As we got closer, I could make out where Ryan was. I struggled even harder against her grip but she clung tighter. "Trust me Kelly, you will forever thank me for this". I hissed at her and finally gave up my attempt as we got nearer to my doom. The end of my normal life. The start of a complicating one.
I smiled widely at Miranda once we were in front of them. It turns out, they were not alone. They were talking with a group of the popular kids from out school. But only a few of them. For some reason, I felt a little better. Miranda jumped up and hugged me, "Omg Kelly! Hi! I miss you so much. And you too Hillary!" Miranda instantly hugged Hills too and I laughed nervously. The group was now looking at me and Ryan was pretending that I didn't even exist. Well, not everyone in the group was staring at me. One of the boys was taking a huge interest in Hillary, who flirted back. Typical Hillary. I didn't know what to say or do. Their eyes were all on me as if I had something on my face. I self-consciously touched my face to check if there was something on me. I left my hair out of my ponytail because my dad threatened me this morning about it. He said he would 'kick me out'. I had no choice.
Ryan turned to look at me and his eyes locked on mine. It was the first time since I had seen him for a long time. It was clear he hadn't shaven his face for a month. There was a bit of stubble under his chin. "Hey Ryan. How are you?" His eyes were still locked on mine when he said, "I'm fine. How are you?" I thought carefully about what I was going to say before I said it. That resulted in a lame answer like, "I'm fine." One of Ryan's friends looked at Ryan as if he were crazy. "Ryan, isn't that the girl from our school. If I were you I would compliment her. She is the hottest girl I have ever seen in my life". Even though he was whispering, I heard every word and I couldn't help blushing. Ryan looked at me again and said, "You look nice". His friend slapped him in the back of the head. I think I'm kinda starting to like this guy. (Joking) Ryan rubbed the back of his head slowly. "You look beautiful Kelly. This guy over here is my best friend Dylan. I have known him for a long time and he is a pain in my-" Dylan shushed him and smiled at me. "Hey Kelly. I hope we will see each other again during the school year." He playfully kissed my hand and I laughed. He was cute. His brown hair was combed neatly through and his clothing sense was obviously on point. He had taken off his beanie after we came, but I wanted him to keep it on, secretly. "I beckoned over to Hillary , who was now giggling loudly with one of the guys from Ryan's group. "That's my best friend over there, her name is Hillary. She's more like a sis to me".
Dylan acknowledged Hillary and looked back at me. "Well, it was nice to meet you Kelly. I mean in person. I have seen you around school but I have never properly met you soo..." I smiled but I also wanted to cry because, at that moment, Ryan had put his hand over Miranda, cuddled her, and kissed the top of her head. I guess its official. They were dating. I felt the heat rush up to my cheeks and was praying happily in my head that there may be a diversion so I could sneak away. Fortunately, the principal of the school walked on to the stage and shushed us. Hillary and I found places to sit. The principal cleared her throat and waved hello to everyone.
"Good afternoon, my new students. It was a pleasure admitting intellectual students like you into our school. Make no mistakes. We could easily replace you so behave yourselves maturely. I am Principal Diane and I hope you find your stay here amazing. For the students who do not choose to live in the school, make sure you are here on time and do not cause trouble. For the students who do choose to stay here, I will be giving you your own room key and you will be able to meet your new roommates. I hope you have a great year in Scholarsdale College. Without furthermore instructions, I will call you up to receive your room key, and once you get it, please go and find your rooms. Your suitcases will already be there waiting for you".
***
I walked towards the girls' quarters. I already knew how the dorm buildings were structured. There were one hundred rooms for each of the first ten letters in the alphabet for the boys and the girls' quarters. There were three school buildings with fifty large classrooms in each and a huge swimming pool. There was a brick wall surrounding the whole piece, making it one of the best protected schools in the world.
The room key I was given was bronze. It said 'D78' and hung on to a metal card with my name on it. After a huge amount of walking, I finally found the door to my room. I double-checked it before opening it.
