Fall

Chapter One

"And now it's your turn to tell me something about yourself—other than your name of course. Tell your degree, your background, anything that will let us know more about you. Well, this is meeting that is quite dissoluble but there's a chance for all of us to meet a special person during this time, so let's be friendly with one another, all right?"

"No way, right?" Laurene thought in the while she stared at Tommy. Yeah, Tommy. That guy who disappeared on her for some reason she would prefer never to mention or even think about. That Tommy.

No.

"Right, Tommy looks stupid." She thought, denying herself that Tommy looks all right. In fact, that guy who sat in the front row is exactly how Tommy looks like. Smart, cute, eligible, neat... smart, cute—wait. Okay, whatever. Smart and cute.

"He must be somewhere six feet, too." She thought nostalgically. His ex's height is her ideal height for a guy. Even the way he sat looking unconcerned and the way he smiles are the same. The shirt he's wearing is also something Tommy would wear on the first day of school—a simple blue long sleeve to pair the required black slacks.

"Tommy doesn't wear glasses, I think." she murmured.

"Yeah?" her guy seatmate said to her. She got surprised. She forgot she's part of the class. She frantically straightened up herself and shook her head to her seatmate. "Nothing, sorry. I'm just talking to myself." She said shyly.

"Nervous?"

"Haha. I mean, what is to say after all? It really feels like college all over again."

"Yeah, compare to college, some professors wouldn't require introductions. Actually, he shouldn't have asked for introductions since we're online most of the time anyway." He said.

"Yeah." She pauses. "Oh right. I was looking for my cellphone just now." She thought and began shuffling through her things in her bag again the way she did some time ago. Before her bewildered head had turned where Tommy is, that is. No, that's not Tommy. That's Tommy's doppelganger. That's Tommy's doppelganger. That's Tommy's doppelganger... Argh.

"What is wrong with me?" She complained to herself. Her guy seatmate chuckled.

"It's all right. I'm also nervous."

She blushes. "Was I—" Did she just blurt that out? No!

"I say mantras when I'm nervous, too."

Can somebody tell her this is just a nightmare? That she'll soon wake up? "Haha. That's not really—"

Then the Tommy doppelganger stood up. She shuddered at the sight when she shouldn't be. "This is driving me crazy!" She held her head.

"Good morning, sir. My name is Oliver King, a graduate of MIT, a licensed electrical engineer. I'm 24 years old..." Oliver paused, suddenly looking absent. "And I'm here in the hopes I'd get somewhere after completing this course. Nice to meet you."

The class chuckled, but Oliver didn't look the least bit surprised or embarrassed. He even looked he enjoyed the attention. Laurene's heart squeezed at the sight. She would have to admit she was happy to know that guy didn't say he was Tommy Deserter. Ugh. Enough Tommy. Hello Oliver.

"Wow. MIT. I hear a great deal about electrical engineering at MIT. You must be really smart." The professor said, looking pleased while looking at Oliver. "So, why Stanford then? Why not MIT too?"

Oliver looked at the professor, looking to have expected such a question from him. "I'd like to see how it's like to be here."

"And?"