The Variations Read online

  Jones M

  The Variations

  To my readers :)

  Author's Note

  Hey guys! Thank you so much for starting to read this book. Just a few points I would like to make out:

  This is a standalone.

  Any names used in the book that are similar to those of any reader are purely coincidental.

  Some names of towns used in the book are fake.

  Please forgive me if I haven't painted a full description of some areas in the book.

  Also forgive me if there is any grammatical error. I have gone through the book five times by now (plus extra for the chapters that I saw really needed it)

  The book is mature and is intended for adult audience because of curse words and scenes depicting sexual relations.

  That is all. Enjoy!

  Chapter 01

  The sound of multiple gunshots had Kate opening her eyes and flinching in fear as she looked around the room. Her beating heart slowed its pace when she realized where she was, and a relieved sigh escaped her lips.

  'It was just a dream,' she thought, observing her surroundings.

  "...your computer is a machine, and it needs to be checked regularly. It is important that you take these measures..."

  The professor droned on with the lecture, motioning with his hands to keep himself focused.

  Kate Marie wondered how much of the class she had missed while she had been asleep. It was a good thing she had her phone's recording app switched on or else she would have missed what her professor was saying.

  She turned to the computer that was switched on in front of her, but with the way things were going, it did not look like she would use it. In fact, she was starting to zone out once again.

  To force herself to stay awake, Marie decided to look at the other students in the room. Just like her, they were seated on the comfortable leather chairs. Some had their elbows on the smooth, maple furniture, tables as they listened to Mr. Bernard's words.

  The large room was made up of cream walls. The tall glass windows that were on the right that offered the view of the campus environs had been obstructed by large, gray curtains, forcing everyone to use the ceiling bulbs as a source of light in the room.

  Kate looked back at her professor, but then her eyes moved to the large white space behind him that would usually be used when he had a projector. Kate wished that he did have a projector. The room would have been darkened with the only source of light coming from the projected screen, and that way, she wouldn't worry about Mr. Bernard spotting her dozing off.

  She started playing with a strand of her long and black, curly hair as she swallowed back a yawn. For some reason, her professor was going through the measures of maintaining a computer. They had already done that during freshman year, and so it was confusing to have to go through it again.

  As Mr. Bernard kept talking, Marie scoped out the class again. It was full, and most of the familiar faces she was used to seeing were present. Her eyes landed on a hunched form at her far right. The person pushed his blonde hair off of his forehead. Just as he was turning to face her, Kate quickly fixed her gaze back to her professor.

  "Alright! Now to the main point of today's class: I know that you have all been wondering what this semester has in store for you," the lecturer said. "You are juniors now, and apart from the usual classes, you will all be doing a project."

  In an instant, groans of boredom sounded in the room.

  "I have no idea why you are not excited about this. You are not freshmen anymore, and so you will have to participate in such projects in the coming years."

  The professor then proceeded to hand out printed papers to someone at the front. Afterward, the papers were being circulated to everyone in the room. Once a copy reached Kate's desk, her eyes widened in surprise.

  It was a form. Apart from requesting her name and admission number, it had a list of projects that included:

  ❒ Software programming

  ❒ Computer building and installation

  ❒ Motion graphics

  "Those are the choices you have to select the project you will do for this semester. Some of them will be due before Christmas, and so you should all be done by then."

  More groans followed afterward.

  "I doubt any one of you would want me to explain what the choices entail for you to do," Mr. Bernard stated. Marie looked at her paper again, and she looked confused as to how to reply.

  "You have until tomorrow to choose what you will do. After making your selections, I will give you the guidelines for them."

  The students rose to leave the room.

  "I'm not done yet," the professor stated. "If you do not feel like you can do any of the choices I have given you, or if you want to pitch another idea for your project, feel free to consult me."

  Everyone waited as the lecturer started to pack his suitcase. He turned to face the class, surprised that everyone wasn't moving.

  "You can leave now," he said, and the students went to exit the class.

  *********** ******************** ******************* ****************** *************

  Kate's heart was beating fast as she walked through the hallways of her university. Along the way, she passed a couple of people whom she greeted as she headed towards the exit of the building. Her mind was still focused on the project assignment, and she did not know if she should worry or dance in happiness.

  It had been two years ever since she had joined the University of Charles Darwin to pursue a Bachelor's degree in IT. She had expected college to be harder and more different from high school. In a way, it was, but she had gotten used to it. Moreover, she had not been having doubts about the course she had picked like a couple of people she knew from home.

  She loved the university, more so because of the privacy. She used to be among the populars in her former high school, and it got tiring towards the end. Being in a place where people did not care about 'being cool' made her feel relieved and comfortable in doing what she wanted.

