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𝐔𝐍𝐂 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐋 𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐋
march 2nd
THE AUDITORIUM WAS QUITE EMPTY considering chemistry class was less than ten minutes from starting. Chelsea wasn't usually amongst the first to arrive in any class considering Olivia often kept her busy during the smaller coffee chats in the hallways but this time, her only friend on campus was undertaking an exam so she decided to walk herself to an early start and set everything up.
Leon Bridges playing in her computer's Spotify was nearly the only thing keeping her as positive and bubbly this early in the morning so it was her main focus until the teacher walked through the auditorium — which he did not long after.
Her attention focused on the 40-year-old male greeting the class and prepared to close the door, before a student interrupted his act and walked inside. The girl's eyes lightened at the sight of the familiar face, considering that would mean a less lonely class now.
The teen boy stumbled across the stairs looking for a seat that would allow him to skip everyone's attention, but the young girl soon interrupted that. "Hey there!" She whispered once he walked by.
Pope's attention soon turned to her and his entire expression relaxed, watching her pat the chair next to hers and welcoming smile.
"Thank you."
"I see a pattern here, Heyward." Chelsea teased, reading the boy's last name off of his smudged marked notebook. "What's the excuse this time around?"
"I... don't have one, to be honest. I surrender." He chuckled. "It is the first time I have classes in the auditorium, though, so that sounds like a good enough excuse for me."
She shook her head, smirking as he adjusted his working material in front of him. The two were located further out in the auditorium where not many students relocated, which allowed them to have an audible conversation without interrupting the natural course of the class.
"You're lucky Mr. Quinn is one of the self-named cool teachers around."
"Cool teachers, huh?"
"Watch him," the amber-haired teen nodded towards the teacher who was now writing in the digital board, back turned towards the class "the suspenders give out the freshly-graduated look, he always types an inspirational rhetorical quote before the start of his classes and he does give rewards to participational students."
Pope's eyes focused not on the teacher described by the young girl, but rather on her enthusiasm when speaking. And he did so with an amused expression on his face, hypnotized by her ways of speech "you know Mr. Quinn quite well, I see." He responded, looking back down towards his notebook and writing some stuff down.
"I attended his classes last year for my year 0."
"So you were here before?" This would explain why she knew her surroundings so well, he thought.
"Just for some introduction classes, I came by once a week — if so." She paused, turning her face that rested in her hand towards him "you, on the other hand, I'd never noticed you in this class."
"It's my first class. I asked to change between optionals."
"Oh, risk taker!" Her eyes widened "I like that."
The boy smiled at himself, almost as if he had received the largest compliment known to man. Soon enough, Mr. Quinn's chapter introduction ended and the class started, which caused both teens to focus on what was being said and focus darting towards their own notes.
- ⋆ -
Two hours in a three-hour class and Chelsea could feel her attention start to drift slowly. Looking around the auditorium, she could see from the fewer students in the room that she wasn't the only one. Some had dozed off from the subject and were now watching separate things in their laptops, others scribbled away in their notebooks but the most extreme tried to cover their faces with their laptops for a discrete morning nap — which she considered, but feared it would look unprofessional to the boy standing by her side — who, by the way, was still far invested in the class.
She watched his features attentively, from his large almond eyes to the short curly hair and his beautiful tone and it amazed her that not even her gaze was able to distract the attentive boy. He was one of a kind.
Moving on to plan b, the Walton girl scribbled away at a piece of paper she tore from her notebook, dragging it across the table towards him.
It wasn't immediate but her fake coughing caught his eye, as she nodded down at the small note by his hand. He smiled confusingly, before grabbing it and unfolding, to reveal the invitation inside: lunch later?
"Sure."
After three long hours, they were on their way down the auditorium stairs and out of the main doors, behind the rest of the students.
"I give you credit for your ability of staying awake without coffee in a three hour lecture, Pope."
"Have to make it up for nearly being late, I guess."
Unpacking her freshly made chicken salad, Chelsea chuckled at her new classmate's words.
"Well, Mr. Quinn did remember your name at the end of class so I give you that."
"Not like my name is easy to remember or anything," he joked.
"You got jokes!"
Both teens shared a laugh combined with lunch and brief conversation. The warm spring sun shone from outside the large window walls of the cafeteria and Chelsea embraced the beginning of a new season.
"Do you prefer the summer?"
"I do, I know it's surprising considering how pale I look." Chelsea chuckled "but how about you, what's your favorite time of the year?"
"Definitely summer. It's always fun with my friends back home."
"Sounds cool! I haven't left NC in so long, my summers haven't been as fun."
"So you live in Chapel Hill?"
"Born and raised" the young girl gave him a thumbs up "my mom says that when me and my brother were younger, we used to go out for the whole summer but he is always busy with work lately. But please don't let me bother you with my family affairs — tell me more about your origins and friends, they sound cool."
"Yes" he started, thinking back on what the crew would be doing back home. "I've lived in the Outer Banks my whole life, they just kind of grew up with me so we're pretty close. Then Chapel Hill was kind of the only option I considered for college, actually."
"The Outer Banks, you said?"
"Yes, maybe you haven't heard of it-"
"I know it, of course. It's one of the places my mom always talks about. My brother still goes every summer, but I..." Chelsea began, looking down at her cuticles "I outgrew the place, I think."
Pope nodded, more to himself than her since she wasn't looking. He opted to omit the details of his origins down at the banks, imagining a girl like Chelsea wouldn't have known that part of the beachside town, either way.
As for her, the place got her rather thoughtful which wasn't something she usually was. Perhaps on the past life that she had once left back in the Banks, that she wasn't so eager to talk about nor remember.
