Finding Me

Chapter Six

Our floor meeting took about half an hour and was full of the basic living information. In the dorms, you aren't allowed to have anything that could start a fire, no alcohol under the age of 21, and noise is not permitted after 11 pm. Following the meeting, Jacey said that we should head straight to the welcoming ceremony that started at 2pm. However, that meeting only made me have to pee so we hurried to the dorm so I could use the restroom before our next activity.
Getting back to our room we notice that there is a huge blue bing outside our door that is hanging open to our room. Entering the suite, we see a skinny brunette with short hair walk towards the living room.
"Hey!" She says optimistically before grabbing something out of a box and heading back towards her room.
"Hi!" I reply, "You must be our other suitemate?"
"My name is Emily," she says continuing to go back and forth between her room. "I know you guys had a floor meeting. I was gonna go but I had a lot of stuff to unpack".
Jacey and I introduced ourselves quickly responding to her own introduction. Overall, our new roommate seemed really nice. You can never be too sure about what kind of person you'll be matched with as a suitemate, but this seemed like it was already going well. Out from her room, a black lab runs out and greets me and Jacey in the hall. The dog's tail is wagging as he distributes kisses between both of us before heading back to his room.
"That's Newt. He's really friendly so I'm sorry if he's a little bit too much"
"Oh my god? He's the cutest thing I have ever seen. But I thought two dogs couldn't live in the same room?" I ask Emily genuinely confused why she had a dog.
"I'm not your roommate, only your suitemate. So we can both have dogs. You have a dog?"
"My dog's name is Dizzle. She's an Aussie Eskimo mix".
Both of us seem to smile in comradery that we both have dogs here. Meeting Emily seemed like a good thing, as she seemed to become my first new friend and brought a dog that could be friends with Dizzle. A win, win for me and my puppy.
"Are you going to the opening ceremonies?" Jacey chimes in.
"Nah, that's generally for the freshman" she states as she mentions how she's actually a junior this year. She tells me and Jacey that she's a Nutrition major and that she's actually been living in Lawrenson since her freshman year so she is already pretty acquainted with the place.
"Okay, well we were actually gonna head there now after Rose goes to the bathroom".
Hearing this, I remember the reason we came and quickly run to the toilet. Coming back out, I wash my hands and then return to the door so we can leave again.
"It was really nice to meet you. We will probably see you when we get to the opening ceremonies. We just wanna make sure w don't miss anything" Jacey says as she walks out the door toward the elevator.
"Were you gonna go to the carnival tonight?" I ask hoping Emily will go with us.
"Yeah, I actually had plans to go with my friend but maybe I'll see you there" Emily replies as I agree with her and catch up with Jacey. We both look back towards our room then look at each other before getting in the elevator to head to the gym. We smile in a silent agreement, acknowledging that we were both happy to have finally met our other suitemate and that she didn't seem crazy.
Heading towards the gym, Jacey and I spot the rest of the dorm residents and our RA waiting to enter the arena. We head over to the group, standing by Kelly,
"Have you guys been waiting here long?" I ask her trying to start a conversation.
"No, we just got here actually. The group walked over together but the doors are still closed so we're just waiting" Kelly replies with a smile on her face.
Surprisingly, Kelly's mom was still with her. Most parents left their kids after move-in the day before but her mother had gone with her to every event we had seen her at thus far. After our brief conversation, the doors open and students flood in through the gym entrance. A huge blow-up arch is the first thing you see when you enter the set of doors followed by a walkway of cheerleaders chanting as you take a seat. Jacey's face changes and then she leans over to whisper to me.
"I know her," She says quietly.
"Who?
"The brunette who had the pigtails in and the face paint," she says again.
"Who is she?
While we take our seats Jacey tells me the story of how the cheerleader's name is Hannah. Apparently, they were best friends in middle school. In freshman year of high school, Jacey and Hannah tried to continue their friendship until Hannah met Aaron. The two dated for a while and it completely changed Hannah. They had completely stopped hanging out and Hannah had become completely conceded. Eventually, Hannah and Arron broke up but continued to be friends with benefit; however, this meant that Jacey and Hannah were done and they hadn't spoken since.
"She's kind of a bitch isn't she?" I ask.
"Yeah, now she just acts like she's all that" Jacey comments.
"Well at least you guys don't have to talk to each other"
"Thankfully" she finishes before the lights flicker and the ceremony begins.