The Teacher's A Student

iv

"Which means that environmental chemistry focuses on the presence and impact of chemicals in soil and water - both surface and ground. We usually look at how the chemicals, also known as contaminants, move through the environment - as well as, how they affect the ecosystem, animals and our own human health" the teacher proclaimed. I had forgotten what his name was, and he looked like he had forgotten ours as well. I opened my textbook to start taking notes - i wasn't usually the type to take notes because i purely depended on my memory - which isn't photographic at all. I figured that it would benefit me in the end if i started taking notes in class - not that i expect to fail a class or anything.

"Do any of you know why studying environmental chemistry is important?" He looked around the classroom only to be met with silence. I decided to raise my hand, in hopes of trying to impress him. "Isn't it because, studying environmental chemistry helps to develop new methods and procedures to reduce the contamination in the air, so we can improve the quality of the air?"

"Yes, in terms of why it affects human health. We all know that air with fewer chemicals causes less damage to the lungs - makes sense right? Therefore we firstly have to understand why the air is getting contaminated as well as how we can fix the problem" I mentally patted myself on the shoulder for, hopefully, making a good first impression. It may have seemed a bit ambiguous for the first day, but hey - you gotta do what you gotta do. The bell took us all by surprise when it rang suddenly, indicating that the lesson was done. We all gathered our belongings, before thanking the professor. Walking down the halls of this enormous place gave me a tiny bit of anxiety. I immediately scanned the place, wondering if I could spot Avery in the crowd of people. I still hadn't managed to connect with anyone in any of my classes. Of course i had talked to a few girls, but since they were so invested in the lesson, i almost didn't even get to know them.

"Hi uh.. Fiona?" a voice behind me said. I turned around to be met with Amelia's smile. She had decided on wearing a green top with jeans, pairing it with a crossover bag. "Fidelia" I answered while grinning. I didn't see the reason to get offended by her not remembering my name - i mean, at least she tried. Fiona and Fidelia aren't that far from each other.

"Damn it, I thought I had gotten it right. I'll just call you Lia for short" I shrugged and proceeded to ask her how she has been doing. She told me that she had gotten on the squad and that she was really excited about it. I congratulated her, before my thoughts drifted to another place: I probably should seek to join a club or something. It really would help me with the social portion of college.

"Well to celebrate that i now am officially a cheerleader, I would like to invite you to a party i'm throwing tomorrow night at my house. It's very chill - the cheerleaders will be there and they invited the jocks. Avery is invited too if she wants to come". It sounded like a good idea at first, but then I remembered that parties weren't really my thing. It's not that i can't go to parties or that i loathe them - i just, would rather do anything else. But if I wanted a social life at college, I had to take chances in life. I mean, here i was offered an opportunity to get to know some people - i surely had to take it.

"Sounds great. I'll talk to Avery, but i'm sure we'll be there" she smiled and farewelled me before disappearing into the crowd of people. I walked towards the cafetaria to see if I could grab an apple before my next lesson. Walking up to the counter, I checked the basket filled with fruit. Examining all of them I tried to decide on which one i found the most appealing. "Found one yet?" i looked to my right and a guy was standing there - i recognized him from my social science class. He had blonde hair and was quite a bit taller than me. He dressed nicely, besides the skateboard he was holding in one hand. I stared at it for a little too long before he said "Yeah it doesn't fit well together - save it for my mom". I nodded and had completely forgotten to move so he could get to the fruit.

"Oh, I wasn't looking to buy any fruit. It was just an excuse to talk to you" I looked at him surprised before grinning awkwardly. It was... cute? I guess. Even if he had done something different, it would still startle me a bit. "I'm Tayler" he said before sticking out his hand for me to grab. I didn't do anything at first, before i realized how weird it would be if i didn't accept his hand. "Fidelia" he nodded and told me that it was a beautiful name. I thanked him and looked at my phone. 10:30, it read. "I have to go, i have Atmospheric Science now" i said in a bored voice.

"Oh, me too actually. We can just walk together" I agreed on it, figuring it would benefit me to walk with someone. Just in case we didn't know where the room was - then i wouldn't be all alone in that same situation. "So, i'm guessing you're studying environmental science - am i correct?" i looked at him wondering - how would he be able to know that? I mean, the combination of social science and atmospheric science could lead to other majors. "...Yeah. How did you know that?" he shrugged his shoulders and playfully grinned at me.

"A good guess.. I guess" I laughed at his sudden pause, after he had realized the wordplay. We walked into the classroom forgetting that the class had already started.

not again.

Standing in the doorway of the now silent classroom, multiple eyes were now on us. I recognized one of the cheerleaders who was with Amelia the other day. She avoided my smile and simply just looked away. I mentally shrugged and averted my gaze somewhere else.

"Can i.. help you?" the familiar accent filled voice asked. I instantly looked up and locked eyes with the mesmerizing green eyes yet again. If looks could kill, we would all be dead by now. I was too distant from the current situation to even consider answering him and was therefore pleased that Tayler took it upon him to do so. "We're assigned to this class. Sorry we were late - we had trouble finding the room" I looked at Tayler before looking back at the teacher and nodded. He looked at us sternly and told us to find a seat in the back, which we did. Somehow i ended up sitting next to a girl who was almost fast asleep in her textbook. I glanced over at Tayler, only to find him sitting next to that rude cheerleader from before - the only thing was, they hugged before erupting in a silent chat. I wondered, how could such a warm person be friends with someone that ill-mannered? Not that it was my place to wonder about.

The whole class went by surprisingly fast, with me trying to steal glances from Tayler. He returned it a few times, smiling and winking every once in a while.

he was cute, i had to admit that.

Hearing the familiar sound of the bell ringing, I just wanted to rush to my dorm room to take a long and much needed nap. I was stopped by Tayler who had reached out for my arm in an attempt to prevent me from leaving. "I heard that you'll be at Amelia's party tomorrow"

"How do you know these things?" I asked him, not really believing his guessing game anymore. "I was told by Olivia that Amelia had invited you" I wanted to ask who he was talking about, but i figured that the rude cheerleader's name was Olivia. News traveled fast around here; i mean, it hadn't even been a couple of hours since Amelia had approached me. "Well you should come" I looked directly into his eyes, sensing some warmth and familiarness. I was about to answer when we were interrupted.

"Can you guys take this somewhere else? I have a class in a few minutes" the teacher, whose surname i found out was Lavigne said. I quickly realized that the whole classroom was empty with only me, Tayler and Mr. Lavigne still being here. We quickly apologized before exiting the classroom - all while i managed to steal a slight glance from him.