The One Choice

Chapter 1

The clock reads 7:00 but my body feels like it's stuck at 3:00 am. I didn't get much sleep last night due to the fact that some neighbors downstairs decided to throw a huge end of semester party which I would've happily attended if I was actually done with school. But I'm not. I have one last exam today and I tried to study last night but that didn't work out too well. I barely got any sleep and the only thing keeping me awake is the fact that I get to go home today. I have a test at 9 and a plane to catch at 4, what a busy day I'll be having but what a horrible time of year to have it. It's December in North Carolina, meaning the enthrall of snow and the holidays are here, but I'm just ready for spring. Knowing my hair won't cooperate with the rain, I toss it up in a messy bun to get it out of my face. I get dressed in lots of layers and finish packing the rest of my things I'll need to bring home for break. I bring down my suitcase and stuff, grateful that I decided to stay in an apartment. If I had lived in a dorm this year, my life would've been a mess and I would've had to drive home. I only live about 8 hours away from school, but I hate the drive especially doing it alone.  I shut my door saying goodbye to the place I called home for the last 4 months and that I'll see it again in 3 weeks. 

I go downstairs and make myself a cup of coffee in the lobby of our building and then hail a cab to take me to the airport to have them hold my luggage until my plane is ready to board. Then I look at my watch and panic. I didn't realize how long I was packing, I knew I should've did it last night. It's 8:30, so I run outside and jump in my car and head to the airport.  I have to drop off my luggage for them to hold until I board my flight. By the time I got to the JU campus, my anxiety was kicking in about having to walk into a silent class and have everyone stare at me, but I have to. I can't take the makeup exam tomorrow, because I have a plane to catch today. I basically run across campus spilling some scalding coffee on my sweater. When I finally reach the classroom, I wait outside for a couple of seconds as to not seem out of breath and gather myself. I'm such a mess, but it doesn't matter because I'll never see half of these people again. I just need to suck it up and walk in. 

I twist the doorknob and of course this school has to be old so the door makes a weird creaky sound that echoes through the classroom. Luckily, this final is a basic requirement to graduate and they only allow small class sizes so it wasn't in a big auditorium which would've made the creaky sound louder. And the fact that I barely talked to anyone all semester in this class didn't help my situation. Everyone turned their heads to look at me. As if that wasn't enough, as I was walking to the front of the class to grab an exam, my boot lace came untied and I tripped a little bit but caught myself, yet in the process I spilt more coffee on myself. I smirked and thought to myself, what a wonderful day I'm having. My professor didn't really say anything, but I could see he was holding back a laugh as was everyone else. 

The closest seat was in the second row but it was on the end and I was just in a rush to sit down to get everyone to quit looking at me. As soon as I did sit down people started getting up to turn in tests which made me think it must be pretty easy. 

It took me about 15 minutes until I was done and walking out of that room for good. I was just excited to be going home. 

As I was leaving the building, I heard someone behind me say, "Quite an entrance you made there." I turned around rolling my eyes and laughed at their comment. I was stopped though when I saw who said it. Such a handsome man with stunning blue eyes was looking at me with a smile on his face. How did I not notice him all semester?

"Well yeah, that's my specialty." I replied sarcastically having to make light of myself. 

"It caught my attention, so I'd say it was pretty special. I'm Noah." How can such a gorgeous man say the most douche-bag thing? He thinks too highly of himself but that's how it always is.