The door to room 207 was wide open. That meant someone was already in there unpacking. Not just someone, my new roommate. I stood in the hallway, weighed down by bags and uncertain of what to expect. I had never met the girl. In fact, I didn't even know her name. I had registered late and was randomly selected a roommate.
After a few moments of hesitation, I gathered my courage and inched closer to the door. In the room, I saw a scrawny guy who couldn't have been that much older then me. Him and a shorter, older man with an afro where pushing a set of drawers against the far wall.
Okay, it was time to suck it up and make my entrance. I could do this, couldn't I? Well, maybe not. I turned to make my cowardly escape, but as I did, my backpack slid off of the one shoulder it was slung over. The backpack hit my hand hard causing me to drop my orange, hard-sided suit case onto the tiled floor. I cringed at the loud thud the suit case and backpack made as they hit the floor.
The guy who had been moving around the furniture looked up at the sound and saw me standing timidly in the doorway, fallen bags laying at me feet.
"Hey," he nodded at me. "You must be the new roommate." A tall red headed girl joined him and smiled at me.
"Yeah, I guess I am," I smiled and laughed softly, nervously.
"Hi, nice to meet you," the girl reached out her hand. "I'm Donna Pinciotti; this is my fiancé, Eric Foreman, and my dad, Bob."
"Eppie Taylor," I said shaking Donna's hand. "What year are you?"
"Sophomore," she replied.
"Oh," I bit my bottom lip nervously.
"I'm guessing you're a freshmen," Donna smiled. I nodded slowly. "That's okay; we are all freshmen at some point."
"Aw, com'on, Donna," Eric whined. "Ya gotta rag on her a little bit, it's our duty, being older and all."
"Shut up, ya dill hole, and help her bring in her bags," Donna said, lightly punching him in the arm.
"Ow," he whined as he walked out into the hall to pick up a few of my bags.
"She seems nice," I heard Bob whisper to his daughter. Those few uttered words made me feel so much more comfortable following Eric back into the room.
We spent the rest of the day unpacking and arranging furniture. I listened as Eric and Donna told me about their friends. Donna was becoming more and more excited about introducing me to them.
That night, Bob took Donna, Eric, and I to dinner at Fatso Burger. He then drove us back to his house, where Eric then led Donna and me next door to his house.
We walked in through the sliding glass door which I made sure to slide shut behind me. The kitchen where we were standing was bright and cheerful.
"Hey, Mom, this Eppie, she's Donna's new roommate at college," Eric introduced me to his mom, Kitty.
"Oh, hello, Eppie, would you like some cookies?" Kitty ran over to the cupboard. "I could make chocolate chip, peanut butter, and sugar cookies."
"No, thank you, Ma'am," I replied.
"Aw, she called me 'ma'am'," Kitty placed her hands over her heart. "I like this girl."
"Thanks, Mrs. Foreman," Donna smiled. "We'll be down in the basement if you need us."
"Have fun, kids," Kitty called after us as Eric and Donna led me to the basement.
The basement was simple. To my right, there was a freezer and a washer and dryer. Directly in front of me was the T.V. It was tuned into 'Charlie's Angels" and there was a group of people sitting around watching the show.
Donna walked up to the T.V and tuned it off. This action was met by protests from all who were watching.
"Shut up" she said "Now listen, I brought my new roommate with me, so be nice. Guys, that's Eppie Taylor." She pointed back toward me. I was still standing on the last step and waved nervously at the group.
"Hey," the guy sitting in the vinyl kitchen chair to my far right nodded to me. I just smiled in return.
"Eppie, meet Hyde, Jackie, Kelso, and Fez," Donna continued as she pointed to each of her friends.
"Great, now can we turn back on the tube?" Kelso whined.
"Yeah, yeah," Donna gave in and turned back on the T.V.
"Don't mind Kelso," Hyde said, stabling himself on the back two legs of the vinyl chair he was in by pushing with his legs on the large wooden utility wire spool that was in the center of the room as a table. His arms were crossed over his chest. "He's an idiot."
"No I'm not," Kelso defended himself.
"Yes, Kelso is the king of idiots," Fez nodded. Hyde smirked at the agreement.
"At least I'm the king," Kelso pouted.
"Quiet, the shows back on," Jackie hushed the guys.
Donna sat down next to Kelso on the couch. Eric jumped up and sat on top of the washing machine. That left me; standing on the last step on the stairs.
Hyde, who seemed acutely aware of my nervousness glanced over to see me standing awkwardly still. He lifted his feet and allowed the chair to fall to all fours. "Ep., ya can sit here." Surrendering his chair, Hyde joined Eric on the washer.
"Thanks," I quietly said, sitting down in the vinyl chair.
I really enjoyed spending the evening watching TV in Eric's basement. The guys had sat around fighting over who was the hottest angel in 'Charlie's Angels.'
At about one the next morning, Donna decided that it was probably a good idea for us to return to the dorm.
"Eric, could you drive us?" Donna asked, turning toward the washer. At that point, we discovered that Eric's back was resting against the wall and he had fallen asleep.
"I'll take you," Hyde offered, jumping down off of the dryer.
"Thanks Hyde," Donna said, opening the door leading to the driveway. I followed her up the stairs and over to an El Camino which was parked right in front of the garage.
Donna already had her hand on the door handle of the backseat so I assumed I was suppose to climb in on the passenger's side front seat.
Shortly, we arrived back at the dorm where I began to gather my books, getting ready for the next day.
"Nervous 'bout your first day?" Donna asked as she fell into her bottom bunk.
"Is it that obvious?" I bit my bottom lip, fearful of the answer.
"Yeah, well, don't be," she replied. "First week, the professors won't give you any work. Well, unless you have Corner. You don't have Prof. Corner, do you?"
"No."
"Ya
will, next semester, but don't worry, I'll help you," Donna
told me.
"Thanks, that's reassuring," I laughed.
"Ew, nice burn," Donna laughed.
