[Rosemary and Thyme]

[ 15 ]

     So maybe Jin did tell her not to hang around Kingsley and to watch who she talked to, and at first, she did try to! But she just felt bad about it! Especially since she hung around Donald more and sometimes Kingsley would be there! Though, every time, it seemed like he was ready to leave. Maybe he and Donald weren't friends and more like acquaintances. Were they only together for studying? She didn't know and she didn't want to pry.

     And it wasn't like he displayed that he was a bad person. He didn't lack manners like Chance, he didn't smoke as far as she saw, he wasn't drinking underage like Chance, and he wasn't a brash person. He was more...reserved. In all honesty, Lotus kind of enjoyed being in his presence. He was oddly comforting to her the more she was around him. And when he was around when she was with Donald, she found herself less nervous.

     'How could Jin suggest that?' Lotus thought, twirling her pencil around as she stared off into space, 'He's not one to lie like that. Maybe Kingsley Kwan is more similar to him in delinquent activity.'

     She tensed when a hand fell on her shoulder.

     "I'm leaving. I have a group date in a few minutes." Jin said causing her to relax slightly now knowing it was him.

     "But—but you can't! Dad said I had to make sure you studied!" She weakly exclaimed.

     He slumped his shoulders and softly groaned. "Just tell him I did. I heard one of the girls is super pretty so I can't waste this."

     "You need the head start," Lotus told him in a terrible attempt at getting him to stay. 

     "I told you Lotus, I'll be fine this semester." He patted the shoulder he set his hand on, "And you'll be fine here by yourself. I gotta get going. Bye!~"

     She couldn't argue as he rushed away. If she did try to, he would ignore her in the chance her voice did reach him. Her pencil dropped and she looked around at the books that surrounded her. At least she could stomach being at a library alone.

     Everyone was quiet and paid attention to reading, writing, or searching for any book they needed. There wasn't much that could go wrong. 

     With a sigh, she returned to reading through the book in front of her and jotting down notes she thought would help her in her classes when they started again. Just because Jin wanted to slack, didn't mean she wanted to. At least he did something while he was here. 

     Maybe this time he'd use the notes he took for any tests he had. 

     Before long, she had finished up, returning books from where she found them and gathering her and Jin's things.  

     'He left his notebook.' She thought and stared down at Jin's notebook that was opened. 

     Her brows furrowed as she read what was written on the page: nothing. She flipped to the other pages to find crude doodles instead of anything that could potentially pop up in his classes when he went back. 

     'This was a lost cause.' She mourned in her mind.

     She'd have to tell her parents she had tried to get him to read and write about the materials he read—but she failed. Getting him to study would amount to nothing. 

     'Maybe I should stop doing his homework.' She thought, having mixed feelings towards that. Yes, his grades ending up dropping because she stopped doing his work would probably entice him to care about his education. But doing his work helped her with her's since he was a year ahead of her. She was able to get an idea of what she was going to be learning the next year which, in turn, helped her get her assignments done faster with better grades than she would get if she didn't get those little peeks.