'I really HATE pop quizzes!'
Setting everything underneath as ordered and clicking the mechanical pencil to get some lead, she heaved a mental sigh and grit her teeth as a paper was set in front of her.
'Stupid, old fart never said ANYTHING about this on Monday.' Fingers rubbed her forehead wearily. 'He didn't even give me, or probably ANYONE, time to study. Does he expect us ALL to be a chapter ahead? Naw - that'd catch us up with HIM.'
Dark green speared the paper with a fierce glare. She hated tests like this. Not as much as she hated semesters, but she hated tests...especially when she hadn't had enough time to study in advance.
Her head was still swimming with everything she took notes on in her Western Civilization class ten minutes ago, and now she had to switch gears from one history class to a History of Science class.
With another sigh and brief look around to see everyone else already starting, she braced herself and joined them. There was only fifty minutes to the class and it was going to take almost half that to get the quiz finished. After that, they would most likely hand over homework from Monday and start right in with the next lesson.
It wasn't that she didn't know this class - she just didn't like being put under the spot. Grades were really important and she always tried to study hard for every class whenever humanely possible.
Her intent was to graduate with honors, and hopefully with above a three-point-five. She wanted to put that financial aide too good use instead of wasting her college career. And the higher her grades, the easier it was to find a job in the history field.
It didn't take long to finish. After she calmed down and concentrated, everything became easier.
"Five minutes left."
She looked up and smiled. She was already done. The quiz wasn't THAT hard. It was just over stuff she already knew and once her mind opened up that stored information, the rest was easy.
It was more heartening to see a few people still working on their quizzes.
"Time. Stop and pass your papers forward."
After handing hers up with the others behind her, she went for the notebook currently holding this chapter's notes. As she started going for her textbook, chalk sounded on the board.
~*~*~
"Hey K, wait up!"
The voice milled above the hum of other students, bouncing off the concrete passage next to the library building.
Hands quickly gripped the breaks on her handlebars as a foot set to the ground. Green looked behind, smiling in greeting as she waited.
She continued to follow the body until it stopped and situated a book bag. "Hey Chance. You're getting out of shape." She teased, starting to walk the bike forward.
"And just when I wanted to walk with you too!" Chance huffed. "I'll have you know I make good use of this college's pool, thank you." Hands idly held the straps in place as the two cut a path through pillars holding up part of the building and around the masses.
"Yea I know. That would be why you're on the swim team."
"Then why the jab at my expense?"
She smiled and looked forward. "For being on the swim team, you sure LOOKED out of breath."
"If I weren't so nice, I'd knock you off that bike of yours."
She playfully glared. "Do and I don't share my calculator with you today."
A huff sounded as arms crossed. "You just don't know how to take a joke. At least not when it concerns that bike of yours..."
She chuckled as the two were met with sun from being sheltered with the building and crossed the parking lot.
Green squinted under the harsh light and checked the tall concrete clock not too far away. "We're not going to make it to the math building if I have to walk my bike next to you."
"Excuse me for having a car."
She smirked. Looking both ways as if worrying about getting caught, mischievous green turned to Chance. "Hop on - I'll give you a ride and we MIGHT make it to the second floor on time."
"I thought you'd never ask." The athletic body sat on the seat, hands going around her trim waist. A thought quickly appeared. "You ever do this before?"
"There's a first time for everything." She kidded. With a harsh pedal for momentum, she gained a cry as the bike swiveled on the concrete and jolted her passenger backwards.
As she turned the bike around the corner, she yelped and startled. "Hey! Watch those hands Chance!"
As carefully as possible, hands moved lower to the waist. "Hey, I'm a girl! And I can't help it...I thought you were trying to throw me off for a second there!"
She snorted and in no time, the two arrived at the bike racks. Quickly chaining her precious bike, she hefted the bag onto her shoulders and the two hurried inside.
~*~*~
"I'm BACK!"
Barely glancing up from the words a foot in front of her face, she pushed wire-rimmed glasses up and kept on.
"I see SOMEONE didn't wait for me after class either."
She ignored the muffled voice and wrote down an answer to another problem. Ears idly listened as footsteps stomped up the old wood steps.
She put the plastic pencil down and stretched. Anytime now that door was going to burst open in five, four, three -
"You're such a turd, you know that?"
Hmm...she was off on her counting. Better start learning to focus on her friend's arrival sooner.
Leaning on the back of the desk chair, she turned with an odd look. "Not much of a retort, you know that? If it was me coming up to disturb YOU from your studies, I would've used bitch." With a grin, a hand rose and took off her glasses.
