Three days later, the roommates were getting ready to go to the University's annual Societies Fair.
Societies were essentially clubs, and every Society had a stall at the event.

Jace pinched a few individual curls, carefully positioning them so that they sat on top of his head in a uniformed manner.

"Well hello handsome", said Tabitha, standing in Jace's door frame. "Seriously though, you never stop looking in the mirror."

"Yeah, well I just like to make sure everything's perfect, that's all."

"Ok, one, you know you're hot, right? And two, Sutton's the perfectionist. You're the one who goes with the flow. You said those exact words, I think."

"Jace, I–oh!
Tabitha.
Hey!
Sorry, I didn't realise you were in here."

"Can I help you with anything?", asked Jace.

"Uh, no.
Um, Anvi's just gone ahead without us, because she needs to be back in an hour to video call her parents", said Sutton.

"We should head out now then", said Tabitha.
"We can meet up with her."

¤¤¤

The weather was good today.
Clear skies, the sun's golden rays shining down on the freshly cut grass. Tabitha didn't like cut grass.
She understood that cutting the grass was necessary, but she loved the sound of grass crunching as she walked.

There were atleast fifty stalls—all within a comfortable distance from each other, which highlighted how big the area was.

"Wow... this is so cool!", exclaimed Sutton.
"There are so many places to choose from–oh, culinary society!
Media Society!
Book Club!
Debate Club!
How will I know where to start?"

Jace chuckled.
"How about we start with the one's you wanted to join?
You wrote them down in your journal, remember?"

"Oh!
Yeah", said Sutton.
"Thanks, Jace."

Jace smiled and gave Sutton a quick hug.

Tabitha liked how Jace was around Sutton.
He wasn't any different.

Growing up, Tabitha's brothers wouldn't let her hang out with their friends.
She understood why.
Sometimes siblings can be embarrassing, and keeping your school life separate from your home life is the easiest thing to do.

But back then, it hurt a little.

Seeing Jace act the same around his sister and roommates made Tabitha happy.

"Oh, look!
There's a stall for the Photography Society.
At the movie party, you were saying you wanted to join, weren't you Tabitha?", pointed out Jace.

Tabitha couldn't hide her smile as she thought about that night.
Nothing happened between them, aside from a very flirty conversation where Tabitha believed she came out on top.

"Oh, yeah.
I'll check it out now."

Sutton's eyes bulged open, and a very concerned Luka worried that they'd fall out of her sockets.
She grabbed Jace's arm and
squeezed—hard.

"Ow!
Yo, sis?
I kinda need that arm–ow!"

"They have a choir!
Well, it's a music society, but they have a choir!"

"You want to join a choir?", asked Luka.

Sutton nodded.
"Jace and I were in the choir at our old school."

"Not to brag, but we were pretty good", said Jace.

"Ah, so you've got the voice of an angel as well as the face of one?", remarked Tabitha, earning a wink from Jace.

Luka pointed in the distance.
"Is that Anvi?"

Anvi was approaching the group, her arms full of bags and small boxes.
She stumbled slightly, her view obscured by all her bags.

"Hey!
Guys, this place is so cool!
You can get loads of free stuff", she said.

Tabitha pointed a finger at Anvi and grinned.
"This is why I like you!"

She grabbed a few bags from Anvi's arms.
"So spill, where are all the freebies at?"

"Every stall.
And some stalls are just partners of the University.
Like Monroe's, which is this really cool restaurant.
They've got a stall that's giving away free samples of their food", explained Anvi.

"Free food?
We gotta move people!", exclaimed Sutton.

Anvi chuckled.
"Have fun guys!
I have to get back to call my parents."

Jace stepped closer to Anvi, holding his hands out.
"I'll carry some stuff back to the flat for you."

Anvi shook her head.
"No!
Uh, I mean, I'm good."

"Seriously, it's no–"

"I said no.
I can manage."

Anvi stormed away, with a strong sense of purpose, determination and—oh, look, she fell.

After face planting on the ground, Anvi just stayed there, completely shocked by what had happened.

She ignored the worried shouts of her fellow roommates, and focused on trying to stand up again.

