The Beautiful Monster

Thankfully, the library stayed open late. Alyssa had a few assignments she needed to work on using the desktops on the second floor. She didn't feel so embarrassed about not having a computer of her own since there were a lot of people that used the library's computers.

The computer section bordered the study area, which was littered with tables for people to sit at and use. Light chatter filled the space, along with the faint sounds of keyboards tapping and mouses clicking. It was a perfect atmosphere for working, and Alyssa was flying through her assignments.

Organic chemistry gave her the most homework, which was time consuming and headache inducing, but she was figuring things out fine on her own. She definitely needed to study good at test time, though. These weren't the kind of classes she could zone out during and expect to pass.

She also wanted to get a lot of work done during this week so that she could have a clear schedule for this weekend. Maybe Zoe would want to go shopping then. The thought brought a smile to her face as she continued to flip through her organic chemistry textbook for the answers she needed.

As long as she stayed on top of her work, it would be fine to take some time to hang out with any friends she made. She could even look for a club to join and an on campus job to work at. She knew how to be productive. She just didn't need to overwhelm herself.

So many people took on too much during college, wanting to do anything and everything with their newfound freedom. They stressed themselves out and drove themselves to giving up on everything. She didn't want to get to that point.

Things were peaceful and productive until she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Someone was behind her. She tore her eyes away from her book and turned in her seat to see Kaleigh and Olivia standing behind her. They were up to no good. They didn't even have to say anything for Alyssa to already know that.

"Can I help you?" Alyssa forced the words out. She would have rathered to turn back around and ignore them, but she knew that wouldn't be possible. They obviously had something that they wanted to say to her.

"I didn't appreciate what you did on the first day of class," Kaleigh commented as she chewed on a piece of mint gum.

Alyssa glanced between them. They had their backpacks and coffee from the café on the first floor in their hands. They were here to study. They must've seen her and decided to be bold. They wouldn't get in trouble if they said anything to her here.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said. Maybe she had an idea, but she wasn't about to add fuel to the fire. It was better to act clueless than to further incite her. She wanted this conversation to be over with as quickly as possible before it escalated.

"Don't act dumb. You embarrassed me in front of Dr. Pierce," Kaleigh snapped.

Alyssa felt embarrassment flush through her as her eyes shifted around to see some people glancing her way. Kaleigh was making a scene in front of everyone. Couldn't they have talked about this in private where no one else could listen in? Then again, Kaleigh did seem like an attention seeker.

"All I did was answer a question," Alyssa defended herself. At the end of the day, that was all she did. It wasn't her fault that Kaleigh didn't know the answer.

"You were being a smartass," Olivia joined in with her hand on her hip.

Alyssa looked between them helplessly. She knew that she shouldn't have said anything that day. Now, she was being bombarded with all of these insults, and all she wished she could do was curl up and disappear.

"You're lucky I didn't call you out in class," Kaleigh sneered.

She was calling her out in the middle of a busy library. Was that any better? Alyssa wished that she would just let this go and move on with her life. They were college students. Their lives were already hard enough. Crushing on a professor shouldn't have made Kaleigh want to be so difficult.

"Look, I'm sorry you got embarrassed, but that's not my problem," Alyssa said, feeling her heart start to race. Her chest grew tight as she stared at them. Couldn't they just leave her alone?

"What's going on here?" A deep, familiar voice suddenly sounded behind Kaleigh and Olivia.

Alyssa's eyes widened in shock. It couldn't possibly be him.

A/N: Hy guys thank you for checking out my new book! Really appreciate it! Please if you like it kindly leave a review for me pretty please. Also don't worry this book will be updating regularly from today! Thank you for your support