Beginnings of College Life

AN: In the first draft I wrote three flashback chapters about Scarlett's life in college after she left home and before she started working in the city. Unfortunately\, later I felt like the plot was a bit forced due to the lack of build-up\, so some decisions characters made didn't make a lot of sense. So I am thinking of putting it in the storyline\, like alternate chapters between the present and the college life. This will allow character build up as it is an essential part of the plot. I am not sure how it will go. I hope you like it and it won't be confusing. All flashback chapters will have \~\~\~_ years ago\~\~\~. Current ones immediately after will have \~\~\~present day\~\~\~ 

\~\~\~ Six Years Ago \~\~\~

18-year-old Scarlett held onto her suitcase as if it was her lifeline. She couldn't believe she had just packed one suitcase. Normally she and her sister would pack up to 4 suitcases for their two-week family vacation. She exhaled again, willing her heart to slow down. Silently chanting to herself that everything would be okay. She needed to believe it.

"Amelia Scarlett Grayson"

The receptionist at the Scholarships office at Eastwood University called out her name. Scarlett quickly rose and walked towards the office she was directed to.

"Good Afternoon, Miss Grayson?" The middle-aged woman sitting behind the desk greeted.

"Good afternoon Ma'am, thank you for letting me join early," Scarlett replied.

"No worries, here at Eastwood we love excellent students and any student who decides to forego her summer vacation to start school early definitely falls in that category." The woman, who was Edith Miller according to the sign on the door, said with much delight. "Due to the short notice, we will not complete the registration today. I have called someone from the accommodations department to have you settled in the residential halls. You can come back tomorrow but you need to confirm the details in this form first."

Miss Miller gave an iPad with the form to Scarlett. It was the form with her official details. Scarlett's eyes quickly went to the part where it was written prefered names. She looked at the bold name 'Amelia (Amy) Grayson' with a frown. For her entire life, she had been known as Amelia Grayson, and everyone called her Amy. But she had left Amy behind with her family and her memories. She needed a fresh start.

With a heavy heart, she deleted the name and in its place, she wrote 'Scarlett Gray'.  She needed to leave the Grayson name behind and using her middle name was one of the best ways to do that. While the name Amelia Grayson raised heads due to her dad being who he was, Scarlett Gray was a stranger. A chance to be herself. A chance to be free.

She looked over the other details. She unchecked the parents/guardians section deleting the previous details and clicked on the self. Since she was 18, it wouldn't be a problem. Satisfied with the changes, she gave back the iPad. Miss Miller eyed her slightly wondering why she had made such drastic changes but did not comment. She did not have any issues with the new name as it was part of her full name. The middle-aged woman knew who Scarlett was as she had already seen the details before they were deleted. However, the look from Scarlett just told her that she did not want that information getting out, thus Miss Miller was the only person in Eastwood to ever know who she really was and she would never bring it up again.

"Alright Miss Scarlett Gray, I hope you find what you are looking for here at Eastwood," Miss Miller said as she stretched her hand to greet Scarlett as if it was the first instance she had met the young girl.

Miss Miller had met a lot of characters in her office but never once had she seen a student denounce a name such as Grayson and the luxuries it came with. She would forever hold Scarlett with a lot of respect.

Miss Miller typed away on her computer as someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," Miss Miller said, looking up. "Oh hi Charlotte, glad you are here."

"Hello, Miss Miller," Charlotte greeted.

"This is Scarlett Gray, she is a new student in the computer science department. Scarlett, this is Charlotte, she is in charge of the hall you will be staying in."

Scarlett and Charlotte greeted each other pleasantly.

"She is the one I told you about. Is her room ready?" Miss Miller asked Charlotte.

"Yes it is, I can take her now"

"Good, Scarlett you are in good hands, come back tomorrow at noon to complete registration."

"Thank you, Miss Miller, for everything." Scarlett was grateful that Miss Miller did not complain about her name change, in fact, it seemed like the older woman encouraged it.

"No worries, see you soon"

With that, Scarlett dragged her suitcase out of the office as she followed Charlotte.

Scarlett walked slightly behind Charlotte as opposed to next to her. This was a technique she had learned. It was used to avoid conversing with someone you had to walk with. Charlotte, on the other hand, wasn't nosy. She had done the walk so many times since she got her position that it was exhausting trying to get each new student's life story. They walked in the comfortable silence.

While Scarlett took in the atmosphere of her new home for the next four or so years, Charlotte walked blissfully occasionally greeting some passing students.

"Here we are" Charlotte called. "Your room is on the second floor, you have a roommate by the way. Let me help you with that."