A pair of hands scooped some of the boxes up, and transfered them onto one hand, before holding their free hand out to Anvi.

Anvi looked up to see who it was.

"No one but us saw, don't worry", whispered KJ.

Anvi nodded and quickly took his hand, helping herself up.
She brushed the grass off her top.

"That was... the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me."

"It's alright, it happens to the best of us."

Anvi raised an eyebrow at this.

"Hey!
Are you ok?", asked Sutton, with the rest of the group closely behind.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
Just tripped."

"I'll walk you back", said KJ.

"Are you sure?"

KJ nodded.
"Yeah.
You take the bags and I'll take the boxes."

"Want me to grab some leaflets from any of the stalls for you?", asked Luka.

"Nah, I'll be back in a bit."

The remaining roommates watched as KJ and Anvi walked away.
Tabitha furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she saw a faint smile on KJ's face.

"Since when were they friends?", she asked.

"Huh?
They can't be friends?", questioned Luka.

"No, of course they can.
It's just surprising, that's all.
I mean, he ran to help her up before any of us could."

"You're reading into this too much", said Jace.

"Well, at the party, he was looking at Anvi a lot.
I think he's got a little crush."

"And I'm the Queen", replied Jace.

Tabitha playfully rolled her eyes.
"Oh, come on!
She's a pretty girl.
And he's not a bad looking guy."

"So that means they should be together?", questioned Sutton.

"Well, they look pretty cosy together."

"Anvi's got a boyfriend, remember?", reminded Sutton.

Tabitha shrugged.
"People cheat."

"Hey!
Anvi's not like that."

"Look, I'm not saying she's a cheater! Just that, well... long distance is hard. She's obviously going to be missing her boyfriend.
It makes sense if she's looking for comfort in–"

"This feels wrong.
Accusing her when she's not here to defend herself", said Luka.

Tabitha shook her head.
"I'm not accusing her of anything! Believe it or not, I really like Anvi.
I guess I'm just saying that... well, we don't really know each other, do we? We've spoken for three months, but not about super deep stuff."

"I get that", said Luka.
"Not saying I believe she would cheat on her boyfriend, but we are still kind of strangers to each other."

"Can we focus on the societies please?
I don't want to think about this now", said Sutton.

"I've seen a few that I like, so I'm going to check them out", said Luka.
"Should we all meet back here in two hours?"

"Sounds good", said Jace.

As everyone walked away, Tabitha grabbed Jace's arm.

"I messed up, didn't I?"

"What do you mean?"

"I really wasn't accusing Anvi of anything!
I just... I talk out loud sometimes.
If a thought enters my mind, I almost always say it out loud.
My Dad said I get it from him.
He just always speaks his mind."

"Well I think that's a good thing", said Jace.

"You do?"

Jace nodded.
"It shows that you're real."

Tabitha smiled.
"No one's ever said that before.
I mean, most people, other than my family, just say I'm trying to cause drama."

"Well that's just stupid."

¤¤¤

Armed with freebies and leaflets, the roommates decided to call a taxi.
Jace perused the stalls a final time, his eyes widening when he recognised a familiar face.

"Bolin?"

Bolin looked up, a bright smile appearing on his face when he saw Jace.

"Jace!
Hi!
Come on over, mate!"

Jace jogged over to him, giving him a little wave as he approached the stall. Loafs of bread covered the counter, with tiny chalk-drawings of bread on the menu boards behind Bolin.

"Is this a bread stall?"

"Very perceptive!
Yes, it is!
I've been working at the Baked Potato for a while now, but breadmaking is my true passion."

Jace couldn't help but chuckle at this. Bolin's whole vibe was a delight to be around, and Jace thought it was nice that he was so passionate about baking.

"How's the roommate drama?", asked Bolin.

"Oh, it's all sorted now.
Thanks for the help!"

"That's great!
Well, I've got to pack up the stall now, but you can have a few bread samples on the house."

"Really?
Thanks!"

"No problem!
Make sure to leave a review on my Instagram page—breadysteadygo."

Jace grinned and nodded.
"I will!"

