Chapter 7 : He Likes You Likes You

Eleonore’s POV

“How do you eat that first thing in the morning?” I asked, staring at Gael as he went to town on not one, or two, but four chocolate chip banana waffles.

There was a little waffle machine near the toasters with waffle batter. So not only did you have to make them yourself, but you had to go one by one since there were only two machines and you couldn’t just take both of them, especially during the breakfast rush.

It was a sugar bomb, paired with milk, orange juice, fruit, bacon, sausage, and a side of oatmeal. Gael was trying to have Sunday brunch all by himself on a Wednesday at 7:45 AM—and this wasn’t the first time he had stacked his plates sky high.

“Gotta make sure I have the energy to make it to lunch. What about you?”

“What about me?” I asked, looking at my plate. “My breakfast is normal, thank you.”

“It’s a cup of black coffee and a muffin. I have a right to judge you,” Gael protested, and I rolled my eyes.

I didn’t usually eat breakfast, back home that was a surefire way to run into someone, staff or otherwise. Father liked to dine at every meal, something about enjoying the pleasures of life and being waited on like he was a guest instead of the hotel’s boss. He had made it sound more eloquent but that was the gist of it.

Suffice it to say I started figuring out ways to avoid having to go to meals at home, which translated to missing one every now and then.

It wasn’t too bad, it was just one meal, and I always ate more at lunch and dinner anyways. That had changed since I arrived at Oakwood, but I still couldn’t stomach much. The coffee was solely for getting me through my classes.

“Like I said, normal, you’re the one trying to reenact the last supper.”

“Oh, haha. Very funny. I’ll have you know those plates in front of them were empty. Who’s the real winner between me and those guys, huh?”

“Pfft, the breakfast of champions, is it?”

“Exactly.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. It was just so—easy to talk to Gael. He was such a good friend and I was lucky to have met him, that he approached me first, otherwise, we never would’ve gotten to know each other.

“Morning.”

“Charlie, good morning!”

“You’re late,” Gael teased.

“And you’re gonna get diabetes if you start every morning like that.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

I smiled to myself as the two playfully argued. I had introduced Gael to Charlie when he came over to say hi during one of our study sessions. Since all three of us had morning classes we decided we’d go and get breakfast together just to have another reason to get up on time.

So far it had been working out and my mornings were far more lively than they used to be. It was nice. It had been a long time since mornings were so cheerful and something to look forward to.

“Oh, right, Gael, forgot to tell you, but your brothers were looking for you,” Charlie remembered.

“I have a phone?”

“Don’t look at me, something about your parental unit checking in on you or something and ‘you didn’t call’ stuff.”

“Shit—looks like that’s my cue, girls. I’m off, don’t miss me too much.”

“Oh no. Whatever shall I do.” Charlie deadpanned. “I suppose I can only eat my breakfast in peace. A true tragedy.”

“Bye Gael, don’t keep them waiting… It always feels like Gael has someplace he needs to be,” I mused after Gael rushed off, dropping his dishes on the conveyor belt and hurrying out.

“He’s a people person, he gets invited to like—every party on campus. I’m pretty sure he knows everyone who attends at this point. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.”

“No, I knew he liked to have fun and knew a lot of people, he’s invited me to a few parties. What I’m more surprised about is that he has brothers,” I admitted, making Charlie laugh at me.

“Girl.”

“I know but he doesn’t talk a lot about his family, to be fair I haven’t talked much about mine either.” I didn’t mind talking about Thomas, or reminiscing about some better childhood memories, but talking about my father, let alone what happened to my mother?

No. I’d really rather not.

“Alright, that’s fair enough, but Gael and his brothers are like, the talk of campus.”

“How so?” That was news to me. I knew Gael was handsome, but I didn’t know he was that popular. Usually, he just sat with us for breakfast, so it was a bit of a surprise.

“Well for one, all three of them are hot, smart, or in some program that makes them seem even hotter or smarter.”

“Haha! Well, when you put it like that...”

“Oh, shut up,” Charlie huffed, smiling. “Gael’s older brother, Gabriel, is a business major and he’s in the upper-level classes. He’s blowing people out of the water and making them look bad. He’s a bit scary though.”

“I don’t think I can imagine Gael’s brother being scary when he’s so friendly.”

“That’s just because you haven’t seen him yet. His glare could freeze fire.”

“Someone’s feeling poetic today.”

“Keep going on like that and I’m just going to eat my breakfast,” Charlie threatened playfully and I surrendered.

“Sorry sorry, please, go on, oh wise and powerful gossip queen.”

