Right Here With You

I jerk awake in class to the sound of Professor Martin’s voice asking someone a question at the other end of the class. A girl, who I’ve never seen in class before, is standing and staring back. She clearly doesn’t know the answer to the question and is prepared to stare down the professor for as long as it takes. Good for her. I can’t even maintain eye contact with my best friends for more than five minutes.

George, my seat mate and study partner since first year, leans in towards me and whispers to only my hearing.

“If you fall asleep again, you’ll probably be the next person he’ll call to answer a question.” I smile and mouth a ‘thank you’ in appreciation to him. I can always count on George to have my back and through the years, he has proved himself reliable and trustworthy in every sense of the word.

“Was she asleep though?” I whisper back curiously.

“Nah. But she was on her phone. Really engrossed on it. He just…” George begins and then stops talking abruptly as Professor Martin makes his way back to the podium. Everyone watches as the girl packs her backpack and trudges out of the classroom without an ounce of remorse. She even plugs in her AirPods as she walks out – probably like a major ‘fuck you’ to Professor Martin and the rest of us who are so well behaved in his class.

“Shitface,” George mutters and I giggle a bit. George is a typical poster boy for respect. Being half Asian from his mother’s side, he learned early not to talk when his elders are speaking, to bow in greeting and to apologize quickly whenever he was in the wrong. For all I know, he might not even know the girl who just walked out but he’s still upset because of the way she acted out to our professor. Partly because Professor Martin is also of Asian descent.

Professor Martin starts talking again and pointing to something he has projected on the screen.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND PUBLIC POLICY

I open my notebook for the first time since I walked into this class and write down the topic. He’s already far gone in the slides so there’s little I can do to catch up right now. I’ll just read the slides in my emails after the class. Now that I’ve dozed a bit, I’m more awake now and attentive for the rest of the class.

Finally, by 2:00pm, the class comes to an end and everyone starts getting up ready to leave.

“Please, don’t forget to turn in your assignments before midterms start. Otherwise you will have no one but yourselves to blame,” Professor Martin is saying, while packing up his laptop as well.

“Working today?” George asks, jumping over his desk and landing in front of me. I look up from my phone and nod quickly before returning my gaze back to my phone. I had messaged Nate twice today – early in the morning after my night shift the previous day and shortly after I had gotten to class, and I was yet to get a reply for any of them.

“Earth to Ellie,” George calls, snapping his fingers in my face. I roll my eyes and look up at him, shoving my phone into the pocket of my denim trousers.

“I said I was working today.”

“When are you off? I wanted us to go through Ms. Juliet’s slides later today. There’s a rumour about her giving a quiz later this week or something.”

“Really? I haven’t heard anything like that,” I reply, my eyes popping wide open.

“You probably weren’t even in her last class,” George says, shaking his head. I figure he gets tired of me sometimes but has no choice but to be stuck with me. Apart from my inconsistency in showing up for classes, which he covers up nicely because he signs attendance for me every time whether I show up or not, I must admit I do make a pretty good study buddy.

“I have the afternoon shift at Falcon’s today,” I tell him, crossing my arms across my chest. Some guy walks past us just then and yells out George’s name. George gives him a big smile and gestures a peace sign and then looks back at me, smile wiped.

“So we can study tonight then, huh?”

“Depends on what time I get back from my shift. I should be done by 4 though. Come over to your place?”

“I’m at the dorms tonight. Have a game night with Tony and the boys,” he tells me, rubbing his palms together. I roll my eyes again and nod understandably. A voice yells out his name again from outside the classroom, probably the same person who just walked past us a couple seconds ago.

“Call when you’re done, okay? I’ll be waiting,” he says quickly and runs off leaving me behind.

I fling my backpack over my shoulder and make my way out of the class. I didn’t plan on studying today. In fact, I wanted to see Nate tonight after my afternoon shift which was why I had been texting him all day, but I could not tell George no. It’s been two weeks since our last study session and if I want to do well in the coming midterms, I need to up my game quickly.

I like the fact that George is all about study with me. He still cares about me like a little sister, given that he’s two years older, and his parents adore me, but no one’s getting in our business and trying to match make us or anything of that sort. When I started dating Nate in my sophomore year, he had complained that I spent a lot of time with George and always got upset whenever he called and I said I was with George. I didn’t get why he couldn’t understand that George was my study partner. Over the years, his complains about him had only gotten more but I needed those sessions with George to be able to graduate and a boyfriend was not going to hinder my goal or delay it with his jealousy and insecurity.

My phone beeps inside my pocket and I get it out thinking it’s Nate calling finally. I sigh in disappointment as I see Camryn’s name across the screen.

HEY BOO. GOT A LITTLE FAVOUR TO ASK. DON'T SAY NO, PLEASE. COULD I TAKE YOUR AFTERNOON SHIFT TODAY? GOT A GIG AT THIS JOINT WITH DUKE & WE' RE REHEARSING TONIGHT. PRETTY PLEASE.

Camryn’s a close friend of mine who works at Falcon’s with me. She’s a major in Literature and Creative Writing though. How she ventured into music is what I don’t know, but in my opinion, she’s better off changing majors and studying something music related before she regrets not doing so one day. We’re the only two students from my school that I know work there because it’s far away from the campus. The pay is good and what’s a long bus ride of about thirty minutes compared to those extra bucks?

I want to decline her request so bad because I already have plans lined up for tonight and I’m hoping I can still get out of study early to see Nate. But Camryn has covered for me at work a lot that I feel guilty about giving her a no.

As I’m typing a hearty reply to nicely say I can’t make it citing some half truths about studying for a test tomorrow and a dental appointment, another message drops in and I tap on it reflexively. It’s from Nate finally.

BEEN BUSY. YOU FREE? COULD HOOK UP BY 4.

My heart flutters for joy as I read the text and I fist bump the air. He’s free now and Camryn wants to do my afternoon shift. This must be what people mean when they ask for lines to fall in pleasant places for their sakes.

WHERE ARE YOU? JUST FINISHED CLASS. COULD MEET UP. IT’S ALREADY PAST 3, AND I’M ON NIGHT TODAY AT FALCON’S.

In a matter of seconds, he replies me with an okay and informs me that he’s at the quad where volleyball players train. Not my ideal place for a date, but it’ll do for now. I hurriedly reply Camryn giving her a go-ahead to switch shifts before slipping my phone back into my pocket.

There’ll be no early morning classes tomorrow. I’d go from work to George’s house so we can study and I’ll just message him later tonight that I had an extra shift at work and couldn’t leave early. He’d be too busy playing games with his friends anyway. Life is looking good today. What could possibly go wrong?