Isabel

The following morning, I raced on my feet towards the direction I assumed Physics was towards. Recalling most of the drive here, my mother had been curious and pushy as to why Amora nor Josh couldn't take me to my courses today. After all, Josh and I had prearranged it so he could drop me off so Amora and I could leave campus together.

Six minutes. I can make it to the room in six minutes, right? Course I may be late, but maybe Professor Anders had been just threatening us?

Seeing my destination appear in front of my eyes, I frankly held unto the knob of the door into a launch forward. An abrupt smack echoed throughout the vacate hallway, which caught me off guard. Losing my train of thought, my hand released the handle and my eyes lowered to find a women sitting on the dirt ridden floor.

Papers were scattered across with three textbooks jumbled into one another.

"I'm so sorry!" I nearly yelled as my knees hit the cold flooring in a thump. Slowly, I gathered each of the papers nearby me. The women joined in doing so along with me.

"No, no," a smooth voice replied," it's really okay."

The last paper laid on the ground near to me. I reached forward to grasp it, yet simultaneously, her fingers scrapped along side mine in our attempt to place it with the others.

"Oh I'm--" my eyes trailed up her arm to her smooth straighten hair, and dazzling hazel eyes. Feeling my heartbeat pound against my chest, my jaw slightly dropped. I tore my hand from the one that gazed mine. It was the women from my class!

She widened her eyes, taken back by my expression.

"What?" she gasped. Her purple nails found its way into her backpack and then pulled out a small circular mirror. A chuckle released from my throat at her reaction to my expression. Was this her first instinct?

"Um," her gaze found its way unto me," Hey! What are you laughing about?" her lips prompted upward, revealing the whites in her teeth. A laughed released from my throat once more. Swaying my head gently, I answered her question.

"You," I replied, "I've never seen someone check their face because someone gave them a weird look!" I couldn't withhold my later at the ending of my sentence.

Her jaw dropped barely an inch. Searching nearby, her fingers latched unto a small notebook. The notebook, which she flung my direction in an attempting joke.

"Hey!" I reacted, a little taken back that a complete stranger had the nerve to throw something at me... even as a joke.

Her dark curved eye brows rose as her lips prompted themselves into a smirk. Her brushed off the remaining, unseen specks of dirty coolly from her dark blue jeans. I witnessed her raise steadily to her feet with books in hand.

"Please," she objected, "That isn't anything compared to what you did to me." her hand extended outward towards my direction.

I gratefully took it. "Okay, okay," I agreed with her, "It's a truce then?" her strength astonished me as she tugged me up off my feet in a hefty pull.

"Agreed," a smile appeared unto her expression, "I'm Isabel."

Isabel. Ah so that's her name. It suited her.

"Nice to bump into you," I joked, "I'm Scarlet."

Her eyebrows rose furrowed gently as her hazel orbs pierced through me. She appeared to be lost within her own thoughts as she studied me.

"Scarlet! Oh," she repeated, "You're in my physics class, aren't you?"

I swayed my head into a up and down motion. Recalling the time, I resumed my walk down the halls as I expected her to follow me. Yet the hallways only echoed the single clicking of my own shoes.

"Where are you going?" Isabel question me, confusion sprawling across her facial features. My expression mimicked her own.

"To our lecture? You?" I faintly replied.

Isabel noticeably sighed, revealing a small smile across her lips. "Our lecture isn't that way," she laughed, "Come on."

Turning on her heels, Isabel exited the building without bothering to wait for me. I wanted to object that she may be wrong, yet I couldn't know for sure. My memory had been horrible in the morning. Rushing my feet, I caught unto her side and joined her pace.

"So," she began, "what year of college are you?"

"I'm only on my first year, I just began," I simply stated, not allowing my late start bother me," And you?"

"Huh," her voice lingered, appearing to be lost within her own mince once again, "Well I guessed right. You did seem a little lost when I first noticed you on the way to our lecture."

My focus drew me to remain unto her as hers stayed steady on the path ahead of us. Her hair dangled in the breeze of the morning, which she scooped up into her hand and reposition behind her ear.

"Lost? Oh by the way," I paused, unsure if I should ask, "Why were you late to our first lecture anyways?"

Her shoulders promptly lifted in her reply, "Things," she stated, "Oh right, and I'm in my second year by the way. So I'm not too far off from you I guess."

The conversation followed the pattern, I'd ask a question then she would do the same. Isabel had been very similar to me with our standing on college. We both took our time off after high school just to enjoy our lives. Neither of us was certain on our majors either. Though, throughout the entire conversation, Isabel had this aurora around her. Her posture had been proper and every word she spoke either captivated me or appeared to be said with confidence. It was a confidence I had long to have.

"Oh I was wondering," I chimed in as casually as I could, "who was that guy you were with? On the first day?" I clarified.

Her footsteps halted. Curious, I followed her example yet lingered a few steps ahead of her. My body turned so I could center my focus unto her. My smile faded as I witnessed the seriousness that echoed in her trained eyes.

"Why?" her voice spoke with an absence of any emotion.

"I--Um..." I stuttered, unsure if I had offered her somehow. Why would she be serious about this? Weren't they friends?

A abrupt beeping filled the silence air between us. Glancing down towards the phone in my palm, my eyes inched wider at the time displayed: 8:07 am. I forgot I was in a hurry! Focusing on my surroundings, I sought out the closet building yet none were near to us.

"Where is the class Isabel? We are late!"

Isabel's jaw released, her eyes sought out the area around us as well. "It.. I thought it was over here?"

My vision rushed over her in disbelief. Had she really gotten us lost? I can't believe this! Without another word to Isabel, my feet found themselves pounding the concert in a race towards the building we had departed from. I could hear her voice calling my name from afar, and then her footsteps echoed after my own.

Glancing to make sure the hallways were clear, I barged through the double glass doors. Isabel must have closed our gap because I didn't hear the pounding of the door slamming shut behind me. The number of a door labeled 104A came into my sights. Reaching for the cold metal handle, I tugged it roughly towards me. It hadn't moved an inch.

It was locked.

"Dang it!" I muttered under my breath.

The second pair of feet came to a halt behind me. Isabel's hands gripped unto her knees as she lowered her face further down. She had been patting hard. "Damn girl, you can run," she spoke almost into a whisper.

Tightening the knuckles in my hand, I twisted to face her. "We were late!" I shouted accusingly, "Because you didn't know where you were going!"

Isabel instantly gave me a taken back expression. It stood there for a moment then faded away as she shook her head in disbelief. Her eyes fell unto the wall the laid nearby to her.

"Yeah," she spoke, "OK. Like you haven't ever gotten lost before."

I sighed in a frustrated tone, "But I knew where I was going..."

Isabel's simply shrugged, "You followed me, dick"

"Wow, OK!" my voice raised a few notches.

There was no point in standing here any longer. I retraced my steps towards the double doors without Isabel. I was going to miss an entire lecture, and it was all her fault. I couldn't afford to miss a class in math... I knew well it wasn't my strong point.

In stress, I wondered the campus aimlessly until I found a raised curb under a tree which I sat under. I put my head into my hands with a sigh. "Some start to college..." I muttered to myself. I still hadn't even made up with Josh or even spoken to Amora.