Bailey Bloom

Chapter 3:\\ The Overnight Trip

I sat on the bus beside a girl who was only slightly chubbier than I was. She and I had been the only two to get accepted to Hinkley University and get invited to their overnight program. I hardly knew her, I hardly spoke to her, but I was thankful that I didn't have to go on this three day journey alone.

I'd been driven to the location where the busses would pick us up by Amy and Aaron. Aaron had been silent throughout the trip, and I felt judged the entire time. I wondered how annoyed he was at the fact that I was with them. That I wasted their precious time together by making them drive me an hour so I could get on a school-bus.

It had been three weeks since I'd found out I was accepted to Hinkley, three weeks since Hugh and I went to get ice-cream and he confessed feelings for me that I already knew he had. He was my friend, constantly referring to me as 'Bails' and teasing me. But I couldn't see us as going anywhere else. So, after spending half an hour complaining about Amy and her boyfriend to him and how I felt left-out, he told me that he would never leave me out. He told me he cared about me since he had met me freshman year, he told me he had strong feelings for me— those of the romantic type. He asked me to be his girlfriend. But I told him I would think about it.

I didn't want to upset him, then lose my ride home. He was happy that I'd considered thinking about it and he paid for our ice cream. He called me beautiful and he was very sweet to me when he dropped me off at home. But I, being the bitch I try hard not to be, ended up avoiding him since that day.

I'd pretended he stopped existing and moved on with my life. And now, I found myself sitting beside Millais on a fancy bus that would drive for three hours until we got to Hinkley University.

"Do you want some gum?" She'd offered, but I shook my head and rested it on the comfortable cushions of the seats. There were many strangers on that bus, and I was not particularly interested in getting to know any of them.

I was awoken by Mellais after a few hours. Everyone was getting out of the bus, but I was still trying to comprehend when I had fallen asleep and where I was. The campus of Hinkley University could be seen in my peripheral vision. Like whiplash, I turned my head to look out the window.

Tall, glass building stared right back at me. Some had yellow and purple paint with the name Hinkley sprawled out on it. The majority of the place was forestry. I was astounded.

They say, when you're visiting a college campus, it's important to get a feel for the vibe. For me, I was happy. I was astounded. The air felt fresher, the sky looked bluer, the clouds somehow looked fluffier. I followed Mellais out of the bus and followed behind her with my suitcase in tow. We would attend lunch and then be picked up by our assigned student. Each of us was assigned a Hinkley University to spend the next three days with and I was beyond excited and overflowing with questions.

I liked being on the campus, the atmosphere was fresh, clean, open. I wasn't sure how else to describe it. I felt like I belonged, but at the same time, I felt like I was back to square one. It was the same feeling I got when I had first started high school— wanting so badly to be accepted and make friends. Except this time, this place had a distinct smell. It felt nice to stand on those stairs in the scorching sun beside Mellais and the other overnight program students and wait to enter the building and leave our bags. It was exciting when we all dropped out suitcases and walked through white double-doors, receiving a sticker with our names on it and then entering a cafeteria-like room to get our sandwiches.

I was so excited, I almost forgot I was obese and would be judged for what I ate. But that's what I did, I sat down and ate peacefully, later being accompanied by Mellais and a few random people who looked like they were enjoying themselves. She'd made friends quickly, but I had remained silent. I was feeling sweaty and irritable now as a man walked over to a stage in the room and introduced himself. I was taking in the experience, every single bit of it was grasped and eaten by my eyes, the smell, the bright fluorescent lights that looked down on us from the ceiling.