Low Road

Coffee Break

Rowena

Hmmmmm. Hmmmmmmm. HMMMMMMMMMM. The hum of the ventilation dominated the tightly packed study room. All that could be heard was the swish of turning pages, the occasional clearing of throats, the squeak of chairs shifting as their occupants attempted to stretch their cramped limbs, oh and Rowena screaming silently of boredom. She began to tap her fingers, slowly working into the rapid rhythm of DMX's Party Up (Up in Here). Y'all gonna make me lose my mind. Up in here. Up in here. Y'all gonna make me act the fool. Up in here, Up in here. Y'all gonna make me act the fool. Up in here up in here. Now she was really grooving, head moving side to side in time with the beat.

"SHHHHHHH!!" Four people swivelled round to give her nasty looks. Oops. Rowena sheepishly folded her hands into her lap. This was harder than she thought it would be. University was so much work. Everyone was always talking about how tired they were and competitively comparing how much sleep they'd had or how much coffee they'd drank. Due to the heavy amount of her own coursework much to her chagrin Rowena was always in the library with this dour lot who actually took the 'Silence in the library' signs seriously. Rowena really hadn't thought about all the reading and classes when she was imagining her campus romance. Well, apart from the witty retorts she'd make in lectures to shut down the class know it all, Elle Woods style. She had spent a good amount of time imagining a montage of herself in the library with her thick engine red glasses in a heavy brown sweater and a short plaid skirt, bathed in the right amount of golden sunlight so Rhami could lean against the doorway and be struck at how perfect she was. Rowena sighed dreamily just remembering Imagination Rhami's dazed look of awe.

HMMMMMMMSPLFGHRGHK! The air condition emitted an unbecoming noise bringing Rowena back to reality with a thud. Her miserable gaze took in the unflattering fluorescent energy saving  white lights which lent the students an eerie zombie like pallor. Unhappily, Rowena realized that the light was more likely to make her brown skin look dull and ashy rather than dewy and glowing, more suited to a scene out of a horror movie than a romance. Not that Rhami was in the library to cast his eye upon her ghastly visage. 

Rowena's mind turned to another thing she hated about university. The fact that contrary to all her plans, she barely got to spend time with Rhami. Rowena had been too swamped with coursework to do her daily drop ins at his house. A routine she sorely missed. At times she thought about saying screw it and turning up at his front door instead of making her way to her morning classes. The only thing that had kept her from doing exactly that so far was ironically the thought of Rhami himself. She couldn't fall behind in school. She just couldn't.  Rami would be so disappointed if she failed even one exam. He'd try to hide it by encouraging her and lambasting the teachers for setting exams no one could pass but one look at his face and she would know deep down she could have done better. Rhami deserved better. Especially when he was the only one who cared. Just the thought of that expression of disappointment pointed in her direction made her stomach clench with fear. Okay eyes open! What was she reading?

'The purpose of accounting is to provide a means of recording, reporting, summarizing, and interpreting economic data.'

Right. Purpose of accounting. Recording, reporting, summarizing. Economic data. Her eyes started to droop. She groaned. I can't do this! What was Rhami doing now?  Rowena pulled out his class schedule ( she didn't have it memorised yet but she was working on it) and took a look. Ooh he was free! They could totally grab a coffee and she could tell him what's been going on with her. A real catch up, just what she needed. Funny, she didn't feel at all tired any more. Huh.

Rowena hastily packed her books, unused highlighters and threw them into her environmentally friendly designer backpack, much to the relief of her fellow library users. She took her phone out before she reached the exit and eagerly began dialing.