5. Kirin
Kirin
By Friday, Kirin had developed an obsession with checking his phone.
Dumb as it might be, he kept checking it, like someone who was waiting for water to boil.
He messaged Rose that morning after a night of outlining the proposal he’d started Wednesday after three more lattes for him and two green teas for her.
She’d sent him a few articles yesterday, and he’d found some of his own to fill in the gaps of their proposal.
“Stop staring at your phone. It has the fascinating ability to notify you when someone messages,” Leon teased from his side of the couch as he smashed buttons and Harrison laughed, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he shifted in his seat like it would make a difference when his player chucked the ball down the field on the screen.
He flipped off Leon, who wasn’t looking his way, but his best friends laughed anyway, like they knew exactly how he would react. Which, to be fair, they definitely would.
He needed to stop staring at his phone, but he wanted more time with her.
It was stupid of him to be so obsessed when he barely knew her.
That meeting on Wednesday was illuminating, though.
She was funny, but in a way that made his body warm from having her attention rather than laughing out loud.
Smart too. She’d asked a lot of questions after she agreed, a lot of specifics he hadn’t thought through, and ones she demanded be outlined in the proposal like it was a legal contract.
Kirin
I outlined the proposal for Prof. Nadae. Should be in your email.
His infatuation resembled that of a fictional schoolgirl while she left him on read.
He knew she had opened the damn message.
That was torturous, since she didn’t respond.
He’d been watching his phone enough to know she hadn’t even made an attempt at responding.
At no point had there been gray dots to give him some semblance of hope.
Nobody left him on read. That was his thing; he had six messages from other girls he’d been ignoring.
“My dude, you said she’s organized.” Leon threw him an annoyed look. “Not like she’s going to forget you exist when her grade is riding on this.”
“She read it at five this morning. It’s past noon.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure she had classes. You know how busy you can get during the season. She’s clearly not going to babysit your feelings,” Harrison argued. “I like her already. Nice to see you slugging it like the rest of us.”
“Slugging it?” Leon asked, voicing the question Kirin wanted to ask.
“You know, skulking around the house like a sad puppy, dragging yourself from room to room while you obsessively check your phone.” Harrison grinned at him, and Kirin narrowed his eyes at the less than complimentary description, especially when Harrison’s eyes twinkled.
“It’s adorable, and it looks good on you. ”
“Hilarious.”
“It’s a great description,” Leon murmured before he got the touchdown to win the game. He was on his feet and pointing at Harrison, who dropped his own controller on the couch beside him. “Damn right, that’s how you do it, boy!”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll order the damn pizza.”
“And beer,” Leon sang as he danced around the room, shaking his ass at Harrison like a massive asshole.
“What would all the girls say if they saw you like this?” Kirin mused, and Leon flipped him off as he shimmied his way across the room.
“They’d still climb into my bed and respond to my texts without leaving me on read.” Leon stuck his tongue out.
“Okay, back to your corner, dancing queen. Pick your toppings.” Harrison threw his phone to Leon, who shuffled his way back across the room and dropped into the corner. “You gotta chill, man; give the girl some breathing room. It’s shit being at a school where everyone has an opinion of you.”
“She’s your partner. She’s going to respond when she has a second. Stop being a slug,” Leon said as he tossed the phone to Harrison, who glanced down with a frown.
“Did you seriously order Alfredo, spinach, and mushroom on this pizza?”
“It’s good. Trust me.”
“Last time you said that, you put ham and sardines on the same pizza, and Kirin was throwing up for a week.”
“Those events weren’t related,” Kirin murmured. “I’m pretty sure that was a freak week-long flu.”
“But did you eat that awful pizza?” Harrison pressed.
Confused, Kirin answered while shooting Leon a questioning look, “Yeah?”
Harrison stroked his chin as if he were deep in thought. “And you threw it up?”
Leon rolled his eyes when Kirin answered honestly again. “Yeah.”
Harrison gave Leon a pointed look. “Exactly.”
“This’ll taste like chicken Alfredo.” Leon waved him off. “Have some faith.”
