Pursuing Miss Introvert

Chapter 2. Laurence

He could hear the piano outside. The melody she was playing floated through the open glass windows facing the garden. Steadying his breathing, Laurence stood still for a while. His friends continued to lazily play with the ball while constantly bickering with each other. They went outside to shoot hoops although they had just come back from the local gymnasium after their game early in the morning. Ryan was the one who suggested they go to his house to get breakfast, but they only had a cup of coffee when his cousin appeared half asleep in the living room. Very much a surprise for someone who had hung around Ryan for more than a year.

They'd been friends since their freshman year. While he was taking engineering, Ryan was an architecture student. They met through the varsity team and have been close ever since.

He and the three other friends with them had been in and out of Ryan's house countless times. But none of them had seen any girl around except his mom. Imagine their shock when they saw one today.

"Hey, you good?"

Ryan asked after noticing he'd been standing immobile for a few minutes.

"Yeah, starving though."

Laurence answered with a smirk.

"Yeah man, I thought we were having breakfast."

Ron chimed in, dramatically rubbing his belly.

He was part of the team too and was also an architecture student.

"Um, yeah, alright."

Ryan nodded.

"Let's head back inside."

He threw the ball to the side and turned to the side door.

"Are you sure it's okay?"

Laurence asked.

The other three looked at Ryan too.

"Yeah, it's fine now."

He assured them.

"She's already in the study, so..."

He didn't wait for them to respond and just opened the door as the four of them followed behind.

"Let me heat the food."

Ryan scooped up a bowl of pasta from the big ceramic pot sitting on the kitchen counter and placed it inside the microwave.

"Mom made this last night."

The four of them were seated at the dining table like obedient students.

Ryan glanced at them and laughed.

"You're welcome, by the way."

He quipped, still smirking at them.

Matt snorted.

"Yeah right, we've been starving for an hour now."

He meant it to be a joke, but that was true though.

"Hey, alright."

Ryan held his hands up, pretending to be guilty when he felt nothing of the sort.

"I totally forgot Milly could be anywhere in the house this morning."

Ding!

The microwave finally stopped and the aroma of sauce and cheese filled their noses.

"She'd been leaving the house early the past week so..."

Ryan grabbed some kitchen towels and removed the bowl of pasta from the microwave.

It smelled delicious!

Ron's stomach growled. Couldn't wait anymore, he snatched a couple of buns from the tray and munched on one as Ryan placed the plates in front of them.

"Dig in."

After taking out a box of fresh juice from the fridge, he joined them.

"So... she's studying music?"

Matt asked in between a spoonful of spaghetti.

Ryan nodded.

"She got a boyfriend?"

That was Jaden.

The playboy out of the five of them.

Ryan picked up his glass of juice and drank his fill.

"Man, don't even think about it."

He glared at Jaden while picking the buns into pieces on his plate.

That friend of his was notorious for switching girlfriends as soon as the other goes. There was no chance he would allow his cousin to be with the likes of him, even considering they were friends.

"Hey, I'm just asking."

Jaden lifted his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Yeah, well, my cousin's off-limits."

Ryan declared with conviction.

"The sooner that's out there, the better."

Laurence leaned back in his chair and finished his drink too.

"Besides, she's not like other girls, you know."

It was pretty obvious how Ryan had high regard for his cousin.

That was expected, but for someone like him to openly defend her was something serious.

"She probably wouldn't even give you a glance even if you tried."

He smirked at his friends.

Ron laughed at Jaden and shook his head, mocking him.

"Hey, you won't even know unless I tried, man!"

It was Ryan's turn to laugh out loud.

"You're so full of yourself."

He playfully smacked his friend's forehead, before pushing his plate away.

"But nope, she won't even budge at you."

Jaden rolled his eyes as the other four of them teased him.

Laurence stayed distant from their topic. He knew Ryan and didn't want to upset his friend in any way about his cousin.

A moment later, a car pulled up at the front gate and a middle-aged man in gray trousers and a white t-shirt came out. He had what looked like a laptop bag in his left hand and a coffee cup in the other.

Ryan stood up and so did the rest of them.

"You can go back to the living room or the front porch, your choice."

Grabbing the dishcloth from the counter, he cleared the table and placed their plates in the sink.

Laurence was the first to move into the living room just as Milly, now wearing a pair of baggy sweatshirts, went out of the study and opened the front door.

