I stared at the sticky note on the wall, my heart hurting, it's not like I am going away, hours away from home to college, all my parents could do is be here when I leave, kairo, I licked my lips and looked at the direction of his room, it's a normal routine for me to look, like he would open the door and smile brightly at me, or ask if I was ready to go, I smiled sadly at myself, one last look at sad note, I walked to the door, ready to face what life have in store for me.
My name is Aria lin, 18, to be honest I don't have anything to that name except pain and broken family, I have been picked on since I could remember, my life was never great, I don't feel much and the only person that I was attached to, that makes me feel, be vulnerable, be that 1 normal girl even if it's in the confinement of our tiny house drifted farther away until he's no more, and I couldn't separate my emotions from the thought of kairo Lin.
I didn't want to come here, we couldn't afford it, but a scholarship dropped on my lap, and I thought it's the universe giving me another chance, so I took and got ready.
With nothing but a suitcase and a worn out backpack, I stood in front of my dorm, I looked out of place and feel out of place, the building modern, the glasses reflecting the grey cloudy sky, to not look even worse than I felt, I walked in and followed the admins instructions, 3rd floor, room 306, I took the stairs, because I am not sure how the elevator works and I don't even know where the elevator is, I don't want to spend much time than in plain sight, I opened the door with my key and met 2 set of eyes, they're on the bed, checking out some stuff and have their phones up.
"Oh my God," one said with an eye roll, and the other just stared at me.
"Close the freaking door" she finally spoke before going back to what she was doing, my heart pounded in my chest as I did what she said and looked around, carefully walking to the empty bed, I sat down, I looked around, then decided may be I should unpack, I started with my backpack, conscious of the girls who clearly have probably never seen something so worn out before, I arranged my books on the desk and hide the bag in a my wardrobe, it's the only one I have big enough to pack, I opened my suitcase and I heard a laugh, I winced internally and looked at the girls, they were still looking at their phone and I thought maybe they don't have their attention on me, I put everything away in minutes, I made the bed too with one of my old bedsheets and decided I should step out and go look for a job, the admin did say I could get something on the campus market.
" thank you" I said a million times and was genuinely smiling for the first time since I got here, the job pays more than I expected and it works well with my timetable, I believed it to be the beginning of my luck.
I planned to explore but it started raining and I had to hide in a cafe, I stared out of the window, plugged my earpiece in and listened to my sad playlist, looking out, wondering if this will be better than my high-school, my phone beeped signalling a message and it's from mom.
"Your dad send you some money, spend it wisely " the message read and I checked my bank app to confirm, I was grateful and send a quick thank you, I relaxed, the little I got gave me a sense of relief, I looked out again and met cold dark eyes, he looked away and walked carelessly in the rain, he got into a car and zoom off, a frown settled on my face, I looked around me and everyone seem to be talking to someone or have their attention somewhere else, was he looking at me? I questioned, but the look he had was scary. Was it meant for me? I licked my lips and tucked my wild hair away from my face before pulling the hood of my oversized sweatshirt on, I felt scared for a reason, but I could be reading meaning to that too
The next day, I got ready early and stepped out for orientation, it took hours and the little time I have left for my shift to begin, I headed to the library, picked a random picture book and sat down, ready to read.
"Honestly, zayden should control his anger. It was a simple bump," a girl whispered from the booth next to me.
"Keep quiet before he hears you," another hissed.
"Like, he is THE CROIX heir. He could do better," the girl said again.
"Try losing all your family in a fire and then be normal," the second girl defended the boy again.
"Look, all I am saying is, he should learn when to react, that was clearly an over reaction, I hope he didn't kill jake" the girl mumbled and the other didn't bother replying, I stood up to return the book and went looking for another, I stood looking in awe at the books stack high, I feel like I went into a place I shouldn't, it's floor length, like 4 floors length, I caught a movement in the corner of my eyes and it's a boy sitting with his head down, blood dripping from somewhere on his face and soaking the book, I watched for what felt like forever before I spoke.
"You're bleeding " I whispered and his head turned to me, I immediately took a step back at the cold hard stare that I met, the boy from before, his stare was so cold and his eyes looks dead, I regretted talking immediately.