Chapter 1 - revised
Tuesday, August 26th
I had always hated the first day of classes. The fact that I have always been awkward enough around people without having to stand up and speak in front of them really doesn't have that much to do with my hatred, but it doesn't help it either. The beginning of a new semester is always full of embarrassing "get-to-know-you" games or the aloof "Hi, my name is…, my major is…, and the ever important 'here's-why-I'm-better-than-you' fact" that all professors seem to require. Being forced to stand and say just enough to make me self-conscious and tongue-tied is just slightly irritating. Plus, I had already done the whole "I'm not from here, I wanted something different for school" schpeal at least three times already and I really wasn't looking forward to doing it again.
Nobody would care what my major was going to be.
Nobody would care that I wasn't from around here.
Nobody would care that I didn't have a home to go back to.
No one.
No one cared that I'm miles away from anything familiar.
No one cared that my mother only loved me through greeting cards and when it was appropriate for her.
No one even cared that my…
Instantly, my angst ridden, teen-like thoughts were halted when he stood up. And just like that, everybody cared.
If they didn't, it didn't matter.
His cheeks flushed lightly at the unwanted attention. It looked like he was trying to distract himself by keeping his eyes glued to the white board on the opposite wall of him. That was a trick I had learned in high school during competitions and presentations, to look right above a persons' head and talk at that spot.
He was absolutely gorgeous, yet something about him that seemed familiar.
Who do I know here? If there were ever a time when I had met this god before, surely I would have remembered?
As he parted his beautifully paired lips to introduce himself to the class and it suddenly came back to me.
I had seen him Thursday morning, the first time I had ever been on campus.
I had decided to walk my schedule, to find where everything was. Luckily, it wasn't as hot as it should be outside, not yet. I was looking for the Farmer's Education Building when a flash of color grabbed for my attention in my peripheral vision. I looked towards the student services building and slowed my strides – for both mine and everyone else's safety. He was walking quickly out of the building. His face was terribly angry, but still overwhelmingly beautiful. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice my staring, which was definitely for the besting seeing as I ran into some poor landscaper at that moment. I apologized to the man profusely and began to brush myself off and as slyly as is possibly for me, I peaked up towards the Student Services Building to see if my embarrassing first moments on campus had been witnessed. But the handsome man was no where to be seen.
My face exploded into a white heat as I relived my embarrassment. The fact that I was ninety-eight percent sure that he, nor anyone else, had witnessed, made the heat vanish gradually. As I thought back I was curious as I recalled the memory as to why he was angry.
He certainly didn't look angry now. He looked slightly embarrassed. His eyes were no longer glued to the wall, but shifted nervously, never lingering long on any one thing in the room. And they never once came to my side of the room.
Almost as if he was searching for a way out of the small classroom. I took the rest of him in. He was tall, I could tell, but with no one else standing, it was hard for me to judge his actual height. The shirt he was wearing was non-descript and nothing fancy. The fact that he didn't dress up showed that he was laid back...Or that he was lazy. But he wasn't dressed down, so he cared to an extent.
Either way, he was absolutely beautiful.
Glumly, I looked down at my choice of school attire: the hand-me-down sweatshirt from my dad and jeans. I had never been one who "dressed to impress", especially in a school setting. Why should I dress up just to sit in an uncomfortable chair for 50 -75 minutes, just in futile hopes of impressing someone in the 15 minutes that I have to run to my next class? But as I looked up at him again I suddenly regretted not trying harder. Refocusing my eyes back to my dad's old ROTC sweater, I nearly blanched. I could have worn a cute hoodie, or braved the ridiculously cold classrooms for the sake of being a girl, right? Well, if I owned any of those things, I could. And now that I was sitting in a room with him twice a week, I was all for risking comfort. I'd brave going to the store and spending some money on something a little bit … nicer. For the sake of being a girl ... of course.
In this class, at least.
When I lifted my head back up to pay attention to him, I realized that due to my inner musings, I had missed everything he said. He had sat down and stared blankly at the bright colored syllabus in front of him.
