Between Four Walls

First Day In

I walked through the large white doors of Bloom University, and the scent of female hormones, perfume, and anxiety attacked my nostrils. I take in the scenery, scanning the area for the front desk. I was late enrolling, so I didn’t have a schedule or dorm assignment before coming. I walk deeper into the school, searching for the front desk or at least an office.

I groan to myself. I just want my schedule.

Turning around abruptly, I bump into a tall figure, and then I feel myself being pushed back. I fell straight on my ass, sitting on my long locs in the process. I let out a little yelp.

“s**t, my ba-.” The stranger stops and tries to help before they’re nudged by someone else.

“Move, Kelli.” The random girl says to the other.

Kelli, I suppose the curly-haired one, rolls her eyes at the stranger and proceeds to walk away.

“Are you okay?” The girl asks me.

I frowned at her. Who are you, even?

She read my facial expression and then chuckled.

“Sorry, my name is Tia.”

Tia held her hand out to me. Her hand was covered in henna, and her fingers were decorated with long, curved stiletto nails and golden rings. Bangles decorated her arm. I reached towards her and shook her vacant hand. The sound of bangles filled the small space. Her hands were soft and warm, almost too soft.

“I’m Kimberly. You can call me Kimmi,” I replied, looking directly into her eyes.

She blushes slightly at my intense eye contact.

“U-um, so are you a first-year student? "I’ve never seen you before,” Tia asks me, stumbling over her words.

“Oh, I’m new here, but I’m a junior; I transferred credits,” I tell her, smiling a bit.

“Oh my gosh, for real?! "I wonder who your roommate will be?” She tells me excitedly.

“I don’t know my room assignment,” I tell her, smiling sheepishly.

Tia’s face lights up with surprise.

“That’s not good, I can take you to the housing office right now.” She glances at her phone.

“I don’t have class for another 30 minutes.”

“Yes, please, I’m so lost,” I tell her, giggling to ease the mood.

“No problem.” Tia grinned and then took my hand into hers.

Leading me through the busy hallways, we exited another set of doors.

“The office is just this way,” Tia tells me, looking back.

As we walked past others, I caught glances from people at Tia… Was she popular here?

I study Tia fully, just not her hands.

Her long wavy black hair caressed the top of her butt, swaying as she walked. She wore skinny jeans with a pink crop top, pairing them with gold sandals. This girl loves gold...

Her makeup was light and natural, a pink bindi sat in the middle of her eyebrows.

"We're here."

I snapped out of my trance, making eye contact with Tia.

"Thank you so much. See you later?"

"Sure, dinner should be served soon. I'll catch you there," Tia confirms.

She walks over to two people. They seem to be twins...

I finally received my room assignment and made my way over to the girls' dorms. I approach the dorm, the halls are filled with people. Some were kissing their family goodbye, others crying. I walked further down the hall, finding the junior dorms after a sharp turn.

"Room 305," I mumble to myself.

Slipping the key into the slot, I turned it and opened the door. I'm greeted with two twin beds, one already a mess and the other empty. I stepped into the room, looking around more cautiously. I didn't bring anything with me but a large suitcase with an outfit, my laptop, a few hygiene products, and a blanket. My daddy gave me money just to go shopping the next day for my dorm.

I plop my huge suitcase onto my bed, opening it and removing its contents. I carefully placed my things on the bed, and then put the suitcase on the side.

I hear a rustling at the door, and then the dorm room door opens, and I'm greeted with... Kelli.

She waltzed into the room, cleaning off her bed. She grabs her phone off of her charger, not even greeting me. I just ignore it, playing on my phone.

"Are you the girl from earlier?"

I looked up at Kelli. My eyes grew a little bigger, but I stopped myself. She was towering over me. I didn't even notice she was near me. The smell of weed and spiced vanilla raided my nostrils.

"You don't pay attention, doll." Kelli retorts, a smile creeping upon her lips.

I mean, she's right. I did bump into her earlier; how could I miss this giant?

I don't reply, taking in her features. Her eyes, low, probably from her recent sesh, hazel eyes, peered into mine eagerly, waiting for an answer.

"Um, yeah." I finally let out quietly.

I felt small compared to her. She was intimidating.

"My bad for bumping into you, even though I think that was on you." She chuckles at her remark.

"Yeah, my bad," I told her, looking away from her piercing eyes.

"Kelli." She holds a hand out to me.

I looked at her hand, and I saw that a gold ring similar to Tia's was on her ring finger... I shook the thought, and I went to shake Kelli's hand. She grips my hand hard, pulling me up from the bed, causing me to bump into her chest.

She cracks up.

"That's not funny!" I exclaimed, yanking my hand from her.

"My bad, mamas." Kelli says in a flirty way.

I scoff, rolling my eyes at her antics.

"So, what's your name?" Kelli questions, tilting her head to the side like a curious cat.

"Kimberly," I mumbled to Kelli, aggravated with her already.

She just nods. Sensing my mood, she walked back over to her bed.

"Dinner starts soon," Kelli informs me.

I disregarded her words, sitting back on my bed.

"Whatever." I hear from across the room.

I grabbed my phone and saw a call from my dad, then a text message.

I replied to my dad so he wouldn't worry. I also looked at Kelli out of the corner of my eye. She was typing away on her phone... Her long, sandy, curly tresses caressed her waist as she propped herself against the headboard. Her gray sweatpants cling to her slender waist. Her white tee lifted, exposing her belly, showing a belly ring. A tattoo wrapped around her forearm, a tribal one of some sort. I stared at her tattoo, studying it. Where have I seen it?

