𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐡 | 𝟏𝟖+

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

Today is the first day of classes. The morning is cooler than usual, but it's still warm out. I wear leggings with a cropped tank. I grab my backpack and pack it -- the one thing I forgot to do last night -- and tell Mia I'm leaving. I use my phone to find directions to my first class and put my earbuds in to walk to class. It still all feels really weird because it just feels like I got dropped off at a random place and now I have to navigate everything by myself.

When I enter the building, I start searching for my classroom without looking too stupid. I notice another guy doing the same. He has round-frame glasses on and his skin is a beautiful shade of warm honey. We make eye contact and he approaches me.

"Hey, are you also looking for Biology with Professor Gibbons?"

"Yes, I just can't find the classroom."

"Ugh me too. I've been searching for the past two minutes and I know whoever is looking at me through those cameras is laughing," he says pointing up to the black bulbs built into the ceiling. I laugh along with him as we continue to find the classroom. We notice a few other students coming inside and we just follow them to see if they know the directions to our class. Turns out the classroom is hidden in a corner that we kept on missing because we thought it was a storage closet.

"Hey, I'm Cami by the way," I introduce myself, holding out my hand.

"Amir," he shakes my hand. We take our seats in the middle. On the board was written: 'Professor Gibbons, Intro to Biology'. She looks like she's in her mid-fifties and by the way she smiles, she seems sweet.

"Hello everyone, I'm Professor Gibbons. Many of you are here for numerous reasons. You could be a biology major, a nursing major, or even a chemistry major. There are so many more that I could list that involve biology, which leads me to say that biology is all around us and is used in many aspects of our lives. It is an important subject that all of you should have a basic understanding of by the time you leave this class. With that, I will be passing out my syllabus. It is posted online as well, but I have paper ones as well if you prefer that."

As the syllabuses are being passed out I lean over and ask Amir what his major is.

"I know I'm basic, but biology. What about you?"

"Oh, cool. I'm a nursing major."

"I want to work in healthcare too! I'm on the pre-med track," he exclaims.

"Oh my god, I wanted to do pre-med before but I can't imagine going through that much schooling."

"Me too, but I think that's a problem for future me. Right now, I can just dream," he laughs.

"You're so right. We can live in our delusional worlds right now until they come to kick us in the ass later."

"That's the plan," he hands me the pile of syllabuses. I take one and pass it to the person sitting a seat away from me. "Holy shit," he says turning around. "There are so many kids in this class."

I turn to see the mass of freshmen behind me until I freeze. I immediately retract my head and slouch down a little. "Fuck."

"What happened?"

"I'm sure you've heard of him by now, but you know Nick Ford?"

"Oh my god, yes of course I know about Nick Ford. God, he's hot. I wish he was into guys. Oh, maybe he is, but he isn't out yet. I can only dream," he looks back up at me. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"Well, I was at a party a few nights ago. Wait, let me back up. No, actually...," I pause contemplating how I should start. "Do you want to go to lunch together after this?"