Eric walks with his friends. He was often surrounded by people, always greeted by anyone and anywhere. Whether a lecturer, a senior, a contemporary, or a junior, the attitude remains the same. However, the two men who were by his side at this time could be called Eric's closest friends on campus.
"Zayn, I borrowed your ball," Eric asked his friend. The man in the hat immediately threw his basketball at Eric.
"Not usually. You want to play again?"
Eric spun the basketball over his finger. "No, I just haven't played basketball in a long time."
"That's why let's play on the field!" asked Harry, the man with short hair.
"Later, if I'm not busy," said Eric, still focused on playing basketball.
"Tch, until I get married, you don't necessarily have free time," Zayn hissed, making Eric laugh out loud.
Because his focus was on a single point, Eric accidentally bumped into someone's shoulder. He immediately stopped his path, the basketball falling, bouncing in any direction, and was immediately caught by Zayn. Eric turned back, intending to apologize.
"Sorry, are you all right?" Eric asked the man, whose height was not much different from his. A man with black hair and glasses perched on his nose.The man adjusted the position of the glasses while looking straight at Eric.
"It's okay, not a big problem."
Eric examined the stature of the man in front of him and smiled broadly. "You're Alan, right?"
"Yes, you remember me," replied the bespectacled man named Alan. Eric laughed as he patted his junior's shoulder.
"Of course! A man who became popular in an instant!"
'... Aren't you also like that?' Zayn and Harry thought at the same time.
"How are you studying? Is it still okay? If anyone—"
Zayn and Harry put their arms around Eric's shoulders instantly, causing Eric to stare at them in confusion. "Eric, do you always have to ask juniors the same question over and over again?" Harry asked. The reason is that every time Eric meets a junior, the first question is to ask how the learning progress of his younger siblings is. He looks more like a supervisor than a senior, so caring. Eric does not hesitate to teach anyone who asks for his help, is also willing to lend his books.
"Huh? What's the matter? I'm just asking, who knows if there's a problem?"
"A student like Alan, who even gets the highest marks in his class, doesn't seem like he's going to have any trouble, right?" Zayn asked Alan.
Alan smiled faintly at his senior. "For now, nothing. Thank you for your attention. Then I'll excuse myself," said Alan, as he bowed slightly and then walked away leaving Eric and the others.
"He's so cool," said Harry subconsciously, which immediately got a nod of approval from Zayn and Eric.
Eric shook his head quickly, to wake up from his admiration for Alan. "Hey, we still have class. Soon Mr. Edy will come in," he said, alerting the others. They immediately rushed to class.
***
This afternoon was Casey's last class. The girl opened the locker to take her drawing tools as well as snacks that she already had stocked there if she was hungry at any time. Because there are some classes that allow learning while eating snacks. Of course, Casey was very happy, because she was the type to focus more when his mouth moved to chew something.
Casey closed the locker again and didn't forget to lock it. When she turned around, she was surprised by a large, tall figure who had been behind her. Casey stumbled backward into her own locker.
"Gosh! Eric, you startled me ..." Casey protested while stroking her chest, which almost gave her a sudden heart attack. While the perpetrator just smiled broadly, because it managed to surprise her.
"What's up?" Casey asked, also a little uncomfortable with people now looking at the two of them. Luckily, there were no Erica and her ladies-in-waiting. Aka Mora and Hanna.
Eric handed her a rectangular chocolate snack. "Fall out of your locker," Eric said.
Casey accepted the snack hesitantly and was confused. This man startled himself just to give a snack that fell. "Oh ... thank you."
"Wow, there are a lot of snacks you smuggled in. You're really voracious when you're eating," Eric added, smiling broadly, showing his white teeth. Casey's face turned red with embarrassment at his master's words.
"O-only sometimes...."
"Often it's okay too!"
"Are you going home already?" Casey asked changing the subject. Eric nodded. "You still have class?" asked Eric back.
"Yes, lastly."
"I'm guessing Mr. Tian's class?" guessed Eric, pointing at Casey with narrowed eyes.
"Exactly, how do you know?"
"Because of that snack!" Eric's eyes fell on the bag of snacks Casey was carrying. The girl tightened her goody bag. Feeling embarrassed because Eric had been mentioning his favorite snack all this time.
"But isn't Mr. Tian the only one who allows eating? How come your guess is right?"
Eric tilted his head, looking at Casey innocently. "Hm ... I don't know? But it's true, isn't it?"
"Gwen! You took so long! So I caught up with you. Oh hello senior Eric!" said Erica with the sweetest smile. The beautiful girl finally caught up with Casey because Casey didn't come back to class. Her smooth cheeks blushed a little when she saw Eric there, even though she was annoyed that the person who was talking to Eric was her friend.
"Ah, hello—what's your name?" Eric asked, making Casey stare at him in disbelief. Is Erica still unknown to Eric? Casey wanted to laugh. Especially seeing the look on Erica's face change to surprise.
Erica laughed softly and gracefully. "I'm Erica. We had a discussion during the campus introduction event. It hurts not to be remembered by seniors."
Eric thought hard to remember, then before long his mouth became round while snapping his fingers as if he had managed to remember the beautiful girl with short hair.
"Ah, I know. I remember. Your name is almost like mine."
"That's right!" cried Erica happily. Her behavior was made more adorable in front of Eric. Maybe she was hoping that Eric thought she was so cute too. Casey couldn't help but roll his eyes quickly, so neither Erica nor Eric could see her. Luckily the corridor was deserted.
"You guys are friends?" asked Eric, looking at the two girls in turn.
Casey gasped in surprise as Erica put her arm around Casey's arm. "Yes! We are close friends! Our first meeting was even more unique when I helped Gwen, who fell and spilled a drink. I couldn't help myself from helping Gwen," Erica replied, a smile never leaving her sweet face. The girl thought that Eric would admire her heroic actions and said that she was so kind for helping others. However, on the contrary. Eric furrowed his brows, looking at Casey as if demanding an explanation.
"Fell? When?" asked Eric.
Casey didn't dare look Eric in the eye as if the floor tiles were more pleasing to the eye. "It's been a long time, really."
Erica looked at them in turn. While feeling strange about Eric's unusual concern, her friend's attitude was different. "What's wrong? It's nothing major, really! Gwen's fine!" She started to speak again.
Eric sighed. "I'm waiting for your explanation, Gwen. Then I go home first. You guys are eager to learn, okay? He said it again, carving his typical smile.
The two girls nodded, Erica waved her hand at Eric, who was getting away.
"Let's go back," Casey said, walking ahead of Erica. Erica, who had always been smiling until her eyes were just a line, now turned cynical towards Casey without Casey knowing it.