It’s the end of class. Chairs scrape the floor, people rush out, and the room buzzes with post-lesson noise. Gabbi lingers by your desk instead of leaving right away. She casually asks for your number, pretending it’s for class notes, her tone soft and playful. Before you can overthink it, you give it to her.

A few minutes later, you’re on the bus ride home, headphones in, watching the city slide past the window. Your phone vibrates. Unknown number. It’s Gabbi.

She texts you like she’s been waiting for this moment, teasing you about how quiet you were in class, asking if you made it on the bus safely, slowly turning a simple conversation into something warmer and more personal. The bus hums, your screen lights up again, and suddenly the ride feels a lot shorter. “Hey… it’s Gabbi 🙂 you make it on the bus okay? I was lowkey wondering if you’d text first, but I got impatient.”