Sydnee trudged out of her last lecture for the day, one strap of her backpack slung over her shoulder as she walked all the way to the other side of the campus to meet Chloe, Lilian, Sydnee's roommate, and Dakota, a girl from the the basketball team, who were smoking a joint and waiting for her by the tennis court.
"Waddup?" She dapped up Dakota, taking the joint from her.
"Tired as shit." Dakota replied.
Sydnee leaned against the fence like the others, watching June and some guy play a tennis match, it sounded more like a grunting match.
"I feel you." She took a long drag from the joint, the familiar warm feeling spreading around her chest. Slowly releasing the smoke, she passed the joint to Chloe.
"Where's your little boyfriend today?" Lilian teased, leaning over to look at Sydnee.
Sydnee was in the middle of fixing her two afro puffs. "I don't know what the hell you’re talking about.
Chloe chuckled, taking a small pull of the joint and passed it off to Lilian. "He totally has a crush on you, it’s so obvious. He slipped up and called you his girlfriend when I hung out at his place the other day.”
She tensed up, a wave of guilt rushing over her. “We’re just friends.”
"Didn't you suck his dick?" Dakota asked with a raised brow.
Jesus, did everyone know about that night? Can’t tell Chloe anything.
Sydnee paused her movements. "It was one time."
They all giggled, swarming around her.
"Oh God, get off." Sydnee laughed.
They got off her and went back to their positions on the fence.
Lilian gave Dakota the joint. “And you fucked him too.”
Sydnee ran both hands over her face, remembering that intimate moment.
“So you’re fuck buddies—” Dakota tried piecing it together.
“Who like each other.” Lilian and Chloe finished, followed by a laugh.
"I'm just not ready for a relationship, you know?" She crossed her arms.
"Well, you should tell Anakin that." Chloe said, looking straight ahead. "He's coming over here right now."
That caught her off guard. "What?" She looked in the direction Chloe was staring in. There he was, walking around the court to the group of girls.
“What are you so afraid of?” Lilian asked softly. “If you like each other, it should work, Syd.”
Sydnee didn’t answer, but it was on the tip of her tongue.
The rotation finally made it back to Sydnee. The joint rested between her index and middle fingers, taking a small pull before Anakin was by them.
"Hi." He waved at the 2 girls, with a scrunched up nose because of the smell of the weed.
Lilian and Dakota waved back with broad smiles.
He looked at Chloe, smiling. “Hi Chloe.”
“Hi second favorite cousin.” She smiled.
He playfully rolled his eyes then finally set them on Sydnee. "H-Hey."
Chloe, Lilian and Dakota could see his imaginary tail just wagging at the sight of Sydnee, it was so cute.
Smoke escaped Sydnee's lips as she smiled widely. She couldn't control herself. "Hey pretty boy.”
His pearly whites were on display as he smiled at her words. "I was headed back to my place and I happened to see you here..do you want to come with me?"
The three girls stared at the pair, waiting for an answer from Sydnee.
"Yeah." She licked her lips.
His smile widened at her response. "Okay. Uh, see you guys."
"Bbbbyyyyeeee!" They waved and dragged out in a high pitched voice.
Sydnee shook her head and passed off the joint to Lilian before walking off. "Bye ladies.”
Anakin and Sydnee walked through the campus to locate his car.
"Where were you coming from?" She asked, rubbing her right eye.
"The library. I had a tutoring session with Nina Enriquez, she's struggling in Quantum Physics." He answered.
Her brows knitted together, visualizing the Filipina with curtain bangs, who was in her Quantum Physics class, and actually top of the class, leaving Sydnee in second.
That was odd of her to need a tutor for that class when she was doing just fine.
She hummed to herself, trying not to think about it too much.
He unlocked the car and opened the door for her.
"Such a gentleman." She smirked, entering his car.
He smiled back and closed the door.
Before going to his place, they made a stop and got lunch as they were both hungry. Now at his apartment, they just finished chowing down on some Chinese food. They both sat in his room, Anakin reading a new book and Sydney staring into the distance.
"Is something bothering you, Syd?" Anakin frowned, looking over at Sydnee who was deep in thought. He bookmarked the page and closed his book, giving her his full attention.
She blinked then averted her gaze to him. "Uh, just thinking. You said Nina wanted help in Quantum Physics?"
She doesn't know why she kept thinking about it.
"Yeah, you know her?"
"Yes and she's a damn liar." Her brows arched.
She knew exactly what Nina was doing.
"Liar?" Anakin was completely lost. "Why do you say that?"
"She's in my Quantum Physics class, she's top of the class, she doesn't need help." She screwed up her face.
"Then why would she ask for my help?" Anakin wasn't getting it at all.
She hated how oblivious he was to this. "She likes you, Anakin!"
He blinked. "Oh." It made sense, as she would bring him little snacks and compliment him every second she got.
"Is that all you have to say?" She was starting to get a little pissed off, why was she feeling like this?
She couldn't be jealo— never, not that.
"Are you mad?" He frowned.
"Of course not." She crossed her arms.
"You seem..pretty mad." He rose his brows at her.
"Whatever." She looked away.
"I'll..confront her about it a-and stop tutoring her, if that makes you feel better." He inched closer, trying to get through to her.
That somehow made her feel less upset.
"Okay." She turned to him and uncrossed her arms.
"Sydnee." His eyes were dead set on her lips.
Her eyes trailed to his lips. "Yeah, Anakin?”
"I wouldn't want to do anything to upset you like that, I swear." His lips loomed over hers, whispering to her. "I don’t like her, I like you."
Anakin kissed her, nothing too sloppy, but it was deep. Sydnee was melting into his hands, his strong veiny hands held the back of her head gently.
She moaned into the kiss, slowly laying back onto the bed, then she caught herself. "Mmnnnoo." She pulled away from the heated kiss.
"Wh-what's wrong?" He heaved, searching her face desperately for answers. "Did- did I do something wrong?"
She stared at her lap, not wanting to look at him. "No, Anakin."
"Do you no-not…like m-me?" His voice trembled.
"No, Anakin." She slowly closed her eyes.
"Then this is okay...r-right?" He put a finger up under her chin, lifting her head to face him.
She avoided his gaze. "Anakin…I-I can't do this. I like you, I really do, but I can’t keep fucking you and knowing you want something serious. I don't think I'm ready for a relationship." Oh how she felt like shit. She felt like she was stabbing him in the heart.
He was silent for a moment. "That's okay. We like each other a-and I think that's enough." He played with his hair. "I like what we have, I can wait."
This might've been the first time a guy was understanding to her.
Her eyes began to gloss over and Anakin quickly noticed, internally panicking, but he didn’t let it get to him as he wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on top of hers.
“H-hey, no, n-no don’t cry.” He soothed her, rubbing circles on her back. “It’s okay, y-you’re okay.”
That made her tears flow down even harder, her sobs muffled by his chest. She said something, but he didn’t quite catch it.
“W-what?” He pulled back to look at her. Her long lashes were a wet mess and her eyes were a light shade of pink. Was it crazy to think she looked pretty even when she cried?
“I got cheated on a few times…by someone I thought I could trust, that’s why I’m so hesitant about getting into a relationship.” She confessed. “I haven’t been serious about a guy in forever.”
His thumbs pressed into her face, wiping away her tears. “I understand. We can go at any pace you want to.”
Her arms wrapped around him. “Th-thank you, Anakin.”
He mumbled something, but she didn’t hear him properly.
“What did you say, Ani?” She placed her head on his chest.
“I said that guy’s a fucking idiot.” He cursed.
That surprised her, she’s never heard him curse outside of sex.
