I grabbed my hoodie and keys and headed out the door. The coffee shop that Nico worked at wasn’t too far, but I didn’t want to risk a line and being late to class. I decided to take my son’s advice and give it another try with Dani. I can’t let my nerves get the best of me forever. I hopped out of my truck and headed for the entrance of the coffee shop. I was walking into the shop just as someone was leaving, bumping into me. As we collided, the cup of iced coffee in her hand was crushed between us and spilled all over her white shirt and blue jeans.

“Oh shit, I’m so sor…” I trailed off as our eyes met. Just my luck. “Dan, are you ok?”

“Of course it’s you.” She let out an irritated sigh as she wiped small ice nuggets off her shirt, “I’m fine.”

“I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.”

“It’s fine.”

“Can I get you another coffee…”

“I said it’s fine,” she interrupted forcefully. She didn’t look like she was having a very good day and I probably wasn’t making it any better. She pushed past me as she uttered, “I have to go.”

Come on, Seojun. All or nothing! “Hey Ericka,” I called out to the woman behind the counter, “my usual and whatever the woman that just left had. I’ll be right back to pay.”

“You’re lucky no one’s here, Johnny,” Ericka teased.

“You’re an angel.” I headed back to the parking lot, scanning the area for Dani. Luckily, she had parked a few spots from my truck. I needed to stop her before she left, so I called out to her, “Dani!”

She let out another heavy sigh and shut her door before turning to face me. “What?” I was taken aback by her attitude. Something bad must have happened. “Sorry, I’m just…not in the mood. So, whatever you want, just say it already.”

“I, um…I have a hoodie in my car.”

She raised a brow. “Good for you?”

“I meant you can take…wear it. It might be big, but at least it’ll hide your coffee stain.”

“I don’t need it. I can go home and…”

“You’ll be late for class. Unless you live across the street, you’re not going to have time to get home, change and get to class on time. Please, I insist.”

She stared at me as she contemplated my offer. She didn’t want to say yes, but I could tell she knew I had a point. “Fine.”

“Great! My truck’s right here!” Things are starting to look like they’re turning around with Dani! Sure I ran into her and spilled coffee on her, but she’s at least taking the hand I’m holding out to her now. This could be a new start. I can make the proper impression. I opened the passenger side door and grabbed my hoodie next to my backpack. “Here you…”

I can’t make up what happened next. As I pulled the hoodie out, my backpack fell over, spilling the contents on the floor between me and Dani. I stared in disbelief and horror as a plethora of condoms lay on the concrete between. This has Theo written all over it. What the hell was he thinking?!

“Wow,” Dani huffed a laugh.

“N-no, no. T-this…this isn’t what you think,” I tried to explain. “My friend…”

“You really don’t need to explain. It’s none of my business.”

“But it’s really not…”

“Thanks,” she interrupted as she took the hoodie from me. “I’ll get this back to you.”

“Wait, Dani…”

“Bye!” Dani yelled over her shoulder as she got in her car.

“Well, she’s never talking to me again.” She probably thinks I’m a sex-crazed maniac. I let out a frustrated laugh as I took my phone out and typed out a two-word text to Theo: You’re dead.

I went back into the coffee shop and headed straight for the bathroom to take off my stained t-shirt. I buttoned up the other shirt I had over it. It was a little more…fitting than I remember. I rolled the sleeves up to my elbows and stared at myself in the mirror. It doesn’t look too bad, but the lack of an undershirt is a bit uncomfortable. I’ll survive. I let out a heavy sigh as I grabbed my shirt and exited the bathroom.

“These are on the house,” Ericka said as she handed me a drink carrier with my two coffees.

“Nico’s hiding from me, isn’t he?”

The middle-aged woman nodded. “He’d never give up Theo, but you know he can’t resist that handsome face of yours. If I were just fifteen years younger…”

“Thank you, Ericka,” I interrupted with a chuckle. “I’ll see you later!”

