Moon Rise (Ryan Magee)

one

College fucking sucks. It sucks everything. My energy, my money, everything but my dick. But I've been enduring it for three years, so I'm kind of committed. I'm just trying to get through this semester unscathed. Graduate in the spring and get the hell out.

Moving into my own apartment has made it all a bit easier, I suppose. I live with my two best friends, Holly and Suzy. I don't know how I'd survive without them. They're a bit older than me; they've already graduated and have big girl jobs. I met Suzy in a photography class, and I met Holly through her. Now, Suzy owns a cute boutique full of weird, creepy stuff. And Holly works at a vet's office. She's really good with birds.

On the first day of my Senior year, my alarm seems louder than normal. It blares I Just Can't Wait To Be King from The Lion King. Pro tip: never set your favorite Disney song as your alarm.

I roll out of bed and suddenly am aware of the smell of bacon creeping in under my door. I instantly perk up and mosey to the kitchen. Holly is standing over the stove, flipping three pieces of bacon. On the kitchen table, at my place, sits a plate piled with eggs, bacon, and an english muffin smothered in butter and honey. I smile and barrel into Suzy, who is placing three yellow flowers in a vase on the counter. She smiles and turns to hug me back.

"What the fuck, you guys, this is awesome!" I say, crossing to hug Holly.

"Well, it's your last first day of school, so we thought we'd treat you to breakfast!" Holly turns back around and puts the bacon on another plate. She and Suzy sit with me at the kitchen table

"So what classes are you taking?" Suzy asks, shoveling a forkful of pancake into her mouth. I giggle at her.

"Law and Ethics for Photojournalists, Website Design for Photographers, Darkroom, Astronomy, and Astronomy Lab." I try to remember if there's anything else. In the past, I've taken more classes at a time. I don't know how my final science and lab have escaped me.

"Oooh, astronomy lab should be cool," Suzy says. I shrug.

"I mean, I had to spend almost $500 on a fucking telescope, so it better be interesting." I shudder thinking about how sad my bank account was after that purchase.

"Do you at least get to keep it? It might be cool." I nod at Holly in response.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna return it and just get half my money back." I scoff and get up to put my plate in the sink. "Thank you guys so much for the breakfast!" I call over my shoulder.

"No problem!" Holly checks her phone. "Oh, shit, I told Mrs. Harris I'd come in early to check on Sprinkles." She puts her phone in the pocket of her scrubs and heads towards the door.

"See you later!" Suzy and I say at the same time. Suzy gathers the rest of the plates and heads to the sink. I head back to my room and throw on some clothes. I decide to go with a yellow tee shirt and jeans. The last time I put effort into a "first day" outfit was my first day of freshman year. Never again. I quickly put in some earrings, brush my hair, and cover it with my favorite hat. I put my headphones in and grab my backpack before heading to the door. Suzy stops me and pulls me into a hug.

"Have fun, okay?!" She's way too chipper. It's not even 9am.

"I will, mom." She giggles steps to the side, letting me leave our apartment.

The walk to campus is only about 10 minutes. I have a car, but I love how pretty South Carolina is this time of year.

I find my first class, Law and Ethics for Photojournalists, pretty easily. I sit through a half hour of the professor droning on about the syllabus and how he grades for attendance. Great.

My next class isn't for another hour, so I decide to get some tea. I stand in line for what feels like hours before I finally get to the front of the line. I order my tea and get a very strange look from the girl behind the counter.

"You know it's like a million degrees outside, right?"

"I'm aware..." I reply, retracting the dollar I was placing in the tip jar.

"And you're ordering hot tea."

"I'm aware." I offer her a smug smile before heading to the pick-up counter. Once I get my tea, I add some milk and watch it float to the top before stirring it in. I've got the lid almost secured when I turn around. Before I can walk away, I smack into something. Or someone. I don't have a lot of time to process it. My t-shirt is soaked with hot tea. At least it smells nice.

"WHAT THE HELL." I say when the burning sensation finally hits my skin. I peel the soaked fabric off of my chest and look up. A guy stands in front of me. He's taller than me, with a mop of dark hair poking out from underneath a baseball hat. His brown eyes are wide, and lined with the longest eyelashes I've ever seen on a boy. He's wearing a shirt with the Nirvana logo on it, but it's an egg instead of a smiley face. The word "Eggslut" is written above it.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see where I was going... I'm so sorry." He grabs a handful of napkins and hands them to me. I take them and start dabbing my shirt. I catch a glimpse at the time on my watch. My next class, Astronomy lab, starts in 10 minutes. I panic even more and bolt to the door.

"Don't worry about it," I call over my shoulder. I toss the remaining ounce of remaining tea in the garbage can.

<Ayooooo hope y'all like it so far wheeee it's 10pm & I'm ready to destroy the body once & for all>