I go outside to sit in the sun. I sit on the wide stairs in the front of the building. It is a perfect spring day: 10 degrees, full sun, slight breeze.

I see Ben out of the corner of my eye. He is coming towards me. He sits beside me, just far enough away so that it feels normal. He doesn't say anything. He leans back, gazing across the campus.

I don't say anything either. I'm leaning on an elbow, eating my apple. I look at him, and I am happy.

He told me earlier that he liked my Giardia. For a class, we had to draw and colour a water-borne disease. I chose Giardia, and I painted it a bright green. Admittedly, I went slighty overboard with painting it, but my craft box didn't contain any crayons, felts, or coloured pencils. I only had paint. My Giardia is glued to the wall, one of only two completed and handed-in thus far. It has my initials on it. That must be how he knew that it was mine.

We sat there silently in the sun for a while. The silence was broken when another guy came to sit with us. I don't think he noticed the telepathic conversation going on between me and Ben.

Back in class, I arrange my books for another hour of lecture. I see Ben at the side of the room, examining again my Giardia. Looking at it. Thinking about...?