(Past Thea) - 7 years old

The girl went skipping along the pathway, with her balloon in hand. Happy is how someone would describe the little girl with her pink, frilly dress and carefree nature.

One minute she was obsessing over a cute, little puppy on the sidewalk while the next she was chasing my balloon which had slipped from her grasp and was flying away.

After about 30 seconds of running, she lost hope and sat down, pouting and puffing her cheeks out with a big fat tear rolling down them.

"Is this yours?"

She looked up to a boy, his hands on his bare knees as he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, he was gazing down at her, his face flushed, maybe because he was blushing or because he was panting.

The girl's green eyes lit up and she stood, taking the balloon from him, after making sure it was her balloon and not some imposter, she looked at the boy and whispered.

"Thank you," this was accompanied by a toothy grin.

The boy rubbed his neck in a nervous manner and mumbled, "Your welcome."

Suddenly, the girl hugged him, crushing him in her tiny arms, the boy was too shocked by her sudden show of affection that in the end, he froze.

After moving back, the girl noticed a small cut on his knee, she gasped, "What happened?".

The boy glanced down and blushed, muttering, "It's nothing, I just fell down while I was chasing your balloon."

The little girl frowned at the fact he got hurt because of her but smiled when she remembered the Hello Kitty bandaids she kept in her purse.

She raised a finger, telling him to wait then took one of them out along with some sanitizer, "My mommy says whenever someone's got a boo-boo we should clean it up then put a bandaid over it, should I?"

The boy nodded, partly because he couldn't bear to say no to her angelic face.

She knelt down and rubbed some sanitizer over his cut with a tissue because of which he flinched and then she gently put a bandaid over it.

"All better," she exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Do you like Hello Kitty?"

The boy scrunched up his nose at the question and the tiny girl giggled at how cute he looked.

"Everyone says it's for girls but I like it only a bit" he held up two of his finger with an inch in between, a gesture to show the amount of his love for Hello Kitty.

"Ooh! And I also like Iron Man and Batman, they're so cool and they're also rich," he continued and grinned. We talked for a while, sitting under a willow tree. It was so much fun.

"Chance honey, where are you? It's time to go," Both youngsters heard a lady call out.

The boy sheepishly smiled at Thea, "That's my mommy so I have to go... Hey, what's your name? Mine's Chance."

"Thea. My name's Thea," the girl replied instantly.

"Well see you soon, Thea," the boy smiled and she felt a tingling sensation in my stomach, while her tiny heart began to beat faster than it ever had.

He ran, waving at her, waving back she whispered, "See you soon... Chance".

The girl came to the park every day in hopes of meeting him but she never saw him at the park again.

(Present Thea) -

"... And that was the story of my first crush... So what's next?" I asked as I was playing a game called 'I confess' with my 17-year-old sister, Nevaeh.

We were in my room having a sleepover as it was my very last one with her for a while because I was moving into college dorms the next day.

-Time Skip-

"Let's see... 4 Ikea boxes, check, 3 boxes and a suitcase filled with clothes and shoes, check, a trunk full of random but important things, also check!" I exclaim, ticking all my stuff in the checklist I had made.

"You girls pack so much, I remember only having a suitcase and 2 or 3 boxes when I was heading off for UCLA," Lucky, my twenty-year-old brother, teases and in return, I stick my tongue out at him.

"Thea, did you take everything?" My dad's deep voice echoes from right outside my room.

"Yeah, I just need to place it in my car," I look up at him, he leans against the door frame with a soft smile on his face, his arms crossed and a single tear rolling down his cheek.

A few tears of my own escape my eyes as I move forward to hug him, "I love you, daddy."

As my mom sees the gig, she immediately joins in with Nevaeh who pulls Lucky alongside her.

"I love you guys," I mumble.

"We love you too sweetie, I still can't believe you're going to college, Stanford while you're at it," My mom says, wiping a tear.

As the hug breaks, I immediately turn around and start to carry my bags to my car, knowing that if I drag on my farewell any longer, I won't be able to leave. Understanding my dilemma, Lucky silently follows my lead, picking up the heaviest box and carrying it with me.

I give one final wave to my family once in the car, then drove off to live the next part of my very mature life.

Cue Sponge Bob voice: 15 minutes later.

"There are a hundred and four days of summer vacation and school comes along to end it, so the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to speeeeend it," I scream.

"Like maybe! Building a rocket or fighting a mummy or-" I continue bobbing my head but then a large honk disrupts me, allowing me to break out of my trance and catch sight of the green light in front of me.

