the tree house

[ch.53] settling into college

Valentina's pov:

"We are here," I heard my dad speak as he took one of my earphones out of my ear, shaking me awake slightly as I fluttered my eyes open.

I squinted my eyes due to the bright sun shining through my dads tinted windows.
I adjusted to the light as I eyed all of the college students and the large building in front of me. I gotta admit, it looked amazing, but it made me sad as it is going to be my home for the next four years, well the dorm rooms will be.

"Wow," Annie said from behind me as I nodded, still eyeing the humongous art college building.

"Where are the dorm rooms?" I questioned with furrowed brows, my dad chuckling softly.

"They will tell you, don't worry," he smiled as he squeezed my shoulder slightly.

I nodded as he hopped out of the car, leaving Annie and I alone in the car in silence.
"I'm nervous," Annie spoke from the backseat, her voice cracking.

I turned around in my seat as I looked at her, a frown on her face as her brown eyes flickered to mine.

I sighed as I reached out to grab my bestfriends hand, "me too Annie, but we have each other. I will always be here no matter what," I smiled softly at her.

A smile made it's way onto her lips as she looked at me.
"Thank you Valentina, I'm so glad to have you as a bestfriend."

"Me too," I whispered as I let go of her hand, hopping out of the car, soon opening her car door with a beaming smile.
"Ready?" I huffed, trying to stay happy as I avoided thinking about my other bestfriends back at home.

"Ready as I ever will be," she spoke with a sad smile as I sent her one back.

We both went to the boot where my dad was unpacking our bags.
"You girls ready?" he sadly smiled, making my stomach drop as I stared at my dad with a frown.

"Are you alright dad?" I softly spoke as I touched his arm.

"Y-yeah," he sniffled. "I'm just going to miss you Val, you're my daughter I hadn't seen in thirteen years and now you're leaving again," he chuckled softly.

I smiled sadly at him as I pulled him into a hug.
"I'm going to miss you more dad."

He swayed us back and forth as his arms were wrapped securely around my upper back.
"I'm so proud of you Valentina, you have come so far over the past months. You've, well, um-" he hesitated, not knowing if he should say it.
"You've gone from living in a tree house to attending one of America's best art colleges."

My smile widened as I grew proud of myself. He was right, I had become far. I went from running away, building and living in a tree house and being poor to finding my family, attending a school, graduating and to college.

"Enjoy yourself, but not too much. You need to make sure you study," my dad said as he pulled away from the hug, giving me a stern look as his eyebrows raised.

"Yes dad," I chuckled as he ruffled my hair with a wide smile.

"Good girl," he said as I cringed, a smug look appearing across his face as he turned to close his car boot.
"Let's go."

We all picked up our bags as we started walking across the car park, getting closer to the admin building so we could get ourselves sorted.