Of Monsters and Humanity: The Genesis

Chapter 4 - Terra

Seventy days before....

"Miss Egan, is there something entertaining your thoughts over me, the professor being paid good money from your scholarship to tell you things that you never listen to anyway?"

I shook my head halfway through his sentence and stared at him blankly as he finished, the class all turning to me and staring in disbelief. Easily over fifty wide eyes were watching me, gauging my reaction and awaiting my next move.

Paralyzed in place, I stared back at Mr. Duro. My daydreaming always ticked him off and he never forgot to remind not only myself but the rest of my psychology class of it as often as he could. My face grew as hot as a white-hot branding iron and tears filled my eyes. I wanted every person in that room to pass out into a coma and wake up with no memory of this event only after I fled the room.

"I...."

"I know. You're sorry. Now, pay attention, please. Thank you," he instructed rudely, turning back around and finishing up his demonstration on the whiteboard with a black marker.

The students continued to watch me until I rejected all of their eye contact long enough for them to grow bored and turn their attention back to their teacher who they paid to educate them, unlike me, which Mr. Duro made very clear. I had only gotten one scholarship and he somehow despised me because of it. As soon as I figured everyone was entranced by his lesson once again, I quietly stood and left.

Once I got outside and a chilly fall breeze hit my face, the tears streamed down my face involuntarily. I took deep breaths and let the cool air sink into my lungs, causing my uncomfortably warm and embarrassed body to cool down.

I stood outside for a few minutes, my eyes closed, thinking serine, calm thoughts until I heard someone walk up behind me.

"Hey, Terra! What's going--? Terra?"

Upon hearing his voice, I immediately stood up straight, wiped my face, and sighed in relief. "Oh, hey, Damian. What's up?" I asked as I turned around, pulling my scarf higher to suggest that my face was red due to the cold.

Alas, he did not see through it. "What's wrong?" He worriedly walked up to me, his eyes full of genuine fret. "Are you okay?"

I nodded and forced out a smile. Even though I wasn't okay, seeing him and knowing that he was actually worried about me made me feel a little bit better.

He didn't seem too convinced, but he slowly shook his head and smiled back, his eyes on my mouth. "Oh, that's good. I just got out of class and I was wondering if you'd like to go for coffee...?"

The slight apprehension in his tone caused me to smile, and it ricocheted off him, too. "Yeah," I murmured. "That sounds good." I raised my sleeve and peered at my watch. My grandparents were expecting me back at home in a couple hours.... They wouldn't want me to be late. "Where were you thinking?" I asked so I could gauge if I had to tell them class ran late or one of my high school friends wanted to hang out.

"The Bean?" he asked, referring to the local coffee shop with aesthetically pleasing architecture and overpriced drinks. Sometimes I thought that our current city was only a tiny version of what was to come, as if we were building all of these off-placed buildings to prepare our citizens for a complete reconstruction of what once was. The Bean was the only coffee shop in the whole city, and he spoke with apprehension as if there were any other place to go.

I shook my head awake. "Oh, yeah. That."

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, chuckling nervously. This was the first time one of us had made an advancement in our awkwardly innocent relationship and it looked like he didn't want to ruin it.