There were several cars lined up in the left turning lane ahead.  As Juliette approached the lane, she put on her turning signal and looked up into her rear view mirror. There were even more cars behind her doing the same.

   Though Juliette was passionate about her studies and always managed to get high grades, she was rarely able to show up early for anything. Her first day at Blanesville Community College was like any other to her.

   The mass of vehicles all heading toward the same location, though, made her wish she had  left the house at least ten minutes earlier. She made a quick mental note to do so next time. She hoped finding a parking spot would not take her too long. Surely, on the first day of classes, professors would be forgiving; especially at a rather small community college like this one.

   Gone were days of her having to get up at 6 o' clock in the morning to get a quick shower before her uncle or brother got in there first. Lenny usually showered in the evenings. Juliette would have liked to do so as well, but she desperately needed a shower in the morning, before school, solely to wake her up. Without a shower she felt groggy all morning, and she wanted to be fully present in her classes, ready to engage in lively discussions and take exceptionally well-written notes.

   This morning, her siblings and uncle were out of the house by 7:30am. She woke up at 7 o' clock, made herself a cup of green tea, and watched everyone else in their routines as they got ready for their day. Blissfully, she sat at the kitchen table sipping her tea and eating her toasted wheat bread with crunchy peanut butter and banana slices.

   She could hear some oldies playing from the stereo in her uncle's bedroom. As The Chiffons sung "One Fine Day", Juls smiled and watched Jude run over to the dryer and get his work pants out. Her uncle walked past her, brushing his teeth, telling Lenny through her closed bedroom door that they should be leaving in about fifteen minutes or so. The oldies continued to play, and Juliette's gaze drifted out the kitchen window.

Dusty Springfield's "Wishin' and Hopin'" was cut off midway when Andy turned off his stereo and unplugged his smartphone. He tucked in his shirt and slid his belt through the loops just as Lenny exited her bedroom and Jude grabbed a granola bar from the cabinet behind Juls.

"Alright, kiddos," Andy clapped his hands together, "it's time to go!" He walked over to the kitchen table and put his hand on Juliette's shoulder. "I hope you have a great first day, sweet pea. I can't wait to hear all about it when I get home."

Juliette looked up to meet her uncle's eyes and squeezed his hand with hers. "Thanks, Candy, me too."

He rolled his eyes, smiled, and then strolled out of the kitchen. Not without first wagging his pointer finger up and down at her as if to say, 'tssk-tssk'. She smiled and scrunched her nose at him before turning to put her mug and plate to soak in the sink.

Lenny gave her sister a tight hug and thanked her for her school lunch. "There's some toast in there with peanut butter and banana on it. Eat it on your way to school, okay?"

"Yum, thanks," said Len. "Have you heard from Krista yet?"

"Yeah, she flew into Atlanta last night. Her text woke up me around midnight. She was just driving back to her house."

"That's so her. Is she even ready for her first day?"

"I think so. She enrolled for classes online just like I did. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"I saw her pics online. She looks like she had a lot of fun."

"I'm sure we'll hear all about it."

"C'mon, Lenny. We gotta go." Jude's finger was scrolling over the glow of his phone and he looked up at Juls for just a moment. "Oh, and, hope you have a good day."

"Thank you, Jude," Juliette thanked him with sincerity. It was not often when Jude commented on her life in a positive manner. To be fair, she hardly ever commented on his life in such a way either.

"Yeah, whatever," he said, with the faintest trace of a smile only detectable by his twin, as his fingers continued their quick tapping and swiping.

***

After Juliette had finally found what seemed to her to be the last parking spot on the entire campus, she was really strapped for time. She had only about five minutes to walk through the main student parking lot, take a quick shortcut through the Student Center and then finally out to the grassy area in front of the Arts and Humanities building.

She had absolutely no idea who anyone was. She thought she was indifferent to this whole collegiate stage of her life, but as she was awkwardly speed-walking, with her book bag and purse bouncing about her, with her arms around her folded denim jacket, her long hair surely in tangles by then, she started to breathe in the late summer morning air as if she were breathing it in for the very first time.

With each new breath and new face that went past her, she felt slightly invigorated. Her steps seemed more buoyant. She could feel a smile spreading across her face as her cheeks began to redden. She was almost there.

Just as Juliette allowed her eyes to look up at the cerulean sky above and really see the rays of the sun peek through the puffy white clouds, she slammed herself, hard, into the back of an unsuspecting student.

"Whoa, there!" The student bellowed, taking a wobbly step to the side.

He turned around and found Juliette on the grass behind him, half-sitting and half-laying on her side with her belongings scattered around her. Her face redder than before and her hair a tangled mess all over her face and shoulders.

"You alright, darlin'?" He got down on one knee and reached his hand out to help her up.

Juliette quickly pulled back her hair and looked around her. The students that had momentarily paused on their way to class, or had stopped their conversations with others to take a look at her, had already started to walk again and carry on with their chattering. She was mortified.

Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. Plus, the side of her bottom was pulsating with pain. She did not have much padding on that area. Lenny was genetically more gifted in that region than her older sister.

She grimaced and could not help rubbing her sore behind as the kind stranger pulled her up off the ground.

"Ooo, wee, darlin'. That fall of yours is gonna leave your bottom all black 'n blue."

Juliette covered her mouth with her hand in embarrassment. As the stranger helped her gather up her things from the ground, she swept her hair behind her ears and asked, "Are you all right? I'm so sorry."

