Dante.
I grumbled in annoyance with myself as I stomped down the hallway. It wasn't until I got out of the dorm rooms and into the open that I realized people were looking at me funny.
Who could blame them? I probably looked like shit. Smelt like it too. There had to be some sort of public bathroom on campus. Like in the gym, maybe.
I reached into my backpack for the map that Mateo had given to me, alongside several vouchers and pamphlets telling you how to get the most out of college and to stay away from drugs. I found those, but I couldn't find the map. Turning out to be a shitty day. Should've taken Mateo up on his offer to show me the way, but I thought I still had the map, and it didn't matter because he fled the room the second he got a chance to anyway.
I looked around, trying to get my bearings. This was part of the things I hated about relocating and changing schools so much. Everything is new. You have to learn new roads and street names, and ways of doing things. But because I'd moved around so much, navigating new places wasn't as difficult for me. There was nothing but grass for miles on my left, so I headed right towards a red brick building. I remembered passing by it on our way to the party. Also, there was a group of students moving in that direction, so I might as well follow suit.
Google Maps might have helped me right now, but in my hurry, I forgot my phone back in the dorm room. And I wasn't sure I even wanted to go back there. Ever.
"You look lost."
I turned to the voice and came face to face with a tall blonde. Or at least she looked blonde. The ends of her hair were blue, and I could see that her roots looked dark.
"Yeah, I am. Kinda." I replied, grateful someone had noticed my confusion.
"Freshman." It wasn't a question. She had a small smile on her face as she looked me over. "What's your first class? I could point you in the direction of the lecture halls."
"Err, first class is Archeology, but uh," I cleared my throat shyly, "I was hoping to find the gym first. Or any uh public bathroom the campus might have?"
"You don't have a dorm room or what?" She furrowed her brows warily.
"I do. It's just. Uh, the water was out, so."
Just then, the wind picked up, and it blew right past us, blowing the dried pee on my pants. If I could smell it, so could she.
"Oh. I see." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Just head to the second floor up here. There's a map somewhere along the hallway. It should tell you where to find the restrooms. I'd describe it, but I might just confuse you further."
"Ok. Thank you very much. My name is..."
"I really don't care, Freshman." And with that, she walked away from me in her spiky thigh-high boots.
I didn't have the time to get offended by her sudden crass attitude. I did smell like crap.
I found the map along the hallway like she said I would, and was happy to see there was a common restroom close to the gym and another within the lecture hall building. I memorized the map. Another student took a picture of it with his phone, and I felt another wave of anger at my phone not being with me. And it wouldn't be with me throughout the day. I decided not to think about how I was going to survive without a phone all day.
Finding the lecture buildings wasn't difficult. Finding the bathroom inside them was hell. I felt like I was running through a maze. It felt like the whole school had been built purely for aesthetics and not to make any sense, navigation-wise.
I finally found the damn place and immediately washed up, grateful to be rid of my soiled pants. I also thrashed them. The better to get rid of the memory of it. Somehow, the creature I'd seen had been the furthest thing from my mind all day. Never mind the beast in the shadows trying to scare the shit out of me, there was one in my room who'd probably kill me in broad daylight. I'd worry about that later.
Right now, I have to get to class.
Despite the setbacks of that morning, I'd managed to be just in time for the first class. It was boring as hell. The professor was an old man in a faded brown blazer and thick-rimmed glasses; he kept pushing up and down his nose. Quite befitting for a course like archeology if you think about it, but he moved and talked slowly and with very little enthusiasm, so the lecture was essentially a monologue designed specifically for the people at the front. I fell asleep at several points throughout the one-hour lecture, and I saw others do the same. If the professor noticed, he didn't say anything. He didn't care.
I followed the stream of students as we exited the lecture hall. Some peppy girl in glasses nearly as thick as the professor's had stayed behind to ask him some questions. He answered them too enthusiastically, happy someone had shown interest. The rest of us would've if we could hear him clearly, but I'm sure he knew that.
Next class was Ethics, which was sure to be another long and boring hour. I groaned as I picked up my pace. It wasn't that I hated school or classes. I was just in a foul mood. The first day at school wasn't turning out like I'd hoped it would.
I spotted Mateo talking to a group of other guys, but before I could quickly move away in the other direction, he turned around and spotted me.
"Yooo! Look who made it out alive!"