Chapter Five - In the Courtyard

"Oh, come on," Chris muttered, scratching out line after line of his narrator's dialogue. The story wasn't panning out the way he wanted and it was getting frustrating. "Why did you have to go and change your mind?" He talked as if his narrator was sitting right next to him, mocking him for being so immature about changing the plans of the story. "I swear, I don't know why I work with you-"

The door to the dorm room slammed open and Michael charged in, pointing an accusing finger in Chris's direction.

"You horse's arse!"

The sharp insult cut across the still air of the room. Chris blinked, his pen hovering over a period.

"Hello to you too?"

"Chris, you have a lot of explaining to do for this one," Michael said, sitting down on his bed and folding his arms.

"I suppose I do." Chris shut his notebook and sat up, crossing his legs. He took a deep breath, looking down then he looked back up. "It was horrid, I had to redo it."

"Of course you would say that- wait, what?" Michael's face turned from blazing anger to bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"

"Your paper on Robert Burns. I know I told you it was okay, but I couldn't let you hand it in, it was terrible. So I rewrote it when you were asleep and switched them out. Don't worry, I made sure to include stupid mistakes that you would make on a real paper."

Michael huffed, blinking furiously.

"Wha-how-oh never mind, I'm not talking about my damn paper, I'm talking about Linda! She turned me down when I asked her out again just now." Michael's shoulders slunk at the memory.

"And I'm a horse's arse for that? I apologized to her." Chris looked up to Michael's droll stare. "Seriously, I did," he said, feeling a twinge of irritation starting to set in.

"Then why did she turn me down?"

"Do I look like Linda's keeper? Why not ask her?"

"She said it was complicated."

"And you just assumed going off of that extremely vague explanation that it was my fault? Your reasoning skills need work." Chris looked down to his notebook again. If he could just get his narrator to agree-

"Well, you were the one that made me look like a giant arse at dinner."

Chris slammed his notebook shut, tossing it against the wall and sat up, facing Michael.

"Look, I apologized in the library yesterday. I gave her a fright, I told her I was wrong and she forgave me." He stopped, remembering suddenly that Linda never answered the second part of his speech: to not turn Michael down if he asked her out again.

Damn, that part slipped past him.

"I know that look." Michael eyed him suspiciously. "What did she say?"

"It's what she didn't say, actually," Chris said slowly.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing," Chris said after a couple of seconds of silence. He leaned back to lie on the pillow. "Besides, there's plenty of other girls around campus to ask out. If I recall, you called this place a jackpot not a week ago."

"I guess so…" Michael leaned back to lie down. "Maybe we wouldn't have worked out anyway. She's a genius, after all and I'm just Mike. I suppose she's too brilliant to be seen with me."

"If that's the case, then I should've dumped you a long time ago," Chris teased.

"Shut up." Michael's pillow went flying across the room and landed on Chris's stomach.

"But in all seriousness, Mike," Chris tossed the pillow back. "Just let it go. Linda is one of many women at this university and in this world. You'll find someone you really like."

"So will you, Chris…" Michael yawned and soon, his snores reverberated off of the walls.

Chris scoffed, but hid a small smile at his friend's words, immediately thinking of Linda. It was wrong, but at the same time, it wasn't wrong to like her. She wasn't Michael's girlfriend, or really anything. It was perfectly okay to admire her...to talk to her...maybe pursue her, even...Chris sighed and settled down into the pillow, relaxing as sleep overtook him.

"You're barking."

Linda looked up to Fran, who was looking at her with an expression of exasperation. "You turned him down?"

"I can't go out with him again." Linda stretched her neck, wincing at the pain of the tension. "It's nothing personal; I just can't."

"But your parents would go mad out if they found out you went out with someone oooooooordinary," Fran droned. "Are they afraid of ordinary people or something?"

"In a way, I think so," Linda admitted, going back to the set of problems on the table. The memory of turning Michael down was uncomfortable, but it was a case of the lesser of two evils. Fran just didn't understand the expectations, the reputation that was on Linda's shoulder to maintain.

"Oh, here comes his friend." Fran immediately began to ruffle her hair and Linda turned around to see Chris making long, smooth strides across the courtyard to where they sat.

"Hello, Fran. Linda." Chris sat down suddenly next to Linda, pinning her with a stare. "If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you. Alone," he said coldly, barely giving Fran a glance. With a short huff, Fran grabbed her books and bag, muttered a quick goodbye and shot Chris a dark look as she passed. As soon as they were alone, Linda set her pencil down.

"Are you following me?"

"If I was following you, you would know, I'm not exactly quiet." His tone was slightly warmer. "No, I'm here on behalf of Mike."

Linda stiffened, looking back to her worksheet. If she carried the 4, the answer would be…

"Imagine my surprise," Chris's voice pulled her from her thoughts. "when he storms into our dorm room the other day and calls me a horse's arse. Granted, I'm used to him doing that," he said, nodding, "but this time, it's different." Sighing, Linda leaned her head on her hand.

