I gently struggled to open my eyes, squinting against the bright light that seemed to pierce through my eyelids.
"Selene!?" I heard Austin's familiar voice.
"Is she up?" Lily's voice, filled with concern, came as she rushed towards me.
I blinked a few times, trying to focus, and looked around. Austin was sitting beside me, his face pale and full of fear. I turned to the other side and saw Lily, equally as worried.
"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.
"What happened?" I asked, confused and surprised to see them both. I tried to sit up, only now realizing I was in the medical center. I had no recollection of what had happened prior to waking up here.
"Who faints on the first day of resumption?" Lily exclaimed in disbelief.
"We found you passed out in the parking lot," Austin explained softly. "The doctors checked you out, and they said you're fine—no signs of stress or illness, nothing."
I squinted in confusion, trying to piece things together. "How did I end up in the parking lot?" I asked, trying to recall the events leading up to this.
"You ran out of the cafeteria," Lily replied, a hint of worry in her voice.
Fragments of memory began to surface, images of Dr. Lucian briefly flashed in my mind, though they felt hazy. Maybe I had just imagined them in a daydream.
"Let's go," I said, swinging my legs off the bed and pushing myself up. "Where's my phone?"
"Here," Lily said, holding it out to me.
"7 PM?" I gasped. "How long was I asleep for?"
"Six hours," Lily replied, crossing her arms. "And I missed classes because of you."
"I'm sorry," I said, giving her a sheepish smile.
We walked together toward our respective dorms. Lily's dorm was just after mine, and I'd known her since last year when we were roommates.
"Bye!" she said, giving me a quick hug. "Get some rest, okay?"
"I will. Bye!" I smiled back at her as she waved and walked toward her dorm.
After a warm shower, I settled on my bed and pulled out my old journal. The last time I wrote was back in freshman year, but I stopped because it felt too teenage-y. Now, though, I had this sudden urge to write. What had happened today was so strange, and I was starting to wonder if I was having memory issues.
I tried to piece together the events, but nothing clicked, so I decided to let it go for now.
15th January 2025:
A new semester began, and I met the hottest man on the planet, who just so happens to be our Chemical Kinetics lecturer. And the strangest thing happened: I passed out for the first time in my entire 21 years on Earth. And also, Drey—yes, the Drey—smiled at me. Like he finally noticed I existed. Right after I humiliated myself in class. Fantastic start to the semester, huh?
I set the pen down and pushed the journal aside. Lying down, I stared up at the ceiling, trying to fall asleep. It was a struggle, and before I knew it, morning had arrived.
I woke up before the alarm even went off. I'd been having crazy nightmares and couldn't sleep well at all. Despite that, I got dressed early for class. Apart from the fact that I woke up early, I was actually a little eager to go to class now, especially Chemical Kinetics. We had it Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.
I slipped into a pair of blue jeans and a black wrap top, deciding to go simple but cute.
"You look so hot," Diana said as she yawned, looking at me with a playful smile.
"Thanks," I smiled back, still feeling a little groggy. "Got classes this morning?"
"Not really," she replied, stretching. "Unless you count yoga classes as classes."
"Isn't it a little late for yoga?" I raised an eyebrow, teasing her.
"Yeah, I'm just going there to pass the time."
"You're not the type to just kill time" I squinted my eyes in a suspicious manner.
"Fine," she laughed, "The coach's hot nephew comes there as a punishment. He has to stay and help clean up afterward."
"Ouuuu," I said, grinning.
"It's not that deep," she shrugged, blushing slightly. "And he's actually really nice."
"How cute," I replied with a teasing smile. "Go get him."
I gave her a playful wink before closing the door behind me as she laughed, "Alright, alright!"
I looked at my watch as I made my way to the classroom building. 7:25 AM. I was pretty early today, which was unusual for me.
Inside, I found Drey sitting alone, reading. He looked up as I walked in and I could see surprise flash across his face. I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"Hey," he laughed softly.
"Hi," I greeted, walking past him.
"This seat is free," he gestured to the empty seat beside him. Obviously, every seat was free since we were the only ones in the class. I didn't want to sit in the front row. He was in the second row, so I looked around, smiled, and then nodded before sitting in the third row, behind him. He chuckled at my choice.
"Alright," he nodded, his laugh was adorable.
"You always this early?" I asked, settling into my seat.
"Yeah," he replied. "Football practice starts at 6 AM and ends at 7, four times a week. I just come to class afterward to have some quiet time."
"That's cool," I said, impressed.
"How about you? Did they drive you out of your dorm today?" he asked, causing me to laugh.
"Yeah," I said with a grin. "Guess I'm a bit of a latecomer." I tilted my head. "I couldn't sleep last night."
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, his voice suddenly softer. He turned toward me completely, his amber eyes locking with mine, and I froze. "Were you bothered by something?"
I stammered, trying to gather my thoughts, but his gaze was mesmerizing. "Uhm... I... not really," I managed to say.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," he said, smiling gently at me. Then, he added, "You've got really pretty eyes."
"Really?" I scoffed, a bit flustered.
He nodded. "Really."
"Thank you," I said, offering a shy smile. And no, I wasn't shy—it was just a shy smile.
He nodded and turned back to his book.
"What book are you reading?" I asked, leaning forward to peek at the cover.
He flipped the book around. "It's not that popular. A New Dawn," he revealed. "My friend wrote it before he left."
"Oh!" I said, intrigued.
"Yeah," he smiled. "I'm not really a book person." He turned briefly to face me, shaking his head. I nodded in understanding.
"Would you like to come to my party this Friday?" he asked, his gaze shifting to the person walking in.
"Oh! What's it about?" I asked.
"It's a welcome-to-the-new-year party, tagline, Penultimate…" he explained, but just then, a bunch of other students started walking in, all of them looking at me like I was a ghost. I mean, I know I'm a latecomer, but did they really not know the concept of redemption?
"Selene?" Lily called out as she ran toward where I sat. "Are you okay?"
"What do you mean?" I turned to give her a funny look.
"You're in class early," she shrugged, dropping her bag.
I made an exaggerated expression, trying to hide my frustration in a funny way.
"And from yesterday, do you feel better?" she asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I do," I nodded, pursing my lips and tilting my head to give her a subtle sign—Yes, Drey, my crush, is here. Lower your voice, please. He doesn't need to know I passed out. But she only raised her voice.
"Don't pass out like you did again and always get enough rest, okay?" she said loudly, with a mischievous grin.
"You said that yesterday," I whispered through gritted teeth, but she just laughed, knowing exactly what she was doing.
"Hi class," Mr. Lucian's deep, masculine voice interrupted. Everyone turned their attention to him as he stood at the front. Everyone had actually arrived on time before he did.
"Who's the class governor?" he asked.
The room went silent, and everyone glanced at each other. We had different governors for each department, and this course had students from several.
"I know we have different governors," Mr. Lucian continued, "but I'll need one for my class. You can pick someone amongst yourselves to represent you, through whom I can send information."
A few murmurs spread across the room, and soon, everyone's gaze turned toward me. I felt a wave of surprise flood over my face. "Selene," they said, some even pointing at me.
You've got to be kidding, I thought, chuckling nervously and glaring at them. But they only smiled at me. Was my face not scary enough? I turned to look at Lily, but she just smiled dryly. I could tell she probably wanted the post. After all, she was the assistant class governor of our department and had a knack for leading.
"Selene," Mr. Lucian's smooth voice called out, sending shivers down my spine. "See me after class," he added as he turned to the board.
Great.
Just great.