AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The foyer was vibrant with many moving bodies, everyone trying to get somewhere. I made my way over to the campus map to remind myself where I was going. Taking a minute to breathe, I only realised I was grasping Lizzie’s hand in a near death grip when she pulled herself free from it, giving me a concerned glare.
“Just nervous,” I declared, because it was true. I hated lying to her, so giving her half a truth settled the guilt within. “New university, people I haven’t seen for years... it’s just strange.”
Nodding her agreement, she pointed to the area on the large campus map pinned on the wall before us, reminding me where my classes were. I hugged her goodbye, promising to meet her outside the canteen for lunch later, and made my way to Block B. Weaving my way between the masses of people, I gained a few curious looks on the way, which didn’t surprise me in the slightest.
Legacies were recognised. Our pictures alongside our parents and past generations were posted up round the buildings, which was unfortunate if you wanted to hide yourself away from your ancestry.
The individual seating spanned the width of the classroom, with matching individual desks, giving each person their own work area.Thank God. I hated seating that forced you to sit with people. A stage area was raised at the front of the room next to the door with a podium off to the right side of it, giving way to a massive whiteboard hung on the wall already with the wording ‘Welcome to Psychology.’
Grabbing a seat mid-way up at the end of the row, on the far side away from the door, I sat observing the students entering, settling into their own seats while we waited for the professor. Bending over, I retrieved my bag sitting by my feet, unzipping it to slide out my laptop. I switched it on, ready to take notes.
A psychology degree was not something I saw myself doing years ago. I’d always enjoyed watching people, and my experience over the past years had taught me new ways of how to read people. The mannerisms and behaviour which individuals fell into interested me. Maybe it was the small child within me clinging to the tiniest bit of hope that there was a reason for certain behaviour, that people who committed malicious deeds had reasoning. The other part of my brain stamped over my naivety, whispering that depravity was the choice of the wielder.
People weren’t one dimensional. We all had different dreams, needs, wants, and desires. We each had fears or phobias. Every single person in the entire world feared at least one thing. If they told you they didn’t, they were lying through their teeth.
“Good morning, class,” a cheerful voice cut through my daydream. I spotted the lady making her way to the podium, dumping her bag down and turning to face us. “I am Professor Stewart. This isn’t high school. If you don’t want to be here, get out of my class.” She cast a glance round the room as if waiting for someone to get up and leave. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. She smiled. “Good. The workload is heavy but rewarding and will lead you into your chosen career choice. A syllabus will be emailed to you—” her words drifted off as she opened her laptop pressing a few buttons. She turned back to us, “—now.”
Noticing a new email, I clicked on it, bringing up the syllabus, while others did the same. I blew out a breath—a mixture of excitement and apprehension—at the outlined work and what was expected of us. I never anticipated the work would be easy, but easing us in would have been preferable. Two hours later, with my brain fried from an overload of information, I trudged to the canteen to meet Lizzie for lunch.
I was hungering for greasy food; pizza or chips would do me nicely. Not as many people were about due to different classes running at various times. To the side of the entrance, I spotted Lizzie with a group of girls and strolled towards her with an open smile on my face.
“Hi,” I said confidently. The girls looked at me like I’d just rolled in a pile of shit and came to share it around. Lizzie gave me a brittle, fake smile. “Not interrupting anything, am I?” I questioned innocently to the three girls surrounding my best friend, realising quickly that this situation was far from what I first assumed.
An attractive blonde-haired girl dressed head to toe in designer clothing looked me up and down and pursed her lips, clearly finding me lacking. “Who allowed you to speak with us?”Wow, okay then.Her comment got my back up instantly.
“And who allowedyouto question me?” I retorted, giving her a condescending smile as my inner bitch won out. If you came at me or mine, my claws made an appearance.
Barbie bitch was clearly stepping up a level; she laughed mockingly at me, as if she couldn’t believe someone would speak to her like that.Best believe it.The other three girls surrounding Lizzie now had narrowed gazes focused on me—at me, as if the best part of their day was becoming accessories to the head girl. Some girls never grew out of high school. The mean girl vibe was so cliché.
“You clearly have no idea who I am,” she told me sarcastically.
She squared up in front of me, trying to intimidate with the few inches she had on me. Unluckily on her part, she wasn’t the meanest thing I’d come across. There’d always be girls or boys like her who would try to command you to under their rule.
“So, let me tell you, new girl.” She sneered, making her beautiful features distort. “I’m Annabelle, you should remember that name because my legacy boyfriend will use it when he puts you in your place for daring to step up to me.”
Woah... rude to psycho in less than a few minutes. I felt for the guy who was with this waste of space. Honestly, if I was him, I’d just stuff something in her mouth to shut her up. Thinking about it, he probably did.
“Ah,” I muttered, “What legacy boyfriend is yours?” I was half trying to rile her up and half fishing for information.
“Youwillstay away from Texas Penn. He ismine,” she demanded, stomping her foot like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
I fought not to smile, because fucking hell—Texas dealt with this? Although I couldn’t really judge his tastes because I didn’t know him like I used to, not anymore. She was too high maintenance even for me, and I’d only known her for around two mind-numbing minutes. I held eye contact with her. Somehow, I believed she expected me to look away and submit to her.
I marched past her, deliberately knocking her shoulder with mine. She whirled around, caught off balance, but quickly righted herself in a huff blubbering at me. I clutched Lizzie’s hand and moved towards the doors to the entrance. I really was hungry now and wanted this bullshit over with.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Milla Rossi,” I shouted over my shoulder. She fell still with her other three friends, not knowing what to say.
Pulling my gaze away, I snickered with Lizzie as we grabbed some hot greasy goodness from the canteen and fell into the first spare seats we saw. I moaned loudly, garnering looks from the tables closest to us. I took a bite from my pineapple pizza.Yes, the pineapple is supposed to be there. Goddamn, it tasted incredible. I had no doubt I’d incur the wrath of Barbie another time, but that was a problem for future me.
Chapter4
Milla
Dum spiro spero.While I breathe, I hope.
That phrase stuck with me. I didn’t know where or how I learned or heard it, but Ifeltit.
Pressing the button to turn my alarm off, I groaned while my eyes were still half asleep. This bed was seriously going to mess up my life; I never wanted to leave it. I loved my sleep. I really did.
