Ingham Library had been a part of Arfæstnes School for at least 100 years, it was one of the iconic buildings that had been the only witness to the school's history. It had three floors, all books were filling row after row of bookshelves on the first and second floor. The mahogany long desks and chairs spread across the hallway between rows of bookshelves. Its third floor was always deserted compared to the first or second floor because not many students were willing to carry thick books with no help from any elevator. The grand spiral staircase, circling a magnificent antique chandelier that draped from the ceiling, was the only way to go up.
Renata always had concentration difficulties while doing uninteresting things for her, such as homework or studying textbooks. Her mind was easily distracted, jumping around like a cat chasing light reflections. She had no choice but to study in the least noisy place, even if she had to carry so many books and her laptop at once. It was quite a surprise for her to find another student on the third floor, and he was Wilson nonetheless.
"I would need the book if you don't use it, " Wilson demanded again.
"Um, you can take it." Renata handed over the book to him. She suddenly felt guilty for her rudeness to him. She wanted to apologize, but her pride wouldn't allow it. As he started to walk away, she called his name before she could stop herself. Though she was nervous, she had to do something since he was staring at her.
"I .... I think we started off on the wrong foot." Renata offered her right hand to give a handshake. "Hi, I'm Renata Tan. I apologize for my rude behavior before."
Wilson shook her hand and said, "My name is Wilson." He retracted his hand and that's it, she assumed he would also apologize to her. Renata secretly counted to ten in her head while grinding her teeth.
She nodded at him and returned to her desk, to work on her assignment. Whatever, she thought, at least she had tried to be nice to that infuriating dude. She should be thinking of the problems in front of her, instead of that ogre.
[What should be added to the polynomial 4m^2 + 8m so that it becomes perfect square?]
[What should be added to the polynomial 9k^2 – 4k so that it becomes perfect square?]
[What should be added to 16m^4 + 9 to make it a whole square of a polynomial of the second degree?]
[Find k so that p^2 – 5p + k can be a perfect square of a linear polynomial]
What the hell was this? She had found the subject in the book earlier but didn't understand it at all. She was tired, tired of studying, and tired of coughing, her stomach hurt because she coughed a lot. Her father was probably right, she shouldn't come back to school. She started to regret her decision.
"Renata, do you still need the book? If not, I will return it downstairs." She was jolted by Wilson's voice, and her knee hit the table. Why was she so jumpy today?
She tried not to wince and answered in a relaxed manner. "I still need the book, I will return it later." She received the book again from Wilson.
"You don't seem to make any progress with the algebra. Do you need any help? "
Renata stared at him, caught off guard by the offer. She was wondering if he was saying she was stupid or if he actually wanted to help her. But she was in desperate need of any help, even if it was from the ogre in front of her. "If you don't mind, " Renata answered in a low voice, keeping her pride at bay.
Wilson took the seat across from her before reading the assignment. "You should use the first formula:
4m^2 + 8m
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
= (2m)^2 + 2 ∙ (2m) ∙ 2 ....." Unexpectedly, his explanation was easy to digest. She tried to solve the problem by herself after being taught.
"That's correct. You are not that stupid after all."
Renata was having a hard time, she wasn't sure if he was praising her or not. But for the sake of her scores, she was willing to swallow the bitter pills.
Wilson closed the book, which made her confused. "You should head back to your dorm."
Renata looked at the time on her laptop, he was right, it was time to return to the dorm. But she needed to finish the algebra today, she didn't know when Wilson or anyone could help her again. "Please, help me for another 15 minutes." Renata pleaded with him.
Wilson stared at her, "No." Renata's shoulders crumbled at his refusal, she should have predicted it. "I will help you again, tomorrow." Renata watched his back in disbelief as he walked toward the staircase.
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Renata had been thrilled for the past few days, studying was never this fun for her, ever. Wilson was a God-send, except for his stoicism, sometimes she thought she was talking to J.A.R.V.I.S. But overall, he wasn't as bad as she thought he was. In truth, she was intoxicated with his New Zealand accent when he spoke, her name was never called that pretty before, Reh-naa-tah...
"Reh-naa-tah, are you listening?"
She could listen to it all day, "Yes, Mr. J.A.R.V.I.S. 1 radian = 2/π right angles"
There it was, his annoyed expression. "What did you just call me?"
Renata grinned at him. "Oh come on.... Does no one ever call you that before? I don't believe I am the only person who thinks you sound like an AI."
