Chapter 02: Campus Life

Christina sat tapping her pencil against her notebook as Professor Randall Steward went over his expected coursework. The syllabus was at least four pages in itself; the amount of work he was looking for in his students was ridiculous! Didn’t he know they had other classes to attend also? And on top of that after spending $300 on books and equipment alone for this course he wanted them to purchase their own chemistry set to bring with them to class? It was already too much and she was not looking forward to the ten page dissertation on the organic makeup of the cellular compounds found in the marine life near Cyprus-Gray. “This is going to be a long semester,” she griped and scribbled a note on her syllabus concerning the essay.

“Tell me about it.” She turned towards the voice and smiled as the hazel eyed student beside her scooted just a tad closer. “And we haven’t even gotten into his spiel about the microscopes. That’ll take up the last hour of class!”

“How do you know that?”

“Oh I had him for a class last fall. Trust me it’s a real snoozer but there aren’t very many options for professors in this course unfortunately. K.T.,” he extended a hand and she shook it warmly.

“Christina Samuels, you can call me Chrissy. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Chrissy; nice to meet you too. My first name in case you were wondering isn’t K people just call me that. But I figured announcing it was better than hearing it butchered again,” he leaned towards her ear. “They have a really hard time pronouncing my name,” he whispered showing her a spelling of it Keitano Tanaka.

“Kay-Tah-No Tah-Nah-Kah, that’s not so hard.”

“It is for the people that still think it says Ky-Tan-Oh. It got annoying really fast so I shortened it.”

“Are you pre-med?”

“Naw. Besides the fact that I don’t care to be around sick people I don’t think the medical profession would want me. I don’t have a really strong attention span. I might start reading a comic book or something in the middle of a major surgery. That would be bad; for me anyway I hate being interrupted when I’m reading.”

She laughed as he slid a comic book out of his bag and leaned back into his chair. “So what major are you taking that requires Organic Chemistry then?”

“Oh my major is Graphic Artistry and Web Design. I’m just here to make my transcript look good. I think the Deans appreciate that kind of thing.”

“What?”

“Yeah…I just want to appear ‘well-rounded’ since last year I took nothing but ‘bird’ courses and just flew right through. This year I have Organic Chem., Analytic Geometry and Auto Shop though I’m only taking that class to be with my girl. She’s so into her bike sometimes I don’t think she hears half of what I say.”

“Her name wouldn’t happen to be Paige would it?”

“Oh you know my girl? Yeah, she’s a real doll ain’t she?” he wiggled his eyebrows and tipped his chair back into the desk. “I swear we were actually cut from the same mold sometimes. She ignores me, I ignore her and we fight then kiss and make up. I’m the luckiest fucking guy on the planet! You dating?”

“Nope! I’m currently single.”

“Oh you run the guys off?”

“Now why would I do that?”

He shrugged and thumbed the cap to his cigarette pack a moment. “I don’t know. Some girls do that. They like drama or love the idea of love and so rather than be with one guy and be happy they make up all kinds of reasons to be alone and then scare away potential suitors. I mean you don’t look the type but I wonder that about all the single girls.”

“So it can’t be as easy as guys are just assholes after one thing?”

“Naw. It’s definitely the ladies causing the issues. Guys are simple. Sure we want one thing but what you don’t know is we want that one thing from one girl; the one that isn’t a drama queen!”

An egg timer sounded on the Professors’ desk and he looked at his watch. “Ok class, that’s our time. You’ll find the list for partners on the wall on your way out,” Professor Steward announced. “And please remember to bring all of your equipment next class. We’re doing labs starting next week.” He grabbed his briefcase and his coffee mug and started for the exit before the others in the room had a chance to get towards his desk.

“I guess he’s not much for after class help either huh?”

“You’d be better off with a tutor anyway. He confuses you in class I doubt you’d want more of that afterwards too!”

Christina stopped at the bulletin and read over the list of names until she came to hers. “…and my partner is, Ezra Miller?”

Glancing around the room, Keitano stopped as he noticed the kid rushing through the back double doors. “You just missed him. But the good news is your partner is a huge science nerd. The bad news, I don’t think he really likes people.”

“Great! So I get a socially awkward science freak who probably won’t want to really wait for me if I need to relearn a step. Can my day get any worse?”

“Cheer up at least you got me to keep you entertained this term.”

“Ah yeah, definitely a plus,” she grinned and rolled her eyes. He laughed and walked her out towards the Quad. The moment they were outside the biker chick of his dreams rushed into his arms.

“I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder. Hey Big Lips, you miss Daddy?” he hugged her close and sucked her bottom lip into his mouth. She moaned against him and he gripped her by her ass and walked her towards the table she shared with Amber and Jordan.

“How was your first class?” Jordan asked as Christina took a seat beside her.

“Boring. I have Professor Steward and a load of work already.”

“Mmm you mean boring-ish. What did I tell you?” Keitano stopped kissing Paige long enough to butt in.

“Oh right, I have K.T. to keep me entertained.”

“Yeah he’s good for that,” Paige agreed and swallowed his tongue again.

“Get a room you two!” Amber squealed as Paige’s moans reached porn star heights.

“Get a camera!” Keitano retorted. “Hey yeah so anyway, there’s a party tonight at my place.”

“Your place? You mean the guys aren’t coming over again and you’re inviting us girls to hang out?” Paige’s brow rose in curiosity and he smacked an open palm across her left ass cheek.

“If you know what’s good for you. Nothing fancy just a few friends, a few drinks and good music. It’s ‘another semester’s started’ party and you know what that means.”

“Yeah that I’ll end up drunk, topless and underneath you in the garage again!”

