The radio blared a 2000's summer hit as I made my way down the busy highway. "I wanna soak up the sun, wanna tell everyone to lighten up…" I couldn't help but bop my head to the beat and sing along.
Outside of my subaru outback, the weather was beautiful. It was 80 degrees and sunny, with minimal puffy, white clouds overhead. My thin, red tinted sunglasses did not help at all on my journey towards the sun, the car's windows not doing anything to shield me either. Tilting the sun visor down, I sighed in relief. I loved warm weather and sunny days, but driving in an un-air conditioned car, with the sun directly hitting you is absolutely terrible and might be the worst thing I've ever had to deal with in my life. My AC broke in my precious car about a week before I had to make this trip, which was definitely sad. The summer hadn't been too bad as of late, so I figured I would be okay.
Turns out, I was very wrong.
You see, I was on my way to college for the first time since my tour about a year ago. That's right, I was finally out of high school! Graduated, walked, and got my diploma babyyyyyyyy! How crazy is that? I think it's pretty crazy.
After all that, I saved up money working as a waitress all summer. I'm so glad that I didn't have to be a waitress anymore. Thank god. I can't even imagine taking the night shift and getting hit on one more time. One night, I served a little too much alcohol to a man in my section and he proposed to me! Tried to give me a ring and everything. How weird is that? Thankfully, he passed out before he could even get the ring-case open. Poor guy must have been drinking so much for a reason.
Oh well, I'll hopefully never have to deal with all that ever again. Waitressing is the absolute worst job I've had. People tend to be very rude and lets just say, I am not very patient when it comes to rude people.
I am now almost to my heavily researched and well-debated college that I had been thinking about for years. It was my dream college. The main campus was beautifully done, with healthy green grass, flowers, statues, beautiful buildings, ponds, and more. This campus was called Greenville. Then, we had our other campus located downtown in the city. This campus was called our Louw campus, named after the founder. There were campus buses that took us to and from each campus, as well as to some of the apartments off campus. This made for easy and fast transportation around the campuses and apartment complexes. I can't believe how lucky I was to be accepted into a college with so many different amenities and benefits as well as with so many activities on and off the campuses. This was a dream.
As I pulled into the campus, I started feeling a nervous energy fill my body. It was so big compared to high school! How could I ever find my way around here? I was still learning how to find my way around my town back home!
As I continued to drive through the maze that was my campus, I suddenly regretted telling my mother that I could handle driving myself and moving myself in. It's not that I had a lot of stuff- I'm pretty much easy when it comes to packing. But the campus was so confusing and I couldn't focus on where to go. As I followed another car down the long road, I passed by many bus stops, campus buildings, and then finally, I saw a sign that said "Robinson," with an arrow pointing to the left.
As I pulled into the parking lot next to my building, I took a deep breathe. Parking the car, I closed my eyes for a moment and just sat there, breathing.
I could not believe it. I was here. I was HERE. At last!
I opened my eyes and scanned my surroundings from inside the car. People who had already moved in were going about their days, playing football, soccer, volleyball, etc. There were groups of people sitting on a towel in the grass, trying to catch the sun before it left for our long and dreadful winter. Everyone was smiling, talking, laughing. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
Watching all of this, I was suddenly very excited to meet my roommate. We had been talking for months on Facebook and have been best friends since. I couldn't wait to meet her in person and have a long year with her by my side. We already had plans to take the bus downtown when we had free time to explore our new home.
As the radio blared Malibu by Miley Cyrus, I finally turned off my car and stepped out. I instantly felt better outside than inside that terribly stuffy car. I had been driving for and hour and a half with no AC and windows only let so much air in. As I moved around to the trunk of my green subaru, I noticed groups of people asking others if they needed help with anything. I hoped they would leave me alone until I could go inside and get my room key, but I guess they had orders to march up to anyone with a bag and ask them if they could help.
I just pulled out my duffle bag filled with my clothes when a group of people came over to me.
