Episode 6: Maybe It's Not a Date
1608 Words
University had a strange way of making time disappear.
One minute it was orientation week.
The next, assignments were piling higher than textbooks, lectures blurred together, and everyone had accepted that sleep was more of a luxury than a necessity.
For Bailey, however, one thing stood out on her timetable.
Friday.
4:30 p.m.
Not because of a lecture.
Not because of an assignment.
Because Cedric had asked her to "strategically accompany him to a location where coffee existed."
She still refused to call it a date.
Even if it sounded exactly like one.
---
"You've changed outfits three times."
Bailey looked over her shoulder.
"I have not."
Bianca sat on her bed with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
"You absolutely have."
"I was just..."
Bailey looked down at the jumper in her hands.
"...making sure I was comfortable."
Stella smirked.
"Comfortable enough for your definitely-not-a-date?"
"It isn't a date."
Chloe looked up from her Psychology notes.
"You've said that six times."
"Because it isn't."
Stella folded her arms.
"So if Cedric suddenly cancelled..."
Bailey answered far too quickly.
"I'd be disappointed."
The room went quiet.
Bailey blinked.
"...Because he owes me coffee."
Three pairs of eyes stared at her.
"Oh, please."
Bailey groaned dramatically.
"You three are impossible."
"No," Stella laughed.
"You're in denial."
---
Across campus...
Cedric stood outside the coffee shop.
He checked his watch.
Then his phone.
Then his watch again.
Blake walked past carrying a football under one arm.
"You waiting for someone?"
"No."
Blake looked around.
"Then why have you checked the time twelve times?"
"I haven't."
"You just did it again."
Cedric sighed.
"I'm meeting Bailey."
Blake smiled knowingly.
"Oh."
"It's not a date."
"I didn't say it was."
"But you're thinking it."
"I absolutely am."
Cedric rolled his eyes.
"We're just getting coffee."
"Right."
"And talking."
"Mhm."
"That's all."
Blake grinned.
"If saying that helps you sleep at night."
Before Cedric could answer...
Bailey appeared.
She wore light blue jeans, white trainers and a cream knit jersey.
Simple.
Comfortable.
Beautiful.
Cedric forgot what he was about to say.
Bailey smiled.
"You've gone unusually quiet."
"I was..."
He cleared his throat.
"...thinking."
"Dangerous."
"It usually is."
---
The café was warm and cosy.
Soft music played quietly in the background while students filled most of the tables.
Cedric ordered an iced coffee.
Bailey chose a caramel latte.
They found a small table near the window.
For the first few minutes...
Neither of them spoke.
Cedric finally broke the silence.
"This is awkward."
Bailey laughed.
"It really is."
"I thought conversation just... happened."
"It normally does."
"So whose fault is this?"
She pointed at him.
"Yours."
"My fault?"
"You suggested coffee."
"I regret everything."
"No, you don't."
He smiled.
"No."
"I don't."
The awkwardness disappeared almost instantly.
They spoke about everything.
Their hometowns.
Their families.
Their favourite childhood memories.
The embarrassing things they'd done in high school.
Bailey laughed until tears filled her eyes after Cedric admitted he once accidentally answered a lecturer with "Love you" instead of "Thank you."
"You did not."
"I absolutely did."
"What happened?"
"I considered transferring universities."
She burst into laughter.
"No wonder you're sarcastic."
"It's a defence mechanism."
---
"So..."
Cedric stirred his coffee.
"What made you choose Nursing?"
Bailey's smile softened.
"I've always wanted to help people."
"That's very Bailey."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
He smiled.
"You always make sure everyone else is okay before yourself."
She looked surprised.
"You noticed that?"
"I notice more than people think."
For a brief moment...
Neither of them joked.
Neither of them teased.
The conversation became quieter.
More genuine.
"What about you?"
Bailey asked.
"Why Business?"
Cedric shrugged.
"My dad owns a company."
"You want to take it over?"
"Eventually."
"But first..."
He smiled.
"I want to prove I can build something on my own."
Bailey nodded thoughtfully.
"I like that."
"You do?"
"I do."
For the first time...
Cedric felt like someone understood him beyond the jokes.
---
Outside the café, they wandered slowly back towards campus.
"So..."
Bailey said.
"We're never calling this a date."
Cedric looked horrified.
"A date?"
"Absolutely not."
"We simply consumed beverages."
"Exactly."
"Nothing romantic happened."
"Not even close."
"So..."
Cedric smiled.
"Same time next week?"
Bailey tried not to smile.
"I'll check my schedule."
"Liar."
"I might be busy."
"You won't."
"I probably won't."
They both laughed.
Neither of them noticed how naturally they had fallen into step beside one another.
---
Elsewhere on campus...
Chloe sat beneath the old jacaranda tree, flipping through pages of a Psychology textbook she hadn't actually read.
"You've been staring at the same page for ten minutes."
