Chapter 18
The voice of James‘ roommates felt like a light year away. The world faded away as he focused on the young woman,
It wasn’t until his roommates slapped him on the back that snapped him back to reality. Speechless, they reminded him, “Hey, that’s enough. The town hall is about to start. Don’t stare at her. If you like her, you should get to know her, not stand here and stare.”
They dragged him away, pulling him back to reality. He finally looked away and moved on.
Meanwhile, Colette Evans sensed a pair of eyes on her. She looked in James‘ direction, but he had already vanished into the crowds.
She looked away, puzzled. Her friend, noticing that she was looking around, stole a glance at the university president who was about to walk onto the platform.
Then, the friend whispered to Colette, “What’s wrong?”
No longer feeling James‘ eyes on her, Colette brushed off the feeling as an illusion. She shook her head. “Nothing. I guess I’m just sleepy.”
“You should have gone to bed earlier last night since we have an event today.” Janelle Windsor tousled Colette’s hair. After a pause, she made Colette rest her head on her shoulder. “Since you don’t have classes this morning, why don’t you catch some sleep after the town hall? Rest on my shoulder for now.”
“Janelle, you’re the best.” Colette rested her head on Janelle’s shoulder. After finding a comfortable position to rest in, she drifted to sleep, much to Janelle’s surprise.
Listening to Colette’s soft and steady breathing, Janelle wondered how tired was Colette to have fallen asleep under such circumstances.
Sighing, she shifted in her seat to hide Colette behind her.
The deans and professors rambled on during the town hall. It was already 7:30 am when they wrapped up the town hall.
More and more students filed onto campus. After catching some shut–eye, Colette was fully awake and discussing what was for breakfast with Janelle.
“I shouldn’t have joined the student union if I had known the sophomore members had to attend town halls,” Colette made the remark, which she had made multiple times, with a wide
yawn.
“You’ve said that every time during town hall from freshman to sophomore year. Spare me. You’ll put this behind you when you get your credits from your student union activities.”
Chapter
Janelle looked rather exasperated. Unlike Colette she had listened to the deans‘ and professors
speeches.
Thankfully, that was their final town hall of the semester. They would join the town hall as juniors next time, with fewer responsibilities.
“What do you want for breakfast?” Colette changed the topic with a grin.
Hand–in–hand, the girls wandered to the cafeteria. They did not notice James silently following behind them.
The cafeteria was not packed, which gave them a chance to choose their food carefully. They made one round before deciding to get a bowl of soup each.
The cafeteria lady had given them huge portions, perhaps because of their thin figures. The girls carried the hot soup and searched for a table with much difficulty.
Colette carefully held the bowl in case of spillage. She looked for a seat, but when she turned around, she bumped into a guy who walked past.
