Helmet Hair, Paper Affairs: A Sashanne Fanfic

Chapter Five: Beating Heart

"Hey Marce, I left the pandan cakes in the left cupboard," Anne shut said cupboard door, sticking a cake still in its packaging in her mouth to fix her bag.

"Kay," Marcy hollered back a response from her bed, papers scattered around her, and a textbook spread open showing she was busy with mathematics problems.

Anne situated everything she needed and tore open the little snack cake, taking a bite. She stopped herself before leaving the dorm, craned her neck back toward the cupboard, then pulled herself back to grab a second one.

"Okay, I'll see you tonight for the next Warlocks episode," Anne said a final goodbye and whisked herself out the door.

It was tradition for Anne and Marcy to watch an episode from Warlocks every Monday night. The series was outrageously long, the product of a company milking a series for everything it had to give, but so far, Anne quite enjoyed the earlier seasons-the seasons where there was actual substance and plot. Marcy got her into it. After they finished this series, Anne would choose the next: they only saw it fair that the choices alternated between the two. They'd had the same habit for several years at this point.

For now though, she had someone at the library to meet.

Anne entered through beige, double doors. A stripe of gold, maroon and black went around the entirety of the library. She passed by rows of bookshelves, taking a shortcut to arrive at an open area filled with scattered tables. Several students dotted the quiet area: one girl in particular was patiently waiting, a biology book left out and a partially typed paper open on a laptop she had brought. Her hair was up in a pony today, and for once she hadn't worn her jacket, just a plain graphic tee-a cool one at that, skeletal wings were printed on the back.

"Hey," Anne set her things down across from her, then slid the small asian pastry over to her.

"Hey you," Sasha hummed. "What's this?"

"Pandan cake. They're good. Me and my dorm mate love them," Anne seated herself, watching Sasha read over the label.

Sasha lowered her head closer to the table. "You think I can get away with eating it now?"

"I don't think-"

Sasha stuck her hands into her book bag underneath the table and tore open the small bag, pulling the round sweet out and sticking it straight in her mouth before anyone noticed.

"Um, normally it's really dry eaten all at once like that-"

"Mmm, mow you gell me?" She mumbled through a full mouth, catching any crumbs in her hands. She then started nodding in approval. "What's it called again?"

"Pandan, an Asian thing," Anne added.

"Kind of tastes like vanilla and coconut, I like it," she brushed away any leftover crumbs and pulled her water bottle from her bag. "I don't wanna sound nosy or rude, so you can just say you don't wanna answer if that's the case, but where's your family from?"

"They moved here from asia. We're Thai."

"Cool, can you speak any Thai?"

"A little?" Anne gestured her hand with a little wobbly tilt. "I can understand if spoken to me."

"You've gotta teach me a few words sometime," Sasha slid her water back under the table after taking a sip.

"Again, my knowledge is super limited," Anne rubbed the back of her neck, pulling out her own laptop. Glancing over at Sasha's, it was decorated in stickers: various band and song artist names, randomized stickers of bones, skulls and flames next to hearts made an interesting statement. In the bottom right corner was a single hello kitty sticker. Her laptop had a very pastel rock vibe.