Sunlight streamed through the curtainless windows at the head of Anzu's bed and woke her up. She stretched gracefully, arms fully extended, and collapsed back in a heap on her randomly colored pillows. Her hand padded the free side of the bed, finding it bare of any other person. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
"I suppose he couldn't stay. I wish I understood more about what is going on. I wish I had the time to investigate," she murmured to herself.
She noticed a cool sensation over her heart, and she picked up her cartouche that was hanging on her chain. A shout of joy escaped her lips. Playing with the inscription of her name in hieroglyphs on it, she sent thoughts of thanks to Atemu.
Throwing the covers back, Anzu hopped out of bed and padded to the bathroom to wash her face. Looking down, she noticed that her toes were covered with a fine dusting of golden sand. Shrugging at the unexpected grit, she slipped out of her clothes and took a quick shower. After she was done getting ready for the day, she pulled the registration packet for Madame Mikala's school and started going over the paperwork. Her eyes landed on the tuition expenses.
"Seven thousand dollars." She sighed dejectedly. "I have just enough to survive for two months in my savings until I find another job, but it's not that much." Anzu ran her fingers through her black hair in agitation.
Jabbing at the paper with her pen, she furiously filled out the lines that detailed her life and dance history. Legs crossed and uncrossed in annoyance with the seemingly unending paperwork. In the end, ten pages comprised the near whole of her existence. She searched through a small desk for her school transcripts and visa information and added them to the stack. Grabbing her bag, she made her way back through the city to Mikala's and found herself sitting with the older woman in a small, but tastefully decorated, office.
"I see," the richly timbered voice was saying.
Mikala's hands were pressed against each other at the fingertips, her carefully painted red nails tapping each other, and created a type of steeple. Anzu had just laid out her entire case before the teacher, but her hope for some help was low. She had come to the country via an exchange program for Juilliard but since being expelled, she did not think she'd be eligible for any other aid.
"There are some programs, though privately managed, that might help but I am not certain who or where. Unfortunately, for you to keep your visa and stay here, you will have to be at a school taking academic classes at a full-time level. We don't offer academics here, only dance instruction."
"Oh." It was all Anzu could manage around the salty lump in her throat.
"You should try Queens College. They have several international study programs and maybe they will have the expertise to help you with this. Did you have good grades in Japan?"
Smiling weakly, Anzu replied, "Yes, I did have good grades."
"Until your finances are in order, I cannot instruct you, yet, Miss Mazaki," Mikala stated in a firm businesslike manner. Anzu's face fell.
"Don't look so down," she offered to the upset woman, "Anything that is worth something requires will and sacrifice."
She stood up and walked around the desk, her crimson robes flowing like water around her, and slipped a finger under Anzu's chin. Her large dark eyes peered into the sapphire of Anzu's.
"All of our paths are for a purpose, never forget that. Now, chin up, little swan, you have a busy day ahead of you."
Anzu followed her lead and stood up, they parted and the jingling of the bell marked her exit. She looked at her watch, it was almost eleven in the morning. She figured it would take her about an hour to get across the city to Queens. What was she going to say to the school. Should she even go. Thoughts ran through her mind as she wandered back to the terminal and descended into the underbelly of the city.
Two transfers and an hour later, Anzu was crossing the wide green lawn toward the admissions building at the college. She felt extremely out of place and wondered if they could tell she was a recent former stripper. Clutching her slightly out of fashion dress-coat tighter around her, she kept her head slightly lowered and allowed her bangs to hide her eyes from the world. Eventually, she noticed the alabaster white concrete stairs of the building and made her way up.
It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the more subdued internal lighting after exiting the garish afternoon sun. Voices were muted by the thick cream-colored walls and lush, beige carpet, and Anzu nervously approached the front desk. A young co-ed was working the desk and shined a falsely painted smile toward her.
"How can I help you?" She asked in a bubblegum voice.
"I'm interested in attending the school. Could you point me to admissions?"
