Two weeks passed by in a blink and the day of the orientation was finally there. Bliss woke up at the very first ring of the alarm. To be more precise, she hardly slept the previous night. The excitement or more likely the anxiety of going to the orientation of a place she was completely unfamiliar with kept her from falling asleep.
This university was massive and getting into it was a huge deal for Bliss. Not because she struggled in academics but because it was her parents that she had to convince. Bliss completed her undergrads from a well-known institution but she didn't feel satisfied enough to move on to grad school. Her parents being of traditional concept never imagined their daughter to redo her undergrads again. When Bliss brought up the topic her parents were utterly shocked. Both Bliss and her parents tried to convince the opposite side. While Bliss was trying her best to convince her parents to let her redo her undergraduate studies, her parents were dire to let their daughter know the backlash she would get from the decision that was rushed according to them. While Bliss was trying her best to feel she belonged somewhere, her parents were worried about her future thinking their daughter would fall behind in life. Her past university curriculum had frustrated Bliss and she would repeatedly get the urge to drop out of it. But thinking of the investments her parents her parents made, she would back off. Over time Bliss fell into depression though not severe, it had somewhat affected her academic life.
After numerous fights and chaotic discussions, Bliss's parents finally gave in. They never got to know what Bliss was going through and always kept thinking their daughter was being immature. Bliss didn't have the energy to explain her life to her parents because somewhere it all started because of them and she knew it would just lead to some pointless arguments without a proper conclusion. She was just happy that she got another chance in her life. It likely felt like a rebirth to her.
And now she was quite happy that she could redo her undergrads. Bliss had never been a great shot in studies but just an average one. But she gave her best or maybe even more than that to get into this one particular university. She couldn't think of anything else for the past year but about her life after attending this university. She genuinely did a generous amount of hard work to finally get her in.
Bliss had visited the campus more than 10 times just so she could feel comfortable and a little confident on the day of their orientation.
Bliss freshened up and dressed herself well. Dewie was playfully walking from one end of the room to the other occasionally glancing at his mom and admiring her from time to time. Bliss was worried about leaving tiny Dewie alone but coincidentally Mrs. John loved pets and was more than welcome to pet sit Dewie which was a great relief to Bliss. She could now attend her classes without worrying about him.
It was 8:45 am and Bliss stood outside the entrance of her university taking heavy breaths. Her orientation was supposed to start at 9:30 am but Bliss being herself was way too anxious thinking she might run late so she had arrived one hour prior and was standing there for almost 15 mins. The security guards at the checkpost would peek at her from time to time and go about their business. She mumbled to herself wondering why they were staring at her. " Keep standing there like a robber who is about to rob a bank and you will soon be inside the police station", a familiar voice whispered behind her. Bliss made a sharp turn to take a look and to her surprise, she realized that she was not hallucinating and it was actually her! The girl from the pet store. " You?!", exclaimed Bliss with a mixed feeling of surprise and comfort at the same time. Though she is not acquainted with this girl well seeing a familiar face amidst all those strangers comforted Bliss a lot. " Ugh! What's with you?", said the girl covering the ear closer to Bliss. Bliss still shocked apologized to her for being too excited and went on to ask why she was there and how long she had been standing behind her. The girl with her everyday cold look replied to Bliss saying that Bliss didn't own the university and she didn't need to make a fuss about her being present there. " Ayee! Don't tell me you have been stalking me since that day.", said Bliss. The girl flicked a finger onto Bliss's forehead and asked her to wake up. She advised Bliss to not be so full of herself. Bliss pouted her face and started rubbing the area she had just hit on. "I was just curious though. Hmph!", Bliss replied. The girl then said with a wink," If you are scared I can accompany you. Just call me Your Highness." Bliss replied with a pout, "Never! Your Highness my ass."
"Okay then see ya...", the girl said as she started to walk away. " Ae Ae Ae a just one minute. Are you here for today's orientation?", asked Bliss pretending to clear her doubt. The girl replied with a bossy tone saying it was obvious and Bliss was being stupid. Bliss was relieved to hear the answer but didn't let her face express it. She told the girl to leave already.
