A/n- I'm changing the title of this book. I feel like this title suits my concept of the story more.
Hope you guys are enjoying it
Another week had gone by since Nicole's parents left.
Gia and Nicole did see each other, but this time Gia stayed away completely.
Nicole felt furious for the first few days and thereafter, when she realized what had happened, she couldn't help but feel guilty for the way she behaved.
Since day one, Gia tried to be a friend, but Nicole was always rude and the last time they spoke to each other, she had crossed all her limits.
Gia always noticed Nicole but this time Nicole also noticed her and saw that Gia had lost her usual smile, instead a fake kind of smile was plastered on her face and Gia would try really hard to ignore Nicole.
Nicole decided to apologize because she did not want that another person becomes a member of the negativity and sadness just because that's how Nicole feels 24/7.
After they were done for the day Nicole left the campus and went to a nearby mall to buy something for Gia but due to the limited conversation, Nicole had zero idea as to what to buy for her.
She went for the safest option and bought two pairs of socks. One pair was purple with little rainbows all over, and the second pair was black with tiny cups of coffee all over.
She even bought a Sorry card and wrote,
“To Gia,
Shouldn't have behaved the way I did with the person who unknowingly was there for me. Thank you and I'm genuinely sorry. Please do accept my apology and this gift for more warmth—Nicole ♡”.
Nicole headed back to her hostel with her heart racing. She really hated the way she behaved and didn't want someone as cheerful as Gia to turn into her.
Nicole had bought the gifts, but she wanted to avoid giving it to her in the cafeteria where everyone would notice the quiet, isolated bitch talking to someone, so she decided to deliver it to her room but all thanks to her lack of conversation skills she had no idea which room was allotted to Gia.
She reached the hostel and asked the security guard for Gia Hart's room number, which he gave easily. Nicole, being the awkward person, left her gifts on the doorstep, knocked on the door and then hid behind a wall to see if Gia took it.
The door suddenly flung open and Gia got out of her room wearing a huge sweater and sweatpants. Her hair looked messy, and it seemed like she was half asleep.
Gia picked up the mystery bag and Nicole ran towards her room. She wanted to avoid facing Gia and wasn't ready to see her reaction.
Nicole reached her room and stood there breathlessly.
She had barely caught her breath when suddenly someone knocked on her door and she knew who it was. She took three deep breaths and then opened the door timidly.
Gia was standing in front of her room holding the bag and her arms crossed.
Nicole got extremely awkward as Gia just stared at her and did not say anything.
After sometime, Gia broke the awkward silence.
“If you want to apologize, do it to my face”, Gia spoke softly.
“I'm sorry, for not apologizing to you directly and also for behaving like an ass”, Nicole spoke without wasting any more time.
“Can I come in or are we going to have this conversation at your doorstep?” Gia spoke, her arms still crossed.
Nicole felt a little bad at the way Gia spoke to her, but she immediately turned down those thoughts because she had no rights to get upset over her tone. She moved away from the door and gestured her to come into her room. She was glad that her parents had unpacked everything and her room didn't look like a killer's basement anymore.
Gia entered the room and tried really hard to not smile and get back into her usual demeanor, but it was hard for her to keep a straight face after looking at Nicole who usually looked tough, standing behind her door timidly.
“Yes, you did behave like an ass and also, I do accept your apology”, Gia spoke and smiled a little rather than her full-blown smile.
Nicole smiled, and this was maybe the first time Gia had seen her smile.
“I'm sorry, again”, Nicole spoke after she shut the door and sat on her bed and asked Gia to sit on the chair in front of her study table.
“I really liked the gift. How did you know I like socks?” Gia asked surprised.
“I didn't, I thought it's the safest option”, Nicole replied honestly.
Gia smiled widely and Nicole started to breathe normally again. She couldn't help herself and smile back.
“You have such a beautiful smile”, Gia spoke as she was genuinely shocked at how beautiful Nicole looked when she smiled and how she never did that.
Nicole couldn't say anything, but instead just smiled and looked down and scratched the back of her neck. She wasn't used to many compliments.
“So are we friends now or are you still going to run away?” Gia mocked her.
“Yeah, we are friends”, Nicole smiled, and her heart started to race.
Just friends, nothing more than that. Please don't be more than that. These words kept repeating in her head.
“So as a friend, would you like to have dinner with me in the cafeteria?” Gia asked sweetly.
Nicole hated the offer and did not know how to reject it after apologizing for being an ass.
“I would like that, but I'm not sure if I want to do it in the cafeteria. Let's just get our dinner and eat it in my room”, Nicole suggested.
“That's a great plan too”, Gia smiled widely.
Nicole smiled back, and again a wave of awkward silence filled the room.
“I'm originally from New York, what about you?” Gia asked, trying to get to know her more.
“I'm from San Diego”, Nicole replied awkwardly.
“So how long does it take for you to not just open up completely but at least have a normal conversation with someone”, Gia smirked.
“I'm sorry. It's been too long since I have had a proper conversation with a fellow human. I'll try again, give me a minute”, Nicole replied and then looked at the floor and quietly tried to take deep breaths.
Gia felt bad when she saw Nicole struggling to just talk to someone. She couldn't help but wonder what happened to her that she completely isolated herself.
"Hey, it's okay. I have to do some work, so let's catch up later? I'll have that meal with you some other time, alright”, Gia got out of the chair and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Nicole looked up and a sense of relief washed over her. She was not ready to apologize and have a long conversation with someone on the same day itself.
Gia understood that she was having a hard time and decided to leave her alone for the day.
“Thank you for the gift again”, Gia smiled and then extended her arms and got on her toes.
Nicole awkwardly hugged her back, and she suddenly got a whiff of her hair that smelled like lavender oil. Nicole stopped breathing, as she would rather not let her know that she was some creep smelling her hair.
Gia smiled and waved and left her room and Nicole stood in the corridor, still awkward, wondering that it might not be that bad to make new friends.
“Gia?” Nicole spoke, a little loud for her to hear, before she left the corridor.
“Yes Nicole”, Gia stopped and turned around.
Nicole half ran towards her to not talk loudly in the hallway like a maniac.
“Is it okay if we text first? I'm really awkward I'm sorry", Nicole blurted out.
Gia giggled and then gave her number to Nicole and walked away, smiling because of that adorable, awkward girl standing behind her.