| Eleanor |

I did make friend.

Sort of.

Being late to the class made me feel left out. It's like friendship is on sale to early comers . Come first, get first. And I wanted so badly to be early so I could fetch mine . .so much for getting up early!

Really needed to keep my unhealthy obsession in check.

So to cut through the chase, the second I stepped in the class. .i took a hurried look around the class  and every one had the seat beside them filled—friendships were already forged—my heart did a sad pathetic flip for being the left out but then I saw her!

The black girl sitting all by herself.

The professor gave me a disapproving look for pausing the class and I made my way towards the girl. She was sitting by the window and the natural light filtering on her face made her stand out—

"As I said we will be studying ancient greek and—"

The girl seemed kinda surprised at me, coming at her.

"Hey." I whispered softly as I sat down beside her and tried to push back my red hair from getting into my face and sticking to my lip gloss.

"Um hi. . .?" She trailed off,  kinda shy. And reserved.

"Eleanor." I mouthed , my eyes fixed on the flailing professor.

"Willow Sanchez."

"That's one pretty name, Willow." I said , rolling her name in my mouth. "Exotic."

I think she smiled.

I wasn't sure because I couldn't look at her for the wrath of the old man would fall on me . .

After that we fell silent.

I had a . .thing when it came to the delicate bond of friendship. It puts pressure on me. Sounds weird but . .I always get this bubbling sensation in my stomach which forces me to be like be my best friend? Everyone got a friend , can you be mine? I don't want to feel left out.

Childish. Awkward and pathetic.

But seeing everyone with someone puts pressure on me.

I managed to keep all of those insane things in my mouth and didn't utter a word but the clicking of my pen was giving away my anxiety.

Tik.

Tik.

Tik.

"Miss, can you stop doing that?" The professor sighed irritably as the necks of the students turned at me.

Being a red head with a pale skin. .let me say one thing straight. We turn beet red at being caught.

The deep blush on my cheeks made itself known as I nodded meekly.

Willow chuckled.

As the class went on , my mind drifted away from the room. .and i couldn't help but think about the strange incident that occurred in the corridor. The man with the most peculiar set of blue eyes.  .  .I couldn't get rid of his image stuck in my head. .

He looked so odd.

His vibes contradictory.

Looking calm and yet on edge. .

"Are we clear on this? I want you to write an essay on this alright?"

A monotonous "yes, professor." was said.

"Class dismissed."

And everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the old man collected his stuff , the class broke out into a loud chatter .

Do it!

Swallowing my social anxiety, I turned at her and she was jotting down something on the notepad.

"Wanna grab something?" I said in a casual voice.

She glanced up at her, her hand stilling.

"Yeah sure. I do need my caffeine fix."

She was smiling.

Meaning I was on the right track of friendship.

Friendship was such a fragile emotion that needed baby steps to approach but I kinda bulldozed through it. Even now I was struggling not to ask for her whole bio data.

××××××××××××

"Where you from?" I sipped on the coffee.

"I was born here but ma moved to Texas for better opportunities. Before you ask, my father died in a militant attack in Afghanistan."

I nodded.

It was inspiring how she said it in a steady voice.

"Sorry to hear that. My story is boring. Born and raised here. Nothing much to tell."

We were strolling on the ground of the campus while students littered on the grass. Reading book or laughing or. . kissing.

"—and I live in the dorm. I'm planning on moving out next year." She muttered darkly.

"Dorm is fun and all but I had my heart set on getting myself an apartment. I just cannot imagine myself living with strangers."

"It's not that. ." She sighed . "It's just that my roommate expects me to be a stereotypical black girl. Like how they are portrayed in the media. Talking in hood language, have a sassy tongue and. . twerking." She added dryly.

Making me laugh out loud.

"The media has done wonders to black people image. Not." I grinned.

"That's a sad reality." She shrugged.

Just as we fell silent , a comfortable silence, I saw a blonde girl at a distance giving off some glossy flyers to people. Blonde had her midriff exposed with the short crop top and some shorts.

She was one hottie alright!

I could see guys turning at her as she give off the flyers.

"You don't wanna miss this!" she crooned and I winced at her high pitched voice.

"Who is she?" Willow asked and I have her a helpless shrug.

Blonde stood in the middle of the ground , eyeing around everyone . .to make sure everyone got their hands on the flyer and then her eyes zoomed on—us.

"Uh oh." I whispered as she bounced her way towards us.

"Girl, is she wearing a bra?"

I didn't answer because blonde got right on our head. Now up close, she had sharp features.

Foxy features.

And she sounded breathless.

"Juniors!" She said in a loud voice like we were dumb.

"Yeah—"

Nope. She didn't let me continue.

"Here." She slapped the glossy flyers in our hands as we shifted on our feet. "You're invited to the concert. Yes! The guy is hot and drool worthy! Has a voice to die for!" She sounded like a sales girl.

"Okay." I said , this time copying her loud voice.

Blonde looked at me like I sprouted horns.

"I said the guy's hot and you're like okay?"

I shrugged. "Okay."

Blonde shook her head at me in a slight disapproval.

"It's not your fault. You haven't seen him yet." She winked at us.

"What's your name?" She asked , looking from me to Willow.

"Eleanor."

"Willow."

Blonde noded now sticking her manicured hand out to us. "Megan."

"Nice to meet you." I added lamely. What else was I suppose to say?

Willow repeated my sentence.

After blinding us with another smashing smile, she whirled around and went off.

Leaving a blast of Victoria secret bombshell in her wake.

Willow was looking over the flyer and I too checked mine as I smoothed it out.

I heard Willow say "Intriguing."

The flyer was pitch black and the guy had a mic in his hand but I couldn't make out his face since he was looking up—

Ehh, who cares about his face.

I read the caption.

Devous University! It's your time to show support to the one and only! The dark and lonely! The Voice of this town! Oh you know who he is! Don't forget to catch him live on 18th of September! XOXO

×××××××××××××