Safety Net {l.r.h}

1) Clifford

ELLIE ABNER

I sat in my dorm room dreading the first day of class. My college had been nearly 6 hours away from home, and I almost regret my decision. There weren't any prestigious schools to attend that had a decent psychology program that were close to home, so I decided with one a state away. Seattle University had its ups and downs. I hadn't truly met anyone that I would continue a friendship with, and I was perfectly okay with that. Once I graduated high school, I went ghost. Deleted everyone from my hometown off social media, and never said a word after that.

My phone went off from the desk causing me to sigh. Getting up from my seated position in front of the mirror hanging on the wall, I trudged over to the device and picked it up. The time of seven fifty lit up at the top of the screen and a sick feeling made its way to my stomach. Quickly gathering my belongings and my book bag, I pulled the straps over my shoulders and headed out the door.

The walk across campus was dreaded and long. Especially being in the freshmen dorms which were placed farther away from everything. As always, freshmen get the short end of the stick. It sucked but was very expected. My feet padded against the cement of the sidewalk as my eyes stayed glued to the torn-up converse, I decided haven't been worn out enough. The walk was nearly ten minutes long, and I'm thankful to have finally arrived at my first class.

Psych 111 was known to be an easy class. At least to those where the subject came naturally to them, me being one of those people. It went over the basic information: types of therapies, mental illnesses, disorders, and the different forms of psychology there are. As far as my schedule goes, I'm taking a psychology class every semester.

My hand reached out for the door and swung it open to be met with an empty classroom. The only person in the room was the professor and me. Once he had noticed me, a smile appeared on his face. I silently cursed myself for leaving as early as I did. There was still a good seven minutes until the class started, and I suppose that no one else wanted to show up early on their first day.

"Good morning!" The professor exclaimed while waving me down. "Come on, don't be shy."

I hesitantly crept down the steps of the large classroom and stopped right before his desk. I took his hand in mine that was gesturing for a friendly greeting. "I'm Ellie." I said, not taking my eyes off of his hand that stayed connected to mine as they shook.

"I'm Joe Wilson, but you can call me Mr. Wilson." I nodded without another word. He finally dropped my hand which then fell to my side. Within a few seconds, I was near the back of the classroom where I felt as though I could hide away from the rest of the students and keep to myself.

Once they were all gathered in the classroom, nearly all of the seats were filled. All except for the few surrounding me. Mr. Wilson then began to take role of everyone that attended. "Abner." I raised my hand quickly as his eyes shot up from the clipboard to meet with mine. Other students turned their heads towards me only to take in my appearance to put a face to the name before turning back around. "Clifford." Another hand was raised. The boy seemed to be a little older than me, probably only a sophomore. He was an approachable person considering the chatter that came about once his name was brought to life. He wore chains around his black jeans, had light blonde hair, and a scene look to him all together. After a few more names I didn't seem to pay attention to, one caught my attention due to the student coming in through the door just as his name was called. "Hemmings."

A tall blonde rudely stumbled into class causing a loud bang from the door thumping against the wall. "Sorry, I was caught up in something."

"Mr. Hemmings, what a pleasant first greeting." Mr. Wilson tutted as his eyebrows raised with annoyance. While pointing the tip of his pencil in the far left of the room, he instructed him, "how about you take a seat next to Miss Abner. Maybe she could teach you a thing or two about manners."

Great.

Hemmings, as he was called, came and scooted the chair away from the desk before plopping himself down into it. The intoxicating smell of his cologne filled my senses as my eyes looked over his appearance. He wore light ripped skinny jeans that hung loosely on his hips as well as a plain black t-shirt. His hair was messy, as if he just woke up and a black lip ring decorated his bottom lip perfectly.

I noticed that he didn't seem all the bit interested in who he was sitting next to, and I was perfectly okay with that. Instead of dwelling on the anxiety of talking to the outspoken boy, I turned away from him and began scribbling down quick notes of what the professor was saying to expect from the semester of this class.

-

I had gotten through my only two classes for the day and finally made my way across campus over to the small diner that seemed to be the only place not packed with students. I watched as a small group of rowdy frat boys entered right after I did which caused me to hurry up with my order. The diner was small and old fashioned. The floor was checkered with black and white squares while the booths were bright red, almost as if it came right out of an 80's film. Once I received my piping hot chocolate along with a basket of fries, I turned around just to encounter a hard body. The hot liquid of my drink drenched the front of my shirt. I winced at the temperature that met my skin.

"Shit, I'm sorry." A male's voice said as he grabbed several napkins from the dispenser on the counter. He awkwardly began patting down the soaked t-shirt with the handful of napkins as I stared down at the familiar scene male from earlier.

"Clifford?" I questioned causing his head to jerk up.

"Michael, actually."

I nodded; my lips pursed as I waited for him to stop assaulting me with his napkins. "So, is this how you greet everyone or...?"

Immediately, after the words left my mouth, he stopped his movements. "No, I just wanted to help."

"By rubbing in the hot chocolate?" Michael popped a finger in his mouth and licked off some of the liquid before humming in response.

"So that's what it was. Thank god because I hate coffee."

I rolled my eyes at the blonde before hearing a loud cackle from across the diner. Glancing around, I finally came eye to eye with the culprit. His blue eyes bored into mine as I stared at him. A smirk was splayed across his face which was the reason I ended up turning away from the blue-eyed boy.

"Let's get out of here." I said to Michael before walking out the door.

"Hey, wait, don't you want a new drink?" He asked, finally catching up to me. His hand grabbed my forearm, pausing any further movement of my body. I looked between his face and his hand until he removed it. "Sorry."

"I'll just heat up some ramen, or something in my dorm."

"Speaking of, are you going to the game Friday?"

My mind blanked for a second as I began walking again to get back to my dorm. "They're already- wait, what's that have to do with ramen?"

Michael shook his head, "just answer the question."

"I mean, I wasn't planning on it but- "

"Okay, so now you are planning on it."