West took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth, just like his mother had taught him and took a step inside. The world exploded into life, people moving this way and that carrying bags, crying parents saying goodbye to their children for the last time as they begin their voyage into the big, bad world. West walked by himself, a bag strung over his shoulder, looking at his feet as to avoid eye contact. As he walked, he remembered his mother's farewell as she stood at the terminal at Edinburgh, saying,
"Apply yourself sweetie. Everything will be okay. Have fun." The exact same three things she had been telling him for as long as he could remember. He had tried each item on the list hundreds of times each, none of them seemed to bring him anything that even slightly resembled happiness. Now, here he was in America, the latest stop on his quest for happiness. He had been everywhere in Scotland, traveled to every town, visited every bar and club, screwed so many guys and girls that he had lost count and none of it had made the world any brighter. America, that's where they all went in the films, there had to be something here that would make life worth living again.
By some miracle, West made it up to his room without making eye contact with anyone else in the building. He was up on the top floor, which was perfect for him. Being at the top of a building like this means no-one is just 'passing through'. People would only come up here if they had a reason to be there, which suited him just fine. At this exact instance, he wanted to be alone. He opened the door to his room clumsily, almost dropping his bag in the process and opened it to find exactly what he had expected. The room was bland and resembled a prison cell, just with a little more room. There was a pair of beds, a couple of cupboards and desks and not much else. It was pretty much exactly what West expected, given his prior experiences with university accommodations. He took a seat on one of the beds and stared vacantly at the other. He was supposed to have had a roommate, but the poor guy got into a car accident two weeks prior to moving in and was in some sort of coma like state, meaning West had the room to himself. Part of him felt bad for the guy, but no more sad than when you read about a tragedy in the news that ultimately doesn't concern you. He didn't let himself linger on it, instead he put his bag on the spare bed in his room and began to unpack.
It took only half an hour for West to unpack his things. A laptop, a couple of handfuls of clothed, a scattering of books and a few posters for TV shows and games that were popular but West had no interest in. When he was finished, he simply collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes. Classes didn't start for a week, which meant he needed to find a way to keep himself sane and occupied until then. Of course there were events on at the university, clubs to check out and people to meet, but West planned to avoid as much of that as possible. Unless he was roped into them somehow, those were the sorts of events he would rather be blissfully ignorant of. No matter what it was, he had tried it and it hadn't interested him then so it probably wouldn't interest him now. Instead, he chose to open up one of the books he was going to be studying as an English major.
"It's going to be different this year" He whispered to himself as he turned the first page, already despising what he was reading "You'll find it West, I promise."
"Apply yourself sweetie. Everything will be okay. Have fun." The exact same three things she had been telling him for as long as he could remember. He had tried each item on the list hundreds of times each, none of them seemed to bring him anything that even slightly resembled happiness. Now, here he was in America, the latest stop on his quest for happiness. He had been everywhere in Scotland, traveled to every town, visited every bar and club, screwed so many guys and girls that he had lost count and none of it had made the world any brighter. America, that's where they all went in the films, there had to be something here that would make life worth living again.
By some miracle, West made it up to his room without making eye contact with anyone else in the building. He was up on the top floor, which was perfect for him. Being at the top of a building like this means no-one is just 'passing through'. People would only come up here if they had a reason to be there, which suited him just fine. At this exact instance, he wanted to be alone. He opened the door to his room clumsily, almost dropping his bag in the process and opened it to find exactly what he had expected. The room was bland and resembled a prison cell, just with a little more room. There was a pair of beds, a couple of cupboards and desks and not much else. It was pretty much exactly what West expected, given his prior experiences with university accommodations. He took a seat on one of the beds and stared vacantly at the other. He was supposed to have had a roommate, but the poor guy got into a car accident two weeks prior to moving in and was in some sort of coma like state, meaning West had the room to himself. Part of him felt bad for the guy, but no more sad than when you read about a tragedy in the news that ultimately doesn't concern you. He didn't let himself linger on it, instead he put his bag on the spare bed in his room and began to unpack.
It took only half an hour for West to unpack his things. A laptop, a couple of handfuls of clothed, a scattering of books and a few posters for TV shows and games that were popular but West had no interest in. When he was finished, he simply collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes. Classes didn't start for a week, which meant he needed to find a way to keep himself sane and occupied until then. Of course there were events on at the university, clubs to check out and people to meet, but West planned to avoid as much of that as possible. Unless he was roped into them somehow, those were the sorts of events he would rather be blissfully ignorant of. No matter what it was, he had tried it and it hadn't interested him then so it probably wouldn't interest him now. Instead, he chose to open up one of the books he was going to be studying as an English major.
"It's going to be different this year" He whispered to himself as he turned the first page, already despising what he was reading "You'll find it West, I promise."