He could almost see the ghost of his past self walking through the doors with Will by his side, and Joshua trailing behind with his girlfriend. Seth was trying to flirt pathetically with Gwendolyn that day, too.
The memory made him grimace.
“You and Will were such menaces that day,” Nina reminisced, shooting him a side eye, “You both kept going off and away from the class.”
“What can I say, I was cooler back then,” he retorted, nudging her a little.
She rolled her eyes.
“More like every teacher’s nightmare.”
He gasped in mock offence, clutching his heart, “You arebrutalto me, Nina Mendez.”
Then, only because he was so happy from lunch, and the sun was shining brightly on them, he said, “Besides, at least I was a dream to someone.”
He regretted the words as soon as it left his mouth.
Why am I so cringe what the fu-
But, instead of a disgusted expression, Nina’s mouth twitched. She met his eyes, before glancing away, with a small shrug.
“Can’t say you’re wrong there.”
They continued onwards, taking in the city around them. Thankfully, it wasn’t too crowded for a Saturday. People were out, walking their dogs. Families on outings, making the most of the weekend. Groups of friends filming videos together.
It was only when Seth saw a cosplayer for a character in the multiplayer game he and Jae bond over, and turned around to point it out to him, that Seth realised he and Anya weren’t behind.
“Wait, where are Jae and Anya?” Seth asked.
Nina’s eyes widened, and she glanced behind.
“Oh my gosh, how fast were we walking?”
Seth shot Jae a text, somewhat pleased at the fact that he and Nina were left to themselves, and alternatively, Jae and Anya were together too.
Seth: Yo, where’d you go?
“Just texted him.”
“I feel terrible, I can’t believe that we lost your friends on my first hangout with them. What a great first impression on me, right?”
There was a crease between Nina’s brows which Seth had noticed appeared whenever she was deep in thought, or worried, or both. Seth knew that now wasn’t the time to dwell on how cute it looked.
Thankfully, his phone buzzed, breaking him from the moment.
Jae: Thought it was the best time to break off the group. You know, have some alone time with Anya. Might actually ask her on a proper date. Idk!!
Seth: Haha okay. Good luck bro.
Nina peeked over his shoulder, her head resting against his arm. The contact was subtle, soft, barely anything, yet it sent waves through Seth. He hoped she couldn’t hear how hard his heart was pumping.
“Wait so Jae wants some alone time with- oh….oh!” Nina’s eyes widened at the realisation, her lips turning up to a smirk, “So Jae likes Anya?”
Her enthusiasm about the whole ordeal was infectious. Seth found himself grinning.
“Yeah, they’ve both liked each other for months now. They’re both really obvious with it actually. Especially Jae.”
Nina giggled at that.
