second second second chances [ot9 one direction x 5sos a.u.]

chapter 1: the tag

Memories are precious and easy to make. People go on with their day-to-day lives and make them without even realizing it; the places they visit, the people they talk to, and even the emotions that come from them. The tingling feelings caused by something happy; waves of shock and how they travel down your body; pangs of sadness when it's hard to let go of the past. A person's always making new memories. Experiencing new things, adding more things to the bill is just part of life.

All the same, a person can just as easily let go of memories. Some, of course, are harder to do so than others, and you never know which ones will stick. There's no telling how long you'll remember what you had for breakfast or what you did on that hot summer night during university orientation week. That's why it's important to live in the moment and enjoy life while you're able to remember it happening.

The shoes that were used to swivel her chair we just as quickly carrying her out of the lecture hall as soon as class ended. University has been a big change for Valerie, and it hasn't been easy to enjoy her time on campus. On top of her new assignments and incomplete homework, the weather wasn't helping her mood either.

A couple of months into school and she has never experienced an uglier Friday. The dark overcast sky and wind made her efforts to enjoy the walk back to her dorm harder than usual. The puddle riddled ground added more disappointment with every step, each one the size of mini swimming pools for the local raccoons.

Gotta love the city, she thought.

She felt the first raindrop right outside her building and felt grateful for leaving as soon as class ended, otherwise who knows where the storm would whisk her away. Almost from muscle memory, her feet carried through the building and her hands open the door to her dorm--shared with her best friend, Alex.

She kicks off her shoes and tosses her heavy school bag to the side, "Hey! You're home?"

Alex, who was sitting on the kitchen counter, was accompanied by 2 boxes of pizza and a drugstore bag of candy. It took her a second to clear her mouth before responding, "Yeah, I can't believe it either! The lab lost its power because of the storm and they let us go early." She moved the goods off to the side and patted a spot next to the counter to join her, "Pizza?"

Valerie didn't have to be asked twice as she was already getting a plate ready. Alex had started a cheese pizza, but the pepperoni was yet to be opened. She accepted the offer and joined her on the cool kitchen counter.

"Huh," Valerie grabbed a slice of cheesy meaty goodness, "so this is what it's like to have dinner together? I forgot what that was like." there was truth behind her sarcasm, and a touch of bitterness against their cruel new university lifestyle. Valerie and Alex were in different programs and had completely different schedules. Growing up together and being friends since elementary school meant that they were used to being with each other all the time; definitely more often than they were allowed to now that university is proving to be more time consuming than anticipated.

At orientation the guides tell you everything you need to know about navigating the city, where to access help, and even take you to your classes; what they don't tell you is that university is the ultimate friendship c*ckblock.

"I know, good timing too cause we need to go over those boxes.'' Alex uses her right hand holding the plate to gesture to the living area where they've been keeping the last of their belongings from back home. Packed, but never unpacked.

Valerie followed her hand and stared at the room. At first, she thought she was so sleep-deprived that she started hallucinating, but there were indeed more boxes than before she left that morning; and for that, she had Alex to blame.