Falling Up

2. Breathe

Breathe, Riley told herself, stepping into the bright lecture theatre as the sun shone through the large glass windows. It was her first day of college. This is what she wanted, what she worked so hard for. All the therapy sessions and support of her brothers had brought her here. She no longer had to live in her haunting past with her sadistic step-father. That was all behind her and now all she had to do was navigate the corridors of college. It couldn't be any more difficult than what she had already been through. Right?

As she looked around the room she noticed the chatter and excitement of the students, all congregating around their seats, clattering their books and pens across the long tables and laughing with each other as friends do.

Distracted by the amount of students and overwhelmed by her surroundings she took in a deep breath. She was amazed by the amount of people that could fit in this one lecture theatre. As she was standing there, deciding where to sit she was shouldered to the side by a group of guys entering the room as they laughed and roughhoused each other through the door.

Riley stumbled for a moment, almost falling over in the process as her bag and books were knocked down her shoulder and onto the floor. She hitched her bag back up, regaining her balance as she watched three boys walk away, not evening bothering an apology or a sideways glance.

"Jerk", she muttered under her breath.

The man who bumped into her turned around, only for a brief second, his eyes glinting a bright blue, as he glanced in her direction. Then he sent her the harshest death glare she had ever seen. What a dick.

Not a moment later he was distracted by his friends and heading up the stairs to the back of the lecture theatre. She let out the breath that she didn't realise she was holding in as she watched the men walk up the stairs.

She glanced to the floor, reaching down to grab the book that fell when someone reached down and grabbed it for her.

"That was odd," she said, handing the book back to Riley and watching with her as the guys headed to the back of the theatre. "Kain is normally so nice to new people. Until you get to know him better of course. As for the others, well, they're like Gorillas. You know, pounding on their chests to get attention and make themselves look bigger."

Riley let out a chuckle at the reference as the woman in the front of her pounded her chest like a Gorilla to set an example. "They think they run the place sometimes. Or perhaps they do," she said staring at them as they took their seats near the back.

"What do you mean?" asked Riley as she placed the book back in her backpack.

For the first time she took a look at the woman in front of her. She looked confident with her dusty blonde hair tied in a ponytail, ripped jeans and a crop top shirt reading 'It's really rude to talk while I'm interrupting'. Littered down her arms were a selection of black bracelets and she looked like she could kick some ass with the abs she was showing off.

"They're the stars of the college football team and practically run Kappa Sig."

"Kappa Sig?" queried Riley.

"The Kappa Sigma fraternity. Largest frat on campus. Has the most wicked parties," she smiled. "You must be new here. Come," she motioned.

They walked to a bunch of seats near the back of the theatre, only a couple of rows away from the guys who were still making a racket in their seats.

"I'm Kendra by the way," she said, taking a seat.

"Riley," she responded, pulling up the chair beside her and placing her bag on the floor.

"Hey Ken doll," shouted a voice from the back.

"Call me Ken doll one more time Zac and I will come up there and high-five you in the face with this chair," said Kendra, slinking back in her chair and placing a hand to her head in frustration.

Riley lightly chuckled at the situation and watched as Kendra and the light haired jock continued back and forth with witty insults. It all seemed so normal, like one of those teen comedies she watched almost religiously at home yet it was something she had rarely experienced in real life.

She sighed thinking about how much of her childhood had been lost. All of the friends and normal experiences she had missed out on. But she was determined to change that all. She was going to make friends and enjoy her college experience like everyone else.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as a ball of paper was thrown and landed on Kendra's head. "You are so dead Zac," she said in frustration, throwing the ball of paper back. But the paper didn't land on Zac, it was caught by the guy sitting next to him, leaning back in his chair as he redirected the paper effortlessly to the nearby bin, landing it straight in.

He gazed at her yet again, the same guy who made her drop her books before, and he gave off that same death glare as before.

"Picked up another lost lamb I see," he directed to Kendra while, continuing to stare directly at Riley. His death glare soon turned into an odd deadly gorgeous smile as he rested his arm on the back of his chair, his muscles flexing against his black denim jacket contrasting over his white shirt.

"I don't pick up lost lambs, Kain," snapped Kendra.

"Please," interrupted Zac. "You pick up a newbie every semester." He started counting them out on his hand. "There was Alice then Hailey, then the last one was Laura," he continued. "And for some reason they ditch you every time."

"It was Lara," Kendra corrected. "And I wasn't ditched. She's just sitting over there," she pointed, waving in the direction of a young woman who smiled and waved back.

"He has a point though," replied Kain. "Can't seem to keep your lambs in the flock."

Kendra grated her teeth, annoyed. "I just like making new friends, you should try it sometime Kain."

"So what's her name?" asked Kain pointing in Riley's direction.

"It's Riley and I can hear you, you know," Riley said, finally interrupting the back and forth and giving Kendra what looked to be a much needed break from the conversation. "And you are?" she said with a slight irritation in her voice. She was still a bit annoyed that he didn't even have the nerve to apologise for bumping into her early. And what was with that death glare he gave her earlier. Something about him was already rubbing her the wrong way.

Zac quickly chimed in. "Kain. Head of Kappa Sig. That's who he is."

"I'm sorry and that is?" she said without much of a care, rolling her eyes. If Kendra didn't mention it five minutes ago she would have been none the wiser but she could see what Kendra said before. They seemed to think they ran the place.

She didn't think Kain's smile could get any wider and she gulped as she saw a sinister glint behind his eyes. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough who we are."

Luckily the professor walked into the room at that moment. She didn't think she could handle the way he was looking at her anymore. Turning her back on him and facing forward she noticed a bunch of young women off to the side giggling and looking at Kain and his groupies like little school girls. She rolled her eyes again, turning her attention to the professor yet she could feel a heated glare bore into the back of her head and she knew Kain was giving her the same death glare as before.

She took in a deep breath, taking out her pens and paper and tried to focus on the class in front of her as she began her first day of college. Studying. That was all she had to focus on right now. However she had a nagging feeling that college was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

She just had to remember to breathe. Just breathe Riley. Breathe.