Just Another Face In College Until We Were The Only Ones

The Lingering Invisibility of Our Adult Life

The ocean breezes carried a salty smell from the waves and whooshing sounds from the roaring seas on the starry night. The college students gathered on the shoreline as the bright moonlight glistened over the endless Caribbean sky. It was Sunday night; the professor assigned the students to arrive between 7 pm to 8 pm to clean up the mountain of trash that was piled up on the sandy beach, along with analyzing the effects of erosion that came from littering. Their experimental analysis essay consists of collecting trash and reflecting on what would happen if no one volunteered, and how they would inspire others to care about the coastline. Their analysis wasn't due tonight but had to be written up and uploaded online within four days, with the word count containing a maximum of 1500 words.

Among the students were two classmates who always happened to be in the same class, but they had never truly spoken to one another; their names were Noelle and Rhy. As each semester passed by in a blur, over time she had developed a subtle crush on him, her eyes glancing in the direction of him like a ticking clock, tick..tock..tick...tock, but not in the way that made her bold enough to act on this small, unwavering feeling. He, too, had taken note of her, as each time she walked into class looking confident as ever, seeming ready to ace this semester, looking effortlessly beautiful with her wool-like hair slicked back up into a high puff, only admiring her presence without lingering on the thought.

As everyone swiftly got to work, the students naturally drifted apart; whether in groups of three, two or even by themselves, they all collectively went to cleaning, but before doing so, they had to register their names to prove they attended. The two move along the opposite path of each other like perpendicular lines stretching away from each other; the two are too busy wrapped up in their headspace to notice that with each distance, they are moving further away from their classmates, until a sudden vibration from Noelle's phone activated in her back pocket of her shorts causing her to be startled a bit.

Noelle made a sudden stop in her walk, realizing she had been in Lala land for the past few minutes, her eyes now searching around to see any familiar faces, but she only happened to have spotted one face, which happened to be Rhy. Despite the unexpected situation they were in, she couldn't help but crack a small smile on her face as she walked towards him, tapping his shoulders while saying...

"Rhy... Rhy!" Noelle chanted as she got closer.

He heard his name being called and looked around to see who was calling his name. As he glanced in each direction, searching to see who it was, he only saw Noelle walking towards him with a big green trash bag in her right hand.

"Did we-?" Rhy asked in confusion.

But before he could finish his sentence, Noelle pitched in and said.

"We've walked too far, and now we are in an unfamiliar place away from the rest." Her voice carried a tinge of disbelief.

For a moment, they both stood in silence as the rough waves that were once harsh, are now gently crawling onto the shore. The absence of the lights made the night stretch endlessly. Noelle pulled out her phone hoping to find any type of connection but she was out of luck; the same for him as well.

"Well, this unfortunate turn of events." With a goofy look appearing on his face while saying that.

A burst of laughter escaped her mouth. "Very."

After the moment of laughter came to an end, they realized no one would come looking; college students weren't accounted for the way that high schoolers were, and if they didn't return, people would assume they had left. Their professor wouldn't check-in. Their classmates, with whom they shared a few semesters, wouldn't send a message unless they were close to them. College was different from high school; every man and woman was for themselves.

It was an unsettling thought the real drama wasn't just because they were alone and lost; it was in fact, that no one even cared enough to notice.

" We are just like a background character in everyone else's story, huh?" Noelle sighed.

"Yeah, we are basically like those plastic bottles floating into the ocean, just drifting along creating more problems, even in the professor's story we are background character's." Rhy proclaimed, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Pft" Small chuckles began to escape the corner of Noelle's mouth.

"You know you're a really funny and interesting guy, I wish could hear your voice more often." A warm sensation appeared on Noelle's cheek as she said that.

"Is that so?" He looked at her with amusement in his eyes.

" Anyways how about we walk back to where we came from, but the problem is what entrance we all came from." He scratched his head, looked around and sighed.

"Only thing we can do is keep walking, keeping ourselves entertained along the trail of the shoreline and besides atleast we will be at the area where we all started." She added.

"Alright." He said with his posture more slouched with his left hand in his pocket.

They both came to a mutual agreement. The two walked with sand filling their slippers with each step, as the minutes flew by, the loud silence brought up the weight of being forgotten, had now dawned on them.

"They should have checked on us." Her voice was sharp with frustration. I know we are adults, but could they at least pretend to care?" Noelle said with an annoyed expression and pouted her lips.

He was quiet for a while...

You would think someone would have noticed us by now?" He said with a stern voice and with a tiny bit of sarcasm.

She clenched her jaw, the anger silently making its way to the surface.

"Two years ago, I was legally a minor; I was looked after and made sure I was ok and now, after you reached the magic age of 18, I'm supposed to have a full-fledged adult experience?" She kicked at the sand, her irritation spilling out, but what if I don't know how to figure everything out? What if I messed up? No one even cares enough to check on us. I get it. We are adult's but we have emotions too."

He felt the weight of her words; for the first time, he truly saw her as his classmate, but rather as someone he could relate to. He could not put it into words before, but hearing her say that, he realized they both shared the same feeling. Being 18 didn't mean they had all the answers to them, like some dictionary. It just meant people stopped caring...

"Yeah", he admits, his voice now sounding as soothing as the waves. " It's messed up."

"It's frustrating, ya know," Noelle muttered.

The relief spread between them as they finally reached where they started originally, they both spotted one of the clean empty garbage bag on the ground thinking maybe someone must have accidently dropped it, thankfully it happened to be the exit everyone left from.

"We made it-thank God!" She threw her arms around him, unsure if he would agree to exchange numbers. So in a split-second decision, she made the gesture before they returned to their usual lives.

He was taken aback but let the embrace of the hug linger for a while.

No grand moment, no confessions, just an unexpected journey between the two strangers. Before they parted ways, Rhy asked for her phone number, and the two exchanged numbers before parting ways.

The next day in class, no one took notice of their disappearance, not the professor, not even their classmates. The teacher called attendance, and life just moved on. It was the strange realization of the adult world of college; people could slip away, and no one wouldn't even bat an eye.

Later that evening, they both sat at their desk at home, typing up their analysis. They found themselves deep in thought, focusing on something else besides the essay. Despite being absent in the minds of people, the adventure that the two shared lingered under the starry night and its sandy beach, with a newfound connection blossoming in the wind.

"Not All Romance Blossoms Loud; Some Grows Quietly Beneath The Surface"