stay with me • albedo

3

[UNEDITED] !!!!!

"Stop dozing off."

The hand you were sleeping on buckled from the impact, making you hit the table loudly. You gasp, sitting up straight, suddenly extremely awake.

You snap your head towards Albedo, giving him an annoyed look. He doesn't reply, but he sneakily points towards the front. The lecturer has his arms crossed, looking at you in a stern manner. The lecture hall is silent, as students wait for you to listen to the lecture.

You clear your throat, sitting properly and the lecturer continues with whatever he's talking about. Yawning, you place your hand on your chin, attempting to listen to the lecture without feeling sleepy.

"After today's lecture, I would like you to get into groups of 4 --- or a pair to do this project. You'll have to come up with a piece together with the topic: Jealousy. Soft copies of the necessary factors in your art work will be sent to your student email, be sure to check it. Your deadline is in 1 month, please plan your time wisely." The lecturer says, shutting his book. You groan, slumping into your seat.

"Please don't ask me to pair up with you." Albedo looks over to you, and you roll your eyes.

"I'm not even planning to."

"Funny how you're saying this when not even a week ago you were literally begging on your knees for me to pair up with you-"

You shut him up by shoving a middle finger to his face. He backs away in disgust, packing up his stuff and getting ready to leave.

"Oh, can I see Albedo and [Y/N] for a second? Just a quick word." The lecturer speaks up and you two look at each other, slightly confused.

"I would like you two to pair up for this project. As a punishment for always interrupting my class-"

"NO!" You two scream simultaneously, earning stares from your classmates. Embarrassed, you apologise to the lecturer for raising your voice unintentionally. He shakes it off and passes you a hard copy of the peer evaluation sheet before walking out of the lecture hall.

You sigh, dropping to your knees. "What makes you think I want to pair up with you?" Albedo blurts out before walking back to his seat to grab his bag. Your mouth was left ajar, thinking of what to retort with, but by the time you thought of something to say to him, he was gone.

It's afternoon and you're back at your dorm.

You haven't touched your laptop, neither have you started brainstorming ideas for your project. You just end up lying on your table, groaning in frustration over and over again. Sucrose had noticed your glum behaviour, so right now she's sitting in your room with crossed arms. "Care to explain why you've been groaning for the past hour now? I thought you were getting your back blown out. I was trying to study." She sighs, and you turn to look at her from your position.

"I wish." Is all you say and Sucrose gives you a dirty look. "I get that you're legal now. But that doesn't mean that I'll let you give away your vcard this easily." She pipes, and you sigh, fidgeting before sitting up straight. "Okay mom, I get it." You deadpan, earning a laugh from her.

"Professor made me pair up with the one and only Albedo. Out of all people. It had to be him. I think I would just end up failing this project." You slap your forehead, but Sucrose doesn't say anything. She walks over to the side of your table, kneeling down so she can make eye contact with you. "He's not a bad guy." Sucrose says, and you roll your eyes.

"Look, in all honesty, I don't give a shit whether he's a bad guy or not -- the problem is whether he will cooperate with me -- someone he obviously does not like. I'm only agreeing to this pairing because of my grades." You sigh. Sucrose listens to your rants, not saying anything to defend Albedo. She pats your back before standing up, and you watch her smile at you.