You Mean The World To Me

Sunny Cali

Alex and Jean land in Los Angeles, California. They walk to baggage claim and grab Alex's things. A taxi takes them to the University of Southern California. Administration gives them keys, one each, for their room.

They then walk down long hallways, searching for their room number. Outside their new dorm is a man leaning against the wall scrolling on his phone. He looks up to see them approaching. Jeremy Knox recognizes them and puts his phone in his pocket. He wears a big welcoming smile. He's tan, has blond wavy hair, and is wearing a t-shirt and light-wash jeans.

"Hey! I'm Jeremy!" He holds his hand out to Alex first.

"Hi," Alex lets go of his suitcases to shake Jeremy's hand. Glancing at the man's long tan fingers he introduces himself, "I'm Alex."

"Hello. I'm Jean." Jean shakes his hand.

Jeremy chuckles, "Nice to meet you guys! First, I'll let you guys get settled in. Then I'll walk you to the court, and give a tour when you're ready," Alex smiles warmly at the blond man, slightly shorter than himself. He grabs his phone from his pocket and asks, "Can I have your numbers?"

"Sure," Alex accepts the phone to type his number and name, "We might need to buy some stuff for our dorm today..."

"My roommate can give you guys a lift after I show you around!" Jeremy quickly glances at his phone getting passed to Jean.

"That would be nice!" Alex exclaims, "Can they?"

"For sure! There's a strip mall nearby he can bring you guys to." Jeremy shrugs then he gratefully takes his phone from Jean, their fingers brushing together.

Jean rubs his eyes, he's not in the mood for socializing. Or making friends either. But, unfortunately for him Alex has decided this is a good opportunity for Jean to make a friend. Alex can picture it now, them both being friends with Jeremy.

"Thanks! We'll swing by once we're ready." Alex smiles then goes to unlock their door. Jean grabs the suitcases and goes inside their dorm first.

"Sounds good." The shorter man beams at them and strolls off. Alex closes the door behind himself. He sees a kitchen area plus a living room space. He follows Jean to one of the two doors in a small hallway, they enter a bedroom. It has one window on the left side, two mattresses, a desk, and... that's basically it.

"Wonderful." Jean speaks in a gruff voice, standing in the center of the room.

"It's not so bad," Alex giggles, "So we need bed frames, a chair, a big dresser, etcetera." He scans the white walls. Jean takes his big backpack off, tossing it onto the mattress on the left side of the room. He rifles through it while Alex rolls his suitcases to his own mattress on the right. He's still on the right side like at their dorm at the Nest. He sighs, appreciating the blinds on the window across the room. He squints out at the view of an open field with buildings in the distance.

A text on Alex's phone comes in,
Hey, it's Jeremy. We're in dorm 217 (;

He texts back 'thank you', then makes sure to text Renee and Neil like promised. He tells Nicky of his arrival too. Jean also texts Renee. The two eventually make a list of things they need to buy for each room. Then they head towards Jeremy's dorm.

"Hey!" Jeremy opens the door and then waves a dirty-blond haired guy over, "This is my roommate, Connor. He's a Trojan too. And yeah, he'll drive you guys later since he has a car."

"Cool, thanks. Nice to meet you." Alex smiles.

"Nice to meet ya' guys. Can't wait for practice to see you play." Connor stands next to Jeremy, they're almost the same height, but it's hard to tell because of Jeremy's fluffy hair. Jean nods politely at Connor, then they leave for their tour.