The Universe Told Me So

Chapter One: College

"Hi, welcome to Dornwood College! I am Mary, and I can help you find where your dorm room is and I can answer any questions you may have" says a bubbly voice as I step out of the cab I had just ridden in for too many hours to even count. 

I just looked at her, thinking that her peppy attitude was too much for this early in the morning. Coming from a small, sleepy town in the middle of nowhere, having her be THIS awake at 8 am is just too much for my brain. 

"Howdy, I just need to find, ummm, Hedge Hall?" I said in a questioning voice. 

"Alright, so Hedge Hall is going to be down this way, and once you reach the end of the sidewalk that way, near the center of Freshman and Sophomore row, which is hard to miss with the large fountain, benches, and shrubs, and then you'll take a left from the fountain and it will be the building on the right-hand side, which will have a sign that says "Hedge Hall" on it," Mary said in her annoying, peppy voice. 

"Okay, thanks," I said in a small voice. 

Walking in the direction that Mary pointed in, I put one foot in front of the other, just like how my foster mom always told me to take life. Just putting one foot in front of the other, just like how she lived her whole life before she... 

I shook my head, not wanting to think like that. It didn't matter, the past was in the past and right now, I was putting my new foot forward. I knew my mama would be proud to know I'm going to the same college as she did when she was my age, even for the same major. 

Looking down at my phone lock screen, I couldn't help but get teary-eyed as I saw the last picture me and my mama took together. We were standing on the beach, both smiling in our bathing suits and our matching sun hats that we had bought when we reached Hawaii. Our matching blonde hair was shining in the sun, our smiles stretching across our faces. Mama had her arm around my waist and I was hugging her around the neck, as she was a few inches shorter than I was. 

"I miss you so much mama," I thought as I smiled down at our picture together. 

Locking my phone and placing it back into the pocket of my skinny jeans, I rolled my small suitcase that held all the belongings I needed toward where I was going to be staying for the next four years. The sound of my suitcase rolling over the sidewalk bumps and rocks was the only thing I could hear, and in the distance, there was the sound of other students talking and laughing with one another. 

Bubbling sounds from the large fountain in front of me in the center of Freshman and Sophomore row came up soon, but I saw it before I heard it, the water glistening in the sunlight of the Tennessee sunshine. I had come from North of here, and I wasn't used to having the sunshine all the time, hopefully, there was a store near here so I could grab some items that I would need, like some actual sunglasses. 

Hearing the sounds of laughter get louder and louder as I approached the fountain. Students were sitting around on the benches and on the side of the fountain, talking to one another in groups spread out here and there. There were what I assumed were the nerds, geeks, or whatever they were called these days because I'm not one to label anyone in any way. There was also a group of girls with many different colors of pink in their hair, like cotton candy at a carnival. 

Then, there was the Goth, Emo, or whatever they may be called nowadays sitting by the fountain wearing different shades of grey and black, but they had all different shades of hair, from red to dark green to black to blue, and all the colors in between. 

Walking past them, I made my way to the left, where Mary had told me to go in the first place and say two buildings on that side of campus. The campus was set up so that all the lodging was on either side of the campus, with freshmen and sophomores on one side and juniors and seniors on the other side. Classes were held in buildings based on majors between the two sides of the dorms. I was in Psychology, which was in the Morns Building.