The next day, before class, I spent a while in Doc's office talking about different things we had on Earth while sometimes switching gears talking about teaching stories. Today I told him about televisions, game systems, and the internet. I am not sure if he can replicate those, but it doesn't hurt telling him because knowledge of those might help with his creativity. I also gave him a nice chunk of my allowance from my parents as research funds too. Research like this will be very expensive. It is a good thing I was born into a wealthy family in this life at least for this.
When I sit down in the classroom for morning classes, the atmosphere has changed and people are more disgusted by me than usual. Word about last night must have circulated from that other girl. I won't even bother fighting the rumors because technically they are true. I did ruin her cookies by appearances. My body at least. Well Rose's perception of me changed when I told her the truth, maybe telling my class might help. I stand up and say loudly as an announcement, "I am affected by a curse that only activates around Rose when I get close to her. We are actually really good friends and we talk everyday at a distance using the phone I invented and try not to run into each other in person because of this curse. You can ask her if you don't believe me." They scoff and say, "Whatever, she probably threatened her to say all of that so people would look the other way."
I deeply sigh and sit down and pull out the notebooks for Rose and start working on them and ignore all these hard heads who refuse to listen. I started on Algebra since that is the one she said first. Usually the first thing to come out is the one most on their mind. This was just a personal, non-empirical observation I have made and it isn't always correct hence why I said usually. Sometimes people save the most important things for last instead. It depends on their priorities during that specific circumstance. I wrote these equations for algebra on the right side of the pages and I folded a crease on the page so when she turns it over to where the practice questions are she can fold the paper to get a glimpse of the equations easily while practicing.
By the end of the day I was done with the Algebra notebook. If this were an anime I would have been on fire with my hand moving so fast you couldn't see it. Ha ha. Obviously I can't write that fast, but that is just how I felt at the end of the day. I made sure to put a lot of practice questions in it and used many pages. I get up immediately after class and go to my dorm. I get a ribbon and tie the notebook with an X tie like I did with the letter around the string to secure it on the string. I see Ren instead with his usual glowing main character energy, totally forgetting that I was supposed to talk to him today. I yell out the window, "Hey Ren, give me one moment I will be right down." He says, "Hold up. I want to try this phone Rose spoke of." I untie the notebook and drop the cup down to him and I yell, "Tug three times if you want to say something and tug once when you are done speaking. You have to put the cup to your ear to hear the other person speak."
I tug the line and he puts it up to his ear. I jump into the deep end, "Ren can you hear me?" He tugs the line, "Yes I can hear you." I tug the line again and respond, "Good, I will go ahead and just say it to get it off my chest. I am under a curse that makes me do and say terrible things to Rose whenever she gets in close proximity to me. Whenever we talk like this, everything is fine and I can say what I like. But when she is in front of me something takes control over me and makes me say and do those things. The reason might sound farfetched to you but this is all because of a prophecy. You might not believe me but I witnessed my death through a prophecy and everything I do to Rose is a part of that prophecy like some force is making me reenact it against my will." Ren tugs the line, "That sounds wild, Violet, but it makes sense. Do you know why?" I tug back, "In this prophecy I bully her because of her relationship to you out of jealousy, but she doesn't know you like that in this life yet. I think it is because of my interference with the prophecy."
He tugs the line when I am done and says, "What do you mean about my relationship to you? You have made it clear that you don't like me and I am cool with that." I tug the line, "You are very correct. I still harbor no feelings for you, but when I am being possessed this body might say things against my will to reenact the prophecy. I wanted to tell you so you wouldn't be confused if you heard about it or saw it live and in person." He tugs the line, "That makes sense. I did hear some rumors about you, but now it all makes sense. I believe you. I have been engaged to you for a long time and know what kind of person you are. Well now at least. I almost misunderstood you as well along with everyone else. I put everything together with Rose's help. She finally made me realize that everything I noticed was just misunderstood. She even gave me one of the cookies you made last night, which was delicious by the way. We were wondering. How did you get them all so perfectly round?"