"Hey, do you need help? We can take your stuff up to your dorm and set it outside so you don't have to," said a guy that was in the front of their little pack. He had raven black hair, deep brown eyes, and olive skin.
My eyes went wide as I realized he was hot as SHIT. Not that I think shit is hot, but you know what I meant. His facial structure was perfect, his jaw so chiseled it could kill a bitch. He had a slight smirk on his face, which accentuated the dimple on his right cheek. He was muscular but lean, with a black tank top on and black jean shorts, with some black slip on sandals. I didn't understand how he could be wearing so much black on a day like today, but he didn't even seem to be phased by the heat.
As I realized I hadn't answered him at all, I tried to hide my embarrassment. Now I knew why he was smirking.
"Actually, I think I'm good. I only have like three things. I can handle it, thanks," I replied, turning away and putting on my backpack while also picking up my microwave and duffle bag. I had a couple more things but I would only have to make one or two more trips, so it wasn't that bad.
When I turned around to start heading to my dorm, he was watching me still. He hadn't moved away like I thought.
"You alive in there? I said I was fine," I managed to say as I lugged my stuff toward the dorm.
He shrugged, turning to his friends and giving them a shake of his head to tell them I didn't need any help. They all audibly sighed in disappointment, having nothing to do since no one else needed help anymore.
One tall, lanky boy with spiked strawberry-blonde hair looked at a smaller, stouter blonde boy and exclaimed, "why don't ANY of the girls want us to help?"
The smaller boy then replied, "Well I think if you'd stop telling them that you'd remember their room number for later while you wink and wiggle your brows, they may take you up on the offer… but that's just my input…"
I internally laughed at that while rolling my eyes physically. What douchebags.
As I moved up to the desk to get my keys, I set my microwave down and wrote my name down on the sign in sheet.
As I was doing this, I spoke to the girl at the desk in the hopes to be directed where I needed to go.
"Hey, I'm Max Martinez. Where do I go to get my room and building key?" I asked, looking around at all the people buzzing around, trying to get to their designated places.
The red-headed girl smiled with her brilliant white, straight teeth before answering, "To get your room and building key, you need to head to the office on your right! After that, you can get your laundry card and GHSU t-shirt from the table on your left. If you have any more questions, feel free to come back!"
I smiled while picking up my microwave again, "Thank you, will do."
As I headed over to the office, I accidentally bumped into a girl texting on her phone frantically. She gasped, looking horrified for a moment. I immediately apologized, knowing that it was my fault as she slowly looked up at me.
"You made me send a risky text there," the girl said, her blonde curls bouncing and her blue eyes shimmering with humor.
My eyes grew wide with horror. I've accidentally sent a couple of those on a whim- NOT a fun time when I realized what I had done.
"Oh god, I am so sorry. You could tell them that was meant to go to a different person? Or that a jerk found your phone and wanted to mess with you? I can take the blame as the jerk if you'd like-"
She started laughing pleasantly. Her laugh sounded like a little bell chiming; sweet and easy.
"It's okay. I was going to send it without the help or not. It had to be done, ya know?" she smiled and held out her hand, "I'm Angel by the way! Oh, your hands are full. We'll shake later," she pulled her hand back to her side and put her phone in her back pocket. "Do you need any help?"
As I was starting to struggle with the duffle bag, I nodded furiously. "Can you just take the microwave for a moment? I need to set my duffle bag down for a quick second," I said, then quickly added, "Oh, and my name's Max. It's nice to meet you. What room are you?"
As she took the microwave from me, she told me her room number was 213. As mine was 215, I realized we would be dorm neighbors.
"I'm 215! I'll be right next door, neighbor, " I exclaimed as I smiled ear to ear. This was such a good note to start on. It was going to be such a good year.
She smiled ear to ear, her blue eyes gleaming with excitement as she voiced my thoughts. "This is going to be SUCH a great year! You'll love my roommate, Ella!"
