With or without...

A few days after her talk with Julia, Harry approached her during class and said, "I know you talked to Julia." Feeling a bit flustered and awkward for being caught Jenny was stammeringly trying to list her excuses when his words were followed by a, "Thank you." Jenny was surprised to hear these words as she knew he hated people meddling in his personal affairs but not only had he not gotten mad at her for sticking her nose where it did not belong, he even thanked her? Harry took his seat beside her in the lecture hall as he elaborated on his reason for thanking her. "I was a bit confused at first when Julia asked me to go on a date out of the blue last weekend. Not only that, she had everything prepared and she was being extra affectionate to me. That is when it occurred to me that you had probably told her about our little talk. I wasn't too happy with you blabbing but I was happy with the result. So, I figured I should thank you for helping us out."

Jenny shook her hands and head in denial. "No. I did talk with Julia but I didn't tell her about our talk. I wouldn't do that. Whether you want to tell her about how you were feeling or not, is up to you. All I did was subtly bring her lack of time and affection towards you to her attention by having her talk about it to me herself." Harry was baffled. "It appears that people are capable of change. A few years ago you wouldn't have hesitated to tell her about what I had told you. Thinking you were doing it for the right reasons and that it might help us. How did that girl become a considerate person like you?" Jenny chuckled. "Hey, watch it mister. Is that anyway to talk to your benefactor." Harry laughed as he apologized jokingly and was happy to see that he and Jenny had become actual friends. They had always treated each other amicably and since they were part of the same friend group they interacted quite often but the reason for their connection had always been that she was the fiancé of his best friend and the friend of his own fiancé. Not because they themselves were friends. But now, after such a long time, he came to realize that this was no longer the case and they too had become friends with or without those connections that tied them together.

"We have a short day today. How do you plan on spending your free hours? Are you going to study for the term exams or do you have something fun planned?" Harry asked her as the teacher was preparing to start their morning lecture. With her face directed towards the front of the hall, she replied to his question as she pretended to pay attention to the introductions of the lecturer. "Well, as a matter of fact. I am seeing Lizzy for lunch today. She had been quite busy these past couple of weeks but now that Nick is in America for this semester, she has some free time on her hands. Time she was eager to spend with me." Jenny said with a wide grin. "That sounds fun. I haven't seen her in like forever or so it feels. She and Nick couldn't make it to our last get together either as they were both in America at the time. Tell her hi for me when you see her." After Jenny agreed that she would, they both quieted down and started to focus on their class.

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Having something to look forward to, classes seemed to pass by extra slowly today. It was as Madonna said in a song "Time goes by slowly for those who wait". This sentence felt very true to Jenny today but the waiting was finally over. Her last class for today had finally finished and they were about to be dismissed. She had been waiting for those releasing words with her bag packed and her coat in hand. She planned to start running the moment she could leave because she had received a message from Elizabeth saying that she had arrived and was waiting for her in the bistro on campus. Since she didn't want to keep her waiting for too long and didn't want to waste any of the time they got to spend together, she was in a big hurry. Something that appeared to amuse Harry quite a lot as he had watched her get ready and get in starting position for the moment the presentation would end. She reminded him of a runner on a race track, with his feet on the starting block, waiting for the sound of the starting pistol.

Finally the words were there, "Class dismissed." Jenny had wisely chosen a seat by the end of the row. So, the moment she heard those words, she stood up and ran up the stairs to the doors of the hall. Her seat clattered up against the back and Harry let out the laugh he had been holding back. The other students turned to look at the small, figure that rushed past them and wondered who it was and what had gotten that person in such a hurry. Their startled faces seemed to be oil to the fire that had started Harry's fit of laughter. He laughed out even louder and he had to grab his sides from the pain he was feeling from laughing too much. After calming down and leaving the lecture hall as well, he sent Jason a message saying "It took me a while but I finally got to see why you call Jenny a bolting bunny".