endgame - UW series

chapter 1 - a fresh start

Josie's Pov

Being huddled in the apartment unpacking all day is exhausting but so worth it when you're finally done. Moving across a few states is a lot of work, but it's the right thing for me and my daughter Luna. She is two and we both need this, a fresh start.

"Come on little Miss Munchkin, let's go find a coffee shop so mommy can get her fill" I coo my daughter before putting her in her stroller. Sure I could have had her walking beside me, she is a good walker, but also a good runner.

We head from our apartment building, which happens to conveniently be within walking distance of both her daycare and campus. My dad hooked us up with a two-bedroom apartment and my stepmom Mindy decorated it all. She is an interior designer, so all the decor was done when we got here last night.

The campus is big, Washington University is a gorgeous campus located pretty much smack in the middle of Seattle. Old buildings surround us, as the campus in itself is ancient, but I love it. I have an appreciation for detailed architecture, so I'm excited to see the inside of the library. The library here happens to be one of the prettiest in the country, at least according to all the lists online.

The courtyard in the heart of campus has a decent amount of people in it, even though classes don't start until Monday. Trees line the courtyard, separating the paths and grass from the buildings surrounding the courtyard. I'm sure it's gorgeous once we get closer to autumn and in the spring too. Autumn is my favorite season with all the pretty colored trees and all things pumpkin spice and cinnamon.

I must say I think I'm going to love it here. Getting away from Chicago is the best thing for me and my daughter. I don't think I could take another day living in my mother's house with her "new family" she got when I was six, only six months after she and my father split up. It's not that Greg, his son from his previous marriage, and his son from a previous relationship Andy, are bad people. I get along with both of them, but that doesn't matter much when your mother hates you. She won't come out and admit it, but she certainly doesn't like me much.

Compared to my sister Lana, and brother Lucas, I'm like dirt under her shoe. It's been like that since I was a kid, I'm just not as talented as my siblings. Lana, my twin, is a ballerina attending college for dance in Chicago. She chose to stay close to home. My brother Lucas moved here to Seattle to play football for the Washington University Huskies. The same team my father coaches. So needs to say little old disappointing me isn't that popular in comparison.

I'm a teen mom, which was the ultimate disappointment I'm sure, it was the right thing to take freshman year of college online. But now that she is two and I'm going into my sophomore year I needed a change of scene. Hence why I followed my father and brother to Seattle.

I'm not sure where the best coffee around here is, so instead of looking for hours and be late to the stadium I go on Google Maps to find a cute cafe. According to Google, there is one if I go out of campus towards the west side and cross a green patch called Parrington Lawn. It's called Cafe Solstice and the Google pictures show a cute cafe with a good amount of seating. Looking down at my Apple watch I see that I'm pretty sure I have enough time to grab a coffee, hurry back to my car, and drive to the stadium. It's not really within walking distance to the campus.

After another look at the directions, and figuring out which was is west, I head in that direction. Since I'm passing between two buildings, I get a better look at the architecture up close. They're not the most spectacular buildings I've seen, but I like them still.

"Mama" Luna coos and I stop for a moment before handing her a toy she threw out of her stroller. Thankfully I have one of those clip lines so it can't hit the ground. "A few more moments sweetheart. Mommy just needs her caffeine and then we are going to go on a drive again. Won't that be fun?"