What's Better Than E?

■55 - Surprise■

Ethan knew that it was his chance to make a quick move and so he quickly grabbed his car keys before rushing out of his apartment. He needed to surprise her today.

It took him about fifteen to twenty minutes to reach Laurel's dormitory. Parking his car a few yards away from the building, he leaned against a wall across the street. The only reason he knew about the address to her dormitory was because she had told him it was just some distance away from the park they'd decided to meet at. It still brought him a great deal of discomfort even thinking about his stupid cowardice from that day.

He patted his pocket which held a long letter of apologies that he owed to her. Even though they were back to talking terms, Ethan felt a gaping hole in his chest because he felt like he didn't even properly get to explain and apologize for it, yet he had been forgiven.

He adored Laurel's nature to forget about it but he knew that he had to build that bridge back again between them. If it stayed broken for long, he knew that their relationship would be branded on a silently forgotten misunderstanding which couldn't actually be forgotten if it reminded them of its presence every waking hour of their lives.

Maybe that was the reason Laurel began developing a crush on someone else. And maybe she put the past behind her because she thought that it didn't even matter anymore? Somehow, that made Ethan a little queasy. He wanted her to care about it.

However, it mattered a lot to Ethan, even more so than he would like to admit.

He stared at the single rose in his hand with a sad frown. What if she really doesn't care? That was the reason why he bought a single rose for her instead of a fancy bouquet to not scare her away.

His train of thoughts broke as soon as his eyes landed on the one girl who made him smile and laugh like crazy just with her text messages. She made everything seem so easy and that just gave him the much needed hope to actually stand here in front of her dormitory.

Ethan could see another girl walking next to Pixie, presumably her roommate. He was terrified of doing this but he pushed away his apprehension and decided to call out her name.

Just then, Laurel was walking alongside Aisha, her persistent roommate, to go back to their room. They were talking about random stuff after having their delectable fill of favorite ice-cream flavors.

As they were about to head inside the gates of their dorm building, Laurel heard her name being called from behind her. Aisha must have heard it too because she stopped as well.

Laurel looked over her shoulder to see a guy waving at her. He was wearing a baseball cap which hid most of his face. Her gaze then slid down toward the single rose in his other hand. She squinted her eyes to recognize him and when it hit her who he was, her breath stuttered a bit. She was not expecting him to meet her, nor was she expecting him to be actually standing in front of her dormitory.

Quickly turning back to Aisha, who seemed like she was analyzing him with a dreamy smile, Laurel said, "Hey, Aisha. You go ahead. I'll be right back."

"Sure," she drawled teasingly and left her alone but not before sending a wink her away.

Laurel shook her head at her before hurriedly walking toward Ethan across the street. Her throat was beginning to clog up with emotions. Not only that but she was also beyond stunned to see his already good features now slightly changed into more matured ones.

She was staring at him with a bewildered countenance because she was not aware of this. Not that she was complaining as she was secretly squealing like a girl who just met her crush. Which was entirely true in her case. She stopped her thoughts from pointing out the obvious things and cleared her throat.

Ethan passed her a hesitant smile as he noticed how she had changed in these years. From up close, she was even more breathtaking.

They both didn't know how much time had passed before he decided to break the stares and silence. "Hey... Pixie." He chuckled softly at the nickname.

Laurel cracked a small smile of her own as her heart played an euphonious string of a chord because of his chuckle. "Hi," she muttered with diffidence. "What are you doing here... Bob?"

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