Chapter 2
“Hey big bro! What’s up?!” Noon winked at the new guy.
“Uhh hey Noon… are you okay?” Oil was suspicious.
Aum sat down next to Oil, “She dib the new guy first.” She whispers.
“AGAIN?!” Oil laughed.
“Yea,” She smiles at Noon, “She’s happy.”
“So uhm, are you new?” Noon asked the guy.
“No.” he answers.
“Oh, well I’ve never seen you around before so I just thought you were new.” She flirted.
“Oh geez.” Oil rolled his eyes. “I’m heading back to class. See ya later. Bye Aum.” He said sweetly.
“Bye.”
“My name is Noon, I’m P’Oil’s younger sister, and you are…?”
“I’m…” He didn’t finish.
“Hey sweetie,” a girl pulled his face to her lips, “Ready to go?” she said.
“Yea, I’ll see you guys later.” They left.
“Well that was embarrassing!” Noon protested. “Why didn’t none of you bozos say anything to me that he has a girlfriend?”
“Well…. Fiancé.” One of Oil’s friends said.
“Okay well I’m done here.”
“I’m gonna get something to eat.” Aum head towards the food stand.
Noon caught up with some other friends. They only had an hour break. Aum and Noon had the same class and the same major.
“Holy crap.” Aum accidentally bumped into someone. “I am so sorry.”
“My camera you stupid jerk!” Ken bent down to pick up the broken pieces.
“I didn’t mean to. I’m so sorry.” Aum helped him.
“Watch where you’re,” Ken looks up, “…going.”
“Here,” Aum hands him the lens or used to be, “How can I ever pay you back?”
“It’s no problem. I can get it fixed. I’m Ken.”
“Aum.” She smiles.
“Aum.” He repeated.
She blushed. “Well I’m gonna get a snack.”
“Okay,” Ken still looking at her, “See you around.”
“You too.” She walks passed him.
Aum was sitting in class, daydreaming about a boy she just met. Noon noticed. She interrupted Aum’s fantasy by poking her on her side.
“Ow! Noon!” Aum smacked her arm playfully.
“What is wrong with you?” She laughs.
“Nothing is wrong with me. What’s wrong with you?”
“You! You’ve been buzzed since break. What happened?”
“Nothing…” Aum turns away trying to hide her red cheeks.
“A GUY! Tell me who!”
“He said his name is Ken.”
“Ken…?? Tell me more!!!”
“He’s a photographer. Really, extremely gorgeous.”
“Wait, does he wear glasses and have this stupid black bag that has this weird logo on it? Something like KTW stuck together?”
“Yea, I think so. You know him?”
“He’s this nerd that lives down the street from me. He is really weird. Like super weird. Its funny how you guys never met until now.”
“Is that bad?”
“No, I mean, he lives right down the street from me. You’re usually there almost every weekend ya know. But than again that guy doesn’t really have friends. One time, my mom was trying to hook me up with him and I was totally blech! Yuck! Grossed out! Not in my million years of life I would consider dating that boy! Not ever!”
“Noon that’s not nice.”
“Well, geeky, nerdy, weird guys aren’t for me. They might be for you. But definitely not for me.”
“I didn’t know you were so shallow.” Aum raised one eyebrow.
“Oh come on Aum! We’re 18! Every girl our age wants a guy that’s trendy and able to take out “in public.” Face it, Ken just aren’t one of them.”
The instructor finally made it. Aum stared at Noon’s face. She never knew how judgmental Noon was to people. Ken wasn’t all that bad she thought and Noon was being inconsiderate. When class was over for the both of them, Aum decided to stay after to finish some lab assignments. She was reviewing some notes too.
“Sorry I didn’t know anyone was in here.” Ken backed away.
“No, it’s fine. Do you have this class?”
“Yea, at 8:00am though.”
“Uhm, is there something wrong with me? You’re looking pretty scared there.”
“Oh sorry, I just don’t wanna be around pretty girls,” Ken breathed, “Oh boy.”
Aum laughs, “Come in. Maybe you can help me finish this up.”
“Okay,” He sat down beside her, “What did you need help on?”
She hands him the assignment. “I’m not stupid but I hate this assignment.”
"Let's see," Ken said, clearing his throat. "Number forty-seven is..." He trailed off, writing the equation down on a piece of paper. He slid the paper to Aum and handed her the pencil.
"Let's test this one out." She took the pencil and looked at the paper for all of two seconds before quickly scribbling something down. She pushed the paper back to him and set the pencil down.
He looked down at the paper and then back at Aum. "That's actually right," he said. "How did you...How did you get it that quickly?"
"Absolute value is pretty easy," she said.
Ken looked back to the book and wrote down another problem. As he was doing this, Aum's eyes roamed over his neck that was exposed under his white shirt. When her eyes fell on his black suspenders, she unconsciously licked her lips, enjoying the sight more than she should have.
"Here," he said, breaking her from her trance. "This one is pretty difficult."
Aum took the pencil and quickly began to work out the problem. She set the pencil down again and waited for Ken to check over her answer.
"Okay, here's your problem," he began, pointing to the paper. "Absolute values can’t be a negative. The answer would be no solution.”
“God I feel like an idiot.” She shook her head laughing.
“You’re not; they’re just very tricky sometimes.” He never took his eyes away from her.
“So, you know Noon?” Aum asked suspiciously.
“Woranuch? Yea, she’s a mean girl. She killed my chinchilla just last weekend.”
“Oh my god! How did she do that?”
“She…” he cleared his throat, “drowned it.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry that my best friend,”
“You’re best friend with Noon?” he was surprised.
“Yea, since kindergarten.”
“Oh great! What did she say about me?”
“Nothing mean, besides you’re nerdy.”
“I would’ve guessed something worst.”
“Uhm, do you have class anytime soon?”
“No.”
“Well let’s go to the pet store and we can get you new chinchillas.” Aum insists.
“You really don’t have to.” Ken shook his head.
Aum gathered her things, “No let’s go right now! It’s no big deal!”
“Wait,” Ken grabbed her arm, “Thank you.”
“No problem. It’s the least that I can do for breaking your camera earlier.” She smiles. “Let’s go.”
Ken’s heart begun to thump, his hands were sweaty, and he couldn’t stop smiling. He has a crush on Aum.