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Thursday came around, and I was back in my usual spot at my favourite coffee shop on campus. The afternoon sun illuminated through the windows, giving off a warm ambience as I immersed myself in my book.

Everything about that moment was perfect. But it seemed my heart wasn’t fully on board with it.

Colton’s messages from the previous night kept floating in my mind. Though it might not have been at the forefront, it still stood at the sidelines, occasionally reminding me of its existence, whenever my mind started drifting during class.

I was waiting for my next class, with a book in my hand to distract me from reality, but it wasn’t working as well as I had hoped. As I tried reading the start of a new page for the third time, I heard footsteps coming toward me and coming to a stop near my seat.

My traitorous heart started speeding up, holding out to the hope and ridiculous notion that it might be Colton.

But the glimmer of optimism instantly burnt out, when I titled up my head to see who it was. I instantly switched over to confusion as my eyes registered the person actually standing in front of me.

‘Miles?’ I called out.

He gave me a sheepish smile followed by a small wave. ‘Hey. I’m not bothering you, am I?’ he asked, noticing the book in my hand.

‘Not at all,’ I shook my head, closing the book. It wasn’t as if the words were entering my head anyway, so I didn’t really mind the interruption. ‘How have you been?’

‘So far, so good,’ he shrugged. ‘I was wondering if I could talk to you for a bit?’

‘Oh, sure,’ I said, surprise lacing my voice at his request. I quickly picked up my backpack that was occupying the seat across from me, and gently placed it next to my seat before gesturing to the now empty spot to Miles, ‘Have a seat.’

‘Thanks,’ he said, putting down his backpack by his legs as he got himself settled.

The next minute was filled with silence as I waited for Miles to start the conversation. But as more time passed, I decided to take initiative.

‘So, what did you want to talk to me about?’ I voiced out, leaning forward and picking up my coffee from the table between us.

I couldn’t help but be curious as to why he had decided to approach me.

Other than the time when Colton invited me to the party and at its venue itself, Miles and I had rarely crossed paths, so I wasn’t sure what he wanted to discuss with me.

He took a moment to collect himself—as if he was working up the courage to voice out his words. From the way he kept fidgeting, my suspicions started to arise as to what it might be about.

Another beat passed along with an exhale from Miles, when he finally said what was on his mind.

‘It’s about Colton,’ he confessed, confirming my suspicions.

‘Is he okay?’ My spine straightened instantly, slightly alarmed. Did something happen to him?

‘Yeah, he’s doing all right,’ he replied.

‘Oh, that’s great,’ I breathed out, relieved to hear that he was fine.

My words hung between us, and the silence started to stretch once again. I thought about asking questions about the baseball team to fill the silence—it was slowly getting awkward—but Miles beat me to it.

‘Colton didn’t ask me to talk to you by the way, in case you were wondering,’ Miles said.

My head jerked back upon hearing his words. That thought had not crossed my mind. ‘Okay?’ I said, my confusion making it sound more like a question.

‘I just wanted to tell you that he really did oversleep yesterday. From his nap, I mean; he barely made it in time for practice.’

‘Okay,’ I repeated, my tone still confused. ‘But I still don’t see why you’re telling me this. He already told me about it yesterday.’ Well, texted me more like it.

‘And he apologized to you for missing your ASL practice, right?’

At that, I narrowed my eyes at him. ‘He did apologize, but how did you …’ I trailed off.

Miles let out a sigh. ‘When Colton arrived at practice yesterday, he was disoriented and out of focus. You could tell his mind was elsewhere. Once we had a break, I decided to ask him what was wrong. It was then he told me he missed you guys’ weekly ASL practice session.’

‘And the class too,’ I added.

‘And the class too,’ Miles parroted. ‘But that wasn’t what he was panicking about.

I couldn’t ask him to elaborate more, since we were still practicing.

Only after it was over, I could finally corner him about it.

That’s when he told me he had missed the practice session, and about how you texted him about it, and how he hadn’t replied to you yet, because he didn’t know what to say. ’

‘Why would he panic? I would’ve understood,’ I said.

‘He was scared.’

‘About what?’

‘That you wouldn’t believe him considering what went down last week between you two,’ he answered.

It took me a moment to figure out how Miles could’ve found out about what had happened the previous week between us, until I realized how simple the answer was.

