1 - DANNY

It was the first day of classes. He hated the first day of classes. Probably just as much as the students loved the first day of classes, and probably for the same reasons. The first day of class was all syllabi and rules and expectations for classes to come. It was incredibly dull to relate to the innocent (or not so innocent) faces that sat in front of him enjoying the one day of the semester that they could get away with not listening at all. He could never decide if he should do his best to make the syllabus last the entire fifty minute period, split it up and actually teach at the end, or just race through it, let the kids out early and start the semester out on their good side. He usually went with the last option.

He walked slowly to his classroom, sipping his coffee, praying the end of the day would come sooner rather than later. It was five minutes to the beginning of class, typically he would get there earlier, but he wasn’t in the mood today. Today, he’d come sauntering in two minutes after class was supposed to start, just to make them sweat a little bit.

He walked into the classroom, the room was completely full, almost every seat taken. First day of class also means everyone is more eager to please.

He takes a deep breath, “hello everyone. My name is Professor Evans, you can call me Danny, and welcome to Contemporary Moral Problems.”

He started his spiel, trying to slow down his words to make it last longer and get him closer to the end time. The door opened just then, and in the large, mostly wooden, very silent room, it made quite the commotion. He looked to the door, ready to scold, until he saw possibly the most beautiful specimen he’d ever seen in his life.

She was tall, like 5’9” at least. Long legs dressed in ripped, black, skin-tight jeans and black boots. A loose, ratty Rolling Stones t-shirt hung coolly on her waif-like frame. Her hair was brown and had just the right amount of curl in it, to make it look messy enough without looking bad. It hung in a loose braid over her shoulder, wisps of hair falling around her face. A certain groupie vibe about her that wasn’t obnoxious. Cleaner and less trashy. All of this was alluring enough, but what nearly made him drop his coffee, was the massive, round, stunning, blue eyes that stared back at him. They were the bluest eyes he had ever seen on a human being. Sparkly, like the ocean water on some tropical island. Crystal, clear, blue. She could do some serious damage with those things.

She smiled, this incredibly charming smile, like she knew she was late and she knew that smile worked on many a fool to get her out of things. She glanced toward the other students, spotted a seat and meandered toward it and the students waving back at her.

Most students would act all nervous and squirrelly coming in late on the first day of class. Most students wouldn’t know most of the other students in the room and would dash to the nearest seat with their face down, hoping people weren’t paying attention. He’d been doing this for a while, he’d seen it many times, but not this girl. She didn’t seem to have a care in the world, which is probably why she was ten minutes late to class, and why she so confidently walked to her seat, you had to wonder what the other students in the classroom thought of her. From the looks of it, they admired her.

This was a sophomore level class. It was one of the classes that could be qualified in the general education requirements, so not many students took it too seriously. There were a few in the class that were headed toward a history or philosophy major and this was one of their prerequisites, but otherwise it wasn’t a class that stimulated a lot of thoughtful conversation, despite its topic. It also meant that the majority of the students in the class were 19 or 20 years old. Was she seriously 19 or 20? He wasn’t even close to being that secure in himself and he was going on 15 years older than these children.

He’d been quiet too long. Everyone knew it. She was sitting down at that point. Staring at him. Waiting. They all were.

Time to get it together.

Breathe in.

Exhale.

And…

“If you look at page two of your syllabus, you will see the reading list for this semester…”

Good, back on track.

2 - DANNY

Class had finished, he had let them out twenty minutes early, and believe it when he says he tried to stretch it out more, he really did.

He starts to pack up the few items sitting on the podium after all the students had left the room when he hears footsteps, and someone clearing their throat in front of him.

He looks up and there she is. Her head cocked to the side, a slight grin on her face. Her eyes sparkling and mischievous.

“Hi. I’m so sorry I was late. I didn’t mean to disrupt the class.”

Great. An accent.

He cleared his throat and tried his best for his voice to come out steady, he thought for a quick minute it was going to come out in a fake British accent because he was nervous, but thankfully he caught himself before that atrocity happened.

“I’ll let it slide today, since it’s the first class, but don’t let it happen again.”

Good. Stern. Teacher-like.

“No, you’re right, I’m terribly sorry. It absolutely will not happen again.” She said, eyes turning more serious. “I was wondering, though, I missed the book suggestion you gave to the class. I asked my friend, but she really wasn’t listening. I would love to read it, if it will help in any way?”

Interesting. He gives out this assignment every year and hardly anyone ever reads it, much less comes to him to make sure they knew what it was.

