Twilight Java

Chapter 7

"I did," I said curtly. Charlie looked at me expectantly.

"Can you tell me who?"

"I used my roommate and some people at the Woodwork," I said, not making eye contact.

"Oh, which singers? I know a lot of them go to Vilora."

"I don't know all of their names. I just sort of took those pictures on a whim."

I realized that I couldn't hide this for very long, and either way he would see the interview with Ellis in my article. However, this was a feud between him and Ellis and my relation to Ellis should mean nothing to him. After all, I barely knew either of those two.

"So who did you know?"

"Ellis."

"Oh," He said, seemingly expecting that answer. He shrugged. "He's a pretty interesting guy. I'm sure the pictures came out well."

"They did," I responded. "The interview went well too."

When I explained the assignment to Charlie before taking his picture, I mentioned an interview so that it added on to my article and validated my point. Listening to Ellis's interview gave me the idea to write my column on the hardships of making it big when it came to the arts. In Ellis's case, it was music. In Charlie's it was sculpting.

Charlie hummed in response. I would do the same in his situation, because honestly, how do you respond in a situation like this?

"I'm sure the article will be great," he said, then gave me a small smile before Prof. Eliasson arrived.

We didn't talk during this lecture, as we were closer and could actually see the presentation. I bolted out of the lecture hall as soon as class was over so that I could avoid any awkward conversation with Charlie and head to work. Also known as the campus library.

Working at the library in my mind seemed like a fitting place for me to work at, given that I loved reading and quiet spaces. My boss, Mrs. Faust, was a quiet older lady who wore many sweaters and when not scanning students' books, she was reading one herself. She handed me a name tag to wear and explained the basics of understanding book organization and placement. I picked up rather quickly, and just wanted to be left alone.

It was a fairly tedious job. Repetitive and monotonous, but it left me alone to my own thoughts which I enjoyed. Occasionally I asked Mrs. Faust for help with certain tasks, but otherwise my first day of work went smoothly.

My mind again went back to what Charlie said about Ellis. He did present this sort of aura of not caring about anything, but something about him made it seem like he wasn't that carefree. Whatever it was, it shouldn't have been my business considering I barely knew both Charlie or Ellis.

Entering my dorm, Veronica was already there. Except instead of her usual boisterous self, she was texting frantically and was tapping her foot rapidly. My presence made her startled and she shot her head up to look at me, her eyes wide.

"Hey," I said with caution laced into my tone.

"Hey," She responded quickly. There was a pause, then she continued. "Can I ask you for a favor?"