The lecturer was sick that day, and apparently he would be so for the next week- cancelling all lectures and bringing forward the due date of assignments. I didn't mind though, I spent my time in the library or my dorm instead, using the extra hour to do the extra work. I prefer the library though; it's an old place, weather-worn from the outside, and coughing and creaking with every step inside. However, it feels to me like the only place that's alive. The doors see an open current of people flowing in and out, and the whispered chatter of hundreds of voices create an almost tranquil buzz of undecipherable voices flooding over and between bookshelves. My dorm on the other hand is always one of two extremes; unbearably quiet, or obnoxiously too loud. I still can't manage to decide which one is worse, and considering I actually like my room mate, Alex, I don't have the heart to say she can be slightly annoying.
Today, is one of the days where my dorm seemed more enticing than the long walk to the library and so I opted to stay and just deal with whatever mood Alex is in.
"You know what I hate most about college?" I keep my head down, scanning the same line I had read over and over again on my screen and trying to pin point what it is exactly that I hate about it.
"Hm?" I turn to face Alex for a moment, tucking the loose strands of hair out of my face.
"The bathrooms, they're shit." I bite the inside of my cheek to hold back a smile at her appearance. Wearing and old pair of faded black tights and over sized band t-shirt that's frayed around the collar, Alex faces me from the shared wardrobe built against the wall. "You'd think, given the shit-loads we spend to be here, they could at least invest in a hot water system." Her dyed black hair, sits damps on her shoulders leaving wet patches to soak through her shirt.
"I guess." Shrugging I turn around and re-analyse the same line.
'He was blunt with his words- it took me a while to realise he was only truthful, and the hurting came from my own reality, not him.'
"...you up for it?"
"Huh?" I close my laptop screen and swivel my chair to face Alex's side of the room. From towel drying her hair in front of the mirror, she stares at my smaller reflection in the back.
"I said," She over exaggerates her words, annoyed at having to repeat herself. "Do you want to the café later for lunch?"
"Yeah, okay." I stand and stretch, bringing my hands to my pony tail and tightening it. Done with her hair, Alex throws the towel into her laundry basket and walks to her desk to fiddle with her Ipod dock. From the way she's dressed and the tone of her voice, I pick the genre before she has. Metal, heavy metal to be precise. It's a frequent morning mood of hers.
I sit back down at my desk and reach from my World Poetry book as an electric guitar comes alive in the room.
"Tell me if it's too loud, 'kay?"
"It's fine." Disregarding my words, Alex lowers the volume- not a lot, but enough to make it seem like a thoughtful gestures. I feel her walk up behind me, dropping her hands on my shoulders and giving a squeeze.
"You're too nice for your own good, Bre."
+
The lunch became more of a dinner. Caught up in my books and Alex distracted by changing her playlist every hour, we lost track of time. Alex's 'oh shit' drew us both out of our separate worlds and back to our dimmed dorm.
The café isn't too far from our dorm, but it's enough of a walk to speed up my breathing and make obvious the rise and fall of my chest. The weather's nice though; with summer still lingering in the air, autumn doesn't really feel like autumn yet. The breeze is warm, almost the a swift hug in passing that wraps itself around me teasingly then leaves without so much as a goodbye.
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Fanfiction"Harper-" "It's Bre, Zayn. Bre." "Whatever." ~*~ She was a change he needed, but didn't want. He was a challenge she wanted, but didn't need.
