Mastermind

The library's lights were always so dim for Nara, and not in a good, aesthetically pleasing way. Most of the time, it made her head's shadow hover over her disturbingly, although right now, if she was being honest, the dimness couldn't contribute more to her unbelieving expression than the grade result that lied in front of her eyes. Her laptop showed six same alphabets, which is a capital A, plus one huge, eyes-searing (at least for her) B besides a course titled physics. She let out an exasperated huff that could only mean one thing: this is unbelievable. Nara's best friend since day one of college, Jasmine, moved her chair to get closer to her and said, "Now look at you." "Okay guess what, before you scold me for being ungrateful for the As I got in the previous exam, I want you to know that I feel like I did really well in physics." Nara bit her lower lips and tapped her feet to the carpeted floor of the library, clearly feeling irritated. "I was going to say that I got C in physics, if that'd make you feel better." Jasmine shrugged and tugged Nara's shirt, "Let's look for something to eat, shall we?" Nara breathed out the tension her result transcript gave her and tidied her stuff from the library table before following Jasmine out of the building. - "I still cannot believe it." Jasmine sighed for, she believed, the hundred times this day, putting her raised spoon down again, letting the broth of her bakso merged into the pool of steaming broth. She had her attention fully on Nara now, taking her friend's annoyed expression as she nodded to herself. "Okay listen, now you sound so miserable." right after saying that, Jasmine's hand was back to tending her delicious-looking bakso. She opted to forget about her friend's current matter as her tummy needed to be filled very soon, or, she will not be able to give Nara the consolation that her best friend (probably) needed. "I'm not miserable, I'm enraged. Don't you see?" Jasmine, once again, tried to look over Nara's face, "I don't." Nara sighed in surrender and gave her friend the time to fulfill her stomach back since she understood how much food contributes to Jasmine's sanity. The campus cafeteria they were inhabiting wasn't as crowded as it would be during the lunch hour, because in fact, it was 2 hours after lunch. Some of the tables were still filled with people and laughter, although the number was slowly decreasing as most classes took time an hour after lunch, meaning that the students are mostly cramped inside ongoing classes right now. Once Jasmine swallowed the last drop of the broth, she took a tissue from the adjacent empty customer table to wipe her mouth before saying, "A real advice: ask for transparency." Nara's eyes rolled for a while. She thought about the same thing while Jasmine was devouring her bakso. She already knew what her respond should be, "We're barely 6 months in and you want me to, what, ask for transparency?" Jasmine nodded sagely once. Twice. Then she countered, "Right. You're on your own, then." Nara was ready to come up with another argument before Jasmine held her five fingers in front of her face, "Seriously, it's not as if the world's going to end just because you got a B in your first physics test. You can't mourn over your lost soldier forever. Go forward and forget the past." Jasmine's opposite speaker blinked her eyes once before raising both her hands in defeat, "Right. It's just, you know, I've been having this confidence where I know I will get an exact A in my physics but then again, you're right, what can I do." she exhaled, understanding dawning on her now that she realized she expected way too much for her first exam results, which is pathetic, actually. She was going to deal with her unfortunate grade later because right now, she held her hand high up to signal the bakso seller for another bowl of bakso. - On their walk back from an analytical chemistry class, Nara and Jasmine agreed to stop by the department's garden to work early on some assignments. The weather was quite nice, it is no surprise that the working tables were almost full by the time they arrived. The spacious field is called "Icy Garden", and Nara thought there are always certain reasons why that name is so unrelated to the whole place. First of all, the garden isn't exactly a garden. At least not with some nice and sweet-smelling flowers, no. It is more like square tables scattered across an oval-shaped field of grass with facilities that rivals the faculty's library, such as electrical outlets and enough tables that could handle up to 6 people. Second of all, the word icy doesn't really agree with how the students look here. If by icy they mean cold, or cool, just like ice, then what is shown here is definitely not the right definition. Nara swore this field is a place where most frustrated-looking college students tried to run before deadlines caught them. It is where people would stay silent, even when it's located in an open space where outsiders' murmurs blended with the inside of the garden. It is not an exception for people who actually chose this place to eat their meals during break time, they still have the sense to not be noisy among the ever-serious stressed students. Nara and Jasmine walked quietly toward the only table that wasn't occupied, careful to take their steps lightly and avoiding the close grass field beneath their shoes. It is a written law for the students