Beautiful mistake

Denis Arnold was staring at Augustine Brian with a sulky expression, clearly unhappy about having to part from his tall, dark-haired friend to attend a class where he barely knew anyone at all.

“This really isn’t fair,” he grumbled, throwing a mild tantrum in the crowded corridor as the clock struck ten. The lecture would begin in fifteen minutes, and if he wanted decent seats, he should head inside soon. Still, Denis hesitated. He was far too accustomed to being encircled by his usual group of friends, and the idea of being separated from them felt genuinely unpleasant.

“You’ll manage just fine, Denis,” Augustine reassured him, rolling his eyes at Denis’s dramatic behavior. “You’re the biggest social butterfly around. You’ll have a dozen new friends before five minutes have passed.”

Denis lifted his gaze toward Augustine, frowning. “But I don’t want to make new friends,” he protested.

“Believe me, Denis, it’s not something you can stop yourself from doing.”

Denis didn’t fully agree, though he understood Augustine’s point. After only a few months at university, Denis might already be the most well-connected first-year student around. He had both dreaded and anticipated university life after spending most of his youth confined to his parents’ estate. Private school had been tedious, especially since it was packed with overly polished people who never seemed to stop talking about who their parents were. Being surrounded by trust fund kids had its moments, but Denis had never truly felt that he belonged. He had made friends, Augustine among them, yet he had grown terribly bored with most of the others. The moment they heard his surname, Arnold, they became wide-eyed and overly eager, stumbling over themselves to remain close to him.

His parents, of course, were pleased by his social advantages, even if they had expected nothing less. Still, Denis couldn’t wait for university. He longed to escape the suffocating expectations that followed him everywhere.

His father had nearly collapsed upon hearing that Denis intended to attend Harvard.

“Why not Oxford?” his father had pleaded, desperation causing his voice to falter slightly. “I could even accept Cambridge.”

But Denis had remained resolute. Despite his parents being strict, and perhaps even cold, they loved him enough, or at least cared deeply enough about the image of the united Arnolds, to support his decision. His mother had quietly remarked to his father that they didn’t want another Thomas scandal to deal with. As a result, Senior Arnold had sent Denis off with generous pocket money and a stern warning that his academic performance had better not slip.

Although Denis had chosen a university far from his parents’ ideal preference, he hadn’t dared to defy them when it came to his field of study. He applied for a degree in economics and was accepted. Privately, however, he admitted that he didn’t truly know what he wanted to pursue. That uncertainty led him to enroll in a few extra courses beyond his main degree, including the one he was about to attend now, an introduction to C++ programming. He had never written a line of code before, but he couldn’t help wondering what might happen if he ended up loving it.

The downside of stepping off the usual path was that his familiar companions, Augustine, Renea, Greg, and Sherlock, wouldn’t be there with him. Their schedules were already full with economics, and whatever free time they had, they preferred to spend it living like ordinary students. Augustine rowed for the team, Renea had already worked her way into the student council, where they’d even created a shiny new position just for her, and Greg and Sherlock were content with partying.

So Denis faced these extra classes alone, purchasing textbooks and preparing his laptop with the correct IDE and compilation tools. It had been a nightmare, honestly, but thanks to countless YouTube tutorials and help from Steven, a fifth-year engineering student, things had started to improve. He had even printed out a simple “hello world” program, something Steven had firmly insisted on.

“You’re all set,” Steven had said the day before, winking as he prepared to leave Denis and the rest of the blond’s friends after being called away to help someone else. Denis had given Steven, tall, lanky, and wearing square glasses, a fist bump before turning back to his computer, which displayed countless open tabs while its fans hummed loudly.

Augustine had met Steven at the Full-Moon Party earlier that week, yet another person Augustine had effortlessly befriended. If Denis was sociable, Augustine was his equal. Denis didn’t yet have many friends who were good with computers, but he suspected that after this class, that would change. Even now, he had a feeling that Steven wouldn’t mind helping him if he struggled with assignments. Steven likely knew several other computer experts as well, and it never hurt to have options.

“Maybe we could hang out sometime,” Denis called out to Steven, who was on his way out. “Prom Night is coming up soon. Why don’t you bring some friends, and we can go together?”

Steven paused, turning back with wide eyes as he ran a hand through his sandy blond hair. “Prom Night. How did first-year students like you even manage to get tickets for that?”

Denis smirked at Renea, who responded with a raised eyebrow. She looked lovely curled up on the couch in his room, her heart-shaped face illuminated by the bright glow of her phone as she messaged the student council, requesting five additional tickets for the Greek-themed event. They wouldn’t refuse her. She already had them firmly wrapped around her perfectly manicured pinky finger.

“Renea will handle it for you. She’s part of the council,” Denis said, spinning his chair to face the small group gathered in the room. “You can bring four friends.”

Steven looked both thrilled and amazed. “But you can’t even apply for the council until your second year. Aren’t you all first years?”

Renea glanced up from her phone and fluttered her lashes at him. “There’s always a way,” she replied lightly, her full lips forming a knowing smile. Steven shook his head, clearly realizing that normal rules simply didn’t apply to Renea Parkinson. He promised to come and bring some friends, giving Denis the chance to befriend more computer enthusiasts who could help him excel in the programming course. His father, and Denis himself if he was honest, would accept nothing less.

Yet now, standing in the hallway on the brink of actually starting the course, Denis found himself hesitating. It wasn’t that he doubted his ability to make friends. Sometimes, it was just pleasant not to have to. There was comfort in knowing at least one other person who would be taking the same class. Unfortunately, this was simply how things were.