He smiles, and gives her the title of the book. She scribbles it down (a lefty, he notes), says her thanks and turns around to leave.

“Uh, hey, wait.”

She turns back around, a look of question across her face.

“Where are you from?” He asks.

She grins, a trace of realization dawning.

“Yes, that would be a sensible question wouldn’t it? Cambridge. About two hours outside of London. I moved here when I was 14.”

“Ah.”

“Well, I’ll see you Wednesday, then?”

“See you Wednesday.”

She left then, and he pulled out his phone and googled Cambridge.

3 - TAVI

She got back to her dorm, and dropped, face first onto her bed. Her roommate was in class for the next two hours or so, which means she had some time to herself. She planned her schedule out very carefully this semester – meet the requirements, and do as little work as possible. She knew she wouldn’t be able to get away with that every semester, but every college student has one semester like that and this was hers.

She kicked her boots off onto the floor, grabbed her laptop and opened it, closed it, put it back where it was and stuffed her face back into her pillow.

She was restless. She was exhausted, she’d been out till 2:00 that morning, but she wasn’t tired, really. She was in that weird place where your body knows you could sleep for the next two days straight, but it’s got other things on its mind and won’t let you. She needed to do something.

She decided to walk to the bookstore to buy the book her professor suggested they read.

The professor…he was cute. Off limits, of course. But it doesn’t hurt to look, right?

She shoves her boots back on and heads to the campus bookstore.

She stumbles through the door front door of the store, “damn ground”, she really needed to get some sleep.

Stopping off to get some coffee, she wandered around the bookstore aimlessly, not wanting to go back to her dorm, but not sure of what else to do. She runs her fingers across the spines of the books, humming quietly to herself, walking up and down each row until she gets to the aisle she needs. She finds the book, and turns around to slowly walk back towards the front.

That’s when she saw him.

The professor, Danny, he asked them to call him, standing in the “Young Adult” aisle.

Why on earth is he looking at YA novels?

She backs up to hide behind the stacks, peering around the corner to look at him. She wanted to spy, absolutely, but she also hated running into people out in the world. She hated small talk, and how were those middle of the store conversations supposed to go? How long were they supposed to last? I guess it depends on how well you know the person? Plus what if you happen to look really shitty that day. You just ran out in your sweats and bun to grab ice cream and a movie, that’s when you run into your “friend” from high school, inevitably. So, usually, if she spotted someone first, she did her best game of hide and seek, minus the seek part.

This time, she just stood and watched. He looked uncomfortable. Like he knew that he shouldn’t be standing in this particular place. He shuffled his feet, and put his hand in his pocket. He had a book in his other hand, he was reading part of it; she saw him blush. Yup, YA novels can be steamy.

She giggles a little watching him and then turns quickly away. She rushes toward the front, buys her book, and runs back to her dorm. Why? She doesn’t know. Possibly embarrassed? But she ran as fast as she could back, looking absolutely ridiculous, she was sure.

~

She woke up around 10:00 that night, book over her face and feet up the wall, attractive and comfortable, score. She rolled backwards off the bed, feet up in the air, landing possibly gracefully on the floor. She was feeling revitalized. She read a whole 13 pages! Pat on the back.

She stripped, threw her clothes on the floor and dug out the little black dress she had bought the other day.

Roommate still wasn’t back.

Time to get out before she did get back.

That’s how their relationship worked, she was gone all night, and her roomie was gone all day.

It worked for them.

No one was bothered by the other.

She grabbed her heels and ran out the door, shoving her shoes on her feet as she hopped down the hall. She was supposed to meet friends at a bar at 10:30, and she was late.

4 - DANNY

He had worked late again that night. He guessed it didn’t matter much, it’s not like anyone was waiting for him and that night in particular he was grading papers from his summer grad students. He had already been to the coffee machine in the lounge four times.

It was 2:00 in the morning, he should not still be here. He knew that. But he thought if he went home, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate. There would be other, more interesting things to do. Like sleep.

So he stayed and knocked out those papers, trying not to lose grasp on reality along the way.

Finally, he decided he was done, he packed up his things, turned off his light and walked out.

The history building, where his office was, is located basically in the center of campus. It’s right on the edge of the educational buildings, so the other side of the building are the dorms, and students often cut through the building to get to their dorms quicker. He wasn’t surprised when he saw two girls leaving the building, laughing loudly as they did.