“Very well, peasant. He’s tall, he’s handsome, and he’s got the don’t fuck with me vibe, so a lot of girls are swooning. His little brother, Missael, on the other hand, is a literature major and he’s pretty nice, way more soft-spoken than Gael, so most of the girls are head over heels for him. They say he’s ‘shy’,” she snorted. “But I think he just doesn’t want to deal with the drama of romance. The guy prefers to have his head in the books.”

“As opposed to what?”

“As opposed to being between someone’s—”

“You do not need to finish that sentence!” I squeaked, trying to drown myself in coffee, my face feeling hot while Charlie cackled.

“Oh, El’s, you make it too easy.”

“Hush. Honestly, I’m surprised I never heard of his brothers until now.”

“Well, you’re the one with your head in the clouds, thinking about buildings and bricks, huh?” Charlie teased, and well, it wasn’t like she was wrong. Professor Sanderson was still my favorite professor, and his class was something I always looked forward to.

We were starting to go into rendering models and messing around with some programs, and I couldn’t help but be excited for it. I was learning so much, I even had some sketches and designs back in my room that I wanted to try plotting out when I had the chance.

Classes were my everything. It was nice to have made some friends, and it made me happy, but my original reason for attending was to take classes, not anything else.

“Well, maybe I’ll meet them. They sound so different from Gael that I can’t even imagine what they’re like.”

“Hmph! Last time I try to tell you anything.”

“Sorry, sorry,” I laughed. “But you know what I mean. Gael is so… cheerful, and they sound…”

“Moody?”

“I was going to say reserved.”

“Same difference.”

“It’s really not.”

“Focus.”

“On what?”

“El’s, he likes you.”

“…Who?”

Charlie looked at me like I was the stupidest person in the world, and I’d admit that I felt like it under her gaze.

“You… you didn’t get out much before Oakwood, did you?”

“Not really, no,” I admitted. Both on account of my mother’s death and my father’s controlling tendencies. It tended to leave a person isolated and introverted.

“Yeah, that explains it… Gael likes you.”

“I sure hope so, otherwise this friendship would be awkward.”

“I’m feeling awkward just listening to you speak,” Charlie groaned. “He like, likes you, El, all the cheesy romance stuff. Like dates and kissing and other shit—and I’m not explaining the other shit even if you are my best friend in this place. If you don’t even know that, then there’s no hope for you.”

“You’re my best friend, too,” I said, feeling my heart swell. Gael was a good friend, but whatever we had between us, it was a little different from what I had with Charlie.

Despite that, though, I couldn’t believe what Charlie was saying. Gael liked me romantically? I hadn’t seen anything like that, and I couldn’t afford to think about things like that.

Romance brought drama and drama was full of trouble. No matter how much people considered dating to be a part of the college experience, that was definitely not the college experience my father was going to allow me to have.

It was better for everyone’s sake if I was singling and not mingling.

“I don’t think I want to date anyone. I hope that doesn’t ruin my friendship with him.” Gael was cute in a cheerful labrador kind of way and handsome in a ‘he could probably deadlift me’ kind of way but romance really wasn’t something I could afford to get involved in.

“It won’t, Gael’s not that kind of guy,” Charlie reassured me. “And, you say that now, but you can’t predict how you’re gonna feel or where you’re gonna be so you shouldn’t write him off without even entertaining the idea of a relationship. You answered way too quickly for that. No one’s that sure about feelings, El’s.”

No, I was that sure, because sooner or later my father would call me back home and I’d have to follow along like a dog. If not for my sake, then my brother’s. I’d have to leave it all behind when my father made the decision, my friends, my classes, the career I’d never have.

That’s the price I was paying to make sure nothing bad happened, that while Father got what he wanted, no one else was hurt in the process.

I was tired of people getting hurt because of my decisions.

“Well, for now, I’m not looking for a relationship, I’m married to my building models and that sweet steel and concrete. At least Gael has two brothers to comfort him when he finds out—I still hope you’re wrong.”

“I’m hardly ever wrong but good luck, I’ll let you dream.”

“Ha. Ha. Hilarious. Oh, I didn’t ask but what year is his older brother in? Missael has to be his twin since they’re both freshmen, right?”

“Ah, forgot you don’t know shit about this campus. They’re—”

My phone alarm went off and I looked at the time.

“Oh, shoot, I’m about to be late. I have to go, see you later, Charlie!”

“Don’t trip!” Charlie called as I downed the rest of my coffee and hurried out of the caf almost as fast as Gael did.

I wasn’t going to mess up my attendance for anything, though, I did wonder what Charlie had been about to say. It probably wasn’t too important though.