Winter Embraced River

Part 4 ( Extra ) : Vanessa Connor

"There you need to go fast and bust your move if you really want things to make count! " Vanessa poked Sim hard on his shoulder signaling her eyes evidently towards the empty seat which was 2 seats away from them.

"I am nervous. What if she thinks I am creepy? "

"Trust me. I know you better than anyone else and I have seen people way creepier than you getting laid "

"It's not about getting laid "Sim agitated his voice "I told you that am serious about her and... "

"Yes, Yes I know... " Vanessa cut him " You love her dearly, want to keep her happy, go on dates, then marry her, have kids blah blah blah. " Sim blushed at the last statement but he prevented his cheeks from flushing too much. He decided to distract himself from the topic and unzipped his bag. He took out the walkman and tried his best to untangle the earphones which were as always, tangled when he needed them the most. He pulled them apart, hoping to untangle the mess; something he usually did when he was nervous, but inside he knew that the tangling would just worsen. And so would the conversation.

"Trying to ignore the topic?" Vanessa teased him.

"Yes "Sim remarked, rather boldly.
"That's odd for you. I haven't seen you so shy ever. "Vanessa tried to back Sim using her hand as she gently peered into the front seat where a girl was sitting quietly, her face buried inside her books. She had no one sitting beside her and she seemed to prefer her solitude. She had a light purple bag, scribbled with wishes and luck from what seemed most likely to be her previous batch-mates.

"She's pretty. I really like the way she's done her hair."

"I know she's pretty. Can I focus on the song? "
Vanessa looked at Sim before sitting back. She took a deep breath and smiled. Sim was forever shy. She smiled to herself as Sim offered her the other pair of earphones and connected the jack through a two way router from his walkman. She took the earphones and quietly placed the muffs over her ears as the soft music filled her ears. She lied back and looked outside of the window at the never-ending sky. Such a Utopia.

The bus beeped. College was just about half an hour far. Vanessa zipped her stare down and glued her eyes to the novel as the bus quietly slowed down while crossing the road just to the side of Genkin Labs. The bus halted at the red light. Students stared outside as they saw the grand office of the Giant organization. It was a view to behold. For Some.

The lights turned green as the engines ignited.

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Sim kept down his bag after he had finally agreed to face the awkward situation of being in a conversation. He carefully wrapped the earphones in circular loops and placed them elegantly inside the pouch before he turned to Vanessa. The college café was just excellent. He smiled when he saw that Vanessa had ordered a warm apple pie stick for him. He unwrapped the warm cover as he proceeded to take a bite from it.

"This is expensive. How come you can afford this much? My mom just allows me like 150 dollars at most for college expenses. "Sim asked baffled at the sweet taste of the pie tart. The fillings melted in his mouth as it lightened his heart.

"My cousin sends me a lot of allowance. My mother is still unaware of it. But he assured me that I wasn't causing him too much of a financial problem. Besides, he funded for my college fees. He's real close to my mother, so we get along quite well. I had a lot of extra cash sitting useless so I thought I could treat you to a warm pie "Vanessa herself took a bite from the pie she had bought for herself as she carefully placed two cups of juice on the table.