I Am You

Chapter Two

The walk to college was shorter than I had expected it to be. Or maybe, I just wasn't too thrilled with the idea of spending the next few hours of my waste of a life with happy, giggly and over enthusiastic people.

Don't get me wrong, it was not like I was here against my will. I loved art and going to an art school was a dream come true or well, however happy people put that. I had worked really hard to get here. It was just the sight of so many people that made me want to run away like I was being chased by a horse and a chimpanzee, alternately. I absolutely hate animals.

As I was making my way to the office, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a blonde with blue eyes, dressed in a yellow shirt and a denim skirt. She was pretty. Everything about her screamed "Happy". I hate her already. 

'Hey! Do you know where the office is?' she asked in a cheery tone.

'Yeah.' I replied dryly.

'Um, would you mind telling me?'

'I'm headed there right now.'

'Great, we can walk together!'

Oh no, no, no. I can't stand her squeals for so long. Her voice felt like someone was drilling nails into my head.

'Oh, by the way, my name is Natalie. What's yours?'

I sighed.

'Michelle.'

The walk to the office was the longest ever. Natalie kept talking and asking me questions about myself. At one point, I genuinely considered sprinting away without any explanation, but then that would be rude, even for me. So, I decided against it.

We reached the office and were handed our schedules. Natalie kept trying to look over my shoulder and into my paper.

'Oh, we have a lot of classes together!' she sang.

'Great.' I deadpanned.

Why, universe? Why? What had I ever done to you? All I wanted was to get through the first day without any problems— going to college, doing good in all my classes and avoiding any human interaction, whatsoever. One of these things was already ruined for me. Yay, Natalie. I looked at my schedule again and realised I had five classes with this girl. Five out of six! Can you imagine how bad someone's luck has to be for this to happen?

The first class we had was 'Historic preservation'. As soon as we entered the class, Natalie slipped into the seat next to mine.

Wait, when did I sign up to be her "best friend" ? For real, when did I agree to this? What's happening? I don't get it.

I love history. I really was looking forward to this class. But my love for history wasn't stronger than my hate for Natalie's voice. She kept trying to talk to me the whole time. I knew I had to do something about it. So, after the class I decided to give her a piece of my mind.

'Hey! The class was pretty interesting, right?' she said to me after.

'Yeah, it was. But talking to you isn't. Your "Happy vibe" is annoying. Look, I know you were just trying to make a new friend and you thought I could be that person. But I can't. I don't like talking to you. I don't like talking to people, in general. So, I'm sorry, you have to stop following me around because I don't want to be your friend.'

She was visibly shaken. I might've said too much.

'Oh, okay. I didn't realise I was being annoying. I'm sorry for ruining your morning.' she said with a sad smile and then walked away.

I instantly regretted being rude to her. But there's no way I would've been able to stand her the whole day and possibly the rest of my time here. But on the plus side, she didn't bug me for the rest of the day. I'll admit, things were a bit awkward. She kept glancing at me, which was obviously better than talking.

The last class I had was 'Writing'. I was looking forward to it because it was the only class for the day which I didn't have with Natalie.

I walked into the class and sat down on the last bench. A few seconds later, I noticed a guy standing over my head. I looked up to see a beautiful specimen. He had brown hair, grey eyes and a white smile. He was tall, but not too tall. He was wearing a blue hoodie and a pair of jeans. He seemed like a goddamn forbidden fruit.

'Hey! I'm Ethan. Do you mind if I sit next to you?' he said in a happy tone.

There goes my one chance of not interacting with happy people. What's up with all this over enthusiasm today? Why is everyone so happy and cheery? Can't everyone just be normal?

'Yes, I do mind.' I answered blankly.

'Huh?'

'I don't want you sitting next to me. Find someplace else.'

'Oh, come on. Please?' he pouted.

'For god's sake, just go away!'

'Geez, okay. I'll sit somewhere else. Maybe we'll talk again when you're in a better mood, sweetheart.' With that, he walked away.

'No, thank you.' I murmured under my breath.

What the fuck? I'm not his sweetheart. If anything at all, I was a bitter-heart or whatever the opposite of sweetheart is. Why is this guy already dwindling in my head?

Apart from that, the rest of the lecture went well. No one tried to talk to me. At the end of the class, Ms. Wilson gave us an assignment. We had to write a piece on the topic, "The Choice". What does that even mean? What choice are we talking about? One of the students asked the same question and the answer he got was, 'Write whatever you want, whatever comes to mind. There's no limit. It's the first class. I want to know where you guys stand so that we can work according to that from the next lecture.'

I had no idea what I was going to write about.  Probably how if I had a choice, I would execute all these morons. Am I being too bitter? Ugh, I'm guessing that's a yes.