Nova's Dawning

Many people believe that college is supposed to be this big, exciting experience. You expect that you’re going to meet amazing people, go to a ton of wild parties where you get drunk, maybe smoke some cigarettes, and to possibly wake up the next day regretting all your life choices. You even expect that one day you might wake up next to a cute guy, and he’ll roll over and smile at you, even though your makeup is everywhere. Others expect to be overdosed on caffeine all the time, drinking gallons of coffee before your classes in the morning, or even at four in the morning because, “oops” you forgot about that paper due the next day. Expectations are that it’s loud, obnoxious, that the people are crazy, that the food is even worse, and that the teachers are so disappointing you wonder if it was even worth it.

Unfortunately for me, my experience wasn’t what I had hoped for. When I was finishing high school, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life. Senior year wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, and I had my first set of failures in my first few months. I failed my driver’s test, I had failed an Advanced Placement test last year which meant taking the class again, my parents had lost our house, I had lost my first long term boyfriend, and I had started my first job. These events were detrimental to my motivation, but I firmly felt they were things that I had to go through even though, it really made me lose a part of myself for a couple months. When I finally got my life together again, college was right around the corner. I ended up being fired from my job, since they needed someone who could work long-term, and I was planning on going away to college, even though I didn’t know where.

Maybe it was the name, the small campus, or how far away it was from all of the issues that had arrived in my life those last few months, but when I got the mail that first day of spring the thick packet I held read, “Home to Canada’s Superstars! College of Moonlight!”

Simple, sweet, and to the point, but also familiar. This was my mother’s alma mater, the school where she had honed her psychic ability and gave predictions as to who the next ten Presidents would be. She had told many people their future back in the day and had been known as the ‘Seer of the Century’. I knew they were only sending me a pamphlet, because of her most likely asking, but I wanted to escape the States for a while, travel abroad, and maybe have some adventures. That was what I craved in my stressful life. They covered all sorts of programs all the way from film to law, and of course gave one on one sessions with the best mentors around. My mother most likely would have been one, if she hadn’t been burdened with me.

It was a diverse, yet accredited school. However, they were small, with an even smaller acceptance rate. There would be no way I could possibly ever get in, but I tried anyway. ‘Reach for the stars!’ said their pamphlet, so I did, plus I knew my mom would be upset if I didn’t.

Finishing high school was very bittersweet. It’s a lot of goodbyes. A lot of hugs. More importantly it’s a lot of relief. To finally say goodbye to all the stress and the worry and the expectations that were held over me. It felt amazing to just put it all behind me, slam the doors shut, and walk away without any regrets.

Walking across the stage was so.... boring. No one ever says it, but it was the most boring event of my miserable life. You sit in uncomfortable chairs, for as long as the Nile river itself, especially if your graduating class was over four hundred people. You sit by basically strangers, wondering if they even actually went to school with you. Finally, you go stand in a line, to stand in a line, to stand in the line to get your name called. Then some person sitting in a comfortable looking chair tells you how to accept your diploma and which hand to use to shake and who to shake hands with and then you zip across the stage hoping you can remember everything, not fall, and manage to smile for the millions of pictures being taken. Afterwards you have to make your way through a sea of people to find the people you actually like, get your pictures taken with them, and finally you depart, never to see most of those same people ever again.

It’s too stressful for something so boring.

When I departed with my family that day, my parents were taking me to a fancy restaurant, with a letter I had no idea about.

We settled at our table, ordered our drinks and food, and that’s when they pulled the familiar looking packet out.

I had got into Moonlight.

They were already planning a family vacation on the way of taking me. We would have a giant road trip, a “grand” time. I couldn’t stop reading those words over and over again.

“You’ve been accepted and we would like to offer you a full ride.”

They would even cover room and board.

I was in awe.

Never had I ever expected that; I shot my mom a look from across the table.

“Did you have anything to do with this? I never said anything in my application about who you were.” My voice filled with accusation.

She tossed her brown hair back and smirked. “Nope. I didn’t say anything, because I figured you would have wrung my neck for it.” She said, smiling even wider.

I spent my summer vacation imagining what my college experience would be like. I was going to get really drunk for the first time (thanks to the drinking age being 18 in Canada), try to fall in love again, maybe meet “Mr. Right”. I would make new friends, see new things, go to new places. I thought about all the food I was going to eat.

That was worth everything.

At eighteen going on nineteen I wasn’t skinny by any means, but I wasn’t crazy big either. I was a good size especially for being so tall. I was 5′9, and for a girl, that’s tall, but I had come to appreciate who I was physically and mentally.

