Hey Friend,
How goes it?
Just like that, September is over and yet somehow, there’s still four weeks left until half term… It’s been a month of change and highly emotional – I’m tired! That week-long break can’t come soon enough.
So, in my last post I shared the highs and lows of taking my firstborn to university. Although it was difficult and the house seemed exceptionally quiet without her, she was back again on Friday. She had bought concert tickets for Little Miss’s favourite band some time ago so, she had to come back for it.
Prior to that, Older Miss was having to get used to the shared bathroom – shared with fifteen other people… She was placed in the most expensive accommodation as it was so, sharing with that many people was surprising.
OM is a self-confessed germ-a-phobe. I get it because I couldn’t have shared with that many people either. She asked about moving and was told the earliest would be the end of October, beginning of November. She decided she’d try again at a later date.
It was a trip to the bathroom and finding some lovely students had left deposits in two out of the three stalls, which sent OM running to the accommodations hotline. This time though, the outcome was far more favourable – she was moved to a ENSUITE room!
The downside was we had to go back and move her out and then in to her new building…
The drive wasn’t bad, I fell in and out of sleep the whole way there. Thankfully, OM had packed everything before she came home for the weekend so, we just had to haul everything down the stairs, along the corridor and to the car.
While OM and her dad were downstairs, I stayed in the room with the last few bags. I heard a door open but it didn’t close. Someone was very obviously spying and being a bit nosey.
The door closed and then opened again. I stood in the doorway of OM’s old room. It was as if the two of us were listening for each other’s breathing.
The door closed again.
The student clearly couldn’t help herself as the door burst open and this time she walked into the corridor. This girl was sneaking down the hallway, saw me and stood up straight.
“Oh! Hello! Just came to see what was happening.” She said brightly.
“Hi” I responded with a smile but offered no other words.
She raised her eyebrows, turned around and walked away.
Her behaviour next was like something from a comedy sketch. Bare in mind that I’m stood in the room with the door propped open and my ears work just fine.
The girl knocked on the door of her friend and in a whisper that wasn’t a whisper at all, called out, “Maddie! Maddie!”
Maddie opened the door.
“I think someone’s moving in!” still speaking in the shouty whisper. “I went to the room and there’s someone in there…”
Just at that moment, OM came through the door. I heard her say hi and explain that she was moving out. Maddie and friend made all the right noises and told OM they were sad she was leaving and that they’d miss her. I smiled when I didn’t hear OM say it back.
When we got downstairs, OM told me that those were the same two girls she’d sat next to in the dining hall a couple of days before. They glanced at her with a ‘Why are you sitting here?’ look and then blanked her completely…
Fakeness at its finest.
OM’s new building was about fifteen minutes drive away. We headed to reception where she told the man behind the desk that she’d come to collect her keys. The blank stare she was met with caused a tightening in both our stomachs as we glanced at each other.
He asked us to take a seat and OM and I had a silent conversation with our eyes as we listened to him on the phone trying to get to the bottom of this girl supposedly moving in on a Sunday. Thankfully, whoever was at the other end of the phone knew all about OM, told the man where the keys were and that he’d be there in a few minutes.
Phew!
So, the hard slog began again, back and forth to the car until it was empty. The bathroom is tiny but, as OM said, it’s her bathroom and there’ll be no unwelcome surprises left for her.
We wondered what happened to the previous owner of the room but we didn’t have time for OM to introduce herself properly or ask that question.
We drove back in the drizzly rain, tired and hungry. I picked Little Dude up from my mum’s along with LM and dropped her and OM at the concert venue on the way home.
The next day, OM headed off to catch the train back to university. This time it didn’t seem like a big deal. We hugged and she went to catch her train. No tears, no sadness. We message often and she’ll be back in a few weeks. We’ll get used to the quiet and celebrate the noise when she returns.
I’ve since learned that her new flatmates are lovely and the previous girl left uni after four days because ‘it wasn’t for her’. Crazy, but it opened the door for OM to be settled so I’m grateful and hope she finds the thing that is for her.
I’m off now to elevate my swollen foot (a whole other story).
Speak soon x
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