CHAPTER 10

"I've got a little thumping in my head so sadly, I won't be able to raise my voice up a notch. I'll really appreciate it if you all could quit the talks and whispers and lend me your ears. Can you do that? Please?" The strength of his broad, muscled shoulders and bulging biceps were fighting with the elasticity of his shirt as his palms kissed each other in a praying mannerism.

His voice, like rocks scraping against metal made my heart skip a million times. My fingers tingled as goosebumps coated my skin incessantly. From across a crowded room, I watched him tall and proud as he stood in front of the hall, facing the crowd of college freshmen with confidence born of experience.

Silence overwhelmed the entire hall immediately the first statement rolled out of his tongue. He stalled for a bit, roaming our faces with his striking blue orbs and the moment they froze on me, my whole world slowed down.

His appearance alone was seductive. A siren. His beguiling vibe so enchanting. His features, alluring. Pitch black hair which glistened in the sunlight illuminating from the window was striking out at the air like he just crawled out of bed. The look it gave him was impressive. His face, carefully structured as if God had molded him just to spoil the eyes.

My breathing hitched when his lips curved upward, creating a deep indention on his either cheeks. It displayed his perfectly aligned teeth while his right eye snapped shut and flew open almost immediately. Colour rushed to my cheeks as my eyes dropped to meet my rainbow coloured ankle length gown.

His voice, deep and clear boomed like thunder from the front of the hall, "I'm just gonna go straight to the point so we could all move on to something else."

With his hynotizing eyes hooked on me, his wet, pink tongue leaped out to run over his lower lip. I tightened my thighs together, hurling a pool of saliva down my throat. Was he trying to affect me deliberately?

              "I and my friends..." he gestured to the other two by his side with a wave of his hand. "....has been assigned to your class for the purpose of your orientation. I know y'all were expecting something entirely different. Prolly some professor or lecturer walking in here to take up your first class but that wouldn't be happening. Well, at least not until the following week." At his revelation, the entire hall erupted in cheers. It sounded like an auditory volcano. With the whoops and clapping came fists in the air and eyes flung wide. At their reaction, Keegan threw his head back, from deep inside his chest came a great shaking motion, laughter tumbling from his agaped mouth.

                "So, no classes?" I could hear Amelia ask but Michael's response was like white noise in my ears. My eyes and focus all stolen away by the captivating man in front of me. From across a crowded room, his eyes seeked me out again. There came the curving of a corner of his pink and plump lips in that breathtaking smile again. They did something to my insides in a way I can't explain, twisting it, curling it into small knots till all that escaped my lips were short gasps of air.

His tongue resumed clicking, small chuckles escaping his lips, "Why y'all want no classes though?"

               "We wanna party?" A voice shouted from the middle of the class.

               "We wanna groove?" Another unfamiliar loud voice drilled into my drums from my back.

               "Isn't it what college is all for? Parties and grooving. Man, I live for those parties bro."

                "No, no, no." Keegan turned to the last illogical speaker. "If that's all you've got, then you've been all wrong. College isn't all about the parties, grinding and grooving. That's just...that's just basically what comes along with it. I'm not saying y'all not gonna party and have fun but we would get there. Infact, that's why I and my gang are all here to start with. Oh, I forgot. My name is Keegan. I'm actually a student here, like yourselves. A fourth year student...final year to be precise in the same department as yours, battling with the same major as y'all." He chuckled. The whole class mirrored his actions, the females taking it too seriously.

                "And uh, this is...." He turned to the girl by his side. "....Erika and Ian right up here and that's...." His sturdy body twisted to the right and left, eyes roaming the hall as if looking for someone. He turned to his male friend, leaning in to whisper in his ears. I watched the guy shrug, Keegan's brow tugging in confusion.

Suddenly, the door clicked open. Someone strolled in. Instantly, the air shifted, his entrance changing the entire frequency of the hall.

Engulfing him wholly was a personal aura strong enough to stop a raging bull rhino. I didn't miss the way his presence alone made the entire hall turning in his direction, noise drowned, giving way for complete silence as sharp gasps of shock and surprise colliding with one another or the deep sense of command around him filling up the room. The sense that whatever he represented, he was something the rest of humankind wasn't even prepared to face.

The man was built like a wild animal, his chest muscles bulging and his biceps, balls of strength. His thighs, thick and swelling with muscle.

I didn't need anyone telling me it was him because I knew he was the one. With the way my stomach sizzled with undissipated anger, how could I forget him? No, he wasn't the kind of guy you forget in a hurry. He instead was the kind of guy that never really left your mind at all because he never dislodged from mine either.

He must be mourning a loved one given the vast amount of black his thick body shrouded. A black hoodie stuck beneath a black leather jacket sheathed parts of his toned, inked skin. Followed up with midnight black jeans enclosing his thick calves. His sense of fashion mirrored the one he employed on the day we crashed into hello.

