Overnight

Chapter One

Catherine's pov

I sigh as I watch the familiar trees of my home town pass by. As much as I disliked this place, I'll miss the serenity and beauty of the scenery. But I have to move on and focus on why I decided to go to NYU. I want to help people and make the world a better and safer place. I couldn't do that back in Rochester. As we merge onto the highway, I automatically put my earbuds in. I don't want to be bothered with what idle small talk my dad wants to come up with this time. No matter what, I don't want to talk to him. He's partly the reason why I'm leaving. I can sense him looking over at me but I make no moves to acknowledge him. 

After almost an hour of silence, he decides to talk. "You can't ignore me for the whole ride. You've got to talk to me sometime," he sighs while tapping me. I pull out one of my earbuds and turn around. I looked at the man that I closely resembled. But I remembered that we were only physically similar. The same black hair that came to my shoulders and his more salt and pepper than black. The same gray eyes that I was grateful to have. His were more watery than mine, which I was more than happy to point out were different. "There isn't anything to really talk about. I know the facts. You didn't need us so you packed up and left. When you found out Mom was almost gone, you finally decided to come back into our lives long enough for her to feel slightly confident in leaving me in your care. But you failed to tell her that you already have a family that you care for and that you felt obligated to take me in," I sneer folding my arms.

He seems taken aback by my outburst."That's not fair Catherine. You know none of that is true-"

"Than what is? I was seven years old for Christs sake not a newborn. I can piece together a bit of information. And for the record I never asked for this. If it were up to me, I'd be driving up to NYU with Mom not you, I wouldn't have known you and your little secret were around and Mom would be alive. But the world is cruel. And that's why I plan on fixing it, so no one has to deal with that kind of pain." I felt relieved to get that off my chest. He needed to hear that just in case he hadn't gotten the message. 

When my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer it was too late. She was on her last legs and there wasn't much they could do. I felt completely helpless. She was going to die and I was going to be alone. For the last almost year she was alive. She helped me figure out my passion in life: helping others. Together we looked at colleges with medical programs and decided that NYU was my best bet. I would be close to home and I already had some credits toward a nursing degree. I decided to pay close attention whenever Mom went into the hospital. I wanted as much experience as possible. Soon I had graduated high school and my mom had passed leaving me with a man I hadn't known since I was seven.

Here I was. Almost an hour away from my new home and life. A place where I wasn't pitied for being basically an orphan or bullied because I was so damn optimistic. No, here I would be able to meet people who had the same beliefs as me. I would meet people who could help me do what is thought to be impossible. 

Soon we were at my school and I wanted to leave the car as quickly as possible. "Hold on Catherine. At least let me help get your things to your dorm." I couldn't help but roll my eyes. If he wanted to help, he should have been there before it was too late. I let him carry my supplies while I took my bags and headed for my room. I scanned the halls for room 48B. A few students lined the halls, all of whom weren't with their parents. I continued until I found the room and opened the door. It was small with two beds and two desks. A dresser accompanied each person. I realized that I would have to use the public showers. I shuddered at the thought of the germs but I turned to my dad. He seemed out of place. Socializing with his oldest child wasn't his forte. 

"Well I think I can take care of everything from now. I guess you can go back home now. Can't leave Georgia and the little buggers alone for too much longer. I can take care of myself. Thanks for everything." I turn my back to start to unpack. I honestly don't know what he expects out of me. I won't hug him when I haven't been able to for over ten years. He leaves the room and heads back to the car. I sigh and start unpacking my bags. My clothes don't support the latest fashion trends but who needs fashion when you'll be working for majority of your time. After I finished putting my clothes away, I started on organizing my supplies. In the middle of setting up my bed, a loud laugh can be heard outside the door. 

The door is flung open by a blonde girl and boy who appear to be having a good time. I feel like I should introduce myself, but I'm probably too awkward. They walk across the room and totally ignore me. The boy flops onto the bed and hangs upside down. "Hello there. I'm Ashton. You must be Tara's roommate." The boy seems to be outgoing and funny by the way he's smiling. Tara turns around and smiles. "Um yeah. My name's Catherine with a c," I start off. I look at the two of them and wonder if they're dating. "Well I'm Tara and I'm a sophomore. So is Ashton. So Catherine with a c, whats your major?" She seems like a nice girl and hopefully she and I can be friends. 

"I'm majoring in nursing what about you guys?" I'm trying to be as social as possible, but that's hard to do when you didn't have any friends in high school. They go on to tell me that Tara is in Communications as well as Ashton. That was the reason they were good friends. "So Cat, are you up for a small party later on? Some of our friends are having a small meet up later on," Tara asked. I pondered a bit. This would probably be my first time to make friends. "Yeah that sounds cool," I say. We decide to meet up in an hour outside of mine and Tara's room. I finish setting up my side of the room and look at my empty bags and look at my last belonging. It's a picture of my mom and I at graduation. The last picture I have a her alive. I breathe in and take the picture out. I gently set it up on my side table and touched the picture of my mom. I smile faintly and turn around. I pick up my phone and an hour has almost passed. Tara looks ready to leave, so I grab my wallet and follower her. 

"So who's all going besides you me and Ashton?" I hope that didn't sound like I was prying. Thankfully she didn't. "Besides us it's Michael, Calum, Stella, and Luke. They're all pretty cool," she said trailing off. A group of people with Ashton were walking toward us and to be honest, they all looked super tough and grunge like. They had piercings and tattoos and all wore torn skinny jeans. 

"Let's go somewhere to eat," the girl whined. I guessed she was Stella since she was the only other girl in the group. Her whiny voice seemed to grate against my eardrums and I wanted to cringe. Everyone agreed and we walked to the nearby Burger King. I'm not a huge fan of fast food but if that's what everyone was going I would too.

We all ordered our food and sat at one of the big booths. I stuck next to Tara and ate a few of my fries and I tried to remain invisible. Everyone was busy talking and laughing when all of a sudden a deep voice spoke above the rest. "So does the new chick have a name or what," it rumbled.

I look up and make contact with two piercing eyes. They were so blue I thought I was looking at ponds. I clear my throat, "It's Catherine." Tara pipes up, " With a c." 

"Or you could call her Cat," Ashton says trying to break the silence. Everyone stares at me taking in my appearance. I guess I don't really fit in. I was wearing skinny jeans and a flower top. Definitely not the norm around them.

"Mewow. Alright Cat, I'm Luke," he says smirking. I blush and stare at my burger. I never had that much attention from a guy before. Unless you count middle school. The group stayed there for another hour and soon it was eleven at night. Throughout the entire time, Luke kept staring at me like I was some rare new specimen. I probably was. We headed back to the dorms and I went with Tara. I wanted to ask Tara why Luke had made that kind of comment toward me, but I didn't want to start anything. 

We ended up staying up for awhile more talking about high school. I made sure to leave out the part about my mom. I didn't know her that well and didn't want to reveal a lot about myself. We end up going to bed soon and I couldn't shake the feeling that this college would change me.

So here is the long awaited story. Sorry I didn't get it up earlier. It turns out that exams are harder than I thought. But thankfully I survived my freshman year of high school (yay!). I hope you guys like this and the next part will be up next week. Please vote and comment and I'll see you guys next week

xoxo Adrianna