Chapter 1

Hello, I’m Isaac. today starts my first day of summer vacation. Before the end of my second semester as a sophomore in college I signed up for a foreign exchange program for a promise of an exciting summer adventure. They definitely weren’t lying.

The flier said that there would be a summer trip to visit many of the major cities in California along with a group of foreign students.

However, being in a wheelchair has its disadvantages. I had to spend the weeks leading up to the trip talking with the event coordinator about accommodations that would be needed at all of our hotels that we would be staying at. Just a few days before the trip, we worked out all of the kinks and I was set to go on this adventure.

We showed up at the school on May 30th (a Monday) for the start of our adventure. There had to have been at least 30 of us waiting for the buses. Luckily I had talked my friend Chris into coming along so I had someone to talk to. But that plan was dashed the moment that the event leader began talking.

A tall African American male began yelling, trying to get everyone’s attention. “Hey can I get everyone to make a circle around me. Thanks. My name is Trevon. I am in charge of all of you. When we leave a place I make sure we are all accounted for. I am responsible for each and every one of you. So let’s have a good time and not do anything stupid. Now as you all know, this is a foreign exchange trip. Meaning, all of you will be paired with one of the students from Ukraine. They have all taken lessons in English to be able to participate in this trip. Some may have more problems that other when it comes to speaking our language. So help out when you can, and be respectful.”

I spoke just loud enough for Chris to hear me, “Damn, so we gotta spend time with people who can barely speak our language and babysit them. This is gonna suck”.

Chris replied, “It probably wont be that bad. Lets just wait and see”.

Trevon kept explaining the rules of the road as the buses drove up. There was one huge coach bus and one smaller short bus that I knew was for me. I was used to short buses, seeing as they are the ones with the wheelchair lifts.

As the bigger bus came to a stop an older gentleman stepped off and shook Trevon’s hand. “Its gooood to finally meet you” He said as they exchanged their greetings.

Trevon asked, “Vicktor, should we pair them up now, or wait for our first stop?”

“We do now, they can get to know each uder better on zee road”, Vicktor replied.

The two leaders began calling names and introducing the students to their partners. It got a few names in when Chris was called to meet his partner. He went up and shook the hand of a young male about 20 years old. His name was Mykola. They walked back toward me talking when my name was called.

Now at this point most of the pairs were of the same gender, but that was bound to run out as we had different number students of different genders. So I go up and see a young female, knowing I was one of the lucky few who got a person of the opposite sex.

And boy was I lucky, As I am approaching her am astonished at the beautiful girl that was my partner, she has somewhat pale skin tone but without any visible imperfections, she is sporting amazingly long sandy blonde hair that reaches the middle of her back, she is also quite skinny (she doesn’t look a pound over 105) but had slight curves in all the right places.

I realize I had been staring the entire time I was getting past all the people in my way and shift my eyes down to keep from giving off a creepy vibe. I finally get to the front and look back up at her. It is then that I realize how petrifyingly beautiful her brown eyes were.

“Oh, hello. My name is Steffanie” she says as she extends her arm to shake my hand. I put my hand out, not being able to extend my hand all the way due to my weak muscles. But she steps closer to take my hand and shakes it without a moments hesitation.

Our hands shake up and down for a few seconds as I take in the softness of her hands. At this point I hadn’t said anything in return. I realize I had been holding my breath this whole time, so I let it out and gave a nervous smile to her.

“Vhat is ... your ... name?” she asks as she strings together her sentence with the cutest serious look on her face.

“Oh, im sorry. I’m Isaac” I finally reply and she lets go of my hand.

We stare into each others eyes as we stayed in one spot for what seemed like forever.

Our gaze is broken when Vicktor stepped towards me and took my hand with a VERY firm grip to shake it. “Heel-oh, it is verry nice to meet you”.

“yes, thank you”, I said as I was trying to recover from that feeling I got when steffanie’s eyes and mine met.

Vicktor stepped back to continue pairing the rest of the students while steffanie and I found a table away from the group but close enough to hear what was going on. She sat facing toward me and smiled.

