Chapter 4 - Off To College

It was a very happy event to behold regardless if she was antisocial or not, the pension plan was even granted, one could say it was a win-win situation for both ladies.

The situation at home was much better, they didn't have to worry about the bills or any major thing like the rent or the tuition fees for Audrey's college. It was just the day-to-day expenses they had to worry about. Audrey got a job the summer before her resumption as she didn't want her mother to work too much. She got the job to save enough money to afford other materials she would need as she didn't want to be a bother to her mother. 

Audrey was a very bright student, regardless of her academics she wanted to put her mother first, and that was why she applied for a nearby university, with a much easier course, just because she wanted to look after her mother.

It was another emotional moment for both ladies, as it was the time most mothers feared the most. The time when their children would go off to college. Where the time they spent would be limited as they had to start working hard to achieve their goals.

Two weeks before Audrey's resumption, Georgia started to get everything in order. She started by getting her daughter's new clothes and new accessories prepared, then she started gathering all her useful educational materials.

The allowance wasn't much of a hassle as they agreed on a particular price per week, this was because Audrey didn't want her mother working and Georgia didn't want anything to distract her daughter.

It must have been nostalgic for Georgia to know her daughter was leaving in a few days and yet she still saw her daughter. Her husband was late and her daughter was leaving, at least it was a good thing her daughter's university wasn't too far.

As Audrey aced the college entrance examination, she was admitted to the university to study office management. 

On the day of the resumption, Georgia walked her daughter to the gate, because she trusted that Audrey was smart enough to finish the application processes. "Okay Nova, this is it, the moment we've been waiting for… just cry if you want to… I noticed you were silent in the cab" Georgia said with puffed eyes.

"I'm going to miss you mom" Audrey said jumping into her mother's arm, Georgia heard muffled sobs and said, "I know baby, I'm going to miss you too". With their little heartfelt conversation, Audrey went into the gates of the university.

Georgia burst into tears, like other parents who stood outside the gates watching their children walking in different directions.

Audrey was quick to finalize her admission process, completing her payments, buying other necessities she might need, finding the timetable and her class number, and finally getting the required information for her dormitory.

She was the last person to get to her assigned room. She was welcomed by silence accompanied by the sound of shuffling as the girls were settling in.

Each room contained four people with enough space. "Ohh, you must be Audrey?" A girl asked as she looked up from a piece of paper, she continued, "I'm Nelly, the other girls already took the other bed, so you can be my bunk mate" she said pointing to the other bed provided in the room.

Audrey was quick to arrange her things as she settled in with the other girls. Time went past much quicker than the girls expected, by the time they were done, the sun had already set, which meant nightfall.

The girls' video called their parents and their close acquaintances to tell them how their first day went. The girls were about to sleep when the girl named Nelly proposed a nice idea," hey guys, how about we settle some things first, like us getting to know each other a little bit better", the other girls were quick to agree with her," that'd be nice"," sure".

The room apart from having beds had seating arrangements where the students could write, use their laptops, read and eat. The girls gathered there to introduce themselves. "Who would go first", Nelly asked as after three minutes nobody stood up.

"It's alright, I'll go first, I'm Nelly Brooke, I'm seventeen, and I'm here because I want to study office management" after Nelly went, another girl stood up to exchange positions with Nelly. " My name is McCloskey Hyacinth, I'm sixteen, and I'm also here to study office management," the girl named hyacinth said exchanging positions with another girl.

She seemed to be the most cheerful of all of them because of her wide smile, "hi everyone, I'm Patricia, Patricia Joneson. Not Johnson, Joneson, as in J-o-n-e-s-o-n", she said after reading their confused expressions. She continued," I'm also here for office management, you can also call me Pat for short. If you come to think of it, that's what we all want to study, right new girl?" She asked facing Audrey.

"Yes", Audrey replied standing from her seat," I'm Audrey Smith, I'm also sixteen  as she asked…", pointing towards Patricia," I'm here to study office management"

"That's good then, maybe we can all be seat partners, we have to settle other issues too, like who is going to be the room head and bathroom times and other things," she said. "Why don't you be the room head, you seem to be the most approachable of the four of us, and when it comes to other things like bathroom time and cleaning duties we can just agree on it, right guys," the girl named hyacinth said before Audrey and Patricia nodded their heads in approval.

"Well then, since we have agreed on that, let us go to sleep" Nelly, the room head said. The girls agreed and proceeded to their beds to sleep, the lights were soon turned off In their room.

Audrey thought about the events so far,  she smiled recalling the events of the day, from her arrival to the time she settled in. For some reason, she seemed to like her roommates, even though she doesn't like people much.

She loved the fact that she was warmly welcomed and that the girls just got along just fine, she hoped to get along with the girls. She promised herself that night that she would be more outgoing so that she could build a nice relationship with the girls.