THE LEGENDS

Thunder strikes. Then lightning. It’s going to rain. I watch as people run all over the place for safety, but I’m just standing still. I’ve always loved the rain. The way it flows down my hair and how it always makes me feel wet and cold at the same time. The smell of the ground when the rain hits the soil. Breathtaking. The first drop hits my nose, and I take in a deep breath. But seriously, why does it have to hit my nose? It’s not like my nose is that long. I’m enjoying the drops of rain as they keep coming, and I watch as the clouds turn grey, causing the atmosphere to change. It’s becoming dark. It does that when it rains sometimes. But then it darkens a little too fast. This is not normal. I turn to look around me and there is no one, not a single soul, not even cars or the buildings that were there. Just nothing. Then out of the blue, I’m in the midst of a forest. A huge forest. I can’t see anything because it’s dark. And it’s not just the darkness. I can’t see at all. It’s like I’m blind. Then it hits me. I don’t have my glasses with me. I took them off when I was standing in the rain. But I normally still see even with my glasses off. Blurry stuff, but I still see. Now I can’t see anything at all. What’s happening to me? Then I hear growls, and my heart starts beating faster. “Is anyone there?” I shout as I try to move my hands around, just to be able to feel anything around me. The growls are getting louder. It’s like whatever it is is getting closer to me. I really want to see it. I move my hands again, and this time I touch something soft. Not soft like skin, but soft like fur. An animal. I snap my eyes open, and this time I can see clearly. The first thing I see is the eyes. Burning red eyes. They’re drawing me closer, and I can’t seem to take my eyes off whatever it is. I don’t know what it is, but it’s twice as tall as me because I’m looking up. After a long battle, I finally manage to tear my eyes away from the striking red ones, and I can see what it is. It’s huge. Bear huge. But it’s not a bear. What would a bear be doing in this part of the country? In a forest? My eyes move to its mouth, and I can see blood dripping from it. Definitely a killer. I mean, it’s an animal. Animals kill. It opens its mouth wide, and when I see the fangs, I let out a scream. I feel my body connect with the ground, and I hit my head on something hard. A desk. It was a nightmare. Damn. I’m on the ground under my desk, and when I move to sit back on the seat, the lecturer is standing before me, looking pissed. Everyone in class is giggling, and I feel so embarrassed. “Miss Styles, I know I’m a boring lecturer, but sleeping in my class is something I won’t entertain,” he says, and the class bursts out laughing. Idiots. “I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again,” I tell him, my voice shaking. I’m still shaken from the nightmare I just had. “It better not, especially the screaming. You can sleep all you want, but do not scream in my class. You’re scaring us,” he says with a grin, and the class laughs again. He thinks he’s funny, but he’s not. People are just making fun of me. He walks away, and I pick my glasses from the floor where they had fallen while I was busy having a very uncomfortable nightmare. As I lift my head from under the desk, I notice there’s someone sitting beside me. I know I usually don’t have a seatmate. The only one I have sometimes is Maya, who didn’t come to class today. My eyes move from his body, and they land on his eyes. My heart skips a beat, and no, not because he’s good-looking. Yes, he is, but because his eyes are red. Like, red. Burning red, like the bear, or wolf, or whatever it was that I saw in my nightmare. This must be another nightmare. He’s holding a smirk on his lips, but my eyes are focused on the burning red ones. Maybe it’s because I don’t have my glasses on. I put them on, and I still see the red eyes. He blinks, and when he opens them, they’ve turned a dark brown shade. “Is everything okay?” he asks, and I snap out of my thoughts, clearing my throat. “Yeah.” I turn to look away, but I’m so tempted to look at those eyes again. There was just something about them that didn’t make sense to me. Maybe they’re too beautiful. Maybe I’m just being crazy, like my friends tell me. Every time I tell them I see things, strange things, they tell me to go for prayers or visit a native doctor. Maybe I should do that one day. The lecturer keeps talking, whatever nonsense he’s saying, and my mind is anywhere but here. I really do hate school. I don’t understand why we should go to school. It never makes sense to me. It’s not like everyone who has gone to school has made it. “Ms. Styles?” The lecturer calls again, and I swear I want to roll my eyes. I’m not sleeping again, if that’s what he’s thinking. “Sir.” “Answer the question.” Really? What is this? High school? “I didn’t get the question.” “I see, because you’ve been sleeping again.” Okay, is it just me, or does this lecturer not like me? “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t feel too well. I’m requesting to leave class early.” He laughs sarcastically when I say that. But seriously. There is something not okay with me. Maybe the nightmare is causing this feeling, but if only he could understand. “You can’t walk out of my class while it’s ongoing. Can you stand up!” Everyone is laughing, and I feel even more embarrassed. I don’t understand why he’s making it such a big deal. “I wasn’t walking out, sir. It was a request to leave early.” “Are you trying to challenge me?” Really? I don’t understand why he dislikes me this much. I’ve never missed any of his classes. I’m literally an A student, and I answer all of his questions. Just this one time that I’ve been a little distracted, he’s making it look like I’m the worst student in his class. I almost stumble as I stand up. I’m still shaken from the nightmare. I adjust my glasses. “No, sir. I’m sorry, sir.” “You do know I could discontinue you from doing my course, right?” “I’m so sorry, sir. I promise it won’t happen again.” Everyone is giggling, and I feel like joining campus was probably a bad idea. In high school, I went through the same trauma of being bullied, and I thought if I came to college, all that would change. But it never seems to. Everyone sees me as this nerd. The reason being, I wear glasses, and they don’t seem to like my style of dressing. But I didn’t come to school for a fashion show. I came to study. “For the love of God, sir, she’s already apologized. Can’t we move on already?” my new seatmate says, coming to my defense, and I’m a little surprised that, for the first time, someone has stood up for me. Some stranger. The lecturer looks at him and smirks. Then a chuckle follows as he walks toward our desks. He’s not an old man like most professors. He’s probably in his mid-thirties, if I’m not wrong. He just acts like he’s in control because he lectures at a well-known university. He’s good-looking, no doubt. Only if he could cut off his stupid attitude. “I have a new challenger. Our new student,” he announces once he gets to where we are. “My name is Arnold. I’m sure you already know that.” The lecturer is taken aback by the stunt, and literally the whole room is. There are gasps all over. The new student is something else. The next thing that follows is a staring contest between the lecturer and Arnold, and I’m just standing there, confused. “I see, Arnold.” By the look he’s giving him, I can tell he hates being challenged. He leans closer to Arnold and taps on his desk before whispering something. If I were an inch farther away, I wouldn’t have caught what he said. But since I was close enough, I heard it all, and it scared the s**t out of me. “If you want to impress a girl, maybe you should learn to control your eyes.” At first, I don’t grasp the meaning of what he said. But when Arnold turns to look at me and I see the same shade of eyes I saw when I woke up from my nightmare, the burning red eyes, I understand what he means. Just as the shade appeared, it disappears. The next thing, Arnold pushes back his seat and walks out of the class, bumping into the lecturer on his way out. The lecturer takes a moment before speaking again. “We’ll continue with the lecture next time.” And he follows the direction Arnold went. “That’s crazy,” Lydia says, the girl who sits behind me and never talks to me, doing so for the first time. I let out a sigh. My heart is still beating so fast. “Yeah.” I grab my stuff and walk out of the hall. I don’t know what just happened, but I’m losing my mind. Maybe I should visit that native doctor or a pastor. ##########