"Oh. My. God! Claire I can't believe you've graduated early and you're going to college! Without me! What do you think TPU is gonna be like? Do you think you'll find any cuties? Everyone's gonna be older than you Claire, I hope you'll make some nice friends. I'll miss you so much! I don't know what the chemistry club is gonna do without you. We won't make regionals, never mind nationals!"
"Tina, calm down! You know you're just as good as me, I'm sure chemistry club will be fine. I'm gonna miss you too, I'm not so sure I'll be able to make friends who are two years older than me…it's gonna be hard. And anyway I'm not looking for a boyfriend at the moment, I'm focusing on my education, so if there are any cuties I will not be talking to them. And they probably won't be talking to me." It had been three days since I had graduated from my high school, two years early. Yep, I'm 16 and I'm going to college. I'd received a formal white letter in the post this morning from Texas Prairie University – TPU – informing me that I had been accepted and would be enrolling in September. It wasn't my dream college- was it anyone's? But my parents didn't want me moving so far away when I was only a minor. So instead of going to the college of my calling in Massachusetts, I had to cope with the small, quiet one that everyone ignores. Much like me.
My mom and dad were ecstatic when they found out I was graduating early. In fact, they found out before me and so I didn't have the pleasure of surprising them. But when they told me, I could tell my reaction let them down. I knew my parents wouldn't let me go to MIT so young and so realized that I would be going somewhere small before even discussing it with them.
They tried to tell me that it wasn't because I was too young, but because they wanted me close by. But those arguments meant pretty much the same thing to me. And yet I knew I couldn't disappoint them by arguing that I could look after myself. The truth was I knew I couldn't look after myself. I knew I was too young to go so far away and yet I still felt let down that I would have to wait another year until my parents would consider letting me go.
"Claire, you're cute as hell, I'm sure some guy will take a liking to you!" Yeah, right.
"Thanks Tina. Your lying makes me feel so much better." I smiled; Tina was a good friend and I truly was going to miss her. She was as clever as me and I was surprised when she told me she wouldn't be graduating as well.
"You know it's true, Claire. I'm sure you'll get yourself a mathematical genius or Albert Einstein wanna-be. I can just picture you with a tall, cute nerd with glasses. Don't worry; he packs the muscle as well!" Tina fell for the macho types, but then she could, what with her pretty Asian looks and long, shiny hair. Her brains made her that much more unattainable to the guys at our school. She was a challenge, had to be impressed.
"No, that's your type of guy, Tina. Like I said, I don't want a boyfriend at the moment. College is gonna be hard enough without having someone to take my mind off things. And I'll be staying in a girl only dorm, which will mean the only guys I will be seeing will be wearing lab coats and plastic glasses. That's not something I find particularly attractive."
"Well, you best hope someone does Claire, 'cos that's all you'll be wearing for the rest of your life! I really do want you to meet a nice guy Claire, loosen you up a bit. You're too uptight to notice the world around you. Civilization goes on, and then there's you, stuck in the ground never moving with it. Honestly I think if it weren't for me, you'd be eating your lunch in the school toilet-" I cut her off before she could finish,
"That happened once, and I didn't know anybody!"
"My point exactly, Claire! I made friends with you because you were alone. You'd still be alone if I hadn't come and dragged you out of there! What I'm saying is, don't get caught up in your own little world like you always do. Interact, Claire. Be someone who people will want to talk to. Someone who other people will tell their secrets to, like I tell you mine. You're my best friend Claire and I'm gonna miss you so much, but I don't want you getting left behind just because your two years younger than everyone else. Meet someone who values who you really are, like I do. Someone who respects your knowledge and understands how vulnerable you can be. That way you'll know that the world wants you to come with it and not leave you behind. Do you hear me?" I didn't know what to say. No one had ever said those things to me before. I wasn't mad. I was touched. I didn't know Tina had felt that way about me, that she was so protective of me. I just always thought she treat me like a younger sister because she was older than me. And I accepted that because I looked up to her like an older sister. I really was going to miss her. "So just know that Claire. I'll always be here, whenever you wanna talk. And I best get updates! Unless your new social life will be too hectic for old Tina Mulensky. Just send me an e-mail once in a while, huh? I gotta go now Claire, being so prophetic has made Gandhi tired. Text me, okay? Talk soon. Love you, Claire."
"Yeah. Talk soon, Tina." And that was that. The line went dead as I held the phone in my hand staring down at it like it had just laid an egg. It's not everyday you got a lecture off your best friend telling you to make new friends. But the stuff she said had really made me think. Maybe I should try and get a guy in my life, someone to look after me when Tina and my dad weren't around. I was gonna be new meat after all. Maybe if I got myself a boyfriend I'd be able to make new friends, like with his friends and their girlfriends. But all would have to wait, I still had another 3 months with Tina and the rest of our group until summer was over and I would officially be moving on.
It was half way through my summer when I got a strange phone call, or what seemed to be strange, from the school's founder,
"Good afternoon, Miss Danvers. I'm just calling to welcome you to our college and I hope that you will enjoy your time at Texas Prairie University," the voice on the other end of the phone was crystal clear and rippled like silk. The lady speaking seemed so charismatic it almost hurt to listen to her. I couldn't form an image of her in my head; she sounded so mysterious. "If you have any queries before you leave your home town to come to TPU, just call and you will be put through to one of my employees. We look forward to having you in our school and in our town, Claire. And we hope you enjoy your stay. Goodbye." The voice on the other end left no room for me to speak before the end tone rang through my ears alerting me that the call was over. I placed the phone in its cradle and sat down slowly into the kitchen chair that I had got up from.
The funny thing was the voice didn't seem human. It seemed too much like it had been dubbed. But it didn't sound at all like a recording - it was too beautiful - and the speaker had mentioned my name. If they did that for everyone, the person recording would surely die of boredom. But as soon as my mind started playing over the answers to my thoughts it quickly became fuzzy and I suddenly looked at the television, more interested in The Big Bang Theory than my own thoughts.
It was my first day at TPU and after having another 15 lectures off Tina and some worries and wonders from my mom and dad during the summer, I was finally able to put my mind in gear for the trial of its life. I knew college was going to be ten times harder than high school but I'd gotten through everything at school pretty easily. I needed something more challenging. My mind thrived for the work I would be set, hoping that not only would I be able to do it but I would be able to learn valuable lessons along the way.
I was finishing up putting my few boxes I had brought along to college, in my room and was about to go back outside to say bye to my mom and dad. As I was walking along the corridor with my head down - knowing I was in a corridor full of attractive girls who were older than me and therefore daunting, I didn't want to bring unnecessary attention to myself - I heard a gasp.
"Are you lost little girl? Kindergarten is at the other side of town." I looked up to see a supermodel thin and obnoxiously pretty girl staring at me. Her two friends - what I could only imagine were friends and not clones - stood behind her, clearly not trying to hide their sniggers.
"Erm, no, I am supposed to be here. I'm an early graduate. I'm staying here for the year until I can go to MIT." I knew I probably shouldn't have told her how long I was staying. It meant she had a time limit on her schemes to destroy me.
"Oh. I'm sorry. Did I ask you to talk to me? No. And no one talks to Monica Morrell without her permission." Her face seemed to grow stonier than what it had been before and her dolls laughed even harder.
Great. Seemed like I was gonna be in for a real treat this year.