Her lungs choked down the extra air; it was the closest thing the stuffy building would provide to consolation after it shoved Sam into that glorified old room. She stood in the hallway, her eyes were adapting to the cheerful sterile lighting. The building might have greeted her with more warmth but she didn't have a spare $500 to reschedule her flight home. 

 

"Have a great break Sam!" her professor said as he passed by. Sam's feet froze but she returned the farewell. His clothes were crisp despite the hectic week. He gracefully turned, continuing down the hall with his laminated ID badge shimmering in the light. She stared, stuffing her hand in her jacket pocket, her face flushing in horror. Her professor knew her by name and that she'd been the only student to take the full three hours for the exam. Most students left by the hour mark and the last student before her left at least thirty minutes prior. She felt something in her pocket and wasted a few precious minutes until his footstep faded before pulling out her hand. There were small incisions with tiny garish bumps and equally tiny holes where others were supposed to be on the object. It was a gaudy play ring. She glanced around making sure no eyes witnessed the crude thing before cramcramming it back in her pocket. 

 

She turned the other way to scurry out to reach her flight on time. She passed by offices labeled with silver plated numbers. Professors' newest research papers were stapled on the wall in accordance with their assigned offices. Graduate students' achievements were pinned on a cork board with metal push pins. She passed by the sole open room. A professor sat inside wrapping up their last grading session, they paid her no mind as she passed. She hoped they assumed she was a young graduate student working late instead of an unpolished undergraduate student who couldn't have left earlier like everyone else. Her physical appearance could be mistaken for someone older but she knew something else gave her away. 

 

The ring was heavy in her pocket. She contemplated getting rid of it when she noticed a trash can to the side of a display case down the way. She already packed her suitcase and with how heavy the thing felt it was going to take her over the weight limit. She decided against it, she couldn't stand the thought of leaving the piece of garbage where others could see it. 

 

Her mother had given her the ring. When she presented it, her mother was ecstatic, bouncing around Sam like a child trying to hold in their pee. The gold of the ring shined and its small colorful gemstones and delicate engravings formed patterns of flowers until her mother sheepishly confessed to finding it at work. 

 

"You stole it? You're going to get fired from another job." Sam groaned as she held tightly onto the ring and shut the door refusing to hear out her mother's protests. She studied the ring in her dingy bedroom light, it was crass and the gems bore slight cracks. She didn't know why her mother couldn't act like a proper adult. She wouldn't need to jump around from job to job. She just needed to be normal. Now under the bright light of the university building, the sickly yellow of the ring stood out even more. Her throat twisted as she passed the display; it was from the archaeology department. Bejeweled masks and intricately carved walking staffs symbolizing some commanding authority role from a distant tribe along with pristine editions of the professor's books on the subject were showcased underneath. She shook her head, she couldn't leave the garbage here. 

 

Sam had tried getting rid of the ring in the past. She tried giving it back to the diner her mom worked at, ensuring to go when her mom wasn't on duty. 

 

"Hi, eating for one today?" the man at the counter warbled at her. 

 

"No actually, I ate here a couple days ago and uh was in the restroom and doing my hair andI took off my ring and the lady next to me, she um." Sam glanced down, her eyes shifting uncomfortably up towards the man. The man looked at her puzzled. "Accidently picked this up, Just dropping it off to the lost and found, hope the owner gets it back." Sam blurted out, dropping the ring on the table. The man glanced down and back up at Sam ,"alright, thank you." pausing before shaking his head,"this looks just like one we're had sitting in our lost and found for awhile now, nice design, hope the owner comes back before they buy a new one" Sam nodded and shuffled out as quickly as she came. 

 

Her mother returned home that night, falling asleep on the living room couch, with not a word to Sam. The following morning she noticed a small lump in her jacket. The stupid ring. She sighed, she couldn't return it to the diner again. She wanted nothing to do with it. It was her mom who took it, her mom could deal with it and so Sam left it in her mother's work apron. Sam found it the next day in her jeans and the day after in her backpack. It seems her mother kept up the childish game, knowing Sam wouldn't wear this jacket until late into the year. 

 

The cold air bit Sam's face as she stepped into the winter night. The sweet smell of freshly trimmed grass mixed in with the aggressively defensive wind. The campus was empty, the only faces around were replicas of Greek statues that stared back as she passed by the art department. 

 

"Ow." She yelped, not realizing she had clenched the ring in her fist, the missing stones left sharp edges to dig into her palm. Sam stomped over to a trashcan that stood against a sign advertising the award winning university orchestra playing their holiday show in the dazzling new renovated music hall. Her stomach knotted as she peered inside. 

 

"It's costume jewelry, it doesn't matter. It's literally cheap trash. It belongs in the garbage." she announced to no one but herself. She pulled out the ring, fist closed over the trash, taking one final glance up into the night. It was a movie scene, the grandiose Gothic style inspired architecture stood firmly proclaiming its self determined rightful position with the backdrop of elegant trees in the night of twinkling stars. 

 

She brought her hand down and stuffed it back into her pocket. She briskly walked down to her dorm, that ugly ring didn't belong here, the place didn't deserve to be ruined by rubbish. In her room sat her suitcase already neatly packed. She sacrificed three hours that could have gone to studying for the final to pack her stuff because she couldn't afford the luxury of extra time. She huffed, she already emptied her room trash so she couldn't leave it here. She decided the airport would be the ring's resting place, no one would know whose it was. 

 

She rushed down to the bus stop, already having wasted too much time. She anticipated an empty and solemn ride to the airport since it was late into the night and all finals had concluded, but when she arrived, she noticed a bustling crowd. A few other students carried luggage though the majority seemed to be dressed in glittery make up and an assortment of flowy cut outfits. Their hair was done up with shiny pins and beads. They sparkled against the dark night. They were likely heading out for a last minute party. The exhausted lurch of the bus pulled into the stop, heaving out a gasoline filled sigh. A handful of the party attendants hopped on without much of a thought, but some stopped to let Sam and the others board with their luggage first. 

 

"Hey do you need help with that?" A sparking student asked her. 

 

"Oh no it's okay, thank you." she smiled as some of his loose glitter blew off in the wind. She hoisted her luggage onto the bus with the student trailing behind her. She took a seat with her luggage propped in front of her. The doors closed to the campus as they pulled forward, The students jostled together, specks of glitter catching onto everything. Sam felt her pocket again confirming her ring was still there and she contemplated which one of her mother's gardening aprons to place the ring.