The Space Between Us

Chapter 10 ~ Classmates

I got home and spent the evening working on projects for my classes. I snacked on an old bagel from the bakery and kept the windows open so that a cool summer breeze rushed in every once in a while. The apartment was quiet when I was alone. Did I like it so quiet?

I was still working at the small kitchen table at around 8 p.m. when the front door opened. Despite my thoughts telling me not to look, I turned and saw River walking through the doorway. He hauled a huge athletic duffel bag, his backpack, and a drawstring bag along with him. His hair was messy and falling in front of his face so that I couldn't see his eyes. Thankfully, he had earbuds in, so I could ignore him safely.

Although, I couldn't help but watch as he carried all of his things into his room, his feet dragging slightly. He threw everything onto his floor and then shut his door.

And that was the last I saw of him until midnight.

I had finally finished my work and was putting my things into my backpack when River stepped out of his room. Our eyes met for a millisecond before he disappeared into the bathroom. I heard the door lock.

"Hey, wait!" I shouted, standing. "I was about to use the bathroom!"

He definitely heard me, but the shower started.

I walked over and knocked on the door. "I know you heard me. It'll only take a second."

The shower continued, and I sighed. This was a battle that I was willing to lose for tonight, I supposed. I had to pick my fights carefully after all, and it wasn't like he would take too long to shower.

I was wrong.

I sat on the couch and absent-mindedly scrolled through Pinterest for drawing ideas, killing time until River got out of the bathroom. I only had to get ready for bed, was it that hard to let me go first?

My eyes were getting heavy. They felt strain from all of the screen time that I'd had today, from classes to homework. I blinked slowly and tried to rub the sleepiness out.

The next thing I knew, I was being shaken. I jumped slightly and found myself staring at River's face as he stood above me. His hair was still slightly wet, and darker, and straighter.

"W-what?" I asked, sitting up after being slumped on the couch, my cheeks slightly flushing.

"I'm done," River said simply. Then he turned, walked into his bedroom, and slammed the door shut.

I rubbed my eyes under my glasses and looked at the time: 1 a.m. It took him an hour? Who took an hour to shower?!

In twenty minutes I was in bed, curled up and staring at the ceiling. True, it was nice of him to wake me up, but he was rude for hogging it for so long. Maybe he felt guilty?

Ha, no. This was River we were talking about. Next time, I should use the bathroom when I had the chance.

I turned over and fell asleep.

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I rushed out of the apartment that morning, my hair flying around wildly since I hadn't had time to put it into its usual ponytail, my glasses slipping as I half-tripped down the stairs.

Curse River for making me stay up so late! I slept past my alarm and couldn't even go for a run this morning. My whole day was messed up.

I had a busy day. With four classes and work, I came home exhausted at 7:30 p.m. I still had to eat dinner and work on some homework, too.

I didn't see River a single time all day or night. I was in my room when I heard the front door open and close at around 10 p.m. River didn't waste any time and made his way straight to his room, shutting the door harshly.

I wished all days were like today when we didn't see each other at all.

Hopefully, Friday would pass without a problem.

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Friday morning was perfect. River was gone early, and I woke up in time to run. I ran for a few miles longer than usual. When my mind was engaged in running, worries seemed nothing more than distant irritations that I could deal with later.

And later that morning, I got an email from one of my professors saying she loved my project idea, which boosted my confidence. But any self-assurance I had disappeared when I remembered that I had a new class to start. On a Friday.

At least, it was my only class of the day.

Mrs. Yale had given me the class's information the day before, so I knew where to go. I walked into the art classroom and saw one of my favorite professors, Professor Kindler, standing at the front.

"Holly!" the young Professor Kindler greeted with a smile. She was always so bright. "I was surprised to hear from Mrs. Yale about you needing to join this class."

"I was too," I said in a joking tone, and Professor Kindler laughed cheerily.

"I'll try not to make it too boring for you, although I'll probably pair you with someone who isn't too good at art for our first project, so maybe you can help them."

I gave a half-smile. "Sounds good."

I took a seat in the back corner. Pushing my glasses up and resting my chin on my hand, I stared out the window to my left as the other students slowly filed in. I listened to them talk about boring things such as what homework they had or what they wanted to eat. The bell rang, and I finally faced the front again, when something caught my eye:

An awfully familiar wavy head of hair...

"No," I groaned softly.

Why was River Alves in an art class? Did he have nothing else to take? He was probably like Alice, taking an art class to get an easy three credits.

I huffed and folded my arms. Just ignore him, I thought. Maybe he didn't know that I was in here yet.

During class, I couldn't stop glancing up at his head every once in a while. Speaking of class, I had forgotten how childish freshmen were. They kept talking or not paying attention. Over half of the students were not even art majors, I guessed.

Most of the class time was dedicated to Professor Kindler showing us how to use the Adobe programs for our digital artworks. Later, we'd make a marketing ad for a company with these programs, but I already knew how to use them all. I spent four hours last night on Illustrator alone.

When Professor Kindler gave us time to brainstorm in groups about the upcoming homework, I didn't have anyone beside me, so I doodled on my tablet. The homework assignment was easy, anyway: sketches on a tablet for a made-up character that we were going to create and draw.

I glanced up towards River again. He was talking with three girls who had come over to his desk and were sitting really close to him. I wrinkled my nose as they very obviously giggled and flipped their hair around to get him to notice them.

If only they knew how much of a jerk he was; maybe then they wouldn't like him.