A reverberating thunder roared through the silence of the library as three guys pushed their way through the glass door. Andrew took a swipe across his fringe, which was dripping insistently with the rain water he soaked up on the climb up the library slope. His friends were also shaking off as much water as they could from their arms and hair; earning a nasty look from the counter librarian for dirtying the carpet. The librarian looked about to tell them off when she dismally watched a whole swarm of ten other undergraduates stampede their way past the counter, each seemingly more soaked than the one before.
“Where the hell did that rain come from nowadays? Andrew said exasperatedly, “It totally ruined my hair, “he complained while picking at his limping fringe.
“Yeah, I didn’t even see the clouds when we came out of the lecture, and then suddenly it was covering the sky,” Daniel replied reverently. He has never seen clouds spread so fast before; it was like watching Judgment Day unfolding right before his eyes.
“Hey guys, have you all done your biochemistry tutorial? There are four questions I can’t do,” Gabriel looked hopefully at his friends.
“Erm… aren’t there only five questions in the tutorial?” Daniel raised an eyebrow at Gabriel.
“Well,” Gabriel scratched behind his ear, “see, I have this project report to rush, and didn’t have time to read through the textbook for this tutorial. Can I just borrow yours?” he looked pleadingly at Daniel.
“You think you got it bad? I’ve got a 3000-word essay and a lab report to finish by Monday. And they expect us to finish reading Jane Melson in a week!! All 300 pages of it!” Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose as he recounted all the assignments still on his To-Do list.
“Jesus Christ!” Gabriel whispered sharply, “This is a library, keep it down for God’s sake.”
Andrew mouthed a couple of ‘sorrys’ to the dozen eyes shooting disdain at his inconsiderate intrusion. As they continue to sail past occupied tables, Daniel scanned the vicinity, subconsciously searching for a particular presence. It was so subconscious that he had to attribute the disappointed down-tugging of his stomach to a particularly heavy lunch he had that afternoon, although in truth, he only had a bowl of macaroni.
“Hi Emily! What are you doing studying alone? Can we join you?” Gabriel smiled wider than he usually did when he was talking about his laptop.
Flashing her eyebrows, Emily beams an equally enormous smile, “Hi Gab! Sure, you guys can sit here. Angel’s not well today and Grace doesn’t have lessons on Wednesdays.”
Gabriel felt Andrew stiffen slightly beside him and hypothesized that it was because of Emily’s sweet smile, the thought of which made his trachea constrict significantly. The guys settled in their chairs and Andrew immediately buried himself in Basic Biodiversity Book 1, studying with the tenacity that explained his essay results.
“I thought you have an essay and a report to finish?” Daniel noticed how Andrew had conveniently forgotten about his inhumane workload.
“I just want to prepare for the Biodiversity lab on Friday, “Andrew winked mischievously, “just watch me impress all the babes with another ingeniously complicated illustration of the reptilian gut.”
Emily stifled a giggle. Everyone at the table knew biodiversity had this supernatural allure for Andrew, but he will never just admit it. What’s with guys and public displays of affection for a favorite module?
Daniel wouldn’t dignify that comment with a retort, and so pulled out his biostatistics tutorial. He tried to concentrate on the questions, however, Gabriel (who was reminding them a while ago to keep quiet in the library) had been chatting with Emily ever since they met.
“Yeah sure, this Saturday’s perfect. We could go for a show, then a quick lunch. Then I need to get a birthday present for my god-brother. Will you go shopping with me?” Emily said, hoping Gabriel will help her pick a gift. She never knew what to get for guys, besides the boring wallet, T-shirt or watch.
Gabriel didn’t reply immediately but stared straight at Emily.
“I promise I won’t take too long. Just help me pick out a gift and then we could go for a coffee or something,” Emily implored cautiously, afraid that Gabriel didn’t really mean it when he said he enjoyed shopping with her and was finally going to turn her down.
“Whose birthday is it for again?” Gabriel didn’t like the idea of shopping with Emily for a present for another guy.
“Kevin. He was at the forum outing that day, do you remember?”
“Was he the one who wouldn’t stop flirting with Grace?” Gabriel could only remember vaguely, and he remembered nothing positive about that guy.
“He wasn’t flirting. He was just being his usual friendly self. Besides, he has great taste in women.”
