Levelling the Playing Field (HD&D Sequel)

Chapter 21 - Separate Those Eggs

Arya flopped onto her bed and let out a sigh, a lot had gone on in the last three weeks, and that's excluding everything that happened with the gang. She was feeling a lot of emotions, mostly guilt, confusion and another strange emotion she couldn't quite put her finger on.

She thought back to what happened.

Arya sprinted across the campus, her breaths coming in short gasps, but she was determined to find him and share her news. Despite facing obstacles and setbacks, she persevered and succeeded and she wanted to share it with him.

Finally, she spotted him in a red baseball cap, walking with his friends to their next class. Arya ran over and leapt into his arms.

"Hey!-" he exclaimed, surprised by her sudden embrace.

"I did it! I won first place in the women's robotics competition!" she shouted, laughing in excitement.

Luke congratulated her and gently put her down. "Well done."

"Thanks! Let's celebrate. How about we check out the new-" Arya's suggestion was interrupted.

"Today? Sorry, I already have plans with Mark and-" Luke's voice trailed off.

Arya tried to hide her disappointment and forced a smile. "No worries. Another time."

He kissed her forehead and walked away with his friends.

"It's not like I drove all the way here just to tell you," she muttered to herself, watching him leave.

Arya remembered when they had finally met up for dinner.

"Anyway, I created the code, and that effectively meant we had to redesign the bot so that it could meet the weight requirements- are you listening?" Arya watched Luke play with his burger. She could tell he stopped listening to her a while ago. She nudged him. "Learning how to code on the new system took a lot of time and effort. I thought you'd be- I don't know, proud your girlfriend did that,"

"Yeah, it is impressive, but if you were on the men's team..." He looked at her and then away.

"It wouldn't have been that impressive." She finished for him, holding a sad smile.

She remembered how she had to bite her nails into her palms to stop crying. They barely saw each other anymore, and she didn't want to ruin the moment. Then another memory came floating in.

"Hey, Arya," Jordan said, coming into class. He peered over her shoulders and saw her designs and calculations.

"Ooooh, what are these for?" He went to grab them, but she stopped him.

"They're nothing," She muttered, putting them into her bag.

Jordan could immediately tell when she was trying to hide something she was initially proud of. He had been in that position all too many times.

"Hey," He said in a softer tone. "You alright? Didn't you have that competition this weekend? How did that go?" He asked tentatively.

"I came first." She muttered.

She jumped at his high-pitched scream.

"I am so proud of you," He said, engulfing her in a hug and spinning her around. His energy was infectious. She couldn't help but smile.

"You are?" She asked him once he put her down.

Jordan looked at her weirdly. "Of course I am. We're friends, Arya. Your accomplishments mean as much to me as my own." He winked at her, to which she smiled, finally letting go of that shitty feeling she had been harbouring all week.