Wilson looked away, his hand covering the lower half of his face, Renata guessed it was his shy expression. "I'm right, aren't I? Who called you Mr. J.A.R.V.I.S. before?"
"I don't sound like an AI." He tried to deny it, or was it his way to convince himself, but his impeccable manner of speech betrayed him, which he also noticed. Renata held her quivering lower lip so hard between her teeth, trying to hold herself from laughing out loud.
"Was it James? It's James, isn't it? Tell me it's James. It should be James. James is the wittiest person I have ever met. It must be James, right?" Wilson nodded helplessly at her barrage and the dam broke loose, Renata banging the table as she laughed till tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. He shushed her but only made it worse that she coughed hard, it was a good thing she wore a facemask. He opened her water bottle and gave it to her to drink.
"You are right, J.A.R.V.I.S. sound too British. I should call you J.A.R.V.I.K. Just A Rather Vocal Intelligent Kiwi." Renata caught him chuckling. "Woah, I have no idea an AI could smile and chuckle. This is the bizarrest day of my life."
"Bizarrest is not a word, Renata. It doesn't exist in Oxford Dictionary."
"It should be from now on, Mr. J.A.R.V.I.K. It's a great word." Wilson shook his head in defeat he couldn't help but smile at her antics. "You know, you should smile often. A smile looks good on you. I swear you don't look like the Grinch when you smile, maybe a little bit on the inside." Renata managed to get another chuckle from him.
"What do I look like then?"
Renata pondered for a while, "Like a lit-up Christmas tree." Pretty and magical at the same time. She loved watching her father turn on the thousands of lights that covered the bleak Christmas tree, as if he had cast a magic spell to make it glow.
He frowned, obviously didn't get what she was saying, "You are talking nonsense. Shall we continue our studies?" With that, the magic dissipated. Yet, there was no coldness left between them. She was not anxious anymore to face the reality next week; she was anticipating it, in fact, the upcoming make-up exams.
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Renata : Mr. J.A.R.V.I.K. I have a piece of good news. go to lib later?
Mr. J.A.R.V.I.K. : I'm not interested if the good news is about you. Yes, I'm going to the Library later.
Renata :
(╯°□°）╯︵ (\ .o.)\
Renata : see ya then
(✿>ᆺ◕)~★
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The dining hall was bustling with starving students, how could they not be, most of them had just finished their afterschool activities, such as sports, theater rehearsals, etc. The body odor combined with cheap cologne and the meals was enough to make Renata nauseated. Today's menus were her favorite; Grilled Salmon Filet, which unfortunately paired with Beef and Autumn Vegetable Pot Pie, Lemon-Thyme Risotto, and Sauteed Broccoli Rabe. Perhaps it was better for her to eat the salmon with their vegetarian menus; Teriyaki Tempeh with Scallions and Sesame, Steamed Brown Rice, Braised Baby Bok Choy.
Before she adopted a new library habit, as Millie dubbed it, Renata used to have dinner around 6.30 pm and finish half an hour later. But since Wilson was willing to spare his time to teach her, she had no other choice than to have an early dinner, in the sea of sweat and armpit odor. Maybe it was just her snobby nose that was too sensitive to any unpleasant odor, Millie and Jackie didn't seem to have any trouble at all. Or it was their power of love that created a protective bubble around them. Her eyes were pricked by the sweetness emitted from their direction. Right then and there, she absolutely wanted nothing but a loving boyfriend.
As she was staring at the lovey-dovey couple with envy, someone sat next to them. "You still eat like a little rabbit...." Lyle showed off his megawatt smile at her. Maybe some god up there heard her heartfelt prayer just now.
"H-Hi....Lyle...." Renata's head unconsciously retreated a little when Lyle tried to get closer to her. He smelled like a sheep, maybe it was his deodorant that smelled like sheep. His three followers were also no better. She hoped she didn't look like the Grinch with her forced smile. For a split second, her mind flew to a certain boy at the word 'grinch', she was confused.
"I heard some of my fanatic fans hurt you..... I couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty..... even though it wasn't my fault at all... you are not blaming me, aren't you, Little rabbit?"
"No-no, of course not. How could I blame you?"
"Then, would you like to have a date with me? Next Saturday, if you want. It's my gesture of apology...."
If Renata's black eyes could get any bigger, she would look like a baby seal. This day couldn't get any better.