Pervade and Faint

Chapter 14

At the zenith of study
Infinitesimal, yet conspicuous bags blazoned around my eyes. I had to study assiduously. Luckily, I was well adjusted to studying at night. Gale was never to be seen in the room. And from his books, he kept a great distance. Tyrese, on the other hand, provided much company. We didn't have a single class together, but I assisted him. He was smart. But he mumbled while he read, and I found that slightly infernal. We were getting used to each other, in terms of habits and opinions. He used to leave the room after about an hour and a half of studying, and would come back after about half an hour. It took me a while, and a bit of investigation to figure out what was the reason behind him leaving.
He was a chain smoker. I caught him smoking for the first time in the lawn. He stood up and excused himself. Suspiciously, as well as clandestinely, I snuck out of the door and followed him to the lawn. He had a lighter lit in his left hand, cupping the cigarette with his right hand. He took a quick puff and blew the smoke into the air. The puff of smoke was visible, even during the night.
"Why do it clandestinely?" I asked, suddenly from the back. He abruptly flung the burning cigarette on the grass and looked back, fearfully.
"God! You scared the hell out of me! Zombie!" he shouted.
"Do I actually look like a zombie?" I said and looked at the burning cigarette. It had burned a peck of the brilliantly green carpet grass.
"Zombie just wasted my cigarette", he said and took out another one from a packet. It was Benson and Hedges. The pack of cigarettes was quite appealing with the nice metallic touch to it.
"Would you like to have one?" he offered and shrugged, nonchalantly.
"I've never had one before", I replied, thinking of how it would taste like. Or feel like, or whatever.

And the next thing you know, I had a cigarette dangling in between my lips. Resultantly, I began to cough profusely.

"Was that a joke?" I yelled as my throat was on fire.
"Just take a gentle puff. God! I thought you were mature!" he yelled and took a puff, in order to demonstrate. I took another puff and coughed like a chocked up engine. It really burned my throat, or actually, constricted it.
"What's going on?" asked someone from behind. My heart came to my mouth. I'm done, I thought. I slowly turned around, ready to see the chancellor of the university. But no, it was Cindy. I let out a sigh, but not sure whether I found any relief in it.
"What are you doing? _ and why do have that in your mouth?" she asked and took the cigarette out of my mouth. She looked at the burning thing in with a revolting face and threw it on the grass, intimidated, and concerned.
"Don't get involved in this", she said with so much sympathy and humbleness that I swore not to even touch a cigarette, ever in my life. After all, it's a deal of mere loss.
"You are the one introducing this to him", she said and pointed towards Tyrese. Tyrese shrugged and gave her a look representing that he wasn't paying attention to her. It was an emblematic move of a defiant teenager. He wasn't precisely a defiant teenager, just a normal one with a bad habit. But that's probably what a defiant teenager is.
"Why do you care?" he asked, taking a puff.
"Because he's not like you", she almost yelled at him. I wondered why she was supporting me so much, but at the same time, it felt nice to have someone supportive and concerned, and keeping you far from the evil. She said not a single word and marched off. An eccentric guilt constructed in my stomach when she left. I wanted to say sorry to her. But I couldn't come to a point. But what should I say sorry for? I knew that the cigarettes were harmful for me, as they would definitely leave a pernicious effect.

I went back to the room, leaving Tyrese behind. I tried to read, but all in vain. Cindy's mysteriousness invaded all of my thoughts.

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It's all my fault
A few days later, Tyrese had to leave. His younger brother's birthday was coming and his mom wanted him to be there. Tyrese, on the other hand, hacked off when his mom invited him. He found it mortifying. I insisted him to go. He thought about it for a while and finally dug a deal.
"I'll only go if you come along", he said and scrutinized at me in pursuit of an answer. He was in need of a positive answer, definitely. I contemplated whether I should leave or not.
"I don't even know your family", I said.
"It's not like I know yours."
He slapped the air, playfully.
"Don't worry about that. A whole crowd if going to disgorge and I won't even know half of them myself", he assured. His ideas sounded good.
"So when do we leave", I said and a smile blazoned across his face when I said "we". It was a sheer confirmation that he was going to be accompanied by me. He really didn't like to do things alone.
"We leave tomorrow, via subway", he announced, exuberantly and I nodded, trying to remember whether I ever sat in a subway before or not, probably not. If yes, than it was definitely vague in my mind.
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I decided to buy his brother a gift. It would be ludicrous of me to go empty handed. And there was only one way to reach a store or market. Cindy.
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