The Calling of Nikola

It was the strumming of that guitar again. That upbeat strumming of that guitar. Once it had been Nikola's favorite song, but no longer. It was now just a cruel reminder that it was time to wake up. The freshman groaned, and slapped at where her phone was vibrating to pick it up. Instead of picking it up, however, her sleep-klutzy fingers managed to push the phone through the crack between her bed and the wall.

That was a sure sign: today was going to be a 'great' day.

Nikola stuck her hand behind her hard, dusty-smelling dorm bed, and managed to pick up the phone with her still-sleepy finger. 9:31 AM. Right on time. She muted the mindless strumming, and sat upward against the wall. She had three new Emails: some kind of campus party going on tonight at 7 PM (a lifetime away), an Email about her essay draft, and- oh, right, tomorrow's exam. She would have to study for that at some point. Tonight. She would stay up all night until she got it. She always remembered more while cramming.

She also had two texts. One of them was from Sora (a sophomore), which read: "Hey gurrrrl 😘 going to the party tonight? FREE FOOD" which sounded as Sora as any text from Sora ever did. Nikola replied with a half-hearted "Yee" and was done. The other text was from the school itself, which she ignored. Probably trying to sell her something. Like tutoring, or something.

Nikola grunted, and stood up from bed. Time to start the day. She had changed into a new set of clothes last night after showering, so there was no need to change again. She did all of the usual things: brushed her teeth, combed and tidied her wild brown hair, set her hat atop her head, grabbed a bowl of milkless cereal to eat and an instant coffee to drink and was out by 10:10 to set off for her first class. 

The usual Thursday crowd was out this morning: the boy with the freckles, the girl with the limp in her left leg, the man sprinting to his next class. Nikola noticed all of them, but had never taken the time to ask who they were. She was curious about all of them, but they were just strangers. Strangers did not get her an A in a class. So it was pointless to try and learn who they were. Similarly, none of them had ever asked her about who she was or where she was going. It did not matter them, they did not matter to her. College was simple like that. While it pained her inside, it was simple. Just like that.

By the time Nikola arrived at her first class, it was 10:25. Half of the students were already there. They were either staring morosely at their phones, or staring morosely at their notebooks. None of them greeted her, or even looked up from what they were doing. Nikola's presence did not mean anything to them, just like their presences did not mean anything to Nikola. She sat down, and checked her phone. 

One new message from Sora: "WOOHOO IT'S GONNA BE PARTY TIME!!!!!!!!! 🎊🎉🎊🎉" but Nikola suddenly remembered- the exam cramming. Argh, why has she said she would go to that stupid party?? But it was too late now. Sora would have probably forced her to go, anyways. Sora was very persuasive about parties.

It was around 10:27 when the professor arrived. He set up his working area without even once looking over at the class he was going to be teaching.

"Good morning, class." the professor greeted the students. No one replied; no one ever replied. "Today, we'll be continuing finding the derivative of . . ."

Class was long, and boring as always. The professor taught, and the students took notes. No laughs came to answer any witty banter the professor may have spoken. Once, Nikola would have laughed at anything even remotely funny the teacher would have said. But this was college. There was no time to laugh. It was now 11:30, and time for lunch.

There was a dining hall nearby the maths building, which is where Nikola went. The food there was always fine. Not amazing, not gut-wrenching. Just fine. Plus, it was payed for in her tuition bill to eat at one of them, so no wasted money there. She showed the cashier her ID, who glanced at it and nodded her in. She stood in line, and grabbed a tray, and was given a meal by one of the masked cafeteria workers. Nikola never said please or thank you. The cafeteria worker never asked.

Apparently, it was nacho day. The grease from the cheese left large golden-yellow pools in the salsa mountains. It always disgusted Nikola, seeing the grease- so she used a chip to stir around the salsa. Now, it just looked like the tomato sauce had been greasier than usual. Fantastic. After a short silence, she began to eat.

Nikola was around half-done with her meal when a tray slammed down in front of her. Nikola started- but did not bother to tip her hat's brim up to see who this was.

"Hi, Sora." she mumbled as she munched her chips and salsa. 

