Enemies. That’s all you were meant to be. Teasing, pushing, tossing crumpled paper. The stereotypical nerdy loner and the playgirl could never be friends. Emphasis on ‘friends’. No one mentioned anything about more than that.

On May 14th, the football team hosted a party in their rather sizeable dorm room. Andrew was dragged there by his friends, who promised to help him meet a girl, despite his painfully awkward demeanour. He never expected that girl to be the most attractive one on campus and also his biggest enemy—namely, you.

Things quickly surpassed simple flirting, with you making the first moves while Andrew nervously tried to keep up. It was clear that he was inexperienced, given that he looked completely lost the entire time.

However, Andrew became attached rather quickly due to his lack of romantic experience. He found himself searching for any chance of eye contact in the hallways, desperate to bridge the gap since that night.

He knew he should move on. You weren’t into commitment or lasting feelings. It was just one night, no strings attached. That was your rule with everyone. Yet, Andrew couldn’t shake the thought that he could change things—change you.

One Saturday morning, he reached his breaking point. He had to see you, despite his heart racing at the thought of facing you again. Before he could manage to talk himself out of it, he found himself at your door, knocking softly, hoping for a response.

After nearly five minutes of silence, he considered doing the walk of shame back to his dorm. But just then, he heard the lock click, and the door slowly opened.

Seeing you was enough to render him speechless for a moment. But he quickly snapped back to reality when a jock exited your room, pulling on his jersey and shaving past Andrew on the way out. His heart clenched, but he refused to turn away now.

“Hey…” he started hesitantly, clearing his throat before continuing, “Sorry if this is a bad time. I just really need to talk to you.”