Chapter Seven: First Day in the Brave New World:

Classes began the next day. Wallace was ready to go. Some of his neighbors offered to help him to get to the building.

“The campus is pretty sick!” Rocky said. At first, the country boy looked confused.

“Sick?” he asked.

“Great, awesome, neat, good, all of that stuff,” Rocky said.

“Oh,” Wallace said, nodding. The other man leaned in close to his face.

“Come on, man,” he said. “It will be a riot.” He dragged Wallace along with him onto the bus. All eyes turned on him. The country boy gave an awkward wave.

“Hello,” he mumbled. Not a single response. He dropped his shoulders. Okay then… Rocky had to push him along to sit down. They sat near the window. The bus started to pull away. Wallace counted down to the hours they would get there.

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The bus ride took about forty-five minutes with stops. When it pulled up to the stop for the school, Wallace’s jaw dropped. The building was so white that the sun reflected off of it. So many windows too. So many people walking around outside. The doors opened wide. The passengers walked off the bus. Rocky nudged Wallace in the ribs. Wallace turned his head. His neighbor grinned.

“Ready to dive into the Brave New World?” he asked. The country boy’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah!” he said. Rocky threw back his head, laughing.

“Let’s go,” he said. The boys walked off the bus.

The backwoods of Florida were nothing compared to New York. His state alone was the butt of jokes. His little town just made it that much worse. Wallace stood around and took a look. He took a deep breath.

“What are you doing?” he heard in front of him. Wallace opened his eyes. Rocky looked at him with his head tilted.

“Oh,” the country boy said. “I was taking in the New York.” His neighbor wrinkled his nose.

“Okay…” he said. “We have to get going, you know. Student orientation is coming up.” Rocky turned and walked down the hall.

“Okay,” Wallace said. He followed behind.

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The main gym room started to fill up with all of the students. Wallace tried to count everyone walking through the doors. He must have looked like a little puppy as he watched them take their seats. So many people here. His high school couldn’t measure up to the number of people in this auditorium alone. With all of these people here, Wallace had to wonder.

Is she here among them?

There could be no way to tell among all of these people. So many of them. There had to be at least millions.

“Look at all of these people,” Wallace whispered.

“Uh-huh,” Rocky said.

“Is there even possible?” the country boy asked.

“Of course,” his neighbor said. “SVA is one of the top Art schools in New York.” He turned to Wallace.

“Speaking of which, what are you majoring in?” Rocky asked. The country boy stared at him at first.

“Huh?” he asked.

“What is your major?” his neighbor asked again.

“I don’t know,” Wallace said, shaking his head. “I just came to this school to look for someone.” Rocky narrowed his eyes.

“Who?” he asked. Wallace rubbed the back of his head.

“It’s kind of embarrassing, really,” he said. His neighbor raised his eyebrow.

“And if you can’t find her?” he asked.

“She’s here, I know,” the country boy insisted. Rocky patted him on the shoulder.

“Dude, you have some sort of a plan here,” he said. “We take the arts here seriously. You can’t half-ass anything here. It’s all or nothing. It’s good to follow someone here. But you have to have a plan, man.” Rocky patted Wallace on the back. The country boy frowned.

“Please stop touching me,” he said under his breath. He wasn’t going to find her for now. But Rocky did have a point. Wallace needed a plan to survive his freshman year. And to do that, he needed to pick a major first.

“Rocky,” he said.

“Yeah?” his neighbor asked.

“What’s your major?” the country boy asked. Rocky broke into a huge grin.

“Film studies, my friend!” he said.