The following weeks were completely monotonous. Lorelei was rather occupied with her schoolwork considering that there are only two weeks left until their midterms. Most of their professors had already given their midterm requirements and Lorelei decided to attend those as early as she can.
It was Friday already which means she, thankfully, survived another week. Lorelei was staring at herself in the mirror for God knows how long after taking a hot shower. She was utterly disgusted by her raddled image in the mirror. She looked like she didn't get enough sleep for days (at least for her).
It was always before and during hell week her stress level skyrockets causing her pimples and dark under circles to appear. It was the most unpleasant thing she hated throughout college. Well, sure, she's been through a lot of awful stuff but it remained as her top loathed experience (unfortunately happening almost thrice a year). Although those were not that visible, Lorelei was always finicky about her appearance and it just stresses her more.
"Alright, self. Let's rest the hell out this weekend. You did a great job this week and you deserve to rest," she muttered while still looking in the mirror.
Lorelei took a deep breath before getting out of the bathroom to get changed. She dried her hair, massaged her neck and legs, and finally slumped on her bed to rest. It's only six in the evening and although she was tired, sleep didn't seem to visit her. She just decided to eat first before going to bed. As soon as the thought came out, she instantly got up and trod towards the kitchen.
"What should I have? Hmm," she whispered while checking what's inside her fridge. She grabbed some chicken, cream, and a couple of other ingredients. Lorelei decided to make her favorite creamy herb chicken as a reward for making it through the tiring week.
She was busy frying the chicken when the sound of her doorbell caught her attention. Lorelei made her way to get the door. She opened it and the figure of her least expected guest appeared in front of her.
-
Jace had just rung the doorbell of unit 301, Lorelei's place. He stood there waiting for the girl to open the door and get his business done. He just got home from the university and decided to give Lorelei some of the materials he found for their term paper. He really didn't have to but he was adamant in making her read the rest of it since he felt like he was the only one doing all the reading. Plus, he was still pissed by the fact that he paid extra charges for the books Lorelei borrowed from the library because she didn't tell him it was due after two weeks.
The door burst open with Lorelei's face welcoming him. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he watched her face. "You look gaunt," he said unconsciously.
Although it wasn't that obvious, fatigue was still evident in her appearance. Jace kind of felt bad for bringing in some materials to add to her pile of tasks. Well, it is only fair to divide those equally anyway. He figured that maybe he should just part the readings in half for him to feel less guilty in making her work more seeing that the girl looked tired as it is.
"I know, okay. Your reminder was most unnecessary," she rolled her eyes at his comment. "Anyway, what made you come to my place?"
"Aren't you even going to invite me inside? Gosh, how rude," he said mimicking the way Lorelei talks to him while fanning his hand.
Lorelei glowered at him and Jace felt anytime soon she would grab his hair, or maybe she was already beating him on her mind. "Can I come in? I have some materia--" he couldn't finish his statement as he smelled something burning inside Lorelei's place. "Is something burning?" he asked. He sniffed again like a dog, "I smell something burning."
"What's burning?" Lorelei sniffed as well and then her eyes widened with shock. "HOLY SHI-" she scurried away inside her apartment and went to her kitchen, which was probably the only place where the burning smell came from.
Jace heard some shrieking and clattering. "Hey. Is everything alright?" he yelled from the door. No answer from Lorelei. "I'll be coming inside!" he yelled again to make sure she heard him.
He rushed inside to see the situation. The smoke from the burning was starting to dissipate. Jace saw Lorelei fanning her frying fan to check if the food was still okay. He surveyed the place. Good thing there were no damages except for the thing the girl was frying.
"Nooo, my chicken," Lorelei said almost whimpering. Jace knew he shouldn't laugh at her misery but she reminded him so much of his cats whenever they got their snacks stolen. He suppressed his chuckles by pursing his lips.
"You good?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.
Lorelei probably didn't notice he was already inside her place if he didn't ask. She was startled at first but then gained back her composure once she processed his presence. "Does this look okay to you?" Lorelei said, whirling her hands to gesture her surroundings.
Jace just shrugged in return. "Looks fine to me seeing you and your place is still in one piece."
"Well, this isn't fine for me!" she groaned in frustration. Why did he have to ring the freaking doorbell when she was cooking? Lorelei wanted so bad to put the blame on Jace but she knew better than blaming anyone when it was her fault. Well, it was indeed her fault. Jace wasn't the one cooking and left the freaking pan on the stove after all.
Lorelei continued cleaning up her mess and then looked at her chicken with pity. "Such a waste." She managed to let out a sigh. Well, maybe cooking really isn't for her. She always encounters a misfortune or two whenever she decides to cook. She didn't have a choice but to leave the kitchen and go to the living room where Jace was.
"Why are you still standing?" Lorelei murmured.
Jace didn't notice that he remained standing the whole time he waited for Lorelei to finish whatever she was doing. "Oh right." He then settled down on her couch.
"So, what brought you here?" Lorelei asked again since their conversation was cut at her front door earlier.
"I brought some materials for our term paper." Jace rummaged through his bag and pulled out a couple of books and a small pile of paper. "Here."
"That's a LOT," Lorelei said with a scowl.
Jace shrugged. "I figured you wanted a lot." As Lorelei reached out her hand to receive them, Jace noticed a small, bright red burn on her hand. He pulled back the books and papers he was holding and then grasped Lorelei's wrist with his other hand.
"Hey! What the heck are you doing?" asked Lorelei who was baffled by his sudden action.
Jace carefully examined her hand and then looked at her in the eye. "Do you have an ointment around?"
Lorelei tilted her head, still confused. "No? I don't think so."
Jace rose from his seat and grabbed his bag. "Dummy," he muttered and then flicked Lorelei's forehead lightly.
"Ow!" Lorelei exclaimed. The flick didn't hurt though, it was just her instinct to react like that. "What was that for?!"
"For your clumsiness," Jace replied. "You better read those," he motioned his hands to the books on the couch and took his leave afterward.
Lorelei was left there, still weirded out by Jace. "What the heck's gotten into him?" She heard the clicking of her door, a sign that Jace already left the place.