>> February ~ second semester at Leduc County’s community college >>

  >> Kai was newly 19, it was her first year of college, Oliver was newly 20, it was his first year too except he had taken a gap year after highschool >>

  >> Both of them were there on scholarships >>

  ~ ~ ~

  (OLIVER POV)

  CIS class in the computer lab is fun.

  I mean, surrounded by high-power computers and large monitors, learning to understand softwares and applications and navigate files and stuff like that.

  I definitely need this because in order to fulfill my dream of being a film & video editor, I need to be good with technology.

  I can’t help but feel a bit excited! What I’ll know by the end of this class will far surpass my basic knowledge with using my laptop.

  This may not directly be related to using computers in the way I will be, but all knowledge is good knowledge.

  Or at least that’s what I think. I feel like there’s probably someone who can validly disagree with me.

  Speaking of people…

  There’s someone next to me I find curious.

  Now I didn’t sit next to this person on the first day- I chose a spot and they sat next to me.

  Anytime I can, I go for the same spot in a classroom.

  The first time I ever got to choose my seat, I decided that the second row was close enough to the teacher to pay attention easily, without the stress of the front row seats.

  Picking the seat closest to the wall is to be out of the way from most the movement people do, and it’s loosely reminiscent of the main-character-seat in anime.

  This person just happened to end up in the seat next to me, and since then, I’ve just been so curious about my seat neighbor!

  I think the main reason is just that this person is very visually distinct.

  First, I don’t know if they are a guy or a girl or nonbinary or something like that. This person dresses in a very gender neutral way (regardless- their accessories are really cool) with short black hair that’s partially shaved but the top part is longer, and sometimes I can’t see this person’s eyes from sitting next to them because of their hair.

  Someone being visually distinct and aesthetically pleasing is probably a dumb reason to be curious, but I kind of get curious about everyone.

  Or maybe it’s the fact this person sits in criss-cross applesauce style in a chair.

  (A/N: somebody tell him it’s actually called the Tailor Sit…)

  Or maybe it’s because they always carry around a to-do list like I do. Also, their notebook has those textured stress-relief stickers with breathing exercises! I wanna see those stickers up-close!

  Or maybe it’s because I just wanna know if I’m misgendering this person by mentally referring to them as “they”.

  Or maybe it’s because they have headphones that are the same brand of noise cancelling headphones I use!

  I use those sometimes because I’m autistic, but this person almost always has them. Is my seat neighbor neurodivergent like me?

  So many questions, and all it would take is chatting with my seat neighbor- because that’s what people do. People make friends.

  But…

  How in the world would I start a conversation?

  This person is probably really cool (they have a fairly distinct presence) so I highly doubt nerding out about the computers surrounding us would be interesting.

  And I’ve learned the hard way that nobody wants to listen to me infodump about anime.

  Well- technically my mom and my friend Alex listen but that’s my mom and my sister-in-arms.

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  Good grief, I’m rambling.

  What day is it?

  I check my phone. It’s February. I’ve been sitting next to this person for weeks now.

  And the odd thing is that we haven’t talked and yet they also haven’t moved.

  I’d assume someone would move if the person they sat next to doesn’t talk with them.

  Wait- maybe my seat neighbor doesn’t wanna talk with anyone? Or maybe they can’t talk at all?

  … I think I need to take my mind off this. I feel like a creep.

  That reminds me, when was the last time I cleaned out my backpack?

  I open the outermost zipper of my bag and some snacks fall out.

  Oops.

  Wait, maybe this is why my backpack is getting harder to shove books in (and also the extra stuff I put in here)…

  I should get rid of those snacks to lighten the load.

  But how will I do that? I like having snacks with me!

  I get at least a waffle or something from the vending machine by the cafeteria every other morning!

  I don’t wanna eat all these right now, but I don’t wanna throw them away. What if someone else wants a snack and asks if anyone has one, and I knew I HAD snacks to give but wasted them in the garbage?!

  What do I do?

  Uh… oh look, a human!

  (KAI POV)

  “Do you want a waffle?”

  I turn to the guy next to me, surprised the cute seat neighbor I’ve been curious about is finally talking.

  I slide my headphones off my head. “Sorry, what?”

  I heard him, but I wanna make sure I’m not delusional.

  He glances down. “I just have a lot of snacks I’ve stocked up on and they’re taking way too much space in my bag and I thought maybe I’d offer you a snack since you’re right next to me.”

  Aww f#ck, it’s one of those god-awful plastic pouches with a smelly blueberry waffle in them.

