She Can't See

chapter ten

Something had to be done about the slight headache. It was somewhat fine a couple of minutes ago, just some light throbbing every now and then. However, now, it felt like her head was the same weight as a bowling ball, weighing her down or becoming close to falling off. Asami blinked harshly and winced when another sharp shock hit her. She sat up on her bed and, as gently as possible, pressed her fingers to both of her temples. Her pulse could practically be felt at her fingertips. 

She sighed and carefully stood from her bed and made her way over to the mini fridge that she kept in her bedroom. In that moment, she was more than usually thankful to have the appliance so close. Asami opened it up and reached for a bottle of water; Fiji, of course. Normally it would be a better idea to have a cup of tea when going through a headache or a mild migraine, but she didn't feel like travelling all the way to her kitchen. And she also didn't feel like bothering any of the servants. She hadn't asked them to do such easy tasks for her since her freshman year of high school. 

After taking a large gulp, nearly finishing the entire bottle in one sitting, the sharp shocks lowered to a minimum. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for now.

Asami's eyes then went to her desk. It was spotless other than two large SAT books and a pencil holder. The SATs were long over by now, her being in the winter of her senior year. She wondered why she hadn't chuck them away yet. With that thought, and the headache slowly though surely dying down, maybe a quick desk clean was due. The summer that just passed was largely occupied with volunteer work at Grand Central Library and a small animal shelter. It was hardly even for college credits and more for her own benefit. 

She briefly remembered the praise that Korra had given her when Asami informed her about her two newest activities.

"That's so you!" Korra beamed with bright eyes filled with admiration. Asami bit back her lower lip, feeling self conscious that all of that admiration was strictly directed at her. 

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you volunteering at a library and an animal shelter at the same time? That's so you; always giving back to the people, and animals I guess, when you really don't have to."

"You really think this is me doing some good?" Asami questioned purely.

"Obviously. How could anyone think anything else?"

"Maybe, but you do know that I'm not really doing this to look good for colleges, right?"

"Of course I know that. I never even thought that to begin with." She said so honestly that Asami had no other choice than to believe her. And that was all of the validation that she needed - simply because Korra's opinion mattered over anyone else's any day of the week. "Come on, Asami. I know you better than anyone."

Asami smiled thankfully, silently hoping that her cheeks didn't give away the rate that her heart was going at, and handed Korra her crutches. Korra put herself into place, then stood from the park bench after Asami did.

They shared a certain look that just had them stuck, but Asami couldn't do that right now. She did her best to break the contact by looking forward to the path, gesturing for the two of them to continue with Korra's practices to walk longer distances with her new aid now that the wheelchair was rid of.

But even with that comforting reassurance, Asami's father had went on and on for weeks about how unnecessary volunteering was for 'a girl like her.' Asami knew what he meant by that. She was lucky and privileged to come from so much wealth, but the last thing that she wanted was for her family name to buy her into college. That just wasn't the kind of person that she was, and she would make that clear with every chance that she got.