Mutual Love(2)

5

When I woke up, I received four messages on WhatsApp.

I rubbed my eyes, wondering who it could be, and found it was Elliott.

"Good morning."

It came with an emoji of a bear struggling to get up.

It had been a long time since anyone said good morning to me.

"I just woke up," I replied, pretending to be calm.

I got out of bed and washed up. As I was chewing the bread I bought last night in a trance, my phone vibrated again.

Elliott sent another message. "I almost missed the bus and jogged all the way to the classroom."

"Always arrived right on cue, didn't you?" I teased.

"Yes, and because of that, all the teachers in our department know me. Bad news spreads far and wide."

As graduation season was in full swing, most of us were busy with our graduation projects and dissertations. Elliott had to do experiments in an off-campus lab, while I wrote my dissertation in my dorm.

I went down to get an ice cream to refresh myself. As was my habit, I took a picture of it. It was a pea