Chatoyant College Book 5: Parents' Weekend

Chapter 2: An Early Morning

Saturday, October 4

The alarm, its usually gentle beep seeming to shriek in Dawn's brain, dragged her up out of sleep. She groaned softly and moved her arm around, looking for the alarm, but it was too late to go back to sleep. She was awake enough to remember what day it was. It was the first day of Parents' Weekend, and her parents and Aunt Pru would be here soon. They had refused to consider coming later in the day, insisting that they wanted to take Dawn out for breakfast (though where they were taking her, she didn't know), and seeming oblivious to the fact that for college students like her, breakfast was no earlier than ten o'clock.

It was definitely too early. The sun didn't even seem to be all the way up yet, though the lack of light might have been due more to the fact that she couldn't quite open her eyes all the way. She quickly grabbed her towel and her shower basket, grateful that at least the bathroom was empty at this hour of the morning. The shower woke her up further, and she felt almost alert by the time Dawn returned to her darkened room. She only felt a small pang of jealousy towards Naomi, who was visible only as a vague lump under her blanket.

Dawn opened the window before getting dressed to find out what the weather was like. She was hit by a chilly blast of air and closed it again quickly, rubbing her nose. Cool, then, windy, and damp. It didn't seem to be raining like it had been yesterday, but that might be only a momentary break in the clouds. She picked out a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and a jacket and scarf. The combination of a deadline and the cold made her dress quickly.

Finally, she hurried down the stairs—trying not to make too much noise—and headed outside. She was supposed to meet her parents and aunt at the gates to the college.

The first person she saw, to her surprise, was Corrie, running and then walking up to the door of the dorm. Dawn held it for her. "Dawn!" Corrie exclaimed when she saw her. "What are you doing up this early? I'm not used to seeing anyone else except Byron at this time of morning."

Dawn couldn't suppress a yawn, and smiled wryly when she was done. "My parents and Aunt Pru insisted on taking me out to breakfast. They'll be here any minute."

Corrie grinned. "Well, have fun. I'll see you later, I guess—I'd ask to come along but right now I need a shower more than anything."

Dawn mimed being disgusted by Corrie's smell, then waved her inside, smiling. "I'm sure they'll want to meet you guys. See you later."

The sun was definitely just rising above the trees as Dawn walked toward the iron gates of the school. The air smelled like damp and rot, probably from all those fallen, wet leaves around. At least there wasn't any frost yet. It wouldn't be long until there was, though.

Dawn was about to take a seat on one of the benches by the gate, but thought better of it when she realized that there were still puddles on them from the rain yesterday. She looked up at the sky, concerned, but it didn't seem to be threatening more rain.

It was so quiet this early in the morning. There were sounds of cars driving on the highway, and of people starting to get up and let dogs and cats out in the town, but they were distant and faint. The only real noise was the perfectly natural sound of a bird in a nearby tree that was either very pleased with itself or trying to attract a mate.

She didn't have to listen for long, though. After a few moments there were voices and the sound of shoes against pavement. Then her parents and aunt rounded the corner. Dawn broke into a grin and walked quickly over to hug them. They happily greeted each other. Dawn suddenly felt relaxed in a way she hadn't even noticed before—if she'd been tense, she hadn't realized it.

"So what's the plan?" she said when her parents had made sure she was all in one piece. "You said you wanted to have breakfast..."

Her mom nodded. "Well, last night we looked around the little town we're staying in—" she gestured to the town across from the college—"but the only place we saw that looked like it would serve breakfast is a diner. Is that okay? We can drive around some more and look for a different place if you want."

Dawn's stomach felt hollow. Getting up at such an early hour disagreed with her in more than one way. And just the mention of breakfast at a diner, bringing to mind fresh eggs and hot pancakes, made her salivate a little. "If no one else objects, that's perfectly fine with me."

"Okay, let's go!" said her dad.