Ren plugged her laptop's Ethernet cord into the wall jack and clapped her hands excitedly when her computer registered that it was hooked up to the Internet. She opened the large cardboard box that contained her books and began putting them into her small wooden bookshelf.
"Oh my gosh, are those all your textbooks?" Meghan, who was eating ice cream and watching the newly set-up TV, asked.
"No, none of them are. They're just my favorite books," Ren told her.
"You're crazy," said Meghan. "You don't read in college."
"Why not?" Ren dusted her hands off.
"Because you'll never have time," said Meghan. "Well, you might have more time than I do since I'll be interning on weekends, but still, with all the homework and everything."
"I'll make time," said Ren. "I'm very efficient."
"Whatever," said Meghan. "Hey, do you have a car down here?"
"No," Ren told her. "My parents don't want me to have one until next year. They're giving my car to my little brother if he gets good grades."
"Oh, because I was thinking we could go shopping for some stuff for the room this weekend," Meghan suggested.
"That would be fun," said Ren. "We could just walk, probably."
"And carry all that stuff back?"
"We'll take a few trips. We still have a few days until school starts." Ren adjusted the position of the TV on top of her book case. "I'm going to the dining hall to get something to eat, want to come?"
"It's okay," said Meghan. "I want to watch MTV."
"Fine. I'll be back in awhile."
When Ren entered the room she had to step over the clothes Meghan had thrown all over the floor in twenty minutes. Meghan was digging frantically through her near-empty suitcase, pulling out single socks and hair clips. "Okay, half my clothes just disappeared," Meghan whined.
"Maybe if you hang all your clothes up in your closet you'll be able to sort through them more easily," said Ren.
"It's okay, this method works," said Meghan.
A knock sounded at the door and Ren opened it to find two blond girls standing in the doorway.
"Hi! I'm Ashley. This is my roommate Erica. We share a bathroom with you two," said one of the girls. "Is Meghan here?"
"Yeah," said Ren.
"Meghan!" Ashley screeched as she rushed inside the room to embrace Meghan.
"Do you two know each other?" Ren asked.
"We met over the summer at orientation," Meghan explained. "We're both doing the internship."
"Oh, that's right," said Ren.
"Hey, you guys, we should all go shopping this weekend," Meghan proposed. "Erica, you have a car, right?"
"Yep!" said Erica.
"That would be great." said Ren.
Ashley grabbed Meghan by the wrist and all three girls walked through the bathroom into Ashley and Erica's room.
Ren sighed and began folding some of her winter clothes into her dresser drawer.

Mr. and Mrs. Dean were standing with their hands folded behind their backs, smiling fakely, as Tawny walked into the kitchen. A pile of brochures and papers were spread out on the table.
"Wow, what's this, some kind of recycling party?" Tawny asked.
"Tawny, it's September," said Mrs. Dean. "Haven't you even thought about applying to colleges yet?"
"Not really," Tawny admitted. "Of course, it's been kind of hard to think about anything lately."
"We just thought we'd give you some options," said Mr. Dean. "Your mother and I sent away for some applications for you. Some of them are on the East coast."
"Well, thanks," said Tawny. "I'll look at them."
"Honey, sit down," said Mrs. Dean, pulling out a chair for herself. Tawny sat down and folded her hands on the table patiently. "Do you even plan to go to college after you graduate, honey?"
"Yeah, I guess," said Tawny.
"You're an ambitious girl. Frankly, your mother and I are surprised you haven't thought about continuing your education," Mr. Dean told her.
"I guess I just always assumed I would go to college, I never really thought about applying or anything," said Tawny.
"Aren't your friends applying?" Mrs. Dean asked. "Tom, especially."
"Yeah, I guess."
Mr. Dean sighed. "Okay, Tawny, just look at the brochures. This weekend we'll sit down together and fill out some of the applications."
"Cool." Tawny scooped up the brochures and went up to her room.

