Salutem

Chapter 1

As I sat listening to my professor ramble on and on about the cause and effects of the French Revolution, my fingers mindlessly typed notes out on my laptop. My brain began to day dream. All I saw were random images dictated by my subconscious.

The first image was of my family. My mother with a smile on her face. My father holding her hand and staring at her with love and adoration. My brother standing as far away from us as possible because his pubescent brain told him it wasn't cool to be on a family vacation. And me, enjoying the camping trip we were on.

It was my favorite memory. A memory in which we were all happy and together. Before the funeral and before my family was ripped away from me because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The next image was the funeral. The three caskets standing side by side at the front of the church. The crying faces. And the people pouring out of the church to pay their respects.

This was my last memory of my family.

My mother Lily and her pale face that once could put me in a good mood no matter what happened to me. The blue dress I had picked out that was covering the bullet hole that went through her chest.

My father Robert and his emotionless face that once constantly held a smile and a look of adoration for his family. The expensive suit that he had bought for his and my mothers 25th wedding anniversary that hid the multiple bullets lodged in his internal organs.

And my brother Brendan and his lifeless body that once helped him become a star baseball player and a number 1 draft pick for the MLB. The suit that my father had bought him for his prom and then for signing day where he was going to sign a 4 year contract with the San Francisco, Giants. It was covering his body that was riddled with bullet holes because he used himself as a shield to protect my mother from the gunfire.

The last image was a man. A man, dressed in a perfectly pressed all black suit, that I had never seen before. He had jet black hair and big brown eyes. He was sitting on a red leather sofa, his arms spread out across the top of it. He had one foot resting on the ground and the other was resting on his bent knee. The look on his face was one that sent chills down my spine and heat to my core. 

Someone tapped me on my shoulder and the picture slowly faded into black. My attention turned toward the source of the distraction. It was the boy sitting next to me. "Class is over" he informed me. I looked around and everyone was slowly packing their things away. I looked to the boy and gave him a smile showing my gratitude. He nodded in acknowledgement and turned to walk away.

I closed my laptop and slid it back into its black case. I placed it in my bag and stood up from my seat. By now, there were no other students in the classroom. I pushed my chair in and walked towards the door.

When I pulled my phone out of my pocket and switched it off of silent, I saw that I had a text message from my younger cousin Crystal. She was asking if I was free tonight. While I had planned to spend my only night off of work sitting in front of my TV with my laptop and a big bowl of popcorn, a night out with my cousin who I had not seen in months did sound promising.

I replied telling her that I was free and asking what plans she had in mind to fill our Friday night. She did not reply.

I entered the dining hall and grabbed a sandwich out of one of the displays. I walked to the register and placed the sandwich in front of the cashier and then  pulled out my credit card and swiped it through the reader. The reader mad a beeping noise and displayed a message that said the transaction was not complete "I'm sorry miss, your card has been declined" the cashier informed me.

I tried again and I received the same beeping noise. I searched for a 5 dollar bill but had no luck.  The mess that was my purse only had a couple of singles and some coins. I decided that I didn't need the sandwich. As I was about to tell the cashier that I was not going to buy the food, the person behind me handed the cashier a 5 dollar bill.

I turned my head to thank the person. He was the boy from earlier. He was smiling at me. "Thank you" I said as I picked up the sandwich and walked towards a table in the corner of the dining hall. I placed the food on the table and pulled out my laptop. I placed an earbud in my ear and I began my homework for the weekend. As I was typing, I felt someone's presence next to me.

I removed my earbud and turned my head to the side. Again, it was the boy from earlier. He was now holding a tray of food. "Is this seat taken?" H asked as he looked over to the seat across the small wooden table. At first my brain told me that I should to tell him to fuck off. But as I kept looking at him I realized he did not seem like horrible company. "Not at all." I smiled. He smiled and pulled the chair out.

I closed my laptop so that I could see him. He had blonde hair that resembled that of a swimmers. He had piercing blue eyes and was dressed in a blue tank top and tan board shorts. He fit the mold of the surfer dude perfectly.

 I didn't realize that I had been staring until he started chuckling. "Is there something on my face?" He asked as he sat down.

"Oh my god, no. I'm sorry I just I always I- Fuck!" I couldn't figure out what to say. I could feel my cheeks heating up as he continued chuckling. "It's okay" he reassured. "A girl as beautiful as you can stare at me anytime" as if I wasn't red enough before, my cheeks were as red as a strawberry as his compliment sent heat to my cheeks.

I dropped my head and use my hair as a curtain to shield my red cheeks and my toothy smile. He leaned over and pushed my chin up and the curtain of hair fell back into place. "Don't hide your face, Its cute when you blush." He said. I looked at his face and I realized that I didn't know his name.

"My name is Cynthia ." I said in the hopes that he'd tell me his name in return. "Greyson" he replied. I decided that I would try my best to keep the conversation going. We made small talk about our majors and our experience in college. Our conversation was cut short by my ringtone.

I picked up my phone and there was a picture of my cousin Crystal. I gave Greyson a look of sympathy because his sentence was cut short. He understood that it was an important phone call and he picked up his now empty tray and waved good bye. As he turned to walk away I pressed the green symbol that appeared on the screen of my phone.

"What's up bitchhhhh?" Crystal asked, exaggerating the word bitch.