Smothered Emotions

Chapter 3

The sound of shuffling filled the room as the calculus professor dismissed my class. River slid his phone over to my end of the desk with his contacts app open, displaying the keyboard. I assumed this was his way of asking me for my number, so I quickly typed it in and slid his phone back. He nodded gleefully and hastily typed my name in the contacts section.

"I'll text you the deets about the party later," he said while stuffing his notebook and pencils in his weathered backpack. I nodded and waved goodbye to him as I exited my class, and took my phone from my back pocket as it buzzed in excitement. Just the person I wanted to hear from.

Kelly: Want to hang later?

I responded quickly letting Kelly know I was done with my classes for the day. She replied in lightning speed, and I turned to the left, somehow knowing this was the way to her dorm. I think I was subconsciously getting better at my directional abilities concerning this bizarrely designed campus. As I strolled through the courtyard, I stopped to grab my headphones. I learned pretty quickly that wearing headphones on campus protects you from the hoards of people who are intent on bothering students with flyers and even worse, conversation.

Time rushed by and eventually I was in front of Kelly's dorm. The building displayed clear signs of aging with its wrinkled exterior and roaring air conditioning unit. As I turned into the dorm, I purposefully made my way to the elevator in protest of all the stairs I had taken earlier today. I stepped in getting a barrage of texts from Kelly wondering where I was. I knew her boredom got the best of her and she was using me to pass the time, so I shut my phone as I waited for the elevator doors to stop on the fourth floor. The door creaked open as the elevator chimed, letting me know I was at my destination. I decided to use the stairs next time because the thought of taking that prehistoric elevator again gave me anxiety.

Some of Kelly's floormates waved at me as I walked to her dorm. I could feel pop music vibrating through the hall and I instantly knew it was coming from her room. How I acquired such an eccentric friend I don't know. I knocked on her door wondering if she was going to hear me through the blaring of her music. Somehow she did and the door creaked open, revealing an unimpressed expression on her face. She lowered the volume on her phone, giving my eardrums a break.

"Hello, late one," she smiled smugly as I walked through her door and dropped my belongings on her floor. I leaped onto her bed and plummeted into her assortment of flashy pillows. She rolled her eyes, taking a seat at her desk adjacent to the bed.

"So how was your day," I sang turning to look at her as I cupped my face with my hands.

"Nothing too interesting. Just some dancing and boring intro classes," she shrugged playing with a stress ball on her desk. "You?"

"I met these super hot guys in my intro to English class," I said taking my phone out and searching for River's name on Instagram. Somehow he found me through hundreds of Olivia Moyos. I clicked on his profile and handed my phone to Kelly. She scrolled through in awe.

"No way."

"Yeah, that's River and this guy," I took the phone and stopped at a picture displaying them both, "is Henry."

"Oof. Henry is your type to the tee," she nodded, handing my phone back. I locked the screen and shoved it under a pillow.

"Yep. They're hot, aren't they?" I said searching for an enticing magazine on Kelly's disheveled desk. A cosmo magazine with Harry Styles plastered on it.

"Girl, they could legit be models. What are they doing in college?"

"Hot people deserve an education too, Kells."