Always the Opposites {Brollins}

[ Chapter 8 ]

"Maybe I'll just drop out." Rebecca placed her chin on her crossed arms as they sat on the diner's breakfast bar.

She didn't even have to open the diner that morning—that job had been given to Mercedes—but she couldn't sleep so she was currently accompanying her.

"You can't live out my dreams before me." Mercedes laughed while she shook her head.

"I'll work here full-time, and I'll live in the staff room." Rebecca shrugged, throwing her hoodie over her head.

Mercedes stared at her unimpressed. "No, you won't."

"You don't know that." Rebecca squinted at her.

"Yes, I do." Mercedes rolled her eyes, filling up a cup of coffee and taking a sip. "You care too much."

"Whatever." Rebecca turned her head, laying her cheek on her arms in defeat.

Mercedes tried to offer Rebecca her support, but she knew from past experience that once Rebecca got like this, trying to stop her downward spiral was almost impossible.

"The last thing I need is to fail when I'm so close to graduating." Rebecca mumbled, watching Mercedes roll her eyes.

"You're not gonna fail. So your mark might not be as high as the rest, who cares?" Mercedes pointed out.

"My scholarship administrators do." Rebecca sighed, "If I let one mark slip, they'll take it away. Then all of that debt I'm fighting off now will be ten times worse."

Mercedes moved beside her, "You'll be fine. It's not the end of the world. You've got lots of time."

"I'd need a miracle." Rebecca laughed dryly.

Mercedes heard the door open and turned, watching Colby walk in, "I think I just found it."

Rebecca didn't even need to turn to know who she was talking about. "No."

"Hey Mercedes." He walked over to her before noticing some orange curls spilling out from underneath a hood. "Hey, Rebecca."

She turned to lay on her other cheek so she could actually see him. "Hi."

"Rough morning?" Colby questioned, sitting in the chair next to her.

"Something like that." She shot him an uninspired, lopsided smile.

"Miss perfectionist over here is having a mental breakdown because math is giving her a hard time." Mercedes rubbed Rebecca's back as Colby nodded in realization.

"I see." Colby responded, and Rebecca shrugged weakly. "I could always help you if you want."

Rebecca took a deep breath as she sat up, "No, I can't ask you to do that."

"It's normal for people to help each other." He chuckled, "I'm fine with it if you are."

"I don't know." She shrugged, "That's not fair to you."

"Okay." He nodded, looking at Mercedes for a split second, remembering their conversation the other day. "Would it make you feel better if I asked you to help me with English?"

"Of course, I'll help." Her face lightened up in the slightest.

"Becks, he's saying you'd help him with English, and in return, he'd still help you with math." Mercedes interjected, "You know, a fair trade."

Her face went back to being blank, "Well-"

"Just take the goddamn help." Mercedes stopped her, before rolling her eyes and directing her words to Colby. "She'll take the help."

"Good to hear." He laughed with a nod, "Anyways, I'm gonna grab a coffee, I gotta go to class this morning."

"So does Becks!" Mercedes slightly shook her, "You two should head down together!"

"Sure." Colby smiled, making his way to the cash register.

While Mercedes was making his coffee, his eyes deviated towards a tired-looking Rebecca, staring at the table in front of her blankly. "I'll also take another cup."

"Two coffees? How little sleep did you get last night Lopez?" Mercedes moved to grab a second to-go cup.

"Not for me." He smiled, gesturing towards Rebecca. "She needs some."

"That she does." Mercedes slid both cups to him as he paid.

He slowly walked over to Rebecca, placing a cup in front of her. "Here you are."

Rebecca looked at him strangely, "You bought me a coffee?"

"You seem like you need it." Colby shrugged, "Spending too much time awake last night writing fan-fiction?"

"No." Rebecca laughed, "I wish it was that instead of me facing my inevitable doom."

Then her smile dropped and she started rummaging through her bag. "I don't know if I have change on me to pay you back."

Colby placed his hand on top of her scrambling one, "Don't worry about it. You ready to head out?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." She stood, grabbing her things, up and the two said their goodbyes to Mercedes.

When they reached the station and the subway arrived, the two opted to stand, holding onto the horizontal pole above them. The small talk between them felt extremely natural, and the two quickly warmed up to one another.

Colby instantly felt a dependable presence in Rebecca and wished he had been introduced to her earlier. He actually found himself interested in what she was talking about, even if a lot of it had to do with literature.

He smiled as he watched her get excited about all of the different possible things he could write for his essays, and all of the books she could recommend. In turn, Rebecca fell engrossed with everything he would talk about, like different mathematical theories, and famous mathematicians.

They exchanged numbers and went their separate ways when they finally got to the school. Both Rebecca and Colby felt somewhat reassured, knowing they now had someone to help them sort this all out.

The race to learn and understand everything before exams happened was on, and the two hoped they would come out of the other side successfully.