What I Expect

Worked Up

Warning - mentions of NSFW themes, non explicit

The holidays finish too early and my second term of university begins. I arrive at my first lecture and sit by Mai in the upper corner on the side with the windows. They're frosted out so there's no point in having windows, they serve only make this isle cold. This is a different lecture hall than before, with an amphitheatre setup of chairs on ascending levels and a big projector on the wall. I like this Psychology Hall better than the last one, more light gets in here and it doesn't look so old-fashioned. Besides as I sit in the back I don't have to crane my head to see the projector. 

"Soooo how was the date?" Mai whispers to me. This is an introductory lecture so nothing too necessary to pay attention to. We can talk through it. 

"We kissed!" I whisper back excitedly and she grips my hands in a silent happy squeal with me. Her wounds have faded. Cuts to bruises. But some scar over. I want to ask her how therapy is going. She seems great. Genuinely like she's doing great.

"Ooh tell me everything,"

I do. Sharing a motorbike ride, raspberry milkshakes. The tension and fireworks. I tell her it all. She hangs onto every word, captivated by my story. When the lecture ends we both have a free. We wander around the detached campus exploring streets we haven't seen, finding buildings for departments we never knew existed. There's a large high school too, wedged a few backstreets away. During lunch pupils sometimes integrate with the university students. We use the same streets, same shops. The kids seem nice enough, maybe it's a private school?

"That's Joey's sister," she points to a girl across the street as we walk down this particularly secluded side road lined with trees. Joey's sister is a girl of maybe 13 with long, straight light brown hair. I can't see her eyes from this distance but her schoolbag is hot pink and bright yellow. I like it.

"Are we gonna go over and talk to her?" I ask.

"No, not while she's at school," I was wondering why she told me so quietly. Maybe it'd look odd to the others if she was seen hanging around adults at lunch? I don't know. The girl seems innocent and happy, carefree as she almost skips along the sidewalk. Until I notice what she's holding.

A cane, long and silver. A white nub on the end. She's blind. "What's her name?" I ask, not the question I wanted to ask. I'm not sure what that question is though.

"Serenity Wheeler," Mai states at a normal volume once we're further away. "She's really sweet. She ain't lost her childhood innocence yet. Joey is doing his best to preserve it,"

"Why?" I wonder aloud. Mai shakes her head. None of my business, not really hers to tell either. I understand.

After my last lecture at 1600 Akefia and I meet for coffee in the university café. It's a large open space with the choice of booths or bench stools by the window or couches to lounge on. It's like the decor of 5 different cafes smushed together in one room. "How was your first day back?" I ask him, sipping my cappuccino. He folds his hands over his caramel latte, warming them.

"Eh. Boring. Same old. Yours?"

"I met Joey's sister today. She goes to the school near here. Her name is Serenity and-" I lean in and lower my voice. "She's blind,"

Akefia shrugs. He takes a sip and frowns, it's too hot. "Kay. Was she nice?" he blows into his cup and watches the steam dance.