That night, I found it difficult to sleep.
Shortly after I had left the cafe, Dylan sprinted up to me, dangling a pair of earpieces.
My earpieces. They must have dropped out of my bag somehow.
Exclaiming mildly, I took it from Dylan, once more at the receiving end of a favour.
He nodded and quirked his lips a little, heading back into the cafe without saying anything.
Rather aloof, I thought. But no matter.
But the fact that I was thinking about it, instead of catching up on precious sleep, shows that it did matter.
In a huff, I flip myself on my side, and direct my thoughts to school instead.
***
Two weeks later, the academic pace finally slows for a bit. After three deadlines and two performances in the period, I was exhausted.
This 8am class was the last place I wanted to be, but Sarah had coerced me into attending it with her. Some extra credit elective thing, she insisted.
So bleary eyed I was that I did not notice when the Teaching Assistant (TA) had strode in, although everyone else in the class sat up immediately.
Teaching Assistants are usually Graduate students from the university, doing their Masters.
Those on scholarships are required to teach at least one class per semester.
Sarah nudges me urgently. "It's Dylan," she hissed.
Dy-? I look up to see a familiar profile with the same easy grace and inky black hair.
Oh. Dylan Yang.
Dylan's eyes sweep across the classroom as he introduces himself, and if he saw me, did not appear surprised.
"I don't usually teach Year 3s, But I'm taking over AJ for this short module," he explains to the class.
AJ was the TA whose name was on the schedule.
As the class progressed, I tried to focus on the module, instead of how tired I am. I also tried, very hard, not to stare at Dylan for more than three seconds each time.
The rest of our classmates, though, were clearly thrilled to have Dylan as their TA.
Camilia, or as we call her, Cams, was tittering away excitedly.
Sarah and I hang out with two others girls at school: Cams and Viv.
Like Sarah, they had clearly heard of Dylan well before he stepped foot into this classroom. And as it turned out, Sarah, that big mouth, had told them what had happened involving Logan.
I grimaced, knowing that I was going to get teased by the girls once class was over.
By the end of the otherwise uneventful class, I was feeling more than a little disappointed.
Dylan, the professional that he was, had barely acknowledged me. I thought he would at least smile in recognition, to be honest.
Trudging out out the dreary seminar room, Cam and Viv tried to get more details out of me, while I fob them off with breakfast plans.
I couldn't help but notice that Dylan was surrounded by inquisitive (and mostly female) students when we were leaving.
Ah well.