Monday morning arrived with their usual struggle.
"Ughhh… I can't be bothered…" Aria groaned as she half-fell, half-rolled out of the car, swaying slightly as her feet hit the ground.
Isaac shut his door with a soft thud and locked the car, watching her with a long-suffering expression.
"You're the one who chose this course," he said, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder. "Maybe you should've thought about it more. Ah! Don't forget your bag, idiot."
He pointed at the back seat, where her tote was slumped over, as if it had given up on life.
She groaned again and shuffled back to yank it out.
As usual on early lecture days, Isaac had been awake since dawn, dragging himself out of bed, making breakfast, and then launching into his true morning ritual: trying to wake Aria.
Multiple alarms, knocking, loud music from his phone, tugging the blanket away, it always ended the same.
Her clinging to the pillow like it was a life raft and murmuring, "five more minutes…"
He was already exhausted.
"Seriously, how can you still not wake up on your own? You're turning twenty-one this year…" he said as they started walking across the parking lot.
She rolled her eyes, pushing her hair away from her face.
"I was comfy… and don't remind me," she muttered, dragging out the last word as if the idea of turning twenty-one was personally offensive.
"At this point, wouldn't you just be better off dropping out?" he joked.
"Can't… Dad would get pissed," she said with a half-hearted shrug.
The casual tone didn't fully hide the way her shoulders stiffened.
"Ah… right," Isaac replied.
He walked in silence for a few steps, then glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
"Speaking of, has he still not said anything about you living with a guy?"
"He did… so, so many times…" she said, face twisting into a grimace. "Every time we talk, he brings it up again."
"Sorry," Isaac muttered.
He knew her father wasn't exactly easy-going, but he still felt guilty.
Even if she had insisted it was her choice, that she wanted him there, that sharing an apartment made things easier for both of them, it didn't erase the fact that his presence made her family situation more complicated.
"No, it's fine," Aria said quickly, shaking her head. "Don't worry about what he says. I won't let you get kicked out."
He looked at her properly this time.
Her expression was firm, eyes narrowed with uncharacteristic seriousness.
"Thanks, Aria," he said, the gratitude in his voice unforced.
"Of course, bestie!" she replied, the seriousness evaporating as fast as it came, replaced with a bright smile.
They joined the stream of students heading towards the lecture buildings.
Campus on a Monday morning was crowded, groups chatting in clusters, some people rushing with coffee cups in hand, others dragging themselves like they were being led to execution.
As Isaac and Aria walked side by side, more than a few heads turned.
It was nothing new.
— There they are again, they're always together, aren't they?
— What a cute couple… Why can't I find something like that, sigh…
— Ugh, show-offs.
The whispers followed them like background noise.
It had been this way since their first year.
Two people of the opposite sex who arrived together, left together, ate together, studied together.
It wasn't surprising people assumed.
Isaac had stopped paying attention to it a long time ago.
Aria, however, clicked her tongue.
"Don't they get bored of whispering all the time?" she asked, letting out a loud sigh as they passed a group who fell abruptly silent when she looked at them.
"Who knows," Isaac replied. "It's not like there's much else going on here."
"Yeah, but they could at least get their facts right," she muttered. "I mean, we've never even dated…"
"True. Well, at least it keeps weirdos away, right?"
He smirked as he said it, bumping her shoulder lightly with his.
"True," Aria answered, but this time with a small grin.
Thanks to the misunderstandings, both of them had been quietly labelled as "taken" by most of the campus.
It wasn't just harmless gossip; it had practical effects.
Creeps who might have harassed Aria gave up after hearing "she's already with someone."
People who might have tried to latch onto Isaac for the wrong reasons thought twice.
Their bond, whatever people thought it was, worked as a kind of shield.
Rumours swirled, but neither of them felt bothered enough to correct them.
Their friendship was simple in a way most relationships weren't.
They knew when to tease, when to push, when to leave the other alone, and when to silently offer coffee or a cooked meal without asking questions.
Isaac often thought, not for the first time, that he had gotten incredibly lucky.
A friend who shared rent, shared space, and never once made him feel like a burden.
As they walked into the lecture building, weaving between students and posters advertising clubs and events, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
She was rubbing her face with one hand, trying to wipe away the remnants of sleep, her bag hanging crookedly off one shoulder.
He wouldn't have traded this routine for anything.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
""It's finally over.""
They said it at the same time the moment the professor dismissed them.
A few heads turned in mild annoyance, but Isaac and Aria just stretched in unison, arms reaching up as if they were both trying to escape their own bodies.
