"It's too late to apologize,"

"So you've been in New York all your life?" Amanda questioned as she peeled open the tiny orange in her hands. "How have you lived? I mean I get it I guess, New York is busy and a place people are always wanting to visit... But how have you lived if you've never been outside of the state?" She sat there, making sure to pick each and every little vein off of the cutie.

Lia just watched her, sending a slight shrug her way. "Just nothing outside of the state ever interested me I guess." She mumbled, "Well, I mean like to rush out of state anyways. I've always had a thought here or there about going out to travel or something, but it's one of those thoughts that you know would never happen."

"Girl, don't say that!" Amanda exclaimed, squeezing the orange slightly. "I never thought I'd even attend college and somehow here I am. Literally, anything is possible."

"I guess so." Lia scooped up some chopped-up fruit with a spoon, "It's just not something I ever thought about lots."

"Makes sense," Amanda responded. "You think the food is gonna stay this good all year or only because it's the beginning of the semester?" She changed the subject, finishing off the rest of the orange.

"I'd always heard that not only is college food better than high school food, but it also makes you gain more weight," Lia told the other girl, glancing around at the groups of people throughout the mess hall. "It's called Freshman 15 or something like that."

"Seriously? I'd never heard of that before," Amanda spoke, her eyes widening slightly before she glanced down at the full plate in front of her. "I guess it makes sense. Freshmen are just transitioning out of high school and all."

"I don't know how accurate it is, so don't quote me on it," Lia responded, finishing off the rest of her fruit.

Amanda just shrugged, seeming to not care too much anyways. She just picked up her fork, stabbing it into the abundance of noodles she'd piled on her plate when she went through the line. "Classes start in like two days, right?" She then asked, changing the subject once again. It was something Amanda did often, Lia noticed.

"Yeah," Lia said, deciding she was full for the night.

Amanda nodded in response, glancing around the room as she shoved a forkful of pasta in her mouth. Her eyes widened as she noticed something, almost choking on her food as she slammed her empty hand on the table. This immediately caught Lia's attention, and she looked over at the girl with worry.

"Is everything okay?"

Amanda held up a finger, Lia glancing at the chipped blue polish while the other girl took a long drink of her cold water. She then nodded, swallowing. "On your left, nine o'clock." She sent a smirk.

"Your nine o'clock or my nine o'clock?" Lia asked, earning an eye roll from Amanda.

"Yours, dummy!" She exclaimed, gently pushing Lia's cheek so she'd look in the direction she wanted her to.

Lia's eyes almost immediately landed on where Amanda had been looking, her eyes widening as she made direct eye contact with the same boy she had run into only moments before. He wasn't looking in their direction, seeming to be focused on someone else sitting at his table.

"Cute boy!" Amanda shouted out, to which Lia just snapped her head in the blonde's direction.

"You need to keep your voice down before someone hears you," Lia said.

"Oh come on, he's almost all the way across this giant ass mess hall!" Amanda exclaimed, "Besides you made it so fucking obvious you're into him."

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't?" Lia spoke, obviously lying to her roommate.

Amanda dropped her hand holding the fork on the table, sending a knowing look at the other girl. "You're going to sit and lie straight to my face? We may have only met today but girl- you're the most open book I've ever met in my entire life."

"Wait... really?" Lia asked, finally letting the lie go. "It was really that obvious?"

"Yes. I mean like, anyone in a thirty-mile radius could see you guys practically eye fucking." Amanda continued on with her food as if she hadn't said what she did.

Lia's eyes widened, a blush covering her cheeks as she glanced back and forth. "We were not eye fucking!"

"Whatever you say, girlie." Amanda raised her eyebrows, taking another sip of her water.

"Just because I was slightly staring doesn't mean I was eye fucking him. That-that wasn't even a thought at all!" Lia defended, her brows pushing together as she pushed her tray away from her slightly.

"Yeah, well if it makes you feel better he was fucking you back." Amanda didn't even bother to look up, stirring the last bit of food on her plate.

"Oh my god, Amanda!" Lia exclaimed, burying her head in her hands. "This is so embarrassing."

"Tell me about it, I felt like I was interrupting something. Could cut that tension with this plastic fork." She held the white plastic fork between the two of them, smiling at how cute Lia was when she was embarrassed.

Lia didn't respond, and instead just kept her head in her hands. Amanda sighed, rolling her eyes playfully. "I'm kidding. Well, sort of."

The other girl just glanced over, seeing Amanda focused on her plate. She then took the moment to glance back over in the direction the boy, Ethan, sat. He had his elbows resting on the table in front of him, his hands clasped together as he looked at the guy sitting next to him.

As if he felt her eyes on him, he glanced over looking directly at Lia. They maintained eye contact for what felt like forever before he finally sent a small wave her way. This caused her face to heat up all over again, and she sent the smallest wave she could muster before turning back to her roommate.

Amanda had been oblivious to the whole reaction, Lia growing grateful as she was already getting enough crap from the other girl about how she'd reacted to the boy only minutes before.

"Wasn't he walking the opposite way?" Amanda asked, gaining Lia's attention again.

"Who?" She asked, watching as the blonde finished the last of her food altogether.

"Ethan, cute boy." She gently motioned a hand in his direction, looking at her roommate.

"Oh, I don't know. I guess so," Lia said.

"He got here awfully fast." She shrugged, "Cute boy must be an athlete in secret."

"You've called him cute three times within the last two minutes," Lia stated, raising her eyebrows. "Maybe you're projecting your crush onto me and that's why you keep saying I like him."

