Homecoming

After three weeks of classes and craziness, the piles of dirty laundry were telling me that it was time for me to go home. So, I took a train ride, back into the familiar place that used to be my home. But, I began to question, what exactly is home? Is it my dorm, or is it my home that is thirty to forty minutes away, traffic pending? Maybe I have two homes? I don't know.

In twenty minutes, I was in the train station of my hometown. I looked for my mom and dad, but they seemed to disappear in the masses.

“Hey there little girl, are you lost?” an all too familiar voice said. I turned. It was John, arms open with flowers in one hand. His hair had grown a little bit, but I always had liked his hair longer anyways. His gray eyes still pierced me the same way as they did the first time that I saw him almost three years ago.

I couldn't mask my excitement. I leaped into his arms. They were truly home. “Hey baby, what are you doing here?” I asked.

“I told your parents that I wanted to pick you up for a surprise homecoming present”, he said. “I hope that you don't mind”.

“Mind? Of course I don't mind. I'm just flabbergasted that I saw you here. I wasn't expecting this”, I said kissing him on the cheek.

“A good unexpected surprise, I hope”.

“A VERY good surprise.”

He smiled. “These are for you.” He grabbed my luggage, and then my hand.

“Thanks baby”, I said. I kissed him. I could get used to this. Coming home nearly every other weekend with my boyfriend waiting for me with flowers. It felt like it was the forties, before air travel become a popular thing.

“So what do you want to do first?” he asked as he put the bags in his Toyata Camry. “Tonight we can do whatever we want, you just name it, and we'll do it.”

My eyes lit up. “Really? Because you know there's one thing that I wanted to do. Seriously”.

“And that is...?”

“Can we go to John's Shake Shack? I have a craving for their burgers for about a week now”, I said.

He opened the tic tac green door. “Your wish is my command, my lady. This weekend, it's all about us”.

“Thank you, kind sir”, I said.

“Anything for my girl. She's home for the weekend.”

“Yes she is”, I said. My phone vibrated. Thinking it was my mom or dad wondering if I got home okay, I fished it out of my bag. It wasn't. It was Michael.

Michael: Hey I hope you have a good weekend at home, Alexis!

I quickly tossed my phone back into my bag.

“Who was that?” John asked.

I shrugged. “Just a friend from school. She just wanted to know what time the dining hall closed.”

“Ohh okay”, he said. I couldn't believe it. I had lied to the person who I always promised to tell the truth to, the one who I always was honest and faithful with, and now I just lied to his face. I think he might have known that I was lying. I'm not sure if it was because of his silence or because I was reading way too much into into this.

“Yeah”, I said. For the first time in our relationship, we have reached an awkward silence full of tension. I wasn't sure if it was because he knew I was lying or because I was doing such a lousy job of lying.

“So..how's senior year?” I asked trying to break the silence, tearing through the tension like a tooth that is trying to rip through your gums.

“It's going well. Between football and AP classes, I have a full plate on my hands. Oh, and trying to mask the fact that I miss my girlfriend and yet she's going out and cheating on me with some guy she just met. And she lies to me to my face about it.”

Well, now he knew that I was lying to him. “Woah, I'm NOT cheating on you.”

He held out his hand. “Then let me see your phone then.”

I grabbed onto my phone and held onto it for dear life. “No. I have the freedom to say no. It's my phone.”

“Then whose Michael?”

“You saw it?”

“Yes.”

“Well he's just a friend. Nothing else.”

“You sure?” He asked.

“More then sure.”

“Positive?”

“Cross your heart and hope to die?”

“Yes”.

“Well why did you lie to me, Alexis? This relationship would only work if you're being honest with me.”

“I am!”

“Then why did you lie?” he asked.

“I didn't think you would take it well that I was friends with a guy. A straight one.”

“Well Alexis, I do expect you to talk to guys. I mean you do have them in your classes and stuff. I do expect you to have guy friends. I have girl friends. Chelsea, Kate, and Angela are my platonic girl friends. I'm totally okay with you having guy friends.”

I smiled. “Good”, I said.

Walking into my house felt like an episode of the Twilight Zone. It felt like I was walking into a stranger's house versus my own. It felt so unfamilar, so strange, so foreign.

“Alexis!” my mom said. “I heard the sound of the laundry bag!” She ran to hug me.

“Hi Mom”, I said.

