Chapter 1

I’m running as fast as my legs can carry me, the morning breeze pushing against me, the smell of autumn strong in the air.

Stopping for my morning coffee was a really bad idea but my whole day would be shit without it. Now, I’m about to be late for my favorite class. Forget my whole day being ruined, my whole week would be ruined if I don’t make it to her class.

Today’s the day she’s going to share the class into different groups for our art project, I’m hoping she’ll let us pick groups. Me being late would destroy any hope I have of that happening for me. Fuck, I’ve never been late to this class before.

I push past other college students loitering around the campus to get to the building where the class is supposed to be held, earning a string of colorful words hurled at me. It doesn’t bother me at all, I’m focused on making it to my building in one piece.

I make it to the building, run to the elevator and aggressively push the button. Five seconds pass and it doesn’t budge, I swear under my breath and head towards the stairs in a haste while I adjust the strap of my bag on my shoulders.

My hair is already falling out of the ponytail I hurriedly put it in this morning, my glasses keep sliding down my face, I’m pretty sure I look a mess and the overalls I practically jumped in are not helping either. Ugh! Why today of all days, I blame Joel. I had to beg him to leave this morning. I don’t know how he managed to get under my skirts- or rather dress this time around but I woke up and he was there in my bed. Naked. Along with the blinding headache that greeted me promptly after I woke.

Drunk Claire really has a lot of explanation to do because I’m not impressed. Neither is Quen and she’s my best friend. She’s also my roommate and trust, the memory of her giving me the “stink face of disappointment” while I urged Joel out the door will forever be seared into my memory. Just thinking of it makes me shudder.

I slow down my running and slip into walking as I thankfully am now on the floor where my hall is. My eyes stray to a clock on the wall that reads 9:40. Odd, the clocks around the school are always correct. My anxiety shoots up. I reach into my bag as I walk, fishing for my phone so I can confirm if it’s the right time or not.

It is then that I walk into what I would have thought an unmoving wall, if not for the fact that this wall is wearing a white button up that is now stained with my piping hot coffee. My eyes widen in horror, it’s scalding hot coffee that I take in sips in order not to burn my tongue. He didn’t even flinch.

I quickly take my handkerchief and start trying to soak up the hot coffee off his shirt. “I am soooo sorry, are you okay? I really did not see you coming, this is really hot coffee, I hope it doesn’t leave a welt,” I ramble on mindlessly, so mindlessly that I don’t notice when he reaches for my hand and grabs it to stop me from wiping his shirt.

I look up at him and whoa how tall is this man? His height is not the only thing that has me gagged, it’s his eyes, the way they are fragments of different earth tones staring so intensely at me, it’s the way his citric, woody fragrance floods my nostrils and makes me think of petrichor, it’s the way his sleeves are folded at his forearms and I can see the contours of his toned, muscled arms, it’s the way he looks like an art work, with chiseled cheekbones, a jawline sculpted by the gods and lips so inviting, I have to pull my eyes away from, lest I loose my sense of self.

He tilts his head to the side, keen interest in his eyes as he watches me.

Flustered, I take my hand from his grip and look away. “You were making it worse,” I hear him say in a deep, coarse voice that turns my insides to jelly. I realize he is referring to the coffee stain.

I mean, I was aggressively wiping the damn thing.

“I’m really sorry about the whole thing, I was in such a hurry. Is there anything I could do to make it up?”

I ask genuinely apologetic. I also surprise myself by how stable my voice sounds.

“Be mindful of your steps next time.” He says this, doesn’t even spare me another glance and walks away.

I’m stunned for a few seconds, I want to be angry but I did spill hot, scalding coffee on the guy. It’s kind of fair, but a part of me still feels offended.

"Hey! You should put a balm on that, I know one that’s really soothing," I say dumping my coffee cup in a bin and jogging after him, he’s easily putting meters between us in just one step and it’s really hard to keep up, how long are his legs?

He stops out of nowhere, catching me off guard. It’s so abrupt, I almost bump into him the second time today. He turns to look at me an indecipherable look on his face. "Are you...following me?" He eyebrow arcs like he’s telling me to get on with it when he sees me hesitating.

