After (a rewrite)

Chapter Three

It’s almost an hour after my mom is done with her little “chat”. She warns me to stay away from parties and boys and “bad influences” (which, I’m guessing, is my new roomie). She reminds me yet again to stay focused on my goals.

Then, she smiles at me and hugs me tight.

“I’m so proud of you, honey. My little girl, off to college,” She says. Despite everything, I feel happy. It’s rare that my mom is this affectionate with me. “And it’s never too late to start thinking about your major.” She adds.

Outside the dorm, Noah is patiently waiting for us. The three of us walk to the parking lot in silence, and when my mom goes to get the car, Noah takes my hand.

“I’ll miss having you around,” He whispers. I’d miss him too. He was the only person I had throughout highschool. He leans in, but before he could kiss me my mom honks. He laughs.

“Your mom’s persistent,” he says and plants a kiss on my cheek. “Call me tonight?”

I nod. “Bye, Tess,” He says and gets in the car. My mom waves at me, and they leave. I watch the car drive off, through the stone gate, until I can’t see them anymore. I go back to my dorm room, looking at the people all around me catching up and laughing with their friends. I feel incredibly alone.

To distract myself, I unpack my clothes and fold them carefully. I arrange my textbooks on the tiny desk, absentmindedly flipping through the pages. And when there’s nothing left to unpack, I lie down. I don’t particularly feel like doing anything now.

College was supposed to be my first step into being independent. Getting a life. Getting away from my mom, a tiny part of me whispers. But I don’t know how I’d manage. I see people make new friends like they buy new clothes, but it’s impossible for me to do that. I’m not wired that way. And the worst part is, I can’t hide my loneliness here.

I fall asleep, soon.

I wake up the next morning and notice the bed next to me was still empty. I wonder whether Steph even returned from wherever she’d gone, or she just had an early start. If she did, I hadn’t heard her.

I grab my toiletry bag and head for the shower room. I wasn’t looking forward to share a bathroom with everyone on the floor. The place was filled with half naked girls and guys, brushing their teeth or shaving or drying their hair. I hope I get used to this. Either way, I make sure to draw the curtains of my stall tightly.

After I'm done I try to stop the shower. My hand hits the rack where my clothes hung and knocked them off. They, of course, get completely drenched.

“Fuck,” I swear under my breath, and wrap a towel around me tightly. Modestly wasn’t a big thing here, I guess, but I still hurry out as quick as I can.

I enter the dorm and slam the door behind me. Then, I notice someone sprawled across Steph’s bed.
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A/N: so far I haven’t made any major changes. mostly, i just wanted to emphasize on tessa as a character.
this story is a rewrite of the sorry original, which belongs to Anna Todd.