Chapter 5: First day of college
Ami and Serena's alarm screamed at them to wake up. It was 6:30 a.m. and it was their first day as UCLA alumni's.
Ami was completely awake and unable to sleep all night. The very thought of all that homework and studying excited her. She climbed out of her bunk, turned off the alarm, and looked at Serena. Yup, she's still asleep…
"Serena…rise and shine," she bellowed, as a smile formed upon her face.
Serena jerked upright in her bed -- hitting her head on the bunk above, "Ouch," she yelped, rubbing her head.
"Oh my gosh… I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen… You all right?" Ami asked, as she frantically fussed over a dazed Serena, who opened one eye, and nodded. Then she lazily dragged herself out of bed, "Aren't you excited? I'm sooo excited," Ami announced enthusiastically as she foraged for clothes.
"Oh yeah, I'm thrilled," Serena answered in a non-enthusiastic tone. She trudged to the closet, and grabbed a clean t-shirt and jeans.
It took the girls about 20 minutes to get ready before they headed out the door.
Day one of hell begins, Serena reflected as she stepped outside her door, with her books and noticed Darien closing his door. Now, she finished her thought. It begins now…
I had better close the door… Drew doesn't have his first class until 10, Darien reminded himself as he pushed it shut -- then heard someone in the hall behind him yawn behind him. He turned to see who it was. When he saw her, his lips automatically curved into a smile.
"Morning…sunshine," he joked as he looked at her.
"Hmmm," Serena responded, rubbing her eyes. She was waiting for Ami, who was fumbling with her books inside.
"Well, have a good first day, Meatball head. I'll see you around one for our shopping fiesta," he exclaimed as he walked off.
"Yeah," Serena mumbled. She was too tired to care about the fact he was calling her names.
Ami closed the door behind them, and offered Serena a smile, "Let's go… I'm so excited!"
Let's look at my schedule… Serena thought as she pulled a sheet of paper out of one of her books. Graphic Design, she read.
"Bye Ami… I'll see you this afternoon." She waved at her friend, heading off in the opposite direction.
"Welcome to class everybody! This is Graphic Design, as you all should know by now. I am Mr. Lansing, and I'll be your professor for the duration of this course," He greeted everyone, smiling nicely. He was a solidly built man in his late 50's, balding on top of his head, and wore large metal-rimmed glasses. His face was sweet and kind.
Serena's eyes surveyed the room. It was quite large. There were roughly six or seven rows of desks with computers placed on each, "Please, take a seat behind one of the computers, and I'll begin my lecture," Mr. Lansing instructed as he sat behind his desk at the head of the room.
This is going to be a long day, Serena groaned inwardly.
Before she knew it, it was already 12:30 p.m. She had attended three different classes by this time. She thought – naptime -- sleepily. She had forgotten about the shopping spree with Darien, which was supposed to take place in half an hour.
When she opened the door to her dorm and stepped inside, she discovered Ami had already begun working on her homework, "Ami, how did you manage to get homework on the first day of college?" Serena questioned, putting her stuff down.
"Well, my professor gave me a copy of the agenda containing all the assignments and chapters we're going to cover over the semester. So, I thought I'd get a head start on it," Ami proclaimed, while furiously writing something down on the page of her notebook.
I should be more like her. I would get a lot more done, Serena mused, as she climbed into her bed. Just as she started to doze off, there was a knock at the door.
Ami got up, and went to answer it. Serena had an arm flung over her eyes, trying desperately to get some rest. Then she heard a man's voice at the door, but couldn't hear what he was saying to Ami.
Then, all of a sudden, someone slipped their arm beneath her back, and another supported her legs, and lifted her out of bed. She screamed in shock -- her arms flailing, kicking her legs.
She turned her head, realized Darien's face was only inches away from her own, and he was grinning like a loon, "Ah! You idiot…put me down… I was trying to sleep!" she pouted.
"All right, you asked for it," Darien said, and he let her go. She plopped to the floor, landing on her butt.
Darien looked down at her and started laughing. Ami ran to Serena's side and helped her up, "That wasn't nice, Darien," Ami chided, and frowned.
"Aw, Meatball head can take it," he chuckled, as he patted her head.
"You are such a freaking jerk!" Serena yelled as she dusted herself off.
"You forgot about our shopping fiesta today, didn't you, Meatball head?" Darien prodded, raising an eyebrow.
"Congratulations Darien! Good job. You noticed," Serena said, sarcastically.
Darien simply chuckled, "Well, let's go then," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her out the door.
"Er…wait, I need my purse!" Serena protested, trying to reach for it as he tugged her out the door.
"What do you need a purse for? I'm paying for everything, remember?"
"Yeah, but…."
"It's fine. I'm practically made out of money. There's nothing I can't afford."
"Fine… whatever… let's just hurry," Serena complained.
"You know…a lot of girls would want to be in your position right now," Darien told her as they reached the elevator.
Serena pressed the down button, "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, think about it… You're about to go shopping with one of the most handsomely good-looking, intelligent, and rich men here on campus. Not only that, but this very same handsomely good-looking, and intelligent man, is going to buy you everything for free," he smiled as the elevator doors opened.
Darien looked at her, smiling cockily. He caught her trying so hard not to smile, but she hadn't succeeded to keep a blank expression on her face, "You think that you're all of those things, do you?" Serena questioned, a hint of a smile in her eyes and forming on her lips.
"Why of course I do!"
Serena just rolled her eyes, this time, allowing her smile to be completely visible.
