The next class period spent with Barkley was cut considerably short because of the test that they were scheduled to take; in just a matter of a half hour Ellie was free again, walking back out of the classroom with a full free day ahead of her. Jae hadn’t been in class that day, and she had been given no notice of where he had planned to be otherwise; she headed out into the main area of the COLABS building to find him already out there, seated on one of the couches with his eyes intent on her. With a curious frown Ellie made her way over to him, craning her neck slightly as he quickly rose to his feet.   “What are you doing out here?”   “No time to talk,” he said immediately, steering her towards the exit by her shoulders; Ellie stumbled along bemusedly, barely missing a collision with the door as he herded her outside.   “Jae, what the hell are you doing?”   “I’m playing hooky,” Jae responded finally, leading her in a brisk walk towards the small parking lot outside of the COLABS building. “If Barkley sees me then he’ll make me stay the whole class period.”   “So?”   “So, I knew you would finish early.”   “So you’re playing hooky ‘cause of me?”   “I know; ‘oh my God, Jae, you’re so romantic’.” His car was parked a considerably distance away from the building; they reached it and he opened and closed the passenger door before getting in himself, shutting the door firmly behind him. “Alright, we’re clear,” he said with a sigh, lying back dramatically in his seat with closed eyes. “Where to?”   “If you get in trouble with Dr. Barkley, it’s not my fault.” After a moment Jae opened his eyes and looked at her, his expression listless.   “That’s not quite what I asked you.”   “I’m just saying…” He said nothing, watching her motionlessly. “What do you mean, where to?”   “Where am I taking you?”   “Nowhere?” Jae remained quiet, blinking at her. “We don’t have plans to go anywhere.”   “Do we need plans?” Jae countered. “Where do you want to go?”   “I don’t know, Jae…”   “Nah, I don’t wanna hear that,” he interjected. “I always pick where we go; where do you want to go?” Ellie sighed exasperatedly, folding her arms across her chest. “I’ll wait.”   “Well…I’ve been thinking about going to the bookstore…”   “The bookstore?”   “Yeah,” Ellie responded with a nod. “I’m taking Shakespeare next semester, and I’m trying to find his collection beforehand.”   “So you want to go to the bookstore?” Ellie smirked, folding her arms across her chest.   “Yes,” she responded. “Is that alright with you?”   “Works for me,” Jae said abruptly, turning to start the car. “Which one?”   Their bookstore of choice ended up being The Last Bookstore, a place that Ellie had heard of on more than one occasion in the English major community, but had never actually been to in her time spent in Southern California. She was completely intrigued when they reached the building on Spring Street, and the bookworm in her took over as they walked inside. For a while she simply indulged, picking up books with interesting covers and attempting to find books she had never been able to locate in store before, before coming back to reality and remembering that she wasn’t alone; Jae walked good naturedly beside her, his hands in the pockets of the oversized army green jacket he wore as he looked at books as well. She sheepishly reigned herself back in and moved on to the Shakespeare section, only to find that there were several different collections available, which left her with the task of deciding which would be the best one for what she would need.   She had just made her decision when Jae grabbed her hand suddenly, surprising her.   “Come look at what I found.”   “You found something?” Ellie repeated incredulously. “When did you actually leave?”   “I could’ve gotten kidnapped and tricked into trafficking before you would have looked up,” Jae declared with a shake of his head. “Shows how much you care about me.”   Ellie wasn’t surprised that Jae had managed to find the music section, but what did surprise her was his le