Wednesday was pancake day in the dining hall. Vemodalen had a regrettable job of scrubbing the syrup off the tables at the end of the period. He took to my now empty table right as I finished the last few drops of my water bottle. Vemodalen is that moment when a huge flock of birds take off from a body of water when they know it is time to move on.
Everyone knew him as the one who would tie your tie for you if you did a really bad job of it that morning. He was happy to save everyone from looking like a fool. He also had the first of only two single dorms on the whole campus.
"All you need is water. It will dissolve the sugars in the syrup enough to get it all off," I said.
"Leave it to you to know that. I need to use this cleaning solution on everything. Campus rules," he said.
"Leave your room in a rush? You neglected to tuck your shirt into your trousers," I said.
"Night was rough. No point in having a single room if you don't get some company in there with you. She wasn't nearly as excited as I was," he said.
"Ellipsism? No need to hide it. Everyone already knows that you both are sleeping together," I said.
"Everyone needs to mind their own business. Normally it is great, but she hasn't been so into it lately," he said.
"Did you ask her about it?" I asked.
"Her answer made me want to ask more questions," he said.
"Ellipsism can be elusive," I said.
"Let her be. I'll be ready for whenever she gets her head back on. I've never known her to get anything less than an A, yet here she is getting worse grades than I am," he said.
"Perhaps everyone needs that semester where they send everything to hell," I said.
YOU ARE READING
Kuebiko
Short StoryA mysterious boarding school. A lake the locals won't approach. A dead girl drowned. Students who share her secrets. A detective hunting her killer. A narrator with eyes everywhere.
