Page 11
1273 Words
The café was smaller than Elena expected.
A few tables filled the room, most occupied by students with laptops open in front of them. The smell of coffee was stronger inside, mixed with something sweet baking behind the counter.
Maya walked straight toward the menu.
Elena stood beside her.
“You already know what you're getting.”
“Of course.”
“You've been here before?”
“Twice.”
“That's enough to memorize the menu?”
“For me, yes.”
Maya pointed at the board.
“Iced vanilla latte.”
Elena looked at her.
“Again?”
Maya turned.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You're judging me.”
“I'm observing.”
“That sounds worse.”
The barista smiled.
“Hey, Maya.”
“Hey.”
“You want the usual?”
Maya nodded.
“See?”
Elena smiled.
“You really do come here a lot.”
“It's called having a routine.”
“It's called being addicted.”
“Same thing.”
The barista laughed and started making the drink.
Maya looked at Elena.
“What about you?”
Elena studied the menu.
There were more choices than she expected.
“I don't know.”
Maya leaned closer.
“Don't overthink it.”
“I'm not.”
“You've been staring at that menu for two minutes.”
“Because I don't know what half of these things are.”
Maya looked at the menu.
“Oh.”
She pointed.
“Try that.”
“What is it?”
“Coffee.”
“That doesn't help.”
“Okay. It's coffee with milk.”
“That still doesn't help.”
Maya laughed.
“Fine. Get a vanilla latte.”
“Isn't that what you're drinking?”
“Exactly. If it's bad, we can suffer together.”
Elena shook her head.
“Fine.”
They ordered.
While they waited, Maya pulled out her phone.
“Oh, we need to take a picture.”
“Why?”
“First day.”
“No.”
“One picture.”
“Maya.”
“Fine. Two.”
Elena laughed.
Maya lifted the phone anyway.
“Come here.”
Elena reluctantly stepped beside her.
Maya leaned in.
The first picture came out blurry.
They looked at it.
Elena laughed.
“You moved.”
“You moved!”
“I didn't.”
“You absolutely did.”
“Take another.”
Maya did.
This one was better.
She looked at the screen.
“Okay. That's actually cute.”
“Delete it.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Maya.”
“Relax. I'm not posting it.”
Elena looked at her suspiciously.
Maya locked the phone.
“Promise.”
Their drinks arrived.
Elena took her first sip.
She paused.
Maya watched her.
“Well?”
Elena took another sip.
“I like it.”
Maya smiled.
“I knew you would.”
They carried their drinks outside and sat at a small table beneath an umbrella.
For a while, they just watched people pass.
A guy hurried by carrying three textbooks and nearly dropped all of them.
Someone shouted from across the walkway.
A bicycle bell rang.
Maya laughed at something on her phone.
Elena took another sip.
It was strange.
Only a few hours ago, she had been thousands of miles away.
Now she was sitting outside a campus café with a new friend, holding a drink she hadn't even known existed that morning.
Maya nudged her cup against Elena's.
“To surviving day one.”
Elena smiled.
“To surviving day one.”
They tapped the cups together.
By the time they left the café, the sun had begun to sink behind the buildings.
The campus looked different again.
Golden light stretched across the sidewalks, and the shadows of the trees reached farther over the grass. Students who had been rushing between classes earlier were now slowing down, gathering in groups or sitting outside their residence halls.
Maya checked her phone.
“Oh, no.”
Elena looked over.
“What?”
“I forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
Maya stopped walking.
“I was supposed to meet someone.”
Elena raised an eyebrow.
“You forgot?”
“I got distracted.”
“You mean by coffee?”
“Among other things.”
Maya quickly typed something into her phone.
A few seconds later, she smiled.
“Never mind.”
“That was fast.”
“Problem solved.”
“What was the problem?”
“Nothing important.”
Elena gave her a look.
Maya laughed.
“You're going to have to learn that not everything requires an explanation.”
“I thought you explained everything.”
“I do.”
“Then?”
“I'm tired.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Exactly.”
They continued toward the residence hall.
Halfway there, Maya suddenly grabbed Elena's wrist.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“Look.”
She pointed across the lawn.
A group of students had started setting up folding tables and string lights near one of the open spaces between the buildings.
Someone was carrying a speaker.
Another person was struggling with a box of decorations.
A few students were already sitting on blankets in the grass.
Elena slowed.
“What are they doing?”
“Probably getting ready for tonight.”
“The party?”
Maya nodded.
Elena watched for a moment.
It didn't look like the wild college parties she'd seen in movies.
Not yet, anyway.
It looked almost ordinary.
Students laughing.
Music playing.
Someone trying to untangle a mess of lights.
A girl carrying a tray of drinks while complaining that nobody was helping her.
Maya smiled.
“See? This is college.”
Elena looked at her.
“This?”
“This part.”
“What part?”
“The part where nobody really knows what they're doing, but everyone acts like they do.”
Elena smiled.
“That sounds accurate.”
“Exactly.”
One of the guys setting up the lights suddenly dropped the entire bundle.
Everyone nearby groaned.
Maya laughed.
Elena couldn't help it.
She laughed too.
“See?” Maya said. “You're fitting in already.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's happening.”
They finally reached the residence hall.
Inside, Maya held the door open for her.
Elena stepped through.
The lobby was louder than before.
Someone was sitting at the piano near the corner, playing badly enough that several students were laughing.
Maya winced.
“Please tell me that's not going to happen every night.”
A girl passing them called out, “It's getting better!”
Maya called back, “It isn't!”
The girl laughed.
Elena covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
Maya looked pleased with herself.
“See? Community.”
They headed toward the stairs.
Elena glanced through the glass doors one last time.
Outside, the lights were beginning to come on.
The campus was settling into another version of itself.
Morning had been unfamiliar.
Afternoon had been busy.
And now evening was beginning.
Maya pushed open the stairwell door.
“Come on.”
“Where?”
“Upstairs.”
“We're going back to the room?”
“Yeah.”
Maya grinned.
“We need to get ready.”
Elena stopped halfway up the stairs.
“Ready for what?”
Maya looked back at her.
“The first night.”
Elena stared at her.
Maya smiled.
“Don't worry. I'm not letting you spend your first night in America hiding in our room.”
Then she continued upstairs, leaving Elena with no choice but to follow.
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