Scarlett Black gazed wistfully out the window, taking in the relatively boring cityscape. It wasn't much to look at, to be honest, just a bunch of buildings, arrayed sporadically, as if no cohesive thought was put into how they were placed. Short, tall, wide, long, it didn't seem to matter, as long as the people who used those buildings had access to them. Letting out a sigh, and begrudgingly dragging her gaze away from a boring sight that was much better than the one she was turning to, Scarlett looked toward her professor. He was a small man, probably only five feet, five inches in height, and clearly of Chinese descent. Underneath his short black hair, Professor Lee had on a pair of glasses upon his face, or "Dad glasses" as Scarlett thought of them.
"Well, that's all for discussion today, next session we will be focusing on chapter two, so I needn't have to remind you to make sure you do your chapter questions on the online site. Those account for 60% of your grade. Remember, you are in college now, just because this is sociology 101 doesn't mean you get to slack off."
Professor's spiel finished, the group of young adults seated before him quickly grabbed their stuff, and their bags, and left the room. Scarlett was among the middle of the group, as some stragglers hung around to ask the professor some questions. Stepping out into the hallway, a black messenger bag with the logo of a rock band she liked on her arm, she proceeded to walk where the elevator was.
As she stood once again with a small group of her fellow classmates, she pulled out her phone to text her boyfriend, Kyle, that her course had ended. She also asked if he wanted her to come over to spend the remainder of the day together. As the elevator doors opened, she moved inside, not even bothering to look up from her phone as she proceeded to text her friend Abby about being done with classes, and if she wanted to hang out with Scarlett and her boyfriend. Scarlett figured worst case they could even just go to the bar together.
Her post class texts achieved, Scarlett slipped her phone back in her bag, and glanced at the people in the elevator with her, two girls from her class, and some guy she didn't know. While she didn't know the guy, she inwardly sighed as she thought about how good the two girls must have it, having seen them around campus a bit. They were part of the in crowd, something that Scarlett had thought she was done with dealing with once she left high school, and it was hard not to miss the pair, as they were always keen to make people aware of their presence.
Thankfully, unlike high school, cliques didn't seem nearly as in your face, so Scarlett had a moderate degree of ability to avoid them. But now being in the elevator with them, it was hard not to look at their lives with a moderate degree of envy due to how good their lives seemed, while hers clearly sucked. Honestly, if not for Abby, and Kyle, Scarlett didn't know how she would make it through the day.
Even as much as her life sucked, Scarlett was immensely thankful that she had Kyle. Kyle was an aspiring musician, whose YouTube channel was slowly growing in popularity, and Scarlett had no doubt that he'd make it big one day. His fan base already loved him, and not just for his music.
Kyle was hot, maybe not by the 'in' crowd's standards, but definitely by his fan base. And her. He was the epitome of edgy, punk rock aesthetic, although often more 'emo' in style, and everyone ate it up. What was better than a hot punk rock guy? A punk rock guy who was all hers, and who she was proud to call hers.
They had been dating for over a year so far, and Scarlett knew this was the real deal. This was that great, soul mate kind of love everyone spoke about. The kind of love that made people post cheesy love quotes on social media. The kind of love that people would die for. And she finally had it. After years of being in short, unsuccessful relationships she finally had it.
Scarlett couldn't help but smile to herself as butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she thought of Kyle. Just thinking of him had that effect on her, and in the past, she'd think that was lame and stupid, but this was real. As the elevator finally reached the ground floor, Scarlett took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Being in the same confined space as the 'cool' crowd always made her anxious, although they never noticed her. To them, she was just part of the background. Like a potted plant or old, boring artwork hanging on a wall. She just didn't exist to them.
She kept an eye on her phone as she walked to her car and threw her bag into the backseat. Kyle was taking forever to reply, but that wasn't uncommon, he was probably filming another YouTube video or maybe even recording a song for his upcoming YouTube album. Abby, however, always seemed to have her phone in hand and yet no response from her, either.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, a notification lit up Scarlett's screen. It was Kyle. The butterflies immediately took flight again, but just as quickly came crashing down, as she read the text. A void of despair slowly formed in her stomach, and she fought with her emotions. Kyle was breaking up with her.