Royal Spirit

Shadow Hall

The lobby of Shadow Hall was absolutely beautiful. There were black and grey decorations and pictures everywhere, making the inside just as chic as the outside. It was the exact opposite of what I imagined a dorm would look like. To the right of the entrance was a door leading to a staircase and a pair of elevators, and to the left stretched a long hallway for the first floor rooms. 

In the center of the lobby sat a desk, where a young woman who looked about my age called out, “Welcome to Shadow Hall!”. I smiled at her as I followed Emily to the elevators. 

“That’s Maureen, one of the office assistants for Shadow Hall. It’s like a step down from being an R.A., where they don’t have to live in the building they work in and they just run the front desk/keep the office organized. Unless a big emergency happens, it’s basically like getting paid to sit there and do your homework, read, watch TV, or do whatever else you can do while sitting behind a desk. Being an R.A. is a lot more responsibility, and can be very stressful at times. It’s so rewarding though.” Emily explained as we got into the elevator, pushing the number five button. 

“Oh, cool. Maybe I could do that next year. I definitely want to work while I am in school, but I don’t know that I want all the responsibility of being an R.A. It seems like a lot.” I thought aloud.

“It’s not that bad!” Emily exclaimed, shaking her head at me. “You’ll learn all about it being my roommate this year. You might like it! When it’s time to apply for next year, we could at least talk about it!” She smiled at me encouragingly. 

“We’ll see,” I said as the elevator dinged to let us know we had arrived at our floor. I did not really want all of that responsibility, but maybe she was right. Maybe I would enjoy it, but I wouldn’t know until I tried. 

Pushing that thought to the side, I followed Emily down the hall and took in my surroundings. Each door was decorated with its residents’ names, some more decorated than others. Every so often there was a bulletin board too that had an encouraging message on it or where to find certain resources for college. Emily pointed to the decorations with residents’ names on them. “I made those because this is my hallway. There are 3 R.A.s per floor, and each one has its own hallway. All the residents in this hallway are my responsibility, so I wanted to make everyone feel welcome. Some residents have already been here a few hours, so they added their own flair to their doors. All of that is fine as long as they don’t become a fire or tripping hazard. I design all the bulletin boards too, and I usually let my roommates help me if you’d be interested in that. I wanted to wait for you guys to arrive so we could all contribute to our door aside from our names. You’re the last one to arrive, so the other two girls have already settled into their rooms.”

She stopped talking as we paused in front of a room that had “517” beside the door and the names “Emily”, “Lyla”, “Sora”, and “Marie” written on construction paper that was taped onto the door. Emily let me test out my key to unlock the door and then she held it so I could get my suitcase inside. 

“The living room is there, and the kitchen is over here. There are two bathrooms, one to the left hallway and one to the right. If you turn to the right and go down to the door across from the bathroom “D”, that one is your room. It’s right beside mine, which is “C”. Marie and Sora’s rooms are in the left hallway, and they share that bathroom. Your room should still be unlocked, but if it is locked, the smaller key should work on it! Go on in and unpack. Take a few minutes to get settled. When you’re done, come out into the living room and I’ll get Marie and Sora. We can all get to know each other then. I know it’s super lame, but I have some ice breakers for us to try. I’m an R.A., I just can’t resist.” She finished her explanation with a laugh.

I couldn’t help but laugh too. She seemed like a sweet person, and I’m sure she was an excellent R.A. 

“Thanks, Emily. You’ve already made me feel so welcome when I started out this adventure feeling alone. I look forward to getting to know you more.” I smiled at her and gave her a dorky little wave before I turned toward my door and used the little key to unlock it. When I opened the door and stepped inside, I couldn’t help but gasp.