Chapter Three #2
“Alright since today is the first day I want us to try and get to know each other, because this semester we’re going to be interacting quite a bit.
” Professor Stilex says. “So, I want you guys to fill out this introduction sheet and have it done by tomorrow, you can also choose to work on it now as I talk about the syllabus, and give you all a summary of what the semester is going to look like.”
He hands the sheet to those in the front row and they take one and pass the rest back. I look over the sheet when I get mine. A student raises her hand.
“Yes, ma’am?” Professor Stilex calls.
“Is this worth a grade?”
“Yes, ma’am it is, five points.”
“Okay, thank you.”
As the professor talks about the syllabus and goes over what the semester is going to look like I fill out the introduction sheet.
I internally groan when I see that we might have a group project as a final exam instead of actually taking a test. In most cases most people would be happy, jumping out of their seats to dance at the knowledge of the possibility that there may not be a test to be taken for the final, but for those who are a bit introverted like me I’d rather take the test.
“Any questions so far?” Professor Stilex asks.
One student raises his hand.
“If we do happen to do the group project what happens if one person in the group doesn’t do any work? Will that effect anyone else in the group that has worked hard on their portion of the project?” he asks.
“Uh well first off that shouldn’t happen given our ages and second we’re in college not middle school so you will be graded on the portion of the project you’ve been assigned.” Professor Stilex replies.
“Okay thank you.”
Well, that’s the only good thing about the project.
Something I’m happy about with this class is we only have two essays to write.
Last year in my English class before I moved to this university I had to write five essays in one semester.
It felt like it was essay after essay after essay.
It was tiring if you ask me so to come to this class and only have to write two essays is a win to me!
Another student raises her hand.
“Yes Miss Alexandra?”
“Why are we only writing two essays this semester?”
In my head I am cursing this girl out. Why the fuck is she asking that? Who likes writing essays?! I mean even people who write novels fiction or non-fiction despise essays!
“Uh because since you’ve all taken or should have taken one or two English classes before, given your year, this year they aren’t going to be a main priority in this class.” Professor Stilex responds.
Something I’m so very grateful for.
A few more hands go up some asking questions about the syllabus and others asking about the semester and getting to know the Professor.
I learn that he likes to watch documentaries on important historical figures along with Animal Documentaries.
He also tells the class that he and his wife awaits their newborn baby to be born sometime around Christmas which I found adorable.
For a human it’s exciting to meet your baby even though I don’t have one and most likely never will.
We all talk amongst one another, getting to know each other until it’s time to head to our next class. I smile to myself because so far I think this semester is going to be a good one.
The rest of the morning goes by rather quickly, mainly because most of what I did in class was listen to the professors introduce themselves before it’s the class’s turn to do the introductions.
In some of the classes we review the syllabus and the semester while others just reviewed one of them.
It’s nice especially since there’s no real work to be done, it’s just sitting there relaxing waiting for the class to end really.
Lunch rolls around and Brunelle and I made plans to meet up by the Language Arts buildings so I’m currently waiting for her to show up so we can go see what the cafeteria offers.
If it doesn’t offer anything we like we’ll go off campus to get lunch.
I’m on my phone when I hear a female voice talking so I look up and my heart stutters.
It’s the girl I saw with the gun last night.
I can see her clearer in the sunlight and her colorful, neon hair is tied back into a ponytail and she’s talking to someone on the phone.
She doesn’t look as vicious as she seemed last night.
I watch her walk to one of the many parking lots the campus has and pull a helmet off the handle of a pink bike.
The helmet has a marble design to it and is colorful.
Now I know why they call her Neon, but it makes me wonder if that’s her real name or just a nickname.
She talks on the phone for a few seconds longer and she ends the call before placing her helmet on her head and getting on her bike.
She brings the engine to life before revving it and zooming off.
I’m so mesmerized by it that I don’t realize Brunelle is sitting next to me until I turn and nearly crawl out of my skin. She giggles.
“Hello stranger.” She says.
“Hi.” I say, calming myself down.
“What caught your eye?” she asks.
“Nothing.” I reply.
“No.” she states. “Hell no, I saw you watching that girl, why did she catch your eye.”
“It’s none of your business.” I say.
“Don’t give me that bullshit.” She says. “I called your name, tapped you a couple times, and got all up in your personal space and you still didn’t budge.”
“Honestly it’s nothing, I just saw her at the party last night that’s all.” I say.
“And you want to hook up with her, understandable, but I thought you were into guys or do you swing both ways now?” Brunelle asks.
I’m silent in response, my mind going back to what I saw last night.
Then I remember him... the hot Asian guy.
It’s my first time thinking about him since my encounter with him.
I mean sure he’s hot and I wouldn’t mind a fun, X-rated night with him but I’m not going to die or feel I’ll have a gapping hole in my heart if that doesn’t happen.
I’m actually banking on that not happening.
There are plenty of men in the sea for me to bone.
“I mean I get it we are still young and still trying to figure ourselves out.” Brunelle continues, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“Let’s go to the cafeteria, I’m so hungry I can eat a cow.” I state.
As if on cue my stomach growls quite loudly. Brunelle laughs in response.
“Let’s go get you fed before you eat the first thing you see.” She pats my stomach.
We head to the cafeteria and my mouth falls open at how big it is. It has multiple mini fast-food places here and let’s just say the place is kind of crowded.
“Wow, this place is big.” Brunelle comments as we examine the place.
“And there are so many people here.” I add.
“Like ants.” She nearly whispers. “I’m craving something else though.”
“Something else like what?” I ask.
“I overheard this group of students talking about this amazing restaurant about five minutes away from campus that sells amazing meals and students get a discount.” Brunelle informs me.
“Seems nice.” I said.
