A Hard Lesson

Part 5

I believe that our contact, even if we had any, was ruined completely. Mr. Urie was ignoring me, his gaze didn't even cross my table, when I was attending his lectures, and the only time, when he had addressed me, was when he greeted me and Erin in a hallway between lectures. At first I was impressed by that, since he obviously was trying to keep his distance, as I had asked him before, but as the time passed I got more and more frustrated by this behavior.

The last strike, which threw me into feeling of despair, was when I found out that he had actually chosen a girl, who will help him with the presentation for his next large project.

He had chosen a girl from my course, her name was Ella Franklin, and she was well known not only for her looks, but also for her good grades. And the way how I found that out, was professor's own announcement in one of his lectures. In order to explain it, he actually told us that he was leading an evaluation, and in a result he came to understanding, that Ella had the best of potentials for this kind of position. I also noticed Ella's face, when her name was called, she was smiling and blushing bright red as she stood up and thanked him for giving her this opportunity.

That was the very first time in a long run, when Mr. Urie caught my gaze from the back of the class. I saw a slight confusion gracing his face, before he managed to muster up a gentle smile. I didn't respond, instead I let my eyes down, watching the table and my own hands, which lied crossed in front of me. His choice was comprehensible, but I couldn't fight the knowledge, that I was the one, whom he had chosen in a first place, so anyone else seemed to be undeserving to work with him, even though it made me seem dishonest towards his decision.

--------

"Ruby," Erin was trying to catch up with me as I rushed out of the auditorium, without even saying goodbye. "Ruby, can you wait up, please?"

I slowed down just enough to make sure that Erin reached me.

"What up? You had a good mood, when you came to the lecture, is something wrong?" Erin spoke as she touched my shoulder lightly.

"Nothing. I just... I didn't know that he was evaluating us, you know?" I made up a reason, even though it didn't seem very believable.

"What? Who cares? Did you wish to get this extra project? Girlfriend, we can barely finish our own tasks for the studies."

I glanced at Erin. She laughed brightly as we rushed towards the next lecture.

"I mean, Ella is suitable for these kind of things. She's smart and she will work her a*s of to make the best out of it. Us..." she dropped her hand around my shoulder, "We are passive fighters. We can make anything happen, but we might as well just sit there and do nothing."

Her argument made me laugh, but it also seemed to be very reasonable. Maybe this was for the best. I mean, Mr. Urie kept his word, he did stay away from me and it helped me to avoid any kind of unwanted or uncomfortable situations. Ella... well, he did need an assistance, he had told me that himself, and Ella really was the best choice. After all, I did wish for him to succeed academically.

But then... an unexpected tragedy hit my life, as Erin, who was just laughing, while walking right next to me, stopped and the hold onto my shoulder intensified.

"Erin?" I confused by the sudden change of her mood, but her face turned pale. "Erin?" I called out her name as she bent towards in order to catch for one single breath, and then, without any reason, which might be known for me, she lost her balance, falling towards the floor.

I managed to catch her as she brought me down to the floor with her.

"Erin... Erin, what's wrong?" I cried out as her body became stiff and face filled with shock and fear.