“ - but it’s also a romantic comedy which I love. I want to write stuff like that one day.”
She sighed at the last line, settling back against her seat. Seth watched as her eyes fixated on the blur of passing suburbs outside the train. He noticed she often did that, especially when she was caught in a daydream of sorts. She’d have a long stream of consciousness, before suddenly getting stuck against the current. Until a thought caught her.
He took the time that she was distracted, to take her in. The curve of her nose. Her long lashes. Her brown eyes. Today, she was wearing a hint of caramel eyeshadow. Her eyeliner, or mascara, whichever, had smudged a little. It made her appear a little smokey eyed.
So pretty.
She smiled, a little shyly.
“I’m being totally cheesy right now, aren’t I?”
You’re being adorable.
“Nah, you’re being passionate,” Seth said.
It was admirable, really, how Nina spoke of her ambitions. Her passions. It was inspiring.
“Now, I’m sure you’ve got something you’re passionate about. Tell me about it,” Nina said, nudging him with her fist. She adjusted herself on her seat beside him, so she was facing him.
Since they’d begun riding the train together more often, they no longer took the singular seats that faced one-another, but the dual seats, so that they were side by side.
Seth had to glance away from her gaze, because it made him forget the question he was being asked.
“I mean, I love gaming. Don’t get me wrong, and my course is amazing. But after we’ve graduated, after we’ve got our degrees…I’m a little clueless on what to do beyond it. I don’t know which path I want to take, whether I want to work in programming, or design, or modelling…”
When Seth thought really hard about it, it always came out fuzzy.
There was always this stress of getting into the right course, which was ridiculous to think about at 17-years-old.
Then, once the course is done, and the degree handed to you, there was the matter of taking your place in society.
Getting a job in your degree, or else it was deemed a waste. Of knowing straight away, what it was that you wanted to do. It seemed all too much for early-twenty-something year olds to decide.
“I guess, I have a dream, but I don’t know if it’s strong enough, you know?”
“Not having a dream is not a bad thing,” Nina said softly, “There’s really no right or wrong way. As long as you’re happyand content, you know? This kpop group I love, BTS, sings about it, actually.”
A grin settled on her lips. “There’s a song I love. It’s called‘Paradise’, which basically talks about how you don’t need a dream to live your life. You don’t really need big, grandiose dreams, kind of thing. You just need to live life the way you want, in the way that makes you fulfilled and happy.”
As Nina continued on, he felt a sense of calm settle over his worries. A blanket of sorts. Her words, her presence. Everything about her was comfort.
He must’ve betrayed something in his face, because Nina suddenly stopped. Met his gaze.
“What’s up?” she asked.
Snapping out of it, Seth blinked. Blinked away whatever his eyes betrayed.
“Nothing, just that -” he scrambled for something. An excuse. He prayed the growing warmth in his cheeks wasn’t noticeable.
Thankfully, the train pulled up to their spot at that very moment. Without another word, the two of them got up, leaving the conversation behind.
As they exited the train station, heading down the path toward their houses, Seth remembered that he still needed to ask Nina out for Saturday. He felt his heart quicken nervously. Which was ridiculous. All he needed to do was just ask Nina if she was free that Saturday.
To hang out. With friends.
It wasn’t a date, not at all.
Would Nina want it to be a date?
