Chapter Text
Juniper had expected the town she was now calling home to be bustling today, yet she was still shocked by the traffic as she crossed Grimshire's city limits. The main strip was absolutely filled with chaos; cars driving up from down south, groups of college students and parents alike filling the sidewalks. The busy scene completely clashed with the adorable little town Juniper found herself in. Beautiful, old houses lined every street, ancient trees along the roadside and sitting in fenced in yards casting cooling shadows on the road. Honestly, Juniper was happy for the bumper to bumper conditions in a way, it was giving her a chance to take in the sights, and more importantly soothe her nerves.
The little handwritten card her aunt and uncle made for her sat in the cupholder beside her, the cute drawings on the front smiling at her out of the corner of her eye. Just glancing at the thing made Juniper smile, despite her worries. She'd be working towards this for years, from the moment she could start earning money of her own, and even before then she had dreamed of going off to some big university somewhere. The idea of going to a place where she could learn whatever she wanted, make new friends, and see new things, was just so exciting. Then, of course, when her parents died…well, her aunt and uncle made sure to hammer home the idea of forging a better life for herself.
She gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, resisting the urge to cry. It had been so long since she lost them, long enough that she'd forgotten their voices, was beginning to forget their faces, yet it still hurt. They should've been with her, right here, in this moment, just like the other families she saw roaming the town around her. They should've been moving her in, taking pictures with her, exploring town with her, giving her a heartfelt goodbye. Instead, she was alone, in a shitbox car, with relatives damn near a continent away.
"If they saw you now, June, they would be so proud."
Her aunt's voice whispered through her head, and Juniper lost the battle against the tears really quickly. She knew why her adoptive parents couldn't be here, but even then…she wished they were, she wished she wasn't alone. She drew in a shaky sigh as she wiped them away from her face with a paw, watching as a family said their farewells on the steps of a simple little house on the corner she passed. She hoped her aunt was right, she hoped they were watching her from somewhere, happy that her work paid off.
Juniper turned away, refocusing on the road as the traffic started moving again, blinking the blurriness from her vision. It seemed that the town's cops were funneling the car parade away from a blocked off street, where there was some sort of big block party, but it was fine with her. The route they'd chosen seemed to lead them all directly towards campus, she could even see the ancient clock tower in the distance.
Juniper took another deep breath, forcing herself to relax, and her old grief back into the pit it crawled out of. Today isn't the day to be a mopey, sad mess. Today is a happy day June, new place and new beginnings, don't ruin it.
Predictably, the sprawling campus was absolutely filled with chaotic activity, though thankfully organized. Bright, easy to read signs were strapped to every post, campus guides wandered the sidewalks, greeting students and passing out cheap goodies, while yet more cops were guiding the traffic around. Juniper just went with the flow of it all, struggling to not be distracted by all of the new sights.
The buildings were beautiful. Old, weathered brick made up most of them, though there were a few modern structures scattered here and there. Juniper fell in love with the library immediately, it reminded her of a historic palace in the capital, and she could already see herself spending entire days in there. There was even a botanical garden beside it, full of more beautiful flowers than she could count, with a massive greenhouse smack in the middle, shimmering in the afternoon sun.
Oh yeah, she was going to love this.
She pulled up to a makeshift checkpoint in the shadow of the library, the campus police funneling cars this way and that. She rolled her window down when an officer approached, the brown wolf inspecting her with a critical eye as he spoke, "Where you headed to, Miss?"
He sounded a bit more…harsh, than Juniper was expecting, but she shrugged it off, giving him the brightest smile she could muster, "Wherever the freshmen go Sir! I need to get my keys and stuff, oh, and, uh, a map. That would be helpful."
The officer grunted, pointing straight down the road, towards one of the shinier modern buildings in the distance, "Head that way to the rec center, park in lot two, then follow the signs when you go inside. There's a buncha tables all set up in the main hallway for your things, can't miss it. Oh, and…um." He paused, glancing down at her car, before looking at her with concern in his eyes, "Not to worry you, but I think you should get your car checked out. Something doesn't sound right…or smell right."
