Fifteen Layers Deep

Chapter Four

Today I'm so nervous that I arrive twenty minutes early. I need all the time that I can get to mentally prepare myself for talking to Jaden again. He'll probably think that I'm also bipolar or something when I come back acting all nice and apologetic towards him. So how should I go about it? Say I'm sorry the second that he walks in? But what if he's mad and sits somewhere else? How the heck am I going to talk to him then...

Feeling completely out of control of the situation, I just sit with my face in my hands, leaning on top of the desk, utterly dejected. This is what my bad attitude gets me.

Realizing that trying to plan for an unknown situation is useless, I just pull out my books and start studying. At least then I could make a productive use of my time.

Fifteen minutes go by quickly and I nervously glance on and off at the door. Nearly every person that walks into the classroom stares at me as they come in. Quickly, I've become the most unpopular yet popular person in the class. I hide my face in my book to avoid being seen. Let's pray that word of me doesn't spread too far.

Another three minutes pass and he still doesn't arrive. That's weird. He's always pretty punctual with the five minute thing. Maybe he's so upset that he's not even going to come to class at all.

Flicking my head up from out of the book with wide eyes in horror, a dreadful thought comes to me. Oh god, what if he quits the class!? It's still early enough in the quarter that he could do that!

Sliding down over the top of my desk, chin pressed against the hard, solid edge, I dangle my arms off the front with my textbook in one hand and let out sad hum from the feeling of eminent doom. In the midst of my outburst, Jennifer and Lindsey enter the classroom later than usual. They look at the seat beside me, seeming shocked at its emptiness. Quickly, I sit back up straight, trying to look normal and clear my throat to brush off the situation. Stopping for a brief moment, they whisper something into each other's ears. My keen hearing is not good enough to pick up on what they are saying this time. As they take one more glance at me, we meet each other's eyes, and the two of them quickly look away and run back to their seats after realizing that I had seen them.

That was strange... I think to myself as I return to pretending to be interested in looking over the chapter on fetish development. Wonder what they're up to? Ah well, I shake my head, brushing it off. At least they're not bothering me right now.

The way those two come dressed to class everyday never fails to leave me the utmost amused. Most students show up dressed in sweat pants with messy hair that they probably used dry shampoo on from having gone days without the time to shower in between all the studying. Having to stay up all night working on assignments then waking up bright and early in the morning for lecture doesn't give one much time to spend on their appearance. This is a top university after all. That fact alone is a dead giveaway that they don't actually spend much time on their schoolwork. Jennifer, with her ridiculously long, bleach, blonde hair, never fails to have it perfectly straightened and styled every morning. Her outfits always look like they cost a fortune, and yet she has a new one on every single day. Her daily makeup looks like it's come straight out of Instagram— definitely not a look that's meant to be worn on a day-to-day basis due to the mass time consumption.

Lindsey, on the other hand, has long, brunette hair that is always worn back in a sleek ponytail. Not once have I seen her wear it down. This is an indicator to me that she actually cares about putting a bit more time into her studies than Jennifer does, but still tries to keep up to the beauty standard of her best friend as not to fall behind. The time taken away from doing her hair is compensated by the equally intensive "baddie" makeup look, and uber stylistic clothing.