After an eventful day, I found myself looking at the same building, moving towards the same classroom. The double life of a student, who by day, attends college and is treated like some superstition and by night, is hunted by mythical beasts, a life that hardly anyone had any idea about, and yet, there was no stopping whatsoever. The relentless drive to do it all, the relentless drive to be the best, the relentless drive to be number 1, all of it...
All of this crap, this ain't me. At least, the latter part of it. The past week, at best, was horrendous. After all, I had a lot to take in. But there's also the fact that I've met a beautiful senior, who in her sophomore year, is already the pinnacle of the most infamous person on this campus, and unlike me, for all the right reasons. But that's not all. When the world sleeps, is the time when she's active the most. Why? At this point, it's safe to say, she's the vampire that everyone fears her, even her own kind. But how am I so calm about that? Well, as English termonologies go, I'm her partner. More as in partner-in-crime, than a partner. We are the monster hunters. Ugh!
I felt a sour taste in my mouth when I said that. I felt sick. How do modern-day TV shows utter something as cringy as that, nonchalantly? Just so to be clear, I'm indebted to her, and as long as I'll clear her debt, I'll just tag along with her. At most, I'm a sidekick. I'm not the main character of any show where I'll suddenly pull out my hidden talents, save her, and steal the spotlight. There are much more characters worthy of that. Anyway...
It's a Saturday. Normally, I'd be idling around, or read some newspapers, or just get some chores done, and then sleep through Sunday, while watching some sporting events at their scheduled air time. Or so, was how my usual weekends passed by. Not today. Because, I had a guest, and that too, an unwanted one.
I finished with making two black coffees and kept them on the table, serving one for each one of us.
"So, care to explain why you're here, Marcus?" I bluntly cut straight to the point. He was just giving a dry smile, scratching his cheek. I was having none of it.
"Why? Is it bad that I stop at your place?" A nice way of putting it. There was nothing wrong with it, your mate crashing into your place uninvited, is just how things work in today's day and age. But there's one small caveat in this particular situation. That was...
"Well, it's not uncalled for, but if the certain person in question would visit this place regularly as he visits his date's place normally. Speaking of which, I do have a question related to that. Do you often sleep at the girl's place more than you do at your own? If so, how many girls do you sleep with within a week? Well, I don't mean the literal sleep. It could be just normally supporting them too. But if that's the case, do you even go back to your place at night?"
He gave me a serious look as if telling me to stop the joke. I clearly understood what he meant, decided to not heed any attention to it, and carried on.
"And, if that's the case, is this the first time that you've been to a boy's place in a long while? Wait, do you sleep at a girl's place because you hate the dark, and you don't want the guys to find out so that it dwindles your popularity, and yet you switch your partner so that they don't have enough time to develop feelings for you? Which one is it?"
The grip on his cup tightened, and he was about to snap...
"Be careful. I don't want your blood on this carpet."
He tried to regain his composure.
"You can answer those questions at a later date." I sipped my coffee. He sighed! With a dejected look on his face, he looked at me. "So, you're not gonna let that slide?" I just nodded my head. "Fine, I'll let you know."
"On second thoughts, maybe I'm interested in it." I rebuked. He snapped back instantly, "Which one is it?" I let out a chuckle. This wasn't bad. I could do more of this socializing stuff out of campus. But, I'll leave that out for another time.
"So, why are you actually here?" Sensing the change of the atmosphere in this room, even he understood that beating around the bush was not an option he could consider. He sipped the remainder of his coffee, and sat back, with his arms close to each other, and looked at me dead in the eye.
"Was there a girl around here recently?"Now, that was a little too straightforward.
"Hmm...I wonder? Besides, even if someone did, is there a problem?"
"If it's anyone, then it's not a problem. But from what I've heard, it seems that someone who isn't supposed to be remotely close to you in any sense appeared here? Am I wrong?"
"Go on!" I slowly sipped my black coffee. I neither confirmed nor denied his suspicions.
"So, let me be clear when I ask you this. Why was she here?" He was pretty adamant about it. "Why was who here?" He looked me in the eye, signaling me to not play this game.
"Emily! I'm talking about her. Why was she here?" I just looked at him, got up, and took our cups, and proceeded to wash the cups, while answering his question, "I don't know from where you got this information, but you got a good source. As for why she was here and what's here business with me, it's none of your business, plus I don't speak of her matters as if it were my own."
Then let me ask you one more thing.
"Sure."
IS SHE YOUR GIRLFRIEND?