ellie grazer
| 𝗠𝗔𝗖 𝗡' 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗘𝗦𝗘 |
#. 013
three weeks later
-ˏˋ thursday ˊˎ-
𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗘𝗗 into the room, chucking my backpack onto the floor the minute I was inside. I could feel the ache in my feet yet ignored it as I unzipped my jacket and wandered further into the room. A smile clawed across my lips as I saw Alina, she was sitting in her bed, surrounded by open text books and notepads.
"Hey, you okay?" I asked as I opened the closet and hung my jacket back up, on one of the hangers.
"No." She announced stressfully, causing me to look over my shoulder to see her staring at me with a red face.
I frowned and closed the doors before walking towards her immediately. "What's wrong?" I asked along the way.
"I'm so behind on all of my work, El." She spoke in a slightly frantic yet exhausted voice. "I thought I'd be able to catch up on everything but I haven't. I've got so much homework to do as well. I just don't know what to do first, it's all too much." She sounded like she wanted to give up. I looked all around her, her whole bed was covered in pens and paper. She looked completely drained and I couldn't help but question how long she had been in this exact position doing this, for.
"Okay, slow down." I smiled warmly. "I'll help you get everything done. What have you done so far?" I asked in a calm voice as to not stress her out even more.
"Barely anything." She sniffed. "It's only been three weeks and I'm already failing everything." She threw her pen down and dropped her head into her hands, completely giving up.
"Hey, come on." I pulled her hands away, not allowing her to give up just yet. "I really highly doubt that you are failing." I eyed her with a stern look. "We haven't even been here a month, okay? It takes time to get into a work routine and understand what you need to get done. I promise you, you are not failing." I sounded like my Mom but she needed to hear it. I wanted to Alina to understand that she really wasn't failing. At this point in time, nobody was.
"Then, why aren't you like me right now?" She sniffled once again and it was now where I could see that she had been previously crying.
"Because I'm balancing everything out that's why. A routine. That's what you need." I told her the truthful answer. I didn't want to straight up say that she was at fault for all of this but I didn't want to tell her blatant lies either just to make her feel better.
She sighed and groaned. "You're right." She put her face into her hands once again. "I hate that you're right."
I laughed. "Me too. Now, come on. Let's do it together." I shuffled slightly and crossed my legs to get more comfortable as I then looked down at the work she was currently doing.
"You don't have to help." I heard her sniffle once again. "I'll just pull an all nighter or something. I understand everything and I'll be able to do it all, there's just so much to do." She admitted defeatedly.
"Which is why, I'm going to help you." I told her as I read over the topic she was studying. "Oh, I did this the other day. I'll help you."
"You don't need to, El. I'm sure you have something better to do." She sighed once again but her words only made me just stare at her with raised eyebrows. She saw this and laughed while shaking her head. "Are you sure?" She then asked, looking slightly guilty now.
"Yes." I exasperated. "It's honestly fine." I gave her a reassuring look in which I could tell, she appreciated. "Okay, we'll just do everything a section at a time, alright? Finish off the one you're currently doing and I'll get you some water." I pushed the textbook towards her and scooted off of the bed. "Have you eaten today?" I asked as I walked towards the kitchen while checking the time on my phone, it was going on to five o'clock and I was now beginning to feel bad that I stayed at the library after class for so long when I could've come home to help Alina out.
"I had a wrap at lunch." She said as I heard her click her pen.
"That's it?" I asked while turning to her, feeling slightly concerned now.
"I didn't have time. I had to go to class and then when I came home, I had to get all of this done." She said to me, explaining the reasons to the lack of food in her system.
I sighed while shaking my head. "You need something to eat, Alina. You shouldn't go this long without food." I opened the cabinet door and pulled out a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese and chucked it onto the side. I then filled up a pot of water and followed the instructions on the box.
I then filled up a cup with some water and brought it back to the bed where I handed it to her and made sure she drank it.
"You act like my Mom." She laughed while placing the cup down on her bedside table.
"Well, someone's got to make sure you're looking after yourself." I replied while sitting back down on the bed.
"Speaking of Mom's, how's you and yours? I was meant to ask but I didn't know if I should." She asked me while sitting up from her hunched over position.
"We're okay. I talked to her and she did apologise for what she said and I did to for lying and everything. It's all okay now, I think at least." I explained as I used the hair tie on my wrist to pull my hair up, into a bun. "I really hated not talking to her these past couple of weeks."
"Oh, I'm glad." She smiled at me with a grin.
I smiled back. "So, let's get started."
She begrudgingly nodded. "If we have too."
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"Here you go." I handed her the bowl, of hot Mac n' Cheese, in a tea towel. "Careful, it's hot."
"Thank you." She took it from me and instantly began spooning up a bite. "Oh, this looks so good."
I sat back down with my bowl too. "Better eat everything in that bowl." I warned as I scooped up a bite and blew on it.
"I will." Her claim would've made me question her honesty in any other circumstance but I was given a lot of reassurance that she would consume the whole bowl as she already had two spoonfuls stuffed into her mouth while speaking to me.
I chuckled as I ate a bite of mine. "How much do we have left to do?" I asked her, my voice being a little muffled.
"Um," she looked around on the floor at the pile of work that was completed and then looked down at the work left on the bed. "Just what's left on here I think." She told me while spooning up another bite.
"After we eat, we can start on getting all your homework done." I nodded as I looked at the sheets of paper around us.
"Okay." She nodded before looking down at her phone. "It's half past now so do you think we'll be done by seven ish?" She asked. "Or are my expectations too high?"
I snickered slightly. "I think maybe half seven at most but if it goes on any longer then it wouldn't be a problem."
"If it's any longer than eight then I'm just going to run away." She replied while taking another bite of cheese marinated pasta. "Fuck, this is so good."
"It's just a box mix." I told her while taking another bite as well.
"Yeah, well I use the box mixes too and mine never tastes like this." She praised with an almost 'in heaven', expression.
"It's just because you're hungry, everything tastes better when you haven't eaten anything in six hours." I told her with a harsh look, obviously hinting towards her unhealthy actions.
"Oh, relax. I wasn't going to die." She rolled her eyes at me before taking a sip of her water.
"Well, if I didn't ask, would you have eaten anything at all for the rest of the night?" I eyed her, already knowing her reply.
She paused while staring at me mid-way chewing. "Yeah...after I'd finished." She spoke, almost like she didn't even believe herself.
"Oh yeah, what would you have eaten?" I asked, tilting my head slightly.
She paused yet again before pushing her bowl away and sitting up. "Enough talking, we need to get this done." She exclaimed with a hiss.
I just laughed at her. "Mhm, we really should."
I watched as she quickly clicked her pen and began writing away, now suddenly being very open to getting the work done.
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