Chapter Text
Finally. Ashlyn exhaled slowly while staring up at the ceiling from her bed. Before her alarm could even go off, Ashlyn’s body forced her awake, knowing today was an important day. It was her last first day of college, and Ashlyn was having some serious mixed feelings about the whole thing. What’s next? Do I get an “adult job” or do I continue with my education? Or both? The more Ashlyn contemplated the future, the more she wanted time to slow down. When life moved too quickly around Ashlyn, it was easy for her to push her responsibilities to the wayside. As hard as she worked during her previous years as an undergrad at UNC, she knew she could have done better; she knew that her first year was less than impressive with all the partying and drinking (and girls) she let distract her. But Ashlyn knew that this year would be different. She could feel it.
Before Ashlyn could let her mind wander deeper into this pit of anxiety, her second alarm went off, letting her know that it was really time to get up and get ready. She swung her legs off the edge of the bed and checked the weather before she shuffled over to her closet to pick out her outfit for the first day of classes. The forecast showed that it would be a solid 80 degrees out that day, normal for the area, so Ashlyn decided on her favorite Hurley t-shirt and knee-length black shorts. Most of the time, Ashlyn favored her casual look, but she did like to go all out and dress up every once in a while. However, today was not that kind of day. Her excitement for classes to start was severely overshadowed by her nervousness about what the day meant for her future. Today is the first day of the rest of my life, or some bullshit like that. She smirked to herself, finding some weird comfort in that cliché.
Ashlyn consciously decided to let the nerves go as best as she could while putting on her favorite bracelet and watch. She read the time: 8:10. Her first class didn’t start until 9:30, so she knew she had just enough time to stop at her favorite breakfast joint, “Chapel Fill”, for coffee and a bagel. At first she loved the place for the play on Chapel Hill, but now it was a staple for her and her friends. She packed up her backpack with the essentials and headed out of her room and down the hall to check on her roommates.
“Hey, Tobin! Are you up yet?” Ashlyn asked loudly while knocking on Tobin’s door. She heard slow movement on the other side and figured it was Tobin just rolling out of bed. Once Tobin finally got to the door and opened it, Ashlyn knew she was right from the sleep still lingering in Tobin’s half open eyes,
“Dude, we have to get going if we want to stop at Chapel Fill before class starts.” Ashlyn reached in and flicked Tobin on the forehead, knowing it would send Tobin into a tiny rage, thus waking her up.
“Seriously? You’re such an ass, Harris.” With that, Tobin retreated to her room to start getting ready.
“KO. Your ass better be up or we’re leaving without you!” Ashlyn yelled from outside Kelley’s room. Ashlyn was usually the first up in the morning, so she had become accustomed to being the built-in alarm clock for her two best friends.
“Oh, fuck off! I’m up, I’ll be out in a minute.” Kelley was most definitely not a morning person; none of them were for that matter. But usually all it took was their usual from their favorite place for the trio to feel human again.
Ashlyn pulled out her phone from her back pocket and saw one message from her mother.
Mom: Good luck today, sweetheart! I know you’re excited and nervous all at once, but just know that you are on your way to a bright future. Proud of you! Call later. XO.
Ashlyn smiled down at her phone, grateful that her mother always knew just what to say. She sent a quick text back thanking her before moving on to check her class schedule for the day. It was Tuesday, which meant it would be one of Ashlyn’s longer days at school. Her first class of the day was Peace Psychology, which she was happy to take, hearing that it was an easy A. All three of the roommates decided to take this class together, in hopes that it would force them to motivate each other into going to class. However, they all knew this was a lofty assumption to make about the three and their inability to make it to morning classes toward the end of the semester. Hopefully this semester would be different in that respect, but they knew it wouldn’t be.
Once everyone was ready to go, Ashlyn grabbed her water bottle and they headed out to breakfast.
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On the other side of town, Ali was packing up her car with everything she would need for her classes that day. Laptop – check, bag – check, phone – check. She ran back into the house when she realized she left her wallet in her office. With all her nervousness centered around the day ahead, she was beyond distracted and was completely forgetting her everyday routine.
“Shit.” She exhaled, realizing she forgot to eat before leaving the house. I guess I’ll just stop at that breakfast place around the corner from school. She knew a lot of students ate there, but hadn’t tried it out since moving into the area a few months ago. She focused on driving in an attempt to ease her nerves, and sang along with the radio, which was playing Fight Song. At a red light, she started getting a little too into the song. After a solid minute of belting out the lyrics and dancing along, she looked to her right and made eye contact with a Jeep full of girls smiling and laughing in her direction. Ali immediately turned her head back, but it was far too late to even attempt to subdue the blushing that taken over her cheeks. Great, those were definitely girls from UNC. Way to go, Ali. Moments later the light turned green and Ali made her escape from the first of many awkward moments she was bound to have that day. She turned into the parking lot of Chapel Fill, and took a deep breath before turning her car off and heading inside.
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“Well that was interesting, to say the least.” Declared Tobin. Still smiling from the encounter, Ashlyn nodded and kept on driving once the light turned green.
“She was hot, I wonder if she goes to UNC. I think I saw the parking pass hanging from her mirror.” Kelley said, reaching forward to slap Ashlyn on the arm, bring her back to reality.
“Yeah, maybe.” She hoped so, anyway. “She was definitely cute.”
They pulled into the parking lot and Tobin barely waited for the car to stop before jumping out.
“Jesus, Tobs. What, are you hungry or something? I couldn’t tell!” Ashlyn ribbed. Tobin turned around and stuck out her tongue in Ashlyn’s direction. Once she was out of the car, Ashlyn rounded the corner and threw her arm around Kelley’s shoulders and smiled down at her.
“You look nervous, Kel. You okay?” Ashlyn asked, genuinely concerned about her best friend.
“Yeah, I’m alright. It’s just those first day of school jitters; nothing coffee won’t fix!” Kelley put her arm around Ashlyn’s waist and squeezed. Ashlyn pulled Kelley into a hug to reassure here that she was there for her, always.
“Thanks, Ash. You’re seriously the best.”
“That’s what they tell me!” Ashlyn joked while walking into Chapel Fill