The Greatest Love Of All.

As soon as I received my letter of admission, which arrived even before I expected, I prepared my bags and asked Madison to take me to Los Angeles. No way I would have asked my parents. I simply told them goodbye, and when I saw my mum almost in tears I couldn’t do it and cry too. The fight we got into a couple of days before was just a bad memory. My dad instead was a quiet type. He just gave me a hug.
He helped me with the bags and then finally me and Madison left the town.

“The next time I have to take you somewhere I will make sure that we are going to Las Vegas”

“Well we could make a quick stop, it is along the way”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Yes, of course, idiot. I have to go to the admission office. We have like 5 hours of trip”

“It is easy to say, as you’re not driving!”

“I just asked you to come with me, and now you even complain?”

“I’m sorry if I went bed late and I slept just for 5 hours!”

“you’re so childish sometimes”

“but you love me anyways right?”

“don’t be so sure about it”

“I know you do though”

I laughed a bit. Madison was my best friend since middle school and she was probably my only real friend. I knew a lot of people but I wasn’t that close to them as I was to her. Despite her boyfriend, she wasn’t like all those girls who completely change in a relationship. Our friendship was always more important. She never let me down. Sometimes she could have been really stubborn but I loved her a lot.

“So do you have any place where to stay?”

“Not really…I will look for a place in the dorms, I will ask around I guess”

“Wow you’re really prepared about all this, aren’t you?”

“Mad, stop mothering me”

She puffed. I knew she was worried, and I was too. But I couldn’t be negative in the first place. I’m usually a pretty pessimist person, but in this case I decided to think optimistic, or I would have given up before the beginning. I knew that it would have been hard, but I was determined to do everything possible to let this experience be awesome, different and cool. No jinxes, thanks.

After five hours of random talking about everything, we finally got in front of the head office of UCLA. I was nervous but excited at the same time. Maddie smiled at me. I sighed and got out of the car, waving at her with a weak smile on my face. ‘Now you’re alone Annie’ I said to myself.

I entered the big building, looking for the admissions office and in particular for Mrs. Alloy. I hoped she was as kind as she was in the mail she sent me days before. I’m usually shy, and when someone is not that nice to me in the first place I suddenly become an iceberg rock. I totally black out.
When I finally found the office I was looking for, I asked for Mrs. Alloy.

“That should be me… do you need any help?”

“Yeah…ehm, I’m Annie Sutton, I just-“

“Oh, Yeah, the girl who asked me for the late admission, I totally remember your e-mail”

“Do you? Really? Ehm, ok…I guess”

She made me sign a couple of papers, and then gave me brochures and a guide for the campus. I asked her for a room at the dorms and she gave me a quick list of the available places in some rooms.

“You should ask if there is a bed for you, and then when you choose your roommate you just come down here again for the last papers to sign. Have you got any questions?”

“Not at all…for now. See you later, if I can find the office again”

I went out and looked around. It was huge. I felt like a bug in a spider web. So little, in such a big place. The girl from the small town in the big city. Madison would have liked this story for an eventual script for a movie. I sighed and told myself I had to be strong to carry on. It was my choice. No coming back. Never.
I hardly found the way for the dorms, but finally did. I read all the list back and forth for the hundred time, then decided to ask to the people I liked the name the most. I started from a certain Elliot McPherson.

“And you are…?”

She asked me, opening the door. She was a blonde girl –I thought she was a guy, cause of the name-, not that tall. She was smoking a cigarette. She didn’t seem really nice and not really easy to approach, but I tried to manage a speech. Before even start to talk, she interrupted me.

“Are you trying to sell me a holy bible or is your aim to convince me that God really exists? If so, you can run before I kick your ass, thanks”

She almost closed the door, but I stopped her. She was pissing me off a lot with that behavior.

“Listen, I’m here to ask if you have a free bed in the room, I don’t want to sell you anything, ok? Let me talk, for Christ’s sake”

She didn’t answer for a whole minute. I thought she was about to kick my ass anyways.

“Yes, I do have a free bed. But…why should I share my room with you?”

That girl was trying me out, or was it just my imagination?

“Listen, I came all the way here from Arizona, I got up early, I’m dragging these bags for an hour and actually I don’t need to give you ten reasons to share the room with me, if you are so nice to help me, thanks, but if not, I have to say that I totally understand why you’re in the room all alone. Bye”

I took my bags in my hands and walked fast until the first corner.

“Hey tiger, put away your claws, I was just kidding!”

I heard her screaming after me. I turn around and puffed, going back.

“Come on in”

She just said, opening the door and even helping me with a bag. The room wasn’t that big, but I liked it. The walls were orange painted, and the beds were one in front of the other. It had a big window who showed a part of the back yard of the campus. And the wall over Elliot’s bed was full of pictures. It was cool.

“So, what’s your name?”

“Annie”

“I’m Elliot. If you ask why I have a boy’s name I’m gonna kick your ass – for sure this time”

I nodded. That girl was really tough. But I managed her once, so I was pretty confident I could have done it again. She figured me out, I did it with her too, so we were kinda settled yet. I came nearer to the two desks near the window and looked down to the papers she had on hers. I saw a poster of a concert.

“What is this?”

“Warped Tour, never heard about it?”

I shrugged, and she looked me like she was mad at me for not knowing what that tour was.

“Where did you live? On Mars? Warped it’s like one of the greatest concerts ever!”

“If you say so…”

I wasn’t that excited as she was. I’ve never been to a proper concert in my whole life. I just saw a couple of local bands in my town, but those show aren’t even comparable to the word concert.
I looked to the poster again, while Elliot was listing all the good things about Warped, complaining cause I was a total outsider. I looked at her again and suddenly decided what to do.

I was going to Warped. Alone or with that Elliot, it didn’t matter to me.
I had to live my new life in college, with every experience linked to it.
I was going to change, to become a new person. The old Annie was about to disappear.