Too Broke For Afterlife

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"I'm sorry but I can't let you lend out this book until you've returned the other ones."

The tanned librarian pushes the guide on welding metal back to me and turns to her pc screen.

"You still haven't returned M.C. Babcock's 'Everything You Need to Know About Circuits & Wiring' and there are a few others on the list as well."

"That's because I still need them. Please, Ms..."

I look at her name tag. "Ms. Hernández, I'm having a super important project coming up and I need these books as study material. My prof told me you could help."

"Your prof, huh? And who is that?" Ms. Hernández seems unimpressed as she types something into her computer. 

I put on a sweet tone. Well, as sweet as my voice can get.

"Mr. Dimmer. He told me you're always very helpful."

The woman's eyes widen for a split second and a small smile curls her lips.

"Oh, he said that?"

And with that she has swallowed the bait. 

"Yes, actually, he talks about you quite a lot but...no, that's none of my business. I really need this book," I say innocently. 

Ms. Hernandez looks at me for a bit, then she sighs.

"I guess if it's for a project I can let you borrow it. But just this one time! And make sure to return all books as soon as possible. This is a verbal warning, Mr. Jones. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you so much."

I quickly let the thin book glide into my backpack and smile at her.

"Mr. Dimmer was right, you're amazing indeed."

"O-oh."

She is blushing now and hands me my student ID. I put it back into my wallet

I don't think it's necessary for me to point out that everything I said was a lie. Mr. Dimmer has never mentioned the librarian before but it's an open secret on campus that she wishes to be his wife. 

There's a rumor that they fucked at a Halloween party once but I hardly believe that. Dimmer doesn't seem like the kind of man to get fruity like that. 

After a short goodbye I make my way out of the library and step into the late afternoon.

I take a deep breath before I start walking back to the dorms. 

In the last five months a lot has changed. 

After our group had fallen apart completely, I was able to finally start college and moved into my dorm just a few weeks ago. 

There I'm now sharing a room with blabber mouth Michael who wants me to call him Mikey but I'm definitely not doing that. 

I mean, what kind of name is Mikey? 

The day I came back from Hell, I arrived at a very tense scene and was forced to decide who to team up with. 

Isabella was gone so I had to choose between team A consisting of Nox and Clemens and team B who was Walter. 

Even though he is sort of the reason I got pulled into this mess, I knew that I would vibe much better with the shy man. Plus, I believe he is the only one who knows what's actually going on and has more skills than he likes to show. 

But instead of working together directly as I had expected, our ways parted and eventually Walter found a hiding spot he yet has to reveal to me. 

I don't know where he is or what he is doing, we communicate over texts and phone calls only. Of course with a special phone that can't be hacked from the outside. 

Since starting college, it's been my task to find a variety of books on technological and engineering topics and scan certain pages for him. 

So I guess Walter is building something? But I don't know what that possibly could be. It's definitely something complex and top secret. 

During the past months I have had no contact to the others whatsoever, I've only talked to Isa for a few times and she started crying once she found out that I'm still alive.

It was a bit heart-warming. But for the moment our friendship has fizzled out as she seems to be very busy. 

She told me about a scandalous news article and how she lost a big business opportunity because of that and is now looking to build a company on her own. But I don't know any details on that either. 

So as you can see, if you want to know what's going on right now, I'm the worst person to come to. 

I don't know and at this point I'm too scared to ask. 

All I can share is what Stan revealed to me during the macabre museum tour. And that surely was a woozy.

Basically, it turns out that God-

"Hey Parker!" 

I turn around and see how Michael jogs towards me with a bright smile on his face and a coke can in his hands. He looks at what I'm holding. 

"Another book? What is it this time? Robotics?"

"No."

He tries to grab the books but I quickly protect them from his greedy fingers.

"Stop it, dude."

"Man, this is starting to get shady. I bet not even Shakespeare read that much. What are you hiding under the cover? Maybe porn? Do they lend out Playgirls at the library now? Or are you preparing an anti-literature protest?"

I don't answer and just keep walking in silence.

I have tried so many times to get Michael to shut up but it never works. He was born to use his voice. So you just have to let him talk until he gets tired or finds a new victim. 

"Anyway, I got the biggest news. You know Danny?"

"Danny DeVito?"

He rolls his eyes. "No! Danny with the mustache!"

"Danny Glover."

"Who is Danny Glover?" Michael looks at me confused.

"That one actor from...what was that movie called? Something with...aliens? I'm not good with movies, sorry. So what happened to Danny Glover?"

"No, not Danny Glover, you dingbat! Danny from calculus."

I hit my forehead playfully.

"Oh! That Danny! Right!"

"Yes, thank you," he groans. 

"He does look a bit like Danny Glover though," I mumble, amused by Michael's growing annoyance

He slaps the back of my head. 

"I don't- Fine. Whatever. Anyway, Danny is throwing a party this weekend and we are invited."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

He looks at me confused. "Dude, this is the first party of the semester. The perfect opportunity to talk to some girls. If we don't do it now, all the cute ones will be taken before we get a chance."

I roll my eyes as I push open the main door to the dorms.

"I don't need parties to talk to girls."

"Really? I've never seen you do it. You're like an eunuch."

I furrow my brows at that comparison. Eunuch. That's a new one. 

"That's because I don't want to."

Walking down the hallways, we pass some guys playing soccer with a beer can. Our presence almost causes a foul but I ignore their angry curses.

"Whenever I've dated or befriended a woman it ended in drama. They are all crazy, I need a break."

Looking at Michael, he seems to have a hard time trying to understand my point of view.

"But..."

"Also, I don't drink. I used to but not anymore. And I don't dance. So yeah, no thanks. No parties for me."

We arrive in front of our room and I pull out the key from my pockets to unlock the wooden door, covered in stickers and sharpie.

"Why do I have to have the most boring roommate on the entire campus?" Michael whines. 

Once I push the door open, a fug of socks and farts hits me in the face.

When was the last time we opened the window?

"You should be happy because if we both went to the party and hit on girls, we'd have to fight over who gets to take her back to our room. Even though no woman would want to spend only one second in here, no matter how drunk she is."

I bend over to pick up one of Michael's boxer shorts and throw them in his face. He tries to catch it but fails. 

"How about we clean a bit?"

Michael stares at me apathetically and then shakes his head. "I was wrong. You're even more boring than I thought. I'll go hang out with Connor."

"Have fun."

He leaves the room and I sigh happily.

Honestly, I prefer being alone anyway. Now I got time to scan the pages.

I sit down at the old desk, put the book down and take out the second phone from the drawer to open the messenger app. 

Walter 

2:32am

need solid-state welding processes classification chart 

2:32am

diffusion bonding - details

2:34am

ASAP

I open the book and start flipping through the pages.

Let's do this.