Happy

Chapter One

I stared at the vast and intimidating campus of Manchester University. My now sweaty hands held my moving boxes tightly as I continued to stare down the old university building, hoping that somehow it would melt under my glare. But, of course, to no avail. It stood strong and I knew I had to go inside of it.

"Well, I've got no choice but to go," I sigh walking towards the building. I talked with the front desk to get the key to my dorm and after a long 30 minutes I finally managed to find my room on my own. I set down my boxes and dug for the key in my black skinny jean pockets and stuck it into the door. The counsellors said I shouldn't have a roommate, but this is uni who knows what will happen.

I opened the door slowly, anticipating whether or not what the front desk said was true and they were. It was a small, quaint room, that was completely empty except for a bed that sat in the right corner of the room. The walls were painted a light blue and the floors were a cream colored carpet. I picked up my boxes and set them down on the plain white mattress. There was a small bathroom that had a shower, toilet, and sink. It had an exceptional closet and one bare shelf.

I shuffled to my boxes and pulled out my Fullmetal Alchemist plushies of Alphonse and Edward Elric and set it on the shelf. I took out a picture of my family and I, setting it on the shelf also. I took out my bed covers and made my bed and sat tiredly on the bed. I pulled out my laptop and turned it on. My parents just couldn't wait to get rid of me, maybe their one and only kid would do something more with his life instead of make Youtube videos and waste his life on social media. I pulled up my channel and for a moment pondered whether or not I should make a video about my experiences so far, the only problem was, I haven't had any experiences.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. I thought to myself as I set my laptop on the bed and made my way over to the door. I opened to see a guy standing at my door.

"Hello!" He says a smile on his face and was also awkwardly waving.

"Hi," I say one side of my lips curling up into a smile. I took in all his features. He had black hair that was cut with a fringe, a lot like mine but on the opposite side. He had piercing blue eyes, a longish nose, and pale skin. Heck, I might as well remember him since he could possibly be the only friend, acquaintance seems more appropriate, at least he came to me inside of me chasing after him.

"My names Phil," He says and I notice immediately that he's rubbing his hands together. He must be nervous. "I live in the dorm a couple rooms down, I just kinda wanted to introduce myself to everyone around here... I dunno, I was gonna try and meet new people and stuff.."

"My names Dan, Dan Howell," I return the awkward wave. Jesus Christ I'm awkward. I think to myself as a silence stretches for about 10 seconds. He kept looking at me with those eyes and I just couldn't take the eerie silence anymore. "Well, I'm gonna go back and unpack my things.." I say slowly closing the door and sinking inside my comfortable abode.

"Oh! Okay, I'll see you sometime soon then." Phil says as I watch his face follow the crack in the door until it was closed and it almost made me cringe in the moment. I leaned against the door and sighed in relief. God, I'm awful at talking to people. I think as I look around the room.

"Maybe I should make that video now," I say to myself as I begin to gather all my equipment.

Once the camera started recording I introduced myself and began talking about my small experience with university and what I thought of it so far. Then suddenly, I lost hope. My heart sunk to my stomach and I looked around me. Why was I here? To make my parents happy? To try and live a life that everyone has planned, everyone but myself... I began to remember all my nerdy and kind high school friends and now I had none, zero. They've all moved on except me. I'm always the one left behind, the one who tries to hold onto things as long as I can. I know if I let go, I'll never have it ever again.