"It's really nice here, you seem to have settled in well already, don't you?" said Sienna, squinting her eyes against the sun. I licked off a drop of the vanilla ice cream that was running down my hand. The chocolate had already been completely nibbled away, leaving only the slowly but steadily melting white filling behind. "Hm, the people here are really nice. And you met Dennis briefly." Sienna nodded. She had come to visit unexpectedly this morning. I had jumped out of bed, overwhelmed, after reading her message. I'd completely forgotten about our date and jumped half-dead into the shower, thrown on jeans and a T-shirt and then hurried downstairs to scrounge a coffee in the canteen, which would mask any remaining mental residue with caffeine. We hadn't been in bed until around five, as Dennis and I had been walking around the grounds for a while. He hadn't noticed my haste in the morning and only woke up when we knocked, and I introduced Sienna to my disheveled but friendly roommate. "What an honor," he had joked, and they had chatted briefly. But then I'd pulled Sienna out with me to give Dennis his space and we'd grabbed an ice cream at the supermarket near the dorm. Now we were sitting by the river, which ran 10 minutes' walk behind the dorm, dangling our legs over the wall that bordered an embankment, which in turn ran into the riverbed. The sun was shining particularly brightly today, as if it was teasing me that I had clearly had too little sleep and not yet had enough coffee. "I'm really happy for you," Sienna said and smiled at me.

It seemed genuine and yet there was something in her gaze that I couldn't interpret. I leaned forward and kissed her. Her lips were warm and covered with a strawberry-tasting coolness. She returned the kiss, but then she laughed and pulled away. "The ice cream will end up in our laps." As if to demonstrate, she licked several drops from her fingers. I bit my lips, grinned at her, and then returned to my ice cream. "You have to understand, I already have withdrawal from you." Her smile narrowed and her brown eyes darkened. "I feel the same way. I mean, it's crazy, we just saw each other recently. But I used to see you every day and I miss that. I haven't seen Lina, Oscar, and Ian yet either, they're all busy with their own preparations, I know that. But it's still just strange." "I think that will change when university starts. Then we'll see each other more often," I said reassuringly, watching a boat that was whizzing past us far too loudly for such a small engine. "I know," she sighed. "The girls in my apartment are really nice too. I just have to get used to it. And it's just weird with everything you know?" I knew what she meant but I still felt like there was more to that. I rubbed her arm and she looked into my eyes. She sighed. "Do you remember what tomorrow is?" There it was. Now it was out. Now I knew why her voice was slightly muffled, her eyes a darker color than usual and her mouth slightly downturned, even though she always tried to hide her negative feelings from me. I never liked it, but that was the way she was. I gritted my teeth. "Yeah, I know what tomorrow is. Are you going to call?" She hunched her shoulders as if she was unsure.

"I'd like to, but it's getting stranger and stranger. It feels more like a burden. It makes me feel sick easily and I don't really know what to say." My heart beat faster and I thought about what to say. I took her hand and squeezed it. Sienna always felt that way when her brother came up as a topic. And to be honest, it wasn't just her. Oliver wasn't a topic of conversation that we brought up often, let alone easily. We usually avoided it, even though we both knew it was weighing heavily on both of our minds. And had been for so long. But Sienna didn't know that I felt the same way. She hardly had any contact with him anymore, as he had joined the army as a teenager, then went abroad to study and was now working in Switzerland. I only knew that he sometimes contacted her parents so that they didn't worry too much. But Sienna always tended to stay on the sidelines, away from him. I knew how much that hurt her, after all, he was her only brother. But so much had happened and occurred that he was and remained a part of our shared past. A part that hurt but was still there. Like a wound that was covered with a cheap bandage but never healed properly. "I'd give him a call, maybe he'd be happy to hear from you." I said unconvincingly. She nodded and looked at her ice cream. It had already melted so much that half her hand was covered in a pink, watery mass. But she didn't seem to mind. She made no effort to wipe it away either. "I miss us," she then breathed. I knew what she meant.

The time a few years ago when things were still uncomplicated. A time long ago that still lingered in our memories like a snapshot, like many snapshots. "Me too." I leaned my forehead against her temple and for a while we didn’t move as our ice cream dripped from our hands onto the stones of the wall beneath our legs. It was an undisturbed moment. Until suddenly a voice from behind startled us slightly. "Hey, Elias. How are you? Have you recovered from last night yet?" Max came up to us, Maya not in tow this time. She was wearing large sunglasses - a good decision - and a dress that was far too short and thin for this late summer day, which was warm but not hot enough for such a dress. She smiled and came towards us. Then she squeezed my shoulder and looked at me meaningfully. Sienna looked at her suspiciously and waited. I made an awkward movement with my hand, which wasn't soaked in ice, between the two of them and introduced them. "Max, Sienna - Sienna, Max." The two looked at each other briefly but seemed subdued. "I assume you know each other from the dorm?" Sienna asked, putting her popsicle stick aside. I nodded. "Yes, but we're from different buildings. There was that party yesterday that I told you about. We saw each other there too." "And he's a pretty good dancer," Max joked, nudging my shoulder. I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly and looked apologetically at Sienna. "Yes, I've noticed that I can dance quite well to techno." Sienna raised an eyebrow and said nothing. "Well then, I won't bother you both any further. But it was nice to meet you," she gave us - mainly me - a quick wave and then walked on. Sienna looked after her thoughtfully. "Does she know you have a girlfriend?" The question was superfluous, as Max had just met us together. I nodded anyways and blew a strand of hair out of my eyes. "I told her yes." Sienna narrowed her eyes slightly. "I see, so that was necessary to tell her specifically? You fell for a trick question, my dear," she poked me in the stomach with her finger and then jumped off the wall. "Not fair," I said with mock offense, collected our popsicle sticks and jumped off the wall too. "But let's be honest, she wants something from you," Sienna then said and looked after Max again, who was already turning the corner in the distance. "Come on, she's just flirting." Sienna looked at me scrutinizingly. "And you?" I shook my head. "I really wouldn't have taken you for the jealous type. You know me," I said affectionately and kissed her cheek. She smiled. "Well, this is uncharted territory now, who knows?" She pulled me close and kissed me with some pressure on my mouth. Before I could return it, however, she broke away from me and looked deep into my eyes. "I know you're all yours. But you're mine, okay?" I grinned and licked the tip of her nose. "Sure, I do. No one wants to mess with you anyway."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

