“Oh wow,” Cece whispered next to me, forming a big O with her lips.

I had to grin. She was absolutely right.

The new professor, who turned out to be Mr. Hunter, was really damn good looking. He had dark, close-cropped hair, dark eyes and an angular face. He looked serious, but it looked damn good on him. He was writing something on the whiteboard and by comparing his height you could tell he was tall. Not oversized, but above average.

“Threatening and hot, just my taste,” Cece giggled next to me and I punched her in the shoulder.

“Forbidden love between student and professor. A scandal like no other,” I whispered to her and she stuck her tongue out at me, grinning.

“I will introduce you to Theoretical Philosophy today. Since it is a new course that is optionally added to your basic studies, you can forget everything for this course that you have learned in the other courses. Because it won't help you much."

He walked slowly and smoothly around the teacher's table. Like a big cat, it flashed through my head.

“I want to see common sense from you. Logical causality and human action in harmony with philosophy. Do you think you can manage that?”, he looked questioningly across the room.

Nobody answered.

He nodded as if he wasn't expecting an answer, tapped his chin, and then went back to the whiteboard. He connected his laptop to the large screen via a cable and then flashed a familiar face on the screen.

“Immanuel Kant,” Cece whispered next to me.

I looked at the picture of the fair-faced man with small eyes and a large forehead. I always found such old painting portraits strange, they seemed so distorted. As if they weren't people but different, deformed figures. Only in a subtle way and yet it was there.

“What are his teachings?”

My head shut down and I only listened with half an ear.

Summer had somehow passed so quickly that I could hardly believe it. But it had been really nice. And now I was sitting here, in the room where I had sat many times before, with faces, many of which I recognized and only a few of which were new. It was now the last year that had begun and I had given little thought to my future.

With Reese, I somehow automatically assumed that we would move in together, in some city where we could both work or continue studying. He studied architecture, so it wouldn't be that hard to find something for both of us. That's what I was hoping...

Now that he was basically out of the picture, I hadn't thought about what I actually wanted. Maybe it was a little early to start thinking about it, but I only had two semesters between me and the big decision ahead of me. Or decisions, plural?

Cece nudged me and nodded at the professor who was talking about a passage from a philosophy excerpt.

“Isn’t he cool? I really like his voice!” she gushed lightly and grinned forward.

I rolled my eyes, but also had to grin.

“You really are incorrigible. I just wasn't listening to your darling. But tell me, didn't you have time for boys in the summer or something? You seem to be really starving,” I laughed softly.

She just put on an innocent look and then scribbled on her pad.

I looked at my laptop and tried to do something useful, but in the end I just checked my emails - nothing, checked my WhatsApp messages - nothing, and checked my bank account - very little. I sighed and just as I was about to look ahead in resignation and give the lesson one last chance, the bell rang loudly, signaling the end of the block.

That was one of the things that was annoying me here. I always thought school bells were a thing of the past once you finished school, but this was different. Luckily it wasn't as loud or obstrusive, but still annoying.

The handsome professor said something else, but most of the students were already up and almost fleeing out of the room.

Cece and I were packing up our things when I heard his voice closer to us than expected. I looked up and he was standing a few seats in front of us. He looked directly at me. Oh god, I didn't even remember his name. Had he said something? I was really screwed today.

“I am pleased that you are having such a good start to the academic year. Are you doing fine? I didn’t get the impression that Kant particularly captivated you today.”

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled, adding “Mr. Hunter” when I spotted his name on the whiteboard behind him.

He seemed serious and almost strict, but not angry. “I don’t want to tell you anything because studying is ultimately voluntary. However, I would like to recommend that you pay more attention in the next lesson if possible, because I do not set any easy exam questions.”

He nodded to both of us and then disappeared out the door. I looked after him, slightly intimidated.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Great, that started off well for the first day.

“Oh my, he was talking to you. YOU little superstar,” Cece teased me as we walked out the door together.

I didn't answer and we headed towards the big common hall.

My next course was Methodology and I wanted to grab a chocolate bar from the kiosk to eat.

“What are you doing next?” I asked her.

She ignored my question. “Anyway, tell me what you wanted to tell me earlier.”

I was distracted by the display in the small kiosk at the edge of the room where we were standing and asked: “What did I want to tell?”

“Well, with you and Reese,” she said way too loudly to me. Then she added: “Oops, there he is!”

I suddenly turned around and there he was. At the other end of the room. Reese!

Luckily he hadn't spotted me yet.

He was leaning against a pillar with his friend Konrad and was laughing at something Konrad had said. I could hardly tear myself away, not because I was fascinated, but because I was petrified. We hadn't seen each other since the birthday and I didn't know how to react.

My body reacted first. I turned around, turned on my heel and went back the wrong way.

"Where are you going?" Cece asked, catching up to me.

