𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 | 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐣𝐚𝐲

6: used

"𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬,"

~🌙~

After lunch, we headed over to the library in our free period. Jake and Amy were conversing about how they wanted to approach the project, whilst I walked beside them listening and sorting out my thoughts. 

It was true that I couldn't stop looking at her. What was there not to look at? Her hair was curled and bounced slightly as she walked. She wore light makeup that accentuated her big eyes and soft lips. When she laughed, her eyes would shrink into crescents and a small dimple would appear on her cheekbones. She would smile widely and laugh so beautifully. 

I had only known her for about forty-five minutes, but even so, she managed to grab my attention from the beginning. 

"So, I will handle causes and risks, you take the biological diagrams and explanations and Jay will take treatment options and therapy. Does that sound alright?" She suggested to Jake, counting the categories on her small fingers.

"Sounds well organised to me," Jake nodded with a satisfied smirk. He seemed happy with our third partner and sure that we would do well. I knew how much it meant to him to get an A, just as it would any aiming student. He had ideas for his future and wanted to do well by his studies. I really admired him for that. 

"Jongseong-ssi, is that alright with you?" 

Her calm voice called out to me, but upon hearing my Korean name I was totally surprised. I had forgotten that I introduced myself as Jongseong, something I did because I wasn't paying attention. I gave her a confused look, which she returned with a frown.

"I guess not then... We can swap. Is that better?" she offered politely.

"It's not that," I struggled to reply. My mind was all over the place. Every time she spoke to me it processed as a different language. I was completely bewildered by her and I had no idea why. 

"Oh?"

"I-I just.. You called me Jongseong. Only close family really call me that," I laughed nervously. 

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"Don't. It's my own fault. Please, call me Jay," I concluded. I stretched out my hand to her as if to start over. She looked puzzled at my sudden gesture, but she went along with it happily. 

Once we reached the library, we all signed our names in the log book and took seat at a table in the far corner. It was round with four seats around it and a light hanging over the centre. It was a good spot in the library as it was close to the biology section and also the snack machine. We sat around the table, getting out our class notes and laptops. 

I couldn't help but look over at Amy's notes. They were neat and decorated with pink highlighter. Her title was beautiful calligraphy and bold to stand out at the front of her page. She wrote in confident print letters that never strayed off the lines. If I had handwriting like that, I'd never stop writing. 

I opened up my laptop and opened up a software so we could put together some slides to project during our presentation. I scrolled through the different coloured templates, eyeing the minimalist black and white border theme. 

"So, I was thinking. Dark red tones? Since we're doing about the heart and all," Amy suggested from besides me. I hadn't even noticed that she had moved to sit closer to me. She was sat so close that her arm rested against mine. 

"A-ah. Sure," 

I scrolled down and selected one that she pointed out. She squealed happily with a mini applause. I could tell she had a work aesthetic: pretty colours, pictures, design. I didn't mind it at all, but it seemed time consuming. We had spent ten minutes searching for a design, when in that same time, Jake and I would have already completed an introduction. 

"Okay," I said sternly. I tried to draw our attention away from the colours and more to the project itself. 

"I think we should find case studies and anatomy books first. Any good project has a good research foundation," I confidently started. 

"Yes, I agree!" Amy followed, mimicking my tone. Seeing her copy me made my heart jump. I had to look away to stop her from seeing the smile that wouldn't leave my face. 

"I agree too, which is why I have all of these," Jake huffed. He dropped a pile of ten books in front of us, then stretching out his arms as if he was chuffed with himself.

"Nice one," I complimented, taking the first book from the pile. 

Like I mentioned, Jake was always one step ahead of me. We worked in sync, like he could read my mind. Getting this A would be no issue at all.

I flicked through the book, stopping at a page with the heart anatomy. I scanned the labels around it, taking note of all the important parts of the organ. 

"Actually, I was thinking," Amy interrupted. She put a hand on mine. Specifically the one on the book. I looked at her and then at my hand which she was now gently holding. My heart skipped another beat at the sudden contact. 

"We should use more recent sources," she said sweetly. Her eyes were watching mine. I couldn't help but to delve deeper into her orbs. Her mysterious brown eyes. I got lost looking at her. I was so distracted by her gaze that I didn't notice her slip some pages into my hand. 

"Here are some articles, I found. Read them, please?" she pleaded as if I wouldn't say no. 

"O-okay," 

"Great!" she chirped up. I'll be right back. I'm just going to nip to the ladies' room,"

I watched her skip away from us and leave the library. Her hair bounced just as much and I swore I could hear her lowly humming to herself. 

"Articles? We always go by the books! The books get us As and that is what we want!" Jake complained sitting next to me angrily. He snatched the articles from my hand and skimmed over them. His eyes scanned through each page and once he was done he threw them back on the table. 

"So?"

"They aren't even good articles," he tutted. 

"Hey, at least she's trying,"

"No. Don't defend her. You have been puppy eyed and distracted all day. We can't have this Jay," he said more seriously. 

"I am not. If anything I'm trying to make her feel accepted and involved. We both know you don't want her here," I argued back.

"Whatever, Jay. I'm taking a walk," Jake scoffed and left. My heart sunk. I never fought with him, especially over superficial things like this. I wanted to apologise and felt anxious that he may not forgive me. I looked at the articles and sighed. As much as I hated to agree with him, the articles were useless. They were unrelated to our project and non-academic. 

I pushed them aside and leant my head on the table, patiently waiting for him to come back.

"Jay-ah,"

"You're back already? Look, I'm sorry. I just-,"

"She's just using us,"

"What?"

"Amy. She's using you."