FIRST DAY TRIALS
AMIRA'S POV.
It’s starting again.
The nightmare, where I’m standing at the beach as my younger self.
Except there’s none else but me.
And then the clouds turn dark and the tides turn in and form a tidal wave heading towards my direction.
I want to run, but my feet are planted into the ground. Just as I’m swallowed, I hear my name.
“Amira”. I woke up with a start, touching my face for any marks. All I feel is nothing but sweat all over my body.
I hear my name again, this time from downstairs. It was Mama Bendall. I put on my fluffy Crocs and went downstairs. The clock across from me showed 5:00am. Wasn’t I going somewhere today?
“Are you ready for school yet dear?”
“Not yet ma”, I say with a long breath. She paused, turning to look at me with her hand still on the frying pan.
“Another nightmare?” I nodded, tiredness already setting in. “Here”, she said while passing the plate of sunny side eggs to me. “Eat up. Concerning the nightmare, there might be more to it”. This answer was different from the others. Other times, I’d be told to breathe and pray, that which I was very ardent for.
“This University. What time do they open?” Mama kept working on another set of eggs. “According to the email, it’s by 8am. But you might have to be there by 7 to prepare your admission requirements”.
That was all I needed to clarify. Let’s see what this school is all about.
Two hours later~
I was ready for school, my bag already on my shoulders. My mum hugged me tightly, then withdrew reluctantly. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she was watching her little girl be a strong young woman. “My baby is going to college now”
“Ma”, I said, my tears already threatening to fall. “I’ll be fine, I promise”. I made it to the bus stop, finally wiping the last teardrop. “Where to, Miss?”
“Winston-Salem Uni”.
University is just the way you imagine.
Groups clustered to talk about trivia and sports.
Girls and their cliques with the heavy makeup trope.
Nerds and over sized hoodies.
It didn’t take me long to find the admissions office. The lady at the reception table looked through the admission letter, scanning the QR code while looking at me once every five minutes. “Is there a problem, ma’am?”
“None at all. Your birth and school leaving certificate as well as your ID card”. All these were shown and the clicking of the keyboard followed. “Please step aside to the other room for your school ID photograph”.
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My fingers rubbed along the laminated school ID card, the immediate pressure landing like a daily mission.
So, I was officially a student of Winston-Salem University. I opened my bag to reveal the university’s mini-map. My lecture hall was downstairs on the right.
I took the elevator and clicked down to get to the lec
