Inevitable (Book One)

Chapter 1

Lyla

Just try to blend in, I remind myself as I navigate through the crowd on the sidewalk and do my best to not get bowled over. My destination is the large and rather intimidating building in front of me. It looks familiar, just as any other typical college I have seen before. It is bare, grey, and some would say resembling a prison, the irony of that not lost by the students attending it I am sure. I stand there looking up at it as other students and professors walk past me carrying backpacks or textbooks tucked under their arms as they make their way through one of the six large solid wood main entry doors.

I look up at the sign above the doors that reads "Oakridge College". My new home away from home, I think to myself. I am unlike majority of the other sophomore year students here seeing that I had completed my freshman year at a college in the next city over; West Harrington College. I left because of events that were out of my control by the time everything unfolded. My parents had made the suggestion that starting fresh somewhere new would be best for me and ultimately I agreed with them and made the decision to transfer.

What my parents did not understand was how difficult the final decision had been for me. I am now attending a college outside of my hometown, meaning I could no longer live at home and attend school, so I would now be living in the dorms on campus. Not to mention that I left behind all my friends I grew up with in my hometown which was now a two hour drive to visit. A sick feeling starts to overwhelm me and I take a deep breath and remind myself that I will get through the day. A nagging voice in my head keeps reminding me that I know not a single soul inside this building as I stagger up the steps and through the front doors.

As I walk down the hallway looking for any sign of a main office, I notice my new peers gathered into numerous cliques, some standing in the hallway chatting eagerly back and forth with one another as some hug and greet each other back after a summer apart. As I continue walking, I notice a few sets of eyes staring me down, but I do not dare to lock eyes with anyone and just continue on my way. My plan is to keep as low on everyone's radar as possible and hopefully I will get through the day without any embarrassment. I finally see a sign above a doorway on the left side of the hall, which states it is the office. I rush my last few strides and push my way through the door.

The office is a large narrow room with two rows of chairs lined along one wall and a long counter that spans wall to wall with 8 little kiosk counters each with a staff member waiting to assist a student. I notice that there are numerous students sitting and waiting as all eight kiosks are occupied. I note that there is a little stand with a sign that reads, 'Take a ticket and wait for your number to be called'. I pull the next ticket ripping it off the roll and determine I am number seventy three.

I take a seat in a chair that is at the end of the back row and has two empty seats beside it before someone is filling the third. As I wait, I pull my paperwork out of my book bag and begin to organize what forms I need signed off. Usually, I am organized and would not need to be in the college office on day one of the school year, but my transfer had taken so long to process over the summer that I received majority of my enrollment paperwork two weeks ago. I had opted just to bring everything in today rather then mail it in and have to wait for admissions to get back to me.

As I reach into my book bag again to pull out yet another stack of papers, the pile I already have out and am attempting to balance on my lap slides off in a quick motion and before I can react my papers are sprawled out on the office floor. I do not dare to look around as I can already feel numerous sets of eyes on me as I kneel down in front of my chair and begin to collect my mess. I keep my head down and try my best to re-stack my papers. As I reach for a page that has slid further then the others and is underneath the seat in front of me, a hand grabs it before I can.