"Sorry!" I shout out of the window and race down the road.

Suddenly, I feel a craving for McDonald's and as fate would have it, I spot one on my left and veer around the car towards it.

Seeing the long queue of cars lined up in the drive-through route, I decide to eat comfortably in my car rather than wait around longer than I need to.

After parking my car, I make my way inside and stand in the line behind an older man in a suit talking, or should I say I arguing, loudly on his phone. Even when his turn to order soon comes up, he continues his chit-chat and I tap on his shoulder to let him know.

"Hey, it's your turn to-"

"Can't you see I'm talking on the phone! Ugh, teenagers these days thinking they're allowed to anything because they're depressed or something. Sorry, this bitch was bothering me, continue," he resumes his conversation, glaring at me.

I stand shocked in the line, like everyone else in the room at his rude and ignorant response.

This person messed with the wrong person on the wrong day, I'm on my period and during my time of the month, it doesn't take long for me to snap.

"Please take a second to get your judgemental head out of your ass and listen to me. First of all, I didn't hear anyone asking for your opinion, so kindly stop yapping and shut the fuck up. Secondly, nobody asks to be depressed, shit happens and people strive to even find a reason to survive let alone live. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm fucking starving and the garbage you've been spewing out of your ass didn't help at all," I end with a sarcastic sweet smile and strut forward to order, ignoring the dumbstruck look on his face.

"Hi, hope you're having a good day, some jerk just ruined mine but anyhow, I'd like to order a Big Mac, a large fry well as a large vanilla milkshake, make it a to-go please, and thank you," I genuinely smile at the cashier who desperately tries to stifle her laughter.

"That'll be $8.45 and here you go, have a nice day."

After paying for my food, I take my bag of McDeliciousness and walk back to my car. As soon as I'm buckled in, I just burst out laughing.

"Ok yeah, that was fun," I laugh as I drive out of the parking lot, back onto the highway with my burger in one hand and the other gripping the steering wheel.

One hour and many jam sessions later, I stand in front of my dorm building, already inside the campus.

Taking a deep breath, I make my way to the front desk. "Hello, my name is Thea Amore."

I smile at the lady but she doesn't return it and just hands me the room key, only saying, "Room 123."

"Uh, thanks... Have a good day."

I grin awkwardly and to my surprise, the lady returns the gesture this time, "Good day to you too."

I take the elevator to the first floor and drag my trolley filled with my stuff to room 123, I unlock it and go in. The dorm seems much larger than I expected with a joint kitchen and living room, and three doors against the walls. As I hear rustling from one of the doors, I assume it's taken and settle for the other one.

The square room was plain with only a single bed and a shelf placed to the side and a closet embedded into the wall.

I start building all the Ikea stuff I had brought and put them in their places, the nightstand next to the bed and the desk and chair in a corner. I drag the shelf next to the desk and begin putting my things in it. Next, I choose to set up my desk. With it being a corner desk, I decide to use one side for studying and one side as a vanity.

The rest of the day goes by just like this, unpacking and organizing.

I exit the room once finished, my arms above my head as I stretch. A single light in the corner illuminates the small room, next to who sits a girl eating spaghetti.

Stunning. That's a word people presumably use to describe her. Her purple hair contrasts beautifully with her chocolate skin and many freckles adorn her cheeks and nose.

"Hey I'm Lexi, you're probably my roommate, I made some spaghetti, there's some left for you too, wanna join?"

"I'm Thea and thank you for offering," I smile at her and she smiles back. I devour the spaghetti in a matter of minutes, I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I started to eat.

After I clean up the kitchen, I decide to take a nice, warm shower taking my sweet time to lather myself in lotion afterward.

I slip into a pair of comfy shorts and a tank top and then flop onto my bed, not wasting another second and immediately covering myself with the fluffy blanket.

What can I say, I love fluffy things.

Even though my mind begs me to fall asleep, I stay awake, staring at the ceiling. Sleep is the farthest thing in my mind as I go over all the different scenarios that could take place the next day, my first day of college.

._.

Hope you liked it if you didn't then feel free to comment why.

Also, the book will get better and flow more smoothly as time goes on since I will get the hang of things. Again, any constructive criticism is appreciated. :)

If you're wondering who to imagine Nevaeh as, I imagine Taylor Hill.

BTW this is the exact order of my sibling and I'm the middle child who gets blamed for everything 😢. Comment if you relate.

My exams are going on so, I'll upload chapters randomly if I can, please bear with me. That's it for now.

Potato out.