There were two girls sitting on one of the queen beds lined against the wall. The door squeaked a little and they turned to look at me. One had messy black hair that reached all of the way to her waist. She was holding a huge Koala- teddy-bear. The other one had her hair in braids that were pulled into a ponytail at the back of her head. She was eating carrots and slapping away the hands of the other one because she was trying to steal them. They looked exactly alike. I waved to them. "Hi! I'm Kelly Jacobs. I guess we're sharing a room." They got up and walked slowly to me. The one with the braids said, "Hey! I'm Laura and this is Angela. If you hadn't noticed yet, we're twins." Angela nodded, stuffing her mouth with the carrot she successfully stole from Laura. Laura turned to her, gave her a death glare, and threatened to punch her. Angela merely smiled. "Yea, we're twins. And pranksters so don't get on our bad side. I love Koalas and she loves bunnies. That's the way it goes". We laughed and started a conversation.
We were disrupted five minutes later by another member of our room. The last one; and guess who it was? Hills!! I ran over to her and hugged her as she slowly opened the door. She screamed. Laura threw a carrot at her and Angela covered her ears. Hillary raised her middle finger. "Hillary, put that down! You don't even know them". She laughed. "Yes, I do. Those are the girls who drenched me in milk in first grade." I laughed, my head filled with realization. "So, those were the girls who taunted you for like your whole life in the five years of summer camp. Well.. This is like a family reunion!" We laughed and started talking for the rest of the day, until the dinner bell rang.
We made our way to the dining hall, following a long line of girls and boys. They seemed to know where they were going. The dining hall was really big. There were dozens of round tables that could have seated more than ten people. There was a beautiful golden chandelier over each of them and lit candles in the middle of each of them. We sat at one of the tables and were accompanied by two other girls. One of them had curly brown hair that was pulled in a messy ponytail at the back of her head and pink glasses. There was an owl button pinned to her chest. The other one had long straight black hair which fell to her waist. She had a white rose pinned in her hair and a panda shaped purse. I waved to them and gave them my most charming smile. The one with the curly hair said, "Hey! I'm Sage. This is Natalie. We came from an all-girls preparation school, a mile away from this city." We all waved back and introduced ourselves.
A large amount of waiters came out of the kitchen and began to serve us our dinner. I ordered a chicken salad and got it almost immediately. The area was so sophisticated. We all dug in to our food and talked for a while. After about forty-five minutes, a bell rang overhead and we were sent back into our dorms.
When we got to the dorm room, we playfully fought over who should be the one to unlock the door. We pushed until only one person was standing. Which was Hillary. I will tell you... That girl has the strength of a bull. After she unlocked the door, we ran in and fell right asleep.
***
It was the first day of classes and I was already up and dressed by six o'clock. The rest of them were snoring loudly. I took the time to review things I would have forgotten just in case we had a beginners test to test how skilled you were. For some reason, I said a little prayer that Ryan would be in at least one of my classes and that he would sit next to me. I slapped myself in the head for being so immature.
At seven o'clock, I decided to wake them up. At first none of them got up, but I tied each of their legs to a rope I found in the supply closet, and yanked them off their beds. Their cries woke everyone else up, but it was worth it.
We made our way towards the school buildings and parted ways. Angela and I had the same first period class and we walked there together. We got lost twice and then we finally recognized how the buildings were structured. Well, I did. We entered the classroom right before the bell rang. I looked around for a familiar face and spotted Ryan and Dylan. They were laughing and holding their stomachs. I turned to Angela and asked, "So.. How's life? I'm sorry, it feels a little awkward." She smiled. "Don't worry, always think of koala's during awkward moments." She gave me a thumbs up and I gave her a confused face. This girl must love Koalas.
The teacher walked into the room on the late bell and we sat down. Angela sat on the right of me and Dylan was on the left. I gave him a smile and he winked at me. The most peculiar thing happened next. Ryan came over and whispered something in Dylan's ear. At first, Dylan refused, but then Ryan gave him a face and he got up. "Thanks bro!" Ryan sat next to me, and squeezed my leg. Dylan shot a death glare at Ryan. If looks could kill, Ryan would be having a full on heart attack right on that floor. I laughed at the thought and Ryan looked at me suspiciously. Then he turned to me all the way and asked, "Would you like to be my girlfriend?"