Chapter Four.

 Breaking dawn

The world stopped before my eyes, and I stood still, star-struck. My heart started to race. I had never seen anyone so handsome before. I felt like I was in a trance, I couldn't take my eyes off him.

"Miss?" His voice sent cold shivers down my spine, putting every strand of hair on my body at ease.

"Ehm..yes. I would take this one," I smiled, feeling my heart flutter.

"Nico" a voice came from the back of the counter.

'Nico' His name had a nice ring to it. I wonder what Nico was an abbreviation for. Nicolas? Nicole? Nicodemus?. I smiled at the last name.

"Just a minute miss. I will be right back" He wore a crescent moon necklace around his neck and had the inscription of 'Nicola' written on the back of his shirt.

"Nicola," I said under my breath as he walked towards the counter, my heart aching.

"Where have you been child?" I turned to see a stressed Nanny walking towards me. "I have been calling you on the phone."

"You have?" I sounded surprised. "Who was the unfortunate fella that had the chance to teach you?"

"I am a fast learner you know," Nanny said dryly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I am sorry that took so long," Nico's voice interrupted. "Please move over to the counter, so I can process your payment."

I stood close, watching him from under my eyes. He looked intelligent, just as he was charming. But his eyes looked like they were trying to be happy.

"Here you go," he said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Thank you." I stretched out my hands to take the receipt and the puppy manual. My hands brushed his and I quickly jerked feeling flushed.

What was this sensation I was feeling? I turned and walked out of the hall with Nanny, afraid to turn back. 

********

"It looks like you were smitten," Nanny said with a twinkle in her eyes as we walked towards the front door of our house.

"Smitten by what?" I tried to look confused. But Nanny already knew that look.

"I am not smitten," I protested. "I just think he is cute," I finally agreed.

Nanny laughed. "Of course you do dear," she said. "But there's no need to be embarrassed about it. It's perfectly normal to be smitten with a handsome young man."

I tried to brush off Nanny Tabb's teasing as I pushed open the front door.

"Hey," Dad stood up from the wooden chair. "I was wondering what was taking you guys so long."

"We were "delayed"," Nanny looked at me teasingly and walked into the kitchen.

"Hi Dad," I said, ignoring Nanny.

"A mail came in from Tulane University while you guys were away," he said, reaching out to pass me the envelope.

"Really?" I had applied to Tulane University and a host of other universities in New Orleans while we were home in Trento. It was the only university that reviewed my credentials and called back for an online interview. So I was hopeful, really hopeful.

I snatched the envelope from Dad's hand, my heart pounding as I opened it and scanned the letters inside. My eyes widened in disbelief.

"I got in, Dad! I got into Tulane!" I cried, waving the acceptance letter in the air.

Dad scooped me up in a big hug. "I am so proud of you Gabriella," he said.

Nanny who had been in the kitchen, came over to join the celebration. She wiped away a tear of joy. "I am so happy for you child," she said.

As I held on tight to Dad's hug, I thought to myself. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all……

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of activity. I had to buy dorm supplies and pack my suitcases. Saying goodbye to Nanny was the hardest, I was sad to leave her behind.

"Be good, Piccolo," she said, hugging me.

"I will Nanny." I kissed her head.

As Dad drove me to Tulane, I felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness. We pulled up to the Tulane campus, and I was awestruck. The buildings were old and stately, and the trees were lined with Spanish moss. 

Dad finally said goodbye after kissing me a thousand times with tears in his eyes.

"Excuse me," I stopped a young girl. "Can you tell me how to get to Maple Hall?"

"Sure," she said. "I am headed towards that direction."

"Oh! Great." I said, relieved.

I followed her into the building.

"I am Ariana, by the way," she turned and smiled at me. "I am a sophomore here."

"I am Gabriella, nice to meet you."

"Nice dog," she said looking at Milo.

"Thanks." I increased my pace to keep up with her.

"Room 201," I said out loud, checking the number of each room as I searched for mine.

"Did you say 201?" Ariana asked.

"yeah," I nodded.

"That's my room too," she sounded excited.

We finally got to our room and I began to unpack for the night. I noticed a third bed with no one lying on it. I lay down as seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours.

I thought of calling home, but I didn't want them to get the impression that I was missing them already, so I tucked Milo close and listened to Ariana sing in the bathroom. She was nice and seemed like a chatterbox.

I lay awake in bed, my eyes closed shut, but my mind racing. It was the night before my first day at school. 

What if I didn't make any friends? What if people here were also mean, like back home? What if I don't get accepted?

My stomach fluttered with anxiety. 

I let my mind wander as sleep slowly took over my eyes, shutting out what seemed like a growl….a Werewolf's growl into the night. I guess I will be seeing my other roommate tomorrow.