to not step on the carefully trimmed grass, and it is rumored to come from the department's dean himself. Once they arrived at the table, Jasmine quickly sat in one of the planted chairs and opened her notebook to do the work. While being a 1st semester undergraduate in engineering, they don't use their laptop as much as seniors use theirs. It had always been a difference so stark that Nara noticed, especially when all of the occupants in the garden had their laptops on in front of them. People who came across Nara and Jasmine would instantly recognize them as juniors, and maybe that's not a bad thing, except that some of the seniors would openly look at them in a very very condescending way. Not that it mattered more than her ever-existent assignments, anyway. Looking through Jasmine's ongoing work, Nara came up with a thought, "Maybe there is a way to fix my physics grade, you know, for the upcoming finals." "That's more than 3 weeks away, mind you." Jasmine didn't look up from her tiny, meticulous handwriting. Nara has always been amused by how this girl in front of her did those small curls in her handwriting. When Nara thought that Jasmine had finished her sentence, Jasmine added without missing a beat, "And I do know what can fix your grade. Pay attention in class, understand physics problems from that infinite list of examples, and join every tutorial possible. It's not that you haven't done those things in your previous, by the way." Their table rocked hard right after Jasmine said that, a consequence of Nara's sudden hard slap to the concrete wood. Jasmine jolted in her sit, quickly averted her gaze to Nara's, demanding an explanation on why she had to make her carefully penned title be ruined. "You're evil." Jasmine hissed tiredly while also trying her best to conceal herself from the sudden attack of people's eyes that pierced their table. Nara didn't buy her friend's curse and instead, she moved to sit beside Jasmine and forced her to pay attention to her next words, "That's literally my point. I did all of the things you've said but see, the result does not match with what I've done." Jasmine nudged Nara's body to move to her previous position and said, "Your own problem. I need to finish this task really quick before it's pouring." Nara faked an offended expression, thinking that it will buy her Jasmine's attention, but her friend didn't move her eyes from her notebook even for a second. She then took her own assignment out of her bag and joined Jasmine in doing homework. Forget about it, she thought miserably. An hour into the process, Jasmine finally sighed a relief breath that could only indicate that she is done already. Nara responded with an index finger of her left hand in the air, meaning she was about to get there really soon and Jasmine needed to wait for her. "Oh look, there's that smart tutor who taught us physics before exam." Jasmine murmured out of a sudden while downing what was left of water from her water bottle. With the mention of the word "physics", Nara looked up from her work and joined staring at the person that was mentioned. She replied with a quick hum of agreement before going back to her current work. "Kinda hot, isn't he?" Nara shook her head lazily without moving her eyes an inch from her own handwriting. She was almost done, just a bit of sugar-coating sentence to perfect her answer ... "Hold on." Nara abruptly looked up from her notebook when the realization hit, "That's exactly what I need." "What, what do you need?" asked Jasmine curiously while still staring at the conversation happening between some seniors at the neighboring table. Nara clicked her pen, "I'm going to get closer to that physics smart-ass so I would gain the physics knowledge I haven't gotten before." Instead of counteracting her friend's idea, Jasmine replied, "Oh, and that would be a very cute romantic story once you fall for him." she gave her silly smile to Nara now, who was frowning so deeply it sent Jasmine laughing a millisecond later. "I did not say I was going to be involved romantically with him." Nara backed away from Jasmine's face which suddenly got closer and closer to her, still with that teasing smile. "Of course, you and your distaste for anything romantic." Jasmine went to her prior position grinning, "Sometimes your feminism has to go down an abyss for someone like him. Also, I heard he's nice with women." she ended that closing sentence in a whisper, as if caught inside something confidential where only both of them allowed to know. Nara went into a thoughtful stance, not thinking deeply about Jasmine's response but instead, thinking about the possible turn of events that would happen if she eventually goes down that road. A second later, she leaned into the table to get closer to Jasmine and said with finality, "Honestly, if being romantically involved can gain me an A in the next exam, then I would." Jasmine lifted her eyebrows, knowing really well what Nara's words meant. Her grin became a smirk that could only say: go for it, woman. They went back to their seats to tidy up the table simultaneously, preparing to leave the garden soon, now that they have both done their assignments. "What's his name again?" Nara asked between the rustle of notebook and pencil case brushing the bag's surface. "Keza, if I'm not mistaken?" "Keza it is, then." Nara smiled her winning smile, "So, best friend. Do you want to join my car, or?"