Born in prison, in love with a cliché.

𝚃 𝚆 𝙴 𝙽 𝚃 𝚈 𝚂 𝙸 𝚇

December 28th. The day has come.

That sounded dramatic but yeah, it's kinda terrifying.

Clara helped me pick out my outfit for today. A dark green top with the ripped jeans, my vans, and leather jacket. I wore my hair down today since Clara basically forced me and wore a little make-up to cover up my flaws. Concealer and mascara basically do it for me.

As I walk out of my room, Zach is sitting at the kitchen island waiting for me. When he sees me he stands up and walks towards me. "How are you feeling?" He asks me after giving me a peck on the lips. "Very fucking nervous," I confess and he grins while giving me another lingering kiss.

"Well you know I could make you take your mind off things for a second."  He smirks and I chuckle. "You already did that last night, how about you just let me go to school now." I grin at him and he lets out a humorous groan.

"You'll be the death of me." He gives me another kiss. "Have fun." He reassures me and I nod. "Thank you, I'll see you later." And with that, I'm out the door. Pretty much shitting bricks, I walk downstairs to see Clara already waiting for me.

"Clara it's an introduction day, not the actual first day. You're over-reacting." I tell her when I see her look nervously at me. Something I've been telling myself for the past hour. I'm still not sure if I believe myself.

"Davina, I'm telling you this because I love you, but you're an idiot if you think this day isn't important. You're starting the second semester of the season, most students already know each other, and people can be cruel. You have to use that thick skin of yours that you build up in prison if somebody is being an ass. I'm not kidding."

"Well, thank you for making me feel more at ease," I say sarcastic as we walk out of the building, into her car. "I just want to prepare you for the worst so that whatever happens today won't be too bad."

"I know Clara, I'll be fine," I reassure her and she nods. As we drive to school Clara goes over the common things with me. She cares about me having a good time in college.

"I'm just worried. You never got to see the school before you applied. You don't know if you actually like the school or feel comfortable in it." Clara says nervously.

"Well, we'll leave it to be a surprise then."

As we pull up in the parking lot, I look at the big white building in front of us. My heart is in my throat and I swallow hard before grabbing my backpack and getting out. I got nothing more than a notebook, a few pens, and the essentials on paper with me.

Clara gets out too and walks over to me. She pulls me into a hug and squeezes me tight. "I'm proud of you Dav." She says as she pulls back and I chuckle. "You're like a mother that's sending her child off to college." She smiles. "Well, somebody has to." She winks at me and I smile at her gratefully. I'm happy she's here with me every step of the way. What would I do without her?

"Well, wish me luck mom." I joke and she laughs. "Will do. I pick you up at 12, right here okay?"

"See you then!" And with that, I walk off to the building. My backpack hanging on only one shoulder and my hand in my pocket. As I get closer I can feel my stomach squeezing tighter.

As I walk inside a new wave of nervousness washes over me.

Come on, Davina. You're fine. I tell myself yet again as I start searching for the room I have to be. Level B, room 206. As I walk up the stairs I get a better look at the first level. This is my first time in this school, everything is so new.

I mean, it's actually the first time I'm in an actual school so of course, everything's new.

I finally find the classroom and carefully walk inside. On my right is standing the teacher in front of a desk with his laptop. Behind him is hanging a big screen. On my left are the seats that slowly make their way up. There are already people seated. Some are sitting together and chatting, others are sitting alone and are silent.

Do I sit alone? Do I join someone? What the hell do I do?

I let out a deep breath, flip my hair, and walk towards a random seat. I keep my head held high and slowly regain my confidence as I feel the leather jacket, almost protect me.

It reminds me of Zach and without thinking, my hand finds its way to my necklace. I let my fingers fiddle with the lock as I sit down and let my backpack slide off my shoulder.

After about five minutes more people have come in and the professor shuts the door of the classroom. "Welcome everybody. I'm glad you could all join us today. I hope you all had a great Christmas. In a minute I will hand out your schedules and maps of the school. After the introduction and questions, we will have a little tour of the school to show you where your classes will be and then we hopefully have made it through the hour. My name is Mr. Adams. I teach Criminology."

After the introduction, he asks us one by one to pick up our schedule and after that, we go on the tour.

I let out a breath as I look at it. Those are a lot of classes. Lord help us all because this is a lot. I've got to talk to my manager about changing my work hours.

After the tour, it's exactly 12 and when I walk into the parking lot, Clara is already waiting for me. "So how does your schedule look?"

"It's a lot of introductory classes in the first part of the semester. Introduction to Sociology, Psychology, Corrections, and criminal justice program. It's a lot. Like a hell lot." I tell her as I look at my schedule, remembering all the classes that were explained to us.

"Made any friends?"

"Not really, nobody was really talkative." She nods and so we drive back to my apartment. "So your first day is on the-?"

"-4th of January." I finish the sentence for her. "Damn girl, you either have to start driving or buy a bus ticket because I won't be able to drive you all the time. I mean the University of Chicago isn't cheap and is pretty far away from your school."  I nod in agreement.

"I know, I'll have to ask Zach to help me out on that one. What exactly are you studying by the way? I never thought of asking you." A smile creeps on Clara's lips. "Oh my god, Davina you should see it. The school is beautiful like I'm in the UK or something. That's partly the reason why I chose to study there. I'm studying business right now, it's my first year. I'm not sure what I want to do after college but I enjoy the course so I should be fine." She tells me happily and I laugh at her excitement. You don't see people getting excited about school a lot. I guess we're the oddballs out.

As Clara drops me off at the apartment complex and I get inside I feel a wave of relief wash over me. It was a nerve-wracking day but I made it. Now I have a few hours left before I have to go to work and talk to my manager about my hours.

When I enter the apartment it's empty. Zach is probably doing whatever the fuck he's doing. Him, being a drug-dealer is already not okay, let alone in a gang but I'm not his mother. He has the right to make his own decisions as long as he can deal with the consequents.

So this is a short chapter. I'm so sorry! It is what it is. I promise I'll make it up to you. There is still a lot to come so buckle up because shit is about to go down ;)