Dreamscape

seven

GABRIEL

"Euan, guess what?" Came June's voice that cut through the white noise, and I stared as she picked off some fries and waved them at Euan, trying to get his attention. The brightly lit McDonalds was terribly quiet at this time of the day, almost 6 am. We all met up about an hour ago, supposedly to study together, since we all have exams coming up. I was a fan of this idea, because if I stayed in my dorm room, there's a great chance of me falling asleep with my notes scattered all around me. But, although I'm not surprised, we ended up just hanging out anyway, all thoughts of studying thrown out the window. Damn these idiots, I thought, fondly.

June moved to get more fries, but I lightly swatted her hand away.

"No I'm good, I don't want fries," I mocked June, rolling my eyes, half-exasperated. She only grinned at me, and took some more. I gave up then, and just gave her the whole damn thing. "All yours. God, I have horrible friends."

As if summoned at the mention of 'horrible friends', Euan looks up from his phone, and asks June, "What's up?"

"You finally grace us with your presence, Mr. Anderson." June flicked a fry at him, annoyed. The fry stuck on his shoulder blade, and he picked it up, immediately eating it.

"Thanks for feeding me, babe. So nice," he grinned, and now it was him reaching out for my fries.

"I'm not your babe, hetero," she scathingly joked, and I chuckled. In this table are three people who are all attracted to women.

"Nah. You're my babe." Euan grinned, and June stuck her tongue out. She pulled her long curtain of black hair into a twisted bun at the top of her head, looking down at the journal placed on the table.

"She doesn't usually leave things lying around," she mumbled, and tapping at the table to get Euan's attention again, she showed him the journal. "You remember the girl you met earlier? She's also studying CW."

"Anja? That's hers?" Euan asked, staring at the journal and the name scribbled on the cover (required for the course): Anja Amherstia McIndeor. It must be her.

"Yes, she left it at the café, she was too eager to leave," June said. I stared at the notebook. I wanted so much to know what's inside.

"Amherstia?" I repeated. "That's a strange name," I remarked, though I still think it's a beautiful name. Especially when I think about the person it belongs to. She's quiet and thoughtful, and makes me want to know what she's thinking about, what she writes.

"Amherstia is from a scientific name. The Queen of Flowering Trees," June volunteered. She's studying agriculture, and I guess she must have learned about it recently. Queen of Flowering Trees.

"I met her a few weeks ago," I told them. "I didn't know her middle name though. Only Anja. That's how she introduced herself." I didn't give details about how I met her. I don't even have an excuse yet, and I didn't want to tell them the truth. Even June and Euan don't know about the bench, and sometimes I wonder how June couldn't see it, seeing as she had some classes in those greenhouses.

I stared longingly at the journal in Euan's hands, which he was inspecting. I couldn't help it, and asked, "Why are you reading that?" I took care to sound casual, but I guess there was a little nip in my tone. June was watching Euan flip through it, and I spared her a glance, wondering why she's not complaining about this. He's reading her journal.

"I'm just curious, Gab."

"Don't read it. It's not yours," I insisted, frowning at him. How dare he read it? If I'm honest, I'm probably just jealous that he gets to see what she writes about before I could. But I tell myself I'm just indignant for someone else. After all, she's supposedly a stranger to me. They don't know I know her.