Brierra Lewis
October 12th, 2024
Baltimore, Maryland

 
  "Brierra you awake hun?" The school nurse perked up when she heard the girl let out a yawn. Everything was finally coming back to Bri— what'd happened in the Garden Plaza with Jerome, and the panic attack that came shortly after.

"Uh," Bri trailed off, running her hands through her hair. "What happened to me.. it's just because of the panic attack right?" She hoped she didn't have a concussion from how hard she was pushed against that tree.

The nurse gave her a soft smile before replying, "well yes, nothing else seems to be wrong with you. However, that panic attack you had was not something to be taken lightly." Her tone shifted to one of sternness.

"This is one of the most severe cases of panic attacks that I've seen, and I've been doing this for a while.."

That had Bri on edge. Panic attacks were a common thing in her life ever since she was little, but now she realized they were only getting worse. It's not like she had much control over it, which hurt her the most.

No matter how many times she tried to rid herself of all the stressful things in her life.. they always came back. Just like Jerome did, and now she was facing the after math of his traumatic ways, again.

"Is there a way I can stop this? Like, will my panic attacks ever be gone for good?" She fiddled with her hands when she asked the question, because she already had a feeling she knew the answer.

The nurse only eyed her with a small frown. "Panic attacks usually have to do with the mind, and anxiety. They often occur when one feels in danger, or overwhelmed.. it's kind of tricky to just get rid of them."

Bri nodded, trying to take in all the information she could.

"I could put you on anti-depressants just so you won't feel anything, but I'm sure you don't want that." She was right, Bri absolutely did not want to take any anti-depressants.

There was no use for them in her case, sure they'd stop the panic attacks but at what cost? Bri wasn't going to give up her emotions in any way possible, or become numb to them.

"Luckily you have another option though," the nurse smiled, trying to soothe the nervous girl. "What about anxiety pills? You'd just take them whenever you feel a panic attack coming along, and it'll keep your nerves in check."

The more Bri thought about it the more sense it made. Anxiety pills sounded like her best bet and they didn't have as much backlash as anti-depressants. "I think I'll go with the anxiety pills!"

"Okay great, I'll have those ready for you to pick up soon. You're free to go now, your friends have been waiting outside for quite some time."

She made sure to thank the nurse for her kindness before rushing out to see her friends. They were the only thing she really cared about in this messed up world.

"You have no idea how much you scared us yo," Sydney was the first to speak up, and then Amaya who immediately agreed.

The trio walked hand in hand through the halls, from now on they refused to let Bri out of their sight. Knowing the whole situation could've been avoided if they'd just came a moment sooner, had them both feeling guilty.

How could they call themselves her best friends when they couldn't even protect her?

"I'm so sorry we were late," Amaya looked down at the ground, hand tightening against Brierra's. "If we'd came a little sooner, he wouldn't have even had the chance to approach you."

Bri was quick to shake her head, no way they were blaming themselves for this?

"Guys that was not your fault. Like at all, please stop thinking like that." The last thing she wanted was for them to be blaming themselves over something that wasn't their fault.

The two knew that Bri was right but they couldn't help but feel partially responsible. Yet they put it aside for her case, not wanting to stress their friend any further.

"Alright enough of this sad shit," syd was the first to speak, trying to lighten the mood like she always did. "Those transfer students coming today, we need to go figure out who we were assigned!"

It totally slipped Bri's mind with everything that had happened. She requested for a girl but she wouldn't mind if she got the opposite, she'd treat them both the same.

"Shit I forgot about that!" Amaya exclaimed. With everything that's been happening, they all forgot.

The walk to the dean's office wasn't much of a long one, they reached their destination quicker than expected. Bri couldn't lie.. she was pretty excited to meet whoever she was assigned.

When they reached the entrance there was already a ton of people lined up— eager to know who they were paired with.

"One at a time, one at a god dang time!" The dean's heavy voice echoed, coming off as a yell. Most students straightened their behavior immediately, but others took longer.

'Ugh I wish they'd all just shut up so we can move on.'

"All right.. now that we're all calm, I'll continue. The people with the highest gpa will receive their match first, that's just how the system is set." The dean took a small breather before continuing. "Please keep in mind that you'll be expected to mentor our foreign exchange students for the remainder of your 4 years, so take this very seriously."

