The Variations by Jones M (christmas read aloud txt) 📖

Chapter 12

"Hey, Kate!" Chris greeted with a grin as he made his way to their usual spot in the library. Marie had a large book that she was using for her class essay when she spotted him.

It was a Thursday. The lecturer had not come in on that day, and Kate had made quick work of going to the library to focus on her project and her essay that was due in a week.

Seeing Chris made her blush as feelings of shame overcame her. She still remembered what she had seen on the previous day. The image of a groaning Chris with a girl sucking him off was still fresh in her mind, and it made her worry about how she could act around him without him knowing what she had seen.

So she chose to ignore him, continuing with her work.

"How have things been?" he asked once he had settled opposite her, taking out his laptop and switching it on. He was still ignored.

"Kate?" he called out in confusion. "What's wrong?"

She looked up at him, seeing the furrowed eyebrows on his face.

Kate was mad at him in spite of what she had seen on the previous day. He had made her concerned about his well-being when he was actually at his home. In his bedroom.

With a girl.

It also angered her that he didn't even call to tell her about missing classes.

With a sigh, she shook off the thoughts. She felt it was ridiculous to act that way. Kate thought she would be bugging Chris if she questioned his absence. He had a life, and he had a choice if he decided to hide some stuff from her.

She tried to tell herself it didn't matter, even though she and Chris had only been hanging out for about two months. She thought that doing the group project with him could label them as friends. Maybe they were friends and she was just being nosy. Marie had no idea how he would act if she questioned about his private life. He could call her out on it, so she decided to drop it.

"Nothing," she answered. She sighed, flipping the page of the book in front of her.

"It does not feel like nothing," Chris commented. "I can sense that something is disturbing you. What is it?"

"Chris, it's not a big deal," she tried to maintain a straight face. "I'm just tired, and I have this after-class assignment to work on."

Kate returned to her books, but all the while, she felt Chris staring at her. She angled her head to face him, noticing the frown on his features.

"What?" she asked.

"You are lying," he commented, making Marie sigh. "What is this about?"

"Chris, nothing is wrong. I'm just tired," Kate repeated, all to no avail.

"Is this about the days of class I missed?" he suggested, but Kate did not reply to him.

"It's about that, isn't it?" he stated, shocking Marie.

"How--?"

"Your face betrays your emotions," he smiled, making Kate eye him in unamusement.

"Chris, let's not talk about this," she said.

"But I want to," he opposed. "Look. I'm sorry about it."

"You don't have to apologize--"

"But I do. I hadn't noticed how much our relationship had grown over the past weeks."

Kate did not mean to do it, but she found herself blushing at the words.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything, Kate. I thought it wouldn't matter if I didn't come to class without anyone knowing."

Kate was tongue-tied for a moment.

"I was worried about you," she confessed. "I thought something had happened to you--"

"Aw, you missed me?" Chris cut her off with a grin.

Kate's cheeks turned red.

"Sh-shut up!" she said, quickly directing her attention to her books while Chris laughed.

The two stopped speaking for a while, turning their attention to their stuff. It was after Kate had finished her assignment when they started talking again.

"So, what did you do yesterday?" Chris asked. It was a question she was dreading. Without another thought, Kate accidentally dropped her pen.

"Oh!" she sighed, ducking to reach for it.

"I didn't do a lot of stuff," she said, having reached for her pen. She was flustered by then. There was no way she could answer that question while facing Chris. He would notice the color in her cheeks, and he would get the truth from her.

"I just watched a movie," she continued, still reaching for her pen. "You?"

Kate wanted to hit herself for asking that. They both knew what he was doing, but Chris didn't know that she knew.

"Just had another lazy day," he said, and Kate caught him shrugging as she turned to face him.

"Oh. Lucky you," she replied, managing a bored look.

"You know, we could do it," he said.

"Do what?"

"Skip classes."

"Wha--" Kate stopped herself short, and she wanted to hit herself in the face. Of course, he had been skipping classes for the last three days. It felt tempting, but Kate was hesitant to do so, mostly because she was afraid of ruining her college credits.

"Chris, I can't do that. We are in college!"

"Exactly," he said, rubbing his hands together like an evil mastermind.

"Bu--"

"Not tomorrow. I'll check for the best day," he assured her. "Are you in?"

"Chris, I've never skipped my classes."

Chris blinked at her before asking: "What?"

"I only do it when I get sick."

