Layla sat through the entire class barely looking at the teacher, except that she kept looking at him when she was not conscious of it.
Her heart had skipped a beat when he introduced himself as Elijah. He had insisted on not being called by Professor Johnson, except when they were out in the halls or in front of other teachers. In here, he was Elijah, he had said and given them all as warm a smile as he could muster. His voice had quickly fallen back into a monotone speaking pattern, which Layla considered odd; was he not excited about the topic he was teaching? Of course, this was only the first day, and he mostly spoke about introductions to the course and did not get into the topics in depth.
The man she had run into before the start of class – who introduced himself as Victor when he asked a question for the professor – kept interrupting with only somewhat relevant questions, but the professor – Elijah - did not seem to mind. Layla felt her blood start to boil. Was it because he was a man that he was allowed to be so incredibly annoying? Of course, she did acknowledge that some of the questions were quite clever and in-depth, but this was just the introduction class; he could have saved those questions for another time. Surely she would not have received the same encouraging nods if she had asked so many questions.
Layla leaned back into her chair and focused on her notes. She wrote down the important dates for assignments and tests and started to plan out time for studying a week in advance for each test. She would have to use her weekends for writing assignments, she figured. Some noise from the other students backing their bags disturbed her a little as she finished up her schedule. The class had ended, and as she finished looking over her last notes, she looked up and saw that the entire classroom had emptied out – except for her and Professor Elija Johnson, who was staring at her with lifted eyebrows.
"Do you not have anywhere else to be, miss?"
Flabbergasted, she muttered, "I have a break before my next class, Professor Johnson."
"Elijah," he corrected her, "and your name?"
"Sorry, I am Layla, Layla Smith."
"Hmm," he said, "well, don't make lingering a habit," he said and picked up his briefcase, "I would hate to see you fall behind."
And then he left. And Layla stood behind with her mouth half open in shock. Fall behind? Her? Whatever could have given him the idea that she was the type of student who would fall behind in class? Of course, she had expected university to be difficult, but she had not expected to encounter animosities and resistance just by existing. She would show him who would fall behind. Layla left the room, determined to become even more knowledgeable about the topics than her teacher. She would show him, she thought, at the same time as a wonderful smell of cookies hit her nose. Time for the perfect study snack.
She bought a cookie from the cafeteria and sat down under a tree in the park. It was late summer, the trees still green but starting to lose a few leaves. The buildings around her were a mixture of old and new, some in classic stone structures, others with clearly modern ventilation systems, and similar ones put up in steel and concrete. Those would probably be the newer science buildings, she thought, those the papers had been writing about, and had been highly debated in the local community. Some thought the new buildings would be an eyesore and destroy the history of the almost ancient university. In reality, the university had always consisted of buildings from different time periods, so Layla was not terribly against it, though architecturally it was not her favourite design.
She had planned to meet up with James for a quick debrief of their first class and a short study session, but a text ticked in on her phone shortly after she had sat down.
*Class has gone over time. Can't make it. Sorry.*
She texted back immediately.
*No worries, see you later?*
*Can I cook pizza tonight?*
*Perfect, see you then.*
It was probably for the better, she thought as she leaned back with a book. She could not be hung up on her preschool boyfriend when she was supposed to stay focused and experience new things. However, she was looking forward to the pizza.
***
POV: unknown
She looked over at one of the new girls. She was sitting under a tree, eating a cookie. They had shared a class together. The girl had been sitting in the first row and shared some intense glances with Professor Johnson. Her professor, she thought as she played with her extremely sharp pencil between her fingers. A pencil that could easily pluck out an eye if you were not careful, but she was careful, she remembered. She had been going to therapy ever since the incident.
She took out her phone and scrolled through a list of new students she had acquired from the school administration's office with attached pictures; surely it would not take long to find the girl. She looked back up at the girl to take in her features. Tall, brown features, yellow undertones, a mix of gold and silver jewellery, a burgundy tank top hugging her body, a loose professional shirt taken off to expose her arms, flared out pants, and a button nose. She found herself staring at the girl for a minute or so without taking her eyes off her. She was pretty, she thought, now to find her name… Layla, she whispered as she found her on the list of new students. Layla, she whispered again as she snapped the pencil in her hand. Layla, she whispered, her obsession slowly growing.
***
POV: Layla
"Hey there!" a voice yelled from across the small park. It was Marisha who was skipping across the grass to get to Layla. A boy was walking behind her, and Layla recognised him immediately – it was the rude boy from the party the day before.
"I think that patch of grass is purely decorative," Layla said and gestured to the sign saying; Do NOT walk on the grass.
"Decorative grass…" Marisha said, looking down at her feet. "Well," she shrugged her shoulders, "have you met Ryan?"
She nodded, "We have met, briefly."
The boy, Ryan, nodded as well, but did not say anything.
"Wonderful," Marisha said and proudly took his hand, "we are dating now!" She was beaming. "And I expect you two to become quick friends."