The Country Boy and The City Girl

The Norm Dorm

"ALL DELTA KAPPA MEMBERS REPORT TO YOUR HOUSE! REGISTRATION FRESHMAN GO TO MILLER HALL! GET OFF OF THE STATUE YOU DELINQUENT! THIS IS COLLEGE NOT A PLAYGROUND!" the senior director shouted across the grounds as he attempted to guide people in the right directions. By the looks of his crooked glasses, rumpled polo, and khaki pants, I could tell he was very stressed by all of the chaos.

"I'll help you get settled in your dorm then I'll go to mine. Sound good?" Kent asked with a sideways glance at me. I nodded as we hauled our bags across the campus towards the tall dorm buildings. I was really here...

Everything was so real now: the sunlight shining through trees, the chattering newbie freshman girls, the hollering returning fraternity members, the socially awkward brainiacs still assuring their mothers that they'll be okay over the phone, and everyone shouting about parties and events in between. This was college. This was my life now and it was exciting.

But something was missing and I didn't want to admit what...or who.

"Elevator's broken," Kent frowned as he looked back at me from inside my dorm tower. "Stairs it is."

"What floor am I?" I groaned, dreading the answer I knew would soon come.

"Let's not think about that right now," he sighed as he grimaced at the sheet of paper with my information on it. "Let's just climb, okay?"

"Nooo," I whined as we slumped over to the stairs. "Stupid stairs. Stupid elevator."

"Senior year," Kent grunted as he yanked the suitcases up towards him. "You'll look back on this and laugh."

I groaned and continued to climb the endless flights before I heard a bustling up ahead. Kent exclaimed as a girl ran down the stairs and before I could blink, she and I were toppling and rolling down the stairs in a tumble weed of suitcases and boxes. When we finally stopped, I had my back against the ground and she was on top of me. Mac.

From the looks of it, she was in just as much pain as I was. "Why were you running down the stairs?" I moaned in pain as my back popped.

"Last minute cheerleading sign ups. I guess I should've taken the elevator."

She got to her feet and dusted herself off. I frowned when she didn't even bother to help me up. "It's broken anyway. Maybe you should just not run down crowded stairways."

The glare in her eyes resembled one exactly like a certain southern redheaded satan I once knew. "Excuse me. I have to meet Amber at the athletics tent," she snapped harshly. Speak of the devil... I didn't know she got in at UK.

"Hopefully her cheering is better than her relationship skills. Owen's still on probation, right?" I asked with fake concern in my voice.

"And who are you to judge? Your boyfriend went off the deep end and disappeared for weeks. You call that a great quality in a boyfriend?" she shot back, eyebrows coming down more with each word. "Good thing he dumped you...God help you if he didn't."

"Kiss my-"

Kent's hand came over my mouth, silencing me. "Good luck at tryouts. We'll see you around," he smiled forcibly. It wasn't until she spun around and left that he released me.

"What the heck?!" I protested angrily. That was totally not okay of him to make me look weak in front of her. I don't think she even remembers the last time she talked to me. It was all Amber, all the time these days.

"You need to keep your mouth shut your first day on campus. I've done this for a year. I know how this works," he explained in a scolding tone. Not sure if it pissed me of enough to roll my eyes just yet. "You need to either make yourself liked or invisible. Starting a fight and making a scene in front of everyone before you even unpack is not the reputation you want."