His name, his major, where he was from, I had missed it all. Not even given an inkling of who this dazzling man could be or what he said. All for the sake of critiquing my vanity.
Pointless, pathetic vanity. It's not like he would ever really look at me anyway. Even if I did dress nicer, he'd never see me.
Nevertheless, I craned my neck slightly in his direction to … look at the clock to, erm… check the , almost lunch time, just as I had suspected. I shifted my eyes slightly down in hopes of catching a glimpse of him, to see if he really was as magnificent as he was in the sun this morning.
It was pure luck that he was located right near the clock. That couldn't have worked out any better.
He looked up and met my eyes for a split second before they darted back down to his table.
Good Lord! His eyes!
The slight blush that had crept up into his lightly freckled cheeks only made him more stunning. I had never known anyone else to blush as I did and I had to wonder what put it there. My curious thoughts about him carried me through the rest of class.
Soon enough, we were dismissed early and I profusely thanked God that I wasn't caught drooling at him.
I started to gather my things and risked one last hopeful glance towards … "the clock". No such luck. He was surely long gone by now. Heaving a sigh, I removed my dad's old sweater and exited the empty room.
Nothing could prepare me for the blistering heat of Tempe. Why did I have to choose Tempe? No one in their right mind would freaking choose Tempe! But apparently, I didn't like to breathe and sweating myself to death was my idea of fun. Walking from the shade, I flinched as the sun attacked my eyes and skin. I knew when I moved here that I would have to invest in some heavy duty SPF; it didn't occur to me that I would need to devote some more money to some serious sunglasses, too. If I wanted to keep my retinas at least.
I chose to forgo the union and cafeteria (not to mention the long line full of hungry, sweaty people) and head home for lunch. I had a nice long break before my second class and my third and my apartment wasn't too far off campus. If Tempe wasn't a freakin' oven, I could walk.
By the time I had gotten to Lot 59, I was starving. The sun beating down on me, making my hair hot to the touch, and I was quite sure that I would be bright red by the time I got myself home. Oh, Arizona. Here's to being forever sun burnt.
I had finally located my car and was in the process of quickening my pace when he came into view. I fought hard against the strong desire that was telling me to just stand and stare at him. No! I would not let him distract me from my task! My stomach growled in agreement as if to give me strength that I wouldn't have otherwise. I threw my bag into the backseat and was halfway in my car when I felt eyes on me. I glanced up to see a pair of beautifully warm eyes looking back at me from a few spots down. His beautiful face turned up in a small smile and he nodded shyly at me in acknowledgment. My breath caught with the brilliance of that minute smile. However, instead of sending my own smile back at him even waving like a normal girl, I blushed and quickly entered the sanctuary that was my car.
In the quiet moment I had to myself before gaining the courage to reverse out of my parking spot, I silently prayed that he would smile at me everyday. That he would be in more of my tedious classes. That I would get to hear his voice. Know his name. Love him. Marry him. I stopped there. I was being ridiculous. I turned the car on and upped the stereo in hopes of drowning out my suddenly very girlie inner voice and drove off.
I winced as I pulled into my assigned covered parking spot. I turned the car off and let go of a breath that felt as if I had been holding it for an absurd amount of time.
My attempt of musical distraction from him failed. Horribly. I couldn't remove him from my brain. I knew his face was beautiful from earlier in the morning. I had seen his eyes were bright with life and vibrant from the brief encounters they had shared with mine. His skin was darker than mine, although that isn't a huge accomplishment as the Irish in me beats down any other darker-skinned ancestry I may have. The hair on his head was wonderfully unique and soft looking. A girl could, very happily I'm sure, run her fingers though hair like that. I would absolutely choke on satisfaction if I got a chance to run my fingers through that hair.
I felt my breath hitch at that thought.
I needed immediately change the subject of my thoughts before I could imagine running my fingers anywhere else.
It's been reworked. I hope you like it more.
Let me know :)
Have a great day!
