This Side of Paradise (Megumi Fushiguro x Y/N)

3

Y/N POV

Wednesday

"Babe, be careful of the paint," Brett says as I open the car door. 

"I know," I say. "I've heard it a million times now."

"I just got it washed. I want to keep it nice." He says as he walks with me in. Brett really likes his car. That much is obvious. He got the red convertible as a birthday gift for his 16th birthday and has treated it like his baby ever since. I think it's great he takes care of the things given to him, but sometimes it's a little much. 

Staying over at Brett's wasn't necessarily a mistake. Technically, It never is, but as Brett parks and we walk into school together, I regret not packing an extra pair of contacts. I love wearing the daily-use ones. I can just slip them out of my eyes at the end of the day. The issue lies with forgetting to take them out. I was a little preoccupied with Brett last night and am now paying for it. My eyes are dry and it sucks.

I don't know how I managed to make it through the day. When the final bell rang, I could practically hear the clicking of my eyelids over the thin film helping me see. Usually, I have eyedrops but those bottles are so small and easy to lose.

Several times throughout the day, I debated finding Megumi to say I couldn't handle studying and staring at papers and a textbook with my eyes like this but while searching through my bag, looking for eye drops, I found my glasses.

I never wear my glasses. When I went to the eye doctor for the first time, they told me my eyesight was bad so they gave me glasses. The next day at school, my friends teased me about how I was turning into an artsy, four-eyed nerd. They said they didn't mean any of it, but it didn't feel that way. They said I was overreacting and being a baby over a little joke. The next day I came to school without glasses, telling my friends that the doctor had made a mistake.

For the rest of the school year, I had to squint at the board or secretly ask the teacher for the notes after lessons, saying, "I wasn't paying attention," or "you erased it too fast." I was 11. But then, when I got to middle school, I got contacts and usually wore my glasses at home.

Walking to the library, I decided I didn't care if Megumi saw me with glasses. My eyes were practically screaming and I was more concerned about an eye infection than Megumi's opinion. I carefully extract the contacts— which practically shrivel on my fingertips, rub my eyes and place my glasses on my nose. I sigh in relief and head to the table. Besides, it's not like I will be spending that much time going over the review anyway. I'll review what I need and then go home. Simple.

I see Megumi in the same spot as the other day. He's writng in the same notebook again, but this time a little less aggressive. When I pull my chair, he quickly closes the notebook and carefully slips it into his bag.

"Okay, I redid my essay and while it took me some time, I think it's better." I say, pulling out my papers.

When I look at Megumi, he takes the papers into his hands and starts reading over them. While he does that, I flip open my textbook.

"This is better," he starts, finally looking up. His eyes flitted over the obvious new addition on my face. "Uhh... The claim is a little weak but the points are there." He explains, looking back down at his paper, shaking his head a little.

"Like this part here," he points, "where you talk about Marie Antoinette. It doesn't necessarily support because the claim."

I nod, "that makes sense. I was debating using Napolean Bonaparte instead."

"That would've worked much better."

I purse my lips and sigh, "I can fix it."

"Your counterclaim and conclusion look pretty good, at least."