He turned the corner of the hallway, and stopped short.

A girl was laying in the hall, up against the wall. It looked like she was supposed to be sitting up, but she melted a tad, sliding further down the wall. Her head hung sloppily to the side, her feet out in front of her, and her arms laying limply by her side, one shoe in hand, the other nowhere to be found. Her dress, was dangerously close to showing more than she probably wanted, one strap falling down her shoulder.

He inched closer to the girl, looking around him wondering if someone would claim her.

It’s 2:00 in the morning.

No one’s going to claim her.

He’s the only one here.

Okay, what should he do?

As he stood over her, he realized he knew her. One of his students? Probably, he had a lot of those. No, wait. He knew her. It was the girl. The girl from his class today. The girl with the eyes and the Stones tee.

He kneeled down in front of her, pushing hair out of her face. She moaned a little as her head fell forward and her chin fell on her chest.

She reeked of alcohol and smoke.

He had to figure out what to do. The smart decision might be to take her to the health center, see if anyone could help her, but he was pretty sure she was underage, and she could get in some pretty serious trouble for coming in like this.

He would take her to her dorm if he knew where she lived, but he didn’t, so that wasn’t an option.

He didn’t even know her name.

She jerked suddenly, pulling up. She was going to puke…and no, she was back down again, falling farther down the wall as she went.

Impulsively, he decided.

He put her arm around his neck and picked her up.

He was probably going to regret this.

5 - TAVI

Light flooded into the room.

Her eyes fluttered, but they felt like they were glued together and weighed 900 pounds. Eyelids can’t possibly weigh that much, she thought.

She had a feeling of serious disorientation. She knew she had to get up, she probably had class soon.

She had a knack for getting it together in the morning. She’d been doing it a long time.

She forced her eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

Wait. Whose ceiling is this?

She looked around her.

This bed was glorious, this was totally not her bed. The beds at the dorm were rocks.

She stretched, cat-like, arms over her head. She should probably be more concerned about where she was, but this bed is the shit.

Okay. Out.

She pulls the fabulous, fluffy, down comforter off and put her feet on the floor.

Dress. Check.

Undies. Check.

Shoes. Shoe. Where’s the other shoe?

She stands up, nope, back down again. And one more time, she makes it up this time, walking like a baby deer over to the chair where her shoe, purse and phone were neatly placed.

She grabs them and walks toward the door.

Let’s see where we are.

She opens the door of the room, to be greeted by the most incredible smell. Coffee, bacon.

Did she die?

Is this heaven?

She walks down the hall, and toward the clanging of pots and pans and sizzling. As she enters the kitchen, he looks up at her. Hair disheveled, sleepy eyes.

The professor.

This is the professor’s house.

Oh god. How did she get here? Did she pass out? Was he at the club?

Great, she was starting the semester off grandly.

6 - DANNY

She was standing at the doorway. Eyes big and round. Possibly concerned, but with an interesting note of bemusement. Her head cocked to the side.

She looks great, which is crazy, because last night she looked like she had been hit by a car a couple times.

She slowly walks forward. Eyeing the bacon and waffles on the counter.

“I made bacon and waffles,” he said.

Wince.

“Have a seat. Coffee?”

She sits down on the stool at the island, placing her things next to her.

“Yes, that would be great.”

He turns around, breathing in, and out, damn this girl made him nervous. He pours them both a cup of coffee, and hands it back to her. She takes it gratefully in both hands, breathing in the smell and warmth.

He watches her closely. Waiting.

She looks up at him, and cocks her head again.

That damn head.

“So. What happened last night?”

There.

“You know, I’m not sure,” he starts slowly, “I found you in the hallway of the history building last night. You were passed out hard.”

She nods her head. “I think I can guess.”

He looks down at the waffles, puts some food on two plates, and slides one of them across the narrow island to her.

“Can I ask,” she’s looking down at her food, talking in between bites, “Why did you bring me here? Why didn’t you dump me in the office or the health center?”

He saw this question coming. He asked himself the same thing.

“How old are you?” He answers instead.

She grins knowingly, and nods her head slowly, “19.”

He nods back. “I thought.”

Quiet.

“I didn’t want you to get in trouble.” He finally says. “I thought it might go over better if you could come back here and sleep it off. You were in pretty bad shape.”

She snorts softly, “Thank you.”

Quiet again.

“Believe it or not, this is not the first time this has happened,” she pauses, “I would have….just, thank you.”

She looks down at her food.

For the first time, she looks sad.

