I shake my head and smile back.
“I’m Lucas Pearson,” he says as he takes a seat. “And you are?”
“Emerald.”
“Do you have a last name, Emerald?”
“Anderson.”
He pulls out his phone and taps on the screen. “No Facebook?”
“No.” I haven’t had one since I flunked out of NYU and I’ve forgotten that they’re basically the social lifeline in college. “I’ll set one up tonight.”
“Make sure you do.” He flashes his perfect smile. “Make sure I’m your first friend.”
“You probably won’t be.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll probably forget your name by the end of this class.”
“And why is that?” He raises his eyebrow.
“I don’t keep track of every stranger I meet. There are far too many.”
He blinks. “You’ve never heard of me before?”
“Do you sing or something?”
He tilts his head to the side and smiles again. “You’re shitting me right?”
“There are thirty thousand students on this fucking campus. Do you really think you’re Mr. Popular?”
“No...” He leans close and looks into my eyes. “But I am the star quarterback of the football team. It’s not exactly Mr. Popular. It’s Mr. God.”
I roll my eyes and lean back, trying my hardest not to laugh at him.
He keeps his eyes on me as other people fill the room, as they recognize him and give him a high five before taking their seats.
“Why are you in this class?” Mr. God crosses his arms.
“I don’t know. I don’t even know what this class is.”
He shakes his head. “Interpretive Design. It’s a high level course for talented people.”
“Then why are you in here?”
His lips curve into a smile. “You’re quite the charmer, Emerald.”
“I would say the same for you, but I can’t remember your name. Oh, wait. Mr. God.”
He looks as if he’s about to say something else smart, but the lights in the room suddenly flicker.
I pull out my schedule and scratch this class out with a pen. The last professor that started the class with a flicker of the lights turned out to be a psycho with a twenty page syllabus.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a familiar voice says and I immediately look up. “Welcome to Interpretive Art Design. My name is Professor Black, and I’ll be—”
Carter’s blue eyes meet mine and everything around me disappears.
He raises his eyebrow, smirking. “I’ll be teaching you quite a few things this semester...”
**The End**