The Lies That Built Us

Too Close For Comfort

Chapter 4

The campus was alive with its usual energy, students rushing to classes, groups huddled together discussing assignments, and the occasional laughter echoing through the halls. Winny, however, wasn’t having the best time. The weight of her coursework was beginning to feel like a burden, and a minor setback in one of her classes had thrown her off balance. A mistake in her recent submission resulted in her professor asking her to redo the entire project. It wasn’t a failure, but it felt like one to her. She was overwhelmed, and she hadn’t even started the first major project of the semester yet.

Meanwhile, Kathryn had suffered a sprained ankle during basketball practice, putting her out of commission for a few days. She hated feeling weak, hated sitting on the sidelines while her team trained without her. The two friends found their way to each other amidst all this, seeking comfort in their shared frustrations.

“I swear, if I ever see that ball coming at me the wrong way again, I’m quitting,” Kathryn grumbled, shifting her weight on the bench where she was resting her ankle.

Winny chuckled, shaking her head. “You’d never quit basketball. You love it too much.”

“I can dream,” Kathryn said with a dramatic sigh. “What about you? You’ve been so buried in work. What’s going on?”

Winny hesitated before sighing. “I messed up an assignment, and now I have to redo it. It’s just… frustrating.”

Kathryn reached out and squeezed her hand. “You got this, babe. You’re literally the most hardworking person I know.”

Winny smiled weakly. “Thanks, Kat. That means a lot.”

Meanwhile, across campus, Jamii had just finalized his enrollment at the university. With Nancy’s connections, it had been an easy process, and he was now officially a student. Settling into his dorm was simple enough, but navigating the social scene? That was another story. Kathryn was his anchor in this new environment, and at every opportunity, he reached out to her for guidance.

Unlike Winny, who thrived on independence, Jamii found himself constantly looking for Kathryn. It was natural—she was his best friend, and they had been apart for so long. Now that they were in the same space again, he was making up for lost time.

“Kat, where are you?”

“In class, Jamii.”

“Okay, cool. When do you get out?”

“An hour. Why?”

“Just making sure I can find you when I need to.”

Kathryn sent him an eye-rolling emoji but smiled at his persistence.

Winny had her first big project, and she needed materials. She asked Kathryn to accompany her on a shopping trip, but when they met up, Kathryn wasn’t alone.

“Surprise,” Kathryn said with a grin. “Jamii’s coming with us.”

Winny’s stomach twisted slightly as she saw him standing beside Kathryn. She still hadn’t properly apologized for their first encounter at the party.

“Uh… hi,” she said awkwardly. “About the other night—I was, um, not at my best. Sorry about that.”

Jamii smirked. “No worries. You made quite the first impression, though.”

Winny groaned. “Let’s just pretend it never happened.”

“No can do,” he teased. “It’s burned into my memory forever.”

Kathryn laughed, enjoying their interaction. “You two are hilarious.”

They spent most of the day together, hopping from store to store as Winny picked out fabrics, sketching supplies, and embellishments for her project. By the time they returned to campus, the three of them had spent enough time together that the awkwardness between Winny and Jamii had faded into something more natural.

The next day, Winny was sitting at the campus café with kathryn when someone slid into the seat across from her.

She looked up, surprised. “You?”

Jamii grinned. “Me.”

Her eyes darted to Kathryn, who was as surprised to see jamii as she was because she didn't tell him she would be at the café.

“What are you doing here?”

“Having coffee.”

Winny blinked. “Since when do you drink coffee here?”

“Since I became a university student.”

Her brows furrowed. “Wait, what?”

Jamii smirked. “Oh. We forgot to tell you, didn’t we?”

Winny gaped. “You mean you’re—?”

“A student here, yes.”

She let out an exaggerated sigh. “I can’t believe you two forgot to mention that.”

They spent the next few minutes talking about his classes and major, which turned out to be gymnasium studies too. Winny took note of how close he and Kathryn seemed—closer than she remembered. It wasn’t jealousy, not really, but it was something.

That night, she found herself replaying the day in her head, thinking about the small moments—the way Jamii and Kathryn interacted, how easy their friendship was. She decided then and there that she would start paying more attention to him, figure out who he really was beyond the childhood best friend of her best friend.

Kathryn invited Winny to one of their basketball matches. It was her first game back after her sprained ankle, and she was eager to play. Winny made time to attend, wanting to support her friend. As expected, Jamii was there too.

“You always this beautiful with your glasses on?” Jamii asked as he settled into the seat beside her.

Winny blushed but played it cool. “Depends. I only look beautiful with my glasses on when I’m doing my fashion sketches. It makes me feel cool.”

Jamii chuckled. “Good to know.”

The game was intense, and Kathryn played exceptionally well. When they won, she was ecstatic, running onto the court in excitement. Winny stood, clapping and cheering for her best friend.

But then, she saw it.

Kathryn ran straight to Jamii, hugging him tightly in her excitement. It was a long, joyful hug, filled with laughter and shouting. Only after a minute of celebrating did Kathryn turn and notice Winny standing there.

“Winny!” she called, running to her and hugging her, too. “We won!”

Winny smiled. “I know! You were amazing.”

But deep down, something stung. She pushed the feeling aside and focused on the happiness of the moment. Jamii had asked for her number before the match, and they had exchanged a few texts already. Maybe that was enough.

Winny sat at her desk later that night, working on a new sketch of a fairy-like gown. She was trying to distract herself, but her mind kept drifting back to the game, to Jamii and Kathryn, to the way she felt watching them together.

Her phone buzzed. A message from Jamii.

Jamii: What are you up to?

Winny: Sketching. You?

Jamii: Thinking about how you only look beautiful in glasses when you’re sketching. Should I be concerned?

Winny laughed, shaking her head as she typed back.

Winny: It’s a serious fashion designer thing. You wouldn’t understand.

Jamii: Educate me, then.

They spent the next hour texting back and forth, Jamii being his usual cheeky self and making Winny grin from ear to ear.

By the time she finally put her phone down and climbed into bed, her heart felt lighter. And as she drifted off to sleep.