Up and Up Again

Sometimes I get jealous of Enid's classes because they seem so cool and fun.

And then I remember that the classes are literally fictional and I made them up.

Still kinda jealous, though.

Especially of her professors (;

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Enid made it to her writing class without any mistakes this time.

She took her seat beside the friendly girl, Emilia.

Enid was pretty sure that was her name.

The tan girl smiled and greeted her as she unpacked her notebooks.

They chatted for a while before class started and Enid was pleased to find that Emilia was a fan of symphony music.

Right before class began, the girl who sat on the other side of Emilia came trudging in with sunglasses on and a scarf wrapped around her head.

She exhaled dramatically as she practically collapsed into her seat.

Jake, who had been scrolling through his phone quietly, began to chuckle at the obviously hungover girl.

"Aye, Sophie. Have a little too much fun last night?" Jake smirked as he crossed his arms on the desk.

Her responding groan and middle finger sent him into another round of laughter.

"Are you going to the party this weekend, Enid?" He asked, turning his attention away from the angry corpse glaring at them all from behind her designer shades.

Enid's eyes glanced to the doorway, hoping Dr. Romano would come in and save her from having to socialize anymore.

No such luck.

"Uh, no, I didn't know there was one." She responded quietly.

"You've gotta come!" Jake nearly shot out of his seat, "It's the start of the year bonfire party. Everyone goes."

Emilia shook her head at the boy's antics before turning toward her.

"It actually is pretty fun. There's usually good music and it's a great place to make some new friends. You should come with me and my roommates!" Emilia offered.

Enid nibbled on her lip.

A large group of people with a large fire did not seem like a good idea.

Especially when most of those people would be drunk.

But she also didn't want to turn down the first friend she had made here.

"I'll think about it." She finally responded and Jake gave an obnoxious cheer.

Emilia was just finished typing her phone number into Enid's phone when Dr. Romano finally entered the room.

His brown hair was windswept and his black sweater was slightly askew.

His rumpled collar allowed her a closer glimpse at the tattoo she had noticed when she first met him.

She could make out what looked to be the detailed wings of a bird.

"Sorry for my tardiness, class. Mandatory faculty meetings are to blame." His accented voice sent strange butterflies through her.

He sat down at his place across from her and his eyes met hers.

She had forgotten how green they were.

So beautiful, like trees and the moss that climbed many of the buildings.

His gaze traced the hairs framing her face to her lip that she had captured between her teeth once again.

His eyes darkened to obsidian.

She felt like she couldn't breathe.

He cleared his throat suddenly, his hands closing tightly into fists as he ripped his eyes away from her.

Air reentered her lungs and she subtly shifted in her seat, not daring to look back up at the godlike man.

Enid's hands shook lightly as she tried to calm down.

The intensity of the moment still thick in her throat.

Her little crush was becoming something much more worrisome.

"Everyone please pull out your writing assignments. I want to get the ball rolling as soon as possible." He instructed. His voice was firm, but not quite as scary as Dr. Easton's was.

He seemed to be a little more relaxed with his students, teasing the Asian boy who sat to the right of him about his handwriting.

Enid sat nervously as the students to her left stood and read their pieces aloud.

They had been told to write a short story in four sentences about an experience they had this summer.

The Asian boy, Enid really needed to get better at remembering names, had a funny tale about his battle with an army of racoons that had invaded his grandmother's basement.

The next two students followed in similar fashion, with a quirky tale about some funny moment from their summers.

Enid worried that she had written the wrong thing.

Her story was not funny.

"Enid, it is your turn." His voice poured over her and she hesitantly stood.

She clutched her paper tightly in her hands as she took a quick glance around the room.

Her eyes caught the ever supportive smile that Emilia was sending her way.

"Green leaves dancing in the wind, I watch the mosaic blue breaking and breaking through them. My head rests upon the soft pillow of the earth as I listen to the secret whispers of the trees. How quickly it was May then June and now July, I do my best to grasp at the passing time. But still there I lay, just me and the sky." Enid's voice carried the room.

It was the truth.

She had spent most of her time in the woods beside their estate this summer.

She felt a bit like a low quality Wordsworth or some other long dead poet.

She sat down quickly and kept her gaze safely on her desk.

"That's exactly what I wanted." His voice was like a siren as her gaze flew to him.

"Not that yours were bad," he gave a smirk to the three others who had gone, "but they weren't real. I want you guys to dig deep. Deep, deep down into your souls and I want you to write what you find there. I want you to find it and then you must bring us there. Excellent job, Enid."

Her face reddened at the compliment.

Emilia's was a beautiful piece on her younger sister, earning praise of her own from Dr. Romano.

Sophie's piece was grumbled out with contempt, as she had to remove her sunglasses and scarf.

She still managed to somehow make a story about a trip to the Bahamas sound provocative, though.

Her knotted black hair slipped out of the scarf as she purposefully bent lowly as she sat back down.

The lightly tanned skin of her chest flashing.

Jake snickered behind his fist.

The boy with the afro, Marcell, and Jake told their stories and soon they were being assigned another writing prompt.

"This time I want you to write a page on what you fear most. I know we're sort of jumping into the deep end, but there's no better place to start than fear. Over the course of this class, we as a group will work to help you overcome whatever it is that you write about. If possible, of course." Dr. Romano's commanding gaze sweeped around the group to make sure everyone understood.

"Hell no! You are not bringing any snakes near me." Marcell looked as though he was about to faint.

Dr. Romano's laugh sent pleasant shivers down her spine.

"Not fears like that. No stupid shit like snakes or spiders. Like I said, dig deep. Fears of death, of not fitting in. Whatever. Just make sure it's something important." He shook his head as Marcell seemed to pale even further.

The rest of the class consisted of Dr. Romano handing out a piece of prose for them to analyze as a class as he pointed out the structural qualities.

Class finished and Enid was putting on her coat when she felt a presence behind her.

A quick glance told her that her classmates had already left.

Turning around, she had to look up to meet his strong gaze.

"Would you stay behind for a moment?" He asked even though it didn't seem like a request at all.

She was to stay.

Enid's hair swayed as she nodded, and she followed him to his office.

She thought maybe he wanted to discuss her essay or give her some criticism about the responses she had given in class.

What she didn't expect was to find Dr. Drewitt sitting behind the desk or Dr. Easton standing by the window.

Enid's heart seemed to stop beating.

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Whoops, sorry for the cliffhanger!

I'll hopefully have the next chapter up soon, so don't kill me, lol.

What do you think is going to happen to our lovely Enid?

Comments fill my heart with joy.

All my love, Sappho ✽