I tugged the line feeling a little prideful that they liked my cookies, "The secret is pulling them out halfway and making them perfect and then putting them back in the oven." He tugs the line, "I will be sure to tell her. She was amazed by your cookies… Hey, Violet, I am sorry for how I treated you over the years." I tug the line feeling genuinely confused by his words, "I don't know what you are apologizing for. I don't recall you ever treating me badly ever." He tugs on the line, "I said some cold things to you over the years. Do you not remember?" I tug on the line realizing what he meant, "I say things like that a lot myself so I never thought anything of it to be honest." He tugs the line after sighing a sigh of relief, "That is good to hear. Well regardless, I am sorry. Thank you for telling me. I will go ahead and take my leave. Hold up. I think Rose wanted to talk to you. She said if we got done early enough she would talk."
Before he passes the cup I tug on the line with a bit of urgency and he puts it to his ear, "Ren, can I ask you something important before you pass the cup?" He tugs the line, "Sure." I tug the line and say with complete seriousness, "Can you help protect Rose from me if we get too close? It might speed up the prophecy with you being in the picture, but I would rather her be safe than worry about my own future." He tugs the line, "I can do that for you." I tug the line feeling nothing but relief to his words, "Thank you so much Ren. I owe you big time." He tugs the line smiling that big bright main character smile of his, "You know I don't mind helping out a damsel in distress. Here let me call Rose over so she can talk to you." He says this while winking at me. I instinctively roll my eyes. He does have a hero complex in the book so that tracks.
He pauses to look around and he yells, "Rose!" He pauses for a moment, "Hey, we are done!" He says waving her over. I can't see her at the moment. I don't have my window all the way open so I can't peak my head out to see. Soon I see a flash of red and Ren hands her the line. I tug on it and she puts it to her ear. I say while motioning to my desk by the window that she can't see, "Can you pass me the cup for a bit? I have something for you. I don't want to drop it and accidentally mess it up." She does a happy dance and tugs the line, "You finished already? I am so excited. Here, take the cup back for a moment." I pull the cup in and put the notebook on the string on top of the cup and secure it and drop it back down. Ren is still there since he is curious. Rose unties it and opens it up. She flips through all of the pages and her mouth is wide open. She tugs on the string and says, "You did all of this for me?" I tug on the string, "Yep. I put the equations on the side of the pages so you could easily fold it to glance at them if you need it while practicing." She tugs on the string, "Thank you so much, Violet. This means a lot to me." She hugs the notebook tightly to her chest.
She looks to Ren and her eyes light up, "Ren take a look at what Violet made for me." She hands him the notebook and he looks at it wide eyed and takes the cup and tugs on it, "Violet, if it isn't too much trouble can you make me one of these too?" Rose smacks him on the arm, "You dummy, why don't you just copy this one? We can go do that now. Want to go to the library?" Ren nods, "Sure, sounds good." He hands her the cup and Rose says, "Looks like I have to go now. Thanks for the notebook and thank you so much for the cookies. Hey how did you get them so round? I was talking to Ren about that earlier." I laugh a bit since we just talked about this and tug the line, "I pull them out halfway to make each one perfect then put them back in to finish baking." I feel a tug and she says, "That is amazing. I am going to do that from now on. Thanks again for everything, I will talk to you tomorrow." She smiles and waves and I smile and wave back.
I hear Ren say barely audible through the cup after laughing a bit, "Hey, I was going to tell you that." She links her arm with Ren and walks in the direction of the library. I wonder if she likes him romantically. That thought makes my chest tighten and I clutch it. She was very intimate looking just then the way she grabbed his arm. She does fall in love with him in the story and I have told him I don't have feelings for him so maybe he went for it. I don't know. I want to keep her to myself but a relationship with someone you can't touch is hard. Maybe this is as far as our relationship can go.
I get my journal out and take stock of my situation to gather my thoughts. So telling others about my curse doesn't help and they don't believe anything I say. They apparently do not believe Rose either. What if I am not able to escape the villainess role? Will I still die at the end if only a few people believe in me? The cookie scene specifically was not in the book, but scenes like it were. It appears as if the creator is forcing the narrative and the audience is the students and faculty. On the flip side, instead of destroying Rose's notes, I gave her better ones. Me writing this down makes it feel like I am helping her strictly for myself, but I actually do want to help her and support her. At that moment I offered to help her, I wasn't thinking about my future. I was only thinking of her. It appears the star couple is getting along well like in the story. Writing this in my journal really makes my chest ache.