"Hey, Meghan, could you please, like, pick up your clothes off the floor?" Ren asked as she stepped over a pile of shirts and made her way over to her bed.
"Yeah, I'll try, if I ever get any free time," said Meghan. She had a textbook halfheartedly draped across her lap as she leaned back in her chair to watch TV.
"Sorry. I thought you said you were a neat person," said Ren.
"I am," said Meghan. "I mean, at home. You have to let go of your inhibitions at college, you know?"
"Sure," said Ren. "Just make sure we don't get invaded by ants and spiders because I've seen that happen at dorms before and it is not pretty."
"Don't worry about it," said Meghan. "We have sprays to prevent that kind of thing."
"Okay," said Ren. She opened her laptop and began transcribing the notes she had taken in class.
"Hey, could you please try to be quieter with your keyboard? I'm kind of trying to study," said Meghan.
"Fine." Ren reached over and turned the volume of the TV down and then returned to her keyboard.
"Hey, the TV noise helps me study," Meghan protested.
"Whatever." Ren unplugged her laptop and sat in the hall with it on her lap, typing.
Ashley walked by the door and looked down at Ren. "Hey, is Meghan in there?" she asked.
"Yes," said Ren.
"Yeah, we were just about to go get lunch," said Ashley. She stepped over Ren and went into the room, where both she and Meghan squealed and hugged each other.
"Hey, how long are you going to be out?" Ren asked them as they left the room.
"I don't know," said Meghan. "But hey, could you leave the TV on? I'm recording something and if you turn the volume down it kind of ruins the quality of the tape."
Ren stood up and went back into her room. She turned the volume down all the way on the TV and sat at her desk to type out the rest of her notes.
Ashley and Meghan danced into the room a few minutes later, giggling.
"Okay, Ash, you have to see this program I recorded," said Meghan. "It is so funny, it's like . hey Ren, you didn't screw with the TV, did you?"
"No," said Ren.
The phone rang and Meghan picked it up. "Hey, this is Meghan's room!" She paused and held the phone slightly away from her ear. "Oh yeah, here she is." Meghan tossed the phone into Ren's lap. "It's for you."
Ren picked up the phone and rose from her seat to go out into the hallway. "Hello?"
"Ren! How's sunny Southern California?" Eileen asked.
"Not good," Ren told her.
"Oh, honey, what's wrong?"
"My roommate is a total flake," said Ren. "She has clothes all over the room, she never studies, and she has no consideration for me."
"You two seemed to get along so well at orientation," said Eileen.
"Yeah, well, things change." Ren lowered her voice. "And she takes every chance she possibly can to brag about her internship. Mom, I really don't want to be here."
"Oh, Ren, remember what we said about giving it a chance for one semester?" Eileen reminded her.
"I know, Mom, but this is really bad."
"How are your classes?"
"Okay, I guess. Not very challenging," said Ren. "Of course, coming from HESHS what could I expect."
"Why don't you see about switching rooms, then?" said Eileen. "Maybe you'd be happier if you had a different roommate, one who was a bit tidier."
"I don't know. Everyone here seems like a valley girl. I knew I shouldn't have come here," said Ren.
"Well, we're not going to talk negatively now," said Eileen.
"So how are you doing?" Ren asked.
"Excuse me." Meghan and Ashley squeezed out of the room and slammed the door behind them.
"Wait..." Ren said, realizing she didn't have her room key. "Ugh," she groaned.
"What is it?" Eileen asked.
"I'm locked out of my room. I'll have to see if Erica's in her room so she can let me in through the bathroom," said Ren. "I have no idea when Meghan's coming back, she always just leaves without even telling me."
"I'm sorry, honey," said Eileen, "but look on the bright side. In a few months you'll be coming home for Thanksgiving."
"Yeah, that's really a comfort." Ren rolled her eyes. "Okay, I have to go. I have a ton of homework to do. Talk to you later, Mom."
"I love you, Ren."
Ren clicked the phone off and knocked on the door to Erica and Ashley's room. "Erica?" she called. There was no response.
Ren sighed and sat outside her door, waiting for Meghan and Ashley to come back.
Two hours later Meghan finally bounced back up to the door. "Hey, what are you doing?" she asked Ren as Ren jerked her hand out of the way of Meghan's heel.
"I didn't have my key," Ren told her, trying not to yell.
"Oh," said Meghan. She opened the door and practically slammed it in Ren's face. Ren had to jump up and push the door the rest of the way open.
As soon as she got back in her room Ren sat down at her computer and composed an e-mail to her mother.
Fifty really annoying things Meghan has done already:
Asked me not to type because she was watching TV
Locked me out of my own room
Stole half the granola bars I bought and put on MY side of the room
Used my bed to pass out after she came in hungover
Spilled coffee on a pair of my pants that she borrowed without permission
Talked about me behind my back in the other room with Ashley and Erica
Smoked tons of cigarettes right outside the door so I have to walk through the smoke when I'm trying to go to class
Refused to clean her side of the room
Refused to clean the bathroom
Borrowed one of my textbooks and dog-eared all the pages
Taken tons of pictures of her with Arnold Schwarzenegger and hung them on the wall
Told me none of my outfits matched
Accused me of being anorexic when she doesn't eat at all (she only drinks)
Told me I'll never have fun because I don't party every week
Locked herself in the bathroom for the entire night to cry to her boyfriend on the phone
Knocked over the trash that contained all her used makeup remover pads and refused to clean it up
Turned the light on in the middle of the night and never turned it off
Used my meal card to buy tons of food for herself because she'd "forgotten her own"
Refused to buy me a meal when I actually did forget my meal card
Taped a huge posted of an ugly, sweaty naked guy to the wall over my bed
Raided my closet and my desk several times for no reason
Asked to use my computer and left grease all over the keyboard
Rented a vacuum and never vacuumed, then made me pay for the charge of renting it for too long
Stolen most of my pens, so I have to keep replacing them
Taken two hours using my scanner and printer so she could copy her textbooks and then return them for cash
Thrown her laundry into mine so I have to do hers for her
Used my phone code that I have taped to my wall to make long-distance calls, thus charging me for her calls
After I took the number off my wall and asked her not to use it again she still used it because she had it memorized
Refused to pay the phone bill because it was in my name
Told me I need to get a haircut (about fifteen times)
Told me I have big feet
Told me she's heard me singing in the shower and I should take lessons (I DON'T sing in the shower!)
Asked me several questions about my boyfriend situation
Brought her boyfriends (three of them) into our room and bragged about them
Complained to me every time she has a tiny little problem and whined for me to solve it
Made me buy toilet paper because she used our limit to TP some rival sorority house
Refused to let me go shopping with her, even when I ask nicely
Set her alarm and then let it ring for over an hour
Skipped classes almost every single week and then complained about how much homework she has
Made me go with her to the health clinic to get condoms
Asked me to write two papers for her (I didn't)
Asked if she could copy some of my notes but never let me copy hers (not that she has any)
Switched out of three of her classes just because she thinks the professors are ugly or nerdy
Complained about me using the shower too long
Lit candles several times, which is against the rules, resulting in our room getting a warning from the RA
Tried to sneak beer into our refrigerator (I put my foot down)
Stuck post-it notes about calls I got all over my computer screen, which made smears on the screen
Made me make her bed for her because she doesn't know how
Made me go to the library and check out research books for her because she doesn't know how to use the computer system
Bought two fish and managed to kill them both within a few days I just sent in my electronic application to Yale.

Ren clicked "send" and sighed satisfactorily, rubbing her hands together. In just a few months she would be getting another acceptance letter, and then she could get out of here and move three thousand miles away.