"I'm so excited to meet her! I'll introduce you to my roommate Monique. She goes by Nudge. I'm sure she'd love you," I said as I retrieved my microwave from Angel. "I'll see you later tonight? I have to get all my stuff in my dorm before my arms give out."
"Yeah that sounds awesome! See ya later girl," she said as she slipped away into the crowd, giving me one last smile and wave.
I turned back to the office, a smile on my face. I had made a friend and I hadn't even been here an hour! I couldn't believe my luck.
As I retrieved my keys, I headed up the stairs to the second floor, room 215. The door was already open, so I knocked on the wall to tell my roommate I was here.
The room was small, like the size of a prison cell. It had white block walls and two lofted beds on each side of the room, as well as two closets on each side. We had a mini fridge in the corner of the room, by the door. I put my microwave down on it and threw my other stuff on my bed for now.
Her head swooshed up so fast that I didn't even process it. She screamed, lurching herself off her bed and grabbing me in a huge bear hug.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" I yelled, trying to figure out what was happening. Monique looked up at my confused expression and let me go. She smiled ear to ear, an excited glint in her deep brown eyes. As she let me go, she started jumping up and down.
"OMG you are SO pretty! I am in AWE girl, I can't believe this! I've been waiting to see you for ages and we've been talking for SO long and now we finally are here, meeting each other and we can stay up ALL night telling each other stories and gossiping about celebrities and talking about music! This is going to be SOOO good! I can feel the energy that we have! It's so crazy that we're finally here and can spend the night with each other ALL year! I've been waiting for this day and it's better than I imagined! This will be so fun and I can't wai-"
I finally put my hand over her mouth and looked at her, shocked but amused.
"You talk forever, don't you?" I laughed as I took my hand away from her mouth. She looked embarrassed but she had a smile on her face.
"Yeah, sorry. It happens when I'm excited… or mad… or sad… kind of just when i'm in any mood, I suppose," she replied. "Anyway, how are you Max? Are you as excited to be here as I am? 'Cause I am EXCITED."
I smiled wide, nodding my head in agreement.
"I know, it's so beautiful here. I can't wait to explore the campuses with you and possibly another girl and her roommate that I just met downstairs. They live next to us, actually." I gestured to the right with my thumb while I took off my backpack and put it on my bed.
"That sounds awesome! Do you need any help with your stuff? I can't imagine these are the other things you brought. You have to have more!" Nudge asked, looking worried about my lack of clothes, I'm sure.
I moved to the doorway, leaning on it for a second. "Yeah, if you'd wanna help, it would be cool! I only have a few more things, I'm not a heavy packer."
I could tell after saying that, Nudge was getting really worried. I didn't know why so many people needed so much useless stuff. I have all I need; clothes, microwave, a phone… what more was there?
As Nudge followed me to my car, I locked eyes with the beautiful boy in black earlier while he carried something in. He smirked as I rolled my eyes, heading the other way. Nudge must have noticed this interaction because she immediately looked to me, giggling softly.
When we got to my car, Nudge casually leaned on the side.
"So… who was that?" She said, smiling slyly.
"Who?" I asked, oblivious, already forgetting about the whole interaction as I grabbed some of my stuff from the car.
"The hottie in black, girl. Who was that and how'd you already land someone like that?" Nudge wondered, grabbing the last of my stuff from my car and shutting the trunk door.
As I locked my car, I told Nudge how we met earlier. The whole time I was explaining this absolutely riveting story, she was smiling while giving me a knowing look. Finally, I had to ask her about it.
"Why are you giving me that look? We didn't even say anything important to each other. We don't even know each other's names. How could this be significant in any way?" I shook my head, confused as to what she was thinking all of that meant.
"C'mon Max, you're hot, he's HOT! He was giving you the eyes on his way past you! I can't believe you don't notice these things!" She panted as we neared the stairs. I guess she wasn't as used to exercising as I was.
"He was not! We just passed each other. It was no big deal. I'll probably never even see him again. It's no big deal," I said, reaching the top of the stairs with ease. Nudge was only a few steps behind me, but I could tell she was struggling. "You know, if you need to set it down for a minute you can. I can put the stuff in the dorm and meet you back here."