“Honeybun?” my dad asked. He held in his hands a copy of the last Harry Potter novel. I can see that my dad was digging into my book collection. That was the thing that we shared-our love for books.

“Hey daddy”, I said. “Enjoying the book?”

“Yes. I'm finally finishing the last chapter. Now that I don't have you around to protect it with your life, I can read it in peace.”

“Ha ha ha very funny”.

I hugged my dad. I was always a Daddy's girl.

The weekend went by fairly quickly. It was all a blur of dates with John, and a Sunday Brunch with my parents, in addition to the awesome feeling of sleeping on a mattress that didn't have a past behind it, a story of its own to tell. Before I knew it, I was in my mom's black Jeep wrangler, on the road back to USC.

“Hey Mom?” I asked.

“Yes”, she said.

“Do you have any guy friends?”
“Yes”, she said.

“And does Dad mind?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No, not really. “Why?”

“Just asking.”

“Is John jealous of your new school friends?” She asked.

“No.”

“Then why do you ask?” she asked.

“Just wondering if he should be.”

“Well it's perfectly normal for a lasting relationship to have no jealousy.”

“Okay good.”

“Unless.”

“Unless what?” I asked.

“Unless the other person does something to cause it.”

“Oh.” I looked out the window. Coming home bought home a new set of concerns. However, coming back bought a set of newly set restrictions.

My phone buzzed. It was Michael. I pressed ignore. Suddenly, I realized that my relationship with John was too much of a gamble to lose.

I don't even want to risk it.  

The Greek Side of Life Isn't So Pretty.

The week after the first week of classes is often known as “Rush Week.” Rush Week is the sorority’s and the fraternities way of brainwashing innocent people, I mean recruiting interesting candidates to joining their group. It's kind of like the popular table in high school that you always wanted to sit in, but it was something that you couldn't join because you had some kind of flaw that leave you wondering if there's something wrong with you. There isn't, but because you don't fit into a size 0 pair of jeans, or own the 'it' item.

Sorority's are the same way. You can't join them. Oh no you can not. You have to be invited to them. So, you have to be interviewed, and go to these lame rush events, and for what? A small chance that you can't get in, and then you feel small when they walk by you on campus.

But why am I here? Chelsea dragged me here, because she didn't want to go alone. So I was forced to come to this rush event, wearing a dress of Chelsea's that didn't even fit me in the right places. I couldn't even text John, because he was out with his friends playing football. So, I was the loser sitting in the chair in the back of the room while everyone was making friends and connections. I thought about that pile of economics homework that I had to attend to when I got back, whenever I got back.

“Alexis, mingle!” Chelsea scolded. “You can't get in, unless you make friends and acquaintances.”

“Well maybe I don't want to get in”, I said, snippily.

“Alexis you need to do something other then homework and waiting for John to call”, Chelsea said. “You need friends.”

I rolled my eyes. “I have friends you know.”

A hot preppy guy came up to Chelsea. “Hey,” his deep voice said.

Chelsea turned to him, smiling. “Hey hot stuff”, she said.

“So, is you and your friend single?”

“She is, but I'm not”, I piped in.

“Hmmmm”, he said. “Would you like to take a walk with me? I want to show you the view”.

She smiled. “What does this view of yours look like?”

He cracked a smile too. I felt like I was in the middle of a scene from 50 Shades of Grey. I wanted to run to my shower fully clothed. God only knows what the 'view' really looks like. Even if there was a view, which there probably wasn't.

“Why don't we go and find out together”, his deep voice said. “That is, if you can leave your friend alone”.

She batted her hand, as if she were hitting that thought. “I think she'll be fine”, she said. Then they walked off holding hand and hand leaving Alexis the loser alone staring at her phone waiting for her boyfriend to text her back.

“Your friend left you too, huh?” a scared little voice asked.

I turned. There stood a girl with long red hair with a purple streak in it. She wore a black dress which matched her charcoal colored eyeliner. She wore plum colored nail polish, which matched the streak in her hair.

I sighed. “Yes, I guess that's what's happened here.”

“Mine did too about a half hour ago with some Abercrombie model. Funny how I was forced here, now I'm ditched.”

I laughed. “That's my life story for tonight. My name's Alexis. And yours?”

She reached out for a handshake. “Nice to meet you. I'm Viola.”