“Soo, we will be partnerz?” she asked

“Yes, I think so. Ummm ... they said that we should get to know each other since we will be together for the rest of the trip.” I replied, trying to keep the conversation going.

She smiled and nodded. I waited for her to say something but had nothing else that could think to keep talking. I let the fear run its course as she looked around the area from her seat. Finally, I asked the first question that came to my head.

“Sooooooooooo, do you have a boyfriend?” I regretted this question the moment it left my mouth. Trying to play it cool I sat and waited for her answer. “Oh, I do not have boyfriend” she answered with a nervous smile.

“I’m so sorry, that was a very personal and stupid question”

“No, No, it iz fine, no need to be sorry” she said, saving me from feeling so idiotic.

“You know you can probably go and ask to switch with someone before we go” I told her feeling like such a single minded jackass.

She looked at me with a confused face before she said, “Why I need switch? You not com-fort-table ... wit me?”

All I feel is shocked. It took me a second to think if she was right. That thought passes quickly as I look at her concerned face. “No ... its just that ... I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with me” I said

“Oh ... no. I am fine. You seem like nice person” she says with a look that I cannot place but that seemed like she knew exactly what she was saying.

I smile and shake my head, “Good”.

I look over to see the group started to get on the bus. “We should probably go now. We don’t want to be left behind” I joked.

She smiled and grabbed her purse as we both headed towards the short bus.

Loading me took a few extra minutes but by the time I was all strapped in I look over to the seat across the aisle and see Steffanie watching and waiting for me.

Trevon took a head count of everyone who had boarded our bus and settled in the front seat.

I look over and smile at Steff as she does the same. At that moment I feel something poking the back of my head. Then I hear a familiar voice, “Hey, long time no see, who’s your friend?” Chris asks.

“Dammit Chris, why do you have to be such a creeper.” I said in a playful tone. “This is Steffanie, she is my partner”

“Awww man, how come you get a female?!” Chris said obnoxiously

The bus jerked forward as we were on our way to our first stop. Luckily it was not too far. We are scheduled to stay in San Diego for the first 2 days. We arrive an hour later at a hotel in the middle of downtown.

We didn’t have much time to talk but we spoke a little about why we were in the school we are in. I want to become a part of new media, and she wants to create clothes as a fashion designer. We didn’t get to finish our conversation as we pulled up to the hotel. Everyone walked off except for Steff. She stayed behind and looked at me with curious eyes.

“this will probably take a while, go ahead and ill find you later. Okay? I told her. She seemed reluctant but went ahead of the bus anyways.

Chris was waiting at the bottom of the lift as I was coming out. “I got us a room!”

“That quickly?” I was shocked.

We all got rooms with at least one other person. Seeing as we are all adults they let us choose who to room up with so long as everyone had a bed. Chris had let Trevon know that him and I were going to pair up for a room.

As we entered the hallways of the hotel I realized that I had not seen Steffanie at all since the bus. Damn, I guess ill have to find her later.

We enter the room and find that there are 3 beds in this room. I look over at Chris and tell him, “Go find your partner, Mykola was it?”

He gave me a look that said that he did not want to.

“We are supposed to get to know our partner’s dumbass” I joke.

“Fiiiine” He left his luggage on his bed and went in search for Mykola. I took that time to put my clothes away in the dresser under the TV. Once that was done I pull out my xbox from the extra bag I had packed and brought along. I left all the wires out for Chris to hook up since I couldn’t reach the back of the TV. Chris walked in with Mykola right behind him with his rolling luggage.

There were three beds in the room. All of them were facing the opposite wall where a mounted TV was over 2 large dressers. The bathroom at the opposite end of the room. I had taken the bed closest to the door with Chris taking the bed in the middle of the room. The remaining bed was claimed by Mykola who hadn’t said much since he walked in.

Chris quickly took the remaining drawers in the dresser I had put mine and immediately set the Xbox up. Both he and I had planned to each bring our controllers and games. So we started playing into the evening without a care in world.

