Just when I was about to curse out loud I flinched as someone tapped on my shoulder.
“What the hell? Cold? Are you kidding me? How am I cold if you’re...” I complained as I turned around fully expecting to see Angela but I froze up when I saw someone I never expected to see. Why is he here?
“You look like you’re surprised to see me here. If I’m not mistaken… you’re Rosa’s boyfriend, right?”
“You’ve got the wrong person.” I averted my eyes to the side and tried to leave but he stopped me by grabbing my shoulder from behind.
“Don’t try that, there’s no way I’m mistaken. It’s pretty surprising to see you here. You only just finished your first year in high school, right? Are you checking out post-secondary institutions this early on?”
Haaaah. As for who ‘he’ was. It was... Zale. I never imagined I’d see him so soon after he graduated. What kind of dog shit luck did I have exactly? Am I cursed?
Today was Thursday and it’d already been a few days since convocation.
Why’d he approach me?
“What do you want?” I didn’t hold back and got straight to the point.
“Huh? I didn’t really want anything. I just saw a familiar face and decided to approach you.”
“Then if you don’t want anything, I’ll be going. I’m busy right now.”
“You sure don’t look like you’re busy. You were just standing around staring off into space before you randomly checked your phone. It looked more like you were waiting to meet someone than in a rush. Were you waiting for Rosa to go on a date here or something?”
If I said no I’d probably have to come up with another excuse. It was easier to just go with the reason he came up for me.
“Haaaah. Yeah. Yeah. I’m waiting for Rosa. Since you two don’t seem to get along very well, don’t you think you should leave before she shows up?”
“Not at all. I’d love to cause problems for her and ruin her date. If it ticks her off it’s a win in my book.”
“Huh?” Seriously? He was that petty and spiteful?
“Hahaha. Anyway, you’re coming with me. I’m actually here for a tour of the campus arranged by the school.”
Ah. Shit. Those were a thing, weren’t they? I’d skipped out on those pointless tours they offered.
Because this guy was aiming to be a doctor like his father I’d automatically associated him with the faculty of medicine in my mind which was on a different campus. It was located closer to downtown, a good distance away from the main campus.
It was also the same location where the city’s major hospital was located. The same hospital I did volunteer work my first time through life.
However, one needed to first acquire a bachelor’s degree in science as a prerequisite to apply to med school. Which meant… if he planned to go to med school in this city, it wasn’t inconceivable that he would attend this campus first.
What a pain in the ass.
Wait, if Angela is watching me in secret right now, isn’t this a bit bad? If she finds out I’m related to this guy in some way she can pry information out of him on me and find out everything about me.
It could be bad to stick around here. If I’m dragged away by him from this location it would be bad, she’d realize he knew me and we weren’t strangers. It was best to get out of here as soon as possible before she reveals herself so I can prevent them from making contact. The best method to do so was to willingly lead the way to the location where the tour would start.
Afterward, I’d explain it off as I was just giving directions to some random kid who got lost.
Getting caught in this sort of situation was truly the worst.
“Well, I guess I can go with you.”
“It’s no use trying to run away, I’ll drag you along with me if I… have… to… wait, did you just say you’ll go?”
“Yeah.” Only because it’s my only option to minimize the chance of Angela realizing we know each other. If she wasn’t around do you think I’d so willingly comply?
Slightly taken aback, Zale asked, “What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? From my first impression of you when we sang karaoke that one time, you don’t seem like the cooperative type at all.”
I started to walk at a leisurely pace in front of him then explained, “I just don’t like wasting energy. I determined I’d waste more energy by trying to escape is all. I don’t feel like trying to outrun someone athletic like you who’s involved in all sorts of different sports. Escaping would only prove to be futile. As that’s the case, I might as well give up early on and save my energy for a better opportunity to escape where my odds of success are higher.”
Let’s just say I was faster than him, even if that was the case, I was sure he had way more stamina than me with all the sports he was involved with.
“Oh. Not bad. That’s certainly a much better plan than trying to escape here. You’re definitely more cunning than most of the kids from our high school if that’s the conclusion you came to in such a short period of time.”
“It’s nothing cunning, I just know my own limits and I’m a very lazy person. If there’s a way to do something which consumes less of my energy, I’ll do it that way ten times out of ten.”
“Then let’s head over to the faculty of engineering building, the tour meet-up spot is there.”
