Boston, MA. Sep. 3, 2011 (Sat.)

My grandfather once told me that no matter what you think will happen, or what you want to happen, life will have other plans for you. It wasn't until my family suddenly decided to make the move to Boston when I started college at Harvard that I truly realized what he meant.

"Where are my shoes, Mother?" I called out, shuffling through boxes. None of them seemed to bear my favorite pair of shoes. "Please don't tell me they were on the load that we lost!"

It was a few moments until she answered me. "I'm not sure, hon, which load were they

in?" she asked as something crashed.

"The same one with my clothes!" I couldn't find those either. It wasn't a good sign.

"Sorry, hon, I think that was the one we lost!" She poked her head into my room. It looked naked. The closet was bare, save for a few shirts and pants, but because it was a walk-in, it looked practically empty. My shoe rack bore one pair of shoes, tennis shoes I wore on the flight in, and one pair of comfy, fuzzy slippers.

My parents were helping me move into a dorm on campus at college. They moved the entire family to Massachusetts from Illinois just to be close to me. They planned on helping me unpack while I was at orientation, as a college present.

My roommate must have been here earlier, as her things were on her side of the room. A simple bedspread, a few picture frames on the walls, and a coffee cup with an H on it. I hadn't met her, though she didn't seem to be a slob.

I sighed. "That's alright, I'll just wear my tennis shoes today. Should we go shopping later this week? I'm not sure how long I can live off of three shirts and one pair of pants, and just tennis shoes."

My mother gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, honey. Yes, we'll go shopping later. You need to be off to orientation. You're going to be late."

Glancing at my watch, I cursed. "You're right. I'll see you later!" I rushed out the door, kissing my father on the cheek on my way out.

That was my first oversight. Forgetting my shoes.

I was beyond embarrassed that I didn't have shoes on when I got to the university's main center, so I stopped by their school shop and got a pair of plain shoes that looked like they were made by a three year old with no imagination. It would have to do, though.

My orientation started with a breakfast of muffins, juice, coffee, and a large variety of fruits. I took a muffin, juice, and some fruit before I took my seat near the front of the crowd of chairs. There was a podium in front of the crowd, and I was one of the first people seated.

"You think this was instant coffee?"

"Tamaki, it probably wasn't, not at a university like this-"

"You really think so?"

I turned around at the loud voices. A girl with short brown hair and a boy with light blond hair were seated behind me, chatting back and forth. Next to them was a pair of twins with red hair, a black haired male with glasses, another tall male with black hair but no glasses, and a small child.

I wonder whose child it is.

They paused their conversation when they saw me staring.

I hummed, just to break the silence. "Hi." There was no harm in making new friends. I surely needed some, especially after moving to a new state.

"Hello!" the blond male said happily, grinning at me. "Are you here for orientation, too?"

What else would I be here for?

"Yes, I am. Are you all freshman?" I asked with a smile.

The black haired boy with glasses nodded, pushing his glasses up. "Yes," he said flatly.

Well, aren't you just made of sugar.

"We waited for all of us to graduate high school so we can all be here together! It's Haruhi's first time in America, she chose this college," the blond beamed at the brown haired girl.

The girl pushed his shoulder, chuckling. "Cut it out, S- Tamaki." She gave his cheek a quick kiss before brushing her hair back behind her ear.

I looked at her. "I like your haircut, by the way."

"Thanks," she smiled at me. She seemed happy enough. "It wasn't my plan to go short for high school, but it happened. I decided to grow it out a bit now."

"She had such beautiful hair before it was cut," the male beamed. "I wish it would grow back faster!"

I turned back around to face forward, only to realize that most of the chairs were filled up and a man was walking up to the podium.

"Welcome, freshmen of Harvard College! Today is your first step into life as a college student!" a man announced, looking a bit too cheerful. It took all I had to listen to everything he had to say.

When I arrived back at my dorm after orientation, which had taken about two hours longer than I expected, I was surprised to see the group of Japanese guys and girl standing in the hallway. I gave them a slight wave as I slid my card into the slot to open my door.

The blond boy, the tall one, gasped. "You live right next door?"

"It seems so," I laughed a bit, pausing before opening my door. "I never caught your names."

"Well, I'm glad you asked! I'm Suoh Tamaki from Japan," the male announced. "This is my girlfriend, Fujioka Haruhi, my best friend, Ootori Kyoya, and my other friends, Morinozuka Takashi, Haninozuka Mitsukini, Hitachiin Hikaru and Hitachiin Kaoru."

Oh goodness. That's a lot of long and complicated names. "Alrighty then.. I'm Elizabeth Hawthorne, but you can call me Liz."

The male introduced as Hikaru, or maybe it was Kaoru, frowned. "Don't Americans usually start with your first name, then your last name? Because if so, boss, you got our names all screwed up."

Tamaki glanced at everybody, then back at me. "Oh yeah! I'm Tamaki, this is my girlfriend Haruhi, my best friend Kyoya, and my other friends, Mori-Senpai, Hani-Senpai, Hikaru, and Kaoru. Is that better?"

"I'm gonna say yes," I said with a soft laugh. He was so rambunctious.

Haruhi tilted her head. "This is your room? You must be my roommate then."

I smiled. "Yeah. I didn't know who my roommate was, so I guess you're it. It's nice to meet you all. I take it you're all from Asia?" I felt stupid after I said that. It should have been obvious, with their looks and accents. Duh, they are all from Asia.

The only girl in the group, Haruhi, laughed. "Yeah, we're all from Japan. Doing pretty good at our English, though, wouldn't you say?"

"Pretty good," I nodded. "You get your point across pretty smoothly, and that's what's important. Your accents aren't too bad either. You'll probably want to work on your grammar and such for essays, though. That might be the breaking point for most transfers. Anyway, do you all live in these dorms?"

One of the twins answered for the group. "Yeah. I live in the one across the hall, this one here is Kyoya and Tamaki's, and Mori-Senpai and Hani-Senpai's is right across from ours."

My dorm was right across from Kyoya and Tamaki's. At least I knew who I was living across from, and with. I had no doubt that they would be spending time in my -our- dorm, being friends with Haruhi. "That's nice, you guys all know each other. It must make it easier to live in a foreign country."

"It really does," the smallest said in a cheerful voice. Was that the one called Hani-Senpai?

I tilted my head. "Please don't mind my asking, but why do you put Senpai after Hani and Mori's names?"

"It's for respect, elder respect," Haruhi said, glancing at the two she was talking about. "They're the eldest of us. Normally, I would call Tamaki and Kyoya my Senpais, but it's not custom in America, is it?"

He's older than them? Maybe he just looks young for his age.

"No, it's just Japanese," I laughed. "Although, in Spanish, they have something like that. English doesn't have that sort of differentiation."

She smiled. "Yeah, but it's fun to learn."

"Are you going to the mixer later?" Tamaki said, suddenly changing the subject. "It'd be grand to know someone that's going!"

I shrugged. "That depends. What time is it?"

"Starts at seven," Haruhi answered for him. "And Tamaki, it's not called a mixer. It's called a stand-around."

Tamaki just shrugged, grinning as he unlocked his door. "I heard there'll be ice cream. I hope we see you there, Elizabeth!"

He seemed friendly enough.