Captive{ated}

Three: First Time

As summer came to an end in late July, I feared so would we. Not because we were having problems, but because I knew summer flings were a thing. I feared because I knew people sometimes change their minds without warning, because I didn't want us to end.

It was almost three weeks before the start of the fall semester, and I was overwhelmed. I still had two exams to take from my summer classes, but then I ran into a glitch on my computer that led to me deleting my final paper I worked on for over a week with a day left to complete it. I was angry at myself and my laptop all at once. So much hard work gone.

I had just gotten done crying and was scrambling to recover my paper when there was a knock on my door. "Come in," I called knowing it was you.

" I've brought snacks-" you started, but when you saw me you stopped. The plastic bag you held dropped to your side. To get that reaction from you, I must've looked a mess. I never wore much makeup, but I wore some mascara that streaked down my cheeks. "Oh Evie," you sighed.

I sat on my couch with my laptop in tow, ready to throw the towel in. I tried to find my paper for over an hour. I shook my head, "It's gone." Throwing my hands up in desperation, I started, "I spent hours on this final paper, all for nothing. I'm going to fail this class, and I'll probably fail my exams, too, because of this."

You stood by my door still looking unsure of what to do. You tried to console me, "You're not going to fail."

But I didn't listen. I was obsessive. Whenever I became stressed, I always freaked out and became the most pessimistic pessimist in the world. That's why I continued my rant, "And when I fail those two finals, my gpa is going to drop. I'll lose my scholarship."

You began to walk towards me. "Calm down."

But your words fell upon deaf ears. "Then I'm really screwed because I won't be able to pay for college anymore. I'll have to move back home."

"Evelyn, stop. You need to slow down and think clearly because panicking won't help." You now stood an arm's length away. I felt your fingers rest on my shoulder, but it was as if they didn't reach me.

Once again, your soothing words became lost in the chaos that was my mind. "I will have just wasted three years of my life and a whole lot of money just for all of this to happen-"

Suddenly, your lips were on mine, silencing me. It wasn't a long or passionate kiss, but it did ground me. When you pulled back, you stroked my cheek with your thumb and looked into my blue eyes, searching. "None of those things are going to happen. You stress so much." Your hazel eyes shined and looked into mine so that my heartbeat matched yours. You calmed me with a mere look.

Once my panic blew over, hopelessness took its place. "I just don't know what to do," I sighed. You sat beside me and wrapped your arm over my shoulder.

"We can figure this out together," you reassured. "What's going on?" You looked at my laptop, but there wasn't much to see other than a blank document.

"My laptop froze while I was working on my paper. When I tried to reboot it, the entire thing was deleted. I can't even find an older version of it."

You took my words in, contemplating them. "There has to be some sort of recovery you can do," you mumbled to yourself. Neither of us were the best with technology, yet you still knew more.

"This has never happened to me before. I don't even know where to begin." I felt so helpless and was ready to give in.

Then, you came to my rescue.

"I wonder," You mumbled and gestured to my laptop, "May I?"

I passed it to you, not wanting to look at the empty, taunting screen anymore. You were so calm and reserved. We were black and white at the moment. I don't know what you did, but you went through my word document program. After some clicking, a recovered file came up, mostly intact. "How..." I started unsure.