Already late and I didn't manage to eat breakfast. This day couldn't get any worse. I shouldn't have said that. It's bound to get worse now that I jinxed myself.
The name's Olivia and right now, I'm sprinting down the halls of Cambridge University trying to make it to my Literature Class that I am desperately late for. Skidding around one of the corners and I almost lose my balance. I catch the side railing attached to the wall and reel myself back in to launch my momentum down the corridor.
Holding onto my backpack straps for dear life as I bore my heels into the carpet to achieve a greater push as I stride through the building. I glance down on the watch on my left hand to see the hand clearly past its respective spot that would declare my late bum on time but I can't turn back time.
"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!!" The hall security screeches at me as I bolt by with rapidly increasing speed. Not as fast as I would hope to go with such tiny legs but I managed. I skid to a ceasing halt and clasp my perspiring hand around the handle and push down only to be abrupted as my elbow locks and pushes my shoulder back up. The opposite direction I was hoping for. The door was locked.
My heart sinks to the lowest point it could go in my chest and I look up at the white taped sign that was plastered on the oak door.
"Class canceled, see you all Tuesday. Study hard, the test is getting close. Sincerely, Mr. Robinson"
I didn't know what to feel at that moment.
Enraged at my teacher for giving me a heart attack for thinking I was going to be late to class, at myself for not checking the door sooner, or myself again to be late in the first place. I think I was all three and a little more at that point.
I let go of the handle and look away from the door when I see all the eyes that were present in the hallway staring at me. An awkward silence filled the building until it was abrupted with laughter from the display I performed in front of them.
My chest clenched as I heard their laughs fill and wrack my brain with embarrassment and doubt. I lowered my head and gripped the straps of my backpack as I steered myself back toward the direction of my dorm.
I'm a freshman and it's barely halfway through my first semester and already getting bullied and panic-ridden. I thought I was fully prepared for college but it seems like college is beating my bum.
I wrap my cold and tiny fingers around the steel handle of my dorm room and open the door to be greeted with the smell of jasmine and eucalyptus. I close my eyes and let the smell overwhelm my senses and calm my spirit.
"Back from class already? Or did you get sent back?" I hear Faren chirp from behind her incense machine that she recently plugged in and was monkeying around with the settings.
"Class was canceled so I came back. All that stressing out for nothing. I'm really drained from the running. Do you wanna come to the cafeteria with me? I don't wanna go alone." I asked hoping she would say yes. She gave me a bright smile, pushed a button on the machine and stood up straight.
"Of course I'll come with you! I'm kinda hungry myself. I shut off the machine so it doesn't smell like some Chinese ceremony when we get back." She jokes and follows me out of our dorm and locks it behind her. She swivels the key around her finger before pushing it into her pocket and walks with me to the cafeteria.
Faren was one of my best friends from high school and thankfully followed me to the same college together. She helped me through thick and thin and I couldn't have gotten here without her. She is my rock and I am hers. There's nothing we wouldn't do for each other.
We make it to the cafeteria and push open the double doors together and stride toward our favorite station, the pasta station. They have the best cheese ravioli and mac & cheese. They are to die for and I don't mean that figuratively.
We pick up our plates and get a few other things we want to eat and find a table to ourselves. With a can of soda, a bag of chips, and a portion of cheese ravioli nothing can cheer me up better than this. That is till my eyes meet something just as delicious.
When I take a bite of my ravioli, I look up to meet eyes with someone I hadn't seen around campus but instantly wanted to meet. With slightly long brown hair, golden brown eyes and well-kept beard, he was the epiphany of the perfect man I have ever laid eyes on and I've seen a ton of celebrities. They dulled in comparison.
He sent a small smirk in my direction and instantaneously felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment and excitement. I didn't know if I had been staring at him for too long or something was written on my forehead that read "idiot" but it caught Faren's attention. She swiveled her head to see what or who I was looking at and giggled.
"Not a chance Oli. That's Jason Richards and he is the most popular guy in the entire school. All the girls crave him and would do anything to get him." She replied and looked slightly conflicted herself.
I shake my head and return my attention back to Faren.
"Oh, I didn't know. I hadn't seen him before. I'll keep my distance then. I don't want any more girls after my head, let alone feeling slightly one thing toward him and they pounce on me like a pack of lionesses. No thanks." I reply unphased and continue my lunch with my thoughts wandering my head unsure what to think.