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Stella has always been a bright, gifted student. Curious, perceptive, and dedicated to developing her knowledge, coming down to Earth only made her more enthusiastic: with a whole new world to discover, and new social practices to get accustomed to, she felt even a stronger drive to throw herself at her books, and study even harder than she ever did back in her home planet.
But even with such a brilliant mind and a passion for her academic endeavor, that day she had trouble concentrating on her manuals. And it wasn’t for the hot, dry air coming from the large window to her left, even if every La Fiesta Tech student would have appreciated it if the administration finally fixed the AC in the library.
It wasn’t even the worry about her final exam for the year, just a few hours away: she grew such an interest in Measuring Rolling Stuff in the past months, that she was ready for the test weeks ago. She only came to the library that day to open her new manuals for next semester, studying ahead for the new program.
What really got to her was the only other presence in the library with her.
They never formally introduce themselves to each other, but she became fascinated by Chandler Wolosenko since the first time she saw him, at a housewarming party her dorm organized back at the start of the semester. At first, she thought he was kind of a bummer, sitting by himself on a sofa with a pissed off look on his face. Everyone at the party seemed to get along and have fun, but he was still there, a black hole of negative energy radiating from the middle of the room.
Perhaps, that’s what made her curious about him in the first place, the juxtaposition of a fun and happy atmosphere with his pissed off attitude. But later into the night, when everyone had already had a couple of drinks too much, she got to see a different side of him: cracking jokes, pulling pranks on friends, he managed to transform the negative attitude he had before into annoyances he could cause for the other guests around him. Pretty soon, the party was over, every guest going back into their rooms grumpy about their ruined party, while Chandler beamed in content, clearly satisfied about his success.
There was something fascinating, about his total inadequacy in this social setting, that enthralled Stella. She couldn’t even be mad at him when he made her spill her drink on her dress, bumping into her as he was running away after stealing the Llama Mascot costume’s head. Maybe she saw something of herself, of her own seldom inadequacies about adapting to terrestrial life, of her own blunders as she came down to earth. But to be so truly, brazenly, openly a pain in the butt… Stella couldn’t wrap her head around that.
She started noticing him more and more, around campus. The shared kitchen dorms, The common rooms. A couple of shared lectures. The swimming center.
Always with company. Always flirting, or pranking someone.
But she couldn’t help but notice how the Universe seemed to bring them together, on all of these occasions. How she heard Chandler talking with one of his dates about wanting to visit a Moon, someday. (Not even the Moon, a Moon… she wondered if he was interested in alien civilizations, as well). His penchant for drinking green tea, or when he wore the same green t-shirt for two weeks, until it got so dirty and stinky someone stole it to wash it from him, as no one was able to stand being in the same room with him anymore.
How she’d listened to a song the day before on the radio, only to find him walking down a hallway whistling to himself that same exact melody the day after. How she found out they liked the same brand of instant ramen, the only one carried out by the nearest grocery store.
And the way they were now there, together. Just the two of them. In an empty library.
Stella kept throwing glances at him, trying to be nonchalant about it. The books in front of her had been open on the same page for an hour, now.
She found herself dreaming about a possible future ahead of her: about a nice house in the suburbs. About a nice new family car. About her wearing a similar pink sundress to the one she’s wearing right now, with a more mature cut. About having a dog, or a cat, or a pet piranha.
About Chandler being with her, grown up, but with that same wide face. That same grouchy demeanor. That same wicked smile on his lips. They hug and kiss in her dream, content, preparing the test tubes to start a new family together.
Stella felt a warmth spread in her chest, her whole body suddenly more alive than ever. She looked back at Chandler, who had just fallen asleep on one of his manuals. She wondered what would happen if in that moment she went up to him, gently waking him up from his nap, introducing herself. Would he be caught off-guard by her gentle manners, the first time in a life full of people being pissed off at him after one too many jokes? Would he reveal to her that he had been watching her too, all this time, captured by her the same way she was by him? Would he ask her out on a date right then and there, and invite her to the most expensive restaurant near campus?
… it didn’t feel right. Maybe it wasn’t the time, or maybe it was the idea of Chandler reacting so meekly to basically a stranger waking him up in an empty library, but Stella didn’t feel like going up to him right then and there.
Perhaps, in another future… she thought to herself, turning back to her books. For now, she was content watching him from afar, as he let out a small snore.
***
Chandler woke up with a start, his mouth feeling dry and parched. How long had he been asleep? Not for long, probably, as the sun was still high in the sky outside.
He straightened himself up, trying to fix his mussed up hair. With his undeclared major, and no particular ambition for the future, he wondered why he was even bothering with coming to the library to study. The sofas in the common areas of the dorms around campus were more comfortable, and at least there was some sort of air conditioning.
He looked over the library, shocked to find someone else there: an alien chick was studying a couple of tables away from him… uh. He didn’t remember they had an alien alumni on campus. She must be new.
Gazing in her direction, he found himself thinking, mulling over a possible future…
He suddenly got up, quickly gathering his things and shoving them into his bag. He had made his decision.
He’d have spaghetti for dinner that night.