Chapter 29-3: The Heather Incident (Patreon)

As Saturday rolled around, Kaitlyn found herself studying her notes with uncharacteristic fervor. All around, the common room sat mostly empty, its usual occupants out and about at any of the numerous week one events around campus. Only a couple of other industrious students like herself chose to spend this first weekend after classes indoors with their noses stuck in their books.

But I kind of have to. This class is already going to be hard enough as it is, I can tell. Her pen scribbled down a few notes and questions to look up. But if I want Philip to keep being my study partner, I can't drag him down too much. I have to make this more worthwhile than studying on his own.

That was the main reason Kaitlyn had spent the last couple of days cramming. Once Philip had agreed to a Saturday morning study session at the dorms, she'd buckled down to make a good first impression. That, and to actually learn the material, obviously.

The elevator dinged quietly across the room. Kaitlyn looked up to see Philip stepping out of the compartment, still dressed in his usual attire.

He's still wearing that even on a Saturday morning? Seriously, does the guy ever change?

The consistent clothing made more sense for Alex and Ian, at least - the former probably did just have a wardrobe full of plain white shirts and basketball shorts, while the latter could have been wearing anything underneath his hoodie. But Philip's blue dress shirt and black vest seemed far too specific and formal to wear on a daily basis like this.

I thought it was just his work outfit, since that's where I usually see him. But maybe he's just always like this? I have seen him change up the shirt a bit, though. It's always blue, but not the exact same blue. So he has to have at least two. Hopefully more.

She waved at the student as he approached. His brisk stride carried him toward the table in a matter of moments. "Morning, Philip."

"Kaitlyn." He nodded, glancing at her notebook. "Good morning to you as well. Have you already begun studying?"

"Yeah. Sorry." She ducked her head apologetically. "There's a few things I wanted to make sure about before you got here."

"I am not admonishing you. I was merely curious." He settled into the chair across from her. "I myself have some issues with the course material, as well. Perhaps the gaps in our knowledge overlap."

With that, the pair launched into their study session. Fortunately, Kaityn's fears about lacking a laptop were unfounded. She still didn't have one, but that was ok. Algorithms apparently didn't call for much in the way of actual programming. It was all about proofs and analyses and proving that things were correct and optimal. Not exactly what she'd hoped for, but if Philip said it was useful, she'd trust him.

It quickly became clear that, despite her efforts, Philip was still obviously more competent than her by a longshot. Luckily, he didn't seem to mind. They worked through practice problems, examples, and lecture concepts together in a way that made her feel as if they were actually learning together.

It feels different than tutoring. He's not just teaching me, but himself too. Not to mention it's more casual.

Kaitlyn drummed her fingers on the table. "If we sort each node by distance, then won’t the algorithm be N2logN?”

Philip paused. "Well, if it uses a heap then the sort doesn’t need to be done for each interaction."

"But if we change the value of the node while its in the heap, won’t that break everything?"

“Hmm… good point. Perhaps we need to do more than just change it then…" He closed his eyes for a brief moment before they flashed open again. "Do you recall the bubble up method in heaps?"

Maybe it was because he didn't have a prepared lesson plan. Maybe it was because he, too, was just learning. But whatever it was, Kaitlyn certainly felt more at ease around the guy. They weren't equals, obviously. But it was easier to pretend.

A little under an hour into their studying, Kaitlyn heard the elevator ding once more. Glancing up, the familiarly bubbly figure of Heather whirled out of the sliding doors. Her crystal eyes widened with enthusiastic surprise at spotting Kaitlyn.

"Kate! Hi!" The blonde practically skipped over. "Whatcha doing? Studying already? Omigosh, you're like, such a hard worker! Oh, and who's this?"

Kaitlyn's eyes widened as Heather turned to regard Philip. Memories of all those loops that she spent desperately trying to keep the girl away from Alex erupted to the surface in a surge of panic.

Oh no. Not again.

"My name is Philip. I am one of Kaitlyn's classmates." Philip inclined his head formally toward the blonde.

"Hi Philip! I'm Heather." She grinned, then turned back to Kaitlyn. "Oh yeah! Everyone, like, totally loved the spaghetti this week! They've all been asking what you're gonna make next!"

Kaitlyn blinked in surprise at the quick change in topic. "Uh, yeah. I don't know. I was thinking… chili, maybe?"

"Omigosh, I love chili!" Heather gasped. "Omigosh, especially with avocado and cheese! Ooh, maybe we can charge premium for the avocados, since they're soooo expensive. Can we get sourdough with it too?"

