32 The Journal 3 (1/2)

Once the journal was out, she dragged it away from the pile of books and to the window. In the bright light, she used her nails to pry the first pages open. They were empty but for the name Kyro in one of them.

'Nice handwriting.' His letters were exactly what her primary school teachers had expected of hers, simple and easy to read. There was no stylized stuff, but it was pretty in its simplicity, unlike hers.

It was good that computers took over the handwritten documentation, else she probably would have failed all her written examinations with her chicken's leg of an arm. One of her most embarrassing moments in middle school were when the English language teacher had brought back her essay and told her to rewrite it since it was too illegible. Shame washed over her just thinking about that moment.

Today wasn't about her, though. She pushed the disconcerting thoughts away and focused on the treasure she was now holding onto. This journal was going to reveal the real Kyro to her.

The first page was dated six years ago, January, but it wasn't a diary as Iris had expected. It was more of a calendar, a place for Kyro to write down his plans for the day. Like on January 1st, he noted down stuff like 'Write Jane, check if Chris replied'.

This wasn't much fun, but Iris still leafed through the pages, getting a general sense of his activities. Once the holidays were over, there were more entries. Most of them dealt with university activities like deadlines and group meetings, lectures that had special guests, but there were a few others of more interest.

From time to time, there was a mention of meeting with Jane. At first, it was just for studying together after class or on weekends in the library, but then it shifted to cafes or at either of their places. Iris burned with a desire to know more, but the damn man was treating his words like gold.

Yet his schedule revealed a lot. As Iris studied it, she noticed that whenever there was a meeting with Jane, there would not be any other activities for that day. And even if there were originally, they'd get crossed out.

Someone was infatuated here, that was for sure.

Smiling like a Cheshire cat, Iris hurried through the days until she reached March 23rd. On that day, there were no plans, but a conversation instead.

'Hey! Do you know what that geezer at the front is talking about?' This writing was unfamiliar, but it was hurried and held a flamboyant air to it, so Iris had an idea of who it might belong to.

'Don't write in my notebook.'

'Come on, it won't hurt anyone. Just give me a quick run through.'