chapter 2 yasmin

"So… you also like jasmine tea?" Elio asked, his voice breaking the awkward silence that had settled between us.

"Also?" I repeated, confused.

"Yeah." He slightly tilted his cup to show me the tea leaves at the bottom.

I couldn’t help it—his little gesture made me giggle. This guy was easily around 6'3" or 6'4", wore a white short-sleeve shirt that revealed a dragon tattoo sleeve on his left arm. It was softly muscular, not in an overwhelming way, but enough to show he worked out regularly. His porcelain skin tone and deep black curls perfectly framed his face. Now, I wasn’t the type to judge based on appearances, but the contrast between his strong, imposing presence and his delicate taste in drinks was surprisingly humorous. I couldn’t quite figure him out.

"I'm sorry," I calmed myself, "You just don’t seem like the type to enjoy jasmine tea."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What do I look like I enjoy, then?"

I tilted my head slightly, pretending to think. "I don’t know. But definitely not jasmine tea."

He chuckled, and I noticed how nice his teeth were, bright and perfectly straight. It made me smile despite myself.

"I'm Yasmin, by the way," I realized I hadn’t introduced myself yet. "I just came from Morocco for my last year in architectural design."

"Architectural design? No way. Me too." He leaned forward, genuinely intrigued.

"I know," I answered with a smile, remembering the conversation in the car with Ryan. "Ryan told me."

***

"By the way, remember how I told you about our grad project?"

"Yeah, thank you, by the way, for letting me join your team."

"Of course, Yasmin. You’re like my sister," he said with a soft smile. "Plus, it’s already hard enough for you to adapt to a new country, a new school, and start a week later."

I smiled at the thought of Ryan looking out for me, even if he had his own ways of doing things. "Still, thank you. Also, where are we going again?"

"We’re going to meet my friend Elio. He’s the other member of our team."

"Oh, did you tell him about me?"

"No, not yet. I’ll tell him today, though."

"Won’t he be mad that you made that decision without him?" I asked, concerned.

"Nah, don’t worry. He’ll understand. He’s a lot softer than he looks."

***

Ryan was right. Even though I’d barely exchanged any words with Elio, I could now see exactly what he meant.

Elio had this strong, almost intimidating exterior—tall, broad-shouldered, sharp features, definitely gave off high school bully or jock vibes—but from what I’d seen so far, he actually seemed a lot sweeter than I’d expected.

As if on cue, he asked, “Are you guys cousins or something?” His tone was hesitant.

I paused, thinking about it for a second, then looked back at him and said, “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

It wasn’t a lie, exactly. My relationship with Ryan was more than just being childhood friends. To me, he was the brother I never had. Whenever creepy guys approached me, he was always there. When I struggled to understand something, he’d take his time to explain it, even if it took hours. He’d been there through my first friendship breakups, Baba’s business trips—everything. He and his mom would sleep over to keep us company, and we’d do the same when his dad was away. If it weren’t for him, my parents wouldn’t have let me study here. So yeah, calling him just a childhood friend felt like an understatement.

“What do you mean by that?” Elio asked, genuinely intrigued.

I was about to answer when Ryan came back with our drinks and sat down beside me.

“She means we’re childhood friends,” he said as he handed each of us a cup of tea.

“Thanks for the refill, man,” Elio replied.

“Don’t worry, bro. It’s my apology drink.” Ryan smiled.

Silence.

Elio looked at Ryan, then at me, then back at Ryan again with this indecipherable expression. What’s wrong with him? He was totally fine like 30 seconds ago.

“So, you guys are childhood friends?” he repeated, clearly still processing.

This time, I answered.

“Yeah. Our moms were best friends—more like sisters, really. They even ended up pregnant at the same time and gave birth to us on the same day. So we grew up more like siblings than anything else. Eventually, people just started assuming we were cousins, and at some point, we stopped correcting them.” I smiled at the memory, warmth blooming in my chest. Ryan was a constant in my life. Familiar, safe, steady.

Ryan suddenly jumped in, “By the way, Elio, I forgot to tell you something.”

“What’s up?” Elio leaned in slightly, curious.

“Remember how we were one person short for our grad project?”

Oh, right—the grad project. I had completely forgotten about that after meeting Elio.

“Yeah... Wait, did you actually find someone?” Elio’s voice perked up, excitement creeping in. “Who?”

“Yup! I finally found our final member. See? I’m not as useless as you think.”

“You most definitely aren’t,” I added with a small laugh. “So, who is it?”

Elio’s smile widened, teeth showing—and now that I looked closely, I noticed he had dimples too. I hadn’t even realized that before.

Ryan smirked. “It’s Yasmin. Tadaaa!”

I gave him a warm smile, trying to be friendly.

“What? Her?” Elio looked... stunned.