"Me? I'm fine. I'm more worried 'bout you."

Just then, the sun beamed blindingly through the parted clouds. The stranger squinted his eyes and lowered the bill of his Braves baseball cap. She noticed a fishing hook was clipped snug onto the edge of it. His eyes smiled first before his mouth curled to catch up with the rest of him.

"My name's Wyatt Jones. What's yours?" He asked, the sunshine illuminating the dark blue flecks set in his gray eyes.

Juliette hesitated for only a moment. He stood before her, looking down at her much smaller and shorter frame.

"Juliette Wakelin," she said while busying herself with dusting off and folding her denim jacket and then holding it close to her chest with her arms crossed.

"That's a mighty pretty name. You from 'round these parts?"

"I'm sorry. I'm running late for class. Thank you so much!" And with that she turned and picked up her speed, gradually, making sure to keep her eyes ahead of her this time.

As she walked on further toward her class, Wyatt lifted his brows and gripped the straps of his book bag. "Well," he muttered to himself, "I should've figured that, huh?"

***

Once the classroom finally came into her vision, Juliette relaxed. The clock in the hallway was just then reading 9:00am. She let out a sigh of relief and walked over to the room. She hoped no one could notice there was a slight limp to her steps. She would have given almost anything to be back at home with the warm water of the perfectly pressured shower beading down onto her hurt back.

She took a seat in the front row. Surprisingly, there were many seats to choose from there. She figured since everyone had to pay for college they would at least want front row seats. Juliette actually thought, right after her bottom hit the ground, that she would have to sit in the very back of the class.

The classroom was very clean. The walls were painted a light cool gray, and there was a wooden desk and podium at the front of the room. A huge rectangular and white dry erase board was on the wall facing the students. Also, a projector was mounted to the center of the ceiling above them. All but one student had sat down. The male student stood at the front and lingered there for a moment.

He looked over at the other students, adjusted his glasses with his fingers, and then walked over to the desk. He set his book bag down and slid out a laptop from it. Juliette found this to be very odd. He should be sitting with the rest of them.

"Good morning, everyone. If I could kindly have your attention, please," he addressed the room with nothing but confidence in his voice.

"This is Honors English Composition and we'll all be meeting here, in room 117, from 9:00 to 9:50am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If this is not the class you're supposed to be in, now's the time to leave and book it out of here to your correct classroom."

Everyone in the room, including Juliette, let out a small laugh. One student actually got up from her seat. She walked up to the instructor and showed him a piece of paper. In a hushed tone, he told her where to go as his fingers pointed one way and then the other. After she left the room, he looked back over to his class, speaking again, whilst busily typing and then turning the projector on with the remote that was left on the podium.

"My name is Garrett Wheeler, and I will be your instructor this semester. Please, call me Garrett. I'm going to pass out the syllabus right now. This is something you will want to keep somewhere safe. Not only does it include important campus-wide policies, such as tardiness and missed classes, but it also includes information pertinent to this class only. I have outlined what is to be expected of you during this semester. If you will look along with me, " he then projected an image of the syllabus up on the dry erase board, "you will see that in two weeks time you will have your first assignment due in this class. It is the first of many writing exercises you will hand in to me..."

Juliette had already gotten her pen, color coordinated notebook and folder, and planner out and put them before her on her desktop. She wrote down in her planner when the first writing exercise was due. Then she got a neon green highlighter out of the front pocket of her book bag and began highlighting sections of the syllabus that Garrett seemed to want them to pay particular attention to.

"As you can see, throughout this course you will be responsible for a lot of reading. If this is something that usually takes you some time to do, be sure to set aside plenty of time for you to read. We will be reading excerpts from the textbook," he brought the thick course book up next to his head and slapped its cover, "It's a biggie, I know, but I also know you can do it. Be sure to pick up a copy of The Elements of Style. I will be referring to that text a lot this semester. It's extremely helpful. Also, we will be reading some select novels, as follows. Please, keep in mind, that our book store here on campus has several used books. Okay? Let's see here. The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies..."

Her highlighter was smoothly highlighting every single word that was of any significance and then Juliette slowly put the cap back on it and just listened to Garrett speak before the class. Her bruised bottom had stopped hurting minutes ago. It was not because her seat was wonderfully comfortable or anything.

She breathed in and out, absently ran her fingers through a tangled section of her hair, and then her eyes, without hesitation, left the bright image projected on the board before her. She zoned in on her instructor as the students let out yet another laugh as he wittily suggested ways to improve upon one's time management skills.

Juliette could feel another smile spreading across her face, almost identical to the one from earlier. Only this time there was a little tingling of heat that accompanied it. The prickly warmth started behind her ears and then radiated through to her blushing cheeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Hello, reader

I have fun writing all my chapters, but this one was extra fun. I loved college so much! Especially my first two years at a community one. I am looking forward to more chapters with Blanesville Community College as the backdrop.

Blanesville High School will be featured more, too. Right now, school really is not at the forefront of Lenny's mind. Let's be honest! She only looks forward to homeroom and lunchtime, and you all know why...

Two new male characters were introduced in this chapter! And just a bit of one new female character--did you catch her?
What do you think of our newbies?

Krista.

Wyatt.

Ben.

Be on the lookout for upcoming chapters. I am super excited about Juliette starting classes, hehe.

If you are still enjoying this story, please vote and comment. I would love to hear from you!

XO,
Leanne