The girl glanced down at the table. "Oh! Sorry, I'm like, totally interrupting! I'll make sure to post about the chili, don't worry Kate. Good to see you!"

With that, the girl left the room in a cheerful whirlwind just as abruptly as she'd entered. As the door closed behind her, Kaitlyn sighed. Her shoulders relaxed, releasing a tension she hadn't realized was there.

That's weird. She didn't show any interest at all in Philip. Definitely not like she did with Alex. A flood of relief surged through her. Phew. Guess that's one less thing to worry about. Not like I'm trying to keep Philip to myself or anything. It's just… I know she can be a lot. I don't want him to have to deal with… that.

"Is something the matter?"

Kaitlyn blinked. Philip was staring at her intently. "What do you mean?"

"You became incredibly tense upon your roommate's arrival, then relaxed upon her departure. Are the pair of you at odds?"

"No! No." She shook her head vigorously. How to explain this? "We actually get along really well. She's actually my business partner, too. But… she can be kind of a…" Her cheeks warmed slightly. "Well, kind of a lot. She tends to overwhelm people, I guess? Particularly guys?"

"Ah." Philip nodded sagely, seeming to understand the implication of her statement. "I understand. Rest assured that, even if she were to take a romantic interest in me, I have no interest in romance or dating for the time being."

"Wait, really?" That surprised Kaitlyn even more. "Why not?"

"I have no time." He continued typing on his laptop as he spoke. "My responsibilities already push the upper boundaries of how much I can accomplish in a single day. Dating represents an effort to either add onto those responsibilities or, at best, shove them off onto someone else. Considering that I’m willing and able to handle things as they currently are, neither of those options are particularly appealing to me."

That gave her some pause. "That sounds… kind of harsh, honestly."

He shrugged. "It's simply the truth. Dating is also expensive, both in time and money. And those are resources I would prefer to utilize elsewhere."

As Philip continued typing, Kaitlyn thought about his strange characterization of dating. I don't think he's exactly right about it. In fact, I'm sure he's not. But I'm not exactly sure how to explain that, or even if I should. Besides, if he's not looking to date, that's ok, isn't it? Even if it makes no sense for a male lead. He has always been the cold and distant type, though…

"Moving on," Philip cleared his throat, "this business you mentioned. It's food related, I assume?"

"Yeah," Kaitlyn confirmed. "I make meals every Wednesday for students and sell them."

"Where?"

"Right here." She gestured to the common room. "I have some portable stovetops and other cooking stuff in my room. I pay someone to grab ingredients from the store for me, since I don't have a car. It's a nice way to make some extra money on the side."

"Hmm." A look of what might have been approval flashed across his face. "How much do you charge?"

"Fifteen bucks a meal right now. It's high, but I have so many customers that I kind of need to charge a lot." She grimaced apologetically. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, though. It's a good problem to have."

Philip nodded. "I see. That explains your interest in working at the restaurant. The number of activities you engage in is quite impressive."

She snorted. "Speak for yourself. You've got two jobs and four horrifying classes to juggle. How in the world do you do it?"

"Three."

She frowned. "Huh?"

"Three jobs. I work at an auto repair shop during most weekday mornings."

Kaitlyn's jaw dropped open. "WHAT? How?! No, the real question is, why? Why would you do that to yourself?"

Philip shrugged. "Because I lack additional hours in the day to work more."

"No, that's not what– I mean, why work so much?"

The idea was staggering. How in the world could he - no, anyone - manage all that? Even Kaitlyn herself couldn't, and she had a timeloop on her side!

"I need to earn more income."

Well that doesn't explain anything. "For what?"

"Personal reasons." Philip turned back to his laptop, refusing to elaborate further. "Now, we should get back to work."

"R-right. Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry." Kaitlyn tried to turn her attention back to the work at hand. If Philip was doing all those things, then every minute of his time was precious enough that she'd feel guilty wasting them. Heck, she already did for making him study at her own snail's pace.

It's ok. As long as he's getting something out of it, it's ok. Kaitlyn calmed herself down. If he really minds, he'll say something. This is Philip we're talking about, after all.

Still, the revelation added another layer of mystery to the guy's background. The time and effort he put into everything… it felt like more than just a good work ethic. There was definitely something going on behind the scenes. And she thought she had a good idea of what.

Kaitlyn focused on her notebook again. There would be time to puzzle through that all later. For now, it was time to study.