4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Laura

Maybe it is silly to feel sorry for a statue, but I do.

I stared as it... survived through the torture.

It was a tradition for every freshman to pose and take a photo with the gargoyle statue, but... Putting cream on its face is a bit mean. Not to mention, what if they break the statue? It may have stood for decades, but... It feels wrong to do that to a historical thing.

I get out of bed and head to the window. From my window, I can barely see the statue. It is far away, but not too far.

No one is around the statue. It is already late. I have lessons tomorrow, so I should be sleeping, but I keep thinking about the statue. The cream and the gross moss are still on it, which no one cares about.

Maybe it has to wait until the rain is here again for the cream to be gone. Before that, ants may be there chewing on it.

In the tradition of messing with the statue, there's no session of picking up the mess. The statue is just expected to survive it.

I rub my temple. It's just dumb. A statue won't feel anything. Why do I have to care about it?

Gargoyle is ugly anyway.

Well... It has wings and pointy ears like a bat, then... those eyes are scary. It is set there because people believe that it can fend out evil stuff. For me, it may as well scare me away from the campus.

My cheek warms up when I remember the cringe-worthy photo I took with the statue. Why did I think that's a good idea?

But the poor statue...

It keeps lingering in my mind, refusing to let go of me as if it has something to tell me.

But that's impossible. It's a statue, dammit.

The streetlight near the statue flickers. It must be bored standing there on its own.

The sky is clear, and it seems like it won't rain. Maybe I can clean the gargoyle.

Well... Who on earth comes up with such a dumb idea? It's still hot this time of the year, I could be sleeping.

But there seems to be an echo in my chest. It may as well be the gargoyle asking for help. But it's more likely just my thoughts, not a whisper from a statue, which is essentially a big carved stone.

I check the time, it's getting late. I should know the better thing to do compared to running outside trying to clean a statue.

My lesson the next day is early, making it even easier to make up my mind.

I leave the window, closing the blind. I should sleep. The party and the people tired me out, even though all I did was sit in the corner and try not to make eye contact with anyone. I should have just refused to join the party, but I didn't want to make myself look like a bigger nerd than I already am.

I should stop at my bed to get back onto it. Instead, I head to the door, opening it to check the corridors.

It is dim out there, which is fitting when it is late in the night. Only a few lights are still on. There's no rule saying that I can't be outside. I just have to make sure I bring my student card and keys with me.

The statue isn't too far away. I can go with a bucket of water and clean the gargoyle within half an hour. There's no rule saying that I can't clean the statue anyway. I'll just use water, it won't be bad for the gargoyle.

I gather what I need and peek out the door again. It is still dim outside. No one is going to know that I snuck out of my room.

No, I'm not sneaking out of my room. I live here and have every right to leave and go back to my room as I wish.

I take the bucket, making sure I bring my keys and everything I need.

This is going to be a stupid idea, but I'm going ahead with it, regardless.

It is cooler outside when it is deep into the night.

The trees at the roadside can't be that deep, but those look to be forming a forest by now.

Maybe a monster will jump out of the trees and bite my ass.

I clench tighter at the handle of the bucket. I'm already outside of the dorm building, may as well keep going.

It is quiet, despite my heartbeat racing as if drums going off at my ears.

There's nothing to be worried about except there are no street lights between the dorm building and the gate. The only lights are on the far end of the road, which isn't too helpful, yet.

I walk as fast as I can without spilling the water.

This is all the gargoyle's fault.

At the statue, the cream is still on it. Some of the cream has melted and dripped onto its chest. This poor thing can't even clean himself.

"Look at you... You're lucky I'm dumb enough to be here."

I wet the towel and wipe the cream off the statue's face. It looks better this way.

I rinse the towel, lifting it again at the moss on its arms and body as a whole. "No one cares about how you look, huh?"

It says nothing, which... What am I even doing? Talking to a statue?

Speaking of which...

The statue feels warm despite the towel and the water. It isn't cold out here given the time of the year, but the statue is still warmer than it should be.

I dip a finger into the water. It is pretty cool.

I stare at the statue, rubbing the arm, where I just wiped. It still feels warmer than it should be. Maybe it is the remaining heat from earlier in the day, despite... the water I used on it.

"You can't be alive, right?" I poke its ear, which...

Maybe I've studied too hard to get into this college and it's driving me insane. Or it is the few drinks I had at the party.

I wet the towel again, moving onto the rest of the statue's body.

I stand on the base of the statue, reaching for the wings. Hopefully, no one will see this.

There's no rule saying that one must not clean the statue, but there are probably rules somewhere that no climbing is allowed.

I pick off the last piece of moss from the wings. "You look better now."

I take a step back to stare at my work. Maybe I should clean the rest of the statue while I'm here.

The gargoyle still looks... scary.

I wet the towel again, going to the statue when...

Something moved at my side.

I spin around, but there's nothing.

The statue and I are the only thing in sight.

I poke the chest of the statue. "This can't be a living gargoyle, right?"

It says nothing in reply.

What am I even doing?

I clean the knees and legs of the gargoyle. "Even though you can't talk and aren't alive, it feels better to be with you than with other students. Maybe I'm such a nerd."

I feel the arms again and... find them warm like before I cleaned them. They weren't that way when I was with the group and they messed with the statue. The statue was cold back then...

Or is it?

Was I too self-conscious back then that I didn't pay attention to the warmth of the statue?

I keep going with the towel, trying to make myself stop thinking about silly stuff.

It is cool late in the night, but I'm still sweating as I rinse the towel and get back to the platform of the statue. The gargoyle better be thankful.

It takes effort to scrub off the moss that has probably been on him for decades, if not longer, but I make progress.

I finish with its back and... Do I rub its ass? And then his crotch?

Well, it's a statue, so who cares?

It still feels like I'm rubbing its cock, even though there's nothing but a smooth stone surface to be cleaned. A statue won't mind anyway.

When it is all done, the statue looks... like a gargoyle.

I pick up the bucket and hurry back to the dorm building. It must be late. I need some sleep. I don't know what will happen next, but I bet the others who enjoy messing with the statue won't be too happy to see their work disappear.

Maybe I shouldn't have cleaned the moss and fallen leaves off the statue. Now it's obvious that someone cleaned it instead of rain doing its thing.

Everyone knows that no one cares about the statue...

Fuck... This better not be the end of my college life when it hasn't even officially begun. Well, at least not that far into the beginning.