Hello August, Please Be Good To Me

Chapter 30: Charge On!

It's day two of orientation, and I'm still hungry even though I just finished eating lunch about a half hour ago. I couldn't find Nicole in time, so I walked to Dunkin Donuts and Subway by myself and ate lunch to the sounds of the outside traffic. I don't tell my dad, and it felt nice to be by myself in a unfamiliar place. I still felt relatively safe, and there were other customers that came in and out..

I feel as if I'll grind my teeth to stubs, frustration eating at me and everyone else trying to register for classes. Only God knows exactly how I ended up with deciding to go for a degree in studio art....I start using my transcript to fill in my schedule for the fall semester. I make a mental note to revise my old portfolio so I can turn that in for the program. Before I can start to take classes in my major, I have a science requirement to fulfill. After that, it's "History of Western Art 2" and I'm home free. I decide on biology, because my chemistry days are behind me., Never again. Taking AP classes hasn't totally been in vain, I realize, and I look up from my computer to glance at the other students around me, focused, unconcerned with people like me looking at them.

It hits me once again that in a couple of months I'll be here. Before I even have a chance to push down the rush of emotions I feel, I look down at my phone in my lap and see that my dad has texted me. It's 2:22 pm.

You ready?

umm almost, give me another 20 min

I still have a survey to do before I can leave, so I finish signing up for my classes, breeze through the survey, and grab my stuff and leave. The heat hits me as soon as I leave the comfort of the air conditioned building. I'm wearing a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt and it still feels like I can't breathe! I meet my dad at the student union, and find him talking to a couple of parents. I smile politely and their faces light up when they learn that I'm my dad's daughter. I shake both of their hands, and Mr. Sanchez introduces him and his wife. "I'm Charlie, and this is Teri," he says, and his wife beams. I find out that they're from Miami, and then I stand to the side so that my dad can finish his conversation, adjusting my multitude of papers and free goodies from orientation. I pull out my dad's tablet that he let me borrow for the trip, and try to sign into my Microsoft account for UCF, but it keeps giving me an error page. When I groan in frustration, my dad comes over, a similar orientation plastic bag in his hand. "You wanna go to the tech commons?" he asks me when I demonstrate trying to sign in.

"Do we have time?" I ask, knowing my dad wants to leave before four, and that we both want to check out the dorms. It's just about three now. We had to the tech commons, and my dad tells me about the tour the parents took around campus. We step into the little coffee shop that connects with the labs in the commons, and it doesn't surprise me when my dad knows the guy behind the counter. Apparently they went to a training of some sort two years ago. I don't know. "Yeah, my daughter is having trouble signing into the email account for the school." I miss the guy's name, but he points me and my dad to the where the computer services and troubleshooting is taking care of. Three guys sit behind the long desk, and the two on the left make me want to stop in my tracks. My God they're cute...why... I remember my dad standing right behind me, waiting, and I walk as if I have one mission only, and they guy's good looks don't factor at all in my task. Besides, they're probably like graduated students or something right? Out of my league. Finally, I have a boyfriend. That seals my fate. But still, my chest thumps like crazy, and I suddenly fear that the heat on my cheeks will change color and become noticeable to onlookers.

"Uh, hey excuse me," all three of them look up, "I'm having issues with my Microsoft account. It won't let me sign in. And I went to reset my password and it's telling me that my account doesn't even exist." The first guy talks to the second, and asks me if I have a laptop so he can walk me through the process. I nod and reach for my dad's tablet with the keyboard attachment and as I set it up, the guy with blonde eyes and nerd style glasses locks eyes with me, but instead of one of us breaking it, the corners of his mouth turn up slightly and I catch myself before I smile. What just happened? The other guy with short, brown hair and brown eyes leads Blondie through what to tell me, and it makes me wonder if he's newer as well as younger than the Brown Eyes. It's definitely a student-teacher relationship I see between them in the short five minutes it takes to get my account working.

When I'm able to log in I look up and notice Blondie look up at me. This time we both look away, and I pretend to still be signing in to give me a tad bit more time. I straighten up finally, and give my dad the thumbs up to let him know we're done. Turing back to the guys I smile at both of them, pushing Justin to the front of my brain. "Thanks, looks like I'm good to go." I leave as fast and as nonchalantly as I can from the tech commons, leaving my dad trailing behind. I figure maybe I can out walk my wonky feelings.