“Nice to meet you Viola”, I said. I then had an idea. “Hey, why don't we blow this Popsicle stand and go somewhere where we can have fun? Actual fun, not the whole sit around and mingle with bleach blonde bimbos getting more and more drunk by the minute?”

“Girl, you read my mind. My soul is dying in here”, she said.

I laughed.

We ended up at the campus dining hall. We were pretty much the only people that were in there because it was almost ten o'clock at night. We grabbed vanilla cupcakes with snow white frosting and sprinkles that looked like confetti on top of the cupcake.

“So, Alexis is it. Tell me your story”, she said as she liked the frosting off of her cupcake.

“Well there's not much to tell. I have a boyfriend named John, who I've been going out with for the last two years. I'm a Psychology major, and that's about it. And you?”

“My name's Viola. I'm a vegan art history major whose trying to find herself. And I hate sorority row with a burning passion. However my roommate thinks that I don't get out enough so here we are today. She's a blonde Barbie prom queen. I can't believe that the school actually thought that we would get along.”

I laughed. “You picked the random roommate thing, didn't you?”

“Yes. Worst mistake ever”.

“Why?” I asked.

“She's too perfect for me. I need someone whose flawed. Seriously no human is perfect. I can't wait until next semester when I can room with Autumn.”

“Autumn?”

“Yeah, she's in my art class, and perhaps one of the more cooler people on campus that I've ever met. She's not lame and cares about the Greek societies that mean absolutely nothing in life. Unless you count finger sandwiches and diet tips to be important.”

I laughed. “It's true.”

“Hey why don't you join us one day? Every Wednesday after art a bunch of people and I get together and get coffees and bagels and stuff.”

“What time?” I asked.

“Around five thirty”, she said. “You free?”

“Yeah”, I said.

“Good”, she said smiling. “Meet me at the campus cafe this Wednesday!”

“I'll be there”, I said, happy that finally I had friends.

Wednesday came. Chelsea was getting ready for a date with the frat dude, whose name was Kyle. Honestly, she looked like one of those girls who were the popular girls on the Full House episode when DJ went to junior high school. It was 80's night. She had been asked and accepted to the sorority and was soon to become a sister.

“So I don't know when I'll be coming home tonight”, she said adding a fourth layer of hairspray. “So don't wait up”.

I looked up from a text to John. “Actually, I have plans of my own tonight.”

She looked shocked and happy for me. “Really?”

I shrugged. “Yup.”

“With who?”

“Remember Viola? She was at the Rush Event on Monday when I went with you.”

“The redhead?”

“Yes”, I said. “She's really cool.”

“Cool,” she said. “I'm glad that you've finally met some people that you can hang out with. It's not healthy for you to just hang out in this room all day.”

“I know.”

“Tell John I said hi?”

“Of course.”

“Alright, well I'll see you later.”

“Have fun, and be careful!”

She slammed the door. She always hated it when I told her to be careful. But, I always worried that she would end up somewhere with danger.

I texted John while doing my homework for about an hour. Finally it was a few minutes before five. Time to hit the campus cafe, and meet my new artsy friends. Hopefully, they won't bite or anything.

The campus cafe was the only place on campus that served coffee. Therefore it was the only place that the hipsters gathered to either study or blog about how horrible their lives were. Either way, I wasn't surprised that the place was packed with people with giant glasses and tight jeans.

“Alexis!” I heard my name ring through the coffee shop. I looked up quickly. There was Viola who waved at me, and was sandwiched between a girl with a blonde bob and a vintage swing dress, and a guy with giant glasses and a jet black fedora. He was smoking a cigarette. “We're over here!”

I quickly joined them, and ignored the glares of the many faces who looked like they couldn't get disturbed from their laptop. Seriously, if I accidentally bump into you while you're typing something doesn't mean that you can give me a dirty look. I wondered if it was in the coffee shop book of ethics. Is that between thou shall only drink coffee, or between thou shall only wear glasses similar to ones our parents wore in the 80s.

“Hey everyone I want you to meet someone”, Viola said, hugging me. “Alexis, this is my friends Autumn and Michael. Guys, this is Alexis”.

“Nice to meet you”, I said, sitting down in the empty seat.

“Can I get you coffee or something?” Michael asked.

“No thank you. I don't drink coffee”.

“Really?” he said. “Just you wait. By the end of first semester, you'll be an addict like the rest of us”.