Juniper felt her smile waver, but she stubbornly forced it to stay. She really didn't want to be reminded of the weirdness, or of the misadventures of her cross-country journey, she had more important, and happier, things to think about, "Thank you, and I appreciate the concern, but my car's just a little…quirky, that's all. It's fine!" And so am I.
The cop didn't look like he believed her in the slightest, but he didn't hold up traffic to argue. He simply nodded as she rolled up her window, shutting out the unnerving rattling noise and scent of burning that had stalked her all the way here. She pulled away when he motioned for her to, focusing on the destination ahead.
While the rec center was definitely nice, it was…kind of out of place. It looked more like a modern art piece than a campus building, a huge monolith with large glass windows that made up some walls and siding painted dark teal and light, rain cloud gray. Juniper glanced at the statue erected at the front of the building as she pulled into the proper lot, a carving of someone she didn't recognize, some athletic looking deer.
Juniper was quick to find a parking spot, joining the horde of chattering students and parents alike as they streamed into the building through the propped open doors, the outside air way hotter than earlier. The roar of echoing conversations made Juniper instinctively flatten her ears as she stepped inside. The entire building seemed to be just one, large, long hallway, with distant offshoots beyond a main desk and gates. She could already see people wandering around the place beyond the welcome tables, carrying gym bags, balls, and rackets. The high ceiling towered above her head, flags with the school's mascot and banners welcoming everyone hanging from the metal rafters. Large window-walls bathed the massive entrance hallway with sunlight, warming the air that smelled faintly of chlorine.
A friendly looking gray fox walked up to her as she looked around, waving to get her attention. She was dressed up in so much university merch she may as well have been a walking advertisement, her voice just a tad too energetic, "Welcome friend! You look new, here for move-in day??"
Juniper resisted flinching at the extra layer of loudness when the fox practically shouted at her, nodding as she gave the fox a slightly nervous smile, "Uh, yeah…"
"Awesome!" Somehow, the fox managed to look even more excited. She thrust a lanyard into Juniper's paw and pointed to the largest table at the back of the circuit, "So you're gonna start down there with our marvelous resident services team. They're gonna give you your keys. Then…" She pointed off to the left and right of the circuit, explaining each group of tables, "You'll head to the left for your ID, and to the right for all the boring paperwork stuff, those folks will give ya a map and information about the school too." She flashed Juniper a final smile, speaking as she stepped back, "You got all that?? I know it's a little chaotic."
I mean…seems pretty straightforward to me. Juniper kept that thought to herself, simply nodding with reassurance, "Yeah, I got it all. Thank you for explaining it."
"Of course!" The fox did a little hop into the air, pointing at the lanyard dangling from Juniper's paw, "Oh, and don't forget to stick your ID on that, easier to keep track of that way!" With that, she started towards the next group of confused looking newbies, waving over her shoulder, "Have a fantastic move-in! I hope you love your time at NSU as much as I have!"
Juniper watched her go before turning towards the set of awaiting tables. She took a deep breath, walking towards the one at the back with a smile still on her face. It didn't feel genuine at first, but inevitably the excitement of all of the workers, the students, even the parents, began to infect her. Getting her keys was a breeze, the paperwork she had to sign more tedious than anything, and getting her ID…well, it set something straight in her mind.
The moment she clipped it onto that cheap lanyard, putting it around her neck, everything felt that much more exciting, more hopeful. All of the melancholy from her drive through town was a distant memory by the time she walked out of that building, clutching her envelope of keys and her bundle of informational pamphlets. She was going to have a good day. She was going to move in, hit it off with her roomate and everyone else, and everything was going to be amazing.
Then her car sounded like a dying dinosaur the moment she turned it on, the dashboard lighting up like a Christmas tree, and her good mood withered a bit. She really was going to need to have it looked at, and in order to do that she was going to have to find a job, one that somehow would fit in with her class schedule and-.
No, June, don't get all caught up in your head again. Everything will work out, today's a good day. One step at a time.
