Chapter 19 - Michael
On the following morning, Jen was slightly late when she woke up. She ended up rushing through her morning routine and skipping breakfast. As she made her way to the university, she started considering buying herself a car. Her house was not far from the university but after experiencing the convenience of a car when Lucas dropped her off made her consider getting one.
She had chosen to stay there specifically because it was about thirty minutes away from the university on foot, and it took even less time when you drove there. In fact, if she had a car she could get even more sleep in the mornings.
As she walked to her university she put on her earphones and scrolled through her social media. She was wearing a pair of light blue jeans with a white tank top and a light cropped jacket. She also put on a pair of large gold hoop earrings which made her face look delicate and subtle makeup. Her lips weren't wine red as the previous day instead she just put on some gloss so they looked very enticing.
She also had on a pair of sock-heeled boots, and slowly made her way to her university. She was completely unaware of her surroundings since she was listening to music in her earphones. Before she knew it she had already arrived on campus and was about twenty minutes early. She slowly made her way to her faculty building and proceeded to her lecture hall.
Once she arrived, she took a seat and took out her books from her bag to wait for the lecturer. She normally sat at the centre of the lecture theatre, amazingly it was the one place that wasn't too occupied as the geeks sat in front and those who didn't care much for the class sat at the back.
In her row, there were normally about five people sitting there. It was strange how everyone had their own space in the theatre.
She relaxed in her seat as she waited for the class to start and went through her phone. She stumbled upon the conversation she had with Lucas the previous night and she could feel herself get embarrassed all over again.
What was he thinking to send her such messages? How can he be so cheesy? she contemplated. She wondered if he did not feel embarrassed when he even thought of writing the things that he sent her the previous night.
She wanted to text him but then remembered that he had an early day at work that day so she gave up on the idea in case she would be bothering him. After a while more people came to the theatre and surprisingly for the first time since she started attending classes, someone sat next to her during the lecture.
She pretty much ignored him throughout besides the time the lecture would tell them to have discussions with the people sitting next to them, at that point she was forced to talk to him.
A lot of people might misunderstand Jen and think she was very outgoing based on the way she carried herself and even her sense of style, she also physically stood out in the crowd since she was not short, but she was actually reserved and cautious of people, so the guy who suddenly decided to sit next to her during the lesson unnerved her.
It seemed very contradictory to her personality seeing as she slept with Lucas after knowing him for a couple of hours but it shouldn't be forgotten that the only friends she had at the university were Leanna and Nancy.
The lesson proceeded as normal and the professor briefed them on their next assignment that they were supposed to do and finally after a three-hour lecture they were free to leave the class. However before she stood up to leave, the guy who was sitting next to her in the lecture stopped her to introduce himself.
"Excuse me, Hi" he started
"Hello" Jen replied
"I'm Michael," he said
"Yes?" Jen questioned still not understanding why he stopped her. At this point, any normal person would have smiled and let her leave since she was so unwelcoming, but Michael was a bit dense in this aspect.
"I've been seeing you around campus" He continued
"And?" Jen said impatiently but Michael really could not take the hint.
"Can I take you out for a cup of coffee so we can talk in a better environment?" Michael asked as he pointedly looked around the lecture hall.
"I'm busy," Jen said clearly as she picked up her things
"Oh, come on"
Jen ignored him and slung her bag on her shoulder before she left the theatre. She didn't understand why this guy suddenly started talking to her but she was not the type of person to encourage such random behaviour. She went to the cafeteria since she knew it was at this time that Leanna and Nancy hung out there.
She needed a break before she went to the library to study. She could admit any day that she was a bookworm, she was not embarrassed at all. It was also the reason why she hadn't been actively pursued by many people because a lot of the people who would have the courage to confess to a girl like her did not stay in the library.
She spotted the two girls and approached them. Nancy saw her first and stood up to hug her when she reached them. Jen hugged her and sat between the two of them. She gave a brief greeting to Leanna before Nancy started parading her with questions.
"Are you dating Lucas now?" Nancy asked
"No" Jen straightforwardly replied.
"Why?" Nancy asked again grabbing her arm
"What do you mean why?" Jen asked feeling puzzled
"Is it the age thing again?" Leanna interrupted.
"No that's not it, we settled that already," Jen said as she stole the cherry on Nancy's cake.
"Oh, so you're already settling things huh?" Leanna asked
"Don't misunderstand me, we are just seeing each other, we aren't dating," Jen said defensively.
"He has been bringing you to and from campus" Leanna stated bluntly
"He insisted," Jen said defensively making Leanna roll her eyes. Leanna was a very straightforward person and did not understand the etiquette of being considerate to other people's feelings.
She basically lived in a black and white world and tried to clear up any grey areas. So being friends with her was stressful since she did not beat around the bush and was very logical about things.
Even though her personality was like this she had very low EQ and was completely unaware of the fact that Nancy had a little crush on her.