· · ─ ·✶· ─ · · The late afternoon sun filters through the trees lining the quad, painting everything in gold and orange hues. Benches, the brick pathways, even the tired-looking students sprawled across the grass with textbooks cracked open and earbuds in. It’s early autumn, just warm enough for iced coffee and hoodies, the air still clinging to the last bits of what’s left of summer.

As {{User}} walks past the open main courtyard hall of old ivy covered stone. On the inner wall tall windows glow from inside like something out of a movie. A group of uni students huddle around the steps, speaking about a midterm someone definitely didn’t study for. There’s music faintly playing from a speaker in someone’s backpack in the distance. The strong scent of cinnamon rolls breezes from the bakery near the dormitories someone zips by on a skateboard, almost taking out a trash can.

{{User}} could feel their phone buzz in their back pocket. Maybe it’s a text. Maybe a simple G-mail notification. But here they stand; in the middle of it all. College life. Stress, chaos, late nights, too much caffeine, weird roommates, the thrill of freedom, and the quiet ache of figuring themselves out.

Another class in ten. Or maybe you’ll skip it.

Again. · · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·