My patience was rapidly running out. I don't think I can take much more of Zander's shit.

It took me some time to calm down after leaving Aisa staring dejectedly into her plate; a long, brisk walk through the campus suppressed my anger and annoyance significantly... I did feel bad about that, but I would rather not have her see that side of me. Speaking of which... she was acting really strange today.

Nervous, touchy, docile. She wouldn't meet my eyes like she did before

. Why, though? It simply didn't make any sense whatsoever. Ugh. I'll deal with it later.

21:37. Keva should still be up. I hope she's okay with me calling her. I could use a friend.

I scrolled through the contacts on my personal Receiver, and was... very taken aback by a message from Aisa.

'Apologies for Zander's behaviour today. Would you be alright with me calling you? I hope I'm not a bother'

Why would she want to talk to me?

My curiosity awakened, I replied saying yes. A few moments later, a holographic video of her popped up from the screen of the cube-like device. She was sitting on her desk, weary but attentive, her posture ever so slightly hunched. I hurriedly sat down on the desk in my dormitory, accepting the call.

"Aisa. You wanted to talk?"

"Uh, yes. I didn't expect you to accept my invitation, so, uh, I don't quite know what to say," she chuckled softly, "Please give me a minute to compose myself"

"Of course. Take all the time you need. Excuse me while I freshen up for a bit"

She bit her lip and nodded, taking a deep breath, her mind darting to a different place.

I went to the bathroom and washed my face thoroughly, combing my hair back hoping it would actually calm down for once. No such luck. I gave up and changed out of my uniform, with all of its ridiculously fancy ornaments, like the blazer, the tie, the pocket square, and many, many more, all of which cost roughly 8,000 Assets. Yes, 8,000. That was enough to clothe all the children of a small Inferior town.

Again, not the time to think about it. I have a hologram waiting for me.

Sighing, I tugged on a remotely nice random T-shirt and a pair of pants and walked out to meet her.

***

"Miss Fa-uh, Aisa, have you gathered your thoughts? I gave you quite some time, and with your level of intelligence it mustn't have taken too long"

I made myself comfortable on my desk, placing my head on my palms as I looked into the screen.

"Yeah! I mean, um, yes, I have gathered my thoughts. First things first, I would like to apologise for my friend Zander's incredibly... rude behaviour. He just isn't used to being addressed like that. His father is a Sub Governor, you know?" She watched me carefully from under her eyelashes, as if to gauge my reaction.

I stifled my urge to laugh. Sub Governor? What a joke. He just has some semblance of control over a couple of Median towns somewhere near the Inferior section. I was surprised Aisa had that much humility, though. Her father was running for Governor, after all. Just like mine.

"Apology accepted, however it would have meant a lot more if he apologized to me himself, and didn't have a third party engage in this. Anything else you need?"

"Uh, well, not really. But..." She shifted around nervously, her eyes darting away from mine, "Could you, perhaps stay? If it's not too much of a bother. Surprisingly, your presence is actually nicer than I thought it was."

If I had been drinking any sort of liquid right then, I would have spit it out in surprise like the characters from those clips from old movies. What?! This shock was NOT momentary. I simply stared at her face in utter and unconcealed shock for what felt like fifteen minutes but was probably like five seconds. Seeing my expression, she immediately flushed a bright pink and began apologising profusely.

"Crap! I'm sorry, it's probably not my place to ask of you such things! I'm so sorry!" She buried her face in her hands.

I almost laughed. She was kinda cute.

"No, Aisa, calm down. I don't mind staying behind and talking to you, although I am quite... surprised you would request such a thing"

I smiled, leaning back. She grimaced and said, "Thank you. It really does mean a lot to me. Uh, I'm sorry once again for losing my composure like that. I thought for sure I had made a fool out of myself!" She let out a nervous laugh, twirling a strand of her golden hair around her finger.

"There's no need to be nervous, Aisa. I'm here as your guide, and you can turn to me for anything, alright?" I saw my features soften slightly in the Receiver. Why was she making me feel this way? It's so stupid. I actually want to stay back and talk to her. Who would have thought?

"How could you tell?" She relaxed again, and we settled into a comfortable rhythm, the warm lamp light illuminating her face in a way that was magical and earthly all at the same time. My heart glowed too. Bright.

"Well, you stuttered a lot. Then you twirled your hair around your finger and your face was bright pink. Do I make you that flustered, Miss Farrow?" I chuckled low in my throat, cocking my head to the side.