“I highly doubt that. The taste is too dark for me.”

“And how will you survive going to class after an all nighter?”

“I think I'll survive just fine with my hot cocoa thank you very much”.

He cracked a smile while tossing the cigarette in the ash tray. “You just wait and see, kid. You'll be one of us really soon.”

“And you'll be proven wrong”.

“You'll see”.

“Yes you will”.

He held his gaze a tad bit longer then necessary. If I didn't have a boyfriend, then I probably would have tried to get his number. But the vibration from my bag was the reminder that I did have one.

The conversation flowed easily. I could see myself quickly calling them my clique. However, so did the vibrations from my phone. After five vibrations in five minutes, I grabbed my phone out of the purse ready to throw it.

It was Chelsea. She said come back. Twenty five times.

“Uhm guys I have to go. It seems like my roommate is having a crisis,” I said. I quickly grabbed my bag, ready to dodge the hipster's evil glares.

“Here,” Michael said as he put a five on the table. “I'll walk with you.”

“See you guys next week?” Autumn asked.

“Of course!” I said. “It was nice meeting you!”

“You too!” she said.

We wove through the webs of hipsters. As soon as he went outside he lit a cigarette.

“So, Alexis. Do you like being called Lexi?”

I nodded. “Not really, no.”

“Okay, Alexis it is.”

“Do you like being called Mike?”

He shook his head. “Just as much as you like being called Lexi, my dear”.

“So I would assume it to be a negative?”

“For once, someone assumes correct.”

“So tell me about yourself, Alexis not Lexi.”

“There's not much to tell. I'm a psychology major who wants to help children. And you, Mr. Michael not Mike?”

“I'm an undeclared. But come on, tell me more about yourself. I'm sure there's more to you then your major.”

“Yes.” I said, pointing to the brick building that was my dorm. “This is where I live. I'll see you.”

“Wait!” he called.

“Yeah”, I said.

“Can I at least have your number”.

Without thinking about what this would do to John, I quickly gave it to him, assuming that he was solely a friend.

“Bye Alexis not Lexi.”

“Bye, Michael.”

I quickly ran inside trying not to think about what just happened. Had I implied that I was a free single bird, when in reality I wasn't?
I couldn't think about it now. I opened my door, and found Chelsea in the corner, curled up in a tiny ball crying.

“What's wrong?” I asked. I've never seen this girl cry before, not even when her childhood dog died. And I've known her since we were in preschool.

“He used me to add notches in his belt. His frat brothers..they..they want you to sleep with five girls before he can be one of those jerks. I..I...I was number three...I...I...I..I can't believe him”.

“Awww Chelsea,” I said hugging her. “It's going to be okay. I'm right here. Guys like that are just jerks.”

“That's all I was to him...A number.”

I sighed. This was the Greek side of life. And sometimes, this side of life wasn't pretty.  

It's all a Balancing Act.

They say that too much of anything can be a bad thing. Too much sugar can cause diabetes. Too much french fries can lead to heart disease. Too much alcohol can lead to bad karaoke sessions, when the tone deaf think that they can sing Celine Dion. Too much chocolate, although you are left in heaven can lead to zit city on your forehead.

One of the things that I've read in the Freshman 15 article in Seventeen is that college is a balancing act as well. Too much food at the dining hall can lead to you being a victim of the Freshman 15 curse.

Today was the first day of classes. The first day of school back in high school was the day when you can reunite with all of your friends, and talk about your attempts to get the hot lifeguard to notice you,and whether or not it worked. If you were in a relationship, then you told the stories of what you did with your boyfriend. You wore a crisp new pair of jeans, and carried a new backpack. In college, things were different. You just woke up and went to class, sometimes you just wake up and go. It's a whole different fishbowl then the halls of high school.

My alarm went off at seven. I could hear Chelsea groan. “It's too early,” she mumbled under the pillow.

“Maybe if someone wasn't spending all night in the frat house..”

“Don't give me that”, she mumbled. “You know if you didn't have John, then you would have been there with me. Come on, admit it, you're jealous”.

I threw a pillow at her. “I love John. I wouldn't do anything to change our relationship. Or ruin it for that matter.”

“Sure, that's what you think. But are you sure that's what you want to do? You're in college. You only college once.”

I rolled my eyes. “YOLO? Really?”

