My Romance Life System

"Haaaaah, I am so bored, why isn't Kofi texting or calling me?" Nina rolled around on her bed, looking bored as hell. She grabbed her phone for what felt like the tenth time in the last five minutes, her thumb swiping to unlock the screen.

Nothing. No new messages. No missed calls. Just her own stupidly cute wallpaper staring back at her.

"Seriously? Nothing at all? Is his phone broken? Did he get abducted by aliens who needed someone to explain the rules of a tabletop RPG? Unbelievable." She tossed the phone onto the plush pink comforter next to her with a frustrated huff.

"Okay, this is pathetic. I am a pillar. A cool, popular girl. I am not going to just lie here and wait for some boy to text me. That's so lame." She snatched a fashion magazine from her nightstand, flipping through the glossy pages with a complete and total lack of interest.

"Ooh, a new line of matte lipstick. Riveting. Groundbreaking, even." The faces of the perfectly made-up models just blurred together into a meaningless swirl of color. All she could see was Kofi's stupid face from the hallway. That moment when she had leaned in, when the whole world had just… stopped.

Her own face immediately felt hot. "Nope! Not thinking about that! We are not going there!" She slammed the magazine shut and buried her face in a pillow, letting out a long, muffled groan. "Why is he so… ugh! And why am I so… double ugh!"

The door to her room creaked open without a warning knock. "Are you performing a dramatic reenactment of your own death in there? Because it sounds like it." Olica leaned against the doorframe, a laundry basket propped on her hip and a smug, all-knowing look on her face that Nina absolutely hated.

Nina shot up from the pillow, her perfectly styled blonde hair now a complete mess. "I was not! I was just... stretching. It's a new yoga pose."

Olica raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Stretching your vocal cords, maybe. Let me guess, the nerd hasn't texted?"

"He's not a nerd!" She crossed her arms, the classic defensive pose of someone who was completely and totally lying. "And I don't care if he texts me or not! I have a very busy and fulfilling life that does not revolve around him."

"Riiight. Is that why you've been sighing loud enough to register on the Richter scale for the past hour?" she smirked. "You are so down bad, little sister. It's actually kind of cute, in a really pathetic sort of way."

"Shut up! I am not!" She grabbed the nearest pillow and hurled it at her sister's head. Olica caught it easily, her smug expression never wavering for a second.

"Whatever you say. Just try not to bore a hole into your phone with your eyeballs. Mom wants you to help set the table for dinner in ten." Olica casually tossed the pillow back onto the bed and disappeared down the hall, leaving Nina alone with her fury.

She flopped back onto the bed, fuming. "She's so annoying, but she's not wrong, which is the most annoying part." She picked up her phone again, staring at the blank screen with a renewed sense of purpose. "Fine. If he's not going to text me, then I'll just have to deal with it. I have a life. I have things to do. Like… packing. Yes. Packing is a productive and necessary activity."

She slid off her bed and pulled her large, stylish suitcase out from the closet. The school trip. seven days of forced fun, questionable food, and awkward social interactions. Seven days of being in the same general vicinity as Kofi.

Her stomach did a nervous little flip-flop. "Okay, what does a person even wear to a mountain? Is 'cute but also functional' a category?" She opened her closet, a vibrant explosion of fabrics and colors, and started pulling out potential outfits, her mind already racing. A cute hiking outfit that was definitely not designed for actual hiking. Something casual but still cute for the barbecue. Pajamas…

"Oh my god, I have to sleep in the same building as him." The thought made her face go red all over again. She grabbed a fluffy pink sweater and held it to her chest, as if it could somehow protect her from her own feelings. "This is going to be a complete disaster."

Her phone buzzed on the bed. A real buzz this time, not a phantom one she'd imagined. She scrambled for it, her heart doing a little pitter-patter against her ribs. It was a text. From Kofi. She swiped it open, her breath catching in her throat.

> Kofi: Hey. Quick question. Do you know how to pack a duffel bag? I think I'm doing it wrong.

She just stared at the message. A slow, triumphant grin spread across her face.

"You are so completely, utterly helpless," she typed back, her thumbs flying across the screen. "Don't worry. I'll save you. Again. What would you ever do without me?"

His reply was almost instantaneous.

> Kofi: I rolled everything into a ball and shoved it in. It doesn't zip.

Nina laughed out loud, a bright, happy sound that filled her room. "Oh, you are so hopeless." She flopped onto her stomach, propping her phone up in front of her as she typed.

'He's a complete moron. An adorable moron, but a moron nonetheless.'

> Nina: You don't roll it, you fold it, you absolute caveman. It's called the KonMari method, look it up. Or just, you know, use common sense. Honestly.

> Kofi: What's a KonMari? Is that a new video game?

> Nina: It is a sacred art of folding that you have clearly never mastered. Okay, step one: take everything out of the bag. Step two: lay your shirts flat and fold them into neat little rectangles. Step three: place them in the bag vertically, like files in a filing cabinet. Got it?

> Kofi: So… not a ball.

> Nina: NO. NOT A BALL. I swear, it's a miracle you know how to put on your own shoes in the morning.

> Kofi: I have slip-ons. It's easier.

Nina just shook her head, a huge, goofy smile plastered on her face. "This is my life now. I am a technical support hotline for a boy who can't pack a bag." She felt a strange, bubbly warmth spreading through her chest. This was so much better than being bored.

> Nina: Just make sure you pack enough socks. And don't forget your toothbrush. And a jacket for at night, it gets cold in the mountains.

> Kofi: Okay. So, about the trip… is the group plan still a go? I already told Jake not to talk about bread.

> Nina: The plan is a go. We will all hang out, and you will prevent Jake from having any more carbohydrate-related conversations. And I will make sure Thea doesn't just disappear into the woods. It's a team effort.

> Kofi: You're the commander now. I'm just the guy with the slip-on shoes.

> Nina: Finally, you understand your place. Now go fold your clothes, dumbass. I have to go eat dinner.

She sent the message and put her phone down, feeling ridiculously happy. The earlier frustration and boredom had completely evaporated, replaced by a light, fluttery excitement for the trip. "Okay, dinner time. I am a functioning human being who can interact with her family."

"Nina! Dinner!" Her mom's voice echoed up the stairs, perfectly on cue.

She skipped down the stairs and into the dining room, where her parents and Olica were already sitting. She took her seat, a little smile still playing on her lips. Olica took one look at her, who was trying (and failing) to hide her phone under the table, and immediately went on the attack.

"So, did the nerd finally figure out how to use a phone? You look way too happy for someone who was just trying to become one with her pillow."

"I was not!" Nina shot back, her cheeks instantly feeling warm. "And he's just asking about packing for the trip."

"Uh-huh. Packing," Olica said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

"Oh, the school trip! That sounds lovely, dear. Make sure you pack a warm sweater," her mom said, completely missing the drama unfolding across the table.

"And don't talk to any strange boys," her dad added from behind his newspaper.

Olica snorted into her pasta. "Too late for that."

"I am not talking to any strange boys!" Nina insisted, her face now the color of a ripe tomato. "Kofi is my friend! And he's not strange, he's just… a little different."

"He's different alright," Olica muttered. "He's got you acting like a complete idiot."

Nina just glared at her sister and focused on aggressively twirling pasta onto her fork. The teasing didn't even bother her anymore. She was practically floating. She was going to the mountains for three days with her friends. And with Kofi.