I hurried back to my truck, tossing the coffee-stained shirt in the backseat before heading to campus. From the moment I arrived, I felt numerous eyes on me. My classmates acted as if they’d never seen me before. I even heard girls whispering as they wondered if I was new to class. Did I really look that different? But it seemed I wasn’t the only buzz about the classroom thanks to their new look. I knew my hoodie would be big on Dani, but she looked like she was practically drowning in it…and she looked damn good in it too. She’d changed out of her jeans as well. You could barely see the bottom of her bike shorts peaking out under the hem of my hoodie, showing off her long tan legs.

I needed to stop staring or I’ll get myself into some trouble. I quickly left her replacement coffee on her desk and a note saying “sorry” before taking my seat. I could see Jeff in the doorway arguing with someone out of view. I’ve only ever seen him laughing or smiling, so the frustrated look on his face was unsettling. I saw a hand shove him and nearly jumped out of my seat. But Jeff just pulled his backpack on his shoulder and walked into the classroom. His expression changed immediately when he saw me, flashing a smile and waving as he joined me at the desk.

“Hey, the new look is good on you,” he said as if he hadn’t just been assaulted a few moments ago. “I saw Dani walking to class earlier. She’s going for a new look too. But that hoodie she’s wearing is huge on her, it’s gotta be a guy’s.”

“Maybe she likes oversized clothes. That’s a style isn’t it?”

“Yea, it’s called the boyfriend look where you wear your boyfriend’s clothes.”

I gripped the pen in my hand tighter. I don’t know why I’m so upset. I know that she’s wearing my hoodie. Part of me wanted to tell everyone, but that would cause another misunderstanding. I have no right to feel jealous. She isn’t my girlfriend. She won’t even have a proper conversation with me.

“If she doesn’t have a boyfriend, she’s only going to get more popular looking like that,” Jeff noted. “You might want to ease up on that p…”

Snap.

“Nevermind.” Jeff sighed before mumbling, “The pen didn’t do anything to you.”

“Shit,” I gasped once I realized what I’d done. I grabbed a napkin from my backpack and wiped off as much of the ink from my hand as I could.

“Oh look Dani, someone left you coffee,” Layla pointed out excitedly.

I glanced over my shoulder as Dani and Layla reached their desk. Dani picked up the iced coffee and a small smile crept across her face. Suddenly, I wasn’t so mad. Knowing I had a small part in making her smile made me really happy.

“Excuse me?” someone called. I looked up to see two of our female classmates standing in front of us. A sense of deja vu and dread ran through me when I laid eyes on the girl speaking. She looked eerily like Annie. Her strawberry blonde hair went just past her shoulders. She looked at me with her light blue eyes as if she knew what she wanted. “This might be forward of us, but my friend and I have been wanting to tell you guys…”

She giggled as she blushed and turned away. “You said, you’d do it!” her brunette friend giggled as turned her to face me.

“W-we think you guys are really cute.”

I was still in shock from the similarities between her and Annie, I couldn’t respond. Jeff must have noticed because he cleared his throat before responding, “Thanks. We’re flattered.”

“Would you want to go out with us sometime?” she asked as she tucked a strand of reddish blonde hair behind her ear.

Jeff nudged me with his elbow. “Say something,” he whispered to me.

“I…um…I…” Why wasn’t the word ‘no’ coming out? I wanted to say no, but the words won’t leave my lips. I felt panic rising deep within me.

“All we do is fight! Neither of us is happy, is that the kind of family you want for this kid? A dad that can’t tell his mom he loves her and a mom that resents his dad? Why make all three of our lives miserable just so you can save face to your family? They don’t even know yet. It can be like it never happened…”

“Hey.” My thoughts were interrupted when an empty cup of coffee was placed in front of me. It took me a moment to realize that Dani was standing beside me, her hand on her hip. “I told you; you didn’t have to get me another coffee,” she said. She was talking to me as if we did this every day.

All eyes were on us at this point. No doubt everyone was wondering what was going on. I was one of those people. I stared up at her, eyes full of curiosity.

My eyes widened when she put her hand on my bicep and slowly moved it up the curve of my shoulder. “I’ll return your sweater later…tonight. Ok?”

I just stared at her more confused than ever. She made a small, unnoticeable nodding motion and gave me a look telling me I should nod too. I nodded back, still completely bewildered.

“Perfect, see you tonight.” She winked at me and went back to her seat as a sea of whispers erupted throughout the classroom.

What the fuck was that?!