"Get your lab rat, everyone! You'll do your dissection in 20 minutes. Map out the organs and tissues, every single one of 'em, and pass it up at the end of this lab session. A 2000 word essay regarding the anatomy of the rat would be expected to go along with your drawings too, I might add. You may begin." A man of 60 said, returning to what he was doing with an intense look on his weathered face, marking their final term papers.
Aeris sighed long and hard. 'Not another stupid dissection lab session!' her mind was screaming. Standing up from her seat at the laboratory bench, she went to the front to get one live rat from the transparent glass container situated at the front by the teacher's workbench. As she looked around, she saw most students beginning to fill their syringes with anaesthesia, preparing to render the rat unconscious.
Holding the squirming little thing in her hand, she sat back down at her table, taking her own sweet time. James, who was her lab partner, glanced over at her curiously, and asked her what was wrong. Aeris shook her head, giving a little awkward smile. "Nothing. Would you mind injecting the rat for me? I can't keep it still," she said, giving him the rat.
Taking the rat over, he gave her a charming grin, and got to business. Keeping her eyes focused on him, Aeris admired his profile as he knotted his eyebrows, searching for a spot to slide the needle in. James was a good friend of Tifa's; they were in the rock climbing society, Tifa being the secretary and James the president. He wasn't all bad looking, with shaggy chestnut brown hair that reached his eyes, which was a shade of brilliant blue. Dimples kissed both of his cheeks when he smiled, which was quite often. He had a way with girls, and just this year alone, he has had quite a number of suitors trying to get a date with him.
Everyone knew that he liked Tifa, except Tifa herself. Aeris had wanted to tell her for James, but he didn't want her to, it might spoil their friendship, which ran quite deep, though nothing compared to what she shared with herself and Cloud. Like her illness, for example.
"Here you go," the cute medical student handed the comatose rat back into Aeris' awaiting hand.
"Thanks, man. You're the best," Aeris said. She smiled as James rolled his eyes, and mounted the rat onto the cutting board. Taking a deep breath, she held the scissors in her right hand, and willed herself not to tremble as she pinched the skin on the rat's stomach feeling the warmth of the rat before snipping open the skin and guided the scissors upwards.
***
"Where are we going?" Tifa asked, still grabbing on tightly onto Cloud's slim waist. Cloud didn't answer, just continued gliding, riding on the current of air under his T-board. Feeling exhausted, she leaned more fully against Cloud, and pressed her face against his back.
Feeling the sudden shift of weight, Cloud stiffened, and looked around for a place then he could stop and rest. As they were nearing the seaside, there was a concrete pathway by the side of the ocean, lined with classy railings and polished wooden benches. He stopped by one of the empty seats, and guided Tifa onto the bench.
Silence reigned for a few moments before it was broken. "You know, I could have just ran away a long time ago." She looked at him seriously, her eyes shining brightly with indignation.
"But you didn't." he stared back.
"Yeah well. That's 'cos I wasn't brave enough. But I'll show you, someday. Today. Maybe tomorrow. You can't take care of me forever, you know."
"Doesn't matter. As long as you're here, I'll take care of you, always." He spoke earnestly, not breaking eye contact with her. "You know I – we, care for you a lot. We won't let you go without a fight," he sat down beside her, looking down, fiddling with his thumbs. "There are loads of people who know you, and care about you. What would they say if you just ran away?"
Tifa snorted. Why was he making things so complicated for her? She wasn't a very popular girl; she had always kept to herself and her closest friends, not daring to widen her social circle just in case she would one day just disappear from their eyes, the pain she would bring upon them. It was not worth it. She was not worth it. Sighing again, this time in frustration, she leaned back, bringing her hands to her hair and clutched it fiercely.
"I don't want to think about this anymore. I don't want to worry for nothing. I want out," she pleaded. "It's too much for me, I-I-"
Cloud grabbed her hands, which was tugging helplessly at her silky strands of chocolate brown hair. "No, you listen to me. You've worked so hard to get into university, and I'm not gonna let you throw your dreams of being a fashion designer away, ok?" now he was holding on to her shoulders in a tight grip and shaking her lightly as if it would emphasise his point. He let out a breath, and leaned his forehead against hers. "Don't give up," he whispered. "Please."
