THE ONE FOR ME

Chapter 2 - Reunited Again

“Welcome to New York University, Miss Ava.” Elva said with a large smile. “Thank you so much, Miss Elva.” I said and return her smile. “Oh please. Don’t call me Miss. You can Address me as Elva.”She said with a. Is she a smiley person? Cause there was no time that she wasn’t smiling, ever since I set eyes on her in the reception downstairs. “Oh okay.” I answered and smiled back at her. Her smile was so contagious, that I couldn’t help but be infected by them. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then, Elva.I want to do a quick tour of the school grounds before I go home.”I said and looked at her face. She smiled and nodded her head. “You should. Though you have to be careful, the school grounds are large and you could get lost if you ain’t careful.” She said and opened a book on her table and passed me a piece of paper that looked like the map of the school. “Here you go.This would be your map on the school grounds.” She said and I collected the map from her hands and smiled gratefully at her. Elva had been of great help to me today, and there was almost nothing left for me to do. If not for her, I’d probably be still stuck here without getting anything done today. I owed her my success at what I had set out today. She is my knight in shining armor. Who says a knight has to be a male? “Okay, I’ll use this to navigate the school grounds. Thanks very much, Elva. You’ve been of great help. I owe you a lot.” I said gratefully. “Oh come on, You’ve said thanks a thousand times today. Go on, I have to get back to my work. Have fun.” Elva said as she bid me goodbye. I waved at her as I walked out the door of her office. I walked out of the office and I walked past other departmental offices that were on the Faculty floor. I looked at the other departments and as I saw the NYU badge on one of the doors. I am a student at the University of New York. Nothing feels more surreal than this.I’m so sad Dad didn’t stay alive to see this day. I thought to myself sadly. I don’t think I have fully introduced myself to you. Well, I’m Avalon Sanchez Anna -Lorena Noelani Louise. Long right? Well, mom calls me Lani, My brother calls me Lona, My best friend calls me either Vie or Lona, and my father called me Lorey. Oh well, don’t blame me. I have other names, but let us stop here for now. I’m twenty years old and I’m a student, a fresher thought at the University of New York. My parents were always in the middle class, having just enough to take care of my brother and me. But when my Father died two years before I finished high school, my life became a little bit different and Darker than it usually was. You see, I did love my parents, I loved them more than anything else I had in this world. But I had a very close connection with my Father, being that I was like him in so many ways. We both loved strawberries, blackberries, and Mangoes. We both loved to eat our bread with fresh apples and loved to eat Fresh bananas first thing in the morning. We loved to eat roast chicken with plantains, and my father always bought me on my birthday, or whenever he received his pay from selling his strawberries. We both loved Spaghetti and Fish. Both our favorite colors were Red. We both loved staying out to watch the stars, and I could tell my father anything without worrying about a backlash. My father had a very soft answer to anything, but he never let anybody ever trample on him, his wife, or his children. Not even his family members, well not until his death when I was 16 years old. Dad got into a hit-and-run accident, and he didn’t survive. He died on the spot. I was so shocked that I lost the ability to use my hands. I had to go through rehab because I couldn’t talk too. Well after six months, I regained my ability to use my hands, but I was still filled with grief concerning my father’s death, more so because I witnessed it. My father was crossing the road to meet me when the car hit him to death. The memory still haunted me now and then but I had learned to control my emotions and panic attacks. I loved Father very much, and Mother and my younger brother loved him too. Honestly, I’d have given anything for Dad’s life to have been saved, but there was nothing I could do about it. Back to what I was saying, things became a lot more difficult for us because Dad’s younger brother took over Dad’s strawberry and blackberry farm. He took it forcefully, and Dad hadn’t left a legal will stating who the farmland should go to, so we had to move the city area. Mum opened her bakery and bread shop with the savings that she and Father had gathered, and with that, she sent us to High school. I finished High school with an ace result and took the entrance exams for NYU the same year I finished high school. I passed, but mum didn’t have enough money to send me to NYU at that time.So I stayed back and decided to work instead. While working, I came across a scholarship forum and decided I would apply, and I did. I wrote the Scholarship examination and passed it with Flying colors. The foundation then offered me a full scholarship and a chance to intern at their company after graduation. It was the best offer I could receive and I accepted it with all happiness.I looked at the buildings I saw in Awe. The science department area was so beautiful and it made me feel like I should be a science student. Nah, I’ll pass through, business always appealed to me more than anything else. I walked towards the Faculty of Social sciences and entered the building. I walked towards the halls they had in there and as I walked I saw students walking in twos and three Sophomore students. They look so caught up in their discussions. Would I ever get to experience a great friendship, and discuss my thoughts with anybody here? I’m not that good of a conversation starter