The woman at the attendance office had yellow stained teeth, bad breath and stunk of cigarette smoke. The smell had caused Paige to feel sick to her stomach, causing her to clutch her aching tummy in agony. She had collected the papers as quickly as she could, signing her name in various spots and initialing on many dotted lines. At the exact moment she signed the last paper, a girl dressed in a pink baby doll top and a white knee length lace skirt burst into the cramped room. She walked over to the woman at the desk to the right of where Paige was standing and started whispering something, so only the elderly lady could hear. Nodding the woman handed her the exact same booklet, Paige had been handed just half an hour before. The girl began tearing through the papers, vigorously signing each one. Snapping Paige out of her daze, the smelly lady handed her a set of room keys and a laminated code of conduct card. Paige began to pick up her luggage when the girl in the pink leather came up to her.

"Need a hand?" The girl asked, reaching out for a few of Paige's bags

"That would be great" Paige agreed, handing the girl the two smallest bags

"You look like you need a hand, you look a little sick." The girl said, her voice laced with concern. "Do you want me to get you some water? I can go back, I can bet the attendance lady I talked to would be happy to get you a bottle'

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine. It's just I had a long drive here and I didn't expect it to be so humid, so I'm a little over dressed as you can see" Paige said gesturing to her jeans and long sleeved fitted polo.

"I completely understand. I did the exact same thing; I changed when I got to my room. I've been here since ten o'clock this morning."

"Why so early?" Paige questioned, genuinely interested

"I'm from out of province. Quebec actually, my flight left at around seven this morning and I arrived in Toronto around nine, giving me an hour to get here, changed and then I went to check in just now."

With that Paige noticed her slight French accent; English must have been her first language.

"I'm from Toronto, so you can understand the drive I had. I've always gotten a little car sick, plus with the added heat it's a recipe for disaster, or at least vomit."

Both girls laughed as they continued to pull the bags along the narrow hallway. They entered the elevator and the girl asked Paige want floor she was headed to, Paige leaned over and pressed the button to the seventh floor. As soon as the finger touched it, the girl burst out laughing.

"What?" Paige growled

"I just realized we never exchanged names." The girl said in-between giggles. "I'm Claire" She said changing the bag in her right hand, to her left so she could shake Paige's hand.

"Paige" Paige said doing the same with her bags. The girls giggled in hysterics, not realizing they had safely made it to the floor desired

"My rooms on this floor as well, maybe we'll be close to each other. Which would be awesome." Claire exclaimed as a large smile took over her lips.

"Well my room is 760' Paige said looking at the room key the stinky lady had handed her.

"Oh my God, we're in the same room, how weird is that? This is going to be great, my first few hours at school, I realized I have an awesome roomie and a great new friend. This is going to be a great year, think of all the parties we can have, or all the guys we can date, or the gossip. It's going to be just like high school, but only a million times better."

Paige nodded her head in agreement; this year was going to be perfect. Nothing could stand in her way. Her high school years had officially ended, and her college had unofficially began.