She looked up.
Maverick.
He held two takeaway coffees.
"I guessed your order."
"You don't even know my order."
"I took a chance."
He handed her one.
She took a sip.
"...How?"
He smiled.
"Wild guess."
"It was exactly right."
"I'll pretend that was skill."
She laughed softly.
It was the first genuine laugh she'd had all week.
"You've been smiling more."
Maverick noticed.
"Have I?"
"A little."
"I don't feel like I have."
"Sometimes people don't notice the small improvements."
She looked at him.
"You always say things that make me think."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It is."
Over the next few weeks, spending time together became effortless.
Sometimes they walked to class together.
Sometimes they studied in silence.
Sometimes they sat on the grass talking about everything except the things that hurt the most.
Maverick never pushed Chloe to tell him more than she wanted to.
He simply listened.
And somehow...
That was exactly what she needed.
---
One afternoon, they walked side by side across campus.
"So," Maverick said.
"What's one thing nobody knows about you?"
Chloe thought for a moment.
"I hate thunderstorms."
"You?"
She nodded.
"I know they're harmless."
"But?"
"I don't like loud noises."
He smiled.
"I would've guessed spiders."
"I like spiders."
He stopped walking.
"You like spiders?"
"They eat mosquitoes."
"I've changed my opinion of you."
She laughed.
"Good or bad?"
"I'm still deciding."
---
Across campus, Bianca was trying her best to pretend she was okay.
She attended lectures.
Completed assignments.
Smiled when people spoke to her.
But her friends knew better.
The sparkle she'd carried during the first few weeks of university had disappeared.
One evening, Bailey found her sitting alone outside Willow House.
"You hiding?"
Bianca smiled weakly.
"Maybe."
Bailey sat beside her.
"You don't have to pretend around us."
"I know."
Bianca stared across campus.
"I keep wondering if I did something wrong."
"You didn't."
"Then why wasn't I enough?"
Bailey's heart broke.
She wrapped an arm around Bianca's shoulders.
"Sometimes people leave because of their own confusion."
"Not because of your worth."
Bianca nodded slowly.
"I know that."
"But knowing something..."
"...and believing it..."
"...aren't always the same."
Bailey squeezed her shoulder.
"You'll get through this."
"I hope so."
---
Later that night...
Bailey found Chloe in the common room.
Everyone else had gone to bed.
Only the desk lamp illuminated the room.
Bailey quietly closed the door behind her.
"How much longer?"
Chloe looked up.
"I don't know."
"You have to tell her."
"I know."
"No."
Bailey sat opposite her.
"You really don't."
Chloe's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm scared."
"I know."
"What if she hates me?"
Bailey didn't answer immediately.
Instead...
She reached across the table.
"What if she hates you more because she hears it from someone else?"
The question hung heavily between them.
"I never meant for any of this to happen."
"I know."
"But secrets don't stay secrets forever."
Chloe stared down at her hands.
"I wake up every day planning to tell her."
"And every night..."
"...I fail."
Bailey sighed softly.
"I'll support you."
"No matter what happens."
"But Chloe..."
She looked her best friend in the eyes.
"You don't have forever."
---
Meanwhile...
Stella was fighting an entirely different battle.
Law had become relentless.
Every lecture introduced another case.
Every tutorial brought another reading.
Every week came with another deadline.
She marched into the girls' room carrying four thick textbooks.
Bailey stared.
"Are those all yours?"
"Unfortunately."
"I'd cry."
"I already have."
"When?"
"This morning."
Everyone laughed.
"I'm serious."
That only made them laugh harder.
Stella threw one of the books onto her bed.
"I swear my lecturers wake up every morning asking themselves how they can make our lives harder."
"They probably do," Chloe replied.
"I knew it."
Despite everything...
Stella still found ways to make the girls laugh.
Even when she barely had time to breathe herself.
---
Sunday evening arrived quietly.
The four girls gathered in their room for another study session.
Bailey highlighted notes.
Bianca worked through an essay.
Stella argued with a law case under her breath.
Chloe stared blankly at a page she hadn't read.
Her phone buzzed.
Maverick:
Don't forget to sleep tonight. You think better after resting.
A small smile appeared on her face.
She typed back.
I'll try.
Almost instantly...
Good. Tomorrow's another day.
She looked around the room.
At Bianca.
Still healing.
Still unaware.
At Bailey.
Watching her with quiet concern.
At Stella.
Completely buried beneath law books.
Chloe realised something.
University wasn't only teaching them about careers.
It was teaching them about people.
About forgiveness.
About mistakes.
About the unbearable weight of choices.
She just hoped...
When the truth finally came out...
There would still be something left to save.
Outside, the lights of Westbridge University glowed beneath the evening sky.
Inside Willow House, four best friends sat together in the same room.
Yet for the first time...
One secret silently separated them all.
And Chloe knew...
It couldn't stay hidden forever.
- Writer