nor do I know the first thing about making the first moves for friendship.I wondered to myself, looking at the smiling faces of the few groups of friends that were passing by, and that made me miss my best girl, Soph. Suddenly I felt a hug on my back and I turned to look who it was that hugged me. “Hey, stranger.” I heard a very very familiar voice behind me and felt a smack on my shoulder I turned around and gasped. “Sophia!” I said loudly in surprise. Sophia and I were meant to attend NYU together, but her Father had made her apply to Arizona state university. “What a pleasant surprise, little lady.You told me you had left for Arizona already yesterday when we spoke over the phone. What are you doing here?” I asked her after hugging her tightly for about five minutes. “Well, I was able to convince my dad to let me study in New York here, and he agreed. So we opted for a transfer since I hadn’t accepted Arizona yet, and I had made New York my first choice, Though that was a surprise to you that was why I didn’t tell you. I wanted to come to surprise you with the Admission letter I got from NYU when your mum told me you had left early this morning to process your Registration and clearance, so I came here to do mine too. I saw you come out of the Administration block, so I decided to follow you, and see where you were headed. I couldn’t hold it in any longer so I decided to approach you” She said and giggled. Sophia Salazar had been my best friend since I was in middle school. However after my Dad died, she was one of the very few people that stood by me even when I couldn’t speak or use my arm. And when we moved, she and I only saw on the weekends for some months till her Family decided to move too to the city area. She and I got reunited again, but her father wanted her to experience being in another state other than New York, coupled with the fact that her mother’s sister resided in Arizona, which gave them an edge when it came to the bills.It had been arranged that Sophie would live with her aunt, and her Aunt would pay her fees since her husband was well-to-do, but Sophie didn’t want to change states, so she managed to convince her dad to let her stay in New York and man the joy that filled my soul on hearing this. “I was just thinking how I was gonna scale through at least the t semester. You know how bad and clumsy I am at making friends.” I said and sighed with a dramatic expression of relief. She laughed again and clung to my arm. “What would you do without me, Vie?” She said calling me by the pet name she always called me with. My full name was Avalon, and my father called me Lona“Well, nothing, Soph. Come on, let’s go grab something to eat I'm starving.” I said rubbing my belly. “Not to worry.I know where the cafeteria is. It’s the first thing I decided to find before coming to do a school tour or even getting my clearance done.” She said grinning. “Have you gotten your clearance done yet?” I asked and she shook her head. “Nah, I’ll get it done tomorrow. Let’s go eat, come on.”She said dragging me by my arm alongside the road. Soph and I were both Foodies and it was our major priority to look for canteens or cafeterias or eateries for us to eat t whenever we went to a new area. I smiled in happiness as I realized that the heavens were giving me more reasons to be thankful. First I met that amazing lady at the Faculty office, I got my clearance done in no time, and now I have my best friend here with me. Isn’t life wonderful?I sighed in contentment as I walked the streets with Soph. Sophia’s full name was Sophia Salazar Anna-Patrice Maelie, and just like me, she was 20 years old. Her Father had been my father’s most trusted man and best friend and Business partner, but after my father died and the land was taken from us, Her father had to go into His shoe-making business wasn’t so successful so he had to move out from our small village to the city of New York, and he moved into a house a few houses away from ours. His wife had a small shop where she sold common household items, joined with her little sowing that she added by the side and stuff, but because of her mother’s rich relatives, life was more stable for them. For me, my best friend was my only support and her parents supported my mother and honestly, I was grateful for them. “We are here.”Soph said enthusiastically and in front of me stood possibly the biggest school cafeteria I have ever seen in my entire life. “Well?” Soph said looking at my face and gasping in awe. “Are you sure this is a cafeteria, Soph? This is way too big to be a cafeteria. It looks more like a school or lecture hall.” I said still gaping at the building in front of me. This structure was magnificent beyond all limits, beyond everything I ever hoped to see in the NYU cafeteria. ,“ it was what I felt to I saw the building. Let’s go in, yeah?” She said and dragged me into the cafeteria. “Wow!”I said in awe again, the internal structure was even more coordinated and arranged and exceedingly beautiful. “Man, this is massive. Look at all that food in the show glass.” I said looking towards the place where the people who dealt with dishing food and I salivated at the sight of the. “Look at all those foods.” Soph said and gulped. “You don’t have to act so locally. Grace and poise, Soph.Grace and poise.We can’t let them know we are from the village.” I said, and with that Soph and I arranged our shoulders and walked together towards the counter where food was arranged in different glasses. Jollof rice, Sandwiches, Burgers, Spaghetti with fish sauce, and then the area had Chicken pies, Minced pies, Glazed dough, and Cakes. I gulped and then I and Soph looked at ourselves. Soph opened her mouth to place an order when two girls pushed me aside and stood in front of us.I looked at Soph’s face and I knew trouble was brewing. Oh boy.