Butterfly Keeper // h.s. au

Chapter Six

*Two Weeks Later*

    "You got my coffee?" Courtney asks as she jogs up next to me. The sun is actually out today and it almost melts the centers of Courtney's toffee colored eyes.

    "Yep, I always do," I hand her the steaming cup of coffee and she gives me a gracious smile.

    "Wait, you made sure this was soy right?" She sniffs the coffee skeptically as we head towards our next classes.

    "Of course!" I scoff. She gives me crap about her stupid iced caramel macchiato with soy every single day! That woman is very picky about her coffee. She takes a cautious drink of the hot liquid and a satisfied smile appears on her lips as she swallows.

    "Yep, that's soy."

    "Told you..." I grumble under my breath. She laughs and elbows me in the side.

    "It's the workers I'm worried about screwing up my drink, not you." She explains with a lightness in her tone. I roll my eyes.

    The buildings to our mid morning classes are right next to each other so it's become a tradition for us to get coffee and walk to those classes together. As we reach our classes we hug and go our separate ways all while promising to text each other.

I enter the classroom with a certain confidence in my step. I'm getting used to things here. The daily routine and my new found schedule. I guess Jessica was right when she said things turn 'super chill' after the first week.

I take a seat in my usual spot next to Courtney's boyfriend, Zayn. She likes that I share a class with him because she says that I can 'keep an eye on him', even as I know she's not really serious. He smiles up at me with caramel eyes that are just barely lighter than Courtney's. They fit each other perfectly in appearance, both of them having an exotic look. And they match even better personality wise being that they both love indie rock and he adds just the right amount of spark to her flame. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous of the two.

    "Hey Charlotte." He greets me with one of his warm, lazy, smiles.

    "Hi Zayn." I pull my books from my bag and set them on the table in a neat pile.

    He goes to say something more but is interrupted by the loud echo of a man at the professor's desk clearing his throat. He stands in front of the desk with his palms lain flat on it's surface behind him, his posture urbane yet bold. The room goes silent but no one makes an attempt to scramble back to their seats. I hear a girl at the table next to me whisper to her friend, "Where's Mrs. Lincoln?"

    "Hello everyone," His rich accented voice settles through the room. "Mrs. Lincoln, as you probably know already, is expecting a baby. She went into labor early and had the baby last night. She's taken a few months off to recover and take care of her new baby so until then I am your new professor. You can call me Mr. Payne."

    The room is silent excluding the sound of students now making an effort to find their seats. The same girl as before says to her friend in a not so quiet whisper, "He's so hot!" But as ridiculous as that sounds he is very handsome. He has a light spreading of facial hair traveling from his jaw to around his mouth and his biceps strain against the fabric of his dress shirt. In fact, he looks way too young to be a college professor, even if he's only a substitute. It's like he's straight from one of those super tacky teacher-student romance novels. I turn and look at Zayn but he only shrugs in response.

    "Let's get started then," He begins writing on the chalkboard in neat letters, Business Writing.

The class goes smoothly from there, everyone seems to be settling in nicely with Mr. Payne. He makes subtle jokes every now and again without actually trying too hard and the class responds with light choruses of laughter. I even raise my hand to answer a question in which he seems pleased about and gives me a nod of approval.