"Oh, girl!" Amanda let out a loud laugh, causing a few people nearby to look over at the duo. "I think that's the cutest thing you've said so far!" Lia just stared at her in confusion, Amanda continuing to let out small laughs.

"Girl, I'm-" Amanda stopped, flinging her hand in the air. "I'm totally gay."

"What?" Lia asked, shock covering her features.

"I mean he's cute, don't get me wrong. But he's not my type at all." She waved her hand, "I'm totally into girls."

"Oh-" Lia felt embarrassed yet again, "I'm so sorry, I didn't even re-"

"Honey, you're fine." Amanda rested a hand on Lia's. "You couldn't have possibly known within the last five hours or so we've known each other. There's no way you could have, even if I was wearing a shirt that stated it in big bold letters."

Lia just nodded in response, agreeing with the girl. She kind of felt even more comfortable with her roommate, thankful she had a girl like her. She was completely afraid of getting someone completely judgy, snobby, and rude. The last thing she needed was to be roomed with someone she absolutely hated.

If anything, Amanda just helped Lia's nerves more. She was completely open and herself at all times, not caring who was around or listening. Surely this would bring more confidence to Lia herself, as lately, she'd found herself having small problems with accepting who she truly was.

"Now you, on the other hand. He's definitely your type." Amanda pointed a finger, bringing Lia out of her thoughts yet again. "Not assuming you have a type, but he clearly is with how you check him out all the time."

"You know, I think I'm done with dinner." Lia smiled an assuring smile to her roommate as she stood up.

"Girl, I'm just saying!" Amanda called out from behind her, only causing a deeper red to tint her cheeks.

Lia found herself taking her time as she headed toward the sink area. It was already littered with lots of dishes, some upperclassmen washing their dishes. Apparently, there were lots of small jobs you could get on campus to make a little extra money. This consisted of washing dishes after one of the three meals, or even doing some bookwork at the giant library located in the middle of campus.

In one of the many pages that came in the packet she received when she first arrived a few days ago, there was a page with all of the places and small jobs you could do. Lia thought about checking out some of them but hadn't yet as she didn't feel ready yet.

She neatly set the silverware separate from her glass and plate, before turning to leave back to where Amanda had been sitting all by herself. A body stood in her way, and Lia jumped slightly as she rested a hand over her chest. "Shit, sorry." She apologized, almost immediately regretting opening her mouth.

Her heart began to beat fast as if it were possible, her palms growing sweaty as if it suddenly grew ten degrees hotter inside the building.

"Hello, Lia." The boy in front of her spoke, glancing the girl up from head to toe. He stood in Lia's way, so she was basically trapped between him and the corner with the sink full of dishes, not even able to get a look at her roommate who was oblivious to the exchange happening.

"W-what are you doing here Isaiah?" She asked, tapping her fingertips along her thighs quickly. She glanced nervously around her, but nobody seemed to be paying attention to the two as they were caught up in their own conversations.

"You didn't forget we were enrolled in the same college, did you?" Isaiah questioned, raising a dark eyebrow. "I mean, it was only our dream for two years."

"My dream. My. Dream." Lia pointed a shaky finger at her own chest, raising her brows at the boy in front of her. "You stated from the beginning you never wanted this, that you wanted something completely different."

"Well, I had a revelation you could say," Isaiah simply responded, seeming to not notice how uncomfortable Lia was.

"Cool. I gotta go," Lia spoke, beginning to push past the boy.

She knew it wasn't going to be that easy, however, when as soon as the boy gripped her arm to pull her back, she squeezed her eyes shut. Her arm burned from where his skin touched hers, this being the first time in a long time she felt the feeling of his skin on hers.

"What do you want, Isaiah?" Lia asked, turning back to him.

"We need to talk about what happened," He stated instead of questioning, his bushy brows furrowing together as he looked at her in concern.

"Now is not the time and you know that," Lia said with a quick shake of her head, "You're delusional if you thought you could just corner me in the mess hall like this and it would go well."

"It's been eight months, you've had plenty of time to think," Isaiah responded, ignoring her answer. "You said you needed time and I gave you plenty of that, it's time to talk about this." He stroked his thumb back and forth on her arm, causing the girl's eyes to snap down at where they were connected.

She snapped her hand back, gripping the part he'd been holding with her own hand. Her eyes met his, to which he just looked extremely sad she'd rejected him so boldly. "Well, I lied." Was all she said, the boy's eyes turning from sadness to anger.

"Why would you do that?" He asked.

"Why would you?" She counted, sending him a short glare. With those last three words, she didn't hesitate to turn around and book it out of the mess hall, finally catching the attention of her oblivious roommate.

Amanda glanced up from the Tiktok she'd been watching, her eyes snapping from the door the redhead just walked out of to the dark-haired boy standing by the dish station. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she made eye contact, not knowing who the boy is as she slowly backed up from her seat.

Her eyes then bounced back to the entrance doors, before realizing she couldn't go after Lia until she put her dishes away. Her lips pursed as she struggled to carry everything at once, gently throwing the dishes in the station as she sent a slight glare to the unknown boy.

He just sent her the same response, probably confused as to she was as well. She tore her eyes away from him, pushing open the double doors to the mess hall to find where her roommate had gone to.

Although she didn't know the boy and didn't know what had happened between him and Lia, she did know one thing; it was definitely his fault.

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2235 words.

Chapter three! Hope you're enjoying <3

I'm trying this thing where I write a chapter and then post a draft. I have 10 chapters written as of right now, so anytime I write a new chapter I post a new one for you guys so I always have 10 drafts in case something comes up and I can't write for a while lol. If that makes sense.

* This chapter isn't edited *