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“Yes, I’m doing okay, dad. Just in my room studying for midterms.”
Klara’s eyes scanned through paragraphs upon paragraphs of text from her biochemistry textbook that needed to be highlighted on and written down, tapping her pen against her temple thoughtfully to the melody of the muffled music right above her own.
It was a regular weekday night, and Klara found herself sitting at her desk in her dorm room, laptop opened with a million tabs and PowerPoint slides opened, and textbooks and notebooks opened and spread out across her desk space alongside pens and highlighters. Three unfinished iced coffee cups were pushed to the side of her night stand next to her desk, and 5 empty cans of energy drinks overflowed from her tiny trash bin on the other side. She usually would not let herself get this sloppy, often preferring a clean personal space—which was why she begged Liam in getting a single suite, however it was exams week, and at this point, she didn’t care about anything other than studying enough to ace her midterm. Oh well, she can just clean up after everything was done and over with.
(The juxtaposition of the sight of her desk versus the party that’s clearly going on in the room above hers is funny, she thought, and pretty much summed up her university experience so far, depending on the day.)
“Really, now,” Liam’s voice crackled. Even when he’s stationed and deployed on the other side of the globe, she could still hear doubt and sarcasm drip from his tone, “I can hear the music, kid.”
“There’s a party upstairs, something about the basketball varsity team celebrating a win, I don’t know,” Klara said, absentmindedly scribbling notes on the site of her textbook’s pages as she talked, “I didn’t go, I have to study for my biochem midterm.”
Klara remembered her friend Jamie facetiming her earlier that day to invite her to the party, Sunwoo even stealing his phone and begging her to come, excitedly revealing she wanted to introduce Klara to someone at the event and claiming they’d get along well. Klara would usually say yes—to the party, not Sunwoo’s blatant attempt to set her up with someone for the umpteenth time—but she had to say no. She had an exam the next day for biochemistry, and while Klara Böhringer is one of those crazy smart bastards who could ace exams while hungover and having barely read through the course material as some of her friends would joke, Professor Callas is brutally thorough when it came to her test questions, and equally as brutal and specific when it came to grading test answers. A strict, but fair professional, and someone she respected, as opposed to Professor El Amari from her computer security elective who equated her enthusiasm for computer science to childlike wonder. The guy gave spectacular grades and was generally nice, if not a bit morbid with his jokes, but she didn’t feel very challenged during the course, unlike now.
“Whatever you say,” Liam simply said, playful doubt still laced his voice, but he doesn’t intend to push the topic. He knew his daughter went to parties often, and while he pretended to be strict about it, he trusted her enough to be responsible and cautious when needed. “Have you eaten?”
“Yeah, ordered takeout,” Klara replied. She had been so preoccupied with cramming for her midterm all day that she didn’t really have time to go out or even prepare anything remotely healthy considering the absolutely empty state of her mini-fridge. She could feel her father frown from the other side of the line, and she could feel another lecture about eating healthy and not have to rely on takeout and cheap microwaveable ready-to-eat meals coming, but before Liam could utter a single word—
BAM!
Klara almost jumped from her seat at the sudden loud noise, nearly dropping and fumbling her phone around as her eyes scanned all around her room. Nothing seemed to be out of place or amiss, so it was safe to say none of her stuff had fallen out of place—most especially any of her tech or projects, Gott sei Dank.
So where had that noise come from?
“The hell was that?” Liam questioned; concern now evident in his tone. It seemed the noise was loud enough for even him to hear through the call.
“I don’t know,” Klara genuinely didn’t know, and though she was startled, frankly she didn’t care all that much. If it wasn’t anything in her room, then it meant it was probably something outside, and at that point it was out of her jurisdiction of concern. All sorts of crazy shenanigans happened in the university residency halls, especially during the near end of midterms week where everyone is on the verge of going insane with inhumane levels of caffeine and alcohol in their systems.
Though, her nonchalance slowly shifted into concern as she realized the noise came right outside her dorm room, onto a small balcony, followed by what sounded to be groaning.
What the hell?
“I’ll call you back,” Klara told her father urgently as she ended the call and slid out of her chair, walking closer to the closed and curtained windows. As she got closer, the groans and the moans got louder, confirming her initial hunch that there really was someone outside her balcony. Scheisse, did someone fall outside her room? What crazy party shenanigans upstairs has she missed out on?
The engineering major pushed her curtains aside and peered outside; it was far too dark to see anything clearly, but the light coming from her room paired with the colorful disco lights from upstairs gave her vision a little bit of clarity.
