𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻

𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻:

Good Advice

❅𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻❅

I smiled respectfully as I watched the students leave the large lecture hall, each one rushing off to their next class.

It's now the next day after the cookie competition, and I'm back to being Professor Chun.

Which almost feels like my alter ego given how completely opposite my life is outside this lecture hall.

Luckily, the illegal side of things isn't too tasking, especially since my dad up-kept it all really well before I took over.

It's just more or less hard to find a balance between being a professor and a gang leader.

As it would be for anyone I assume.

"Let me guess," I said as Omara approached me, as she usually does after class, "Another event you want to invite me to?"

Omara laughed, "You mean force you to be at?" she corrected me, clearly joking back, "But there's nothing going on—I just like talking to you after class," she admitted.

I smiled slightly at her words, "It's nice catching up with you as well," I said, recalling how close Omara and I were before I left Miami.

Mazin would always get so irritated when Omara stole me away.

Especially if we were right in the middle of our plans.

Tahir would usually involve himself in our plans instead of stealing me away.

"Oh wait, there is ice skating tomorrow," Omara suddenly said, furrowing her brows as she grabbed her phone from the back pocket of her jeans, "I think... let me check first."

I nodded a few times, watching as she tapped on her phone a few times.

"Yeah, it's tomorrow night at eight," Omara said as she glanced up from her phone, "At the ice rink downtown," she clarified. 

I nodded, determining ice skating did sound fun.

It's been years since I've done it.

I'll probably see if Dani wants to join me too.

"I'll be there then," I suddenly determined, immediately earning a small smile from Omara.

"Perfect, I can't wait," Omara said as she began backing away from me, "I need to get to my next class—but don't forget to wear something warm."

I nodded, "I won't," I said, knowing how cold it typically is when ice skating.

Especially indoors.

I let out a soft sigh, walking over to sit down at my desk as Omara made her way out of the classroom.

I don't have my next class for another twenty-ish minutes, so I at least have a little time to myself.

Which is nice after teaching for ninety minutes straight. 

I furrowed my brows, glancing down when my phone suddenly started vibrating with a call.

From Dani of all people.

Think of her and she appears it seems.

"Hello?" I said almost hesitantly.

Mostly because it felt kind of random for her to be calling me right now.

"Hey, are you busy tonight?" she asked, her familiar voice flowing from the phone speaker into my ear.

I blinked a few times, "I... I think I have some papers to grade," I quickly lied, hoping the excuse sounded somewhat reasonable, "Why?" I asked curiously.

"I was going to see if you wanted to go look at Christmas lights tonight," Dani briefly explained, causing me to nod a few times to myself.

And a part of me contemplated the idea.

The tiniest part at least.

Mostly because Dani showed up for the plans I invited her to last night.

Looking at Christmas lights with her wouldn't be the worst thing I don't think.

It's not like dinner and a movie.

Just something casual.

"I think... I can maybe rush to finish grading," I suddenly said, shaking my head at my naive words.

What the fuck am I doing?

And why do I even feel bad for her?

Especially after what she did to me?

"We don't have to go until eight or nine if that works?" Dani asked.

I let out an internal sigh, unable to process the fact that I just agreed to this.

"Yes, eight works," I said, shaking my head yet again.

Fuck this.

Ugh.

"Okay, just send your address and I'll pick you up," Dani told me.

"Okay," I said, desperately wanting to let out the biggest sigh of my life.

"Cool, I'll see you at eight," Dani said, immediately making me nod.

Because I need to get off this phone call and bang my head on a wall a few times before my next class starts.

"See you then," I murmured, lowering the phone from my ear to end the call.

And as soon as it was ended and I had my phone locked, I let out the longest annoyed sigh.

Tonight should be interesting I guess.

I genuinely can't wait to tell Nelli about this one over lunch today.

She's definitely going to laugh.

Or yell at me.

Probably both.

I contemplated numerous reactions I could possibly get from my best friend during the next lecture I led.

All that really occupied my mind was how I would tell her about this.

Especially to get the best reaction.

Preferably one that involves laughing.

Because I somehow know Nelli is going to scold me for even answering the phone in the first place.

"Sounds like fun."

I raised a brow, eyeing Nelli for a moment.

From head to fucking toe.

Because this is not her.

"What?" Nelli laughed at my clear reaction, taking another bite of the wrap she made.

She also brought me one too.

"I expected a... bigger reaction from you," I explained, tilting my head as I analyzed her more.

