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 Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:09 am
Chris had never had a shorter summer than the one that had just flown by. The breaks between each year of middle school and high school seemed never ending, and while he was looking forward to getting back to classes, he wasn't all that thrilled about the long days and nights ahead. He was already struggling to get a full eight hours per night, and fighting monsters and running around like some would-be viking was probably going to be cutting back his study and homework time.
He'd expected there to be a lot of people collecting books before classes started, but he hadn't been prepared for just how many students would be there. He was almost tempted to come back another day, but this was really the only time he knew he had to get what he needed. And, of course, his professors wanted him to buy all new or used textbooks and workbooks, rather than renting them from the school. So instead of having the books brought to him from the vast amounts of bookcases where the rentals were kept, he was stuck, tiptoeing over other people who were also searching for their required books by course number and professor.
In fact, he nearly crushed another young man as he reached over for the large History of Mathematics book to add it to the already precariously stacked textbooks in his arms. The book on top, one on modern architecture, had slipped off as he leaned over, but he wasn't sure if it actually hit the other young man or not... just that it had fallen.
"Sh-- Sorry! Are you okay??" he gasped, giving up in his attempt at getting the history book and instead making sure the rest of his stack remained stationary. "Did that hit you?? I'm really sorry," he apologized again, maneuvering the books in his arms so he could set them down on the floor. There had to be an easier way to do this...
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:19 pm
There wasn't really any such thing as a summer off once you got to a certain point in college, and Sebastian had hit that point. He was planning on continuing past his Master's degree and getting a doctorate. His father's advice had been to lay the groundwork for that as early as possible, which was why the brunette had spent most of his summer taking extra classes and doing volunteer work. Applying to grad school was rapidly becoming the focus of his last two years at DCU.
So he'd picked his classes for the semester with that in mind, picking up a few more advanced math classes on top of the engineering ones. He'd already met his requirements for the gen ed stuff, thankfully, leaving his schedule free for things directly related to his major. These classes did of course require new books instead of ones he'd already had lying around from previous classes.
There were two books in his little plastic shopping basket so thoughtfully kept in limited supply by the bookstore staff. He'd been about to add a third when the sound of a book hitting the floor came from behind him. He turned and stared a bit at the stack of books the other man was carrying and setting down on the floor. "Didn't hit me," he offered cheerfully in reply.
"How about we swap? I've only got a couple of books left to pick up, and you could use the basket more, I think." He'd already grabbed his two out of the basket before he'd gotten more than a couple of words into the offer.
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Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:44 pm
"Oh, good," Chris let out a sigh of relief, glad to see that the hadn't managed to drop heavy books on anyone. Not yet at least.
He did stare at the other young man when he emptied his basket for him, eyes wide in surprise. "Oh! No, you really don't have to! It's okay!" he tried to reason, but he knew it probably looked pretty silly for him to be carrying books around, looking like he was about to drop them everywhere... And on countless other innocent people.
Hesitating a few moments longer, Chris eventually leaned down to move the books in his arms into the basket, feeling both embarrassed and grateful for the young man's help. "Thank you... You really didn't have to," he mumbled sheepishly, not sure what he could say to express his thanks properly. "There's always more than I expect there'll be. I don't know how my professors are expecting us to get through so many books in one semester." Of course, he wasn't the one teaching the class, so he would undoubtably find out soon enough.
"Chris Gallo," he introduced, holding out his hand to the other student. "What are you here for? Your major, I mean..." he explained, hoping he wasn't being too curious or nosey. It wasn't every day that he met someone willing to hand over their shopping basket after almost getting a concussion from a large, hardback book!
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 5:49 pm
"It's fine," Sebastian insisted, smiling as he watched Chris transfer his books to the basket. "Your professors really seem to want to support the bookstore." That really was a lot of books. Hopefully his classes were spread out enough so he didn't have to carry too many around at a time. Otherwise, well, he'd better have a good backpack or something.
"Sebastian Drake," he introduced himself, taking the offered hand and shaking it firmly. "Aerospace Engineering. You?" Something to do with art, or architecture if the books were anything to go by.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:02 pm
"My professors..." he repeated, sounding exasperated as he released Sebastian's hand, "... better actually use these books and not just a couple chapters in them." He could understand getting workbooks, but the rest? He could probably find on Amazon. He was planning on getting them now, and then hold onto them for as long as the bookstore allowed before he'd have to return them. It was usually fourteen days, and by then he should hopefully have the much cheaper books at his disposal.
"Wow, Aerospace, huh? Astronautical or just aviation in general?" he asked, looking Sebastian over again as if he hadn't really seen him yet. It wasn't every day when he met people with ambitions like that. His little brother (who wants to be an astronaut, of course) didn't count , because he was ten and had no idea what he really wanted to do with his life. Or maybe he did... who knew.
"Architecture," he said, pausing for a moment before adding, "And maybe Mathematics. I'm trying to decide if I should double major or pick up a minor." Not that he had a lot of time to really focus on two majors, what with his secret other life on top of baseball. "What year are you? Not a freshman..." he guessed, if only because he was in the higher level classes, according to the books he was sitting in front of.
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