Redamancy

Chapter 11

Exam week is never easy. We lose track of how many hours we sleep and everything is just a plain mess.

But even with all these exams, I still couldn't get Jake out of my head and I didn't know why.

Trying to focus on physics was a task for me.

'This won't do. Just two papers left, I need to fare well.'

I took off from the library to try and find some secluded area where I could concentrate.

With no luck and half an hour later, I decided to head back and take a nap.

The next week flew by in an instant. I was so relieved it was over, the tiredness hitting me and reminding me of how hectic the past weeks were. Half of us looked like zombies walking around the campus.

I was sitting with my head down on the table in the dining room, along with Yuki, Nate, Lucy, Phoenix and oh-of-course, Mika. I was too tired to join in their gossip.

I felt a poke on my back and turned to check what it was.

"Jake!" I smiled but rather creeped him out.

"wow... You look.. " he was at a loss for words at my horrible state.

"like a zombie?" I offered to complete his sentence, which earned a light giggle from him. Music to my ears.

"Exams sure took a toll on you, haven't they. Did you eat anything? You look like you could collapse any minute.

I shook my head. "wait let me get you something" he said. Hearing that made me happy, it makes me feel like he cares. He came back with some fresh fruits and a glass of milk.

"Thank you, Jake" I managed to say with all the strength I had before digging in. He watched me devour the fruits, however, someone was not too pleased with this.

Mika walked over and parked herself right next to Jake. It made me agitated but I tried to focus on my food. I was almost done and wanted to get some Milo for my milk, I stood up but Jake offered to get it for me, much to Mika's dismay.

She gave me a nasty look and almost whispered something along the lines of 'I'm going to make him mine one day'.

I don't know if I heard properly, but that made me lose my appetite and for some reason, I felt sick in my stomach.

We were now packing up to leave for our holidays, I tried to shrug off any ill thoughts running through my mind.

"I'm going to miss you Tiff!" Yuki cried out.

"It's just for a month, it'll be over in no time. Plus you get to spend time with Lucy for the whole month! Isn't that great? Lucky for you, she stays so close."

"Y-yeah I guess so." she let out a little blush.

The rest of the day was spent packing and talking about what we're going to do over the holidays.

I was going back to India, so I couldn't join in on any.

"Hey, Tiff! There's an anime con on the 27th, right before we begin the next semester and I was wondering..." he paused for a second, rather shyly. "if you want to go to it with me?"

I was really happy, I don't know what it was but, it made me feel special. I stuttered a 'yes' to which he looked really content.

Over the holidays, Jake and I texted each other for practically the whole day. I used to send him pictures of anything that reminded me of him. We grew closer and I enjoyed talking to him, we frequently skyped too. I was quite anticipating the anime con, because I get to hang out with him. Alone. I blushed at the thought of this. I can't wait to be back in Malaysia!

********

I arrived a day before the con just to settle in, and also because I've missed this incredible place. I planned to unpack and stuff but, I slept the whole day. Well, there goes another day. I started getting ready, mentally planning an outfit to look impressive. My heart beat fast at the thought of seeing Jake again. I stood there outside the entrance, and there he was. I was almost weak in the knees because of how good he looked.

"Tiffy!" Damnit. He called me that, it was so... so adorable. He hugged me and we continued inside, looking around at the various shops and cosplayers and everything. More than anything I was just happy to be spending some time with him alone. We bought some merch and took a few pictures, looked around and we were starving, so we decided to go have pizza.

We were sitting on a bench admiring our merch when I suddenly realized.

"I forgot I had this!" I said, removing an attack on titan keychain from my bag.

"It was with you this whole time? Where did you find it?" Jake exclaimed.

"I found it at our freshers and totally forgot about it. Is it yours? I'm so sorry!"

He laughed and told me to keep it.

Three hours and 2 coffees later, we decided to head home.

"Thanks, Tiffy! I had a great time, I can't wait to see you back in college. This was an amazing date."

Date...? I was instantly shy. This was my first date.