"Did you get in?" Jake's voice echoes through the speaker as I talk with him on the phone while doing my energy balance assignment on my bed. It has been six days since he left, and I'm still surviving in my early weeks of college.
"Nope," I say. "I changed my mind. I didn't audition for it."
"Why?" He sounds surprised. "I thought you liked it."
"I do." I sigh. "I'd love to play the piano with a full orchestra. But there's this guy from South Korea who is so good. And I'm nothing compared to him." I laugh.
"You're joking, right?" He pauses. "You didn't really want it."
"The team seems so driven. They participate in a lot of competitions. I don't think I can do it. I don't want to play with such pressure. Let me just enjoy playing it as a hobby." I grin.
"As you wish, Mels." Jake laughs. "How's study so far?"
"So far so good," I say, biting my pen as I scan the rest of my homework. "But there's this research the lecturer asked us to do, and it's quite challenging." I hate it when I'm being all about studying again, and I tend to overthink stuff.
I'm such a lifeless, boring girl.
"Well?" Jake asks.
But my brother is such a good listener.
"How am I supposed to predict the world's energy supply and demand for ten years onward?" I sigh in disbelief.
Jake laughs, and I growl. This is the time when I need his outstanding remarks or out-of-the-box suggestions. I'm sure that the topic is of his expertise.
"I can give you a long speech about that subject, but why should I, when you could even get more than what I could give you?"
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"You should ask Vaughn about that."
Dang. That guy again.
"Believe me. He's done that kind of research, and it's quite impressive."
Why does everybody always give him super nice compliments? Now I'm curious about what I can learn from him.
"Anyway, I gotta go," Jake suddenly says. "My boss is calling me."
"Okay, go," I urge before he hangs up. I chuckle, happy that he's doing great in his new workplace in Texas. But then again, losing is not in Jake's dictionary.
The sun has set by the time I come out from the bathroom after taking a shower. I slip into a pair of comfortable leggings and a loose sweater. Facing the mirror, I tie my hair into a ponytail.
The doorbell rings, startling me. I don't remember inviting any guests. Who is it?
I totter toward the front door, and when I open it, Vaughn is standing before me.
"Someone said it's an emergency," he mutters, sounding like he's annoyed, but his face doesn't indicate any sign of it.
I roll my eyes. Jake.
"I'm sorry. As always, he's exaggerating," I say, truly concerned for this poor guy, who suddenly has to babysit me. "Do you have time?"
"Come on. I came all the way here." He smirks. I take it as a yes and let him come into our house.
Once I bring my laptop into the living room, we start digging the stuff, and I'm impressed by how much knowledge he has about the topic.
That even leaves me staring at him with mouth agape as he explains one of the most crucial points of the research.
"Now that you already got the information about the infrastructures, as well as the data for supply and demand, you can even create a balance for every region," the words roll from his tongue as he finishes a sample chart on my excel sheet.
Wow. This is much more than what the professor would expect from us.
"That old man is hella pushy. First-year students are not supposed to do this yet," he comments.
"Everybody says so," I blurt out.
He laughs, and my cheeks heat up. He looks even more handsome now.
Why does he have to be so smart? Like, really smart. Top that with the striking physical appearance that already makes girls swoon over him.
And I can't help but think about how he knows all of the information we've been talking about. I suppose that most of them are off the record, and there's no way that he would have known if he hadn't had connections.
"Thanks, Vaughn," I finally find my voice. "This... is so much more than what I could have asked for."
"Anytime," he says, and I take over the rest of the work, following the steps he told me.
"I was wondering..." I trail off as I input some data into the graph. "Did you apply for your internship?"
"Yes, I did," he says. When I glance at him, I find that he's been settling in the armchair with his legs crossed, writing something on his notebook.
"Where?" I can't help but ask. There must be no problem for him to get into major companies like what happened to Jake.
"Here, in Boston." He shrugs. "Pearl Oil has a really good R&D centre here."
Somehow, I feel relieved. He's not going to leave.
As to why I feel that way, I have no idea.
"Did you get in?" I ask.
"Not sure." He scoffs. "I have yet to do the interview and presentation first tomorrow morning before they can decide whether I'm eligible enough," he says it just like he plans to eat cereal tomorrow morning, his voice lack of emotion, and he's still not leaving his eyes from his notebook.
While here I am taken aback. "What?" I gasp. "Tomorrow morning?" Now my voice is high-pitched. "What time?"
He finally glances at me. "8 AM," he says in a flat tone.
I snap my head towards the clock hanging on the wall. Shit. It's past midnight already. We've spent too much time digging my research.
He notices my worried expression and laughs. "Don't worry about it. Just finish your work."
"Vaughn--" I protest, but he's already shifting his attention back to his book.
My research is not urgent. The deadline isn't supposed to happen until next week. His presentation is urgent.
Sighing, I stare back at the remaining work on my laptop before I begin to type again. This is going to be a long night.
My eyelids flicker. Distantly, I hear the sound of waves crashing the shore. Oh, how peaceful. It makes me want to continue my sleep.
Then the sound of birds chirping fill my ears too like a beautiful melody. I smile, feeling blissful.
Wait. What? Birds?
I snap my eyes open and abruptly sit up. The sudden exposure of light to my eyes makes me wince before I slowly regain my vision. I'm staring at the living room. It's morning already.
Apparently, I fell asleep last night, in the middle of finishing my research.
When I stare down at myself, I find a blanket wrapped around me. Someone must have put it for me. Vaughn.
I look around for him, but he's nowhere to be found. The clock on the wall indicates 7.30, making my eyes widen in shock. Crap.
He must have left.
And that leaves me alone here with guilt washing over me as I bury my face in my hands, sighing.