“Haaaah. Sure, whatever.”
“Do you know where it is?”
“Of course I do. Do I look like an idiot? Do you think I started walking this way by coincidence?”
Zale let out an awkward laugh, “Haha… right...”
“Wait… could it be that you actually don’t know where it is?” I raised one brow and verified.
“Uh… I sort of just got here after all. I was going to ask someone where it was.”
“Why not just pull up the campus map on your phone?”
“I figured it was a good chance to start a conversation with a student here and make a connection to expand my network. I could get them to lead the way there if they weren’t busy while also finding out more stuff about the campus from them along the way. Such as the tougher grading instructors to avoid for lectures for the general university 1 courses everyone takes. But then I came across you and my curiosity as to why you were here got the best of me.”
“When you put it that way, it’s not a bad idea.” Since he has the looks and social skills to make it work. If I tried the same thing I’d just get a bunch of annoyed looks.
It only took a minute to go from the university center to the engineering building. They were right next to each other after all.
When we ascended the stairs to the main level, I took a seat on a couch along one of the walls and said, “We’re here.”
“Already? You’re sure this is the right building? Could you actually just be pretending to know the way when you don’t and you’re too embarrassed to admit you really don’t know how to get there?”
“Huh?” I looked up at him dumbfoundedly from the couch. Is he finding it hard to believe because of how little time it took to get here?
“It’s okay to admit the truth you know. No one’s going to judge you for it.”
“I’m being serious. This is really it.”
“Haaaah. It can’t be helped. I’ll ask someone if you’re too embarrassed to ask for directions.”
“Sure… go right ahead.” I watched him with a strange look on my face. Is he looking down on me? Does he have some sort of superiority complex? Maybe it’s related to him disliking Rosa? He wants to feel superior to me in his mind, that was probably what this was about.
He entered the lineup for the Tim Hortons across from where I sat down and struck up a conversation with a cute girl in line, “Excuse me. Do you know where the engineering building is?”
The girl gave him a strange look as if trying to gauge his intentions. Maybe she was waiting to see what the rest of his pickup line was. Well, it was natural she’d think that considering we were literally in the engineering building already.
Just when I was about to curse out loud I flinched as someone tapped on my shoulder.
“What the hell? Cold? Are you kidding me? How am I cold if you’re...” I complained as I turned around fully expecting to see Angela but I froze up when I saw someone I never expected to see. Why is he here?
“You look like you’re surprised to see me here. If I’m not mistaken… you’re Rosa’s boyfriend, right?”
“You’ve got the wrong person.” I averted my eyes to the side and tried to leave but he stopped me by grabbing my shoulder from behind.
“Don’t try that, there’s no way I’m mistaken. It’s pretty surprising to see you here. You only just finished your first year in high school, right? Are you checking out post-secondary institutions this early on?”
Haaaah. As for who ‘he’ was. It was... Zale. I never imagined I’d see him so soon after he graduated. What kind of dog shit luck did I have exactly? Am I cursed?
Today was Thursday and it’d already been a few days since convocation.
Why’d he approach me?
“What do you want?” I didn’t hold back and got straight to the point.
“Huh? I didn’t really want anything. I just saw a familiar face and decided to approach you.”
“Then if you don’t want anything, I’ll be going. I’m busy right now.”
“You sure don’t look like you’re busy. You were just standing around staring off into space before you randomly checked your phone. It looked more like you were waiting to meet someone than in a rush. Were you waiting for Rosa to go on a date here or something?”
If I said no I’d probably have to come up with another excuse. It was easier to just go with the reason he came up for me.
“Haaaah. Yeah. Yeah. I’m waiting for Rosa. Since you two don’t seem to get along very well, don’t you think you should leave before she shows up?”
“Not at all. I’d love to cause problems for her and ruin her date. If it ticks her off it’s a win in my book.”
“Huh?” Seriously? He was that petty and spiteful?
“Hahaha. Anyway, you’re coming with me. I’m actually here for a tour of the campus arranged by the school.”
Ah. Shit. Those were a thing, weren’t they? I’d skipped out on those pointless tours they offered.
Because this guy was aiming to be a doctor like his father I’d automatically associated him with the faculty of medicine in my mind which was on a different campus. It was located closer to downtown, a good distance away from the main campus.
