Elena Castillo tried to peer out the dirt covered window of her dorm room at the University of Avalor. As an incoming freshman, she had just moved into Amulet Hall. Amulet Hall was clean enough on the inside but because of it's secluded location, surrounded by trees, the outside often remained a bit dingy. It was the oldest building on campus, some even referred to it as ancient.
Elena sighed as she could barely make out the campus common in the distance, surrounded by the rest of residence halls. It was so far from where she was. She slumped down on her bed and looked around her newly inhabited room, which unfortunately did not include a room mate. She turned her lips into a crooked frown as she skimmed the walls that needed repair, thought about the creaking floors, and bounced on her quite uncomfortable mattress.
The worst part of her assigned dormitory though was the loneliness. Elena had hoped for a new beginning when she arrived at college. Not that she wanted to completely leave her former life behind her, she loved her family dearly, especially her little sister Isabel. She had a dark past however and very little freedom. When she was a young teenager, her parents had mysteriously vanished. It was later determined that they were murdered. It was a high profile case, there was a lot of controversy and politics involved. Though there had been a couple of suspects, no one had ever been convicted. It remained a mystery. As a result of the tragedy, Elena and her sister had been raised by their maternal Grandparents. In fear that their grandchildren's lives were also in danger, Francisco and Luisa Flores kept the girls close at all times. The girls were home schooled and rarely had any social interaction outside of their family and close family friends. Elena had always longed for more. At the moment, her college life wasn't looking much better than her home life.
Elena picked up her blue stuffed fox that she had insisted on bringing with her. She had gotten it as a child, slept with it beside her every night of her life and certainly couldn't bare to leave it behind when she left home. She hugged him tight. She then looked it straight in the eyes as if it were a true friend and said, "Enough is enough! I'm not going to just sit here and pout! If you want change in life, you need to take a stand! Right?! RIGHT!"
She then stood up with determination and walked over to her closet. She opened the doors, one nearly hanging off the hinges, and took out her favorite off the shoulder, red, ruffled, chiffon blouse. She paired it with a pair of white denim shorts, laced up her favorite high top sneakers and pulled her waist length, dark brown hair back into a ponytail. She took a look in the mirror. She was a naturally beautiful girl, just as her mother had been. What truly made her stand out though was the way that she carried herself. She stood tall and confident and though she was a tad on the skinny side, she always appeared to be strong. And she was. It was the way she had always been. Despite the adversities in her life, she had always tried to remain positive. She wanted to change the world, to make it a better place. Because of her seclusion growing up, she was often a bit naive as to how the world worked but her heart was always in the right place, she wore it on her sleeve and fully committed it to everything that she did. Overall, she was a happy, friendly and outgoing girl. She feared very little and believed that with hard work, anything was possible. She placed her hands on her tiny waist, resting them on her perfectly curved hips and nodded at her reflection. She was ready!
"Absolutely NOT!" Esteban Flores stated with force. Not only was he Elena's older cousin but he was also President of the University. "You will not receive special treatment so long as I am in charge of this University.
"Please Esteban!" Elena begged, "You know how difficult things have been for me. I need this! I can't live in seclusion any longer and living out there in Amulet Hall makes me feel like I'm still trapped! And most of the students there, actually enjoy that separation. But I don't! They don't want to be bothered. But I need to be closer to the other students!"
"First of all" Esteban started calmly, his nose slightly turned up in the air, "While you are here, you will address me as Chancellor Flores, just as any other student would do. And like I said, I can not just give you special treatment. If you want to fit in with the other students, might I suggest not flaunting who you are or who your family is! Besides, you will have plenty of opportunities to meet the other students once classes start up in a few days. Attend the activity fairs, find a club, a sorority, something! You will be fine Miss Castillo"
Elena rolled her eyes at the way her cousin addressed her and how he expected to be addressed. He just didn't understand. Even walking through campus on her way to the administrative offices, she saw that social circles were already forming and she couldn't help but feel left out. She needed to be close to the rest of the residence halls and she desperately desired to have a roommate. Someone she could form a life long sisterly bond with. Esteban seemed determined though, to make Elena's transition more difficult.
He too had been raised by their Grandparents. He was older though and often found himself shaded by the wealthy Castillo family. Elena always sensed a bit of resentment because of it. Esteban had shadowed his Uncle Raul's career for many years and was determined to one day follow in his foot steps. Raul however, had always hoped that one of his daughters would continue on with his legacy. Raul Castillo was, of course, Elena's father. At the time of the Castillos murder, Raul had been President of the University, as his father had before him. Elena's mother Lucia, was a prominent alumni of the University and served on the Board of Trustees. The Castillos were legendary. It was highly suspected that the Castillo's murder had to do with University politics. The prime suspect in the case had always been Isadora Shuriki. She was the Vice President of the University and often had heated disagreements with Raul. She wanted his job and wanted him out of the way. She had been questioned over and over again on the case but there had never been anything linking her to the murders. Not a thing. Thus, she took over as president, with Esteban suspiciously being awarded the position of Vice President. The pressures of being president and under constant investigation eventually drove her into madness and when faculty and alumni had deemed her unfit for the position, she was forced by the University to step down as an administrator. Esteban, wanting the position of power himself, lead the revolt.
Elena stood up feeling defeated. She should have known better than to think that Esteban would help her. She scowled at him momentarily but didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had gotten her down. So she held her head high and feigned a satisfied smile.
"Thank you Chancellor! Flores!" She stated, over dramatically emphasizing his title "You have taught me a very important lesson today. I am on my own now and learning to be independent. I can no longer rely on my family to bail me out. I will simply find another way!"
With that, Elena turned and walked out of the president's office, wheels already turning in her head as to how she was possibly going to free herself from a life of further seclusion.