Ava felt her hands getting clammy the longer she stood there. This was probably the longest interaction she has had with a fellow student, who wasn’t like a partner on a project, her entire life. Group projects are the worst things ever for Ava. She always kept quiet and prayed someone else took the lead and would give her a task and let her go complete it on her own. If the project included any sort of presentation, and Ava had to participate in it, her anxiety went through the roof. 

But this interaction is different. There is no project. This is just two people talking. She heard Adam say to not let Tanya push her around. Ava shrugged, unsure of what to say. Ava wasn’t necessarily teased or picked on. There wasn’t one specific student whose mission it was to make Ava’s life miserable. It was just the nature of her life. When you are invisible to people, you become less human. To Tanya, bumping into Ava was the equivalent to bumping into a wall. It was in your way and it was meaningless. 

Ava was shocked when Adam introduced himself for two reasons. Reason number one being, he is so popular, shouldn’t he just assume everyone know’s him name, which in this case Ava did. And reason number two was, him saying his name meant he wanted to keep this conversation going. Ava was flabbergasted. Why did he still want to talk to her? Why didn’t he just leave after picking up her books, but I guess the better question is, why did he even help her in the first place? And why couldn’t Ava just be normal for once and not act like a deer in headlights. 

When Adam asked who she was, Ava panicked. She honestly briefly forgot her name. How embarrassing is that. Taking a deep mental breath in, and a smaller real one, she muttered out “I am Ava.”

What now? Did they keep talking? Should she just walk away? Wasn’t Adam hungry and want to go to lunch? Ava stood there, continuing to struggle keep her books in her arms, while also pushing her glasses up her nose again. 

“Umm… I am going to go to my locker.” Ava bravely muttered. She needed to be out of this situation. It would only lead to more embarrassment. So she started to awkwardly step around Adam, since his tall, muscular frame was blocking her tiny one. She wasn’t sure what Adam would do next, but she assumed it was just continue one with his day.