Reading Between the Lines

Chapter 3: Abnormalities

The second week of school...

Ever since I made that motto that I would try to find new things I like about Hillmore, it's actually made my experience a lot better. Sure, it's only been a week, but that's 7 whole days of adjustment. And to me, that's an improvement since I'm not the fastest when it comes to adjusting to new changes. I'm not agitated when I walk to class anymore, and I stopped giving a shit that people keep staring at me as I go anywhere. Honestly, let them stare. I'm not committing a crime by existing.

And also, I made a new friend! Well, besides Tusharika, Vinnie, Naishal, and Abhi. I'm also way less freaked out about meeting new people now. Everyone here is surprisingly super sweet. Well, besides the staring. But that's subsided a bit too.

Her name is Divya, and she's in my business finance class. She's a grade above me, and she's also a Business major! She's a lot like me, so we instantly connected. She invited me to eat lunch with her and her friends today, so let's just hope that I don't look stupid in front of them. But because of that, I'm taking a little trip to the school dining hall to get some food. I heard it's massive, so I'm going to check it out for myself.

Besides all of this though, I feel like my psychology from high school is starting to catch up to me now. Remember the canines, glittery skin, and jewelry that I noticed? Well, now that I noticed it, it's like I see it everywhere. I've seen glittery skin, canines, fangs, snake-eyes, and way more. On real, human beings. And they just seem like the most natural things.

It's like Baader-Meinhoff to the 200th.

Everyone here is tall, attractive, and sweet with jewelry for some reason. It's always a gold metal with a specific symbol. First was the claw, then the dolphin tail, and there are way more shapes. And some of the designs repeat too! I get more confused by the day with what they mean.

I don't know what's going on, at this point. It's either the coolest or creepiest thing that people here are so similar. I don't know, what if it's some random cult?

It could explain why their website is so bad, though. How does a school that literally has marble buildings have a site that looks like it got last updated back in the 1980s?

I'm losing my mind everyday I'm here. I love it here so far, but I'm so intrigued to figure things out now. What is going on?

I gasp as I see the dining hall.

You're kidding me. This is a lunch area?

The entire building is shaped like a citrus. The bright yelow plexiglass is the exact color of the fruit, and the little flesh parts with the juice are glass windows colored shades of yellow, orange, and red. At the top where the stem is, there's an observatory eating spot.

With how massive this building is, I know for a fact that this place has way too many food places to count. And that is a great sign.

I walk inside the giant mall, someone holding the door open for me. I expect to see some classics like Chick-fil-A, Auntie Anne's, or even a Starbucks. I mean, Starbucks is frickin' everywhere in the worst way possible. But instead I look around trying to find something familiar. I don't recognize a single place here. All these brand new logos and companies leave me almost blindsided. I look up to see 4 floors (4 FRICKING FLOORS) of more unfamiliar restaurants, leaving me completely shocked.

I walk around, completely ignoring the hot people around me while I try to find something that's familiar. But no luck. I guess this is the universe telling me to keep my options open. I can't live off of the same fast food forever. But a little CAVA wouldn't hurt, I guess.