My room was colder than I expected. My luggage had been limited on the flight over and now I found myself longing for the abundance of cozy blankets I had at home. Sighing, I sat up and switched my light on, looking around my new room.

It was a little worn, clearly having housed countless students before me, but nice enough once I'd strung up fairy lights and stuck photos from home to my wall. It was a two bedroom apartment, with two girls, Alice and Maya, sharing the other room. After my first year of university back in England having a room to myself, one of the biggest things I'd worried about my year abroad was how I'd deal with having a roommate. But, when I arrived at the accommodation services to pick up my key, I was informed that the girl I was supposed to share with had withdrawn her place last minute so, unless someone else ended up needing it, I had the room to myself.

After my first evening with my new flatmates, they seemed nice. Alice was the sweetest girl I'd ever met, with Rapunzel-esque long blonde hair and big blue eyes to match. She spoke in a soft, melodic voice, like she was an actual Disney princess. Maya, on the other hand, was the total opposite. When I met her briefly in the kitchen earlier she'd been a little intimidating; her dark eyes were accentuated by sharply winged eyeliner and her lips were tinted a deep berry shade. Plus, she towered over me at what must have been six feet tall.

But I was thousands of miles away from anyone I knew so for now Alice and Maya were my best bet at not spending the next four years a total loner. Slowly, I clambered out of bed, tugging my fluffy robe on over my pyjamas.

I padded out of my room and across the hall to kitchen/living room; to my surprise both of my flatmates were on the sofa.

"Can't sleep either?" Alice asked when she saw me.

I shook my head. "It's too cold and... different."

Maya patted the space next to her on the sofa. "Come join us. We were just saying we should do some game - never have I ever, that kind of thing - to get to know each other better."

I complied, sitting down beside Maya and tucking my feet underneath myself. Already, I felt a little less lonely, a little less lost.

"Oh, I know! Let's play twenty questions!" Alice exclaimed. Usually, I wasn't a big fan of ice breakers, but Alice's enthusiasm was contagious. "I'll Google some now."

I glanced across at Maya, who was smiling to herself. "Sounds good," she told Alice.

"Ooh, here's a good one!" Alice said, grinning. "Have you ever been in love?"

As we'd learned from her answers so far, Alice was a romantic. She'd been with her boyfriend, Sam, for two years and was clearly totally in love with him.

"Not me," Maya said. "I'm one for brief flings only, a bit of fun, nothing more. I'm too young to be in love."

"You can never be too young for love!" Alice countered, then turned to me, the quietest member of our new trio. "What do you think, Sydney?"

I sighed, fingers absently tugging at my pyjama shirt sleeves. "Actually, I agree with Alice on this one. I have been in love - once."

"How old were you?" Maya asked.

"Thirteen," I replied quickly, well aware of how ridiculous it sounded. At the time I'd felt mature, but now, at nineteen, thirteen seemed like nothing more than a child. "He was fourteen."

Alice leaned forward, eyes sparkling. Evidently, I had piqued her curiosity. Maya was looking at me intently too, as though I were some unknown creature she was seeing for the first time and wasn't quite sure what to make of it

"So, what happened?" asked Alice. "Did he love you back?"

"I'm, uh, I'm not sure," I replied slowly. "I never got the chance to ask him... never told him how I felt either."

It felt weird talking about this; it had been my secret little story for six years and here I was telling two near strangers. But, comfortingly, they didn't seem to be judging me, they were simply curious.

When neither spoke, I continued. "He lived opposite me and I had the biggest crush on him. We hung out together all the time for about five months; we even kissed, once."

"Then what?" Alice persisted.

"Then... he left. I woke up one morning and looked outside and his house was empty, no cars on the drive or anything, just a For Sale sign outside. Nobody knew where they'd gone, or why. So that was it. I was hopelessly in love with him and overnight he was just gone," I explained, surprising myself at the sadness that tinged my voice. I hadn't realised until I was speaking about it again just how deep my hurt had gone, to the point that it still affected me now.

