Amity found herself studying outside in the quad. Boscha had insisted on doing a "study group," and it just had to be outside because "fresh air improves brain function." Amity sighed as she tried to focus on her notes. Her notepad was balanced on one leg with her textbooks and other notes spread out around her. Skara was scrolling on her phone while she snacked on some chips. Amelia was setting up a small speaker to play some music.
"It's not breezy enough to be out here today," Kat whined.
"Relax, it feels nice out here. Fresh air is supposed to improve brain function and help with your memory or something," Boscha said, reaching for the snacks. "Amity, are you, like, actually studying?"
"Yes. There's an exam next week." Amity said without looking up from her notes.
"There's an exam every week," Boscha replied as she shoved some popcorn into her mouth.
"All the more reason to study," Amity said with a very matter-of-fact tone.
"How long have we been out here?" Kat asked, looking between Amity and Boscha.
"Like.. 15 minutes?" Skara said with a sigh.
"There we go. Now we can have some tunes while we study!" Amelia cheered as soft music began playing over the loudspeaker.
Amity found studying as a group distracting. Especially outside. She was having a hard time keeping her materials neat as her friends set out snacks and their own notes.
"Do you guys just wanna go get lunch?" Skara asked the group as she set her phone down.
"No. I have work that needs to get done." Amity said, her tone sharp and slightly irritated, Ugh, maybe we should just go get lunch so I can ditch to actually get some work done.. Amity thought to herself.
"We can get lunch after?" Amelia suggested, "Plus, I did just get the speaker to work."
"Maybe. I might be full from snacks by then." Kat said as she reached for some pretzels.
"Where did you guys wanna go?" Boscha asked.
Amity's head snapped up. "Can you guys-" She stopped abruptly as she noticed Luz across the quad, sitting in the shade under a large tree on a blanket with her own friends. It looked like maybe they were setting up a picnic. Of course.. Amity thought to herself.
Boscha followed Amity's line of sight across the quad when she stopped speaking.
"What's wrong, Amity?" Kat asked as she noticed Amity staring.
"Is that the girl from the cafe? Do you like, know her, or something?" Boscha asked with a scoff.
"No," Amity said quickly without thinking. Do I know Luz? I mean.. I know of her. But we aren't like friends or anything.. Amity thought to herself. Amity suddenly felt her cheeks turning a little red.
"What girl from the cafe?" Skara asked with a smirk as she followed Boscha's line of sight.
"Can you guys stop looking at her? What if she notices us staring?" Amity said with a slight panic in her voice.
"So?" Kat said with a shrug, "She's all the way across the quad, I doubt she's going to notice," Kat said as she looked over in Luz's direction with Boscha and Skara.
"Wait a second." Amelia said, "Do you like, like her or something? Boscha said you've been spending a lot of time at the cafe." Amelia said as she also looked over in Luz's direction.
"I think she does," Boscha said with a smirk as her head whipped back around to look at Amity.
"I-I do not! I just like to study at the cafe! And you know I like to study." Amity said, trying to keep the panic from her voice. Her cheeks reddened as she looked back down at her notes.
"Ooooo!" Skara and Kat teased, the entire group laughing and joking about Amity having a crush.
"Can you guys please stop!" Amity said, almost yelling as she looked back up at them. A blush spread across Amity's face as she stared at her friends.
"Fine.." Boscha sighed, "You're no fun sometimes."
Amity let out a sigh as she slumped over her notes, "Let's just study, okay? It's the reason we're outside in the first place." She tried to focus on her notes again.
"Ugh, fine." Kat groaned.
Finally.. Amity thought to herself as her friends started to actually study with her, or at least pretend.
A few minutes passed by before her friends ultimately went back to chatting about things unrelated to classes or scrolling on their phones.
Amity looked up from her notes for a brief moment, unsure what compelled her to look as she spotted Luz looking at her from across the quad. Luz grinned and waved. Amity's cheeks reddened as she found herself waving back.
"Who are you waving at?" Boscha asked as she followed Amity's line of sight to Luz again, "Ohh.. Cafe girl.." Boscha smirked, "Wow, you waved at her? You must actually like her." Boscha teased.
"I just acknowledged another human being," Amity said with a shrug as she looked back at her friends.
"She's cute." Kat said with a shrug, "Maybe you should go talk to her?"
"She is not. There is no reason to go talk to Luz right now." Amity said as she turned her attention back to her notes.
"Is that her name?" Amelia asked as she chimed in.
"I think so." Boscha said as she looked back over at Luz before turning her attention back to the group, "So, next time maybe we should study at the cafe." Boscha said mischievously.
"Definitely not," Amity said quickly.
"I think we should. It's better than being outside." Kat said as she looked between the group.
"No way," Amity said as she shook her head, looking down at her notes again. Let's just focus on studying." Amity said as she tried to regain her focus.
As the minutes passed, Amity found herself reading the same line in her textbook over and over again. She let out a soft, frustrated sigh as she turned her attention over to her study guide, trying to remember what she was looking for in the textbook. A few more minutes passed as her friends drifted into a half-hearted study. The conversation went from a study question to a regular conversation quickly.
Amity looked up to ask her friends something, but Luz caught her eye, looking over at her at the same time. Her cheeks reddened a bit as a soft smile spread across her face. What is happening to me? She thought to herself before snapping her attention back down to her notes, now unsure why she even looked up to begin with. She shook her head, Stop looking up, you've seen enough of Luz for one afternoon.
"Okay, I'm tired of watching Amity make heart eyes across the quad. Can we please go get lunch?" Kat whined.
"Yeah. I'm over this, enough studying for one afternoon." Boscha said with a sigh."Where did you guys wanna go?" Amelia asked as she started to turn the speaker off.
"Seriously? It's been like maybe 45 minutes that we've been studying. And we maybe actually studied for like half that time." Amity said as she looked up from her notes, as her friends started packing their stuff up.
"Yeah. It's time to go." Skara said, "Let's get some food."
"Ugh.." Amity sighed as she started to reluctantly pack her things. At least after lunch, I can bail and go back to my dorm to actually get some work done. Amity thought to herself as she closed her textbook.