No Choice

Driving through campus on my way to the school’s library was an eerie feeling when I returned early from break. There were likely quite a few people back already, but the walkways to and from destinations were about as empty as they could get.

I wasn’t initially planning on returning early this year, and was going to enjoy New Years at home before returning to campus in early January, yet here I was on the 30th.

The reason I was here was due to Marcus, who had come up with an idea for a two person project, which he wanted to give to the first years who would be starting in earnest come the second semester. Apparently, he felt the need to give them an example, and I was the lucky partner for his plan.

Despite the seemingly innocent appearance of the project, I couldn’t help but harbor feelings that there was something more going on than what meets the eye here. Marcus wasn’t usually one for schemes or hidden objectives, but this is usually the kind of thing you’d plan while school was in session, instead of messaging me a few days before Christmas.

Parking the car and getting out, I noticed that there were only two other cars here. One I recognized as Marcus, and I assumed the other would then be whoever was working the desk on the first floor.

The bitter cold that slapped me in the face as I stepped out served as a reminder of the times. Today wasn’t anything like the last time I’d been here, with the refreshing and surprising warmth coming from the south.

I found Marcus in our usual spot, nose buried in one of the books he was looking through. It was something for one of his other classes by the looks of it, I guess not wanting to start on the project without me.

“Hey.” I said, setting down my things and taking the seat adjacent to his.

“Good morning.” He yawned and stretched.

It was almost afternoon already, but I didn’t want to remind him.

Over break, a lot of students tend to ruin their sleep schedules a bit, and it appeared that Marcus was no exception.

His tired face and dreary eyes told me that he couldn’t have woken up more than an hour ago.

As for me? I’d been awake since first light, wanting to avoid rush hour traffic on my drive down here, not that there was as much traffic today in particular.

If I’d driven down here tomorrow, however, I’d have taken a while longer to arrive.

“Must be nice, being a morning person.” He grumbled as he noticed my tidy appearance.

I just shrugged and quickly went to gather some materials for our project, before realizing I didn’t know the subject.

“What exactly is this project about anyways?”

I probably should have asked this before agreeing to participate, but if it was an example for the new students I wanted it to be good, so I’d just hastily agreed.

He gave a brief explanation of the project, which was to find and interview some future superstars that were in the same year as you. Each student in the group would have to interview a different person, but they had to be on the same team, so that the story would come together well.

It was meant to be a challenge in a few different areas. They’d have to gather information, decide on a specific team, conduct an interview with an inexperienced athlete, and then collaborate on the final product. As far as introductions for first years go, this was a great idea. It would push their limits in a few different ways while ensuring they had someone else to rely on and an example to go off of.

“As for us, we’ll be interviewing third and fourth years.” He said, concluding his explanation.

I guess that made some sense, given we were in our third and fourth years here. But I had a feeling there was more to it than he was letting on in that regard, although I wasn’t sure what.

I guessed that there wouldn’t be too many first year partnerships established on teams to choose from, so maybe he just didn’t want to limit the other student’s options.

He leaned over to his small stack of material and started flipping through it, eventually finding the thing he was looking for, which he set in front of me.

It was an article about Tillie Reid, a fourth year on the girls’ soccer team who was originally favored as the next captain, before Ria earned that role.

“She stayed behind for break, so we’ll be able to do our interview on the third in a few days.”

The final piece of his plan clicked into place in front of me.

He was by no means a schemer, but he seemed to have taken an interest in my relationship with Ria, who he’d been asking about occasionally.

By picking Tillie and having the interview during break, it only left me one option of my own.

I had no choice, but to interview Ria.