The Album of Perfect Moments

That blessed pencil

I saw the doors of the institute in the distance. I tried not to accelerate too much, as desperate as I was to get to that place.

I was late for the philosophy seminar. I had woken up late because the alarm hadn't gone off, and I had no idea what happened. It wasn't what used to happen to me. What's more, that had never happened to me.

It didn't matter now. I took my bag, and I was out of the car. It alarmed me even more that no one was in the parking lot. My heels clicked in the empty corridors.

The classroom was around the corner. I didn't have to climb stairs or go through another building, and I was grateful for that until I recognized a head covered in black hair at the end of the corridor. He was in profile, so I could make sure it was him. In front of him was a poor boy, maybe a sophomore or junior.

And the first thing I noticed was how scared he was looking at Alieth. Next was the catlike stance Alieth adopted when he wanted to intimidate someone. Harris said a few words to him in a low voice, and the boy averted his eyes, accidentally glancing at me and giving me away. Alieth followed suit, and when he saw me, he just smiled at me in that narcissistic way that used to leave girls everywhere sighing. He winked at me.

I pushed open the classroom door and entered.

They were talking about love and war.

"A war was started for love," a classmate commented. "The Trojan War and because of it an entire city was left in ashes."

"I agree. Love can sometimes be a double-edged sword if used for evil," someone else added.

"It's subjective. Menelaus wanted his wife back; he wanted to defeat Paris. No one knows exactly if he did it out of love or just a desire to emerge as the winner."

"Love is all the good that can exist, Mr. Donovan. Humans must be too corrupt to use it to harm someone," concluded another person.

For my part, I had been absorbed in listening to the debate. There was a considerable chance this class would be one of my favorites.

"Oh, Siena, you've arrived." Mr. Donovan noted me with an encouraging smile. "Do you want to give us your opinion?"

"Well... I think it's relative."

And that was all I contributed. Everyone expected me to say more, but my thoughts were too messy to put into words. I tried to focus. I really tried.

"What our brilliant Siena is trying to say, I think, is that it depends on the kind of love you have. No one loves people to the same extent or in the same way. Some love incorrectly, and that is what causes conflicts."

I made eye contact with him for a microsecond, even though it seemed like one of those infinite moments. Alieth put a loving hand on my shoulder before coming forward and sitting on Declan's left side.

"Excellent point, Alieth," Donovan congratulated and began to shift the focus of the discussion so that everyone would finish participating.

Yeah, that was definitely one of my favorite classes. Above all, it was not a space in which you could be judged and punished at the teacher's whim. Classes with Donovan were never tedious.

In the end, I was sorry to leave the class, but I had calculus, and it was not one of the classes I could be late for. As I said, Donovan was quite permissive with his students and perhaps the only one who behaved in that friendly way with us.

I said goodbye from a distance because he was talking to Alieth, and I definitely didn't want to have more contact with him. Although I was not saved from that in the full sense of the word. Another of the Insufferables had me on his radar.