“What’s your name?”

She looks up, a soft smile on her lips.

“Shouldn’t you know that professor?” A smirk on her face.

“There are 150 kids in my class and I have four of them, I don’t even try to know all of you.“

“Right. My name’s Tavi.”

Interesting.

Silence.

“Okay, well thank you for everything, for your hospitality,” she says gesturing toward the food, “if I don’t leave now, I am going to be late for class,” she lied, “so, I guess I will see you later, professor.”

She moves to get off the stool.

“Wait. Do you need a ride?”

“Oh. Um, yes, I guess I do?”

“Give me a second.”

He runs back to his room to grab his keys. Telling himself not to be stupid or ask too many questions. It’s none of his business.

But he knew there was something hiding behind those sad eyes. And he desperately wanted to find out what it was.

7 - TAVI

She stumbles in her door, tripping over mounds of clothes, and falls on to her bed.

She will never appreciate this bed again. Evils of feathers and thread counts.

Twisting around to look at her clock she knocks over a stack of books with her feet. She pulls herself up, thinking she should seriously clean in here. Then decides not to. But, hey, it’s the thought that counts.

The book Professor Danny suggested is laying on the floor. She picks it up and flips through it. Then lays it gingerly by her bed.

Time to start this day.

An hour later she is in running shorts and a tank top, tennis shoes slapping against the pavement. Running always helps her concentrate. It helps her clear her mind of the drunken grogginess of the night before. It is part of her process. She likes to run.

It was a warm day, but early enough that the humidity hadn’t set in yet. This was good, she needed to think.

She ran for a solid hour and then laid in the grass soaking up the sun. She knew what the night ahead was going to bring, she couldn’t help herself, so she might as well take some peaceful moments while she could.

8 - DANNY

The next few weeks brought mostly repetitive moments.

She always came into class at least five minutes late, always looking great, and they would exchange kind, vague pleasantries as she was leaving, but he was starting to see signs of the previous nights creeping in.

The bags under her eyes were getting deeper and darker. She wasn’t participating as much, and he caught her sleeping a few times.

One day she walked by him after class, smelling like she did the night he found her in the hall. He could tell she tried to cover it up, but didn’t succeed.

One day, he asked her to stay after class.

She stopped, and looked at him, like she knew what he was going to say.

“How are you doing?”

“Okay. Fine.”

“You sure?”

Silence.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine”

“Thanks for that.”

“What I mean is, I know I’m not the most riveting of speakers, but usually people at least stay awake through my lectures.”

“Yes, well. I’ve been really busy lately. Midterms are coming up. Long nights.”

He stares at her. He knows that’s not the truth. She knows he knows that’s not the truth.

He let her leave at this, thinking to himself as she walked out of the room.

He had really only had two encounters with her. The first day of class, and that fateful night, but he’d been watching her. He realizes this sounds creepy, but he wasn’t watching her in a creepy way. A concerned way. How could someone so young be so burdened? So sad.

He noticed the changes in her appearance, in her attitude. She was quieter and didn’t interact with her friends as much, but she still made it to class every day. Someone who parties that hard every night, shouldn’t even be walking the next day, but somehow she managed to.

He wondered if he should step in, help her. He was the teacher, the authority figure, he had the right to take action if he felt he needed to. He would see her sometimes, when he had a late night at the office, stumbling onto campus, alone and drunk. He could report the “illegal activities” going on with his students, but something kept stopping him. And then one day, she came running into class just as it was starting, looking fresh and rested, like the first day he had met her. She sat through the class, answering questions and laughing with her friends, and then flashed him a glowing smile as she left his classroom.

Was she better?

Was it just a phase, did something happen to help her snap back into reality?

Midterms were over, fall break had come and gone, maybe it was just the stress of the middle of the semester.

He watched her a few more days, and each day she came in sunnier than the day before. So he decided he was going to stop worrying and let it go. She was fine.

One afternoon, after his last class of the day, she wandered into his classroom, standing cautiously at the door watching him as he went over his notes. He looked up at her questioningly. She was wearing those ever present black jeans, brown ankle boots, and an oversized maroon colored sweater, that hung loosely on her. Her hair down in waves around her shoulders with a bandana headband sitting in her hair with no real purpose other than appeal.

She looked him over and he looked back at her. She didn’t say a word and neither did he, he just sat there waiting. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she walked toward him, coming to stand in front of his desk. She put her hands down on the desk and leaned forward so she was eye level with him. A grin at the corner of her mouth.

