"Are you going to be late?"
"It's not the first time," Addie answered, rushing around the house to find her backpack. "Do you know where my laptop is?"
Natasha pointed towards the living room, not looking up from her lunch. "It's on the couch."
Addie thanked her and shoved it into her bag. Grabbing an apple on the way out, she said her goodbyes to Natasha and sped to the university. How many are going to be waiting outside the room? she thought, pulling into her parking spot and speed walking (definitely not running) towards the academic building. Surely not a lot at this time in the semester?
She was definitely wrong.
There was a crowd of students waiting to be let into the locked classroom, and if Addie had to guess, most of them were first or second year students judging by the awkwardness radiating off of them.
"Excuse me, sorry, move please," she apologized as she bumped through the crowd to unlock the door. College students were much better than high school students when doors were opened, as they actually waited for her to get in before rushing to find a seat in the lecture hall. She swiftly walked down the stairs to the front and connected her laptop to the projector.
"Sorry for being late, everyone," Addie began, pushing her hair behind her ears nervously after seeing the annoyed looks on some faces. "My name is Addison Graham and I'm your Supplemental Instruction, SI, leader for the fall semester for General Chemistry. Um, I've already received my Bachelor's in Nuclear Engineering, and now I'm finishing up my degree in Psychology. And as much as I would... love to go around the room and get to know all of you, there's like two hundred of you and that's too many for me to remember," she paused. "Any questions?"
A girl rose her hand and called out, "Who did you have when you took the class?" A couple of nods followed the question, and Addie rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, I tested out of Gen Chem and went straight into Newtonian Mechanics. But, I heard the genetics professor, Dr. Cho, teaches a few sections and that she's highly recommended."
A few groans were heard and someone muttering, "I have Pym, and he's the worst."
Addie hid a smile at the disgruntled freshmen and sophomores. She had heard a lot about Dr. Pym as well, and most of the reviews had him as a boring, cynical man that had no qualms for calling out students in front of the entire lecture hall. She only had a few encounters with the older professor, and she was intimidated by him each time that she scurried away when they would cross paths. He wasn't necessarily the worst as the students would say as he was knowledgeable in his field; it was just that he was very difficult.
Addie clapped her hands to get the attention of the room again, then began typing on her computer. "We're running a little behind - sorry again - so I'll go ahead and put the worksheet up. Your professors should've emailed it to you already just in case because I wasn't going to print that many papers, you guys know how printing money goes by now, right?" A few more groans resonated through the room and Addie smiled. "It seems your first exam is covering bonds, Lewis dot structures, and the beginnings of calculating moles. Trust me: this is going to be your easiest exam so if you're already struggling, shoot me an email."
And with that, she started the worksheet and answered the questions they seemed to have.
"I'll see all of you next week at the same time and hopefully, I won't be late," Addie dismissed, starting to pack away her things. "Like I said earlier, don't be afraid to ask for help: chemistry isn't supposed to be easy."
"Wasn't it easy for you?" one of the guys in the front asked skeptically, and Addie shrugged, a nervous smile on her face, "That's a little different."
"I mean, I guess," he mumbled, eventually exiting with the rest of the students, and Addie sighed, sitting in her chair.
She'd been an SI leader for the university since the second semester of her freshman year as she couldn't jump into tutoring students in courses she hadn't technically taken at the college. Normally, she would've had to have taken chemistry here, but due to her grades in other courses and the fact she tested out, they allowed her to do it. She enjoyed it enough; she was able to make some of her money, help some of the younger students out, and it gave her something to do other than study and sleep. However, it never failed to stress her out because some students needed a longer explanation than she wanted to give, and some absolutely could not get it no matter how many questions they asked.
"Hey, Einstein, you hungry?"
Addie whipped her eyes up to the doorway of the room to see Bucky grinning at her, his own backpack slung over his shoulder and hair pulled back out of his face.
"What are you doing on campus right now? It's the weekend?" she questioned instead of answering, yet she gathered the rest of her things and walked upstairs to meet him. Bucky held the door open for her and led her to the dining hall.
"Had a paper for my Existentialism class and needed to get a book on Nietzsche," he explained, face scrunching up. "You know, whether or not we're in fully responsible of our actions, things like that. We have to use our own thoughts about rationalism. Actually," he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Can you proofread it when I'm finished? I'd ask Steve but he'd just tell me it was the best paper I've ever written and I would end up with a C."
Laughing, Addie nodded happily. "Of course. I still can't believe you're a Philosophy major, Buck. I always thought you'd do something more... action-y?"
Bucky snorted. "I like it. It helps me get an idea about what's going on in my own head and makes me think."
"Whatever works for you."
He bumped her hip and led her to their usual food choices: pizza. Addie filled her plate up (she didn't get to eat anything except an apple that day, what an idiot) and practically skipped to an open table, sighing happily at the smell. "I love pizza."
"Yeah, no shit," Bucky retorted, eying the pile of slices on her plate. "Natasha knew I was on campus and she told me you skipped lunch since you were late," a stern look was in his eye. "Have you ever been on time to anything in your life?"
Addie huffed at the reprimanding tone. "Of course!" she defended. "It's not like I'm chronically late. For example, I was on time to your last birthday!"
"You literally walked in after the cake was gone."
"Okay, but that wasn't because I was late. I was - I was just, you know, getting ready to surprise you!" her face was red in embarrassment because she was late. But to be fair, she thought Steve had said three o'clock instead of two, so she was only an hour late. "I got you a nice gift so it doesn't matter."
He looked down at wrist thoughtfully. "I really do like this watch. Thanks again, Addie."
She blushed and nodded, stuffing a piece of pizza in her mouth to avoid making eye contact. "It's no problem."
The two ate in amiable silence. It was something Bucky and Steve had done for her for the longest time: she had a habit (and it was one she could break any time she wanted to!) of arriving late which caused her to forget things. It usually involved her belongings in which someone would pick up for her, and every now and then she be in such a rush that she'd forget to grab something to eat. She wasn't sure how the two of them knew when nobody actually informed them, and she likened it to a superhuman ability that she was grateful for.
"How are your parents doing?"
The sudden question startled her, and Addie could see the steady gaze in her companion's eyes. She wiped her hands clean and fiddled with her fingers. "Fine. Same old, same old."
It wasn't a subject they broached often. Her friends knew how uncomfortable she felt when anything related to home was mentioned, and they usually didn't inquire too much. Bucky suddenly asking was out of the norm for the routine they all had.
"Did anything," he tried to think of what to say. "Different happen? Or was it really just the usual reason for asking you to go home?"
Addie stared at him, her own curiosity shining through. "Different? Bucky, they ask me to come home often."
He let out a frustrated breath and ran a hand down his face, only saying, "I just don't like your parents."
"And they don't like you," she pointed out matter of factly. "Or did you forget when they came here to visit?"
He grumbled at the memory, and she laughed at his expense. It was true: her parents did not like Bucky Barnes. It wasn't always like that, either, which makes it even more amusing for her as when they were kids, her mother and father tolerated him and Steve. However, during their second year of college, her parents made the trip to New York City to visit their daughter, and Addie forgot to let Bucky know. They showed up at her house at six in the evening, and Bucky was already wasted, spewing out all sorts of nonsense - a lot of it was insults made directly in the face of her parents.
And since then, Joseph and Katherine Graham disliked her closest friend.
"It's not my fault you didn't warn me," he insisted, a frown on his face, and Addie reached over to pat his arm, mocking, "Oh yes, it is completely my fault that you wanted to get piss drunk at my house that day."
"Whatever."
i just love college au's so much i had to do it