I walked around the room, looking at the empty walls and how empty it looked without most of my belongings. It felt weird seeing my room like this empty and how 18 years of my life packed into a few boxes. Ever since I was younger, I've never seen my room this empty; I haven't ever seen my dresses not messy with clothes spilling out of it, never seen my walls this empty without the painting I made starting at the age of 8, never seen my desk clutter-free, and never ever seen my bookcase empty.
My mum suggested that I should just leave my things here, but to me, it made sense to move my things with me starting today. I didn't want to do the moving drive twice. My plan after college has always been to move to New York for work. It was nothing like home, and that's how I wanted that feeling. Since the age of 12, Sam and I knew what we wanted; we wanted to move to the big city to study different majors at NYU, then we'd move in together to a small apartment in Brooklyn.
I turned to the door with a small smile on my face. I watched my mum walk around the room with her arms wrapped around herself. She looked down at my packed boxes, then at the empty desk.
"Are you sure about this, Alex?" My mum asked "You don't have to move out yet, at least not entirely. What if your things don't fit in the new place?"
"They will" I ensured her "I already seen the place, and it's massive. I mean for student apartment, the place is spacious"
"What if it does not look like the pictures? what if its way smaller and in some shady neighborhood?" she asked, worry evident in his voice and expression "What if you don't like your roommates"
"Well I will just have to deal with it" I told her "It's my fault for contacting the landlord so late. If I had earlier, I might have at least had a higher possibility of rooming with Sam. But that doesn't matter, this will be good for me, I will get to meet new people"
She gave me a small smile "You know, I talked to some of the other mums in the neighbourhood, almost everyone is going to community college or some university that is an hour away from here to stay home" she said "Why can't you stay here and go somewhere closer like everyone else"
"Because you taught me not to be like the other kids" I said as I gave her a side hug "You told me to be better than the other kids and aim higher than everyone else no matter where that takes me. Today, aiming higher takes me in New York"
A small sad smile appeared on her face "I will would at least let me drive you there" she said "So I know that you settled down, safe and have everything you need"
"It's a 6 hours drive. I don't want you and dad to make a 12 hour trip and exhaust yourself" I told her "Sam is taking her car there anyways, so it would make more sense if we just drive up there"
She leaned her head against my shoulder "I just can't believe how 18 years passed so fast"
I smiled "I honestly don't know either" I told her "I promise I will always come visit during breaks, holidays, or when I just miss you cooking"
"Ugh, don't even get me started on cooking. I don't understand how you will survive when your cooking skills are worst than anyone I have ever seen"
I faked an offended look "Wow, is that what you think?"
"Alex, that's what we all know" she said.
"Well I'm going to prove you wrong, when I come back, I will chubbier than ever because of all the amazing food I self taught myself to make" I said.
She smiled "I'm going to miss you" she said.
"You have no idea" I joked right before my dad walked into the room.
"Honestly, Emilia, what did we talk about? we agreed to no tears this morning. How the hell is this one going to leave the house if she sees you crying" my dad sighed then joke "I've been waiting for 18 years to turn this room into my own gym"
I smiled to my dad before walking into his arms and hugging him "I'm going to miss you dad" I told him "A lot"
He kissed my head "Same here" he said "Let's get you moving, Samatha is downstairs"
I nodded into his arms before we started loading my boxes into her Sam's SUV. Sam being the lazy and polite person she is, she stood there next to the car talking to my mum and reassuring her her that we will be safe on the road and that we will text her once I settle down, rather than help me load my bags in to her car.
Half an hour later, we hit the road as I scheduled in my planner. We left the house at 5:30 a.m. to avoid the 8 a.m. traffic, stopped by a Dunkin' Donuts drive-though for coffee and donut at 5: 45 p.m., then hit the road to New York at 6:00. Our drive to NYU would take us 6 hours, so by the time we got to there, it would be our move in time.
