The Enigma [18+]

fourteen

i've been running on stardust
alone for so long

October 06, 2003
|myra dalton|

8:43 A.M.

Myra cursed under her breath as she raced across the campus, over slippery leaves scattered on the lawn. The rain pelted against her coat, a cold fog enveloping her the further away she got from the dorms. She briefly used her professor's textbook to shield her hair, which had already sustained unnecessary heat damage from the time she spent trying to make it look good.

The humidity turned the neat curls into a frizzy mess, despite her every effort to keep it protected.

The soles of her ankle boots squeaked against the tiles as she made her way into the school building, brushing off pesky droplets of water and scanning her card.

The student walked with poise, attempting to pay no attention to the pity on the security officer's face. A small part of her debated whether she should even disrupt the lecture, but a text from Quincy was all it took for Myra to muster up the decision while she navigated the narrow halls.

Quincy: Romano just asked about you!!! Where are you?

Myra: on my way

She took a deep breath upon reaching her classroom.

Myra opened the white door as quietly as she could. Immediately, the young woman was met with blank stares from her peers, all of them a bit shocked at her appearance too.

That's the thing about small classes.

Nothing goes unnoticed.

Quincy grimaced, nervously looking at Dominic before facing his work on the table. It seemed as though everyone was uncomfortable, yet fully prepared to watch her get annihilated by the man in front of the room.

The same man that put flowers in her hair and called her heavenly. The same man that accepted her for who she is.

But even Myra didn't know what to expect.

She met Dominic's gaze with great reluctance before dropping her eyes. Heat rushed across her cheeks, defrosting them from the cold that she sought shelter from just a few minutes ago.

Apologize!

She couldn't find her voice.

Not when he looked at her like that.

Dominic's hand paused in mid-air, and he turned away from the board, raising a brow. She has only a moment to adore the stubble on his face. His hair was messy, as if he had also gotten caught in the rain. A curled wisp of hair hung over his forehead, which he pushed back.

His fingers were stained with black ink. Dominic capped his marker with ease, his stare running down the length of her figure. At her disheveled state, his lips tugged into a small smile.

"Kind of you to finally join us," Dominic remarked, sarcasm laced beautifully in his tone as he stepped closer to her. Her knees almost buckled.

The professor noticed the textbook that she held onto with white knuckles, and horror flashed within his steel eyes. He pried the hardcover copy from her grip, his life's work, and flipped through the crinkled pages.