She drew in a steadying breath, shaking her head to jostle away the worries, and pulled out of the parking lot. She drove slowly through campus, head on the swivel, looking for the street she needed. Thankfully, it didn't take too long. Her dorm was a couple floors taller than the others, and had a paint job that only made it stand out even more. Silvertail Hall definitely matched its namesake, the metallic accent paint and metal silhoutte of a fox head near the top of the building made it very hard to miss. The only thing that was a bit of a pain was the parking. The entire lot was filled with visitor and student cars, with folks hurrying back and forth at every turn. It took her longer to find a spot than it did to get to the dang place.
Finally, Juniper found a place in a random corner of the lot, and turned her car off for hopefully the last time today. She got out of the driver's seat with a massive stretch, turning to marvel at the dorm complex for a moment. She'd gotten all of the time sensitive stuff out of the way, this part she could do at her own pace. An idea crossed her mind as she stood there, staring at the building, before she pulled out her phone and turned to take a selfie with the gray dorm in the background, smiling with all the energy she could muster.
"Made it to NSU!! So excited for new adventures!"
She added the words and a few cute, happy stickers that caught her eye, hesitating for a moment before sending the picture off to her new roomate, Autumn, and her aunt hundreds of miles away. Was that weird? Sending it to her roomate? They had been talking for a couple months now, ever since the university sent them their contact info, but were they at selfie status at this point?
I guess if she questions it, I can just say I was checking in. Easy fix if it's awkward.
Juniper started to walk to the trunk to get her things, but paused again, glancing at her car for a second before crouching down next to the front, smiling as she took another picture.
"Ole Reliable made it too!"
She stood back up, it was past time to get a move on.
She grabbed her bags and ancient travel case out of the trunk, leaving the gigantic mound that was her plushie collection in the back seat. She'd get them later…probably, for now her other belongings were more important. It took a bit of effort to drag her things across the lot, but she really didn't feel like doing multiple trips for only a few bags. She cut between parked cars and past desperate folks looking for an empty space, joining the disorganized crowd to enter the open doors of the dorm.
The lobby was…so warm, and in absolute chaos. Juniper found herself struggling through a crowd that was practically shoulder to shoulder, fighting to get to the elevators. Large fans roared over the loud conversation in the small space, only succeeding in keeping the hot air moving around than actually cooling the place. The people at the front desk looked borderline frantic, trying to keep up with the unending stream of questions while struggling to establish some sort of order. Juniper was thankful that she didn't have any questions to ask, she wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.
The wait for the elevator wasn't as bad as Juniper had been expecting. Granted, the people behind her were mildly annoyed that she took up an entire elevator all by herself, but she didn't care. She was free from the horde, and once the doors closed she was free from the noise assaulting her ears. The elevator was a bit…worrying, and kind of slow, but it got her to her destination; the third floor. She stepped off of the thing the moment the doors opened, greeted by dark green carpet, pale bluish-white walls, and even more heat and chaos.
There were less people than the lobby, but the hallway was still plenty busy. Juniper struggled to slip past multiple groups of students and parents alike, searching for her room. The walls were decorated with cute little paper cutouts and memes, some of them just simple warm welcome messages, while others had actual information for freshmen to use. Each door had little paper name placards on them in the shapes of different seabirds, and Juniper found herself studying them more than the room numbers.
Dear Anima, it's hot…does the dorm not have AC…? I probably should've checked that, but why wouldn't it? The school is so high caliber that one would think-.
Juniper rammed into someone with a grunt, so focused on inspecting the cute paper gull on the door she was passing that she didn't notice someone in her path. She stumbled back as the stranger did, losing her grip on the two bags in her paws. She started to frantically apologize before she even got a good look at who she just smacked into, "Oh geez, I'm so sorry! I-I was just trying to find my room-!"
"You nearly knocked me over, you clumsy idiot!"
