Under The Jasmine Tree ✔

♫ Trust

Apollo;

It's been a week since I've last seen Lyra.

No, she isn't kidnapped, but she is cooped up in her dorm room studying, with only Mariah and Aleah, their new cat, for company. Her best friend, me of course, isn't with her because he, too, has finals this week.

We forgot that we had finals. I know, geniuses.

A week ago, the day after my horrendous nightmare, Lyra and I walked around campus for a while, only to notice the students, or lack thereof, around campus. All the students that chose to sit outside were sticking their noses in notebooks or college textbooks. That's when it hit us, we were busy in our fairytale life that we forgot that we came here for education. Says a lot about lyra's speech when we first met, huh?

We rushed off on our separate ways seeking education. I was sure we were both thinking the same thing: what if we became unicorns and didn't have school? A week later, I was still sitting on my desk with my nose stuck in an English textbook, reading about Lyla and Majnun, two star-crossed lovers.

Aleah got her name 2 days after Mariah 'adopted' her. She found her walking in the street and "felt a connection with it", her words not mine. She took her to a vet, did what all the cat owners do, and brought her home. Lyra didn't mind, as long as it wasn't a snake...I still don't know why wants to exterminate all the snakes that ever existed.

I shook my head, getting out of my trance, and got a sudden rush of motivation. "I can do this!" I gave my self a motivational pat on the shoulder. I started reading the passage at the top of the page.

When Layla falls mortally ill and passes away, Majnun, too, loses his one and only purpose in life, his sole means towards the realization of True Love. The lovers ultimately unite, but only in death.

My eyes slowly widen as I read more and more about these two lovers. I've read so much that the sun started setting and I was still sitting on my chair, back crouched towards my table, eyes engraved in the pages that held the story of Layla & Manjnun. My brain soon realized the quote I'm reading.

"Whose heart would not have filled with longing at the sight of this girl?"

Lyra. I thought.

The thought vanishes from my grasp the moment before it settles in my brain, and I let it go, in fear of what it may ignite deep within the realms of my soul. Madness. That's the only thing love brings, along with grief, sadness, and insanity. At least that's what I've learnt from Majnun, the expert in love advice.

I groaned, grabbing my head with both my hands. I leaned back on my chair and stared at my room's plain ceiling. So devoid of life. I let out a sigh that sounded like a ringtone, startling myself. I sat up straight and tried sighing again, and I made the same sound. I felt my desk vibrate and saw a flash in my peripheral vision.

It was my phone ringing.

Without looking, I answered the call. "Hello?"

"Apollo! Aleah excreted her bodily fluids on your favorite shirt!" Lyra's distressed voice yelled through the phone making me stand up.

"She pissed on it? How did it even get there?!" I frantically replied.

"You gave it to me!" She continued harassing my ear drums in the same volume.

"Oh, right! I forgot!"

"Why are still yelling?" She didn't lower her volume.

"I don't know!" A moment of silence.

We erupted in fits of laughter, Lyra gasping for air between her snorts. "I'm sorry, I was kidding. I just wanted to call to ask you about the English topics. I couldn't comprehend a thing." She groaned in frustration.