‘He told you.’

Miles winced slightly at my accusation, but he gave me a nod.

‘He did. But you can’t blame the guy, he was just venting out his emotions.

Anyway, he was freaked out over what to do.

He didn’t want you to think he was some kind of an asshole that ditched you, just because of a small disagreement.

He freaked out even more, because he should’ve just replied to you straight away, instead of waiting. ’

The picture materialized in my head before I could stop it: the look of frustration on Colton’s face as he told Miles about his mistake of not texting me right away, the look of confusion on how to fix this, and the look of hurt as he recalled what happened at ‘the spot’ a week ago.

While I mostly believed the reason he had given me the day before, I couldn’t help that tiny part in me—the one that was guilty—that doubted his honesty. So, it was nice to hear it from someone else—his best friend, no less, to be reassured that he was, indeed, telling the truth.

‘Okay, so he overslept,’ I said. ‘But I still don’t understand why you’re telling me all of this.’ I paused, before continuing. ‘Is that why you’re here? How did you know I was here?

At that, he blushed. ‘I texted Nina and asked if she knew where you were. She told me this coffee shop would be my best shot.’

Of course she did.

‘I just wanted to tell you that Colton is a nice guy and the whole situation yesterday just happened at the wrong time, that’s all. Colton wouldn’t have just left you hanging, when he knows how important the class is to you even after what happened between you two.’

‘Well, I’m glad—’

‘And I think Colton deserves a chance if you’re willing to give him one,’ Miles cut me off.

That caught me off guard. ‘A chance?’

‘I know it’s your choice, and I’m not trying to force you to do anything,’ Miles replied. ‘But Colton is a great guy. He just happens to be a star athlete, instead of the other way around.’

It was my turn to let out a wince, recognizing my own words being thrown back at me. ‘He told you about that as well.’

‘Yeah,’ Miles trailed off, his hand coming up to his hair and messing it up.

‘I don’t understand,’ I expressed. ‘If Colton didn’t ask you to be here, then why are you trying to win me over his good side?’

‘He’s happier on Wednesdays,’ Miles said without hesitation. ‘If you exclude the two recent ones.’

‘And how does that apply to me?’ I argued. I knew where he was heading with this, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t over my head with my imagination.

‘I think you know exactly how it applies to you,’ Miles argued back.

‘Don’t get me wrong, Colton has always been an all-around happy guy on most days.

But ever since the start of this semester, I’ve noticed there’s one day of the week, when he looks happier and lighter than usual.

No matter what our coach puts us through, it doesn’t get to him as much as it would on any other day,’ Miles continued.

‘He did tell me about the practice sessions you guys were having, and how he’ll meet up with his partner for ASL class every Wednesday before baseball practice, but I never thought much about it.

It wasn’t until we ran into you outside the baseball stadium that it finally hit me. ’

He went on.

‘It was you ,’ Miles stated, point blank. ‘The reason why he looks so happy every time he arrives for baseball practice on Wednesday, was because he just got back from spending time with you.’

The sounds of the coffee shop became the only ones I could hear as I took in his words, which I wanted to believe in so badly. But what if Miles was wrong? What if he was just making things up from his perspective?

‘Well, I think you’re wrong, Miles,’ I protested instead.

‘I might be, if he hadn’t told me himself,’ he countered.

‘I put two and two together, once I saw how he reacted to you. And right after he invited you and Nina to the party, I decided to tease him about it in the car. But turns out, that was the nudge he needed. Because after that day, all he could talk about was you.’

My heart gave a tiny squeeze.

‘Look, I know it’s up to you if you want to go on a date with him,’ he said. ‘But if the only thing that’s holding you back is that he happens to be great at baseball, then I truly think you’re missing out. He’s so much more than that star athlete reputation.’

I didn’t know what else to say, because I did know that.

While I liked my star baseball player fantasy version of Colton in my head, I liked the real Colton—the one I had gotten to know in those past few months—more, a lot more.

But those weren’t the words I wanted to say out loud just yet, especially not in front of his best friend.

So, instead, I said, ‘You’re a great friend, Miles.’

He gave me a smile. ‘That I am. I mean, I’m already his roommate and best friend, so I figured why not try being his wingman for once.’

His last two words caught my attention. ‘For once? What do you mean?’