A Beautiful Mess

Chapter 1

Sydney sat in her favorite spot in the University Student Center. In the corner surrounded by walls of glass. The Center sat on the top floor of a four-storied building, and the views of the mountains in which the University lay was stunning. It was a peaceful and quiet evening as it usually was after eight o'clock when the majority of the students had moved on to the local bars.

The lights were subtle, and the only sound was the barista behind her making cups of coffee for the occasional customer. Heat lightning had moved into the area, and the visual of it behind the mountains kept pulling her attention away from her short story. There was no thunder, it was too far away, there were only soundless streaks of light making the sky turn pink and purple.

Sydney was listening to one of her favorite bands through her earbuds, and the effect of the music and lightning was causing her to feel unsettled and insignificant. In just a few short weeks when she graduated, her life would be changing dramatically, and the fact that she still had no concrete plans for her future and a mountain load of debt was weighing heavily on her shoulders.

Sydney's reflection looked back at her from the window. Her large brown eyes looked serious. It was a time in her life when she should be excited, but the sad fact was that there had been no stages in her life where excitement had ruled the day.

Studying her reflection, she refused, as usual, to give into the self-pity that wanted to rise and choke her. Her life had never been fair, but she had more than others did. No one would ever call her a beauty; her hair was long, fine and mousey, she had dull brown eyes and unremarkable features. She did, however, have beautiful skin and a terrific figure, even if her tiny stature was not imposing. At the height of five foot one inch and weighing less than one hundred pounds many thought she was ten years younger than she was.

Looking at the clock and realizing that she only had about half an hour before her roommate and best friend, Paige, joined her, she tried to force herself back into her short story. It was the final grade of her collegiate career, and she was on her last edit before it was due in a few days.

Sydney had just fallen back into the editing groove when she felt it. It was similar to the lightning storm raging in front of her. Instant electricity filled the air. She was aware of her heartbeat and every breath she took. It was as if everything in her environment was amplified. Dr. Cole Easton had entered the Center. She didn't have to look up from her paper to know he was there. Sydney focused all of her attention on the words that were now swimming around the screen, praying that he would get his coffee and leave without having taken notice of her. He never took notice of her, and that was a something for which she was very grateful.

Dr. Easton was a professor of Archeology and had taught her her freshman year before she had decided to change her major from Anthropology to English. It was a decision made because of him. Sydney was nothing if not a realist, and her reality was that she had an almost obsessive crush on the man. It had overpowered her to the point that he was all she thought of, and at the tender age nineteen she had decided that it was not good for either her health or her scholastic career.

Then the incident at the party had happened, and her the crush was still as strong as ever. She was mortified while being drawn even deeper into her obsession. The simple thought of that evening was enough to bring color to her cheeks. Although she did her best to hide her unease whenever Dr. Easton was around. After the party, when she and Dr. Easton has crossed paths, she gave him one of her vague polite smiles and nodded as if none of it had really bothered her and she could hardly remember it. But remember it she did, every single wonderful and humiliating moment. Hiding her true feelings was something that she was a pro at after being raised in a family that manipulated weaknesses, and so far, she had been successful.