Fatal ties

Chapter 1

     Upon arrival, the sound of students chatter and laughter rang throughout the campus grounds. Most were having light conversations; What they did over the weekend, telling bad jokes or gossiping to one another about what that one boy did at the party the other day.
    While planted in the middle of the cemented walkway that ran through the campus, to the left of me on a patch of grass stood a group of women underneath a tree placed in the center of the patch. They all stood close, whispering about something. Most of them were tense, which indecated that whatever was being said wasn't pleasant.
    Looking to my right was another patch of grass where the statue of the DRU mascot, A mockingbird, Stood tall. A young man sat at the base, watching a group of  jocks toss around a football, one of them almost knocking over another young woman.
    As it being my first day as a professer at DRU, I took in everything that I could. Being a professer at the age of 26 was rare, but not impossible. I was much smarter than most, Graduated High school at 14, and college at  age 25. I was approached by the superintendent of Dalton Ride in the summer, asking if I would like to teach the upcoming spring. Having nothing better to do, I accepted the proposition and now here I am.
   I walked to my class. There were rows upon rows reaching all the way back into the auditorim, a whiteboard which covered much of the cement walls at the bottom with a podium in front, just off to the right of the board. There was a wooden desk to the left of the whiteboard with a microphone earpiece so the students in the back would be able to hear me.
   Walking down the rows to the front podium, I walked to the desk and removed the cross body black leather book bag and placed it onto the table, noticing all the little scratches engraved into the wood. I removed my laptop from the bookbag and opened it, finding my introduction to the class. I walked over to the whiteboard and grabbed the black expo marker and wrote down "Intro to everything" in big letters Then I waited.

                                                                                          ~

  As students started piling into the auditorium, I set up my mic and connected it to the speakers, testing the volume. Once the last of the students sat in their seats, spread out across the rows, I approached the white board. As the chatter of the students died down, I wrote something down. While clicking the cap back onto the marker, I turned around to look out at my students.
    "Dum Spiro, spero" I said, my voice playing loudly in the speakers. The students looked at me, puzzled. I smiled before placing the marker on the podium.
     "Can anyone tell me what that means?" I questioned, silence filling the room.
     " 'While I breathe, I hope' " I said.
     "Its latin. Think of it like this; While you are alive and breathing, there is hope. What that hope is, that depends on you. My name is Dr. Hotch. Welcome to behavior and history of the human race"
      A young lady, no older than 19, raised her hand. I nodded to her, suggestion she say whats on her mind.
      "On the board it says 'Intro to everything', Aren't we studying human behavior?" she asked, her black hair long on her olive toned skin. I smiled, studying her face. she was of asian decent, either japenese or koren.
       "Well, yes, we are. But there is a lot more to it than you'd expect. We are not only analyzing their behavior, but predicting the person themselves"
      "Well if thats the case, whats my story?" A voice shouted in the back. Peering to the back, I saw one of the guys throwing around a football earlier. I looked down at the ground, thinking.
      "what's your name, kid?" I asked, my gaze no peeling from the floor.
      "Adam Nicolau" He said, a slight hint of intrest to his tone. I looked at im, studying him for a moment. He sat low in his seat, his arms crossed against his chest. His grey short sleeve shirt tight against his body. I swallowed.
      "You have an aquiline nose, indicating that you are of roman descent, your last name confirming that to be a fact. I'm guessing its your father, maybe your mother too but less likely. You sit low in your seat, trying to appear smaller, sitting in the back of the room as to not impose and make yourself, again, smaller. But while wearing a shirt that is a size too small. You pull up the sleeves of your t-shirt around, making your arms appear bigger and fill out the shirt fully. You're confused about who you are as a person. You probably suffered from some form of child abuse, more than likely mental and emotional, making you feel small and weak-" I say, not looking away from Adam. His body shifted. "I can tell I'm right because you started to fidget with the hem of your shirt. Any other questions?" He shook his head.
     "When you study the behavior of another human being, there are many factors people don't take into consideration. You have to study why the behavior is occuring"
      "Like the B.A.U?" The girl in the front row asked. I looked at her and smiled.
      "Kind of, yea. Though they work within the world of crime, murders specifically" I responded, pushing my clear glasses up higher on the bridge of my nose. "Its fascinating, really, what they do. I just help people get to that point" The girl in the front row nodded, smiling back.

                                                                                          ~

An hour passed and I looked at the silver watch placed upon my left wrist. Looking back at my students, most on the edge of their seats, I sighed.
    " 'For what it is to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And when the earth shall claim your limbs, than you shall truly dance'... Kahlil Gibran. Death is inevitable, life is unpredictable. At the end of the day, death is not to be feared as it is..." I paused. "I expect those essays at the start of thursdays class. You are dissmissed"