Colours of Viridian (rewritten)

r e d - i : b o r e d

h e a r i n g - a e s t h e t i c : fever dream - mxmtoon

v i e w i n g - a e s t h e t i c :

m a k e n n a

^'..'^

M A K E N N A

Kenna was in a crisis: she was b o r e d.

With a soft exhale, she picked at the loose strands of her badly-cut jean shorts—the worn fabric unravelling further. Sitting on a fallen tree stump with her bare feet crossed at the ankle, she ran a hand through her long light brown hair; thinking about everything she wasn't paying to think about. As always, she was covered head to toe in paint splotches and pastel stains; her book-bag lying strategically against her pale thigh as she tossed her failed crumpled drawings into it like a trash can.

Just as she restlessly huffed, an alarm sounded out—breaking her contemplation as she jolted upright from the sudden fright. She looked around with a rosy blush covering her freckled cheeks, her heart hammering in her chest as she snatched her beaten-up phone in the pocket of her bag—turning the alarm off immediately but not before catching the time on the clock and hopping to her feet in a panic. Gathering the scattered objects around her, she shoved them all into the bag as she brushed back her messy hair desperately from her face with no avail. Moving quickly around like a chicken without a head, she grabbed her shoes last; already running across the springy moss in her bare feet.

Re-checking the time on her old wristwatch, she swore, recalling the three separate times she snoozed the alarm. Without looking, she skipped over branches and rocks—as if knowing their very placements off by heart. She ran through the thick forest, her feet remembering each step to take until she reached the dirt road. She could almost see the university as she shielded her hazel-green eyes from the sun, ignoring the sting of pain under her feet.

"Kenna!" A girl with wild lilac-purple hair jumped up and down, waving her hand frantically to get her attention. She was a short little thing, and if not for the hair (and jumping), Kenna would have looked right passed her.

Kenna's lips sprawled into a smile despite her lungs burning, slowing to a jog as she met up with her friend. "Mel." She breathed out, nearly collapsing as she sucked in oxygen desperately.

"You're going to be late." Malory encouraged her as she forced a textbook into her haphazardly opened bag, pushing her towards the university gaits. "Go, go, go! Simon is stalling at the doors!"

Dropping her dirty white shoes and shoving her grass-stained toes into them, she gave her friend a tired smile before hiking up her bag and forcing her legs forward in a heavy jog—her toes hanging onto the fabric for dear life as her shoes' damaged heels squished beneath her feet uncomfortably.

She passed the big black opened gaits, their spikes intimidatingly high above her before she passed through the archway leading to the courtyard—brushing against someone in the narrow passage. The green quad stretched on ahead of her pounding feet; crowds gathering in the middle as some commotion stirred up a restlessness in the usual quiet school. Unfortunately, Kenna didn't have time to gawk as she ignored it with a quick headshake, making a mental note to figure out what it was after the test. She finally reached the correct large double doors as she crashed none-too stealthily into the hallway. Pulling a pen from her back pocket, she bit the cap off, jolting down the two formulas she barely remembered directly onto her skin underneath her watch on the inside of her wrist—all the while jogging silently through to the other end of the building.

She'd forgotten if prewritten formulas were allowed or not. Hiding them with the wrist watch, it was better to be safe than to be sorry.

'Hurry up!' Simon mouthed as soon as he saw her. His warm brown eyes bright as she slowed down and slinked to the wall, holding her ragged breath to avoid being seen or heard by her strict professor.

Her head was spinning.

Her friend, a six-foot tall wiry man, was hunched down, trying to unhook his shoelace from the door as the professor stood with his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose impatiently.

"Sorry, Professor." He spoke, looking up, giving the greying man a troubled look. "It really won't budge..."

With a huff, the aged man shook his head agitatedly before bending down, simultaneously giving Kenna a narrow passage into the lecture hall. She took it without hesitation as she struggled to keep holding her breath, ducking her head down as she scrambled to the inconspicuous seat on the right side in the middle row. The students who noticed made chuckling sounds around her as she blushed underneath their stares, gasping in lung-fulls of oxygen finally.

Pulling the heavy textbook out, she let herself relax finally as she sunk into the plushy seat—her eyes shutting momentarily as she focused on controlling the pressure in her pounding head. Her blood pumped loudly against her eardrums, the sound filling her head as she opened her eyes finally to see Simon taking a seat—his left shoe noticeably missing. She held back a laugh, looking at him gratefully as he stealthily gave her an amused look.

She'd have long since flunked out of university if it weren't for Simon, Malory, and the rest of her friends.

"Good afternoon, I hope you've come prepared for your midterm." The annoyed professor spoke, demanding the attention of the class immediately. "I had hoped to explain more on what to expect, but unfortunately the five minutes for that are up. So, instead, let's just get straight to it." He shot a stern look to Simon who pretended to not see it as Kenna smirked to herself, "Textbooks are allowed but remember you only have 30 minutes to fill out all 100 questions. The formulas we've covered so far aren't in the textbook, so I hope you remembered to make a quick note of them somewhere..."

So she wasn't cheating. Nice.

^'..'^

A - N : Who already loves Kenna and her nonchalant attitude? And Malory is a friend we should all have.

Thank you for reading, and for all of the support ~ ily!