I was walking to my car after school when I heard Maia's voice call out to me. I turned to see her break into a run, until we were walking side by side. She flashed me a smile in greeting, and it took me a few seconds to remember that I was not in my own universe, and that this Maia was still on speaking terms with me. "Taehyung. I wanted to talk to you after math, but you left."

"Sorry," I said. "I just--"

"No, it wasn't meant to be accusatory," she said, trying to lighten her tone. "Anyway. I'm lowkey really worried for the test tomorrow.  I just feel like I know the concepts, but whenever I try to apply them, I fail. What is it with me and this unit?"

"Yeah," I said, just to say something. "I found it harder than the last chapter too. But I feel like the material isn't getting harder. We're just getting more tired of school."

"Damn," she said. "Well, I hope she curves the test. I heard a lot of people struggled too."

I nodded. "Yeah. But to be honest, I don't think anyone cares about their grades anymore."

She toed a stray rock on the asphalt. "That's true." When I didn't reply, she said, "Let's find somewhere to eat first, and then we can go to your house and start studying."

I drove us to a coffee shop, where she bought two iced coffees. As she drove out of the parking lot, she held out a hand to me. "Cough it up."

"Cough what up?"

"The money, stupid. Just because I appreciate your presence doesn't mean I'm willing to pay for your coffee."

With a long sigh, I fished around in my backpack for some cash, coming up with a dollar bill and a few coins. Maia braked at a red light and counted it. "That coffee cost three dollars, and this is one thirty five." She stuck her hand out again. "Don't be shy. Put some more."

"I don't have any more spare change on me. I'll pay you tomorrow."

"Alright," she said begrudgingly. We drove to my house and went inside. I watched as she laid out her stuff on my kitchen table, and I did the same. "Okay," she said. "Hopefully you can explain some of these problems to me. Thanks for being my personal tutor, by the way."

I laughed. "I'm not good enough at math to be your tutor. I'm learning this stuff alongside you, you know."

"Well," said Maia, "no matter how good you are at math, you're better than I am." She handed me her review packet. "How do you do these ones?"

I took the packet. "Okay. You see this?" I explained the problem to her, watching as her face lit up when she understood. "See?" I finished. "Just remember that tomorrow when you take the test."

"Ohhh," she said, a smile forming on her face, and I felt a sense of satisfaction at that. "Thanks, Tae."

"Yeah, no problem." I set my pencil down, unwilling to start the next problem on my review. "What college are you planning on going to next year? I'm just curious. Because..." I paused to think up a reason. "I have several choices, but I don't even know, like, where to start."

"I've narrowed it down to two choices, but I still want to research a little more before I decide." She paused. "Or I could go to my safety school because it's cheaper, but that would basically mean that I busted my a--worked my tail off for my top two choices for nothing. Like, that would mean I stayed up until four studying for nothing, tutoring for nothing, doing everything for nothing."

I frowned. "Well, you could try doing research on your safety school, and maybe it might change your mind. But I think you should choose the school with the best program for your major. You shouldn't care too much about how prestigious the school is, in my opinion. You're only there for your major."

"You're right," she said, sighing. "But I just hate how I'm being forced to make this decision. College should be free, or cheaper, at least."

"I don't know. I really hate this country sometimes. People just want to take our money."

"Yeah. But, like, there's nothing I can do about it. And that makes me so angry."

"You could vote," Maia suggested. "Anyway. We should be doing math."

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Can you help me with this one?"

Together, we braved the review, helping each other through the seemingly endless math questions. While I didn't like the constant feeling of needing to say something, I rather enjoyed having a study partner, especially one who I already had a relationship with. I really, really did enjoy Maia's presence. She made me feel...calmer. More sure of myself.

She turned the page of the packet, pulling me back to reality. "What time is it?"

"It's four twelve."

"Oh. I should probably leave soon."

"Yeah," I said. "Let's just find the more difficult ones on this page and we can work them out now."

She nodded, and we both scanned the page. But as I began to write down one of the problems, her phone rang.

"Hey," Maia said. A pause. "Yeah. Okay. See you."

"Are you leaving?"

She began to put away her things, giving me my answer. "Yeah."

We walked to the front door, and I opened it, expecting her parents. But instead, a boy with artfully tousled dark-brown hair and doe-like eyes stood on the other side of the door. His proportioned face broke into a grin as he saw Maia, and I noticed her begin to smile as well. I looked back and forth between them, and I saw an unmistakable fondness in both of their gazes.

No.

"Hey, Tae," said Jungkook. "Hi, Maia."

"Hey, Jungkook." She turned to me, noticing my puzzled expression. "Why are you looking at him like that?"

"Sorry," I said quickly, trying to rearrange my features into a smile. "I was thinking about something. See you, Maia."

The frown disappeared from her face. "Bye, Tae. Good luck tomorrow. We both need it" She took Jungkook's hand, and I watched them get into the car and drive off.

I couldn't help it; I replayed what I remembered about our conversation. But one sentence stood out the most: Just because I appreciate your presence doesn't mean I'm willing to pay for your coffee.

She could've used so many other words, I realized. But no--she'd appreciated my presence.

How had I managed to miss that?

I moved my things to my room, then took the vial from my backpack. I wouldn't be staying in this universe any longer.

a/n: if ur a US citizen and your primaries are today (march 10)/some other day in the next few months, please go vote !! especially if you turned 18 recently !! your vote counts !!