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We said a quick goodbye to his aunt, who made Colton promise to bring me back here again.

‘Drive safe,’ she said to him, hugging each of us before sending us off on our way.

Colton’s uncle was back on his DJ duty behind the booth, so we just waved him goodbye as we made our way out of the bar.

I waited for Colton to lead the way to his car so I could follow him, but he caught me by surprise when he decided to take my hand. ‘The car is this way,’ he said, pulling me with him.

Considering the bar was still open for the next couple of hours, cars were still parked alongside the row of shops where Colton’s drive was parked at the end. Upon reaching his car, he opened my door. Once I settled in my seat, he closed it and went over to the driver’s seat.

A part of me was curious as to where he was bringing me, but a bigger part of me wanted it to be a surprise.

So, I just stayed quiet as Colton continued to drive.

His radio was turned on and a new ABBA song started playing.

A smile appeared on my lips upon recognizing the soft melodies of ‘Andante, Andante’.

I started humming to the song and eventually sang out the lyrics in a quiet tone as I looked out the window, not wanting to disturb the silence.

But, of course, Colton caught me. Then, he started to sing in a much louder voice than mine, instantly bringing my attention to him.

He took his eyes off the road for a few seconds and looked over at me. With a smile that reached all the way to his eyes, he continued to sing, and the next thing I knew, I was singing along with him without a care in the world.

The song ended at the same time as Colton turned on his blinker and turned into a junction.

‘Creamsicle Corner? Really?’ I exclaimed once I realized where we were, one of the town’s staples and a college students’ favourite, considering it had been open even way past midnight.

‘Nothing like homemade ice cream for a midnight snack.’

It seemed a good number of people had been craving some midnight snacks as well, based on the number of cars in the parking lot. There were still a few spots available, and Colton chose the one nearest to the building.

Killing the engine, he climbed out of the car, and headed over to my side.

‘Thank you,’ I said when he opened my car door.

We then headed inside together, as Colton held my hand like it was second nature to him.

Our midnight order consisted of two ice creams cups—one for each of us—along with some chicken nuggets and fries.

When it was time to pay, I was faster to lend the money to the cashier than Colton.

‘I win!’ I cheered.

Colton just chuckled at me.

When the food was ready, he picked up the tray, and we went to search for a place to sit. There were quite a few vacant tables, so we just randomly picked the one that was further away from the rest of the customers.

We settled into a comfortable silence as we ate our food. It seemed karaoke had got us both a little hungry.

The AC in Creamsicle Corner was cooler than I had expected, and the ice cream that I was happily eating did not help the situation. I hadn’t put my cardigan back on after taking it off at the bar, and realized I must have accidentally left it in Colton’s car.

I tried my best to not let it affect me, though I couldn’t help but give a slight shiver. I tried rubbing my arm to warm myself up, but my hands were cold from holding the ice cream.

‘Are you cold?’ Colton asked, catching what I was doing.

‘Just a little.’ I shrugged as I continued rubbing my arms. I heard movement coming from his side of the seat, but I didn’t notice what Colton was doing until he spoke up.

‘Wear this,’ he said, holding out his baseball jacket—the one he had been wearing all night—to me.

Knowing better than to reject his kind gesture when I was freezing myself, I took his jacket, and put it on immediately. ‘Thank you.’

Once I put it on, I tried to take a sneaky sniff of his scent on the jacket—the one that I had slowly gotten used to over the past few weeks.

We were back to our comfortable silence, eating our food quietly, when I noticed Colton kept stealing glances my way.

‘What’s wrong? Did I spill the ice cream?’ I asked in alarm, immediately looking down at his jacket to make sure I hadn’t accidentally ruined it.

‘Nothing’s wrong,’ he shook his head, before deciding to add, ‘you look cute in my jacket.’

My eyes widened at his words. Who needed the jacket when you had Colton Reed saying these things to you? A blush instantly rose to my cheeks, and I could feel the warmth spreading throughout my body. I didn’t know how to react, so I just focused my gaze on the ice cream, not daring to look his way.

He was quiet for a minute, so I decided to brave myself to peek at his face, only to see he took his phone out.

A feeling of sadness came over me; I was slightly hurt by him being on the phone.

