Figuring Out Life*

6 | I Figured It Out... Not.

CHAPTER SIX

I Figured It Out... Not.

"That you and Karthik like each other. Romantically."

"What? I don't— I mean he doesn't— We don't—" I was struggling to get the words out of my flustered brain.

She looked at the oncoming tram in front of us, "Fine, just keep denying it then. See you next week," she got on it and I just stood there, watching the tram leave. Only then did I realise that I was supposed to enter it too.

I decided to walk home and focussed on planning for the schoolwork I needed to do. Of course, my thoughts would veer off to that, but I would pull back from it with anything I could, even if it meant I was mouthing along the dialogue of Benedick's gulling from Much Ado About Nothing. I successfully distracted myself when I laughed at how David Tennant delivered his monologue. You know, it's astonishing; all it took for Benedick to convince himself that he loves Beatrice was overhearing a 'conference' between his friends about how much Beatrice loves him. 

Was that maybe why I was starting to see Karthik differently too? I didn't think I had any of that kind of inclination towards him... that was until Mina and my past lives mentioned that there might be something. What if all the staring and cheek burning only showed up because they told me there could be something even though there wasn't concrete evidence to prove that?

If that was truly the case, then great! That means what I was feeling was just a fabrication of my brain; my brain glitching based on wrong information. 

Huh, who would've thought by distracting myself I would find the solution to my problem?

Okay, that's good. Now I just need to be prepared when next week rolls around. 

Let's see.

What should I do if I start getting all loony around him again? 

I think I should hang out with him when other people are around. However, I don't want to leave him alone like today. Just because I had gone a bit crazy, didn't mean he should be treated like he's someone not worth hanging around. So, in those cases I should be like the first time we studied in the library, just having fun, no more, no less.

What if Mina started bringing up that he and I like each other? 

I think I should ask her why she thought so, because so far, I've only noticed me acting like an idiot, and even that might not be based on what I truly want. I think I should also explain, even if by some odd chance we do like each other, I'm unsure if something should happen because I might not stay here for too long.

Okay, I think that's good enough. Now on with my assignment, which surprisingly, I don't have any to do today. Huh, I guess distracting myself by constantly doing assignments yielded positive results. So, now on with the Good Place.

I've only noticed me acting like an idiot. Has he, maybe, acted like an idiot around me?

My cheeks warmed up.

No, shouldn't think about that.

Right, on with the Good Place.

---

On the days leading up to next week's classes, I only chatted with Mina. She asked me to check her ingredients stock take and to see the other paperwork for the practical class. After checking and sending the corrections and my documents, I replied to her:

All good Mina!

I've also sent my documents to your email