TESSA
By the time my last class ended, my brain felt full in the dull, heavy way that came from too much information and too many new faces.
I signed the final admission papers in the department office, my pen dragging slightly as I wrote my name for what felt like the hundredth time. Each signature felt like another quiet confirmation that this was real. That I was really here. That my past was behind me now, even if it didn’t feel that way inside my chest
When I stepped back into the hallway, Adeline was already waiting for me, leaning against the wall with her phone in her hand.
“Done?” she asked.
“Finally,” I breathed out.
She smiled and slipped her phone into her pocket. “Good. Come on. I promised I’d show you around properly.”
We walked together through the campus. The buildin
