Love, Lies and Mystery

Chapter 2: First Day

Alex POV

I open my eyes and feel the sunlight entering my black bedroom through the translucent curtains. Usually those who prefer black colour on their room walls generally avoid the bright stuff. I just enjoy the feeling of the morning sun on my skin. It feels amazing. I picked my phone to look at the time, 6:00 am. I have to reach the university by 7 am. I have plenty of time left cause the university is just 20 minutes away by car. I get up from my comfy bed and get ready for my first day.

I chose my blue jeans and a white t-shirt from my wardrobe. To be honest, I don't really care about my looks .

I got a text on my phone.

Manager: Good morning sir. Since your dad is out of town we would require you to sign some papers regarding the displacement of stocks.

Me: ok. I'll come after school.

I keep my phone back in my pocket and pick my car keys. I hate doing business related stuff. My dad and I barely talk since he is always out of town. I don't blame him, if he doesn't work then I wouldn't be able to drive to school. I would have to take the bus like other students. But if he had spent time with me then I guess I would have a much better equation with him. I parked my car in front of Daniel's house so that we could go to university together. I pulled out my phone and texted him.

Me: yo! I'm down. Come ASAP.
Daniel: wait. What? You're down??
Me: I thought I could give you a lift.

Daniel didn't reply but I could see him opening the main gate and coming towards my car. "Thanks a lot bro" he says as he sits on the front seat next to me. "I accept only cash. '' I reply sarcastically. "Are you going to the fresher's party?". "No way, I'm not a newbie,to go to that party. '' I reply. "But it's for students belonging to the first semester. You are one of them Alex '' Daniel replies. "I don't really care and we had our freshers party last year " I responded. "OKay fine your choice but there would be a lot of girls", Daniel replies almost giving up but I don't respond to him cause I'm really not interested. As we were about to reach the university, I parked my car. We both get out of the car, nod each other "bye" and walk on our different paths to our respective classrooms.

Sophie POV

I wake up wondering what time it is. I picked up my phone to check the time-- 6:30 AM Fuckkk I'm late for my first day at university. How can I be so stupid? Why didn't the alarm ring? I remember setting 3 alarms to wake me up but I didn't have enough time to think about this now so I quickly rushed towards my closet and grabbed a pair of dark blue short skirt with a blue crop top.

I rush pass mom and dad saying " I'm late sorry I have to go now". I don't wait for their response and quickly get into my dad's car and start driving. Thank God his car isn't taken away by the money lenders because we are almost bankrupt as my dad's new business failed again. I put those thoughts away and focused on driving. As soon as we reached the university, I parked my car ASAP and rushed into the building. I was literally running inside the corridor and I bumped into someone and the books in my hand fell off. I looked up to see who it was. A red haired girl who looked extremely pissed off. "I'm sorry, I was in a hurry", i apologised not wanting to create a fuss. The girl looked at me and asked "are you a fresher?" I answered "yes" then she invited me to come over to the corner class after my classes ended along with my friends. I was confused but before I could ask her anything she left.

I looked down to pick up my books but then I realised that I can't do it because my skirt is too short and I can't bend down. I tried looking around to see any student who could help me out but all were either staring at me or minding their own businesses. I didn't know how to ask for help but then someone came from the back and started picking my books, I couldn't see his face but then he turned back to hand me the books and that's when I saw him. It was the same guy from the coffee shop, the colour of his face faded away when he realised who I was. I took the books from his hands and responded " thanks for helping me and sorry about yesterday", he just nodded. I didn't want to end the conversation right there, so I asked "what's your name ?" initiating a conversation. " My name is Alex" , i continued the conversation by asking "are you a sophomore?", he replied " no". Damn this guy is pretty dry." what about you?" it felt as if he had to push those words out of his mouth, I replied "I'm a fresher". I thought that the conversation ended there but he asked me "did Lucy meet you ?", I replied " I don't know who Lucy is", Alex responded saying "Lucy has red hair, she's pretty tall but still wears heels and roams around with two girls? Did they meet you?". I didn't get why he would want to know that so I lied "No, why?" but before he could reply, he received a call. I could see his expressions turn intense seeing the call.

He looked up at me and said '' I need to go now. I'll see you later.' I didn't really have a choice so I said him bye too and started looking at my phone only to realise that my classes would start after an hour. I feel so stupid now because I left my house in such a hurry only to wait an hour. I hate being clumsy. Now I have to spend my time in the cafeteria, its not that bad I guess. hopefully. The cafeteria is pretty chill and I kinda like the vibe too. Thank god I bought my laptop with me or else I would have died of boredom. I open my laptop and start searching for a part time job to pay my bills and support my parents. They are almost bankrupt and I want to help them so badly but there's not much a 17 year old teen can do. After spending almost 20 minutes, I finally found the best part time job. I could be a helping hand at Sarah's cafe. A lot of people visit it so she would be able to pay me well. So, I opened their website and tossed my resume in. Let's see how good this goes after the ruckus I caused yesterday.

Alex POV

I just hate it when I have a lot of free time and nothing productive to do. I guess I'll just spend my time at the cafeteria. I walk towards the counter and order a cup of coffee. Damn Sofia is here too. should I go and warn her about Lucy because she is a bully and would definitely bully girls like her who look naturally pretty without doing makeup. I'm not sure whether she would want to talk to me after that incident but she did talk to me politely in the corridor but that might just be a sweet gesture, I put my thoughts aside and sit on the table a little far from her and place my laptop on top of the table and open a writer's app. This is the right time to think about my novel , sitting alone peacefully, taking a sip of coffee. I opened a writer's app and now I can start writing.

after 15 minutes

Why is writing a novel so hard?
I can barely think of any genre to start with. I've already had 2 cups of coffee and endless thoughts. My eyes move away from the screen as I see Sofia coming towards me.

What am I supposed to do now? Should I wave her 'hi'? I'll just look back into my laptop screen and pretend that I didn't see her. That's much better.

I look back down at my laptop screen and she stops walking right in front of my table and asks "mind if I take a seat? I kinda needed help". I couldn't refuse so I replied "ya sure. How can I help you?'. I'm pretty confused about what kind of help she would want from me. We barely know each other. She looks up with those hazel brown eyes and says " I'm actually looking for a part time job and I decided to get a job at Sarah's café" . "That's nice, did you try emailing them at their official email id? ". Sofia looks at her phone and says " I did but think the email id doesn't work because it is almost 10 years old" . "I'm not sure whether it works or not but I have Sarah's card. Even though it's unusual for cafes to have business cards, Sarah has one." As I finished speaking I grabbed my wallet and handed her the card. She looked pleased seeing the card and gratefully replied "Thanks! by the way, what are you working on?" seeing my laptop. "I was just thinking about a story plot to write on it. But I couldn't think of anything. Do you have any ideas?". After a thoughtful pause, she suggests, 'What about a suspenseful thriller, sprinkled with just the right amount of romance and drama?. "Damn, the idea is not bad" I replied impressed. "So are you going to work on it now?" she asked curiously. "It's not that easy, first I'll have to think about characters, plot, the age group of my readers and many more things too". Her phone starts beeping. She looks down at it then looks up at me and says "That's my reminder, I have to go for my classes soon. it was nice meeting you". I gave her a nod which basically meant goodbye but I guess she didn't get it because she stood staring at me until she realised that the nod meant "bye" and smiled before leaving.

Honestly, I don't feel like attending any class today so I'm just going to chill here in the cafeteria all by myself and work on my novels progress.