Pointing a finger over to the left, the girl replied, "Over there."
Anzu turned and wandered over to the registrar line. Students mulled around the waiting area talking to each other in quiet voices waiting to be called. She took a number and sat down on a art-deco inspired couch. She pulled out her folders from her bag to make sure she had everything that was given to her before she left Japan nearly two years ago. Well-creased transcripts and letters of recommendation, written in both Japanese and English, and examples of her academic projects and progress. Everything was neatly categorized and in folders.
"Mazaki, Anzu?" A lightly-accented male voice called for her after about an hour of waiting.
Jumping up, she made her way toward the owner of the voice and smiled. "Yes, I'm Anzu," she said.
He was about six-feet tall and was slender with a sinewy muscles that were apparent under his snug fitting white shirt. Golden highlights caught the overhead lighting in his red hair and a pair of green eyes twinkled at her from above a light dusting of freckles. He wore a black sports jacket with silver accents and a pair of dark blue designer jeans that covered most of his black boots. He looked more like a student and less like a registration associate.
"Bonjour, Miss Mazaki. My name is Zacharie Roux. It is a pleasure to meet you," his smooth voice replied.
He held his hand out to her and she reached for a handshake, which he deftly turned her hand and planted a kiss over it. She laughed nervously as she retreated her hand.
"Eto... is that how you great everyone?" Anzu asked him, her slight uncomfortableness at the greeting creeping into her voice.
He cocked an eyebrow and said, "Oh, you're serious. I am from Paris, and it is a normal greeting for a pretty girl." An awkward moment passed. "Ben...Are you here to register at Queen's College?" He tried to recover.
"I... Yes, I am," Anzu answered , glancing around her, "You're not what I was expecting."
He flashed her another smile. "I'm an assistant. I work here to help pay my tuition." He waved a hand toward his neatly arranged desk and walked over to sit down in a plush leather chair. Anzu followed and sat in the guest's more modest red cloth cushioned chair.
"Okay, Anzu, is that alright if I call you Anzu?" She nodded. "Summer Session begins in about a week. June seventh too be exact. Are you signing up for Summer or Fall Semester? That starts August twenty-sixth."
"Summer would be ideal if I can start then, Mister Roux," she repsonded.
"Zach, please." He grinned.
"Ben..." At this he frowned. "Summer might be hard for you to get into. A lot of freshmen degree classes are already filled."
Anzu blinked. "How d you know I'm a first year?"
"You seem a bit too nervous for someone that has done this before. Oh, by the by, are you an international student or on an exchange?"
"International student. Japan."
He pulled out additional papers. "We're going to have to fill these out in order to try to get you funding and extend or transfer your visa. You have one right? Do you have a job?"
She shock her head. "Yes, I have a visa. I had a job but I recently lost it."
More papers were pulled. "I can help you with student employment. On-campus or off-campus living?"
"Whichever is cheaper."
"Off-campus it is."
Zach had fallen into the rapid-fire pace of pushing her through the registration processes and she found herself getting dizzy from the rate of questions of what she needed and the stack of growing documents to be filled.
"I think I have all the papers we need now for you to fill out. I'm also going to print a list of the vacant classes that are available for summer to help with your selection for those."
Anzu kind of stared off into space and nodded. She wasn't sure where she was going to begin with this when she returned back to her studio across the city. She heard Zach laugh.
"You look a little lost. Hey, ben, normally this isn't offered, but my shift here ends in another hour or so. If you stick around, we can get some coffee and I can help you with this. I know it can seem like a lot at once."
"If it won't disturb your day or anything like that..." Anzu hesitated slightly.
"No, not at all," he replied.
"Where should I go to wait for you?"
"The quad is right next to this building. There are a couple of benches there if you want to sit down and look over this paperwork. I'll meet you there in an hour."
