blood

one

"...and that is all for today's topic on Freud's Psychosexual Theory. Next class, we will continue with the psychoanalytic perspective of psychology and how Freud's theories would contribute to our understanding of psychology today and other aspects of psychology. Until then, class is dismissed," the professor smiled with a nod.

The lecture room filled up with sounds of students shuffling and some engaging in small talk with their course mates. On the other hand, Imani Valdez wasted no time as she shut her MacBook, slipping it into her backpack before following the sea of students.

She huffed at the unnecessary skin contact with other students who were in a rush to move on to their next courses. On her part, she had no courses next on her schedule for that day which made her sigh in relief. Her next destination in mind was the International Students' Lounge.

Not that Imani and her twin, Zuri, were international students; they were both born in the United States to a Latino father who was an immigrant from Mexico and a Nigerian mother who grew up in Kenya. A family friend who worked at the university had pointed them towards a lounge for international students to connect and that, Imani has found so helpful.

She held tightly to her backpack, going with the flow of the crowd as they tried to get out of the room. She had heard of crowd crushes and how people had lost their lives in them which made her shudder. News like that was enough to make someone agoraphobic at this point.

Steering her mind away from the dark path it had embarked on, Imani started to silently hum a song in her head. Soon enough, the crowd was able to move and was no longer a crowd as the students were able to exit the classroom without a hitch.

Finally, a faint smile lit up on her face as she started following her mental map from the lecture room for her introductory psychology class to the ISL. She passed by the cafeteria with the smell of freshly prepared meals assaulting her nostrils.

Her stomach made a little growl as she was reminded that she had abandoned eating lunch before skipping to her intro psych class. Deciding to make a quick visit, she turned towards one of the stalls which sold Chinese cuisine.

Imani stood back for a moment, her mind blocking out the sounds of ice crashing into cups at the drinks dispenser and students engaging in chit-chat at their respective tables, as she took her time to skim through the menu flashing on the screen.

"Ma'am, are you ready to order?" A soft voice came from in front of her. She tore her eyes away from the screen to look at the friendly face of the server she was almost familiar with.

"The usual, please," she smiled back at the young Chinese lady who, without hesitation, started dishing out the order into a styrofoam pack before clasping the plate shut and handing it over to Imani. "Thank you."

Moving over to the checkout line, she quickly withdrew her credit card, tapping it against the PIN pad. She could hear the distant cacophony of students heading into the cafeteria which was getting more crowded by the minute.

She quickly turned away from the stall and headed straight for the lounge which was just opposite the cafeteria she just exited. She finally sighed with a smile as she met the familiar faces of her friends with one of them even throwing up a hand to wave at her.

"Yo, Mani!" The light-skinned man with locs on his head greeted her as she made her way over. That was Michael, an international student from the Bahamas. He was one of the first students to talk to her at the beginning of the term when she and Zuri were young adults just navigating through university.

"Mike!" She hugged him first before doing a series of secret handshakes. She then took a seat beside him before greeting the rest of the group. Opposite the sofa she was seated on was Zuri.