SEBASTIAN
So far, my impression of Audrey Parkinson is:
1. Extremely intelligent, she is the golden cupid, she takes the lead in her missions and never fails (and not to mention, she's in her second year of university at 18).
2. She doesn't show that many emotions to those she doesn't trust or know. When I first met her she marched into the room without any emotion on her face, I felt intimidated, to be honest as I hang out with very emotional guys that are always laughing and joking around.
3. Though she may not show many emotions, when she does, she's very cute.
4. She cares a lot about her friends. The amount of times I've seen her acting as a mother figure to Libby is uncountable. Not only that but she was very kind and calmed me down when I began to panic.
This then brings me to my last point:
5. When in a car with her, you can let loose and have a total jamming session with her.
At this moment in time, I am watching the usually stoic and strict Audrey singing at the top of her lungs. Is it weird? Yes, but even though I'm not used to it, I'm joining in and singing along with her (unfortunately my voice isn't as beautiful as hers). It's as weird as seeing a pig fly, but nevertheless, it brings a smile to the face.
"We should all go on a trip somewhere, like a music festival or something. I need to see more of wild Audrey." I smirked, laughing when I feel a light tap on my arm. "Did you just hit me?"
"Besides the fact that you're making fun of me, I would like to go to a music festival sometime, I've never been and it seems fun. And if you thought I just hit you then I'd hate to see the day I actually do." She comments, keeping her eyes on the road.
We pull up to Rowell Academy, walking over to the university building, making small talk along the way.
"Hey, Sebby! What up man? Who's this pretty lady? Oh! You're from the apartment, aren't you?" The energetic Marcus, asks, nudging me in the ribs.
"Marcus Steinwell meet Audrey Parkinson." I gesture between them, waving when Logan comes over. "Logan, meet Audrey."
"Hello again Audrey." Logan greets, earning a gasp from both Marcus and me.
"Again?" We chorused in surprise.
"I'm an acquaintance of her older sister Margo, I guess. So naturally, I'd know Audrey. Sorry for not saying hello to you the other day, Sebastian just kinda rushed in and slammed the door on us." He chuckled, making Audrey laugh.
"Hey!" I lightly punch him in the shoulder.
"So why are you," Marcus points at me, "with a beautiful girl like her?" he asks, causing me to dramatically gasp, holding my hand over my heart.
Can I tell him? Would Audrey allow that? What if I did?
"He's my boyfriend. "
"What?" Marcus shouts, "she's your girlfriend? How did you do that? You gotta teach me, man!" I can feel myself becoming dizzy by him vigorously shaking me.
"Please stop," I grunted, steadying myself.
"Ah. I get it." Logan smiled, looking at Audrey and smiling at me when she nods at him.
"What? What is it?" Marcus asks, beginning to shake Logan. I glance at him, pitying him.
"Nothing." We all chorused, earning a weirded-out gaze from Marcus.
We all walked to our individual lecture halls, I went to the Law seminar, Marcus went to Art, Logan to Music and Audrey to science. The next few hours went by slower than ever, I felt that every time I looked at my phone the time never changed or only a minute had gone by. I was anxious to get out but I didn't know why.
AUDREY
"Audrey!" I turn around to see an energetic Sebastian, running towards me.
"Hey, how was your lecture?" I ask, walking to my car. The sun glared at us, burning us with its touch. The university grounds were crowded with students enjoying the beautiful weather, they were everywhere, seeking shade under the trees and even lying on the grass.
"It was boring, I couldn't wait to leave. Where are we going?" He squints towards me, sheltering his eyes with his hand. His smile was so bright I almost had to do the same thing, shielding my eyes from a different but still as bright object.
"I thought, since the weather's nice, we could take a trip to the beach." I shrug, rummaging through my bag for my keys. "What?"
When I look back at him he has a confused look on his face but his smile is still as bright; this is when we take out the sunglasses. "No, it's just, most girls at this academy prefer an expensive restaurant or something high class." He commented, having to almost bend in half from getting into the car.
"Really? I always knew most of the girls were spoiled. I don't understand them, I never really had time for the fancy things." I put the car in gear and let the music fill the air around us. "This place has really good ice cream," I added.
When we arrived, the familiar ice cream shop stood, basking in the sunlight. We entered, marching straight up to the counter and ordering. Luckily it was pretty clear but it was only a matter of minutes before a wave of kids come in demanding their icy salvation from this blistering heat.
We make our way to a cluster of giant rocks, licking our ice creams and trying not to fall of the boulders as we climb. Settling down, we begin to ask each other the normal 'getting to know you' questions like what is your favourite colour and etcetera.
"Wait, so if you are doing law, then what about your parent's company?" I see him look out to the horizon, our ice creams long gone.
"I'm lucky I guess. I have an older brother, Jackson, he graduated from Rowell Academy with a degree in fashion and designing. He's going to take over the company." He explains, turning to face me with a sombre look on his face.
"What's wrong? Is it not a good thing?" I cock my head to the side in confusion.