The next morning I am in my feelings and a little bit jealous of Ren. While I am making my food in the kitchen I start singing 'Jealous' by Nick Jonas since that song encapsulates what I am feeling right now with Ren and Rose. Seeing her grab his arm like that yesterday as they walked away made my chest feel tight. When I get done singing the song I hear an applause and gross and know it is Rose. I turn and see her put her hands up in a nonverbal fashion as if to say, 'I know. I know.' She waves and she leaves without me having to say anything. I have no right to be jealous over Rose. We aren't even dating and even if we were, it isn't like we can be intimate because of this damned curse. It would have to be an open relationship if she is going to have her needs met and I don't like that. I like being the one to provide everything to include things of the intimate nature. I hate this damned curse so much.
I talked with Doc about different appliances today. Like washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, etc. We couldn't get through all of them (obviously) so we will have to split this up over several days. He takes very detailed notes about everything so he has more to work with. I make sure to leave before I get too carried away so I can make it to class on time and Doc seems to be having a blast with all of these new things to tinker around with. The one he probably will be able to recreate most easily is the car I feel. It seems the most simple of the things I have told him about and I know more about cars than other forms of technology we had. Am I an expert at them? Absolutely not. As I have already stated, but I do know how they generally work. If someone told me to make a car right now, I would not be able to. At least not like we had on Earth.
I could probably make a cart or something. That might be a good start with Doc in making a cart. No engine or anything, things like wheels, an axle, steering wheel and the body of the cart. Oh and brakes. We definitely need brakes. We could do that. I don't know what makes an engine an engine or what makes a transmission a transmission. I know their jobs but that is it. One makes the car go vroom vroom and other changes the gears. How the vroom vroom or the changing of the gears happens I have no idea. I do know that large gears rotate slower and smaller gears rotate faster and I make sure to tell Doc. Making a cart might help him think of a way to propel it. That sounds like a project for the weekends though.
I get to class and I start working on Rose's chemistry notebook. I get about ½-¾ of it done before the end of the day. Doctor Stirling called on me a good bit today out of spite since it was a little more obvious today I wasn't paying attention to their lecture which caused me to lose time working on the notebook. I go straight to my dorm so I can talk with Rose like our usual routine. I sit by the window and wait for the string to tug and Rose says, "How was your day, Violet?" I tug and respond, "It was alright. I didn't quite finish your chemistry notebook today, but I should be able to finish it either tonight or tomorrow in class." Rose tugs and responds, "You don't have to lose sleep or class time over it. I really appreciate you taking the time to make these notebooks for me. It means a lot."
I tug and respond, "You are most welcome." She tugs back, "Soooo, changing the subject. I love hearing your voice when you are in the kitchen, but I know being close enough to the door to hear you sing is too close for you and you feel the curse. Would it be possible if you open the window when you are in the kitchen so when you sing I can hear you outside?" I tug and respond feeling a warm buzz in my chest, "For you I can. I don't really like singing in front of people, but it is different for people I like and am comfortable around." She tugs the line, "I feel so special." I hear her giggle and I tug the line and respond, "Well, you are special. Do you have any song requests?" She tugs on the line, "I can't think of any songs off the top of my head. It is like when you asked, I forgot all of the songs I have heard."
I tug the line laughing, "I completely understand that. That used to happen to me ALL of the time in my past life. I am not that social in this life to have had the conversations for it to happen here. People don't really like me in this world and it is probably because of the creator's doing. To be honest I could care less if the whole world hated me, but I don't know what I would do if you were to hate me." Rose tugs and responds, "I don't think I could ever hate you." I sigh in relief as if an imaginary weight was lifted from my shoulders and tug the line, "I didn't realize how much I needed to hear that until I heard you say it. Thank you, Rose." Rose tugs and replies, "There is nothing to thank me for. I just really like you and after knowing what type of person you are I just can't hate you. Hey, I have an idea for a song request. Still can't remember any songs, but how about you sing me songs that remind you of your wife?"