A tongue stuck out before moving to her desk. "NOW what homework are you doing?"
A thumb and index finger rubbed where the nose pads were. She was never going to get used to those things.
"Introduction to Applied Probability and Statistics. Teacher gave us some homework problems to do and this is hard." A hand rubbed her temple as she stared at her notes. A small grimace appeared as she saw how used the paper was. And out of the thirty problems, she only had twelve finished.
A hand rested on her shoulder. "That's what you get for not having the brains for math."
Part of her face scrunched up. "I wish I was gifted with more...but I'm not that lucky I guess." Her head fell back to the top of the chair. A small smile appeared. "That's why I get you to help me study."
A pert nose scrunched up. "I'm no brain. Why're you asking ME this?"
"But SAMMYYY!"
Hands went over Sammy's ears. "Gah! Don't whine my name like that. It's irritating!"
A grin appeared. "Is it working to get you to help me?"
Sammy gave a small scowl, trying to be irritated at her friend. "You're vicious. You know I'll always try to help you as best as I can Just...please don't say my name like that in the future. PLEASE."
She giggled and shut the math book. "I can go for food. What time is it?"
"Almost one."
"Lunch it is then." She paused halfway out of the chair. "Um...do we have anything to COOK in this place?"
Light blue blinked. "Uh..."
She sighed and pushed the chair in. "I take that as a no. Well then, the next question is how much can we afford to blow on an outing?"
A smile lit the room. "I'm paying! But you drive."
Green rolled in amusement. "Fine I'll drive YOUR car. I would've liked to switch," Sammy's mouth opened, "but since you offered to pay...you're paying this time."
Light blue glared. "You're buying next time." Sammy nearly bounded to the bedroom door at the possibility of eating out and stopped. "But don't think I'll forget. This is getting marked down in my calendar."
She giggled and her head shook. With a final look at her homework - what she could finish later at Coffee Works if need be - she followed her roommate out. "I bought last time. You were the one who devised the pay system, remember?"
A hand waved. "Yea, yea. Sue me. I just got back from classes; my brain isn't working that well yet."
"Oh don't try that excuse on me! I just got done with homework for the time being. We're even."
"Whatever chica...I'm still blaming college on my lack of brain cells right now."
"Seeing as how college is supposed to do the opposite, that's not saying much."
Sammy laughed as she locked the front door behind them.
~*~*~
Making sure not to spill their drinks, she headed over to the table in the sidewalk café and carefully set it before her friend. "Dinner is served." She joked, using a fake French accent.
"Yea, food!"
Shaking her head, she plopped down and unwrapped a cold sub, happily taking a bite.
They ate here when they could afford it, though that wasn't often. She didn't mind cooking and rather enjoyed it. It was nice because Samantha liked to eat, so they made a good team. Plus Sammy was one to try out new, experimental dishes on and the girl never complained about the taste unless it was outright horrible.
"I just love downtown, don't you?"
She jerked to the outside world and looked around. Coffee Works stood on the opposite end of the block. "Don't mention this area. I have to come back in a few hours."
Samantha giggled. "I have to work before you do so don't complain." That pert nose scrunched up. "At least you get to have two more hours of freedom than I do."
"Yea, but I don't get home till midnight, so you're better off."
"Hey, I close the store with the others you know..." Silence. Light blue looked up. "K? What's up?"
Ash blonde hair swiveled with her upper body as Samantha looked behind at whatever held those green eyes attentive and not keeping the pleasant retort going.
She could've SWORN she saw him! But that was impossible...he said he was mainland, didn't he? What would he be doing here?
Unless...he was STILL here... Her head mentally shook. It had to've been a flash of sun glinting off one of the solar-powered cars or something. Perhaps a WHITE solar-powered car?
That was crazy. Did she want to see him again? She didn't know anything about him! All she had was a name and she didn't even know if it was his first or last!
A hand suddenly plopped down on her head and she startled.
"Boy, when you get out of it, you don't even know anyone else exists, do you?"
She scowled and swatted the hand away. "Oh hush."
"What'd you see?"
She purposely went back to her food, ignoring her friend. Samantha was a good person, but meddled where it wasn't needed.
"It was nothing really. Thought I saw something."
A manicured brow rose. "Like what?" That slightly overweight body swiveled behind again to take the area in.
"Someone." She mumbled, taking a sip to keep from further explanation.
That body turned back, a smile on Samantha's face. "Oh?" She mused, that voice hinting at something. "Was he cute?"
Dark brows knit together. "I didn't see anything. I THOUGHT I did, but it could've just been the shine to a car."