"Boys are trash," Maya commented, rolling her eyes.

Alice swatted her arm with a cushion. "Don't say that Maya! I'm sure it wasn't his fault that he had to move."

"Could have told her though."

"Yeah, I was pretty mad for a while," I admitted. "I tried texting him but none of them would send, and when I called it said his number had been disconnected. I've tried searching him up on Facebook occasionally, but he's nowhere to be seen."

When I stopped talking, shifting my gaze from the patch of slightly discoloured linoleum floor and to their faces, I saw that my new flatmates were both looking at me earnestly.

Then, a small, almost mischievous grin grew on Alice's face. "Well, maybe you could be about to stumble upon the love of your life and you won't even remember that boy from when you were thirteen."

Maya shrugged, as though considering the possibility, then added, "Everyone will dig your British accent, to be fair."

I laughed, then replied, "I'm not sure I'm looking to find the love of my life right now."

***

I could feel my ponytail swinging as I walked with a spring in my step. With my books in my arms and an accomplished smile on my face, I felt like a picture from a glossy college brochure: student walks through campus in late August. My first class had gone well, despite my nerves.

I was almost back at my flat when I spotted a sign for a coffee shop, above a frosted glass window that emitted a soft glow from inside. Admittedly, I wasn't supposed to be spending unnecessary money on things like fancy coffees, but one wouldn't hurt. Besides, I was celebrating not making a fool of myself in front of my classmates.

So, I shifted my path and went into the coffee shop, which was bustling with students. There were five people waiting in front of me, with only one frantic person making the drinks and serving customers. Sighing, I turned to leave, figuring the wait wasn't worth it. I had a nap to get home for, after all.

But then something caught my eye. Or, rather, someone. He was at the front of the line, stepping up to be served as I watched. From behind all I could see was his heavily styled blond hair. He was notably tall, and his stance suggested he felt too small for his height. Something about him caught my eye.

My attention was fixated on the back of this stranger when the door swung open behind me and someone barged directly into me.

"Hey!" I snapped as they passed me without offering an apology.

I glimpsed a blue jacket, but looked straight back to the stranger at the counter, who was turning around with his coffee in his hand.

He was grinning as he exclaimed, "Pearson!"

The guy in the blue jacket who'd collided with me walked up to him, entering my eye-line, and for a second I couldn't breathe.

"Pearson," I echoed, heart pounding.

The stranger I'd been curiously fixated on moments ago now faded into the background, inconsequential next to him. Carter Pearson, just as brilliant as I remembered. Taller, older, hotter - but undoubtedly him. My head was spinning. How did I move thousands of miles only to come across my early-teen crush at my local coffee place?

Carter and his friend were caught up in their conversation, moving towards one of the tables which had just become vacant. Carter sat down, and the other guy placed his drink on the table and said something, then walked towards the door marked with a male stick figure in the corner of the room.

Seizing my chance, and the courage that came with being totally dumbfounded, I strode towards him. He looked up as I approached, and I desperately searched his expression for recognition.

"Hi, Carter," I said, trying my best to sound nonchalant.

He stared blankly at me for a moment. I could practically see the cogs whirring in his head as he tried to figure out how this random girl knew his name. My stomach sank; for a heartbreaking, humiliating moment I thought, he doesn't remember me.

But then it was like something clicked. His disbelief mirrored my own as is face broke out into a wide smile.

"Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine," he said slowly, eyes not leaving mine.

Just like that, I felt like a thirteen-year-old all over again, dizzy and blushing as Carter reached out for my hand while Casablanca flickered on the screen in front of us.

I laughed. "Impressive memory you've got there."

He shrugged, in that way of his that was somehow both modest and cocky. My eyes drank in all of him from up close. His hair was a little darker than I remembered and looked slightly dishevelled, as though a hand had been run through it once too many times. His eyes, the eyes that had featured in my daydreams long after he left, were as bright blue and expressive as always.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted a coffee," I replied, knowing it wasn't what he was asking, but enjoying the way it made him laugh.

