Shadows

Chapter 1

2 month earlier

Windows open, the wind was flowing into the car making my hair blow out in all directions, but honestly, I didn't care at all. Right now I didn't care about anything but the laughter in the air and the happiness inside me.

I was finally starting a new chapter of my life, and I have really high hopes for it. I have achieved every goal that I set for myself in the past two years, and here I was proud of myself for getting into my dream college.

Everything was turning out exactly as I wanted it to. I graduated from high school with the grades that I wanted, I spent all of the summer with my friends making happy memories, and here I am on my way to my dream university along with one of my best friends. Life was a big ball of happiness for me, so I'll make sure to not allow anything to upset me today.

Right now, I was in a car stuck in the back seat with my best friend, Lena, and the endless boxes that we crammed most of our things in. Looking at all those boxes reminds me of how my mom kept telling us that we over-packed while we kept ignoring her, but maybe she was right after all; however, all those thoughts disappeared out of my mind the moment that I felt the car slow down and started seeing the gates leading to where I'll spend the next four years of my life.

Esperanza University.

Supposedly, there's a really deep meaning behind the university's name; however, no one but the founder knows it.

Esperanza University has started its undergraduate programs merely ten years ago, yet somehow, they managed to rise in the university rankings tremendously fast. Right now, they are in the top ten rankings in the country. Impressive, I know.

This university has been my dream destination ever since I was a teenager and saw its pamphlet at one of our school's university fair. But I quickly discovered that it has an acceptance rate of only two hundred students in each faculty, and instead of losing my hope, I started working even harder until I got the 'perfect grades' that got me into this university, and now here I was, getting my ears burst by Lena's excited screams as we enter Esperanza's university campus for the first time in our lives.

This is the first time we've stepped foot into the campus. We have only seen the pictures they put on their website and had an online tour, and since also all of our interviews and admission tests were done online, we never physically saw the campus until today. I found it really strange that they wouldn't allow us to actually visit the campus before the academic year begins, but they stated that according to their new policy, it was prohibited as to not disturb the students studying there or something like that, so who am I to object to their rules?

Passing through the university's gates, I expected to see a huge building with students littering everywhere; however, all I could see was an extremely huge road that leads to what I believe is the main building.

Gigantic trees surrounded the road forming what I think are woods, that would've probably been a part of the huge forest just beyond the gates, if not for the walls separating the two of them. There were also lots of trials leading inside the woods, and I would definitely have to visit those at the first chance I can find.

I wonder what it would feel like to sit in a clearing and have a picnic, maybe I could even go to those woods to study because I'm almost sure that it would be peaceful, and I would be able to do my work while feeling relaxed.

I really have to stop getting ahead of myself, for I don't even know if there are any clearings or if students are even allowed into those woods or not.

"Can you believe that we are finally here? I'm so happy," Lena squealed into my ears.

"Me too, I feel like this is all a dream. We have to make those four years the best years of our lives." I said while grinning widely.