13 The Sketch

Sometime later...

I'm walking down the dormitory corridor on my floor with my wet shirt in hand. After Doris changed into his shirt, he left the room and told me to change my wet shirt as well and head to the dorms to get a fresh set of uniform.

It's a good thing that everyone was in their classes, I wouldn't know what to tell them if they saw me wearing a man's shirt so blatantly. I reach my door and am about to open it when someone calls out to me from behind.

???: Wait!

I turn around and my eyes for wide in surprise.

Ciara:..! Marques?

He's dripping wet from the rain, standing there, out of breath. What's he doing here?

Ciara: Shouldn't you be in class?

Marques: Shouldn't you too?

... He's got a point.

Ciara: I'll make for the lost lectures later.

Marques: Why are you wearing that?

He eyes me suspiciously. Ah, he's referring to the shirt. If I tell the real reason to him, I'll be exposing Doris's secret. I swallow my ethics and lie to him.

Ciara: I was roaming near the training grounds when it started raining and got wet. This is the shirt I keep in my gym locker, I changed into it so I don't catch a cold.

Marques:... You keep a man's shirt in your gym locker?

Ciara: It's comfy.

Marques:... I see.

I don't think that he completely believes me but, I'll give myself away if I continue this conversation.

Ciara: Why are you here though?

He's all wet too.

Marques: I... forgot to get a book.

Ciara: You didn't have to come all the way back.

Marques: Well, I'm a responsible adult.

Ugh, there he goes, referring to me as a kid again! I should get back at him too!

Ciara: But it's fine if you don't have it, you can just share it. Oh wait, you sit all alone,... Mr. Loner.

Marques:....

He squints his eyes at me and I grin back. If it was Kwan, he would've beaten him up. However, he's not even utter a word back at me in return. Meh, it must be because he doesn't want to argue with a 'little girl'.

Ciara: I'll get going then.

I open the door and am about to step in when..

Marques: Wait.

Ciara:..?

I turn to face him.

Marques: Meet me in the library after class.

Oh, right. He tutors me every evening for the past 2-3 days. We both are running late right now so I'll just tell him about the good news in that period, I can't keep bothering him everyday.

Ciara: Okay....

Later...

Kwan: There you are!

I enter the classroom and Kwan announces my presence.

Ciara:..?

What's up with him? I put my books on the desk and take a seat beside Momo.

Momo:...

And there's Momo fiddling with her phone, not actively engaging in a conversation as usual. I twist backwards to face Kwan.

Ciara: What happened?

Kwan: When you didn't come back even after the next class was about to start, Mr. Loner-

Marques:...

*Dong!*

Kwan: -Ow! What is wrong with you?!

Marques, who is sitting behind Kwan, hits him with his textbook.

Ciara: Eh?

Why would he do that?

Hanley: Hah! You're so obvious.

Jake: I know, right?

Momo:....

Ciara: What?

Um, what are they talking about? I don't get it.

Wait, except for Momo, there's one more person who's unusually quiet. Ryan? He's looking at someone.

I follow his line of sight to see... Anna? Come to think of it, he was with her on the opening day too. Are they an item or is it one sided? I don't really like to gossip so I'll just drop the topic.

In the evening...

*Knock Knock*

I knock on Kwan and Jake's door. The door opens and I'm met with Kwan wearing a navy blue t-shirt, his honey brown hair messy. He seems slightly surprised.

Kwan: Ciara? What's up?

Ciara: Sorry to disturb you, I just wanted to borrow your notes.

Kwan: It's fine, come on in.

He ruffles his hair and leads me in. I follow him inside and...

Jake: YOU don't tell ME what to do! Do you think I want this?!... OH. MY. GOD!! You're impossible!

Ciara:..! W-What was that?

I hear Jake scream through the bathroom door.

Kwan: That would be Jake arguing with his boyfriend. It's been going on ever since we came back.

Kwan sighs and shakes his head, frustrated. His boyfriend? That's the first I've heard of it, but Jake and I don't talk much anyway (I mostly talk to Marques, Momo and Kwan).

Ciara: Hold up, our room is just beside yours, but I didn't hear a thing.

Kwan: The walls here are thick.

He hands me his book and I flip through its pages.

Ciara: Thanks... Huh? Did you sketch this? She looks so beautiful!

Kwan: Hm?

It's a small sketch of a woman whose face is partly hidden by her hat on the edge of the page. Her gaze stares far away, looking slightly sad. Hmm, why does she look familiar?

Ciara: Is she one of your models or something?

He peers at the book from behind my shoulder.

Kwan: Uh... yeah.

He plucks the book out my hands with a bitter smile on his face. He closes it and hands it back to me. What's wrong with him? Was it someone he knew? I don't think he'll tell me if I asked though, he looks glum.

Ciara: Thanks for these, I'll return them to you tomorrow.

Kwan: Oh, okay.

He snaps out of his thoughts when I say this. I give him a small smile before leaving the noisy room, still feeling a little uneasy. Who was she..?