Taking up the space by the window, I didn't notice Lana trugding up behind him. She came up, leaning up closely by his side.

                "That's Dario...." Keegan's deep voice retrieved me from my trance as I turned back to face him in front. "And Lana." The tone of his voice rose up a notch while saying her name. She stilled, catching his gaze. Eyes locked on eachother, speaking more than their mouths could ever do. Her shoulders dropped, a breath sighing out of her lips as she marched towards him, pausing by his side with her back leaning against the wall and her arms curled to rest on her bust.

Brows tugging, my head whisked to Dario's side. I didn't miss the way his body stilled, shoulders tensed, muscles taut under the leather, head hung low causing a stubborn lock of tousled black hair to rest on his brow under the hood and when rose his head, his eyes were screwed shut, face contorted, jaw clenched as a trickle of sweat trailed down his brow. Instantly, his head dropped once more. The space between my eyes creased at his mien.

              "Like I said..." Keegan's sharp voice brought me back to the front of the class once again. "College is in its own world with lots of activities. Some of them are quite fun. Some are quite painful. Some (both good and bad) are strange and will live on vividly in your memory, even if they seemed unimportant at the time.

College, like a lot of other things in life, is what you make of it. You get out what you put in. The biggest distinction from high school, in my opinion, is that you have a lot more freedom. Didn't wanna go to class in high school? You're getting a phone call home and some disciplinary action. Didn't wanna go to class in college? Congrats, you can do that if you want to. It's your money and education however, so keep that in mind.

Classes are generally more relaxed. For example, I go to school every day for only one class and I have one online class. So now I have more free time as opposed to high school where I was occupied for about 7 hours. There's no circle jerk cliques like in high school, but now they exist in the form of fraternities. Thankfully, no one is gonna care much about popularity.

You fail a class in high school? Not that big of a deal, depending on who you are. Fail a class in college? Yikes! Why did you miss the withdrawal date?" The class cackled.

He went on, "College classes usually require more effort, and you have plenty of resources to go by. Teachers, tutors, online, study groups.

Think you're the smartest in your class? Get ready to meet people who are arguably ten times smarter than you. Contrary to what your parents told you, you're not special. Everything you have, you can lose." He struck his thump against his middle finger. It emanated a sharp, clicking sound. "Easily."

                "I'm not sure there's anything you can do to prepare, beyond building decent study skills, social skills, and basic life skills, like doing laundry. I have never seen college not be a life-changing and identity-changing experience. It has many challenges. Many students quit because they experience some failure, but usually long before they are forced to quit. Unlike the military, which is demanding and won't let you quit, colleges can't do anything to make you stay, other than providing encouragement and support.

I'm urging y'all not to quit though. Look into yourselves and reach out to others to find new strength. It is neither the best nor worst part of my life but I grew more in that time than I can really fully comprehend and I'm still growing.

Oh, and for cryin' out loud, visit your professors' office hours and tutoring. No matter how well or how poorly you are doing, make that a part of your life. You will be very welcome at both." When he paused, the entire hall exploded in cheers. Hoots and Hollers reverberating the walls, so loud I was sure it could be heard six hundred miles away.

I watched in pure fascination as the small and prominent knot in his throat moved up and down, his shoulders shaking in laughter. Then, he struck his palms together to gain their attention once more. In reciprocation, sheer silence startled the hall once again.

               "I...."He chuckled. "I think I've said more than I should have. Have I?" I wasn't sure if he was asking anyone in particular but a girl whom I haven't noticed at all answered.

               "No please, keep on talking. Since there are no classes and it's your fine ass we would be getting, then I'm all for that." The other girl beside her laughed. I guessed there were friends given the sense of familiarity I noticed between them.

He smiled in her direction. His friend whom he called Ian came up to stand by him. "Sadly, we've got nothing else to say. My buddy here have given you guys the rundown of everything. Though, you would still get to know more during your departmental orientation especially about your choice of major. The only thing we could tell y'all about psychology is that it's bloody massacre." I felt Amelia shiver beside me.

She whispered, "Tell me why I chose to major in it again."

Michael laughed by her side. "I'm still trying to comprehend."

I didn't expect the first girl who came in to speak but her voice, sultry and soft, like a lullaby capable of putting a child to sleep came up.

               "Study or not study, you guys would still fail and that's a given." My eyes bulged out in surprise at her statement.

               "That isn't entirely true. Erika, you're scaring them. Guys, don't listen to any word from this bitch's mouth. She's only fucking with you. What you all need to do if you're interested in pure success is to kiss my ass." Her friend chuckled behind Ian. I cringed. Lana just didn't have an ounce of filter for her words. You think she wouldn't curse in front of hundreds of freshmen, then you can be so sure she would surprise you.

