If there was one thing Freya was regretting as she walked into her Sociology class, it was the decision she had made to come back to school. So far the girl had been to two out of her five courses and she was already tired, letting out a groan as she thought about how she needed to go get the twins from soccer after this class. As she set her things down she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, her fingers fishing it out to see it was only Adrian reminding her to meet him at his car so he could drive her to the middle school.
Freya was in the middle of texting Adrian back when a familiar smell erupted into the room, causing her to stiffen as she felt her heart skip a beat. The smell that was surrounded her smelt like dried lavender and oak, the faintest hint of lemon mixed in the background as the object of this smell came closer to Freya. She sat frozen in her seat as her brain connected the smells to someone she knew, someone she didn't want to be sitting beside her. Her wishes, however, were useless as Kol Andersson sat down in the desk that was beside her own, his gaze forwards as the girl sat ridged in her seat as she turned off the phone, clenching her jaw as she surveyed the room to see that all the chairs were full. Her fingers curled around the seat of her chair, Freya took a small breath before she straightened in her seat slightly, clearing her throat as she pulled what she needed from her bag just as the teacher entered the classroom.
"Good morning, everyone." She looked up at the sound of the teacher, brows furrowing as she noted the accent. It wasn't usual for new teachers to teach in Chapel Hill, let alone foreigners. The town had a very bad reputation for those outside of Chapel Hill, this made it easy for the people to maintain the secrecy of the werewolves who lived in the town. People would often be spooked away before they even had a chance to cry werewolf to people outside of town, seeing as the humans who lived here were not any more civil than the beasts themselves. "Yes, yes. I know. I am not from here, I know it is hard to tell. Believe it or not, I am from Belarus. I am here to teach you Sociology for the semester, and I will be back to teach economics for those who are looking into taking that as well." His voice matched his appearance; he was an older man, his face was covered in wrinkles, hair greyed from years of life. His eyes were covered with black-rimmed glasses that he positioned better to read off attendance after his introduction, calling off the names of students in the class. Trying to ignore the presence beside her, Freya placed a hand on her chin as she began to doodle on the margins of the paper in front of her.
As class went on Freya tried to pay attention but that proved to be hard; the voice of the teacher was slow, old, and the sound of his talking made her feel tired as she listened to him talk. This was paired with the eyes she could feel burning into the side of her head, which was the only reason why she wasn't asleep in class. Knowing Kol was watching her made her sit as still as a statue, silently cursing the academic planners for placing her in this class. Freya could already tell that the teacher was going to be one of her worst ones yet as he veered off track for the millionth time, talking about Marxism once again, before he abruptly jumped to something else when a student raised their hand.
"Yes, ah, Miss Ashwood?" He asked, his eyes squinting down at the paper for a moment before looking at her.
"Professor, I'm sorry to interrupt but it's time to leave and there is a class gathering outside the door." At this Freya blinked, looking over to see that there was, in fact, a cluster of students standing outside the door. She frowned as she looked back at the teacher, watching as he leaned forwards to look himself before nodding.
"Thank you, Miss Ashwood. I hope that everyone's answers have been answered about the syllabus, I also hope that everyone is looking forwards to this class like I am." He finished his closing with a wave, gathering his things before he simply disappeared into the wave of students as they left. Freya stood after shoving her notebook into the bag, stuffing her phone into her pocket when a hand grabbed her wrist.
"Freya, I was wo-"
"Don't touch me." Freya murmured, pulling her arm away without looking at him. "You're not allowed to touch me anymore, Kol." She said before she walked out, leaving the room without looking at the man who was slowly standing from his desk. Freya walked down the hall, rushing down the flight of stairs before she exploded out of the building, letting out a breath she had been holding the entire way down. She placed a hand on her forehead and let out a sigh, closing her eyes before she pushed her hair out of her face, shaking her head as she began to walk towards where Adrian and the car were waiting for her.
~
He had watched her all throughout that boring class, his eyes taking in the sight of her. Her brown hair was covering her face, but he didn't need to see it to know that she was uncomfortable. Her body was stiff, her hand clutching her pen, and her heart was beating fast as the uneasiness pooled off her into waves that seemed to crash into him. Kol had known he would see Freya at some point, but when her scent crashed into his nose when he entered the building he felt nervous. Kol had stood there, taking in the smell of vanilla and shea butter before making his way to the classroom, practically following the trail of her smell as he walked. As soon as Kol made it to the doorway she stiffened and he knew she had smelt him, she hands closing around her phone as she closed her eyes. His eyes scanned the room and frowned, moving to the only spot in the room; the spot next to Freya Lancaster.
Despite looking at her the entire time, Freya never met his gaze. She never looked around from the front of the room or her notebook, keeping her eyes focused on anything but him. She was nervous, he could sense that. Sensing that, he turned his gaze away from her, pursing his lips as the professor was told about the waiting students outside the classroom. As soon as everyone had stood Kol looked over to see Freya moving to leave, his hand jutting out to grab her.
"Freya, I was wo-"
"Don't touch me." Freya murmured, pulling her arm away without looking at him. "You're not allowed to touch me anymore, Kol." He winced at the disdain in her voice but said nothing, knowing he was the reason why it was there in the first place. Standing slowly as he watched her go, Kol looked down and let out a disappointed sigh before he gathered his things and left. He made his way out of the building, his head throbbing as the smell of Freya Lancaster surrounded him. Once Kol was outside he let out a breath of relief, feeling slightly suffocated at the combination of vanilla and shea butter but he also felt comforted by the familiar smell, making him smiling slightly as he made his way to the parking lot.
The walk wasn't far, just around the corner from where his last class had been. As he unlocked his car he heard a car start along with a familiar voice, looking over to see Freya getting into Adrian's car as the boy yelled at a friend before turning, making eye contact with Kol. Adrian frowned but nodded to Kol, shaking his head once before getting into the car with Freya. Kol looked down and froze, seeing that the green eyes that were so familiar to him were staring at him, straight through him it seemed as Adrian pulled away from the college campus. Kol watched the car pull away before he got into his car, running a hand through his hair as he thought about how he left things with Freya before they had graduated from high school. Starting the car, Kol frowned before pulling away, making his way to pick up his younger siblings as he tried to ignore the mess he needed to fix.