While me and Chris became lost in our game, Mykola got lost in his book. We kept to ourselves for an hour or so.

Dinner time had come, and the program director had orders a whole bunch of pizzas. We had to go to his room to get our food but we got to take it back to our room.

The entire time we waited in line for pizza I kept an eye out for my partner. But, she was no where in sight. I began to worry that I really did scare her off with my initial question.

We finished our dinner in our room as we drink the overly priced sodas in our mini fridge. We planned to buy sodas somewhere and replace them so we wouldn’t be charged with an arm and a leg for 2 stupid drinks.

Night had soon approached, as we continued our individual activities. I had gotten board of playing games and decided to pull out the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire (better known as game of thrones). Chris was being kind of loud playing his game. So I decided to go out and find a quiet spot to read.

I left in my pajamas, with my book, phone, and a small RWBY blanket to keep me warm. As I traveled the halls I examined a directory near the elevators. I figured that the pool area on the roof would be the quietest place to read. As I came out of the elevator I was hit with some pretty bright lights. The pool area was very well lit. I looked around to see a couple of girls in the pool. They seemed to be relaxing as they floated in the pool without a care in the world.

I look for a spot that’s secluded from the rest of the area but well lit. the corner of the pool is just far enough away from others but still has enough light to read. So I settle in and get a couple chapters in, when I hear, “Hello” from behind my book. I knew instantly who it was when I looked up. Steffanie was standing right there with the best of smiles on her face.

“You know I was lookin for you earlier” I said with a smile to match hers.

“OH, I’m sorry. I went looking around. I like ... uh how you say...” She searched for the word with a serious thinking face.

“ ... exploring?” I try to finish her sentence.

“Uh, yes I think soo.” She sits in one of the beach chairs next to where I was sitting.

I lay my book down on my lap and try to figure out what to talk about with this model like beauty sitting next to me. I must have spaced out for a few seconds, lost in my thought when I heard I heard her ask, “So what boook are you read-ing?”

“Oh, ummm...” I spit out syllables as she reaches for my book.

She inspects it carefully and reads, “Ah Gayme of Thrones. Oh I know dis, it is TV show!”

“yea, do you watch it?” I ask forgetting about my shyness with the mentioning of my favorite show.

We must have spent at least another 2 hours talking about our favorite character (which happens to be the same, tyrion), the plots, and most interesting episodes (which was all of them). The pool had been deserted by the time we ran out game of thrones references to discuss.

Inside my mind I wondered how such a beautiful girl could nerd out with someone like me. It just seemed like a dream to be siting across such a beautiful woman that I could connect to. I’m not the best looking guy, and to top it off I am in a wheelchair. Women are not usually rushing to be near me. But this foreign beauty is here when she could have gone and talked with anyone.

While I may have been selected to be her partner, it didn’t seem like any of the students were taking their partnership too seriously. Most stayed with their friends, most likely only here for the chance at a summer adventure traveling along the western coast. Yet here we were, Steffanie and I. Connecting on all the levels that were meant for this foreign exchange program.

She snapped me out of my deep thoughts when I noticed her gather her things to leave.

“You heading to bed?”

“Oh, no. I go to find machine with snacks, I am vea-ry hungry” she replied.

I sat in my spot wondering if I should go with her, or if she was coming back, or going to her room. I am not sure if she noticed my self questioning expression, or she genuinely wanted me to go with her because when she stopped after a few steps she looked at me wondering why I wasn’t following. No words were needed so I put my book in my bag and came up next to her as we went back into the halls of the hotel.

As we wondered down the halls looking for vending machines I asked her who she got a room with.

“Oh, des 2 girls come and tell me that I should go with them. They are very talkative, so I go and explore.”

After a couple more hallways we finally ran into the small area with a couple different machines for, ice, candy, and sodas.

She looked at the machine and pulled out a little purse full of coins. She dumped some out into her hand and began looking through them. She stood there for a minute just staring at all of the coins.

“You need help?” I asked

“Yes please, I not do well on American money exam.” She chuckled.

