Chapter 7: Chapter 7

He then offered her a napkin. This gesture was the most appreciated one as she didn’t even seem to notice how he’d used his body to shield her from prying eyes.

“You’re sweet. More than I deserve,” she took a shuddering breath, wetness evident as air went in and out of her lungs in trembling huffs. “I just have this opportunity to do something with myself. The scholarship is a full ride for five years. I can read how many courses I want to, they’re all included.” She blew her round nose before wiping the wetness from her eyes with a messy hand. “I know I can do it. I just need to start getting into the groove of things.”

Maybe it was something with the way she’d said it, maybe it was something with the bags under her eyes. But Denis started realising that he couldn’t possibly phantom the sort of pressure Sam seemed to have put on herself. It was too much. She would be like the fireflies, she’d flash bright for a moment, just to flicker and fade.

“Why do you need two degrees?”

Sam looked at him like she didn’t understand the question. “Because I can?” It seemed like she was asking him.

Denis shook his head. “You’ve picked two hard degrees; you can only pick one of them or none of them.”

Sam tilted her head, voice wavering. “What do you mean I can pick one or none of them?”

Denis smiled reassuringly as he laid out the hard truth. “If you go for two degrees, you’re going to burn yourself out and finish neither. Or you pick one degree like a normal person and stop pretending you're some kind of superhuman. You’re clever, nobody is doubting that, but Sam, you’re also just a regular mortal.”

That made the bushy-haired girl start thinking. Her eyes moved back and forth like they were trying to observe the thousands of thoughts flashing inside her mind. Denis just watched her as he saw her face go from sad to determined, to sad again, and then slowly towards bitter defeat.

“Maybe you’re right,” she whispered so quietly that Denis feared he had imagined it. “I do tend to put a lot on myself. Perhaps I’ve overdone it this time.”

“I do think so, love.”

Sam smiled at him. “Well, shit.”

“What do you enjoy the most?” Denis couldn’t help but wonder. “Strange computers or books thicker than your body length?”

Sam’s laughter was like the sun after a rainy day. “I hate law, it’s so boring.”

Denis did a triumphant gesture even as he leaned back, allowing the buzzing crowd around them to spy Sam’s happy face if they so wished. “I’d hoped you’d say as much.”

He once again pointed towards the toga guy a few tables away. “Back to the Greek people. You must join me for the Prom Night.”

Sam’s forehead furrowed. “A dinner?”

“Yes,” Denis smirked. “It’s quite exclusive with entertainment, food, and probably some dancing. Your rugby players are, of course, welcome to join.”

But Sam was quite hesitant. “Aren't those dinners expensive?”

Denis thought of the ticket price to the Prom Night. If you bought them from the student council, they were around four hundred quid's a ticket, but Renea got the tickets for free. “Not at all,” Denis lied. “My friend actually has some to spare, free of charge.”

Sam narrowed her eyes at him like she figured he was full of bullshit. But Denis was used to ignoring questioning eyes; instead, he kept smiling at her, relaxed, unfazed by the scrutiny.

“Right,” Sam dragged out the word. “Nothing is free of charge.”

“Don’t be like that,” Denis nudged her shoulder with his, flashing her a smile – he could be delightfully charming when he so chose. “Join me, or I’ll be dreadfully bored. I promise there will be some more computer nerds coming.”

That seemed to pique the girl’s interest. “From our class.”

“No,” Denis allowed his head to fall into his right hand, elbow balancing on the thick oak table. “I think they were in their fifth year. Steven something-”

“Steven Powell?” Sam’s voice might have risen an octave. “He’s the head of the Computer club. He’s already made two indie games and released his own computer language.”

Denis nodded like he too was very impressed with all of this. “I’ll introduce you.”

Sam seemed to have a hard time saying no after that; her mouth kept curling as she asked about details for this Prom Night.

“Do we have to wear a toga?”

“Yes.”

“Ugh.” She was not a fan, apparently.

“But you’ll come,” Denis pushed in the sweetest of ways, nudging her shoulder with his again. They hadn’t gotten terribly much done in the form of actual studying, but Denis figured they’d have plenty of time for that later. “Please?”

Sam didn’t hesitate this time. “Fine,” she glanced at the clock on her wrist before standing up urgently. “Shit, I’m late.”

“Law?” Denis asked because they hadn’t just talked about this?

“No math.”

“Ugh,” Denis answered, even though he too had math on his schedule. At least he had applied mathematics; Sam probably had something dreadful like theoretical mathematics.

“I’ll come through,” she assured him as she stuffed her bookbag full of papers and computers. “The boys and I.”

“The inseparable trio,” Denis smirked.

Sam shot him a glance, her eyes still a bit red from earlier, her cheeks a bit puffy. She gave him a roll of her doe brown eyes. “Yes, the whole trio.”

She unexpectedly hugged Denis. One second, they were staring at one another, the next, Sam had thrown her arms around him, squeezing him tight against her, making Denis’s face smush into her surprisingly ticklish cardigan.

“You’re a good friend,” Sam told him, her lip wobbling.

Denis wasn’t used to… this. So many genuine emotions on open display for the world to observe. His mother would have been quite horrified. Denis forced himself to smile at Sam instead of an uncomfortable grimace, nodding casually towards the exit of the library.

“Of course,” he told her. “Now off we go.”