Nudge instantly dropped my stuff at the top of the stairs, nodding vigorously. I went and put my stuff in my room, dropping it all on my hard-looking bed. Trying to race back to Nudge, wanting all this over with at last, I bumped into a hard figure. Luckily, this figure had arms and caught me on my way to the floor.
"Careful," Mr. Dark and Beautiful said, while trying to steady me, his hands on my waist. He dropped them after lingering for a bit longer than needed. His touch was warm and made my stomach erupt with fire. My eyes widened and then narrowed as I looked at him.
"I think it's you that needs to be careful here, you're in my hallway," I stated, not breaking eye contact. He looked amused by this, though. Not what I wanted.
"Hmm… I didn't know you claimed an entire hallway. I didn't see your name anywhere on the walls…" his eyes glinted with humor, "I guess I'll be careful next time. I won't run into someone and then freak when they don't let me fall."
I looked around and saw exactly what I needed. I pointed to a poster on the wall that gave instructions for some drill that we'd need to do in the future. But I wasn't thinking about a drill when I smirked and said, "look, my name is right there. 'Maximum.' So, yes, my name is on the hallway thank you very much. Have a good day!"
I side-stepped him as he said, "Your name is Maximum?" He sounded unsure but curious.
I continued down the hall as I replied, "Max for short. Don't wear it out. See ya around I suppose." With one final glance back at his cute, confused face, I finally reached Nudge with my stuff.
She had her mouth hanging open, seeing and hearing all of the interaction that just happened. I held my finger up to my mouth in a shushing symbol. He was still in the hallway helping somebody, I didn't want her to yell something embarrassing.
I still didn't understand the big deal, but she acted like that conversation was the most exciting thing that could ever happen to me.
When we got back to the room with the rest of my stuff, I cleared my bed off and fell onto it. I sighed as I felt the slightly-stiff mattress. I've been walking and moving stuff for a while, so I was glad to be laying down for a bit.
Nudge and I sat in some comfortable silence for a bit, playing on our phones. My stomach grumbled, ruining the silence and bringing an eruption of giggles from the other side of the room.
"Well, I'm gunna go out to get some dinner. You hungry?" I said, hoping she would say yes. If she didn't, I would be very lost trying to find food.
"OMG I was wondering when you would ask. I'm starving! Let's go please!"
Nudge rushed around the tiny dorm, throwing shoes and socks and hair ties everywhere. I had no idea what she needed, we were just going to dinner on campus, not a fancy restaurant. Weird.
I got up from my bed, put my shoes and purse on and waited for Nudge to be done touching up her makeup. It was funny how different we were. I didn't talk much, while she talked a ton. I was tomboyish, while she was girly. I barely wore makeup, just some touches here and there; mascara, concealer, eyebrow pencil… that was about it for me. Nudge had a whole 3 containers filled with makeup. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that. I had no idea people carried that much makeup around with them.
These differences worked together though. They contrasted each other nicely, making conversations and perspectives more interesting. We both had our strengths and our weaknesses and they fit nicely together, creating a team. I feel like I could already tell her anything and everything and she would understand. It felt nice to finally have a friend that I could count on.
Finally, Nudge jumped up and ran to the door. We hurriedly made our way to the dining hall by our dorm called "Fresh," which was weird, because the buffet style cafeteria served nothing that looked "fresh" to me. I opted with making myself a waffle rather than trying out their superb grilled salmon platter, which looked like food poisoning waiting to happen.
While I made my waffle in the waffle-maker, Nudge went over and picked up a few slices of pizza and a very dry looking brownie with whipped cream on it. We agreed to meet at a small square table for two by the windows. While I waited, I just observed everyone going about their day to day lives. They were all laughing and having fun, already in their little groups and cliques. It was so different than high school. Everyone seemed so open and nice here, always smiling when you accidentally made eye contact. It was pretty refreshing to see.
