Tuesday – 16 August 2016

He sat by the table with headphones on, surrounded by notebooks and loose paper with a tablet in front of him. He was so focused on his work that he was unaware of the busy area he was in – a common study area where groups of students would meet for their projects or for individual students to just study on their own. He situated himself by the sink and microwaves, but I assumed his headphones aided in drowning out the noises considering he seldom looked up to check his surroundings despite the numerous people that walked by around him.

———

(Film)

She looked up from her textbook and saw that it was him again. He sat in the same spot that he was sitting in on this same day as last week. She watched as he meticulously organised his studying materials for that session before fixing himself into the seat, lastly putting his headphones on and bowing his head to signal the commencement of his studying methods. She tried her best to ignore his sight by focusing her eyes to her textbook but she couldn’t help glancing at him every now and then, each time reflecting on the numerous times she has walked past him in this same building for the past couple of weeks and couldn’t muster the courage to approach him.

After a few minutes, she finally decided that she’ll go over to him and say ‘hello’ – after she goes to the bathroom. And when she returned from the bathroom, she walked slowly towards him, so focused on his notes and unaware of her presence. She reconsidered her last step towards his table and, disappointingly and regretfully, continued walking past him without a word. When headed towards the exit and the door closed behind her, he looked up and around him before resuming his readings.