"No! No! It's a great thing. It's just that, well, my brother is extremely talented when it comes to fashion but I feel like I'm, useless. I don't fit into the family. My mother is a fashion designer, a very good one at that, my father is as well but is better known for his skills as an artist, and brother...well, he's both. Me? I am a tragic mess when it comes to art, I'm hopeless. I'm just not needed and I don't follow the trend." He sighs heavily, once again watching the waves.
"I don't think you need to, fit the trend I mean. Yes, you're different but in a good way. You're unique," I see him turn to protest but I continue before he can, "Your skills can bring evil or wrongdoings to justice."
His eyes widen, his frown is gone and replaced with a smile instead. "I didn't expect that. Most people would go on and on about how it makes me who I am and how there's no one like me. Thank you."
I nudge him in the arm with my elbow, "You're welcome. And don't think you're useless, your skills could be great for your parent's company, they wouldn't need someone to look over contracts and whatnot for them, they'd have you. To be honest, I think being a lawyer is pretty awesome. Have you managed to have a trial case without crying yet?"
"I'm not that hopeless. I may be way too energetic and seem like a constant reminder of why too much sugar is bad but I'm different when it comes to that. I actually find it hard to display emotions never mind hiding them." He hops off the rock, holding out his arms towards me. "Don't worry, I'll catch you."
I jump down, landing in his arms, "I would never have expected that from you Mr I-don't-know-what-a-sugar-limit-is."
We continue our light-hearted interrogation on our way back to the car until we a flash of red hair and a navy-blue skirt.
"Rachel, we can see you," Sebastian states flatly, staring emotionless at the red-head who is currently hiding behind a lamppost, yeah that's not obvious at all.
She slowly comes out from behind it and I begin to analyse her. She is holding car keys, meaning she followed us in her car and tried to make a dash for it when we left the beach. She's also wearing sunglasses, that's probably to hide her face. This girl would make a horrible spy.
"I was just...getting some ice cream! Yeah! I was getting ice cream." She blurts after seeing the shop across from the beach, probably for the first time.
"I've known you my whole life and you hate public beaches, also, you're lactose intolerant." I'm beginning to understand what he meant when he said he didn't convey emotions at times, his voice is harder than steel and flatter than a fizzy drink left in the open for a week.
Her face reddens as she forcefully blows out a breath. "So? I don't know her, I don't trust her. I want you to be happy and safe, even if it isn't with me. Suddenly you have a girlfriend who I've never seen before, she pops out of nowhere. How was I not meant to get suspicious?"
I turn away from a fuming Rachel and face Sebastian who has a dark look on his face. "I appreciate your concern but I couldn't care less about your suspicions. Audrey is my girlfriend and I am happy when I'm with her so you can give it a rest. Stop this spy act or whatever it is and just let us be. Come on Audrey, let's go." He replies coldly, gently grasping my hand and leading me to my car.
"Sebastian wait." Rachel cries out, beginning to follow us.
"No. What don't you understand? She makes me happy, I love her, so drop it. Goodbye." With that we go to the car, leaving her behind.
Before we get in the car we hear her shout at us, her hands in fists and her eyes shining with determination. "I'm not giving up!" She stomps off in the opposite direction to her car, leaving us with nothing to say, the sound of crashing waves filling the silence.
The drive back is silent with music and the roaring of the engine being the only sounds. I take a glance at Sebastian as he stares out his window, I can't see his face but the clenching and unclenching of his hands tells me everything.
"Thanks for defending me there. If it's any constellation, I'm sure you would make a great boyfriend." I chuckled.
He turns to me with a smile, laughing, "Thank you. It kinda felt cool, defending my girlfriend."
"You really dropped the 'l' bomb there," I snickered, "she makes me happy, I love her." I quote, making him laugh as I try to deepen my voice to imitate him.
"Don't make fun of me, I really felt it was necessary in the heat of the moment. I'm just sorry that she's causing so much trouble for you, I've known her for fifteen years but I didn't know she could get like this." He ran his hand through his hair, laughing dryly.
"All girls are like a well. The deeper the feelings the more pressure we feel. I guess guys can get like that too if it's about whatever or whoever they love. I took this case for a reason Sebastian," I glance at him before focusing on the road, "You're a good guy and you don't seem like the type of person to ask for help unless they need it. I also wouldn't have taken it if I couldn't handle it, believe me, I've had worse things thrown in my face."
I can feel his gaze on me, I know he wants to ask but he decides not to. He then reaches over and turns up the music, beginning to sing along. Feeling the tension disperse, I begin to sing along as well, trying to forget.
SEBASTIAN
When I reached my dorm I made a beeline to my bed, but I couldn't sleep. I glanced around the spacious room, watching the light from the lamp posts glow on the wall. The moonlight streamed through the window, glinting off the kitchen counter and the coffee table.
"I've had worse things thrown in my face? What did she mean?" I groan in frustration.
What things? With who? Why did she tense up, she was practically strangling the steering wheel. Why can't she smile properly either?
The questions circled my brain, keeping me awake. Finally, I concluded that I would make her smile, a proper smile. With that I fell asleep, dreaming of the girl who couldn't smile.