"Public speaking lectures always suck…" Aria groaned, slumping over her desk as students began filing out. "Seriously, why did you choose this course?"
"It looked easy…" Isaac muttered, staring at his now-closed notebook like it had personally betrayed him.
"It's literally public speaking. Nothing about that screams 'easy'."
"I thought it would be, I don't know… talking. Not being forced to stand in front of a room full of people three times a week."
"That's exactly what public speaking is," she said flatly.
He refused to answer that.
"Ugh, whatever," she grumbled, shoving her things into her bag. "Well, I'm going to the bathroom, so you can wait in the car if you want."
"Alright," he said, gathering his belongings at a steadier pace.
They left the lecture hall together and walked down the corridor until it split.
"Don't fall in," he said, waving his hand lazily in the direction of the bathrooms.
"Ha-ha, very funny," she replied, rolling her eyes before heading off.
He watched her disappear into the crowd, then turned toward the exit that led to the parking lot.
The hallway was less crowded once he turned the corner.
Students peeled off toward other lecture rooms, leaving the path ahead relatively clear.
He walked without rushing, hands in his pockets, mind already starting to drift.
On his way back to the car, the sound of hurried footsteps behind him made him pause.
"Um—Isaaaaccc—! Huff… huff…"
He stopped and turned his head.
A girl was jogging toward him, slightly out of breath, hand lifted awkwardly as if afraid he might vanish if she slowed down.
"Huh?" he said, slowing his pace.
He didn't recognise her.
That alone made him hesitate.
He wasn't used to being addressed by anyone other than Aria or the occasional classmate, especially not when he was on his own like this.
"Uhm… can we talk?" she asked, catching up and coming to a stop in front of him.
She fidgeted with the strap of her bag, eyes wide and a little too shiny.
"Sorry, but I'm waiting for someone," Isaac replied, defaulting to the simplest excuse as he tried to step around her.
He had never seen this girl before in his life, and the way she had run to catch up with him, the way she was looking at him now, it put him on edge for reasons he couldn't quite define.
Most people didn't try so hard to talk to him when Aria wasn't there.
"You… Aria, right?" she said quickly.
Isaac stiffened.
"It's fine!" the girl added, forcing a smile. "It'll only take a couple of minutes."
Her eyes glimmered oddly, too intense, too focused for a stranger.
He hesitated.
Her expression was tearful, lips trembling slightly as if she might cry on the spot if he refused.
In that split second of hesitation, she moved.
She reached out and grabbed his hand.
"Pretty please?" she asked, her tone hovering between pleading and insistent.
"...Fine," he muttered.
He didn't like this.
Something about the scene felt off, like a script he hadn't been given the lines for, but he also wasn't the kind of person who could easily shake off someone about to cry in front of him.
He pulled out his phone with his free hand.
- [Isaac: I'll be a bit late. Someone wants to talk.]
The reply came quickly.
- [Aria: Is something wrong? (ó﹏ò｡)]
He stared at the screen for a brief moment, then typed:
- [Isaac: Nah, just a quick convo, ttys <3]
He slipped the phone back into his pocket.
The girl led the way, still holding onto his hand as if afraid he might change his mind and bolt.
They walked for a little while, turning down a side path away from the main flow of students.
The buildings here were quieter, less crowded.
A few benches sat empty in the shade, and a cluster of trees blocked the view from the main walkway.
Finally, she stopped.
"This should be fine," she said softly.
She let go of his hand only then.
Her cheeks were flushed, and her fingers twisted together nervously.
Up close, the tremble in her hands was more obvious.
'Ah, so that's it.' Isaac thought, realising what this was.
He wore an awkward expression.
He had seen scenes like this before, mostly from a distance, watching other people.
Hadn't planned to be in one again this soon.
"Uhm…" the girl started, her eyes darting away before forcing themselves back to his. "Isaac… I really like you…"
Her words tumbled out, clumsy and earnest.
"I mean it, uhm… I know we haven't spoken before," she continued, voice shaky, "but I promise I love you more than anyone else… so please go out with me..!"
Isaac's hand went to the back of his neck, fingers rubbing at the skin there.
His gaze drifted for a moment, looking past her shoulder as he tried to figure out how to respond.
It wasn't that he wanted to hurt her, but the gap between her words and reality was too big.
"Listen," he said after a moment, keeping his tone as gentle as he could. "As you said, we've never spoken before today. There's no reason for me to say yes here. I'm sorry, but I can't accept."
