You Make My Soul Brighter
I'm a slice of life slut so if you're not into that be warned this may be a bit slow but trust me I will let you know which chapters are chock full of skelesin. So rating may change.
Chapter One
At times college seemed like the best place Ali could have been, she was meeting more people than she could have ever imagined and was for the first time in her life free to make her own choices. Yet it was during times like this that made her wish she had stayed at home with her parents for the rest of her life. Of course all of her friends told her that everyone felt that way during their first midterm season but she was actually pretty sure she was falling apart at the seams.
Even now she was wondering around campus with her bag full of every text she owned, she paused for a brief moment to consider if this was how those bad guys in the old movies felt caring a million dollars in a brief case but thought that they weren't gonna end up with a hunch back like her. Normally she would have at least one book in her hand but after passing out in the library for the eighth time the librarians finally grew concerned and told her to grab something to eat and take a nap.
Ali knew that by snack the librarian probably meant something healthy but she had nether the patience or the money for all that. So instead she was making a beeline for a hot dog stand on the far side of campus. It was cheap and in a relatively quiet spot so she could sit down and get a little bit more studying in. Her first exam in anatomy was coming up on Monday and was causing her to claw at her hair. This just stressed her out even more since she had spent so long getting her unwieldly curls the perfect tawny brown. Her mother had nearly fainted upon seeing it which had made the shade even more satisfying, which is why she was working so hard to keep it on her head and not in her fists.
She couldn't help but think she was rambling in her own head at this point though and the thought of sinking her teeth into something other than a pen seemed pretty good. Ali pushed the sleeves of her sweater up as she approached the warmth radiating from the hotdog cart. Her eyes darted up briefly to see who was operating it today and gave a small smile in acknowledgment. It wasn't someone she recognized from her previous trips here but that wasn't saying a whole lot. She was really terrible with remembering people and she had only been a couple times.
He acknowledged her with the same lazy lift of his head and grunted as he stood up from his leaning position. He had the same dark bags under his eyes that she was sure was under hers and she felt a small rush of sympathy. At least she wasn't the only one struggling this week. "Hey can I just get like one plain hot dog and a water," Ali said after rehearsing her order in her head the whole awkward walk it took to close the distance down the walkway.
At first he didn't move, only examined her through half lidded eyes and a smirk as he looked her over. Ali thought her worst fear had come true and she had somehow managed to mess up the simple task of ordering her food. After a long dragged out minute though he just gave a shrug and rolled a bottle of water over to her before reaching in and grabbing her hot dog. She looked down at it with a scrunched up nose "Hey I asked for this with nothing on it … this is drowning in ketchup," she said raising an eyebrow at him.
The guy behind the cart only smiled and cocked his head up slightly to catch her eye "Yeah I know but trust me ketchup makes everything better. Come on, one bite and I bet you will be hooked," he said snapping his fingers and giving her a wink. Ali felt her breath hitch in her throat slightly and a blush rising to dust her golden skin bronze. She gave a disgruntled huff and took her food, shifting her bag awkwardly onto her shoulder in order to juggle it in her hand. She looked down at the smothered food questionably before taking a tentative bite.
Her eyes went wide and she gave him a wide smile. "Oh my gosh this really is great!" she said going to wipe at her mouth. He perked up and his eyes went twice as wide as her own, showing off his eyes which she noticed were actually two different eyes. One a stunning blue and the other a rich brown. Well at least she would be able to recognize him next time she saw him.
"Woah really? I thought for sure that no one else would like them with that much ketchup so I would be able to eat all of them. This is just as cool though," he said with a ringing laugh. Ali laughed along with him as she walked towards the trash can where her laughing face turned abruptly into a frown. His own laughs faded into a small cough when he saw her sudden change.
"No not really that was terrible," she said with a small glare, releasing the hotdog into the trashcan with a loud clunk. "It tasted like biting into a rotten tomato. I guess I'll just take the water and some chips," she grumbled shoving a few dollars into his hands before marching over to plop herself down at one of the cement tables. They weren't exactly comfortable but their cold, rough seats would keep her awake and alert while she studied. She pulled out her anatomy text book and cracked open her notes on the human skeleton. While it wasn't going to be all that her exam was going to be on it was gonna be the hardest part for her because she was terrible with remembering all those small bones and what they connected to.
Just looking at the diagram of a hand was making her stomach churn with anxiety. Why did the hand need so many small bones? Why couldn't they just be one big bone together? She groaned and thought that if she slammed her head into the table it would give her a concussion and a reason to give herself a few more days to study. Ali was a few seconds away from trying her luck when she heard shuffling foot steps behind her. She stiffened and saw a flash of blue coat from the corner of her eyes.
