The first thing he noticed was the solid grip of her hand, with an unfaltering gaze to match. Finn tried not to feed into cliches that certain wardrobes carried, but he couldn't resist when the living hangers enacted them. A tall girl the color of toasted coconut, in tight black jeans with long green braids and a heavy leather jacket stood above him with a confident grin, the embodiment of "different." Back then, it was the only thing they had in common.
"Finn, right? I'm Ken." The sound of her voice reminded the boy of fresh-roasted coffee. Dark and rich. A sopranos rasp. He quickly stood from the table to lean into the handshake and hoped the moisture in his palm didn't repulse her. "Thanks for waiting. Something came up at my last class."
"That's fine. Thank you for coming." How embarrassing. One of his biggest assumptions and it turned out to be wrong. Perhaps he read it wrong, but from what he understood, the tutoring sheet said Ken Clark. "So, um, you need my help with geometry?"
"Yup!" Her voice seemed to boom inside the still library. The both of them settled into chairs. Ken slipped out of her jacket, draping it behind herself. "Despite how much high school tried to shove it down my throat, I still can't seem to get it. Not on paper, anyway. Oh! Before we start -" Ken dipped over the side of her seat to sift through her leather satchel before stretching her arms across the table with items in both hands.
Finn had to lean closer to tell what it was, but recognized the brown sponge encased in plastic was actually a banana muffin and her other hand was a bottle of water.
"The cafeteria only had banana nuts left."
Finn took the drink and snack, refreshed his tongue with a gulp of Poland Spring, then quickly placed them to the leftmost side of the table. A shame that he was allergic to nuts. "Thank you."
"So how are we doing this?" She asked.
Finn fumbled through his backpack and uncovered packets and a textbook appropriately labeled for geometry. He prodded for a better understanding of what parts of geometry challenged her, and laid out certain worksheets based on her response. Like he did with every peer he tutored, Finn scooted beside Ken and asked that she verbally work through her problem solving for the first equation. The routine was something he knew very well, but the smell of fresh soap, of sweet oil from her braids, shook down his concentration.
The end of their tutoring session had been a relief. The initial surprise of learning just who Ken was would fade once he made it home and got some rest, he was certain. So he neatly filed his things away in quiet haste while Ken tapped idly at her phone. Once he stood from the round table, she gathered her things and stood as well.
"You probably already know but I'm available on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Depending on how things go I can squeeze in time on Saturday's. But you did good today, so I'm sure you won't need the extra time." Finn forced a smile. "See you next week?"
She nodded, but the fixated gaze of her eyes perturbed him. "Is -?"
"So are those prescriptions?" She craned her neck slightly forward, as if the browlines on his face would have a complimentary tag on its frame to answer her question.
"Yes," He tried to conceal a glare. The question was out of nowhere and she completely ignored what he said!
"They look great!" She said. He flushed. "I had no idea they still even offered those at the eye doctors. How vintage."
"Yeah well I don't see why they wouldn't. So anyways -"
Her eyes trailed to her right and she made a small exclaim that made Finn jump. Ken lurched over the table and swiped the water and muffin. Still scrambling for composure, he hadn't time to react to her shoving the food into his backpack beyond incredulous stammering.
"You almost forgot those." He didn't forget, damnit. Was she even paying attention? " I gotta go, my bus should be here soon." And off she went, shuffling through the double doors. He watched her green braids swing behind her. "See ya next week!"
The anger was there, but Finn felt embarrassed to admit it to himself. It sat with him on the ride home, through center city all the way to campus – west campus, one of the two that existed. On his side of town, the traffic simmered to same-year SUV's and smart cars that clown families could envy. Their LED lights were as bright as the street ones, spotting the long roadways marked with bike lanes and crosswalks that patterned the stretch of grovel every few yards. But foot traffic was slow on the streets and mostly at the college. He put his car in park and switched his textbooks out for his college water bottle, spare socks, headphones and fruit. He dug to the depths and found the banana muffin when he was really looking for his smart watch; though he squeezed it a bit cruelly, Finn's anger subsided. He dropped it back in his bag then locked up his car.
Nines would be here. His friend had a routine that put his own to shame. It was nice, for Finn, to have another person like him who on his worst days could count on Nines to keep his head out of the fog. It made him look forward to being here, even if he dragged his feet on the way to the place.
"Yo," Nines found Finn on the treadmill after he managed three miles. Before that there was no contact except their texts back and forth from opposite sides of the gym. When they spotted each other, they'd wave, then busy on back to reps, hydrating, and sizing up the gym sections for the most optimal time to switch machines. Finn was near the end of his workout, and only halfway day-dreaming when his friend approached him. "Let's go for a swim."
Finn wouldn't be caught by surprise by Nines a third time; he didn't like the school's pool room, but the showers and sauna made up for it, and that's what he told himself he reward for hard work would be. As the two put away their belongings in the lockers, Finn dug up the muffin again. Nines was already curious about the treat that Finn seemed to treat sentimentally.
"Aw, nice. Don't those have nuts in it?" Nines was a trail mix and honey oats kind of guy, Finn gathered. Finn nodded.
"Yeah, you want it?"
"Nah, thanks. I'm gonna wait 'till dinner. Don't forget it's cheat night next friday at Nicollo's."
"Ah," When he inhaled, instead of chlorine and stale sweat, he could smell the toasted garlic and tomato sauces bound to entice him and the crew like they always did at their favorite pizzeria. "I'll be there. Are you coming back to the apartment to play the switch?"
Nines smiled, and his smiles always spread warmth the way a service dog does when his owner allows you to pet him. "Like I'd miss out on embarrassing your friends with Samus."
Their banter was both tongue-in-cheek and physical; Finn nudged at him with his fists and Nines wasn't shy of fighting back. "Nines, you're a sick man. Stir the pot this weekend and I'll tell everyone who your true main really is."
"I wasn't ashamed of Peach then, and I ain't ashamed of her now. Your young Link, on the other hand –" Nines was giggling, skipping down the pool steps, splashing Finn with his wingspan that fluttered crazily. Finn cut through with the precision of a fish, but stayed nearly grasping him.
"I'll destroy everything you love," he declared. With no quarrels to submersion, he got the better of Nines and splashed his face with an arch of pool water. He tackled him, sacrificing them both to the abyss of the deep end