"N-no... well, yes, I mean," she trailed off, staring up at the ceiling for a moment, sighing. "It's just that I've had a bit of a confusing day." She glanced back at me, uncertainty in her expression, like she wasn't sure how I would react- like she wasn't sure if she should trust me. I could tell it took her quite some courage to confess that. Might as well try and put her at ease.

"Would you like to talk about it? Although it may not seem like it, I'm a very good listener"

She smiled at me, the corners of her eyes crinkling. "Are you sure? It's not very easy to deal with me, you know? My problems are so inconsequential and boring, they might put you to sleep." She tried for another light-hearted smile, but I could tell something was seriously bothering her.

"Of course! Good listener, remember? I promise I won't fall asleep. If I do, you can change my name"

"Oh? And you won't place any conditions for the name I get to choose?" The corners of her mouth twitched upward, her eyes lighting up with slight amusement.

"Nope. My honour's on the line!" I laughed, grinning from ear to ear. Huh. When was the last time I did that? Seemed like ages ago. Nobody but Keva had made me smile like that in years.

"Seriously, though. I really don't want to burden you with my useless life struggles"

"Yes, Aisaaa! I don't mind. I know there are people out there who have it worse, but that doesn't devalue our personal struggles. Got it? Now talk"

"If you say so." The doubt nagging at the back of her voice seemed to have faded a little. She took a deep breath, and started. "You know when you know someone for years, and you think you know everything about them? As if you know them like the back of your own hand?"

I nodded. Keva.

She continued. "I thought I knew someone like that, too. But they have just been surprising me constantly. Now, I don't even know what their reaction will be to small things. Things like my ridiculous jokes, or my feelings. And It's so hard to accept this... change. We used to practically be best friends, then they went away and distanced themselves from me... and I don't know them anymore. They're not the person they used to be.

"And I relied on them for everything, knew I could count on them when I'm in need... but can I even do that anymore? If the one person that I could count on to stay the same, to stay by my side my entire life- If I couldn't rely on that to stay the same, what can I ever rely on?"

She looked down, and I could hardly catch a glimpse of her eyes glistening with unshed tears, which she rapidly blinked back. I wanted to comfort her, to console her, to tell her everything was gonna be alright, but I sensed that she had more to say. I could tell she got into a fight with someone close to her though.

"I thought, after this move, everything would transform, and that this one person would be the constant in my ever-changing life. Maybe it was too much to hope for, for something to stay permanent and solid and unchanging. I'm scared I'll never be able to adjust to this constant state of transition, and one day, as everything moves forward, I'll be left behind, completely and utterly forgotten"

There was a short silence as she took a deep breath, her eyes closing in some sort of secret thought; looking so, so vulnerable. I hoped I could reduce her worries in some way, make her feel less lost and hopeless.

"And there I go, oversharing again. You have a chance to leave now, I'm sure you want to, after all that" Her voice cracked.

"Hey... you can count on me being sarcastic and annoying all my life, at least,"

That brought a sad chuckle from her, as she leaned back on her own chair. "I guess"

"In all seriousness though... change will happen. The world, and the people in it will change, and you'll change along with it. There's no doubt about that.

"And... about Zander, although I don't like him... you guys seem really close, and such a bond isn't broken by a single change alone. It'll take a million disagreements and cracks in your relationship for it to even remotely fall apart. Don't worry yet, alright?"

"Alright. We are close, though," she said, and looked away from me, her mind seemingly wandering to some other place. A few seconds passed, and then, suddenly, as if an invisible cord had snapped and brought her back to reality, she asked, "I never mentioned Zander's name... did I?"

"Ah... you're too easy to read, Miss Farrow"

"You said that to me before, you know? At your magnificent 'Pole,'" she put it in air quotes, her face taking on the fond reminiscent expression. "I should work on that, shouldn't I? Wouldn't want people finding out about this me" She yawned, her eyes sleepy now.

1:27. Damn. It's pretty late.

"Maybe. It's about one in the morning. That's late. You should sleep now, since we have our Opening Gala in a few days."

"Mmmkay..." Her head drooped, and her eyes slowly fell shut. I doubt she even heard me. Better send her a message to remind her.

A soft smile lit up my face, the glow visible in the reflection of it as I ended the call.

"Good night, Aisa Farrow"