"Here," Vera said conspiratorially as she pulled out a plastic container of what appeared to be homemade brownies under the table. "We're not supposed to have food in here but as long as no one sees, we should be good."
Casey couldn't remember the last time someone offered him a treat. He bought himself chocolate bars occasionally after tests as a sort of reward because no one else was going to buy them for him.
"Th-thank you!"
He ate one as quickly as possible, nearly choking on it in the process. Mercifully, Vera didn't say anything about it aside from asking him if he was okay. He nodded, his face on fire.
"…this is geally rood. I mean really good!" he corrected, wincing at how that came out.
She simply smiled at him, pleased. "Thanks! I made them myself. I like baking when I have time. I'll have to bring you some of whatever I make next time too. There's always too much for two people. It's just me and my aunt at home."
Next time? Vera anticipated there being a next time?!
Casey was so confused. They were just group project partners. Why would there be a next time?
All he could do was nod, having no idea what to say. He needed to focus on the project but that was extremely difficult with all the thoughts swirling around in his head.
Vera made him more nervous than the average person, despite how nice she was. It was probably because he didn't know what to make of her. She didn't follow any of the usual patterns people did when interacting with him.
It was really throwing Casey off but that didn't mean he wanted it to stop. It was nice having someone treat him better for a chance, even if he was baffled by her motive to do so.
He didn't want the group project to end. That was definitely a first!
She said she would bring him treats again but when he inevitably screwed up the presentation in class, she would never want to speak to him again. That was always what happened.
Casey didn't want to stop talking to Vera. She was the only person in this school who was nice to him.
Pretty much the only thing they had in common was liking to read. She was friendly, kind, passionate, and smiled a lot.
That must be why he enjoyed talking to her so much. He was incredibly boring and he knew it. She was interesting and never ran out of things to say. He could listen to her forever but he knew that would never happen.
Most of what they talked about was directly related to the project, though she did occasionally get sidetracked talking about antiques restoration. Those sidetracks were the most fun he ever had talking to another human being. He would actually miss them once they were gone.
They were currently having their second to last meeting. They were going over the final touches on the PowerPoint but likely wouldn't have time to practice much before the bell rang for their next class. They hadn't been able to meet for as long as usual today because she had to meet with one of her professors.
Casey dreaded practicing because he knew it would make him look even stupider than usual. He already stuttered enough in front of Vera. He didn't need to do it any more than he already did!
"I think this background looks better than the last one, don't you?" she asked.
He peered at the laptop she was working from and nodded, though he didn't have the same aesthetic sense she did. He thought the first one looked about the same but wasn't about to contradict her.
"We need to adjust the fonts too so they're all the same size…" Vera mused, occasionally mumbling to herself as she worked.
Casey's breath caught in his throat when she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He had thought she was pretty from the first time they met but it only now hit him just how pretty she was.
He must be losing his mind. Thinking she was pretty wouldn't do anything. It was stupid and pointless. He could never tell her that so why was he thinking it in the first place?
He had read enough books to know that when someone thought someone else was pretty, they probably liked them. It was how romances often started in the novels he read. But he could never participate in romance like the rest of his classmates. He was separate from the rest of them.
Vera would never like someone like Casey. Someone who couldn't even string two sentences together coherently. Someone nobody wanted.
He would never be like those couples who wandered around campus holding hands and laughing together. Who would ever laugh WITH him instead of AT him? Or want to hold his hand, knowing there were hideous scars just a few inches further up his arm?
How would he even get into a relationship? Relationships involved talking. He would never be able to pull that off, even if someone miraculously did like him despite him not being able to offer anything useful.
No, he could never be like everyone else. Even dreaming about it would only hurt him.
He had accepted the fact that he wasn't lovable long ago. One person being unexpectedly nice to him didn't change anything.
Vera was just being friendly. She probably had someone she liked already. Someone normal who could smile back at her and hold a proper conversation.
It was stupid of Casey to even think she might like him because she was being nice to him. There was nothing there to like. He wasn't funny, handsome, a good conversationalist or dependable.
Now that he had gotten to college, he wasn't smart either. Everyone here was smart or they wouldn't have gotten in. He was average. The one thing he had going for him for most of his life wasn't special anymore.
Honestly, he was worse than average because of his inability to speak properly. The more nervous he got, the less able to talk he was. It was pathetic.
Casey knew he was a loser who would never amount to anything. He didn't expect to be successful. All he wanted was to be able to get by once the money his dad left behind ran out.