Stranger Land - (KTH)

1. Evening Stroll

Maya's POV

It was a beautiful fall evening, right after my Architecture of Drafting and Design class, I made my way through the campus park, headed back to my apartment.

Two weeks have passed since I settled down in a new country, a new city, and in a new school. The first few days were a bumpy ride as everything seemed pretty alien to me, I needed to charge my heart and mind with a positive and courageous attitude to brace the wild.

It's certainly not easy surviving halfway across the world from home, all alone in a foreign land. I was considered lucky that a couple of days into the orientation, I managed to identify some of my Asian friends.

The gentle evening breeze wiped my long loose curls off my face, blowing it backwards, exposing my face to the chill air. I shivered slightly as I clung onto the supplies over my chest, pulling my oversized denim closer.

I should have run a proper weather check this morning before I step out. I was fooled by the bright sunny weather as I decided to wear a cute little floral dress with sandals. Good thing my hand quickly grab onto a denim jacket that saved me from freezing on the walk back with a 10 degree celsius evening breeze.

New York's weather is such a bipolar little devil and I have trust issues with it.

I was pacing my feet faster to close the distance to my apartment when I strolled across an outdoor basketball court, coming across a group of males in their jerseys, having fun with their game.

How are they even enjoying the game in this chilly weather? Sweet Lord.

I walked along the pavement, enjoying my view as much as I can while some of the boys played it roughly by tossing and snatching the basketball from each other and scoring a point on their own.

Each time someone score, the whole group erupted with cheers and it brought a smile on my face as I unconsciously came to a stop, admiring them having fun in the game.

Often times, little things like this mesmerize me on how simple we can find joy in things we do, life is not complicated if you chose to not let it to be.

I did not realize how long must I have stood there in the cold as the sky darkened to a blanket of purple and pink with the sun's blazing orange hue set across the horizon. It was looking a lot darker than I remembered when I stepped out of the campus.

"Hey, can you pass us the ball?"

I was startled. My mind was making its way thinking about all the philosophy of life again when I heard a voice aiming its way towards me.

I shake my head and notice a tall boy was waving his hand at me, as he stood a few meters away, signalling something.

"Hey girl in the floral, can you pass me the ball?" He yelled again across the field, pointing at something beside me.

I looked to the side and noticed that their basketball was bouncing and resting itself beside me. They must have shot it out of the ring when they were fooling around earlier.

I turned back to the boy and nodded before squatting down to grab the ball in my hand, trying hard to not lose the supplies from my grip to the ground.

As I was doing the impossible to juggle my canvas and huge ass triangular ruler, I saw a pair of red Air Jordan stopped in front of me.

I was admiring the shoes a little too much when I spilt all the things from my grip to the floor, effortlessly dropping together after tripping over the ball which slipped past my foot.

Ouch.

"Hey, you ok?"

I was trying my best to hide the sharp stinging pain on my knees and the palm of my right hand as I scratched them against the rocky pavement.

Straining my neck up and to the side, I noticed a pair of hand was gripping my arms, trying to prevent me from kissing the pavement with my face. It wouldn't have felt very nice nor will it have looked pretty on my average-looking face.

"Maya, are you ok?"

I squinted my eyes a little, definitely not grateful for not wearing my glasses coz it makes me look nerdier than I already am, as I tried to match the deep voice with flashes of faces I have come to know in the campus.

"Um yea...y-you?"

"V! Come on man, get the ball back, we need to finish this final round!"

I heard someone across the field yelled from the basketball court.

"Yea man, hang on!"

The male in front of me answered, took the ball over his head, angled his body forward and throw it across the field, so effortlessly making it look like he is about to shoot the ball right through the goal ring. Which, he did.

Impressive.

"You joining?" Another male yelled across the field.

"Nope, go on! I'm done." The male in front of me answered.

I was still sprawl across the pavement as my dress was lifted a little up, revealing my thighs. I immediately pulled down the hem of my dress, feeling the heat creeping up my face as the male turned back just in time while I struggled to stand back up.

It wasn't helpful that the gorgeousness of his face is making my knees weak in a way I can't explain.

"You ok Maya?" He picked up my scattered belongings on the ground while holding me steady by my arm.

"Yea, I am. Um, thanks. Sorry I don't think so I know you?" I asked in a mix of questions and statements, trying to recall this handsome face. It can't be any of the guys from my class, they are all so average looking.

"You don't remember me?" He flashed me a boxy smile as he took off the bandana from his forehead. Damn, this man owns the bandana fashion, and I'm not convinced otherwise.

I furrowed my brow again, trailing my memory all the way back to the first day I was on campus.

Holy Shit! This is the hot guy I almost broke his nose with my head!

He must have noticed the ugly gasp on my face in shock as he broke into a burst of laughter, hands clenched into a fit, gently covering his mouth.

Great Maya! You just keep embarrassing yourself in front of a hot guy.

.
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🍀
Wohoo.
They met. Again. We shall address Tae as V.
Anyone here familiar with the name Maya?
(And no, it's not my name.
In case if you're wondering.)