Chapter1- Predators

Predators
1.Charlie
    I look down at my phone and it reads 8:00 a.m. The room is dark and empty and I have managed to show up half an hour early. For some reason I thought I was suppose to get here at 8:00 a.m. but I realize now that it was actually 8:30 a.m. I am debating whether or not to sit in the empty classroom but I decide to sit in the hallway so no one thinks I am one of those freaks that shows up to morning class half an hour early. Maybe if it was later in the day I could say I came from another class but it is far too early in the day for that excuse to be believable.
    A timid looking girl with no fashion sense comes in about ten minutes later. I see her look at me for some insight about whether I am also in the same class but I bury my face into my phone and avoid eye contact. She walks inside but isn’t brave enough to turn the light on and takes a seat in the back of the class.
    I wait until three more people walk in to get up and take a seat in the middle of the classroom. I put my backpack on the seat to my right. I’ll move it if anyone asks but it will act as some assurance in case someone ugly decides to sit next to me. People tend to sit in the same seats all semester and I don’t want to have to steal someone’s seat if some creep decides I’m cute. I’m not too worried. The other times it happened I just made them uncomfortable until they left. People usually sit next to those who share similarity anyway.
    The class is pretty much full and I take a quick survey of the room. Only girls sit next to me because all the guys are usually too scared to sit with a group of girls. I am easily the prettiest girl in the class. A girl with horrendous purple lipstick that makes her look like a clown prostitute is sitting to my left. She smells like bubblegum and I then determine that her mental capacity has not developed past twelve and her room is probably princess themed with pictures of guys from boybands. As long as she doesn’t try to be friends with me, I won’t give her backhanded compliments. At first glance there are three guys that are above average sitting on the other side of the room. They are all sitting next to each other. I am guessing they know one another but only two of them are talking. I listen in and it is about their fantasy football teams so I tune out entirely. They all have brown hair with slightly different variations of the same haircut. The one in the middle has nice eyebrows but when he opens up his mouth, I notice he has crooked teeth so I rank him last for the time being. His friend to my right has better teeth but they look a little yellow. It isn’t a problem though. Whitening doesn’t cost much these days and I just had mine done last spring. A fixable issue. His lips are slightly pouty and his stubble looks like it could grow a nice beard. I would make him shave it off anyway. The guy all the way to my left isn’t talking to the other two boys. He slouches in his chair which causes his long legs to protrude from underneath the table. He looks much taller than the other two guys. Definitely well above six foot. His jawline is sharp and I can see the muscles from it popping in the lower corner of his jaw. I wonder what his name is. I hope it is also Charlie.
    The teacher walks in just as I get a text from my friend and roommate, Rebecca. She is asking if I am meeting her for lunch after class. I’m not sure so I put my phone down and decide to let her know later.  The teacher shuffles her papers. Her hair looks unwashed and I am guessing by her droopy face and glassy eyes that she will have a monotone voice that will act as a lullaby so I can catch up on some sleep during this class. I only took this class because it fit into my schedule and I wake up early anyway. Sociology seemed like an easy A and it felt like I wouldn’t have to study that much. Hopefully the notes are detailed enough so I can go on my laptop. Miss Saulzer, who unsurprisingly isn’t married, starts calling out names on the attendance sheet. My name won’t be called for a while so I look around the room to see who has what name. She calls out a name and no one responds. I glance to my right to see that it is the only chair left in the class. I’m pretty sure it was a girl’s name so I believe I’m in the clear. I will enjoy the extra elbow room and pray that the girl is a size four. The tall boy answers to the name Michael and says that he would rather be called “Mike.” I’m disappointed and the fantasy of our family of Charlie’s fades into the abyss in the back of my mind. At least his name isn’t Anthony like my last boyfriend. I notice the rollcall has come to the “R” section and my last name will be called soon. The door swings open and the entire class stops and turns their attention to the late class member.