I was the most excited about finally obtaining my ability. I knew that when I arrived some people would have already received theirs, since most get theirs at or after they’ve turned eighteen, but my birthday wasn’t until the end of October. I would finally be able to tell people their futures, and I would be able to show everyone who had ever doubted me.

I also spent my summer saying goodbye to my acquaintances. I liked a lot of people, but there wasn’t anyone who I would call my best friend. I hadn’t ever been social with my classmates, because most of them avoided me. Once upon a time I had been bright, exciting, and happy, but senior year had really taken a lot out of me. Which is why I had expected so much out of my college experience. I wanted it to fill me with fire, to rejuvenate me, to bring me closer to the girl I had once been. The older I got, the more people realized that my mom was the famous seer, who gave up her power to have me. I would often hear the other kid’s parents saying, “She better be just as good as her mom.” Or “I wonder if she can fill those shoes.”

It was a daunting task, and to be going to the same college as her, had only strengthened my desire to be the best.

If only I had known or had been prepared for what was to come.

Finally, after everyone else had left for college, it was my turn. My whole family packed their bags. I packed my livelihood, and we were off towards the great unknown. My parents stopped at every sight there was to see and took so many pictures that they probably never actually did anything with, just like every family event. My favorite part was eating all the food, and not having to pay for it, because my parents wanted me to save all of my money for something like a bike or car, but most likely a bike, as they would say to me. I had managed to get my license over summer break, but I didn’t have a car so it felt kind of useless.

The trip wasn’t grandiose, but it was really nice to see my parents having such a good time. They had come a long way and had gone through a lot of obstacles together, and yet they never faltered. I thought losing the house was going to be terrible, but my parents had managed to keep moving forward with smiles on their faces, and love for me. They always looked happy and full of life during family trips, so it made me feel better about the whole thing knowing they were having fun.

I was kind of hoping that maybe on my first day at my dorm there would be some cute upperclassmen to help me with my bags, offering to give me a tour of the campus, and then offering me his phone number, because I saw that in a movie once, but I wasn’t in a movie. I was in real life. My real life, which was awfully droll at that point. When we had arrived, my parents had helped me get my things in and the person who showed me to my room was an older lady who had no sense of humor. My dad kept cracking jokes at her and while my mom laughed, our tour guide was very unamused. She mumbled an explanation of the keys, let me know my roommate wouldn’t be there until tomorrow, and then split back downstairs to her little booth. They had hugged me goodbye, with tears in their eyes and my makeup on their shirts, and that’s how I ended up in Quebec, Canada, all by myself. No friends, no family. Just me and my things, which were mostly books. After what seemed like the most boring trip in the world, I was finally left alone. I got settled in and finally my parents were officially off, back to the States, and far, far away from me.

This had been one of the most efficient options to live in. It wasn’t the most expensive, nor was it the cheapest. It was paid for already, of course, but I didn’t want anything too fancy. When you walked in the door there was a small living room, then an even smaller kitchen, with a small bathroom, and one bedroom that could barely fit in two people. There were two desks in the living room, and two dressers in the bedroom. We only had one closet though, which I remember hoping wouldn’t be an issue. The beds, well they were bunk beds. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was definitely something else. I looked like we could separate them if we wanted to, but that would mean for the removal of other things.

I made my bed first, I had the bottom bunk, and then I flopped onto it. It wasn’t as comfortable as I had expected, but it was nice. The room smelled like fresh Febreze, the kind that didn’t burn your nose hairs out. I snuggled my favorite pillow and I accidentally fell asleep.

Still suffering from the time zone difference, I could feel that when I woke up it was an unnatural hour. I set up my coffee pot first, and then my books, and then my laptop/workstation. I set up my printer, my Xbox, my very small, but handy TV, I organized my folders, went over my paperwork that had to be handed in at the orientation, and then I proceeded to make coffee. It was four in the morning by that time, and I wasn’t sure how to function. I took a good look at myself in the hallway mirror and I knew I needed a shower, because my blonde hair was starting to look dirty blonde. I noticed my light blue eyes were unusually dull in the shine of the mirror, and I sighed.

“Nothing coffee can’t fix.” I mumbled.

As I took my first sip of my hot, steamy coffee, there was a knock on the door. I set my coffee down carefully and looked through the peephole.

It was a girl, short, long dark hair, and had giant glasses. Her makeup was flawless under the thick rimmed frames and her freckles were abundant.

