Chapter 1- Taunting Whispers

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"Did you hear? The band is actually coming to town!"

"They're amazing!"

"I bought tickets nearly a year ago!"

Again.

Once again, my morning nap was disrupted by the rude whispers of the students around me.

My eyes snapped open at the sound of the annoying voices, and I found myself feeling crankier than when I woke up this morning. With a sigh, I sat up straighter and looked around to find the cause of my awakening, but as I looked around, I couldn't pinpoint exactly who woke me up. It seemed as if everyone was talking all at once.

'Since when were Tuesdays this fucking exciting?' I thought.

As I was glaring at all the heads in the room, my gaze drifted off to one person in particular.

She was walking up the isle beside me, her head hung low. I tried to catch a glimpse of her face, but couldn't, since her hair blocked it. I think she appreciated how her hair reached down to her waist, with how she used it as a curtain. She wore a hood as well, which she nearly drowned in, too.

She continued walking up the ramp beside me, her clothes emitting a strong scent of roses as she inched closer. I also managed to get a view of her eyes.

Brown.

Plain and simple.

She walked past me and went to the back row, just a row behind me, and sat at the desk diagonal from mine. With a small sigh, she turned to get her stuff settled.

That's when I whipped my head back around. I took a quick look around the class, and noticed the girl with the brown eyes managed to slip past everyone's attention. They were busy among themselves, having conversations like normal students.

I hadn't noticed her before. Probably because I never notice anything around me besides my close group of friends, Andre and Jamal, but I don't ever recall seeing anyone with such a dull appearance. This college was full of people who talked too much and were full of colour.

This girl however, was the definition of the word: grey.

It was almost as if a literal grey cloud covered her. I was surprised that she caught my attention, but I didn't think too much of it. I would probably forget about her the moment my lecture ends.

The professor walked in a moment later, holding a sheet of paper in her hands, accompanied with a blinding smile on her face. I frowned, annoyed at the fact that I couldn't get my twenty minute nap in before class started.

"Good morning, class," Professor Benny greeted once she had her projector set up.

A few people grumbled out a response, while the others stayed silent. I unintentionally found myself turning to locate the girl from before, and my frown deepened when I noticed that her head was still hung low and hands were clasped together tightly in her lap. I looked away again, facing the front one last time.

"Now, I know it's still a bit early in the semester but I hope all of you are settling in. And now, here's the lecture for today..."

I scoffed. We were only two weeks into school, and if it weren't for Andre dragging me here at least three days a week, I would have gladly spent the rest of the semester sleeping. As for settling in, I haven't even opened more than one suitcase yet.

I sighed and for once, paid attention to the lesson being taught, in order to take my mind off of the brown-eyed girl.

* * *

I sighed and stepped into my apartment after an hour at the gym. It was crazy busy there today, probably since the semester had just started. I wondered how long it would take for people to lose motivation so I can get some peace and quiet there.

With another cranky sigh, I took off my shoes and dropped my bag by the door. It was dark in here, making it hard for me to see where I was headed. Since I was new to this place, I wasn't quite used to it yet.

I closed the door behind me and moved further inside, blindly feeling around for the light switch. Once I found it, I turned it on, finding myself in the kitchen. I relaxed and looked up, and in a split moment, I body-slammed myself against the door with a hand to my heart.

A silhouette stood in the middle of my kitchen, hands outstretched, as if they were shocked about being caught.

I blinked and once my eyes finally adjusted to the scene before me, I came face to face with my best friend Andre. He had a handful of chips in his mouth and was staring at me like he just saw a ghost. His hands were still spread out in the air, and he only lowered them after I started making my way towards him.

"What the hell are you doing here Andre?" I said, barely breathing from the heart attack he just gave me.

"I gus ghghgh," he responded.

I rolled my eyes at him and took a deep breath. Then I walked towards him and ripped my bag of chips out of his hand.

"Hey!" he protested.

I sighed and went over to the couch to finally sit and relax. After a moment of sulking, Andre came and plopped down beside me.

Andre Perez has been my best mate since middle school. Once in high school, we had to part ways halfway through, since I had to move. However, we never lost contact. When applying for college, we knew we'd up in the same place. And so the moment we graduated, we agreed to go to the college that had accepted us both.

Sadly, I forgot about his annoying habits.

It was a good thing he chose to live on campus, while I chose an apartment nearly 20 minutes away from the college. The thought of living in a dorm just annoyed me, while it was all Andre wanted. I had already been in a dorm in my first year, and I couldn't bear the thought of doing it for a second one.

"When are you going to unpack your things, man?" Andre asked, glancing around at the boxes lined up everywhere.

I shrugged and tossed a chip into my mouth.

"...It's been over two weeks," he continued.

I turned to him with a stoic expression and Andre sighed at my nonchalant behavior.

"Your fucking lazy ass won't do it for the next two years if I don't get up on your ass about it."

With that, Andre stood up, patted his jeans, and motioned for me to get up as well. I let out a groan, but nonetheless, followed after him.

