Next To You

4

Another day, another Philosophy class.

Jade just arrived in their classroom. She took her seat at the second row, second from the left. She placed her bag on the floor, eyes darting across the room as students filtered in. Neil arrived a few moments later, his hair a little damp from the rain, sketchpad in hand as usual. Then he sat down beside her.

Their professor walked in late, looking flustered and distracted.

“Good morning, class,” he said, clearing his throat. “I hate to do this, but I received an urgent call from my family, so I have to leave for today. No formal class discussion. Just take this time to rest or review.”

Mixed reactions followed, some disappointed groans, others quiet cheers.

Jade leaned back in her seat and unlocked her phone, letting the screen’s glow replace her attention. She scrolled absently through photos, messages, and memes; anything to pass the time. Out of habit, she glanced up.

Neil was sketching again.

His pencil moved with steady confidence, capturing something invisible to everyone else. He wasn’t looking at the paper the whole time, he would sketch a few lines, glance up, pause, sketch again as if he is sketching from reference. Jade followed his gaze.

And then his eyes met hers.

He didn’t flinch. He didn’t look away.

Jade stared back, narrowing her eyes a little, unsure if it was a challenge or a test. She tilted her head slightly, as if to say, what are you looking at?

Neil blinked once, then tilted his head mirroring her. “What?” he asked, his voice soft and sincere, no teasing in it. “Why are you looking at me?”

Caught off guard by how genuine he sounded, Jade straightened her back in her seat.

“I should be the one asking that” she shot back.

He only smiled and tapped the end of his pencil lightly against his sketchpad.

Jade hesitated, then spoke. “So… you like sketching?”

Neil nodded without missing a beat. “Yeah. It’s my hobby. Actually, more than that. It’s my passion.”

Jade furrowed her brows. “Huh? Then… why are you even in STEM?”

His pencil paused mid shade. He looked up at her, thoughtful. “Because my dad really wants me to become an engineer. So I figured… okay, I’ll become one. Finishing STEM is a step toward that.”

Jade stared at him, as if trying to read the truth between his words. “But… what about your passion?”

He shrugged. “I can still enjoy this while studying engineering. Right? It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.”

There was something about the way he said it, almost convincing himself more than her.

Jade opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything, Shery poked her beside, phone in hand and eyes pleading.

“Let’s go, Jade,” Shery said, tugging lightly at her arm. “I need coffee. I was late and didn’t have time to grab one earlier. I’m dying.”

Jade glanced back at Neil, who was looking back at his sketchpad again, half smiling like the conversation never happened.

She didn’t get to say goodbye. Shery was already pulling her out the door.

The school cafe was quieter than usual, probably because most students were still stuck in class or hiding from the rain. The warm aroma of brewed coffee and toasted bread greeted them like a warm blanket.

Jade hadn’t planned to buy anything, but the thought of their upcoming lab session; soap making, plus a two hour Biology class already made her feel like falling asleep on the cafe floor. So she ordered a cup too.

They sat at a four seater table tucked near the cafe’s glass wall, where the rain painted blurred streaks on the outside world. Cassie and Trish joined them a few minutes later, setting down their iced drinks and pastries.

Shery took a long sip of her coffee and sighed dramatically. “This is what heaven tastes like.”

Cassie laughed. “You say that every time we come here.”

Trish was already halfway through her cinnamon roll. “No judgment. I agree.”

Jade, however, was quiet.

She stared into her coffee cup, steam fogging her glasses a little as her thoughts drifted again back to Neil’s sketch, the softness in his voice when he said it’s my passion, and the way he seemed so calm about giving it up.

Cassie leaned forward, nudging her with an elbow. “Hey. You’ve been zoning out since we got here. What’s up?”

Jade blinked. “Huh? Nothing.”

All three of them gave her the same unimpressed look like they are unconvinced with what she said.

“Okay, fine,” Jade sighed, rolling her eyes but unable to hide the slight smile. “You said you were groupmates with Neil last year in Chem Lab, right?”

Cassie and Trish exchanged a glance. “Yeah” Cassie replied slowly.

Jade stirred her coffee with the straw. “Is he really… like that?”

“Like what?” Trish asked.

“Like…” Jade paused, searching for the right words.

Cassie raised a brow. “Like??”

“Like he doesn’t care about what he got himself into,” Jade said finally. “I mean, he’s obviously smart and he’s got so much random knowledge that it’s annoying, but he doesn’t seem that into what we’re studying. Not like us. He even told me he’s only doing this because his dad wants him to become an engineer.”

There was a short silence.

Trish’s eyes widened a little. “Oh. He already told you about that?”

Jade nodded.

Trish leaned forward. “Yeah. He told me last semester that he really wanted to take up Multimedia Arts in college. But since his dad’s paying for everything, he feels like he has to at least try to fulfill his dream for him.”

Shery frowned. “Oh, that’s sad.”

“Yeah, it is” Cassie agreed, sipping her drink slowly. “He’s a really good artist. Like, legit good. He used to sketch on the back of our lab worksheets all the time. They looked like they belonged in a gallery or something.”

Jade didn’t say anything at first.

Instead, she looked out the cafe window, watching the raindrops trace lines down the glass. Something inside her shifted quietly, but unmistakably. It wasn’t just interest anymore. It wasn’t even curiosity.

It was something closer to… urgency.

She didn’t know Neil well. Not yet. But the thought of someone like him who had a real, beating passion and being pulled away from it felt deeply, unshakably wrong.

She thought about how easily he had smiled, how casually he had said “I can still enjoy this while being an engineer”, like it was enough.

But it wasn’t. She knew it wasn’t.

As her friends continued talking about upcoming deadlines and their lab prep, Jade kept her eyes on the window, her heart beating faster. She don’t know if it is from the caffeine or if it is because of Neil.

For the first time in a long time, she felt something stirring, an invisible thread tying her to someone else’s dream. And a quiet, persistent voice inside her whispered:

Maybe I could help him see what he already knows. That this, his art, isn’t just a hobby. It’s what he’s meant to be.