As soon as she said February, which was six months from now, I was out.

Literally, out.

I'd packed up all my things and walked out the classroom and went to the library to hide my face and envelope myself in one of the books there instead, using it as my own personal form of escapism and for hours as I read and re shelved a few books i'd forgotten all about it.

That is until I got home, closed the door and reality hit me like a fucking truck.

I had to do a freaking partnered assignment.

With Karsen Krist.

I groaned at that epiphany, dropping my bag down on the floor beside the couch as I went around to get to the kitchen and eat something that was not beyond dead and rotting like that turkey sandwich from earlier in the morning.

I took out a frozen pizza and dropped it to the counter top as I put the heat on in the oven, waiting for it to preheat,

For awhile I just stood there, leaning on the counter, staring out the window, thoughts rushing through my brain till it suddenly stopped on one single person.

Karsen, like Carson, just with an E, instead of an O and a K instead of a C.

What'd I even know about the guy? I tried to think about it as I stood there, finding the information in my head, salvaging and little knowledge I had on him.

I knew Karsen Krist was one of the best football players in this college, but of course I knew that much, everyone knew that much, I heard things like the rest and i've seen announcements like everyone else has.

I knew nothing more about him, all I knew was how he looked.

He had short dark hair, and it was kinda wavy, and I think it just touched his eyebrows, not too short, not too long. He was tall, really tall, inhumanely tal- okay, thats a lie, he wasn't inhumanely tall, just taller than most people I knew but that was normal for most football players.

He had green eyes, that type of green that could come across as lighter or darker depending on the lighting or where he was positioned and actually, he kinda looked like Benjamin Wadsworth, not exactly, but a little bit.

He was rich, he was good at art, good at sport and I think he was almost annoyingly well known around campus.

So to sum it up, he was everyones golden boy, sweet and popular, meaning he was extroverted, thus also talkative.

That's all I knew, which were basically just the nitty gritty facts on him.

And that little knowledge that I had was deemed enough to have me praying that these next six months went by fairly quickly, that we would do well on the assignment, then leave each others lives like we hadn't been there in the first place and that I could continue like it had never even happened.

The thought of everything alone had felt like an inconvenience and we hadn't even done any work together yet.

I shook my head of the thoughts, like it was gonna roll out of me with the simple shake of my head, but before I could think any longer i'd remembered the pizza i'd be putting in the oven, and forced myself to only think about that.

===

The next day was relatively the same as it always was, except that I still wasn't over me leaving my last class the day before as well as the betrayal i'd felt when Ms Dickens had not let me do the project alone.

So instead I went to the library earlier than usual, skipping that last class, now reading a book as I waited for five to roll around till someone came up to the counter and I looked to the guy in-front of me, noticing his evident fluster.

His cheeks were flushed, including his ears, and its not like it particular cold in here, even if the a/c was on.

He was definitely a freshman because he looked deathly afraid right now.

"Hi!" Oh and his voice was squeaky too.

How adorable.

"Hello." I drawled the word out before he cleared his throat as if that was the reason for his squeaky tone, "Do you happen to know where Of Mice and Men is? I couldn't find it."

I shook my head, "All the available copies have been checked out already."

He looked horrified but nodded and scurried away before I could suggest other places to find the novella and I blinked, confused as to why he was clearly skittish till-

"If you're wondering why he was so damn nervous, its because you're kind of terrifying."

I looked away from the boys back as he retreated, getting further and further away from my line of sight and as soon as I turned my head my eyes met mossy green ones, which i'd grimaced at.

No words, just a grimace. Even if he was actually undeniably handsome.

I could control my words, unfortunately, not my face.

"Well thats new."

I blinked at Karsen with an E and K, not knowing what to say to him. Sorry that you're sudden arrival has made me physically pained? That didn't sound any better than just keeping quiet.

"Im Karsen Krist." I know who you are, I thought, but didn't say it out loud, instead I opted for biting down on the tip of my tongue.

"What's your name?"

Why was he talking to me like I was a child? I bit down on my tongue harder than before, not enough to hurt, just enough to not reply with something awfully snarky.

I didn't feel like talking today, I wanted to keep quiet. I didn't want want to talk, not to him, not to anyone. I bit at my cheek now and looked away, looking to the time on the clock that hung on the wall nearby.

It was 4:50pm, just 10 minutes left till I got to go back to my bedroom and assignments and this would all be out of my head again.

Can he leave?

I swear, it's most probably obvious I didn't want to see him, but he was too damn stubborn to take the hint apparently, but I couldn't have made it any clearer, hell, I hadn't gone to my last class of the day because I didn't want to see anyone there in fact.

I wanted to see fictional characters in a world I never be able to live in.

I looked back to him.

Karsen.

I stare at him blankly and I know on his end it doesn't feel like a stare, it probably feels like nothing, like a detached look from something lifeless maybe.

"Okay fine yeah, I do know your name." He declared as if that was what I was waiting for, leaning closer to me, his elbows digging on to the top of the counter and I blinked, not responding once again.

"Adrienne, right?"

Yes. Adrienne.

I give him nothing.

No nod, nothing. But for some inexplicable reason he smiled at me, like he possibly got a reaction but that's impossible, I don't think he did.

I think my face remained passive but right now I couldn't be too sure, maybe my eyes widened a little or I rose a brow or maybe I too smiled.

Or maybe he was insane.

Handsome and insane.

And I was kind of nervous but I didn't show it.

I stared at him and he stared at me and I felt like walking away from this one sided conversation since it was going no where and it was going no where very damn slowly.

I never had many conversations with people to compare it to but I knew this one was definitely weird.

Oh my fucking goodness.

He was still staring.

"Why're you staring at me?" I asked him slowly, still in the same dry tone I always kept my voice in and his eyes that were usually in the darker shades of green seemed to grow lighter.

"So you do talk Adrienne." He said my name easily as he leaned back off the counter and I relaxed just a bit, ignoring how well acquainted he'd made himself with me.

Of course I do talk. He heard me talk to the squeaky mice boy before, did he not? I knew he was only joking but that was what i'd wanted to say, instead for a second I had kept quiet.

"We should get to know each other, six months is a long time."

The last thing I wanted to do was to waste my own time by getting to know Karsen Krist. I could quite possibly think of a hundred other things i'd enjoy doing that would be more productive than that.

I didn't reply to him. I didn't want to.

My jaw felt heavy and my words were stuck at the back of my throat, lodged in a place and I couldn't get it out into the air.

I looked down to my phone to see that it was 5pm now.

Exactly 5pm and that meant my work here was done.

I looked back to Karsen, already standing up and walking backwards to get my bag and leave, "Im sorry, I have to go."