Home is a Four Letter Word

epilogue

Move-In Day, Freshman Year of College

Unlocking a new door to an empty room was something Jake had never done before. Never once in his almost eighteen years of life had his family ever moved out of the house he was raised in, which wasn't anything to complain about, but it did make him realize he was grossly underprepared for what was to come. He held the thick key in his hand—not yet connected to the lanyard the bubbly girl in the lobby handed him—turning it in his fingers as if memorizing the grooves of his new life. It was strange. Comforting, but strange.

He held the door open for Aaron as he came up behind him, toting a laundry basket filled with miscellaneous items he had packed last minute. Jake dropped the backpack he had carried up down on the floor in front of the door, propping it open while they both took in the empty space in silence. The laundry basket had been set down on the desk to the left side of the room, Aaron unknowingly picking Jake's space for him. The room's furniture was scarce—an un-lofted bed, a desk that looked like it might crack under pressure, and a dresser that sat in the middle of the room waiting to be stored away to either side. It was all smaller than Jake had expected, but the light from the window between the two beds made it look bigger than it actually was.

It won't be that bad. At least it has air conditioning.

When McKenna came into the room with a box bigger than she should've been carrying, she dropped it down on the floor with a thud which prompted Jake's turn to glare at her for being so careless with his things.

"What?" She grimaced at him. "Your shit is heavy."

Her arrival provoked conversation as Aaron turned towards her with an unreadable look on his face that sat somewhere between despondency and anticipation.

"Did you lock the truck?" He held out his hand awaiting his keys.

"Yes, I locked the truck, do I look stupid?"

"More and more everyday." Jake mumbled, joining the banter.

McKenna smacked him in the back of the head with her free hand and then tossed the keys off to Aaron.

The two of them were a problematic move-in crew, but they were all Jake had. His father refused to give him his truck back, or loan him his to help, so Aaron was stuck driving down in the dreaded city traffic. He had grumbled about it all morning long, but Jake knew Aaron wouldn't have missed this for the world. His mother had conveniently used today's church service as an excuse not to come, but McKenna all but jumped into Aaron's truck as soon as she heard the words 'skipping church' in any context.

"Well, it's uh..."

"Small?" Aaron finished her sentence.

"Very."

"It's a dorm room. Are y'all stupid?"

Jake fished his phone out of his back pocket as soon as he felt it buzz. He had texted Andre in the parking lot to let him know he was checking in, but he wasn't quite sure what to expect in his first few hours here. Why he hoped maybe his roommate would know what to do, he didn't know. This happened to be his first year too.

ETA 2 hours got stuck in Cinci rush hour lmk if I need to pick anything up

Jake texted back a quick Sounds good and tossed his phone down on the bed.

"Andre?" McKenna suggested.

"Yeah, he'll be here in two hours. We should have time to get lunch before he comes."

"Fantastic. You're buying."

"You're delusional."

"Did you think my services were free?" She tilted her head over, unenthused with her flat smile.