In a warm cafe he stared through frosted glass until his phone vibrated beckoning him to let go of his coffee mug. She was late but because of a quaint attachment to his hometown

diner

didn't mind. Within his chest he knew they would hang out even later into the evening for it.

The early nights had brought only misery at end of the semester, but now with a schedule more open than the snowy

Midwestern

expanse he enjoyed sitting around with nothing else to do but enjoy freshly brewed black coffee.

In high school people would say that she and he weren't friends; that they hardly knew each other; and maybe people includes the two themselves because it had only been once they found each other at university, far from home, that they talked and seeing how he had gone off to university so adamant to deviate from the many upperclassmen he saw move away only to hang out with the same people from back home, he was surprised to feel so connected to her each time they met.

Maybe he was an idealist. Most likely he was just self conscious, didn't like the idea of being stuck in his hometown circle, because even though he liked hanging out with her he distanced himself increasingly, and some nights he would wonder while hanging out with a group of friends who were all from the opposite side of the state, why am I doing this? Over time they talked less until they no longer saw each other in real life and eventually didn't text each other.

He had been at a Starbucks trying to fulfill his part of a group project at the end of this just last semester when a

Facebook

message came out of the blue.

"Hi. Did you hear about Trevor?"

If in high school, or anytime for that matter, the two couldn't admit to being friends then they could at least agree that they were with Trevor. And no matter what happened, how distant the two had become they could always come together by making it about their mutual friend. His

GPA

would've probably been a .5 higher that semester had that Facebook message never appeared. She and he talked nonstop. First about Trevor but then about everything, then finally about nothing at all. Everything flowed out with no doubt that the two were making up for lost time. He didn't feel any shame in this. Well no shame for finally opening up, but shame yes for having dammed himself up in the first place. 

"It's okay. It's good to just be talking now."

Having finished finals early she had already been back home while he was hopping around Starbucks and the Library trying to complete his semester. But his coursework never beckoned. The only things that did were Facebook Messages and texts from her. Everything else seemed pointless. All he wanted was for the semester to be over, whatever the grades might be, and be back home, drinking coffee with her behind frosted glass. Talking about Trevor.