the one that got away

1

The end of an era: leaving college after the hardest 4 years of your life.

For Natasha it wasn't hard, it was just unpleasant. No matter how hard she worked to get where she is standing today. There was always the slightest inconvenience taking her right back down to square one. She was for sure a fighter, she didn't give up. But her exams did put a number on her.

For school popular boy, James, exams were easy. As he was the favorite bad-boy of all the female teachers. He passed, easily.

________________________________________

Natasha was rushing through the hallways of the main building, she was late for her last meet up with her maths teacher. The one exam she failed dramatically. It wasn't something for her to be late but this one time she was, had actually no real excuse, she slept in, so to say. As she finally reached the classroom she knocked on the door before silently entering, "Mr. Stark I am so sorry for being late,"

"That's unlike you, Natalia." He grinned at her, pointing to the chair in front of him, "Come sit, we can go through the stuff again before you re-do your final exam." As Natasha sat down in front of him she looked at him, very surprised. Most of the time when you failed in his class, you really failed. There would be no turning back, but today, he showed her mercy.

"I, I don't understand? I failed, i can't just re-do my mistakes."

"You can, and you will." was all he needed to say before going through the endless books, helping Natasha as far as he could. Before she actually did a retake on her exam. Hours between the two of them had passed, and Natasha finally handed in her exam, hoping for the best but knowing she had failed again.

"When will I know? If I passed," She let out a short breath when she spoke, not quite looking her professor in the eye. He was already generous enough to give her a re-take, he didn't have to give her a pass to the rest of her life.

"I promise you, Natalia, you passed." He nodded, going over her answers in a smooth motion, almost just touching the paper and instantly changing some answers to the right ones, Natasha sighed.

"I want to pass the right way, not because you were so incredibly generous to give me a second chance, second chances are not for everyone. Especially not for me." Her professor shook his head at her words.

"Natasha, you're worth it. You are worthy of a second chance, and because of this, you passed. You're ready to move along and have a great life."

Natasha had never felt like she had a real place in the world, she had moved here from Russia about 6 years ago. She's an outsider, and she is definitely treated like one. She wasn't welcome in most College clubs and groups like all the normal Americans were. They always told her that she had to skip back to her own country, she would, if she could. But her parents never let her, that said, Natasha faked a smile most of her days. Undergoing all the bullying that happened day in day out, if racism was a crime, then the world would have to build a lot more prisons.

The other fellow Russian, James Barnes, has never had any critics about his nationality, about where he came from and why he was here. There's a huge difference between being the favorite and popular one, and the nobody. James actually treated Natasha like a nobody. Even though they shared the same roots, the same origin. But to James, she didn't exist. 
James was the popular guy in college, all girls would be screaming when he passed, or begging at his feet for "a one night only". No one has ever been so lucky. He might be popular and wanted, but in real life he is a complex guy, not sharing much about where he came from or what he does when nobody is watching. He likes things to be kept secret, makes it fun, he says. But for everyone else, he is hard to understand. He's impossible to get to know and really be friends with, only one guy ever managed to do that, because he stood up for James when no one else did. Steve, the big blonde softie. Would literally die for his best friend, and we believe, vice versa.