Surely enough, there seemed to be a person right outside her window, groaning and moaning in a fetal position on her balcony—rather, she and everyone else called it a balcony, but it was just a bit of floor outside the windows of their rooms. No one was really allowed to put anything on it or walk around it, but of course no one really listened, and some students have resorted to decorating their areas with potted plants or use it to sneak into each other’s rooms. Klara didn’t really do much of anything with her portion of the balcony, so thankfully whoever had fallen hadn’t landed on anything that would’ve made their fall worse. Still, Klara huffed as she pried her windows open and glanced at the room above hers, the party still seemed to be going, and she couldn’t help but cringe and shudder; if her theory was correct…damn, this person fell from the second floor, that’s got to hurt.
Klara took a deep breath as she turned on her phone’s flashlight and shone it on the fallen stranger. “Hallo?”
“Too bright!” The person hissed, waving a hand frantically in front of their face in a vain attempt to keep the light out of their eyes. Klara immediately moved her flash slightly away apologetically.
“Sorry!” Klara apologized as she finally got a good look at the stranger—hm, okay, maybe not a stranger. She recognized the person as Tayane Alves, part of the varsity basketball team with Sunwoo and Tala, a mechanical engineering major so they’ve shared a handful of classes before, and a known artist and musician, having seen and heard her works before as she walked around campus and scrolled through her social media. They shared a couple of mutual friends, but never really encountered each other that often, so they weren’t close, or have even spoken to each other, not that she can recall. “Are…you okay?”
Tayane slowly blinked once, then twice as her eyesight adjusted from having light shone directly at it. Her head was spinning, and whether that was due to all the alcohol she drank or the fall, she didn’t know.
Where was she, anyway?
Oh, right.
The party.
It was at the point in the night where everyone was either shitfaced drunk or at the very least tipsy, the music and the lights felt like a hazy dream as she showed off one of her midterm projects that got her an A+ to Sunwoo and the others; a blast pack, designed to stick to surfaces and launch individuals quickly into certain directions as well as splash some color once detonated, very ideal for parkour and getting away from the cops, she remembered joking.
Then, Ryo challenged her to use her invention, and Tayane, never one to back down from a challenge, gladly took it, claiming she could use it as a quick exit from the window. She remembered Kirra and Mateo showing some concern for the so-called challenge, but no one else was really sober enough to listen or consider the possible outcomes and consequences, most especially Tayane, who doesn’t have a cautious bone in her body even when she’s sober.
And, well, she’s not quite sure what happened next, perhaps the blast pack malfunctioned, or she didn’t do her timing right, but she remembered watching the splash of color from her blast pack as she fell from the window of the third floor of the dormitory building and onto—she doesn’t even know where she was now.
Finally, here she was, writhing and groaning around in pain, someone flashing light on her face asking her if she’s okay.
“Are you okay?” The person repeated. Tayane blinked a couple more times as her vision cleared from its blurriness and she finally looked up, and found herself face to face with a bespectacled woman from the window. Frog beanie and grey hoodie—essentially a basic college fit, however the light emanating from her room behind her made her look ethereal in Tayane’s eyes, as if—
As if she was an angel.
“Whoa, did it hurt,” Tayane said smoothly, despite the alcohol running through her system, despite her side screaming in pain, because the prettiest girl she’s ever seen is in front of her, and she had to shoot her shot, “when you fell from heaven, Gatinha?”
Klara blinked. Wasn’t this woman just writhing and groaning in pain a few seconds before?
“Funny,” Klara responded, trying not to smile at both the irony, and the corny attempt at flirting, “that should be my line, considering you fell and landed right outside my window. Should I call an ambulance?”
“Absolutely,” Tayane nodded. Klara turned to her phone, and started dialing the three familiar numbers until the cheeky stranger spoke up again, “because you took my breath away, linda.”
The bespectacled woman paused and frowned, looking up from her phone and found her companion having seemingly gotten up and currently dusting herself off, as if she hadn’t fallen from the second floor and probably broke a bone or two in the process. “I’m serious. You could be seriously hurt.”
“Only my heart, if you leave my life,” Tayane walked up to the window and rested her elbows on the windowsill, flashing a big smile at Klara.
“You’re drunk,” Klara concluded. She’d be lying if she said her heart didn’t skip a beat when Tayane flashed that smile, but she chalked it up to just being in such an odd situation. “Should I contact a friend? Sunwoo and the others are probably looking for you-“
“I’m okay, don’t worry your pretty heart, Querida,” Tayane waved a dismissive hand, “just a small fall. Been through worse, no biggie.”
