Equivalent

26 | Lost ID

Lila

Mr. Collins rambles on about some cure being curated for cancer patients. I'm already rolling my eyes wondering why we're learning about this when that drug was taken off the market. Complete waste of my time.

Don't get me wrong, I commend those able to go through hundreds of tests for a drug that helps millions of people, but if it didn't work, why do we need to learn it? 

Next to me, B is slowly dozing off, trying to keep her head up behind her laptop. Her hair gives her a little curtain as her head tilts to the side, drool leaking from the corner of her lips. I told her not to stay up last night watching Netflix, but as always, she never listened to me. I let a little snicker leave my lips as I turned my attention back to Mr. Collins. 

At this point, it was like B was living with me and Okuna. She only stayed a few nights of the week, but we'd already made a designated spot for her in the apartment. Other people would be aggressively enraged their friend was staying over so often, but I think B has the ability to make anyone laugh in the most comfortable way. She isn't too overbearing, and that's crazy for me to say because a lot of people get on my nerves.

Next to her, Okuna is scribbling down notes,   eager to grasp every word Mr. Collins is saying. Her hand is moving swiftly across her iPad pressing her tech pen so hard I could see the tip getting dull.

I shift my attention back to my laptop and scroll through my email. It was weird that I always went through my email before my text messages, but I was always paranoid about missing a meeting or some event I was supposed to attend.

Earlier this week I had lost my student ID and it was driving me insane not being allowed to enter certain buildings until they mailed me a new one. 3-5 business days, they say, and here I sit on day four, wondering when the hell it was going to get here. 

I sigh, hear my phone buzz, and notice my Gmail notification appear. 

The newest email is from Dean Williams and I click it open to see that all the student's bio's have been sent out. I included all the necessary information in my bio like extracurriculars, volunteering, academic capability, etc. It was nothing too hard to come up with, but I was wondering how the other school was going to use these things to their leverage.

Hell, I was wondering how I was going to do that.

I automatically click the little folder attachment and scroll through the list of names. Unconsciously, I knew exactly who I was looking for even though I didn't want to admit it.

My cursor hovers over his name and I tell myself that I'm only looking at the file for more information on Campionem. After all, he's the enemy, so it's fine. The motive behind me checking his file was for no other reason.

The file loads and a series of documents pop up. I click the bio quickly and read through a bunch of "hobbies and extracurriculars" that he's involved in. He's included so many useless facts like "animal lover, theatre enthusiast, support of American Cancer Society" and so much more. What was I supposed to do with stupid information like this? I did, however, see that his GPA rank was a 5. Even though I knew he was smart, I didn't think he was ballsy enough to be that smart.

I sighed, realizing that all of the information provided was practically useless. I was actually genuine about the things I added. A pout makes its way to my lips, and I stare at the screen, wondering how to take in this information to understand him better. Why did he only support the American Cancer Society, it just felt so random. I had to question all of these things and the only way I was going to get an answer was by getting close to him.

Except I didn't want to. I was far from catching feelings for a jerk like him, but my competitive nature made me kind of lose my mind. Seeing him made my heart race, and I didn't even realize when class was dismissed until Okuna shook my shoulder, leaning to see what I was staring at.