It’s currently at 1924 words, and I’m feeling so tired already! Man, this is going to be hard! Here’s the next excerpt from Chapter 2:

Dresden secretly followed the girl for a while. He felt that as long as it was on the way to where he wanted to go — in this instance, the library — it didn’t count as perverse or stalkish behaviour.

Soon though, she deviated from his original planned route of advance. “Damn,” he thought to himself, knowing full well that if he followed her any further, he’d be considered stalking her. Then he thought to himself, “I’m feeling a little thirsty, maybe I should get a drink first.”

With that thought, his taking the same path as her was the only rational path to take, since it was on the way to the drinks stall. And as he considered himself a very rational young man, he continued behind her.

It did occur to him that this self-rationalisation could have been a symptom of some serious mental disorder. But he rationalised that even if it did, it felt very rational indeed, and feeling rational made him happy. And what is the ultimate goal in life but the pursuit of happiness? And thus, he smiled to himself.