Transcend

"Oh, good afternoon Nora," I heard suddenly and paused, turning around to look back at the entrance of the Student Center as I searched for the source of the words. My eyes scanned the wooden benches lined up against the walls until I noticed Paige, a girl I'd met through my English 1322 class, sitting on one of the benches looking over with a smile as she waved at me. I grinned back and walked toward her saying good afternoon as I set my heavy textbook down on the bench next to her, anticipating us to talk for a while since it was still fifteen minutes before our English class started.
"Did you do the assigned reading for last night," Paige asked as she looked up at me through her black bangs which were cut in a straight line just above her eyebrows. I nodded and said I'd done it yesterday, Sunday, when I'd had the time, and thinking back to the weekend reminded me of Saturday night, and more specifically watching Liam teleport into my bedroom for the second time from a portal he'd been involuntary sucked into.
The event had changed a lot, because now it was proven that Liam really could teleport to places and I had to accept it regardless of how much it sounded like fiction. Though I'd been half convinced by the circumstances that followed him first landing in my bedroom, now that I'd seen it with my own eyes I had to deal with it.
"I don't know why we have to do so many essays, it's ridiculous," Paige stated as she let out a sigh and leaned back against the outer wall of the Student Center building, looking up at the sky and the few clouds that stained its blue color. I agreed with a nod as I pulled my coat closer to me to evade the chilly winds around us as the winter season approached. This was the last week of classes before the week long Thanksgiving break, and I was thankful for the time off to relax and take a break from everything that was happening all at once.
The winds picked up more, decreasing the temperature and throwing yellow and orange leaves all across the campus, and Paige suggest that we should go ahead and walk to the English building in class to escape the cold. I grabbed my textbook and nodded eagerly at the idea, as I had already been headed that way when she had called me over, and we walked away from the Student Center and through the large buildings and rustling trees until we came to the small two story English building tucked away in the corner of the campus. The building was old, having been built in the 1960's, and though it had been modified to fit the ever changing adaptations of technology, it still held a comfortable classic charm.
We walked across the large sidewalk parallel to the front steps of the building, and as I held my book to my chest and glanced up at the double doors I noticed that Liam was standing to the side of them under the small awning with his hands in the pocket of his dark grey coat. A shock bolted through my chest as I saw him turn toward us when he noticed me, stepping forward from near the doors and onto the steps. Paige didn't seem to notice him, and since we had recently met she had no idea of my past with him, so she kept walking towards the doors when we reached the steps stopping only when Liam said, "Nora," as I tried to pass him and continue on into the building after her.
I stopped on the steps and turned to face him, glaring slightly as Paige turned back around with a questioning expression and asked, "Are you coming Nora?" I looked to her for a second, then back to Liam as he spoke softly saying: "I need to talk to you." I ignored the urge to deny his request and continue walking with Paige and turned back to her with a fake smile answering, "Go on ahead without me; I'll come to class in a few minutes." She nodded and pulled open the door to the English building, eyeing Liam for a few seconds before walking in and making her way down the long hallway towards our classroom at the end of the corridor.
"What’s so important, Liam?" I asked angrily as I looked back at him with a glare, stuffing my own hands into my pockets of my coat just as he was, holding my textbook tightly between my arm and my side. He stumbled over his words awkwardly for a second as he looked down and away from me before finally saying, "Well... It only took me four days to get out of the portal, remember?"
"Yea, you said you entered the portal on Wednesday night," I answered seriously, "That's better than seven months." I shuffled my feet due to the cold as I spoke and Liam nodded at my statement saying, "Yea I know it's a lot better. The portal almost seemed like it was more familiar this time; I felt lost still but it didn't take me as long to get out." He smiled a little and looked away from me again, seeming happy that the teleporting was becoming easier. If it was something that he had to live with, then at least it was getting better.
"Is that all you wanted to tell me?" I asked after a second, resisting the urge to add something sarcastic like, 'Because I already gathered that a long time ago.' I leaned a little towards the entrance of the English building hoping to remind him that I did have class in a few minutes. He had to of known since he'd been waiting for me to arrive, but he motioned for me to hold on and listen to him.
