Andy
The pen glided smoothly along the paper as I quickly jotted down everything the professor was saying. He talked too fast for my notes to look as neat as in my other classes, but at least I was able to get everything down, even if my handwriting was now a bit messy. I could still read them, and that's what mattered the most. I'll probably rewrite them later anyway, just to make sure they are legible.
"Alright, class," he said, putting down his white board marker. "I think that's going to be it for today. I'll see you all on Thursday."
I waited as my classmates filed out of the room. All except Kat. She continued to sit in the desk next to me, slowly putting away her notebook as she waited with me. I always found it easier to wait until everyone else had left instead of fighting my way out with them.
Once the classroom was empty (aside from Kat and I), I placed my backpack onto my lap and wheeled myself out from under the table and towards the door. Kat was right behind me, talking away about something I wasn't paying attention to.
"Andy?" she asked, making me stop wheeling myself forward. "Where'd your mind go?"
I shook my head, looking up at her. She wasn't a very tall girl, but from where I sat, I needed to look up to see everyone. "Sorry, Kat. Just thinking."
"You're always thinkin', Andy. Sometimes you should actually partake in conversations. They're so much better than the fictional characters stuck up in that head of yours."
I scoffed. "You don't know what you're saying," I retorted, slightly offended, considering this isn't the first time she's commented on my writings like that. "My characters are fully developed people because I spend so much time thinking about them. They're the reason my stories are as good as they are."
She started walking again and I followed, keeping pace with her as she continued to talk. "Well how am I supposed to know? You never let me read anythin' you've written!"
I rolled my eyes. "I've told you before: I would, but you wouldn't like what I write."
"So stop writing horror!"
I shook my head, not bothering to verbally reply. I've had this argument with her too many times already. She hated anything scary, but those are the stories that came easiest to me. Besides, horror stories were so much fun to write. Other genres paled in comparison.
We reached the doors of the building and Kat stepped in front of me to hold open the door. I wheeled myself through and waited for her to catch up before we headed down the side walk.
We were almost to the campus dining hall, so I reached into the front pocket of my backpack to pull out my wallet, needing my ID to be able to get lunch. Except it wasn't in there.
I grabbed hold of my left wheel with my hand, bringing me to a stop. Kat took a few seconds to realize I wasn't next to her anymore before she turned around and walked back. The whole time, I was frantically digging through my backpack, looking for a wallet I had a bad feeling I had left at home this morning.
"What's wrong?" Kat asked.
I shook my head, continuing to search. "I don't have my wallet."
"Do you want me to check the classroom or...?"
I sighed, zipping up my backpack in defeat. "No. It's at home. But I have another class in an hour, meaning I don't have enough time to go get it and be able to eat."
Kat reached into her bag and pulled out her own wallet. "I don't have any cash, but I have an old gift card in here somewhere..." After a moment, she pulled out a card with a Christmas design on it. Did she realize it's been almost an entire year since the holiday passed?
She held up the card to read the tiny scrawled number she had written on the back of it. "Eleven dollars and sixty two cents. That should be plenty for lunch, right? There's a place right around the corner."
"No. I can't take that from you, Kat," I said. "Besides, I shouldn't even eat that crap. It's so unhealthy."
"One meal isn't going to kill you." I raised my eyebrows at her. "Or give you another stroke. Come on, Andy. You need to eat. I wish I could give you something else, but I'm not lettin' you starve. That's even less healthy."
I sighed, thinking it over. I guess she was right. One meal wasn't going to cause too much damage. I just needed to make sure to eat extra healthy for the next few days to balance out the greasy lunch I was about to have.
I grabbed the card from Kat's hand. "Thanks, girl. I don't know what I'd do without you."
She laughed. "Probably suffer a lonely and miserable life, considering I'm your only friend and the only person willing to find guys for you to date."
I scoffed, resuming wheeling myself down the sidewalk. "Sure. Like that's done me any good. They all ditch as soon as they find out I'm a paraplegic. I'm just going to be single forever. That's why I have my stories."
"I'm going to find Mr. Perfect for you, Andy!" Kat called over her shoulder as she made a turn to her next class. "Just you wait!"
I chuckled quietly to myself as I watched her rush into the building. I really did love that girl, but sometimes she went overboard trying to make me happy. But she didn't understand that I didn't need to be dating someone to be happy, just because she did. Don't get me wrong, her boyfriend is great for her. I'm just certain there's no one out there for me.
I pushed the thought out of my head as I made my way off campus and around the corner to the food place. I stopped in front of the door, realizing there was no automatic door button to let me through. Thankfully, a leaving patron held the door open for me, otherwise I would have been out of luck.
The place smelt like greasy food, almost making me feel sick already. I tried to ignore that as I approached the counter. There were three people standing back there. A young kid was helping another customer at one register while an older woman seemed to be instructing a guy around my age how to work it.
The woman looked up at me and smiled, before turning to the guy she was training. "Try it on your own this time, Shawn. I'll watch."
The guy - Shawn - looked at me and I stared into his breathtaking green eyes. I've always been a sucker for green eyes.