Nelli shrugged, "I already gave you my advice and you already accepted the plans so..." she trailed off, clearly unbothered by it, "Just don't forget what she did, Vee," she added.

"It happened years ago," I reminded her, weirdly in defense, "And only once."

Nelli suddenly raised a brow, "You're saying this like you want to get back with her?" she said, setting her wrap down to focus her attention on me.

"What? No, I don't want to get back with her," I quickly emphasized, knowing that's the last thing I would do.

Yes, we're hanging out now in a way, but I would never actually date her.

"And what about Maz?" Nelli asked, smiling slightly as she eyed my face, "Do you want to get with her?"

I blinked a few times, almost awkwardly, "I... no, definitely not—"

"You hesitated!" Nelli cut me short with wide eyes, sitting upright in her chair, "You want her don't you? Be honest—it's just us girls."

I rolled my eyes, "You're being delusional, Nelli," I mumbled, picking up my chicken wrap for another bite.

"I'm delusional?" Nelli retorted back to me in amusement, "You two were having a fucking stare-off last night—so news flash, you're the delusional one here," she added, leaving me wondering who else witnessed me and Mazin briefly looking at each other during the cookie competition. 

"I'm not moving past what she did," I pointed out as I chewed a few times.

"Yet you'll move past what Dani did?" Nelli emphasized, easily making me sigh.

"That's different," I said, setting my chicken wrap down as I dusted off my hands, "It's... different because—"

"You were in love with Maz?" Nelli cut me short with a raised brow, "Possibly still in love with her?" she asked me. 

"Let's just drop this topic," I determined, suddenly feeling irritated by Nelli trying to poke my brain right now.

"Fine," Nelli sighed, leaning back in her chair, "But you can never say I didn't try to help you be self-aware."

I hummed, "Sure, whatever—next topic," I said, quickly trying to move away from the Mazin and Dani subject.

And luckily, Nelli did just that.

We discussed one of her new clients and then also talked about ice skating tomorrow night.

It was a more surface-level conversation, but still much better than our previous topic.

Even if Nelli might've made a good point.

But I decided to push the idea of that to the back of my head, focusing on my last lecture of the day before grading the rest of the assignments from last week.

Until soon, I was back at my apartment quickly getting ready to see Christmas lights with Dani.

To purposely keep it casual, I wore a pair of pajama pants and a long-sleeve top—wearing my dark hair up in a ponytail with no makeup.

I lastly slipped on my furry slippers before walking out of my apartment and heading down to the lobby.

Where Dani's black Tesla sat waiting outside for me.

The warm Miami air was a little chillier now that it was nighttime—but the inside of Dani's warm car quickly contrasted that.

"Cute pajamas," Dani said as I settled in the car, buckling my seatbelt.

"Thank you," I murmured, glancing over as soon as I was buckled.

Dani settled on something just as casual as me, wearing a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants.

"So I was thinking we grab food first since it's a Christmas lights drive-through," Dani said as she put the car in drive.

I hesitantly nodded, realizing this was sort of like a casual dinner.

Possibly a date?

I'm not sure, and hopefully, Dani isn't sure either.

"McDonald's would be perfect," I suddenly determined, deciding on the most casual fast food place I could think of.

"Mcdonald's it is then," Dani didn't hesitate to say, guiding the car through the light downtown traffic, "How did grading go?"

I shrugged, "Typical, I managed to finish it all though," I said, earning a nod from her.

"That's good to hear," she said, briefly glancing over to me, "And how do you like teaching?"

I glanced to the front, watching the road pass, "It's nice... just hard to balance with everything," I said, relaxing back in my seat, "Taking over for my dad was a lot more than I expected," I admitted.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Dani asked, which immediately made my attention divert back over to her.

"And how would you help?" I asked, clearly skeptical by her offer.

Mostly, because she's not involved in... illegal activities.

"Wow, no offense taken," Dani laughed, clearly aware of how skeptical I was. 

I pursed my lips into an awkward smile, "I just mean... this isn't necessarily your side of things," I said, trying to word it a little better.

"It's not," Dani said as she continued focused on driving, "But planning is your biggest asset," she pointed out, putting on her signal to switch lanes.

"It is," I said, knowing I should probably plan out my days better, "But it's less about planning and more about an identity crisis."

Dani hummed, "Professor to gang leader and hotel owner isn't an easy shift," she said, agreeing with my perspective, "But if it's not about planning and you're not falling behind then this isn't a physical thing, it's a mental one."