I let out a breath as I focused my attention on him watching as he announced, "I... I think I can learn to control the teleporting," with a hint of discomfort, as if he wasn't fully sure that he could. I have him a surprised look, my eyebrows raising at the weight of his declaration as well at the nervous vibes I sensed almost immediately afterwards. Not being the one who can teleport, I really didn't know the degree of difficulty of learning to master the ability and couldn't really relate to it in any way.
"What do you mean exactly by 'controlling the teleporting'?" I asked after a pause between us, wanting him to be more specific about his goals, especially since I didn't really understand the teleporting very much. At my question he stopped to think for a second and collect his ideas then answered, "Well maybe I can pick where I teleport. I mean, it doesn't make sense that I can only go to your room." He shifted a little where he stood on the concrete steps then continued, "And maybe I can even learn to stop the portal from sucking me in when I don't want to teleport... And maybe even learn to open the portal when I do want to go somewhere. Since I have the ability I'd like to use it sometime, right?"
I nodded understandingly as I pulled my hair from my face when the wind blew and caused it to fly up. "It sounds like a good idea, and like it can be a good ability to have if you can learn to use it." Though I didn't say anything, the idea of him learning not to teleport into my room was what excited me the most. If he could control it, then I wouldn't have to talk to him anymore and he could just continue with his life and his teleporting and leave me out of it.
"Yea, I really don't know how I can stop the portal, or trigger it for that matter, but I can't keep missing classes and exams because I'm stuck in it. I figure if I try hard enough then I'll learn how to control it." He looked down to the ground to avoid the gust of wind pummeling us and I saw a small smile at the thought of being able to manage his teleporting and go anywhere that he wanted.
"Well I hope you do that," I said quickly in a tone showing that I wanted to end the conversation. He looked back up at me as I stepped away from him a little and up to the next step, turning my back towards the doors of the building and leaning forward saying, "The sooner you learn to control it the sooner you can stop showing up in my room, right?" He stared at me blankly as I leaned forward slightly, my shoulder-blade length wavy hair falling forward as I smiled at the potential of having him out of my life once again, then he blinked and nodded, looking away from me as he answered: "Yea that's right."
I grinned bigger as I straightened my back and turned to walk the rest of the way up the steps and towards the door calling, "I'll see you in Study Hall tomorrow." He said a quiet 'bye' and after I opened the door and walked down the hallway to my class, turning back nonchalantly to see him walking away from the building down the sidewalk, his hands in the pockets of his coat as the wind blew leaves across the campus before I looked back ahead of me and continuing on to English.

The rest of my week before the Thanksgiving break went with as much normalcy as I would expect it to, filled with assigned reading, essays, and homework along with occasionally running into people that I knew and conversing with them before returning to work. College was much more of a challenge than high school had ever been, the workload ten times what I'd ever had in any class, but I still managed to keep it all under control and not succumb to the pressure if it all.
I went through my classes on Tuesday, taking notes as usual on the lecture in Chemistry 1405, and afterwards went to my Math Study Hall with Liam where we talked hardly at all and spent most of our time working separately on assignments. Then I followed the same usual routine I was accustomed to once again, taking notes, answering questions and solving problems in my three classes on Wednesday and then on Thursday going to Chemistry and then Math Study Hall again. The days all went by surprisingly fast considering that a week of no classes was just beyond the corner, and with hardly any complications to slow it down at all.
The professor announced that class was finished and I stood from the table quickly with a sigh, having already gathered my materials together to carry to my car. Liam closed his textbook and straightened his back, looking over at me as I grabbed my coat from where it hung over the back of my chair, pulled my gloves from the pocket and slipped them on then put my coat on quickly, buttoning it up as he said, "Have a good break Nora."
I smiled as I pulled my hair out from inside the coat and let it fall over my shoulders, grabbing my bag and shouldering it as I answered, "Yea I will; I better not wake up with you next to me." I laughed at my joke, though it was secretly meant to mean 'don't teleport during the break.' He smile slightly and looked away to collect his things before standing from his seat to leave. I said a small goodbye before taking my leave, walking quickly down the hall and into the cold weather outside, excited for the week away from school work and Liam's teleporting.