“Where,ohwhere did these 3 years go?”
It felt like only yesterday he was attending the UTS Open Day, with his freebie tote bag, grabbing flyers to push into his pockets.
“Jae! Seth!”
In the distance, Seth peered Anya Tiera, a close friend of Jae’s, approaching. Today, she was clad all in black clothing, a style that he realised she’d grown accustomed to. It fit really well with the tattoos that adorned her arms.
She didn’t actually attend any of their classes. She and Jae had met during a second-year networking mixer last year. She was a music major, and oftentimes, would show them snippets of projects that she was working on.
Jae’s demeanor lit up instantly as soon as Anya reached their table.
“Anya, hey!”
She swung her legs over the bench opposite to Seth, and leant forward against her arms.
“So, how were your mornings?”
“Oh you know, existential crisis here and there,” Jae responded with a grin.
“Actually, that’s scheduled for me today at 3pm, luckily enough,” Anya said, tapping the imaginary watch on her wrist.
Jae laughed and Seth observed as the conversation unfolded between the two, smiling knowingly at what he thought only he could see.
“I actually wanted to see if you guys wanted to catch some drinks tonight with us,” Anya offered.
“I’d love to!” Jae said immediately. The two turned to Seth expectantly. He knew that he’d be doing Jae a big favour by leaving them both to their own thing.
“I might pass for today,” Seth said. He placed a hand on Jae’s shoulder, smiling at him and Anya. “But you two have fun for me, okay?”
“You've got to join us sometime soon though, okay?” Jae exclaimed, slapping at Seth’s shoulder. Anya laughed, eyes darting between the two, before flicking down to the lit up time on her phone
She rolled her eyes.
“Ugh, I’ve got a class now, but I’ll text you later Jae,” she said.
Jae nodded, “Sure, I’ll see you then!”
Anya held up two fingers to her forehead in a mini salute, before skipping off down the opposite direction. Discreetly, Seth glimpsed Jae’s expression as he watched Anya.
God, could he be anymore obvious? Jae and Anya have liked each other for as long as Seth could remember, and yet, they always seemed to skirt around it. Whenever Seth brought it up with Jae, however, he’d always brush it off or try to change the subject.
It’s been a while, but Seth wondered what it would be like if he had a crush on a girl, especially now. Had he ever evenhada crush that reached beyond the exterior and superficial?
Seth wasn’t sure how it was supposed to feel like, anyway.
Or if he’d be willing to take that risk, and find out.
5 pm.
On the dot.
Seth stood outside the train station, just beside a bubble tea store as per he and Nina’s agreement.
The sky sat in the in-between hour, with its coating of orange and pink. Crowds of students and workers around him were heading toward through the train gates. Seth’s eyes bounced across faces, hoping to see the familiar one with chestnut hair.
A chill breeze settled over the atmosphere, and Seth pulled his hoodie closer to him. He really needed to invest in thicker fabric. Ten minutes passed, and still no Nina. Seth sighed, glancing at the train timetable.
The one they usually took together would be leaving in five minutes, and unless Nina showed up soon, they’d miss it.
