"Hey, mind if I borrow a pencil?" Sam turned his head in response to a light tap on his shoulder, to face one of his classmate who, first thing noticed, wore a humoured smile.

"Uh, sure." He passed one over, and a whisper of thanks came to his ear before the student seated himself yet again behind him in the large lecture hall.

Sam twirled his pen, listening to the monotone ringing of the teacher's voice down below as he continued on, writing short sentences on what he said. Substantial notes could be taken later when he had the full lecture, trying to keep up was a nightmare, a valuable fact he had learned in his first week.

The teacher pulled his sleeve up, was a bit embarrassed that he had lost track of time, and announced that class was finished for the day.

Walking at a brisk pace out the door, Sam was stopped by the same student who handed him the pencil. "Hey, buddy, think fast!" The pencil twirled up into the air, and Sam only had to stick out a hand in the right direction to have it land perfectly in his palm.

His classmate was amazed. "Woah . . . nice catch."

Sam nodded and smiled briefly, but said nothing, and was surprised when the classmate followed along, chattering to himself while Sam merely wondered who he was.

"Listen, don't mean to pry, but wanna go get coffee?" He let out a yawn, his hand in his pockets from the cold as he rocked on his heels in front of Sam's car. "I'm beat, yet I still have a job to go to later today."

Sam thought about it for a moment, and decided there couldn't be any harm to it, so he agreed.

The young man introduced himself as Gabriel, seemed to be a somewhat talkative person around those he didn't know, and had a major sweet tooth, much to Sam's surprise when he nearly added a who pitcher of cream to his coffee and ordered about five different types of coffee cake. At least he was paying for it all.

"So, your name?" They had sat down at this point, Gabriel stirring more sugar into his drink, one hand supporting his head as he stared across the table at his guest. "Sam, is it?"

Sam nodded, and took Gabriel's hand when he held it out and gave a firm shake. "Yeah, Sam."

"Well, Sam, I haven't shut up about myself for the past half hour, why don't you say something?" He waved a fork in the air, already starting on one of the cakes. "Any family? Hobbies?"

"Well, I have a brother."

Gabriel caught interest to this. "Really, what's he like?"

Sam chuckled, putting his elbows on the table. "He's . . . not like me. That's the most I can say."

"So, I'm guess you two don't get along?"

"No. Not in the least bit."

"Alright then, hobbies? You have amazing reflexes, in any sports?"

"I read, sometimes. I mostly spend my time with my girlfriend-"

"Oh!" Gabriel laughed, mouth full of cake. He brought a napkin to his face, an amused glimmer in his eye. "What's she like? Tell me about the lovely woman."

The corners of his mouth pulled up into a smile. "I've been with Jessica for a while now, we just started recently living together. She goes to a different school, yet it's close to this one so we bother decided to move in together."

Gabriel's sharp eyebrow came up, questioning. "It is serious?"

He bit the inside of his cheek, then nodded. "Yeah, I would say so."

Sam surprisingly enjoyed Gabriel's company, even thought they had an abrupt introduction. He learned, while eyeing Gabriel and his coffee and wondering how on earth he didn't drop dead from a sugar overdose, that Gabriel had family out-of-state, and mostly wanted to get away from them, so attended college here because it was the second most familiar place to him.

"I had a grandmother here, I would visit her often, and I rented an apartment close to her house." He played around with his food. "A memorial was up at the graveyard that was behind her house, she mostly donated to it and kept it in good condition. I still visit sometimes, but it's better not to think about it."

"Yeah, I understand."

About a quarter past nine, Gabriel glanced at his watch. "Oh, shit, I gotta go." He scribbled down his phone number and slammed it on the table, grabbed his coat, and ran out the door.

"Bye Sam, let's do this again sometime, alright?" He waved and drove off, barely making the speed limit. Several screeches of tires could be heard.

Sam picked up the scrap of paper, and shoved it deep into his coat pocket. Gabriel still had a whole piece of cake left that he didn't touch- and half of his coffee. Curiosity influencing him to do it, Sam gingerly picked up the coffee and took a sip, and instantly scowled, forcing himself to swallow. It was like drinking a cup of sugared water!

Gabriel grew as a very reliable friend over a week. They would meet nearly every afternoon for coffee, and when Sam either forgot or was stuck in traffic, he received a nagging call from his friend who was waiting at the coffee shop. As punishment, Gabriel would heap spoonfuls of sugar into it if he was late. The attendants working soon knew their names by heart, and giggled in the corner while watching the two talk.

"Oh, some on Sam! I wanna met her!" Gabriel complained as he laughed at Sam making screwed up expressions, from getting here late again, from drinking the sugary concoction.

"You know, if you keep messing up my coffee like this, I might just have to buy my own as I get here."

Gabriel waved his hand at Sam. "Please, do you realize how expensive it is here? I doubt you could afford it. Anyways, stop getting off topic, I wanna meet Jessica!"

Sam frowned, tapping his foot against the tiled floor. Jessica heard of Gabriel from brief conversations as Sam rushed out the door with the excuse of, 'If I'm late, Gabriel is going to ruin my coffee again.' Since then, she hasn't had a very good opinion of his friend.

"I'm sure it won't be too bad." Gabriel pouted, his honey colored eyes showing hurt. "C'mon Sam, please? I'll give you a full week, excused from shitty coffee."

"Dude, you act like such a child sometimes."

"Is that a yes?"

Sam sighed. "When?"

"How about this evening?"

Sam opened the door to his own house, and called out his girlfriend's name to see if she was home, while Gabriel instantly strolled in and started inspecting the walls of photographs.

"Jess? I have someone over, it's Gabriel-"

"So I see." She leaned on the door frame from the kitchen, wearing a bathrobe and a cup of tea in her hand. "Ah, Gabriel, I've heard a bit about you."

Gabriel, surprised by the control of character, walked over to shake her hand. "Well met, Jessica, I've so wanted to meet you." She raised an eyebrow.

"Sam! She is so much lovelier in person than you describe her as." Sam looked away, and Jessica titled her head questioningly. "Really, how exactly does he 'describe' me?"

She invited him over to the couch, and Gabriel talked on and on about how the 'look in Sam's eyes as he spoke of you told him all' and 'he never stops talking about you, he gets in this dreamy state when he thinks about you' earned Sam an ensuing kiss on the lips from his girlfriend. Gabriel winked and gave the thumbs up when Jessica wasn't looking in his direction, and Sam rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Well, lovebirds, I'd love to stay longer." He said, getting up and throwing on his leather jacket. "But people are waiting for me to serve them."

"Oh, you have to leave so soon?" Jessica sounded almost disappointed.

He gave Sam a hug and Jessica a peck on the cheek before sprinting out the door to his car.

"So." Sam played with his girlfriend's fingers. "What did you think of him, not so 'evil', right?"

"He has this . . . mischievous look about him. I don't know, but it just seems like messing with people is something that he enjoys best."

Sam exhaled and nodded. "Yeah, that's definitely him."