Chapter 17 | Return

The university building had the same smell as usual.

A mix of overheated coffee, plastic chairs, and old paper. Nothing had changed.

And yet, something felt slightly out of place.

I crossed the courtyard, looking at the groups of students already settled on the benches. The same little circles. The same conversations started before the first class had even begun.

I spotted Nawal near the concrete tables.

Aïcha was with her.

My stomach tightened a little.

I walked over.

“Hi.”

Nawal immediately looked up.

“Eliott!”

She smiled.

“You survived the weekend?”

“Apparently, yes.”

Aïcha looked up at me.

“Hi.”

Her voice was neutral.

Not cold.

But not really warm either.

I sat down with them.

“So, what’s new?”

“Nothing,” Nawal said. “We were just talking about the law professor who thinks we actually read the cases.”

“He has a lot of hope.”

“Way too much.”

Nawal laughed.

Aïcha was looking at her phone.

I didn’t really know what to do with that.

Before, she always participated in conversations.

Always.

Now, she stayed slightly withdrawn.

I tried anyway.

“Did you understand yesterday’s finance exercise?”

She looked up.

“Yes.”

“Ah.”

“It wasn’t complicated.”

“No, it was fine.”

Silence.

Nawal looked from one of our faces to the other.

“Right, I’m going to get coffee.”

She stood up.

“Do you want anything?”

“No, thanks.”

“I’m good.”

She left.

And the silence immediately fell back.

Aïcha was scrolling through something on her phone.

I took a breath.

“Your message, the other day…”

She looked up.

“Yes?”

“I don’t really understand.”

She held my gaze for one second.

Then lifted her shoulders slightly.

“It’s nothing.”

“Yes, it is.”

“No.”

She put her phone on the table.

“Just… it’s better this way.”

I frowned.

“Better how?”

“Talking less.”

“Why?”

She sighed lightly.

“Eliott.”

“Yes?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

The way she said that bothered me.

As if she were closing something before I’d even had time to understand.

“Okay.”

She nodded.

“There.”

Nawal came back with three coffees.

“I got some for you anyway.”

“Thanks.”

“Thanks.”

She looked at our faces.

“Ooh.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

She smiled.

“Continue your super joyful conversation.”

Aïcha grabbed her coffee.

“We had nothing to say.”

“You could tell.”

Class started a few minutes later.

We went into the lecture hall.

This time, I sat next to Nawal.

Aïcha took the seat beside her.

But she barely spoke to me.

She answered when I asked her a question.

Politely.

But briefly.

And sometimes, she dropped small sentences that seemed slightly… sharp.

“You didn’t do the reading?”

“I skimmed it.”

“That explains things.”

Or:

“You could pay attention.”

“To what?”

“To what the professor is saying.”

It wasn’t mean.

Not really.

But it felt like someone trying to create a little distance, sentence after sentence.

I didn’t understand why.

During the break, I went out into the corridor.

I took out my phone.

A message appeared almost immediately.

Jade.

“Jade: so university is still that depressing?”

I smiled.

“Eliott: yes”

Three little dots appeared.

“Jade: courage”

“Eliott: I survived marketing all morning”

“Jade: heroic”

“Eliott: I deserve a medal”

“Jade: you’ll get a croissant”

…

“Eliott: I have a friend who isn’t talking to me anymore and I don’t understand why”

The answer came quickly.

“Jade: AH”

“Jade: you should try to find out why”

I looked up at the corridor ceiling.

“Eliott: thanks for the advice”

“Jade: you’re welcome”

“Jade: did you do something?”

“Eliott: not that I know of”

“Jade: then you probably didn’t do anything”

I frowned slightly.

“Eliott: that’s logical”

“Jade: people are weird”

I let out a small breath.

“Eliott: yes”

She sent:

“Jade: good luck, student”

“Jade: think of your glorious future”

“Jade: accountant”

“Jade: sorry, I meant assistant accountant”

“Eliott: Stop!”

“Jade: never!”

I put the phone away.

The conversation had been short.

But it had made me smile.

The next class passed more slowly.

When we finally came out of the building, the sky was already grayer.

People were scattering through the courtyard.

Nawal went to talk with other students.

Aïcha gathered her things.

“Right.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

“See you tomorrow?”

She hesitated.

Just one second.

“Yes.”

Then she added:

“Have a good evening.”

And she walked away.

I stayed there for a few seconds.

With that strange sensation of having missed something.

Something I couldn’t even name.

I took out my phone.

I hesitated for a moment.

Then I wrote to Lyralda.

“Eliott: What are you doing?”

The answer came a few minutes later.

“Lyralda: Meeting”

Then:

“Lyralda: why?”

I thought for a bit.

“Eliott: nothing”

“Eliott: bad day”

The three little dots appeared.

“Lyralda: what happened?”

I looked at the university courtyard.

The groups.

The laughter.

Aïcha already moving away at the end of the path.

“Eliott: a friend of mine is acting weird”

“Eliott: I don’t really understand”

Her answer came after a few seconds.

“Lyralda: it happens”

“Lyralda: do you want to talk about it?”

I lifted my shoulders slightly.

Even though she couldn’t see it.

“Eliott: I think it’s okay”

“Eliott: just tired”

Pause.

“Lyralda: I’m finishing late”

“Lyralda: but if you want to come by or call, you can”

I looked at the screen.

The idea crossed my mind for one second.

Go see her.

Talk.

Stay a little.

But something in me hesitated.

Not out of fear.

More out of tiredness.

“Eliott: thanks”

“Eliott: but I’ll be fine”

“Eliott: I’m going home”

Her reply came almost immediately.

“Lyralda: okay”

Then:

“Lyralda: rest well Eliott”

I put the phone away.

The university courtyard had already emptied a little.

I left the campus and headed toward the metro.

People walked quickly around me.

Conversations, laughter, phone calls.

The city was moving normally.

And I was simply walking.

With that strange sensation of having lost something.

Or maybe simply not understanding what had just changed.

But for the first time in several days, I did not try to solve the problem.

I went home.

And I let the day end on its own.