New flame

Chapter 52

Tracy hearing me out and accepting my offer to assist her makes me so happy. That was all I could ask of her.

As I approach my motorbike, I'm sure you're thinking about my whip, I miss her as well, but I have to do what I have to do.

I suddenly hear an unknown feminine voice calling to me.

"Michael,"

When I turn around to face the voice's origin, Tobi is walking up to me. She is dressed up and coming via the hostel's main gate, indicating she is simply returning from somewhere.

"Hey, what's up?" When she gets closer to me, I welcome her.

"I'm OK," she responds.

"Great!" I say with a smile.

"Have you and Karen spoken since then?" I sighed in response to her question.

"She's not returning my calls or texts, and yesterday I saw her with Nicholas..." I give up trying to finish my statement and shrug helplessly.

"I know you like her straight from your birthday party," She says, and I sneer a bit.

I'm not sure why I remained to speak with her. Does she even care? She supposedly doesn't want Ren with me, according to my last check.

"I don't think I should be having this conversation with you," I express concern. "Understanding how you reacted and left your friend that night,"

She squints her eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous, Mike, everyone has a crush on you, and the luckiest girl has you," She explains, putting my mind at ease.

"I don't deserve Ren," I declare emphatically.

"Yes, what you did was horrible, but you can't give up on her simply because you saw her with Nich,"

"What should I do?" I ask, seeming distressed.

"Find a way to communicate with her," She retorts, and I clear my throat.

Probably I should have gone to visit her and apologized before she went back to being with Nicholas. Gosh! I am a rookie at this.

"It's never too late, man," She continues, and I grip my jaw in surprise.

She acted as though she could hear me thinking.

"She's at IUL right now, go see her."

IUL is the acronym for Imperial University Library, which is our college library.

"Of course, I have to," I admit as I hastily mount my motorbike.

"But, do you have your Library ID card?" She asks, her face furrowed in uncertainty, and I indicate no.

I can't even recall the last time I used it to get to the Library, let alone remember where I put it.

"May I kindly have yours?" When I demand, she scrunches up her face.

I continue, adding, "I'll find a way to sneak in, concealing your name and photo,"

She smiles slightly in agreement.

"OK," she responds as she starts rummaging through her purse, while I continue to smile.

She eventually hands it to me, and I mumble my gratitude.

"She's on the third floor," she says, and I nod in agreement.

To get to the IUL, I start the bike and set out.

******

I ran into the school librarian when I arrived at the library, and I showed him the back of Tobi's ID card. He seemed a little skeptical but restrained himself from requesting to see the ID card. After signing in, I quickly make my way to the elevator and get off on the third floor.