A week had passed since we first got stuck together.
“This sucks…”
I exclaimed as I stood near the exit. Underneath the B building of my campus was the university’s cafeteria, and at the end of that cafeteria was a corridor that led to the motorcycle parking lot. I stood at the exit, looking at the rain that poured onto the ground. The droplets that fall from the dark clouded sky, crashing into the earth with tiny little splashes.
“What’s going on?”
Emily asked as she looked at my annoyed face.
“Rain.”
“Oh.”
She turned around and wandered off. Maybe it wasn’t raining at her place? Regardless, since I used a motorcycle, I wouldn’t be able to go home at this rate. It was already five in the afternoon. Being a Tuesday, I had three entire classes today. To be fair, they consisted of the shorter ones, with each class going on for just two hours.
To add insult to injury, today I made the severe mistake of waking up too late. I didn’t bring my raincoat with me, nor did I check the weather forecast. I did see the clouds, but I was dumb enough to not prepare for rain. With nothing else to do, I thought about checking the library, since if I wasn’t mistaken, they opened until around seven. But before I turned around, I found Emily running back toward me, something in her hand. She reached for the inner side with one hand and pulled it backward.
“Should we try this?”
I was about to reply when I remembered that I and only I could hear her. I took my phone and messaged her on Fine.
“Alright.”
She took her own phone and read the reply.
“Alright, one, two, three.”
I and Emily moved into the rain. I extended my hand under where I presumed to be under her umbrella. I took careful steps, matching my pace with hers. Eventually, I arrived at the end of the corridor, where the roof ended. As it turned out, my hand felt wet. I let out a sigh of resignation and shook my head, then turned around and headed back for the building.
“Didn’t work, huh?”
“No, unfortunately.”
It would be nice if it worked, though.
“What will you do, then?”
“I don’t know. Library, probably.”
I made my way to building A, stepping past a large garden that separated the two buildings. The library occupied the space right across the cafeteria, and it didn’t take long for me to reach it. The library consisted of two floors, with the second one accessed through a staircase within the area. I stopped in front of the barcode that was placed in front of the room. Usually, a security guard would be standing guard here, asking every visitor to scan the barcode. That day, however, the security guard was nowhere in sight. I had already saved the link on my phone, though, so I didn’t need to scan it again.
With that out of the way, I pushed the glass doors and headed inside. A large triangular table with its pointed side pointing away from the entrance surrounded several librarians. I always wondered what librarians actually do, but asking that question wasn’t my goal for the day. The room itself, along with almost all its furniture, had been painted in a clean white. There were several exceptions, though, with the security guard’s chair that had been left in its original silver color. I made my way left, heading for the circular staircase which occupied the left side of the room.
There was a lot of empty space on the first floor, since it was already five, most students had finished their schedule for the day and headed home, I assume. Those left were probably like me, waiting for the rain to pass. I saw someone drawing, some other person playing with a 3D model, while someone else looked at a huge line of text. I left them to their own things, not that I know any of them to begin with, and headed for the second floor.
The second floor had slightly different colors compared to the floor below. Its floor, unlike the white tiles that occupied the first floor, consisted of gray carpets that extended from the stairs and spread throughout the room. The walls themselves were divided into two sections, with the upper one painted white while the side closer to the floor was painted with a gray color that matched the gray carpet. On the far side of the library were large windows that gave us a view of the cafeteria.
Most of the tables on the second floor were empty, as expected, but since talking with Emily while sitting on them would bother someone, I decided to move to the corner of the library.
Technically, I’m not supposed to call while I’m inside the library, but most people do talk inside, even if it’s against the rules.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Leaning back on the walls, I took out my earphones and plugged them in, letting out a heavy breath as I let the concrete surface support my weight.
“You’re still studying?”
I asked Emily, who after trying to help with the umbrella, returned back to her seat.
“Yeah. You’re in the library?”
“I’m pretending to call. There isn’t anyone else, either.”
I hid behind one of the light gray bookshelves that occupied a portion of this floor. With no one else immediately beside me, I could afford to speak. I would probably go silent if someone passed by, but for now, as long as I didn’t get too loud, I should be fine.
“Working hard as always, huh? Break a leg.”
“Your leg?”
“I still need them. Go find a chicken somewhere.”
“You evil bastard.”
“Says the one who likes chicken.”
“It’s different.”
“Explain different.”
“Well, like, I like the taste of chicken. If there are food plants that taste exactly like chicken, then I don’t mind. It’s not really about the animal, but more about the taste, per se.”
“That means you’re evil toward plants. Plants' rights matter.”
“Not when you’re on top of the food chain.”
“That’s quite a barbaric way of thinking.”
“Humans are always barbaric.”
“Don’t lump me in the same category as you.”
