CHAPTER I
"I still don't understand why would you go to this school," my mother would repeat for the twenty-sixth time. Of course she would insist up to the final second that the college of my choice's subpar and extremely unimpressive. Which is not.
"Carol, this is Litchfield College. And people who graduate here are making names on the construction industry."
Thanks dad.
"But Piper needs more exposure, like to the real world… not this tiny-"
"Mom, it's because it only has construction related courses, that's why it's tiny."
"But there's a lot more opportunities in other-"
"Mom, please." I pleaded.
How I hate the long drive to Litchfield. All the arguments and banters with my mother's getting me sick. Carol Chapman, the epitome of a proper blonde lady: desk jobs and picket fences . "Construction jobs are for men," she would insist. After all these years of being under her control, I would finally taste a tiny sense of freedom. And by that, I mean studying on a tiny college and tiny dorms situated on tiny premises.
I couldn't care less.
We arrived at the campus grounds after an hour. We were received at the administrator's office and the College of Architecture Dean, Mr. Caputo, gave me the handbook and a printed form of my subjects. My parents and I were oriented on the rules .He told my mom that she shouldn't be worried and Litchfield's one of the top school for architecture in the country etcetera, etcetera. I am actually embarrassed as my mom interrogated him as if I am a child being dropped by a daycare center. After half an hour, we were escorted by a staff to the living quarters. He said to call him Bennett. He's a muscular guy with curly hair and a soft face.
Litchfield's ground comprises of three three-story buildings, creating a triangular formation on site. They were connected by covered walkways which were too narrow for two people to walk side by side. The field on the middle of the edifices is an open ground with overgrown weeds. It wasn't anything of grand and fancy, it was slightly hoary actually. It's quiet ironic, being a top architecture and engineering school yet the site plannin's is horrible. Bennett said it was because they have to maintain the original buildings, as they were protected properties of the government.
I could see my mom wincing in revulsion at the corner of my eye.
"Feels like a prison ground," my mom muttered to my dad. I rolled my eyes.
Building one, the one with the curtain wall and a beautiful drop off, has the classrooms, studios, laboratory and faculty and staffs' room. The second building, the smallest one would be the male dorm along with some more labs. And the last building would be the women's dorm. A brutalist themed building which was dreadfully out of place with the two building's deconstructivist style.
"And this is where you'll be residing," Bennett said as he pushed the girl's dorm main door open. It was a lazy day on the receiving area. I saw two women, one of them's bald, reading a hardbound of The Chamber of Secrets. Another three women were playing monopoly on the other table. I observed the interior of the place, wooden and timeworn. It was classic and abiding, I thought.
It was time for my parents to leave and my mom and dad hugged me and we said goodbye. I promised to call them and that I would be a good girl and I wouldn't party and ruin myself and that I would give them good grades. Seconds later I could hear their car pulling away from the school grounds.
Final-freakin-ly.
Red, a Russian lady with an incredibly thick accent, introduced herself as the houseparent and the cook of the cafeteria. She looks like a hawk to me, at least her eyes does. She talked for seemingly three hours about her rules, which is typewritten on another handbook. God, she's more terrifying than Caputo.
"Two strikes, and you're out of this dorm. Russians don't play baseball" she finished her long speech. I silently nodded.
I walked to my room, room 206, with my huge blue suitcase and a backpack too big for my frame. I opened the room and a luxurious leather couch greeted. It was a studio type room: one bunk bed, a couch (the fancy leather one, in which I am plopped on) and a small kitchen top. I heard someone on the bathroom came out and it was this wild haired woman, few inches shorter than me. She greeted me with a wide grin.
"Look at you blondie, welcome to my-, I mean our little nest"
"Uhm hi" I said nervously
"I'm Nicky Nichols and I'll be your roommate. I already took the top bunk by the way"
"Yeah, it's all good" I glanced at her messy stuff tossed idly on the top of her bed.
"Sorry about that"
"No uh.."
"How'd you like the couch? I bought it earlier this morning with Vause so that explains why it looked so alternative."
