After the first peaceful encounter with Rose, we sort of ran into each other around the campus a lot. We only really have one class together, but most of our rooms are adjacent to each other. I can't really tell that well if she smiles at me every time we pass by each other because of our facemasks, but I do nonetheless. Nothing weird, just being polite.
A couple encounters here and there have definitely been diminishing my judgement of her as a psycho. In fact, she seems just as restless and awkward as I am. She's just a million times better at hiding it than I could ever be. Also, what's odd is that I'm starting to really feel comfortable being around her even when we don't interact that often. That says a lot since I'm not really fond of spending a lot of time around a lot of people. I prefer being either alone or with a maximum of five people whom I am comfortable with. Any more than that, I could tolerate, but I would be at my wit's end feeling awkward.
"Hey, our class is next right? Managerial Economics? F1A? You got any classes for the next 4 hours before that? My friends all have classes but me. I've got a 5-hour long vacant."
"Oh yeah, I'm also kind of vacant but not really. I have to run an errand outside then I'm planning on dropping by the Nexus library."
"You with someone?"
"No. I'm alone. I don't really have that many friends you know?"
"Yeah, I get it. I'm the same way. Hey, since you're alone and all that, mind if I tag along?"
"I mean, I don't mind, I guess. But are you sure? The errands I have to do are boring. Then I'm heading towards the library because that's where I usually stay on my vacant periods to cool down since the weather outside is pretty humid."
"I mean, I've got nothing else to do. It's either that or I have to sit on the lounge in this humid weather for 5 hours staring at the sky. You bet I'd want to go with you over that right?"
"Alright then. You better keep up."
For the first time since I started going to university, I'm walking outside campus with someone. And a girl my age at that. I must admit, I am very nervous yet also ever so excited.
We first went to the convenience store, bought some snacks and drinks, then waited right outside for the jeepney to head to the mall. It really felt weird to tell the driver I was paying for two people's fares. Nonetheless, it felt really good to be with someone for a change.
At this point, we have reached the mall and are just walking around passing time. She told me she was getting tired and hungry, so we decided to drop by a restaurant to eat. We ate a hearty meal with grilled chicken inasal partnered with the special Unli(mited) rice.
After our meal, we walked around some more in an effort to pass time and help digest all the food we just ate. We saw that they were showing decent movies on the cinema and decided to buy tickets together with snacks and drinks. The movie we watched was a horror romance movie about ghosts in the university. I will admit, it was pretty dang scary. There were multiple moments where we both got scared and covered our eyes trying to avoid the sudden jumpscares, but we were very attentive when it came to the romantic scenes. I guess we both like romance genres in movies.
On our way out, we ran into some of my classmates on my specialized major subject.
"Oh, look it's Jake. Hey Jake!"
"Oh, hey Ash! What's up?"
"Nothing much. We were just trying to pass time by coming here. You wanna join us?"
"Oh no, I'm actually with someone. Maybe next time?"
"Alright you got it. Take care!!"
"You too! Enjoy the mall!"
As Jake left, Ash and her friends saw Jake get someone from one of the shops.
"Ohhh, so that's why he didn't want to hang out with us, huh? Jake's got a girl now."
"Don't be silly. He can choose whatever he wants to do with whomever he chooses."
"Why are you getting so defensive about it Ash? You like him or something?"
"Wha-? No. What are you talking about?"
"Then why are you blushing right now?"
"Oh my god! Did I just hit the nail in the head with that one?"
"Quit joking around. It's pretty hot in here huh?"
"Ash, honey., we're inside a fully air conditioned mall. The temperature here is just about 16 degrees. It's so cold I have to wear my jacket in here. You're beet red from blushing. You look so flushed."
"What? No. Anyways, let's go."
"Yeah, alright. But did you see the girl he was with? She looked familiar for some reason."
"Yeah, I thought so too. But I couldn't really figure out who it was because of the facemask. But there's also the bigger chance that we're all reading too much into this. Let's go."