"Hey since I kind of ruined your lunch I thought I would bring you something to warm up your buns," the hotdog cart guy said. Ali reeled back her hand, quite prepared to slap the smirk off his face, but fell short seeing him holding out the plain hot dog she had originally asked for. And from the steam curling off of the sausage it must have been fresh. She couldn't help but wonder if he had made a new batch just for her. "The name is Sans by the way and uh I hope my awesome puns didn't scare you off," he grinned chuckling as he helped himself to the seat across from her and slid the hotdog her way.
Ali knew that she really should be more cautious accepting food from strangers but she was hungry enough and desperate enough for a distraction to push her notes away and pick up the hotdog. "Oh um thanks," she said blinking over to Sans, cradling the food in her hands as she watched him munching away on his bun filled with ketchup. She assumed the hotdog was in there somewhere. She took a small bite and smiled, happy to find no hidden ketchup somewhere and let her shoulders fall in relaxation. "I have been known to crack a few puns myself so no worries there, these notes are more likely to scare me. My names Ali, its nice to meet you" she said tucking her hair behind her ears.
"Well then I will look forward to a future pun off, in the meantime what are we studying?" Sans asked not waiting for an invitation before slouching onto the table, his hand lazily holding up his head as he picked up her scattered notes. Ali watched him with hawk like eyes, the last thing she needed was ketchup on her carefully taken notes and study guide. But to her utter surprise he pulled a pencil out of the spiral of her notebook and started to fill in the answers on the guide.
"Hey be careful I won't be able to read it if I have to erase it another time!" Ali said with a muffled cry, snatching the paper out of his hands as gently as she could. She smoothed out any wrinkled on her knee before staring at his answers in surprise, they matched up identically to the one in her book. "Woah you did all this from memory? Are you taking this class too?" she asked in amazement, scooting over to the other side of the table and leaning in close to look at him as if he were the most interesting person in the world.
Sans rubbed at the back of his neck and she could have sworn she saw a blush rise to his cheeks, which only made her realize just how close she had gotten but she didn't dare move at this point and make things even weirder. "Oh nothing like that, I just like this kind of stuff. I use to read my dad's anatomy books when I was a kid so it just kind of stuck around up in my head I guess," he said running his fingers through his hair. Then the sheepish smile he had suddenly creeped along his face to a wide grin "Actually if you wanted some help with it I could totally lend a … hand," he said wiggling his eyebrows as he passed the diagram over to her.
Ali snorted at the lame joke, rolling her eyes as she started to pack away all of her things so he didn't have any other excuse to assault her ears with lame bone jokes. "Ahhh come on that was the perfect opportunity, seriously though you seem to be stressing so I don't mind helping out. Say over dinner tomorrow? It would give us a chance to … ketchup?" he cackled nudging her in the side with his elbow. At this Ali couldn't help but give a very unattractive chortle, which Sans must have took for a yes as he clapped his hands together "Alright awesome I know this awesome diner a few blocks from here, they have an open mic night that's fun to listen to and enough room for all your nerd papers," he said with a self-approving nod of his head.
"Hey don't you think you should actually get my permission before just making plans like that?" Ali said, tripping over her words at the brashness of Sans. "Just cause you gave me a hotdog don't mean you just get to take me out whenever you feel like," she said poking him in the shoulder before letting out a groan at what she had said "Oh that sounded sooo bad." Sans was already lost in a fit of silent laughter, obviously trying and failing terribly to conceal how funny he had found her statement.
Ali pursed her lips and turned her head with a huff, surprised her cheeks weren't sending steam into the chilly air. "Lets just pretend I intended that to be funny …" she muttered licking at her chapped lips and pretending to ignore the innocent puppy eyes Sans was attempting to give her in what she assumed was some kind of an apology. "But seeing as I do need all the help I can get and can't afford to be picky I guess I really don't have much of a choice," she said giving a deep sigh as she stood up, stretching out her long lanky legs.
"Eh I will take what I can get," Sans said with a shrug as he slunk up next to her, giving Ali the first chance to really see the height difference between them. It wasn't exactly major, with the top of his head just at her eye level, but she had always had a thing for shorter guys. She just hoped that he was one of the few guys who didn't get irritated by being seen with a taller girl. Though she was quick to reprimand herself and remind herself that this wasn't a date or anything. Just a study session at a totally adorable sounding café with a begrudgingly admitted cute hotdog sales man. No not a date at all. Either way Sans seemed to be quite proud of himself, looking up at her with a crooked smile and taking her hand and scribbling down an address with a marker he had stuffed in his coats pockets. "This is my apartment, stop by at five-ish and we'll get the show on the road. See you tomorrow Ali and remember to stay cool," he chuckled zipping up his coat the rest of the way, not even giving her a chance to argue against the plan.
Ali stared down at her hand and hid, what she would call, a ridiculously girlish smile by finish the last of her water. She had come to try and relax a little with a snack but she supposed a dinner invite worked just as well to ease a little bit of her stress. Although now she had worry about what exactly she was going to wear ….