My Wonderful Disaster

Chapter Three — First Impressions [Part Three]

I was looking down at my phone, checking the group chat — Sofia had already sent the restaurant details with the address, opening hours and average wait time, because of course she had — when I walked directly into someone.

For the second time today.

This time there was no box. Just — impact. My shoulder against a chest, my phone nearly fumbling out of my hand, me doing an ungraceful little stumble sideways —

I looked up to apologise.

The boy was tall. Dark hair, sharp jaw, the kind of face that made you forget what you were about to say. He was looking at me with an expression that was not quite annoyed and not quite anything — just cool. Unbothered. Like being bumped into was a mild inconvenience on par with a slow internet connection.

"Excuse you," he said.

Not unkindly. Not warmly either. Just — said it.

Looked at me for exactly one second. Then

walked past me and out the door like I was simply something that had happened briefly in his path.

I stood in the doorway.

Stared at the space he'd just occupied.

He hadn't even looked back.

Just — excuse you and gone. Like I was a minor inconvenience. Like I was furniture that had slightly rearranged itself in his path.

I should have been annoyed.

I was annoyed.

I was also, and I cannot stress enough how much I did not ask for this, staring at the door he'd just walked through like it owed me something. Who was that, said something very unhelpful in the back of my mind.

Doesn't matter, said the sensible part. He said excuse you to ME, said the annoyed part.

He had really nice eyes, said the part I was choosing to ignore completely.

I walked out into the late afternoon sun and told myself very firmly that I had dinner plans and a group chat called The Girls and a whole new life to figure out and I absolutely did not have time to think about a boy who couldn't even be bothered to check if I was okay after walking into me.

I thought about him the entire way back to my dorm.