The TA

1: First Day Back

I couldn't put my finger on it, but I was always excited about the first day of the semester. Yeah sure, I wouldn't feel that way a month later, but I was always curious about how my professors would be, and what my classmates would be like.

My schedule was shit. It was almost perfect, but the last class I needed filled up before I could get the perfect time, so now I have a 7 hour gap between classes on Monday, and a 4 hour gap on Wednesday. Fuck!

Oh well, I just hope it's all worth it. If anything I'll switch sections if I need to.

The only downside to all this, was that the same morning class on Monday and Wednesday also met on Friday, and today... is Friday. I usually put together my schedule so that I can avoid Friday classes, but we can't always have nice things, can we? At least I don't have to deal with that shitty gap. I don't even live on campus!

———

I sat in the lecture hall and placed my stuff down. Eventually, seats filled up, the professor arrived, and we had to stare aimlessly at his inability to turn on the projector for about 10 minutes. Why am I here???

When he actually did get the projector going, it felt like he was rambling... a lot. Like, it was on topic for the subject... but I didn't feel like I was learning. Damn Chemistry department... the seniors were warning me the professors were shitty.

Another 40 minutes of agony later and I'm getting ready for lunch. I looked around at my incredibly large campus. My college had been around since the 1800s so you could tell which buildings were new and which ones were ancient. The new buildings had state-of-the-art architecture with a minimalist style. The older ones had a gothic style. It gave the impression of being at Hogwarts or in Europe, with cathedral-like structures, steeples, pointed arches, and flying buttresses. I wasn't staying on campus to eat, I was just stepping out across the street for a slice of pizza.

I had about 2 hours of break time, so I took the train to Midtown for some bubble tea as well. The walk down to the store was nothing out of the ordinary; sidewalk littered with trash, a rat or two scampering across, sometimes a crazed homeless person would ask for money or sing a song out loud, worse case scenario they're screaming at someone. I entered the little shop, ordered my almond tea, and headed out of there.

When I got back, I still had a half hour of break left before my next class. I studied the architecture of the arts building for a while. As my eyes scanned every window, every beam, every stone, I was startled by a deep voice.

"It's a beautiful sight, isn't it?" He grinned at me apologetically as I jumped in response.

"Yeah... I could never get used to these. It's like I'm in another world."

His lips folded into his mouth, letting his concentration get lost in every aspect of the structure. I did the same, but with his features. His hair had been gently tousled thanks to the wind, absorbing all of the light in the environment to form the darkest color. His tired eyes were locked onto his muse, shifting occasionally from one spot to another. His fingers hugged for dear life against a textbook, an important one it seemed.

After however many moments of transformative bliss, he took a glance at his watch, then turned his head to meet my eyes. Mine swung toward the building before he could see.

"Do you have class soon? I need an extra pair of hands to set up the classroom in the science building, if you don't mind."

I wasn't too sure about helping this guy... but he was really cute. I'd have to check to see how much extra time I had.