New World Order『Shinigami!Light』

II

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"Boredom is the root of all evil— the despairing refusal to be oneself"
- Soren Kierkegaard
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I drummed my fingers along the edge of the desk, my eyes trained on the clock as I stared longingly at the second hand, watching it idly tick along. It was 2:55. Five more minutes; three hundred seconds. That's all. A little bit longer and I would be out in the open air and on my way home - to bed. You know, I never thought I'd be the type of student who longed for sleep and would rather be swaddled with blankets and pillows in a scarcely furnished room than be studying to have a successful future and go far in life.

Well, I suppose that's what university does to you. Either that or this lecture.

Christ, these five minutes were taking an eternity. I may as well have been watching paint dry. Time always seemed to drag whenever I entered this room; like it was an alternate universe, or perhaps cursed.

With a wearisome sigh, I looked back towards the man stood at the front of the hall, resting my chin on my palm. This class was tedious and Professor Hunt's monotonous voice didn't make it anymore exciting. I partly didn't bother to listen to what he had to say anymore. The moment he started to drone on about the importance of contractual obligations, I zoned out and began clock watching. If I was being brutally honest, the vast majority of his lectures were dull - painfully dull - and repetitive. He was the reason I regretted taking law in the first place.

Movement from both sides snapped me back to reality and I observed as the sea of students arose like a tidal wave. Looking back towards the clock, my heart leapt when I saw the hour hand hovering over three, marking the end of the lecture - and my torture. Releasing a sigh of relief, I copied my fellow students and stood, packing my equipment away.

"Alright, well, that's all for today. Have a good afternoon, guys," Professor Hunt said warmly, flashing us all a kind smile. "Don't forget to hand in your papers by Friday!" There was a pause. "That means you, Miss Russell."

At the sound of my name, I looked up, seeing the man at the front sending me a stern look, hiding his obvious distaste for me behind that notorious smile. Trying my darnedest not to glare at his smug baboon-like face, I nodded my head curtly and shoved my folder into my bag with more force than was required, saying smoothly, "Of course, sir."

He sent me one final pestering glance before returning to his papers. Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I raced up the stairs and pushed past the crowd of people, my rage making my feet work overtime. I knew my punctuality with my assignments wasn't the greatest, but I wasn't the only student that stumbled over the due date. The old fart didn't need to pick on me. Besides, it wasn't like I was purposely neglecting my papers or distracting myself through procrastination. I had a busy life - if you could even call it that.

Every weekday, my alarm went off at 6AM on the dot, and I was out of the house within the hour. I worked four tediously long hours a day at a bland (but reasonably paying) customer service job before attending my lectures for fifty minutes each. By that point, I was usually exhausted and ready to head home to study for as long as I could with the intention of getting a healthy eight hours sleep (ha, unlikely). My weekends were really the only time I had to myself but even then, I was either shopping for food; working on an essay; or studying. That being said, I don't really mind that sort of aimless life. I was never a very sociable person in the first place. I was just plain little Eleanor Russell; nineteen years old, going on thirty - wasting my youth and waving goodbye to whatever remained of my teenage years. I'd taken up legal studies during my years at high school and was now nearly halfway through my three year law programme at a university in Boston. I suppose you could've said my 'dream job' was to become a lawyer. I loved the idea of arguing and debating points, and (yes, I'll admit) the money behind it all was a very powerful motivator.