001
Nothin' Like You
Footsteps echoed off the brick walls as they splashed along the wet pavement. Cold January sleet fell in a rapid pace, and coated the ground in a slippery, wet layer. As Claire carefully walked down the street, the sleet landed on her hooded jacket and moistened her long, black tresses. She stuffed her hands into her pockets in order to keep the little warmth they had. A car then paused beside her, and whoever was inside rolled the window down. "Claire, is that you?"
She peered into the car, and spotted a tall and lanky friend of hers. "Hey, Chanyeol!" she called out.
"Hey! Why don't you get in? We're heading to the same place, right?"
"You're heading to Miller House too?" Claire asked as she approached.
"Yeah! And you're really soaked..." he muttered when she entered the car.
Claire pulled her hood off and rubbed some of the sleet off her hair. "I'll dry off once I get there. Do you know what we're doing?"
"Not really," Chanyeol answered, "but I brought some board games, and the banana bread I made yesterday!"
"Wow, I'm excited," she beamed.
"We'll see. It's only my second time making it, but I hope you guys like it too," he answered hesitantly.
"Sounds good, I'm sure I will like it. Who else is coming?"
"Well, Sehun's there now, waiting for us. I think it may just be us three? We're the only ones who talked about doing this back at the Quad..."
"Cool."
Once they arrived at the front of Miller House, Chanyeol and Claire took the board games and banana bread from the car and knocked on the door. Next thing they knew, Sehun opened up, and a wide smile graced his tan features. "Yo dudes, come in!"
Claire laughed. "Drinking already?"
"What can I say? Gotta party up my Friday night!" he exclaimed before taking another chug of Blue Moon beer.
"Want music then?" Chanyeol asked.
"Yeah!" Sehun yelled as Claire chuckled and plugged her iPhone into the speakers. "What did you bring?"
"Well, we have Settlers of Catan, Parcheesi, and I also brought Dominion. Oh yeah, Claire, have you played any?" Chanyeol asked.
"Nope! You guys can choose!"
"I want to do Settlers of Catan," Sehun grinned.
"Then Settlers it is!" Chanyeol exclaimed before opening the box.
The board game was set up, and just as the three were starting to play, someone else came into the common room. "Yo, Kai! Wanna play with us? We just started," Sehun motioned over.
Kai smiled, "Nah, I'm good."
Claire glanced to her right to find him opening a Blue Moon of his own. "Hey, Kai," Claire smiled.
"Hey," he responded.
"How are you?"
"I'm good. You?"
"I'm okay," she answered, "sure you don't want to play?"
"I'm sure," he smiled.
"Well, it seems you're going to have fun watching Chanyeol cream us both," Claire stated. Kai chuckled, his eyes squinting in mirth.
"Claire, you have no faith in me!" Sehun exclaimed, and everyone laughed at him.
As the game progressed, Chanyeol proceeded to troll both Claire and Sehun, which resulted in plenty of loud complaints and man-to-man punches. Despite the chaos, Claire felt truly happy. A certain person lived here, and she didn't want to see him. Luckily, there was no sign of him that night, so she exhaled a breath she didn't know she held. Her last semester of college was about to begin, and there was no way that she would let such "petty" issues get to her. After all, Claire wasn't about to waste time yearning for someone who caused her so much pain.
Claire chuckled at Sehun, who was getting trolled on again by Chanyeol. "Sehun, I thought you played this before!" she exclaimed.
"Don't blame me! He's creaming you too!" Sehun pointed a finger at her despite laughing.
"I'm still learning this game though!" she laughed back at him.
Kai glanced at the girl sitting next to him. He barely knew her, but the laugh that erupted from her cheered him up significantly. He chuckled as she whined "Chanyeol!" and as she yelled an "Are you two serious?!" at the two young men who both proceeded to gang up on her in the game. She then turned to him, "What're you laughing about?"
He shook his head, his lips curled upwards, "Nothing."
Claire gave him a doubtful look, then stuck her tongue at him. "I'm watching you!"
2 am hit before anyone knew, and it was time to go home. Kai bid everyone good night, and when he relaxed into his bed, he couldn't help but think of Claire's smile the entire night.
Well, there's chapter 1! You can see that Kai and Claire aren't that close, but she seems to know Sehun and Chanyeol rather well. Thanks for reading! And please feel free to comment anytime!
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