"So it will take us around 5 and a half more hours to get to the building, and then that gives us around an hour to move things up to our room, unpack and order lunch in before heading to the grocery store and picking up everything we forgot to pack" I told her "We can then shower get to sleep early so we can wake up tomorrow at 6 a.m. to get our keys and passes at 7 and head to our orientation at 8"
"Would you relax" Sam groaned "Please stop planning things to the minute, it is freshman year, have fun. This is literally the only year in college were you can have fun, get to know people and party every day. Think about all the parties and the boys we will meet"
I rolled my eyes "I don't know about you, Samantha, but I'm not here for all of that" I told her "I am here to get my degree that will help me move out here and get our plans of living together in the big city possible. The parties and the boys can wait till I graduate"
"You are lame, Alexia Miles" Sam said before turning the volume up.
I ignored her as I lowered the volume down "You need to make me a promise though" I told her.
She snorted "Whatever it is, you know I can't keep it" she said.
"Sam, we have places we want to go and things we want to do and be; in order for us to do that, we need to be serious about our studies and work hard" I told her "Which means no distraction, and no getting wasted, hooking up with someone random, no boys at all"
"Not even one?" she asked with a pout.
"At least not the first few months of school" I told her "You need to leave a good impression and build a foundation"
"I can't promise you that, Alex" she sighed.
"At least promise me that you will try to do so" I told her as I held my pinky finger up.
She let out a defeated breath as she wrapped her pinky finger around mine.
I smiled "You will love me and thank me for this one day when we are in Paris for the opening of my art gallery or your first runway show"
"Honey, I will name a collection after you if that happens" she chuckled.
She then turned the volume up to a commercial "Do you want to play something from your phone?" She asked.
I turned to me and looked slightly offended "Do you honestly think that I haven't made a playlist for this trip?" I asked her.
She rolled her eyes "Of course you did, you are Alex after all" she said.
4 playlists and another coffee stop later, Sam and I reached our building exactly at 12 p.m.. We got our keys first before we parked the car in the building's private parking, then we unloaded Sam's car by moving her boxes to her apartment first, then mine. In the process of moving, I ended meeting Sam's roommates and some other girls in the building's common area.
Even though I was in the room earlier to put my boxes in and saw the picture of it online as well, I couldn't help not to admire the place once I was alone in it. I took a seat on on the boxes as I looked around the place. It was the best looking place and the most spacious place in New York, but it did the trick, it was great.
The apartment looked similar to a studio apartment, except in this one, it had three beds that were lined up against a window that took up most of the wall, with a dresses at the end of each bed. The closets lined against the wall were small, but had potential if organized the right way. The living area was small as well, a couch roped again the wall with a small coffee table and empty book propped case in front of it, a dinner/ study table next to it, and a small open kitchen which I most probably wouldn't use. It was small and lacked privacy, but anything was better than community bathroom and living so close to classes.
I didn't hesitate claiming my space bed as mine, I just unpacked my bags and boxes and made this place feel like home. I first claimed the middle bed as mind by putting my mattress pad, gray beddings and filled the both the dresser and closet with my cloths. I then claimed my selves of the bookcase by linking up the middle two shelves with my books, then started putting up the bathroom organizers and changing the shower curtains into a dark shade of gray for more privacy when showering. Luckily, due to my two roommates not moving in yet, I had my own sweat time to unpack smoothly and peacefully.
At some point after finishing unpacking, Sam came over with lunch that she brought when she went with her roommates after I told her I'm too tired to go with her. We sat in the couch talking as I ate and she looked around the place.
"Is it me or your place looks bigger than mine?" she asked.
"It's just empty. Once you the other two girls move in, you will see how crowded and small the room is" I told her.
"The boys down the hall are cute" she said "The girls and I bumped into them on the way out. They mentioned something about a house party somewhere"
"Not interested, and already?" I asked impressed.
She nodded "I might head down there just to get a feels of how things around here are. Wanna come with?"