He turned to leave.
Grab—
Her hand closed around his wrist.
"Can we start as friends then? I don't mind waiting! Just give me a chance!" she blurted out.
Her grip tightened.
"I'm sorry," he said, this time more firmly.
He pulled his hand away.
"Is it because of Aria?" she asked.
He froze mid-step.
"Huh? No?" he said, turning halfway back toward her.
"But you live together, right?" she pressed, eyes narrowing in a way that didn't fit the tearful tone. "Are you scared about getting kicked out?"
'What is this girl on about?' Isaac thought, a spark of alarm flickering in his chest.
"How do you—? Wait, actually, what are you saying?"
"If she does, you can always live with me," the girl continued, her words tumbling out quickly now. "I have my own place and there's plenty of room—"
"—Sorry, I'm not interested."
He cut in cleanly this time, not letting her finish.
He turned and walked away.
He didn't look back.
"She's—" the girl muttered under her breath, voice dropping low.
The tone shifted, less pleading, more venomous, but Isaac was already putting distance between them, the wind carrying the rest of the sentence away before it could reach him.
He didn't rush, but he didn't slow, either.
After walking for a little while, he took out his phone and pretended to check something, using the motion as an excuse not to look over his shoulder immediately.
His mind played the encounter on loop.
'Too eager,' he thought.
'Too rehearsed.'
The way she had timed it for when Aria wasn't around.
The way she had immediately mentioned their living situation.
The sudden tears, the insistence, the offer of a place to stay.
It didn't add up.
Not in a way that made sense to him.
He couldn't understand why someone would go that far for a guy they had never spoken to, or why she seemed to know more about his home life than she should.
A familiar sound cut across his thoughts.
Aria's laugh.
He looked up.
Across the campus, near the path leading to the parking lot, Aria stood with a drink in her hand, waving it around as she animatedly complained to a classmate about something.
The person nodded, said something back, then walked off.
Aria turned, searching the crowd.
The moment she spotted him, she grinned, raising the cup like a trophy.
The unease in his chest loosened.
Seeing her so naturally herself, careless hair, too-bright expression, one foot tapping impatiently, reminded him why he trusted her completely.
The difference between her warmth and the other girl's intensity made the creeping discomfort settle deeper in his stomach.
He smiled faintly and shoved his phone back into his pocket.
Aria's presence had always made the world feel a little steadier, like even if everything else was off-balance, there was at least one point he could lean against without it giving way.
He glanced back once, almost reflexively.
The girl from earlier was still there in the distance, partially hidden near the corner of one of the buildings, watching him.
The look in her eyes made his skin crawl.
Too focused.
Too still.
He looked away.
By the time he reached Aria, she was back to normal, cheeks puffed in mock annoyance, straw in her mouth, foot tapping.
"Took you long enough. If you took any longer, I would've drunk yours too," she said, thrusting a cup toward him.
Isaac let out a soft laugh as he took the cup from her hand.
The familiar rhythm of their banter tugged him away from his thoughts.
"If you did, I wouldn't have cooked for you tonight," he warned lightly, opening the passenger door.
Aria gasped in exaggerated horror.
"You'd better be grateful," she said, narrowing her eyes as she slid into the driver's seat.
"I am," he replied quietly, fastening his seatbelt. "More than you know."
She didn't catch the softness in his tone. She was too busy fumbling with the AUX cable and complaining about the playlist.
As they pulled out of the lot and merged into the afternoon traffic, Isaac's gaze flicked to the side mirror.
He didn't see the girl.
The street behind them was empty.
Still, as the car rolled to a stop at the red light ahead, his thoughts drifted back.
He didn't understand why she had acted like that.
He didn't know what, exactly, she had planned, or how much she knew.
But the encounter had left a mark, like a faint warning carved into the back of his mind.
His instinct whispered that if he left it alone, if he just pretended it hadn't happened, something might come of it later. Something ugly.
But then he glanced to his right.
Aria was sipping her drink, lips pursed around the straw, brow furrowed as she squinted at the car in front of them.
"So what happened?" she asked suddenly, eyes still on the traffic. "Why did you take so long?"
The light ahead glowed red.
The car hummed quietly around them.
The question hung in the air, simple and harmless.
He exhaled.
For now, with her beside him, the unease slid back into the background.
He still hadn't realised it yet.
But one day, he would look back on this moment, this question, this traffic light, this drive home…
…and wonder if things would have been different had he answered her honestly.
————「❤︎」————