Why Me?

Chapter Four

Spoke Too Soon

I had my best print in a sheet protector in the folder I was currently carrying. I was so proud of it. It was taken yesterday morning at dawn. I had climbed up to my dorm roof and snapped a photo of the campus below. The shadows resemble the trees that they are outlined from, flat black images stretched across the courtyard concrete. The colours were brilliant, it being fall and the light being cast red. I thought it was perfect, each line pronounced, yet blending into each other smoothly, and everything flowing together in a deliberate but natural composition. I hoped MacNeill would love it as much.

I was smiling, walking on clouds, reflecting on how well things were going, when- BAM!

All my papers and books in my arms scattered on the ground. The figure that rammed into me, a roller skater, kept going as if he hadn't almost knocked me to the ground. My jaw dropped at his rude behavior, I stared after him for a second or two. This was a mistake.

Someone else ran into me, a skateboarder, and this time both of us fell to the ground. I hit the concrete with a thud, my head smacking into the pavement with a sickening crack. The other person fell next to me, nearly on top of me. There were multiple snapping sounds, like the snapping of plastic disconnecting. Then all was silent and still.

I lay still, unsure if I were hurt or not, staring up at the sky far above, frozen. The other person was just as still. I wondered if they were hurt, and I was about to ask when I felt a hot liquid seeping through my shirt under me.

Panic rose in me. My first thought was that it was blood, that one of us was injured and bleeding heavily, but then I smelled it. I didn't smell iron, or any metallic substance. I smelled coffee.

My clothes were stained with coffee now, more to the pile of coffee stained clothes in my drawer. It wasn't a big deal, not at all, until I remembered that I wasn't the only thing on the ground. So were my things. This prompted me to sit up, which prompted the other person to rise as well. I looked around, seeing that the place where the coffee had exploded was exactly on top of my things.

My papers, my homework for stats and economics, was brown and dripping, see through. My red folder was soaked, coffee visibly leaking in and out of its folds. It came to me slowly that this was the folder that held my print for MacNeill. 

My heart jumped in my chest, painfully, and I lunged for the folder, ripping it open and grabbing the print still in its sheet protector. I quickly realized the sheet protector wasn't enough. Coffee had leaked into the plastic cover and now stained and soaked my print. My stomach stirred uneasily, my heartbeat quickening.

"Shit I'm so sorry! I-I can reprint everything for you if you send me your information," the skateboarder offered, her voice worried and nervous. I looked up at her, her figure blurry. I didn't realize I was crying.

No its alright. We all make mistakes. It was an accident... Sorry about your coffee," I said, glancing around as I wiped the tears from my eyes at the multiple empty cups scattered around the ground. She was probably an intern on a coffee run or something.

'The coffee isn't important... are you sure you're okay?" she asked, her voice calmer now. I nodded, grabbing together my hopeless papers. They fell apart as I touched them, making the girl groan in unease. I nodded.

All this work is saved to my computer. Its no big deal. I'm pretty sure my teachers will understand," I said, throwing her a smile despite the tears rolling down my cheek. She gave me an uneasy smile, her face still blurry, and nodded at me awkwardly.

"Okay... I have to go get new coffee. Um... I hope everything works out," she said as she quickly grabbed together her empty cups. She jumped on her skateboard and rushed off.