After Rohan began spending his dinners alone under the excuse that he was trying to put more time into his studies, even though that sounded pointless, his friends made efforts to shift their schedules to keep activities they came to love doing with their friend. While they had to respect Rohan's decision, they tried their best to cheat ways into milking as much time as they had with him.
One of these exploits was going to the food court for lunch as well rather than exclusively dinner, since Rohan could no longer attend those dinings with his friends. Luckily, the food court was open the whole day and for any meal, and there seemed to be even more people who went for lunch rather than dinner.
While this did take valuable work time away due to the extended length it took to eat at the food court rather than the main hall, his friends were willing to make the sacrifice if it meant spending the less time they had doing something they loved.
They were still able to work however, since there was a considerable length of time between classes, so they didn't have to worry about being completely on their own. Rohan still would save Shuraj and Sriya's skin for projects and assignments.
They just had to be more tactical with what work they chose to do in their time slot, as they began prioritizing heavier projects for collaborative work while sidelining smaller assignments to do on their time away from Rohan, which worked out relatively fine as their grades only had a slight drop.
What truly mattered to them weren't their grades at all though, but they instead prioritized their time with Rohan.
Even though he was lying about what he was doing in his dorm.
The supersun reigns supreme over the campus, standing among the blue sky and sparse white clouds. It was only about the middle of the day, and while students still were relatively exhausted from their first class, they still had much more to give.
Outside of the buildings that contained the food court, which many people dubbed as the 'Mark,' there was a line of students both entering the building and exiting, a constant steady stream that would keep going almost to the end of the period between classes. People converse as they walk in and out of the building, with students of all ages, lowerclassmen and upperclassmen alike.
Inside the food court, nearly every table was full, with a sea of conversation that filled every room. There were lines in front of every food stand too, exchanging credits for food.
During lunch, every room was nearly full, and there were no truly quiet rooms. Even inside the smaller room that Rohan and his friends sat in, there was light conversation audible from other tables.
It wasn't much of a distraction however, as Rohan sat beside Sriya and Ara, and in front of Vrey, Shuraj, and Ari. The group were able to keep the table they always used for dinner, and they spoke amongst each other without interruption.
They also were still able to eat the food they used to have for dinner, with Shuraj holding a burger in his hands, and Rohan taking bites from his salad.
All in all, the only real difference in schedules was that it was brighter outside, which only seemed to add to the energetic atmosphere, and overall it felt more like a benefit than a drawback.
Rohan was also engaging with his friends, and so it still felt as though he was part of the group and truly cared about each and every one of them, even if he wasn't with them as much.
Ari takes another sip of his soda, and then turns to Sriya before asking: "So, how have the games been going?"
Sriya stops eating his sandwich, and he smiles. He then turns to Ari and answers: "It's been great actually, we've been undefeated. They weren't kidding though when they talked about their high expectations, one mess up in a game could land you on the bench for the rest if the coach thinks you're no use. Right, Rohan?"
Rohan puts his fork down, and he turns to Sriya, sarcastically arguing: "Hey, that penalty wasn't my fault, that guy ran into me!"
He then playfully hit Sriya's shoulder, something they would do a lot back and forth, as it was a casual gesture between players.
However, Sriya immediately shields his shoulder with his hand and winces in pain, as though the friendly hit had actually hurt.
Rohan's eyes widens, and he quickly apologizes, "Wait, did I overdo that? Sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm not mad about the penalty I promise-!"
Sriya laughs it off, and he assures, "No no, don't worry. I just hurt my shoulder early at practice today, the scrimmages can get a bit intense, especially when Rimitz is on."
Rohan frowns, and gives a soft sigh before lowering his head. He then says quietly, "Oh...I'm sorry. Some of those upperclassmen are unnecessarily violent to their own teammates during practice. I get that they want to push themselves, but they don't need to push everyone else in the process."
Sriya shakes his head, and he reassures, "No no, don't worry. We are in the top division, I should be able to take those hits easily. I guess that just means I need to train harder, right?"
Rohan looks up at Sriya and smiles before nodding his head. He answers simply, "Yes!"
Shuraj takes another bite from his burger, and he interrupts with: "Sriya, be careful out there, I don't need my friend injured. You have to be ready for anything, right?"
