The Balcony

Chapter 1

My alarm went off. I rolled over and turned it off, even though there really was no need for it to be on, because I was awake for the last hour, and had been awake on and off all night. Today was my first day of university, and it was easy to say I was nervous. Extremely nervous. I wasn't good in situations like this – social situations. Having to make friends again, having to meet new people – it was all hell to me. And of course all this lead to me being awkward. Or maybe being awkward lead to my social difficulties. Either way, I knew today wouldn't be good. I got up and jumped into a cold shower, hoping it would somehow magically remove the dark cirlces from lack of sleep under my eyes, or even reduce the puffiness. It didn't, though. I dried my hair and decided I couldn't be bothered anymore, so I scraped it up into messy bun. "I shouldn't have dyed it blonde" I thought to myself as I could see that my roots were in a dire need of re-dyeing. Also, the fact I was so pale with such light hair didn't really help anything. I quickly put on a light layer of foundation, so that I looked slightly more human. I probably should've made more of an effort for the first day but then I thought, what's the point in making an effort one day if I'm not gonna make the same effort every day. And I definitely wouldn't make that effort every morning. I pulled on my black skinny jeans and a plain black knit jumper, and grabbed my blue bomber jacket. Like I said before, what was the point in making an effort. Grabbing an apple, I headed out the door to catch the bus. How bad can today be?

After getting my timetable and getting lost about ten times, I finally found the area I was meant to be in. I went to my allocated room, only to find that I was late, and the last one in. Typical. Well that's one way to draw attention to myself, well done Eliza, well done.

"Well, who do we have here?" My lecturer began. "You must be Eliza. Am I correct?"

"Yes" I nodded quietly. "Sorry for being late, I got l-l-lost." Fuck. Of course I'd have to stammer.

"Don't worry about it. Now, I am afraid that there's only one seat vacant, so your partner has already been decided. I've just told the class that you will have a partner for each semester. You can choose to stay with that partner for the following semesters or you can change after the first. You will complete work with your partner, and you can help each other with certain assignments."
I nodded in response, praying my partner would be okay. I looked down to find the vacant seat at the back of the room in the corner, beside a window. Well at least I'd have the window to look out if it was awkward. As I walked down the room to my seat, a pair of blue eyes met mine. I sat beside him, smiling as a greeting.

"Hey" I said to him.

"Hey. I'm Alex. Nice to meet you, Eliza" He said to me, smiling back and offering me his hand. He had the most calming voice, and it somehow diminished the nerves I had bouncing around in my stomach. I shook his hand. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad.

And with that, the lecturer began talking about the structure of some chemical. Oh the joys of biochemistry.

*Authors Note*

Yes I know there's no Van in this chapter but I didn't want to rush things too much & I promise he's in the next x