All I'm Asking

Largo

Tomorrow was my first day at my new university. I was so excited to finally be returning to university life. But I was beyond terrified that history was about to repeat itself. I'd somehow managed to get on a semi-acceptable sleep schedule by forcing myself to stay awake all until the sun went down no matter how tired I got during the day. But I'd tomorrow was still going to be a little rough since I wasn't completely adjusted yet. I really don't want to be late to school and I'm still not one hundred percent sure that the directions I found are correct... or that I'm even looking at the right university. Brett's words during your walk back from the grocery gave you a little courage. This seems like an appropriate time to ask for help. But what if they don't want to get up that early? What if they don't want to get up that early, do it anyway, and then hold it over my head? What if they don't want to get up that early, do it anyway, and then resent me for it later? But what if I get lost and something terrible happens?
I was right in the middle of letting my imagination run rampant with worst case scenarios when I received a message:

Eddy_ Chen: "Good luck with your first day of Uni tomorrow! We know you're going to do great!"

BrettyBang_50NO: "Yeah, good luck"

Y/N: "Thanks guys... I have a question."

Eddy_Chen: "Shoot!"

Y/N: "Don't feel obligated."

Eddy_Chen: "What is it?"

Y/N: "Feel free to say no if you don't want to or if it's too inconvenient."

Eddy_Chen: "We would if you'd ask your question."

Y/N: "Sorry."

Eddy_Chen: Dude, it was a joke."

Y/N: "Oh, Sorry."

Eddy_Chen: "Duuuude, ask your questiooooon."

Y/N: Well, I was going to ask if you guys could walk with me to Uni tomorrow? I'm not quite sure where I'm going or if I even have to right address. But my first class is pretty early in the morning so please don't feel like you have to if you don't want to. It won't hurt my feelings if you say no."

I sat on my bed staring at my phone. Time never feels like it's moving around me. But as I waited for the boys to reply, I was hyper aware of how still it was. My stomach flipped into a knot, terrified that they'd say no. Deep down, I wanted to believe them. I wanted to believe that they were people I could trust. But I couldn't allow myself to fully trust them. Or anyone else for that matter.

BrettyBang_50NO: "Yeah,we'll walk with you. What time's your class?"

Y/N: "really? Thank you guys so much! My class is at eight 'o clock in the morning."

BrettyBang_50NO: "Just send us the address."

Y/N: "Sure thing"

BrettyBang_50NO: "You're University is pretty close to where you live. But just in case be ready at seven and we'll all get breakfast before you're class."

Y/N: "You guys have no idea how much I appreciate this! You really don't have to do it. It's really out of your way."

Eddy_Chen: "Don't talk like that. We want to walk you to class."

BrettyBang_50NO: "Yeah, we want to."

Y/N: "Okay, well, thanks so much."

Eddy_Chen: "No problem! Goodnight Y/N!"

BrettyBang_50NO: "Goodnight everyone."

Y/N: "Thank you guys. Goodnight to you as well."

When I woke up the next morning, I felt the same as I did every other day. I peeled myself from the comfort of my bed and went through my morning routine. My soft pink bath robe made me want to curl back into bed. But I had too much to do here. So instead I pulled on a pair of purple tights adorned with darker hearts. Being a fan of monochrome clothing, I slipped on my plum pleated skirt, a lightly brighter sweater that I'd crocheted myself, and a plumb leather jacket. I decided to stick with minimal makeup. Foundation, powder, highlighter mascara, and some lipgloss seemed to be good. I slapped half of my unruly wavy hair into a purple butterfly clip and waited for the boys. My plumb ankle boots and knitted cowl topped off my outfit. Every detail of my appearance was important. Today was the first day of my new life. Not everyone will appreciate the monochrome theme. But I feel good. I feel confident.
The doorbell rang. The boys. I grabbed my fuzzy purple clutch and hurried to open the door. Two smiling faces greeted me.
"You ready?" Eddy rocked on his feet with enthusiasm.
"As ready as I'll ever be." I pulled the door closed behind me.
"I like the fit!"
"Thank you."
"It's a little bit of a walk, but it's not too bad."
"That's good."
"There's a cute little cafe on the way. You wanna grab breakfast there?"
"Sure."
"Wow, you sound sooo excited."
"Sorry. I'm just a little nervous."
"Really? You don't strike me as someone who gets nervous."
   "No offense, but you just met me a week ago."
   "So you do get nervous."
   "Doesn't everyone?"
   "Fair enough."
   "Well," Brett's hands rested in his pockets while he walked with his head down, "I'm sure there's nothing to nervous about. I mean, made it this far, right?"
   Once again, Brett took me by surprise with his emotional intelligence. "Right."
   Breakfast was nice. We sailed pleasantly through small talk about my classes, which ones I'm the most excited about, and the classes I'm rather dreading. My iced white mocha helped get me into a more agreeable mood. The boys both got something simple for breakfast. I, however, ate a cheese danish and two ham and Swiss croissants.
   "That's a lot of carbs." Brett looked at my bag questionably.
   "Okay, and?"
   "Nothing, that's just a lot of carbs."
   "I'm not a big breakfast sandwich person."
   "Hmm."
   "Can we go eat outside?"
   "Yeah, you okay? You look...nervous..."
   "Yeah." I lied. My heart was racing and I was having a hard time pushing aside the panicky feeling creeping up on me. "There's just a lot of people in here and Eddy keeps taking pictures with everyone. Plus, it's weird being the only non-famous person in a trio."
   Brett laughed a little. "Yeah, Eddy can get a little carried away sometimes. We just don't like saying no to the people who support. We don't want to disappoint them, you know?"
   "I can understand that. If you guys want to stay inside we can."
   "It's okay. I can tell you're uncomfortable. I'll go fetch Eddy."
   Before I could protest further, Brett departed on his quest to retrieve Eddy. He made it to the pod of beautiful girls surrounding Eddy for a photo. I could see him making an attempt to speak to Eddy. As he was talking the girls grabbed his arm and positioned him for a series of selfies that Eddy seems all too eager to take. After a few different poses, Brett managed to separate himself and Eddy. Once the boys were able to rejoin me, I could have sworn the group of girls were glaring me up and down. Are they? No, there's no way.
   "Sorry about that." Eddy looked a little embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck.
   "It's no problem." I couldn't help but glace back at the girls. There they go staring and whispering.
   "You ready?" Brett seemed just as ready as I was to escape into the quite morning outside.
   "Yeah. Thanks for being so cool about eating outside."
   "Honestly, we prefer outside as well. It's quieter."
   "Much."