6

"I can barely stay caught up with my own major but how am I supposed to complain when you're out here doing pre-med?" Michelle groaned, ramming her head down on the table.

We were sitting in the local cafe, trying to catch up on homework and studying but Michelle was not in the studying mood.

I let out a small laugh, shaking my head at my best friend. "With the amount of coffee you've had, you should really be more productive, Elle."

Michelle lifted her head and gave me an upmost dull look. "With the amount of coffee I've had, I cannot sit still and focus for the life of me."

I leaned back in the booth, watching her misery with amusement. "This is why you manage your time and don't leave your assignments until last minute."

Michelle continued to give me a flat look. "Sorry we all can't be motivated and smart like you, Fia. God, I just want it to be Summer already."

I couldn't help but scoff. "It's the second month of freshman year, Elle. We got a long way to go."

Michelle shrugged, leaning back in the booth and looking like she has no intention of continuing studying. "Well, there's only a month until we're off for Thanksgiving and Christmas so at least I can look forward to that."

I sucked in my bottom lip, "Right..."

Michelle's eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong? Why don't you seem excited."

I shot her a dull look, sighing. "You know the deal with my family, Elle. I'm definitely not looking forward to seeing them, and yes I am aware how bad and bitchy that may sound."

"What sounds bad and bitchy?"

Michelle and I both looked up to see Wes appear, grinning down at me. "Hello ladies, am I interrupting something?"

I shot Wes a sarcastic smile. "If I say yes, you are, would you leave?"

Wes scoffed, a smirk playing on his lips. "Nope." He carelessly slid into the booth right beside me, our legs touching.

Michelle quirked an eyebrow at the two of us. "You guys look warm and cozy... again."

I shot her a glare, telling her to 'knock it off' with my eyes.

Wes let out a laugh, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion. "What do you mean again?"

"Oh, just that nigh-"

"Don't you have a date?" I quickly cut Michelle off, not wanting her to bring up the night after the party when Wes brought me back to my room and fell asleep with me.

Wes looked at me oddly, noticing the quick jump of forced excitement to my tone. He laughed unsurely, "No, why would I have a date, Fia?"

I shrugged, looking away from him. "I don't know. I figured that's how you keep busy."

Wes placed a hand on his heart dramatically, sighing out a deep breath. "I am hurt that you think I'm such a shallow person, sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes in response. Michelle was looking between the two of us with pure amusement dancing in her eyes, only making me glare at her more.

"So," Wes drawled, leaning closer to me. "What were you saying makes you bad and bitchy?"

"Eavesdropping is not nice," I mumble, keeping my eyes on my textbook though I was no longer focusing on any of my school work in front of me. Wes's face was so close to mine, if I looked at him, I would be half an inch away from his face which was not safe territory.

Wes groaned like a little child. "Come on, spill the tea or whatever it is those kids say nowadays. You saying you don't trust me, Fia?"

I scooted further away from him in the booth before turning to look at him, clearly unamused. "No, I just much rather not vent about my family problems."

Wes snorted, a humourless look taking place on his face. "Want to talk about family issues, I'm your guy."

Michelle's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him. "What do you mean?"

Wes shrugged nonchalantly, not seeming phased about getting into his personal life details. "My parents are crazy workaholics, I barely even speak to them because they never have any time. I could talk for hours about how lifeless my parents are. God, in high school I wouldn't spend more than three hours a day in my house because it just pulled me into some sort of depression being in that empty house."

I frowned, suddenly feeling my heart's heaviness for him. "I'm sorry, that's rough."

Wes shrugged coolly, "Don't be. I got used to it, it doesn't bother me." He paused as he narrowed his eyes at me, peering at me thoughtfully. "What's got you bothered? That is, if you want to talk about it."

I sighed, running a hand down my face. "My parents just have crazy expectations, they're never satisfied and won't be proud of anything I do because I can always do better."

"Don't forget your sister," Michelle mumbled, annoyance seeping through her tone simply from the mention of my older sister.

"What about her?" Wes leaned his head down on the palm of his hand, his elbow propped up on the table. He genuinely seemed interested which made my heart feel warm.

I scrunched up my face in distaste, "My older sister is the perfect and ideal daughter, woman, human, all of the above. Therefore, I will never be as good as her. And on top of it, she's getting married this December."

"And why is the wedding a big deal? The spotlight will be on her so maybe they'll go easier on you."

I could tell Wes was trying to make sense of everything which made me want to awe.

I shook my head, a sour look on my face. "Nope, just the opposite. She's getting married which means everyone will be so far up my ass asking me when I'm planning on getting married and pestering me about my relationship. I haven't even told Nate about her wedding yet. If he bails on me, I'm so screwed."

"Can't you just tell your family your single and focused on your studies?" Wes frowned, sensing how much I hated the situation.

I laughed bitterly. "God, no. As much as they want me focused on school, if all else fails they'd just want me to get a job in my dad's company since that's what my sister is doing. I would do anything over having to be stuck working with my dad and Mirah. All I'm going to be hearing is 'Mirah's got her whole life figured out, Mirah's getting married and settling down, when are you going to settle down? Why don't you work at the company? Why don't you be more like Mirah?' and so on."

Wes had a sheepish and sympathetic look on his face. "I'm sorry, that really sucks."

"You don't think Nate would really bail on being your date to your sister's wedding, do you?" Michelle spoke cautiously, not wanting to put the idea past Nate.

I exhaled slowly, shrugging. "I hope not. If I show up single, I'll be getting pestered about how I'm never serious and can't get a single guy to stay with me, how I mess everything up, and so much more."

"Well let's hope he pulls through and doesn't bail on you," Michelle mumbled sheepishly, giving me a look of pity.

"It's going to be a hell of a Winter break."