¤¤¤

Back at the house, the roommates were gathered around the TV, watching a movie.
Sutton was holding one bowl of popcorn, whilst KJ was holding the second bowl.

Jace scanned the group, his brows furrowing when he noticed Anvi wasn't there.
He shrugged and made his way to the kitchen area, placing his bread samples on the kitchen counter.

"Hey, has anyone seen Anvi?"

"She's taking the bins out", said KJ.

Jace nodded.
He made his way outside, a small smile appearing on his face when he spotted Anvi.

"Hey!
How's the face?"

"What?"

"You know, after the fall.
Don't worry, it still looks cute", he grinned.

Anvi rolled her eyes, making no effort to hide her disgust.
She walked past him, deliberately shoving him despite their being plenty of room for her to walk past him.

"Ow!
Are you mad at me or something?"

"No", she said, dragging out the 'o', and rolling her eyes once again.

Although Jace was usually calm and collected, Anvi's attitude towards him really started to eat away at him.

He didn't do anything wrong.

And if he did, Anvi wouldn't speak to him long enough for him to find out what it was.

"What have I done to annoy you so much?", he asked.

"Nothing", said Anvi.

"Oh, stop lying!
You've got a face like a sour lemon whenever I'm around and I don't know why."

Anvi shrugged.
"Don't know what you're talking about."

Jace scoffed, rubbing his forehead with his hands, in an attempt to control his frustration.

"You know, you act like you're all high and mighty, but you're not!
I mean, for someone who cheats on their boyfriend–"

"What?"

Anvi spun around, her eyes widening and a faint green vein bulging out of her forehead.

"What the h*ll did you just say?"

Jace suddenly shrank, his face riddled with worry as Anvi walked closer to him.

"It's j-just, Tabitha said–"

"Tabitha said that?", questioned a shocked Anvi.

Without saying another word, Anvi stormed off, making her way inside.

Anvi opened the door, her eyes growing dark when they zoned in on Tabitha.

"Oh, hey.
We're putting on–",

"Why'd you say I cheated on my boyfriend?"

Tabitha's eyes widened, and they landed on a frowning Jace.
She quickly stood up, pushing the popcorn bowl away from her.

"Anvi, I'm so sorry!
I–"

"Look, I'm not going to have you badmouthing me.
I've been through it before, I'm not doing it again."

The intensity of Anvi's tone made Sutton believe that there was a deeper story here, but she wasn't about to ask any questions about it right now.

"Who am I cheating with then?"

Tabitha's response came out as a whisper, but it was enough to get Anvi's blood boiling.

"KJ."

"KJ?
A guy I've known for a little over a week?"

"I know, it was so stupid, I–"

"Why did you think I was cheating with KJ?"

"I-I don't know!
You just, he seemed much closer to you than any of us."

"That's because all you guys ever want to do is get me to open up", said KJ. "Anvi's happy to just talk to me the way I am. She doesn't try to force me to be this larger than life person."

"We weren't trying to force you", said Luka.

"Yeah, we just... you're so quiet", said Sutton.

"I know, but that's who I am.
It just takes time for me to be comfortable around others.
You need to give me that time."

The others nodded.

"Of course, man.
We're sorry", said Jace.

As Anvi's rage began to weaken, she looked around at her roommates.
This is not the kind of person she wanted to be.

In fact, this was the first time Anvi ever stood up for herself.

"I-I think I'm going to go for a walk."

When Anvi left, Jace gave Tabitha an apologetic look.
"I'm so sorry–"

"Don't be.
This isn't on you."

----

Hi!

I go back to school in a couple of days, so updates might be limited depending on whether I can find the time to write or not.

Some storylines are long-running, whilst others will be resolved in the same chapter.

Anvi definitely snapped! Her reasoning will be explained soon. Do you think Anvi overreacted?

It's still very early days, but it looks like Tabitha and Jace could bond on a level that's deeper than just their physical attraction to each other. Could you see them working as a couple?

Also—Bolin. He's the best.

What are you interested in seeing more of?

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

ruesbennett

LeMystical-Puffle

1-800-ISAACLAHEY-

mlkbttl