The five of them hopped out of the car and followed after Valerie and the contractors who were entering the house. Valerie started explaining what she wanted to change for the bedroom downstairs and its bathroom and the basement, making sure to emphasize the lift and how it would be used. When she was done, she handed the contractors off to John and his crew for the rooms upstairs. 

Finally alone, Valerie thought about what to do. John had invited her to hang out with the others after this, but spending any more time with John made her uncomfortable. Yeah, let’s not go with them. 

The group of people poured down the stairs and everyone shook hands, happy, with the changes that were discussed. Everyone exited the house and Valerie and the boys watched as the contractors left first. John’s entourage returned to the SUV, leaving the two alone. He thought about whether he should ask Valerie again about hanging out and did it anyway to at least get a definitive answer. 

“So, do you want to hang out now?” John asked while giving Valerie her space.

“No, I think I’ll pass. You go on ahead. I’ll get my own ride home,” Valerie replied looking down at her phone. 

“Okay, see you later,” John replied and walked away. 

I hope I don’t see you later. I’m never opening any window for you ever again, Valerie screamed in her head. 

“Now, what should I do? If only there was something for me to do, to take my mind off this.”

Walking around to the back of the house, looking through the forest. She could faintly see one of the medical school’s buildings and suddenly knew just the thing to do. There were still many tasks relating to her job that she hadn’t been able to work on because her appointment hadn’t started yet, but since she was there she could pop over and get the lay of the land and see her new lab at least. The first hurdle was figuring out how to get there, she wouldn’t be able to hike through the forest as it was elevated at the top. So she slowly set off walking along the sidewalk to the nearest entrance. It took her 15 minutes to safely walk there and she felt okay, but there was a problem. There was a hill following the entrance she was at and there was no way she could get over it without stressing out her heart. 

Well that settles that, I’ll need a car, but “I can’t drive with my condition, not safely anyways,” she sighed. 

Standing there, she saw a small bus drive up on the edge of the school and stop along the sidewalk across from her, the driver looked at her expectantly and Valerie took that to mean he was going to wait for her if she wanted to get on. The bus had the school name on it, so Valerie crossed the exit and entrance lanes and stepped onto the bus. 

“Do you have a school ID?” the older bus driver asked quickly.

“No, but I’ll be a professor here, starting next month,” Valerie explained. 

“Alright, give me a moment,” the bus driver said, while Valerie waited on the steps, hopeful. “Hey, could you run a name for me? Yeah, what’s your full name?”

“Valerie King.”

“A, Valerie King, she’s going to start next month,” the bus driver smiled awkwardly while they waited. “Okay, hop on, you’re good to go.”

“Thank you,” Valerie replied, noticing the bus was empty when she took a seat near the front.  

“Where are you heading to?” The bus driver asked, relaxed, having confirmed his new passenger’s permission to be on campus. 

“The administrative building.”

“So, what are you? Staff? Faculty? Oh, I’m Wilson by the way.”

“I’ll be Faculty, an assistant professor to be exact. I’ll have my own lab too!” Valerie explained. 

“You’re really young, but good for you. Are you going to be taking the bus often?”

“Yes, unfortunately I can’t drive or walk too much because of a health condition. But I can walk from my house down the street to the bus stop you picked me up at.” 

“We’ll be seeing alot of each other then. I’m happy to be of service, since not many people use this shuttle. Everyone likes to take their own cars and piles into the parking lot even when they live around here,” Wilson explained.

“What are the shuttle pick up times?”

“For that stop back there the time will be ten minutes past the hour and half hour. The campus is condensed and only takes thirty minutes to drive around. Makes it easy to make up for lost time. Anyways, the administrative building will be the first stop and the lecture halls and research building will be the second, the parking lot is third, and the library is the fourth. Finally, the two stops at the entrances to the campus.”

“Thanks, that’s good to know,” Valerie smiled with a nod to Wilson who was looking at her in the mirror as he talked. 

Barely five minutes passed before Wilson announced that they had arrived at the administrative building and Valerie was climbing down the stairs. 

“Well, good luck! See you later!” Wilson waved bye. 

“Bye, see you,” Valerie happily said.