But it was short-lived when I caught his thumb pressing the same spot repeatedly.

Realization hit me. ‘Are you taking a picture of me?’

‘Nope.’

‘Then—’

‘I’m taking multiple pictures of you.’

‘Colton—’

‘Smile,’ he said with a massive grin on his face.

That playful grin was all he needed to dissolve the rest of my protests. ‘Well, if you’re taking pictures of me, it’s only fair for me to take pictures of you.’

‘By all means.’

Once I got my phone out, Colton started posing while my camera clicked away.

I snorted when he started flexing one of his arms.

The rest of our time at Creamsicle Corner was filled with laughter and enthusiastic voices as we recounted random stories of ourselves with one another, ranging from our most embarrassing moments to our best. As Colton recalled his story of the time he hit his first-ever home run, I couldn’t help but think that it might have just been the best date I had ever had.

But the sad part was that it hadn’t actually been a date. Nor will there ever be one.

I tried to not let the thought affect me, but it seemed like I had failed, when a worried look appeared on Colton’s face.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah, just tired.’ And right on cue, a yawn escaped from my mouth as I tried to cover it up.

‘Time to get you home.’

The drive back to my apartment was filled with us singing more ABBA songs. Colton gave me full control, letting me play the songs I knew, so we could sing together. My singing eventually started to quiet down with a feeling of disappointment when I noticed he was already turning into my street.

But, instead of stopping at the drop-off spot in front of my apartment building, Colton continued to drive a bit further. He stopped only when he found an empty parking spot and parked his car.

Once the car was parked, he unbuckled his seatbelt, and went over to my side, opening my door.

‘Thank you,’ I said once I climbed down. ‘I had a great—’

‘Can I walk you up to your apartment?’ Colton blurted out.

My head jolted back at his words, taken aback by his request.

Logically, it wouldn’t make sense for him to walk me up, since it hadn’t been a date. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t pretend it was one, right? Plus, it was just Colton being a good friend.

Though I won’t admit it out loud, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Colton just yet; nor was I ready for this night of make-believe to end. If I could prolong it just a little bit more before we had to part ways, then so be it—even if the walk back up to my apartment was barely five minutes.

Because no matter what had happened—or almost happened—that night, it still changed nothing. Once the night was over, we would be back to being Clara and Colton—ASL partners and friends, nothing more.

‘Sure,’ I said, wanting to stay in this fantasy a little longer.

Killing the engine of his car and locking it, we then started our short walk to the building.

Colton opened the glass door for me once we reached the entrance.

As I led him to my apartment, I found myself telling him about how Nina and I had ended up at our current place.

We were waiting for the elevator when I came to a stop, realizing I was telling him about something he didn’t even ask about.

‘And now I’m rambling. Sorry about that. My brain tends to let loose when I’m tired,’ I apologized.

‘There’s nothing to apologize for. I like hearing you talk,’ he reassured me with a soft smile on his face. ‘So how long have you and Nina been roommates?’

‘This is our third year of rooming together. We were roommates during our freshman year, back when we lived in the dorms, and we just clicked instantly. It’s like, we’ve been friends our whole life. Now, she’s my best friend, still my roommate, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.’

The elevator finally reached the lobby. The door slid open, and we stepped inside. ‘You make it sound like it was fated for you two to be roommates during freshman year,’ Colton said.

I pressed the button to my apartment floor.

‘Well, when you put it that way, it kinda does sound like it was fated,’ I said, my tone playful.

‘But even if fate did play a role, I know better than to question it. If that was what made me and Nina roommates in the first place, then so be it. I’m just happy that it happened. ’

‘What about you?’ I then added. ‘Do you believe in fate?’

I tilted my head his way to look at him, waiting for his answer.

Only to find him already looking at me.

‘I didn’t,’ he said, his voice merely a whisper, ‘but I’m starting to think I was wrong.’

His eyes bored right into mine before darting to my lips for a split second, as if it was unintentional—an accident.

It was a second I might have missed, if my attention hadn’t fully been on him.

But I caught it.

And I think Colton knew that too.

I took a sharp inhale at the way he was looking at me, only for the urge to kiss him to return in full stride.

