COLLEGE LIFE HERE I COMEEEEEE

The leaves are green...

the flowers are blooming...

on this fine fine day, I'm STARTING COLLEGE!!!!!

Seriously, you don't know how annoying it is to get into college do you even know how hard it is? Like why did I have to fill out all those applications? What do you mean you're rejecting me because I got a bad grade? Do you have problems or something? Seriously, I really need a moment to collect myself because high school was literally hell on earth. 

It's great. I know people going here.

It's going to be allll ri—

"Cressie!" Mint calls from the gate. "Hurry up! You need to hand out flyers with us!"

"I'm just going to sit at the table the whole time." I groan. "Not even a hi? Hello? How are you?"

"The "hi, hello, how are you?" can come when you go check out who else from our class made it into this school!" He grins. "Let's go!"

I follow him as I pass the crowd of students, club fair bustling as ever, and I blink slowly at all of the students that pass by. I don't recognize anyone, but it's not the end of the world, I suppose. Thank GOD I'm out of high school. That's seriously my only thought. Like hello pretty bo— oh my god that guy has nice arms. Wait, holy shit. I'm literally drooling. WHY DOES THAT MAN HAVE SUCH NICE ARMS. LIKE, SERIOUSLY, WHY IS IT— I slam nose-first into Mint's back.

"OW—"

"Cressie?" 

My heart drops in horror as I look at the source of the voice. 

Oh.

My.

God.

"It is you!" The guy smiles slightly, neutral expression on his face as always, and I feel my head spin. He steps over to me, nodding at Mint. "How have you been?"

"Fine." I smile lightly. "You? Congrats on getting in. Admissions this year was literally evil."

"Yeah." He sighs. "Congrats to you too. What are you studying?"

I tilt my head, pretending to be hurt. "I told you over summer. Did you forget?"

"A-ah, did you? I'm sorry." He scratches his cheek. "I have bad memory, you see."

I click my tongue, feigning disdain. "I'm kidding. English. You're in CS, right?"

"Yeah." He chuckles. "How many units are you taking?"

"Four." I pause.

"Four?" He tilts his head slightly.

"Four classes." I hide my face in my hands, cheeks flushed. "Sorry. I'm taking 16 units."

Cy laughs at me, brown eyes crinkling as he does, dirty-blonde hair shining under the sun, making him seem angelic. I peer up at him through my lashes, blinking slowly. I wonder if my eyes look as nice as his under the sun. His eyes have always been on the lighter brown side. I'm not as pretty as him, but I suppose it works. His glasses slip slightly, and I hold my hand out in case they fall, eyes wide as he stops laughing, adjusting his glasses. 

"Hm?"

"Sorry." I pull my hands back. "When do you pick up your textbooks?"

"Today." He nods. "You can scan our textbook. I don't need it until next Tuesday, so feel free to take the weekend."

"Alright." I grin. "Helping me pirate a textbook, eh? What happened to it being immoral?"

He raises a brow. "Pirating? What do you mean? You obviously paid for your own but is waiting on it, so you're stuck using mine."

I press my hand to my lips, a smile on my face as I raise a brow, leaning in to tilt my head further. "You're sooo right! You're such a great friend, you know? Letting me borrow your textbook for class on Friday."

Cy shrugs, slight ghost of a smirk on his lips. 

"Alright." Mint hands me a stack of flyers. "You too, Cy guy."

He takes the flyers from Mint, heading off.

"I'm off rotation." You give him a thumbs up. "I helped set up earlier. Can I wander around?"

"Why are you asking me? I'm not in charge."

I click my tongue, turning to the nearest adult. "Can I go check out the clubs?"

"Yes! Your shift is over, so have fun!"

"Thank you!" I call back, handing the flyers back to Mint with a smile, lips curled mischievously. "See?"

"You gonna go alone?"

"No, I said I'd go with Chris." I hum. "He's coming to pick me up."

"Haven't met him yet... no. I saw him last Monday." Mint frowns. "Glasses and kind of chubby, right?"

"Kind of." I wave as Chris calls my name. "I'll be back later."

"You're not going immediately home?"

"No. I want dinner." You deadpan. "I'm not eating on campus."

"Shame." Mint shrugs. "Have fun. Let me know if you find something interesting."

I collect stickers for the most part, filling out forms for stickers and immediately removing myself from their newsletters, a smile specifically curated for the moment. I don't know how much longer I have to smile at these people. It makes me sick. 

Yet, when Chris circles back to where we started, I wave bye to him, going back to the table. 

"Back already?"

"I really want a burger." I mumble. 

"There's one across campus." one of the girls mentions. "Over at the town center."

"yeah..." I sigh. "Sure. That works. I'm leaving my stuff here."

Seriously, why are some of the guys here so attractive? Like, one of the guys from our club is so fine looking. He's super nice too. But lowkey, I think my roommate likes him. Or he likes my roommate. Or they're super close. I think I'm going insane. Is it the summer delusions? I'm so tired right now I could just knock out on the grass. That would be nice, huh? Oh, well.

I get my food and sit back down at the booth, watching as we run out of flyers. 

My phone dings.

cystar: are you still at the booth?

I text him back an affirmative, going back to my burger.

Mint comes back with him as he hands me his textbook.

"Here you go." He nods. "I need it back by Tuesday."

"Will do." I wipe my hands, flipping through the book. I pause at the front page, blinking slowly. "There's an online PDF version."

"There is?" He peers over my shoulder, staring as I point at it. "Oh. There is. Do you want me to just send you that later?"

"Yes, please." I mumble, smiling sweetly. "Thank you."

"Of course."

Mint hums in mild surprise as Cy leaves first, speaking up when he leaves.

"Didn't know he'd pirate a textbook for you." He mumbles. 

"Does that mean anything?"

"I am not feeding into your delusions." 

I laugh.