College

Once Rachel had reached the city, she found it to be a lot more daunting than she had anticipated. There were all sorts of buildings, noises, and things she had never seen, heard, or smelt before. People were everywhere. Some where walking right past her in both directions while others were crossing the street, waiting for cabs, going into building and coming out of buildings, stopping to talk to one another either on the side walk or off to the side.

Apryl had to take a deep breath and remind herself that to them, she was just another human. Maybe a bit of an odd one, but there was no way that they would be able to tell she was a werewolf.

Lydia had even made sure that she remembered the story to tell anyone who asked what was wrong if she seemed overwhelmed or out of sorts and they stopped to ask if she needed help- Apryl was new to the city and was overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds as she had grown up to in the country near small town and that it had been many years since she had last been in such a huge place. She had assured her that it would work no problem because people took pity on what was referred to as 'country bumpkins'. Apryl didn't like the sound of the name, but if the fake story would keep people from suspecting her, she would stick to it like her life depended on it because really, it just might if she wasn't careful.

Regaining her composure she got her attention back to being focused on the map that her aunt had given her. She knew that she had to be near the college as she saw a number of land markers that looked similar to her as those that her aunt had drawn, but she couldn't see the college itself yet.

As she continued walking down the sidewalk and paying attention to the buildings on both sides of the road to determine where she needed to go aside from directly forward, she couldn't stop herself from jumping at the sound of abrupt 'honk'. She knew that it had to come from one of the vehicles on the road as it was very similar to the sound that her aunt had made to let them know that she was there to pick them up that first night. The reason for it she wasn't sure.

She risked glancing behind herself to see what all the commotion was about. She didn't see anything that looked too serious. Two cars looked like they had almost bumped heads based on how close they were to each other and the way that they were facing in the same direction, but from her perspective it didn't be gawking at like many of the people around her had stopped to do.

She really couldn't afford to waste anymore time she told herself as she continued walking. Anymore time and she was going to have to ask someone for directions and right now that was the last thing that she wanted to do. If she became too much more nervous, she was worried that she wouldn't be able to hold her human form, she was already regretting the fact that she didn't take up her mom's suggestion to wear a hat just incase her ears popped out due to stress.

After a few more minutes of wandering around in the same direction as she tried to gain her bearings on where exactly she needed to be, she finally found what she assumed was the college her aunt told her about. The moment she saw it though, her heart sank. It was a huge.

She recognized the word 'university' on one of the signs positioned near the sidewalk on what looked like a more narrow road similar to the ones she saw cars driving on her way over, but it wasn't positioned in front of any building which meant that she was going to have to do more walking and searching to find the building that her aunt told her to go.

To make matters worse there were even more people mulling around in this college place then there had been on her way over to it. Unlike her, they seemed quite comfortable with where they were. Most likely because they had been around the area a far greater amount of time than she had.

The only thing that didn't make her feel so out of place was that the majority of them looked to be about the same age as her, except better dressed and holding a lot more confidence than she did.

Apryl told herself that she couldn't back out now though. She had spent all the time to get there and now the only obstacle between her signing up was dealing with walking through just another crowd of people and trying to locate a building somewhere within this large space that she had no idea what direction to head in to reach.

At this point, she kind of wanted to ask someone for directions as she assumed that they would know exactly where to go unlike her and would help save her time. Problem was though, it seemed as though almost all of them had somewhere to go, and by the scent they were giving out, Apryl could tell that they didn't really want to be bothered.

Sighing she decided that she'd just keep walking and see what she could find. Maybe there was a map somewhere nearby that would help her. Lydia had told her that almost all colleges had a large map located somewhere on their campuses that would tell people where they were and what direction they needed to head in to reach the destination they desired. But of course, she had to find the map first for it to be any use to her.

She was so focused on look around to see where the map could be that she didn't see the person walking towards her until after they had bumped into her. Of course, she would freeze in response to such an action. Her fight or flight kicked in and told her that before she did anything she needed to wait and see if the other person was a potential threat or not.

"Oh, I am so sorry, I was in such a rush that I didn't see you there dear. Are you quite alright?" Apryl relaxed enough at the sound of the female's voice to turn and look at the person who had spoken to her just as they placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

The voice belonged to what appeared to be an older woman, perhaps in her late fifties, early sixties. Apryl wasn't good at determining human's ages so she couldn't exactly tell. She had a head of brown hair that was pulled back into a short bun, she wore glasses that had warm honey brown eyes behind them that seemed almost be smiling to match the smile on her face that was surrounded by a number of wrinkles that indicated this was a woman who had probably smiled a lot in her lifetime. Unlike many of the younger people walking around, she was dressed somewhat more formally with a white blouse and black work pants.

Apryl realized that she had probably been staring a little too long at the woman as she had titled her head slightly while still smiling, a sign Apryl assumed meant that she was waiting for a reply.

"I'm sorry, I'm fine, just a little overwhelmed is all." Apryl replied, giving the other a small bow of her head, a mild sign of submission.

"That's nothing to apologize for dear, we all get overwhelmed every now and again. I would assume that means you're new here?" she gave a nod of heard in reply to this question. "What are you looking for? I have a few minutes to spare so perhaps I can be of service." The older woman told her, gently patting her shoulder.

"Ah well.. I need to enroll still. My Aunt told me I should find the admission building, but, I don't know where that is."

"That would be because you're on the wrong side of the campus. It's about a five minute walk in that direction." The woman replied as he she pointed in a direction to indicate the way. "I'll go ahead and walk you over there though and I am sure that Keith will be able to get you sorted out."

"Thank you. You don't really have to though, I am sure that I could find it on my own now that I know where I need to go." Apryl told the other woman, feel slightly uncomfortable over the prospect of inconveniencing a stranger she had just met.

"None sense! I insist. I wouldn't be doing my job right if I left students like you to wander around on their own without any guidance." She assured Apryl as she began to walk in the direction that she indicated, leaving the wolf no choice but to follow after her if she didn't want to be rude. "By the way dear, what is your name? You Marcela."

"It's Apryl." She replied. it somehow felt awkward telling her name to this stranger. Outside of family, she had never introduced herself to anyone else before.

"Well Apryl, it is certainly nice to meet you and worry not, I will make sure you get taken care of today." Apryl could only quietly thank the older woman again.

The sooner she did whatever it was she had to do to be enrolled at this college, the sooner she could get home for the day and at this point in time, there was nothing that she wanted more than to be back with her pack and away from people.