CHAPTER 6: ALMOST FAMILIAR
643 Words
«WHISPER
MoonlitInk (8:14 A.M.)
Can I ask you something weird?
Orion (8:15 A.M.)
When have your questions ever been normal?
MoonlitInk
Rude.
Orion
Accurate.
MoonlitInk
...Fine. Do you ever wonder what I look like?
The typing bubble appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Orion
Sometimes.
Lena felt her heart skip.
Before she could overthink it, another message appeared.
But I think I'd rather imagine than ruin the mystery.
She smiled.
Good answer.
Orion
Was it the right one?
MoonlitInk
...Maybe.»
---
Saturday mornings on campus were unusually quiet.
Only students with extra classes, project meetings or unfinished assignments bothered coming in.
Lena was one of them.
She balanced two books against her hip as she walked toward the library, humming softly to herself.
She wasn't expecting to see anyone she knew.
Especially not...
"Ethan?"
He looked up from the bench outside the library.
"...Hi."
She blinked.
"I thought you said you preferred studying alone."
"I do."
"...Then why are you here?"
He lifted the notebook in his hand.
"I needed a quiet place."
She looked around the almost empty campus.
"...Fair point."
A small silence settled between them.
"So..."
She smiled.
"Coffee?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"We're studying."
"We study better with coffee."
"We?"
She grinned.
"I'm choosing to believe you're including yourself."
For a second...
He simply looked at her.
Then...
"...Okay."
---
Ten minutes later, they sat beneath the large oak tree outside the café instead of inside.
The weather was too nice to waste.
Lena took a sip of her iced coffee.
"I've been thinking about our interviews."
"The project interviews?"
She nodded.
"What if we compare how different age groups respond to AI?"
Ethan considered it.
"...That's actually a good idea."
She smiled triumphantly.
"Another compliment."
"I've created a monster."
"You really have."
He shook his head, hiding another smile behind his coffee cup.
---
"Can I ask you something?" Lena said after a while.
"You usually do."
She laughed.
"What's your family like?"
The question hung in the air.
Ethan looked down at his cup.
"My parents."
"...And me."
She noticed he hadn't elaborated.
She didn't push.
Instead, she smiled gently.
"My mum and I live together."
"She's a nurse."
He nodded.
"You've mentioned her."
"I probably talk about her too much."
"I don't think that's possible."
She looked at him, surprised.
"You love her."
"People should talk about the people they love."
For a second...
Neither of them spoke.
It wasn't a romantic sentence.
But somehow...
It lingered between them.
Lena smiled softly.
"I think she'd like you."
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Her eyes widened.
"I mean—"
"I didn't mean—"
Ethan rescued her from her own embarrassment.
"...I'd like to meet her someday."
She laughed in relief.
"I'll warn her you're very quiet."
"I'll try to disappoint her."
"You won't."
The answer came so quickly that it surprised both of them.
---
From across the courtyard...
Maya and Mason had just arrived to work on a completely different assignment.
Maya froze.
"...Are those two having coffee?"
Mason followed her gaze.
"They weren't supposed to meet today."
"They're smiling."
"They're talking."
"They're voluntarily spending time together."
Maya slowly turned to him.
"...I think they're becoming friends."
Mason smiled knowingly.
"I think they've already started."
---
As the afternoon sun warmed the campus, neither Lena nor Ethan noticed the time.
Or the coffee growing cold.
Or the fact that their project had remained untouched for nearly forty minutes.
They were talking.
About favorite childhood cartoons.
The books that made them cry.
Why Ethan secretly preferred rainy days.
Why Lena believed every library smelled different.
Little things.
Unimportant things.
The kind of conversations that quietly build a friendship.
And somewhere between shared laughter...
Comfortable silences...
And unfinished cups of coffee...
The line between project partners and friends became just a little harder to see.
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