This Side

Two

It's only been a week since I first started Yearwood, and my reputation here is already... interesting. I still haven't made much of an impression on the hot guy in my physics class, but honestly, I don't think either of us gives a shit whether I do or not. I don't think he even knows my name at this point, and he's obviously not trying to find out. What a shame.

I make my way back down to the all-so-familiar room 405 and push the door open for the 8th time this year. I guess this might as well be the most interesting and purpose-filled point of my day, staring at this mysterious brunette. But every day he never cares to move from his same old seat, making it easy for me to secretly spy on him during class.

Today is no different. Casually ignoring my boring professor's remarks on the sleeping freshman at the front of the hall, I admire the way he styled his hair today; it's messy in a way that kind of makes him look like he just rolled out of bed, but I love it. Every wisp of brown streaks down his face with perfection, and I wonder just how long I could stare at it if my time wasn't so limited.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," he remarks with a slight amount of sarcasm and amusement in his tone, and I quickly try to mask my embarrassment and suddenly red face by pretending I had been working this whole time.

"Who would want to take a picture of you?" I say back, rolling my eyes and scoffing without looking back at him, no matter how much I want to. I just need to wait for class to be over to get out of this class without weirding out this guy.

"Apparently, more than half the girls at this school," he replies, a dry taste to his voice. He glances at me for about a quarter of a second before the edges of his mouth lift up into a small smirk, thinking he's outsmarted me.

"I severely doubt that," I shoot back, and awkwardly roll down my left sleeve over my hand. I don't know how much longer I can hide my increasingly reddened face. It's just a crush, I think to myself. He doesn't even know you.

His eyes shoot up to his forehead, obviously in shock for a reason I can't define. "Have you even seen this school's Instagram?" Then he seems to pause before he realizes something. "Oh wait, you're new, aren't you?"

"What?" I say back, confusion quickly taking over the flustered aspect of my face. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, don't worry. You'll find out soon enough," he responds, clearly ending the conversation by turning his focus back to his work. I can't seem to define what he means by that, but I don't really care to know. I find myself drawing my attention to my physics professor after a bit to actually begin taking notes for the first time this semester.

rotational motion

-kinematics describe relationships between angle of rotation, angular acceleration, time

-angular acceleration occurs because angular velocity changes

-faster the change, greater the acceleration

-formula = yada yada yada bla bla bla 

My fingers slow to a halt as my brain freezes, the boring and lifeless words continuing to flow out of my professor's mouth. A bell rings, breaking my trance, and I almost jump out of my skin scrambling to put my things away. One of my mathematics textbooks slips out of my grip, and as I reach for it, I find another hand attempting to pick it up as well.

"Here," a familiar voice reaches out to me. His hand, outstretched, is noticeably calloused and rough, but also veiny and masculine. A familiar heat knots in my cheeks as I speechlessly and shakily take my textbook from him and place it back inside my bag. I want to say thank you, but as I lift my head, I notice he's already walking away, a now-noticeable name tag placed in the center of his backpack.

If found, return to Sam Burns.

Sam Burns. That's his name? Interesting. I tear my attention from his backside and sling my tote bag over my shoulder, making my way towards the exit.

My Honda Civic pulls into number 16, a parking spot I have grown accustomed to over the past week, and I pull the gear shift once again into Park. I rip the keys from ignition, and after another rough day, I find it hard to make it up all three floors back to my dorm. My vision slightly blurry, it takes me a minute to find the right key to open my door, but I slide it in with ease and quietly slip through the entrance, trying not to wake up Andrew and face the wrath of his most likely hungover ass. The sun has already set, and I consider dinner for a moment, but then decide I'm too tired to make something for myself and walk back to my bed. I normally would choose takeout, but with the recent move to a more-expensive college, I don't think my bank account would agree.

I slip out of my dirty clothes and rummage through my small closet before finding a baggy t-shirt acceptable enough to sleep in for the night, then flop onto my bed, letting out a long, exhausted sigh.

For a second, I almost fall asleep just like this, but then remember the words of the brunette from earlier- Sam, I think- and wonder what he meant by them.

"You'll find out soon enough." The words echo throughout the ridges of my brain as I try to make sense of what he meant by that.

 My fingers crawl towards my phone on the edge of my nightstand, a blue light casting a glow onto my fingertips as I unlock it. I open up Instagram, scrolling for a bit before tapping the bar and 'typing sam burns yearwood acdmy' into the search.

Soon enough, the page finally loads and I'm met with the Yearwood Academy official school account, and right below it, a post about... Sam?

"Congratulations to Sam Burns for winning last week's home football game as the team's captain! 🏆💙 #YearwoodAcademy #YearwoodPrivate #fyp" read the caption. In the picture was Sam holding a rather large medal up, smiling and... shirtless. My eyes mindlessly wander over each muscle as my mind wonders what it would look like in real life, and even feel...

No. I push the thought out of my head as quickly as it enters, and scroll down to the comments, but what I'm met with is worse than I'd ever imagined.

ava_gale0334: he can be my captain 😍🤗

briass9.._4: Omfg I want him so bad

chelseawood2002: @briass9.._4  girl back off he's mine!!! 😪

My stomach turns intensely as comments upon comments match the previous exactly. I can almost imagine my face turning green with what I can only recognize as jealousy and anger as I continue to scroll. Is this really what he meant? Does everyone really find him this attractive? I couldn't imagine him talking to me, let alone another girl. Even thought makes my mind roar with rage as I peel my fingers from the comment section and turn off my phone, placing it back on my bedside table to charge before I fall asleep. My eyelids flutter shut, but all I see behind them is a shade of envy. What makes him so special to other girls? I ask myself, but as I imagine how intensely attractive this man is, I quickly answer my own question. All I'm left with to wonder as I fall asleep is how in the world I'm ever going to get him to notice me out of everyone else.