pre-semester || lena & james
@eliasgoeseast
The minute Lena returned to Cabot her mind fell into her studies, she was sure this year would be her hardest yet, and she was determined that she would be perfect in her every endeavour. She felt the familiar bubbling of stress in her stomach every time she thought about the upcoming year. After she had unpacked her things, she took her books and some pens to the Catamount Cafe.
Lena strongly preferred studying and spending her down time at the Catamount Cafe over The Hideout, even though she worked for the latter, mostly to avoid her managers, but also because it was directly on campus.
After ordering her usual green tea lemonade she set her textbooks, her laptop, and her pen case down on a familiar table situated near the front window; she especially enjoyed the sunshine and the scenery of the campus in the late summer.
As she was just about to pull up one of her syllabuses on her laptop, Lena noticed someone coming towards her in the small cafe. She looked up properly to greet them, “oh, hey! How was your summer?”
TEA BAGS lined the tray in front of him- mint and ginger and something green with jasmine and it reminded him of the scent that lingered on her neck after he’d told her he couldn’t do this. The water in his cup was so hot it let off steam and he could count the number of times he thought of sleep in that moment. James chose the one with jasmine and held his cup like it was the most precious gem because he would not spill the liquid inside.
Lena Elias- girl with sunshine in her smile- sat by the window, unpacking her belongings. Summer, somehow, always made him forget how frequently he’d run into people he’d once known, kind of knew. Freshman year might as well have been a lifetime ago, but here he was, now, exhausted from driving from home to school for five hours early that morning.
How was his summer?
The worst.
“It could have been better,” he replied but instantly changed the subject so as not to linger on his misery. Negativity didn’t help anyone. “You look different, Lena. Can’t pin how. It’s good, though. You have a good summer?”
The tips of his fingers burned from the piping hot water warming porcelain and he instantly set it down on the table beside Lena.
“Surprised you’re not at The Hideout. Tired of that place already?” he teased, taking a seat because he felt awkward standing, hoping that she wouldn’t mind him just intruding on her space. Not everyone loved small talk, and he accepted that. “Let me tell you, Lena, I need to have a good time. Haven’t even seen anyone around yet, but I need a hard drink tonight. You interested in throwing down last minute?”
