Today was the day Zoe Benson had been anticipating(and dreading) since the start of her senior year of high school. She was packing up and saying goodbye to her hometown of New Orleans, and making the 38 hour drive to Portland State University, one of the many colleges she had gotten acceptance letters from. Zoe was definitely popular, but she was humble, and a lot of people admired her for that. She still went out with her friends, but she was dedicated to her studies too, which made her the perfect student AND perfect peer.
"Zoe sweetheart, you're going to be driving at dark if you don't get on the road now!" Her mother Cordelia shouted up the stairs. She zipped up her last suitcase and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looked well put together on the outside, but on the outside, she was falling apart at the seams. She was close to her mothers, and it was going to be hard being away from them, but she was doing this for herself and the state of her future so she was going to have to stop being such a big baby and pull on her big girl panties. She fixed a piece of hair that had fallen out of place and she grabbed her belongings and struggled to get them down the stairs. When she was halfway down the narrow staircase, her other mother Misty came to her aid and she got all the heavy suitcases, surprising her for the millionth time with her unwavering strength.
"Aww honey you look so pretty, they're gonna adore you!" Her mother gushed as she embraced her tightly, tears beginning to soak her brunette colored hair. When she pulled back, the dirty blonde was in hysterics, and her first instinct was to console her crying mother, but she was pulled back by her best friend Cheryl, who just shook her head subtly. She looked away from her mother to the taller girl, who looked sad for once in her life.
"I really wish they had an applied psychology course at Tulane so you didn't have to go so far away." Her voice shook slightly, and she lifted her hand to wipe away the oncoming tears. She wished she didn't have to go so far away either, but she was secretly relieved that she was getting away from this hectic place and somewhere that didn't have so many unexpected surprises waiting for her.
"You should at least let me drive you." She offered one more time, and although her eyes were pleading, she knew she couldn't accept the offer that was being presented to her. She knew that if she chose to ride to college with Cordelia or Cheryl, that it would be hard for her to let them go when they had to leave, which would make her first week at the university hell, which is something she couldn't afford.
"Misty is taking me, it's okay. I'll call you as soon as I settle in okay?" She gripped her hands in hers and gave them a tight squeeze before she ran her finger over a single strand of her honey colored hair and then she stepped back, turning away so she didn't start crying.
"Ready to go kiddo?" Misty asked from the doorway and she nodded once, grabbing a few of the bags the older woman had left for her and she turned back to the emotional woman once more, finding it difficult to say goodbye to them.
"I love you both very much, I'll call/ videochat as soon as I'm able." She blew a kiss and they both mimicked grabbing it and holding it to their hearts. She turned back to her awaiting mother and together, they stepped out into the breezy air and walked the short distance to the car, not saying a word. Whenever they spent time together, this is typically how it went. Misty wasn't an emotional person, or really a talkative one at all, and she found herself to be okay with that. She loved a good conversation, but sometimes, she craved the quiet, and she was granted that when she was with her other mother. They loaded her things into the backseat and trunk, and before she knew it, they were buckled into their seats and on the road. She leaned her head against the seat and she watched as the town she used to love so much flew by her in a flurry of activity and blurred colors. She would miss it, and she would miss the people she had here, but this wasn't her future, she was going to find it at this university, and NOTHING was going to get in her way.
Night had long since fallen and she was awake now, letting her eyes drift over the darkness that surrounded the motel they had decided to stay in that night. They still had about 4 hours left to drive, but Misty was exhausted and she insisted, begged even, to be allowed at least 3 hours of sleep before they had to go back out on the road again. Being the caring daughter and person that she was, she agreed, with hesitancy of course. She now sat on the curb outside of the dingy motel room, a cigarette between her middle and index fingers, letting the smoke cloud around her. It was obviously a bad habit, but one of her ex boyfriends had gotten her into it, and she found it difficult to stop after the relationship ended, so she didn't. She lifted the cigarette to her lips and inhaled the toxic gas, letting it drift out of her mouth slowly before it choked her. She held it loosely by her knee and she let the ashes fall to the pavement underneath her feet, barely even noticing that it had gotten on the top of her leather boot. The various noises from other rooms began to fill her ears, and that's when she knew it was time to go inside. She put out the cigarette and dusted her night clothes of any ashes, and she went back into the room, shutting the door tightly behind her.
At precisely 6am, the two eager women piled back into the car and went back on the road again. The weather was perfect and all the windows were rolled down, which slightly made her less nervous than she was the previous day. Her hair blew around her face and it was getting into her face, but she didn't care, in fact, she let it stay in her face because it was the last taste of summer she would be getting for a very long time.