“You lost me with the ham and sardine combo,” Harrison grumbled, but Kirin caught him ordering the pizza anyway, and smiled to himself.
Harrison was the strong, quiet type with everyone except them. In the safety net they called home, Harrison was far too opinionated for his own good. And it was often directed at Leon with his relaxed approach to life, a direct contradiction to Harrison’s more serious, planned nature.
The lanky blond with his styled curls piled atop his head, round glasses, and wide shoulders got plenty of female attention.
It helped considerably that he had that standoffish nature and judgmental look girls seemed to like in their more studious men.
Ironic that Harrison wasn’t like that at all once he was comfortable.
He was more like a scared cat that turned out to need some good old-fashioned love and attention.
How Harrison ended up as Leon’s best friend in elementary school was anyone’s guess.
Every story about them prior to Kirin being dragged into their friendship during the summer after his sophomore year of high school involved a trip to the emergency room.
He’d heard more than once from their mothers that Kirin moving to town probably saved the two boys from ending up in jail just to see how far they could push their antics.
Harrison was still grumbling to himself when Kirin’s phone buzzed and his heart rate spiked. Rose’s name flashed across the screen.
Rose
I sent back some edits for the biweekly journal submissions. Otherwise, it looked good.
I like the note about locking them so only Nadae can read them.
Kirin
Great, I thought it might help us with that extra few percentage points to have individual unbiased reactions and opinions.
After a second, he risked a second message. He’d never double-texted a girl in his life. He hoped he wasn’t making a fool of himself.
Kirin
We should meet to start some of the preliminary work.
Rose
I’m busy today and tomorrow.
He sighed and dropped his phone. So much for that approach.
Then his phone pinged again.
Rose
The men’s soccer team is having a party tomorrow that my roommate conned me into agreeing to attend. We could meet up there and be in the same space.
There were plenty of parties tomorrow night.
The men’s soccer party wasn’t high on his priority list, even if their parties were famous for being wild.
It wasn’t one he planned on attending since their first game of the season was also tomorrow afternoon.
Their plan didn’t have them being seen at a party until the following week.
He’d been banking on next week, allowing him to get to know her a little better, but he knew Laurel and the team went to that party.
It could help Rose significantly for them to attend it together.
He scrubbed his face. In theory, throwing them together in front of his sister was going to be fine. He didn’t think Laurel would openly ridicule a girl he dated, but it wasn’t guaranteed. He’d been the epitome of confidence on Wednesday night with Rose, but now he was worried he’d overplayed it.
His phone buzzed again, and he glanced down.
Rose
Or not. It’s fine if you don’t want to go.
Shit. Did she think he was having second thoughts?
Kirin
No, it’s a good idea. I think we should start some buzz tomorrow night.
Rose
Great, see you there.
Kirin
Don’t you think we should talk before?
He hated how hopeful he sounded in that text. But damn if he didn’t want a little more time with this girl, this woman who was a living puzzle he could not solve. She didn’t make him wait.
Rose
This is supposed to seem natural, so no.
Well, damn. He dropped his phone next to him and sighed, staring at the television for a second before Leon’s laughing had him glancing toward the other end of the couch.
Admittedly, he forgot they were still in the room.
Harrison wasn’t laughing. That was something.
But Leon was cackling like a damned cartoon witch.
“What?”
“Dude, you’re so gone for this girl, and she doesn’t give a shit.” Leon slapped the back of his hand against Harrison’s shoulder. “You gonna go hunt her down now?”
“Of course not.” Kirin glared at his best friends, and they just laughed until he reached over and grabbed the remote Harrison discarded, hoping to get his mind off Rose while they waited for pizza.
Then, he’d need to figure out something else to do to keep her off his mind until he could go find her with food and a coffee.
Kirin checked his phone for the tenth time in five minutes as he waited for his drinks.
He’d scarfed down his pizza. It tasted like Alfredo, which was a relief, earning a few pointed looks and snickers from his best friends.
Especially when, after his first tester bite, he packed up two pieces to keep warm for Rose.