“Ah well, Grace is attractive, but she’s too… cold and aloof. Hostile, even, “Gabriel recoiled slightly as if Grace-the-untouchable was just in front of him.
“What do you mean she’s hostile?!” Emily cried indignantly, “She just doesn’t like to talk to strangers, that’s all.”
“Especially guys right?” Gabriel had often seen her joking around with Emily uninhibitedly, but he did not recall a time he saw Grace do the same with any guy.
“Ah… that… She has her reasons, and it really isn’t my place to tell. But she really makes a good friend,” Emily said with much conviction, “anyway, why is your friend staring at me like that?” she pointed uneasily at Daniel.
Daniel realized that he had been successfully distracted from his stats tutorial. “Er Emily, I mean, Gabriel, can I borrow your staple please?” he attempted to explain his staring.
“Don’t be lazy; you always carry one in your bag. Get it yourself,” Gabriel hissed in a rather hostile tone. He didn’t like the way Daniel was staring at his Emily.
“Oh, right. Haha, lazy me,” Daniel finished lamely and searched his bag for the staple.
Satisfied that he had gotten rid of Daniel’s attention of Emily, Gabriel turned to Emily again, “So what did you have for lunch today?”
“I didn’t really have lunch today ‘cos Angel and Grace weren’t with me. Anyway, you haven’t told me if you’ll shop with me on Saturday.”
“What?! It’s 2.30pm already and you haven’t eaten? I won’t allow it. Come on, let’s go get you some food,” Gabriel sprung from his seat and packed his and Emily’s notes into a neat stack.
“So are you coming with me on Saturday or not?” Emily wouldn’t budge unless she got her answer.
“Yes of course I will. Now let’s go,” Gabriel said as he reached into Emily’s bag and pulled out her wallet, and then grabbed her wrist to pull her from her seat. Emily complied, since she was getting a little hungry. “Guys, we’ll be back soon,” Gabriel informed the other two at the table, and walked out of the library with Emily in tow.
Andrew watched the whole Gabriel-Emily-Daniel scene with a fourth-party amused puzzlement. He didn’t miss the way Gabriel carelessly dumped his textbook and Emily’s notes roughly on top of his laptop. Neither did he miss the blue staple that was left forlornly at the corner without ever been used at all by the boy who said he needed it.
Bending his head back to his biodiversity textbook, Andrew hid the smile he smiled to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Where the hell did that rain come from nowadays? Andrew said exasperatedly, “It totally ruined my hair, “he complained while picking at his limping fringe.
“Yeah, I didn’t even see the clouds when we came out of the lecture, and then suddenly it was covering the sky,” Daniel replied reverently. He has never seen clouds spread so fast before; it was like watching Judgment Day unfolding right before his eyes.
“Hey guys, have you all done your biochemistry tutorial? There are four questions I can’t do,” Gabriel looked hopefully at his friends.
“Erm… aren’t there only five questions in the tutorial?” Daniel raised an eyebrow at Gabriel.
“Well,” Gabriel scratched behind his ear, “see, I have this project report to rush, and didn’t have time to read through the textbook for this tutorial. Can I just borrow yours?” he looked pleadingly at Daniel.
“You think you got it bad? I’ve got a 3000-word essay and a lab report to finish by Monday. And they expect us to finish reading Jane Melson in a week!! All 300 pages of it!” Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose as he recounted all the assignments still on his To-Do list.
“Jesus Christ!” Gabriel whispered sharply, “This is a library, keep it down for God’s sake.”
Andrew mouthed a couple of ‘sorrys’ to the dozen eyes shooting disdain at his inconsiderate intrusion. As they continue to sail past occupied tables, Daniel scanned the vicinity, subconsciously searching for a particular presence. It was so subconscious that he had to attribute the disappointed down-tugging of his stomach to a particularly heavy lunch he had that afternoon, although in truth, he only had a bowl of macaroni.
“Hi Emily! What are you doing studying alone? Can we join you?” Gabriel smiled wider than he usually did when he was talking about his laptop.
Flashing her eyebrows, Emily beams an equally enormous smile, “Hi Gab! Sure, you guys can sit here. Angel’s not well today and Grace doesn’t have lessons on Wednesdays.”
