A bit of campus life.

My classes ended just a bit after noon, but while Eric, Steven, Luna and Ruby were free to leave, I had to wait for my girls to have their final class after lunch. This meant I was alone, and believe me, I have no issues with that.

I didn’t even go to the cafeteria. There was an upperclassman by the entrance to the arts building selling good-looking sandwiches wrapped in plastic foil, so I bought one and went to the arts backyard.

The place was actually really nice. Lots of grass to sit on, and plenty of people were there. There were some marble sculptures, some abstract models made of wood, some paintings hanging from some of the trees… It almost looked they they were trying too hard to look like ‘the art place’ but it seemed like most of those were made by students. There was also a group gathered around with a couple of drums, singing.

Seeing that gave me a bit of confidence, so I found myself a quiet spot under a tree, ate my sandwich and rummaged inside my backpack for a little something. I found my ocarina, the one Thomas gave me for Christmas. I’d been practicing a fair bit, just not as much as with the bass and the guitar. I only knew a handful of songs, most of which were from the obvious game with lots of ocarina songs, but I didn’t bring it out to play known songs.

What Steven said before… It stuck. Maybe I did have some sense for writing songs. Maybe. I don’t fully believe the praise, but it’s true that ever since I had that moment where I felt like I understood music better, writing songs has come more naturally. And with this short verse stuck in my head, I wanted to use this free time to work on it.

With those first five notes as a base, I began experimenting. I played at a low volume, still conscious that I was in a public space, but with some people drawing over there, some others painting over that way, and that big group singing loudly with their drums, I felt like I was in an environment where doing stuff like this was accepted.

Some people walked past and looked my way, muttering to each other or giving me some thumbs up. Others stopped to listen for a moment before moving on. Yet no one interrupted or told me to stop.

…

Huh. Maybe it’s not strange, but I started to realize that I was surrounded with similar-minded people for once. I was always the odd-one-out in high school, even in the music club. Even if some people believed playing music was cool, the fact that I mostly played video game music offset that and made me lame. Here… people freely pursued their art, or at least that was the vibe I was getting this early on.

I played and experimented for an hour and a half, managing to get a full verse I was happy with. I’d probably revise it back home on guitar, maybe start thinking of a bass line to go with it. But I was getting a little tired. I still had some time left until the girls’ last class ended, so I closed my eyes and tried to focus on what I had been playing… only to fall into a very light sleep from which I was easily woken up from when my phone rang.

It was Noelle. I answered the phone.

“Hello?” I said, standing up.

“Hey, we’re waiting by the stairs. Are you near?” she asked me.

I couldn’t hold back a yawn, and it caught me just as I was answering. “I’m still… in the arts building. I’ll be right there.”

Noelle chuckled. “Did you fall asleep?”

“Seems like it,” I said. “I guess I relaxed a bit too much. Anyway, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Don’t run.”

We hung up and I began to make my way to the main stairs. And as I walked and shrugged off the faint drowsiness, I noticed that I felt really good. How long was I asleep for? Fifteen, twenty minutes? When was the last time I had a power nap? Or a nap at all? Hanging out with my classmates was more exhausting than I realized.

I made it to the stairs, seeing Grace, Sarah, Alice and Noelle already waiting there, and the first thing I did was apologize.

“Sorry, I fell asleep without realizing it,” I said.

“Are you feeling well?” Alice asked me. “You don’t normally take naps, right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Having to socialize with new people tires me out more than lifting weighs, apparently,” I said with a chuckle.

Then, without a word, both Grace and Sarah hugged my right and left arm respectively, pushing them well against their chests.

“Um… Thank you?” I said, a little confused. Then I felt it more clearly. A sense of awkwardness, faint guilt, and mostly annoyance. Similar feelings coming from both of them. “What happened?” I asked.

Sarah grumbled. “There’s this guy in my class that keeps trying to flirt with me, even though I’ve been clear I have a boyfriend. He hasn’t stopped.”

“And someone outright asked me out on a date,” Grace said, tightening her hold on my arm. “I said no and he said he’d ask me again tomorrow.”

“...” I narrowed my eyes and grumbled. “I knew this would happen. You’re all too beautiful not to get hit on. But that they keep insisting after being told no? I don’t get it.”

“It happens more often than I’d like,” Sarah said as we began going down the stairs, both her and Grace still holding on to my arms. “A lot of guys think they’ll get you eventually if they just keep trying.”

“But you told them you’re in a relationship already!” Noelle said.

“They clearly don’t care,” Grace said. “The guy who asked me out is… good-looking. He’s clearly not used to being told no. He’s also… pretty friendly. He’s only annoying when he’s asking me out or flirting. Plenty of girls in my class are already falling for him.”

“But of course he had to obsess over the girl who doesn’t want him,” Alice said, groaning.

“I bet that’s part of it,” Sarah said. “Some people, men and women, see it as a competition. Getting someone away from their partner ‘proves’ they’re better.’

I heard it in the back of my mind, like an idea, a wordless whisper. Frey was chipping in. “And no small number of people get turned on by the idea of sleeping with someone taken.”

“There’s that, too…”

Grace gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You’re not worried, huh?” she asked with a smile.

“Worried, yes,” I said. “Worried that these guys will keep annoying you or worse. If you end up being interested in them, though, then… as uneasy as it makes me, there’s nothing I can do.”

“...”

There wasn’t much else to say about it, and no point in feeling jealous. Our relationship was clear. Selfish and one-sided as it was, I didn’t want the girls to see other men. We’d talked about it at length already. They knew it and accepted it. From then on, it was out of my hands. I could not, nor would I even try to keep the girls from talking to other people, even if there was still some unease deep in my chest.

Grace sighed and put her head on my shoulder. “When did you grow up so much? You used to be such a nervous mess. Now I feel like you’re more mature than I am.”

“Don’t worry. Nothing’s happening and you know it,” Sarah said, interlocking her fingers with mine. “Just some annoying guys, nothing new.”

“Have you gotten hit on, Oliver?” Noelle asked me.

“Um… A guy asked me out on a date, but he backed off when I told him I was in a relationship.”

The girls snickered. “I’m surprised that doesn’t happen more often,” Alice said. “Men hitting on you, I mean.”

I'm sure Frey’s power had at least a bit to do with that.

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