Firsts

     The alarm on my iphone began to sound at 8:30 am sharp one faithful Monday morning. I awoke out of a restless sleep to come to the realization that it was my first official day as a University student. The butterflies in my stomach flew in circles around each other as I gathered the strength to get out of bed. In the shower, I let the hot beads of water fall onto my face as I tried to mentally prepare myself for the day's upcoming events. "I can do this, I'm smart enough, I'm supposed to be here," I repeated to myself as I went through my regular morning routine. I chose to not make a large fashion statement on my first day of classes and went for black leggings, a navy sweatshirt and jean jacket. I decided to tame my unruly curly locks with a straightener, and applied natural looking make up to complete my outfit. As I gathered my books and slipped into my trusty brown moccasins, I took one more glance at myself in the mirror. I was taken aback by the girl infront of me. It was one of those moments in time where everything chaotic stops, and for a second you see how far you've come. How much things have changed. I smiled at my reflection before grabbing my keys and heading out the door.

     The morning weather was crisp and cloudy as I made my way to class. The first few fall leaves had begun to fall along the path leading towards the university campus. As I entered the campus the atmosphere changed from peaceful to rushed. The amount of people weaving in and out of cars, on bikes, on their phones, walking to and from classes seemed like something from a movie. Twice I had to dodge oncoming bikers who were not paying attention, or students who would suddenly stop walking to look at where they were - as if they had been in a sleepless daze walking to their classes. I finally found the ivy covered building that housed most of my English classes for the semester. I opened the large wooden door and stepped inside the building.

     My classroom was easier to find than I thought it would be, and I was therefore twenty minutes early for my class. As I entered the classroom I suddenly felt substantially under dressed in my leggings and jean jacket. Infront of me was the largest collection of hipsters that I had ever seen, sitting in their fashionable clothes, discussing the upcoming texts that would be introduced in the class. Intimidated, I chose the closest seat I could find. Unfortunately it was beside a very uptight girl with an uncomfortably looking tight bun ontop of her head, and bright red lips exposing perfectly straight white teeth. I looked around the room and turned to the girl and attempted to make conversation.
     "Is this your first class to?" I asked innocently. The red lipped vixen replied with a laugh and returned to reading over the class syllabus. I frowned at her response and awkwardly turned my chair towards the front of the classroom. Just then the classroom quieted down as the professor entered and began to speak right away. Talk of Greek methology and the words "1066 Norman Conquest" were the only words that I could understand from the professor's extremely perplexing vocabulary. It was not that he did not speak perfect English, it was the fact that he used such big words that I had no idea what he was talking about. I looked fearfully around the classroom at the other students who were savagely writing down notes and answering questions correctly. "Who the hell knew this much about Greek methology?" I thought to myself. I looked around the classroom to see if anyone was as lost as I was. I turned around to see a pretty brunette girl with brown eyes give me a silly "I have no idea what I'm doing" face and shrug at me. I immediately smiled and began to laugh and shook my head at her so she understood that I had no idea myself. The girl beside her looked at her to see who she was talking to and then looked in my direction. The girl beside her was tanned with long brown hair and blue eyes. She leaned over the other girl and waved at me and smiled. I smiled back and waved to her. I turned back around and faced the professor. Relief spread over me as I realized that I had found someone just as confused as I was.
      After class was over I left the ivy covered building feeling exhausted and disappointed in how my first class had gone. I followed the rushing flow of students to the closest coffee shop and stopped in to grab a hot chocolate before heading back to my residence. As I paid for my hot chocolate I heard a voice in my ear that said, "What the hell was that professor talking about?" I turned around to find the brown eyed, brown haired girl smiling at me.     
    "I literally have no idea. He used such big words I barely knew what he was saying half the time." The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. Shit I thought to myself. Now this girl is going to think I'm dumb.
     The brown eyed beauty laughed and held out her hand, "Daniela," she said introducing herself, "Welcome to the life of an English major."
     I took her hand and shook it and said, "Mary-Kate. Was that your first University class? Or am I the only one unfortunate enough to have that as my first experience on campus."
     Daniela looked at me with wide eyes and exclaimed, "That was my first class too! And Bailey's, who was the girl that was sitting beside me. You should totally sit with us next class. Us lost girls have to stick together." Daniela said with a wink.
     I laughed and said, "I definitely will!"
     "Excellent, well I have to go catch my mom for a ride home, so I will see you next class!" Daniela said as she began to leave. I waved to her before leaving the coffee shop and heading back to residence.
    That night I sat in my bed wearing the only t-shirt I was able to snag of his before leaving for school. I smelt the significant smell of him while reading  over the syllabus from the class this morning. My heart ached for home and for simpler times under the summer stars. Just then my phone began to rang. He always had perfect timing, coming back to me when I needed him most. I answered the phone and laid back in my bed, big smile spreading across on my face.
   "Hey." I said cooly.
    "Hey." He said back. I could hear the smile in his voice. "How was your first day of class june bug?" He asked over the phone.
     I smiled while twirling my hair with my fingers and replied, "Hard as hell. I had no idea what my professor was saying half the time."
     "Why did he have an accent? Thats the worst." He asked.
      "No, he just used really big words." I said honestly. His laugh was sweet and scent shivers down my spine as it came through my phone. I couldn't help but laugh myself. My first university class was a failure all because my professor used too big of words for my understanding. Only could he make me see the humour in everything. We talked for over an hour, an endless converstaion about our adventures out on our own, experiencing college and university life. For a moment there was a pause before he said to me, "I miss you, you know."
      "Oh you do?" I said, acting surprised - heart melting inside.
      "Yes I do. Do you miss me?" he asked earnestly.
       "Yes." I said in almost a whisper as the emotions I had tucked away came rushing forward.
       "Goodnight june bug." He said quietly before hanging up the phone.
        "Goodnight." I said softly before hanging up. I laid in bed with a mixture of feelings that night, some happy and some sad. I was sad because a chapter of my life had ended, and I feared he would be lost with it. On the other side, I was happy because I had met great people today and was officially a university student. By the time I fell asleep I was smiling, reassured that things could only get better. As for him, I thought to myself, no matter what chapter of my life was ending, he always found his way into the next one.