Page 79 of Clichés & Curses

Aren’t you two roommates goals?

I’ll leave you to it then.

I’ll see you on Wednesday then, partner?

Colton:

See you on Wednesday, partner.

As I put my phone down and picked up my book once again, I couldn’t help but recall the events of that weekend, and smile at everything that had happened: from my sister coming to town, Colton showing up unexpectedly at my door with bubble tea and flowers, spending time with my best friends, and my latest text conversation with Colton.

‘This really was a great weekend,’ I muttered to myself, verbalizing my thoughts to tattoo this beautiful weekend intomy memory, before thrusting myself back into the world of historical London in the book I was reading.

I was sitting cross-legged on the grass, while Colton leaned against the tree trunk with his legs stretched out in front of him, the shade from the tree protecting us against the afternoon sun.

We were sitting at ‘the spot’, as I liked to call it. Two bubble teas sat a bit crookedly—courtesy of the uneven ground—in the space between us.

I had an assignment due on Friday and I was only almost halfway through it. I had asked Nina the day before if she was going home straight away after her training, since I was planning to hustle my way through the assignment in the library once my practice session with Colton was over. She had told me she was, and we promised to meet up in the conjoint parking lot of the baseball stadium and the track field at 7 p.m.

That also gave me and Colton the opportunity to practice at ‘the spot’. I suggested the idea to Colton, and he immediately agreed to it, and that’s how we ended up here once again.

My notes from our ASL class that day sat across my lap as I tried to recall all that we had learned in the past two weeks. I tried my best to revise last week on my own, since Colton was out of town, but there was only so much you could do by yourself when it came to ASL.

The leaves started falling one by one in different shades of brown as the trees welcomed the fall season. The air was starting to get a little chilly, and I seemed to have underestimated the weather with my clothing. I gave a slight shiver, when a gentle breeze passed by.

While going through my notes, Colton’s eyes were closed as if he was in a deep slumber. I glanced up at him, seeing his face void of any stress—just calmness and serenity. Seeing him like that brought me back to the first time we came there together, the first time I had ever seen him that relaxed, and how much I wanted to capture this version of him.

For a moment I thought about taking a photo of him, something for myself once we say our inevitable goodbye at the end of the semester. However, I felt I was intruding by doing so.

Nonetheless, it seemed that unwanted thought was slowly winning, and before I could stop myself, I quickly took out my phone, hoping to sneak some shots in.

But the scandalous act I was attempting was short-lived, as the rebellious sound of the shutter button gave me away.

I immediately froze in place.

I must have accidentally turned the sound button on,I cursed to myself.

Thinking I could still save myself from the embarrassment, I quickly put my phone down and turned off the sound setting. But it seemed I was a tad bit too late, when Colton peeled one of his eyes open, a teasing glint shining in it, accompanied by an equally teasing smile that was slowly appearing on his face.

‘Trying to sneakily take my picture, partner?’ he teased, both of his eyes closed once again but his smile was still there.

‘No,’ I said without missing a beat, clearly lying.

His smile grew into a grin. ‘That sounded 100 per cent believable.’

‘Because it is 100 per cent the truth.’ I knew he was trying to provoke me, but I wasn’t going to let him win that easily.

‘Whatever you say, partner. At least now you have something to look at when we’re not together,’ shrugging as he added, ‘you know, in case you miss me.’

‘You seem very confident in that. How are you so sure I’m gonna miss you?’ I asked him, my voice teasing.

‘I won’t,’ he said, finally opening both of his eyes, his gaze searching before it locked in on mine. ‘But I hope you do, because I know I’d miss you.’

I immediately felt my cheeks flush at his words, with warmth spreading through my whole body. Cold weather be damned, when there was Colton making me blush in an instant.

I broke our gaze and looked back to my notes. ‘Anyway, are you done with your nap? I think it’s time we get started.’

‘I know you’re just mocking me about taking a nap, but if I were to lie elsewhere on campus, it would most likely be here,’ he explained.

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