Oh, she bites!

"Data Science Exam, 03.05.2000 10 AM Prof. Thomas Clark Please bring no more that two pens” “I bet you'll need five” said a young man, smiling as he looked at the paper hanging on the door. “My heart would stop if I drank that many,” she said. “This is unusual, Jenny. When did you become so stressed about the exams? You used to enjoy it!” he said. “Well, I guess you are normal after all, huh?” “Yeah..” she didn’t even pay attention to the conversation anymore. Something was happening to her. She could feel it in her whole body, almost smell it with her nose… The scent of her own... fear? Jenny never felt this way during the exams. It was her favourite part of the year, when she was praised and noticed as the best student. She got to spend more time with her notes and books. She could stay late at the computer lab and no one was casting her out. All the time she devoted to study was justified. No thinking about anything else. No worries about the things that she left behind the wall of the dormitory. But not this time. This time something made her distracted. She turned and went down the wide, wooden stairs. “Have a good night!” said Sam, looking at her leaving with no word. “Odd girl” he growled to himself. “Always has good notes though.” “Three coffees should do it,” she thought, walking out of the building. The fresh air hit her with the sweet scent of cherry blossoms. They always bloomed when the exams season started. As if nature wanted to comfort struggling students that were running between the University buildings. Jenny headed towards the bike cafe that stood right under her favourite cherry tree. The guy working there smiled widely when she approached. “Hello braid girl!” he shouted over the crowd. “Same as always?” “Not this time, tea wizard. This time I need something stronger” Jenny smiled as he raised his eyebrows. “Oh man, keep quiet then. You don’t want anyone to know that the best student does drugs!” “Drugs? What are you talking about?” she asked, surprised. “Oh I mean.. Sorry… Um, that was supposed to be a joke. You know, coffee is a drug, kind of, right? I guess not… haha...” he muttered nervously. “Oh yeah, right, totally a drug, yeah. I will have three. Dark, please.” Jenny could see him blush. She felt sorry for this guy. Everytime he tried to ask her out but it would always end up awkward. This was uncomfortable for her but she kept buying tea at his bike cafe since she didn’t want to upset him. “Poor man…” she thought. He was trying to cover the cups when the wind blew harder. Cherry petals danced around the place. “Oh man… I’m hopeless” he whispered numb to himself, watching a number of cherry flakes floating on the coffee surface. “It’s okay! Really, don’t worry about that!” “Well.. I guess you don’t need any sweetener now, right? Haha... ” he tried, but Jenny silently put the cups into a cup holder. “How much?” She thought she should seriously consider another tea place. *** The dormitory was placed on the edge of the campus. It was normally a party place, but the exam season affected everyone and everything around. Now it was quiet and dark, almost as if no one really lived there. Her footsteps echoed loudly through the long corridor on the third floor. She knocked in the rhythm of their favourite song. The door opened and a young girl with wide glasses stared at her irritated. “Don’t you ever use your keys, madame?” “Sorry.” She went into the room spreading the coffee scent around it. “Three? There are only two of us you know. Besides, since when do you drink coffee?” asked Laura as she closed the door. “No, those are all for me. I need to focus on this exam Laura. Really focus.” “Still something bothering you?” Laura looked at her with her green, bright eyes. She was really worried. Her roommate and best friend was going through something and she couldn’t help. She had no idea what was happening. It was going on for almost two weeks now. She would find Jenny wake up in the middle of the night, sitting on her bed with head in her hands. Sometimes she would sit there holding a book, but Laura could tell she is not reading it as her eyes were unpresent, almost covered with mist. “I think it’s the exams. I know I would never feel like this, but maybe this time it hit me you know? What else could it be?” “Maybe. No idea. We talked it over for the past days. I can’t think of anything else. I told you you could see a doctor.” “Oh, come on” Jenny rolled her eyes. “You see, you get easily irritated lately! I’m telling you…” “Okay Laura, I heard you the first time, you know. I’m sorry, alright? I need to study now. I really hope this coffee is going to be good when it’s cold...” “Planning to stay up the whole night?” “Don’t worry, I’ll go downstairs. Just wanted to grab my laptop and say hi.” “That’s fine with me. You don’t need three coffees, you will give yourself a heart attack.” She grabbed one cup and took a fine sip. A large smile covered her round face. “I bet he made a coffee joke, didn’t he?” Jenny looked at her with an uneasy face. Laura smiled even wider. “Of course he did!” “Yeah, something about the drugs. And sweeteners. That was too much even for me”. Laura chuckled and took another sip. Her smile faded. She took out something from her mouth. Jenny couldn’t resist laughing. “What is this?!” “That will be the sweetener. Time for me.” Jenny grabbed the cup holder with two coffee cups left. “Enjoy your coffee!” *** The armchair was comfortably warm and soft. She leaned on it, holding her laptop on her lap. Eyes felt heavy but she tried to resist and focus on the examples she was going through. The clock hanging on the wall seemed loud, almost disturbing. Jenny looked up and yawned. “One more hour. You got this, Jenny.” It was already 3 in the morning. The old chandelier buzzes silently, struggling to keep up this long. *** Knocking on the door woke her up. It was loud. It didn’t match the usual rhythm. She dived deep into her blanket but it didn’t stop. Laura sat on her bed angry, but still barely conscious. “I swear I’m gonna sew those keys to your…” she said, but then something hit her. Jenny would never knock this way. She stood up and came closer to the door. “Who is it?” “Jenny?” a female voice asked loudly. “Jenny, open the door!” “Jenny is downstairs, who is it?” There was no answer, just loud footsteps outside. The girl was running downstairs. Laura sighed. “People do crazy s**t for her notes” she thought, going back under her blanket. She closed her eyes and fell asleep. *** Jenny could hear someone running down the stairs. A tall girl looked at Jenny's face angrily. “Okay nerd, we have to go.” “Excuse me?” “There is no time, allright?” she approached her quickly. “They are fuking close right now so we need to go. Now!” The girl grabbed her hand and pulled her. Jenny resisted. “Is this some kind of initiation? I didn’t sign…” “Look, Blondie, I don’t have time for that. Are you going with me or will you let them take you?” she released her arm and stared at Jenny. “Take me where? Who? What are you…” “That’s what I thought. Now let’s go!” she yelled and pulled her again. Jenny ran behind her, stumbling over the stairs. She tried to free her hand but the tall girl was stronger. When they approached the dormitory door she finally took back her arm, breathing fast. “Who are you?” “Call me Hannah. Now come, we don’t want to be seen.” Hannah headed towards the door, but Jenny stood still, totally confused and angry. Hannah stopped and looked at her. She raised her eyebrows with contempt. “Fine. Do as you wish. Let them play with you, Blondie” she said and went out of the dormitory. Jenny looked at her leaving, still confused. “What…?” A second later, a wave of fear went through her whole body. She felt as everything in her ordered her to run. Her head went numb, she could feel chivers at her arms. Her legs were tense, ready for escape. Even though she didn’t understand it, Jenny knew what she had to do. There was no time to hesitate. “Wait!” she called loudly and jumped into the night outside.