Magnetic

Chapter 16

"I think we should cut this part out." Baekhyun said.
"But if we do that, what are we going to put in it's place?" Jongdae argued.
"Well, we are arguing about why school lunches should be free for students so I feel like we should talk about negative impacts of having to skip lunch if you don't have any lunch money." Said Baekhyun. Jongdae seemed to ponder it for a moment before nodding in agreement. We had been in the library for an hour working on our joint paper. I would have rather been doing this in my apartment over a video call, but everyone was on campus already and the ever so persuasive Baekhyun convinced us to meet. I won't lie though, we did manage to get a good portion of it done. If only I could focus enough to contribute more than the bare minimum. I glanced up and he was staring again. It was the third time this week we were in the same vicinity and it was starting to make me uncomfortable. He returned his gaze to his computer and stretched his arms over his head. That damn jaguar tattoo on full display. I brought my attention back to my group.
"Okay, that makes sense." Jongdae nodded.
"I'll edit it out." Kyungsoo offered, already typing away.
"Brooke, you almost done?" Baekhyun asked.
"Yeah, just editing."
"Okay cool. I think we've done enough for today." Baekhyun said with a yawn.
"Let's finish our edits by tomorrow night so we can submit it on time." Kyungsoo suggested. We all agreed then they started to pack up.
"You guys hear about the storm coming next week?" Baekhyun asked, putting his laptop away.
"I'm sick of the snow." Jongdae groaned.
"If it gets class cancelled, bring it on." Baekhyun said.
"Yeah, but then you'll be forced to stay inside and you physically cannot stay in one place." Kyungsoo pointed out.
"Yeah I can." Baekhyun frowned. We all scoffed which just made him pout harder. "Whatever." He stood and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I'll see you guys in class." As he walked off, I stood with Kyungsoo and Jongdae. I noticed Eric doing the same.
"Where you headed?" Jongdae asked.
"Uh...meeting up with a friend for dinner." I took another nervous glance his way. His eyes were on me as he zipped up his coat. I felt prickles all over my skin. He finally turned and walked away, allowing me to relax some.
"I have another study group." Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. "They're upstairs. I'll see you." We waved at him as he walked off. Jongdae and I moved toward the exit. I said goodbye to him as we parted ways and I made my way to the dining hall to meet Jessi. I had been seeing Eric way too frequently for it to be a coincidence now. Around my classes, in the library, in the commons. Was he following me? He couldn't be. But I wouldn't put it past him. The thought made my skin crawl. The last thing I needed was for him to figure out where I lived. That would be disastrous.

I tried to shake the thoughts and icky feelings that were creeping in. It was the first time I was meeting with Jessi since everything went down with Danielle. I couldn't avoid her forever but it was hard to willingly hang out with her because she was so close to Danielle still. Knowing Jessi, she would want to mend broken bridges and I really didn't want to. There was no need. I didn't want anything to do with Danielle anymore and I was sure she felt the same. I was fine with that. I just hoped that for once, Jessi would let it go. She had been doing so well not trying to force anything but she probably didn't realize how bad the situation was and hoped we would just return to being friends after some time. Our fight clearly proved otherwise.

"Hey girl." Jessi greeted me with a hug. She always gave the warmest, motherly hugs that I never knew I needed until I was wrapped in her arms. "How are you?" She asked. It was a loaded question. We both knew. But I just shrugged and gave my default response.
"I'm good. How are you?" Of course I got the suspicious eyebrow raise in return, but she nodded anyway. Tabling the subject for later.
"Good. Let's get food and find somewhere to sit." She suggested. I followed her even though I didn't have an appetite. But then again, when did I ever?
"Where's Jackson?"
"Working on a project." She replied. "Then he said he's heading to the gym with Mark and some other people." I nodded. We spoke mindlessly about our day and all the work that was piling up as midterms approached. I didn't want to think about the stress that was coming. The pre-stress was already building.