To Be Your Curse

Chapter 5: Involved

"What were you guys arguing about?" Maren laughed, her eyes sparkling as she noticed Oliver's flushed face contrasting with Jayden's amused expression.

"Oliver wanted to skip class so he could hang ou-" Jayden began, but before he could finish, Oliver quickly covered his mouth again, his face turning an even deeper shade of red. "Shut up, man!" Oliver cursed, his frustration tinged with embarrassment, but his irritation only seemed to amuse Jayden more. The sight of their banter made both Maren and me laugh.

They say that change can be bad... I had thought my change had already happened with the events of last weekend, but maybe I was wrong.

"Hey, I'm Maren," Maren's voice drew my attention away from the boys' antics once again as she introduced herself. She had a warmth about her that was instantly disarming. "It's nice to meet you," she said with a smile that was both genuine and kind. "You're even prettier closeup. What's your name"

"Oh. Wow, thank you," I replied, feeling a blush creep up my neck as I touched my face, caught off guard by the compliment. Maren laughed softly, noticing my surprise. "...I'm Aaliyah"

"I thought you'd hear things like that more often. I'm sorry if I flustered you," she said, her voice full of lighthearted apology, while Jayden and Oliver's bickering continued in the background, creating a strange but comforting normalcy around us.

Before I could reassure her that there was no need to apologize, a folded note landed on the desk in front of us. Maren and I exchanged a curious glance before unfolding it together. The note, read: 'Can we move to the back? I'm sure Mr. Thompson's in love with Oliver by the way he keeps throwing glares at me.'

Maren laughed, standing up immediately. Her laughter was infectious, and soon I found myself smiling, too. Jayden and Oliver stood as well, and before I knew it, they were all looking at me, waiting for me to join them.

"Aren't you coming?" Maren asked, tilting her head slightly as she looked down at me, still seated.

"Oh, she doesn't attend-" Oliver started to explain, but I cut him off with a smile.

"No, I'm coming," I said, standing up and gathering my things, feeling a strange but pleasant sense of belonging as I followed them to the seats at the back of the class.

For the first time, I wasn't paying any attention to the lecture, I wasn't contributing. It was the opposite even. I was laughing and talking throughout the two-hour lecture, even though I wasn't registered for the statistics class. I had wanted to be around these people for just a little bit longer, to soak in the warmth of their camaraderie.

Is this what it feels like when your curse starts playing with you?

"Feels like this university only hires the worst professors in town," Maren whispered a few minutes into the class.

"That's what I've been saying!" Oliver responded immediately, not even bothering to keep his voice down. Jayden, sitting beside him, pinched him sharply, making Oliver flinch.

"Dude, what the he-"

"You're going to get us kicked out again," Jayden hissed, cutting him off and returning Oliver's glare with one of his own.

Maren snickered, nudging me as we both watched them get into their third argument of the day.

"So what?" Oliver shot back, still not lowering his voice. "Not like we'd understand even if we listened. This is why you should've just let me go with Aaliyah."

"Today's topic looks pretty easy, though," I chimed in.

"Oh, what doesn't she know?" Oliver rolled his eyes playfully.