Sriya sighs, and he nods his head, agreeing "Yeah...I know."
Vrey smiles innocently, and he says, "Well anyways, did you guys finish that closet sorter program? And if you did...uh...can you help your boy out?"
Ari laughs, and he says, "Yeah yeah of course my guy, I got you. Me and Rohan finished today actually, so we can bring you up to speed. It was a tricky program, I feel kind of dumb when I realize it's such a simplified version of our actual closets. I thought those were stupidly simple."
Rohan turns to Ari, and he comforts, "Hey hey, don't worry, you do remember that those closets are made by actual professionals right? They don't expect college students to make that stuff, I'm sure eventually it'll be trivial to make something like that. You're still ahead of most of the class."
Ari scratches the back of his head and turns to Rohan, chuckling before saying, "You don't need to butter me Rohan, don't worry, I know. I just mean some of those functions are just incomprehensible to me even after I write them. How do you even understand what you're doing?"
Rohan shrugs his shoulders, and answers: "Well, the way I see it, coding language is hardly any different from a normal spoken language like English. A computer is a lot like a person honestly, I mean we can use the assignment as an example: In the way that I could ask a friend like you through English words to help me put away my clothes manually like people possibly did centuries ago, I could ask the closet's program through code to help me put away my clothes automatically. Sure, sometimes it's hard exactly to ask for things if you don't know the words in that language, but you can learn those phrases, just like how we learn algorithms to ask for more complex tasks. So if you don't look at it like code but instead like a spoken language, it might make more sense."
Shuraj bends forward and lightly pushes Rohan's forehead back with his fingers, causing Rohan to lean back on his chair in confusion.
Shuraj argues, "Maybe to a robot like you, that way of thinking works. If I tried to think of code as English I think I'd lose even more brain cells trying to understand that. Hmph, was your dad a robot or something? You sound like those AI they had in O.R.I.A.L, going on about how people and computers are the same thing. Why was I so dumb to choose computer science for college, I'm not cut out for this at all…."
Rohan sits up straight after Shuraj finishes speaking, and closes his eyes. While it was most likely intended as sarcasm, Shuraj's line about Rohan's father stuck out to him.
From what Rohan could remember about his days before college, his father was extremely closed off, and would hardly ever talk to him. Whenever they'd go on errands together, his father would stay silent in the pod and out in the stores. He was unsure if his father had any pride for his son, as it seemed his father didn't even know he had a son.
The deeper Rohan tries to remember, the more he's met by memories of his father pushing him away, such as the times he tried to go in for a hug and would be met by a step away and light shove. The only times he really saw his father was if it was work related, as they almost never ate in the same room and same time before.
There were a few scarce memories of a family dinner, however in all of them, the father would be focused on nothing but his food, paying no attention to his sons. Even when Rohan would try to speak, he'd be met with an ignore.
He always wondered why it seemed his father looked down on him. Was it a lack of interest? Did he feel disgusted by him? Was it hate? When trying to think about where his father was now, Rohan couldn't help but wonder if his father felt relieved to be away from his sons at last.
Was Rohan ever wanted or even loved by him?
Rohan lets out a deep sigh, and opens his eyes. He lowers his head and shrugs, answering "I dunno, maybe he was a robot. I guess I had nothing to do my whole life except work. I didn't have friends to go to parties with, I didn't have family trips that took my days. So since I had nothing better to do after finishing my homework, I just worked. I guess that gives me a bit of an unfair advantage over you guys, I have far more experience in code, sorry for not accounting for that."
Ara sighs, and he shakes his head. He then argues with a sentimental tone, "Rohan, don't apologize. I'm sorry that you missed out on all that growing up, really...that must've felt lonely…. But hey, you're with us now, aren't you? We can go to parties now, can't we? Look at us now, sitting here, eating actual food. Hanging out everyday. Maybe you missed out on that stuff in the past, but you can have it now. We're here for you, that's why we made the effort to do this during lunch. We want to experience those things with you. So if you're secluding yourself from us because you're not used to this...then you don't have to hide it from us...just let us help. We used to do so much after school, now it feels like you never have time. If you're doing this to escape, you don't need to."
Rohan sighs, as he realizes that his response came across like he was insecure with his friends, and that was the reason for why he was avoiding them later. While his head stays low, he could tell that the rest of the group had stopped to look at him, as if they were waiting for his answer.