“Alright…” Klara said, slowly, and hesitantly. Tayane was clearly drunk, her stance swaying a bit as she could barely keep her head up, but it seemed she sobered up as soon as she got up and faced Klara armed with her corny and cheesy pickup lines and what Klara assumed to be terms of endearment in her native tongue, or at least, as sober as someone who was at a college party drinking who-knows-how-much alcohol could possibly get. “You should at least get inside. It’s cold out, and there’s no safe way to get down from there.”
“Oh, right,” Tayane watched as Klara pried her window wider open for a person to get through. Klara offered a hand to her companion, to which Tayane gladly accepted as she crawled into the window, landing into the carpeted floor with a satisfied oof.
“Pardon the mess,” Klara sighed as she watched Tayane gawk around her room. She usually didn’t really invite people into her dorm room—not only was it not allowed by the dormitory management, but she also didn’t really like the idea of people poking through her things and possibly making a mess. Oh, well, there seemed to be an exception for everything, she supposed.
“You kidding me? This is way cleaner than my half of my room,” Tayane joked with a big laugh, before a sudden wave of dizziness hit her and she touched a nearby wall to prop herself up.
Klara moved closer to Tayane in case the woman needed some assistance, gesturing to her bed, “you should probably sit down.”
Tayane stumbled into Klara’s bed and held her head, blinking once, then twice, before looking up at the bespectacled woman sheepishly. “Can I lie down? —shit, all the booze just hit me all at once, you get me?”
“Um, sure, you can even rest if you want, I understand,” Klara insisted, though with a bit of hesitance in her voice that she hoped Tayane hadn’t noticed. She understood it—she really did, she’s been drunk and wasted enough times to know that Tayane wasn’t really in the condition to be sent away and expected to find her way home all by herself, especially after what she felt was a nasty fall.
“You sure?” Tayane asked, equally as hesitant. Klara only nodded insistently, and in response Tayane kicked off her shoes and swung her legs on top of the bed, making herself comfortable. “Okay, thanks, Gatinha, I’ll just rest for a bit, then I’ll bounce, promise.”
“Take all the time you need,” Klara assured, making her way to her medicine cabinet then to her mini-fridge to get a glass of water. “You’re not allergic to aspirin, right?” Klara turned back to her bed, expecting a response, only to see Tayane seemingly knocked out already.
Oh, well.
The engineering major only shrugged to herself as she placed the glass of water on her nightstand paired with some aspirin for what she would predict to be Tayane’s hangover when she woke up. Klara was a meticulous person who always planned for predictable outcomes, and so water and aspirin were always something she set out for herself before she went out drinking on some party or club, and it was always something her hangover self would always thank her sober self without fail, every time. She figured Tayane would appreciate the same treatment.
Despite Tayane’s insistence against calling any friend, Klara still found herself pacing around her room as she went through her contacts and gave a call to all their mutual friends who she recalled to be at the same party. Tayane was okay and safe, sure, but Klara figured she should at least let someone know about the woman’s whereabouts, in case they really were worried about her.
“Yo. Busy. Got things to do. Leave a message.”
Straight to voicemail. Sunwoo’s out, probably at the bathroom hugging the toilet because of everything she’s ate and drank, or she’s out in the field racing another poor drunk soul again.
“Called at the wrong time, bruv. Leave a message and I’ll get back to ya ASAP, yeah?”
Jamie’s out too, and Klara’s not surprised. The guy doesn’t answer his calls even if he’s sober.
“Can’t get on right now. Leave a message nalang, o wag. Bahala ka.”
Tala’s also out. Scheisse. Klara bit her lip as she glanced at the ceiling, it seemed that the music has noticeably grown quieter, and the party lights that went crazy outside her window a while ago had grown dimmer. This meant most people had either gone home or were passed out drunk, and whoever was sober enough had turned down the music and lights to slowly put the night to rest.
Klara continued pacing around nervously as she waited for the beep. Oh well, even if none of their mutual friends were available to contact, she had to at least let one of them know. Tala was the more responsible one out of the three, and she recalled Sunwoo mentioning Tala and Tayane being roommates at some point, so she was probably the best candidate to be informed about Tayane’s whereabouts on.
“Tala, it’s Klara. So…something odd happened, um, one of your friends—Tayane, if I recall, well…she fell, like, literally fell from the party and onto my balcony. Don’t worry, don’t worry, she’s okay, I think, she’s resting in my room right now, and I figured I should let you know. Maybe you’d want to check on her or pick her up or something. I don’t know,” Klara was rambling at this point, and she was sure she’d leave indents of her footsteps on the carpet if she paced around a little more, “just—call me back, any of you, as soon as possible please.”