Emily let out a chuckle. I thought of picking up a book to read, but most of the cinematography-related books were placed on the first floor. I couldn’t find the energy to push myself to go and pick them up, so I ended up just watching Emily as she studied whatever thing she was studying.
“It’s still raining over there?”
She asked. I turned my head, looking at the world outside. Tiny water droplets fall to the earth, making a sound as they impact the windows.
“Getting worse.”
I really hope that things would die down by seven. If not, then I would be forced to turn into a pirate and fight the stormy seas or whatever. I also need to think about how I would be getting dinner. I had no time to prepare on Tuesdays, so most of the time, I cooked up something simple.
This meant I would be eating out tonight. As I waited for the rain to stop, I continued thinking about what I should eat. The cafeteria was closed for the day, making my options limited to the restaurants outside my campus. There were several options, though.
Maybe I should go for fried chicken? Then, I’ll show it off to Emily… Can she even eat the fried chicken?
Emily suddenly got up and made her way toward me. She sat down next to me.
“Yo.”
She said, greeting me, as if we just met.
“Done?”
“Have other subjects after this, but a little rest would be nice.”
“Trying to speedrun this quest?”
“Quest… oh.”
Well, if we reach our goals faster, we should be separated earlier. We didn’t really have any other hope to cling to, so despite not being an accurate source of hope, we would just trust that, not that it made any particular difference.
“You know, after thinking about my studies, I really don’t need to think about that as well.”
“So, what do you want to think about?”
I momentarily glanced toward Emily. I need to keep my face facing forward, as I wouldn’t want to look weird in case I was unlucky and someone passed in front of me. I’m in a scenario where I’m on a call with Emily, thus it would be weird if I faced her. Emily nodded in understanding.
“What should I think about?”
She asked back, as if I had the answer.
“Think about me.”
I jokingly said. Since I was facing forward, I couldn’t see her clearly, but I felt a little push coming from my left side, where Emily sat.
“By the way, are you in any clubs?”
“Not yet, why?”
“A notification just came up. A promotion for one of the clubs in university.”
Emily said. I looked her way, finding her hand seemingly holding her phone. I stood up and reached for a book before returning to my position. I then used the book as a cover, not bothering to check the contents. I adjusted my seating position, so that my face was hidden behind the book.
“Why not join any history-related clubs?”
I asked.
“I can study that alone, though.”
“Right…”
I guess the point of being in a club is doing things together with like-minded people.
“You can learn new things…?”
“The club that just promoted themselves is from the basketball club, so it’s unrelated.”
“Not interested?”
“Nah.”
“You can get taller- Ouch…”
I felt yet another sharp pain on my left flank. I turned around, finding Emily’s sharp eyes on me.
“I’m happy with the way I am, thank you very much.”
“If you say so…”
I decided to think about something else as I let the pain dissipate from my body.
By six in the evening, the rain finally stopped. I stored my earphones back in my backpack and made my way to the parking lot. The air felt cold from the rain, puddles filling the lot. I took a tissue and wiped the water off my motorcycle’s seat. Emily put her hand on top of my motorcycle and started wiping as well, although what she did had nothing to do with my environment. It made her look like a ghost, but without the invisibility portion.
“It still felt wet, though.”
She said, prompting me to look at her hand. I reached out and touched her hand, feeling the skin underneath before letting go.
“You’re not using any cloth?”
I asked as I continued wiping.
“... No…”
I do find it weird how she could feel the droplets, but not move them. Oh well, thinking about it would only make things worse for me. Nothing made sense at this point, I guess I would be forced to accept that.
Once my seat was clean from any droplets, I got on. I felt a touch around my stomach, noticing Emily’s hands embracing me. I looked behind.
“Yeah, this is weird.”
She said before letting go.
“There’s no point in riding with me, I can just drag you along.”
“Can you say it in a, I don’t know, more refined way?”
I shook my head and pushed my motorcycle backward, out from its parking spot. I turned the handle and made my way out of the parking lot, heading back to my apartment. Emily made sure to stand beside me during our ride. I couldn’t see her from my mirrors, so I checked on her once I arrived at a junction and stopped. I found her trying to get onto my motorcycle to no avail.
“Can you even hit me with this?”
I didn’t answer, but instead followed the traffic away from the junction. I then parked my motorcycle on the left side of the road, away from everyone else, wanting to know the answer.
“Try touching the handlebars.”
I said. She moved forward and put her hand on the handles.
“I can feel the metal.”
“How about here?”
I pointed toward the plastic section that covered the motorcycle’s headlight. I tried touching it myself, making sure that it wasn’t hot. I then pulled my hand away and let her touch it.
“It felt like… plastic.”
“Because it is.”
So this meant that some parts of the object wouldn’t be able to be felt by Emily. With that stunning new revelation, which neither of us knew what to do with, I went back toward my apartment.