Knightly in Shining Armor

Lukas

I finished up with the dishes I had been absorbed in and wiped my hands on a towel. I couldn't remember the last time I had done the dishes. Our caretaker, Patty Goodish, had always done them. Although, there was one time when she was sick. Hugo and I had been tasked with the dishes. We had no idea what we were doing and flooded the kitchen floor with soapy water. Mum was not pleased.

I looked around the flat and noticed that Lourdes was nowhere to be seen. I didn't think she would have anywhere to be. After all, it was 2 o'clock on a Sunday. Not to mention it didn't seem like she had many friends in the first place. I walked through the apartment and even checked the loft. I didn't see her anywhere.

There was a sudden knock on some glass. I turned to the windows, confused. I saw Lourdes sitting out on the fire escape with a cigarette dangling from her lips. She winked and looked back to the laptop on her lap. I opened the window and leaned on the metal frame.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Homework." She flicked the ash off of her cigarette off of the fire escape. "I have class tomorrow."

"You should quit smoking, you know," I commented. "It's bad for you."

"So is drinking, but you did plenty of that in London," She shot back. I rolled my eyes. "Besides, I pretty much never smoke. You caught me at a bad time is all."

"Whatever you say." I shifted my weight onto my other leg. "What are you working on, anyway?"

"Term paper. Not due for a while, but I finished a notes section last week so I figured I'd write what I know now. That way, I can revise and add in more information as it comes." She clicked away at her keyboard.

I took in her appearance. She had her hair up, no surprise there, held up by pens. I didn't understand her deal with that. She had on a light long-sleeved tee shirt and loose jeans. She had socks with no shoes. Her clear-framed glasses were on as well. A breeze went through the window and her shirt rippled in the wind.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked, stepping back from the window.

"No, it's like 55 degrees out." She brushed a loose piece of hair out of her face. "It could be worse."

"That's, what, like 12, 13 degrees Celsius?" I estimated.

"Yeah, usually what it is in London around this time of year." She nodded.

"Well, it's still fucking cold."

"Go outside more often, then," She laughed. "You'll warm up to it."

"Was that a bloody pun?" I asked in shock. She didn't reply, only shot me a wink. "Christ's sake that was awful," I groaned. She rolled her eyes and pushed her laptop through the window at me. I raised a brow.

"Take the damn laptop so I can come back inside, you clearly want the windows shut. Not to mention I know you're gonna keep bugging me." I took the laptop and she put out the cigarette. She climbed back through the window and shut it. I gave her the laptop. She sat down on one of the couches with her laptop on her legs. I sat next to her.

"I hate term papers. Am I not suffering enough?" She huffed after solid 30 seconds of staring at her laptop.

"What even is a term paper?" I asked. Lourdes shot me a funny look.

"What?" She asked. "Did you really ask that question?" I nodded. She dragged a hand down her face with a chuckle. "Oh dear, you have a lot to learn. You know final essays for the end of the term in years 10-13? Those were term papers."

"You still have to write those?" I thought back on my pure hatred for essays back in school.

"Duh." She gestured to her laptop. "Except now they're worse. So much worse." She stood up and walked up to the loft. I took a look at her paper. There were a bunch of terms and concepts I had never heard of.