All feedback appreciated!
Edited 1/2/23. Edit notes at the end of the chapter.
Sam regarded her laptop screen with a pensive frown and considered the disjointed series of shots before her. Contained within their depths was a story just waiting to be told, but the question was how she, as the film editor, would tell it. There were so many options; she could go the standard route and sequence everything in chronological order. But what if that wasn't imaginative enough for her professor? In which case, perhaps it would do the film more justice to start in what she would introduce as the "present" and flashback to the past from there intermittently? She mused that it might be a good way to hook viewers, piquing their curiosity about the characters' situation and gradually revealing how they wound up in their current predicament.
She leaned back in her desk chair and stretched her arms out over her head with an exasperated sigh. Realistically, she knew it was only her first film editing assignment and her professor wouldn't be grading her too harshly, but she was a perfectionist all the same. Besides which point, her semester had gotten off to such a rough start academically that she felt she had to go above and beyond so as to prove to her professors she wasn't, in fact, a 'mediocre slacker,' as her father always claimed.
In light of recent events, however, staying focused was proving to be difficult. There was Jess, for one thing. Try as Sam did to not think about her, it was impossible. How could they go from spending every waking moment together to acting like complete strangers? It made her feel increasingly miserable with each passing day. She yearned for the familiar weight and warmth beside her in bed. She yearned for the afternoon jam sessions. She yearned for the days they spent working together on a play, with Jess being in the stage crew while she herself took to the stage. She felt like she took for granted the days that they had together. She wanted to go back.
Then there was Lara.
Ever since they had spent the day together in London, Lara had evidently made a point of avoiding the dorm at all costs. In retrospect, Sam supposed it had been tactless to push Lara to talk about what had been bothering her the way she had, but she'd only bothered prying in the first place because she was concerned. Was that really bad enough to warrant being blown off and ignored? Nothing about the situation made sense, and it was a shame because Lara was the first person Sam had met at UCL with whom she shared almost all of her intellectual interests with. Most everyone else didn't even know who Jane Austen was, with Molly being the only outlier.
Speaking of… Sam thought to herself as she received a text from Molly and unlocked her phone to read it.
Beginning to wonder if you're still alive...lunch at Gordon's to catch up? Sam tapped her phone against her chin pensively. Just how long had it been since she and Molly had hung out? A couple of weeks, at least? She decided to rectify that, and immediately began drafting a response.
Sure! I'm done with classes for the day. Meet me there? She hit the 'send' button and, when Molly replied with an affirmative about a minute later, set about looking for her keys and purse. With those in tow, she exited the dorm building and began making her way across campus to Gordon's Cafe. Several minutes and a near-collision with a jogger later, she entered the crowded cafe and looked around to see if she could find Molly amongst the groups of students.
"Sam!" A familiar voice rang out above the clamor, and Sam turned her head in its direction to find Molly beaming at her from a table nearby.
"Hey!" Sam called out cheerfully, wriggling her way through the throng to get over to her.
"Long time, no see!" Molly remarked as they embraced before Sam took a seat across from her.
"Yeah, sorry about that…" Sam replied sheepishly, setting her purse down by her feet.
"Not a big deal, you're here now, right?" Sam nodded, "Then that's all that matters," Molly paused. "Anyways, before we get to talking about anything else, would you mind watching my bag while I go up to order? I wanted to be sure we had a table before getting something."
"Yeah, of course," Sam said.
"Great! You want anything while I'm up?" Molly asked as she got to her feet.
"Just a coffee and a breakfast panini… Wait! Lemme get my wallet!" Molly held a hand up as Sam undid the clasp to her purse.
"No need, it's on me," she interjected before promptly disappearing into the surrounding mob without giving Sam so much as a chance to open her mouth in protest. Shaking her head in disbelief, Sam went to put her purse back down on the ground when she felt her phone go off inside it. Curious, she pulled it out and checked the screen to see her father had texted her. Her hands went cold, and she unlocked it to see what reason he could possibly have for texting her. Had he found out she lied about studying business?
How are classes going? Are you staying out of trouble and keeping on top of everything? Sam bit her lip guiltily and deliberated over how, or if, she should respond. She knew how her father was, and she knew he wasn't the type to waste time on idle chatter; he always had an ulterior motive. What if the text was a trick? An innocent facade for an excuse to scold her and slam her with the news that he was cutting off her trust fund as punishment for being a disgrace?
"Everything alright?" Molly had returned with their food and was regarding Sam with a concerned expression.
"Hm? Y-yeah," Sam stammered, quickly stowing her phone away and out of sight. Molly continued to scrutinize her with thinly veiled disbelief.
"You're still hung up on that girl back at home, aren't you?" Molly inquired gently.
Sure, let's go with that, Sam thought to herself. It wasn't as though Molly was necessarily wrong about that, anyhow. "Yeah, I am. But I'll have to get over it eventually, right?"
"Well, maybe I can help with that?" Molly offered, and Sam frowned in confusion.
"What?"
"I meant that I was planning on meeting up with some people after we finish here, and you're more than welcome to join us if you'd like? It might help get your mind off things, at least." Sam took a moment to consider Molly's proposal. What was the worst thing that could end up happening? She'd have fun for a change instead of waiting around for her easily offended roommate?
"You know what?" Sam finally posed, "That sounds great, let's do it!" Molly grinned.
"In that case, want me to go up and grab some boxes so we can start heading over now? I don't know about you, but I've never been a fan of loud, cramped spaces personally." Sam shrugged indifferently.
"It honestly doesn't matter to me, I'm fine with whatever."
"In that case," Molly began, getting up to her feet once more, "I'll be back," she said before squirming her way up to the register and leaving Sam alone to listen to all the chatter around her.
"Yeah," one girl was saying, "I took one and it came back positive but those things aren't always accurate, right?"
"I hate Professor Barker, he already gave us a ten page paper to do! Like I don't have enough on my plate!" Another student to her right complained.
"Yeah, look at this article right here!" Yet another student behind her said, "They say Richard Croft's daughter is attending UCL, too! I wonder how nuts she is?" Sam frowned at this. The name 'Croft' sounded eerily familiar...where had she heard it before?
"Ready to go?" Molly had returned with their boxes and was already stowing her food away.
"Huh?" Sam muttered dreamily before snapping back to reality, "Oh! Yeah, sure!" She said quickly, hastily grabbing her sandwich and throwing it in her box before struggling out the door after Molly.
Then it hit her.
Didn't she see the last name 'Croft' next to Lara's name at the top of one of her homework assignments?
Edit notes: added to exposition at beginning of chapter.
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