Dawn; the first appearance of light in the sky before sunrise.
C H A P T E R O N E
Among other things, I would have never thought leaving for college would be the hardest. The fact that I wouldn't have my mom to help me find my favorite pair of jeans or my dad to treat me with a plate of my beloved pancakes with a whole load of Nutella was making me realize that things were about to get a whole lot real. I couldn't stop walking around frantically in my room as my mind grasped the concept of what life was actually going to be like.
I finally lifted my head to look at the violet-colored walls for the last time in a while, having flashes of the seventeen years I'd spent amongst it. I grabbed the framed photo of me and my older brother at my graduation and headed downstairs. Since I was a rarely noticed person in high school, I got through it with a minimal amount of drama which I couldn't be more grateful for.
"Please be safe and take care of yourself. I love you, darling," my mom sniffed, wiping a tear. "And do not forget to call me once you reach the campus."
Just then, my dad came into view; I hugged my parents. "Don't worry, you guys. I will be fine." I didn't wholly know if I was convincing them or myself or how much truth these words of mine held. "I love you guys. Please take care of yourselves as well. Mum, I will be okay, please stop crying."
"I got this, honey. You get going. We love you too." My dad said, putting an arm around my mom's shoulder because now the tears were flowing uncontrollably. They waved their hands at me as a gesture of goodbye when I looked out of the window of the car.
A small smile laced with amusement made a way to my face, recalling she had done the same when Chris, my older brother, left for his college about two years ago.
With the scent of home fading away and my paranoia towards the new life increasing as the car caught up speed, I left for college.
I wanted to invest my time in college studying Economics because it had fascinated me ever since I was introduced to it and the fact that I chose that as my major was a piece of evidence that my fascination was never-ending. The other three members of my family had their interest sparked in professions that were very typically oozing out of pure sciences. Both my parents were doctors; my dad was a surgeon while my mom was a pediatrician which would be the sole reason why I was so well acquainted with children. My brother, Chris, on the other hand, was an engineer. Well, going to be one.
So, I had been quite surprised when my dad was okay with me choosing economics as my major. But I could bet my life that my mom would rather have me do something out of the field that earned them their economy because she wasn't as happy as one would want with my choice of subject, but she let it go nevertheless, a few taunts escaping her mouth every once in a while as always.
We weren't among the elite folks of the country, but it would suffice to say that money had never been an issue.
My parents wanted to accompany me until the campus. And if it were up to my mom she wouldn't leave unless she was completely satisfied that I'd successfully settled in my dorm but they had to stay back due to any emergency that might pop up in the hospital. Chris couldn't get any leave from his uni, so I had to go to mine alone.
With every kind of thought flooding my mind, I stepped out of the car. I was more than fascinated when I finally registered the surroundings in my vision. It took a lot of hard work and avoiding of parties to get into the New York Univeristy, but the sight in front of me made it all worth.
I closed the door of the car with a thump. I was finally standing in front of the institution I had dreamed of studying at since the start of high school. A beige-colored building resided in front of my vision with a purple flag containing the letters 'NYU' waving about due to the soft wind. The glass windows on the building carefully held the reflection of the yellow colored cabs carrying people to their respective destinations. NYU's campus was quite concentrated, and it was all around Washington Square Park. I couldn't wait to explore all of it, but I stood there for a good ten minutes, stunned and in complete awe of the sight of my campus.
The fact that I was going to be studying in NYU was still sinking in.
I took out my stuff and decided to keep it aside and just walk around the campus. My sights were fixed on the different blocks where I would be attending my classes. I inhaled a proud breath and walked further. As I was recording a video to send to my mom, I collided into something or rather someone hard and immediately after that stepped on something that I definitely shouldn't have. I turned my head to see who I had been destined to meet in such a cliche way.
My vision could not be more fixated at this entity, with the chocolatey mass of hair serving as the superior end of the fine specimen and timberland boots at the inferior, he had the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen in my entire life, his lips were plump and a fascinating shade of pink, which complimented his eyes shockingly well.
The brooding look on his face had now been replaced with a smirk, as he saw me checking him out quite blatantly. The smirk disappeared within seconds.
"What the fuck? Watch where you're going, dumbass!" with annoyance very clearly visible in his tone, he provided a fine voice to an even finer appearance. Then he bent down to pick up the object I had stepped on. It was his phone and the cracks on the screen had indicated that he would unmistakably have to get a new one. I guess that reaction is justified if someone cracked up your phone, right?
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" I sincerely apologized.
