When We Collide (Temporarily On Hold)

3🌸

I'm not going to lie. I hated having to be up by six in the morning to be able to get ready for school back in Acala and I thought (hoped) that would change here.

Jokes on me, I guess.

I groan as the alarm on my phone goes off again and this time I can't snooze. I curse whoever thought it was a good idea to only allow us to snooze three times. Three just isn't enough. Would it really have killed anyone to make it a nice even number, like four or six times that you can snooze?

Inevitably I always end up thinking the same question every time my three snoozes are up. Do I really need to shower before class?

Yes, but I also want to sleep. These are the choices that adults must make and it sucks. I feel like I wasn't properly prepared for adulting.

I grab my towel and shower bag before setting off to the bathrooms down the hall. There are a couple of showers already running and some people milling around the mirrors. I choose an open shower cubicle and get to what I came here for.

Showers were always my escape. A place where I could clear my head and just be me with no outside influence. Thirty minutes could easily go by before I even realized I was turning into a prune. But it never mattered, because for just that thirty minutes I was free to be... well free. I didn't have to stay strong for all those prying eyes or pretend that I didn't want to cry.

The water would wash my tears away and give me a sense of clarity. Even if only for a little while. But today, I didn't have time to really enjoy or think in my shower. I had class in less than a hour and I had no idea where the lecture hall was.

I turn the water and dry myself quickly before tying the black knee length robe around my waist. I twist the towel around my hair and fling it back on top of my head and pull the curtain back to exit the stall.

My breath catches in my throat when I see a a guy at the sinks brushing his teeth with nothing but a towel wrapped lowly on his hips, resting just barely above the curve of his butt.

My eyes traced over the smooth skin covering the lean, taut muscles of his back lingering slightly on some ink curving down his side to his hip.

I can feel a blush climbing up to my cheeks as I quickly look away. Hopefully he didn't notice some random girl looking at him. I was just caught off guard. I had no idea this was a coed bathroom. They really should have a sign on the door or something.

I collect my things and rush out of the bathroom with my head down and making my way back to my dorm, not caring that I am still just in my robe. I dress quickly in a pair of jean capris and a black Game of Thrones T-shirt. I decide to just braid my dark hair straight down the back and call it good. No need to go all out just for class.

Hopefully, no one notices me anyway.

That sounds really bad, like I am antisocial or something. But that is far from the case. The last year in Acala brought to much unwanted attention to me and it was more than I could take. There were many nights I wanted to just disappear into the night and never look back.

I wanted to leave Acala to their rumors and assumptions so many times. I couldn't though. I refused to be a small town runaway statistic; so I stuck it out until I could runaway the right way.

If that makes sense.

I find my class pretty easily and I take an empty seat near the back. There aren't many people here but I watch everyone that enters. Not in a creepy way. I am a people watcher, I can't help it, they're fascinating.

I watch everyone that walks in to the room, silently wondering about why they are in this class to begin with. I never give them more than a minutes thought before I move onto the next person, but it is one guy that catches my attention the most.

His brown hair was messily quiffed up in the front and his blue eyes sweep over the room quickly before entering fully. I noticed his defined features and the way his grey shirt, with the school mascot on it, hugged his torso showing the indent of some muscle.But it was how he strode into the room with so much confidence that caught my attention. Most of the other guys that had walked in were no where near as confident and, if anything, were hardly awake.

He slung his messenger bag off, tossing it on to a desk towards the front before walking to the giant white board. I watch as his muscle move under his shirt and the hem rising a little to peak at his skin as he stretches up to write "Humanity 101 - Professor Clayton" in black letters. The hints of a tattoo just visible below the hem of shirt.

My eyes widen as I realize this is the guy from the bathroom, just with clothes on this time. Wait....He can't be the professor, can he?!

Why would a professor be in the freshman dorms? I watched, fascinated with him as he turns to face the lecture hall. I try to follow his line of sight as his eyes skim over all one hundred and fifty of us, at least that's my guess of how many students there are. He doesn't linger on any of us. It's almost as if those blue eyes are scanning over empty chairs.

"Hey guys!" His voice, deep and smooth like honey, causes the lecture hall to fall into silence, much to my surprise.

"I'm Noah, Professor Clayton's assistant for the semester. I am going to pass around a paper. If you can please sign in, it is just so much quicker than actually taking role." He hands a clipboard to a near by girl before striding over to his bag.

The professors assistant, that makes more sense then him being the professor. I mentally scold myself for even thing that this young guy could have been the professor, but still why was he in the freshman dorms? A freshman can't be an assistant.

The only sound that fills the silence he left is the shuffling of bags and pen scratches on paper. I watch as Noah fiddles with his phone, his feet relaxing on the desk. He seems so at ease in this environment while everyone else looks tense and a little nervous.

I don't have much time to dwell on it though as a middle aged man walks in with a briefcase in one hand and a coffee in another. He wastes no time introducing himself as Professor Clayton and discussing the syllabus.

I try not to notice Noah, but it is really easy to get distracted by him tapping away on his phone.

<3 <3 <3 <3

Readers, Welcome Noah to the story - played by Grant Gustin

Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think! I am always open for constructive criticism!

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