Owen
I hate college.
First of all, the people suck.
Every single person, may it be some random student or even the teaching staff, boggle their eyes at me wherever I go. Their senseless eyes were glued mostly at how idle the lower portion of my body is or how the chair I use still has small wheels on the bottom of the footrests that still light up like the Fourth of July.
Well, it could be how weirdly my hair keeps going into my eyes but I highly doubt it was my physical appearance that made those people stare.
To avoid that feeling of shame and humiliation I never thought I'd feel after moving away from Mum, I kept my head down. I didn't want to look at people anymore and I am not in the mood to feel sorry for myself. I just kept pushing.
"Owen, look up for once. Their looks wouldn't kill you, would it?"
My ears perked at the sound of her voice. I tossed my head up at her and sighed.
"If this goes on for the rest of the year, it would." I answered back.
She shot me a reassuring smile as she laid a hand on my shoulder, rubbing it gently.
"Not scared of death, are you? Fine. Do whatever you want but I get to push you." She suggested, turning her smile slowly into a playful smirk.
A little hesitant, I felt my brows furrow in dislike and I looked at her inquisitive deep brown eyes.
"I don't think so, Maya." I muttered.
Tossing her dark, raven hair behind her ears, she kept walking beside me and had a skip in her step on our way out of the school building.
"I'm just saying you could keep looking down while I push you to safety or keep looking down but there's a high chance you'll run over someone's foot. You don't want that, do you?"
I looked away from Maya for a quick second to gather my thoughts.
For as long as I had been in a wheelchair, never had I let anyone aside from my parents push me. I didn't like the fact that as an independent wheelchair user, I am still in need of some sort of human assistance.
I don't need people's help. The chair's enough.
Turning back to Maya, I locked eyes with her as I swept some stray pieces of hair away from my eyes and towards the sides of my forehead.
"I could risk that."
Maya smiled yet the slightly surprised expression on her face spoke differently.
"Alright. As you wish."
"Thank you."
Orientation ended only a few minutes ago and I was itching to head back to the dorm to rest after being forced to interact with people I have a high chance of forgetting their names.
As Maya and I left the school building where the meeting was held, I couldn't help but notice how her eyes kept glancing down at me and at the same time, over at her thin, gold wristwatch.
I didn't mind it since I was so exhausted from everything that took place today. I wanted to head to my room so I could at least get a few minutes of sleep, work on some advance readings and maybe even spend some time with Athena. She's always radiating positivity and with her around, everything just seems a little bit better.
To think of it, I also promised Fitz I'd come over his room to play some video games. Quite normal for a post-First Day thing but with my lack of experience with video games since I mainly read, it was given that even without me, he's already winning.
"Student with AirPods reading on his phone up in front. Move." I heard.
I turned my head toward Maya to ask about her weird statement and before I could, I felt her small hands wrap around the handles of my chair and slowly turn it to the other side.
Surprised at her sudden action, my eyes widened for a bit before she let go and looked at me with a winning smile.
"There was really a person in front, right?" I asked, slowly feeling the corners of my mouth tug upward as I turned my head back to look whether there really was a person with AirPods.
Truth be told, there really was and it was this guy who had his eyes looking into his phone with a blank expression on his face.
I turned back to Maya and she had a grin on her face.
"Possibly. He really looked as preoccupied as you were. The AirPods just added a little flair to him, to be honest." she shrugged.
"Waste of money, those AirPods are. Earphones work fine and they're free once you get a phone." I answered.
With a slight smirk on her face, Maya kept her eyes straight and thought deeply.
"Maybe he has a sugar mommy and just wanted to splurge."
"Or maybe he's the kid of an Apple employee who gets free things all the time." I followed.
To be honest, I was enjoying this. These kinds of interactions reminded me hugely of Athena and I was feeling rather guilty it was Maya I was spending time with instead of her.
It couldn't be helped. Athena has a different major and Maya and I just happen to have the same one. It wouldn't hurt if I'm going to spend more time discussing schoolwork with Maya instead of with Athena. Though she is known to be highly intelligent, I wouldn't want to keep asking her about topics I don't understand since Athena has to focus on her own subjects as well.
I don't want to be in the way of that.
"He could be a thief but those smart ones like in Money Heist!" Maya piped happily as she followed up with endless blabbers about how amazing the show was and how much I was so picky with what I watch on Netflix.
"Or he's just rich." I said with a shrug.
Maya and I laughed as we continued bickering about the guy with the AirPods. It continued all the way until we were only a few minutes away from the dormitory.
"I have an idea." she declared.
"What?" I asked, craning my neck up at her.
"Let's get out of campus and people watch." she said, stopping in her tracks to tighten her shoelaces, bending down.
"But why?" I asked as I looked down on her from my side and watched her fix her shoelaces.
After tightening her shoelaces, Maya didn't stand up immediately. Instead, she was still bent down and her thin, slanted eyes were staring into mine. A playful smile was on her face.
"Duh. To make up stories of people's lives. It's kinda fun. Was it not fun to you with the AirPods guy?" she asked, finally standing up.
I sighed.
