in my room | prinxiety

Chapter 6: Bowling Next Weekend?

Virgil trudged out of his morning class, feeling more tired than he did before he walked in. Thanks to Roman, he didn't sleep much last night. Four hours, to be exact. He sighed, plugging his earphones in and blasting his typical degenerate music as he headed towards his favorite study spot. He saw Patton walk by and gave a weak smile, but felt too tired to have a full conversation. Patton seemed to notice this, because he only gave a quick wave and kept walking.

He knew he looked like shit. Lack of sleep, and makeup, didn't help the bags hanging below his eyes. He tried not to overthink it, as he knew that it would only drain him of the little energy he had left for the day. He kept his gaze low, letting only his bangs and hoodie hide the evidence of last nights poor sleep.

The walk to the cafe wasn't that long, so he got there rather quickly. Once inside, he made his way to the line and respectfully waited his turn. He pulled out his earphones and shoved them in his pockets, immediately noticing the chatter all around him. As much as he loved studying there, the crowd sometimes felt suffocating to him. He tried to shake off his usual anxiety and took in his surroundings, noticing a familiar face working behind the cashier.

Logan? Virgil thought to himself.
He never noticed him there before, despite going to this cafe ever since he enrolled into LSCC.

"Sir? I can take your order now." The cashier stated, pulling Virgil out of his thoughts.

Virgil ordered his usual cold brew and sat down at an empty table. He pulled out his laptop and opened up a document for an essay he'd been working on for his microbiology class. As he began pulling up his sources for his essay, he started feeling uneasy. He felt those eyes on him again. He assumed it was just anxiety due to the amount of people that were in the cafe with him, but deep down he could feel that something was wrong. Like he wasn't safe there.

Jesus, this early in the morning? He thought, frustrated.

"Order for Virgil." He heard from the counter.
As he approached the counter, he saw Logan placing the cold brew on the counter.

"Oh, hey Logan." Virgil greeted, grabbing his coffee.

"Hello, Virgil. How are you?" He asked.

"I'm alright, could be better. How about you?" Virgil responded, trying to shove his discomfort to the back of his mind.

"I'm okay, thank you for asking." Logan stated. "Nice seeing you." He smiled, turning back to the coffee machine.

"Yeah, you too." Virgil said awkwardly, returning to his seat.

Logan doesn't smile. Virgil knew this, or at least assumed, that he wasn't the type to even strike up unnecessary conversation. Let alone smile. It seemed unnatural, almost uncanney, and something about it disturbed Virgil.

He shook off the thought and tried to focus on his rough draft. With a heavy sigh, he took a few sips of his coffee and typed away at his laptop.

-

The time was now 5:24PM, and Virgil had finished his coffee long ago. His rough draft was done, and he had started on his final draft. He had a severe headache, probably from staring at his laptop for so long, and decided to call it a day. He packed up his things and began heading for the exit.

"Hey, Virgil?" He heard from behind him. He turned around to see Logan.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" He asked quietly, trying not to make his headache worse with his voice.