Rose stood at the bus stop, clutching her bag and glancing down the street. Wayne Lane—her chaotic best friend—was always late. Didn't matter if she showed up on time or ten minutes late herself. He'd still somehow manage to arrive after her.
A guy walked up and stood beside her. No words. No glances. Just silent company. She didn't look at him. He didn't look at her. Another boy arrived fifteen minutes later and clapped a hand on the first guy's shoulder.
"Dude! Sorry I'm late. Wait long?"
The first one just shrugged. "Nah. It's cool."
A second later, the bus pulled up.
"There it is. Come on," said the second boy, motioning for them to board.
"You go on. I am getting a call," the first guy said.
"You can talk inside a bus, can't you?" the second guy asked, furrowing brows.
Rose was checking her phone, when someone shouted her name—right into her ear. "ROSEEEE!"
She jumped, startled. "Oh my God—Wayne! Shut up!"
"Not sorry," he grinned, nudging her forward. "Now hurry up. We're late."
"You're late," she muttered, following him in.
The first boy sighed, then said, "Let's hop in now!"
"Done with call? Didn't even see you talking!" the second boy asked. The first boy ignored him, walking towards the bus.
"You are weird, bro!" the second boy retorted before getting into the bus.
They grabbed seats on the right row, directly across from Rose and Wayne.
The second guy across leaned forward slightly, recognizing Wayne.
"Yo, Wayne."
"Hey, Tyler."
"You live nearby?"
"Yeah. Oh—let me introduce you. This is Rose. Rose, this is Tyler, sophomore year, from my major."
Rose gave a polite nod and half-smile. Her eyes naturally drifted to the guy sitting next to Tyler—the same one who'd stood silently beside her earlier.
He hadn't even blinked in her direction. Headphones in. Eyes out the window.
But she knew him.
Silas.
"Nice to meet you, Rose," Tyler said cheerfully. "What's your major?"
"GMP," she answered, keeping it short.
"Oh!" Tyler grinned wider, turning toward his friend. "Silas, she's in your major. You guys should totally talk. Rose—this is Silas."
Silas finally glanced over.
"We've met," he said casually.
"We have," Rose replied, a smirk tugging at her lips. "He got me free ice cream."
That made him look at her—really look at her.
She tilted her head slightly, a silent message in her eyes: Don't pretend you don't remember me now.
Tyler chuckled awkwardly. "Silas is kinda popular. Like, the professors love him. And, uh… so do the girls. I mean—uh—everyone does."
Silas shot him a look. Tyler cleared his throat and stared at the floor.
Rose smiled. "Good to know."
The bus jolted to a stop at the campus gate. Students poured out. Wayne and Tyler disappeared into the crowd.
But Silas didn't move. He stood by his seat, waiting.
Rose glanced at him realizing he was waiting for her.
"You always do this?" she asked as they stepped off together.
"Do what?"
"This. Letting everyone else off first. Gentleman routine? Or just avoiding social interaction?"
Silas blinked. "Didn't really notice. Force of habit, maybe."
"Right," she said, already turning away. "Anyway, I don't want to be late to my first class."
"Wait."
She paused, eyebrows raised. Please don't apologize for pretending not to know me earlier. That'd be too weird.
"You left your scarf," he said, reaching into his bag and handing it to her.
Her eyes widened. "Oh—I thought I lost it somewhere. Thanks."
"No problem. Uh—your class. You might wanna run."
"Yeah. Right." She turned to go again.
"Rose—"
She exhaled sharply. "Say everything at once, please."
Silas looked mildly amused. "Just wanted to say… the college has shuttle services. You don't need to take the local bus. I missed mine today, but you can register at the transport office."
"I already did. I just ran late."
"Oh." He nodded. "Good, then. Nothing else. You can go."
She gave him a short wave and finally walked away.
In class, Rose pulled out the paper Silas had given her on the opening day—the one with contact info for some senior students. She sent connection requests to all of them on Instagram. Silas accepted almost immediately.
After class, a girl with blonde hair approached her. Rose had seen her earlier in the lecture hall.
"Hey, heading to the library?"
"Yes, I need to register," Rose replied with a polite but distant smile. She wasn't exactly in the mood to talk. And truthfully, she'd never had good experiences with blondes. Every blonde girl she'd encountered in high school had made fun of her for being the quiet one. Ruby was an exception, of course—she was everyone's favorite. She was extremely outgoing unlike Rose.
Rose's best friends were Kira and Wayne. She had no room left to add anyone else.
"I'm Ann. Ann Marris," the girl said, offering her hand.
"Rose Stuart."
"Nice. I saw you on orientation day. Wanted to talk but didn't get the chance. So... yeah. Here I am."
Rose tilted her head, skeptical. "Why would you want to talk to me?"
Ann blinked. "Um… because—"
"Yes?"
"Because I'm Kira's cousin," she blurted. "She talks about you all the time. I've seen your pictures."
"Oh my god—I'm so sorry!" Rose gasped. "Kira told me one of her cousins was in my major, but she didn't say who. She mentioned you weren't sure about college this year."
"She did?" Ann smiled. "Yeah, I was on the fence. But now that I'm here… maybe we could be friends?"
Rose blinked, caught off guard by the genuine tone.
"Ah—sure. And sorry again. I didn't mean to come off… weird."
"It's totally fine," Ann said, grinning.