Wonderwalls {HS}

II

We pull up to the campus and I am in awe. The buildings are a gorgeous cream color topped in red, and palace-like. In front of me stands a gateway; the steel metalworking curled like gates you would see in mid-evil Europe. The campus seems completely separate from the city and the only thing really city-like about it is the faint Chicago skyline visible beyond the countless trees.

I grab one of the few boxes that hasn't already been shipped and start start walking towards the registration desk. I then feel the box start to slip from my hands and I fall onto the ground, hard.

Well shit.

I fumble around, trying to pick up items that have been sprawled all over from the impact. Embarrassed, I put my stuff in the box as quickly as possible so I can find my mom before heading to my dorm.

"Hey, you good?" A deep voice says from behind me. I turn around to see a tall boy wearing a SnapBack, chocolate brown curls poking out from underneath. He is quite attractive... and I'm on my knees...

"Uhh yeah... I'm good," I say, obviously lying.

"Alright just checking. Looks like you took a pretty hard fall," the boy laughs. Is he British? I think he's British oh my god.

"I'm Harry by the way." He picks up the white picture frame by his feet and hands it to me. "Junior."

"Thanks," I reply taking the frame. "Finley, the one and only."

Harry lets out a quick laugh, then covers his mouth with his hand. "I meant that I'm a junior. Here at Chicago."

"Oh, well in that case I'm a freshman," I say, feeling even more embarrassed than I did when I fell.

"I can tell... Well, um, it's was nice meeting you, Finley the one and only," he laughs at his own joke. I smile and Harry walks away, goofy smile plastered to his face. Realizing I'm still on my knees, I stand up and grab the box. In the crowd of students and parents, I spot my mom at the registration desk. I head in that direction, making sure I keep Harry in my line of vision. He has met up with a large group of boys and is currently talking to a blonde guy wearing a University of Chicago sweatshirt. Actually most of the students on campus are wearing their UC gear. I look down at my Rolling Stones shirt and red and black flannel. Guess I didn't get the memo.

I find my mom at the desk. She's chatting the the red headed girl who tells all the freshman where their dorms are. Oh god. I can tell she's staring to get weepy. She pushes a stand of her honey blonde hair out of her eyes and pulls a tissue out of her pocket. Maybe this is the right time to ask where my dorm is...

"Hi, Finley Martin," I say to to the redhead, giving her a smile. She smiles back.

"Welcome, Finley. Looks like you're in Broadview Hall, C5. It's the big brick building on Hyde," she says.

"Thanks," I say and turn to face my mom. "Ready to go?"

We grab our boxes and head for Hyde. I take out my campus map, and see that's it's a few block away. Thank god I chose to wear boots. I look over at my mom, hoping she's not wearing heels. Luckily she's wearing little blue canvas sneakers. Good, I couldn't deal with her complaining about how much her feet hurt today.

I really hope that Broadview isn't the only brick building on Hyde, since that's the only information the girl gave me. I look around and see dozens of old brick buildings in front of me.

Fuck me.