Five Years

Chapter One: Partnered Up

"Alright, let's see, who's next? Okay. Sarah, I want you to work with... Liam," professor Griffin said, pointing to a boy across the class with red hair. I akwardly exchanged a smile with the boy.

I walked over and sat down at the table next to him. I introduced myself, "Hi, I'm Sarah Williams."

"Liam White," he replied, flashing another awkward smile to reveal a row of silver braces. He noticed me noticing, and quickly turned his head away.

"I'm coming around with a deck of cards. On each of these cards is a famous, romantic movie quote. You are to incorporate this quote into a five-page script with your partner. The catch? This can be your ONLY line of dialogue! Due next class!" professor Griffin shouted, before dismissing the class.

"So," Liam turned back to me, "how and when do you want to do this?"

"Well, this class doesn't meet again until Thursday, but I don't want to wait until the last minute. What day, or days, work best for you?"

"Do you have a class now?" he asked.

I quickly referenced my schedule, "Not until 12:30. We have some time to kill if you want to start."

Professor Griffin walked over to us and fanned out the quote cards. "The choice is yours, but choose wisely," he winked. Liam looked over at me, but I shook my head. He reached into the center of the display and plucked a card out.

"I like your eyes. Do you mind?" he read the card out loud. He shot me a questioning glance, and professor Griffin walked away. "I don't think I've ever heard this line in any movie. Ever."

I giggled, "It's from Inspiration." Liam just looked at me. "Inspiration...? You know, Greta Garbo? Nothing?" He shook his head, and we both laughed. "Yeah, it's not much of a pick up line, is it?"

"Not really. It's actually kind of creepy," Liam remarked.  That gave me an idea.

"What is we took it totally out of it's original context? What if we made it into like, a murder-mystery type thing?" I said, excitedly.

"Yeah, we could try and run with that," Liam agreed. We remained in the classroom while everyone else filed out. Admittedly, I hardly even noticed because I was bent over my notebook, scribling notes down, brainstorming ideas.

I felt my phone go off, which is what made me realize we were the only people left in the room. I opened the text and quickly responded. Then, I noticed the time. "Oh, no!"

"Oh no, what?" Liam questioned.

"It's 12:15, and I've got class at 12:30 all the way across campus," I groaned as I hastily packed my bag, throwing in the notebook of ideas and the start to our script.

"Hey," Liam said defensively, "why don't you leave that page with me, and I can keep writing? I can type it up and email it to you or something."

"Ugh. Well, I already put it away. And besides," I stood up and pushed my chair in, "you can still email me ideas. You don't need all of this here in order to do that."

Liam scribbled down his email address and phone number on a scrap paper. "Try to get in touch by tonight, so we can get this over with." He handed the scrap to me, and I left the class in a rush.

~~ Liam's POV ~~

I watched her as she walked away. There was something about her that drew me in, but what that was, I couldn't say. As I was putting my things into my bag, I noticed a scarf on the floor by the leg of the table. I don't know if it was her's or not, but I picked it up anyway. "I'll ask her about it later."