Given Time

♡4♡

"Welcome to Berkeley; may I take your name?" a plump lady at the check-in stand asks me.

"Leah Preston."

She fumbles through a box of brown envelopes under the letter P while mumbling my surname under her breath. Her glasses slide down her nose as she searches through the envelopes, causing her to push them back up every few seconds.

While I wait for her to find the envelope containing my campus key and course details, I take a moment to look at my surroundings. The campus looks incredible. The buildings are pristine white and are clustered all around the campus, and standing in the center of the lush green grass is the old but exquisite Sather Tower. It rises high into the sky, surpassing the height of all the other buildings here, and on the top is a huge clock face. I bet if I was down at the bay, I could even see and hear it from there.

Even this late in the afternoon, the area is full with new students checking in. Some are with their families, friends; or are alone like me. It's a bit alarming to see so many people around me, but I'm sure over the next few weeks it'll die down as the novelty wears off and people head out to explore the area.

"Ah, here we go," the lady announces gleefully, pushing her glasses back up her nose one final time.

She hands me my envelope and briefly explains more about the campus and the different places to go if I need anything before sending me on my way.

Now that I have my room key, it feels final. I have a new home for the next year.

I check the name of the residence hall I'll be staying in and look up Putnam on one of the many maps situated around the campus. From the looks of it, I only have a ten-minute walk ahead of me, so I decide to call my parents to give them an update before I head off. I spot a lone bench just a few feet away, so I trundle along my suitcases and grab the bench before someone else does. When I reach for my cell out my pocket and dial home, the phone only rings out three times before I hear the familiar voice of my mom.

"Leah! Are you at Berkeley yet?" my mom shrieks loudly down the line, making me pull the phone away from my ear.

"Yep. I just picked up my room key, and I'm heading there in a minute."

"Oh, honey, I'm so excited for you! Hold on a sec, I'm gonna put you on speakerphone for your dad."

"Hey, Leah, how you getting on?" I hear my dad ask in the background.

"Hi, Dad, I'm good, thanks. It's finally happening!" I say excitedly.

"I wish I was there with you, but it's probably for the best. Your mom's been an emotional wreck since you got on the plane, so imagine that while standing in your dorm room," he tells me, laughing at the end.

I suddenly feel relieved that I turned down their offer of coming to the registration day with me.

"I have not," I hear my mom protest.

I chuckle. "Yeah, yeah. I think I'm gonna believe Dad on this one."

"Oh, by the way, Frederick texted me earlier saying that Tanner is already back in his residence. You could drop by and see him if you want. I can message him and find out where he's staying," my dad says.

"Um, that's not really at the top of my list right now," I sheepishly say.

I hear my dad sigh on the end of the line, but he doesn't say more on the matter.

"Do you know who your roommate is yet?" my mom interrupts.

I pull on my hair in a nervous gesture. "No, but I will soon. I'm kind of anxious about meeting her. What if she doesn't like me?"