It''s been four days since that incident happened and I''m glad I didn''t cross paths with him again. I''m also pretty sure I won''t be seeing him a lot on campus since I didn''t see him in any of my lectures or tutorials.


    Other than that, university life has been alright for me, but it''s not as fun as I thought it would be. And just as I had predicted, I couldn''t really make any friends here, everyone seemed to be friendly but fake at the same time which I get it since it''s hard to make friends at the start but I don''t want to make friends with them just because I need to.


    To say the least, I actually started to miss Olivia and Kyla back home. They''re the ones who are always there for me whenever I was anxious about giving a speech in front of my class or when I had a childish argument with Elliot. They always back me up no matter what even when I was the one who''s in the wrong sometimes. I guess I only have Elliot now but I know for sure I can''t always stick to him since he had already made a group of friends. I don''t know how but honestly I wish I can be more like him.


    I emptied all those negative thoughts before I speed walked down the lane that led to the Business Lecture Hall. My tutorial finished early today so I could meet Elliot there as we have promised earlier this week whoever can leave early will wait for each other outside the building to go for lunch together.


    I stood awkwardly beside the front door as I saw all those Business students rushed out, talking and laughing as they headed to the direction of the cafeteria.


    After receiving questioning glances whenever someone passed by me and waiting for another few minutes, I finally saw Elliot turning around the corner and heading towards me. However, when I saw a group of guys and girls trailing behind him, I knew something I wouldn''t like would happen.


    I put on a small smile as he spotted me from afar and picked up the pace, opening the door and stood in front of me with his bag slung on one side of his shoulder.


    "Let''s go." I said, staring into his eyes.


    Just when I thought he would happily agreed with me, his apologetic smile on his face gave him away instantly.


    My face fell, praying silently that he wouldn''t say what I think he was going to say.


    No ! Don''t say it ! Please !


    "Actually, Kat ... Umm I sort of promised my friends from my tutorial to eat with them today."


    Damn it ! I freaking knew it ! I hate how my sixth sense was always right.


    Seeing that I wasn''t smiling like I always do, he scratched the back of his neck, a sign when he''s nervous. "Shit sorry. It kind of slipped my mind to text you about it earlier."


    Ouch.


    My heart squeezed as I heard what he said. It''s kind of expected, I didn''t even know why I''m sad about it. I mean it''s bound to happen at some point, I couldn''t always tag along with him like a loser, can I ?


    So I hid my disappointment quickly and plastered a bright smile on my face instead. "Oh Ells, it''s completely fine. It''s cool. I can just grab lunch with my other friends."


    "You sure?" His face etched with hesitation.


    "Yea."


    "Maybe you can come along with us, I''m sure they won''t mind." He suggested.


    "No!" I exclaimed. Realising I answered too quickly, I calmed myself down.


    "My friends invited me to eat with them earlier but I said no since we''re eating lunch together as we have promised. I guess problem solved now I can eat with them and you can eat with them." I lied and I knew exactly what I was doing. I am making him feel bad and I''m feeling better. Gosh I''m such a horrible person. When did I become like that?


    Elliot stared at me, searching for any trace of me lying or even anger I guess.


    "Dude, are you coming ?" Someone behind us yelled, the group that was following Elliot was now further down the road towards the cafeteria.


    "Just go." I reassured him as I threw a nod towards his friends.


    Still looking unsure of what to do, he gave me a tight hug and kissed me on the crown of my head. "I''ll make it up for you, Kat. Have fun with your friends!" He said and ran towards the group.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    I sighed after making sure they''re out of sight and started to make my way to the direction of my dorm. I guess I''m having snacks for lunch today.


    As I reached the apartment, a strong smell of chemical welcomes me upon my arrival.


    That''s when I saw Cassidy, my roommate, snuggled on the couch with her left foot propped on the coffee table, doing her nails.


    "Oh you''re back early ?" She asked nonchalantly, still concentrating on painting her last nail pink.


    "Yeah. I''m a bit tired so I''m planning to skip lunch today." I smiled despite knowing she wasn''t really listening to me anyway.


    "What about your friend ? Aren''t you eating lunch with him?" She asked, stressing the word ''friend''.


    Cassidy and Elliot met twice since we got here last week when he hung out with me in my room before he met his group of friends. She still didn''t believe me when I told her he''s only my best friend, well to be fair I got that a lot in high school. Nobody seemed to believe me when I said we''re strictly friends, I don''t understand why they find it hard to get there''s something called friendship between a guy and a girl.


    "Nah, he''s eating with his friends." I brushed that off immediately.