It was also the same location where the city’s major hospital was located. The same hospital I did volunteer work my first time through life.
However, one needed to first acquire a bachelor’s degree in science as a prerequisite to apply to med school. Which meant… if he planned to go to med school in this city, it wasn’t inconceivable that he would attend this campus first.
What a pain in the ass.
Wait, if Angela is watching me in secret right now, isn’t this a bit bad? If she finds out I’m related to this guy in some way she can pry information out of him on me and find out everything about me.
It could be bad to stick around here. If I’m dragged away by him from this location it would be bad, she’d realize he knew me and we weren’t strangers. It was best to get out of here as soon as possible before she reveals herself so I can prevent them from making contact. The best method to do so was to willingly lead the way to the location where the tour would start.
Afterward, I’d explain it off as I was just giving directions to some random kid who got lost.
Getting caught in this sort of situation was truly the worst.
“Well, I guess I can go with you.”
“It’s no use trying to run away, I’ll drag you along with me if I… have… to… wait, did you just say you’ll go?”
“Yeah.” Only because it’s my only option to minimize the chance of Angela realizing we know each other. If she wasn’t around do you think I’d so willingly comply?
Slightly taken aback, Zale asked, “What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? From my first impression of you when we sang karaoke that one time, you don’t seem like the cooperative type at all.”
I started to walk at a leisurely pace in front of him then explained, “I just don’t like wasting energy. I determined I’d waste more energy by trying to escape is all. I don’t feel like trying to outrun someone athletic like you who’s involved in all sorts of different sports. Escaping would only prove to be futile. As that’s the case, I might as well give up early on and save my energy for a better opportunity to escape where my odds of success are higher.”
Let’s just say I was faster than him, even if that was the case, I was sure he had way more stamina than me with all the sports he was involved with.
“Oh. Not bad. That’s certainly a much better plan than trying to escape here. You’re definitely more cunning than most of the kids from our high school if that’s the conclusion you came to in such a short period of time.”
“It’s nothing cunning, I just know my own limits and I’m a very lazy person. If there’s a way to do something which consumes less of my energy, I’ll do it that way ten times out of ten.”
“Then let’s head over to the faculty of engineering building, the tour meet-up spot is there.”
“Haaaah. Sure, whatever.”
“Do you know where it is?”
“Of course I do. Do I look like an idiot? Do you think I started walking this way by coincidence?”
Zale let out an awkward laugh, “Haha… right...”
“Wait… could it be that you actually don’t know where it is?” I raised one brow and verified.
“Uh… I sort of just got here after all. I was going to ask someone where it was.”
“Why not just pull up the campus map on your phone?”
“I figured it was a good chance to start a conversation with a student here and make a connection to expand my network. I could get them to lead the way there if they weren’t busy while also finding out more stuff about the campus from them along the way. Such as the tougher grading instructors to avoid for lectures for the general university 1 courses everyone takes. But then I came across you and my curiosity as to why you were here got the best of me.”
“When you put it that way, it’s not a bad idea.” Since he has the looks and social skills to make it work. If I tried the same thing I’d just get a bunch of annoyed looks.
It only took a minute to go from the university center to the engineering building. They were right next to each other after all.
When we ascended the stairs to the main level, I took a seat on a couch along one of the walls and said, “We’re here.”
“Already? You’re sure this is the right building? Could you actually just be pretending to know the way when you don’t and you’re too embarrassed to admit you really don’t know how to get there?”
“Huh?” I looked up at him dumbfoundedly from the couch. Is he finding it hard to believe because of how little time it took to get here?
“It’s okay to admit the truth you know. No one’s going to judge you for it.”
“I’m being serious. This is really it.”
“Haaaah. It can’t be helped. I’ll ask someone if you’re too embarrassed to ask for directions.”
“Sure… go right ahead.” I watched him with a strange look on my face. Is he looking down on me? Does he have some sort of superiority complex? Maybe it’s related to him disliking Rosa? He wants to feel superior to me in his mind, that was probably what this was about.
He entered the lineup for the Tim Hortons across from where I sat down and struck up a conversation with a cute girl in line, “Excuse me. Do you know where the engineering building is?”
The girl gave him a strange look as if trying to gauge his intentions. Maybe she was waiting to see what the rest of his pickup line was. Well, it was natural she’d think that considering we were literally in the engineering building already.
