Hartfeld University. One of the most prestigious colleges in the United States. Located in the middle of Greenfield and Northbridge, Massachusetts, Hartfeld is known for its academics and athletics, making it one of the more elite higher education institutions to get accepted into. And it's the first day of fall quarter for students and teachers alike, campus practically bustling with activity. All around, students are being escorted to their dorms, saying goodbye to their parents, mingling in the overcrowded Quad, having to deal with the monster that is the Financial Aid office … Typical first day of college woes.
One such student, eighteen-year-old Emily Bishop, stares wide-eyed at the lively campus. Being an upcoming freshman, it was understandable that Emily had more butterflies in her stomach than the average student. She had never been away from home for more than about three or four months, when her parents sent her and her two younger twin brothers to visit their grandparents over the summer. She was practically jumping with nerves - nerves of excitement, nerves of anxiousness, nerves of whatever else she could barely describe.
"My, my! The brochures do NOT give this place any justice! It's certainly grown since my time here," Emily's father, Mr. Arthur Bishop, stated as he heaved her oversized travel luggage bag across the concrete sidewalk, heading towards Emily's dorm.
Emily couldn't help but smile at her father. Mr. Arthur Bishop was tall and authoritative, the horn-rimmed glasses on his face made him seem like a high school principal that was always about business. He worked for a data security company so naturally, his work always kept him busy. Which wasn't necessarily always a bad thing. In fact, he could pay for Emily's tuition to Hartfeld without Emily having to dig too deep into the little financial aid that she did receive. However, it did keep him from the important things like attending his children's school functions or doing something special for his wife during anniversaries and whatnot. It was slowly becoming a strain on his marriage but Emily's parents would never admit to it.
Luckily, Emily's mother, Mrs. Jacqueline Bishop, had made such a fuss about him taking time off from work to drop their only daughter off at college for her first day that he was able to make it happen. Jacqueline rolled her eyes at her husband, studying the map of the school campus closely. "Well, if you would've came during orientation, it wouldn't seem so overwhelming," she smartly said to her husband.
"Thank you, Jackie," Arthur replied to his wife in a snarky manner.
Making sure to stay two paces forward of her parents, Emily smirks as they continued their playful banter. "You guys! Hurry up!" She said, crossing the street before a car-full of rowdy students passes by.
"I'm not sure we're going the right way. Didn't you say you were in the Langenkamp Suites? I saw a sign saying the suites were-"
Before Arthur finishes his sentence, Jacqueline interrupts her husband, still waving the campus map around in her hand: "The suites are near the campus coffee shop, which isn't far from the Science Hall."
"But-"
"Arthur, c'mon! I'm the one with the map. You just be sure not to drop Emily's stuff."
Giggling, Emily finally turns and looks at her Dad, who continues to heave her giant travel luggage bag on his shoulders. "Yes, PLEASE be careful, Dad. I have basically my whole life in there."
"I can tell!" Arthur complains, placing the large bag on the ground. "This thing weighs a damn ton. Really, Emily, do you honestly think you're gonna need ALL of this stuff?"
"A girl has to be prepared for all situations," Jacqueline replies before Emily can even say anything.
Smiling, Emily gives her Mom a high-five, "Thank you, Mom!"
"Of course. You know men don't get it."
Sighing, Arthur glances around for a second. "Clearly, I'm outnumbered here. I need to use the little boys' room before we go any further. Can I borrow that map of yours?" He reaches for the campus map that Jacqueline still clasps in her hand, who quickly pulls away, putting the map out of reach of her husband. "Uh! You absolutely cannot take my map."
"C'mon, Jackie! Stop playin', I gotta go use the bathroom!"
"Well, I'll direct you to the little boys' room. Knowing you, you might lose this. And we still gotta find our way off this big ass campus."
"C'mon then, I'm about to piss on myself," Arthur says, walking towards the closest building.
Shaking her head at her husband, Jacqueline begins to follow. Turning back to her daughter, she gives Emily a warm smile. "Stay right here. We'll be right back."
"I'm not goin' anywhere. Besides, I need Dad to finish carrying this for me," Emily says, pointing towards her large travel luggage bag placed neatly on the ground. Jacqueline giggles at her daughter before following her husband.
Now left alone on the sidewalk, Emily turns and looks at all the activity on campus. People mingling, seemingly overjoyed to be back after summer break. Not too far, where the Quad is located, it looks as if some type of event is about to be underway. Emily could just make out booths being set up and tents being pitched. She wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but whatever it was, it seemed to add to the liveliness of campus. Turning back to the building her parents disappeared in, she is completely caught off guard when she is knocked on the ground by a guy jogging by, who falls to the ground, too … right on top of her travel luggage bag.
The guy curses to himself as he sits up, noticing Emily catching her own bearings. "What the-" she says as she sits up, herself. It literally felt like she was knocked over by a truck.
The guy gets up immediately, helps Emily to her feet. "I am so sorry! Are you okay?"
"I feel like I was just knocked over by a bulldozer…" Emily starts as the guy pulls her to her feet. Finally regaining focus, she sees the guy fully. He was of average height (for a guy, anyway), muscular, and brown hair that was styled with gel to stand at the top of his head. His Nike jogging suit was covered in sweat.
"Sorry," the guy apologized with a sheepish smile.
"No, I should've been watching where I was walking. You okay?" Emily asked the guy, dusting her jeans off.