"Well, hey! Guess what? Your sorry isn't gonna fix my cell and neither is it gonna get me a new one. So the next time you decide to walk, maybe watch out?" he spit out the words in disgust.
Okay, what the hell was his problem? "Seriously? It was an honest mistake and I didn't mean to do it, you dimwit. And in case, you didn't notice, you weren't paying much attention to who you're crashing into either! Better get a strong grip on your freaking phone," I rebuked.
He glared at me and I continued, "You don't need to be so unnecessarily rude."
He gave me a sardonic smile. "Yeah, and neither do I need to stand here and listen to the person who broke my goddamn phone," he hit my shoulder with his shoulder, hard and walked off.
Wow, what a fine welcome. I blew out a deep breath and shrugged it off, hoping the rest of my day would turn out better.
After collecting my schedule and dorm details from the lady at the reception desk, even though I had already received it by mail, I walked towards the place I would be calling home for the next few years.
Struggling with carrying all my stuff at once, the keys fell as I stepped into the room. Just as I got back up after picking them, I was met with a presence. The girl seemed about my age, and her eyes lit up with glee as they keenly observed me.
"Hiii, you must be my roommate! I'm Scarlett," she spoke, excitedly.
I knew that I had a roommate named Scarlett. We exchanged texts over the summer, but it wasn't quite often. I didn't even know what she exactly looked like, until now.
"Hey, I'm Sydney! We spoke through texts, yeah?" I was quick to respond.
"Oh yes! But it didn't help quite a lot in getting to know you since we didn't text daily. Let me help you with that," she said gesturing to my shitload of luggage.
"When did you get here?" I inquired, walking in with the rest of my stuff and exploring the room.
"Just two days ago," I heard her say.
It was a room with plenty of space and felt quite cozy. Very different from home, but I did not have any sense of disappointment. After I was satisfied with the appearance of the room, I took a long look at Scarlett. It was then I realized how much we differ in our physique.
Scarlett was just as beautiful as her name. With a blondish brown wavy mop of hair falling to her shoulders and captivating green eyes, she was a sight to behold. The fair tone of her skin praised her very well. The look on her face told she was a very kind yet extremely enthusiastic person. She looked tall enough, but her shoulder did not meet mine. She was a couple of centimeters shorter but oh boy, was she pretty.
Scarlett and I were nothing alike because while Scarlett possessed all of that, I had a lean figure of 5'7 with the long mass of hair descending along my back which was one of the lighter shades of chestnut brown. I had dark brown eyes which were hidden most of the time by my contacts. I owned a tan skin tone which I was quite proud of.
Soon enough, Scarlett's voice was pulling me out of my thoughts. "Since you arrived today and correct me if I am wrong, but I do not reckon you know anyone here, I would love to show you around campus because that is pretty much all I have done the last forty-eight hours."
Even though I had looked around a lil bit, I was thankful she had suggested that. "That would be great because that's the first thing I was planning to do and I would love to have company."
"Great! It's settled then. We will leave whenever you're ready. Go freshen up," she clapped her hands in excitement, giving me a warm smile.
I freshened up and pulled out my denim jeans, tucked in a large pink Floyd shirt and walked up to Scarlett.
"I meant to ask you this earlier, but do you happen to know anyone here?" I inquired, voicing my curiosity.
"Actually yes, I happen to be close with a few people. I will introduce you to them once we are done with the campus tour. Also, I didn't know Connecticut people were this pretty," she complimented and winked at me. She had told me that she was from New Jersey.
"Well, I can say the same for the people of New Jersey."
She gave me an adorable smile. "I'll give you a few minutes to settle in the room while I will quickly go and get us coffees from this adorable cafe. It's just down the lane." I could not be happier that I got her as my roommate.
I gave her a quick smile as she shut the door and left. I saw quite a few belongings by the bed on the right which was near the door so assuming that Scarlett had chosen that as hers I started arranging my essentials on the bed by the window.
I was too engrossed in arranging all the stuff when I heard the door open, expecting to be greeted by the blonde mop of hair, rather astonishingly, I found a set of deep green eyes aimed at my face. The boy I shuddered to the thought of just several minutes ago was now in front of my sight. His flexing biceps were on complete display as his hand clutched the doorknob.
"You're not Scarlett."
Author's note:
There you have it. The first chapter of the book. How did you like it? Please be expressive with your thoughts and comment down below how you feel about this chapter.
Thank you for reading this and please please do not forget to tap the little star at the end. The lil gesture will make my day - immense love for each one of y'all.
Stay happy x.