Tensor

It was the middle of the night, and she had almost been completely counting on Piotr already being asleep. It turned out that he definitely wasn't asleep, though. And he'd replied. And she had freaked out just the slightest bit before pulling herself together and throwing on some clothes that covered her a little bit better and heading down to the common area. She peeked around into the laundry room to make sure that there wasn't anyone else there. No matter how the conversation went, she really didn't want other people there to hear it happen.

Satisfied that there wasn't anyone else around, she headed into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, unscrewing the cap as she headed back out to lift herself up and perch on the top of the couch, staring at but not really paying attention to the TV that, for some reason, was still playing some shitty music channel.

The wind whipped Lois's hair around her as she stood by the path down to the lake, the spot she'd planned to meet Ali. She tucked the book she'd brought along under her arm and with clumsy gloved hands she twisted her hair into a rope and tucked it under her scarf. It was chilly, but not as chilly as it would be that night--Lois had heard rumors that it was due to snow.

To nobody's surprise more than her own, she felt calm. A kind of serenity had seized her, the kind that came with a wait-and-see situation. But underneath it, hibernating but easily woken, a snarl of nasty emotions waited, all her worst thoughts from the night before tangled amongst feelings that were years old.

Lois shifted from foot to foot as she waited, reading a slim paperback novel from underneath the brim of her thick knit cap.