It got quiet again.

“Do you like me?”

Pause.

What?

“What?” This time out loud.

“Do you like me?”

How was he going to approach this? Outright deny it?

He should probably deny it. That’s the safe thing to do, instead what came out was…”uh, well I, didn’t, I couldn’t, um, what?”

He winced and looked down at his papers.

She stood back up, and cocked her head. Why does she do that? It kills him. It’s like she’s examining, waiting, wondering. Like she’s looking into his mind.

She grins again. Somehow, he gave himself away. She takes a few steps back and looks toward the door. She looks back at him and then turns away to leave.

He’s frustrated and confused. He stands up and is about to tell her to wait, when, instead of walking out, she closes the door. Pausing in front of it, she drops her bag and turns to face him. They are both standing, facing each other. She starts to walk slowly towards him until she is toe to toe in front of him, so close he can feel her breath, see the individual eyelashes. Long, beautiful lashes.

He doesn’t move, he doesn’t breathe. He is standing as straight as can be. He knows he should step back a couple steps. He knows he should turn away. But he cannot move.

She leans in ever so slightly, raises herself on her toes, since he’s not helping her at all, and places the lightest, gentlest kiss on his lips.

Her lips are soft, warm. She pulls away after a second and looks at him. That grin playing on her face again. He breathes out slowly.

They’re still close. He can feel her against him. Her hands on his chest. Bracing herself.

She’s looking at him closely, she’s waiting for him to do something, but she doesn’t move away or say anything. She’s still standing there on her toes. Waiting.

He can’t take it anymore, one more beat and he’s going to explode, so he pulls her in, her hands crushed in between them, and he kisses her hard. He’s a little lost. Lost in the moment, but he knows this can’t be happening. He knows what it means. But he doesn’t stop. His arms wrap around her waist and her arms slink up to his neck. It’s been too long, time to stop, after one more minute…

He stops. He pulls away.

She blinks. Her face perfectly kissed.

He looks at her and brushes a strand of hair out of her face.

He steps back.

She steps back.

“Okay.” She says, like she’s satisfied with herself.

He smirks. This is what she came here for.

“Okay,” he says back.

“I’m gonna go now.” And with a wink, she turns around, picks up her bag and walks out the door.

He’s screwed.

Title: Finding Happy

Genre: Fiction

Age Range: 20-30

Word Count: 51,000 currently, still in progress

Author: KG Wright

Synopsis and hook: A girl with an ugly past that still haunts her, falls for a guy who at first glance, probably won't make things easier, but ultimately ends up changing her life for the better. It is a story of a life and all the messy parts that go with it. It's a story about a relationship and the ups and downs it goes through over the course of a decade.

I teach preschool and I am 25 years old and I hope that this book can reach out to a similar audience. Twenty somethings who have been through some stuff in life, but ultimately come through stronger in the end. It is also, hopefully, a look at a real relationship, not too much fantasized drama, but a couple in a real world, where things can get just as messy and hard as they do in a dystopia. These first 4000+ words are just the beginning, and such a small part. There is plenty more to unfold.

A girl in a dress, curls falling down her face

Looks up to the sky to see the stars dancing

A boy appears, eyes piercing and dark

Comes to a halt in front of her, toes touching

“Wendy, my love, let’s go for a ride.”

He grabs her hand and pulls her along

She stops and looks behind her and back up to the sky

The stars once happy and giddy

Suddenly winking and sly

Do the stars know all?

They must, for you see,

The stars are always the first ones to give up secrets

No matter how dark they may be.

She pulls her hand back and as tears appear in her eyes

One winking star looks down

Anxious for Wendy to heed

With a shaky breath she looks, and through the stars she sees

The light she thought she had lost,

Peering through the darkness.

“Are you really so blind?”

Wendy says, voice full of despair.

This boy who once stole this girl’s heart

Made her see things anew

Now angry and bitter

And staring in anger.

With the parting of hands, Wendy says her goodbyes,

“You are not who you were, and neither am I,

For we both lost ourselves and now it’s time to part ways.

You may stay here and continue this path,

But I must leave and take what I know.

You still have my heart, dear boy, but my life deserves to go on.”

And with a step she flies off into the stars as they happily usher her through

Towards the light that welcomes her once again.

The boy left staring and suddenly alone

Wipes away tears that have been absent too long

And with one last look to the sky

He boards his ship and sails off

With the flick of his hook and a wave goodbye.