    As I stare, I stop breathing. My eyes glue onto the girl as she walks my direction while apologizing to the teacher. She places her hand on the chair next to me and pulls it out before asking, “Do you mind if I sit here?” I pause for two seconds too long before forcing out what I think was “Yeah”, which could be taken either way. I swallow to relieve the dry thorns in the back of my throat. I should have brought water. Miss Saulzer asks, “Olivia Clarkman?” “Yes, sorry I couldn’t find the classroom.” I have trouble believing her excuse because this class is on the first floor and unless she got the building wrong, then she is full of shit. I bet she was still getting ready. Her voice sounds pleasant. It was feminine but still had a little rasp that made her sound sexy. It made my voice sound like a fourteen year old boy in comparison. Her clothes looked designer and most likely more expensive than mine. They fit her perfectly. I have a sneaking suspicion that she has to work out but I have never seen her at the gym. She might go at a different time. Her boobs look at least two sizes bigger than mine. I wouldn’t mention it but they are popping out of her white shirt and all the guys have been sneaking glances at her as soon as she walked in the room. I can feel the shrapnel of their stares as each one takes their turn pretending to stretch their necks.
    I have stopped paying attention to the room around me and have instead decide to join in and look at Olivia in the corner of my peripheral vision. She hasn’t so much as moved besides folding her right leg over the other. She hasn’t even looked my way since she sat down and I am terrified that my voice will crack if she asks me a question. I might just nod.
    It has only been five minutes since class officially started and Olivia keeps running her hands through her hair distracting me from paying attention. Miss Saulzer prompts a question to the class and the obvious answer is “Sigmund Freud” but I reserve raising my hand just in case I might be wrong. The question sits in the air for a couple of seconds before some weird kid dressed in clothes that don’t match and don’t even look like they have been washed recently answers, ‘Bernays.” I judge why he would answer this with such confidence since it is wrong but I internally revel in anticipation. “No it’s actually Freud.” I have to stop myself from smirking but I casually roll my eyes as he slouches back into his seat.
    Olivia’s hair manages to be in a side braid in the time that I managed to block her from my mind and I can see her pale neck exposed revealing a small mole near her collar bone. I need to stop staring so I position my head in a different direction so I don’t have to see her in my view. My stomach starts grumbling. I’m regretting not grabbing a bagel before coming here. I am practically starving. I text Rebecca that I’ll be able to meet her for lunch. She owes me from earlier this weekend for paying for her drinks. She has more money than I do and I know her dad gives her a personal credit card that gets thousands put on it every month.
    My mouth is still dry and I can’t stop swallowing because of it. Olivia needs to stop fidgeting and sit still. I start having a mild panic but I manage to keep my composure and focus on keeping a calm and confident posture so hopefully no one can tell. I am getting a little light headed and I start to feel the need to pee even though I just went an hour ago and haven’t drank anything since this morning. I get up and excuse myself to the bathroom.
In the hallway I take a breath of fresh air. I remember the bathroom being near the back corner on the first floor so I head in that direction. The woman’s bathroom is empty and I pick the big stall meant for handicapped people but I think that my chances of running into one is pretty unlikely this early in the morning so I go in. I lock the door behind me. The toilet has a used tampon on the bowl that has dried and turned brown accompanied by wet bits of toilet paper still stuck to the seat. I turn away so I don’t gag and force myself into a dry heaving fit. I enter the next stall and this one is clean enough despite someone not flushing. I sit down and go on my phone to look at my friend’s Snap Story from last night. Katie, my sorority big, has this ugly photo with her boyfriend in which they are both obviously drunk. I think his name is Shawn or something. Katie’s makeup is running probably from profuse sweating because I know it didn’t rain yesterday and her lipstick has come off giving her butthole lip. I finish and thankfully there is a lot of toilet paper.
    I look in the mirror while washing my hands and can see that I still have crusty eyes from sleeping and I remove it so no one else will notice. I go to the long mirror and turn around looking at my butt at different angles. Thank god I stuck with my workout last year. Exiting the bathroom I see a cute boy walking towards my direction and hope that he looks my way. He does but I ignore him when he turns and doesn’t look as cute as I thought he did.
    I retake my seat and feel much better than before. I don’t know why I even cared about the stupid bitch in the first place. Miss Saulzer is now discussing course assignments for the rest of the semester but I have the whole packet in front of me so I don’t bother paying attention. I secretly pull out my phone and scroll through Twitter.
I pick up that class is about to end through other people starting to put their folders into backpacks. I don’t even bother and stuff the packet into my backpack. I get up and leave the room without looking back at Olivia and make sure she gets a good look of my ass from behind.