She had her back on him, so she didn't see him sitting on the sofa.

"Hey, sorry, I'm a little late."

The man came in and Milly motioned him to the study room just as Ryan and the others came out of the kitchen.

"Hey, Mil..."

Ryan called out.

Milly turned and faced them, her expression still and innocent.

Laurence felt his chest squeeze a little, though he wasn't sure why.

Her long, straight, dark brown hair was unceremoniously swept up in a ponytail. It looked like she hadn't even combed it but it framed her small face perfectly. With a small, upturned nose and oriental eyes, she was effortlessly pretty even without makeup on. Her light pink lips parted a little as she glanced around them, waiting.

Laurence slightly shook his head and turned to the side to clear his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

Milly's eyebrows furrowed a little at her cousin.

She didn't know Ryan and his friends were back in the house.

"I'm going out first, are you leaving after your lessons too?"

Ryan asked.

"Um, this will take about a couple of hours, at least."

Milly answered, unconsciously moving her arm in the direction of the study.

"I won't leave until this afternoon to check on additional class schedules at school."

She continued, looking awkward with the scrutiny of the guys in front of her.

"Right, I won't be back 'til probably early evening so, just...lock everything when you leave, 'kay?"

Ryan instructed as he turned back to the stairs.

Their neighborhood was pretty secure but with all the windows open every morning, whoever was last to leave the house had to make sure that everything was locked up.

"Yeah, I got it."

Milly quipped and went into the study room.

Soon after, muted voices could be heard from the inside with the occasional sound of the piano keys.

Ryan grabbed his backpack from his room, and the five of them left.

At a quarter past one in the afternoon, Milly strolled on campus. She had to get her final list of class schedules and maybe check which way was which. It could be easy for a freshman to get lost in the first few days. Being a music student wasn't easy as a lot of their classes involved instruments and big spaces, although several of those might come in the later months yet. But she still had to figure things out one by one if she wanted to avoid cramming in her first year.

After checking her locker and leaving some of her personal things inside, she wandered to the cafeteria. She hadn't had her lunch except for a bowl of chia pudding after her piano lessons. Classes hadn't begun yet until the following Monday, so even though there were still a lot of students inside, it wasn't packed. Milly approached the counter and ordered a chicken sandwich. Although hungry, she didn't feel any appetite for anything heavy for now. Scanning the room, she spotted a Vendo machine on the side and went to get a drink.

"Hi."

A male voice sounded from behind.

Wondering who he might be, Milly turned and came in contact with a familiar face.

"Hi."

She quipped.

"Uh, I'm Laurence."

His low voice sounded smooth and clear.

"I was at your house earlier, uh, Ryan's friend?"

Milly nodded in recognition.

"Oh, hi, right."

She offered him a small smile and revealed both dimples on her cheeks!

Laurence blinked in response and cleared his throat.

"Um, what are you getting?"

Easily hiding his reaction, he moved to the front and inserted a coin.

"Oh no, it's okay."

Milly started to refuse. After all, they weren't that close to buying each other's drinks.

"I'll get it."

She felt awkward having him pay for it when they didn't know each other at all.

"No, don't worry."

He quickly assured her.

"It's okay."

Half-smiling, he urged her to choose which one she liked.

"It's just a drink."

He lifted his shoulders and inserted another coin.

When she didn't respond, he looked back at her again and raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"Ah, soda, please, thanks."

Milly stammered in response.

Laurence pressed the button and handed her the can after it was dispensed.

"No problem."

Acting cool and casual about it, he glanced at her one more time and went back to inserting more coins to get his.

Mumbling her thanks, Milly turned back to get her sandwich at the counter.

Laurence watched her walk back through the Vendo machine glass, couldn't quite explain his impression of her. She didn't seem that timid, but she was obviously aloof. The sound of the can hitting the bottom alerted him back from his thoughts. Soda in hand, he sauntered back to their table.

"Who was that?"

One of his classmates asked.

He wasn't with Ryan and the others anymore after their game in the morning, since they only came together when they had practice or if they were hanging out after school.

"Uh, no one, just a familiar face."

That was quite true.

Apart from being Ryan's cousin, he and Milly didn't know each other.

"Pretty."

Another classmate commented.

Laurence nodded but didn't say much to avoid giving them any ideas. He pretended to scan the cafeteria and spotted her going out.