"You don't remember?" the mystery woman says quizzically, cocking an eyebrow. She shuffles back into the hallway a little, looking to the left as she looks into another room. "Tonight. Tonight is the dorm's welcome party" she explains, shaking her hips in a little dance and raising her hands.
For a moment I'm mentally lost, my panicked mind struggling to keep up with all that was happening. I could still remember my original dorm welcome party, a small meeting hall along the bottom floor filled with some simple snacks and carefully curated music.
"I...uh...yeah..." I mutter in response, looking down at the World of Warcraft shirt I had found myself in. "Should I...not wear this?" I ask, looking back at my boxes as I try to identify where I could have packed my clothes.
"Well..." muses the young woman, obviously contemplating my question. "I suppose it is to make amici. That shirt may do" she replies, shrugging a little.
In the distance the chiming of the college clock tower begins to sound out, the faint sound in the otherwise quiet room causing the Italian girl to jump with a start.
"Fanculo" she hisses, looking back into the room she had previously glanced at. "I'm running...I'll see you there Jor-Dan" she chirps with a smile, ducking out of the doorway and into another room as the sound of a door slamming echoes through the hall.
Sighing I quickly push the door closed, my heart hammering in my chest at the thought of another neighbor dropping in. Thankfully, I'm left to my own devices for the moment, allowing me a minute of reprieve as I lean against the cheap wooden door.
"Fuck...I...this is unbelievable" I wheeze, my eyes open wide in shock and awe at my situation.
I was eighteen again, but not back when I had been. I had barely kept up with trends into my late twenties, I had no idea what people my age liked! What music they listened to! Nothing!
Looking down I'm greeted with my same nerdy first, a modern equivalent to something I would have worn all those years ago. "Maybe...Maybe I can make this work" I mutter, my eyes darting over to the half setup computer on my desk. "I mean, nerds are still nerds...right?"
Shuffling nervously back over to the boxes I drop down, looking for any identifying text on the outside. Unfortunately for me they were written much in the same manner I had done for my first few moves, leaving them entirely blank on the outside.
I slowly begin to tear at the tape of some of the topmost boxes, tearing at the cardboard as I peek inside. Much to my disappointment, or joy, I find many of my old games and consoles loving sorted and packed away for my new college life.
My eyes drift lower in the pile, a grimace forming over my lips as I see the heavy boxes at the bottom. "Those are probably the clothes aren't they" I groan in frustration, realizing I would but the non-breakables on the bottom. I lift one of the video game-filled boxes to what little space remained on the desk, huffing in frustration as it dawns on me how much I had to do to unpack.
"I can...I can just wear this" I mutter, looking at my youthful reflection in the mirror on the back of the door. "I guess I won't be making any different first impressions this time".
Opening my door I awkwardly begin to shuffle out into the overly lit hallway. As I pull the door closed behind me I freeze up, patting at my pockets for a key. Rather than finding the keys I had dropped outside of my old apartment I feel a card in my back pocket. Fishing out the card I find my grinning picture on the front, my details piled in next to it along with my new room number 4-11.
Closing the door I glance around the hall, finding it as narrow and bland as it had always been. It continues down to the left for several mirrored rooms, two large sections breaking off to the left and right to create the exit and the kitchen/dining room. To the right I see only one bedroom, the one that the Italian girl had been looking in. Pinned to the door I find the same form as on my own.
Welcome to Orientation
Please let your new neighbors know a little about yourself.
Name: Carmen Romano
Birthday: 11 March
Major: History
Hobbies: Running, Gymnastic
"Carmen huh?" I whisper, trying to commit her name to memory.
Opposite her room I see the bathroom/showers, the combined space making for some close contact living with the neighbors. At either end of the hall large windows, the dark sky outside and bright lights inside making it hard to see much out of them.
Walking down towards the exit I pass by door after door, some opening into empty rooms while others appear to house those who have freshly moved in. Before I know it I reach the cross-section of the building, the narrow hallway giving way to an expansive mid-section. To the right is a tightly packed kitchen, cramped countertops lining the wall and covered with utensils and appliances while a large low communal table sits in the dead center.