Gabriel felt Andrew stiffen slightly beside him and hypothesized that it was because of Emily’s sweet smile, the thought of which made his trachea constrict significantly. The guys settled in their chairs and Andrew immediately buried himself in Basic Biodiversity Book 1, studying with the tenacity that explained his essay results.
“I thought you have an essay and a report to finish?” Daniel noticed how Andrew had conveniently forgotten about his inhumane workload.
“I just want to prepare for the Biodiversity lab on Friday, “Andrew winked mischievously, “just watch me impress all the babes with another ingeniously complicated illustration of the reptilian gut.”
Emily stifled a giggle. Everyone at the table knew biodiversity had this supernatural allure for Andrew, but he will never just admit it. What’s with guys and public displays of affection for a favorite module?
Daniel wouldn’t dignify that comment with a retort, and so pulled out his biostatistics tutorial. He tried to concentrate on the questions, however, Gabriel (who was reminding them a while ago to keep quiet in the library) had been chatting with Emily ever since they met.
“Yeah sure, this Saturday’s perfect. We could go for a show, then a quick lunch. Then I need to get a birthday present for my god-brother. Will you go shopping with me?” Emily said, hoping Gabriel will help her pick a gift. She never knew what to get for guys, besides the boring wallet, T-shirt or watch.
Gabriel didn’t reply immediately but stared straight at Emily.
“I promise I won’t take too long. Just help me pick out a gift and then we could go for a coffee or something,” Emily implored cautiously, afraid that Gabriel didn’t really mean it when he said he enjoyed shopping with her and was finally going to turn her down.
“Whose birthday is it for again?” Gabriel didn’t like the idea of shopping with Emily for a present for another guy.
“Kevin. He was at the forum outing that day, do you remember?”
“Was he the one who wouldn’t stop flirting with Grace?” Gabriel could only remember vaguely, and he remembered nothing positive about that guy.
“He wasn’t flirting. He was just being his usual friendly self. Besides, he has great taste in women.”
“Ah well, Grace is attractive, but she’s too… cold and aloof. Hostile, even, “Gabriel recoiled slightly as if Grace-the-untouchable was just in front of him.
“What do you mean she’s hostile?!” Emily cried indignantly, “She just doesn’t like to talk to strangers, that’s all.”
“Especially guys right?” Gabriel had often seen her joking around with Emily uninhibitedly, but he did not recall a time he saw Grace do the same with any guy.
“Ah… that… She has her reasons, and it really isn’t my place to tell. But she really makes a good friend,” Emily said with much conviction, “anyway, why is your friend staring at me like that?” she pointed uneasily at Daniel.
Daniel realized that he had been successfully distracted from his stats tutorial. “Er Emily, I mean, Gabriel, can I borrow your staple please?” he attempted to explain his staring.
“Don’t be lazy; you always carry one in your bag. Get it yourself,” Gabriel hissed in a rather hostile tone. He didn’t like the way Daniel was staring at his Emily.
“Oh, right. Haha, lazy me,” Daniel finished lamely and searched his bag for the staple.
Satisfied that he had gotten rid of Daniel’s attention of Emily, Gabriel turned to Emily again, “So what did you have for lunch today?”
“I didn’t really have lunch today ‘cos Angel and Grace weren’t with me. Anyway, you haven’t told me if you’ll shop with me on Saturday.”
“What?! It’s 2.30pm already and you haven’t eaten? I won’t allow it. Come on, let’s go get you some food,” Gabriel sprung from his seat and packed his and Emily’s notes into a neat stack.
“So are you coming with me on Saturday or not?” Emily wouldn’t budge unless she got her answer.
“Yes of course I will. Now let’s go,” Gabriel said as he reached into Emily’s bag and pulled out her wallet, and then grabbed her wrist to pull her from her seat. Emily complied, since she was getting a little hungry. “Guys, we’ll be back soon,” Gabriel informed the other two at the table, and walked out of the library with Emily in tow.
Andrew watched the whole Gabriel-Emily-Daniel scene with a fourth-party amused puzzlement. He didn’t miss the way Gabriel carelessly dumped his textbook and Emily’s notes roughly on top of his laptop. Neither did he miss the blue staple that was left forlornly at the corner without ever been used at all by the boy who said he needed it.
Bending his head back to his biodiversity textbook, Andrew hid the smile he smiled to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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