The girl entered the gate but after about 3 minutes she could feel someone following her. She smirked sarcastically as she knew who it was. Bliss didn't want to make it obvious but her reflections on the windows had other plans it seemed. The girl paused and turned around to confront her little stalker. Bliss was not ready for that unexpected confrontation and in panic, she tried to walk away. In the rush, she didn't see who was coming from the other side and collided with someone. It was a tall guy with a backpack who also seemed to be going for the orientation program. Both of them fell down. The guy got up and cleaned his clothes. Bliss apologized in panic before the guy could lend him her hand. The girl came to her and helped her up. The guy asked them if they were okay but Bliss was embarrassed to look up and even reply to his question. The girl thanked him instead and apologized on Bliss's behalf. The guy then left. Meanwhile, the girl handed Bliss her bag and helped her dust the dirt from her clothes. Let's go already or we will be late she said as she dragged Bliss to go with her. Bliss pulled her hands away from the girl and paused. When the girl turned to look at her, to her surprise she found big spheres of tears rolling down Bliss's cheeks. "Hey...", the girl said with a concerned voice seeing Bliss's crying face. "You don't really need to call me 'your highness'. I was just kidding back then.", she said.
"I messed up on the very first day! Why am I always like this? After so much struggle I got into it and now I am back to square one.", said Bliss as she continued to weep. The girl felt pity for poor Bliss. She felt guilty for the incident that recently happened because she knew she had played some role in it. She hugged Bliss and said, "It will be alright dummy. It's not the end in fact just the beginning of a new adventure." Bliss felt warmth in the girl's speech and started to weep like a child. She then wiped away Bliss's tears with her sweater and led her to the orientation venue. Bliss followed her like a toddler. The program was almost three hours long and it made every student there question their life choices. Right after the program was over they all rushed to the cafeteria to fill their empty stomachs. Bliss and the girl also got their seats at the cafeteria and treated themselves to the fullest for enduring the seemingly never-ending program earlier.
Bliss was in a better mood now and suddenly realized that she hadn't even gotten introduced to the person she had been with for the whole day. She asked the girl for her name. The girl being a sarcastic replier joked about how early Bliss was to ask that. "As if you asked for mine", said Bliss with a 'Hmph'. The girl said why she would when she already knew which was quite a surprise to Bliss. But before Bliss would put that question forward the girl added that she saw it at the vet's. The girl was quite proud of her observation skills. Meanwhile, Bliss felt a little stupid for being so unaware.
"It's Fiona.", said the girl. Bliss thought to herself and admired how well Fiona's name and face complemented its other. "Nice name", said Bliss. "I was named after my mom's favorite pet dog who passed away right before I was born. My parents didn't really put much effort. So that complement is unnecessary.", Fiona sarcastically replied leaving Bliss all blushed with awkwardness. Bliss wondered why Fiona always talked so bluntly as she continued to sip her boba tea.
Fiona assertively stated that we should swap numbers. As they were in the same university she said it would be helpful in the future. Before Bliss would even respond, Fiona grabbed Bliss's phone typed in saved her contact information, and gave it back to Bliss. Meanwhile, Bliss still sat there trying to figure out what just happened.
Finally, it was time of departure and both Bliss and Fiona also left the hall along with the other students. But seeing the beautiful campus they couldn't resist their urge to take pictures. They took a lot of pictures. And later went to a café nearby for coffee.
Bliss returned to Destinée Amoureuse quite late due to her sudden plans with Fiona. She immediately rushed to Mrs. John's door to pick Dewie up. Mrs. John was holding Dewie in her arms. "He really enjoys playing with me.", said Mrs. John. Bliss was happy to hear that and thanked Mrs. John for looking after Dewie. She apologized to Mrs. John for keeping Dewie with her for too long as she thought it delayed her dinner preparation. But Mrs. John assured her that it was alright as her Husband's relative who recently moved in with them was playing Dewie while she prepared dinner. She invited Bliss for dinner. But she already felt burdened by Mrs. John's kindness so she politely refused and went back to her room on the first floor.
Bliss sat on the couch without even changing for she was too tired of all the events during the day. Suddenly her phone rang a notification and though feeling lazy, she took a glance and it was a text from someone save as 'Your Highness'. The text was a reminder to take care and not stress about university. "Ugh, this wicked witch. Your Highness my foot.", said Bliss sarcastically looking at Dewie. She closed her eyes for some rest and in no time she was in deep sleep. Dewie also curled up on Bliss's lap and eventually fell asleep.