"I'm not going."

Her long-time friend and classmate stood at her half-open door. A Saturday morning; she had been up half the night working on term papers. She rubbed her tired eyes; still foggy with sleep, dressed only in her nightwear; panties, some lacy pink ones with white polka dots and white lace motif edging at the legs and crotch. She obviously had no bra on and her nipples could be seen lightly through the thin fabric of her night shirt; a slightly baggy one depicting a smiling mug of hot chocolate that read "Cuddle up!" Her hair was a mess about her face; copper locks splayed like a mane, she obviously had only gotten up to answer his knock and now turned away to close the door. He stuck his foot between it and its frame, to keep her from doing so as she looked up at him, irritated. He was often like this; overzealous and pushy. He never took his professors seriously, always calling them idiots; his irresponsibility and disrespect frustrated her. Why had he even come to university? They'd met on her first trip to campus; one of those high school senior visit things- been paired up so to say. And then, at orientation, encountered one another again. Now, no matter where she went, he was there, whether she requested his presence or not. He had enlisted in her major and now even lived nearby. However, it wasn't all bad. Although he frustrated her, he had always been there, by her side, with Erd. He was still her comrade. Despite not acting like he cared much, he did surprisingly well in school. Still, he didn't know when to hold his tongue.

"C'mon Pe. To. Ra. It'll be fun."

He leaned against the wooden frame, somewhat flirtatiously, pushing the door open slightly.

"I'm not going."

"Aaaah. Petoraaaaa. When have I ever been wrong?"

She could name hundreds of times during these past three years when he had been wrong; seriously wrong, but, there was no sense in arguing with him. She turned away from the door, and he stepped in to her dishevelled apartment; a wooden entryway leading to a pale-coloured, carpeted living room, windows draped in golden yellow curtains. Now a college senior, she lived on her own off campus, working at a nearby café downtown. He glanced about the room, not really affected by its filthiness; his was twice as bad. Her clothing from yesterday lay strewn about on the floor in a path toward the living room futon; a shirt, socks, a laced bra and pants in a sporadic mess that guided the eye to where she'd fallen asleep last night whilst studying. She headed to the kitchen, still in her nightshirt and panties, and proceeded to make them some tea. It was way too early to be up on a Sunday morning. She needed this pick-me-up. She poured him a large, dark green mug, and he took a seat across from her at the island counter, watching the earl grey liquid swirl about in its ceramic confines. He was trying to time perfectly his next move and looked up to her, giving her an overly confident and flirtatious smirk, pouching his already pursed face.

"It's suuuper cool Pe-to-ra. The band is really up-and-coming."

"It's not my atmosphere."

This was true. It wasn't her atmosphere. Straight A student, 4.0, studious and hard-working in every sense of the word. She worked at the coffee shop every morning to prep the drinks and baked goods before class, went to class, studied, returned to the coffee shop until close and then returned home to study. She hardly sacrificed time to be with Auruo, other than to study together, and he often got off-topic even during their study sessions.

"C'mon... It'll be fun. You need to get out a bit. It's a really awesome band."

He said everything very exaggeratedly, like always. Like he had for the last three years. She thought this would change as they grew closer, but, no. It did not. She looked down into her tea, watching as a reflection of herself danced across the ripples in the bitter liquid. Auruo sat staring at her with sandy eyes, the sun from the open window creating a stark contrast on the contours of her hair and face. Her locks glowed in this warm light, igniting her eyelashes like fire. She looked back up to him.

"I don't have anything to wear to that sort of event."

He smirked, leaning on to the counter and dragging his words a bit purposefully.

"If that's the excuse we'll just have to buuuuy something."

She sighed. Today was her day off. She stood for a minute, holding the tea to her lips in pensiveness and then, setting it down with a gentle clink against the cold counter, reconnected their gaze. She wasn't certain what came over her in that minute, or why she ever agreed to such behaviour, but she nodded with a sigh.

"Alright."

"You get closer and closer to winning my heart Pe. To. Ra."

She shot him a cold glare, her honey-coloured eyes feeling more like ice. She sighed and convinced herself that she had to agree, there was no sense arguing with Auruo. He laughed a bit nervously, rubbing the back of his head and then downed the last of the bitter, now luke-warm tea, looking up at her with a grin as he placed his mug on the table.

"Let me get ready."

She went to put on something nice. They were going out after all. They never went out. Really, that was her fault. He often brought her food from the cheap Turkish place down the street. Really, it was just an excuse to be around her and brag about how it was no big deal. He didn't like to seem weak, or act as though things were important to him, but there was someone important to him. Her. She blushed a bit thinking about him in this way. She didn't like him, but would never directly tell him that, just as he would never directly ask her out. He would only be painfully implicative, in a way that was actually kind of embarrassing... as well as... frustrating, but also silly. She couldn't call him charming. She headed to the dresser in her bedroom. For one person, she had a fairly large, cushy bed, which made it all the more ironic that she hardly slept in it; she would often study on the futon until she could do nothing more than allow heavy lids to close over amber orbs. She sat on the edge of her bed, feeling the air go wheezing out of the down comforter as she plopped on to it, pulling the drawer to her left open and removing a nice top; a stretchy, ruffled one in white. Auruo was still sitting at the kitchen counter, waiting on her. He could have seen her if he wanted to as she changed, but had more respect for her than that. He almost wanted to pat himself on the back for having such restraint. As such, he averted his thin, sandy eyes from her bedroom doorway as she pulled on some vertically coffee and cream striped stockings and a chocolate coloured, ruffled skirt as well as some brown, ankle-high wedged boots, adorned with bows at the heels. She really wasn't all that effeminate in fashion typically, but felt like she should dress somewhat more nicely today if they were going clothes shopping. She sighed, wondering if she had made the right decision in agreeing to go with him before stepping back out in to the living room, now dressed, brushing her hair as she walked towards the chair in the corner that she filled with random things; different bags, school papers, mail she hadn't read yet, amongst other items—some junk, others not. She grabbed a sand, half-body, full-sleeve cardigan from the dishevelled chair, putting it on briskly whilst she struggled to pin her hair up to one side in the back with a brown, alligator clip. She snatched a cute, short-handled purse from the disorganised table-chair; it bore little tea, hot chocolate and coffee icons in a fluffy pattern and said "wake up!" in silly writing about it. The cute beverages smiled up at her as she placed the bag over her shoulder, turning to Auruo.

"I'm ready."

He looked back at her over his shoulder and gasped in half-shock. The playfulness of her outfit was a bit much for him.

"Marry me."

She furrowed her brow at him, and he stood, walking to her as smoothly as possible as he placed an arm around her shoulder, smirking down at her. Her honey eyes turned to ice anew and he laughed a bit anxiously, pulling his hand back slowly and opening the door for her. He knew if he hadn't let her go, that he'd likely have received a sharp pain in the ribs.