Once the journal was out, she dragged it away from the pile of books and to the window. In the bright light, she used her nails to pry the first pages open. They were empty but for the name Kyro in one of them.
'Nice handwriting.' His letters were exactly what her primary school teachers had expected of hers, simple and easy to read. There was no stylized stuff, but it was pretty in its simplicity, unlike hers.
It was good that computers took over the handwritten documentation, else she probably would have failed all her written examinations with her chicken's leg of an arm. One of her most embarrassing moments in middle school were when the English language teacher had brought back her essay and told her to rewrite it since it was too illegible. Shame washed over her just thinking about that moment.
Today wasn't about her, though. She pushed the disconcerting thoughts away and focused on the treasure she was now holding onto. This journal was going to reveal the real Kyro to her.
The first page was dated six years ago, January, but it wasn't a diary as Iris had expected. It was more of a calendar, a place for Kyro to write down his plans for the day. Like on January 1st, he noted down stuff like 'Write Jane, check if Chris replied'.
This wasn't much fun, but Iris still leafed through the pages, getting a general sense of his activities. Once the holidays were over, there were more entries. Most of them dealt with university activities like deadlines and group meetings, lectures that had special guests, but there were a few others of more interest.
From time to time, there was a mention of meeting with Jane. At first, it was just for studying together after class or on weekends in the library, but then it shifted to cafes or at either of their places. Iris burned with a desire to know more, but the damn man was treating his words like gold.
Yet his schedule revealed a lot. As Iris studied it, she noticed that whenever there was a meeting with Jane, there would not be any other activities for that day. And even if there were originally, they'd get crossed out.
Someone was infatuated here, that was for sure.
Smiling like a Cheshire cat, Iris hurried through the days until she reached March 23rd. On that day, there were no plans, but a conversation instead.
'Hey! Do you know what that geezer at the front is talking about?' This writing was unfamiliar, but it was hurried and held a flamboyant air to it, so Iris had an idea of who it might belong to.
'Don't write in my notebook.'
'Come on, it won't hurt anyone. Just give me a quick run through.'
'Download the slides and read through them.'
Something seemed to have happened after this, for the next part of the conversation was not in touch with what was above.
'Look what you've done, now your perfect reputation is gone. Was it worth it?'
Iris chuckled after reading that. She didn't know what had happened, but she could imagine. A scuffle had probably broken out, and the only one really hurt was Kyro. Or well, his image in the eyes of the old teacher. And Gale, if it was him, was pouring salt over the wound, probably with a reproachful smile as well.
Nowadays, the two seemed to have an understanding of each other, but at that time, Kyro was anything but cordial. His letters were sharp like blades.
'It's not my fault you don't have the basic ability to show up on time. I'm not your nanny or servant to keep notes for you, or do ANYTHING for you. Just because you sat down next to me doesn't mean I have to grovel before your rich ass and do whatever you say. F U C K O F F.'
The message must have reached the recipient for the conversation ended there. Iris didn't turn the page right away, letting her imagination run wild. What could have happened then? Was Gale angry? Probably. But he couldn't have been too angry, since they became friends later on.
Or was this one of those rich-poor friendships where one taught the other that not everyone from their social class were snobbish pricks/money-grubbing bastards? It could be, but as she looked around, this didn't seem to be too realistic.
However she looked at it, Kyro didn't seem poor. This apartment alone probably cost more than she would've earned in her lifetime. It was gigantic, with spacious bedroom and study to the left of the entrance, a humongous living room in the middle, and a couple more rooms to the right. They were always closed, but she guessed they were guest bedrooms or something.
If that wasn't enough, the house was in a prestigious area. Their surroundings were relatively quiet and the windows looked down on a park. No matter how she looked at it, this couldn't have come at anything less than an extreme fortune.
This was after the studies recorded in the journal, but could Kyro have really earned this much in the couple years since he finished? It sounded impossible to her, but she didn't know where he was working now and as what. Even an intern meant to only carry coffee had to wear a suit when in a high end company.
'I should probably read on. Maybe I can gather something from the clues of his meetings. Besides, there's still that Jane. Who is she? And why is she not around? Did he fail to romance her?'