    "Oh so he''s ditching you." She pointed that out without warning, turning her attention to me.


    I flinched at her use of wordings and quickly denied it. I didn''t want anyone to know I''m skipping lunch because of him. "No. He texted me earlier to tell me about that."


    "Yea right Kat." She rolled her eyes at me. "It''s written all over your face. You normally had a stupid grin on your face now you''re like a widow telling everyone you''re fine when you''re actually not."


    Do I actually look that bad ?


    Seeing that I wasn''t planning on answering her, she insisted on introducing me to her group of friends.


    I hesitated for a moment as I don''t know if I''m actually ready to meet her friends. Cassidy has that cool and intimidating vibe which I''m finding hard to completely open up to her. Her overconfidence and straightforwardness always made me feel small. And that''s also the reason why I didn''t make a lot of effort into getting close to her, she just doesn''t seem like the kind of girl that I usually hang around with. And I''m sure her friends will be similar to her in one way or another.


    "Come on Kat. Loosen up, make more new friends. You know you can''t always rely on your Elliot and I''m sure you don''t want to end up being alone in your university life." She urged.


    I sighed. She''s right, relying on Elliot to be my lunch buddy is already out of the question. I might as well get to know more people now or else it''ll get even harder to make friends when all of them have formed their own groups. Besides this is like a one time thing, I''m just having a simple lunch with them. There''s nothing to worry.


    I nodded, finally agreeing with her. She flashed me a smile and quickly dragged me out of the house after slipping into her heels.


    Once we had purchased our lunch, she led me to a table where six people were already sitting. There were four guys and two girls there, laughing at something together.


    I straightened my back as we''re getting to them. I couldn''t help but already felt like I was the sore thumb of the group.


    As we approached, all six of them fell silent and stared at us, well me. I took a moment to take everything in as I found myself stuck in a group full of good looking people. "Great." I muttered through clenched teeth as I tried my best to act cool but the loud thumping of my heart says otherwise.


    The guy with dirty blonde hair broke the silence first, "Cass, who did you bring us ?" He asked as he grinned at me.


    "Guys this is my roommate, Kat. Kat this is Josh." She gestured towards the dirty blonde, " Ethan." She then gestured towards the brown hair guy who was sitting next to him. "Shelby." Gesturing towards the redhead. "Allison." A girl with auburn curls opposite to Josh. "Kris." A guy with blonde hair next to Allison. "And Liam." A guy with bleached hair tips opposite to Shelby.


    I smiled and nodded, pretending that I''ve got all their names stuck in my brain when I actually don''t. I really hope I don''t need to address them individually later.


    "Hi. Nice to meet you guys." I beamed radiantly which I tend to do whenever I''m meeting someone new as I found out that this is the best way to hide my awkwardness.


    I was about to take a seat next to the redhead when Cassidy beat me to it, so I had no choice but to settle down next to the guy with bleached hair tips who I believe is called Liam. I quickly started eating as everyone resumed to what they were talking about a minute ago.


    I was stuffing the lasagna down my throat when I heard Liam asked, "So, Kat. What''s your full name ?"


    Wasn''t expecting someone to actually start a conversation with me, I quickly swallowed the food before turning to him, "Katherine Miller. But please just call me Kat." I rambled.


    He chuckled, "You don''t need to be so tense around us ! Just relax I promise we are nice to be around with." Then he paused for a second, gave me a thoughtful look and said, "Well except for Cole. He''s not here yet but I''m sure you''ll get to meet him soon."


    Cole ? Well I''m glad he''s not here then.


    "Anyway, you don''t sound like you''re from here ?" He cocked his head.


    "Haha, yea. I''m from New York."


    "I knew it ! " He exclaimed. "Which school did you go to before ? My cousin also lives there."


    "Graham Academy."


    His eyes widened in disbelief. No, no way his cousin went there !


    "Holy shit. That''s her school !"


    I could feel myself getting excited when I knew there''s a possibility that I might know his cousin. "What''s your cousin''s name ?" I urged.


    "Olivia Hudson." He answered almost immediately.


    "What ?! Ollie is your cousin ?" I said as I choked on my own spit. Wow how the heck do I not know she had a hot cousin like this ?


    "No wonder you look so familiar. I swear I''ve seen you in one of her instagram stories." He said as his face broke into a dazzling smile.


    I felt myself opening up to Liam as we continued to talk about how crazy this was when suddenly Cassidy got up from her seat, smiling flirtatiously at someone behind me. "Cole ! Where have you been ?"


    Curious, I turned my head around ...