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The soft chatter of people conversing, and the aroma of coffee surrounded me as I immersed myself in my current read.

It was a Thursday afternoon, and my next class was to start in a little over thirty minutes. I hit up the group chat to see if anyone was free to hang out. Both Nina and Lily had been on their way to their next class, while Claudia had just reached home after finishing her last class of the day.

For one brief second, I thought about texting Colton.

Even though I might have fully considered him to be a friend, instead of just a partner whom I was only acquainted with for that one class, I still hesitated.

Other than the first time he had driven me home, and the previous Saturday’s party, all the times Colton and I hung out outside of class were only for our ASL practice sessions, which seemed to be more of a necessity than choice.

Texting him to ask if he wanted to casually hang out would mean we are friends who willingly chose to spend time with each other.

And after my revelation, it wouldn’t be a wise move on my part when my crush on him was only growing bigger with the more time we spent together.

The smart move would be to distance myself from Colton, other than our necessary ASL practice sessions—at least, until I could get over my infatuation with him.

Choosing not to dwell on it any further and overcomplicate simple matters, I opted to go and wait at the coffee shop alone. I thought I might as well use this time to read my book.

The semester was starting to get hectic with midterms and deadlines piling up, and I hadn’t been in the mood to read, but I nonetheless wanted something to get lost in as a small reward for submitting the assignments and finishing midterms. This led me to pick up my all-time favourite book for the third time, You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle.

When I had been reading the book for the very first time, I knew I stumbled upon something special.

After finishing it, the book had undoubtedly become my standard for romance books.

Growing up with Wattpad meant I was exposed to tons of love stories and, as I grew older, those virtual stories transitioned into romance books instead.

While I love reading stories about people falling in love throughout the book , You Deserve Each Other struck something different in me.

Reading about how drifted apart Naomi and Nicholas were, and falling in love with each other all over again, had me thinking that happily-ever-after was not something that happened once; but instead, it could happen again and again, when you choose for it to be.

But then again, it was fiction.

And things like that were just easier to believe when it was fiction and not real life.

I sat in the corner of the coffee shop with both my legs in the chair, making myself comfortable. I was at one of my favourite parts of the book—where Nicholas brings Naomi to a house that he bought for them to live together and save their relationship—when I was interrupted.

‘Hey, Clara.’

I looked up to see who it was, and was momentarily surprised to see Aiden, the only non-athlete living with the track team.

‘Aiden, hey,’ I greeted back, closing my book. ‘How’ve you been?’

He just shrugged. ‘Surviving. Midterms have been kicking my ass.’

I groaned in agreement. ‘Tell me about it. I still have one more tomorrow and then I’m sleeping through the weekend.’ My sleeping schedule had been all over the place that week, and I couldn’t wait to sleep in on Saturday without the sound of an alarm waking me up.

Aiden just chuckled.

‘Do you want to sit?’ I asked him, standing up to offer him the chair across from me on which my bag sat.

‘It’s okay. I was just about to head to class anyway. Just thought I would say hello,’ he explained.

‘Well, it’s nice seeing you. Hopefully, we’ll get to catch up when the track team decides to go out for dinner again.’

Aiden paused for a beat, seeming like he was contemplating something when he said, ‘Or we could see each other before then.’

I raised a brow at him, puzzled at what he meant by that. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, other than sleeping in, do you have any other plans for Saturday?’ he asked me.

I shook my head. ‘None so far.’

‘Well then, how about going on a date with me.’ Before adding, ‘If you want to.’

I widened my eyes in surprise, slightly taken aback by what he just said. Aiden is asking me out on a date?

We had never really hung out alone, and this was only the third time we ever saw each other. But apart from those two occasions, Aiden seemed like a fun guy to be around, and isn’t the point of going on a date with someone to get to know them?

But what about Colton? My traitorous heart couldn’t help but point out, catching me completely off guard.

What about Colton? He has nothing to do with this. My brain replied harshly, stamping on whatever brought on that thought in the first place.

