From Here On Out

7

2021

Emmy groaned as she leaned over to pick yet another box up and out of the rental car. She was moving in and she felt like she'd taken a million and one boxes up the stairs into her room. Jasmine was there too, they were roommates of course. She had just about the same amount of stuff as Emmy although she was too prideful to admit it.

"Told you not to pack so much," Emmy's mom said in the most mom-like i-told-you-so voice.

"Not helping Mom," Emmy replied.

They trekked the boxes up and down the stairs until they had everything in the room. Moving in was a process and though she thought she'd planned everything, Emmy didn't realize just how much work it was.

They had to be up early to catch their flight, then get a rental, then get a hotel for her parents, then drive to school, then take the boxes from the car to the 4th floor, then unpack, and when they were done with all that, decorate. To make it even worse, New York was having an exceptionally hot summer.

Emmy flopped down on the bed after bringing the last box up. Their stair climbing times lined up and just as Emmy plopped down, Jas fell on to the bed across the room. The pair was exhausted, but they still had so much to do.

They had spent days scrolling through pinterest, making shared boards titled "Dorm Room!!!". The pair had decided on a boho maximalism style to not only accommodate their stuff but also look super cute. They brought with them all types of houseplants and wall art to make the room colorful, cozy, and unique.

After a few minutes of rest and recharge, Emmy and Jasmine got up to begin unpacking. They had a clothing rack each that would sit outside the closet and act as more decoration. They put their cutest shirts and dresses on the rack to begin. Emmy and Jasmine continued working at the boxes until they were completely empty and the closets were full.

Next they made their beds with all the sheets, pillow cases, and mattress pads. Emmy had a forest green comforter with cream accents through the pillows and blankets. Jasmine went for a forest green comforter as well but she had orange blankets and accents.

The whole room was going to be eccentric and full of color and every decor decision they made was catered toward capturing this vibe. They laid out rugs, hung up posters, and set up their desks until the room was all complete. It only took 5 hours but they were finally done.

Jasmine and Emmy looked around their room in great satisfaction. In the next phase of their plan, they opened the door and slid the welcome paper out of the plastic holder hanging on it. They flipped the paper over to the blank side and wrote Emmy & Jasmine in a pretty font. 

The girls hung up the sign and left their door open so that people could come in at will. Everyone had told them to do this in order to make friends.

Jasmine and Emmy walked back into the room and stood in the front area. "You think people gonna come in?" Jas asked Emmy.

"I.. don't know," Emmy said slowly, doubt just now creeping in.

"Should we go to them?" Jasmine asked another skeptical question.

Emmy suddenly got an idea. She walked back up to the door and poked her head out. "Pizza in 414!," she yelled all the way down the hallway in true Emmy fashion.

"Emmy!" Jas gasped, "We don't even have pizza."

"We'll order some," she smiled and pivoted back into the room to get her phone.

And just like that, the rest of the girls in the hallway emerged from their rooms, startled by the yelling. Emmy could hear muffled voices coming from outside.

What was that?
I think someone said pizza.
Huh?
Where?
They said pizza in 414!

The girls walked down the hallway and reached their door. There were some confused faces, skeptical as to why there would be pizza in a random dorm room but Emmy greeted them immediately.

"Hi, I'm Emmy," she began, "And this," grabbing Jas' arm, "is my best friend Jasmine. We have pizza coming in like 10 minutes, so y'all should stay and hang out."

Mumbles began throughout the crowd of freshman girls and Emmy could tell a few of them were contemplating leaving. That was until one girl, whom they'd find was named Mary, stepped inside the room.

"Yo, this room is hella cool," she said in awe.

A couple more girls stepped into the room. They all looked around with stunned looks on their face.

"Whoa"
"This is so dope"
"How did y'all even do this?"

Jasmine and Emmy's room was definitely very extra and out of the ordinary but they really didn't expect this much praise. They looked at each other with matching expressions of shock at how many compliments they were receiving.

More girls, Eden, Carson, Fern, Ryan, and Devon, all stepped into the room. They made conversation about the room, being at school in general, and anything else they could come up with. It didn't take long for them to become friends.

The large amount of conversation was overheard by other people still in the hallway and more people came through the open door.

When the pizza delivery guy reached the door room, the small room was full of people laughing and getting to know each other. Emmy stood up from where she had sat on her bed to open the door.

"Pizza's here," she called out as she turned back into the room. She had three piping hot boxes of New York Style pizza that immediately grabbed the attention of the many teenagers in the room.

Emmy set the boxes down on an empty counter and everyone gathered around her. Everyone grabbed portions of the food and took seats among the beds and floor.

Conversation kept running aloud through the newfound friends as they devoured the pizza. Jasmine and Emmy's faces were full of joy from the way this day had went. From her bed, Emmy nodded over to Jas who was sitting on her bed across the room. They gave each other a look-at-us-go kind of smiles that only the two of them would notice.

It couldn't have been a better move in for them. The room felt perfect, they were living at their dream school, and now they had plenty of friends to go through it with.