I tug the line, "I can do that. Would you like to hear something now or are you going to wait until tomorrow?" Rose tugs the line, "Oooooooooh, if you are offering to sing me a song right now, how can I refuse?" I pause to think, "Ok, well there are a lot of songs that remind me of my wife since we were always doing karaoke on road trips. We sang A LOT of songs so I have a lot of content to share." I feel a tug, "What is karaoke?" I tug back, "It is basically an activity that is singing along to musical accompaniment in a nutshell. Ok give me a minute real quick to practice some riffs in this song I am about to sing. I haven't sang this particular song in more than 17 years, so I am a little rusty." She tugs back, "Ok, I will be waiting."
I put the cup down and I practiced some of the riffs in 'My All' from Mariah Carey. That song reminds me of my wife since not only we sang it a lot on road trips but also I really am missing her right now so the lyrics fit with how I am feeling. Anyone who knows Mariah knows that she goes ham on these riffs so I wanted to make sure I had it down before singing for her. If she would have asked before I died in my first life I probably could have done it without the practice. After a minute of practicing the riffs in the song I open the window all the way and tug on the line and say, "Ok, I think I am ready. Here goes. This song is called 'My All'."
I put the cup down and sing the song out my window. I start getting emotional while singing, missing my wife. I don't let the emotions ruin my performance and I keep singing. By the end of the song I am crying and Rose stands up and applauds. She pulls on the cup and waits for me to pick it back up before saying, "That song was amazing. I felt your sorrow in your voice as you were singing and it was so moving. I want to make a selfish request and ask for another song, but I don't want to make you cry more. I mean unless you don't mind." I tug on the line while wiping my tears, "I have another one in me I think. This one is 'If I ain't got you'."
I put the cup down wiping the tears from my face and started singing again. No need to practice this one since I would sing this frequently to the cats. This song also gets me in the feels since this was Liz's favorite Alicia Keys song. Once I am done singing I wipe my tears from my face and Rose tugs on the line, "I really like that song too. It not only was really moving but I loved the meaning behind it. The first song was amazing too, but I think I liked that one more. The first song was more of things you would do to see your wife again, but that one was more of what she was worth to you and that was powerful. You loved her more than the entire world, eternal youth, and all of the riches. I hope I can find love like that." I tug the line, "I hope you find love like that too." Rose tugs on the line, "I am looking forward to hearing more songs from you in the mornings. I could listen to your voice all day." I tug the line feeling a warm buzz in my chest, "I will sing for you whenever you ask me to. I mean, as long as it is just us or with Doc too. Since I am also comfortable around him as well." Rose tugs the line, "Duly noted. Don't worry I won't ask you to sing in a situation you aren't comfortable in. Before I go, I want to give you something. I have an idea of how we can be close together. Read what I have here and let me know what you think." She puts some paper in the cup and signals me to pull it up.
I take the paper out and look over the contents. She apparently laid out a plan to have me teach an etiquette class for her and scripted out dialogue for us. She said when we pretend we can say the opposite of what we are feeling in our hearts as a way to get past the negativity. I think I might be able to do that. I drop the cup back down and tug, "I think I might be able to do that." She tugs on the line with a beautiful smile that makes my heart skip a beat, "That is wonderful. Look over that script and memorize it. I will talk with some of the faculty to see if they can arrange something to have you be my mentor." I tug on the line, "I will follow your lead. I just really hope I don't hurt you." Rose tugs on the line and says with a weird yet comforting face, "I just want to be close to you." My face burns red at her words. I can't turn her down now.
After my post-workout snack, I go back to my room and since I have some time before I have to go to bed I work on Rose's chemistry notebook. I am making sure to put as many pointers and tips in here while also providing many practice problems for her. Just like with the other notebook, I put answers in the back to correspond with the practice problems so she can check her work. As I am working on this notebook my eyes start to get heavy when I get a little past ¾ of the way done so I find a good stopping point and put it down so I can retire for the evening.