Spotlight

08

"Really what are you majoring in?" he asked, placing his hand into his pocket. The other hand carried a rather large briefcase.

"Law, believe it or not!"

"I'm a third year law student!" he laughed and I echoed, "Where are you off to? Do you want me to walk you?"

"I think I'm joining the Kappa Alta Theta sorority. I think," I laughed, the inner child coming out in my laugh.

"That's just around the corner, do you want me to walk you?"

For a moment everything stopped. Did I want him to walk me? For a second I didn't care about Tristan or anything in Los Angeles. I didn't even care about anything back home. I could be an entirely different person over here, and that's what I was going to do.

"Sure."

We started walking through the dark courtyard.

"Hey, you know how old I am. So may I ask how old you are?" I said.

"I'm 22. Which would make sense if I'm a third year law student, wouldn't it?" he sarcastically laughed.

"Funny," I mocked his laugh as we walked together. The conversation was small but interesting, and we turned the corner where we saw the massive building of the sorority I was wanting to join.

"Well here we are!" he smiled and placed his briefcase on the edge of the foot path while he tucked his shirt into his pants. I did like a man who dressed well.

In the dark, I couldn't see much of him, but his brunette locks were falling over his forehead and he swiftly pushed them out of the way.

He smiled and a part of me inside fluttered looking at his florescent white teeth.

"What?" he gasped, picking up his briefcase off the path.

"Goodnight Dean. Thanks for walking me here," I smiled, slanting my eyes at him suspiciously.

I continued up the path to the open doors of the sorority house and pulled my duffel bag tighter. I met my first person on campus, and he wasn't horrible.

As I walked up the short row of steps leading into the house, a blonde girl in a red sorority top and tight black jeans approached me.

"Hello!" she called, "What's your name?"

"I'm Mae. Mae Parker."

I looked around the loud room of girls sipping on red cups, and looked through the house to the back door where some girls were playing beer pong on the ping pong table. It seemed crazy. The house was full of a light beat of some house music, and the only other noise in the room was all the girls socializing.

"I'm Alana!" the same girl says as she walks behind me up the massive set of stairs in the middle of the foyer. We walked slowly up the stairs as I took in the sights around me of all the girls photos up on the wall. In the picture frames there were photos of girls with trophies in the sororities colors.

We made it to the top of the staircase and turned left down the hallway where I looked in the dorms as I walked past to see girls either drinking or talking to each other. The house was so loud I could barely hear myself think.

We got to the fourth room on the right, where Alana walked into a room with a girl already lying down on one of the beds. The beds were single and half of the room was decorated and the other half wasn't, which was obviously mine. I looked down to the girl lying on her bed as she flipped through a magazine. Her hair was in a high ponytail with a red headband that supported the sororities colors. She was wearing a white three quarter length shirt, where the sleeves went to her elbows, and matching red shorts. Her feet were in a triangle shape tangled together covered in Keds white socks. Her skinny legs were slowly moving in unison as she kicked her feet together.

"Sophie, this is your new roommate Mae," Alana said as we both slowly entered the room.

Sophie looked up from her magazine and smiled, kicking her legs to the side of the bed so that she could stand up.

"Nice to meet you!" she folded her oversized shirt down further so that it nearly covered her red short shorts.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. If you need anything don't be afraid to ask. We're a sisterhood here at Kappa Alta Theta," she smiled after straightening out her top and exited the room, closing the tall white door behind her.

"So where are you from?" Sophie asked me, wrapping her hands behind her back.

"I'm from Miami actually!" I laughed and unzipped my duffel bag that I threw on the bed moments ago.

"And that's all that you brought?" she laughed back, throwing herself onto the bed.

"There's more coming later, I couldn't bring all my luggage with me on the bus here. I was originally planning to drive at some stage."

"That is commitment!" she laughed, "What made you change your mind?"

"Someone gave me a proposition," I said, lost in thought, "I just couldn't refuse."

She laughed and wrapped herself up in her magazine again, embracing the same position she was in moments before.

"How come you're not out there?" I asked, referencing to the number of drunk girls in the hallway.

"Not really my scene."

I nodded and started unpacking everything out of my bag. It was a relief to finally take off the bag as it was killing my shoulder the entire way here.

I looked at the digital clock across the room, and saw that it was already quarter to eleven.

"I hate to be a party pooper, but I am stuffed," Sophie said, chucking her magazine onto the bedside table next to her bed. She stood up and lowered the blind above our two beds, and switched on the lamp on the bedside table between our two beds. I turned my back on her and quickly put my stuff into the chest of drawers provided. I pulled out the one photo I had of my mom and I, and placed the frame on top of the drawers. For a second, I smiled at the old photo.

By the time I turned around, Sophie had changed into a set of long pajama pants. She lifted the first bulkier pillow off her bed and threw it onto the floor beside her bed.

"Someone's popular," she laughed, looking at my phone. I followed her eyesight down to my phone sitting on the bed that was flashing from messages.

"Oh," I laughed.

"Your boyfriend missing you?" she asked as she quickly got under the covers.

I picked up my phone and saw that Tristan had tried to call me seven times, as well as multiple missed calls from Moe and Turbo. Tristan had left thirty six messages. There was also a message or two from my mom.

"No," I stopped, "Just someone I used to know."

"Well, you've get the next few years to tell me, but for now we have to sleep. I mean, that's if you can with all the commotion going on outside."

I smiled. Sophie seemed nice.

I threw my bag onto the floor and put my phone on silent beside my bedside table. I too, cuddled up under the bed cover that was plain and white, while I looked at Sophie's and saw it was the color of marble. She switched off the light on the switch beside her bed and we were in the darkness.

I couldn't wait to start my new life here, I could be whoever I wanted to be on campus and there was no looking back. I didn't want the television role. I didn't want that life now. I could tell them in the morning when I woke up.

"What time does the commotion usually die down?" I asked, which was kind of strange as the room was pitch dark.

"It won't be long. The girls are respectful to each other."

I nodded, even though she could see me she knew I acknowledged it.

I turned over to face the roof and could see small light from outside reflecting up to the roof. I closed my eyes, and let my dreams take me on a ride.