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pumpkin spice

I WALKED THROUGH THE HALLWAYS, my shoes squeaking against the tiles and my head already pounding after an hour of writing notes about kidneys and nephrons. I sighed, rubbing my forehead with my cold fingers, my other hand clutching my books to my chest.

In my tired daze, I'd grabbed the wrong books, meaning I'd have to stop by my locker before the next class to grab the correct textbooks.

Riley walked beside me, a bounce in her step, chattering on and on about how worried she'd been at Arthur Andrew's party on Saturday – as if she hadn't already given me an earful all Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. William walked beside her, his eyes vacant as if he wasn't listening, but nodding haughtily nevertheless.

I pursed my lips, barely listening, when suddenly, she fell silent and came to a stop.

I paused beside her, blinking.

"What –"

I didn't have to finish my sentence. I dragged my eyes from the hallway floor to follow Riley's gaze. Beside my locker, Isaac Hensick stood. His normally tousled hair had been brushed back, exposing his glowing face under the fluorescent light. He sent me a boyish smirk as he leaned against the lockers, his arms crossed over his classic leather jacket.

"Aspirin."

"Isaac," I sputtered eventually, furrowing my brow. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," he answered simply with a shrug.

I opened my mouth to reply when Riley interrupted.

"We'll meet you later, Asp," she whispered, clutching onto William's arm and dragging him away. She sped down the hallway, glancing back at me to send me a wink and a squeal before bounding away. William was pulled after her, his brow furrowed in confusion. I ripped my gaze from their retreating backs to look back at the smirking boy in front of me.

Isaac's eyes remained focused on mine, studying me. The corner of his mouth twitched up in a half-smile and he lifted a brow at me. My face heated beneath his sharp stare, but I swallowed my nerves and continued facing him.

"I didn't see you at the café today," he said eventually.

I blushed, my eyes moving to my locker. I pulled it open and he moved to stand upright, hovering over my shoulder as I dumped my books into my locker with a loud clatter – I was much too tired to be organised.

"I woke up late so I couldn't go." It wasn't a lie. Not entirely.

I had drifted to sleep close to sunrise and couldn't force myself out of bed in time to stop by the café. But I knew if I had woken up on time, I would've skipped it today anyway.

I just wasn't sure I was ready to face Isaac again after embarrassing myself in front of him.

He'd seen me at my lowest – my hair matted and make-up runny. He'd seen me panic after, what, a party? A normal, teenage party? It was a surprise he was even still talking to me.

"Lucky for you, I'm the greatest friend in the world." I turned to see him holding out a takeaway coffee cup, the logo of Café de Fleur printed on the front. "Soy latte, no sugar."

I hadn't even noticed he was holding it. I took the cup from him, smiling meekly as our fingers brushed. My cheeks felt hot and his words echoed in my ears – he thought we were friends.

"Thanks," I muttered, slamming my locker shut with my other hand.

We were silent for a moment, me shifting on my feet and him oblivious to my discomfort, before he asked, "How are you feeling today?"

I swallowed a steaming sip of coffee, the heat instantly warming my body, eliciting a sigh from me. I looked up, meeting his eyes and sending him a grateful smile. 

"I'm feeling a lot better," I began, searching for the right words. "Thanks, Isaac. I don't know what I would have done without you. Seriously."

And it was true. I'd had anxiety attacks before – many times before – although never in a dark, crowded party at a stranger's house. And sometimes they led to me missing entire weeks of school trying to recover, to rebuild my confidence and calm my nerves. 

If I had walked out of that room with tears streaking my make-up and someone noticed, I wasn't sure what I'd do. If I had been left to my own thoughts in that room, my own overthinking – that would've taken me days to recover.

His smile grew at my words and he clapped a hand on my back. "Hey, no worries Aspirin. What are friends for?"

That word again. Friends. I never would have thought I'd be friends with the Isaac Hensick. He was the type of person I watched from afar – the type Riley wouldn't shut up about during lunch, no matter how many longing looks she received from William. He was decidedly not the type to buy me coffee and drive me home from parties.

At least, that's what I'd thought.

Because apparently, he was the type to buy me coffee. He was the type to lend me his jacket and give me a stupid nickname. He was the type who stayed up until three in the morning, just watching me sleep because I'd asked him to stay. He was the type to charge my phone as I slept, and research anxiety, and try to understand me.

