PROLOGUE

-HER-

It’s a truth universally accepted that a student on their first day of college is nervous and terrified as fvck.

If you don’t agree with this fact then you, whatever your name and origin, are lying.

Right now, standing at the entrance of my college, I am on the verge of peeing in my pants and the fact that I have confidence deficiency isn’t helping me in this situation either.

My palms are sweating and my knees feel like they are made up of jelly. My breath is coming out in short pants as if I’ve been running for hours and my mouth seems drier than the great Sahara desert.

I clutch the straps of my bag painfully hard as my heart flutters in my chest like a caged bird flapping its wings against the bars, wanting to be set free.

“Breathe, Cybele.” I say to myself and step inside the huge building but nearly jumping back when a heard of students suddenly appear out of nowhere in front of me.

I sigh deeply when the crowd dissolves and I continue to make my way towards the Grand Auditorium where the newbies are supposed to meet.

Somehow I manage to find the Grand Auditorium and enter it. I regret coming to this place as soon as I step foot into the humongous room packed with people.

I internally flinch seeing such a big crowd containing people of different shape, sizes, and colors. You see, I am not a social person. I run in the opposite direction when I see people because they scare me. People are scary.

I make my way through the crowd to the end of the auditorium, being pushed or elbowed in the ribs several times. I feel claustrophobic and it doesn’t help my already nervous state.

Finally, I manage to find a decent seat and wait for the whole welcome program to start. The whole crowd buzzes with excitement and anticipation for the event whilst I am having second thoughts to leave this place and go back home and be in the safety of my room.

As time passes, I see the room fill up with more and more people whilst the noise of the crowd echoes throughout the room. I haven’t seen so many people in my life put together. The whole place is so full if I throw a stone in the crowd, it would hit five people at once easily.

Suddenly, the lights dim in the room while the spotlights focus on the stage. The crowd cheers when a dark-haired girl walks on the stage. She has a strange aura to her dark and powerful figure. Even though I am sitting far away from the stage, I could still tell that she’s drop dead beautiful.

She clears her throat and greets the crowd good morning and the crowd shushes down, leaving soft murmurs floating in the air. I hear a few guys sitting a couple of seats away from me rate her.

As she continues to speak, I feel myself zoning out and looking around the crowd surrounding me. Since its dark, it’s hard to clearly see the people around me.

Suddenly, everyone starts clapping and I join them as well.

“And now, I must invite the President of the student’s council on the stage.” She speaks and the whole crowd starts cheering. It’s getting chaotic every moment making me want to leave the place as soon as I could manage.

Soon, I see a tall figure step on the stage and as I study him from head to toe, I forget about the whole crowd and the noise. For a moment, all that matters is him. I couldn’t look elsewhere but at him.

He is tall and well build. Even though I am sitting at the back of the room, I could not miss his facial features that look carved out of granite.

As he stalks to the center of the stage, towards the mic and the dark-haired girl, I couldn’t help but notice his every move. He’s so graceful unlike me who has a unique talent of tripping over plain surfaces.

The dark-haired girl throws him a flirtatious smile which he returns nonchalantly. Suddenly, I want to be at her place and see him up close. Suddenly, I am cursing myself for sitting so far from the stage.

Finally, he takes over the mic and turns towards the crowd who are wildly cheering for him. I stay silent as I watch him or ogle at him. I wonder how he looks from up close.

“Welcome newcomers. I am Jake Emerson, the President of the student’s council.” He says, his deep, masculine, commanding voice sending shivers down my spine. The crowd is wildly cheering for him while I sit on my seat lost in my thoughts.

Suddenly, I get up and my feet start to move without my whim. Soon, I find myself walking out of the crazily crowded auditorium when a part of me wanted to go running on the stage and see him up close.

I step into the empty, chilled hallway which resembles my life in many ways. My footsteps resonate through the walls as I walk to the new beginning of my life wishing that I could make friends: the only task that I failed in throughout my whole life.