Cherries and Coffee

Study Session

Chapter 6

The robotic beeping from my alarm clock wakes me. I lay there for a minute, trying to pretend that it isn't actually going off but it starts to annoy me enough to roll over and turn it off. I sit up and rub my eyes with my hands, trying to force them to stay open. I throw the sheets over my legs and quickly throw on jeans and a basic green, long-sleeve t-shirt. I slide converse on, grab my "University of New Hampshire" sweatshirt, and head out the bedroom door.

Ray's sitting at the counter eating a bowl of frosted flakes before he looks over at me. He looks too awake for this hour. It's eight in the morning, how can he be this happy? I give him a brief smile before walking over to the pantry and grabbing a granola bar and hanging my sweatshirt over a stool.

"Good Morning," He says to me as I unwrap my breakfast. He looks at me with a smile on his face.

"Clearly, what's got you so happy?" I ask as I take a bite.

"My math professor got sick and canceled. Turns out Mel's in my class so we're going out to lunch," He says, taking another bite of his cereal.

I stare at the remaining half of my granola bar and nod my head.

"Cool, have fun," I say before finishing my granola bar and walking to the bathroom.

I look at my reflection in the mirror, my eyes look tired and my hairs a complete mess. I wash my face with cold water in an effort to wake myself up a little bit more. It kind of works, but not by much. I brush my teeth then attempt to run a comb through my curly hair. After struggling with the comb for a moment, I give up and throw a gray beanie on.

After saying goodbye to Ray and tossing my sweatshirt on, I grab my bag and exit our apartment and start walking towards campus. I grab my earphones out of my bag and start listening to the playlist Jade created for me. I hit shuffle and the first song that plays is "Human" by The Killers. For the rest of my fifteen minute walk my ears are filled with the medley of instruments and vocals

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After what seems like forever, my classes finally finish for the day. I love math- probably more than the average person- but the professor I have never fails to put me to sleep. Who knew accounting could be so painfully boring?

On weekdays I go to the library in order to get work done. Ray has a very strict drumming schedule: on weekdays he practices from 4 to 5:30, Saturdays from 2 to 4, and Sunday's he takes off. He claims this is to help manage his time better but if he really wanted to do that he could, oh I don't know, stop dragging me out to parties. Anyway, I digress.

I walk into the empty library, the silence immediately taking over my ears. There are only two other students here, a girl reading a book in the far right corner and a boy doing some research on a computer. I take a deep breath, inhaling the smell of old books, and take a seat at a middle table. I pull out my accounting textbook and get to work on the pages of work my professor assigned. This is your last year, you can do this I think to myself as I begin.

A few problems in I hear the door open and look up to see Jared walk in. As he looks around deciding what table to sit at, I notice a textbook in his hand. It's the same one as mine. We make eye contact and I point my head to the seat across from me. He hesitates for a second, quickly glancing around the library again before sitting down at the table.

"Professor Thornton?" I ask, my voice just above a whisper.

He nods as he opens his book. "Accounting?"he questions.

This time I nod my head before noticing he's open to the exact same page as me.

"Wait, are you in my class?" I kind of feel bad for asking.

"Yeah, I sit in the back and hardly talk," he says as he begins to write.

That's probably why I never knew. I sit in the front of the class so I can easily pay attention.

I nod and we sit there in silence while we work on our homework. Jared taps the back of his pencil on the desk as he thinks and I notice that I have my tongue

Slightly poking out of my mouth as I concentrate. The problems aren't hard, in fact they're very basic word problems, they're just extremely tedious.

An hour passes and I'm just about to finish my last problem when I'm interrupted by the sound of two phones buzzing on the wooden table. I look around and see the people in the library staring at us. We both shoot them an apologetic glance before checking our phones.

The Music Geeks (And Jason)

Loser (Alec)

Hey homies, I got pizza and chocolate milk, come over to get it.

I look at up Jared with a confused look and he sighs. "That's his way of inviting you guys for dinner," he says.

"Why pizza and chocolate milk though? Seems like a weird combination," I reply.

He chuckles. "Yeah it is. Mel has a strange obsession with the drink and we kinda bribe her with it when we want to hang on weeknights," he says as he starts to pack his books up. Our phones beep again.

Loser (Alec)

Party starts in 15. See ya then.

I start packing up my books as well before me and Jared head out the door. We exit the warm, quiet building to replace it with the loud noises of the cold city, cars honking and people chattering. He pulls his car keys out of his jean pocket and clicks his car unlocked.

"Want a ride?" He offers.

"It's okay, I have to stop by my apartment first to put my bag back."

"I'm not letting you walk home, it's freezing out," he says, his hand on the car door. "Get in," he says as more of a demand than an offer.

I obey and slide into the passenger door. "Head straight for a few minutes and it's the first complex on the left, I instruct as I buckle my seatbelt. He does the same then starts the car up, immediately blasting the heat. It's getting colder and colder everyday.

He plugs his phone into the aux and a mix of rough guitar riffs and booming vocals fills my ear. The radio shows that it's "Longview" by Greenday. I recognize the band from Jade's playlist and I think Ray plays them a lot. Neither of us talks during the car ride, we sit in silence listening to the music.

Not too much later, we pull into the lot. Jared waits in the car as I quickly run up to my apartment. I take the stairs and climb to the third floor, I make my way down the long, empty hallway and unlock the door.

The first thing I see is Ray making out with someone on the couch. His hands were grabbing her long dark hair and I could tell it wasn't too long before they got further. I clear my throat and they both jump apart, giving me a good luck at the girl. It was Mel.

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