Chapter Text
Tavros
Fourty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes you've been waiting here, for them to give you your keys. Your name is Tavros Nitram and all you want is to give you your keys to your dorm room, so that you can get inside. You're standing here with your dad, boxes of miscellaneous stuff you've packed in both of your arms.
It's a stupid idea, you now realize. You should have left it in the car and maybe gone and got a coffee while you were waiting for them to straighten out their little "mix-up". But instead, you were standing and waiting for them to get back with your keys. Papa wasn't too pleased, either. He didn't set aside the thousands of dollars to stay at this dorm for the year to not be able to get in. Oh, the money. Your father could go on about what a hassle it was, even with all of the scholarships you managed to get, to be able to pay for all of this.
And... finally, there they were, back with something in hand; a key card. Fancy. They handed it to you with a tired smile and you gave them a small, polite one in return. "Thanks..." you took it and quickly proceeded to the elevator to reach your room. It was located on the fifth floor. You didn't like the idea of being too high off of the ground, at least after a particular incident near the begining of highschool. However, you were mostly just glad that it wasn't even higher up. This building did have fourteen floors, after all.
You stepped out of the elevator, your father having followed you, and walked down the hallway until you reached your assigned room. The room had you sharing with one other person, who wasn't here yet. You only know this because you had been able to learn his name and exchange a few words with him through the school website. All you knew was that his name was Gamzee, he was from California, he's 18 (the same age as you), and that he would move in a few days after you did. He seemed pleasant enough, or at least you hoped.
You can also tell that he's not here yet when you finally unlock and push open the door to your new home and see it mostly empty. It's an alright size, for a dorm, with two beds against the walls, one large window, two desks, and a door leading to what is presumably the bathroom.
The two of you walk in and set the boxes down with relieved sighs and you shake the circulation back into your fingers.
"Do you need any help unpacking this stuff...?" Your father asks.
"Oh, no... I can do it by myself later tonight." You offer a smile to him.
"Alright, well, I guess I'm gonna leave, then, since I'm not doing anything here... I'm going to say goodbye first, though."
You walk up to your dad and he meets you half way with a hug. He sighs.
"I'm going to miss you, Tavros. Text me whenever you want, alright, son?"
"Okay, dad. I'll miss you too."
"I'm so proud of you," he says quietly. You just smile again, but when he pulls away, he seems a little teary.
"Thanks... don't be sad though, I'm not gone for ever, or anything..."
He laughs. "Oh, I know, it's just a big deal to see you going off, into the big world. Being an adult. You're going to have so much fun, and grow so much. I can't wait to see what man you'll be in the end."
You feel a little tug at your heartstrings, feeling somewhat touched by your old man's sappiness.
"I'll try to be one that'll make you proud, dad. Um, and see you at winter break, I guess." Wow, that is a long time to be alone.
And with that, you say goodbye to each other again and he really leaves. You close the door after him, make your bed, and then sit on it. You stare out of the window, having chose the bed closest to it and listen to some music on your phone until you get hungry. You find your way to the dining hall after a while, eat a hamburger alone, then come back to your dorm. You'll do more exploring later, but for now, you just want to look at social media until your eyes hurt and then go to sleep. So, that's what you do, your thoughts drifting to your past and the possibilites of your future before you eventually start to slowly drift off.
Growing up, it's a scary thought.