"Looks like we're here darling, and the traffic wasn't as bad as you said it would be." The blonde teased as she pulled up in front of the university, which was congested with teenagers saying tearful goodbyes to family members or best friends or significant others. She felt her stomach twist into knots but she brushed her hair behind her ear and climbed out of the small car, finding her balance on the white pavement in front of it.
"Well, do you want me to help you go to your dorm?" Her mother offered, and she knew she should've said no, but she found herself nodding and together, they collected her suitcases and paused so that she could take out the paper that contained where her dorm was, and the classes she was required to take.
"Looks like I'm in Hall D, room 225. That doesn't seem like too much to have to fight to get to." She was proven wrong almost immediately, when she nearly got knocked over by a lone blonde who was dressed in the most provocative outfit she had ever seen in her life.
"Can you watch where the fuck you're going?" She hissed, her eyes narrowing at the sight of her. She was taken aback by the girl's rude tone, and she had no words as she stomped off in the same direction she and Misty were heading in.
"She seemed pleasant." She mused as they continued to fight through people who were clogged right in the path of where they needed to go. She laughed and rolled her eyes at the comment, but the nerves still hadn't untwisted themselves in her stomach. After a struggle, they finally arrived outside of her hall, and they walked inside the air conditioned building without hesitation.
"Nice paint job, this looks like a good place for you kid." She said from beside her, and she resisted the urge to look down at the floor. The interior was boring and plain, and she tried not to let the comment eat away at her because she knew it was meant to be encouraging, but she still felt hurt. They found her room within 5 minutes of being inside, and she took a deep breath before she turned the handle to the door and pushed it open. When she stepped inside, all the color immediately drained from her face. The girl from before was lounging on the other bed inside the small room, a cigarette between her teeth as she scrolled through something on her phone, and she cleared her throat to get her attention. She rolled her eyes in disgust at her appearance and she just ignored it, going over to her bed and dropping the suitcases on top.
"We're really proud of you darling." She said once, quietly, before she unexpectedly drew her into a tight hug. She held onto her tightly, and she didn't want to let go, but she knew the older woman couldn't stay here with her, so she stepped back sheepishly and swiped her forearm across her watery eyes.
"Have a safe trip back. Tell mom I love her, and I love you too." She said softly before she exited the room and shut the door softly behind her, leaving her with what she was sure of the spawn of satan. She turned her attention to the bags she needed to unpack, and with a heavy sigh, she began to put her stuff into the multiple drawers and closet space she was permitted, which was a struggle.
"Your fashion sense is worse than my dead grandmothers." The girl said snidely from the bed, and she ignored her once again, deciding not to give into her plea of attention.
"Not much of a talker. If I had horrible sense of style, I would want to speak to save myself, but that's just me." The girl said once more and she finally turned to her, looking at her for a few moments before walking over to her bed and sitting down to begin preparing for her classes on Monday.
"Oh so you're a geek, even worse. Why did I have to be paired with a freak?" She groaned as she sat up and leaned against the wall to smoke the cigarette that had been in her mouth since she had walked in. She rolled her eyes at the comment, but still said nothing.
"Dude are you stupid or something?" She snapped, putting out the cigarette on the edge of the nightstand and exhaling the cloud of smoke in her direction.
"No, I'm not stupid. I just don't have time to waste on attention seekers like yourself." She snapped, turning her gaze back onto her laptop screen.
"She speaks. And sweetheart, I don't need to seek attention, it naturally comes to me." She tossed her long blonde locks over her shoulder and began to furiously type on her phone, no doubt talking crap about her to whatever person she knew. She didn't care though, she wasn't interested in letting petty drama take over her life and potentially ruin her chances of graduating early, so she finished up preparations and left the toxic blonde to her own devices, choosing to wander around campus and converse with other students that were upperclassman or incoming freshman just like herself. Once she got back to her dorm room, the girl was gone, and she sighed in relief as she plopped onto her bed and loaded up Netflix onto her laptop, watching something she had seen at least 100 times to feel closer to home. She ended up going on a binge of movies she had first watched with her mothers, and she felt her chest began to ache as she finished yet another movie. She missed home terribly, but she knew she couldn't cry, not yet at least. She shook away the sadness, and watched movies well into the night, until she finally drifted off, her dreams filled with a better tomorrow and a bright future for herself.
A/N: This chapter is kinda boring and ugly, but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless! I decided to use ideas submitted by two readers, to which this story will be fully dedicated to. Vote and comment, it keeps me motivated to update my stories quicker!! Thank you for all of your support, I hope you all are well.
-Jaime