"You what?" I gasped. The couch looked fantastic and it wasn't something a community college student can just casually buy like it's a piece of burrito from a food truck.
"Bought it. I was bored earlier so I came down with Poussey and Vause downstairs on the common area and they convinced me on getting this couch. Mom, I mean Red, hated the texture though."
"Red is your mom?!"
"Well maternal figurehead. But how I wish she was. Red's my nanny when I was a baby. My mom doesn't do anything motherly to me at all. She lives in Brazil with her boyfriend Paulo who destroys rainforests and collects photos of realistic art. She is a cunt. I'm an embarrassment"
"Wow."
"Yeah. And she donates money on this shithole of a school to keep me locked up here. Caputo's basically her bitch. We're good as long as I don't bring hookers in."
My mouth hanged open. I wasn't even on Litchfield for six hours and my new surrounding's already a riot in comparison to my entire life outside with my mom and our mundane WASPy routine.
"What are you taking?" She asked.
"Architecture."
"Mine's electrical engineering, second year. So you got a name now? Like you haven't introduced yourself."
"Oh yes." I said, extending my arm for a handshake. "I'm Piper. Piper Chapman"
Nicky made me follow her. She said it was the Nicky Nichols Litchfield Tour Deluxe Edition. I chortled at the smaller woman.
"So you like pussy Piper? Or do you prefer pipes as your name suggests? I'm feeling some sapphic vibes coming off of you."
"What?!" I gasped in horror.
"Haha, nothing. PIPE-r … or not" She said, emphasizing the 'not' part. I stayed silent.
We made it to the cafeteria, which was located on the glass walled building. The kitchen wasn't busy and Nicky insisted we go in.
"Hi. Again." I said to Red which is now dressed on a chef's uniform.
"Ma, this is Chapman which I assumed you scared the shit out of her living soul already" Nicky said and I just smiled forcefully, hoping Red wouldn't catch how nervous I am under her hawk gaze.
"Yes, we have met and she seems like a pretty polite lady"
"She is, she liked the couch so booyah! See, fancy people like fancy couches."
"It's too soft. You girls would ruin your backs" Red said. She walked to the refrigerator and grabbed two yogurt cups.
"Here you go, fancy," she handed the cups to us and we thanked her. Before we walked away, she asked us to get Vause's ass on her kitchen. Apparently, she needed her giant height on fixing the top drawer, the one with the annoyingly squeaky door, she said. I nodded even though I don't have the least idea who that Vause is.
We walked back to the dorm and went straight to the common area. She introduced me to the bald woman who's reading. She has a name now: Poussey, an incoming Archi freshman like me. Nicky warned me to not call her pussy or she'll lose her shit. There was Taystee, who's Poussey's best friend and Nicky's classmate. She liked my hair and wondered if I could give her some strands.
"You gonna do some witchcraft, you harry potter maniac?" Nicky teased her.
"You don't be fuckin with harry potter, you hobbit"
"Wow, you're literary shit now? Huh? Hagrid?"
"You callin' me Hagrid when you got hair like him." Taystee said. We laughed in chorus. We exchanged a few more chatters and after a little less than an hour Nicky stood up "Alright ladies, my blondie friend and I gotta find the giant. You've seen her?"
"Uhuh. She's with your girlfriend, looking for you like ten minutes ago."
"What's Lorna doing with that Giant Bigfoot?"
Just then a high pitched voice called Nicky's name. I turned around and saw two women approaching us. One of them got this ultra red lipstick and hyper feminine antics. She jumped to Nicky's arms and gave her a kiss. I quickly presumed it was Lorna. The other one, on the other hand, was this tall brunette with thick framed eyeglasses. She was wearing a plain black shirt and ripped jeans. She's holding a T-square and a rolled blueprint. She looked cool and ... badass.
"There's your missing giant," Taystee stated.
"Vause" I thought. I looked at her and to my surprise, she's already staring at me. Her eyes piercing mine. She raised an eyebrow and smirked, like she's aware that her presence's intimidating me.
"Maybe this is a bad time to say hi, huh?"