This choice: The next day, Derek gets to learn more about Yuri. • Go Back...Chapter #5Day 2: Bonding with Yuri by: Unknown Derek made it a priority to wake up earlier than he did yesterday. Taking the bus and entering the nearly empty lecture hall, he found himself 30 minutes early today, and used it to sit in the front row, placing his backpack in Yuri's seat. When she had shown up 5 minutes later, book in hand, he stood up to greet her. "Hey, Yuri! I saved your seat." He didn't really get a chance to compare yesterday, but standing side by side, she wasn't too far off from his own 5'9" height. Probably the legs...
"Oh...t-thank you, Derek. I didn't expect to see you here so early..." she avoided making eye contact as they both sat down.
"Is everything okay? I won't bite, you know." he chuckled, unsure how to respond to her shyness.
"Sorry!" Yuri exclaimed. "I'm fine. I just...I-I don't know why anyone would do something so kind for someone like me..."
"Hey, I'm glad to help out a new student. Speaking of which, how about a tour around campus?"
"I really appreciate it, Derek," Yuri said sincerely, "but I went looking around myself a while ago."
"Did you now?" Derek rested his chin on his fist. "I'm curious then, what did you like the most about it?"
"Ahaha...well, I would be lying if I told you I spent that much time outside any of the libraries..."
"A bookworm, huh? Color me surprised." he laughed.
"I-I hope that's not too off-putting for you..." Nervous, Yuri held her book tightly to her chest.
"Not at all! Would I be in this class if I didn't love reading?" Derek said with a little too much enthusiasm. "Hey...is that a new book?" Did she already read through Descartes?
"Why, yes!" Yuri said, happy he noticed. "It's Lovecraft. I, um-" she hesitated for a moment, "-finished reading all the course material, so I wanted to have something else to read before class."
"Whoa, Yuri!" Derek was stunned. "You must be one hell of a speed reader!"
"It's not that impressive, r-really..." Yuri deflected, "I just read a lot...I'm sure you could do it too with practice..."
"Still..." Derek could sense the praise making her feel uneasy, so he changed the subject. "So, you like horror too, huh? Interesting choice."
Yuri seemed to perk up a bit at the chance to talk about her novel. "I'm very interested in how different authors approach the genre, especially when they're able to subvert expectations and create fear in ways no other author has dared to try."
"Hmm, I haven't read horror in a while. Maybe I'll go to the library and browse..."
"Oh!" Yuri's face lit up with excitement as she looked through her own backpack, pulling out a different book. "How about this? It's Bradbury. People know him mostly for sci-fi, but he certainly contributed his fair share to horror."
"You're letting me borrow it, just like that?"
"W-well, it's nice to find someone else who shares similar interests...and I only borrowed it from the library two days ago, so you can take your time on it! Um, what I mean is, you're probably busy, not that you're a slow reader! N-not that I would care if you're a slow-"
"Hey, Yuri." Derek put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm really glad we'll get to talk about books together. I'll read as much of this as I can tonight, alright?" She seemed elated.
"Okay, Derek! I'm looking forward to discussing it with you."
"In fact, we still have time before class...might as well get started now, right?" Thus, Derek began reading, noting that in his peripheral vision, he could see Yuri taking occasional glances at him. He turned to look at her right as she took another glance, causing her to blush deeply.
"Ah! Sorry..." Yuri looked away, but Derek simply smiled. He continued until class began, and once it ended found himself bidding another farewell to a Yuri in a hurry to leave.
Overall though, Derek was pleased with how things were progressing so far. A little more time, and she might warm up to the idea of a dinner date...   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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