of all the stars

c42

It had been a long day at school.

Not being able to hang out with Lyra afterwards made it even worse.

She even tried to see if Acacia wanted to hang out in the library, but even she had too much homework to do to be distracted.

Ultimately, she settled for Andi.

That also meant being stuck helping him grade work from his classes.

"If it has five responses, put a five at the top, I'm not that much of a dick to actually check if it's right." He pushed a slim stack of papers towards her on top of the crumpled up bed sheets.

She picked them up from off the bed and set them in her lap, clicking down on a blue pen she got from beside Andi's laptop.

"Doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose though?" Ki mumbled, reading the name on top of the first paper.

"What do you mean? As long as they do it, they get the practice in." He glanced at her from over top of his computer screen.

"Yeah, but how do they know if it's right?"

"Ki..." Andi sighed, shaking his head. "When you're in college, you don't really care. If you pass, you pass."

"College is whack... I don't get it." Ki rolled her eyes, looking over at the tv for a moment to catch the end of a grocery store commercial.

"Well... do you want to go to college?"

Ki almost laughed. Her? Going to college? Yeah right.

"Can't get in, can't afford it." She sighed, placing the first paper in the beginnings of a stack beside her leg.

"You could totally get in, Ki! What are you talking about? Your grades are awesome." Andi was practically beaming, looking like he was ready to cancel grading and start her college search, right then and there.

"Okay Andi, but I can't afford it. And I can't keep relying on Shori for everything, he's done too much for me already."

Ki looked down guiltily at the paper in her lap, drawing a five at the top and then sliding it over into the separate pile. Andi didn't come back with a witty happy response like she half expected him to. He sat there silently, staring at the screen in front of him, contemplating his answer choices.

"Well... I mean, you're right." He mumbled, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I know we can't afford it, but there's scholarships and aid. And I know that if you wanted to go, Shori would work his ass off to help you, and so would I."

"See, that's the thing." Ki closed her eyes. "Shori never catches a break. He's done everything imaginable for me, I can't let him do anything more. I just can't, Andi."

"Ki... just consider it. Okay? Don't worry about Shori... he would want to see you doing something you love. Nothing would make him happier than seeing you succeed."

Ki glanced over to the tv again to avoid looking back at Andi. She knew he would be looking at her with those happy eyes and his eager smile. Shori calls him a pessimist, but to Ki, he's definitely an optimist. Or maybe Ki's just so much of a pessimist it makes Andi's pessimism look good.

"I'll think about it." She settled, knowing that she was never going to win an argument with a professor about whether or not she should go to college.

"Good." He smiled, leaning back into the stack of pillows behind him. "You know, if you wanted to stay local, you'd probably get reduced tuition at Kosmo since I teach there."

"Ew, then I'd have to see you." Ki smirked, hiding a smile behind her eminent sarcasm.

"Not necessarily, only if you ended up in an English or history feild... which I don't really see you doing..."