Owen
I woke up to the sound of paper bags scrunching by the side of my ear and I lifted my head up from the table only to see that our papers were all organized into neat piles and the laptop was currently charging. Confused, I sat back up in my chair and turned towards Maya who was calmly sipping some coffee from Starbucks.
As soon as I turned my head and blankly looked at her, the girl seemed hyped. She shot me a warm smile and handed me some coffee as well and a bagel.
"Take it. You'll need it if we want to finish this thing tonight. Or should I say, early morning tops?" Maya said with a chuckle.
I gratefully took the items from her hands and nodded subtly. My head was still a bit woozy from falling asleep as soon as Maya went out.
"Are you sure we can really finish this in one sitting?" I asked as I bit into the cold bagel Maya brought. Although it was practically tasteless, it felt as if it were the best snack I've had in years. But nothing can beat Delta's food back home, to be honest.
"If we stay caffeinated then sure. Maybe we can. Sorry for the wait. The line to get some coffee around here was kinda long and I had to wait for an hour in line and half an hour for a stale bagel." she said with a slight roll of the eye. I stifled a tight tipped smile as I took off the lid of the coffee cup and sipped slowly. It was warm now.
"It's okay. I fell asleep when I should've been working. Sorry we got behind schedule. I would gladly help you study for midterms though to make up for this." I suggested.
Maya grinned as she clicked her tongue and leaned back in her seat.
"Studying for midterms with me? Dude, that would be really awesome. We're totally gonna kick ass." She said as she made her way to reach for a stack of papers she organized earlier and handed them over to me. I blankly took them and shook my head, remembering the reason why Maya and I were staying up late in the first place.
"Oh the things I would give just to physically kick Anderson in the arse though." I muttered as I cracked my knuckles and removed the laptop from its charging port.
"I could only imagine." Maya said, shutting her eyes.
"I'm gonna take a short nap. I already sorted the papers and highlighted what needs to be explained further on paper. I also did a few paragraphs while you were knocked out so it wouldn't be too hard on your side." she continued.
Maya heaved out a sigh and turned her back away from me as she slept. I, on the other hand diverted my focus away from Maya and towards our paper. It was totally shit that Dr. Anderson, among all the other professors, had this big project for his class. To think that this class was supposed to be all about laboratory and experiments. It was funny how he required us to pass a paper when we could simply do one of his little lab tests, goddamn.
A little bit dazed and distracted, I took my phone from the inside of my bag and checked the time. It was incredibly late.
It was 10:23pm on a gloomy Friday night and I haven't told Athena that I'll be staying here past curfew for the sake of my grades.
I quickly typed in a text signifying that I'll probably be back past midnight if Maya and I can finish this paper tonight. I think I would also need some backup plan to get back into the dorms after the residence people locked the doors. Curfew was at 10 during weekdays and I swore at myself for not setting an alarm earlier.
With a sigh, I went back to writing and continued looking at the things Maya found credible in our notes and reference books. As I typed quickly due to my increased productivity which was all due to a spike in caffeine, I glimpsed toward my side to a sleeping Maya. The way she slept looked so innocent and calm and her curled position somehow resembled a cat.
I turned my head away from her and continued typing. Due to Maya's contribution from earlier, we somehow made it past 10 pages and only half of it was still left unwritten because of me. If I were my own self's partner in this thing, I would hate me too.
Soon, my phone ringed and I immediately picked it up.
"I'm sorry." I immediately told the caller.
"Dude, it's way past curfew. How the hell do you think you're coming back in here?" Athena told me from the other line, obviously annoyed at how late I was out. I took a quick glance toward Maya and shook my head.
"Honestly, I don't know either." I said as I stopped typing for a while and leaned back in my chair as I tapped the armrests of my chair with a fidgety finger.
For a moment, there was a pause between our conversation and I eventually heard her sigh softly.
"Owen," she started. Her voice seemed tired and I felt bad that I was part of the reasons she sounded like that.
"Hmm?"
"Please get back as soon as you can. I'll try to ask Charlie for the keys once you're done over there---, wait, Maya's with you, right?" she asked. There was a hint of worry and a little bit of fear in her voice. I just didn't know why.
I turned to look at Maya for a bit again and still, she was asleep. She deserves to sleep, though. After all, she's done enough for this project and I'm barely scraping off the ground from here.
"Uhm, yeah. She is. She fell asleep after doing half the work and getting out of her way to get coffee." I explained, diverting my attention back to Athena's call.