We spent the rest of the day walking around town, at least the part that was close to the dorm. Although I could sense that Sienna was still a little tense, I tried to cheer her up with a few lame jokes, an anecdote about Ian trying to change a tire last year and failing miserably, and a bit of sightseeing since we'd barely been to this part of the city. "You're a really good boyfriend, you know. You're sweet, kind, funny, and most of all," she grinned at me with a cheeky twinkle in her eye, "you're incredibly sexy. I mean, those cute dimples on your cheeks? To die for." She raised her eyebrows in playful admiration and I then ruffled her hair. "Hey," she called out and tried to tap me on the shoulder. But I dodged and then started to run. "I'll get you," Sienna called from behind. My sneakers weren't comfortable enough to run like that, but it felt great. Like running away from your worries with just yourself and the wind in your hair and, to sound even cheesier, with the girl you love chasing behind you. "Waaaaiiit," I gasped out of breath, raising a hand to call a truce. "You win, you're the best," I said, making a surprised noise as she grabbed my hair with both hands. But instead of pulling it to tease me, she pulled my head towards her and pressed her lips to mine. I was far too out of breath to fully participate, but she didn't seem to mind. While I gasped for air every now and then, she just played with my tongue and kissed my lips, kissed the sides of my mouth, and nibbled on my lower lip. I'm not going to lie; it really turned me on. And I really couldn't understand how this girl could run like hell, but then be completely calm when she was doing something that absolutely required breathing. "Please don't die!" laughed Sienna after she pulled back. The kiss had felt like a pleasant eternity and we both blushed instantly. "Let's go and have some more of this," I said, grabbing her hand. I knew where we should go at that moment. Or at least where I wanted to go for sure. And that's how we ended up in the last row of seats in a movie theater in a movie I couldn't remember at the end. But it was definitely worth spending 15 euros on. Sienna's lips and hands were simply priceless.

"I‘m sure you'll get through the first semester just fine if you work hard and stay on the ball," Mr. Sanders said just then, looking at us urgently over the rim of his surprisingly blue and surprisingly stylish glasses. He was still very young for a professor, perhaps in his early thirties. His dark brown wavy hair went down to his ears. He kept brushing it back, which could be an annoying habit, but you soon got used to it. I'd been sitting in the lecture hall for two hours now, no bigger than a classroom, but each row of seats a little higher than the last. "He's pretty hot, isn't he?" a girl next to me joked, grinning playfully at me. I blinked in surprise and then nodded. Yes, he did look pretty good. Objectively speaking, of course. The lecture wasn't too full, there were maybe twenty-five of us students. Which surprised me since it was the first day. It wasn't long before Mr. Sanders closed the block with the words: "I'll see you again on Thursday. Don't be late, the introduction to Business Analytics won't wait for you if you've forgotten your coffee." His half-hearted joke was drowned out by the rustling of twenty-five young people gathering their things and then heading for the door in a semi-wild jumble. "I'm glad not all our professors are that old," the girl from a moment ago chortled to me again. I was surprised that she was now the third person to approach me out of nowhere. But apparently that was the way it was at university. And I had always considered myself open-minded and outgoing. I seemed like a church mouse in comparison. "My name's Alva," she said, grinning wryly at me. I smiled back. "Elias. Are you only in this class or are there others?" She pushed a bright red curl behind her ears. "I've taken a few individual courses; my main focus is actually art history. But since I'd like to start my own business as an art consultant, I thought a few entrepreneurship courses wouldn't hurt." I was surprised. Judging by her flashy appearance - red curly hair, bright blue eyes, and thoroughly colorful clothes - artist suited her well. But corporate courses? "Don't judge a book by its cover," she said, giving me a scrutinizing but amused look. I blushed and quickly gathered my books together. "What do you have next?" she asked, and we stood up and walked out into the corridor together in silent agreement about our new acquaintance. "I have a short break and then Introduction to Statistics," my tone had changed at the end of the sentence, becoming more plaintive. I didn't like statistics. No one did. Really no one. "But I'll sign up for the swim team later. What about you?" She looked at her schedule and shrugged. "Art in the course of time."