Caramel Popcorn

Chapter 2: Cheesecake is the best

I didn't expect too much for my fake birthday.

Or my real birthday for that matter.

I would appreciate it if I got the day off but obviously that wasn't a part of the deal.

It was just another day of convincing Flynn that I was Jamie. His soul mate. Okay, soul mate is probably a little extreme. I mean, if you ask me, he already had one of those soul mate type of relationships.

Which is more than I would expect anyone to have.

His soulmate was one of the worst kinds of people I had ever had the pleasure of studying.

All I'm going to say about her is that she was something. Something more fucked up than I could even comprehend. But, that's how most soulmate relationships are. They're weird and messy and quite honestly, at least a little disturbing.

So what does this have to do with me?

Well, he has a thing for the fucked up.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Chris asked, sitting up in her bed.

"Yep, I got at least four hours of sleep which, I would consider, an upgrade." College is hard. That's all I have to say.

She nodded.

I offered her a smile and grabbed my bag.

"Library?" She asked.

"Yep, I--I'll see you later Chris."

She nodded again.

This was the start of my unremarkable routine. I did actually have to visit the library. Because that's where Flynn spent his mornings--and I had to study. Let's just say, it was more about getting through this semester than it was Flynn.

It didn't matter if he found my daily routine the slightest bit creepy. I was creepy. The truth wasn't going to stay hidden too long anyway! And I think it added a certain depth to my cover. Made me seem more human in a way.

I walked towards the library and soon enough I reached the hole of despair. I had nothing against libraries in general, it was just this specific one that sort of had this deathly vibe. And normally I would've liked that sort of vibe, I suppose but it was the lost souls that haunted this place (students) that made it so terrible. Everyone here looked like they were ready to die because that would be easier than surviving this semester, I couldn't blame them, but I could blame the place, and that's exactly what I will do until I can finally get out of here.

After about six minutes of internal complaining I realized Flynn wasn't there. I didn't even bother hiding my scowl. I looked down at myself and a sudden realization hit me smack in the face. These may be last few months I have left to live and I refuse to spend them dying in this sad, definitely haunted library. Nope, I'm not doing this.

I dragged my feet to Flynn's dorm room and knocked, gently. The door opened to reveal his roommate.

"Flynn's not inside." He said, disinterested. Or maybe he was just sleepy, it's hard to say?

"Oh? Where can I--"

"He hasn't been here all night and I don't know where he is. I'm Drew, but I also respond to exhausted werewolf sometimes."

"Why werewolf?"

"Because I like large shape-shifting creatures." He shrugged.

"And how did you know I was here for Flynn?" I asked.

"Well, you obviously weren't here for me."

"I could've just been lost?"

"But you weren't, so why are we still having this conversation?"