TIES.

CHAPTER 1:

I woke up to the droning and piercing screaming of my alarm clock. As my brain slowly woke itself up from its comfortable slumber, my numb fingers made their way out from under the white covers and slowly dragged themselves towards where the screaming of my six o'clock wake up call came from. Across my bed side table they went, eventually locating the alarm clock and slithering over the smooth, cold top until finally finding a small bump and pressing it down. The screaming stopped and I let out a sigh.

I recoiled my arm back and into my chest then rolling over on to my back, I placed my arm across my forehead staring at the ceiling... today's the day. Well not the  day, that's tomorrow but... close enough. Tomorrow I escape to Seattle and begin studying art in the hopes to pursue my life dreams. Today is the last of my dorm room shopping and the last of my "new wardrobe" shopping... 

I reluctantly rolled out of bed... almost in the literal sense, and made my way out to the kitchen. A cup of tea in the morning is always the best way to go, a habit I adopted from my mother. 

I had been brought up in a wealthy family but I never liked to use that to my advantage, I never liked that to be the first point of conversation between me and a stranger. I was forever grateful for the life and family I was given but again... I didn't want people to know me as the wealthy snob from two doors down. So I kept a low profile. I got good grades and passed every class, lived in an amazing house. Everything I could have wanted, I was grateful and I was happy.

The chrome coloured kettle clicked as it came to a boil. I placed the average tea bag in the cup, then two sugars and poured the steaming water on top. Watching as the tea leaves begin to dissolve into the water and the swirling patterns begin, I pour the milk. With tea in hand, I pace back to my room, grab my notepad off of my desk and retreat under the covers... list making time. Making a list of everything I thought I may need extras of, I wrote down:

- black, red & blue pens

- extra notebooks

- PLANNER!!!

- highlighters

- sticky notes

- coloured pens

With the pen in between my teeth, I clicked my tongue thinking if there was anything else I would need... if there was I would grab it, but I think that was it. 

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The warm water dribbled its way down to my feet, along the floor in a circular motion then falling down the drain, as it massaged my muscles on the way. Shampooing my hair was a time of many emotions... as I lathered it into my blonde roots, the reality of attending university really hit me. It's tomorrow. Tomorrow is when the first step to achieving my reality begins. Tomorrow is a day I have been waiting for for my entire life, since I was a child and it's finally here. If I was to be honest with myself, I didn't believe it. I just kept imaging that soon I would wake up to another alarm clock and another day of anticipation, waiting to walk in to my new dorm room... but it isn't a dream... it's actually happening.

I smiled to myself as a turned off the water, silently congratulating myself for my achievements. 

*Okay, you can do it. You're fine.* I thought to myself as the nerves began to set in, making my stomach sink and feel increasingly heavy. 

I glanced in the mirror at my ghastly appearance. Something needs to change... I got dressed first; black denim shorts, a grey tee with a wave on the front covering the pocket and my Nike's. Again, looking in the mirror, my hair was a wet, tangled mess. I was not going shopping the way I looked. I braided my hair in two braids and only applied light makeup, but enough to make me look half alive. I brushed on a little bronzer to add depth and some blush to freshen up my face, then mascara to both my upper and lower eyelashes. Of course, a slightly pink tinted lip balm for my slightly chapped lips. 

Looking in the mirror one last time, I agreed with the reflection of a slightly too pale me, that I looked at least presentable. Mum and dad were still asleep, I didn't bother to wake them as I grabbed my list of things to get and my keys. 

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The drive was a short and peaceful one. It did leave me alone with my thoughts, something I don't really like to do that often but it let me clear my head at least. I entered the store, twisting and turning the crinkled list in between my fingers as I made a direct B-Line for the stationery isle. Pencil cases were the first thing - I found a small black one with a dream catcher on it. The way the different shades of brown on the feathers blended effortlessly together was quite amazing, but what was the most eye catching element of the whole thing was the absolutely beautiful wolf that was displayed in the middle of it. I then moved on to highlighters - yellow, orange, green, blue, purple and pink. Then sticky notes to mark my textbooks and notepads, then pens and of course my new planner. New stationery was one of my favourite things. Clean, fresh paper to use. Sounds stupid but its true. 

Okay. Planners. Difficult decision... what colour? What layout? After debating over about three different styles of planners, I chose one with a black background that had tropical style leaves printed throughout the front and back covers, and in gold was '2016 Planner' written across the front. 

Bags was the next thing. I didn't know whether to get a shoulder bag or a back pack, I thought I would just look and see what they had to start with.

I believe around 30 minutes had passed and me leaving the bag section to look at clothes and shoes, before I made my final decision - I found a chocolate brown, leather patterned back pack with pockets that had boho/hippie prints on them. Big enough to fit my books and anything else necessary, I decided it was the best way to go. In the mean time I had selected out a few clothing pieces to add to the 'Uni' pile too: four plain tees (two black, one grey and one white), a couple of simple black singlets, converse because you know, who doesn't love a pair of converse? Two pairs of flats (one black and one nude), new shorts, new jeans and then some tank tops and other printed tees. 

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*3 hours later*

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing the remainder of my bags and listening to the small, light drops of rain hit the roof. I was excited, but I was nervous, and at that current time I wasn't exactly sure which emotion was the more stronger out of the two. But which ever it was prevented me from falling asleep for quite awhile... the last time I remembered checking the clock was 9:15... then my eyes became heavy and slowly started to close as I drifted back in to the comfortable slumber I regrettably woke up from that morning...