Lost Over Lattes

[Nana_MelaNinja]

"That's true," Benjamin agreed. "But maybe you could give me some decorating tips sometime, since you're so good at it? I can't stay a novice forever," he added with a smile. Perhaps, once he got more situated, Benjamin could make a supply run downtown for dorm decorations of his own. After Ashley's urging, Benjamin removed his bag from the floor and re-positioned it on the neatly-organized table near the front of the room. "Oh, all right. I didn't want to take up too much of your space. But I guess someone might trip over it if it was on the floor, huh?"

Once his task was completed, Benjamin turned around and accepted the water bottle Ashley extended to him with a smile. "Sure, thanks. It sounds like we have a walk ahead of us. I could take a break from all the caffeine, anyway." Benjamin traded a friendly wink with Ashley as he consented to her plans for the two of them. "All set. After you."

He saw Ashley begin to fall forward from when she slipped on her rug. Benjamin reached out his arm in an attempt to catch her, but reacted too slowly and watched, in what appeared to be slow motion, as she tumbled to the floor. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" The words tumbled out of his mouth with urgency, but, thankfully, Ashley seemed to recover quickly. As she produced some medical supplies and took a seat at her desk, Benjamin smoothed out the corner of the rug that she had tripped on with the edge of his shoe. He then hovered, slightly concerned, around Ashley as she tended to her minor injury. "Did you need me to get anything for you?"

 

[Keaira]

Ashley cleans her wound. "No, I am fine. I have had plenty of practice with this." She then bandages it up, closes her first aid kit, and puts it up and throws the trash away. "See, all set to go." She smiles and grabs her water and leads the way out of the door. Once they were out, she ensured her door was locked and then walked alongside of Benji down the hall and outside.

"We will start at the fields right over there." Ashley smiles as she nods towards the baseball field, softball field, football field, and soccer fields. They get at a height where they can see all the fields at once. She points out each individual one and then they go view some of the other sites on campus. They reach the classrooms and she shows him the classes he would be in based on his schedule.

Then they get to the admission/administrative hall. "You have probably already been here, but may not have been upstairs. Upstairs has some interesting historical artifacts and it is sort of like a museum. Want to check it out?" She opened the door, offering if he chose to go inside and look at it. She had seen it many times, but there is so much up there that she noticed something new each time she went to look at it.

 

[Nana_MelaNinja]

"Oh, good. Even though my family is literally full of doctors, I don't really do well with, uh, blood and stuff. So no more accidents, all right? I'm klutzy enough for the two of us already," he joked, happy that Ashley didn't seem to have been hurt too badly. With the incident now over, Benjamin grabbed his water bottle and headed out the door. With Ashley at the lead, the two spent the next couple of hours touring and surveying the campus. Benjamin made mental notes of the places she pointed out, taking great interest in the soccer field and the classrooms on his schedule. Before long, the next locale their tour would take them was the administrative building. When Ashley offered him a tour of the upper quarters, Ben nodded in agreement. "Sure, I'm always game for anything historical. Well, most things, anyway. This might have to be our last stop, though," he replied while pausing to check the time on his phone. Illuminated by the artificial glow from his smartphone, his eyes scanned the screen as he read the time aloud. "It's starting to get pretty late, and we still have some studying to do, yeah? So just do me a favor and remind me about that, in case I get too carried away in there."

After opening the door for Ashley and himself, Benjamin walked the hallowed halls of the administrative building. As he approached the staircase and began his ascent to the second floor, he couldn't help but feel overcome with a sense of pride. Ashley was correct; he had been to this building previously to settle some matters concerning his status as a foreign exchange student, as well as his finances. Benjamin took a deep breath. After all that work, the rigorous application process, the nights he spent studying to perfect his grades, here he was, a student at Georgetown University. And now, he could take advantage of one of the many opportunities his new university had to offer.

A large showcase labeled Notable Alumni was the first thing to catch his attention as soon as he reached the second floor. Turning to Ashley, he said, "I don't know if I told you, but my aunt used to go here back in the day. You could probably see her picture over here." After some searching, he pointed out the image of his aunt. Obviously taken more than a few years ago, the picture still bore some resemblance to the now middle-aged woman that had paid him a surprise visit only hours ago. "You know, she's actually the one who recommended that I apply here. She was involved in the biology program, but told me that the law program was competitive. ...Is that Professor Stinson?" The question was redundant in nature, given the name plate that clearly labeled the individual as their professor, only a few spaces away from his aunt's. "So that's what he looks like. I don't know, I imagined that he'd look kind of like Moriarty, but he's just a normal guy." With a shrug, he stepped back from the display and took a moment to survey the rest of the hall.

A second display case carrying the label Notable Contributors was situated only a few feet away, and Benjamin walked towards it as well. "Maybe I can find someone else we know over here?" While the previous statement was made in jest, Benjamin had no idea of the implications those word carried. His eyes scoured loftily over the roughly forty or so images of past contributors, before he came to an abrupt halt. Benjamin narrowed his eyes, struggling to accept what his senses were showing him. Again and again, he glanced over the photograph that commanded his attention, before concentrating on the name plate that laid underneath. The inscription read:

Henrietta H. Abrams, Idea, The Case for Genetically Modified Coffee Plant Breeding and Its Implications for Medical Advancement, Georgetown University Medical Review #901 (19XX).

Once more, he glanced at the picture above the inscription. It resembled one of the people in the family photos from his care package that remained back in his room. It was his mother. "What?" Benjamin breathed quietly, the question only audible in the otherwise silent room. He had known of his aunt's association with Georgetown, but his mother? Hesitantly, he took a few steps back and turned to Ashley, as if she could offer some kind of explanation. Knowing this couldn't be the case, that Ashley couldn't possibly know the answers that were accumulating rapidly in his mind, Benjamin instead stared down at the now half-empty bottle of water he held in his fidgeting hands. He swallowed thickly, suddenly overcome with an incredibly dry throat. If it looked as though he had seen a ghost, it was because, to Benjamin, he just had.