The sound of a blaring alarm clock wakes Nathaniel Ashwolf from his comfortable slumber. He opens his eyes to see his modest bedroom, sparsely filled with cheap furniture. It isn't anything fancy but he's happy enough to at least have a decent place to live in (better than the crumbling dormitories on-campus at least). As he rubs away the fatigue in his eyes, he hears a slow, gloomy song playing throughout his bedroom.

"Crap, I forgot to turn off my depression playlist last night," Nathan mumbles. He unplugs his phone and quickly turns the song off.

Can't be depressed today! He stretches before getting out of his bed and entering the adjoining bathroom.

It's the first day of Nathan's second quarter at the University of Accordo and he has an extended class with someone special. He checks the time as he exits the bathroom: 8:00 AM. Got ready pretty quickly, nice.

Looking through his closet, he finds some recently-bought clothes that are still clean. After putting them on, Nathan decides to make breakfast. He makes his way to the refrigerator and opens it, "Looks like there's nothing here..." He sighs and decides to just buy some food on the way to the university. He isn't a good cook anyway.

Nathan walks out of his apartment but quickly backtracks as he remembers that he's forgotten his bike's keys. After securing the front door, he sighs and continues walking to the parking lot to get to his bicycle. As he begins to unlock his bike, a familiar voice shouts, "Hey Nathan!" He looks up to see one of his best friends, Rhea.

"Oh, hey Rhea!"

"Doesn't it suck to not have a car?" Rhea teases, jingling a pair of car keys.

"Haha... very funny..."

"I won't ever understand why you don't just sell your bike and carpool with me instead," Rhea says with a smile.

Ignoring her comment, Nathan finishes unlocking his bike and, after saying a quick goodbye to Rhea, starts his 15-minute journey to the University of Accordo, a newly-redesigned campus overlooking the serene Lake Claustra.

Stopping just outside the university's Technology Center, Nathan parks his bike outside a quaint coffee shop. It's owned and operated by a guy named Denzel who used to be a member of the University of Accordo's soccer team; the Accordo Axiums. According to Denzel, he decided to abandon his aspiration of becoming a star soccer player to serve the university he loved. And so, just a couple years ago, he decided to start a coffee shop which has since become a popular hangout for both students and visitors (in reality, Denzel probably has a real reason on why he isn't a soccer player but that's a story for another time).

Nathan gets off his bike to enter the coffee shop, fittingly named the "Axium Café". He had visited the place so many times that when he walks through the door, Denzel immediately asks, "Your usual?"

Nathan nods and finds his regular seat near to the window. It really is a beautiful day but Nathan's mind is elsewhere at the moment.

I wonder if he's going to come here today...

That "he" is his crush, Jordan. Nathan knew he sometimes showed up at the Café but it was such a rare occurrence that he doesn't get his hopes up nowadays.

"Order number sixteen!" Denzel shouts behind the counter.

Nathan gets up to get his Thai tea with boba and a simple cheese sandwich. "Thanks, Denzel," he mutters as he puts some cash down on the counter.

"Let me guess, you're waiting for him?" Denzel assumes while wiping down the counter.

"Who?" Nathan asks, pretending to be clueless.

"I think you know very well who I'm talking about, Nathan," Denzel answers, a smile forming at his lips.

"It's no one, alright?!" Nathan shouts, clearly upset that Denzel knows exactly who he's thinking about.

At that moment, Jordan walks in the coffee shop. Nathan looks towards the door and immediately blushes. Realizing that Jordan probably heard him shouting, he hurriedly grabs his tea off the counter and walks back to his table. Even though Denzel is rarely surprised by his customers' behavior (considering some of the crazy stuff he's seen), he freezes as Jordan somehow decided to enter the coffee shop at the precise moment Nathan was shouting.

He quickly regains his composure and asks Jordan what he would like to order. Fortunately for Nathan, Jordan was looking at his phone and didn't hear the ruckus he made. Jordan orders a cappuccino, not taking his eyes off his phone.

"Alright, I'll get on that right away," Denzel replies, shoving the wipe underneath the counter.

Jordan goes off to the side as he waits for his order. Before taking a seat, he looks around the cafe to see if he recognizes anyone. He makes eye contact with Nathan for about three seconds before Nathan looks away, blushing.

"Shit, did he notice?" Nathan mutters to himself. Nathan continues to eat his sandwich while scrolling through social media, making a deliberate attempt to not look at Jordan.

"Order number seventeen!" Denzel shouts, wiping his forehead with a towel.

"Thanks," Jordan replies. After grabbing his drink, he walks around the café before spotting Nathan again. He had known Nathan a bit since he had been in a class with him last quarter. The fact that both of them share another class seems like some sort of miracle (perhaps fate?). He walks up to Nathan's table before asking, "Do I know you?"

"I'm Nathan, we shared a class last quarter before I dropped out," Nathan responds, putting his phone down on the table.

"Right, I remember," Jordan recalls, taking a seat without asking for permission.

As soon as he sits down, Jordan starts drinking his cappuccino. Nathan's not sure what he should do at this point (he's practically shaking) so he pulls out his phone. He texts his best friend Vincent asking for advice on what to do. Vincent replies by suggesting that Nathan should probably try to start a conversation. He sighs internally, knowing that he's probably about to make a fool of himself.

"So... you ready for that extended class today?" Nathan asks. He mentally slaps himself immediately, Really? You asked that out of literally any other question?

Jordan gives a half-hearted laugh before replying, "Yeah, I guess," still focused on his phone.

There are a few seconds of silence before Nathan attempts another question, "Uh... did you do anything fun over the break?"

"Yep, I visited my friends back in Lucis. There was a remembrance ceremony for a war in Insomnia so we went to it." Jordan answers, this time putting down his phone.

"Oh, that's cool... was it the anniversary of the Great War?" Nathan guesses, trying not to sound too nerdy.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Jordan asks, surprised. He's definitely paying attention to Nathan now.

"I used to live in Insomnia. My brother Charlie actually just started classes at the Lucian Royal Academy a few days ago," Nathan replies.

"Well, congratulations to him! I know how hard it is to get accepted into the Academy."

"Yeah, apparently he received an invitation signed by the king," Nathan says, proudly looking at the Lucian flag outside.

Jordan smiles, "You're sure proud of your brother."

Feeling more comfortable than earlier, Nathan returns his smile and says, "He means everything to me."

Nathan actually strikes up a relatively pleasant conversation with Jordan before they have to leave the coffee shop to get to class. They—much to Nathan's surprise—leave together (Nathan is obviously giddy but he's pretty good at hiding his true feelings. Either that or Jordan's just completely oblivious).

"Ready to suffer another lecture from Doctor Robinson?" Jordan teases.

"Totally," Nathan responds. Jordan holds the door open as they both enter the Technology Center. Maybe this is going to be a good day after all…