Royal Spirit

I sighed as my mom's car sped off behind me. I knew she wanted me to be independent and get checked in at the housing office, but I really wish she had come with me. For as long as I could remember, it had been just me, my mom, and my sister, Kylie navigating through life. My dad had died when I was young, pretty much too young for me to really remember him, but my mom took it harder than my sister and I did. She experienced supreme depression, which made it really hard for her to be a mom. I had no idea what to do without my mom or sister, mostly my sister at my side.

My mom had always been distant due to her depression, but I knew that she wanted the best for me. Even though she was not a very supportive mom, I would still miss her presence. I knew they were just a call away, but still, it just was not the same as having them by my side. I sighed one more time, grabbed the handle to my suitcase, and walked off toward the front doors of the housing office.

The campus was utterly gorgeous. Even though it was evening and the sun was going down, the campus still seemed to glow with power. There were woods surrounding the campus, with buildings evenly spread out. There was one main sidewalk, with little connected paths that led off to each of the buildings. There were brick buildings of various sizes that must have been dorms. Along the sidewalk, there were benches and picnic tables for people to sit on to study or eat or whatever it was college students did in their free time. It sounds cliche, but it was very cute and cozy. Trees were everywhere on along the path, and every so often there were little patches of flowers and shrubbery. The students that focused on the element earth must tend to them, as there was not a dead flower or leaf on any of the plants.

Eventually, I encountered a two-story building that said "Housing and Residence Life Main Office". Assuming this was where I was supposed to go to check-in and get my rooming assignment, I headed for that building. Luckily, I was late, meaning most other new students had already checked in and settled into their dorm rooms. Good. Less crowd meant fewer people to gawk at me and my awkward nervousness. I opened the doors and walked into the building.

“Welcome to Crimson University!" A blonde woman who looked about my age, maybe a few years older than me, exclaimed, as she waved me over to her table.

“Hi. My name is Lyla Jacobs.” I said, handing her my I.D.