reached

"Midterm examinations will start tomorrow, make sure to submit all of your requirements before this week ends. Class dismissed."

As soon as Margarita - or Maggie heard it, she immediately stormed out of the classroom. She sighed heavily and mentally counted all of the academic stuff that she needed to do and pass within this week.

She felt the vibration from the phone in her pocket, she fished it out and saw a chat on their group chat, her classmate is inviting them for a party. She snorted before turning off her phone. She can't understand how they can be so carefree about academics, but then again, she remembered that she's a scholar - they are not.

She headed straight to the University's library to look for the books that she'll need. Once there, she went straight to her usual spot, but she saw someone already sitting and sleeping there, so she decided to look for other empty tables. She found one in the middle of the 2 massive history books' bookshelves.

And so, she decided to start her history project first. When she was done picking the books, she sat down and started reading for possible sources. She was already in the 3rd book when she saw a yellowish paper in there. It doesn't seem old that it would vanish if she touched it, but it still looked old. She flipped it up and saw a neat handwriting there,

"I simply cannot understand how people can be so lazy, you do your own assigned task, because I got my hands full already."

And since Maggie kind of relates a little, she immediately ripped a page in her notebook and wrote on it.

"I know right, it is as if they don't care if they learn or not, what only matters is that they pass or get to the top."

She folded it in half and placed it on the same page where she found the letter. She continued doing her tasks but her mind keeps on drifting to the mysterious writer. She finished almost half of her tasks when the librarian told her that it was already the closing time for the Library. She checked her wristwatch and was shocked to see that it was almost 9PM. She returned all the books and went home.

When tomorrow came, she returned to the library. She's browsing the shelves for materials when her eyes caught sight of the history books from yesterday. She checked it out and saw her paper. She shrugged and thought that maybe, the person who wrote before was from the higher batch or a graduate already.

After 3 days of spending a lot of time in the library, she finished all of her required assignments and was returning all of the books when she accidentally pushed a book too much. She heard the silent thud of the book on the carpeted floor on the other side of the shelf. She immediately went there and saw the history book sprawled out on the floor. It was wide open, and she noticed a familiar yellowish paper there. She picked it up and unfolded the paper, it was the same neat handwriting, she read it and excitedly answered. It was her first time having a penpal, if that's what it is called.

Months passed by, and they were constantly exchanging letters in the same history books, they shared their thoughts, problems and other stuff that they can't tell to their family and friends. Maggie feels really comfortable with Renato Marquez -the mystery writers' name. They exchanged names when a month passed of constant messaging, they both decided to not tell each other about each other's personal lives. Maggie was too scared to search for him on Facebook too, because if she did, she thought that the bubble would pop.

Maggie was studying for her final exams when she thought of meeting Renato. She wanted to meet her closest friend before the school year ended. She was sure that Renato was a graduating student, based on the requirements that he was whining about. She doesn't recognize some of the subjects he spoke (written) of but she guessed that it was because he was from a different program. Good thing it was her time to write, she wrote;

"What do you think of meeting me?"

After a day, Renato replied with;

"I am about to ask you too. What do you say to meet up with me on the 20th of May, at 6 in the evening, at the same place where this book is located?"

She responded and confirmed it. Maggie was beyond excited, as a millennial, meeting up with other people should have been normal and ordinary, but her relationship with Renato is not ordinary. Who uses paper and pen and wait for a day for the reply when they could just instant message each other? But this set-up, this set-up is theirs for now. In the whole University of Merced, they are the only students who are doing this old-fashioned way of communication, and it was, for Maggie, special.