“Mmm you say that like I don’t show you a good time! Are you trying to hurt my feelings Doll?”

“No Daddy I’d never even dream of it.”

“Cool, this might be a chance for you to meet more people too Chrissy; get your feet wet. Which reminds me do you plan to pledge a sorority?” Jordan asked tossing a small pamphlet in her direction. “I’ve been considering it while here but never actually went past the scouting phase.”

“I’m hoping to actually. My mom was a Kappa so I’d like to pledge there but…we’ll see how it goes. Which ones are you interested in?”

“Honestly? Anything but the Kappas! They’re a bunch of egotistical, snooty bitches,” she shrugged. “The type I’d love nothing more than to mop the floor up with their faces.”

“Oh great so you’ll pledge with me then?” Christina laughed at the soured expression on her roommate’s face. “Come on you won’t let me go there and suffer alone right? You can teach me how to mop and we can stick together! It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah sure…I’ll give it a try. But I’m warning you if just one of those bitches looks at me funny I’m going upside her head!” 

The girls headed back to the dorm to get themselves ready to party. Jordan explained everything about Keitano’s place and the way he liked to party so she knew what to expect. He seemed like a pretty comical guy and his parties didn’t sound too outrageous or over the top so she was hoping to have a nice time. It had been a while since she’d had the chance to just have fun so she was looking forward to it. “Damn it gets dark here quick.”

“It’s the mountains,” Jordan replied as she rubbed her hands over her arms warming them against the chill in the air. “The sun just seems to disappear quickly because of them.”

“Ah. Well let’s hurry. One thing I’ve always hated was being outside in a new place.”

“Yeah, you never know what could happen!”

“Reagan Dear, we’re closing up so you’d better get a move on.”

“Thank you Mrs. Cranston I’m almost done!” Reagan continued typing up her dissertation. It was always easiest for her to get a jumpstart to the semester and finish out the last few items on the syllabus beforehand and then only having to worry about meeting exam dates and homework. She loved the advantage it seemed to give her on the overall production of the course. Scanning the last few lines she typed, she backed away from the laptop monitor with a smile. 

Reagan hit the save button and walked the computer towards the front to Bluetooth sync it to one of the online printers and get a hard copy. Waiting patiently she reread the information on the syllabus. The lights dimmed in the Reference section behind her and she turned to watch the librarian close off the section and head to her office. “The door will lock automatically behind you Reagan. Have a great night and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thank you again, goodnight Mrs. Cranston.” Reagan strummed her fingers lightly on the countertop as the last of her pages spit out of the top feeder on the printer. Gathering them together, she clipped the essay at the top with a paper clip, slipped it into her backpack and started for the door. The electronic beeping sounded behind her signaling the automatic lock had clicked into place. 

Reagan bunched her coat around her arms and snuggled deeper into the thick wool fleece. It was a chilly autumn night and she knew she’d better hurry to her dorm before the air nipped harder at her bare legs and froze her to her bones. This season in Emerald Cove was usually very pleasant. Often times it felt as though the freezing temperatures forgot about them some days and it was the best of both warm and cool breezes making it rather easy to plan events. The nights though were typically cooler and for Reagan being one that preferred heat over cold, Emerald Cove was no walk in the park.

She quickly turned the corner towards her dorm and smiled as the lights appeared just a few feet in the distance. “Almost home,” she sighed and blew a warm breath onto her steadily freezing hands. The sound of a large object dropping behind her turned her in the direction and she looked hurriedly behind her. There was no one else on the street that she saw and no other sounds seemed present since she’d began her walk from the library. Shrugging her shoulders with the belief it was just some stray she started again for the security fence that closed off her dorm.

As she neared the gate and reached for her key another bang caught her off guard and she screamed in spite of herself. A large gray cat jumped out from the bushes at the sound of her yell and she laughed at the silliness in scaring herself. “Damn, get a grip Reagan.” Turning the key in the gate she entered the dark hall of the dorm and pressed the button for the lift.

The sound of the old, rusted elevator stirred into action and then grinded to a halt. “Not again!” she moaned and poked her head into the shaft fence. Peering up into the darkness she noticed the lift stuck between floors and frantically pushed the button to get it to go again. Dreading the thought of having to go up six flights of stairs to her room, Reagan smacked the button as hard as she could but still received no reaction from the elevator. “ARGH!” she exhaled and slowly turned to start her ascent.

“GEEZ! You scared the crap out of me,” she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of the visitor. “If you’re here for one of the students you’re gonna have to take the stairs. The damn elevator is busted again. I swear you report these issues to the Dean and he just ignores you! It would be nice if they actually did something that we ask for just once you know?”

She smiled and tried easing the tension she felt in the visitor’s presence. It all seemed rather awkward for her and she tried her best not to appear frightened but the more they stood in silence the more afraid she became. “I’m gonna head up now…uh…catch you around maybe.”

She tried to sidestep the figure in front of her but a cold, clammy hand wrapped around her throat preventing her from screaming or moving forward. As she was walked backwards towards the opened elevator shaft, Reagan clawed and kicked hysterically trying to get away from her attacker but nothing seemed to work. The hand squeezed her throat tighter, collapsing her windpipe and shutting down any chance she had of screaming or calling out for help.

Holding her in the air with one hand, the other wrapped around the steel grate of the shaft door and Reagan was tossed into the opened arch and down beneath the rusted lift. She got to her feet and looked into the cold, red eyes of the monster. It wasn’t human whatever it was and with a wicked smile she watched as the beast raised its claws and swiped the cables holding the elevator in place. Unable to make a sound, Reagan’s eyes opened wide in terror as the large, metal car came crashing down on top of her!

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