Have things really not changed?He thought.Does she still….?
No, that would be silly. It’s been four years since they graduated, and they haven’t spoken or seen each other since.
And you broke her heart.
“I could say the same for you,” Seth responded instead, burying the thoughts in his brain, “I mean, you wereamazingat writing. Everyone would always come to you to edit their stories, you were always winning the Literature awards…”
Nina smiled, shrugging as if to saywell of course.
“So, are you working on any personal projects right now?”
“Yeah, I’m actually writing a horror romance that I’m planning on querying very soon to literary agents,” Nina informed, and Seth noticed the way her eyes seemed to brighten at the subject, as if talking about writing lit her up from the inside.
“Ohhh, tell me about it,” Seth encouraged, leaning forward.
Nina shook her head.
“Nope, you’ll just have to wait until it comes out,” she said with a wink, “Can’t give away any spoilers.”
Seth pouted, “Aw, come on!”
Nina stayed adamant, her lips stretched into a smile as she shook her head slightly.
“Nope, sorry.”
“But I’mspecial,” Seth whined. The words spilled out before he knew it, boosted by an ego he thought he’d buried. Something about Nina Mendez brought Seth’s buried confidence to life.
Her eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Comeon,” Seth teased, and he knew that the high schooler buried within him was taking the reins.
“Youknow.”
At that, Nina’s smile faded, her lips pressing into a straight line. Her eyebrows furrowed downward.
“Oh shutup,” she said, “That was ages ago.”
Seth quirked a brow.
“You sure?”
She slapped his knee again.
“Get over yourself!”
Seth chuckled, somehow feeling more at ease now that they’d addressed the elephant in the room. It was inevitable, anyway.
Nina scoffed, rolling her eyes again. Or maybe it wasn’t best to bring it up. Seth was about to apologise when he saw Nina’s lips turn into a smile.
“Youclearlyhaven’t matured,” she murmured, but her tone danced with a playfulness that eased Seth’s worries.
Seth gripped his chest in mock hurt.
“Ouch! Isohave!”
The two chuckled, and Seth was relieved that he hadn’t made things awkward. Really, he wasn’t sure why he made that dumb joke in the first place.
