The following week Nova was so busy with her studies she barely had anytime to see her friends, and even though Matt lived 5 dorms down from her his communications classes were taking just as much time as hers. The only time she had human interaction was in classes or the cafeteria but all the students were just as focused as her to get a good grade. She would have laughed at the sight of a hundred pajama- clad, sleep-deprived college students spilling dinner on their notes if she wasn't one of them.the was a sense of comfort in knowing that all the other students were Struggling just as much as she was.
Each "major" had a series of tests before they left campus for winter break. Aside from the regular classes like physics and astronomy (that were mandatory), Nova had beginners engineering as well as the history of mechanics. Nova was practically drowning in her class work, between physics and calculus, two subjects she loathed, the only break she got was the half hour she spent on her phone before bed. She was just fortunate that the bookstore she worked in had shortened their hours so the students would have more free time to study.
Unfortunately for the trio they each had different ways to study. Shiro made flash cards and had a friend, normally Keith, quiz him. Matt would attend office hours and would end up teaching the professor, which despite being embarrassing for the teacher, would help him understand the concepts. Nova just rewrote her notes and recited them, sometimes going on tangents. She practically refused help, not wanting others to see her struggle with a concept they probably understood perfectly.
Nova hid in the safety of her dorm where she was able to talk out loud for as long as she wanted. Lauren had joined a study group and had even invited Nova to join.
"Are you sure? It's always good to get help." Lauren questioned as she packed up, about to go to the library for a study session.
Nova shook her head, a pile of old notes and stick notes were laid out on her bed. "I'm okay. Thanks though. If I get stuck on a physics question I'll head over."
Lauren nodded. "Well good luck." Surprisingly to Nova, Lauren had become a constant friend in her life. They weren't very close but they looked out for each other.
Nova waved bye at her roommate and was once again met with silence. She tried to crack down and focus but none of the information was sticking. Ultimately giving up for the day, she decided on taking a walk to clear her head. During the past few weeks the outside of the campus had been abandoned in favor of libraries, computer labs and classrooms.
Her stroll was a nice escape from her mountain of work. She tried not to think about problem 7 on her calculus assignment.
"Nova!" She turned, recognizing some of her classmates from engineering.
"Hey!" Nova waved back, pausing as the group started walking towards her. She didn't normally spend time with them outside of class. Sometimes after lecture they'd all go out to eat or sometimes do extra credit in the library but she definitely didn't feel as close to them as she did with Matt and Shiro. They didn't have much in common outside of class.
Brandon, a tall dark skinned boy had been the one to call out to her. He was nice and friendly with a easy personality. She supposed they could have been good friends. Emily and Christian were twins and probably the quietest people Nova had ever met.
Brandon started to ask her how she was doing and how she was studying. Nova explained her system of rewritten notes and reciting them out loud.
"You know, the best way to study is with other people. Your welcome to join us." Nova looked over at Emily and Christian who were nodding slowly.
" I'm alright now. I'm just taking a break."
" Alone? Where are Matt and Shiro?" Nova tried not to look annoyed. She knew people counted them as an inseparable unit. "You're always with them."
"Studying." She replied quickly.
He nodded. "Well we have to go. See you around."
The twins said goodbye as Nova waved them off. She didn't move from her spot, her idea to go on a walk was less than appealing. But studying seemed worse. She hated to admit that Brandon had made her realize that she missed her friends. It really wasn't much fun without them.
Pulling out her phone she found the chat labeled "three musketeers" she had told Matt that it was uncreative to call their trio that. He had just grinned as she went on a rant about how virtually any other group of three would go by the same name. She remembered when she has asked Shiro to back her up and he had suggested "ship crew", which Nova realized was worse then Matt's.
She sent out a brief text, "anyone need a break from studying?"
"yes" Came Matt's reply. He then sent an image of a man sleeping.
"I could use a break." Shiro responded.