"I mean Yale. This country, even."

I was about to reply when Carter's friend returned.

"Who's the girl, Carter?" he asked, smirking with an air of knowing that made me go cold.

"Oh, just an old friend," Carter answered casually with a fleeting glance up at me. "Don't worry, Kyle, it's nothing Olivia wouldn't be happy with."

"Better not be," Kyle replied. "You know I told you that if you break my sister's heart, I'll kill you."

"I can't break her heart, we're not even together, really. It's not serious; you know that's not me."

Standing awkwardly next to the table as the pair chatted, I considered just silently slipping away. But I decided this wasn't fair; Carter couldn't just cast me off as an old friend of no real interest. I coughed, making his attention shift back to me.

"I'll be going then," I said bluntly. "I'll see you around, Carter."

"Wait!" he blurted out. He grabbed a paper napkin from the table. "Have you got a pen?"

I passed him the one from my pocket, making sure my fingers didn't touch his as I did. I could barely comprehend even seeing him, so any of kind of touching would have to wait, or else I might just spontaneously combust.

Carter scribbled a number on the napkin and gave it to me. "Text me and we can catch up. Soon."

"Okay, sure," I said, barely able to hide my smile at the way he'd added soon. "Bye."

When I got back to my flat, without having bought a coffee after all, Alice was sat at the kitchen table eating a bowl of mac and cheese. She looked up and smiled when I walked in.

"How was your first class?" Alice asked.

"It was good," I replied. I'd almost forgotten about the class that had only half an hour ago felt so significant. I dumped my stuff on the table and sat down opposite her. "You know the boy I talked about the other night, the one from when I was thirteen? Well, he's here."

"Oh my god!" Alice exclaimed, squealing with a childlike glee I'd never known anyone have about someone else's life. "This is like a movie! It's fate!"

I laughed. "Except when he has a girlfriend now and I get the feeling he's maybe a player."

"But is he still cute?" she persisted.

"Even cuter than I remembered," I replied, groaning and burying my face in my hands.

Just then, I heard the kitchen door bang shut. I looked up to see Maya walking in. Judging by her appearance, she'd only just got in from the night before.

"Hey, Maya," I greeted her, careful not to speak too loudly in case she was hungover. "Good night last night?"

Surprisingly though, Maya was chipper and bright-eyed. She nodded, walking across to the fridge and taking out a bottle of iced tea. "Hooked up with possibly the hottest girl on earth."

I laughed, gathering my things and heading to my room. Inside, I threw myself onto my bed, sighing heavily.

One of my hands strayed to my pocket, rubbing the napkin with Carter's number on between my thumb and forefinger. It was too soon to text him, right? I didn't have much experience, but I was pretty sure the rule was to wait a day, or something.

Except I wasn't trying to date him, was I?

There were definitely no unwritten rules about when to text the guy who was your first kiss six years ago and now happened to attend the same college as you. So, forcing myself not to overthink it, I pulled the napkin from my pocket and typed the number into my phone.

Hi Carter, it's Sydney Sherwood. So weird but cool bumping into you earlier! I'd love to meet up soon - when are you free? xx

I chewed on my bottom lip, thumb hovering over the send button, then deleted it. Too eager. Maybe I didn't want to date him, but I still wanted to make a good impression.

Hey this is Sydney.

Scrunching my nose in frustration, I deleted that version too. As much as I didn't want to seem overly eager, I still wanted to give him reason to reply.

Hi Carter, it's Sydney. Can't believe I bumped into you earlier! Want to catch up?

Still not quite happy with it, but figuring it was acceptable, I hit send. My heart was pounding as though I'd just taken a huge risk. Perhaps I had. I may have only spoken to him for a couple of minutes, but I had a feeling Carter's reappearance was going to cause some trouble in my carefully planned life.