  Marie looked at the form sticking out of her course units' book for her junior year before quickly looking back up. The sudden talk of projects had caught her off-guard. Sure, she had seen them coming. In fact, she had expected them to come when she was a sophomore. She had been anxiously waiting for them, but now that they had been announced, she felt unsure.

  "Oomph!" came a sound when Marie collided with someone. She accidentally caught a quick whiff of some men's cologne as she adjusted the backpack on her back as she shifted to face the person.

  "I'm sorry--" Marie stopped herself from speaking further when she noticed whom she had accidentally bumped into.

  "It's okay," the guy said, equally tense as she was before he turned to walk away.

  Marie stood still, her mind blank for a moment as she watched him walk farther into the university hallways. Once he was out of view, she started cursing at herself for not watching where she was going.

  She soon resumed her walk towards the university gates.

  Chapter 02

  Kate left the campus grounds, following a road that led to the nearby university boarding houses. They were all dorms with some having five floors.

  Kate made her way through a large, three-story building where she headed towards her apartment.

  "Hey!" she greeted as she walked into her housing area. Purple walls decorated with notes met her view along with a clean dining area. Opposite it was the kitchen, and there was also a small hallway that led to the bathroom and the bedrooms. Overall, the dorm wasn't big, but it was spacious enough for her and her friend.

  "Hey," her roommate greeted as she made her way out of the small kitchen.

  Her name was Gwen. She had straight blonde hair, and her skin was a shade light
er than Marie's tanned brown skin. She was around the same age as Kate, and they had been friends ever since she joined college on the previous year. Gwen was a sophomore, and she was pursuing a career in business.

  "How was class today?" Gwen questioned as she made her way towards the couch in the room. Marie groaned in response.

  "Oh," her friend frowned as she made herself comfortable. "You too?"

  Marie looked at Gwen in question before asking: "What?"

  "You too were given projects to do, right?"

  Kate wondered if her friend could read her mind.

  "How did you know?"

  Gwen waved her hand nonchalantly. "I hear most of the juniors are assigned projects as soon as they start their academic year."

  "Oh," Marie said.

  "Anyway," Gwen continued as she faced her with a grin. "What were you told to do?"

  Kate went to speak, but then she turned to reach for her form. She took it out of her bag and handed it to her roommate.

  "Whoa!" Gwen exclaimed as she examined the document.

  "I know," Marie sighed.

  "No. I mean, you are given options?"

  "You aren't?" replied Kate. Gwen gave her an incredulous look.

  "You lucky bitch!" she exclaimed. "So which one did you pick?"

  "Gwen, I just got it like an hour ago. I still have a lot to think about."

  Kate's roommate shrugged her shoulders.

  "Being your roommate, I know you're talking crap. We both know which project you will pick," she said, eyeing a pencil drawing of a deer pinned on the wall beside her. "Okay. Take all the time you need. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a couple of things to do."

  "Bye," Kate waved as she saw her friend leave the dorm. After the door had locked with a click, she turned to look at her document.

  Gwen was right. Marie knew what she wanted to do, but then she was scared of the choice. What if she messed up in the middle of it? The project could cost her college credits, and she needed them if she wanted to have a good graduation certificate.

  She eyed the other options and sighed. She reached for a pencil on the table in front of her and made a cross on one of the options.

  ************** ******************** ********************* *************** ***********

  "Okay, class!" Mr. Bernard shouted. "I have given you enough time to pick what you want to do for your projects."

  It had only been a day, but Marie was not complaining.

  "Now, would you please handout your forms?"

  The room was immediately filled with murmurs as everyone went to grab their papers.

  "Pass them along to the people in front of you," the professor continued. After grasping her form, Marie waited for the people behind her to give her their forms. Then she proceeded to give them to the person in front of her.

  About a minute later, the professor had stacked everyone's forms.

  "Okay. Now..."

  To everyone's surprise, the lecturer turned his attention to another subject. They were expecting him to sort out issues with the project first, but it looked like that was not going to happen. It was apparent that the class would go on as usual.

  Time passed, and soon, ten minutes were left until the end of the class. The professor had ended his lecture to sort out the filled forms.

  "These are the groups I have formed according to the choices everyone had ticked."

  'What?' Marie thought, feeling surprised by the speed with which his professor had grouped everyone according to their project's choices.

  In an instant, he started calling out names. Marie's ears perked up as she waited to hear her name.

  "Brian is with Lucy and George..." Mr. Bernard continued. An eternity seemed to have passed before she heard her name.

  "Kate Marie..." the lecturer trailed off. Kate felt worried by the tone of his voice.

  "Wow. This is a surprise!" The professor stated, turning to look at Kate. Marie thought she was the only one who had made the selection for her project. She relaxed in her seat, but when she noticed the professor turning to look at someone else, she tensed in dread.