"It's all good. My ego's a little bruised, though. If the other guys on the football team saw me get tackled by a pretty girl like you, they'd never let me live it down."
Emily lets out a small giggle as the guy extends his hand, "I'm Chris."
"Emily. So … Football player?"
"Yep. Freshman football player, but I've been here since the summer. Football summer camp or whatever."
"Sounds fun. You likin' Hartfeld so far?"
"About as much as any other football player."
She gives him another smile, "I bet."
At Chris's feet, Emily sees that many things from her luggage popped out after he fell on the bag. Noticing her flustered look, Chris turns and sees that her bag has popped open, many items splayed on the ground around them.
"Ah, damn, my bad, man," he replies, instantly bending down and helping her put her things back into the bag. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, I got it," Emily says, bending down and stuffing the fallen items back into her bag.
"I'd feel like a jackass if I didn't help," Chris stated, continuing to pass Emily her things as she puts them back into her bag. Grabbing whatever items he can off the ground, Chris picks up a lacy, black bra. His face instantly goes bright red, blushing. Emily's face matches his as she blushes, snatching the bra out of his hand and stuffing it into her bag, quickly zipping it up. She holds the few items remaining in her hands.
"Sorry, again," Chris exclaims sheepishly.
"I think that's enough help for one day," Emily quickly replies.
"Chris!"
The two are interrupted when a girl wearing all pink strides up to them. The heels she is wearing clicks and clacks on the concrete with sassiness. Her blonde hair flows behind her as she struts in between Emily and Chris with a smirk, a McCafe in her hand. Linking her free arm with Chris's, the blonde girl bats her eyes flirtatiously at him, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you. Don't forget about the Kappa house mixer tonight."
"Becca! What's up," Chris says, shooting a look Emily's way.
Taking a step back so Chris and the girl (obviously named Becca) can talk, Emily glances over to the building her parents disappeared into. She frowns, wondering what could be taking them so long.
Chris continues, "I meant to text you back about that. You know I'd love to go, but I promised my roommates I'd hang out with them tonight."
The girl named Becca pokes her bottom lip out in a pout, "Aww. Too bad. I PROMISE you'd have a better time with me…"
In high school, Emily did two years as a cheerleader and the remaining two years doing track & field. Dealing with the pompous girls on the cheerleading team that she did, Emily couldn't help but laugh after hearing Becca's voice become whiny like a baby. It reminded her of the girls from high school. High maintenance, bitchy, attention seeking ... This girl culminated them to a T. Unfortunately, Emily's laugh comes out like a snicker. This catches the attention of both Chris and Becca, both turning to give her looks. Becca frowns.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you lost, little girl?" Becca asks Emily snootily.
The phrase catches Emily off-guard, her face instantaneously frowning up. "Little girl?"
"I didn't stutter," the smirk is now gone from Becca's face. She has a frown rivaling Emily's at this point. Chris nervously looks from Emily to Becca, stepping between the two girls. "Uh, Becca, this is Emily-"
"I don't care who she is. She's obviously lost. Do you need help finding where you're supposed to be, little girl?"
"I THINK he told you my name was Emily," Emily shot back.
In the seconds after, Becca drops the iced coffee she's holding to Emily's feet, it splashing all over her. Gasping as she sees the dark coffee stain on her sweater and shoes, Emily looks up to Becca, glaring. "Seriously?!"
"Oops! I'm SO clumsy!" Becca mockingly says, placing a hand over her heart exaggeratedly.
Before Emily can say anything further, her parents come and waltz up, both smiling at Becca and Chris brightly. "Well, what do we have here?" Mrs. Bishop asks, giving both Chris and Becca a friendly grin. Becca returns the grin, waving to both of Emily's parents. However, Emily continues to shoot Becca her acid frown.
"Making friends already, sweet pea? Who's this?" Mr. Bishop asks, placing a hand on Emily's shoulder.
"Nobody," Emily quickly answers, turning away from both Chris and Becca. She begins to stalk off towards what she believes is her dorm room, the frown never leaving her face.
"Excuse me, little girl?!"
Steps stopping short, Emily turns back to where Becca is standing next to Chris, pleasant smile plastered on her face. The snide comment didn't come from Becca this time, however. It was her mother, who has her hands placed on her hips with attitude. "Where do you think you're going?!" Jacqueline asks her daughter.
"To my dorm-"
"Which is THAT way!" Emily's mother points to a large, older building in the opposite direction. Sheepishly looking from her parents, to Becca, to Chris, and to the large stain of coffee on her shirt, Emily stomps back over to them, shooting one last dead look Becca's way. She merely smirks at Emily, Chris giving off his best clueless jock impression that he can muster.
Arthur heaves the travel luggage on his shoulders, once again, nodding towards Chris and Becca through grunts and groans.
"Honey, what happened to your sweater?" Jacqueline asks, stopping Emily from walking past her. She attempts to pick at Emily's coffee-stained sweater, Emily quickly swatting her mother's hand away. "Mom, stop!"
Not stopping or looking back, Emily continues towards the old dorm building in a hurry. Behind her, she can hear Becca mockingly call after her: "Bye, Emily! See you around!" With a grimace, Emily nearly stops walking again, but catches herself. Irritation sinking in her body, she marches towards the rickety dorm building, her parents only steps behind her.