"I'm Samoan, well, and also African-American." She tells me, not looking up from her phone.

I say oh in my head, diverting my eyes somewhere else.

Kelli rises from her bed, walking to the door. Slipping on a pair of slides and leaving out the door. I guess it's dinner time. I rose from the bed, grabbing my purse. Slipping on my Juicy slides. I walk towards the door, hoping Kelli is gone. Opening the door, I'm greeted with a big white smile and the scent of roses.

"Hey girl!"

It was Tia... How did she?

"Oh, my room is across the hall, see?" She turns around and points to her door.

The door displayed her name and her roommate's name. I turned to look at my door, and it was the same way, but with "Kimberly and Kelli" displayed. When did that happen?

"Let's go down for dinner. I think the wing line is finally open."

In the cafeteria, I spotted a few familiar faces from high school; a lot of my class decided to go here. Finding an empty table, Tia and I sat with our food at an empty table. Soon, we were joined by twins. They sported decorative name tags, Serena and Shanti.

"Yo, I'm-" She adjusts her name tag for me to see, "Serena." The short-haired twin tells me.

"And I'm Shanti!" the long-haired twin exclaims, showing her name tag.

So cute.

Another girl joined us. She was curvy and short. Her hair was styled in finger waves. She wore a long, form-fitting dress. I tried not to stare, but she was gorgeous. Freckles scattered across her cheeks, a gap between her teeth, glowing skin.

"Oh, this is Gigi," Tia informs me.

"Hi, I'm-" I went to tell Gigi my name, but I was cut off.

"Have you guys seen Kelli?" Gigi asked the twins and Tia, ignoring me.

Awkard ....

"Uh, no, and why are you being rude?" Shanti asks Gigi.

"I don't know her." Gigi spits out.

"I don't know you either, but I was trying to be nice." I shot back at her, going back to my food.

It's the first day. I don't need this drama. Rude ass.

Gigi scoffed and turned back to the twins and Tia, asking about Kelli again.

At that moment, Kelli walks into the cafeteria. Her eyes low still, sweatpants barely clinging onto her waist once again. As she walked, her curly hair bounced. Her hair also reached her butt, just like Tia's.

"There's your damn "girlfriend" damn," Serena says to Gigi, rolling her eyes as hard as she can.

"Jealous?" Gigi asked Serena.

"You know, Gigi, maybe just leave Kelli alone today. "She might not be in the mood," Tia tells Gigi.

"Sure, whatever." Gigi ignores Tia's advice, standing from the table and walking over to Kelli confidently.

I rolled my eyes at her but also glanced over at Kelli. She seemed annoyed with Gigi, but that was none of my business.

I finished my food, shifting my attention to Tia and the twins. We discuss classes and career paths. We talked about family life for a bit until interrupted by Gigi.

"She won't even look at me," Gigi says sadly, taking her empty spot at the table.

Tia sighed hard, running her hand through her hair. She seemed frustrated with Gigi.

I went to ask Tia if she was okay when she was interrupted again by a new stranger.

"Yo, best friend!" a girl called out, sliding into the empty seat beside Tia.

"Hey Maddie." Tia's voice didn't sound as enthusiastic as usual.

"What's wrong, Tee?" Maddie asked Tia, looking deeply into her face.

"Oh, it's nothing."

It was something. Maybe something with Gigi and Kelly... I mean, they do have matching rings.

"Oh, who's this pretty face?" Maddie asks. I feel her eyes on me.

I looked away from the twins to face this Maddie person. Wow. Is everyone here attractive? Her slender brown eyes peered into mine, and long thick eyelashes sat upon her eyes. Her hair was dark brown, down to her waist... Wait a minute.

"I'm Kimberly or Kimmi, whatever you prefer," I tell Maddie. That sounded so flirty.

"Well, I'm Maddie." She rises from her place at the table and walks over to me. She gently took my hand into hers, placing a kiss upon it, and then looked deeply into my eyes as she did it. Why are all these women so flirty?

Gigi scoffed at Maddie, rolling her eyes.

"Jealous?" I asked Gigi, laughing to myself.

Serena laughed at me, pointing at Gigi.

Maddie chuckles at our antics.

"So, can I have your number?" Maddie asked me.

I handed her my phone, receiving stares from the surrounding girls.

"There, call me if you need anything or want to hang." "I don't bite, I promise." Maddie winks at me playfully.

I giggled at Maddie's remarks, receiving a smile from her. Most of her teeth were covered in tooth gems.

I looked at my phone to see Maddie saved her number as "Your Boo." Corny.

Maddie said her goodbyes, ignoring Gigi. Dinner was soon over, and I went back to my dorm room, Tia in tow. Saying our goodbyes. She still didn't look too hot.

I walked back into my dorm room to be greeted by none other than Kelli. She had her shirt and pants off, facing opposite of me. I never realized how muscular she was.

"s**t, my bad." Kelli realizes I'm behind her. She grabs her robe, covering herself.

I wasn't complaining, but hey.

"The showers are just down the hall," Kelli informs me, not making eye contact with me.

I just nodded, grabbing my things so I could go shower and turn in for the night.

Walking down to the showers, I was greeted by one of the twins. We walked down together to the showers. The showers were huge and spacious, and different mirrors and sinks were along the walls. Damn. I spotted Maddie out of the corner of my eye, towel wrapped around her waist only, and she had on a sports bra.

"There's an open shower. Let's go," Shanti tells me, grabbing my hand.