Tifa bit her lip, trying to hold back a sob. It hardened her resolve to get away from them even more. A tear had started trickling down her cheek, and hung at the base of her chin in a crystalline drop. As it fell to the ground with a miniscule splash, the sky overhead rumbled, and as if sensing their mood, it too began to weep.
***
"How's your rat coming along?" James peeked over Aeris' shoulder, to see a mutilated rat on her workbench. He frowned. "What on earth did you do to that poor thing?"
Flushing, she gave him a sheepish grin. "Heh heh. I, uh, accidentally cut one of its major arteries, can't see a damn thing," she told him, shrugging helplessly. "Can I just copy yours?"
James laughed. "Sure thing, ma'am. Go right ahead, I'm done with it pretty long ago anyway. Now, onto my 2000 word essay." He made a face, taking out the laptop from his bag. Setting up the cables, he left Aeris on her own, staring blankly at the intestines that have been dug out and placed on the side.
Just as she was about to sketch the outline of the rat, a scream resonated through the lab. Everyone whirled around to see who it was, and to nobody's surprise, it was Jean, being pranked on by her lab partner, Greg, again. Intestines were hanging on her hair, a splatters of blood can be seen on her lab coat, which all of them were supposed to wear during the sessions.
She had a shocked expression on her face, her mouth open in horror, staring at Greg with absolute distaste. "You… you asshole! Why'd you do that for?" she yelled, going forward to throttle him with her gloved hands.
Greg, a boy with short spiky blond hair and green eyes held up both of his hands in an attempt to ward her off. "Don't come near me! The intestines just flew off while I was trying to pull it away from its body, really!" he backed away slowly, inching towards Aeris and James.
Hearing the commotion, the professor thumped on his desk loudly, shaking his head exasperatedly. "What, can't I leave you university students alone for a few periods to do something? Honestly, you do remind me of high school kids prancing around with head filled with air on their shoulders! Please, Mr Grey and Ms Adams, kindly return to your seats and SHUT THE HELL UP!" the professor boomed.
The noise subsided to hushed whispers, and Jean gingerly picked the intestines off her hair with a pair of tongs, and excused herself to the bathroom. Greg was smiling widely to himself, and was berated by Aeris.
"The hell were you doing?" Aeris hissed, pointing the bloody scalpel at his face.
Greg just kept grinning. "I like it when she's mad," he picked up his rat and dumped it into the bag provided for their rubbish, and took his surgical gloves off carefully as not to touch the exterior part of the glove. Winking at Jean who was still fuming as she stomped back to her seat, he turned his head back to Aeris who was looking at him in sudden realisation.
"I see…" Aeris smiled knowingly.
Greg looked at Aeris warningly. "You see what?" he asked, daring her to say it.
Aeris shrunk away, grinning. She would not give away his secret… for now. Jean looked on suspiciously, her red tinted blond hair glinting under the lights of the room. Green eyes still on Greg, she took her own rat and threw it on Greg's neck. To everyone's surprise, Greg squealed, and jumped out of his chair, hands brushing his neck furiously, and looked at Jean with a certain expression in his eyes.
Jean gave him a superior smirk, and turned back to her laptop. James nudged Aeris, who was staring open-mouthed at Jean. "Stop staring, you've got work to do," he told her. She stuck her tongue out at him, and continued with her sketch.
***
"Yo Tif!" a male voice called out down the hallway where all the lockers were, lined against the wall, painted in different colours.
Tifa was standing by her locker, trying to find the thick Biology book amongst the junk that was thrown haphazardly inside and looked up at the smiling James who was striding towards her. "Hi. What's up?"
"Mmm, nothing much. We're gonna climb the wall today. Are you coming?" he asked, leaning against the locker beside hers, looking at her intently.
"I guess so. There's nothing much to do today anyway," she grabbed the hefty book with both hands, giving a blithe grin. "I'll see you later," she waved, and continued her way among the sea of students towards the library.
James looked at her go wistfully. He checked his watch, which read 1530hrs. Hmm… there was still some time before their meeting, so he might as well follow her up to the library, and do some studying as well. Ok, maybe that wasn't his real intention, but who cares? He grinned. "Tifa! Wait up!" he called jogging after her.
As they neared the library, Tifa looked up at him for the umpteenth time. She cocked her eyebrow at him, and asked, "You sure you want to study? With me?" she added with a sceptical expression.