Thank the lord I chose to live on my own.

After much pushing and shoving, and lots of "fucking get out my way Andre," we finally unpacked my belongings. Afterwards, we fell to the couch with a thud. It was nearing 11 at night, and I just wanted to go to bed.

Without wasting time, I ditched Andre at the couch and headed to the bathroom for a shower. I finished as quickly as possible, not wanting Andre to eat my whole house down, and made my way out once I was done. Andre was still in the same spot I had left him, but now he was taking stupid selfies on his phone. I came out just to see him posing with a 'peace sign' and a kissy face to the camera.

I scoffed and threw my towel at him.

"The fuck!" he screeched, scrambling to get the towel off of him.

I sighed at him and went to the kitchen for food-hunting. However, I didn't think that my night could possible get any worse.

"Andre!" I screamed. "You fucking ate all my leftovers?!"

* * *

"YO! WAKE YOUR ASS UP! THE KING OF WAKANDA HAS ARRIVED!" a booming voice bellowed.

I growled and threw my pillow over my head to block out the noise. I had almost fallen back asleep, when suddenly, a giant weight fell onto my legs. I woke up startled and turned to the person who dared to wake me up this way.

Jamal Bronco, a basketball player for our college varsity team, and sadly, my only other friend besides Andre, stood at the foot of my bed. He was clutching his stomach and doubling over with laughter. I chucked a pillow at his face, the same one he had just hit me with, causing him to momentarily stop laughing to let out a grunt of pain.

"What the fuck, Jamal?" I groaned out, falling back down onto the bed.

"Get up, you lazy ass. We have biology," he said, hitting my leg for extra effect.

I sighed and stared at the ceiling.

"What time is it?" I asked, closing my eyes.

"10:08."

I sat up with a start.

"What? Class is in like 20 minutes," I said lazily. "It's too late to make it," I continued, getting back into bed.

I heard Jamal sigh.

"We have our first quiz today, you lazy ass."

That was when I ran to the bathroom, did my business in record time, and got ready in under ten minutes. I came out of my room, just in time to see Jamal popping a bagel into his mouth. I rolled my eyes at him.

"That was the last bagel, you ass," I muttered, grabbing an apple from the fridge.

Jamal shrugged and we both made our way out of my apartment.

Jamal shared a dorm with Andre, since we have known Jamal for a long time. At one point, all of three of us played basketball for the community team. That was when I actually used to live in my hometown and the two of them were there too. Whereas Andre and I played for only extracurricular purposes back then, and even now sometimes, Jamal always wanted to be a basketball player.

After I moved, I never really met up with Jamal again. Andre had quit basketball, and since Jamal went to a different middle school from us, we never could contact him again, besides the occasional Facebook message. Once we found out we'll be going to the same college, the three of us became close friends again. Andre and Jamal even decided to share a dorm this year, while I got my own place.

They were good guys, even though they were a pain in my ass at times.

We made it to Biology in time, since the professor started just a minute after we sat down. The quizes began, and we didn't speak for the rest of class.

After class, we headed out to meet with Andre. He was waiting for us by the History building, where there was a nice secluded area just around the corner. From here, we could overlook many of the campus buildings, but the people passing by weren't able to see us.

When we got there, Andre was already seated at one of the benches, waving like maniac when he saw us approaching. I rolled my eyes at his childish behavior and followed Jamal to the table. We were finally seated and Andre had started speaking before we had even sat down.

"Some kid freaking fainted in class today!" Andre excitedly said. "The room was blasting heat and some kid just passed out. Whew, I survived it like a champ," he said, wiping his forehead with his forefinger.

I rolled my eyes at him while Jamal said, "No way! Seriously?"

"Yeah, man. Then three people carried him out. It was insane," Andre explained.

As I barely listened to the story, something caught my attention from my peripheral vision. A girl was walking across the campus right in front of us, looking a little lost. Before I could see who it was, she turned away and started heading in the opposite direction from me.

Just then, a group of guys came hurtling from the other direction. It was the varsity football team. One of them unfortunately noticed Jamal sitting here and hollered out to him.

"Yo, Bronco!" he yelled.

Jamal turned to the sound of his voice and grinned once he saw who yelled his name. He got off the bench and turned to the guy.

"Yo, Davis!" he yelled back.

"Can you catch this ball? A little different from your usual!" Davis called back.

Jamal grinned.

"I'm an ace, Davis! You should know that by now!" Jamal hollered.

Suddenly, a football came hurtling through the air and towards Jamal. He caught it with ease, and started throwing it back as the footballers hooted.

But of course, Jamal being Jamal, had a brilliant idea.

He was going to throw the ball without looking at them.

"Whoa, wait a second guys. Catch this okay?" Jamal said.

He closed his eyes and chucked the football.

It went hurtling into the air-

And the guys got ready to catch it-

And the ball kept flying-

And it went past the the entire foootball team member's head-

And suddenly it was dead silent.

Well, besides a little squeak coming out of someone.