Bad News. Ali’s picked up a cold

Saturday went by slowly, Mark spent most of the day pacing around his dorm room, waiting for his date at night.

It drove his roommate insane, Matt was trying to get an assignment done during the day.

“You’ve got to fucking chill man, you’ve been moving around all day,” he said, shutting his laptop down, giving up on his assignment.

“Sorry, I’m just nervous.”

A few minutes later, he got a phone call, seeing it was from Ali, he accepted the call immediately, excited to hear her voice again, “Ali! Hey! How you doing?”

Before he could hear any voice, Mark heard a series of coughs, “Not great actually, I’m a bit unwell today, nothing serious, just a bit of a cough and a runny nose. But figured it’s probably not best for me to go out tonight. I’m so sorry Mark, I know it’s terrible timing.”

It was very disappointing, the cold couldn’t have come at a worse time. Mark gave her sympathy and understood her situation.

While he was on call with Ali, Matt’s girlfriend Cassidy opened up the door, coming to check on how Matt’s assignment was going.

Mark hung up the phone after a couple of minutes of chit chat.

“What’s up Mark?” Chloe asked, sensing the sadness in his face, “You get some bad news?”

He put his phone away and spoke to her, “It’s just Ali, she’s a little sick so we can’t have our date tonight.”

Cassidy came and sat down next to him on the bed, “You’re going to go and keep her company while she’s stuck in her room though aren’t you?”

He hadn’t really thought about doing that at all, “Umm probably not, I was just gonna let her rest.”

“Why would he spend the night with someone sick,” added Matt, spinning around in his wheely chair.

Cassidy looked at them both in shock and awe, her mouth wide open, “You boys are so naive.”

The boys looked at each other confused.

“When a girl’s got a cold and says she’s staying in for the night, she wants a guy to come and look after her, take care of her when she’s unwell.”

Cassidy may have been right but Mark was worried about intruding on Ali’s private space, “It’s just... she didn’t ask for me to come round so I wasn’t sure.”

She let out a small laugh, “Of course she didn’t, she wants you to make the initiative, you boys really don’t know girls very well.”

That was probably the most accurate thing he had heard in a while. Cassidy continued to encourage him to go and look after Ali, “Go on tiger, go look after her.”

She winked at him and gave him a slap on the thigh.

Cassidy was right, Mark left his dorm there and then to look after Ali. He went to the small convenience store on campus and gathered some snacks, ready to surprise her at her dorm.