The shouted insult that interrupted her immediately made the rest of Juniper's apology die. She narrowed her eyes at the stranger, already aggravated with him. He was a shrimpy looking mouse, glaring at her with beady green eyes as he dramatically smoothed out his dark gray fur and stupid polo shirt. He crossed his arms with a huff, his tail curling with annoyance, "One would think somebody who was intelligent enough to be allowed into this university would have better awareness than a baby bluggy, yet here you are. I guess the standards were lowered after I applied."
Juniper resisted the urge to insult the jerk right back, forcing herself to keep her voice level while stooping over to pick up her bags, "Well sorry, again, for running into you. I was just looking for my room. I'll get out of your fur."
She could feel the mouse's stare boring into her while she struggled to pick up her things, before he spoke up again with utter disgust.
"Oh, it's even worse than I thought. You're poor."
Juniper froze, halfway standing, slowly looking back up at the mouse, "…What…?"
"What, did you think it wasn't obvious?" The mouse went from glaring at her to looking downright amused, a cruel smirk twisting his dark brown muzzle, "Let me guess; you're some sad, lonely rabbit, probably a freak hybrid based off of your unusual appearance, who's far from the quaint little hamlet you call home. You worked oh so very hard to get here, your "dream school", doing grunt work for a living just for the chance of making it. Pathetic."
He laughed, stepping forward and turning his nose up at her, "You're lucky you ran into me, actually. That's the closest you'll ever get to the upper rungs of society. You may as well be a peasant."
The mouse snorted when she didn't respond, tossing his head as he walked through a nearby open door to another dorm room, slamming in behind him. The crude bird cutouts fluttered in the air, the one with "Gustavo" written on it amended to include "Goldwhiskers" underneath. Juniper stood awkwardly in the hallway, what had been a bustling corridor turning into a silent nightmare with damn near everyone staring at her. It felt like her fur was on fire. She should've been angry, but all she felt was shame.
She made sure to avoid eye contact with everyone else, slinking silently down the hallway a few more paces until she reached her room, 312, and quickly let herself inside.
The common room was quiet, dark, and empty. The only light came from the open bedrooms on either side of the decent sized space, sunlight streaming through the small windows and creeping into the shadows. The worn tile was cool against her feet, the equally cold brick that made up the wall felt nice against her back and she flung her bags onto the floor and curled up against it.
She buried her head in her arms, letting her stupid ears hang limply against the sides of it as she cried, the sound echoing uncomfortably loud in the empty room. Today was supposed to be a good day, and yet nothing seemed like it was going to work out. Her car was ruined, what family she had left was miles away, she clearly didn't fit in, already made an enemy even. She was probably going to fail her classes, her roommate probably hated her, probably wrote her off as a worthless weirdo too.
Why did I even come here…
Maybe I should just get my car fixed and leave.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she forced herself to move to answer it. She wiped her eyes as she unlocked it, wincing at the screen's brightness, seeing a message from Autumn waiting for her. It was a picture replying to her picture, the rabbit smiling at some cute little smoothie shop, pointing at the menu behind her.
"Heyy, you beat me! Glad you got there safe, took a pitstop to get something cool to drink, so hot out now.
Want one? On me, dw. Can't wait to meet fr!"
Despite the lingering sniffles, Juniper couldn't help but smile, just a little. Autumn…didn't think her message was weird, she replied to it, and was offering her a drink even? She wouldn't have done that if she thought Juniper was really that odd, that worthless.
Why am I letting some jerk down the hall already get in my head? What am I doing?
Juniper opened up the keyboard, hesitating for a moment before typing.
"Oh, that sounds great! The room is really, REALLY hot, could use something cool. Strawberry smoothie would be nice."
She sent the message, hesitating for a moment before adding another.
"I'm excited to see you too!"
Juniper sighed, making sure her phone volume was up before standing. If Autumn was in town, then she needed to get moving, at the very least move her bags to the bedroom. There wasn't any more time for tears, for sitting on the floor worrying about imagined scenarios. She'd cried enough for the entirety of the semester, and she wasn't going to any longer. There were decorations to hang, clothes to put away, and a bed to make.
Maybe today wasn't perfect, but it didn't need to be. There was still hope to be found in this new beginning.