They've all been wondering the same thing, and they all wanted to know the truth as to why Rohan would vanish. Rohan knew his excuse wasn't his best, it was clear everyone saw through it.
He wasn't secluding himself in an effort to hide from his friends because he didn't feel used to them, but it wasn't a lie that he was escaping from them to be alone, and take on a burden that pained him to take alone.
Rohan's hands, which stay on his lap, ball into fists. At this point, he had an easy way to confess his new life, and in a way where he could easily request for them to help him. They were offering their help in a time of need, and maybe they could help alleviate the pain.
Of course, none of them would be able to fight with him, as Sriya was indeed an athlete but he was no soldier, however it wouldn't be too much to ask for them to monitor him. He wasn't even sure if reinforcements were what he needed, he just wanted someone to talk to.
He'd have not just one person to talk to, but a whole group, who's known him and who's made his college experience feel far less silent. They were also brotherly in the way that he felt he could trust them to not try convicting them, and they were always supportive, so they wouldn't try to stop him.
However, would it be right? While he valued his friends deeply and knew they did the same, it would be a whole other layer to introduce something so serious. He didn't know them for that long, and so it would be early in a friendship to announce something no normal friend would need to announce. It would cause severe complications, and could utterly destroy any normalcy to their friendship, the one most prized trait of it all.
His friends were always there, and they were always constant. Shuraj was sarcastic and light, Sriya was protective and a brother in arms of sorts, Ari was an intelligent partner to work with who he could bounce ideas with, Ara was always seeking to develop their friendship and keep everyone together, and Vrey was always looking to help out where he could and make an effort to better any depressing moods.
But what would happen if he told them what he was doing, and brought that new seriousness to the friendship? What would happen to the charm of the group? The innocence and laid back fun? Would it be able to survive when everyone knew Rohan was going to be sacrificing himself every week?
There were reaches to how selfish he could be, and this instance was too far. He couldn't put that weight on his friends, he couldn't demand so much from them. He had to protect his friendship's innocence, even if it meant lying through his teeth.
Maybe they could've genuinely helped, but it would be a sacrifice too great to pay.
Rohan sighs, and he lifts his head to meet Ara. He sighs again, this time more deeply, and opens his hands. He responds, "Thank you Ara, but I'm not trying to hide from you guys. Since we're in the second half of the year, I just want to stay ahead of classes, since the difficulty ramps up. It was easier to afford leisure before, but that isn't the case anymore. It's no hard feelings against anyone, I promise, and I'm really happy I have friends like you guys. I would never want to lose that, ever, and I'm not going to leave you all. I'll continue hanging out with you when I can, but I also need to balance the fun with work. I hope you understand, this is nothing against any of you."
Everyone in the group, who all had their heads lowered, sigh. They had indeed been listening the whole time, eager to understand the situation in hopes to remedy it, but it seemed the change was permanent.
Shuraj sighs, and he nods his head. He says, "Well, as long as you don't work yourself to death, I guess that's what matters. Sorry for being too harsh on you, I went overboard, I was just confused with why you seemed to be fading out. But we're always here, you know that right?"
He then holds his fist out over the table, letting it face Rohan. He keeps his eyes on Rohan, and says, "We'll get through all this to the end, I promise."
The group stays seated, with everyone frozen for a few moments, as Shuraj keeps his fist out for Rohan.
He stares at Rohan with determined eyes, clearly caring a great deal about the situation, and clearly wanting to make sure his friend would be fine.
Rohan lets out a soft sigh, and he lightly smiles, chuckling under his breath. He nods his head, and looks Shuraj in the eye, also holding a similar determination.
Rohan responds, "I know we will, I trust you guys. I promise."
As he speaks, Rohan moves his fist from his lap, and out in front of himself. He then brings it against Shuraj's, letting the two fists collide softly.
The two fists bump one another over the table, a friendly gesture to remind the both of them along with everyone else in the table that no matter what, they would always stick together as friends.
Even if they led lives separate from one another, and had to attend to work that they couldn't share with each other, they would still always be together as friends.
Even if they didn't know what battles Rohan was fighting, they would fight with him.
They would always fight together.
As allies, as friends.