"What did you do to make him so upset?"

"He apparently thought I didn't apologize correctly. I wasn't aware there was a strategy on how to get it done, because he believed that I was the reason you turned him down for a second date."

Linda cleared her throat softly. "It has nothing to do with that."

"Oh, really? Then what is it?"

She held back a smile at his commanding question. He wasn't going to win that easily. "Why should I tell you?"

"I'll find out regardless. I have a way of finding out these things." An ominous tone weighed his words.

"Is that supposed to make me want to tell you?"

"It's supposed to encourage you to tell me. You don't want me making a wrong assumption, do you?"

They stared at each other for a few seconds, each as guarded as the other. But Linda could see that Chris wasn't about to back down; actually, he was looking at her as if he was trying to read the answer somewhere on her. She scoffed and pursed her lips.

"I…have an expectation to uphold in my family."

Chris's brows furrowed together for a few seconds, then a realization dawned on him.

"Oh I see. You turned Mike down because of your parents."

Linda didn't reply.

"So, your parents have control over your love life, even though you're an adult and they're miles away?"

"They don't have 'control' per se-"

"But they do have influence."

She sighed and stood up, trying to think of the words to say.

"Every year since I've been a teenager, my parents have introduced me up to hordes of brilliant men." She turned around. "These men make normal blokes like you look like complete cavemen." Chris frowned. "They're all successful, with secure jobs and all are very good choices for marriage. I'm lucky to even have dinner with some of them."

His eyes swept her face and ever so slowly, his frown turned into a smirk. "And yet, you're thoroughly unimpressed with them." His words were smooth and confident. "What is it, the fact that they bore you half to death with their work? Or maybe they're too immersed with their work to talk to you about what you're really interested in?" Linda folded her arms.

"You're observant; what do you think?"

"I think it's a bit of both."

She felt her lip twitch into a small smile. Maybe he saw more than she thought.

"At any rate," she continued as she sat back down beside him. "That's why I can't go out with Michael again. I can't risk it."

"You mean, getting attached?" He clarified. She nodded. "Why not?"

"Because it can't go anywhere in the end."

"Oh, Linda," Chris chuckled. "You're giving up too easily."

"Giving up on what?"

His mischievous smile told her he wasn't going to answer her.

"All right." She turned her body to face him. "Let's say theoretically, I fall for him. How do I go about explaining that to my parents?"

"Tell them you love him and move on."

She shook her head. "You make it sound so easy."

"To say words is the simple part; it's acting them out that's the hardest part."

She rolled her eyes. "You're doing it again."

"What?"

"Making yourself sound like some mystical deity. Care to explain that bit?"

He looked into the distance and got up suddenly, spinning around to face her.

"How many times do we abuse the word 'love'?" With strong, slow steps, he paced in front of her, placing his hands behind his back. "We as a society love many different things; hell, we even love the idea of love." He stopped. "We throw the word 'love' around like it's a wisp in the wind, but love –real love- is a serious force." Suddenly, Chris got down on one knee in front of Linda, making her freeze and slam her back up against the stone table. They weren't very close, but she couldn't help but feel completely engulfed by his presence. His passion was tangible, real as he spoke the words that flowed out of his mouth. "It's capable of tearing apart kingdoms, bridging gaps; it can even will you to death."

For a split second, she thought she was imagining it, but a quick look down showed her she was indeed being touched. His fingers lightly brushed her hand and wrist. Her skin was hypersensitive to every stroke of his fingers, responding as though she was being zapped by lightening over and over again.

Her mind raced, trying furously to figure out exactly what to do in response to this quite bold move. A part of her wanted to bolt and run as far as her legs could carry her, but she felt her body feeeze and her heart slam against her rib cage as she looked to his very serious gaze.

"If you really, truly love someone, nothing could stop you from being by their side, not heaven, not hell…not even your parents," he finished in a whisper, smiling and suddenly backing away to get on his feet again. Linda fought to catch her breath.

"Where do you come up with all of this?" she finally asked, hoping her voice wasn't giving away how vulnerable, how naked she was feeling.

"I read a lot," Chris said, picking up his bag. "I'll need some help later with my maths; maybe afterwards, I'll show you some of my favorite poetry."

She chuckled softly and rubbed her hands over her face. Dear God, how would she ever survive being alone with him? He was a madman and a half; completely and utterly mental...

Lowering her hands, she shrugged and smiled. "I'll see you in the library tonight, then."

"It's a…maths get together," he finished, winking at her and turning to walk away. Linda slunk against the table and sighed, running a hand through her hair and laughing softly as her heart finally slowed down. Looking back to her worksheet, she tried to finish the problems, but stopped frequently, trying to control her shaky laughter. How could something be so sensual, so raw, yet be so ridiculous at the same time?

"That's just Chris," she finally concluded to herself, giving up on her homework to go back to the dorm room.