1
Laura
As I look around my old college campus with my backpack on my back, I can’t help but think… I can’t believe I’m doing this again. I’m thirty-two years old, going back to college. Then again, it feels right. Breathing in the Boone mountain air is exactly what I needed. Anything is better than the stuffiness of Charlotte, North Carolina. Plus, I’m a couple of hours away from my ex-husband, which is great in itself.
It’s the first day of school and I feel so out of place. Everyone around me is younger, mostly kids between eighteen and twenty-one. I feel like Melissa McCarthy in the movie Life of the Party where she plays a newly divorced mother going to the same college as her daughter. Granted, I’m not as old as her character and I don’t have any kids, but my younger sister is here. She’s twenty years old and a sophomore, and it turns out we’ll be graduating together in two years. Our parents both graduated from Appalachian State University and now it’s our turn.
I have an hour before my next class, so I take the time to walk around the entire campus. Not much has changed since I left twelve years ago. The weather is perfect for a hot, summer day in August. Soon, it’ll get colder and the snow will fall. That’s what I’ve missed about not living in Boone. Sure, we’d get a couple of inches in Charlotte every once in a while, but in the North Carolina mountains we were guaranteed a real snowfall.
I walk past Frank Hall which is where I had my dorm the first time I attended school here. My roommate’s name was Jennifer. She was one of my best friends in high school and we still keep in touch through social media. She’s happily married with four kids. Most of my old friends are according to Facebook. After my divorce, I had a couple of old boyfriends send me messages, but I’m not about to jump down that rabbit hole. Right now, I’m done with men. I’ve completely sworn them off. I need to concentrate on myself.
Once I’m done walking around Frank Hall, I head away from the dorms on up to the academic buildings. I take the underground pathway that runs underneath Rivers Street, so students don’t have to cross the road. It’s kind of creepy at night so I always made sure to avoid having to walk through the tunnel after dark. When I get to the other side, I walk up the hill and a memory flashes in my mind. I remember it snowing one morning and the sidewalk was icy. My feet ended up flying clear above my head and I broke my tailbone. The next day in class, I had a cushion the doctor gave me to sit on, but it wasn’t enough. I ended up sitting with my butt cocked up on one side, and all the guys kept asking if I was trying to pass gas. Fun times.
My next class is in Sanford Hall which feels like a mile away. I exercise occasionally and still get out and walk every now and again, but I’m not eighteen anymore. Hopefully, by the end of the semester I can tackle the hills without huffing and puffing.
I take a seat on one of the benches outside Sanford Hall to catch my breath. I’m really not looking forward to my next class. It’s Philosophy of Science which has nothing to do with my Interior Design degree. However, it is a humanities course, and I need one to graduate. It makes no sense to me why I have to waste my time on a class that doesn’t pertain to interior design.
“What’s up, biotch?”
A smile lights up my face. Even though my sister is twelve years younger than me, she’s my best friend. Once she got into high school and got out of her annoying phase, we started to get close. Now that she’s in college, we’re even closer. She lived with me for the past year while I was going through my divorce, but now she lives at her sorority house.
Glancing over my shoulder, I watch Anna as she hurries over, dressed in a pair of black gym shorts and a gray T-shirt with her sorority letters on it. “Hey!” I call out.
She flops down beside me and sets her bookbag on her lap. “How did your morning class go?”
I shrug. “Good. It was a little weird being in there with all youngsters, but no one looked at me strange.”
Her lips purse. “You’re not an old woman, Laura. You’re thirty-two years old with buns of steel, gorgeous chestnut colored hair, and bright green eyes I’d kill for. You’re hot.”
I bump her with my shoulder. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis.”
“You’re welcome,” she says, beaming. Most people don’t even know we’re sisters because we look so different. I got my hair color from our father and she got the blonde from our mother. But I got my green eyes from our mother and she got brown from our father. We’re a mish mash of them both.
One of her sorority sisters waves as she walks past and we both wave back. “Anything exciting going on at the sorority house tonight?”
Anna’s grin widens. “Just meeting some of the pledges. You should consider joining us. Rush isn’t that bad.”
I snort. “Please. I’m not cut out for that crap. Plus, I know you’re always surrounded by frat guys. I had my fill of that when I was with Shawn.” He was part of a fraternity when I attended UNC Charlotte with him. It was constant parties and girls everywhere. Don’t get me wrong, I had my fair share of fun, but it got old really quick. I thought Shawn would grow up after a while, but after being married to him for six years, nothing ever changed.
Anna snarls in disgust. “Shawn’s an egotistical douchecanoe. I’m so glad you finally had the sense to leave him.”
I nod. “Me too. I just hate I wasted so many years.”
“And now you’re here,” she says excitedly. “Just think of all the fun we’re going to have.”
“Oh yeah,” I laugh, “me with you and all your twenty-year-old friends. That won’t be awkward at all.”
“Hey, it’s better than nothing. Who knows? You might meet someone you like. You’re not the only student over thirty years old.” I look around at all the people talking and smiling with their friends, the group of guys passing a football on the quad, and the various study groups congregating on the grass. All of them are young. Anna follows my line of sight and then glances sheepishly back at me. “Okay, fine, you might be the only one, but so what? You got me. That’s all you need.”
I smile. “You’re damn right.”
She pats my leg. “But now, I have to go.” She hops up and flings her bookbag over her shoulder. “I have two more classes and then it’s off to home. If you change your mind about pledging, just show up at the sorority house around seven.”
I shake my head. “Not gonna happen. Sorry, sis.”
“Fine.” She holds up her hands and turns on her heel. “Talk to ya later!”
Glancing down at my phone, I have ten minutes left until class starts. Groaning, I pick up my bookbag and head inside the building. I’ve never dreaded a class as much as I dread this one. I mean, who takes Philosophy of Science? What do you even learn in it? Unfortunately, when it came time to register for classes, I was a little late which meant I didn’t have the best of choices.
When I walk into the class, I’m not shocked to see a variety of people. There are three people toward the back right of the room with multi-colored hair, a guy and a girl in the middle who look like they just came from Woodstock, four guys in the front who can’t stop talking about Minecraft, and then a group of people to the side who seem somewhat normal. Instead of sitting by myself, I join the last group. There are three guys and two girls with one seat open beside one of the guys. In a way, it feels like I’m the new girl in school. In college, it’s not like that though. I made so many friends with people I never thought I’d have anything in common with. That was the fun part of the college experience. Now, I just feel like I’m out of the loop.