Up in the Stars

A Universe Tilts

This chapter Enid meets the first of the immortals.

And the world is never the same again.

❥ ❥ ❥

She took a deep breath as she stared up at the formidable building that towered above her small frame.

Students rushed past her on their way to and from classes, but she was frozen on the spot.

Her education up until this point had been solely with private tutors within the safe confines of her home.

Enid had never experienced a classic first day of school and the enormity of it was finally catching up to her.

She suddenly felt incredibly unprepared. For university, for interactions, for life itself.

It was as though she had missed out on some lesson that everyone seemed to inherently know.

She could name all of the constellations in the night sky and recite Greek myths with astonishing ease, but she knew nothing about making friends her age or impressing a professor.

Rolling her shoulders back, she made her way to the class.

A large lecture hall greeted her as she found her way to an empty seat in the center of the second row.

It was tall with sweeping beams across the ceiling, lit with warm lights that seemed to buzz with the excitement of all the students packed inside.

As she took in the grand desk at the front of the room and the expansive chalk board, she found herself listening to the conversation of the two girls sitting in the row behind her.

"...so she tried to sleep with him to raise her grade, but apparently he totally turned her down. I mean, she wanted to sleep with him even without the grade raise, but he just told her his office hours were closed. Which is so weird because Zoe is totally the prettiest girl in Alpha Phi." The girl's voice was high pitched and hurt Enid's ears alongside the cacophony of other conversations.

An equally high pitched voice responded, "Well, Dr. Easton is one of the immortals. They're basically untouchable. Zoe is a dumbass for thinking she even had a chance. I tried to proposition Dr. Romano my freshman year and he dropped me from the class. It's not our fault they're so attractive. It sucks to look, but not be able to touch."

The first girl hummed in agreement and began to respond, but fell silent as the rest of the class hushed.

Enid kept her eyes down as she pulled out her notebook and planner.

The sharp sound of expensive shoes hitting the ground echoed throughout the hushed room.

As the quiet stretched on, she glanced up to see the professor that was apparently dubbed "immortal".

He was tall and broad with shoulders that fully filled out the expensive suit jacket he wore.

His hair was black and curly against his paler complexion.

He seemed to be in his late thirties or early forties, but he had few wrinkles and no signs of greying hair.

She understood why they called him immortal.

His presence seemed to command the entire room. He was the center of the universe and they were all simply pieces in orbit.

Tortoiseshell glasses sat perched on his strong nose. All of his facial features were strong.

Sharp lines and carefully constructed, as though he was sculpted from marble.

Enid felt air leave her lungs.