Cindy Greenfield had had an altogether normal, albeit a rather conservative, upbringing in a small town called West Harville. The kind of town where everyone knew each other and where everyone went to church every Sunday. She was a good, dedicated student who never really yearned to leave the city and would have been perfectly content to stay there forever. At 18 she still hadn’t had a boyfriend. The fact that she had known all the boys in her school since they were kids made it harder to see any of them as dating material and although she had kissed Matt Jefferson once on a dare in high school she didn’t really feel like she had missed out. Not that other boys hadn’t shown interest, a boy with short black hair hair who lived two blocks away named Adam Serkowsky had been especially persistent in his attempts to woo her. To Cindy it had just come off as desperate and rather pathetic and so she tried to avoid him until he got the point. It seemed like after that word had gotten around because since then guys didn’t hit on her anymore. It might of course be that other girls got prettier through puberty than she did, and she felt a little insecure about it. Her face was pretty but nothing spectacular and her hair had the same light brown color as most of the girls her age. She wasn’t tall like the super models she and her friends saw in the magazines and on tv (she was just a little over 5’2). She had hit puberty later than her peers and although her breasts had eventually grown to a b-cup it was clear that the guys at school preferred the bigger breasted girls in her class, like Josephine and Madeleine. The only feature she really liked about herself when she looked in the mirror was her eyes. They looked intense in an interested and cheerful way and their green color reminded her of the light sunrays make when they shine through the leaves of a forest. Although Cindy was sure she would meet someone eventually she wasn’t in any hurry. There were plenty of guys she hadn’t met yet and she felt sure that someone would eventually take an interest again. She just hoped that she wouldn’t have to settle for someone like Adam.
Throughout her younger years all her friends had been sure they would stay in West Harville but as they went through high school more and more seemed to get different ideas. A few wanted to travel, some wanted to find work in different cities, but most wanted to go ahead to some college in a bigger city. When she realized that if she didn’t go, she’d be stuck in West Harville with only her parents, and Adam, for company she decided that she wanted to go to college as well. She spoke to her parents about it and they both supported the idea whole heartedly. Her mother especially seemed very enthused by the idea and kept talking about how she was sure that Cindy would find a great guy to marry and have a bunch of kids with. Cindy found it a little frustrating that the only thing on her mother’s mind seemed to be guys rather than taking an active interest in her daughters education but since she got her way she didn’t make a big deal about it but instead just nodded along.
The summer just before college was rather sad. All her friends would go to different places and they realized keeping in touch would be hard. Cindy’s favorite moment from the summer was when she found out that Josephine had gotten pregnant while sleeping with Madeleine’s boyfriends, something which created an outrage in the small conservative community. As she had never really liked either one of them, she couldn’t help but feel like perhaps there was some justice in the world after all. As autumn drew closer most people her age started moving away and on the last night before she herself was moving only her best friend, Annie, was still there. Annie wouldn’t be moving for another month (she was going to Africa to teach English which in order to obtain a scholarship for college). They hung out together and though they were both sad Annie said, “It’ll just be a year, who knows maybe I’ll apply to your college and you can show me around when I get there”. Cindy doubted that Annie would remember those words in a year’s time, but they made her feel a little better, so she nodded in agreement.
The next day her dad drove her to the Central college of Westchester and helped her settle into the dorm. Another girl, Jenny, moved in at the same time. Jenny had a small, round face with what she herself jokingly called “elven ears” due to how pointy they were. She was just slightly taller than Cindy, but had a slightly smaller chest and her pitch-black hair went all the way down to her waist. Jenny told her that she came from a bigger city up north and that her elder brother had already went to CCW and had enjoyed it and gotten a good job after so Jenny had decided to take the same path. The two of them got along great and it turned out they would have the rooms furthest down the corridor next to each other with Cindy’s being at the very end of a corridor which contained a total of ten rooms. That also meant that the two of them would be sharing a bathroom as it went two rooms per bathroom, and everyone shared the same kitchen.
After he had fully help her move all her stuff into her room her dad hugged her goodbye and to never hesitate to call if there was anything she needed. Cindy went into her room and started to organize her stuff when she heard a knock on her door. She went to open and saw Jenny standing there looking bubbly with excitement.
“The old farts are finally she gone” she cheered “let’s go for a walk” and without waiting for Cindy’s reply she turned around and started walking towards the entrance. Cindy closed and locked her door and hurried to catch up with her.
They went outside and started heading toward the school and for the first few minutes they were quiet. The school turned out to be a big complex of different buildings. Some big some small. Some tall and some that had only a single story.
“What course are you taking?” Jenny asked “It’d probably be a good idea to find out which building’s we’re both going to on Monday else we might get lost” she giggled as if nothing could be more hilarious than not finding your classroom the first day of school.
“Economics” Cindy replied then quickly added “what about you?”
“That’s awesome maaan” Jenny said trying to sound as if though she were stoned “me too!”.
That made Cindy feel some relief, at least she would know someone in her class and Jenny seemed nice.
They took their time walking through the campus looking at different buildings finding both a restaurant as well as the library and finally a big three-story building where the classes in economics would take place. Behind it was a small grove and so they went there to as Jenny put it “Chillax and just hang yo”.
They sat down just under a big oak near the top of a small hill and looked out over the campus area. It looked big and nice, and it excited Cindy in a way that she couldn’t quite explain. As if though anything was possible here as if the opportunities were endless. After they had sat in silence for a while Jenny said something.
“Huh?” Cindy said, “Sorry I guess I was daydreaming, what did you say?”.
“I’m not interesting enough for your highness?” Jenny said with a big smile as she playfully pushed Cindy’s shoulder.
“Sorry” Cindy stammered, scared that she might have insulted her only friend “That’s not what I meant at all”.
“I’m joking” Jenny said “I just said we should get to know each other a little better. Let’s interrogate each other!”.
“Sure” Cindy replied feeling relieved that she hadn’t just lost her only friend.
“Ok! Let’s start with the fun stuff” Jenny said, “any boyfriend?”.
“Uh no” Cindy said feeling a bit embarrassed, she had of course realized that most people she met would have more experience than her in that area but she was still scared how Jenny would react to it.
“Ever had one” Jenny asked looking intensely at Cindy, it was obvious that the girl was embarrassed, but Jenny couldn’t help but find that fascinating and intriguing.
“Uhm not really” Cindy said quietly and couldn’t help but blush “But I did kiss a guy” she quickly added trying to at least redeem herself a little.
“Just the one?” Jenny said sounding chocked.
“Uhm yeah, I grew up in kind of a small and super Christian town” she said trying to defend herself.
“Don’t worry about it” Jenny said laughingly “I’ll help you with all things boy”. Then she moved her lips onto Cindy’s and gave her a short kiss.
“Well you’re not terrible, with some training I’m sure you’ll be excellent” Jenny said with a mischievous grin. Cindy felt too stunned to say anything at all so they just sat in silence a few more minutes until Jenny got up.
“We should head back” she said “The rest of our floormates are probably there by now, we should introduce ourselves”. She looked at Cindy and could tell that she was still unsure about herself “Don’t worry” Jenny added “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t. Plus, I’ll be your guide. We’ll find you a perfect guy in no time.”