Chapter 100

" Oh hi, you're here. " He seemed relieved. I walked over to where he was, glad that the phonecall the previous day had made me get used to him more. I smiled, stretching out my hand to greet him only for him to ask why I was being so formal, then he gave me a rather quick hug. I didn't return it since I had been caught too off guard, but he didn't seem to mind. 

" I didn't know you'd be coming by, " I said as I tucked both my hands into my pockets and took a slight step back. He looked around, then he said he had gotten some free time after recording and decided to pay me a quick visit. 

" Something seems different in here," he commented, looking around once more. I narrowed my gaze, wondering what he was referring to. 

" Those two shelves have been moved. They were over there, right?"

I let out a short laugh, wondering how and why he had noticed such a tiny detail. 

" That's right, we thought it would be more efficient that way, there's more space in-between the racks now. "

" I agree. "

I slowly nodded as I looked away from the area where the change had been made. Chelsea had been the one to suggest it and I hadn't had an issue with it. Honestly, I thought it had been fine just as it had been but that was probably because I didn't really care much about the organizational perfection of the store. I walked around the counter, leaving that little door open for him to follow behind. He however didn't seem to get the cue and remained standing on the other side. 

" You can come and sit down here if you like, "

" Oh, thanks. "

He came over to my side and occupied the vacant seat right next to mine. Then he began tapping his hands on the counter casually. 

" Is that Physics?" He gestured to the books before me and I told him it was. Then I watched as his eyes widened a bit. 

" Which topic?" 

I frowned but replied either way. 

" Electromagnetism. "

He seemed even more fascinated, his eyes widened further in what I could only term as excitement as he took my textbook and began going through it. 

" Gauss' Law?" 

" Yeah?" 

He looked over at my notebook, studying it for a while before he pulled it closer as well. 

" Have you finished integrating yet?" 

" I haven't. "

I didn't even know why I sounded so cautious. I suppose he had taken me by surprise. I didn't mean it in any offensive way but I had assumed he had dropped out of school when he became a successful artist. But clearly I was wrong. It was either that or he was just very naturally smart. 

" Can I help?" 

He sounded so eager there was no way for me to say no. And it was very rare to find someone that was that excited to study with me....Jenna aside. So I decide to just take the chance. Plus I figured it was also going to ensure there wasn't any awkwardness between us. And perhaps through that we could even become better friends. That was yet another thing that was happening which I had never known I needed. To study Physics with one of my favorite singers. 

" Let's see, " he muttered to himself before he began reading the question. And once he was done he asked me to help me with my pen and moved slightly closer. I had been okay with the previous distance but I once again prevented myself from overthinking. Nothing good would come out of it and I didn't want to make wrong and silly assumptions. 

" That side is a total derivative, " I briefly explained on noticing he was still trying to wrap his head around it. And I wondered whether he actually understood what that meant so I decided to explain it further, but he talked before I could do so. Proving that he did infact understand exactly what was happening. 

" Then we can use the divergence theorem, right? "

" That's right. "

"Let's convert this to an integral over the surface S first. "

He was on some sort of a roll. You could easily tell that he was enjoying whatever it was he was doing, and as a result I ended up enjoying it as well. 

" Oh my God! That wasn't the radius was it?!"

" No! It's twenty seven. You literally found it like a minute ago. "

" It's a good thing I didn't go too far, we'll just pick up from here. And how come you didn't notice, are you really following?" 

" You seemed like you knew what you were doing. "

He scoffed, then laughed and canceled out the error. 

" I hate cancelling out things. "

" Here, I'll rewrite it with a pen later on," I handed him a pencil which he gladly took. 

" When is this due?" 

" It's for extra credit actually, "

" Damn! I like that. Hey! How are they equivalent-Oh! nevermind, "

It was weird because in a lot of ways, he was like me. Even in terms of how he did things, like that question for example, he was tackling it the same way I would have. Taking those tint breaks to think it through and shushing me when I tried to assist him, but there wasn't anything rude or selfish about it, he was just doing it for fun. And I couldn't lie, the situation was rather entertaining. 

I had never had as much fun studying before. 

" The symmetry is-"

" Shh! I know, I know! This is supposed to be equal to the total obtained, right?" 

" Yeah but--"

" Shhhh! I think I got it. "

I gave up and let him tackle it all by himself. It was as if he was doing something he loved but hadn't been able to do in a long time. Like how you always ride a bike as a child, but then stopped once you grew up, and one day you happened to get the chance to ride it once more. So many different emotions floated to the surface once you did. The deja Vu you got was something real and refreshing. 

He finished it, and after writing his answer down he asked me how we would confirm whether he had gotten it right. 

" It's right, I can tell. "

But because he seemed to want even more clarity, I checked the answer at the back of the textbook and showed it to him. 

" They rounded it off but you're still correct. "

He gave himself this cute little clap before glancing at the textbook once more and offering to search for a question for me to try out. He was wearing this cool baseball cap, I had never thought such a simple thing could look so expensive, but his definitely did. 

And unlike the other times, he hadn't tied his hair up, the cap was keeping it all in place. He also had on a hoodie underneath his jacket which I was certain he'd put on when he wanted to remain completely unnoticed. 

" What's with the look? Do my nerdy ways shock you?" He jokingly asked and I immediately looked away. Inwardly scolding myself for having been caught staring. 

" Sorry, "

" It's cool. You can look at me for as long as you wish actually. "

That was my sign to change the subject immediately. I went to grab my backpack so I could take out this question paper we had been given some weeks before, but the second I lifted the bag up, I grew confused. 

" What is this?" 

I reached for the foreign object. Square and wrapped up in really eye-catching blue paper with these silver lyrical patterns on it. I shot Reign a quick glance but he looked the other way, pretending he wasn't even there. So I immediately gathered that the mysterious item had been from him. 

" Maybe a customer left it by mistake, I'll put it in the lost and found so-"

" It's yours, " he admitted. Eyeing the item with a subtle smile before he asked me to open it up. I looked at it first, a little hesitant because I feared it would turn out to be something obscenely expensive. But when I did unwrap it, it was to find a copy of their newly released album. And by newly released I meant it. They had just announced it that morning. And to make things even better, it had been signed by all the members. 

" To Rad Tech, " I read out in a low voice, chuckling afterwards because I recalled that night at the concert. 

" That's CJ's doing, ignore it. "

I had guessed just as much. I studied all the autographs on there, feeling very privileged because I knew that wasn't an opportunity many got to see. And when I turned to him again it was to find him observing me curiously with those blue eyes of his. 

" I don't know what to say. I'll treasure this, thanks. "

" You're welcome, it's nothing really. " He nervously cleared his throat. 

" Let's make a deal, if you can solve the next question in under three minutes I'll give you a little solo concert. Echo, wasn't it?" 

He gestured to the piano and my eyes widened. That was definitely something I wanted to experience. So without thinking twice, I took the book and went straight to work.