Royal Spirit

Checking In

I sighed as my mom's car sped off behind me. I knew she wanted me to be independent and get checked in at the housing office, but I wish she had come with me. For as long as I could remember, it had been just me, my mom, and my sister navigating through life. I had no idea what to do without my mom or sister constantly supporting me. I knew they were just a call away, but still, it just was not the same as having them by my side. I sighed one more time, grabbed the handle to my suitcase, and walked off toward the front doors of the housing office. Luckily, I was late, meaning most other new students had already checked in and settled into their dorm rooms. Good. Less crowd meant fewer people to gawk at me and my awkward nervousness. I opened the doors and walked into the building. 

"Welcome to Crimson University!" A blonde woman who looked a few years older than me exclaimed, waving me over to her table.  

"Hi. My name is Lyla Jacobs." I said, handing her my I.D.

"Hi, Lyla! I'm Emily, one of the R.A.'s here." She said as she checked my I.D. "Oh my gosh, no way! You're not only in my building, but you're one of my roommates! We get to share a suite that's so exciting!" She exclaimed with a smile. 

"Oh, wow. Nice to meet you!" I said and returned her smile as I took my I.D. back from her. I could not match her extreme enthusiasm, but being the roommate of a resident assistant meant that I would always know what was going on and have a so-called "friend" that had already experienced her freshman year of college. It also meant I would be expected to follow the rules, which had never been a problem for me anyway.

"Here are your keys to your room and your school-issued identification card. Make sure to carry this on you at all times, and please don't lose it. It's such a pain in the ass to get a new one, trust me, been there done that!" Emily laughed as she handed me the keys and card. "I only have to sit here for ten more minutes and wait for any more late arrivals. If you want, you can wait for my shift to end and then I can show you the way to our room. That way, we can start to get to know each other, and you won't have to worry about getting lost!" Emily said. 

"That sounds perfect, thank you." I sighed with relief. I was so nervous about getting lost, but having a roommate that worked for the school was already coming in handy. 

"Awesome! You can have a seat right over there while I start cleaning everything up." She pointed to a couch across the room near the door. I walked over to the sofa and sat down, relieved for a chance to catch my breath. It felt like no time had passed at all when Emily appeared in front of me. "Come on, let's go! Our building, Shadow Hall, is only about a five-minute walk from here. I can't wait to show you our apartment!" She gushed. Of course, our dorm was called Shadow Hall because this college couldn't be any more stereotypical for a vampire college. Hello, it was called Crimson University for a reason! Crimson, as in red, is the color of blood. 

Stereotypicalness of my new college aside, I found myself getting more excited as we stepped outside and started walking toward our dorm. Maybe college wouldn't be so bad after all.