I walk up the stairs outside of the psych department and rub my hands together to warm them. "So how was Boston?" Carter asks me as I enter the building. I jump a little from his surprising appearance making Carter let out a deep laugh.
"Good, but not what I was expecting," I smile at him politely. I look at him fully and he's wearing his normal blue jeans and a leather jacket with a hoodie underneath. I normally don't like the look of leather jackets but he's pulling it off. Mainly because of the way his arms look in it. Ugh! No! When he doesn't say anything I turn to continue to walk away.
"Coffee?" He stops me holding out a second cup of coffee in his free hand. I don't really like coffee but I don't want to be rude.
"Yeah sure, thanks." I take the coffee from his hand. I lift the cup to my mouth taking a sip. It's hot but not scorch your tongue hot. It's bitter and sweet but mainly bitter. I swallow it down letting the bitter after taste take over my mouth. My nose scrunches a little from the strongness of it.
"What? Did I not put enough sugar in yours?" He asks me looking genuine as we walk down the hall to the room.
"No, I just don't prefer coffee." I smile meekly to ease the awkwardness I feel. When I look at him he has a very faint frown he's about to say something else but I stop him before he can. "But I appreciate this and I'm still going to drink this," I tell him still smiling at him.
"Okay then for future references what do you like?" He looks at me the sunlight hitting his face as we pass a window making his freckles striking.
"Well you don't have to get me anything but if you must know I like any fruity tea," I answer shifting the strap of my backpack higher on my shoulder.
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind." He says as he pulls the door open to the lecture hall. Ben is in his usual seat next to mine.
"Well, I'll talk to you later," I tell Carter. He looks like he wants to say something but he just smiles and nods before he makes his way to his seat. When I settle in my seat next to Ben looks up at me and smiles.
"I didn't know you and Carter were close," Ben questions me while I take a big gulp of the coffee to try to finish it faster.
"We're not," I answer simply before redirecting my attention to the professor.
During class, the professor goes off on a tangent about something before actually getting to the material. I finish the coffee within a few minutes into the discussion. By the time we're almost over with class, I feel wide awake. It's probably cause I'm not used to this amount of caffeine. After all, whenever I do have coffee it's decaf. The sugar in the creamer I put in it keeps me hyper which is why I prefer tea. I feel jittery and I feel like I need to get up and run a few laps to calm down.
My knee is bouncing when the professor dismisses the class. I am quick to get up and put my things away. Ben says goodbye to me and I pull my hair out from between my backpack and back and settle the bunch over my shoulder. Carter walks up to me and grabs my empty coffee cup and throws it in the nearest trash bin.
"Thank you but I could've done that." I laugh shaking my hands to release the tingliness.
Carter walks back to me. "Relax it's okay I just threw it away." He leads me out of the room. "Are you okay you seem... jolty?" Carter looks at me funnily.
"Yeah." It's the caffeine
"Okay..." He still looks at me curiously. "Is it the coffee?"
Before I can deny my mouth speaks before my brain can catch up. "Yes."
"Right. You don't usually drink coffee. Well, you didn't have to drink it I would've finished it for you." He snickers.
"It's fine probably will help me stay awake while I study." I push open the main door and walk out while keeping it open so Carter can walk out.
"Don't you ever take a break? We should do something else." We? Together we walk down the stairs.
"I did take a break. This weekend." I remind him. He doesn't seem satisfied with my answer though.
"C'mon just this once then you can go back to your daily studying?" He pleads.
Don't give in. Don't give in.
Ah, fuck it.
"Fine, what did you have in mind?" I playfully roll my eyes.
"It's a secret for now." Carter grins at me. We reach the sidewalk and he asks me. "You drove right?" I nod to answer his question. "Okay then just drop your car off at the dorms. I'll follow you."
"Okay then." I agree with him and then walk to my car. Carter is already behind me when I'm about to turn out of the parking lot.