She held her hand out to me so that I can look through. Not only were there American coins, but others that I did not recognize. She told me which candy she wanted and I checked the price to see which coins we would need. I picked through the coins, occasionally brushing against her soft hand. My face got hot as I gave her back the coins she needed to put in.

“Thank you, you are very kind” she said with a huge smile. She turned and began inserting coins into the machine. Unfortunately, as I guy I could not help but check her out as she put her coins in. She seemed very skinny but with curves that could make any man take a second look. Her breasts are lovely B’s that could easily pass as C’s. And her long lovely sandy blonde hair to top off her goddess like beauty.

The candy drops and she bends over to retrieve it. With my eyes unable to be removed from her butt, she stands back up and notices what I was looking at. Now being a young adult male in America, I put on my face of regret preparing for one of the two reactions a woman would normally give to a guy like me, she would either be pissed and yell at you for staring, or she would get wierded out and pretend it didn’t happen. She surprised me by doing neither, she gave me a smirk while swaying her whole body as she walked down the hall and down the nearest corner. I sat there for a few seconds wondering what just happened. Then I see her poke her head back from around the corner she went to and asked, “You go with me?”

“Yea” I say quickly trying to catch up with her. We were quiet just wandering down random hallways, there were not too many people, it was already late into the evening. She stopped and front of a room and turned to face me.

“This is my room...” She stood there, kind of just smiling and staring.

I broke the short silence, “Alrighty then, I guess I will see you in the morning then.”

“Oh okay, I will see you in zee morning”, she turned and slid her card key to open the door. I followed the hallways back to my room after I saw her enter her room. I had fun fanboying out with her. I just hope it wasn’t a one-time thing, getting to talk to her that is.

I got back to my room entering the same room I had left a few hours ago. Chris playing a game and Mykola was reading his book. I watched Chris play for a few minutes before I started getting ready for bed.

Being in a wheelchair makes everything so much more difficult than the norm. Brushing my teeth is a workout, getting in bed can be a nightmare, while taking a shower is a chore. Nonetheless, I get in bed and fall to sleep watching Chris still playing Devil May Cry.

I eventually open my eyes to a completely pitch black room. I look at my phone and see that it is already close to 9 o’clock. Remembering that we are supposed to leave at 10 I yell to Chris to wake up. He doesn’t. I use the light on my phone to help me get in my wheelchair and make my way to the window. The curtains were very good at keeping out the light, because one I slid them open the sun shined in like angels descending from heaven. I hurt my eyes in the process but I do get both Chris and Mykola to get up from bed. I tell them that we are supposed to leave in an hour and they start getting ready.

We head to the main lobby of the hotel where they had a kitchen nearby that had quick breakfast foods such as cereal and such. Most of the other students had finished eating and were hanging out chatting waiting to leave for our first activity of the trip.

We go and get breakfast and find one of the few unoccupied tables so that we can eat. As we start to eat, Vicktor comes up and puts his hand on my shoulder, “You have late start ehh!! Ha ha ha.”

We all gave each other these awkward stares and I decide to be the one to answer, “Yea, the curtains in the rooms are really good. They keep all the sun out”.

“Ha ha, may-be you set alarm clock, no?”

“Yea I guess we should have”, I reply waiting for him to leave so I can finish eating. He stays for a few more seconds, creating an even more awkward silence. “Well I zee bus later no?”

“Yes we will be there” I said, hoping that he would just go away.

“Do not be late! Ha Ha Ha!” he says as he finally walks away.

Mykola finally uses his few words of the day, “That guy gives me creeps”.

I finish eating my cereal and take the bowl to the area where all the dirty dishes were piling up. When I turn to head back to my table Steffanie is right in front of me.

“Goood morning!” she says with a radiant smile. “How are you too-day?”

“Im good thank you, how is your morning going.”

“Ugh”, as she rolls her eyes.

“That good huh?”

“No it iz verry annoying, girlz just tallk sooo much” she says while making her hands looking like they are talking to each other. I give a little laugh at the scene she makes. “Itz not funny! I get soo little sleep!”

