Now I’m running late, hair dripping wet because I didn’t pay attention to the clock when I decided to go for a second run.
Stupid idiot,I berate myself, but the words dull when I step in the small classroom. There are only eight rectangular tables,each only fitting two people. I don’t have to look very hard, as I spot an empty one in the back.
Thankfully, the professor isn’t here yet, but everyone is mostly quiet, scrolling on their phones as I walk past them to take a seat. Minus a table of two girls who seem to know each other.
After hanging my bag on the back of my chair, I grimace as I sit back and feel how soaked my long-sleeve shirt is on the back. If I would’ve known the professor wasn’t going to be here on time, I would’ve dried my hair.
Ignoring the wet spot, I focus on my planner in front of me. The hardly there light in my head isn’t the only thing keeping my life intact. Without this planner, I’m not sure how I’ll manage.
Control freak!my mind screams.
I squeeze my eyes, attempting to shove the voice away, but it only gets louder until I hear a very familiar deep masculine voice.
“Jos?”
The harsh words fizzle into nothing as I shift my gaze upward, my eyes locking with a pair of amber ones.
“Daniel.”
“Still on a first-name basis, I see.” He grins, lifting his backwards cap, and dragging his fingers through his long, dark chestnut strands. When he places it back on his head, I notice how outgrown his hair is. The thick strands curl outward to his ears and rest just beneath the base of his neck. “This is our third encounter. Shouldn’t we be past the formal interaction,Jos?”
Something weird happens in my stomach, but I ignore it. I must’ve had a bad omelet. “How is that formal? I was just saying your name.”
“Can I take a seat?”
It’s not like I can say no. It’s the only one available. “Unless you want to sit on the floor.”
Pulling the chair back, he settles down next to me, and sets his bag on the floor. He turns to look at me, eyes flashing with glee before they soften. Then he leans closer and whispers, “I’m so happy you’re here, Josefine.”
My brows knit. “Why do you keep saying that?”
“Because I am.” He sounds so earnest, the words feel warm, like sitting in front of a fireplace, wrapped in a thick blanket.
My mind becomes blank, my stomach does that weird thing again, but I don’t get a chance to get a word in as Professor Carleson steps in. “So sorry. If I’m being honest, I kind of overslept.”
7
DANIEL
I’m verygood at pretending.
I’ve gotten so good at it, the lies easily slide off my tongue like slicing butter. That’s how smooth they are, how easy they are for me to come up with on the spot.
That’s why as I sit next to Josie, I’m acting like nothing ever happened. I’m smiling and being myself because that’s what I need to do. But if I’m being honest, for the first time in a long time, it’s killing me having to act like nothing ever happened.
We’re in a room full of people, so it’s not like I can say much to begin with, but even if it were just Josie and me, I have a feeling she wouldn’t say anything. I have a feeling she’d act like she didn’t almost end her life.
She’s already doing a good job at it. Face expressionless, brown eyes empty, but posture a little too stiff. Despite that, she looks like any other person on the first day of class.
But unlike everyone else, I saw past the wall she now has up. I saw it and I should let it go because it seems she has, but I can’t.
If her posture was rigid before, she’s now a boulder, body tensing when Professor Carleson announces that he likes to use the buddy system when we go hiking. Whoever we’re sitting with will be our partner for the rest of the semester, and we can’tswitch. He also wants us to do an icebreaker with our partner to get to know one another and to post our questions and responses on Canvas in the discussion board.
Canvas is a website the university uses to manage all classes, and the discussion board is something all professors use to promote engagement. I don’t hate it, but it’s tedious to use when they make you reply to two other students’ posts.
As I grab my laptop, Josie switches her thick planner with her own, but she never looks at me. Even after we’ve logged in and opened the discussion board, she doesn’t glance my way.
I wish it didn’t bother me, but it does.
