of the girls and after that, they run it through two more times. By the time they're done, Malia is sweaty and feels gross.
She walks into her suite and hears Chloe's music in her room, indicating that she's back from wherever she went.
Malia gets her shower things ready and goes into the bathroom. Camryn texts her about meeting upstairs with Midas to listen to the mix and choreo. They agree to go up when they're clean and changed.
The shower relaxes her muscles as washes herself. When she rinses and gets out, her phone dings. It's a text from Sebastian. They exchanged numbers so they could plan a time to meet up to watch Titanic.
For the second half of their assignment, they have to watch the movie they chose for their category and pick out literary elements. They have to them describe and elaborate on them for the scenes they choose.
Malia walks out of the bathroom and goes into her room to get dressed.
"What am I supposed to do about that, Chloe?"
MALIA
See. This what I was talking about. In her face.
Why is he even down here? Stupid.
I get dressed in my blue sweatpants and and a white t shirt. I let my curls free for the night. I look at myself in the mirror before grabbing my phone and my suite keys.
I walk out of my room, go to the fridge and get my juice out.
"I don't talk to your other friends. Why can't you do the same?"
"Why does that even matter? I'm not having sex or doing anything with any of them girls. You don't talk to my friends because you talk to the football team."
"So you're not messing with Destiny?"
"No, I am standing here arguing with you about nothing."
"Namjoon, you know what I mean. You've never had sex with her?" Chloe presses.
"Man, no." Namjoon screws his face up. "I don't even talk to her. I don't talk to anybody except my friends and you, honestly. I'm not speaking to people I don't know. Who do I look like to you?"
"You're a fucking liar."
"What do I have to lie for?" Namjoon becomes frustrated by the false accusations. "I don't even have the energy to fuck with anybody else because you suck it out of me every other night."
My eyes widen and I internally gag as I put my water bottle up to the ice dispenser. They both turn their heads in my direction.
I pretend I didn't hear anything.
My AirPods are in so that's a huge help. This conversation is awkward as hell and I don't care to be a part of it. I start playing music and wait until my water bottle fills with crushed ice then fill it with water.
As I walk around the corner, Chloe waves to me as if everything is fine and I wave back. I don't look at Namjoon as I leave the suite.
I jog up the stairs to Midas's suite and knock on the door. Camryn opens it.
"I was just about to text you. Me and Midas were about to run out for food."
"My bad. I was filling this big ass thing up."
"Was Joon down there?" Midas asks from the couch.
"Yeah. Arguing with his lil girlfriend."
Midas laughs and Camryn shakes her head.
"He gonna get tired of y'all one day."
"We do not care." Midas says as he pulls up the mix.
I laugh. He plays it for us and Camryn bops her head to the beat. I do what I always do and make choreo in my head as I listen.
"This one ight, too."
"Ight? I'll throw this whole laptop at your head. Stop playing with me." Midas threatens causing Camryn and I to laugh.
"I'm just playing. Dang. It's nice. We can work with it. Sheesh. Send it to us."
"Mhm. Cam, put your shoes on so we can go." He pulls his phone out and sends the mix.
The front door to the suite opens and Namjoon walks in looking as nonchalant as he did downstairs.
"Lia, you want anything while we're out?" Camryn asks and I shake my head.
"No, I'm good."
"Cool. We won't be back then." Midas says and I scrunch my face up.
"Ew. Oh my god."
"It's not even like that. Get your mind out the gutter." He scolds before they leave.
When they do, Namjoon looks at me. I look at him and then grab my suite keys.
"I don't think you wanna go down there. She's having a temper tantrum right now."
"I don't care. She's not gonna touch me. I can tell you that right now."
"She might not but she yelling and screaming. I know you don't want to hear none of that."
He's not wrong.
I roll my eyes and sit on their couch, kicking my feet up.
"Where y'all remote at?"