Night's Love

Chapter 5

The sun is warm on your face as you slowly open your eyes. Yesterday's discoveries rush back into your head and you sigh heavily. You look over to Yuqi's empty bed, telling you she is probably at her class. You rush to grab your phone, figuring you must be late for your afternoon class. Fortunately you still have half an hour until you need to be there. It's not a whole lot of time, but it's enough to get you there.

You pick out a basic outfit, sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt, and slip your shoes on. After picking up your bag, you grab your keys and leave. You try to enjoy the walk to class, but it's a little difficult when you realize you didn't cover the name on your arm. You begin to panic inside your head as you think of what to do. You remember that you have a black bandana in your bag that you use to tie your hair back in ceramics sometimes. You stop at a bench, pull it out of the bag, and tie it around your arm. It compliments your outfit, so hopefully nobody will notice. With your heart slightly more at peace, you finish the walk to class.

You find your typical seat and place your things down at the table. However, someone is sat two seats over. 'Hm...that's weird. Nobody ever sits this close to me.'  You didn't notice them right away because you were trying to keep yourself focused. You didn't want to have a breakdown at a time like this. With curiosity, you peak to your left at the guy sitting down. You've been working on being discreet recently, hopefully it's paying off. He has his head down and in his notes, so you don't think he would have noticed you anyway. After arranging everything on the table to be how you need it to be, you sit down.

You stare off into space while looking forward as you wait for the professor to arrive. Out of the corner of your eye though, you notice the guy begin to look up and roll his neck. It probably aches because of his horrendous posture. 'He's cute. Wait what? Oh please.'  You roll your eyes, probably looking insane if people were watching you. You place your chin down on your fist, suddenly tired of sitting up straight. The guy begins clicking his mechanical pencil, searching for lead. Nothing. He digs in his backpack, and again, finds nothing. He sighs and lifts his line of sight up to the ceiling.

Being the nice person you are, you look over and say, "Hey. Do you need something to write with?" His cheeks turn a light pink as he nods and says, "That'd be great if you have something to spare." You nod because you always have extra pencils. 

Feeling generous today, you ask, "What's your favorite color?"

 He furrows his brows in confusion as he says, "Green. Why?" 

Not answering his question, you hand him a green pencil. He smiles and makes an 'ah' shape with his mouth, understanding. "Thank you." 

You smile and say, "Anytime."

Class begins and you find yourself actually paying attention. After about 45 minutes, your teacher announces that you will have a partner or small group project to start working on. You sigh quietly, knowing you have no one to work with. The professor announces that you will have to pick your partner or group because he didn't feel like picking for you. Now you're really sighing. You wished the teacher picked for you. It's less awkward.

You look around the room as people get together to discuss the project, but you're still sitting down by yourself. 'Come on. Man up and ask someone.'  You look to your left and see that the guy is having a similar struggle to you. 'Ask him!'  So, that's exactly what you do. Thank the night sky for your temporary bravery.

You tap the table in front of him to get his attention. He looks at you as you ask, "Do you have anyone to work with yet?" He shakes his head no. You nod and continue with your question, "Would you mind working with me? I don't have anybody either."