After that night I started spotting Kia around campus. I’d catch her coming from class and we’d talk for a while. She was a cute girl, certainly easy on the eyes. If we happened to both be in the student center we’d chat. I learned she had a bit of a competitive side and our table tennis matches could get heated. We started doing friendly wages and were pretty even on wins and losses. She was fun, but a little strange at times. Like the day I saw her walking in circles in the Quad.
The other kids gave her a
wide berth, some were pointing and laughing. As I got closer she appeared to be
talking to herself, but not just talking to herself, but having a full blown
argument.
“Hey, Kia. Everything okay?”
She stopped to look at me for a moment. “No! Does it look
okay?” she yelled. “That stupid professor was a jerk. He shouldn’t be teaching
if he doesn’t even know his own students!” she went on.
I could understand her frustration with the professors, some
of them were real asses simply because they could be.
“It’s not my fault he doesn’t remember what assignments he
gives! I told him he hadn’t assigned the essay that he conveniently said was
due tomorrow, but he said he had. Everyone in the class is either too dumb or
too scared to speak up so they all just mumbled and looked at me like I was the
crazy one! Then. THEN he kept asking me questions trying to imply I wasn’t even
in the class. I finally got fed up and left, but now I have a freaking essay to
write that’s due tomorrow!”
People were staring as they walked by but she didn’t seem to
notice since she was back to mumbling to herself. I on the other hand did and
that feeling of anxiety started creeping in. That day Claudia was yelling at me
in front of the school, something I hadn’t thought about in a while, started
replaying in my head. Kia wasn’t yelling at me, but I still didn’t like the
attention. One…two…three…I needed her
to calm down.
“Deep breaths, Kia, take a few deep breaths.” I took a few
of my own. “Why don’t we um…go to The Grotto, we can get a latte and I’ll help
you with your essay.” She kept mumbling so I reached out for her arm. “Hey, did
you hear me?” That action made her jump a bit. She looked at me confused for a
minute then smiled.
“Matt!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around my neck.
We spent a few hours just hanging out at The Grotto but
never got around to working on her essay. When I tried to bring it up, she just
pretended like it wasn’t a big deal.
I didn’t see Kia for about two weeks after that. I’d text
her, but she’d say she was busy. Guess maybe she was embarrassed for having had
a meltdown in front of me and everyone. But then again, finals were coming up.
My buddies and I were pulling all night study sessions it seemed like.
I did call home to check in with Mom and Dad. Dad told me
he’d gotten Mom a new dog. Vor was again getting up there in age and GG Wind
said it wasn’t good for his health to keep turning him back since animals
weren’t meant to be like us. Ancha wasn’t a replacement, since no one could
replace Vor, but it would help Mom from being too upset once Vor left us. Dad
said Mom loves her and that the two dogs got along great. Too great in fact
since Ancha apparently wasn’t fixed and she and Vor were expecting puppies. The
house was going to be busy soon.
Kia texted me a while later asking if I wanted to hang out.
I was studying for an upcoming test in my finance class, but I decided a break
was a good idea.
We met up at the bowling alley and I decided not to bring up
the incident from a few weeks ago. I knew better than most how stress could
trigger strange behaviors, so I didn’t hold her outburst against her. We just
enjoyed the night laughing and having a good time and a friendly wager of
course. If she won, I’d have to take her out to dinner and if I won she would
have to do my laundry. She actually kicked my butt, but I didn’t mind, it wasn’t
like spending time with her was a punishment.
