and it was perfect

Chapter 1

"Please don't let this be a mistake." I quietly whispered as I stood in the middle of the campus, looking at the buildings and greenery around me. Southern Oklahoma State University was a small College an hour away from Oklahoma City. It wasn't anything special with its red and white brick walls, average-sized hearing rooms, and small park areas and cafés surrounding the main buildings. Nothing had the same authority or majestic feeling I was used to back in Seattle. Yet, it was exactly what I wanted. Most people wouldn't understand my decision. Why would any sane person move from an elite college in Washington to a small-town college in the middle of nowhere? Let alone pack her bags weeks into the semester and transfer to a college all across the States? Not even my parents were happy about it, but in the end, they had to agree - I was 21 and no longer a minor. I could make my own decisions. Plus, it was cheaper anyway.

I needed a clean slate. I slowly exhaled and took another look around me. Zoe was supposed to meet me in front of the central fountain five minutes ago. I usually didn't mind people being late; I wasn't even punctual myself. But I didn't know anyone here except my distant cousin and the kind secretary who helped me with the transfer and handed me all the paperwork I had to complete before attending the first lectures tomorrow. It made me nervous. At least this isn't high school, I reminded myself, watching the fellow students around me, all busy studying, relaxing in the grass, or talking to each other while walking to their classes. No one took notice of me; nobody knew this was the first time I had stepped foot on this campus. Perfect. People staring at me made me incredibly nervous, I was an introvert through and through.

Used to be, I quietly corrected my thoughts. I wasn't planning on staying the quiet, innocent people pleaser I used to be a few months ago. This was supposed to be my new start, and I had absolutely no interest in staying the same person over here. Whenever someone noticed me looking at them, I gave them a quick little smile before looking away. I started playing with my car keys; then I quickly looked at my phone screen. She was ten minutes late but hadn't texted me yet. Instead, there was a message from my mum: "How are you doing, sweetie? How's the room?" and another missed call from Nate. I sighed and quickly deleted its notification. I had changed my number several times and blocked him, but he always found his way. Ignoring his calls and messages was annoying, but a tiny part of me still wanted to see the notifications showing up. I guess I still needed the gratification that he cared and was too curious to see when he would finally stop. So much for a clean slate. I sighed again and looked up.

There she was. A pretty girl with short dark curls quickly made her way through the students and gave me a huge smile. "I'm so sorry I'm late, Professor Dixon wouldn't stop talking about the assignment, and I really have to pass this time. Damn, you look good, Jen! What happened to your hair?" She had always been a quick talker, and I tried to keep up with all the information leaving her mouth within what felt like two seconds. "Hey Zoe, no problem." I greeted her and gave her a warm hug. "And thanks, you look great too!" I smiled at my cousin while she kept checking me out. "Seriously, what happened to you? I only recognized you cause your mom told mine you'd dyed your hair back. But it's not just that; you look so ... different. And damn, you got in shape." I slowly nodded. "Yeah, I needed a change. The stereotypical new hair, new me phase after the breakup." She gave me an understanding smile, and we started walking toward the parking lot. "Anyways, welcome to Fairviews. You're gonna love it here. How do you like it so far? Did you get all the paperwork done?"

"I did. And well ... I haven't seen much yet, but I really like it so far. It's very ... peaceful." She laughed and shook her head. "Peaceful, that's cute. I'm gonna ask you again after a week or two. It may not look like it now, but the people here know how to party. Hard."
"Oh, I didn't know." I certainly wasn't a fan of going out a lot, but I mentally put it on my list of things I had to work on. Those weren't those awful parties of Seattle. "Do you go out often as well? Is it more like house parties or actual clubs?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Both, actually. There are only a handful of decent clubs in this boring ass town, but in my-" she corrected herself, "and also your new house, the guys are friends with the frats, and we're invited to different houses pretty much every day." Finally, we reached my car, and I opened the driver's cabin while Zoe sat in the passenger seat. "I can't wait for you to meet them. This is so exciting." I gave her a little smile and started the car. "Yeah, me too. Thanks again for doing this."