Here we are with chapter 3! Thanks HorseLULU for the review :) all will be clear in time.
Over the next week, the dance showcase stuck in Tugger's head, despite how much he tried to move on from it. No matter what he did, no matter who he flirted with, who he argued with, or even who he slept with, Quaxo Mistoffelees never left his mind. In the end, he decided to stop fighting it and began relentlessly searching for a way to run into the illusive Mr. Mistoffelees.
At first, Tugger took to the internet to see how far he could get cyber stalking. He also thought that maybe if he found out everything there was to know about Mistoffelees through the internet he would lose interest and be able to move on with his life. But unfortunately, he couldn't seem to find much of anything about Mistoffelees online. He found his social media accounts, but they were all set to private so he could only see his profile picture. When he tried google, there was nothing on Quaxo Mistoffelees. He found several articles on the sister, as well as another girl with the last name Mistoffelees- probably another sibling or a cousin or something- Tugger guessed, but he found nothing on Quaxo Mistoffelees no matter how deep he delved into the internet.
"Tugger are you feeling well?" Bomb's voice brought him back to reality.
"I'm fine." He mumbled, glancing up from his phone.
"Excetera asked me if you were sick. She told me in class you ignored everyone and spent the whole period on your phone." Bomb said accusingly.
Tugger gave a noncommittal shrug and looked back down at the dance department web page he had been searching for info on Mistoffelees.
"What are you so absorbed in that you ignore the girls AND the professor to spend a whole class on your phone?" Before he could brush her away, Bombalurina stepped in and looked over Tugger's shoulder and down at his phone. "The ballet department website? You're not STILL obsessing over that guy we saw in the showcase, are you? It's been a week! It's not like you to obsess over someone for this long! Haven't there been any new favorites from class that have caught your interest? What about Electra? You were flirting with her the day before we saw the showcase and-"
"I'm bored of her." Tugger cut her off. "Bored of all of them really. They all flirt the same way 'Tugger this', 'Tugger that,' it's gotten dull."
Bomb rolled her eyes. "So cyber stalking some freshman you don't even know for a week straight is more riveting than getting out and meeting some new people."
"I meet new people all the time. I'm over it." Seeking a way to get out of the conversation, Tugger glanced around and spotted the building they were passing. "Anyway, gotta go. To the library, studying, you know."
"What!" Bomb shouted after him as he dashed away.
Entering the library, Tugger realized that he didn't actually know what he was going to do there. For a moment he thought about going outside and finding somewhere better, but then he remembered that Bomb was out there and he didn't want to deal with her in that moment. At least, figured, he could find somewhere to continue his online investigation where he wouldn't be disturbed.
The library was more crowded than he expected, probably because it wasn't a place he usually spent much time in. There were no empty chairs or study rooms on the first or the second floor, so he went up. Everywhere was either full or in an unappealing open area. Maybe he should just find some place on the floor between the bookshelves in a section nobody visited to sit. The problem was, he didn't know which sections people frequented and which were usually deserted. He ended up wandering aimlessly through the shelves, turning the other way whenever he saw someone. Until he saw the very person he had been searching for online.
Turning into the J section of a set of shelves on the third floor, he saw Mistoffelees himself. Not noticing Tugger, Misto was scanning one of the upper shelves, intently focused on whatever book he was searching for. Transfixed, Tugger watched how his eyes widened as he found the book he must have been looking for. He watched as Mistoffelees graceful extended an arm to get the book, how he lifted onto the balls of his feet, only to still be unable to reach the book on the third shelf from the top. This was just the sort of situation Tugger had been hoping for. A situation where he could easily make a move. He cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"Want a hand?"
Mistoffelees' head whipped to face his direction and for a what seemed like a long moment they locked eyes in silence. Tugger drank in all of the features of the younger man's face - the softness of his jaw, the sharpness of his eyes- He stared intently as Misto's lips moved to form one word.
"No."
Tugger blinked in confusion. He had been confident he would get more than this, a short conversation, perhaps even a phone number if he played his cards right. Never in all his many flirtations since he had came to university had be been turned down so quickly and abruptly. Thinking he might be able to still get something, he opened his mouth to ask another question, perhaps to ask what book Mistoffelees was grabbing and why he needed it. But Misto was already walking away from him. Tugger tried to follow, but he lost Mistoffelees in the maze of bookshelves in a matter of seconds.
"I want to take a dance class." Tugger said, trying to sound casual as he ate lunch with Bombalurina and Demeter the next day.
"It's the middle of the semester!" Bomb pointed out.
"Not a class class, one of those drop in classes they have that are open to everyone. You know, the ones they mention like twenty times during freshman orientation." Tugger explained.
"Misto is a dance major, you won't find him in a open level class." Bomb shot back.
"I know that!" Tugger said. "It'll give me an excuse to be in the dance building and conveniently coincidently run into him."
"You want to take a dance class so you can stalk some freshman you've never spoken to." Bomb said sceptically.
"I spoke to him yesterday!"
"What?" Demeter cried in astonishment. "I've had multiple classes with him and he hasn't said a word to me. How on earth did you get him to talk to you?"
"I saw him in the library yesterday and asked if he needed help reaching a book." Tugger recounted proudly. "And he told me, 'no'."
Bomb and Demeter exchanged a glance with each other and began to laugh. Tugger couldn't help but feel mildly offended that they found his recent success to be so humorous.
"I suppose one word is more than I've gotten from him." Demeter said when she managed to stop laughing. "Look Tugger, if you're really that desperate, I'll have a chat with Vick. She's been trying to get her brother out to make more friends, so maybe we can work something out."
"You would do that for me?" Tugger asked, smiling widely. "Thanks a million, Dem."
That's all for now! please favorite and review!
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