NOVEL NEXT Chapter 277
277 Bonding Through The Ages (1)
(Jane’s PoV)
Sanji used his authority as a lecturer to join the activity of Civil Engineering Department. Well, he wasn’t the only one outside the Civil Engineering’s area, actually. Since he was handsome and had many admirers, of course the other lecturers and the committee let him come with us. His victorious smile was quite annoying to see, but I believed he did so to annoy the hell out of Tom.
Talking about Tom, that man was sulking when I told him that I was going to have a three days outing class and Sanji was going to follow me there since he was a lecturer. Since the camping site was locked from any outsider during the event, there was no way he could go there with his identity. He couldn’t find any reasons to be with us and Siji seemed to have plans for him as well. So, even if he found any reasons to come with us, I believed he would still follow Siji’s plans since that Advisor told him that it was beneficial for our next mission in the Grand Meeting.
It was unfortunate that he couldn’t join us, but it was for the best.
The road to the camping site took nearly thirty minutes by bus. I was separated from Sanji since he went with the other lecturers -he insisted to be on the same bus with me but his identity as a non-civil engineering’s lecturer didn’t allow him to do so. The Dean clearly said before our departure that this trip was meant to create a friendly bonding between students and to clearly understand the role of each person. There would be no meaningless provocation and pressure physically. It should be a rather peaceful trip and for what I saw so far, it was pretty harmonious within the bus I was in.
Since Sanji and Siji manipulated some of my acquaintances, other than Senior Dino and Mia, I didn’t really know anyone else. It was like I returned to the first time I entered the college. I had to start over in getting to know everyone.
No worries, I consoled myself. I should take things slow this time.
By the time we reached the camping site, I had made three friends, excluding Mia who was basically almost inseparable from Senior Dino. The first one was the shy junior, Alivia. Even though she was shy -totally the opposite of the stereotype of an engineering student -she was willing to join this event to get rid of her shyness and to gain more self-confidence. What a great purpose!
The second one was a bit surprising for me. It was the aloof girl from my year. Her name was Yuni. I wasn’t close to her even when we entered the college at the same time since I thought she was too hard to approach. Also, we weren’t on the same class so I couldn’t find any reason to get close to her even if I wanted to. She exuded a cold and withdrawn aura which made her look arrogant and unapproachable. This time, however, she proved me wrong. Sitting next to her made me realize that she wasn’t a cold person. She was just shy by nature and didn’t know how to start a conversation.
.....
I was the one who started our conversation, of course, and slowly she started to open up. Since I practically had never talked to her before, her memory about me was still intact. After the initial awkwardness, we finally got close due to our same interest. Who would have thought this girl was so fond of supranatural things related to the history of lands to the point I wanted to ask her the point of her joining civil engineering. But, when I talked to her about any lesson in civil engineering, her bright eyes turned serious, yet I could discern from her voice that she took her choice of entering the department seriously and joyfully. There was no pressure. She enjoyed both the engineering and the supranatural things almost equally and she put a clear distinction between the both of them.
The third one was a senior, her name was Daisy. She was a feminine, lady-like, and friendly woman. Her entire being from head to toe screamed the sexual appeal of a woman. I remembered I used to hear the name of ‘The Goddess of Civil Engineering’. If Alivia was the opposite stereotype of civil engineering students’ confidence and dare-devil behavior, Daisy -she forbid me to call her Senior -was the total opposite of the stereotype of female students in any engineering departments.
The most formal clothes she would wear was culottes pants or pencil skirt and a shirt. Sometimes, when she wanted to be a bit casual, she would wear a pair of sneakers. She would even wear a knee-length body-hugging dress with an outer along with her sneakers. There were also times when she paired the dress with a pair of high heels. She was like a model student, yet she still looked awesome in those attires even when she was carrying her equipment.
In other words, she was a femme fatale. Despite her charming appearance, she also had a lovely personality. She was strong yet so girly at the same time. To be honest, her confidence and self bearing attracted me towards her so much and I think both Alivia and Yuni would agree with me on this. After all, for someone who was practically emitting such a strong aura of confidence, that was what the other two were hoping for themselves.
After reaching the camping site, I found out that the committee and the owner of the site had prepared lots of tents for us. It was big enough for four people and -intentionally or not -we needed to team up with the others from different year. Since we met the requirements, the four of us agreed to be a team. I thought, it would be great teaming up with great people.
So we headed to the camping area with the a package of tent in our hands. Since our team was formed faster than the others, we had the privilege to pick the best spot for us. We chose the place not too far from the entrance just in case we needed an emergency exit. Then, we set up our tent.
Daisy showed us that she wasn’t just a pretty face. She really got skill! How could a perfect woman like her exist? I really wanted to worship her seeing her swiftly connected every piece as if it was perfectly normal and easy for her. The rest of us combined wouldn’t be able to be as fast as her in setting up a tent. She was truly fascinating!
After the matter of setting up our tent had done, we decided to take a walk around the perimeter. There were sidewalks and direction board nearby. I even thought that I saw a map on the registration building. We needed to know where the toilet and bathroom as well as other places in the site. The camping site itself was surrounded by the many tall teak trees. It was easy to get lost inside a teak forest if not for the existence of the sidewalks and the direction boards.
Even so, it was still best to be careful. After all, ghost in the forest was different from the ghost in the city.