"Nikola!!! Okay, so, party. Tonight. Excited?" Sora's familiar, thick voice filled Nikola's ears as the sophomore sat down as well.

Nikola paused. Should she try to get out of it? No, Nikola did not want to be a quitter. So, she said "Mhm, yeah." and continued eating.

"Great! I heard Brad's going, and man, he's kinda cute. I think I actually knew him in high school, because he looks super familiar, and he looks at me funny when I wave at him, like, was he the one I stuck the worm into his hair, or. . ." Sora continued to ramble in a similar fashion as they continued to eat. Nikola made small mumbling noises to assure her friend she was still listening. Sora must have stolen the enthusiasm of every student in this college; she was always prompt and happy, too happy almost. Happy enough to get on one's sad, jealous nerves. But even Nikola felt a little better after listening to Sora ramble for a quarter of an hour.

Wait, a quarter of an hour??

"Uh- I hate to burst your bubble, So," Nikola stood up with her tray in the middle of a tangent within a tangent about digging up worms, "but I've gotta get going for my next class. See you at the party?" 

"Oh yeah, see you at the party!" Sora nodded, and beamed like a little birdy.

And that was that. Nikola placed her tray and its unwanted contents on the dirty plates rack (one of the ones that spun), and headed out. She locked eyes with the cashier as she walked out; he was not smiling. No one here was.

It was 11:57 by the time Nikola got to her next class. The class was nearly full, and the professor was already writing homework assignments on the board to dole out to the students. "Afternoon, Nikola." the professor greeted the freshman without turning around. Nikola was about to tell him that it was still before noon, and therefore his 'afternoon' was incorrect- but she held her tongue. Talking back to a professor was too risky. They were in change of grades, after all.

Another hour passed, and another page of notes was made. This professor spoke quickly, and there was never time to doodle in the margins. Nevertheless, it was still just as boring as the last one. 

"Okay, you're free, class." the professor nodded, and all of the students stood up almost in sync. "Remember to re-read Chapter 8 from the book, and that we're having a test on Tuesday. Prepare prepare prepare." he said as the students, obviously not listening, filed out of the classroom. Nikola herself was hardly listening as she stoveled her pencils and notebook back into her backpack, and instinctively gave the professor a quiet "Thank you" as she left. He, of course, did not relply.

It was 1:18 PM by the time she returned to her dorm room. Her roommate was out (she was always out) so Nikola had the room to herself for now. Perhaps she would study? Yes. Yes, she would study now, and then she would have time for the party tonight. Yes, that made sense.

But somehow, thoughts of studying drifted to thoughts of the Internet. She had promised she would only check one thing on her computer, but about three hours later, she was still giggling at funny dog videos. Dogs were so funny. She was watching a video of a dog chasing a squirrel up a tree (and then bonking its nose on said tree)- when she finally remembered that she needed to study.

"Oh shoot-" Nikola sighed, and shut her screen. But, it was 4:45 now. It was time for her next class in 15 minutes. She would have time to study later. Probably.

It was 4:59 when she got to her next class. It was 6:15 when she was let out, and it was 6:30 when she returned to her dorm. Her roommate was back, laying in bed and staring at the ceiling. 

"Hey." Nikola greeted her.

"Hey." her roommate's scruffy voice greeted her back.

Nikola checked her phone, and groaned. The party was at 7 PM. How had the day gone so slow, yet so quickly? She dropped her backpack off, and said to her roommate, "Hey, uh, I'm going out. I should be back by, like, 9ish? But if I'm not back by, like 11, call someone."

"Sure Sher." her roommate agreed without even looking up.

"Okay, thanks." Nikola nodded, washed her face (just in case), and started off towards the party.

Nikola arrived at the party at around 6:40. It was in one of the big rooms in one of the computer science buildings (one of those rooms with more computers than could be counted), but hardly anyone was there yet. Just a few stragglers, the party's host (a professor or an advisor, most likely) and Nikola. The party host greeted Nikola, and Nikola greet her back. Nikola signed her name on the checklist on the door, and sat down at one of the computers. The computers had games on them, nothing Nikola had ever played.

Nikola dawdled around the large room as more and more people filed in. She wished she had stayed in her dorm to study- but before she knew it, Sora was there.

