CHAPTER 12: Privileged Information
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After the classes ended Ella walked along the long corridor of her department building, seeing through everything and everyone around her.
Her thoughts strayed, unnecessarily getting away from her and ended up on what she saw yesterday.
It was a fairly common form of writing. Yes, not everyone writes it in that slant cursive like he does, but it's not exactly unique. She reasoned with herself.
Her legs almost had a mind of their own and took her to a familiar old willow, towards the back of the department building. The university campus was huge and was equipped with a lot of hangout spots hence this place was left alone. Very few people knew about that spot and among those who did, even fewer put an effort in getting there since it came with a little hike. It was on the path that led to the hillock behind the department buildings, quiet and away from the busyness that generally accompanied the student life.
The arching willow tree came into view and Ella picked up her pace as she neared it, the delicate branches of the tree grazed the ground in some places creating a curved canopy around itself. The trickling of the stream nearby could be heard faintly as she parted the branches to step closer to the bark only to get caught off guard to see someone else sitting there comfortably.
A familiar face looked up to meet Ella's gaze and they both froze for a hot second, both of them unsure about what's to be said.
Soon an easy smile tugged on his surprised face as he said, "We meet again, this is rather unexpected." He had a book in his hands that he kept aside and gave her his full attention. Her mind placed his attractive face instantly. It was that senior from the library, the one who helped her out with one of her assignments.
Ella looked embarrassed for walking in and disturbing his quiet, "I'm sorry, I didn't think there was anyone here."
"It's alright, I was trying to hide anyway, glad to know it worked....to some extent." He said a twinkle lit up his green eyes.
"I can see that." Ella took a step back, "You are almost one with nature." she said, pointing at his green shirt and black pants.
He looked down at himself and chuckled at his unintentional camouflage, "I tend to go a little overboard." but before she could walk away he added, "But I don't mind sharing my hideout if you don't mind me..."
Ella stopped and considered his offer, she didn't really have any other place in her mind and besides tolerating one person would be better than many, also she didn't want to be rude when he was being so nice. "Are you sure?" she asked, just to confirm. Thinking, he might just be saying that to be polite and might not really mean it.
"Absolutely." he smiled, welcoming.
Ella hesitated, but then decided not to make it awkward and stepped ahead to settle herself on a small patch of grass with a respectable distance to him. "I'm a little curious...What were you even hiding from?"
"We all have our demons." he replied, "Also known as best friends who would drag you to social events you want nothing to do with."
Ella laughed, as she could relate, "Struggle of an introvert."
"It's never-ending," he mumbled. "And what about you, running away from something?" he asked, after a beat of silence.
"Myself maybe." Ella shrugged.
"Aren't we all." he said nonchalantly, "but you can only get so far before everything catches up with you."
"Speaking from experience?" she asked with an eyebrow raised in humour.
"Could be..... or probably it's a song lyric I heard somewhere." he joked, and Ella smiled.
"One can never be too sure," she mumbled.
Another moment passed in silence as his eyes lingered on her anxious face, "You know, they say secrets shared under the willow tree should never be repeated, they bring bad luck to the one who does."
Ella rolled her eyes, "any other rules or urban legends I should be aware of?"
He pretended to think over it, "Well, there is actually, willow trees are associated with sadness and death and they attract old spirits."
"Are you trying to scare me away from ever encroaching on 'your' hideout?" Ella asked flatly.
"I doubt you'd be scared of old spirits you might feel right at home with them," as she began to glare, he smirked & deflected, "but you look like you have quite a lot going on, you can tell me.. I've been told I'm a good listener," he stopped beating around the bush.
She looked up at him in surprise at being called out so directly, but decided to brush him off politely, "It's actually privileged information and you aren't privileged enough."
"What? But I should have special rights, I helped you last time." he pointed out.
"And I'm thankful for that but I don't even know you," Ella told him.
He suddenly stuck his hand out for a handshake, "Hey, I'm Andrew Lewis, nice to meet you."
Ella suddenly broke into a smile, "Ella Carter" she said, taking his warm hand. "Don't know how I feel about meeting you yet, do you usually corner strangers into spilling their guts?"
"Can't say that I don't, but only the quiet ones..." He shrugged, as they dropped their hands.
"And did anyone tell you that you're also quite nosy?" She asked.
His perfectly shaped lips tugged up in a small smile, "A few times, yeah.... but I've decided not to dwell on negatives."
"That's... rather sound advice for oneself." Ella pretended to ponder on the thought as if it had complex ramifications.
"Alright, you don't have to mock me." He rolled his eyes and looked away, into the distance. The sunlight filtering in through the canopy of the willow made his handsome face look unrealistically beautiful.
"I was just trying to help, if not me you should talk to someone you trust, distraught is not a nice look on you," he said seriously and then picked up his book and returned to the world between the pages leaving Ella to the universe she was grappling with, in her mind.
Slowly but surely, the familiar silence returned which was filled with a few birds chirping in the distance and the sloshing of water in the nearby stream.
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It was late in the evening and Ella found herself standing in front of a familiar door with a clear motive, as she rang the doorbell. She had to ease her curiosity and this seemed like the only way.
Her mind was trying to come up with an excuse to justify her unexpected presence there because the truth 'I'm here to spy on your roommate' would be frowned upon even by Jay.
Jay opened the door and then smiled widely at her, "Hey! Come on in." He didn't even ask why she was there. She sighed and followed him inside, as he walked straight to the small kitchen counter where he seemed to be experimenting.
