The Invisible Silver Lining [CURRENTLY BEING EDITED]

Chapter 8

Hopefully you enjoy this chapter, I bring Xander back!! :D

-CFF 

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I put my curling iron down and brush my hair for the last time. I adjust the black cap that hugs the top of my head, making it sit slightly crooked. I look down over my outfit in the body length mirror I put up in our room only yesterday. The light purple shirt sits loosely on me, while my dark blue skinny jeans are a tighter fit. I have black converse on my feet and a dark purple scarf draped around my neck. And as I reach over to my bed and grab my black leather purse, I'm all ready to go. An old Elvis Presley song is stuck in my head as I leave the room.

I head into the living room to see Sharon is packing her small red backpack with books, a hairbrush, an extra hat, a swimsuit and swim cap, and a small makeup bag.

Sharon is an amazing swimmer. I went with her to one of her daily practices two days ago. She stunned me with how fantastic she was. She told me afterwards that she's training to be in the Olympics, which will be two years from now. We've grown so close over the last week alone, this year is going to be amazing.

I grin down at her as she finishes packing, slipping on some white flip flops to match her white tank and jean shorts. "Ready to go?" I ask her. She grins and nods as she pulls her long hair into a high ponytail. "As ever. I still can't believe I'm in college." I laugh and respond, "I know right?!"

Sharon's car is currently in the shop, she busted her transmission the other day so I volunteered to give her rides to school on my motorcycle. I grab my keys and head to the garage, Sharon following me. As I reach for the helmets I have stored on a shelf, there's three of them, Sharon opens the garage door, its loud panels creaking and groaning as it rises until it stops completely. I hand a white helmet to Sharon and put on a green one myself. The other helmet I have is light pink, but it belonged to Liz so I don't use it. I only keep it around for the memories. Sharon looks at the pink helmet as she puts on the one I handed to her. She asks, "What's that one for? It looks a little small."

I sigh softly and buckle my helmet, sliding my sunglasses over my eyes. "It belonged to my sister, Liz." 

"So she doesn't use it anymore?" 

"She kinda can't." I pause and take a breath before continuing, "She died in a car crash almost two months ago." Sharon's eyes fill up with sympathy as she says, "Oh Em. I'm so sorry... I shouldn't have asked..."

I smile slightly. "Its okay, you didn't know." But I don't say anything else about Liz as we both get on the motorcycle and head to school. Its not a topic I really want to discuss right now, and I'm not sure if I will want to anytime soon. The day goes by quickly, with me spending the morning taking my general ed classes.

I come back to campus after making a quick stop at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. I meet up with Sharon outside, by a small stone picnic table. I've just started to lay out my food when I hear someone call my name. I look up to see Blake making his way over to us. I grin and scoot over, making room for him to sit next to me. He does so, setting a McDonald's bag on top of the table. He asks, "Can I eat with you guys?"

Sharon is looking at him, eyes slightly wide as I answer, "Of course! Sharon, this is Blake Orson, I met him first day here. Blake, meet Sharon Johnson, my roommate." He smiles widely and reaches his hand across the table to shake Sharon's hand. She smiles slightly and shakes it saying, "Nice to meet you." He grins, "Same."

We all dig into our food, discussing the morning classes, first impressions of teachers and fellow students, and which classes we like and dislike. I look down at my watch to see that I have seven minutes to get to theatre. I stand up and excuse myself from the group as Blake and Sharon continue talking. They wave goodbye to me before turning back to their conversation.

I head into the building that is for theatre purposes only. I walk through the revolving doors, entering into a large lobby. There are two ticket booths, one on each side of the room. To the side of one room is a wood door with a large sigh on it that says EMPLOYEE'S ONLY in big black letters. In front of me are three sets of double doors. I quickly walk through these to see a down sloped carpeted aisle in front of me. There are two similar aisles by the other double doors as well. I walk down the aisle towards the stage. There are a crowd of students in the and second rows. A tall man in black dorky glasses and black hair is addressing the students. He's dressed in a brown sweater and corduroy pants. I look down at my watch. 1:00 it reads. I'm just on time. The man looks up at me as I approach him. He raises one eyebrow and speaks in a deep voice, "Emilee Thorn I presume?" I nod. He looks down at the list in his hand and puts a checkmark somewhere on the page with a ballpoint pen. "You're just in time. Please sit in one of the first two rows." I turn and look for a place to sit.

Fortunately there's one in the second row to my left. Unfortunately, Alexander Ludwig is sitting next to it, and there are no more available seats. I sigh inwardly and head over to the empty seat, sitting down softly. Looks like its gonna be a long class.