ƈʀօȶƈɦɛȶʏ, ռɛա, ʟօʋǟɮʟɛ • ɮɨʟʟɨɛ ɛɨʟɨֆɦ

•4•

"So...are you still up for the project?", a hoarse voice asks.

I turn around rapidly. It's her. She's actually talking to me.

"Umm...yeah?", I say, still surprised she even showed up.

"This class sucks."

I don't respond.
What do I do now? Do I count on her? Do I let her help me? Will she even help me?

She wouldn't be here if she didn't want to right?

Right. Maybe I was quick to judge.

"Yeah, so I'll just give you my number now. Call me so we can arrange the time and the place we'll work to."

"Okay.", she simply says and leaves.

What was that?

At least she has my number now. Let's see if she'll use it at all.

...

She uses it two days later.
My phone rings loudly and I pick it up lazily.

We agree to work on the assignment in my house and eventually, she shows up.

"Just sit on my bed. I'll go get some snacks. Be right back."

She sits hesitantly and when I return with some chips, she's checking out my room.

"So...our assignment is about human relationships. I think we should start with general information.", I point, getting the papers out of my bag.

"Cool."

I sigh and put the papers right in front of her.

"So...our external relationships and our internal relationships are in fact the same. They only seem different because we look at them through different lenses."

"That's not true.", she protests. " Some people don't have the standard kind of relationships with people that are close to them."

I am surprised she actually told me her opinion. Maybe things are not going to be that difficult after all.

"Well...maybe you're right. But I think all of us have at least one friend or relative that's too basic even for a standard."

She gives me a small smile and writes down her opinion along with mine. After all, it's a partnership assignment.

"Okay then. Next...Your relationship with another person is whatever you imagine it to be. Whether you love someone or hate someone, you’re right. Now the other person may have a completely different relationship to you, but understand that your representation of what someone else thinks of you is also part of your thoughts. "

"Well...in my case, I know exactly what everyone thinks of me. So I know both my thoughts and their thoughts. Right?", she wonders.

"Not necessarily. You don't know what everyone thinks of you. You just know a huge amount of students may think you are kind of...different.", I protest.

"So you're telling me you know people who don't think I am a freak?", she challenges.

"I don't think you're a freak. You are just kind of hard to understand."

"So you didn't ask the teacher to find another partner for you when she told you-you were going to be working with me?"

I blush and look anywhere but her.

"It's not that. I...was kind of worried. You know...about the semester...about the grade."

"Right.", is the only thing she says.

"Let's just keep going."