Scars Don't Heal

Chapter 2 : Second Encounters

Welcome to University of Texas

The sign read as Keegan entered the door to the main building. She had had a hard time finding the building but after asking around, a few students had given her directions to the right place.

She had moved into her apartment late. Most of the students had been here since two weeks so she was a newbie amongst newbies on campus. She still had to finalise her timetable which was why she was headed to the reception. As a major in Biology there was a high volume of applicants for her course. The university had made a mistake and had enrolled her onto an ancient history class.

The university was in walking distance from her apartment but she'd brought her car with her anyway, a Nissan Xterra 2015 which her father had bought for her 18th birthday present. She wasn't into cars much but her Dad knew she was thinking of buying one before University and he knew she preferred big cars - so this was perfect. She treated it like royalty, she wouldn't have been able to afford a car like it anytime soon as she had been saving up for her university fees for the past few years by working part-time. Dad owned a collection of old cars that Mum had been itching for him to get rid of. He finally sold his least favourite one (took a lot of convincing by Mum!) so he could buy her this car for her birthday.

She had woken up bright and early in the morning, around 6am, and passed by Joe's Cafe for a quick coffee-to-go which she had missed out on yesterday. It was going to be a long day and she definitely needed caffeine in her system. As she was about to leave, something caught her eye. A notice stuck on one of the windows read :

Part-time Cafe Assistant Wanted
Flexible hours
Good rates of pay
Enquire inside to apply

She wasn't in any shortage of money at the moment but a few months down the line, she would need more and she didn't want to ask her parents for extra money after giving them the whole "I'm Independent!" speech before she had left. She headed to the front of the shop where a girl not much older than her stood, her blonde hair brushed back into a sleek ponytail.

"Hey, how can I help you?" She said in a chirpy voice.

"I wanted to ask about the vacancy..."

"Omg! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Sorry ...I .." Keegan began to say confused.

"I'm sorry! I hope I'm not scaring you away! But my Uncle Joe runs this cafe, and he put up that post only this morning. I was worried who might apply for it because we have a few strange people coming in now and again. I'm so glad you asked. If you just fill in this form," she said speaking non-stop whilst bringing out a form from behind the counter and handed her a black pen as she continued talking excitedly. It was as if she was the one applying, her enthusiasm was warming and this being her second encounter with a person after she had settled in yesterday, Keegan was happy it was the exact opposite of her first.

"I'm Isla, by the way" she held out her hand as she took the completed form from her.

"Nice to meet you, Isla. I'm Keegan." Keegan replied shaking the other girl's hand.

"Keegan. That's a lovely name, I've never ..."

"..come across a girl named Keegan?" Keegan finished.

"Yes exactly!" Sophie replied.

"Yeah, I get that a lot!" She said smiling.

They talked for a few more minutes before she had rushed out to the car with her untouched coffee, happy for such a good start to the day.

There was a queue at the reception's office when she finally arrived. Around twenty students waited ahead, a few behind the glass window of the reception and the rest littered down against the wall in an orderly queue waiting their turn. It was a good thing she had come early as no one wanted to be late to their classes on their first day. First impression, last impression and all that stuff.

Keegan walked down the line to join the end of the queue, her coffee in hand which was still warm because of the short drive.

"JESSE!" a voice boomed from up the corridor.

Her eyes followed ahead where the voice had come from. A guy around the same age as her was walking up. Jesse? Keegan turned around to put a face to the familiar name, not remembering where she'd heard it before. When she turned and saw who was walking down in her direction, realisation struck her and she quickly swivelled around.

Behind her, coffee-spiller guy walked up to meet his friend. Both guys reached each other just across from her, their heights towering above hers by at least six inches. They greeted, hugged and back-slapped each other.

She retreated back trying to hide behind other students in line but the line was fairly straight, leaving her exposed in clear sight with nowhere to go. She hoped and said a quick prayer in her head that he wouldn't recognise her from yesterday's incident.

"Great to see you man!" His friend said.

"You too," Jesse replied.

They exchanged further conversation as she quivered back, wishing secretly they would just say their goodbyes and be on their way, so she could breathe normally again.

"What are you doing here so early?"

"I got a call this morning. They put me in the wrong classes. I got told to come down here to get them swapped." Jesse explained.

"Well good luck with that. You'll be here for a while." His friend said gesturing to the queue at which she was at the end of.

"It's all good," Jesse replied as he too glanced towards the end of the queue, his eyes catching hers for the first time. A glimpse of recognition crossed his eyes, Keegan quickly turned her head to face the wall avoiding his gaze, her insides quenching.

"See you around, Thompson. This is my stop." She heard Jesse say to the other guy. They exchanged goodbyes and then it fell silent once again.

Well that was until Keegan felt someone tap on her shoulder from behind. She stilled at the touch and refused to turn around.

Before she could react, a hand, a very masculine hand, reached around her and grabbed the coffee from her hand.

________

Hmm...I wonder who that is? ;)

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At the moment I'm keeping the updates bi-weekly. When my busy schedule allows it I will post more often than that!