I didn’t think I was reading him wrongly this time.

And from the looks of it, I knew he was thinking the same thing.

But something was holding him back, and I wasn’t sure what it was. I don’t know how long we stood there in the elevator as it continued its ascent.

‘Clara.’ I heard him whisper my name, there was a certain tone in his voice that I couldn’t fully detect.

It sounded like desire—a longing.

Colton was about to say something. And I knew at that moment, it wouldn’t be anything good, at least not in terms of keeping this friendship between us. I was aware we had been blurring lines that night, but once the words came out of his mouth, I knew there was no going back.

‘I—’ he started.

But the rest of his sentence was cut off when the elevator door opened.

I broke our gaze and exited myself, letting out a sigh of relief, while I still had my back to him.

That was a very close call.

I managed to recompose myself just in time as I felt his presence beside me.

The elevator might have paused the conversation momentarily, but I knew he still had time to voice out the words stuck in his throat. Before he could get another one out, I blurted, ‘My apartment is this way.’ Immediately, I started walking ahead of him.

Fortunately, my apartment wasn’t too far away from the elevator. By the time he caught up with me, I was already unlocking the door.

‘Thank you, Colton,’ I said, trying to make this quick. ‘For everything. I had a great time tonight.’

Seemingly catching what I was doing, Colton let out a deep breath—a closed sigh. ‘Me too,’ he said instead.

‘I’ll see you next week then,’ I paused before adding, ‘partner.’

I could have sworn I saw something like hurt flash in his eyes, but it was gone just as quickly.

‘See you next week, partner.’ He nodded at me.

Once I finally managed to unlock the door, I opened it and stepped into my apartment.

I gave him one final wave before closing and locking in for the night, staying near the door for a minute, waiting for him to leave.

When I heard his footsteps slowly fade away, I leaned my back against the door and let out a giant exhale.

‘You’re back.’ I heard someone say. I raised my head to see Nina still sitting on the couch, this time with a bowl of popcorn on her lap. ‘How was the date? Did you have a good time?’

Now that Colton was gone, I could slowly feel the panic withering away. I pushed myself off the door and made my way to the living room.

‘The date was fine,’ I started. ‘I—’

‘What are you wearing?’ Nina gasped.

Her question got me slightly confused, since she had helped me pick out my outfit for the night.

But the confusion quickly turned to horror, when I noticed my cardigan sleeves were in a different colour.

And instead of a cardigan, it was a jacket.

Colton’s baseball jacket.

My eyes widened in panic.

My brain must have thought I was still wearing my cardigan, since my arms were covered. If I was wearing Colton’s jacket, it meant I had left my cardigan in his car.

But that wasn’t why my heart was racing at the moment.

No, the reason for that was the look on Nina’s face as she was figuring out whose jacket it was.

‘That looks like a baseball jacket.’ And I could see the exact moment it finally dawned on her whose it was. ‘No way. There’s no way. Right?’

I didn’t know what else to say. I was pretty sure she had already figured it out. So, instead of saying anything, I just gave her a nod.

It seemed I stunned her into silence. Her mouth gaped at me as she tried to think of what to say.

After what felt like an hour—but was probably only a minute—she said, ‘You don’t have to tell me anything. I’m rewatching Gilmore Girls and I still have some popcorn. Wanna join me?’

I loved Nina for respecting my space. As much as I wanted to keep the night I had with Colton to myself, it was also the first time that I couldn’t wait to tell her about it—even if it wasn’t an actual date.

Though I did tell her about all those prior to the one that night, it had been more of an active, formal recalling of how the date went, instead of being all giddy about each detail.

But the thing that had been holding me back from telling Nina right then was that I had to make her understand that whatever happened with Colton that night was a one-time thing. It would also mean telling her about the curse, and explaining why Colton and I couldn’t be anything more than friends.

I knew that Nina would understand where I came from, but I couldn’t help that tiny fear that she would look at me differently after this, once she found out that I was a twenty-year-old who still believed in things as stupid as curses.

‘Clara?’ Nina said, when she noticed I was still standing there.

Before I could stop myself, the words were already out of my mouth.

‘Nina,’ I said, so quietly that I wasn’t sure she heard me. ‘I’m so screwed.’