Precious Virtue ✓

Chapter 27: Vanilla Spice

Precious Virtue

Chapter XXVII: Vanilla Spice

[Preston's POV]

The cafe was so loud. The place was crowded with students, chatter echoing off the walls, mixing with the reigning aroma of coffee beans and caramel apple muffins.

It made it hard to focus. Blaire suggested that we come here for drinks and to study after class, so that's what we were doing. We all pretty much had the same science courses this semester, except for Elijah, who only had the same chemistry course as us. I also had a different biology class, medical biology, because I decided to take molecular biology last semester instead. But, at least Elijah also happened to be in that class, so I wasn't completely alone.

My eyes briefly glossed over Elijah. He sat directly across from me in the booth, heavily focused on the calculus equations that he was jotting down in his notebook, absentmindedly nibbling on a blueberry muffin. His dark auburn hair was lightly tousled, and his eyes were covered by dark-rimmed glasses that he only wore whenever he was doing homework or in lectures. He wore an oversized black sweatshirt and a gold charm necklace, his fingers adorned with rings, and fuck, he smelt like cinnamon.

He was still avoiding me, somewhat. Even though he was spending time with me, talking to me and sitting beside me during lectures, he was still distant. Like we weren't as close as we once were before we had sex. He hid most of the time in his room. I was also the one seemingly initiating more of the conversations between us.

I hated that he was being distant. He was so fucking important to me and the fact that he was showing the slightest disinterest in me made it difficult to breathe most of the time—like the world was ending and I was dying inside out, and it only perpetuated the cycle to drink away those feelings; to numb myself out.

I just wanted to stop feeling because it was so overwhelming and so fucking suffocating all of the time. I wanted to stop feeling like everyone was going to leave me and that I was going to end up alone because I was that worthless. It made me want to die.

And it didn't help that Adrien was acting weird around me as well. Something about him was off, and the fight he had with Luka about me didn't help in the slightest.

"Preston? Helloooo?" Fingers snapped in front of my face. I blinked and glanced at Blaire, her brows furrowed. She sat across from me between Elijah and Prim in the booth, her long and dark curls styled in a half bun, fingers wrapped around a hot mug of chai tea.

"Sorry, what?"

"I was asking you a question, but you spaced out."

"Oh...sorry. What was the question?"

Blaire eyed me suspiciously and then glanced down at her chemistry textbook. "What is internal energy?"

"Uhm..." I bit my lip. "I know it has something to do with the sum of particles in a system, but I forget what specifically."

"It's the sum of all kinetic and potential energies of the particles inside a system, with kinetic meaning movement, and potential meaning position and separation. Internal energy can also change with heat and work," Blaire explained. I hummed.

"Yeah, right. That."

"Are you okay? You've been spacing out a lot lately. Whenever we're in class, or when we're studying together."

"Sorry, I've just been tired lately. Haven't been getting much sleep. But other than that, I'm fine." I replied, forcing a smile. Blaire nodded her head slowly, a frown painting her lips. She then turned her attention to Primrose, who sat beside her and started asking her questions from the textbook.