10
I am not prepared for today. I didn’t memorise the map I printed of the university or go over my class schedule. I don’t know where I’m going. I don’t know anyone in my classes, and the second we get to campus, Luna is going to walk away, and I’m going to have to find my way alone.
“Good luck,” Luna says, gripping my hand, an excited smile on her face. I let out a nervous breath and tug at the short skirt that she somehow, yet again, convinced me to wear.
“I wish you could come with me.” I swing my backpack around and rummage inside for the map. I pull it out and hold it in front of my face, trying to work out where we are.
“You’re going to be great. Don’t stress, and if you get lonely, just message me.
” She pulls the map down and away from my face and points to a building.
“You’re over there. Just go straight up that way, and you’ll see it.
” She makes it sound so easy. I force a smile as she turns her back on me and walks away, not a care or anxious thought plaguing her mind.
A minute after Luna disappears, I turn in the direction she told me to walk.
The campus is big. Too big. How is anyone expected to find their way around here?
I reach an old brick building. It towers above me like a daunting castle.
The new, spontaneous, carefree, coffee-drinking cool girl I was pretending to be this weekend has vanished.
My hands shake as I reach for the doors and push them open, revealing a narrow corridor with what appears to be an endless number of doors lining the walls.
“Excuse me,” a soft voice says as I clumsily bump into someone, causing their bag to fall to the ground and spill its contents.
“Sorry.” I bend down to help him pick everything up.
“It’s fine. I was distracted, too. I don’t know where I’m supposed to be.”
I look up, and I’m greeted with a friendly smile looking back at me. Handing him his books, I can’t help but notice how neatly dressed he is, in navy blue slacks and a white shirt.
“Hi, I’m Abi and I have no idea where I’m supposed to be either, but maybe I can help you find your room?”
“Nice to meet you, Abi. I’m Amir. I’m looking for room 3B?”
“Unfortunately, Amir, you’re out of luck because that’s where I’m supposed to be.”
Amir and I compared our class schedules, and except for two subjects, we have everything together.
It was just my luck that my next class was one of those two subjects, and I found myself facing a new bunch of unfamiliar faces.
The professor instructed us to break off into groups, and everyone flocked to one another as if they’d been friends for years.
I felt lost. In high school, I had relied on Luna to drag me into whatever group had formed around her.
But now, without the safety net of my best friend, I was left sitting on my own.
The lecturer tutted his lips and instructed me to join the closest group.
I shuffled over, shoulders slumped, humiliated that I was being put into a group that hadn’t chosen me.
Leaving that class, I spot Amir sitting on a shaded patch of grass, opening a bag of chips, with a book in his hand. A sigh of relief bursts out of me as I walk towards him, and he looks up.
“Hey, Abi, come sit with me. It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?
” He places an old leather strap through his book and closes it.
I take a seat in front of him, tucking my short skirt under my thighs so he won’t see my underwear.
The bright green grass spreads out in front of me, over rolling hills that create meeting spots for students.
The area we are sitting in is home to sycamore trees with large leaves that look like hands shielding us from the sun.
I reach forward, letting my fingertips stroke the grass around me.
“Everything here is so breathtaking. I went to the Carlton Gardens on the weekend, and it was stunning. I still can’t believe that there are places like this inside a city.”
“Look out,” Amir suddenly shouts. I jolt my gaze away from the grass to see what Amir is warning me about, just in time to see a football spinning towards me. I freeze, unable to move my body, my eyes screw shut in preparation for being hit, but the ball lands with a thud on the grass next to me.
“I’ll get it,” a distant voice yells. I look towards the voice and pick up the ball, mentally preparing myself to scold them for almost hitting me, but any resolve I had dissipates when I see Sam jogging towards me.
“He’s gorgeous,” Amir whispers into my ear.
“Hey, Abi. Sorry, I didn’t hit you, did I?” Sam leans down to take the ball from my hands.
“No, I’m fine.” I smile, squinting slightly from the sun beaming right behind him, causing an angelic glow to form around his body. Amir nudges me with his elbow, waiting for an introduction. “Amir, this is Sam. He lives in my building.”
“Hi, Amir. Nice to meet you. I’d better get back. Sorry again.” Sam smiles sweetly, turning to jog back to his friends.
“You were holding out on me. Who knew you were friends with the hottest guy on campus?” Amir gushes, popping a chip into his mouth.
“I guess he is good-looking.”
“You guess? You must be blind. Tell me, do you have a boyfriend who prevents you from noticing obviously attractive people?” He tilts his head sideways, patiently waiting for me to spill the beans on my confusing love life.
“I had a boyfriend. We broke up right before I moved here.” He shoots me a sympathetic look, but I wave it away.
“I’m fine. It was a relief in a way. You know when you see those couples who have such an undeniable attraction that they have to have each other, right there?
” He nods with a knowing smile. “We didn’t have that. Not even at the start.”
“The fire is important. I was with Cameron for two years, and we recently broke up too. I was leaving for uni, and he got one of those fly-in, fly-out jobs. I miss him every day, but I know that fire is out there, and one day I’ll find it again,” he says, with an optimistic sparkle in his eye.
He looks down at his watch. “We’d better get going. ”
Amir stands, gathering his things and holds out his hand to help me up.
I attempt to gracefully push my body up using my legs while simultaneously pulling at the hem of my skirt with my free hand.
A wolf whistle nearby alerts me to the fact that I was unsuccessful in maintaining some modesty.
Amir rolls his eyes, still holding onto my hand, and my cheeks flush in embarrassment.
“Hey baby, you look good bending over, come here and do it again,” a deep voice jeers. I look over to see a group of boys crowding the entrance to our building, and Amir squeezes my hand.
“Yeah, you, come here, give us a taste,” another one says, laughing loudly, as his buddies spur him on.
I look around, hoping that no one is witnessing this embarrassing exchange, when I see Sam walking over, his eyebrows pinched together sternly.
His face is vastly different from the warm smile we saw earlier.
He approaches the group of boys, towering over them as he peers down with a disapproving glare, causing them to shrink in his presence.
“We didn’t know she was taken,” the first one says. He raises his hands and cocks his head, but his eyes give him away. He’s scared.
“It doesn’t matter if you think she’s taken or not. No woman should be spoken to like that. If I ever hear you speak that way to anyone on this campus again, you’ll have to deal with me. Got it?” Sam puffs his chest, challenging him, standing only inches away.
“Ok, man. Got it.”
“Now say sorry.” He squints his eyes, letting them know that they won’t be leaving unless they do what he says.
“Sorry,” they all echo one after the other. Sam takes a step back, allowing them room to pass him. They scamper away, not daring to look back. He turns around to face me and Amir, and his features soften.
“Thank you, you didn’t have to,” I say, fighting the urge to hug him.
“Guys like that need to learn they can’t behave that way. I’d better get to class. See you around, Abi, Amir.” He tips his head like a Southern cowboy. I watch his back as he walks away, his posture full of confidence as he greets everyone around him.
“There’s your fire right there. Athletic and a gentleman?” Amir lets out a sigh. “They don’t make them like that anymore.”
“He’s my friend, and besides, I met someone.”
Amir turns his head with intrigued amusement. “Tell me everything.