Theodore's house was having a party. In the common area there was a keg of watered down beer and a collection of salty snacks on the table. Theodore was sitting on the couch, squished between two other people, a handful of chips in his palm.

"So what are you studying?" the girl on Theodore's right asked.

"Teaching." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his shoulders squashed. He felt like a piece of fruit in a vacuum sealed bag, but did his best to turn his body in her general direction

She smiled and nodded, but the music was loud. Theodore wasn't sure if she heard him. Hell, he couldn't even hear himself. The person on his left stood and there was a brief moment where Theodore felt free. But a second later, Julien dropped down beside him.

"I brought my hamster," he said. He pulled her out of his pocket. Dotti was wearing a small princess cone hat. "Dressed for the occasion."

Theodore needed a second to process. For some reason, it wasn't the hat he wanted to question. He gestured at the pocket. "Can she breathe in there?"

"She pops out when she gets overwhelmed."

"Wait, was that a yes?"

"Oh my god, are you showing people your hamster again?" Although the music was loud, a girl's voice was clear as day. Theodore looked up and to his surprise, he saw the girl from the café. Maggie. She was in a band tee and a pair of jeans and she looked even more stunning than she did that first day they met on campus.

"Theodore," she said with a grin when she realised who Julien was sitting with. The yellow lights from the living room reflected against the lenses of her glasses. It made it look like she had stars in her eyes.

"Maggie," Julien said. "Dotti is a great conversation starter. I've gotten three girls' numbers."

"Yes, but are they actual numbers or just flops?" Maggie sat down on the arm of the couch and tucked the toes of her converse under Julien's legs.

"Dotti is a chick magnet, I'll have you know. If she was this fashionable when we met, we'd be dating right now."

"Yes, if good old Dotti was wearing some Doc Marten's, I would have fallen madly in love with you," Maggie deadpanned.

"Good idea, I should google that later." Julien turned to Theodore. "The internet is a wild place, man. You can get anything online. There's a surprising amount of hamster apparel."

Theodore nodded, then looked up to see Maggie giving him a soft smile. Her hair was still in the braided crown.

"It's good to see you again, Theodore," she said.

"I'm sorry I didn't text you," he answered without thinking. It just came out and it made his cheeks flame.

In all honesty, he had forgotten to text Maggie. All the dates he had gone on were with girls he was almost certain he wouldn't see again when university started. He wasn't particularly interested in girls he would potentially have awkward encounters with on campus once his course started. And god forbid they were in the same classes.

"Hey, no hard feelings," she said easily. "How's uni life been treating you?"

"I'm not much of a drinker,'' he admitted. "But for some reason, it feels like I've been drunk ever since I got here."

"That's how it goes," Maggie said. "That's how it went for Julien."

Julien nodded sombrely and lifted up a cup. "I stick to fizzy drink now."

"Was your first year experience the same?" Theodore asked.

Maggie gave a half-smile. "I don't study here. Or, at all, actually. I just work at the café."

Julien huffed. "She's crazy talented though."

"I do make a pretty good cappuccino."

"No, at animating," Julien said.

"Oh." Maggie looked down at her laces, her cheeks pink. "It's just small commissioned work and stuff. It's a side gig. Nothing really impressive."

"She's so full of shit," Julien said, shaking his head at Theodore. "Anyway, this party blows. I'm going to stream a game in my room and show my viewers Dotti's new hat."

"I'll hop on later to keep your chat hot," Maggie said.

"I'll give you my channel details later, Theodore. I will make you an admin."

"Looking forward to it," he answered. He wasn't particularly sure what an admin did, but he was hoping Julien didn't have high expectations for him. 

Julien wriggled his way out from under Maggie's legs and headed towards his room. Theodore still wasn't sure what to think about Julien, but he did install locks on both their doors so that guests wouldn't go in and destroy their stuff. It appeared that Julien was looking out for Theodore, so he was in his good books for now.

That left Maggie and Theodore.

"Well, I hate to leave you too, but I kind of manage Dianne's and it's just about closing time. I just came around for my dinner break." Maggie jumped down from the couch and smoothed out her jeans. "Unless you want to come?"

Theodore was feeling slightly suffocated in a small room with one too many people, so he nodded and followed her out. The hair outside was still warm, but far cooler than it was in the house.

"So...animating," Theodore said.

Maggie groaned. "Julien hypes me up too much. It's just a hobby, seriously."

"How did you get into it?"

"Well, it sounds really lame, but when I was a kid, I had this game on Nintendo that let you make, like, ten second animations. And while Mario and Zelda were really cool, that animation game was my favourite. So when I was thirteen, my mum bought me my first tablet and I haven't dropped drawing since." She paused, then said, "You're one of the first people to ask me that. A lot of people jump right in and just want to see my work."

"Well, I mean now want to see your work," Theodore teased.

"I only show my art after the third date," Maggie teased right back.

The night was nice and the walk to Dianne's was tranquil other than a few rowdy drunks stumbling back to their student accommodation. Once they were inside the café, Maggie started closing up. The other workers headed home happily while Maggie balanced the registers and did some extra tiding up.

"Anything I can do to help?" Theodore asked, feeling kind of useless as she shuffled around awkwardly, trying not to get in the way.

Maggie gave him a smile and tossed him a cloth. "If you could spray down the tables, that'd be nice."

He did as he was told. He found some surface spray in the cleaning cupboard and started wiping down the tables. When Maggie was done locking up the cash, she joined him. She had switched most of the lights off, so they worked mostly from the streetlights shining through the big, open windows.

"Was there a reason you didn't text me?"

Theodore looked up, surprised. Maggie kept her head down, her hands busy. She looked up and caught his stare.

"Sorry if that was really forward. My dad taught me that if I want to know the answer to something, I should always ask. I can come off as a bit much at times, so I understand if you were freaked out. Or if you were just genuinely uninterested for whatever reason."

"In all honesty, I forgot. I took a photo of your number because I knew I'd lose the napkin, but I never got around to messaging you," he answered. Then he looked down and said, "And I was a bit sad over the summer because of another girl. I was flattered, but at that time, I don't think I would have been ready for another relationship or friendship or... well, any other human contact, really."

Maggie smiled sadly. "I know the feeling. Well, thank you for telling me."

"I probably wouldn't have been able to say that out loud earlier in the summer. So thank you for asking. It gave me a chance to do it now."

"You're welcome." Maggie finished wiping up the table she was on, then she collected the cleaning supplies, ready to go back into storage. "Well, you still have my number if you ever want to hang out."

Maggie disappeared into one of the back rooms. Theodore took his phone out from his back pocket. It was past eleven. Maggie was sweet and pretty and although he didn't know much about her, he wanted to. So, without thinking twice about it, he located Maggie's phone number and sent her a text.

Hey, want to hang out?

A moment later, Maggie's head popped out from the storage room. "Theodore."

"Yes?"

She smiled, then disappeared back inside.

I'd love to.

***

Just a little note to acknowledge that I understand you love Autumn and I love her too! However, I do request that you place a little faith in me and trust that I have nothing but wonderful things in store for not only Theodore, but all my characters in this story. Love you x