AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She is dressed casually in jeans and a Linrey sweatshirt, looking as beautiful as ever. Of course, the girl could be wearing a potato sack and would still look beautiful.
I’m not sure if she’ll even want me to sit next to her, but I notice that all of the other available seats are taken, so I’m left with no choice.
It’s now or never.
“Hey, Natalie.”
She turns to me, and that’s when I take in the full sight of her.
My chest tightens. There’s an unrecognizable pain right where my heart is beating.
It’s her eyes.
They look lifeless and defeated. Her usual beautiful ocean-grey eyes are now faintly bloodshot, there are dark bags underneath them, and her eyelids look heavy and impossible for her to keep open like she hasn’t slept at all this past week. Most people wouldn’t even notice, but I do. I notice everything about her.
She looks broken.
Did I do this to her?
“Hey.” She passes a little smile off and then turns her eyes to her textbook lying open in front of her.
“Ok, class. If everyone could quiet down so we can get started, that would be great,” Professor Clark announces. “Today, we will be watching a film that many of you will probably be familiar with.”
The professor pulls down the projection screen and then shuts the lights off as a movie I don’t recognize begins to play. A person is in a boat rowing with soft music in the background as the sun rises in a marshy area and a giant white house appears overlooking the water. A man’s voice begins speaking, declaring his love for another with all his heart and soul. And with that, all the girls in the room swoon.
Oh great.
Well, all the girls in the room except Natalie, who is staring unwaveringly at the screen, showing no emotion at all.
I need to talk to her. I need to fix this before it’s too late.
“Natalie,” I whisper.
She continues watching the film and takes no notice of me.
I try again. “Natalie?”
She turns to me, her eyes meeting mine for only a moment before she looks back at the screen and quietly says, “Please, not now.” I see a single tear roll down her cheek right before she brushes it away with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
My heart aches in seeing this, and it would remain feeling this way for the rest of the class.
After what feels like the longest class of my life, the professor shuts the movie off, turns the lights back on, and tells us to have a good weekend before he is the first to race out the door.
“Hey, it’s Nate … right?” the guy next to me asks.
I look over my shoulder and recognize the guy from a pick-up basketball game I played a few weeks ago near the dorm building.
“Hey, man. Eric, right?” I ask.
“Yeah, hey, listen, there’s a beer pong tournament tomorrow night at the Theta Phi house, and I’m kind of in desperate need of a new partner since mine is sick with the flu. I know it’s last minute, but do you think you would be able to fill in?” he asks. “You never missed a shot at our pickup game, so I figured your beer pong skills were probably insane.”
“Oh, umm, I don’t know.” Going to a frat party was not on my list of priorities right now. In fact, it was the absolute last thing I wanted to be doing tomorrow night. “Maybe.”
“Think about it,” he says with conviction before picking up his bag and leaving the classroom.
When I lean over to pick up my own bag, I notice Natalie is still in her seat, looking directly at me. Our eyes briefly meet, but she quickly recovers and turns her head away while getting her things together. I try to think of anything to say to her, but before I can even get the words out of my mouth, her bag is packed and she is practically running out the door.
“Natalie!” I yell in desperation before the door slams behind her.
