“Um, yeah. I’ll be fine.” I answered, feeling a little off guard.

“You sure? You look like you’ll faint.” He asks again.

I looked up noticing it was the person that was riding the motorcycle and he walked towards the vending machine beside me; I moved a little away from him unconsciously. I looked over at his patched jacket and his all-black attire; looking like those scene grunge punk. I could imagine the type that goes to mosh pit shows or ska shows; he even has tattoos on his hands and neck from where I can see. He noticed me looking him over and I turned away trying to answer without saying that he caught me having an anxiety attack because that’s not how you introduce yourself.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“Alright.” He said, buying a bottle of water and handing it to me before walking away.

“I… I already… have one” I mumbled looking at both the bottles in my hand.

“You’ll get dehydrated again. It’s saving you the trouble for later.” He said, waving a hand as he kept on walking.

I stood there feeling more confused that it left me forgetting that I was dealing with my anxiety attack and watched him enter the library. I looked at the bottle he gave me before putting it inside my backpack and stayed outside a few minutes longer finishing the bottle I bought. When I was done with it then started making my way inside the library. It took me a while to find an empty table not wanting to be near anyone else at the moment and started studying before my first class could start in two hours.

 Today I have a quiz in my math class that I’ll be going to first and I haven’t been scoring so well on my test so I need more time to prepare myself. I was busy writing when I saw the chair across from me moved and Luis sat down almost startling me. I sighed resting my head on the table and I closed my eyes feeling like I could take a deep breath. It’s been over a week since I last saw him when we hung out at Fernando’s house and it honestly felt like we weren’t even attending the same college considering our schedule.

“Where have you been?” I asked, looking over at him.

“Here and there. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had the chance to do much.” He said, taking his notebooks out of his bag. “Can you believe how many tests my professor likes us to have every week? I can’t fail them because it’s covering most of our grading then the final exam does.”

I thought about this, “So I probably won’t be seeing you for a while?”

“Maybe. Or maybe we can hang out more once the semester is over. I can still make time when they want to have that dinner.” He said, going over his work. “How’re things going with you?”

I shrug my shoulders as I watch him, “I’m not even sure. I had an anxiety attack before I got here.”

“Was it bad?” he asked, setting his pen down, looking over at me.

“A bit. It’s just the same as usual. Being in a crowded area still makes me anxious… I just can’t seem to get over it no matter how many times I try to get myself used to it,” I explained. “But I’ve been feeling like that because of what’s been going on with school and I try to not get depressed by how I feel. I’ve tried explaining it to Elliot, but sometimes I feel like he doesn’t understand what I’m saying and he just wants to give me these solutions that aren’t the point of why I’m feeling like this.”

Luis watched me before pushing his notebook to the side, “So then you tell me. Let me hear about it and I can tell you how I view it.”

I looked back at him before sitting up straight as I thought of how to explain it to him, “Well, when I got accepted I put myself as undecided on my major so now the counselor wants me to pick before the end of the semester and my credit could be reflected if I want to transfer or having trouble selecting next semester courses.” I said. “But Elliot said that I don’t have to worry about it and if I can’t decide on a major then I can take a year off.”

“Taking a year off is risky,” Luis commented.

“I thought that too. I don’t feel comfortable continuing on next year still undecided and that would make it hard for me to pick my classes in the spring.” I said picked at the edge of my textbook.

Luis sighed, “I guess I can see why this is all bothering you. Everyone thinks that it’s so simple for you to take things on or take the easy way out of things. Elliot is wrong if he thinks taking a break would help you decide. That would only make you feel behind academically and that’ll still add on to the stress no matter what you decide with.”

“See, that’s what I was thinking as well but I felt like he wasn’t getting that and it made me feel like my words weren’t getting through to him,” I said, staring down at my textbook.

“Hey, people can just be stupid and not hear what the other person is explaining,” Luis said, giving me a small smile. “Elliot just showed you that he isn’t as smart as he wants you to believe.”

I smiled, “Yeah.”

“You’re going to fall apart if you keep this pressure on yourself.” He tells me, his smile fades a bit and he’s giving me a serious expression. “If your feeling depressed about all this then obviously these advice isn’t the answer for you and you still have to decide for yourself.”

I nod, “Thanks, Luis. That was a lot easier to hear and everything else just wasn’t making sense to me.”

“Well, it’s more difficult having so many people talking in your ear and telling you what to do.” He said, returning to his notebook. “Don’t let them decide for you. I don’t think that’s fair because you’re trying to do all this yourself on your own and they should know that’s already a lot of work for you.”

It was nice hearing Luis say those words as I closed my eyes and rested my head on the table again. “Now, what major should I choose?”

“What have you enjoyed studying so far?” he asked.

I shrugged, “History, but I don’t want that as my major.”

Luis was quiet for a second, pondering. “Anything like literature or journalism?”

I shook my head and rest my head on the top of my book, “Not really. I’ll think about it some more later on.”

“Hey, obviously this has been bothering you so look over the programs they offer here and the courses that come with them or what you’ll need to transfer.”

“I don’t know if there is a college I want to transfer to, but looking at the programs could help,” I said, reaching for my phone then started putting my things away after seeing the time. “I have to go. My class is going to start soon.”

“Alright. But if you still have any problems, or if you're feeling stressed, just give me a call. I’m still your best friend.” He said as he reached out to grab my arm so that I could face him. “I know how things can be difficult for you so don’t forget that you can also talk to me and not just Elliot.”

I nod, smiling softly. “Thanks. I’ll send you a message when I’m free later on.”

He let go of me, “Do that and if you can’t reach me then you know why. Tell your boyfriend to stop acting like a know-it-all.”

“Alright, bye,” I chuckled, stepping away, and started making my way out of the library with twenty minutes to spare.

I went to my class, and by the end of the day, I felt so exhausted that I wasn’t even sure how I’ll get through my homework tonight. Making my way to the student parking lot, I sent a message to my mom giving in to her offer and not have another episode on the bus again. Standing there waiting, I sent a message to Elliot wondering what he was doing when I noticed a motorcycle was being parked right in front of me and it startled me that I took a step back. I didn’t know how to react when I noticed who it was and froze me a bit on the spot; it was that strange guy from this morning.

“Sorry, I saw you and had to do a quick turn-around.” He said propping himself so that he can take off his helmet. “I was thinking about you.”

I was still confused that I wasn’t too sure what I was hearing, “What?”

“You obviously weren’t well this morning and it left me wondering if maybe you were sick or maybe you could have fainted,” He clarified himself and reached a hand out to me. “My name’s Lucas by the way.”

I hesitated for a second before shaking his hand, “Michael, and I’m fine now. I just wasn’t feeling well after getting off the bus. Thanks for the water. I actually needed it when I finally went to class so you helped me with that.” I said then started looking for my wallet. “I should really pay you back for that.”

“No, no, it’s okay.” He said, shaking his hand to stop me. “I didn't do that  and expecting you to pay back.”

“Alright,” I said, feeling a little awkward that I didn’t know how else to respond.

“I’ll let you go, but let me give you this,” He said grabbing his wallet from his pocket and took out a card to hand me. “I do tutorings at the campus library with some friends if you need help or when you don’t feel well again and need someplace to sit.”

I looked over his card, “Um, thanks.”

He started putting on his helmet, “I’ll see you around.”

I watched him leave, wondering if I will see him again, and glanced down at the card. I thought back on my time spent attending tutoring sessions and how they’ve always helped me; maybe this can be something that will help me figure things out. I don’t really know this person, but he’s obviously shown how kind he is and concerns. I’ll figure it out once I get the result for my test next week and if I still don’t do so well then I might take up his offer.