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8. Solution 15

As soon as the day started, I can already tell today is going to be hectic. It started off with Loki licking my hair, which woke me up. Next came the lavender rose by the end of my bed. Lastly, the cat thought it would be funny to mess up my room; specifically my closet. My clothes were all over the place, and thanks to the mischievous feline, it took a while for me to find the clothes that I wanted to wear today and was almost late for my study session with Roman.

Roman and I are back in a study room, doing some last minute studying for our test today. We are testing each other, though it doesn't look like Roman is ready. Sure, he's getting the questions correct, but his physical condition isn't so good. He looks as if he hadn't slept all night. He's got bags under his eyes and his silver hair is messy. He's wearing a hoodie in a ninety degree day, though that isn't new for the boy. Poor Roman must have been studying all night because he has a chemistry and psychology test in the same day. He promised me that he has mastered Stoichiometry, so I'm not going to test him about it. I am also a little tired. My back is slightly hurting and my backpack feels heavy as fuck, even though I'm only carrying two notebooks and a laptop like always.

"Do you want some coffee or anything?" I asked the sleepy boy.

He shook his head. "No thank you. I'm not much of a coffee person."

"Tea?"

"I'm alright." He dismissed, clenching his teeth.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked for the third time. I'm sure he's already annoyed. "If you're feeling ill, we can get some Tylenol or something on the student store. I'll get it for you."

He then slammed a hand on to the desk and snapped. "I said I'm fine!"

And that's when I saw the color change of his eyes. I didn't see the color of it, but I caught it just in time for it to turn to gray. It was either red, orange, pink, or somewhere along that range. Or maybe I'm the crazy one and my mind is reminding me of last night. However, when I saw the dent Roman had created on the table, I felt that maybe I'm not so crazy after all.

Roman tuck his hand inside his hoodie's pocket and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath before opening them and then looking at me. "I'm sorry Astoria. I've just had a rough night."

Using his other hand, he grabbed my hands and put his cold fingers over mine. "Please don't think I'm a freak or anything. I just - sometimes I just lose control and - " He took another deep breath. "I'm not like the other guys." He looked down at our hands. "And I don't want you to be afraid of me."

I didn't know what to say then.

I don't know how to feel.

What does he mean by all that?

Before I could ask him, Roman got on his feet and ran out of the study room.

***

Roman ran out of the classroom before I could talk to him. He made sure to arrive late, at the same time as professor Snow was already giving out the tests and no one is allowed to talk. His motorcycle was already gone as well, so he really just ran away from me. I did my best to push my thoughts aside when I went to work.

Today, the security is asking everyone to present their ID. They will examine it one by one, carefully, along with a government issued ID to double check that we are who we are. Apparently, there's been more things that have gone missing last night, though the camera that they put everywhere couldn't catch a single trace of the thief. How convenient for the thief that the cameras were broken, despite Orion and the other technicians and engineers making sure they worked on their first day?