Writing
In the sweltering heat of the afternoon, the corridors of the Institution were jam-packed with students making their way through. The air was filled with the lively sounds of various conversations, ranging from the low baritone voices of senior students to the high-pitched giggles emanating from groups of junior girls.
Sera glanced around anxiously, watching in fascination as a group of older, chic upperclassmen girls strutted past them.
“I love her dress,” Sera murmured to her friend, Jaya.
Jaya, a tall, wiry girl with large brown eyes and luscious, curly black hair, grinned and excitedly turned her head around.
“It’s sooooo pretty!” she exclaimed in true Jaya fashion. It had only been a couple of hours since they met, but Sera could quickly see that everything about Jaya emanated positivity and excitement. It was as if a permanent, bright smile was attached to her face. It was absolutely darling, and Sera felt an innate sense of comfort around her.
Letting out a sigh, Sera glanced down at her phone, feeling perspiration beginning to gather at the back of her neck.
14:27. A bolted door and not a teacher in sight.
The entire class of students had already gathered anxiously around the door, waiting in anticipation. Some students clutched their binders tightly to their chests and stared off into the distance, while the more sociable ones made polite, enthusiastic conversation with one another, still invigorated by the prospect of meeting new students and getting to know each other, given that it was their first day at the Institution.
“I’m so excited for this class. It should be interesting. I’ve heard such difficult things about the lecturer though! She’s tough, and apparently, her exams are nearly impossible to finish on time,” Jaya said anxiously, looking around.
Sera glanced up at Jaya, feeling rather awed by the fact that she could maintain such enthusiastic composure despite the conditions.
“How exciting.”
“I hope she doesn’t assign any seating! That’d be horrible. Oh, it appears we have math together as well! Wait, is it the same lecturer?” Jaya peered down at Sera’s schedule, which was taped to the front of her binder. “Oh my God, it is! We both have Professor Hart.”
Sera managed a grimace but attempted to maintain an even voice. “That’s awesome. Hopefully, we can sit together.”
As she continued glancing around while Jaya began chattering away with another group of students, Sera stopped.
Then there he was, standing in front of her, taller than the average student in their cohort by far. Much taller. In fact, he was nearly as tall as the senior boys who brushed by him. Sera couldn’t look away.
“Hey, Jaya? Jaya?” Sera tapped on her friend’s side while still looking at him.
“Mmmm, yes, of course—oh, is something the matter?” Jaya excitedly turned around.
“Who’s that boy over there?”
Jaya followed her line of sight and quickly caught on.
“Oh! I’ve seen him before. We have the same language class together! Shoot, what’s his name?” Jaya stared up at the sky and tapped her foot quickly in thought.
Sera couldn’t look away.
His skin was tanned, golden almost. He was surrounded by a gaggle of students but took no part in any conversation, choosing instead to stare into the abyss with a seemingly stoic expression on his face. Was it stoicism? Or was there also a hint of shyness to his demeanor? His floppy black hair and brown eyes betrayed a glimmer of something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Her heart thudded in her chest, and she had the oddest sense of familiarity as she gazed upon him. It was like seeing a ghost.
“Oh yes! Melissaeus. His name’s Melissaeus. He’s cool. Super quiet though, doesn’t say much, and keeps to himself. But he looks nice!” Jaya exclaimed, snapping Sera out of her reverie.
“I’m going to date him,” Sera murmured.
Jaya’s eyes widened, and she gave her a funny look. “Huh?”
As Sera stared at Melissaeus across the hallway, among the crowd of students gathered around the locked door to their history lecture, she felt something she had never felt before in all fourteen years of her life. What was it? Nostalgia? Nervousness? Fascination? Everything?
“I like him. I’m going to date him,” Sera repeated evenly.
A chuckle emerged from Jaya. “Yeah, he’s cute! Definitely go for it.”
“Out of the way! Out of the way!” a commanding woman’s voice pierced through, jolting Sera’s attention back to the door.
A thin, wiry woman began abruptly shoving past the students, causing them to part quickly and efficiently, as the Red Sea itself. Sera, unfortunately, was quickly shoved back against the thick, metal doors of the hallway as the students skirted backward. She craned her neck to examine the woman who was busily unlocking the doors, the frantic jangle of the keys betraying the same commanding, yet nervous attention she had about her.
Jaya glanced down at Sera with an expression of awe and amusement. I told you, she mouthed.