"I admit, it was fun. I don't know about going out of campus though." I muttered as I though about Athena and Fitz possibly waiting for me back at the dorm.
"Come on! We could stop by a pizza place and sit on the window seats!" she suggested happily.
I looked up at Maya with tired eyes and shook my head.
"Maya, I'm tired. If it's okay with you, I'd be glad to join you some other day."
"Bummer. I was kinda hoping you'd accept." she said sadly as she bent her head down and continued walking at a slower pace.
Maya and I continued going towards the direction of the dorm and she was rather quieter than earlier. As I turned my eyes toward the side to steal a quick glimpse of Maya, she looked disappointed.
And sad.
I felt terrible for declining her offer and I wouldn't want her to feel left out.
"Maybe next time we could invite Athena and Fitz. They'd enjoy people watching. Well, Athena will certainly enjoy that but I don't know about Fitz. He mentioned you knew each other in high school." I said, trying to change the conversation a bit.
Maya stiffened a little as she walked and looked rather tense. Quickly, she softened and smiled tight-lipped.
"Oh, right. Fitz." she spat as if her words were poison.
I didn't like her tone.
"Were you two close?" I asked in attempt to shield my dislike of her making Fitz sound like a bad person.
"I don't know. We just had a few classes together, that's all. Is there anything else he told you about me?" she asked as her thin black brows furrowed slightly in the middle.
Fitz asked Maya out to Prom.
Maya declined.
Fitz knew Maya all these years.
She didn't even know his name before Graduation.
"No. He just said you went to the same high school, that's all."
Maya breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as she laid her hair back behind her ears.
"We did. Now, are you sure you don't want to people watch? I promise, this is not a date. We'll just grab some pizza, make up stories then go home." she said casually.
I was bound to my decision of going straight to the dorm. I promised Fitz I'd play games with him and I wanted to see Athena as soon as possible.
"Maybe another time. I'm exhausted, Maya. I'm really sorry but I'm terribly tired and I just wanted to sleep this whole day off." I said.
Everything was true except before I could actually nap, I could play a few rounds of DOOM with Fitz, read a bit, spend time with Athena and then I will sleep for a few.
"You really want to get out of this, don't you? I know things between me and Fitz had been weird during high school and you kinda got a messed up impression of me but I promise, one people-watching session is enough to redeem myself. And you get pizza too." Maya pledged.
I thought hard for a while before I came to a conclusion. For the longest time, Athena has been one of my top priorities and I was guessing it wouldn't hurt if I prioritize my studies as well.
"Fine. On one condition." I said.
Maya looked curious as she raised her brows and looked at me seriously.
"Shoot."
I inhaled then stared into her dark brown pools.
"Every time you invite me over to do uhm, whatever you call these things, we get to study for our classes." I suggested.
Maya shot me confused look and cocked her head to the side.
"Why would we even study? I don't like the sound of that." she admitted.
"I just think it would be convenient to discuss whatever was lectured for the day. Is that so terrible?"
Maya pursed her lips and nodded slightly.
"I think I get it. Some shitty replica of your study dates with Athena, isn't it? Well, I'm not Athena. I'm not really obsessed about studying but I do pass my classes with average scores. Sorry if that threw you off." she said shyly.
Like some bipolarity going on, I felt soft for Maya.
"How did you pass Princeton then?" I asked curiously.
Maya gave me a look and I was scared I offended her indirectly.
"Extracurriculars. I kinda joined as much as I could. I'm also quite decent when it comes to essays. Just not maths."she said.
"I respect that."
It was about time Maya and I reached the entryway to the dorm and before we went in, she stopped in her tracks. I did too.
Maya looked at me sadly and sighed.
"You don't want to spend time with me then?" she asked with a slight pout.
As much as it reminded me of Athena and my need to be with her as soon as possible, Maya had her own ways of making me feel bad about my decisions.
Maybe one pizza wouldn't leave such a huge dent.
It's only the first day and it was orientation. We don't really have to study for anything in particular these times.
I could text both Athena and Fitz later. Maya and I did get off orientation earlier than most. We still had an hour.
Maybe this wouldn't even last a whole hour and I'd be back inside the dorms playing games with Fitz until my return to my room to greet my wonderful girlfriend.
"Maya, what pizza's do you like? I'm hungry."
----------
HI EVERYONE!
It's back to school season for most already and god am I feeling more drained than ever now my classes are online. Bad Wifi connection sucks:(
Since I am officially back in school, I made an update schedule so this way, I could somehow balance schoolworks and this story. Updates are to be made WEEKLY and could be between Thursdays up until Sundays. I'm still working on a specific day of the week but I don't know how that'll work since ya know, *different time zones*.
Stay safe yall! For those going back to school physically, PLEASE WEAR MASKS! If possible, use a face shield as well. Throw away disposable masks (WEAR TWO LAYERS GOING OUT!!!) as soon as you get home and put cloth masks straight into the laundry! Bring alcohol wherever you go and avoid touching random things outside your house! The pandemic isn't dying out as fast as anyone would like and by doing our part, things would HOPEFULLY go back to normal.
I value each and every one of you and I am beyond thankful for the support you guys gave toward this story!
LOVELOTS!ð
Bea