Living In The Past

Chapter Eight

Re-cap:

"Hey James," Yasmine said.

"Yeah?" he said, looking down at her.

She gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Thank you for today," she blushed, grinning.

"You're welcome, love." James said, grinning back.

*          *          *        *         *

"Class, these are the new students! Welcome them warmly," Mr. Albert, the history teacher announced from his desk. Then, he sat back down to continue grade boring papers.

Yasmine didn't even bother to turn around from her desk to look at the new students. Was there a point? There were over 5,000 people in the college. You can't know every single once of them, now can you?

"Yasmine, I don't get thisss!" James whined from his seat, banging his head down on the table.

"There there, munchkin," Yasmine said, patting his hair. "I'll help you, show me the---"

"Hey Yasmine!" She'd recognize that voice even with an earthquake going on.

"Aaron? Lily? W-what're you doing here?" Yasmine asked, a little confused and dazed.

"Um, we're the new students. Weren't you paying attention?"

"Nope," Yasmine smiled immaturely. "So, I guess you'll be staying in this town for a while?"

"Yeah, after the engagement party, and the wedding, we'll be off!" Aaron exclaimed.

Yasmine watched his eyes sparkle. He looked so happy, so full. And it was because of her. Lily. Maybe, Aaron had already forgotten her. But, no matter how hard she pushed her feelings away, no matter how hard she tried to love James more than him, Aaron would always be somewhere deep inside her heart.

'I need to let go,' Yasmine silently thought to herself. 'James really cares about me. . . It'd be cruel to just use him to get Aaron jealous. I have to start liking him for real now. And leave Aaron out.'

Mr. Albert interrupted her thoughts. "Class! Get in a group of two! We will be working on a huge timeline throughout history! Chop chop," he said clapping his hands.

Everyone scrambled around, finding partners. Yasmine already sat with James, while Aaron and Lily were seated together. Mr. Albert was coming around to write the names of the duos on his checklist.

Strolling along to Yasmine's seat, he gave a disapproving shake of the head. "Its not really a good idea for couples to be working together. They will get too distracted of their partner and forget about the project," he said, then glanced at Aaron and Lily. "You guys too. How about Yasmine and Aaron work together and James and Lily?"

"B-but--"

"No buts, Ms. Hamilton. This is final," Mr. Albert said scribbling down their names on his checklist, then walked over to the next group.

Aaron walked over to Yasmine's side, and took a seat next to her. "I guess we'll be working togeher, then."

*      *        *       *      *

The engine hummed down.

"So, this is my place," Aaron said, twisting the key out.

Yasmine took in the huge brick building.

It towered over at least thirteen stories, with balconies to each apartment. Nothing really special attracted your attention about it. Just average.