Trevon interrupted our little side show by yelling that the bus was here for our tour of downtown. We both were paying attention when I looked over at steffanie and asked, “Your not gonna leave me this time, are you?”

She gave me heart warming smile and said, “No I pro-miss, I not leave you again!”

We make our way to the bus and I get into my designated spot to get on. Before I knew it I was strapped into the bus with Steff but an arms length away from me. We were basically riding the same bus that we came in on. The only difference was that at the front of the bus was a tour guide who shouted facts about different buildings and areas that we would pass by.

We must have been in that bus for a couple hours before I realize that steffanie was asleep in her seat. I laugh to myself, wondering how someone can still be so beautiful even when they are sleeping.

All of a sudden I feel that same familiar tap. I don’t know how he does it. I don’t even notice that he had been sitting behind me the whole time. Chris whispers, “Dude, you are really bad at this partner stuff. Shes missing all the “cool” stuff we drove by.”

That’s when I hear Mykola chime in with a few words as well, “Yes, first you loose her when we go to hotel, then she falls a sleep on tour. You are bad American parrt-ner”.

“Damn now I gotta hear this crap from both of you.” I point back at Mykola, “I liked you better when you were quiet”. I hear laughter and a slap as if they high fived each other.

Shortly after our little squabble, we arrive near the ocean. The tour guide says that we are getting off to see Seal Beach. Everyone starts to get off with Chris and Mykola wait for everyone but me and steff to get off.

“You want us to wake her up?” chris asked.

“Yea, just ... don’t touch her” I said making sure he understood.

Chris gets in front and opens his mouth to wake her, then he stops. “What’s her name again?”

I slap my face, “Dude, its Steffanie”!

“Well soorrryyy, its not like you ever introduced us. Rude much?!” Chris said sarcastically.

Chris started with a normal voice volume, “Steffanie? Can you wake up?”. He says it again but louder. He does it again even louder, practically yelling. Then Mykola puts his face near her ear and says something in Russian. I see her eyes open slowly, as she regains her awareness of her surroundings. She looks over at Mykola and asks him something in the same language. He responds in english, “We are at beach”.

She looks around still a little groggy. She gathers her things and all three of them step off the bus. The bus driver finally comes back and unhooks me so I can get off too. Chris, Mykola, and Steffanie were all waiting at the bottom of the wheelchair lift. The rest of the group had already started heading toward the beach when I got all the way down off the bus.

“You guys didn’t have to wait for me, don’t want to miss anything”

Chris and Steff both gave me the same look. Chris was the first to open his mouth, “Dude im not gonna leave you, wheres the fun in that?”

Then Steffanie, “I pro-miss not to leave you again”.

Mykola kind of just stood there smiling.

“Well alrighty then, lets catch up to the rest of the group then.” I said leading the way. We catch up a few minutes later as the group gets near the area above the beach where you can see the seals littering the beach. This is an area that they are protected so they come every year and kind of just hang out. Im not sure if this is where they breed or whatnot, all I know is that a lot of people were fascinated by them being there.

I spent like a minute in fascination before I got bored, then I began looking around to see if there was anything else interesting. But there wasn’t much else around. The occasional tourists, some people riding bikes and roller skates. There were a few girls in bikini’s that passed by. Living in San Diego you get used to that pretty quickly, but you could tell that some of the foreign students (especially the males) were surprised at the half naked women walking down the sidewalks. When I looked to see how Steffanie reacted, I saw her kind of just staring with this serious look. I was sure that those women upset her in some way. So I asked her, “You okay?”

She kind of snapped out of it when she looked at me to reply, “Oh yes, I cure-ious about mat-earial they use for bee-kee-nee.” I couldn’t help but to smile at her. She did tell me that she likes designing clothes when we first met.

After about 15 minutes of people taking pictures we walked over to Sea Port village, a little shopping area along the beach area. They have some some stores and sometimes local artists set up little tables to display and sell their art. We were told that we would be getting lunch down the beach on the grassy area in about an hour, so everyone kind of split up in their own little groups. So it was just Chris, Mykola, Steffanie, and me.