"You left so quickly, I-"

"Well, I have to go replace the shirt you just ruined so I don’t exactly have time to sit and chat." His voice is really cold and he sounds so curt, I actually stagger backwards awkwardly. I want to just walk away and apologize for disturbing, apparently.

However, looking at this rudely handsome man talk to me in that manner irks me real bad. To be honest, I don’t really think before I spew the next words.

"Okay then, while you’re at it try replacing that shitty attitude you’ve got on. Stinks way more than your shirt." I retort and turn back the way I came from not even waiting to see the reaction he’s got on. He really didn’t have to be so bitchy.

I get to my class trying to put the last two minutes at the rear of mind but standing outside the door, I can see the class is really full and teeming with people and the class is already ongoing?

How long did I spend with that man?

I hear someone whisper my name and crane my neck to see who. It’s Luna, my friend. We have this course together and literally sit always beside each other. She’s seated at the very last row and is waving for me to join her, so I open the door as quietly as I can and walk over to the seat she left for me beside her.

There’s a confused look on her face as I sit down. “I didn’t expect to see you in class today,” she says and takes a sip from that Dantley cup she carries everywhere, I’m pretty sure it’s more than just water in there.

I frown, “Oh really, why?”

“You’re so late, you might as well have missed the class. What’s wrong? You used to be Miss Punctual,” she says and I’m thoroughly floored. Huh?!

“What do you mean? it’s literally some minutes after eight,” I utter my words slowly, even doubting myself as I speak. Luna gives me a short chortle with her eyebrows raised.

“Yesterday really did a number on you. You’re disoriented.” She raises her phone to my face which reads boldly 09:57, just like the clock in the lobby earlier.

I’m staring at Luna’s phone like it’s the 17th century and I’m a Victorian child looking at it for the first time. I missed the whole thing. I’m confused on how my phone is two hours behind because I did not change the setting. I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

Joel... he must have done that yesterday night so I’d loose track of time with him at the party. The little fucker. My fists ball up thinking of fifty unique ways to skin the fucker. He’s so lucky he’s not in the vicinity, three jacked men would have to hold me back.

“Don’t beat yourself up, Claire,” she whispers as she places her phone back in her bag. “Nothing much happened. Ms. Winterfell just went over her normal lecture and now she says she has an important message for us."

What important message? I look over to where she’s standing at the front of the class. She’s wearing such a morose expression. Oh no.

There’s been speculation that Ms.Winterfell would resign soon. Everybody could tell she had something going on personally that put a damper on her usually hyper personality. A divorce, Quen had told me. She always has all the legit tea and information.

“I’ll be stepping down as your professor,” she says and the class falls dead silent. The next minute it morphs into an uproar. It’s happening.

"Calm down class, you’re not barbarians," she says and as usual the class obeys. Ms.Winterfell is middle aged and with the way she handles her class, we respect her, some could even say revere because she’s too damn good at her job. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

"I am saying this with a heavy heart and even I didn’t see this coming either but sometimes, life hits us with curveballs and you have to make tough decisions such as this one but not to worry, I’ll be leaving you in the capable hands of Mr. Eiserman. He’s an excellent professor and he’ll guide you guys just as well, if not even better.

Honestly, you all have incredible potential and I hope you embrace every opportunity that comes your and give it everything you have, no halfsies," she says with a smile and the heavy mood of the room lifts a bit and people are chuckling. How can they? More importantly, how can she say she’s leaving? That’s...so unfair.

"Regardless, your brand new professor will be coming in to introduce himself. Please give him a warm welcome," She says and as she steps off the podium the class erupts in an ovation. It last for some seconds and then we settle down as the door swings open to reveal our new professor.

I almost choke on my own saliva and start coughing uncontrollably. Luna offers me her water as she pats my back so I can stop coughing but I can’t seem to stop.

I must be seeing things. He’s in a different shirt now but there’s no mistake. It’s the man I spilled coffee on outside.