Agnes stood in front of the main desk. The secretary turned and noticed her, looking at her expectantly. Agnes froze, her fingers tightening around the handle of her suitcase.
"A... Ag..." she stumbled over her words embarrassingly.
"It's Agnes Morrison." Mrs Morrison smiled warmly, walking up behind Agnes with a suitcase. Agnes frowned. Her mother was wearing a dress that she only wore on special occasions - she had worn it to Agnes' graduation too.
The woman at the desk handed over the keycard with a smile that dismissed them. Agnes studied it.
"You really need to work on your confidence, honey." Her mother had said this exactly 82 times before. It did not make Agnes any more confident.
"Sorry." Agnes found her dorm room and opened it, wheeling in her suitcase. She was relieved to find the room empty and went into the bedroom straight away to begin unpacking. Mrs Morrison followed.
"You know, honey. I don't think you'll have time to read all these books." she frowned, beginning to unpack them from Agnes' other suitcase. "There's too many."
"There's only 23." Agnes rolled her eyes, but her back was facing her mother. "I should have brought more, I already know 'Misery'"
"You can't know a book, darling." her mother laughed. But Agnes did know it, and even though she could read it in her head there was something nice about reading it from a book.
All of Agnes' clothes were neatly folded in her suitcase. She had spent a lot of time packing because she hadn't needed a lot of time to say her goodbyes. There was only two people she knew enough back home to say goodbye to. And one cat.
The first was Giselle. Her best and only friend. Giselle was going to be a star, she didn't want to do the whole 'university' thing, it was too 'cliché'. Giselle was kind of scary, it took Agnes a lot of time to warm up to her. Giselle took a shine to Agnes the day she met her, and she wouldn't leave her alone until they were best friends. Agnes didn't really have a choice. But she still knew she was going to miss her. She might never see her again - she was moving away. To Miami. To be a star.
The second person Agnes said her goodbyes to was Felix. She didn't go to school with him. Felix was a man in his late 20s whom Agnes adored. He was smart, and Agnes remembered every word he'd ever said to her. He'd said he would marry her one day, and they would live together, and have a family. They had never shown physical love until the day she said goodbye. He told her he loved and would miss her, and they... well, you know. Agnes remembered every detail. He was who she would miss most.
Agnes realised she had zoned out, something she did regularly. Her mother was in the middle of a rant, which she also did regularly. Something about how carpets harboured dirt and they weren't hygienic and she'd send Agnes cleaning things. She 'wouldn't keep a good conscience' if she didn't.
"I'm all unpacked." Agnes half-smiled. "I guess this is goodbye."
"Oh, honey." Mrs Morrison began to cry. "Be good, okay? No 'college girl' business. And please... try to be more confident."
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you too, honey." she smiled. "I'll call you tomorrow to see how you're doing, make sure you answer, okay?"
Agnes shut the door and her mother was gone. And she was alone.