We were making great progress with revision so far. We'd done our bubble charts for the first four exams and put them up all around the kitchen, despite Gary's complaints that he was accidentally learning more chemical engineering than he ever wanted to.
I started the first of our last set, Environmental Engineering. The first module was all to do with water pollution and toxin concentrations, so of course the central bubble should represent a puddle, complete with reeds and a frog. As I carefully coloured in the bulk of my beautifully drawn froglet with the green highlighter, Bob was doing similarly for the air dispersion module.
"Jane, stupid question, but which way round do you draw the cartoon version of birds? Like a stretched out 'w' or a stretched out 'm'?"
"Umm..." I quickly sketched out both on my notes and stared at them. "I think... it's the 'w'?"
Bob flipped my notebook round and examined them. "Are you sure? The 'm' looks more birdlike."
"No, I'm pretty sure it's the 'w'."
"But surely that would be a falling bird? As with the 'm' it has the wind under its wings? Otherwise the 'w' is like a falling dying bird, plummeting to earth..."
I laughed a little. "I can't believe we're actually debating this for a set of revision reminder sheets that only we are going to see. Choose your favourite and stick with it!"
He started drawing in a mixture as I shook my head at him, smiling. A few seconds later, I jumped a mile as a horrendous screech sounded outside the open window. I was about to go look when Bob groaned loudly.
"Oh no, they're back!"
"Back?" I asked questioningly.
"Yeah, it's the kids from the neighbouring flats... Every Saturday morning they all go out and scream constantly for about three hours. Puts you off ever having kids."
"Ha, you'll be such a grumpy dad one day. 'There shall be no screaming of any description in this household - you shall all be as quiet as mice!'" I teased Bob. He looked up, eyebrows raised.
"Have you ever actually heard mice?! They're not quiet at all, I had one running round my bedroom a few weeks back waking me up in the middle of the night as it somehow managed to get stuck in my rubbish bin."
I giggled at his outrage. "So what did you do with it? Release it back into Gary's room - after all, that's probably its natural habitat..."
He grimaced. "I should have done, I swear that's why we're getting all these mice at the moment. No, I threw it out the window."
I stared at him. "You... what? Actually threw it out the window? Did you touch it?"
"Ew, no! I just picked up the waste basket it had somehow got stuck in, opened the window and turned it upside down. That'll teach the mouse to wake me up in the middle of the night!"
"I imagine the two storey drop made that lesson pretty clear!"
I was shaking my head laughing at him when more shrieks emanated from the window. Getting up from my chair, I walked over and leaned out of the window, smiling at the four kids playing happily on the trampoline.
Paying no attention to what Bob was doing, I yelped and jumped as a loud deep voice yelled from behind me.
"HEY KIDS! I LOVE WATCHING YOU ALL THE TIME! I JUST LOOOOOVE LITTLE CHILDREN!!"
I froze in horror before spinning to stare at Bob.
"You - you - what - why would you do that?!" I managed to squeak at him before spinning back and frantically trying to yank shut the window. Looking down I saw all four kids had stopped and were staring up at me with suspicion on their faces.
"No - that wasn't me - I wasn't watching! Not like that! It's my idiot of a friend, he - ugh!" I started trying to explain myself before giving up on the window and stalking over to where Bob had crumpled over in hysterical laughter against the fridge.
"You!" I growled, poking him in the chest with my finger. "You, you monster! That was awful! Those kids think I'm some kind of creep!" He began to get control of himself as I started prodding him with both fingers, but dissolved back into helpless giggles at the last sentence. "I - don't - like - you - right - now!" I half-yelled at him, punctuating each word with a finger to his chest. Still laughing, he grabbed my forearms to restrain me from attacking him any more. I struggled to continue, but he had me fast. We both stilled for a moment, staring at each other in a silent challenge, before I turned and pulled free with a frustrated grunt.
"That may have been my favourite ever moment. Like, ever. I don't think anything will surpass that." Bob said breathlessly as he sat down again, still recovering from his laughing fit.
"Yeah, not how I'd describe it..." I muttered grumpily.
"Oh come on, you have to admit that was funny! Your face!"
I looked up and met his gaze. "Ask me a day or two maybe, and yes, I might admit it was a tiny bit funny. Actually, maybe make that a week or two, because that was awful! But right now, I'd just beware of any answers you ask me to explain because I am seriously tempted to teach you the wrong ones."
Bob grinned unashamedly and was about to respond when his phone pinged. Swiping it open, he quietened as he read the text. "Ah, I need to go phone Frankie quickly, she needs advice on something. You good for fifteen minutes or so?"
I half-smiled at him. "It's hard to believe, but I think I'll survive fifteen minutes without you in the room. Considering what just happened, that's actually probably a good thing for me to calm down and stop wanting to murder you. Go on, disappear."
Frankie answered as he walked out of the room, and I could hear him immediately start telling her excitedly about what had just happened. I couldn't help but feel a little part of me tighten uncomfortably inside - I don't know why, but I'd assumed he didn't really tell Frankie about our time together. It felt stupidly like he was sharing something private, when I had no right to anything private with him. And if he was telling her everything so openly, he must feel that there was nothing to hide, that there was nothing wrong about our friendship - which was right, I told myself. The way it should be.
Sighing, I slowly banged my head lightly on the table. This was not what I needed to be focusing on with a week until the first exam. This was not going to help me get a better grade, and overall a better degree, and a top job. More importantly than just 'better' grades, this wasn't going to help me come top of the class and get that £200 prize for top chemeng student that I'd been eyeing up this year. Guys come and go, but your grades are forever, I chanted silently. Your grades and your achievements are what you can rely on. If I worked hard and stuck to my morals, I could rely on the fact that at least I'd never let myself down, no matter how many guys did.
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