Once we are at my dorm I text him if he wants to come inside with me so I can drop off my backpack. He agrees and I get out of my car and wait for him to catch up to me.
Once he's by my side I start walking. "Lena should be home right now." He lets out a quick "okay" and we walk to my room.
I unlock my door and push it open. "Hey did you- oh hi Carter," L says as Carter walks in behind me. L's eye dart side to side looking at me and Carter. A sly smile starts to appear on her face. "So what are you doing here?" She asks Carter.
"I'm taking her somewhere." He answers simply.
Lena, I swear, if you say what I think you're going to say.
"Wow, you got her to skip studying for you. Job well done." L teases as she sits down on the couch pulling her laptop onto her lap.
"I have fun you know. I don't only study." I retort taking my backpack off my shoulders. "You can wait here I'll be back in a minute," I tell Carter then I leave him in the common room with L.
I close my bedroom door behind me and drop my bag next to my dresser. I decide to change into something warmer because it's colder than I anticipated. I slip on a baggy navy hoodie on top of my turtleneck and braid my hair pulling some strands out in the front to frame my face. Their muffled voices are audible through the door and then I hear Carter's laugh. I wipe underneath my eyes to get rid of any smudges from my mascara. Grabbing a shoulder bag and put my necessities in there. When I pull open the door I catch their attention.
"Okay, we can go now," I inform Carter walking closer to them. L obstinately grins at us and I just roll my eyes at her before guiding Carter to the door.
"Woah woah! Slow down we're not in a rush." Carter chuckles. "Eager aren't you." He adds on. I nearly roll my eyes at his cockiness.
"Very. Now c'mon." I say blandly and sarcastically. He just chuckles at my response and holds the door open for me.
"See you later Lena," Carter says sending his happy-go-lucky smile her way before closing the door behind him.
We walk to his car and he offers me the aux but I want to see what type of music he listens to so I decline. In the short five minute drive, only two songs play so I only get a tiny glimpse of his taste. Which is mainly indie and garage rock since the songs that played were by The Neighbourhood, and the song that was about to play was by Cage The Elephant.
He turns into the parking lot of the Yale Art Gallery.
The Yale Art Gallery? This is not something I expected from Carter. But I don't really know much about him other than the fact that he plays hockey.
"The art gallery? Didn't know you were an art person." I look at Carter confused as he turns off his car.
"That's why I told you it was a surprise babe." He inferred. My nose scrunches at the nickname out of impulse.
"Aw, c'mon it's not that bad. Think of it this way. Don't girls call each other babe as a friendly nickname?" He questions me and I nod. "See just think of it as a friendly nickname."
Friendly. Right. "Okayyy," I drag out shaking my head, and then open the door to get out.
Carter pays for our entrance fee and then he leads the way as we walk through the gallery. We stop and look at the different sculptures I'm more interested in the sculptures and artifacts than he is. But when we stop at the modern and contemporary art section he perks up.
"Didn't know you were into abstract paintings," I comment as he studies the colorful painting in front of us. I can't deny he looks cute as he focuses on the canvas.
"My mom is very artistic she loves all things art. She is very involved in the art museums in Boston." He turns to me smiling before he continues. "Out of all the art exhibitions she's brought our family to the only thing that caught my eyes were paintings like these." He explains "and well also the sculptures of the naked people." He jokes.
"Very mature." I laugh. "Do you paint?" I ask curiously shifting my stance.
"No never had the time, but my mom does." He responds before leading us to the next painting.
As I look at it I don't see what's special about it. "This is the thing about abstract art. I don't get it? It just looks like a bunch of pointless shapes and lines."
"Well that's art isn't it?" Carter removes his hands from his pockets and moves to stand behind me. "Don't try looking for a certain image." His hand hovers over one of my eyes to block my vision. "Focus on how the lines move and where they go. Focus on the strokes and the colors." He rasps out "Look at it as it is, don't try to decipher it." He moves his hand away and I try to do as he says. I still feel his presence behind me and I try not to shiver from his close proximity. "When you look at it how does it make you feel?"