"I don't want to talk to him right now."

She tried to keep up with me, but it seemed to be difficult as she gasped.

“What happened?” she asked, holding my arm. Come on, you can finally tell me. He won't have killed your dog, will he?" she joked humorlessly.

I broke away. "I don't have a dog."

She just rolled her eyes and was about to open her mouth to add something else when I heard a far too familiar voice behind her.

"Bonnie?" I recognized it, I would always remember it I thought.

I slowly turned around and then looked into the dark brown eyes of my former boyfriend. Reese.

“Hey,” he said with a half-smile that seemed to be slipping.

I just looked at him.

I knew that I wasn't acting like an adult and that I didn't really deserve anything. But somehow it felt good not to have to lie to yourself for once. How many times had I stood next to him, with tears in my eyes, trying to get him to talk. Too many times. And he would never really let me get to the point where we could solve our arguments and problems in a mature way.

Now he was standing in front of me and neither of us could really find the right words.

After things started to get uncomfortable, Cece cleared her throat and then said to me, “I’ll get going, okay? See you at lunch break?”

I nodded absently and she disappeared.

I hadn't paid attention before, but I couldn't see Konrad anywhere. Had he already run away before?

Now Reese and I were standing there. “How are you?” he asked after what seemed like an eternity, making a sharp tap with his foot.

I chewed on my bottom lip for a moment, briefly considering not answering and just turning around and leaving, but then I remembered that this year was supposed to be a great year after all. And with that I should set a good example for myself.

I smiled slightly, it felt forced but it was better than nothing. And I just couldn't come up with more than that. I found that for a timeframe of about three weeks after the breakup it wasn't all that bad.

I saw him slightly smiling back. "Good, I'm fine," I said. “And you?”

He nodded slightly, as if that confirmed that he agreed with me.

“Did you have a nice last few days?” he asked.

I felt uncomfortable, it was a strange and forced way that I didn't know between us.

Even when we argued, it was annoyingly sad and we were angry, but never strange. Awkward.

I continued to chew my lip.

After a while he said: “Okay, I have to go again. But it was nice to see you around.”

I nodded and barely stopped myself from looking after him as he walked away.

After standing there for about ten seconds, I thought about it and quickly set off for the next course. I would probably have to adjust to that. After all, we were in the same building complex. My and his studies weren't far away in terms of location.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I saw some familiar people again, talked to fellow students during the breaks and had agreed to meet Cece for lunch.

Ariana and Val were both on the other side of campus and since the breaks in between weren't always that long, it was hardly worth it for us to meet up somewhere.

“Now finally tell me, what was going on was both good?” Cece asked me and chewed on a cheesestring.

I was still fumbling around with mine. Normally a shame to waste such a tasteful cheesestring, but I was lost in thought.

And then I told her the story. She looked at me with curious and then more and more widening eyes and seemed to completely forget the cheesestring in her hand.

“Ahh”, she said again and again, confirming that she was listening carefully.

I sighed. The sun was nice and warm and even though it was now officially almost September, it was still very humid for late summer.

I took a bite of my cheesestring with relish and looked around.

Cece was still thinking about what I had said and in the meantime I was enjoying the peace and people-watching.

The first day of college was always exciting and you could tell by the general mood. People were exuberant, laughing, listening to music, chatting, sipping blubbletea - which you could now also buy in the kiosk, or simply lying on the lawns outside the university building and enjoying the weather.

I had almost forgotten my surroundings for a moment there. I was very prone to daydreaming. But that was okay, it was my personality and my friends could now handle it without being annoyed.

But then Cece started speaking again.

"Okay, so I don't really know if I should take sides..."

"Then don't," I said and kept my eyes closed.

“There are no sides, we are not in primary school. I broke up with him, or we broke up with each other, and that's fine. We wanted different things and that's okay. I don't know why everyone is making such a fuss about it."

"Because you were just a great couple," she added almost melancholy.

I looked at her annoyed. “Yeah, but it annoys me when everyone always asks what's going on in my life. I'll tell my friends when the time is right. But I don't have to peddle my thoughts and problems. Besides, this is between Reese and me.”

She nodded slowly. "You are right. I think people just want to show and receive sympathy. Also, people like to see couples. At least most of them. Love is in the summer air.” She hummed the melody from Love is in the air.

“It rather feels like spring allergies."

“Oh, papperlapapp. That's just mean.", she objected. "John Paul Young understood it.”

Then suddenly she leaned her head on my shoulder.

“Okay, I won’t say anything more about it. If you want to talk, I'm here."

I put my head against hers to return her gesture, then put my hand on her arm and stood up. I pulled her with me.

Cece was really tiny and only reached my shoulders. But her curls made up for it, which she usually wore open and which she really liked. It also suited her energetic personality. Sometimes I felt like, she was so energetic, I should get a shock when I touched her.