Complications

Chapter Six – Disappointment

Wednesday evening, Pascal is sitting at his desk in his empty discussion classroom grading yesterday's quizzes. Pascal sighs as he marks yet another question wrong on the back of one of his student's papers. "Geez! A 56%? This kid didn't even answer half of the questions-" Pascal gasps when he flips the paper over, revealing the student's name written frantically on the front, surrounded by a gigantic cluster of C+V hearts: Vidcund Curious.

"Damn it, Vidcund, what are you doing?!" Pascal cries, his distress echoing throughout the room. Pascal groans as he picks up the last two exams he graded; he holds them up side by side, comparing the two. Loki's quiz is flawless and the word problems themselves are filled with spelling and grammar corrections as well as tips to make the problems better, whereas Vidcund's is filled with mindless drivel and an occasional equation. Pascal shakes his head and sets the two quizzes back on his desk. "Someone needs to talk some sense into that boy."

…

"Really, Vid? A 56%?" Pascal cries, bursting into Vidcund's bedroom as soon as he steps in the door. His brother is sitting at his desk, surprisingly working on what appears to be homework. "What has gotten into you?" Pascal taps his chin, pretending to think this one over, "Oh wait, I know! Circe!" he growls.

Vidcund tilts his forehead, confused by his brother's uncharacteristically angry outcry, "How do you know that?" he wonders.

"Well, next time, if you really want to keep your rendezvous a secret, maybe you shouldn't clutter your quiz with hearts!" he exclaims, holding up Vidcund's heart-infested quiz and plopping it down on the desk in front of him. Vidcund slowly picks it up and scans it over, narrowing his eyes at the page. "Vidcund, this is serious," Pascal states, "Every time you get back together with her, your grades suffer! If you keep this up, you'll fail the course and I'll have to pick Loki as Sim State's Student Scientist Representative. And trust me, no one wants to do that to the scientific community!" Pascal warns, throwing his hands up, "Can you imagine how much it would suffer with the introduction of the electric vomit recycler?!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Vidcund claims, waving his hands down in an attempt to soothe his brother's distress. "From this moment on, I promise I'll stay away from her," he vows.

Pascal glares at Vidcund, folding his arms over his chest. "Somehow, I don't believe that," he says, pretending to ponder this thought over as well, "Gee, maybe it's because you've never kept that promise since you've been alive?" he cries as Vidcund stares down at the carpet, "Look, you can't just keep messing around with Circe behind Loki's back," Pascal states, "You need to tell her how you feel, or tell her to get lost…and I would highly recommend doing the second one," he adds.

Vidcund sits in silence for a moment, before finally caving in with a sigh. "Alright, fine. Tomorrow I'll tell her how I feel and ask her to choose."

"Good," Pascal says, giving Vidcund a meager pat on the shoulder, "Just give me a heads-up as to when, so Lazlo and I can hide in the basement."

…

"Okay, everyone," Pascal begins on Thursday morning, clasping his hands together as he stares down at his discussion section filled with a whopping eight students, "It's time for me to give my stereotypical GST speech where I lecture the entire class for one student's failings on the quiz just so that said student doesn't feel bad," Pascal announces as he starts handing back the quizzes; Vidcund's eyes trail to the floor at this comment, "But before I do that, let's congratulate Loki for once again getting the highest score on the quiz," Pascal smiles, attempting to sound enthusiastic as he hands Loki his paper.

Loki snatches it from him, scans his quiz over, and smirks. "What can I say except this class is a joke?" he quips, locking eyes with the instructor.

"Well, that's good to know," Pascal replies as he hands Circe her quiz, "Now, next time we're going to go over all the answers, so everyone better bring something to write with Craig," Pascal states, narrowing his eyes at the student sitting at the front table.

The bell rings, causing everyone to immediately spring out of their seats and start packing up their things.

Pascal watches as over half of his students race out of the room. He scrunches his forehead and brings a finger up to his lips. "Wait a minute, there are no bells in college!" Pascal realizes, before locking eyes with Vidcund, who is standing across the room, waiting for Circe to put on her backpack.

"Hey Circe, can we talk?" Vidcund wonders.

Circe tilts her forehead as she throws her backpack over her shoulder, "We're talking right now," she states.

"No, I mean somewhere else."

"Oh…" Circe responds, glancing across the room at Loki, whose mind appears to be elsewhere. She nods, "Okay."

Pascal watches as Vidcund and Circe exit the room, leaving him alone with his rival. "So," Loki begins, casually walking towards Pascal's desk, "Do you want to just appoint me Sim State's Student Scientist Representative now, or do you want to wait until I ace all of your other quizzes?" he remarks, tapping his fingers on Pascal's desk.

"You haven't got it yet, Loki," Pascal replies, pretending to be more interested in the stack of papers in front of him.

"Please!" Loki rolls his eyes, "Everyone knows that Cassandra has the second highest grade in the class, and she's still one hundred and sixty-five points behind me. Even if I skip out on the rest of the semester and take the final, I'll still finish at the top."

Pascal slowly nods, still rearranging the stack of papers on his desk. "Good to know you can do basic math," he declares.

"I can do harder problems than that, and you know it," Loki counters, staring down at the grad student, "I will get that honor, Pascal, and you will have to hand deliver it to me personally!" Loki insists, stepping towards the door. He stops in the doorway and glances over his shoulder, "So have fun doing that!" he cries, giving a backhanded wave as he exits the room, "See you in class tomorrow!" Loki slams the door.

Pascal sighs as he leans back in his desk chair. "God, I hate that guy," he states.

…

Twenty minutes later, across campus, Vidcund and Circe are making out in Circe's bedroom. Vidcund sighs as he pulls away from her, staring down at the woman sitting next to him and gazing deeply into her eyes. "Circe, I love you," he declares.

"Of course you do!" Circe repeats matter-of-factly, pulling him back into an embrace.

Vidcund holds his hands up, instantly stopping her, "No, no, I mean I really love you, and I want us to be together…you know, without Loki," he reiterates, pulling back slightly.

"I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at, Vidcund," Circe replies, attempting to play dumb, "Is this about the physics quiz?"

"No, Circe, I'm sick of you going half-in on relationships!" Vidcund cries, getting up from the bed and pacing in front of her, "You have to choose, either me or him, cause I'm not going to wait forever."

Circe cracks a smile, "You're joking, right?" she states.

"No," Vidcund replies, offended that she would even think this in the first place, "And frankly, I don't see why this is such a tough decision. Loki doesn't seem to give a rat's ass about you, and it's only gotten more apparent over the years!"

"Vidcund, that's not true," Circe claims, standing up immediately to face him, "He's more into me now than ever."

"Really?" Vidcund crosses his arms, unable to believe what he is hearing, "Cause yesterday he called you Ceres," he remarks, staring down at her and letting out a sigh, "I just don't get why you're so willing to waste your time on a man who couldn't care less about you. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I mean, knowing your relationship with your father…" Vidcund trails off slightly, Circe's fists clenching at this conclusion, "Maybe that's why you chose a man who will never be able to love you."

"Don't you ever mention my father!" Circe fumes, her face turning crimson with fury, "He's a literal piece of garbage who doesn't even deserve to be associated with me!" she yells.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Vidcund states genuinely, "But the more I stay here with you, the more I realize I'm just wasting my time," he realizes, stepping back towards the doorway and releasing a heavy sigh. Vidcund turns back to Circe, his hand perched defeatedly on the doorframe. "Have fun with Loki," he states, leaving Circe to mull over their conversation in peace.