"Great," Nova texted. "Let's go to Lou's." Lou's was a small pizza place just a mile from the Garrison. It was popular among to students and luckily for Nova is was inexpensive. The group met up ten minutes later and started the walk. Matt exaggeratedly held his head, complaining about a major headache he had. Shiro always rolled his eyes at Matt's dramatics but occasionally Nova would humor him.
"Oh. No." Pressing her hand over his forehead to check for a fever she gave him an odd look as Matt seized up, looking a little sheepish.
"He's fine Nova." Shiro chined. "Stop worrying about him." Nova responded with a loud laugh, happy that Shiro had decided to play along. This also made Matt feel a little less awkward and soon the group was at the pizza shop.
Shiro had suggested that they each bring some study materials so Nova had brought every single note, book and loose paper she could find.
She tried to enjoy their study session but the stress of her exams and the fact that in a week she'd be back home where her parents would try anything to get her to switch to the medical field were too distracting.
"What about this question?" She moved her notebook in front of Matt and Shiro, who sat together on the opposite side of the table. Matt looked over to Shiro.
"Matt, you know the answer better than all of us."
"Multiple perspectives." He waved away. "Here." He flipped to a page in the textbook.
Nova skimmed through the paragraph. "I'm over this." She complained.
She looked up from her notes expecting to see at least Matt agree with her but instead her two companions seemed to be intently looking at their books. Sighing, she turned back to her assignment.
By the time they had felt like they knew the material all Nova could think of was scientific terms and solutions to fix a broken ship.
With her finals finally completed Nova decided it was time for a well deserved break. Some of the first years on her dorm floor had decided on an end-of-semester party. Every other time there was a party, of any kind, Nova decided against attending. It wasn't in her nature to go put herself in the center of attention, something she feared a party would do. She knew Matt went to some, he went anywhere he was invited. Common courtesy, he had called it. "My mother taught me right." He had told her it was because he was beyond lame in high school. Shiro avoided anything that wasn't educational.
"Shiro," Matt was trying to reason. "when have we ever asked you for anything."
Nova made a face recalling the dozens of times Shiro had done something because they had asked but she kept her mouth closed, in full support of Matt's convincing.
Shiro rolled his eyes and sighed, giving the two a stern look. "It's not my scene. I'd much rather pack up before I leave."
"Then what about movie night?"
"No." Matt exclaimed. "You finally decided to come out." He yelled at Nova.
"If Shiro doesn't go there's no reason for me to stand in the corner of a crowed house by myself." It was an exaggeration, Nova knew that, she just would rather spend the night watching cheesy films than talking to some students from one of her classes.
"What about me?" Matt questioned. Shiro and Nova both laughed.
"Matt, you'd be chasing whoever looks at you."
He waved Shiro off, focusing in Nova who was just giving him a straight face. The staring contest continued as they heard Shiro shuffling some paper around. Nova tried so hard to stay serious but Matt was much better than her at that. He made faces until Nova had no choice but to double over in laughed, alerting Shiro to them.
"Please." She turned to Shiro who sighed.
"You always gang up on me." Nova and Matt shared a victorious smile. "You're both too immature to be left alone." He succumbed.
Nova mocked offense as Matt yelped.
"I'm going to get ready." At her dorm Nova threw all her clothes on her bed. Nothing screamed "party" to her. Not that she knew what a party was like.
"Hey." Lauren announced as she entered the room. "Packing?" She asked.
"Uh no. I guess I'm going to that party. I'm trying to figure out what to wear."
Lauren moved over to Nova. "These shorts are cute." Nova hummed in response. "But your shirts are too baggy."
She gave Lauren an annoyed look, Lauren just shrugged. "You're not going to get any attention if you dress in t shirts."
"I don't want attention." Nova tried to explain. "Matt's forcing me and Shiro to go."
"Ah. Someone got the allusive Takashi to go out."
Nova rolled her eyes. " He's persuasive." Lauren laughed, launching a top at Nova.