"What are you making?" she said, looking at the mess of ingredients and utensils.
"An omelette." He said as he inspected a bowl of eggs and attempted to pick out tiny pieces of shell from the egg white.
"Do you hate your kitchen, or just yourself?" She asked, flatly.
He chuckled, "Neither." He answered, but after following her gaze, he added, "But my actions speak louder right."
"You're not at all good at communicating." Ella shook her head. "Clean up the mess, I'll help you with your dinner."
His eyes suddenly held stars as he looked at her, "You're a godsend."
Jay then righted the mess while Ella worked her kitchen skills to make him an omelette that was actually edible.
While the eggs were being cooked, Ella looked around, trying to find something that'll help her figure something out, or at least give her a clue.
She couldn't really go inside Patrick's room and find a notebook of his to match the penmanship with the letters, not when Jay was right there and would suspect she was up to something.
Ella looked at the calendar placed on the counter but was disappointed to find nothing written on it, but just as she was giving up, in her peripheral vision she saw a small notepad on the living room coffee table and suddenly she was too eager to take a look inside.
After the food was prepared she served it into two plates and urged Jay to sit on the couch instead of the chairs around the counter.
As they settled down, Ella tried to 'inconspicuously' take a look at the notepad, she picked it up and leafed through it while Jay sat next to her busy eating.
Needless to say, she was shocked at what she saw. It was disgusting.
"It's not that terrible, is it?" Jay's voice floated to her and she turned her head to look at him, he was frowning, almost as if he was holding himself back from being offended.
"Terrible is an understatement," Ella answered honestly.
Jay sighed heavily and muttered, "You could have sugar-coated that a little bit, I too have feelings."
"Is this your handwriting? It looks like a bunch of insects crawling all over it after almost drowning in ink." She told him bluntly.
Jay peered down at the notepad at his own work and frowned, "Patrick said it's fine."
"Patrick also says your cooking is fine." Ella pointed out.
Jay looked thoughtful for a moment, "You have a point." He nodded, "I'm just practising my right hand."
Jay was essentially left-handed, and now Ella felt bad for mocking his attempt. "Maybe it'll get better if you keep practising."
"I guess.." He said and shrugged and continued eating.
"Does Patrick have nice handwriting?" She asked conversationally.
"I bet he does, but I've hardly ever seen him write stuff, his assignments are always typed out." Jay answered, and then looking at the notepad he asked, "Do you at least find it legible?"
Ella focused, trying to read what was written, "Bay pectin bat and tent meal."
"It actually says 'Buy protein bars and instant oatmeal'." Jay corrected her. They both stared at each other for a moment too long.
Then, they burst out into laughter.
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Ella was back in her room, sitting quietly with her pen and paper laid out. After a few hours of self-debate, she had decided to write back a reply to the letter she received.
She picked up her pen and looked down at the blank white paper which stared back at her almost as if it was mocking her for lack of words.
Shaking her complicated thoughts away, she began writing...
21-Sept-2018
Dear Elliot,
Writing a letter was never my strength, and now that I know for a fact that you will be reading this, it makes me a bit more nervous than I usually am, so... bear with me, please.
You must be thinking I'm completely insane for answering all those letters, either that or I don't have any friends or a very un-happening life and way too much time on my hands... That is not true, well not completely, I have a few friends, to be honest, my life isn't exactly an amusement ride and some days I have a little extra time- alright I'm completely butchering my justification, but all I want to say is I wrote to you because I wanted to. I felt those letters deserved to be read and replied to and even though I wasn't the intended recipient, I decided to write anyway...
As you said, anyone else probably wouldn't have written them, but I did and that's that and I'm hoping you've decided they were a pleasant surprise.
Firstly, you should know that you did manage to shock me with your letter, when I saw it I thought I was finally going crazy and hallucinating some bizarre reality where I will things into physical existence. Even after I picked up the letter, I was waiting for it to turn effervescent and vanish into thin air. So yeah.... that was me astonished- mission accomplished, I guess.
Secondly, I am offended that you thought of my apology as 'hollow' and 'a means to rid myself of guilt' when I was being as sincere as I could be. Granted, I shouldn't have threatened you with yellow sticky notes, but can you blame me? What other alternative did I have to reach out to you?
This letter I'm writing would have never found you if it wasn't for those yellow sticky notes, so no, I'm not sorry for those.
Not when you stole the journal back with no doubt some unprecedented means. I have some serious doubts about your "investment of effort", and I'm sure it falls under some criminal category.
And how dare you say you have 'no intention of returning it', you know as well as I do that, that journal is more than your letters... It holds my thoughts too, and don't you dare pretend to be innocent and say you didn't read them, and just to be fair- I don't see an apology from your side, hollow or otherwise.
Also, Just for the record, you calling me an intruder is like the pot calling the kettle black. I could get into a whole discussion with you about it but I'd rather not use this letter. Basically what I'm getting at is- I want to meet you and have this conversation in person, maybe pick your brain about a few things.
Can we? Please?
Tomorrow at 5 pm, I'll wait for you under the willow tree. Don't make me wait long. I hope you don't have any other prior arrangements or plans, I'd hate to get in the way.
Impatiently,
Annie.
Ella left her letter at the same spot in the library when she went there for her shift. It was carefully placed inside an envelope and easy to be found by an observant eye but not too obvious that anybody could see it.
It was gone after a few hours.
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Oh my god, I'm so excited for what's about to happen next! Are you? Do you have any guesses?
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Thanks for reading :)