Chapter 25

‘You have to focus, Yvaine and get this damn medical degree!’

I resumed my reading:

“On the other hand, short-term memory, also called working memory, occurs in the prefrontal cortex. It stores information for about one minute and its capacity is limited to about 7 items. For example, it enables you to dial a phone number someone just told you. It also intervenes during reading, to memorize the sentence you have just read, so that the next one makes sense...”

That particular reading was forgotten altogether once my phone screen lit up again.

R: ‘Whoisthat’ said the message, with no spaces or question marks. Maybe the teacher caught him with the phone or he was in a hurry.

Y: ‘Haven’t you seen Grey’s Anatomy?! Mark is a surgeon there, in that series. Where have you lived so far!?’

R: ‘So this guy doesn’t even exist? And you have a crush on an imaginary person? It’s stupid and annoying.’

If it hadn’t been Rudolph, I would have assumed he was frustrated at not being able to hit Mark Solon, who didn’t really exist. Two notifications of two more messages distracted me again.

R: ‘And no. I don’t watch any series, Nerdy-Head. So you still didn’t tell me, why did you stop dating that dude? Have you met someone else you liked more?’

R: ‘Alex was the dude’s name, right?’

I was surprised he had remembered the real name. Tiziano had mentioned it once, briefly, in a phone call in which Rudy was on speakerphone. With roles reversed, I certainly wouldn’t have remembered that detail at all.

Y: ‘Yes, Alex. And I have already told you! Alex isn’t my type. Simple.’

That seemed like a good time to switch to the ‘hot topic’ and start using dear Rudy to gather more information about my mate, without him realizing what I was doing. Tapping my finger on my chin I then typed on my phone with a tiny grin.

Y: ‘And, according to Moon Goddess, my type is The gigantic, deadly hot, blond werewolf with fluffy hair.’

Then I typed another text, Y: ‘Before you ask, yes. I found my mate too, and his hotness equalizes Mark’s.’

When he didn’t reply right away, I resumed my studying but before my short-term memory could absorb what I was reading, a new text appeared on my screen.

R: ‘Gigantic!? Did you get the impression he was fat?’

I bet Logan had never experienced a bit of soft meat on his steel body before.

R: ‘And by the way I checked, and that Michael Solon dude is old and honestly 100% gay.’

I chuckled to myself and began to answer.

Y: ‘No, my mate is not fat. By gigantic I meant he’s so tall that I think I will need a ladder! Also, the character is called MARK not Michael, and he’s definitely not gay or old! Anyway, guess what ?!’

I tried again with the ‘guess what?’ joke, but for the umpteenth time Rudy ignored it.

R: ‘Ladder for what?’

Of all things, he had focused on the ladder joke.

Y: ‘Well, you know for what.’

I wanted to start asking questions about my mate, but Rudy wouldn’t let me because another message came.

R: ‘No, I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?’

At that point I was blushing, imagining my mate and I kissing, while I used a ladder to be able to kiss him well without him having to bend over a meter or crouch down.

Y: ‘Shut up Rudy! Don’t you want to know who he is, instead of asking unimportant questions?! I’ll give you a clue: He’s from your same pack!’

R: ’Hey, my questions are all important, Bunny Doc. I’m very curious to know what you mean with ‘gigantic’ and what you are planning to do with a ladder.′

I sighed, scratching the side of my neck. What harm could it do in telling this ‘text pal’ my thoughts about my soulmate?

Y: ’Well. Since he is as tall as a one-floor house, I would need to use a ladder to kiss him properly or he would eventually get back pain.′

I decided to admit it, so that maybe we could move quickly on my mate’s topic so I could gather more information.

But again, Rudolph didn’t answer me right away.

What a frustrating reindeer!

Then I remembered that he had a class and that I had tons of pages to digest and understand before dinner. Medical students had to follow a rigorous schedule and plan the insane amount of work required. All to be able to heal patients in the future and not become patients themselves, after losing their minds during medical school.

“Excuse me?” I approached the other she-wolf sitting on the nearby desk. The one who had warned me to be silent a couple of times, with glares and the typical “Sssh”.

With her head immersed in the book that probably weighed more than her, she hadn’t even noticed me. When I read the title “Anatomy 101,” I made a face, remembering the pure hell and sleepless nights my roommates and I had gone through while studying for that subject.

“Yes?” She looked at me with her nose wrinkled and rearranging the glasses on the bridge of her nose.

I hadn’t noticed it before, but she was very pretty behind that thickness, with deep hazel and slightly almond-shaped eyes, long lashes and a french nose. A nicely done braid trapped dark brown hair.