"Hell, yeah." James answered, giving another easy smile. "C'mon Tif. The finals are here and if I don't study, how am I supposed to pass?"
"Ok… just that you never had to study I guess." Tifa gave a chuckle. Turning her back towards the glass door, she pushed it open with her bum and stepped in quickly, James following after her.
Walking towards her usual study area, tucked away in the deepest corner of the library where no one usually goes, she set her books down with a rather loud thump. James looked around nervously. "Won't the librarian come after you for doing that?"
"Nah," she waved the comment off with a flex of the wrist, "The library is too big for a sound like this to travel so far. Although it would be nice to irritate her once in a while," Tifa winked.
James couldn't argue with that. The librarian was a pain in the ass, and had irritated the hell out of him the few times he had came in here. He made himself comfortable on the chair opposite Tifa, and settled down, opening his chemistry book with a bored sigh.
Noticing his lack of enthusiasm for studying, she told him, "I didn't force you to come here," her voice teasing.
James gave a grunt. "I will study, I must study." He repeated the phrase like a mantra. Tifa looked bemusedly at him, and decided to leave him alone. Flipping her biology book open, she started taking notes with her pen, scribbling furiously at her notebook.
The air was quiet, broken only by sounds of scribbling and the ruffling of pages. After an hour or so, James couldn't really stand the silence anymore, and glanced up at Tifa.
She was biting her lip in concentration, her eyes running through the lines of the text while her hands moving continuously to and fro along the width of her notepad. Her long brown hair was hanging down her face, causing her to use her other hand to tuck it behind her ear. James looked on in mute fascination, his eyes lingering on her eyelashes, then nose, then her pink glossy lips.
Tifa raised her head suddenly, and snapped James out of his trance. She scratched her head apologetically, as if her bringing him here was her own fault. "Can't concentrate? Too quiet?"
"Huh?" James stuttered, looking incredibly embarrassed, which Tifa gave a smirk to. "Uh, not really. I was uh, enjoying the view?" he clamped his mouth shut, his face growing even redder.
Tifa looked at him curiously, wondering what the hell he was talking about. Maybe the library wasn't the best place for a guy like James to be studying in. He had probably needed a noisier place, with more people, like the cafeteria or something. Sensing James obvious discomfort, she tried to ease him with another smile. Which seemed to work, she added thoughtfully to herself.
"Err, uh…" Should he ask her out? Was this the right time? Or maybe after the finals? James tried to quell the inner turmoil, which was like a tornado sweeping up more thoughts and growing bigger and bigger, making him lose control. "I-"
"Hey guys!" a voice rang out in the uneasy silence, and James turned around to see the spiky headed teen standing at the back of Tifa's seat. "Knew I could find you here," he knelt down, chin on Tifa's shoulder as he looked beyond her shoulder to see her notes written neatly across the pages. "Oooh. Studying about the human anatomy?" he tilted his head and blew into Tifa's ear playfully, causing her to giggle and jerk away from him.
James' smile was forced as he looked at the two's antics. Looking at his watch with an exaggerated gasp, he told both of them, "Look at the time! I'd better be going. Got a meeting to hold. See ya guys." He stood up; pushing back his chair, and gathered his notes and books into his lean and lightly muscled arms.
"Wait! I'm coming with you, remember?" Tifa told him, and gave him a slightly disappointed look.
"Huh? Where're ya'll going?" Cloud asked.
"We've got practice today, Cloud. Go hang out with Aeris. I'll be back around dinner time," Tifa told him, following James out of the library.
Cloud shook his head and gave a mock sigh. He knew about James liking Tifa too, and he did not really approve of them being together. Tifa needed somebody more mature, and strong enough to take care of her. James was too boyish, and he looked too much like the playboy sort, maybe because of his features, which gave him a playful but dead handsome look. He knew of girls that had literally chased him to the ends of the earth, choosing to leave their family in Midgar, where they came from, to follow James all the way to Kalm University. Cloud gnawed on his lower lip, his thoughts returning immediately to Aeris. Both of them meant everything to him, and he could tell that Aeris liked him as more than just a friend, somewhat, but…
"Ugh." He spat, mussing up his hair. He'll just go with the flow and see what happens.
***