Jaime wakes up feeling like shit, his face numb and his eyes swollen from crying all night long. Even worse, he has lectures until the afternoon today. He grabs his bag to take out the book from yesterday's subject to change with today's subject, and he finds out the paper that Adam gave to him. Band-Aid band audition. Tomorrow. He grabs his phone from the top of the drawers and types quickly.

Jaime:

Adam, can we meet today?

For the task?

Adam :

Sure, Jaime ;)

At the library after the lunch break, is that alright?

Jaime:

Sure!

See you there! ^^

After taking a bath he grabs his bag and heads to the living room hurriedly. Mikey seems already left. He glances into the kitchen and finds a sandwich with a sticky note.

‘stop bawling and eat the sandwich, you look like shit'

–your amazing roommate’

A warmness spreads to his heart as he smiles. He remembers how he arrived at the dorm last night, slammed the door open, and startled Mikey who was watching on the couch. Jaime told everything to him and how he was probably jobless now. He skipped the who’s guy that helped him since his roommate would be in hysterics if he knew it was Skylar from Band-Aid band and Jaime didn’t have the energy to handle him. Mikey offered to pay fully the rent until he gets another job and it seems Jaime doesn’t have a choice, but he really needs to find a job immediately because he knows Mikey is nothing more than a broke college student just like him.

Jaime shoves the sandwich into his mouth, he opens the refrigerator to rummage the food supplies. It’s not like he has a lot of food stock, he keeps the precious one on the back, something he’ll eat only on a special occasion. He puts it in his bag and leaves the dorm.

He’s earlier than usual, on any other day he arrives at uni 45 minutes before the class starts, waiting at the library to skim the theory for that day. He hates to come unprepared, so it’s better to lessen his anxiety in the class, which is still unfamiliar to him.

He walks through the corridor. The lecture still doesn’t start yet and the locker corridor is one of the hot spots where people mingle before the bell rings. Gossiping with their friends, making out with their lover, or sneaking some secret gift to someone else’s locker. He can’t relate tho, but hopefully, someday he can be one of them.

Jaime catches someone he had been searching for, standing in front of – he assumes his locker. He seems to put something there. Jaime stands beside him. He isn’t sure how to start so he clears his throat and makes his presence clear.

Skylar closes his locker and finds Jaime standing behind it. He seems both awkward and nervous, fidgeting with his sweater paw. He notices his puffy eyes but strangely, it makes him look soft and adorable.

“Hi..Uhm…getting ready for a morning class?” Jaime asks he’s grateful for sound steady and not stuttering.

“no.. already back home” he answers sarcastically but chuckles, nonetheless

Jaime rolls his eyes, partly because of his stupid question. He briefly catches a book on Skylar’s locker. 1Q84

“you’ve read Murakami?” Jaime asks after seeing the cover of the first book of 1Q84. The boy seems to notice the book that Jaime referring to. He smiles smugly,

“you’ve heard about him?” Skylar asks sounds like a don’t-pretend-you-know-but-you-don’t tone like with his annoying smirks. The truth is finally after 2 months Skylar almost finishes the book (he barely not tho) and actually, he borrows it from Adam and it turns out pretty interesting. He enjoys reading this kind of book recently, it helps him to write good lyrics.

Jaime grins bitterly at Skylar’s cocky remark “ouch”

“I kid, I kid” Skylar’s lips quirks in to smile, eventually

“I already finished 3 of them. It’s worth it, really. I won’t give a spoiler but my advice is don’t think too rationally when you read them” Jaime informs him this time he braves enough to stare at his eyes.

“you didn’t just make it up aren’t you so you would look like a damn smartass?” he accuses squinted his eyes, looking over Jaime from head to toe as he can’t believe someone like Jaime reads them

Jaime’s eyes widen comically as feels being scandalous by the mint haired boy who just Jaime noticed has some freckles on his natural flush cheek “reading Murakami won’t make you look smart Skylar, I bet you read them just for your lyric right?”

Instead of looking offended, Skylar laughs, and for the first time, Jaime notices this boy has a pretty gummy smile. There are a lot of things Jaime just discovers from him, and maybe a lot of things he still doesn’t know yet, and it makes him more curious. “How do you know?”

“Oh cmon, there’s no other reason a music writer read Murakami besides for inspiration” well, Jaime probably did not just make it up this time, he was just simply good at reading people, that’s all.

Skylar nods and agreed as he is leaning his shoulder toward the locker door “yeah, to be honest, it didn’t catch my interest at first. You know the plot is quite slow. It's just not something I usually read” he explains.

Jaime would be a lie if he says he doesn’t surprise, the boy who wears black fiercely like no one can, huge ripped on his jeans, worn-out leather jacket hugs his broad shoulder. The boy with the looks screams nothing than ferocious, reading a book in his spare time? That’s…unusual.

“what are you usually read then?” Jaime grows curious he doesn’t realise it he sounds obvious with it.

Skylar pouts while he thinks “Before this, I read ‘me before you’ by Jojo Moyes”

Jaime can’t laugh but burst in to laugh “so your style is tear-jerker romance huh?” he teases between a laugh

“hey, I like the plot tho” he pokes his inner cheek, pretends to look annoyed but smirks, nonetheless

They stare at each other for a few seconds. Jaime always considers himself to be really good at reading people. At first, he thought of Skylar as one of the most impulsive people he met, his fierce style, his annoying demeanour, and how he solves the problem with his punch. He thought he was nothing more than a bad kid who likes a party and messing around, he was everything that his parents told him to stay away from. But apparently, the boy has a lot of surprises. Jaime stares at his freshly dyed mint green, and he doesn’t know if someone can pull that hair stunningly, there’s a heat spread on his cheeks. Shit- what the hell he was thinking?

Jaime clears his throat to lessen the tension “umm…anyway, here” Jaime hands him an apple that he brought from the dorm. He’s sure his face is as red as the apple, he can’t look at Skylar’s eyes.

Skylar raises one of his eyebrows. “An apple?”

“umm..yeah..sorry for last night and thank you for saving me” he murmurs

Skylar receives the apple eventually. “I do not forgive you that easily tho, though I’ll think about it,” he says with his lopsided smirk

Jaime rolls his eyes and is ready to retort when someone calls Skylar’s name in a squeaky voice. A girl with a petite frame, light golden hair, smoky eyes and burgundy lipstick, wears a black T with a graphic of red roses on the front, a chequered mini skirt on his slim waist with a fishnet stocking underneath. The girl throws herself to Skylar and gives him a soft peck on his cheek, Jaime can’t help but look away.

“I’m looking for you everywhere babe” her sultry voice sends a cringe to Jaime’s nape. 

Stella Mckenzie is the hottest and most controversial girl because of the many scandals that follow behind her name. There's a joke behind the boys that you're not popular if you haven't made out with Stella at the party, and Jaime still can't understand why such a wild and adventurous girl can date the grumpy and introverted Skylar.

But apart from the differences in personality, they are similar in a way.

Even some random people on the street would have guessed they’re a couple just by the way she dresses. Like Bonnie and Clyde or joker and Harley Quinn. Visually, they look good together.

Skylar himself seems to notice the awkwardness. His face is stoic, but he places his hand on the girl’s waist. Jaime finds some hickeys hiding on her collarbone, and there are some ugly feelings creeping on his chest, suffocating his breath, and making him dizzy. Jaime needs to go before the disgust on his face becomes visible. Maybe Skylar is indeed impulsive, like any other bad kid.

Jaime clears his throat “I gotta go, once again I’m sorry” this time he makes sure he keeps his face to remain unfazed.