  But I missed breakfast today because I overslept and was running late…

  Ugh!

  I try to not cringe at the scent or the feeling of the bag. “Uh, sure.”

  I take the bag from his hand and stare at it, then remember to add a “Thanks.”

  He responds with a nice, “Thank you. Now I’m one waffle lighter.”

  He has a great smile…

  Also, One waffle lighter?

  A small smile sneaks it way into my face.

  Wait- what just happened?

  Ugh- weirdo.

  What kind of idiot eats these f#cked-up waffles willingly anyway?

  ~ she says as she proceeds to hungrily eat the waffle ~

  (OLIVER POV, the next day)

  I wonder if my seat neighbor will talk with me again?

  … No, that’s unlikely.

  Afterall, I had zero clue what to say afterwards, and they just put their headphones back on, so we didn’t say anything else.

  I got here before my seat neighbor as usual. As I see them walk in, I tell myself: “yeah, there’s no way. They probably don’t even remember I sit next to them.”

  “Hey… uh…”

  Wait what

  I look up and turn sideways to see my seat neighbor standing right infront of me.

  YOU CAN PERCEIVE MY EXISTENCE?

  This person’s voice is very clear. “Since you gave me a waffle yesterday, I thought it was only fair to give you a snack too.

  Wait- no way! That’s so nice!

  “So here.” They hold out a small plastic bag of cereal.

  “They’re Lucky Charms. Uh, I… I didn't know what snacks you like but I just sorta f- felt like… nobody can complain about dry cereal.”

  (A/N: reminder, Kai naturally has a small stutter. This isn’t really an indication of her feeling nervous. She actually felt pretty calm in this moment)

  That’s so true! Dry cereal is great! You can do anything with it!

  I take the bag happily. “Thank you so much! You didn’t have to give me a snack in return but I’m glad you did. Now I can take this home and enjoy it with milk.”

  (KAI POV)

  I’m glad he liked it!

  Also, now that I’m hearing it again, this guy has a very soothing way of speaking.

  Most guys talk in a very direct and attention-grabbing way, but this guy is almost kind of soft spoken.

  That’s a cool little detail to notice.

  I sit down at my seat.

  I am expecting to just get to work and that’s the end of that,

  but he surprises me.

  “Do you want another waffle? I still have plenty.”

  I turn and see him holding up his backpack, and the front pocket of it is full of those damn waffles.

  I tilt my head a bit. “Do you just get a blueberry waffle everyday?”

  “Uh, I get a waffle every other day. And it’s not always blueberry. Sometimes I get strawberry.”

  He just said that like it was a revelation…

  What is with this guy?

  I swear he’s autistic like I am but I’m gonna hold off on asking that.

  Normally I’d just shrug that off and get to work, but instead, I continue the conversation.

  “Just saying, I think that bag of Lucky Charms is gonna be way better than those waffles.”

  “Do you want some?”

  What?

  I retell it aloud: “Do I want some cereal… from the bag I gave to you?”

  “Well…” He mulls it over. “You giving it to me makes it my bag. So… I’m offering some cereal from my bag- ah- if you want some, that is. You don’t have to.”

  Weirdo.

  He seems so sure of this line of thinking, yet he’s delivering it in such a zephyr-like and benign way.

  You intrigue me…

  Going along with it, I tell him: “I’ll just take a few. The rest is for you.”

  > > > >

  I’m stuck on this part of the homework… maybe I should ask my seat neighbor.

  (Asks him, gets help)

  “Thanks… but the way, I’ve been meaning to ask. What is your name?”

  “Oliver… Oliver Lee.”

  “Wow, I haven’t met anyone named Oliver before.”

  “Uh, it’s from my grandpa. So is my middle name.”

  “What’s your middle name?”

  “Weldon.”

  “Oliver Weldon Lee… OWL?”

  He laughs. “How did you realize that so quick? I didn’t realize until I was like- 14!”

  I smirk, feeling pretty good about myself, “I’m just that cool.”

  “By the way, what is your name?”

  “My full name is Kai Layne Lynn. ”

  (A/N: Oliver is thinking “it suits her so well!)

  “That’s kinda funny. Just like you haven’t known any Olivers, I haven’t met any Kais. I’ve met girls named Kyleigh but that’s different.”

  “Yeah- the thing is that when I say just Kai Lynn, people think that’s my first name, like I’m a Cailin.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense.”

  ~ ~ ~

  And from that day on, there was never a day I didn’t want to talk to Oliver Lee.