Finding Marcel

>2<

     

                                                                               Chapter Two

     I hardly noticed anyone else push past me to get into the classroom. My eyes were on the boy at the desk, long curly hair falling into his face. I almost mistook him for Edward, but he was writing with his left hand. Edward was right-handed. He wore a light blue button-down that exposed his arms, showing a few tattoos. It had to be Marcel. He wasn't wearing glasses, though, so he must've had contacts in. 

     Suddenly, as if sensing my presence, he looked straight up at me. I instantly went rigid, and it was like I had stopped breathing. His eyes stared right into mine, a familiar jade that I had missed. I searched his face for any sign of hate or sadness, even happiness, but his features remained neutral. I half expected him to insist I left, or to have me removed from his class. What seemed like minutes were really seconds, and Marcel turned away as if he hadn't a clue who I was.

     With a much tighter grip on my bag, I made my way to the farthest row back. The first thing I did after sitting down was check my schedule, as if it couldn't possibly have been true. As if I would look on that paper, and see someone else's name as my professor. 

     'Professor Styles', it read, followed by a phone number and email address. 

     When I looked back up, I found his eyes were on me again. He immediately stared back down at his phone, like he hadn't just been watching me. He looked so much older, yet I could still see the Marcel I knew in high school. The only word that could form in my mind was bittersweet. I remembered how long I had hated myself for; I never forgave myself, only tried to forget.

     The clock hit the half-hour mark, cuing Marcel to stand and introduce himself. I noticed that he didn't stutter as he spoke. "Welcome to astronomy," he said, his voice much bolder and more mature. When he looked at me once again, I shrunk into my seat. 

     "Today we will be going over Electromagnetic Radiation."

     All throughout the lesson, I had to keep reminding myself to focus on what was being taught and put up on the screen, rather than just listening to Marcel's voice or letting my mind drift. I wasn't going to willingly screw everything up on my first day. He talked fast, so whenever I got distracted, I felt I had missed a lot of information. 

     From spectroscopy to wavelengths and photons, everything was scribbled down in short notes on my paper. I knew it would be hard to actually read them later on, but I figured it was better than not getting all the notes I needed. Before I knew it, we were all being dismissed. As everyone else got up around me, I sat there for a moment more, thinking about just how bizarre it was. Marcel had just excused me from his classroom. 

      How had he gotten so far in life in such little time? The number of years he had to go through of college just to teach, not to mention getting through high school first. I didn't look up to meet his eyes as I left the room, books clutched tightly in my arms. 

                                                         *                       *                      *

     "You mean to tell me that when you walked into that room, you had no clue he was going to be there? I mean, he's a professor. That's not really something that people go without knowing." Louis sounded skeptical, like he thought I had planned it all myself. 

     "That's exactly what I'm telling you. He was just sitting at his desk."

     "Did you say anything to him?"