With Love, Étienne | ✓

Chapter Three

WITH MONDAY CAME THE RETURN OF COLLEGE.

It was a new year and new semester. The campus on which I had spent two years on looked nearly unrecognizable to me as I shuffled my way through the courtyard. All the buildings looked the same – towering and looming over us while the students all staggered in with tired and exhausted faces. It seemed I was the only one who was walking in with a smile, ready to get back into the campus life and meet old classmates again.

A gentle breeze washed through the morning air and I relished in the soothing effect it had. My hands were stuffed inside my jean pockets and my bag swung over one shoulder lazily. The sky above had darkened with grey clouds and I knew it was probably going to start raining once more within the next few minutes. Pulling out my phone, I frowned when trying to remember where the lecture rooms all were and in which building they were situated. With a campus so large that it could take ten to fifteen minutes to walk from one part to the next, depending on where you were going, classes were held in different locations that made it hard to get from one lecture to the next without being a little late sometimes.

Where was MB1023 again?

"Étienne! You're back!"

When I heard my voice being called, I glanced over my shoulder to see one of my classmates, Maya, make her way over to me. Her long, red hair tumbled down her back in soft waves and brown freckles dotted her entire face with a bright smile. She was puffed up with a hoodie and jacket paired together and I offered her a polite grin as she came to a stop in front of me.

"It's so good to see you again," she chatted and fell in line with my steps, "I thought you were never going to come back."

Maya was one of the first friends I had made in my lectures – way back in my first year of college. She was the kind of girl that knew everyone and was friends with everyone, but it was nice to have someone who was informed about anything class and college related. We didn't hang out much outside of class, but she always made the effort to come sit with me if I was alone, which I appreciated.

"I told you I'd be coming back at the end of summer," I hummed, "It's about time I came back. A year away was too long."

"You haven't missed much," Maya rolled her eyes, "O'Brien is still an asshole with the lectures."

"Ouch," I winced, "Is he still giving those weekly exam things?"

"Yes," she huffed, "It wouldn't even be bad but he does negative marking and if we don't pass our final grade gets docked by ten percent."

In almost every college, there were the bitter lecturers who seemed to hate their job and didn't want to put in the effort to teach. Of course, there were the favourite lecturers too – of whom were loved by everyone. If we had the option to choose our modules, we usually tried to avoid certain ones unless the topic was extremely interesting.

"Glad I missed that then," I chuckled and ducked inside the building, "He hates me from first year so that class wouldn't have helped my grades."

"That's just because you kept asking him for sources and wanted citations for his power-points," she rolled her eyes with a laugh, "It kept us all awake though so. . . I'm not complaining."

"Exactly," I flashed her a grin, "I was doing us all a favour if you think about it."

My focus on Maya quickly disappeared when my eyes landed on Louella. She was nearly cowering in the corner, eyes flickering all around her as if something was going to pop out in front of her. A long, oversized hoodie fit her like a dress and a black beanie was pulled over her head until it nearly covered her eyes. She was fiddling with her fingers, weaving them in and out of each other while she waited outside her lecture door.