Elliott had a shakiness in his step as he walked home along a yellow, orange, and red tree-lined Blackbird Boulevard under a cloudless sky. A northward breeze blew the scent of garlic out of his oversized white work uniform. Fall was here. His six-hour shift at Olive Garden had just ended, but his day was only half over. He checked his watch, 4:10. Just under an hour to get there.
The Victorian lay looming 8 stories tall just over a block away. It was his only stop before his first day of class. He soon arrived and dashed up the grimy back stairs to the third floor, where he entered his humble apartment. Elliott walked to his desk and rummaged through drawers full of relics from his student past that he would soon be reliving. He pulled out a half used notebook of lined paper from his attempt at a biochemistry degree. He changed out of his fraying work uniform and put on his nice khaki pants and red polo. He looked down at his watch: 4:35. "Time to go," he thought to himself. Unfortunately for him, his doorbell rang.
Elliott hesitantly opened the door. A well-dressed man with brown hair and glasses held a camera and a professionally dressed woman clutched a legal pad and paper. "We're Rebecca White and John Davis from Southern Living magazine. Tell us about your life here at the Victorian. What makes it special to you?" the woman aggressively began interrogating.
"Sorry, I have somewhere to be," replied Elliott.
"Sir, this will only take a minute of your time," said the man. Elliott slammed his door with a bang and waited. "They'd have to leave soon, wouldn't they? What made him any interesting?" he wondered. He paced around his living room, glancing out of the peephole every minute to see if they were still there. Ten minutes later, they had left. Elliott dashed out of the door and down the back staircase. He fumbled for the keys to his mother's 2005 Toyota Camry and screeched recklessly away from The Victorian. He had to be on time. It was the first day of class, and Elliott wanted to just get one thing right for once.
He pulled into a parking spot outside of the university and dashed inside. He stopped just outside of his climate dynamics class and glanced at his watch: 5:06. "Goddamnit."
