Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Move In Day


            Kurt was excited, though he would never admit it. Moving into a college dorm was comparable to moving out of your parents’ house, right? And who wouldn’t be excited for all that new freedom. His dad was in the process of parking his car near the dorm he would be living in. Kurt couldn’t wait to meet his roommate. The college wouldn’t disclose who your roommate was until you met them in your room today for the first time. He thought it was weird, but supposed the college just liked to keep the excitement up.
            Once his dad found a parking spot, they walked into the dorm. Before the move-in itself, Kurt had to check in. The process was smooth, just giving his name to the CAs (Community Advisors) so that they could provide his new college ID, and his room key. He was in room 154.
            With his key in hand, Kurt headed back to his dad’s car to get his first box of stuff. He wanted to take the things least likely to break first. That also meant the lightest boxes, like clothing, bedding, and such.
            His dad put the fridge on the wheely thing they brought. The online application asked whether you’d prefer to supply the fridge or the microwave. Since they had an extra fridge at home, he opted for that.
            Kurt and his dad slowly made their way to his room. With so many people around, it was hard to maneuver anywhere, let alone to the hallways with the rooms- everyone’s destination.
            After some time, they made it there. As he took out his key, and fiddled with the lock, someone said, “Oh, you must be my roommate.”



            Roslyn sighed aloud while she waited in line for her check-in. She had wanted to get here earlier so that she wouldn’t have to deal with long lines, but her parents insisted on eating breakfast. Of course, that was fine- she liked breakfast (usually). It was the dealing with her younger sister that came as an annoyance. The 15-year-old Samantha was complaining about her hair endlessly, and her even younger 10-year-old sister, Felicia, wanted her mom to stay home so she could drive her to the movies today.
            So, after lots of debate, Roslyn and her dad were allowed to leave. Her mom did, indeed, stay home for Felicia, while her dad took her to college. She couldn’t wait to be free of her two siblings, specifically Sam’s constant need to borrow her stuff. It didn’t take too long to physically get to the school, only about 15 minutes, but she planned on rarely going home. Probably only for a day every month or so do get shampoo and such.
            After check-in, Roslyn got her ID and key and promptly headed to her room. Instead of trying to carry stuff to her room, Roslyn would rather meet her roommate first, and see what the room was laid out like. As she made her way down the hall, she read the dorm doors for numbers. 148, 150...
               "Ah, here it is." She said. Someone was at her door, struggling with the lock while holding boxes. She couldn't see a face, the boxes were in the way. "Oh, you must be my roommate." She said. The person with the boxes finally got the door open, and swung it wide. "My name is Roslyn. Everyone calls me Roz."
                Her roommate stopped, and put down the boxes. It was a boy. "My name's Kurt. It's nice to meet you Roz, but are you sure you've got the right room? I'm in 154." Kurt shoved the boxes into the room with his foot, and produced his key. It did, indeed, say 154 on it.
            "I'm in 154 too." She said, holding out her key. They looked at each other, very confused. "Are we supposed to room together?!" Roslyn was speechless, more or less. 
            "Well, this is awkward..." Kurt mumbled. "What do you think we should do?" Roslyn's mind was going a mile a minute. She wasn't at all sure that she could just deal with this situation. No one warned her that these dorms were co-ed, let alone same room co-ed. 
             "I guess we tell someone at check-in." She said, as level-headed as she could. "Someone should know what to do." Kurt put his boxes down, and the together they headed toward to the check-in room. Some kids were still in line, but it was mostly empty. One of the tables had no one at it. Roz pointed to it, and they went there. 
             "Um, hello." Roz said, nervously.
             "Hi. What's up?" 
             Roz wasn't entirely sure what to say now.  "Well, uh..." She pointed at Kurt. "Me and him got paired as roommates. Is it some sort of mistake?"
             The worker looked almost amused. "No, it's not. It's done completely on purpose. You see, the college had to do something a little different this year. One of our professors, Professor Kirie, is doing a social experiment as part of his First-year writing course. The co-ed living is part of the course you picked."
             Roz and Kurt looked at each other, still confused. Then Roz remembered. "Oh...that waiver I had to sign online when I signed up for that course...I didn't actually read it."
             Kurt nodded. "Me either. I've gotten in the habit of just skipping those things. Terms of Service, Waivers. I never read them."
             The CA laughed a little. "Well, it;s nice to meet you two. I'm Stephen, your CA. If you guys have any problems let me know, but for now, just move in. After all, you signed up for it."
             Roz and Kurt glanced sideways at one another, then said in unison, "I have to live with 'em?"




1 comment:

  1. Roz's friend calls Roz on cellphone to see how moving in is going. She says:

    You're WHAT?1! In a room with a boy? Are your parents there with you? What did they say? Is he at least cute? Giggle. Some experiment this is going to be.
    Well honey, If you aren't comfortable with it-- at least I know I wouldn't be--why don't you see if there's someone else you can talk to. I don't want to have to make sure to remember to go to the bathroom before I visit you! Yuck.I'd try talking to someone else if I were you.

    Alright, keep me posted!

    ReplyDelete