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recovered from the kick to her shin. “Welcome to kindergarten.”
    “I’ve got French Fairy Tales after this,” Raleigh contributed.
    “That’s actually a class?” Maia asked, finding her voice again.
    “Today’s the first day,” Raleigh said, “so I’ll have to let you know if I show up and it’s all a big hoax.”
    When lunch wrapped up, we packed our things and discarded our trays and garbage. My three friends took off for their respective classes, but Raleigh lingered behind.
    “Where are you off to next?” she asked me.
    “American history.”
    “Is that in the humanities building?”
    “Yeah,” I nodded.
    “Do you want to walk together?” she proposed.
    I inadvertently looked down at her motionless legs, and my gaze didn’t go unnoticed. “I know I can’t walk,” she said. “But it’s easier to talk that way.”
    “I didn’t mean to stare,” I apologized.
    “I hardly notice it anymore,” she readily dismissed. “Or when I do, I pretend that everyone’s checking out my ass, and I turn it into a compliment instead.”
    Her attitude made me smile. “That’s one way to deal with it.”
    It was a nice day outside and I tilted my head towards the sun. Days like this would become scarcer as fall turned to winter. The wheels of Raleigh’s chair quietly squeaked on the concrete sidewalk as we left the cafeteria in the direction of the humanities building.
    “Sorry about the twenty questions back there,” I said. “I hope they haven’t scared you off from having lunch with us in the future.”
    “Your friends are interesting.”
    “I can’t tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing.”
    She gave me a sideways glance. “The jury’s still out.”
    “What about me?” I joked. “Or do I get lumped in with them as a package deal?”
    “I suppose I can make an exception for you—but only because we have two classes together. I’m normally not so generous.”
    “Oh!” I said, remembering. “I’ve got your psychology notebook at home. I would have brought it today if I’d known I’d be seeing you.”
    “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
    I bobbed my head. “Yeah. I’ll definitely have it for you in anatomy.”
    “And if not,” she grinned, “I’ll just have to follow you home.”
    It felt like we were kind of flirting, but this could have just been part of her personality. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d misinterpreted a straight girl being suspiciously friendly. But either way, I was enjoying the rapid back and forth banter so much that I was disappointed when we had to go our separate ways to go to class.
    Like many of the other buildings on campus, the humanities building had a short staircase that led directly to the front door and a long, winding wheelchair accessible ramp.
    Raleigh puffed out a loud sigh. “I miss the days when I could take the stairs. These ramps take forever.”
    I scratched my head, unsure of what to do. “Do you need a push?” I didn’t want to offend her with the offer, but didn’t know if it was considered rude not to help out.
    “No, I’ve got it,” she said. She started up the slow, gradual incline of the zigzagging ramp. I stood uncomfortably, waiting for her to make the trek when all I had to do was climb four steps.
    “You don’t have to wait,” she said, wheeling her way up the concrete ramp.
    “I’m in no hurry.” I glanced at my phone to consult the time. I didn’t want to be rude and abandon her, but we only had a few minutes until the next class block began. There was nothing I hated more than being late, especially on the first day, having all of those eyes staring at me and offending the course’s professor for interrupting class.
    I held the door open for Raleigh and we entered the humanities building together.
    “I hope you enjoy your fairy tales,” I said.
    “I thought did a pretty good impression of Prince Charming at lunch today.”
    “What?”
    “I thought that was