Road To Happiness ✔

THREE

"How do you type so fast?" Renee whispered incredulously. Hugo only shrugged and tapped along with their lecturer. He could feel Renee's eyes on him, but he didn't look away from the front of the room, where the teacher was ranting to them again. The lectures were always boring, but he had to pay attention to them if he wanted to do well.

Renee had been sitting with him in classes and lectures since they'd met almost a week ago. It was nice, having someone to spend time with in between work and classes, but they never really did anything off-campus. He hadn't told his father or his boss about her yet. He knew Robert would be happy for him, but he had no idea what his father would say. He wanted to keep something for himself for a little while.

Renee learned quickly that he didn't want to talk during classes. She laughed at him for being a 'goody-two-shoes' but he didn't mind it. He wanted to do his best and if that meant that Renee laughed at him a little, then so be it. He knew she didn't mean it offensively, so it was alright.

"Can I borrow your notes after this?" she asked, her breath hot against his ear. He shrugged away from the feeling. "I can't type as fast as you." She may laugh at him, but she knew his fast typing and diligent way of taking notes would help her in the long run.

The lecture ended not long after that, the lecturer reminding them of the assessment they had next week. Hugo was dreading it, but with the amount of study he did, he was sure he'd be fine. "Library?" he signed to Renee. It was where they usually went after class to trade notes. Sometimes Renee picked up on something his missed but for the most part, she copied down what he had.

"Yeah, come on. I haven't got much time tonight," she said and pulled him from his seat. As per usual they waited until the rest of the room was empty before they left. Her hand clasped around his wrist, she pulled him from the lecture hall and out into the cold afternoon air. He shivered and pulled his baggy jumper tighter around himself. The clothes made his feel smaller and more comfortable, but they didn't keep in the heat very well.

"What are you doing tonight?" he asked when he finally got his hand back. Sometimes Renee forgot that he needed his hands to speak with her and she'd grab them when they walked. She'd then wonder why he didn't reply when she asked him something.

"Oh, I go to this fortnightly slam poetry night at a cafe not far from here," she answered. "They usually suck but I'm friends with some of them, so I go to support them." She shrugged at him and opened the door to the library.

"Sounds nice," he signed. Most of the tables in the cold room were taken, but one towards the back sat empty. The library was always cold, it was as if the librarian didn't know the heater existed.

Renee smiled at him, eyes wide and dimples in her cheeks. "You could come if you want, you know," she said. "It would be cool if you did. I'd have someone to talk to while I listened to the awful stuff."

Hugo smiled but his hands hesitated in mid-air. "I don't know," he replied. That sounded too crowded, too loud. All he would get out of it was a panic attack and a bad experience. He couldn't deal with busy places, there was too much pressure placed on his to talk, to make friends. Renee would do the same thing as his father when they went out.

"Come on, it will be good," she argued, pulling her laptop from her satchel bag. "Well, not really because half of them can't write poetry to save themselves, but it's funny enough." He did want to spend time with Renee, but it was better when it was just them. He didn't want to face her friends and strangers and people who would question why he didn't speak. It scared him, make anxiety well within him.

"It doesn't really seem like my thing," he signed despite the longing in him to go out and do something new for once. It terrified him, but he wanted Renee to be his friend. Maybe the only way to keep her friendship would be to go out with her and face his anxiety. "But maybe it would be nice for an hour or so."