“This may sound strange to you but, uh, could you keep it to me?” I showed her my cell phone, biting my lip. The girl who must have been about my age, looked at my phone with confusion, then stared at me. “Um, I don’t understand.”

I fidgeted under her unimpressed stare.

“See, I’m having trouble concentrating today, due to this device, so I was wondering if by chance you could keep it with you and not give it back to me for the next few hours.”

The mechanisms in her brain were in motion, she most likely believed I was crazy. “I’ll own you one! Please”

“If guarding your phone will keep you from making noise, sure.” she finally declared with a small smile.

“Because you certainly weren’t silent!”

I chuckled softly: “I know, I’m sorry. By the way, I’m Yvaine, a third year student. You?”

I offered her my hand for a handshake.

“I’m Margherita. Second year.” Noticing my frown upon hearing her name, she giggled lowly and rushed to explain: “It means daisy in Italian. You can call me like that if it’s easier”

“I understand your frustration. My name is Scottish originally and everyone here calls me Ivana or Yvonne.”

We chatted quietly for a while, until Daisy started liking me to the point that I even offered to help her with Anatomy 101. The nice girl wanted to specialize in general surgery and had Italian origins. She was part of the Golden Fur pack, which didn’t have a medical school on their campus.

Thanks to Rudolph and my mate, indirectly, I found a new friend in Daisy, who helped me control my new obsession with my hellish device.

I could concentrate on my studies for the next few hours, devouring page after page, with my phone safe, in the bottom of her bag.

Almost three hours later, I stretched my arms over my head and yawned.

What a day!

The big grandfather clock showed it was 9.30pm and my stomach had just reminded me that it was time to get some food.

Daisy was still buried in her notes and books.

“I’ll stay a little longer, but it was nice meeting you, Ivy!” She smiled, handing my cell phone back. “I hope you can fix your little obsession!”

“I hope so too! I’ll see you around”

When I left the library, I greeted the cool evening air with a sigh.

When I fished my phone, I removed ‘airplane mode’ and peeped. As soon as I did that, an avalanche of notifications immediately invaded the screen. There was a missed call from Lachlan, some messages from Tiziano about tonight’s dinner and a few from Uncle Andrew.

And then there were six texts and two missed calls from Rudolph.

Wasn’t he in class?! He must have finished, considering the time.

6.23pm ~ R: ‘What makes you think he wants to kiss you? And come on, he can’t be that tall, unless you’re truly short ;)’

6.32pm ~ R: ‘Why did you say “deadly” hot? Is he the sexiest guy you’ve ever seen? I bet he is.’

6.42pm ~ R: ‘Is that why you stopped seeing that Alex dude? Because you met your mate? Or are you going to keep dating other guys anyway?’

7.12pm ~ R: ‘Why don’t you reply to me. What are you doing’

7.28pm ~ R: ‘I was just joking about the kissing. I’m sure he wants to kiss you badly, no matter if you’re a gnome.’

7.32pm ~ R: ‘Yvaine’

I started getting a little headache with the number of useless messages and questions he was posing. Why he should bother with those details about my mate was a mystery.

With a puzzled expression, I began to reply.

Y: ‘Sorry I was studying. I turned off the phone for a while.’ I sent the first message and noticed that he was typing.

Y: ‘He’s too much for my mental sanity, that’s why I said “deadly” hot.’

Before I could reply to the other messages, he had already texted back.

R: ‘Since when is being beautiful a bad thing!? Would you have preferred a mate that was ugly and a dwarf?’

The conversation was getting weird and far from my original plan, but I answered anyway, tired and without thinking much.

Y: ‘Of course not! I don’t care about physical appearance. But a less beautiful mate would surely keep the she-wolves away.’ I meant it as a joke, at least partially, but Rudy seemed to think differently.

R: ‘So, after perverting and drooling all over your mate, thinking about the ladder to be able to kiss him without him getting scoliosis, now you complain that he’s too good because you’re jealous of other girls.’

I was assuming that he was joking, but the more we texted the more I thought he was serious, or worse, angry.

Y: ‘I’m certainly not the pervert here. You are, “Mr Booty Calls”. And apparently my mate is too, considering the number of girls around him today and how friendly he seemed to be, so he shouldn’t care if I’m a pervert, which I’m not anyway. :D’

He didn’t respond straight away, so I texted again while heading home.

Y: “So, wanna guess who he is? :D”

I wanted so badly to ask questions about my mate at that point. The last time I saw him was today, exactly eight hours ago. Was it possible that I already missed him terribly?

Besides, Rudy was not helping me. Not at all.