She guffawed, "I'm kidding. I'm only kidding guys but really, if you're really keen of acing your exams and shit. Bitch, you've gotta work so fucking hard. So hard that your back break and you go blind from studying all night  and see where it takes you. Your books right now should be your best buddies and shit. Man, psychology ain't shit. It's brutal, kids. I mean, I thought it was during my first year but now." She whistled.

I shifted my gaze to Keegan. His eyes narrowed was locked on the window. I stared at him, following the direction of his new found attention and caught it on Dario. His posture was still the same as before. His muscles swelled with tension as his shoulders hunched foward. The muscle in his jaw developed a tic. I watched as his face twisted and normalized before twisting again. It seemed almost like he was aching. Turning back to Keegan, his brow was creased, eyes slitted and his lips thinned. He was probing into him, that was obvious. With his eyes shut, he was oblivious to Keegan's scrutinizing stare.

It waw all quiet one second and then deafening the next, rising to a crescendo. The class entirety erupting into hoots and hollers once again. I wondered what was said this time around to get them exploding in excitement. I hadn't been listening so I diverted my attention back to the front of the class.

Ian took over this time around as he addressed.

              "What's gonna go down now is a tour. How about a little trip across the campus though obviously, we can't hit the college entirety but we would start from somewhere and uhh..." He reached around his rear and dug out a black whiteboard marker from his slacks and turned around to write a set of numbers on the whiteboard behind him.

Then, he turned around again, tongue clicking, "That's my number. You could hit me up to ask questions you wanna." Immediately he let it out, the females began rummaging their things, ripping out pens and papers from their bags. Some dug out their phones and catalogued the numbers into the device in a rush, probably thinking he could take it down just as fast as he put it up. Something told me they were copying it for other reason entirely dissimilar from logic. From the corner of my eyes, Amelia's head tipped up and down. I noticed some guys punching the numbers into their phones as well.

               "So if you're done. Let's hit the road. We taking a long trip. Guys, beat it." The whole class rose up on his command and began gathering up their things. Marching in ones, twos and groups to the door, I saw Dario slip through it first before anyone else could get a chance as Keegan rushed after him.

My brows furrowed at the duo's departure, thoughts flying here and there, trying to ascertain the reason for their behaviour but they spinned in a way that appeared without logic or design or the lack of a concrete explanation as to why they left the way they did.

Why I bothered? I didn't even know.

               "I know right. I'm beginning to love Oklahoma too. No classes till Monday. Yes...that's what we talking about." Amelia laughed. I heard a sharp sound near me. It was loud enough to bring me back from my thoughts. I snapped, turning to my new friends as they laughed and talked between themselves.

Michael glanced at me, "So, are you going?"

Completely disorientated, I asked, "Going where?"

He stared at me as if to say, 'where have your head been?', "The party, of course."

I breathed out, "I'm not. I don't really..."

                 "C'mon, it would be fun. Fresher's night. Oh my God, I've waited for this a long time." Amelia tugged my arm, hanging it over hers. "Party with that hottie. Ian. Nothing's gonna stop me." She giggled.

                "I thought he said there would be various ones around the campus?"

She turned to Michael, "Yeah but I'll be going to his." He narrowed his eyes at her and she snuck her tongue out at him.

The halls leading to my would-have been lecture class were jam-packed with a horrendous number of students that would have been too much for my lecture class. I assumed they were students from other classes out for the same purpose of orientation.

They rubbed shoulders never minding that their toes were often trodden on or that they were in closer proximity to these strangers than they usually were to friends or even family.

A speech boomed over the crowd, a strident timbre of the voice from an unrecognizable senior in front followed by a cacophony of applause and cheering, whooping and hollering erupting from the crowd surrounding me.

From the front of the crowd, I met a pair of alluring blue eyes. Striking and hypnotizing, my brows creased as I tried to mull over how quick he had disappeared and appeared but the more I mulled over it, the more my brain became a spinning top. I made a quick survey around him, his friend was nowhere to be found.

He jerked his head to the right, held my eyes for what seemed to last for minutes but was actually seconds and steered his way through the crowd of excited students. I spared a glance at Amelia hanging by my side, her focus and attention were thrown at the senior addressing the crowd. Michael was conversing with a boy in front of him. Looks like he just made a new friend.

I took the right side of the hall, taking the direction in which Keegan had trailed. I didn't want to chew on my nails or lips so I found myself gnawing on the inside of my cheek, more nervous than I had ever been in a very long while.

