Did You Hear About Brianna?

Chapter 9

The campus was overwhelming.  Farsburg University, home of the Eagles with 47 894 registered students and counting. I was classified as an adult student, majoring in my previous pursuit of a degree in mathematics. My family and psychiatrist thought it would be good for me to start my education. To begin the process of rebuilding my life.  I had been on campus for three hours, missed two classes and couldn't locate the third.

I was lost. 

I slumped against a wall of a building that I couldn't recognise, trying to still the aching in my head. My backpack was light. A new notebook, three new pens and a empty bottle of water. It felt heavy. I was not physically strong enough to handle all the walking.  

The students bustled around. Groups of girls talking in natural, normal conversations. Young guys listening to music. They where so much younger than me.

I felt like a fraud. 

Everyone had been so quick eager for me to be normal. Starting my studies was the next logical choice.  

I felt stupid, I knew I was out of place. 

My first day of classes was a dismal failure. After five hours of hopeless wandering, I gave up. I missed four classes and never managed to find the location of the first.  

Maybe if I had been here at the first semester I would have been oriented about the campus. Maybe even made friends. I wasn't sure if it was my older appearance or the skittish nature. It didn't work. 

I didn't work in this world.

"Why is this so hard?" I asked myself, confused at the lost sense of direction. I didn't realise this would be a problem. Left and right was switching in my head. The buildings blurred into one.  

No one prepared me for the science labs. I stumbled into a one by mistake. Seeing the steel tables and smelling the chemicals gave me flashbacks. I forgot where I was. I thought I was back at the labs. I screamed. Students stared. Some snickered.

I ran out the building. 

It took me two hours to stop crying.

I spent the first half of the day trying to get to where I was meant to. The rest trying to calm down. When I gave up I wanted to call Annabelle to go home but my phone had died. I didn't even know how to use the stupid thing. It was called a smartphone but I didn't know how to unlock it. Everyone around me was staring into theirs like their eyes were glued to the screens.

It was just another weighted lump in my bag that felt more heavy with each step. 

I tried calling her on a payphone that I found but I didn't remember her number. Each time I dialled it kept on changing in my head. 

I gave up and just followed the cars until I found the main enterance and waited another two hours for Annabelle to come.

"How was your first day?" Annabelle enquired, pulling up on our agreed time.  

I wondered if I should lie to her. Tell it was fine so she'd believe I was.  Decided to settle on silence.

"Rough?" She asked. 

I nodded. 

We stayed in the stillness for the next fifteen minutes. The lull of the tires on the road settled into the calm.

"Bri, the police called. They need you to come in again for questioning." Annabelle said, sighing the words out. They must have been difficult for her to have said.

"When?" I asked. 

"As soon as possible. They wanted us to come in today, but I told them you were at school."