Alex sat at the back of the library, a notebook and a pencil in hand. She leaned against the wall with her legs bent upwards as a makeshift table for her notebook. The film scores by Hans Zimmer blasted in her ears. Some days she wondered what it would be like to be a pirate just from the sound of his music.
She had a bottle of water and a packet of biscuits on her right. She probably needed a cup of coffee more but she didn’t really have the option to check if the cafeteria had any.
She put down her pencil to grab a biscuit. It snapped perfectly in half between her lips. She chewed slowly and quietly, a wrinkle of her forehead.
With little time to spare, one would think her Mathematics homework would be more merciful—except she still had about 10 problems left unanswered.
Alex brushed her hands together, switching to an Indian sitting position with her notebook on her crossed legs. She had her head bowed and both hands on her hips.
She blew on her bangs, the music in her ears fading out as it hit the outro. This problem really had her stumped. She probably needed a reference book to help.
Looking up, she searched the shelves around her, reading the titles on her spines. Would it be too much to ask for a book with ‘The Answers to Alex’s Homework’ on it?
“You should have cancelled this one out first.”
Alex jumped at the sound of Logan’s voice. She ripped out her earphones and found him sitting next to her with his legs crossed and his head bowed. He lowered his back to read Alex’s notebook better.
“How did you know I was here?” Alex gasped disbelievingly, “Do I have a tracking device on me?”
Logan snorted in reply, pulling his head up to look at her, “My world doesn’t revolve around you. I’m here to pick out a book for History.”
“This is the Mathematics section.”
“Then, I found you and here I am” he answered so smoothly that Alex doubted if it was true.
“Sure, I believe you.”
Logan winked. Then, he took the notebook and the pencil, “Why are you hiding back here anyway?”
He placed the notebook on his right thigh, erasing Alex’s old solution and replacing it with his own handwriting.
“Who says I’m hiding?” Alex blinked innocently.
Logan paused to show her his raised eyebrow, “For one, there’s a lot of empty tables out front. Second, you obviously need a table to do your homework so why would you make it hard on yourself by not using one?”
“What if I just wanted some quiet?”
“This is the library. Everywhere is quiet plus you have your earphones on. How is that quiet?”
Alex puffed out her cheeks. Why did Logan have to be smartass?
Taking a deep breath, she gave in, “I think a girl was hitting on me earlier.”
Logan bursted out laughing. A number of people hushed him from every direction. Alex checked their surroundings. No one seemed to be close in sight. They probably just sent it out of reflex.
Alex glared at him, smacking his arm, “It’s not funny, Logan.”
“It is though” he replied, rubbing his sore arm.
“Of course, you think so” Alex rolled her eyes and waited for him to get over it.
“Come on, Alex” Logan nudged her side, “You have admirers now!”
Alex groaned and banged her head against the wall lightly. If all admirers were like that then, she’d rather not have any.
“That bad, huh?” Logan said, the corner of his lip still turned up.
“You have no idea” Alex muttered, “Do guys really like it when girls fawn over them?”
Logan chuckled, “Yup, it boosts the ego. Guys are all about egos.”
Alex tilted her head to the side, “Including you?”
“Occasionally” he smiled mischievously and winked.
Alex merely rolled her eyes.
Logan began writing again and moved on to the next problem.
“What were they saying anyway?”
Alex had to think for a moment. She had erased the memory from her mind. If she hadn’t, she might have nightmares in her sleep.
“Something about…” Alex thought out loud, “How I seemed amazing while hitting my shoulder.”
“Oh” Logan blinked, “You meant she hit on you literally.”
“Well, yeah. That’s like a classic move girls do to flirt” Alex explained, scoffing. She had seen Emily do it several times before that became familiar with it.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
Logan licked his lips. Then, he placed an elbow on his thigh and rested his chin on the palm of his hand.
Peeking upwards at Alex, he said, “Then, how about the number of times you hit me?”
Alex responded with a deadpan expression, “That is my way of saying that you’re an idiot.”
He pouted, “And I thought you made that soup out of love.”
“You sure you’re okay to be back in school?” Alex asked, changing the topic.
“Of course” Logan scoffed, “You’ve seen mom. You think she would have let me out of the house if I didn’t?”
“Unless you sneaked out.”
“Nonsense. I’m well-behaved” he pressed his lips together, a serious look on his face, “Listen, Alex… I’ve been thinking.”
“About my Math homework that you stole I presume?”
Logan quickly shook his head, “No, no, no. This is much more important. It’s about that night of the party.”
“What about it?” Alex stiffened.
“Well, I realized I hadn’t been fair to you” he whispered, “I got upset because you didn’t tell me about it when I haven’t even told you where I went. I’m sorry that I didn’t come.”
“It’s fine.”
Alex shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her hands, fiddling with them. Logan reached out to hold them in his own hands.
“How about this? I’ll tell you what I did that night and you tell me what happened, hm?”
Alex looked up to meet Logan’s gaze. He wore a gentle expression on his face. Did she really have anything to worry about? What would be the worst thing Logan could say?
Logan raised his eyebrows at her hesitation, still waiting for an answer.
Alex sighed. It served her no use to run in fear. Whatever Logan had to say, she will get through it. Besides, she wasn’t the only one who wanted to know where he had been.
“Okay. Deal.”