And even before that, he was the type to hug me and comfort me, no questions asked, when I broke down in the middle of a party.

I looked up to realise we'd fallen silent. He watched me carefully, his eyes soft. I swallowed thickly, searching for words to fill the pause, when he spoke first.

"So where are you headed now?" he asked.

I shuffled on my feet, "World History. You?"

He raised his brows, "Not sure. I've never gone to class at this time."

I sent him an incredulous look and he laughed.

"I'll walk you there," he said, shrugging nonchalantly.

He led the way, as if he knew where my World History class was. I followed, sipping delicately at the coffee he had bought me. We walked beside each other, our shoulders knocking and our shoes squeaking against the tiles.

The caffeine from my latte combined with the occasional brush of our hands sent my heart racing, and I felt more awake than I'd felt in weeks.

The silence was heavy, and I felt the need to fill it with conversation. Isaac was way ahead of me.

"Did your friend enjoy the party?" he asked. He paused, his brow furrowing as if to think. "Rebecca?"

I sputtered out a laugh. "Riley loved the party."

It was true. She'd spent the entire weekend chatting my ear off about how she'd spent the entire night with Arthur Andrews and even scored his phone number by the end of the party.

That is, when she wasn't scolding me for disappearing on her.

He sent me a charming smile that made my heart hiccup.

"That's great." His warmth spread to me and I found myself smiling up at him in response. "You know, I think I remember Arthur mentioning a girl named Riley."

I raised my brows. I'd forgotten they were friends.

"And what did he say?"

Isaac smirked, raising a brow at me. "That, dear Aspirin, is confidential."

I gasped jokingly, holding a hand to my chest. "I thought we were friends."

He smiled at me, all dimpled and sincere. "We are."

I narrowed my eyes at him, ignoring the way my heart raced when he looked at me like that.

"So?"

"So," he sent me a wink, a smug smirk tugging on his lips. "It's confidential."

I laughed, rolling my eyes. It was endearing that Isaac protected his friend like that, and honestly it wouldn't feel right meddling in Riley's business like that.

We came to a stop outside of my classroom, and I tugged on the straps of my backpack. "Well, thanks for walking with me."

"No problem. I'll see you around?"

"Definitely," I grinned at the thought of seeing him again. The thought of him wanting to see me again.

He sent me a nod as a goodbye, pushing his hair back and turned to walk down the hallway. I stared after him, my heart still fluttering in my chest.

"So, what's happening between you two?"

I jumped at the sound of Riley's voice in my ear.

She had snuck up behind me, her eyes trained on Isaac's retreating back. I blushed, turning to enter the classroom, keeping my head down as I took my seat and the final bell rang.

"Nothing," I said, pulling out my books and pens.

Riley smirked, wiggling her brows at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"What's going on with you and Arthur Andrews? I didn't miss the way he was looking at you on Friday night. Did you end up texting him?"

It was Riley's turn to blush now. She turned away from me, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "There's nothing going on."

"Mhm," I smirked, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Seriously, it's nothing," she moved her focus to me, meeting my eyes with a stern look. "He's cute, but kind of stupid. He didn't get any of my jokes!"

I raised my brows, biting my tongue. I wanted to tell her that William always got her jokes. But she was still blushing, and I knew she was still thinking of the way Arthur Andrews stared down at her that Friday night.

Like how I kept thinking about Isaac and his stupid dimples and stupid green eyes.

I settled with, "That sucks."

She sighed, moving to flop down in the desk beside me as our teacher finally entered the classroom, apologising for being late – as usual.

"I know," she moaned, screwing her face up in complaint. "At least I have your romance to vicariously live through."

"Romance?"I echoed. I blushed wildly, my ears turning pink. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She sent me an incredulous look but said nothing.

"Seriously!" I exclaimed, my eyes wide. "There is no romance to be spoken of."

Riley smirked at me, turning to face the teacher, but I didn't miss her mutter to me smugly.

"You'd better tell that to Isaac then."

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a u t h o r ' s n o t e

Thank you so much for 1.5k reads, I'm honestly speechless! And all your lovely comments and votes! We're so close to 100 votes! 

The next chapter will introduce a "new" character and some drama hehe what do you think it'll be? See you on Friday!