Smothered Emotions

Chapter 2

"Who's this?" the surfer boy asked, nodding towards me. Rude. I studied his naturally wavy hair wondering what his morning routine was.

"This is Olivia. I saw her squinting at a map like a lunatic, so I decided to be gracious and help her," Henry smiled cheekily as he scavenged through his backpack.

"Hey!" I scoffed, trying to make eye contact with him. He successfully avoided them as he scrolled through his laptop.

"Well, Olivia, I'm River," he nodded up in that surfer boy way you would expect him to. I could smell the sea salt off him from here. I tried to hold in a giggle and failed tremendously. His smile lowered, "what? Did I say something funny?"

"River is just a very fitting name for you,"

"Hey, bro, your girl's bullying me," he turned to Henry with a exaggerated frown. He was clearly ignoring our conversation before turning to me with a smirk.

"Guess what his last name is?" River huffed in protest, making me even more curious. "Timberlake."

"No way, like the Timberlake?" Laughter erupted from my lips, earning me a few stares from classmates scattered throughout the room.

"It's an awesome name. What's the problem?" River scoffed some more, raising his chin in faux proudness.

"Honestly, it is. Is there any chance you're related to Justin?"

"Nah, I wish. I would get so many chicks that way."

"You already do, though," Henry said, shaking his head.

"True," River nodded his head in what seemed to be deep thought. "Anyway, since you know my government name now, what's yours?" He turned to me in curiosity.

"Moyo," I said, taking my laptop out of my bag.

"Moyo," he repeated, "where's that from?"

"Zimbabwe." I pulled up the syllabus and started scanning through it. Only three absences allowed? That's absurd.

"Cool, so like, when you scroll through the countries list, you're all the way at the end? That must suck." He snickered, making me realize this for the first time. Maybe this guy wasn't as clueless as I thought.

"I guess, but it's easy too since I just need to scroll to the end," I rebutted.

"True, true. So bro," River turned to look at Henry, "explain to me how politics is a science again," he looked genuinely baffled, and I just chuckled under my breath. I can't wait to tell my best friend about this guy.

"River, we had this conversation for three hours yesterday. Science doesn't only mean the study of stuff in nature. There are different types of sciences," Henry said in frustration.

"Good morning, class!" A voice boomed, and I looked up to see the most stereotypical English professor I'd ever seen. He strolled to the desk beside the podium and lightly placed his briefcase next to the computer. His tweed jacket and spectacles looked like they came straight from the nineteenth century. Coke bottle glasses framed his eyes, magnifying them to the size of two quarters.

"Good morning, Professor Stonks," River said cheerfully. Oh, to be confident and outspoken. The professor looked up to River with a smile and a wave.

"I hope everyone had a great summer. I want to start this class by calling attendance. When I call your name, tell us your major and one fact about you." He carried a high stool to the podium and grabbed his attendance list. The first name on the list was Abbott. I was so glad I had time to think. I was probing my brain for any fact I could. Suddenly, my life was incredibly dull, and I had never done anything interesting in my life. "Oliva Mooyoo?" Here we go again.