Chapter 8: Umbrella Boy the Genius
2349 Words
Chapter 8: Umbrella Boy the Genius
Leslie was eating a take-out from KFC when I arrived at our apartment. When she saw me, she instantly stopped gnawing on her hot shots and stood in front of me. “What happened to you?” she said.
“Oh, I forgot my umbrella,” I excused myself to find clean and dry clothes and went to the bathroom to change. Looking at myself in the bathroom mirror, I realized that I was still wearing Nikolas’s jacket. I immediately checked its pocket and there I saw his school ID. He looks handsome in this picture. Well he looked handsome in real life too though I wasn’t able to look at him for a long period of time. It’s just that I can’t.
I removed Nikolas’s jacket and folded it neatly. I should return this is I see him again. If I see him again, that is. It took a minute or so before I completely freshened up.
“Then why are you smiling?” Leslie asked as soon as I get out of the bathroom.
“Me? I wasn’t smiling,” I thought of Nikolas’s jokes during our meal for a second.
“You’re smiling right now! What happened to your first day?”
“Um, it was not quite good. Can you imagine, I went to my class an hour early so I ended up attending a different class,”
“No way! That’s totally embarrassing,” Leslie laughed and jumped into her bed. She is really energetic right now. “Then?”
“Then nothing,” I answered without a blink an eye.
“Well, your smile looks something. Is it a boy?” My eyes suddenly widened. I can’t believe she’s fishing on me like this.
“What do you mean is it a boy?”
“Then what is it you’re smiling about?”
“I just found a bookstore, be cool alright?”
“Right, a bookstore, huh?”
“Yup. It’s really nice. I had a lot of fun,”
“Okay, alright,” she grinned at me suspiciously. Seconds later, “So who brought you in that bookstore?” I’m beginning to get annoyed at Leslie’s curiosity. How can she tell that I’ve met someone today? Was she some kind of psychic? Or maybe she was stalking me?
“Leslie,”
“Was he the one who gave you that jacket?” I was about to say something but her statement made my mouth stiff and wide open. So that’s how. “Oh yeah, you’re busted. Come on Elois, you can tell your roommate about this kind of stuff,”
“Okay I’ve met a boy,” I gave in. “It was raining and he suddenly showed up and shared his umbrella to me. Then he showed me the bookstore which was actually a restaurant,,”
“Wow, he seems to be a very nice guy,”
“Yeah he is. But…” I suddenly frowned.
“But what?”
“After we ate, we strolled around the town but along the way we’ve got separated and I haven’t found him since,”
“What? How did that happen?”
“I don’t know either. There was a lot of people and somehow he disappeared.”
“Do you think he ditched you?”
“No, I don’t thinks so.” Though in retrospect maybe he did. Maybe he got bored of me, I shrugged off the thought.
“Well if he really is nice, I think he searched for you too.”
“Yeah, I hope so,” I had a long day and I don’t like to overthink the situation so I changed the topic to Leslie. “How about you? Did you have a good first day?”
“Not as much as your umbrella boy but yeah I think so. I found a new friend in class and Jasper and I toured around the campus and I finally met Cole.”
“Oh, wow. Was she nice?”
“She? Cole is a dude. He’s Jasper’s best friend and roommate,”
“I thought Cole is a girl,” I realized that I made an embarrassing assumption.
“Nope. He actually looked quite dashing even though he looked so serious and intimidating. He said that he’s not on a mood for a social interaction and explained that he just visited his dentist due to his toothache and he needs to sleep the rest of the day.”
“Social interaction huh? He sounds kinda rude,”
“Jasper said that sometimes he is friendlier than that,” I chuckled a little wondering how Jasper befriended someone like that.
“You know you should meet him. How about we all have lunch together tomorrow?”
“We?”
“You, me, Jasper and Cole.”
“I guess that’s fine” I acquiesced.
As arranged, after my first class which is College Algebra, I went back to my apartment to meet with Leslie.
“You ready?” I asked promptly. Leslie was powdering her nose when I entered our room.
“Yeah in a minute.” She had set our lunch by 11 but it’s already 11:18 a.m. “It looks like it’s going to rain again. Hey Elois, bring your umbrella this time, alright? Unless if you wanted your umbrella boy showing up again then don’t bring it.” she teased. Thankfully she reminded me so I grabbed my umbrella and shoved it on my bag. I’m getting worried that me and Leslie are becoming so close in such a short period. I know that’s supposed to be a good thing but I don’t want to hope for something too good.
Along with my umbrella, I brought Nikolas’s jacket just in case I see him again.
“Come on Elois, Jasper and Cole must be waiting for us in the lobby.”
“They’re here already?”
Leslie stifled a giggle. “Yeah, they live across the hall,”
I gasped incredulously. “Well that’s convenient,”.
“Yeah,” Leslie and I left our room. As she locks the door, I gazed at the area across the hall where I saw the guy who was checking me out the day I moved. Was that Jasper? Or maybe it's his roommate, Cole.
When we went downstairs, we immediately saw Jasper at the lobby’s couch, reading some magazine.
“Hey big brother,” Leslie stole what Jasper was reading as her own greeting.