Besides, Colton was just a friend that I, unfortunately, had a crush on.

And I wouldn’t be betraying him by agreeing to go on a date with someone else.

Plus, it might have just been what I needed to help myself get over my crush on him: to go out there and see what else the world had to offer that wasn’t Colton Reed.

My inner turmoil must have been longer than expected, when I heard Aiden call my name again as I went over my decision in silence.

‘Um, Clara?’ Aiden waved his hand in front of me.

‘Oh, sorry. Um, sure. I would love to go on a date with you,’ I finally answered him.

A look of glee appeared on Aiden’s face. ‘Great!’ he exclaimed. ‘I’ll see you on Saturday then.’

We exchanged numbers before he headed towards the door and went his way.

After he left, I went back to reading my book.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t help getting distracted by what I had just agreed to.

Was it wrong of me to say yes to a date with Aiden, when I clearly liked someone else?

I didn’t think so. And while a part of me did feel guilty for agreeing only in hopes it would help me overcome my infatuation with Colton, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t treat that as an actual date.

No, Aiden doesn’t deserve that. But it did mean that I needed some help from Nina to figure out what to wear for the date.

Glancing up at the clock in the coffee shop, I saw that I had around ten minutes before my next class. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to get any reading done, I packed my stuff and started heading to class, hoping that the walk would help me clear the mess in my head.

I knew that going on a date with Aiden was the right decision if I wanted to salvage my friendship with Colton, by allowing myself to like someone else.

But even with all these rationalizations, I couldn’t fully shake off the feeling of sadness and betrayal my heart had been feeling, no matter how hard I tried.

Out of courtesy for Nina and her midterms, I decided not to tell her about the date until Friday night, when she was finally done with her training for the day.

To celebrate both of us surviving that week, we decided to have dinner at our favourite Chinese restaurant a few streets away from our apartment.

Even though we lived together, we had been missing each other the whole week.

With Nina’s dual athletic and academic obligations, I had decided to cook dinner for us throughout the week, but ate alone and left Nina her portion before locking myself in my room as I prepared myself for whatever test was coming up the next day.

Whenever Nina returned to the apartment, she would come knocking on my door to let me know she was home, before having her dinner and locking herself in her room as well.

The best thing about living with someone after a while is how you get into a routine of things subconsciously.

When we had started living together off-campus last year, and midterms week was coming up, I had simply decided to cook dinner for the both of us throughout the week, as I had more free time in my hands than Nina.

But the grateful look she gave me every day that week had made me realize how that small act of kindness might have meant more to her than it did to me.

When midterms results were released, the first thing she did was hug me, thanking me countless times as the results from each new class came out one by one.

She never really said what she was thanking me for, but I’m pretty sure I got the message.

Since then, it became a norm for me, with us celebrating the end of midterms week by eating at the same place we were sitting in that moment then.

The Chinese restaurant had opened just a week after we started our freshman year, and we had been frequent customers ever since.

Once the waitress put our food down on the table, we instantly dug in.

I let out a moan once the taste hit my tongue—the mix of spices perfectly blended in the fried rice.

‘I have been looking forward to this since Monday,’ I told Nina, once I swallowed down that first spoonful.

She nodded her head. ‘Me too. This is honestly what kept me going this week.’ Using her spoon, she pointed at her plate of rice and her sweet and sour chicken. ‘The promise of good food.’

‘Nothing beats good food.’ It was true, nothing does.

We actually wrote down ‘close to good food’ as one of the requirements when we were choosing an apartment building—even with our last one.

We had really lucked out with the place we chose, considering how the area was surrounded by numerous restaurants.

We continued eating in silence, enjoying our celebratory meal of the week, with me trying to figure out how to break the news of my date with Aiden.

‘Anyway,’ I started. ‘I need your help for tomorrow.’

‘Sure. What’s happening tomorrow?’

‘I’m going on a date.’

Nina instantly stopped chewing her food, her eyes widened in shock.