Winter Quarter 2016 Week 1 Monday

Someone shook me and I groaned. Damn, I couldn’t sleep in anymore. My body still hurt from last Friday too.

“Good morning, Yuki. Auntie told me to wake you up or else you’ll be late,” Yukie greeted.

I nodded, still not completely awake. I changed clothes and grabbed my backpack. Well, back to the school grind. Mom and Yukie ate breakfast in the dining room.

“Yuki, are you excited for school to start? You can start building up those relationship points with all the boys. I’m just kidding, but it would be nice if something like that did happen,” Mom chuckled.

I ignored her, jamming breakfast into my mouth. Once finished, I sprinted to the bus stop, seeing the bus arrive. Tapping my university ID on the card reader, I headed toward the middle, noticing Shan.

“Oh, hey Tomo,” Shan greeted.

“Shan, you have class at 9:30 too?” I asked.

“Yeah, so this is where you live. It’s pretty close to my friend’s house,” Shan commented, staring down at his phone.

“You live near Zhuyu, right?” I recalled.

“Sort of, so does Darryl and a bunch of other people,” Shan gave a slight nod.

Shan finally glanced up from his phone, proceeding to stare out the window. The conversation ended there. I was really not looking forward to classes yet. Why couldn’t winter break be longer?

Shan and I got off the bus, heading to the underground transfer station. Shan said nothing the entire time. Guess he didn’t feel like talking or was just being reserved. At the bottom, we ran into another familiar face.

“Lau!” Shan called out.

“Shigetzu and Tomo! How are you guys this morning?” Shui greeted.

“I’m alright. Have you been playing recently?” Shan asked, taking out his phone.

“Yeah. I’m still missing….,” Shui responded.

They discussed a phone game, one I was not familiar with. A bunch of bright jewels appeared on their screens. Oh, that one. I stood there, spacing out, until the train arrived. Shui sat near the back, pulling out papers from his backpack. Shan and I sat a few seats behind him. I pulled out Yukie’s book. I was ten pages in, before noticing Shan stare at Shui. He had an inquisitive, but also amused look on his face.

“What’s so funny?” I questioned.

“See that girl over there?” Shan pointed at a girl standing near Shui’s seat.

“Yeah, what about her?” I answered.

“She’s been staring at Lau for the past five minutes. And the seat next to Lau is free, but she hasn’t sat down,” Shan explained.

“I don’t get it,” I said.

“Who is that girl? I mean, she just keeps looking at him, and not doing anything. What’s going on?” Shan pondered.

“Is that it? I mean, can’t she be some random person who happens to be looking in his direction?” I proposed.

“Nah, pretty sure she’s been staring at him. She peeked over at what he was doing. I’m surprised he hasn’t noticed yet,” Shan said with confidence.

Shan snickered afterwards, tapping his phone. I observed Shui to confirm his prediction. She definitely was staring at him, rather intently too. No one sat next to Shui, yet she continued watching from the distance. Shui fell asleep after awhile and the girl’s expression grew cheerful. Okay, things were weird now. At this point, Shan laughed and I returned back to my book.

At the university stop, the girl jumped back in surprise when Shui walked past her. She gave a low bow which Shui didn’t notice. Shan and I exchanged glances.

“What? I didn’t notice anything,” Shui remarked when we explained the situation.

“Do you know her?” Shan asked.

“No. I had no idea,” Shui shook his head.

Shan and Shui discussed the issue further. I departed from the two, heading toward the large lecture hall near the fountain. I headed to the classroom location Felicity texted me. She was already chatting with a few other girls. I assumed they were new friends she just made, considering her impeccable ability to socialize.

“Yuki, I’m so glad to see you again,” Felicity greeted, lifting her backpack up from the seat next to her.

“I just saw you yesterday, why are you so excited?” I replied, sitting down.

“Because I finally have someone I know in my classes. Everyone else has been taking all these different classes,” Felicity explained.

“Right,” I said.

I pulled out my notebook, searching around for a pencil in my backpack. Felicity set up her tablet on the table, watching a business report. Looking around, I noticed Kristoph five rows ahead of us. He looked pretty tired, not ready for class at all. I understood that feeling. He placed his head on the table, falling asleep.

“What are you looking at, Yuki?” Felicity asked.

“Kristoph, he’s sitting right there,” I answered.

“Oh, let’s ask if he wants to sit with us,” she suggested.

“I don’t think we should,” I shook my head.

“It’ll be fine. I’m sure he won’t mind. Actually, I don’t have his number. I’m pretty sure you don’t either, right? Never mind then. I’m sure we’ll see him again anyways,” Felicity realized.

When the professor arrived, Kristoph woke up, taking out a notebook and tablet. Throughout class, he only jotted down a few notes, but it was the first day so most of it was review. Felicity, on the other hand, copied the slides verbatim. She appended her own notes onto it as well. Quite a model student. When class ended, I stretched and reached for my phone.

“Yuki, do you have class after this?” Felicity asked, folding up her tablet.

“I have an hour gap, but I’m not sure what to do yet. I might head to the library,” I answered.

“Long and the others are in their usual place. Why don’t you hang out with them for awhile?” Felicity mentioned.

“Might be a good idea,” I decided.

“I’ll see you later. I have class, but I’ll try stopping by later,” Felicity revealed.