Salvage

Four - Part 3

It was no real surprise, when Aurora stepped into Anthropology class ten minutes early on Thursday, that Adam and Daniel were both perched smugly in the back row of the classroom. It did surprise her that rather than resigned or resentful, she felt excitement at the sight. She glanced around anyway, making a show of looking for a place to sit, before her eye caught Adam, pulling his backpack out of the chair next to him. He pointed at the chair emphatically.

"Oh my god," Aurora mumbled, face red as she made her way up the stairs towards him. When she reached their row, she sidled down the long shared table to the chair and sank down into it.

"You made it on time," Adam announced, sounding almost proud.

"I'm always on time." Aurora bent and began pulling out her book, notebook, pens, and pencils, laying them out neatly on the table in front of her. "Except that once. How are you guys doing?"

"Life is a pleasant dream that never ends," Daniel said, deadpan.

"I would've thought it was more like a nightmare that inevitably comes to a disastrous end," Aurora replied with a small smile.

"Accuracy is for pessimists and fools."

"And optimism is for cult members and psychopaths." Aurora ducked her head. It was rare she let things fly out of her mouth the moment she thought them.

"Are you exhausted of witty banter yet?" Daniel fiddled with his pencil, dark eyes sweeping up to challenge Aurora, though his mouth was twisted in a smirk.

"It's been like five seconds," Aurora replied dryly. "So I can see Daniel is doing... fine. What about you, Adam? How's life?"

Adam was looking strangely at Daniel, but as Aurora addressed him he shook his head and turned his attention to her completely. "Life, comparatively speaking, is fuckin' great. How is yours?"

"It's all right. Same stuff, different day." Aurora tucked her hair behind her ear, glancing up towards the front of the classroom to make sure the professor hadn't arrived. "Are you guys living on campus, by the way?"

"No, we're sharing a house."

"Wow, a whole house to yourselves? That must be nice."

"It is. Although..." Adam hesitated. "I have some friends who are staying in a large house out in the county. I do wish we were closer to them."

"You have friends here? I thought you said you needed friends. Do they go to school here too?" Aurora mentally braced herself for a whole posse of Adams and Daniels to start following her to all her classes.

"Well, I needed you as a friend," Adam said without a hint of self consciousness at being caught in a half truth. "Calm down, there's enough of me to go around."

"Ha ha."

"Fine, fine. No, they're not going to school here yet. They might at some point, we're not sure."

"I see." Aurora frowned. "Are they... Why aren't you sure?"

"Well... They're a little shy, as of yet." Adam frowned, tilting his head to the side as he considered his words. "That's not totally true. I'll just tell say it's complicated, and not really my business to discuss."

"It sounds complicated." Aurora focused on the tip of her pencil, watching as it doodled a swirling line across the page in front of her. "Sorry to be nosy."

"Don't -" Adam stopped speaking as the professor chose that moment to whirl into the classroom.

"Head's up, kids, pop quiz today," Dr. Antner said in his booming tone.