Okay, I thought we got along pretty well earlier, but I did not expect this kind of reaction.

Suddenly, he turned bright red. Wait—was he mad or something?

“Is there an issue?” I tried to keep my frustration out of my tone, but it slipped in anyway.

“What? No! Absolutely not! I just... I just hadn’t realized. Sorry, I’m a little slow.”

I let out a relieved sigh—thank God we weren’t starting off on bad terms—but still... why was he so red?

“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a smile. “But, um… are you okay? You’re a little red.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about that,” he replied quickly, looking down and rubbing the back of his neck—which, by the way, was also really red.

That was cute.

We brainstormed for another thirty minutes before I realized I hadn’t picked up my apartment keys yet, and I still had to get the car my dad bought me tomorrow.

“We should get going,” I said, gathering my things. “I still have to pick up my apartment keys and unpack a little.”

“Yeah, I’ll drive you,” Ryan said, already standing up.

As I turned to leave, I glanced back at Elio. “It was really nice meeting you, Elio. See you soon?”

I genuinely meant it. I’d had a nice time with him, and honestly, I couldn’t wait to start working together.

His eyes sparkled for a second before he replied,

“Yeah, definitely. See you.”

I flashed him one last smile before I could step away, Ryan insisted he wanted to talk to Elio for a bit, so I made my way to the car to wait for him.

When he finally came back, I immediately noticed something was off. His whole vibe had shifted.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked, concerned.

“Yeah, don’t worry.” He flashed me a gentle smile. “I’m just a little tired.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? You look like you’re in a bad mood. Did something happen with Elio?”

He paused, glancing at me before reaching for my hand.

It wasn’t unusual for him to hold my hand when he was scared or needed to say something serious. Of course, that mostly happened when we were kids, but still—it wasn’t strange.

“Do you… what do you think about Elio?” he asked, his eyes holding an emotion I couldn’t quite place.

“Euhm, I don’t know,” I answered honestly. I wasn’t really expecting that question, and I haven’t thought about it. “I mean, I met the dude an hour ago.”

“Do you like him?” he asked.

“I guess so? I mean, he’s super nice… and he has a nice smile.”

Was that the right answer? I wasn’t really sure, but oh well.

Ryan seemed hesitant to continue. “I mean, as a man, what do you think abou—”

Aah, so that was it. I must’ve crossed some invisible line earlier, and now he was worried I’d end up liking and taking his friend away from him. That thought made me burst out laughing.

“Are you kidding me, Ryan? Do you genuinely think I’d fall for a guy that fast? I barely know the dude. Plus, you know me—I’d never date before marriage.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” he chuckled, letting go of my hand and placing his on the steering wheel.

“Sorry, Yasmin. It’s just… I wouldn’t forgive myself if I disappointed Uncle. He told me to make sure no random dudes approach you.”

“Ha.” I sighed. “Baba is doing too much. I already told him I’ll let them know when I’m ready for marriage.”

***.

When I finally entered my apartment, I was relieved to see that everything was already settled in place. Baba had been a little skeptical about me living alone, so he made sure to get me a penthouse at a reasonable distance from MIT—about a 20-minute drive. Since I got my international driver’s license last year and had a car waiting for me tomorrow, I was all set.

He even hired a bunch of people to make sure I could focus on studying without distractions—people who’d come to clean twice a week, a private chef I could contact at any time, and they'd fill my fridge. Oh, and the snack room—probably the best part of it all.

I remember rushing through my tour just to find that room. When I finally discovered it, it felt like heaven on Earth. It was packed to the brim with all my favorite snacks—snacks I’d begged my dad to add to our family home for years. Seeing him finally let me have one was amazing.

I grabbed a pack of my favorite chips—salt and vinegar—and continued my tour.

When I finally got to my room, I collapsed onto the bed. It was so comfortable and squishy, but something felt different. I lay there for a bit, and the silence settled in. I checked the time: 7 PM. It was midnight in Morocco. No way my parents were still awake. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander, remembering my day.

I was happy to see Ryan. I hadn’t hung out with him in a while, not since he decided to study here for high school. He still visited during breaks, but for a while, it felt like I had lost my best friend, as well as my brother. I was glad to see his friend, Elio, even though it was just one person. Elio seemed really nice, and I was happy to see someone like him standing next to Ryan.

Ryan, on the other hand, was still the same—sweet, protective, and clumsy. That lack of change in him made me reminisce about our childhood.

I lay there for a little longer before heading to my walk-in closet—another thing Baba had set up for me. He had duplicated my wardrobe so I wouldn’t have to pack anything.

I picked out my pajamas, showered, prayed, and crawled back into bed.

As my head hit the pillow again, the exhaustion finally caught up with me. Today had been long, exciting, and honestly a little overwhelming. But now? Sleep took over—and for the first time since arriving, everything felt still.

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