"I don't know I'm very confused but the yellow kind of makes me feel content in a way." I point out.
He moves back to my side. "Well, that's something." He says and gives me some more time to look at it before we go to the next painting.
When we reach the photography area I take my time looking at the photos. I can feel Carter's eyes on me as I study each photo on the wall.
"Are you into photography?" He asks me still looking at me.
"I was when I was younger, especially film photography. I tried to keep a disposable camera with me whenever I traveled but then I would always forget to get them developed. Then when I was older I tried using a real film camera but it was confusing so I eventually stopped." I stop looking at the photo and turn to him. His eyes are still focused on me and I can't help but look into his eyes focusing on the gray streaks. I don't want to creep him out so I break the eye contact and move down to look at the other photos.
"You should try getting back into it," Carter suggests moving closer to me.
"Maybe," I say focusing on the next picture
When we finish looking throughout the whole gallery we agree to get some food. The gallery has a good amount of restaurants surrounding it so we decide to walk. We chose an Italian place that was just around the corner. When we get seated he asks me about my trip this weekend again.
"So what did you think of Phillip?" Carter asks. I'm trying to think of a reply but every time I open my mouth to say something nothing comes out. "What? A condescending asshole who's also a sexist piece of shit?" I look at Carter shocked.
"You took every word from my mouth," I say with wide eyes making Carter chuckle. "Ugh I want to say something but I feel like I can't say anything. She's happy and I don't want to make her mad." I groan into my hands.
"I see where you're getting at but it's weird he's different around her and then the piece of shit whenever someone who isn't her is around."
"That's concerning."
"But he's nice to the whole Wilson family is what I'm assuming cause Liam seems to like him too."
"How did you deal with him all those times you've seen him?" I ask and take a sip of my water.
"To be honest I don't know. He wasn't that bad before but then something must've happened which I'm guessing was his parents."
I don't want to talk about him anymore so I ask him. "You're from Boston so how often do you go home?"
"I try to come home every other week if I'm not too busy." He answers as he looks at the menu.
"Do you ha-" I'm about to ask something else but I cut myself off when I see Jen sitting in the corner. "Hold on. I'll be right back." I tell Carter and he nods.
I get up from my seat and walk over to Jen. "Hey. I haven't heard from you in a while." I greet her.
"Yeah, we've both been busy." She says cheerfully. "What are you doing here?" She smiles at me then her eyes scan the restaurant. She focuses on Carter and I look at him. He's looking over in our direction. He smiles at Jen before looking away. "Oh, you're here with Carter." She has a bite to her tone. Her smile becomes fake and her eyes turn cold.
"Are you mad at me? Do you have a thing for him because if you do just know we're just friends? I'd never do that to you." I rush out a little panicked.
"No, I don't have a thing for him." She says plainly looking down at the book in her hands instead of me. "I'm sorry I'm not mad at you I've just been in a pissy mood a lot recently." She looks up at me and smiles warmly.
"So we're okay?" I ask once more to clarify.
"Yeah, we're cool." She smiles up at me again.
"Okay well I'll see you later, I should probably head back over there," I tell her before turning around.
I sit back down at the table with Carter. "Who was that?" He asks me turning off his phone and putting it back in his pocket.
"A friend that lives in the same dorm as me," I say hasn't he met and talked to her before? "Haven't you met and talked to her? She was at the Halloween party."
"Oh, that was her? I mean I've seen her around but I never actually introduced myself to her and I never really talked to her." He explains.
"Are you ready to order?" The server comes up to our table and asks. I nod and as Carter orders first my eyes move over to the spot where Jen is. Or once was because her spot is empty now.
I feel like I'm missing something here.
Here is another update! I'll try to get back on schedule. But thank you for 500+ reads!
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