"Kate, we are in college," he deadpanned.

"Exactly!" she threw back at him.

Chris sighed. "Alright. We are going to skip a class one day."

"But--"

"We will go out, have fun, and even eat a lot of food. What do you say?"

Kate could not ignore the look he was giving her. She sighed before replying with a "Fine."

Chris smiled in reply.

"You won't regret it," he promised.

Kate surely hoped she wouldn't.

 

Chapter 13

 

Another busy week had passed. The days remaining until the end of October were few, and Halloween was around the corner. The students around the university were buzzing and anxiously waiting for it. They had already prepared the decorations, putting them all around the campus grounds. There was no place anyone could avoid seeing either a ghoulish pumpkin or some stuffed, frightening monster.

"This is so exciting!" Gwen grinned. "I can't believe how close we are to Halloween!"

Kate chuckled at her friend, observing the way she was acting about the holiday. They were in their dorm. The sun had set hours ago, and the two were preparing to go to a party that was being hosted nearby.

It had not been quite a battle for Gwen to convince her friend to come along. Kate felt guilty for having spent most of the past weeks with Chris ever since they had started their project. Even though Gwen had said it was okay whenever Kate turned down a party invitation, she still felt that she had to make up for that.

It was how she found herself applying makeup after wearing a blouse that matched with a black skirt to prepare for the party. The attire did not hide her legs. Kate thought it was a bit revealing, but she decided not to think too much about it.

"Are you done yet?" Gwen asked, earning a nod as a reply from Kate. "Good. I want us to reach there early enough before someone can spike the drinks."

Even though it was a rare occurrence, some people had the tendency to put drugs in shots and any other alcoholic drink during a party. Gwen and her friend would usually go to the kitchen of the house party when they knew the owner. However, if they were going to a party hosted by someone they didn't know, like the one they were heading to, they would have to be early.

Talk about a pain in the ass.

Kate decided not to complain, seeing that she had missed being around her roommate for the weeks that had passed.

Seconds later, she and Gwen found themselves walking away from their apartment. Clouds had covered the sky, and were it not for the street lamps in the area, the two would have been walking in darkness.

"So, how is everything between you and Chris?" Gwen questioned.

"Eh, okay, I guess," Kate shrugged. She did not want to have the conversation about her project partner, knowing that her roommate would tease her about him.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," Gwen replied. A few seconds of filled with heels hitting the ground passed before she added: "It seems like you two spend an abnormal amount of time together."

"We are doing it for the sake of the project," Kate went to deflect the subject. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Even when you are in the dorm, I notice you spending time on the phone chatting with him."

'Uh-oh,' Marie thought. 'How did she find out?'

"It's okay if you are dating," Gwen added, and that had Kate frozen in shock.

'Dating?'

"We aren't dating," she said. Her friend replied with a doubtful look. "I'm telling the truth!"

"With the way your cheeks are acting right now, I find it hard to believe you."

Kate wondered if she was blushing again, but seeing the smirk on Gwen's lips confirmed that to be true.

"Look, Kate. I find it great that you are dating him. I'm happy for you."

"But we are not dating!"

"Not yet," Gwen added, earning a bored look from Kate. "It is bound to happen."

"I can't date anyone," Kate sighed. "You know my history with guys."

"I'm sorry, but the guys you dated were assholes. Even that nerd in your sophomore year."

Kate grimaced at the memory of the guy she had dated a year ago. It could have been his constant Grammar Nazi tendencies, but it was mostly his 'better-than-everyone' attitude that broke their relationship.

Specifically, he had looked down upon the course she was taking in the university once she told him about it.

"I can't disagree with that," Kate admitted.

"So date Chris," Gwen stated, earning a sigh.

"Why are you pushing this?"

"Because he is a good guy. I've seen you act all giddy and happy when you are around him. I mean, you've known each other since high school--"

"But you know our history," she pointed out.

"Yes, Kate. But that is history. Emphasis on 'history'. Why are you hesitant toward this?"

"Because I don't know how I really feel about him," Marie replied, suddenly feeling aware of what she had confessed. "I can't start dating him all of a sudden. We just got over what happened in high school, and I've won him as a friend. Even if I develop feelings for him, I still can't date him. We're doing a project that costs more than half of our semester grade. What if I ruin all that?"

"Kate, you may not know how you feel about him. But with the way you look worried right now tells me you care about him."

"Gwen--"

"It's okay to date him, you know? Who else have you