Assumptions of Oz #Wattys2016

Assumptions of Oz

I'm late.

Terribly, terribly late.

The first day of college can be stressful for anyone, sure. However, if you set your alarm clock accidentally to 7:00 PM and not 7:00 AM, causing you to wake up fifty minutes late, it can really add to the overwhelmingness of it all.

So here I am, a typical freshman wanting to make a good impression on the first day, racing down the campus like a woman who grabbed the last coffee machine at Walmart on Black Friday.

Trees, buildings, and sleazy looking students (whom I noted to steer clear of) rushed by as my backpack bobbed up and down on my right shoulder. It was a pleasant day outside with clear blue skies and birds chirping, oblivious to the majority of students contemplating existence as they hit snooze fifty times. Ah, college.

I myself didn't want to start the day--and no, that's not why I woke up late--and craved to go home to Auntie Em and Uncle Henry and play Uno to their old hearts' content. But alas, whenever I showed my disinterest towards schooling, Uncle Henry never failed to bring up one of Jim Rohn's quotes. Just yesterday Uncle Henry said to me over the phone in a confident voice, "You're life does not get better by chance. It get's better by change." Good ol' Uncle Henry, never failing to put the pressure of our entire family on my shoulders. "You'll be the first one to go to college!"

If I wasn't trying to beat the clock--and reminiscing about long dead motivational speakers--I would've realized another girl limping towards me. I did, in fact, notice her, but it was when we were already on the ground.

My bag and her's were thrown in opposite directions on impact, and we both toppled to the ground.

With me landing on top, she let out a yelp. Scrambling to my feet, I extended an arm to assist her up, and she took it gratefully. My cheeks flushed, and my face probably depicted a mortified tomato; surrealists, pay attention. Way to make a good impression, Dorth, I thought to myself as I hauled the girl up.

I was about to apologize for the collision when another girl stormed up towards me. "WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?" she screamed at me as she checked to see if my crash partner was okay. Her face looked purplish--unnaturally so--as if she were Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory before she morphed into a blueberry.

"I'm so, so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going, and--" the purple girl cut me off by sticking a sweaty hand in my face.

"Exactly!" she exclaimed, calming down just a bit, which, to say, isn't a lot. "It's people like you that make campuses like this a danger for people like my sister!" Oh, so that's her sister. Well that explains the overprotective vibe she gives.

Remembering why I crashed in the first place, I glanced down at my watch. 7:57 AM. Crap, I have to go.

I reached down to grab my backpack--or what I assumed it to be--and dashed off, yelling another apology over my shoulders.

Upon reaching my class's building, I realized something very crucial: I had absolutely, positively, no idea where my class was supposed to be. Fantastic.

I stood in the lobby (which branched off into three different hallways, each one's floor a different color) wondering how possible it was to search the entire building in--I checked my watch again--one minute.

I sunk into one of the lobby's stiff, green armchairs, defeated at last. At least one thing good came out of this, I thought, setting my backpack on the floor. If a serial killer tries to kill me, I'll know I'll be able to out run him.

As I sulked, basically giving up on finding the class all together, a voice broke out among the roar of the building's pipes. "Can I help you, Miss?"