Spinning around I turn to the left, heading out towards the huge double doors and out to the concrete landing and stairwell. Looking over the side of the high gray walls of the landing I see just how high up my new dorm was, finding myself several floors up.
"4-11...Fourth floor" I mutter, pulling back as I feel a dull sense of vertigo.
Opposite the doors to the dorm, at the far end of the landing, is a large set of stairs. My legs practically ache at the sight as I imagine how much effort it would have been to carry all my boxes up here.
To the left of the dorms runs a long walkway, connecting this building to the other two buildings that make up the dorms. The residential wings flank the central utility block which houses many of the amenities the students can enjoy.
"I think...the meeting hall was on level two" I whisper under my breath, shivering a little in the cold winter air as I rush down the walkway towards the central building.
As I slip inside through the fourth-floor door I'm hit with a rush of hot air, a grin forming on my lips as I'm met with a familiar sight.
"Fuck...the rec room...I haven't been here in...well years" I muse warmly as fond memories rush to the forefront of my mind.
The lobby is filled with quite a few pool tables and vending machines, a large tabled area off to the right giving space for people to gather and eat in the relatively chilled-out space. To the back of the expansive area sits a single black door with a tiny touch screen adjacent to it, the dark space beyond being home to the media room of the dorm. The whole thing was like a mini cinema, fitting a decent number of students on a great deal of cheap bean bags, though people usually had to book it well in advance. To the left are a number of smaller enclosed multi-purpose rooms, each with a table and chairs as well as a sizeable television.
As I wander through the space I can't help but feel nostalgic at all the time I had spent here in the past.
"This is...unreal" I whisper, lost in thought for a moment before remembering where I was going. "Right...the welcome party" I mutter, snapping from my mild stupor as I move towards the small set of stairs beyond the tables to the right.
Descending the stairs I smirk creeps across my lips, my head ducking down as I enter into the third-floor study area and library. Practically no one had used this area when I had been here, at least not for its original purpose. The dim lighting and numerous cubicle dividers had made the perfect locale for midnight rendezvous and just generally making out. The library itself hadn't been updated in years, with most of the books being missing or not really worth tracking down thanks to the lack of any sorting system. The center of the room was just as I remembered it, a massive collection of high walls and dividers to make private study spaces, while the four corners housed small rooms encased in frosted glass for group work.
Fighting back the urge to chuckle at the reputation of the library I begin to race down the next flight of stairs, my pace slowing as I approach the second floor.
Before I can even reach the second-floor landing I can hear the pulsing bass of the music, my smiling face twisting into a grimace as I'm reminded about how much I hated parties. With a deep sigh I brace myself, wandering down into what was usually a large empty albeit soundproofed space.
My boots squeak against the varnished and polished wooden floor, though the sound doesn't have a chance to reach my ears over the pounding music blasting for a large speaker system flanking the room. Long tables run down either side of the hall, a selection of finger foods and snacks dotting the cheap plastic table cloths. Bowls full of potato chips, plates of budget cheeses, and vegetables with dip sum up the extent of the food, the event still easily having a college budget. Several coolers with the college logo sit bookending each table, each one overflowing with off-brand sodas and bottled water.
A large banner hangs over the main stage at the far end of the room from the internal stairs, the same old thing I had seen in my first year.
WELCOME TO LATHEM
As I see the food I feel my stomach growl a little, a reminder of how little I ate during my college years. I pat at my side, feeling my slender frame beneath my shirt as I approach the tables, deciding to hit the food and hit it hard.
Grabbing a can of soda as I go I begin to partake of the free food. Even if it wasn't the most substantial meal the price was certainly right, and before long I am able to sate my grumble stomach with a mixture of sugary drinks and salty oily chips.
"There's a perk of youth" I think to myself, walking around the room as I try to find a quiet space to set up in. "I can eat garbage again".
Looking around the large hall I begin to take stock of the people intermingling around the tables and the makeshift dance floor. More and more people file in by the minute, nervous or excited-looking college students unsure what to expect from their first 'party'. As I move around the room, steering clear of the painfully loud speakers, I notice a...
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