xX... Ok, so I usually don't like starting a story while I have others going but I decided to make an exception. AND MY BLASTED SPELL CHECK IS STILL BROKEN! GRRRR! Enjoy! ...xX

Katie Brown stepped of the terminal and onto the sidewalk, the smell of cigarettes and diesel filled her nostrils. It was a damp, dark day and taxis whizzed purposefully by. Katie took her one leather suitcase and joined the twenty or so people waiting in the taxi line. She looked at the slip of paper and smiled. A light rain began falling, Katie moved closer under the long overpass, right under a sign that flashed in blue neon: CONTINENTAL, TICKET-LESS CHECK IN. The sky grew darker and it was only 3 o clock. Finally it was her turn for a taxi, the stand attendant looked her over, grunted and asked where she was going.

"13th and Washington Square please," Katie replied. Her black tank top was a little revealing but she covered herself with a corduroy type jacket that hung over her shoulders limply. Her pants were crammed with gum, foil, lint, and headphones... anything to calm her down. This was it, she had worked her ass off for a good GPA and now she was on her own. She got into the taxi. An Indian man smiled a toothless grin at her and off they went. The taxi drove effortlessly through the toll, soon, she would be seeing her first view of her new home, an island, inhabited by millions. The taxi rounded a bend and there it was, the worlds most famous skyline, headlined by the Chrysler Building and the Empire State. Before Katie could take a good look at it, the steep decline they had been on, have way to a tunnel and the bleakness of the tunnel took over. They emerged and were now on the island itself. Life was all around them, a vendor sold hot dogs, people walked briskly out of the drizzle, noises and smells overtook the cab. The street sign read: 65th and FDR. The cab swung a right and headed south on FDR, following the river until the turn on an exit labeled: 14th Street. Soon they passed Washington Arch and than there they where, right in the heart of Greenwich Village, the bohemian cradle of the world! The twisting alleys and artistic people made these couple of blocks world-renowned. They drove passed Washington Arch and pulled up to Washington Square, at a 16 floors or so unforgettable modern building. Katie dug her hand into her pocket, pulled out some crumpled bills, handed them to the driver and went inside. A cold gust of air-conditioning hit her like a ton of bricks. A feux marble entrance way was the lobby of the building Katie went up to the desk.

"Hi, I'm looking for the Undergrad 1st year orientation," Katie mumbled, the young woman who couldn't have been much older than Katie herself beamed brightly,

"Oh yeah," she said, her dark pony tail dangling and jangling madly, "That's back in the Friedman Banquet Hall, how are you enjoying the city so far? Nervous?" The lady bombarded Katie with questions just when she didn't need them.

"I really just got here," Katie stammered.

"Don't worry," she said, "I though everything would be big and scary but in fact it's really not, I love studying here so much!" she quickly looked down, embarrassed with her sudden outburst. She pointed to some big double doors, and kept her head down

"Through there,"

"Thanks"

Student art work lined the long hallway that lead to the Friedman Banquet Hall. What seemed to be never ending hallway suddenly gave way to a large, plush carpeted room filled with students who all seemed to know each other, Katie groaned. She's all-alone now! Most of the students where just milling about, drinking punch, looking at packets; bravely, Katie went to the desk. A young man sat behind it, he was lanky with red hair and he was polishing his glasses when Katie approached him.

"Hi, I'm Katie Brown...checking in?"

The man looked up and flipped through some folders,

"Here, inside is class information, along with optional class information, dorm assignments, coarse selection, student packet and other helpful stuff, take a seat, someone will be speaking soon. Oh yeah, if you're planning on living off campus you must talk to the OCAL Commission first." Before Katie could respond it seemed that the man lost interest in her and went back to his glasses. Katie sat down on a bench at the back and opened her pack. Out popped a coarse selection sheet. The first one had the courses she had to take and the times she could take them and the second had optional courses. There were so many. But before she had time to look at them the young woman at the desk went onto the stage and grabbed hold of the mike. Everyone immediately quieted down and they waited for her to speak.

"Hello, my name is Christina Marsh, the 1st Year Undergrad Coordinator..."

And she talked...talked...talked...and talked. BOY COULD SHE TALK!

It wasn't until 5 o clock that Christina finally finished. Leaving Katie and the other students to go about, finding their dorms. Katie walked out into the dark day, it was still drizzling. Finding her dorm would be difficult, seeing as there were over twenty different buildings scattered around the campus. Katie's was Abbey Hall. The nicest, thanks to a phone call from her mother and a letter or two Katie had been boarded up in Abbey Hall. The smallest coed dorm there was. Abbey hall was a 5-story brownstone on Washington Square itself. Katie stopped, this couldn't be it. Yet the address matched. Two windows on each floor faced the square, a cute flower box hung from each window. There were 9 buzzers on the entrance buzz. One for each apartment and one for the Matrons apartment. Katie rung the button that said: Notre, MATRON.

"Hello?" a voice crackled from the other side.

"I'm Katie Brown, the new student..."

"Of coarse! Come on up dear!"

The door clicked and Katie pushed through it, it was a wood door with a slit of glass running down the center. On the lobby floor was the mail room, laundry room and the stairs that went all the way up. A sign over the elevator that read: NOT IN SERVICE made Katie groan. She trudged up the stars. Each floor had a frosted glass door that separated the apartment doors from the outside. Katie held her breath and pushed open the door on the 5th floor. A woman was smiling.

"You must be Katie! Welcome to NYU!"

xX... OK, you might find that boring, I'd written like two pages more but I have to leave now so I'll just leave it at that and post the rest later! Trust me it gets BETTER!!!! ...xX

NEXT CHAPTER PREIVEW: roomates, boy friends, that are gay, classes, old friends that aren't, a night on the town, too much booze, a job, a past that finally catches up! DON'T MISS IT!

if you enjoyed this chapter tell your friends, if you didn't tell your enemies!