  It didn't take long for Kate to realize that she had been partnered with someone else. She didn't know who, and as a result, she found herself clenching her fingers in anticipation.

  "Well, Kate, you are going to do your project with Chris Robins."

  Chapter 03

  Kate had been in a state of shock ever since she had heard Chris' name.

  'Partnered with Chris...?'

  Kate wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. How could that have happened to her?

  As if automatically, she turned to look at Chris. She spotted him looking back at her with an unreadable expression, and that had her quickly swerving her head to face the front.

  Kate had always been nervous about Chris ever since she had joined the class. She had gone her first two years of college without talking to him, and then suddenly, it seemed like the universe had decided to end that.

  Marie's mind started running with thoughts that made her worry. For instance, she wondered how she would act in front of her project partner. What would she say, especially since she had been trying her best to avoid him for two years?

  She was startled out of her thoughts when she saw the people around her suddenly rise from their seats.

  'Oh. Is class over?'

  Kate stood up from her seat and began to gather her items. She was planning to leave the class and to retreat to her dorm. The project had taken her by surprise, more so because of the person she had to do it with, and she wanted a moment to think about how she would proceed.

  "I would like to see Kate and Chris before they leave," the professor requested.

  'Crap,' Marie thought. With a sigh, she began making her way towards the front desk. In her peripheral vision, she spotted Chris approaching the professor, and it made her nervous all of a sudden.

  Chris and Kate soon found themselves facing their professor. By then, most of the students had already left the room. The few who had remained were probably the ones who wanted to talk to Mr. Bernard.

  'Do not act weird,' Marie told herself.

  "I do not know how to begin with the two of you," Mr. Bernard started. "Although I must say I am surprised with the option the both of you had chosen to do as your project. I mean, motion graphics. Do you even know what you are up against?"

  "We do," Chris answered before Kate could. The deep yet smooth level of his voice made Kate tense in awareness of him.

  Meanwhile, the lecturer was looking back and forth between the two. Then he sighed.

  "Most of my students would opt to avoid such a project. However, I am glad that you picked it. You just made this semester interesting for me."

  Kate felt pleased by the professor's words.

  "That is why I'm planning to make the guidelines for your project special. I know it will take a lot of time and effort, and so that is why I'm giving you up to the end of the semester next year to come up with a short film."

  A moment of silence passed before Chris and Kate said: "What?"

  "You should also feel free to get help from the students in drama and film."

  "Sir--" Chris sounded excited.

  "No stick figures," the professor cut him off. "I want actual detailed cartoons. You can choose drawing styles between those of Adventure Time, and those of Disney characters. Or even anime characters. Your pick. Just no stick figures."

  "Sir--"

  "The film should be at least 20 minutes long."

  Kate was shocked. If she had known what the project expected from her, she would have chosen another one. More so, she would have done that in order to avoid being partnered with Chris.

  "I also want an original, creative story."

  As the seconds went by, Marie started feeling like she was less in I.T and more in English Literature.

  "Anything with a clichéd happily ever after will cost you. Put your minds and effort into this. Do something that
will shock me and the rest of the class, okay?"

  "Okay," Chris and Marie agreed at the same time. They glanced at each other before looking back at the professor.

  Kate wanted to back out of her choice for the project. She was just about to voice it out, but the pleased and excited expression in her professor's eyes had her thinking twice.

  Mr. Bernard smiled before saying: "You are dismissed."

  It was evident that the choice had been made. The problem was, how was Kate going to talk to Chris, especially with the past they shared?

  Chapter 04

  Chris Robins...

  There was no way that Marie could forget him, especially with the way he looked. He had the form of a jock. His blonde hair, olive skin and sharp jaw did nothing to deter his attractiveness, and that had made him known as one of the hottest guys around the college grounds.

  However, that was not why Marie was hesitant to be around him. It was something else entirely that had happened in the past when they were in the same high school.

  "Hey," came a voice from her right. She turned, and she felt herself straighten in surprise.

  It was sudden. Even though Marie had been expecting it, it had been quick, and she still felt unprepared. Chris had settled himself on Marie's left with the computer designated for the student who had sat there switched on.

  "Hi," she replied with an unsure smile before facing the professor at the front as he droned on about printer basics.

  Usually, a girl would occupy the space beside her. But then, every I.T student in the class had been grouped according to their projects. The professor had come that morning and advised everyone to sit near his or her partners. And so, in the process, many were dislocated.

  Marie, like a few, had found herself situated far from her common spot. She usually sat in the middle where she was close enough to hear Mr. Bernard but not close enough to be suddenly picked to answer a question; it was perfect for her. However, the project had ruined that. She was forced to sit at the back of the class.