Scene: The café
Two smoothies. One awkward table. And me trying not to overthink this "totally not a date."
Anaya:
"So… what's your deal?"
Riyan:
"My deal?"
Anaya:
"Yeah. You walk around like you own the campus. Perfect scores. Everyone likes you. There's gotta be something weird about you."
He smiled at first. But then his expression changed — just a little.
Riyan:
"Maybe I'm just good at pretending."
Anaya:
"…That's deep for a guy who made five jokes in the library."
Riyan:
"Everyone has a version of themselves they show to the world. Mine just happens to smile a lot."
I didn't expect that. I stared at him for a second, trying to figure out what he meant.
Anaya:
"So you're secretly sad? Or secretly boring?"
Riyan: (laughing)
"Definitely not boring."
We both laughed. The awkward wall between us… softened a little.
Just then, someone appeared beside our table.
Tanya (my best friend):
"OHHHHHHHHHH. What's this?"
I nearly dropped my smoothie.
Anaya:
"Tanya?! What are you doing here?!"
Tanya:
"I came for a cold coffee and walked into a rom-com. Who's the guy?"
Riyan:
"I'm the rival she can't stop thinking about."
Anaya:
"He's nobody. This isn't what it looks like."
Tanya: (smirking)
"It looks like a date."
Anaya:
"It's not a date!"
Tanya:
"Then why do you have that 'I accidentally like him' face?"
I glared at her. She winked and walked away.
Riyan: (smiling)
"I like her. She's fun."
Anaya:
"She's trouble."
Riyan:
"So are you."
He sipped his smoothie and looked at me with that unreadable expression again.
Riyan:
"You ever feel like people expect you to be a certain way… but you don't always want to be?"
I blinked.
Anaya:
"All the time."
And just like that, something shifted.
For the first time, we weren't throwing sarcasm.
We were… just talking.
Real words. Real tone. Real people.
Anaya (thinking):
Who knew the guy who annoyed me the most could also make me feel weirdly safe?
I looked away before I said something dumb.
Anaya:
"Okay, I think that's enough feelings for one day."
Riyan: (laughing)
"Agreed."
We got up and started walking out. He didn't try to hold my hand. He didn't say anything cheesy.
But just before we parted ways, he turned and said
"You know… for someone who claims she hates me, you're not doing a great job."
Anaya:
"Shut up, Sen."
And yet… I smiled the whole way home.