The entrance to the classroom opened, and everyone began to slowly shuffle in just as the piercing bell rang to signal that it was time for class. Sera lingered behind everyone, allowing the throng of her anxious classmates to trickle in.
Try-hards, she thought to herself.
As she shuffled in, nearing the entrance, she felt her right arm tingling. Sera glanced to her right and saw a familiar, golden arm beside her, clutching the strap of a backpack. As she slowly gazed up, tracing the arm to the face she knew she’d see, her heart began to thud rapidly. Melissaeus’s gaze remained straight ahead toward the classroom. He wore the same blank expression on his face, as if nothing in the world interested him besides what was inside that classroom. As she couldn’t avert her gaze, she noticed the little mole above his right lip.
Melissaeus suddenly glanced down, locking eyes with her.
Shock.
She felt her heart thud rapidly once more. His eyes were dark brown. She couldn’t read his expression, not that there was one anyway.
Snap out of it.
Sera quickly looked away and scurried into the classroom, already hearing a few students behind her grumbling at her standstill in the doorway.
As she entered the classroom, she quickly scanned the room to the right and noticed most of the chairs were filled with students already. The teacher had taken her place at the front and was busy writing some barely visible words on the chalkboard, the flecks of white powder glimmering and flying everywhere as the bright, tall windows on the far side of the room bathed it in bright, afternoon light. Sera spotted an empty seat in the middle-back of the room, between a girl with mousy brown hair and a boy with glasses and spiky black hair. She moved her way through the row and sat down quickly, setting up her binder and squinting to get a glimpse of the board.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Melissaeus’s figure stroll through the door with quiet confidence and take a seat a few rows down closer to the back of the room. She didn’t know what it was, but her heart kept pounding—thump thump thump. The murmurs of the classroom almost became too much for her. She tried to stay focused by staring straight ahead, though she found herself sneaking little side glances.
“Hello class.”
The buzzing chatter quieted down but did not cease.
“Hello class!”
The voice was shriller and sharper this time.
The talking stopped.
“Welcome to American History!” The teacher was a thin woman of medium height with short brown hair.
Behind her, Sera could see the words scrawled on the chalkboard: Professor Michael.
“I have high expectations for you this semester.” Professor Michael paced over to Sera’s side of the classroom and peered down at a scrawny boy in the front row, “and I will not be disappointed.”
The poor boy in the front visibly gulped.
Professor Michael slowly peered around the room, locking eyes briefly with Sera, who stared straight back unflinchingly.
Look her in the eyes and just deal with it, she thought to herself.
“Everyone has their textbook, correct?” Professor Michael asked. Without missing a beat or waiting for the students’ responses, “Perfect, let’s turn to the chapter on Democracy in Rome.”
As Sera unzipped her backpack amidst the thuds and ruffles of textbooks, she couldn’t help but sneak another glance at Melissaeus. She could only see him angled downwards as he rummaged through his backpack for his textbook, the dark brown hair flopping into his eyes.
As she grabbed her textbook and flipped through the pages, she heard a buzzing sound. But unlike the sharper sound of a fly, it was a low hum. Sera instinctively whipped her head around and saw a bright yellow bee flying lazily around the room, heading toward Jaya. The girl with purple hair sitting next to Jaya was flipping through her textbook hurriedly before Sera saw the fear set in her eyes as the bee circled above her.
“A bee!” the purple-haired girl shrieked.
Jaya immediately stood up, her curly black hair bouncing up and down as she backed away from her table.
“Settle down! It’s just a bee!” Professor Michael said sharply, rolling her eyes in exasperation as the students continued to stare at the bee, which had moved to the opposite side of the room from Sera.
The bee made its way close enough to Melissaeus and the students surrounding him. Sera watched in fascination as all the other students around him instinctively stood up and clustered in groups to back away from the bee, but he sat there, patiently, unflinchingly, almost lovingly, looking up at the bee with a bemused expression on his face.
Once more, Melissaeus shifted his gaze toward her, and Sera felt her heart thump thump thump again.
I feel like I know him. I’ve met him before.
Everything around Sera seemed to quiet, with only Professor Michael’s exasperated quips registering and the muted commentary from the classmates around her as they groaned about the insect.
The bee continued to dance around the room, as if it were taunting those around her.
His gaze shifted back towards the insect where he remained stoically, with a shadow of a smile playing upon his lips.
