𝑀𝐴𝐺𝑀𝐴 | 𝐉𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒

𝟐 | 𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐃

・𝐉𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄・

"𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐈𝐍 the system accepts that the security of one is the concern of all, and agrees to join in a collective response to aggressions . . ."

Jaime dropped his pencil and rubbed his wrist. He was usually pretty good with keeping up with the professor when writing his notes; but with Dr. Richelieu, it was a whole different story. This man managed to speak faster than the speed of light while branching off into ten different unrelated topics in under ten minutes. And given that this was global politics, none of it was interesting.

This class was the only reason he wished he was typing it all down like most of his classmates. But at least he had Reina's notes to rely on.

He took a moment to check his phone. The only new notifications since the last time he had checked (ten minutes ago) were Milagro sending him an Instagram post and his mother asking for the millionth time what day he'd be home. He wasn't sure whether or not it was sad that his family were the only ones texting him. But then again, the only other person who'd be texting him was sitting right next to him.

"With relative gains, states are not so interested in that they gain something, but so they gain more than the other person . . ."

Jaime squinted his eyes at the old man at the front. What was he talking about now? Was he already off the topic of collective security?

Damn, he hated this class. He was sure he'd be able to get by if he skipped and just read the textbook. The only reason he dragged himself here every Tuesday and Thursday morning was because of Reina. Even if he had to endure the terribly long and boring lecture every time, being with her was worth it.

He tried to glance at her, though his gaze remained longer than a quick second. She was managing to type down everything Dr. Richelieu was saying, though her furrowed brows and slight pout told him that it was difficult to do so. He knew it sounded creepy as hell, but he loved watching her while she was concentrating. She was always so focused on her work that in the last four years, she had never caught him as he admired the way her hair fell in front of her face and how pretty she looked when she was confused. And he got to see it all the time, given that they took all the same classes and studied together for everything. He considered himself a lucky man.

"Power also includes how knowledge, the fixing of meaning, and the construction of identities allocate different rewards and capacities . . ."

Jaime's attention snapped back to his notes. What the hell was he talking about now? Was he somehow on a new topic? It had only been two minutes!

He looked around the lecture hall. It seemed like most people were following along, though bewildered faces weren't uncommon among the audience. At least he wasn't the only one.

"Jaime," whispered Reina, probably seeing the stressed look on his face. "I've got everything, don't worry."

He gave her a smile in thanks. He didn't know what he'd do without her; he would've probably failed a couple of courses if not for her.

Well, if he was going to get the notes from her, no point in trying to keep up. He was already lost enough as is. Plus, this was a good excuse to get Reina to tutor him in all this later—as much as he hated bothering her for this, time spent with Reina was time well spent.

He went back on his phone to see what Milagro had sent him. It was a post about how annoying brothers were, which he wasn't surprised about. It was usually something like this or a video of cute dogs (and he appreciated the latter way more). He sent back a 'Very funny' before opening his text messages and telling his mother that he'd be back on June 4th.