“Um... Starlite?” she whispered and knocked quietly again.

That was my name.

I opened the door and she stumbled in, her stuff in tow.

The first thing I noticed was a pillow from a video game I liked. When she stumbled it fell out of her hands and I grabbed it before it hit the floor.

“Oh my gosh, thank you.”

Her voice and her round face seemed so familiar to me at the time, but I couldn’t place it. I knew from our brief email conversations that she was from Tennessee and since I was from Michigan, I figured we had never met before. In a way it was true.

I grabbed what I could and I saw the tour lady exiting down the hall.

“Wow, she’s super fucking boring.” she said. Her words seemed weird coming out of someone so small, but I laughed anyway. She chuckled alongside me as we hauled the rest of her stuff into our room.

“It’s nice to finally meet you Starlite, I’m Belladonna, but you can just call me Bee.”

I shook her hand, and, in that moment, I just couldn’t help but smile. It was four in the morning. I was drinking coffee, I was shaking hands with someone named Belladonna, and she was an avid video game player. Her trinkets and figures put my few decorations to shame.

I helped her settle in and then I poured her a cup of coffee.

If my college experience was an abundance of anything, it was coffee.

I was already an avid coffee drinker, but the next few months would make me a coffee addict of the highest extent.

It was clear that neither of us would take part in a decent night’s sleep, however I was keen on making friends. For some reason, Bee and I just got along really well, which was rare, because I really disliked other females my age. We laughed at a lot of the same jokes; we would sometimes talk at the same time. By the time the sun was high in the sky we were in tears, but the good kind. The kind that fill your soul with comedic pleasure. She was funny, but she told me I was funnier.

She was indeed from Tennessee, and she lived with her mom and her dad. They couldn’t fly so she had arrived alone. I couldn’t imagine being alone, especially in a foreign country. I still can’t really. She had three cats, a corgi, and an older dog named Marley. She loved David Bowie, her favorite color was red, she only wore the color black, she had an obsession with lipstick, and she really liked big, cool hats.

It’s funny how much you can learn about someone in such a short amount of time. Her birthday had been last week, but so far, she hadn’t gotten any powers yet, and was starting to think they wouldn’t appear. “My mother was a healer, and I want to be a healer. The story of how she met my father, when he was inches from dying, is one I can’t forget. She has done so much good in the world, and I want to be right up there with her.”

I had not told Bee who my mom was, and I didn’t want to. I didn’t want anyone to know, but of course once my powers arrived, I was sure people could put two and two together, however I wanted to wait if possible, for that moment. I did not want to lose any friends before I had even made them.

Not only was Bee super cool, but apparently the man she was in love with was just as equally interesting. His name was Oren. He was a tall, muscular, mustached man with curly hair that was going to finish up his last few weeks at his job and then follow her up here. He had followed her all over the States apparently, as she did her summer escapade throughout the entire country. Their love was something out of the storybooks, and they looked like a Hollywood couple as well. We were scrolling through her pictures of them, when there was a soft knock on our door.

We looked up, but the knock didn’t come again. I stood up and walked over to the door and through the peephole there was no one. As I opened the door, I heard something hit the ground. There were two letters from our school taped to our door, although mine had fallen off quite quickly.

Inside was a schedule for Orientation, a map of our campus, and a welcome letter from the Dean.

It read:

Welcome New Students,

Congratulations on making it here and finding yourselves under the roof of one of our many housing options. As the date of your Orientation draws nearer I wanted to remind you of a few things. Please dress accordingly for the weather, due to the fact that we will be outside for a large part of the day. Remember to bring all the correct paperwork and any fees that you need to catch up on. Lastly, please do not forget that we will be taking pictures for your ID’s and assigning you access cards to the buildings. I look forward to meeting each and every one of you.

Sincerely,

Dean Ambrosia

Then her big squiggly signature was at the bottom, each curve arched perfectly.

“That’s cool, I guess.” said Bee.

I nodded and folded my letter back up, sticking it back into the envelope. I shoved it into the rest of my paperwork and then collapsed onto my bed. I was getting tired, even though I knew it was probably still only the afternoon.

“We should go out today, maybe explore the area. See some sights?” Bee said this as she climbed the little ladder to her bed and flopped down onto it. The last part was mumbled into her pillow.

We laughed a little and I said, “Maybe in your dreams.”

And then there was silence. She was knocked out faster than I had ever seen anyone fall asleep.

“Oh, the wonders of Jet lag.” I pulled my blanket over my face, and then I too, bit the dust.