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After taking everything in, I set out in Greg’s direction to introduce myself.
“Hey, Greg. I’m Nate Thomas, the new guy,” I say, reaching out my hand.
Greg has a surprisingly firm grip. “Well, we are sure glad you’re here. We’ve recently been a little short-staffed, so it’s nice to have someone on board who knows what they’re doing.”
“Yeah, I’ve spent quite a bit of my time working with boats.” I turn my attention to the vessel Greg is in the middle of cleaning. “I can’t say any of them have ever been this big, though.”
“Oh yeah, this one is a beauty,” Greg says, “Just showed up a few hours ago.” He puts the rag in his hand over his shoulder and looks at me. “I could use a break with this. Let’s head over to the main building so I can show you around, and then we can get your schedule taken care of.”
“That would be great.” As I follow Greg, I peer over my shoulder for one last look at the massive ships lined up against the docks.
It isn’t Mark’s place. That’s for sure. But for some reason, I’m starting to feel like maybe Boston is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Five
NATALIE
IT’S FINALLY MONDAY, THE first day of classes.
I feel like a little kid getting ready for my first day of school as I pick out my outfit and make sure I have all the correct textbooks in my bag. And after deciding on a dark pair of jeans, a long beige sweater with a white camisole, and a dark brown pair of ankle boots, I feel ready to start my freshman year.
Closing my apartment door behind me, I walk to the elevator and hit the button for the doors to open. While I wait, I feel my phone vibrate in the back pocket of my jeans. I take it out and see Jason’s name on the screen.
Jason: Don’t flunk out.
Me: I’ll try not to!
“Natalie, are you on your way to campus too?”
I look up from my phone and see Sarah coming toward me with textbooks in her hands.
“Yeah, I’m on my way to my creative writing class, which is over on the far side of campus,” I say.
“Awesome! I’m heading that way too. What time is your last class today?”
The elevator doors open, and we both step inside. Sarah hits the button for the lobby, then the elevator slowly descends.
“Umm, it’s at two and ends at four.” I respond. The doors open again, so we exit the elevator and enter the lobby.
“Oh, good! That’s when my class ends too. Let’s meet at the campus coffee shop so we can walk back together.”
“That would be great!” I answer.
It takes about fifteen minutes to get to the main campus. We exchange numbers before parting, and then Sarah waves goodbye as she heads to her class.
“Good luck!” She yells over her shoulder.
“You too!” I yell back before going the opposite direction.
I walk briskly toward the building where my first class will be and admire the fall foliage beginning to appear. The leaves are just starting to transform into beautiful red hues, and there’s a familiar New England chill in the air.
The campus is bustling with anxious students trying to find their classes. I’m the first person to arrive for my creative writing course, so I grab a chair near the middle section and wait for everyone else to file into the room.
The professor makes a mundane entrance and begins his lecture immediately with no formal introduction. I pull my pen and notebook out of my bag and start copying down every word he says. After nearly two hours of frantically writing in my notebook, the class is dismissed, and every student bolts out of their seat and rushes to their next class.
The rest of the day goes by in a blur. Some professors make us play the embarrassing ice breaker games to get to know one another, and other professors act like they don’t care that we are even there. A few people in my classes introduce themselves to me, and I start to think I might enjoy this whole college thing.
After my statistics class, I grab a sandwich at the cafeteria then head to my last class of the day, History of Films. I have actually been looking forward to this one.