When my waffle finally finished cooking, I slid it onto my plate and put a ton of butter and syrup all over it. As I was filling my plate full of syrup, someone behind me giggled and said "Wow, want a little waffle with that syrup?"
I turned around, putting the syrup down in the process. I was surprised to see Angel there, smiling humorously, with another girl next to her. The girl next to her was tan, with dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes that glittered with happiness. She was stick thin, but not in an unhealthy way, wearing a romper with yellow and pink flowers on it. With that, she wore a jean jacket and a little pink purse.
"I don't know, that might ruin my syrup platter," I said, smiling at Angel, who reciprocated.
"Max, this is Ella." She said, gesturing to the girl next to her. She had a warm smile that I felt so genuinely it felt like I had known her my whole life.
"Hey Max! I've been hearing so much about the mysterious stranger Angel bumped into. I'm glad I finally got to meet you," Ella said, still smiling warmly at me.
I returned the smile and waved while saying, "Hi Ella, yeah, Angel told me about her wonderful roommate. I'm so glad I got to meet you too." I gestured to my table, where Nudge was sitting, watching a group of boys on the other side of the dining hall. "You should come sit with my roommate and I! We would love more company as we eat."
Ella and Angel smiled and nodded excitedly. I gestured for them to follow me and they stayed close in tow as we neared the table.
"Hey Nudge, this is Ella and Angel, the ones that live right next to us," I said, interrupting her from her boy trance. She quickly snapped out of it and turned toward us, thankfully.
She smiled and jumped out of her chair, giving them hugs while talking.
"Hey girls! OMG I'm so excited that we live so close to each other! We can go on adventures and watch romance movies and eat dinner together every night and walk to classes together! What are you guys majoring in? I'm majoring in Advertising and Public Relations! I really want to live in a city and be creative. I think I'll have so much fun! I'm also majoring in Journalism because I love writing and celebrity gossip, so I'm hoping to get a job that's close to famous people. PLEASE. Anyway-"
I clamped my hand over her mouth as Angel and Ella looked on with a mix of excitement and shock. They obviously would have to get used to Nudge's motormouth.
I slowly took my hand away, eyeing Nudge while explaining, "She gets excited and talks too fast. Sorry guys, I should have given you a warning."
Ella was the first to speak, laughing it off and saying, "Dang girl you've got some lungs. I can't even talk that fast," She smiled before saying, "Also, your goals and majors sound cool! I'm majoring in Nursing."
"And I'm majoring in Social Work!" Angel says, before adding, "What's your major, Max?"
I hesitate before saying, "I'm not sure. Right now, I'm undecided. I might go into something business related. I'm taking a lot of gen ed's this year."
I heard a chorus of "oh cool" and "same"'s go by before I changed the topic. We sat, eating and talking for about 3 hours before finally getting up. It was almost 8:30pm when we finally got up and went back to the dorm, just in time for the dorm meeting at 9pm.
When that was over, we were told that we needed to go to bed and get some sleep for our busy welcome day tomorrow. You see, they had this whole "welcome week" thing that all of us had to participate in. We were freshmen after all, so I know that they were just trying to introduce us to the campus and to each other, but I would much rather just find it all out on my own. I didn't want to be forced to socialize with anyone. That's just always so awkward and uncomfortable.
Nevertheless, all of us were exhausted from all of the moving in going on today, so we all went our separate ways, promising to see each other in the morning.
As I climbed into bed and put my phone on the top of my closet at the foot of my lofted bed, I yawned. "G'night Nudge, see ya in the morning."
"Night Max, see you in the morning. I'm glad I get to room with you." She said, smiling and then turning over on her other side, facing the wall.
I smiled wide, even though she couldn't see. "I'm glad I get to room with you too, Nudge."
Hey y'all. This was just for fun. Hope you like it.
I did not proof read lmao so tear me apart! Idk If I'll continue! I was just bored!
I have a pretty empty summer so, I guess it all depends on the reviews!
-Andiey