Black and Blue

4 - Classes Are a Cold War Zone

I didn't see him again for another month.

I considered it a blessing at the time, of course, but with each day that went by I soon found myself wallowing in dread until classes finally started that year. I still had too much spinning around in my head; Jack's "offer," if you could even call it that, my lost book, that weird knife, the couple that passed me and immediately turned their faces inside out, where on Earth he had gotten those handcuffs...

Actually, I don't think I want an answer to that.

October was inching close. By now, I'd gotten used to the odd scheduling around here, and wasn't going to make an idiot of myself showing up at a lab one month early because I was worried that "no one told me about it." Those kinds of shenanigans were for first-year me. But I was starting a new class soon, one that I'd signed up for about a month late. I had to take some extra courses that my family didn't consider remedial, but that I'd struggled with a couple years prior and thought it only made sense to retake. Besides, I needed as much of a passing grade as I could get in every course possible.

October 1st. I entered the room and immediately spied an empty seat smack in the middle. A Goldilocks zone. Choosing that would, by default, make me one of the least significant people in this hall. I sat down, took out a notebook and one dull pencil. A couple of early risers like myself passed by, and one of them looked at me with a sense of immediate contempt. Competitiveness, even. Maybe it was because I'd been the first to sit down, and they had strived for that title. I didn't get any clarification until the professor walked in about two minutes late. A record. He turned around at his desk and started counting the people in the room while the student who'd glared at me spoke in an attempted whisper to their friends.

"See the one in the bomber jacket? Yeah, just watch. First thing she says is about her being bilingual, or something."

To their credit, that small group adhered very closely to the rule of "look, but don't make it obvious." They all took their sweet time, giving me the once-over like I was up for hire. I was trapped in some weird, reversed ripoff of Legally Blonde, already being sized up by a bunch of first-years. That's what they looked like, anyway. I stole a surreptitious glance at my messenger bag in case it had anything to do with this kid's snap judgement.

Two pins. Both flags. Both in clear sight of whoever should walk past.

Fine. I'll take this one, God.

As more people awkwardly filed into the room, the professor clapped once to get our attention and motioned for everyone to sit down. Half of them were still clumped together at the doorway. He didn't seem to care.

"Alright, ladies and gents, let's make this go as quickly as possible. I understand some of you had to move around your schedule to be here, and some of you who should be here...well, they probably don't know. Keep the chatter to a minimum. If I don't call your name, either see me after class or walk out that door the second I'm done. If I butcher your name, please correct me. Here we go." He tapped a small stack of paper on his desk and flashed a relatively fake smile.

"Name's Professor Edds, by the way. Should be easy enough to remember...Abraham, Gerard?"

"Here," a voice from behind me called.

"Antoni, Bella?"

"Here."

His little role call continued as usual. I almost caught myself rolling my eyes; Does he think we're in middle school? I heard lots of whispers and mutters in my general area, but mostly goofing off and loud talk all around the room. It was relieving, in a way. I let myself doze off a bit. It wouldn't matter if I fell asleep either way, because I was snapped out of it soon enough.