No Ordinary Fate

Chapter 2

After her third and final class that day (Monday's were already terrible, why on earth had she decided to schedule three classes on them too?) she returned to her room, not even having the energy to go to the cafeteria. Emory set her backpack down next to her bed and considered a nap, but her roommate was there at her computer, the way she had been since they moved in, unless she needed to eat or go to class. Or sleep. If she wasn't doing one of those, her roommate Tanya was playing some online video game that was apparently very intense. Not that Emory had anything against video games, her younger brother was pretty fond of them, but it was a little unnerving to always have her constant presence looming and tense in the corner at her computer. It made Emory feel strangely monitored and disruptive, to the point where she couldn't even relax in her own room.

She sat at her desk and tried to do some of her math problems, sometimes numbers and the accomplishment of solving things pulled her focus so much that she forgot about everything around her, but it wasn't working at the moment. She'd had a headache since she left the coffee shop earlier this morning and now it seemed to be heading to her neck. Sighing, Emory stood and put a few books and other things in her bag before grabbing her keys, cell phone and jacket and leaving her room. She figured she could go to the library and then grab food at one of the multiple food places on campus.

The library was large with multiple floors and it was slightly intimidating, which was why she hadn't been in it since the tour of the college she'd had at the start of orientation. But she supposed now that the semester had officially begun, she might as well get used to it. She remembered a guide or RA mentioning that there were study rooms somewhere, places where students could go and talk a little without worrying about disturbing the silence too much, but Emory wasn't sure what floor they were on. She walked up the steps to the second floor, and admired the long, wooden study tables there. If she couldn't find a study room, she could always settle at one of these she supposed, but she wasn't ready to give up.

"Emory!" she heard a loud whisper to her left behind a tall shelf of thickly bound books. Her heart started to pound at the sound and she struggled not to gasp. When she rounded the corner she saw Theo standing in the row, a backpack at his feet and one of the larger books pulled off of the shelves.

"How'd you even see me?" Emory asked, approaching him. She hadn't whispered and winced slightly at how loud it sounded. Something about Theo made her forget to use her brain.

"I just did," he said and smiled at her. "You here to study?"

She nodded.

"Wanna share a study room? I got one but I feel bad using it all by myself."

"Okay," she agreed. He grabbed his bag and took the book from the shelf as well before leading her up two more flights of stairs to a room with four chairs and a small table. He had a notebook set out and a few books on the table. The room already smelled like his pine-tree smell. It was wonderful. Like just the days leading up to Christmas, but not the sweet, overwhelming smell of fresh baked goods, instead it was just fresh and relaxing.

"Already have a lot of work?" she asked as she cleared a little space for herself.

"As unlikely as it sounds, yeah. I had some early summer stuff to do before a class this semester and now I'm trying to finish it up before the class tomorrow."

"Oh, so you're not a freshman?"

"Sophomore. What about you?"

"Freshman. What class was it for?"

"A sociology course, I was doing some research on some of the first sociology theories over the summer, kinda skipping ahead because I didn't take the intro course as a freshman but need it for my major, so my professor and I worked out an independent study over the summer."