Deviance | 18+ | ✓ | REWRITING

i . [rewritten]

M A R I E

121... 122...

Marie came to a halt when she reached her correct classroom number, double checking the schedule pulled up on her phone. Stuffing the device back into the pocket of her jeans, she pushed open the door to the lecture hall, which was small but still relatively spacious. It could easily hold around 50 students, which was nothing compared to the larger lectures the student had attended earlier in the day. Being a couple minutes early on the first day of class, there were a decent number of students sprawled amongst the seats.

The student took her seat in the third row closest to the chalkboard, removing her computer from her book bag and setting it down beside her. Before she even got the chance to fully settle in, a bubbly voice erupted next to her.

"Hey, can I grab this seat?" The girl asked, motioning to the seat next to Marie.

Marie, slightly stunned at the abrupt interaction, responded. "Yeah, of course."

She replied before looking up and eventually rolling her eyes, earning a laugh from Ashly, who was most definitely not a stranger. The two students had bonded over the atrocity that was their American comparative politics class the past semester. 

Marie couldn't help but look over the girl's extraordinary looks. She had layered blonde locks that cascaded down her entire back and tortoise-shell frames that accentuated her heart-shaped face, with soft and elegantly freckled skin. Everything contrasted the other student's long black waves and medium-tan olive skin tone.

"Thank God you're in this with me, " Ashly began to say, settling down into her seat. "Now that we're seniors, my motivation for school is almost non-existent. I mean, I barely passed calculus last semester."

"You know you're going to medical school after this," Marie kindly pointed out. She was more than aware her friend was over exaggerating. Ashly Meredith Harmon was probably one of the smartest girls at the university with her 4.0 GPA and laundry list of extracurriculars. 

"After my gap year!" Ashly quipped back. "I still need to retake the MCAT, get my recommendation letters together, and - Oh, God."

Suddenly, a young gentleman made a beeline for the seat next to the beautiful blonde. 

"Caleb... seriously, you're in this class?" she remarked in annoyed disbelief. Marie stayed quiet, absorbing the scene. With a slightly oversized hoodie and beanie, she already came to the stoner-frat boy conclusion.

"Yes and you owe me, Ashly," Caleb said, plopping down in the seat next to her. "I'm the only reason you passed calculus last semester and I don't do this psychology bullshit. Help me out and we'll even the score."

Ashly looked over to Marie apologetically, as if remorseful for the scene that just unfolded.

Caleb leaned forward slightly to see past Ashly, giving a lopsided smile. "I'm Caleb."

Marie nodded in acknowledgement. "Marianna but my friends call me Marie."

She mentally hesitated at the term 'friends'. Most of the people she met in her first year of college didn't stick around. Most of the girls joined sororities and others were only out of the convenience of having the same classes. While Marie never feared solitude, often finding peace in it, she was grateful to be meeting new people. Now in her senior year, the student's mind was on one thing - graduating and then moving out.

As for her name, only her parents used her full name - and she kept it that way. 

"Muh-ree. I like it." Caleb repeated with a smile. He already had whipped out his computer and was swiftly typing and editing a written-up document on his screen.