Klara let out a breath she had been holding in as she put her phone down and stared at the girl sleeping on her bed. It seemed Tayane really made herself feel at home, even while asleep, as she was already sprawled across the twin bed, mussing up the pillows and blankets Klara had made meticulously that morning, even kicking a stuffed animal out of bed—her favorite frog stuffie, that’s been with her for as long as she could remember.
Sighing, she walked over and picked up her stuffed frog, dusting it off and hugging it as she looked over at her bed’s new occupant again. Ensuring Tayane was still alive by the rising and falling of her chest, Klara then made her way back to her desk, plopping back down on her chair at her exam notes. Right. She had been studying prior to the…situation, and she should probably continue. Picking up her pen, Klara managed to study through a few PowerPoint slides before—she didn’t know why, perhaps her caffeine intake took a toll on her and she crashed, or the whole “girl falling on my balcony and now sleeping on my bed” situation tired her out, but…
She blacked out.
The insistent vibrating of her phone shook Klara out of her slumber, and she groaned as pain registered on her neck, cheek, and arms due to her bad sleeping posture as soon as she woke up. She barely lifted her head from her arms as she picked up her phone, and not caring about who was calling, she answered groggily, putting the device against her ear.
“Hallo?”
“Yoo, Klara! Is it true?” Sunwoo’s voice rang out, earning a wince from Klara at the mere loudness of her voice. The Korean woman had always been so bright and chipper in the mornings after parties no matter how much she drank, even while everyone else was battling the worst hangovers. Klara never understood why, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t even a bit envious. “Tatà—she’s with you, right?”
“Tatà?” Klara questioned as her hazy mind wracked itself for any sort of familiarity. Suddenly, she sat up as her hand searched for her glasses across the desk, finding it folded neatly by the side—when had she done that? —and slamming it into her face. She also noticed a blanket had slid off from her back…she didn’t remember studying with a blanket either. “You mean Tayane? Tayane Alves?”
“Uh-huh,” Sunwoo confirmed, and Klara almost broke her neck trying to turn back to her bed and finding it…empty. The bed was made to the best of the ability of whoever had done it, but it was clear there had been an occupant, and now the occupant is gone. Klara looked around, finding her room empty of anyone else. “She still with you?”
Klara stood from her chair and continued looking around her room. The water and aspirin she left on the nightstand had been drank and taken, and other than that and the hastily made bed, it was as if Tayane had never been there. “No, scheisse—I’m sorry, she left before I woke up.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” Sunwoo assured, “Tatà’s just kinda like that, y’know? Just disappears halfway through a night out and ends up in all sorts of place, used to worry the shit out of us but by the morning she’s usually fine. It’s cool. She probably just sobered up and bounced home—oh,” she paused, seemingly talking to someone face to face, “okay, okay I got the update from Tala. Tayane’s fine, made her way to her room in one piece. Don’t worry.”
A sigh of relief. “I see.”
“Soo? What do you think?” Sunwoo asked excitedly, in that suggestive, teasing tone Klara didn’t necessarily like.
“About what?”
“Tayane!” Sunwoo said, “big coincidence! She’s the one I wanted you to meet, but you were a killjoy and didn’t show.”
“I told you before, I have midterms."
“Right. Anyway, she’s pretty hot, right?” Sunwoo continued asking, her tone still suggestive and insistent, “she’s an engineering major like you, also likes doing the whole tech and machine tinkering stuff like you do, except she likes making ‘em explode. Likes parties and dancing like you do too. Pretty smart and funny and sweet, I think you guys would hit it off, genuinely.”
“Excuse me for having an eidetic memory—but that’s exactly what you said last time.”
“I didn’t know you were into chicks!” Sunwoo insisted, “cut me some slack for that one, yeah? I got it right this time! You gotta at least give me that!”
Klara sighed. “You know, you don’t have to keep setting me up with people, ja? I’m perfectly fine being single, for your information.”
“Saddest thing I’ve ever heard,” Sunwoo drawled, and Klara rolled her eyes. “C’monnn, give this one a chance, promise you won’t regret it.”
“Ugh, fine. But this is the last time, you hear me?” Klara supposed she didn’t mind Tayane’s presence last night, even when the latter had been drunk, and she would be lying if she didn’t find her corny pickup lines amusing and sweet at the time. She supposed she wouldn’t mind going on a date or two with Tayane to appease Sunwoo.
(That’s it. To appease Sunwoo. Klara totally didn’t find Tayane attractive, or sweet, or funny, or anything. Just to appease and shut Sunwoo up. Totally. Yes.)
“Woohoo!” Sunwoo cheered, “so, so, so? Want me to give you her number or something?”
