A CHRISTMAS FLIRT

Jane was paralyzed when the walls of her university rose up before her, in all their glory and mythical vibe of Hogwarts. Melissa had told her how incredible people were there, how they were happy and respectful, and that Christmas was the best part of the year: snow, food and students who wanted to love without longing for anything in exchange, something that was way more difficult to get throughout the year. She rolled down her shirt sleeve to cover the purple marks on her arm and entered the building, Mel would be waiting for her in the entrance hall.

Said and done, there she was, smiling on foot to hug her friend and proportionate a reception worthy of a queen.

- Did Mclaguen have chocolate vanilla cupcakes for their new students?

- They didn’t even have books for all.

They both burst out laughing and warmed each other. Two two flights of stairs with heavy suitcases until they reached Jane's dorm, but it was nothing for two people who had infinite stories and memories together to remember.

- That was all… We need a party. - Mel said.

- Everyone needs, I’m here to have what I couldn’t.

- … I don’t want you to feel pressured, don’t get me wrong, but at our Christmas party, there’s gonna be a guy, a friend of mine, my classmate…

- Finish it. - Jane encouraged her, smiling.

- He’s polite, beautiful, and if you feel tense or bored, he’s gonna notice it and talk about how he went on a trip to El Salvador and almost got killed by a gang member just because he looked at his wife.

- Seriously? - Jane analyzed her friend’s countenance turning into an organizer of romantical events - I’ll give him a chance, for you.

After a goodbye, Jane still had time to explore her dorm. It couldn’t fit in her head that two or more people would divide that squeezed spot. The kitchen was gray and white, with a table that was also good to study, she tried it right at the moment she entered. The bedroom had a desk, which was also pretty comfortable and accommodated all her books and laptop and her bed was way better than any massage machine.

The next day, the classes started for her. Each question from the professors was a raised hand of Jane. Between her calcs and ideas of projects, the content of engineering was massive but without the theory nothing would ever be put into practice. Jane was afraid of herself for allowing that type of thought to grow, but it was a fact: she needed a break.

When the party night came, it was four nights before Christmas eve, the decorations were leaving the campus more red than usual, trees and blinking lights surrounded entire buildings and the smell of roasted food, sweets and the light aroma of wine wafted through the air. She crossed the brick path that cut her new house terrain and reached Mel’s fraternity. The neon, dancing people, drinks… So awkward, yet so well known.

Mel saw Jane and pulled her to a chair in the bar and presented her friend to Jane. That was Luke, a really handsome guy of square jaw, green eyes and wavy hair, Prince Charming, except they were in real life. Melissa left them alone, to despair of Jane, but the silence didn’t last too long.

- Don’t worry, I won’t bother you about my gang story, El Salvador is a beautiful country and you should visit it. - Luke drank his martini.

Of course Jane laughed, that was unexpected, it surprised her and broke expectations. For the next two hours, he led the conversation. From tense moments where he was about to be expelled from a classroom to the day he got out of home and got on a bus to discover himself through the country. For the compliment hours, he would stop his speech and would say something like: your laugh is synchronized with my phrases, have you realized that? She was hypnotized. That was a great storyteller, maybe economy isn’t the area for you. He looked up, smoking casually with half closed eyes aiming for nothing but the environment, the place he had made be interesting.

The proof was when Luke accompanied Jane to her dorm, and everytime someone waved or said good evening, she had to hold her hand and mouth. Luke was greeting his fans. One true thing Melissa told was he knew how to entertain, three hours bored next to him was unimaginable for someone who had just met him. Obviously other times had to come.

They studied very much for the final exams before the break week. Jane felt the sensation even worse, getting far from numbers was a necessity. That’s why she decided to call Luke for another date, one that he would go, but she insisted he had to go with her. He didn’t reply with kisses or any kindness at all, but on Christmas eve, there he was.

He already had drinks on his hand and offered Jane one, but the matters were up to her. “That happens”, he said when she commented about her failed project in her last university. Jane was finding that strange, and she would’ve asked why, unless her head was not so dizzy. She started feeling the world spin, in the beginning she thought it was fine, but it increased so much that loud conversations meters away made her brain throb.

Luke immediately took her upstairs, Jane seemed more like a zombie, groaning. Her eyes were so heavy that she imagined them falling apart, but right when they met her door, they closed.

When she woke up, everything was so dark, she couldn’t even recognize where she was lying, her mind was broken and so was her body; a desertic thirst hit her. Jane little by little remembered her situation, the bad feeling and how that bed was comfortable. She just needed to make sure that was her bedroom, but while her hands tapped a cell phone, she heard a slight movement, a rustling. Her answer came when a shadow figure moved on a corner chair.

- Hi.

She screamed out loud but Luke turned on the lights. He explained to her that because of her malaise he brought her there and was taking care of her. You slept like an angel. The creepiness of that act needed no words to be expressed, but only after this night she reflected on how he could open her door with no key… Unless he had one. Luke was a good man, Jane knew that but she would have to confront him anyway, it was just a matter of finding him and coinciding with a time of no homework.

Her tiredness extended for so long that she could not finish the work, under such pressure her knowledge was forgotten and all the charge came. “Jane, you don’t think I will accept it, you’re playing with me”. Those words cut more than any knife. Ms. Nora was rigid, but that was too much, and resulted in discussion outdoors. A crowd of people saw Jane complaining about her grade and the way she was treated, and the professor stood as if she was irreproachable.

It took a while to wash her face in the bath but she ended up with her corneas in a normal color again. One night, after clearing her soul in the library, Jane was getting back to sleep but a man similar to Luke made her attention get locked at him. She called, but unsuccessfully. Through the corridors, she pressed her steps to be faster, but in an intersection between her dwelling she lost him.

It was frustrating, but she had a way to text him. She just needed to turn her internet on while preparing food, that was an easy task. Jane undressed, sent the message and with her phone still on she went straight to get the pots when something caught her glance: a gift box.

A twisted ribbon held a note. It said for you in letters cut from newspapers. Jane looked around. It wasn't Melissa's habit to come in like that. Christmas had already passed, and even though they were friends, she had never given a gift, not even on special occasions.

She opened and was greeted with the most horrific sight she could ever have. An ear, a human ear with an earring. She wanted to cry, yell, vomit, everything, but her body was paralyzed. But it jumped in total fear when a sound echoed through her dorm. It was a notification bell, coming from the bathroom right next to the door, and on her phone the sign was clear: Luke had received the message.