Of Love and Other Tragedies

6 | cherry blossoms

It was quiet in the library of Cereza University. With spring break approaching fast, campus was practically deserted, save for the handful of students that had chosen to stay over the week-long break. At this time of day, 6 o'clock at night with the sun going down, only three students and two staff members remained.

There was Yasmine, a Hispanic woman trucking through her senior year with early gray hairs and a family too far away to go home to. Over the course of spring break, she planned to binge watch Criminal Minds and Grey's Anatomy while eating her weight in hot fries and veggie chips. She'd regret all the junk food later, but that was for Future Yasmine to figure out.

On the other side of the library, sat two other students, Ruby and Adrian. They took opposite sides of the long table, a few chairs away from one another, and had earphones in their ears. It had been a long day for both of them. Like Yasmine, they'd chosen to stay over break, but were at a loss as to how to spend it.

The last of midterm exams were being given out, just two more days and the student body would be free. Moments before, Ruby exited her last class of the day, deciding to study for her next exam for a few hours. A minimized playlist of Imagine Dragons songs kept her attentive and alert, though the same couldn't be said for Adrian. He'd just woken up merely hours ago, having gone through an all-nighter, and only got four hours of rest. The brown-skinned male had only awoken because of his roommate making too much noise, but couldn't find it in him to fall back asleep. So back to studying it was. The library was close to his dorm building, and since a change of scenery was desperately needed, he packed up various items and lugged himself out the door. His choice of songs was a mix of all types of music, from pop to rock to R&B, though excluding country. Adrian had fallen asleep 2 hours into his arrival, as he laid his head down for only a minute and dozed off almost immediately.

Throughout her time spent at the library, Ruby glanced at Adrian twice: once when she first sat down, another when his head lowered down to the table. She wasn't surprised to hear his breathing slow after twenty minutes, just that he slept so quietly. Not a single rustle or hint of life came from the sleep-deprived college student. It was actually frightening how still he was, that Ruby at one point believed he wasn't... well, alive. It was only when she listened for a moment and heard his disturbingly-low breathing that she could focus on her schoolwork.

Just before closing time, Ruby caught herself staring at Adrian, her eyes running over what she could see. His brown skin was a similar shade to hers, though she could barely make it out because of the hoodie he was wearing. His thick head of curly, black hair was wild and messy, giving that I-just-woke-up look. Suddenly, he shifted, head turning. Since he was facing her now, Ruby observed the gentleness of Adrian's features, loose and relaxed compared to when he'd first sat down all stressed out.

"Attention students, the campus library is now closing," a voice over the loudspeaker announced, shaking Ruby from her daze. "Please gather your belongings and exit the building. Thank you."

Taking just a minute to pack up her things, Ruby arose and hesitated for a second, then walked over to Adrian's slumped over figure. She shook his shoulder gently, mumbling, "Hey, get up, the library's closing."

"Mm," Adrian's brain and body was slow to react at first, having been deep asleep. "What?"

Ruby shook his shoulder again, waiting until he sat up to repeat herself. "The library's closing, so you have to leave."

"I fell asleep?" He'd registered her words but what stuck was the drowsiness of his mind.

"Yeah, about three hours ago," she adjusted her encased laptop in her arms. "But the library is closing down so we have to leave." Ensuring that he was packing up, Ruby began to step away.