We went in and out of a lot of different stores. They were mostly gift shops with shirts and souvenirs. Steff and I found a section with funny hats and tried them on. We took a whole bunch of selfies with my phone and had a great time. She found a nice San Diego shirt that she wanted in one of the stores so she went and got it. I of course had to help her out with the money but it all worked out. I enjoyed feeling needed. As a guy in a wheelchair there are not many instances that a person needs your help. Most of the time it was the other way around. That feeling was amazing though.

As we headed toward the lunch area we passed by some of the artist booths. One of them was a guy with a camera, and he took pictures to print out for his customers. He didn’t seem to have to many takers though, when we were approaching. This is when he asked us, “Oh, a picture for the lovely couple?!”

My eyes got big, “Oh no we are not-”

“Yes please” Steff interrupted.

She looked at me and smiled. How could I say no.

“Great! Okay, let move you right here” he said as he guided us into the position. Steff is unfortunately much taller than me sitting in my wheelchair. So the guy said, “Maybe you can bend down lower”. Taking pictures with a girl has never been one of my strong suits. But she did something that I will never forget. She sat in my lap. She was quite light. And the photographer seemed to be fine with it. I heard his camera go off a few times. He said, “okay lets see what we got”. He had a computer screen to see which ones we wanted. There was 2 that were perfect, they displayed a beautiful background of the ocean with a happy looking couple. I chose one she chose another. We both got one big and one small picture printed out.

“Awwww, loook at us, we so happy.” She said with the most wonderful smile. I couldn’t help but stare at mine. We put them away in our individual bags and continued on our way to the lunch area.

Trevon was barbequing burgers, Steff and I were one of the first ones there. Our burgers were still hot and fresh which made them taste amazing. We chatted for some time while everyone else showed up and ate lunch. Chris and Mykola came and sat with us while they ate. They told us about the girl who’s bikini fell off as they walked by her. Everyone thought it was pretty funny.

It was toward the end of their story Chris face showed shock, as if he suddenly realized something. “DUDE!!!”

I was startled so I yelled back, “WHAT!?!?”

“We forgot about Roooby [meaning RWBY]” he said frantically

“OOOHHHHHH!!!!”

Both Mykola and Steff seemed were so confused at what Chris and I were yelling about. Rwby is my absolute favorite show of my entire life, so I can get a little over excited when trying to convince someone else to watch it. I was very animated when explaining all the cool features of the show such as the action, jokes, and graphics. Mykola was like every other person that I explain this show to. They listen for the first few minutes then get distracted by something else. Steffanie was different. She seemed to listen to every single word that I said while waving my hands around like a weirdo. She was so sincere when listening. Then I realized how much I had gotten away with myself when explaining the show so I stopped and said, “anyways, if you want to see it I brought seasons 1 and 2 with me.”

Steff did not hesitate to say, “The would bee verry nice, it sound in-ter-es-ting.”

“Yea just come by our room and I can let you borrow them.”

“Oh ... i thought we watch together?” she seemed a bit down while saying this.

“Oh ... yea that sounds like fun, we can make some popcorn and have a little rwby screening in our room” I was so excited to draw someone else into my madness of RWBY.

Lunch ended soon after that. We all got back on the bus and took a tour of a different part of downtown SD. We stopped at some building that they wanted us to tour but by the time the bus driver got me off the bus the group had started the tour. Steff had stayed behind because she is my partner. They made chris and Mykola to stay with the group.

Steff and I entered the lobby of the building and did not know where to go next to catch up. We decided to find a place in the lobby to wait for the group to come back. We talked a bit about our families and how they influenced us. I looked outside to see a small convenient store, then I remembered that we were going to have a movie night. “Hey steff, want to go with me to get some snacks for our movie tonight?”

“Uh, yes, this sounds goood”

So we went across the street and got a whole bunch of different snacks like sodas, chips, candies, and whatever other foods that looked good. We left with 2 bags each of all kinds of goodies. When we got back to the front of the building we were supposed to be touring the rest of the group was waiting for the bus to come back around to pick us up.