“Do you see anything you want here?” she asks.
“You’re not getting anything?” I ask.
She shakes her head in response. “My mind is stuck on the restaurant, also with these lines you’d barely have time to eat before we’d have to go class again.”
I look at the lines and realize that she’s probably right.
“Let’s go then.” I say.
As we leave the cafeteria we realize that we don’t know where we were going, so we stop a student and ask him for directions.
Since we don’t know the name of the place the guy is confused at first before realization dawns on him.
He tells us the directions and we follow them.
On our way there we talk about our day, what our schedule is, what we do and don’t like about it, our favorite class so far and so on and so forth.
We finally get to the restaurant and I look up at the sign that reads Withhem’s Grill and Chill.
Upon entering I am met with the sweet, delicious smell of French Fries mixed along with tasty grilled foods. My stomach growls as we stand in line. I look at the menu and my mouth waters at the sight of the image of the Loaded Fries they’re advertising.
“You know what you’re going to order?” Brunelle asks.
I nod eagerly.
“Well, you can go first, I’m still looking.” She says.
Stepping in front of her I order my food and pay for it. I then step aside and let Brunelle order her lunch. Next we find an empty table and wait for our names to be called.
“So, what did you do at the party after I left?” Brunelle asks.
I shrug. “Nothing much.”
I refuse to tell her about what I saw with the neon haired girl and the Asian guy.
“And what is nothing much?” she asks.
“I just...”
Like a magnet to metal I feel a gaze on the back of my head.
My body begins to heat and I turn around to see him.
He’s staring directly at me with an intense gaze.
He’s with Neon and who they called Flit or at least I think it’s him, I’m not too sure given the fact that it was nighttime.
I swallow past the lump in my throat as I turn back to Brunelle.
“I—I’m sorry what are we talking about again?” I ask.
Brunelle looks over at his table with a frown on her face before looking back at me.
“Is everything okay, do we need to go or something?” she asks.
“No!” my voice comes out hoarse. “No, I’m fine, everything is fine.”
She examines me.
“Are you sure, you seem like you’re kind of on edge right now.” She says. “Who knew a party can fuck you up like this?”
“I’m not fucked up.” I state, firmly.
“Uh-huh.”
For some reason I turn to look back at his table and am relieved when I learn that he’s no longer looking at me. Although the guy is scarily intimidating I have to give it to him, he’s gorgeous to look at. I hear Brunelle gasp.
“Are you thinking about having a threesome with those two?” she asks.
“What, no.” I reply.
“Well, they sure do have your attention.” She says.
“I’m fine.” I say.
“Order for Brunelle!” a guy behind the counter shouts.
I’m grateful for it because it gives me time to breathe from her million and one questions and her interrogation as she leaves to retrieve her order.
I look back at his table for a third time and realize something.
My blood runs cold and breathing becomes hard.
I can’t be seeing what I’m seeing. No, I can’t.
I mean it’s not impossible because he is old enough to have one but why would he need it at school? Or even at a restaurant near campus.
He bounces his leg as he talks with his friends and the light catches the gun on his thigh perfectly, almost as if highlighting it in plain sight.
His gaze adverts to mine and we make eye contact.
I almost yelp aloud as I quickly turn back around and bring my phone screen to life.
I do some pretend scrolling before a real notification shows up on my phone.
It’s an email from the university welcoming me to my first year here.
Not what I was going for but at the moment anything is better than nothing/pretending.
Brunelle comes back with her food and as soon as she sits down my name is called for my order.
I nervously get up and go retrieve my order.
I thank the cashier before turning around to go back to the table.
I take a sip of my drink before digging into the bag to grab my food.
I’m happy I grabbed the fries first. My mouth waters at the sight of them so I don’t take my time digging in.
“Mmm, these fries are so good!” I exclaim.
“I see the hype.” Brunelle agrees as she bites into a chicken wing.
I grab my burger and bite into it. I feel like I’m in heaven.
“Oh yeah, five out five.” I moan. “We have to come back here!”
“Indeed.” Brunelle agrees.
Tasting the food made me forget about the beautiful guy until I see him and his friends laughing and talking as they walk out the place. I watch them and for what feels like the fiftieth time in twenty-four hours our eyes meet. I hold his gaze until he breaks first and walks out the door.
“Okay who are those people?” Brunelle asks. “And did you see that guy’s gun?”
“You saw it too, huh?” I ask.
“How could you see anything when you were too busy falling into the pit of his eyes?” Brunelle asks.
“I saw it when you went to go get your food.” I state.
“I’m surprise they allowed him to have one in the building.”
“Probably didn’t see it.” I mumble.
My gaze falls outside and I find him immediately.
I watch him put on his grey helmet before getting on his matching grey motorcycle.
His visor is up and he must sense me staring at him because his looks me in the eye once again.
Without break eye contact he turns on the engine of the bike, winks at me, before throwing the visor down and zooming off into the distance.
I blink as if I’m coming back to reality from a vivid fantasy of mine.
“That Korean guy is hot as hell.” Brunelle says.
“Yeah, he is, but I think we should keep our distance from him and his entire friend group.” I state.
“Why?” Brunelle asks. “He’s just another college student like you and I and everyone around here.”
My mind goes back to when I first saw him last night, how fast he snuck up on me, and finally lands on his threat. Goosebumps decorate my skin as chills flow up and down my back.
“It may seem like that but something else lurks within him.” I say.
Brunelle looks me up and down.
“Who says that? He’s not some type of supernatural being or anything, he’s human just like you and I.” she states.
“I just...” I begin. “I just have a gut feeling that we need to keep our distance from them.”
She looks at me and I can tell she doesn’t believe me. But she finally buckles and says,
“Okay, whatever you say.”