I get through all the painstaking lectures, with Jay sitting by my side. He's made this day go quite fast, and the lectures were more bearable with his retarded shenanigans and dumb jokes, making me wonder how his ridiculous mind can even come up with these insane one-liners.
The professor puts down his chalk as the clock sitting idly on the top of the room in the hall makes an alarming sound as it hits 5 P.M. " Okay, that's enough for today. I'm dismissing everyone." The professor announces, as he walks out of the room.
Me and Jay wait for the class to empty, until it's just the two of us. He tilts his head and gives me a snarky smile.
"You just know, I have to do it."
"Not this again", I sigh.
In one swift motion, Jay jumps on top of the last desk, laying his feet flat on top of it. His bag swirls before hitting him gently in the face as a triumphant smile spreads across his face. He starts descending, skipping from one desk to the next, while I walk down the lane between the two huge columns of the desks, like any normal human being would.
"You'll get into pretty big trouble if someone found out, you know?", I warn him.
"Like I care~! I pay for tuition, so I should be able to do what-"
Jay slips, midway through his sentence. My instincts kick in and my hand reaches for his rib. I support him by keeping a firm hold on his ribcage, making him stand upright to stop him from falling flat on me.
"Stupid", I mutter.
He sticks out his tongue in a rebellious manner, before resuming skipping and jumping like a feather, leaving dirty shoe marks on each consecutive desk. After reaching the first desk, he braces and jumps to the ground. He runs to the entrance of the hall and tries to catch his breath.
"COME ON~!", he screams, while huffing.
I shrug my shoulders before running at him. Just as I'm about to catch up with him at the entrance, Jay takes off.
"H-HEY, WAIT UP!!"
"LOSER HAS TO PAY UP~!"
We start racing our way throughout the campus like little kids in a competition on who can outrun the other. Other students clutch their books onto their chests and make way as we scare them off the narrow corridors, before eventually, we rush out of the building. Warm, orange fuzzy sunlight hits my face, making me cherish this moment.
-
I'm lying on the grass of the park, with both my hands lying on top of the earth, while I huff and try to regulate my breathing. An ice-cold feeling of a metallic can on my cheek startles me.
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"WHA-", I squeal as Jay throws a can of cola in my lap.
"You're pretty quick, ya know?", Jay compliments me as he makes himself comfortable on the grass, making a pop sound as he opens his can.
"I dunno, I just hike mountains and sometimes run, so I guess that helped?"
"Definitely."
"Did we really to skip class? It was just a final 30-minute session."
"Shaddap. You and your obsession with being a goody two shoes all the time.", Jay snickers, before placing his eyes on the clouds hiding the evening sunset.
There's a long silence while me and Jay down our drinks. Not an awkward kind of silence, but rather a calm and peaceful one. The birds are chirping. We can see uni students walking back and to their classes, while some have formed circles in the park, probably discussing their lectures and such. Some students are laughing. The atmosphere feels pretty surreal. I tilt my head over to Jay, and I see two slender legs and a figure behind him. I bring my eyes up, as I see Mia, with a frown on her face. Standing beside her, is Jessica, her close friend. Right before I can say anything, Mia knocks Jay in the head, making him whimper and caress his head before turning around, leaving a dumbfounded expression on his mouth.
"LIL BRO, WHAT'D I SAY ABOUT SKIPPING CLASS, HUH?", Mia scolds Jay, while Jessica covers her mouth with her hand, suppressing a laugh. Mia is a fierce protective tomboyish sister, while Jessica is her polar opposite, being the quiet, reserved one in the group.
"You two make a good duo, ye know that?", Jessica mutters while snickering to herself, making me roll my eyes.
"As if"
-
The quartet of friends walk down the university lanes, towards the gate, so they can go home.
Jay is still getting scolded by Mia, making me and Jessica giggle with amusement, seeing this power dynamic.
"So how long have you two known each other, Adrian?", Jessica enquires.
"Oh, we've known each other since high school. He's been like this ever since~" Jessica responds with a snicker, bringing her hand over to her face with a slight red tinge in her cheeks.
Mia sneaks up behind both of us and startles us when she coils her hands on each one of our shoulders and jerks us forward, smoothly inserting herself into the conversation.
"OH, the two lovebirds are getting quite close to each other, eh?", Mia teases us with a playful tone.
"T-There's nothing like that, okay!? We were just making small talk.", Jessica denies the allegations with her cheeks glowing red at this point, quite a contrast to her behavior.
"I can see it all over your face, ya know?", pokes Jessica again.
"It doesn't matter anyway.", Jay intrudes, with both his hands behind his head walking like a delinquent.
He catches both Mia and Jessica's attention.
"He's already married.", Jay quietly drops the bomb.
"And that too, to a lawyer who works in that high-class firm. L.P Firm, was it?"
I slowly nod as he looks at me for confirmation.
Jessica's face turns into a sad expression while her lips turn from a smile into a poker face, trying her best not to show her emotions.
"Yeah, that. Must be lucky, right? Having a rich wife, and having to do nothing all day long~", Jay mutters under his breath.
"Shut up. I have to take care of the house and such. It isn't as easy as you make it out to be, okay?!?"
These people have no fucking clue how different Anita is when she's at home.
There's now an awkward silence in the group. Mia catches onto this and re-engages the conversation by making small talk. We stride through the university space before reaching the gate. I look around and something peculiar catches my eye: there's a sleek black luxurious car near the sidewalk parallel to the gates inside of the university, and there I see her, Anita. She has a biker jacket, a white shirt and a red tie underneath it. She definitely came her right after work, seeing as she's still has her work-attire beneath her jacket. Anita is leaning her back on the black vehicle and has a cigarette in her mouth. Something tells me she's had her eyes on me all this time, like a lion lurking on her prey, before pouncing on it. Her mouth curls into a creepy smile, as we make eye contact. She starts walking towards us, removing her cigarette out of her mouth and dusting it as she makes her way towards us.