Jake Addams April 17th, 20XX

“ Are you coming with us for lunch?”

Alice asked with a large welcoming smile and contrasting eyes that told me to go somewhere else. She probably couldn't have made it more obvious that she wanted to use this break to investigate Finn’s week long absence if she tried.

I knew that as her boyfriend I should probably be verbal about how offended or mad I was about how she was so interested in another guy, especially when that other guy was a friend of mine but I said nothing and smiled back at her.

However I couldn't hide the slight accusation in my tone.

“ No, I gotta get some notes for a friend and meet up with the rest of the team. I’m sure you have some things you have to do as well....”

At my straining of the word friend her attention was pricked but not enough for her to stay with me. She gave me a loose hug to show off our relationship to the group but she avoided my gaze and scampered away without sparing me so much as a glance.  

She had taken her usual entourage with her but the rest of them had stuck around, leaving me with a group of around 30 people.

I ignored them since I was in too bad a mood to wish them good luck in their classes and began to walk away, thinking that they would eventually drift off to their respective clubs and activities. However, they stuck with me even following me into an empty classroom where I could make copies of my notes as well as some others I had gathered from people in Finn's classes.

They all sat in some weird formation around me, leaving a ring of desks empty but crowding the other outside ones. because of their anticipation, for whatever they expected the silence was suffocating and they all stared at me like pups that had lost their pack leader.

Hey, if you wanted to chat then you should have gone with Alice…. I don't even talk while the whole group is active so why would I randomly start up a conversation now?

Was what I rather bitterly thought however I kept it to myself.  

Another ten minutes passed until one of them finally walked up to me and started a conversation. He circled over to my side of the table and looked over the notes I was copying.

“ Are these for Alice?”

While it was a reasonable assumption, it was enough to sink my mood.

Why would I take notes for a girl that's chased me off so she could stalk another guy?  A guy who also has shown no intention of even acknowledging her existence.

Was what I wanted to say, however, I restrained myself and instead settled for saying something else.

There was no purpose in gossiping behind her back. After all if I was that passionate about it Id go confront her about it.

“It's. for. a. friend.”

I tried to sound as passive as possible but it looked like I failed because he flinched and immediately walked back to his original spot.

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The others eventually brought out their own work and began to write in silence, creating an effective studying atmosphere despite the fact that exams were still a while away. I exhaled and took in the rare peace then frowned when it was disrupted by loud knocking.

“ Is anyone in here?”

The door to the classroom was flung open and in walked a very...vibrant girl. She had loud red hair and a rather athletic figure that wasn't at all missing any-...

Woah, that was a rather dangerous line of thought I was going down.

Completely oblivious to the thoughts I was struggling to prevent from materializing she faced all of us with an imposing but still warm air,

“ Which one of you is Jake Addams?”

She looked incredibly familiar but not enough to provide me with a name, she was probably pretty popular in her own department.

I raised an arm when I realized the others had already made it obvious by training their line of vision on me.

“ Here. And you are..?”

She strode up to me and comfortably sat on the chair in front of me, breaking the circle that had somehow been created. The girl then began to speak as comfortably as she would to someone she’d known for years.  

“ Sparrow, as in the bird, I’m in the design department so that's probably why you haven't heard of me.”

“That's probably why. Can I ask why you were looking for me?”

Around us, I received a bunch of thinly veiled accusatory glares as we naturally entered a friendly repertoire and I couldn't help but nurture the growing feeling of resentment.

Why was it that when Alice quite openly chased another guy she was entirely supported but I was condemned when another girl struck up a conversation with me?

Sparrow finally noticed the atmosphere and glares that surrounded us and quickly asked what needed to be asked.  It must be said however that she made it obvious that she rushed because she did not want to inconvenience me rather than rushing because she was scared.

“Have you seen Finn around? Finn hall? I’ve been trying to reach him and someone told me that you guys were rather close. I figured you might know where he is”

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this because I didn't think that we’d interacted enough for it to be a point of conversation among others.

“ Sorry but I only know that he'll be back in a week... I don't know where he went either sorry to say. ”

She exhaled a sigh filled with the exasperation of an older sister..or perhaps comparing it to that of a babysitter would be more accurate.

“ Well, that's more than anyone else knows.”

I nodded in agreement, feeling a smile grow on my face as I spent more time speaking with her.  Her extremely animated actions paired with her bright appearance and voice made me want to help her out or rather just be around her more as opposed to the dry and few moments I spent with Al-

Once again I cut off my train of thought not quite ready to reach the destination they were taking me too.

“I’m going to his house soon to drop off these notes so if you need me to pass on a message I can.”

She beamed at me with a killer smile and hoisted up her suspiciously large backpack onto the desk. Quickly and efficiently she unzipped the various zippers in what seemed like a ritual and began to search for whatever she wanted to give me on Finn’s behalf.

“ Can you? That would be great!”

Only, as she searched the smile slowly fell off her face and dissolved into an annoyed frown.

“ I think I left it at home….”

She then looked at me with an odd expression that caused a slight shiver down my spine then smiled brightly once again.

“ Can you come to see me tomorrow after school? I really need to get this to Finn... It'll only take a few minutes.”

It wasn't by any means an excessive or difficult request but under the glares of the group around us I felt pressured and couldn’t even verbally reply. I could only nod and wave her goodbye as she left.

“You can find me in room 396 in the Design wing!”

The second the door closed behind her the group stood and made hasty excuses in order to report to Alice on what had just happened.

I exhaled heavily and braced myself for the storm that was about to come.