Going to college in Atlanta wasn't necessarily hard, as Beth Greene had found out by the end of her first week, it was simply terrifying.
Not so much her classes or the dorms, not even the campus itself. But the city was a whole other story.
Having grown up in a small farm town Beth was unaccustomed to city life. The noise, the smells, the people. Everywhere she turned there was a stranger pushing past her. She constantly felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things happening around her. Beth was beginning to think that Maggie had been right, city life was just not for everyone.
Of course it wasn't just the people that overwhelmed her, there was also the sheer amount of buildings and cars. The buildings towered over her and she felt that at any moment she might be crushed. She longed for the open air and sky of the farm but she had resolved to herself to stick out the year in the big city. Maybe by that time she would actually be able to find her way back to campus from the music store she liked downtown.
But right now, on her first trip back from the store, she was hopelessly and irrefutably lost. Beth bit her lip as she looked at the street sign before her. She had no memory of this corner or this area from her long walk to the store. She did not have the money for a cab and had no idea what bus she should get on. Running her fingers through her hair Beth scanned the area around her as if hoping she would suddenly see an arrow pointing her in the right direction.
"Lost?" a gruff voice suddenly said from behind her.
Beth turned with a small jump of fright to see a well muscled man standing a foot from her. He was wearing a sleeveless vest and it took her a moment to tear her eyes from the muscles of his arms to look at him. She couldn't help noticing that he had a nice face as she nodded in response to his question.
"Do you know how to get to the campus?" she asked quietly as she forced herself to look at his eyes and not stare at his arms.
The man nodded. "My shop is a block away from it." he admitted with a shrug before he cleared his throat. "I was headed back now."
He let the statement hang between them for a moment before Beth grabbed it like a lifeline. She knew she shouldn't trust strange men but for some reason she felt this man wouldn't hurt her. Besides, she didn't know how she would get back without him.
"Would you mind if we walked together?" Beth asked quickly.
The man shrugged again as he started to walk off, Beth hurrying after him down the crowded streets.