I shook my head "I haven't slept yesterday" I told her "I think I will just end up going to bed in an hour or so, it's already 8 p.m. and I'm honestly drained"
She picked up her phone as she got up "I will call you after the party then, just to check on you. alright?"
I nodded.
After Sam left, I spent sometime making a list of all the things I want to buy when I go grocery shopping in the afternoon, then I spent the remaining of the two hours reading a book before I fell asleep. Just before I fell asleep, I made a mental reminder that I still have to find a space here to set up my paining setup and restock on some supplies before falling asleep in peace and quietness.
Growing up, naps were never for me. Whenever I accidentally took a nap or woke up in the middle of the night, it would feel like I'm drunk and having a hangover at the same time. I'd usually wake up disoriented, dizzy, nausea and with a headache. I was something that I carried with me since I was a child. Thus, my head was pounding and spinning when I woke up at the middle of the night because of things moving around in the room.
When I opened my eyes, it took me a while to remember where I was; when I did, I reached for my phone to check the time to see it was almost 1 in the morning. I didn't flinch or panic when I heard things moving around the room, I knew that it was my roommates moving in this late in the day. So, I sat up and tied my hair in a bun as I looked at the boxes at either side of the room. Seeing the half empty boxes meant that I slept through my roommates unpacking.
I moved my legs off the bed before grabbing my shorts and slipping them, then slipped on my slippers. I walked around the place looking at the new things that were placed around the apartment. The two beds were made, one with black bedding and the other with white bedding; two rows of the bookcase was filling with more fantasy books and books about architecture, while the bottom two were filling with comics and books about business law. There were blue prints and files on the diffing table, and a few boxes placed on the kitchen counters with the cupboard open.
I grabbed my jacket off the couch and wrapped it around my self to stay warm. I started picking up the boxes and un folding them so they car fit into the entry way closet along with my boxes and suitcase when they're need for moving out. Half way though unfolding the third box, the door opened and two brown colored hair boys that looked identical walked into the room with two more boxes.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you up" the shorter haired guy said "We missed our flight here in the afternoon and got delayed because of confusion about our storage unit"
I looked at them confused "I'm sorry, who are you?" I asked.
The green colored boy smiled as he placed the box on the table next to me "We, my love, are your new roommates"
I let out a small laugh "You got the wrong apartment" I told them.
He looked down at his keys "I'm not so sure about that" he smirked "This is apartment 156, right? because I swear it said that on the door when we walked in"
"I already called the landlord at 11 p.m. when we got here, he said that he will check it out in the morning" the short haired boy said "I'm sure whatever mistake happened, it will be resolved in the morning"
I looked at both of them as my eyes started to blur with tears felling overwhelmed, anxious and scared at the idea of sharing an apartment with two guys I don't know.
"Hey, hey, you don't have to cry. We're not going to hurt you and all of this will be fixed in the morning" he said as he approached me then kneeled down in front of where I was sitting "What's you name?"
"Alex" I told him as I sniffed.
"I'm Noah and this is my brother Nathan" he told me.
I looked at him unsure of what to say or reply.
"How about you go back to bed, while we finish up packing? I will make sure that the landlord is here first thing in the morning, and that this is sorted out" he said.
I shook my head. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep with these two strangers in my room "I think I'm going to stay with my friend down the hall today" I told him.
"Even better" Nathan said as he opened his box and started to unpack.
"Okay, yeah, sure" Noah said "Whatever makes you feel comfortable, I guess. Do you want me to walk you there?"
I shook my head.
"Okay, totally understand" he said "Can you be back here at 7 a.m. so we can resolve this before orientation tomorrow?"
I nodded.
"Okay then" he said "We will figure this out tomorrow"
I nodded "Okay"
When I called Sam, she didn't ask me questions nor did her roommates, they just gave me a smiled and moved this bags from the couch where I slept for the remaining of the night.