Alright! First, I've got a story to tell you.
But before I do, I need to tell you something very personal.
It's about a break-up.
I know, I know... It sounds typical.
Something like, //'Blah, blah, blah, I broke up with my boyfriend and now I'm sad, woe is me, boo-hoo'//.
But I promise you, this isn't like that. ''I'm'' not like that. And I won't give you some big sob story about my life. I've had it good.
This isn't even about me, really.
The reason I'm telling you this will make more sense later... but for now, just hear me out. Please.
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(set: $domainpath to "http://www.scissored.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/CollegePrologue1-")Great.
So, before all of this... before I got here. I had to make a big decision.
I mean, who doesn't, right? Even if you're deciding to do nothing with your life, that's still a decision, you know? Anyways, I'm getting off track, sorry.
//My// decision had to do with the future my boyfriend and I saw for ourselves. Well, the //two// futures, I should say.
That's the problem, we didn't see it the same way. He wanted to stay in town -- the whole white picket fence deal. I don't want to say I had higher ambitions, but the schools in the area just don't offer the career path I wanted.
That's the thing, it wasn't that I didn't want to be in town or live the white picket fence dream with him; it was that I didn't want to sacrifice my career path to do it.
So, I had to be honest with him. And it didn't seem right to tie him down with a long distance relationship that wouldn't have worked anyways. We both deserved a fresh start...
And that meant I had a choice: stay in town with Theo or go away to Junica College.
Oh, Theo is my boyfriend's name, by the way. Can't remember if I mentioned that... Shit, did I tell you //my// name? I'm Kira! Hah, sorry... Continuing...
I suppose you can guess what happens next. //We broke up//.
He didn't take it so well. I don't blame him though. I tried to be as supportive as I could, but you know, he was obviously very hurt.
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[[Continue->Continue1-01]]And don't get me wrong, I was upset too. It was hard. I consider myself a strong, independent woman but I won't lie -- I shed my share of tears.
As much as I knew it was the right thing to do, it still felt wrong.. if that makes any sense? I guess I just didn't like the feeling that it gave me.
Maybe sometimes doing the right thing can still feel bad.
And I know it was hard for him, but I still hold out hope that he'll understand it in the long run.
All I could do was hope.
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[[Continue->Continue1-02]]This is probably where it's starting to feel like the big sob story that I promised it wouldn't be, but this is actually where that part ends.
And this is actually the ''most'' important part of this personal detail that I wanted to share.
As I was leaving, I took one last glance at him. And damn... I could just see how hurt he was. I'd inflicted a wound that I didn't even know I was capable of inflicting.
It was in that moment that I decided -- I'd do everything I could to not let that happen again. To anyone I was with.
The only way I knew how to do that for the time being was to stay focused on school and ''avoid'' romantic relationships.
We'll come back to that point later.
Anyway, I had to move on...
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[[Continue->Continue1-03]]... and move on I did.
To something new and big and exciting.
To my new life:
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(css: "font-size: 150%;")[''COLLEGE LIFE!'']
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(css: "font-size: 150%;")[''Prologue 1'']
''Kira's Kindness''
[[Continue->Continue2-01-1]]So, as promised, this isn't a sob story. Whatever had happened was behind me and I was ready for my new fresh start.
It was exciting!
Now, full disclosure -- I did have my friend Shara going to the same school as me. That made the change far easier.
At the same time there were also new people everywhere around me. I wanted to make more friends! Why not, right?
As I was walking towards the school, there was another student wearing a pretty dress that I saw drop something behind her.
In retrospect, I should have noticed she was just littering. Stupid me. Well, stupid her, really.
Of course when I told her she dropped something she didn't react. To get her attention I said "that's a pretty dress".
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[[Continue->Continue2-02]]Get this...
Even after I complimented her dress -- She just kept walking!
Can you believe that? She didn't even make eye contact.
Even the worst of the girls I've met would at least say "thanks" to a compliment.. even if they weren't being geniune.
I found out later that her name is Casey, and apparently she's always like this. Utterly full of herself.
Now that I think about it, the funny thing is that might have been the best interaction I ever had with Casey.
Too bad it wasn't the last.
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[[Continue->Continue2-03]]And just like that, there was Shara.
"Ready for class, loser", she joked.
"Ready loser!", I replied with a smirk.
Meeting new people is cool, but it was nice to have an old friend with me too.
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[[Continue->Continue2-04]]We'd given ourselves time to find the room, so we managed to get to class a bit early, while people were still filing in.
I like having my choice of seats, so I was happy about that. It also gave me time to do one of my favorite activities...
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[[Continue->Continue3x-01]]People watching!
I know, I probably should've been doing something more productive. At least it's more productive than Shara checking tweets on her phone. And hey, it paid off -- if I hadn't been paying attention, I might not have made my first new friend out of it!
See, there was this one girl that walked in... she just seemed, different. Kind of a nervous energy I guess?
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[[Continue->Continue3-01]]She walked into the room slowly, taking each step with hesitation. She was carrying a stack of books.
Her eyes darted around everywhere, likely searching for a spot to sit.
Sometimes I take for granted how easy it is for me to socialize. For someone like her, it was probably nerve racking just to decide who to sit close to. Especially when she didn't know anyone there.
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[[Continue->Continue3-02]]You know when you're nervous about something the day before and you start thinking of all the ways it could go wrong.
And it usually ends up fine, right?
Well, it didn't go like that for this girl. That nightmare of falling flat on your face in front of everyone came true for her.
I don't know if she just tripped over her own feet, or she was just paying so much attention to finding a place to sit that she just stumbled, but it was quite an epic fall.
Her books ''slammed'' down to the ground, along with herself.
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[[Continue->Continue3-03]]The only good thing I can say for her is that it wasn't a full classroom yet. The students that were there just gasped.
All //except// Casey and her know-nothing crew of divas.
The ditzy trio laughed their asses off at this poor girl. If Casey's laughing, you can guarantee that Sahana is laughing. And if Sahana's laughing, you can be certain that Tisha is laughing.
Brainless copy-cats.
Oh, and if you're wondering who is who when you see them -- Sahana dresses classy and acts trashy. Tisha dresses trashy ''and'' acts trashy. Which is worse? Take your pick.
Better yet, just hope you don't see those girls.
It was moments like these where I'd wondered if I'd graduated to college, or been demoted to kindergarten.
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[[Continue->Continue3x-02]]I felt so bad for this girl, I just ''had'' to help her.
I sprang up and asked if she minded if I helped her gather her books. She was still so flustered, she didn't know what to say.
I swear, she spent half the time frantically looking around the room to see who was still laughing at her.
Poor thing. But you know what?
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[[Continue->Continue3-04]]... She'd found a place to sit.
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[[Continue->Continue3-05]]And she made some new friends.
So, what did I learn?
Trip. Drop your books. Sometimes a bad moment can earn you a new friend. And I'd rather have a clumsy friend who drops their books by accident, than one who drops their trash on purpose.
But, like I said at the beginning, this isn't really about me.
As we sat down, we introduced ourselves.
"I'm Kira and this is my friend Shara", I said. "Hello", Shara chirped politely.
"I'm Lori", she replied timidly.
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[[Continue->Continue3-06]]This is about //her//.
This is about Lori.
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<a href="http://www.scissored.net/Samples/College-Prologue2.html">Continue to Prologue 2 - Lori's Love</a>
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