Finding The Right Way

Chapter 3

Hi everyone! Hope you like this chapter!

ATHENA PARKS

-Coffee? I asked as I placed a cup of espresso macchiato before his eyes.

-Ath...you don't have to do this everyday, you know? Sighed Austin but hummed gratefully at the perfume as his face gained some colours at his first sip.

He was right, I didn't have to do this everyday but it had been part of my routine since the start of this second year. Everyday, when I went for a run for my morning latte or cappuccino, I used that opportunity to buy him his coffee! That's what I told him anyway, to be honest, I went for my run in the morning, then went again at around seven o'clock to buy his...so that it wasn't cold when I would give it to him. Since he told everyone about his parents, they had done nothing but support him. Except maybe suffocating him with the same question all over again, millions of times a day asking, "How are you?" However, that only showed how much they cared about him.

I didn't want to annoy him all day like the others did so I had a simple mission: get him his favourite coffee every morning to brighten his day at least a little bit and call him every night or join him in the library to talk to him or just study with him in silence. Let's just say that no matter how unsociable people said I could be, I could read people pretty well...and knowing Austin, I knew he just needed some alone time and a friend. He would open up to Blake or Bree when he was ready. I just wanted to help as much as possible.

Apart from Austin, I could say that this second year was starting well. I still liked my courses and my friends...there was nothing really new in my life, no plot! Amazing, don't you think? And that, my friends, is exactly the kind of thing you say before something actually happens.

"Two weeks later"

-Ath? What are you doing here? Asked James as he walked towards me.

I didn't reply, I continued punching the large boxing ball in front of me. I wasn't a fan of boxing, I wasn't a fan of any kind of sport actually. They always seemed uninteresting and boring to me, just like politics! So, what was I doing in the university gym at five in the morning? Well, I was blowing off some steam, trying to get rid of my boiling rage. When I thought that no one would come so early that morning especially on a Sunday...guess I was wrong! As usual...

I was enraged. Everytime I closed my eyes, all I could see was defeat. Yes, I lost. To a writing competition! How in the world did that happen? Writing has always been my passion, my hobby, probably the only thing I was good at! And I lost...to Bree! I didn't want to pry but I read her essay in the Stanford journal, (she was the head of the council...so I suppose she had every right to allow her own piece to be published.) it was absolutely nothing compared to mine!

However, that loss hit me hard and I couldn't stand the sight of a pen or any of my notebooks. I didn't think I could even write anymore. I could but...without any confidence or motivation, it was going to be hard to come back again. To be honest, I had given up writing. I just didn't have it in me anymore. Whatever I would write, would never feel or be good enough. I was losing my time, trying to express myself. No one even cared! I haven't posted anything on my blog for two weeks now...and nothing! Not a single message or email from my followers.

No one cared, no one read, no one was interested. It was useless! I didn't have a lot of followers...only about a dozen...which news flash; took me two years to collect, whereas my other "competitors" as we might call them, got thousands of reads on one post and millions of followers! Not to mention that they only wrote pointless blogs with an unbelievable amount of nonsense. It was not what we could say was writing.

-Professor Jenkins is looking for you. Announced James, bringing me back to reality.

I looked at my watch, it was eight, had I been punching for three hours? I took a deep and long breath, wiped the sweat off my face and asked,