“I don’t know if Tayane would consent to having her number handed around like that...” Klara’s words trailed off as her eyes wandered to the empty glass of water, spotting a small piece of paper pinned in place by the cup, the splash of different vibrant colors was eye catching. Walking over to her nightstand, Klara picked up the piece of paper and scanned its contents. It seemed Tayane had borrowed some of her highlighters and markers, creating a colorful explosive street style art paired with cute doodles within such a small piece of paper, and in the middle of the vibrant yet beautiful piece was a message:
Thanks lots for looking out for me, Gatinha :D
Let’s go hang sometime? ;) call me. would love to hear your voice again
xxx – xxx – xxxx
Pink colored Klara’s cheeks as she read the note. This wasn’t just Tayane thanking her for what she did, this was also essentially Tayane blatantly asking her out. Phone number and the wink and the invitation to hang out and all.
Klara didn’t even know what Gatinha meant, but she assumed by the way Tayane said it last night that it wasn’t just some platonic nickname.
(Klara later looked up what Gatinha meant, and it’s truly impressive how Tayane could make her blush even when she’s not around.)
“Yoo, earth to Klara, earth to Klara! Don’t tell me one of your gizmos turned evil and –“
“I’m here,” Klara interrupted, clearing her throat in an attempt to regain her composure. “I’m here, yeah. Um, yeah, I’m okay. Anyway, don’t worry about Tayane’s number.”
“She already asked you out, didn’t she?” Sunwoo asked smugly, “you know, Tala and I are planning to go to this rave thing tonight, you and Tayane should totally go too. Kind of like a double date thing.”
Klara raised a brow. This was news to her. “You and Tala are going out? Like, dating going out?”
“What?” Sunwoo stammered, “anyway, rave thing, tonight, with Tayane Alves. Yay or nay?”
“No thanks,” Klara sighed as she went to sit back down at her desk, glancing at her unfinished notes and PowerPoint slides. “I don’t really feel like going out tonight.”
“Killjoy.”
The engineering major rolled her eyes. “Whatever, maybe next time. Anyway, I have to get back to studying, talk to you later.”
Klara sighed and ended the call before Sunwoo could retort with anything. She glanced at her exam notes. Well, she had to catch up in her cramming for the exam in a few hours now.
Thinking about Tayane Alves could wait.
-
-
Later that day, Klara sat at her desk. All her textbooks and notebooks and other stationary was cleared away after she had taken the biochemistry midterm with ease, and she even managed to tidy up and throw away all the coffee cups and energy drink cans and takeout containers, putting them all into a large garbage bag and disposing it in the designated trash collection area outside.
The only significant items that remained at her desk is her phone, and a note.
Tayane’s note.
Klara’s eyes switched back and forth between her phone—displaying her keypad with a specific set of numbers inputted—and Tayane’s note, displaying those exact numbers. The engineering major double and triple checked if she really typed in the right number—just to be extra, extra, super-duper sure.
It’s the correct number. It’s the correct number, Klara. You don’t need to check again.
Stop stalling.
She sighed, checking the number again for good measure, before slowly and reluctantly picking up her phone, thumb hovering above the call button.
Klara took a deep breath.
Well, here goes nothing.
She pressed the call button, and placed the phone against her ear.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
She frowned. If it rung a fourth time, or if she was directly led to voicemail, maybe it’s a sign for her to stop—
“Olá! What’s up?”
Klara gulped at the sound of the familiar voice. It’s happening. It’s happening. “Um, Tayane Alves?”
“Yup! That’s me. Who’s this?”
“It’s Klara. Um, Klara Böhringer. The one who—"
“The pretty girl who let me crash in her room last night, yeah, yeah! I remember!” Tayane said. Pink dusted Klara’s cheeks as soon as she realized Tayane had called her pretty. “Been waiting for your call all day!”
Klara perked up, “really?”
“Mhm!” Tayane affirmed excitedly, “I know I was shitfaced drunk last night, but I meant what I said in the note, you know?”
“I’m…happy to know that.”
“Say, got any plans tonight?” Tayane asked, “I got some tickets for a really cool rave not far from here, wanna come with?”
Ah. It’s probably the same rave Sunwoo invited her to, and Klara knew she flat out and definitively refused the former’s invitation earlier.
But it’s different this time.
Totally different.
“Sure, okay, I’d like that.”
(She knew she’d get teased by Sunwoo when she inevitably spots her at the rave with Tayane, but oh well, she could always tease her about Tala right back, whatever those two have going on.)
“It’s a date, then,” Tayane said, simply. Klara didn’t know it was possible for a person to grin through the phone, but the tone of Tayane’s voice suggested so.
Klara couldn’t help but smile as well.
“Yes, it’s a date.”