“Hey my lovely little sister, I was reading that,” he was about to reach for Leslie’s hand for the magazine when he noticed me. He stared at me long enough to make me feel awkward. “Oh Elois. You’re here. You look pretty.”
Pretty? Was he joking? I’m wearing a plain yellow shirt and a blue skinny jeans. Maybe he finds the banana crazed Minions as pretty creatures because I look like a freaking Minion. How can I be pretty?
“Jasper, stop hitting on my roommate in front of my face, it feels weird. It’s like mom and dad kissing in front. Do it discretely, sheesh.”
“Come on Leslie, don’t be such a kid. You’re in college now.” Jasper wrapped his arm to Leslie’s neck and dishevelled her hair.
“So where’s Cole?” Leslie asked a bit annoyed.
“He said he would come by later. But I doubt that he would really come,”
“Why not?” I asked curiously.
“Well he’s not very comfortable around people. I mean, it took me a whole year to adjust to him. But now we’re good friends.”
“Oh that’s nice,”
“I think it’s already a bromance,” Leslie added in a childish tone.
“Oh shut up,”
Jasper brought us to a restaurant he referred to as the Best Burger Diner In Town which was fair because it it the restaurant’s name after all. Who can argue with that? A lot of people seem to agree to their name since the place was teeming that we even had to to wait for a vacant table.
“Finally,” Jasper rejoiced as he took a seat by the window. Inadvertently, I sat beside him while Leslie sat directly in front. “We should order now or it might take another 30 minutes before we could eat,”
The menus were already set on the table so all we have to do is choose. Well there’s a lot of choices but I was swayed by their claim of their “Best Seller” which is the Epic Bacon Cheese Burger.
“So what would you order?” Jasper asked me.
“I’ll try their bestseller,”
“Alright. I’ll order it for you, my treat.”
“Oh no I’ll-”
“Elois, please. This is my way of welcoming you here and I gotta repay you for helping my sister unpack,”
“How about me Jasper? Are you going to treat me too?” Leslie grinned widely clearly out of excitement.
“Of course. I’ll treat you too,” Jasper went off to the counter and waited in line without me disagreeing anymore. A treat is a treat, anyway.
“Jasper is a nice guy, isn’t he?” I told Leslie.
“Yeah he is. He’s a gentleman and a good brother.” Leslie agreed. “You know you look good together,”
I felt my cheeks got a little warmer. “What?”
“I said you look good together for a couple,”
“That’s really insane Leslie,”
“I don’t know. But I really do see some sparks with you two,”
Now my face feels like burning and I don’t even know why. “Leslie, stop it’s weird,” I said regretting that I opened this conversation.
“Don’t you like him? Isn’t he your type?”
“I-I”
“Who’s Elois’s type?” Jasper asked. We didn’t see him arriving.
“Nothing brother,”
“Oh come on Leslie, tell me please!”
“Elois and I were having a girl talk, so it’s none of your business.”
I’m really feeling uncomfortable about the topic. “You’ve ordered really quick huh?” I interjected.
“No. Cole arrived and he said he would be the one to wait in line and order,”
“Ah Cole’s here! That’s nice!” Leslie clasped her hands together.
“Where’s he?” I asked curiously. To be honest, I’m quite excited to meet him. Jasper who is beside me, pointed at a pudgy man waiting in line. “Oh that’s him, huh?”
“Yeah,” Jasper seconded. “You know, that guy is a genius and I’m not exaggerating. He’s so smart that he graduated a Bachelor’s degree in Physics when he was just 16. And now he’s studying for his second degree in Neurobiology.”
“Woah, that’s impressive,” I commented.
“It’s not only that. He can speak three languages, plays the violin, and knows how to do taekwondo,”
“And that’s why my big brother has a big crush on him,”
“Leslie, would you stop that bromance thing now. I’m just amazed for everything he could do. He’s like a beast,”
“He’s like too good to be true,” I whispered.
“He has one weakness though,” Jasper piqued my interest.
“What’s that?”
“Talking again behind me, huh, Jasper,” a deep monotonous voice joined our conversation. The man brought us a tray of food that we had ordered and he sat beside Leslie, which makes him directly in front of me- face to face.
“Cole, buddy. I’m not talking behind your back. I was giving them a few background about you,” Jasper explained.
“Well, I hope that there is no inaccuracies in your statements or else, I would have been badly prejudiced by them,”
Too late. I already prejudged him badly since I thought that Cole was the corpulent man that Jasper had pointed but he was not. He is a tall Japanese-looking guy with highly dishevelled hair. And all about him was sharp- his angular face, his sharp canine teeth, his sharp stare and now I learned that he also have a sharp mind. I was directly staring at him but I still couldn’t believe it. It’s funny how people sometimes gets attracted to something so dangerous.
“Cole, you know my sister, Leslie,” Cole nodded at her. “And this is Elois, her roommate,”
“Elois,” Cole acknowledged. “I do not have any idea what Jasper told you but I am a bit bothered by you looking at me like I am some anomaly in Biology. My name is Nikolas Yamazawa, nice to meet you.” Cole bowed his head.
I can’t acknowledge.
- Writer
