Chapter 1
It was like any other morning. The alarm went off and I shot up from the bed. That damned thing was so loud that I seriously thought there was a war raging outside my bedroom window. I hit that ‘’off’’ button as fast as I humanly could. That fucking alarm.
I let out a sigh of relief, I was rid of the sound. I collapsed into the soft mattress and bedsheets once again. Knowing that I had to get up and get ready for class. I’m not a morning person, never was and never will be.
I slapped my feet against the cold wooden floor and padded groggily towards the bathroom. Didn’t even bother turning the lights on. It was way too early for that. I squinted my eyes and looked down at my iPhone. Didn’t have my glasses on so I couldn’t see much at all. Tapped on a playlist on Spotify and put the phone down on the sink. Pulled my panties right off and walked in the shower. In complete darkness. It’s kinda funny what the human body remembers and doesn’t really need any light to find what it’s looking for, if it knows the surroundings well. Which I did.
A loud smack was heard and a curse right after. Guess my body wasn’t as adapted as I thought it was as I rubbed my nose. Headbutted straight into the marbled tiles on the wall. God damn. It was too early. I did my business and walked out of the shower to dry myself off. it was cold the second I walked out. It was too damned early for this. I got dressed in a hurry and made my way to the kitchen to make breakfast.
My bag was already packed from the day before, so I grabbed it from the couch and made my way to the hall to get dressed. I struggled to put on my Doc Martens and flew a few curse words in the shoes direction. Just for good measure. I wore my favorite pink Adidas bomber jacket. My dad would describe me as if a rainbow puked on me. I don’t disagree.
I lock the apartment door, check if it’s locked twice. It is. I proceed with unlocking my pink bike, or maybe it’s purple? Whatever. I unlock it, and get on it, and ride like a badass down the Hill and towards the University. It takes me approximately 15 minutes to ride down to the city center during traffic. I don’t miss my chance to yell at some of the other stupid cyclers as I passed them by. they never seemed to stay in their lane. It’s too fucking early for this.
***
I let out a breath as I sit down in my regular seat in the classroom. ‘’Though ride Mari?’’, my friend Amalie is asking me. ‘’You bet,’’ I answer breathlessly back. She smiled and nodded as she took out her laptop, getting ready for class. I was born and raised in Trondheim. Which is basically in the middle of Norway. My dialect was thick and usually made fun of in southern parts of the country. The university we both are attending is NTNU (Norwegian School of Science and Technology) and is one of the biggest universities in Norway. It’s situated in Trondheim. Which was perfect for me. I never wanted to leave my city to study, maybe as an exchange student (as I did last year, when I went to Ireland), but nothing other than that. Amalie was from the outer north of Norway. Like, as north as you can get. Almost at the border to Russia. Her dialect was therefore quite different from mine, but I really liked the northern dialects.
This was our last year on our masters. We were really looking forward to finish. To start working. Amalie and I were a part of a bigger group in class. We called ourselves ‘Coreology’, because we were the core of it all. Hilarious, I know. We consisted of seven people; Amalie, me, Inger, Gudrun, Bernt, Olav and Didrik. It was always fun when we hung together, and I hope we can continue having fun together after we finish our masters.
Class went by in a blur, as I have never been able to focus during any classes. it’s a wonder to me how in the world I’ve made it this far. but I’m a firm believer that you don’t necessarily need classes to understand the subject. I have always been better at just reading the material and learning from what I’ve read.
Today is Friday, so I have to go to work after class. I work at a local café shop, which I love. It’s only for five hours, so it’s manageable. The student loan the Norwegian government offers is not enough to cover both rent, food, bills another costs life has. So, I need to work to cover all of my expenses and live somewhat comfortably as a student.
As I’m riding my purple bike home, I decide then and there, that I am going for a walk the upcoming Saturday. Just by myself. Me and my Beatz. And with that in mind, I smile as I finish my ride home.
