THE PINK CLOUDS

chapter 1

It was a Monday-morning. The campus was filled with many students as it was the first day of the semester.

Everybody was walking in a hurry heading to his or her faculty. Then appeared Richard, a boy with an average height. He was wearing a white T-shirt and black jeans. On his feet were sneakers that matched his shirt. He got admitted into the institution 5 months ago with his sister's financial aid. 

She worked around the clock, bending over backwards to see that he got admitted into the university he desired. With that in mind, Richard gave his all to his studies, emerging with the best grade in his faculty the previous semester. He was a kind guy that had no interest in people's business. For that reason, only a few knew him. 

He walked in a hurry as though he was running because he was seriously late. He used to live close to his faculty. But his current financial condition took that luxury away from him. He was forced to live in a dorm that was at the extreme end of the campus. 

Other students took the cabs to their various faculties. But the rich thought it'd be a waste of money to do that. After walking for a few minutes, he realized how wrong he was about that.

He walked on a walkway that was built of red bricks. It was roofed with brown asbestos sheets. A few meters beside the road, was a road that led to the central building of his faculty. The cars on the road were steadily moving according to the speed limit of the campus. 

At last, he arrived at his faculty. It was a fancy ten story building that was built in the shape of a giant ship. The frontage of the building was completely made up of dazzling glass. It was surrounded by a short fence that was not more than one meter. There were a lot of trees within the fence of the faculty with many benches under them. 

There was a huge theater located opposite to the faculty building. It was where Richard was supposed to have his first lecture of the semester. The pavement Richard was walking on led straight to the entrance of the faculty building, and it also branched to the theater. He headed to the theater still in a hurry. By the time he got there, the lecturer had already gone far with her lecture. 

Richard's heartbeat increased as walked towards the door of the theater because of the lecturer's odd personality.

She had failed 3 students the previous semester for coming to her lecture late. She was a young professor in her late 30s. It was then that he started regretting why he hadn't taken a taxi. 

"Excuse me, Ma'am," Richard said in fear.

"What are you here for?" She demanded with authority. 

"I sincerely apologize for interrupting your class ma'am, but I was here earlier. I've got an upset stomach, and I had no choice but to relieve myself," Richard uttered. 

He had the whole theater in stitches, laughing out at his excuse along with the process

"Next time, you should be mindful of what you consume," the professor answered after the theater had gone silent again.

Richard was so relieved that she fell for his lie. He walked into the theater gently trying not to make his footsteps audible. 

Suddenly, he spotted his friend, Paul waving at him at the center of the lecture theater. They became friends on the first day Richard arrived at the university. He guided him through the registration procedures, and they instantly became friends after that. 

He walked to where Paul was sitting. He smiled when he discovered that Paul had kept a seat for him beside him.  He excitedly brought down the black backpack he was carrying and sat on the seat.  

"What got into you today?" Paul whispered.

"We will talk about it later," Richard dismissed, not wanting to be blacklisted by the professor.