"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" I ask, checking the map on my phone.
"We should be," she responds. "It says we're still two minutes away."
We continue our walk to the café, following the direction of the map. We've been on campus for about two hours now. We've walked from building to building, finding the best routes to all our classes. I'm still pretty lost, but I'll adjust. At least I know how to find the music rooms. It's just my biology classes that I'm not sure about.
Lena and I are going in completely different directions. We're barely even on campus on the same days. She's planning to major in engineering, while I'm testing the waters in music and medicine. I'd prefer to play piano for the rest of my life, but that's not a guarantee. So, my backup option is paramedicine.
My grandparents would be so proud if that's how my life turned out, but my parents would hate it.
The sound of loud yelling snaps me out of my thoughts. I look for its source, but it's just a group of girls laughing about something. I swear, this place is like a small city. We should've taken Owen up on his offer to show us around. We accidentally woke him up this morning, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was in a better mood than both Lena and I.
Neither of us got a good nights sleep. That was my fault. After what happened with Tyler, I couldn't be bothered walking all the way down to the car. So, I cuddled up with Lena in her bed.
Two people in a single bed isn't exactly ideal, but we made it work. It did wake her up, though, but she hasn't complained about it so far. At least I found my headphones in the car on our way here, so I won't be bothering her anymore.
As for Tyler, well... I haven't seen him yet. I have no idea where he was this morning, and I have no desire to know.
"I think this is it," Lena says, pulling us to a stop.
Owen insisted we stop at this café for lunch. Apparently, it's the best place on campus. And I can tell. There are students pouring out of it. From the outside, it looks more like a bar. It's painted black, with bar tables placed around the front. The aesthetic definitely matches its name, Barrel Bar.
Lena and I walk inside. It's a big open room, filled with various sized tables, and booths. It's dark in here, too. There's a bar set up on the back wall, with menu items written on a chalkboard above it.
It's definitely more a bar than a café. There are bottles of different kinds of alcohol displayed all over the place. There's a small stage too, but there's no one playing.
"Hey, girls, how can I help you?" a male voice says. I turn around to greet him, but I wish I hadn't.
This guy is without a doubt the most attractive guy I've ever seen. His cheekbones could cut glass. He's got wavy blond hair, reaching down to his jawline. He raises his eyebrows, smiling brightly at me. He looks like a young Heath Ledger. They're identical. This guy has to be a model.
"A table for two?" he asks, urging us to respond.
"Yes!" Lena nods, nudging me with her elbow. "That'd be great."
God, why am I so bad at talking to boys? I take a deep breath. Now is the time to activate your confidence, Sarah, I tell myself, just like my therapist used to. Be confident.
"Perfect, come with me," he leads us to a booth in the back corner of the room, right near a table of girls studying. "Would you like any drinks to start?"
"Do you have milkshakes?" I ask.
"Yes, we do," he nods. "Vanilla, chocolate or strawberry."
"Strawberry, please. Lena?"
"I'll have a caramel latte, thanks."
"Wait, I'm sorry. Did you just say Lena?"
"Yeah, that's my name," Lena nods, a scowl on her face.
"Lena Benali?"
"Yeah..."
"Owens sister?"
"You know Owen?"
"Yeah, we're friends," he explains. "I'm Christian."
"Oh, hi," Lena smiles. "It's nice to meet you."
"Sorry about that. It's just, Owen told me his sister was moving here and you look so much alike."
"We're not that similar, are we?" Lena laughs.
"Yes, you are," I tease, but then turn my attention to Christian. "I'm Sarah."
"Sarah and Lena," he smirks. "I'll have to remember you two. Drinks are on me."
He turns away before we can protest. I glance at Lena, laughing at her expression. Her eyes are wide, her mouth dropped open.
"He's so fucking hot!" she whisper-yells.
"Shush!" I laugh.
"His smile! His hair! I just want to keep staring at him
"Don't. He'll notice."
"We can be sneaky."
"As if he doesn't notice us ogling him!"
"He probably gets that all the time."
"I should've worn lipstick today."
"Girl, tell me about it," she snickers. "If I had known we'd run into California's Sexiest Man, I would've worn a full face of makeup."
"You look hot, though."
She always looks good. She's been blessed with clear skin and a perfect bone structure. Meanwhile, I have pores the size of pancakes.
"Do Owen and I really look that much alike?" She asks.
"Oh yeah," I nod. "He looks older though. And you're way more feminine."
"I'd hope so," she laugh. "You and your sister look nothing alike. Your personalities are completely different, too."
That's true. She's the confident one, I'm the quiet one. I'm working on it, though.
"She got mums genes. I'm stuck with dad's," I say.
"Your dad's hot though."
"Lena! Ew!"
"I'm just saying!"
"Stop!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just teasing," she laughs. "Your face is so red."
I drop my head into my hands, covering myself up. I hate this conversation.
"Can we talk about something else?" I grumble.
"DO you want to tell me what happened with you and Owen this morning?"
I look up at her. All the humour has been wiped from our faces.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't think I didn't notice you two whispering this morning."
"That wasn't anything inappropriate," I tell her.
"Then what was it? Because you looked pretty cosy."
"He was just telling me..." I hesitate.
"Telling you what?"
"Something happened last night."
"With my brother?" she gasps. "Already?"
"No! Oh my god," I scold. "I couldn't find my headphones last night, so I went to the kitchen, and Tyler was there."
"Oh, you met him?"
"Yeah, but it didn't go well. We got into an argument."
"Sarah!" she scolds.
"I don't even know what happened! He was just such a dick!"
"What happened?"
"He was bleeding, and I wanted to help. Next thing I know, he's kicking me out of the apartment."
"What?!"
"But it's okay!" I assure her. "Owen heard and told him to back off. So, this morning, he was just checking in to see how I was doing."
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!" she grumbles.
"I don't know, I just didn't want you to worry."
"Of course I'm going to worry! We don't need to move out, do we?"
"No, I think it's okay. We'll figure it out."
"God, I can't wait to meet Tyler now," she says. "What was he like?"
"Tyler Thompson?" Christian asks, returning to our table. He sets out drinks down before us.
"You know him?" I ask.
"Everyone does. He got kicked out of the dorms in his freshman year."
What the hell? Owen told us they got their own place because they just didn't like the dorms. Did he lie?
"What did he do?" Lena questions.
"He set his room on fire."
My mouth drops. "He what?"
"Almost burnt the place down," Christian explains.
"He didn't get expelled?"
"Everyone thought he would, but he kept showing up to classes."
"Was he charged?"
"Yep, he's still on probation."
Oh, great. We're living with a criminal.