Charlotte took one side of the suitcase as they went up the stairs. When they got to her floor they walked a few rooms down until Charlotte stopped on a door number 206. The older girl knocked on the door but there was no reply. She took a key from her pocket and opened the door.

"Welcome to your new home"

Though Scarlett knew that Charlotte meant well, that statement stung a lot, but she was keen to hide her emotions. She looked around the room, one bed was well made and clearly occupied so she went to the empty side.

"Thanks, Charlotte"

"No problem, it seems your roommate is not here, but you will meet her soon. If you need anything I am on the fourth floor the room written hall captain. And everybody around here calls me Charlie"

"Okay, Charlie."

"Cool, I will leave you to it. There is a kitchen downstairs that you can use any time. The convenience stores and the cafes are all over campus there is a very detailed map on the website."

"Good to know, I will look at it."

"See you around," Charlie said as she walked out. "bye, Scarlett, it was nice to meet you"

"You too Charlie, see you around."

Scarlett was left in the small room to herself. The room was the size of her closet back home, maybe smaller. She was glad she had the one suitcase. She sat on her unmade bed as she looked at her roommate's side. The bead was neatly made, the desk has neatly placed booked and a night light. There were some posters of people Scarlett wasn't familiar with. From how her room looked, her roommate seemed like a nice person, Scarlett was somehow relieved.

She opened her suitcase and removed her beddings. She made her bed neatly, even though she rarely made her own bed, she didn't want her roommate to think she was a brat who couldn't do anything by herself.

After unpacking, she went straight to bed. The last 48 hours had been hard so she had no trouble sleeping. She hoped that the day was the beginning of a good life.

Scarlett stirred awake at the break of dawn, her eyes no longer heavy with sleep. She turned to her roommate's bed to find it still neat. She sighed, getting anxious about sharing such a small space with a stranger.

She got up and looked around. Her mind was wondering where the door to the washroom was. She was confused as the only door was the one leading outside the room. During her research about the university when she applied, she had not looked at the student halls. She had searched for nice apartments and condos near the university. She was certain that she would rent one of them. How times had changed.

She wore a coat over her pyjamas and left her room. She walked the familiar corridor towards the stairs in search of any signs of a washroom. She reached the end so she turned back and walked past her room. At the opposite far end of the hall was the place she was looking for. Since it was still early, there were no students moving about.

Scarlett entered the massive room like a cat caught in a place it didn't belong. She had used public washrooms before but those were usually high-end hotels and her previous school, which in itself was like a high-end hotel. So the current place was a major downgrade. She walked to the showers and gasped. She could not imagine having to shower there. The stalls were tiny with doors that barely reached the top.

Forgetting the reason she was looking for the bathrooms in the first place, the scared girl ran back to her room. The reality of her situation finally kicking in.

The tears that were flowing as she sat on her bed had nothing to do with her single bed or the thin mattress. Even the tiny room and shower stalls were nothing to cry about. It was everything else. It was the reason she was sitting there in the first place. It was the memories crashing her, weighing her down.

After a while Scarlett composed herself, it was nearly six am she knew that the stalls would fill quickly. She took her shower bag and went back to the washrooms.

The shower wasn't as bad as she had expected. It still was the worst she shower she had ever had (the pressure was all wrong, the temperature was wanting, there was no room to move around and there was a weird smell she couldn't place) but it was relaxing nevertheless.

She dressed in simple jeans, t-shirt and converse shoes. She had tried to pack clothes based on the pictures she had seen on the website. She didn't think her designer clothes would be a good option but she had packed one or two.

Armed with her iPhone, she left the room. She decided not to use the map as she was not looking for a specific place. She would walk around and observe. If she felt hungry, she would stop at the nearest cafe.

Eastwood University lived up to its name. The buildings were strategically placed. Scarlett had walked past many of them making a mental note of each one and their names. She had observed the students too. Some were walking in groups chatting away, some were sitting under trees reading, others were running towards buildings, probably late to class.

At some point, she was hungry and walked into the nearest cafe ordering coffee and a muffin. That was when she was again reminded that she barely had any money. She needed to get her stipend cheque from the scholarship office. Speaking of which Scarlett remembered her meeting with Miss Miller. It was 10 AM so she still had two hours to kill. She looked out the window and saw a beautiful park stretching on the opposite side of where she had come from. She picked her coffee and half-eaten muffin and walked towards it.

The park would soon become her favourite spot on campus. She walked further into the park, away from the busiest part. It was secluded and serene. There was a beautiful duck pond with some ducks swimming. She was mesmerised as she took out the muffin and started feeding the ducks. Her very first friends on campus. She resisted the urge to talk to them in fear of being branded the weird girl on her second day.

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