"This'll look good on you." The shirt itself was pretty modest, a little lower cut than Nova was used to and a little too tight but that may have been because Lauren was stick thin.
She watched as Lauren came out of the bathroom in a crop top and shorts with a patterned shawl. She started applying makeup. Nova turned to her own mirror. A few pimples littered her face, which Nova was always self conscious about. Sighing she covered up her acne then applied her usual dark eyeshadow and mascara. The major issue was her hair. It tended to lay in frizzy waves.
"You should straighten it." Nova was surprised to hear Lauren, as if she read her thoughts. "Curling it would be too complicated. "
Nova took the suggestion and half an hour later she was waiting by the entrance of her dorm for Matt and Shiro. She had on her shorts with the pale blue top along with a white sweater Lauren had also let her borrow. In complete honesty she wouldn't want to be caught dead in these clothes. She did have to admit that she looked like a university student, maybe a little older than she was.
"Matt." She called as she saw a short boy walk past her.
"Nova?" He walked a few steps towards her. "You look different."
Her eyebrows raised in half annoyance half amusement. "I mean you look fine, good. You look good. Just different. Not bad different just..."
Nova waved him off. "I feel ridiculous." She admitted as she tried to cover up.
"Your hair looks nice." She reaches up to grab a chunk, admiring the smoothness.
"Thanks." They were silent for a moment, Nova notice Matt uncharacteristically focused on the sky.
"Where's Shiro?" She decided to ask. His punctuality was now being question.
Matt shrugged. It was even a minute later when a very uncomfortable Shiro walked up.
"Nova, you look great."
"Thanks." She beamed, catching a small exchange from her two companions, one of which still wasn't meeting her eyes.
The party itself wasn't much for Nova to get excited over. The music was loud and the students were louder. Boys would come up and offer her drinks, some of which she took. It wasn't long before she felt her brain go fuzzy. Everything seemed funnier, she was full of complete adoration for everyone in the room.
She had just finished a conversation with one of her classmates about who was dreading home the most when a voice yelled "slingshot". They were almost trampled as a stampede of drunk students ran to the street to catapult a watermelon. She was vaguely aware that she was closer to someone she didn't know. Physically closer. Usually she liked 3 feet, maybe 2 if she was close to them. She started panicking. The boy she had been talking to lead her away from the crowd. He grabbed some ice and handed it over.
"Don't worry, it's just water." Gratefully she took a sip, relieved that he was telling the truth.
"Where's Holt?" She heard him ask some girl who had wondered into the room. She giggled at the thought of Matt coming to save her. Minutes later a very concerned Matt walked in.
"Hi." Nova breathed. She always felt safe around him.
"I'll take her back."
"Where's dad?" She asked as she stumbled towards her dorm, clinging to Matt as he kept her balanced.
"You kinda left us for a while. Shiro left early."
Nova frowned at his short answer. Poking at him she made him look as she haves him an exaggerated sad face.
"You're a clingy drunk." She continued to hold onto him. She smiled widely.
"It's because I lack physical affection." She thought she sounded smart but her explanation came out slowly. "I don't remember the last time someone hugged me." She exclaimed, surprised.
"I did. Two nights ago." She burst out as Matt's clipped voice answered.
"You're funny. Like the funniest." She stopped walking. She smiled as she faced Matt.
"Creepy. C'mon. Where's your keys." She shot her hand towards him as he carefully opened the door. She fell onto her bed, groaning at the soft sheets and fluffy pillows.
Matt poked Nova a few times, he even whispered her name but once he realized she was out he quietly took of her shoes. He grabbed her water bottle to fill it up in the sink. He hadn't dealt with a drunk Nova before. It was actually his first experience taking care of anyone who had as many drinks as she had. He wasn't sure if he should stay. What if she choked on vomit. That had happened on an old show he used to watch.
Moving her trash can to the edge of her bed he turned her head to the side.
"Goodnight Nova." He whispered as he left her.