In fact, the ‘reindeer’ texted me back 45 minutes later. In the meantime, I had returned home, had changed, and had eaten the takeaway pizza that Tiziano had ordered me and took a shower.

R: ‘I don’t need to guess anything, you said it clearly: the dude is a gigantic giant, too handsome for Your Highness slash Picky Doctor. Oh, and he’s already branded as a pervert and you need a ladder because you’re a gnome and too short for the bigfoot.’

Somehow, his words seemed full of resentment. I was probably exaggerating things, as it was just a text message.

Texting was not the best way of communication; things could be misunderstood and created odd tangles. And I was certainly not a gnome, my height was perfectly average for a 22-year-old female.

I was about to point this out to him when another ‘encyclopedia’ appeared on my screen. I remembered Rudy once hinted that he didn’t like texting and preferring calls...

R: ‘And how exactly do you know he’s a pervert? Did he give you that impression when you met him? Did he watch or talk to other girls after noticing you!? You know, kids nowadays can meet other people before they find their mates. And those girls might just have been friends. Haven’t you thought about it, Miss I Know It All? Besides, you were fornicating literally a day earlier, or have you forgotten that detail?’

I scoffed. So much for not liking texting!

And the fact that there were no smiling faces, winks, or nicknames, suggested that Rudy was resentful. My mouth formed an O. I had to imagine things here. The shock of finding my mate must have messed up my neurons and overused brain.

Or maybe Rudolph was simply a mates’ champion ever since he met his own soulmate. There was also the possibility that he was just bored and was taking it out on me.

Y: ‘Well, when I met him today, he was surrounded by girls and he didn’t seem to mind. I don’t take anything for granted, it’s a fact. Plus, he has a reputation for always having girls following him. And no, he didn’t even talk to me, he just stared at me and then walked away.’

By the time I fed Pluto, Rudolph’s text was already waiting for me.

R: ’Ohh poor Bunny, maybe you scared him off with your scent or height, or should I say ‘shortness’. I bet his girls were much taller than you.′

Ok, that was enough. I growled lowly feeling slightly hurt.

I didn’t care if Rudy was having a bad day, I certainly wasn’t a punching bag for him to use and let off steam.

Y: ‘Why are you so rude today!? Did anyone put pepper in your cereal this morning? Is that why you are so grumpy today, Reindeer? Do you need more ashwagandha?’

R: ‘I’m not rude, I’m just stating the facts and I don’t need any of your drugs.’

Y: ‘Ok!! Forget everything I’ve said. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about him as you are from the same pack, but it doesn’t matter. Go to your mate, it could relax your ugly personality. Good evening.’

R: ‘Questions about him? Do you really want to spy on him and decide if you like him enough before accepting him? And what makes you think he wants you?’

R: ‘You’re a gnome, have you forgotten? And he already has a lot of girls around to choose from, according to your super-wise people and according to you.’

I had to admit that his words hurt me a lot. It was like a series of stabs. When you meet your mate and you don’t even exchange a word, well, his words surely triggered some insecurities.

Y: ‘Well, I’m his mate. He’s supposed to like me, no matter my flaws.’

R: ‘What about you, mhm? Aren’t you supposed to love him no matter what people say about him?’

Ok. Deep breath. Calm down.

Could it be that Rudolph was jealous that I found my mate!? But it didn’t make any sense. He didn’t know me, never saw me and he had a mate!

Maybe they were having problems or were fighting, probably because of his oily hair, so he was unhappy and took it out on me. That must be it.

Y: ‘I never said I wouldn’t! Damn, seriously what happened to you? You know, if you have problems with your mate you should solve them with her, not throw them at me!’

R: ‘Yes, I have problems with my mate. And I feel sorry for your poor mate. And no, if you want to spy on him, ask someone else because I won’t help you.’

By then I was seeing red.

Y: ‘It’s not like he called or chased me. I just wanted to ask you about him so when I talk to him, I’ll be more prepared, damn! You’re just a sociopath with greasy hair who probably doesn’t even know my mate.’

I noticed he was typing, probably to insult me again or defend his hair. I have chosen to be the bigger person and to respond like an adult.

Y: ‘I’m here when you want to apologize. Until then, good life Rudolph, and remember that the key to any relationship is communication. If your mate has done something that upset you, you should just tell her instead of blaming the rest of the world.’

Then, I turned off the phone, again. I felt tired, sad and a little angry.

After a relaxing hour drinking some tea and lying in my room with Amaia and Tiziano, I turned the phone back on. I was surprised with what I saw.

R: ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.’

R: ‘So, who is this lucky guy you want to spy on, and why are you so sure I know him?’

And two missed calls.

~~~~~~~

AN/ Next update: on Sunda

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