“Well, it's true.”

“I never thought something so true can be something so annoying”, I said.

“THE TRUTH HURTS BITCH!” she shouted as I headed towards the showers.

Two hours later, I found myself waiting outside a classroom. I had arrived early, because I thought it was expected. But, there was a class already in there, so I was sitting on the floor, waiting for John to text me back. He probably was asleep. College started a week before high school. Ironically, we get more time off, and longer vacations then they did. I wondered why that was.

I stared awkwardly at my phone for what seemed like eternity. No one texted me, other then my dad who wanted to wish me luck on my very first day of school. I wondered what was going through his head. He probably had flashbacks on his first day of kindergarten.

A girl with long blonde hair and large sunglasses sat next to me. Immediately, she whipped out her phone before I could even make eye contact.

I decided to take the initive to say hello. It's either that, or stare at the phone that wouldn't ring. “Hi, are you here for Math 101?” I asked, nervously.

She looked up. “Yeah, I guess”, she said, and then she went back to her texting. I wondered what was so important that she clearly couldn't say hello. I went back to staring at my phone.

Five minutes later, the class left the room. I stayed awkwardly in the hallway, because I didn't know what to do. Do I go in? Do I wait for the professor, and then go in? Or do I awkwardly sit in the hallway waiting for some sort of invitation to go in?

The snotty looking girl went in. Therefore, I decided to follow suit. And then we went in, sitting on two different ends of the classroom. I wondered if where you sat entailed the kind of student that you are. In high school, the nerds always sat in the front, and the popular kids always sat in the back texting their best friends and flipping their hair.

I sat in the safe middle area. A few minutes later, a woman who looked like she can wear the witch costume with ease entered. I wondered if she rode a broom instead of driving a car. She looked like Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter. She smiled, and slightly resembled a troll. She had mid length curly blond hair and a smile that resembled a frog's. She must have been the teacher. It was safe to assume since she looked older then us.

Ten minutes later, the classroom filled up with people, all of them looking older then me. They were all strangers, and I didn't know a single face. Another difference from high school. There was always a familiar face in the crowd. Here, I didn't know a single one. It was like I was in binary code, and they were the zeros and the ones.

“Good morning class!”

We groaned and mumbled good morning. This teacher must have had three cups of coffee before coming here. With lots of sugar.

“Class, that's not good enough. You guys need to be enthusiastic! Now say it again.”

“Good morning, Professor!” we said, although I'm sure that ninety percent of the class was leaking sarcasm through their voice.

“Good! Now let's get started..”

Three hours later, I was done with my first day of college. I had three classes today. Three classes of going through syllabuses, learning the rules and regulations of every teacher. They all acted like they were my only class, like I had no other life and story other then their classroom. I felt overwhelmed.

“What's going on with you?” Chelsea asked, as I entered our dorm room.

“Class, that's what.”

“That bad, huh?” she asked. Her classes didn't start for another hour or so. She had all afternoon classes. And none on Fridays. I was so jealous of her schedule.

“The worst. It seems like every teacher thinks that their class is the only thing going on in my life. It's like that for every class. I have so much homework that I can't see or breathe through the pile of homework that was in front of me. It feels like it's crushing me, Chels, and I don't know what to do. I won't have enough time for John, or a life for that matter.”

“Girl, relax”, Chelsea said.

“How can I relax? These are supposed to be the best years of my life, not the most stressful ones.”

“They will be”, Chelsea said.

“How?”

“It's all a balancing act. It's only your first day. It will get better”, she said.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Because there are so many college graduates out there. Don't you think that they had their share of bad days as well as the good ones?”

“Fair point.”

“Good”, she said. “Tomorrow will be so much better. We have a class together, so at least you know someone. Now if you excuse me, I have to go to my first class. I want to get a new seat-next to a hot boy!” She grabbed her Chanel tote, ebony black with the snow white “C” on it.

I laughed, and plopped down at my bed. Wherever the hot boys were, so was Chelsea. She was a natural born flirt, and usually that resulted in her favor. Traffic tickets? Never had to worry about that. She had the sheriff wrapped around her little finger. I wondered if that was part of being blonde-having the confidence to flirt with anyone that crossed in her path. I wondered if they sold it in a bottle.