"Hey girl!" Sora greeted Nikola with finger guns and a raised voice, as the room was getting louder. 

"Hey, Sora." Nikola replied loudly.

"Okay, so where's the free food?? I want the food." Sora clapped get hands together. Nikola pointed at a table, where multiple pizzas were lying, waiting to be eaten.

At first, Nikola wished she had stayed in her dorm to study. But as the night drew on, her mine drifted more and more. The host had brought party games, which were just as cheesy as they were good. Sora did her fair share of flirting. Nikola talked to one other person (which was a monstrous feat), but when he started talking about video games, and how he loved MMOs and he thought that so and so company was getting stale, she ducked out of the conversation.

It was 9:35 when the party finally wrapped up. Nikola and Sora, filled with cheer, walked out of the building. 

"That. Was. Great! Man, I got so much pizza- and boy were the games really- something!" Sora hooted with laughter.

"Yeah… a lot of fun." Nikola agreed. A lot more fun than she had expected, at the very least. But now, she was tired. It would be nice to be able to hop into bed after a shower to- 

The exam.

"Uhh, but I have to get back to my dorm. I need to study for something." Nikola said quickly, feeling a little nauseous from a sudden trickle of anxiety. She had forgotten about the exam, and now she was tired.

"Okay girl! Get back to your done safe!" Sora beamed, waved and began to jog off. How did Sora have so much energy?? 

But as Nikola walked back to her dorm, she was stopped by something. The road was- closed? Why was the road on her route to the dorm closed?? Quickly, she fumbled for her phone, and finally read the other text that had been from the college: "MAINTENANCE ON 24TH STREET, THE ROAD WILL BE CLOSED FROM 7:00-11:00 TONIGHT. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE DELAY." 

Flustered, Nikola stowed her phone again. That was fine, she would be fine. She would just take the road next to it, and she would get back to the dorm in no time. But she must have taken a wrong turn somewhere on this new route, and Nikola suddenly found herself lost in between the college and the city. Oh, this is what she got for not being a computer science major. Tonight, everything was against her, she could feel it.

Cold and annoyed, Nikola arrived back at her dorm at 10:49 after finding a map of campus on the Internet. Her roommate was asleep as Nikola stormed in, strapped her backpack on, threw her phone onto her bed and began to look through her notes. Everything was against her. Everything! But now, she was back. She could shower tomorrow. She had to study now, or she would fail the exam.

10 turned to 11, which dragged on to 12 and then 1. Nikola's eyes felt so heavy as she read the same sentence over, and over, and over again, not internalizing it at all. Her limbs felt heavy, and she still felt nauseous (maybe from the pizza). Her brain felt stuffed with fluff. She just wanted to sleep, with or without brushing her teeth.

As her mind wandered from this useless studying, Nikola looked back on the day. Right now had seemed so far away twelve hours ago. Oh, why had she not studied sooner? If only she did not have to do this, if only she could be freed from this exam and its iron grip! If only she could be anywhere other than here! If only she had never… gone to college.

"Exams are stupid." Nikola bellyached quietly, and let her head fall onto her study notes. She would just sleep here, with her hat and backpack, and be ready to study tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow, and she would be fresh for it then.

She always had tomorrow.

Nikola fell asleep almost instantly, and had a very strange dream. She was in a colorful void, which danced vividly around her like an oil slick on water. She felt numb, so numb that she could not even feel her hands or feet anymore. There was a voice, but she could not make out what it was saying. Was it questioning her? Or someone else? She could feel other things in this dream, dream people most likely. They were all in the void together, listening to the voice. It was calling them.

And then everything went black. The voice was gone, and Nikola was back in bed. Or- was she? She was laying on something hard, not a bed. It did not smell of dust, but of dirt (and very strongly of it). There was no sound of strumming guitars, but the sound of wind. Nikola grunted, and opened her sticky eyes. 

Where had her desk gone?

Where were her study notes?

On strange, unstable legs she stood up- and found herself in a field. Grass stretched as far as she could see in all directions. No buildings broke the perfect ocean of grass.

...where… ...where…

"...Where am I?" Nikola gasped.