Page 10 of Sour Lollipops and Sweet Nightmares
“Of course,” he nodded. “Your dorm is on the west side of campus, Craven Hall.”
Finally.“Thank You.”
We stood there for a minute, staring at each other before he arched a brow. “Was there something else?”
“My schedule?” I kind of needed that.
“Right, I have it right here.”
He walked over to rummage through his desk, while I looked around.
Fitting in wasn’t something I did well. Growing up, I was the strange girl collecting rocks, and in high school, I was the onewho chose to stay in and study instead of having fun. I was used to being on my own, but here it was different. It wasn’t that I didn’t fit in. I felt out of place.
Luxury surrounded me—paved and clean walkways bordered by perfect landscaping. Even the atmosphere was out of my league. I could smell opulence in the mahogany walls and crown molding circling the ceiling. The small apartment Mom and I lived in wouldn’t be worth a tenth of the furniture in this one room alone.
The fine details I saw blew my mind. Ivy climbed the brick exterior of the buildings. Busts, carvings, and paintings decorated the halls, and when I walked into this building, the floor had a large setting of the school logo artfully tiled in. A dove in flight with a sprig of ivy in its beak.
All the extravagance didn’t make me angry or jealous—Mom and I did fine with what we had—but I wasn’t used to it. The most expensive thing I owned was a now coffee-stained silk shirt. Renfrew was a school that obviously catered to the wealthy. I was prepared for that coming here, t least I thought I was. Experiencing it was another thing altogether.
It was like being the only kid in school to bring a bagged lunch. Your food wasn’t worse than theirs—in fact, it might be better—but it made you stand out. And not in a good way.
I couldn’t help but wonder why Renfrew would give a scholarship to a geology major? That wasn’t a career that earned a lot of money. A law student, a med student, or an athlete—that I could understand.
I wasn’t going to argue about the education, but it did seem unusual, especially for a school that wasn’t known to focus on the sciences. Maybe they wanted to change that?
“Here’s your schedule and key card for the dorm.” Dean Richards walked over and held out some papers, which I took and smiled.
“Thanks.” Turning to leave, I paused to look back at him, “Craven Hall is…”
I figured it was better to check with him than risk asking someone else who may want to amuse themselves at my expense.
“Out the main doors, turn left, and walk to the end of campus. You can’t miss it.”
You can’t miss it. That statement had an entirely new meaning for me now. Two out of the three guys who gave me directions said the exact same thing.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case this time. My dorm was indeed where the dean had said it would be. Although I did start to have doubts at one point.
This campus was huge. It took over thirty minutes to walk to Craven Hall, which was in the western back corner, with what I assumed to be other dormitories, fraternities, and sorority houses.
This area was pretty. Like a little neighborhood all by itself, with street lights and road signs. Not like any neighborhood I’d seen, mind you. The places I lived had dirty back alleys, garbage cans, and smog.
Here, there were majestic oak trees, colorful gardens around each building, and the air was so fresh that all I wanted to do was stand there and suck it in.
As I headed down a walkway lined with blue irises, I rolled my eyes up the brick building. I could faintly hear soft music coming from a few of the open windows, and quiet talking coming from others.
For the first time in my life, it felt like I was among my peers. Everyone was here for the same reason. We all wanted to learn.
This was it. I was finally home.
My bad mood instantly vanished. How could anyone be angry in a place like this? This was the place where fairy taleswere made. I should’ve known then that something was wrong. Most fairy tales were based off of nightmares.
Issac
Most people had some kind of morning routine. They woke up grumpy or annoyingly happy, made coffee or maybe a smoothie, and got ready for their day. This morning’s routine started in the early hours while I was in that state of half-asleep and half-awake.
The Sandman’s embrace still surrounded me, and I could feel the lull of dreamland, but that was quickly giving way to the sound of my father’s voice.
All because he decided to call last night. Apparently, he was coming for a visit this afternoon. My father didn’t do random visits. Our child/parent relationship was virtually non-existent.