I looked at the dresser. They did sell that in a bottle. Chanel No. 5

The next day began another set of classes. The only plus side to that was that I had a class with Chelsea. On our way there, there was this kid. He was kind of nerdy looking, with giant hipster glasses. He was wearing a dark navy polo shirt, the kind of navy that looks almost like it's black. He was listening to an iPhone and had giant beats by doctor dre.

I looked over to see what he was listening to. Dream On by Aerosmith. (Which is my favorite band of all time.)

Suddenly, I realized that this wasn't going to be not too bad after all.

Doors.

Two Months Later:

It was the night before I was to move into our dorm. Naturally, I was spending it with John. We were spending it like we were filming it the music video to Carrie Underwood's The Night Before Life Goes On.

We walked around the town, one last spin, feeling like we owned it. We went to the place where we first kissed, the diner where we had our first date, and the park where we often went after school. These places were apart of our two year history together. Now, it was time for us to reach that critical point when all boundaries were tested. Could we truly be together even when we were destined to be apart. We used to see each other everyday. Now we would be lucky if we could see each other once a week.

We began to walk the familiar path in. He held my hand, not saying anything. I didn't either. The silence was enough for now.

We reached my snow white colonial house.

“So this is it”, he said softly. I couldn't detect any emotion in his voice.

“This is it”, I said.

“Do I say goodbye?”

I nodded. “I don't think of this as a goodbye. I think of this as a see you later kind of thing.”

He put his arms around me. “Plus”, I added. “I'll only be an hour away from here. That's with traffic. With out traffic you're looking at a half of an hour to 45 minutes”.

“Do they allow boys to visit?” he asked.

“I go to a state school. Of course, they allow you to visit. Of course, you have to have a valid license, which you have so we don't have to worry about them letting you in or anything.”

“And you'll be home almost every weekend?” he asked carefully.

I nodded. “Not EVERY weekend, but close to it.”

“Good”, he said, smiling. “Don't be a stranger.”

I smiled, and kissed him, the last bittersweet kiss until God knows when. I'm not going to be sad, I told myself.

“I love you. I'll call you tomorrow afternoon”, he said, letting go of his hand. It wasn't gone for a whole two seconds, and I already missed the reassuring weight of his hand over mine. It was a comfort to know that I wasn't alone in the world. Now, I was going to be alone in this world, and that comfort wasn't going to be there for me to hold.

The next day, we packed Dad's red Volvo station wagon. Most of the contents of my room, ranging from school supplies to stuffed animals have been packed into the surface area of the square trunk. My entire life was in dark brown cardboard boxes. It was ready to see its new home. I was ready to see it's new home.

“Ready?” Mom asked as she got into the front seat.

“Yes”, I said. “I'm surprised that you didn't bring the camera.”

“Oh don't worry”, Dad said as he was pulling out. “That's why they invented cell phones for.”

I rolled my eyes as we passed out of town limits. It was past all of the things that used to scare me. Now they seemed so little, so insignificant. I wonder if it's because I've gotten bigger, or I've grown up. This was the beginning of the newest stage of my life. The trees on the highway began to pass by me, slowly disappearing. The sunshine bathed me, and I began to soak in it's rays through the window.

Finally we pulled up to where I would be spending the next four years. The academic buildings were fairly new with modern architecture, and clear windows that the sun reflected on, and had yet to be scratched by years of use. The resident halls were behind them, in their own little alcove on campus.

Dad parked the Volvo under a tree. I got out of the car, and began to take in my surroundings. The day was beautiful, no clouds littered the sky. Kids, some looking like they were still in middle school, others looked like they should be in grad school or that they should be joining the workforce instead of moving into a dorm had something in their hands, ranging from boxes, to stuffed animals, to other personal items. Some even had backpacks that looked like they were loaded with rocks.

Dad opened the trunk. “Have you heard from Chelsea?” he asked, grabbing one of the heavier boxes.

I glanced at my snow white iPhone. “Nope”, I said, grabbing my duffle bag.

“Where's your residence hall?” Mom asked, taking one of the boxes.

I got the notice out of my pocket. “I'm in...” I scanned the map. “I'm in Brownstone.” I got the map out of my other pocket. “Of course, it's the farthest one away from here.”

We began to walk. Dad began to ramble about why there should be all girl dorms with no male visitors allowed whatsoever, while Mom assured him that John wouldn't like it very much. John, who felt like a whole different world away from here. I wondered what he was doing now. His senior year would be starting tomorrow. Did he have his AP work done? Was he ready to begin to look at what would be his new start? Would that future include me?