He was leaning on the pane of a window, beautiful as ever, sturdy and intimidating, his hair sticking out in all the right places to give him this rugged look. The area he had chosen wasn't as cramped as further down the hall where seniors and juniors took the entire space. On sighting me, he snucked the phone he was fumbling with and tucked it into his rear, a huge grin forming on his lips.

My eyes dropped to the floors, goosebumps coating my skin, fingers fluttering against my thighs as I stood in front of him.

                "Hey." His voice, very deep made my pulse pound hard in my temples, my breathing rapid and shallow.

Eyes downcast, I managed to say, "Hi." My voice, barely a whisper. I cringed at the sound of it.

He trotted closer, the tip of his boots brushing against my bare toes as I caught a whiff of his cologne. It was strong and musky, the scent it plastered on his clothes and skin tantalizing.

              "How are you doing?"

              "I'm fine."

              "Is that how you really feel or what you've chosen to tell me?"

A heavy sigh left the crease of my lips as I spared a quick glance at his well scruptured face.

              "I-" I swallowed, expelling air from my lungs. "I don't know. I don't know, Keegan. I just feel...I don't feel good when the memory of what happened yesterday back at the cafe comes into my mind, you know. I try to forget it but it just shows up everytime and seeing him again today, it still hurts. I've never experienced such before. You know, physical fight like that with someone and worse in the presence of a lot of people, it was horrible.

He was going to hit me. He was going to hit me. I'm sure of it." Breath leaked out of me. "And if that wasn't enough, I just got to know someone made a video of it and I just..I just....I'm not the kind of person to...." My eyes dripped with tears. My walls, the walls that held me up, made me strong just... collapsed. Moment by moment, they fell. Salty drops trickling from my chin, drenching the front of my dress.

I felt a slight touch of my wrist that made my stomach flutter, my skin tingle and my nerves becoming wild fire. I just knew it was him. I knew it was his touch on my skin. His tug on the back of my wrist as he delicately pulled me chest to chest with him, swaddling his arms around my shoulders.

He pressed me tighter against his chest, rubbing his palm up and down my back. 

               "Hey, hey. It's okay. It's fine." I sobbed into his chest unceasingly, hands clutching at the front of his shirt. He held me in silence, expect from the one emanating behind me as he rocked me slowly, tears soaking his chest. A tiny lapse made me pull away.

My stomach heaved, eyes wet with moisture as my hands reached my face at a barely fruitful attempt at wiping them off. I knew his eyes were scrutinizing, assessing me. I avoided his gaze, mine suddenly taking a keen interest on the ground.

He clutched my chin, tipping it slowly so that my eyes locked with his. Blue to brown, I bored into his fine ones.

                "I'm sorry I wet your shirt. I am...I just...I'm really sorry."

                "It's okay to cry. It lifts the weight off your shoulders, get stuffs off your mind. It's totally cool and my shirt don't cost a thing."

                "Everytime I think about it, it gets to me. It's just that...I feel like I shouldn't have hit him, you know. I..." He blanched. I paused. In that instant his skin became greyed, his mouth hung with lips slightly parted and his eyes were as wide as they could stretch.

He began to stutter, "Y-you hit him. I m-mean..." He blinked. "Y-you hit Campbell? As in Dario?" He asked incredulously.

Fear found its way into my guts. I blinked, mouth opening and shutting like a goldfish with no sound coming out.

Bewildered, "Wow...you.." A slight sigh left his lips as he brought me back into his arms, my hands automatically came to rest on his hips. I could feel his razor sharpened jaw settling on the centre of my head, his warm breathing washing over me in soft syllables. "Genesis, you shouldn't have. You shouldn't have done that. You just shouldn't have."

Swallowing, I complained. "He called me a whore."

                "Well, are you?" He pulled to look at me. My stomach dropped to the ground to think that he was taking his friend's side over mine. They were friends. Probably known each other since a long time whereas I just stepped in.

My eyes left his face, crashing to the ground. "No."

                "There."

                "I was very mad. I didn't mean to slap him."

                "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Genesis. You haven't offended me. Though Dario is my best friend and I love him like we met in the same womb, I do agree that sometimes, he sure needs a punch or two to keep him straight."

I laughed. Silence overcoming us for a short while before my shoulders gave out.

                "So, you're saying I should apologize?"

                "How about you do what your heart tells you." He smiled, glancing past me. "Ah, see. They are moving already. Guess it's time to hit the road. C'mon. Let's go." Hands on the small of my back, we closed the distance between the crowd and us. I saw Amelia's eyes on us, a perfectly shaped eyebrow arched over the other as she swapped her attention from Keegan to me and back. I could see the questions her mouth refused to ask in her eyes. At least, for the time being.

                "So you coming to the party?"

My neck craned to look at him. "No, I...."

He chortled, "Genny, give me a minute to change your mind."

**Please, don't forget to vote and comment**