Ash brows copied dark brown. "What do you THINK you saw?"
She fought a sigh and took another bite of the sub. She knew it was a bad idea to talk about it.
She knew mentioning Inaki to Sam was going to get a full hour of gushing and questions about the guy before she was pushed to locate and ask him out. She didn't want that - she just wanted to focus on school and work.
She didn't want to get involved with men again, they just kept hurting her too much...
As much as she envied happy couples, she was figuring herself to be forever alone...even if she hadn't dated many men in her lifetime. It seemed whoever she did date physically used her or emotionally manipulated her in a way.
She sure knew how to pick them.
Samantha put her drink down and subtly eyed the look on her friend's face. She knew by that look it was wise to shut up, as the downcast expression to those green eyes was turning depressive. Having learned in the past about some of her friend's relationships, Samantha knew when to shut up about men.
Well...MOST of the time.
Clearing her throat, Samantha poked an arm and went for her pop again. "Eat up missy...it's getting late and you've got homework and work soon. Not as soon as I do, but still... I wanna get out of this heat too!"
Green rolled, even though a smile started blossoming. "You and your heat. Why do you live in Florida then?"
That cute, chubby face pouted. "You think it was MY idea to be born here?? If I had my choice, I'd probably be up someplace in Jersey or something."
She smiled and grabbed her sub.
~*~*~
Night thankfully rolled around and left her with silence as Samantha headed to the mall for work.
She lay on top of an unmade bed, staring at the ceiling. She still hadn't been able to kick the funk that mysteriously approached during lunch and hadn't totally left.
She wasn't able to concentrate on homework, unable to do math even less by thinking this way. Not that it wasn't nice to keep from working on math, but she hated getting behind in homework.
Green dully went to her desk, staring at the pulled out chair she left minutes ago. She should get back...
She had to get done.
She didn't have time to think of her screwed-up love live.
She shouldn't -
Quickly rolling over, she buried her head in the pillow and heaved a shaky sigh.
She didn't sob or loudly cry like some people would do when they remembered past boyfriends and loves. The salty liquid just quietly wet her pillow as she stared at the wall.
Her mind was thankfully blank for once; unlike the past few times she gave in and let tears come. Many times she would always ask herself what she did wrong, or what she did to deserve such harsh or unfair treatment.
Why did guys have to be such dicks?
She blinked and slowly sat up. A hand rose at snail's speed and wiped her cheeks.
After blankly staring at her pillow, she heaved a sigh. Dull green swayed to the nightstand by her bed. She didn't have time for this crap...
It was already a little past six. She had to get dressed, put whatever homework she was going to use in her bag, grab a quick bite and pack something small later, and get to work.
Wasted relationships could wait. She had a paycheck to earn.
~*~*~
'X equals two...and Y equals six...and carry the one over... Then the answer is......seven?'
A pencil rapidly tapped on the countertop in thought. Teeth nibbled on her lower lip in concentration as her brain tried to work the problem without aid of the calculator she forgot on her desk.
If anyone walked in, she didn't know until they waved a hand in front of her face.
Finally, someone cleared their throat and she nearly jumped through the ceiling. The pencil clacked onto linoleum behind the counter and she went to retrieve it.
"Is it ten already?"
"Yup, I'm heading out."
She smiled and nodded. "Later Casey. See ya same time tomorrow chica."
A hand rose and waved. "Bye K."
Now by herself to handle the last two hours, she pulled the glasses off and rubbed her eyes. All the small math print was getting to her and she only managed to get five more problems done in the past three hours. Granted those three hours were mostly due to work and she did a few during her fifteen minutes, but now was time to catch up.
She didn't really loathe math...but she just didn't have a head for numbers like some people she knew. She wanted to have brains like those people she knew in Calculus two before her class. She barely understood Geometry, let alone Trigonometry!
With a sigh, she situated the glasses again and settled in for a long hour of homework. Not many people came in after ten, as most reasonable people were in bed, so she was lucky. Even if Charlie kept this place open for the occasional late traveler - or semester exam college student pulling an all-nighter - it wasn't cost effective to keep two workers past ten. Since it was her and Casey, she opted to work till closing, allowing her to catch up on homework, yet still make money.
What better way to go?
At the stroke of eleven, the door opened and she closed the book, not looking up. A friendly smile lit her face as she took off her glasses, hands rubbing her eyes.
Finally, a break!
"Hitting the books again K?"
"You're going to let life pass you by if you keep that up."
"Don't listen to the old codger! A good education is essential to life!"
