** Author's note: I've been a writer for pretty much a couple of years now, and I'm in my first year of university (believe it or not, I graduated LOL), but um, if you find any editing mistakes or whatever, lemme know because I really have no time to edit this (this will be edited once it's complete, which is god knows when). This is based on a true story...all the characters are real, but the names are obviously fake. I write as soon as something happens, so I don't really have time to edit out some of the things and what not. But yeah, this is Chapter 1. It's a filler chapter, and it's damn boring if I say so myself. The next chapter will be much more fun, trust me :). I just needed to write this so all the characters were known and such, but yes, enough rambling, let's read this stupid boring filler chapter :) **
“Save me a seat!” I called to my best friends as I ran from our lecture hall to our lockers. It was our first year in university, and we were already unprepared. I smiled almost instantly when I remembered our first day at the school. It was like starting high school all over again. We were at the bottom of the food chain and had to work our way up through the years to get to the top.
“Arielle, wait for me!” Leila Sommers ran after me, her glasses just resting on the crook of her nose.
In total, I had about five best friends, three of which attended the same university as me and were in almost all of my classes which I was thankful for.
Leila Sommers was tall and had curly hair that just rested on her shoulder. She wasn’t legally blind, well not yet at least, but we always joked around saying that she already was. Her owl-like dark brown eyes made her look like she was never tired and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was nocturnal. Leila was caring, but she was secretive. But then she started opening up to me and I felt our friendship strengthen.
Nicole Alistair was just a bit below the average height. She was the first of us all to start wearing glasses and that was because she started at a much younger age than us. Her birthday was just around the corner, and we were all racking our brains to figure out how to make her eighteenth a special one. Nicole’s pale skin stood out amongst the rest of us because we were much more tanned than her. She was, needless to say, the prettiest one out of all of us and she had a boyfriend, whom she was perfectly happy with and she deserved it.
Tara Matthews went to a different university, but she visited every Tuesday knowing that it’d be a waste if the four of us went to visit her and Joshua Reynolds. Tara was the sweetest person one could ever have in their life. She was also the only one out of all of us who hasn’t had a boyfriend yet, and there’s a reason why. We feel like her first boyfriend should be the perfect one for her, so we’re still on a hunt for that. But until then, she’s sitting out of the dating game.
Joshua Reynolds, the only boy to ever understand why we’re the way we are and the only male to ever be accepted in our circle. His rectangular glasses covered his chocolate-like eyes and he had the presence that kept you captivated. He was on the same boat as Tara but in his case, his girlfriend would have four girls to deal with if she messed with his heart.
“Arielle, are you okay?” A worried look crossed her face as she looked at me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied breathlessly.
Since I was asthmatic, my friends kept an eye on me, making sure I wasn’t too out of breath or I’d have one of my episodic attacks.
I grabbed the books from Tamara’s locker and began my trek back to our lecture hall.
Tamara Samuelson was the last one in our group, and she was the one who was most like me, but also very different. We shared similar tastes, but most of the time, we clashed. Thankfully, our clashing was never serious. It just showed how much we really loved each other and appreciated the bond that we both shared.
“Arielle, do you want anything from Timmy’s?” Leila asked pulling out her wallet before I could even say no.
I just smiled at her as we waited in line, but my smile faded as quickly as it came. I had spotted George Barnes, my high school bully who was a year older than us. I turned to Leila, a strained smile on my face as I waited for her to catch on, but it was too late.
“Oh no, oh no, back it up! Are my eyes deceiving me? Is that really Platinum Princess?” A little piece of me died inside when I heard him mention the nickname he used to pester me with. My brother, Aran, was nineteen, a year older than us and George was one of his friends. Aran used to call himself Platinum Prince when he was in grade nine, and then when they moved on to grade ten and I into grade nine, George and all his friends began calling me Platinum Princess because I was Aran’s little sister. It was the most embarrassing three years of my life and I was so thankful for when they graduated and left. Little did I know we would be attending the same university!
I rolled my eyes, “Hello George, nice to see you too,” I muttered a profanity as well and his eyes widened at the sound of it.
“Hey, that’s not nice!”
“Well you made my life a living hell by calling me ‘Platinum Princess’ for the three years we knew each other.”
He chuckled, “That was high school, and we’re in university now, I would never do that!”
“Whatever George,” I turned to face Leila who was looking at me curiously but I promised to explain to her later about my history with George.
“She’s a first year? Nah! Can’t be, no way man.” A boy murmured behind me. I looked down at what I was wearing. My hair was tied up in a loose bun, I was wearing black sweat pants paired with a loose green top and a pair of flats. I looked horrendous if you asked me.
“Yes, I am a first year, is it that hard to believe?” I snapped menacingly towards the boy.
A look of surprise crossed his face, “N-no, it’s not that, it’s just I thought you were older…”
“Well you thought wrong.”
George cleared his throat, “Arielle, this is my boy, Ollie. Ollie, this is Arielle; we went to high school together. She’s a first year.”
I eyed the boy suspiciously, “Your name cannot be Ollie, what is it?”
He chuckled, not a deep ‘I’m a man’ kind of chuckle, but like a boyish one. “My real name is Oliver, but everyone calls me Ollie for some reason.”
I smiled tentatively and turned around; knowing that if I stared any longer, he’d catch on that I was checking him out. But that wasn’t the case.
His whole presence caught me off guard. The way his mouth curved up in a sly yet dazzling smile, as if he was hiding something; the way his eyes darted to the floor when he let out his boyish nervous chuckle; the way he fiddled with his sleeve; there was just something about him that caught me off guard, and I couldn’t tell exactly what it was.
He was different. And he made my heart race.