During the hour that Anzu had to herself, she filled out the basic information on the forms as best as she could. Most of the forms started with the same requests: Name, address, date of birth, sex, citizenship status, and etcetera. As she looked over the available summer classes, Zach was right, there were very few left that she could attend. She could feel a migraine trying to snake its way into her head as she rubbed her temples. For some reason, the last two days had its full share of migraine-inducing moments, but she seemed to be snapping inside more often. She wondered when she was just going to lay into someone. It was that or a heart attack from the stress.
"Boo!" cried a French voice in her ear. Anzu nearly fell off her perch on the bench as she twisted to ward off any attacks.
"Woah, hey, sorry to scare you there," Zach said as he grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. He sat down next to her, straddling the bench as he faced her. "Ridiculous amount of paperwork, ben?"
"Yes, almost too much and a bit overwhelming," she replied.
"Want to go grab some coffee? There is a nice cafe at the student cafeteria and at least we won't have to worry about a breeze trying to scatter your papers."
"That sounds good," Anzu said, gathering up the papers and placing them in her bag.
The pair walked across the green spaces of the campus, passing various buildings to which Zach explained which ones were which.
"Over there is Kiely Hall, English courses, communications, and most of the administration offices are housed there. And this one is Klapper Hall and you can find the museum and it has some great exhibits ranging from ancient Egypt to modern times."
"Egypt?" Anzu interrupted him.
"Yes, a couple of years ago an exhibit was hosted here. It was very fascinating. Some of the pieces were left here by the Egyptian Council."
"Is it open right now?"
"A history buff, ben? No, it's closed right now. The hours are usually nine to four. Ah, here we are, the Dining Hall." Zach opened the door with a flourish to let Anzu in and followed, taking lead once again.
A table in the corner was found, and they sat down. Anzu pulled out her papers from her bag again and sighed. Zach pulled them to himself and started going over what she had filled out. His eyes widened, and he looked up at Anzu with a question on his face.
"Anzu, according to what you wrote done, you haven't attended Juilliard in a year and a half. Is that correct."
She nodded while taking a sip of tea. Her preference for herbal beverages far outweighing that of the sour-tasting black beverage.
"There might be a problem," he continued, his voice a bit lower.
Blinking, Anzu asked, "Why?"
"Your student visa is invalid."
"No, it's not. See." Anzu pointed to the date in the corner, marking another six weeks.
He shook his head. "That's just for registration and reregistration. If you are not in school, then it is automatically invalid. Technically, you're here illegally right now."
She felt her fists clinch on the table and tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. To have pushed so far in the last two days and now between finances and this, she didn't know what to do. Shame stained her soul.
Zach reached out and unclenched her fingers and patted her hands. His green eyes were somber and serious.
"Don't worry. I'll do a bit of research tomorrow and see what can be done." He paused and grinned, trying to lighten the mood. "I just met you. There is no way I want to see you go so quickly."
Anzu couldn't respond to his offer of assistance and just nodded. She could feel despair trying to set into her and wondered if maybe she should just go back to the way things were before she saw Atemu. It was much better than this, but at least then she wasn't facing the possibility of being forced back to Japan and facing her family's disappointment.
"Let us focus on something more fun. Picking out classes." He grabbed the class schedules from the stack and spread them out on the table.
"Being a freshman, you are at the one-hundred levels. Two-hundred with special permissions."
Anzu smiled, seeing through his attempt to distract her from her sudden depression.
They picked out a couple of classes and were settling on an elective that she would enjoy, because Zach insisted that she have at least one class that was fun to her..
"Ben... How about this one?" he queried her, pointing at the one on the list. Anzu leaned over to see the one he was looking at.
"Language, Culture, and Society?"
"It's an anthropology course," he explained, "I think you might like it since you have an interest in history."
"I think I would enjoy that," she answered with a rare smile lighting up her azure eyes.
Their heads were low over the course schedules and registration information as they continued to amicably chat over the possibilities for her academic courses. Zach's knowledge of the school helping to guide her in filling out the forms. Engrossed in the process, Anzu did not see that in a darkened corner the semi-transparent from of Atemu was watching her.