"Hi Tommy, Roger, Chester. The usual coming up." Her spirits lifted as she went into mechanical mode of making a round of orders.
Just like clockwork...
"So K...Tommy here was telling me about a young man you had your eye on two nights ago."
She nearly spilt hot coffee all over her hands.
With a heady blush, she quickly set the lid on and handed Roger's over, taking money from him. She ignored Chester's comment, though she couldn't hide the small grin.
"See Chester? I TOLD you I wasn't lying...that smile right there speaks for me."
"Yea, yea... You don't need to tell me AGAIN."
She busied herself with Tommy's mix, but kept an avid ear open for their talk.
As she handed Tommy his and took money in exchange, she eyed the man. "What do you three discuss when it concerns my nonexistent love life??"
The three elder men grinned.
"I always said a fine thing like you was saving herself for the right person and are single." Roger answered, giving a grin.
She smiled and turned around for Chester's coffee.
"I always told them you had a boyfriend." Chester added.
Her heart pinged a little as Chester unknowingly brought her last relationship to the surface, but she ignored it and went for the hazelnut syrup.
He didn't know...he didn't know...
None of them knew about her relationships. That was something private and these three were work acquaintances. You didn't tell work acquaintances your deep, dark secrets. That was something you kept for your good friends. As much as she liked these men and enjoyed their company and repartee, she wasn't intent on making friends out of customers.
"Me? I said you were going out with ME!" Tommy kidded, thumping his chest with a fist.
She laughed and set Chester's drink on the counter before it spilled. Her head shook, shoulder-length hair flying.
"In your dreams, you old fogy! If she had anyone, she'd date ME - right K?" Roger insisted, lightly slapping the counter.
She giggled and took Chester's money.
"You wish you old man. You're the oldest out of all three of us!" Tommy retorted.
She looked to the ceiling in helpless amusement. It was so nice to have people around to take her mind off her problems.
"Gentlemen!" She called, grinning. Hands waved in between them. "You are all very nice men. You're friendly, polite, caring to someone you don't even know...and I'm sure if you were three times less the age you are now, that I'd spare you ALL a second glance." She giggled at the pout looks to their age. "And moving on...I'm in need of assistance. Would you three polite gentlemen care to help a damsel in distress with her college math?"
"Math eh? Which type?"
"We can give it the old heave-ho."
She smiled, thankful for more heads to help, and pulled the book to the counter.
"What type of math is THIS?" Tommy wondered, flipping through the table of contents with a wondering gaze.
She smiled and took a deep breath. "It deals with the basic concepts of probability, descriptive statistics, and statistical interference...including point estimation, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing." She quoted, remembering what the course description said. Too bad she couldn't remember the equations in the class.
Three pairs of eyes blinked across the counter. "What type of math is THAT?" Chester echoed, giving an odd look.
"Highly complicated." She muttered, leaning on the counter. She took the book from Tommy's hands and opened it to where she left off.
Taking her notebook and pencil, she set them so both could see and scrunched her nose a bit. "I'm having problems working this right here. Does anyone know Geometry or Trig?"
"I graduated Calculus in college and my brain shouldn't be that rusty...I can see what I can do."
She gratefully smiled. "You're a lifesaver Roger!"
The old man beamed and leaned against the counter. "So why don't you old-schoolers go enjoy your coffee and let the brains work?" He ribbed, smugly grinning.
The two playfully scowled, but sat at a nearby table and watched.
~*~*~
By the time the store closed, she ended up looking to the front door about half a dozen times in the past half hour or so. It wasn't to see if Charlie was going to stroll through, jangling those keys of his either.
She was looking for Inaki.
She didn't know what it was...perhaps she was looking for confirmation that she actually DID see him this afternoon.
That was a lame excuse. She wanted to see him again, even once. But surely, someone with his charm and looks was already snagged. She tried not to let that important thought get her down.
She was attracted to him - she admitted it. It was probably by the fifth time her eyes so casually looked up to 'rest' them.
It was kind of a letdown that he never showed. He was just another cute guy from the mainland most likely passing through and needed a late-night cup to keep him going.
She didn't even know which part of the state he lived in...or if he even lived in Florida.
She fought the urge to sigh as she shouldered her bag. As Charlie locked the deadbolts, she put the kickstand on and hugged Roger. "Thanks for all your help. I never would've gotten my homework done otherwise."
Roger gave a parental pat on her head. "Glad to help K. Something to pay back for your friendship."
She smiled and went to her bike, starting the routine of walking home.
Spanish language will be translated under the Japanese when it appears together. This language will be correct, as I have half put half a decade into learning.
Translations: Chica-Girl