I finished packing the crate and walked down stairs to put it in my car. I looked into the kitchen to see my mom standing at the sink with a mug enclosed in her hands, staring into oblivion. I smiled to myself and walked outside where my dad and little brother Dylan were taking turns shooting hoops. I rushed to put the box into the back and shut the door running to the court. My brother just released the ball into the air and I jumped up and blocked it.
"Awwwwww!" he shouted as he smiled at me. "Can't believe my sister is better than me at basketball!"
"Please! I'm not the one who's got a scout coming to every game this year from 12 different colleges!" I replied picking up the ball and shooting it.
"You might have if you wouldn't have joined cheer-leading," he said taking the ball from my hands and dribbling around me.
"Hey, I had my fair share of scouts in Cheer."
"Yeah, but are you going to any of their colleges?" he teased.
"I didn't want to go to any of their colleges, and you know that, Dyl," I retorted. He narrowed his eyes and nodded knowing that it was true.
"You all packed up?" my dad broke into the conversation.
I nodded and looked at him. My dad wasn't one to cry but I could tell that me leaving for college was hurting him.
"My baby girl, leaving me for the big world," he sighed.
"It's just college, dad. I'll be back during the holidays!" I reasoned.
"Ok, just don't bring any boys with you," he joked.
We all went inside to find my mother still standing at the sink staring at something that only she could see. My dad went up to her and placed a hand on her back. She head shook as she came out of her reverie and looked around. She saw me and my little brother standing there and she smiled at us. She came over and pat my cheek and pulled me into a hug.
"I guess I should get going," I said looking around at my family. They smiled at me and nodded weakly. I began the seemingly long trek to my car. I pulled myself into the drivers seat and closed the door while starting my car. I rolled down the window as my dad laid his arms on the sill.
"Drive careful. Don't talk to strangers. Make friends. Do good in school," my dad listed.
"Dad, if I don't talk to strangers, how am I supposed to make friends?" I questioned. "And I do 'well' in school."
He nodded and smiled at me. "That's why you're an English major." He kissed my forehead and moved for my mom to talk to me.
"Call me as often as you can! Tell me about your dorm, your classes, your professors, your roommate, the cute boy next door, any friends you make, tell me everything!" she exclaimed looking at me. "Everything!" She put a hand to my cheek and smiled at me with tears in her eyes. I nodded trying not to cry.
She then moved and my brother came to the window. He held out his hand for me like he does his friends and we did this weird handshake that I finally figured out. "Keep the boys a safe distance away. If you need I'll come beat a few up." He gave me his cheeky smile and winked. I laughed and he stepped away and stood next to my dad who held my mother in his arms, crying.
"Do well, kid!" My dad shouted to me. I smiled and put my car into gear. I stuck my hand out and waved as I drove away. I turned out of the driveway and made my way out of the neighborhood. I almost started to let the tears that were welling up fall down my face but then I got a hold of myself and stopped. I was going to college, it's not like I was entering another world and leaving this one behind forever.
By the time I got on the highway, I had gone through three songs and what felt like 16 commercial breaks on the radio. My favorite song came on and I rolled up my windows because I was getting on the highway. I always liked the wind in my hair so I would roll them down driving around town. I turned up the volume and tapped my fingers on the steering wheel.
***
12 hours, three gas stops, and one Chick-fil-A drive through later, I reached the college campus. I have terrible gas mileage. I turned off the engine and stepped out of the car. The sun that hit me in the face was a polar opposite from the AC that blasted through my vents. I saw many students walking around with suitcases and booksacks. Many had papers in their hands. I saw the admission office and locked my car making my way to it
I entered the office and stood in the line looking around at my potential classmates. The line moved and eventually I was at the front.
"Alice. Alice Bailey," I told the woman behind the counter.
"Ah, yes! I knew your father. Here's your schedule, dorm number and key, and parking spot number." She handed me three different papers. "That's your parking pass," she handed me a neon yellow piece of plastic that obviously was meant to hang from the rear-view mirror. I thanked her and made my way out.
I got back into my car and found my way to my building that I would reside in for the next few months. I backed into the parking place and unlocked the back. I grabbed the first crate and walked up the stairs to the third floor and found the door to B8. I pulled out the key the woman gave me and unlocked the door.
I pushed the wooden door to the wall and stepped into the dusty room. I set my crate on the counter in the kitchen and looked around. There was a shabby looking couch in the middle of the floor in front of an even shabbier looking T.V. There was a circular coffee table that could pass for a side table and another cushioned chair in the corner.