A lot of people were annoyed at the fact that they'd have to spend the rest of their college years looking after someone else, but not Bri. She was happy to help in any way she could, always.

"First up is Brierra Lewis, congrats on having the highest gpa in your major level! You're assigned to a young man named Kazu Rene, he should arrive shortly." She gave you a small smile before moving onto the next person.

A young man.. Kazu Rene. She couldn't help but wonder what he's like, hopefully he's nice. The last thing she needed was a mean, stuck-up partner for the next 4 years.

"Ouu you got assigned a guy," Amaya gently tapped her arm. "How you feel about that?"

"I don't really mind it! I just hope we get along and he's not super mean," She shrugged. If things went well, maybe she'd have a new friend for the next couple of years.

"Shit they better all be nice, before I be mean right the fuck back," Sydney mumbled, causing the whole group to laugh.

The dean went on until she finally got through everybody. Everyone had their partners, now it was just time to meet them.

"I got some guy named Rayan, cute name," Amaya muttered while looking down at her paper.

"Mines is a girl! O'moya Afia, damn her names exotic.." Sydney added on, interlocking her hands with the two girls again.

"Y'all getting so excited but have no idea of any details yet! Now, I just received news that all our exchange students have arrived." The dean was quick to clear her throat, gathering the attention of all her students.

"Head to the Garden Plaza right away to meet and show them around! You're allowed to go off campus and show them around the city as well, I actually highly encourage it."

Once they were dismissed, nearly everyone rushed to the Garden Plaza— excited to finally meet who they were paired with.

It was a quick walk to the plaza, she was kind of skeptical about going back there due to the incident that happened not even a week ago. But she knew she was safe because she had her friends with her, and a whole group of people. Plus her anxiety pills so her panic attacks wouldn't be easily triggered.

The plaza was filled to the brim with students, and even some staff who blended in well. How the hell was she supposed to find anybody in this crowd?

The girl stood and looked around for longer than she wanted to, this was more chaotic than she thought it'd be.

Bri was interrupted from her search when a body collided into hers, nearly making her fall face forward.

"Oh shit!" Bri exclaimed, mentally preparing to hit the floor and bust her ass. But whoever bumped her was quick to wrap their arms around her— stopping the harsh fall before it even happened.

She could barely register what was going on anymore, just glad she didn't embarrass herself any further.

"Fuck I'm sorry," a low voice called out, clearly embarrassed. "I was busy looking for someone and didn't see you,"

She gave a small smile before replying, "it's okay! I was looking for someone too, it's so chaotic out here."

An awkward silence took over, but neither of them dared to break it. They just continued searching for their pairs in silence.

The gold plated chain on Bri's neck glistened in the sunlight, radiating a small light just for a second.

"Wait are you Bri-erra?" It was pretty hard for the stranger to pronounce, but she still understood and gave a small nod. Hold on, is this..?

"Are you Kazu?"

He let out light chuckle, flashing his perfect teeth before replying. "Yeah,"

It was now that she finally took him in. He was pretty tall— had to be 6'0 or above. Tattoos covered his neck and arms, from the shirt he wore she could tell he had some on his chest too. He didn't have many piercings, but the ones that stood out to her the most were his tongue and anti-eyebrow. And not to mention the goatee and mustache combo-

'Oh baby... they didn't tell me he was gone be fine as FUCK.'

Bri thought he caught on to her little staring session, but it didn't take her long to realize he was doing the same exact thing. Kazu's eyes examined her tall frame and she found herself shying away— looking anywhere but at him.

"It's funny how we just bumped into each other!" She fiddled with her purse, it was getting awkward just standing there while everyone else was already heading out.

Kazu finally snapped out of it, a natural bored expression taking over. "I was just trying to get away from all the girls over there," he nodded his head toward them.

When Bri looked it was a group of about 7 girls, all of them eyeing Kazu down with perked up chests, clearly thirsting over him.

"Yeah be careful for them, they're kinda weird." She shook her head, is it really that hard to just treat people like human beings? "But you have me now. I'll look out for you don't worry,"

Kazu chuckled at that, giving her a half smile. "You're pretty cool y'know, not how I expected you to be."

Bri was quick to smile, she hoped her cheeks weren't too red from the compliment. "You're pretty cool too,
Kazu."

authors note
this my new fave book idc 😭 fuck all the other ones this one gone be updated almost everyday