Welcome Weekend: Aly

3175 Words
So, this is it. I am now officially a freshman at Kettlewell College, and we’re on our way there on this sunny Saturday morning in late August. Ryan is driving my car with Mindy riding shotgun, and Dad insisted that I ride with him and Mom in their car. Something about wanting me to spend my last days of freedom with them. What I didn’t mention to him is that it feels like the opposite. It feels like these are my final days of being under their thumbs, and now I’m off to total freedom. Well, total freedom except for the classes I will have to attend. But no more worrying about the comments people make behind my back about me being unmated or whether I’m going to be Alpha, and no more being obligated to attend all the stupid social events my dad likes to host “just in case” I meet somebody I like. The scenery around here is a little different than I expected. When I think of Maine, I picture a coastal town. I picture boats and sea breezes and beach houses. Turns out, Kettlewell is a small inland town not so different from other small towns I’ve been to. The air smells different than back home, but it still smells good. There are no densely wooded areas nearby, but there are lots of trees around, little parks to visit, little pieces of home I could cling to if I need to. Not sure when or where I will be able to let Mari out, but she has been agreeable about waiting until we go home over a break or something, knowing that our time here is for a good cause. That’s about all she’s been pleasant to me about lately. She is still upset about what happened with Tyler, and personally offended that I shut her out. She’s not wrong, and I’ve told her that. She has told me she needs space, so other than chiming in here and there about Matt, we haven’t spoken much in the last couple weeks. With her upset with me and Ryan busy with Mindy a lot of the time, it’s been pretty lonely. That in itself should be enough to keep me on task here. We pull up to the driveway to my dorm building and are stopped at a “Welcome Booth,” which is basically a folding table covered in the school colors with a picture of the mascot, where a group of women are waiting to field the incoming traffic, getting the students and their vehicles registered and handing out Welcome Weekend itineraries and assignments. My packet shows that I need to track down a young woman named Felicity Combs, who is both the resident advisor for my floor and the person who will be giving us a tour shortly. So, we pull in and park where the women direct us, and then go hunting for Felicity. She waits for her group just inside the entrance to the building, wearing a giant nametag that makes it impossible to miss her. Felicity turns out to be a tall, willowy woman with a head full of big, poofy, ginger-colored curls. She seems to have freckles covering every inch of her, and when she smiles her toothy grin at me, I immediately decide I like her. Her eyes are too big and set too far apart and her nose is a little oversized for her face, but it works on her. She’s pretty in an earthy sort of way. More importantly, she’s friendly and her voice is soothing to listen to. “Hi, I’m Felicity,” she greets me, holding out her hand. I haven’t bothered to take my nametag out of my packet and stick it on yet, feeling a little silly about even having to do it in the first place, and I’m glad she doesn’t say anything about it. “Alyssa Bentley,” I respond, shaking her hand. “But please, call me Aly.” “Oh, right. You were the late addition. Most people might not even notice when something like that happens because I bet most RA’s don’t even look at their rosters until like a day or two before, but I do. I noticed when Maggie was removed, and I noticed when you were added on there. I figure there’s a story to that,” she says cheerfully. She sounds friendly enough, but I have to wonder if it’s an accusation, or maybe a not-so-subtle way of digging for dirt to gossip about. Hmm. Maybe the jury is still out on whether I like her. “Not really,” I reply, hoping my talent for making things up on the spot doesn’t fail me this time. “When I was accepted, it was conditional, basically meaning I was on a wait list for when another slot opened up. It did, so now I’m here.” “Oh, I see,” she says, and her tone doesn’t sit well with me. It clicks when I realize that I basically just told her I wasn’t smart enough or desirable enough to just be accepted. I was a maybe. I guess I’m going to have a lot to prove straight out the gate. “Well, if I were you, I would prioritize registering for classes if you haven’t already. The good ones fill up quickly,” she informs me. “I’m registered,” I tell her, and she gives me an approving nod. Apparently, she assumed I would be last to do everything. Or maybe it’s just her job. Maybe I’m being overly defensive because I’m feeling a bit like a fish out of water, or more accurately, a wolf out of the woods. “My group is gathering over here, so why don’t you go ahead and join them and get to know everyone while we wait,” she suggests, gesturing to a group of girls standing around just behind her. “There are two more who aren’t here yet.” I do join the other girls, turning around briefly to notice that Felicity is now talking to my parents. Ryan gives me an encouraging double thumbs up from where he stands by my dad, and Mindy just smiles at