—— HET REGENT ZONNESTRALEN. ❜

the emptiness in her mind had been substituted by a careful investigation of the tattoos covering his skin, feeling like an artwork of their own, each and every single one of them. “ i have been thinking about getting one of my own, ” were the words that fell from her lips aimlessly, her train of thought being merely instinctive by now, without a second thought, “ i just never knew what, or when, or how — but you, i mean. did you never second guess any of them ? they’re all ... beautiful, but did you never doubt whether you were really happy with how they turned out ? ”

legs were folded against her chest, as her back had rested against one of the gigantic bookcases — the only place in which a soul like hers could get a goddamn peace and quiet. in the midst of her term paper, lights had flickered off, laptop screens had turned to black and panic had emerged out of nowhere. the situation was nearly impossible to understand for the brunette, merely an inconvenience to her occupied mind, perhaps not fully realizing the possible extent of the situation ; no, her mere worry at this point was to find the one spot in the library not overrun by panicked students and faculty that ran around like they lost their minds, as if the end of times had come, as if they reached armageddon. the calm of the deserted pathway was a breather, a relief for the mind, and allowed her to —for a brief second— focus on having her narrowed emerald hues tracing the words on the bright white paper, trying to distinguish the black printed letters from their background. her hand reached out next to her, slender fingers tracing the floor mindlessly to find the half opened package of oreos that were to be found. the sound had gone unnoticed, and it was only at that moment that her attention was diverted back from the book towards reality, and saw eye to eye with her newly found companion. the brunette cocked her head sideways, pursing her lips together briefly, “ you know you just stole my very last oreo ? according to my knowledge there’s no official law against that, but in my book, this is a level one felony. ”

her entire being felt like a broken record, stuck in a state of constant eye rolls and arms crossed over her chest — the initial sense of comfort around him having disappeared as snow in times of sun. it was a feeling she remembered, digging deep into memories in the depths of her brain, after having banned them to the periphery of her mind. just feelings that she did not feel anymore, or perhaps refused to feel any longer. “ truly an honor, glad to know my level of sanity is up to par. ” lips were pursed together as they reached the front of the line, merely having her emerald green hues fixated on his frame as he put in the order. she was surprised to know he even remembered her favourite foods, and in some way it explained the furrowing of her brows, before she nodded. “ um, yeah — thank you. ”

“ okay but, seriously, ” adala started out, the mere intensity of her words being recognizable from square one, “ do you ever wonder what happens to all the food in cooking competitions ? ” emerald hues were widened, enlarged at her questioning nature. “ you always see these large displays of fresh products, these gigantic stock rooms. what do they do with leftovers ? what to they do with these half eaten plates of candidates ? ”

it was with a huff, that the warm coffee mug was handed to dayn, before adala sat down on the seating in one of the booths of the campus coffee shop. her body was craving, yearning for caffeine and upon seeing dayn there, the least she could do was treat him to a cup of coffee as they were catching up together. “ that blonde behind the counter ? i was this close to giving her your number, until i remembered this entire new girlfriend thing you got going, ” she muttered, although her tone of voice was laced with amusement somewhat. “ which, in my defense, you have not told me all that much about. so you should. starting now. ”

“ okay, so — hear me out, ” the brunette’s first words were, after having snuck up on her best friend from behind, and having one of her arms curling around his shoulders. “ how about you and me, tonight, two large pizzas and the second season of stranger things ? ” in an attempt at convincing him, she even found the corners of her lips curving upwards into a somewhat smile. “ and we can catch up, it’s been a while since i have gotten updates in the life of legendary mitch serra — i will even let you sulk about your recently gone wrong hook ups or the papers you have to write. good deal or not, right ? ”

in all honesty, perhaps her current behaviour could have been traced back to the newly found liquid courage — the golden miracle by the name of tequila never failed to make her head buzz. which, this time, resulted in the faint bruising on her knuckles after her fist had collided with the cheek of a stranger. “ look, you cannot tell me he is gross enough to feel me up, but classy enough to apparently not hit ‘ pretty girls ’. ” her last words required a perfectly inaccurate mimicking of the guy’s voice, the moment he had tried to avoid escalation of the situation, having his arms snaked around the waists of both juliet and herself. perhaps that is why the ticking timebomb within adala truly exploded. “ god, that’s such bullshit, ” were the words she spat out, her tone laced with pure and utter frustration. she stretched her fingers slightly, hissing at the remote pain caused by the blow. “ wanna get out of here ? ”

“ seriously, you’re really setting me up for something here, aren’t you ? whatever — fuck teddy, marry asher, kill dayn — m’sorry, dayn, but i don’t want to get into problems with your new girlfriend, right. ”

“ i mean, i’d argue i am already in the process of doing so with someone i have grown to ... like more. or hate less. ”

adala: is it that girl i set you up with a while ago, she was cute right?

“ i guess i have been liking this halloween so far, ” adala admitted, her voice carrying a hint of playful defeat as from beneath her lashes she glanced up at his icy blue hues. the kiss pressed to her lips distracted her completely however, immediately leaving the burning desire for more. and so she felt, nearly instinctively, her hand sliding up his chest to curl around his neck. “ only downside to this costume of yours is me having to settle for that kiss, ” she muttered then, throwing him what was seemingly a playful glare.  “ okay, fine — i guess i can’t argue that one, i will let that one slide. everyone likes candy, it’s one of the major bonus points of halloween. ”