Small Things That Starts To Matter

Chapter 2: Small Things That Start to Matter

The next few days at Riverside College didn’t announce themselves as anything special.

That was the strange part about beginnings like this—they rarely arrived with warning. Nothing in the air changed dramatically. No one pointed at the sky and said something important is happening. Life simply continued, pretending it wasn’t quietly rearranging itself.

Emis noticed Tasha again on Wednesday.

Not because she tried to be noticed.

Because she didn’t.

She sat in the same lecture hall, same general area, same quiet focus. But now Emis’s attention kept drifting in her direction without permission.

Shimy noticed too—but differently.

He noticed how easily she fit into conversations.

“How was the assignment?” a classmate asked her during break.

“It was confusing at first,” she replied, “but the examples helped.”

“Same,” Shimy jumped in immediately. “Honestly, I thought I was the only one struggling.”

Tasha glanced at him. “You looked very confident during lecture.”

“That’s my disguise.”

Emis, standing slightly behind them, muttered, “He has no disguise.”

Shimy ignored him. “See? Even Emis agrees I’m mysterious.”

Tasha smiled faintly. “I don’t think that’s the word I’d use.”

“What word would you use?” Shimy asked.

She paused, thinking. “Energetic.”

“That’s nicer than expected.”

“I try.”

Emis watched the exchange quietly. It was nothing serious. Nothing meaningful. Just conversation.

But he noticed how easily Shimy leaned into it. How quickly he filled silence. How naturally Tasha responded when he spoke.

And Emis didn’t know why, but that bothered him more than it should have.

Later that day, Shimy and Emis walked across campus toward the cafeteria.

“You’re quiet,” Shimy said.

“I’m always quiet.”

“No. This is different quiet.”

Emis didn’t answer immediately.

Then: “She talks to you a lot.”

Shimy blinked. “Tasha?”

“Yes.”

Shimy shrugged. “So?”

“So nothing.”

But Shimy didn’t let it go.

“You’re thinking too much,” he said lightly.

Emis gave him a side glance. “I’m not thinking at all.”

“That’s worse.”

They reached the cafeteria line. Noise surrounded them—trays, laughter, chairs scraping the floor.

Shimy leaned forward slightly. “She’s just a classmate.”

Emis nodded once. “I know.”

But his voice didn’t match his words.

Across the room, Tasha was sitting with another group of students. She was laughing at something someone said, her hand resting lightly around her cup as she spoke.

Shimy followed Emis’s gaze without meaning to.

“Oh,” he said slowly.

Emis didn’t respond.

A pause stretched between them.

Then Shimy smirked slightly. “Don’t tell me…”

Emis finally looked at him. “Don’t.”

“Relax. I didn’t say anything.”

But something had already been said without words.

Because now Shimy was noticing it too.

The way Emis looked at her.

The way it lingered a little too long.

The way it wasn’t random anymore.

That evening, Tasha stayed behind after class to finish notes while the room slowly emptied. The rain had started again outside, softer this time, tapping gently against the windows.

Emis remained too.

Not at her desk.

Not next to her.

Just in the same room, pretending to organize his bag longer than necessary.

Shimy noticed immediately.

“You coming?” he asked at the door.

“In a bit,” Emis replied.

Shimy hesitated. “Don’t overthink whatever you’re overthinking.”

“I’m not overthinking anything.”

Shimy gave him a look that said he didn’t believe a single word.

Then he left.

Silence settled in the room.