me. Interestingly, she seems about as excited as I am about being here. I wonder if after she goes back, she is going to want to go to college now, too. I turn back to my new group of people I hope will soon be my friends and take a calming breath. “Hey guys, I’m Aly,” I introduce myself. The girls all take turns telling me their names and which rooms they will be in. It’s overwhelming, all these new people in one day, but I figure it will be good practice for when I’m Alpha to get better at remembering names and faces. So, left to right, there’s Amber, Natalie, Chloe, Megan, Jenny, Sarah, and Ronnie, my roommate. They all seem pretty cool and friendly so far. My parents disappear with Ryan and Mindy back outside, which I freak out about a little. A quick mind-link to my dad soothes my nerves, because apparently, they’re just getting a head start on unloading my stuff while I’m busy with the tour and orientation. That’s a good idea, actually. Good job with the dad stuff, Dad. I tell him that, and he laughs. It’s good to see him and Mom in such a good mood about all this. I kind of thought they would be more resistant to it. Felicity comes over and joins us with two other girls, identical blonde twins named Kailey and Kara, and then I guess it is go time. We head into the building and up to the third floor where we will be staying so that Felicity can tell us all about the amenities offered there – which, despite her bragging it up, boils down to private rooms with only one roommate and access to restrooms and a microwave that the whole floor shares. Woo! For our side of the floor, there are three bathroom stalls and three showers. Math has never been my favorite subject, but still, that doesn’t seem to add up when there are ten of us. You would think I would be more receptive to the idea of communal living considering that I grew up in the packhouse, but as the Alpha’s daughter I’ve always been spoiled by my own private bathroom. On the other hand, I take a lot of showers in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep, so I suppose it’s a good thing that the bathrooms are far enough away that I won’t annoy my roommate with that habit. After our tour we all take a quick peek at our rooms. Ronnie’s and my room is a corner room, so we get double the windows that everyone else has, and it’s actually kind of nice. Bare and basic, for now, but I’m sure we’ll take care of personalizing it in no time. After a quick hug from each of my parents and high fives from Ryan and Mindy, they head out to unload more of my stuff and I go to meet up with my group again for orientation. I’m more of the wander around and figure things out that way kind of person, so this formal orientation idea sounds boring. I’m eager to be released so I can just go explore the campus on my own. As I’m walking with my group headed to a building named after some guy that apparently has a huge auditorium, my phone chirps in my pocket. I glance at it and see a text from Tyler, who I have been keeping in regular contact with since the camping trip. He texts me at least once a day, so this really comes as no surprise until I see what it says. Are you going to the freshman orientation right now? Because I am. Why would a senior be going to freshman orientation? Tyler can be so weird. What? Why? Where are you? I text back in a hurry, finding myself kind of excited at the prospect. Straight ahead, to your right, he says, and I look up to see if I can spot him. Sure enough, he is leaning against the side of the building, probably watching me this whole time like a creep. At least he is a cute, friendly creep. I don’t really even think about the fact that I’m supposed to stay with my group. I take off running to meet him and greet him with a huge hug. “Why are you here?” I ask him once we break away from each other. He chuckles and shakes his head at me. “Because I wanted to see you, duh. I knew this was where you would be headed eventually. I got in last night and moved all my stuff into our apartment early, so I don’t have much to do today other than maybe stop by the bookstore to get my books. And I’m guessing you need to do that too, so we can go together, if you want.” That’s actually really sweet. He surprises me time and again with how thoughtful he can be. Not that I need his help, but I could use a friend, and his idea to get our books together sounds perfect. “Deal," I readily agree. "Are you coming in, then?” “Sure. I’ll even sit with you. Who knows, maybe there’s rules and procedures I’ve forgotten, and I need the refresher.” “Somehow, I doubt it. But I won’t say no.” My group has caught up with us by then and we all file into the auditorium together. Felicity gives me some sort of look that is a cross between curiosity and irritation, but she doesn’t say anything about Tyler being with us so I assume it’s not explicitly against the rules. Orientation is really just another word for a dreadfully long speech in a crowded auditorium when we would all rather be elsewhere. Everyone is fidgety, and the procession of speakers who take up about 45 minutes of our time are the opposite of engaging. Thank goodness for Tyler. We silence our phones and spend most of the time texting back and forth. I’m sure people notice, and I’m also certain I don’t care. I did learn a few useful things, though. One is that overnight guests must be approved by the RA in