#;; this one features his light sensitivity and general blurry vision that needs tons magnification to even see properly

[aeviterncl]

OPEN STARTER

Who would've thought reading the assigned textbook for this class would be so much harder than the ones for his other classes? It was one thing to need a magnifying glass to have a chance at reading a normal textbook, but this book was closer to a novel printed in a small size—which made it just that much harder to read. Ugh, this all really sucked! How could he write up this assignment in time when the tool that would help him make sense of this nonsense drawing was back home and when the assignment was due within the next few hours? Rubbing his eyes, Xander tried to focus on the tiny text on the page, but the light in the library was absolutely bothering him.

It hurt like hell, actually. His head hurt too. Taking a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose, the redhead redirected his thoughts away from the throbbing ache in his skull. He had to finish this assignment tonight.

As much as he would stay in his dorm room, he couldn't read properly in dim lighting either, hence why he was even here to read in the first place (and the library helped him focus on his work better too). The redhead had hoped there would be an large print version of his book here, but he had no such luck when asking the librarian about it. So, here he was—stuck without a reasonable excuse for not completing his assignment on time, the word document on the laptop sitting in front of him mostly typed up but still missing the key components that required analyzing components of the text he couldn't magnify properly with the tools he had brought with him to college.

Glancing over at the person sitting beside him, Xander decided to enlist some help. He knew this was breaking the unspoken rules of not bothering people who were studying, but what else could he do at this point when even going back to his dorm room wouldn't change much of anything? Reaching out hesitantly, the boy gently tapped on the person's shoulder, hoping this person would be nice.

In a quiet voice, he tried to explain himself, ❝ Um, sorry to bother you but... do you mind helping me read this? The drawing is way too tiny for me to read. ❞ The redhead held out the book to the page he was stuck on—one with a chemical compound drawings and tiny letters and numbers that he needed to reference, ❝ or if you could draw it larger on a sheet of paper...? ❞