Episode 1: Welcome to Wheldrake College: Part 3

Sometimes life throws odd people in your path, and Gwen is finding that out.

Gwen had walked the campus a few days ago, trying to map out the best way to her classes. She had to park across the street from the campus, not being able to afford the parking pass, which hovered around five hundred dollars a semester. She couldn't dare spend a month's rent on a parking space on school grounds, and she was not even guaranteed to have a space for her car.

She parked across the street on the side of the road behind some apartments and across the street from a pair of churches. At night, the walk back to her car might be a little disheartening, but she didn't mind it. She didn't think anything going crawling in the night would bother her. She had two nighttime classes to worry about, and it seemed she wasn't the only one who parked along the street.

If she didn't have to drive around the block a few times waiting for a space to open, it would only add about ten to fifteen minutes to her walk to her classes. Either way, she didn't mind the walk too much.

"Why not move on campus?" One of her co-workers asked her at the IT job she worked for a bank.

"I can't live with a random person," Gwen hissed at the thought of it. Rupert would kill some eighteen-year-old girl just out of high school, all boy hungry, and partying. He would smother the poor girl the first night she brought some random guy home for a round in the bed if the dumb high school girl could get over the fact that Rupert had to live with Gwen.

And then there was the point that Gwen, twenty-one, home-schooled, had a bit of an ego about her living space. It was her place, after all, and she needed it her way. She didn't want to have to fight with another roommate.

Rupert never talked back to her about anything she wanted to do in her apartment. He didn't care as long as she was happy with everything.

The moment Gwen stepped onto campus, a few eyes darted to her costume, where a good number of people looked as if they had rolled out of bed to make it to morning classes. At the same time, many others looked to be trying to show off for everyone else. Many of the clean-dressed students had missed all the parties last night, welcoming everyone back to school, and many clearly didn't miss those parties at all.

But everyone noticed Gwen walking down the brick sidewalk, holding her head high, back straight, with her amber-hued hair pulled up into a ponytail, and not paying any mind to the stares. She had been too worried about where she was going to notice the stares.

The tall and powerful-looking Campus Police Officer with a square face staring right at her made her notice him quickly. She moved to the other side of the walkway, feeling his snowy gray eyes follow her. He seemed to be around the same age as her, but the scowl on his face told her he didn't like her at all.

The feeling had been mutual. People with badges, even fake ones, made her nervous for some reason. She had been sure it had to do with her father's overbearing authority. The very patriarchy of the Duval family had been her unloving, uncaring father. The hardness of the man was only offset by her mother's loving embrace.

She missed her mother's kisses on the cheek.

She thought about calling her on the way home. At least, they were still on speaking terms.

Gwen raced past the creepy man gawking at her. She had found that, living on her own, many men thought she was gorgeous. Her angular face was perfect for modeling. Her thin body is even better for pictures, but something all men seem to covet. There were a few photographers who wanted to work with her. They paid well, and the work had been fun until they started to ask her to take off her clothes.

She didn't work for them anymore.

Gwen got away from the officer's long gaze stopping right in front of the map of the campus. The large picture showed every inch of the place, almost looking like a small city with parks, restaurants, and clubs for everyone living there. The map always reminded Gwen of those in the mall. When she first moved to the city of Wheldrake, she almost went to the mall daily to walk around, and people watched. She didn't know the bubble her family had lived in for such a long time.

She might have come early in the week to map out the campus, but her mind was racing now, and she wasn't sure where to go for sure anymore. The first day of classes seems to be a lot.

There had been reasons for her family's living in the shadows of the world. They had to keep to themselves because the world had changed so much throughout the years. But Gwen no longer had to follow those rules. She could live freely in the world like every other person, normal and boring.

Right then, she needed to find her building. She glanced at her phone; I still have time. She wouldn't be late.

"Hi," a tiny voice said from her side. She looked over at the short but oddly thin girl. She had bright blonde hair dotted with highlights of different colors. She stuck out her hand to Gwen. "I'm Oliver."

"Nice to meet you," Gwen said, shaking her hand.

"Are you as lost as I am?" Oliver asked. The girl's toothy smile brightened up the whole world like the sun above them, and her bright blue eyes were the sky.

"No, I don't think so," Gwen said.

"Shucks, I could really use a lost buddy," Oliver snapped her fingers, but never let the childish smile fade. Her nose had been long and pointed, but it worked well on her face.

Gwen nodded at her, trying not to see her bright clothes and the rainbow skirt, which for a moment looked like a tutu, but Gwen couldn't be sure.

"Uh, I'm lost," a boy from Gwen's other side said. Both girls looked over at him, and he seemed oddly normal and dull.

"Ooo, that's not good," Oliver said, reaching across Gwen to shake his hand. His dirty brown hair, uncombed, told the story that he didn't know how to dress himself all that well.

"I'm Scott, Scott Day." He wore faded jeans and a black polo shirt. The only thing unique about him was the fact that he looked to be the very definition of average.

"What a silly last name," Oliver remarked.

Gwen smiled at him, glancing at the map once more, finding her building. "I've got to go," she snapped, dashing off from the map. They seem nice, she thought, but I'm not here to make friends. She didn't want to be rude, but she couldn't afford to have people in her life right now. She didn't want friends too much. It had come from growing up surrounded by nothing but family, and after the death of her twin sister, it had been best to be alone.

She didn't have anyone close. Instead, she had co-workers and drinking buddies, but no one she would call a friend. Well, maybe Rupert. He had been her true friend since childhood, and he didn't count. She had a mission at school: get through it and become a doctor. Once she had finished the mission, it would be time for friends and maybe even love.