advance, even if it is another student. Good to know. Sleepovers with Matt will probably have to take place at his apartment. Or Tyler. I guess Tyler might want to sleep over sometimes, too. Who am I kidding? I’m so far from enticing Matt into sleeping over with me, even as friends, that this rule will probably only apply to Tyler for the foreseeable future. After orientation is finally over, Felicity takes us all over to another booth that is set up to create our student IDs. I’m not very photogenic, so it kind of sucks that so much around campus requires this ID with a big photo on display for everyone to see. When it’s my turn to have my photo taken, it’s a mess. Worse than I feared. I’m not even looking at the camera head on, and my face is scrunched in a funny way. Tyler loves it, though. He says it suits me perfectly. I’m trying not to be offended by that. After all that, Felicity finally tells us that we are free to go and do whatever we need to do, reminding us that she is always around if we need her. She has us all put her number in our phones before she leaves. I have to admit that she did a pretty good job of getting us to all the things we needed to do and answering questions for some of the other girls. She’s probably okay, in the end. I just don’t like having to answer to any sort of authority figure is probably the majority of my issue with her. Ronnie comes up to me and Tyler, seeming a little uncomfortable and lost. “Hey, Aly,” she greets me, making a point of not looking at Tyler. After I introduce them to each other, she shakes the hand that he holds out to her, blushing the whole time and still not meeting his eyes. “Nice to meet you,” she says shyly. “We were going to hit up the bookstore. Did you want to come along?” I invite her. So far, I have not seen her parents or anyone else with her. She might be all alone, which would explain why she has kind of been hovering near me since I met her. And since we’re roommates, I might as well take whatever opportunities I have to get to know her anyway, so I don’t really mind. “Sure,” she says, smiling brightly. Poor girl must be lonely to be that excited about a trip to buy textbooks. The three of us set off in that direction. Tyler and I chat the whole way, while Ronnie remains kind of quiet. She seems to be enjoying our conversation, though, so I don’t think she minds not getting a word in edgewise. My dad mind-links me as Tyler is telling me about a course of his he is excited about this semester, an independent study with that artist he likes. Your stuff is all unloaded and your mother is unpacking it. If you have a problem with that, you should probably get back here soon. Heading to the bookstore with Tyler and Ronnie. Be back in a bit, I tell him. Camping Tyler? Yes. There is a pause before he responds to me, I would assume because he is not terribly happy that I am hanging out with Tyler again. I’ll meet you there in a few to help you pay for those books. That’s his story but considering that I have a credit card linked to his account, it’s entirely unnecessary. I’m sure it has more to do with him wanting to come intimidate Tyler away from me. I probably could have left out the detail about Tyler being with us, but I’m terrible at lying to my dad, and he always figures it out when I try. He seems to have a sixth sense for when I’m keeping something from him. He would have shown up to try to catch me doing whatever I was hiding, anyway, so at least this way he knows I’m not ashamed of my friendship with Tyler since I'm not trying to keep it from him. I pull my phone out to make it look like I’ve been texting someone, since it would be weird for me to just suddenly announce this development without accounting for where it came from. Tyler pauses what he is saying to give me a minute to do that, and then I look up at him to give him the news. “So, I guess my dad wants to come meet us here so he can pay for my books.” “That’s nice of him,” Tyler says. He doesn’t seem nervous or worried, which is impressive. My dad intimidates pretty much everyone. “Just as a heads up, though, he isn’t very fond of us hanging out. I’ve never said anything, but he knows,” I decide to try to warn him. “He knows what?” Tyler asks, confused. “He knows,” I say again with emphasis, hoping he catches my meaning this time. I don’t want to have to say it out loud, especially not in front of Ronnie. “Oh,” Tyler says. “You mean he knows I’ve been doing dirty things to his little girl.” Well, there goes that. Ronnie gives a little giggle when he says that. It’s hard to say if she’s amused or uncomfortable. The latter was what I was trying to avoid. “So, you’re that sort of friends,” she says, still kind of giggling. Okay, she’s adorable, and probably kind of innocent. Noted. I had already gotten that sense from her, which was why I was trying to avoid talking about s*x in front of her. Oh well. Tyler is Tyler. “Yeah,” I say as kind of a response to them both. “I’m not scared,” Tyler declares. “If he’s going to demand that I make an honest woman out of you, though, well … I mean, I could once we finish school.” I playfully shove his shoulder, hoping that was just a joke. He laughs and puts his arm around me, and we drop it. I can’t help but fret about it the rest of the way to the bookstore, though. Goddess, I hope that was a joke.
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