"Okay. At least I know you're safe over there. Just--, tell me when you're coming back. I miss you." she whimpered. Her voice was all soft and so small, I just wished I was back in our room, doing whatever we wanted.
But I'm not.
Instead, I'm here alone in the library with Maya and it's already past curfew. It was still unclear whether Athena could bribe our residential college adviser, Charlie, to give her the keys to the dorm.
"I will, love. And please, get some sleep." I told her. Through the years, Athena always had my back. It was about time I had hers.
"Are you kidding? It's midterms week. There's no way I'm sleeping this early on a friday night. I'm staying up as long as you're there. I can't sleep without you." she admitted sadly.
I heaved out a desperate sigh and bit my lower lip.
"I wish I could say the same but unfortunately, I fall asleep in almost every boring and snore-inducing place there is. See you later?" I said, sadden by the near end of our call.
"Sure. See you. Be home in one piece, okay? I don't want to find pieces of your body scattered around America." she joked on the other end. I couldn't help but smile as I imagined her listening to her Spotify playlist as she goes over her notes for midterms on her study table right in front of her window.
"Just because I'm in a wheelchair doesn't mean I can't fend myself against cannibals, love." I joked back. Athena's probably the only person I could freely talk shit about the chair and make her think I could fight off a lion or something in it. I don't know. It could be possible.
"Fine. Could you at least not hang up? Until you're done?" she pleaded.
I smiled sadly and sighed.
"I don't know if that'll do our phone plans good. The bill's already too much as it is." I told her. God, phone bills in America sure are too expensive even when I barely texted anybody aside from my family but mostly, Athena.
"FaceTime? God forbid you to tell me you can't do that either." she suggested.
"Could be possible. Although I don't know how I'm going to focus while I keep seeing your face on my screen." I told her. I felt her smiling on the other side of the line and it makes me feel giddy knowing I'm not the only one benefiting from this relationship. She just loves it when she's being buttered up.
Eventually, I heard her sigh on the other side.
"I don't think I'll be able to focus too. What a bummer." she said.
I immediately felt saddened by our inability to see each other even through a small phone screen. Clearing my throat as if felt rather clogged and stumped over this feeling, I went back to her.
"Yeah. I know." I replied as I looked down.
"Guess I'll really see you later. Don't tire yourself too much, okay?"she said as she readied herself to end the call.
"I would say the same thing to you. Love you." I told her.
"I love myself too. Bye."
With that, Athena hung up first. I was about to shove my phone back into my backpack before I received a text notification. Curious, I opened my messages and the corners of my mouth tugged upward at the message.
Just kidding. I love you too:3
What a girl.
I kept smiling as I shut off my phone and shoved it into my backpack. I still had work to do and thankfully, that phone call with Athena made me a tad bit energized.
I quickly went back to the paper and checked in on Maya again. She was still sleeping yet something seemed off about her. She was cramped up in her chair and was hugging her arms tight with her brows furrowed uncomfortably.
She must've been cold from the air conditioning.
I didn't want my partner to shiver from the cold because honestly speaking, it really was cold in here the more you stay inside. Maya didn't have a jacket or a sweater with her. But I do.
It has been a habit of mine ever since high school to always have a hoodie with me. Athena snagged my Harry Potter one in junior year and luckily, I had brought my maroon one with me.
Unzipping my bag, I snatched my hoodie from the inside and covered it over Maya's shoulders so she wouldn't feel too cold. It's the least I could do.
After I placed it on her, Maya's sleepy expression somehow relaxed and I was glad she felt more comfortable this way.
I continued typing paragraphs on the laptop and it wasn't too soon when I heard someone clear her throat and sighed.
"Thank you."
----
I'M BACK! I'm really sorry I didn't update these past few weeks because we had too much projects and exams in school, I swear I was literally flooded with them. Thankfully, our school gave us this "academic break" so we could rest and ease up a bit after the first half of the semester which gave me the amazing window of opportunity to write a couple chapters! I hope they're not too crappy or anything because the only things I've been writing were philosophy essays and position papers.
With that little life update done, I'm glad to announce that the weekly updates will be back starting this week! I'll post another chapter soon enough after this and I really hope you gorgeous potatoes enjoy it. Thanks for the support guys! I love y'all so damn much, reading your comments always makes me go weirdly giddy.
Stay safe!
Lovelots,
ðBea