“Studying”

Charlotte considered herself to be a decent student. She manages to get her work done on time, while being able to balance her other activities and spend time with friends. It was a bright Saturday morning at Penderghast. Charlotte stepped outside, weaving between crowds of other students to get to her destination. With every step, she basked in the sunlight. Every Saturday, she met up with Beckett for a study date. Despite the fact that she already knew most of the content, it was a good excuse to see him. She found their tree, its branches looming over, sunlight peeking through the leaves. Underneath the shade, Beckett sat at the bench, jotting something down furiously.

She snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest. “Hey there, stranger!” she beamed and kissed his cheek. Beckett flinched, but broke out into a grin once he realized it was her. “Should have known you would be a few minutes late,” he smirked. She sat across from him, unzipping her backpack to get out her notebook. “Listen, it’s not my fault if Shreya had a code gold.” He raised his eyebrows, “Fashion emergency?”
“No, that’s code violet. She didn’t have ‘proper lighting’ for a selfie so she thought that since I’m a sun-att,” she trailed off, “Yeah, you get the idea.” He chuckled as he handed her a cup of coffee. She took it from his hands, making sure to let her fingers linger over his for a moment longer than necessary. He blushed at the feeling as she let out a laugh, “That never gets old!” He huffed and clapped his hands together, “Well it seems as if we should start doing our work now. We don’t want this turn out like the previous ones.” he glanced at her, both of them knowing all too well as to what happened last week. “That’s a shame, I thought last week was incredibly productive!” He gave her a knowing look, and she stopped talking.

An hour and a cup of coffee later, she finished revising notes and proofreading an essay. Charlotte peered over to Beckett, who was enthralled into his work to notice her. She rested her head on her hand, smiling to herself. “Beckett? You should take a break, it’s already 12.” She tapped her pen lightly on his wrist, where the friendship bracelet sat.

“Just give me thirty minutes.”

“Studies show that studying is more efficient when taking breaks every 30 minutes or so.” She stretched over the table, her hand grasping his. He looked at her with a glimmer of shock, “You actually read the article I sent you?”
“What can I say? You have a few good picks.”

“I would assume that since you read it, you would know that studying is important in the long run; despite the methods.” He picked up his pen and continued to scribble down information regarding plants and potions. “Harrington, are you serious right now?”

“I’m never anything but serious.” She stifled a laugh.

Those thirty minutes passed by at a sluggish pace, Charlotte woke herself up from a ten minute nap. “Beckett, it’s been thirty minutes.” He mumbles something, but doesn’t look up. At this point, Charlotte has had enough. She picks up her pen and pokes his arm, trying to get some sort of response from him. “Charlotte,” he grumbled in annoyance.

“Beckett.” Both of them were stubborn, and none of them were planning on surrendering anytime soon, even if it took the rest of the day. “Charlotte, there’s only so much of your foolishness I can handle first thing in the morning. I’m begging you to stop.” He spoke in agony.   “I’m begging you to take a break! Don’t you want to spend some quality time with me? Your spectacular girlfriend?” He cracked a smile, but didn’t look at her.

“Fine. Have it your way, but I’m not going to stop poking you until you give me some attention.” Silence passed between them for a solid ten seconds before he closed his books. “You’re annoying, you know that right?” He smirked at her and slid his work to the side.

“Shush, you know you like me.” She rolled her eyes as she moved to sit right next to him.

Resting her head on his shoulder, Charlotte felt at ease for once. Beckett’s heart pounded and he carefully intertwined his fingers with hers, her touch setting him on fire. She lifted her head to look up at a flustered version of her boyfriend. She slipped out her phone and snapped a photo of the two of them. The duo looked at the result; her lips pressing against his rosy cheek. He looked down at Charlotte who managed to meet his gaze. Her eyes and nose crinkled from that bright smile of hers. He tucked a lock of her brown hair behind her ear and planted a sweet kiss on her lips.

On that Saturday afternoon, Beckett vowed to take breaks more often.