Take Me Back

Chapter 1

°~°
Then

"Dammit dammit dammit..." I mutter as I speed walk into the psych building, side burning from the unexpected extra exertion. I head down the corridor and groan when I see the door to the lecture hall closed, reminding me that yes, I am indeed late.

I stop for a moment in front of the door and run my hands through my hair in a half assed attempt to tame it. Or maybe to stall. Nah, to tame it. "Jesus christ I need pizza" I mutter out, taking a deep breath to try to stop sounding like a beached whale.

I grasp the cold door handle in my clammy hand and push the door open, grimacing when the professor stops talking mid sentence and the whole class turns to stare at me. Great.

"Ah Ms. Cabello, nice of you to grace us with your presence" Dr. Muller's dry and sarcastic voice rings out. "I do not appreciate being interrupted, so I highly recommend you quickly take a seat and refrain from interrupting me again."

I flash him an embarrassed smile and mutter a quick apology before scanning the seemingly full lecture hall for an empty desk. I swallow nervously when I see none, but then almost squeal in joy when I spot an empty one with a bag placed on in. I glance up at the girl sitting next to it and almost gasp at her stunning side profile.

Shit. This girl is beyond beautiful. She's dressed in ripped grey skinny jeans and a black bomber jacket, beanie sexily placed on top of her brown locks. I scan my eyes up and down her before I shake my head at myself and quickly make my way towards her. Weaving my way through the rows, almost tripping twice, I finally arrive at the free- but not free- desk and quietly clear my throat to get her attention.

Her eyes snap up to meet mine and I almost ask if she's wearing contacts or something because god they're so green.

Her thick eyebrows rise up for a moment before she levels me with the downright scariest glare I've seen in my twenty years of life. My first instinct is to take a step back, but then I decide that, no, she's beautiful and that beauty is pretty intimidating. But I'm not afraid of her. So I instead flash her a big smile before speaking.

"Hi. I was wondering if you would mind moving your bag so I could sit here? Please." I say as friendly as I can, while still maintaining a hushed tone.

Green eyes widen in disbelief, probably taken aback that I'm still standing in front of her and not halfway to mexico. She quickly composes herself though and with a roll of her downright impossible eyes, she snatches her bag off of the table next to her and places it on the floor by her feet, grumpily I might add.

Hm. Combat boots. Scary.

I smile triumphantly, and mutter out a quick thanks, before taking my seat. I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear, and reach down to pull out my notebook and pen, tuning in to what professor sarcasm is saying.

"To elaborate, determining what drives people to terrorism is no easy task, despite contrary belief. One does not simply wake up one day and decide they're going to kill seemingly innocent people," Dr. Muller say's, arms crossed over his chest as he leans against his desk. "For one thing, terrorists aren't likely to volunteer as experimental subjects, and examining their activities from afar can lead to erroneous conclusions. What's more, one group's terrorist is another group's freedom fighter, as the millions of Arabs who support Palestinian suicide bombers will attest."

He gets up and walks around his desk, grabbing a marker and writing two words in the sloppy writing that only teachers and doctors can achieve.

Terrorists, pathological?

My eyebrows raise, interest piqued. He caps his marker and proceeds to walk around the room as he continues.

"For years, psychologists have examined terrorists' individual characteristics, mining for clues that could explain their willingness to engage in violence. Researchers now agree that most terrorists are not "pathological" in any traditional sense. The conclusion that was drawn was that people who are more open to terrorist recruitment and radicalization tend to feel angry, alienated or disenfranchised. Or they believe that their current political involvement does not give them the power to effect real change and they feel the need to take action rather than just talking about the problem."