The Birch's Petals

Four

TRYING as hard as she could to concentrate she couldn't. Like a record on playback, the afternoon events played in her mind.

Staring at the question in front of her she wondered if she had heard the lecturer mention it once. It wasn't a difficult question but given her recent occupations, she hadn't had time to review her work.  She closed her eyes.

'I love every second, every minute, hour, and day I get to spend with you. I love you so much, Zee.' She whispered, her fingers tip-toeing across her body.

'I love you too Sam.' Zedina admitted and smashed her lips against hers, she sighed into the kiss and wrapped their hands together; then placed them just above Zedina's hip.

Zedina quickly shot her eyes open and shook her head. She swallowed harshly and brought her pen to her teeth.

"Are you alright?" Alicia whispered.

"Six minutes remaining." The professor shouted in the hall. Panic crossed over Zedina's features. She hadn't even started the questions yet. 'Photojournalism', was the only writing she had done, not even her name or registration number. Alicia looked over and facepalmed.

"Here copy from my work." She pushed her paper to the edge to let her access it easily.

Zedina felt guilty about putting her friend in a compromising state, if they were to be caught it would mean harsh consequences. She tried jotting down faster but unfortunately, the timer went off before she could complete the third sentence of the first question.

"Alright, I will take your papers so we can continue with this week's topic." The professor said as he walked around taking their papers, Zedina swallowed harshly handing him her paper. He looked disappointed as he saw she hadn't written much.

"See me after class." He said to her, she only nodded and looked ahead. Her eyes seemed to land on Samantha as she handed in her paper, a look of worry crossed her features for a split of second before she looked away to her friends. Zedina could only conclude she had imagined the look.

"What happened?" Alicia asked in a whisper.

"She came to see me." Zedina sighed, she clenched her jaw and unclenched it.

"My, my, and you two had sex again so your concentration span shifted to the memories. I see." Zedina could only scowl and look away.

"Prof Dickens is not happy with her favorite student. You best talk him into giving you a make-up test." Alicia said picking up her pen.

"I know." She sighed and grabbed her phone. The screen lit, a picture of her mom laughing, her head thrown back faced her. Her arms were wrapped around her shoulders. She smiled unconsciously at the picture. She had just introduced Samantha to her mom that day and the two instantly became friends.

She recalled Samantha telling her mom embarrassing stories of how she faltered and slipped whenever she encountered her. Samantha had taken the picture. Despite the fact that she was bedridden due to Leukemia, she never lost her sense of humour. Samantha paid her a visit at the hospital and stayed by Zedina's side till the day her mother died. Inseparable souls.

She sighed and locked her phone, she placed her hand below her chin, folded her other hand across her chest, and leaned against her seat. Her eyes shifted across the hall. Like magnets drawn to Samantha's which were already glued to hers. She swallowed heavily and kept the gaze until Samantha broke it off. Her heart clenched in fear and she looked away as well.

The class finally ended, and she wanted nothing more than to lock herself in her room and not see anyone. She followed Professor Dickens to the department, "Is everything alright Zedina? I have only noticed how distracted you have been lately. It's not good for you."

"I know sir, I apologise. I have just been having a hard time this week, it's my mom's anniversary." She hated that she had used her late mom as an excuse but she knew he would understand.

"I'm sorry about that. I'll tell you what, come find me in the department on Monday and I will give you a make-up test." He smiled kindly at her.

"Thank you, sir. I will." She excused herself and quickly made her way to her room.

Author's Note

What do you all think of the book so far?