Chapter 2
The next day, I had an early class.
But I barely slept.
Ryan's words kept replaying in my mind all night.
I stared at the ceiling until three in the morning.
Sure enough, I was so out of it in the morning that I ended up in the wrong classroom.
But the bell had already rung, so I just had to bite the bullet and sit down.
The professor was lecturing on physics, the subject I struggled with the most.
After a few minutes, my mind started to wander.
Sophie didn't go to the cafeteria this morning. She said someone would bring her breakfast.
I wondered if it could be Ryan.
I knew it must be.
When Ryan got thoughtful, it was enough to make anyone's heart melt.
I was spacing out, lost in my own thoughts.
Suddenly, I caught the soft, steady sound of a pen scratching across paper from the desk next to mine.
It was quiet, but it never stopped.
Without really thinking, I glanced over.
The guy sitting beside me had his head down, completely focused.
He gripped a pencil, totally absorbed in sketching something.
His fingers were slender and moved so fast, they practically flew over the page.
He was not even taking notes.
He was actually drawing.
He was sketching a series of chubby little bunnies, one after another.
The first bunny sat all alone, ears drooping, looking lonely.
The second was hugging a hollow star, lost in thought.
The third had its face buried in its paws, shoulders hunched in sadness.
*****
My gaze was drawn to his pencil moving across the page.
He kept sketching the same bunny, over and over.
He'd colored its eyes red, with a ring of tears glistening around them.
It looked like it'd been wronged and a little lost.
He seemed to notice me watching him.
Suddenly, he turned, and his gaze shifted to my hair.
He smiled at me, looking genuinely interested.
I froze for a moment, then instinctively reached up.
My fingers brushed against the plush bunny on my hair tie.
The bell rang for the end of class.
I was still in a daze, not really snapped out of it yet.
He pulled the page out of his notebook and slid it over to me.
Then he looked up and raised an eyebrow slightly towards me.
"Hey, this bunny's for you," he said.
*****
Ryan never did things halfway. He was always bold and passionate.
After that dinner, he started going all out to win her over.
Bringing her breakfast every day was just the tip of the iceberg.
There were flowers, gifts, and cute little pastries.
Sophie's desk was always piled high with his surprises.
Our late-night dorm talks always ended up revolving around Ryan and her.
At first, the pain was sharp and intense, but I was just growing numb to it.
"Is that a limited edition pen?" Luna asked, her voice tinged with envy as she eyed the box on Sophie's desk.
"Wow, Sophie, Ryan really treats you like a queen," Luna said, sounding genuinely jealous.
Tina leaned in, her eyes sparkling with gossip. "Come on, spill it. How far have things gone between you two?"
I turned my back on them, pretending to be absorbed in my coursebook.
The pages were crammed with facts and formulas.
But not a single word was getting through to me.
Sophie's voice came out gentle, with a hint of bashfulness.
"Come on, don't get the wrong idea. Ryan and I are really just friends," she said.
Luna, always the blunt one, teased, "Just friends? Then why isn't he giving me a limited edition pen?"
Everyone cracked up.
Suddenly, Tina perked up, like she just remembered something.
She said, "Oh, speaking of which, I heard Alex Reed from the physics department is into Sophie. Is that true?"
Everyone went silent for a moment.
Luna regained her spark.
She said, "Wait, you mean Alex Reed, that genius from the physics department? The one who's all cool and ridiculously handsome? Oh my god, Sophie, are you the main character in a romance novel or what?"
Sophie didn't answer right away.
She bit her lip, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.
"That's not true," she said, her voice carrying a hint of shy protest.
Her voice had a touch of bashful annoyance.
"Don't make stuff up... Alex and I were just classmates in high school. That's all," she added.
Luna and Tina weren't fooled at all by her reaction or her words.
Another wave of laughter filled the room.
I let out a quiet sigh.
I closed my book, deciding to cut myself some slack.
Just then, my phone screen lit up.
It was a voice message from Ryan.
"Emily, could you maybe find out what's really going on in Sophie's head for me?" he asked.
There was a hint of helplessness in his voice.
"Honestly, what do I have to do to get her to say yes and be my girlfriend?" he added.
It was like someone just grabbed my heart and squeezed it tight.
Pain shot through my whole body.
I just stood there, frozen for what felt like forever.
Once I snapped out of it, I just wanted this conversation over.
I quickly typed out a reply and hit send.
[Whatever she wants, just make it happen,] I replied.