Unfortunately, I didn't have that much time to think about this. A perky, peppy, bleach blonde wearing a USC T-Shirt and booty shorts stood in front of the building greeted us. “Welcome to USC, home of the Trojans!” she exclaimed. “Be a part of the USC community! Be sure to get involved!” Well she seemed obnoxious.

“My name is Mandy and I'm going to be your RA”, she said, shaking my hand. Oh great, I thought. It would be one long semester with Dolly Sunshine.

“Hi Mandy!” my dad shook her hand. He seemed a little too excited too see her. I hope Mom didn't see him.

“What's your name?” she asked. I felt like I was a cute little dog that you find on the street, and you ooh and ahh at it condescendingly. I'm a person, not a dog damn it.

I smiled politely. “Alexis. I'm in room 224.”

“Do you need help finding it?” she asked.

“No. But if I do, I know where to find you.”

She opened her mouth in shock. I'm sorry Blondie, but not everyone isn't as dim as you, I thought as I pressed the button to open the elevator.

As I found my room, I realized that life was similar to opening and closing doors. Like when you get married. The most common practice was to get carried through the threshold. More often then not, we don't know what's behind those doors.

My room door was open. Behind my door, was Chelsea.  

A New Slate

The high school concert band was playing Pomp and Circumstance a beat that we were marching to as we stepped onto the football field. The weather was bright and sunny, the blank canvas to a brand new day. Today was the last day most of us would see each other. The last day that we would see the bitchy popular girls who thought they owned the frickin’ school, the last time we would see the theater kids before they got famous, and the last time we would see the jocks get away with murder. Today is the day when we would scatter, some would stay close to home, others would be going to further heights. We would call this place our hometown, the place where our roots were planted.
The ceremony lasted about an hour. Richard Bush, the nerdy valedictorian spoke in terms that we didn’t understand. The principal told us weird antidotes, in addition to giving us little stones of wisdom. We got our diplomas, then tossed our hats, as they shot into the air like sprinkles on a cupcake. And then, it was over. We graduated high school.
“Alexis!” a deep masculine voice called, running towards me. The tall dark figure was my boyfriend John. He held grape purple flowers in one arm, and his other arm was open wide for me to fit into.
“Hey baby”, I said, kissing his smooth lips.
“Hey Miss High School graduate, these are for you”, he said handing them to me. “Congratulations”.
I kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you”, I said.
He held me. “I love you”, he said kissing me again.
I smiled. “I love you too”.
I was then greeted by my family. My mother's pump cheeks were tear-stained, my dad held the jet black Nikon camera. We posed in a few pictures, in every combination humanly possible.
“ALLLLLEEEEEXXXIIIISSSS!” I heard my name in a high pitched scream that was none other then Chelsea, my best friend. “We did it, bitch!”
A tall and thin blonde figure raced across the field. She had taken the motorboard off her head, and held it in her left hand. You can see the simple black dress that was underneath the unflattering bright red gown that the girls had to wear. Her long blond hair was long and straight and flowed down to her mid-ab area.
“Hey Chelsea”, I said, laughing, and gave her a hug.
“We FINALLY graduated!” she squealed, bouncing up and down.
“Yes”, I said. “Next stop USC!”
“Yes, roomie!”
Chelsea and I were going to go to USC together in the fall. We had decided to be roommates, because since we both were going to the same school why not room with someone you knew rather then a perfect stranger. Besides, what's better then rooming with your best friend?
We posed for a picture, one that would go next all of the ones that we've taken at prom, our eighth grade promotion, and our first day of kindergarten.
“Now Chelsea, keep an eye on my girl”, John said matter of factly as he put his arm around my waist.
She laughed. “I make no promises.” She turned to me. “College is going to be crazy, girl!”
I grinned. “You know it”.
“Not too crazy”, my dad said, giving me a stern look. “Ready to go, Alexis? We have reservations in a half of an hour”.
I nodded yes. We began to walk out. I took one last look at the school. I remembered when I thought that it was so big. I was once intimidated by this building. Now it looked so small. I had conquered the tribulations of high school, and I was ready to move on to the University of Southern California with Chelsea by my side.
Yes. My slate was wiped clean today, ready to be written with in new words.