In Your Veins

Chapter 3

I write purple notes in class, drumming the table with my fingers. It's strange, I could have sworn that I didn't have much left in this pen. And yet, I've been writing with it all weekend and all of yesterday.

As the clock strikes two and people leave the lecture hall in droves, I put my notes away and slowly twist open the cap to check my pen's ink level.

As I suspected, it's nearly full. But it wasn't nearly full last week. It was nearly empty last week. What in the world is going on?

I hesitate. Khiere is probably waiting for me. I told him I would come.

I can't bail now. Evading responsibilities is no way to go about life.

I drag my feet on the way to the library. Why do I feel so uncomfortable around him all of a sudden? He's just a guy. A guy who hasn't had a friend in a long time.

I'm going to be his friend. I won't leave anyone feeling alone.

As I approach the library, I look in through the glass walls. I can see him. His back is turned to me, but I can see the droop in his shoulders. He's resting his arms on the desk, and his head on his arm.

He looks bored. I check the time. 2:20. I've kept him waiting for twenty minutes.

I feel a pang of guilt. That's an awful thing to do. I'm sure I'll feel better about this whole thing when I talk to him again.

He spots me as I walk in and his face lights up. "Hi again," he says when I approach, his voice soft.

How could I be upset at that? He sounds so genuinely happy to see me again.

"Hey," I reply, taking my seat next to him.

"I'm glad you came back," he says, "I thought you wouldn't."

That makes me feel awful.

"I was scared....that I might have said something wrong. I don't really know how to talk to people like you....."

"People like me?"

His eyes shine as he looks at me. "The kindest, smartest, funniest people on Earth."

That makes me feel even more awful.

I try to give him a reassuring smile. "You're.....you're doing alright. You're doing just fine.

There's an itch in the back of my mind that makes me feel on edge, but I ignore it. There's something about him that's very endearing, in the same way that you'd find a bashful puppy endearing.

"How was your weekend?" he asks, ever so earnestly.

"It was alright, mostly just doing work for classes. You?"

"It was bad. I was looking forward to today though, I missed talking to you."

Okay, I'm not that likeable. There's no way he was looking forward to talking to me that much.

"I'm happy that we get Tuesdays and Thursdays together," he continues, "even though I don't actually need any tutoring."

"Oh, speaking of which," I say, "you should probably take your name off the list so I can get reassigned."

He looks at me in abject horror.

"Since you don't need tutoring. It seems only fair..."

My words wither in my mouth under the intensity of his gaze.

"But this is our time!" he says, upset. "You want it to be assigned to someone else!?"

"Technically I'm supposed to be working during this time..."