I hesitantly nodded, blinking a few times as I processed her words.

Her very smart words actually.

"That's actually a really good point," I whispered, still looping her words in my head.

"Actually?" she emphasized my word choice with an amused smile, "You're starting to offend me now, Vee," she joked.

I laughed slightly, "I just didn't expect you to give me that kind of advice," I said, shaking my head a few times in amusement.

"Really good advice?" Dani clarified, her smile growing slightly, "I'm full of it trust me."

I hummed, glancing out of the tinted window, "Sure you are," I jokingly said, watching the road quickly pass by us.

And suddenly our conversation felt less awkward.

A lot less awkward actually.

Which made sitting in the car a little easier—given we would be in here the entire time.

Getting my usual chicken nuggets and fries also seemed to help me relax even further with Dani—suddenly asking her a bunch of what-if questions.

It was always my favorite thing to ask.

And it passed the time really quickly.

Soon we were at the Christmas lights drive-through, still snacking on our fries as we slowly drove through the different exhibits.

There was also a radio station that had music in sync with the lights display.

My favorite one had to be Santa's village—mostly because of how intricate it was.

All of the light show exhibits were pretty detailed honestly.

For once it was comfortably silent between us as we admired each light show, watching the lights flash to different designs.

Soon we made it through to the end where there was a short light show walk-through.

Which I didn't plan on walking through given my choice of clothes.

But Dani was so bent on getting out of the car to see it.

"It's only five minutes—we could walk halfway and turn around," Dani suggested, smiling at me when I sighed dramatically.

"I'm in pajamas," I reminded her, glancing down at my choice of clothes.

"And you look amazing as always," Dani assured me, her tone nothing but genuine, "I swear no one is going to think twice about it."

I pursed my lips together, glancing over to the entrance of the light show walkthrough.

There were numerous groups of people entering, some even wearing sweatpants and casual attire.

Which made my choice of pajamas feel a little better.

Sort of.

"Fine," I suddenly mumbled, "But only halfway."

Dani immediately nodded, "Only halfway," she repeated back to me in emphasis, opening her door as I opened mine.

And as I stepped out of the car, I quickly adjusted my pajama pants and long-sleeve top—awkwardly glancing around as I rounded the car toward Dani.

"I can't believe you're making me do this right now," I said as we approached the entrance.

Dani only smiled slightly, "You'll be thankful once we see the lights," she said as we continued walking together.

I lazily hummed, glancing up at the lit-up archway over the wide sidewalk.

And just beyond it were trees wrapped in the brightest soft blue lights.

But what really captured my attention was the Charlie Brown Christmas exhibit nearby, feeling entirely in awe by the details of it.

I don't really remember the movie, but this light show is still really creative.

"Insane right?" Dani said as we stopped in front of the exhibit.

I nodded a few times, "How long do you think this all takes?" I asked, glancing over to Dani.

Who pursed her lips in thought, "Probably a couple of weeks I would think," she said.

I raised a skeptical brow, "Well, I think months," I argued her point.

Dani smiled slightly, "Then why ask me?" she said in amusement, eyeing my face.

"Because I wanted to, clearly," I pointed out, jokingly nudging her away.

But Dani quickly pulled me with her, subtly pulling me closer to her.

And as soon as she noticeably glanced down from my eyes, the moment between us stalled.

Most importantly, I froze.

Especially when she leaned down and pressed her lips to mine.

They were soft against mine, her arms naturally sliding around my waist as I hesitantly kissed her back.

It felt like I was holding my breath, but not in a good way.

Especially when her familiar face flashed in my head.

It made me freeze up again, almost stiffly this time.

Which caused Dani to pull away slightly, still leaving barely any space between our faces.

"I just..." I trailed off, knowing she was confused by my sudden freeze-up after I kissed her back.

Why the fuck did I even kiss her back?

I didn't necessarily want to, I just sort of felt obligated to?

I'm not sure.

Fuck.

"I want to move slower than this," I suddenly whispered, glancing away from her stare.

Or maybe not move at all.

I need to find a better way to shift into the friend-zone.

It’s just hard with her…

"Slower works for me," Dani didn't hesitate to say, gently pulling me closer for a hug.

Which caused me to hesitantly slide my arms around her neck, feeling almost stiff wrapped in her arms.

I also felt sick to my fucking stomach.

Maybe agreeing to this was a mistake.