Broken Souls Don't Cry

Chapter 5

Sara

Sara's first day of school had been a whirlwind and she only had one class left for the day, Philosophical Ethics. She walked into the classroom and quickly found a seat towards the middle back of the room, which was still mostly empty. Professor Larsen had yet to arrive, but there was still 10 minutes until class started. Sara set up her workspace by placing her laptop on the desk and pulled out a pen and the textbook. Then she pulled up an assignment from another class to begin its preparations. She didn't like wasting time and knew that she could use this time before class started to make headway in her other classes. Other students began trickling in and before she knew it class had started.

Professor Larsen started by introducing herself then went into the syllabus and expectations of the class.

"Your grades for this semester are as follows: 20% is from quizzes and tests, 5% is from attendance, because I do expect you to be here, 10% is from assignments, and 65% is from your project for the semester" There were a few gasps and groans from those around her, but she continued as if she didn't hear them. "Now, this project, as I'm sure some of you are aware, is all encompassing. You will be paired with a partner, come up with your service project, plan for it and make arrangements, actually do the service project, give updates to the class throughout the semester, then you will write a 15-page essay with the results." More groans "You will also be required to give a presentation to the class during finals"

Sara inwardly groaned as well. Not only was this project going to take a good chunk of her nonexistent time, but she would also need to work with another person. Sara hated group projects because she usually ended up doing all the work regardless. Still, Sara held out hope that her partner would at least be confident and helpful.

Professor Larsen walked up to the board and taped a few pages up, "I have already taken the liberty to set up the partnerships. These are unchangeable, barring few circumstances. You will find your partner's contact information in your email by 7:00pm." She then went on to give more details on the project and what all we needed to do.

At the end of class Sara walked up to the board to see who her partner was. It took several minutes for the sixty or so students to make their way up, find their names, and then move on. By the time Sara reached the board most of the other students had filtered out of the classroom. She quickly looked through the pages and found her name.

Sara Ashton and Kai Jenson.

Sara inhaled a sharp breath. Kai Je... Wait, what? No, no, no. It must be a different Kai. Please for all that is holy, please be a different Kai. She could feel a panic attack coming on and she quickly glanced around looking for an escape route. While her eyes were searching, they settled on a familiar face. Shoot, she cursed, it was him. Just great. Really freaking great.

Sara looked him up and down. He hadn't noticed her yet, thankfully. Kai mostly looked the same, maybe taller, yet more distinguished because he was older. He was the poster boy of tall, dark, and handsome. He was in faded jeans and a red t-shirt that nearly left nothing to the imagination. His muscles seemed to bulge over his crossed arms as he spoke to the person next to him in line.

As if he could tell someone was looking at him, his gaze flicked over to her. A faint expression of recognition crossed his face and then was instantly gone as he turned back to the conversation he was having.

Her throat made a muffled squeak before she quickly left the classroom and a flush of embarrassment filling her face. She didn't know why he was here in Colorado of all places. Sara had left California to get away from memories and the people of high school. Then the thought occurred to her, If Kai is here going to school... Does that mean Kyle is here too? After leaving high school she had never faced Kyle again. She couldn't. Just the mere thought that he was on the same campus as her made her stomach queasy and turn into knots.

She didn't know how this was going to work but she did know this. This semester was going to suck.

**

Kai

Well, this class will be interesting. Kai thought to himself. He was glad this was his only general class he had left to take, unfortunately it would be his second time taking it. This was the only credit that hadn't transferred from Stanford. Overall, it's an easy class, Kai just wasn't looking forward to the project. He didn't mind doing group projects, spread the work, makes them easier usually. He hoped his partner was one who would actually help with the project rather than taking a backseat.

The line to see the list moved forward and Kai continued his conversation with the guy who had sat next to him during class. Asher, at least that's what he thought he said his name was. He seemed pretty cool and would be a friend for this class.

Kai felt someone's gaze drift over to him and he turned his head a little to look around. His eyes landed on a woman with brown hair and beautiful chocolate eyes. She was fairly tall, and her legs were long with a slim, yet full, waist. She looked vaguely familiar. There was a terrified expression on her face, and he looked away, feeling uneasy, and continued the conversation with Asher.

Maybe he had seen her around campus earlier today and that's why she was familiar?

Finally, it was his turn to check the list.

Kai Jenson and Sara Ashton.

Huh? No way. He thought. He looked around the classroom for her, but she had gone. So that's who that was.

He hadn't seen Sara since high school. Word was she had transferred and then her family moved. She was one of those easy girls. Kyle had made it seemed like they hooked up frequently. Kai had taken her on a date once, but she was too quiet and hardly said anything, so he dumped her midway through the date. Kyle had said he comforted her when Kai had dumped her. Said she had begged Kyle and he couldn't say no to her perfect breasts that bounced as he plowed into her.

She didn't have a very good reputation after that and Kai, and every other guy at school, had wanted to get on that train. Most guys liked an easy lay, he was no exception. Kyle boasted of the many times he had sexed her up. He never knew if any of it was really true, but at the time he didn't doubt Kyle's story, they'd been friends since they were toddlers.

Kai said farewell to Asher and then headed for his car to go to work. This was definitely going to be an interesting semester.