Through a door to my right, there were two beds with two dressers and two desks. The beige walls make me want to throw up from lack of creativity. I will not be able to write in this room. I heard the door slam open and hard foot steps making their way toward the bed room. I turned around to see a girl with frizzy hair and loads upon loads of suitcases in her arms. She dropped them on the ground and walked past me and landed on one of the beds.
"I walked all the way from the admissions office because my family left me there and I have no car!" Her words were muffled through the comforter on the bed.
"Well, my stuff is still in my car," I stopped. "Want to help?"
Suddenly, she stood up and turned to me with a smile on her face. "Of course!"
We walked down to my car and finished unpacking in record timing. I had an ice chest with a few frozen dinners and milk. I had a crate full of chips, coffee, and other thing that might come in handy for a freshman college student. After we put everything for the kitchen up, we set up the Wii that my roommate had brought.
"I'm Molly!" she told me as we unloaded my car.
"Alice," I replied.
"Oh my goodness! I've always loved that name!" She was very peppy.
As we raced each other on Mario Cart we chatted about our home lives and what we were majoring in.
"So, you want to be like, what, an author?" she asked me.
"Yeah, that's the plan," I said as I once again skidded to a halt at the finish line after finishing 1st.
"Totally, cool! What kind of books are you going to write?" she asked.
"Hopefully thrillers, action type, maybe a murder mystery here and there," I said. She got up to change the game from Mario Cart to Wii Sports. I stood up and moved the couch and coffee table out of the way so that we could move around more easily.
Right then, the door was thrown open with such force that I thought there was a hurricane outside. A girl stood in the doorway and peered inside almost timid. Then she got a grip and walked in like she owned the place. She looked at both me and Molly and I thought she looked almost familiar but I had never seen her before.
"You've been transferred," she told Molly. We stared at her dumbly. She looked at us again and almost shied away. She seemed so nervous.
"What?" Molly asked.
"The lady in the box told me to tell you that you've been transferred," she repeated.
"What lady in what box?" Molly asked with attitude.
"The lady in the box at the admissions office," she said.
Molly nodded and sized up the girl that stood in front of us. I stood up and placed myself between them. "Who got transferred? Molly or me?"
"The girl," she replied.
"Molly?" I asked again.
"Not you," she replied. She turned and walked into the bedroom and threw her two small bags on Molly's bed.
I turned around and looked at Molly. She mouthed "rude" to me and stepped around me to go to the bedroom.
"And where do you suppose I go?" Molly questioned the girl.
"To my previous room," she stated bluntly.
"Which is where?" Molly asked.
The girl stopped and pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. She handed it to Molly who read it. "All the way across campus..." she trailed off, "Right next door to that damn admissions office."
She rolled her eyes and began to pull her stuff together. At least she hadn't unpacked too much.
"And why did this change occur, might I ask?" Molly began throwing things into her bag.
"Many girls are being transferred because they messed up the first time," the girl said automatically, almost as if she knew Molly was going to ask that.
"And what is your name?" I asked. "I'd like to know the name of my new roommate."
She turned to me, almost lovingly, and looked at me with such kindness it warmed my heart.
"Moira," she said with great gentleness.
"Can you give me a ride?" Molly asked.
I nodded still looking at Moira. "Why did your mom name you that?"
"When I was born, she said that she knew I was going to be special, so she named me after a good friend of her's," she said smiling slightly.
"Do you want to come with us?" I offered out of courtesy.
She shook her head and smiled, then proceeded to unpack her belongings. I lead Molly out the door and to the car. She packed her bags, her Wii, and everything else that was hers.
When we got into the car she looked at me. "She was rude. And weird."
"I think she was just different," I defended.
"Whatever, maybe we'll see each other around campus?" she wished.
I nodded. "I hope so!"
After dropping her off, I went back to the dorm to find Moira standing in front of my closet where I put my hanging clothes. I dropped my phone on the night stand to get her attention. She turned around nonchalantly and peered at me over her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm looking for your purple skirt," she said. I stopped.
"I haven't unpacked it yet." I went to my suitcases and pushed around some clothes before I found my favorite skirt. I held it up to show her then pulled it back again. "How did you know I had a purple skirt?"
She looked at me, almost shocked that I asked that. "Wh-what girl doesn't have a purple skirt?"
I nodded and turned away. "Why were you looking for it?"
"Because, we're going out."