From Here On Out

8

Emmy was startled awake from the beeping of her alarm. She reached over the twin bed to slam her hand down on the off button. It was 7am, and while she was a morning person, the day after move-in was not a day she wanted to rise with the chickens. However, the school had decided that the day after was orientation and she couldn't miss it.

On the opposite side, Jasmine was already up. She must've set hers early, Emmy thought to herself, referencing the alarm clocks.

As if on cue, Jasmine emerged from the bathroom they were lucky enough to get inside their room. She was holding a towel in one hand and a blow dryer in the other. It was one of those fancy ones that sucked up curly and dried it super quick.

"Morning, Em," she greeted very cheerfully for the hour.

"Good morning," Emmy replied, her face then turning into question, "How are you already awake and showered?"

"I was so excited that I got up before my alarm," she smiled, "then I couldn't sleep so I decided I could wash my hair with all the time I had."

Emmy nodded her head, secretly admiring the early start Jas had already gotten. She climbed down from her bed and slipped into some house slippers.

"Guess it's my turn to get ready then" she shrugged, "What time are we meeting Mary?"

"Umm...." Jas checked an imaginary watch only to realized nothing was there, "I think she said 8:00. We have to be there at 8:15, but Mary said she'll come here first so if we're just ready by 8-"

"Perfect," Emmy laughed at the little rambling, "I need like 30 minutes and I'll be ready."

Emmy moved into the bathroom to take a shower while Jasmine got dressed. The two girls did their whole morning routines and then pulled on their clothes. By the time Jasmine was done doing her hair, Emmy was out of the shower so they ended up getting dressed at the same time. Jasmine wore a white shirt, mom jeans, and her signature doc martens, and Emmy opted for a graphic tee and some overalls.

Once they were done getting ready, it was just about time for Mary to come over. She had stayed a little longer after everyone left their impromptu pizza party and helped cleaned up. They were able to bond even more and learned that they were all doing the theatre program. And freshman had to stick together, especially ones with so much in common.

Mary fit right into Jasmine and Emmy's dynamic hence the reason they were meeting up walking to orientation together.

A knock sounded at the door and Jas went to go open it. They all cheerfully shared their hellos and exchanged hugs. Mary, a morning person as well, was all set in a bold but comfy outfit and her embroidered tote bag.

"Y'all ready?" Mary asked.

"Yep," Emmy nodded along with Jas, "Lets go!"

Orientation for them was basically just a large social gathering with little sprinklings of school events. They could interact with some faculty at their offices, there were games and food, and they were having an organization/ club fair. That's where they were headed: there were tons of art and performance clubs that they were eager to join.

They walked down the bricked sidewalks to the building where the fair was. Along the way, Mary was waving to all sorts of people, people she'd apparently met within the last few days. Mary was an extreme extrovert, like to the point where Emmy looked near introverted. It was good though. Walking around with Mary allowed Jasmine and Emmy to get to know everyone they passed.

"I don't know how you do it," Jas spoke up in admiration, "I mean... just remembering all these names," she added with a laugh.

Emmy bursts out in laughs too, "I maybe caught like ten."